The Five W’s
Remus was lying on the hospital bed with his feet stretched out and his head firmly on the pillow, staring straight up at the blank ceiling. He didn't have anything wrong with him, but Madam Pomfrey had suggested that he stay with Trickster, so he continued to lie in the hospital bed as his clothes itched his skin. The full moon was that very same night, and in a few hours he would have to make his way towards the shack. "Where the fuck is he?" Remus could hear James' voice booming from across the doorway, followed by heavy footsteps.
Remus quickly readjusted himself in the bed, trying to make his dried tears seem nonchalant and unobvious. The distant sounds of Madam Pomfrey trying to keep James at bay almost made Remus crack a smile, but before he could, the curtain swung open and all three of his friends walked in, concern etched across their faces. They all inspected Remus with their eyes, before Peter finally piped up. "Are you alright?" The boy squeaked, and Remus forced a smile.
"Yeah, I'm fine." His gaze lingered on the lump beneath the covers in the bed next to his. Sirius, upon noticing this, creeped over to where Remus was staring, and pulled back the sheets. Remus winced. There Trickster lay, his semi-lifeless body and shallow breathing clear for his mates to see. He had bandages wrapped around his scaly stomach, as Madam Pomfrey couldn't simply cure a dragon with her magic.
"What the fuck happened here?" Sirius demanded, and Remus let out a heavy sigh. All the attention in the room was turned back to him.
"Someone tried to," He swallowed his nerve before looking up from his shoes, his back still slumped over. His watery eyes met James', who seemed like the safest option for eye contact. "Someone tried to kill him," Remus finally mustered up the courage to say, and Peter let out a short gasp. Sirius looked enraged, in fact, he looked murderous. James only had pity in his distant eyes, clearly processing this information.
"So somebody in this school knows about the room of requirement, knows Trickster is in there, and wants this little guy dead?" James clarified, whilst gently caressing Trickster's now cold skin. Remus let out a small nod, and James quickly sat next to Remus on the bed, hugging him tightly.
"My money's on Snivellous," Sirius said abruptly, and everybody burst into laughter.
"You're betting?" Peter said between giggles, and Sirius threw a pillow (which was conveniently next to Remus) right at his face. "You tosser!" Peter screeched at the black haired boy, and he threw the pillow right back at him. Soon, James was feeling quite left out, so he leaped on top of Sirius, unfortunately dragging Remus with him. Peter slipped on James' leg, and soon they were all on top of each other, a bustling pile of laughter. The sudden mood change had been good for Remus, and when he met eyes with Sirius, he had realised that the boy had done this on purpose.
They sat with Trickster for the rest of the day, playing gobstones, exploding Snap and wizards chess before everybody (aside for Remus) were promptly kicked out for madam Pomfrey. "Come on, Remus will be staying the night but you lot have overstayed your welcome." She rushed them out, and Remus was quite impressed by her believable excuse. After they were definitely gone, she began leading Remus outside.
"That was a very smart excuse, miss," Remus said, his cheeks flushed with the embarrassment of giving a compliment. Madam Pomfrey gave a hearty laugh.
"Dear, call me Madam Pomfrey or Poppy, miss makes me sound a million years old." The slightly wrinkly woman joked. She sounded very enthusiastic and up beat knowing that Remus was on his way to tear himself apart, but the slight tint of remorse in her voice made him understand that she was just trying to make him happier. Perhaps that's exactly what he needed.
When they arrived at the whomping willow, Madam Pomfrey waved goodbye towards him whilst he began to wrap his shaking body in a blanket, and with one small nod, he could hear the trapdoor began to bind and spell shut. The locks and chains clanked from the outside, and although he knew it were magic, it felt quite unsafe to be bound by metal chains so close to his fragile skin. The burning sensation he felt whenever he touched metal was unmatched, except to his monthly pain of course, and he hated it with all his being.
When the moon was at it's highest point, the naked boy let out an ear piecing scream. It was utterly soul shattering, the feeling of his bones stretching and reconstructing his timid body. His heart would yearn to not be alone, to have some form of comfort during these unbearable transformations, but it was impossible. Perhaps it was his destiny. After all, the moon and the stars were far too different, and so, he was far too different for anybody to be near him. This was his final thought before the wolf took over, and how he had regretted that dearly.
