The Werewolf Registry
Chapter Two
Disclaimer - Though I would love to lock Remus in my closet and keep him, he is not mine. In fact, none of them are mine. So bugger off. =P
Remus walked at a normal pace down the corridor of Hogwarts that led to the Gryffindor Tower. He wasn't sure whether he wanted to run as fast as he could to be with his friends again or to walk so slowly that he wouldn't reach the tower until June. The meeting with Mr. Dortch from the Beast Division of the Ministry of Magic was not pleasant and Remus wanted nothing more than to go back to business as usual. However, a malicious voice in the back of his head told him, it won't go back to normal until you lie once again to your friends about what you've been doing, and even then, that's under the condition of them not finding out that nasty secret.
The meeting hadn't been to bad, right? Mr. Dortch had been... gruff, to put it politely. It was obvious the stout man didn't think much of him. The look of appraising disgust laid plain his opinion: Scrawny werewolf. The only reason the man had come, and he made this quite clear, was because the Ministry was conducting a census of the population and the economic well being of the werewolf population in Great Britain. He then proceeded, under the strict supervision of Dumbledore, to ask Remus increasingly personal questions. They sat in Dumbledore's office facing each other in front of the Headmaster's desk. Dortch sat with a thick pad of parchment balanced on his knee. It started out innocuously enough...
"What is your full name, lad?" Dortch asked in a professional manner.
"Remus Jonathan Lupin."
"How old are you as of today?"
"Eleven years old."
"How old were you when you were bitten?"
Remus paled slightly, it was not a fond thing to remember in any respect, but he replied calmly, "I'd just turned five."
"So you've been cursed-"
The headmaster cleared his throat loudly at Dortch's choice of words.
Dortch glanced at Dumbledore before continuing, "Had this affliction?" he corrected.
"Six years."
"Where do you go on the nights of the full moon?"
"There is a safe place for me in a secret room that can only be reached by a tunnel under the Whomping Willow."
"The what?"
"An affection of Professor Sprout's put to good use," Dumbledore supplied cheerfully.
Dortch gave Dumbledore a look that implied that he was here on Ministry business and that the Headmaster should keep his crooked nose out it. Dumbledore returned this look with a cool gaze that conveyed quite clearly that Remus was not to be upset by any of these questions, or else. Dortch broke his gaze first and returned to his task a little less sure of himself than before.
"Right then," he scratched his chin absently, "do you have a job?"
Remus blinked, "I'm only eleven."
"Yes or no?"
"No..."
"So you are a dependent," Dortch pressed.
"Remus still lives with his parents, Gateau, and he is but a child. There is no reason for him to earn his way yet." Dumbledore said evenly.
"There are children who work, even with both parents fully functioning." Dortch countered.
What was this man implying? wondered Remus.
"There are also laws on the amount of time a child can work in a day and within the span of a week. Surely you are aware of this. And in addition to that, Remus is attending a boarding school. If you remember from your own days here, the only children job hunting here are sixth and seventh years sending out résumés and participating in internships."
"I am only here to perform a job, Headmaster, not to argue with you," Dortch replied defensively as he shuffled his papers nervously.
"Then do not ask questions not pertaining to the issue at hand," Dumbledore folded his hands on top of his desk.
"I'm just reading from the list, all these questions need to be answered," Dortch waved the papers at the Headmaster.
"Then, perhaps, some things are 'not applicable'?" suggested Dumbledore.
The interview finished up fairly quickly after that, even though a few questions made Remus blush. Some were embarrassing in general but others were quite humiliating and degrading. He was very thankful to the Headmaster, who would step in when the questions became inappropriate either to spearhead the question or provide a suitable answer. Once they were done, Dortch asked for a blood sample.
"It's to compare with the Ministries records and to have an updated sample," explained Dortch.
Remus never liked needles and due to his lycanthropy developed an aversion to anything especially sharp. Having to chop ingredients in Potions class was helping him to properly handle a knife so he wasn't afraid of it... but needles still bothered him.
"Remus, you need to relax," Dumbledore said soothingly to the agitated Gryffindor.
Easy for you to say. You're not about to have a sharp, metal stick shoved into your arm, Remus thought crossly.
Dortch held Remus's wrist steady, though a bit too tightly perhaps, as he searched for the vein. Remus whimpered as the needle plunged into his inner elbow and screwed his eyes shut until it was taken out.
"There we go," said Dortch, dropping the needle into a clear tube and then placing it into a special bag with Ministry markings and his name written along the bottom.
Dortch took one last look through his papers before announcing, "Finished."
Remus was relieved.
"Now, that wasn't so bad," Dortch was looking at Remus when he said this, but one can't be sure whether he was talking to Remus or himself. He turned away to place his things into a briefcase that lay open on the Headmaster's desk.
Nevertheless, Remus shook his head and smiled at Dumbledore, who had risen to bid Mr. Dortch a good day.
"It's good to see old Hogwarts again," Dortch said, wistfully glancing about the room at Dumbledore's oddities, "Good Day, Headmaster," and with that, he was gone.
Dumbledore reached into his robes and pulled out a colorful pouch, "Lemon Drop, Remus?"
Remus looked into those twinkling blue eyes and grinned, "Thank you, sir," and took two sticky lemon drops for himself.
"Mmm, yes, welcome," Dumbledore was seated once more at his desk, "You handled yourself very well Remus," he praised.
Remus blushed and looked at his hands, "Thank you, Headmaster."
