Visitor (Remus) - Complete

[talls]

Ferret smiled as she sat in her room. Her grandfather was standing on a chair, resisting the encyclopedia of Magical Creatures. It was amusing because he was doing it like it was Shakespeare.

On her lap, Jasper was curled into a small ball. He was curled around the many toys Remus had given him for Christmas.

Since the sacking of Mary Smith, Ferret's privileges had been restored. Her room was now decorated, flowers and get well cards covered the table. Guests were allowed to come and go as they pleased. No wand yet though.

Beside Ferret was the small stuffy her old healer had ripped. She had refused to have it fixed by anyone other than the one who made it for her.

Smiling, the girl laughed as her grandfather began to jump from chair to floor to table and back. For a man nearing his late 90s, he was very flexible.

[remuslupin]

Remus felt like he could burst out of his skin with anticipation, stomach tense with a combination of nerves and guilt. Finally, after writing letter after letter to Ferret and getting no reply (he'd finally received a generic letter from St. Mungo's expressing their regret at a 'clerical oversight' that was 'deeply regretted by the administration') he was going to get to see her.

His impassioned entreaties to the Headmaster had done some good; the kindly old wizard had pulled some strings to arrange for Remus to be excused for the day to visit Ferret. Remus was a little nervous about the visit - he wasn't quite sure what state his girlfriend would be in, and he still felt responsible for not noticing and doing something sooner.

He was Ferret's boyfriend, after all - shouldn't Remus have known she was having nightmares; shouldn't he have been able to do something about it before things came to this and wasn't he rather a terrible boyfriend to have not done so.

Taking a deep breath, Remus knocked on the door, waiting for Ferret to give him confirmation that it was okay for him to enter.

[talls]

Ferret laughed as her grandfather began to do a jig type dance on the table, supposedly to ward away evil gnomes. Oh she had missed this. For as long as she had remembered, her grandfather had been like this. Before her father died, he was more serious apparently but she preferred this.

It was Jasper who heard the knock first. He lifted his head, looking at the door expectantly. Ferret held up the small animal, making him look at her.

"Is it a healer is it?" The animal shook his head. "Carl?" Another shake of the head. "Aunt Poppy?" Another no. "Then who-"

Josh Hoggs jumped from the table and opened the door, looking at the person who knocked. Ferret smiled widely noticing a bit of her beloved boyfriend in the hall. Grandfather raised a finger and placed the old finger on his nose.

"Werewolf!" he cried and that did it for Ferret. She busted out laughing and fell off her bed in hysterics.

[remuslupin]

Remus heard Ferret's voice through the door, and muffled as it was he still had to smile. It was full of the tenderness it usually held when talking to him, so he assumed Jasper was in there with her, and he was reassured by how happy she sounded.

Remus was just about to open the door when it was pulled open in front of him, and he was suddenly confronted by a bald old man smiling so widely that his eyes were almost buried by laughter-lines and wrinkles.

They stared at each other for a moment; the old man thoughtfully tapping his long and hooked nose and Remus puzzling over what this man was doing in Ferret's room. Then the man yelled out the accusation and Remus felt his heart stop for a moment, gently moving around the old man to gaze worriedly and questioningly at his girlfriend, who was currently laughing herself to death on the floor after having fallen out of her bed.

"Um..." Remus asked uncertainly, "Did I miss something?"

[talls]

Ferret was laughing so hard she was struggling to draw breath, tears running down her cheeks. Finally calming, she wiped her eyes, breathing heavily.

"Go get something to eat grandpa," she said, laughter still in her voice. The old man smiled warmly, saluted and marched off like a toy solider.

"Don't mind him, he thinks he's Van Helsing, so everyone outside the family is some type of magical creature," she explained, chuckling. "My brother's fiancee is a mermaid."

Ferret smiled and stood, fixing her hospital gown. Smiling warmly, she strode over to Remus, hugging him tightly. She gently nuzzled his neck, breathing in his scent. "Merlin, I've missed you Remus..."

[remuslupin]

Waiting patiently for Ferret to recover her breath, Remus watched the old man nervously, the fixed and toothless grin unnerving him slightly. He had never been gladder when his girlfriend got herself back under control and sent the old man - her grandfather - off to get something to eat.

As Ferret's grandfather marched out of the room, Remus snapped him a matching salute and tried to stifle a smile as he watched the old man parade down the hallway towards the cafeteria.

