Thicker than Water (Marauders Era)

10 October, 1980 - Sh*t

"Shit. Shit shit shit."

"Will you shut up?"

"Oh I'm sorry, do you not think this is worth swearing over?"

"Of course it's bloody worth swearing over, but the constant stream is slightly distracting."

"Right, so I'm just supposed to not panic right now?"

Lavinia huffed a breath and forced herself not to bite Sirius's head off for that. They were both stressed and letting that push them to words they'd both regret wasn't going to help anyone, which was really what she needed to be doing at the moment.

"You can panic later, Sirius," she said instead, keeping her voice as calm as she could. "Right now, however, you're going to get me a tea towel and a bowl of warm water and then you're going to start cleaning up the blood trail."

Sirius met her eyes, his expression wild and almost angry. "How the hell are you so calm about this!? Don't you care at all?"

Lavinia went very still. The whole world went very very still. But she didn't lose it. She couldn't lose it. Remus might die if she lost it. Which was probably being dramatic, but seeing as how his blood had left a trail across the floor on their way in, it felt a little less ridiculous than she would like. So she shoved all the myriad responses to Sirius's words deep deep down and focused on the task at hand.

"Towel, Sirius. And water. We will discuss this later," Lavinia replied, the words clipped as she took her eyes off her work for only a moment to glare at him before she returned to what she was doing, Sirius's annoyed huff and footsteps the only sign that he had cooperated with her instructions.

Lavinia worked as quickly as she dared, her hands moving carefully across open wounds and a few angry burns, dabbing them with the towel soaked in warm water, not giving herself time to think too much about what she was doing. About the ripped and bloodied shirt she'd tossed aside at the start of this. About Sirius, who was sitting a little ways away with his head in his hands and his breath coming too quickly. Or about the fact that every time she dipped the towel in the bowl, the water got a little redder.

She didn't have time for the fear or the panic those thoughts would bring. She didn't have time to care too much. They were distractions. And distractions could make her mess up. So she kept her head empty and her hands busy spreading salves that smoked when they were applied and trying to figure out if she dared use any spells to close the wounds yet. She'd never dealt with anything like this before and hardly knew where to begin other than basic treatments so... so maybe she'd wait a day and see if the salves seemed to be doing the trick before she tried healing spells. Just in case. Just in case.

When she finished, the wounds on Remus's chest as clean as she could make them and thoroughly bandaged, she picked up the bowl and the towel and went to the kitchen, casting only a quick backwards glance at Sirius on her way. Just long enough to get out three very important words: "He'll be fine."

Sirius didn't look up and Lavinia wasn't even sure he'd heard. But his breathing was more even now and the only scratches she could see on him were minor. So she left him where he was.

In the kitchen, Lavinia dumped the water, watching the reddish streams disappear down the drain, then cleaned the towel under the tap, her fingers working at stained areas as she let her head slip out of the cool, controlled place she kept it in for healing and finally started thinking about what the hell had just happened.

The Order had organized an ambush today. Everything had been planned, just like it always was. Meticulous and secret and they had all been prepared, all known their roles. Lavinia had set up her supplies a short distance away from the main field and they had waited for the signal. But no sooner had the foghorn sound filled the air than the number of Death Eaters in the camp had doubled, then tripled, appearing along with rows and rows of pale figures that had charged with nothing but scratching, scraping hands and bodies that seemed utterly unaffected by the spells the Order had sent their way. Explosions in the ground had sent a few flying, but they'd just gotten right back up again, the onslaught utterly unaffected.