All Debts Must be Paid

Chapter Six: Remus

"Padfoot! Wake up!" Remus shook the dreaming man by the shoulders.

Sirius started awake, sitting up, making pushing motions with his hands, eyes staring in the dim light that filtered through the curtains. "No, get away!"

Remus caught his hands, and Sirius blinked, awareness returning. He let out a long shaky breath. "I'm sorry," he said after a moment.

Remus smiled. "It's all right, you didn't wake me."

Sirius' face twisted in what he'd probably intended to be a grin, "Don't lie to me, Moony."

Remus shrugged. "I'm not. It's after six and I couldn't sleep so I got up. I was reading downstairs. Do I look like I was in bed?"

Seeming to look at him properly for the first time, Sirius said, "Oh. No, you don't. I'm sorry anyway. For disturbing you."

Remus waved a hand, dismissing the apology. "Stop apologising. It doesn't suit you - not when it's not your fault." He stood up, pushing his hands down into the pockets of his robes. "It's a bit early for breakfast but I could do with some tea," he said, "Want some, or hot chocolate perhaps?"

Sirius shook his head. He didn't say anything for a moment, then he pulled his knees up under his chin and hugged them saying almost despairingly, "I just wonder if it's always going to be like this." He indicated himself, sitting up in bed.

Remus looked concerned and sat down on the bed again. "Is it always the same dream?" he asked.

Sirius shook his head. "No. Some are worse than others." He didn't elaborate.

"Are the really bad ones happening less frequently than they did say, when you first escaped?"

"It's hard to tell," Sirius looked rueful, "I haven't really slept much as a person lately, and they aren't as bad when I'm a dog."

"Well then," said Remus, looking on the bright side, "your human side hasn't had much chance to adjust then. And remember dreams are often a reflection of the stress we're under when we're awake. Not exactly leading a relaxing lifestyle at the moment are you, Padfoot?"

Sirius managed to give a slight grin. "I suppose not," he admitted. "So you're saying - "

"What I'm saying, is give it time," Remus broke in.

Suddenly there was a loud banging at the front door and a voice shouted, "Open up! Ministry business!"

The two men looked at one another. Alarm flared in Sirius' eyes, and Remus knew the expression must be mirrored on his own face. "Quick, transform now," he said urgently. "I'll see to the room, just start behaving like a dog."

Sirius looked at him for a moment, then nodded, threw on his clothes and transformed.

The door was thumped again. "Come on, Lupin, we know you're in there, open up!"

Padfoot started barking and ran down the stairs. Remus soon followed, having quickly removed any signs of occupation from the spare room.

As soon as he removed the wards, and before he could open it, the door was kicked in. Three Hit Wizards leapt into the narrow hallway, wands aimed at his heart.

"Drop your wand!" one of them yelled. Remus dropped it and the man snatched it up with his free hand.

Padfoot's frenzied barking had changed to a snarling growl; he looked as if he was preparing to leap for the Hit Wizard's throats.

"Call off your dog!" the same man ordered.

Remus, thankful they hadn't just blasted Sirius, hissed at him, "Heel!"

The dog gave him a reproachful look, but stopped growling, and backed away from the door.

"What's going on?" demanded Remus, rattled, "What the hell is this all about?"

"Shut up, and move," said one of the other Hit Wizards, turning him around and pushing him up the hallway towards the kitchen. He could hear more of them coming into the house behind him. How many of the bastards were there?

In the kitchen, he backed up against the table where he'd been working earlier, and kept a firm grip on the scruff of Padfoot's neck. He wasn't sure he trusted him enough not to lose his head and do something stupid.

"Right," said the one who seemed to be in charge, "Remus Lupin, the Ministry wants a word with you." He turned to the other Hit Wizards, "You lot, search the place."

"Where's your warrant?" demanded Remus.

The Hit Wizard sneered, "We only need warrants for people, and last time I looked, werewolves didn't count as people."

