Remus spent at least three hours a day reading books. It didn't particularly matter to him what sort of books they were. His parents believed that he should only be looking at picture books at that time in his life, but he was quite sure that he ought to be reading their medical journals and scientific magazines. So, with all the picture books he had and a couple of manuals and magazines that he was able to find, Remus went off into the farthest corner of the yard, crawled under a bush, and in the mottled half light that filtered through the branches, read.
It was on such an afternoon that his mother called out to him to come back to the house. She didn't sound as mild and calm as she usually did and it always took an awful lot to rile his mother.
"There you are Remus, where have you been? Anyway, I have to leave for a while. There has been an emergency at the hospital. Nancy from down the street is going to be staying with you."
He peered around his mother and saw the most uninteresting person he could think of. "Mother, why has she have to be the one to stay with me. I don't like her."
"Remus," she only looked at him for a moment before turning back to Nancy. "I'm sorry. He really is a darling, but, well, what can you do with children these days."
"Oh, I understand marm. I hope everything goes well at the hospital for you." Nancy said. Remus retreated into the back bedroom, dragging his feet.
The moon was full and the skies were glittering with stars as Remus looked out the window. His parents still weren't at home. It was usual that his father wasn't back yet, but his mother was usually never out so late, even if there was an emergency. Curled up in bed, he pondered different scenarios of his missing parents. As his mind wandered he realized something: all his books were outside in the bushes.
He slid out of bed and tip-toed down the hallway to the living room. He peeked around the sofa and saw that Nancy was engrossed in one of those teenager magazines. After watching her for a few moments, he decided it was safe to creep out the back door without being seen.
Once outside he hurried over to his spot in the bushes. All his books were there, but the night-time air had made a few of the covers soggy. Remus gathered up the books, doing his best to stack them neatly, and started to hobble across the yard with his load. Halfway across, his foot slid out from under him on the wet grass and down he fell to be covered with a pile of books. He felt that his elbow was scraped, and he let out a few whimpers of self-pity. Then he remembered that his mother wasn't home and the only person who could come to his rescue was the boring Miss Nancy. Wiping the frustrated tears from his eyes, Remus stood up again and gathered up his precious cargo.
He hardly made another step when he heard a significant rustle in the hedge. He looked back at the sound and tried to pinpoint its maker. After a moment he didn't hear it again. "It must have been a rat or something." He reasoned internally. Then he heard a snarl. He immediately dropped his books and jumped as far from the hedge as he could. "Doggie?" He squeaked hopefully.
There was another rustle in the hedge and this time there was the sound of branches breaking. From the bushes emerged the largest dog he had ever seen. The dog was the dark brown of congealed blood and his paws were the size of bear traps. All of the fur on the dog was matted and spiky, and the teeth were stained meat cleavers. The dog was moving steadily toward Remus. It was only when the dog was starting to get closer (which only happened when Remus ran into the fence that surrounded the yard) that he noticed the dog was not a dog at all.
"Help!" Remus began to shout with all the power his young voice contained. He tried to run to the side of the animal to get away, but somehow the animal was able to hold Remus with his paws. As Remus shouted and screamed he was hitting and kicking the animal with all his might, and this was only proving to aggravate the attacker. Suddenly, he lashed out with and ripped into Remus' calf with his massive teeth. Remus had never known such a terrible shooting pain. He struggled for only a moment more before passing into blackness.