Sweet Poison

“No, no. You guys go ahead. Have fun. Yes, I’m sure…I don’t want to be a third wheel. Have a great anniversary and don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. Yea, you two have fun. Bye.”

Ron heaved a heavy sigh as he hung up the phone. He loved Harry and Hermione, really he did, but he could only take watching them snog so many times. But since it was their five year anniversary, he was very sure there’d be plenty of snogging to go around. Too bad he wasn’t going to get any.

Slowly he trudged over to his couch, grabbed a beer on the way, and just as he got comfortable there was a loud knock on his door. With a low grumble, he pulled himself up from the couch and went to the door to see who would dare disturb his brooding. When he got within a foot’s distance from the door, the loud knock came again.

“All right already! I’m coming,” he said, as he unlocked the door. No sooner had the door opened than a dirty, cloaked man fell into his arms.

“What the bloody hell,” he asked, only to realize that whomever he was holding was in fact, covered in blood and breathing rather heavily.

“Ron,” the figure groaned.

Ron took a better look at who had fallen into him.

“Remus?”

“Yeah?”

“You all right?”

“No,” Remus replied and promptly passed out.

Ron quickly pulled him into the house, and with little effort carried the older man over to the couch. With trepidation, he slowly began to examine Remus. The normal shabby clothes that Remus wore appeared torn and cut in many places. He also noticed that the cloak had blood soaked through it in many places. At first, he was afraid the blood might have been someone else’s, but there weren’t any splatters, and he could see it came from beneath Remus’ clothes. Carefully, he did his best job to remove the remnants of Remus’ clothes, down to his pants, and tossed them aside. Ron was horrified by what he saw when he turned to get a better look. Lacerations were all over Remus’ body, it looked as if someone had whipped him. Some of the gashes were light, while most of them looked deep and infected. Quickly he ran to the kitchen and grabbed the Medi-Wizard kit, his wand, a bowl of water, and a cloth. Gently he began to clean the wounds, being careful as not to hurt Remus. From his Auror training, he could tell that whoever did this used poison on the whip’s ends. The edges of the wounds were tinged purple and some of them were still bleeding. As he cleaned, Ron found that the poison was keeping the gashes from healing; in fact they were getting deeper like an acid was slowly eating away at Remus’ body. With much cursing, Ron grabbed the phone, which Hermione had suggested they all use, and speed dialed Hermione. The phone rang a five times and she answered, sounding rather annoyed.

“You know, we did invite you to come along before we left, Ronald,” she said.

“Huh?” Oh yeah, he thought, Caller ID. “Hermione, it’s Remus. He just showed up on my door step and he’s hurt really bad,” Ron explained. He proceeded to describe the state Remus was in and she and Harry promised to get there right away.

No sooner had Ron hung up the phone and went to Remus did he hear two very familiar pops.

“In here,” he called from the living room; he didn’t want to leave Remus, not even for a moment. Unfortunately, when Hermione and Harry came in she pushed him out of the way to get a better look at Remus.

“Did he say what happened,” Harry asked.

“No, he passed out almost as soon as he got here. Honestly, I’m surprised he was even able to make it this far…Where the hell has he been, Harry?”

“He left on a mission over four months ago, trying to get information on our newest rising dark wizard. He was supposed to keep in contact with the ministry every week, but he stopped showing up at the designated area over six weeks ago. Agents were sent to find him, but there was no trace.”

“Damn,” Ron swore, running a hand through his hair. “You would have thought we’d get a break from all this after Voldemort was defeated, but instead we get hit with all of his would be successors…How many are they now? Five?”

“Six,” Harry corrected. “Allegrea, Lucius Malfoy, Theodore Notts, Bellatrix, Master Havoc, and The Dark Knight,” Harry commented dryly.

“The Dark Knight? What kind of Moron calls himself the Dark Knight?”

“What kind of moron calls himself Master Havoc?” Harry countered.

“We need to get Ginny and her husband over here,” interrupted Hermione.

“What? Why?” Ron demanded.

“Because she is a nurse, he’s a potions master, and we need a cure to this poison,” Hermione replied, sharply.

“But he’s a Slytherin! We can’t trust him!”

“He was on our side during the war, Ron. Besides, the rest of your family trusts him!”

Ron was about to argue more, but a groan of pain from Remus stilled his biting comeback.

