A shadow, black as night with no distinguishable features. The shape stood ominously in the corner of the room, surveying the area like a cat. Two yellow eyes, big as frisbees with small black dots for pupils stared blankly at Emilia.
The girl struggled against the invisible bonds tying her down to the bed. Her wrists her bound tightly by ropes she couldn't see. Her head wouldn't lift off the pillow and her ankles were bound securely by strands of ghostly cables.
Just as the young girl was about to give up her struggle, she caught a glimpse out her window. The sight made her blood run cold. The full moon, shining vividly red in the inky black sky. The blood red moon was dripping and liquidy. Emilia screamed. Her shrieks soon turned into wolfish howls and moans. Her skin started ripping off her bones as they snapped and moved around.
Pain. Red hot pain rushed through her veins. Her vision went red and blurry. The girl writhed in pain, held firmly in place by her invisible shackles. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the figure move. Ever so slowly he started approaching. And he was laughing. The bastard was laughing at her misery!
Emilia couldn't remember a time feeling more pain than she was in now. Everything was on fire. Like she was being burned and ripped apart at the same time. Torture was more desirable than this. The figure towered above her now. He was a black shadow with glowing amber eyes, half wolf half man. But through her haze of sheer misery that was all she could see of him.
"Die, Moonlet…" than with a whimper the world faded to black.
A small cowering girl, under a blanket, hyperventilating. Emilia's eyes were screwed shut in fear, her heart thudding loudly in her ears, her whole body wracked with quiet sobs. Her cold hands were wrapped around her shaking torso. Images of a dark figure looming above her, the bloody moon, being held down by invisible ropes, all flashed into her mind.
"Emilia?" the teen gasped and delved deeper under the blankets. The voice was but a quiet whisper. A careful tone that sounded female- but no female lived in her house…
"Let me.." another whisper, this time it sounded male. "Emilia… it's me, Michael."
Emilia gasped and started shaking uncontrollably, but peeked out of the top of her blankets. Two pale faces floated above her in the dark. Emilia let out a small shriek.
'THUD' "owww…" Emilia fell off the bed. She pulled a blanket off the bed and wrapped it around herself as she slowly sat up. Once she blinked some of the sleepiness from her eyes, she looked up again and found a much more exciting sight.
Hannah stood close to where she sat, face concerned and holding her wand by her side. Behind her was Michael with his slightly-messy-but-still-well-maintained-hairdo. Hannah smiled comfortingly and held her hand out for Emilia to grab. Once she was pulled to her feet, the young Brunette finally spoke, "w-why are you here? You scared me half to bloody death!"
Michael shushed her and looked cautiously at the door. "We needed to get out of the house for a while. It was rather sudden."
"We figured Dominique would freak out because she doesn't know what traveling through the floo is. Ammon is in France right now, visiting his sister who deals with rogue dragons. Obviously, you were the best choice." Hannah whispered quickly and quietly, glancing at the door multiple times while speaking. "The noise of you falling off the bed would have woken even the deepest of sleepers up, so your father is most likely coming now… but I can't hear him."
Emilia sighed. "He's a light sleeper, of course, he's up. I wouldn't be surprised if he was listening to our conversation right now."
Michael and Hannah Looked wide-eyed at each other and then at the door. "I forgot your dad was a werewolf too…" Michael whispered. "I wasn't planning on waking everybody up right now." he sighed.
"I wouldn't worry about it Mr. Rawlings," Remus stood casually in the doorway, leaning against the door frame. He wore a simple pair of grey sweats and an old black shirt. The three teens looked sheepishly at him.
"Please, call me Michael." the boy said quietly. "Sorry, we woke you up."
"You weren't asleep in the first place, where you?" Emilia's expression turned to confused and concerned.
Remus only smiled sadly. "Let's take this downstairs, shall we?" his expression was light, but it was more a statement than a question.
Emilia threw on a sweatshirt over her t-shirt and headed downstairs after everyone else had traveled down. Quietly she trod down the cold wood steps. She could hear the rustling of people down in the kitchen. They weren't talking, just sitting down at the table.
Once Emilia went downstairs she seated herself at the kitchen table. She sat at the end, Michael and Hannah sat together on one side and Moony sat across from them. There was an awkward stretch of silence before Moony got up and offered tea.
"Alright…" Michael said quietly. "Here's our problem."
"Hannah came to my house two days ago unexpectedly. She was hiding... from something about her father?... she refuses to give details. I knew mother wouldn't like it, she rarely approves of anything I do, so I didn't tell her. Tonight neither of us could sleep so we roamed the grounds of my house. When we came back in mother was furious and there was a fight and I'm not going to give details about that. We ran for it when she pulled out her wand and hid from her in the study. While she was yelling and threatening to blow down the door we went through the floo. And here we are." Michael sighed as he finished up his tale. No one spoke.
