Chapter Twenty Five
Azalea woke up as on time as she always did, and had a big stretch, feeling the weariness leave her limbs as she slipped out of her plush bed. Rubbing the last of the sleep from her eyes, Azalea padded over to her attached personal bathroom and started her morning routine of showering, changing clothing and working an enchanted hair comb through her long curly hair. The magical comb did its job and untangled her slightly damp hair, and she sectioned it off to put it up in a braided bun. Once she was finished, she picked out her clothing for the day and got dressed before exiting her bedroom and heading down the hall and stairs to go to breakfast.
Theo was already seated, quietly reading a book at the table, food half-eaten and most likely abandoned in favor of reading his newest fixation. Azalea peered at the book in his hands and noted that it was a slightly darker book, but not outright banned by the Ministry. If Azalea was correct, it was a book about manipulating magical signatures on charmed items. Azalea thought to herself that it would be a useful book to read, and made a mental note to ask Theo if she could borrow it when he was finished.
"Good morning, big brother. Did you sleep well?" She asked him as she settled down into a chair next to him. He looked up from his book, looking slightly startled at her appearance. "Oh, good morning, Azalea. I didn't hear you come in, I apologize. I've been reading this book for the past few hours, and it's very fascinating." Theo said sheepishly.
"I can tell. May I borrow it when you are finished?" Azalea asked with a bit of laughter in her voice. It was very common for her, Theo, and Neville to swap books with each other from time to time. "Sure. It's actually a Black library book, so when I am finished I was just going to return it. I'll let you borrow it instead." He said with a bright smile.
Just then, Arcturus came into the room and took note of the two children, who looked up at him and smiled in greeting. He sat across from Azalea and a mug of steaming hot coffee appeared in front of him without a word. Azalea took that moment to start dishing out her own breakfast, an affair of bacon and fresh fruit and some toast with some orange juice. She quietly ate, and by the time she was nearly finished, Cassiopeia had glided into the room, graceful as ever. It seemed that this was one of the rare Sundays that Neville wouldn't be coming over for breakfast.
"Good morning, Auntie Cia, Grandpa Arcturus. May one of you take me to Diagon Alley today? I wanted to go to Carkitt Market, but I don't feel safe with flooing on my own." Azalea asked the two adults at the table. They had talked the previous week about what they would be doing for her and Neville's birthday celebration, and it was decided that they would go on a holiday to Africa for a safari. There were many different magical plants to harvest and learn about there that could be used for potion experimenting, and creating new potions was always something that Azalea and her aunt Cia loved doing together. Neville was fascinated by the vast variety of species of plants, too, as he loved learning about herbology. It would probably be his major when he got further into schooling. After Hogwarts, you could attend a sort of magical apprenticeship where you would learn more skills and information from a Master of that trade. Azalea wasn't sure what she wanted to specialize in, but she had lots of time to figure that out still.
"Sure, I don't have anything specific planned for today. Theo, do you want to go with us? I don't believe you've ever had the pleasure of going to Carkitt with Azalea and myself. It's a pretty neat place to explore. I know for a fact that Azalea hasn't explored all the different stalls herself yet."
"Sure. What time are we going to go? Do I have time to finish my book? I only have a few chapters left, and it won't take me that long." Theo asked, closing the book and putting it down on the table as to not be disrespectful to the man he viewed as a guardian. Arcturus pulled out his mithril pocket watch and checked the time. Sure, he could have cast a quick tempus spell to check the time, but he was old-fashioned sometimes.
"It's eight thirty-seven right now. How about we head out around ten thirty, and we can grab lunch while we are out. There are a few different cafés in the vicinity of Carkitt that we can go to. Do you want me to floo Augusta and find out if she and Neville want to come with us?" Arcturus offered to the two children, who were blinking owlishly at him.
"Yes please. It wouldn't be very nice to leave him out, and I do enjoy spending time with him and Lady Augusta. Auntie Cia, are you coming with us as well?" Azalea asked her aunt.
"No, but thank you anyway. I have a few things I have to do here that need my full attention at the moment, unfortunately." Cassiopeia said, smiling at Azalea. She was always such a fair child, tying to make sure everyone was included if possible. It was probably why she, Theo, and Neville always did everything together. The three kids were rarely separated, and she couldn't help but wonder what would happen if the sorting hat at Hogwarts dared to try to separate the three, who were more like siblings rather than friends. In fact... Arcturus and herself were investigating into how to formally adopt Theo, so he would have the Black family blood in him. It wouldn't dismount Azalea as the Black family heiress, but it would offer him access to the Most Ancient and Noble House Of Black's family magic. She had written a strongly worded letter with attached copies of memories and testimonies from herself, Theo, and different witches and wizards who had the unfortunate misfortune of dealing with Thorros Nott. He was a very unpleasant man on a good day, and down right abusive on a normal day. There was an officially opened investigation of child abuse with the man and Cassiopeia requested, or rather, she had requested upon Theo's behalf and request, to have the trial as a closed court case. It was not uncommon for that to be a practice, but she didn't want to take any chances. After the trial would be over, she, or Arcturus, would put in the formal request for rites of adoption as the custodian guardian of Azalea. Azalea was the closest blood relative, as the Nott family and the Potter family had intermingled quite a lot in the past.