“Fine! But I’m not leaving him alone with Remus.”

“Good. Do you have Floo Powder?”

“Yeah, it’s on the mantel,” said Ron. His face went from anger to concern as he knelt on the floor once more beside Remus’ side. He brushed the man’s hair out of his face, letting his fingers linger on the dark shadows on his cheeks. It was then that he noticed how frail and malnourished Remus looked.

“God, what did they do to you,” Ron whispered as he grabbed the washcloth and went back to cleaning Remus the best he could.

“Hermione, he’s burning up,” Ron called as Ginny and Blaise came in from the other room. They brushed the soot off their clothes before coming over. Before Ron could protest, Ginny had pushed him out of the way so she could examine Remus, while Blaise quickly following suite to try to figure out which poison was used.

“Ron,” Harry called from the kitchen.

“Yeah,” answered Ron, as he sat at the table.

“I just talked to your father; he says they think they know who did this.”

“Who?”

Harry and Hermione exchanged worried glances before Harry continued.

“Malfoy,” he said, knowing it was pointless to beat around the bush.

Ron clenched his fist, as Hermione and Harry could hear his teeth grinding. They took a step back, bracing themselves for the explosion.

“That son of a bitch, if I ever get my hands on him, I’m going to strangle him! That slimy, evil…” But he didn’t get to finish because he was interrupted by a pained, strangled cry from the living room. The three of them rushed to the other room to find Remus lashing out from the couch, Blaise was bruised on the face, and Ginny was trying to find her wand, which had been knocked away. Ron could tell that Remus was in a state of panic, and didn’t know where he was. Without thinking, Ron rushed over to him and managed to grab hold of his arms. Remus put up a fight, but he was weak and tired. Ron was able to pull Remus into a firm hug, holding his arms to his chest by the wrists. When Remus stopped struggling, he looked around, realizing where he was. Then he looked over and saw Ginny tending to Blaise’s black eye.

“Oh God! I’m so sorry; I thought…I’m so sorry!”

“It’s all right Remus, you’re safe now. You’re with friends,” whispered Ron, trying to calm the man down.

“Remus, who did this to you,” asked Hermione. Ron could feel him stiffen at the memory of his tormenter.

“Malfoy,” was his only reply.

This time it was Remus who felt Ron stiffen.

“Oyo, Ron, I’m not going anywhere. Can you loosen the grip?”

Startled out of his angry daze, Ron let go of Remus and got up from the couch. Silently, he left the room and went out to the balcony.

“Remus, Blaise and I have to make the antidote for the poison Malfoy used on you. Until then, we think you should go to St. Mungo’s,” said Ginny.

“NO!” Came both Harry and Remus’ reply.

“But Harry, he’s seriously ill, he needs to see a medi-wizard,” argued Hermione.

“It’s too dangerous Hermione. Malfoy may have come out of the preverbal closet, but he’s still very powerful and has loyal servant’s everywhere. We can’t take the chance of taking Remus to a public place where he can finish what he started,” Harry explained. “Anyway, Ginny’s a trained Medi Witch, and Blaise is a potions master, he’ll be safest with us.”

“All right,” she said with a sigh. “We could put him up in our spare room.”

“No, he’s stays here!” Came Ron’s determined voice.

“But Ron,” Harry tried to argue.

“No Harry. You’ve always got Ministry people at your house, and it’s not that I don’t trust you and Hermione, but it’s some of the agents that I don’t know well enough to trust yet.”

“But it’s Sirius’s house, no one would...”

“But they did once, and I won’t take that chance again!” Ron said with finality.

No one really dared to argue, but instead nodded. Remus was moved into Ron’s bedroom to rest. Blaise went to the kitchen to begin the cure, as Harry and Ron contacted Arthur, who was the current Minister of Magic. After a long silence, Hermione and Ginny were startled by Remus when he spoke.

“What happened?” He asked hoarsely.

“Shhh, you should try to sleep, you need to gain your strength,” Ginny said.

“It’s too painful to sleep, I need a distraction to keep my mind off of the pain,” Remus said. “Tell me what happened to Ron.”

Hermione and Ginny looked at each other not sure what he was asking.

“What happened between him and Malfoy?” Remus clarified without being asked.

