#b1c1

Remus and his parents had only been living in their current Welsh town for three months, and like every other place they'd lived before for as long as he could remember, it was a muggle town, strictly non-magical. He'd never questioned why they decided to live exclusively among non-magical people since every attempt in the past failed. Of course he thought it would make sense to alternate between the two since he was only truly half magic on his father's side, but he knew he'd just have to trust his parents had their reasons. Much to his relief, summer holiday from school was only a few months away, which really meant he wouldn't have to start making excuses for any funny business at least until the new term started in the fall, maybe even later if he was lucky.

Having magic was hard to hide after nearly a year of being in one place too long. His father Lyall would sometimes be the point of skepticism among the neighbors, and Remus being methodically pulled out of school for days at a time never helped with suspicion either. Fortunately Hope, Remus' mother, had no magical ability at all. It was usually her cleaning up the loose ends in whispers going around town, and telling her husband what was and wasn't okay to do in front of people without magic. Though, clever and helpful as she was, even she knew it was only a matter of time before she'd be packing up to a new home. She never seemed to mind which was something she'd always offhandedly mentioned to Remus on his days home from school, that being married to his father is an adventure. Of course from his standpoint she was right. Having a fully trained wizard for a father made for a much more interesting life, especially in the summertime when Lyall would teach him the basics of learning to control his own magic. Last summer as a treat, his father even let Remus use his wand to practice simple spells with, which was much more fun than he made it out to be when he lied about it in class assignments.

After a half hour of laying in bed not wanting to move, Remus finally got up and lazily grabbed his uniform at the edge of his bed, which his mother was kind enough to lay out for him, to slump to the bathroom down the hall. As he dressed himself, he tried shifting to a more positive mindset for the day ahead. Maybe everything will be fine and I'm getting all worked up for nothing, he thought, splashing some water on his face and looking at himself in the mirror. Remus was a small and skinny boy. Not quite frail, but below average for other ten year olds. He glanced up to his wild bedhead and smoothed his dark brown hair in a mop over his face and ears, which made it difficult to discern the pale green eyes peering at his reflection. He didn't mind having his visibility obscured if it meant hiding what he could of the nasty scars on his face, one going across from his cheek to his eye, the other parallel, crossing over his lips. He didn't have any idea of what his face looked like underneath them other than photographs of what he looked like before when he was a small child, smiling in all of his pictures. The only recollection he really had of getting them in the first place was waking up in his parent's bed with a bandage wrapped over his head and a headache that lasted for weeks.

His fingertips grazed the groove in his upper lip where the scar crossed, and his eyes followed the length of the gash along his chin. He'd always just stuck with an animal attack as his story. It wasn't completely unheard of to be attacked on a camping trip, and it was usually at that point the questions would stop. He found that not many people liked hearing the gory details despite their curiosity, which worked out for him since he didn't bother thinking of them. He flattened his hair over his face again and sighed, wishing it were longer. After a sudden lurch in his stomach, Remus averted his eyes from his reflection to finish his business and get dressed. He wasn't too keen on anyone staring at his face for too long before feeling self-conscious, even himself.

Hope and Lyall Lupin were both talking over the small dining table in the kitchen when Remus walked in from upstairs. His father was adjusting his raincoat for work with his back to his son while finishing up his toast. His stature and build was much more pronounced than his son's. Lyall stood up straight with broad shoulders, yet managed to still keep an aloof air about him, especially around Hope, who was busy rolling her eyes and putting her hair up in a bun. His father had tan skin compared to his mother stood across from him, with the same dark ashy hair and pale green eyes as Remus beneath his thick eyebrows. His mother stood across from him, being incredibly small statured compared to her husband. Her hands dropped to her hips when she finished tying up her hair, which looked a much brighter red than usual that morning compared to the normal hint of blonde since she decided to wear her green knit sweater. Her large, light brown eyes flicked to Remus', and scrunched up in her smile as she greeted him good morning.

He'd just walked in at the tail end of their conversation, which from what he caught was his father mentioning he'd probably be getting home later due to a meeting. Remus couldn't help but deflate a little at the thought of his dad staying back later than usual. It was a Friday, so he was feeling a little selfish and disappointed that his work was keeping him. His father followed suit with a bright smile of his own, then scarfed down his toast and gave his wife a crummy kiss on the cheek before ruffling Remus' hair goodbye to cheer him up.

