Robin Ridgeway
Hello. I am Celeste Walker. Celeste… Celeste Ridgeway…
~-~
He opened his eyes ever so slightly. The feeling in his stomach was an indescribable pain. Like you've swallowed a million knives and someone was pushing on your stomach.
He heard a loud clatter. He jumped up and clamped his hands over his ears after screaming. His ears were so sensitive… so very sensitive…
"Professor? Professor Ridgeway?"
It was Lupin.
Robin released a shuttering breath and took his hands away from his ears. A splitting headache made him forget the pain in his ear.
He forced his eyes open and looked at Remus. Remus looked much better than he had lately. Obviously because the full moon had passed.
"You're so lucky…" Robin said in a croaky voice. He hadn't spoken in the days he'd been in a sort of coma.
"Lucky? What?"
"Lucky to have the moon… I-I have to miss the moon… or I'll lose my mind. I miss the moon. I miss transforming… Don't ever take it for granted…"
"Professor…? Why will you lose your mind?"
"I have a disorder. If I don't take that potion I-I'll go crazy. I-I'll lose touch with the world and l-lose control."
"I knew something was different about you."
"B-be glad you have the moon…"
He didn't hear Poppy walk in. His ears were still ringing from the falling bedpans.
"Remus. Go now. I think he's in shock. Whatever he's saying, just ignore him. Now, Robin? I am going to give you your medicine now…"
Remus began to walk away but stayed at the door to watch.
"No… Noooo…" Robin groaned. Remus felt bad for him.
For the first time in my life I'm glad to have the wolf…
He walked away listening to Ridgeway who began to yell NO at the top of his lungs.
~-~
A week later Robin was back to classes. Dumbledore informed him that this next moon they would be better prepared and he would transform.
"Hello class! How is everyone?" He said with a normal smile. The kids didn't smile back. He frowned.
"What?"
"Are you ok? You were in the hospital wing a few days ago screaming your head off."
Robin hadn't noticed Dumbledore walk in. He was dead grateful when Dumbledore answered him.
"I think that has nothing to do with today's class. Now answer his question and forget about that dreadful occurrence."
"Yes. Please." He smiled at Dumbledore and nodded. Dumbledore walked out.
"Now, I've made myself promise I wouldn't do too much more hands-on experience--- the 7th years were rather mad at me I do believe—so, these next few weeks we are talking about-," his smile faltered slightly. A few kids caught that. "Werewolves."
"Now, some people, mostly evil dark wizards, choose to become werewolves from their own free will. But there are a good few that didn't and were burdened to this curse. Right now I will tell you, not to fear a werewolf unless it's in its wolf form. If it isn't a full moon a werewolf is a normal person. He can be a dark wizard he can be a good wizard! It just so happens by coincidence that dark wizards often choose to become werewolves for their exquisite sense of hearing, smell, and eyesight.
"The basic lesson here, is not all werewolves are 'monsters'. Most are because of choices that they made. But still—that's no reason to judge them."
He saw a hand raise in the back row. He hadn't really noticed that this was Remus' class. But as he saw James Potter raise his hand, he caught a glimpse of Remus too.
"Yes, James?"
James opened his mouth to say something but then stopped.
"Nevermind…"
Another hand raised. A slytherin. It was just my luck that I got Gryffindor and Slytherin TOGETHER! He chuckled slightly at that thought.
"Lucius?" (a/n spelling?)
"My dad told me that there's a teacher here who's a part-werewolf… you seem very fond of werewolves yourself… and I noticed you were gone during the full moon…"
"So you're saying you think its me? I'm afraid I have nothing to prove that I am or am not one, but that has nothing to do with the discussion. We are talking about werewolves in general not about suspecting me to be one."
Remus couldn't help but notice the tremor in Robin's voice, but apparently no one else noticed.
Lucius nodded and sat back down angrily. He knows… his father told him… Remus thought suddenly. Then another thought struck him… Part-wolf?
Suddenly Remus was drawn back to the class. His name was being called.
"Remus? Do pay attention I am trying to explain something here!"
"Sorry Professor."
"Alright. I'm glad you asked that question Sirius, there is such thing as a part-werewolf…"
Remus looked at Sirius who mouthed 'you were talking out loud'. Remus nodded and looked back up at Ridgeway.
"Part-werewolves… well there is only one alive in the world today, though there have been a few in the past. I will give an example of how someone can be part werewolf.
Say for example… a woman is pregnant… more than 5 months I think… I'll have to check that, and she gets bit? The curse goes through her, and since the baby is in her, the baby gets hit too. Now, the child shall have all the effects a real werewolf gets… but they get a little more. A bit like the icing on a cake I suppose. They often have there senses a little too well developed causing noises to irritate them easily, or quick movements startle them easily, and—though this one is very rare--- Smells ware away at their nose till they are unable to smell anymore. There are also certain weaknesses. Certain potions, with a certain chemical in it, causes werewolves to have trouble in transformations. But! For a part-werewolf, this could totally disrupt their balance."
