The quill was twitching away as a knock was heard at her office. "Come in," the animagus murmured, and Kurt entered with a guilty expression.
"You wanted to see me, Aunt Minerva?" he asked, and she could not help but smile lightly.
"Even when you aren't sure of who you are, Kurtis, you remain very much who you are at your core. How was Horace this evening?" Minerva asked, and he rubbed the back of his neck.
"He wanted to talk to me about my symptoms. It seems he has a curiosity with my condition," He murmured, and she offered him the chair opposite of her.
Her eyes turned compassionate as she saw him itching at his neck where his collar rested. "How are your symptoms this month? Last month I did not have time to procure you Wolfsbane Potion." Her voice turned soft as she pointed at the cup on her desk. "I have hot chocolate for you."
Kurt took the cup in his hand and sipped it. "I am restless. I want to bite and scratch, but nowhere as nearly inconsolable as last month." He responded and leaned back in his chair. "Can we speak frankly?"
"Of course, Kurtis." She replied then sipped her own cup.
"How old do you think I am?"
She seemed a bit surprised by his question. "With relation to how you looked in our timeline, quite possibly twenty-four or twenty-five. By then you were isolated away, and I visited you. You stayed on some farmland I owned in Scotland."
He nodded after sipping his cup again. "That sounds like quite a sad existence indeed." He paused and pursed his lips. "You visited me?"
"Consider us unrelated family. I knew loss as well, and you confided your mourning to me. When Poppy told me you showed up on the field and told me what you looked like, I knew you did not live the same life he had. Remus was a delicate soul who suffered his entire life. It was unfortunate."
His face hardened. "That doesn't make any sense if I am who you say I am."
"Well," she stopped and twisted her lips. "It does if your timeline was not the same. Many questions I have pondered and consulted on. Why Hogwarts? Why now? What caused your appearance? There was no item or timeturner on you or around you. It is all quite the puzzle."
"But I am a werewolf. I am him in some way." He responded, and she nodded.
"Very much. You were Remus Lupin, and in your time, you were healthy and by the looks of it. The scars on your body. The condition you both lived by. It is all the same, but your lives were incredibly different."
He shifted in his seat and frowned. "The girl." He said firmly, and she arched an eyebrow.
"Miss Granger?"
"Yes. What was her relation to Remus?" He questioned with a harsh tone.
Minerva bristled and huffed. "She was his student. One of the virtuous children who happened to remain quite loyal to him even after his condition was announced. Hermione has a very different view on Lycanthropy than a good portion of the world."
He rolled his eyes and drained his glass. "She is wrong. No one can truly contain themselves as werewolves. We walk this line between primal savageness and emotional dysfunction."
"Kurtis, we need to talk about this. Self-loathing is a crime if you are going to teach young minds. There was a professor that worked here with a similar disposition, and he was not widely liked."
"She was in love with him?" He questioned, and Minerva laughed.
"Oh, my, that is a brazen inquiry. No, Hermione was not in love with Remus Lupin. She shared a fondness for him I suppose, but that girl would more than bend her fingers back to break them before causing him the scandal that would arise from such a feat."
Kurt grunted and set the empty cup down. "Scandal indeed."
Minerva smirked slightly and covered it with her cup. "Did you enjoy her company? How often did you watch her skirt into the bookshop with your Notice-me-Not necklace on before you finally took it off?" She asked him, and he rustled with a scowl.
"I was curious to have more than a simple hello. I know you told me not to, but I wanted to do so."
"And when she saw him in your face?" She asked gently.
He growled and tossed his head. "Why does it matter?"
"It does not, I was just curious," she murmured, and he sighed heavily.
"It was alarming. Her face and Harry's echoed pain and shock to see me," he grumbled and scrubbed his hand against his pickling facial hair.
The Headmistress slanted her head and looked at him with a tight expression. "That was not the type of conversation that you and Miss Granger were having last."
"She was telling me about her profession which I strongly disagreed with her at first."
They were silent a moment as Minerva twisted her lips in contemplation. "I wish you would have met your older self. Remus Lupin knew that Lycanthropy was not the worst lot in life. He knew it was a terrible illness, first hand, but it can be managed. He had a wife and a son before the end."
"A son?" His voice trembled a bit.
She nodded slowly, and her lips curved, "A very handsome and healthy son."
Kurt scratched his neck furiously and furrowed his brow. "But, how?"
"Love, Kurtis."
He snorted and contorted his expression. "Not many are accepting of werewolves, Aunt Minerva."
"Your friends were. We will go into them some other time, however. It is late, and you are getting flustered." The Headmistress declared.
The werewolf thinned his lips and exhaled. "I am sorry, it is just…"
"I know. A full moon is coming, and you and your other side have not gotten fully reacquainted."
Kurt nodded slowly and his lips slightly curved. "Hopefully, tomorrow is alright."
"Try and get some sleep. If you have a problem, Poppy has some potions for you."
