Disclaimer: No I don't own Harry Potter or Lupin and Tonks would still be alive.
A/N- I thought of this idea just this morning when I couldn't sleep because my dog was snoring too loud. I don't know if anyone will like this or not but I felt the need to type it up and send it out into the fanficiton world. It's kind of short and didn't take long to write. Basically it's about when Remus was first bitten by Greyback; of coarse he didn't know what had happened at the time. I have no idea where the toad came from, I wasn't really trying to be funny, the toad just amuses me and I figured it would amuse a seven year-old as well. It was a bit difficult writing form the point of view of a small child but I think I did OK. I wrote this whole thing while watching Scooby-Doo so apparently Loud Snoring Dog + Scooby-Dooangst story of Remus' childhood…hmmm...
Bitten
I don't know what I'm doing here. I don't know what's wrong. No one will tell me. I guess it must be bad, the way the healers all look at me. My mum keeps crying and my dad keeps his back to me. They say it's going to be OK but I don't believe them.
It all started yesterday. Yesterday wasn't that different then most days. I woke up and ran to my parent's room and woke them up to. I ate my breakfast and waved goodbye to my dad as he left for his job at the Ministry of Magic. I always wanted to be just like him, get a job at the Ministry and make him proud. He always said he was proud of me. We had the same light brown hair; my mum told me almost everyday how much I looked like him. Once he left I ran around the house, exploring stuff…tearing stuff apart…making a mess, like everyday. My mum laughed and said I had so much energy, she didn't know what to do with me some days. I loved running around and getting into trouble. I couldn't wait until I could go to Hogwarts, my parent's old school, and play quidditch and make all knew friends. That's still four years away but I still think about it everyday. A whole knew place to explore.
Everything was normal about yesterday until the sun started to go down. I was outside looking under my secret bush along side the house. It's where I keep all the really cool things I find around the yard and in the woods behind our house, like weird rocks, pieces of glass and stuff people walking along had dropped. I was just adding a piece of light blue fabric I had found earlier that day when my mum called.
"Remus!" She was making diner. I saw her standing in the doorway and looking out at the yard "Remus, come inside and wash up, your father will be home soon and we're going to eat." Without looking to see if I'd heard she went back inside. I let out a sigh to let anyone nearby know that I was annoyed at being called away from my fun as I pulled myself out of the bush. I hung my head and drug my feet the whole way to the back steps. My hand was on the railing and I was almost at the door when I saw something move behind me on the path that led into the woods.
I looked back at the house and then back at the new mystery hopping down the path. It wasn't a hard choice to make as I chased after the creature into the woods. The moon was full so I could see where I was going as I raced along the path. The moon was very pretty tonight. When I finally caught up to it I saw it was a toad. I laughed and grabbed it, holding it tight while it wiggled in my hands.
"Hi toad!" I smiled, the toad didn't respond but I didn't really think it would. "You can be my new pet!" I told the brown toad. It looked at me with big bulgy eyes. "I think I'll name you Tom; Tom the Toad." I laughed at the way the name fell off my tongue when I said it.
Nearby a twig snapped, like something was moving. I stopped laughing at Tom the Toad and looked around the dark woods. The woods had never been scary to me before. Usually when a twig snapped I didn't even jump because it was probably a deer, there were plenty of them around. But it had been different that day. Earlier I had heard something moving in the trees, it was big like a person but they weren't on the path. They had been sneaking around. Now something else was moving and it sounded bigger then a deer or a person. Suddenly I was scared, something bad was going on; I could tell.
I began to walk slowly out of the woods; something told me that if I ran it would come after me. So I walked with Tom the Toad, gently petting his squishy head. He didn't struggle so much any more. It scared me even more; he knew something was wrong to. No birds were calling, no little animals were running around, it was all quite except for the noise of that big thing moving every once in a while.
There was a crash and I knew whatever it was, it was after me. I walked a little faster and the noises got faster to. Tears were in my eyes, I didn't even know what it was but I knew it was bad and I started running. A horrible growl followed, it sounded like an animal but scarier and meaner then anything I'd ever heard, like when some cars turn on and they made that loud growling and roaring noise from their engine. It wasn't trying to hide anymore and it was chasing me. I could see the house, I saw the light in the window where my mum was making diner. I just had to make it to the door and I would be safe.
