Remus woke with a start. For some reason, he had a bad feeling that this day wasn’t going to be a good one. Two nights ago had been Halloween, and he had been out late keeping his eyes open for trouble. As a member of the Order of the Phoenix, he was always looking for Death Eaters and Halloween was a night that could get out of hand. The night after Halloween had been a full moon, and that had totally taken him out of commission. Exhaustion and pain had him in bed almost immediately after the moon had set.
A tapping on the window got his attention and he realized what must have woken him. Gingerly he eased his aching body out of the bed. He crossed the room slowly and opened the window. Snow was gently falling as he reached his arm out for the barn owl waiting outside. The owl shook his brown feathers with care to get rid of the moisture from the snow. Remus eased himself into the easy chair next to the window before pulling the message from the owl’s leg.
Remus’ entire body ached and he knew he needed much more sleep. It had been months since any of his friends had come by to spend the full moon with him. Realizing he missed those nights, Remus sighed deeply. He was back to locking himself up in the windowless basement of his small cottage. His left leg was bruised and cut up from whatever he had done to himself while transformed. The wound seemed deeper then normal, but Remus was still too tired to properly take care of it.
Pulling a small cake from a package on a table next to the chair, he offered the owl a small piece as thanks. After taking the treat, the owl gracefully flew back out of the window.
Remus unrolled the message and was surprised to see that it was from Albus Dumbledore.
Remus,
I must ask you to wait in your room until I can come by to see you. I have some news to share with you, and will be along shortly. I must warn you that it is not good news. I also ask you not to read any Wizard papers until I have a chance to talk to you. You will understand shortly.
Albus Dumbledore
Remus couldn’t fathom what could possibly be so important that Dumbledore himself would be coming by to talk to him. He carefully moved his injured leg and limped to the window to close it. The fall air was getting quite chill, and frost was starting to cover the windowpane.
Cleaning his wounds and preparing some breakfast took the next hour. As he sat down with a cup of tea, a knock sounded on the door.
“Come in, the door is unlocked! It will take me a while to get there, so you are better off just coming in,” Remus called.
The door opened and in walked Albus Dumbledore. He had a look of sorrow on his face, and Remus knew something important and possibly dreadful had happened.
“Remus, it is good to see you. I hope that you got my message.” Dumbledore walked over and took a seat across from Remus. “I wanted to come by and share the events of the past two nights with you in person. I have some good news and some bad.”
“Would you like a cup of tea? Sharing news is always easier when you have something warm in your hand.” Remus offered a cup out to Dumbledore.
“Thank you!” Dumbledore accepted the mug and took a drink. “I’ll start with the good news. It appears that Voldemort has been robbed of his powers, and has been destroyed.” Dumbledore looked out the window for a moment and seemed to mumble something about not completely believing the news, or so Remus thought.
Remus watched Dumbledore’s face with concern; bringing Albus back into the present and away from his thoughts. “This must have come at a great price, or you wouldn’t be so sad. What has it cost us to defeat him?”
“It seems that Lily and James have been betrayed. Both of them were found dead and their house was destroyed.” Dumbledore paused to study Remus’s face. “The one good thing is that somehow young Harry is still alive. By trying to curse Harry, Voldemort’s spell backfired and landed on him instead. My sources tell me that the only mark left on young Harry was a lightening bolt shape cut on his forehead. How this could be, no one can guess.”
Remus was totally stunned. “But…Sirius was their Secret-Keeper. He would never betray James…James was like a brother to him! How could Voldemort have found them? I don’t understand!”
“From what we can gather, Sirius must have been the spy. This morning he cornered Peter Pettigrew and killed him along with about twenty Muggles. All we could find of Peter was a finger. After killing him, Sirius just stood there and laughed.” Dumbledore gave a big sigh. “He didn’t put up any type of fight when the Aurors went to take him into custody. Sirius is now in Azkaban where he will probably spend the rest of his life. The Ministry will not be giving him a trial because the evidence is too powerful against him. I’m so sorry Remus.”
Remus just sat there in shock. Gone. James, Lily and Peter were dead. Sirius had turned to Voldemort and betrayed everything that Remus held dear. Remus couldn’t help but think Sirius was the last one he thought would ever betray them; yet somehow Sirius had been the one to totally disband the Marauders by committing this atrocity. Now the only one that was left was Moony, how could that possibly be? Moony was nothing with out Prongs, Padfoot and Wormtail. He was just an empty shell of a man without them.
Memories of roaming through the grounds of Hogwarts filled his mind. Those days were long gone, but they still had tried to keep in touch. James had gotten married to Lily and baby Harry had come along. All the Marauders had loved playing with young Harry. Now Harry was an orphan and his godfather was the one to cause his parents’ murders.
Remus abruptly jumped to his feet. The cup that had been in his hand dropped and shattered as it hit the wooden floor. He couldn’t hear or feel anything anymore. His injured leg struggled to hold him, but he didn’t even notice. Blindly he rushed to the door and pushed his way outside into the cool air. Then he started to run.
