Four To The End (prev Shifting Lines) - Book One (Marauder Era)

Chapter Sixty-Four - Easter

That night he had more nightmares, of that book, of what could happen to him. When dawn came, he was too tired to do much of anything. His parents knew what the four moon nights did to him, and Hope brought him breakfast, lunch, and an early supper before taking him down to the cellar.

Remus trembled a little as he went, flinching when he stepped into the darkness. He took off all his clothes, embarrassed by his body, embarrassed by the bit of hair that had started growing out of no where. At least his mother couldn't see him too well because of the darkness. He just wished she didn't stand there while he got naked. He could hand the clothes out to her...

"I'll see you in the morning," Hope said before closing the door.

Remus sank down onto the ground, hugging his knees, rocking back and forth a bit while he waited for the wolf to take him out of the darkness.

*

It looked like a bloodbath in the morning. Remus was too tired, too broken to move so he lay in the blood until the door opened and Hope inevitably screamed. How many times had she done that? He winced at the sound in his ears. Surely by now she should be used to seeing this...

Lyall wrapped him in towel and carried him to the bathroom. Remus's head lolled a bit and he wondered what was going to happen when he was older. Bigger. Heavier. Probably be drifted along with magic. Lyall set him in the tub and Hope began washing him off while Lyall went to clean out the cellar. Neither of them complained though Hope kept sniffling. Remus closed his eyes, too much in pain to sleep but enjoying the feeling of the warm water against his skin.

"You got an owl last night," she said and Remus's body froze up. "It left a letter addressed to you."

"Who's it from?"

"No name on the envelope except for yours," she said as she rubbed the soft cloth very gently around one of his wounds. "I don't know what kind of owl. I'm not very good at that." She sloshed some water over his leg, trying to be careful not to jostle him too much. "We didn't really talk about that Potter kid, did we?"

"I told you..." Remus closed his eyes again, debating whether or not to pretend to be asleep. "Not friends. I j--just help out with homework. I'm the top in almost every class. Of course my dorm-mates want my help." He tried to inject some of James's bragginess into his voice but it didn't really come out that way, it just sounded rather pathetic and whiny. "I thought if I was just the weird loner that avoids everyone they might take more notice of me so I try to be a little social so they don't think something's wrong."

"I suppose that's true..." She drained the tub and then plugged the drain, letting the water raise again a few inches. "Just be careful."

"I am." Don't you trust me? He watched her profile as she began cleaning off his other leg. There were several grey strands mingled in her hair, and he noticed a few new lines on her face. He knew Muggles didn't have quite as long a life as magical folk did, and suddenly he felt sick knowing just how fragile she was--how mortal. Magical healing was a big part of the long life of wizards so Hope would probably live a lot longer than regular Muggles, however...

He sat up, water sloshing sending the blood swirling, and then hugged her tightly. "I love you, Mum."

Hope gave a startled gasp then wrapped her arms around him, not caring about the blood getting all over her. "I love you too, baby." She kissed the top of his head then eased him back down, smiling now as she did her best with his wounds.

*

The letter was from James, thanking Remus for the present. Remus decided not to write back. He didn't want anymore owls coming in making his parents suspicious. On the third night of the full moon another owl came for him, and his mother questioned him relentlessly about it to the point of him being worried she'd want to read it. As it was from Sirius, he definitely didn't want her seeing the name. She wouldn't recognize the Black name (probably) but if she mentioned it to his dad--if they found out someone from the house of Black wrote to him... he doubted it would end well. Luckily she didn't hover while he read it though she remained in the room, glaring at the letter as if it would burst open with silver shards or something.