There was a frightened look in his eyes that not many noticed. People always loved talking about werewolves the best. Everyone found them very interesting--- everyone except James Remus Sirius and Peter---and if you count teachers, then Professor Ridgeway.
"Any questions about Part-werewolves?"
Lucius raised his hand. That kid is really getting on my nerves. Remus thought angrily. HE liked Professor Ridgeway, and he knew this conversation was hard enough for him. And after that accident---…
"Yes Lucius?"
"How can you tell if someone's a part-werewolf?"
"That isn't the topic of our discussion. We will work on Part-werewolves next week… if the class wants to?" He seemed very hopeful, but all the class yelled out YEAH! Remus didn't. For two reasons
- yelling would hurt Ridgeway's ears
- He didn't want to talk about Part-werewolves—for Ridgeway's sake.
"Ok" Lucius, said happily.
Robin was very happy for that class to come to an end. He sat down at his desk and put his head on it.
Peace… peace and quiet—
"Professor?"
He sat up irritably but immediately brightened up. It was only Remus. Not that pesky Lucius.
-Remus' POV-
"Yes Remus?" He looked very tired. His face was pale and bags were under his eyes.
"How does Lucius know all that… about… about…"
"There being a part-werewolf in the school?" I nodded.
"His father. Your lucky Dumbledore never told Lucius' father about you. Dumbledore didn't want to let it somehow get out with that nosy little Lucius. Good because he would have wanted payback for your 3rd year…" He said with a twinkle in his eye.
I grinned. My 3rd year – Ridgeway's first year teaching here—I pulled a rather large prank on Lucius and Snape. Lots of fun!
"Yeah… but… Why did you start taking that potion if it would cause so much trouble?"
Ridgeway's face darkened. I shouldn't've asked…
"Well, they didn't know that at the time. Don't forget I'm the only living part-were------I was the guinea pig. They never told me that though. Not until I started having difficulties transforming--- and then eventually I couldn't transform at all."
"Doesn't stress do that to normal werewolves?"
"Yes. But it has to be a lot of stress."
I nodded.
"That's why I have been so worried about you… having trouble transforming means one of two things…
- You're very stressed.
- Something bad is coming and the wolf senses it
And both those things are quite bad… the fact that I can no longer sense bad coming isn't helping either… Just please be sure to tell me if anything ever happens during transforming. Promise me."
I nodded. He seems so worried about me. "I promise."
I saw his eyes linger behind me I sniffed. Dumbledore. Apparently Ridgeway heard me sniff because he laughed.
"Ah, you already rely on wolf senses! IT took me a good 20 years to actually bother using my sense of smell."
I grinned and turned to Dumbledore.
"Hello Remus. Would you please wait outside the door? I want to talk to you, but to Professor Ridgeway first."
"Alright." I walked out the door.
-- —
"Robin. I think we could tell him now."
Robin nodded. His nose twitched slightly. "Ok… will you tell him for me? I-I'm afraid I am not good at telling people stuff like this… especially when it's a very big thing I've been hiding from them."
"Yes. I chose now because Remus has no where to go during the summer. Last summer as you know Linda died."
He nodded grimly. "Yes. How did she die?"
"She had a stroke. Nobody knew. Just to think if someone had been there—,"
"If Greg had been alive…"
Dumbledore stared at him.
"Sorry…"
"I know the loss of your brother was great, but just don't think about it. He lived a great life. I'm sorry you never got to meet him face-to-face"
"Alright. Let's just get this over with"
---Remus' POV—
"Alright lets just get this over with." Remus caught that sentence. He had caught his mother and fathers name along with that sentence but nothing more. The door swung open
"Remus. Come with me." Dumbledore led him out. Remus glanced into the room were Robin had sat down looking more tired than ever.
When they reached Dumbledore's office Remus took a seat in front of Dumbledore's desk, however Dumbledore stayed standing.
"Well, we found the person for you to stay with, now its up to you if you want to go."
"Who is it sir?" He asked. He was dreading this day, yet at the same time he couldn't wait. His mother, Linda Lupin, had died the summer before, and his father Gregory Lupin, had died quite a few years ago in a big battle against a very ferocious dragon.
"Did your father—ever mention a brother? He had a brother, whom supposedly died at birth. Really it was because of other things--- His brother didn't die at all. He was taken away and raised with another family. Did your father ever tell you about him?"
"N-no… he had a brother? … I have an uncle?"
