Authors Note: I wrote this story a while ago, and just wanted to see what others thought of it. Enjoy!
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A sigh escaped his lips, as he signed the last of the letters to be mailed that day. Squinting down at the letter, he nodded with affirmation as he quickly placed the Ministry of Magic seal onto the letter. At once, one of the many owls swooped down upon his desk and allowed him to attach the letter to the owls leg. With a rush of air, the owl was off to remind someone of their mistreatment towards magical laws.
Not thinking much of the receiver of the letter, William Lupin glanced at the clock and grinned to himself as he quickly swiped his papers off his desk and into his briefcase. With his rumbling stomach, William threw floo powder into his fire place with a full intention of getting home to his family and a well cooked meal.
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"Im home!" William called out, as he stepped out of the fireplace in his home. As he shook off some of the soot from his clothes, he heard laughter and squeals from the kitchen.
Shrugging off his cloak and throwing his briefcase to the near by chair, he trekked over to the kitchen where his wife and son were currently stirring something, which smelled wonderful.
"Whats cooking?" He asked, as his son, Remus, turned around with a huge smile on his face as he rushed over to him and gave him a hug. William grinned down and ruffled the sandy hair as his wife started to ramble on about the stew.
"Mum even let me cut up the vegetables!" Remus cried out delightfully, as he wondered over his seat at the kitchen table.
"Did she now?" William asked in interested, as he sat opposite of his son. Its moments like these he valued most, the silly, five minutes before dinner moments in which his son would just babble about anything and yet everything.
"Mum took me to the library again." William chuckled, as he took a sip from his water glass. "Havent you read every single book in the place already? It feels like as if mum takes you everyday-"
"I wish! Anyway, I got this great book about volcanoes and its got all these really great pictures that show these volcanoes erupting. Bamwhoosh!" Remus described, throwing his arms up and wiggling them in a show of how volcanoes truly worked. William suspected his son didnt really read the book as much as reenacting the pictures.
But that was perfectly fine with him, at six years old Remus shouldnt have a serious care in the world.
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"Remus go up stairs and take your bath. And Ill come up shortly afterward to make sure you are cleaning yourself instead of just running the water." Mary said from the kitchen table as William washed the dishes.
He distinctly heard the scrapping of a chair and the grumbling of his boy before enduring the thumping on the stairs. Looking over to his wife who was just staring out of the window and into the field.
"Long day?" William asked.
Mary just shrugged her shoulders, "Not really. I did some house work, did some grocery shopping, picked Remus up from school took him to the library and came home and made dinner. Nothing too bad. You?" William nodded his head, I just answered owls all day long. My hand was cramped for a while after all the letters I wrote. I seriously considered going out to buy one of those self writing quills
"They have such a thing?" Mary asked incredulously. William grinned to himself, his wife is a muggle born and he always loved telling her about the little, small things that litter his world but seem to be such a marvel to her.
"Yeah, they cost a fortune though. And not worth it."
"Especially since you only write letters once a year". Mary said, laughing to herself. "Well, I might as well go check on Remus. Ill see you up in a bit." Mary said, as she left the kitchen.
William Lupin may not have much in the bank, but he has a life, a family that makes all the difference in the world.
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The main reason why William hated the task of writing letters to desperate witches and wizards who were trying their hardest to find the loop holes were the responses. When William came to his desk the next day, he had a letters stacked in small piles upon his desks.
The letters varied, some were kind and respectful as they were thanking William for his time for answering such and such questions. Of course, this was the minority. This led William to spend his entire morning pouring over angry, desperate letters of witches and wizards who just wanted to push the boundaries and bend the rules just a bit.
Yet, despite the angry letters, the howlers, and the thank you notes Williams most colorful encounter came just before lunch.
As William was rolling his eyes at one of the letters (the fool was wondering if he could perhaps set up a skewts breeding ground in his muggle neighborhood), loud bangs and yellings were coming outside of his office. Putting the letter to the side, he popped his head out of his office to see one of the witches in the department pointing her wand at a very large, scarred man.
