Chapter 15

Remus finally realized that no one was giving him chase. He also realized he was quite alone. Using the Seeker Spell, he once again began looking for Wendy. When he noticed the air was getting particularly cold, he stretched out with his enhanced senses and confirmed the presence of a dementor. He ran blindly towards the dementor, fearing the worst. Once he saw it, he forced control of his emotions and summoned his Patronus to drive the dementor away.

He started to lose hope when he saw Wendy lying prone on the ground. Reaching down to touch her, he was relieved to find that she was alive and apparently untouched by the dementor, but she was injured. "Wendy? Can you hear me?" he asked.

She moaned softly, but was not coherent. Seeing her wand lying on the ground, he picked it up and pulled her locket out of dress. He placed her hand on the locket and held it there with his. He hoped that her Portkey was keyed for her wand and her touch, and that it would make no difference that he was the one casting the spell. "Portus," he said, and thankfully felt the tug of Portkey activation.

Once they landed in her foyer, he called for Cappa. "Get the aid kit, hot water and towels." He watched the elf vanish and carried her upstairs. Once he set her down on the bed, he began undressing her so he could assess her wounds. She was bleeding from several gashes on her arms and legs and had a rather severe burn on her back.

With Cappa's help, he washed off most of the blood. He was surprised when Cappa began pulling bottles out of the aid kit and applying ointments. "You've done this before, haven't you?"

"Yes, Master Remus. Mistress often has me tend her wounds."

As he watched Cappa tend her wounds, he couldn't help but notice that her breathing was still shallow. Once Cappa was done, he asked, "Do you have any chocolate?"

"Chocolate? Cappa can get chocolate."

"Then do so. She was attacked by a dementor."

Cappa squeaked before disappearing with a pop.

Remus sat on the edge of the bed and held Wendy's hand. She was still very cold and she looked pale and weak. With a small wave of his wand, he cast a warming charm on her. He didn't think she was suffering from hypothermia, but the effects of a dementor could be quite shocking.

After five minutes, Cappa returned. "Master Remus, I has your chocolate, sir," she said as she held out a chocolate bar.

"Thank you," he said as he took it and placed it on the bedside table. He watched Cappa gather up the clothing on the floor and disappeared.

Since she didn't seem to be improving, he examined her wounds again. None of the cuts appeared serious and were reacting as expected to the healing ointment, but he noticed the burn on her back was not getting better. It was approximately the size of a saucer and was blistering. He wished he had some level of competency with healing spells, but that had never been one of his strong suits. He also noticed that her left arm was swelling and quite probably broken. Her injuries were well beyond his capability to heal and appeared to be beyond the capability of her aid kit.

As much as he hated to wake her, he needed to take her to St. Mungo's. He carefully rolled her over and sat her up, trying to keep the burn from making contact with anything. Slowly, he dripped the Reviving Potion into her mouth. She started moaning as she regained consciousness.

"I know it hurts," Remus said gently. "You were seriously wounded and I need to get you to St. Mungo's. You don't have what's needed to treat your injuries."

She grabbed at his chest with her right arm after realizing something was wrong with her left, "No. You can't do that. Healer. Friend. Clarice Matthews." She was panting with the effort of controlling the pain that was now shooting through her left arm after she had attempted to move it. "On desk. Go."

He understood. "I will go to Clarice's and bring her here, but you will defer to her recommendation." He supported her with one hand and reached for the chocolate with the other. "Before I go, you were attacked by a dementor. Do you think you can eat some of this?" He broke a square off and handed it to her.

Her hand was shaking as she reached for the chocolate. Biting it in half she slowly chewed, feeling minor relief from some of her discomfort.

He stayed with her until she had eaten two squares. "I'll send Cappa up to feed you more. If you can, I'd like you to eat the whole bar."

"I'll try," she replied weakly.

He looked at her sadly, hoping she wouldn't take a turn for the worse in his absence. He kissed her cheek softly. "I love you. I'll return as soon as I can." He had felt the need to tell her. Her injuries were severe and he had no idea if he would get the chance to say it again. He paused at the door to take one last look at her before hurrying downstairs.

