Werewolves Everywhere
Werewolves Everywhere
We were in luck, Chiara was working at the intake desk when we arrived in the Serious Bites ward at St Mungo's. Ben was also there visiting her. I noticed she looked a bit flustered and kept her eyes on her paperwork. I held Barnaby and Alexi back, obviously we'd interrupted them talking about something important. I was about to suggest we go up to the tea room and wait but Chiara had glanced up and noticed us by the lifts.
She smiled and waved to us over Bens shoulder. He turned around quickly, scowling when he saw us. I assumed he must have been unhappy to be interrupted, but that really wasn't like Ben. I wondered again if he still had misplaced jealousy over Chiara pretending Alexi was her boyfriend. But as soon as I thought it, I realised I'd been incorrect. Chiara had come out from the small office area to greet us and immediately stood on her toes to give Alexi a kiss on the lips. I was lost for a second, they were either going pretty far with putting on a show that they were together, or, they actually were together. Which made no sense as I'd seen Alexi kiss Diego that very morning before we left for the Ministry.
Before anyone could say anything, Ben stormed past us into the lifts without even acknowledging we were there. I looked at Chiara and Alexi in confusion and found them both looking a bit guilty. "Er, do you guys want to tell us what the hell that was about?" I asked them. "Yeah, um, let me go tell Chaney I'm going for a break, I'll meet you upstairs in five?" Chiara suggested nervously.
She disappeared before I could say sure. I raised my eyebrow at Alexi as we got into the lift and hit the number five.
"It's not what you're probably thinking" he started. "I'll explain, but I think Chiara should be there too, it's kind of complicated." I didn't say anything and neither did Barnaby. What I was thinking was that Alexi was a cheating arsehole, and even more so for being so blatantly open about it. I was also worried about Ben, he was definitely not okay and I wondered why the hell they'd done that in front of him.
We rode up in the lift in silence and didn't speak to each other again until we'd sat down at a table with our tea and Chiara had come up to join us. She sat next to Alexi and took his hand in hers before saying, "Look, I know that was super awkward and I'm sorry. But it had to be done." She exchanged a hesitant look with Alexi and allowed him to continue. "Okay, so first thing I guess is, no, I'm not cheating on Diego. But Chiara and I, we are in a relationship as well. Diego knows, he is okay with this as long as we're all honest about it. I know it's weird, that's why we haven't told anyone yet but we don't feel it's something we should have to hide. When we talked after the full moon, Chiara, Diego and I, we were all very open about our feelings and it took some time to figure it out but this is what we want." He stopped there and let the information sink in. Barnaby spoke while I was still mulling over what Alexi had said. "So, you're like, in an open relationship or something? Sorry, it's not even my, or our business" he said, glancing at me quickly before continuing. "What I mean is, we're not judging and I'm sorry if you felt like you had to explain yourselves. Boy, this is awkward isn't it?" He laughed uncomfortably.
"It doesn't have to be awkward. And yeah, I guess open relationship works. I wasn't planning on this being like a coming out or anything, but I guess just to set the record straight, I'm bisexual. I'm also polyamorous, which is something I've only recently figured out. Monogamy just isn't my thing. That might sound like I'm just a prat or a player but I've always kind of been that way. I develope feelings for multiple people at the same time. I never had a steady relationship before Diego and as much as I care for him, when I realised my feelings for Chiara, I just didn't want to hurt anyone or be dishonest. I told them both how I felt and it just sort of, worked it's self out this way." Alexi fumbled over his words adorably.
Chiara, who had been nodding along as he spoke chimed in when he'd finished. "So, yeah. I'm dating Alexi, exclusively, on my end anyway. And he's also dating Diego, and Diego said he was going to date other people too and that he's okay with, this. As it is, for now I guess. We're kind of just playing it by ear and making sure we all communicate if anything changes."
