Chapter Three: Inked
I'm not a complete idiot. I did go with backup.
My best friends Sirius Black and James Potter crept ahead of me I hit both of them.
"The sneaking makes you look suspicious. Besides don't your fathers work here?" I asked them
"Why do you think I'm sneaking?" Sirius asked.
Sirius Black had run away from his overbearing family a year ago and was currently living with the Potters. It seemed Mrs Potter loved having extra people to love because Sirius never complained. And Sirius was a definite whiner.
"Dad thinks I'm working at the salon" James said Sirius and I frowned at him.
"Mum's salon! I don't do it because I want to" he said. Sirius just looked to the side trying to act inconspicuous.
"I don't!" James said
"I'm sure you don't" Sirius said James glared at him.
"Note to self. Don't bring morons as backup" I said to myself James and Sirius looked at me.
"Sorry Moony" they said.
"It's fine… come on," I said. James nodded and led the way, as he was the only one of us who'd actually gotten a chance to know his way around the Ministry of Magic.
Both Sirius and I had been here before but he'd been in handcuffs so didn't really get a look around. And when I was here I didn't get that much of a look around either so I had no idea where we were going.
James led us over to the lifts and we went down to level four emerging into the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.
I immediately got a very creepy vide from this floor. I glanced up the hallway and all along the opposite wall were chairs. People who seemingly had nothing in common occupied majority of these chairs.
"What are they all doing here?" Sirius asked quietly. I looked up and down the row carefully.
"They're magical creatures" I said James and Sirius looked at me.
"Run Moony!" Sirius cried I hit him
"Don't be an idiot. Look even McGonagall's here" I said James and Sirius spun around to see our Transfiguration teacher was sitting in a chair a few feet away.
"Bye Moony" Sirius said and went to run away but James grabbed his shirt. I walked over to McGonagall and so did James dragging a very miserable looking Sirius.
"Professor McGonagall" I said she looked up.
"Mr Lupin what are you doing down here?" she asked I frowned at her.
"Of course" she realised glancing at James and Sirius.
"Moral support" I explained.
"Yes of course" McGonagall said.
"Are they making the Animagus's register again?" I asked
"Not if Dumbledore had anything to say about it," she replied.
"Remus John Lupin August 63?" a bored woman called.
"Is that you?" James asked I nodded and sighed.
"I wouldn't worry about it Remus" McGonagall said I nodded and walked over to the bored woman she stood lazily chewing some gum and just pointed to a door.
I walked in and found Noah Murphy standing with his PR Suzie, my headmaster from Hogwarts and a bright bubbly witch with long black hair and lots of tattoos up and down her arms.
Murphy and Dumbledore seemed to be in the middle of an argument. It was only the tattooed witch who spotted me walk in but she said nothing.
"It is none of your business how I run this place Dumbledore. You had your chance… now go back to your precious little school and talk to him when he gets there!" Murphy snapped.
I coughed loudly. Murphy and Dumbledore turned.
"Uh… hi" I said
"Remus" Murphy said with a warm smile
"He's awfully young," the tattooed witch said.
"Ruby" Murphy said and she fell silent.
"I'm sure your curious to know why you're here," Dumbledore said to me.
"Kind of" I muttered as Ruby sat me down at a large table.
Murphy and Dumbledore sat opposite me while Suzie and Ruby stood off to the side. I glanced around the room. It appeared to be someone's office but had been taken over for the day. There was nothing on the desk but on the shelves and things were dozens of folders and files just scattered about.
"I shall explain for him Dumbledore. Now Remus as part of my election campaign-" Murphy began but Dumbledore held up a hand interrupting him,
"Did you follow the election that was held last year?" Dumbledore asked.
"Uh… no… not really. Sorry" I said to Murphy who just stared at me.
"Well Noah and his fellow candidate made their usual false election promises. Now the public has decided he best act upon one of them other wise they will run him out of office" Dumbledore said.
"What promises did you make sir?" I asked Murphy.
"Well in recent years you may have noticed that the death toll on wizards is slightly higher then a decade ago. The ministry-"
"You mean you" Dumbledore interrupted
"The ministry and myself" Murphy said giving Dumbledore a dirty look "believe that this is because of an overwhelming amount of magical creatures have gotten to a stage beyond ministry control"
"I see where this is going," I said standing up and going to leave
"Remus!" Murphy shouted losing his calm demeanour I stopped and turned to face him.
"It's just a simple registry," he said instantly becoming calm once more. I saw right through his façade but came back over and sat back down.
"I'm already on a registry" I muttered.
