Chapter Four: Werewolves and Families
After finding out Professor Dumbledore was her real grandfather, Clarice got a bit depressed. She somehow kept up with her schoolwork and prefect duties, but wasn't herself anymore. She only knew who her father was. She couldn't even stand to stay to hear the truth about her mother. However, she needed to know. She found out too, during the next full moon.
In mid-November, the moon shone full. Like every full moon, Clarice would disappear during the night and return in the morning saying she felt ill. However, during her nighttime wanderings things changed one night. She was not alone. When she woke in the morning she was sleeping on the chest of another. One Remus Lupin. She gingerly got up and tried to get out of the forest before Professor Lupin woke. Unfortunately, her plan failed when she fell over a tree root.
"Clarice, what are you doing in the Forbidden Forest?"
"Professor, I, just-uh-just-uh-I just came for a walk."
"You look pale and shaken. What's wrong?"
Clarice needed to tell someone the truth. She decided since she was all alone with Professor Lupin she could tell him everything.
"Professor, my life is turning upside down! I'm a werewolf. I have been for as long as I can remember. I got bitten when I was a baby and I've been sneaking into the forest every full moon for five years. Nobody, not even Fred and George Weasley know this. As if that wasn't enough for me to be hiding I found out two weeks ago that Professor Albus Dumbledore is my GRANDFATHER! I used to live in a Muggle orphanage and now I live with the Malfoys and I don't know what to make of everything. I am lost and scared and confused and- and- and I don't know what to do anymore!"
She felt better for finally telling someone, but then she began to weep. Lupin walked over to her and put his arm around her reassuringly. He tilted her chin to look into her eyes and smiled.
"Clarice, are you sure that Dumbledore is your grandfather?"
"Yes. He told me so himself. He asked to see the wand that nobody knows I carry. It was my father's. When he inspected it himself, he realized that my father was Eric and he was my grandfather."
"Oh my goodness. You are Delilah and Eric's only child," he paused and his facial expressions changed into dark realization, "and I am the reason you are a werewolf. I am so sorry Clarice. Everyone thought you were dead for all these years."
"How is it your fault that I am a werewolf, Professor?" asked Clarice.
"Well, when you were only a baby, your parents went out and left James, Sirius, Peter and I to watch you. It was during the full moon. Not long before sunset, James, Sirius and Peter left to run to the store to buy you a toy broom to annoy your father with. They promised to return quickly. However, they didn't return quickly enough. They returned after sunset and I had transformed into a werewolf. I had bitten you. You were crying when they returned. They changed into their animal forms and chased me into a room. They then turned back to men and locked me in the room. When they went to check you, they realized I had bitten you. Your father would not let me near you until the day he died, which we all thought was also the day you died. I am so sorry Clarice. I never meant to hurt you."
Professor Lupin got up to leave.
"Professor, wait! Don't go! I don't blame you. Werewolves can't control themselves when they transform, remember? It is not your fault you are the way you are. Don't leave me. You understand me. You are the first in awhile to understand me."
"You don't hate me for ruining your life?"
"Did you do it on purpose?"
"No, I did not," he said calmly.
"Then there is your answer," Clarice responded.
"I do not deserve your forgiveness, Clarice, but I do appreciate it and will accept it," Lupin replied.
"Professor, I must tell you. When I found out I am Dumbledore's granddaughter I kinda walked out of his office crying without hearing him out fully. Do you think you can tell me the truth about my family?"
"I would be honored. Just not now. We both need to return to the castle. We need to see Professor Snape."
"Why?"
"Because he brews a potion for me that will help you keep your awareness when you transform so you will not attack other people during the full moon."
"Oh, all alright. Let's go."
They returned to the castle during the morning class. When the bell sounded for lunch they were both waiting outside the Potions Dungeon to talk to Professor Snape. Clarice looked anxious.
"Why do you look so anxious Clarice?"
When the door finally opened and he saw who was coming out of the dungeon Professor Lupin understood. Clarice was supposed to be in Snape's Potions class before lunch. She waved nervously as Fred and George walked by her. After the class finished filing out, Clarice and Lupin walked into the dungeon. Snape looked at them with a very deep loathing.
