remus lupin is finally at peace. (moonstricken) wrote in blurred_lines, @ 2009-07-29 23:26:00 |
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Bellatrix's delivery of Remus to the Rehabilitation Centre had not been a kind one; there were a few long, bloody marks over his chest, outnumbered by several silver burns over his body. He had been barely conscious when he’d been dumped onto the floor of the cell -- and it was an almost comforting and familiar place, now, for as soon as Remus recognized the smells and the room he remembered this was where he was supposed to have been all along -- and maybe that’s why he had been denied his rewards. Eventually, the pain had become too overwhelming, and he welcomed the release that came with the darkness when he closed his eyes and succumbed to unconsciousness again. He did not know when Bellatrix left, when Gaius arrived, or whether they had both been in the room together all along; only the sharp, bruising pain from the broken ribs on his sides, the burning of open wounds over his body, the lingering effects of the Crucuatis Curse... and then nothing. After all of Gaius' work, he had not been pleased to see the state that Remus was in when Bellatrix delivered him. It was almost impossible for him to tell what non-physical damage he'd received or how far back it would put them and it was all he could do to keep from lashing out himself once shock and worry had stepped aside enough for the anger to creep in. But he knew better -- there was work to be done and he needed to calm down, assess the situation and get to it. Kneeling next to Remus, he healed whatever he could, hoping that it would be enough to both keep him alive and allow him to regain consciousness. He was by no means a Healer and his work was dubious in effectiveness at best but it would have to do until some one more skilled could see to him. Once he was finished, he tried to shake him to wake him up, but when that failed, he resorted to cold water, splashed from the end of his wand onto Remus' face. "Wake up," he said, taking Remus' chin into his hand and leaning over him. "Damn it, Lupin. You had better not die." The cold water jolted him awake, and Remus coughed, trying to turn his head away from Gaius and pull away from him. Why? Why had someone woken him? He didn't want to be awake -- everything hurt and he didn't even know where he was, but he didn't expect anyone here to heal him. But... despite the ache, some of his injuries did seem to be slightly better. Maybe someone had helped him. Even so, he continued to push at Gaius and try to crawl away from him; even if someone did try to heal him, there was no guarantee that this person was the one who did it. He didn't have a wand, and he had no idea where he was actually trying to go other than away from this man. "Stop, stop..." And Remus was embarrassed to find himself pleading so soon. Gaius was almost startled by the man's reaction and recoiled a bit himself before it occurred to him that there was likely a reason for his fear, even beyond whatever had happened to him before he arrived. If that were the case, at least he was still conscious of some of the work that Gaius had done over the last several weeks. If he were going to try to repair whatever non-physical damage they'd done to him this evening, he would first need to take care of the physical. The more he looked at Remus, the harder it was for him not to cringe or at least feel a bit sorry for him -- his condition was even worse than he'd first thought and there was nothing that he'd be able to do on his own. Except -- pain potion. There was an abundance of that at the Rehabilitation Centre, sometimes for the patients and sometimes for Gaius to use for the headaches they induced. Either way, it might help Remus to calm down a bit. "Excuse me," he said, getting to his feet and leaving the room. He doubted that Remus would care whether or not he excused himself, but it was only polite. He was gone only for a few moments and when he reappeared, he had a phial of the potion in his hand. "Here," he said, holding the potion out where Remus could see it. "Drink this. It will not hurt you." Luckily, Remus had consumed enough pain potion over the past year to recognise that the potion was, indeed, something for the pain -- he reached for the phial and pulled it open, drinking the entire thing (pausing to sniff the liquid before tipping it back, just to make sure it wasn't poisoned). He still ached, but the potion dulled the pain enough so that it was not so razor sharp; he still seemed wary of Gaius, but he was no longer trying to shove him away. He had faint hope that maybe this was over, maybe they'd let him go, and Remus kept his mouth shut so as not to get himself into more trouble. Gaius waited until the potion was completely drained from its container before reaching to take it back from him -- he wasn't about to leave him with anything that could possibly be used as a weapon. Tucking the phial away into his pocket, he withdrew his wand in its stead, though he hesitated to raise it to some one who was already so obviously in pain. "You should have given him back. In the future, you will leave the Lestranges alone. You will go nowhere near them and you will do nothing to them." He finally leveled the wand at Remus -- if it had to be done, Gaius would do it. He had no choice. And with any luck, Remus would understand what was happening and make this simple. "Is that understood?" Remus flinched back at the sight of the wand pointing at him -- but when nothing happened, he relaxed slightly. He didn't want to stop, even after everything; it was their fault his wife was dead. How could he just let that go and walk away? "Don't -- they killed my wife, I can't --" and he stopped himself from speaking further, because he knew that wasn't the answer Gaius wanted