Chapter 42 - Lemon Drops
Harry didn't have long to wait before both Dumbledore and Severus came rushing into the room where Remus was being kept. While Dumbledore looked relatively calm, Severus did not, his dark eyes glaring daggers at both Remus and Harry. He strode forward, black robes billowing about him, and grabbed Harry's arm as if intent on pulling him bodily from the room. "Come away from there at once!" he shouted, yanking Harry out of his chair.
His words and actions set Remus off again and the man began struggling violently against the bonds holding him down on the bed, his eyes burning with rage as he glared at Severus. "Let him go!" he snarled.
Immediately Severus released Harry's arm, but only so he could draw his wand from his sleeve and point it at the bound werewolf. Harry, though stunned by the situation, leaped in front of Severus' wand, arms held out to stop him from attacking Remus. Behind him, Remus howled in rage, sending chills down Harry's spine.
Once again seeing Harry at the end of his wand, Severus cried out wordlessly in protest, looking both furious and horrified. "You stupid boy!" he shouted and grabbed Harry again.
Harry found himself suddenly spun around, off center and then pulled violently back against Severus, dragged across the room and away from Remus' bed. His back was pressed against Severus' chest, the man's arms wrapped possessively around his body. Harry struggled in desperation when he saw Dumbledore raise his own wand and hit Remus with a stunning charm, instantly stilling the werewolf who had actually managed to make the enormous bed rock on its frame.
Silence settled over the room save for the harsh breathing of both Severus and Harry. Harry felt as if he'd just been in a fight, and Severus was making no effort to release him. The man's arms tightened around him, muscles flexing into unbreakable bonds, the heat of his body making Harry tremble with some unnamed emotion. His heart was racing, and he tried to squirm away, only to find that any movement made Severus hold him tighter.
Dumbledore turned a very stern gaze on both of them. "Severus, release Harry immediately."
Harry found himself holding his breath as he stared into Dumbledore's stern blue eyes, trying to read some explanation for the events that had just taken place. Severus' arms did not loosen; he could feel the man's breath hot against the back of his neck.
"Severus, he is in no danger," Dumbledore insisted. "Calm yourself and let him go. You are frightening him."
Harry heard Severus breath catch in his throat at that, and slowly the arms around him loosened and then dropped away. Harry immediately moved away, taking a hesitant step toward Remus. Dumbledore's firm hand upon his shoulder stopped him.
"Remus is fine, Harry," Dumbledore assured him. "I merely stunned him. We need to leave this room. Our presence here is only aggravating his situation. How did you get through the wards on the door?"
Harry looked up startled. "I didn't notice any wards on the door. Sir, what is wrong with him? What's going on?"
Dumbledore frowned and glanced back at the opened door. Madam Pomfrey was standing just outside the heavy wooden frame. With a curious gleam in his eyes, he pointed his wand at the door and muttered a quiet spell. The doorframe flared brightly revealing dark red warding sigils on the frame that should have prevented Harry from opening the door in the first place.
The old man glanced curiously down at Harry, a rare smirk on his face. "You are full of surprises, my boy," he said with amusement. "But let us retire to Madam Pomfrey's office so that we can discuss this away from Remus. He will throw off that stunning charm soon."
Baffled, Harry allowed Dumbledore to lead him out of the room, only pausing to glance over his shoulder at Remus. But Severus stepped in his way, blocking his line of sight, and he found the eyes of the Potion Master glaring down at him. At least they were their normal color once again, though Harry shivered just the same. What on earth was wrong with everyone?
In moments they were all seated in Madam Pomfrey's office in brightly patterned chairs that the Headmaster transfigured for them. Dumbledore held out a tin of lemon drops, which he passed out to everyone. Harry watched in some surprise as both Severus and Madam Pomfrey popped one of the candies into their mouths. He tried to decline when the tin was offered to him.
"I must insist, Harry," Dumbledore smiled. "They are laced with Calming Draught - which we all need at the moment."
Not certain what was going on, Harry sighed and took the candy. If Severus was willing to eat the sweet, he supposed it was safe enough. The candy, though tart, did have an instant soothing effect on his body. His heart, which had been racing, slowed down.
"Sir, what happened to Remus?" he asked then. "Why is he chained up? The moon won't be full for days yet."
Dumbledore nodded. "Severus explained about the marriage proposal," he stated, and Harry nodded. "Sadly, when Remus heard about it last night, he did not take it well. I'm afraid he turned feral."
Harry nodded. "Yes, that's what he said, he said he lost control of the wolf. He said he was trying to regain control but that it wasn't safe for me to be there. But what exactly happened - what does that mean for him? He'll be all right, won't he? He wouldn't hurt us. I know Remus. He wouldn't hurt anyone."
