"You're never free. There are people who hold us back, and when they're gone, there are ghosts. And if, by chance, we manage to get rid of the ghosts, there are still the regrets…"

Unknown

Raphaël stared at Remus' body, without taking his eyes off him. His vision was blurred, and he sensed a commotion around him, but all he could hear was a thud and shadows moving. He didn't know what to do, he was lost. He couldn't understand what had happened. No matter how many times he replayed the events in his head, he couldn't understand Remi's gesture. He felt himself being lifted up, but he couldn't see the person who was taking him away from the scene. Unconsciously, he snuggled up to him, crying his heart out, but he had no idea what was going on around him. He knew he was being transported, the person holding him had almost driven him into a wall, but he didn't know where, even when he was laid down, he had no idea where he was. He could still see shadows moving around him, and the thudding in his ears grew louder and louder. Someone forced his mouth open, and he felt a bitter liquid running down his throat, then darkness.

Remus, while Raphaël had stayed with Remi, had run as fast as he could for help, and had come across Sirius and Regulus, who were chatting away from the crowd. He rushed to warn them of the situation, before the three of them headed back towards the abandoned hall. The two brothers rushed to Remus and carefully undid the silver bonds, so as not to injure the werewolf any more than necessary. Silver was lethal to him, and they could already see that it had begun to infiltrate his skin, but not knowing its precise effects, they couldn't say exactly what the consequences would be.

"Is he breathing? Is his heart beating?"

"He's not breathing. I think he went into cardiac arrest."

"Can we move him?

"I don't know, Moony. I'm just not sure."

"He needs to be resuscitate as soon as possible."

"But I don't know any spells to resuscitate him! I've never had to resuscitate anyone!"

"Give him CPR!"

"I don't know how! And neither does Regulus. They don't teach that in school! You do it!"

"Sirius, his body is infected with silver. I can't touch him. I'll guide you. You take off his shirt, put your hands on his chest. No, higher, at sternum level. And you press down. And you do this a few times. Not too slowly, but not too quickly so that the blood has time to return to the heart. You start, and when you feel yourself getting tired, Regulus takes over."

Sirius began to do as Remus told him, while Regulus carefully observed what his brother was doing, so as to be able to reproduce his gestures when his turn came. Remus, once Sirius had got into the rhythm, sent a patronus to James, asking him to join him as soon as possible, along with Madam Pomfrey, and if possible Helena.

The minutes seemed to last for hours, as much for the brothers taking turns as for Remus, who couldn't have been more helpful. He had tried to talk to Raphaël, but the young man was in shock, and no longer seemed aware of the world around him.

Time passed in slow motion, and the two brothers were exhausted, not sure if what they were doing was worth the effort. James eventually joined them, accompanied by Madame Pomfrey. The nurse took over, and tried to revive Remus with medical spells, while the three marauders wondered what had happened. They hadn't had time to do it before, and judging by the piles of books, it wasn't trivial. But they didn't really have time to dwell on it any longer, as the nurse asked for help. James hadn't found Hermione, he'd sent her a patronus, but he didn't know what happened next. He thought it odd that she hadn't come as soon as possible, given Remi's critical condition.

"Is he going to survive?"

"I don't know yet," said the nurse. "I've managed to stabilize his condition for now, but his heart is still very weak, and he's infected with silver. I'm not hiding the fact that I'm not very optimistic. If he makes it through the night... The next forty-eight hours will be decisive."

"What can we do?"

"Nothing more. I'll try to find out about the effects of silver on werewolves. We all know they're very harmful, even deadly, but I don't know if there's a way to counter them. You'll have to help me get him down to the infirmary, I can't use a levitation spell, his condition is too fragile."

Madam Pomfrey conjured up a stretcher; they were rarely used in the magical world, as spells were most often used to transport the sick. Cautiously, James, Sirius and Regulus took hold of Remus and placed him on the stretcher, before making sure he was properly strapped in and in no danger of falling off. They then began the slow descent to the infirmary, under the watchful eye of the nurse. Remus had gently taken Raphaël into his arms, and the young man seemed still in shock, cut off from the world around him. His body was tense, his fists clenched, but as soon as he found himself in Remus' arms, he seemed to relax slightly and snuggled up against Remus' chest. His werewolf strength enabled him to lift the boy with ease. At last, they all arrived in the infirmary, and Remus laid Raphaël on a bed opposite Remi's. He grabbed a vial of dreamless sleep potion and forced Raphaël to drink it. He hoped it would give the young man a few hours' sleep.

