Hello Cousin

"Another beer, please."

The man looked in the mirror above the bar as he finished his Samuel Adams. A fairly

good looking man approaching forty looked back at him. The sandy brown hair was

fairly neat and the amber eyes were friendly, though a little sad. The slight brown

moustache made him resemble the Muggle actor Errol Flynn. The bartender smiled as she

brought over his beer and set it on the counter.

"I got it."

The man turned to his left and saw a young man of about twenty-two or so sitting next to

him. His hair was a rusty reddish brown and his observing eyes were a cheerful green.

There was an air of casual cool about him. Casual as his attire of faded jeans, red tennis shoes

and a yellow T-shirt with the words DINGOES ATE MY BABY. The man smiled as he

read the shirt. He had just met this boy, yet he already liked him, although there was a familiar

scent about him. Was he?

"Thank you," the man stated.

"No prob," the young man replied. "Daniel Osborne. Oz to my friends."

Oz smiled as he stuck his hand out. The older man raised an eyebrow at the black nail polish

as he shook it.

"It is nice to meet you, Daniel Osborne," the man replied. "I am Remus J. Lupin."

"You teach at that magic school, right? Willow told me."

"Quite a remarkable young lady, our Professor Rosenberg. She told me she had a boyfriend

who was a werewolf."

"Guilty." Oz raised his hand. "And it's ex. Wil's officially lesbo now."

"Yes. I met the ladyfriend. She is quite charming."

"Yup. Tara's quite the catch."

A slightly regretful tone colored the young musician's words.

"Did she mention I was a werewolf?" Lupin queried.

"No, but I smelled you when I entered. How long?"

Lupin smiled ruefully.

"Since childhood. A man named Fenris Grayback bit me."

The wizard-werewolf told Oz about the alliance his fellow werewolves had with Lord

Voldemort and how Grayback especially enjoyed biting children and taking them away

from their families to raise them wild.

"So," Oz mused, "this Voldemort dude says 'this' Join me and get a piece of the pie',

right?"

"Correct."

"How do you counter it?"

"Professor Snape makes me Wolfsbane to drink before the nights of the full moon. I

must say it tastes positively vile, but it works."

Lupin then went into his days at Hogwarts with the other Marauders. He told Oz how he

was made Prefect to keep an eye on his friends, Sirius Black and James Potter, and how they

would torment Snape to no end. The werewolf smiled in rueful amusement as he reminisced

about fifth year when James levitated the Potions professor in the air upside down and the

future Lily Potter berated him. He also told of the many nights the Marauders ran amok in

their animal forms that gave them their respective nicknames that were on the map they had

created. The same map Harry Potter now owned.

Oz smiled in amusement and admiration.

"So, I take it that Snape wasn't exactly Mr. Popularity."

"No, Severus was not," Lupin replied. "James and Severus loathed each other from the

very beginning, and I did absolutely nothing to stop James or Sirius. Of course, Sirius

did say that Severus knew more curses and potions his first year than half the seventh years."

"A prodigy."

"You might say that. He is certainly a more skilled potion maker than I am."

"Did you ever try making the Wolfsbane yourself?"

"Yes. It is extremely difficult and the wrong amount could make the drinker very ill or even

kill him. There are only a handful of people who can make it properly and Severus happens to be one of them."

The older werewolf drank some more Sam when a thought crossed his mind.

"Incidentally, Daniel," he queried. "How did you become a werewolf?"

"My then two-year-old cousin Jordan bit me," Oz replied. "Runs in the family."

The young musician went into how the Scoobies would keep him in the makeshift cage in

the library on the three nights of the full moon when he was a werewolf and how the ritual

included reading passages of Jack London's classic novel Call Of The Wild.

"Of course," the young werewolf said, smirking, "they had to skip over the passages with the

rabbits because I would get a little overexcited over them."

He then mentioned how Willow and Xander had a tranquilizer gun and clothes nearby. Lupin

listened with amused interest as the younger werewolf told of meeting fellow musician and

lycanthrope, Nina at UC Sunnydale. Nina, though, relished the "freedom" being a werewolf gave

her, including satisfying the hunger of the kill. Oz mused how he had to kill Nina when she

attacked Willow, who was trying to cast a spell on Oz, but backed out at the last minute.

'Pity.' Lupin mused dryly. 'Grayback would have liked her.'

"So," Lupin observed. "You also do not wish to kill, even though it is in the werewolf's nature

to do so."

"No."

"How do you fight it?"

"Well, after I graduated from Sunnydale, I went on a retreat to Tibet where the monks taught me

a lot of meditation techniques. That, plus burning herbs and a lot of positive vibes also helped.

Now, I can stand under a full moon and nothing happens."

"You can will yourself not to change. Remarkable."

"If you want, I can help you with it."

"I would like that. Thank you."

The two werewolves drank their Sam Adams in comfortable silence, enjoying each other's

company and basically bonding. Lupin especially felt comforted, knowing that there was a

fellow lycanthrope who also refused to give into the natural homicidal desires all werewolves

possessed.

"So, do you miss Professor Rosenberg?" Lupin asked.

"As a girlfriend?" Oz replied. "Hell, yeah. She is smart, pretty, funny, sweet and she's a really

good friend. I was a total idiot and I broke her heart."

"How so?"

"I was afraid my being a werewolf would hurt her, so I drove her away."

"Into the arms of one Miss Maclay."

"Basically."

At that moment, the two ladies in question walked into the bar. Tara pointed Oz and Lupin out

to Willow and the two lesbian witches glided over. Willow wrapped a friendly arm around each

werewolf's shoulders and kissed them on their cheeks.

"Hey," she greeted. "How're my two favorite lycanthropes?"

"Bitchen," Oz replied. "You two?"

"Good evening, Professor Rosenberg," Lupin greeted.

"Willow's fine, Remus," the redheaded witch smiled.

"All right. Willow. Miss Maclay, how are you this evening?"

"I'm good, Mr. Lupin." Tara smiled. "Thank you."

"To what do we owe the pleasure of your company?"

"Well, the girls are having a barbecue and a Double Feature night and we were wondering if

you two would be interested in joining us."

"What are the films?"

" 'Hocus Pocus' and 'Witches of Eastwick'."

"Great," Oz put in. "Two very funny films. Jack kicks ass in 'Eastwick'."

"I have no plans," Lupin smiled. "plus I do not believe it is a full moon tonight so I suppose

I can join you as well."

"Cool. Let's split."

Oz paid the tab, leaving a generous tip. The witches and the werewolves left the bar to enjoy

the night with a bunch of young Slayers. Lupin smiled at idea of being with people who accepted

him for what he was, especially a fellow lycanthrope.

THE END

I know I may have made Oz a bit more verbose than he probably should be. Also, I am not sure

how others see Lupin, but for my stories, I am going with the movie version. Anyhoo, please

comment and more are on the way. Thank you.