Listening to Ferret's explanation, Remus gave a sigh of relief. "Thank Merlin! I was about to run home and update my will." He gave a wry chuckle. "Interesting streak of luck your grandpa has to pick me so well." The teasing grin on his face made it clear that he was teasing.

As Ferret adjusted her hospital gown, Remus caught a brief flash of skin but the usual answering flare of desire was tamped down by the depressing circumstance and surroundings and the all-too-familiar and nearly overpoweringly-sterile smell of hospitals and medical potions.

Opening his arms, Remus wrapped them tightly around Ferret, basking in the warmth of her body against his. It had been a long hard week without her, not knowing how she was or what was going on. Pressing a kiss on the top of her head, Remus breathed in her scent and sighed happily. "Not as much as I've missed you, little Ferret. Hogwarts and the commonroom haven't been the same without you."

[talls]

Ferret smiled and nuzzled his neck. Looking at him, she stroked his cheek. "Of all the people I wanted to visit me, you were at the top of my list. But if I knew you would be here so soon, I would have dressed in real clothes!" She blushed and looked down at her hospital gown.

"Um...can you wait her for a few minutes? So I can put on some normal clothes? OH!" Walking backwards towards her bed, trying to cover her lack of clothing under her gown. From the bed, she gently picked up the ferret stuffy, ripped nearly entirely in half.

"My first healer tried to take her away from me and she got ripped. Can you fix her while I'm gone?"

[remuslupin]

Remus leaned into Ferret's touch, having been going into almost withdrawal after the time she'd been gone. Even before they were dating, they'd been very touchy-feely with each other, and being able to always get a hug or a kiss or just a simple touch was something Remus had gotten used to, and hadn't realized how much he valued until it had been taken away.

"I came as soon as I could. Annoyed the Headmaster no end, I shouldn't wonder, but I had to see you." Remus smiled and leant in to give Ferret a soft and careful kiss.

As she blushed and looked down at her hospital gown, Remus gave a little wink, blushing slightly. "I can wait, though I'm certainly not complaining at the view."

Taking the stuffed ferret, Remus nodded and gestured for Ferret to go and do what she needed to do, stealing another quick and gentle kiss before she left. Quickly restoring the stuffy to its original form, Remus placed the wolf stuffy he'd been given for Christmas down next to it on Ferret's bedside table.

Turning towards the bed, Remus spotted Jasper cuddled up in the blankets playing with the toys he had given the little creature for Christmas and knelt down so that he was at eye level.

"Hi there Jasper," He said with a smile, keeping his voice low and gentle. "You are beautiful aren't you - such a gorgeous ferret." Slowly extending his hand in front of him to rest on the bed cover where Jasper could come investigate it, Remus held still and waited for the little ferret to respond to his overture of friendship. "I'm Remus."

[talls]

Ferret let out a soft hum of happiness when Remus kissed her, warmth spreading through her body. She had missed him the most. His touch and his scent, his skin against hers and his kiss. She giggled softly.

"I'm sure the headmaster didn't mind. He is a good man. He's letting me bring Jasper to school."

She smiled as she hurried out with a small stack of clothes toward her private bathroom.

Jasper watched the interaction between his mother figure and the male. So this was the Remus who sent him the wonderful toys. As his mama ran off to change, the male fixed the toy that wasn't for him. Mama had said no to him playing with it.

The male named Remus knelt down so the were eye level and he sat up. He began speaking and lay his hand on the bed. He sniffed it then bit it gently, a friendly gesture.

"Hi Remus!" he said, sure he couldn't understand him. "You make Mama happy, you give me toys and you called me beautiful! I approve! Through, I'm a boy, so I'm more handsome than beautiful."

[remuslupin]

As Jasper ventured forward to sniff at his hand, Remus smiled down at the adorable little creature, admiring its colour and the sinuous curve of its back. As Jasper bit down, Remus was somewhat taken by surprise and wondered for a moment what he'd done wrong, before realizing from the ferret's behaviour it was meant to be a friendly gesture.

Slowly and carefully, making sure Jasper could back away and wasn't being forced, Remus reached out a finger and started to pet the top of Jasper's head, the fur smooth and silky against his skin.