The nurse went off to her office, looking for books that could help her. She was very pessimistic about Remus' survival, but she hadn't shared her distress with the others. She had told them that the next few hours would be decisive, and that was true, but his condition was far more critical than she had let on. Silver was lethal for werewolves, as every wizard knew. In fact, many of them kept a large quantity of silver knives at home, in case a werewolf attacked them. And given the amount of silver on Remus' bonds, it was a miracle he was still alive. Madam Pomfrey hated failing to save a patient, but she had no illusions. She knew what werewolves inspired in the witch population. There was no way anyone would have researched how to cure a silver wound. Werewolves were not appreciated. Why would anyone want to find a way to save them? And if that's all it took... As well as being mortally wounded in silver, Remus' body was also infested with dark magic. The nurse didn't know how it was possible to have so much of it in his body, but it didn't look good to her.

The three marauders and Regulus sat on the beds next to Remus', watching him in silence. None of them understood what had happened.

"How could he have done this? How could he think that killing himself was a good idea? Shit, it's not like we didn't lose enough people! What the hell was he thinking?"

"Remus... Calm down."

"You want me to calm down? He wanted to ruin his life and you want me to calm down? We've been watching our friends die one by one for years! We even lost Lily! And he's very much alive, and he wants to commit suicide, for no reason at all!"

"Please don't use that word."

"Can you think of another one? Trying to die, I'm sorry, but that's called suicide! I'm going to see Helena. She has a right to know."

The wizard quickly left the room, it was far too stuffy for him, and he didn't understand. How could Remi have thought this was a solution? How could he have even thought of doing this? And why now? Remus really hoped someone could help him understand what was going on. He was terribly angry with Remi, but he was also frightened. He knew best what silver could do to werewolves, he'd seen it all before, and he knew there was no way he was going to get away with it. He hadn't told the others, it was pointless, they'd find out soon enough.

While Remus searched the castle for Hermione, James, Sirius and Regulus remained by Remi's body. The three of them understood his anger, but there were some things they weren't ready to hear, and the word "suicide" was one of them.

"Maybe we should wash him, don't you think? Remove the blood at least."

Sirius complied and helped his brother while James went off to collect Harry, whom he had left in the care of Alice and Frank. The two brothers mopped up the dried blood from Remus's face and body in an uneasy silence, which was brutally broken when Remus began to stir and his heartbeat quickened. He was moving around a lot, and they were struggling to keep him in bed, so they shouted the name of Madame Pomfrey, who came running at once before stopping for half a second and analyzing the situation.

"What the hell?"

"His heart gives out again. We have to resuscitate him."

"But why? What's happened since then?"

"His condition is critical, Sirius. His chances of recovery are slim. His body is infected with silver! The silver is seeping into every one of his vital organs, and to make matters worse, he has far too much dark magic in him. It's hardly surprising that his condition varies. Step aside, I'll take care of it."

And the nurse did again what she'd done less than an hour before: she tried to resuscitate Remus, using numerous spells, ignoring her surroundings and focusing solely on the body in front of her. Sirius and Regulus watched helplessly. James had returned in the meantime, with a sleeping Harry in his arms, and fortunately for him. He was too young to see such a spectacle unfold before his eyes.
Remus, meanwhile, had just found Helena, after a long search through the castle. He understood why she hadn't come sooner. A transparent barrier spread out around her, and Remus knew that the witch had isolated herself from the others, cutting off all sound coming from outside, but also communications like a patronus. She'd chosen the wrong day to isolate herself. Remus passed through the barrier without too much difficulty, and the witch turned sharply as she heard the intruder. She was reassured to see that it was Remus, but was still surprised to see him.

"What are you doing here?"

"I've been looking for you for hours. It's Remi... It's..."

Before Remus could finish his sentence, Hermione had leapt to her feet and started down the stairs. She was heading for the infirmary, which was the only place he could be if something had happened to him. Remus followed her without any problem, but he would have preferred to explain calmly what had happened, rather than her discovering Remi directly in a hospital bed, pale and covered in blood, in a state close to death.

