Loki Tayesus and the Curse of the Lycanthrope By Rion B.Martin

- Chapter 1 -

The Lovely Mr Lupin

"Loki…"

Loki was running through the tall grass. She could hear it behind her, crashing through the undergrowth. She tried to go faster but it was impossible, she was just running out of energy so quickly. Finally, she tripped over the dismembered leg of a red deer and as she fell to the forest floor she twisted her ankle. She tried to sit up and she looked behind her. It was getting closer and closer, she could hear it's breathing and smell the rotting meat between its teeth. It emerged from the grass and looked straight at her with its tortured golden eyes. It snarled savagely and leapt at her, its red maw open wide, ready to rip out her throat. She closed her eyes and…

"Loki…"

She sat bolt upright in her bed, her body drenched with sweat, her hair plastered to her head and the back of her neck. Her body heaved as she drew in great gulps of air. Gradually, she began to calm down and she looked at her bedroom walls, the three black and the bloodied red. She ran a hand through her hair and got out of bed. She straightened her pyjamas and walked over to the mirror.

"What happened to you," it said. "It looks like you've been out in a storm." It began to laugh violently and nearly fell off the wall. Loki pulled her tongue at it and made her way to the stairs.

As she got to the top step she sniffed the air and smiled. Her dad was cooking breakfast. She rushed down the two flights of stairs and opened the kitchen door. Her father was stood by the cooker, making sure the pan didn't overcook the bacon and eggs again. It was getting old and they really did need to get a new one.

Frank David Tayesus' brown hair was stood up all over the place as was usual in the morning and was wearing his maroon dressing gown which really should have been thrown away years ago because it was coming apart at the seams from overuse. He was a bit tall, just about six foot, and quite thin and his feet were encased in his blue slippers. He was quite a laid back gentleman but he was a bit agitated as he watched the pan because it had already ruined three other attempts at breakfast that morning.

"Why don't you just renew the charm on it or just buy a new one dad?"

Frank smiled broadly at his daughter who was still half asleep.

"I don't really know. I'd like to think that I'm quite enjoyin' this at the moment. It's almost like cookin' in Muggle-fashion." He laughed heartily. "'How'd you sleep by the way?"

Loki looked out of the window at the slopes of the valley they lived in. It was covered in woods with a border of rowan trees. She was trying to ignore the question and take her mind off the dream but she knew that there was no point because it never worked.

"I've got to say that I've definitely had better nights."

Frank looked concerned as he stepped towards his daughter and embraced her in a crushing hug.

"Do you want to talk about this one?"

Loki shook her head as she closed her eyes. She hugged her father tight and stepped back from him.

"Dad," she said sternly and nodded towards the cooker.

"Oh right, the bacon! Stop! Stop! That's more than enough now!" Frank ran over to the stove and, with a flick of his wand, made the pan do a somersault, throwing the bacon and eggs onto the two plates below. He sat down at the table and after a quick Accio plates, they were soon eating their breakfasts.

Halfway through the meal, there was a deafening roar outside which shook the foundations of the small house. Frank sat back as Loki threw her cutlery on the table, which proceeded to squeak in protest at being thrown around.

"Well it looks like Pulo's back, dad." Loki grinned as she got up to look out of the window to see if she could see him.

"So 'e's finally decided to turn up. It's a good job 'e 'as, because if I'd've 'ad the Ministry on my back because he likes to wander I'd've been but in Azkaban for the murder of an endangered magical being." He shook his head. "I still can't believe they put me in charge of a Scottish Ridgeback, I never asked to be a Guardian of that species. They did it on purpose I just know it. Right, Loki, if you want, you can feed 'im today. Get a carcass from the cellar an' make sure there's somethin' to chew on this time."

Loki finished her breakfast and walked over to the cellar door. She pushed it open and shivered as an icy breeze escaped from within. She climbed down the stairs and walked down the narrow path between the frozen carcasses, which hung from hooks in the ceiling. She chose a large deer carcass and by pushing it up she got it off the hook. She panted slightly at the effort because it was really heavy, any normal girl of her age would have struggled immensely trying to get the meat off the hook. She grabbed a bit at each side and dragged it back up the cellar stairs. She took it on a path through the kitchen and out of the back door.

Her dad's voice drifted after her. "Remember not to let 'im 'ave his way with you Loki, coz I might just decide to take a while in savin' you today."

