Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything therein. No profit was made, etc. etc. etc.
Chapter Three
Remus had spent the entire day near the train station, offering to shine shoes or carry bags to and fro from the platforms to people's cabs and back. He had not made very much money, but it was enough for a meal and the cost of the replacement light bulb he needed. Since the Order had not called a meeting and Severus had planned on stopping by for Remus' next dosage of Wolfsbane, he decided to grab a small meal, stop by the grocery store, and then head home.
Dinner was lonely, as it always was. Remus ordered a bowl of vegetable soup from a corner cafe. He would have fancied having a sandwich or something a bit heartier but decided it was probably a too expensive and would cut into his grocery money. In another set of circumstances, Remus imagined he would be sharing soup with someone sitting opposite him, someone smiling and exchanging pleasantries with him and inquiring about his dreams or other such things. However, he was a lycanthrope and lycanthropes were not lucky.
By the time he had purchased a replacement light bulb for his living room lamp, Remus discovered it was already dark. Coming back out onto the sidewalk, he swallowed hard. If he wanted to be on time for Severus' visit, he would need to hurry to his apartment. It was not very far from the grocery store, which Remus was grateful for. As he hurried off, a group of chanting protesters caught his eye. A group held large signs which Remus could not make out in the darkness. It was probably something regarding muggle politics and the lycanthrope knew better than to get involved in such things. As he made his way towards his apartment he could hear a few of the protesters calling him.
"Won't you join us? It's for a good cause. Come on. Can you spare an hour?" asked one, motioning towards him with both arms. He dared to approach Remus. "Come on."
"No thank you." Remus returned. "I'm not interested. I've got somewhere to be."
The man who had approached him was tugging on his arm, nudging him closer and closer to the throng of protesters who were chanting about the ocean and its "imminent destruction." Smiling, the man brought him over, attempting to shove a sign into Remus' hands. "Here!"
"No, I really must be going." Remus returned, feeling incredibly awkward. Behind him he could hear scuffling of feet as people dispersed quickly. The lycanthrope thought perhaps the police had arrived, and none too soon. With wide eyes, the man who had been trying to shove the sign into Remus' hands took off running as fast as he could.
"We told you you'd be sorry if you wankers showed up again!"
Turning around, Remus felt a hard fist connect with his face. He was momentarily blinded by the force and before he could blink his tears away or even realize he had a split and rapidly swelling lip, another fist hit him. His attackers grabbed him by the shirt collar and yanked, ripping the fabric. Before Remus could respond, two boys who appeared to be apart of a larger street gang, shoved him off his feet. The grocery bag fell out of his hands as he was pushed backwards onto the ground. He could feel the box inside crush under his weight and winced. A second later, the hard force of fists pummeled him painfully. Remus yelped and curled into a ball, attempting to shield himself as best he could from the attack.
"This is our territory! We don't allow anyone here! Bloody wankers, haven't we told you over and over not to show your faces around here picketing all that environmental nonsense? Save the whales or some other bloody waste of time... Didn't we tell you that we'd kill you?" asked one of the boys as he watched his two companions take turns hitting and kicking Remus' body.
The lycanthrope whimpered, curled up and wishing there was a way to escape them. "I'm not with them!" He exclaimed, though his voice was muffled due to his arms covering his head protectively. "I'm not with them! I just went to the store!" Daring to peek through the arms which protected his face, Remus could see a dark figure walking calmly by. "Help me! Please help me!"
As the dark figure ran over, a siren sounded somewhere, causing the boys to scramble to their feet and flee. "Lupin?" asked the figure. Remus felt two large hands gently touching his arms. "Lupin, talk to me..."
"Sev...erus...?" Remus managed, squinting in the darkness until the Potions master's face became clear in the darkness. He uncurled from the fetal position he had been in and bit his lip in pain. Every part of his body hurt. Though he was not exactly sure the extent of his injuries, Remus knew he was bleeding. "I didn't... make it home before... you came..."
"Can you walk? Or do I need to Apparate us both?" Severus asked as his face was etched with lines of concern.
"I've got to walk..." Remus returned, climbing painfully up onto his feet. All his muscles cried out in protest. "The neighbors won't take well to hearing us if they haven't seen us arrive..."
Severus offered the lycanthrope his shoulder to lean on as they walked. "They won't take well to seeing you've been accosted." He pointed out.
"No choice..." he trailed, limping along side Severus. They made it to Remus' apartment and were lucky enough not to encounter anyone on the street or inside the building. The only sounds made during the entire trip were Remus' labored breaths and the jingling of his keys as he pushed them into the lock of his front door. He locked the door once Severus had made his way inside.
"Where's your bed?" The Potions master asked flatly.
"In there," Remus replied, pointing, "why?"
Severus motioned for the lycanthrope to enter the bedroom. Remus wordlessly obeyed, with some confusion. "You need to lie down." Severus announced.
"Lie down on the bed?" Remus repeated, glancing at his modest yet clean bed. The sheets were old but still in relatively good condition. "Those are the only sheets I have!"
Frowning, the Potions master took a quick survey of the room before speaking. "Don't worry about your linens right now, Lupin. Lie down and disrobe." When Remus stared at him with wide eyes, Severus added, "I can't help you if I can't see all that's wrong with you."
