Chapter 2: Crescent Moon

As August drew to a close and September approached, the nights began to get colder. Remus wore a light jacket whenever he went out at night now. He knew that in a few months he wouldn't be able to go out at all. He would have to sit at his window and watch the world go by. However, there was still a long time until winter truly set in, and Remus wanted to enjoy the last few nights of summer. His alarm clock when off shrilly under he covers. It was a good thing that he was on the other side of the house to his parents, or they might have heard the alarm. Remus pressed his ear to his door, making sure that there was no one up and looking after Aster. He couldn't hear anything so he slipped on some socks, his trainers and an old jacket. Then he walked silently over to he jewellery box that his grandmother had left him. For a while he had wondered why she had given him a jewellery box, but on closer inspection he found a tiny keyhole and a small key, hidden in the patterns f the painted wood. There was a secret compartment, which had once held his grandmother's diary. Now, however, it held five or six cookies that Remus kept for his night-time rambles. He picked up 3 cookies, checked them for mould (he had been unfortunate enough to have left his cookies in the box for too long once and had learnt from his mistake.), and pocketed them in his jacket. Then, slowly and carefully, he pushed open his door. His pupils opened wide as he looked down the dark, barely visible staircase. He began to walk slowly down it, avoiding the seventh step from the top, as it creaked. When he reached the bottom he tiptoed carefully into the kitchen, slowly drew back the bolt locking the back door and opened it. The sweet, warm air hit him like a wave of happiness. He was free again. Creature of the night, stalking through the shadows, living for the darkness. He drew a long, deep breath and was about to run into the moonshine when he remembered to put a stop in the cat flap. Remus didn't really remember his first cat; he had only been two when she died. However he longed to get another one. Someone to share his adventures with. His parents had told him that they would get him one form Diagon Alley then next time they went there. Diana and Douglas Lupin went to Diagon Alley about once every six months, and they were due to go back there sometime in September. Remus smiled as he thought about his cat, then continued on his journey.

He walked along his road, eating his cookies as he went, until he came to the familiar paddocks which held horses he had named, Storm, Silver, Arrow and Fern. He waved at them as he passed and they neighed at him. It was almost as if they recognised him as a friend. As he continued walking he passed the tree where he and Daniel had first met Hazel. They had quite often used the tree as a place to sit or play in. One time they found Hazel sitting on one of the lower branches and they had an argument as to whose tree it was. In the end they decided to share it, and they had been friends ever since. Remus sighed as he turned left onto a small, but well trodden dirt path. Ramblers often used it as a short cut through the valley. Remus was glad that he was the only one in his village who went for night-time walks. If one of his neighbours found him wandering around alone, after dark they'd march him straight back home again and there would be no more moon lit fields for Remus. He stopped when he came to a style, hopped onto it and then over the fence. Only three fields away now. He had to double back on himself but he didn't really mind. He could have taken the short cut across 'Farmer John's land. (Farmer John was his nickname for a bad tempered old man by the name of Harold Stewart. He was an ex-army serviceman and seemed to own more land than was really healthy for him. He also seemed to think that he was still in the army and if anyone he didn't recognise, or didn't like, so much as put a hair over his boundaries he'd be yelling at them at the top of his voice, waving a gun around and banging on about the Fritz scum crossing the front line. Remus suspected that he was a little bit insane.) Remus finally reached his favourite haunt. The third fence post form the left had a perfect view of almost the entire hillside. This was also the perfect place to stargaze, as there were so many fields around that there were only a handful of trees, and the sky was very clear because of that. Remus settled back on his fence, occasionally leaning forwards to watch a Nightingale, Kestrel or Owl fly past, or dive for a mouse.

'Summer nights are always active.' He thought. 'They're noisy too.' He looked up into the sky again and saw that the moon was properly full tonight. The previous two nights a tiny portion of it had still been hidden. Remus smiled, the Moon was beautiful when it was full. 'It's like, like an angel, commanded to shower the Earth with its' beauty. Like some celestial being, guiding me, showing me my path.' No sooner had the thought entered his mind, than he heard a rustling noise behind him. He jumped, and swiftly got off of the fence. He walked slowly backwards. He was now very aware of the silence. Even the crickets had stopped chirping. Remus heard the rustling again, and this time he saw a bush move. He backed away further still. Suddenly a voice filled his head.

