Penny jumped off the bed screaming for her life. When she turned around, Fred and Sirius were already standing in the room with worried expressions.
Before anyone could say anything, she ran to her boyfriend and buried her face in his chest, the ginger’s hands immediately finding their way to her head and stroking her hair soothingly.
„What happened?“ he asked quietly, looking to Sirius for help, who was just as clueless, looking from his husband’s corpse to his adopted daughter.
It was not easy for the man to be here, as he had vowed never to set foot in this room again.
Of course, Sirius said goodbye, he spent hours at his husband’s side after they brought him back here.
But after that, no, after that, he couldn’t bring himself to see him anymore. He was sure one more look at his Moony’s body and he would irrevocably lose his mind.
He would go straight to Azkaban and willingly face the Dementors, because what could be worst than losing your soul when you’d already lost your heart?
But all those thoughts were worthless in that moment, because the words Penny spoke after she found her voice would stay in his head until the day he took his last breath.
„He moved,“ she whispered, barely audible.
„I’m sorry, what?“
„Come again.“ Sirius and Fred said in unison staring at the girl who now sat on the floor, afraid her legs would no longer be able to carry her.
„He – he moved.“ Her voice trembled as she slowly looked over to the bed and looked at Remus. He was still lying motionless and the other two men in the room were now looking at her in concern.
„Okay, Penny, that’s normal, your brain can play tricks on you sometimes - “ Sirius tried to calm her down, now he was the one looking at Fred for help.
„No, no. He was breathing.“, she cried.
Fred stood up while Sirius took his seat next to Penny, slowly and respectfully walking towards Remus‘ body and kneeling down at his head like Penny had done a few minutes ago.
He watched his former teacher, but saw no movement. He turned to Sirius and Penny and shook his head, which made the girl cry even harder and also brought tears to the eyes of the man who had been through so much.
Fred stood up and took one last look at the man who should have been his father-in-law.
„Holy fucking Merlin, Jesus, Zeus whoever’s out there, fucking shit.“ he yelled, staring into Remus‘ face, whose eyes were now open and piercing his own.
„Alert the order. Whoever has time has to come and we need a healer, Poppy Pomfrey if possible. His eyes are open. “ Fred turned to Sirius who was staring at him open-mouthed, all color drained from his face as well out of Penny’s, who was now sitting in the corner of the room, her knees drawn up to her body, her arms wrapped around them and her head buried between her knees, as she rocked back and forth.
Sirius, not understanding what was happening, called for Kreacher, still not wanting to leave Penny’s side.
The old little house-elf appeared in the room and bowed to the Black heir.
„Kreacher’s here, what can Kreacher do to help the master?“ he murmured in his usual monotonous voice.
„The members of the Order must come, and Pomfrey too.“ Fred repeated what he had said before and looked at the house-elf.
„Kreacher doesn’t take orders from filthy blood traitors. Kreacher only serves the heirs of the noble house of Black.“ The elf said grumpy.
„Kreacher you little piece of scum, do as he said!“ Sirius yelled at him.
„Kreacher is doing as he is commanded,“ and after bowing to Sirius again, he disappeared.
Sirius cautiously walked over to Fred and couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw Remus lying in front of him with his eyes open.
„Remus? Can you hear me?“ He sat down on the edge of the bed and took his hand.
„Why isn’t he reacting, why are his eyes open?“ asked Fred, who was now sitting next to Penny again and cradling her tightly in his arms.
Sirius brought his hand to Remus' neck and felt for a pulse.
„He doesn’t have a pulse,“ he stammered and looked uncertainly into Remus' eyes, which were now alive again, he didn’t blink, but his pupils reacted to light.
None of the three people in the room understood what was happening in front of their eyes, what a weird game they were witnessing.
After a moment the first members stepped in including Arthur, Bill, Charlie, Mad Eye and Tonks.
"What’s so important?“ Mad Eye asked, walking over to Sirius while Bill and Charlie looked at their brother and Penny in concern.
„Penny was with Remus and all of a sudden she screamed and said he had moved. He has no pulse but his eyes are responding. We don’t know what’s wrong with him.“
„That’s not possible.“, Bill mumbled, looking just as puzzled as Charlie.
