parents after all

chapter 7

Chapter 7 - Moony's Message

The moon shone brightly.

Arh-wooooooooooooh -

A wolf howled. Bang, bang, bang. The wolf lunged at the wooden furniture, the wall, the door; its greyish fur soaked with sweat and blood. Tonight, it seemed to have taken a particular interest in the barred window facing the forest, for its claws were rooted deeply in the iron bars, its great muzzle gnawing on the frame, fangs coated with saliva and wood crumbs.

Longing. Magic. Fire. Out. OUT.

A string of words swirled in the wolf's canine mind; but it was incapable of forming complex thoughts other than following its instincts, nor did it understand that the wall was impossible to break. Bang, bang, bang. No matter how hard the wolf pounced, the magic seals on the window remained intact. Unshaken, the seemingly battered Shack stood still against the bleeding mad wolf.

'Moony! You're finally awake!' Sirius yelled, his voice loud enough to wake the whole castle, which was the last thing the Marauders wanted in the dead of night in the Hospital Wing.

Remus was wrapped tightly in bandages and covered with pastes and dittany all over his body. His eyelids were swollen and heavy like lead, his mind void and blank. Unlike last month, there were no sore muscles or stiff body this time –in fact he could feel nothing at all as if his body didn't exist under the neck. He willed himself to move, but the lanky limbs hardly belonged to him and were as still as rocks.

'Merlin's beard,' James took a breath sharply, 'there are bruises all over your face! What have you done?'

Remus's throat was dry and burning. He tasted blood; a lump in this throat with the raw bitter taste of iron bobbed up and down, resulted from howling all night long. He had a perilous need to cough, but the pain from contracting his deflated lungs and broken ribs was so strong that he feared he might fracture into a million pieces if he did.

'Here, here,' Peter hastily conjured a glass of water on the nightstand. The boys gingerly helped Remus up and lay his back on the pillows.

'It never took you so long to wake up,' said Sirius tightly, his knuckles were devoid of any blood as he gripped the duvet. 'When we first visited you yesterday morning, you... you... we...' he quieted down and looked away.

'The flesh couldn't... contain the madness... within,' croaked Remus, the corner of his mouth quirking up slightly. But even forming sounds and a half smile drained his energy so quickly that pangs of vertigo hit him like a train.

James wiggled his brows. 'Well if you can crack a werewolf joke at least your master mind's still intact, Mr Moony,' he said light-heartedly with a whistle, though Remus's heightened senses could detect the waves of adrenaline and his friends' thumping heart.

'If only we could speed things up a bit...' Sirius looked down, his voice hoarse with guilt.

'S'not that,' said Remus between heavy breaths. 'Something...there.' He rolled his eyes upwards, indicating the window.

'It's okay, nothing's outside,' said Peter sadly. Remus could tell that Peter was in resigned acceptance of his mental instability and hallucination about 'something outside'.

Remus swallowed the phlegm rising up his throat. 'Not ... here,' he licked his broken lips, 'that night. Forest. Wolf wanted out.' He tried to look down, but the duvet obscured the rest of his body. 'Kept hitting the wall... I suppose.'