Padfoot started growling again. Remus gripped his neck harder.

It wasn't clear what they were looking for, if anything. Remus suspected it was part of a process that was meant to completely demoralise him. He had to admit it was working, but he was damned if he was going to let them see that. He could hear footsteps thumping up the stairs and the sound of his bedroom being turned over. In the kitchen, they started going through the books on the bookcase, flicking through them, presumably looking for things hidden between pages, as if he'd be that stupid.

Then they started on the cupboards, sweeping all the crockery out onto the floor, careless if they smashed it, then emptying the drawers of the dresser out onto the floor. Two of them went into the front room and started turning that over too. It was just as well he had years of practice at hiding how he felt, Remus thought. Otherwise, it would have been obvious how angry he was feeling. It must have been obvious to Sirius though, he glanced up at him, making a sound across between a quiet bark and a growl at the back of his throat, questioning. Are you all right? The sound said, as clearly as if he had spoken in words.

Remus didn't change his expression, but relaxed his fingers, which had been firmly clenched around the dog's ruff and scratched him behind the ears. Don't worry, it meant.

Padfoot snorted. He wasn't fooled.

Eventually it seemed they had finished. Quite what they had expected to find was unclear, but they hadn't found it.

The one in charge walked over to the fireplace and pulled out a small bag.

"I'm not connected to the Floo network," Remus told him.

The Hit Wizard smirked, and glanced at his watch. "You are now. Right, over here, say 'interview room five'," he ordered taking a pinch of powder from the bag.

Remus stayed where he was. "What about my dog?" he demanded. "I can't just leave my dog with no-one to feed him." He didn't have to fake sounding worried; he was concerned about what Sirius would do. The Hit Wizards looked as if the last thing they were interested in was his bloody dog.

"At least let me owl somebody about him." He pleaded, then spoiled the effect by adding, "I am of course assuming that this isn't going to be quick." He ended on a note of sarcastic inquiry that he knew was unwise, but forgivable under the circumstances.

One of them sneered, "You mean you've got friends?"

The one who was in charge snorted and stared at Padfoot for a long moment. He still had his hackles raised, but wasn't actively growling. "Let the dog go," the man ordered.

Reluctantly Remus released Padfoot. For a horrible moment, he thought the man was going to Curse the dog, but he leaned forwards and grabbed him by his neck, pulling him away from Remus.

Padfoot started growling but the Hit Wizard ignored it. "Open the back door," the man told one of the others.

The one nearest the door unlocked it and opened it. Then the one in charge dragged Padfoot over to the door and kicked his rear end saying, "Go on, shoo!"

To Remus' relief Sirius moved, although as soon as he was outside the cottage he turned round, snarling and started barking furiously as the Hit Wizard slammed the door shut in his face.

He turned to Remus and said, "I don't see why a dog that size can't look after itself. Now, say the destination."

To emphasise his point the other Hit Wizards pointed their wands directly at him again.

Reluctantly Remus walked over and stood in front of the fireplace. "Interview room five," he said and stepped into the flames.

---

Remus stumbled out of the fireplace at the other end. Even before he opened his eyes, he could tell he was in a confined space. There was a depressing smell of industrial strength magical mess remover overlaying smells of vomit and piss. People had been afraid here: lots of people.

He blinked, and took in the fact that there were a number of people in the room, all of them looking at him with venomous hostility. They all had their wands pointing at him. The sharp tang of their fear flowed off them in waves. They were afraid of him.

"Sit down, Mr Lupin," one of the Hit Wizards said with contemptuous politeness. Remus looked at the chair and shrugged, sitting down. As he did so, he felt magical cords whip round his wrists, dragging them behind his back and binding them tightly enough that they would eventually interfere with his circulation. He kept his face carefully neutral.

There was a slight stumble behind him and the leader of the Hit Wizards who had arrested him appeared from the fireplace. "Everything all right, Jacks?" the leader asked the contemptuous Hit Wizard, as he walked over to a table at one end of the room. He laid Remus' wand down as if to display a piece of evidence.