Thankfully, her address book was easy to find. Once he found Clarice Matthews address, he consulted a map. He was unfamiliar with the area she lived, so he had no idea if there were a lot of Muggles in the area or not. He only hoped that she was not working the night shift.

When he arrived, he noticed it wasn't the best neighborhood, but it was late enough that it was deserted. With a quick wave of his wand, he unlocked the outer door to her building and proceeded to her apartment. He knocked firmly on the door and waited for a response. When he didn't receive one, he began banging on the door harder. He wanted to give her a chance to answer the door before he Apparated inside.

One of the upstairs neighbors shouted down at him, "If you don't stop that banging, I'll call the cops."

Since he didn't need that sort of attention, he Apparated inside and startled a witch, who was just shuffling out of the bedroom and still tying her bathrobe around her waist. "Accio wand!" she cried out.

He raised his hands to show that he had not drawn his wand. "Please, I'm not here to hurt you. I've come on behalf of Wendy Westin. She was seriously injured, but doesn't want to go St. Mungo's."

"How seriously?" Clarice asked as she started digging through a cabinet.

"She was hit with a spell that left a blistering burn on her back, I don't know what spell it was. I think her arm is broken, too. Her pulse and breathing are both very shallow and a dementor attacked her. I gave her some chocolate for that."

Clarice spun around. "You gave her chocolate?"

He didn't think he had done anything wrong. "Yes. That is the standard treatment for a dementor attack."

She took on a lecturing tone, "When there are no other injuries, yes. Giving someone with serious injuries food or drink can be fatal." She finished putting potions in a traveling case. "Give me a moment and we can leave." She went back into the bedroom.

Remus spoke loud enough for her to hear him through the door and said, "I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself. I'm Remus Lupin."

"That's quite all right. This isn't the first time someone's come here late at night, though I do have to say, you don't fit the Auror mold."

"I'm not an Auror. I'm... a friend of hers." He stopped talking when Clarice emerged. "I assume you know where she lives?"

Clarice nodded. "I'll meet you there."

Clarice rushed to Wendy's bedside and looked at the wound her back. She then cast a diagnostic spell. "She really should be in St. Mungo's where the medical staff can look after her."

"Can you help her?" He would have preferred to see her in St. Mungo's as well, but Wendy had been correct that her injuries would draw the wrong sort of attention.

Clarice began pulling potions out of bag. "I can. But someone will have to stay with her. Now, if you will excuse me, I prefer to work in private." She began casting spells as Remus slowly walked out of the room. He closed his eyes and collapsed against the closed door. He knew he should have tried to talk her out of that spur of the moment mission north to try to find the escaped prisoners, but she had made it sound like such a good idea and one that had to be acted on immediately.

He went downstairs to the library, but found that he was only staring at the book in his hands and not actually reading it. His thoughts kept drifting to Wendy and he hoped that she would recover. He massaged his temples and looked at the clock. Clarice had been with her almost an hour and there was still no report. He thought about going upstairs to check, when Clarice joined him in the library. He leapt to his feet. "How is she?"

"She's going to make it. Her arm and ribs have been healed and, as you saw, the cuts and scrapes are healing. She suffered some severe internal injuries, but I think I've been able to stop all the bleeding and repair all the damage. I've given her some Blood-Replenishing Potion to help with the blood loss. I'm not sure what spell caused that burn, I suspect some rather nasty Dark Magic, but I've done what I can for it. I've left an ointment on the bedside table and her dressing will need to be changed twice a day.

"She's in a drug induced sleep for the next ten hours or so to give her body time to recover. I imagine she'll be quite hungry when she wakes. After two or three days, she should be well enough for work. Let her know I'll send an owl to the Ministry informing her boss she's ill and will be away from work from a few days. I'm used to writing these sorts of letters so it shouldn't attract too much attention.

"I assume you can keep an eye on her?" she asked.

"Yes, I'll stay with her." He was relieved that Clarice had said she would recover. He had been so worried that he would lose her.

