Chapter Text
It was another peaceful night. Nothing to be heard but the soft chirps from the crickets outside, and the occasional call from the nocturnal birds of the forest. Inside a dark, damp cabin, just outside the woods, there came some shuffling, before settling down once again.
The night grew on, the frogs soon joining in on the song that the crickets were playing. Soon the sun would rise, and the song shall cease, so they sang while they could.
Then, through the dark trees and foliage, there came rapid footsteps, the leaves crunching underneath the feet of the intruder. Quickening, the footsteps came closer towards the cabin, but then, it stopped.
Through the quiet peaceful night, a scream pierced the air, wakening the forest and the creature within the cabin. The shuffling in the cabin began once again, except this time, coming closer to the window.
A dark figure stood in front of the glass, jerking its head around, looking for movement within the forest. After a few moments, it disappeared, returning to its spot from before. It seemed the source of the sound had gone, and the night continued. The creatures of the night continued their sweet song, as the creatures scurried across the wet, sticky, ground. Neither noticing the small creature that laid among the leaves and grass.
Morning soon came, a bright orange lighting up the sky, and everything within the area. The birds sang happily as they left their nests to find their morning breakfast. The door to the cabin soon swung open, and the figure in the doorway revealed itself to the morning light. He was a tall, lanky kind of man, his skin deathly pale.
Looking around, he took a step out, raising a hand to brush the sandy brown hair out of his eyes. Taking another step, he paused, opening his eyes fully as he caught sight of the edge of the forest. Just between the two oak trees laid a figure, non-moving and covered in something red. Quickly rushing over, he realized that the figure was too small to be an adult, and in that moment he felt as if his heart had dropped.
Laying below him was a child, limp and bleeding from what looked to be an injury on their shoulder. Covering his mouth, he stumbled over to a clearing and threw up the contents of his stomach, and everything he had the day before. Once he had been unable to release anymore, he took a deep breath and decided his next course of action. Stumbling over to the small child, he picked them up, trying not to cry as the child flopped about like a ragdoll. No, he mustn’t let his emotions get ahead of him. He would not focus on the stickiness of the child's skin, nor how light they were in his arms. Instead he would focus on the small raise of the chest that he would see every few seconds, the small heartbeat that he could hear with what senses he had left from the night before.
Kicking the door shut behind him with his foot, he rushed over to the dusty old loveseat and placed the child on there, being careful not to touch the wound on their shoulder. Once the child was situated, he started patting himself down frantically, quickly shoving his shaking hands in his pockets before letting out a sound of victory as he took out a long wooden stick.
Lowering himself onto his knees, he pointed the wood at the small thing, "Scourgify." The dried blood and leaves disappeared, revealing what he could only assume was a small girl. Moving over to the wound, his eyes widened with recognition as he saw the angry raised flesh was in the shape of a bite. Quickly standing up, he pointed his wand in the air, "Expecto Patronum."
A silvery white light soon came out and danced around the man playfully, but he kept his face stern, "Dumbledore, please come, we have a problem." The light gave a jump and took off out of the cabin and into the sky, off into the search of the receiver. Turning back around to the girl, he let out a shaky sigh, "Okay..okay..we need silver and dittany.." Taking in another breath, he rushed over to the cabinets, moving around the objects inside before taking out two jars. With a clatter, he dropped them on the counter and dragged over stone mortar that lay before him.
Opening the first jar, he poured in the powdered silver, not bothering to stop and see how pretty it shimmered in the dim light. Grabbing the next jar, he poured in the dittany, making sure it was proper measurements. With a quick glance to the figure on the couch, he picked up the pestle and started mixing them together, holding the mortar in his hand. Once the consistency was what he wanted, he headed over to the young girl. Taking a scoopful in his hand, he began applying it to the wound, watching it begin to heal up before his eyes. Once the wound was fully covered, he placed the mortar on the table and began looking her over for any more injuries. He noticed a few scars and decided to bide his time healing them, waving the wooden stick over them and whispering, "Episky."
Soon, the young girl was all healed up and he began to notice her breathing steadying, and with that, his did too. With the sound of a pop, he looked up and saw an aged old man standing behind the couch, "Dumbledore.."
Dumbledore looked from the panicked young man to the source of the panic, his face turning sullen, "Oh dear..seems we do have a problem..eh Lupin?"
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"Mommy! Daddy!" She whimpered out, her voice breaking as she heard the sharp screams of her mother. Curling her small body up, she lifted her head and cautiously looked around her room from the small gap of the closet doors. She could see the shadows of her stuffed animals in the dim pink light, her favorite teddy laying on the edge of her bed, right where she left it.
Footsteps were coming closer to her bedroom door, and her hands fumbled to cover her mouth. The thudding soon came to a stop, and a loud sniff came from just outside the door. She tried her best to not to make a sound, worried that whatever the monster was, it could smell her fear. Closing her eyes, she tried to take small breaths, listening carefully for any sound, anything that could give her a sense of safety.
Her bedroom door began to creep open, her eyes forcing themselves open, leaning over to look through the crack once again. But, nothing was there. Looking over at the door, she was surpised to see that it was closed. Was it just her imagination?