Kreacher entered the room followed by Madam Pomfrey, who immediately rushed to Remus. Sirius explained again what had happened and for the first time in their lives the men saw the experienced woman speechless.
She turned and looked at Penny.
„Get her out of here. I don’t want anyone here. Sirius you can stay.“ Fred obeyed and scooped Penny into his arms before leaving the room with his brothers.
„What’s happening to him, Poppy?“ Sirius asked as she began examining Remus.
„I’ve never seen anything like this,“ she whispered, waving her wand over his body.
„Interesting. That’s incredible,“ she murmured.
„What?“
„I’m not sure, but part of him is alive.“ she looked at Sirius and saw a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
„I need more time,“ she continued, and Sirius nodded without letting go of Remus‘ hand.
After what felt like an eternity to Sirius, she put her wand aside.
She opened her bag and pulled out various vials, she skillfully mixed up a potion and gave it to Remus.
And then the impossible happened. Remus‘ chest heaved. And it lowered, the process repeating itself in a steady rhythm.
He was breathing.
„What- how’s that possible? He was dead. He – he – I’ve checked his pulse – he was dead.“ Sirius stuttered, unable to take his eyes off Remus‘ chest for fear he might be dreaming and when he looked again, it was all over.
„I don’t know what Rubina did to him, Sirius. And I’ve never seen anything like it. But it’s possible. I’ve read about it. Sirius, the part of Remus that died was the werewolf,“ she said and the world stopped.
As much as Sirius tried to understand her words, they didn’t get through to him.
„I do not understand.“
„I guess nobody examined him when you brought him here?“ Sirius shook his head. „I thought so, because then they would have found traces of aconite in his blood,“ she said.
„Aconite? The plant?“ he asked, trying to sort through what was being said.
„Exactly. Aconite is potentially poisonous to werewolves. I’ve only read about a case like this once and it was in the 18th century. People used to try to exorcise the werewolf with a potion made from aconite and silver extract, in most cases it resulted in death. In Remus‘ case, well it does result in death, but it only killed the werewolf.“ Sirius gaped at her and ran his hands over his face.
„So you’re saying his lycanthropy is cured?“ he was afraid of the answer, because how could something so unbelievable really be true.
„Exactly. That’s what I think. I think she gave him the potion because she wanted him to die an agonizing death. But Remus was lucky. But there’s bad news too.“ Sirius looked at her , his heart pounding in his chest through all the events.
„Go on?“
„He’s weak and he’ll take a long time to heal. He was bitten as a child, which means he lived with the lycanthropy for a long time and the werewolf had destroyed much of the human in him. He’s a fighter, though I can’t promise you he’ll be fully recover.“ she said sympathetically, packing her bag.
„What’s the worst that can happen?“ Sirius sat on the edge of the bed, one hand holding Remus‘ hand and the other stroking his hair.
„In the worst case.“ She took a deep breath. „In the worst case, he stays in this state. He wouldn’t be able to speak or move.“ She looked back at the former werewolf, whose eyes showed he was there and hearing her, but too weak to react.
„And will he die?“
„No, I acted quickly enough, he won’t die. But Sirius, think carefully about what you will do if he doesn’t recover fully. It’s not something you have to decide right now, but be ready if the day comes. Think about whether you want such a life for him, if such a life is worth living.“, she put a hand on the shoulder of the man she had known since he was the mischievous boy and he nodded.
„Okay. I’ll leave then. I’ll leave you two potions here. The green one is for the morning, the blue one for the night, one drop each.“, the Hogwarts healer placed two bottles with the colorful liquid on the nightstand, then turned to Remus.
„You’re strong. I’ve always admired your willpower from the moment I first saw you. So fight, Remus,“ and then she did something she’d never done before, she leaned down to Remus and gave him a motherly kiss on the forehead.
-----
At the same time, unaware of what was happening above their heads, the members of the Order and Penny sat in the kitchen at Grimmauld Place. The older twin was sitting in one of the chairs, Penny on his lap, her head resting on his chest, crying silent tears.
George leaned against the counter next to Charlie, arms crossed as they talked softly.
