Author's note: Hey, remember when I said this would be a drabble series? Well, this chapter exploded because I have a lot of feelings about how broken the world and its justice and criminal systems are right now. In other news, the Google doc in which I write these out has hit 100 pages of content. Anyways, enjoy!

Disclaimer: The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. Please do not sue me, I can barely pay tuition.

Hogwarts: Assignment #11, Poetry Studies Task #10, Write about someone being the 'voice' for a group/someone else.

Warnings: Canon-compliant prejudice and discrimination (lycanthrope)

The Other Moon Cooperative

Remus' hands curled around his mug of butterbeer. He wasn't technically the designated chaperone for today's Hogsmeade trip, but he knew that his students were bound to wander into The Three Broomsticks eventually and he'd rather not start rumours that their Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was an alcoholic.

When Noah, the young wizard sitting across from him, had grown quiet and stayed quiet for a few beats, Remus spoke up again.

"I'm sorry that happened, but glad that you told me. They're not allowed to ask you for and make a copy of your identification unless the Wizengamot has opened a criminal file against you—a Department for the Regulation and Care of Magical Creature file on its own doesn't give them grounds to track you like that. It's alright that you didn't know; they were supposed to. I would be happy to go to the Ministry and sort it out with you," Remus offered.

"No, I wouldn't want to bother you," Noah said, scratching the back of his head.

"It wouldn't be a bother," Remus said. "If you're having issues with the Department, you should know that they're more likely to stay within their limits if you don't go alone."

"Seriously?" Noah asked suspiciously.

"Seriously," Remus nodded. "Even Andrew and Abigail and those of us who have been in the system long try not to go alone. During the war, when they were doing spontaneous and unregulated checks on registry members, they would leave nearly immediately if I was with my wife but harass me if I was alone."

"Seriously?" Noah asked.

"Yes," he said, nodding again. "Granted, she's an Auror and can be quite frightening when she puts her mind to it. Not that that should be necessary."

"I was talking to Crystal the other day, and she said you're good at getting the Department to cooperate," Noah said. "She says you can be scary calm or scary badass."

"Crystal I think has probably seen me at my angriest," Remus said with a grin. "The Ministry was trying to take away her child before her first Full Moon, and I was advocating for her on my son's first birthday. I had to get some sense into them in time for cake."

It was the incident with Crystal and her son, actually, that had snapped Remus' patience like a twig. He had only been able to step in and advocate on her behalf because he happened to have the rules and legislation regarding lycanthropes memorized, having been subjected to them for most of his life, and because Arthur had been working late and had overheard a conversation in the elevator that had worried him. He'd asked Remus a quick question about it while they were getting the Burrow set up for Teddy's birthday dinner, and Remus had immediately bounced to the Ministry.

The absolute random string of events it had taken for Crystal to keep her boy had convinced Remus that something more needed to be done. Since everybody knew that he was a werewolf already, thanks to Severus Snape and The Daily Prophet, Remus couldn't be threatened with publicity anymore—and there was privilege and safety that came from being married to an Auror. And with an Order of Merlin back home and a position at Hogwarts… well, he'd finally thought that he was in a place to do more.

He'd told Abigail about it first, since she was one of his oldest friends—bitten by Fenrir Greyback as well in the early days of the First Wizarding War. She'd loved the idea, and so had Andrew—whom he had met while visiting Arthur in the hospital all those years ago. Each of them knew a handful of other werewolves, including a few from Fenrir Greyback's inner pack who had been looking for ways to slip away.

Noah's smile flickered on his face for a second.

"How old is your son now?" Noah asked.

"Fifteen," Remus said. "He's actually at Hogwarts."

"Nice," Noah said conversationally. Then, he asked the question that Remus knew was really on his mind. "Is he..?"

Noah couldn't actually get the words out, but Remus knew what he meant to ask. He had heard this question a thousand times—sometimes by people who deserved or should know, like Andromeda or Sirius or Harry. Sometimes from complete strangers, who Remus wanted to send packing since Teddy's life and health and wellbeing was none of their business. More often than not, he heard whispers and rumours about his son and the kind of life he led. Those were the most annoying and the most unnerving. They used to really bother Remus, when Teddy was younger. But when other werewolves asked… well, Remus told them. Sometimes, he told new werewolves before they even asked—when they were mourning the lives and futures and families they had hoped for and expected.

"No," Remus said. "He isn't a werewolf. Our condition is infectious, not genetic."