Dumbledore's eyes widened at Harry's words. "He spoke with you? Said he was trying to regain control?"
Harry nodded, risking a glance at Severus. The man looked distinctly unhappy, glaring now at the floor rather than Harry.
"And did he ask you to free him?" Dumbledore pressed.
"No," Harry shook his head. "He told me to leave the room. That it wasn't safe." Harry realized in retrospect that the smart thing to do probably would have been to do as the man had ordered, but at the time he hadn't truly felt capable of it, desperate to comfort and protect the man who was like a father to him.
The old man leaned back in his chair and sighed thoughtfully, glancing at both Severus and Madam Pomfrey. Harry wasn't certain what to make of the look the three of them exchanged. "Well, that's something at least. He's aware enough to understand what is going on. Remus Lupin was always an extraordinary young man."
"Sir?" Harry cut in.
Dumbledore smiled and reached out to pat Harry on the arm. "Harry, sometimes werewolves lose control of the wolf inside them - they are in a constant state of conflict as their human nature and animal nature war with one another. When the moon is full, the human is instantly repressed and the wolf takes over. But during the rest of the month, the wolf is still there, still fighting to come out. Sometimes weaker willed werewolves simply give up and allow the wolf to take over completely - they go feral very soon after being infected. When that happens they become a threat to everyone around them - you know how physically strong they are. They are usually killed by the Ministry before they can cause too much damage."
"Remus isn't weak willed!" Harry insisted.
"No, of course not," Dumbledore agreed. "Remus is one of the strongest men I know. And he has survived this curse practically untainted for his entire life. But there are some instincts that are nearly impossible for any werewolf to overcome, and last night his control was shattered. That he has managed to control himself enough to speak with you and warn you away is extraordinary. Most werewolves never recover from a feral rage."
A thought suddenly occurred to Harry and he threw a wary glance at Severus. The man, seated in one of the chairs near Madam Pomfrey's desk, was glaring at him again, arms folded across his chest, face stern and imposing.
"Is his mood affecting everyone else?" he asked the Headmaster uncertainly.
"Very good, my boy," Dumbledore nodded. "Everyone who was in the room last night when Remus went feral, as well as anyone who has come into contact with him since then - such as you - is affected by his mood. It is called Feral Transference. It will fade soon enough as long as we keep our distance from Remus, but in the mean time we must all take care to control our emotions."
"Keep our distance?" Harry protested. "Are we to just leave Remus locked up in that room then?" He couldn't image just abandoning the man - but Madam Pomfrey had refused to even step into the room to get him.
But Dumbledore shook his head and pulled thoughtfully on his beard. "No, we can't do that," he agreed. "I'm afraid we have another problem. Lucius is bound to guess that something like this would happen - he'll no doubt be requesting a formal investigation to make certain Remus is kept under control. When the Ministry finds out he's gone feral they will euthanize him."
Harry leaped to his feet, horror gripping him. "Euthanize him!"
"Harry, calm yourself," Dumbledore ordered. "We must keep our heads if we are to protect him. If Slytherin's potion can cure him, we'll be fine."
Harry turned toward Severus. "Then you must finish the potion! You must brew it immediately."
Severus' eyes flashed, his hands grasping the arms of his chair tightly as he fought down some emotion. "I can't! It takes months to brew, and I still have to run tests to make certain it is safe. I can't just whip up a batch in a couple of minutes."
Deflated, Harry sank back down into his chair. "Then what do we do? Can we send him to the Winter Lands with Sirius? He'll be safe from the Ministry there."
"No, I'm afraid we can't do that," Dumbledore told him. "He must be kept away from everyone. Isolated. And we cannot take the risk of him getting loose. If he doesn't go after the Malfoys to kill them, he'll go after Sirius."
"Remus would never hurt Sirius!" Harry yelled, glaring at all of them for even suggesting such a thing.
"Not intentionally perhaps," Dumbledore told him with a rather pointed stare. For a moment Harry did not understand, and then suddenly it occurred to him just what he was implying, what exactly it was that Remus might want from Sirius. His face burned red with embarrassment.
"Oh," he said softly. "I didn't . . . then what do we do with him? Where do we hide him? We can't risk the Ministry getting a hold of him. And we can't keep him chained to a bed for months while we're waiting for the potion. You can't mean to lock him in a cage. He'll go mad."
Dumbledore shook his head. "No, it would be cruel to lock him up." He glanced over at Severus. "I believe you have a vial of the Draught of the Living Death in your potion's stores?"