"I think you've been kept away long enough," Dumbledore smiled, "You're free to go." He winked.
And that was the end of it, but now it was the beginning of something else. He would have to play around those earnest questions, suspicious looks, and wondering faces. All wondering what was wrong with him, wondering why he was lying, wondering why he couldn't tell them. They saw all the little things that made up his affliction, but had yet to put all the pieces together. One slip of the tongue is all it would take for them to have an epiphany.
All too soon Remus could see the portrait of the Fat Lady ahead of him. It was now or never; time to face his friends. If they knew then there was nothing he could do about it. Hogwarts was too much to hope for anyway... "Jarvey" he told the Fat Lady in a defeated tone.
"Don't look so down, young one. It can't be that bad," the Fat Lady told him as she swung open.
Dragging his feet, Remus went up to his dorm room where he knew his friends would be getting ready for dinner. Chin up, smile, back straight, don't drag your feet there. If they know, they know. You'll deal with the consequences and get over it. Be strong. Remus thought to himself as he approached the door. Taking a deep breath he turned the handle in what he hoped was normal and opened the door.
All that preparation and worry were for nothing. The room was empty. Then again, that gave him something else to worry about: Where were his friends?
---*---
Remus wound up spending the most evening reading Concocting Cures from the Cacao. After having dinner sitting next to a group of loud third years Remus looked forward to some peaceful time by himself where he could have one last review for tomorrow's Charm's test. Yet the thought of not knowing where his friends were was nagging at him and no one seemed to be able to help him find them (and a common reply was "If you don't know where they are, how can you expect me to know?"). Their unusual absence, added on to everything that happened today, made him feel particularly lonely.
But, then again, perhaps I should reacquaint myself with the feeling. I might have to put up with it for a while...
---*---
The next morning Remus found his friends sleeping in their beds. All three were still in their school robes, and, more or less, sleeping on top of the covers (Sirius was a tangled heap of robes and bedding. You couldn't tell where the blanket began and he ended.).
Remus stared at their sleeping forms for a few moments before dressing and padding off to the bathroom to wash up. He didn't know what to expect, but he was going to be prepared ... at least to run. They left him without telling them were they were going... he disappeared first though. But there were no whispered plans other than a pipe dream of turning the Slytherin Common Room into an aquarium. They had no reason to be out of the Common Room after curfew, especially because of the Charms test today. This made no sense.
For those reasons his fight or flight instincts were on high alert. With a shaky hand, he brushed his hair and then teeth. He needed to calm down and put on his "poker face" as his mother referred to it, she and his father had a thing for card games.
When Remus emerged from the bathroom the three of them were still asleep. If he didn't wake them they wouldn't have enough time for breakfast. Remus decided to start with Peter first, he would be the easiest to wake, being a morning person. Once everyone was awake he could try to get information out of them if they didn't offer it up freely. Then again, there would be questions about his own whereabouts yesterday. This time he could honestly say he had to see the Headmaster, but what about the next time? Better let them set the tone and take it from there. They will be less suspicious of me then. It was a tricky game to play.
Remus poked Peter in the ribs, "Come on Peter, wake up. Time for breakfast!" Peter responded by curling around his blankets and kicking his pillow. Remus gave him another hard poke, at which Peter's eyes snapped open. He blinked sleepily for a moment, "Huh? What is it Remus?"
"You slept late, you have to get up now," Remus replied.
"Oh," Peter stretched and yawned, "Thanks for waking me."
"Welcome," Remus began to walk away, "I'll get James, you get Sirius."
"Hm?" Peter blinked again, then his eyes widened in remembrance of the adventures from last night. "Excuse me," he squeaked and dashed to the bathroom.
Remus chuckled, figuring Peter had a rather urgent matter to attend to. He approached James' bed and pulled back the thick, burgundy curtains, "Wake up sleepy head!" he chirped with a sharp poke to James' ribs.
James sat straight up, startled. "Huh?" he looked around in a dazed fashion.
"Here," Remus placed James' glasses in the groggy boy's hand.
"Thanks Remus," he mumbled. Now that his vision was sharper he noticed Remus was already dressed, "What time is it?"
"Late. You're going to have to get up now if you want any breakfast," Remus replied, brushing a few stray bangs away from his face.
James smirked, "I can get breakfast any time I want."
"Really now?" Remus raised an eyebrow, not convinced.
"Really, really," James stated proudly.
"Then get a Belgium waffle with strawberries and ice cream during McGonagall's double period Transfiguration practical today. And no transfiguring your object into a waffle."
"I'm always up for a challenge," James smiled in an infuriating way.
Peter came out of the bathroom looking less disheveled and more awake. He flew over to Sirius's bed, tugging at the pile of clothes and blankets, "Come on Sirius! Wake up! Breakfast!"
Sirius growled and tried to get up. However, he was twisted up in the blankets too badly and fell off the bed. Peter jumped back while Remus and James laughed. All three of them were on Sirius's pile in a moment, each trying to extract Sirius from the clutches of the blankets. They had great fun doing it, and the first year dorm was filled with laughter... for a little while at least.
As they sat there, still laughing and basking in the moment Sirius gave James a meaningful look. James got the point immediately and cleared his throat. Things became quiet awful quickly.
"Remus?"
Remus looked at James' face anxiously, "Yeah?"
"We need to talk."
"About what?" Remus gave the impression of curious innocence.
Sirius's eyes narrowed, "I think y-OW!" James slammed his foot into Sirius' shin.
