Titania Falome was a girl of seventeen who kept to herself most of the time and was on her last year of Hogwarts. Her twin brother Tanis Falome was much the same as his sister, save for his unusual transformations when the moon was at her fullest.
Orphans since birth, they lived within the confines of their Uncle's home in Hogsmeade who was much too loony to raise them like proper young children. They had only each other to hang on to and only each other to defend, when one was getting messed with, the other would be there to hex the first person they saw.
But, when Tanis was hurting another being when turning into his form, his sister was the first to attack him without a second thought.
The twins sat up in the Gryffindor common room, looking over the most recent gift their uncle had sent them from his new location. "Romania?" Titania guessed, looking at the strangely shaped puzzle on the table.
"Possibly. Egypt?" Tanis tried, trying to get the second level of their puzzle box to open.
"Did you try Russia?" a helpful voice broke in, bringing the twin Falome's attention to the boy on the couch.
"Not yet. Thanks, Remus," the twins replied in chorus, trying the fellow Gryffindor's suggestion. The spiked sphere's top and bottom began to spin, standing on one spike to open up its inner shell.
"Bloody hell," Titania shouted, lifting the newly opened globe to show a hole drilled on to the table.
"Shit, McGonagall's gonna kill us," Tanis laughed, wiping the dust off the table to get a better look.
Remus squatted closer to the two, "it drilled right through it!" he added, laughing with the unbelievably care-free duo.
"It amazes me that the Head Boy wouldn't get mad at us for such a thing," Titania teased, looking to her friend.
Remus chuckled himself, sitting back on the couch. Tanis watched the interchange between his sister and the Head Boy, a planning devising in his mind. It would be good for his sister to find someone, after that horrid breakdown when she herself heard of him and a, currently unmentionable, Ravenclaw girl.
"Oh shit!" Titania shouted, getting up quickly and pocketing the gift, "sorry, Remus but Tanis and I have to go!' She pulled her brother to his feet, dashing out of the common room in panicked haste.
Remus watched as the portrait of the fat lady shut behind them, leaving him to his lonesome once again. He thought about Titania Falome and her fragile psyche, having been able to see her small breakdown a year ago when her brother had found a companion in a fifth-year Ravenclaw girl.
He would have to lie to say that his fellow Gryffindor had not piqued his curiosity and in turn, allowed certain feelings to grow in him that he had not felt as seriously as before.
Sirius and James clambered into the Common Room, looking to their love struck friend sitting by his lonesome on the couch, "Moony, we just saw your girlfriend run down with her brother just now," Sirius joked, placing an arm over his annoyed friend.
"I know. They just left moments before to get to somewhere," he replied, returning to his book.
Sirius grinned to James, finding much fun with teasing his normally complacent companion. "So she is your girlfriend then," James caught on, earning a look from Remus.
"No. I didn't say she was," Remus replied, irked by their pestering.
"You didn't say she wasn't," Sirius continued, throwing a high five to his best friend.
"Look, she doesn't like me, alright? How could she anyway? When she finds out about me, she'll be running away with hexes behind her like everybody else," Remus bit back bitterly, slamming his book on the table, "come on, the sun's about to go down."
Tanis and Titania ran quickly through the forest, thanking that the rest of the students have decided to head back to their Common Rooms and finish whatever work they had left to do. The twins dodged the fallen trees and low hanging branches, their animalistic reflexes working with them as they tried to get as far from the castle as possible.
To their knowledge, there were no other werewolves in the vicinity, though Tanis could have sworn that there was one lurking about. The threats of the forest knew who they were, opting to hide in their own little villages and caverns than face the wrath of a werewolf and its companion. Only Dumbledore knew of Tanis' uniqueness and allowed them to tread within the forest while the moon was at its fullest.
The sun was slowly disappearing in the horizon and Tanis could feel the bloodlust coming over him. He crashed on to the forest ground, his hands clenching the soft earth. "Titania…you…better…transform now," he choked out, the blood of a werewolf beginning to run his veins.
His sister only watched as he went from man to beast in seconds, while she remained in her large wolf form, beaten only by her brother. Tanis howled into the night, his sister following suite, and soon they were off to prowl for some unknowing prey.
"James, did you hear that?" Sirius asked as he stood outside the Womping Willow, waiting for Peter to tell them when Remus had transformed.
"Yeah," James replied, looking around, "it sounds like wolves."
Sirius looked gravely at his friend, "it sounds like another werewolf."
"That can't be good then" James muttered, seeing a small rat come out from the hole in the tree, "come on. Peter's out."
Sirius and James transformed into their forms, waiting for Remus to emerge from under the tree. For the sake of Remus, they both hoped Sirius was wrong, but for some reason, they both knew he was right. And tonight would not be a good night for any of them.
Do you smell that, Titania? Tanis asked his sister at his side.
Titania looked up from their meal, sniffing the air for what her brother found peculiar. A wolf and a dog and another, she replied, getting up to edge closer to her brother.
