Chapter 35: 31st August 1991, Saturday: Part 3

Twenty minutes later, George and Dominic arrived at Tumbledown estate. Although this area clearly wasn't a rich neighbourhood, he was pleasantly surprised with how friendly the street seemed. He had gone into this visit with the preconception that Remus was living in poverty and that's why he'd come up north. But this place wasn't half bad, especially compared with George's living accommodations before the Linwoods. Dominic pulled up outside of a semi-detached cottage with an empty driveway. The front garden was small and without flowers, but the grass appeared to have been recently trimmed.

They got out of the car and walked towards the front door. There was a sign right outside the door in yellow and black writing which read 'Lupin's Antique Restoration Workshop'. Oh, so Dominic hadn't been lying when he was distracting George. It did make sense since Remus still had to pay for living expenses even if he wasn't a part of the wizarding community anymore. Using the Mending charm to fix muggle's antiques was quite a clever idea, but George doubted the Ministry would approve if they ever found out. The 'BEWARE OF DOG' sign just above the letterbox was a nice touch. That would certainly help Rermus's neighbours rationalise why they could hear howling every month.

Dominic knocked on the door, and George heard the sound of ceramic objects smashing on the ground. Then Remus came running to the front door and swung it open, his scarred face looked relieved once he recognised Dominic.

"Hello Dominic, is it eleven o'clock already? I must have lost track of the time."

Dominic put his hand into his jacket, "it's not a problem. Could you deliver this to Benjamin within the next week?"

He pulled out a perfectly normal-looking letter and handed it over to Remus.

Remus looked at the letter, "I'll be going to Diagon Alley this Tuesday but..."

He looked back up at Dominic sheepishly, "you do realise that sending this with one of your owls would be much faster."

Dominic nodded, "I know but I would like this to remain confidential. Could you make sure only Benjamin receives the letter? If he's not available, then don't bother. This isn't urgent, so don't trouble yourself."

"Okay, I'll erh... make sure only he sees it", Remus dubiously responded while pocketing the letter.

George stepped out of Dominic's shadow and introduced himself, "hello Mr Lupin. I hope you're having a pleasant morning."

"George, I didn't see you there. What are you doing here?"

Dominic took over before George could explain, "I've got a few more errands to run, and Amanda has taken Ellie to one of her friend's houses. Do you think you could look after George for an hour or so?"

Remus scratched the back of his neck, "are you sure? I'm in the middle of a job at the moment, and my house is a bit of a mess..."

Dominic put his hand on George's back and pushed him forward, "George doesn't mind. He'll be on his best behaviour whilst I'm gone. Won't you, George?"

"You won't even notice I'm there, Mr Lupin", George confirmed.

Remus looked back into his house before saying, "if it's only for an hour..."

"Thanks, Remus. I knew I could rely on you", Dominic then turned around and started walking back down the driveway.

A few seconds later, Dominic got back into his car and drove off. George and Remus were left staring at the sports car as it rounded the corner, neither one of them had been expecting such a hasty goodbye.

Remus asked, "So... George. Would you like to come in?"

"Erh, yeah. Thank you, Mr Lupin", George responded as he was guided past the threshold.

He was led straight into a living room which looked like it had last been decorated in the nineteen sixties. It was a little hard to see since the curtains were drawn and there was only a single gas lamp illuminating the entire messy space. At a glance, it also appeared that Remus was a bit of a hoarder. This already small room was made even more claustrophobic by the mounds of books and old cabinets lining the four corners of the room. Even the two ugly beige sofas were completely covered so there was nowhere to sit. Remus seemed to notice this problem too as he picked up a pile of dusty paperwork from a sofa and precariously stacked it atop an already overloaded coffee table.

"Sorry about the mess. Ever since I started working from home, my cleaning standard has gone awry."

George planted himself on the freed-up sofa, "there's no need to excuse yourself, Mr Lupin. Compared to the mess my sister leaves behind, this is paradise."

He then looked over and saw a dark brown chest taking up the other two-thirds of the sofa. There were a lot of metal locks around the chest's lid radiating weak magical waves. Just as George was about to touch the chest, Remus threw a blanket over it.

"It's for the best if you leave that alone. There's something really nasty inside that I'd rather you didn't meet", Remus warned.

Knowing what the werewolf liked, George guess that there had to be some sort of dark creature inside that chest. Due to the quantity of locks and the lack of air holes, there was only one non-being that came to mind. If he was right, George was in no rush to meet it. As 'scary' as seeing his greatest fear would be, the real problem would be Remus seeing it as well. There were only two people a Boggart could turn into for him, and neither one of them could easily be explained away.

Remus walked over to the other side of the room and sat down on a stool. In front of him was a collapsible dining table with hundreds of ceramic fragments on top. He then pulled out his wand and waved it above the destroyed crockery. All the individual pieces started to vibrate before slowly moving toward one another. Like a jig saw solving itself, the fragments joined together one by one until they formed a Chinese teapot. There was no evidence of the teapot ever being damaged, it was like time had been rewound within a matter of seconds. Muggle master-restorers would weep if they knew this sort of magic was possible, they'd be out of a job overnight if this wizard occupation ever became mainstream.

Remus monologued as he finished his work, "a nice lady from down the road just moved in and she accidentally dropped her teapot. So I offered to repair it for free. I'll let a week go by, to not raise suspicion, and then give it back to her."

Then he looked in George's direction with a questioning gaze, "are you not feeling well today?"

George tilted his head, "pardon, Mr Lupin?"

Remus pointed at his face, "the sunglasses. Do you have a headache? I can turn the gas lamp off if it's too bright."

