Life goes on
Chapter 12- Life goes on
Meanwhile our melancholy werewolf was having a rough time blending in with the new crowd. He had come up with a rather convincing backstory, or so he thought since nobody asked too many questions about it, and he had altered his appearance quite a bit. His hair was now jet black, and reached his shoulders. His usual stubble was now a fully fledged beard, so as to cover his face better. Remus wasn't used to roughing it out, sure he didn't have much, but indoor plumbing and a roof over his head was always available to him.
The werewolves on the other hand, preferred to sleep out in the open, huddled together to keep warm around an open fire. There were a few who opted to sleep in makeshift tents, but Remus decided to sleep out in the open. He already bore the signs of having been living with humans most of his life, so he decided not to make it worse. Besides, the night sky was rather beautiful, and he could keep track of the Moon phase more easily this way. Not that it mattered really, since they were all werewolves already.
The camp was at the edge of a wood, where a few members of the pack would go hunting for smaller animals when it wasn't the full moon. When the time of the full moon came however, that meant it was time to feast. They would even position themselves near farms where they could get their claws on cattle. Remus secretly hated this idea, but he did what had to be done, and just kept his head down. Thankfully, most members of this pack still ate cooked food, although he was sure some of them preferred raw meat, Remus shuddered at the thought. Their food was always bland and tasteless, he missed Molly’s cooking, and the Hogwarts house elves’ cooking, hell, he even missed his own cooking. However, he was still grateful that they never asked the new recruits to go out hunting.
There was a river near their camp, where they got their supply of water for drinking. Most of them preferred to drink the water directly, without filtering it, or boiling it first. Remus despised doing this, but he had no choice, he had to blend in with the rest. What was worse, was that they hardly washed, be it themselves, or their clothes, or even the crockery they used for food. This was where Remus drew the line, he'd sneak off every night to shower, and to wash his clothes, and other things. Hygiene was not to be neglected by Professor Lupin. Whenever he could manage, he would boil his own water before drinking it. He could have just used Aguamenti, but he didn’t want to risk exposing his wand to the others.
He missed Dora so much, and constantly wondered what she was doing, and if she was over him yet, or if she had met a strapping young auror who had swept her off her feet yet. During his first couple of weeks at the camp that was almost all he did, seeing as there wasn't much to do anyway. Slowly he started to blend in with the other werewolves, helping to collect firewood, and water for their camp. They didn't talk much, it was all on a need to know basis, Remus preferred it that way, the less they knew about him, the better.
Dora was miserable, although she didn't let it interfere with her work, she couldn't help but feel lonely once her shift was over and she had to return to her empty flat. She decided to pay Molly another visit, she was always ready to lend an ear without passing judgement. Although she knew Molly was hoping Dora would end up with Bill instead, Molly never pushed it. Dora told her all about the final conversation she had with Remus, this was the first time she could bring herself to talk about it, and was in slighly better spirits when Molly promised to inform her if she got word from Remus.
Molly told Dora about their plan for Harry's birthday, and that it was very likely that Remus would be there too. Molly asked Dora to come as well, but she refused. She couldn't bear to look at Remus, the pain from losing him still fresh on her mind, nor did she want him to see her like this, and feel sorry for her. Dora was grateful for Molly’s support during this time, she was the only person Dora could bring herself to confide in about Remus. Unfortunately their session was cut short by Dumbledore and Harry's arrival at the Burrow; they were actually supposed to arrive the next day.
Dora didn't feel like staying anymore, she couldn't help but blame Dumbledore for Remus leaving her, although it wasn't his fault, and he was doing it for the greater good. Dora doubted he even knew about her and Remus. It was Remus who chose to accept anyway, and his decision to end things, not Dumbledore's. Dora bade Molly, Harry, and Dumbledore goodnight before leaving for Hogsmeade. There were fewer Order meetings these days since Voldemort came out to the open, and the ministry was doing...well something about it, although the Order still communicated often.
It was on Harry's birthday that Remus finally decided to get away from the camp for a few hours. He rather missed the company of the Order, and he needed updates on what was going on in the Wizarding World. He had managed to get old Prophets, but he knew they never reported the whole truth. Arthur had sent word that they'd be having a small do over tea, Remus made himself scarce, and walked a good few miles away from the camp before disapparating to the boundaries of the Burrow. Not that the other werewolves really cared about his whereabouts.
Molly and Arthur had lost no time in reminding him he was being silly for leaving Dora, once the children were out of earshot, and he should have given them a chance. Although part of Remus wanted to believe them, he knew Dora would be better off without him. Despite their chiding, it was nice to be in company of those who actually liked him for a change, Remus thought his chance of having friends again were dashed when he lost Sirius, but he was wrong, the Weasleys always welcomed him, despite his furry little problem.
Finally Remus had the courage to talk about the actual reason he was there at the werewolf camp. He was very tactful, unlike his former comrades who would just shoot their mouths. Majority of the werewolves in this camp preferred not to take sides, for they knew they would be treated like scum by either side. There were a fair few who outright hated Voldemort, as they knew he only used werewolves to carry out his bidding. Using them as weapons he could threaten to unleash on those who went against him, and their families.
Some of them didn't mind this, as long as they got to unleash the beast within on unsuspecting humans once a month. They were tired of living in the shadows, trying to hide their condition. Those who thought this were immediately rebutted by the others, which was excellent for Remus as he didn’t have much convincing to do. As a whole, most of the werewolves at this camp weren't keen on spreading their condition, unlike a lot of other camps, especially the ones which had been graced by the presence of Fenrir Greyback.
Transformations were still painful, Remus noted most of them hated it too, just like him. The look of fear was obvious in their eyes as the moon waxed. The worst part was that Remus couldn't take Wolfsbane anymore, even if he did have a small portion left in his cottage all the way in Yorkshire. This would not make him very popular with the others, causing them to mistrust him even further. Remus was always afraid of losing himself, and hurting others, or even killing them during the full moon.
He still remembered the time when he was still a student in Hogwarts, and Sirius decided to play that nasty trick on Severus. Had James not gotten cold feet, who knew what would have happened to Severus. And the other time during his short stint as Hogwarts professor. He could have hurt, or even killed so many people when he transformed on the Hogwarts grounds in June. Plus, if it wasn’t for his furry little problem, Wormtail wouldn’t have escaped, and Sirius would have been a free man. But of course, Severus refused point blank to believe Remus, causing them to waste precious time. If only he did, Wormtail wouldn’t have escaped, Sirius would still be here, and Voldemort wouldn’t have come back, not yet at least.