'Dear Phoenix,
My first week with the werewolves has gone okay. I've not made much progress so far, but I'm hopeful. The boys and the woman seem to be more easily influenced. So currently that's what I have been working on doing. I'm trying to stay below the radar and focus of observing the goings on within the pack.
I hope things are well with The Order elsewhere. Ill update you as soon as I can'
- Moony.
Remus finished writing his letter to Dumbledore, signing his nickname to the bottom. Before, attaching the letter to the leg of a barn owl. He watched the bird fly away as he sat back onto his fold out cot.
He sighed, as he looked around his tent.
He certainly wasn't living a very glamorous life currently. And, there certainly was very little to do here.
He was silently relieved that he had brought so much reading material.
He had only been living with the other werewolves for a few days and was still trying to figure out how everything worked within the pack. He had mostly kept to himself, unless directly engaged by other members of the pack. He felt like he learned more through observation.
He had noticed a lot this way. Being quiet and learning through observation seemed to be working. And, it helped keep him under the radar of others, which was ideal for the situation.
A few minutes later, Remus fingered through his books, looking for something to keep him occupied till late morning, when he stopped at one of the books. He noticed that there was a piece of paper sticking slightly out of one of the larger books. Remus opened the book and pulled out the piece of paper that had been protruding out of it. The sight of the parchment shocked him, he recognized the handwriting on the paper. It was Tonks handwriting. But, all the way at the bottom there was another familiar crooked scribble that he knew very well. It was Sirius' handwriting.
Remus read through the changes they had made to the werewolf code of conduct. He couldn't help but feel emotional at seeing how much both Sirius and especially Tonks cared for him. He also couldn't help but chuckle a little at it too, it was so classic of both of them to try to help him. He felt sad about that, and couldn't help but feel they both were probably better off away from him. Happier away from him.
He knew that eventually he'd hear the news that Tonks had moved on with some young, guy from the ministry and would forget all about him. The thought alone killed him.
For the next two weeks Remus remained mostly in his tent, quietly observing and occasionally meeting new people. Remus really hoped that he didn't appear as miserable as he felt.
Remus' tent wasn't great, but it was holding up and kept him dry so he felt like that was the best he could hope for. His tent was a wooden platform with a large tarp over the top, he had a cot and a small table with a chair for writing and reading, but that was it, and Remus couldn't help but feel like he deserved to live in such conditions, especially after he had hurt Tonks so badly. He cursed himself for ever getting together with her in the first place.
Remus' first chance to get to talk to someone alone came about 15 days after he had gotten there.
It was early in the morning and Remus was spending the time writing in his journal. Remus was putting the final touches when he heard a small noise from outside.
'Living among the other werewolves has been enlightening for me. Seeing the day to day workings of the pack has taught me much about myself, as well as other werewolves.'
Remus put his quill down on the table after hearing a small twig snap from outside his tent. Remus looked up to see a teen boy who looked to be about 15, with a smaller child looking at him. the small child couldn't have been more than 6 years old, Remus instantly pitied both of them. Neither of them belonged there.
"hey, you want any of these?" the teen boy asked Remus, holding out some crumpets in a box.
Remus smiled a little at them, trying to appear nice. "you don't want them?" Remus asked nicely.
"oh, my mom sends me a lot of stuff, so I figured I'd share." said the boy plainly.
Remus nodded. "sure, I'll have one." Remus decided it would be best to except the offer, hoping he'd be able to talk to the boys.
the boy handed Remus a crumpet. And, Remus went and sat on the edge of the platform stairs, taking the crumpet before placing it on his side table.
"So, where's your mother think you really are?" Remus asked, hoping his suspicion was accurate.
"Ah. well, she thinks I'm staying with a friend." The boy responded quietly. "She sort of doesn't know about all of this." the boy added, pointing around.
Remus nodded. His mother didn't know he was a werewolf. He had been correct in his assumption.
"well, if you ever need anything feel free to stop by, I'm Remus by the way." He told the boy.
"I'm Toby. Nice to meet you." the teen boy said to him.
"Are you a wizard?" Remus asked. Not everyone in the pack was magical, some werewolves were non magic.
"Sure am, sir!" Toby said proudly.
"Do you know him?" Remus asked him, pointing to the little boy sitting a few feet from him.
"Not really, I've just been trying to take care of him. He got dropped off by some lady late last night. I dont know if he can do magic though, to be honest. i also dont know if he can talk." Toby said.
This made Remus feel very badly for the little boy. he was just sitting on the ground looking totally dejected. his pity was increased even more so, that this young teenager was trying to take care of him, most teenagers could barely care for themselves, let alone a six year old werewolf.
"What do you mean he cant talk?" Remus questioned him.
"Well, at least he doesn't talk, or at least he hasn't yet."
Remus surveyed the little boy.
"I think his names Alfie, that's what the woman who dropped him off called him anyway. But, like I said, He hasn't spoken to me yet though." Toby explained.
