Hunger Games: Fandom Style

To the Pain (Potter)

Harry ran, pushing through the crowd that was gathered around the elevator. Luna followed after him, saying, "Excuse us," in her silvery voice.
Few heard her. Everyone's attention was locked on the steel doors of the elevators and the distorted screams that made their way through it.
Harry knew that voice. "Sirius!" He pounded on the doors.
The screams grew louder.
Harry drew out his wand and leveled it at the doors. Luna grabbed his arm. "Harry, they're watching."
"I don't care," he said furiously. There had to be a spell that would open a door.
The screams stopped.

Even halfway across the building, Lupin heard. He knew all too well what was happening. This wasn't the first time they had tried to defy the Capital.
He grabbed his wand from his pocket and ran. They'd be after him too. That didn't stop him from running towards the sound. Sirius needed him.
The hallways stretched on and on like an endless nightmare maze. The screams were as loud as if they were being piped to him. They twisted into ever more desperate cries of pain, grating on a throat that must be raw with the effort. I'm coming, Sirius. I'm coming.
They'd known this was coming. Why had they separated? Why weren't they ever more prepared?
He could see a queue of people gathered in front of the elevators now. He was close.
A hand touched his shoulder.
Lupin spun, wand raised, mouth already forming the spell for a defensive shield.
The man smiled at him pleasantly. "No need for that. I was only asked to deliver a message."
"I know," Lupin said tersely, retreating slowly until he could feel the safety of the wall at his back. "I've been on the receiving end of one before."
"Strictly verbal," the man assured him. "He asked me to convey a question to you for you to consider as you make your preparations for the Games."
"And that is?"
"Should you and your friend be unavailable, would Ms. Tonks be an acceptable person to leave any messages with?"
Lupin felt the blood drain from his face. "I don't think the issue will arise," he managed.
The man smiled. "Good. Speaking of messages, I think your friend has just about finished listening to his. Goody day." He disappeared with a crack.
Lupin stared at the spot where he's vanished for a moment, eyes seeing something far more terrible than a square of carpet. Tonks, walking down a corridor, feeling that tap on her shoulder, not thinking to draw her wand until it was far too late . . .
He snapped out of the vision and ran towards the crowd. He shoved his way through. Harry was already at the front.
The screaming stopped. Lupin grabbed Harry's arm. "Don't. It's over now."
The elevator descended. The doors dinged open.
Splotches of blood marred the perfect floor. Sirius lay curled in on himself in the corner. His wand rolled uselessly on the floor.
There was no sign of the messenger.
A babble of voices rose up behind them. Lupin ignored them and pushed Harry and Luna into the elevator. He slammed the button to close the doors and the one marked 9 in curling script before turning to look at his friend.
Harry was already there. "Sirius?"
Sirius forced his eyes open. "Harry." Recognition. That was a good sign. "You're alright."
"'Course I am. What happened to you?"
Sirius waved a hand dismissively. "Heard you yell. Was worried."
The door dinged open again. Lupin knelt beside Sirius. "Can you walk?"
Sirius tried to stand but collapsed. He grimaced. "Maybe later."
"Right. Harry, get his other arm. Luna, find Tonks." Lupin slipped under one of Sirius's arms and helped life him to his feet. "Slowly," he told Harry. There really wasn't any other way they could go. Sirius limped forward as best he could, but he couldn't entirely hold back the pain.
Tonks came running out of her bedroom. "What happened? Sirius!"
"Hello, cuz," he mumbled.
"Let's just get you to the couch," Lupin said. "Tonks, did we bring any dittany?"
She nodded, face white. "I'll go get it."
Lupin and Harry eased Sirius on to the couch. "I'll get a blanket," Harry volunteered.
Sirius and Lupin were left alone. "Remus?"
"Right here."
"I lost it. I lost the cloak."
"It wasn't your fault. Just rest."
Sirius didn't seem to hear him. "I didn't even draw my wand. I should have known . . . I just couldn't stop thinking about the cloak . . . James is going to kill me."
Lupin swallowed hard. "We'll get it back, Sirius."
"Promise?" Sirius was starting to drift off now.
"Promise. Get some sleep." Harry hurried in with the blanket and a pillow. They arranged Sirius as best they could. Harry sat down beside his godfather and settled in for a long watch. Luna drifted in to wait with him. Lupin went to see what was keeping Tonks.
She was tearing her trunk apart. "I can't find it! I knew I should have packed neater, I just never got the hang of it, you know that - "
Lupin smiled faintly. "Accio dittany." The bottle flew out from under a pile of clothes and landed neatly in his hand.
Tonks' hair went red. "Right."
The cruciatus curse often did more internal damage than external, so Lupin tried to get Sirius to swallow a few drops. He sat back when he was done.
"What happened?" Harry asked.
Lupine sighed. He'd been hoping to worm out of this conversation. "Sometimes, wizards - or witches - will decide the district doesn't provide enough scope for their talents. They'll agree to work for the Capital as messengers. Messengers of a very specific kind of message."
Harry looked outraged at the idea that anyone from the districts would agree to work for the Capital. "But why would they come after Sirius?"
"You know Sirius," Lupin hedged. "He doesn't know the meaning of keeping his head down."
"Do you?" Tonks asked quietly.
Lupin shrugged. "They made their point. I won't have anything to worry about for a while."
Tonks' eyes narrowed. "You knew. You knew this might happen when you went to talk to Snow."