"Yes." Dumbledore sighed. "This is quite difficult. Well, might as well just get it over with!" he said with a grin.
Remus looked at him expectantly.
"Your uncle is Professor Ridgeway."
Remus looked stunned.
"P-professor Ridgeway?"
Dumbledore nodded. "He has had quite a bad life—I thought that since you had no more parents and he always had difficulties living alone—and him being your uncle and all—that you two being together was just perfect."
"I have a question… How come he has the last name 'Ridgeway' if he's my dads brother?"
"He was taken in by the Ridgeway family. He knew nothing of his brother—your father--- until six years ago. He contacted your father and they both kept in touch with owls…"
"Until dad died…"
"Yes. Quite sad actually. They were planning on meeting each other for the first time in person a few weeks later."
Remus blinked a few times. Then the thought hit him. "My grandma was a…"
"Werewolf? Yes. She killed herself because of it. The wolf scared her so much she committed suicide."
Remus shuddered.
"Why didn't my dad and Professor Ridgeway meet before then? They just stayed in contact by owls… why?"
"At the time he was still in Hogwarts. During the summer he left back to the states with his foster parents."
"Why did he go to school here if he was living in the States?"
"He was born here--- not in the states. His first bit of magic was performed a few days after his birth—before leaving to the states. He was asked to attend to Narmers School, and to Hogwarts but he chose Hogwarts."
"Who wouldn't?" Remus said with a slight grin.
"Ah, I am glad your taking this well, we both were not sure if you'd be furious at us for not telling you or glad that you get to stay with a relative and not with foster parents."
"Actually right now's a bit of both but I'd say right now there is too much relief to care about anything else!"
Dumbledore laughed. "Well, then. I think you should get some sleep. I need to call a faculty meeting…" He added; now talking to himself.
---Faculty meeting---
"Alright. We have the statuette, though we are still trying to figure out how to open it up…"
"Albus, have we figured out the code at least?"
"No, Izak, now please let me finish!"
"Sorry…" He mumbled.
"Robin and I are working on figuring out the code---,"
"Albus!" Poppy glanced around the room. Robin had not yet arrived. She spoke in a hushed whisper.
"Albus--- Isn't Robin a bit too… inexperienced? He's only twenty-one!"
"Yet he's more mature than a forty year old, I trust him with my life, as I do with Hagrid… where is Hagrid? Where is Robin? Deary me I must work to improve Robins memory and Hagrid… I don't know… He just doesn't seem to have a great time getting through doors. He's probably coming now…"
They heard some loud footsteps as the door opened and squeezed Hagrid himself into the small room.
"Ah, Hagrid. You decided to join us… late but still…"
"That's enough Minerva. Hagrid have you seen Robin?"
"Nah, I ain't seen him since a couple err hours ago."
"Well. He's probably still in his office. We'll continue without him… When we're done, Izak I want you to go and tell him what we were talking about. Back to the subject. So far Robin has managed quite a bit of the code--- I haven't understood squat of it but I'll take his word for it!"
Izak's nose twitched irritably.
"Izak? Do you have a problem?"
"That kid probably has no idea what he's doing. I bet he's in his office staring into space now!"
"Izak. I don't care what you think of him, he is much smarter than you think and has been through quite a lot in his life. He knows more about Dark things than you do."
Izak's scowl hardened. He let Dumbledore continue.
"Now, I have copies of the code. I will give one to each of you with the stuff Robin has figured out. If you have any idea of any of the un-figured stuff please write it on there and show it to either Robin or me. Thank you and good night."
Dumbledore smiled and walked out.
A small stack of papers made its way around the room (floating. It floated around letting everyone grab one.) and then, the teachers (and faculty!) went back to their offices (or hut…)
Izak headed towards Robin's office. He heard a soft whisper. He stopped.
"Who's there?" He called. No answer. I must be hearing things.
"Robin, I'll kill you for this. Now I'm losing my mind." HE said to himself as he continued to the door. He knocked.
No answer.
"Ridgeway? Robin?" Still no answer.
Izak tried to open the door. Locked. He pulled out his wand.
"Alohomora" With a click the door unlocked.
He opened the door. He raised a brow.
Lying in the middle of the floor, was Robin. He was convulsing and his eyes were wide but unseeing.
Izak fumbled in his pocket.
"You're damn lucky I listened to Dumbledore and kept one in my pocket at all times…" HE mumbled as he pulled out a small vial of a bright red potion. He kneeled down beside Robin and forced the potion into Robin's mouth.
Robin stopped convulsing and after about ten minutes blinked.
"Ridgeway."
Silence. Robin's eyes moved to Izak.
"W-what do y-y-you want…?" HE asked weakly.
"So much for a thanks. Well I came to tell you about the faculty meeting you missed but I suppose it'll have to wait." Izak headed for the door when he felt himself hit something. It moved quickly.
