The smell of blood was intoxicating. He sniffed the air, trying to grasp the scent, get a hold of where it was so he could chase after it. He felt free; free for the first time in what seemed like years! Free to chase any animal that came in his way, to quench his desires, his desires for blood, flesh, food... He smelt the undeniable tang of blood coming from the west. He yowled in anticipation, barely able to control himself... He no longer had to hide or pretend... No more gnawing on his own legs for sustenance, or attempting to nullify his innate desires by chewing desperately on anything solid he could find... He could smell it. It was overpowering him; he thought he might collapse from desire... He looked around and saw... a human! He could scarcely believe his luck. Human flesh was almost impossible to attain, but it was undeniably the juiciest, the most tender... If he missed out on this feed, he thought, he might actually die. He growled his low growl, dripping saliva everywhere. The human had spotted him now, fear was filling its eyes... Someone had already been here, he noticed. There was blood dripping from his leg. The exposed blood drove him wild. He padded slowly, softly... and then...
Remus Lupin woke up with a start. He sat straight up, and regretted it almost immediately. His back was aching, he had a plethora of new scars everywhere the eye could see, and he was lying completely naked in the middle of a forest. His head throbbed. What had happened? Had his wife, Nymphadora, not locked him in their shed, as was his usual full-moon custom? Remus could only remember snippets of last night's activities, but it seemed to be flooding back to him in waves, making his head throb even harder. Yes, Dora had locked him in their shed. Even through all her clumsiness, she was a prodigiously skilled witch and knew not to be clumsy when it came to his, Remus', full moon dwellings. But he had been spending the full moon in there for quite some time now. The shed had finally given way to his immense wolfish strength, and he bust out of it as though it were merely made of a threadbare material. He was lucky that his wife had the sense to stay indoors; the noise surely would have startled the already alert Nymphadora. He had sprinted for the forest, hungrier than he had ever been in his life. Now, however, he felt strangely full. Had he found a bunny to gorge himself on? Remus' head throbbed. Think, Remus! He racked his brain. What happened? He glanced at his surroundings as he contemplated this question. And for the first time since he had awoken, Remus realised that he was covered in blood. But it wasn't just him. There was a woman lying next to him, bloody slashes drawn across her chest and unmistakeably, a large mouth sized bite on her inner right thigh. Oh my god. His heart was beating so fast he thought it might pop out of his chest. Remus hurried to the woman, please let her be alive, he thought frantically. Thankfully, somewhat impossibly, Remus felt a pulse beating at her neck. It was faint, but it was definitely there. He checked their surroundings. He knew they were in the forest that lined his and Dora's backyard. He also knew that the forest was seemingly endless. And due to the apparent darkness around the pair of them, they could be trapped deep in the forest for days, before Remus could access a wand - let alone healers! He punched his fist into the dirt. He knew the shed had been getting battered for months and yet, he had never gotten around to fixing it up. Other things had gotten in the way. Well, he thought bitterly, buying baby clothes and fixing the kitchen sink were far more important than protecting the world from the imminent danger he presented at the full moon. He knew more than anything that he needed to contact his wife. Not only was she a trained Auror who could help him with this young girl, but she would be frantically worried – not a great state to be in when you are three months pregnant. Remus cringed. His poor wife – she did not need this extra pain in her life. Besides, how could he contact her? He had run into the forest on one of his wild wolfish rampages. Clearly, he would not have stopped to make sure he had a wand on his person. But then, he thought painfully, I'm not a person anyway, so what does it matter? He looked down at the young girl. Her slow breathing indicated that whilst she was sure to stay alive for quite a while longer, there was not much chance of awakening her from this deep slumber. He didn't particularly want to wake her anyway. Waking her would mean facing the guilt he had feared would come his entire life. Then a thought struck him. What if the girl had a wand on her? He could use it to cast a Patronus, to call for his wife's help! He rummaged through her bag, frantically flicking out everything within, disregarding its contents as worthless in his quest for a wand. Right at the bottom of the bag he found one, and he punched the air with glee. Thinking of holding his newborn child, with one arm around his beautiful wife, Remus opened his mouth and said in a raspy, unused voice "Expecto Patronum!" A ghostly werewolf erupted from the wand, and turned and looked at Remus expectantly, "Go to Dora. Give her the following message. I am in the forest behind the house. I think I bit a girl on my rampage. I need help, I have no idea where I am. I love you." The wolf nodded in understanding, and then streaked off, eastward bound. Remus made a mental note of the direction that the Patronus was going, assuming that must be the way to his house and the comfort of his beloved wife, her popped out belly, warm smile and the soft smell of vanilla she left wherever she went. Remus snapped out of his daze. This was no time to be dreaming of his wife! For the first time since he had noticed the bloody girl laying near him, he remembered he was entirely nude. Remus looked at the contents of the young girl's bag he had carelessly strewn all over the forest floor. He could see nothing to cover himself with. Then, after a moment in which he figuratively slapped himself in the face, he looked at his right hand. Right, he thought, I took the girl's wand. With a flick of the unknown, but not unfriendly, wand, he covered himself in a primitive sort of robe. A few more waves of the wand saw the blood clean off the girl's body, and bandages tighten themselves over the places where she had been hurt; where he, Remus, had hurt her. He covered her in a thick woollen blanket and then proceeded to sit on a nearby rock. What had he done? After he spent years preventing it, trying to make sure it never happened, here was irrefutable proof that he had bitten another human. Hot tears fell down his angry, frustrated face. From the day he'd been bitten, he promised himself this would never happen. Remus made it his life goal to ensure that he would never inflict this horrible curse, this disgusting disease, on another living being, regardless of how evil or repulsive that human may be. And yet, here lay a woman, with seemingly no evil traits about her, an innocent woman who had stumbled upon him at the wrong time. And now, thought Remus, he had condemned another unsuspecting, good human being into a life of isolation and oppression; of painful transformations and disgusting desires. He hid his head in his hands. He did not deserve any feeling other than shame right now. All of a sudden, he felt something warm against his leg. What was it? Remus sat up, alarmed. He looked down at his leg and saw a Patronus identical to his own. The warmth he could feel, he thought, was most definitely a message from his lovely, caring wife. "Stay where you are. I have sent Kingsley in to come find you. I love you, do not feel bad. You could have prevented none of this." Strangely, the words comforted him. Not because he believed them, but because Dora's voice had always had this effect over him. For such a tragically clumsy woman, thought Remus, she most definitely had her head screwed on the right way in a crisis. And so he waited. He waited what seemed like hours in the cold, cold night. The bitterness of the chill seemed to drill into his bones and he could see the young woman shivering in her semi-conscious state. Remus attempted to perform another charm to create a thicker blanket for her, but his hands were far too shaky in the cold. He was suddenly very weary. His body felt soft against the rough texture of the rock beneath his body, but there was no denying it... he needed to rest... to feel the cleansing touch of sleep, where he could forget the horrific acts he had just performed... the acts that would surely haunt him forever... but for now... rest...