Chapter 3
Luna woke up in the middle of the night. She had this itch all over, like she didn't fit into her skin. She sat up and noticed that she was sweating too. She breathed heavily and got out of her bed. She stood up but didn't get far before she had to support herself to the nearest bedpost because her legs were shaking so violently. As she looked down at the floor, she noticed a beam of light coming from behind the curtains and then it struck her. Tonight was the full moon.
Panic crawled through Luna's body. What if Dumbledore had been wrong? What if she was turning? … What if she was turning right here? She looked around her dormitory and suddenly the fear for her friends took over. She got out of the dormitory and stumbled down the stairs. No one was up, so the common room was completely empty. She got through it and out of the doorway.
It took a while for Luna to reach Dumbledore's office. The gargoyle eyed her carefully and asked for a password. Luna breathed heavily and looked at it. "Please. Let me in. It is really important." She swayed dangerously and placed a hand at the wall to support her. The gargoyle looked skeptical. "Please." She repeated.
The gargoyle jumped aside, still eying her. Luna got up the stairs as fast as she could, and knocked the door to the office. "Yes?" Dumbledore's voice answered from behind the door and Luna opened it and stumbled inside. Dumbledore eyed her from behind his desk. She had a hand on the doorframe so she wouldn't fall.
"Professor. I think something is wrong with me."
Luna had never seen anyone get up of a chair and across a room that fast. Within two seconds, Professor Dumbledore was at her side, and had a hand on her forehead. He frowned lightly and pulled her lower eyelid a little down so that he could see her in the eye. The last thing he did was to find her pulse.
He seemed relieved, though still very concerned. "You're not transforming." He seemed to be lost in thinking for a while and then said; "Miss Lovegood I would like you to come with me." He reached out his arm, probably for support Luna thought, but then she felt herself getting apparated. Because Luna wasn't at all felling good in the first place, the first thing she did when they appeared, was to bent over and vomit.
She began shaking harder and she felt two hands on both of her upper arms to help support her. She straightened up noticing her surroundings. She was outside somewhere. Hogwarts was nowhere to be seen, so Luna figured they must've apparated quite a long way away. Dumbledore led her forward and down some stairs. The first room they entered had a heavy metal door as the only thing in the room. Dumbledore opened it and led her down the end of a short hall. It had three doors, all matching the first door. One on both sides of the hall and one at the end wall. Behind the door on the right a very muffled scream was heard that made Luna catch her breath. She knew that voice.
"Professor? Is that-""Yes." He just answered, interrupting the rest of the question. He opened the door on the left and led Luna inside. It was not a very big room. There were no windows and the only interior was a bed pushed up against the end wall. Dumbledore gently placed her sitting on the bed and once again checked her eyes and her pulse.
"Miss Lovegood. I would like you to stay here for the rest of the night. Do you have your wand on you?" Luna shook her head. She had left it in her dormitory. Dumbledore nodded in approval. "Good." He said. "I don't think you are going to transform, but because you are reacting as you are, I think we cannot be too careful." Luna nodded and looked down. Dumbledore gave her a reinsuring pad on the shoulder. "I am going to have to lock the door. For your own safety, of course." Luna just nodded once more. "I hope you have a… pleasant night." He said and walked out the room closing the metal door and locking it.
She didn't transform that night. All of the other things got worse though. She was freezing but at the same time sweating. The shaking got worse. At one point, Luna was shaking so much that she placed herself in the corner of the room, getting support from both walls and the floor so she didn't fell over. And then finally, the itch. It was itching all over and Luna did her best not to give in and scratch because she was not sure is she would stop if she first started.
It was easier said than done though, and after a while she just couldn't restrain herself anymore. She scratched slowly at the beginning, but then it was like something took over and she couldn't control it any more. The scratching became more violent and nail marks began to form on her body as she scratched. Blood drops began to form from the marks, but still Luna didn't stop, she just couldn't! She continued until her body was filled with marks all over, most of them bleeding. Then suddenly it felt as the itch was being lifted from her and left her with a lot of pain and the realization of what she had just done to herself.
Luna felt tears on their way and pushed herself deeper into to the corner. She got her breathing under control and pulled her knees up, leaning her chin on them and holding her arms around her legs. She buried her head in her knees and started crying silently, still shaking quite a bit.
She had no idea how long she sat like that, but muffled sound of someone opening a door outside made her look up. Voices to muffled for her to hear was talking outside, and then the lock to her room clicked and the door opened.
Luna hadn't noticed how dark the room she was in was before the door was opened and bright light filled the room, making her squint her eyes.
Dumbledore entered the room and walked over to her. He looked at her concerned. "How are you feeling Miss Lovegood?" Luna was about to speak but instead started crying and just shook her head. Dumbledore's never ending reinsuring hand was on her shoulder while he held out his other to help her get up. She took it and got on her feet. He supported her like he had when she had arrived, one hand on both of her arms and helped her get out of the room. They got out of the hall and walked into the third room. It looked kind of like the hospital wing at Hogwarts, only smaller. In the end of the room there was a cabinet with a lot of similar looking potions. Luna was thrilled to see that there were windows in the roof, letting sunlight in. There were two beds, one of the beds already occupied with a pale looking Professor Lupin that seemed to be in a deep sleep.
Dumbledore led her to the other bed and got her to lie down rather quickly. He then got two potions from the cabinet and handed them to Luna. "This one will help your healing," he gestured the potion in the light blue bottle, "And that one will help you sleep." He gestured the one in the green bottle. Luna nodded and drank them both quickly. It wasn't long before she felt herself getting too tired to keep her eyes open.
