Chapter 2

Hagrid had rounded up every single blanket and soft item he had to make a cushioned bedding on the floor. To his relief, Remus was still there in the morning, sleeping soundly. Hagrid tried to be quiet as he got up and went about his business, but it was rather difficult when he had such a large girth and invariably bumped into things. He didn't know when Remus had woken, but he finally noticed the boy peeking out at him from under the bundle of blankets, still wary.

"Mornin'," Hagrid greeted brightly. "You hungry?"

Remus nodded and slowly uncurled from his nest.

"How about waffles?"

The boy nodded again, this time more enthusiastically. Hagrid went about getting the griddle out and heating it over the cooking fire. He wasn't actually that skilled of a cook and his waffles were a bit of a mess, but Remus didn't seem to mind and devoured them wholeheartedly.

Hagrid watched him with a smile but was also debating when to broach certain subjects again.

"Is there anyone you'd like me to contact for ya?" he asked carefully.

Remus dropped his gaze and shook his head.

"Alright then," Hagrid said cheerily. "Guess you'll be hanging out with me for a bit. I've got work to do, but maybe you'd like to help me?"

The boy's brow furrowed but he slowly nodded.

Hagrid beamed. "I'd best find you some shoes, then. I'll have to run up to the castle. You okay waiting here?"

Remus nodded mutely again.

"Okay, I'll be back soon."

Hagrid dearly hoped the boy wouldn't run while he was away, but he did need shoes, and some new clothes.

Hogwarts's lost-and-found was a veritable treasure trove of junk. Nothing was ever thrown away; the chest was simply spelled to be bottomless, and new items were just piled on top. If someone wanted to go deep diving, they could find things from when Hagrid had been a student here. Fortunately, Hagrid didn't have to dig around too much before he found some old trousers and a shirt, and a pair of worn shoes that looked like they'd fit Remus.

He made his way back to his hut, holding his breath until he opened the door and found the boy was still there.

"Let's see if these fit ya," he said, setting the items on the table and then turning around so the boy could dress without being watched. "Are they okay?" he asked after a few minutes.

"Yes," replied the small voice. "Thank you."

Hagrid turned around with a warm smile and nodded in satisfaction at the result. "Alright, well, first on the rounds today is weeding the garden before it gets too hot outside."

Hagrid headed out, giving Remus the chance to decide whether he wanted to follow or not. The boy did step out onto the porch, looking uncertain. Hagrid went about his business, hand-plucking weeds from the pumpkin patch just outside his hut and tossing them toward the tree line.

"What- what kind of garden is that?" Remus spoke up timidly. "There are no vegetables."

"Not yet." He waved the boy over, and Remus tentatively walked down the steps and into the garden. "You ever see what pumpkin patches look like in the beginning?"

Remus shook his head.

"Well, before they grow pumpkins, they have to flower. See here," Hagrid pointed to some of the large yellow, five-petal blossoms. "That one's got a bulb on the bottom. That means it's a female flower. And the one with just the stem is the male. That's how they pollinate to make a pumpkin."

"With help from the bees," Remus added.

Hagrid grinned. "That's right."

He finished pulling the weeds and then took Remus down to the lake where he checked to make sure nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Gotta keep a close eye on things," he told the boy. "That's my job as groundskeeper."

Hagrid spent the next few days taking Remus with him on his outings, showing him around the grounds and teaching him about the stuff he did to maintain them. The boy remained reserved throughout it all and didn't say much, but he had a natural curiosity that Hagrid could see brimming just beneath the surface, and he seemed interested in everything Hagrid showed him.

Hagrid kept a close eye on the calendar, watching the days until the full moon. He hadn't brought up Remus's lycanthropy yet. It was no doubt a painful subject for the boy and Hagrid was waiting for him to open up about it. But if he didn't, then Hagrid was going to have to initiate that conversation, since precautions were going to have to be taken. Not that he had a plan as of yet. The idea of chaining the boy up seemed too barbaric, even though it was only logical. Hagrid probably should have gone up to the castle for help, but with Dumbledore away, he was worried about how the staff still present would react, not to mention he was still working on earning Remus's trust and he didn't want to betray that.

