Chapter 5

Little Lamb Remus & Hebrides Islands.

The first day of the Lupin family's holiday at the remote, seaside rental cottage in the Scottish highlands began with little Remus waking up disoriented.

He had zonked out asleep as Hope predicted once they drove away from their visit to Hogsmeade and had to be carried to bed when they arrived late at night to the cottage.

It was early morning and he was nestled snug between both parents who were still heavily sleeping with occasional loud snores from the big day prior. Remus felt a bombardment of unfamiliar sights, sounds and smells.

His eyes blinked open and he looked up quietly examining the texture of strange ceiling bathed in a soft glow of early morning light. He didn't recognize the white painted stone walls of the bedroom and he gazed at them curiously.

His ears filled with rhythmic ocean waves that gently crashed on the nearby shoreline, a slight ghost-like howl of a sea breeze that crept through cracks in the cottage windows and occasional sea birds called out in flight overhead.

His nose inhaled the new scent of saltwater, the slightly musty air from inside the cottage and smokiness from the fire that had died down since Lyall built it upon their arrival late last night to warm their new abode.

Remus quickly connected the dots that this was their new little home away from home for the duration of their holiday. Although in his short life so far, with their new pattern from moving frequently he had learned that anywhere in the presence of his family was his true home not merely a location.

He felt a burst of excitement flare inside his chest wanting to get up and explore the new surroundings. He laid still and marveled at how good it felt to experience joyful excitement instead of the dread that usually flared inside of him from his monthly transformations.

He had become all too familiar with dread... dread about the pain, dread about possibly hurting someone, dread about someone asking nosy questions and most of all dread of putting his parents through such an unnecessary burden so often.

For now, he mentally pushed those thoughts away and decided to pretend he wasn't a werewolf. He would just be a whole, normal human boy that came to this cottage like any other family on a holiday. He would ignore the deep lingering aches and pains in his limbs that stubbornly plagued him after a full moon and pretend they didn't exist for him.

He carefully sat up in bed between his parents not wanting to wake them. He watched them both snoring and repressed a little laugh within himself at how the sound of the ocean waves in sync with their snores made them seem amplified.

I mustn't wake them. They deserve to sleep in all day after yesterday, he thought silently. His heart felt a warm glow of gratitude at the remembrance all his parents had done for him.

There was a small window above the bed. He slowly shimmied himself up to the wooden headboard, quietly grasped onto the top edge, and peeked through the old glass window pane to take in the view.

Remus covered his mouth with his hand to contain the delighted gasp of surprise when he saw three sheep outside grazing on bright green grass behind the cottage; including an adorable, snowy white, baby lamb. Oh, Hello.

The small lamb had noticed the sudden movement inside the window of him peeking out and its head popped up and froze momentarily looking back at him. It looked from Remus to one of the other grown sheep, shook its tail and then bounced around in a playful circle.

A gray, loose stone wall had been built around the cottage that contained the green grass in the backyard. Beyond the wall, stood rugged, stony hills that swept dramatically upward in the magnificent highland landscape.

There was something comforting to him about the fact that they were isolated from others in this setting. The thought filled him with a sense of relief and a calming peace.

Remus glanced down at parents and was glad to see they were still fast asleep. He looked at his mother's shoulder length auburn hair spread out over the pillow. He gently touched some of her hair with one finger and had a sudden pang of sadness as he noted how there was more grey strands.

Mummy does so much for me...I'm going to something back nice for her today.

He carefully crept like a silent bowtruckle over the wooden headboard of the bed frame and down onto the bedroom floor. He tiptoed out of the room and then gleefully zoomed around the cottage interior taking a quick tour to explore all the rooms.

Remus relived himself in the loo and washed his hands in the simple pedestal sink. He was happy he was tall enough to not need a stool to reach the faucet. He splashed around a bit in the sink bowl.

The stream of water made him realize he felt extremely thirsty. It seemed like his throat was always in various levels of feeling irritated and parched. He instinctively started lapping up the water with his tongue and gulping it down.

He looked up at the reflection in the oval mirror hanging above the sink on the wall. Water was dripping from his chin and mouth.

He remembered his mother telling him after one full moon he had killed a rat in the basement. She had tried to make him feel better thanking him for ridding their living space of the pest. But he was revolted by himself at the time and the thought still repulsed him.

Remus looked closer in the mirror and his stomach twisted in disgust wondering if his mother had found him that morning with blood on his face similar to the way the water was dripping now. He winced and quickly turned off the faucet.

He grabbed a hand towel and buried his face in it with his eyes clenched shut.

Don't drink water that way, Remus. No. For Merlins sake, get a bloody drinking glass. You're not going to be a werewolf here, remember?

He rubbed his face hard with the towel, shook his head, and washed his hands a second time. Then he moseyed to the kitchen to see about setting up a surprise brekky for his mother.

