All The Houses

Family

Summer exams are getting closer. At the moment I am struggling with transfiguration and potions. I blame Kat for distracting me in potions. I am doing very well in care of magical creatures and not too bad in defence against the dark arts. I sit in the deserted library tapping my quill against my book, unable to concentrate. Simba is sitting on the windowsill grooming himself and letting the sun shine in and warm him. Eventually I give up trying to study and I pick Simba up and place him on my lap. He purrs and curls into a ball, as I stroke him gently. As my mind wanders, a sharp tat against the window brings me out of my day dream. When I look out the window to find the source of the noise I see Justin with pebbles in his hand, ready to fire again. Before he can do it I open the window and lean out.
"Hold your fire!" I shout down.
"Wanna go for a walk?" He asks hopeful. I can't help but smile. I nod and begin to make my way out of the castle where I find Justin waiting patiently.
"Look, I am really sorry about..." he begins before I cut him off.
"I forgive you. That happened days ago. I can't stay mad at you, and Ren started it" I smile and hug him. Our hands intertwine as we walk towards our usual place in the the forest. We walk in silence. Not an awkward silence, more of a peaceful, thoughtful silence. It's a fabulous sunny day and the trees create patterns on the ground as light shines through their leaves. A gentle breeze makes the trees sway and I can here some unfamiliar animal noises. I begin to day dream about riding hippogriffs through the clear blue sky. Suddenly I am awakened from my day dream by harsh tug on my arm.
"What was that for?" I say to Justin who is kneeling on the ground behind a bush with his hand still linked with mine.
"Get down " he whispers. I do as he says.
"What's going on?" I demand. He ignores me, his attention concentrated on something else. I frown and try to figure out what he is looking at. At first I see nothing but trees, but then I see the movement in the trees. Something or someone is walking towards us. My first thought is it's a teacher and Justin is worried we would be caught in the forbidden forest. That idea is forgotten when I see what has Justin shaking. It.... he was walking on two legs, but seemed like it should walk on fours. Just looking at I would have thought it was more human than animal, but watching the way it moved and behaved made me think otherwise.
"Justin?" I looked to him for reassurance, my voice quivering. He put his finger to his lips to tell me to be quite. I stood as still as I could, not daring to breathe. The creature sniffs the air and smirks.
"You can't hide Justin. I know your scent" he shouts. I restrain from gasping. I stare at Justin who is avoiding making eye contact with me. How does that thing know his name?
"Now Justin, either you smell an awful lot like a human or there is a human with you" the beast man continues. Again I glare at Justin. What does he mean "like a human"? When I look at Justin again I see his eyes have changed colour. Instead of their usual crystal blue, they have changed to a striking yellow. I almost fall over with shock. I don't know how I manage to stay quiet after all I have seen and heard. When we aren't at risk of being attacked by a wolf man, Justin has a lot to explain.
"Come on Justin, I've been stuck in these woods by myself for months. Talk to me" the man growls. It was then I realised that this was the werewolf that has been killing magical creatures in the forest.
"Justin, you don't want to make me mad, now that do you?" The man said sounding impatient. Justin mouthed for me to stay here. I nodded to show I understood. Justin stands up and walks slowly and reluctantly towards the beast. I watched him, ready to help if he was attacked.
"Ah, there you are. How are you? How's your mother?" The beast asks. Justin stares blankly at him. "Still not talking to me? Ok, that's fair." Still Justin says nothing. "You have to talk to me sometime. We're family." The beast says. Family? What?
"You are no family of mine" Justin says calmly.
"It talks" the beast exclaims "now you won't tell anybody that I'm here, will you? As you know, the name Greyback isn't popular in Hogwarts.... or anywhere." This time i can't restrain from gasping. Greyback? As in Finir Greyback?
"What was that?" Greyback snapped "who is with you?"
"no one" Justin says defensively "I'm alone". Greyback eyes him wearily.
" hmmm ok. What have you been doing with your life lately? Any achievements? Asks Greyback, still sounding suspicious. "Like, did you bite anyone?"  What the actual f**k. Did he bite anyone? This is seriously messed up. Unless..... he is saying that Justin is a....werewolf. I stare at Justin who looks uncomfortable.
"No" he muttered. "I haven't".
"Pity" Greyback huffs. I lean a little closer to hear what they are saying. Big mistake. I stumble a little and crash into the bush. Greyback whips his head around and glares at the bush. "You said you were on your own !" He roars
"Run" yells Justin. I get up and sprint for my life towards the castle. I hear growling and people rolling around the ground fighting. I couldn't leave Justin. He'd have no chance against Greyback. I turn to go help him but he is suddenly next to me, grabs my arm and drags me along with him. "I told you to run" he says. The two of us run without looking back. Justin couldn't have slowed Greyback for that long. I catch a glimpse of Justin and see he is badly beat up. He has scrapes along his face, his eye is beginning to bruise and his clothes are torn. I hear Grayback getting closer but the castle is in sight. Greyback won't go near the castle. All we have to to do is get out of the forest. We run like our lives depend on it, because they do. I hear Greyback close behind us but I don't date look back. When we get out of the woods we don't take any chances and we keep running. We burst in the school door and I fall on my knees while catching my breath.
