𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐘𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 ❧ remus lupin

XXI. Trashcan Lurking at Hogsmeade

"Anyone can be brave if they try hard enough."

Juliet's POV

As I waited within the bushes, Fenrir, in his half human-half werewolf state, directed my weak mother and I as to which people we were supposed to attack. I tried to keep it together while my brother explained how we were going to injure these innocent people, who I later found out to be children, and inflict a terrible illness upon them for the rest of their life. I've had to live with it, and I wouldn't wish that kind of burden upon anyone.

And hearing Fenrir explain why he had chosen these specific children spooked me. Children of the people who had wronged him, he described, which reminded me of when I was a child, and my mother had told me about how a little boy, who's now one of my closest if not closest friends, named Remus Lupin was attacked by Fenrir because his father had angered him in some way. Just the thought of it made me sick to my stomach, but Fenrir didn't stop.

He soon gave us names and addresses, as if he was a teacher assigning us a partner to work with. And apparently, the children I was 'paired up' with were the Lobosca twins. Charis and Rowan Lobosca were their names, two four-year-old girls whose father is William Lobosca, an Auror who once targeted Fenrir years ago. And now me, Fenrir's sister, is supposed to get revenge through attacking his twin daughters. But I had already beaten the Imperius Curse and currently had my brother fooled.

My mother, Isola, was assigned by Fenrir to a child whose home was next to William Lobosco's house, which was extremely convenient so that I could keep an eye on her and make sure and stop her from attacking the innocent child. Still living in poverty, my mother was extremely weak and with my strength as a werewolf, I was sure that I would be able to stop her if I focused well enough.

And with Fenrir's signal, my mother and I were off to the Hogsmeade houses, where I would pretend to attack and keep my mother from attacking.

However, I am not the only one active in the plan at the given moment. Although Remus is in his werewolf state, due to the Liquid Luck he should have his sanity. But before the moon became full, while I headed off to the Shack, Remus headed off to Headmaster Dumbledore's office. His task was simple yet risky, and with Remus' charming personality, I'm nearly positive that it worked. I just hope that he succeeded in his portion of the plan because otherwise, I am completely screwed.

Anyways, my mother and I were now lurking through the dark behind the houses at Hogsmeade while Fenrir watched us from afar. "Make your way up to the roof," he said before, "then climb into the window of the bedroom and do what I have commanded you to do."

My claws scraped the sides of a house quietly as I made my way up to the roof. I kept an eye on my mother, who was visibly weak and struggling to do the same at the house she was assigned to go to. Now I was perched up on the roof of the Lobosca house, and I could see the faint moonlight lighting up the sky. I stayed up there for a few minutes since I knew I was out of Fenrir's sight but still kept an eye on my mother. She was still struggling to even climb up the walls of the house, which was good because it left me more time to wait for my help to arrive.

And then I saw him, half-moon glasses and all, walking down the hill that led to Hogsmeade. I crouched down, staying out of sight while he held up a small device in his hand and gave light to the lampposts scattered down the street.

With each light gave more visibility, and I knew that I couldn't possibly be seen by the Headmaster in this scenario since I didn't want to be mistaken for my brother. That also meant that I had to get my mother out of sight because the headmaster mistaking her for my brother would ruin me and Remus' plan.

And so even though it hurt me inside to physically hurt my mother, I tore her down from the side of the building and, even though it pained me to do it, broke her hind leg with the stomp of my foot. Now she couldn't move, and so I lifted her up and placed her out of sight for the time being.

My heart was beating so fast. Hurting my own birth mother internally hurt me, and I feel scared to have done such a thing. But it was necessary for the plan and had to be done. Now, hidden with my mother inside of a Hogsmeade trashcan, I watched as the headmaster searched the streets of Hogsmeade with his wand in hand.

Then suddenly, Headmaster Dumbledore turned his head at the noise that was being made. Fenrir Greyback, my brother, had howled into the moonlight while standing atop the roof of a couple houses down, completely drawing attention to himself. Through I couldn't fully see, I heard the yelling of "Stupefy!" from who I presumed to be Dumbledore, and the falling of something heavy onto the icy snow, who I assumed to be Fenrir.

And finally the man who had stunned me last full moon was now stunned, and Dumbledore had got to him. Remus had succeeded in his portion of the plan, and it was only a matter of time before I was back to my human form, and was safe. I turned my head a certain way to see the scene and was extremely delighted to see Fenrir lying down, stunned, in the middle of the street, with Dumbledore glaring over him.

But since it was still the middle of the night, I had to stay hidden inside the horribly smelling trashcan, way to close to my mother, who had either fallen asleep or was now unconscious. Either way, she was still a werewolf, and still as incompetent as she was when I was living with her.

Once I heard the warping sound of the apparition, I safely assumed that Dumbledore had apparated with Fenrir out of the now quiet street.  I let out a sigh of relief, and for the first time in a month, felt at ease with the current moment.

I peaked my head out of the trashcan to see the street empty, and the lights back to how they were before Dumbledore arrived. Careful not to make any noise, I slowly hopped out of the trash can, lifted my mother out, and retreated to the woods. I walked with her in my hands for close to an hour, all the way to the house that Fenrir had first taken me to during the full moon prior.

The house gave me the chills, but I made myself stay inside until morning so that I could attend to my birth mother's injuries. After setting her down gently on one of the chairs, I lied upon the couch and fell asleep with ease. Once I woke up inside the house and felt the warm sunlight hit me through the windows, I was instantly filled with joy. I was human again, finally, and everything was alright. For now, it was all good.

Word Count: 1245