Chapter Text
“I don’t understand it…” Remus Lupin spoke to his owl, staring at the ruffled bird, who seemed more than a little annoyed. The werewolf had tried to pet him, but the owl had shrieked angrily at him, and flew past him into his cage, turning his back to the man. “Every time you return you look like you have been in a fight… Can’t you tell me what’s wrong?” He sighed, looking after the angry Agrippa, as the bird refused to face him.
Harry Lupin Potter had been sending his friends letters all summer, but despite this, he hadn’t gotten a single one in return. Even the letters which Harry had sent by Muggle post to his Muggle-born friend hadn’t been answered. Not to mention that Remus’ owl had returned looking more and more ruffled, which less and less time passed between setting out and coming back. Remus was starting to suspect that the owl wasn’t actually able to deliver the letters in the first place, since he hadn’t been gone long enough to actually deliver them. His son tried to keep his spirits up, but it was clear that he was rather bothered by the lack of communication with his friends.
The werewolf glanced towards the clock while absentmindedly scratching his ear with one hand. It was a full moon that night, and Remus was already feeling the effects come upon him. He was more irritated than he usually was, his body felt far too hot, as if the blood in his veins was slowly heated up to unbearable temperatures. His fingertips were itching, as if he had claws underneath which just wanted to push through his skin and be freed from the restraint of the human shape. His face was itching as well, as if all the old scars were but painful restrains keeping him from being free.
Everything seemed too bright, too loud and too much. He tried his best to keep himself completely under control, and to not let it show at all, even though he knew that his son had no problems with or blamed him for the way he was on the night of a full moon. Still, Remus liked to stay away from Harry during that night, and the boy respected his wishes. The werewolf’s only regret was that today was Harry’s birthday, and he wanted to celebrate it better than to be antsy all day.
The time had passed to six o’clock, Remus judged that he should take the Lycanthropy potion by then, as to ease the itching in his body. It was already prepared for him, all he needed to do was drink it. Thus, he got it from the basement and drank it in the kitchen, making a displeased face over the taste.
He placed the potion bottle down in the sink, deciding to clean it later. As he did, he couldn’t help but think of the man who had designed the potion, the man who made it possible for him to raise his son in the first place. He couldn’t help but to think about Severus Snape.
Remus had hoped to meet Severus again when he came to Hogwarts, after hearing that his son had been in a battle with a possessed wizard and the Dark Lord. It had been far from the first thing on his mind, but the idea of seeing the man once more had made Remus’ heart beat faster, even when his mind had focused on the safety of his child. He hadn’t expected that Severus would want to meet him personally, but as the Head of the Slytherin House, Remus has assumed that he would have come to speak to him about Harry, as the boy was technically Severus’ ward.
It was strange to think of entrusting his son to the man, but in a sense where it felt almost natural. The Severus he had known felt like someone more than capable of growing up to become reliable, and a part of Remus wanted to trust the man. Even if Severus had seemed very different from what he imagined, and even if he had committed an error against his son in disrespecting his identity, it was still a fact that it had improved remarkably. Harry’s letters over the last year at Hogwarts had continued to speak of various times and ways in which Severus seemed to be of assistance, and in a strange distant sense a safety and comfort. Indeed, his son seemed very eager in reporting anything of interest regarding the man back to Remus. It was a little embarrassing, but also very encouraging to hear how the Potions Professor was clearly being more and more of a comfort and safety to his son, and never again disrespected him.
Still, the man had not come that time at Hogwarts, and Remus hadn’t been able to figure out what he wanted to say to him even if he would have.
The werewolf leaned against the sink, absently pushing the potion bottle around as the potion itself soothed his itching, burning skin. He had tried to write to the Potions Master once again, as his first and last letter had been very harsh and not really open for communication, but he had ended up in a complete standstill, where no words he could formulate made sense enough to send to the man.
The werewolf sighed, leaning forward to press his buzzing head against the cold surface next to the sink. It felt soothing.
As he stood there, an unfamiliar scent hit him, alongside the sound of a window opening and closing. The werewolf straightened up and spun around. Like a guard dog, he had caught the scent of an unwelcome intruder. He sniffed the air, searching for the location where the scent was coming from. Remus felt his heart drop with fear as he realised that the scent seemed to be coming from his son’s room.
Without thinking about it, he began to run, rushing towards Harry’s room and threw the door open with a growl, ready to throw himself over whoever or whatever had dared to intrude into his and Harry’s home.
Inside his son’s room, the first thing he spotted was the unwelcome guest. It proved to be a small, trembling House Elf with giant green eyes. Remus almost threw himself over the little creature but it screamed and ran into a corner. The werewolf made to chase after it but Harry placed himself in between the two, making his growling father halt in his steps before he could get his claws into the House Elf.
“Werewolf! Werewolf!” The creature screeched, making Remus’ head and ears hurt. “Harry Potter is being attacked by a werewolf!”
“I’m not!” Harry yelled back, holding his dad back from trying to shut the House Elf up with his bare hands. “This is my dad, and you’re the one intruding here. Of course he would be bothered when you break into the house like that. Dad! Dad, can you hear me?” He turned towards the werewolf. “It’s okay, he doesn’t want to hurt us, You can calm down.”
Remus heard his son as if through water. It was very hard to focus on what the words meant, especially since the creature in the corner continued to yell very loudly. However, Harry slowly managed to get through to his human mind, helping Remus return to his own senses and not the instincts of the beast.
“Dad…?” Harry tried again, and then Remus nodded, he smiled at him and patted his arm. “This is… uh, Dobby. He just came in through the window, he apparently has something important to tell me. About not returning to Hogwarts.”
“Werewolf! Werewolf!” Howled the creature, it had curled together completely in the corner, shaking like a frightened mouse. “The good, good Harry Potter has been raised by such a dangerous creature. Dobby thinks that is bad! Bad, bad, bad. Oh poor, poor, Harry Potter.”
Remus sighed, chewing on his lower lip as he studied the small House Elf. “I… I’m sorry for coming into your room like this. That seems to be a House Elf, they only hurt mages in extreme circumstances, so it should be comparatively safe. Uhn.. by Merlin, is it loud...” The werewolf wanted to cover his ears, but he also wanted to make the creature be silent.
“You can wait outside, dad. I think I can handle this… uh, situation. Come back in if I scream, but I don’t think that he has come to hurt me.” Harry carefully pushed his dad towards the door.
“Full moon, full moon! Oh, Harry Potter will be locked in a house with a werewolf during a full moon! Evil, evil werewolf!”
As Harry pushed his dad out and closed the door behind him, the last thing Remus saw was Harry’s eye twitch with anger as the House Elf was continuously assaulting his beloved dad with accusations of being bad and evil. The son of a werewolf looked very close to shutting the creature up by shoving a sock down his throat.
“I’ll tell you everything later dad, have some chocolate and come back, I’ll be… fine.” He spoke the last words through clenched teeth. This was clearly not Harry’s ideal of a birthday, but he was set to deal with the problem.