"About why you've been disappearing every month," James said calmly, ignoring the outraged glares that Sirius was giving him.
"Oh," Remus said quietly, turning his gaze to an interesting thread on his robe. So they'd figured him out, hm? Several emotions hit Remus at once: fear, sadness, shame, anger, relief. He took a deep breath to clear his head, calm down, and think of something. Nothing came to him, he was sitting on the floor of the dorm room facing his second greatest fear since coming to Hogwarts, and he didn't know what to do. Here it comes, he thought.
Remus sat back and looked at his friends with a sad but resolute expression. He was not about to run away, not now, not again.
"We know you're a werewolf," Peter said, trying to be reassuring and supportive.
Remus looked expectantly at the three boys, "I see..." Remus studied their faces. James had a determined but sympathetic look, but Remus didn't want pity. Peter smelled of apprehension, it was different from the fear Remus usually smelled off people who knew he was a werewolf and he didn't know what to make of it. Sirius was angry and outraged, but by what? That a friend had been lying to him for a long time or just that a person he trusted was a dark creature?
"We think-" Sirius didn't get to finish.
Remus knew that tone, that body language, that smell. It filled him with fury, snapping his control. "I have the same right to be here as you!" Remus yelled. Their reaction was the same as how others acted when they learned they'd been nice to a werewolf. It wasn't that everyone felt this way, but one person always did and the rest always followed. He wasn't grief stricken, as he expected to be, he was outraged. How dare these people try and bully him! How dare they try to put him down and make him feel like he was rotten! There would be no insults this time, no personal attacks. He would not let them treat him as others had and as still more would do. He was a good student, he got good grades in class and studied hard for his exams and he was certainly more polite to others than any of those three had been! It's not like he went out of his way to make friends, these people came to him and now they were throwing him away?
"Hold on!-" James tried take back the control they'd lost. But it was no use, Remus continued as if he hadn't spoken.
"You can do whatever you want! I can't stop you, I know that! But you will not get me to leave Hogwarts! I will get an education and become a proper wizard! Nothing you do will stop me!" Remus realized at that point he was standing in the middle of the first year boys dorm shouting his head off. He was rational enough to know that what he had just yelled was a bluff. Any adult could, at any time, stop his education if it was protested. James's family had enough influence to get him thrown out within a week, regardless of what Dumbledore had to say. It seemed like his luck had run out, this was just too good to be true and now it was over.
"Hey! We're trying-" Sirius said in a huff, by Remus shouted him down.
"I want nothing to do with any of you! Leave me alone!" Remus ran out of the room, down that stairs and out the portrait hole. That was it. It was all over now. He had stood up to them, but at what cost?
Remus wandered the castle until his feet led him down a familiar passage to the library. He could bury himself in books until he was called to the office, or sit there until people start looking for him because there would definitely be an announcement at breakfast. Everyone would know before they'd finished their toast. Remus sighed. At least he got a glimpse of what it was like to be normal again. He had learned an important life lesson for a werewolf: Don't let people get close to you.
Remus was already deep in the stacks when that thought flitted though his head. He sobbed and wiped at his eyes, he had to get much further back into the library to have a quiet cry in private. His anger was gone, there was just grief and a deep sense of loss. It didn't matter to him if anyone found him. It simply didn't matter anymore. He curled up behind a dusty bookcase and buried his face in his knees.
---*---
"Sirius! You are a complete and utter moron!" James yelled as he threw a pillow at Sirius.
"He was going to play dumb! Deny everything!" Sirius yelled right back, swatting away the pillow as he scrambled to stand.
"I thought he'd be happy that we didn't care," Peter murmured unhappily.
"We didn't get to that part thanks to this prat," James swung his arm to indicate Sirius as he headed to his wardrobe.
"He over reacted," Sirius snapped as he went questing for his uniform.
"No! You over reacted!" James yelled, though his voice was muffled as he threw a fresh set of robes on.
"You saw how he acted!" Sirius pulled on his shoes.
"I saw how you both acted!" How can he be so stubborn?! James thought, "He was scared! I bet his nerves were fried or something."
"From what?" Sirius groused.
"We disappeared without telling him where we went. We should be lucky he didn't go to McGonagall or another teacher out of concern," James explained.
"He's been disappearing all year and lying to us about where he goes," Sirius retorted.
"BUT HE HAD A GOOD REASON!" James shot across the dorm and pinned Sirius to the wall. James may be shorter than Sirius, but he was fast and he had a good grip.
Sirius, dazed from his head making such sudden contact with the wall, could only gape at James.
James got right in Sirius' face, "What is your problem?! I thought you were okay with this. It was your bloody idea!"
"I am okay with the werewolf thing. I'm not okay with him lying to us again! It's fine when he plays mind games with the teachers but I'm sick of him doing it to us!"
"So what are we going to do?" Peter asked quietly, hoping to break the tension before a real fight broke out.
James gave Sirius a very hard look, "We're going to find him and explain things. Calmly."
Sirius pushed James off and muttered, "Fine."
"Ready?" asked Peter as he stood by the door.
Sirius pulled his tie off a quidditch figurine, "Ready."
"Let's go then," James nodded and they ran down the stairs and out the portrait hole. It was all a matter of where to look first. Where was Remus most likely to go and hide?
"The Library," said Sirius.
"You sure?" asked James.
Sirius nodded, "Yes."
"Let's hurry," Peter said in an urgent whisper.