Startled Severus nodded. "You mean to put him to sleep?"
"Wait a minute!" Harry protested, thinking about what the term 'put to sleep' meant when it came to animals in the Muggle world.
But Dumbledore patted his arm again reassuringly. "The Draught of the Living Death will put him into a magical sleep, Harry. It is nearly indistinguishable from death. It will put him into a state of stasis where he will not need air or food or water. He will not even be aware of the passage of time. We can wake him when Slytherin's potion is ready for him."
"It's a common treatment for severely injured patients," Madam Pomfrey informed Harry. "The Draught of the Living Death is used on trauma patients who are close to dying. It buys Healers the time necessary to heal their bodies before they slip into a true death."
"We'll still need a place to hide him," Severus pointed out. "If Lucius gets a formal inquiry, they'll search Hogwarts. And since Slytherin's potion is yet unproven, they may euthanize him anyway. Or for that matter Fudge may simply take him as hostage to use him as leverage against Harry."
"What about the Chamber of Secrets?" Harry asked. "The Ministry doesn't know where it is, and only a Parselmouth can open the doors. So unless they get Voldemort to help them, he should be safe there."
"An excellent idea!" Dumbledore agreed, his eyes twinkling once again. "We'll have to do it tonight. The hallways are no doubt filled with students right now, and we can't risk taking Remus through them until they are all safely back in their dorms once more. But we dare not delay more than that - it will only take Lucius a day or two to get the inquiry approved."
"Sir, what about the marriage?" Harry asked worriedly, thinking about the thing that had caused this in the first place. "There must be someway out of it, right?"
"I am looking into that as well, my boy," Dumbledore assured him. "You must have faith. Things tend to work out in the end." The old man stood up then. "Now, you need to get yourself down to the Great Hall for breakfast. You still must go to school after all. But all of you, remember, keep a close watch on your emotions." He poured a small handful of lemon drops into Harry's hand. "Keep those in your pocket, my boy," he suggested. "Now, I best go check the wards on the door, and perhaps put an alarm on the main door to the infirmary since even locking wards do not seem strong enough to keep certain students out."
Harry flushed uncomfortably at the reminder - he hadn't even noticed the wards on the door, but then he had been rather anxious to get to Remus. He supposed it was possible that his accidental magic had struck again.
He left Madam Pomfrey's office, moving reluctantly toward the exit. When he paused to look back at the room Remus was locked in, Severus grabbed his arm and pulled him bodily out of the infirmary. Once out in the main hall of the castle, Harry jerked his arm out of Severus' grip.
"Will you stop grabbing my arm!" he snapped at the man.
Severus sneered at him, the stern lines of his face as harsh as he'd ever seen them. "Then stop doing things you're not supposed to!"
"I just wanted to see Remus," Harry protested.
"Always the wolf!" Severus snarled. "You're always running to him, never mind the fact that you've known me far longer! But I don't count, do I? Because there's nothing between us!" He threw Harry's words from earlier back in his face, his eyes flashing with rage. "You're nothing but a self-centered, spoiled-"
Harry shoved him hard in the chest, knocking him away from him. "I meant before!" he shouted at him, hurt that Severus would automatically think the worst of him. "I meant there was nothing between us before!"
He could see his words shocked Severus out of the rage he was in, his eyes widening in stunned surprise. But Harry wasn't capable at that moment of having this conversation with him, feeling the hurt of the man's accusation overwhelming him, the tell-tale prick of tears threatening in his eyes. And he refused to cry, refused to ever give in to tears. Instead he turned and ran away, racing down the hallway and escaping into the main corridors of Hogwarts where the students were beginning to make their way into the Great Hall for breakfast.
Harry calmed himself as he approached the tall ornate doors to the Hall, pausing to breathe deeply and fight back the emotion welling inside him. Why did Severus have to yell at him like that, think the worst of him? He thought things were different between them now - the man had been so understanding in the Winter Lands, so careful with him, so supportive. He should have known Harry meant that there was nothing between them before they'd been married - why would he mean there was nothing now? After everything they'd been through - after spending Christmas together, didn't he understand? They'd even begun spending evenings together in front of the fireplace, Harry doing homework, Severus grading papers, sometimes just talking - hadn't any of that mattered? Or was it all just in Harry's mind, delusions from someone who desperately wanted to belong to a real family, however unorthodox it might seem?
He could blame Severus' rage on the feral transference, but not the blithe misunderstanding of his words. Did he mean so little to the man? Was it all just some act, or some gross failing on his part that he truly did not understand how to belong to a family? The reality was that no matter how hard he had tried, no matter how much he had wanted to believe, nothing had ever been good enough for the Dursleys. Why should anything be any different now?