With that in mind Loki dragged the meat on for a few more metres and dropped it in the grass. She looked up at the sky and watched as a dark shape circled lazily closer to the ground.

The dark shape soon took shape. It was a Scottish Ridgeback, as Frank had said, and it was a dragon. Pulo was 13 metres long with a 19-metre wingspan. His scales were a rusty red and along his spine ran a black ridge hence the name Ridgeback. He was originally a native of Scotland, like Frank, but had been relocated to England for protection. The sun's rays reflected off of his scales as he landed in front of the young girl.

They stood facing each other, looking deep into each other's eyes searching for a weakness. They stood so still that after a minute they started to resemble a couple of statues. Neither one of them looked away as both were determined to make the other crumble in defeat. As this went on, Frank, meanwhile, was leaning in the frame of the back door, on hand in case Pulo managed to dominate his daughter.

Soon enough Pulo snorted in disgust and looked at the ground. Loki grinned and dragged the meat closer to the Ridgeback. She dropped it near to his head and stepped back. When she had done this, Pulo set the meat on fire, and, after darting his snake-like neck forwards twice the carcass was gone.

Frank walked over to the pair, his dark hair swaying in the breeze. He stopped when he was in front of the Ridgeback and looked directly into the dragon's black eyes. As they looked into each other's eyes a conversation seemed to pass between them. Pulo swayed his head slowly from side to side and nodded. He closed his eyes cutting the connection and took off.

"Well that's finally taken care of. Come on Loki you'd better get dressed. Remus is comin' round today to check up on how you're doin'. See if you've got any symptoms."

"What? Already?"

"Aye. You didn't forget did you? He'll be so disappointed, 'e loves comin' round to catch up on things and to see how much you've grown. I think I'd better ask 'im to give you a kick up the arse as well, you're gettin' a bit too cocky with your sense of hearin' and smell. 'Ow can you say that your own father's cooking smells like rancid meat?" He shook his head. "Hurry up then or 'e'll be waitin' ages for you to get ready."

When they got in the house, Loki ran upstairs. She really enjoyed Remus' visits even though they were only once or twice a month. She showered quickly then ran to get dressed in her bedroom.

As she brushed her hair in the mirror she inspected her features. She was only 11 but her hair was naturally grey at the tips of her dark brown hair. Her eyes though were even more interesting than her hair. One eye was normal and was green like her mother's were, but her right eye was what really stood out. It was golden yellow like a wolf's. She sighed and set down the brush on the desk.

"All you ever do is moan," shrieked the mirror. "Why can't you be more cheerful?"

"Oh shut up. You're the one who moans all the time and that's all you'll ever do." Loki turned her back on the mirror and opened her bedroom door.

Voices from downstairs drifted up to her carried by the draught coming through the open front door. Loki smiled, Remus had finally arrived. She crept down the stairs to the first floor landing and peeked round the corner. She smiled as she watched the light brown haired man talk to her father. He was still quite young but his hair was flecked with bits of grey. Loki could hardly contain herself any longer.

"Remus!" she cried and launched herself at him from the stairs. Remus looked up, in time to see the girl flying at him through the air. He laughed as he caught her.

"You're here! You're really here!" She buried her head into Remus' neck and nuzzled him like a cub.

"Hi Loki, it's always a pleasure to see you again." He smiled at the affection the child showed him. She'd always made him feel welcome, unlike her mother. They'd grown close over the years and she felt more like a sister to him than the daughter of his childhood friend.

"Come on you two, let's take this to the livin' room."

Loki beamed up at Remus as she took his hand and led him to the living room. Even though he'd been to the house many times and knew the way quite well, Remus always allowed her to lead him around, it seemed to strengthen their bond somehow. Remus let go of the girl's hand and sat in the armchair opposite Frank, whilst Loki sat on the floor and leaned on her father's legs. She smiled and closed her eyes as she listened to the conversation.

"So how was your journey this time?"

Remus leaned back in his armchair. "It was fine but I keep underestimating how long it takes to get through those woods. I got on a Muggle train up here and flew the rest of the way on a broom I borrowed. I nearly got off at the wrong stop again. If I hadn't of spotted that stupid dragon you protect then who knows where I would've ended up. What was Pulo doing so far from the valley anyway?"