"Yes, you will be the one. You are strong; you live by my master. Soon you will fear him." The voice stopped abruptly. Remus opened his mouth slightly, his light blue eyes had widened in fear and his pupils were now mere dots. He wanted to run, but he couldn't. Suddenly a large dog-like creature leapt over the fence and began to charge at him. Remus regained the use of his legs. He turned and ran, faster than he had thought possible, faster than he had ever run in his life. Wave upon wave of terror flooded through him. His heart was beating so loudly he was sure that the whole of the village would hear it. His breath was rapid and it caught in his throat. His eyes, still wide, stung from the, suddenly cold, air hitting them. Remus didn't care. All he could think about was getting home. He came up to Harold Stewart's land and decided quickly that he'd rather risk a beating than being eaten alive by some rabid dog. Remus looked over his shoulder and saw that the creature wasn't a dog. It was a wolf.

'But wolves died out in England centuries ago.' He thought. Then a thought that made his stomach turn over and a fresh wave of adrenaline course though his veins came into his head. He knew what it was. He hadn't been looking where he was going, and Remus tripped over a tree root sticking out of the ground. He had twisted his ankle very badly as it collapsed when he tried to get back up again. He struggled to crawl away, his injured leg dragging behind him uselessly. After a little while he stopped trying to escape and threw stones and dirt colds into his attacker's face. The searing pain in his ankle was making him miss. The creature waited until he was out of ammo and then gave an evil sort of grin. Remus, now resigned to his fate, closed his eyes. He re-opened them roughly fifteen seconds later. The wolf appeared to be sniffing him. Then it gave that evil smile again.

"I like to see the terror in my prey's face." It said maliciously. Then, swiftly, before Remus could close his eyes again, it opened its huge jaws and bit down hard into his neck. Remus could feel the massive canine teeth puncturing his skin. He couldn't breathe. It was going to choke him. The thought gave him some comfort, as he realised that if he died he wouldn't have to endure what would, now, be his life of torture. He allowed his body to relax and let his eyes roll back in his head. This was it. He was going to . . . But just seconds before death engulfed him the wolf drew its' fangs out of his neck. "Remember Rufas." It said, before turning tail and running back into the trees.

Remus was still gasping for air. Blood poured out of the enormous gashes in his neck and all over his clothes. Tears began to well up in his eyes. Slowly the salty water crept down his face and mixed with the blood around his mouth. Darkness seemed to be surrounding him, except for the shining orb that he realised was the moon.

"M freedom is now, my curse." He said, more blood dribbling out of the corners of his mouth. The darkness enveloped more and more of his vision. Eventually Remus stopped thinking. His head fell back onto the ground and with one last, hateful stare at the Moon, he fell unconscious.

Not that long after his ordeal Remus awoke.

'Oh god!' he thought, as tears welled up again. 'Why couldn't hat monster have come to finish me off? I wish I was dead!' His eyes suddenly snapped open and he looked at the moon with a deep kind of loathing. "I will beat you, I will find a cure, and I will not let you ruin my life!" He said through gritted teeth. Suddenly Remus realised that the pain in his neck and ankle had subsided. He raised an already bloodied hand to his neck and tentatively checked his wound. His fingers found nothing, not even a trace of a scar. Infact, the only thing that would give away the fact that he had been hurt was the blood still shining on his neck, clothes and a few dark patches on the grass. He put his hand back down on the ground so that he could stand up again. His hand splashed into what felt like a puddle. When he looked down he saw blood running off of his fingers into a vast lake of the precious fluid.

"How can I not be dead?" he questioned loudly, forgetting that he was still on 'Farmer John's' land. "This must be all of the blood that I had inside me. I should be dead." He didn't have much more time to speculate on why he was still alive because Harold had obviously woken up. There was a loud noise, like a gunshot. Remus hastily looked into the sky. It was turning a vaguely greeny, pinky, orange in colour in the East. He tried to move some of the blood so that it wouldn't look like there was so much of it, and then hurried to the wood.

When Remus reached the other side of the wood he stopped and sat down on a conveniently placed log. He wasn't out of breath, quite the opposite. He felt like he could run a marathon. It seemed to Remus that the bite of a werewolf was mutually agreeable. The wolf got the ability of speech and the intelligence of the human, where as the human got the heightened senses and body power of the wolf.

'At least,' He thought, 'I can see the good side to this.' But a little voice in his head said; "yes, but are you sure that those are good things for you?" Remus shook his head and ignored himself. He gritted his teeth, got up and walked along further, until he came to more familiar surroundings. He reached his road and hurried along it. The sun was more than halfway up. His parents would be up soon. Suddenly Remus had a horrible thought. He would have to tell them everything that had happened. Another wave of terror filled him. How would he do it, what would he say, what would they say, what would happen to him?

