Round 9 of the QL, beater 1 for the Ballycastle Bats: Write a story based off the Fox and the Hound

Prompts:

(word) clumsy

(object) a broken wand

(quote) 'The circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant. It's what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.' – Mewtwo

The Quidditch Pitch: "The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them." - Ernest Hemingway

…

Remus Lupin and Sirius Black first met when they were very young. They were the best of friends for a long time, but neither saw the other as a human. You see, Remus Lupin was a wolf, and Sirius Black was The Grim.

Sirius followed the smell through the woods. It wasn't like what the rabbits smelled like, or the squirrels. It wasn't the same smell as the neighbour's barbeque, although it was coming from the same place. It didn't even smell like the dog food Lyall often left lying around for him. It didn't smell like anything he'd ever smelt before.

And naturally, this made him very curious.

He had pinpointed the smell exactly, he was just behind the tree, he was ready to jump out, and if it tried to hurt him? He would be ready for a fight. He had seen his dad have a big fight with a fox once which was really impressive. He had been waiting for a go since.

3, 2, 1. He jumped.

Poor Remus Lupin had the fright of his life when a black, growling dog jumped out from behind the tree. He fell to the floor, and had to jump back up on his little wolf legs, hoping the dog hadn't noticed. He wasn't very use to being a wolf.

Sirius looked at the small animal in front of him. He cocked his head. He was the same size as Sirius! What was he though? A dog? Sirius had never seen a blond dog before.

Remus looked confusedly at the similarly confused dog. He wasn't going to attack him? He had been certain the dog was going to try and kill him, the way he came at him, snarling and claws out. And he was a bit bigger than Remus.

Sirius slowly took one small step towards the weird, small, clumsy, blond dog. Who was he? The dog looked terrified at this, so Sirius immediately pulled his paw back, trying to look apologetic in his small puppy dog eyes.

Remus saw the look in the dog's eyes and started to circle the dog, trying to figure out who it was, what he wanted.

Halfway through the other dog's circling, Sirius realised that he had smelled that scent before! He wasn't a dog at all! He was a wolf! He jumped up and spun around the face the wolf excitedly.

Remus, once again, had the shock of his life when the dog suddenly turned around and headed for him. He fell over on his little legs again, and tried to jump up immediately. The dog was already in front of him sniffing, then pulling back, tongue lolling out, looking excited. Remus carefully leaned forward and sniffed the dog.

Sirius tried to smile at the wolf. Maybe he would play a game with him? He nudged the wolf, and turned to nod at a ball on the other side of the garden.

Remus cocked his head in confusion. What was the puppy saying?

Sirius took off, and, in less than a second, reappeared with the ball in his mouth. He gently dropped it at the wolf's feet.

This message Remus understood.

The puppy and the cub ending up spending hours running around in the grass, racing each other, playing tug of war, and kicking the ball. A couple of hours later, they lay side by side, panting on the lawn.

Sirius looked at his new friend. 'What's your name?' he barked.

Remus looked blankly at the puppy. What was he saying?

Sirius looked thoughtful for a second. Finally he barked, 'I'm going to call you Moony.' The wolf still looked confused, so he took that as acceptance. They lapsed back into silence.

A minute or two later, Remus turned to the puppy. 'I need a name for you. Can I call you Padfoot?' he barked.

Sirius was confused. His friend was barking, but he couldn't understand what he was saying. But then again, did it matter? You didn't need to speak to play catch!

And so Moony and Padfoot leaped up and kept playing games. And that day, in the way that only two small puppies can, they became best friends.

As Sirius got older, he started to understand what Moony really was, and just how fitting his name had been. He knew his mother would disapprove of his new friendship, so he didn't tell anyone, not even his brother. Every full moon, for years on end, he would go and meet Moony.

Remus never really knew who Padfoot was at all, but he was grateful for the company. The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them. His friend had never once let him down. Sometimes he came to the garden with a new injury, or cut, and when he was very young, Remus wondered if Padfoot was a human too, that turned into a dog. But, as he got older, he learned to cope with the fact that there were no other animals like him.

One full moon, Padfoot never came to the garden. Remus waited, and waited, and waited. But his friend never showed up. The transformation was a lot more painful that night.

When the Blacks decided that they wanted their sons to be deatheaters, Sirius knew that he was no longer going to be able to turn into a dog and make his escapes to get away from his parents. He had no choice but to stay. He would look after his brother, and ensure that neither of them came to any harm. He would never regret his decision to look after Regulus, but sometimes when he saw a full moon out the window, he would feel a stabbing guilt. Not only did he feel bad for making Moony go through it alone, it had been the most freedom and fun he had in his life. The only friend he had in his life.

Remus growled and got ready to attack. He had to get the job done, and then he could go home. He didn't want to leave Teddy with Andromeda for longer than he had told her.

3, 2, 1. He jumped.

He never made it to his victim. A big black dog leaped into his way and pushed him back. He dug his teeth into Remus' front leg. Remus howled in pain and attempted to get up. He couldn't. The dog took the moment of Remus' weakness to check on the deatheater he had defended. He turned back into human form. Remus watched his back in confusion. An animagus?

"Regulus!"

The man went to tend to his friend and Remus took the opportunity to study the man. If he was a deatheater, as Remus assumed, then maybe he would be able to identify him for the Order later. He was tall and thin, with long, shaggy, black hair. Remus watched the tall man find Regulus' broken wand which he had fallen on during the fight.

Remus tried to stand up, but he couldn't. He watched the two deatheaters walk away, one limping, leaning on the other one's shoulder, and he was unable to stop them.

It wasn't until weeks later when he realised that he recognised the big, black dog. It was the same day he learned about the deatheater who had come to them, their new spy. Remus never met him.

It was weeks after that, when he was once again up and fighting. It wasn't a full moon this time, however. He was back to fighting with his wand, which he preferred, even if he was more dangerous as a wolf.

The group had reached a fork: Frank and James went left, Kingsley and Marlene went right, and Remus had gone straight with Peter. Peter had been hit by a stray spell, and Remus dragged him behind the bookcase. He listened carefully. Was the caster still there?

Remus stuck his head over the bookcase and caught a glimpse of the tall, black haired man entering the room, wand arm outstretched. Remus growled and got ready to aim. He hadn't even known the dog he had appreciated for so long had been anything but. And yet here the man was. He had joined the deatheaters. He had injured Remus. He had stupefied Peter. Remus wanted nothing more than to fire off a hex, or a jinx. But, at the same time, he couldn't help hesitating. He couldn't just hit him from unawares; he would give a fair fight.

3, 2, 1. He jumped.

"Expelliarmus!" He called.

The man showed good reflexes as he leapt out of the way of the spell. He spun around ready to yell a curse back, when he stopped. He seemed to freeze in shock.

"Lupin." He said, holding up his hands. "You're Lupin, right?"

Remus lowered his wand. "Who wants to know?"

"My name is Sirius. I'm your spy. I haven't had the chance to meet you yet."

"Oh." Remus scratched the back of his neck. "Have I got any reason to believe that?"

"Your HQ, or whatever you want to call it, is number 63 on Mosern Avenue. It's under Fidelius. How would I know that if I wasn't with the Order?"

Remus studied him. "Okay. I believe you. But why did you stop me the other day when I tried to stop a deatheater. You bit me!"

Sirius blinked slowly. "Moony?"

This threw Remus off guard. "What? Moony? What's that?"

"Moony. The wolf. That's you. Surely you remember me."

He turned into a dog, and padded towards Remus.

"Padfoot."

The dog nudged Remus' leg, and Remus let out his first laugh since the beginning of the war.

The circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant. It's what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.