I didn't know what to say. I wasn't judging, or I was trying not to. It was just a very strange situation to be confronted with out of the blue. I definitely understood why they hadn't announced it to anyone though, and quickly decided to do my best to make it easier for them by offering my support.
"Well yeah, okay, that's brilliant. I'm happy you guys are happy and you've found something that works. Barnaby and I won't say anything to anyone, obviously, it's not our business. But thank you for trusting us enough to tell us the situation."
Alexi and Chiara relaxed visibly when they knew we were going to be supportive of whatever their choices were, so long as it wasn't hurting anyone. But that brought my mind back to Ben, so I asked. "Is that what Ben was so upset about? He doesn't approve?"
Chiara looked a bit sad as she explained that Ben had been trying to get back together with her for a while, but she had turned him down. "I still care about Ben, and I'm sorry that he's hurting right now. But I don't want to be with him anymore. He really hurt me, and I just don't think we could have worked it out. Especially not after I met Alexi. Ben's been really unkind to Alexi, and to me. I'd been trying to let him down gently, telling him I was seeing someone else, but at first I didn't say who. He'd guessed it was Alexi and made some pretty awful comments about us having a litter of puppies and stuff, and, yeah, what you saw downstairs was me giving up on being gentle with him. I hadn't planned on it but he came in earlier and had been badgering me about it until you lot showed up."
That pissed me off, I was still worried about Ben because he'd been acting so differently lately, but I wasn't going to make any excuses for him after hearing that. I suggested Chiara and Alexi just steer clear of him for a bit and hope that he'd get himself together and would come around eventually. But I did worry the rift might be beyond repair.
I'd had a pretty bad time of it when Ismelda found out Barnaby and I had been secretly dating at Hogwarts, and that was before her and I had even become friends. It was easier when we hadn't been close and Barnaby had been the one to turn her down and tell her that we were together. I could only imagine how much harder it had been on Chiara and Alexi. I figured dating in a friend group as large as ours was bound to happen, but it did make things messy when relationships didn't work out.
We left the conversation about Ben where it was and I brought the topic of Lupin up, which was our original reason for visiting. Chiara was first thrilled to hear his name mentioned, but then upset that we thought he could be irresponsible enough to run amok in Hogsmeade. She was adamant that he absolutely could not have been the one who bit Alexi and said she could prove that much. But that we'd need to talk to him about where he'd been during the last full moon.
She was also very concerned that there was another Werewolf on the loose. "There's just Werewolves everywhere, and three in Hogsmeade, what are the chances? There has to be a connection, I'll get in touch with Remus and see if he can meet us for dinner tonight. Can you lot be at the Leaky Cauldron around seven?"
We agreed and let her get back to her duties while we headed home to get changed and figure out a polite way to ask Lupin about his lunar routine.
After we got home Alexi seemed a bit off. He went straight to his room and didn't come out for several hours. When he finally did emerge, he said he wasn't feeling well and wouldn't be joining us. He tried to sneak back upstairs but I called bullshit on him and followed him.
"Alexi? Are you sure you don't want to come? I think it would be good for you to meet Lupin, and important for you to be there when he confirms he's not the one who infected you. I know him, a little. And Chiara trusts him. Can you please trust us and come?"
He sighed. "I'm not sure who I can trust Samhain. His cloak, it smelled like the one who bit me. I'm scared it might be him and Chiara just doesn't want to believe it. She trusts him for whatever reason, but I don't. What if we get there and it was him, and he recognises me?"
I sat down on his bed next to him. "Then we'll out him on the spot and take him into custody Alexi, simple as that. If you can identify him for sure by his scent we will do what we need to do, okay? But if it's not him, he is our best chance at finding the other Werewolf. You know the scent, it was one of them for sure so if Lupin is innocent we'll at least have his story on who the other one is."
Alexi agreed that we had to find out which one was loose in Hogsmeade, and he admitted even though he was scared that he needed to get closure on his attack. So reluctantly, he joined us at the Leaky Cauldron that night.