Chapter 7 - Letter from a friend
Remus Lupin sat on the stone wall outside a small thatched cottage, gazing despondently down the dirt track that passed for a main road, hoping for someone, anyone,to come along and ease the boredom.
He'd been living in the countryside for a year now and the novelty had long ago worn off. He missed his friends, he missed Katherine, hell, he even missed William. He would have given just about anything to go back, even for day and to be rid of this stupid condition.
He sighed, looking up into the clear blue November sky and wondering if he'd ever be normal again. He frowned suddenly as his sharp brown eyes caught sight of a black shape gliding smoothly over the woods on the opposite side of the lane. It dropped down as it came closer, landing clumsily on the wall and it would have overbalanced had Remus not reached out and steadied it.
The raven looked up at him with small black eyes and promptly stuck out it's leg. Remus frowned and untied the letter that had been strapped there. The raven fluttered up into a tree, free of it's burden, and perched precariously on a branch, it's beady eyes still fixed on him.
Remus glanced down at the envelope, wondering which of his parents it was intended for and saw to his surprise that it was addressed in carefully printed letters, to R J Lupin. He flipped it over, wondering whether or not to open it - who on earth would be writing to him? Drawn on the back of the envelope in black crayon was a picture.
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Remus stared at it for a while, mind racing. The crayoned picture had smudged in places, but it was still recognisable as a cat. Why would someone draw a cat on an envelope? Remus had received letters from the Ministry before, but they always had wax seals with a Ministry crest stamped onto them, never a cat, and even if they did, he doubted they would use crayon.
He was still gazing at it when the raven, tired of waiting, fluttered down from it's branch, landed shakily on the wall and nipped his hand impatiently.
"All right, all right," he said, sighing. "I'm opening it." He slit the envelope open and pulled out the sheet of paper inside. The letter, written in thick black pencil, read as follows:
Dear Remus,
Your very rude. First you leave with out saying bye, and then you don't rite to me? It's been over a year - you should be ashamed of yourself. At least I had an excuse - I didn't no your address, but you know mine so you should have writen.
How ar you? Mummy and Daddy say you're a wizard. Well guess what, I'm a which and that means we will both go to Hogwarts when we are older. I'm going to a muggle skool at the moment – the same one as Will. (Hoo is still as thick as ever.)
Do you go to skool? Mummy said you don't have to becos your Ministree doesn't make you. Do your parents teech you? Is your new house nice? Hav you maid any new fiends?
Mummy and Daddy said you won't be able to come back and visit ever, but now I have Bane (he was a birthday present) so I decided to rite to you insted. They don't no I'm riting too you, but Daddy all ways says what you don't no, can't hurt you.
Please rite back, I miss talking to you,
Katherine
Remus stared at the letter, hardly daring to believe it. Katherine had written to him; Katherine had written to him. And...
He scanned the letter again. Yes, he had read that right - she was a witch. Why had he not known that? And perhaps more importantly, why had she not known that? He knew muggle children sometimes developed magical powers, but his father had said they didn't know what was causing the strange things that happened around them until they turned eleven, and received their Hogwarts acceptance letter. Katherine had only just turned eight, so how on earth had she found out?
He skimmed through the letter once more, hardly daring to believe it was really there. The raven pecked his hand again, bringing him back to reality. He glanced down at it, a broad grin spreading across his face.
"Wait there, I'll be back in five minutes," he ordered, leaping off the wall and sprinting towards the house, Katherine's letter clutched tightly in his hand.
He burst through the front door and bounded up the stairs, ignoring his mother's anxious inquiries as to what was wrong, and dashed into his room. After a few minutes rummaging, he unearthed a pencil and some parchment and lay on the floor to begin his letter.
He'd got as far as Dear Katherine, when his mother knocked on the door.
"Is everything all right, sweetheart?" she asked, peering into the room.
"Fine," he answered, shoving the writing utensils under his bed.
"Only you were in such a hurry just now. Did something scare you?" she persisted, studying him apprehensively.
"Uh... There was a...fox...in the bushes," Remus lied hesitantly. "It surprised me."
His mother smiled gently. "You are a silly billy, aren't you? Foxes won't harm you. They're more frightened of you than you are of them, you know." And with these wise words of wisdom, she closed the door carefully and descended the stairs once more.
Remus waited until he heard her start the washing up in the kitchen before he reached under the bed and pulled out his letter again. Katherine had said her parents knew nothing of her correspondence with him, and Remus was pretty sure his parents would only get worried if he told them he was writing to her, so he thought it best to keep it a secret – for now at least.
It might not matter soon in any case, once Katherine found out what he was. He bent over the letter, wondering how to start. He had to tell her he was a werewolf, of course he did, but then what if she told someone else? What if she reacted like everyone else had? What if she didn't want to know him anymore?
He was already finding it hard dealing with the way strangers looked at him once they discovered his condition, half pity, half something else; he didn't think he could bear to see the same expression on Katherine's face.
Even so, she had to find out sometime, and better sooner than later. He knew his Mum and Dad were already having a difficult time trying to get him enrolled at Hogwarts, and if he didn't get in, Katherine would want to know why. If he did get in, she could hardly fail to notice that he turned in a flesh eating monster once a month. No, it was best to be honest from the start.
He took a deep breath and looked at the blank piece of paper before him. Probably best to keep it short – then if she didn't send one back, at least he wouldn't have given himself too much false hope. Very slowly, he began to write.
Dear Katherine,
I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye. Mum and Dad thought it best to leeve quietly. We had to leeve becos I had an accident. I wos biten by a werewolf and now I am one. I understand if you don't want to rite anymoor, but I want you to kno you were a really great friend.
Remus
Remus read through it, then, feeling distinctly apprehensive he slipped out of his room and made his way outside with considerably less vigour than his original trip. He found Bane perched in a birch tree and tied the letter quickly to his leg before sending him on his way.
He watched the raven until it disappeared over the tree tops and then, feeling lonelier than ever, he turned around and shuffled inside.