The Marauders: Year 1

Insulted

On the way home, Lyall was driving much faster than usual.

"How did you lose track of time?" he scolded himself. The sun was nearly down and he and his family still weren't home yet.

The moon was nearly visible. The full moon was nearly visible.

In the mirror Lyall had spotted his son in the backseat, asleep. At the same time, his wife had noticed her son's condition and decided now would be a good time to question Lyall.

"Dear, what is going on?" she asked gently.

With his eyes still fully focused on the road, Lyall shook his head.

"Nothing," he lied. "We just need to get home as soon as possible. Also make sure all the doors are shut. Oh and the windows." He paused for a moment.

"Wait actually, nevermind. I'll do it myself, just take Remus and go inside as quickly as possible."

Hope raised an eyebrow. If it was "nothing," Lyall would definitely not act like this. She looked up at him and decided to press further.

"Lyall, I know that something's wrong. Are we in danger? You normally never care about staying out too late. In fact, you love looking at the stars." He indeed loved looking at the stars and pointing out the constellations with his son. And for once, the sky was clear and devoid of any clouds. It would have been a perfect day to spend on that empty field on their backs and just look up at the sky.

"IT'S NOTHING," he finally said. Hope was taken aback by his response. It was as though he shook the whole vehicle. She turned around to look at Remus and to make sure that he didn't wake up.

"Sorry Hope, I didn't mean to," Lyall had calmed a little after looking at her reaction.

"It's fine, dear. Don't worry about it."

It's fine. It's nothing. Those words usually were lies, to either ensure the other person. Sometimes it's the speaker trying to ensure themselves.

Lyall did feel guilty for lying to his wife. He mentally shook his head. What he was feeling wasn't guilt. It was that same feeling of knots in my stomach. The way his hands were very subtly shaking on the wheel. The way his heart would not stop racing. It was fear. That was only one thing occupying his body and mind for the last twenty four hours. It was all because of that.

One day earlier:

"The full moon, the scratches that won't disappear, the bite marks on the victims, everything points to it!" Lyall Lupin had explained to the judge. They were currently in the Ministry of Magic and handling a particularly nasty case: a wizard had killed two Muggles. The fact that the victims were Muggles did not make this easier. The Ministry had just made up a story and released it to the Muggle world to cover it up and to reassure their families that it was nothing more than an accident. But in the wizarding world, there was a different story. Fenrir Greyback was a powerful wizard, and it was because of him that this case was happening at all.

"Lupin, this isn't your business. You have no right to interfere with a case like this. Now why don't you go and play with your gnomes and pixies and such," the judge had said sharply. Lyall Lupin had worked in the Ministry department in charge of magical creatures of the sort; this meant he knew nearly every magical creature inside and out.

"But, I have studied them before. I know the symptoms and everything leads to this. The fact that Greyback is a werewolf!" The last word coming out of his mouth had echoed in the round court. The rest of the people in the room were silent for a moment before whispering ensured throughout.

"No doubt, he's mad."

"What is he even doing in this room?"

"Can we just get on with the case?"

"Lyall Lupin, unless you no longer want to have your job, I suggest you leave this room this instant," the judge had silenced the whispers.

The thin man did not want to lose the job at the ministry. It was a very respectable position and he had to support his family. He was about to turn around before speaking to the accused in the large chair in the center.

"I don't care what everyone else says. I know exactly what you are: a foul, disgusting, loathsome creature. And I will do anything to prove it. The chair you sit in is for humans, not monsters like you!" Lupin had snarled. He was about to turn around but was able to catch Greyback's expression before he did. It wasn't a face of anger or sadness or even frustration; he was smiling. A smile that would haunt the man standing in front of him forever.

"You know, it's a shame you have so much work here at the ministry. You have to be separated from your lovely wife and little son back in Abington." Greyback said quietly enough that only the two of them could hear. Lupin's blood went cold. He was frozen. How did he know where he lived? How did he know of his wife? Of his little son?

"Lupin, I already told you to get out, do you need to be reminded?" the judge said impatiently. Lupin just gave a small gesture with his hand before turning around. His steps were rigid and stiff as he could feel several sets of eyes on him. But it wasn't the dozens of eyes surrounding him that made it like this. It was the pair of eyes that belonged to the man directly behind him. The eyes had burned a hole in his back.

He returned to his own department where he was welcomed by a few colleagues.

"Lyall, were you able to present your theory?" his friend John in the desk beside him had asked. Lyall had just shook his head.

"Let's just get back to what we were working on before," had replied weakly. The department had a case of their own: there were a pair of dragons on the loose and had caused several fires in Scotland. Of course, the Muggles were investigating on their own, but the department had to find where the dragons came from and would send people to capture it.

John did think that something had happened to his fellow colleague. Would he really be feeling this down because he was not able to properly present his evidence to the judge?

"They didn't let you go or anything, did they?"

"No, no, no. Of course not. John, let's just get started on identifying the suspects. Could you pass me the files over there?"

And that was that. John could question him later, but this case needed to be worked on immediately. It was already dragged out for about a week now, and their superiors were not going to let them leave until they finished it. Maybe Lyall is more sensitive than I thought to be perturbed by something like this. And so, they continued their work.

****back to present day*****

Lyall had turned in front of the motel he had found as quickly as possible. He had given them a call ahead of time to book a room. They were several hours from home. He had opened the back door carefully and picked up his son, still asleep. Hope had taken the small bag they had prepared with some food and overnight clothes.

After preparing for bed, the three of them had settled on the bed. It was a tight fit, but none of them were particularly large and they would manage tonight. Lyall had spotted through the window, which was illuminated by the moonlight. The full-moon light.

He can't find you here. 

Miraculously, he had managed to fall asleep. But maybe he shouldn't have.