Chapter Two
Lunar Cycles & Plenty of Chocolate
"Daddy… can I please have another piece of chocolate?" asked Remus hesitantly.
Two weeks had passed since the little four-year-old had been brutally attacked and bitten by the savage werewolf, Fenrir Greyback. He had developed a disturbing reputation of biting children with the likely intention of eventually creating enough werewolves to overcome the wizards.
Lyall Lupin felt extreme gratitude that he was graciously given time off work from his job at the Ministry in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. They had told him to take off all the time he needed to assist with his son's recovery at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
Hunched over in a chair next to the bedside, Lyall looked up from his book he had been engrossed in and pushed his glasses up his nose. He had relentlessly scoured every known book in the wizarding world he could get his hands on with the topic of werewolves in desperate hopes of finding anything related to a cure.
But so far, no luck.
It only brought him to the dreaded conclusion he feared… a cure for lycanthropy simply did not exist.
"Of course, my boy," Lyall lovingly replied.
Then he waved his wand at the half-eaten chocolate bar wrapped in bright green foil with a gold circular hospital logo on it lying on the bedside table.
Remus squeaked in delight. His little gray-blue eyes danced with amusement as he watched the piece of chocolate dance across the air to his mouth and he gobbled it up like a baby bird.
Lyall watched the soothing effects relax his son's facial expression. The father suddenly had a delightful memory flash across his mind from his own early childhood. It was when his parents first bought him chocolate frogs and he chased after them across the cobblestones of Diagon Alley. He made a mental note to go pick some up for Remus when he planned to go pick up the latest toy wizarding broom for his birthday present.
Though chocolate was well known among wizard kind as the perfect antidote for an individual overcome by the presence of Dementors, Lyall had personally learned in his own studies it provided much comfort in encounters with a variety of dark creatures.
Now, more than ever, it had brought a tremendous amount of momentary relief to all three Lupin family members' troubled hearts and minds. Lyall reached for the chocolate bar, *snap* broke off a bit for himself, and anxiously nibbled it.
At the moment, Hope was at home scurrying about their kitchen trying to make a extra special chocolate cake for Remus' fifth birthday the next day. March 10, 1964, would not be celebrated as they had expected. They cancelled a small birthday party that had been planned for Remus with some local children from their village.
The two parents were trying their best to carefully keep the bite incident secret from all their friends by using a made-up excuse about the sudden need to travel out of town to visit a sick family member.
Ministry representatives Lyall recognized had visited them at the hospital already to enter Remus's name on the werewolf Registry list. They told them strictly to keep it all confidential. Lyall was both amazed and ashamed at how much his perspective of the Registry list had done a complete 180 change after Remus was bitten. He felt pure agony watching his colleagues officially record his own son's name.
"Thank you, Daddy," Remus said politely with chocolate smears around the edges of his mouth and rubbing the fur on the ear of his teddy bear his mom had brought him from home earlier. Fortunately, there were no blood splatters on it that needed to be washed off after it all happened in his bedroom back at home.
Little Remus was comforted by his familiar teddy bear but since first waking up at the hospital he had acted clingy in response to the traumatic event wanting nearly constant touch contact with either parent. They both made sure there was always one of them close by to provide it. He had asked repeatedly if the werewolf would come back through the hospital window and they patiently reassured him it would not happen again.
Remus reached his arm out towards his father and tapped nervously on the side of the bed.
Quickly responding to the tapping sound, Lyall set his book down, smiled and leaned forward taking hold of his shaky little hand.
"I'm so proud of you for being such a very brave boy."
Remus tilted his head and gave him a half smile in response like he was not quite convinced. Then he looked down and squeezed his Dad's fingers tightly as if he was trying to absorb courage from them.
Lyall brushed his other hand across his boy's hair gently and said playfully,
"I could be mistaken, but I do believe something important may be happening tomorrow. I don't remember. I can't quite put my wand on it. Hhhm. Do you have any idea what it could be?"
The boy giggled and immediately said, "My birthday!"
Lyall replied, "Galloping gargoyles! You're right. How old will you be this year, my dear boy, two or maybe three?"