Lupin POV
Lupin woke and groaned at the familiar pain all over his body. He sighed and rolled over on his side. On the nightstand there was a potion that Lupin quickly recognized as a healing potion. He smiled and drank the potion with ease. Almost immediately he felt some of the pain vanishing. He had no idea what time it was, but he was guessing sometime in the afternoon by the way the sunlight was entering the small infirmary.
It had been a good decision to build this place. He and Dumbledore had built it in the last month, so that there wouldn't be any risk of him hurting a student again. Hurting Luna again. The memory was torture to Remus. Especially after he'd seen her afterwards. She looked changed, and Remus had found himself thinking thoughts about her in a way that a teacher should never think of his students. His thoughts were interrupted and he froze as he heard something move in the room. He gently sat up.
Remus gasped.
Luna. She was lying in the other bed in the room, covered with a bunch of red marks that he identified as nail marks. At first he was relieved by it not looking that bad, but then noticed the empty healing potion bottle at her nightstand proving that it had indeed been much worse.
He threw his legs over the side of the bed and got up, slowly walking over to Luna's side. Her angelic features were not dampened by the fact that red marks was all over her face and neck. Actually, she looked rather peaceful. He removed a stray of hair from her face just as she had done to him all of those days ago. He didn't pull the hand away but daringly placed it at her cheek, not able to get his eyes away from her face. Her eyelids suddenly fluttered and opened to reveal her beautiful blue eyes. Remus didn't know what to do, so he just stood there; hand on her cheek and eyes looking directly into hers. Nothing happened except them looking each other in the eyes until Luna slowly moved her hand and laid it on top of Remus'. Remus considered how easy it would be. Just leaning in and kiss those soft lips. Before he could stop himself, he was leaning forward. Just a few centimeters more. And then he would feel those lips…
The sound of a door opening was heard in the other end of the hall and the two of them jumped from each other like two teenagers that had just been discovered by a father. Remus returned to his bed and sat down just in time as the door swung open and Dumbledore entered, smiling kindly at both of them. "Good evening Remus. Feeling better?" Remus nodded. "Yes Albus. Thank you for putting out the healing potion." Albus smiled at him. "You are most welcome Remus." He said and then turned to Luna. He conjured a chair and sat down beside her, smiling calmingly. "How are you feeling Luna?" Luna sat up, and Dumbledore helped settle the pillows behind her so that she could sit comfortably. "I am okay." She said. The sound of her broken voice made Remus' heart skip a beat. "It doesn't hurt that much anymore." She continued. "Good. Do you remember what happened last night?" Dumbledore asked. Luna looked down at her lap and answered; "Yes. I remember everything." Dumbledore nodded in approval. "That is good. That means you didn't transform." Remus bit his lip not to let out the breath he had been holding. Luna smiled sadly at Dumbledore. "But, I would, with your permission of course, like to test your blood for the lycanthropy infection." Luna nodded and stretched out the arm closest to Dumbledore. Dumbledore pulled out his wand and a small bottle, and pointed his wand against one of the blood veins in Lunas arm. "Dessangius" he said clearly and then blood floated out of Lunas skin, and up into the air where it floated until Dumbledore collected it in the bottle.
He then pointed his wand against the clear bottle and said "Sciolupus". The blood began to stir and then changed color to a very dark purple. Dumbledore frowned, studying it for a while, holding it up against the sunlight, and then turned his gaze back to Luna who had begun to look rather nervous. "This was rather odd." He uttered, not disguising his surprise. "What is, Sir?" Luna asked, looking at the bottle that was now standing at her nightstand. "You see Luna, the spell I just casted is designed to reveal the lycanthropy infection. If the blood has the infection, the blood turns black. If it doesn't, the blood simply stirs a little, not changing color at all. Yours seems to have become purple." He said the last a little too enthusiastic, in Remus' opinion. "What does that mean?" Luna asked with a voice that was trembling a little from being nervous. Dumbledore smiled comforting and answered; "My guess would be that you are somewhere in between." Luna frowned. Dumbledore continued; "When Professor Lupin hurt you, some of the bacteria that carries some of the infection, got into your system. But, Professor Lupin did not bite you, and since the lycanthropy infection is mainly carried by saliva, you didn't get the full version sort of speak. You won't transform into a wolf, but you will have these… seizures. We could call you, as muggles says, a light-version of a werewolf." He finished chuckling at his joke. Remus drew a hand over his face as Dumbledore uttered the last sentence. Light-version? This was hardly the time to joke with it. Nonetheless, when Remus looked at Luna she what seemed to be a genuine smile.
"It is some terrible marks you have gotten yourself there." Dumbledore said cheeringly. "Shouldn't I go get you another potion so they doesn't stay there, hmm?" Before she could answer Dumbledore was already on his feet and had gotten a potion from the cabinet.
Luna drank it without any protests and let out a small sigh as she studied the marks on her arm fading and going away.
"Oh well. You two must be hungry. Why don't we go back to the castle and get you something to eat?" Dumbledore said looking from Luna to Lupin. Remus just nodded. He had giving up Dumbledore's bad timing long ago. He stood up from the bed and awaited Luna.
She seemed to be nervous about something again. She hesitantly pulled the covers aside, and put her legs over the side. She slowly reached the floor with one of her feet. Then the other. She supported herself against the bed as she tryingly put all of her weight on them. The legs gave in under her. Before Dumbledore could do anything, Remus was at her side. If it was anything like some of his first transformations, she wouldn't be able to walk on her own in a few days. He placed her arm around his neck, holding on to her with one of his hands and gently placed his other arm around her waist. Luna looked at him, making eye contact.
Dumbledore cleared his throat. Making both of them look at him. "Very good. Let's go, shall we?" he said and smiled knowingly at both of them.
All the way out of the underground place, Remus had to use all of his will to concentrate on keeping them in balance and not at the warm body that was leaned closely up against his.