January Moons
- Lily's screams pierced the night, it sounded as though she was yelling for her life. -
Lily walked through the rows of graves, squinting at the names engraved on them, until she came upon the one she was looking for. She knelt down and put her hand on top of the tombstone and read the engraving. She could hardly believe that it had been half a year since Remus Lupin died; it seemed longer. Giving her wand a complicated wave, she produced a bunch of flowers and placed them on the grave.
“I would’ve brought Honeydukes’ chocolate, but I don’t reckon the people who work here would like that,” she said, grinning a little. Sighing and gazing up at the sky she looked back down at the grave. “Looks like you got off the hook tonight,” she continued, jerking her head towards the sky. “I guess you would rather have to suffer tonight than be six feet under, wouldn’t you?” She picked up one of the daisies she had placed on the grave and looked at it thoughtfully. “Mum said you were pretty fond of these whenever you were forced to pick a flower. I bet James and Sirius would’ve found it pretty funny. Sirius would-” but she stopped herself suddenly. “I dunno… I call him Dad, I call him Sirius. It’s weird… You think I should just call him Dad?” She felt a little silly asking the grave for advice, but she still felt that Remus was able to provide her with words of comfort and good counsel. “I mean, it took me a while to accept that your sister was my mother, it should be easier with Sirius, shouldn’t it? I’ve known him longer… or I knew him longer, I guess. I don’t even call you ‘uncle’ yet. I should though, shouldn’t I? After what happened to you and all… it’s the least I can do.”
She gazed at the engraving, though not really seeing it, her mind was fogged with the memory of the day they found out he had died.
He had been on a mission for the Order of the Phoenix; he was on his way to see the werewolves. He was ambushed by a pack of Death Eaters and, taken completely by surprise, having no time to react, they stunned him almost immediately. The fact that it had been a full moon the night before did not help one bit. Once he recovered, Lucius Malfoy engaged him in a duel. Lucius was moving with a rage, wanting to get revenge on one of the men who had sent him to Azkaban, before his fellow Death Eaters, as well as himself, broke out. Remus was running out of breath, his eyes were sliding in and out of focus, and he could barely utter the hexes. Lucius knew this too; he knew his opponent’s disadvantages and therefore took advantage of this. Before Remus knew what was happening, there was a rush of green flying towards him. His life didn’t even have time to pass before his eyes before he fell to the floor… dead.
She closed her eyes, trying with all her might to block out the following image… when they had discovered Professor McGonagall and Arthur Weasley carrying his limp body into the castle. She, Hermione, Ron and Harry had been exiting the Great Hall after dinner and the Entrance Hall was empty except for the two wizards. Remus’s body was obscured by Professor McGonagall’s side and this only made the four more curious, so they snuck over, completely unnoticed. That is until they saw what the two were carrying and their hearts stopped beating. McGonagall and Arthur turned when they heard footsteps. When they spotted the onlookers they didn’t know what to say except,
“He put up a good fight.”
But that wasn’t enough to make up for seeing the pale face of their former Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, and long time friend. The memory made Lily whimper slightly. She was startled when she heard three sets of footsteps behind her. She turned around to see, much to her shock and misfortune, Draco Malfoy with his cronies, Crabbe and Goyle. She groaned inwardly, thinking why are they here of all places? Who did they have to visit in a cemetery? Or was this their stomping grounds during the holidays? She didn’t know and she didn’t care, she just wanted them to leave. She wasn’t going to go first. To her bad luck, the three didn’t want to leave and to make matters even worse, spotted her and made a beeline right at her.
“Black!” Malfoy exclaimed. “Fancy meeting you here. Now, let’s see who you’ve been mourning over.” He shoved her out of the way and smirked when he saw the name on the tombstone. “Aw, your half-bred uncle.”
“Go away, Malfoy,” she growled. She wasn’t in any mood to put up with him.
“I suppose half breeds must stick together though,” he continued, clearly enjoying his mocking. Lily’s stomach clenched as he said this. She had to restrain herself from resorting to her wolfish instincts. She chose to ignore him, thinking it might help, but it only drove Malfoy further. “Yes… I must admit I am rather proud of my father for ridding the Earth of one more werewolf.”
“Shut up!” Lily yelled, forgetting all about ignoring him.
“Maybe next time it’ll be you, or your mother,” Malfoy went on, seeming to have not heard her. Lily’s ears were ringing uncontrollably, but she wasn’t going to hex him, she wasn’t going to hex him. “I mean, what’s the loss really? It would only end the cycle of your family. Lupin couldn’t have children, who would want to marry scum like him?” Lily could swear she felt Remus turning over in his grave below her; she closed her eyes as though it would help block his voice out. “And then there was Black; what a waste of a human being. Your mother must not be very smart for marrying him.” The ringing grew increasingly louder… she wasn’t going to break… she couldn’t. “You must’ve inherited that characteristic since you’ve chosen blood traitors and Mudbloods as friends.” Forget it!
