Honesty
Summary: He'd always believed that one day, he and Hope would sit Remus down and tell their son the full truth together. He'd never expected he'd have to do this alone.
Disclaimer: I neither own, nor profit, nor is any copyright infringement intended.
HP
"Remus."
His son didn't move, just stood and watched as the August thunder rolled over the green hills. He wondered if the boy- no, young man, now- had even heard him. "Remus. We need to talk."
"Look, Tad, I know you're worried about tomorrow," Remus answered lowly. "But honestly? I just watched the minister put my mam in the ground, and I really don't feel like talking." His voice hitched unexpectedly, and he fell silent.
"Remmy, this can't wait. It's… it's important, alright? Please."
After a moment, Remus nodded and sighed, turning around and running a hand through his hair. His eyes were still red, but at least they were dry.
The young man followed his father into their small cottage, not daring to look down the road to the left where the little church steeple peeped above the hills. It was the wrong moment, Lyall thought desperately. It had always been the wrong moment, but now it was worse, far worse. He'd always believed that one day, he and Hope would sit Remus down and tell their son the full truth together. He'd never expected he'd have to do this alone.
"I know what I need to do, Tad, alright?" Remus said tiredly, as Lyall closed the screen door. He left the other one open; they both liked the smell of rain. "I'll just go in and get it over with."
"Remmy, registration is… tomorrow's not going to be that simple."
"It'll only take twenty minutes, Tad. Half an hour, tops. Be home before you know it; I'll even pick up a cake to share, if you like." He offered his father a thin smile that only made Lyall feel worse. He took a deep breath in through his nose and closed his eyes.
"Remus… there are things you need to know. Before tomorrow."
"I've read the Act, Tad. I know my rights and responsibilities."
"That's not what I'm talking about."
His son had fallen silent. He swallowed, not daring to open his eyes.
"At… at your registration, they're going to tell you… they're going to tell you who it was that bit you."
"Well I don't intend to go off and slay the poor bastard, don't worry," the younger wizard replied with a rueful chuckle. "Be a bit rich, coming from me. Besides, it's not like he chose to-"
"He did."
Dead silence. Lyall couldn't bear it any longer; he opened his eyes. Remus was frowning at him, confused.
"He did what?"
"He meant to turn you. Remus, I'm so sorry-"
"He- but-" He shook his head, still frowning. "I don't understand-"
"Remus, listen to me, you cannot go looking for him, he would kill you-"
"Go looking for him? He's in Azkaban, isn't he? I mean, if he meant to turn me-"
"They never caught him. He's been on the run ever since."
"On the run? Then how do they even know who it is?" Lyall let out a low noise of shame, and Remus's frown darkened. "Tad?"
"Greyback," Lyall groaned, burying his head in his hands. "Fenrir Greyback, Remus, you've seen him in the papers."
"Fenrir Greyback?" Remus had gone white. "That madman who goes around biting children? The one who escaped trial thirteen- thirteen-" His voice shook and died. He was looking at his father the way he had never looked at Lyall before, and the man couldn't bear it.
"Remus- I'm sorry, I'm so sorry-"
"He was offended," Remus whispered. "At that trial, someone offended him. Threw the court into uproar. You mean- you were-"
Lyall closed his eyes again. Nodded. There was a long silence, and then-
"What did you say to him?"
He flinched, opened his eyes. Remus's gold irises looked back, a fire building. Lyall felt his breath catch. "Remmy- I'm so- I didn't-"
"What," Remus repeated, voice low and dangerous, "did you say to him?"
The words escaped him without his permission, just as they had thirteen years ago. "Soulless, evil… deserving of nothing but death…"
"Just Greyback?" Remus nearly hissed.
Lyall broke down. "I'm sorry, Remmy, I'm sorry, I didn't know…"
"Was this why you couldn't stand to hold me until I was six?" Remus demanded, rising to his feet. "Was this why you never looked me in the eyes? Do I really disgust you so much?"
"No… no…"
"You- thirteen years-" His hands were shaking now, and Lyall felt a thrill of fear run through him. Surely his son wouldn't hit him, would he? "Thirteen years," Remus breathed again, "And you didn't think to tell me- until I was- until Mam was-"
"Remus, we wanted to tell you, we did-"
"STOP LYING! IF YOU'D WANTED TO, YOU WOULD HAVE DONE IT! YOU'VE BEEN LYING FOR THIRTEEN YEARS, JUST STOP!" He slammed his fists down on the table in rage; it cracked apart and collapsed. Hope's favorite porcelain vase fell to the tile and shattered, but neither noticed. "YOU- YOU THINK I'M A FREAK!"
"No, Remus, never-"
"A BEAST! A MONSTER, A SOULLESS, EVIL CREATURE DESERVING OF NOTHING BUT DEATH! DID YOU EVEN WANT ME?! DID MAM MAKE YOU KEEP ME?!"
Lyall couldn't even answer, wracked with sobs of grief and guilt. That was all the confirmation Remus needed. "Fine," he spat, tears burning in his eyes. "I get it. Mam's gone, and you don't want me here." He headed for the door.
Lyall felt his blood freeze. No, no, he'd just lost his wife, he couldn't lose his son too! He grabbed hold of his son's wrist. "Remus-"
"Don't touch me!" his boy snarled, yanking his arm away.
"Please," Lyall whispered pitifully. "Please, don't go."
Remus shook his head, face hard with fury, tears glimmering in his gold eyes. "Haven't you heard, Tad?" he snarled. "I'm nothing but a monster." He turned and pulled the screen-door open so hard it came off its hinges and clattered to the floor. As he stepped out into the rain, he glanced back.
"Thanks for everything," he choked, tears rolling down his scarred cheeks, wrath and grief in every word. And with that, he turned and disapparated, leaving his father to crumble to the kitchen tile behind him.
A/N: So I noticed that there were no fics (or at least, none that I could find) regarding the day that Lyall finally told Remus the truth about what happened when he was four. I have this headcannon that Hope died just a few days before Remus came of age and had to register as an adult with the Ministry, and that Lyall finally came clean after the funeral.