His brown hair fell in disarray to his shoulders, his face was badly scarred and there was a fresh cut across his neck. He towered over the young (and somewhat) nave witch, and snarled at the witch who timidly stepped back.
"Miranda, what seems to be the problem?" William asked, as he strode over to the fighting pair.
"I'm looking for a William Lupin? She said that I had no right to do so." The man snapped, throwing a dirty look to Miranda.
William shut his eyes and heaved a sigh. It was rare that one of the recipients of his letters would come down personally handle things. But when they did, the meets had a tendency to go simply awful.
"Well, I'm William Lupin. Why dont we go in my office mister-"
"Greyback. Fenrir Greyback."
At once, Miranda stepped into her office and the crowd that had surrounded the fight unfolding had taken a step back. Whispers flew across the room and several drew out their wands.
"Right. Follow me." William said, pretending not to be absolutely terrified. Pretending not to notice the cold fear that formed in the pit of his stomach, pretending not to notice the striking resemblance Greybacks teeth were to those of a wolf. William tried, while leading the way to his office, not to care that he was dealing with a werewolf.
Once Fenrir Greyback stepped into Williams office, William made sure that the door was wide open (a silence charm was casted though) and that he was securely holding his wand in plain sight.
"Take a seat." William said a little roughly, as he seated himself across from Greyback.
"What are you in here for today Greyback?"
Greyback lip twitched, "Mister Greyback. I'm here for the letter you sent me yesterday-"
"I made it quite clear your situation and the laws you were breaking-"
"Yes, yes, I realize that however-"
"You have morphed in a wolf near muggle inhabitants, causing many disturbances and nearly biting a child."
"Yes, I know and I didn't mean for that to happen but-"
"The Ministry of Magic has a file on you which states that you are aware of your lycanthropy and that youll take the necessary precautions with it."
"I know" Greback said aggressively, Its just that
"You have utterly no excuse for the crimes youve done. Consider it a generous warning and if the Minstry of Magic discovers, and we will, that youve placed yourself near muggle inhabitants then you will be thrown into Azkaban. That is it." William said, forcing himself to stare at Greyback, whose face was currently morphing into an ugly shade of red.
"I am aware of my lycanthropy and of the laws. Because every year someone from this department tracks me down to read me the new laws that are in place. Once I have heard their lecture, I do not get to sign a piece of paper or any document, instead I have to fingerprint a blasted paper because you lot believe that I'm incapable of writing my own damn name." Greyback bitterly spat out, as he slammed Williams letter upon the desk.
William could feel his blood boiling. He did not need this savage, this monster storming into his office angrily yelling at him. Werewolves are known to be violent and William had no patience in dealing with this savage today.
"Greyback, I would appreciate it if you do not raise your voice in my office as Im only trying to help you-"
"Help me? Help me?" Greyback roared, getting on his feet and glaring down at William.
"I used to live in a house in the country side, a place where I can safely morph. However, after I got sacked from the Daily Prophet for getting this condition payments have been hard to make. I cant find a job in the wizarding world because of what I am and I'm prohibited from working in muggle world because I might bite someone and infect them."
"I've lost my house and I'm barely making rent in the rat hole I found in London. I cant go into the countryside because usually, I have to work and the best I can do is morph near a suburban area. If you want me to stay away from civilization on full moons I'm going to need your help."
Silence. William actually remembered the pieces Greyback wrote in the Daily Prophet. They werent bad, they were actually fairly decent. Looking down at his desk, the letters in their organized piles were a mess and while William may have been tempted to sympathized with Greyback he noticed the brown hair peeking out of Greybacks sleeve. And then William remembered that he was dealing with a werewolf, not some sane and proper wizard.
"You were aware of the risks when you were writing your piece on the forests. It is your fault for the position you are in now the Ministry of Magic cannot help you. Besides, the Ministry of Magic is here to help wizards not half-breeds like your self."
