FIC: Once in a Blue Moon - Ch 56 (WIP)
Start of the story, including full ratings, warnings, pairings etc. Here
Summary for the new readers watching my journal: An AU Remus/Sirius story set in a world where an eleven year old werewolf named Remus Lupin never got his Hogwarts invitation, and where Sirius Black was not accepted by the rest of the Gryffindors. The two outcasts form a friendship despite overwhelming odds, but will their friendship survive when Sirius finds himself falling in love with his best friend...his friend who wants nothing more than to be 'normal', despite the passion he feels for the heir to the Noble House of Black.
Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognise. J K Rowling retains all copyright.
Into Hell (PG15)
Sirius returned to the basement with the Headmaster as fast as he could. He could smell the blood before he saw it, and he stopped dead in his tracks when he reached the bottom the stairs.
Moony was howling and Sirius shivered at the sound.
Romulus was hovering over Charlene, reaching out to try to staunch the flow of blood, but without a body the dark red fluid merely ran through his fingers.
Dumbledore was standing at the back of him, and Sirius felt himself being moved physically out of the way. Madam Pomfrey, whom Dumbledore had sent a house elf for was right behind them, too.
“Is she?” Sirius whispered, unable to bring himself to say the actual word.
Suddenly the wolf began to move, twisting and twitching on the ground. He had seen Remus turn back enough times to realise that that was what was happening now. There were only two differences. Charlene wasn’t making a sound as her bones snapped and reformed, and it was less than an hour after moonrise - far too soon for any werewolf to be changing back to their human form.
Dumbledore turned to Sirius and rested a hand on his shoulder. “Sirius, get your wand out and point it at Remus. I need you to get ready to stun him.”
“What?” Sirius asked.
“Don’t argue,” Dumbledore said firmly. “Romulus, I need you to bring the barrier down and no arguments from you either.”
“I thought the barrier couldn’t come down until sunrise?” Sirius asked.
“We modified it after the earthquake,” Dumbledore told him quickly. “Romulus, now!”
Sirius kept his wand trained on Moony and the moment the barrier was down he screamed out the stunning spell, sending Moony flying across the room. It took a second spell to knock him out, and Dumbledore told him to watch for any movement and be ready to stun him again if he started to wake up.
“Why is she turning back?” Sirius asked as Madam Pomfrey hurriedly tended Charlene. He had a dreadful feeling that he already knew the answer to his question, but for some reason he had to hear the words out loud.
“She’s dead,” Dumbledore replied. “But it might not be too late to revive her.”
The transformation back to human was almost complete, and the last of the fur was retracting back under Charlene’s skin.
“Can you save her?” Sirius asked, stepping closer to see how bad her injuries were.
“Stand back,” Dumbledore ordered. “If we manage to bring her back, she’ll turn back into a wolf. And the transformation is painful enough that she may regain consciousness. Even injured, she is would still be extremely dangerous.”
Sirius noticed that Dumbledore had his own wand trained on Charlene, and realised that both he and Madam Pomfrey were close enough to be in grave danger if the Healer was successful in her work. Suddenly he had a new feeling of respect for the school Healer, and he realised how much she cared for the students and how little thanks she got for her efforts.
He kept one eye on Moony and another on Madam Pomfrey, until finally the Healer looked up at Dumbledore and shook her head sadly.
“Her parents will need to be notified,” Dumbledore said. “And the Ministry as well.”
Sirius could feel the blood rushing through his veins and he felt the world swaying beneath his feet. “Professor?” he whispered.
“I’m sorry,” Dumbledore said. “But there’s nothing that can be done.”
Sirius watched as Dumbledore pulled out his wand and sent a silvery Patronus to Professor McGonagall.
“She will notify the Grahams family,” he said. “I’ll go to the Ministry myself.”
“I’ll take Charlene back to the castle,” Madam Pomfrey said, conjuring a stretcher beneath the body and levitating it up the stairs. She followed up behind it.
“Romulus, you had better put the barrier back up,” Dumbledore advised quietly after he had cleaned the floor with a quick wave of his wand.
“Wait a minute,” Sirius interrupted, hurrying across the floor to the inside of the cage.
“Sirius, get back here,” Romulus said.
Sirius shook his head stubbornly. “No. I’ll stun him if he wakes up before sunrise, but I’m not leaving him.”
Dumbledore looked at him sternly and shook his own head. “Mr Black, I must insist you return to this side of the barrier. I cannot possibly leave you here inside the cage.”
“You don’t have a choice,” Sirius replied.
“I don’t want to force you to come back here,” Dumbledore told him, making it clear that he would if he had to.
“I’m not leaving him on his own.”
“You don’t have to, but you can watch him from outside the cage, just as you always have.”
“I’m not leaving him,” Sirius repeated, shaking his head again and sitting down on the floor next to the unconscious werewolf. He reached out to stroke the fur and turned his wand from the werewolf to the Headmaster. He knew he wouldn’t have a hope in a duel against Albus Dumbledore, but he wanted to make his point.
Suddenly, Romulus was floating between Sirius and Dumbledore. “I’ll watch over them and make sure no one else is hurt tonight.”
“There is nothing you can do if Remus wakes,” Dumbledore pointed out. “I cannot allow a student to remain inside the cage. It was my decision to allow the two werewolves to spend the night in the same cage that has resulted in the loss of Miss Grahams; I will not risk another student’s life.”
Romulus nodded and turned to Sirius. “I’ll bring down the barrier as soon as Remus turns back. There won’t be any need to wait for sunrise. Now, go back to the other side and let me raise it again.”
