A/N: The plot grows more intricate...I'm in my waters...hope you're enjoying it!
Chapter X: A Nightmare's Hope
The werewolf came closer and he was helpless to do anything. Something restrained him completely, but he could not feel any binds on his arms and legs. He tried to move again and again, but his muscles did not cooperate either. It must have been a particularly strong curse...
Even so, the panic grew exponentially, as the werewolf approached. He was about to be killed and could do nothing about it. The savage animal came up to him and bit right into his right leg. The pain shot up his body, despite his paralysis. He tried to scream, but couldn't.
The werewolf was not satisfied. It reared on its legs and in a flash aimed for his throat. It was pain beyond description, knowing that he was going to die within moments -
Regulus jolted awake, drenched in sweat. Around him, it was still dark and the other occupants of the hospital wing slept soundly. He glanced at the clock on the bedside table, which told him it was no later than four-thirty in the morning.
Chills travelled down his spine as he recalled the nightmare. It felt so real, so involved, and it may well have been the reality, had the centaurs not intervened. He reflected on the idea with a hint of irony; he had gone out to look for them and they found him.
Humorlessly, he admitted to himself he had just been really fortunate. He owed the centaurs his life and he knew it. The fact reminded him how fragile his existence really was and the need to approach life a lot more responsibly from now on.
He also knew that the werewolf had bitten him effectively in two places. This meant that he would transform into the dreaded animal once every month. As such, he was poised to put a lot of people he cared for in danger, from his best friends to Andromeda and the student population at large. The consequences of the Ministry finding out could put his life in jeopardy entirely, as he might both be singled out in society later on and even be killed.
He was aware of the existence of a cure for werewolf bites, but he also knew the ingredients to make it were extremely rare for one, and required very specific conditions to be mixed into a potion. Compounding the cost and risk involved, he did not think he would be on the receiving end of any such remedy. Nor did he think he would ever come into a situation to need it.
This meant he would have to become accustomed to his new condition. Twelve times a year, for the rest of his life, he would transform. The thoughts of the damage he could cause terrified him. He did not want to hurt anyone intentionally and at the same time be responsible for harm beyond his conscious control.
These and other thoughts flooded his mind and he was not able to fall asleep again. To add to his problems, his left side felt very ginger and resonated with pain on every little movement he attempted to make. As such, he did his best to keep his mind as calm as possible while trying to remain completely still.
The itch on his back would not leave him. The watch on his bedside table finally showed six o'clock, which meant he was a half hour away from being allowed to see visitors. Some company would certainly help alleviate the annoyance he felt at being broken and bed-ridden.
Six-fifteen, thirty-one seconds, thirty-two and thirty-three seconds. How he wished to stretch his legs. His left side panged again, but the pain was a little duller than what it felt when he first awoke in the hospital wing.
Maybe one of his friends would sneak in before six-thirty and cheer him up with the company. His mind turned to thoughts of Andromeda. She impressed him by the single act of trying to confront the werewolf by herself the previous night. He had fully expected to die, while she had to live. Before that, he had seen and felt the same fear in her that nearly paralyzed him. Not to mention the part where he was werewolf dinner...
"Hey, mate!" Otto's cheery voice startled him from his dismal mental meanderings. "Top of the morning!"
He jolted, rolled on his left side and grimaced from the sharp pain. His ribs were not fully healed yet. "Morning," he returned to lying on his back.
"How're you feeling?" Otto asked him.
"As good as can be expected after I made a furry friend," Regulus cracked a pained smile. "What about you?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary, you know," his friend said. "After being captive for so long, my four poster has never felt so good! Granted, I wouldn't have said no to another two or three hours of snoozing..."
"I'm glad you're here," Regulus made it a point to express his sincerity.
"Oh, no worries," Otto replied. "I had to drag Albus and his arse out of bed, so he should be here shortly too..."
"He's doing alright?"
"Oh, he fell for one of `em female centaurs back in the forest. I think he almost wanted to stay there."
"Really?" Regulus cocked a surprised eyebrow.
"I can barely believe it myself, but he was saying her name in his sleep last night," Otto smirked.
"And what was her name?" Regulus' mind conceived of a predictably devilish plan for when his other best friend arrived.
"Jassamine," Otto caught on to the plot.
"Nice name," Regulus had to remark. "Wouldn't mind knowing a Jassamine."
"He would have sung like a canary to anything she asked," Otto smirked, before sobering up again. "Although, it was not easy - they had two bows trained on us at all times. Could've been a goner, just like that."
Another set of hurried steps made them both look towards the door, as Albus entered the hospital wing.
"Reg, what's going on, mate?" Albus came up to his side, looking rather happy.
"The usual, healing," Regulus cracked a smile on his own turn, "how are you feeling?"
"Great, great," Albus quickly said. "Not having to stare down the shaft of an arrow is really relieving."
"Yeah, alongside all the other staring you did back there," Otto sniggered beside him.
"Aye, shut it," Albus rebutted him.
"Good to see you're well, mate. Really, all sarcasm aside," Otto remarked with all seriousness.