The kitchen was small and simple. However, there was an impressive cozy dining nook that bumped out facing the ocean with three surrounding angled windows side by side. It had breath taking views down to the shoreline.

Remus pushed a chair up to the counter, stepped up, and pulled out drinking glasses and tea cups for the three of them out of the cupboards. He filled the three drinking glasses with water and set them on the table. He also placed the tea cups and saucers on the table and then sighed. He quietly felt a bit disappointed with himself that he was too young to heat water for a pot of tea.

He saw that his mother had hastily put down some travel bags in the kitchen including the basket of sweets from their Hogsmeade trip. He peeked in the basket and took out the three lovely cauldron cakes his father had painstakingly purchased from Honeydukes the day prior.

He gently set the cakes on individual plates on the table and spent a moment with his mouth watering looking at the cake details. Yellow and orange colored frosting pointed upward in lovely fire like wisp shapes out of the hard dark chocolate shaped cauldrons.

He curiously slipped a little finger into one of the cakes to test what was below the wisps of frosting. When he pulled his finger out it was covered with chocolate cake crumbs and oozy wet fudge. He impulsively popped the finger in his mouth.

Mmmmm... well, that one will be mine.

He took a step back to view the set table and fingered his chin in thought. "It's missing something else...hhhm," he softly said.

Flowers!

He snuck outside to pick a little wildflower bouquet. The sea breeze swept through his hair and the crashing ocean waves took on a louder level of amplitude. As tempting as it was to go mucking about down at the beach, Remus stayed close to the cottage to investigate the flora and fauna choices mindful to not worry his parents.

He picked a few yellow dandelions, some sprigs of woody purple heather and dashed back in. Then he arranged them in another drinking glass in the center of the table. Hhhmm. It still didn't feel quite complete yet.

He looked around the cottage and found an old candle with a burnt wick. He moved it to the table. Then with a balled up fist he concentrated hard on the stiff, black wick, "Lumos!", and opened his fingers at it.

A few iridescent, blue sparks appeared in the air in front of his poised, focused hand. He tried again and again.

Finally, one of the sparks caught the wick and changed from blue to a warm yellow flame. Remus had tried this at home countless times and this was the first time it actually successfully lit.

"I did it... yessss!" he cheered quietly to himself filled with pride.

He pretended to be the little lamb outside and joyfully leapt around the kitchen floor. Someday I'm going to fully master lighting and extinguishing those candles without even using a wand.

Remus decided to climb back into bed in the gap between his sleeping parents and patiently waited until they woke up on their own time. He watched the playful baby lamb through the window again jumping about and nibbling in the lush grass.

Hope was the first of the two parents to finally awaken. She stretched out her arms to where her boy usually slept between her and Lyall patting around on the mattress a bit with her eyes still closed.

After a big yawn, the reaching became a bit frantic, she blinked her eyes rapidly and asked anxiously,

"Remus... Remus?"

Remus had an impish grin spread across his face watching her in his close proximity sitting at the headboard. Suddenly, he jumped down on all fours on top of her.

She gasped in surprise.

"Good morning, Mummy!"

"Oh my! There you are! Well, aren't you just a bundle of energy, early bird," Hope said embracing him in a big hug and kissing his forehead.

"I'm an early lamb, actually! Baa-aaa. Mummy, there's a baby lamb outside our window."

"Is that so? I did see a glimpse of a few sheep out there in the yard when we got in late last night but not a little lamb. Perhaps it was sound asleep like you, love."

"I made a surprise for you in the kitchen," Remus announced.

"Awww, a surprise? Really?" she replied.

He nodded and said, "Yes, mummy. Really!"

"Aw, you shouldn't have, sweetheart."

He nuzzled his head under her chin and could still smell faint scents still lingering on her from their visit to Hogsmeade yesterday. It pleasantly reminded him that it was not all just a dream. He rested his head on her shoulder and she scratched his back lightly.

Lyall suddenly yawned and said,

"Morning, you two."

Remus excitedly popped up from Hope's shoulder and scampered over to his father. Lyall sleepily blinked at his son now hovering over him.

"Good morning, Daddy! Guess what?"

"What is it, Remus? My 'cauldron' is feeling a bit empty at the moment," he replied rubbing his fore head and then massaging his temple in circular movements.

"I made a surprise for mummy in the kitchen, there's a baby lamb outside AND I lighted my first candle with my hands."

"Wait, what? You lit a candle on your own... but you don't even own a wand yet, I, I don't even think I've mastered that with just my hands," he responded in disbelief.

Lyall sat up in the bed and put his hands gently around Remus's waist staring at him in amazement.

Remus sat on his fathers lap and grinned proudly up at him. Remus fingered at his bottom lip and then explained,

"Well, it took me a lot of times but the blue sparks finally caught on it."