"He's been quite agitated lately and I don't really know why. It's not like we never 'ave enough food here for 'im. I guess I'll just 'ave to keep a closer eye on 'im just to make sure everythin's fine. The last thing I want to do is keep 'im chained up."

"No. That wouldn't be right. He seems in quite good health even though he's not in his natural habitat. What are you feeding him on?"

"Luckily, the Ministry found a big enough valley so 'e's got a big enough territory to roam and food wise 'e gets deer, cattle, sheep and occasionally the odd hippogriff carcass. We've got a pretty well-stocked herd of them up here still."

"Yeah I remember you showing them to me a few months back. Is the Ministry paying you enough now because last time you hardly had enough to get by on."

"Aye, they are now. When they realised how dangerous a job it is protecting a Ridgeback they gladly agreed to pay me more, especially when no one at the office would take up the job if I decided to resign." They both laughed. "They were hard times, it was even worse knowing that Cassi and her parents had left Loki a fortune but she has to wait for the letter from Gringotts saying she can open it. It should be 'ere soon though."

Remus nodded his head in agreement. He sighed and looked out of the window. He smiled at the sight of three owls flying towards the house.

"Frank, I think that letter will be coming sooner than you think."

Frank looked up and followed Remus' gaze to the window. He got up and opened it. Soon the three owls were lined up on the back of the sofa. By this time Loki had opened her eyes and was looking curiously at the owls.

The first owl was their own. He was a short-eared owl called Astok and he had a letter in his beak. He dropped it onto the small coffee table and flew to the dresser at the back of the room and began to preen. The second owl was a handsome barn owl and he carried a brown envelope. He flew to Frank's arm and handed him the envelope. Frank smiled.

"Loki, it's for you."

Loki's eyes opened wide in bewilderment. She retrieved the envelope and sat down next to the third owl on the sofa. She turned it round and on the other side in emerald-green ink was her name and address.

Miss Loki Tayesus

Ridgeback House

Rowan Valley

Lancashire

"I wonder who this is from."

Remus and Frank smiled knowingly on either side of her. She opened the letter and gasped as she read the contents out loud.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Miss Tayesus,

We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of

Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and

equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

"No way! Dad is this real? I've really got in? But I'm sure that you didn't go to Hogwarts. You went to Estuards in Scotland."

"Aye, I did go to Estuards but your mother went to Hogwarts. She put you on their waiting list before you were even born. She couldn't wait to see you start there."

"I am going aren't I?"

Frank and Remus both laughed.

"Yep, you're goin' but you'd better write that reply because this lovely owl would like to go." Frank ran his finger along the back of the owl's head, which hooted happily.

As Loki ran to the dresser to get a quill, a bottle of ink and some parchment, Frank picked up the letter that Astok had dropped onto the table and read it. He grinned at the message inside. He'd been waiting all summer for that particular letter to finally arrive.

Loki ran back into the living room with a folded up parchment and handed it over to the barn owl.

"Thanks," she whispered to it and after taking it off her dad, she threw it out of the window wishing it a safe journey. Then she turned her attention on the third owl that had flown in. It was a small burrowing owl. It had a small package tied to its left leg. Loki untied it and read the address. It was for her again. Carefully, she opened it and inside was a key. A small piece of parchment slipped out of the packaging.

"Dad," Loki said hesitantly. "This says that the keys mine for vault six hundred and sixteen. It congratulates me on my inheritance and my acceptance to Hogwarts."

Frank hugged his daughter and kissed her head.

The little burrowing owl ruffled its feathers. It had made sure that the girl had the key and with a hoot of relief, took off through the open window.

"That's your inheritance off your mother and 'er parents. You were only allowed it if you got into Hogwarts. So don't go spendin' it all at once. There's a lot in there but you can never be too careful." He hugged her again. "An' don't lose the key because it's too much trouble to get a new one." He let Loki go and looked out of the window. "Shouldn't you two be gettin' on with your session now anyway?"

Remus pulled himself up from the armchair and nodded. He waited for Loki to put her letters and key on the dresser and they went out of the back door into the garden.

They walked in silence until they got to the ring of rowan trees, which bordered the woods. They entered and Remus started the usual questioning that came with the walks in the woods.

"How have you been feeling this month? No moon sickness?"

"Nothing really. I just feel the same. My senses are still better than my dad's so everything's normal."