The three of them rushed down the halls as fast as they could without drawing too much attention from the Prefects or any passing teachers. They didn't need anyone slowing them down.
"He can't have gotten too far," murmured James.
"And breakfast will be over soon. We want to find him before too many students finish," said Peter.
"Yeah," James shot a glare at Sirius, "We don't want a repeat performance."
"Shut up," muttered Sirius.
James, who was in the lead, slowed to a stroll, "We're near the library. Slow it down." He held his hand out to signal them to stop.
Sirius skidded to a stop right behind James, Peter came up on his other side. "Where now?" James murmured to Sirius.
"He'll go to the back," Sirius replied.
"Should we split up?" asked Peter.
"Not this time," James shook his head.
They entered the library quietly but they still got death glares from the wizard behind the counter. After a whispered conference it was decided that Peter would ask Fubster, the librarian, if he had seen Remus that morning. It was a risk letting Fubster know they were looking for Remus since the man might give them bad directions or kick them out, but it was a necessary one - they couldn't waste time. Maybe Fubster would be nice to Peter and give in.
Not entirely surprising, Fubster told him. Remus had come through not fifteen minutes ago and gone into the back via the Herbology aisle.
"Good," James turned and lead them into the back of the library. They went deeper and deeper into the stacks until they nearly reached the end of the library.
It was Sirius who stumbled upon Remus curled up at the very end of a dusty aisle full of outdated books. He waved to the others who were not too far away and then kneeled in front the quiet boy.
"Remus?" he whispered.
"Go away," came the pitiful reply.
"No," Sirius said harshly.
Remus flinched, "Please," he begged, "Just leave me alone."
Peter sat on Remus's right side and started rubbing his back, "It's okay, really."
"We're not going to do anything, you know, except still be your friend," James said as he stood between Sirius and Peter.
"Look, it's a little freaky, but we're ok with it," was Sirius' cheeky input.
James glared at Sirius, not liking his choice of words, but gave an affirmative, "Yeah." Peter also agreed.
There was a long pause before Remus spoke up. "So... how did you find out?" he looked up timidly at the other boys, not sure if he believe them, and uncertain as to where to go from there.
"We checked the Werewolf Registry," replied Peter.
"No, seriously," Remus shook his head, "How did you put it together?" Were they making fun of him? Maybe I should just-
"We did check the Registry!" Sirius said indignantly.
Remus shook his head again like someone correcting a five year old, "No, you can't. It's kept in a restricted area of the Beast Division of the Ministry of Magic. Only people who work at the Ministry or someone with a darn good reason can see the Registry."
"But it was in the basement storage area of Hogsmeade's Town Hall!" James exclaimed.
"We read your entry: 'Lupin, Remus J., born June 13th, 1959, bitten August 23rd, 1964'. And you've never bitten anyone," Peter said quietly.
Remus blinked, "That doesn't make any sense..." He closed his eyes in concentration.
He's bitten other's then? Sirius thought suddenly.
"It shouldn't be there. There's no reason for the Registry to have left the Ministry's offices," Remus pondered.
Oh... Sirius chewed his lip, embarrassed. But no one noticed.
"It's a violation of my rights. The Ministry can get in a lot of trouble for loaning out the book... But nothing will ever come of it because of what I am," Remus said bitterly.
"I always thought being friends with you was a bad idea," James mock glared at Sirius.
"Huh?" said Remus. Sirius stood up swiftly.
James jabbed his thumb at Sirius, "Being friends with Sirius. It'll get you every time." James grinned at his friends.
"Hey!" Sirius punched James in the shoulder. To which James responded punching Sirius right back. Well, one good turn deserves another and soon James had Sirius pinned to the floor trying to make him say "Uncle".
Peter helped Remus to his feet, "Don't worry about it. It turned out for the best."
"It seems so," Remus gave Peter a weak smile.
"Cheer up," Peter smiled, "If we hurry we can get some breakfast before Charms."
Sirius and James froze immediately. "Oh no," moaned Sirius.
"The Charms test!" James groaned.
---*---
A middle aged man in Ministry robes strolled leisurely into the wizarding village of Hogsmeade. The weather wasn't too bad, and it was really nice to be out of the office. Except for the werewolf part. Normally he worked his desk job and saw only the most civilized creatures: Centaurs, Mermen, and Elves, to name a few. Occasionally a vampire or werewolf would come in, but they were nothing like the depraved animals he was interviewing now.
Damn budget cuts...I get stuck with the worst assignments, Dortch grumbled. Due to a financial crunch, the Ministry had made cuts across the board. Over all, ten percent of all employees had lost their jobs. That's what they told the public anyway. In reality it was a very uneven cut and some departments had lost nearly half their staffs. Namely, the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures - Beast Division as well as Being Division.
Half the people with twice the workload for the same pay. That's why I'm enduring traveling all over the United Kingdom tracking down ungrateful werewolves, he mentally snarled.
He shuffled up the stairs and through the great doors of Hogsmead's Town Hall and flashed his Identification at the secretary, who gave him a bored look and waved him on. He sneered at her when she wasn't looking and climbed down the stairs. Fifteen minutes later he was in a small, dusty room surrounded by old books. He pulled the Werewolf Registry of Europe off the shelf and stuffed it into his bag.
Next time I'm going to do this by region, not alphabetically, he sighed and left.
AN - Well, there you are. My version of how things went. My crazy, loopy version... eh hehe. Hope it was believable in the way of action and reactions (because there is no way they went through all that to check a book...). Thanks for reading!