The next morning, Remus woke up bleeding from a large cut in his shoulder, but other than that, he was just bruised. The place which was cut had already had a silver scar dashed across it, and now it would look more like a cross then a rough line. Magic wounds didn't heal, and so Remus' whole body was decorated with these jagged scars. Nobody could ever see them, of course, he made sure of that.
Madam Pomfrey came rushing in at her usual time, and escorted Remus back to the castle where she would heal him up there. "I'm honestly fine, um, Madam Pomfrey." Remus awkwardly insisted, and she tutted.
"Remus, honey, do I Look daft?" She said sternly, looking him dead in the eye. He promptly shook his head. "Then don't treat me as a fool, I know a sick patient when I see one and- oh!" She was cut off by the sight of Remus' friends stood at the door of the hospital wing. Sirius was on James' back, who was in return on Peter's. The three boys stood there, forming a human tower with their bodies, and Madam Pomfrey cleared her throat loudly, which made Peter dart his head around swiftly.
As a result, Sirius toppled over with a "woah!", James following closely. All the boys aside from Peter were soon on the floor, looking up at Remus with wide eyes. "Why aren't you in your hospital bed, Remmy?" Sirius pestered, Remus scoffed.
"Because." He sternly grunted, he really wasn't in the mood for this right now. Madam Pomfrey still hadn't healed him, and there was scarlet slime leaking from a cut in his shoulder as he spoke, threatening to leak through his clothes in an attempt to escape. "We went to the kitchens to get breakfast, 'cause I didn't feel well, and uh, I fell down the stairs." Remus made up quickly, adding on the last bit just incase they noticed his bleeding.
"Right, so if you don't mind, we must get past boys," Madam Pomfrey shot Remus a pleased smile as she cleared a path for him to get to the hospital wing. When Remus arrived at his bed, he was glad to see Trickster still there, breathing evenly. Safely. Remus tucked himself under the covers, and allowed for his mind to wonder. He clearly couldn't trust the room of requirement anymore, so he thought of solutions to himself before his process was rudely interrupted.
"But miss!" Remus had heard Peter whine from outside the classroom, followed by shouts of protest from both James and Sirius. She was obviously telling them that they couldn't visit, and as lovely as Madam Pomfrey was, there was no changing her mind when it came down to settling on a patients needs. Somebody cleared their throat next to Remus, and he turned his head to the side sharply. Dumbledore stood towering over him, a knowing look on his face and a twinkle in his eye. God, he hated that damned twinkle.
"Ah, Mr. Lupin, so glad to see you're feeling better," The old man said, confidently. Remus gave him a small smile, unsure of weather he should respond or not. "I'm sure you're aware that this dragon is no longer safe in the room of requirement." Dumbledore explained, and Remus had to bite his lip to refrain from telling Dumbledore that Trickster had a name. "I'm afraid that the matter is out of my hands, this young dragon must be shipped to Romania at the end of the year." Remus almost fainted then and there.
"Sir you can't!" He protested, he couldn't get through school without Trickster. Thoughts rushed through his mind, and he knew that he had to find a solution. Remus weighed the posibilities, perhaps Trickster could stay if he brought the bastard to justice. With newfound goals and courage, he stood up, but regretted it instantly. A sharp pain shot through his right shoulder, and he sat himself back down with a weighted sigh. "I'll find out who did this." He finally said, and Dumbledore nodded.
"I'm certain that you will." There were no lies or sarcasm in his voice, so Remus felt like he could trust him. The old man sighed and pulled himself off of the bed. "Now, you need your rest, especially after the previous night's events." He winked at Remus and turned around before the werewolf could answer. Remus blinked, the headmaster had vanished.
Remus wasn't the slightest bit dishearted from that conversation, I mean, he was upset that Trickster had to leave, but if anything, it only motivated him more to solve this case. He pulled a blank piece of parchment from his pocket, and scribbled with his messy handwriting, Suspects. He hadn't any idea on how somebody would discover Trickster, without an invisibility cloak, that is. Because of this, he was tempted to write down James, but dismissed the idea immediately. He could never, but perhaps somebody who has access to their dorm or the cloak in general could of.
