Werewolves: A Study

Observation

Remus pulled his knees as close to his chest as he could manage in a hopeless attempt to stay dry. The eve of the roof did little to protect him from the rain as he sat there huddled against the shop. He wouldn't dare to use a drying charm with so many Muggles around. Occasionally he would look up and watch as a car splashed through a puddle on the road in front of him or someone bustled by with an umbrella. For all the notice they took of him he might have been invisible, just another bum on the street sleeping off a rough night. In a strange way by ignoring him they showed him silent acceptance. It was very different than anywhere in the wizarding world where he would have been shooed away like a stray animal. 'Is it better to be silently accepted or hatefully acknowledged?' He mused as he sat there. If he was getting shouted at then at least someone was acknowledging his existence. It meant someone cared about him in a way, even if it was just caring about whether a wandering werewolf had damaged any of their property while he was sleeping there. A small boy ran in front of him and splashed in a puddle at the edge of the sidewalk laughing with glee as he did so. Remus smiled slightly as he watched the boy enjoying himself. 'No, it's better here.' He decided. 'Better to be ignored and allowed to observe than to be shut off from everything."

As Remus watched the boy playing he had no idea that someone was observing him. Across the street, a man stood in the doorway wearing a well worn blue coat. The collar was pulled up to shield him from the elements but his eyes and a tuft of unruly hair stuck out over the top. A few strands of the hair had maintained their deep brown coloring but the majority of it had long since turned grey. 'Salt and pepper' the man's wife, Tina, called it. Although his hair color had faded his eyes still remained their brilliant blue. And right now they had what anyone who knew him would call 'the look'. It was a certain inquisitive twinkle they got when Newt was observing a creature. His mind whirled calculating possibilities but his eyes remain fixed on the shaggy man, bundled in a threadbare black coat, taking refuge from the rain.