𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐘𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 ❧ remus lupin

XXII. Bottled Up Feelings

"Love is the best kind of drug."

Juliet's POV

"Easy, Isola!" I said, calling my mother by her first name as she groaned about the injury that I inflicted on her. I had myself wrapped in a blanket as she, also wrapped in a blanket, propped her leg onto a nearby stood. I used magic to help heal her broken leg, which was a bit of a rocky road since I'm no professional, hence the groaning.

"You were the one who broke it!" she yelled, but I had had it up to here with the laziness of my mother. "Oh zip it, you're fine now. Fenrir's gone and you're free so just," I paused, "go home."

My mother's ungratefulness for helping her really started to get to me. After all, I went out of my way to make sure that my brother not only wasn't harming me anymore but her as well. Even though I broke her leg, it was for her own good. She wasn't in her right mind then, and even though she's back in her human state, she still isn't now.

As my birth mother scoffed at my snarky comment, I thought to myself about just how much better my life had been without my brother and birth mother in it. I had gotten so happy with my friends and new family, even as a werewolf. And even though this whole scenario with Fenrir and him cursing me was terrible, it's past now, and I'm safe. I'm safe without the Greyback's in my life anymore.

And that reminded me of one more thing. Remus! I still needed to find my way back to him and give him the good news, even though he probably already knew it himself. Regardless, any excuse to leave my mother was one I'd be willing to take.

So I left my mother in the house that Fenrir used to keep her hostage, still wrapped in the same blanket, and headed for the Shrieking Shack, where I had left my backpack. I planned on heading back to the Hogwarts castle once I grabbed my bag, to find Remus. The walk to the Shack wasn't long, but walking in the snow without shoes made it seem like forever. But regardless of my bare feet pressing against the cold ground, something inside of me was warm, and it wasn't the Liquid Luck.

Once I arrived at the Shack, I quickly walked up to the stairs and into the room where I had transformed last night. I found my bag where I had placed it: underneath a pile of clutter. Wrestling through the backpack, I tugged out a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt and put them on, tossing the blanket aside.

That is until I heard a creaking noise coming from downstairs. Right away, I convinced myself that it was just me stepping on creaking floorboards, but I was perfectly still when I heard more creaking noises. I drew my wand and walked down the stairs, cautious of my surroundings. And so I cracked the door, wand at the ready, and was shocked to see that this so-called intruder was just Remus.

"Merlin's Beard Remus, you scared me!" I said with shock, as small goosebumps rose to my arms. I was shocked to see him here. "Why aren't you back at the castle?"

"Oh," he said while walking over to me, "I spoke to Dumbledore, who completely bought what I was saying..."

So basically, Remus' part of the plan was, while I was waiting to be taken by Fenrir in the Shack, to talk to Dumbledore before turning into a werewolf. We had agreed that the best thing we could tell Dumbledore, was that Remus was the one that was being cursed because Dumbledore knew about him being a werewolf. But he didn't know about me. Anyways, Remus explained how he told Dumbledore that he was being attacked by a werewolf that he didn't know and that he was planning on cursing him to attack other people in the Hogsmeade area during the full moon that night. So then, Dumbledore made his way down to Hogsmeade in search of a savage werewolf, while Remus planned to stay locked up in one of the towers of the castle.

"...and so I planned to lock myself in one of the towers before the full moon turned me, but once it did, I could remember everything and had control of myself. It was super weird--"