Hope

~The Snake I Once Knew~

He brushed a gray lock out of his eyes, looking into the mirror. What must she think of him? Of course, she was just as disheveled as he knew he was, but he was sure she had different, likely better, reasons. She'd gone into the loo to change into the spare robes he'd given her. They wouldn't be in any better shape than his own, but at least they wouldn't have blood spatters. Those had been the most unnerving thing about her appearance.

What had happened to Meg since they'd last seen each other? Her eyes had looked dull, almost lifeless until she'd seen him, and even then they'd had a distinctly haunted look to them. He'd never really given thought to where she'd be, what she'd be doing with her life, but he would never had expected it to involve her own or others' danger. Well, he thought it was someone else's blood anyways, so that gave him a bit more peace of mind. After all, Meg was his friend, and he'd hate for her to end up dead.

His work with the Order had kept him quite busy, although now that was over. They'd rounded up just about all the Death Eaters they could conceivably convict, and now they were having to settle for the idea of letting the more prominent ones, Lucius Malfoy for one, get away with it.

The thought sent a chill down his spine, not just because murderers were going free, but also because it had spurred on another thought. What if Meg were on the run from the Ministry? There'd been rumours that she was a Death Eater way back when they were in school together. He'd always discredited them, because she was such a nice girl as far as he could tell, but then again he'd never expect Sirius of all people to betray James and Lily.

He heard the shower stop and realized that he hadn't even noticed it starting. Obviously the woman had decided that 'making herself presentable' included washing up. She came out a moment later, her usually out-of-control locks calmed considerably by the amounts of water still saturating them. Her eyes, however, were not helped by the water at all. They were made to look even larger by the way her eyelashes were plastered open, and she looked rather like a drowning rat. But still beautiful, in a way.

Remus blushed slightly at the thought. Beautiful? Not physically maybe. He could admit that to himself, and would, because he valued honesty so highly, but something about her had always intrigued him. Beneath all the pain and bitterness, there was a peaceful beauty about her. Flushing, he realized he had been staring at her. More specifically, though, he had been staring at her shoulders, now bare because the towel around her middle didn't happen to have sleeves. Long scars crisscrossed them, one large puckered scar looked quite nasty, and he was afraid that it also seemed to be slightly more recent.

What -had- she been up to these past few years?

"I..." she began, her eyes finally meeting his. He could see the pain in them, "I'm...a murderer." Tears fell from her eyes, and the man stared at her in shock for a moment, unable to decide whether or not she meant the words exactly as she had said them, or if she were speaking in a more metaphorical sense.

She must have misunderstood it, because she backed away, clutching his spare robes to her chest,

"I...I had to tell you. While I could. I know I would've lost my courage...I kill for the ministry. The blood on my robes...that was from a werewolf I had to destroy two weeks ago. He'd gone mad and attacked an entire village one-by-one..."

The tears were spilling freely down her cheeks now, and he still couldn't bring himself to move. She'd killed a -werewolf-? What would she do if she knew? Would she have killed him? But no, she said it had been because he'd gone mad. Perhaps, then...but it didn't matter. She didn't know and he wasn't about to tell her.

Moving with surprising swiftness, considering his shock, he grabbed her, hugging her tightly,

"Shhh..." he said softly. He couldn't stand to see a woman cry. Hadn't ever been able to, and besides, he liked Meg. It was breaking his heart to see her cry over something that really, it seemed to him, wasn't that bad.

"Shh...it's all right." He'd make it all right. They'd both been through too much to have to deal with anymore. True, he himself was still suffering, not many people would have anything to do with him once they found out he was a werewolf, and it was very difficult to hide that fact...but he didn't care about himself. He just wanted to make things better for her.