"He's normal? That's… that's good," Noah said. He was twisting his hands together as they spoke. "Nobody had told me that people like us could have kids without passing it on before."

Noah nodded, mulling over this new knowledge.

"And your wife, she knew you were a werewolf, right?" Noah asked. "I mean, someone told me that you were bitten as a little kid, so…"

"She did," Remus said. "She knew when we became friends and she always insisted it didn't matter to her."

"She sounds really cool," Noah said shyly.

"She is," Remus said with a smile. "There are really cool people out there, Noah. You'll find them. Just give it time."

Noah nodded.

"I think it would be good if you came with me to the Ministry, so I could get my Apparating license back," he finally said. "I… I think it might help to have you there."

"Of course," Remus said. "When were you thinking of going?"

"Maybe Monday, when they open again," Noah said. "Is that okay? Are you working?"

"I have time," Remus promised. He would tell the seventh years that he had an errand to run and give them free time to study for their NEWTS; they would love that. "I can meet you in London, if you would like."

"Yeah," Noah said. "Yeah, that would be great. Maybe… they open at 9:00, so maybe we could be there by 8:45. Sometimes they lie about a waiting list for meetings because agents don't want to be alone with werewolves, I remember you telling me that..."

"That sounds like a good plan," Remus said, happy that Noah had remembered. "Are you still living in the flat Diana and I found you?"

Diana was a Muggle woman, but her brother had been Hogwarts-educated. He'd been lost to Fenrir Greyback's pack, and he had died at some point during the war—Remus was still trying to find out more for her. Diana had been resourceful enough to elbow her way back into the wizarding world as she tried to find answers for him. She had stumbled across Remus' name since he had a reputation, if nothing else, and had found a way to get in touch with him.

She was the only non-werewolf and Muggle member of what Abigail jokingly called the Other Moon Cooperative, but she was arguably the most useful since she was something of a real estate tycoon in London and its suburbs. Amongst her many other achievements, she had secured a four-bedroom house for them in Hackney, which currently served as both a base and a home for five people (since Luke was still getting over his time with Greyback and preferred camping in the backyard for the time being). Currently, she was working on helping them purchase what had once been a hostel for travelers in Soho—that way people could drop by for shelter, food, and information privately, even if they didn't want to be known to the cooperative or anything of the sort. Remus thought it may be their best way to reach members of Greyback's pack.

"Yes," Noah nodded. "Yes, it's nice. I like it there. I'm happy."

"Good," Remus said.

"I… I don't think I'm strong enough to work yet," Noah said. "I'm still sick for so long before and after the full moon."

"That's alright," Remus said. "The first few transformations have that effect. Your rent is taken care of for another few months, Noah, you have time to adjust. And if you need more, I'm sure we can think of something."

"I want to work again," Noah said. "I mean, I can't go back to my old job—they've already sacked me, but I want to… I want things to go back to normal."

"They'll go back to a normal," Remus said gently. "We'll find you something when you're ready."

They had a pretty good track record of finding work for werewolves; George had been a big help as far as that was concerned, what with Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes constantly growing. Andrew's brother had finally come around to him being bitten, and he'd hired his fair share of werewolf employees as groundskeepers and stablehands at his unicorn breeding operation. The end goal, of course, was to change the legal frameworks that made it harder for werewolves to find work and even to convince the Wizengamot that some anti-discrimination laws were in order. But, for now, this helped.

"Have you spoken to your family recently?" Remus asked as gently as he could.

Noah looked skittish and didn't meet Remus' eyes.

"There's no wrong answer," Remus reassured him.

"I haven't," Noah said. "I… I wanted to be put-together first, before I… before they had to know I was bitten."

"I understand," Remus said.

Noah looked a little relieved when he said so, but his eyes still swirled with worry and kindness.

"You only ever need to do what you're ready to do," Remus said. "But I will tell you that my family put me together, over and over again. If waiting helps, wait. But don't feel like you must."

"Yeah," Noah said. He brushed his hair back and tucked it behind his ear. "My little sister turned 16 last week. I… I wish I'd been there."

"You can always send a belated card," Remus suggested.

The idea sparked Noah's interest.

"Do you think she'd want to hear from me?"

"I think so. Do you need to borrow an owl? There's one at the house you can use," Remus offered. Then again, the house was usually quite busy and full of activity and noise and people. Noah might be too shy for that, so Remus offered another option. "There's also a very nice paper and stationary shop down the street. If you want to go get a card, I can mail it to your sister from the school."

"Yeah?" Noah asked.

"Of course," Remus said.

