Winter
“Are you sure you want to stay this year, Cissy?”
It was December, Eryn and Narcissa were seeing Bellatrix off before she went home for the holidays. Normally, Eryn stayed behind while his sisters left. Their parents didn’t mind him not being around for the family gatherings. But this year Narcissa had decided to stay behind with her brother, after much negotiating with their parents.
“I’m sure, Bella. Just go already”.
Bellatrix looked at Eryn. Their relationship was rocky these days. She clearly thought he was a bad influence on Narcissa.
“All right, fine. I’ll see you in January”.
She turned away and boarded the train.
“You two are staying?”
Eryn jumped and turned around. It was Lucius.
“You need to stop fucking doing that”, Eryn said, collecting himself.
Lucius smiled humorously.
“So, why’s Bellatrix taking off?”
“She’s the only one who wanted to go home for the holidays”.
“Really?”
“Yeah, really”.
“You two are so stupid”. Narcissa rolled her eyes.
***
Nothing much happened for the next few weeks. Though Eryn seemed to have found a kindred spirit, and they went by the name of Remus Lupin.
It started a few days after Bellatrix had gone home. Eryn was starting to grow a strange fixation with Remus, though he couldn’t tell what it was exactly. He just had a sense that there was something different about Remus, a connection to him Eryn had never felt before.
He managed to spot him in the library that evening and sat down beside him.
“Morning, Lupin”.
“Hi”.
Remus scratched behind his head, he didn’t make eye contact with Eryn.
Eryn looked across the table. He noticed that Remus didn’t have any books with him, he was just sitting there drawing.
“What are you doing in the library?”
“I dunno…just needed a change of scenery, I guess”.
“Understandable. I need that sometimes too”.
Remus didn’t respond and instead focused on his drawing.
Sitting this close to Remus helped Eryn realize what was so different. With other people, Eryn could sense how they felt, and vaguely what they were thinking, almost fully if he made eye contact and concentrated. With Remus, he couldn’t feel anything. It was similar to how it felt when he was around animals. Eryn couldn’t figure out why.
The two of them sat silently in the library for a bit longer, Eryn occasionally asking a question, and Remus answering dryly. Eventually they left together, with Eryn fully running the one-sided conversation.
Two boys whom Eryn didn’t recognize passed them in the corridor.
“Look, the tranny and the furry are together!” the one with greasy black hair called out, laughing to his friend.
“Fuck off, will you?!” Eryn shouted at them. They both hurried away, still laughing.
Eryn sighed and looked to Remus.
“Just ignore them. They just can’t stand that I’m prettier than their girlfriends and that you’re…”
He noticed how confused Remus looked.
“Do you know what furry means?”
Remus shook his head.
“Well…it’s a word for werewolves, not a polite one, but I’m sure you could tell that”.
“Oh”.
There was a shift of discomfort between the two boys. Remus looked at the ground, and Eryn started fidgeting with his sleeves.
“Are you one?”
“Um….yes?”
Eryn thought for a moment.
“Yeah, that checks out”.
“Sorry?”
“I’m a half vampire, you see. You felt different from other people, that’s why I sat with you in the library”.
Remus seemed to be loosening up a bit. He looked up at Eryn.
“I thought you felt different too. I wouldn’t have guessed that you’re a vampire, though”.
“Yeah, hard to tell from a distance. I’ve read before about vampires and werewolves having connections to each other, similar abilities and all that shit. Never had a reason to worry about it, though”.
There was a beat.
“Why did Snape call you a tranny?”
“What I said earlier. Probably just jealous. Doesn’t make me not wish they’d just leave me be, though”.
Remus looked down at Eryn’s shoes, and slowly back up at him. Eryn had accessorized with black socks under his skirt today.
“Why do you dress like that, if you know they’ll call you things?”
“Well, for starters I look damn gorgeous”, said Eryn. Remus stayed stone faced.
“Hard laugh, aren’t you? Anyways”, Eryn continued. “I just do it because I like it, that’s all there really is to it”.
Remus stayed quiet for a minute. He seemed to be deep in thought.
“I better go back to the common room”, he said eventually. “Frank’ll be looking for me”.
“Right. Never talked to Frank before, doesn’t seem like a person I’d want to cross, though”.
“Yeah, he’s strict sometimes”, Remus said. He smiled with that comment.
“There it is”, said Eryn. Remus laughed.
“If you ever want to talk about all this monster half-breed shit, I’m all ears. Well, I’ll probably talk more than you but if you want me to listen I will”.
“Okay. Bye, Eryn”.
“See you around, Lupin”.
Remus darted off back to his common room. A few seconds later Eryn turned the other direction to go back to his, smiling to himself on the way.