He stood up and ran a finger over her desk. "Aunt Minerva, do you think that…" he trailed off and gazed down at his fingers.
"Yes?"
"Do you think the house elves would mind if I raided their chocolate stash?" He mumbled and gave her a guilty smile.
She laughed and shook her head. "Kurtis, if you just ask they will make you an entire feast of chocolaty dishes both savory and sweet. They do miss the children in the summer."
He bobbed his head lazily and ran a hand through his shaggy hair. "Alright, fair enough. Thank you again."
Minerva sighed and lounged in her chair. "You are always welcome. Now, hurry off. You need all the rest you can get."
"Good night," he murmured and moved to the door.
"Good night," she echoed with a small wave and returned to her writing as he left.
~O~O~O~O~O~
The gangly dark-haired man finished climbing his way through the tunnel and knocked lightly on the door. "Kurt," Harry murmured, and he heard a groan.
"It's Harry Potter. I know you barely know me, but I offered my help to your aunt," Harry called out, and he heard another agreeing grumble.
The box in his hand clinked as he maneuvered to open up the wooden barrier. When the Potter entered, he saw the man splayed bare across the ground. Harry shuffled a moment as he set the box down and pulled the neatly folded robe off the beaten up cot. "Good morning," Harry voiced as he wrapped the werewolf up in the fluffy bathrobe.
"Prongs, where is Pads?" the wounded wizard muttered still in a haze.
"Not Prongs, Moony. I am his son, remember?" Harry responded, and the man looked up at him.
"My-" he stopped and whimpered as he shifted to a sitting pose. "My apologies, Harry. My mind is still a bit jumbled."
"It is quite alright. Do you remember last night?" Harry asked as he reached for a flask in his robe.
Kurt gave him a tired grimace. "I was lonely. My wolf isn't used to being alone."
Harry rubbed his shoulder and sighed. "I figured as much. Minerva told me that you don't remember my dad and Sirius much."
The werewolf shook his head as Harry handed him the flask. "No, just glimpses and reflective memories."
The Potter sat on the floor next to the shrouded man. "Well, we will get to that. It took some effort, but I convinced your adoptive aunt to let me help you. It wouldn't be right if someone who knew them weren't here for you in your hours of need."
The werewolf nearly collapsed at the weight lifted from his mind. "You are an exceptional wizard, Harry."
Harry chuckled and patted the werewolf. "Come now, let's get you on the cot so we can get some potions in you. I will help you back to Hogwarts and Poppy will get you mended properly."
Kurt pressed his forehead to the Potter's shoulder and choked. "You don't understand…"
Harry ran his hand over the man's back. "I do, I really do. Remus was an uncle of sorts to me. Let's just say you are my long lost cousin, Kurt. You may not know this, but you have a long line of family and friends who are dying to meet you when you are ready."
It made Kurt so overwhelmed that he sobbed in gratitude and Harry kept consoling him. "Harry," he murmured, and Harry nodded.
"I know, Moony. I truly know."
They sat on the floor of the Shrieking Shack for a long while before Harry was able to calm the werewolf. The Potter wasn't lying when he understood the gratitude of the werewolf. Sirius had told him many times how Remus never thought he was worthy of kindness and in return, the Marauders made genuine effort to show him he was. To lose knowledge of that would have quickly sent the werewolf in ruins; something Sirius would have never wanted.
Once they got him on the bed, Harry ruffled the werewolf's hair. "Hey, we are having a dinner at the Burrow tomorrow night. Would you like to come meet my family?"
Kurt frowned and gulped. "Plenty of people who knew the older me?"
Harry had a guilty smile. "Yes, plenty of them… almost everyone knew Remus."
"I will think about it," he murmured, and the Potter bobbed his head.
Harry reached into his bag and cleared his throat. "I almost forgot. I asked Molly to make it for me last night. I didn't say who it was for, but she gave it to me anyway." He pulled out a largely covered plate. "You should eat it before we take you up to Poppy. She might confiscate it until you eat real food."
The Potter revealed a giant slice of chocolate cake and Kurt's mouth watered. "You brought this for me?"
He handed him the plate and pulled out a fork. "Yes, Kurt. This is my form of a peace offering. Surely, I am at an advantage because I know you."
Without ceremony, the werewolf dug in and mouthed sounds of agreement as he ate the sweet. He ate like a ravenous creature whose last meal was weeks ago. It didn't surprise Harry, and he watched in curiosity as Kurt made quick work of the cake.
"One more question before we leave," Kurt grumbled and sighed as he lounged with the empty plate on his lap. "Does all of Molly's food taste this good?"
Harry belted out in laughter and nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, everything she cooks tastes decadent."
"Then I might make an appearance despite myself," The werewolf snickered, and Harry embraced him under his arm.
"That's a good man, think with your stomach. You will fit right in," Harry declared, and they packed up to leave the shack.