"So no feelings of illness at all. Right. So you've never had any urges to go roaming at night? Not even a taste for raw meat occasionally?"

"Nope. None at all, not even when I've been allowed to feed Pulo."

"Okay, that's very good… How about your dreams? How've they been affecting your sleep?"

"Well they've been getting more frequent and I had one last night."

"Go on."

"I was running away from her and I fell. Just before I woke up she was about to kill me. It was horrible. Her eyes showed that she felt tortured and in pain." Loki shuddered violently even though it was warm.

"So you know that it's your mother chasing you now then?"

"Yeah, dad told me more about her and how she died after you left last month. He told me that she'd been bitten by a werewolf about a year after they'd met. He told me she got pregnant with me after they got married but they were worried that I'd be born with the werewolf genes. He told me about when she died. How she'd been killed by one of the gryphons that used to live here." She looked ahead thoughtfully. "He said that I'd witnessed it all but I don't remember anything. He said he'd heard the fight and rushed out to find my mum's corpse, an injured griffon and me, covered in blood. I feel bad though because I don't even remember her that well. All I've got is a few pictures of her and her grave."

Remus ruffled her hair.

"Don't feel bad about it, you were too young anyway to remember much. I know you always suspected that she was a werewolf since I'm one myself and I always come to visit you every month. But remember that Cassi lives on through you.

"There aren't many people around who can say that one of their parents is a werewolf and even fewer that have been born from a female werewolf, so you're pretty unique. You've obviously inherited some of you're mum's qualities. You've got the grey tips of your hair, your heightened level of senses and your wolf eye from the wolf and your black hair and your green eye from her human side. She'd be so proud of you now."

Loki held back her tears. Remus always seemed to know the right things to say to her. She saw him as an older brother or an uncle because the two of them were so close. She sniffed a couple of times, looked up at him and smiled.

"You went to Hogwarts didn't you Remus."

"Yes… I did. It was years ago though. I was really lucky though because I'd been bitten while I was still a child. If Dumbledore hadn't been headmaster I seriously doubt that I would've been accepted. I met some good friends there…" He trailed off as his mind went back to his time at Hogwarts.

"Who were they?" Loki wanted all the information she could get because Remus rarely talked about his school days. Usually it was about the hardships of being a young werewolf and the struggles of his parents. Sometimes it was about how he dealt with it now and advice on how to deal with it if she changed.

"There was James Potter, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. They were my serious friends at Hogwarts, whilst I'd known your dad since we were kids. You know that James and Peter are dead don't you? And that Sirius is in Azkaban for killing Peter. I was scared they'd desert me when they found out but they were extremely understanding about it. They kept me out of a lot of trouble those three."

"How!?" Loki snorted. "That's not possible, you would've killed them and didn't you always tell me that werewolves were a danger to humans."

Remus laughed. "They were fine, thankfully. When they found out they thought the best solution was to learn how to become Animagi. It took them the best part of three years but by our fifth year they could change efficiently enough and would be in no danger when they were around me."

Loki's jaw dropped in amazement. "But how come they're not on the list? I know dad isn't, he did it in secret to keep an eye on mum. If the Ministry found out he'd be arrested." She rubbed the bridge of her nose thoughtfully. "What animals were they?"

"Well you answered the first question yourself but I'll answer your second one. Peter was a rat, James was a stag and Sirius was a dog, he was quite a big brute in that form." He smiled and whispered, "Wormtail, Prongs and Padfoot."

"I heard that. Dad does that sometimes as well he forgets that I can hear him sometimes. So what does that mean?"

"You don't miss a lot do you? Well Wormtail, Prongs and Padfoot were the nicknames we had, mine was Moony."

Loki laughed. She thought that Remus being called Moony was one of the funniest things she'd heard for awhile. She took hold of his hand.

"Come on Moony, we'd better get back we're quite a way in now."

Remus laughed now. He hadn't been called that name for a while and it was nice to hear it coming from Loki.

They turned round and silently made their way back to Ridgeback House. They walked slowly taking in the sights, sounds and smells of the woods. Both were glad of the others company despite the age gap. It was quite a rare thing to be with someone who had the same heightened level of senses to enjoy time with and some werewolves were extremely territorial. Remus had been told by Frank that he couldn't tell Loki about the reason why the griffon had killed Cassi. That was for him to decide.

