Chapter 10 - Sometimes life offers a candle to push back the darkness.
December 21, 2005

Three quick pops accompanied their apparations as Remus Lupin, Severus Snape, and Eglantine Price landed at the wizarding customs site outside of Lima. The sun was far warmer than he was expecting, even warmer than the Mediterranean island he'd just left, and Remus quickly shed his jumper, draping it over his arm.

His whirlwind decision to accompany the pair had followed the unexpected arrival of Lina and Sirius at the holiday let he and his wife, Artemis, had gotten for Christmas. The couple had planned to join them in another day or two, but Daisy suggested in her rather scattered, roundabout way that Remus travel to Lima to check in on Gareth. Remus gathered that she thought his own experience with depression could help her brother, and he had to admit with a mix of relief and guilt that he wasn't opposed to getting a break from the chaos of traveling with three young children. So Lina and Sirius had arrived to help Artemis with the kids until they could all meet up for Christmas.

Yawning, he transferred his carrying case to his other hand as Severus handled the customs paperwork and asked for access to a portkey to reach Barranca, the Spanish sliding quickly and easily off his tongue. He was dressed in his customary black, trousers and a button down shirt with a dark green tie and waistcoat, cloak draped over his arm. Remus would never say it, but he suspected the man was showing off just a bit in front of Eglantine, demonstrating he was a well-traveled man of the world. The brunette witch seemed charmed enough by it as she leaned close and murmured, "You make Spanish sound so…enticing. Maybe we should spend New Year's here on our way back from America." Remus feigned a cough to cover his snort of laughter, and Severus' face looked as if he couldn't decide whether to be smug or worried when he turned away from the customs official. They were an odd pair, the calculating Headmaster and the chipper American potions professor. Even now she was wearing a pair of blue jeans with little brown boots and a pink top under some sort of fuzzy white cardigan that looked almost ridiculous beside Severus' meticulous wardrobe.

"Do Gareth and Deirdre know what time to expect us?" Remus asked, as the three of them stepped over to a series of portkeys for towns in the interior of the country.

"No idea," Severus replied. They placed their hands on a moss covered fishing net and were momentarily silenced as they whirled away with the portkey. "Lina informed me that a car should be here to collect us," he finished as they floated down the last several feet to a deserted stretch of beach.

Before he'd finished speaking a sleek, black car skidded up to them, throwing a shower of sand from its wheels. "Buenas días!" called a young, dark haired man, climbing from the driver's seat. "I am Ramón. Señora Lopez asked me to drive you to el jefe's house. There are protective spells that make it impossible for you to apparate any closer." The three introduced themselves and Ramón loaded their bags into the boot of the car. Severus and Eglantine took seats in the back, and Remus joined Ramón up front. He'd been about to ask Ramón his opinion on Gareth's situation when Severus launched into a stream of Spanish. Ramón glanced at him in the rear-view mirror and then began his own flood of words, his face stern. Remus looked over his shoulder and saw a dictation quill levitating in the air beside Severus, scribbling madly across a piece of parchment. He wasn't wasting any time getting the details then.

Ramón talked steadily the entire half hour drive, only occasionally interrupted by a question from Severus. They pulled up in front of the small Spanish style house. It was a beautiful little place, Remus thought, climbing from the car. There were climbing vines of bright flowers over the stucco walls, and the breeze off the ocean was delicious. He grabbed his bag from the car and headed toward the front door as a roar and crash echoed from somewhere inside.

He immediately dropped the bag and grabbed his wand, the others doing the same as they stared at the front door. Ramón took a deep breath and grabbed the door handle, yanking it open. Remus wasn't sure what to expect as they quietly entered, but it looked like there had been a significant struggle in the living room. Furniture was overturned and a painting hung torn and crooked on the far wall, but there was no sign of Gareth or Deirdre. Then a sudden pounding came from upstairs and Deirdre's voice screamed hoarsely, "Argh! Gareth, you absolute bloody tosser! Wake up and let me out of here right now!" A few more choice phrases followed.

Wand at the ready, Remus silently indicated that he was heading up the stairs. Ramón gestured for Eglantine to follow him, and then nodded to Severus that they should move towards the kitchen. Remus was on high alert, listening for anything to indicate where Gareth or an intruder might be. The pounding was coming from the far end of the upstairs hall. Deciding that Deirdre was at least safe for the moment, he opened the door to the first room and peered inside. It was rather a shambles, the bed rumpled and half off the frame, a chair knocked over and books scattered. Gareth's bedroom, he presumed, but it was empty. He came back to the hallway as Eglantine backed out of the second room. "This room is a mess, but empty," he whispered. "What's in there?"

"Office," she whispered back. "Not a mess, but also empty."

Remus lowered his wand and moved toward Deirdre's room. "Alohomora," he murmured, casting the unlocking spell. He heard the lock click and then the door was flung open, Deirdre shoving him hard as she burst out of the room.

