Silver Snake

Silver Snake

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Chapter 5:

Homorphus

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Remus sighed and pushed away the book he'd been in vain trying to concentrate on. It was no use; his head was pounding with a horrible headache, and he felt nauseous. And as if that had not been enough, he was now putting on a slight fever, too. Well, that was just to be expected. It was the day of full moon, after all. But, even though the physical symptoms did not surprise him, they certainly did annoy him.

"You seem disturbed," commented a cool voice. "It wouldn't happen to have anything to do with the full moon tonight, would it?" Tom. The man seemed to greatly enjoy sneaking up on him.

"Whatever else?" asked Remus, too tired to even try to pick an argument. "Except for the transformations, the pre-full moon symptoms are the worst thing I know. Well, maybe not. There are always the post-full moon symptoms," he then added dryly. "Those are indeed more disturbing."

"Is it so?" asked the Dark Lord with seemingly genuine, though little interest. "How fascinating." He turned to look over his shoulder. "Bring it here, Severus," he said snappishly, and Remus's oversensitive ears caught the sound of soft footsteps.

Then Severus stopped on his side, the black eyes watching him emotionlessly through the white mask. In his hand he had a steaming goblet of Wolfsbane Potion, smelling just as awful as usually. Grimacing, Remus took the offered goblet, then drank its contents greedily. No matter how bad it tasted, it still helped. Well, a bit, at least. Nothing could really help him, not during the full moons.

"Oh, and Severus, before I forget," said Tom then smoothly. "Of course I could never think you would betray me -- you're not foolish enough for that. However, just to be sure that you haven't done some mistake, you will stay here tonight. When Remus transforms, you will be the only one in the room with him. So, in case you have indeed made some mistake, the one who dies will be you."

The Potions Master stayed seemingly unaffected by this, but Remus saw the suppressed shiver. He would have pitied the man, if he hadn't known that Severus despised pity more than anything. Remus knew very well of the Slytherin's lycantrophobia -- not as in hating werewolves, but fearing them. Ever since Severus had seen him in the Shrieking Shack all those years ago, every time he met him Remus had smelled hardly controlled fear. And now he would have to spend a whole night in the same room with a wholly transformed werewolf. It must be pure torture to him to even think about it.

And still, Remus didn't hear any sign of that fear as Severus said, "Whatever you say, my Lord, will happen." Seemingly Tom didn't hear that, either, as he merely nodded, satisfied. Good. If he'd indeed sensed fear, it could have been taken as a sign of betrayal -- what reason would Severus have to be afraid, if he had indeed made the potion correctly? And the Dark Lord did not treat traitors lightly.

All in all, Remus thanked whatever deity was listening that his Lycanthropy made him immune to Legilimency. Not only was the information Severus gathered extremely important to the Light Side, but he also didn't want to even think about what would happen to the Potions Master if his betrayal became known. Nothing and nobody could save him from Voldemort's wrath, if that were to happen.

So, several hours later he found himself locked in a room with Severus. A couple of times he'd tried to start a conversation with the man, but those attempts had always been cut down. Therefore, he'd just settled to stand in one corner of the room, while Severus stood in the opposite one, trying to avoid his gaze.

Just then, Remus felt the pull of the moon strengthening as it began to rise to the sky. Knowing that he only had a couple of minutes left, he hastily undressed himself, folding the clothes into a neat pile on the floor. Then he sat down on the floor, well knowing from the experience of years that it would be easier that way than if he was standing. And all the time he felt Severus's burning gaze on his back. The Potions Master probably forced himself to watch him, to prove that he was not afraid even though he must be frozen with fear by now. Well, if that made him feel better, who was Remus to argue?

Then, however, he could not much think anymore, as Mistress Moon rose to the sky and the transformation fell upon him. Despite all his attempts he could not keep the cry out in pain escaping his lips as he felt his bones starting to twist and snap in reformation and his muscles were torn and twisted and stretched to fit his new form. Then the pained cry turned into an animalistic howl as his jaw was stretched into a muzzle at the same time as fur spurted out of his skin all over his body. His whole body was twisting and turning by now, the grip of transformation on its strongest, and he felt nothing but pain.

And then, the pain slowly faded away, leaving behind only a throbbing ache that, despite its viciousness, felt like a relief after the agony of the transformation. Glancing into Severus's corner, he saw the other wizard pressed tightly against the wall, as if trying to get as far away from him as possible, the onyx eyes wide with fear he could no more hide. Remus knew that even though the colour of the mask was the purest of white, the face underneath was even paler. He took a couple of steps towards the Potions Master, waggling his tail to show that he had no hostile intentions, but that only caused the man to make a tiny sound of fear and retreat even further to the corner. One inch more, and he would be digging himself into the stone. Well, if that made him feel any better, Remus certainly wasn't going to stop him.

