The Secret's In The Telling by Sakuri

chapter 42

Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one

Chapter 42: The Secret's In The Telling

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Remus had never really minded the hospital wing at Hogwarts back when he was a student. He'd found the pastel blues and quiet atmosphere very calming, and still did, for that matter. He sighed softly from his perch at the end of one of the beds and sipped at his tea, waiting only for Poppy to give him the final all-clear so he could go and return to his own little cottage.

The full moon had ended last night. He'd been confined to the side-ward that Draco had occupied during his first transformation. Poppy and Albus had explained they were just being careful, monitoring to see that nothing unusual was the result of his week-long captivity. They suspected that Death Eaters had left some curse on him, perhaps, that would only manifest later.

But he was fine, as far as the mediwitch had been able to determine.

Sighing again, he set down his cup and saucer and stood with a slight wince, a shock of pain going through him as he rested his weight on his left leg. Poppy had fixed the injury, but warned him that it might twinge for a few days to come. He kept forgetting.

Restless, he moved to the window to look out over the grounds. He wanted fresh air, and the cold, white quiet of winter he saw below him. Too much of his life, in the recent past, had been noise and darkness and enclosed isolation...

The sound of the door opening startled him from his thoughts. He glanced over his shoulder, expecting to see Poppy, and instead laying eyes on a certain bedraggled, bespectacled teen.

"Harry...?"

He hadn't seen the boy since that night, and couldn't stop the surprise in his voice. He'd expected Harry to avoid him for a little longer than this.

His visitor shuffled further into the room, looking intensely uncomfortable. Taking pity, Remus turned back to the view of the window, though his ears pricked for any and all small sounds the boy made, listening as he sighed and finally drew closer, closing the door behind him.

"I'm glad you're okay," came the blunt statement, toneless.

The werewolf smiled to himself briefly. "Thank you, Harry," he responded lightly. "I must say, I am too." Idly, he watched two Hufflepuff students throwing snowballs at each other down below.

The boy let out a slow breath, still tense. "You're not going again." It wasn't a question.

"No." Remus clasped his hands behind his back. "No, it would seem our plan has come to a rather disastrous end."

"...Good."

He turned to glance at the teen, raising an eyebrow. "Harry. Don't be like that."

He was met with an uncooperative shrug. "What do you want me to say? Didn't want you to do it, and I was right not to. Look at what happened. I'm glad you got found out." He looked defiant for a moment, before seeming to realise how he'd phrased that. "I mean... Not how you got found –"

"I know what you mean." Sighing, Remus turned back to the window, and they were quiet for a few moments longer.

"Not that I don't... appreciate the sentiment," he said at length, after a while, "but I should tell you I'm very disappointed that you'd do something as dangerous as the other night..."

Harry snorted, and seemed unable to help himself muttering, "Says you..."

The werewolf turned in a sudden surge of anger. "I have always known the risks of what I was doing! And the loss certainly wouldn't be as terrible if I was harmed, compared to –"