"G-go" Robin, said harshly.
Izak walked out after shooting a glare at Robin.
"R-Remus. James. S-Sirius. P-p-peter. Go."
He didn't see them go, but their smell faded. By the time Robin felt strong enough to lift himself off of the ground, it was late in the night. Probably around 2 in the morning.
~-------~
"You guys! We went to go to the kitchens and now we're just going back after Professor Ridgeway told us to? He only wanted us to leave the room! We can still go—,"
"Sirius, I'm tired and I need to try and figure all this out." James said irritably.
Remus just shrugged. "I'm tired."
Sirius sighed.
When they reached the common room they pulled off the cloak--- a little too soon.
"James? Sirius? Peter? Remus? What were you guys doing?"
Lily stood there, her hands on her hips.
"Oh… nothing."
"To the kitchens again I suppose?"
"Not really. We never made it there."
"Got caught, Sirius?"
"No. We almost got caught by McKensey then we followed him to see what he was up to and found Professor Ridgeway having some sort of seizure or something."
"Professor Ridgeway? Oh no I hope he's ok… I was really looking forward to class tomorrow! We start talking about part-werewolves… I never knew there was such a thing!"
"Me either." Remus said grimly.
"Oho, James you have competition! I think Lily fancies Professor Ridgeway!"
"You guys, please…"
Sirius started dancing around Lily, whose face was now as red as her hair.
"I do not!"
"Oh yes you do!"
"You guys! He's my uncle…"
Sirius stopped and nearly fell over.
"Yeah right! Haha funny one Rem'!"
"I'm not joking. I have to live with him this summer."
"Live with him? He's only 21! He has a house?"
"Why does it matter Lil'! Either way if he doesn't have a house I bet he'll get one!" James said.
"Wow this is weird!"
"Weird? This is sweeeeettttt!!!!!! Remus has a teacher for a guardian! Now we don't need to do good in class—just suck up to him!"
"You guys, He won't do that."
"Hmm… you're right…"
Remus shook his head and sighed. "Nevermind. I'm going to bed. Night."
Remus walked up the stairs and slammed the door behind him.
"Look what you guys did! Now he's upset!"
"Jeez, Lily, did anybody ask you? I think not!" James said annoyedly.
"Humph! Well fine then! Good night!" She stormed up to her room and slammed the door behind her.
"Is there an echo in here?" Sirius said with a small grin. James chuckled and they both went up to the dorm room after Remus.
~------~
"Now, Robin, are you sure that's what it says?"
"Yes! I'm positive!"
"Well, then lets give it a try, shall we?"
"Alright…" Robin pulled a small statuette out of his pocket. It was of an ancient Babylonian god called Marduk. Robin pulled out his wand and tapped it. HE muttered words from another tongue--- then the statue split in half!
Dumbledore took it from Robin's hand. He pulled out a small rolled up piece of parchment. He opened it up.
"It's a potion… can you translate this?"
Dumbledore handed the parchment to Robin.
"Yes…. It says---
Make this potion if you dare,
To summon the god but do beware,
The one which whom the hair you take,
Will put hid very life at stake,
The hair of a parof the horn of aoudad,
And don't forget this or it will turn out bad,
The powdered remnants of a Canopic,
From a tomb---which? You may pick,
But the most important factor,
Is the tooth of a fossilized raptor.
You have been warned—continue if you must,
But those who make this, don't be too just,
You cant trust everyone, if you do your in trouble,
And this potion will mess up—times double.
I have to say some of that poem was rather lame. Must be hard to rhyme like that eh?"
"Hmm… We can manage to get most of those things. The tooth of a raptor… hmm… A Muggle museum. I'll have to get it off of an exhibit there. The rest is ok… oh but what's a parof?"
"Me."
"Oh… oh yes! I had forgotten that's the old term for part-werewolves! I'm sorry!"
"S'okay… now lets start getting the ingredients…" He stopped and stared at the paper.
"What is it Robin?"
" 'The one which whom the hair you take,
Will put his very life at stake,'
But I'm the one who would give the hair! If we ever figure out exactly how to pull that off…"
"Hmm… I'm afraid its up to you if you want to give a hair… if not then… well, this is all for nothing. Decide now. I won't mind if you don't want to."
"No… no I'll do it… but does this thing want the hair from me when I'm in wolf form? Or when I'm in human form?"
"I don't know, but if we put in one from human and one from wolf form it will work either way…. Sound good?"
"Yes, ok. When will we go looking for the rest of the ingredients?"
"Tomorrow. You have a class to be going to. Good-bye! And if you have any more problems please tell me."
Robin nodded. Dumbledore walked out of the room.
He glanced at the clock.