So, with a low wolf sigh, he just curled up on the floor, rested his head on his paws, and closed his eyes. The ache was still there, but he managed to fall asleep nevertheless. However, his dreams were more than a bit disturbed by the fact that the last thing he smelled before falling asleep was Severus's fear.

*

Remus slowly awoke to a slight ache. He ached everywhere - his muscles, his chest, even his bones seemed to be aching. But, he wasn't really hurt. Thus, it was just a usual morning after a full moon night with the aid of the Wolfsbane Potion. Nothing out of ordinary there.

"You're awake," observed somebody with a calm voice. Somebody whose voice he recognized all too well. He opened his eyes to see a pair of ice-blue orbs watching him.

"Yes, I am," the werewolf admitted with a hoarse voice. No use denying that, after all.

"Severus!" came a strict command, and a tall figure departed from the shadows in the corner of the room. Remus watched as Severus, in a black robe but without the usual Death Eater mask, started digging vials from the bag on his hips, his expression blank and unrevealing. There was only the usual slight hint of fear in him, not anything like the agonizing terror that had been there the night before. Remus was relieved.

"Drink this," was the next thing he heard, seeing a vial reached out for him. So, he took the offered vial and downed it. While he did so, Severus poured exact measures of various potions into a decorative goblet. At last, he dropped three drops from a tiny vial to the mixture, then examined it. Seemingly satisfied with what he saw, he handed the goblet to the werewolf, who drank its contents gratefully.

Remus tasted an odd addition to the familiar healing mixture. However, he soon recognized it as the taste of the usual mind-strenghtening potion he received from the Potions Master. After drinking it, his mind was much clearer. Also, his bond with Tom seemed more distant and less controlling.

Unfortunately, Tom noticed this, too. Usually, he did not notice as Remus kept himself all the time dosed with the potion, but the change in their bond could not go unnoticed.

"Thank you, Severus," Remus said hastily. "The wolf seems much more distant now." From the corner of his eye he saw Tom relax, at least as much as the Dark Lord ever relaxed, and sighed inwardly in relief. He did not want to submit to the bond, but he did not want Severus killed for giving him the potion, either. If Tom thought that the weakening of the bond was just a usual side-effect of controlling the wolf, the Potions Master would be safe at least for some time to come.

"You may leave, Severus," Tom said then. "But I expect you to return here tomorrow, and I hope for your sake that I don't have to call you this time."

"I won't disappoint you, my Lord," the younger Slytherin replied, bowed, and then slid gracefully out of the room. Remus suspected that Tom hadn't got a single hint of his fear for the werewolf.

Then, however, he could not think further, as the usual post-full moon exhaustion started to settle in. Just before he fell asleep, he noticed Voldemort leaving the room and heard him saying something to somebody outside the door. There were no doubt Death Eaters guarding the door of his room to ensure that nobody tried to use his weakened state on their advantage. So very Slytherin, that.

And then, he finally drifted into the land of dreams.

*

When Remus woke for the next time, he was feeling much better. A quick glance around the room told him that one of the Death Eaters guarding his door had moved to stand inside the room. As soon as the man noticed that he had woken up, however, he knocked on the door. Another Death Eater opened it.

"Go tell our Lord that he's awake," the Death Eater inside said, at the same time casting a careful glance at Remus. The werewolf could easily smell his fear. Understandable, really. Not many people liked being in the same room with a werewolf so close to a full moon, even though he was perfectly harmless by then.

Lying back onto his bed, Remus just relaxed for a while, knowing that Tom would arrive soon enough. And truly, soon enough the door was opened again, and the Death Eater who'd been outside the door let the Dark Lord in. The tall, pale man glanced around the room, looking indifferent.

"So you decided to join us again at last," he said dryly. Then, he cast a furious glare at the Death Eater that was still standing inside the room, driving him back to his guarding place outside the door.

Remus sighed slightly. "It isn't like I had much choice," he muttered, beginning to feel the usual headache again. Now that he thought about it, he had indeed woken up to the headache, although he hadn't noticed it before -- the lack of the worst ache had made it seem minor. "My head is about to explode," he complained, then raised his eyes to examine the Dark Lord. "You have a new robe," he said calmly.

"That's true," Tom admitted, nodding. "I had a new set made for you, too. The one you now have is wearing rather thin." He drew the shrunk robe from his pocket and stretched it back to its original size with a flick of his wand. Then he tossed it to the bed on top of the covers.

Remus eyed the robe with little interest. It was dark grey, with a silvery snake embroidered on it, slithering from the hem of the robe, disappearing to the back, and coming to rest its head on the shoulder of the robe. He didn't even have to look to know that Voldemort's was the same, although in black and white instead of grey and silver. Really, what did the man want from him? Him to be his consort?

