Chapter Forty-Two: By the Fate of the Moon
Apparently it's a big chapter for it to be bearing the story's namesake.
Disclaimer: The whole notion of giving weapons made of a variety of different woods to hormonal British teenagers was not my idea. It's the rich lady with the infamous initials... JKR...
~~
With all the burdens, issues, dilemmas, pressing matters, and worries that continued threatening to drag Remus down into a pit of stress and despair, there was one solitary beacon of light that helped him to stumble on through the obstacles that had settled themselves around him. That prospect was teaching.
With the Order scattered, and his life restored to his own bidding, Remus finally had his chance to teach. With Frank Longbottom... unfortunately indisposed, there was a teaching job open at Hogwarts for Defense Against the Dark Arts. And who else would he find that he could trust to tolerate his condition but the one man who'd gone completely out of his way to make his life easier all through his childhood?
Rebecca watched the day play before her in a haze. Every movement, every turn of her head, every gesture of her hand, seemed to slow down, pronounced dramatically.
But when Remus stepped into the room all buttons hit full play, and her day had begun.
"Where are you going?" she asked distantly, but with a smiling voice all the same. She heard his words echo before he'd spoken them.
"The school. I'm going to see if I can get that teaching job."
Rebecca's mind stalled for a moment. "Alright," came her involuntary answer, as she planted a brief kiss on his lips.
Something was telling her, or rather screaming at her behind thick walls, to get Jamie out. Subconsciously, she acquiesced as if it had been her idea all along. "Do you think you could take Jamie?"
Jamie gazed happily at her mother and leapt in the air triumphantly.
"I think she should be properly introduced to the castle."
Jamie's face acquired a look of awe and incomprehension. "I'm going to school at a castle?"
"Yes, but it will quite a few years before that happens."
The conversation continued with idle chat, promises to say hello to various people and casual goodbyes.
It wasn't until Remus had left with Jamie sitting on his shoulders that the present caught up with her with a striking blow. She doubled over, caught her balance on a small table, and regained her stature in a daze.
Something within her was uneasy, fluttering with panic, and she found she couldn't stand still.
Luckily, Luna's whining distress call broke her from her discomforting reverie.
~~~~~~~~~~
It was a little after sunset when Remus had arrived at Hogwarts, but it seemed much earlier. Remus was uncommonly alert, and his blinking eyes hadn't even begun to slow like they did when the light left the sky. Tonight, his vision seemed perfectly accustomed to the dark shadows of the evening and the lack of contrast between the fading colors around him.
Jamie was a bouncing ball of crackling fire next to him. She bubbled with questions, and made excited noises as they turned each corner. Every intake of breath seemed to give Remus the impression she was a bomb just waiting to explode with the enormity and beauty of what her eyes were taking in.
As they approached the tall statue that guarded the way to Dumbledore's office, Remus found his old Headmaster already outside, waiting for them.
Remus raised his eyebrows quizzically.
"I came out to let you in," Dumbledore explained. "Surely you didn't think I'd done away with using passwords anymore?"
Remus shook his head, and gave Jamie a small nudge in the back to go ahead of him. She did so tentatively, and Remus patiently followed.
The room was... indescribable. The only word that came to mind that could wrap together the towering bookshelves, elaborately carved archways of stone, innumerable devices, meticulous devotion to details was simply... awe- inspiring.
Jamie was struck dumb, accepting it as a beauty without words.
It was a vaguely familiar sight – he'd been inside a few times before, perhaps not as often as James or Sirius (Remus shivered) but it still managed to amaze him each time.
"I, er, wanted to – "
"The teaching job, yes," Dumbledore interrupted.
Jamie sat obediently next to Remus, her feet barely emerging over the end of the seat.
"I thought I'd bring her along, I hope it doesn't – "
Dumbledore waved his hand in the air. "No, no, it's fine. I suppose I see enough children in the day they couldn't possibly bother me any other time." He winked at Jamie, who smiled faintly.
