As they entered the new area, there was nothing but incredibly heavy silence for a few moments and she wasn't sure what to expect. She was certain that all these people were related as they all shared the same flaming red hair, but she had no idea what to make of them. The old man and Mr. Lupin (Lupin? Remus? Whatever she wanted to call him...) had said that they were a good family that meant no harm. She had nearly believed it when what seemed to be the father pulled Remus into a hug, but it was all dashed when one of the sons was suddenly shouting and rushing at them.

She knew it. It was all a trick. She braced herself as he came rushing forward, but then the unexpected happened. She felt rather than saw as Remus moved in front of her, effectively shielding her from the incoming attack. In the gap between his arm and torso, she saw that the father had moved in front of them both and then it was a flurry of movement and red hair as everyone took their own courses to protect them from the charging son. What surprised her more than the sudden shouting was the fact that all of them had immediately sprung to shield her from the incoming attack. Never had that happened before and it was quite the extraordinary thing to experience. Feeling slightly dazed, she hardly registered when the father lead them out of the house and into the yard where the cool air gave them a moment to catch their breath.

"I am so sorry, Remus," The father said heavily, "I don't know what's gotten into him… But don't worry, we'll straighten him out." She knew exactly what the look in his eyes meant… That son was about to get the straightening of a lifetime. She felt slightly rattled and merely stared at the grass with an unfocused gaze, but then the man – Remus – knelt down in front of her.

"Are you alright?" He asked, confusing her slightly because he seemed genuinely concerned, "I'm sorry. I know I promised nothing like this would happen but –" She wondered why he was apologizing for the actions of someone else, but that was when she realized that he hadn't been acting. He really had wanted to keep her safe and he really did seem to care about what happened to her. She was slightly overwhelmed by the realization and before she knew it, she had rushed forward and was giving her first ever hug. He remained motionless for a few seconds and she briefly wondered if she had done it wrong, but then he carefully returned it. Figuring she had to explain her sudden embrace, she spoke quietly in his ear so that only he would be able to hear.

"Thanks," she said, her voice trembling slightly from shock and lack of use, "For...not letting him." She remained there for a few more seconds and then she pulled back to see a look of pleasant surprise on his face. He nodded at her with a small smile. She looked up to see the red-haired father watching them with a curious sort of expression she couldn't place. The shouts from within the house had finally subsided and the two men gazed at each other with pointed looks. He stood and rubbed his hands together nervously.

"Should we –" He gestured toward the door uncertainly. The father shook his head quickly, messing up his already disheveled hair even further.

"No, no. It's probably best if I go first to make sure it's alright." He said as he looked at the entrance to his home with a faraway look in his expression, "Honestly, I haven't the faintest idea of why he is suddenly like this. We taught him right and I know he thought very highly of you." Remus lowered his gaze.

"Well that seems to be changing a lot lately. Especially now. Can't say I blame him for being concerned..." He spoke with a slightly defeated tone and all she wanted to do was make him see that he really wasn't as bad as he seemed to believe. After all, he had given her food, allowed her to speak, given her space, treated her like no one ever had, and just now protected her from a hostile boy. It seemed like the father shared her disbelief as he looked at him with an astounded expression.

"Remus! You know none of this was your fault," he spoke with incredulity in his tone, "It wasn't actually you." He seemed unconvinced but she felt more and more confused. If so many people were claiming that it "wasn't his fault" and that "he had no control" and were trying to convince him that he wasn't in his right mind, did that mean that he was truly a werewolf? Was it possible that they were actually real? This wasn't simply a hoax to fool her? She vaguely remembered glimpsing a large wound on her shoulder several days earlier but it was only now that she was getting closer to realizing that it was indeed a bite mark. And adding the fact that Remus was incredibly guilty and seemed to break a little inside every time he set eyes on her only made it all seem all the more likely. Then there was the fact that the son had reacted so strongly to him and the way he had said he was "a danger." And suddenly she was hit with the fact that if it was all true…then there really was a chance that she was also like him. Though, she couldn't remember a single thing from the supposed attack she felt a sudden sway in her balance. If that boy seemed to hate Remus for what he was, that meant he could hate her as well. Another reason for everyone to outcast her, to detest her…

She had long since tuned out the conversation between the two men, but now she suddenly turned away from them and retched as her wildly churning stomach ridded itself of all its contents. This action effectively halted their exchange as she felt him carefully touch her shoulder. Normally, she would've been surprised at the sudden contact but she had a more pressing matter at hand that distracted her from that.