As promised, Arcturus flooed Augusta to inquire if she and her grandson would care to join them, but Augusta explained that they would be taking that time to visit her son and daughter-in-law, so they politely declined. Ten thirty came soon enough and the three of them met and gathered into the floo room, and they all headed to the Leaky Cauldron. Theo and Azalea looked to permission from Arcturus before darting ahead, with Azalea holding Theo's hand and leading him towards Gringotts, which was at the center of Diagon Alley. They would be stopping there first to withdraw galleons, so they had some spending money. Both Theo and Azalea had Black family trust funds. Theo's was given to him when he became a ward of the Blacks, and Azalea's was given to her when she was blood adopted. Of course, Azalea also had a Potter trust vault set up by her parents when she was born, and Theo probably had one from his father, if the man hadn't already drank it away. Alcoholism was an expensive habit, after all.
Azalea and Theo slowed down once they caught sight of the bank and waited patiently for Arcturus to catch up, as they had sped through the alley in excitement. Once he caught up, they entered the bank. Absently, Azalea looked around and noticed a tall male wizard with the goblins. He had shoulder-length fiery red hair and was wearing a poorly tailored three-piece suit. He stood out because he was behind the teller's wall with a few other goblins, speaking in the goblin language. He seemed stressed, as he was running his fingers through his messed hair.
Azalea's attention shifted again, and she was urged to move forward by a prodding finger from Theo behind her. Azalea stepped forward and followed Arcturus up to the teller's window.
"I request to withdraw one hundred galleons each from vaults six hundred twelve, and vaults four hundred seventy-eight, please." Arcturus requested to the goblin teller. The goblin looked expectantly and Arcturus produced two shiny golden keys, both shining and intricate in design. He handed them over, and the goblin wrote something down in his book before snapping his fingers. A goblin appeared, and they handed over two black velvet drawstring bags of clinking golden coins. Arcturus took them and thanked the goblin before handing them over respectively to Azalea and Theo.
"These are for you two to spend. Now, I want to lay down some ground rules. You are allowed to separate and wander off as long as you stay within the market plaza. We will meet up at twelve thirty pm to go eat at the café located by the entrance of the plaza. Do I make myself clear?" Arcturus said quietly. He was trying to give the children more freedom, as they were quickly becoming of proper wandering age in the wizarding world. Next year they would be turning eleven and would be attending Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry, and they would be far away from home for entire semesters. Hogwarts was supposed to be the safest place in all the wizarding United Kingdom, but how much of that was true, Arcturus did not know. He led the children across Diagon Alley and into Horizont Alley, where they quickly came to the entrance of the market. He nodded to the children, and the two children smiled and went their separate way from him
Azalea and Theo wandered for a bit, chatting as they went and looked at the different stalls. It was warming up, as it was the beginning of July already and Summer was definitely making it's presence known. The sun was shining high and bright in the sky, bearing down on Azalea and Theo, who had dressed smartly for the weather, where Azalea was in a light blue sundress and Theo was wearing a summer appropriate dress shirt, suit jacket and dress shorts. Their first walk around showed Theo the different market stalls, with Theo commenting that he wanted to stop into some of the different shops that lined the outside of the plaza. He decidedly wanted to explore the old bookstore, the leather shop, and the mysterious store that didn't have a sign. He was oddly drawn to it, as if something inside was pulling him in. Not only that, but he decided to go his separate way from Azalea, as she wanted to stop and look at the jewelry booth, but they had agreed to meet up before it was time to go to the café to inspect the weaponry shop.
Theo came to stop in front of a dusty looking bookstore, but he was not deterred. Dust means old and old means old magic and old knowledge, something he truly loved. Theo thought to himself that he might truly be a Ravenclaw when sorted, but he also had a strong chance of being sorted into Slytherin. Truthfully, only time would tell, as he still had a whole year before he would be officially sorted as a first year student of Hogwarts. He entered the bookstore, and it was just as dusty inside, if not even more but suddenly it all changed before his very eyes. It was a mirage. Theo looked around in wonder at the now very neat and tidy looking shop, with shelves upon shelves of books lining the store.
He browsed the books slowly; he didn't want to skip any shelves. He knew the true value of a book, and had learned early on how to respect them. Theo didn't look for anything specific, but stopped to look at any books that caught his fancy. By the end of the third row of bookshelves, he had a neat stack of books varying in age and topic. He saw a book or two that he thought that maybe Azalea would like and one or two books on rare plants that he didn't think that Neville had seen or owned yet, and continued on his way. Most if not all of these books were older than his parents, or grandparents even. Merlin only knew how much money he was spending, so Theo made preparations to have to return some of the books he had picked out if necessary and made up his mind on the order of importance of the ones he had picked out. When he was finally done, he made his way up to the front of the store to check out, hoping that this time there would be someone upfront at the counter. He was in luck. There was an ancient looking wizard residing on the now occupied stool reading a late morning edition of the Wizarding Gazette. Theo nodded his head in greeting to the man before approaching the counter and gently placing his stack of books down on top of it.
