SECURE | REMUS LUPIN

30; after

"I don't know, James! One minute she's fine. Everything was fine. She was — we were .. we were fine. And then the next she's fallen in a heap without any explanation."

Muffled shouting reached her ears, a dull ring blocking her hearing. There was a consistent pound in her head that steadily got heavier with each time that she blinked. And her throat ... she couldn't quite understand why, but there was a stifling something that made it hard to heave air in and out.

The shouting taking place in the room did nothing for the nearly head-splitting ache.

She struggled to slowly force her eyes open, the black replaced with bright light. Groaning slightly, Katie attempted to push herself up to a sitting position as she blinked a few more times.

"Kate!" She was barely able to sit up before a pair of arms wrapped around her, squeezing a little too tight.

A shrill voice cut out. "Mr. Potter! Let Katherine go this instant! She's just woken up," said the voice, who Katie was vaguely beginning to recognize as Madam Pomfrey's.

Before she could even register what was going on, the arms were gone and Madam Pomfrey appeared at her side, holding two different colored vials in her hands. "Wit-Sharpening and Vitamix potions. Drink," she demanded, placing the potions gently into each of her hands as she moved to open another, smaller vial on the stand.

Katie did as instructed, still feeling a slight dizziness despite the effects of the potion immediately taking place. She slowly regained a sharper hold on her senses, just now registering the other people in the room.

James, Remus, Lily, Sirius, Peter... and Professor Dumbledore.

Before she could dwell on that fact however, Madame Pomfrey handed her a dark, red vial, instructing her to drink it.

The bitter liquid smoothly slid down her throat but not before leaving an aftertaste that made her stomach churn. Her hands immediately felt less frail, but even from her limited knowledge, she knew that her body was somehow very, very weak.

"Poppy, I think that will be enough for now," said Professor Dumbledore, nodding politely to the blonde-haired witch. Madame Pomfrey stepped back from the bed, nodding to him.

Katie took note of how eerily quiet the room was, how white the faces of her friends were, and of all, she couldn't miss the grim frown Dumbledore was trying so hard to hide.

"Ms. Hart," Dumbledore said softly. "Can you remember exactly what happened?" He peeked over his half-moon glasses with an expression so unreadable that Katie got an immediate feeling of dread in her stomach.

She inhaled, racking her brain for the details. It didn't take long for every detail to come back to her one by one, so clear, so explicit, it made her flinch. Lily scooted closer to her, clasping her hand for support. She nodded at Katie, urging her on.

Katie nodded back, focusing her attention on Professor Dumbledore once again. "Yes, of course professor." She took a breath. "Remus and I ... we were walking out of Honeyduke's, and - and then ..." She stopped, meeting Remus' eyes from across her cot. The corners of his lips perked up despite the worry lines on his forehead, but he gave her an ever so slight shake of the head.

She nodded at him in understanding. "We ... we talked for a little while. My head - it started to hurt, and so did my stomach. Then I remember," she pauses, scrunching her brows in confusion, "I remember falling, but I blinked and I was somewhere else - in my house." Katie looked around the room, observing the expressions on each of their faces.

The most prevailing emotion on every face was curiosity.

And so she continued on. "The first person I saw was this death eater. I didn't know who he was, but he seemed to know me very well." Images of his cruel face flashed in her mind, as well as his hatred-ridden voice. "I don't know why, but he hated me, for something I'd done, but I don't remember him in the slightest."