"Merlin! What's the matter? Are you alright?" He spoke, concern evident as she fought to keep control over herself. She managed to nod tightly as she registered that the father had moved in front of her, produced his own stick, gave it a wave, and suddenly all of the sick had disappeared. Feeling more astonished than ever, she remembered all the things she had been too busy to process. All of the things that the old man and the nurse woman had done with their own sticks. They were all impossible things… And the bags that had been merely floating in midair above her in the hospital where they were previously. It was all so utterly impossible that she had simply put it out of her mind, but now she couldn't ignore it any longer.

"Are you alright, dear?" She realized the father had spoken to her. Feeling panic come to life within her chest, she looked at Remus hoping he would understand that she couldn't speak at the moment. He seemed to catch on for he quickly spoke before the other man asked anything else.

"Err…yeah, she should be fine." He spoke, keeping his gaze locked on her, his eyes knowing, "It was her first time using the Floo earlier, so...that plus the shock just now was most likely not a good mix, right?" He gently patted her shoulder. She merely nodded emphatically at the older man who seemed to accept the reasoning without question, most likely because he was embarrassed by his son's behaviour. She took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm her violently churning insides. Though, there was no chance of her ever being completely at ease as she was still incredibly wary of all these eccentric people. She could feel Remus' gaze burning a hole into the side of her head as she desperately tried to regain control over herself. She knew that he would be wanting to talk about the meaning behind what had just occurred, but he would wait until they were alone. It was then that she was hit with the realization that she had been near him long enough to pick up on his behaviour and she wondered how much longer she would have to be in his company.

"How about you take a break out here while I go and check up inside?" The father spoke, interrupting her thoughts, making her start. And before she knew it, Remus had nodded silently at him and he was walking away leaving them alone. She dropped her gaze as she noticed him begin to move in front of her, not sure if she was prepared for the questions that he was sure to have.

"What was that all about?" He inquired, voice full of concern. She didn't want to let him find out that she was in the midst of a mental crisis about the possibility of "werewolves", the impossible, and what might have happened to her. He seemed to carry so much guilt with him and if he knew that she had been frightened enough to the point of being spontaneously sick, it might crush him even more. Then she nearly stumbled back with the force of how much she was taken aback. When did she start caring about what happened to this man? All she had wanted before was to escape and make her way far away from him and all the odd people she had encountered, but now it was slightly different somehow.

She looked up at him, at a loss for words, not knowing how to express what her mind had suddenly come to rest upon. She wasn't particularly sure if she was supposed to speak to him at this point so she merely stood in silence as he waited for an answer.

"Do you feel sick? Are you alright?" He spoke a bit frantically as he was looking searchingly at her, as if the answers could be found written upon her skin. He then knelt down before her, something that she found she was grateful of whenever he did because he felt much less threatening when he wasn't so tall and looming over her. She still felt frightened whenever he was particularly close as he was now and her first instinct was to turn and put some distance between them so she could rest easier. Though, she guessed that he wouldn't be so keen on that idea. She gazed at the large, open area realizing for the first time how much land there was. It would be so easy to simply run off and she was quite tempted to, until she realized that she had nowhere to go which effectively extinguished her thoughts.

"I don't…" She mumbled softly, trailing off as she gestured vaguely hoping he understood that she was trying to encompass everything as a whole. He seemed to catch her drift for he nodded solemnly as he narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Okay…how about we go for a walk?" he suggested lightly, holding a hand out to gesture at the trees that were a ways away from the house. She felt great suspicion at going under the cover of trees where he could possibly lead her into a trap, but she desperately wanted to get out of the view of the enormous looking house. She swallowed nervously at the thought that they all could be watching them from the windows at this given moment. Looking back up to meet his gaze, she nodded silently. He gave a small smile in response and held out a hand to her expectantly.

Hesitating for a moment, she gazed at his outstretched hand unseeingly before slowly reaching out and taking it. His eyes crinkled a bit, most likely suppressing another smile, and he stood to his full height and lead the way. She suddenly felt as if she had no bones in her left hand, now that it was in the grasp of his right one. She had never done this before and wondered why he insisted on doing so this time. Heart hammering in her chest, she nearly forgot about the anxiety she was previously feeling about going for a walk amongst the trees.

"Alright," his voice rang out in the silence, causing her to jump slightly, "I think I've just been so caught up in worrying about whether or not you were alright to even consider that…perhaps I need to explain, well, everything." He paused as he turned to her, his eyes slightly pleading. "Please, forgive me if I caused you any confusion in forgetting to do that." She felt rather floored at his request, never having been asked for forgiveness before.