Greyback stepped back from the desk, his eyes wide in disbelief and utter hurt was all over him. His jaw slightly slacked he spoke, "My fault?" He asked in a stunned tone, his posture when slacked and his balled up fists unfolded.
William bit his lip and nodded his head. Yes. It was Greybacks fault for getting bitten. His fault for being put in such a dangerous area known to be filled with werewolves on the full moon. Yes. It was entirely Greyback's fault. Yes, it truly was.
"Right. Well, I'm sure you busy life being a wizard and all. I wouldnt want to take up your time with my half breed status. Thank you for meeting with me today and I promise you I wont position my self near muggles in the next full moon." Greyback said calmly, bitterly enunciating his words and his face turned into a snarl.
"Not a problem. If you have any other concerns, please write me a letter and Ill reply back as soon as possible." William said, coolly as Greyback stumbled out of the office, not even bothering a good bye.
Shaking his head, William put his wand away and stared at the family photo on his desk. Thank Merlin he had only a few more hours before he could go home.
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It had been a long day for William. So many other events, hilarious letters and annoying co workers filled the conversations that William had with his family that night. He didnt bother to tell them the story about the half-breed that angrily stepped into his office, he didnt feel the need to tell them about this pathetic story nor the hideous scars on his face.
No, instead, William would place the memory in the back of his mind. Thinking of it as a silly story instead of a pivotal one.
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"Dad- do I have to go to bed?"
William sighed, he was sitting cross legged on the floor. Mary was laying on her stomach next to William while Remus sat like his father and rearranging the chess pieces on the board.
"Remus, we made a deal. One more game and then you promised you would go up to bed."
"Yeah, but since I have no school tomorrow..."
"You already used that excuse for desert tonight." Mary said, lazily closing her eyes. "And it didn't work, remember?"
"Well, is it going to work now?" Remus asked, looking hopefully at William.
William glanced at the clock. It was nine o'clock, and usually, Remus was tucked into bed at this time. However, in the hour that William and Mary had played Chess with Remus and he made radical improvements. He even caught William off guard with some of the moves he used and William wanted to see what else Remus had up his sleeve. And Remus didnt' have school the next day anyways...
"Alright. One more game and then you go straight to bed. Deal?" William asked, extending his hand over the board. Remus grinned widely, his front tooth wiggling as he shook hands with William. "Deal!" he yelled out.
After a half an hour, the chess game came to an end and William was surprised by the game. Remus made sure to pack up the board, kiss his parents goodnight, before scampering off to his bedroom.
"How did we get such a good kid Mary?" William asked in astonishment looking at the pathway Remus made.
"We're just awesome." Mary replied, as she stretched out on the floor. William, laughed along with Mary as he started to follow Remus up to bed.
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When William looked back at that night, he care barely recall the chess matches, he can vividly see himself in Remuss doorway, looking down at him and thinking, how lucky am I?. William can remember the PJs Remus wore to bed that night but he cant recall the best chess move he made that night or the pleas that he made to stay up.
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A glass breaking, a scream and the lights are suddenly on. Mary is scrambling out of bed and William is groping his bedside table for his wand, fuck, wheres the wand? And suddenly, its in his hand and hes tumbling out of bed and he can see a flash of Marys blue and white striped PJ bottoms and then he can hear Marys hysterical cries.
Then, he sees it. He sees Remus, his son, his small six year old son in a pool of blood and his eyes are in the back of his head. He sees Mary handling Remus, applying pressure to Merlin knows where the blood is coming from and then he sees the animal outside on the grass.
The brutal, disgusting animal which seems to grin with its snarl and when it howls William swears he can see the blood dripping from the snout. The snout that is shaped unlike any wolf, a snout which is the distinguishing difference between a wolf and a.
And now the window is fixed, he doesnt know how but hes shouting words in the fireplace and only small burst of flames come out before a roaring fire starts. Hes shouting directions to Mary and shes crying hysterically and he cant hear Remus.