"It won't last too long, I promise. I'll be back in time for dinner" he said. Then he winked and disappeared with a small 'pop.' That was usually his form of transportation whenever he left into the wizarding world, vanishing into thin air in one place, and reappearing in the next. Being the magical parent living in a non-magical town, there weren't many indulgences he could take with his abilities while attempting to settle down with his wife and son. Remus couldn't blame him though; after all he thought it would really nice to be able to be anywhere he wanted by just thinking about it. He decided not to ponder too much since he already woke up in a mood about school. With just the two of them staying in the kitchen now, his mother beamed at him as she tidied up his new mess of hair. She liked it out of his face much better.

"Since your father has his meeting, it's just you and me tonight" she said as she turned to grab her a Remus a raincoat and umbrella. Her kind face held its natural smile whenever she spoke. "I hope you're prepared for a quiet night in."

He smiled and grabbed his coat.

"Right. I dunno though… maybe dad will surprise us tonight. Remember last time he brought work home with him?" He replied, making her giggle.

"I wouldn't count on it."

Remus enjoyed the car rides with his mother in their small blue four-door, mostly because he enjoyed their time to spend together and partly because she let him sit in the front, which he enjoyed very much. It was their time to talk and laugh and point out new things as they drove after moving. Sometimes after school she'd take him to the new places they spotted as a treat, or just as another opportunity to be around each other, which Remus enjoyed just as much. Unlike his father, she wasn't as eccentric or witty, but her kind nature made others want to be around her. It proved the point that even she had no abilities according to the wizarding world, there was magic about Hope that was beyond anything Lyall could do.

The pair pulled up to the school before too long and spent a few moments to make sure Remus had all of his things together. He tried not being to obvious with his reluctance to leave, but the longer he took making sure the straps on his bag were exactly the same length, the more he realised his mother was on to his stalling. While he was making some last minute adjustments his bag and making sure his umbrella's handles was firmly in place, she fixed his hair away from his face one more time before giving him a sympathetic smile.

"Have a good day sweetheart. I'll pick you up when class is over." Remus swallowed hard and looked out to the group of his classmates all hoarding together. He supposed if she was going to let him stay, she would have stopped him by now.

There was nothing particularly important about his day at school. The teachers gave their lessons, if Remus was called on he answered, and for a large part of the day, he stayed under the radar. The formula he'd come up with was simple and proved to work. The less attention he drew, the less he needed to talk about himself. Trial and error in the past had proven the system effective, though flawed since usually being more withdrawn towards his peers couldn't help but make him feel quite lonely. To Remus it was a matter of time before he'd need to leave, anyway. Either he would slip with magic by making the erasers beat themselves or swell another classmate's tongue that was teasing him over his face, or his monthly absences were drawing too much attention. Either way making friends wasn't as important, even though sometimes he found himself wishing that he was also being invited over for dinner or picked first in partner assignments for a change. It was times he found his mind wandering that gave the familiar tug in his stomach that made him start second guessing his usual role of a wallflower—

"Mister Lupin, please." His teacher's croaky voice boomed through his ears and made him jump slightly at the sudden mention of his name. He'd been so lost in thought he'd almost forgotten his class was still going on without him. His mouth immediately went dry, feeling too embarrassed to ask his teacher to repeat himself. The man took a step forward and adjusted his glasses as well as his tone lower, putting more conviction in his gruff voice. "Am I boring you?" Remus quickly shook his head almost too quickly, and felt his cheek getting warmer as his classmates began their hushed laughter. "Then perhaps you know the material well enough that paying attention is beneath you?"

"I— Sorry. No sir." He replied, feeling quite small. He knew all eyes were on him now as he could practically feel his classmates' stares boring holes into him, as well as catch the stifled sniggers. He sank lower into his chair. Remus didn't like being singled out, especially when he'd been compliant all day until he let his mind wander for what only seemed like a few moments. As his teacher went on, he felt the heat and colour rise in his face until his tone matched that of a tomato.

"Then perhaps it would do you some good to— to…" He reached to cover his mouth as though a nasty cough was coming over him. After a few seconds of gathering himself he continued, "To sit up straight and— Ribbit."