"Crap!"
He yelled. Five minutes late for his next class! He quickly walked down to his classroom. The kids were yelling and running around… fast movements… loud noises…
HE felt his head pounding as a major headache creeped up on him. He groaned and buried his face in his hands. The class didn't notice him till he fell to his knees, unable to think with the pain in his head. Everything got quiet. Then Lucius yelled out.
"Oyo, sensitive ears! You're the parof!"
Robin felt someone grab his arm and lift him up. He could barely stand and couldn't think clearly. He felt himself being led out of the room. As he was walking away he heard Izak taking over his class. He then heard Minerva's voice next to him.
"Robin? Robin tell me what's wrong so I know what to do…"
"Quiet… need quiet…" She looked at him questioningly and sat him down on the floor when he began to lose feeling of his legs. She rushed to Dumbledore's office.
"Dumbledore. That Robin is just a load of problems. I think it's just a waste of time---,"
"What happened?" He asked.
"I don't know. I found him on the floor clutching his ears after Mr. Malfoy yelled out 'hey Sensitive ears, you're the parof' or something like that."
"Oh dear… need to speak to those students of his." Dumbledore got up and headed for the door.
"What do I do about Robin?"
"Just let him have some quiet. Don't move too quickly around him I suspect the kids yelling and running around put him in shock."
Minerva nodded and headed down to Robin after Dumbledore.
"Whatever you do--- don't give him his potion right now. Ok?"
"Alright. You might want to take that class out of Izak's hands--- he likes to cause trouble for Robin a little too much to be trusted in there."
"Yes I am heading there now. Good-day Minerva." And with that he walked to the DADA classroom.
"Izak, I will be taking over from here."
"Ok headmaster. They told me they were learning about werewol-," he started but got cut off.
"Izak, please just go." Dumbledore said irritably. The past year had been very hectic and Dumbledore got into his badder moods quite a bit more often.
"Now, Mr. Malfoy I would like to speak to you later. When this class is over don't leave. Mr. Lupin I also say the same to you. After class. Now, I want to inform you all that, yes, Professor Ridgeway is a part-werewolf."
Lily gasped loudly the others just stared at Dumbledore.
"And I would trust him with my life. All your parents know what he is, and the ones who didn't feel comfortable about him got to meet him face-to-face. All your parents agreed to allow him to teach. I hope no one in here is so low as to change your attitude towards him in the slightest. I feel now the need to explain about Parofs. Shall I?"
Lily's mouth was open but she nodded. The others mumbled their 'yes's and 'sure's so Dumbledore continued.
"Parofs have always been very rare--- and often their blood, hair, teeth and claws are used in horrible potions, used to kill, maim or ruin others lives. That for one is why the parof population isn't as large as it should be. Today there should be at least five Parofs alive. The only reason Professor Ridgeway is alive is because he was in hiding for the first ten years of his life, till he came to Hogwarts. He was stalked by numerous enemies and always managed to escape. He is very talented in fighting dark arts for he has been doing it his whole life. When he left Hogwarts I contacted him and asked for him to be a teacher. He reluctantly came, and became the most loved teacher around. At 18 that is quite a big thing. Most wizards at 18 are training to be a teacher… but he was so good he didn't need any training.
"Mr. Malfoy here seems to think that if he gets him fired, that he will be admired by all the students by ridding our school of a 'monster'. He is no monster. Just another man burdened by the worst curse there is. The parof curse is the worst curse, that there is no cure for, yes. He has been very helpful to me especially now. We are currently trying to uncode a statuette. This statuette holds the answer to many things People want to know. A potion must be made for it. The potion calls for the hair of a par-wolf.
"He is the most important part of solving this and if he in any way is harmed it could very well lead to the death of all of you. Hidden in the statuette is a glimpse into the future. If I can succeed in getting to it I can very well prevent what will happen… Actually I am sure I can prevent it--- I just need to know first. I remind you all that loud noises and fast movements can prove fatal to Professor Ridgeway, and today, you all nearly killed him. He is in the hall now, and I must speak to him. You all are dismissed early. Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Lupin, please follow me."
The students herded out in total silence. Remus and Lucius followed Dumbledore out into the hall. Robin was sitting there; head in hands; leaning against the wall. He didn't look up when Dumbledore came over. He sniffed and groaned.
"Go away."
"Robin. I know you want to be alone but I'm afraid it won't help. I have spoken to your students and told them the truth about you and why your being here is between the students their parents and the faculty."
"Go away." He repeated, in an agitated voice; still muffled by his hands.
Remus didn't like the voice. Agitating a werewolf isn't the best thing to do. If they lose their temper they get pretty vicious--- even in human form.
"Alright. Just wanted to let you know. Remember what I said earlier--- any more problems… come to me. Come, Lucius; Remus."
