The Heart of Night

Heart of the Night

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Heal Yourself

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1 Night

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Severus awoke slowly. Blinking a couple of times, he carefully examined himself, trying to find out the whole extent of his injuries.

The pain was away. Instead of it, there was a numbness that horrified him even more. He looked at himself, carefully feeling every part of his body. There should have been some injuries in his body after the last night. If nothing else, then at least the cut he had received in his hand when chopping some potion ingredients earlier that day.

But there was nothing. No wounds, no bruises, no cuts - not even the slightest scratches were there to be found. The only marks in his body were the pain-causing teeth marks in his left arm. Everything other seemed to have vanished.

With a shudder he remembered something that made him feel a big lump in his throat. A year ago, in the Order Headquarters, he had overheard a conversation between Kingsley and Lupin.

~*~

"Are you sure you're doing well? I heard you had hurt yourself," Kingsley's clear, deep voice came through the door to Severus's ears.

"I'm fine, believe me," Lupin's tired but smiling voice replied. "I don't have a scratch in my skin at least. Werewolves heal fast, you know."

~*~

Just as he'd come to the horrifying realization as of what this meant, the body next to his stirred slightly. Glancing towards it, Severus saw Lupin, lying naked on his side on the cold stone floor. A quick glance around made him able to point a folded robe on the floor near them - it had obviously been left there for them. Deciding that there wasn't for once any reason to be too wary - after all, how could their situation have got any worse than it already was? - Severus took the robe, covering Lupin's trembling, badly scarred body with it.

A moment later, Lupin's eyes opened. Noticing his nakedness, Lupin quickly sat up, took the robe Severus had covered him with and dressed himself. Then, wiping a couple of bloodied locks of hair behind his ear, he looked at the Potions Master, then dropped his eyes down to his lap.

"I'm sorry, Severus," Lupin whispered. "I'm sorry... I wish I was dead."

"Don't talk like that," he replied, his voice raspy. "It wasn't your fault. You were without your Wolfsbane, and under Imperiatus. Not even the Ministry fools can accuse you of anything."

"Believe me," Lupin snorted, "they can always find ways to blame someone. Especially if there's a werewolf involved." The other man hugged himself, obviously seeking some comfort.

"Then they're going to blame me," Severus said. "It was my own fault, and mine only. If Voldemort hadn't found me untrustable, they wouldn't have caught you. Your pain was also my fault." He shook his head, very slowly. "I'm sorry you had to go through this for me." He started to get up on shaky feet and offered a hand to pull Lupin up. He accepted it, getting on his feet as well.

"Don't say you forgive me until you've experienced a full moon," Lupin said dryly. "I highly doubt you'll be as understanding after that."

"It wasn't your fault," Severus said, hanging firmly on his word. He wasn't maybe a bloody Gryffindor, but Slytherins had some pride, too. "But now we have to get out of here." He looked around him, and his eye caught something unbelievable. "Is that - is that my wand?" he asked breathlessly. "And that one next to it - is that yours?"

"It seems so," Lupin said very slowly, staring at the two wands on the table in disbelief. "But it's most probably some kind of a trap. I mean, why would they ever let us go?"

"To increase the pain," Severus said, even more horrified by the evilness of Voldemort than he'd been before that. "There's no point keeping us here, if they can loose us free so everyone can be informed of this. You know at least Albus is going to be very upset, if no one else - and this will drag their moods down a great deal. And what would be the point of turning me, if they killed me without letting me suffer of it?"

"But why'd they let me loose as well?" Lupin asked, taking a careful step towards the table. "Why not just kill me? I've fulfilled my purpose. They made me bite you. Why even leave me alive, let alone giving back my wand?"

"As I said already - to increase the pain." Severus took his wand from the table. There were no consequences. He had been right. "They want you to drive yourself mad with guilt. You're already blaming yourself. No one of your friends wants you do that. What effect do you think this is going to have on Potter?"

"Oh." Lupin swallowed, then took his own wand. "Shall we go, then?" he suggested tiredly.

"I think so." Severus shuddered. He felt suddenly very sick. "I assume you know the Apparation point. Albus promised to keep it open."

"Of course." With these words, Lupin was away. Severus waited for only a moment before Disapparating from the cell.

*

Albus Dumbledore sat beside the Apparation point of Hogwarts. He had been waiting for a long time, ever since Severus had left for the Death Eater meeting.

He was deeply concerned. Severus should have returned a long time ago. What if something had happened to the Potions Master?

Suddenly he was surprised by a person forming at the little point in the middle of the room, where Apparating was possible as he had temporarily lifted the wards. He was even more surprised as the person stumbling off from the little elevation wasn't Severus.

"Remus?" he asked, very surprised. He glanced up and down the werewolf, noticing his sickly appearance - even more so than usually - and slightly shaking hands. "What on earth -" Then another person appeared in front of him, and he gasped again. "Severus? What has been done to you, my boy?"

"He's found out," Severus replied briefly. He seemed to have a bit of difficulty with breathing, and he flinched away as Albus tried to grasp his arm. The older man took off his hand, highly concerned.

"Found out? That you're a spy?" he asked in horror. Severus merely nodded, his eyes locked on the floor. "But - how you're still alive, then?" It wasn't a sign of disrespect or doubts about Severus's powers. It was only a simple fact. Mess with Voldemort, get caught, die - if you're not Harry Potter.

"He had another idea of punishment," Remus replied for Severus, with a very quiet voice. "He - he had me, and -" The brunet lowered his gaze down at the floor as well, tears rolling down his cheeks. "I bit him, Albus! I bit him!"

"It wasn't your fault!" Severus growled, raising his gaze in an instant. Albus saw genuine anger in the beetle-black eyes. "It bloody well wasn't your fault! You were under Imperiatus, for Merlin's sake! You were a victim as well as I was!"

"My fault," Remus said stubbornly, shaking his head. "My fault."

"Did I understand right?" Albus asked, feeling suddenly even more horrified than before. Tom Riddle had yet again shown his pure evilness. "Did Remus bite you in his wolf form, Severus?"

"Look yourself," Severus said dryly, rolling up his left sleeve. There, right above the Dark Mark, were clear marks of sharp teeth. Wolf teeth, to be exact. He heard a quiet whimper from Remus. His poor boy. His poor boys, both of them. Hadn't they both suffered enough already?

"Go to see Poppy," he ordered immediately. "Both of you. I'll contact the Ministry."

"Oh, fabulous," Remus sighed. "I'm really looking forward to the Azkaban."

"You won't be put in Azkaban, Remus," Albus said firmly. "You can't be accused of anything you've committed under Imperiatus. You aren't guilty of anything."

"He isn't," verified Severus. Then he began to make his way to the Infirmary, his steps careful and uncertain, seemingly shaking. Remus joined him, and they took each other's arm, placing their former grudges aside while seeking some support.

Albus sighed deeply and shook his head. Lord Voldemort had really deserved anything that was coming to him.