Sirius reluctantly stood up and walked back across the room, finally releasing Dumbledore to leave and contact the Ministry.
“Are you all right?” Romulus asked quietly.
Sirius shook his head. “I don’t know. What’s going to happen to Remus?”
“I’m not sure,” Romulus admitted. “From the moment Charlene was registered as a werewolf she was classed as half human. It kind of makes things complicated.”
“Complicated how?”
“If Charlene had died the night she was bitten, Remus would almost certainly have been brought before the Wizengamot to stand trial for murder, because she was a human.”
“But now?”
“Now, I don’t know.” Romulus shook his head and frowned. “She’s a werewolf herself, or she was. That makes her only half human, but her parents may insist he stands trial anyway. From what I saw of them at St. Mungo’s, I think that is pretty likely.”
“But it wasn’t his fault.”
“It doesn’t matter. He’s a werewolf and he’s just killed someone. I think perhaps my baby brother’s luck has finally run out.”
Sirius sat down and rested his head against the stone wall. His eyes kept drifting to the patch of new plaster, spoiling the mural he had painted back in his fourth year.
“What are you going to do in the morning?” Romulus asked quietly.
Sirius shrugged.
“You can’t take on the Ministry when they come to fetch him,” Romulus told him. “He’ll have to go with them.”
“I’ll go with him.”
“They won’t let you.”
“I can’t let him go through whatever awaits him alone.”
“He doesn’t deserve you, you know that, right?”
Sirius shrugged again. “I love him.”
“I know. Only someone who loves him so completely would put up with all of his crap.”
“I think he’s worth it,” Sirius replied with a small smile.
They didn’t talk much after that, and a short while later the sounds of movement came from upstairs.
“That’ll be Dumbledore and the men from the Ministry,” Romulus said, going upstairs to check. He returned to confirm that it was, and that they were going to wait upstairs until morning.
“I’m surprised they don’t want to just come down here and kill him right now,” Sirius muttered, glaring up the stairs.
“They have procedures they have to go through. They’ll take him into custody in the morning.”
Sirius nodded and turned back to Moony. He wondered whether the werewolf had any idea at all as to what had happened this night, or whether it would be up to him to break the news to Remus. He had a horrible feeling that it was going to be the latter.
Finally, the unconscious werewolf began to twitch on the stone floor, low whines accompanying every movement.
“Bring the barrier down,” Sirius said.
“Not yet.”
“But he’s turning back.”
“He could still scratch you or bite you if you get too close.”
“But-”
“Just a few minutes,” Romulus interrupted, and they were probably the longest few minutes of Sirius’s life.
Eventually, Romulus judged it safe and brought the barrier down once more. Remus was still part wolf, but the teeth and claws were gone by the time Sirius sank to the floor beside him.
“Sirius?” Remus asked in a husky whisper.
“I’m here,” Sirius replied, pulling him into his arms as he tried to ease the pain of the transformation.
Remus grabbed his arm as a jolt of pain shot through him. Sirius knew that his arm would be bruised from the grip, but he said nothing as Remus rode out the wave of agony.
His eyes were closed and Sirius stroked his hair continually until the last of the tremors had passed.
“Last night was a tough one,” Remus croaked. “How’s Charlie?”
Sirius looked across at Romulus. How could he tell Remus what had happened?
“Sirius?” rasped Remus, a note of panic creeping into his voice as he looked around the room. “Where’s Charlie?”
Sirius’s voice had deserted him and he looked at the spot where Charlene had last been. Even though Dumbledore had cleaned the blood from the floor before he had left, Sirius fancied he could still see the dark stain, marring the stone.
Remus tried to pull himself out of Sirius’s arms, but he was not letting him go. “Sirius?” Remus whispered fearfully. “What happened last night?”
“Oh, Remus,” Sirius whispered. “I don’t know how to tell you.”
“I can taste blood again,” Remus said quietly. “I can’t remember what happened, but I can tell it was bad. Is she already in the Hospital Wing? St Mungo’s?”
“I’m not sure where they’ve taken her,” Sirius said. He looked across at Romulus, silently pleading for the ghost to help him out here. Unfortunately, it was clear that Remus’s brother was as reluctant to break his brother’s heart as Sirius was.
“I’d better get cleaned up and head back to the castle,” Remus said. “I hope she’s okay.”
Remus pulled out of Sirius’s arms and looked down at his battered body, sighing at the sight.
Then suddenly Remus looked towards the stairs, clearly having heard a sound that had been too quiet for Sirius to notice. “Who’s upstairs?” Remus asked.
Sirius shot a look to Romulus before turning back to Remus again. “Dumbledore and some people from the Ministry,” he reluctantly replied.
“Dumbledore’s upstairs?” Remus asked. He was quiet for several minutes before he spoke again. “The Ministry aren’t just here to check up on me, are they?”
Sirius shook his head. “I’m sorry, Remus. I’m so sorry.”
Remus drew back from Sirius, scrambling away across the floor, until his back was flush against the wall, and there was nowhere else for him to go. “Sirius?” he whispered.
Sirius moved so that he was sitting beside Remus and put his arm around his shoulders. He could feel the young werewolf shaking, and he knew that it wasn’t because of the chill of the cold Spring morning. “I’m so sorry,” he repeated.
“Is she…?”
“It wasn’t your fault,” Sirius told him.
Remus looked at him, his eyes wide and horrified. “No,” he whispered, shaking his head slowly. “Dumbledore said it would help us to have each other as company. What went wrong?”