"Yes but this is a more fool proof way. That's just a list with some names… this way we can keep tabs on you every full moon"
"It's barbaric" Dumbledore muttered.
"Why are you even here?" Murphy snapped then went calm once more.
"It's perfectly safe," he said to me. I looked at Dumbledore
"They're branding you like cattle" he said. I looked at Murphy.
"What?" I asked
"It's just a tattoo," Ruby said holding up the needle. I jumped back away from them
"Don't you dare! I have rights and stuff!" I cried. Rights and stuff? Well done I mentally kicked myself.
"I'm not a thing. I am a person… who occasionally is something else," I said "through no fault of my own," I added.
"Remus even those Animagus's who willingly turn into animals have to be registered" Murphy said
"What?" Dumbledore asked looking at him. "You will not touch a hair on Minerva's head!"
"Now wait just a darn minute!" Suzie cried over the top of them.
"You have no right to be here Dumbledore! In fact your quite lucky the minister even let you be here!" she snapped.
"I know how you care for the magical creatures of this community but they're running amuck. They need to be controlled"
"No they don't!" I said, "I'm just fine. In fact when have I ever attacked anything?" I asked. Excluding the other night and that one time in fifth year.
"You almost bit Serverus Snape," the minister reminded me.
"I knew you'd bring that up," I muttered.
"He did almost get Serverus. But he did not" Dumbledore said
"Which was why he wasn't expelled we know Dumbledore!" Murphy snapped.
"It's for the safety of the normal people in our society" Murphy said to me I raised my eyebrows.
"Normal people?" I repeated. He stared at me then looked at Suzie.
"Remus. Just shut up and let me do you" Ruby said I frowned at her. She gave me a cheeky grin and pushed me onto the desk straddling my hips.
"Where do you want it?" she asked huskily I looked up at Dumbledore whose blue eyes were twinkling as if he found this hilarious.
"Just somewhere discreet" Murphy said to Ruby who bit her lip and looked down at me.
"Little privacy please" she said looking at the other three. Murphy and Suzie left
"I'm sorry…" Dumbledore said
"It's fine," I said. It was most definitely not fine but maybe I could talk Ruby out of actually tattooing me.
He walked out of the room shutting the door behind him leaving Ruby and me alone.
"Please don't do this," I said she smiled
"Your so young… such perfect skin… no it's against my beliefs" she said I sighed in relief.
"I didn't say I wouldn't I just said it's against my beliefs" she said I stared at her.
"Is there anything else you want me to tattoo on you other then the registration number?" she asked I shook my head.
"Shame… I'm really good. I did my own legs" she said and lifted up her jeans so I could see the tattoos running up and down her legs.
"They're very nice" I muttered she smiled.
"I'm going to put it on your hip" she said, "so can you hold your shirt up or take it off"
"Your having far to much fun with this Ruby" I told her she smiled as I pulled off my shirt.
"I like what I see" she said I stared at her
"Women find scars sexy" she told me I laughed.
"I have a fiancé" I said she gave me a fake pout
"Bummer… you were nice and sexy and everything" she said with a dramatic sigh.
I scoffed but said nothing as she slowly began to trace numbers onto my hip.
"So tattooing werewolves all day… how is that working out for you?" I asked she smiled.
"My parents hate it. I love tattooing people though. The stories they tell… it's just so nice. I mean I hate working for the ministry. I feel like a Nazi tattooing poor Jews but…" she trailed off sadly and turned to grab what appeared to be a pen.
"It's a sort of ink gun… this is going to hurt so try to stay still" she said.
It was like she was stabbing me with hundreds of tiny needles in one. I don't know how Sirius managed to get all his tattoos.
"First time is always painful no matter what your doing" Ruby muttered that made me laugh. After another twenty minutes of polite chitchat she was done.
"There you go…" she said and sat back to stare at her handiwork. I patted her arm so she would get off me. She did and stood back so I could sit up on the desk.
"Thank you Ruby… now how do I get rid of it?" I asked she laughed.
"That hurts more then getting it," she informed me.
"Wow I feel violated," I muttered staring down at the tattoo RJ863I.
Ruby laughed heartily
"So now I'll explain it to you. Those are your initials. Remus John. So even if you change your name the RJ will be there. You were bit in august… and that's the eighth month… then because it was 1963 and the line is the number of attacks you've done. Because there's only one documented you've only got one line" she said and then put a bandage on it for me
I put my shirt back and stared at her
"That's not all is it?" I asked she shook her head.
