AN: Here is the second chapter, y'all! As I said in the last author's note, any tips or criticism is welcome! Especially if it's grammar related and such. Please let me know what y'all think! Enjoy!
Chapter 2
September 1, 1977
"Madam Pomfrey! Come quick!" Remus yelled as Sirius held the door to the infirmary open for him.
The medi-witch came bustling from her quarters.
"Boys, what are you doing up at this hour? Who is that in your arms? Nevermind, place her here on this cot," the witch said, gesturing to a small bed to the left. She turned around and walked briskly to her large medicine cabinets to retrieve a handful of potion vials. Remus gently laid the young woman down, cradling her head for a moment before letting it rest on the firm pillow. She looked so tiny in the bed. Her limbs skinny and frail looking. Her eyes sunken in and he could faintly see her ribs through one of the slits in her blouse.
"Oh dear," Madam Pomfrey said in shock. "Where did you find her? Was she in this state when you found her?"
"We," cough, "I was in Filch's office trying to find something of mine that he took a few years back when she fell out of the closet. She was conscious for a minute or two before passing out again," Remus said, taking the blame for being out past curfew.
That's how they did things. The four Marauders all took turns taking the fall for their mischievous shenanigans. Last year Peter served a months worth of detentions with Professor McGonagall for all of them after flooding the Slytherin dorms in the dungeons. Slughorn was none too happy to find that some of his rather large robes had mildewed over the Easter holidays.
"Mr. Black, if you'd go and collect the Headmaster while I clean the girl up, I'd appreciate it," the medi-witch said, casting a quick Scorgify to remove as much dirt and grime as possible off the poor woman before she could give her a proper bath. Sirius nodded and raced out of the infirmary doors.
"Is she going to be okay?" Peter's quiet voice asked after a few minutes. He was a rather plump young man. His front two teeth were slightly larger than they should have been, his dirty blond hair curling around his ears and almost falling in his eyes. A short and wide nose sat between two beady blue eyes.
The medi-witch sighed, "She should be fine. I still need to run a diagnostics test before we can be sure. Why don't you boys head on up to bed? I'll send Mr. Black once he returns with the Headmaster."
As she finished her sentence Sirius jogged in followed by Professor Dumbledore. His violently purple robes were littered with gold crescent moons and stars. His long white beard stopping in the middle of his torso, the half-moon spectacles balancing just so on the tip of his nose, light blue eyes twinkling behind them.
"It's funny, I was just on my way to visit you, Poppy, to see if you'd care for a spot of tea. Then I ran into Mr. Black saying you needed my assistance and that Mr. Filch has been keeping a young woman locked in his closet?" said his unwavering voice. It had a calming sense to it and Remus felt some of the tension he hadn't known he had been holding leave his shoulders.
"Y-yes, Headmaster," she raised a questioning eyebrow at Sirius, he shrugged in turn. "Now, boys, off to bed. All four of you. You can visit her in the morning," the witch said firmly. Remus cast one last glance at the unconscious woman before following his friends out of the room.
"Who do we have here, Poppy?" Dumbledore asked, moving to stand beside the girl's cot.
"I don't know, Albus. The boys brought her in not fifteen minutes ago. Mr. Lupin says he found her while snooping in Argus's office, she fell out of the closet. I was waiting to run the diagnostics spell until you arrived," she silently cast the spell and began hovering her wand over parts of the girls body. After making a shocked noise she straightened up and glanced at the headmaster.
"She has 4 broken ribs on her right side, multiple laceration wounds on her legs and torso and um," she faltered, " this." She lifted the girls left arm and tilted it so Dumbledore could see the slur that was viciously carved in her arm.
"There's also a bite wound on her left shoulder. Seems to be a large dog or wolf bite, roughly a three or four days old."
The Headmaster seemed to be deep in thought for a few moments so the medi-witch busied herself with pouring various potions down the unconscious girls throat. She would need blood replenishers every few hours along with a nutrition potion. The poor girl looked to have been starved for months on end while being tortured. With a flick of her wand the mats began detangling themselves out of the hair, twigs and leaves falling to the pillow in the process, as well as a thin gold chain.
"Do let me know straight away when she wakes, Poppy. I would like to speak with her," he said casually walking to the medi-witch's desk and tossing a lemon drop in his mouth.
"Yes, Headmaster. I'm going to heal her and give her Skele-Gro to mend her bones so she'll likely be out until late morning," Madam Pomfrey told the Headmaster, closing the privacy curtains around the girl's bed.
"Goodnight, Poppy."
"Goodnight, Albus."
All four boys raced to their dorm to discuss what had happened on their little outing. As Remus made it to his bed he noticed a purple, beaded bag lying on the floor. He reached down and picked it up. It was a small bag that had a long strap to go over the shoulder. It was dingy and dirty.
"Whatchya got there, Moons?" Sirius asked, flinging himself on Remus's bed. His blue grey eyes glinting in the moonlight that was streaming through the drawn curtains. The light hitting his aristocratic features just right to make the eldest Black seem angelic. The light stubble on his chin matched well with his shoulder length wavy black hair that was currently tied back with a strip of his first year Gryffindor tie.
"I think it belongs to that girl. Must've dropped it earlier when we were here. I can't open it though. It's like someone super glued it shut," Remus muttered trying to pry the dainty purse apart. "It won't budge."
"What's super glue?" Sirius asked, reaching under Remus's bed and pulled out a 'hidden' chocolate frog. He tore the packaging open and popped the frog in his mouth before it even had a chance to jump, clueless to the murderous look Remus was throwing his way.
"It makes things stick together and it's really hard to get them apart," James answered, exiting the bathroom. His black hair was sticking up in all directions, his bright hazel eyes were tired and his narrow face grew even more so as the young man yawned and stretched.
"Never mind about the glue that is super let's talk about the bird that Filch has kept locked away," Peter said, crawling on Remus's bed beside Sirius. James grinned and launched himself on the two boys before laying along with them. Remus just paced the length of his bed.
"I don't think Filch was keeping her locked in his closet. I didn't smell anyone else before she literally fell on top of me. Just us, ol' Filch and Mrs. Norris," he paused for a moment, pawing the shrunken book in his robe pocket, then turned to face the three animagi. "I think... I think she's who the book was talking about."
"I told you, Moony, that book was just a comedy book from Zonko's I saw some like it on their shelves last year."
Remus reached in his pocket and pulled the book out, thumbing through the pages, they were all blank. There was no golden handwriting speaking of a woman that would put an end to the Dark Lord, nothing. Sirius peaked over Remus's shoulder.
Sirius sat up and clapped his hands together once, yawning, "Well, looks like we were both wrong, Moons. I'm going to bed, you should as well so we can ask her how she got in that smelly old coat closet." He carefully stood on Remus's bed before launching himself across the four foot gap to his bed, the young man quickly divested himself of clothing and crawled under the comforter.
The other two boys scrambled off of Remus's bed and hopped in their respective beds. Remus stood still for a few seconds before following suit, thoughts of the mysterious young woman heavy in his mind.