At this Ginny busied herself with tending to Remus’s wounds on his legs, as Hermione rung out her cloth and worked on his face.

“Remember five years ago, right after Harry and I got married?” Remus nodded. “The war was over for only months, but there was still a lot of Death Eaters out trying to kill off anyone who opposed them, Harry, Ron, and myself included. We were all staying at Grimuald Place, laying low while you and Harry set a trap for the remaining Death Eaters. Only, not all of them fell for it, and one was able to sneak into the house.”

“Lucius?” He asked.

“Yes, at first we thought he was after me, or Ron, but in our haste to escape we realized we were wrong. It wasn’t us he wanted, it was Draco.”

His own son,” stated Remus, not really sounding astonished.

“Yes.”

“Because he didn’t become a Death Eater like him?”

“No...”

“Hermione?”

“Draco and Ron were lovers. Lucius tortured Draco to death with the Cruciatus Curse, because he defied his father to love a Weasley.”

“My God, ... I didn’t know. Why didn’t…”

“Ron’s a private person, and he knew there was a spy in the order, and that when Lucius found out that they’d have to run for their rest of their lives until he either caught up to them, or was killed himself. Only Harry and I knew...”

“I knew,” Ginny interrupted. “I never said anything, but I knew.” Hermione looked shocked. “I’m his only sister, he can’t hide who he’s in love with from me.”

They all grew quiet until there was a knock on the door, and Blaise came in.

“I’ve figured out which poison was used, and started the cure, but leave it to Lucius to choose a rare poison with an even rarer cure.”

“Are you going to be able to make it?” Hermione asked.

“Yes I will, but not until after I get the rare ingredients that are needed.”

“You have to leave?” Ginny asked.

“I’m sorry Hun, but I have to. I can’t order these; they have to be ... bargained for in person.” He gave her a kiss and they left the room together. Hermione was given instructions on how to care for Remus, with supplies and a promise that Ginny would be back after she saw Blaise off.

~*~

Slowly the days ticked by. Hermione, Harry, and Ginny practically moved into Ron’s flat to watch over, not only Remus, but him as well. Two weeks later Ron was making coffee when Harry came in with his daily stack of reports from the Ministry.

“Any news?”

“Nothing encouraging, Lucius is still in hiding and our operatives have lost his trail again.”

“Damn.”

“Sorry Ron.”

“I’m going to check on Remus,” Ron said quietly. He grabbed his coffee and walked to the bedroom. He’d been spending the past two weeks sleeping on the couch, though not really getting any rest. He sat in his usual seat near the bed, and watched as Remus slept. The noon sun shone down on Remus from the window and the muggle radio softly played “Desperado” in the background. Ron sat lost in thoughts until he heard Remus mumble in his sleep. He then began to toss from side to side. Ron put his coffee down and gingerly sat on the edge of the bed to try to calm him.

“No.... Please.... Sirius.... Not Sirius...“ Remus muttered. Ron placed a hand to Remus’ face and spoke softly to him.

“It’s just a dream Remus.”

“Ron... No... Don’t go....”

“I’m not going anywhere Remus, I’m right here.”

“Ron...Sirius...Love you...” Remus whispered before getting even more violent. Ron had to hold him down, to keep him from hurting either himself or Ron. He pulled Remus into his arms holding him as he laid beside the man, speaking calmly to him until the nightmare subsided into tears. He felt as Remus’ arms wrapped around his body and as the older man wept into his shoulder. When the sobs died down to a ragged breathing, Ron had to strain to hear Remus whisper.

“I loved him.”

“Sirius?”

“I spent twelve years cursing him because I thought he had betrayed our friends, betrayed me. Then I spent two years trying to make up for those lost years, only to lose him forever. I never got a chance to tell him how much I really loved him.”

Ron didn’t speak, he knew this was the first time Remus had spoken of Sirius’ death.

“I told him I loved him, but I assumed we would have the rest of our lives for me to show him, and I never had the chance.”

“I’m sure he knew,” Ron said gently.

“How?”

“Because, Draco said the same thing to me before he died. He wanted me to know how much he loved me. But I already knew. I knew every time we made love, I knew just by looking into his eyes.” Ron said.

...

“Do you still love him?” Ron asked.

“Do you still love Draco?” Remus asked in return.

Neither said anything, but laid there in silence. After a few minutes, Ron moved to get up.

