dianella
Slytherin House Member
My mother told me to mend my wicked ways. But I never could sew...
Posts: 1,811
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Post by dianella on Feb 22, 2002 9:34:59 GMT -5
This was the story I originally posted on the old Trap Door message board. I'm reposting it here for the benefit of new members, and because I rather like it ;D
Chapter One The King of Rats
The young boy laid on his back, face soaking up the warmth of the summer sun. A tender reed rolled lazily in his mouth as he picked out images from the clouds that floated gently by. He breathed deeply - freedom filled his lungs and he grinned to himself. The first day of summer break from school. A whole day to himself. A whole world to himself. His grin broadened.
"Remus! Remus - did you finish degnoming the garden?" A woman in a pink paisley cloak stood with her hands on her hips, looking both stern and amused at the same time. "Mom", Remus said in an exasperated tone, "it's the first day of summer! Can't I degnome tomorrow?" Renate Lupin's competing expressions were now engaged in a heated battle, but finally the amused expression won out. Her face softened into a smile and she said, "Go ahead, I guess. But tomorrow you are not going anywhere until you degnome that garden!"
Remus' grin returned and he hoisted himself upright. If he was going to have a day of freedom, there was no sense wasting it. He headed down the stone path leading away from his house and the village of Deerstone. For a day of adventure to be complete, he would need the King of Rats. And that meant heading through the Dark Forest to neighboring Drebley where the King lived.
The King hadn't always been called that. In fact, Remus thought as he gave a stone a good hard kick, his parents didn't call him that at all. They still called him Will. But everyone else called Will Hammond the King of Rats. And no one knew how to have more fun or pack more adventure into one day than the King.
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dianella
Slytherin House Member
My mother told me to mend my wicked ways. But I never could sew...
Posts: 1,811
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Post by dianella on Feb 22, 2002 9:35:55 GMT -5
Chapter Two The Darkness
Remus' mind was so deeply on the task of planning his adventurous day that he had hardly noticed the growing darkness and increasingly uneven footpath. His sneaker snagged a particularly gnarly tree root and he was jolted into the present. He always acted brave about passing through the forest, and waved his mother's cautious warnings aside. But, truth be told, it made him nervous.
The forest stretched for several dark miles in each direction. To go around it would add too much time to his journey, and he wasn't allowed a broomstick yet. So today, like many other times, he found himself within its black interior, stumbling along curved and twisted trails.
He hurried along the path, pushing leafy limbs away from his face while others clawed softly at his clothes. The path was becoming more overgrown and overhead the canopy of the trees became denser. Soon, the foliage was so thick that no light, no wind could penetrate it. Remus blinked his eyes, trying to speed their adjustment to the surrounding blackness.
"CRACK!"
Remus spun to his right - what was that? He peered through the leaves and heard a soft rustle beyond the large oak. "Who's there?" he asked. He certainly hoped that he sounded braver to whoever might hear him than he sounded to himself. He was about to ask again when he decided he didn't really want to know, turned back to the path and began briskly walking again. As he hurried along, he thought he might have heard more shuffling in the leaf litter, and sped up some more, now moving along at a jog. The sounds to his right seemed to match him step for step, staying even with him, stalking him. He started to run full out.
He rounded a bend and felt a wave of relief. The crystal waters of Hickory Creek signaled he was nearly out of the forest. The gurgling water hid any other sounds he might have heard as he sprung lightly from stone to stone, waving his arms like a Diricrawl trying to take flight. Several times he nearly slipped, one foot plunging into the icy water, but he didn't slow.
He moved downstream until he got to Smokey Joe, an enormous oak tree that had survived a fire that had wiped out everything for miles around over 100 years ago. With a giant leap, he rejoined the forest path and ran as fast as he could, limbs now thrashing his face and clawing at his jeans, trying to grab him, hold him, make him stay. Sides heaving, brown hair plastered to his face with sweat, Remus burst from the forest into blinding sunlight, the town of Drebley barely seen through his squinting eyes.
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dianella
Slytherin House Member
My mother told me to mend my wicked ways. But I never could sew...
Posts: 1,811
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Post by dianella on Feb 22, 2002 9:36:29 GMT -5
Chapter 3 The Hunt
Remus kneeled in the soft green grass and pushed his hair from his forehead with a clammy palm. His eyes closed, he lifted his face to the warm sun again, and let its brilliance and warmth wash over him. His heart began to slow from its wild tarantella to a moderate rumba, and as he regained his breath, he regained his wits.
