A/N: So the idea came to me when I was watching Criminal Minds and an episode came on where the criminals were kidnapping girls and the boy they had was being trained in the School of Seven Bells, where they lace a jacket with seven bells and when you can succesfully pickpot it without the bells ringing, you're ready for the streets. So yeah. :B
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Some people are bitten by werewolves. Some are adults, some are children. The adults, well they all react differently. Some kill themselves to spare being a burden to society, some go off and join a pack in the wild, others just put up with it. You know they're a werewolf when you see one, if you are one. You know the signs. They look more tired than usual, more ragged and ready to just lie down and let the earth eat them up. They were the ones who's hands shook when the applied for a job; when that dreaded question, 'Are you a werewolf or vampire?' came up; when they got nearly thrown out of the place while they were sobbing and pleading for just small work, any work.
You don't see the children often. They don't get to make the choice. They're parents do. It's all down to status for most. Have a werewolf for a daughter and that arranged marriage you set up before she was born is gone. Your son turns into a furry beast because the moon makes him? He won't get a wife or children. Other's got rid of their children. Abandoned them at orphanages in the dead of night and let the caretakers do what they wanted. They never bothered to figure out what happens to them, after all, the child was the orphanages problem now. Not all get sent to the orphanages. Some just get straight up abandoned in the streets on shopping day. They tell the child, "Go off and have fun. We'll find you when we're done." As soon as the child is out of sight, the parents Apparate away. The child realizes after a few hours that they haven't seen their parents and realizes they've been abandoned. Some parents take possibly the cruelest route ever. They kill the child. Whether it's to spare the child a life of misery or to spare the parents a life of misery, no one can really tell.
Mum and Dad almost kept me after I was bitten. Almost. Dad wanted to drown me in the bathtub. Mum wanted to keep me and try and fine a cure. They settled on just abandoning me. Only after Dad held my head under the water for a good five or eight minutes and I blacked out. I woke up in Knockturn Alley. It was dark, darker than what Knockturn Alley normally was. So it must have been night. It took me a few hours but I managed to find my way out and into Diagon Alley. My stomach was rumbling and I was alone. As I wandered the streets, I began thinking to myself. What would I do for food? Where would I live? I was only eight, there wasn't much I could do. I could try for a job, but there was a chance they would find out I was a werewolf. The bite mark was still visible on my throat and I wasn't sure if I could hide it succesfully. I didn't have a scarf on me. If I didn't have a scarf, I couldn't get a job. If I didn't get a job, I couldn't get a scarf.
As I walked, I saw someone drop a pouch. It was a small leather coin purse. As soon as I saw the person drop it, I had two choices. I could return the coin purse and hope for a reward or I could steal it. The first one seemed more noble, and really, they could give me money. Or I could take the less noble route and steal it. At least then I was guarenteed the money. I hurried forward before anyone could grab it and scooped it up. The leather was worn and felt cracked in my hands. I glanced around for the person who had dropped it but they had disappeared into the crowds of people. I hadn't even gotten a look at what they had been wearing or what they looked like. I hurrid out of the way of the people who were behind me, they were starting to complain that I wasn't moving. I poured the coins into my hand and counted them out. Six gold Galleons, fourteen silver Sickles, and twenty-five bronze Knuts. I tucked the coins back into the pouch and slid it into my pocket. I glanced around one last time to make sure that no one saw me pocket it. No one was eyeing my suspiciously, thankfully.
Turning on my heel, I ran as fast as my legs could carry me through the alleyways. I turned around a corner and immediately tripped over something I couldn't see. Sitting up, I felt around for the thing that tripped me but all I found was ground. "What-" I began when I heard someone run up behind my and grab me. They covered my mouth so I couldn't scream for help (not that anyone would come to help) and carried me off. It wasn't to far that they carried me but it was a complicated path and I couldn't remember half of the twists and turns we took. Soon we entered a rickety old building. The ceiling looked like it was going to cave in and the walls were covered in cobwebs, moss, and god knows what else. Whoever was carrying me dumped me on the ground and of all things I thought, the first was, Did my hand just brush against a rat? It probably was but before I could grasp at it, it was gone. The person who carried me in grunted and I looked up. He was sixteen, seventeen maybe. I stared at him and he stared back. I couldn't tell much of what he looked like, it was far to dark to see much other than his size and that he was definitely a male.
He seemed to be sizing me up, the way he looked in my direction. Or, that's what I assumed. "Little street rat, stealing my money, eh?" he said bitterly. I could hear a sneer in his voice and I scooted backwards. "Thought no one had seen, eh? I did, though. So you've got two choices, kid. You give me the money and in turn I keep you safe and get you a job. Or you give me the money and I kill you," he said. He was baiting me, I knew it. Either way, he kept his money. In the end, it was he who would make the final choice of whether I lived or died.
