October 1982
Mould-on-the-wold, Belby Cottage

EPIONE WAS STILL GRINNING AT LUPIN, when Damocles called for her attention. He was eyeing the tight grip she had on her arm, completely covered by the sleeve of a wool jumper. She recognized that look of his, full of questions and concern. Epione bowed her head and asked her father to follow her into his office, leaving behind the other two.

Noah, instead, had his back towards Remus, eyes still stinging. He cleared his throat, trying to regain some of his composure as he shrugged his cloak off. Nearing the full moon, he always felt more emotional than angry, and coming back at the village after everything that happened, felt even more exhausting that he ever imagined.

He felt the inquisitive look of the other young man, and Noah left the backpacks on the floor, realizing he was being impolite. So, he turned around, and what met him instead was a kind smile. The stranger was introducing himself, and Noah followed the movements of his lips. The tall lad was Remus Lupin, the other werewolf; the ex-Hogwarts student Epione had previously spoken to him about.

He had gentle eyes, and extended his hand in greetings. Noah shook it and presented himself but watched with a bit of disappointment the strange look Remus gave him. Noah knew, even after all the assurances given by Epione, that he did sound strange; he couldn't do otherwise, since losing his hearing.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Lupin. I'm Noah Lowell, a friend of Epione."

To Remus, Noah Lowell talked strangely. He barely opened his mouth, so that the sounds leaving his lips were low, yet still confident. He had a subtle lisp, and it seemed as though he was prolonging the enunciation of the vowels. His voice was low and rough, as if he had a sore throat; almost as if it passed a while since he'd last spoken aloud.

His sound captivated him.

"Forgive me if I sound strange. I'm deaf, so I happen to talk a bit too loud, or a bit too slow sometimes."

"I didn't even notice." Why didn't Damocles give him a heads up? "If I knew, I would have prepared myself in some sort of way. I'm sorry for being disrespectful."

"You weren't."

The two kept silent for a few moments, eyeing each other awkwardly. They looked quite different. Whilst Remus was tall and slender, Noah was a head shorter and built with lean muscles. Remus' brown hair recently cut sprung in every direction; his face had visible scars, the biggest one on his face, and he stood with his hands in the pockets of his trousers, his shoulders slouched. Noah Lowell, on the other hand, had a perfect posture, nearly regal. His straight back and stiff shoulders made him look taller than he was, and his curly golden hair had been combed so perfectly that even a gust of wind wouldn't have it messed up. His face, clean of imperfections, spotted a stubble, and his now smiling eyes wore dark circles.

"I could learn the sign language, if you use that."

"Honestly, that wouldn't be useful. And truth to be told, if you were to learn it, you'd be better than me in using it. You know, with time I've developed a personal sign system that has almost nothing to do with the B.L.S."

It was not that strange, Remus noted, since the national sign language was a recent achievement. Plus, being a Durmstrang student, Noah must had spent most of his time growing up away from the British society. Yet Remus could still see him moving his hands, though slightly, even when talking aloud.

"Thankfully, I lost my hearing after learning how to speak and write," Noah was wording carefully, slowly, gently, as if tasting every sound he couldn't hear, "otherwise it wouldn't have been possible for me to attend a wizarding school, especially one as demanding as Durmstrang."

"No one ever tried to learn? I think it's cool, studying a whole new form of communication."

Noah shook his head, "Just Epione, Damocles, and my family, of course. I can't blame my schoolmates though. Our curriculum was already intense, and everyone had better things to learn."

"It must have been difficult."

"Maybe... Not so much growing up, I still made friends." He scratched the top of his head and smiled, as if remembering something. "Epione and I came up with a couple of useful spells; like, right now I'm casting one that helps me with lips-reading."

Remus was stunned at the revelation, and soon asked him about it. Just like that, the conversation between the two werewolves never stopped. Noah took notice of how Lupin's lips now moved with a deliberate slowness, forming the words thoroughly. He didn't have to do it, since Noah was applying the Lecto Labia Charm; but he was grateful, if not sightly amazed, that someone he just met tried to be kind to him.

