Harry Potter and the Prince of Slytherin

Chapter 37: What's Past Is Prologue (pt 1)

But for some reason, the Monster couldn't make little Remus give in to its hungers and hatreds, so it took out its frustrations on their shared body instead. Every Change was accompanied by a night spent in a cage unable to hunt and kill and eat (and perhaps not even in that order), and at some point, the Monster inevitably accepted that, for another month at least, it would not win. And so, petulantly, it would begin to scratch and bite at its own arms and chest. The wounds healed quickly, for that was one of the Monster's gifts. Few things could hurt it for very long, and its own claws were not on the list. But it still hurt while it healed, and a few claw marks were so deep that they would not fully heal before the Change Back. When that happened, scars would remain. Not many, but enough for little Remus's body to be marked with them.

Remus rang the bell three times quickly, then three times slowly, and then three times fast once more. Intelligence was not one of the Monster's gifts, and so it could never know how to send his mum and dad the all-clear signal. Even if it could trick them into coming down to the basement before the Change Back, it probably couldn't hurt them through the cage, but it was always better safe than sorry. Remus knew that his parents had sacrificed everything to give him some semblance of a childhood, and he would rather die than curse them as he'd been cursed.

A few moments after he rang the bell, he heard steps coming down the basement stairs, and the door was thrust open. It was Lyall Lupin, the boy's father. He looked down at his boy, naked and exhausted, and did his best to not seem sad. He never succeeded, for Remus was far too astute, but the boy appreciated the attempt. Lyall swiftly came over to unlock the cage with a spell, and Remus slowly crawled out and stood, wincing again as he did. His father summoned a terrycloth robe from across the room and wrapped it around his son.

"Good morning, Remus," he said with false cheer. "And happy birthday! I wish it hadn't coincided with the full moon, but ...." Lyall trailed off uncertainly. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," the boy lied, and his father nodded, cognizant of the lie but willing to pretend otherwise for all their sake's.

"Good, good. Now let's get you upstairs. We'll give you a rub down with some Essence of Dittany and then a nice hot bath while your Mum finishes cooking breakfast." Remus nodded.

"After that, I want you to take a nap for a while so you'll be rested." Lyall smiled cheerfully, but it did not reach his eyes. It rarely did nowadays.

Lyall paused and then continued with a slight hitch in his voice. "We have company coming later this afternoon, Remus. I want you to be on your best behavior when they get here."

"Is it ... Them?" Remus asked cautiously. Lyall winced and then nodded. "Them" was how the boy referred to the wizards who showed up from time to time on the days after each Change. Privately, he also thought of them as "The Faceless Men" even though he suspected some were women, because neither he nor his parents could ever remember their faces after they left. Remus didn't like to say that name aloud though. It was a scary name, and he didn't like to think about how frightening he found Them. The Faceless Men didn't come after every Change, and the tests they performed on Remus were quick and rarely hurt – though rarely was another way of saying sometimes – but they always made the boy feel uncomfortable. The way they looked at him, as if he were still an animal even after the Change Back.

They first made themselves known to Remus when he was 7. He'd been cursed at 4, but while his parents eventually told him that the Faceless Men had been monitoring him casually from a distance ever since he was first cursed, he had never met any of Them. Not until his 7th birthday, when They came to the isolated shack where the Lupins had set up a home and offered The Deal.