Remus snickered and told him holding out all his fingers, "No Daddy no, this many!"
"Ah yes, FIVE years. Five years old, indeed. How could I forget? Your mummy is working like a mad house elf back at home on your birthday cake," Lyall responded.
.
"Will I get to go home tomorrow?" Remus asked with a downcast expression almost as if he was bracing himself for being told he was required to stay longer.
Right on cue, the healer-in-charge, Hippocrates Smethwyck, suddenly entered the room and answered his question.
He smiled down at Remus, raised his wand and three glittery gold letters escaped out of the tip, Y – E – S.
The letters floated lightly down to the bedside right in front of Remus and then exploded like silent fireworks into tiny fragments. He sat up with twinkling wide eyes, let go of his fathers fingers and happily clapped. Then he playfully swiped at the remaining wisps of color until they vanished into midair.
Smethwyck had faithfully helped the Lupin family every day since moment they had first brought their boy to the hospital trembling and pale faced.
His expertise in potions successfully replenished the boy's lost blood, gave him peaceful dreamless sleep and much needed pain relief. He skillfully provided a tricky potion that was a muscle regrow formula that allowed fast repair of the shredded damaged muscular tissues. Remus was up and walking with only a slight limp in a remarkably short amount of time that impressed everyone.
He also was skilled at counseling as it truly was a delicate process to guide the parents through the agonizing process of acceptance of their only child being doomed to a life of lycanthropy.
He did not envy their journey ahead. He shuddered and thought quietly to himself… Merlin shed mercy on us - that we never have to treat another case this young here.
"That's wonderful news, Mr.Smethwyck. Good evening to you good Sir," Lyall as he stood up and shook hands warmly with him.
"Yes, indeed, Mr. Lupin. Good evening to you as well. I suppose it shall be like our birthday gift to you, Remus, letting you out of this place at long last."
"Thank you!" Remus said with a giddy grin beaming across his face.
"Is Mr.Bear ready to assist me today?" Smethwyck asked with a mischievous tone.
Remus nodded swiftly and then turned around to grab his teddy bear. Smethwyck came closer to the bedside and pointed his wand at the stuffed toy. It suddenly became animated and looked like it came to life as it raised up vertically out of the boy's grip. Lyall had sat back down on the opposite side of the bed. He had his legs crossed and set one hand next to Remus where the boy took hold of it again.
The bewitched bear scooted itself in a back and forth motion down to Remus' right leg. One of the bear's paws slid up and pulled back the blanket. Remus watched his enchanted bear with amusement and knowing the routine he bent his knee upwards to allow for the next step.
Smethwyck continued to point his wand at the bear like it was a puppet with invisible strings. The gauze bandages around the boys small leg magically unwrapped themselves. Then they floated up to the bear's fuzzy arm rewrapping themselves around the stuffed toy.
The bite was completely healed over but it's appearance was startling and dreadful. There was jagged criss crossed marks still swollen and reddish-pink in color. Unfortunately it was obvious where the teeth of Greyback had brutally sunk in and torn away at the flesh.
Smethwyck felt he had gotten quite good at casting spells that made bites of many sorts of magical creatures fade away. However, this bite had certainly proved to be his biggest challenge yet in healing scars. The werewolf bite scarring seemed to stubbornly resist every spell he cast at it and it frustrated him he couldn't do better. He sighed and resigned himself to the fact that it would at least be easy enough to hide with pants.
Lyall kept a strait face but inside his stomach twisted in guilty knots at the sight and he wished he could look away. Smethwyck leaned his head down close to the bear and pretended to be listening to it.
"What's that you say? Oh yes, I quite agree.. Mr.Bear says it's doing well but he would like to know what color you'd like the bandage today."
Remus bit his lip and looked up at the ceiling for a few seconds in thought.
"Uuuum, orange!"
"Good choice. Orange it is, Mr.Bear."
Smethwyck looked down and pulled out a flask from one of the many pockets in his green robe. He uncorked the top and then used his wand to direct a white, swirling wisp cloud the bandages still wrapped around the bear.
