For a half hour, Lupa sat motionless in her chair, staring fixedly at the door. Servants tried to get her to at least drink something but Lupa ignored them. She stared at the door even when servants got in her line of sight and blocked the door from view. Eventually the servants gave up and let her be. Only news about her brother would rouse her from her silent vigil.

An hour ticked by, the soft chime of the old clock on the wall every half hour the only noise in the room. Lupa still hadn't moved. If it wasn't for the very slight rise and fall of her shoulders, the servants would have worried that something was wrong with her. At long last the door the eight year old had been staring at opened and Emily entered the room.

"Miss Lupa, the doctor says you may see your brother now."

Emily had scarcely finished speaking when the girl shot to her feet and was out the door. Emily turned to follow her but Lupa was moving faster than she had thought. By the time Emily reached Remus' room, Lupa was already inside and in the chair next to her brother's bed.

Inside the room, Lupa gently took Remus' hand in her own. It was colder than it should be but perhaps that had something to do with the fact that it hadn't been tucked under the blankets. Carefully, so as not to wake her brother, Lupa stroked her thumb over the back of Remus' hand. Remus shifted slightly and let out a small whimper. Lupa stopped immediately and watched her brother with a look of concern. Remus remained asleep however and so she went back to providing what little comfort she could.

Outside of the room, the village doctor was having some quiet words with the gathered servants.

"Those are no ordinary wounds on the child."

Emily paled. "Do you know what they are?"

The doctor nodded. "I have seen them only once in my life but they are unmistakable. The wolf that injured the child was a werewolf."

Emily somehow grew even paler and looked as if she might faint. Her husband John wrapped a supportive arm around her and drew her in close.

"We need to inform Miss Lupa."

The doctor frowned. "His parents should be informed first. Then they can break it to her."

John shook his head. "That's not possible. Master and Mrs. Lupin are out of town and won't be back for two weeks."

"I'll do it." Emily said in a shaky voice.

She pushed away from John and slowly walked to the door. Pushing it open, she saw that Lupa was still in the same position as last time.

"Miss Lupa?" She says hesitantly.

"Yes?" Lupa's voice is so quiet you have to strain to hear it.

"You should know, the doctor just told us that it was a werewolf that attacked your brother.

Lupa was quiet for a few minutes.

"I knew there was something different about that wolf." She said, looking at the bite on her brother's shoulder. "Tell the doctor I wish to speak with him."

Emily nodded and quickly left the room. The doctor entered a few minutes later.

"Tell me the truth doctor. Will my brother be a werewolf?" Lupa asked, not taking her eyes off her brother?"

The doctor nodded. "I'm afraid so." He hesitated for a moment before continuing on. "I feel it is my duty to inform you that the kindest option for your brother would be to end his misery now."

Lupa froze at that.

"You want me to kill my brother." Her voice was cold, a warning to back off.

If the doctor had mentioned this to one of the servants first, they would have immediately told him to never breathe a word of it around the young mistress as she was very protective of her brother. But he hadn't and he didn't hear the warning in Lupa's voice.

"It is the kindest option for him. Werewolf transformations are extremely painful and even if he survives, he'll never be able to live a normal life. It would be better for you to end his misery now rather than subject him to a life of pain."

For the first time since she had entered the room, Lupa stood up and faced the doctor. Her entire posture was stiff and her face expressed coldness. Her eyes were hard; the only emotion in them was love for her brother.

"I will not kill my brother just because you think it's a good idea. My brother will have a normal life; I'll see to it myself. He will have everything he could ever want. Now, I think it best if you take your leave now doctor."

With that, she turned back to her brother and the doctor was left with no option but to leave.

When he stepped into the hall, he found the two worried servants from earlier.

"Is there anything we should be doing for him?" Emily asked anxiously.

The doctor refrained from repeating his suggestion. He had been able to tell instantly that they were loyal servants who wouldn't do anything to hurt the people that they worked for. He had also gotten the impression that Lupa was the kind of child who had had everything handed to her and nothing he could say would convince her servants otherwise.

"Just let him rest and see to it that he eats and drinks. His wounds will heal on their own within a week." He advised.

Emily nodded and went to inform the other servants while John showed the doctor to the door.

Lupa was furious. She couldn't believe that the doctor had suggested that she kill her brother. She'd sooner take a knife and drive it through her own heart. There was not a thing in this world that would convince her to kill her brother. Not even her parents, who were sure to hate Remus even more when they found this out. Thankfully they weren't due back for another two weeks and by then, Remus would hopefully be looking more normal. Most of his wounds were on his chest and those were easily covered.

Looking down at her brother, Lupa noticed the way his face scrunched slightly in pain.

"You will have a normal life Remus. I promise you, I will do everything I can to make sure your life is normal." She promised.

AN: And that concludes the night Remus was bitten. Yes, I know I've focused on Lupa and Remus for two chapters without any mention of Sirius. The next chapter will focus mostly on them as well and the one after will go back to the mirror pattern. However, I do have plans to work a small part of Sirius into the next chapter. I'm just not entirely sure how that will turn out yet. I only have a vague half-formed idea that's been floating around in my head ever since I wrote The Truth Pt. 2 of Outcasts.

In other news, I've only just now realized that there are a few weeks until Easter and after that, I only have a few weeks until finals. I'm starting to freak out a little. It does not feel like I should be nearly done with my sophomore year and halfway through college. Distract me from these thoughts.

Before I go, I do need your help with something. What do you guys know about Veelas? It can be what JK has said about them outside of the books or it can be what you believe. Anything you know will be of help to me.

Well, until next week I'm going to attempt to stop any more new stories from popping up in my head. I've had four since the last time I updated. It's starting to drive me crazy, having to keep up with all of them.

Until next time, feed the squirrels.