Children of the Moon
Children of the Moon
Our exhausted and wounded group Apparated onto my front lawn and collapsed together in a heap. Chiara, who had gone ahead of us, was waiting with our other three housemates to help us inside before any of the Muggle neighbours got too curious. I had a momentary pause going through the doorway, wondering if it had been a mistake to bring Lupin into our home, but at the time I was too grateful for his help in getting Alexi home to think on it too much.
We got Alexi settled on the couch and Diego and Chiara stayed with him, trying to keep him comfortable while they worked to remove splinters of wood and shards of glass from his many smaller cuts. I gave myself a quick once over, flexing fingers and toes and decided I was fine, aside from feeling like I could collapse again at any moment.
Merula dragged me away from the living room and forced me into a chair at the kitchen table, telling me Alexi didn't need me hovering. I knew she was right. Alexi had been through enough accidents because of me so I just did as I was told. Lupin and Ismelda were already at the table, and Ismelda, bless her, had made coffee. I checked the wall clock and was shocked to see it was only a little past ten. I felt like I'd been up all day and all night and only wanted to be in my bed with Barnaby's arms wrapped securely around me.
But Barnaby wasn't back yet. I remembered what I'd heard him say, but had to ask Lupin to repeat it before I believed it fully. Barnaby had said he was going to check in on Ben. Ben who he'd almost killed, and who had almost killed Alexi and myself. I had a quick pitying thought that maybe Barnaby was going to finish him off, but I remembered how he'd been gently helping the injured man at the Leaky Cauldron before we left. Barnaby might have lost it for a minute but he wasn't going to hurt Ben or anyone else now.
I sipped my coffee, impatiently tapping my foot against the chair leg. I didn't like doing nothing. I was almost ready to go back to hovering over Alexi, but what stopped me was the thought that he might not want me anywhere near him. He'd cared enough about me to take a curse for me, but the cost had been too high. I felt guilty as all hell and didn't want to show my face and make him regret saving my life.
I resumed tapping my foot, lost in my own thoughts as was my norm when I was distressed. I barely even noticed Merula had been grinding her teeth in annoyance at me until she pointed her wand at me and said irritably "Locomotor Mortis!" My legs stuck together, preventing me from tapping. I glared at her. "That wasn't necessary Merula. I'm just on edge." I snapped at her.
"Yeah, sorry. We all are I guess. But you're not even talking, Chiara barely told us anything, just that Ben went over on one and tried to curse you lot. And as much as I prefer not to admit this, I'm your mate Strixx, so let us help." I sighed. Merula was in her own way, one of the most supportive people in my life. Gruff and sarcastic as she was I knew she cared deeply and was genuinely concerned about me and Alexi.
I performed the counter curse on myself but instead of tapping my foot, I started talking. I told Merula, Ismelda and Lupin what had happened but I didn't go into details about why. I played it off more like Ben had just been really drunk. I didn't feel comfortable sharing the reason why I thought he'd really turned psychotic, and I wasn't even sure I was right. There could have been something else going on, something else that had happened between when Ben left St Mungo's and when we saw him again.
As I was talking I realised I had barely even introduced Lupin to my friends. And I saw how weird the situation must look to them, coming home with this thirty year old man. I hastily amended the story to start with Chiara asking Lupin for help. I looked at him carefully, unsure if I should say what kind of help, he nodded to me.
"I suppose it wouldn't shock anyone here to learn that I'm a Werewolf?" He said it so nonchalantly.
Merula just shrugged, "Who isn't these days?" Ismelda wasn't phased either, that seemed to ease Lupin's mind and he asked how he could be of assistance. Chiara and him had arrived to the Leaky Cauldron in the midst of chaos and there had been no time for questions then.
"I'm not sure what, if anything, Chiara told you Remus, but I think I'll get straight to the point. I work for the Werewolf Capture Unit now, as do Barnaby and Alexi. We found your cloak in the woods just outside of Hogsmeade this morning. And we tracked your footprints to the Shrieking Shack. We also tracked a second set of footprints, well, paw prints actually. I need to know what you were doing during the last full moon and anything else you can tell me about who that other Werewolf might be." I laid it out as clear as day for him.
Lupin was extremely startled, his eyes grew wide as I spoke and when I'd finished he hesitated before speaking. "I, yes, I was in Hogsmeade. Other Werewolf you say? I had no idea, I didn't transform there. I saw no one else. I'd been traveling in the area, the day of the full moon. I had left something personal of mine at the Shrieking Shack, years ago. I went to retrieve it and Apparated back to my home in Yorkshire before dusk. I spent the full moon locked in the basement of my cottage and that's also where I woke up the next morning. I promise you, I did not get out. It's been many, many years since I spent any time outside during a full moon."