"…Okay," she said softly, hoping that was the correct response. His gaze softened at the single word she uttered and continued to lead the way to an unknown destination. After a few minutes of walking through the trees in silence, he finally stopped and she saw the fallen trunk that lay on the forest floor. He went forward and took a seat, then looked at the spot next to him expectantly. She shakily walked over to it and nervously pushed her light brown hair out of her eyes.

"So, what you most likely don't know…" He spoke as he turned toward her animatedly, "is that our world is full of magic." She stared at him blankly for a moment before looking away feeling dazed. She turned back to him to see that he was gazing at her concernedly. Was it really not all a trick then?

"Look," he drew out yet another stick from a pocket on the inside of his robe, "We all have magic within us and we all go to school so we can learn how to control it. When we're about to go off to school, we all go and get one of these." He brandished the stick in his hand and paused as if to make sure that she had enough time to properly process this new information before continuing.

"This is my wand. Mine and mine alone. You see, no two wands are alike and there is a proper wand for everyone. They allow us to channel our magic and use it to the best of our ability. Each wand is different because they are made of different woods and cores. Now, mine is made of cypress and has a unicorn hair core." As he turned the apparent "wand" over in his hand, she turned away for a moment wondering if she had just heard him correctly. She saw him look at her from the corner of her eye and her feelings must have shown on her face for her chuckled lightly.

"Oh, Merlin, sorry…" he sounded slightly amused at seeing her disbelief, "Yeah. Err, a lot of the things you believe are imaginary are mostly real." She felt an infinite amount of questions bubbling up inside her at this new information but there were simply so many that she didn't know if she could voice even one. As if he had heard all the thoughts racing through her head, he spoke again.

"But I can tell you about all those later," he broke eye contact, sounding contrite, though she couldn't figure out why before he continued on, "I'm sure you've noticed we do nearly all of our magic with our wands. But say if I were to try and use Arthur's wand – err, the man that was just with us – yes, it might work for basic things, but it wouldn't work very well. The best performed magic comes from using your own wand." He stopped again, giving her a moment to adjust to this new bit of information. He gave her a small smirk before holding his wand out and muttering something.

"Lumos," he spoke, never taking his eyes off her, and suddenly there was a bright beam of light that was being cast from the tip of the wand. She felt herself jump in shock and immediately started looking all around for some other source that could possibly explain the bright white light. When finding none, she whipped back around and stared at the light emanating from the wand in wonder. He let out a breath of a laugh at her reaction and held the wand out to her.

"Here," he offered, "D'you want to look for yourself?" He looked at her expectantly and she felt briefly panicked, wondering if it would harm her in some way since it was his wand and apparently bad things would happen if it was used by someone else. She shifted nervously as she kept flickering her gaze between his and the illuminated want itself.

"It's alright, you can hold it," he reassured, still holding it out to her. She inhaled shakily as she reached out with a slightly trembling hand to take the wand from him. Upon holding it, she nearly dropped it from the mixture of nerves and countless other emotions she was feeling at the moment. How could this be real? She almost felt as if this were all a mere dream and she would wake up in that hospital bed next to Remus'. She examined the wand, turning it carefully and making sure there wasn't any sort of hidden spot where there could be a hidden light source. Seeing nothing but the wand itself, she knew there was no other explanation than…

"Magic?" she whispered at him, shifting to look him in the eye. He gave a soft smile and nodded at her, twisting his hands unconsciously.

"Yeah," he confirmed, "And that's just a simple spell. I can show you some truly fascinating stuff later if you like." She stared at him with what she was sure were wide eyes and let out a heavy breath as she looked back at the wand. Feeling inexplicably drawn to it, she felt herself nodding without realizing what she was doing. He chuckled quietly again at her amazement of the brightly lit wand in her hand.

"Okay. I'll be sure to show you everything amazing thing I can think of," He smiled at her, looking as if he were finally beginning to stop feeling so haunted inside and she felt a tiny curl of the corners of her mouth at the thought of seeing more wonderfully impossible things.

"That there is a simple illuminating spell that we learn early on in school and we just turn it off with the spell Nox," he explained, sounding very much like a professor wanting to explain everything to ensure the maximum understanding.

What an odd word… she thought, Nox? The bright light was suddenly extinguished and she nearly dropped the wand in fright. Looking up at Remus, frightened that she had damaged his wand, she saw the completely puzzled look in his eyes.

"Oh…"

A/N – We all know I'm the world's most sporadic updater so please leave reviews with what you thought, liked, would like to see more of and I'll get right on it! xx