Ch. 14 - The Gash and the Good Guess

1975: Fifth Year, End of First Term

Emmeline had never really bat an eye at Remus Lupin before fifth year. He seemed nice enough she supposed, but his friends were rather irritating - James Potter in particular. Lily didn't like James at all, but she and Remus were both prefects and she said he was kind. Emmeline reckoned he just needed new friends.

Emmeline had never really bat an eye at Remus Lupin before fifth year. He was fairly quiet, after all - always reading or scribbling something down. It was a bit concerning though that Remus always managed to hurt himself. Nobody else ever talked about it since he wore long sleeves most of the time, but she still noticed the cuts and bruises; especially when he would reach for things and his sleeve would come up a little. Emmeline reckoned he was clumsy.

Emmeline had never really bat an eye at Remus Lupin before fifth year. Sure, she'd noticed that he did well in class (well, except maybe potions). She found it odd that he was absent a lot, but their professors never really seemed to care. Emmeline reckoned he had health issues or something.

Emmeline had never really bat an eye at Remus Lupin before fifth year. Until the morning she found him bleeding by the lake.

Some mornings, before most students got up for breakfast, Emmeline would take toast and a rasher of bacon down to the lake to finish homework or read before class. It was often difficult to find time to be by oneself at boarding school since every space was shared. On this particular December morning, there was a fresh, powdery snow all over the grounds - too enchanting to pass up. Emmeline jumped out of bed and quickly got dressed before the temptation to retreat back under her warm blanket thwarted her plans. She threw on her school robes and scarf then sped down the stairs as if the snow could melt away at any second. After making a quick detour to grab her takeaway breakfast from the great hall, she bounded outside into the courtyard where her boots prompted a satisfying crunch from the snow. The cold highland air nipped at her cheeks, but she didn't care; she pressed on anyway, curious to see if the lake had frozen over during the night. Winter was her favorite season.

When Emmeline reached the shore of the lake, she was horrified to find what appeared to be a trail of blood staining the snow on the bank. She dropped her book bag and breakfast, and was about to run back when she heard someone groaning from the tree line.

With a trembling hand, she drew her wand and called out to the voice in the woods. "Who's there?"

"Over here," moaned a strained voice.

Fighting the urge to flee, she slowly crept toward the voice. She was scandalized by the sight of a completely naked Remus Lupin, crouching behind a pine tree, shivering violently, and on top of all that, bleeding from a large laceration on his calf.

"Oh my word!" she exclaimed, ripping her cloak off and kneeling to fling it around his shoulders, then doing the same with the scarf. He looked as though he had been out there for far too long. "What on earth happened to you?!"

Normally, Remus was a master of coming up with believable excuses, but in this moment he was far too cold. "I...f-fell…" he stuttered through chattering teeth. Which was half true.

Emmeline didn't have time to find this suspicious, as her mind was racing to figure out how best to handle the situation. She wasn't sure he could walk in his state, and apparition was out of the question since a) she did not know how and b) it was impossible on school grounds. She could run back to the castle to get help, but she was afraid he might become hypothermic in her absence, if he wasn't already.

"Moony!" a boy's voice bellowed from some distance behind her. Reinforcements! How fortunate!

"Help! Over here!" Emmeline was neither pleased nor surprised when the search party turned out to be Peter Pettigrew with two of her Quidditch compatriots, James Potter and Sirius Black. They brought their galloping to a halt and stared at her with dropped jaws.

"What are you doing just standing there?! Hurry!" she cried, throwing her arms around Remus to keep him warm. They exchanged apprehensive looks before continuing on towards their friend and the unexpected girl with him.

"Here," said Sirius, reaching into his rucksack and producing some clothing and shoes for Remus. Emmeline stood and turned sheepishly away as Remus rose unsteadily to his feet. His frigid bones shed off the cloak and attempted to dress himself, but James had to help him since he was shaking so much.

"What the hell are you lot playing at, making people streak through the snow?! It's inhumane!" she scolded, still turned around.

"We...we were p-playing a game! A streaking game!" Peter stuttered.

"Yes it was a stupid game, we'll never do it again," added Sirius.

Once she'd allotted Remus enough time to get dressed, Emmeline turned back around ready to reprimand them some more when she noticed the dark circles under all their eyes. "Hang on...were you four out all night?"

The four boys exchanged panicked looks.

"Why were you out here all night?" she asked again, suspicious of their antics.

"Look, we don't have time to explain ourselves to you, because in case you haven't noticed, he's freezing," James snapped as he pulled one of Remus' arms over his shoulder. He motioned for Sirius to do the same on the other side.

Emmeline could see that Remus' leg was bleeding through the trousers they'd brought him. "Wait, don't. He shouldn't walk on that," she advised, pointing to the injury.

"Right then, you run and fetch Madame Pomfrey for us," James instructed.

Emmeline's nostrils flared in anger. "EXCUSE me?"

"You're probably the fastest, I don't know!"

"Absolutely not. I'm not going to be the one to explain THIS to Madame Pomfrey. One of YOU can go get her."

"Fine! Padfoot, it'll be faster if you're the one to HOUND her down," James said through his teeth. Having understood some sort of code, Sirius nodded and bolted back up through the trees.

Even with the clothing and the cloak, Remus continued to shiver. "S'okay mate, we'll be inside soon," James assured him as he set him down on a nearby boulder and tightened the scarf around him.