The morning of the full moon arrived, but apparently Hagrid hadn't been the only one keenly aware of it, because when he woke up at dawn, Remus was gone. There was a scrap of parchment on the table with only two words in a child's messy handwriting. "I'm sorry."

Hagrid grabbed his crossbow and immediately set off into the Forbidden Forest. He went to the place where he'd left the food, but there was no sign of Remus there. Hagrid called and called for him, to no avail. He even went to the centaurs to see if they'd spotted the boy that day, but none of them had. Hagrid didn't know what to do. He didn't want to leave Remus alone out here, but as sunset began to approach, heralding the coming moonrise, Hagrid knew he was only putting himself in danger.

Yet he couldn't bring himself to just give up and go home, so he compromised and went to see Aragog, knowing the giant spider would be able to protect him from a werewolf.

"Hagrid," the acromantula greeted, stirring from his lair. "You are here late."

"Yeah. I've been taking care of a young werewolf, but tonight's the full moon and he ran off. Thought I might wait it out here, if you don't mind."

"Mm, you do love your dangerous creatures," Aragog mused.

A distant howl made the hairs on the back of Hagrid's neck stand on end, and his heart broke for the poor boy it belonged to. He went and took a seat on a tree stump.

"So, how're things?" he asked, trying to make small conversation.

"As they always are," Aragog replied. "It is a lonely existence, being the only one of your kind."

Hagrid nodded sagely. Another howl echoed through the trees. Loneliness was something they all knew too well. Maybe that was why Hagrid had become so protective of Remus. No one deserved to be an outcast for simply being what they were.

Aragog suddenly stiffened and lifted his body up on his hairy legs. "It is here."

Hagrid frowned, then heard the telltale snarl. Being the only person in this entire forest that smelled partly human, he had attracted the wolf like a moth to a flame. He gripped his crossbow in one hand but didn't raise it; he couldn't shoot Remus.

Leaves rustled and twigs snapped as the werewolf skulked around in the darkness, moving ever closer. No doubt it also smelled the giant spider and might have been wary of it. Hagrid held his breath, hoping he was safe enough.

Then the wolf yelped and the snarling became frenzied. Hagrid saw one of Aragog's web lines vibrating from movement, and the spider turned to follow it.

"No eating the werewolf!" Hagrid said sternly as he hurried after the arachnid.

They found the werewolf caught in one of Aragog's webs alright, and Hagrid was shocked to see how small it was, nothing more than a pup, really.

Aragog made a rumbling noise that sounded like hunger.

Hagrid jumped out in front of him and drew himself up to his full height and girth. "Aragog, that boy is under my care."

The spider harrumphed grumpily but backed away. "As you wish."

Hagrid turned and watched the werewolf struggle against the sticky webbing that clung to its fur in clumps. When it couldn't break free, it turned its frustration on itself, snapping its jaws at its own limbs and clawing at its own body.

"Aragog, can you bind him more firmly so he can't hurt himself?" Hagrid asked.

The spider scuttled around behind the web and began to spin more thread. Within a few minutes, the werewolf was nearly cocooned in webbing that constricted its ability to move. Hagrid gave the giant spider a warning look, but thankfully Aragog didn't keep going past the wolf's neck to suffocate him.

The wolf's snarls turned to whimpers and keens that tore at Hagrid's heart. But there was nothing more he could do except stay and wait for dawn.

It was a long, heart-wrenching night, but finally the darkness began to recede as pale light suffused into the sky. And as the moon surrendered its reign to the sun, the werewolf turned back into a boy.

The transformation was excruciating to watch. Fur slithered back into pink skin as bones snapped and folded back into the anatomy of a human. The inhuman howl became a human scream before Remus slumped limply in the webbing. Hagrid finally moved in to cut him down. He caught the unconscious boy in his arms and gently lowered him to the ground so he could shrug his coat off and wrap it around him.

"Thanks, Aragog," he said as he picked Remus up again and turned to head home.

Back at his hut, Hagrid laid Remus on his own bed and quickly dressed him in some pyjama bottoms. A smattering of scars across the boy's torso caught his eye and gave him pause. His heart constricted at everything this poor child had been through.

There were a few fresh cuts from last night, and Hagrid tried to magically heal them, but his spells didn't work. Right, he'd forgotten werewolf wounds were cursed. So he cleaned them the non magical way and then draped a sheet over Remus. Once done, Hagrid plopped down at the table and watched the boy sleep.