"Merlin's beard, Remus, that is, that is downright impressive. Congrats, my clever boy," Lyall told him a bit flabbergasted and gave him a hug. Remus hugged him back with a huge smile from ear to ear.

Hope watched them and then asked, "Remus, would the surprise in the kitchen you mentioned have anything to do with chocolate?"

Remus gasped and a startled expression appeared on his face, "Mmm, maybe... how did you know, mummy?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe it's because there appears to be chocolate cake smeared on your chin."

Hope rolled over closer to Remus, tickled under his chin and then his ribs lightly until he started to giggle.

The three of them throughly enjoyed Remus's surprise brekky in the cottage dining nook, sipping their morning tea and savoring each bite of the scrumptious cauldron cakes while taking in the gorgeous ocean views. Hope put one of the sprigs of flowering purple heather behind her ear to show her boy how much she appreciated his thoughtful touch.

The parents loved the times they got to simply relax on a beach blanket together and watch Remus happily explore beach treasures or build magical creatures out of sand. One day it was a sand sculpture of a grindylow complete with many sharp driftwood sticks for fierce teeth and seaweed tentacles limbs.

That very evening in the cottage, Hope heard an odd screeching sound outside and tapping on glass. At the moment she was just finishing up washing the sand out of Remus's hair. He sat contentedly in the bathtub with two driftwood sticks in each hand pretending they were two tiny broomsticks whizzing around on front of him.

Sitting on the closed lid of the toilet she raised an eyebrow curiously, leaned back and called out,

"Lyall, did you hear that?"

His voice echoed back to her, "Yes, love. No need to fret. It's just an owl post for me."

Remus leapt up in excitement splashing bath water on his mother and she said, "Hold your hippogriffs, Remus. Let me grab a towel."

"You mean hold my broomsticks?" he corrected holding out both of his dripping driftwood sticks at her with a silly grin.

"Yes, yes. That's right. We can't have you mucking about dripping wet in your birthday suit. Let's towel off and at least get you into your pajamas properly."

"I wanna see it!"

"I know, sweetheart. Hang on. We'll get it done in two shakes of a lambs tail."

She worked as quickly as possible to dry him off and help him into his night clothes. Hope made an intentional effort to not show any reaction though inwardly she cringed at the collection of small scars accumulating across his little arms and chest. She buttoned the last button on his night shirt and then he zoomed out to see the owl.

Lyall was opening the front door when Remus's feet came pitter pattering quickly towards him. A tawny owl fluttered right inside and Remus watched it with eyes full of wonder. It landed on the back edge of a dining room chair.

"How did it know we were here, Daddy?"

Lyall walked towards the Tawny owl perched on the backrest of the chair and replied,

"Ah well, it knows from my last post. I forgot to tell you that while we were waiting for our food to-go order at the Three Broom Sticks, I apparated over to the Owl Post office in Hogsmeade. I sent an owl out to a contact, Hamish MacFusty, on the Hebrides islands due west of us that's known for it's Hebridean Black Dragons. I'd bet my wand on it, this message is from him."

Remus muttered an echo, "Hebridean Black Dragons.." and crept behind his fathers leg. He watched cautiously as Lyall untied the message tied to the owl's foot.

The tawny owl puffed out his feathers and made a quick ruffle movement shaking off some tiny droplets cold ocean mist. It was a stocky, medium sized owl, with reddish brown, grey and white speckled plumage.

"Hey. You're wet like I am, owl," Remus said with a slight laugh at the feel of the cool mist the bird shook on him.

The owl cocked it's head and looked intensely strait at Remus with its eyes like glassy, solid black gob stones.

Lyall made a quiet grunt to himself reading the message.

"What is it, Daddy, what is it?"

"It was my contact, Mr. MacFusty, indeed. The writing is a bit rough but from what I understand, he's invited me to come visit."

Hope was nearby hanging up the wet towel to dry by the fireplace.

"Everything alright?" she asked glancing toward them in the kitchen.

"Yes, dear. Just a... a work contact," he said awkwardly.

Hope didn't buy his vague response. She frowned and came closer. She touched his arm and pressed,

"Now why would they be buggering you here on your holiday? What's so urgent?"

Hope had learned to generally be accepting of the level of confidentiality that Lyall had to keep at his work with the Ministry. But sometimes she also had an uncanny ability to sense when he was unnecessary hiding something from her.

She looked up at him suspiciously and Lyall's face broke, "Alright, I'll , I'll explain more in a bit. I need to give the poor owl a treat. Its likely had a bit of a harrowing journey over the sea to us."

Right on cue, the tawny owl squawked, "Keeer-eeeE!" seemingly in agreement.

Hope asked, "Shall I fetch it some mussels from our collection today?"

Lyall said, "No no, no need. Thank you, though."