Chapter Two
Disclaimer - Though I would love to lock Remus in my closet and keep him, he is not mine. In fact, none of them are mine. So bugger off. =P
Remus walked at a normal pace down the corridor of Hogwarts that led to the Gryffindor Tower. He wasn't sure whether he wanted to run as fast as he could to be with his friends again or to walk so slowly that he wouldn't reach the tower until June. The meeting with Mr. Dortch from the Beast Division of the Ministry of Magic was not pleasant and Remus wanted nothing more than to go back to business as usual. However, a malicious voice in the back of his head told him, it won't go back to normal until you lie once again to your friends about what you've been doing, and even then, that's under the condition of them not finding out that nasty secret.
The meeting hadn't been to bad, right? Mr. Dortch had been... gruff, to put it politely. It was obvious the stout man didn't think much of him. The look of appraising disgust laid plain his opinion: Scrawny werewolf. The only reason the man had come, and he made this quite clear, was because the Ministry was conducting a census of the population and the economic well being of the werewolf population in Great Britain. He then proceeded, under the strict supervision of Dumbledore, to ask Remus increasingly personal questions. They sat in Dumbledore's office facing each other in front of the Headmaster's desk. Dortch sat with a thick pad of parchment balanced on his knee. It started out innocuously enough...
"What is your full name, lad?" Dortch asked in a professional manner.
"Remus Jonathan Lupin."
"How old are you as of today?"
"Eleven years old."
"How old were you when you were bitten?"
Remus paled slightly, it was not a fond thing to remember in any respect, but he replied calmly, "I'd just turned five."
"So you've been cursed-"
The headmaster cleared his throat loudly at Dortch's choice of words.
Dortch glanced at Dumbledore before continuing, "Had this affliction?" he corrected.
"Six years."
"Where do you go on the nights of the full moon?"
"There is a safe place for me in a secret room that can only be reached by a tunnel under the Whomping Willow."
"The what?"
"An affection of Professor Sprout's put to good use," Dumbledore supplied cheerfully.
Dortch gave Dumbledore a look that implied that he was here on Ministry business and that the Headmaster should keep his crooked nose out it. Dumbledore returned this look with a cool gaze that conveyed quite clearly that Remus was not to be upset by any of these questions, or else. Dortch broke his gaze first and returned to his task a little less sure of himself than before.
"Right then," he scratched his chin absently, "do you have a job?"
Remus blinked, "I'm only eleven."
"Yes or no?"
"No..."
"So you are a dependent," Dortch pressed.
"Remus still lives with his parents, Gateau, and he is but a child. There is no reason for him to earn his way yet." Dumbledore said evenly.
"There are children who work, even with both parents fully functioning." Dortch countered.
What was this man implying? wondered Remus.
"There are also laws on the amount of time a child can work in a day and within the span of a week. Surely you are aware of this. And in addition to that, Remus is attending a boarding school. If you remember from your own days here, the only children job hunting here are sixth and seventh years sending out résumés and participating in internships."
"I am only here to perform a job, Headmaster, not to argue with you," Dortch replied defensively as he shuffled his papers nervously.
"Then do not ask questions not pertaining to the issue at hand," Dumbledore folded his hands on top of his desk.
"I'm just reading from the list, all these questions need to be answered," Dortch waved the papers at the Headmaster.
"Then, perhaps, some things are 'not applicable'?" suggested Dumbledore.
The interview finished up fairly quickly after that, even though a few questions made Remus blush. Some were embarrassing in general but others were quite humiliating and degrading. He was very thankful to the Headmaster, who would step in when the questions became inappropriate either to spearhead the question or provide a suitable answer. Once they were done, Dortch asked for a blood sample.
"It's to compare with the Ministries records and to have an updated sample," explained Dortch.
Remus never liked needles and due to his lycanthropy developed an aversion to anything especially sharp. Having to chop ingredients in Potions class was helping him to properly handle a knife so he wasn't afraid of it... but needles still bothered him.
"Remus, you need to relax," Dumbledore said soothingly to the agitated Gryffindor.
Easy for you to say. You're not about to have a sharp, metal stick shoved into your arm, Remus thought crossly.
Dortch held Remus's wrist steady, though a bit too tightly perhaps, as he searched for the vein. Remus whimpered as the needle plunged into his inner elbow and screwed his eyes shut until it was taken out.
"There we go," said Dortch, dropping the needle into a clear tube and then placing it into a special bag with Ministry markings and his name written along the bottom.
Dortch took one last look through his papers before announcing, "Finished."
Remus was relieved.
"Now, that wasn't so bad," Dortch was looking at Remus when he said this, but one can't be sure whether he was talking to Remus or himself. He turned away to place his things into a briefcase that lay open on the Headmaster's desk.
Nevertheless, Remus shook his head and smiled at Dumbledore, who had risen to bid Mr. Dortch a good day.
"It's good to see old Hogwarts again," Dortch said, wistfully glancing about the room at Dumbledore's oddities, "Good Day, Headmaster," and with that, he was gone.
Dumbledore reached into his robes and pulled out a colorful pouch, "Lemon Drop, Remus?"
Remus looked into those twinkling blue eyes and grinned, "Thank you, sir," and took two sticky lemon drops for himself.
"Mmm, yes, welcome," Dumbledore was seated once more at his desk, "You handled yourself very well Remus," he praised.
Remus blushed and looked at his hands, "Thank you, Headmaster."