“I’m not sure,” Sirius said. “Moony just went for her.”
“You mean I just went for her,” Remus corrected.
“It wasn’t your fault,” Sirius repeated.
“Of course it was my fault,” Remus replied. “If I’d broken up with her sooner, she’d never have been here in the basement the night she was bitten. If I’d broken up with her, she wouldn’t have been a werewolf and would have had no business being in my cage with me.”
“Don’t torture yourself like this,” Sirius told him.
Remus didn’t seem to have heard him, and he drew up his knees and buried his face in them, rocking slightly as he continued to berate himself.
Sirius knew that the men from the Ministry would be waiting for Remus to emerge, and getting ready to come downstairs and take him if he didn’t. His suspicions were confirmed when the door to the basement opened and two strange wizards came down the stairs.
Sirius had been half hoping to see one of the wizards they had met at the Ministry the day after Charlene had been bitten, but unfortunately he didn’t recognise either of them. Instead, the two wizards looked much larger, much fiercer and far less understanding than any that he had met before.
The only bright side to the matter was that at least Remus’s so-called Case Worker wasn’t with them.
“Lupin, you’re coming with us,” the first wizard said, his tone making it clear that he wouldn’t stand for any arguments.
“Can you give us a few minutes?” Sirius asked when it was clear that Remus wasn’t standing up, or giving an indication that he had even heard the wizard.
The wizard shook his head. “Get up, Lupin. Get dressed and come with us.”
“I’ve not healed all his wounds yet,” Sirius pointed out.
“Are any life-threatening?”
“No, at least I don’t think so.”
“Then they can wait until he’s at the Ministry.”
Sirius nodded reluctantly and tried to persuade Remus to stand up. “Come on,” he urged, but Remus was taking no notice of him. His head was still buried in his knees and he was mumbling under his breath.
“Get a move on,” the wizard ordered impatiently. “We’ve not got all day.”
“Can’t you see he’s in shock?” Romulus snapped. “Have some pity, will you?”
“Pity?” the wizard echoed with a harsh laugh. “He’s a werewolf. They’re not capable of showing pity for their victims. Heartless murderers, the lot of ‘em.”
Romulus looked furious, and Sirius had no doubt that if he were there in the flesh then the wizard from the Ministry would have been hexed into the middle of next week long before now.
“Remus,” Sirius urged quietly. “Come on, mate. We’ve got to go to the Ministry.”
Remus still wasn’t moving and so Sirius forcibly dragged him to his feet. Remus winced at the sharp movement, but other than that, he gave no indication that he was even aware of what was happening.
A quick Accio brought Remus’s robes from across the room and Sirius wrapped them around the weary werewolf.
“You can’t come with us,” the wizard told Sirius, when it was clear that he was going to try to do exactly that.
“Are you going to stop me?” Sirius asked coldly. “I’m not leaving him alone with you lot.”
“You don’t have a choice,” the wizard replied. “Stubbins, take the werewolf and I’ll meet you there.”
Stubbins moved forward, but Sirius pulled Remus closer to his side, preventing the wizard from taking one of them without the other.
The first wizard pulled out his wand and pointed it at Sirius. “Now listen here,” he said. “You can either let us take the werewolf, or I can arrest you for obstruction and then take him anyway.”
“It’s okay, Sirius,” Romulus said. “I’ll go with Remus.”
Sirius was reluctant to step back, but it was clear that unless he wanted to fight the two wizards he had no choice. “I’ll come see you as soon as I can,” he told Remus, squeezing his hand and hoping for some sort of a response. Any response would have done, but there was none at all.
Then Stubbins was pulling Remus towards him, dragging him up the stairs and away from him.
Sirius turned to Romulus, to ask him to come and tell him what was happening as soon as he could, but the ghost had already vanished.
The second wizard followed the others up the stairs, leaving Sirius alone in the basement.
He could hear him talking to Dumbledore, but he made no effort to go upstairs and join them. Instead, he leaned against the wall and slowly sank to the floor.
Dumbledore came down to fetch him some time later, but Sirius barely heard a word that the headmaster said to him. All he could think of was Remus, and what he must be going through.
-o-xXx-o-
Remus didn’t take in much of the surroundings when he first arrived at the Ministry of Magic. He was in an area of the Ministry he had never seen before, but instead of looking around the unfamiliar territory, he kept his eyes on the floor and tried not to think about what had happened.
“Ah, good morning, Mr Lupin,” a familiar voice greeted him as he was unceremoniously delivered into a small room containing only a table and two chairs.
Dolores Umbridge was just as he remembered her, right down to the revolting pink cardigan.
“Good morning, Mr Lupin,” Umbridge repeated as Remus sank into the empty seat with a groan of pain.
“Good morning,” Romulus said as he hovered at the back of the room.
Umbridge looked at the ghost with mild distaste. “Well, at least one of you boys appears to have remembered their manners,” she said with disapproval.
Remus chanced a quick glance at his brother and saw that he was not exactly pleased with the woman’s comments.
“I’m his Case Worker,” Umbridge told Romulus.
Remus, thanks to his still slightly sharper hearing, heard Romulus swear under his breath, but thankfully Umbridge didn’t notice.
“The new legislation means that this can all be sorted out right away,” Umbridge explained cheerfully.
“New legislation?” Romulus queried. “What new legislation?”
“Why, the new werewolf legislation, of course,” Umbridge replied. “I’ve already prepared the paperwork for the Wizengamot; it just needs the werewolf to sign it.”
Remus gave the papers a cursory glance, but didn’t reach for the quill that Umbridge was holding out to him.