"Get a hold of yourself, you stupid git!" he told himself angrily. He was glad the King wasn't here to see this. He'd never live it down. He stood up, still a bit wobbly, but forced himself to walk steadily down the hill to the shocking purple frame house at the edge of the town.
"Hi Mrs. Hammond", said Remus when the purple door swung open. Mrs. Hammond was a thin, frail woman. She smiled as she pulled a beige shawl around her, an odd sight on such a warm summer day. "Can the King play?" "Will is upstairs - go on up and I'll bring some nice cool pumpkin juice and cookies up in just a moment." Remus took the stairs two at a time, turned left at the top and rapped sharply on the door to his right. Not waiting for a response, he turned the knob and entered.
The room was full of rats. Rats in cages, rats running on squeaky wheels, rats scurrying along the top of the curtain rail. Rats everywhere. A boy with black hair and black eyes sat on the bed reading a book, one rat cleaning itself on his shoulder and another snoozing happily on his head.
The King looked up and exclaimed, "Remus!" He abruptly put down his book and the rats that had been taking their morning naps on the bed scattered in an angry chorus of squeals. "What's up?"
"What's up with you?" said Remus in return, a quizzical glance at the book on the bed. "Reading on your first day of summer? You're losing your touch, King." The book flew across the room and smashed into the wall just behind where Remus' head had been a second before. Remus laughed as he straightened up and tossed Rats of the Amazon back onto the bed.
"Did you know that in the Amazon they have rats as big as a hippogriff? Blimey, I'd like to see that." Remus knew that the King wanted more than just to see it - he'd probably have it sleeping in bed with him within 24 hours.
Just then, Mrs. Hammond walked in with a tray of pumpkin juice and spice cookies. Remus' nearly forgotten journey through the forest had left him thirsty and he eagerly grabbed a pewter goblet and drank deeply. Stuffing a cookie in his mouth he said, "Sho, wha you wanna do today?" trying not to spray cookie crumbs around. As it was, rats where beginning to surround him, hoping to catch any little morsel that might fall.
"Well," said the King, "I was thinking about going on a rat hunt today. You know, add to my collection."
"Um, ok", said Remus. He eyed the room and tried to see where one more rat could possibly fit, but knew better than to press that issue with his friend.
"Great!" said the King. He picked up a knapsack on his dresser and flung it over his back, and put his favourite rat, Chaos, in his breast pocket. "Let's head off into the forest!"
Remus nearly choked on his cookie. While he was definitely looking for adventure, he wasn't sure he wanted to try to find it there. The morning's escapade was starting to come back to him more clearly, and it must have showed on his face.
"What - are you getting chicken on me?" laughed the King. "Did the bogey man try to grab you on the way here?"
"No!" said Remus, probably a little too forcefully. "It's just that, well, um…there's no problem. Sounds like fun. Yeah - let's go hunt some rats." He took another gulp of pumpkin juice and pounded down the stairs after the King.
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dianella
Slytherin House Member
My mother told me to mend my wicked ways. But I never could sew...
Posts: 1,811
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Post by dianella on Feb 22, 2002 9:37:04 GMT -5
Chapter 4 The Empty Net
The King laid his knapsack at the base of Smokey Joe. Kneeling down, he opened it up and took out his gear. After handing a net to Remus, he unfolded an accordion of small metal grill-worked frames that popped open and formed a small, sturdy cage. Chaos poked his head out of his hiding spot, whiskers twitching furiously. He sunk back down as the King picked up a net of his own, and the boys worked their way down along the bank of Hickory Creek.
"Rats always like to hang out near the water. They never get too far from it." Remus did not doubt this. He wouldn't have doubted anything the King said about rats. They rustled bushes with their nets, poked the handles into old, rotted tree trunks, and kicked through piles of leaves and rubbish. They walked down one side of the creek, crossed over dancing across the stones, and walked back up the other side. They strayed away from the creek, deciding to try some other potential nesting grounds.