She was on her feet now, her wand drawn and pointed in between Malfoy’s eyes. She couldn’t believe that anyone, even him, would go as low as to use those influences, and in a cemetery of all places. She felt the familiar sensation of wanting to hex Malfoy so badly that he would never dare insult her or her friends or her family again. How would he like it if she used every insult for his family? Only the Lord knew how many she had thought of. The ringing in her ears continued to grow as she circled around Malfoy, not bringing down her wand once. Unless her eyes were cheating her, she could swear he looked frightened, that he realised he had finally pushed her to the limit and he was going to pay for.
“Do you know when to stop?” she questioned furiously, her arm aching slightly from holding up her wand for so long. She didn’t care; all she cared about was how much she hated Malfoy at that moment.
“You don’t have the nerve, Black,” Malfoy snarled. “You wouldn’t dare hex me.”
He’s right, she thought, feeling disgusted with herself. She wouldn’t dare hex Malfoy in a graveyard next to her uncle and grandfather’s graves. That would be sinking down to his level. She just wanted to scare him, to make him realise that he couldn’t get away with everything.
“Wouldn’t I?” she asked rhetorically, her voice low and menacing. “Don’t put it past me. You can’t get away with everything! Someone’s got to put you in your place and if that person’s me, then so be it!”
For a moment, it looked as though Malfoy was going to hex her. She certainly did not expect him to back down and run off with his friends. She stood in the same spot for a few minutes, not lowering her wand arm, but found it trembling madly. How long had she been standing there? The ringing in her ears had not stopped and that was when she realised that it was a full moon; she should have been home already.
She sped out of the graveyard and up the street and within minutes found herself dashing up the porch and running headlong into her mother. She backed up and saw her mother looking at her with a stern expression.
“I’m sorry, I lost track of time,” she said apologetically.
“You had me worried sick!” Rachael scolded. “You were supposed to be back here forty five minutes ago!”
“I got held up!”
“What could possibly make you forget that tonight’s a full moon?”
Lily could feel tears threatening the corners of her eyes. She hated this, why was she constantly crying? Taking a deep breath in an attempt to control herself, she said,
“I ran into Malfoy, okay?” Rachael’s expression softened when she heard this. She knew all about how Malfoy was milking her daughter being a Black for all it was worth. It was likely to reduce her daughter to tears. “It’s nothing,” Lily said, clearing her nose. “I just can’t take this anymore, why can’t he leave me alone?”
Rachael shook her head. “Malfoy is the kind of kid who will never learn. Now did you hex him?” Lily shook her head. “Good, your uncle wouldn’t appreciate it if you dueled over his grave.” Lily smiled slightly. Rachael looked up at the sky and saw it darkening; the moon would be out soon. Lily had to get in the shed. Rachael grabbed Lily’s wrist and pulled her into the yard.
Lily didn’t know what came over her, but she suddenly didn’t want to go in there with a passion.
“No,” she cried. “Don’t make me go in there! Please, Mum!”
It broke Rachael’s heart to hear this, but she couldn’t risk it. She didn’t care if her daughter was under the influence of the Wolfsbane Potion; she had to go into the shed. There was no arguing against it. Professor Dumbledore had made it clear. They approached the shed and Rachael let go of Lily while she quickly opened the door. She grabbed Lily’s wrist again and pushed her inside, chaining her against the wall. All the while Lily continued to cry, saying she didn’t want to go in there, she didn’t want to transform. Rachael looked at the sky again and saw the moon starting to rise. She quickly gave her daughter a kiss on the top of the head and locked the shed, still listening to her shouts to get out.
“No!” Lily cried, banging on the shed door. “Mum, let me out! Please!”
Rachael tried blocking out her cries and ran into the house. What she heard next she could not block out no matter how hard she tried. Lily’s screams pierced the night; it sounded as though she was yelling for her life.
When Rachael opened the shed the next morning, she nearly fainted from shock. Lily was no longer chained against the wall; she had managed to rip the chains off the wall. It appeared that one of the chains had connected with the side of her face, giving her a rather large bruise. That wasn’t the worst of it. Lily’s entire face was covered in blood, several gashes on her cheeks; her forehead, and her nose was sprouting blood. The skin on her hands was torn up and looked to be beyond repair, even with magic. Her robes were torn and her cloak shredded and bloodstained. Rachael knelt down and gently pulled the cloak off, only to discover blood seeping out of Lily’s side.
Rachael didn’t understand it. Lily had taken the potion; it was supposed to let her keep her human mind. How had this happened, then? Her behaviour before the moon came out; she had never acted like that before, no matter how hard of a time she had been having. Something wasn’t right. Gently, she shook Lily’s shoulder telling her to wake up. But Lily didn’t budge, she didn’t even mutter. That was when Rachael realised she wasn’t breathing. Her heart pounding, she grabbed Lily’s wrist and felt for a pulse. She had one… but then how was she not breathing? She checked for a pulse again and indeed there was one… this was strange… too strange. She didn’t have time to contemplate this; she needed to get her daughter to St. Mungo’s.
She closed her hand around Lily’s cut up arm and closed her eyes, concentrating on her destination. She had never Apparated with someone, and it wasn’t the greatest feeling in the world, but it got her to the hospital in no time at all. She landed with a thud in the waiting room and she went up to the receptionist witch.