"Now you have to go fill out some forms. I'm sorry Remus…" she said looking down at the ground.
"You did fine Ruby… I'm glad you were my first tattooist," I said which made her look up at me with a smile.
"I'll never get another one but you're a very comfortingly girl" I said this made her laugh.
"Bye Ruby" I said she waved and let me leave the office. I pulled the door open and Sirius dived on me before I could even make it one step outside the door. We both fell over so I was lying underneath him as he sobbed.
"What did they do to my precious Moony?" he asked hysterically.
"Wow I didn't know you cared" I said he continued his over acting and pretended to sob.
"Uh Remus…" Ruby said Sirius and I looked up. Sirius stood up
"Hello" he said making Ruby giggle.
"Hi" she said nervously. I rolled my eyes and stood up dusting myself and wincing when I hit my tattoo.
"Come along bucket of hormones. I mean Sirius" I said Sirius glared at me and gave Ruby a kiss on the hand before following me down the hall.
The bored woman with chewing gum raised her eyebrows.
"You done?" she asked I nodded she handed me a stack of papers.
"Fill those out and you may go," she said pointing to a door.
"You missed it. It was the best," James said hurrying over to Sirius and I.
"What?"
"Dumbledore went nuts at the Minister over you and McGonagall. Saying that you were just a child and blah. Then he said the ministry wouldn't be getting McGonagall and they disappeared into a crowd of protestors. Apparently you have quite a few normal wizards on your side" James said
"Normal wizards? I'm not normal?" I asked
"Moony" James said
"Angry werewolf. Never fails to disappoint," I said smiling.
"That's a mighty stack you've got there. Need some help?" James asked Sirius stared at him as if he were a madman.
"Yeah because we all really want to spend the next few hours filling out forms for Moony" Sirius muttered.
"If we don't help we'll still have to be here for the next few days as Moony does it alone" James pointed out. Sirius frowned then nodded realising this made sense.
I walked into the door the bored gum-chewer had pointed to and found it was a large office. The main cubicles separated everyone from each other. I followed James over to one of the ones in the back and sat down.
"Did the kick everyone from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures out or something?" Sirius asked realising that none of these people were employees but magical creatures filling out forms.
"Very probably" I said and grabbed a quill from the desk I was sitting at and began to answer all the questions. I took the top page off the stack and wrote down my answers. James was staring at the second page.
"Hey do you know who bit you?" he asked holding up the sheet. I looked up and stared at him. He stared back while Sirius read over his shoulder curiously.
"I do," I said quietly.
"Whoa! No way! I'll kill him," James said. I scoffed
"I don't doubt your abilities James but I also don't doubt his abilities. And when it comes down to it… he'd win" I said.
"He… well you narrowed down my search" James said I smiled and took the sheet off him writing the name in the little box indicated. I handed it back to him
"Don't," I said instantly when James opened his mouth.
"Fenrir Greyback bit you?" Sirius asked leaning over James's shoulder to see the paper better.
"I've heard that name before…" James said distractedly. I pointed to the large wanted poster on the wall.
"Ah" Sirius said, "I met that guy"
James and I stared at him.
"He was at one of dads party's" Sirius said looking slightly upset.
"It's fine. I only met him once as well. He can be charming when it suits him" I muttered Sirius looked at his hands. I went back to filling out the forms and frowned as I tried to remember my mother's maiden name.
"You met him before he bit you?" James asked, "That's unusual"
"After. He met me after. Instantly recognised me," I said not looking up from the forms.
"What happened?" Sirius asked
"Can we not talk about this?" I asked
"Sorry Remus" they both said. They never called me Remus. I looked up and sighed.
"Guys… my father is a business man. Greyback is a businessman. My father wouldn't buckle. He's a proud man… he believes in his company and knows a shoddy deal when he sees one. Greyback was just a shoddy deal. That's all" I said
"Still doesn't explain it…" James said pressing me on. I gave him my 'it's over' look and went back to my forms.
"Sorry Remus" he and Sirius said which made me sigh once more and turn back to them. They looked at me I couldn't read the emotion on their faces which annoyed me because I'm usually good at it.
"Greyback threatened to bite him. But dad knew better… I mean all that happens is he'd turn into an animal once a month… he could still run a business for the other thirty days. It's an empty threat and Greyback soon learnt that" I said and went to turn back to my forms.
"And then what?" Sirius asked clearly entranced by my tale.
"Remus," James said seriously "we've known you seven years…"
"Well every businessman has a weakness. Greyback's was money. And my father had a lot of it" I said filling out my registration code as I spoke.
