An American Werewolf In Britain
CHAPTER 3
July 4th
Remus Lupin walked into the Leaky Cauldron and ordered up a Butterbeer, settling himself down at a corner table and pulling out the list of things that Dumbledore wanted the Order to accomplish over the next few weeks. It was 9:50, so he had a little time before he was supposed to meet Dante. Dumbledore had an exact plan of what he needed taken care of, as he was going to be away during the time before Hogwarts started up again, meeting with other powerful wizards all around the globe. He had to know if he would have international help this time around. It had proven a major drawback in fighting Voldemort in the last war, no one outside of Britain or France seemed to care. It was a pretty extensive list, and Lupin needed to meet with Kingsley, Moody, and Tonks as soon as possible after talking with Dante to give them a copy and to determine who should take care of what tasks. He was still looking over the list when he felt Dante come in. He knew it was a werewolf that had walked in the door, he could feel his presence. But there was something odd about the kid who had just walked in.
He looked like a normal teenager. Black shirt and baggy black pants, he looked a bit taller than Lupin, and looked like he had quite a bit of muscle on him. It was the eyes and the hair that caught Lupin's attention. His eyes were shale grey, and his hair was long enough to cover his ears, brown, but with tips the same color as his eyes. That is what he looked like to everyone else in the Cauldron. But Lupin could feel the kid, could feel the power exuded by the werewolf, a power that can only be possessed by a werewolf and felt by other werewolves. What puzzled Lupin was that this feeling was so strong; the power emitted by the kid was strong, that Lupin thought Dante might even be as powerful as him. But there was still another feeling there, that made him seem even stronger, and yet, he couldn't place it. Lupin was still watching the now vacant door, as Dante strolled up to Lupin, clearing his throat.
"I assume you would be Mr. Remus Lupin," Dante said, as Remus was startled out of his thoughts, looking up at Dante.
"Yes, uhh, yeah, I'm Remus. Just call me Remus. You must be Dante Lupoc," he said as he stood up, extending his hand. Dante nodded and took his hand, shaking it. "Do sit down. Can I get you something to drink?"
"Uhh, well, seeing as how I'm still not legal, and I haven't had time to taste authentic British beverages, just order something you'll think I'll like."
"Right, I'll be right back," Remus said, heading off to the bar. Dante looked around the bar, checking out the patrons, looking at all of the assorted stuffed heads of evil monsters hanging from the walls. He noticed another door behind him, noticing that it led into an alleyway. A set of stairs were set in the middle of the back wall, and he watched as a group of hags started up the stairs. "Here you go." Remus set a bottle down on the table in front of Dante, and then sat down. "Butterbeer, I'm sure you'll like it," he said as he took a swig from his own Butterbeer. Dante popped the cap off of the bottle and took a sip from the bottle. He then immediately took a large gulp of it, it was just that good. He set the bottle down, and looked over at Lupin, waiting for him to speak. "Well, welcome to the Leaky Cauldron, the center of wizarding traffic in London. You can meet almost anyone here, shop for anything you need at Diagon Alley, which is just beyond that door," he said, indicating the door behind Dante.
"Including school stuff?" Dante asked, taking another swig of Butterbeer.
"Yes, oh, right, you do need to get supplies for school, don't you? Well, let's go ahead and go then," Remus said, getting up, with Dante following suit. "I'll take you through Diagon today; show you around in case you need to come back before term starts. Have you had all your money transferred over to this Gringott's branch?"
"Yeah, dad made sure to do that first thing," Dante said, as Remus stopped in front of a part of the brick wall. He took out his wand and tapped one of the bricks, and immediately, the bricks surrounding the one he tapped started to move.
"Well, then that will be our first stop to get you some money," Remus said, looking over at Dante, who nodded, and then looking back as the bricks stopped moving, revealing a busy street lined with shops and full of chatter and movement. "Welcome to Diagon Alley." Remus started forward, making his way through the crowd, with Dante right by his side. "There is Madam Malkin's. We'll get your school robes there. We can get all your potions gear there, and then we can get all the books you'll need over there. Tell me, do you have a broom?"
Dante spoke as he looked all around him, taking all of the shops and people in. "Yeah, I have the new Airflow model."
"Airflow?" Remus asked, throwing Dante an inquisitive look.
