15.

He thought that he should have been in excruciating pain, yet he felt nothing. No pain, no discomfort, and none of the burning that had become a constant feeling within him for weeks. The worrying part was that he couldn't feel his limbs or even any part of his body; he felt as though he was floating, unattached to anything. He couldn't see, hear, smell or even feel anything about himself or his surroundings…it was frightening, for he felt as though he could be swallowed up by the nothingness that surrounded him.

He floated there for what seemed an eternity before he became aware of a low rumbling which started and stopped at strange and uneven intervals. Gradually he made the realization that someone was speaking, yet he couldn't make out more than a few words as his ears and brain didn't seem to be connected and were attempting to reconnect. About the time that he could distinguish words, he became aware that there were actually two voices and they seemed to be rather close to him. And though they sounded muffled, as if they were under-water, he was able to make out some of the words.

"But…won't…headmaster. …not sure…will…wake-up."

"Perhaps….St. Mungos…better…him."

"I…send…Lupin…St. Mungos! …treat…werewolves…worse…animals…never…same again."

Remus couldn't quite understand what was being said, only that they seemed to be discussing him and whether to send him away or not. He didn't think that he was that bad, then again he couldn't feel anything and he was barely capable of hearing things; perhaps he was in extremely bad shape…even for a full-moon. He wasn't sure when the voices had left or even how long he had been here, all he could feel was the nothingness which consumed him.

Madam Pomfrey's POV:

Madam Pomfrey was beside herself with worry for the boy who had lain immobile on the hospital bed for nearly five days, she had healed what she could yet he still wouldn't wake up. She had been astonished to see how thin he was, and she couldn't figure out why some of his wounds had taken much longer than normal to heal…it was as though something was preventing them from healing. She was also a little confused and perhaps concerned when neither James or Sirius came back to see their friend, yet Lily and Severus had been here every day and hardly left his side when they weren't in classes.

When Albus Dumbledore had entered the hospital wing that morning, she was a bit surprised and then taken aback when he asked to see the boy and then wanted to know his progress—as he hadn't asked something like that before. The boy looked peaceful as he lay there, she thought that she saw his hand twitch, yet she couldn't be sure that it had.

"All of his wounds have healed, but the boy won't wake, headmaster. At this point, I am not sure if he ever will wake-up."

"Perhaps we should send him to St. Mungos, it may be better for him and they might be able to help him if he ever wakes up. We cannot keep him here long term if he doesn't wake."

"I will not send Remus Lupin to St. Mungos! You know how horribly they treat werewolves, they are worse than animals in the eyes of those healers; he would never be the same again. I will not send the boy there Dumbledore, I won't do it."

The boy had chosen that moment to make his presence known, his hand twitched more noticeably than before and she had perhaps been a little too smug in her glance at the headmaster as he noticed and then swept out of the hospital wing. As he left, she could have sworn that she had seen the twinkle back in his eyes. Pomfrey moved quickly to Lupin's side, watching for any further movement; this meant that he was in there and that he would wake up, hopefully soon.

Normal POV:

It was a few days before Remus was able to leave the hospital wing, he felt better than he had in a while, and was grateful that the matron had healed him and not let him get sent to St. Mungos. He still couldn't speak and the burning hadn't stopped. Remus no longer looked as though he was little more than a walking skeleton and the matron had fixed his hand as well as his leg, hopefully this meant that he could run faster now if he needed to. He didn't think that Madam Pomfrey knew that he couldn't speak or she probably would have fixed that too, but at the moment he didn't mind. He was leaving with Severus and Lily and even though he was a monster, he was going to be with people who were concerned about him and wanted him around.

As they walked down the corridor to the library, an owl approached them and hovered in front of Remus. After he took the bit of parchment from the bird and watched it fly away, he unfurled it and read the short message.

Help is coming, you will be safe again.

Remus didn't recognize the handwriting, however he felt a bit of hope that had come from the message, hope that someone else knew and didn't want to hurt him like Peter did. He continued walking with the other two towards the library—to help him catch up on his homework—wondering who wanted to help, and dreading seeing Peter again that night.

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