Nodding and smiling gently, Remus inclined his head in agreement at Jasper. "Well, I'm glad to have your approval. And you are quite correct. Though I think you are beautiful, you're also a very handsome ferret indeed."

[talls]

Jasper moved closer to the Remus, closing his eyes to enjoy being petted. He moved so the male was stroking his entire back.

"I like being petted like this," Jasper said, moving so help kept being stroked.

"I see why Mama likes you! You pet good!" Propping himself on the male's arm and and looking at him. "But what was with that lippy thingy you two were doing. Is there a treat in your mouth? Can I have some!? I want a treat too!" Using his claws, he begins to crawl up his arm to try to look in his mouth. "I wanna treat too! Its only fair!"

[remuslupin]

Remus chuckled softly at Jasper's sincere and undisguised enjoyment, the ferret stretching out to ensure petting of his whole back. "I'm glad," Remus said absently, focusing on the rhythmic gesture of stroking, "I like petting you like this too."

All of a sudden it struck him - he was talking to a ferret. That wasn't so unusual - the stranger thing was that a ferret was talking to him! Remus had always found it easy to understand animals - his grades in Care of Magical Creatures reflecting that fact - but he'd never been able to hear one talk before.

As such, he blinked in puzzlement at Jasper's train of thought as the ferret dug sharp calws into his arm and tried to climb up to his shoulder. "I'd like to think your Mama likes me for more reasons than that."

Reaching out and shepherding Jasper into the crook of his shoulder - which if Remus recalled what his girlfriend had said correctly was the ferret's favourite spot - Remus continued stroking him, chuckling a little louder. "There's nothing in my mouth. It's a thing that humans do to show affection. Like petting or cuddling, but for mates."

Fetching his wand, Remus twirled it and conjured a stuffed ferret in the same colours as Jasper to join the pile of toys on the bed. "Did you like your Christmas presents, little Jasper?"

[talls]

Jasper moved toward his favorite spot on a human. "Warm!" he exclaimed. Then he paused. The male human was talking back to him, like he could understand him. He understand humans, all ferrets could, but none could talk back to him.

"Magic Male!" the little ferret exclaimed. "Magic Remus!" Jasper let out an excited squeak at the noise but stayed put, quite content where he was at the moment. "Yay! More toys!"

Jasper listened to the male, curling more into him. "Mama likes you a lot. She cry for you. She cried over stuff ferret. She said she want you with her all the time and miss you. And sometimes, in her sleep, she moans your name and smells like she in heat but then it go away."

Jasper looked at Remus, confused. "Why you understand me? And why you smell a bit like a big dog that eat ferrets?"

[remuslupin]

Jasper was warm and soft as he curled up on Remus' shoulder, and Remus reached out and petted him under the chin. "Your Mama comes from a large group of magic people, Jasper. I'm just a different kind of Magic." Remus' laughter rumbled through him at the excited squeak. "Whenever you want more, you can have them. We're friends, aren't we - and that's what friends do."

Remus frowned to hear how sad Ferret was, but tried not to cry. He suspected it might distress Jasper, but couldn't hold back a single tear from falling down his cheek and splashing on the ferret's fur. "Well, I miss her and want her with me all the time too. And soon you two will be out of here and you can come live in the castle with me. Would you like that?" Remus sniffled slightly and got his tears under control, giving Jasper a watery smile.

Then, as his girlfriend's pet ferret started talking about how she smelled of 'heat' when she dreamed of him, Remus felt his cheeks and ears grow warm and knew he was blushing violently, coughing awkwardly and neglecting to answer the question.

"I was eaten by a big dog when I was a kit, so when the silver-sun is round, I turn into a big dog. It hurts, and I don't like it, but afterwards your Mama makes it better."

[talls]

"You're not like Mama's mean Ant are you? You don't seem like it. But she mean and try to make Mama mate with a "Pureblood"...what's a pureblood? But you seem nice so we are friends!"

Jasper shook his fur, attempting to get dry, feeling water drop on him.

"Do all humans create rain?" he asked licking his cheek to pick up the salt.

"I wanna live with Mama all the time! Mama gives me people food!" The ferret jumped slightly on his shoulder and nearly slipped off, crawling back into his shoulder.

Hearing his story, Jasper frowned. "But...if you got eated, how you still here? Did you get pooped out?" The then he made a happy sound. "Mama is good. She makes everything better!"