When Charlie wakes up, he's lying in a forest clearing in the dirt, everything hurts, and there is an unfamiliar man beside him, hands curled around his knees, sobbing the words, "I'm sorry," over and over again. The man's face is a mask of guilt and pain.

Charlie tries to sit up and winds up crying out instead. The sound is guttural and broken. He almost wouldn't know it's coming from him, except for the way it tears itself out of his throat, burning the whole way.

The man's gaze snaps up to look at him. His eyes are a bright, glowing amber. His face is covered in scars. Blood flows from a fresh wound on his temple.

"Don't try to move," he says. His voice is soft but raspy. "I've done what I can, but most of your wounds can't be healed by anything but time."

"What am I supposed to do, then?" Charlie asks. Even the words hurt. His muscles tighten in pain, but that just makes it worse. "Stay here until I'm healed?" he manages to gasp out.

He takes stock, and wonders if he's been in a brawl. There is a sharp, cutting pain that covers his whole left shoulder. His ribs are sore and aching. His right leg may be broken. That's not even taking into account the minor cuts and bruises that seem to cover the rest of him. His clothes are shredded, barely even in existence anymore. He's filthy with dirt from the forest floor.

It feels as though someone impaled him with a dirty stick, over and over again.

"If this is healed," Charlie says wryly, "I don't want to know what I looked like when you found me."

The man's amber eyes go cloudy. "I'm sorry," he says again, his voice hoarse. "I'm so sorry."

"Why?" Charlie asks. "It's not like you did this, right?"

He doesn't remember much, but he does remember being attacked, and it wasn't by a man. It was a beast of some sort, but the forest was dark and he didn't get a good look.

But the man goes quiet. Too quiet.

"Unless it was?" Charlie says probingly.

"I'm sorry," the man says again. "I was ill, the past week, and I lost track of the days. I didn't take my Wolfsbane. The wolf went into a frenzy. He hasn't been free in so long."

The man's voice is almost wistful

Charlie feels a shiver of ice down his spine.

Wolfsbane.

"Am I…?" he croaks out.

The man bites his lip. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."

"You've said that," Charlie says, anger coloring his tone. "It doesn't help!"

The man stops talking, but he clutches his knees tighter.

Charlie wonders how old he is. He looks ancient. At the same time, he looks so young.

Charlie sighs. He knows that the man has no control over the wolf. He can't find it in himself to blame someone so clearly full of regret.

"Charlie Weasley," he says finally. "I'd shake your hand, but it might just kill me."

The man stutters out a shocked, shaky laugh. "Remus Lupin," he says. "Pleasure to meet you. Wish the circumstances were better."

"I'm guessing an exorcism isn't going to cure me?" Charlie says, because making jokes about shitty situations is who he is.

Remus's lips twist into something that's almost a smile. "Don't believe everything you read. Trust me, I've tried."

"You've tried exorcism? What was that even like?"

"Well, it ended with my father storming out and my mother sobbing, so I wouldn't call it the best day of my life," Remus says dryly. "But I wouldn't call it the worst, either."

Charlie laughs lightly. It makes every part of him burn with pain.

Remus looks at him. "If you think you can move, I've got a cabin well stocked with pain potions. Apparition when you're like this is a bitch, though."

Charlie grits his teeth. "Let's go."

Remus takes his hand to guide him to his feet. Charlie can't help but notice that despite the scars, his hand is smooth and warm and his grip is firm and strong.

Charlie gasps out of pain as he attempts to become upright, but it's nothing compared to when Remus Apparates him without warning.

Every fibre in his being is on fire.

He collapses on the wooden floor of the tiny cabin, incapable of noticing his surroundings through the bright flare of pain.

Then there's a hand on his face and a bottle at his lips and as he drinks, he hears, "I'm so, so sorry."

When the flask is emptied and pulled away, he mumbles, "Stop 'pologizing." Then he promptly passes out.

He wakes up feeling floaty and dazed, lying on the bed, staring at the wooden ceiling beams.

"What day is it?" he asks the ceiling.

"Sunday morning," Remus's voice replies. "You slept almost a full day."

"That normal?"

"After you've been savaged by a werewolf? Yeah, I'd say so."

Remus hesitates, and then says, "Can I ask… why you were out in the forest?"

Charlie shrugs, and regrets it immediately when he feels a dull throb even through layers of pain potion.

"I like the woods," he says. "They're calming. I like the creatures. They… speak to me. I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk."

"On the full moon?"

"I don't track the lunar cycle," Charlie says. He wonders if the ceiling beam cares. He rather suspects it doesn't.

He wonders if anyone will care what he has to say, now that he's a creature rather than a human.

He wonders what his mother will say.

Charlie takes a deep breath.

"So," he says. "What happens now?"

He tips his head to find Remus sitting at a small wooden table. The cabin is only one room. A table, two chairs, a sink. The walls are wooden. Everything is wooden. Remus is looking back at him.

Remus sighs heavily. "Now? You learn to live with it. Every damn day. And it sucks, but you do it, because it's the only choice you have."

"You'll help me?" Charlie doesn't mean for his voice to sound so small.

Remus stands, crossing the cabin in a few strides. He takes Charlie's hand and smiles at him, soft and warm. His face is scarred but beautiful when he smiles.

"If you want me here, of course I will."

And maybe this is going to suck.

Maybe it's going to suck for the rest of his life. He's going to face prejudice and bloodlust and an ache in his bones that will never leave.

But maybe it's not the end of the world.

Writing Month (words): 1111 / Insane House: Charlie/Remus / 365: 80. Creature - Werewolf / Lent: 1111 words / / Creativity Month: Base Character: Charlie; Paired Character: Remus Lupin; Level: Fantasty/Supernatural; Prompt Used: werewolf!AU / / Crafty Cooking: Carrot: Charlie Weasley / / Jewels: Cat's Eye: Necklace: Write about someone/something not being all it seems at first glance / / St. Patrick's: Druid - write about someone attuned to nature / / Caffeine Awareness: 24. Macchiato - Write a story set in the morning / / Character Appreciation: 8. Magical Creature: Werewolf (5 pts for Rem) / / Showtime: And All That Jazz - (word) Brawl / / Days of the Month: International Ask a Question Day - Write a what if / / Buttons: D2: "dont believe everything you read" / / Lyric Alley: 5. Oh, the storm is raging against us now / / Liza's Loves: 13. The Mime - Alt - Write about making a mistake / / Sophie's Shelf: 13. frenzy, pleasure, tighten, impale, guttural, filthy