"MUM!" I screamed and as soon as I said it the monster grabbed me. It had paws of some kind, like our neighbors dog, but its toes were longer and its claws were sharper. Its paw-hands grabbed me and pulled me back. It hurt, but not as bad as when it bit. It had at least a hundred teeth in its huge mouth and its breath smelled really bad. It bit down on my shoulder but it was so much bigger then me that it took half my side in its teeth. I screamed louder then I ever had before. I'd never been hurt like that. I'd fallen down stairs and shoved my fingers in doors and done all kinds of things but nothing had ever hurt like that. Nothing was supposed to hurt like that. Then I saw it. Everything was wet and red; it was blood. I remembered it from when I had had my other accidents. I don't like blood. It's supposed to stay inside your body, not come out. But it was out and lots of it. It was everywhere, on the monster and on me. I think I bled it all out, I didn't know I had so much in me. I screamed more and kicked and punched and pulled at the monsters fur as hard as I could.
When it did let go I fell to the ground, it should have hurt but it didn't. Everything was going away, I couldn't feel anything and I couldn't yell. I was really tired, more tired then I had ever been in my life. I felt its paws grab me again, a bit more gently this time and it began to take me away. I moved a little, I didn't want to go; I wanted to go back to my mum and hug her until it was all better.
I heard another scream. Someone else was coming; I realized it was my mum's voice screaming. She sounded more scared and angrier then ever before. A little further off I heard my dad's loud voice yelling to. The world was going black but I still heard a few screams and the monster howl in pain and let go of me. There was a lot of light and then it was all black.
When I woke up I thought it had all been a dream, then I felt the pain and saw I wasn't in my bedroom. I was in a room with white walls and curtains and a metal bed with white sheets. My whole upper body was wrapped in bandages with red stains all over. Confused as I was I still saw the small animal cage sitting on the table beside my bed. "Tom the Toad!" I gasped and leaned over to look in on the little toad. He didn't look so good, one of his back legs was smushed; I guess I must have held on to him through the attack. I tried to sit up but I was tired, really tired. Usually I could run around the whole house a few times as soon as I woke up, but I felt like I couldn't move.
Very soon after I woke up my parents came in and there was a lot of hugging and crying. Nobody would tell me what had happened, all I know is it was really bad. Tom the Toad and I now know where we are though, St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Healers have been in and out of here all day. On the bright side I got a lot of presents, even a few from the healers! I don't know why they would give me stuff but I know that it must mean something horrible if healers are feeling sorry for me. I don't know why though and it's bothering me that no one will tell me. Nothings really different; my face still looks the same and I talk the same. I feel like me, just a very tired me with bandages on. There's no on else in my room so it's really boring. I only have Tom the Toad to talk to, but he's a good listener.
I've heard the healers and my parents talking and I don't like what they're saying.
"Never have a normal life…there's no cure…we've done all we can…a lot of pain…I'm so sorry Mr. and Mrs. Lupin." There was a lot of that last one. The worst one of all though was what they had said only about a half hour ago. "No I'm sorry Mr. Lupin but I don't think there's any way he'll be allowed in Hogwarts. He shouldn't be near other children…" Everything seemed to stop at once. Why couldn't I go to Hogwarts? Of coarse I could go! I had to go… A minute later my mum came in. Her eyes were all red and puffy like they had been all day. It didn't look like she had brushed her curly blonde hair today; it stuck up in all sorts of directions.
"Mum, why can't I go to Hogwarts?"
She looked at me for a long while and bit her lip. I knew she was trying not to cry. "We're not sure if you can go or not Honey. We're going to speak with the Headmaster, don't worry about it now." She touched the side of my face and I didn't ask any more questions, I didn't like to see her so sad.
Dad didn't come to visit as much and when he did he didn't talk a lot and hardly looked at me. I heard him say to mum something about it begin his fault. I didn't know how or why and I wanted to tell him it wasn't his fault, if it was anyone's it was mine, Tom the Toad's and the monster. I had forgiven Tom the Toad all ready though, he had looked really sorry. When I did tell him that it wasn't his fault, he looked at me for a moment and then left without saying anything. I don't know what's on.
I've heard a lot of talk about trying to work something out with Hogwarts' Headmaster Dumbledore and the Ministry but I still don't know what about. I'm getting tired again and I think I'm going to go to sleep now. Tom the Toad and I are awfully confused. Maybe when we wake up someone will tell us what's going on.
Tom the Toad says he would appreciate reviews and constructive criticism. He does not think highly of flames.