“Don’t go,” Remus asked.

Ron wasn’t sure how to respond, but he could tell that Remus was just as lonely as he was so he shifted back into place and relaxed. Within moments, they had both fallen into dreamless sleep.

~*~

“We have to do something, he’s not going to last much longer,” Ron yelled to Blaise’s head that was floating in the fire place.

“Damn it Ron, stop yelling, we’re doing the best we can,” Ginny yelled back.

“Well it isn’t good enough, he’s in constant pain now...”

“You think I don’t know that?”

“As soon as I get the last ingredient I can finish the cure...” Blaise tried to interject.

“Well what the hell is taking so bloody long? You’ve been gone for a month!”

“ENOUGH!” Hermione shouted from the doorway. The entire room fell silent and they all stopped to look at her in surprise. She had tears running down her cheeks and was wringing her hands in a worried manner.

“He just slipped into a coma,” she said. Ginny immediately rushed out of the room and Ron turned to Blaise with a look of pure dread on his face.

“I’ll have it by tonight, I promise!” He said and left before Ron could argue more.

Hermione went over to him and wrapped her arms around him, and he pulled her close into a hug as she buried her face into his chest.

“Any news from Harry,” he asked after a few minuets.

“No, none yet. They’ve been on silent mode for two days now. Percy says they should be able to get him this time.”

“Good, because when they bring him in, I’m going to kill him with my bare hands.”

“Ronald,” Hermione said hoarsely, pulling away from him.

“He killed the man I loved Hermione and nearly tortured Remus to death,” Ron argued back.

“Is that any reason to stoop to his level?” She demanded.

“It’s just... Damn it Hermione, he needs to pay for what he did.”

“And he will Ron.”

“How do you know? You heard what Harry said, he’s got people every where, who’s to say he won’t just find a way to escape again?”

“There’s no escaping for a dead man,” came Harry’s voice. He stood in the doorway, covered in filth, bruised, but looking non the worse.

“HARRY!” Hermione exclaimed and rushed over to him, throwing herself into his arms.

“Careful Love, Kingsley had to mend a couple ribs,” he said as he tenderly pulled her away, and sat down in a high back chair.

“What happened mate?” Ron asked as Hermione sat on the arm of the chair.

“We traced Malfoy to his illegal dragon ranch where he was cross breeding dragons to create some kind of nasty hybrid. Everything was running smoothly until Creevy tipped them off we were there, and then all hell broke loose. He had half a dozen men with him to our four, it was a rough battle, and we lost McNeary, but it eventually came down to just him and me.”

“Harry you didn’t?” Hermione asked stunned.

“No, though to be honest, I was ready to. He had gotten too close to one of the cages and a Horntail/Ridgeback hybrid snapped him up and ate him.”

“Ewwww,” both Ron and Hermione said in unison.

“Yeah, I had Kingsley do a partial memory charm so I don’t remember the details of that, like the scent and sound of his bones crunching. I don’t need those kind of nightmares.”

“Did you catch all of his men?” Ron asked.

“All but one, only we don’t think this one was a man, unless Malfoy was as feminine as he sometimes looked.”

He smiled at their confused looks.

“We found a makeup case, and other feminine items among their personal belongings.”

“Any idea who she is?” Hermione asked.

“Not yet, but I’m sure we’ll know soon enough. ... How’s Remus doing?”

Hermione took Harry’s hands before answering.

“He fell into a coma right before you got here.”

“Any news from Blaise?”

“He promised he could have the cure by tonight,” Ron stated.

“Have faith mate, he won’t let us down.”

“I just don’t like leaving the life of my...Remus in the hands of that Slytherin.”

~*~

Two hours later, Ron was sitting in his chair, watching Remus, waiting for the return of Blaise. Since that afternoon when they first fell asleep together, Remus had asked Ron if he would be willing to sleep next to him every night, as his presence helped keep the nightmares away. But as tired as Ron was, he just couldn’t bring himself to lying down. His mind was moving a mile a minute and he needed to sort out his thoughts.