An hour later the house was in sight. It looked like it would crumple easily in an earthquake. The ground and first floors were fine but as it came to the second and third floors it looked like it was going to fall over at any sign of a strong wind.

Loki ran ahead as they emerged from the belt of rowan trees. Remus watched her go, happy that the curse had allowed her to have a childhood, even though he wasn't sure if the curse was inherited.

When they got in Frank greeted them. He ruffled Loki's hair and hugged Remus like a brother. While they'd been gone Frank had cleaned the house and made lunch. On the kitchen table there was a spread of gammon, sausages, beef, three types of potatoes, peas, carrots, a jug of gravy, bread, butter and a bowl of Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans. Loki helped herself to a bit of everything, even a handful of the Every-Flavour Beans. As they ate Remus asked when they'd be going to Diagon Alley to buy Loki's things.

"I guess we'll go tomorrow. I've got some business up there anyway, so it'll be ideal."

"Why? Do you want to come with us Remus?" Loki asked as she threw some rind to Astok who was sat on his perch near the back door.

"No, but I'll have a surprise for you next month when I come to visit you. A congratulatory gift if you will."

"What is it? What is it Remus?"

"It's supposed to be a surprise and anyway I haven't decided yet."

Frank laughed. "Well you'll have to decide before you go because I don't want to end up gettin' 'er somethin' I shouldn't."

"Okay. I bet you can't wait to get your wand, can you Loki?"

"No. I can't wait to see what core I get. I don't really mind which one I get because they've all got their own awesome traits."

Remus smiled.

"So you've been brushing up on your knowledge of magical creatures then. Your dad did Care of Magical Creatures at Estuards didn't he? And he got some brilliant grades out of it. You should have gone to Hogwarts Frank, you were wasted at Estuards. It would've been a grand time with you with us as well."

"Well my parents both went to Estuards, as you already know so there was no doubt that I was going to get accepted there."

The talk went on for a few more hours and eventually moved into the living room. Soon it was time for Remus to leave. He hugged Loki tight and whispered into her ear that she should never forget who she was, then he stood back and ruffled her hair. He shook hands with Frank and hugged him.

"See you next month you two. And Loki, make sure your dad doesn't kill Pulo anytime soon, we don't want him rotting away in Azkaban anytime soon do we?"

With those parting words, Remus Lupin picked up the tattered broom next to the door and after a short delay he flew off into the night. Frank and Loki watched him until he was a speck in the distance.

Frank led his daughter into the house and shut the door behind them. The door clicked as it automatically locked itself.

"I guess you'd better get yourself somethin' to eat before you go to bed."

Loki ran to the kitchen as her father laid himself out on the sofa with a worn book about the lifecycle of hippogriffs. She grabbed a jar of strawberry and cream jam and made a sandwich. She took it the living room and watched her dad reading as she ate.

Loki loved living in Rowan Valley because it was one of the few places where magical creatures were welcome and protected. Once, when she was six, a herd of unicorn took up residence for a few months to rear their foals. She'd love sitting by the lake, watching the gold foals as they frolicked in the sun. Luckily, Pulo had shown no interest in them or else they wouldn't have returned to the valley in the years that passed.

Many species of magical creatures lived permanently in the valley. There were a herd of hippogriffs, some fresh water hippocampi living in the lake, two separate pairs of gryphons, a species of miniature dragons called English Whiptails and Pulo. There were many more but they were seen less than the others.

Loki finished her sandwich and got up. She brushed the breadcrumbs to the floor and kissed her dad goodnight.

"Goodnight dad. We really are going to Diagon Alley tomorrow aren't we because we haven't been for ages."

"We are, but I really wouldn't call two weeks ages kiddo. I'll get you up after I've fed Pulo tomorrow mornin'. Now get to bed."

Loki went to her room and after reading some more of The Anatomy and Behaviour of Hippocampi by Alistus Lateran, she curled up under the covers and cuddled her stuffed dog, Basil. She wished she could remember the human side of her mother instead of the vicious wolf side. She knew from Remus and from the numerous books she'd read that not all werewolves were savage but apparently her mother's wolf was the exact opposite of her human nature.

Loki took one last look at the picture of her mother. Cassi was waving at her from a mountainside. She winked at her daughter as she drifted into a deep sleep.