"It was a close call," the other agreed. "I don't know how we made it out of there. Especially with that werewolf."
"I know," Regulus said. "The centaurs know more than we give them credit for. I don't think they would have killed you. Bane did mention there was some other bigger plot going that I'm apparently a part of, and I suppose, you two with me."
"What about the girls? Jane was half-scared to death from those two guards..."
"I don't know how she figures in the whole plan. All I can be sure of is that you three were kidnapped for a reason and our rescue mission, which had to be rescued in the end, was expected too."
"What does that tell you?" Otto looked quizzically at Regulus.
"Someone out there knows us really well and we have no idea who it might be. Either that, or we're really lucky..."
"Mornin', all!" came a jubilant voice from the entrance. It was Jane, looking really vivacious at the impossibly early hour.
"Hey!" Otto greeted her rather enthusiastically himself. From the corner of his eye, Regulus noted he stood a little straighter too...
"How are you, Regulus," she walked right up to his side and bent down to examine him closely. Her face hovered very close to his, making him a little bit uneasy.
"F-fine," his mind reeled from the strawberry scent. "How are you?"
"Good, very good," she flashed him another smile. "You have no idea how glad I am to be back at the school!"
Regulus only smiled knowingly. "Are Andromeda and Holly on the way?"
Jane cocked an eyebrow. "Well, getting Andy out of bed was a chore, but Holly is coming soon." She turned to Albus. "She wants to see you, especially."
"Me? Why me?" he raised an eyebrow on his own turn.
"I don't know," she said honestly.
Yet, the air had become a little more electric, Regulus could not deny to himself. He wasn't sure what kind of mood Andromeda would be in when she came, if she did. He wanted to thank her for her bravery involving the werewolf and potentially use the fact to warm up relations between them at least a little bit. Last night she was still hesitant to approach him as one friend would another.
"You alright, mate?" Otto's voice brought him back. "You look a little away in your own world, again."
"Fine, fine," Regulus reassured him. "Just thinking."
"You've done a lot of that recently."
"Do I have a choice?" Regulus smiled once more.
"Sadly, no," Otto told him. "Got to think if you're going to make it!"
"Albus!"
The shriek startled all of those already present, as Holly bolted between the beds and launched herself at a terrified Albus. He caught her, staggered back, but managed to preserve his footing.
"What?" he was completely confused.
"I missed you," she looked right at him. "You could have been killed!"
"You missed me?" his expression betrayed the fact he was completely at sea in regards to the motivations behind Holly's affections.
"Yes."
"How?" he decided to investigate. "You and I barely talk."
"I know," she replied. "But that doesn't change the fact I missed you."
"Reg, you're not pulling the cloak over my eyes again, are you?"
"Trust me, mate, I know as much about it as you do."
"You're not joking?" Albus turned back to Holly.
She looked a little hurt. "Why would I be joking?"
"No!" he reeled. "I didn't mean to insult you! I'm just baffled, is all."
"Oh, ok then," she grinned, then bent forward and pecked him on the cheek. "Alright." Then she released him and went over to join Jane.
Albus scratched his head, looked at her, then at Regulus, who shrugged his shoulders, and then he shrugged his, but did not stop throwing the occasional suspicious glance at the blonde girl.
The lull after this unexpected episode was filled by the last person to walk in.
"Holly! There you are!" Andromeda was steamed. "Don't run away like that again! Thanks to you, my hair is complete bollocks, look at it!"
Holly turned, unperturbed, to Andromeda. "I think it looks fine," she stated.
"Right," the annoyance in the former's voice did not disappear. "Anyway, I'm here."
"Happy to see you too," Regulus quipped. "How're you doing?"
"I wouldn't have said no to another three hours of sleep," she was evidently grouchy.
"You didn't sleep well?" he asked her, halfway between amusement and genuine concern.
"No," she admitted, casting her eyes down before looking up fiercely again. "I was on the verge of fighting a werewolf! Tell me, how am I supposed to sleep after that?"
"Good point," Regulus conceded the argument.
"How did you sleep?" she asked him with the same determination.
"Fine," he nodded. "Few aches and pains. Nothing unusual," he smiled.
Her expression turned from confrontational to incredulous and she left to seek out Madam Pomfrey.
"What's going on with her?" Otto raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, she's going to figure out if you're telling the truth," Jane explained. "This is really nothing unusual, after she gave you the look and all."
"The look?" Regulus asked.
"Yes, when something sounds unbelievable. Trust me, we've lived with this girl for five years, we should know her really well by now."
"Well, what happens typically?"
"Mr. Malfoy!" Madam Pomfrey came marching over, not a little displeased. "When I mean visitors, I don't intend for you to understand an entire party! You need to recover and rest! Now, it's time for your potions!"
"Broken ribs! Leg wounds!" Andromeda came storming in the nurse's steps. "You don't know the extent of your own injuries! Took me all night to comprehend what had happened and here you are, laughing about it!"
Regulus was badly startled by the two women's violent incursion. "What did I do?" he asked meekly.
"Everyone out!" Madam Pomfrey raged on.