"Oh, right, it's an exclusive American broom. My friend's dad is trying to make it big over there, his line of brooms is called Airflow. They are pretty kick ass brooms. So how is the school set up, since it's a boarding school and all? Any Quidditch?"
"Oh yeah, each house has its own Quidditch team. The school is divided into four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own common room, where you can get homework done, hang out and such, and then each group of student's in the same year shares a room. Your house mates sort of become your family while you're there. We also have what is called the House Cup. You can win points for your house through academic excellence, good deeds, and a win in a Quidditch match. You can lose points for sleeping during class, mischievous actions, and disobeying teachers, those sorts of things. The house with the most points wins the House Cup."
"You sound so fond of it when you speak of it. You attended Hogwart's right?"
"Yes, I attended. I was in Gryffindor. I have good memories and bad memories of my time there, but Hogwart's halls always hold a special place in my heart."
"So, I'll be only the second werewolf to attend huh?" Dante asked. He could sense Lupin tense up after he asked the question. It was probably the public setting, discussing such a topic that if they were overheard, they would be facing some trouble.
"Yes, yes, I suppose so. I'm sure Dumbledore will be in touch with you again to talk about the special requirements you'll need every month."
"Huh, why? Oh, oh right." Dante quickly looked away, avoiding Lupin's questioning stare.
"Well, here we are, Gringotts." They went inside, and approached one of the counters. The goblin looked up from his books, giving them a disdainful sneer.
"I'd like to pull some money out. Vault 396," Dante said, placing a key on the counter.
"Yes, of course. Hiplok will take you down to your vault Mr. Lupoc." The goblin handed the key to another, who motioned them to follow him through a door at the end of the counter. They entered a dark, dank hallway, with a railway on their right side, and all of a sudden a cart pulled up, coming to a stop with a jolt. It took awhile for them to get the vault, even though the cart sped along. About twenty minutes later, Lupin and Dante emerged back out front of Gringott's, letting their eyes adjust to the bright sunshine.
"Shall we go get your robes then?"
"Sure," Dante said, following Remus down the steps, back through the alley to Madam Malkin's robe shop. Dante walked in, and was immediately attended to by a squat little woman who had a tape measure floating along beside her. She took him to the back of the shop, where there were two boxes set on the floor, telling him to step on the one to the left. He noticed another boy being fitted on the other box. The kid was tall, was sort of pale and had platinum blonde hair, and wore a smug sneer, as he looked in the mirror at Dante, obviously sizing him up as well.
"Nice hair dawg," Dante said, meeting the gaze of the other boy in the mirror.
"Not too bad yourself. Name's Draco Malfoy. Slytherin," Malfoy said, extending his hand. Dante took it, and shook as best he could while the seamstress bustled around him, taking measurements and pinning up the bottom of his robes. "You must be Dante Lupoc." Dante shot the kid an inquisitive look. "My father works with your dad. My father is pretty high level in the Ministry," Draco said, with a bit of extra attitude.
"Ahha. Yeah, I'm Dante. So, Hogwarts, what do you think of it?"
"Well, it's school isn't it? I don't know, it's all right I guess. There are a lot of gits, especially in Gryffindor. I'm sure you'll meet them soon enough. But, classes are OK, the teachers are always a pain, 'cept for Snape, Potions. He's pretty cool." Dante saw a man walk up behind Draco, with the same sneer and blonde hair; he assumed this was Lucius Malfoy, as he had heard about Draco's father as well.
"Draco, are you finished yet?" he asked, without even glancing at Dante.
"Yeah, just got done," he said stepping down from the box. "Oh, this is Dante Lupoc," he said, indicating Dante on the other box, waiting for the seamstress to finish up.
"Ahh, good to meet you. I've heard so much about you from your father. He is quite the knowledgeable man, your father."
"Yeah, that's my dad. It's good to meet you sir."
"Well, we must be going. Good day," Lucius said, before turning around quickly and striding out of the store. Draco paid Madam Malkin, and then turned back to Dante.
"Good to meet you. I'll see you on the Hogwart's Express." With that he left the store, walking quickly to catch up to his father. The lady finally finished with his robes, and he paid her and left the store. He saw Remus waiting across the way, sitting down at a table outside of a coffeehouse.
"Well, I got the rest of the stuff you'll need: books, potions, everything with some items to spare," Lupin said as Dante sat down and ordered a coffee.
