Redamancy - R. Lupin

Chapter 23 - Lacuna

Lacuna - (n.) a blank space, a missing part.

R E M U S

The second his eyes landed on Evangeline's unconscious and bloodied form, sprawled in Tonks's arms on the front steps of Twelve Grimmauld Place, he felt his heart absolutely break. It felt as though the world had ended, everything crashing down around him as he was unable to pull his eyes from her figure. Remus didn't know whether or not Evangeline was even still breathing, her blood pooling on the white concrete of the steps leading him to believe the worst.

He felt paralyzed, his feet unmoving and shoulders tense. Evangeline Love who always smelled of hot cocoa, who loved eating breakfast for dinner, who cared so much, who he loved more than anything, was bleeding out in front of him.

Remus was only pulled from his panicking thoughts when Sirius shoved past him, dropping to his knees by Evangeline's side, shouting at Remus to help. "Moony, now isn't the time to freak out! Help me get her inside!"

Launching into action, he put his thoughts aside and focused his entire being towards helping her. Rushing forward, he pulled her up with Sirius's help, holding her bridal-style in his arms. He didn't care about the blood rapidly staining his clothes as he ran her inside and up the stairs to his room; no, all he cared about was saving her.

Lillian was already in the room with a large bowl of warm water, towels, dittany, and various potions. He knew she was bleeding from he back, but didn't know how to lie her down without hurting her. Luckily for him, Lillian solved that problem.

"Remus, lay on the bed, back on the head board, and hold her against you, her back facing me," she ordered. Had he not seen the flash of fear in her eyes, he'd have thought her emotionless, her tone steady and commanding.

Wordlessly, he did exactly as told. Maneuvering him and Evangeline onto the bed, he helped peel away her blood soaked clothes, leaving her only in her underwear. He kept her chest pressed against him, shielding her from being seen. Remus knew she was passed out and couldn't hear him, but he whispered to her nonetheless, stroking her hair as he did so.

"You're doing so great, love," he whispered softly, laying his head down on top of hers as Sirius hurried in, Elio and Tonks following after.

Lillian tried using healing spells to stitch the skin back together, but as Remus's eyes fell on the claw marks, he knew it would be useless. Without turning his head, he asked Tonks, "what made these?"

He suspected the answer- no, he knew the answer before Tonks even opened her mouth. Elio had wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulder, face pale as he watched unseeingly as Lillian struggled to stop the bleeding. "Fen-Fenrir Greybeck," she choked out around her sobs, a hand pressed over her mouth in an attempt to stifle them, "he was one of the Death Eaters there. He knew her name, told her something as he attacked her."

Lillian summoned powdered silver, applying it to the wounds along with heaps of dittany, cursing under her breath at the amount of blood Evangeline had lost. Beside her, Sirius helped wipe away the blood, his jaw clenched in anxiety.

Remus didn't process what happened in the following hour, his mind locked on one thing.

Fenrir Greybeck, a werewolf, had tried to kill Evangeline.

All the thoughts he had worked so hard to repress boiled to the surface. Just as he had told her and himself over and over again, being with him was dangerous- he was dangerous. He was the reason she had been attacked; why else would he know her name? Remus couldn't stay with her, he couldn't endanger her anymore. It wasn't just Greybeck that was dangerous, it was him too. He was a monster, a monster who shouldn't be with someone so bright and amazing as her.