His hands are shaking so badly now that he ends up spilling the floo powder all over the floor, and hes swearing and Remus isnt scolding him like he usually would. And that seems to freak him out more then the blood, or the rolling eyes or the paleness of Remus. Hes in the fireplace with Mary and St. Mungos is on his mind. And fuck, why is it taking so long?
And suddenly, him and Mary are stumbling out and Healers are rushing towards them. Prying Remus away and more words and shouts are heard. Theyre being pulled to the side but William doesnt want to be pulled to the side, he doesnt care about the healer hes talking to because Remus where is he? Whats wrong? Whats going on?
And Mary is no better, shes shouting and yelling and making gestures towards where they took Remus. Why arent they letting them see him?
There told theyll see him in a bit. They tell them that everything is going to be okay and that they should take a seat. And they do because theyre terrified out of their minds and have no idea what to do next.
Mary is fidgeting in her chair and William knows shes contemplating of barging in the halls to find her son, their son. And William wants to follow her because its Remus and hes bleeding and Merlin knows if hes dying or not and William just wants to make sure that his knowledge on werewolves are shitty and that he doesnt know the first thing about a full blown werewolf.
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Heres a secret the waiting rooms arent as depressing as people make it out to be. Its only depressing to certain people but for others its a family reunion.
During the hour that William remained in the waiting room, there was a large family that was already occupying the space. They werent crying or being quiet, instead, they were loud and obnoxious. It turns out that Aunty Maddie was going to live after all and isnt life a treat?
They laugh and smile and throw happy looks to William and Mary. And William hates them, he hates them more then anything in the world because some stupid Aunt gets to live while his son, his six year old son is probably bleeding to death and turning pale.
He hates them because he envies them, he envies their laughter and smiles. He wants their lives because theirs seem so simple and happy so light and carefree. While William seems to be heavy and guilty, so complicated and depressed hes far from being happy and all he can think is if the weight of the guilt will ever leave him.
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"Mr. and Mrs. Lupin?"
They immediately stand up and a female healer is standing in front of them, and they wordlessly follow her out in the corridor.
"Remus is going to be alright -"
A sigh of relief and a cry comes out from the pair. And William remembers hugging Mary so close to his body, being able to smell the mingled scent of blood, sweat, and that vanilla shampoo that Mary uses. He remembers closing his eyes and taking shuddering breaths and feeling Marys sobs into his chest. He remembers the happiness and lightness of hearing the news that his son, his only six year old son was going to live.
"However, he has contracted lycanthropy."
His stomach drops and he grips on to Marys hair so tightly that she whimpers. His jaws went slack and hes crying, fuck, hes gasping for air and this cant be real. Hes stumbling and hears words coming out of his mouth, and Marys confused and the healer is trying to calm them both down. Marys pleading with William to tell her whats going on and William is shouting and swearing at everything and everyone.
And it doesnt matter what they tell them. He doesnt matter if they tell them that new advancements have been made in potions and spells, that warewolves can live perfecty normal lives and that just as long as there were a few precautions everything will be okay.
But its all a lie. Its a fucking lie because William knows that Remus will be looked down upon. He knows that Remus will be treated differently. He knows that Remus, his six year old son who likes to pretend to be volcanoes, will always be viewed as a monster. A half breed.
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William was right, the first ministry official that came in asked William about the 'third thing in their house'. It took William a moment to realize they were referring to his son, and only a second before he threw the first punch.
After that, only Ministry Officials from the Department of Law approached him and asked him about Remus and not that thing.
"Right, did you get a view of the werewolf?" Miranda asks them, her eyes tired and shes keeping her distance away from them. William cant tell if shes legitimately worried about her status as a witch or because of all the blood that is on their clothes.
They tell her what they saw, they tell her the wolfs description and how they found Remus. How they suspect he was going for a drink of water from the kitchen the bathroom water always seemed a little too cold for him. They tell her everything about that evening. In exchange, she tells them Fenrir Greyback is now missing and the markings that theyve described matched him. And suddenly everything around William is gone, his stomach is dropped and he can hear and see the memory between him and Greyback perfectly.