"I suppose an interview is in order."
Remus frowned. "You know well enough about my dealings, Professor. You've occupied my house with various Aurors for the past three years."
"A house which I note has been taken off the Floo Network."
"We were only being cautious," Remus explained uneasily at the whimsical grin Dumbledore shot his way.
"Nevertheless, one can't be too cautious. We'll merely acknowledge your academic accomplishments, which I must say definitely qualify you."
"Academic accomplishments?"
"Twelve OWLS, top student in your Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Prefect for three years, and not to mention a mysterious affinity and devotion to your lessons in Care of Magical Creatures."
"Oh," Remus answered, scratching behind his ear in humility.
Dumbledore smiled fondly. "There isn't much more I can say on the matter but that – " Dumbledore stopped, and his face fell as his gaze shifted to Remus's right.
Remus followed the Headmaster's gaze, and found Jamie sitting perfectly still (a rare thing for the girl), her eyes wide and brimming with tears of confusion.
"What is it?" he asked her.
She didn't answer right away. After a few minutes of what seemed painful to her, the word came out. "Mum."
"What about her?" Remus asked, thoroughly puzzled.
But Dumbledore seemed to understand better than Remus did, for he asked a simpler and yet infinitely odd question. "What do you see?"
Her mouth contorted, and her eyes shot back and forth reading an image that seemed to be moving somewhere far off. "Daddy."
"I'm here," Remus breathed.
Jamie shook her head slowly and with a mature gravity uncharacteristic of any child her age. "Father," came the alien word.
~~~~~~~~~~
The piercing crack of Apparation sounded through her otherwise silent home, but she reacted slowly, if not at all. She'd felt it coming towards her, so she couldn't with all honesty act surprised when she found Lucius Malfoy in her presence once again.
Luna was safe upstairs, and still sleeping. Perhaps if it stayed that way nothing would happen to her.
"Mr. Malfoy," she greeted him cordially.
He seemed taken aback. His wand was out already, and she wasn't screaming or begging or pleading or anything. Just as he'd finished his thought he noticed with satisfaction that her lower lip was quivering.
"Wh – what do you want?"
Lucius rolled his eyes, summoning her own wand and pocketing it. "Can't you recognize an unfriendly visit when you see it?"
"Are you going to kill me?" she asked him, feeling her back meet the wall behind her. She was cornered and unarmed.
"Perhaps. It's what I was planning, but I presume maybe if you try hard enough to convince me, I'll do otherwise and be on my way."
"Remus will be home any minute." She began sliding sideways along the wall, but he followed every step like a predator. "You should have considered the fact that I have a husband to – " She swallowed loudly when Lucius leaned into the wall, his arm near her stiffening shoulder. "– to protect me."
Lucius sighed casually. "I must admit the idea of an unrestrained werewolf frightens me, but the question is... does the werewolf know I'm here?"
"He's no werewolf, he's a... a wizard. And more of a man than you."
"Not according to the sky above, he isn't."
"What?"
He didn't elaborate. "Thought you'd gotten rid of me, did you?"
She clenched her fists, and thought fleetingly of muggle violence.
"You thought that since you hadn't heard from me for months, even years, that I'd forgotten the idiot you'd made out of me?"
"You'd had the characteristic all along, Lucius," she muttered warily. He'd been right. Her mouth was always what got her in trouble. "I merely brought out the best in you."
His wand was upon her in an instant, and he yelled the first spell that came to mind. This one happened to be the worst, in his opinion.
Her mouth opened, and her body began to shake. Finally, her mouth issued screams... genuine cries of pain that Lucius found refreshing.
With whatever sense she had left in her without the Cruciatus Curse dominating the rest of her consciousness, she slammed her full body weight against his, and – caught off guard – he fell to the ground, his wand leaving his hands.
Rebecca pushed herself up, scrambling around for his wand, but was stopped by his fist connecting with the side of her head. Lights exploded in front of her eyes, and she was faintly aware of movement around her.
