"Easy, easy..." Sirius and Draco were helping Remus into the house, he clutching their hands as he slowly dragged his feet.
"I'll get a blanket!" Harry announced before zooming off down the hall.
"Ow, Ow!" as Remus sat down on the couch, he began to howl in pain, literally.
"Shh, Rem. It's okay, it's okay..." Sirius sat next to him, brushing his hair back and setting a little reassuring kiss to his friend's temple.
"Hurts, Siri..." Remus moaned, looking at him with tears in his eyes.
"I know, but in a few weeks you'll be back to normal and up and about, just like always. I promise."
A few weeks later showed little change in Remus' health. His wounds that he had inflicted on himself while a werewolf were still open and bleeding, even though they were tightly bandaged. He caught a harsh, dry cough that refused to go away. And there were days outside of his full moon cycle that he would wake up screaming because his body was trying to transform.
Sirius, Harry, and Draco hurried him back to Mrs. Pomfrey the first time this happened. Remaining calm and gentle while dealing with Remus, she helped him to drink a potion that helped him to change back in a matter of minutes. She then bandaged him up and gave him a potion to help him sleep. After he was soundly asleep and comfortable, she ushered the three other people in the room out into the hall so that they could talk without disturbing her patient.
"Remus is very ill," she began gravely head bowed, "He's getting older, and as a werewolf gets older, his body tries to maintain a certain appearance. Sometimes a werewolf can appear as a human, but more often than not, the wolf inside them tries to become permanent. I'm afraid Remus is in the latter category..." when she looked up at her patient's pack, she had tears swimming in her eyes. All three of Remus' small family knew that whenever she looked at the kind man, she saw only a very frightened eleven-year-old that had come to her with wounds he did not remember ever getting that morning after his first full moon at Hogwarts.
"I-Is there anything we can do, Poppy?" Sirius asked hesitantly, his throat tight as Harry began to sob in Draco's arms, having been lifted from his wheelchair by the young man as soon as the news was revealed.
"I-I am not sure. There are so few werewolves now, most of them having been killed years ago by mobs if they were found out. Most lore and literature was burned then too. Muggles, and even witches and wizards, tried to wipe any memory of them many, many years ago by trying to get rid of any trace of them. There could be a cure or a way to help but the chances of finding it are very slim-"
"Stop it!" Harry suddenly shrieked, turning to face everyone with tears wet and coursing down his cheeks in unending rivers, "Remus won't die! He won't! H-he c-can't!"
Sirius reached for his pup and Harry was given to him, "We don't know what will happen to him, Pup. Poppy is just telling us the possibilities so that we're prepared. It's okay, go ahead and cry. Shh, shh..."
Harry turned toward the closed door of the room that held one of his guardians and cried out, "Remus!"
AN: So a little explanation is needed here. I was not writing this story because I had no inspiration to, nor any idea what to do next. Please know that I never forgot about this story and that this now finished chapter has been sitting in my Doc Manager forever.
As to the sudden burst of inspiration and sad tone of this chapter, our eight-year-old family dog had lymphoma and we had to put him down on the fifth of February. There is already another puppy at my parents' house that was a birthday present for my brother, and I am already looking at the possible dog breeds to get, but I am not ready to get another dog just yet. Also, I was recently asked if I was going to continue this story.
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and can forgive me for the very, very long wait and sad tone!