“What is the new legislation?” Romulus asked. “What does it mean for Remus?”
“It means that we’ll be able to sort this all out within twenty four hours,” Umbridge told him with a wide smile. “The case will be before the Wizengamot this afternoon and the sentence will be carried out tomorrow.”
“What?” Romulus shouted. “We can’t prepare Remus’s case by this afternoon. He’s barely recovered from the full moon; he’s in shock. He needs time!”
“I’m afraid that time is something we just don’t have,” Umbridge said, without a hint of regret.
“Who passed these stupid laws?” Romulus yelled. “You can’t rush things like this. It’s ridiculous. How can we prepare his case in a matter of hours.”
“It was decided that wasting the Wizengamot’s time with the hearings of half-breeds was a drain on the budget. Keeping them in Camps for weeks, sometimes months, it’s really quite impractical.”
“Did you just call my brother a half-breed?” Romulus hissed.
“But he is a half-breed,” Umbridge told him with a smile.
“You’re suppose to be his Case Worker,” Romulus pointed out. “Surely you know that the term half-breed is insulting?”
“I am his Case Worker,” Umbridge replied with another smile. “It’s my job to make sure that this case goes through quickly and smoothly, and that it’s all sorted out without any further unpleasantness.”
“I’ll give you unpleasantness,” Romulus snarled.
“Now, really.” Umbridge shook her head disapprovingly. “I’m here to help.”
“Help who?”
“Why, help everyone to make sure that things go through without any nasty hiccups.”
Umbridge looked at her watch and held out her quill to Remus once again. “No need for ink with this quill, just sign right there.” She pointed to the parchment and gave a smile that she clearly believed to be encouraging, but was actually anything but.
Remus took the quill from her and looked at the first sheet of parchment.
“Remus, don’t sign anything,” Romulus ordered when it was clear that Remus was about to do just that.
“Why not?” Remus asked, speaking for the first time since he had entered the room.
“Because you’ve no idea what you’re signing,” Romulus replied impatiently. “It could be a confession or something.”
“Well, of course it’s a confession,” Umbridge interrupted. “He’s a werewolf.”
“Last night wasn’t his fault. I’ll give evidence as to what happened, and so will Sirius Black, Madam Pomfrey and Albus Dumbledore.”
“Evidence?” Umbridge questioned with a small laugh. “What does the Wizengamot need to hear evidence for? The werewolf bit someone, turned her and then killed her. It’s a very straightforward case.”
“Remus can’t be held responsible for what happened last night.”
“Then who should be held responsible?” Umbridge asked with a small girlish laugh.
“Charlene was a werewolf,” Romulus pointed out. “She was in that cage with Remus of her own free will. No one had any idea this was going to happen. No one wanted this to happen.”
“Nevertheless, it did happen, didn’t it?”
“You can’t-” Romulus began, but his words were cut off by an involuntary cry from Remus.
Remus had dropped the quill and was looking at his left hand with a frown.
“What is it?” Romulus asked.
“It’s a special quill used for confessions,” Umbridge explained. “We have to make sure that Dark Creatures, particularly those that are prone to lying, don’t try to retract their confessions in the hearing. This way we can check the signature on the confession matches the signature on the creature itself.”
“I don’t see how,” Romulus muttered. “It’s already fading. By the time the hearing comes round it’ll have disappeared.”
“Oh, I don’t think so,” Umbridge said with another smile. “The werewolf must sign the confession on every page, and there are a few other tiny little forms that will also require his signature. By the time he’s done them all, the signature will be clear as anything and will last for at least several days. There’s no need to worry about that.”
“Worry about it?” Romulus yelled. “It’s bloody barbaric is what it is!”
Remus, who now that he realised what had happened, had picked up the quill again, gritted his teeth and prepared himself for the stinging pain as he put the quill to the parchment and signed his name in blood. He was already half way through the papers before Romulus stopped shouting at Umbridge and saw what he was doing.
“Remus, stop!” he shouted. “You don’t know what you’re doing; you’re still in shock.”
“I’m doing the right thing,” Remus replied, without looking up from the parchment.
“How the hell is signing your life away, the right thing?”
“I killed Charlie last night,” Remus reminded him. “That’s all that matters, isn’t it?” I killed someone, and I deserve whatever punishment they want to give me.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying. They’re not going to give you a bloody detention or something; they’re going to kill you!”
Remus nodded and turned to the next sheet of parchment. “I know that,” he whispered.
“At least wait until Dumbledore gets here,” Romulus pleaded. “He’ll know what to do.”
“What can he do?” Remus asked, his own voice rising as panic threatened to envelop him once more. “I killed her!”
“But it wasn’t your fault.”
“Then who was to blame?” Remus yelled. “I killed her. I tore her throat out and I can still taste the blood. If I’m not to blame, then who is?”
“Giving up and letting them kill you won’t bring her back!”
“But it’ll stop it from happening again.”
Remus turned back to the parchments and carried on signing his name to the papers, ignoring as best as he could the protestations of his brother.
Umbridge looked delighted in his co-operation, and beamed at him as she gathered the parchments together and hurried from the room, locking the door behind her.
Romulus continued to berate Remus for several more minutes, but now the papers were signed there was little that could be done about it.
“Rom, can I ask you something?” whispered Remus. His gaze was focused on his name, etched into his hand.
“What for?” Romulus snapped. “It’s not like you’ve taken any of my advice so far today.”
“It’s not advice,” Remus explained. “I just wondered if it hurts.”
“Hurts?”