The one called Jacks shrugged. "Of course it is," he replied.

"Right, let's get on with this then." The leader motioned to Jacks and they went and sat down at the table. The others remained standing where they were, keeping their wands pointing at Remus. Then the leader said, "Open your mouth," and nodded to one of the other men.

The man, who looked distinctly unhappy, lowered his wand and pulled out a pair of dragon hide gloves from the pocket of his robes and put them on. Then he took a small glass vial, which Jacks handed him.

Remus kept his mouth firmly closed.

When it was clear he wasn't going to co-operate the one in charge sighed and nodded again.

There was a flash of movement from behind him, and one of the other men slammed a truncheon into one of his kneecaps. It connected with a sickening crunch and he half choked trying to bite back the scream. Then he really choked as hands grabbed his head, holding it still and the man with the vial leaned forwards and rammed it past his teeth, pouring a viscous, foul tasting liquid into his mouth. Some of it dribbled down his chin.

"Swallow, damn you!"

Remus considered spitting the stuff out, but they'd only give him more. This way they might not have got as much into him as they thought they had. He swallowed.

However, the instant the liquid hit his stomach, Remus started to gag and choke, and his body began to spasm.

"What's the matter with him?" demanded the one in charge.

"Oh, bugger he's reacting to it! Quick you fools, hold his head forwards so he can be sick!" Jacks yelled at the guards.

Dimly Remus felt someone push him forwards, and he fell onto the floor. It cleared his airways and he stopped choking. But he was violently sick, several times, much to the disgust of the goon that was standing beside him.

"Give him some water and get that mess cleaned up." Jacks ordered the goons.

There was some grumbling, but the one with the dragon hide gloves held a glass of water so Remus could drink. With the stuff out of his system though, he began to feel better almost immediately.

"Now what?" demanded the one who had appeared to be in charge.

"We give him something else, Davis. What do you think?" said Jacks sarcastically.

Davis muttered something in a low voice of which the only word Remus caught was 'effective'.

"I know that," responded Jacks. "We don't have much choice. You'd better sign the requisition." He held out a piece of parchment and Davis scrawled something on it with his quill. Jacks left.

Davis signalled to the goons and they hauled Remus onto his chair again. A house elf appeared and cleaned up the mess he had made.

Remus was beginning to feel more hopeful. If they couldn't give him Veritaserum because he was allergic to it, then he might be able to fight the effects of a lesser strength truth potion. Pity he couldn't fake being allergic to whatever else it was they gave him, but Veritaserum was the only truth potion that provoked that kind of reaction. He was only sorry he hadn't been in a position to appreciate the expressions on their faces.

Jacks came back and handed another small vial to one of the guards. The Hit Wizard with the dragon hide gloves went the same ritual of forcing the stuff down his throat, although he was in no condition to refuse it. This one didn't taste quite as bad, although it left him feeling woozy and disorientated.

"Can we get started now?" Davis demanded, opening a file that had been lying on the table, as Jacks picked up a quill and prepared to write. The question appeared to be rhetorical, as he didn't wait for an answer. He folded his hands on the table in front of him and asked Remus, "Name?"

But Remus found there was no control over the words that came out of his mouth. He answered immediately, "Remus Lupin."

"What were you doing from September 1992 to June 1993?"

"I was the Defence against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts."

There was a snort of muffled laughter from the others in the room. The questioner continued, "Why were you sacked."

"I wasn't sacked."

The two interrogators looked at one another. "Why did you leave?"

The questioning went on and on, one tedious question after another, he didn't know how long for. Through the fog the potion induced though, Remus got the impression that they weren't really interested in the answers to these questions; that they hadn't yet got to what they were interested in. They got there eventually.

"How long have you known Sirius Black?"

Remus tried to hold back, but said, "Since we were at school together." He did feel though that he had managed to hesitate.