"Are you ok?" Justin asks me. I nod
"Are you?"
"Yeah"
"Good" then I hit him roughly on the shoulder and he winces a bit "Then explain to me what just happened."
"Well.... I.... umm"
"Spit it out" I yell impatiently.
"Greyback is....is.....he's....my uncle"
"Well that explains some of it. Why was he implying you aren't human and why did he ask if you have bit anyone?" I ask. I think I already know the answer to this. Justin looks down at his feet and stays silent for a minute. I don't rush him. He takes a deep, shaky breath, as if he might cry.
"When I was five, Greyback...well he... he bit me on a full moon. He was mad at my dad, his brother, and he has a terrible temper" he keeps rambling on while tears begin to fall from his eyes. I hug him to make him feel better.
"It's ok. You don't need to explain."
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, I just don't like anyone to know, because I don't want anyone to treat me differently."
" I would never treat you differently." A minute passes of us hugging.
"How cute" a voice squeals behind us
"Seriously, Teresita?" Says Rose rolling her eyes. Justin and I let go of each other and laugh.
"Where's Ren?" I ask.
"He went to the forest, looking for you" Rose replies.
"What ! ?" Justin and I yell.
"Ya, he said he wanted to apologise or something"
"Rose, Teresita, listen, Ren is im terrible danger. Greyback is the werewolf im the woods and he's really angry right now. He just attacked Justin and I." I explain. Rose and Teresita turn pale.
"Greyback is the most vicious werewolf in history. After the war of Hogwarts he disappeared." Rose mutters to herself. Reciting things she learned in school calms her.
"But it's ok, cause we can go get him, right?" I say to reassure my rather then the others.
"We should go tell Miss McgGomagal" suggests Teresita. I shake my head
"No, by the time we get her it might be too late. We can tell Hagrid, he lives right next to the forest". Nobody protests so we head down to Hagrid's cabin. My heart was racing with fear as I frantically banged my fist on Hagrid's door. He answered it
"Calandra, how can I help ya?" He ask
"Werewolf is Greyback. Ren is in the woods. Need to save him." I gasp trying to catch my breath for the second time today.
"Wait there. I'll go get McGonagal and the other teachers. We'll ge' Ren"
"What? Hagrid no that will take too long. We told you so that you can act fast" I beg
"Sorry, but I can't go in there myself"
"But we can come" Rose says. "Please Hagrid, It's my brother"
"I'm sorry but I can't go in there with a bunch o' students. Too dangerous. Now wait here. I'll be back in a minute" Hagrid says walking of.
"I can't believe this" I turn to the others. I begin marching towards the forest.
"Where are you going?" Justin asks me.
"Into the forest to help Ren. Are yee coming?" I reply.
"I am" Rose replies and starts walking with me.
"Me too" Teresita says.
"Wait, guys, this is really dangerous. We can't just march in there" Justin says.
"We can't stay here and do nothing" Rose says. Justin grabs my arm
"Calandra, please, we can't go in there. What if something happens to you?" Justin pleads with me. Anger bubbles up inside of me.
"Justin, you wanna stay here and leave Ren for dead, be my guest, but we are going to save our friend, cause that's the right thing to do. I guess it's difficult for Slytherins to understand the concept of helping others". As soon as I say it I regret it. Justin let's go of my arm with a hurt expression.
"Justin... I...I'm sorry, I didn't mean it" I begin to apologise.
"It's fine, Calandra." He says staring at his feet, so I know it's not fine.
"Justin" I hold his hands "Justin, I am so sorry. I honestly didn't mean it and I would never say anything like that ever again." I lift up his chin "You've shown me that Slytherins are capable of being brave and caring. I don't want to go into that forest knowing I hurt you. You are the last person I'd ever wanna hurt. Please forgive me" I finish. Instead of speaking, Justin pulls me closer and kisses me. I guess actions speak louder than words.
"Of course i forgive you, but..." he lowers his voice to a whisper "I can't go in there" I see the fear in his eyes as he says it.
"You're terrified of Greyback, aren't you?" I say softly. He nods.
"I still have nightmares about him".
"Ok, but we have to go." I say letting go of him. Rose, Teresita and I head into the forest. We are on high alert with our wands at the ready. Teresita didn't even squeal at that whole scene with Justin.
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There might be a lot of typos cause my keyboard is broken. Don't forget to like and comment.
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