"Good Morning Sir. I would like to purchase these books please." Theo said, ever remembering to use his manners. It would reflect poorly upon him and Lord Black if he were to act uncouth.
"Certainly young man. Let's have a look at what you have here and we can discuss pricing." The wizard said at once, straightening up from his slightly slumped over position, folding the newspaper up and placing it down beside him. The man drew out his wand and gave it a gentle flick over the decently sized stack of books and they one by one floated up into the air, and over to where he was sitting. "Ahh, Uncommon Plants of Nova Scotia, first edition. A very fine selection if I do say so myself. And An Artificer's Guide to Creation of Items, third edition. These are some very fine books indeed." He continued to go over the books Theo had gathered. There were a total of nine books in all, and the wizard set them down gently back onto the counter.
"Now, some of these books are quite old and rare, so I am hesitant to part with them for under a total sum of seventy-two galleons. Is that agreeable, young man?" The shopkeeper asked the boy before him.
"Would you take sixty for the lot?" Theo began to try to barter with the man. It was not that he did not have the money, in fact he had more than enough to have some left over for other shops, but he was still going to try to get the price lowered. Bartering was not frowned upon in the wizarding world after all.
The old man paused for a moment and had a look of contemplation on his weathered face. Alexander Bindings knew who this child was; he was Theodore Nott. He was his good friend Arcturus's ward, and Arcturus had talked in great detail about how proud he was of the young man that Theodore was becoming. Oh yes, he knew all about Theodore. So he didn't mind that the child came in unattended like many shopkeepers would. Rather, he was curious to where that little girl, Azalea was. Arcturus had told him of the three children that he was teaching. Azalea Potter, Theodore Nott, and Neville Longbottom. It was an odd rag-tag bunch of children that he would have never predicted to get along but there they were. So when the boy came up to the counter with a neat pile of books, it made the old man happy that someone took the thorough time to investigate and select books from his shop. His bookstore was not the most popular shop. In fact, it was a dusty appearing store in the back of a market plaza that was not very popular these days to begin with. He didn't mind though. The real customers who were destined to be shopping there would find it well enough; they always did.
"Sixty five, and you have a deal. Do you want me to wrap them up for you?" He asked the boy before him.
"Yes please. Can you cast a featherweight charm on them as well?" Theo asked the shopkeeper. It would be troublesome to have to carry around a bunch of heavy books and why do that when magic simply existed. Theo finished up in the shop and made his way out and towards the other stores. Glancing at his own pocket watch, and saw that he still had a bit of time to meet up with Arcturus and Azalea.
Meanwhile, Azalea was making her way slowly through the plaza, stopping here and there to look at the different stalls. Not much had caught her eye yet but that changed shortly when she came up to the jewelry selling booth where she had stopped the last time with Arcturus. She was always drawn in by jewelry even though she herself did not wear it often. As she got older though, she was starting to take notice of what she liked.
The booth in question was one she had visited before, and the old man smiled at her. It seemed he remembered her even if she did not remember him right away. She browsed the different pieces of glittering gold and shining silver. There were some mithril pisces as well as some bone ones as well. It was truely stunning to see the different pieces of twisted and decorated metal and gemstones that caught the still early morning sunlight of the plaza.
She was about to pass by to go to another booth when a set of bracelets caught her eye. There were six in total and they were all matching. The bands were made of a silvery metal that she couldn't decided if it was mithril or plain silver but it was the carvings on the bands itself that stood out to her. They were enchanted snakes, wiggling in place making unintelligible hisses. She herself could only make out bits and pieces of it but she didn't let it show on her face that she understood them at all. It would not be a good idea to tip anyone off to the fact that she could speak to snakes after all.
"Hello sir. May you tell me more about that set of bracelets?" She asked politely and gestured to the intricately carved snake bracelets. The wizard looked over at Azalea and down to the bracelets she was gesturing to before nodding.
"Those are a matching set of warding bracelets. They alert the wearers of the other persons' situation. If one of the wearers is in danger, the other five warm up considerably, but not enough to actually harm the wearer. It has a general tracking charm on it to help locate the other parties' locations as well. Would you like to know more?" He asked.
"Yes please. I am interested in buying them. Do they resize to fit the wearer or are they one size fits all?" Azalea asked curiously.
"You have a keen eye for jewelry. Indeed, they do resize to fit the wearer's wrist. You can tap it with your wand and it will size to fit you perfectly. It's a simple charm that is easy to do."
