The Cursed Creature

Chapter 8

The Great Loss

The next five months were an up and down for Remus as he got to enjoy three weeks of each month with his loved ones, whereafter there was one week filled with tiring weakness, soreness, the torturous transformation and the following recovery. Each full moon his dad got him new potions to try or spells to be cast on the shed or himself but they didn’t help much.

Remus was grateful that his dad didn’t stop trying though. It gave him hope that there was still something out there waiting to be found that would make it at least a little better for him. Over the course of the months Remus got downright afraid of the full moon, because he connected it with excruciating pain and suffering.

His grandpa Kurt got him a lunar calendar so he could always have an eye on the moon phases. It wasn’t like he didn’t feel when the full moon was close but it was reassuring to be able to always know how many good days he had left in the month.

About six months after his 5th birthday his whole life changed yet again. The Moreaus were getting increasingly suspicious of Remus's monthly phases of reclusion and demanded an explanation from his parents. Remus didn’t know exactly what his parents told them but they didn’t seem completely satisfied with the answers, which is why they didn’t allow Pierre to stay over at the Lupins anymore.

Thus, when Remus was invited to the Moreaus’ afterwards his parents were somewhat worried. The time he spent playing with Pierre was as fun as always with the only difference being that Pierres mum would check on them more regularly than Remus was used to. They each took turns in drawing magical creatures while the other had to guess which one they aimed to depict.

Since neither of them was a great artist, they were laughing a lot at their miscreations.

During dinner however, Remus felt that something was amiss. Mrs. Moreau's smile looked somewhat wrong and less friendly than usual and Mr. Moreau wasn’t talking about the Ministry for once. After an uncomfortably long silence, Mr. Moreau cleared his throat and addressed Remus directly.

“Remus, I am sorry to ask you this, but we couldn’t fail to notice that you are falling ill quite often. Every month for the last half year to be exact. We have never heard of a case of Goblin’s Cough that had these kinds of aftereffects and to be honest we are worried about our Pierre. So excuse me for being so frank with you Remus, but what is really wrong with you?”

Remus sat frozen on his chair, his fork forgotten halfway to his mouth. All he managed was staring wide-eyed at Mr. Moreau, hearing white noise in his ears. He knew he wasn’t supposed to tell the truth, but he had never been forced to tell a direct lie either. Until now that is and his mind drew a complete blank.

With the seconds passing he slowly began to panic and his eyes filled with tears. He had an instinctive urge to flee but he didn’t want to lose Pierre, so he just hung his head and whispered “I’m not supposed to tell anyone. But I would never ever hurt Pierre, he is my best friend”.

He didn’t look up when he heard Mrs. Moreau gasp: “Merlin and Morgana”. “You were right, darling. I couldn’t believe it.” To Remus she said “Remus, dear, please go and get your things. I will bring you home. I need to have a talk with your parents.”

Resigned, Remus got up to collect his things when a confused and upset Pierre entered the conversation: “Wait. Maman, why do you want Remus to leave? Can’t you just talk with his parents tomorrow?” Remus saw through the corner of his eye how Pierre’s parents shared a look before he exited the room. He hoped that his parents would be able to resolve the situation so he wouldn’t lose his best friend.

Remus’s parents were not able to resolve the situation. To make matters worse they even had to move away from Cardiff, because Mr. Moreau threatened his dad to tell every wizarding family in the area about Remus's condition in order to keep them safe, if they wouldn’t leave. He didn’t get to see Pierre another time, not even to say goodbye and he would lose his neighbourhood friends, too. Remus was inconsolable.

He knew that it was just as hard for his mum with her having to leave behind all of her friends and her parents as well. So, he tried not to cry too much in front of her as she already looked as sad as he felt. He did, however, ask his dad why people hated him as soon as they knew his condition.

“I don’t understand dad. If they knew that I was sick for so long and didn’t hurt Pierre, why would they think that now? They should know I would never go near him on a full moon night.” His dad sat down next to him and it took him a while to answer.

“They probably could, but in the wizarding world we don’t know much about werewolves and what we do know is mostly about people like the man that attacked you. So, the only thing people will associate with werewolves is that they lose their mind during the full moon, attack humans, live often outdoors, are cursed and share the curse through biting someone else.”

Remus hated being compared to his attacker. “So they think I’m a monster? Like the one that bit me? But I’d never bite someone. Ever!” he exclaimed, getting increasingly upset.

“I know that, Remus. As does your mum and your grandparents for that matter. But people who don’t know you that well and grew up learning about werewolves being dark creatures won’t be so easily persuaded to overthink their opinions."

“I wished it would be different and we tried to make the Moreaus realise that none of us would ever put Pierre in harm's way, but we can’t force them to change their way of thinking.” Even if his dad was probably right, it just didn’t feel fair to Remus. Silence filled the room and he got lost in his thoughts.

“Dad?” he asked after a while. His dad lifted him up and sat him on his lap.

“Yes, Remus?”

“Do you remember the story of the Fountain of Fair Fortune?”

Here, his dad chuckled. “You mean just your favourite tale with the three witches and the muggle knight on their quest to get their bath in liquid luck? No, it doesn't ring a bell.”

Grudgingly, Remus had to grin as well “daaaaaad!”

Still smiling, his dad asked more seriously “What about the tale, Remus?”

Remus hesitated a moment, before whispering “Sometimes, I wish the Fountain would be real.”

In response his dad hugged him tightly and his mum joined them soon after.

With great reluctance he said his goodbyes to Mary, David and Alan before spending one last day with his grandparents at the coast. He would see his grandparents again of course, but not weekly as he was used to and he would have to stay away from his former friends as to not to be seen by any of the wizarding families. It just wouldn’t be the same here in the future, since it wasn’t his home anymore.