Hermione was far from imagining what had really happened, and as she passed through the doors of the infirmary, her anxiety soared. First she saw Raphaël on a hospital bed, seemingly asleep, then Harry in James's arms, both a little apart, then Sirius and Regulus, their hands covered in blood, and visible anguish on their faces. Madam Pomfrey was busying herself around a motionless body, and Hermione had to use all her self-control not to scream. Remus was in a pitiful state. He had large red marks across his torso, the rest of his body so white you wondered if he was still alive. His veins stood out on his skin, making him look like a corpse.

Hermione, having regained awareness of her surroundings, rushed towards Remus, but Sirius stopped her in time, she tried to break free from his grip, but when she did, Regulus caught her.

"Let go of me! What's the matter with you? Let go of me!"

"Helena, you can't touch him, he's been infected by silver."

"No, it's impossible! He's always been very vigilant about that, he could never be so careless as to mistake silver for steel!"

"Helena, calm down. You see these marks on his chest. It was silver that caused them. We saw the ties. We undid them. It's silver."

"No, we... No!"

The witch's tears had begun to flow without her realizing it. She hadn't cried in a long time, and she was no longer in control of her body. Like everyone else, she knew the havoc that silver wreaked on werewolves. She slowly let herself fall to the ground, and Regulus prevented her from collapsing completely. She couldn't see how he'd gotten tangled up in silver ties.

"What happened to him?"

"We don't know. Remus and Raphaël found him in a deserted room. We... I don't know if I'm in the best position to tell you... We think he tried to... to... to end it all."

Hermione could do nothing but collapse again. The words stuck in her throat. It was inconceivable. How could Remus? Hermione couldn't imagine that there would be any reason for Remus to abandon her to her fate. They'd been together for so many years now. How could he do this to her? How could he abandon her? And he'd taken money. As if dying wasn't enough, he wanted to die in pain.

She learned that he'd already had two cardiac arrests and that Madam Pomfrey had just managed to stabilize him again, but she'd made it clear that everything could change at any moment.

"He's not going to die, I forbid it! He has no right to do this to me. I'm going to find a solution, but he won't."

None of the people present had the courage to tell her that there was no solution, that the silver in a werewolf's body could not be extracted, and that no one had given the matter enough thought to try and find a solution.

Hermione pondered all the solutions before her eyes, but there was no method that seemed to fit the need of the situation. She tried to recall all the wounds she'd had to deal with, but nothing came to her. She was so concentrated in her thoughts that she didn't see the person on the opposite bed move.

"What's a horcrux?"

Everyone turned to Raphaël all at once. Remus couldn't understand how he could be awake after the dose of dreamless sleep potion he'd given him. The others were surprised by his question, how did he know about horcruxes when the few who did knew only talked about them when they were sure they were alone.

"Where did you hear that word?"

"What's a horcrux?"

"It's dark magic. Tell me where you learned this word!"

"I suspected as much. Tell me what it is and then I'll answer you."

Hermione ran her hands over her face and thought about what to say. She knew Raphaël wouldn't give up until he knew what it was all about, he was too stubborn. So she began to explain that it was one of the most horrifying of all black magic procedures, that the person who created horcruxes wanted to become immortal, and separated his soul to do so. She calmly explained that this was what Voldemort had done, but that they had found a way to destroy them, and that he shouldn't worry.

Without her understanding why, Raphaël burst into tears and Hermione rushed to him, but Regulus was quicker, and took him in his arms. Raphaël immediately broke away from her touch and walked trembling to Remus' bed. The adults tried to stop him, telling him that his body was still infected with dark magic, and that it was not good for someone his age to come into contact with such magic. But Raphaël didn't listen to them; he sat down on the bed, still crying without being able to stop himself.

"Why did you do it? Why didn't you say anything? I didn't care. I didn't even know what it was, why didn't you tell me?"

And Hermione understood. As soon as Raphaël's words reached her brain, she knew. She hadn't wanted it to be that, but deep down inside, she understood. She began to tremble and had to sit down on the nearest bed to keep from collapsing to the floor.

"He left a note, didn't he? Give it to me, please."

Raphaël unclenched his fist and a crumpled piece of paper fell from it. Regulus seized it, and immediately handed it to Hermione, as if he'd burned it. She unfolded it slowly, feeling everyone's gaze on her, but trying to get past it. She quickly read the few words Remus had left. It was nothing compared to what he'd done. It simply said that he was a horcrux. The letter was addressed to her, but it could very well not have been; it revealed nothing more. Hermione folded it up and stuffed it into her pocket, still the center of attention. She didn't say a word, she was incapable of doing so. Words were incapable of transcribing her emotions. They were all in contradiction, and it seemed they were all mixed up. Except joy. Joy wasn't there. Her eyes fell on Remus' lifeless body, but she didn't move in his direction.