I narrowed my eyes and pulled the coin purse out of my pocket and tossed it to him. He caught it smoothly and, what I suspect, eyed me carefully. He rolled the pouch in his palms as he thought and for a second I thought he was going to kill me. His hand flashed through the air and I flinched, expecting a flash of green light and my impending death. Instead, however, the small pouch landed in my lap and a few coins spilled to the floor. "You'll be staying with a few of the other runts," grunted the man. "You can call me Esry. What do I call you?" he grunted, grabbing me up by the front of my shirt. I grabbed the coin bag and sprinted behind him as he dragged me. He led me out of the building and down even more twists and turns. Finally, after all the dragging and turns, we came to a much nicer building than the one before. This at least resembled a house and didn't look like a slight breeze would knock over. He tossed me into the door and pulled a Muggle cigarette from his pocket. "go inside, tell them I'll be back later," he said. I didn't have time to respond because Esry Apparated away.
I opened the door with a shaky hand and immediately someone yanked me in and shut the door. "Ah man, Esry brought another stray?" whined one person. "Hush, Bicket. Maybe he'll die in a few days," another one said brightly. "Or he'll rake in some money," piped in another voice. Someone lit a lantern and the room was filled with light. There were a few chairs and a moldy sofa for seating but that was it. Each spot was occupied by someone. There were two girls and two boys, plus a small child, younger than I, who was bouncing on one of the girls laps. "Name?" asked one person, I think it was the one called Bicket. "No, no names yet," snapped the eldest boy. He stared me down and his lip curled in disgust. "Ugh, forget raking in money, Niki. He's just a runt, runt-ier than Little," griped the boy. "Give him a chance," the girl with the small child said. She seemed to be the kindest looking of the bunch, not counting the small child. "Little and this boy might be runts, but I recall a runty boy just a few years ago that went by the name of Kie," she said. The boy pursed his lips and rolled his eyes, folding his arms moodily over his chest.
"Ignore Kie," the girl said, smiling at me. "I'm Niki, seventeen. This little boy on my lap is Little," she said, bouncing her knee and sending Little into a shriek of giggles. Bicket made a small moan of annoyance at the noise and shook his head. "You've sort of met Bicket. And she," Niki said, jerking her head towards the girl who had not said anything yet and wasn't even acknowledging me, "is Rane." Rane cast a glance at me and looked away. I looked down at my shoes and shuffled my feet.
Bicket looked at me and raised an eyebrow expectantly. "Well? Who the hell are you?" he asked. Niki cast him a scolding look and he looked away sheepishly. "Well? What're we going to call you?" Bicket asked again. Niki cast me another kind smile at sighed. "Real name or nickname, give whatever you please," she said. I liked her, she seemed like the mother of the group. As she was also, I guess, closest to Esry's age, that probably made Esry the dad or leader. All eyes, but Rane's and Kie's, were trained on me.
"'m Remus," I said quietly. In the room, my quiet whisper might as well have been a shout, the way it carried through the room. Everyone nodded and gave their welcomes, even Kie. Rane glared at me, her eyes staring deep into mine. I was definitely not her favorite person. I was definitely not even in her 'I like them a bit but I definitely wouldn't hang out with them in public or say more than a hello to them' book.
It was a bit of an odd place. Bicket and Niki were joking around while Little slept on a small bundle of blankets. Kie and Rane sat in the corner, their conversation hushed and low. They kept looking at me then exchanging dark looks with each other. Niki seemed fond of me, although she was fond of everyone. Esry stopped in a few hours after I had been dropped here. He came bearing food and a small bundle of blankets and clothes. Niki took the food and cloth and began dividing it amongst us. I was given a blanket to sleep on (I could sort of wrap it around my body and it was definitely better than nothing). What I got for food was some stale bread and an apple. I gave Little the apple (he seemed more interested in the fruit anyway) and he gave me his share of the stale bread. The little boy was definitely one of my favorites here. Too young to judge me and innocent enough that he liked me. Little told me he was four. That put him just a few years younger than me.
That night, Little slept near me, huddling close enough that our body heat rebounded off each other but far away enough that he wasn't pressed against me. Kie took the couch while Bicket and Niki snoozed in the chairs. Esry didn't stay, he said he had other mouths to feed and had to make a few more stops to get them stuff as well. This was definitely an interesting place. By the looks of it, Esry took in the street rats like me an gave them somewhere to stay where they were sure to get food and have a roof over their head.