CURSES AND CANDIES - REMUS LUPIN

𝑜𝑛𝑒 ℎ𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑟.

impatient spamming whore ™️

Remus had been in such a poor physical state very few times in his life, and that was certainly saying something considering how the full moons had affected him at Hogwarts before Hollis started to help the other Marauders.

Any anger that the werewolves ever had seemed to be taken out on him without a shred of mercy, as if he was a punching bag they thoroughly enjoyed torturing for his seeming betray to their kind.

His legs were horribly cramping from being forced in a kneeling position for hours on end in front of Greyback's podium, and his wrists had been rubbed raw from the harsh rope binding them behind his back so he could make no move in his defence.

He had absolutely no way to keep track of time, as he was fed incredibly irregularly and had no idea what time of day it was at any point during the hours of sunlight because of how far back in the cave he was. The lack of food made him lose what seemed to be at least five pounds so far, and his muscles felt weak and drained.

Occasionally, the seemingly innocent leather band around his wrist and underneath the rope with a message from a Marauder, and it was torturous for him not to be able to reply to them, saying any sort of thing to let them know that he was alive.

"Oi, Greyback!" the werewolf that had originally found him called out to their leader from where he was looking at Remus from a dingy rock with a flask in his hand. "Mind if we change out his ropes? These ones are getting a little too bloody, wouldn't want him to be able to slip out of them."

One of his green eyes had so much dried blood cake on his thick lashes, Remus could only watch the man whose name be learned was Graden with blurred vision and immobility.

He walked towards Remus slowly with echoing footsteps, enjoying his tormented state.

"Suppose that Greyback'll let us beat you up a bit later?" he asked with a chuckle as he roughly undid the ropes around Remus's wrists, making him bit his tongue to keep from crying out so hard he tasted blood. "It was rather fun last time."

Remus could smell the alcohol on his breath, and not the pleasant, nutty smell of firewhiskey that he had tasted on Hollis's tongue on numerous occasions.

No, this was sharp and sour and made him recoil slightly.

"At this point, you're just pathetic," Remus grumbled. "You'll only hurt me if you know I can't fight back. Let my wrists free, and we'll see who'll win then."

"And let you run free?" Graden scoffed from behind his back as he tied new ropes. "No way in hell, traitor."

A solid kick was also delivered in his back that made him groan was delivered.

Just as Graden was about to walk away, though, he noticed a glint of metal on Remus's finger in the torchlight that he had never seen before. He dropped the damp, bloody ropes on the ground that made a smear of crimson go against the green tinted rocks.

"Well, what do we have here?" he asked, roughly yanking his hands back in such a way that Remus's elbow popped painfully. "Is this a ring?"

A jolt of panic went through the Lupin as he held up the small copper band made of the same metal as Hollis's in the flickering torchlight.

"Give that back," he said with gritted teeth. "You have no right taking that from me."

Graden's already split knuckles punched him directly across his chiselled cheekbone, only darkening the deep purple bruise already there incapable of healing because of how often it was struck.