How Fenrir promised that he wouldnt go near muggles and how William was just eager to see Remus later that day instead of respecting a monster.
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At around nine o'clock in the morning, Mary and William were permitted to see Remus.
Mary was excited, she had gone home earlier that day and taken a shower. However, before she went back to St. Mungos she went ahead and bought Remus a new book about Volcanoes. There were more pictures in this one then the one in the library and Mary wanted something to celebrate or something to be positive about when her and William visited Remus. And for Remus, a new book was something to celebrate about it.
However, as soon as they walked into the hall where Remus kept they both stopped dead in their tracks while the healer kept marching on.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Mary whispered hoarsely, clutching the book closely to her chest.
William scanned the area, so tired and worn down by the evening that the current surroundings were just he had no utter reaction to them. The healers were covered from head to toe in some special robe that protected them from Remus.
Remus was in a room made of three walls, the fourth wall was made out of glass or something transparent.
Remus, looked utterly terrified. His eyes were wide as he surveyed the room, the machine next to him kept on beeping and the Healers were dressed so weirdly. The food tray if you could call it that was filled with goop that resembled nothing like food. It looked more like something you would feed a dog. Remus was dressed in white gown and he was hooked up to the odd machines and the healers kept prodding him. Remus kept on shuffling away on his bed, shielding his stomach from their wands.
"Now we have a device in which you can talk to Remus." The healer that led William and Mary in was saying, breaking Williams trance.
"You mean, we cant go in and visit him?" Mary asked meekly. "We're only concerned for your safety..."
"My safety?" Mary asked in incredulously, her meek demeanor disappearing. Her raised voice shocked the healer who stepped back from her.
"He's just a boy. This is the first time hes in a hospital! Hes utterly terrified, he needs his parents!"
"Mrs. Lupin, Remus is highly dangerous he could bite you and your husband-"
Mary made a pointed look towards Remus, who upon the odd healers leave, was laying down silently. Looking up at the ceiling and blinking occasionally, it was hard to imagine that he was a werewolf.
Yet as Mary battled with the other healer, William tuned them both out and wondered over to the glass. He pressed his nose upon the glass and let his breath fog his vision.
How could Remus, small, sweet Remus, be a werewolf? Why didnt William give more respect to Fenrir Greyback? What if William didnt intervene? What if William allowed Miranda to just send Fenrir back? Would Remus still have been bitten?
"Would you like to talk to him?"
William jumped from the glass, and peered at the oddly dressed healer a young witch. In her hand, she held some device, something that resembled a telephone, for William to take. Reluctantly, William reached out for the device he held it up to his ear and spoke hesitantly.
"Remus?"
At once, Remus shoot up from his bed. Looking around him wildly until his sight landed on William. His face utterly changed as a large grin over crowded his face and William noticed he lost his front tooth.
Remus sprung out of bed, and rushed over to the glass where William stood banging into it, which caused the thing to rattle.
"Dad! "With such joy and excitement it broke Williams heart in two.
"How are you?" William asked, kneeling down and closely examining Remus. The robe concealed a good part of his body, but it didnt shield the legs which seemed to have scars on them. Nor did it conceal the bandages what littered around his neck.
Remus face changed dramatically. His smiled faded quickly and he placed his palm opposite of William.
I'm going to kill that brute. William thought angrily, vividly picturing wringing the neck of Greyback.
"I'm okay. The food is bad and my neck really hurts." Remus said so quietly and softly that William pressed the talking device hard against his ear to hear his sons voice.
"Someone from the Ministry came in to visit me. They said that they didn't know you though. And I told them I could write but they told me I had to fingerprint some papers because I'm a werewolf."