"Good. Send the house-elf to me if you need any more help. I'll stop by after my shift this evening to check on her."

Remus watched her leave before ascending the stairs. The door to the bedroom was cracked, and he slowly pushed it open. She was lying on her stomach, asleep, with her face turned away from the door. He moved to the far side of the bed and lit the lamp on the side table so he could look at her. Most of her color had returned, but he still thought she looked weak. At least her breathing was strong and steady.

He leaned over and hooked her hair behind her ear. "I will take care of you," he whispered, before gently kissing her cheek. Not wanting to jostle her too much, he got up from the bed and moved to sit on the divan where he could watch her.

Wendy at first became aware of light. She tried to open her eyes and see if it was her imagination, but they didn't want to open. She tried to listen to see if that would give her clues as to where she was, but she couldn't hear any telltale noises. Searching her memory, she tried to determine where she might be. I was in the woods with Remus. What were we doing and what woods? Oh, we were after the Death Eaters and the escapees. What happened then? I think they found us. I remember running and pain, and then what? She tried to remember what else had happened. One of them must have hit me with a spell. Am I their prisoner? She noticed that she seemed to be sleeping on a bed. That meant she probably wasn't a prisoner.

Once again, she tried to open her eyes. She thought they were opening, the room seemed lighter, but she still couldn't really see anything, it was very blurry. When she tried to get up, she fell back to the bed from the searing pain.

"Relax, you're safe. Clarice came by to help you last night. You need to rest," said a calm, reassuring voice.

"Remus?" She needed some confirmation that she wasn't imaging him.

He knelt next to the bed and took her hand in his. "I'm here. Can I get you anything?"

Her vision was starting to clear. "What time is it?"

"Nearly two."

"Two? I've missed work." She tried to get up again.

Remus pressed her gently back onto the bed. "Clarice took care of it. She's written a letter letting them know you won't be at work for a few days. Can I get you anything?"

"You stayed with me?" she asked as she smiled at him.

He brushed her hair out of her face. He wondered how much she remembered from last night? Did she remember him admitting his feelings for her? "Of course I did. Are you hungry?"

"Now that you mention it, I am getting a little hungry." She had found a semi-comfortable position on her side.

"I'll let Cappa know to send something up. I'll be right back." He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before leaving the room.

While they ate, he told her what he knew from the events of the previous night.

"So there was a dementor, huh?" she asked, once he finished.

"I was surprised you couldn't defeat it yourself." He knew that she was magically strong enough to conjure a Patronus. "You seemed to have done a good job against our other attackers. Though, Clarice has no idea what caused the burn on your back, and neither do I."

His recount of the previous night's events had brought back some of her memory, but most of it was still fuzzy. "I don't remember what spell it was. I wasn't paying that much attention to what was being hurled at me. As for the dementor, I've never had much luck conjuring a Patronus. I guess there hasn't been enough happiness in my life," she replied sadly and quickly changed the subject. "Thank you for bringing me home."

"I couldn't leave you there. You know, that was a foolish idea," he said playfully. She didn't seem to recall what he had told her last night. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.

She laughed softly. "It sure looks that way now. If it had succeeded, it would have been pure genius. I'm not sure if they'll stay there or not. Probably not." In her haste, she had ruined an excellent chance to strike a blow to the Dark Lord.

"Do you think any of them got a look at you?" He knew that most of the escapees were the aristocrats she had grown up with and could probably identify her.

She shook her head. "No. Though that might not matter. I'm not sure, but I think that was Bella attacking us. She may recognize some of my spellwork."

"Do you think that likely?" He was very concerned about her safety.

"I don't know. I know we weren't the only ones playing around with that sort of magic and it's been a long time. I hope not."

"If she did and tells Malfoy..." Just the thought of Malfoy caused a bitter taste in his mouth.

She sighed, knowing how much she had hurt him. "I know. I'll be careful around him. He knows I'm an Auror and he's been very careful not to tell me anything that would give him away. I think I'll be all right. Now, if you don't mind, I think I'll get some more rest." She shifted and tried to get comfortable.

"Not until I've changed your bandage," he insisted.