"Here!" shouted the King, stooping at the base of a rotted out tree. "There's a nest here - see the way the leaves are piled and the shape of the droppings? That's a rat's nest. But…hmm…there's no sign of one being around." He continued to poke and prod the brush around the tree. "This is so odd. There are no rats in the forest. Where could they have gone?"
"Maybe they didn't go anywhere", said Remus. He was thinking of the loud Crack! and rustling he'd heard during this morning's journey.
"What do you mean?" asked the King. "If they didn't go somewhere, what happened?"
"Well, maybe something's…well…eating them all."
The King's jet black eyes rested on Remus. "There aren't enough predators in the forest to wipe out the entire rat population."
"Yeah, I guess. But what if there was one big predator?"
"What are you talking about? Do you know something?"
"No, no, I don't know anything. It's just that, well, on the way here…" his voice trailed off. "Um, I just, you know, heard some weird stuff, that's all."
The King opened his mouth to ask, "Like what", but he didn't need to. Just then, leaves rustled and twigs cracked as if a large animal was moving with stealth, hidden by the bushes and trees behind them.
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dianella
Slytherin House Member
My mother told me to mend my wicked ways. But I never could sew...
Posts: 1,811
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Post by dianella on Feb 22, 2002 9:37:29 GMT -5
Chapter 5 The Bite
The boys looked at each other for just a moment, spellbound by the tension in the air. "Run", croaked Remus through a voice so tight nothing else was possible. They dropped the nets and cage and took off in the direction of Hickory Creek, pounding down the twisted trail, not caring that trees and bushes were raking their faces, their clothes. The sounds were deafening - crashing limbs, thundering footsteps, gasping breaths…Was all this noise just them? Remus wasn't sure, but he couldn't risk looking anywhere but straight ahead as he and the King careened through the forest. As they reached the creek, the familiar stitch was reappearing in Remus' side. Had it only been this morning that he had run along this same path? It seemed like ages ago. He had to stop, just for a moment. The boys fell to their knees at the edge of the creek, its water gurgling softly, innocently, oblivious to the panic in the air. Remus put his hand in the icy water to wipe his face, trying to bring reason back into focus. Suddenly, Chaos leapt from the King's pocket and tore off under a bush. "Crap!" yelled the King, and he sprang after his rat, forcing his way through the overgrown foliage. "Chaos! Come back here you stupid…" The King didn't finish his sentence. Remus jumped up and followed through the bush. "King - you OK?" But by the time he finished his question, he already knew the King was not OK. In the clearing just beyond the bush, a fully-grown werewolf sat on his haunches, Chaos in his hand, blood dripping from his snout.
The King picked up a stick and hurled it at the werewolf. "Leave 'im alone, you bastard!" The werewolf turned toward the boys, his brow furrowed, his yellow eyes piercing them with a glowing, penetrating stare. The lips at the end of his long, narrow snout peeled back, revealing two bloodstained daggers, and he emitted a growl so low and thunderous that it made the very ground under them tremble. Remus and the King stumbled backwards into the bush as the werewolf dropped the body of Chaos to the ground. The leap came so suddenly, so fast that Remus never saw him move. One moment, the werewolf was squatting next to the dead rat, and the next he was on top of the King.
With a sickening crunch he sank his huge canines into the King's neck, blood spurting in every direction. The King couldn't scream, though he tried. A strangled gurgle was the only sound he made before his body went limp. Remus leapt onto the werewolf's broad, hairy back, beating him with his fists. "Let him go! Let him go!" The werewolf roared in annoyance and suddenly Remus' arm felt like a knife was being driven through it. Remus screamed in agony, but kept pummeling with his other fist. The werewolf let go of the King, who crumpled to the ground and lay unnaturally still. He grabbed Remus and threw him against a tree as though he were a ragdoll, and he lay there trying to find his breath, wondering if his back was broken.
The werewolf turned back to the King and buried his face in the King's open neck, clawing at the clothes that hid the body underneath. This couldn't be happening. The King couldn't be dead. Regaining what was left of his strength, Remus picked up the stick that the King had thrown at the werewolf, holding it in his one good hand. He charged at the back of the beast and drove it into its spine. Red blood poured over the gray fur that covered the beast, and it threw back its head, an unearthly howl ripping through the air. He dropped the King, leaped over the bushes, and disappeared.
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dianella
Slytherin House Member
My mother told me to mend my wicked ways. But I never could sew...
