''My birthday! My birthday! My birthday! Mumma, 24 days are left, I counted. My birthday! My birthday!''
''Yes, darling, I know, now get off the table or you'll fall - oh - oh!''
The tawny-haired woman saw her son falling off the table where he was jumping and dancing. She squatted beside his still form and pulled him up against her chest. His eyes were closed, but his breathing was even.
''Oh, honey, are you alright? Come on, darling, you're strong, wake up-'' Mischievous amber eyes popped open and the nearly five-year-old boy started cackling and jumped up again, twirling round and round with his arms wide open, chanting, ''Momma got scared! Momma got scared!''
The tawny-haired woman sighed tiredly and smiled fondly at her son. She got up and extended her arms to grab the mischievous boy who ran off with a playful shriek, making his mother run after him, "No, Remmy, you bad boy. Scaring your mother like that. Come here!"
The small boy ducked under the coffee table and appeared out of the other side, his cheerful laughter echoing in the cottage. He jumped on the couch, hid under the tables and chairs.
"You just wait. Let your dad come, I'll tell him how much trouble you cause."
The little boy squealed and ran between his mother's legs towards the front door when it opened suddenly, he bumped into a set of long legs causing him to fall down on his tiny bum and let out a small squeak. A manly chuckle sounded above him and soon he was being scooped up by a pair of strong arms, tucking his head in the crook of a sweaty neck. The boy started wriggling in his father's grasp, "Eww, dad, you are smelly!"
The man laughed and passed over the jumpy boy to his mother who took him gratefully and sighed as if the weight of the whole world rested on her shoulders.
"Hello, sweetheart," The man kissed his wife, drawing out another 'Ewww' from their son, "Was my baby having fun with his mother today, without daddy?" He directed towards his son.
"Oh, I would be more than delighted to hand over your baby and have fun with him. I am bloody exhausted from running after this little brat." The woman said while tickling her son who shrieked with laughter and jumped out of her arms, running behind the sofa.
"Mumma said a bad word, daddy, punish her." He exclaimed.
"I sure will." The muscular man winked at his wife who slapped him on the arm.
"What would I do with you two?" She sighed.
"Kiss us." The two males said in unison and started laughing. The woman only shook her head, already used their antics and tried to hide an adoring smile. She went towards the kitchen to prepare dinner, motioning her husband to go have a shower and leaving their little brat alone in the drawing-room, who was waving his hands around in the air making the crayons fly which were scattered on the floor and drawing gibberish on the usually cleaned walls.
Lupin household had always been such chaos since the birth of the little marauder, Remus John Lupin who was the only child of his parents and very much loved. He was completely spoiled by his parents and grandparents who frequently visited their cottage, bringing loads of chocolates, toys and stuff for their beloved grandson.
His father, Lyall Lupin, was a worker in the Department of Magical Creatures in the Ministry of Magic and his mother, Hope Lupin, was a muggle who worked in an Insurance Company. One could describe their cottage as the best infusion of magical and muggle world. A paper and pen could be seen on one table and on the next table a quill would be automatically working on a piece of parchment. Walls were covered with photo frames - magical and muggle both, featuring the Lupin family but with Remus as the highlight. A baby with a tuft of tawny hair on top of a pink coloured face, peeking out of a blanket could be seen in one frame. A small toddler crawling on the floor and then being scooped up by his father was visible. In one picture, Remus was sandwiched between his parents, making funny faces towards the camera. In short, anybody could see that the boy was the most loved and happiest child, growing in the environment every child dreamt of. Despite how much trouble he caused, which involved breaking Hope's favourite tea set to put the kitchen on fire, Remus was a brilliant boy. He started showing signs of magic at an early age that turned out to cause even more destruction in their cottage.
When Lyall walked out of the shower in his sweatpants, he heard an ear-splitting shriek and got ready for one more long night with the complaints of 'Like father, Like son' and 'how irresponsible of a father you are'.
"Remus John Lupin! You come down here, right now! What a mess you have created, I will ground you for weeks. Spoiling the walls like that. I am so tired of your shenanigans."
Lyall entered the hall to meet a rather funny sight of his wife standing in the middle of a room surrounded by crayons, toys and what seemed to be a bowl of porridge while Remus was crouching on top of the cutlery's cupboard, giggling at his mother. As soon as Hope's sight fell on her husband she rounded on him, putting her hands on her hips and raising a perfectly shaped eyebrow. Lyall raised his wand without any word and removed all the crayon stains from the walls then cleared the mess from the floor in a flourish. He smiled awkwardly at Hope and when she nodded in approval he let out a sigh of relief.