Lupin shifted uncomfortably. "I knew it was a possibility." A very strong possibility.
"That's why you didn't want me to come," she said, her voice getting dangerous. "All that stuff about 'long boring waits' and 'someone needing to keep an eye on these two' was just to try and keep me safe."
"You say that like there's something wrong with it," he said, starting to feel a bit angry.
"I don't need your protection, Remus. In case you've forgotten, I didn't win my Games by being helpless."
Lupin got to his feet. "You're right, you don't need my protection, because quite frankly, there's very little I can protect you from. These wizards make us look like amateurs. Somehow they know things the rest of us have forgotten, if we ever knew them in the first place! The only way to be safe is to stay out of their way!"
Tonks leaped up, eyes flashing. "So we just give up? Is that it?"
"Yes!" He ran a hand through his hair. "No. I don't know. We've got enough to worry about that moment without trying to tackle the enforcers." He looked away. "I couldn't protect you in the Games. I couldn't protect you after. Now that the wolfsbane's gone, I can't even protect you from myself. I would . . . take it as a very great favor if you would allow me to protect you from what little I can."
Tonks softened slightly. Before she could say anything, Sirius woke up, probably awakened by all the shouting. He looked around blearily before his eyes locked on Harry. "James?"
Harry looked at Lupin for help. His throat tightened. He shook his head helplessly.
"James?" Sirius was growing more agitated.
"Harry," he said as gently as he could. "James is my dad."
Sirius relaxed. "That's right. He had to go do something. I'm supposed to watch you."
"Yeah." Harry said over a lump in his throat. "You're doing a good job."
"Good." Sirius sank back onto the couch. "Good." His eyes were still far away, and they closed soon.
Lupin excused himself and went to the hallway their bedrooms lined. He punched the wall. Once. Twice. Three times.
"Lupin?"
He punched the wall again, enjoying the dent in the wall and the cracks that spread in the plaster. He got to destroy something of the Capital's for a change.
"Lupin."
He took a deep breath. He realized for the first time his knuckles were bleeding. He eased it back against the wall and leaned his weight against it, head down. "It was a full moon that night. Did you know that? I went under, and James and Lily were heading out to celebrate their anniversary. Sirius was watching Harry. I woke up and they told me James was dead. Lily was dead. Sirius was only half-sane. I went under and everything was fine. I woke up in a nightmare." He looked up and smiled bitterly. "The full moon's coming. I'll go under. Sirius'll do his best to keep me under control. What'll I find when I wake up? That I murdered my best friend? That Luna's gone? That Harry is? A nightmare within a nightmare and no hope of waking up."
"That won't happen," Tonks said.
"Really? You're sure? Because if you rediscovered the secret of the time turners and went back to when I was fourteen and told me I and all my friends would end up in the arena, I would have laughed in your face. It was too ridiculous, too implausible. Too terrible. And, ultimately, true."
"You're not going to kill Sirius. He's too stubborn to die, for one thing. And he really thinks this potion'll work. Everyone does, even Mad-Eye, and you know what he's like." She took a deep breath. "And even if it does happen, as awful and terrible as it will be, it won't be your fault. Anyone who's not an idiot can see that. And you won't be alone. You'll still have me."
"For while longer at least."
She frowned. "What's that supposed to mean? Because if you're dumping me, now, of all times - "
Lupin laughed. "No, of course not. This - these past two years - they've been a dream, Tonks. I'm just not unaware of the fact that sooner or later, you're going to wake up."
She punched him. It was just in the shoulder, but being exempt from the Games hadn't stopped her from training like a Career. She had some impressive muscles on her. "You really don't have a very high opinion of me, do you? I knew what I was getting into. Look, Remus, yes, once a month, you're a bit of a jerk. Do you have any idea how much better that makes you than every other guy I've dated? You're only a jerk once a month. That's incredible. The rest of the time you open doors for me - no matter how much I glare at you - you pay for everything, despite my perfect financial independence, you put up with all the weird looks and whispers without snapping once, and you take the blame when I push the Peacekeepers too far." She crossed her arms. "Look, case in point. I just punched you. Are you going to hit me back?"
"Of course not!"
"Of course not, because you, Remus, you are not a monster. You're a gentleman, and I love you for it." She sighed. "Just think about it, okay?" She kissed his cheek and went back to the living room. She knew him well enough to know when he needed to be alone.
There wasn't room for most of the old prejudices in 9. Pureblood, half-blood, muggle born, squib, muggle - it didn't matter. It took everyone working together just to survive. But people still got squeamish about werewolves. Even after Lupin won his Games and started doing a lot of good in the district, people couldn't separate him from the monsters in the woods.
What had happened in his Games hadn't helped.
He had changed. He hadn't been able to help that. It had taken a lot of magic to make people forget that. Especially since he had won during the night of the full moon. It took a lot to take down a werewolf.
The other tribute from 9 had tried to reason with him.
He had killed her.
It hadn't been his fault.
People had a hard time seeing that.
Especially Lupin.
He'd be okay. They all would, somehow.
Two minutes later, the door out of the apartment clicked closed.