Posts: 1,811
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Post by dianella on Feb 22, 2002 9:37:53 GMT -5
Chapter 6 The Journey
Remus knelt down next to the lifeless body of the King and sobs wracked his battered, bruised body. He tried to lift him, but his injured arm was useless. Cradling the King in his one good arm, Remus rocked back and forth wondering what to do. As the sobs subsided and his breathing evened out, Remus' brain started to function again. He couldn't stay here. He had to move. The werewolf could come back at any time. But he couldn't leave the King here either.
He slipped his belt out of its loops and removed the King's as well. Fastening them together, he formed a harness around the King's chest that he could use to pull his friend's body. He grabbed the harness, his other arm dangling useless and bloody at his side, and threw his weight forward, making slow, awkward progress down the path. With each tree root and stone in the path that they crossed, the King's body jerked and twisted, head lolling from side to side on the bit of bone and sinew that kept it connected. Remus whispered, "I'm sorry, King. I'm sorry…" each time it happened, until a steady stream of hypnotic words issued with every breath.
Reaching the creek once more, Remus stepped right into the knee-deep icy water, and half-floated the King's body behind him. The crystal water turned crimson as Remus worked his way towards Smokey Joe, finally reaching the path and hoisting his friend onto the other bank.
Remus barely remembered the rest of the journey, but one thing he would never forget for the rest of his life was the scream from Mrs. Hammond when that purple door swung open.
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dianella
Slytherin House Member
My mother told me to mend my wicked ways. But I never could sew...
Posts: 1,811
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Post by dianella on Feb 22, 2002 9:38:49 GMT -5
Chapter 7 The Ministry
By the time Mr. and Mrs. Lupin apparated at the Hammond home, Remus was sitting on the couch wrapped in an afghan, holding his knees up to his chest. He stared blankly at the fire burning lightly in the fireplace, trying to keep any image from his mind. Is this what it was like to be insane? To have no real thought in your head, no image in your mind? To drift in your mind like a boat lost at sea, no rudder to steer, no compass to guide it? Maybe he was insane now. Who could blame him.
The King's body lay just inside the doorway, covered in a blanket. Mrs. Hammond sat in a chair, stoically watching it, not blinking, not crying, barely breathing. It was as though if she stayed quiet enough, still enough, she would see some movement…some sign that the King would come back to life.
Members from the Ministry of Magic were starting to arrive. The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures had been contacted, and now witches and wizards from the Werewolf Capture Unit and The Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures were apparating. They approached Mr. and Mrs. Lupin and talked for a moment, looked in Remus' direction, and talked some more.
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dianella
Slytherin House Member
My mother told me to mend my wicked ways. But I never could sew...
Posts: 1,811
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Post by dianella on Feb 22, 2002 9:39:08 GMT -5
His mother came over and sat gently beside him, putting a hand out to touch him, but he recoiled. "Remus", she whispered, "Remus, these people want to ask you some questions. Important questions." Remus didn't move, didn't answer. "Remus, you can help to make sure this doesn't happen to someone else. Please, Remus. Talk to them. Talk to me." Her voice cracked softly as she said this, desperate to reach into the depths of Remus' despair and pull him back.
Remus blinked and then blinked again. Slowly he turned his head towards his mother's soft blue eyes, red now from crying, lined with worry. "Mom", he choked, blinking back a tide of more tears, "I tried. I tried to fight him off. I tried, I tried…" but his voice trailed away. Mrs. Lupin pulled her son against her chest and he let his full weight bear upon her as he let the tide break over him.
When Remus pulled back, sniffling and wiping his eyes, a witch with silver eyes and a deep scar that coursed the entire right side of her face was squatting on the floor in front of him. In a whiskey voice that tried to sound gentle she said, "My name is Diana Bailey. I know you've been through a terrible ordeal, but we need to find that werewolf. Up to answering a few questions?" Remus nodded, almost imperceptibly.
"Right then. Where did you first see him?" she asked.
"Just on the south side of Hickory Creek", Remus replied.
"And what was he doing when you first saw him?"
"Eating…" Remus' voice trailed off again. He was going to say "Eating Chaos" but he couldn't bring himself to form the words. "Eating…" he started again, "a rat."
"And when he saw you boys he attacked?"