"Will you show me please?" Azalea asked the shopkeeper. She was always excited to find something useful and this one had the added bonus of being pretty too! The wizard picked up the bracelet and slipped it on his own wrist as a demonstration. He then withdrew his wand and tapped the bracelet with a quick flick of his wand, and the bracelet glowed quickly and resized to fit him snugly but not tight enough to fall off. "Dilata." The shopkeeper said clear and loud enough for Azalea to hear him. He then tapped the bracelet again, this time saying, "Reducere. Those are the incantations to expand and reduce the bracelets.
"Excellent, thank you. Are they able to be enchanted past their warding status?"
"Yes but not by much. They were not designed to be heavily enchanted, as it would warp the wards set into the jewelry further. Is that okay?" The shopkeeper sounded nervous now, as if he was afraid to let the ambitious young girl down.
"No that is completely fine. I will take the lot of the six bracelets. May I have them wrapped up and charmed to be featherlight so I can continue on shopping?" Azalea asked ever as polite as she always was. She was over all very pleased with the bracelets. Even if they couldn't be heavily enchanted, she didn't really care. She wanted something to help her in case she or Theo or Neville ever wandered off like they were still prone to doing. She was excited to put them to the test though.
In fact, she was rather excited. Azalea and Neville's tenth birthdays were coming up, and they were planning an excursion to the Amazon Rainforest. They were going to visit the wizarding community of Brazil, which was home to their very own wizarding school Castleobruxo. It was also home to a decently sized wizarding community on its own as well and Azalea was fascinated by the culture differences. It would be her second international holiday and she was very happy. She had gone with her small family group to Spain the year before and she had had a lot of fun at the beach and with trying the different cultural foods that Spain had to offer to her. They were going in two weeks time and she was nearly vibrating with excitement. By the time she had purchased the bracelets and had them wrapped up put snugly away, it was nearly time for lunch so she made her way towards the café, parcels carefully placed in her pocket.
Remus looked around at the interior of the Manor, which was more of a castle if he was being completely honest with himself. The interior was that of an eighteenth century castle was expected to be. There were high stone walls with vaulted ceilings, the wooden beams holding up the ceiling thick and strong. There were various portraits along the hall he was led down that were either inactive or they were just regular paintings, as none of them sneered or greeted him as he walked by. He was honestly surprised by the surroundings. He truthfully expected dirt and grime and misuse in the castle but it was very well cleaned and maintained, as if some lived here forever. It was certainly not an abandoned manor.
He was so lost deep into his thoughts about the appearance of his own surroundings that he hardly noticed the house elf had stopped, and he walked right into the poor creature, knocking it over. The stone hallway was immaculate; the entire castle so far was, actually. There was no dust and cobwebs, or dirt even in sight. It seemed either Fenrir Greyback really did live here, or there was an entire gaggle of house elves that had cleaned the Palazzo into top shape.
"Master will be seeing you now." The elf squeaked out before popping away. Remus was left standing in front of an intricately carved east Indian rosewood door. It was heavy and thick in his hand, as he gave it a firm push to open it. Holding his breath he entered the room. The inside of the room seemed to be in a cross shape, where each of the walls was lined with heavy rosewood bookshelves, loaded with ancient looking tomes and oddities of the likes that Remus had never seen before. He quickly scanned the room, noting that the room looked warm and inviting, not at all like he had ever dared to envision in his head of what Fenrir Grayback's private library would look like. He finally caught a glimpse of the man who was his sire seated at a chair made of careful twisted and carved mahogany wood, sitting in the chair as if it was his throne.
And there he was sitting. Allaster Fawley, or as he was otherwise known as, Fenrir Greyback, was seated in one of the twisting wood chairs with a teacup in hand, looking decidedly annoyed. Remus suddenly became even more nervous at the idea of confronting his sire. He squared his shoulders and lifted his head up. No, he had to do this.
"Hello Fenrir..." Remus trailed off, frozen on the spot he stood at when the other werewolf turned his full attention on Remus' person. He could feel the other's eyes raking over his very soul, searching for something that Remus didn't know if he possessed.
"Hello little pup. It seems you searched me out on your very own this time. Are you getting tired of Dumbledore's manipulations yet?" Fenrir nearly growled out at the end at the mention of Albus' name. Remus noted that he still shivered in place at the feral sound of his sire's voice.
"I did search you out. I went to James' will reading... He... He left me twenty thousand galleons. You see... when I went to claim the bequeathed amount..." Remus trailed off, stuttering and all around having a hard time getting out what he was trying to say. It seems Fenrir had quickly lost his patience because he slammed down the nearly empty tea cup, sloshing the contents inside around.
"Spit. It. Out. Do not waste my time, pup." Fenrir growled out at Remus.
"I was told I'm the heir to the Fawley bloodline, and that you blood adopted me. I want to know why. How. Why me, why now. Why me?" Remus got out finally, repeating the question.