"My fathers weakness is family. And after dads many refusals to Greyback he told my father he was no longer interested in business and then he attacked" I said. "Dad was no longer interested in the business. Sold it all so he could cash in to find a cure for Lycanthropy. No luck yet but…"
"Do you remember it?" Sirius asked James hit him and shook his head.
"It's fine. I was really little so not much. It was really quick. I didn't really realise till I was in hospital," I said quietly.
"Sorry…" Sirius said, "I was just curious"
"Anymore questions while I'm feeling so openly honest towards you?" I asked
"Oh yes" Sirius said "are you gay?" I hit him
"Well you don't have a girlfriend"
"Doesn't make me gay," I said he frowned at me suspiciously.
"Sirius?" a voice called from behind us.
"Gotta go" Sirius said and ducked low beginning to crawl away.
James and I turned to see Regulus Black standing a few feet away from us.
"What's he doing here?" I hissed James shrugged and we both watched.
Regulus came over to us.
"Jimmy… other guy whose name I don't know" Regulus said with a fake smile.
"Remus"
"Don't care. Where's my brother?" he asked. James and I pointed in opposite directions.
"Yeah ok your both idiots. I know he was here," Regulus said glaring at us. It was quite scary to see how much he resembled Sirius. Though his hair was a bit shorter and the scowl he was wearing seemed permanent.
"What are you doing here?" James asked
"Hmm? Oh Daddy is changing his will. Tell Sirius he's officially been cut off"
"What he wasn't already?" I asked quite surprised. Regulus looked at me
"My family can actually be quite forgiving. I mean they did tolerate him for a good number of years"
"Wow you've become a jerk. I remember when you were actually ok" James said Regulus grabbed his collar pulling him down so he could whisper in his face.
And suddenly Regulus looked a lot more like Sirius then just hair and nose.
"He just up and left me. All alone in a house with that woman… what was I supposed to do? Not everyone has such wonderful friends!" Regulus hissed. "I hate it so much" He then let James go and dusted himself off as he glared at us.
"I'll see you at school" he said returning to his haughty cold tone immediately. "Potter… other kid" he then walked off to the left and Sirius walked over to us from the right.
"What'd he want?" he asked.
"You've been cut off," I said.
"Ah… wait I wasn't already?" he asked James and I shook our heads.
"Neat" Sirius said nodding. "They still loved me. Suckers" he snorted
I finished filling out the forms and as I left with James and Sirius I saw the minister standing talking to Suzie. I walked over to them.
"Remus" Murphy said, "I always liked you. Nice young man… how'd everything go?"
"Fine. Just fine. But I'm not happy. Not happy at all" I said quietly.
"You understand-" Murphy began but I interrupted.
"Of course sir. Because I wanted to get bitten. I sat out by the lake on a full moon hoping some crazy man would tear me in half. I should have realised that this gift… of invincibility once a month would have its consequences apart from the amnesia, broken bones, never fading scars and continuously putting my own arm back in the socket… yeah it doesn't work" I said and pushed my arm out its socket "just doesn't go back in after a rough transformation a few years back" I muttered and pushed it back in.
"It was-"
"No it's fine. I do have a few little things to say though. I feel violated and more like an outcast then I ever have in my life. That makes me really unhappy. And if I'm unhappy I can guarantee that everyone else is furious… I mean I'm Remus… everyone always walks all over me… I'm too nice so I'll never do or say anything. But I'm so glad that Remus isn't the only werewolf. You've got a good number of people pissed at you and I know what goes around comes around. So settle back and enjoy"
"Are you threatening me?" Murphy asked
"Oh God no! I could never hurt a human. These guys…" I indicated to the protestors and a few people filling out forms right there in the Atrium. "I'm not so sure about. I mean who can control us?" I asked and walked off with James and Sirius in tow.
"Not a single angry note. You know notes never get you anywhere. You gave him a serious talking to" James said I smiled.
"Up high Moony my man!" Sirius said I reluctantly gave him a high five.
"Once you get the taste for it are you sure it's not going to stick? I mean your not going to be super pissy with us all the time?" he asked
"No" I said, "Just when you irritate me"
James and Sirius froze knowing they both irritate me all the time. I just laughed.
Life has its highs and it's lows. But now that I was having a good moment I was not looking forward to coming down. And knowing exactly how my bad to worse life worked, it would not take long.
--
Hey readers,
Feeling all right about this
This story seems to be going ok
It started off the worst
But I think it's getting better.
I'm enjoying writing it more
Leave your thoughts
Till later, A.J
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