Emilia curled up in her chair and sipped her tea silently, peeking up at moony to see his reaction. He just looked tired. Bags under his eyes and messy hair. His eyes had small flecks of Amber and Emilia was guessing hers did too. Werewolves eyes turned steadily more amber as the full moon approached.
"Mr. Lupin," Hannah cleared her throat and spoke a bit louder. "I understand if you want us to leave. We did drop in at three in the morning unannounced after all. But if there's any way we could at least spend the rest of the night?..." Hannah trailed off.
Emilia hoped they could stay, truly she did, but she could guess the answer. He would gladly invite them in if the full moon wasn't two days away. The very reason they lived so far away from any civilization, by the woods, with no one but themselves, was because of what they were. Monsters. Originally Moony was uneasy with Felicity's family just living near them. Near the house. NEAR. so why would he ever let people, friends or not, stay IN the house?
"Please, Hannah, call me Remus." he smiled kindly. "If you were to stay here…"
Emilia's eyes widened and she looked up at Remus hopefully. Was he actually going to allow it?
"I have only one rule." his expression turned serious. "Am I correct in assuming Emilia has told you about our-condition?"
"We know you're dark creatures," Michael whispered seriously. "We won't bother you on the night of the full moon."
"When that night arrives Emilia and I head into the woods. When we do, you two must not, under any circumstances, leave this house." Moony turned to Emilia and then to the other two. "Are we in agreement?"
"Yes," Hannah and Michael said quickly. "We won't leave the house, or even the room we are in!"
Remus smiled kindly again. "You may stay as long as needed, though I must admit we aren't very good hosts."
Emilia cleared her throat, "you two are the first guests we've had here in years." she smiled happily. "Hopefully not the last," she looked at Moony as she said this.
"We have a small guest bedroom! You two can sleep there, or just Michael and Hannah could sleep with me. Or one of you could sleep on the couch down here?" Emilia felt like jumping in her seat. Guests! They had friends staying over! Better yet, she has friends IN HER HOUSE! This is amazing!
"I'll sleep in your room if that's ok with you?" Hannah smiled, "and Michael can have the guest room all to himself."
"I'm actually not that tired," Michael confessed. Hannah said the same. The three friends were given permission to chat in the living room instead of sleeping.
Twenty minutes later found the three teens passed out on the sofa and floor.
The three friends sat on the floor of Emilia's room, in a circle, with a chess game in front of them. Hannah and Emilia were against each other, making weird faces to mess up the other. Michael was trying to read but couldn't stop laughing.
"You need to move your knight, Emilia. Hannah's coming for it," Michael spoke up. Emilia brushed it off, "Nah, mate, it's protected!"
Hannah's queen moved closer. "This is your last chance, Emilia! Move it to protect your king-"
"Quit nagging me, This pawn is in the way!" Emilia smiled with plenty of confidence. Michael rolled his eyes.
Of course on the next move, Hannah's queen obliterated it. Michael's eyes returned to his book. "You call it 'nagging', I call it: listen to what I said the first time."
Hannah laughed. "Only Michael has ever beaten me. I'd like to see you try to destroy my king!" she laughed.
"Well…" Emilia trailed off, trying to come up with something to brag about. To go along with the 'fight talk'. "I may be pants at chess, but at least I've got spirit! And maybe some determination too." Emilia smiled triumphantly, Causing the three to burst out laughing.
A sudden 'whoosh' from the fireplace downstairs caught their attention. Emilia's expression changed suddenly to pure excitement and curiosity. The friends exchanged looks and stood up. No speaking, only nodding to each other, like those muggle spy movies, as they crept down the hallway and halfway down the stairs. Emilia peaked around the wall, getting the perfect view of the living room. A tall dark figure stood downstairs. His black robe and greasy hair meant this man was undeniably Professor Snape. Remus gave a short greeting and Snape nodded his head, then he handed two goblets to Remus without saying anything. With thanks from Remus, Snape turned and went back into the fireplace, his usual scowl set firmly in place.
The air was oddly chilly for an August day. The breeze was colder than usual and the clouds seemed darker. Emilia sat on the cool grass, where grass met the sand of the shore. Her bare feet dug into the sand. Her face was pale and drawn, with dark bags under her eyes and almost pure amber eyes. Her whole body was shaking slightly. She wrapped her arms tighter around her torso and looked at her friends.
Hannah and Michael sat on her left with Hannah sitting in the middle of the three. Her white blond hair blew around her face and occasionally into her mouth. She didn't seem to mind the cold, wearing only a loose fitting tank and really short shorts. Michael wore a long sleeve black shirt that was tight fitting and dark blue jeans. Something about the shirt complemented his eyes, his large dazzling brown eyes. A shame they were hidden behind those black glasses.