George slightly adjusted Dominic's glasses, "ah, I see. No, Mr Lupin. I'm fine, thank you for asking."

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In reality, George was feeling uncomfortably warm like he was sitting in a sorna. Beads of sweat were dripping down his back, soaking his turtle neck through, and every breath felt like George had just swallowed a handful of chillies. Remus's house wasn't abnormally warm, the heat was exclusively being generated by George's body. He was starting to redline and his will was the only thing stopping his body from losing control. At best, he might only have about ten more minutes to get Remus in the right state of mind. George had hoped to have a friendly dialogue with Remus first, but there simply wasn't enough time for pleasantries.

Remus put his wand away and asked, "okay then. So George, are you looking forward to Hogwarts tomorrow?"

George tilted his head left and right, "yes and no. I guess I'm a little nervous about what people are going to think of me."

Remus weakly laughed, "ah, that's funny. I felt the same way when I was going to Hogwarts as well."

George acted curious, "and why were you nervous, Mr Lupin?"

"Well, I wasn't like the other students. I was scared that I might be bullied or isolated because of my... condition", Remus elaborated whilst carefully picking his words.

"Are you referring to your Lycanthropy, Mr lupin?", George innocently asked.

Remus's mouth fell open and his eyes went wide, "how did you..."

George pulled out his leather sack from his pocket and stuck his arm inside, "if you can just give me one second, Mr Lupin. I'll be able to... oh. There it is."

He finished rummaging around in his sack and pulled out a large dark book with the title 'Wandering with Werewolves By Richard Lockhart'.

George continued to explain, "I've been doing a lot of reading over the past month, and I found this book particularly insightful. It documents a village of werewolves, covering the life and difficulties they experienced.

I was fascinated to learn that werewolves are considered dangerous by the Ministry of Magic, and therefore are restricted in what they can and cannot do. This includes limiting job prospects which generally restricts where a werewolf can live and how much they can earn. For example, they may be forced to live in more remote parts of England.

Also, the wolfsbane potion, which they need to drink to maintain their sanity on a full moon, is an extremely hard and expensive potion to brew. Due to the aforementioned lack of job opportunities, werewolves find themselves unable to afford the monthly use of this potion.

These werewolves have to resort to isolating themselves so that they do not risk injuring others during their transformation. It turns out that, without the wolfsbane potion, a transformed werewolf is so violent that they will resort to self-mutilation if they are not able to attack others.

Not only that, but a werewolf's scratches and bites are magical in nature. This means that scars left by a werewolf are unable to heal completely, even with ma…"

"I'm guessing that you're not here by accident", Remus interrupted grimly.

George stared right back at him, "no, I am not, Mr Lupin."

Remus let out a heavy sigh and began rubbing his face with his hands. He had probably never considered that George could find out he was a werewolf, especially in such a short amount of time. There had to be so much speculation going through Remus's head right now, most of it was probably quite pessimistic.

George decided to alleviate some of that worry, "I think you may have misinterpreted my confrontation, Mr Lupin. I did not come here with the same prejudice the Ministry seems to have towards werewolves, and I have no fear of remaining in your company. In actuality, I fear we have more in common than I care to admit.

I came here to tell you something in confidence and to ask for a rather big favour. I can see that there are aspects of your life you wish people were not privy to, that's something we happen to share. Before I say anything more, I need your word that you'll keep my secret. You can't tell anyone, even my family."

The room fell silent again, George guessed that a full minute went by without anyone saying anything.

Remus finally spoke, "I knew you were special from the moment I met you. I can guess what you're implying, but how can I agree to something before I know exactly what I'm agreeing to? I can't make promises when I only know half of the terms."

Remus sounded quite pained giving that response, George could tell the werewolf only wanted what was best for him.

George gave his ultimatum, "if I can show you my secret and prove to you it does not put myself or my family at any risk, would that satisfy you? I already know I'm past the point of no return by telling you this much. I hope it shows you the faith I've got in your judgement."

George knew that showing trust was always the best way to gain trust from another, even if it was based on lies. Remus stood up and began to pace back and forth. He looked like he was sitting right on the fence, just another push and George would have him.

Remus's footsteps stopped abruptly as he asked, "what about the headmaster of Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore? He's a man I would trust with my life and…"

George wanted to make this point very clear when he declared, "not another soul. I might tell Professor Dumbledore one day when I feel comfortable, but I want that to be my choice. I know you trust him, but I haven't even met him yet. I wouldn't have even considered telling you if I wasn't desperate."

There was not a day in a million years when George would willingly tell Dumbledore anything about his condition. That old man was literally the last person he would trust with that information, even Voldermort or Grindelwald were better options. Of course, Remus didn't need to know that.

A few more seconds went by before Remus finally relented, "okay, okay. If you show me and I feel comfortable that you are not a danger to yourself or anyone around you, especially while you're at Hogwarts, then I'll agree to keep your secret. But let me make one thing clear, if I for any reason in the future see that you have become out of control, then this promise immediately becomes void."

George smiled as he removed the sunglasses, revealing his crimson eyes. He could instantly recognise the duress Remus was currently experiencing through making this decision. The poor werewolf had droplets of sweat dripping down his forehead, and his hands were white from being clenched tightly shut. Sadly, Remus wasn't the only one feeling a little hot under the collar. George was just about to run out of time.

He stuffed the sunglasses into his sack, and gestured towards an ominous door in the corner of the room, "I'm glad we could come to an arrangement that satisfied both parties. I'll be lying if I said I wasn't banking on you agreeing, I can barely hold myself together as it is.

I'm guessing that you have a suitably large and padded basement for special occasions. Would you be so kind as to show me the way?"

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