“When you die,” Remus clarified in a broken whisper. “Does it hurt?”
-
Chapter 57
Summary for the new readers watching my journal: An AU Remus/Sirius story set in a world where an eleven year old werewolf named Remus Lupin never got his Hogwarts invitation, and where Sirius Black was not accepted by the rest of the Gryffindors. The two outcasts form a friendship despite overwhelming odds, but will their friendship survive when Sirius finds himself falling in love with his best friend...his friend who wants nothing more than to be 'normal', despite the passion he feels for the heir to the Noble House of Black.
Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognise. J K Rowling retains all copyright.
Into Hell (PG15)
Sirius returned to the basement with the Headmaster as fast as he could. He could smell the blood before he saw it, and he stopped dead in his tracks when he reached the bottom the stairs.
Moony was howling and Sirius shivered at the sound.
Romulus was hovering over Charlene, reaching out to try to staunch the flow of blood, but without a body the dark red fluid merely ran through his fingers.
Dumbledore was standing at the back of him, and Sirius felt himself being moved physically out of the way. Madam Pomfrey, whom Dumbledore had sent a house elf for was right behind them, too.
“Is she?” Sirius whispered, unable to bring himself to say the actual word.
Suddenly the wolf began to move, twisting and twitching on the ground. He had seen Remus turn back enough times to realise that that was what was happening now. There were only two differences. Charlene wasn’t making a sound as her bones snapped and reformed, and it was less than an hour after moonrise - far too soon for any werewolf to be changing back to their human form.
Dumbledore turned to Sirius and rested a hand on his shoulder. “Sirius, get your wand out and point it at Remus. I need you to get ready to stun him.”
“What?” Sirius asked.
“Don’t argue,” Dumbledore said firmly. “Romulus, I need you to bring the barrier down and no arguments from you either.”
“I thought the barrier couldn’t come down until sunrise?” Sirius asked.
“We modified it after the earthquake,” Dumbledore told him quickly. “Romulus, now!”
Sirius kept his wand trained on Moony and the moment the barrier was down he screamed out the stunning spell, sending Moony flying across the room. It took a second spell to knock him out, and Dumbledore told him to watch for any movement and be ready to stun him again if he started to wake up.
“Why is she turning back?” Sirius asked as Madam Pomfrey hurriedly tended Charlene. He had a dreadful feeling that he already knew the answer to his question, but for some reason he had to hear the words out loud.
“She’s dead,” Dumbledore replied. “But it might not be too late to revive her.”
The transformation back to human was almost complete, and the last of the fur was retracting back under Charlene’s skin.
“Can you save her?” Sirius asked, stepping closer to see how bad her injuries were.
“Stand back,” Dumbledore ordered. “If we manage to bring her back, she’ll turn back into a wolf. And the transformation is painful enough that she may regain consciousness. Even injured, she is would still be extremely dangerous.”
Sirius noticed that Dumbledore had his own wand trained on Charlene, and realised that both he and Madam Pomfrey were close enough to be in grave danger if the Healer was successful in her work. Suddenly he had a new feeling of respect for the school Healer, and he realised how much she cared for the students and how little thanks she got for her efforts.
He kept one eye on Moony and another on Madam Pomfrey, until finally the Healer looked up at Dumbledore and shook her head sadly.
“Her parents will need to be notified,” Dumbledore said. “And the Ministry as well.”
Sirius could feel the blood rushing through his veins and he felt the world swaying beneath his feet. “Professor?” he whispered.
“I’m sorry,” Dumbledore said. “But there’s nothing that can be done.”
Sirius watched as Dumbledore pulled out his wand and sent a silvery Patronus to Professor McGonagall.
“She will notify the Grahams family,” he said. “I’ll go to the Ministry myself.”
“I’ll take Charlene back to the castle,” Madam Pomfrey said, conjuring a stretcher beneath the body and levitating it up the stairs. She followed up behind it.
“Romulus, you had better put the barrier back up,” Dumbledore advised quietly after he had cleaned the floor with a quick wave of his wand.
“Wait a minute,” Sirius interrupted, hurrying across the floor to the inside of the cage.
“Sirius, get back here,” Romulus said.
Sirius shook his head stubbornly. “No. I’ll stun him if he wakes up before sunrise, but I’m not leaving him.”
Dumbledore looked at him sternly and shook his own head. “Mr Black, I must insist you return to this side of the barrier. I cannot possibly leave you here inside the cage.”
“You don’t have a choice,” Sirius replied.
“I don’t want to force you to come back here,” Dumbledore told him, making it clear that he would if he had to.
“I’m not leaving him on his own.”
“You don’t have to, but you can watch him from outside the cage, just as you always have.”
“I’m not leaving him,” Sirius repeated, shaking his head again and sitting down on the floor next to the unconscious werewolf. He reached out to stroke the fur and turned his wand from the werewolf to the Headmaster. He knew he wouldn’t have a hope in a duel against Albus Dumbledore, but he wanted to make his point.
Suddenly, Romulus was floating between Sirius and Dumbledore. “I’ll watch over them and make sure no one else is hurt tonight.”
“There is nothing you can do if Remus wakes,” Dumbledore pointed out. “I cannot allow a student to remain inside the cage. It was my decision to allow the two werewolves to spend the night in the same cage that has resulted in the loss of Miss Grahams; I will not risk another student’s life.”
Romulus nodded and turned to Sirius. “I’ll bring down the barrier as soon as Remus turns back. There won’t be any need to wait for sunrise. Now, go back to the other side and let me raise it again.”