“How can I help you?” the witch asked.
“My daughter, something went horribly wrong in her werewolf transformation,” Rachael replied, desperation evident in her voice.
The witch leaned over the desk and saw Lily’s disfigured form; she grabbed a sort of microphone off the desk and called for Mr. Griemer. The name sounded familiar to Rachael. He was the Healer who had helped them after Remus was bitten by the werewolf. In no time at all, Mr. Griemer was escorting Rachael up to one of the wards, and levitating Lily. He clicked his tongue and commented on how odd the circumstances were. He had also checked for a pulse and checked for breathing. The pulse was there, but the breathing was still absent. He brought them into a private ward and gently let Lily drop down onto the bed.
“Name?” Mr. Griemer asked Rachael.
“Her name? Lily Black,” Rachael answered, looking uneasily at Lily’s unconscious form.
Mr. Griemer nodded and scratched the information down on his clipboard. “Her age?” he asked.
“Seventeen.”
“The woman at the desk told me it was a mishap in her transformation, is that correct?”
“Yes.”
He placed the clipboard in a box hanging on the door and went over to inspect Lily. Rachael took a seat on the opposite side of the room and watched. Mr. Griemer inspected the gashes on her face, the wound on her side, the various wounds on her hands, and managed to find some that Rachael hadn’t noticed. He shook his head sadly and once again checked for a sign of breathing… but he found none. He stood up and said to Rachael that he was going to retrieve some potions that would help mend the injuries.
Rachael waited until the Healer had gone before getting up and going to her daughter’s bedside. She just couldn’t believe that a mere three days ago they had been celebrating Christmas with the Weasleys, Hermione and Harry. Now here they were in St. Mungo’s. What went wrong though? She didn’t understand what would make Lily become so violent when she was supposed to keep her human mind. Her human mind would not have let this happen.
She shook her head and again shook her daughter’s shoulder in hopes of waking her. It was a futile attempt, as Lily was as still as ever. Then another thought crossed her mind “ what if she died because of this? She didn’t know if she could stand another member of her family died. First her father, then Sirius, then Remus… James and Lily as well; they were as good as family. She didn’t know what she would do if her daughter died. All she knew was she had to think positive. She had to remain optimistic, despite how hard it was.
“These should help.” Griemer had reentered the room and was carrying five bottles of potions.
Rachael nodded, hoping the same exact thing, and retreated back to the chair on the opposite side of the room. She waited patiently as Griemer applied the various potions to the wounds on Lily. Rachael remembered in her second year when she had received scratches by a werewolf and how she felt a burning sensation from the potions, Lily didn’t even wince when the potions touched her skin.
“How long do you think she’ll remain like this?” Rachael asked, dreading the answer she might receive.
Griemer capped one of the bottles and set it down on the nightstand before answering. “I’m not entirely sure, to be honest,” he said. “This is an unusual case; we’ve never seen anything like it. But, was she displaying any odd behaviour before the full moon?”
Rachael thought for a moment of the past few days she had spent with Lily. She had been acting normal, except the night before when it came time to lock her in the shed. She had reacted in a way Rachael had never seen; it was almost as though she knew what was going to happen if she transformed. Other than that, her behaviour hadn’t been anything out of the ordinary, and, from what she learnt from Professor McGonagall, she hadn’t been acting any different at school.
“Not any different than normal,” Rachael answered, watching as Griemer resumed applying the potions. “Except last night.” Griemer stopped what he was doing and looked up. “She didn’t want to transform; she had never acted the way she did before. She was crying saying she didn’t want to do it.” Griemer nodded his head slowly and scratched his chin as if he was in deep thought.
“Was she under the influence of the Wolfsbane Potion?” he asked.
“Yes, and that was what made it so strange. She never worried about her transformations as long as she was taking it, but last night… I don’t know what was going through her mind.”
Griemer sighed and continued his work, not asking any further questions. Rachael took this time to try and fathom the many reasons Lily could have overreacted. She had been particularly distraught when she came back from the cemetery. She visited the cemetery every time she went home for the full moon and she had never acted like that. Then again, she had never run into Malfoy and his goons before the moon came out either. Lily didn’t hold Malfoy too high, so it wouldn’t have been enough to reduce her to the state she was in. She didn’t know what to think, all she cared about was the fact that her daughter was struggling for her life.
When Griemer was finished applying the potions, he covered the wounds in bandages and retrieved the clipboard from the door and began writing down more information.
“Parent or guardian’s name?” he asked.
“Rachael Lupin,” she answered.
“Lupin?” he repeated, looking as though that name had triggered something in his mind. “I remember you. You were here when you were around seven or eight.”
“Eight,” Rachael corrected.
“I heard about what happened to your brother, I’m very sorry.”
Rachael sighed and glanced at Lily. “If he was here he might have known what to do.”
“I doubt even your brother would know what to do in this situation. Smart as he was, he just would not know.” He glanced over at Lily. “We’re going to do everything we can, she’ll be okay.”