The Forest - R.L.

Chapter 52 - The Woman

"A werewolf!?" one of the men beside them cried loudly. "You think we have a werewolf here in Larkstowe?"

"Yeah, I overheard some of the muggles talkin' yesterday. One of them reckons they saw this big wolf thing chasin' something through the woods right next 'er house on the west of town. Said it was a week or two ago, 'round the time of the last full moon. She's lucky the thing didn't catch her scent and try to bite 'er head off!"

"So you think it was a werewolf she saw?" a man behind him asked, scratching his beard.

"Well there ain't any normal wolves in those woods, what else could it have been!?"

Remus' eyes were glued to the bar in front of him as his mind was racing. He knew which woods they were talking about. They ran along the edge of a group of muggle farms, and continued until it reached a small river, on the other bank of which their own forest began. There was a possibility that they could've...

"Did we cross over into the woods last full moon?" he harshly whispered to Grace, his eyes frantically searching hers.

"I... I don't think so. But that's a long way to go, I don't think we would've," Grace replied, hopeful.

"Are you talking about that werewolf?" a large woman asked as she came up behind the group of men. Grace vaguely recognised her – she rarely ventured into to town, only leaving the farm that she and her muggle husband owned to sell relishes and jams at the market. She too must have come to check out the new inn.

"Why? You seen it?"

"Oh, I've seen it alright. I've seen it transform."

That was enough to send Remus into a completely panic mode. Not only did they know there was a werewolf, they knew it was him. He immediately stood up from the bar, only for Grace to grab his hand and pull him back down.

"What are you doing!? We have to get out of here. Maybe I can-"

"You'll only attract attention to yourself! Just, I don't know, keep your head down. They don't know that you're here."

"This isn't some spy book, Grace, we need to get out of here now!"

"So you know who it is, then?" a third man asked.

She didn't reply, only turned her head to a middle aged scar faced woman, looking solemnly down at her drink. Her jaw tensed as the whole corner of the Inn that had been listening in on the conversation glared at her.

Remus let out a huge sigh of relief, his face so pale it looked like he was about to pass out. He gripped Grace's hand with both of his, before looking over to the corner were the woman sat.

Neither of them new who she was – she'd only been in Larkstowe for the past year or two – but they feared for her all the same.

It didn't take long for a small crowd to form around her, taunting and jeering, calling her a monster, a danger to Larkstowe, a follower of You Know Who. The Inn's owner soon stepped in, breaking up the group and politely asking the woman to leave, but Grace could see how much it had affected Remus. He was back to staring at the bar, eyes wide and watering, his half empty Butterbeer forgotten beside him.

She glanced around the room before looking back at Remus, trying to figure out what to do next. She put a hand on his shoulder, rubbing gently, and quietly asked him "Do you want to leave?"

He looked up at her, a few tears escaping his lower eyelid and making their way down his face, and nodded. They both stood up from the bar, having already paid for their drinks, and left the Inn with their heads low.

Taking his hand, Grace lead him back to the bookstore, where they took refuge in a small collection of armchairs in the back corner of the shop, near the hidden wizarding section. Remus wasted no time in sitting down in his favourite one and burying his face in his hands.

"You know that was all rubbish, right? What they were saying," Grace said, although she knew that wouldn't be of much help.

Remus paused for a moment before looking up at her. "That could've been me."

"But it wasn't. And hopefully with all of our Animagi efforts it never will be."

He leaned back in his armchair, glancing at a bookshelf beside them. "And... I know it's... 'rubbish', but that is what they think of us, of me. I'm just a monster in pretty much all of the wizarding community's eyes. You saw it for yourself just then. If they knew that I was a- if they knew what I am, then they wouldn't waste a second kicking me out of Larkstowe."

"You're certainly not a monster in my eyes."

"I know," Remus said with a small smile. "And to this day I still don't understand how."

"As for everyone else, they're just ignorant, they don't know any better. The only werewolves they know are people like Fenrir Greyback, they have no clue that you guys can live perfectly normal lives without being a danger to anyone. And if they did, I'm sure they'd change their minds," Grace argued.

Remus stood up from his old brown armchair and engulfed her in a hug, bending down slightly to bury his tear-covered face into the crook of her neck.

"And this You-Know-Who garbage isn't helping either," Grace added with a slight chuckle, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and neck.

"It really isn't," he agreed, removing his face from her neck to look at her properly.

Grace used the sleeve of her oversized knit to wipe the last remaining tears from his face. Remus smiled before leaning in and kissing her.

They stayed in that position, a few passing by muggles giving them weird looks, before they were interrupted by a familiar voice.

"I found them! I told you they'd be- oop never mind, they're busy."

They broke apart to see none other than Peter Pettigrew standing at the end of the aisle, with James and Sirius in tow.

"Merlin's beard, what are you lot doing here?" Remus asked.

"We figured we'd come by and make sure you didn't do anything stupid on your date," James explained.

"Yes, I must admit, the chocolate rose was an excellent idea," Sirius added.

"But how did you know when and where and all that?"

Remus turned back to Grace. "I must've told them yesterday. Were you following us that whole time?"

"Yep. We used the Floo Network to get here, and then we followed Grace to the bookstore and then down into the Inn. We we're able to get a table or anything though so we had to awkwardly huddle outside the doorway until you left," Peter recounted. "Although you guys weren't in there for long at all. Did something happen? Did he say something stupid?"

"He didn't say anything stupid," Grace said with a laugh, before frowning. "We left because, uh... the people near us were being really rude to this woman near us. They found out that she's a werewolf and were saying some... not so nice things to her. She would've left just before us."

"Oh, yeah we saw her," James said solemnly. "That's, uh, that's really rough."

They all nodded in agreement, and as much as he felt sorry for the woman, Remus couldn't have been happier that it wasn't him. The last thing he wanted was to have to move again and leave behind the life he'd built with his friends at Hogwarts.

---

Sorry for disappearing again, but I had a hella busy week (we have our musical performances this weekend and I've also been sick again :/ ) but here have this chapter! I'm probably going to regret posting it later bc I haven't written the next one yet but oh well I'll deal with that later - you guys don't deserve having to wait three weeks for a single chapter.

- Grace