The light chuckling in the air stopped stone cold and turned to whispers of the class now trying to figure out amongst each other if they all had just heard correctly. He was especially sensitive to whispers, hearing the students hush around him all having the same thought as he did. The noise was precisely what Remus imagined a toad would make, sitting on a lily pad in a pond. It was this thought that made him especially nervous since it's exactly why his teacher now quite literally had a frog in his throat.

It wasn't this first time something strange had happened to him when he was stressed out or scared. His father always warned and lectured during their lessons on magic about the importance of keeping control of his emotions for good reason, especially around non-magical people. Magic was difficult enough for him to understand and explain, and he was born with it. Having to explain it to people who had no magical ability at all was nearly impossible, and usually resulted in his family having to pack their things and leave town when particular events became too difficult to excuse. The more he thought about how this slip would be his family's new reason for moving again, the worse he felt. Now he had the picture of his parent's disappointed faces in his head, which was not going to help the situation at all.

Every time the teacher spoke, his predicament got seemingly worse. The croaking became more frequent and if the panicked look on his bespectacled face was any indication, was nearing on uncontrollable. With every croak, the whispers among the classroom turned into a dull roar, and then laughter. The man decided it'd be a much better idea to keep his mouth shut and immediately excused himself from the classroom, which then burst out into full conversation. Remus wanted to follow suit, but from listening to the scattered drabble figured it would be best to stay in his seat.

"D'ya think he's gone mad?" The girl next to him asked, prodding his arm with her pencil.

"Nah, maybe it's some kind of joke—" He answered.

"It was really good though, I mean, he sounded exactly like a frog." She interrupted.

"It's not that different than how he sounds now—"

"I can't believe he chose the end of the day before the weekend to get ill…"

He decided it was probably best not to answer back and wait for her to carry her conversation on with another student who agreed with her, which she did the second someone else pitched his or her theory as to what just happened. It was all generally the same thing from what he could hear. The teacher was sick, or was just practicing his very convincing toad impersonation. There was no mention of Remus or any connection or coincidence mentioned at how this sudden outburst was in the middle of him being chastised. The awful gut feeling was lifting in his relief. Had he really gotten away with magic? He'd gotten questioned for smaller incidents before, but thinking back on his teachers face, he gave no accusatory looks to Remus before leaving. Suddenly the situation seemed more laughable, and a small smile snuck up on him thinking now that it was a very silly yet accurate frog impression indeed.

When classes dismissed, Remus hurried through the doorway to meet his mother out front. Even though it was still a light rain outside, he knew that if he lingered too long indoors, someone would be tempted to start a conversation with him about what happened if they were present or spread the gossip if they weren't, and he wasn't really feeling up to reliving the experience so soon. He anxiously rocked on the balls of his feet until the small blue car rounded the corner. Hope beamed at him from the drivers seat as he got himself settled and buckled in.

"I don't know about you, but I've had the weirdest day…" she said wistfully, taking the car around the corner to the main road. He'd listened to his mother's stories of her adventures at home while her husband and son were away countless times before. She spent the time cleaning, cooking, organising, decorating… and re-decorating. If there was anything that would keep her busy, it was a welcome task since she decided after starting a family that being a stay-at-home mother was something she'd always wanted. Before marrying Lyall she would have never expected it to be particularly exciting, but the enchanted objects the Lupins kept in their home always made for entertaining stories for her accounts of trying to handle them with no magical ability at all. Once she told Remus about how she spent an entire afternoon trying to organize furniture that his father bewitched to completely avoid her, in an attempt to make her compulsive needs to clean the carpets less difficult. This time it happened to be more of a mess she seemed to walk into since she took it upon herself to clean Lyall's study, which was teeming with magical objects. Nevertheless, Remus smiled as she spoke. He always felt calm listening to the Welsh tilt in her voice, and to have his nerves unwound after the odd day he'd had himself was exactly what he needed.

Aside from the recount of his mother's most recent struggle with enchanted objects, the rest of the car ride home was otherwise filled with conversation of how the pair would spend the evening together. The initial idea was to have a drive into town and finally stop by one of the shops on their list of things to see, but as they bounced different ideas to each other they eventually both just agreed to lounge on the sofa with a bowl of popcorn and a movie. Hope had even taken the liberty of rummaging through her husbands office for his bowl of marbles, in case they decided to play a game later.