Fenrir let out a loud scoff at the nearly desperate tone in Remus' voice. He wondered if and when this day would happen, when he drew up and signed the paperwork to name Remus as his legal heir. He had sired hundreds of other werewolves in his lifetime but none of them meant anything to him, not like how Remus did. At first, it was an obsession. Remus was Lyall Lupin's son, his only son at that. He was nothing but a pawn in his father's war on creatures that Lyall deemed too disgusting to exist. So what better way to send a messaged than to get retribution in the form of tainting his precious baby boy. Remus was that and nothing more for many years, but he himself had gotten under Fenrir's skin. Always defying him, trying his hardest to separate himself from the wolf he truly was. Fenrir found it distasteful at best, and downright disgusting on a bad day. And yet, here he was. He had sought out Fenrir all on his own, for whatever reasons he deemed important enough to go and bother him.
"Ahh yes. I wondered if you would ever decide to do something about that when you found out. So what. What do you want from me, now that you've decided to seek me out and track me down at my private manor, Remus Lupin? Surely you haven't come to your senses and realized how sick you are, how ill you have let yourself become? Rejecting the wolf inside you, fighting it every moon, poisoning yourself with that toxic concoction that you call wolfsbane. Tell me Remus. What do you want from me?" Fenrir all but snarled out.
"I want answers. Why did you target me? Why did you do to me what you did? Why change me? Why did you turn me into such a monster? What did I ever do to deserve this torturous lifestyle that you've cursed me with for the rest of eternity? I want to know what I ever did to have this happen to me. And on that note, why did you name me your heir. After everything, why me of all people, like when like you said, I've rejected you. I've rejected my wolf for so long that even I know that it's poisoning me?" Remus all but screamed out in frustration.
"Ahh... you want the truth that has long plagued you. You want to know the truth? Are you sure? It's cruel... The truth is that I targeted you not for you being you, but for who you were. You were the heir of Lyall Lupin, that scum of the earth of a man you once called papa. Do you remember him dearest Remus? Do you remember him tucking you in at night and reading you to bed all those years ago? I certainly do. I also remember his actions. His rallying against anything with creature blood, deeming them unfit to live, calling them scourge. He was a vile man with vile practices that harmed me and my kind for well past too long. So I decided to hit him where it would hurt the most. I chose you because he loved you, he cared for you. I got more than even, I stole everything from that disgusting waste of a man." Fenrir growled out, getting a sick sort of pleasure in hurting the wizard in front of him.
"Did you enjoy taking a father away from his son? Did you get some sick twisted pleasure out of that? You didn't take everything from Lyall, you took everything from me. You didn't ruin his life, you just proved his point that werewolves were abominations. Are you happy with yourself? That same man that you watched tuck me in at night and watch over me, turned violent against the very thing you created. I had to hide; he would come home drunk and hit me. He was calling a five-year-old a monster because of you!" Remus snarled out.
Both of them were in each other's faces at this point, breathing hard and snarling. The magic in the air was crackling at the emotions that charged the air. Fenrir sized up the wolf in front of him, taking in his ragged appearance. Remus's eyes were bloodshot, and his skin pale and sickly. Everything about him shouted that he was unwell. He rejected his inner wolf so much that it was physically affecting him to the point of illness and Fenrir knew he had to put an end to it.
"Why are you really here? What made you drop everything and seek me out now, of all times. It's not because I listed you as my heir, because we both know you want nothing to do with me, Remus John Lupin. What is so important to you that you hunted me down and invaded my privacy here at my hidden away manor? Why hunt me down now? Come to yell at me until you're blue in the face, Remus Lupin?" Fenrir snapped out, taking a step back as to distance himself from the other wolf. It wouldn't do to attack him before he got his own answers. He wasn't a complete monster after all, not like how the light and the wizarding world in general portrayed him to be. He had some manners, thank you very much.
"I came here to protect my pup from you, Fenrir. I have a pup; she's the most important thing to me in the world and I can't afford to lose her to you like I lost myself." Remus barked out. Fenrir was taken aback for a moment, shocked that he had gotten an honest answer that easily.
"Ahh... A pup. I didn't know you had it in you to create another wolf little Remus. Now tell me, which bitch of a wizard did you impregnate to make this pup?" Fenrir said scathingly. Remus flinched at the implications of the words being thrown at him.
"I didn't impregnate anyone Fenrir... It's my best mate's child... Little Azalea… I can't let anything or anyone get to her, or hurt her. You included. I will kill you Fenrir, if you go near her with the intent to harm. I'm serious. Leave us both alone, especially her." Remus threatened the other wolf, for once being one hundred percent the lethal creature he could be for the first time in a very long time. Again, Fenrir was taken aback at the sincerity and lethality of his threat. Remus was dead serious about protecting this little witch.
"I will leave her alone… On one condition. You take me to the girl in question, and let me observe the little witch who has you ensnared so tightly. I want to see for myself if she is worth you staking your life over."
"Only if you swear on you magic that you will not touch her, Fenrir Greyback. That child will not be harmed by you being there whatsoever, do I make myself clear?" Remus demanded, heart racing in his thin and worn chest at the very thought of this monster of a man going near little Azalea. He felt absolutely sick at the very idea of it but he took solace in the thought that Cassiopeia Black and Arcturus Black III wouldn't let a lick of harm come to that girl. They wouldn't even let Azalea near him, let alone have Azalea near Fenrir Greyback, terror of the wizarding world.
