The Marauders: Year Three | #Wattys2016

Dear Remus

Dear Remus

Remus stared in the tiny mirror he'd stolen from a drawer in Madam Pomfrey's desk, turning it to see the different angles of his nose, the great scar stretched across it. All of Pomfrey's efforts to disappear the scar had failed. She'd frowned and put every kind of ointment she could think of on the raw skin, but none had even so much as faded the scarlet mark. Finally, Pomfrey had sighed and ran her hand over the curls at Remus's forehead and looked into his eyes, "I'm sorry," she'd said. "Only time will heal it."

But he wasn't so sure it would ever.

The door of the hospital wing opened and Remus slid the mirror under his pillow, not wanting anyone to see what he'd been doing.

Newt Scamander walked into the room. He waited at the little desk for a moment for Pomfrey to come out of her office and then he said, quietly, almost conspiratorially, "Would it be possible, Poppy, to - to uh, to uh have you put together a bit of an ointment for me? Just a small jar... I uh, I have the ingredients I need in it here, on a list." He pulled a small parchment from the pocket of what appeared to be a travelling cloak.

Madam Pomfrey looked over the list a moment. "Aconite?" she asked, looking up, "It's poison."

Newt shook his head, "N-not in the use we're applying it for, I assure you... Just a couple sprigs... serves an important purpose..."

Madam Pomfrey said, "Well, I'll need to see the Potions Master for the aconite. You'll need to wait here for the balm..."

Newt stood there rather awkwardly as he waited - Pomfrey hurrying from the ward. It was the first time that Remus had ever seen the man without his briefcase and it was rather obvious he was sort of lost without it, unsure what to do with his hands, for in a short period of time he folded them in front of them, clasped them behind him, put them on his hips, let them hang, and then folded them across his chest. When Newt finally looked his way, he paused, staring at him for a long moment, then glanced back over his shoulder the way Pomfrey had gone, and came over toward him.

Remus looked down at the blankets on the bed, wishing Newt would just leave him alone.

But Newt did quite the opposite. He grabbed hold on the stool that Sirius had left by Remus's bedside and pulled it up closer to the nightstand and he looked at Remus for a moment. "Lyall Lupin's son," Newt commented.

Remus nodded, "Yes, sir."

"Remus," Newt added, nodding. "Yes... I've heard an awful lot about you."

Remus looked up in surprise, "My father talks about me?"

"From Ned Veigler, I meant," Newt said.

"Oh." Remus felt a sickness rise up in him. "I dunno if you've heard... what's happened..."

Newt nodded, "Yes... horrible incident... horrible..." He paused, looking at Remus as the boy looked back down at the duvet covering his legs and he reached out a palm, awkwardly lying it on Remus's forearm. "I hear you're quite good at keeping, uh, keeping secrets."

Remus looked up, their eyes met.

"You see... There are times when a person needs to disappear, in order to let the, uh, the doors of the past close behind them. When a man needs to disappear, only a very few people can know he's done it, or else it's not disappearing at all... you understand?"

"Not really," Remus answered.

Newt looked over his shoulder to be sure they were alone, then leaned closer. "I've a lab, you see, in my briefcase. It's sort of a... a travelling research facility... quite illegal, I'm sure, very few people know of it..." he paused. "I've recently acquired a new tenant that has agreed to stay on as an assistant."