Hey everyone! This is a letter from Lyall Lupin to Greyback about Remus being bitten.

Written for the Hunger Games Competition: HG Quote 5 – "Destroying things is much easier than making them."

Written for QFLC as a reserve for Beater 2 of the Tornados

Word Count (without A/N): 1,213


To Greyback

You foul, despicable, wretched being. I cannot even begin to express how much I still loathe you, how much anger your simplistic name still elicits from me, and what wrath I still feel towards you whenever I look at my son. You have long since bitten him, but every day we are reminded of your vile act that has bestowed, upon my son, a lifetime of misery.

My son…my young, innocent son. It has been a few years since you bit him and he has grown to understand how difficult life will now be for him. Just yesterday, he approached us to say, "Mum… Dad… If you don't want to live in the same house as me, I understand."

My Remus said that. He actually asked if we wanted to throw him out – he said he would understand, that he would leave without being asked twice! Merlin, what can a parent say to such a thing?

He is nine. Nine. This is why I am writing this letter, so you can see that you have left a deep, gashing mark on not just my son, but all of us.

I'll bet you will rejoice at knowing how much pain you have caused us. But I…apologize for the remark I made about lycanthropes. Not so much for you, but for my son, because I cannot hate the being that he has now become.

He is maimed, he is condemned to a life of loathing and terror because you thought it funny to bite him – was it really necessary? Did you really need to prey on my child just for a small slur of mine, bite him for the fun of it – is this a joke to you?! Well, I suppose destroying things is much easier than making them, and you've always liked the easy way out. But let me tell you, Greyback, that it is not a joke to me. My son… my Remus… because of your selfish pastimes and cruel, empty heart, he is now a werewolf.

You obviously don't have children, or you would know the pain of having your child be condemned to such a life. Well, maybe you're the exception – you are certainly the foulest, coldest being I've the misfortune to hear about – and you wouldn't be able to feel anything anyway.

I am now certain that you have been prejudiced as well. I understand. But to inflict that same future onto others – onto children, onto my Remus – is something I can't make sense of. Did you want others to feel the same pain you did? Did you wish for people to understand the prejudice you face? It is at the price of innocent lives, but I suppose it doesn't matter much for you anyway.

My son has always wanted to be an Auror, you know. He has for the longest time, since he first heard of them at age 4. But a few weeks ago, he came up to my wife and me and said, "I changed my mind. I think I'll just do something quieter." And when we asked why, he said, "I wouldn't be around people as much."

He is giving up his dreams, Greyback. Because of you, my son will never become an Auror because he is too scared that he will hurt people. Every full moon, he begs us to avoid him a few days before the actual night of the full moon, just in case the transformation begins earlier. He is scared, but he will not show it. I am scared as well, for what he will have to face.

I will remind you that he is nine, Greyback. Remus… my son. He is only nine. He is too young, much too young to be a victim to your lifelong curse.

The neighbors fear him. Many have moved out because they discovered that our young boy is a half-breed. Many more have set curses to our name because we have not yet moved away to somewhere isolated. Remus is well accustomed to glares sent his way. The children on the block are ushered in by their parents whenever our son goes outside; his friends no longer are interested in playing with him. Remus is utterly isolated.

If this is how it is like in a neighborhood he has grown up in, with the people who once invited us all to dinner now slamming doors in our faces, how will it be when he goes off into the world? When he goes to school, if he will even be permitted to?

Do you see what you have done, Greyback? Remus's life is hanging on only a couple of decisions now. If schools decide it's too dangerous for him to attend, he will have a homeschooled education. When he grows up, people will not hire him because of his condition. He will not easily find a job. Our son's life… only a true twist of fate can save Remus from a lifetime of misery.

Remus… I still remember holding his small hand in mine as we watched you scamper off into your forest, howling your delight at having bitten my son. And I will never forget how I watched as his brown eyes followed your path and how I discovered, to my surprise, that there was no anger in them.

He was not angry at you, Greyback. There was pity. Pity, even as his arm bled where you had bitten him. Pity, even when he was informed that every month at the new moon he would turn into a werewolf. My son pities you.

You have damaged the life of an extraordinary soul, Greyback. You have forced upon him a life of hatred, where he will only know the harshness of cold shoulders and raw prejudice. And perhaps Remus understands that you may have gone through the same, and I do as well, but unlike my son, my loyal and brave son who thankfully will not grow up to be like you, I cannot forgive you and I don't pity you.

I loathe you, Greyback. I want to kill you. I do.

Because of you, I cannot look Remus in the eyes anymore, and he thinks it is because I am ashamed of him because he is now a werewolf, that I don't want to associate with him because he is a half-breed. He thinks I am disappointed that my only child is now disabled. He thinks I wish he were not my son at all.

But in truth… I don't look my son in the eye because of the guilt I feel for leaving him out there in the first place, for the fact that it is my fault for having him bitten and that it is my fault he is like this.

And I should have killed you before you could kill the lives of other innocent children. I should have… I should have tortured you like Remus will be tortured in the years of prejudice sure to come, and if I failed, then I should have died rather than watched you run away, I should have died in Remus's honor because you… you despicable, evil person… you made my son a werewolf.

I will never forgive you for it.

Lyall Lupin