Disclaimer: I own nothing of J.K. Rowling's story, characters, plot, etc etc. I admire her, not steal from her.
Chapter Two
Dangerous Studying
My father never received permission from the Ministry of Magic to study a live werewolf, nor did he have the consent of a werewolf to study it.
He was quite disappointed but soon returned to researching other creatures like he had before. Life continued for my mother, father, and I and all was excellent.
It wasn't until I was the age of seven, that my father and mother began having difficulties. I heard every conversation they had, but I was too young to completely understand.
All I could comprehend was that my father was in contact with a deadly werewolf.
November 24, 1966
"Mummy! Mummy!" exclaimed little Remus Lupin, grown to the age of seven.
"Don't shout Remus," Catherine warned him.
"Look! Look!" he hollered as he scurried over to where his mother was seated.
"What is it now dear?" Catherine sighed, obviously exhausted by a day's work and her exceptionally hyper son.
"Look what father brought home for me!" he squealed, holding out two cupped hands. In his palms lay a pointed, grimy fang.
"What have you got there love?" Catherine inquired, leaning in to take a peek. When she saw what it was she winced and her face contorted into a frown.
"A basilisk fang! Isn't it wicked?" Remus cried out in joy. "Father said that his work place had too many! So he asked if he could take one home for me!"
"That's…great, Remus," Catherine replied hesitantly. She shuddered at the thought of a basilisk. At that moment, Joseph walked into the kitchen and Catherine gave him 'The Look'. As in the 'You Are Going To Die' look.
"Hi…love," Joseph said, reading Catherine's glare and smiling back at her. "Er, how was your day?"
"Superb." She continued to defiantly stare at Joseph until Remus piped in,
"What are you two doing? You're acting all funny." Both parents glanced over at their son and laughed at themselves and their child. "What?"
"Why are you so brilliant son?" Joseph asked as he gently lifted Remus off the floor and into his arms.
"Why do you say that?" Remus responded, honestly utterly confused.
"Ha! Ha!" he chortled. "My son, you are so brilliant because you're so observant! And at the age of seven!" He placed Remus back on onto the floor after kissing him on the cheek.
"Come now and eat your cookies. I made them especially for you, and they're nice and soft now. Freshly baked!" Catherine stated, pushing the plate of warm chocolate chip cookies towards the edge of the table.
"Mmm! Are some of those for me too?" Joseph implied, rubbing his belly and licking his lips.
"I don't know…your stomach is protruding more and more everyday…" Catherine said playfully, eyeing him with a crooked smile.
"Ha…ha. Very funny Cath," Joseph retorted. He kissed Catherine on the lips and the pulled away smiling at one another. Remus sat at the table chewing on a cookie, chocolate smeared on either side of his face, focused on nothing but the food right in front of him.
"Are they any good?" Catherine interrogated.
"Delicious! Absolutely scrumptious!" Remus declared, bits of cookie spraying in various directions.
"Such a big vocabulary too!" Joseph commented. "You're going to be some smart boy! You'll be the cleverest kid at Hogwarts!"
"Maybe!" Remus looked hopeful, wishing he was eleven right now so that he could live at this wondrous school his parents were always talking about. He wanted to make them so proud. "Maybe I can bring my basilisk fang to Hogwarts and show people! And my phoenix feather! And my giant squid tentacle!"
"Well…maybe not Remus…" Catherine interjected. He ignored her remark and continued,
"And my hippogriff talon! And my merperson scale! And my dragon horn! I wonder who I'll meet at Hogwarts?!"
"Many children! You'll make so many new friends!" Joseph promised.
"Do you think my basilisk fang will help me make friends?" Both Catherine and Joseph stared at their son. They glanced at each other with looks of worry in the eyes. They looked back at Remus and Joseph said,
"Well, son, you don't need cool objects to make friends. All you have to do is be yourself. That should be enough for them."
"Oh, well alright then. What you say is always right father!" Remus smiled up at his dad, chocolate chips crushed in between his teeth.
