To Hope For Nothing

To Hope for Nothing

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See Him

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The Night, Part II

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None of them spoke a single word as they walked to the Infirmary. Everyone was deep in thoughts, each in their own.

As they reached the doors of the hospital wing, however, something seemed to snap in Black, making him unable to stay quiet anymore. "I know he's most probably not awake," he started, "and will not know what we say. However, I want to say here," the Animagus continued, stepping into the Infirmary, "where Remus is at least present, that I'm thanking you, Snape. I still hate you, and most probably I always will, but I'm thanking you for bringing Remus here, and trying to get him healed as soon as possible."

Severus smirked slightly, raising an eyebrow. Well, well. Seemingly it only took one good shock to push the Gryffindor off his tracks. Most probably Black would regret his words the next day, if not even earlier. But he'd now thanked Severus, and the Slytherin had every intent to save this moment into his mind and savour the sweetness of this little victory whenever possible. For he truly considered this a victory - Sirius Black saying even one positive word to him was a thing that would have convinced most people that the world was coming to its end.

Then, however, his eyes fell to Lupin, and he forgot all his other thoughts. Staring dumbly at the pale, unmoving form, he at first didn't even register Black, who'd let a howl of pain and rage and ran to his best friend's bedside.

Severus did not know the exact circumstances of Black and Lupin's reunion after the incident in the Shrieking Shack, but he did know that the two had made up. Black had forgiven Lupin for not trusting him, and Lupin had forgiven Black for the same thing. Nowadays, they were the best friends, together through thick and thin. Even though he had no means to measure it, Severus suspected that their bond might be even stronger than that between Black and Potter senior. How much stronger, he didn't dare to even think. The fact that Lupin had been raped was bound to affect their relationship even if they were just friends; if they were lovers on top of that, it might be unbearable.

For some reason he didn't quite understand, he hoped that they weren't lovers. Certainly it would be a lot easier to Lupin, at the very least. It would take him a long time, maybe forever, before he'd be able to trust anyone enough to even think about having sex with them. No, making love. For the little he knew Lupin, the werewolf would never be satisfied with only having sex, there had to be emotions involved.

Bloody stubborn Gryffindor spirit.

It might also be easier to Black, of course. Having had a lover who was now unable to bear his touch would be really difficult. However, Severus did not pay this possibility another thought. Black was not worth his pity, he was just a stubborn, Gryffindor bastard, and nothing more.

Severus woke from his thoughts to notice that Poppy Pomfrey had come to the room. She was currently speaking with Dumbledore, no doubt discussing the werewolf's condition. Black now sat on a chair next to Lupin's bed, obviously having been ordered there by the mediwitch, and observed his friend with large, sad eyes like the mutt he was. Suppressing a snort, Severus turned towards Dumbledore and Poppy. At least they had some intelligence, if not a bit of insanity on the Headmaster's part.

"Oh, Severus!" exclaimed Poppy, seemingly not noticing his presence until now. "Thank you for bringing Remus here in time! You most probably saved him from serious damage. Now, tell me, what happened?"

Sighing, Severus shook his head. He didn't particularly want to repeat his story, so he settled on a very brief description of the events. "Voldemort had captured him and gave him to Malfoy as a birthday present," he said tiredly. "After Malfoy was through with him, Voldemort dismissed all but me and told me to bring him here, saying that I was to stay near to him with any costs."

"I see," the mediwitch murmured, nodding. "I'm almost afraid to think what things he could have planned on poor Remus's part. Well, maybe we'll soon find out," she added with a wavering smile. "I've healed most of the damage, Albus, but I haven't yet done any scans to him. Maybe you would want to...?"

"Most certainly." The Headmaster drew his wand, then pointed it at Lupin. He murmured a quiet incantation, and a soft, greenish light seemed to envelope the whole moveless body. Seemingly satisfied with the result, Dumbledore nodded, and cancelled the spell.

He did still a few more spells, all resulting with some kind of light or the lack of it. All tests seemed to have good results, because the Headmaster seemed to be slowly relaxing.

"And the last one," he muttered then, pointing his wand at the werewolf. Another quiet incantation was said, a tiny wave of magic shooting from his wand towards Remus.

In an instant, a soft, golden glow appeared around the werewolf's abdomen, reminding Severus of the glow he'd witnessed while bringing Lupin to Hogwarts.

"My goodness," the ancient wizard whispered. "Tom Riddle is indeed even more evil than we thought." With a swish of his wand, the golden glow disappeared, and the Headmaster pressed his face against one of his hands. Poppy seemed to be trembling slightly, and she pressed her lips firmly together as if to stop herself from crying.

"What it is, Albus?" asked Black, obviously alarmed. The Animagus was half sitting, half standing now, hovering between his seat and Lupin's bed. "Is something wrong?"

"Wrong? Not necessarily," the Headmaster said quietly. "Something we should be concerned about, yes, definitely. But this is not the right time nor place to discuss it. Let's go somewhere else and let Poppy examine him now." He and the mediwitch exchanged grave glances, and Severus and Black exchanged questioning ones. Then both young wizards shook their heads as an indication that they did not know what it was about.

They followed Dumbledore into a nearby abandoned classroom. Once getting there, Severus immediately turned around and nailed his eyes at the Headmaster. "The last scan seemed to shock you more than the others. What was that?" he asked, curious and a bit worried. Had there been any other harm done to the former professor?

"Severus... I recall you telling that Voldemort casted some spell on him before he let you go?" Dumbledore asked, his face very serious.

"Yes," he replied, lowering his gaze at the floor. "Nothing I'd recognize, though. The incantation was something like 'Opara Collida', for anything I remember." He remembered the Dark Lord's nasty, heartless voice saying the words, and shivered.

"Just what I thought." The Headmaster looked lost in his thoughts for a while.

"What did you think, then?" roared Black. "What else has been done for Remie, for Heaven's sake? Wasn't even a rape enough for those bastards?" He got up on his feet, seemingly furious.

"Opara Collida is an ancient spell, Sirius. It is ancient and powerful, and very complicated." Dumbledore turned around to face him, and for once there was not the usual merry twinkle in his wise, blue eyes. "It's an impregnation spell."