"Well, the King…um, Will, he threw a stick at him. The rat was his pet. Then the werewolf…" his voice faltered again, and this time, he didn't try to find it.
"And what did you do when the werewolf attacked your friend?" Diana's silver eyes had not left Remus' face for an instant. Remus felt as though she were watching the whole incident inside of his head. He wished she could. Then he wouldn't have to talk about it.
"I - I - hit him. I jumped on his back and I hit him. That's when he bit me." He pulled his arm from under the afghan and showed where he had hastily bandaged his arm with a rag. He untied it and the deep puncture wounds on his arm began to flow red again, his arm purple and swollen. Mrs. Lupin paled as he covered it again, and behind her one of the ministry wizards walked away to talk to another.
"He threw me against a tree. I picked up the stick and I stabbed him in the back with it. He ran away, and I brought the King home." Remus started to curl up again and look back at the fire, but Diana Bailey took him by both shoulders and faced him back to those strangely luminous eyes.
"Which direction did he go?" she asked, firmly.
"South", said Remus, "Away from the creek."
Diana Bailey let go of Remus and stood up, just as another wizard apparated in the living room.
"Miss Bailey", said Mrs. Lupin, "is it alright for us to go now? I'd like to get Remus home."
"I'm afraid that won't be possible", said the new wizard that had just arrived. He approached her carrying a black, shiny dragon hide bag. "My name is Dr. Altheus, and Remus is going to have to return with me to St. Mungo's Hospital. I'm sorry, but that werewolf bite is going to require…special care." As he said this, he knelt down and gently tried to move the blanket around Remus aside to take a look at the wound.
Remus pulled sharply back, panic in his eyes. "Mom! No. I want to go home! Please, don't let them…" but it was too late. Already hospital orderlies were apparating around him, taking him firmly by the arms and into the fireplace, throwing silver dust and shouting, "St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries!" Remus felt a rushing, spinning sensation, and Mrs. Hammond's living room disappeared.
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dianella
Slytherin House Member
My mother told me to mend my wicked ways. But I never could sew...
Posts: 1,811
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Post by dianella on Feb 22, 2002 9:40:15 GMT -5
Chapter 8 The Hospital
The orderlies and Remus fell forward out of the fireplace in a cloud of ash. Pain shot through his arm as it crumpled underneath him, and as he tried to cry out he got a mouthful of soot. Coughing and sputtering, he pushed himself to his feet with his one good arm. The orderlies steadied him and helped brush him off, but he resisted their help. "Get off me!" he shouted. "Just leave me alone! Let me go home!"
A small pop sounded to his left, and Dr. Altheus appeared in the corridor of St. Mungo's hospital. He gave a fatherly smile to Remus who scowled in return, cradling his injured arm. He stepped forward, thanked the orderlies and dismissed them. They threw a skeptical look toward Remus, but followed their orders.
"So, young man. You gonna let me take a look at that arm?"
"Why did you bring me here? Why couldn't you just look at my arm at the Hammond's house?" Remus continued cradling his arm, shielding it with his body.
Dr. Altheus gave Remus an apprising look as if trying to decide how much to tell him. "Follow me", he said finally, turning away and walking down the hall, leaving Remus standing there. He turned left and entered a room. Remus watched the doorway where the doctor had disappeared and weighed his options. No one was here. He could make a run for it. But could he find his way out of the building? If he did find his way out, he had no idea where he was. He finally decided to follow the doctor and he headed down the hall and through the doorway.
The room he entered had a small cot-like bed with a small table next to it, bars on the window and padded walls. It was a hospital room, but it was also a cell. Dr. Altheus was sitting on the bed and motioned for Remus to sit next to him. Begrudgingly, he did.
As the doctor removed the rag bandage and began to examine Remus' arm, he began to ask Remus some questions. "So. A werewolf, eh?" Remus nodded. "Do you know what happens to survivors of a werewolf bite?" Remus paused. He did know. He just hadn't thought about it. His mind began to reel. It was all too much to take - the attack, the death of his best friend, being kidnapped from his parents and taken here, and now…now the realization that was beginning to set in.