When the room came back into view, she screamed, for she found a murderous face before her far beyond the cold, sarcastic expression she'd grown accustomed to.
He yelled something about blood – his blood – but the words slipped past her as panic took over.
"I have no use for you anymore."
Then the world shifted, and Rebecca knew without a doubt that her body was lifeless.
~~~~~~~~~~
"What's happening? Is she alright?"
Jamie wouldn't answer. She buried her face into his robes.
Dumbledore spoke unexpectedly. "No. She's..." He lost his insight when Jamie looked away.
"Keep her here," Remus said hastily, and closed his eyes, willing himself to leave. But he didn't. This was Hogwarts, and he couldn't Apparate.
He looked to the fireplace on the other end of the room, but it was no use. His home wasn't connected to the Floo Network. He swore softly, running from the room.
He'd have to run all the way to Hogsmeade, being the closest place beyond the grounds. He felt his feet skipping steps, taking the stairs three at a time.
But just as he'd emerged from the castle, his body stiffened. The sun was gone from the sky, but light remained. The moon was shining down on him – full, as far as he could tell.
His suspicions were confirmed when he felt his skin prickling. He ran as hard as he could to distance himself from the children. His bones were on fire. He tripped a few times, and the last time he found that when he'd gotten back up, his hands were pulling at the earth to keep him going as well as his feet. He was on all fours.
By the time he'd reached his destination, his face was wet with tears of frustration, and he was no longer himself.
Something wasn't right, something wasn't fair, something was bringing his world down, tearing it to pieces. He felt like weeping, and yet another side of him had never wept before – he only knew howling.
He didn't quite understand. He was only an animal. A mistreated animal kept at bay the majority of his life. He was free now, and some instinct was telling him to kill.
The same human instinct that told him to weep was the very animal instinct that told him to kill.
~~~~~~~~~~
AN: Two more chapters. I'll put in some happiness, don't worry. And maybe even a Weasley. So don't yell incoherent obscenities at me.
Apparently it's a big chapter for it to be bearing the story's namesake.
Disclaimer: The whole notion of giving weapons made of a variety of different woods to hormonal British teenagers was not my idea. It's the rich lady with the infamous initials... JKR...
~~
With all the burdens, issues, dilemmas, pressing matters, and worries that continued threatening to drag Remus down into a pit of stress and despair, there was one solitary beacon of light that helped him to stumble on through the obstacles that had settled themselves around him. That prospect was teaching.
With the Order scattered, and his life restored to his own bidding, Remus finally had his chance to teach. With Frank Longbottom... unfortunately indisposed, there was a teaching job open at Hogwarts for Defense Against the Dark Arts. And who else would he find that he could trust to tolerate his condition but the one man who'd gone completely out of his way to make his life easier all through his childhood?
Rebecca watched the day play before her in a haze. Every movement, every turn of her head, every gesture of her hand, seemed to slow down, pronounced dramatically.
But when Remus stepped into the room all buttons hit full play, and her day had begun.
"Where are you going?" she asked distantly, but with a smiling voice all the same. She heard his words echo before he'd spoken them.
"The school. I'm going to see if I can get that teaching job."
Rebecca's mind stalled for a moment. "Alright," came her involuntary answer, as she planted a brief kiss on his lips.
Something was telling her, or rather screaming at her behind thick walls, to get Jamie out. Subconsciously, she acquiesced as if it had been her idea all along. "Do you think you could take Jamie?"
Jamie gazed happily at her mother and leapt in the air triumphantly.
"I think she should be properly introduced to the castle."
Jamie's face acquired a look of awe and incomprehension. "I'm going to school at a castle?"
"Yes, but it will quite a few years before that happens."
The conversation continued with idle chat, promises to say hello to various people and casual goodbyes.
It wasn't until Remus had left with Jamie sitting on his shoulders that the present caught up with her with a striking blow. She doubled over, caught her balance on a small table, and regained her stature in a daze.
