Cloudy Skies and Heartache

Chapter 11







Teeth chattering loudly, Remus quickly shut the door as he entered his frosty cottage. Well at least he was away from the vicious howling wind.







Checking on his precious cargo in his arms, he was pretty amazed after all this time to find his daughter still sleeping peacefully against his shoulder. Sheesh, she sure was Sirius’ child, only the two of them could sleep through such frigid temperatures and howling winds.







Shaking his head slightly as he chuckled to himself, he carefully carried Adara to her tiny bedroom that was decorated with stars and unicorns that he had charmed to move… Well jiggle was more like it. It wasn’t his fault that Hogwarts had not taught them how to make pictures of unicorns prance around the bloody wall.







As he pulled off Adara’s thick fluffy woolen jacket and her little beanie, ready to tuck her into bed, Remus suddenly realised that Adara’s face was flushed and covered in sweat. Her brow furrowed slightly as she scrunched her face uncomfortably and moaned lightly in her sleep.







Alarmed, Remus quickly placed his palm on his little girl’s forehead.







Merlin, she was bloody burning!







‘Papa…’







Adara whimpered quietly in her sleep as she fidgeted uncomfortably in his arms.







Fuck, why hadn’t he realised she was running a fever much earlier. Shit, he was heading right into panic-mode. Adara had never fallen ill before, she was always a healthy baby and had never even caught the flu or a cold. He had no experience with this, and had no clue what to do, all he knew was that he needed to get her to a Healer immediately… Poppy!







Just as he was about to put Adara down and run off to the fireplace so he could Floo to Hogwarts, he suddenly remembered Poppy telling him a few days ago that her daughter had just given birth, and so she would be on leave for two weeks to look after her, and would not be at Hogwarts. He hadn’t thought that he might have needed her assistance as the full moon had just passed last week, so he had not bothered to ask her where she was going to be. Damnit. Now he had no way of contacting her.







Remus’ thoughts were in complete disarray. He was at a total loss at what to do…







When suddenly the solution seemed to slap him in the face, why of course, St. Mungo! What an idiot he was. Having lived so many years away from the wizarding community, and always having Poppy by his side to turn to for any medical help, he had totally forgotten about St. Mungo.







Grabbing Adara quickly and slipping on her winter gear again, Remus quickly Apparated to St. Mungo’s, with all the worst thoughts racing through his panicked mind.









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After what seemed like forever to a tortured and worried Remus, the Healers that were attending to Adara finally re-appeared.







‘What’s the matter with my daughter? Is she going to be alright?’







Remus rushed anxiously towards the Healers, bombarding them with the questions that had been swirling around in his head for the past hour.







‘Mr Lupin, your daughter has a rather serious case of dragon pox. Luckily it was discovered early and you brought her here before it developed into the next stage. Hence, we should be able to nip it in the bud, and while it might take awhile for her to recover fully, during which she will have to stay in the hospital under careful observation, there should be no permanent damage or physical scarring due to the poxes.’







After explaining further the type of care Adara would require for the next week or so, the Healer departed, leaving a visibly shaken and drained Remus outside his daughter’s ward.







As Remus leaned against the doorframe of Adara’s ward, watching his precious child now sleeping soundly in bed, Remus felt as though his shaking legs were ready to collapse on him.







Merlin, dragon pox. Thousands of wizards and witches die each year due to dragon pox, with many more left scarred for life. His baby could have been one of them. So easily could she have slipped through his fingers and left him.







Such thoughts shook him to the core, and Remus felt this sudden urge to hold his child, to make sure she was still there and alive.







Making his way quickly to her side, he quickly grabbed onto her tiny hand with both hands, as though grabbing a lifeline. It was true, Adara was his lifeline. She was his reason for living, his reason for fighting against the wolf every full moon, and the only reason why he took all the hardship and pain without complain.







Stroking her now cooler forehead gently, and sweeping her sweat-drenched bangs gently to the side, Remus felt some form of calmness return to him. She was still here, and on the road to recovery.







With a quiet sigh, he put his head down on the bed, next to her hand, and it wasn’t long before the exhausted father fell asleep next to his slumbering daughter.







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Hello (: sorry for the long absence and this very short chapter. Been lacking abit of inspiration lately :p plus I’ve been away from my computer. Heh. I know, excuses excuses. But well, its gearing up to be slightly more interesting from this chapter on. A lot more characters getting involved. Promise I’ll get my next chapter up very soon! Much love. More reviews pleaseeee :D xxx