The smell of blood was driving Remus crazy; he could smell it on his clothes. It did not bother him because the wolf in him was hungry, but because the wolf recognized that Remus was injured and wanted nothing more than to break free and lick his wounds. He could not do that in the presence of Severus, no matter how much the wolf was itching to help.
Severus was drawing the thick fabric comprising Remus' makeshift curtains closed. For his part, Remus painfully climbed into bed and managed to peel off his shirt. It was an easy task due to the fact that the buttons down the front had, for the most part, been torn from the fabric during the scuffle. He fiddled with the button of his trousers but stopped partly from exhaustion and partly from the embarrassment he felt in thinking of Severus seeing him with little to nothing on.
Remus watched as the Potions master approached his bedside. With a calm silence, he removed the lycanthrope's trousers. His eyes were dark and seemed to be focused more on the task at hand rather than paying any attention to Remus' body for any purposes other than medicinal ones. Nevertheless, a hot red burn crept into his cheeks. He felt particularly exposed, though he still remained in his knickers. Silently he prayed that he would not have to remove those too. Worrying about the appearance of his house was one thing, worrying about how well endowed he was compared to others was something else entirely...
"Lupin..." Severus bemoaned, looking the lycanthrope over disapprovingly. "What were you thinking?"
"I wasn't with them." Remus said, his fat lip distorting his words slightly. "I was just going to the store to buy a light bulb." He added. Mentally he remembered, quite bitterly, that he'd purchased it with the last of his money.
Severus shook his head. "I didn't mean that." He returned, getting up once more and approaching the windows once again, rubbing the fabric of the curtain between his fingers. The Potions master did not turn and face Remus. Instead he remained looking at the dark, thick fabric that shielded them from the outside world.
Remus grimaced, feeling with his fingers that the pain in his thigh was coming from the glass from the broken light bulb which had imbedded itself in his flesh. "What did you mean, then?" He asked, flinching.
"I meant what were you thinking, coming to live like a muggle all alone with no magic?" Severus asked, remaining where he stood.
The lycanthrope closed his eyes. Something in Remus' brain told him to divulge everything and though he usually ignored thoughts such as those, this time he gave in. "I'm sure you realize how difficult it is for a lycanthrope to secure and maintain a job for any long term period of time." He said, evenly.
"I do, yes." Severus affirmed.
"I can't live without money, whether it's galleons or muggle currency." Remus went on. "And how can I make money when no one will hire me? I figured I at least had a chance with muggles... That maybe they'd think werewolves were just mythology." he informed, sighing heavily. There was a long pause in which the lycanthrope looked extremely sorrowful. "But hardly anyone hires someone with such a sketchy employment history. I can't site anything I've done in the Wizarding World and have to rely solely on the muggle jobs I've held, which are few and far between. So I'm labeled as a flake and am stuck doing menial tasks that hardly pay the rent. I live like a muggle for the slim chance that I possibly have a chance to live. Being alone is... well, it's the price I have to pay for it, I suppose. I don't want to burden anyone with my condition. It's not like many would really and truly understand without wanting to bolt for the door and never see me again anyway..."
Severus took his companions' words in silently. Remus opened his eyes and looked at the Potions master exhaustedly. "What do you intend to do when you transform during the moon?" He asked after a long moment, returning again to Remus' bedside. "No doubt the neighbors will become alarmed by your screams."
"This apartment complex doesn't allow animals. They'd think I was breaking lease by having a rabid dog or some other sort of wildlife in here. So I usually go away... outside..." Remus retuned.
"You know that's not safe. That was proven tonight." Severus said as he took out his wand and began waving it slowly over the lycanthrope's wounds.
Remus sighed. "I have nowhere to go, then." He replied. "What do you suggest I do?"
Severus leaned close, examining the shards of thin glass that had sliced Remus' thigh. He was so close that he could feel the Potions master's warm breath on his skin. "Perhaps it would be wise for you to accompany me from now until you've recovered from the moon."
"Accompany you to where, exactly?" Remus wondered aloud. "Would it really be wise for me to return to Hogwarts?" The Potions master took his finger and prodded at the lycanthrope's wound, trying to find the best course of action to remove the glass. "Be careful! That hurts!" He yelped.
Ignoring this, Severus began magically removing each piece of glass with gentle precision. "Whomever I choose to have as a guest at Hogwarts is neither the business of the student body or their parents." explained the Potions master as he worked. "The Ministry has deemed you to not be a threat as long as you're taking your potion. Those who do not agree can speak with me or Professor Dumbledore about the issue."
"I don't know, Severus..." Remus protested lightly, taking a sharp breath as the last of the glass was removed and his skin began the process of healing under the coaxing of Severus' wand.
"You said yourself you haven't anywhere to go during your transformation. Professor Dumbledore has charged me with looking after you in regards to your lycanthropy." Severus returned. "It would be easier and beneficial for the both of us if you were in a place where I could easily tend to you and where you wouldn't worry on whether or not your muggle neighbors will discover you."
Remus gave a long sigh, his head falling back upon the pillow exhaustedly. He agreed with the arrangement, with some amount of defeat, but could not tell whether or not he had verbally expressed this to Severus before falling into a long, deep sleep.