Sirius reluctantly stood up and walked back across the room, finally releasing Dumbledore to leave and contact the Ministry.
“Are you all right?” Romulus asked quietly.
Sirius shook his head. “I don’t know. What’s going to happen to Remus?”
“I’m not sure,” Romulus admitted. “From the moment Charlene was registered as a werewolf she was classed as half human. It kind of makes things complicated.”
“Complicated how?”
“If Charlene had died the night she was bitten, Remus would almost certainly have been brought before the Wizengamot to stand trial for murder, because she was a human.”
“But now?”
“Now, I don’t know.” Romulus shook his head and frowned. “She’s a werewolf herself, or she was. That makes her only half human, but her parents may insist he stands trial anyway. From what I saw of them at St. Mungo’s, I think that is pretty likely.”
“But it wasn’t his fault.”
“It doesn’t matter. He’s a werewolf and he’s just killed someone. I think perhaps my baby brother’s luck has finally run out.”
Sirius sat down and rested his head against the stone wall. His eyes kept drifting to the patch of new plaster, spoiling the mural he had painted back in his fourth year.
“What are you going to do in the morning?” Romulus asked quietly.
Sirius shrugged.
“You can’t take on the Ministry when they come to fetch him,” Romulus told him. “He’ll have to go with them.”
“I’ll go with him.”
“They won’t let you.”
“I can’t let him go through whatever awaits him alone.”
“He doesn’t deserve you, you know that, right?”
Sirius shrugged again. “I love him.”
“I know. Only someone who loves him so completely would put up with all of his crap.”
“I think he’s worth it,” Sirius replied with a small smile.
They didn’t talk much after that, and a short while later the sounds of movement came from upstairs.
“That’ll be Dumbledore and the men from the Ministry,” Romulus said, going upstairs to check. He returned to confirm that it was, and that they were going to wait upstairs until morning.
“I’m surprised they don’t want to just come down here and kill him right now,” Sirius muttered, glaring up the stairs.
“They have procedures they have to go through. They’ll take him into custody in the morning.”
Sirius nodded and turned back to Moony. He wondered whether the werewolf had any idea at all as to what had happened this night, or whether it would be up to him to break the news to Remus. He had a horrible feeling that it was going to be the latter.
Finally, the unconscious werewolf began to twitch on the stone floor, low whines accompanying every movement.
“Bring the barrier down,” Sirius said.
“Not yet.”
“But he’s turning back.”
“He could still scratch you or bite you if you get too close.”
“But-”
“Just a few minutes,” Romulus interrupted, and they were probably the longest few minutes of Sirius’s life.
Eventually, Romulus judged it safe and brought the barrier down once more. Remus was still part wolf, but the teeth and claws were gone by the time Sirius sank to the floor beside him.
“Sirius?” Remus asked in a husky whisper.
“I’m here,” Sirius replied, pulling him into his arms as he tried to ease the pain of the transformation.
Remus grabbed his arm as a jolt of pain shot through him. Sirius knew that his arm would be bruised from the grip, but he said nothing as Remus rode out the wave of agony.
His eyes were closed and Sirius stroked his hair continually until the last of the tremors had passed.
“Last night was a tough one,” Remus croaked. “How’s Charlie?”
Sirius looked across at Romulus. How could he tell Remus what had happened?
“Sirius?” rasped Remus, a note of panic creeping into his voice as he looked around the room. “Where’s Charlie?”
Sirius’s voice had deserted him and he looked at the spot where Charlene had last been. Even though Dumbledore had cleaned the blood from the floor before he had left, Sirius fancied he could still see the dark stain, marring the stone.
Remus tried to pull himself out of Sirius’s arms, but he was not letting him go. “Sirius?” Remus whispered fearfully. “What happened last night?”
“Oh, Remus,” Sirius whispered. “I don’t know how to tell you.”
“I can taste blood again,” Remus said quietly. “I can’t remember what happened, but I can tell it was bad. Is she already in the Hospital Wing? St Mungo’s?”
“I’m not sure where they’ve taken her,” Sirius said. He looked across at Romulus, silently pleading for the ghost to help him out here. Unfortunately, it was clear that Remus’s brother was as reluctant to break his brother’s heart as Sirius was.
“I’d better get cleaned up and head back to the castle,” Remus said. “I hope she’s okay.”
Remus pulled out of Sirius’s arms and looked down at his battered body, sighing at the sight.
Then suddenly Remus looked towards the stairs, clearly having heard a sound that had been too quiet for Sirius to notice. “Who’s upstairs?” Remus asked.
Sirius shot a look to Romulus before turning back to Remus again. “Dumbledore and some people from the Ministry,” he reluctantly replied.
“Dumbledore’s upstairs?” Remus asked. He was quiet for several minutes before he spoke again. “The Ministry aren’t just here to check up on me, are they?”
Sirius shook his head. “I’m sorry, Remus. I’m so sorry.”
Remus drew back from Sirius, scrambling away across the floor, until his back was flush against the wall, and there was nowhere else for him to go. “Sirius?” he whispered.
Sirius moved so that he was sitting beside Remus and put his arm around his shoulders. He could feel the young werewolf shaking, and he knew that it wasn’t because of the chill of the cold Spring morning. “I’m so sorry,” he repeated.
“Is she…?”
“It wasn’t your fault,” Sirius told him.
Remus looked at him, his eyes wide and horrified. “No,” he whispered, shaking his head slowly. “Dumbledore said it would help us to have each other as company. What went wrong?”
“I’m not sure,” Sirius said. “Moony just went for her.”
“You mean I just went for her,” Remus corrected.