She was thinking. She thought she'd reviewed all the healing methods she knew, but she hadn't yet studied Muggle methods. It was unlikely that a Muggle method would work on its own, but with the help of a few spells, it was quite possible.

"Helena. Helena!"

Hermione gasped when she heard Regulus calling her name. She turned to him, unhappy to have been interrupted in her train of thought, but tried not to show it.

"The way you healed me, it was a miracle. Can't you use it for Remi?"

"Phoenix tears don't react well with silver. It would only spread the silver through his body faster, which we're going to avoid."

Hermione retreated into her silence, thinking again about the potential solutions open to her. No one had dared interrupt her and only Regulus had moved, approaching Raphaël to pull him away from Remus. The silence was heavy, everyone afraid that Remus would go into cardiac arrest again, and that this time he wouldn't escape. But they knew it would happen sooner or later.

"But yes…"

A whisper escaped Hermione's lips, but they all heard it, but they couldn't hear any more, as the witch had already rushed off to Madam Pomfrey office, without giving them any further explanation. She returned a few minutes later, accompanied by the nurse. She summoned equipment that was unknown to the other wizards. She executed her gestures with precision, taking care of the technical part and leaving Madame Pomfrey to touch Remus.

"Helena... What are you doing? "

"Dialysis. "

"What's that?"

"Isn't it for people with kidney failure? "

"Yes, Remus. My grandfather made it many years ago. But the principle may work here. It's a method of purifying the blood. This is what Rem' needs. Two solutions will be separated by a membrane, on one side, I hope, Rem's clean blood, and on the other, the silver-contaminated solution. Madame Pomfrey knows a spell to attract money, and with this machine combined with the spell, the blood should no longer be contaminated. But of course it's risky, since he loses blood during the process, even if it's re-injected. And there may be a change in heart rate, but his is already low, and this is the only solution. But the process is going to take longer, normally it's two hours, but this is going to be much longer."

Hermione had spoken in one breath, without stopping, so they hadn't understood half of what she'd just told them. The machine in front of them seemed very technical, and Hermione's hazardous explanations hadn't helped them much.

Hermione was stressed, she was afraid her idea wouldn't work, but she knew that even if it did work, which was unlikely, but she was still hopeful, she still had to find a solution to Remus' damaged organs. First his heart and brain, then his lungs, and all the rest of his vital organs. She was afraid of failing, and the others could sense this, so they didn't ask her for more details. Hermione was so focused on her task that she didn't hear Regulus calling her several times, and it was only when the nurse took over that she realized the wizard was speaking to her.

"You say the process is risky, even more so if he's losing blood. Shouldn't we give him a blood transfusion? Just until we're absolutely sure there's no more money in his blood. He's already lost quite a bit, so I don't know if it's wise to withdraw blood without giving him any, given his condition."

"I'm just not sure. I don't know what to do. "

Hermione looked helpless, hoping with all her heart that her project would work, but she didn't seem to be able to do anything anymore, so it was James who took charge.

"We'll do what Regulus said, that's a good idea. We need to find her blood type, and someone who's compatible with her. "

The wizard had barely had time to finish his sentence when Remus had already sat down on the nearest bed and summoned a syringe, which he was about to stick into his arm.

"What are you doing, Remus?"

"We're both B-, we're both compatible. There's no point wasting time running tests."

"How do you know? "

"I can't remember. He must have told me in the course of a conversation, probably when Regulus was in the infirmary."

Sirius looked suspicious, but didn't insist any further, as they all had more urgent things to do than to get into each other's heads. They were all thinking of a solution to help Remi, without Helena needing to be there, the witch looked so distraught, it had been a long time since they'd seen her in such a state. She didn't know what to do to help Remi anymore, and she wasn't even hiding it.
Madam Pomfrey was in charge of coordinating the dialysis, as well as transfusing Remus' blood into that of his double. They were all tired, both morally and physically, but all wanted to make sure Remus' condition was stable before going to sleep. Although the nurse told them there was nothing to do but wait, they all decided to stay around Remus' bed, worried for their friend, and not wanting to leave Helena to endure all this alone.