The other members were spread out around the table, Bill next to Tonks, whose hair now a mousy brown instead of its usual pink color.
When the people in the room noticed Black’s presence, the conversations stopped and all eyes were on the man with the curly black hair.
Penny looked at him expectantly too, expectantly and fearfully.
A small smile, an expression of falling tension and a small glimmer of hope crossed Sirius‘ face, who went to the cupboard, took out eight glasses and summoned a bottle of firewhisky. He filled the glasses and with a snap of his finger, a glass landed in front of everyone in the kitchen.
The Weasley brothers exchanged confused looks.
„What’s going on?“ Bill was the first to ask what everyone was thinking.
Sirius sat down, took a sip and then clasped his hands on the table as he spoke.
„He’s alive.“, the words had hardly left his mouth when Penny covered her mouth and the others let out a gasp.
„How?“ Moody asked, who was the only one taking the news calmly.
„Poppy found aconite in his blood. Apparently Rubina tried to kill him with it. The only thing she managed to do is kill the wolf.“, he grinned and left questioning looks on their faces.
„Sorry but I don’t get it,“ said George, now sitting next to Fred and running his finger along the rim of his glass, earning nods of agreement from his brothers and Tonks, the latter’s hair now changing its color frequently.
„Ever since the discovery of werewolves, wizards and witches all over the world have tried to exorcise wolves from humans. Using a potion of aconite and silver extract, brewing the potion was difficult because no one knew how much ingredients were needed. It so happened that most attempts ended in an agonizing and painful death. There is only one recorded case so far about a werewolf living in Germany in the 18th century who drank this potion and managed to destroy the wolf in him. Yes, he suffered, it was a long time process of recovery and he lost some of his magical abilities, but he survived. And according to the books, he lived a normal life as a wizard until his death.“ Arthur spoke, the audience’s eyes glued to his lips.
„So you’re saying that’s what happened to Remus? He’s not a werewolf anymore? And he’s going to be fine?“ Charlie looked from his father to Sirius, who nodded.
„That’s exactly what happened. Poppy said he needs time, he’ll be weak and we have to expect that he won’t be able to speak or walk anymore. But he’s alive and he’s strong, he’ll fight. He’s got something worth fighting for.“ Sirius continued with a look at Penny, raising his glass, and after his words had settled in the minds of the others, they raised theirs too.
All except Penny.
Because the girl sat petrified on Fred’s lap for the whole time and tried to put the words she had heard together like pieces of a puzzle.
And when she finally got what was said, she jumped off Fred’s lap and sprinted out of the kitchen and up the stairs, with only one goal, to get to Remus as fast as her legs would take her.
She pushed open the door to Remus‘ room and nearly lunged at him. Unafraid of contact, she crawled into his bed and wrapped her arms around him as she cried into his chest.
And then she realized it, as her head rested on his chest, she felt his chest slowly rise and fall.
And she wanted to scream, she wanted to scream to the world how happy she was at that moment. She thanked whoever was to thank for this miracle, and she vowed to herself and Remus to do everything to make sure he got well again.
It took a load off her mind as she clung to her father with all her strength and absorbed the feeling completely.
She wasn’t stupid, she had been listening, she knew it was going to be a tough road and she knew there was a chance he wouldn’t fully recover.
But she refused to even consider that possibility. Because if there was one thing she was sure of, it was that Remus Lupin would fully wake up and continue living his life as it was planned, as it was meant to be.
And if she had learned one thing for her young life, it was what family means. And that she would do anything in her power to protect this family, to protect the people she loved. She would never let anything happen to anyone again.
In that moment, she vowed to fight for her family until her last breath. Because she had gained something, something that gave her this confidence, something that’s immensely important in this world.
And that was hope.
Penny had hope again, and she knew that no matter how dark the times ahead were, there was always something worth fighting for.
There is always hope as long as you have people who you love and who love you.
-----
AN: SURPRISE.. Remus is ALIVE, I couldn't let him die.
Sooo slowly but surely I'm getting more readers and I appreciate each of you!! Please leave a vote and comments! And feel free to recommend it.
I love you all and it means a lot to me! <3 stay safe everyone!