Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.

Written for Quidditch League, Round 1

Team: Holyhead Harpies

Position: Captain

Main Prompt: Fear - Weakness

Also Written for Hogwarts, Assignment 7: Muggle Art - Task #3 - Ink: Write about someone making an irreversible mistake.

Word Count: 1813

Beta'd By Sophie, Jane, Angel and Sam.

AN/Warning - Warning for violence and threatening behaviour/intimidation. Also, there is some intentionally bad grammar and speech in this fic, because Remus is a four year old. Title from the song Howl, by Florence and the Machine.

no holding back (i'm making an attack)

~Now~

Lyall watched fearfully as the clouds slid across the moon, leaving it behind to brighten up the dark sky. It was full, round and low, beautiful and terrible.

In the distance, a howl reverberated through the air, met by others in a spine-shivering chorus.

Lyall gripped his wand tighter in his hand, knowing it was useless, but not knowing what else he could do.

Hope and Remus were already in bed, neither of them aware of the threatening danger that could arrive that night.

He'd been too weak to tell them.

…

~Then~

Lyall eyed the man carefully, sure that there was something wrong with his story. There was no way he was a Muggle homeless man. No way at all.

His amber eyes glinted when he met Lyall's; a challenge if there ever was one.

"He's not a Muggle," Lyall muttered to his coworkers. "He's a werewolf. He's—"

Laughter cut him off, and he glared at them all, disbelieving. Wasn't this supposed to be his speciality? Wasn't this specifically why he'd been employed to help?

"He's not a were, Lupin, don't be ridiculous."

"He is!" Lyall replied firmly.

"We can't hold him until the full moon to find out. We'd be able to tell if he was or not. Where's your evidence?"

"He has no proof," another of them said, before Lyall could even attempt a reply.

Yet another rolled his eyes, still laughing.

"Werewolves are soulless, evil creatures," Lyall snapped. "And this man is one of them. He killed two children! He deserves nothing but death!"

…

~Now~

"Daddy?"

Lyall spun in his chair, horrified to see Remus out of bed. His heart beating in his chest, he tried to calm himself before he asked, "What are you doing out of bed, Champ?"

"Monsters, Daddy. I hearded them and then you weren't in bed with Mummy and I thought they'd gotten you and—"

"Calm down, Son, I'm fine," Lyall interrupted, assuring his boy. "Come on, let's get you back to bed. You'll be safe from the monsters if you're all tucked in."

"Promise?" Remus asked, even as he raised his arms for Lyall to pick him up.

"Of course. Would I ever lie to you?"

Remus giggled and rubbed his little face against Lyall's neck as he shook his head. "No, Daddy. No lies. Lies is bad."

"That's right, Son, lies are bad."

…

~Then~

A strong blow against his back made him stumble into the wall. Turning, he found himself face to face with the man who'd tried to present as a homeless Muggle.

"Soulless, am I?"

Lyall struggled to right himself, but he'd taken a knock to the head, and it was making it difficult to focus. He still managed to cringe away, putting a bit more distance between the two of them.

"The only reason I haven't slayed you where you stand is because you… intrigue me. Strong men make strong wolves, Mr Lupin. You're strong, aren't you?" he taunted, reaching out to touch Lyall's face with a single, dirty finger.

"Keep your filthy hands away from me," Lyall snapped, slapping the hand away before it could make contact.

"My pack could use another strong man… I may just keep you. Maybe you'll change your opinion on how 'soulless' we are."

Fear filled Lyall when he realised that if this man decided to 'keep him', Lyall would be powerless to stop him. The wolf was too strong.

…

~Now~

Lyall stood close to the doorway, watching Remus through the small gap he'd left. He waited until Remus had fallen back to sleep, and then checked the window. It was shut tight, and Lyall had used the best protective spells he knew to keep his son safe.

He returned to the kitchen, to his perch, and surveyed the outside once more. He wasn't pleased that he had to leave the kitchen at all.

If only his colleagues could see him now, he thought wryly. For all his 'specialism', he was as weak as anyone else to an attack, and he'd never been more aware of that than he was now.

Fenrir was coming, Lyall was sure of it.

After all, he'd promised.

…

~Then~

Fenrir Greyback, as Lyall had later learned was his name, had escaped custody when he'd been escorted from the Ministry.

After accosting Lyall, he'd disappeared into the wind, but Lyall could feel eyes on himself constantly.

A few times, Lyall thought he saw him from the corner of his eye, and he got more and more paranoid by the day.

"Really, Dear," Hope tried to assure him. "I think you're worrying for nothing. He probably just wanted to scare you, since you saw him for what he was."

Lyall wished he could take comfort from her words, but they failed to make him feel better.

As the days turned into weeks, the sightings of him lessened, and Lyall began to relax.

It was the biggest mistake he could have made.

