Remus came to in the Shrieking shack after passing out from the pain of his transformation from werewolf into human. His bones ached and his entire body was on fire. He fought to remain conscious and slowly lifted his body from the floor so that he was sitting, groaning deeply in pain. He blinked several times against the light, trying to control the swimming in his head. When his eyes finally adjusted to the light he saw both Sirius and James starring at him, both looking extremely upset.
His first thought was that he had attacked one of them and when he licked his lips and tasted the irony-tang of blood he felt sick to his stomach. Without saying another word he leaned over and vomited on the floor, unable to control the urge. When he had finished, James pointed his wand and muttered "Scourgify" and the vomit was cleaned from the floor in an instant.
Remus wiped his mouth, still feeling sick and terrified that he had hurt one of his best friends when he noticed that Peter was missing. What if it had been Peter that he had hurt? What if he was seriously injured or … dead?
"Alright there Moony?" James asked soberly.
Remus couldn't bring himself to speak at first but shook his head, finally attempting to stand. He stumbled a bit as he rose from the ground but managed to stay standing. "What happened last night?" He croaked his throat sore along with the rest of his body. He couldn't bring himself to ask if he had hurt anybody.
Sirius and James exchanged a dark look and Remus felt his blood turn to ice. What had he done?
"Are you guys ok? I didn't bite anybody? What happened?" Remus was desperate to know what had happened, but at the same time he dreaded it more than anything.
"You scratched me a bit, but it's nothing" Sirius said, unconsciously touching a hand to his chest where Remus assumed the wound was. He thought he might be sick again.
James took a deep breath, and spoke his next words in a rush. "But there is something else." He looked incredibly sad.
"What is it?" Remus said, his voice trembling. "Was it … did I hurt Wormtail?"
"No" Sirius said, staring at the floor, not wanting to look Remus in the eye.
James dragged in another deep breath as if preparing himself for something terrible. "It was Finn …"
Remus's eyes widened in shock and for an unbelievable moment he thought that his friends were playing a cruel joke on him. It took him a second to realize that this was not the case, while the Marauders often played pranks on one another joking about him harming Adriana was not something they would do.
"That's impossible," he breathed, trying to think of how he could have possibly harmed Adriana. He could think of no explanation and just stared stonily at his friends.
Sirius finally looked at him Remus was frightened by the intensity of his stare. "She was out in the dark forest-"
"What the hell was she doing there?" Remus interrupted shocked at this information.
James shrugged in answer; obviously neither boy knew the answer to the question. Sirius continued his explanation. "Well, you got away from us for a second and when we caught up with you, you had her cornered.
Remus sunk to his knees on the floor in grief. If he had hurt her seriously he didn't know how he would ever forgive himself.
"You didn't bite her, we're sure of that." James reassured him, coming over and sitting on the floor with him.
Remus looked from face to face, knowing that there was more. He waited, feeling as if his insides were being torn apart by sadness.
"But there was …" Sirius's voice broke for a second and he cleared his throat. Something was terribly wrong. "There was a lot of blood on her robes. We think you must have scratched her or something."
Remus shut his eyes tight, not wanting to have to face this. He prayed with all his heart that she was alright. If she wasn't … he didn't know what he would do.
"She was alright Moony. Peter took her back to the school and then went to go to classes. We thought it would look to suspicious if we all missed class …" James trailed off. Remus couldn't give a damn if things looked suspicious, he needed to see her.
"I want to see her," he said, his voice sounding pitifully weak, but he didn't care.
James and Sirius both exchanged a look and than Sirius reached into his robes, pulling out the Marauders map. Sirius muttered the key words and stared at the map for a moment before handing it to Remus.
Remus stood once more, staring at the map intently until he found Adriana's name. And with one last look at James and Sirius he headed from the room to the last place he would have ever thought to look for Adriana …
It took Remus ten minutes before he arrived at the door to the 7th year boys' dormitory. With a nervous breath and a quick hand touching the stitch in his side, Remus opened the door. He saw Adriana half-sitting, half-lying on his bed and he faltered in his walk towards her bed, closing the door slowly behind him. She was so pale, her face was white as a sheet and her lips had lost all colour. Her hair had turned into a silvery white and her eyes a sallow blue. In the back of his mind Remus remembered that these were the symptoms that a Metamorphmagus suffered after losing a lot of blood. He thought he might be sick again.
Adriana smiled weakly at him and moved slightly in her position on the bed. She winced painfully at her attempt at movement and Remus felt the prickle of tears in his eyes. He closed the gap between them and dropped to the floor in front of her, staring at her with anguish in his eyes. "I'm sorry," he cried.
She touched his hair and began to speak. Her voice was so detached that the sound coming from her mouth was eerie. "You know, it's funny." She began, and he had the suspicion that she was delirious from the pain. He had to get her to Madam Pomfrey soon …
"Did you know that you're a Razorback Melinka?" He nodded, recognizing the name of the type of bread of werewolf he was. "Did you know what is so special about that specific kind?" He shook his head, knowing that he needed to get her help but too stunned at what she was saying to do it.
"The special thing about the Melinka is that their hides are so thick, and the hair so strong that no one spell can penetrate them. It takes the well coordinated action of at least five wizards to bring one down using a spell …" her voice trailed off into a strange laugh that chilled his blood. "When you came at me … I thought I would die. You know?"
He couldn't take it anymore; he couldn't sit there and listen to what she had to say, knowing it would kill him if he did. "Ri, we have to get you to the hospital wing," he whispered, his voice breaking. God, please let her be alright. He stood up and reached for her arm to pull her up but she jerked it away, as if only now noticing that he was in the room with her.