Tanis placed a hand on his sister's head, trying to ease her anger and worry. It was the first time for them to meet any being in this forest that wasn't prey and Titania knew it wouldn't be a pretty meeting. They began to run towards the smell, wishing to see what they had sensed from so far away.
Titania yelped as a large form came at her, scratching her side in the process. She howled loudly as the creature bit her leg. Tanis reacted instinctively, pouncing on the large creature in defence of his sister. He roared as it took a swing at him, missing by an inch which he himself used to his advantage. A large gash appeared on the creatures chest, making it howl in pain.
Tanis went on all fours as he faced his fear, another werewolf prowling the grounds. He made an attempt to lunge at it quickly but two others attacked him from one side. He felt the horns of a horse-like animal push him to the side and the bite of a dog-like creature on his hand.
He yelped, swinging an arm to toss both to the side. Tanis turned to look at the two, edging closer to attack the helpless animals. The stag and the dog tried to move quickly to their feet, stunned at the collision with a large thick tree.
A roar from behind him broke his attention to his past opponent, teeth barred to attack his rival wolf. Titania reacted quickly, shoving her attacker to the ground and biting at his hind leg. She was swung off to the side, but she caught her balance and landed on all fours. She growled at the other werewolf and bid her time for him to attack first.
As the other werewolf lunged at her, Tanis came at him with claws at the ready. The stag and the dog had regained their composure and made ready to attack, but Titania blocked their way. The dog growled at her, lunging, with the stag coming up close. Titania hit the dog's neck as the dog hit hers, with the stag colliding with both of them, tossing the two to the ground.
Titania held on tightly as the dog yelped in pain, but let go reluctantly when she noticed the strangeness of the situation. A stag and a dog helping a werewolf were strange indeed. The stag edged closer to the dog and looked at it, with its dark eyes. The dog, bleeding from the neck and from the leg, stood up staggeringly and made to attack the large wolf.
Titania scratched him away, but was tossed back by the stag into a tree. She stood up quickly and swung at the stag, leaving a scratch on its side and the force throwing him to the neighbouring tree. She looked to see her brother on the ground, the other werewolf getting ready to attack him.
Titania ran quickly, standing protectively over her wounded brother. She lunged at the werewolf, anger getting the better of her. She clasped on to its arm, earning numerous more scratches on her side from his flailing claws.
She whimpered as she hit another tree, her night strangely consisting of breaking her ribs as she hit the large trees surrounding the area. Titania was tired from fighting two against three and she hoped that by some grace of Merlin her brother was alright. He had never taken a beating such as this and it frightened her to think she would lose him.
From above the trees, the moon was slowly disappearing, slowly breaking into day. She scrambled up quickly, looking to her brother who was convulsing on the ground. Titania moved quickly to cover her brother, the other werewolf seemingly not able to change just yet.
The fur was melting back into skin, and the snout was slowly disappearing back into an ordinary human face. The ears shrunk back and the claws filed back into nails. The paws, the built, the head all shrunk back into the shape of the brother she knew and loved.
Titania growled as her unconscious brother lay on the ground, waiting to risk both life and limb in order to defend her fallen brother. The stag and the dog remained where they were by the werewolf, staring at the large white dog in front of them. From behind, Titania noted that the werewolf was returning to his human form, clearly wounded and tired from the fight they all had.
Titania acted quickly, turning back to her old self and crouching beside her brother. "Tanis. Tanis. Tanis, please wake up. Tanis," she begged, shaking her brother slightly into consciousness.
He neither stirred nor emitted a word, his face bloody and wounded from his battle, body beaten, bruised, and battered. "Tanis," she muttered, tears falling freely from her eyes now. She heard the agonized scream from the man who had returned to being a man, and reluctantly, she turned to them, wand raised.
Titania looked at them with her mouth agape, not believing what she was seeing. "No, no, no, no, no," she muttered, her wand still pointed at the foursome who appeared in front of her, "don't come near me."
She pulled Tanis closer to her and made ready to throw a spell if they thought of coming closer. James and Sirius looked to each other, James limping terribly with blood seeping through his shirt and Sirius with blood running down his arm and neck.
"Titania…" Remus said from behind them, wearing nothing but pants and a loosely fitting school robe.
"Don't," she threatened them with her wand again, hands shaking from both fear and shock. This was too much for her, far too much. Remus was a werewolf? Remus, good, kind, and sweet Remus, was a cold blooded, life-ruining killer? No, it's far too complicated.
And so her body shut down, and she fell hard beside her brother.
Titania woke up hours later, feeling worse than she had only hours ago. She was wrapped tightly in bandages and her body ached like mad. The memories of the night were coming to her and her spirits went to an all time low.
She looked to the foot of her bed, seeing Tanis already curled up into a ball on a chair. He looked much better than he did that morning, the wolf blood coursing through his veins accelerating his recovery time. He had much fewer bandages than she did, meaning far less deep gashes and bites on him than on her.