to hear... but maybe he'd understand. And he did understand -- if he had been in Remus' position, he wouldn't have been anywhere near willing to let his wife's murderers get away with what they'd done. But his wife had been a terrorist and the Lestranges had done their cause a favor by killing her, though he generally liked to believe there were alternatives to murder. Either way, Remus had given the wrong answer, so Gaius took a deep breath and steadied his wand. "You will leave them alone from now on," he said. "Crucio." He began to scream as soon as the curse hit, and even that hurt; it was barely seconds before Remus gave in. He didn't know if it would even help -- maybe he would just keep punishing him even when he gave in and told Gaius the answer he wanted to hear -- but what other choice did he have? "Okay -- yes -- I understand, I'll leave them alone!" He was still screaming as he struggled to speak, and his cheeks were wet with both tears and the drying water Gaius had dumped on him earlier. With a sigh of relief, Gaius lifted the curse. Though it was getting easier to perform each time he did it, the day had been long and dark magic was nothing if not exhausting. He was glad that Remus seemed a bit more acquiescent with his injuries, as he had feared the opposite might be the case. "Good," he said with a nod. He realized the importance of the next step -- Remus had likely been tortured when he was with Bellatrix and Marius without any pause for reward and he imagined that must have been confusing for him, given the system he had been following at Gaius' hands. Now would be the time for reward, and so without any further hesitation, he raised his wand again. "Infinitus Gaudium." Remus was torn between sobbing with relief and outright laughing; and it was much easier to give in to the latter when all he could feel was euphoria. "Hahahahaha!" And once he started he couldn't seem to stop, only pausing to breathe, and he wasn't sure he ever, ever wanted to if only he could feel this joyous all the time. He turned to curl up on his side (and wincing from the pressure on the twisted bones in his arm), curling his good arm over his stomach -- and all the while he kept on laughing. When he finally broke the spell and dropped his hand back down to his side, Gaius was almost as out of breath as if he'd been laughing like Remus the whole time. Leaning forward, he put his hands on his knees and stared down at the werewolf. He was tired of this and even more tired of having to deal with his own peers' incompetence. The war that had seemed unavoidable and maybe even a bit exciting before was now just an all-consuming cycle of winning and losing and never having anything to show for either, at least nothing that came close to what Gaius wanted to have to show for it. He knew that things had to get worse before they got better, but he had tools the terrorists didn't have -- he had Remus. Leaning down closer to Remus, he did not bother wait for him to calm down before he fixed him with a stern look. "Now, you need to listen very carefully." He paused, waiting to make sure that he was, indeed, listening before leaning even a bit closer to deliver his instructions. He found himself nodding along to everything Gaius said, and while the laughing had subsided he was still smiling from the lingering effects of the spell -- aching pain was slowly replacing rapture as it began to wear off. Remus knew, however, that if he listened and did everything he was told he could feel happy again, and if he could have that, what else did he need? He craved it, and this was the only way to get it, even if that meant he had to agree to do things that made him hesitate and wonder, is this right?, but of course it was. The sooner he finished his tasks, the sooner he could come back for more. When Gaius finished, he stood up straight and surveyed the floor around them. Now that Remus had his next assignment and he was sure that it would be completed -- or as sure as he could have been, giving that his experience with this sort of brainwashing was based largely on trial and error, save what he'd read in the Lestrange Library -- Gaius could return him to wherever it was he needed to be. Or wherever some one would find him, since a quick glance around assured him that Remus' wand was nowhere in the vicinity. The only suitable place Gaius could think of was Remus' home, the location of which he knew thanks to Peter. "We will be going now," he said, reaching to take Remus' arm. Once he had a firm grip, the pair disapparated with a loud signature, and appeared in front of the Lupin home, outside of where Gaius was wary their wards would begin. Once there, he released Remus' arm and turned swiftly to him with his wand. He needed him to forget that he'd ever been at the Rehabilitation Centre -- that there had been anything in between when Marius apparated with him and when he arrived here. "Go home," he said once he finished. Remus was disappointed the meeting had ended so soon, and he had a difficult time restraining himself from asking for more of the reward; he knew what he had to do to get it. He looked up at his and Marlene's house -- no, it was only his house now -- after Gaius had finished altering his memories, and at the order to return home he slowly limped his way toward the door. He did not turn back to look when he heard Gaius apparate away, pushing himself to keep moving -- through the front door, which he did not bother to close, making his way to the bedroom (and glad that the house had only been one story; he was sure he wouldn't be able to climb stairs on his own in this condition) and leaving that door open, too. The bed did not look welcoming for all the terrible memories it now held, but he collapsed onto it nonetheless and tried not to think about Marlene as he let his eyes fall shut. |