"Gareth, so help me I am going to take that wand and shove it so far up your—" She, froze and stared up at him. Her blouse and skirt were wrinkled and her hair a wild nest around her shoulders, as if she'd just woken up or been involved in her own fight. "Remus?" she gasped, stepping back, her eyes wide. "What are you doing here? Where's Gareth?"

"We haven't seen him," he said, shaking his head. "We just arrived and the house is a tip. What happened?"

"He sleepwalks," she said, pushing him to the side and moving past, hurrying down the stairs. "Sometimes he's fighting people in his sleep," she called back over her shoulder.

"Yes, Lina said that, but this…" Remus' voice trailed off as he again surveyed the ransacked living room from the top of the stairs.

"Poor guy. It looks pretty bad," Eglantine muttered behind him.

Deirdre was already through the kitchen and out the back door when he and Eglantine met up with Severus and Ramón. "Deirdre doesn't know where Gareth is," Remus told them. He let out a long breath and ran a hand through his hair. "We'd better split up and search the grounds. If he's still sleepwalking—"

A sharp howl echoed from the patio, and Remus jumped in his skin, the sound triggering a host of memories of fighting with his pack, of the scent of blood and fire. That howl wasn't a greeting or a warning. It was fear and grief. He gave his head a shake and then raced through the door after Deirdre, hearing Ramón cry out something in Spanish behind him. Deirdre had transformed and was tearing across the stretch of beach to the water, where a dark golden shape was being rolled and pushed by the waves just off shore. She leaped into the water, paddling towards it.

Remus' wand flashed, cutting swiftly through the air and seizing the figure out of the sea. He levitated it towards him, depositing it on the beach. Deirdre splashed out after it, whining and nosing the unresponsive, sodden werewolf. Remus winced and muttered a curse as he dropped down beside them, the movement jarring his knee. He'd been injured by a feral werewolf in the war, and the leg never had been quite right since then. "Ennervate," he said sharply, aiming his wand at Gareth's head. The werewolf jerked and scrambled to its feet, shaking its head dazedly. Then it gave several terrific coughs, spewing seawater.

Gareth transformed back and stumbled, sinking down onto the sand, his breathing raspy. Deirdre transformed as well, grabbing Gareth's shoulders and shaking him. "What the bloody hell is the matter with you?!" she half shouted, half gasped. "You could have—" With a sob she flung her arms around him, and held him, weeping. Gareth simply sat there, his face stunned. After a moment he slowly wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer and burying his face in her shoulder.

Remus scrubbed a hand over his face. He hadn't felt adrenaline coursing like that since the war ended. If they hadn't come…if Deirdre had still been locked in that room… He let out a long breath and looked back toward the house. Now what on earth was happening there? Severus had Ramón's wand and was holding him off with his own. The young man was speaking rapidly in Spanish, waving his arms about, with Severus interjecting sharp retorts, his face furious.

Eglantine crossed the beach towards them. "Need a hand up?" she said cheerfully, extending her own towards him. Remus grasped it and huffed a laugh as she hauled him up. "I don't know about you, but I could use a cup of tea," she added, turning towards the kids. She flicked her wand towards them with a drying spell. "And you'll probably want to shower and change. Salt water still feels icky even after you're dry."

The pair pulled away from each other and clambered to their feet, Deirdre's eyes were red and her cheeks blotchy. She turned away from all of them and immediately headed back towards the house. Gareth took a shaky breath and ran a hand through his hair. "Thank you," he said in a low voice to Remus. "I don't know how I got out here…I…" his voice trailed off and he hung his head.

Remus clapped him on the shoulder and ducked his head slightly to look into Gareth's eyes. "I've had close calls myself and needed rescuing," he said with a smile. "I'm just glad we were here in time."

Gareth nodded and drew in another breath. "I'll, uh, go get cleaned up. You're welcome to make tea or food or whatever if the kitchen's usable…"

His voice trailed away again and Eglantine laid a hand on his arm. "We're fine," she said brightly. "You get showered and put on some comfy clothes and we'll figure out some breakfast."

Gareth nodded again and began to trudge back to the house. Remus watched as he reached Severus and Ramón and started to say something. He couldn't catch the words, but Ramón shook his head and stepped away from him, his face creased in a confused frown. Gareth gave a sort of helpless shrug and walked inside.

Dusting as much sand as he could off his clothes, Remus followed Eglantine up to the house. "Right," she said, clapping her hands together, "Remus, you and Ramón can bring in the luggage we all dropped out front and Severus can help me whip up some breakfast. Then when Gareth and Deirdre are back down here we will debrief and consider our next steps."

Remus nodded, relieved she'd taken charge, and gestured to Ramón to lead the way. The young man looked at Severus as if to ask for his wand back, and apparently thought better of it. He shook his head, muttered something under his breath in Spanish, and stalked off through the house. The two of them gathered the bags and brought them into the living room, and then Remus began quietly putting the room back to rights. He didn't know exactly how things were supposed to go, but he repaired all that he could see, righting furniture, and straightening things up. Ramón had sunk into one of the armchairs, staring blankly at the floor. "You didn't know, did you?" Remus finally asked quietly, sitting on the sofa across from him. "That we were werewolves?"