Dr. Altheus, who was now cleaning the wound with a purple liquid, seemed to read the thoughts passing through Remus' mind. "Of course, you know, there is always a chance - a small one - but a chance nonetheless that you'll be ok. We don't know why some people escape the effects of the werewolf's bite. We just know that a small percentage of people seem to have a natural immunity. We won't know which category you fall into until the full moon comes, and that's two weeks from now. Until then, you'll have to stay here. For your safety…and the safety of others." He finished by wrapping fresh white gauze around the wound and then stood up. "I'm sorry. I know it's a lot to deal with. I'll send an orderly to help you clean up and get you into some fresh clothes. If you need anything, please call for me." He looked at Remus with an expression usually reserved for the condemned, and he closed the door behind him. It locked solidly.
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dianella
Slytherin House Member
My mother told me to mend my wicked ways. But I never could sew...
Posts: 1,811
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Post by dianella on Feb 22, 2002 9:40:32 GMT -5
Remus walked to the window and leaned his face against the cool metal bars. He ignored the orderly that left a washbasin and pajamas near the door as he took his first look around the St. Mungo's grounds. The pale glow of the summer twilight reflected in sparks from a lake at the end of a long rolling meadow. Fringing the meadow were tall evergreens that multiplied in the distance to create a forest that enclosed the estate. Looking at the building surrounding his window, Remus could see he was on the second floor of an old brick, L-shaped structure that stretched an additional three floors above him. Each window was like his - small, square and uncovered with the exception of 5 metal bars. Some windows were dark, but several were now glowing with flickering candlelight as the sun continued to fall behind the trees. That's when he saw the other boy, leaning against a window, looking back at him. Remus' heart skipped - there was another boy about his age here! Who was he - why was he here? He stood up straighter, turning to his left to see the boy more clearly, but the boy withdrew when he realized he'd been noticed.
Remus withdrew from his window too. Darkness had now completely fallen and he hadn't even noticed that his candle had magically lighted on his bedside table. He washed up and put on the pajamas that smelled like medicine. Blowing out the candle, he collapsed on the small cot and lay on his back, looking through the bars at the sky lit by a glowing half moon. Two weeks. In two weeks he would know if that moon was his friend or not. A cloud floated slowly over the half-showing face of the moon, and Remus remembered that it was only this morning that he lay on his back watching clouds. This morning. Before the woods. Before the werewolf. Before the King died. Before he was taken from his parents. In one day, his entire life had changed.
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dianella
Slytherin House Member
My mother told me to mend my wicked ways. But I never could sew...
Posts: 1,811
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Post by dianella on Feb 22, 2002 9:41:00 GMT -5
Chapter 9 The Friend and the Enemy
For the first several days, Remus did not leave his room. He was allowed to leave for meals or to visit the common room during certain hours, but he preferred to sit alone, looking out between the bars. He didn't want to look at anyone or talk to anyone.
His parents came to visit, and he was grateful for their presence, but still he rarely spoke. He just sat, leaning against his mother or listening to his father attempting to talk about normal things. "The Wasps are favoured to do quite well this season. Bagman's decided to stay on another year as beater!"
He did finally leave his room to walk them back to the fireplace (you had to have a special apparating license to apparate within the hospital grounds) and that's when he saw the boy again, sitting in the common room.
He said goodbye to his parents, held his mother a little tighter and a little longer than usual, and after they disappeared in a swirl of soot, he entered the common room.
The boy in the chair had small black eyes, and Remus winced as they reminded him of the King. But this boy was very small, a little heavy, and had a pointed face. Remus plopped down in a chair across from the boy.
"Hi. Wanna play some chess?"
The boy looked at Remus with a nervous, unsure gaze. "I - I guess s-so."
"What're you in here for?" asked Remus, indicating the hospital surroundings with a flick of his eyes as he moved the battered chessboard to a table between them.
"Just been sick", replied the boy. "I'm sick a lot."
"Oh", said Remus. "Well, I'm Remus. Who're you?"
"Peter", the boy replied. "Peter Pettigrew."
As they began to play, Peter started to relax. He didn't ask Remus why he was here, and for the first time in days, Remus didn't think about what had happened. It felt good.
The orderlies soon came and ushered everyone back to their rooms. Remus looked back at Peter - "You wanna play again tomorrow?"
Peter nodded vigorously, happy to have made a friend.
When Remus returned to his room, he looked out of his window. Peter was looking back. They boys waved to each other and could just make out the grin they shared.