His name rang out from behind him, but he didn’t even hear it. The cold wind cut through him, but he didn’t feel it. How could he be the only one left alive that was untouched by betrayal? It wasn’t right. He was the cursed one…he was the one that most deserved to die. If only one of them were to survive, it should have been James. James had a son that needed him, Remus had nothing. No job, no family, and no one left who cared about him.
Finally his leg couldn’t take anymore, and Remus fell forward into the dirt. His face hit the ground hard, but he didn’t notice. He shouted and pounded the ground in frustration and pain. Howling came from his mouth, much like the sound that came from him when he was transformed. Finally he just cried into the ground with his arms wrapped around his slowly bleeding nose and scrapped chin. At some point exhaustion overcame him as he lay in the cold with no cloak and his pain slipped away for a time in the darkness of sleep.
The next thing Remus was aware of was a warm hand shaking his shoulders. Then pain filled him from his nose, chin and leg and the cold cut through him. He realized he was so cold he was beyond shivering. What was he doing lying on the ground, and where was his cloak?
“Are you ok?” A worried voice enquired of him. “Were you attacked by bandits to be here in the middle of the woods, and without a cloak?”
Remus groaned as he tried to rise from the ground. That was when he realized he was going nowhere using his left leg. It totally refused to support any part of him. He rolled over onto his back instead of up to his feet. Memory flooded back as he looked up into the cloudy sky. Numbness once again filled his mind, along with a longing to get away from the real world for a while to have time to rest and recover from his losses. The loss that hurt the most was his trust of Sirius.
“No, it wasn’t bandits. I was told some devastating news and I just ran.” Remus replied in a dead voice to the elderly lady leaning over him in concern. He started to look around him and added, “Do you see any strong looking branches I could use as a crutch? My left leg won’t hold me right now.”
“You poor dear! You must have really been running to end up out here. There is nothing even remotely close by. I was going into town to get some groceries. I have this walking stick, maybe it can help you get somewhere. I don’t have an extra cloak or blanket on me, though I wish I had either to give you. I would do more to help you then just giving you a stick if I could!” The Muggle woman pushed a tall staff into his hands. “I can run to the closest homestead and try to get someone to help you, but it will take me at least and hour. I just can’t move as fast as I once could have.”
“I’ll be okay, thank you for your concern, and the staff,” Remus said with as much gratitude as he could muster.
Getting to his feet took a little help from the lady. Then he found he could kind of walk if he leaned most his weight on his arms when he tried to step with his left leg.
“I’ll go see if I can get some help. You won’t get to anywhere warm soon enough at this rate,” the lady said with concern.
“Do what you feel you must. I’ll be headed down the road,” Remus acceded.
After the woman walked away and out of sight, Remus trudged the best he could after her. Within just a few minutes, he was already winded. He couldn’t stop though, or he’d freeze especially when the sun went down. He was warming up enough to shiver, but that just made it harder for him to move. He looked around him and sighed. Tall trees stood all around him, much taller then any that were near his house. He must have run for quite a while to end up this far into the forest.
Remus looked back down the road, and almost fell down. Five feet in front of him stood an inn sign. The Green Dragon was printed on the sign with the picture of the friendliest looking dragon Remus had ever seen peering over the words. He knew the sign hadn’t been there a moment earlier.
As Remus steadied himself, an elderly gentleman with a kind and gentle face came out of the woods by the sign. He had an apron around his waist and his arms were full of firewood. When the man saw Remus leaning on his stick, he dropped the wood and rushed over to him.
“Sir, let me help you! Just a few feet down this lane is my pub, and my wife is an excellent Healer. She will surely have your leg healed in just a few days. Oh, my manners are horrible! My name is Blenkinsop Waterbut, but you can just call me Blenkin. I have a few rooms at the back of the pub that I let to those in need of them. You will freeze out here.” Blenkin wrapped his surprisingly strong arm around Remus and helped him towards the pub, before Remus could respond to the offer.
“I will gladly take a room, though I’m afraid I don’t have any money on me. Maybe there is something I can do for you in return, once my leg is healed enough. My name is Remus Lupin.” Remus puffed as they moved towards the warmth of the pub.
“Not now, my friend. All I ask of my guests is that they help each other the best they are able, and to not cause any trouble,” Blenkin said with a smile.
Finally they reached the door, and Blenkin led Remus to a corner table where he could rest and get some warm food in him.
“I’ll get my wife to take a look at your nose and leg. Take it easy. You’ll be feeling better soon!” Blenkin patted Remus’ shoulder and disappeared to the back of the pub.
Blenkin’s wife, Tilly, had turned out to be a wonderful Healer. Tilly appeared to be a middle aged woman, with shoulder length brown hair and soft, gentle hazel eyes. Her hands moved with care along his leg and she knew her healing spells. Unable to heal the cuts from the wolf, she was able to undo the damage Remus’s mad dash had done to his leg and it could get him from place to place if he moved gently. His nose and chin were as good as new after just a few spells and a potion that actually managed to taste bearable.
After working with Remus, she had brought him a warm bowl of chicken noodle soup and a cup of tea. It was all Remus could do to keep his eyes open long enough to eat the soup and drink the tea. Tilly helped him back to a small room with a bed and a small stand. Remus took a moment to take his shoes off and crawl under the sheets, and soon blissful sleep took the misery and care of the day away.