Something within her was uneasy, fluttering with panic, and she found she couldn't stand still.
Luckily, Luna's whining distress call broke her from her discomforting reverie.
~~~~~~~~~~
It was a little after sunset when Remus had arrived at Hogwarts, but it seemed much earlier. Remus was uncommonly alert, and his blinking eyes hadn't even begun to slow like they did when the light left the sky. Tonight, his vision seemed perfectly accustomed to the dark shadows of the evening and the lack of contrast between the fading colors around him.
Jamie was a bouncing ball of crackling fire next to him. She bubbled with questions, and made excited noises as they turned each corner. Every intake of breath seemed to give Remus the impression she was a bomb just waiting to explode with the enormity and beauty of what her eyes were taking in.
As they approached the tall statue that guarded the way to Dumbledore's office, Remus found his old Headmaster already outside, waiting for them.
Remus raised his eyebrows quizzically.
"I came out to let you in," Dumbledore explained. "Surely you didn't think I'd done away with using passwords anymore?"
Remus shook his head, and gave Jamie a small nudge in the back to go ahead of him. She did so tentatively, and Remus patiently followed.
The room was... indescribable. The only word that came to mind that could wrap together the towering bookshelves, elaborately carved archways of stone, innumerable devices, meticulous devotion to details was simply... awe- inspiring.
Jamie was struck dumb, accepting it as a beauty without words.
It was a vaguely familiar sight – he'd been inside a few times before, perhaps not as often as James or Sirius (Remus shivered) but it still managed to amaze him each time.
"I, er, wanted to – "
"The teaching job, yes," Dumbledore interrupted.
Jamie sat obediently next to Remus, her feet barely emerging over the end of the seat.
"I thought I'd bring her along, I hope it doesn't – "
Dumbledore waved his hand in the air. "No, no, it's fine. I suppose I see enough children in the day they couldn't possibly bother me any other time." He winked at Jamie, who smiled faintly.
"I suppose an interview is in order."
Remus frowned. "You know well enough about my dealings, Professor. You've occupied my house with various Aurors for the past three years."
"A house which I note has been taken off the Floo Network."
"We were only being cautious," Remus explained uneasily at the whimsical grin Dumbledore shot his way.
"Nevertheless, one can't be too cautious. We'll merely acknowledge your academic accomplishments, which I must say definitely qualify you."
"Academic accomplishments?"
"Twelve OWLS, top student in your Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Prefect for three years, and not to mention a mysterious affinity and devotion to your lessons in Care of Magical Creatures."
"Oh," Remus answered, scratching behind his ear in humility.
Dumbledore smiled fondly. "There isn't much more I can say on the matter but that – " Dumbledore stopped, and his face fell as his gaze shifted to Remus's right.
Remus followed the Headmaster's gaze, and found Jamie sitting perfectly still (a rare thing for the girl), her eyes wide and brimming with tears of confusion.
"What is it?" he asked her.
She didn't answer right away. After a few minutes of what seemed painful to her, the word came out. "Mum."
"What about her?" Remus asked, thoroughly puzzled.
But Dumbledore seemed to understand better than Remus did, for he asked a simpler and yet infinitely odd question. "What do you see?"
Her mouth contorted, and her eyes shot back and forth reading an image that seemed to be moving somewhere far off. "Daddy."
"I'm here," Remus breathed.
Jamie shook her head slowly and with a mature gravity uncharacteristic of any child her age. "Father," came the alien word.
~~~~~~~~~~
The piercing crack of Apparation sounded through her otherwise silent home, but she reacted slowly, if not at all. She'd felt it coming towards her, so she couldn't with all honesty act surprised when she found Lucius Malfoy in her presence once again.
Luna was safe upstairs, and still sleeping. Perhaps if it stayed that way nothing would happen to her.
"Mr. Malfoy," she greeted him cordially.