Having Peter to eat meals with and play chess with made the next week nearly bearable. He went to bed one Saturday night, having not thought about the werewolf all day. He sighed happily and rolled over in his cot, trying to hide his eyes from the light shining through his window. The light from the moon. The light from a full moon. His eyes suddenly flew wide open.
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dianella
Slytherin House Member
My mother told me to mend my wicked ways. But I never could sew...
Posts: 1,811
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Post by dianella on Feb 22, 2002 9:41:22 GMT -5
Chapter 10 The Change
It started in his hands. Pain beyond imagination coursed up his arms as the bones in his fingers elongated, nails and blood erupting from the tips forming long razor-sharp claws. His skin prickled as if on fire as course gray hairs shot from every pore on his body. He sat bolt upright in bed, wracked with pain, staring in horror at what had once been the hands of a nine-year-old boy.
He opened his mouth to scream, but the sound that reached his ears was unearthly. A long, high-pitched howling roar ripped through the air and seemed to make the very walls around him shake. By now, his feet were growing, claws curling downward and the pain that had at first only been in his arms was now rushing up his legs in waves of agony.
His back began to broaden, muscles inflating like balloons so quickly that Remus thought the ripping of his pajamas might actually be his skin splitting.
And then…his face began to change. A whole new world of pain opened to Remus as every bone in his face seemed to be breaking into great splintered shards that moved under his skin. He fell out of his bed and rolled on the floor, writhing from the torment his body was enduring. His brow grew downward over his eyes, and his nose and mouth surged forward into a long, thin snout. Saber-like canines ruptured from his jaws in a spurt of blood and saliva. Remus curled back his lips, exposing them as another howling roar split the night.
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dianella
Slytherin House Member
My mother told me to mend my wicked ways. But I never could sew...
Posts: 1,811
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Post by dianella on Feb 22, 2002 9:42:01 GMT -5
Chapter 11 The Escape
He lay on the floor panting with hoarse, growling breaths until the transformation was complete and the pain had subsided. Slowly he raised himself, feeling awkward with his new limbs, his new size. He lunged at the door, clawing at the handle, but it did not budge. He snarled in frustration and bit repeatedly at the padding on the wall, pulling out great chunks and shaking them ferociously.
He turned to the window and lunged. One of his great hairy hands plunged between the bars and burst through the glass, sending it showering to the ground below. He pulled with all his might against the metal rods and wrenched one of them free. Candlelight flickered suddenly a few windows away, and the outline of a small boy could be seen standing and staring out.
Just then a voice startled him. "Remus! Remus, it's Dr. Altheus. Calm down…it'll be alright…calm down", the doctor chanted in a would-be soothing voice.
Remus stopped for a moment and turned back to the door. A small panel had been moved to the side and he could make out a pair of eyes on the other side. "That's it Remus, calm down." Remus hurled himself back at the door in a frenzied rage, and the panel slammed quickly shut. The voice, sounding more muffled now, continued its chant. "Remus, calm down…it'll be alright." But Remus did not stop to listen. He turned back to the window, wrestled another bar from the frame and dove through the opening, falling two stories to the ground below.
Once on the ground, Remus pulled off the remnants of his pajama top, threw it on the ground and began to run across the rolling lawn of St. Mungo's. He threw his great black nose into the air and sniffed deeply. Had the air always smelled so rich, so full? How could he have not noticed this before?
Even without the increased acuity in his hearing he would have heard the alarm ringing across the hospital grounds. Doors were flying open from every corner of the building as hospital workers and security wizards poured out like ants. Other orderlies were apparating ahead of him, trying to cut him off. They carried nets and had their wands pulled out.
"Stupefy!" one of the orderlies yelled, and a red jet skimmed past Remus' shoulder. Angered, Remus swept his great claws at the man's outstretched wand hand as he raced past, nearly severing it from his arm. He pushed past another that was trying to throw a net over him, and the man hurtled 20 feet before landing on the grass.
But even more security wizards were apparating now, and several yelled in unison, "Stupefy!" Several red jets joined in air and struck Remus directly in the chest, lifting him off of his feet and throwing him onto his back where he lay stunned and motionless.
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dianella
Slytherin House Member
My mother told me to mend my wicked ways. But I never could sew...