She rolled onto her stomach. "Have at it." She felt him peel the bandage off her back. When he didn't immediately do anything more than that, she asked. "How does it look?"

He rubbed his upper lip. "It's, er..."

"Remus?" She was really getting concerned.

"It looks bad. Clarice said she would return this evening to check on you. Are you sure you can't remember what hit you?" he asked, as he put the ointment on her back.

She flinched as he touched the wound. "No. It was all happening so fast. I can't remember what I dodged and deflected and what I didn't. So it's not getting any better, but is it getting any worse?"

"It doesn't seem to be getting worse, but I still don't like the looks of it." Once he finished dressing the wound, he tucked her in. "Now, get some rest. I'll be right here if you need anything."

"Does the Order know?" she asked.

"I sent Cappa over to Tonks' place early this morning, and she said she would let them know. I don't want you to worry about that, I want you to worry about getting better." He kissed her cheek.

When he tried to pull away, she grasped his arm. "Remus, I'm glad you're here. I've missed you."

He smiled sadly at her. "I know. I'll be downstairs for a little while." He wasn't sure if she heard him as she was already drifting off to sleep.

Remus stared out the library window. He held his hand up and saw that the shaking had finally stopped. When he had seen her lying unconscious on the ground, a sense of dread had filled him. Now, he was relieved that it looked like she was going to recover. He had almost lost her without forgiving her.

Once she was feeling better, he would talk to her about Malfoy again. Perhaps now she would realize it was a bad idea. Of course, knowing her, she would insist that having made one breakthrough, it made sense to pursue further breakthroughs.

He didn't notice the passage of time until the doorbell rang. The sun was setting and the room was in shadows. Quietly, he crept to the doorway to see who was at the door, afraid it might be Malfoy. He was relieved to see that it was Clarice. He stepped out of the library. "Clarice, I'm glad to see you."

"Remus, how is she doing?"

"She ate around two and then went back to bed. The wound on her back isn't getting any better."

Clarice grimaced. "I was afraid of that. I'll take a look at it. I may need to take her to St. Mungo's, I know she doesn't want to, but this may be beyond my capabilities. Can you help me convince her?"

"I'll do what I can, but she doesn't always listen to me." He sounded tired.

She appraised him. "How much rest have you gotten?"

He ran his fingers through his hair. "Not much, I'm afraid. I've been worried about her, though I might have dozed in the library. I lost a few hours this afternoon."

"Well, I suggest you get some sleep after you eat dinner. You're no good to her if you make mistakes due to exhaustion," she chided.

"I know."

She placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Remus, she's in no danger of dying. That burn on her back will not be fatal." They went upstairs. "Wendy, I hate to wake you, but I'm here to check on you."

Wendy answered groggily, "Clarice, glad to see you. Sorry to have you fixing me up again."

Clarice joked, "I keep telling you that you need to stop making a habit of this. How do you feel?"

"Other than my back, not too bad. I'd never know I broke my arm. Thanks," she replied as she flexed her left hand.

"And a couple of ribs and some internal bleeding. I heard you ate a hearty meal?" Clarice asked as she cast her diagnostic spell.

"Yes, and now that I'm up, I think I could use some dinner, too. So what's the deal with my back? He didn't seem pleased when he looked at it earlier." She rolled over so Clarice could pull back the dressing.

Clarice examined the wound for quite some time. "I'd like to know about that, too. I've never seen this sort of spell damage before. Even with the ointment, it isn't healing. I want to take you to St. Mungo's."

"No. No hospital. That will be too many questions," Wendy insisted.

"Wendy, this is serious," said Remus.

Wendy was very insistent. "No! I can't afford that type of scrutiny. Not right now. Is it getting worse or is it going to kill me?"

"No to both," replied Clarice.

"Give it another day. If it isn't getting better by tomorrow, I'll go," Wendy negotiated.

Clarice seemed to think this was the best she could have hoped for. "Deal. I'll come over after my shift tomorrow. You look fine other than the wound. Your strength should start to return tomorrow. Eat and sleep are you official orders."

