The Marauders: Year One (female)

53. Her Eyes 5.12

Hope squeezed Remus's hand gently. 'Feeling better, Remus bach?'

Remus smiled at the old Welsh term of endearment. She nodded. 'Better.'

'Listen, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry that he did this to you. We'll find a way to fix it. We'll make it better, darling. I promise.' Hope leaned forward and kissed her daughter's hand. The black markings had spread across her body, livid as ever, and showed no signs of stopping.

'That coc oen had better hope that we find a way to fix it,' growled Lyall, standing beside the bed. His arms were crossed protectively. Hope gave him a look.

Remus reached for the mirror on her bedside. She'd insisted on keeping it with her, even after they'd returned home, and gone to St. Mungo's again the day after. The cover story was that her parents had tried to seek other forms of healing for Remus's "Thestral" bites, and that it had gone wrong. Remus didn't like all the fuss, but she was glad to see Leah again.

Her mother protested as Remus grabbed the mirror. 'No. Don't do this. It'll only hurt you.'

Remus ignored her, and met her own blood red gaze in the mirror unflinchingly. She ran her free hand over her face, pausing to trace over the black dots. 'I've never felt more like a monster in my life,' she murmured.

Hope sighed, and rubbed her thumb over Remus's hand. 'Darling, don't say that. You're not a monster. Now give me that.' She held out her hand for the mirror, and Remus gave it to her unwillingly. 'That's better.'

They both looked at Lyall, who was pacing the ward angrily. The other patients were exchanging frightened looks. Remus recognised the Animagus lady.

A sudden pain pierced into her head. She raised her hand to it.

Hope stiffened in alarm. 'What's the matter, Remus? Are you okay? Healer!' she yelled, not waiting for an answer.

Remus frowned at her. 'Really, Mum. I'm okay. There's no need to disturb them. I'm sure they've got plenty more cases that are worse.'

Hope gave her a look.

The ward doors swung open, as Leah came striding in, her blonde ponytail swinging behind her. A bottle was in her hand, as well as a stack of parchment.

'Leah!' Remus exclaimed happily. 'How's Edwina?'

'Oh, she's excellent,' said Leah, smiling brightly. 'Speaking of owls, there's been some mail for you. Quite the stack, actually. You've got a lot of fans!'

So Damocles had sent out her letters after all! With a shout of joy, Remus reached for the letters, desperate to know what her friends had written.

But Leah retracted her hand. 'Uh, uh, uh!' she sang. 'Medicine first, then letters.' She poured out a dose from the bottle, and Remus drank it down.

'That should start fading out the marks,' said Leah, studying Remus's face with concern. 'She was no longer smiling.

Hope looked at Remus sadly. 'I wish this had never happened.'

Leah nodded sympathetically. 'It's why we advise our patients to stick to the approved routes and methods when it comes to Healing. It's quite rare that these unofficial, unregistered Healing practices work. It's mostly just a scam.'

Hope didn't reply, she just kept staring at Remus.

Lyall drew up behind them. 'When will it fix her?' he asked, somewhat aggressively. It was quite out of character, and even Hope was surprised. 'When will it make her normal?'

Leah turned to him. 'No medicine will "fix" anyone, and there is no true definition of "normal", as you say, but we can only have faith that it will lessen the blemishing over a certain period of time,' she said sharply.