"Is that what it will cost you to take care of yourself? Me swearing on my disgusting magic that I won't harm some little witch. Is she that important to you that you would ask, no, demand that of me? Fine..." Fenrir spat out, disgust and frustration thick in his voice at this point. "I swear on my magic, that I won't cause any harm to Azalea Potter while I'm observing her. So mote it be." He spat out in a fit of anger. Magic sparked and swirled around them at the binding words of the verbal wizard's agreement.
"I want you to take care of yourself Remus Lupin. You're ill. You're in no shape to be around others, let alone a child so precious as you are making this Azalea out to be. Stop it Remus Lupin." At Remus's confused look he continued. "Stop fighting your wolf and embrace it for once in your life. Stop poisoning yourself with that damned potion that you insist on taking every month at the full moon and stop cursing the very fact that you are what you are. No amount of anger or rage will change that, not no and not ever. Grow up Remus. It's time to accept it and move on with your life." Fenrir said, deflating in an abrupt change of pace. He didn't want to fight with his pup all the time. He didn't want to see his pup so worn out and sick simply because Remus couldn't accept himself for what and who he was.
Remus looked taken aback at the slightly worried tone that Fenrir had at the end. He was used to hostility. He was even expecting it especially coming from him. But this new sort of tone that hinted at concern and care for him threw him off completely, taking all the bitter and cutting winds out of his sails. Was Fenrir showing actual concern for him? Remus was completely unprepared for him to actually care about him. He thought that Fenrir had maybe chosen him to be his heir out of pity or some sort of warped and twisted moral obligation of that he created him in a way so that he was responsible but no... Did Fenrir choose him because he actually had some sort of care or concern for Remus?
"Wh-what?" Was the most intelligible thing that Remus could get out. Fenrir took in the confused look on Remus's face and let out a deep sigh. It seemed they were in for a much longer conversation than he wanted to have currently but it would have to be done. He motioned for Remus to sit and in Remus's shocked stupor, he actually moved to sit down at the other parlor chair next to him.
Fenrir snapped his fingers and the same elf that had directed Remus to where Fenrir was located appeared again.
"Master is needing Zinky?" The elf squeaked out in its own strange high-pitched voice. Remus finally got a better look at what the elf was wearing and was surprised to find that the elf was in fact wearing a miniature butler's outfit, complete with white linen gloves and a pocket watch chain going across the breast of the outfit.
"We will be needing a bottle of my finest firewhisky and two glasses, Zinky. Be quick about it." Fenrir sighed out.
"It seems we need to have another talk. This time perhaps, we might not resort to a screaming match?" Remus only blinked in response, still a bit stunned.
"There lies in the unspoken question of why I would ask you to take care of yourself. But I think perhaps that I will answer another question first. I chose you as my heir because out of everyone I've turned, you're one of the few ones that have given a damn about me and what you perceive that I've done to you. You're the only one who's ever fought back, and fought back so hard before. I respect that. You didn't take your transformation lying down and you've fought tooth and nail to become the man you are today despite the plague you believe you were cursed with by myself." Remus inflated at that, whether in rage or something of the other, Fenrir didn't let him get that far.
"Here, drink." And Fenrir poured out three deep fingers each of Blishen's Finest Firewhiskey and ice appeared in the glasses. He gestured for Remus to take one, as he reached out to take his own. "I want you to take care of yourself because I care about you Remus. In some sort of twisted way I almost think of you as if you're my son, my pup. I am responsible for you in a way. I want the best for you Remus, and that means not fighting against the lycanthropy running through your veins. It's part of you Remus. It's part of you now as much as the magic that thrums in your core, or the very humanity that you so desperately try to cling to." Fenrir explained, a slight urgency in his voice. Fenrir was quietly urging Remus to understand that in a twisted way, he absolutely did care. Some would call it uncharacteristic of hint o show concern or care about any other living creature other than himself and they would be correct for the most part. But Remus was the exception to all of the rules it seemed. Remus took the offered drink and downed it in one go.
"You know Remus... We're related." Fenrir confessed, swirling the firewhiskey in his glass.
"Wh-what?" Remus sputtered out, coughing at the sudden and unexpected information that Fenrir had just provided. He coughed deep and hard before he remembered he was a wizard and drew his wand to expel the burning liquid from his lungs. "What did you just say?" He tried again, just as surprised.
"We are related, by blood. Hector Fawley, my father, had baby twin sisters, Ingrid and Thyri. Expect Hector never got to truly know Thyri. She was born a squib, without magic. And then Thyri was excommunicated from the family; she was left at a muggle orphanage when they tested her for magic around the age of two. Hector was devastated, as was Ingrid but they were too young, powerless to fight against Hector's father's decision. Eventually their parents moved on, but Hector never did. He didn't know where Thyri got to but he never gave up looking, or so he said. The only thing he found out was that Thyri grew up in or near London with a small muggle family that adopted her and eventually fell in love with a muggle man named David Howell. You might recognize that name, Remus. David was your maternal grandfather. That makes my squib cousin Hope Howell your mother. You're my adopted son by magic, and my second cousin by blood." Fenrir said contemplatively.