Remus and Wendy enjoyed a nice dinner. She could tell that he was exhausted, since he was so quiet. After finishing her meal, she feigned sleep. It wasn't long before she heard Remus' soft snoring coming from the divan. She hadn't asked him to come to bed, giving him time to accept her again.

Once she was positive he was asleep, she got out of bed as quietly as she could and slipped down stairs. She hoped that one of the books in the library would provide her with an answer. The spell that had hit her was bound to be obscure Dark Magic and it wasn't very likely that anyone at St. Mungo's would know how to deal with it. "Cappa, a pot of tea," she ordered when she saw the elf shadowing her.

"Yes, Mistress," Cappa replied. She was glad to be taking orders from her mistress again.

Wendy gathered some likely candidates and stacked them on the floor by the couch. She had to be careful not to lean against the back of the couch and ended up sitting sideways.

The first group of books yielded nothing and she perused the shelves looking for other candidates.

Remus rolled over and fell onto the floor. It took him a moment to realize what had happened. He picked himself up off the floor and went to check on Wendy. The bed was empty. "Wendy?" he called out as he ran to check the bathroom and found she wasn't there. "Wendy!?" he shouted as he ran out of the room. Where could she have gone?

"Library," she called back.

He ran into the library. "What are you doing here?" He was upset that she had snuck out on him, but relieved that she was fine.

She swept her hand across the pile of books. "Research. I'm trying to determine what spell that was that hit me."

"You should be resting," he chided.

"It's not like this is overly taxing. I just had to get out of that bed. I'm really feeling much better." It wasn't quite the whole truth. While her more mundane injuries were better, she could feel the spell doing something to her, weakening her.

He crossed his arms. "That and you have no intention of going to St. Mungo's, do you?"

She grinned slyly at him. "Of course not. I said what the two of you wanted to hear to leave me alone. And I must say, it worked marvelously. She stopped making a fuss about me going to hospital and you so kindly fell asleep."

"This is serious," he insisted. He was not entirely surprised that she had deceived him.

She closed the book she was flipping through and dropped it on the 'read' pile. "I know it is. If I go into St. Mungo's with this wound on my back, a lot of questions will be asked. This is unusual magic and I have no interest in admitting how I got it. And even if I invoke Auror's privilege, word will get back to the Ministry and then I have to answer questions about it there. Either way, it places me, and the Order, in extreme danger. I have reason to believe there are Death Eater spies in both places. Remember, Bode was killed in St. Mungo's."

He considered her logic for a few seconds. "I see your point. Can I help?"

She pointed at a pile of books. "If you are familiar with any of those titles, see if you can find anything."

They worked fruitlessly until sunrise. "Wendy, I think we should get some rest and start again this afternoon."

She held her hand up. "Wait, I think I've got it. Oooh, this is nasty one," she said, her voice filled with admiration over the choice of the spell. Even though she was victim of this spell, she could appreciate the choice. She stood and placed the book on the table.

Remus read over her shoulder. "So now what do we do? We know what it was, but there's nothing there about treatment." He didn't like what he read. It was a progressive spell. Over the course of two to three days, the spell drained the life energy of the person attacked until death.

She moved across the room and slid the ladder over to the part of the shelves she was interested in. "No, not in that book, but I know where to start looking for a treatment now that I know what it is." She started handing books down to him.

"I think perhaps we should get some rest before starting on this next phase of the search. Please? I'll make sure Cappa wakes us for lunch," he insisted.

"All right. We'll eat breakfast and then get some rest," she relented.

He carefully led her out of the library and to the dining room. In short order, a simple meal of fruit and porridge was before them. "Do you really think you will find an answer?"

She replied optimistically, "Oh, yes. I have an extensive library on arcane magic and that's exactly what that spell was. It doesn't do much good to know how to curse someone if you can't reverse the effects, especially for a spell like that. It's quite a good blackmail spell. I was surprised the cure wasn't in that same book."

"Do you think it will be a spell or a potion?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. It could be either. I'm kind of leaning towards potion since it was a blistering spell. Do you think I might take a look at it when you change the dressing?"

