Mischief Managed | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 67

When Remus had calmed down a bit more and started to feel better, they all headed back to their dormitory. Though the walk up to the common room passed in silence, they stayed awake in their shared dorm, talking all through the night.

     They were all gathered on Peter's bed, with James leaning his back against the headboard and the other three sitting on the mattress cross-legged. Peter, who often felt cold, had wrapped the scarlet blanket around him, while Remus was nibbling on a piece of chocolate which helped to soothe his nerves.

     "Does it hurt?" Sirius asked with a pillow on his lap as he rested his elbows upon it. "When you transform, I mean."

     A change had taken place in his tone, his voice no longer holding onto the playfulness. He barely looked Remus in the eye, perhaps the feeling of pity sinking down on him.

     "Yeah... it hurts a lot, actually," Remus answered quietly and his friends heard him with wonder. "Each time, I have to break every single bone in my body to transform." The other three grimaced.

     "When — when did it happen, though?" James asked after a pause of a second or two, during which time he examined Remus worriedly.

     "You mean when was I bitten?" Remus asked, and James nodded hesitantly. Remus then sighed, saying, "I was five."

    "What?" Peter squeaked in disbelief. "But — that's too young! How did it happen?"

     Remus thought back at the night. The memory of it seemed floated away from him to an immeasurable distance, but he still remembered it as clear as day. Perhaps it was because, even to this day, Greyback still haunted his nightmares.

"When I was younger, my dad worked at the Ministry in the department of Non-Human Spiritous Apparitions," Remus started to explain, fumbling with his fingers with his gaze down on his hands as he spoke. "At the time, there were rumors that You-Know-Who had started to recruit Dark Creatures as his followers. So the Ministry had gathered those creatures who were suspected to be guilty. And among them was a werewolf. His name was... he..."

Remus paused, frowning deeply. A blight seemed to have descended on him.

"His name was Fenrir Greyback," Remus finally managed to say, a lump growing in his throat. "He had been brought to the Ministry because he was accused of killing two Muggle children. And my dad... he was one of the people in charge of investigating Greyback."

James, Sirius, and Peter listened to him intently, catching his each word with no less pity than surprise. But they already had a faint idea as to where this story was going.

"Greyback told the Ministry that he was a Muggle and he acted shocked to be in the presence of actual wizards. Everyone believed him. But not my dad. He recognised signs in Greyback's appearance and kept telling the committee that he was a werewolf."

"They didn't believe your dad, did they?" Sirius whispered, and Remus shook his head.

"No, they didn't. My dad told them that they should keep Greyback at the Ministry until the next full moon, which was less than twenty-four hours away. But they laughed at him. They then asked my dad to leave the court, and he got angry and started insulting the werewolves, with Greback still in the room. The court apologized to Greyback and they let him go."

"But didn't the Ministry try to put a Memory Charm on Greyback and Obliviate him?" Sirius asked.

"Werewolves are stronger near full moon, even though they look more sick," Remus explained. "The Ministry wizards tried to fight back, but Greyback managed to escape them."

"Oh..." James breathed out, unable to look up at Remus as he now figured what had exactly happened.

With the next words that Remus spoke, they could hear the pain in his voice.

"It was near my fifth birthday... I was sleeping in bed... I had no idea what had happened at the Ministry that day, or that Greyback was planning on coming back for revenge because my father had believed that werewolves deserved nothing but death..."

Remus took in a deep breath, his eyes fixed on his lap as he tried to hold back his tears. The memory came back to him in a flash as it always did. He could never forget it.

"I woke up with a start when I heard a crash... he had broken through my window, and... and I couldn't do anything to stop him... no matter how much I screamed... it didn't stop him... I was too little to do anything..."

Remus sniffed, his voice breaking. He felt weak for being at the verge of tears again, but it somehow felt good that for the first time in his life, he had someone to share this with.

"He was there to kill me. That was his revenge," Remus said in a quiet voice. "But my dad came in time to save me and drove him out of the house with a lot of curses and spells. My dad saved my life... but from that night on... I... I became a werewolf."

A haunting silence fell among them. As soon as a tear dropped down his eye, Remus quickly wiped it away with his knuckle.

"Sometimes it made me wish that my dad hadn't saved me..." Remus whispered, his voice barely audible.

"Don't say that!" James said sharply, his eyebrows furrowed sorrowfully.

"You don't understand." Remus shook his head weakly. "You don't understand what it was like. We could never live in a town or village for long. We had to leave as soon as anyone noticed that something was wrong about me, or heard my screams during full moon, even though my room was locked and many silencing charms were cast on it. It wasn't enough. I wasn't even allowed near other children when I was younger, because my parents were afraid I would let it slip about my condition."

Despite his loving parents, Remus had always been a lonely child. And he had grown to believe that this was going to be how it was for the rest of his life. That he was meant to be all alone. He had thought that this was what he deserved.

"My dad searched for a cure for years. But it was pointless," Remus continued. "As I grew older, the transformations became harder. More painful. But I also grew stronger, so the enchantments around my bedroom couldn't be held off for long. So my dad decided to home-school me, and he taught me at home. But one day, Dumbledore came along and offered me a place at Hogwarts. It was... it was like a dream come true."

Remus was now smiling through his teary face. Another long silence fell between them.

"We won't tell anyone, you know," said James, breaking the silence. "You can trust us."

"He's right, Lupin," said Sirius with a grin, nudging Remus with his elbow. Peter nodded as well, though he still seemed a bit dazzled by the terrifying and heartbreaking story.

A bigger smile made its way over Remus's face. There were a thousand thoughts going through his head as he felt his heart grow warmer. But all he managed to say was, "Thanks..."