The confidante | R. Lupin

Prologue

*** June 5, 1958 ***

A loud scream could be heard throughout Ilkley, followed by the regular howl of the notorious local wolf.
Greyback had struck again.

Deeper into the village, Lucretia awaited her husbands return from work.

The howl signifies a time of mourning. Lucretia has lost many of her friends to the wolf. For some, no one knew what happened to them, disappeared in a trail of blood, some turning and hiding in the woods, afraid of their families reaction.
And then their were the muggles in the village. A muggle surviving a werewolf bite was practically unheard of.
So as the silver streaks of a kitten patronus entered her house she tried not to scream.
"It's John. Get to St. Mungo's."

Lucretia grabbed her unicorn-hair wand and promptly disapperated to St Mungo's.

She walked through the barrier between the two shops. The muggles couldn't see the barrier, their eyes flicked between the shops either side like the hospital wasn't there.
For a fleeting moment she wondered how they managed to get her muggle husband through it.

She rushed up to the mediwitch's desk.
"I'm looking for John Welbeck?" Lucretia asked breathlessly

"First floor, second Ward on your left. Ward for animal-induced injuries"

Lucretia raced up to the Ward and barged through the door. Several Healers buzzed about John's bed. The sheets were crimson with the unstoppable flow of blood pulsating out of her husbands body.

A flustered looking nurse Lucretia recognised vaguely from school approach her. "May I help you, Miss Black?"

"I'm here for my husband, John." She told the nurse.
The nurse looked shocked, "But he's a muggle!"
"I'm well aware of that!" Lucretia snapped back. "What I wanted was to find out if he is ok! Not to be told that he is a muggle, which I was obviously aware of."
Some of the exhausted healers were dispersing in different directions, back to their designated wards.

A young healer approached us.
"He's doing better, which I'm surprised at, for a muggle he's holding on really well, which is good. Bad news is, he's caught the lanthropy, which was to be expected really."

I nodded at his words, preparing myself mentally for what I would need to do.

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*** July 3, 1958 ***
John was released from hospital several days later. He seemed to become stronger everyday, until the night before the full moon, where every joined on his body ached liked fire.
John was well aware of what happened to him, and what would happen to him every full moon thereafter.
He wasn't aware of the pain he would be subjected to each month. And that he would be in for the shock of his life.

Mid-afternoon, Lucretia walked steadily into their bedroom, carrying a tray of food for herself and John.
"Hey, sweetie," Lucretia spoke softly to him as she sat at the side of his bed. "Please eat this," she pointed to the chicken soup she had made "you'll need your strength for tonight."

Lucretia watched as he ate slowly, she was told he would loose his appetite a day either side of the full moon, but it was important that he was strong enough to survive the transformation.
She could see he was trying his best to eat, for her.

After they ate, Lucretia whisked away the food downstairs with a flick of her wand.

"John, it's time." She whispered quietly, as she watched the sun lower itself over the hills beyond the house.

She helped her husband down the stairs and to the bottom of the garden, where a hidden door to the ground below was located. It was an old air raid shelter, the previous muggles who lived here after the war never thought to fill it in, as many had done over the years, leaving a safe harbour for her husband over the full moon.