The two friends were chatting away about Quidditch teams, a conversation Emilia would usually love to join into if she weren't feeling like she'd been run over by a herd of hippogriffs. Instead of talking she sat with her arms wrapped around her legs and her knees pulled up to her chest. The brunette looked up at the orange sun as it began its slow descent down to the horizon. The clouds were starting to turn a beautiful pink, reminding Emilia of that muggle treat-what was it? Cotton something? Cotton candy?
"Emilia?" Hannah waved a hand in front of the brunette's face. Emilia jumped and looked up. Hannah helped Emilia up and the three friends retreated inside for the day.
At last the fateful moment had come. Michael and Hannah made themselves cozy in the guest room and promised multiple times to not even open the door. Hannah and Michael would sleep together tonight, to watch over each other. Emilia and Remus exited the house and trudged towards the beginning of the forest.
Only the tip of the sun was visible above the horizon now. Emilia sat on the dusty ground and leaned her back against a boulder. The full moon. The hazy blackness of the night seemed to envelop her, sending shivers of anticipation down her spine.
Pain. unbearable, excruciating, unreal, it hit her body in full force. Emilia had taken the wolfsbane potion Snape gave them, and so had Remus. The wolfbane usually takes away about half the pain, but it didn't seem to be working. This was unlike anything Emilia had experienced throughout the first school year. This was raw, unyielding pain, so unbearable, so harrowing, her entire body was racked with sobs and sweat. Her bones snapped like toothpicks, her ears shifted to the top of her head, her entire body rearranged itself. And then moonlet emerged.
It was different this time. With the wolfbane Emilia had control. Moonlet was in complete and utter control, and she was hungry. The cub looked over at Moony and growled. Moony just turned his head, confused. He trotted up to moonlet and pawed playfully but moonlet wasn't interested. She growled again and walked away, out of the forest and towards the house.
Moony ran ahead and stopped in front of moonlet, making a low growling noise from the back of his throat. Moonlet growled back and tried to push past him.
Remus knew something was wrong. He had no problems, in fact, he was happy with the wolfsbane results! He'd never had this control over the wolf inside! But it didn't seem to be working for moonlet, and that was definitely concerning. Moony growled and tried to push Moonlet towards the forest but moonlet didn't like that. She growled loudly and jumped at moony, teeth bared. The two wolves fought ferociously. Moonlet clawed, bit, scratched, howled, and genuinely wanted to tear Moony apart. But the older and more experienced wolf won in the end, pinning her to the ground. Moonlet howled and tried to get free, scratching at Moony's face and stomach. Then a loud call cut off moonlets attempts at freedom. A large bird hit moonlet's face, catching the wolf off guard. Seizing his chance, moony swung his paw and knocked the younger wolf out.
Hannah stood pacing in the guest bedroom with Michael playing wizards chess against himself on the bed. Hannah now stood in the window, looking heavily concerned. "They are still fighting, Michael."
Michael only nodded, moving his knight further across the chess board.
"I could fly overhead and distract them? I could fly away before they notice it's me?" Hannah was brainstorming. She knew something was obviously wrong. They wouldn't be fighting if the wolfbane was working, they would be playing or something. And they were fighting out in the open! The people who lived close by would surely see them!
"You know that's not a good idea," Michael said quietly. "What if a crazy wolf claws you? Or Emilia recognizes you?"
"If she's the wolf gone crazy, then she won't recognize me."
"Won't she? Moonlet considers you part of the pack."
Hannah sighed heavily and continued staring out the window.
"Right," she said almost angrily. She crossed the room and took a heavy book off the bookshelf. "I'm going to help, don't try to stop me." and she whacked the window latch with the heavy book, causing it to pop open.
"You're pulling an Emilia? Going Rouge? Have you lost your mind?!" Michael yelled and stood up.
"I'm in Gryffindor for a reason."
"This isn't bravery its insanity!"
"I'm going." and with a small 'pop' Hannah turned into a buzzard.
Michael cursed. "Don't do this. We promised-"
Hannah cut him off by chirping. She gracefully flew out the open window. She quickly swept towards the fight and sized up the two werewolves. Hastily she decided what she had to do, and with all her courage she screeched and flapped her wings in Moonlet's face.
Once the cub was knocked out she sat on a branch and watched as moony dragged the cub over to a tree and stood guard over her. He scanned the trees until his and Hannah's eyes met. He tilted his head in confusion and woofed softly. Hannah pretended to be a normal animal and didn't keep eye contact. She squawked and flew away, further into the forest.
Once she deemed it safe, she flew back into the guest bedroom.
Hello dear readers! So sorry I haven't posted in forever! I've decided to rewrite the first book, so more uploads for this story will probably take a while. Thank you so much for reading!