You're Still My Remus
Morning crept slowly into the hospital room, carrying with it the soft gold of a sun that dared to rise after such a cruel night. The light touched the corners first - the edge of a blanket, the rim of a glass - before sliding gently across Remus's bed.
He stirred beneath the sheets, a faint flutter of movement, like a bird testing its wings. His eyelids twitched. Then slowly, hazel eyes opened, clouded with pain and confusion.
Hope was beside him in an instant, her hand already brushing his curls back from his damp forehead.
"Remus," she whispered, her voice tight with emotion. "Sweetheart... you're safe. You're here."
His little brow furrowed as he tried to speak, but his voice caught, dry and thin.
"Mum...?"
"I'm right here," she said, cradling his hand in both of hers. "You're okay. You're going to be okay."
His eyes moved around the room, slow and unsure, landing at last on the tiny figure curled at the foot of his bed. Svetlana had fallen asleep sitting upright, her head resting near his feet, arms still wrapped around the stuffed bear she hadn't let go of all night.
Remus blinked. "Why is Svet... here?"
Hope's heart cracked at how small and lost he sounded.
"She stayed with you," she whispered. "She didn't want to leave. Not for a second."
Remus turned his head slowly, wincing at the pain that tugged through his body. He looked at his arms - clean now, but bandaged, marked. And somewhere inside, he felt it. Something different. Something heavy.
"I had a dream," he murmured, eyes unfocused. "There was a monster... with yellow eyes... and teeth. It hurt me."
Hope didn't correct him. Her throat was too tight.
He looked at her, his voice barely a breath.
"Mum... was I the monster?"
Hope's tears spilled before she could stop them. She leaned down, pressing a kiss to his forehead.
"No, Remus," she whispered fiercely. "You are not a monster. You are my son. You are light, and laughter, and everything good."
From the foot of the bed, Svetlana stirred, her sleepy voice muffled against the stuffed bear.
He looked at her, confused, but a soft warmth flickered in his gaze - the recognition of something anchoring him in the storm.
And in that fragile morning light, wrapped in wounds and whispers, Remus Lupin blinked at the world through tired eyes, unaware of just how strong he would have to become.
But not yet.
For now, he was just a boy waking up from a nightmare, with his mother's hands around his, and his best friend by his side.
When Remus learned the truth - why Greyback had come for him, what he had become - something inside him curled inward. He stopped speaking to his father. Wouldn't look at him. Wouldn't listen.
Lyall, hollow with guilt, could do nothing but watch his son slip into silence, knowing his own words had carved the path to this fate.
It was the day after Remus's first full moon.
He was only four, yet the weight he carried now bent him like a boy far older. There was no laughter in his voice, no gleam in his eyes. The child who once ran through snowbanks with joy now lay quiet and still, buried beneath a cocoon of soft blankets in his small bed.
His body ached in ways he couldn't name. His mind was clouded with broken memories - flashes of pain, fear, teeth. He didn't understand it fully, but he felt it in his bones: something in him had changed forever.
Beside him, curled close like a promise, was Svetlana.
She had stayed. Even after the transformation. Even after hearing him cry out like a creature from nightmares, after seeing him wrapped in bloodied cloth and trembling from the curse. She hadn't run. She hadn't flinched.
And neither had her parents.
Elisabeth and Anthony still greeted him with soft smiles and open arms. They didn't look at him like he was dangerous, or different. They treated him the same as always - as Remus. Just Remus.
And for that... he was quietly, deeply grateful.
He turned his face into the pillow, eyes wet, voice a whisper meant only for the girl beside him.
"I'm sorry I'm a monster."
Svetlana turned toward him, her small hand finding his beneath the blankets.
"You're not," she said softly. "You're my Remus."
And for the first time since the moon had taken him, Remus allowed himself to believe - just a little - that maybe he wasn't lost.
Maybe, in the arms of those who stayed, he could still be found.