Suspects
-Sirius Black (not a likely suspect, but did have access to the dorm)
-Peter Pettigrew (wouldn't directly harm trickster, but could've gone to visit him and accidentally done something)
-Frank Longbottom (a prefect whom has access who every dormitory)
-Severus Snape (couldn't have access to the dormitory so perhaps he merely stumbled upon the room)
-Albus Dumbledore (clearly knew about Trickster and acted awfully suspicious)
Remus put a concealing charm on the piece of parchment, learning from last time's mistakes, to ensure that nobody could read it. He slipped on his battered up, knock off trainers and began speed walking out of the infirmary and through the crowded hallways towards the Room of Requirement. If he recalled correctly, he should've been in charms at that time, but that wasn't essentially his main concern. Remus was more worried about being potentially caught or raising the suspicion of fellow students.
He cut through the crowds as if he were an assassin cutting through the lives of bustling youth. Nobody in that hallway knew his sense of urgency, nobody knew why he was panting like a dog, nobody knew why there were tears trickling down his rosy cheeks. Despite all of this, he continued to break through the crowd in an attempt to reach his goal; the crime scene.
After what seemed to be decades, he had reached the room of requirement, it had a protective charm cast upon it which Remus had read once before from a library book. He had assumed that Professor Flitwick had cast it, seeing as he was the charms teacher. Because of this, he knew just how to get past. Professor Flitwick had once complained to Lily (who was sat next to him) about how his wand was slightly faulty, and that often in large scale charms there would be slight gaps and abnormalities hidden in them.
Knowing this, Remus closed his eyes and placed the palms of his hands flat onto the invisible dome of magical energy. He trailed his hands along the force which blocked his path towards the truth of what really happened that fateful morning with his dragon. Finally, his hands faltered slightly upon the left side of the spell - signifying that was it's weak spot. He withdrew his wand, and pointed it directly at the dome. He whispered a spell under his breath, "Bombarda maxima." The area which had seemed weaker shattered underneath his spells weight. All that practice had come to good use after all.
Remus strolled carelessly into the room of requirement, which was now filled with overwhelming amounts of wild magic. As a werewolf, his senses were already heightened, but the day after a full moon to be exposed to this much magic was simply too cruel. Resisting the urge to throw up onto the bloodied ground, he bent over and began inspecting the scene which had unfolded merely hours earlier.
The crimson stains drooped from every surface, the lingering scent of dried blood filling his nostrils and intoxicating his mind. He shook away the tempting thoughts and continued his investigation. He noticed the fact that there was shreds of parchment on the floor which was once where Trickster had played with Remus. There was now a bloodied scale at the spot which he had first met Trickster, and Remus choked back a sob. This once lively and playful dragon was now nothing more than a lump underneath the fluffy covers which lay upon the hospital beds.
Remus inspected every inch of that room, seemingly coming up with nothing. He had thoroughly searched every crack in the floorboards, every crevice and surface - yet nothing. That's when it struck him; the attacker had to know that he wouldn't get away with this, meaning they would have to clean the evidence. Luckily for Remus, he knew that the only way they would be able to clean it in such short notice was if they used a spell, and every wand had a tracing from the ministry on it.
This meant that unless the attacker was over seventeen, then the ministry would know exactly who had done this to Trickster. Unfortunately, a young, half-blooded orphan like him would never be able to get access to high-security ministry files. On this note, he powerfully burst out of the room, and strolled over to Professor Flitwick's classroom, speed walking through the narrow corridors and avoiding Peeves multiple times.
He heaved the door open, and all heads turned towards him. "Ah, Mr. Lupin!" The short Professor greeted him, a wide smile across his face. He had a wand in one hand and was using hand gestures with the other. Remus ignored him and limped towards a certain group of students until he was directly in front of James.
"Woah mate, are you alright?" James asked, concern etched across his face. Remus scoffed and didn't dignify this obvious question with a response. Instead, he cast a silencing bubble around his friends, excluding Lily, and ignored all of the judgemental stares which his classmates were giving him.
Remus exhaled, catching his breath and made direct eye contact with James who was in front of him. He gathered his thoughts quickly and attempted to tune out the yelps of concern which Peter was screeching at him, along with the death glares which Sirius was giving to Peter. The black haired boy was clearly repressing the urge to hex the chubby boy, and Remus quite frankly respected that. Dismissing this, he returned to the meaning for his elaborate escape of the hospital wing and plot to avenge a very much alive Trickster. He finally finished this rush of adrenaline which caused all these observations, and got directly to the point.
"We have to break into the ministry."