The little girl stumbled a bit beside him as they walked. Not halfway through their field he gave up on trying to walk slowly for her and just flung her onto his back. She giggled and held on firmly to his shoulders as he supported her weight from her legs.
"What's your name, Mr. Wizard?"
"Severus...but the wizard part is a secret."
"Okay, Severus. Don't worry, I'm good at keeping secrets."
"Then I won't tell anyone you're a werewolf." He said, genuinely hoping she, and the rest of her family, would not share their experience this evening. That would just draw the attention of the Ministry...he would be having a chat with the rest of them as soon as their little werewolf was put away for the night.
"My name is Megan."
"Nice to meet you, Megan, not many muggles survive the initial attack."
"He was mean." She whispered into his ear, and he could hear the frown on her lips. "I thought he was just a doggie. But he was a monster and he bit me and ran away."
"Yeah, they do that. How big was it?"
"Hmm...when he stood up he was about the same as Papa, but skinny like you."
Not Greyback then, small mercies. "Where were you?"
"Home, in the barn. I heard him crying. Muma and Papa were busy with the cows that escaped, and Haley wasn't home yet. She was hanging out with her boyfriend to see a film. Blech, boys are gross."
He smirked. "I'm gross?"
"Not you silly. You're a wizard, not a boy."
"Ah, I see. I'm glad there's a difference."
"Me too...Severus?"
Were young children always this chatty? "Yes?"
"Can you teach me magic?"
"Are you a witch?"
"No...how do I become a witch?"
"You have to be born a witch. Like you have to be born a cat to be a cat." Bad example...
"Oh. That makes sense." Disappointment colored her voice.
"You muggles have your own magic though, like computers and phones and the telly."
She lit up. "Those are magic?"
"Yeah, muggle magic. I can't really use them, and if I try to I have to be really careful or they'll explode."
"Papa exploded the telly once."
"Oh? Was he using muggle magic?"
"No, he was trying to fix it. He just broke it worse so we had to get a new one anyway…" her voice wavered at the end, "Severus?"
"Megan?"
"...I feel really sick."
"You'll feel better after tonight."
"...I'm still scared."
"I can't make it go away, but I can keep you and your family safe."
She hugged him tightly and he wondered how long he could go without breathing. "Thank you."
When they were getting close to the shack, he stopped and waited for the rest of the Schultz family to catch up.
"You'll want to stay close to me, or you'll wander off and not even realize it."
They nodded collectively.
He led them, slowly, to the invisible shack in the remnants of the daylight. When they were within the wards, it suddenly became visible. He opened the door and let the continuously baffled muggles in before he followed and set Megan down.
He turned the little girl towards him by her shoulders. "Now, I know it's kind of creepy in here in the dark, but I cleared all the monsters out, I promise."
She nodded, but he could see tears starting to fill her eyes.
"It'll be okay."
He left, dragging his trunk out with him, to let her family hug her and say their goodnights.
Severus set up a small campsite within the wards. He made a fire and a few chairs from branches that were laying around for the Schultz's. He wasn't leaving her alone, and prepared for them to do the same.
He then began brewing a strong pain relief potion for Megan.
The first one to join him was the older sister, Haley.
She had yet to say anything since he had seen her, and she continued that trend, watching him as he stirred the potion and added ingredients.
The sun set, and the parents were still inside with the wolf-to-be. Severus stood and went back over to the still open doorway and found the little girl squished between her parents, sobbing.
Then it happened.
Megan let out a blood curdling scream and thrashed her parents off.
"Out!" Severus hollered above the girl's wailing.
Mr. Schultz had to practically drag his wife away from their transforming daughter. Severus sent the strongest stunner and incarcerous that he could manage the little girl's way in the hope that it would prevent her from self inflicted injury, at least for a while. He slammed the door closed and activated the holding wards.
Severus returned to his potion, though it didn't need stirred for another fifteen or so minutes, and the next ingredient wasn't for another hour. He just watched it bubble and hugged his knees as the Schultz' watched him like he was the most interesting person they had ever met. For all he knew, he was.
Harvey held his wife, who had started weeping into her hands. Haley had moved out of her chair to sit opposite him and watch his potion too.
"The transformation is painful." He lectured. "Some say it's worse than the cruciatus curse."
At their confused looks he explained. "The torture curse."
"Is it common for wizards to be tortured?" Mr. Schultz asked.
"I expect not. Though, in times of war, the 'norm' goes out the window."
"Your people are at war? With whom?"
Way to go, Severus, blab away. Now you'll have to at least try and explain. "...Eachother. One side is overly concerned with blood purity. Those from long lines of magical families. They believe that those born with magic to muggle families are lesser. Their opposition believes us to all be equal. Individuals are more or less, and their blood status does not make them so. It's all very political and controversial."
