Remus Lupin II
He arrived just outside the magical hospital. He had last been here to greet the same child he now held, into the world. He hurried inside; a single witch sat behind the reception.
"I need help, he needs help. It's bad" Remus said, almost growling out the last words. The witch’s eyes widened when she understood that it was the child that needed medical assistance. She nodded and gestured for Remus to follow her. They quickly made their way through the hallway before walking into a room with a bed. She said something that Remus couldn't decipher. He had a hard time breathing.
"Sir, I will need you to put the child down onto the bed" This was said the same moment that a man stepped into the room, he was an older wizard with greying hair adorning his temples. Remus put Harry down on the bed reluctantly, he never wanted to let him go again.
The boy was still quiet with big, frightened eyes and hunched shoulders. The sight of his emancipated cheeks and bloody clothes was shocking, Remus hadn't gotten such a close look earlier. He could hear two gasps, he knew that the sight of Harry was horrifying.
"What is the meaning of this?" The older wizard questioned, he looked pointedly at Remus as if to ask if it was him who was responsible. "I was just supposed to check on him, to make sure that he was well cared for. I didn't know, I - I didn't think-" Remus stumbled over his words, feeling the despair of what had happened James’s son settle in.
"We will need to contact the aurors, nurse Willis, could you?" The witch nodded frantically and left the room with a last lingering look thrown at the abused toddler. The man walked towards the child who whimpered at the approaching man. Remus could see the man faltering at the reaction. The wizard waved his wand and mumbled some words Remus didn't recognise. Harry closed his eyes sleepily and the wizard caught the boy's crumpling body.
"What did you do?" Remus asked desperately. "I used an old napping spell, I believe it would be best to let the boy sleep through this" Remus nodded at the man's words. The wizard conjured a parchment and started to move his wand in quite complicated movements that must have taken many years to perfect.
"I am healer Gerard Greengrass, do you know of the boy's medical history, age, name and for how long... this could have been going on?"
"He's seventeen months’ old, none known allergies or the like that I know off. He's been in the -care- of these people for about two months. His name-" Remus faltered a little "His name is Harry James Potter"
Healer Greengrass drew a breath and stopped his movements for a second before continuing diligently. "And you are?" The healer asked.
"My name is Remus Lupin. I was in the same year as Harry's parents. I was a close friend of his father"
The healer nodded curtly. Remus watched as the healer stopped waving his wand and studied the parchment with a grim face, he turned towards Remus and sighed. "I will be back in a moment, take a seat and try to breath before I will be forced to treat you too" the healer said before exiting the room.
The werewolf took a deep breath and walked over to the chair in the corner, he dragged it to the bed before sitting down. He let himself study the young boy on the bed. Remus hadn't seen him since he turned one and he looked to be smaller despite being months older. His skin was sickly pale, not at all like the sun kissed one of his fathers. Lily had always had alabaster skin but hers had looked healthy. Remus knew that Harry had inherited quite the blend of his parent's skin colours so seeing it so unlike the both of theirs felt sick. He didn't know how this would play out now, he knew that no one would grant him custody as soon as they learned of his curse and the fact that he went against Dumbledore by visiting Harry and then bringing him here, made it sure that he couldn't expect his lycanthropy to stay under wraps. He wasn't stupid. He knew that the headmaster would try painting him in a bad light to try to take the attention from the fact that Harry was put with abusive guardians.
The worst thing was that Remus felt that the headmaster's intentions wasn't integer. He had tried too hard to keep Remus from Harry and it Albus Dumbledore wasn't a fool, he would have checked up on Harry if he cared for the boy’s wellbeing.
The door suddenly opened, and the healer re-entered with two other men, aurors. The healer quickly made his way to Harry with a basket with salves and potions. Remus ignored the aurors and watched the healer undress Harry. The sight made Remus feel another bout of sickness. He could feel the unrest in the room, its occupants having a hard time controlling their magic. The healer worked in silence while Remus and the aurors watched. It seemed that the sight of Harry surprised the aurors. And Remus could understand that. If it was one thing that wizards and witches had in common, then it was their adoration for children. Any magical child was seen as a blessing and abuse was rarely seen. But then it wasn't impossible to find parents mistreating their children. Sirius was a clear example of that, he wasn't beaten but his mother's relentless hatred was without a doubt, abusive.
It took the healer ten minutes to clean Harry's wounds and covering them in salves. "I will have to wait with giving him the potions, he needs to rest for now" The healer said while dressing the Harry in a white dress of some sort.
One of the aurors cleared their throat.
"I am auror Robards and this is auror Nielsen, we've been informed of your name and - the boy's name. We need you to tell us everything, everything you know of the boy's placement to how you found him and why you looked for him" The auror with dark hair spoke, auror Robards, Remus could see the fire in his eyes as he demanded answers. Remus straightened his back, he couldn’t let Dumbledore take control of Harry ever again. Even if that meant telling them everything. Absolutely everything.
"After James and Lily were murdered I went to Albus Dumbledore to request a meeting with Harry, he denied me while insisting that it would be unsafe because of my predicament. I'm a werewolf you see. I had almost relented when I felt a probe from a compulsion, I am very in tune with my magic and managed to fight it off, just barely. The old man wanted me to stay away - badly. I decided to check on Harry. I concluded that he must have been hidden in the muggle word, I figured that he could have been placed with Lily's sister. I found out where she lived and - made a visit. I could smell blood in the house and found Harry in the cupboard under the stairs. I could feel that he was hurt and apparated straight to St. Mungo’s" The words tumbled out, he let his eyes stay on Harry during his speech. It was for his cub that he had just admitted his greatest secret, he had just told ministry employees that he was a werewolf. Which meant no more hiding but also that Dumbledore could no longer control him.
The aurors watched him with a rather dumbfounded expression, it was the healer’s cough that seemed to wake them from their stupor.
“You’re saying that Albus Dumbledore put the boy-who-lived with abusive muggles?”
Remus closed his eyes.
“Yes, I don’t know how much he knew but he was adamant that Harry was safe and sound. That he himself put him under powerful wards with people who would care for him. There were no wards at the house and as you can see – he wasn’t cared for”
Auror Robards nodded grimly “We will need to take this higher up and I think that it would be alright for you to stay here with Mr. Potter for now”
Remus sighed and let his hand reach forward to gently caress Harry’s raven locks. They were just as unruly as James own. The aurors left the room while the healer stayed, Remus didn’t know what he was doing nor did he particularly care.
“What you did there was quite brave”
Remus whipped his head up at the man’s words, Healer Greengrass gave him a gentle smile before furthering explaining.
“You’re going against a powerful man all while admitting to having lycanthropy, that’s not a small feat”
Remus snorted. “I’m not brave, I – I just told the truth and I would do much more if it would keep him safe”
The healer shook his head and smiled knowingly at Remus. “I will leave you two alone now, try to have some rest. You look exhausted”
Remus nodded and took Harry’s hand in his own. His cub would be alright, safe.