Titania moved her leg slightly, brushing up against her brother's hand on the bed. Tanis stirred a bit, bolting up when he saw her. "Titania!" he greeted excitedly, moving closer to the bed to get a better look at her.
"Remus is a," she began to say, but Tanis quieted her gently.
"I know. I realized it this morning when we were fighting him and his cronies," Tanis replied cheekily, "that's why I was brought down quickly. I stopped fighting him and just defended myself to receive minimal beating."
Titania rose up quickly, her head colliding with her brother's. "Ow!" they shouted, clutching their throbbing heads. The twins looked to one another, laughing as they did. Tanis held out a hand and Titania landed him a low and a high five.
Everything was alright again between them, but Titania thought again about another group of boys she had to face.
"About Remus…" she began to say again, still touching her bandaged head.
"No need to tell me. I know," he said, laughing at his sister's flustered face.
"Is it obvious?" she asked, hoping to Godric that it wasn't.
"To me, of course it would be. But to him, I highly think…no, I know he doesn't see it," Tanis reassured his sister.
"Thank God," she said, feeling slightly embarrassed and really in pain, "now, can you get me something to get these ribs to not hurt?"
The day after, Madame Pomfrey had finally allowed Titania to leave the confines of the Infirmary. It made her happy to be able to walk again, but she dreaded the thought that she would have to face Sirius, James, Peter, and especially, Remus.
"Titania!" she heard her name being called, turning quickly, she saw Tanis running towards her, a giant grin on his face.
"What is it?" she asked, suspicious of her brother's rather large mouth.
"Just, come on," he said, pulling his sister out to the grounds.
"Tanis, where are we going?" she asked, controlling her laughter. Tanis pulled her ahead of him, putting a hand to her eyes, "don't peak ok?"
"As if I could," she replied, stumbling like an idiot as her brother edged her on forward, "is it far?"
"No, no, almost there. Now hush," Tanis said, moving her up a slope and to a stop.
He moved in closer to her ear, "Close your eyes first, you can look after you count to five ok?"
Tanis slipped his hand away from her eyes, moving to the trees close by where Sirius and Peter were hidden behind, James appeared soon after, having left Remus up on that same hill as well.
"Think it will work?" James asked his devious friends.
"It's my sister. It'll work," Tanis replied, pushing down Sirius' head to get a better view, "I knew she wouldn't wait til the count of five to open her eyes."
"Yeah, well Remus did," James laughed, seeing his friend with his eyes still closed.
"Remus?" Titania asked shocked, looking around to find her brother who was going to die in a few moments.
"Ti-ti-Titania?" Remus stammered, looking around as well, for James no doubt.
"I'm gonna kill Tanis for this," she muttered, not looking at Remus who stood awkwardly beside her.
"I'm sorry for not being a better sight then," Remus tried to joke, but finding only a forced chuckle coming out of his throat.
Titania heard what he had said, fearing she had insulted him with her remark. "No, no, that's not what I mean. I mean to say, um, that is…" she stammered, unsure of what she wanted to say.
She looked down at the ground, still ashamed at the way she reacted when she saw what he really was. It was an in the moment reaction caused by the fight and her worry for her brother's life.
Remus placed a finger under her chin, lifting her head to face him. Slowly, he bent down, planting a kiss on her lips. Titania stared shocked, not expecting his spur of the moment revelation. Titania slowly kissed back, with Remus only breaking it from shock at his own actions.
"I'm sorry, Titania," he stammered, stepping away from her.
Titania shook her head, not believing the actions of gentlemen. She pulled him to her, planting another kiss on his lips. He felt her smile as she kissed him and yearned for more when she pulled away.
"I'm sorry for reacting the way I did the other night," she said shyly, subconsciously rubbing the back of her neck.
Remus laughed a little, "it's alright. You took it better than what most people would." He placed a hand on her head, ruffling her hair a bit.
"I should have known better. My brother is one after all," she said, " a giant ball of fur which can fetch a stick you throw a distance away." Remus scowled at her, giving a look of both disbelief and insult.
"I'm kidding Remus. And to ease your thought, I'm not afraid of Werewolves," she whispered, tip toeing to get closer to his ears.
"Why is that?" he asked, curious about what she was thinking, a grin forming on his face.
"Because, somewhere underneath all that fur, there's a good man waiting to come out," she said, moving in for another kiss.
Remus was wrong after all, he thought to himself. She really wasn't like everybody else.
And behind the large tree, Sirius and James held down a frantic Tanis. "Why is he kissing her?" he shouted, trying to crawl free from their strong grip, "they were just supposed to say, I love you. Not kiss!"
Tanis tried to edge forward but stopped his movements, "fine, they can do what they want," he said, feeling defeated at the admission.
Sirius and James looked to one another, letting go of their new found friend. Tanis sighed, scrambling to his feet as he made a dash for the new couple. "I'm gonna kill him!" he said, running forward to the hill by the lake.
"No!" Sirius and James lunged forward, pulling the furious brother back.
Between them, they could already see how this will get along. They just hoped Titania had enough energy to control two werewolves in her life.