They were only about an hour into movie night when the glassware in the kitchen shook to accommodate for Lyall Lupin appearing out of thin air. He placed his briefcase on the countertop, alerting Remus and his mother to his presence.

"Turns out the meeting wasn't as long as I thought it'd be." Lyall said, taking off his hat and scratching his head. "Prepping us for new laws to be in force soon… But I won't bore you with the details. I almost fell asleep myself sitting through it." He reached inside of his coat pocket and pulled out his wand. With a flick, his briefcase opened and all of the papers inside folded themselves neatly into aerodynamic shapes and sped off from the kitchen out of sight. It was hard to believe his dad ever had a boring day at work considering he worked in the Department of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, which specialised exclusively on what Remus found one of the most fascinating parts of the magical world. He'd dealt with vampires, goblins, even dragons and unicorns, and if the stories he brought home were any indication, he was quite good at it too. If he was honest, Remus figured the meeting was a large get together of every creature in a room talking about whatever it was they talked about while the head of the department banged a large gavel as to discuss these new laws he mentioned. It sounded much more fun to be held back with magical beings than to sit and wonder how long it would take for an unintentional frog-voice spell to break.

Lyall made his way into the living room and was just getting ready to plop himself on the sofa to join his wife and son when there was a light and sudden tap on the front door, the noise making Remus perk up instantly on the spot. Hope stood up to answer, muttering about who could possibly be at their doorstep and their impeccable timing. Lyall groaned and cursed under his breath knowing instead of taking his long awaited seat, he'd have to greet whoever was waiting at the door with his wife since it was obvious that neither of them made any plans for an evening visit.

Remus leaned back into the couch with a half finished bowl of popcorn, tossing little pieces into the air and catching them in his mouth to occupy himself while his parents were entertaining whoever was at the door. He heard the handle turn followed by a very soft voice shortly after. From what his ears could pick up, it belonged to an older man, and didn't sound familiar at all to Remus. His curiosity forced him to keep the popcorn still in his hands and to turn around to put a face to the voice he heard.

"Good evening, Lyall. I hope I'm not interrupting anything. I had requested your presence at the Ministry, but you must have left in quite the hurry after the council meeting." The man said. The mention of his dad's work made him stop tossing the popcorn immediately and turn slightly in his seat. The angle at which Remus was sitting made it difficult to see more than a glint of what he gathered was the man's glasses. He quietly moved from the couch to get a better look without disturbing their conversation.

His curiosity was filling his head with so many questions. The man must have been a wizard too, but did he work with his father? Even if he did, his work is in London. What was he doing on their doorstep in Wales? Lyall immediately ruffled the back of his own hair and apologized for his hasty departure.

"It is all right, I'd hoped to visit your home and meet your family as well. I've only ever heard good things. I beg your pardon… my manners… You must be Hope Lupin, am I correct?" His mother confirmed and smiled softly as the man introduced himself. Remus didn't catch his name when he first said it, but he could now clearly see that he was quite old. He had rings on the hand he took his mother's with, and kind clear blue eyes that had not found their way over to him yet. He retreated his hand back and fondled his long white beard that matched his hair. "I trust you know why I am here?" He said, his voice suddenly taking a more businesslike tilt, his eyes searching both of his parents'.

"I do not, Professor." Lyall replied, trying to sound equally as professional, and somewhat faltering. The man clearly made him nervous, but Remus didn't have the faintest idea why, as he seemed very gentle to him. "Though, you mentioned you've been meaning to visit?"

"Ah yes, for some time now. Forgive me, but I have been waiting for a proper moment as I know it's a very… well, sensitive matter." Almost instinctively, Lyall pulled the door closer to him that there was not much more of an open space aside from what he and his wife were occupying, effectively blocking Remus' view of their visitor completely. He must have known he was watching behind them. He snuck around to get another better look between the spaces of their shoulders, where he could now see the professor's face in full.

"And what matter might that be, sir?" His mother asked in an expectant tone of voice. The man seemed to make her nervous too, and it was obvious that her and Lyall were on the same page as they both looked incredibly on edge.