"We need to do something about his leg," Emmeline urged. "I don't know a spell for wounds like that."

James scanned his surroundings for the materials available to him. "Wormtail, off with your scarf."

"What?" Peter yelped, protectively clutching it.

"Just- hand it over!"

Peter reluctantly did as he was told, and James proceeded to tie the garment tightly around Remus' leg below his knee.

"AGH!"

"Sorry," he mumbled.

As he finished this, Emmeline took off her jacket and jumper so that she was only in her school button-up, then crawled under the cloak and hugged Remus tightly from the side. James and Peter just gawked at her, perturbed.

"Give me your wrists," she ordered, removing her knit gloves.

"W-What are you doing?" Remus stammered, shocked by both the body heat and the female presence in close proximity.

"What does it look like? I'm trying to defrost you. Now give me your wrists before you go into shock." She didn't wait for permission before taking his hands and slipping her gloves onto them. Next, she pushed up his sleeves and placed one of her palms on each of Remus' wrists to warm up his circulation. There were so many scars…

After a few moments, she tried interrogating them again: "So what WERE you doing out all night?"

James shot her a dirty look. "None of your business, Vance."

"Well I daresay it is NOW."

"Just keep your mouth shut when Madame Pomfrey gets here, got it?"

"How about a 'thank you for helping my friend' instead?"

"Thank you," Remus muttered next to her.

Her gaze softened as she turned back to him.

"You're welcome."

…

"You made me late for class."

Remus was reading a book in solitude on the wooden bridge when Emmeline turned up out of nowhere and startled him.

He marked his page and closed the book. "...Sorry, what?"

"I said you made me late for class. You know, before Christmas holiday. At the lake."

"Oh...I'm...sorry about that."

"It's alright."

He couldn't think of the next thing he should say, as he hadn't yet discerned her motive for being there and didn't have much experience conversing with women (except Lily of course, but she was non-threatening). Girls didn't often approach him unless he was with Sirius or James, and usually they did all the talking. He was further confused when she sat down across from him, and the splitting, post-transformation headache didn't help matters.

"...I bet you're wondering why I'm just bringing it up now."

"...A bit, yeah…"

"...I didn't see you at dinner last night."

Uh-oh.

Remus quickly selected one of the excuses he had on file. "I was in detention." He nervously tugged down the sleeves of his sweater to mask his latest cuts and bruises.

"...Were Potter, Black, and Pettigrew with you? I didn't see them in the common room all evening."

"Yep," he shot back, his voice cracking.

"...Do you guys get detention every month?"

No no no no no.

Remus hauled his sore skeleton up from his seat and grabbed his book bag. "Sor-sorry, but I've actually got to run," he stuttered, panic creeping into his voice. Emmeline stood up and blocked his way before he could make his escape. "Emmeline, please-"

"Do you have lycanthropy?" she blurted out.

Remus' whole body went numb.

His heart started pounding. He could see the headlines now: "Werewolf Student Expelled from Hogwarts." He had been so lucky for four and a half years, but now they were going to send him away. Dumbledore wouldn't be able to get him out of this one. He was never going to be a wizard. He was never going to see his friends again.

"And your friends, they wait up to make sure you're okay or something?"

If he'd learned the memory charm, he'd've taken his wand out right then and performed it on her without remorse. Since this was not an option, the only thing left to do was try to persuade her to keep his secret, though it seemed futile. "...Emmeline, you have to understand-"

"My uncle was a werewolf, too."

He stopped mid-sentence and looked at her, dumbfounded. "What?"

"My mum's brother, he was bitten. When I was a kid he stayed with us for a few months here and there when he couldn't find work. There was always one night a month mum had to lock him up in the cellar, and he came out the next day with bruises like yours. I didn't know he was sick, not even after we covered the subject in Defense. Mum didn't tell me about his disease until he passed away last year," she explained, wide-eyed.

Remus had to take a few seconds to process what she'd just said. He had never met anybody who knew another werewolf personally.

"Oh, I promise I won't tell anybody, honest," she continued, offering him her hand. "I just wanted to know."

Remus felt like he should have been suspicious of such a promise, but the pretty girl seemed genuine. He gradually reached towards her outstretched hand and shook it weakly. "You're not...you're not scared of me?"

Emmeline scoffed. "Of you? Hardly. I just had to be sure Potter and Black weren't the ones beating the snot out of you each month," she joked, pointing to a fresh cut just under his eyebrow. Remus was too flabbergasted to laugh. She attempted to make him comfortable again by changing the subject. "I love Woolf, by the way."

"You...sorry?"

"...Virginia Woolf. Your book," she clarified, gesturing to the novel still in his hands. "I like stream of consciousness narratives. Although, maybe you'd be better off with James Joyce or something. Virginia's surname feels a bit too on-the-nose for your situation, wouldn't you agree?"

Not only was he presently unable to appreciate her clever joke, he was also incapable of recalling anything he had ever read, and continued to ogle at her. Emmeline took the hint.

"...So...I guess I'll see you at dinner then…" With that, she turned and started making her way back towards the castle.

"...W-wait, Emmeline?"

She turned back around. "Yes?"

"...How old was he when he died? Your uncle…"

"...You're going to be okay, Lupin."

She left him speechless where he stood.

Emmeline reckoned he was relieved.