"NO!" She shrieked the word in the same eerie tone. Remus stood in shock. "I'm fine." She said, calmer now that he wasn't touching her.
"You're not," he protested, feeling worse than he had ever felt before. She needed help. "Adriana? You've lost a lot of blood," his voice trembled "we need to get you to the hospital wing. We have to make sure you're ok."
She looked up at him and for a second he saw a spark in her eyes. "If we go to the hospital wing you could get expelled Lupin."
"I don't care!" He threw up his hands in desperation.
"I do!" She returned, stubborn as always.
"Please," he pleaded, dropping to his knees once more. "Please Ri … I can't let you … I need to make sure you're ok." He felt a tear fall down his cheek and he saw that she too noticed it. She gave in and nodded slightly.
He got up and helped her off the bed. As she lifted her arm to wrap it around his neck for support he saw what he had done. Seven long gashes streaked across her side and a piece of her rib was sticking out from under her skin. He felt sick again and wondered at how she was strong enough to stand the pain.
Thankfully, there were no students to see them - everyone was in class - as they made there way in silence down to the Hospital Wing. They reached it in fifteen minutes and by the time they got there Adriana had passed out and was leaning against him limply.
When she first spotted Remus, Madam Pomfrey smiled slightly; she was used to seeing him the day after a full moon. But her smile died the instant she saw the grim look on his face and the seemingly lifeless body of Adriana hanging from his side. She gasped and rushed forward, using her wand to transfer Adriana to the nearest bed. Remus said nothing, just watched, the tears streaming down his cheeks reminding him of rain.
"What happened?" Madam Pomfrey asked, stricken as she began to apply various ointments to Adriana and collect potions from a nearby cupboard.
Remus shut his eyes. "I don't know exactly …" he said, his voice burdened with the anguish of his soul. Pomfrey didn't ask anymore questions, only got to work on Adriana.
After a minute he collapsed in a nearby chair, staring intently at the one and only girl he had ever loved. He pleaded with God to make sure she was alright, and knew that he would have given his life without a moment's hesitation to be sure that nothing happened to her.
After an eternity, Madam Pomfrey turned to look at him with a weary smile. "She's alright Remus … Don't worry." And she stood up from her perch beside Adriana. "I'm going to have to fetch Dumbledore now …" He nodded in reply and she smiled once more at him, walking away to the Headmaster's office.
Remus rested his elbows on his knees and stared at the sleeping form of Ri. Thanks to the blood replenishing potion that Madam Pomfrey had given her, her hair was back to brown, but her skin was still a sickly ashen.
He watched her, not moving, feeling a mixture of grief and relief so strong that he thought the strength of it would kill him. And then her eyes fluttered slightly and her gaze found his. Several more tears escaped his eyes and ran down his face, splattering onto his knees.
Dumbledore entered the room, followed by Madam Pomfrey. "Remus," Dumbledore said, looking from Adriana to him. His tone was gentle, not accusing as Remus had suspected. Above all, his Headmaster seemed concerned. "What happened?"
Remus opened his mouth to answer, but was stopped short by the hoarse croak of Adriana's voice. "It was my fault, Headmaster." Remus started and all eyes turned to her. Although every word seemed to cost her a great effort, she continued speaking. "I followed Lupin to the Shrieking Shack. I was curious to know where he went every month …"
Remus swallowed hard. She was lying to protect him, even after he had almost killed her. "Is that so?" Dumbledore asked, and Remus knew that he didn't believe Adriana.
Adriana nodded slowly, "Yes Professor Dumbledore." There was a pause, and then she added as an after thought, "I'm sorry."
Madam Pomfrey looked suspiciously between the two but did not say anything. When Dumbledore spoke it was with finality. "Now, I realize that while you were seriously injured, Poppy assured that you will suffer no ill effects. However, I do beg of you to keep this incident to yourself. After all … Remus has managed to keep his secret for the last six years; it would be a shame to have it out in the open now."
Adriana nodded once again. Dumbledore looked as if he wanted to say more, but he just smiled slightly and turned to Remus. "You are excused from today's lessons." And with another look at the two students, he left the room, gesturing for Pomfrey to come with him.
Adriana and Remus stared at each other in silence. Remus had no idea what to say. His body still ached from the transformation, but the physical pain, which had settled into a dull numbness, was nothing compared to the emotional agony.
While the Marauders had been venturing out into the Dark Forest on full moons for two years now, they had never before come across danger. And now it seemed that he had come close to killing Adriana. It was something none of them could have anticipated and now it was something he was going to have to live with forever.
"Lupin?" Adriana croaked, her voice sounding hoarse and in pain. He jerked himself out of his thoughts and pulled his chair closer to her so that he could hold her hand.
He asked, "does it hurt?" A stupid question, he thought. Of course it hurt …
She nodded at him, still looking him in the eyes intensely, as if afraid that if she blinked she would lose him.
"I'm sorry …" He didn't know what else there was to say. He squeezed her hand a little and they sat there in silence. Neither speaking, the moment was too intense. Besides, they would have time to talk later, time to figure out how this had all happened.
But for now, they would just sit there. Alone in the silence, each suffering their own pain. Each terrified to leave this time where it was the two of them alone.
A/N: In order to clear up some confusion I thought I would leave this little note. Adriana did have a reason for going into the Forbidden Forest and while I have delibrately not revealed it yet, all will be revealed. The entire plot of this story has been mapped out and any unanswered questions will be answered in the last few chapters. Hope you're enjoying this! Please Review!!