“It wasn’t your fault,” Sirius repeated.
“Of course it was my fault,” Remus replied. “If I’d broken up with her sooner, she’d never have been here in the basement the night she was bitten. If I’d broken up with her, she wouldn’t have been a werewolf and would have had no business being in my cage with me.”
“Don’t torture yourself like this,” Sirius told him.
Remus didn’t seem to have heard him, and he drew up his knees and buried his face in them, rocking slightly as he continued to berate himself.
Sirius knew that the men from the Ministry would be waiting for Remus to emerge, and getting ready to come downstairs and take him if he didn’t. His suspicions were confirmed when the door to the basement opened and two strange wizards came down the stairs.
Sirius had been half hoping to see one of the wizards they had met at the Ministry the day after Charlene had been bitten, but unfortunately he didn’t recognise either of them. Instead, the two wizards looked much larger, much fiercer and far less understanding than any that he had met before.
The only bright side to the matter was that at least Remus’s so-called Case Worker wasn’t with them.
“Lupin, you’re coming with us,” the first wizard said, his tone making it clear that he wouldn’t stand for any arguments.
“Can you give us a few minutes?” Sirius asked when it was clear that Remus wasn’t standing up, or giving an indication that he had even heard the wizard.
The wizard shook his head. “Get up, Lupin. Get dressed and come with us.”
“I’ve not healed all his wounds yet,” Sirius pointed out.
“Are any life-threatening?”
“No, at least I don’t think so.”
“Then they can wait until he’s at the Ministry.”
Sirius nodded reluctantly and tried to persuade Remus to stand up. “Come on,” he urged, but Remus was taking no notice of him. His head was still buried in his knees and he was mumbling under his breath.
“Get a move on,” the wizard ordered impatiently. “We’ve not got all day.”
“Can’t you see he’s in shock?” Romulus snapped. “Have some pity, will you?”
“Pity?” the wizard echoed with a harsh laugh. “He’s a werewolf. They’re not capable of showing pity for their victims. Heartless murderers, the lot of ‘em.”
Romulus looked furious, and Sirius had no doubt that if he were there in the flesh then the wizard from the Ministry would have been hexed into the middle of next week long before now.
“Remus,” Sirius urged quietly. “Come on, mate. We’ve got to go to the Ministry.”
Remus still wasn’t moving and so Sirius forcibly dragged him to his feet. Remus winced at the sharp movement, but other than that, he gave no indication that he was even aware of what was happening.
A quick Accio brought Remus’s robes from across the room and Sirius wrapped them around the weary werewolf.
“You can’t come with us,” the wizard told Sirius, when it was clear that he was going to try to do exactly that.
“Are you going to stop me?” Sirius asked coldly. “I’m not leaving him alone with you lot.”
“You don’t have a choice,” the wizard replied. “Stubbins, take the werewolf and I’ll meet you there.”
Stubbins moved forward, but Sirius pulled Remus closer to his side, preventing the wizard from taking one of them without the other.
The first wizard pulled out his wand and pointed it at Sirius. “Now listen here,” he said. “You can either let us take the werewolf, or I can arrest you for obstruction and then take him anyway.”
“It’s okay, Sirius,” Romulus said. “I’ll go with Remus.”
Sirius was reluctant to step back, but it was clear that unless he wanted to fight the two wizards he had no choice. “I’ll come see you as soon as I can,” he told Remus, squeezing his hand and hoping for some sort of a response. Any response would have done, but there was none at all.
Then Stubbins was pulling Remus towards him, dragging him up the stairs and away from him.
Sirius turned to Romulus, to ask him to come and tell him what was happening as soon as he could, but the ghost had already vanished.
The second wizard followed the others up the stairs, leaving Sirius alone in the basement.
He could hear him talking to Dumbledore, but he made no effort to go upstairs and join them. Instead, he leaned against the wall and slowly sank to the floor.
Dumbledore came down to fetch him some time later, but Sirius barely heard a word that the headmaster said to him. All he could think of was Remus, and what he must be going through.
-o-xXx-o-
Remus didn’t take in much of the surroundings when he first arrived at the Ministry of Magic. He was in an area of the Ministry he had never seen before, but instead of looking around the unfamiliar territory, he kept his eyes on the floor and tried not to think about what had happened.
“Ah, good morning, Mr Lupin,” a familiar voice greeted him as he was unceremoniously delivered into a small room containing only a table and two chairs.
Dolores Umbridge was just as he remembered her, right down to the revolting pink cardigan.
“Good morning, Mr Lupin,” Umbridge repeated as Remus sank into the empty seat with a groan of pain.
“Good morning,” Romulus said as he hovered at the back of the room.
Umbridge looked at the ghost with mild distaste. “Well, at least one of you boys appears to have remembered their manners,” she said with disapproval.
Remus chanced a quick glance at his brother and saw that he was not exactly pleased with the woman’s comments.
“I’m his Case Worker,” Umbridge told Romulus.
Remus, thanks to his still slightly sharper hearing, heard Romulus swear under his breath, but thankfully Umbridge didn’t notice.
“The new legislation means that this can all be sorted out right away,” Umbridge explained cheerfully.
“New legislation?” Romulus queried. “What new legislation?”
“Why, the new werewolf legislation, of course,” Umbridge replied. “I’ve already prepared the paperwork for the Wizengamot; it just needs the werewolf to sign it.”
Remus gave the papers a cursory glance, but didn’t reach for the quill that Umbridge was holding out to him.
“What is the new legislation?” Romulus asked. “What does it mean for Remus?”