"I think you've been kept away long enough," Dumbledore smiled, "You're free to go." He winked.
And that was the end of it, but now it was the beginning of something else. He would have to play around those earnest questions, suspicious looks, and wondering faces. All wondering what was wrong with him, wondering why he was lying, wondering why he couldn't tell them. They saw all the little things that made up his affliction, but had yet to put all the pieces together. One slip of the tongue is all it would take for them to have an epiphany.
All too soon Remus could see the portrait of the Fat Lady ahead of him. It was now or never; time to face his friends. If they knew then there was nothing he could do about it. Hogwarts was too much to hope for anyway... "Jarvey" he told the Fat Lady in a defeated tone.
"Don't look so down, young one. It can't be that bad," the Fat Lady told him as she swung open.
Dragging his feet, Remus went up to his dorm room where he knew his friends would be getting ready for dinner. Chin up, smile, back straight, don't drag your feet there. If they know, they know. You'll deal with the consequences and get over it. Be strong. Remus thought to himself as he approached the door. Taking a deep breath he turned the handle in what he hoped was normal and opened the door.
All that preparation and worry were for nothing. The room was empty. Then again, that gave him something else to worry about: Where were his friends?
Remus wound up spending the most evening reading Concocting Cures from the Cacao. After having dinner sitting next to a group of loud third years Remus looked forward to some peaceful time by himself where he could have one last review for tomorrow's Charm's test. Yet the thought of not knowing where his friends were was nagging at him and no one seemed to be able to help him find them (and a common reply was "If you don't know where they are, how can you expect me to know?"). Their unusual absence, added on to everything that happened today, made him feel particularly lonely.
But, then again, perhaps I should reacquaint myself with the feeling. I might have to put up with it for a while...
The next morning Remus found his friends sleeping in their beds. All three were still in their school robes, and, more or less, sleeping on top of the covers (Sirius was a tangled heap of robes and bedding. You couldn't tell where the blanket began and he ended.).
Remus stared at their sleeping forms for a few moments before dressing and padding off to the bathroom to wash up. He didn't know what to expect, but he was going to be prepared ... at least to run. They left him without telling them were they were going... he disappeared first though. But there were no whispered plans other than a pipe dream of turning the Slytherin Common Room into an aquarium. They had no reason to be out of the Common Room after curfew, especially because of the Charms test today. This made no sense.
For those reasons his fight or flight instincts were on high alert. With a shaky hand, he brushed his hair and then teeth. He needed to calm down and put on his "poker face" as his mother referred to it, she and his father had a thing for card games.
When Remus emerged from the bathroom the three of them were still asleep. If he didn't wake them they wouldn't have enough time for breakfast. Remus decided to start with Peter first, he would be the easiest to wake, being a morning person. Once everyone was awake he could try to get information out of them if they didn't offer it up freely. Then again, there would be questions about his own whereabouts yesterday. This time he could honestly say he had to see the Headmaster, but what about the next time? Better let them set the tone and take it from there. They will be less suspicious of me then. It was a tricky game to play.
Remus poked Peter in the ribs, "Come on Peter, wake up. Time for breakfast!" Peter responded by curling around his blankets and kicking his pillow. Remus gave him another hard poke, at which Peter's eyes snapped open. He blinked sleepily for a moment, "Huh? What is it Remus?"
"You slept late, you have to get up now," Remus replied.
"Oh," Peter stretched and yawned, "Thanks for waking me."
"Welcome," Remus began to walk away, "I'll get James, you get Sirius."
"Hm?" Peter blinked again, then his eyes widened in remembrance of the adventures from last night. "Excuse me," he squeaked and dashed to the bathroom.
Remus chuckled, figuring Peter had a rather urgent matter to attend to. He approached James' bed and pulled back the thick, burgundy curtains, "Wake up sleepy head!" he chirped with a sharp poke to James' ribs.
James sat straight up, startled. "Huh?" he looked around in a dazed fashion.
"Here," Remus placed James' glasses in the groggy boy's hand.
"Thanks Remus," he mumbled. Now that his vision was sharper he noticed Remus was already dressed, "What time is it?"
"Late. You're going to have to get up now if you want any breakfast," Remus replied, brushing a few stray bangs away from his face.
James smirked, "I can get breakfast any time I want."
"Really now?" Remus raised an eyebrow, not convinced.
"Really, really," James stated proudly.
"Then get a Belgium waffle with strawberries and ice cream during McGonagall's double period Transfiguration practical today. And no transfiguring your object into a waffle."
"I'm always up for a challenge," James smiled in an infuriating way.
Peter came out of the bathroom looking less disheveled and more awake. He flew over to Sirius's bed, tugging at the pile of clothes and blankets, "Come on Sirius! Wake up! Breakfast!"
Sirius growled and tried to get up. However, he was twisted up in the blankets too badly and fell off the bed. Peter jumped back while Remus and James laughed. All three of them were on Sirius's pile in a moment, each trying to extract Sirius from the clutches of the blankets. They had great fun doing it, and the first year dorm was filled with laughter... for a little while at least.
As they sat there, still laughing and basking in the moment Sirius gave James a meaningful look. James got the point immediately and cleared his throat. Things became quiet awful quickly.
"Remus?"
Remus looked at James' face anxiously, "Yeah?"
"We need to talk."
"About what?" Remus gave the impression of curious innocence.
Sirius's eyes narrowed, "I think y-OW!" James slammed his foot into Sirius' shin.