…

~Now~

As on edge as he was, every shadow he saw could be a werewolf, every rustle of the wind could be a growl. Lyall looked left and right, watching and waiting and watching and waiting.

If only those fools at the Ministry had believed him when he first told them that he believed Fenrir to be a werewolf, then none of this would have happened.

Fenrir wouldn't be hellbent on revenge, and Lyall's family would be safe.

A bang sounded around the front of the house, and Lyall twitched, listening hard.

When the second bang sounded, he leapt into action.

…

~Then~

"I saw them."

Lyall froze, bent over in the back garden. He'd been tending his vegetable patch, and he certainly hadn't expected company.

Standing slowly, he found himself face to face with the man from his nightmares.

"Go away," he demanded. "Leave my family alone!"

"Come with me and I will," Fenrir offered with a grin.

Lyall recoiled. "No."

"You won't save your family?" Fenrir asked, leaning against the gate-post, casually picking his dirty fingernails. "You're not strong enough to handle me alone? You want to put them in danger too?"

"Leave them alone!"

"We could raise the boy together," Fenrir offered. "He's a bit meek at the moment, but I could teach him to be strong."

Lyall shook his head, stumbling backwards towards the house. "Leave us alone!"

Fenrir only grinned widely. "I'll have you, Mr Lupin. One way or another, you'll be mine."

…

~Now~

The front garden was empty, and Lyall couldn't see anything out of place. He looked around for the source of the noise and came up empty.

Concerned, he stepped outside, looking around the sides of the house and along the barrier of bushes around their garden, but he saw nothing.

He was about to go back inside when a scream rent the air, a terrified, pain-filled scream.

With his heart in his mouth, Lyall raced inside and up the stairs, falling on a step as he scrambled towards his son's room.

…

~Then~

Hope was trembling when she entered the kitchen, her eyes wide and fear written in every line of her face.

"Hope?" Lyall asked, standing up and rushing forward to meet her, to guide her into a chair. "What happened?"

She stared up at him. "I just… he said… I don't… Lyall," she managed to stutter out before she dissolved into sobs, her entire body shaking with the force of them.

Lyall hugged her close, rocking them both until he heard her speak again.

"He swore to rip my throat out if I didn't leave you, Lyall," she whispered.

…

~Now~

The scene that met him was straight out of a horror story, and for a split second, Lyall could only stare.

Fenrir gripped Remus like he was nothing heavier than a rag doll, his limbs splaying out as he tried and failed to fight. There was blood everywhere and Lyall could see the teeth marks in his son's shoulder.

Fenrir grinned at him, a trail of blood spreading down his muzzle.

"Monster," Lyall screamed, sending spell after spell at the werewolf. Remus fell from his grip and he snarled at Lyall, but Lyall wouldn't give up. He couldn't.

He fought and he fought, but Fenrir advanced on him, as though the spells were nothing.

"I promised you'd regret rejecting me, didn't I?" Fenrir said, reaching out to grip Lyall's neck. "Now your son is as much mine as he is that waste of a woman that bore him."

"He'll never be yours," Lyall replied, fighting against Fenrir's grip.

"Oh, but he will. As will you. One day, Lyall. I'll come back to claim what is mine."

…

~Then~

"I'll give you one more chance," Fenrir offered.

Lyall was prepared for his arrival, and his wand slipped from his sleeve into his hand. He was going to end this once and for all.

Except hands were grabbing him from behind and he was held in place. A rattling laugh echoed in his ears, and Fenrir stepped forward to grab his chin, forcing Lyall to look at him.

"You don't think I work alone?" he asked. "You could have this, Mr Lupin. You'll never be alone again if you become part of my pack. You and your son, I'll take care of you both. I'll protect you."

"The only one I need protecting from is you," Lyall replied.

Fenrir lost his smile and he snarled wordlessly. "If you don't come with me, I'll slaughter your son in his bed!"

"You—"

"And that's a promise," Fenrir interrupted. "Final chance, Mr Lupin, and don't forget what I said. One way or another, I'll make you mine eventually."

…

~Now~

Lyall stroked Remus' hair gently, looking down at the scars that marred his beautiful baby boy. His life would be irrevocably changed now, and Lyall wasn't sure how he and Hope were going to handle it.

Raising a werewolf would be entirely different, and there was too much to think about, around the guilt and the nausea plaguing him.

Why hadn't he just kept his mouth shut? If only he hadn't been so quick to speak his mind, none of this would have happened.

If only Lyall had been stronger, faster, he would have been able to save his son this fate. He should have been able to save him.

And now, the fear that Fenrir would return would follow him for the rest of his days. Remus was already forever changed; would Fenrir target Hope next?

He swallowed hard, tears falling from his eyes onto Remus' messy hair. How could he have failed his son so hard?

A small part of Lyall couldn't help but think that, perhaps, he would have been better off dead.

And that felt like the biggest weakness of all.