fic - among many
title: among many
fandom: harry potter
prompt: fear of being alone
medium: fic
rating: pg - 13
warnings: none.
summary: there are creatures in the forbidden forest beyond the understanding of remus lupin. there are monsters that come out at night. there are more than he could possible imagine in the forest. and yet he feels more alone than ever each full moon.
There are creatures in the forbidden forest beyond the understanding of Remus Lupin. There are monsters that come out at night.
Large raccoon dogs, with a mean streak, setting traps for other animals on the forest floor and stealing food from their dens. Remus doesn't necessarily like them, but neither does he go out of his way to avoid them. His werewolf hide is larger and stronger. His teeth are longer and sharper.
There are disproportionate birds with crooked necks and the legs of a frog. Remus usually tries to play with them after shifting, but they seem terrified of him. They even seem to prefer the company of hinkypunks and he cannot comprehend why.
Sometimes he encounters large, horrid spiders with hairy bodies. The sound of their pincers snapping together like grinding knifes and menacing terror have set a response within him, immediately turning him the opposite direction. If there is one, there are many.
When he is tired, or too badly beaten to move, he stares into the sky. Once a year, during the december month, the air swarms with creatures that aren't pixies nor fairies that glow in the dark, grinning menacingly while swaying just out of his reach.
They are beasts like him. There are more than he could possible imagine in the forest. And yet he feels more alone than ever each full moon.
For so long he had wished for someone he could talk to about what happens to him every month. For someone to be by his side when he comes to, bruised and bloodied and broken. For the longest time, he wanted and never received, until he stopped hoping he could ever have what he longed for.
And then he did. James, Sirius and Peter are the best things that have ever happened to him in his entire life. Each month when they venture into the woods together for the shift, he feels his heart swell a tiny little bit with love for them. When he wakes up, bruised and bloodied and broken, a warmth spreads through his chest at not having to be alone. The sheer amazement that not only one person, but three, would go through unimaginable hardships and studies just to be with him for twelve nights a year.
Remus closes his eyes and tries to calm himself down enough to sleep. The interior of the hospital wing is not very soothing, and the nagging pain of the bones in his left arm knitting together.
He closes his eyes and thanks God, or Merlin, or whoever might be listening, for friends like the ones he have. Should he ever find himself without them, what before had been the most agonizing occurrence cursed to befall him each month would become impossible.
In truth… Having experienced not waking up alone after a living nightmare, he could never go back. He would probably kill himself. Not the distanced support from teachers at school, or the put-on acceptance from his parents, or the polite ignorance from students having figured out his condition could ever replace what he feels every single times he opens his eyes the morning after and see three smiling faces look down on him instead of the sky.
He would probably kill himself.
Remus turns over in his hospital bed and winces as the pain in his side makes itself reminded.
Hopefully, it will never come to that.
fandom: harry potter
prompt: fear of being alone
medium: fic
rating: pg - 13
warnings: none.
summary: there are creatures in the forbidden forest beyond the understanding of remus lupin. there are monsters that come out at night. there are more than he could possible imagine in the forest. and yet he feels more alone than ever each full moon.
There are creatures in the forbidden forest beyond the understanding of Remus Lupin. There are monsters that come out at night.
Large raccoon dogs, with a mean streak, setting traps for other animals on the forest floor and stealing food from their dens. Remus doesn't necessarily like them, but neither does he go out of his way to avoid them. His werewolf hide is larger and stronger. His teeth are longer and sharper.
There are disproportionate birds with crooked necks and the legs of a frog. Remus usually tries to play with them after shifting, but they seem terrified of him. They even seem to prefer the company of hinkypunks and he cannot comprehend why.
Sometimes he encounters large, horrid spiders with hairy bodies. The sound of their pincers snapping together like grinding knifes and menacing terror have set a response within him, immediately turning him the opposite direction. If there is one, there are many.
When he is tired, or too badly beaten to move, he stares into the sky. Once a year, during the december month, the air swarms with creatures that aren't pixies nor fairies that glow in the dark, grinning menacingly while swaying just out of his reach.
They are beasts like him. There are more than he could possible imagine in the forest. And yet he feels more alone than ever each full moon.
For so long he had wished for someone he could talk to about what happens to him every month. For someone to be by his side when he comes to, bruised and bloodied and broken. For the longest time, he wanted and never received, until he stopped hoping he could ever have what he longed for.
And then he did. James, Sirius and Peter are the best things that have ever happened to him in his entire life. Each month when they venture into the woods together for the shift, he feels his heart swell a tiny little bit with love for them. When he wakes up, bruised and bloodied and broken, a warmth spreads through his chest at not having to be alone. The sheer amazement that not only one person, but three, would go through unimaginable hardships and studies just to be with him for twelve nights a year.
Remus closes his eyes and tries to calm himself down enough to sleep. The interior of the hospital wing is not very soothing, and the nagging pain of the bones in his left arm knitting together.
He closes his eyes and thanks God, or Merlin, or whoever might be listening, for friends like the ones he have. Should he ever find himself without them, what before had been the most agonizing occurrence cursed to befall him each month would become impossible.
In truth… Having experienced not waking up alone after a living nightmare, he could never go back. He would probably kill himself. Not the distanced support from teachers at school, or the put-on acceptance from his parents, or the polite ignorance from students having figured out his condition could ever replace what he feels every single times he opens his eyes the morning after and see three smiling faces look down on him instead of the sky.
He would probably kill himself.
Remus turns over in his hospital bed and winces as the pain in his side makes itself reminded.
Hopefully, it will never come to that.