He seemed taken aback. His wand was out already, and she wasn't screaming or begging or pleading or anything. Just as he'd finished his thought he noticed with satisfaction that her lower lip was quivering.
"Wh – what do you want?"
Lucius rolled his eyes, summoning her own wand and pocketing it. "Can't you recognize an unfriendly visit when you see it?"
"Are you going to kill me?" she asked him, feeling her back meet the wall behind her. She was cornered and unarmed.
"Perhaps. It's what I was planning, but I presume maybe if you try hard enough to convince me, I'll do otherwise and be on my way."
"Remus will be home any minute." She began sliding sideways along the wall, but he followed every step like a predator. "You should have considered the fact that I have a husband to – " She swallowed loudly when Lucius leaned into the wall, his arm near her stiffening shoulder. "– to protect me."
Lucius sighed casually. "I must admit the idea of an unrestrained werewolf frightens me, but the question is... does the werewolf know I'm here?"
"He's no werewolf, he's a... a wizard. And more of a man than you."
"Not according to the sky above, he isn't."
"What?"
He didn't elaborate. "Thought you'd gotten rid of me, did you?"
She clenched her fists, and thought fleetingly of muggle violence.
"You thought that since you hadn't heard from me for months, even years, that I'd forgotten the idiot you'd made out of me?"
"You'd had the characteristic all along, Lucius," she muttered warily. He'd been right. Her mouth was always what got her in trouble. "I merely brought out the best in you."
His wand was upon her in an instant, and he yelled the first spell that came to mind. This one happened to be the worst, in his opinion.
Her mouth opened, and her body began to shake. Finally, her mouth issued screams... genuine cries of pain that Lucius found refreshing.
With whatever sense she had left in her without the Cruciatus Curse dominating the rest of her consciousness, she slammed her full body weight against his, and – caught off guard – he fell to the ground, his wand leaving his hands.
Rebecca pushed herself up, scrambling around for his wand, but was stopped by his fist connecting with the side of her head. Lights exploded in front of her eyes, and she was faintly aware of movement around her.
When the room came back into view, she screamed, for she found a murderous face before her far beyond the cold, sarcastic expression she'd grown accustomed to.
He yelled something about blood – his blood – but the words slipped past her as panic took over.
"I have no use for you anymore."
Then the world shifted, and Rebecca knew without a doubt that her body was lifeless.
~~~~~~~~~~
"What's happening? Is she alright?"
Jamie wouldn't answer. She buried her face into his robes.
Dumbledore spoke unexpectedly. "No. She's..." He lost his insight when Jamie looked away.
"Keep her here," Remus said hastily, and closed his eyes, willing himself to leave. But he didn't. This was Hogwarts, and he couldn't Apparate.
He looked to the fireplace on the other end of the room, but it was no use. His home wasn't connected to the Floo Network. He swore softly, running from the room.
He'd have to run all the way to Hogsmeade, being the closest place beyond the grounds. He felt his feet skipping steps, taking the stairs three at a time.
But just as he'd emerged from the castle, his body stiffened. The sun was gone from the sky, but light remained. The moon was shining down on him – full, as far as he could tell.
His suspicions were confirmed when he felt his skin prickling. He ran as hard as he could to distance himself from the children. His bones were on fire. He tripped a few times, and the last time he found that when he'd gotten back up, his hands were pulling at the earth to keep him going as well as his feet. He was on all fours.
By the time he'd reached his destination, his face was wet with tears of frustration, and he was no longer himself.
Something wasn't right, something wasn't fair, something was bringing his world down, tearing it to pieces. He felt like weeping, and yet another side of him had never wept before – he only knew howling.
He didn't quite understand. He was only an animal. A mistreated animal kept at bay the majority of his life. He was free now, and some instinct was telling him to kill.
The same human instinct that told him to weep was the very animal instinct that told him to kill.
~~~~~~~~~~
AN: Two more chapters. I'll put in some happiness, don't worry. And maybe even a Weasley. So don't yell incoherent obscenities at me.
