You Find Out Who Your Friends Are -- Spring 1997

I nodded and stood up.  I would check his shoulder... I was not entirely sure if I would be pleased with what I saw.  "I'll check," I said.  "But wouldn't it be better for you to go to Madam Pomfrey?" I really hoped that this would end up giving me the answer to waht I was about to see.

I sighed and could not believe that he said he would actually check.  I cleared my throat slightly and sighed.  "Sir... it's a difficult situation... you'll understand when you see it..."

I nodded, moving to be able to look at his shoulder.  "I'm assuming that it's in a spot where you'll need to remove your shirt?" I asked, knowing how that sounded.  But I also knew that he would be reluctant to begin doing so, but it was something that needed to be done.

"yes," I said, my throat and mouth having gone really dry.  I leaned forward in the chair to take off my shirt.  I could barely breath.  What was he going to say when he saw what I was now?  I was sure that my father had bitten me... but he was not in full werewolf form, though.

I looked at his shoulder as he removed his shirt.  I did not like what I saw, but I recognized the mark.  I sighed and took another deep breath before saying anything.  "It is what you think it is," I said to him.  "He bit you when it wasn't a full moon, though."  I would know.

I shuddered involuntarily.  Of course it was what I thought it was -- my father was an animal.  I nodded slowly.  "So what does that mean, Professor?" I asked, wondering what would become of me.

I sat back down in my chair and looked at Ayden while he fixed his shirt.  I shook my head.  "I'm not entirely sure.  He didn't bite you during a full moon, so I would not think you are fully cursed," I said to him.  "I will give you some Wolfsbane Potion for the upcoming moon; I have to be sure you aren't fully impacted by the curse to not make you drink that bloody potion."  It really did taste horrid.

I nodded, feeling completely numb.  "Thank you," I said to him  He did not have to do that for me.  "And... will you tell anybody?" I was mainly meaning his daughter.  I wanted to be the one to tell her all of this.

I shook my head at Ayden.  "No," I said to him honestly.  "It is not my business to tell -- unless I need to explain things to the other professors.  Which I am guessing there will be nothing major that I'll need to tell them, though."  I suspected that since it was not a full moon bite, he would not be a full blooded werewolf.  But the curse was running through his veins already and now this double whammy.  I sighed.  "But if you don't tell Lucy about this," I warned, "there will be consequences... and not from me."

I was surprised that Professor Lupin was being so... I had no idea.  He was just being nice about everything.  I could not believe it.  I swallwoed and nodded.  "I understand," I said to him honestly.  "the professors should know... just to be on teh safe side." 

I rubbed the back of my neck.  "And Lucy... well, I'll handle telling her if you'll let me, sir."  I looked at him, pleading with him with my eyes that I would do the right thing iwth his daughter, whether he wanted to believe me or not... well, that was a completely different story.

My lip twitched up into a slight smile for him.  "As long as it's sooner rather than later," I assured him.  "I don't want Lucy to get hurt by any of this."  I was giving him a polite warning.  He could take it as a warning of how he spoke to her, but I meant that if he turned into the beast that I knew he had the possibility of turning into and that hurt my baby girl, he was going to have hell to pay.

I nodded.  "Of course, sir," I assured him.  "I don't want to hurt Lucy, either..."  I just hoped that this news would not hurt her.  She told me that it was hard with her dad and Will sometimes... would she still have feelings for me if she knew that I would now be like them?

"that is all I can ask of you then," I said to the boy.  I did not want to frighten him, but I also was not about to have anyone play games with my daughter.  Especially if he was a werewolf.

I stared at Professor Lupin, not entirely sure what was going on.  I thought he would have tossed me out by now just to protect his daughter.  It was something I could have seen him doing in a heartbeat... so why was his so steady?  'Thank you, sir," I said to him just as calmly.

I had to trust my daughter and with everything that I had seen, Ayden was nothing like his father.  He actually reminded me of the young boys and girls that had been turned during the war by Greyback in the werewolf colony that I infiltrated.  That was why I was patient with Ayden... but I kept a keen eye on him because I knew that Greyback was poison and he nearly always got what he wanted.

"You know that he will try to make you so much more like him," I warned quietly.  I wanted Ayden to know what his family would do -- what his father would do.  And that i would not let that poison my daughter.  With how much he reminded me of those young children in the colony, however, I wanted to try to help him.