Disclaimer: All characters of the Harry Potter Universe are property of J.K. Rowling. Any canon characters, scenes, or plots that I use are not mine and I do not profit from them.
Warning: M for language, violence, and some eventual smut.
A/N: Thanks again to my solo reviewer sweetmelodies47! We still haven't gotten to where Hermione is older yet, but I promise we will be seeing that in the next chapter! I enjoyed writing some of these characters and trying to capture their personalities and I hope you enjoy my take on them. If you read this and you like it please, please review. It really helps motivate me. Once again credit must be given to my fantastic Beta, SheAlone, for polishing this up!
Wolf and I
Chapter Three: Newton Scamander
What sounded like the crack of a bullwhip struck the air and in its place stood the figure of an extremely disheveled and angry Remus Lupin. The young wizard glistened with sweat and his clothes were tattered more than usual.
"Where's Dumbledore?!" he growled as his green eyes glared with accusation at the form of Minerva McGonagall who eyed him in shock, her morning tea still steaming in her hands.
"Re-Remus Lupin! My goodness, what in Merlin's name happened to you?"
Remus hadn't intended to Apparate right in front of his former Transfiguration professor and as suddenly as the words spilled from his mouth he was instantly taken aback by his aggressiveness. He pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes straying to the ground. "I am quite sorry, Professor Mc—Minerva." While his eyes had softened his face remained crimson. "I need to speak to Dumbledore."
"Stop right there!" The gruff voice of Alastor Moody growled as he entered the room, his wand drawn into the air, pointing straight at the young wizard. He didn't stop approaching till it was placed firmly against the young man's throat. "Prove yourself," he spat as his electric blue eye whirled in its mechanical socket.
How could Remus have forgotten the peg-legged wizard's motto, 'constant vigilance'? For as long as air remained in his lungs he would be the eccentric and suspicious man that he was.
"You've been called Mad-Eye Moody ever since you lost your eye to Rosier, courtesy of Sirius Black and his immeasurable fondness for you." Remus gulped and felt the wood tickle his Adam's apple. "Now would you mind lowering your damn wand?"
Moody licked his lips, eliciting a grunt before pulling the wand from Remus's neck. "I reckon you had one hell of a moon to think I wouldn't jinx your head clear off your shoulders for Apparating in here unannounced."
He hated the way that bloody rotating eye stared at him. It always seemed to look right past him and straight into his soul. "I need to see Dumbledore, Moody. Now," the young man practically growled through tightly clenched teeth.
The Auror gave a wave of a hand as his peg leg rapped against the floor. "What you need is a shower! You smell like you've rolled in troll dung and you don't look much better."
McGonagall made a surprised gasp, her mouth evolving into a frown. Remus had always been one of her brightest students, even if she disliked that his friends always seemed to drag him into trouble while at Hogwarts. "That's quite enough, Moody!" the witch commanded.
Remus boiled with anger. He didn't Apparate to the headquarters of the Order to be verbally assaulted by Mad-Eye and make a mockery of himself in front one of his favorite former professors.
"I apologize for disturbing you, Prof-" Remus muttered before he let out a sigh of frustration. "Please just enjoy your tea," he said dejectedly before storming out of the room with his robes billowing behind him.
The scraping sound of Moody's peg leg trailed behind him as he made a beeline towards the library, his fists clenched at his side. If there was one thing the Auror didn't have on him it was speed, even after a full moon.
oOoOoOo
As soon as Remus entered the library he pointed his wand to the door. "Colloportus Perpetuus!" The door slammed forcibly and while Remus knew he would eventually get hexed to oblivion by the Auror he would at least have some privacy for now.
"Ah, Remus. Care for a lemon drop?"
The voice of Albus Dumbledore was warm as he lifted his bright, blue eyes from the tome he had been reading. They were always twinkling; those eyes, and right now they were making Remus burn from the inside out.
"Do you have any idea what you have done?" The young wizard snapped with fury. "Why didn't you just throw me into Azkaban yourself?" The man's usually green eyes were rimmed with gold, his pupils dilated.
Despite the venomous words that spilled from the werewolf, the white-bearded wizard seemed unfazed. He let one wrinkled hand adjust his glasses while the other gently closed the book he had been reading.
"Do you know where I live, Albus?"
Dumbledore's expression turned cheerful. "I believe it is Yorkshire, yes? I do adore their liquorice sweets, " the wizard remarked with a knowing smile.
The lycanthrope was shaking with rage and for a moment he contemplated taking his anger out on the books around him but as soon as the almost sacrilegious thought crossed his mind he settled for merely pacing. "I do…" he growled, "which is why I found it so surprising to wake up in Liverpool."
His head hung down shamefully as he let one hand linger over a book titled Numerology and Grammatica. "I was only a handful of miles from her house, Albus!" His fist slammed against the wall. "That's how close the wolf got!" He felt disgust wash over him at the mere thought of the toddler and her unruly curls.
The old man's blue eyes softened as he stared at one of the youngest members of the Order. He was too old to be called a boy but was also not quite a man. "Are you familiar with Newton Scamander's work?"
"Of course," Remus snapped. "Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them was a required text at Hogwarts, not to mention it is one of the greatest publications of the wizarding world." His brows furrowed. Dumbledore already knew that Remus was a voracious reader so he wasn't sure what he was getting at.
"Yes, it is quite well written too. However, the published version is incomplete. Scamander actually had somewhat of a fascination for part-humans, and he wrote much on the subject of vampires and werewolves." His eyes had that twinkle in them again that both infuriated and intrigued the younger wizard.