"Well! I think it's time for bed!" Catherine got out of her seat and escorted Remus to his bedroom to help get him ready for bed.
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"Joe, what were you thinking giving that boy a basilisk fang?" Catherine was agitated at Joseph.
"What? It's harmless! There is absolutely nothing wrong with a basilisk fang," Joseph argued.
"He is seven years old!"
"And he is a smart boy!"
"You don't know what types of magic that fang holds!"
"There is no magic to that fang!"
"How do you know?"
"Aren't I the one who is the creature expert here?"
They bickered like this for five minutes until Joseph said, "Look, I'm sorry honey. I didn't know it would upset you this much."
"It's alright. I just don't want you to bring home some dangerous dark object or anything. I mean, a feather is one thing, but a fang? What will it be next? A pet troll? Where does it stop Joe?"
During his mother's speech, little Remus popped out of his room unnoticed and unheard by his parents. He was awoken from the noisy row and was curious what his parents were arguing about. He tiptoed to the end of the hall and stood against the wall to listen.
"Alright, I understand your point."
"Thank you."
"But there's something else I wanted to tell you about…" he trailed off.
"Oh for Merlin's sake…please don't tell me it's anything bad," Catherine groaned.
"I got permission to study a werewolf," he said simply. Remus didn't understand the intensity and significance of this statement.
Catherine's eyes bulged from their sockets and looked as though they were going to pop right out of her head. Her mouth hung ajar and her expression was bewildered.
"No…no, no, no, no, no! I thought we talked about this!"
"Seven years ago! And I knew how much it upset you, but I thought maybe if I studied one and came back the same as I was, even more excellent possibly, then you would accept that!"
"Joseph…don't tell me—"
"—Yes. I already studied one. A real one," he finished for her.
She began to weep into her soft, delicate hands and Joseph placed his arm around her shoulders.
"Honey, I'm fine. It was asleep while I studied it, the workers drugged him with a sleeping potion."
"And what if it woke up?" she cried.
"They even used a sleeping spell and a stunning spell just for extra precautions. It was quite extraordinary."
"Joseph! I don't care how 'splendid' the creature is, I don't want you near one of those…things!"
"Catherine! Don't speak of them like that! They are ordinary people who do everyday things! They just turn into wolves every full moon, and it's not exactly their fault!" Joseph defended.
She ignored his defending and asked, "When you say it was asleep…well, it's obviously dangerous when it's awake but…did you…have the werewolve's permission?"
Joseph did not respond.
"JOSEPH!" she howled. Remus jumped at the sound of his mother's outcry. "ARE YOU MAD?"
"Ssh…you'll wake Remus…" he whispered softly, but he was not heard through Catherine's bantering.
"THAT WEREWOLVE IS GOING TO BE EXTREMELY MAD JOSEPH…"
"It's alright! His name is Fenrir Greyback…and he was most wanted by the Ministry for a while. He is going to Azkaban once we are finished studying him! He is wanted for the murder of many people!"
"OH THAT'S EVEN BETTER!"
"Catherine please…"
"PLEASE WHAT? How am I supposed to react when my husband comes home and tells me he has been near a murderous werewolf who is wanted by the Ministry?!?!"
Joseph exhaled a deep, long breath and Catherine said softer this time, "Joe, I know this is exciting for you, but I just don't want you in contact with a werewolf. I don't want you to get hurt…"
"I know, I know."
"Go to bed, you look exhausted," she mentioned as she rubbed his back.
"Alright."
"I'll be going to bed now too."
Remus realized his parents would be coming his way in a few seconds and he dashed into his bedroom and shut the door ever so softly. He darted for his bed and yanked the covers over his body. He lay there awake for a few minutes, picturing what a werewolf might look like. He had only ever seen pictures, but never a real one.
"Wow." He said aloud to himself. "Werewolves must be so neat. It would be remarkable to be a werewolf."