"You really don't want to. It's quite nasty." He really didn't have a particular desire to look at it and had hoped to spare her having to see it.

"That's exactly why I need to look at it. It'll give me a better idea what I'm trying to cure."

"I'm not going to win, am I?" he asked, resigned to this fact.

She smiled at him. "No. I don't like to lose."

"So, Clarice has fixed you up before?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

"More times than I can count. I owe her big for all the times she's kept me out of trouble," she replied. She had met Clarice early in her career and the two had become friends after a long stay at St. Mungo's.

"You have a habit of flouting the rules, don't you?" He knew the answer to this, but was enjoying just talking with her.

She explained, "I don't really flout them as much as adapt them to my needs. And I haven't really done anything illegal, just things of questionable morality that the Ministry might be forced to investigate. It's been a nice arrangement, not having to answer a lot of questions. Well then, I'm done if you are."

He stood and swept his arm towards the door. "After you." He watched her walk slightly stiffly up the stairs, but he refrained from asking after her wellbeing. Once in the bedroom, he changed her dressing and let her see the wound.

"That's interesting, isn't it?" she asked as she examined it in the mirror.

"Not the adjective I would have used. Does seeing it make it easier for you to find a cure?" He still would have preferred she go to the hospital, despite any beliefs that to do so would bring the wrong sort of attention. Now that they knew what it was, it was more likely someone at the hospital would be able to help.

"I think so." As she crawled into bed, she noticed him moving towards the divan. "It's a big enough bed that we can both sleep here. It will be more comfortable." She saw him looking at her warily. "I don't bite," she reassured.

He knew that was not strictly true. "It's not that. I...just don't know that I'm ready."

"Remus, this isn't anything sexual. Nothing's going to happen with me in my current state. I just thought it might be more comfortable." She smiled warmly at him.

He slipped off his shoes. "I'll be fine over here," he replied as he tried to get comfortable.

"Suit yourself," she said as she settled onto the bed. She had tried.

Remus tossed and turned as he found the divan suddenly very uncomfortable. He couldn't help but notice that she had left plenty of room on the bed and had her back to him. He had to admit that he wouldn't have to touch her. Who was he kidding? He longed to feel her in his arms again. That was why he was trying to sleep on the divan.

One last time, he tried to get comfortable and failed. Swallowing his pride, he crawled into the far side of the bed, staying as close to the edge as he could. In no time at all, he drifted off to sleep.

Remus woke to someone tugging on his hand. "Master Remus, it is time for lunch."

Lunch? Oh, yes, I asked Cappa to wake me. "Thank you, Cappa." He ran his hand across his face and then became aware of Wendy snuggled up against him. His arm was wrapped around her shoulder and he had no memory of encouraging her to snuggle with him. It did feel good. He allowed himself to revel a few minutes in her embrace before waking her. "Wendy, it's time for lunch," he said quietly.

She looked up into his eyes, a smile on her face. "I'm glad you changed your mind."

"It seems you were right. The bed is much more comfortable. Now, if you don't mind, we should get back to our research."

"Of course," she replied somewhat sadly and allowed him to leave the bed. She then slowly made her way out of bed. "I'm going to clean up as best I can. Why don't you have Cappa send lunch to the library and I'll be down shortly?"

He looked at her to make sure she didn't seem to be having any problems. "All right. I'll start looking."

Wendy joined him after about twenty minutes, having managed to dress in a loose set of robes. She started snacking on the lunch Cappa had provided and immediately dove into the books.

Every now and then, one of them would consult with the other when something particularly promising was found, but so far there was nothing Wendy would classify as a cure.

After about two hours of searching, the doorbell interrupted them. Wendy furrowed her brow in confusion. She wasn't expecting a visitor. "Cappa, whoever it is, don't let them into the library," she ordered.

"You weren't expecting anyone, were you?" he asked warily.

"No. With a note from a healer, no one at work should care and I wouldn't expect anyone from the Order this time of day."

Cappa returned, "Mistress, Mr. Malfoy is in the drawing room."

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