"Dad, Dad, I am so tall, see." The amber-eyed boy was jumping on top of the cupboard, stretching his hands up to appear taller. Lyall smiled, "Yes, you are, my little lion. Now jump, daddy will catch you." The small boy jumped down with a whoop and landed in his father's arms who took him to the dining table, seating him on his high chair. Hope was smiling at them but turned her expression back to an annoyed one when she caught Lyall looking at her. The dinner was a simple affair, Remus trying to eat while creating a mess on the table and around his mouth, Hope constantly scolding him to improve his table manners and Lyall eating silently while dreading to clean his son's mess after dinner.
Hope was running with pyjamas in her hands after her naked son who was cracking up and screaming around the house. "Remus! Bad manners. Come here and wear your clothes. It's past your bedtime. Don't run! Remus!?"
Her son's contagious laugh was echoing around, "No mom, I don't wanna sleep. Let's play!"
Hope groaned and used her last weapon, "Lyall! Watch your son, he is running naked! Come here and help me."
At last, Remus was tucked in bed after forcefully being put into his pyjamas by Lyall who had to use his wand to levitate the boy over to him. Remus was so adept at running away and hiding under small tables that it was impossible to catch him.
Hope kissed his forehead and brushed the hair out of his eyes, smiling down at him. "He's such a handful sometimes, always creating havoc but see how innocent he looks while sleeping. My baby angel!" She said, "I was thinking about sending him to primary school. What do you say?"
"Muggle school? My boy is a wizard, he will go to Hogwarts and learn magic." Lyall said proudly.
"Oh, I know," Hope rolled her eyes, "but before attending Hogwarts, he should have some muggle knowledge too."
"Uhh... We'll think about it. Let's go, our bed is waiting for us." He kissed his son's hair, whispering, "Goodnight, my little lion."
Remus Lupin was springing alongside his mother, holding her finger with one hand and eating a lollipop with another one. The market of Yorkshire countryside was streaming with local people, shopping groceries and cakes and cookies and whatnot. "Mom, would you buy me a hat like that?" The little boy said while pointing to an old woman walking past them in a hideous orange-green top hat.
Hope chuckled, "What if I get you another chocolate ice cream rather than that hat?"
"Yes, yes, chocolate!" Remus started jumping, forgetting everything about the hat. They bought chocolate ice creams for both of them and strolled back towards their home.
"Hey, if it isn't little Lupin, how are you, creampie?"
"I am fine Mrs Combatch. How are you and Tiffy?" Remus replied cheerfully to their neighbour, Mrs Combatch, an old woman who lived alone in the cottage with her rabbit, Tiffy who had quite bad jealousy issues towards anyone who got a bit of affection from the old lady which made him associate little Remus as his fatal enemy. He had even given the little boy some scratches when Mrs Combatch offered to babysit him. But Remus being the little angel he was, thought that Tiffy wanted to play with him and considered it as his furry little friend. Sometimes, he throws quite a tantrum to visit Tiffy, but Hope doesn't want her son to get hurt again by the evil rabbit. She doubted that Remus often goes over to their neighbour to eat the Homemade chocolate cookies of Mrs Combatch instead of playing.
"I'm fine, my fruitcake. Tiffy too. Would you like some chocolate cookies? I baked some today." Mrs Combatch offered to Remus who nodded eagerly with wide hopeful eyes. Hope was right, Remus was ready to get scratched by an evil rabbit if it could get his hands on some chocolate cookies. She sighed internally, her son needed to set his priorities right. Mrs Combatch smiled kindly at Hope, asking for permission to take her fruitcake inside. Hope smiled back, allowing her. Remus padded behind her into the cottage. Hope saw him rubbing his sticky hands on his pants and cringed, making a mental note to put some manners into her son. She heard his shriek of laughter as soon as he entered, meaning the evil rabbit had attacked her baby boy. God, she hated that animal!
A few minutes later, Remus came back with a chocolatey grin, an armful of a box of cookies and two scratches on his usually spotless arms. Mrs Combatch must have kissed his nose again.
"Goodbye, my cherry top."
Lyall was not in a good mood, Hope could tell. Usually, he was a calm person but that day, something was bothering him. He was pacing back and forth since he had come home. He denied playing with Remus when the boy was dangling on his leg. He hadn't greeted anyone properly. He had not eaten dinner properly. Something was definitely wrong. After putting Remus to bed, Hope decided to confront her husband. He was sitting on the bed, staring at nowhere with his fists clenched tightly. Hope sat down beside him and put her head on his shoulder. Lyall instinctively wrapped his arm around her. They sat together in silence for a while, listening to the sound of crickets outside and their breathing. Finally, Lyall broke the silence, "You should sleep."
