Human Qualities

The One She Loved the Most

3 March 1965 - Lupin Cottage

When Lyall came home ballistic that day Remus, being four, didn't completely understand why he had come home in a fit of anger. The entire situation puzzled Remus. It was unlike Lyall Lupin to be upset, let alone screaming holy bloody murder at his wife. Though, yelling at Remus might as well have been a sport. His father was always yelling at him to stay out of trouble and to not be so mischievous. So why was he allowed to get into a bit of trouble, but Remus wasn't? Of course, even when Remus did Hope always came to his defence.

"Trouble finds him," she would say. Then she would continue to drone on about how proper of a child he was.

After a few minutes of eavesdropping, the only concept his four year old mind was able to grasp was something had gone wrong at work and he was in trouble with someone dangerous. Apparently, they had a grey back.

"That's not healthy, they should go see a healer," Remus thought to himself with a shake of his head. He was always thinking of others. His mum had practically been betting on him being placed in Hufflepuff since the day he was born.

At some point, the yelling became snogging and Remus was no longer intrigued. So he decided to venture into the night to feed the small herd of deer that usually hung around the edge of their forest. Earlier that autumn he had stumbled across them when he left his freshly cut strawberries unattended. Rookie mistake. If Remus were like any other child his age, he would have thrown a hissy fit. However, the deer were in luck as Remus was very different from the rest of the lot.

Remus cautiously made his way up to them. He planned to simply sit and admire them in all their glory, but a stag had other plans. The stag trotted to him and placed a strawberry in his gaping mouth. Even he knew it was odd, but he knew he was special; his mum told him so. Therefore, Remus had giggled as he chewed the fruit with wide eyes filled with wonder. Soon the stag was trying to get Remus to pet him. As an animal lover young Remus happily obliged. That night he had gazed up at the moon with his newfound woodland friends.

Now, months later, he was walking to that same spot with freshly sliced apples just like he had before. Only this time he meant to share them and they weren't the same fruit. Once he reached his desired area Remus plopped down in the grass, opened the container, and sat it next to him. Now all he had to do was wait. And he did wait. He waited until the moon was at his peak and Snuffles twinkled brighter than normal. Remus had found the brightness of the star fascinating, but Remus was still slightly disappointed. He had been looking forward to seeing his woodland friends again.

Suddenly howling began to pierce the air. Remus's spirits were quickly uplifted. His favorite part of full moons was howling with the timber wolves.

"Ah-woooooooooo," he howled loudly with the wolves in the distance.

He didn't quite understand why they howled at the moon, but he liked to think it was their way of saying hello to the moon. So, naturally, he always joined in when he heard them because he too, was so very in love with the moon. It and Snuffles had always brought him so much comfort.

Remus giggled loudly, completely unaware of the twigs cracking behind him. "Ah-wooooooooooooooo!" He howled louder.

"Ah-wooo--huh?" Remus abruptly stopped, furrowing his brows. He could have sworn he heard a low growl from behind him.

He peered into the woods with a short hum. Something told Remus that he needed to get inside immediately, though being a boy of his age; his attention span of a child got the best of him. The wolves began to belt out howls again and soon so was Remus. However, after his last howl his body tensed. He was positive he heard something this time. Remus tried to calm himself down as he slowly turned to peer into the dark forest.