"Thanks. How much do I owe you?" As they straightened out the amount, Dante decided to ask Lupin about Malfoy. He had gotten a cold feeling from Malfoy's father, something just didn't seem right to him. "Hey, I met Draco Malfoy and his dad inside. What are they like? They seemed pretty nice, but there is definitely something wrong about them, I could feel it off 'em."
"Dark wizards," Lupin said, in a hushed tone. "We know Lucius is a Death Eater, one of Voldemort's followers, and yet we can convince no one at the Ministry of this. Every witch or wizard from Slytherin has turned out bad, no exceptions, that's just how they are. You'll want to watch out for them, you never know what beliefs, rumors or dark spells their parents are teaching them. Watch out for Draco too. He may seem nice, but he tends to cause altercations whenever possible. But, do you mind if I ask you a few questions, I just want to get some things cleared up," Lupin said, seeming almost apologetic at the last sentence.
"Yeah, of course, no problem."
"OK, well first off, how in the world did you keep your parents from ever finding out?"
"Haha, it has actually been pretty hard. But, when they are never home that often, and don't really pay attention to where you go and what you do, you can get stuff by them. I guess I'm just smooth like that."
Remus nodded. "Ahha. So, your pack back in the United States, you are the sire for them all?"
"Yeah, we were all really close in school. Like, I just found it natural to be able to tell them that I was a werewolf, I mean they were weirded out, but they were cool with it overall just because we are just such good friends. I actually sired them out of a desire to be able to be get into a bit more mischief than usual. But, they still have the problem of having to change every full moon, but at least they can stay under control pretty much."
"Wait, so when did you get bitten?"
"It was actually here in Britain. We were on vacation, and I wandered off one night, traveled around into some forest, and got attacked. Went back and just said it was a dog bite. Next full moon, I started to feel a little weird, and yeah, I transformed for the first time. I must have been 13... yeah, 13."
Lupin took this in, and thought for a second. "Wait, you said that your packmates still have to change at every full moon. You don't?"
"Nope. Other than that first one. I can control whether I do or not, and I just have like some pretty bad nightmares that night. Then I can shift anytime I want to as well. We figured it out, but my friends can only change at will when it's nighttime and the moon is waxing. But yeah, I'm anytime, anywhere."
"Truly? Not even elder werewolves can do that, and there are few documented cases of this being possible in the past. You do take care not to get caught, correct?"
"Of course. I'm pretty careful most of the time. Anti-werewolf feelings are pretty strong back in the States as well, so we have to be careful."
"Good good. You seem so comfortable with your curse; it must be because of your extended abilities."
"Well, for one I don't consider it a curse, rather as an adventure. I've always dug nature, wolves and such, and so when this happened, I decided to look at the bright side rather than most werewolves who look at it as a curse. I don't overuse my powers and become too caught up in it, but I wouldn't trade the chance for anything."
Lupin nodded, finding the boy's points interesting. He himself was one of those who looked at his lycanthropy as a curse, but Dante's reasoning seemed clear. "Well, we should probably get you back home. You should be all set for the term to start; I'll go ahead and take you back to the Leaky Cauldron. You can send your items through the post back home rather than carry it all back. Do you have Floo Powder back in the U.S.?"
"Naw, not really, because no one really uses fireplaces back in the States... yeah, even the wizards, but I can walk, I'd rather be able to see London and go exploring around a bit. Thanks for meeting with me, and helping me get all this stuff taken care of." Dante extended his hand, which was firmly grasped by Lupin.
"It was my pleasure," Remus said, shaking the other wolf's hand.
---A/N So very sorry that this took so long. Chapter 3 was just a really slow one to me, and I lost interest, but my interest is back, so I should be writing a bit more often. I never liked non-action, lots of talking chapters, unless it fits the story, and it doesn't fit this, so yeah, sorry. It seems choppy and cheesy to me... but all my writing seems that way to me. I'm without a beta reader right now, so sorry for any grammar, etc. mistakes. And yes, I conciously put the 'dawg' in there. Hey, he is an American teenage male. I'm allowed to be stereotypical of myself. And massive kudos go to lucidity for reviewing, you rock! My only review... like ever, so I was siked. I answered a few of your questions with this chapter, more answers later to come. a/n---