"The things he wrote would have been very controversial indeed if they had been published with the rest of his work, so rather than cause conflict, they were merely forgotten," he finished with a wave of his hands. After a moment of silence, Dumbledore chuckled, "Some people believe we should restrict what the youth have available to their young and pliable minds. What do you believe?"
The brown-haired wizard merely stood in contemplation. Hogwarts had a Restricted Section for such books but to completely remove information from being accessible like it had never been written at all, was a horrifying suggestion. The Ministry in particular had always been on a crusade against half-humans and their biggest weapon had always been misinformation.
"I presumed as much." Dumbledore's knowing smile caused the lines around his eyes to become even more exaggerated. "You know, Remus, you would make a fine professor."
"I am not here to talk to you about my fictional future," Remus said with a sigh. "I am here to talk to you about the very real life of that young girl; one that is threatened by my very existence."
"We must not let one part of ourselves define us," the headmaster said with a huff. "Now, I have something for you."
Before Remus could even fathom what the old wizard was referring to, the man shouted, "Accio!" In an instant, one of the bookshelves began vibrating, wood creaking, before a great leather-bound text emerged from the sea of multicolored spines. The lycanthrope almost had to duck out of the way as it hurled towards him, slowing at the last moment and then merely floating in front of his face.
Dumbledore laughed quietly at the sight of the young man who mumbled something about a 'bloody old bat' before grabbing the tome and buffing off its dusty cover. Remus' green eyes attempted to make out the faded title. "'A Study of Half-Humans, Myths Revealed'… by Newton Scamander," he slowly read with increasing surprise.
"It's the only one of its kind. Scamander wrote it using his experiences amongst werewolves and vampires. A fascinating read, really, but he feared it would ruin his career and reputation. Thus, it was never published." The wizard almost had a sad frown on his face. "He gifted it to me before his death." He placed another Lemon drop in his mouth before steadily saying, "The fourth chapter may be most helpful."
Remus opened the book carefully as if he was holding one of the most precious of objects, eyes scanning over the first page. 'The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown'. The young man's lips parted with an amused smile before examining the index. There were chapters ranging from the author's experiences of living amongst vampires, to how powered silver actually aided in sealing the magically-resistant wounds of werewolves.
He finally made it to the title of the fourth chapter. 'The Myth of Mates'. Remus turned a light shade of pink at the words and closed the book slowly before turning to his former headmaster. He felt nauseous.
"Are y-you suggesting what I think you are?" The man croaked. "Surely you must be mistaken." He was both shocked and mortified with himself.
"How did you feel around her?" The old wizard questioned with curiosity.
Remus groaned as he recalled the feeling of happiness, something he had not felt for months. The supposed invisible Dementor that had been following him around, leaving him filled with despair, had been banished temporarily by the girl's incessant giggling.
"There is nothing wrong with feeling the need to protect the child. A girl with a werewolf guarding over her would be a safe one indeed." The wizard smiled warmly as he stood up from his chair and walked toward the magically sealed door.
"And when she's grown? What happens when she discovers that some old man thinks he has some s-sort of claim on her just because he is a monster?" This was just too much. His brain was swirling with scenarios ranging from pitchfork-wielding villagers to the terrifying thought of being both old and balding.
"Then I can look forward to sharing my closely-guarded knitting patterns with you. However, right now I believe it is in your best interest to un-charm that door." His blue eyes were absolutely dancing. "You may want to hold tightly to that book too. Apparating may be your safest chance of escaping with all your appendages."
Beyond the door, an angry Alastor Moody was absolutely seething, putting together in his head the most ghastly string of spells ranging from pus-squirting to knee-reversal hexes.
Remus blanched before nodding his head in thanks. He held onto the book tightly before quickly flicking his wand towards the door and then feeling his way into the nothingness. He felt an invisible force pull and then compact him, leaving nothing but a crack of noise where he had stood.
He Disapparated right before the angry form of Moody crashed through the unsealed door.
"Hello, Alastor. Would you care for a Lemon drop?" The Dumbledore smiled happily.
oOoOoOo
Remus Apparated back to his cottage on the outskirts of Yorkshire.
The feeling of adrenaline had subsided and now the man acutely felt the ache of his bones, particularly in his arms and legs. Bloody Moony had attempted to travel over a hundred miles in a single night and now Remus was suffering the consequences.
It seemed he was not the only one that had suffered. His house appeared to have been thoroughly trashed by the rampaging werewolf who had sought to escape his monthly containment. Remus Lupin had never been able to afford what most people would call "nice" things, however, he was proud of what he had and was disturbed by the sight of the wreckage.
Family furniture that had been passed on to him from his mother's Muggle side appeared to be slashed to ribbons. The forest green and chocolate fabric of a couch gaped open, foam padding littering the floor. Two of the windows had been completely blown out, leaving glass everywhere, and his front door was missing completely.
He growled as he placed the book he had been cradling in his arms onto a scratched up wooden end table. The beast that had once left scratches only slightly bigger than a dog's now left indentations a quarter inch thick. To imagine a human going up against those claws caused the man to shiver.
He found the culprit for his late night wanderings in the form of a busted open latch leading to the cottage's basement. The wolf had been on a mission last night and rather than beating up himself, he had been set on breaking out.
The metal lock and latch had been completely uprooted from the floor, allowing the wolf enough room to squeeze through and out into the world. Remus contemplated how long it may have taken Moony to do so; an hour perhaps? That had been the difference between Moony not making it to the residence of Hermione and her loving Muggle family.
The young man with stubble that ghosted over his face gave an exhausted sigh before drawing his wand and going to work. Reparo would always be one of the spells he was most thankful for.
After the repairs were done he planned on sitting down with 'A Study of Half-Humans, Myths Revealed', and a piping hot cup of tea until he could no longer keep his sleepy, green eyes open.