It was an hour before Remus stirred with wakefulness. His eyes opened slowly and he blinked blearily at his surroundings. Hagrid saw him stiffen with realization and snap his gaze toward where Hagrid was sitting.

"Hey," he said kindly.

Remus bolted upright and scooted back, pulling the sheet with him almost like a shield.

"Hey, it's alright," Hagrid soothed, getting up from his seat. He only belatedly realized that towering over the boy didn't exactly look non-threatening in that moment. "You're safe."

Remus's eyes were wide and terrified. "You- you're not going to kill me?" he asked tremulously. "Now that you know…"

"O' course not!" Hagrid exclaimed a tad too loudly, making the boy flinch. "I would never hurt you. I knew about the werewolf thing from the beginning."

Remus frowned. "You did?"

"Yeah. Some friends in the forest told me. I was hopin' you'd bring it up, but I understand why you were afraid to. How are you feeling?"

"Tired, sore," he said softly.

"I can imagine," Hagrid replied. "I'm sorry I'm not a potions master and can't make you something for the pain. But I can make hot chocolate. How's that sound?"

Remus gave him a tentative nod, so Hagrid went over to the cooking fire and heated some milk slowly in the kettle so it wouldn't burn. He then poured that into a cup and added half a chocolate bar to melt inside.

Remus accepted the cup and sipped at the contents.

"How is it?" Hagrid asked.

"'S good, thank you."

Hagrid smiled, then furrowed his brows. "Hm, I suppose I should find you some more clothes."

Remus grimaced at that. "I'm sorry. I hid them in a burrow so they wouldn't get destroyed."

"Ah. Well, we can track them down later. For now, I'll go up to the castle and see what else I can find. You'll be alright while I'm gone? You won't run off again, will ya?"

Remus shook his head. "No," he said abashedly.

Hagrid nodded and made his way up to the school to search the lost-and-found again. He had to dig a little deeper this time, tossing items out around him on the floor.

"What are you doing?" Filch snapped angrily.

Hagrid tensed, then plastered on a jovial smile. "Just lookin' for some things to reuse."

Filch watched him with squinty eyes. "Just clean it up when you're done," he said testily and left.

Hagrid exhaled in relief and resumed his search. He dug until he found two sets of trousers and shirts and another pair of shoes. Then he tossed everything else back into the trunk and went back to his house.

"Here we go," he said cheerily. "Some of these are a little big, but I know a tailoring spell for minor adjustments." He laid the garments on the bed.

"Hagrid," Remus spoke up. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

Hagrid frowned. "Everyone deserves kindness, even werewolves."

"But I'm a monster," he whispered.

Hagrid bristled in indignation. "I don't know who told you that, but it's not true."

Remus's brow furrowed in confusion. "Ev-everyone."

"They're wrong." Hagrid pulled the chair over to the bed so he could sit and meet Remus's eye. "It's not your fault you're a werewolf. And you only change once a month. The rest of the time, you're still you. You're still as human as the rest of them." He paused. "How old were you when you were bitten?"

"Five," Remus said in a small voice.

Hagrid's brows rose sharply in horror. Five? That was far too young to go through something like that, not that any age was old enough for such trauma.

"And where were you before you came to the forest here?" he asked carefully. He knew the boy hadn't been living here for the past five years.

Remus hunched in on himself. "My parents tried…" He broke off with a hitched breath. "They tried."

Hagrid was suddenly worried the boy might have accidentally killed his parents during a transformation.

"They couldn't do it anymore," Remus went on, not looking up. "My father brought me here and told me to stay. And then he…he left."

Hagrid clenched his jaw as fury swelled through him. The boy's family had just abandoned him? In a forest known to be full of dark creatures? But then, werewolves were considered dark creatures themselves. Never mind this sweet, innocent boy wouldn't hurt a fly twenty-nine days out of the month.

Hagrid had to take a deep breath to keep his ire out of his voice so he wouldn't scare Remus more than he already was. Instead he got up and sat on the bed, draping an arm around the boy and pulling him close.

"You don't have to worry anymore," he said thickly. "I won't let anything happen to you."