Title – First Signs

Rating – PG/K+

Disclaimer – I own none of this, it all belongs to Rowling. No sex, slash or profanity. A wee bit of violence.

A/N – Many thanks for your patience and reviews! Read and enjoy.

First Signs

Remus Lupin

The moon was full and bright in the night sky as Remus Lupin skipped along the road that led back to his parents' cottage, swinging his small goody bag. Their quaint little home was situated away from the main town and one had to walk down a long dirt road to even reach the path that led to their front door, but Remus did not mind. He liked it when his parents took him to town and it was especially nice when the weather was mild and the sky was clear and the only light you needed was provided by the moon.

Remus stopped his skipping and turned to wait for his parents. It was difficult for him to wait when he wanted to run ahead with the boundless energy typical of a five-year-old boy. His father yelled at him not wander too far out of sight and Remus was forced to wait impatiently for his slowpoke parents to catch up.

That afternoon the Lupin family had traveled into town for the annual summer fair and Remus had been entranced by the goods put on sale by the locals. As it had been a muggle fair his father had led them around, eagerly explaining all the ways muggles could have fun without magic. His parents wanted to expose him to both sides of his heritage, muggle and wizard, and his mother had promised him she would take him to a wizarding carnival this autumn. According to her, wizard fairs were more fun and had more games for children to play. Remus thought the muggle fair had been pretty exciting. He didn't think anything could possibly be more fun, but since he was only five he supposed he had lots of years to see what was fun and what was not.

There had been a variety of food available; everything from fresh baked goods and homemade family dishes to exotic candies and hand churned ice cream had been available for willing stomachs. Remus would have filled his tummy with the delicious chocolate confections had it not been for the watchful eyes of his parents and their limits on candy for growing little boys. His small hand patted the chunk of premium chocolate hidden in his pocket, a gift secreted to him from his father who had also admonished him not to tell his mother.

Merchants and store owners had set up booths to display their wares and products and Remus had been given permission to buy a couple items. His parents were content to let him spend the few coins they had spared for the fair and watched as he happily went from booth to booth, carefully selecting things for purchase.

Now his goody bag was heavy with a few toys and a small box of sugary treats he would eat when they returned to their cottage. Thinking of home, Remus opened his mouth to shout at his parents to hurry when the low, hungry growl of a large beast erupted from off to his right and made him freeze in absolute terror.

Remus slowly turned in the direction of the growl and saw a beast bathed in moonlight that would irrevocably change his life.

The beast looked like a wolf, but no wolf Remus recognized from his picture books. It was enormous for a wolf and its long snout was filled with wickedly sharp fangs. The wolf-beast had mangy gray fur along its back, a long bushy tail that whipped back and forth and paws that looked disturbingly like human hands. It snapped its jaws as it looked eagerly at Remus and its upper lip curled up in an eerie mockery of a grin.

Remus could only stare in terror at the beast and began shivering when he looked into the inhuman gold eyes that stared unwaveringly back at him. They remained locked in this way for a moment that seemed to last hours until finally the wolf-beast snarled and took a giant leap toward the petrified boy.

The motion jolted Remus into action and he fell to the ground screaming for his parents. The wolf had not planned on the boy falling to the ground and ended up missing his target and landing on the other side of the path. It wasted no time in attacking again and before Remus could shriek anew, the wolf pivoted around and sank sharp teeth into the tender flesh of his lower leg.

Pain like no other he had felt in his short life shot up his leg and Remus could only flail breathlessly in shock. The screams from his parents managed to penetrate the fog that had settled over his senses and fortunately managed to distract the wolf long enough for it to release Remus's leg and lift its head up to look in the direction of the voices.

Remus sensed that this was his only chance to escape certain death at the fangs of the wolf and something inside his body agreed. In the few precious seconds that the beast was distracted, pleasant, tingly warmth spread throughout Remus's body and he marvelled at the power that ran through his veins, just waiting to be used. Without another conscious thought, Remus's inner core tapped into his new magical powers and projected it up and outward, toward the wolf-beast.

Caught in the blast of a powerful expelliarmus, the wolf was thrown far away and back into the moon-lit shadows. Remus slumped back to the ground in dazed agony and watched as the bright light of another spell hit the beast painfully in the side and sent it sulking back into the night. He looked up in time to see his father drop to his knees and gather Remus up in his arms, staring with horrified eyes at the wound that shone silver on his son's bloody leg. Remus's mother stood protectively in front of them, her wand still outstretched and ready to kill the werewolf if necessary. But it was too late.

Remus Lupin had experienced his first sign of magic.

And had been rewarded with a curse.

TBC

Next Up - Draco Malfoy