ON HOLD - Caramel [G.W.]

five.

The day passed in a blur of classes and whispers of murderous lunatics escaping Azkaban. There were also stares, too many stares. At first, Orion thought they'd figured out who else raised him, or that they'd drawn the connection after finding out that Remus was the man who'd adopted a death eater's son. But, if the whispers and the giggling were anything to go by, it was probably because he'd grown into his father's face. Though, his was slightly less angular and he had scars going down the left side of his face. He'd only know what his father looked like from a single photo that was tucked into his blanket the day he was left on the front porch of the Black-Lupin household.

He kept it tucked in that same notebook as the picture of James and his family. Though, it had a very different purpose. This photo, he only brought out when he needed to remind himself that he would never end up like Evan. This was usually brought forth by his cousin, Draco, who seemed to make it his mission to remind Orion that it was in his blood to become just like his father. Deep down, he knew you-know-who would come after him when the time came, he was a pureblood from a powerful family. Even if he hoped the world was on his side when he'd been brought to Evan's cousin Sirius when he just as easily could've been brought to Narcissa and Lucius.

Orion jumped about a foot in the air when he felt a hand on his shoulder, his eyes flashing amber as he pressed his wand to the person's chest. His reflexes were lightning fast, but he knew not to cast spells until he figured out who was sneaking up on him. He learned that the hard way after casting the bat-bogey hex on Anthony Rickett 1st year.

"Hey! Hey, it's just me, put your wand away." Cedric had his hands raised defensively. "Is everything alright? You've been.. off all day and now you don't even hear or smell me coming." his eyebrows furrowed a bit.

"Yeah.. yeah, I'm fine, just exhausted. And these stupid gashes are really starting to hurt." he looked down at his side and poked at it with a wince.

"Are you sure you're alright? No offense mate, but you look like shit." Cedric frowned and started herding Orion in the direction of the Hufflepuff common room.

"Yes, I'm fine.." Orion mumbled and all but nuzzled his head into Cedric's side. "I'm just tired and I don't want to be holed up in the medical wing any longer.. It smells weird.." he pouted.

"Oh poor you, poor little werewolf and his heightened sense." Cedric chuckled teasingly and ruffled the boy's hair. He sighed softly and tapped at the barrel that granted access to the Hufflepuff common room to the tune of Helga Hufflepuff.

Orion winced at the bright light of the commons room and turned to bury his face in Cedric's robes. It was times like these when he longed for the subtly lit Gryffindor common room and the crackling of a fire. Flashes of falling asleep curled up to a particular redheaded twin on the sofa in front of the fireplace ran through Orion's tired mind.

"Can you sneak the twins in?" he looked up at Cedric as he was sat on his bed. He was far too tired to worry about how this might look if any of their housemates came in, especially now that Cedric was slipping his outer robes off to hang on the coat rack.

"Later, you need to sleep. You won't get any sleep if either of them are here." he chuckled softly and helped the smaller boy out of his jumper. "You got it from here? Gashes aren't too bad?"

Orion nodded a bit and stood up slowly and made his way to the lavatories. He frowned at the tell-tale heat of silver when he got close to the water fixtures. Dumbledore had tried to replace the silver platters in the dining hall as well as the water fixtures in the showers, but the silver had something to do with allowing the magic to work. Orion scoffed a bit as he wrapped his hand in his washcloth and turned on the shower. First year, he hadn't realized that the fixtures were silver and had grabbed the handle straight up. It left him with a nasty burn that ended up infected and keeping him in the hospital wing for far too long.

He sighed softly as he hot water ran over his small frame. He would wince, but the water almost felt good against the new wounds. Pain made him human. His shower was quick, it always was. He was afraid that somebody would come in and see his scars and figure out what he was. Then he'd be handed over to the ministry and their silver whips and silver axes to torture him before putting him down. He shuddered slightly at the thought and finished his shower, frowning at the heat he could still feel through the washcloth from the silver fixtures. Orion sighed as he pulled on a pair of boxers and sleep pants before wrapping his towel around his shoulders. He gathered his things and made his way back to his and Cedric's dorms.

"Can you help me put on new bandages.." Orion sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, barely able to keep his eyes open with how tired he was. Ever since Cedric found out about Orion being a werewolf, he'd helped him with bandages because it was usually too painful or hard to reach.

"When is your dad going to start letting you take that wolfsbane potion.. It's been almost two nights since the full moon and you're still beat up.." Cedric frowned as he gently wound the bandages around Orion's healing wounds.

"Next full moon.." he mumbled and rubbed at his eyes. "He was just scared about letting me take it because it can be dangerous for me to be fully conscious after the transformation.." he winced as Cedric tied off the bandages.

"Yeah, well if he doesn't I'm about to start figuring out how to brew it. You won't survive many more moons if they're this bad." the taller sighed and sat down next to Orion. "You know you can talk to me about whatever's going on.."

Orion just nodded as he carefully laid back on his bed, but he didn't miss Cedric's frown as the other boy pulled the covers over him. He wanted to tell Cedric what was going on, he needed to get it off his chest. But, he was afraid how he would react to living with someone who was raised by a man convicted of murder. It was hard enough accepting a werewolf, but a werewolf raised by "Sirius Black, murderous lunatic" was definitely not very appealing. Plus, then that would just be another thing Cedric knew and the twins didn't.

It hurt not telling the twins about his lycanthropy. Countless holiday and summer break invitations to the burrow, only to be turned down due to a full moon. It was exhausting. The one time Orion did go to the Weasley's, he was so worried about them finding out that he almost threw up in the middle of Christmas dinner. He missed the burrow. The warm, loving atmosphere it provided reminded him a lot of when he was young and he would be brought along to one of the Marauders hang outs. They certainly shared the same controlled chaos.

Orion knew he needed to tell Fred and George, an preferably soon. He wouldn't want them to figure it out on there own, because telling them at least meant he could control when things went downhill. He wondered if he'd ever be invited back to the burrow after he told them. Would Arthur turn him in? The man did work for the ministry after all. Orion's dreams that night were nightmares. Nightmares of being turned over to the ministry by the people he trusted most and being put down by Sirius.