Then he pulled out his wand and said firmly, "Accio snuff box."

A round metal tin came floating from around a corner and right into Lyall's hand. Remus and Hope watched him inquisitively as he opened the tin. Lyall said,

"Eeylops Premium Owl Treats. It's a brand of owl treats I bought from Eeylops Owl Emporium in Diagon Alley before our trip. I have yet to meet an owl that doesn't fancy them. This one can have mussels any day, so I imagine these will truly be more of a treat."

Lyall held out the open snuff box toward the owl. Sure enough it began to chirp excitedly in anticipation. It snatched up a brown mouse shaped treat right away and squinted its eyes swallowing it within a couple of fast beak movements.

Hope gave Remus a playful poke in the ribs and teased, "Merlin, and I thought you were a fast eater."

Once the owl finished all the treats in the small tin, it shook its feathers and then flew over to a book shelf in the living room. Then it began preening its feathers. Remus curled up with his teddy bear on the couch, wiggled his foot rhythmically and watched the perched tawny owl with fascination. The owl looked at him with indifference then ignored him and returned to preening.

Hope took a seat at the dinning nook and stared up at Lyall expectantly. Lyall sat across from her at the table and placed the post in front of her. She took a moment and read the message but then looked up him with confusion written all over her face.

"Who is this?"

Lyall sighed and finally explained.

"Hamish MacFusty. He's part of the wizarding MacFusty clan that's known for tending to a dragon breed called the Hebridean Black. The native habitat is located on the Hebrides islands just west of us here. I... made contact with him because he claims to have a healing potion we could try with Remus. I'm, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it until now, love."

Hope reached across the table and took his hand. He looked at her sheepishly.

"Lyall, you don't need to hide it from me. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work and I'll still be proud of you for trying. We're in this unique journey together and we're trying our best. That's all we can do, right?"

"Right. You're right, Hope. I just, wanted to spare you the rollercoaster of disappointment, I suppose. Thank you for your gracious understanding."

"When will you go?"

"In two days...and Remus will need to go with me, there and back. The potion has to be drunken immediately."

"What? Lyall, over the ocean-"

"Wait, Hope, just hear me out. Please. I've thought this through already. I don't want to use a port key as I'm almost certain he would experience port key sickness at his age. It's dreadful, really. I could barely tolerate it when I was the same age and I wasn't even a...you know, facing the same same challenges. I've flown long distances by broomstick before and this is really not that far, perhaps just over an hour. I brought the harness and goggles. So far he's been an excellent rider with me on our past excursions together."

Hope listened to him with a furrowed brow. She looked down at the note but was not reading it. Her eyes looked distant. Then she nodded and said shakily,

"Alright. I trust you. If you feel it's worth it."

Lyall heaved a sigh of relief.

"Thank you. Thank you, darling. Yes, I do feel it's worth a try. It'll be a 'wand cast in the dark' but worth a try, nevertheless. Most dragon parts used in potions are known to have extremely magical properties; even powdered eggs. The MacFusty clan has tended to these Hebridean Black dragons for centuries, so I'm hopeful."

"Tea?"

"Yes, please."

Hope got up the table and started the water kettle warming on the stove. She set a small plate of rectangular pieces of shortbread and another fudge like dessert called tablets flavored with whiskey that she had picked up from the closest grocery shop away from the cottage.

Lyall nibbled on a crumbly golden tablet and gazed thoughtfully out the dining nook window. He was surprised Remus had not appeared and smelled the plate of sweets. He looked over to the couch near the cracking fireplace. Remus fast asleep with one arm hanging off the edge of the couch cushions and the other snug around his stuffed teddy bear.

Hope set a tray upon the table and filled a tea cup for him. She asked, "Will our owl friend be staying the night with us?"

"I doubt it. I imagine it needs to rest for a bit. However, they are nocturnal birds of prey and prefer to be out at this time. Once I write a post back to Mr. MacFusty and confirm we're coming, I think it'll be motivated to fly out again. They take their messenger jobs seriously. They really are such remarkable, faithful servants to wizards and witches."

"It was a happy surprise for Remus to end his day," Hope commented.

"OUCH!" Lyall suddenly yelped.

His teacup had magically morphed into a set of teeth and bitten him on the nose. The tawny owl turned his head and made a small annoyed squawk at his sudden noisy outburst.

Lyall rubbed his nose and set the teacup back down on the saucer. He squinted his eyes and gave Hope a slightly miffed expression.

She snickered at him mischievously and winked. She raised her teacup and said, "Cheers."

A/N:

Thank you so much for the reviews - it means so much and helps motivate me to keep writing more.

Tbh - I wasn't planning on spending this much time on little Remus but because of the positive feedback I decided to camp on this time period a bit longer before moving onto when he gets older.

Warm regards,

EmeraldChicken