The bandages flashed a couple of sparks and changed to a glowing orange color. With another flick of his wand, the healer made the bandages magically unwrap themselves from the stuffed bear and float back down to his leg. Then they spun quickly around the boy's thigh until they stopped with a gentle tie of the ends.
"Thank you kindly, Mr.Bear. We greatly appreciate your assistance," Smethwyck said nodding appreciatively at it.
Then he floated it back up to Remus' pillow. The boy grabbed his bear, hugged it and added in agreement, "Yes, thank you, bear!"
Lyall and Smethwyck both couldn't help but both laugh at the sheer cuteness.
Smethwyck had wanted to discuss safety measures of the impending next full moon with Lyall but knew it would be obviously be best someplace outside the auditory range of little ears. He opted to wait until Mrs.Lupin was present knowing it would also be prudent for her to be available as a calming presence to little Remus.
The other healers and him had grown so fond of the boy over the course of the several weeks they had treated him there. Despite the harrowing circumstances, Remus was nearly always cooperative and polite with them which made him a tremendous joy to work with on their rounds. They had taken up a secret collection of galleons in anticipation of his birthday and bought a gift for the Lupin family. It was a special enchanted pocket watch that showed the current moon phases on the face so that it would be a quick way for them to keep tabs on the lunar cycles.
The night passed uneventfully. Hope arrived early the next morning carrying an awkward large cardboard box. Remus was still asleep and Lyall got up from the uncomfortable chair to assist her. He grabbed his wand and aimed it at the box.
"Oh my love, how ever did you manage that all the way from the automobile?"
Hope had driven their Muggle car to London because she lacked the magical ability to apparate for travel. Now since the boy was going home today it would work out well since he always enjoyed rides in it. Lyall swished his wand and the box hovered out of her weary arms. Then it landed softly in a corner of the room on the floor.
Hope gave a quiet exhale of relief and whispered,
"Thank you, dear. I made two cakes instead of one. One is for Remus of course and the second for the healers here to show them appreciation for, for everything really. It was rather awkward to carry. I suppose I just handled it one step at a time. I…I can't help but think I'll be telling myself that more and more these days."
She was taking off her coat hurriedly and paused to look up at him with scrunched worrisome eyebrows.
Without hesitation Lyall embraced her and she rested her head on his shoulder.
"I wouldn't want to face this with any other person, sweetheart. We're stronger together, " Lyall reassured her in soothing tones and stroking the back of her hair. Hope swallowed some silent tears trying hard not to cry in case Remus woke and saw her. She didn't want to spoil his special day. The sugary sweet aroma of rich chocolate frosting filled the room.
"I can smell the cakes from here, my love. Oh, and did I mention chocolate? We will get through this together and with plenty of chocolate."
Hope looked up at him with her teary eyes and gave with a small smile. He caressed her cheek and tenderly kissed her. Hope distractedly glanced over at their sleeping boy and asked, "How is he?"
"He's doing just fine. Smethwyck said he can finally go home today."
"Oh what happy news. We talked about aiming for that on his birthday. I'm so pleased it did indeed work out that way."
"Yes, I'm very pleased as well. Remus will be so relieved to escape the confines of this hospital bed and soon he'll be zooming through our hallways on his new toy broom. Which reminds me.. I must make a quick dash over to Diagon Alley for it now that you're here."
Hope nodded and said, "Yes, of course. Go ahead, love, and I'll take over for now with our sweet birthday boy."
"Thank you kindly, dear. I promise I'll return as quick as I can. I'll apparate in the waiting area so I don't wake him here. Shall I fetch you a cup of tea?"
Tea sounded lovely but she shook her head and told him, "No, no need, I'm fine. I mustn't keep you. Go."
Lyall gave her a quick kiss on her cheek and left the room.
Hope rushed to the bedside and looked at her sweet boy still peacefully sleeping. She thought to herself, 'Ugh, I'm incredibly grateful for those dreamless sleeping potions'. She lightly kissed his forehead and took up his little limp hand into hers. Remus instinctively squeezed her fingers.