"Something is bothering you." The tawny-haired woman stated, ignoring her husband's words. The man sighed heavily and settled back to stare at the wall. "You know you can tell me if something is wrong. Was it a bad day at work?"
"Hope," Lyall whispered, "I don't know how to explain it to you." He ran a hand through his hair, then looked at his wife who was gazing back at him with concerned eyes. "There was a trial... yesterday... of a man, I-I suspected he was a werewolf and convicted against him... The other members... they thought he was a muggle because... because he acted as if he didn't know what was happening - the evil, soulless creature - he convinced everyone against me... I knew who he was - a murderer, a monster - he is evil and... and clever too... expert at misguiding people. These creatures are like that."
"Oh honey, I am so sorry but I'm sure you managed everything, right?" Hope said but was hesitant due to her husband's despair.
"No... No, Hope. I failed. They freed him and... and now he's running free. Today... in the morning, he attacked two of our officers, confounded them and ran away. Now those gits are realizing I was right but now it is not worth it. It is impossible to catch him now." He lamented, shaking his head. Hope felt there was something more he was worried about.
"So now?" She asked quietly. Lyall stared at her with a fearful gaze that did nothing to set her at ease.
"I think... People say that he... he got angry because of what I said to him and... and he might try to take revenge." He breathed shakily, "Hope, promise me you'll take care of yourself and Remus if something happens to me... because I... I know he will not let it go."
Hope felt tears spring into her eyes and she held Lyall's hand in hers tightly, "Nothing will happen to you." She sniffed.
"I will set up some wards to protect you and Remus, we've to take care of our son, Hope." Lyall said quietly.
Hope nodded and sniffed again, "Lyall? There's something more, right?"
The amber-eyed man shook his head in despair, he seemed to be deciding whether to tell his wife or not. He sighed heavily, "He... He's currently attacking children... to... maybe... create a community or something. I... He..." His voice started cracking. Hope's eyes widened when realization dawned on her. She bolted out of the bed and ran into a room adjacent to theirs, Lyall following behind her. She stumbled towards her son who was sleeping peacefully, chest heaving up and down, breathing slow. Hope sat down beside him and carefully pulled him onto her lap, wrapping her arms around his small body and kissing his hair. Remus snuggled more into her and let out a sleepy sigh. At that moment, Hope felt something ignite inside her - a powerful urge to protect her family. She held out her hand for her husband to hold who was now sitting beside them with his head hung low. He gazed at her and hesitantly took the offered hand, putting the other one on Remus' head.
"What's his name?"
"Fenrir Greyback."
Silence hung over them again, Lyall and Hope were lost in their thoughts, unaware of the small smile forming on their son's face. He was having a dream in which he was sandwiched between two pieces of chocolate cake with Tiffy jumping above them, turning red with jealousy.
Hope was exhausted. She was tired of being cooped up in the cottage for so long. She was even sicker of dealing with Remus' daily tantrums. He was bored of being locked inside and wanted to play. It became a routine for the young boy to at least cry once and run out of the doors, while Hope struggled to keep up with him and stop leaving their cottage's boundaries. She used to bribe him with chocolates which always melted down the boy but today it felt like he had made an oath to not listen to his mother and instead bawl his eyes out. His face was red from crying continuously and Hope prayed that his shouts were not audible to the neighbours.
"Mum... Please, let me go. I-I w-want to g-go out." Remus was wailing loudly, stomping his foot on the floor.
"No, baby, we can't. Daddy said not to. Now stop crying, we'll play gobstones or do you want to play anything else? My boy loves to play tag, right? Come on, catch Mumma, come on." She tried to cheer him up but he wasn't listening.
"I w-want to g-go to the p-park!" He shouted, "I don't want to stay with y-you. Let m-me go!"
"Remus! Don't shout." Hope chastised him, "We can't go, why don't you understand?"
She knew the boy was too small to understand the vastness of the situation. He just thought that his mother was not allowing him because he had been a bad boy and misbehaved. How could a kid understand that there was a murderer after their family because he was insulted? How would Hope tell her son that he did nothing wrong but it was his father who couldn't keep his temper in check? She wondered how long they would have to live like that. How she would be able to keep her son in front of her eyes all the time, away from the cruel world?
She sighed and gathered Remus in her arms. He had not stopped crying since morning, his eyes were red and puffy, Hope could see his body shaking visibly.
"Shhh, shhh, darling. Daddy will bring chocolate cookies for you. Stop crying now. You're hurting mum like that. You're a good boy, right? Then why aren't you listening? Don't cry. We'll play whatever you want. Come on." She cooed and tried her best to keep her son in control, along with herself.
