In a Lifetime

In A Lifetime
Chapter 4: A Silent Homecoming

Disclaimer: I own nothing of what you’re about to read, with the possible exception of the plot, although I’m sure it’s been done before. The places, characters, etc. belong to JK Rowling. Thanks.

Hermione and Harry sat in the lobby of the outpatient clinic at St Mungo’s. After a week of constant surveillance, the subject believed to be Remus Lupin had yet to appear. This Friday night, it was supposed to have been Severus and Hermione sitting watch, but a last minute potions crisis called Severus away from Order duty and into Potions Master duty. With Albus and Minerva both occupied, Molly and Arthur at a Ministry function, and Tonks away on other business, the only person left to sit duty with Hermione had been Harry. She wasn’t sure if she was ready for a full evening alone with her former husband, but as Severus reminded her, the shift needed to be filled and they were the only two available to do it. So to St Mungo’s with Harry she went. They said little at first, both a bit unsure of what to say. But time and boredom loosened their tongues.

“I was such a prat,” said Harry.

“Not as big a prat as Ron,” she replied.

“Well, that goes without saying.”

“Of course,” she smiled, “I’m sorry, too, Harry. I never meant to hurt you.”

“I know you didn’t. We never really had it, and you found it with Snape…er, Severus,” said Harry, fidgeting.

“It was the last thing I expected,” she admitted, “I wanted something for me, a walk on the dark side of the soul. I thought that Severus would be my chace to play the bad girl for once. I certainly never expected to find the light that I found in the most unexpected of places, from within Severus Snape.”

“He is a good man, isn’t he?”

“Severus?” asked Hermione, Harry nodded, “Yes, he is. He’s not the classic knight in shining armour, but he’s a good man. A solid man. A passionate man. And he loves me.”

“And you love,” H,” Harry stated, smiling wistfully at Hermione.

“I do.”

“I’m glad. You deserve that.”

“I’m surprised you’ve come around so quickly, I mean you appeared to accthinthings and gave me the divorce, then you had your moment with Severus,” she rolled her eyes, “come on now Harry, pulling a wand on Severus Snape?…and now, you seem to be fairly sure of yourself here.”

“Hermione, I’ve spent so much of my life having it dictated to me. Having my actions pulled apart and examined, being kept in the dark, kept from what I wanted, from what I needed, from what I dreamed for. I did what was expected of me. How could I do that to you? How could I keep you somewhere you didn’t wish to be, when you knew that what you wanted most was out there? How could I keep you in the same type of golden cage I was kept in for so long? It wouldn’t be fair.”

“Harry…”

“No Hermione, the longer I made you stay in a marriage that wasn’t what it should have been, the more we would have resented each other. I would have resented you for not loving me the way you loved him and you would have resented me for neither loving you the way you needed to be loved nor letting you go. We would have condemned one another to a life of hurt. How would that have been different from my being condemned to life with the Dursleys?” Hermione found herself staring at Harry, a look of surprise in her eyes. She took his hand and smiled.

“I love you Harry,” she gave his hand a quick squeeze and released it.

“And I love you, Hermione. We just were never meant to have been in love.”

“And we never were,” she said sadly.

“No,” agreed Harry, “we weren’t. But you are now. And someday I will be too.”

They sat in comfortable silence, the silence broken 15 minutes later by a small squeal from Hermione. Harry turned to look at her and saw her staring at the entry desk, her eyes wide as saucers and her mouth agape. He followed her eyes to see a bedraggled man, his long light brown hair streaked with gray hanging down his back in tangled mats. He was writing something to the mediwitch assistant on duty and his back was to the pair. Suddenly, as if feeling their eyes on him, he turned around. Harry felt his jaw drop as well. It was without a doubt Remus Lupin. A disheveled Remus Lupin. He fixed Harry with a bewildered stare, then turned back around to the mediwitch assistant.

“It is Remus, isn’t it?” whispered Hermione.

Harry nodded, still staring, “Shit,” he remembered, “we have to let Albus know.”

“You watch him, I’ll use Devin’s floo.”

“How long does this trial take?”

“This should be the second to last potion he has to take. He has to have blood drawn and checked, be given the potion, and lay still for 20 minutes for it to be fully integrated into his bloodstream. We’re fine. And Albus has spoken with the director of St Mungo’s, the only way out is through this door from the exam room he will be placed in. We have time,” said Hermione, “Just don’t let him leave your sight until he enters the exam room. Kyla Brennan is the assistant assigned to him and she is an auxiliary Order member. She’ll monitor him inside the room. I’ll clue her in on my way to Devin’s office.”