"What do you think you're doing, Lupin? Prefect or not, young Miss Black should not be held out of my lessons. Why was she not in my class?"
"Well, Severus, Clarice here has a problem and you are the only one who can help her. One that warrants her missing your class, important as I honestly know it is."
"What is so important that it warrants missing my class?"
"Severus, Clarice Black is your goddaughter. It was confirmed two weeks ago on Halloween by Professor Dumbledore. Clarice here, has just been keeping this to herself for all this time."
"WHAT?" asked Clarice and Snape at the same time.
"Lupin, my goddaughter died almost fourteen years ago. Clarice cannot be her."
"Well, you see Severus, you know the truth about me. You know what I am and for your own reasons, you were against my appointment at the school. However, this morning when I awoke in the Forbidden Forest, I was accompanied by Miss Black here and she told me quite a few interesting things."
"What sort of things were they, Miss Black?"
"Well, Professor, back on Halloween, it wasn't that I wasn't feeling well that had me crying. When I was in Professor Dumbledore's office he told me he realized he is my grandfather and I couldn't take it all in just then. The truth is I've known for ages about my being a werewolf. I just didn't know the truth about my family."
Snape dropped the vial he was holding in shock. He sank into the chair at his desk and looked like he had just seen a ghost. He was slightly shaking.
"Severus, Clarice needs you to begin making her the Wolfsbane Potion during the time preceding the full moon. Will you help her?"
"Yes, I will Lupin. I need to be alone. Get out."
Lupin and Clarice left and he took her to the Great Hall for lunch. When she was halfway thru the meal, Professor Snape came to the Gryffindor table and gave her a smoking goblet of potion of which she was to drink without adding anything. The potion was nasty. After she drank the potion, Professor Snape told her to finish her lunch and return to Gryffindor Tower to get some rest.
Clarice looked sick and pale for the duration of the full moon. She was excused from her morning classes and the teachers weren't as tough on her being a little behind as the others. On the last night of the full moon, however, Fred and George followed her out of the castle as she and Professor Lupin went to the forest. As soon as they saw the two of them transform into werewolves, they returned to the castle. They were angry. How could she lie to them?
After finding out Professor Dumbledore was her real grandfather, Clarice got a bit depressed. She somehow kept up with her schoolwork and prefect duties, but wasn't herself anymore. She only knew who her father was. She couldn't even stand to stay to hear the truth about her mother. However, she needed to know. She found out too, during the next full moon.
In mid-November, the moon shone full. Like every full moon, Clarice would disappear during the night and return in the morning saying she felt ill. However, during her nighttime wanderings things changed one night. She was not alone. When she woke in the morning she was sleeping on the chest of another. One Remus Lupin. She gingerly got up and tried to get out of the forest before Professor Lupin woke. Unfortunately, her plan failed when she fell over a tree root.
"Clarice, what are you doing in the Forbidden Forest?"
"Professor, I, just-uh-just-uh-I just came for a walk."
"You look pale and shaken. What's wrong?"
Clarice needed to tell someone the truth. She decided since she was all alone with Professor Lupin she could tell him everything.
"Professor, my life is turning upside down! I'm a werewolf. I have been for as long as I can remember. I got bitten when I was a baby and I've been sneaking into the forest every full moon for five years. Nobody, not even Fred and George Weasley know this. As if that wasn't enough for me to be hiding I found out two weeks ago that Professor Albus Dumbledore is my GRANDFATHER! I used to live in a Muggle orphanage and now I live with the Malfoys and I don't know what to make of everything. I am lost and scared and confused and- and- and I don't know what to do anymore!"
She felt better for finally telling someone, but then she began to weep. Lupin walked over to her and put his arm around her reassuringly. He tilted her chin to look into her eyes and smiled.
"Clarice, are you sure that Dumbledore is your grandfather?"
"Yes. He told me so himself. He asked to see the wand that nobody knows I carry. It was my father's. When he inspected it himself, he realized that my father was Eric and he was my grandfather."
"Oh my goodness. You are Delilah and Eric's only child," he paused and his facial expressions changed into dark realization, "and I am the reason you are a werewolf. I am so sorry Clarice. Everyone thought you were dead for all these years."