Remus looked at the little boy, and waved to him. "hi." he said.
The little boy gave him a small wave back, and when he did, his shirt sleeve rolled up slightly to reveal a horrible open wound on his arm. It couldn't have been more than a few weeks old, maybe a month at the most. And, it clearly hadn't been taken care of properly at all.
"his arm." toby said in horror. "What , what happened to him?" Toby asked terrified.
"It looks like he got bit by a werewolf." Remus said, slightly taken a back that the Toby didn't understand that.
"That's how he became a werewolf then?" Toby asked in horror.
"Well, yes. that's how it usually happens." Remus explained, still confused.
"Oh." Toby said. "I didn't know that, that wasn't how it happened to me." Toby said.
"How long have you been a werewolf? " Remus asked, wondering if he'd tell him how he'd become one.
"Oh, only a few months." Toby said sadly.
Remus sighed. He was probably doing this all alone, with no help. It made Remus feel horrible for him. But, he couldn't help but wonder how he had became a werewolf still, if he hadn't been bit, that didn't make sense to him, he made a mental note to question Toby about this more at a different time.
"W-What about you?" Toby asked nervously.
"I was a little younger than him when I was bitten." Remus said, pointing at Alfie.
"Oh. that's horrible, I'm sorry." Toby said.
"It's- alright. I had parents who supported me, that surely helped." Remus explained to him.
Toby nodded. but didn't say anything. Remus quietly hoped that he would go back to his mother and tell her the truth, ask for help and support, but Remus knew that a lot of parents just gave up on their kids once infected too.
"Will-will his arm be okay?" Toby asked, pointing to Alfie who was still sitting on the ground not interacting with them.
"No, he needs someone to look after it, otherwise he'll probably die of an infection." Remus said gravely, noticing that the wound had some necrotic areas on the edges.
"I-I cant do that." Toby said. "I don't know anything about that." He explained.
"I can help him. if he lets me." Remus said.
Remus moved a little closer to the boy, bending down to talk to him. His arm smelled badly, and looked even worse.
"Do you think maybe I could take a look at your arm. I can help." He said putting his hand out for the little boy. but he pulled away and shook his head.
"Let me help, I'm safe." He said to the small boy.
"Look, I have something you might just like." Remus told the little boy, retrieving a chocolate frog from his trunk.
At this, the little boy seemed more interested, and crawled over to see the sweet up close.
He seemed hesitant at first, but took the chocolate in the end. The box popped open of its own accord. Remus smiled to himself. So that boy could do magic.
"Do you think maybe I could look at your arm?" Remus asked him.
The little boy shrugged away. "Its okay, I want to help." He tried to reassure him.
The small boy hesitantly allowed Remus to help him. Remus took a few potions from his trunk, and uncorked a small bottle and dropped a few drops on the boys wound. He was too preoccupied with his chocolate to notice, so Remus continued to work on cleaning the wound.
Remus dropped a few drops of green liquid onto the would and it sizzled. This frightened the boy who jumped.
"hey, its alright. It doesn't hurt does it?" Remus asked him. The boy shook his head, but remained quit.
Remus attempted to debride some of the dead tissue off of the wound once the area was numbed, but the boy often shuddered or pulled away. Remus tried to comfort him as much as possible but there was only so much he could do for him.
Remus hated the person who had done this to him, even more so the people who hadn't gotten him the medical attention that he needed.
After awhile Remus gave up, at least for the time. The full moon was in a week and he didn't want to weaken the boy more than needed. He wrapped his arm up with some bandages that should help speed up the healing process.
After, the little boy went back to Toby's tent and fell asleep quickly on a small cot.
Remus made a mental note to keep an eye on both the boys whilst he was there, as he had realized he could learn much from both. He kept thinking about Toby a lot, and he decided that he would question him more at a different time about he had become a werewolf. The small boy had clearly been bit, but Toby had clearly not been and had become a werewolf a different way.
Remus found this most intriguing, as far as he knew there was only two, maybe three sure ways to become a werewolf. Most commonly, one was to be bit, another was to be able to shapeshift. And, as far as Remus could tell, Toby didn't fit either of those scenarios. Remus even played around with the idea that perhaps he could of been born a werewolf, but as Toby had said he'd only been a werewolf for a few months, that didn't seem to make much sense either. In addition to that, that was extremely rare, Remus had never met anyone who'd been born a werewolf, despite having read about it in books, he'd never encountered that in his life.
These ideas puzzled Remus on and off for awhile. He promised himself that he would look more into this soon, he needed to gain Toby's trust first though.
Remus couldn't help but wonder if there were other ways in which someone could become a werewolf, Other than the ways that were typical. He believed that it was possible if they could isolate how new werewolves were made that they could potentially reduce the number of new werewolves. Soon, this had become one of Remus' main objectives while living with the werewolves.