Lupa glanced at the clock on the wall of her brother's room as she waited for Remus to come back from his bath. It was only eight-thirty. There was still some time before Remus needed to be in bed. Glancing once more at the door, Lupa went back to straightening up the room. It had been a mess recently because Remus had decided that he wanted his room redone. Lupa had just had her room repainted and Remus, wanting to do everything she did, had asked if they could do his. So they had painted it blue and put down matching carpet. The result was rather soothing.
Lupa placed the last book on the bookshelf by the bed as the door opened. Four year old Remus came running in, hair still damp from his bath, and threw himself at his sister. Lupa staggered slightly as she caught him. She was stronger than most of the girls in the village but Remus was rather heavy for a four year old and he had been running at full speed.
"Merlin Remus." She groaned. "You're getting too big for that."
"Nuh uh." Remus said, looking up at her with a childish smile.
Lupa laughed. "Come on little one. Time for bed."
Remus ran towards his bed and leaped into the middle, making a mess of the covers. He dove underneath them looking for his favorite stuffed dog. Paddy had been a fourth birthday gift for Remus and the little boy fell in love with the shaggy black dog and hadn't slept without it since.
"Lu, Paddy's not here." Remus said, popping up with a look of worry on his face. "I think I left him outside."
Lupa glanced involuntarily at the dark window next to her brother's bed. Remus wasn't going to like what she had to say.
"You'll have to wait until morning to get him." She said gently.
"But, Paddy." Remus said, eyes filling with tears as he turned to look out his window.
"I'm sorry Remus. But you know it's not safe to go outside after dark. There are many dangerous things out there waiting to hurt people. We'll go get him first thing in the morning."
Remus still looked as if he was going to cry but was doing his best to hold the tears back.
"Before breakfast?" He asked.
"Before breakfast." Lupa promised. "Now, do you want to read the next chapter?"
Remus shook his head and burrowed deep into the covers. Lupa sighed and placed a kiss on his forehead, fingers brushing away the few tears that had slipped free. She got up from the bed and blew out the candle before she crossed the room to the door. She closed the door softly behind her and went to take her own bath.
"Is everything alright Miss?" A female servant named Emily asked as Lupa began to undress.
Lupa sighed. "Fine Emily. Remus left Paddy outside and he was very upset when I told him we couldn't get Paddy tonight."
Emily nodded sympathetically. "It must have been hard to tell him no."
"It was." Lupa agreed as she slipped into the bath.
The eight year old managed to put it out of her mind for the next fifteen minutes. A warm bath never failed to relax her and make her forget whatever was on her mind. More than once she had fallen asleep in the warm water and was awoken some time later by a servant who had noticed that she had not emerged from the bath.
As she was buttoning up her night gown, Emily burst into the bathroom without knocking.
"Miss Lupa, your brother. He's not in his bed." The servant gasped.
Lupa forgot about the last button and hurried out of the bathroom, down the hall, and into Remus' room. A quick glance at the bed showed her that the covers were pulled back and that Remus was not in them. Hoping that Remus had simply wandered off and was hiding somewhere in the house, she turned to give orders to the servants to search the entire house from top to bottom. Before she could speak, a high pitched scream tore through the air. Lupa felt her heart stop. She knew that it was Remus who had screamed. Without a word to the servants, she tore out of the room, down the stairs and out the back door.
There she came to a sudden stop. Her mind was having trouble comprehending the sight in front of her and she had frozen for a moment. Remus was on the ground, Paddy a few feet from his outstretched hand, a large wolf standing over him. Its mouth and claws were stained red with Remus' blood from the wounds she could see marring his body from this distance.
It was no ordinary wolf. Regular wolves rarely ventured this close to the village and were incapable of entering a fenced in yard.
In that single moment that Lupa stood frozen, the wolf raised its head and looked straight at her. Their eyes met for just a second before the wolf turn and ran towards the forest.
Like a spell had been broken, Lupa unfroze and ran to Remus.
"Remus!" She shouted, dropping to the ground next to her brother, ignoring the blood stained grass.
"Remus! Remus, open your eyes! Please, Remus, you have to open your eyes."
Remus didn't open his eyes. He didn't even stir. Lupa could hear the servants running up behind her but her attention was focused solely on her brother. He was bleeding heavily from multiple wounds all over his chest. There was also a bite on one shoulder.
"Open your eyes Remus." Lupa begged. "Open your eyes for me."
Five incredibly long minutes later, Remus opened his eyes slightly. Lupa let out a sob of relief upon seeing that her brother was still alive. She had to suppress the desire to gather Remus into her arms and never let him go. He was still bleeding and his wounds needed tending to immediately.
"John, come here." She commanded.
The servant came immediately to her side.
"Carefully pick Remus up and carry him to his room."
John didn't hesitate as he bent down and gently gathered the small, fragile body of his young master in his arms. Under Lupa's watchful eye, he stood up and walked swiftly to the back door. The other servants parted silently for them, eyes fixed on motionless form of Remus.
Lupa remained a step behind the servant as he carried her brother up to his room and gently laid the boy on the bed. He stepped back and Lupa immediately took his spot. Her hand rested lightly on top of Remus' for a minute before she spoke.
"Send for the doctor immediately. Tell him to come at once."
Lupa's voice was flat and emotionless as she spoke. Her eyes never once waved from her brother and were it not for the fact that you could see her shoulders rise and fall slightly with each breath you would have thought she was a statue.
The servants broke up and went back to whatever they were doing before Remus had screamed. One went for the doctor while Emily remained in the room. She hesitantly approached the bed and her voice was soft when she spoke, as if she was afraid of startling Lupa.
"Miss Lupa?" She said hesitantly. "I brought this in from outside. I thought master Remus might want this."
She placed the soft cuddly form of Paddy next to Remus' shoulder. Lupa said nothing but her the corners of her mouth flickered up for a brief second before returning to the thin line.
Deciding not to push it, Emily retreated to the door and sat down in the chair there. John had brought another chair to the bed and Lupa had finally sat down in it, her hand never leaving Remus'.
What seemed like an eternity later, but was really only ten minutes, the servant returned with the village doctor.
The doctor took one look at the child and ordered everyone from the room. Emily had to take Lupa by the arm and guide her to her room. Lupa sat down in a chair and fixed her eyes on the door.
AN: Good news, my train of thought seems to be moving along again and Sirius has consented to behave himself for a while. Which probably means until tomorrow. Oh well, I'll take what I can get.
I am going to be getting back in the habit of answering reviews but that will have to wait until tomorrow. I have a paper that needs finishing first.
Thanks to a couple of reviews, I will be going back and adding a little more to the last chapter and chapter 2. The reviews got me thinking and now I have more to add. See what happens when you review?
I will also be updating chapter 13 of Outcasts so that it matches up with this chapter.
Well, I think that's all I have to say. Oh yeah. Aren't you all glad Outcasts came first and you know that Remus lives?