Perfect Illusion: Scars Saga 2

The Morning After

Chapter 24

The Morning After

"Remus," I said, shrugging my shoulder to get his attention. After sitting in silence for a while, Remus had dozed off and his head had fallen on my shoulder.

"Remus, come on. I think we should start making our way to the castle."

"Mmm?" he moaned, opening his eyes slightly.

"Come on, let's go." I shrugged again.

He lifted his head and I pushed myself to my feet. I brushed the dirt off my bum while he rubbed his eyes.

"Sorry for falling asleep on you."

"It's not the first time," I replied lightly as I held out a hand to help him up. He took it without looking at me, but then grabbed my arm in alarm when he finally did.

"Katherine, you've been scratched!" He pulled up the sleeve of my blouse with wide eyes. Sure enough, there was a long deep scratch down my arm.

"Huh..."

"Did I...?"

"Briar bush," I said quickly.

"What?"

"I distinctly remember running into a briar bush on my way to find The Wolf last night. It must have scratched me more than I realized."

He looked skeptical. "And is the blood on your shirt from a briar bush too?"

"The what?" I looked down at my blouse. "Oh bugger! I really liked this blouse to, and you know you can never really get blood out of anything."

I looked up to find Remus in a deep frown. I knew he was thinking the worst.

"It's rabbit, Remus."

"Rabbit?"

"Smell for yourself if you don't believe me." I held out my shirt for him to sniff. "See, rabbit. Someone wanted a midnight snack last night. She usually cleans up after herself, but she's currently mad at me so I guess this her way of getting back."

Remus quirked an eyebrow in question; I explained.

"I haven't let her out for a run since the start of school; normally I do about once a month. I haven't kept her locked away this long since...Since I was pregnant with Jonathan, come to think about it, but she was very understanding then."

Remus sighed as we began picking our way through the forest back towards the castle.

"So, does Jonathan know about your leopard?"

"Oh yes," I replied. "She has been a part of his life as much as I have. For the first few months after he was born, I would wake up to find myself curled up on the floor by his crib. I would transform sometime during my sleep and got to his crib and watch him with no conscious memory of the transformation."

Remus gave a light chuckle, but when I looked his way all I saw him grimace in pain. I glanced down at the ankle he was limping on. It was obviously bothering him more than he had originally let on. Without permission, I placed Remus' arm around my neck while I wrapped mine around his waist.