'I'll have to worry about that when I get back.' Said the rational part of his brain.

The return journey always seemed a lot faster, and this time it increased in speed even more, given Remus's new found strengths. In no time at all, it seemed to him, he was pushing open his back door again and listening for any signs of movement within.

This time, he heard some.

"Oh, Douggie, what are we going to do?" Diana said in a hysterical tone. From the way the way her voice was wavering Remus could tell she had been crying.

"It's alright Di. I've rung the Muggle police, they'll be out looking for him."

"But he seemed so happy, with aster and everything. What if something's happened to him? He didn't even leave a note!"

Remus hated to hear his mother like this. It made him want to hit himself, very hard, for doing it to her. He had to be brave, he had to tell them what had happened, he had to stop them from worrying. Remus knocked softly on the kitchen door.

A rather strangulated "Yes?" left his fathers lips.

"I . . . it's me." Remus said, even more quietly than his knock. Feeling very awkward he pushed the door forwards to admit him to the kitchen. His mother rushed towards him. Unsure of what she would do, Remus braced himself. To his immense relief she flung her arms around him and held him in a tight embrace, sobbing unrestrainedly into his shoulder. Remus patted her. He felt slightly awkward, as it was unusual for his mother to cry, let alone in front of him. Douglas seemed to have frozen, unsure whether to be happy or angry. As Diana finally broke away from her son she answered her husband's question. There was a resounding smack as Diana slapped Remus with as much strength as she could muster. Remus' eyes watered but he did not cry. He needed to be able to explain himself, and one more red patch on his body was hardly going to matter. Neither of his parents seemed to have noticed the blood that covered his face, soaked his clothes or matted his hair.

"How could you do that!?" Diana yelled at the top of her voice. "Just wandering off, alone, at night! What did you think you were playing at?"

Remus didn't answer, he knew there was more coming.

"Your mother and I have been sick with worry! We've got the police coming, and we've alerted the neighbours! And you just turn up at, what is it, 6:30 in the morning, waking up all these people for nothing and worrying us to distraction!"

Remus would have dearly loved to have said, 'Would you like me to go back out there then?' but he knew his father well, and thus, his punishments.

"EXPLAIN YOURSELF YOUNG MAN!!" His parents roared together.

Up until now he had been fine. He had just accepted the fact that he was, a werewolf. It was as though the realisation had just hit him. As though someone had put an ice cube down his back. A shiver ran down his spine and the adrenaline began to surge around him once more. He could feel a hot, pricking sensation in the back of his eyes. He managed to say "Mum?" after a few failed attempts. He was now really fighting back tears. He began again.

"Mum, Dad?" He struggled to keep the pitch of his voice normal. "I . . . I . . ." The words some how caught in his throat. As the images flew by, it became harder and harder to say those three words. He could feel the pain all over again. The way the beast had looked at him, the way it had slowly slid it's teeth into his neck, the way that it had wanted to see terror. He couldn't stop them now. Tears leaked from the corners of his eyes. More and more flowed until they formed two great rivers beneath his eyes. Remus' knees gave way as despair over took him. As he hit the floor he gave a wail of agony.

'No,' a voice in his head whispered. 'No.'

Diana rushed over to where her son lay, fallen. She grabbed the wrist of the hand that he was beating furiously on the cold, stone floor. She pulled him up into a sitting position.

"Mum?" Remus said again, the flow of tears momentarily stemmed. Then he threw himself at her and started sobbing for all he was worth.

As he cried he tried as best he could to explain what had happened. "I only wanted to watch . . . it was so beautiful . . . I thought it was a free zone . . . scared me . . . chased me . . . bit me . . . blood, everywhere. I, I didn't know. I'm, I'm a, it bit me. I'm a . . ." Remus stopped crying at that point and returned to sniffing. He broke from his mother and set his jaw. He had to tell them. "It, it bit me." He said feebly, pointing to his neck and blood-stained clothes. "The, the wolf, it . . . it . . . And now I'm, I'm a . . . I'm a . . ." Remus eventually plucked up enough courage to say the words. His cold, blue eyes burned with fire as he stared resolutely forwards. He swallowed hard, and said, in barely more than a whisper; "Mum, Dad. I'm a werewolf."