Author: LupinLovesTonks
Rated: K+
Disclaimer: HP and all related characters are trademarks of JK Rowling. No animals were harmed in the writing of this fic. No profit is made from this fic and is intended strictly for entertainment purposes. Any similarities to actual people or events are strictly a coincidence.
Summary: He was shy but with an underlining confidence that shined from his amber eyes. Ever wonder why Remus isn't like the other werewolves?
Chapter Two
The month passed slowly. And the closer it got to the full moon, the slower it went. About a week before the full moon, she noticed Remus would just sit around all day, looking rather distracted and pale. The times he ordinarily reserved for playing or colouring became reserved for resting. The day of the full moon, he approached her and tugged on her shirt.
"Mummy, am I really going to turn into a monster?" he asked, tears welling in his small eyes.
She knelt down to his level and pulled him into her arms. "I apologize Remus but I don't know. You're the youngest one the Ministry has come across. Most people are much older when they get bitten. We don't know what will happen to you." She brushed the dark blond hair from his eyes. "But no matter what I will be there with you when you change."
Tears started pouring from the child's eyes. "I don't want to go to the Ministry, Mum. I don't want them to put me in a cage!"
She cradled him in her arms and petted his hair as he sobbed. She wanted to wither away into nothingness for allowing her son to be cursed. Suddenly, something clicked in her mind and set her tone firm. "Remus John Lupin. You look at me." When he lifted his head she wiped the tears away. "They will not lock you in a cage. You are not an animal you are a little boy. I don't care what that mean old man told you, you will be a great person Remus. Don't be ashamed Remus. You're special and mummy and daddy love you no matter what.
"Even though not everyone will accept it, you're special. And never let anyone try and tell you otherwise. Do you understand me? They may tell you that you will never be able to get married, never have a job, that you'll be mean and vicious and dirty. Never believe it Remus. You may have it hard, but you will find someone that will love you for who and what you are, just like me and daddy does. And you will be a gentleman. You have an advantage over the others." She kissed his forehead. "You have people that love you."
The clock chimed the hour of noon. Remus shuddered as a knock sounded on the door almost instantly.
"Go get your blanket and come back. We have to get ready for tonight," Brie said softly.
"Mrs. Lupin," the man said. "It is about an hour until moonrise. You still have the chance to save your son from this life. We still have the Draught of---"
She glared at the man and he closed his mouth tightly. "If you want someone to drink it so badly, drink it yourself. I refuse to end my son's life over the fact you ignored my plea for help that night. If anyone is to blame for this it is most certainly you. Kind of makes me wonder why none of the other victims survived their first transformation. What did you do? Promise some poor witch or wizard that you would give them gold if you got to kill their child?"
Locke stuttered for a moment before finally managing, "Now there's no call for such talk Mrs. Lupin."
"Oh I think there is," she spat. "Because of you ending the communication that night, my son is cursed. A five-year-old child will have to live virtually his whole life turning into a werewolf every full moon. And because of you, my son may or may not be able to find a steady job. I cannot wait until this hits Daily Prophet, and trust me it will, then all the magical world will know what sort of lazy bastards run this place. And not to mention when the news broke of Remus getting bitten you said -- oh tish tosh, what was it you said? Oh, yes -- 'The infected child will be dealt with accordingly'? Not to mention the repeated offerings to me to have my only child 'humanely' murdered?"
By this time she had backed the man into a corner and was in his face. The only thing that brought her down from her rage was Remus' small voice calling for her. When she turned to look at him through the glass he was shivering almost uncontrollably and whimpering like a lost puppy. Her heart jumped into her throat and she ran over to door that held him enclosed in the room.
The lock rattled and she yanked on the knob repeatedly. She glowered at the man that was holding her son a prisoner. "Let me in," she demanded. "Unlock it NOW!"
Obviously not wanting to be on the wrong end of Brie's wand, Locke scurried over and unlocked the door. "If you get bitten, you're at fault," he warned as he hastily shut the door behind her.
As soon as the door closed, she knelt down and Remus ran to her. He buried his small face in her neck and was shaking as he cried.
"I don't want to be here," he whispered. "I don't wanna be a werewolf."