Determine to think of it later when his head was clearer, Harry shoved open one of the doors of the Great Hall, anxious now to talk to Ron and Hermione. He needed the normalcy of his friends - and maybe Hermione could help him figure out the insanity that was going on with Remus and Sirius too.
Every head in the room turned when Harry entered the Hall, every eye trained on him, and instantly the whispers began, murmurs spreading through the room and rising and falling as Harry made his way toward Gryffindor table. He found himself paling as he walked, feeling the scrutiny that was directed at him. He'd almost forgotten everything else that had happened - had it only been last night that he'd returned from the Winter Lands? He could see copies of the morning paper being passed around the room - he'd forgotten about the press.
It was worse than the morning after his marriage - far worse. Students were standing up just to get a better look at him as he walked across the Hall. Even the few teachers at the head table were staring at him, and through several side doors near the front of the room he could actually see House Elves peaking around the doorways to stare as he walked. Even the ghosts of Hogwarts were not immune to the curiosity. All four of the House ghosts were in attendance, and several Harry had never seen before, all drifting silently about the room with their silvery eyes following his every step.
He spied Ron and Hermione and hurried toward them, breathing a sigh of relief when the two of them moved apart and made room for him on the bench between them. At least he'd have someone friendly on both sides of him.
Sitting quickly down into his seat, he was grateful when Hermione wrapped an arm round his waist and hugged him, Ron patting him on the back. Neville was seated directly across from him and he handed Harry the paper that someone passed down to him.
Steeling himself for the worst, Harry looked down at the front page of the Daily Prophet. There on the page was a moving photo of his entrance into the Great Hall last night, Remus, Severus and Alrik beside him. Slashed in red across the top of the page were the words, "The Boy Who Would Be King".
"Oh, God," he murmured as he scanned the article below. The article outlined, with surprising accuracy, what had happened the night before. And even the private meeting with Minister Fudge was fairly well represented - Madam Bones had apparently given an interview. Despite the lurid headline, the main article was more news than fiction. It was the dozens of other articles that filled that paper that worried Harry - every conceivable interpretation possible was speculated about in minute detail. There was even an interview from Minister Fudge insisting that this was nothing more than a protest to the new Wizarding Registration Act that the Muggle government was currently proposing - that the Winter Lands merely wanted to lodge a protest of the Act and didn't truly mean to withdrawal from their Protectorate status.
"It could have been worse, mate," Ron told him. "At least the main facts were all fairly represented."
"Ron's right, Harry," Hermione nodded. "Even the suggestions that you are attempting to overthrow the government don't begin until page five, and those articles will be largely dismissed in favor of the others."
Harry's eyes widened. "Someone suggested that. . . "
"Well," Hermione just shrugged. "That was bound to be expected - Fudge needs to discredit you if he hopes to get any favor back. But the rest of the candidates are going the opposite route - I'd say it's safe to state that Fudge's days are number. The really interesting articles are the ones that speculate on the conspiracy that caused the Winter Lands' petitions to be ignored. Other people are beginning to wonder what else has managed to slip through the cracks."
Harry glanced around the room at the other students. All the Gryffindors were leaning toward them, trying to catch what he was saying to his friends. Students from various houses were still staring at him - even Slytherin house was drawn into the speculation, passing papers up and down the table and craning their necks to get a better look at him. In fact only one student in the entire room seemed utterly oblivious to what was going on - Draco Malfoy, seated at Slytherin table, was staring somewhat despondently down into his morning plate of waffles, poking at the pastry with his dagger.
Harry frowned, not certain what to make of Draco's behavior. It occurred to him that neither Ron nor Hermione knew about the situation with Sirius and Remus. How much did Draco understand about what had happened? Had he been present when Lucius had made the proposal to Severus - or had he been kept in the dark about the details?
"Harry?" Hermione's voice caught his attention as he realized he'd momentarily zoned out on his thoughts. "Are you okay?"
Harry sighed despondently. "Aren't winter breaks supposed to be relaxing?" he asked. He pulled one of Dumbledore's lemon drops out of his pocket and popped it into his mouth.
The peaceful moments at the Burrow seemed years ago. Since he'd left the Burrow only days ago, he'd been abducted, attacked by monsters, fought in a war, declared king of a country he hadn't known existed, and then had his family all but torn apart by Lucius Bloody Malfoy. There were days when the idea of returning to the Dursleys and locking himself in the cupboard under the stairs actually seemed rather tempting.