"But - "
"No objections! Go!"
"We'll sneak in later, mate," Otto promised him.
"You too, Ms. Potter," the concerned healer turned to Andromeda. "You have no business to be here for now."
"But visiting hours aren't over!" the girl protested.
"They are for you. You have stressed this boy quite enough," Madam Pomfrey was painfully clear. "Now, please leave. You can come back tomorrow."
"That's not fair, at all. I want to see him!"
"Goodbye, Ms. Potter. Come back tomorrow," Madam Pomfrey cut her off without hesitation.
"If not, I'll come," Regulus tried to diffuse the situation.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Andromeda accepted the settlement bitterly.
With that, the motherly nurse turned to her patient. "Now, lay still while I change this bandage."
**
After they were unceremoniously dispatched from the hospital wing, Otto and Jane went directly to the library to investigate the inner works of the werewolf cure, while Albus retired to Gryffindor tower to catch up on additional sleep. Holly expressed the same desire, and she went off with Albus.
Both of them were tired from the proceedings of the previous night as well, but at the same time, could not find the desire for another several hours of dreamy bliss.
"All right, you go look up these books and I'll try the ones on the other end," Jane instructed Otto once they had compiled a list of promising titles.
"Sure," Otto replied and went on his way.
Fifteen minutes later, they were to be found behind a stack of books, respectively bent over a volume as thick as a brick.
"Regulus looked alright this morning, didn't he?" Otto struck up a conversation as he flipped another page.
"He did. I still can't believe he fought a werewolf. They are incredibly hard to kill."
"It was really close. I wish I had been there to do something about it," Otto's voice was a bit downcast.
"Me too."
A moment of silence followed. "Do you know what I find interesting?"
"What?" Otto asked her.
"Why did we never talk in the past?"
"Well, because Andromeda and Regulus were at each other's throats all that time...what were we supposed to do?"
"We could have still talked. You have to wonder. It took a kidnapping for us to talk to one another."
"It is amazing. I think we can be good friends. Only, those two have to finally stop fighting."
"Will they ever? You saw Andromeda today..."
"Is she still angry?" Otto asked.
"Probably, she rarely lets her anger go, especially when she's told what to do."
"How do you deal with that on a regular basis? Must be intense," Otto remarked.
"Well, you get used to it eventually," Jane roller her eyes. "But it's still annoying."
"What about Holly? She seems really timid."
"She's not timid. Just a little bit naive, but really nice. The girl doesn't have a bad bone in her body."
"I wonder why she was so excited to see Albus this morning."
"Oh, you don't know," Jane grinned. "Right before we were kidnapped, she could not stop talking about him for a week. When he disappeared, it really shook her."
"She likes him?" Otto's eyes widened.
"As if you couldn't tell," she said. "Holly is crazy for him."
"He hasn't said anything about it," Otto forced his memory back. "Even in that makeshift prison."
`Yeah, but he was staring at that centaur awfully hard, and she was blonde," Jane explained to him the subtleties of the male mind.
"So she reminded him of her? I can't believe I didn't see it," Otto nearly smacked his forehead. "How can you be sure?"
"Remember, he didn't let go of her for nearly ten minutes!" she whispered excitedly.
"Ah, well," Otto scratched the back of his head. "Interesting, definitely, how long d'you reckon?"
"Well, she's smitten with him, but he'll figure it out."
"Knowing Albus, it will take a while," Otto looked up thoughtfully. "He is smart, but never really likes to focus on anything for longer than necessary. He's impatient, you see."
"Oh, so you want to speed up this little affair?" Jane smiled mischievously.
"Not really, no," her new friend shook his head. "I don't want to be a part of it. Nothing good can come of it."
"Well, if you're not going to, I will," she flipped her hair. "You just don't know how to do it."
"I'm not going to allow you to mess with my friends!" he stood his ground. "We might be talking, but I don't trust you, yet."
"You don't have to trust me for me to do it, you know," she pointed out.
"Regardless," he refused to retreat. "You're not messing with Albus!"
"Fine," she sighed and rolled her eyes again. "Now, what do you have in the way of ingredients?"
Otto looked down at the page he was on and realized he had turned twenty pages without knowing. "Nothing," he admitted.
"You don't remember how to brew the wolfsbane potion?" she quizzed him again.
"Partially," he screwed his face to remember. "Somewhere in my notes. I've yet to clear out my trunk from last year..."
"That's ridiculous," Jane shook her head. "I'm no good at Potions."
"Well, I suppose we're relying on my unparalleled genius to see us through," he smirked.
"Don't flatter yourself," Jane bit back. "Unlike you, I know what a library is."
"Fine, pick up the damned quill and start writing," Otto was beginning to grow annoyed. "I'm already ahead of you."
"All right, all right," Jane tried to calm him. "I'm writing."
"Good."
With that, both of them fell into a heavier silence and perused tome after tome on the list of needed ingredients. Outside, the sun was slowly rising over the Forbidden Forest; from the windows, it looked peaceful and serene, yet the mysteries and dangers it held had no end.
A/N: Finally cranked out this chapter...next one coming up!
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