"About why you've been disappearing every month," James said calmly, ignoring the outraged glares that Sirius was giving him.
"Oh," Remus said quietly, turning his gaze to an interesting thread on his robe. So they'd figured him out, hm? Several emotions hit Remus at once: fear, sadness, shame, anger, relief. He took a deep breath to clear his head, calm down, and think of something. Nothing came to him, he was sitting on the floor of the dorm room facing his second greatest fear since coming to Hogwarts, and he didn't know what to do. Here it comes, he thought.
Remus sat back and looked at his friends with a sad but resolute expression. He was not about to run away, not now, not again.
"We know you're a werewolf," Peter said, trying to be reassuring and supportive.
Remus looked expectantly at the three boys, "I see..." Remus studied their faces. James had a determined but sympathetic look, but Remus didn't want pity. Peter smelled of apprehension, it was different from the fear Remus usually smelled off people who knew he was a werewolf and he didn't know what to make of it. Sirius was angry and outraged, but by what? That a friend had been lying to him for a long time or just that a person he trusted was a dark creature?
"We think-" Sirius didn't get to finish.
Remus knew that tone, that body language, that smell. It filled him with fury, snapping his control. "I have the same right to be here as you!" Remus yelled. Their reaction was the same as how others acted when they learned they'd been nice to a werewolf. It wasn't that everyone felt this way, but one person always did and the rest always followed. He wasn't grief stricken, as he expected to be, he was outraged. How dare these people try and bully him! How dare they try to put him down and make him feel like he was rotten! There would be no insults this time, no personal attacks. He would not let them treat him as others had and as still more would do. He was a good student, he got good grades in class and studied hard for his exams and he was certainly more polite to others than any of those three had been! It's not like he went out of his way to make friends, these people came to him and now they were throwing him away?
"Hold on!-" James tried take back the control they'd lost. But it was no use, Remus continued as if he hadn't spoken.
"You can do whatever you want! I can't stop you, I know that! But you will not get me to leave Hogwarts! I will get an education and become a proper wizard! Nothing you do will stop me!" Remus realized at that point he was standing in the middle of the first year boys dorm shouting his head off. He was rational enough to know that what he had just yelled was a bluff. Any adult could, at any time, stop his education if it was protested. James's family had enough influence to get him thrown out within a week, regardless of what Dumbledore had to say. It seemed like his luck had run out, this was just too good to be true and now it was over.
"Hey! We're trying-" Sirius said in a huff, by Remus shouted him down.
"I want nothing to do with any of you! Leave me alone!" Remus ran out of the room, down that stairs and out the portrait hole. That was it. It was all over now. He had stood up to them, but at what cost?
Remus wandered the castle until his feet led him down a familiar passage to the library. He could bury himself in books until he was called to the office, or sit there until people start looking for him because there would definitely be an announcement at breakfast. Everyone would know before they'd finished their toast. Remus sighed. At least he got a glimpse of what it was like to be normal again. He had learned an important life lesson for a werewolf: Don't let people get close to you.
Remus was already deep in the stacks when that thought flitted though his head. He sobbed and wiped at his eyes, he had to get much further back into the library to have a quiet cry in private. His anger was gone, there was just grief and a deep sense of loss. It didn't matter to him if anyone found him. It simply didn't matter anymore. He curled up behind a dusty bookcase and buried his face in his knees.
"Sirius! You are a complete and utter moron!" James yelled as he threw a pillow at Sirius.
"He was going to play dumb! Deny everything!" Sirius yelled right back, swatting away the pillow as he scrambled to stand.
"I thought he'd be happy that we didn't care," Peter murmured unhappily.
"We didn't get to that part thanks to this prat," James swung his arm to indicate Sirius as he headed to his wardrobe.
"He over reacted," Sirius snapped as he went questing for his uniform.
"No! You over reacted!" James yelled, though his voice was muffled as he threw a fresh set of robes on.
"You saw how he acted!" Sirius pulled on his shoes.
"I saw how you both acted!" How can he be so stubborn?! James thought, "He was scared! I bet his nerves were fried or something."
"From what?" Sirius groused.
"We disappeared without telling him where we went. We should be lucky he didn't go to McGonagall or another teacher out of concern," James explained.
"He's been disappearing all year and lying to us about where he goes," Sirius retorted.
"BUT HE HAD A GOOD REASON!" James shot across the dorm and pinned Sirius to the wall. James may be shorter than Sirius, but he was fast and he had a good grip.
Sirius, dazed from his head making such sudden contact with the wall, could only gape at James.
James got right in Sirius' face, "What is your problem?! I thought you were okay with this. It was your bloody idea!"
"I am okay with the werewolf thing. I'm not okay with him lying to us again! It's fine when he plays mind games with the teachers but I'm sick of him doing it to us!"
"So what are we going to do?" Peter asked quietly, hoping to break the tension before a real fight broke out.
James gave Sirius a very hard look, "We're going to find him and explain things. Calmly."
Sirius pushed James off and muttered, "Fine."
"Ready?" asked Peter as he stood by the door.
Sirius pulled his tie off a quidditch figurine, "Ready."
"Let's go then," James nodded and they ran down the stairs and out the portrait hole. It was all a matter of where to look first. Where was Remus most likely to go and hide?
"The Library," said Sirius.
"You sure?" asked James.
Sirius nodded, "Yes."
"Let's hurry," Peter said in an urgent whisper.
