Reading Between The Lines ~ Remus Lupin ~ Book 1

chapter 56

Thursday, 27 October 1977

Lena didn't like watching Remus turn into a werewolf. She didn't like hearing his bones crack. She didn't like seeing his face in agony. She didn't like how she knew he felt.

And Lena didn't like being scared. She felt ridiculous being scared. She wasn't afraid of Remus. She never was. She wasn't scared of what to expect. She had known what to expect from tonight. Remus had told her. Her brother had told her. She had even caught a glimpse of what to expect a year earlier. Lena wasn't sure why she felt scared.

There were no longer two people in the room. There were two wolves. The only difference between the two wolves was that one of them had no sense of control and no understanding of right and wrong.

Remus stared at Lena and Lena stared back. Remus' teeth were bared and there was saliva dripping from his mouth. Lena backed into the wall as she saw Remus prepare to leap forward. Remus was faster than her though and the weight of Remus hitting her forced her into the wall. Lena pushed back on Remus and scurried over to the sofa, perching herself on the arm of the piece of furniture. He followed her.

Once again, Remus leapt to attack Lena. While Lena was quicker this time to avoid the weight of Remus' entire body hitting her body, she was quick enough to avoid the swipe of Remus' claw against her front leg. Lena let out a howl as she leapt away from him. Blood trickled onto the carpet as Lena flew through the air and landed on it.

Lena circled and let out a growl. She was angry, not at Remus though. It wasn't his fault. He literally had no control over his actions. She was the one who had insisted on coming with him. She was just angry.

As Remus leapt forward to attack Lena once again, she leapt up, meeting Remus in the air, ready to fight back. Guilt washed over Lena immediately as she bit down on Remus' shoulder, causing him to howl out in pain and fall to the ground. He collected himself and bared his teeth at Lena once more. Lena bared her teeth as well and held her ground firmly as Remus attempted to attack her again.

The pair's heads made contact and they began rolling on the ground, each of them trying to overpower the other. Saliva was dripping from both their mouths and anger was bazing in both their eyes. Their tails were slapping the ground sporadically and the dingy carpet that lay on the floor of the Shrieking Shack was being torn to shreds.

Lena let out a howl and slapped Remus' snout with her tail as she felt a claw slice across her back. It hurt. It hurt more than Lena cared to admit. But she didn't have to admit it. It was obvious that it hurt a great deal as Lena crumpled to the ground on top of the shedded carpet. Lena whimpered as she rose from the ground and moved as fast as she could to the couch. She moved slowly though. Her speed was hampered by her injury.

Before Lena could get to the couch, Remus appeared before and stared her down. He growled at her and Lena growled back, though it sounded more like a yelp than a growl. Remus growled again. It was louder and more commanding this time. Lena began to back away but Remus followed her all the way across the room until Lena backed herself into a corner until she had nowhere else to go. Remus growled again and all Lena could do was give up. Lena laid on the floor and bowed her head. Perhaps if she did nothing, Remus would ignore her. Or maybe he would attack her once again.

Lena flinched as she felt Remus touch her. Instinct told her to fight. But she didn't need to. Lena turned her head to look behind her. Remus was licking the wounds he had inflicted on her back. Lena rested her head back on the wooden floor. She had no idea why Remus was doing this. According to him, Peter, James, and Sirius, he had absolutely no control over himself during a full moon. At the moment though, he was seemingly calm and apologetic. Perhaps Remus was acting the way he was because Lena was a wolf and werewolves, like wolves, wanted to form packs and protect them from others.