Dumbledore walked farther down. Remus watched Robin as they walked by him. He looked a mess. Remus felt bad. Today was the first day Remus looked at him as his uncle--- not just a professor. It made him feel worse.
Lucius sniggered. Remus glared at him.
"What you lookin' at Lupin?"
"Something really ugly… oh sorry that's your face."
Lucius opened his mouth to reply but Dumbledore stopped him "Lucius go wait in my office. I need to have a rather long talk with you."
Lucius walked up the stairs to Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore shut the gargoyle and turned to Remus.
"Robin tells me, that you were up wondering last night and saw him while he was … ill."
Remus nodded. I'm in trouble now.
Dumbledore seemed to have read his mind and laughed. "Don't worry your not in trouble. I suspect you were going to the kitchens to tame Sirius' stomach. I can't blame you and James for going with him. Actually I would thank you---he'd probably hurt something. But that's not what I wanted to say."
Remus looked up at him. "Then what do you want to say?" He realized how rude that sounded and looked up apologetically.
Dumbledore just smiled. "I wanted to tell you what exactly is happening. A very interesting part of Parof history is that, whenever you look in the book at people killed by parof over the past couple thousand years, They are only killed on eclipses. Now tell me Remus, when is the next Solar eclipse?"
"The next full moon…"
"Exactly! Now, I want your opinion on this, saying as you will be staying with him and are the one to make decisions he is unable to make…"
"Why?"
"Why what, Remus?"
"Why am I the one to--,"
"Because he gave that permission--- If you don't want to you don't have to… we can just remove him from teaching till the moon passes."
"That sounds fine to me… why don't you just do that?"
"Well, we considered it… I guess we will then." Dumbledore smiled at him.
"I better be going to deal with Mr. Malfoy… He's in a large amount of trouble."
Remus nodded and began to walk away.
"Oh, and Remus, remember, exams are next week!"
So Remus headed back to the Gryffindor common room. He stopped when he saw that Robin hadn't moved from the spot. There were a few professors standing there trying to get him up. Remus walked over.
"Um… sorry but I just wanted to know what's going on?"
"Ah, Lupin, maybe you'll be of some use." McKensey said with a small grin. "Teachers pet I hear? Oh wait… You're his favorite nephew! Of course! That explains it!"
"Izak, please!" Mcgonagall said irritably. He stopped and glared at Remus.
"What's going on?"
He repeated.
"HE doesn't seem to be responding… not sure if he can even hear us…"
Remus looked at him. His face was no longer buried in his hands. He was hugging his knees to his chest and leaning back against the wall, his head in clear view. His eyes were closed but Remus--- with his wolf instinct--- could tell he was hearing them. He had an idea.
HE took a deep breath and yelled HEY loudly.
Robin's eyes shot open and he kicked out, kicking Remus' knee, knocking him backward into Mcgonagall.
"Shit." Was all that Robin said before he passed out.
Remus raised a brow. "Maybe I was a little too loud."
"Alright Lupin, that's enough. Off to bed."
~-~-~-~-~
Celeste Ridgeway… that's a wonderful name… I wish I had had a chance to use it…
I still remember the second time he came to us… my mom and me…
He was looking quite bedraggled. He had the rest of the month off because of his problems… he left to find a safe place to stay.
~--------~
"Hello Robin! How are you?" Amanda said cheerily as she invited him in for tea--- I mean coffee.
"Not too good… that's why I'm here actually… I need a place to stay for the rest of the month…"
"You can stay here!"
"Wait, I need to tell you why… You might change your mind."
"Alright…" She said uncertainly. She led him to the sitting room, where chairs were the only furniture.
"First off- I'm a part-werewolf, or a parof… whatever you consider them…"
Her jaw dropped but she waited for the rest of it before saying anything.
"During lunar eclipse we--- Parofs --- tend to lose their mind… they become very temperamental … most deaths caused by Parofs are on lunar eclipses… I won't blame you if you don't want a monster like me living in your house…"
He hung his head as he felt two pairs of eyes staring at him in shock--- one pair from the woman in front of him… and one from the girl spying from the next room.
When Amanda spoke her voice was soft and full of pity. "No, no… you can stay here as long as you need…"
HE looked up at Amanda—he had thought she would turn him down.
"Really?"
"Yes… of course you can!"
"I thought that… that you would say… say no…"
"Heavens no, you are such a kind boy! And a splendid teacher from what I know! During the moon you can go in the basement… I suppose I can charm the door so Celeste won't go wondering down there… that wouldn't be pretty… and I would never ever consider you a monster or a dark creature!"
"But I am one…"
"No, you are a man who has a terrible curse on him… your not a monster."
