Remus's Secret revealed

by Cuchulain-Setanta

Our story begins during the Christmas holidays in second year, Remus and Peter are the only ones from Gryffindor there. When Peter finds out Remus's secret and tells the others upon their return, will Remus be accepted or not? And will that be the end of his troubles? This story is not Peter friendly. Please rate and review.

10. Lost, alone, friend?

10.

Remus awoke on the cold stone floor of the corridor, he didn't remember falling asleep but he figured that he must have at some point and was grateful for the little bit of undisturbed sleep that he had been able to get. He was just as glad that it was the weekend and he hadn't missed class by falling asleep in the corridor, he stiffly got to his feet, nearly falling over backwards at the pain in his leg before he regained his footing and slowly walked forwards…unsure of where he was. Remus cautiously looked up and down the corridor before choosing to turn left and hopefully find something that looked semi-familiar. He had been wandering aimlessly for quite some time, though he hadn't actually managed to get very far, before he heard something following him. He couldn't see it when he looked around and backtracked a bit, but he could hear it and knew that someone or something was there; he struggled to move faster in his odd hopping-limp walk as he listened and heard the person or perhaps people speed up as well.

Remus slid his hand into his pocket and grasped his wand tightly; he ducked into an archway and waited until the footsteps stopped before he peered around the corner, only to find the corridor completely empty. He frowned slightly in confusion and leaned a little farther out to try and see if there was anywhere that the person could have hidden when he was suddenly pulled backwards, down the adjoining corridor and into an empty room. Remus kept his hand clenched around his wand as he looked around for possible escape routes as well as to attempt to identify whoever had pulled him into this room. From this look around the room he concluded that there was no other exit from the door he had been drug through and the person who had grabbed him was Severus, he briefly wondered why he kept dragging him into rooms before the burning agony flared in his chest, making him wrap his arms around his torso and groan in pain. Remus dropped to his knees, his arms tightening as he tried in vain to keep the burning feeling at bay or at least lessen it, through the haze of pain he saw Severus move towards him with a look of concern on his face and that alone greatly surprised Remus.

Severus had been slightly wary as he noticed that Lupin had his hand in his pocket and most likely he was grasping his wand, that feeling had quickly fallen away as the boy let out a barely audible groan, wrapped his arms around himself and sank to his knees. Severus had noticed his odd walk and decided that something new had happened to the boy…something that was causing him more pain than he had been lately. As he approached, he couldn't tell if Lupin could even see him or if he recognized him; as he got closer Severus saw something that made him stop in his tracks and silently vow to personally find and give everything back to the person or people who had done this. Severus knelt down and carefully to Lupin's hand, being as gentle as he could be as he held it and felt the twisting of the bones and how mangled it had been. Pretending he didn't notice how Lupin's eyes jumped to his face when he took the boy's hand, he continued to gently feel the entirety of the damage done the other boy's hand; he tried to offer a small smile, however smiling at anyone other than Lily was not something that came easily to him at best he managed a smirk that was slightly kinder than normal. Severus tried not to show the burning hatred that was developing inside him as he realized that Lupin was so thin that he could actually feel the hairline cracks in his bones through what little skin that there was, he knew that if he showed his growing anger then this scared and hurt boy before him would once again be the cowering animal looking thing that he had been when he and Lily had first cornered him. He had to keep that hidden if only to show Lupin that he wasn't going to hurt him, Severus would help him as much as was possible…even if he had to do it alone.

Remus didn't know what to do, he was so accustomed to being afraid and hurt that he was unsure of what to do with someone being kind to him. He couldn't really explain it but he didn't think that Severus was going to hurt him, he could tell that somewhere inside he was very angry, yet the Slytherin didn't let it show and to Remus, that meant that for now he was safe. He carefully took his mangled hand from Severus and kept it close and out of sight, not really wanting to think about it. Remus opened his mouth to say something before slowly closing it as he remembered that he couldn't speak anymore, he wondered what he could possibly do to show Severus how thankful he was; his eyes suddenly lit up for the first time in nearly a month as he had an idea. Remus took his wand and slowly waved it as he mentally used the spell he needed, he knew that wordless spells were harder and yet he'd had to learn them in order to pass his classes. Remus smiled a little as the object came through the door landed in his hand; he slowly offered it to Severus and was pleased to see him give an actual smile as the once stolen object was returned to its rightful owner.

Severus stared down at the small snake statue which was the only thing he had of his mother's; it had been stolen from him nearly a year ago, he smiled at Lupin and carefully sat beside him, whispering quietly to him.

"Thank you Remus and you are welcome."

Remus's eyes lit up at those simple words and as he realized that he once again had a friend or at least a friendly acquaintance with whom he could feel semi-safe and maybe even accepted.

Thank you for reading, I do hope that you are enjoying the story so far. Please R&R.