"How is it your fault that I am a werewolf, Professor?" asked Clarice.
"Well, when you were only a baby, your parents went out and left James, Sirius, Peter and I to watch you. It was during the full moon. Not long before sunset, James, Sirius and Peter left to run to the store to buy you a toy broom to annoy your father with. They promised to return quickly. However, they didn't return quickly enough. They returned after sunset and I had transformed into a werewolf. I had bitten you. You were crying when they returned. They changed into their animal forms and chased me into a room. They then turned back to men and locked me in the room. When they went to check you, they realized I had bitten you. Your father would not let me near you until the day he died, which we all thought was also the day you died. I am so sorry Clarice. I never meant to hurt you."
Professor Lupin got up to leave.
"Professor, wait! Don't go! I don't blame you. Werewolves can't control themselves when they transform, remember? It is not your fault you are the way you are. Don't leave me. You understand me. You are the first in awhile to understand me."
"You don't hate me for ruining your life?"
"Did you do it on purpose?"
"No, I did not," he said calmly.
"Then there is your answer," Clarice responded.
"I do not deserve your forgiveness, Clarice, but I do appreciate it and will accept it," Lupin replied.
"Professor, I must tell you. When I found out I am Dumbledore's granddaughter I kinda walked out of his office crying without hearing him out fully. Do you think you can tell me the truth about my family?"
"I would be honored. Just not now. We both need to return to the castle. We need to see Professor Snape."
"Why?"
"Because he brews a potion for me that will help you keep your awareness when you transform so you will not attack other people during the full moon."
"Oh, all alright. Let's go."
They returned to the castle during the morning class. When the bell sounded for lunch they were both waiting outside the Potions Dungeon to talk to Professor Snape. Clarice looked anxious.
"Why do you look so anxious Clarice?"
When the door finally opened and he saw who was coming out of the dungeon Professor Lupin understood. Clarice was supposed to be in Snape's Potions class before lunch. She waved nervously as Fred and George walked by her. After the class finished filing out, Clarice and Lupin walked into the dungeon. Snape looked at them with a very deep loathing.
"What do you think you're doing, Lupin? Prefect or not, young Miss Black should not be held out of my lessons. Why was she not in my class?"
"Well, Severus, Clarice here has a problem and you are the only one who can help her. One that warrants her missing your class, important as I honestly know it is."
"What is so important that it warrants missing my class?"
"Severus, Clarice Black is your goddaughter. It was confirmed two weeks ago on Halloween by Professor Dumbledore. Clarice here, has just been keeping this to herself for all this time."
"WHAT?" asked Clarice and Snape at the same time.
"Lupin, my goddaughter died almost fourteen years ago. Clarice cannot be her."
"Well, you see Severus, you know the truth about me. You know what I am and for your own reasons, you were against my appointment at the school. However, this morning when I awoke in the Forbidden Forest, I was accompanied by Miss Black here and she told me quite a few interesting things."
"What sort of things were they, Miss Black?"
"Well, Professor, back on Halloween, it wasn't that I wasn't feeling well that had me crying. When I was in Professor Dumbledore's office he told me he realized he is my grandfather and I couldn't take it all in just then. The truth is I've known for ages about my being a werewolf. I just didn't know the truth about my family."
Snape dropped the vial he was holding in shock. He sank into the chair at his desk and looked like he had just seen a ghost. He was slightly shaking.
"Severus, Clarice needs you to begin making her the Wolfsbane Potion during the time preceding the full moon. Will you help her?"
"Yes, I will Lupin. I need to be alone. Get out."
Lupin and Clarice left and he took her to the Great Hall for lunch. When she was halfway thru the meal, Professor Snape came to the Gryffindor table and gave her a smoking goblet of potion of which she was to drink without adding anything. The potion was nasty. After she drank the potion, Professor Snape told her to finish her lunch and return to Gryffindor Tower to get some rest.
Clarice looked sick and pale for the duration of the full moon. She was excused from her morning classes and the teachers weren't as tough on her being a little behind as the others. On the last night of the full moon, however, Fred and George followed her out of the castle as she and Professor Lupin went to the forest. As soon as they saw the two of them transform into werewolves, they returned to the castle. They were angry. How could she lie to them?