“It means that we’ll be able to sort this all out within twenty four hours,” Umbridge told him with a wide smile. “The case will be before the Wizengamot this afternoon and the sentence will be carried out tomorrow.”
“What?” Romulus shouted. “We can’t prepare Remus’s case by this afternoon. He’s barely recovered from the full moon; he’s in shock. He needs time!”
“I’m afraid that time is something we just don’t have,” Umbridge said, without a hint of regret.
“Who passed these stupid laws?” Romulus yelled. “You can’t rush things like this. It’s ridiculous. How can we prepare his case in a matter of hours.”
“It was decided that wasting the Wizengamot’s time with the hearings of half-breeds was a drain on the budget. Keeping them in Camps for weeks, sometimes months, it’s really quite impractical.”
“Did you just call my brother a half-breed?” Romulus hissed.
“But he is a half-breed,” Umbridge told him with a smile.
“You’re suppose to be his Case Worker,” Romulus pointed out. “Surely you know that the term half-breed is insulting?”
“I am his Case Worker,” Umbridge replied with another smile. “It’s my job to make sure that this case goes through quickly and smoothly, and that it’s all sorted out without any further unpleasantness.”
“I’ll give you unpleasantness,” Romulus snarled.
“Now, really.” Umbridge shook her head disapprovingly. “I’m here to help.”
“Help who?”
“Why, help everyone to make sure that things go through without any nasty hiccups.”
Umbridge looked at her watch and held out her quill to Remus once again. “No need for ink with this quill, just sign right there.” She pointed to the parchment and gave a smile that she clearly believed to be encouraging, but was actually anything but.
Remus took the quill from her and looked at the first sheet of parchment.
“Remus, don’t sign anything,” Romulus ordered when it was clear that Remus was about to do just that.
“Why not?” Remus asked, speaking for the first time since he had entered the room.
“Because you’ve no idea what you’re signing,” Romulus replied impatiently. “It could be a confession or something.”
“Well, of course it’s a confession,” Umbridge interrupted. “He’s a werewolf.”
“Last night wasn’t his fault. I’ll give evidence as to what happened, and so will Sirius Black, Madam Pomfrey and Albus Dumbledore.”
“Evidence?” Umbridge questioned with a small laugh. “What does the Wizengamot need to hear evidence for? The werewolf bit someone, turned her and then killed her. It’s a very straightforward case.”
“Remus can’t be held responsible for what happened last night.”
“Then who should be held responsible?” Umbridge asked with a small girlish laugh.
“Charlene was a werewolf,” Romulus pointed out. “She was in that cage with Remus of her own free will. No one had any idea this was going to happen. No one wanted this to happen.”
“Nevertheless, it did happen, didn’t it?”
“You can’t-” Romulus began, but his words were cut off by an involuntary cry from Remus.
Remus had dropped the quill and was looking at his left hand with a frown.
“What is it?” Romulus asked.
“It’s a special quill used for confessions,” Umbridge explained. “We have to make sure that Dark Creatures, particularly those that are prone to lying, don’t try to retract their confessions in the hearing. This way we can check the signature on the confession matches the signature on the creature itself.”
“I don’t see how,” Romulus muttered. “It’s already fading. By the time the hearing comes round it’ll have disappeared.”
“Oh, I don’t think so,” Umbridge said with another smile. “The werewolf must sign the confession on every page, and there are a few other tiny little forms that will also require his signature. By the time he’s done them all, the signature will be clear as anything and will last for at least several days. There’s no need to worry about that.”
“Worry about it?” Romulus yelled. “It’s bloody barbaric is what it is!”
Remus, who now that he realised what had happened, had picked up the quill again, gritted his teeth and prepared himself for the stinging pain as he put the quill to the parchment and signed his name in blood. He was already half way through the papers before Romulus stopped shouting at Umbridge and saw what he was doing.
“Remus, stop!” he shouted. “You don’t know what you’re doing; you’re still in shock.”
“I’m doing the right thing,” Remus replied, without looking up from the parchment.
“How the hell is signing your life away, the right thing?”
“I killed Charlie last night,” Remus reminded him. “That’s all that matters, isn’t it?” I killed someone, and I deserve whatever punishment they want to give me.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying. They’re not going to give you a bloody detention or something; they’re going to kill you!”
Remus nodded and turned to the next sheet of parchment. “I know that,” he whispered.
“At least wait until Dumbledore gets here,” Romulus pleaded. “He’ll know what to do.”
“What can he do?” Remus asked, his own voice rising as panic threatened to envelop him once more. “I killed her!”
“But it wasn’t your fault.”
“Then who was to blame?” Remus yelled. “I killed her. I tore her throat out and I can still taste the blood. If I’m not to blame, then who is?”
“Giving up and letting them kill you won’t bring her back!”
“But it’ll stop it from happening again.”
Remus turned back to the parchments and carried on signing his name to the papers, ignoring as best as he could the protestations of his brother.
Umbridge looked delighted in his co-operation, and beamed at him as she gathered the parchments together and hurried from the room, locking the door behind her.
Romulus continued to berate Remus for several more minutes, but now the papers were signed there was little that could be done about it.
“Rom, can I ask you something?” whispered Remus. His gaze was focused on his name, etched into his hand.
“What for?” Romulus snapped. “It’s not like you’ve taken any of my advice so far today.”
“It’s not advice,” Remus explained. “I just wondered if it hurts.”
“Hurts?”
“When you die,” Remus clarified in a broken whisper. “Does it hurt?”
-
Chapter 57