Story Title: The Return
School: Durmstrang
Technique: Flashback
Prompt: [action] Waiting
Year: 4
Word Count: 850
AN To be clear, Remus is not in flashback for this entire story; Moony is the one experiencing a flashback. (Bold indicates wolf; bold italics indicate a flashback; italics without bold are memories or thoughts of Remus)
The Return
Fifteen years. 183 moons since he last walked this path, prodded the familiar knot on the Whomping Willow. The shadow of friends long lost walked alongside him making his lonely heart ache that much more. A rat scurried along the shack's wooden floor as Remus put his clothes into a time-sensitive locker. A sardonic smile twisted Remus' face. He hoped the rat had the sense to stay far away when the moon rose.
I should've taken Dumbledore up on his offer for Wolfsbane. Remus sighed. Going back to Hogwarts was a mistake. Everywhere he turned, he was reminded of the Marauders. He had denied Dumbledore's offer because of the awkward relationship between himself and his former rival, Severus. It wasn't fair to give the man more work.
Memories that were almost two decades old haunted him as, for the first time in his life, Remus hoped that the moon would come quickly. He just wanted to forget.
"Come on Moony, it'll be fine! Werewolves are only dangerous to humans, not other animals,"
"Just because I can't turn other animals doesn't mean its safe, Prongs. Have you forgotten that you're a herbivore?"
The Shack still bore grooves in its ceiling from James' antlers. By seventh year, he'd had to wait outside. Dammit, James. If only he'd thought about everyone's animal forms, he'd have known not to trust the Grim with his family's safety. The end of the war wasn't worth their lives.
Finally, finally, the first ripples ran down the lonely man's spine. Peace, of a sort, was on the horizon.
The twisting of bones and sinew always triggered the shifting of minds from man to wolf. What Remus alone would have had difficulty handling, Moony was able to accept and move on from. Unfortunately, the reverse was also true. While Remus was able to handle the memories from moons gone by and remain rooted in the present, Moony held no protections in this place whose very walls were embued in the scents of long ago.
A dog crawls over on its belly, its neck bared in submission. Just as Moony reaches over to scent-mark it, the dog has the audacity to lick him on the cheek. Moony wants to be offended, but now the dog is wagging its tail like a pup wanting to play.
The pup keeps coming back; this time it brings some prey with it-a stag and a rat. Instead of feasting, however, the strange pup stays between the food and Moony. A series of whines explain things though it by no means clears things up. The pup has adopted the two as Pack!
Since the other animals started joining him, Moony has felt happier and more at ease than he ever has before. They aren't a normal pack, but they are his pack (even if it's just to keep the pup-like dog happy). He knows all of their scents like his own and quickly realizes that everyone is fearful of a threat. Now the stag stands between him and the dog as though expecting him to attack. Why would he attack the dog? The dog had tried to bring him a two-legged to munch on.
The rat is an annoyance more than a real member of the pack, but Moony still knows what he is supposed to smell like. Since the stag started waiting until they went to the Forest to join them, the rat has started smelling different. Prey shouldn't smell like a predator, yet the rat rather did smell hunter-y. Moony doesn't let the rat out of his sight anymore and certainly not too close to the other two. He's their protector after all. If that means he has to growl a bit more to keep his pack in line, well there's nothing for it.
A rat scurries past. What is the rat doing here without the dog? Where is the dog? Moony hates waiting, hates not knowing what has happened to his pack. A familiar howl can be heard in the distance. The dog should not make such a mournful sound. It should be yipping in play instead. Moony turns back to the rat. It still smells wrong, a predator in the wrong body. A need to destroy the one who would attack Pack is strong within him. He leaps within the limited confines of the prison, cornering the rat.
A telltale shiver runs down his spine. Before he can finish the deed, the transformation back to human has paralyzed him. He distantly hears the rat scurry away and then….
Nothing.
Remus comes to half an hour after moonset. Though his body aches, he lacks the injuries he knows to expect. Echoes of the night before bounce around his head, trying to settle into his subconscious as he waits for the charm protecting his clothes to wear off. In spite of the relatively peaceful night, Remus knows that he cannot come back here again and must take the Wolfsbane from now on. The wolf must be muzzled. Were he to listen to his alter-ego, he would trust Si-Black in a heartbeat, no matter the evidence.
The wolf inside howls in desperation. Moony wants to reunite with his pack and kill the traitor.