Posts: 1,811
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Post by dianella on Feb 22, 2002 9:43:18 GMT -5
Chapter 12 The Voice Through the Door
"Ennervate"
Remus heard the word as if it were spoken in a tunnel far away. He felt power surge back through his body and gasped a sudden deep breath. He suddenly remembered he was engaged in a battle and he tried to get to his feet, but he couldn't. Something was binding his arms and legs. He struggled against whatever it was to no avail.
"Remus, calm down. I'm sorry, but we've had to place you in a restrictive jacket for your own protection." Dr. Altheus was kneeling next to him, speaking softly. "You won't change back to yourself for another 36 hours. I'm afraid the room was not exactly…werewolf proof. So we'll have to use restraints until you change back. I'm really, really sorry."
Remus curled his lips and growled menacingly. He couldn't understand what this person was saying, and he didn't care. He needed to run. He needed to fight. He struggled against his restraints again.
The doctor stood up. "I know you can't really comprehend what I'm saying, but you'll be alright. You're not hurt. I'll have some food and water sent down in a little while. Meanwhile, try not to struggle." He left the room and the door shut solidly behind him.
Remus bent his neck, trying to get his snout down to gnaw at his bindings when another noise came muffled through the door. He couldn't understand it, but it was soft, soothing and he stopped struggling trying to listen. The voice continued for quite some time in its rhythmic constancy.
Finally another voice said, "Peter, it's dinner time. Why don't you return to your room now."
"Can I stay a while? I'm feeling much better. I can eat right here. I - I think it helps him."
Remus' door opened. Dr. Altheus was standing there with a tray of food; Peter was sitting cross-legged on the floor holding a book. The doctor entered and placed the tray on the ground near Remus' head and helped him onto his knees so he could bend over and eat, carefully avoiding the snapping jaws. As the doctor left, Remus buried his face in his food and ate greedily.
The door had closed again and the rhythmic voice began once more. Remus inched his body to the crack between door and floor and propped his head there to hear it better. He liked the voice. It felt warm and comforting.
During the next day and a half, Remus drifted into fitful dreams of running from people with nets and wands, of worlds filled with powerful smells and magnified sounds. He would awake with a jolt, still bound, still lying on the floor. And hearing the voice on the other side of the door still flowing like a melody, he would relax again.
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dianella
Slytherin House Member
My mother told me to mend my wicked ways. But I never could sew...
Posts: 1,811
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Post by dianella on Feb 22, 2002 9:43:56 GMT -5
Chapter 13 The Return
He couldn't pinpoint exactly when it happened, but his brain began to make sense of the words that drifted through the crack under the door. "So Tom's Aunt Polly…",
but then he lost it again.
"...when Mrs. Phelps took me for Tom Sawyer..."
There it was again. Someone was reading, and he could understand what was said.
"And his Aunt Polly she said Tom was right about..."
Someone was definitely reading on the other side of this door.
Remus tried to sit up, but found he was bound tightly. Why? What had happened? He called out in a croaky voice, "Hello? Can anyone hear me?" The voice on the other side of the door stopped abruptly and started calling out, "Dr. Altheus, come quick!" The clattering of footsteps running on the hard linoleum floor echoed down the hall.
The door swung open and Dr. Altheus, Peter and a nurse were standing outside. The doctor swooped down and began to untie the bindings that held Remus still. "Welcome back, my boy!" he said with a relieved grin.
"Where was I?" asked Remus, groggily. "I had the strangest dreams - smells and sounds and running. It doesn't make any…" But suddenly his mind began to put it together. The last thing he could remember was the moon. The full moon. And then unbearable pain.
His joints ached from being restrained, and as his scattered memories flooded back to him, he absently massaged his shoulders. He looked up at Peter. "And I remember a voice, talking and talking - it was you, wasn't it, Peter."
"I r-read to you. You seemed to like it. At least, it made you quiet."
"But…why?"
"Well, you're my friend, aren't you? I haven't ever really had a friend before, but I expect that when you have one, you should stick by them. No matter what."
Remus looked down and pretended to massage his stiff ankles, hoping that the others did not notice the furious blinking of his eyes. When he thought he could do so safely he said, "Thanks."
Dr. Altheus helped Remus to his feet. "Feel up to a bit of a stroll? You have some visitors." Remus wobbled for a moment, found his balance, and stepped into the brightly lit corridor.
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