Ad Infinitum (Remus Lupin X Reader)

L • Manere

L • Manere • Wait

By the time I came to my senses, Snape's name disappeared from the map. I had tried to track him on it, but his name vanished somewhere between Hagrid's hut and the Forbidden Forest. I cursed to myself and scanned the map in irritation, trying to find his name. He couldn't have just disappeared. There was no way of apparating out of the place.

"Stupid map," I muttered and folded the map away. I looked around the classroom and tried to come up with a way to prove useful. I had no idea what Snape intended to do. Truthfully, I wasn't sure what Remus was intending to do anymore. But it wasn't my place to question him. I trusted him. I didn't have to know everything about him, every single intention he had. I just had to know him, and trust him. That would have to be enough.

I dumped the contents of my bag on my desk and replaced them with the map. One thing I was certain of was that Remus needed his potion. It allowed him to keep his mind, which he certainly needed if he was going to turn on the school grounds, surrounded by children. I liked to think that he wasn't dangerous, but the simple truth was that he was. He was extremely dangerous, and he needed his potion if only to keep the students safe.

But it also kept him safe. From his own mind and from the pain he inflicted on himself.

Snape had the potion. He brewed it for Remus. But Remus never picked it up. Which meant...

"Snape's office," I said aloud. I grabbed the map again, which was actually proving to be useful. I scanned over it until I found Snape's office. Snape's office was in the dungeon. It was a long walk. I slung my bag over my shoulder and ran through the Serpentine Corridor, jogging down the stairs.

I was completely out of breath by the time I reached the dungeon, and my thighs were burning from the stairs. I ignored the pain and rushed through the hallways, relying on the map to find the office, which I had never been to. I knew it when I found it, for the classroom screamed 'Snape', beckoning with thick shadows and a cold atmosphere.

I shoved through the door to Snape's classroom and immediately tried the door to his office, but it was locked. I drew my wand and took a step back, casting a spell that blasted the door open. I rushed to the cauldron, full of a still-steaming potion, although the fire below it had been put out. I chewed on my lip and turned in a full circle, searching for something to carry the potion in.

"Come on," I muttered to myself in agitation. Of course Snape wouldn't have a water bottle like a normal person.

I spotted a neat line of jars on a shelf up high, each one filled with potion ingredients. I boosted myself on a stack of old textbooks to grab one of the jars, and then brought it over to Snape's desk. With a grimace, I dumped the jar on Snape's desk. I figured there wasn't much I could do to make him hate me any more than he already did, so I had little remorse as I watched dried cockroaches clatter onto his desk.

With another quick spell to clean out the jar, I scooped the potion into the jar, hoping it wasn't so hot that the jar would explode in my hand. Luckily, it was only warm now. I closed the jar and tucked it away in my bag before I set out.

Where was I going?

A wonderful question.

Unfortunately, I had no answer. I had the map in hand but there were no meaningful names visible. Snape was my best bet, but his name had disappeared in the middle of nowhere.

My best bet was to go there. Try to find Remus before it was too late.

But the sun was already low on the horizon, and I knew that the moon would soon rise. If I was too late... Well, I couldn't be. I had to get to him before he turned. And I had to make sure that, if I wasn't going to make it, I wasn't near him when he turned. I couldn't do that to him, not when I knew how much he feared hurting someone, especially someone he was close to.