Major thanks to artemisfeindfyre for being an awesome beta!
I am JK Rowling and I own all things Harry Potter (of course!)
This oneshot is dedicated to my mom. Get better soon!
Moonlight Secrets
The white light-beams from the full moon cut through the darkness of the rusty old shack. Through holes and cracks in the wall, the moonlight was able to seep into the dusty room, illuminating it and emphasizing its emptiness. However, there was one thing occupying the room—the large but broken form of a creature with obsidian eyes. Grey, coarse hair covered most of its body, though in the pearl light of the moon it looked almost silver. A long snout protruded from its face, and where arm and legs should be, long, lean limbs, bent at inhuman angles were present. A dark tail twitched anxiously as a sorrowful whine escaped through the creatures deadly jaws. It was one of the most pathetic, sad creatures you would ever see.
This creature, this broken, defeated creature, was Victoire Weasley, a sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As well as a werewolf.
Too weak to even be a danger to anyone, she began to limp towards the Shrieking Shack's exit. Not that she would be a danger to anyone- she was very different from most werewolves.
Having just gone through the transformation, she was now exhausted, and had to lean against the cold gray walls for support, whimpering as her delicate body made contact with it, and almost wish the pain would disappear. No other werewolf suffers this much, she thought to herself. Why must I? she huffed. At least I can keep my mind, she reminded herself. With normal werewolves, their bodies became numb after their wolf senses take over their mind, and they don't feel the rest of the transformation. However, that is when they become one of the most dangerous predators known to the wizarding world. Victoire was able to control her wolf side at all times- for she was not a normal werewolf- but that meant she had to feel everything. Every muscle bending and flexing into unnatural positions. Every bone breaking and changing to fill her canine form. There are few things in the world that can relate to the pain- knives dragging slowly across one's flesh, hot irons shoved down one's throat to burn their insides, the Cruciatus curse itself. In other words, it's complete agony.
No one could tell Victoire why she was this way—no one could figure it out. All anyone knew is that her father- Bill Weasley- was bitten by a werewolf during the daytime—not during a full moon. His theory was that his wife's Veela heritage enhanced the werewolf genes in his blood, making their daughter almost full werewolf, only without the need of the Wolfsbane potion for her mind to remain her own. She realized that she may never know for sure why this has happened, but it didn't matter to her. The result was the same.
Once she had caught her breath, the werewolf slowly rose onto her long, wolf legs. Shaking out her dust-coated fur, she left the Shrieking Shack to wander aimlessly through the darkness of the forbidden forest, alone. She had vowed never to transform in front of anyone; she blamed that on her mother's Veela pride. She could never let anyone see her in this state- so weak and pitiful. Not even Teddy.
Oh, Teddy, she thought, what would you think of me if you saw me now?
Her heart leapt at the thought of him, as it always did. No longer did it sound silly or cliché to her. She just believed it to be a simple fact of life, as natural as the sun rising in the East every morning. Her heart belonged to Teddy Lupin. Which is why she trembled at the thought of him seeing who she truly was- a pitiful beast.
Howling a sad, broken song, she raced towards the thickest part of the woods. The wind slashed against her slender canine body, which soon became covered with broken twigs, leaves and burrs. She barely noticed though, as she pushed herself to take faster, longer strides so to escape the nightmare that was her life.
The full moon hovered ominously in the indigo sky above her, and she glanced at it with hatred. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky, so nothing obscured its light from her view. Its soft pearl glow may have been thought of as beautiful to some, but to her it was an eerie, frightening figure, not to be associated with ideals such as gentleness or beauty.
As soon as the harsh, tangy smell of human flesh hit her noise she froze, her claws reaching out to tear the ground as momentum tried to carry her any farther. She immediately became curious as to who was out in the Forbidden Forest in the dead of night. Quickly scrambling into the nearby foliage for cover, she perked her ears and waited for any sign of human activity.
As soon as she heard the harsh whisper "Lumos!" she jerked her head towards the caster.
There were three boys and one girl, all gathered around one lit wand. As soon as the enchanted light reflected off their faces, Victoire knew who they were. The boy holding the one was the Hufflepuff keeper, Gavin Bones. The others were all Ravenclaw- Felicity Boot, Sean Corner, and Matthew Goldstein. They were all fairly popular fifth years who had a knack for 'accidentally' breaking the rules. Their pranks and practical jokes had made them famous with the students, and infamous with the staff. Though they didn't hang around with Victoire all that much, they were always pleasant to her, so she didn't mind them.
The other three students brought out their wands and started casting various spells; some successful, some not. Victoire figured they were out here just to practice for their latest pranks, which, as most people knew, often required odd, unfamiliar and sometimes very advanced spells. Before she could get any closer to watch, however, her left paw stepped on a sharp stone and she yelped, causing all spell casting to stop and all eyes turn to her.
Run… her wolf instincts told her, and she didn't hesitate in following them.
Run… keep running… don't stop running… never stop. She didn't.
Victoire viewed her life as a never ending pattern; a full circle that she would forever continue to run along. Just like the cycles of the moon, the pattern would always continue. It was a pattern of secrets, lying, hiding, deceit, pain, and then loss. She was forever hiding a part of herself from the world- she could never be truly honest with who she was. To the students of Hogwarts, and most of the outside world, she was just Victoire Weasley, sixth year Hogwarts student. The red haired daughter of Bill and Fleur Weasley. The smart but quiet girl in the back of the classroom. The girl who had only a few friends and even fewer admirers. The shy girl who was so obviously in love with the Griffindor chaser, Teddy Lupin.
She could only scoff at these assumptions. They were all true, yes, but they were only minor, inconsequential details about her life (except for the last one, of course). They would never know who she truly was: Victoire Weasley, freak of nature, a hunted and feared creature.
Panting from her sudden retreat, she looked up to the sky and realized that day was about to come. She had to head to the Shrieking Shack, but quick. Hastily running back to the enterance of the decrepit building, she prepared herself for the pain that was to come with the sun's rising.
Once she was fully transformed into her human self, she wearily put her Hogwarts uniform back on and left for the medieval castle.
Another night had passed, and her moonlight secret remained what it was- a secret.