"I... I never knew my mother's family very well. Grandfather David didn't like me very much, even before I was transformed. He disliked my father for reasons that I was too young to understand at the time, and I found out too late that my father lied to me about Grandfather David not liking me. Grandmother Thyri died shortly after my mother was born, and my grandfather wasn't around much for me as a small child. When I was inevitably abandoned he stepped forward and took me in, but the damage was already done. Lyall's manipulations went far and extreme to keep me isolated away from my family, but Grandfather tried his hardest to fix that. The mistrust was there but we tried anyway. I just wish I got to say goodbye. He died suddenly while I was at Hogwarts in sixth year and I was taken in under Dumbledore's wing. He let me stay at the castle for the holidays and during the summer. I never had a chance to escape Dumbledore's manipulations until after it was too late, until after James and Lily were dead and Sirius- Oh God. Until after Sirius was arrested for betraying the Potter's and killing eleven muggles and poor Peter. But I know that's not the truth, not by far. Peter betrayed James and Lily and Sirius is an innocent man rotting in Azkaban." Remus croaked out. He reached out and poured another glass of firewhiskey and downed half of it in one go, this time not choking on it. "Merlin... So we're related... I never knew... If I had known I had family out there... Maybe..." Remus trailed off, looking absolutely devastated at the thought of how he grew up so completely isolated and alone.
"There's no use in dwelling on what ifs, or the past. It's time to accept that it is what it is, and move on from it. You won't get anything but grief and strife from it, take that from me. It all revolves around having acceptance, Remus. Being at war with yourself... It only does your body and mind harm." Fenrir explained patiently. It seemed that the firewhiskey was affecting the wizard more than he thought it would. It must have had to do with his physical condition. Fenrir had never seen a wolf in such bad condition. Then again, Fenrir took care of his wolf pack. He tended to them and made sure that they got what they needed, whether it be proper food fit for a werewolf, or shelter.
"But how do I fix this? How do I fix myself? How do I unburry a seed that's existed since I was five years old. How do I accept a part of me that I grew up taught to hate and fight at all costs to myself?" Remus asked morosely, sounding closer and closer to being the self-loathing wizard Fenrir knew he could be.
"By letting yourself exist simply as you are, as your mind begs you to be. Detoxify yourself from the wolfsbane potion that still courses through your veins. You know as well as I do the damages that potion causes to the body. It's a literal poison, Remus. Stop pushing down the thoughts in your head that you aren't enough, that you don't deserve to have things. You are a wizard yes, but you are equally a werewolf. Only when you truly accept that fact will you begin to undo the damage that has been caused to you for all of these years. You aren't getting any younger Remus. Time keeps on ticking and the damage keeps on being done unless you do something about it." Fenrir said seriously, with a somber note in his voice. He would take this regret to his grave, that he never truly took care of his cub, his blood. He'd never admit it though. Fenrir was too far gone, too deep in his ways but he hoped that Remus hadn't taken after his sire in that way. He hoped that he could change the future to not reflect how the past has caused Remus to be on the path he currently was.
"But where do I start?" Remus hiccuped. Fenrir thought to himself that Remus was definitely on the drunker side of sober and quietly waved his hand towards Remus, casting a sobering charm at him. Fenrir didn't use magic often, but he had to admit it had its uses sometimes. Only sometimes though. For Fenrir, it was wolf first and foremost, wizard after and only after. He watched Remus quietly as the spell did its job and the flush on Remus' cheeks began to fade into nothing. Remus rubbed at his head, moaning in pain. The price of the sobering charm was that it caused an awful hangover after.
"Zinky!" Fenrir called out summoning his house elf once more. With a quiet pop the well-dressed house elf appeared again and waited patiently for his master's command. "How may Zinky be helping you, master." The house elf asked. "Prepare a suit for our guest. He will be spending some time here while he readjusts to life as how it will be from now on. Put him in my wing, in the rooms facing the eastern part of the manor. He will need a hangover potion and a double dose of my detoxifier potion, and a sleeping potion. Give him a pain reliever if he asks for it but only once he has slept through the detox process." Fenrir instructed to his main house elf. The manor was large, and was kept in order by a very well managed team of elves that did their job very well. The one he called the most was his main house elf, and the elf always took care of his needs.
"You will be following me Mr. Remus. This way." The house elf commanded and Remus just blearily followed along, with the enticement of the mention of a hangover curing potion to be given to him if he followed along. He was in no condition to argue with the house elf. Fenrir had unloaded a lot of truths on him and he was reeling in shock at them. They were related... by blood. They were related by blood. He just couldn't get over that fact. Had Fenrir known that when he turned Remus into a werewolf all of those years ago. He followed along behind the house elf through the rest of the Manor, trying to take note of the twists and turns, but by the second spiraling staircase and the fifth right turn, he had long given up and just accepted that he would be lost without the house elf to direct him.