The three of them rushed down the halls as fast as they could without drawing too much attention from the Prefects or any passing teachers. They didn't need anyone slowing them down.
"He can't have gotten too far," murmured James.
"And breakfast will be over soon. We want to find him before too many students finish," said Peter.
"Yeah," James shot a glare at Sirius, "We don't want a repeat performance."
"Shut up," muttered Sirius.
James, who was in the lead, slowed to a stroll, "We're near the library. Slow it down." He held his hand out to signal them to stop.
Sirius skidded to a stop right behind James, Peter came up on his other side. "Where now?" James murmured to Sirius.
"He'll go to the back," Sirius replied.
"Should we split up?" asked Peter.
"Not this time," James shook his head.
They entered the library quietly but they still got death glares from the wizard behind the counter. After a whispered conference it was decided that Peter would ask Fubster, the librarian, if he had seen Remus that morning. It was a risk letting Fubster know they were looking for Remus since the man might give them bad directions or kick them out, but it was a necessary one - they couldn't waste time. Maybe Fubster would be nice to Peter and give in.
Not entirely surprising, Fubster told him. Remus had come through not fifteen minutes ago and gone into the back via the Herbology aisle.
"Good," James turned and lead them into the back of the library. They went deeper and deeper into the stacks until they nearly reached the end of the library.
It was Sirius who stumbled upon Remus curled up at the very end of a dusty aisle full of outdated books. He waved to the others who were not too far away and then kneeled in front the quiet boy.
"Remus?" he whispered.
"Go away," came the pitiful reply.
"No," Sirius said harshly.
Remus flinched, "Please," he begged, "Just leave me alone."
Peter sat on Remus's right side and started rubbing his back, "It's okay, really."
"We're not going to do anything, you know, except still be your friend," James said as he stood between Sirius and Peter.
"Look, it's a little freaky, but we're ok with it," was Sirius' cheeky input.
James glared at Sirius, not liking his choice of words, but gave an affirmative, "Yeah." Peter also agreed.
There was a long pause before Remus spoke up. "So... how did you find out?" he looked up timidly at the other boys, not sure if he believe them, and uncertain as to where to go from there.
"We checked the Werewolf Registry," replied Peter.
"No, seriously," Remus shook his head, "How did you put it together?" Were they making fun of him? Maybe I should just-
"We did check the Registry!" Sirius said indignantly.
Remus shook his head again like someone correcting a five year old, "No, you can't. It's kept in a restricted area of the Beast Division of the Ministry of Magic. Only people who work at the Ministry or someone with a darn good reason can see the Registry."
"But it was in the basement storage area of Hogsmeade's Town Hall!" James exclaimed.
"We read your entry: 'Lupin, Remus J., born June 13th, 1959, bitten August 23rd, 1964'. And you've never bitten anyone," Peter said quietly.
Remus blinked, "That doesn't make any sense..." He closed his eyes in concentration.
He's bitten other's then? Sirius thought suddenly.
"It shouldn't be there. There's no reason for the Registry to have left the Ministry's offices," Remus pondered.
Oh... Sirius chewed his lip, embarrassed. But no one noticed.
"It's a violation of my rights. The Ministry can get in a lot of trouble for loaning out the book... But nothing will ever come of it because of what I am," Remus said bitterly.
"I always thought being friends with you was a bad idea," James mock glared at Sirius.
"Huh?" said Remus. Sirius stood up swiftly.
James jabbed his thumb at Sirius, "Being friends with Sirius. It'll get you every time." James grinned at his friends.
"Hey!" Sirius punched James in the shoulder. To which James responded punching Sirius right back. Well, one good turn deserves another and soon James had Sirius pinned to the floor trying to make him say "Uncle".
Peter helped Remus to his feet, "Don't worry about it. It turned out for the best."
"It seems so," Remus gave Peter a weak smile.
"Cheer up," Peter smiled, "If we hurry we can get some breakfast before Charms."
Sirius and James froze immediately. "Oh no," moaned Sirius.
"The Charms test!" James groaned.
A middle aged man in Ministry robes strolled leisurely into the wizarding village of Hogsmeade. The weather wasn't too bad, and it was really nice to be out of the office. Except for the werewolf part. Normally he worked his desk job and saw only the most civilized creatures: Centaurs, Mermen, and Elves, to name a few. Occasionally a vampire or werewolf would come in, but they were nothing like the depraved animals he was interviewing now.
Damn budget cuts...I get stuck with the worst assignments, Dortch grumbled. Due to a financial crunch, the Ministry had made cuts across the board. Over all, ten percent of all employees had lost their jobs. That's what they told the public anyway. In reality it was a very uneven cut and some departments had lost nearly half their staffs. Namely, the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures - Beast Division as well as Being Division.
Half the people with twice the workload for the same pay. That's why I'm enduring traveling all over the United Kingdom tracking down ungrateful werewolves, he mentally snarled.
He shuffled up the stairs and through the great doors of Hogsmead's Town Hall and flashed his Identification at the secretary, who gave him a bored look and waved him on. He sneered at her when she wasn't looking and climbed down the stairs. Fifteen minutes later he was in a small, dusty room surrounded by old books. He pulled the Werewolf Registry of Europe off the shelf and stuffed it into his bag.
Next time I'm going to do this by region, not alphabetically, he sighed and left.
AN - Well, there you are. My version of how things went. My crazy, loopy version... eh hehe. Hope it was believable in the way of action and reactions (because there is no way they went through all that to check a book...). Thanks for reading!