"You're even more brilliant that I thought."

Soon, Epione and Damocles came out of the office, and joined the other two on the green couch in front of the fireplace. Whilst the three men sat on it, Epione seated on the ground, ignoring the free space near Remus. She let her head fall on the side of Noah's knee. He smiled down to her, patting the top of her head.

Damocles adjusted the pointed hat that was sliding down, and scoffed, "Why must you always sit on the floor? There's room on the couch."

"I'm more comfortable here."

Remus threw her a cautious glance, worried his condition could become a problem. "If it is because of me, I can leave you my spot and sit on the floor instead."

The other men blasted in laughter. Epione grinned a little, tilting her head towards the former Gryffindor. "Don't worry, Lupin. I really am more comfortable sitting on the ground."

"Always the graceful." Damocles waved his wand, and four teacups came levitating from the kitchen counter. Noah's eyes lighted up and snatched the cup Epione had in her hand.

They signed at the same time, "You're rude" and "I'm fabulous," pouring the warm drink on the carpet.

Damocles ignored the two, beaming towards Remus' intrigued expression, and started to illustrate the project for the apothecary. Epione didn't miss the chance to praise the magical contribution given by Remus, and promised to visit the building he renovated as soon as she got the chance. While talking, she too still signed, even when Noah couldn't see her hands.

"I'm sure you did a respectable job. What kind of spells did you use to work the wood?"

"Some I read inside this book I found in Diagon Alley. Pages and pages of charms about it. I thought I could make it at clever use. Would you like to have a look at it sometimes?"

"I'd like that very much. Are there transfiguration spells as well?"

"There are, yes. I didn't adventure that far in terms of complexity; the lot I needed were simple ones."

Noah shifted on his spot and rasped out: "I can't wait to see it too. Did you decorate as well?"

Remus nodded, bashfully looking at no one in particular.

"So, my dad did nothing at all. Isn't this right?"

Damocles, of course, felt offended. "It was I the one with the idea of the shop for these two lads."

"An idea has no great value without means to make it true." Epione poked her tongue out at him before taking a sip of her tea.

"Well, dear Remus did. Plus, no one else had a better plan than mine." Her father locked her in a playful gaze. "You know," he began telling with wise tone, "You had it easy with such a cool dad like me. When I was a young man, your grandfather always supported my brother's career at the Ministry and never my talent in potions."

"You are so humble." Remus snickered. Epione mock fainted on the floor. "Still, I ended up working at the Ministry. How did you raise your only daughter?"

Remus tried to keep his chuckle from tumbling out, so he turned to her with a strained tone. "Are you excited?"

Epione smiled. "Yes, yes, I am. I can't wait to have my hands on..." She eyed the three men, "Sorry, I can't say." She mimicked to zip her mouth, until Noah took out his wand and zipped it for real.

Between the muffed protests from the witch and Noah's victorious grin, Damocles called for Ser Owlington. It came flying from the kitchen with a cotton sack full of biscuits and, after nicking one, it flew out the window.

Remus cleared his throat. "An Unspeakable, right?"

Epione nodded. She stole three biscuits, and when she realized she couldn't eat with her lips zipped, she took another two and had them hidden deep inside her pockets. So, she kept silent for most of the afternoon, even after Noah un-jinxed her. She watched the three men interact, heard their reflections, opinions, and their musing faces as they got acquainted. Never quipping, barely interrupting. It was in the relaxed posture Noah assumed, in the warm smile of her father, and the surprised face of Remus Lupin when he learned he wasn't the only werewolf living in the house anymore.

She cared to observe, even the interactions of the two people she knew most. Everything felt so bizarre. The same old, faded green couch, and the warm cream on the walls, and the large fireplace dancing and roaring in the company of the careful shaping of a different kind of family.

The involuntary shake of her father's fingers, itching to work on another potion; Noah weary eyes darting down to her and the careful caress of his hand on her hair; Remus Lupin's shyness blinded by the desire to be accepted; and the firing pain of her arm, as if day after day someone kept carrying the fire on it. And she could taste it, the alluring, painful dark magic twirling around the room. It felt metallic, buzzling, and lingering as the full moon approached. More potent, more prominent, now that they all shared the same space.