They arrived upon a heavy looking door that the house elf turned the door knob to and Remus just toddled along behind him. He had to admit the room was beautiful, and not at all what he would expect from Fenrir, but it turned out that what he knew of the werewolf was turning out to be the opposite of what he was expecting.
Like the rest of the wood in the house, the door and the furniture inside the room was all made out of hand carved East Indian rosewood with beautifully painted light taupe colored walls and East Indian rosewood flooring. There was a matching set of a king-sized four-poster bed matching nightstands. Facing the western wall which had the entrance on it, was a matching rosewood wardrobe. The northern wall which had the bed on it also had the door to the en-suit bathroom. He was too tired to explore it yet but he made a note to wash up after he slept off the massive hangover he was currently experiencing. The eastern wall had large windows and a set of french doors that opened up onto a decently sized balcony furnished with wrought iron patio chairs and a nice glass top table. The bedroom had a large stone hearth that Remus thought to himself could possibly act as a personal floo network, and a nice chocolate brown rug with buttery smooth leather chairs with a table between them. There were two heavy looking East Indian rosewood bookshelves on either side of the fireplace, filled with books that Remus was too tired to look at either. All in all the room was beautiful and warm but light and airy enough to not be overwhelming. The house elf led Remus to the bed where on the nightstand nearest to the bathroom was a series of potions waiting for him.
"You must be taking these. Master said so. Master is knowing what to give you, trust him." Zinky the house elf insisted as he handed Remus the first potion that Remus was just aware enough to recognize it as a general hangover cure potion. Knowing that it would taste and feel like an old gym sock stuffed into his mouth, but it would make the throbbing behind his eyes stop, he downed it in one go, barely holding back the wince. He raised his eyes at the next potion. There were two rather large vials of a potion he didn't remember, or at least recognize by the color alone. Remus opened his mouth to ask, but the house elf answered his question before he could ask.
"These are of master's creation. It removes the bad poisons from the body, but it will make you very uncomfortable while it happens. It be best to sleep though it. Master said to be taking two of them. It be best to drink the sleeping potion after you take them, so drink up right away." Zinky answered. Remus was too drained to fight back and decided to put all his faith in Fenrir for the first time in his life. He had to trust the other wolf, or something like that. With the pounding in his head easing up it was definitely getting easier to think clearly, enough so that he drank the first two vials quickly, before nearly spitting them out at the taste. If he thought the hangover potion was bad, these were even worse. It was like moldy food and spoiled milk but it was also sickly sweet. Remus fought to swallow the first one and dreaded the second one but he spotted a glass of cool water residing on the nightstand and forced the second one down before grabbing for the glass of water to rinse his mouth. Remus looked blandly at the waiting house elf and reached for the last vial.
"Zinky be recommending that Mr. Remus get into sleeping clothing before he drinks the last potion. It be making Mr. Remus sleep very quickly." It was then that Remus felt awkward. He didn't have much of anything, sleeping clothing include. He voiced his concern to the house elf, who merely directed him to the wardrobe and pulled out deep blue silken sleep pants and a matching shirt that buttoned at the front with buttons.
"Oh no, I couldn't. Those must be Fenrir's clothing…" Remus trailed off when the house elf forcibly shoved them into his hands.
"I must insist. Master would be very upset if Mr. Remus was not made to be comfortable." Zinky said insistently. Remus just sighed and gave in. He was physically and emotionally exhausted. He almost felt like he wouldn't need the sleeping draught to begin with, but the effects of the detox potions were already starting and he was covered in sweat already. He hadn't noticed but he started panting, it felt like the room was boiling hot.
"The sleep clothing are charmed to stay cool." The house elf supplied and that was the straw that broke the hippogryff's back because Remus gave in and took the outstretched clothing and headed for the rosewood folding screen in the corner of the room to change. He removed his threadbare clothing and slipped into the silken pajamas and nearly moaned out in relief at the contact of the material on his sweltering skin. To him, it felt like being envelope in an icy cool hug, or a cold glass of lemonade on a sunny august day. The relief he was getting from the cooling charm that was woven into the very material itself.
He stepped back out from behind the screen with his folded clothing in his hands and felt awkward yet again for not knowing what to do with his old clothing. They were dirty and laden with sweat from his reaction to the previous potions.
"Umm..." He started unintelligibly before the house elf spoke up.
"Zinky will be taking those to be cleaned. I will be returning them when you wake up. Mr. Remus must be taking the last potion now. Take the last potion and lie down in the bed please." At the house elf's gentle words and his complete and utter physical and mental exhaustion Remus didn't fight it any longer and complied with the request. Downing the sleeping potion he padded over to the king-sized bed and got under the covers. This time he did let out a groan of relief at the softness of the mattress beneath him. He was used to a very thin and hard cot. It was all he could afford. The last thing he remembered was thinking that this was something he could get used to before he fell asleep under the influence of the sleeping draught.