The last rays of sunlight played across Remus’ face, his light hair, causing shadows to play across his face. The poison had kept him from being able to eat much, so he still looked as frail and shallow as when he first showed up on Ron’s doorstep. Ron was thinking deeply about how much this man had come to mean to him, and that he might yet loose him. He thought about when he first saw Remus on the train to Hogwarts, in his third year. How Remus had been his mentor during school, and Auror training. And as he thought about the past, it also made him think about about the present and possible futures. What if he had never met Remus? Or what if they had never become such good friends? What would happen if they became more than friends? What if they spent the rest of their lives together? What if Remus rejected him? What if they were together for a while, but one of them died? What if Remus died? Oh God, what if Remus dies? He was pulled out of his thoughts when the door swung open and everyone came in, including Blaise who had a beaker filled with a smoking purple liquid.

“Help me sit him up a bit, we need to get him to drink some,” Blaise instructed. Ron moved quickly and maneuvered Remus so he was sitting against the head board with Remus’ head in his lap. Gently prodding his mouth open, Blaise slowly poured small amounts into his mouth, while Ginny used a spell that would cause Remus to swallow. When half the potion was gone, Blaise explained the next part.

“All right, now I have to mix the rest of this with the paste formula and then we have to spread it on all the wounds.”

Ron was told to say put, while Ginny, Harry, and Hermione disrobed Remus. By the time they were done, Blaise had the paste ready. Each of them scooped some paste out and began to apply it to the open wounds. The redness disappeared and the skin healed it self as soon as the cure was applied. Soon Remus’s body was healed, but he had yet to wake up.

“The potion needs to time to purge the poison,” Blaise said, hoping to ease their concern.

They waited for a few moments, and then Remus opened his eyes and looked around the room.

“He’s awake!” Ron said with a huge grin. Everyone cheered and hugs were passed around.

After making sure Remus was going to be fine, Ginny and Blaise said their goodbyes and went home, but not before Ron apologized.

“Blaise ... Look, I’m sorry. I was being a real git and .. I well I’m sorry,” Ron said offering his hand in friendship.

Blaise regarded him for a moment, then accepted Ron’s hand and Ron pulled his brother in-law into a hug. They then said good bye and flooed home.

Later, after letting Remus know of Malfoy’s demise, Harry and Hermione also got ready to go back to their own place.

“Want us to stick around?” Harry asked.

“Nah, we’ll be all right. You two should go home and get some rest. We’ll meet up next week; I owe you two an anniversary dinner.” Ron said smiling.

“No you don’t, but it’ll be nice to have you around more often,” Hermione said hugging him.

Before she let go, Harry hugged Ron from behind and Ron felt more loved than he had in years.

They then said their good byes and also left, leaving Ron in a suddenly very quiet home. For the better part of a month, he had people milling about his flat, and no matter where he went, there was at least one person already there. Now it was just him and Remus.

He found his way to the bedroom to check on his house guest, he stood in the doorway watching as Remus slowly breathed while he slept letting his thoughts from earlier float through his mind. When he decided he should get ready for bed himself, he turned to leave when he heard Remus.

“Ron.” He turned, and saw Remus looking at him. He walked over to the bed and sat on the edge. “Are you going to sleep here tonight?” Remus asked.

“I figured since you’re feeling better, you’d want your space back.”

“Oh.” They sat in silence for a moment, both lost in their own thoughts. “Thank you for staying with me during all this.”

“Yeah, no problem. What are friends for right?”

“Yeah”

...

“Ron? Will you stay with me tonight?”

“I ... I’m not Sirius, Remus,” Ron stated flatly. It hurt to say it, but he had to be honest.

“I know that Ron, I’m not asking you to replace Sirius...” Ron looked down at this hands, unsure of what to say. “I ... I was hoping you and I could ... I want to be with you Ron.”

Ron looked up from his lap and into Remus’ eyes.

“Look, I’ve had a lot of time to think as I laid here for a month, and well, I’ve come to realize just how much you really mean to me. I know I’ll never replace Draco in your heart, nor will I ever try to, I just want to be given a chance to see where we could take this.” Remus said. “Do you think you could love me someday?” He asked quietly.

“Do you think you could love me?” Ron asked in return.

“Yes”

Ron smiled, and moved closer to Remus, propping him self on his elbow giving him a top side view of Remus. Gently he swept a stray hair away from his face, letting his fingers slide down the soft skin. He could feel it as Remus slid an arm around his waist and with a heart fill with hope, Ron leaned down and tenderly kissed Remus.