I wanted to believe him, but I couldn't help but think he was hiding something. I let my wards drop and gently reached my mind out to his. It was difficult to see his thoughts, some were clear while others looked as though there was a hazy film over them. I poked around and saw a happy looking young couple. A pretty, red haired woman and a man with untidy brown hair and glasses. I didn't recognise either of them and pushed past their smiling faces. I saw the Shrieking Shack, I saw Hogwarts, I saw a very young looking Lupin with a gang of boys laughing. I realised I'd gone way too deep into his mind as he winced, I pulled myself back quickly.
"I didn't know you were a Legilimens Samhain. Have you always been?" He asked me quietly. I nodded. "I couldn't always control it and I didn't know until a few years ago, sometimes I still have trouble with it" I admitted, pulling my wards back up. I hadn't seen or sensed any dishonesty from Lupin's mind, but that didn't mean he wasn't hiding anything. I decided to trust him though, simply because everyone had their secrets and it wasn't my right to go snooping around until I found them.
"So, the other Werewolf Remus? Alexi thinks it's the one who bit him. He's a brand new wolf, last full moon was only his second transformation ever. His family lived in the rural area around Hogsmeade and that's where he was attacked."
As I spoke Chiara came into the kitchen and sat down at the table next to Lupin. "How is Alexi doing?" I asked her. She shook her head sadly. "Not great, but he's sleeping now. That was some curse Ben hit him with. I'm not even sure where he learned it. And you know the power behind any spell is the intention, how much you mean it. I just can't believe Ben could be that hateful. This is all my fault." The self loathing in her voice broke my heart, and I was quick to reassure her. "No Chiara, it's Ben's fault. I don't care how angry or hurt he is, there is no excusing what he did."
Merula echoed my reassurances in her own way. "Copper went from being a wet blanket to kind of alright to an absolute freak show. I'm glad Barnaby punched him, he'd had it coming for a while. Hopefully that'll have knocked some sense into his thick head. But if he carries on with his unhinged behaviour we're going to have to do something about it" she finished grimly.
I nodded in agreement, we would have to do something about Ben if Barnaby and Tonks couldn't get through to him. But he wasn't there with us currently, so I brought the conversation back around to the other Werewolf, the one Alexi was sure had bitten him. Lupin was thoughtful for a while but eventually he suggested something with a quick glance to confer with Chiara. "Alexi is quite young. It is definitely possible his attack could have been random, the work of another new Werewolf or perhaps one who had a solitary security lapse. But, given his age, I have to suspect it might have been Fenrir Greyback. Or possibly one of his lackeys." he said it so solemnly. Chiara was biting her lip nervously as she answered him. "I thought he was out of the country Remus? Like way far gone, if Greyback has come back we're all in deep trouble." I felt a lump rise in my throat. We'd encountered Greyback before, when we were just kids at Hogwarts. From what I knew of him, he was the single most vicious Werewolf known to Wizardkind, and he was that way by choice. He'd been the one who had bitten Chiara when she was just a small child.
Lupin then revealed that it had been Greyback who had infected him as well. "If it was Greyback, he likely didn't bite Alexi at random. His attacks are always premeditated. He spends much of his time stalking and plotting against his chosen victims, positioning himself close to them on full moons. Sometimes it's motivated by revenge, he bit me because my father had offended him. And he has always preferred children and young witches and wizards. I found out through an acquaintance, Greyback calls the young ones he bites "the Children of the Moon" and it's his desire to have us all return and join his pack. "The Grey Pack", it's mostly made up of people he's personally chosen and infected. I sincerely hope I'm wrong but if he is the one responsible, the one you are tracking, you will need to be extremely careful. He rarely works alone and he is very comfortable hiding amongst wizards in his human form, watching and planning."
Lupin left before Barnaby returned home that night, wishing us luck and reminding us to be careful. I didn't know what I'd expected from him, to stay with us as a parental type of figure and help us with Greyback maybe. Or at least offer to stay in touch if we needed more advice. But he'd just left. I thought he was probably afraid. Or he just didn't want to get mixed up in something that really wasn't his problem, which was fair. I wasn't used to relying on anyone but my friends for help anyway. I put on another pot of coffee and sat back down at the table to wait for Barnaby.
Unbeknownst to any of us, while we sat around my kitchen table discussing our situation, a young boy somewhere in Surrey had just turned eleven years old, and was about to meet my friend, the keeper of keys and grounds at Hogwarts.