Robin remained silent… he was shocked. He had convinced himself she would say no.
"Come on, I'll show you your room. Celeste! Come get this mans stuff and bring it upstairs! He'll be staying here for awhile!"
Robin felt himself smile. He was glad they weren't afraid of him like most were after he told them these things. Suddenly his mind went to Remus. I didn't tell him I was leaving… maybe I should have… I'll send him an owl…
He followed Amanda up the stairs to the spare bedroom.
"Here it is! Oh, and-," she lowered her voice as not to let Celeste hear "There's some floo powder in the top shelf of the closet if you ever need it."
He nodded still smiling happily. Celeste walked in with his bags. He quickly took them from her.
"Thank you…"
She mumbled something and quickly left the room.
"She's shy." Amanda pointed out.
And she's a bit afraid of me too. He thought with a frown. He nodded.
She smiled kindly at him, a look in her eyes he couldn't read. Pity he thought suddenly.
"I'll leave you in here to unpack. Have you eaten dinner yet?"
"Uh, no, but I'm not too hungry… I think I'll just unpack… and go to sleep. Feeling rather tired lately."
She nodded. "Well if I don't see you before you go to bed, then good-night."
He nodded. "You too."
She walked out.
He grabbed one of his dragon skin bags and opened it up. He began to unpack everything. He reached in and pulled out a small crystal ornament. It was of a howling wolf and on the bottom was an engravment outlined with gold, which read:
'Bambini Della Luna'
The words rang in his head like a beautiful lullaby. The translation he knew immediately even though he didn't even know what language it was.
'Children of the moon'
He sighed and stopped unpacking, placing the ornament on the bedside table, he sat on a chair in the corner of the room. He shut his eyes. Sleeping in a strange bed seemed odd to him, so he took the chair. He fell asleep after a few minutes.
~------~
The next morning Robin awoke to someone shaking him. He opened his eyes groggily. It was Celeste.
"Sir, um… Mr. Ridgeway? There's an owl for you."
I thought she didn't know about wizarding stuff
She saw the look on his face and looked at the floor.
"Can I tell you something?"
"Yeah." He said, his voice hoarse, as he opened the window to let the large Barred owl in.
"I know more than my mom thinks… I was supposed to go to Hogwarts but my mom put a spell on me… so that if I ever did any magic Hogwarts would never know… she thinks that I'm Muggle because she never saw me doing magic. She took the spell off not long ago… but I am… I am magical… I go through my mom's old school books every night… I know a bit. I use her wand…"
Robin was a little shocked that she was telling him this.
"Why are you telling me this? I would think you might tell your friends or something… but I'm a complete stranger…"
"Because you already knew! You can sense those kinds of things…"
"True but…. Hey how did you know that?"
"I told you, I read through all of my mothers books… there was a lot on Werewolves and a little on part-werewolves…"
"Hold on… I need to read this letter…"
He read the letter still confused about Celeste.
Dear Uncle Robin
Where are you? Dumbledore told the class you had left for a bit—Lucius is getting on my nerves—he thinks you've been fired, but I know that's not true. Dumbledore trusts you a lot; he would never fire you. So why did you leave? I knew you wouldn't be teaching for awhile till the moon passes but leaving? That's a little extreme don't you think? I hope my owl finds you… its hard when you don't know where to find the person the note is to!
---Remus
He looked over at Celeste who was fiddling with --------
"Hey! Don't touch that!" He quickly jumped over and grabbed the small crystal ornament from her.
"Sorry…"
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
He opened his eyes again. "No I'm sorry… It's just… I'm the only one who's ever touched that… I don't really trust people enough… here…" He handed it to her. She hesitantly took it and looked at the inscription.
"Bambini Della Luna…. That's Children of the moon…"
"How did you know that?"
"Muggle school. They teach us languages. I took Italian."
"So that's Italian…"
She looked at him. "How old are you?"
"Twenty-one."
"Oh ok."
"Why?"
"Just wondering."
"Oh ok, well can I wonder how old you are?"
She smiled slightly. "I'm seventeen… turning eighteen soon… I can't wait to leave this place."
"Why? I would love it if I lived here… and had a family who actually loved me…"
"Your family doesn't love you?"
"I don't really have much of a family… foster parents… but they aren't family… my mom is dead… my dad is dead… the only relative I have is my nephew."
"Who's your nephew?"
"Remus Lupin."
She nodded.
Robin strained his ears. He heard Amanda coming up the stairs.
"Your mothers coming."
Celeste turned towards the door just as it opened. Amanda stepped in and smiled.
"Ah, Robin, you're awake! Why did you sleep on the chair?"
"Don't like unfamiliar beds."
"Oh, well, you can stay on the chair if you'd like I guess… well … Celeste what's that? Is that Mr. Ridgeway's?"