"Did you help him escape from Azkaban?"

"No."

"Did you help him after he escaped?"

"No."

Jacks murmured to the other Hit Wizard, "That's too vague a question, Davis. He could be answering it for a specific period. Need to be more exact."

The one in charge, Davis, nodded, and re-phrased his question. "When did you first see him after his escape from Azkaban?"

"The following June."

The two interrogators looked surprised at this. Then Davis asked, "Did you help him escape then?"

"No." Oh please let them go on asking stupid questions like this, he thought, and for a while they did. But then came the one he had been dreading.

"When did you last see him?" Davis asked.

Oh God. Once again, Remus tried to hesitate. He felt sweat start to bead on his forehead as he desperately tried to control what he said, putting every ounce of effort he could summon into answering and to his relief managed to say, "Last June."

"The first time you'd seen him since his escape from Azkaban?"

"Yes."

Jacks, who had been busy scribbling away, was now watching him. Remus was sure he must realise. "Have you had any written contact with him since that time?" Jacks asked.

This time the effort needed to lie wasn't as great, as if once he had broken the control the potion had, it stayed broken. "None," he answered.

They carried on questioning him, but Davis became increasingly dissatisfied with the negative response they were getting. Eventually he turned to Jacks and said, "I don't think he knows anything."

"He could have broken through the potion. Look at the effort he was making with some of the questions. We should try him on something else."

"Oh give it a rest, Jacks"" Davis sounded contemptuous. "You just don't want to admit your brilliant idea hasn't worked. Bloody stupid idea anyway."

Jacks glared at Davis. "It hasn't worked yet. We can try again tomorrow."

Davis shook his head. "Forget it! Kellow put me in charge, and I'm saying let's be done with it." He looked round at Remus. "Right you're free to go."

Remus blinked at him in surprise. "What?"

Davis ignored him but said to the guards. "Throw him out."

The guards released the cords holding his wrists and hauled him to his feet. They thrust his wand at him and dragged him out of the room. As the door slammed shut behind them, he could still hear Jacks remonstrating with Davis over his stupidity.

The guards marched him out of the building, and they weren't very gentle about it. They took him to the back entrance and flung him out into a dustbin filled yard, pushing him hard enough to make sure he fell. They sniggered.

Barely able to believe his luck, Remus slowly got to his feet. It was dark; they'd had him in there all day. He felt still hellish from the Veritaserum and just wanted to go to bed. However, he knew he wasn't in any fit state to Apparate anywhere so he decided he would see if he could get a bed for the night at the Leaky Cauldron and go home tomorrow.

As it was midweek, the bar was quiet. There were only a few people sitting at the tables, filling the air with the soft murmurings of conversation, the clink of glasses and the occasional burst of laughter. Remus walked over to the bar where Old Tom was standing polishing a glass. He took one look at Remus and said, "You'll be wanting a room then?"

"Yes please," responded Remus with heartfelt thanks. "Just for one night." He looked at the bottles on the shelves behind the bar and added, "And I'd very much like a brandy."

Tom cocked an eyebrow at him, and poured a stiff measure into a small glass. Remus picked it up and knocked it back. The harsh spirit warmed him, and somewhat to his surprise didn't make him sick.

Tom laughed, "That put some colour back into you."

Remus tried to smile back. "I feel a bit better too, thank you, but I think I need to go to bed if you don't mind."

The barman showed him up the stairs to a small room and left him by himself. Before collapsing on the bed, he ran the tap on the basin and wet his face. As he looked up in the mirror, it shrieked genteelly at him. "You look a fright," it told him.

"Oh thanks, I really needed to hear that," he responded sourly. Then he went and sat on the bed, just managing to pull his shoes off before he collapsed down onto the pillows. Before he passed out, he wondered how Sirius was and a horrible thought struck him. Unless… no. Surely, the stupid bastard wouldn't try anything as insane as that? But he knew the answer. It was a silly question really, he told himself, of course he would.