Noah chewed his lip. He reached into his pocket and took out a pocket watch—a nice bronze object covered in runes that he must have received for his seventeenth birthday. Noah had run away from home after being bitten, but Remus was happy to see that he had a piece of home with him.

"I have some money on me," he mused, looking at the time. He closed the pocket watch and nodded to himself. "Yes, I should go do that. Are you going to be here..?"

"I'm in no rush to go back to the castle," Remus said. "I have a good book with me and plenty of grading I'm eager to avoid back in my office."

Noah grinned.

"Okay, I'll go do that," he said. "How much are butterbeers here?"

"I've got it," Remus said. "Thank you for the company."

Noah hesitated but then he smiled and mumbled his thank yous.

"I'll be right back," Noah said. He slid out of the booth and was quickly replaced by Teddy, who sported a shaved head aside from an orangey, pinkish coral mohawk today. His eyes were their usual chocolate brown and the freckles across his nose. He had his mouth wrapped around the straw of a chocolate milkshake, one of Madam Rosmerta's specialities on warm days—though Remus had seen Teddy eat ice cream in the middle of winter.

"Hey," Teddy said.

"Hello," Remus said—surprised but pleased. "I thought you were with friends."

"Victoire's on a date and Micky and Riley keep sucking face," Teddy said. "It's annoying."

"Well, I'm touched to be your fourth choice," Remus said, though he couldn't help but grin. It was strange to spend so much time near Teddy during the school year, and good to have true time alone together.

"Who were you talking to?" Teddy asked.

"His name is Noah," Remus said. "He's a recently bitten werewolf."

"That's rough," Teddy said. "He looks really young."

"He is," Remus said. "He's a friend of the cooperative's now. We talked about you, actually."

"Yeah?" Teddy asked. "Because of my rugged good looks?"

"Well, he asked me if my son was normal," Remus said.

"Yeah?" Teddy said. "And that did you say."

"I said 'Define normal.'" Remus said. Teddy made a face and playfully kicked him under the table, and Remus couldn't help but laugh.

"I did, I told him you didn't have a single speck of lycanthrope in you," Remus said. "You're quite the beacon of hope, you know."

"But no pressure," Teddy said.

"No pressure," Remus said. He smiled. "It just helps people who think they've lost everything, to know that they can still have a safe and healthy family."

Teddy nodded, taking another sip of his milkshake.

"I can't believe you didn't know before I was born," Teddy said. "I mean, Mum's mentioned that I was a surprise, but someone should have told you."

"People didn't talk back then," Remus said. "We had too much to lose. Even if we did, it's possible that nobody would have known."

Teddy shook his head, still thinking it was ridiculous.

"Was it scary?" Teddy asked. "To not know?"

"It was terrifying," Remus said. "I was scared out of my mind, Teddy. I wanted you to have a good life. For some time, I thought… I thought you would be better off without me."

Teddy arched an eyebrow.

"That's kind of stupid, Dad," Teddy said. "No offence."

"No, you can say it," Remus said. "It was foolish, but a lot of stupidity is simply fear in disguise."

"That's deep," Teddy said.

"It's not," Remus said. "I'm speaking from experience. I nearly walked away back then."

Teddy frowned.

"Really?" Teddy asked.

Remus nodded. He didn't feel good saying the words, but what he'd told Noah was true: his family had put him together and built him up to be a thousand times the man he might otherwise had been. Teddy deserved to understand that as deeply as Remus could communicate it.

"I was so afraid of passing my condition on to you and absolutely terrified of what kind of prejudice I would bring on to you…" Remus said. "I thought if I got myself killed during the war with Voldemort, well at least I would have died doing something useful for you and the world you would live in."

Teddy looked at Remus long and hard before shaking his head.

"I can't believe you did that. I can't believe you thought that," Teddy said.

"I can't believe so either, now that we're here," Remus said. "I love you."

"I love you too," Teddy said. He was still frowning. "I'm sorry, I…"

"You can be mad," Remus offered.

"I just can't imagine my life without you," Teddy said—which broke Remus' heart a little bit. "It definitely… it wouldn't have been better."

Remus' stomach twisted.

"I'm glad you think that," he finally said. Teddy grabbed his milkshake and circled the table to come sit next to Remus, curling up against him like he'd done when he was much smaller. Remus wrapped an arm around him and felt his own eyes tear up a little bit.

"Is that why you spend so much time working with the cooperative?" Teddy asked.

"So that nobody feels that desperate and lost again?" Remus asked. He paused. "Yes."

Word: 2690