"There, there little one.." A deep voice purred, followed by a thud just outside her closet. Her body stiffened up as she heard him, a cold chill running down her spine as she finally caught sight of the dark figure at her bed. She watched as it picked up her teddy and brought it up to where it’s face would be, taking in a deep sniff. She was reminded of her Daddy’s old hunting dog, it used to sniff things too, before it would..
"I know you're here. Come out, come out, wherever you are.." He teased in a singing tone, looking directly towards the small white closet. She watched as the monsters face screwed up into a twisted smile, his beady black eyes glinting in the dim light, seemingly staring into the small crack and looking directly at her. He couldn't see her, could he? It wasn't possible. With childlike curiousity, she wanted to test it, so she raised her hand, slowly moving it into a wave. The monster remained still, still grinning and staring, until..he raised his hand. Fearfully she grabbed the blanket around her and pulled it over her head.
The thudding was coming closer. She recoiled further in the small space, flinching each time she felt the vibration from the floorboards. She refused to look, she didn't want to see, this was all going to be just a dream. Then when she woke up, she was going to see her mommy and daddy again. And they were going-
She felt the cold air rush past her shoulders as the doors to the closet were ripped open. Grabbing the edge of the blanket, she slowly peeled it off her head, shivering as she looked up. She wished she hadn’t looked.
"Hello there, little one." The Monster crooned, staring down at her with glee. Before she could say anything, he reached out and grabbed her tiny wrist, jerking her up to her feet. As the blanket fell from her, she tried to grab it, but no luck. The monster held her wrist in his secure grip, staring down at her with a strange look of hunger in his eyes. "Scrawny little thing, aren't you? I usually prefer my meals to have a little meat on their bones." He taunted, licking his lips as she dangled from his grasp.
"P..Please sir..please let me go!" She pleaded, her small hand trying to get her wrist released from his hold. Ignoring her cries, he lifted the toddler up higher, pressing his nose to the crook of her neck. She began to tremble as his hot breath blew on her ear, the prickly hairs on his face scratching her skin. "You want to be let go? But little prey, we've barely.." He paused in his speech, something outside catching his attention.
The young girl let out a yelp as she was dropped to the ground, looking up at the man in fear as his face lit up with glee. "Very well, prey, let's play a game. You run, and if I catch you.." He trailed off as the bright moonlight falling upon him, and she immediately caught on. It was just like the chasing game the old hunting dog would play. But she was bigger than a rabbit, she hoped she could run just as fast. she leapt to her feet, taking off out the room as he began to transform, a loud howl tearing through the house and echoing into the night.
She couldn't remember how long it had been; all she had done was run, not looking where she was going. She had tried to take a break a while back and the sight of the beast tearing into the tree that she had been at was enough to make her quiet that idea. But she could only run for so long. Her legs were growing tired. Her throat was so dry from screaming. Her body lacked the energy to keep going.
Then, at that moment, there was flash of light in her vision. Finally coming to a stop, she saw the dark cabin in the distance. Her mother always taught her not to talk to strangers, but she was already in danger, she was sure her mom would understand. But, her mother wasn’t able to disapprove anymore, would she? She was gone. She shook the tears away, she needed to focus on her main adjective. She had to get help. There was no choice.
Taking another step, she felt her nightshirt being snatched from behind and a burning pain in her shoulder. Letting out a pain wrenched scream, she turned to see the beady red eyes of the beast staring sadistically into hers as he tore his teeth into her skin. She could feel the hot blood dripping down her chest, her shoulder sharply stinging which each time he clamped his jaw over and over on the flesh. This wasn’t a quick mercy. He was doing this just to hurt her, to draw it out. Soon her body began to feel numb, her cries dying down. He pulled away, being sure to drag his teeth across the flesh one last time. Releasing her from his grasp, her limp body slammed lifelessly onto the ground. She lost the game.
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What was that sound? It was so loud. It felt like drums in her ears. She squeezed her eyes a bit tighter, breathing in slowly. She could hear the increasing beat of her heart, a muffled voice joining in faintly from above her. She tried to open her eyes, but she just couldn't. She didn’t have the strength in her. The beating in her ears subsiding, the voice coming in a bit clearer, she recognized it to be a man. Wait, there was another voice, two men. Squeezing her right hand into a weak fist, she felt her heartbeat pick up as she began to drift closer to the sound. Taking in another breath, she managed to tighten her left fist next.
"-take her!"
"She needs-…I trust you."
"No not me…"
She tried her eyes again, managing to crack them open a tiny bit before being blinded by the bright light.
"She'll be outcast, cursed.."
"It's too late for that, Remus."
Focusing, she realized that they were both on either side of her, the one on her left sounded like a nice old grandpa, while the one on her right was scared, his voice was so shakey. The one on the right let out a sigh, and some shuffling came from him.
"Doesn't she-…..any family?'
"No, I went to the-…it seems her parents were the victims of Fen-…."
Furrowing her brow, she got upset as she couldn't hear the whole conversation. She always hated being left out. Breathing in, she tried to move her feet, only managing to wiggle a toe. It felt like her whole body was asleep, and it probably was, and maybe she should too. Giving in to the tired feeling, she drifted out, only catching the end of the younger one's sentence.
"-I'll raise her.."