the case of dawna flynn - r.j lupin

five

The first full moon back hadn't been too hard to deal with and Remus was gassed about that.

"Go on Red, you've done this twice  before." Remus beckoned the cat and she slipped under the Whomping Willows swinging branches to the pressure point. "That's it, good girl." He said and pushed forward the moment the tree calmed. Poppy followed him. They both slipped into the hole after Red and began the twenty minute trek to the shrieking shack.

Red had at some point in the short journey jumped up onto Remus shoulder and was stretched out over both of them and napped.

"Okay, I got all of it ready a few nights ago but didn't do too much of a job. Wanted to keep tge familiarity for you." Poppy said as she set down a clean white blanket, although she knew Remus wouldn't use it. Remus thanked her before lifting the cat off his shoulders and set her down by the door beside Poppy.

"Go with Poppy, Red." he told her and kissed her on the head and the cat meowed and brushed up against him in refusal but he nudged her and she understood. "I'll see you in the morning." he said as the door was closed and he heard it lock and listened to the muttering of spells from Poppy. He heard another meow come from the cat before silence.
He knew Red would stay right outside the door the whole time.

The night went as it usually did, Remus ripped apart the blanket in the first hour and it was in pieces by the morning and by sunrise he had a brand new slash that travelled from his right hip up to his left nipple.

He'd been changed back for 20 minutes before he heard the door unlock and Madam Pomfrey walked in.

"Remus?" she called as Red darted to Remus' side and sat beside him.
"over here," Remus called from the makeshit bed and Poppy came to sit beside him. The werewolf had insisted to Poppy that he'd have been fine if she just left the supplies outside incase, he hadn't hurt himself in years anyway.

He believed it must have been the small room that made his alternate self go savage.

Poppy tutted at the cut and began cleaning it with a cloth before taking her wand out and muttering a few healing spells before she handed him a change of clothes. Healing spells could only do so much was what she used to say.

She stepped out at Remus changed and even Red looked away. Remus noticed that. Everytime he changed, even back in school the cat would move and sit somewhere else looking away. Of course Red did that because she had human decency and wasn't going to watch a man get dressed without his knowing, although she had beeen tempted in the past. Remus didn't know that about her though so he found her behaviour funny.

He scooped her up once he was done and Red snuggled up to him, being a cat for so long she adapted to not feeling weird when being held or nuzzling up to someone. After having Pomfrey handle her for the last 15 years in a way that would be weird if you were human, she believed if she finally was able to become human again after all of these years she wouldn't mind too much if someone handled her funny. Everything stayed aswell, her hearing slightly heightened but she still had foggyish vision like she did as a human. One thing that changed though, was as a cat she had no perception of letters and it had completely scrubbed away her idea of telling everyone who she really was right away.

As she understood humans she found ways to communicate. She was slowly getting Remus to understand the different motions but it was slow.
She lifted a paw to his nose and Remus blinked at her.
"Food?" he asked and she swatted his mouth gently.

"she's saying you smell Remus." Pomfrey spoke as she left the door open for the two of them. Remus laughed in an offended tone.
"wow." was all he said before he stepped out of the door, helping Red up onto his shoulders.

× × ×

It wasn't until around 9am, after lessons had begun, that the after effect of the night before had hit him.

It was unexpected because Remus had suffered after full moons since he'd left but the pain that hit him was almost unbearable. It must have been something to do with the scratch he was sure.

He was laid in bed, shirt off, nails digging into his skin as he clutched at his chest in pain. He was groaning and silent tears escaped his eyes. Red had sat and watched him for about forty minutes as he insisted he was fine. But then he screamed and Red was on her feet and out of the door, Remus had transfigured a catflap into it.

When the cat showed up without Remus, Poppy was concerned to say the least.

Red jumped up onto the cat bed that was still on the top of the desk and sat down. Poppy moved to stand infront of her and she pet the cat.
"Where's Remus, Red?" she asked and the cat lifted a paw and pawed against Madam Pomfreys chest and it took her a few moments to realise what the cat meant but when it hit her, she shooed the cat to go and get McGonnogal.

Red almost didn't, she was never a fan of McGonnogal. Although being a cat herself periodically, the professor would shoo her from the classroom insistently and just never seemed to have any likeness towards the ginger cat. She zoomed to the classroom as quick as she could, if Red listened to anyone it was Madam Pomfrey.

When she'd pressed the door open McGonnogal tried to shoo her from the room but when the cat had pressed a paw into a picture of Remus on his file that shee had out on the table the woman understood instantly.

"Okay, students, i'm leaving Red here too watch you. Act out of order and i'll know." McGonnogal said as she turned the door. "keep working on your essays." she said and Red let out a sound of protest and ran to the door beside her but the woman gave her stern look but when she read the concern in the cats eyes she sighed.
"I need you to stay here, we'll get you back to him as soon as we can."

Red stared up at the woman with big eyes and glanced at the door one last time before she walked back up the aisle between the tables and jumped onto McGonnogals desk and sat at the edge, watching as the lady walked out.