"Yes." She said quickly as she placed the ornament back on the tableside.
"What is it?" Amanda said looking at the object closely.
"It's a statuette my real mother gave me the first and last time I saw her."
"First and last?"
Robin nodded. "She was on her death-bed. I came to see her for I had just found out she was my mother. She knew me right away and gave that to me,"
"What does this mean? Bambini Della Luna?"
"Children of the Moon."
She nodded. "Come on Celeste, help me make breakfast… Will you be joining us Robin?"
"Um… well what are you having?"
She smiled "Pancakes."
"Sure."
"Alright we'll call you when they're ready."
"Yes, thank you." Celeste followed her mother silently down the stairs.
Robin made his way to the desk and took out a quill and some parchment.
Dear Remus,
I have left because I fear I am a danger. I lose my mind during these times and I might hurt someone. I will be back after the full moon. Tell Lucius I am very very angry at him and I cant wait to get back at him--- oh and your going to have to help me on that one, warn James and Sirius… I'm sure they'll love the job.
HE glanced over at the table, where the ornament sat. He grabbed it and put it into a box.
I hope you like this gift. Your grandmother, the first and last time I met her, gave this to me. I hope you know what bambini Della Luna means--- you should. If you don't I'll tell you when I get back. Have fun, good luck with exams. Tell Sirius to calm down, tell James to ask Lily out before I strangle him and tell Peter to stand up for himself, the little wuss.
---Uncle Robin
He handed the note and the package to the owl and patted it on the head. It flew into the distance.
"Robin?" He spun around. It was Celeste. "Breakfast is ready." She turned and headed down. Robin released his breath and followed her down. He sat down at the table. He loved the smell of Syrup—sugar seemed to be his favorite food---if it's considered a food at all.
He grabbed the fork near him—he felt a burning pain spread through his hand and he let out a howl of pain as he dropped it. It clattered on the floor. He looked at his hand. It was blistering in the area where the silver fork had touched.
"I need to be more careful… I'm not used to being around people other than my own family and the Hogwarts staff--- they make sure I don't touch any silver…"
Amanda had come over to look at his hand. He had grabbed the fork so hard that when it burnt him it got him pretty bad.
"Oh dear… I have to remember that… Sorry… come on Robin, I'll bandage it up."
He pulled his hand away. "No that's fine, It will heal." She looked at him curiously.
"Oh, alright…"
She grabbed a plastic fork and handed it to Robin. Robin used his other hand and began to eat refusing to use the burnt hand.
When the meal was finished Robin went to wash his hands--- both because of the sticky syrup that managed to get on them and because of the blistering burn.
Then he noticed the handle to the sink. Silver… arrrggg He grabbed a vase and threw it to the floor. He watched as it shattered. He heard a small scream from downstairs and Amanda ran up to him. Robin hit his head over and over again with his hand.
"Stupid… stupid… stupid…" He kept muttering.
"Robin?"
"Sorry… I-I'll just go… Go to bed or… or something… I don't want to hurt anything else…" He walked into his room before she could say anything else.
The next few weeks went very slowly. Robin would eat, and then lock himself in his room. HE was constantly losing his temper and slowly it got worse and worse.
"Robin? Are you awake?"
Silence. Celeste banged on the door. "Robin?"
No answer came. She knocked again and again. Then she opened the door.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Robin yelled. His face was contorted in anger and his eyes seemed to glow a yellow color---- the wolf trying to come out.
She let out a small squeak; too afraid to talk she backed out of the room and slammed the door shut. Her mom came up behind her. Celeste had tears streaming down her face. He scared her so much she had started crying.
"Celeste what's wrong?"
"H-he… oh it just scared me…"
"We should just leave him alone today…" She said. Her daughter had told her about knowing magic a couple weeks ago, after Robin convinced her too. Ever since he had been tutoring her in magic. Amanda often helped.
"I'll put a charm on this door… I was going to have him in the basement for transformation but I guess that's out of the question now…"
She pulled out her wand and tapped the door muttering a few words. The door glowed for a second then it was done. She led a very scared Celeste downstairs to eat.
~------~
Remus fiddled with the small ornament while waiting for Madame Pomfrey to get him to go to the Shrieking shack. He ran his fingers over the tiny letters.
"Children of the Moon…" he felt a hand on his shoulder. He jumped and spun around.
"Oh, Madame Pomfrey, its you… you scared me…"
"Yes, I realized, come on, let's go."
She led him down the corridor and outside to the willow. Remus used a stick to hit the knot. The tree froze. Madame Pomfrey began to walk away, as Remus entered the passageway.
I wonder how Uncle Robin's doing now… he thought.
That was the last he thought as the wolf took over.
~------~