Young Girl

5- The Wolf

Remus's POV-

I woke up feeling like hell. I was lying in the field I normally transformed in, looking up at the sky. My back ached and I could feel the fresh cuts along my face, and yet, why did I feel so happy? I lay still, not finding the strength in my body to get up quickly. My bones groaned in protest as I started to force movement into them, clicking and burning with pain. But I'd had worse, a lot worse.

I knew that my mind blanked from when the wolf started to stir until sunrise, meaning nothing that happened about half an hour or less before my change would have to be explained by someone else, normally Sirius. On that subject, where was he? It had become ritual for Snuffles to be with me when I changed. I slowly pushed myself to my feet, breathing deeply so that I didn't cry out. My clothes from before the change were on the floor next to me, ripped and ragged, but still wearable. I pulled them on as quickly as I could, which still wasn't that fast as the pain coursed through my bones and muscles. Thankfully, my wand was still in the pocket of my jacket, so I eased the pain a bit and fixed my sorry remains of a suit.

I tried to take a step forwards, but my left foot gave way and I collapsed to the floor with a shout. My face landed only a couple of inches away from a rock sticking out of the ground. With a lot of concentration, I managed to transfigure into a walking stick which I took gladly. I got to my feet once more, more stable than my previous attempt. Summoning every bit of my remaining strength, I disapparated for Grimmauld Place.

I nearly fell as I landed, the less than smooth movement throwing me off balance. Thankfully, I had reappeared on the top step, meaning I didn't have to put my body through any more physical exhaustion. I knocked weakly on the door, hoping that Molly was inside and able to patch me up.

"Its Remus!" I heard someone from inside yell, "Got the ointment thingy?"

After only a couple of seconds, the door was swung open by Sirius who instantly got me inside. I could feel my strength fading as we made our way down the hall, my friend propping me up from under one arm. Molly followed us into the study, motioning for Sirius to put me on the sofa. I nearly sighed in relief as she lessened the pain in my bones with a simple spell. I bit back a hiss of pain as she started applying a pale green paste to the cuts along my face. Two small hands landed gently on my shoulders before giving a small squeeze. A tiny smile flickered across my face as I realised who it was which, annoyingly, Sirius caught.

Tonks's POV-

He seemed to relax slightly as I put my hands on his shoulders. If there was one thing I could sympathise with, it was the pain of having that green paste smeared into cuts. The three slashes I had across my cheek were healing well, thanks to silver and dittany, but there was no guarantee what Remus would do when he found out. They reached from the hairline above my ear down to part way across my lip. They were still a raw red but twinged less often than they had in the early morning. Sirius thought they looked awesome and, in a way, I kind of agreed with him, it did look pretty cool.

Every so often Remus flinched as the paste connected with his cuts, but I still didn't let go of his shoulders. He started to react a bit more as time passed and, after he had nearly shouted in pain, Molly passed me a small bottle labeled 'Sleeping Potion'. I leant over Remus's shoulder, choosing the side carefully so that he didn't see my injury. He let out half of a gasp as I pressed the bottle to his lips, but it was soon drowned as the thick, purple trickled into his mouth. He started to go limp, gradually drooping sideways until he went completely and landed flat on the sofa.

"How are you going to tell him?" Molly asked as she continued to apply the ointment to his face.

"I'm not sure." I shrugged, twirling the empty potion bottle in my hands, "I suppose if you guys tell him in the morning before I come down it gives it time to sink in."

"We could give it a go." Sirius said thoughtfully, "That way he won't see how bad it is until he's got the message."

"Its not that bad." I rolled my eyes jokingly, laughing slightly, "Will he blame himself?"

"Almost definitely." Molly sighed, stopping and looking up from his face to give me an apologetic glance, "He always has."

"I wish he didn't see himself as such a monster." I said sadly, handing the bottle back to Sirius, "He needs to know that not all werewolves are bad, its the ministry's fault. They give people like him a bad light, and that makes him believe it too."

"Yeah." The other two agreed in the same, flat voice. It took us a couple of seconds to realise that we had frozen, all staring down at the sleeping man. Molly with pity, Sirius a slight tint of anger but mainly brotherhood, and me, well, I was looking at him like I always did. Even though scars and fresh marks lined his face, he still had a kind of rustic beauty to him. One that I could hardly ignore.

"Sooo Dora." Sirius interrupted in a slow, fake whisper, "How was last night? And tell me, how good did it get?" I could practically feel his gaze bore into my back and apparently Molly felt uncomfortable too, because she left. Thanks. Totally not a really awkward situation I hadn't just been dumped in.