"I apologize darling. Just remember, before you're a werewolf, you're Remus Lupin. No matter what you're always Remus." She kissed his temple and cradled him in her arms as the lights in the room were turned out.
"Is it going to hurt?" Remus asked quietly.
"I'm not sure. If it does, bite mummy after you're done and she'll turn with you every month so that it won't seem as bad."
"No. Can you just make me forget that it hurt?"
She nodded mutely and pet his hair again as the first moon beams came through the barred windows. Her son went rigid in her arms as the beams touched him. His small hands gripped her shirt tightly as he started shaking violently. She squeezed eyes shut tightly as Remus began screaming in pain.
"It hurts!" he wailed. "It hurts!"
She could feel him twisting and convulsing in her arms. She only held him tighter. The wails turned into human howls of pain. "I love you, Remus. I love you. Mummy loves you Remus." She repeated the mantra softly over his head until the shaking and howling stopped. He had grown so still in her arms that she feared she had unintentionally killed him from holding him so tightly. "Remus?" She sniffled deeply, suddenly aware of the tears streaming down her own face.
She looked down and a pair of small amber eyes gazed back up at her and a small whimper escaped the small snout. Slowly, she eased the werewolf cub down so that his feet were on the cold floor of room. He weaved unsteadily and staggered for a few steps before falling over.
"Get up Remus," she said in a scolding tone. The cub looked at her wearily and whimpered again. "Get up Remus. You can do it." She walked over and picked up the cub, putting him back on his feet. "You need to walk first Remus, before anything else you should always walk."
The cub's small legs shook for a moment under his own weight but he hesitantly took a few small steps. Brie stayed on all fours as Remus slowly became familiar with his new legs and feet. She glanced up at the glass that the other witches and wizards were looking through.
"Be sure to document this you pompous assholes," she snarled. "Even werewolves know their own mothers. And also document this. I'm going to make him everything you really fear about werewolves." She pulled Remus into her lap and pet his grey fur. "He's going to be so bloody refined that no one will even know what he is unless he wants them to or it's on accident."
"Are you suggesting a werewolf can be domesticated?" Locke's voice echoed in the room.
"The process has to start somewhere," Brie shrugged. "Besides, where would we be if they had never domesticated cats or dogs or owls for that matter? My son is not a monster. And if you self-righteous bastards ever try to convince him otherwise, you will have hell to pay."
Four and half years, the Ministry watched the mother and son pair arrive in their best robes and remove them just before entering the room hand-in-hand. Four and a half years they watched the proud pair hold their heads high. Four and a half years of watching the young cub play with his mother in the similar manner of any other wolf.
Though they found the idea preposterous, they even watched as she taught him to walk on just his hind feet. Some of the more interested wizards and witches giggled and were delighted at the sight. But after four and half years of seeing the child was not a threat as they had hoped he would be, the higher ups in the Ministry lost interest and allowed him to start staying at home for his monthly transformations.
He had been enrolled in the same primary school as his father. Just a small one that would accommodate the fact Remus sometimes was "rather sick" and would allot him two days off a month when his sickness got the best of him. It was strange how no one ever noticed his days off were always the day of and the day after the full moon. What was even stranger was the fact, in spite of all his missed days; Remus got the top marks in his classes.
As the primary school days drew to an end, Brie wondered if her son would be allowed to attend Hogwarts like he had wanted to do. She was not looking forward to having to tell him that Headmaster Dippet thought he would be too dangerous to attend or too dangerous for a werewolf to learn magic.
But one morning, after taking her son to one of his last days at primary school, she was greeted not by an owl but by a fiery looking bird sitting on the back of one of the chairs in the kitchen. John was sitting at the table, finishing reading both his Muggle news press and the Daily Prophet. He gave her a pleasant smile and took a few deep breaths.
"It's for you darling," he said weakly.
"Are you all right John?" Brie asked as she carefully took the letter from the phoenix.
"Fine love," he said. "Don't worry about it, it's just my asthma again. What's the letter for?"
Brie turned the letter over and saw a red Hogwarts seal on the back. She frowned slightly, because anytime Dippet had a correspondence, he used a green or silver seal. She broke the seal and took out the letter to see what it said.
Then squealed with delight.