Harry nodded as Hermione made her way through the outpatient ward. He grabbed a magazine and sat back, aware of the looks that Remus kept giving him. He looked over at the door to the exam rooms, as if waiting for Hermione to return from an exam. He looked at his watch and made a small show of concern. The looks he was getting from Remus were quizzical. He looked like he wanted to come over and say something, but he didn’t. Instead, he went and sat in a chair by the entry desk. Harry kept his eye on his former friend surreptitiously. A few moments later, Remus was ushered into an exam room by a pretty young mediwitch assistant that Harry recognized from a lower class at Hogwarts. Kyla Brennan. Harry remembered her as a Ravenclaw of Muggle parentage. She subtly nodded to Harry as she walked behind Remus. Harry nodded back, keeping his eye on the doorway. Hermione entered almost immediately following Remus’ departure.

“Albus is on his way,” she said, “I saw Remus in the corridor with Kyla. He looked at me almost as if he were trying to place my face.”

“Same here,” said Harry, “like part of him was trying to remember something. Kyla told me that she has worked with him on these trials twice before and he has never said a word to her. She’s not sure if he even speaks.”

Harry shook his head, “I wonder where he’s been, what’s happened to him.”

“I wish I knew. Hopefully he will be able to tell us.”

They were interrupted by sudden pair of pops as Albus and Severus apparated into the outpatient waiting area. Harry quickly filled in Albus and Severus while Hermione kept her eye on the corridor to the exam rooms. It was decided that Hermione and Severus, as researchers and creators of the C-factor potion, would approach Remus in a professional manner, assessing both his medical and mental condition. Then, Severus would administer a second potion, Dreamless Sleep, and Albus and Harry would apparate him back to Hogwarts. They couldn’t take a chance that he would refuse to go with them and they weren’t willing to lose him again so quickly after finding him. It was the only way. Hermione transfigured her and Severus’ clothing into the white St Mungo’s robes and walked to the exam room. With a deep breath, Hermione opened the door. Kyla Brennan looked up from her place taking Remus’ vitals.

“Miss Brennan,” said Severus, noting a small lookfearfear crossing his former student’s face, “may I see the subject’s chart?”

“Yes sir,” she replied, handing the chart to Severus.

“Hmmm,” he said, perusing the chart, “Professor Granger, come look at these C-factor levels.”

Hermione peered at the chart, pleased at what she read. It would appear that one more dose of the potion in a week’s time would completely purge his blood of the mutated lycanthropic cells.

“Professor Snape, that is ed aed amazing,” she replied, smiling at Severus.

“Mr…M? May I call you Dennis?” asked Severus. Remus nodded in assent, “I am Professor Severus Snape and this is Professor Hermione Granger. Professor Granger has devoted her life to this research and I have been lucky enough to be invited to assist at the later stage of the testing. We could use a little information for our file. Please, tell me a little bit about how you came to be infected by the werewolf condition.”

Remus stared at him and shrugged his shoulders. Hermione looked at him with concern.

“Dennis,” she said, “can you speak?”

Remus shook his head.

“Can you write?”

Remus nodded. Hermione gave him a parchment pad and quill, “please, if you could write the answer to Professor Snape’s question.”

Remus took the pad and quill and wrote down three words: “I don’t remember”.

Hermione read his answer then gave him the pad back, “Dennis, why can’t you speak?”

“Don’t remember ever having spoken,” he wrote .
.

“How do you do magic?” she asked.

“I don’t,” he wrote, pausing before writing again, “no better than squib.”

Hermione looked at Severus, tears forming in her eyes. Severus nodded at her and handed Remus a small vial.

“Drink this, Dennis. It’s an accelerator.”

Remus took the potion, looked at it for a moment, then lifted it to his lips and drank. Within moments he was fast asleep and Severus was summoning Albus and Harry to bring Remus back to Hogwarts. Following their departure, Hermione broke into tears. Severus wrapped her in his arms and held her closely, letting the younger witch cry against his chest.

“Severus, it’s Remus, but yet it’s not.”

“I know my love, but we can help him at Hogwarts. Poppy, you, Ginevra…he’s in good hands. He will come back to us.”

“I hope you’re right, Severus.”

“I generally am.”

ioneione looked up at him, smiling through her tears as they apparated back to Hogwarts, the wards allowing them direct access to the castle.