"Don't w-want." He sniffed, "Only Mrs... Mrs Combatch cookies. T-Tiffy. Mumma, I-I am s-sorry, I will be a g-good boy. I pr-promise. Let m-me go. Pl-please." Remus managed to choke out between his sobs.
Hope sighed, "I'm sorry, Remmy, but we can't. We'll go with Dad, I promise."
At last, after hours of pleading, sobbing and shouting, Remus fell asleep on the couch with his head resting on his mother's lap.
Lyall came back home, looking years older with dark bags under his eyes. He silently greeted his wife and kissed his son's tear-stained cheek. They quietly ate dinner while Remus was dozing off. Both the adults sat on the armchairs near Remus, neither of them energetic enough to speak, so they settled to gaze at their son fondly with numerous thoughts running in their minds. Eventually, Lyall decided to call it a night and carried Remus inside his room to tuck him in. He was exhausted of all the drama ensuing and felt like his mind was playing tricks on him sometimes. He felt like he was forgetting something but sleep hung over his eyes, turning him blind that he never noticed the full moon hanging in the sky through open windows.
Hope could not sleep. Something felt wrong, so wrong but she could not tell what. Lyall was also restless, she could see. There was a heavyweight resting on her chest and she could not pull it off, no matter how many tricks she tried. She knew they were safe because Lyall puts protective spells around their cottage daily after coming back from work but... She could not help but feel something off. Hope had never seen any magical creature before except a boggart but as far as Lyall had told her about werewolves she knew they were savage bloodthirsty creatures. She wondered how they actually looked. Do they have claws and fangs? Do they always act wolflike? She was curious to find it but thought it would be better to not know. If someone asked about her opinion on werewolves, she would definitely say they were vicious monsters and don't deserve to live because her encounter with a boggart was breathtaking and Lyall had said that werewolves were even more dangerous so she could not even imagine what they would be like. Sometimes, her life felt like a dream, how just a few years ago she was oblivious to the magical world and now she was a part of it, with a loving husband and an adorable child. Oh, her beautiful son who had cried himself to sleep. The small boy was oblivious to what was happening around him but had to face the consequences. Suddenly, Hope felt a strange wave run through her chest and she found herself rushing towards Remus' room.
He was sleeping peacefully but Hope felt like she could not leave him alone, he looked so small and fragile being bundled inside the blankets. Not wanting to disturb him, she quietly pulled a chair beside his bed and gazed at her son. She didn't know why but she could not tear her eyes away from him, it felt like something strange was happening. Like magic. She was not surprised. There was something else between the mother-son, she didn't know what or who. She could not even pinpoint if it was good or bad but could only feel a presence. Sleep had run away from her and it felt weird as if it was never going to come back. She didn't know what was happening to her. She didn't know anything. Except one: She needed to protect her son. After sitting for hours in silence, waiting for the sun to rise, she felt a tingling in her abdomen and after convincing her that Remus was fine and safe, she got up to get fresh. The cottage was completely silent, Hope could hear her footsteps. No matter what, the feeling of dread was not leaving her. She quickly finished her work and clicked the door shut behind her. There were footsteps. Other than hers. She could hear them clearly in the silence. A tremor ran through her spine and she bolted down the corridor towards Remus' room. The sound of something crashing reached her ears. She was sweating profusely, her movements were uncoordinated and she tripped on her own feet. The door of Remus' room opened with a loud bang and Hope stood still. Her legs were shaking and she found herself staring at the room in the same condition as she had left, Remus was sleeping. But her heart was still trying to jump out of her chest. She quickly turned back and sprinted towards her husband. Again. Everything was fine. No destruction. No mess. No more sounds. Everything was - screaming, heart-wrenching screams.
Lyall jolted awake and the very next second, the couple found themselves in their son's room. Golden yellow eyes stared back at them. And it was gone before a red jet of light from Lyall's wand could touch it. Now there was no silence. Only chaos. Blood, very red blood. Whimpering sounds and small body writhing on the floor in pain. Hope was sure her body and mind were numb. She heard a shriek that sounded far away. Was it hers? She didn't know. Cold wooden floor met her knees, her hands were soaked in blood. Was it hers? She hoped so because if it was of someone whom she thought it was, then her life was destroyed.
Full moon. Werewolf. Bite. Blood. Remus Lupin.
Lost Innocence. Lost Happiness. Lost Everything.
Nothing was fine. Sobs. Screams. Blood. Even more Blood.
End. End of something good.
Start. Start a new life.