Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Three
Young and Whole
If you could only see the beast you've made of me
I held it in but now it seems you've set it running free
The saints can't help me now, the ropes have been unbound
I hunt for you with bloody feet across the hallow'd ground
(Howl - Florence + The Machine)June 7th, 1997Everyone in the infirmary was coming down from the post-battle adrenaline surge.
When Remus received Dumbledore's owl upon his return from Ireland and the werewolf
packs with no success, he was actually thrilled for something to do. However, patrolling
Hogwarts grounds with several other Order members so that Dumbledore could leave the
castle for a few hours was not what he'd had in mind.
Then again, he had thought it was going to be a boring night.
"You're okay?" Remus asked, hovering over Dora as she pulled bits of rubble from
her brown hair, casually tossing the debris on the floor when Madam Pomfrey was not
looking at her.
"I'm fine, Remus, just a little sore."
"You're sure?" he asked, his eyes flickering between her and Hermione.
Dora smiled, patting his hand which was gripping the handle of her chair tight
enough to make his fingers turn bone-white. "Go on, love. Check on her before Moony
completely loses it."
Remus nodded, grateful that despite all the pain he had caused her, Dora still
somehow understood him in a way that very few ever had. She understood the way the
wolf inside of him thought and worked, understood his driving need to keep her safe but
to also keep Harry and Hermione safe—even when they tried like hell to make that as
difficult as possible.
"Hermione?" Remus whispered as he approached. Hermione was perched at the
end of a hospital bed, staring across the room where Bill Weasley was lying unconscious.
He was being fretted over by Madam Pomfrey, while Ron stood at the foot of the bed