Another glance told him that the snake was in a slightly different position. Whenever as he watched it, it made no move, but as soon as he focused on something else, he saw from the corner if his eye that it indeed moved. It looked very disturbing -- and just like something Voldemort would have.

"Well, at least it's a lot better than those you force your so-called 'servants' to wear," he said then dryly. It was, after all. "But as nice as it is, it doesn't help my headache." And he grasped his head again.

Smirking, Tom walked to the side of the bed. "Is there anything I can do to help that?" he asked smoothly.

Now, this was getting really interesting. "Anything?" he repeated, giving Tom a very interested glance. Now that the Dark Lord had mentioned it, he could indeed think of something that would improve his mood greatly. And he wouldn't even feel guilty about it. Well, not too guilty, in any case.

"Anything, within certain limits," elaborated the Dark Lord, raising an eyebrow, never quite giving up his smirk. It was rather irritating at times. Now, however, Remus had something else to think about, something that was much more interesting than his irritation at Voldemort's habit of smirking.

"Kill Wormtail for me?" suggested Remus. Yes, he did want that one thing done. And he had to get it done now, when he was still slightly under the effect of the full moon. As much as he wanted that rat dead, he would in his usual state of mind be far too kind to ask for his death.

Tom nodded immediately, looking almost satisfied with his request. "I think I can do that much," he said dryly. Obviously he wasn't going to miss the rat. Of course Peter had been the one to resurrect him, but Remus truly doubted he had any true use anymore. Knowing him, Wormtail had now become merely an annoyance to the Dark Lord. Nobody was going to miss him, really.

Now Tom ignored him for a moment. Turning towards the Death Eaters on the other side of the doorway, he said sharply, "Bring Wormtail here from the cellars!" The rat had been living as a, well, rat in the cellars ever since Remus had arrived to the house, only showing up in the Death Eater meetings, where he was required to be. Seemingly Peter didn't want to risk his life with the werewolf. A wise move, but too late. He should have thought about it fifteen years earlier, before he betrayed Lily and James.

One of the Death Eaters left immediately. Tom and Remus waited in relatively comfortable silence, until some time later, Wormtail was shoved into the room, the door being closed firmly after him. As Remus watched him, he felt as if the fury had made his blood boil in his veins at the mere sight of the man.

At least Wormtail wasn't dumb at all times. As soon as he saw the cold eyes of his Master and the roaring fury in Remus's golden orbs, he fell to his knees, starting to beg for his life. "Please, Remus, have mercy," the rat pleaded. "Remember what Harry said? You're not a murderer!"

"What mercy did you show to Lily and James, Peter?" asked Remus, completely oblivious to the fact that the final killer of his friends was standing next to him, eyeing Wormtail with disgust equal to his own. After all, he could not do anything to Tom. However, he indeed could do something to Peter. "What mercy did you show to Harry, making him an orphan? You've more than deserved your death!"

Peter, however, was still the same sneaky rat he had always been. Seemingly deciding that if he was to die, then there should be no other Marauder living, he suddenly attacked. Springing forward, he reached out his silver hand, trying to grasp Remus with it. The werewolf, of course, froze in shock. This soon after the full moon, the mere touch of that amount of pure silver would kill him immediately.

Tom, however, would have nothing of that. "Stupefy!" he roared, and Wormtail dropped to the floor in dead faint. Kicking the Animagus away in disgust, Tom then turned towards Remus. "Shall I kill him now or wait until he's awake?" he asked casually, seemingly thinking nothing of his actions or the morbid tone of his words. "And how should I finish him off, anyway?"

Remus soon covered up his shock and terror. "Just do it now," he replied, forcing himself to use an equally conversational tone. All the more reason to hate Peter, that attack. He definitely didn't need to feel guilty for wanting the rat dead. "And as for the manner of death, at the moment I'm severely tempted to just cut that darned hand off his body and see him bleed to death. But, alas, that wouldn't do."

"So true," sighed Tom in mock-sadness, smirking then a bit. "The carpet would be ruined. Those bloodstains never quite come off completely." Pointing his wand at the unmoving man, his expression blank as if his face was carved of stone, he simply stated, "Avada Kedarva."

There was a sudden flash of green light, and Peter Pettigrew was dead.

"Good riddance for bad rubbish," muttered Remus quietly to himself. He truly did think that. Then, he yawned, becoming tired yet again. "My headache seems to have disappeared, and I'm tired," he mumbled to Tom. "Would you be offended if I went to sleep again?"

"Not at all. I know you need rest after the transformation." The Dark Lord left the room, stopping at the doorway to tell his servants to get rid of Wormtail's corpse, as well as to still stand on guard on Remus's door. Remus, however, knew nothing of this, as he had already fallen into a peaceful slumber.

*