"Daddy, will we be home soon?" The small boy grasped his father's hand tighter as they walked down the street side by side. The two were walking down the sidewalk of the small town where they lived, and it was just beginning to get dark.

"Remy," his father soothed, "we just have another block to go until we get back home, alright? We'll be home in a few minutes, and Mum will have dinner nice and ready. She even told me she was making a surprise for your birthday. Would you like that?"

The six year old nodded, and a smile spread across his face. Remus loved his mother's cooking, and he loved the thought of a surprise even more. He hated the dark, but he had to show his daddy that he could be brave, so he tried not to show his fear.

Anthony Lupin seemed to realize that his son was afraid, so he tried to console him. "See up there, Remy?" he asked, using his pet name for the child. "The moon's almost full up there, so it's not so dark. There's that bit of light to help us."

Remus looked up at the moon, a bright circle against the dark sky, and he knew that his father was right. The darkness wasn't so bad tonight, and, he told himself, he had nothing to be afraid of.

Suddenly, he felt a rough pair of hands, or, if it was even possible, paws, grab him and pull him away from his father's side. He got out one scream before the creature covered his mouth with its hand.

Even without the scream, his father had immediately recognized the absence of his son's hand in his own, and had his wand drawn in a second. However, it wasn't fast enough. The creature had covered its body with the torso of Remus, and in the darkness, he didn't want to risk hurting his own son with a curse meant for the creature.

Keeping his wand pointed at the creature, although trembling slightly, he called, "Who are you? What do you want with my son?"

It turned slightly, and made visible a face that seemed to be more animal than human. The shape of the face was that of a man, but thick hair covered every spot on its face except for its eyes, and its lips were bared, exposing sharp teeth beneath.

"If it were up to you, Lupin," the creature spat, "it wouldn't matter who I was, only what I was."

"What do you mean?" Lupin shouted. Remus let out a shriek of pain, as the creatures claws dug into his skin. "Stop! You're hurting him!"

"Oh, I'm hurting your perfect little son, am I?" the creature mocked. "How utterly horrible of me. You prefer tearing apart peoples lives instead, apparently"

"You aren't making any-" Lupin began, and then his face paled as he glanced at the moon, and things began to make sense. "You're a….you're a…" he wavered off, seeming unable to continue.

"I believe the word you're searching for is 'werewolf'," the creature sneered. "My name's Fenrir Greyback, not that information like that ever mattered to you when it came to people like me. You thought we all should be locked up, treated like animals, barred from associating with 'normal' people such as yourselves."

All those laws that Lupin had helped pass, all those restrictions on werewolves mobility and freedom suddenly came rushing back into his mind. It was true, what this cr- man, was saying. He had never thought of werewolves as people, only as vicious animals that must be controlled at all costs.

While Greyback was speaking, he had loosened his hold on Remus' mouth. "Daddy, what's the scary man talking about?" he asked, panic-stricken.

"Nothing, Remy," Lupin tried to assure his son.

"Oh this is just precious," Greyback cooed, a cruel grin spreading across his face. "Your dear little son wants to know what I'm talking about. He wants to know everything you've done, wants to truly understand it. I shall just have to help him with that, won't I?"

"NO!" Lupin screamed, hurling himself at his son in a futile attempt to protect him. But he was, again, too late. Greyback sunk his teeth into Remus shoulder, just below his neck, and a terrible cry of pain rent the air. Now Remus was sobbing, and blood was running from the wound, staining his shirt with bright red. "Daddy!" he got out between sobs. "Help me!"

The damage done, Greyback shoved Remus roughly back at his father, who caught him, and gathered him up in his arms, his wand forgotten in his preoccupation for his son's safety.

"Let's see how well you like it," Greyback hissed, and with that, apparated out of sight.

Anthony felt absolutely helpless. He couldn't do anything now, couldn't stop the inevitiable result of that bite. He wouldn't let himself think of it; now, he had to concern himself with getting his son safe. "Someone, help us!" he bellowed, carrying Remus, who had passed out from shock and pain, in his arms. As Anthony ran towards his home, his tears mingled with the blood staining his son's body.

Remus' heart was pounding, and he didn't know where he was. All he could feel was pain, pain everywhere, and all he could see was darkness. He tried to open his eyes, and he saw a face floating blearily above him. "Mommy? Daddy?" Remus asked, unable to tell who the face belonged to.

"It'll be alright, sweetie," his mother said, in a shaky voice. "You're alright."

Remus wiped his eyes to help himself see, and sat up. "W-What was that, Mommy? What happened?"

His mother wiped away a tear, and gave him a tight hug before answering. "Well, honey, there was a very bad ma-animal, who bit you. But, when he did, he gave you a- a disease."

"What kind of disease? Is it a very bad kind?"

His mother seemed to stumble over her own words, and looked around at her husband for assistance that he seemed unwilling to give. "For a few days every month, you're going to turn into something else, Remy. You're going to grow fur, and your hands will turn into paws, and you'll look like a wolf."

"But..but why?" he whimpered. "I don't want to turn into a wolf!"

"I know you don't," his mother soothed. "I know." She wrapped him in her arms, and enveloped his whole body in a hug. "I know…"

For a few minutes, the three of them just let silence come over the room, because silence took the place of words that they didn't have the heart to say. Then, Remus' mother disentangled herself from him, and carried him gently to his bedroom. She set him down on the bed, and tucked the covers around him. "Just try to sleep," she coaxed. "We can worry about this in the morning." She gave him a kiss on the forehead, and left the room, shutting the door behind her.

Remus lay in bed, unable to sleep. What had his mother meant? Was he really going to turn into a wolf? He turned over onto his side, and heard his parents' voices softly from outside the door.

"What are we going to do?" His mother's voice, fast and scared sounding.

"How should I know?" His father's voice, louder and angry.

"Shh!" his mother hissed. "You'll wake him up!"

"I'm sorry." Now his father sounded less angry, and more sad. "I don't know what I'm going to do. He's been turned into a monster! How are people supposed to deal with these kinds of things?"

"He's not a monster," his mother said, in a tone that was soft, but angry. "He is your son, even with this…problem, and you'd do well to remember that."

Now Remus wasn't scared, he was terrified. If his parents were this upset, something truly horrible must have happened. He was confused, though, and didn't know what he should do.

After a few moments of silence, his mother spoke again. "It will be difficult, no one's denying that. But he is our son, and he will be raised as such, not as some sort of animal or pet. We will face struggles, but we will get through them. We can't change what happened, and we just have to go on with our lives."

His father sighed. "I guess you're right."

Their voices got softer, and Remus could no longer hear them. Remus laid awake for a few more minutes. He was still scared, but his mother's resolve had strengthened him somewhat. So Remus hung on to her words, and hung onto the thought that everything would be alright.