Blood of the Moon {Remus Lupin}

Chapter 66

Have a lovely day folks :)

Auriga's head hurt. She knew that much. And she was faintly aware of a rattling sound from next to her, a throbbing in her arm that outweighed all the other aches and pains, and the hum of voices that came from everywhere except her room. Her nose was filled with the smell of disinfectant.

Auriga forced her eyes open, and was at first dazzled by a light above the bed she was in, but after a few moments she blinked it away. Her eyes came to focus next on a newspaper that was hovering a few feet away from her face. The front page read:

MINISTRY LEFT IN MAYHEM AFTER TOP AUROR MALFOY PLACED IN CRITICAL CARE

"Since when am I a top Auror?" said Auriga, her voice coming out scratchier than expected.

The person behind the newspaper jumped a little, but settled shortly after. "I'm sure it's just the Prophet being dramatic," said the voice of Sirius Black. He folded the paper away to reveal a worn looking face, with a thin layer of stubble and small bags under his eyes. "Water?" he offered.

Auriga nodded. "Yes, please," she said. Sirius helped her sit up, before propping her pillows up for her and handing her a cup filled with water. Now that she was sat up, Auriga could see that she was in a small room in what appeared to be St Mungo's. The pain in her arm was coming from a tube that fed from her vein to a machine, that ticked constantly and pinged every now and then. "What's that?" she asked, frowning at it.

"That's the state of the art treatment you get when you land yourself in critical care," said Sirius. "I'm just kidding, I don't know what it is."

"Funny," said Auriga, sipping at her water, "I thought you were being Sirius."

Sirius smiled. "That's brilliant that one. So original. I'll have to steal it." Auriga managed a smile back.

"So," she said, "What's new?"

"We'll start with the month," said Sirius, tossing the newspaper onto a large pile on a neighbouring chair. "It's October. The fourteenth. So the good news is you haven't missed my Halloween party."

"Oh dear Merlin," said Auriga.

"You were fine until about last week," he said. "Comatose, but recovering. The healers missed something - a cutting curse hit your kidney, I think? So they had to move you to critical care. That got out to the press yesterday."

"I'm famous," she commented.

"Well, yeah," said Sirius. "They said the raid was your idea - which it was. And it was very successful; they recaptured half the escapees.

"And, between you and me, I think throwing your name on it was the Ministry making a start on un-brainwashing the mini bigots." Auriga nodded - that would make sense.

"No one thought to tell me you were here though," said Sirius, sounding offended. Auriga chuckled and a sharp pain shot through her stomach. "I had to see it in the Prophet." He placed another, older version of the newspaper in front of her. This headline said:

RAID GONE RIGHT OR WRONG?

Followed by a photo of Auriga on a stretcher which was captioned: Aurors placed their lives on the line in Thursday night's raid. More on page five.

"I'm sorry if my injuries offended you," Auriga scoffed, raising her eyebrows and realising her face still hurt.

"On the contrary," Sirius said, digging through the pile once more. "I've got my fame back." He flicked through a few pages and began to read. "Recently cleared Sirius Black was seen entering Miss Malfoy's room at St Mungo's yesterday afternoon, carrying with him a bunch of yellow tulips. And then they imply that we're lovers but, you know. Anything for my fave minutes of fame."

"That's the second time you've used the word fame in two minutes, Black," said Auriga with a smile. "Do I need to be concerned?"

"Not at all, Malfoy," said Sirius.

"I'm just going to ask," said Auriga, unable to clear the face from her mind. "Did they get him?" Sirius sighed and pointed at the oldest article.

"When asked the identity of the Death Eater that caused such immense damage to Malfoy, Auror spokesperson Woodburn declined to comment directly, only saying that the perpetrator was being traced constantly, and an arrest would be made as soon as possible." Auriga sighed. "So he got away?" she said, more irritated than ever. "He got away, again."

"What d'you mean, again?" asked Sirius with a frown.

"Hardly the first time he's done it, is it?" said Auriga, slumping back into her pillows and wincing.

"Oh," said Sirius, "Yeah." There was silence, only interrupted by the ticking of the machine. "I expect Draco will be allowed to visit tomorrow," said Sirius. "I promised Dumbledore I'd owl him as soon as you woke up."

"And have you?"

Sirius shrugged. "I'll do it when I get home." Tick. Tick. Tick. "Look, Auriga, I'm going to say this because no one else will." Auriga shifted to look at him, only to see a line between his brows. "I think you were reckless on that mission. And I think you did it because you know Moony's out there, doing dangerous stuff, and you want in on it."

Auriga shook her head. "That's not true. I was very careful." Sirius didn't look convinced. "Has he...?"

"Been?" Sirius finished. "Auriga...he won't have even seen the papers." Tick. Tick. Tick. "Look, I probably shouldn't tell you this, but...oh fuck it. I promised him I'd keep an eye on you. Keep you out of trouble. You do have a tendency for it-"

"I'm an auror, Sirius," scoffed Auriga.

"Is that...why you took the job?" Sirius asked. "To get him to come back?"

"I thought I told you he wasn't coming back," said Auriga, resenting the bitterness in her voice and the stinging in her eyes. Tick. Tick.

Sirius sighed and got to his feet. "I need to get going," he said, "The Order will want an update on you, and I need to send that owl. Rest up, OK?"

"Funny," said Auriga, "I was actually planning on going for a jog." Sirius grinned at her and bid goodbye. Auriga sighed to herself, before pulling the closest Prophet towards her. At least she could do the crossword. But it looked like Sirius had beat her to it. For every single one.