It was a silent contemplation of a worried mind, words and thoughts pirouetting; the inquisitive sight of a young witch with a hard heart and a heavier intellect. Her hand twitched to grab the wand and draw the emotion she couldn't understand nor name.

It was the relief of being back home, perhaps, and the anticipation of living through a new challenge of curiosity. The privilege of being able to explore the contrasts of each passing days; the honour of existing while life, plain and menacing , just happened.

They talked about everything and anything until the sun began to set, and as the day run to its end, Remus and Noah grew the most silent, feeling extremely tired. They listened to Damocles, sure to have found ingredients that would help him for a complex potion he was working on; and Epione, still cuddled on the floor with her puffskein, that rambled excitedly about a few spells she had found inside an ancient German book a friend of hers, Nikolina, had lent her. She also showed them a photo of little cousin Marcus sleeping with an eagle-shaped plush.

At some point, Damocles retired to his office, impatient to start working on his notes, whilst Noah, feeling queasy, ran to the bathroom and never came back.

That left Epione and Remus, illuminated by the dancing fire in front of them. The soft snores of her little puffskein amused the two, watching it rolling between them with its tongue out.

"Is Noah going to be fine?"

Epione nodded. "He's used to feel dizzy nearing that time of the month."

"Shouldn't we check on him?"

"No... Unless you want him to bite your head off. He doesn't really like people fretting over him."

Her eyes softened as they posed upon the young man in front of her. Even though after an afternoon full of pleasant conversation, she failed to know Remus as well as she'd liked; yet she was certain of one thing: he wasn't feeling very well himself and he tried to conceal it with grace.

He was half sitting – half slouching on the couch, his hair even messier than earlier. He rubbed his gilded eyes tiredly, fluttering his eyelashes, fighting to keep them open. The flames glowed on his pale skin, where light freckles engaged in a beautiful chaos distracted her. In her quiet contemplation, a subtle mole at the bridge of his nose made her smile.

Epione brought the knees up to her chest, and sucked in the smell of the rustling burned wood and soot. With a subtle shove to his foot, she asked, "Are you tired of my company yet?"

"I'm not." But soon a yawn betrayed him, making her chuckle.

"Oh, young wolf. Don't lie."

"Please, don't call me that." Remus fully turned to her as she revealed a tender grin. "Care for a game of chess?"

"I'm not that good though."

"Doesn't matter. Beating you will be fun."

Remus went to stand up, but his aching hip made him freeze mid-air. The full moon was only five days away, and his bones ached more than ever. Unable to hide a gasp, he fell back on the couch, and watched the witch levitate the chessboard between them. She too went to sit, this time taking the place beside him.

"I'm black and you white, yeah?"

"I guess." His eyes crinkled in laughter, then he moved his first pawn. It felt awkward talking to her so directly. During the afternoon she had barely looked at him, much less talked to. He tried to find a way to start a conversation, looking throughout words and thoughts that could earn her attention without making him look foolish. Sadly, the best thing his mind came up with was a dull,

"Feels right to be back?" with a weak tremble of the voice.

"There's something homey in this depressing village."

Remus snorted and moved his pawn. "Not that depressing now."

Epione lifted her eyes, Remus diverted his, looking anywhere but her. They played back and forth in complete silence for the rest of the game, until Remus could barely contain a contented smirk.

"And this, Belby, is checkmate!"

"This must have been your fastest win, eh?!"

She eyed all the pieces as she still held her wooden knight with her fingers, most likely thinking about all the moves she could have made to win. Watching her pouting and fighting a frown from breaking out, got his heart knocking for the first time in a while.

They had somehow drifted closer during the game, both bending over the chessboard with their legs touching its opposing sides. Remus could feel her scent as a silverly susurrus, a selcouth embrace in his typically lonely nights.

He inhaled slowly.

He felt calm, serene, secure; for now, at least.