Shuddering slightly, William stood up and angled himself away from Remus and clamped his hand over his mouth. They told him, they treated him like shit, and they told him. William could feel his stomach rolling and the tears falling gently. For the rest of his son's life, he was going to be treated like a monster, treated like shit and all because William treated Fenrir badly. All because he couldn't give another human being respect.
"Am I in trouble? The Ministry person said I might be sent away because you and mum wont want me anymore." Remus said, except this time he was sobbing and William rushed back to the glass and tried to run through. Kneeling on the ground, his face up against the glass, he started banging his palm repeatly against the glass. "This isn't your fault Remus. Your mother and I could never ever send you away. Don't you ever think that! You hear me Remus?!" William cried out, primitively and savagely he sobbed on that stupid device. While Remus just stared in shock at his father. And suddenly, the device was being ripped out of his hands and he was about to plummet the person when he realized that Mary was taking over.
"Remus" She cooed, her hand floating up near the window as Remus gave a watery smile and stepped forward.
"You've been so brave. You know that? You've been utterly amazing. Besides." She said, a hint of teasing in her tone of voice, "I would never waste money on someone who was just going to go away." She said as she pressed the book against the glass.
William sat cross legged from the glass, straining a smile as he saw Remus face flash with happiness. Remus mouth was moving silently yet he was completely animated. His hands were moving and he was twirling round a bit. Mary was giggling, blinking away tears as Remus demonstrated to her how volcanoes worked.
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After two days of observation, several paper work, and thousands of arguments Remus was permitted to go home. He had a while till the first full moon, so he had his strength and energy.
Remus was allowed to go back to the muggle school, however, he had to endure an hour long lecture from a Ministry official on how to act around children. After the lecture, Remus had to fingerprint papers which allowed the Ministry to track his movements at all time in case he decided to bite anyone.
This, if there was any joy in the disastrous mess, was the best memory that William had of Remus.
"Why would I want to bite anyone?" Remus asked in a disgusted tone, his nose wrinkling up.
"Because of your condition, you may feel the need to chase down small animals like rabbits-"
"I use to own one, before Mum and dad took it to the farm." Remus said cheerfully, completely forgetting his previous question while the Minsitry worker shuffled nervously and continued on.
"Right. But you cannot bite people Remus- your condition may trigger you to do so."
Remus pondered this silently, before asking, "I haven't felt the urge to bite anyone that would be gross, Im pretty sure James Smith doesnt shower and he practically rolls in the dirt, but Ive been eating a lot more cookies lately. Is that symptom of being a werewolf?"
At that, the Ministry official, somewhat annoyed, took the papers and bid the family good day as William roared with laughter as Mary hid her face, giggling.
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The Ministry of Magic was kind enough to grant William a leave of absence for a month, which left him enough time to create a shed for Remus to transfigure in.
William spent days and nights, hammering and pounding the nails into the small shed. More then once hes hit his thumb, almost daily he trips over the boards and hes made a fool of himself at the local muggle hard ware store. However, he slowly learns along side his friends and co-workers from the Ministry.
Nearly everyday someone comes down to Williams house to help with the shed. They all do the work the muggle way, no one has yet asked him why he doesnt use magic. And William supposes that they dont ask because they all feel guilty too.
Guilty for not interfering with Greyback before, guilty for not dissolving the fight and offering a solution. Maybe if they had, this whole disaster would have been averted. But they cant change time (legally), and they have to move on.
But if they help out Remus a bit, if they cut open their hand or hammer their thumb then maybe they can be redeemed for their crimes, maybe, theyll stop feeling guilty over what happened to Remus.
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William used to dream that Remus wasnt a werewolf, that everyone made a terrible mistake. That it was only a wolf that bite Remus (not a werewolf) and that wolf ate the werewolf- which would perfectly explain why Remus had remainders of the werewolf on his scars.
But William wakes up from his dream the first time Remus transforms. The first time he sits in front of the shed and hears the young snarls of small wolf, while tiny claws desperately try to get at William.
Now, William dreams that one day those claws will tear his heart out maybe then the guilt will just stop.