Four To The End (prev Shifting Lines) - Book One (Marauder Era)

Chapter Seventy-Six - Sucking Out The Life Force

The second night of the full moon Remus decided to test something. He returned to house with a couple hours of daylight left, pretty much healed except for pink scars on his side. He immediately went to the kitchen to straighten things up then opened the fridge. It was magicked to only open to a human's hand--or partial human's hand, in his case--so he couldn't open it as a wolf. There were faint scratch marks from where he had certainly tried but the fridge held up well. There was a small platter of roasted chicken which would do nicely. He left it in the fridge for now, glad he didn't have to try and cook anything. He doubted it'd matter if it was cold or not. About ten minutes before sunset he took the platter back out, taking it into the living room to leave on the floor.

Shortly thereafter the curse took hold as the last bit of sun disappeared, letting the moon rule the sky. Remus's body ripped itself apart, his screams bouncing off the walls until his mind slipped into the dark nothingness.

When he came to in the morning he was disappointed to find blood everywhere, giant gashes in his body. It didn't work. He found a scrap of blanket, pulling it around his nakedness as he glanced wearily around. The platter was broken in two and there wasn't any trace of chicken anywhere. Then he studied his wounds. Claw marks, some bite marks, a chunk of flesh with wolf fur lay near him. Groaning, he staggered to his feet, slipping a little in the fresh blood, his arms flying out to try to keep his balance. There was a smear on the floor where his bare foot had slid. Food didn't work... He cautiously made his way to the bathroom, leaving tiny little bloody footprints behind. He had never tried that before--never thought of that before. After seeing how little damage he had done to his body the previous night... or rather, how little he had done compared to what he had expected because of the fight with Lily.... he had hoped that the trash had been the key, the food inside the rubbish bin. But no.

He sat on the shower floor, running a finger down one of the gashes, flinching in pain. Nothing soothes the wolf. He yelped as a hangnail got caught in his flesh, slumping down a little more. Blood swirled down the drain leaving temporary pink trails until those too were washed down. Soon he heard Pomfrey so he had to push himself back up to finish getting ready. Once out of the shower he dried himself off as best as possible, the towel getting streaks of blood. He pulled on underwear then let Pomfrey see him, asking her to please put the bandages on the Muggle way.

"I w-want to be able to do it m--myself," he said when she frowned.

"I see. I suppose it would help to teach you some simple spells. You won't be learning much healing magic until later on in Charms." She put the bandages on with her hands then showed him how to tighten them with magic, as well as the sticking spell to keep them locked together. He tried on his leg, the bandages getting far too tight. Pomfrey took them off and had him try again. It took a couple attempts but soon it worked semi-decently. Pomfrey took care of the rest then waited while he got into the pajamas.

"You really should speak to your friends by the way," she said as they went down the tunnel. "It seems they were trying to break into the hospital wing last night to see you."

Remus swallowed, his legs getting even shakier than they already were. "O...oh?"

"I don't know the full extent of what happened, merely than Minerva came by just before I left to make sure they hadn't gotten in."

It was a mistake letting them know where my little room is, he thought miserably. If they ever do manage to get in at night they'd know where to look and I wouldn't be there. "I'll try to t--talk to them."

"I have a surprise for you, once you get settled." Pomfrey looked very pleased all of a sudden. "Actually, I confess, it was Minerva's idea."

The idea turned out to be a very thick sort of drink. Once Remus was under the covers Pomfrey presented this to him. It smelled like bacon and eggs. "I used magic for the taste, however it is full of calories and nutrition. I mentioned that you rarely were able to eat in the morning so she suggested this."