"You are like them?" Ramón asked, looking up at him in surprise. He blew out a breath and shook his head. "The man in black took my wand because I…I was shocked. I do not know if I would have fought them. But I might have." He made a helpless gesture. "Are all of you…los lobizóns?"

"No. The other two are very well respected potioneers. They came to see if they could help Gareth. And we aren't like typical werewolves. We were healed many years ago. We can still transform, but are not a danger to anyone."

Ramón was about to reply when Gareth started down the stairs. Wearing an old pair of jeans and a t-shirt from one of Isabel's numerous tours, he looked more like a scared kid than the head of a multimillion dollar international company. He swallowed and came over to them. "I probably should have told you—" he began apologetically, but Ramón shook his head.

"I understand why you did not, Jefe."

Gareth shoved his hands in his pockets, and looked down at the floor. "You've been there with me through everything, I just… Nobody else knows. Someone erased all memories of us, to give us a chance to start over. So the wolf…it felt like the one part of me that hadn't been consumed by the company, by Peru and this new version of my life. Does that make sense?"

"Yes," Ramón said firmly. "And I think it was wise. If Valentina had known…" he sighed and shook his head. "I hate to think of what she would have tried to do to you." He clapped Gareth on the shoulder and grinned. "I take your secret to my grave, Jefe. And I am sorry if last night at the bar made your nightmares worse." He shoved his hands in his pockets and gave Gareth a sheepish sort of grin. "I asked Raul to…como se dice coquetea? Flit? Flirt? Is that the word? I thought you needed a little push to be honest with la señorita. I can see the way you look at her." He pulled his hands out and held them up in surrender. "But I will leave things alone. There is much more happening with you than I thought."

Gareth huffed and shook his head. "Let's get something to eat. We'll pretend last night never even happened."

The two young men went into the kitchen and Remus noticed Deirdre standing at the top of the landing, her hair wet and leaving spots on the green jumper she was wearing. "Waiting for them to leave before you came down?" he guessed with a smile.

She nodded and slowly made her way down. The tears had started falling before she reached him. "Been a trying few days, has it?" he asked softly, putting an arm around her shoulder as he would his own daughter. During the war Remus had worked covertly with Deirdre's pack, and she saw him as her last link with the people who had, for all intents and purposes, been her parents.

Sniffing, she finally pulled away and rubbed her eyes. "I cocked it all up. I thought I could help. I thought I could wake him up and interrupt the dreams, help talk him through what was happening so we could maybe understand how it all started…but yesterday we just wound up shouting terrible things at each other. And we both apologized, but…" Her face paled and then flushed, reflecting a sort of confused horror. "He made tea," she said slowly, "when we got home last night. And he was…distant, lost in his own head. He must have slipped something in the tea, or used a spell or something, because the next thing I remember was waking up in my room. The door was locked and I could hear him…" She closed her eyes, a solitary tear tracing its way down her cheek. "I tried to yell and pound on the door to get him to wake up, but…" She took a shuddering breath and glanced quickly at Remus before looking away. "What if he did it on purpose?" she whispered. "What if he meant to…to harm himself? I asked him that," she went on quickly, as though to try and talk herself out of the idea. "I asked if he had thought about harming himself or others and he said no…He said not recently," she corrected herself. "But what if…what if all the things I said pushed him to…to—"

She broke down into silent, quaking sobs, and Remus led her over to the sofa, sitting beside her and fishing a handkerchief out of his pocket. "Deirdre, listen to me," he said in a low, firm voice, pressing the handkerchief into her hand. "Those months I was with your pack, I thought about…more than thought about, I seriously considered ending it all. And I promise you that anyone else's voice is not nearly as loud or compelling as the one in your own head. Do you understand? You came here to try and help. He knows that. Even in a moment of frustration, you can't possibly have said anything so terrible that it would have pushed him over that edge. And I truly don't think that's even what happened. He looked completely stunned and confused when he came to. I think this was a case of him fighting people in his sleep, like you said. It was just a terrible misfortune that took him into the water. He even said he didn't know how he'd gotten out there. But thankfully, we were here. And that goes to show how desperately he needs help."

She took several deep, shaky breaths and wiped her eyes again. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely." He sat silently for a moment, debating his next choice of words. "Deirdre," he finally said soberly, "this was too much for you to handle on your own, and may well get worse before it gets better. If things feel too…raw to deal with him like this, we would understand if you'd rather go home."

She stared down at her lap. He could see her jaw tense and shift before she looked up and shook her head. "I'll stay. He's not…designed to be alone. He's a bit lost without people to look out for."

Remus leaned back on the sofa, considering her words. There was a wisdom to them, and courage. "Well done," he nodded, patting her shoulder. "Now, we've been a part of their pack for a long time. What do these Americans always do in times of trial?"

"Eat," she said dryly. "That's their answer for everything — make lots of food and gather everyone together to sort out whatever's going on."

Remus chuckled. "But is that so terrible?"

She managed a smile, though it was a little strained. "I suppose I could do with a brew."

"Too right. After all, isn't tea our own solution to everything?"