"That can happen?" He gestured to his wife. "Regular folk like us can have magic children?"
"Indeed, they're called muggleborns."
"...You're a 'muggleborn' then?"
"Half-blood, actually. My father is a muggle."
The man frowned in thought. "...How does that work?"
"It is rather uncommon. I would say healthier, though, for some of the purebloods get…" He grimaced. "Incestuous."
The three of them flinched at the crude word.
"Why is this not common knowledge?" Mr. Schultz continued. "If people are giving birth to baby witches and wizards, shouldn't there be some news about it somewhere?"
"There is a statute of secrecy. Our society is woven through yours, and even parallels it in many ways, but it is hidden. People tend to panic when they're all told at once that there are people who can do things they can't. Harmful things they can't...It always goes bad, hence the laws."
"Why are you letting us in on the big secret, then?" He asked in curiosity.
Severus looked up from his potion. "There is no cure for lycanthropy. Your daughter is now a 'magical beast' and once a month has no choice but to become a human killing machine against her will, and then will remember all of the horrible things she may have done the next day. It would be unfair to you and her if you did not know. The same goes for parents of muggleborns, their families are allowed to know about magic as well.
I suggest you keep the information to yourselves or the Ministry will come and investigate what all the ruckus is about.
If your daughter was a witch, it wouldn't matter, they'd obliviate anyone panicking or talking and make sure you lot knew 'the rules' and all would go back to as normal as can be with a magic child in a non-magical home. Unfortunately, there is great prejudice against werewolves, more so than muggleborns. If you can keep her off of their radar, it would be best, especially since she is not a witch as well. She has no way to defend herself from anyone who would want to hurt her.
I ran into a member of the werewolf capture unit in these woods this afternoon. She'll probably continue her search elsewhere after tonight, but you don't want the Ministry to send another officer. If they know what Megan is and she hurts anyone, even accidently while human, they will incarcerate her, or even kill her, if they think the crime to be vicious enough. What they think is vicious could be a papercut."
The Schultz family silently absorbed the barrage of information he just dumped on them.
"This explains so much about what happened last month…" Mrs. Schultz whispered to her husband. "Thank you, for helping her. For helping all of us."
Severus scoffed. "I don't want to get bitten..."
Mr. Schultz then added, "Well, in any case I am grateful you found us before the werewolf officer did. I apologize for my animosity, I simply could not fathom the possibility that…-" He sucked in some air but did not finish.
"She's safe from capture tonight. And everyone else in the area is safe from her. That's what matters."
Severus stirred the potion thirty times. One clockwise to every two counter-clockwise.
"What is that?" Haley asked.
"A pain relief potion for Megan."
"So...medicine?"
He frowned. "I suppose it is, yes."
The sound of footsteps and voices in the distance put them all on high alert.
"Be silent." Severus ordered in a whisper while putting out the crackling fire. "They won't be able to see us, but noise could draw their attention."
They waited and watched as a group of teenagers wandered around nearby. The light they carried darted about and even passed over them a few times.
"I know it's around here somewhere." Said a voice he recognized to be Gary Bauers.
"It can't have moved, it's a bloody shack!" Andrew Cambry returned.
Unbeknownst to them, the light from their electric torch passed over the family again.
"Maybe we should just call it a night." Jethro Park added. "It's dark, and that government woman said The Nightmare was most dangerous at night."
"She said it was 'safest before dark' if we wanted to hang out in the woods. She said nothing about your stupid Nightmare."
Severus stood and deftly approached the shack. He had put a silencing charm on it for more than one reason. Listening to the full transformation would break the hearts of the family, and hearing a werewolf howling and trying to escape a rickety looking shack is simply disconcerting. Also, the less noise to draw attention, the better.
"It was implied!" Defended Park.
He removed the silencing charm.
"Don't be daft. There is no monster, there's a killer, and we are going to find them before they hurt a person. We just need to find the shack again for evidence."
Megan let out a deafening howl that crawled down his spine.
The Schultz family reeled away at the sound.
The pesky teenagers scrambled around every which way, hollering obscenities and half witted plans of retreat. He was pretty sure one of them even screamed.
Severus re-charmed the shack and sat back down with his potion.
With the intruders having left, Mr. Schultz grabbed a small pile of fresh branches to restart the fire.
"Not yet." Whispered Severus.
The man nodded and silently returned to his wife.
Minutes later, hurried footsteps were coming towards them. Once they became visible, the figure slowed to a halt. Their light looked suspiciously like a lumos.
Who he could only assume was Kennewick cast a few different detection charms. With a huff she began marching off in another direction.
Severus smirked to himself. When she was far enough away, he re-lit the fire.
"That last person...was that-?" Mrs. Schultz asked in wonder.
"Eleanor Kennewick, the 'werewolf officer' looking for Megan."
