To Kill A Mocking Stepfather

Werewolf Blood,

New life

As soon as my mum started dating him, I became aware of strange things around Him. For example his many strange friends introduced to my mom.

One reminded me of a stereotypical wizard. The man had flowing robes of magnificent colures, and a long silver white beard. He also had half circle glasses with beautiful blue eyes hidden behind them, which bore into my eyes as though seeking for my soul. He introduced himself as Albus Dumbledore with a polite bow.

Another strange character was a man who seemed to be fascinated with our electronics and plugs. He was thin, with balding red hair and a childish wonder in his eyes. His name was Arthur Weasley.

Let me start from the beginning so you can understand how I met these fascinating individuals.

Let me start off with myself so I don't have to later. I am a fifteen-year-old girl who, compared with most people, is short. I have beautiful, flowing cherry blond hair... Okay you got me I don't have flowing cherry blond hair. I was simply seeing if you were actually paying attention. Now that you are I will continue. I have dark brown curly hair that if I fall asleep with it wet it is impossible the next morning. I mean it is like medusa's hair only without the biting. My eyes are hazel usually taking on the color of my clothing or background. I can't tell you if I am beautiful or not for I believe beauty is in the eye of the beholder so just behold me anyway you like after the hair and eye descriptions.

My parents decided they could not stand each other any longer; how they irritated each other so!

We moved away and found ourselves in a neighborhood close to London. A very boring neighborhood might I add. I mean come on, if this neighborhood were any more boring and lifeless we would have cow skulls and weed balls lying everywhere. Each house looks exactly the same. There is barley any animals around except a few cats and one dog across the street, which also happens to be a rat dog mixed with a no off switch. Even the squirrels don't come here.

My mum had the same job as before, only in a different building. She worked for the American Embassy. She had been accepted after a week of sending in her application of an essay of her knowledge her determination to do well in her new job "I had no doubts of her qualifications, but that did not dismiss the fact that I was leaving my father behind."

Only our first week in England and my mum has already declared her second lover.

Fascinating really how this new love affair began. It happened during my first week of summer in England's most bring street.

One day an odd group of people came into the Embassy to discuss precautions on certain dangers. ...Dangers, which included mysterious attacks or the gatherings of black robed people, who, now that I think about it, sounded a lot like the Ku Klux Klan." They did not describe a lot about themselves only that they were on the case of these murderers and wanted to keep everyone safe.

"Everyone at the Embassy thought they were hilarious and laughed after they departed, with the exception of my mother and a woman with whom she held the greatest respect. "The two of them worked constantly and kept alert for any sightings of the Ku Klux Klan wannabees. It was during this exhausting time when my mum met Him. The man that she would come to love. The man whose presence I wouldn't be able to stand. Remus Lupin.

"After their first meeting, they were always going out; they were inseparable. They went to coffee shops and met at bookstores. Mum told me that I would like him very much. She talked about him nonstop, going on and on about how interesting and sweet he was and how she had never met anyone else like him. It was a pile of fluff all day long. She smiled whenever I simply said his name and giggled at every mention of their next date.

I finally got to meet the "polite, sweet, intelligent man" for he was invited to dinner one night. He shook my hand and gazed at me with a searching look. I wanted to find some fault to him, but I couldn't, which irritated me to no end. He seemed to be exactly what my mother had said him to be, and the fact that he was handsome only added to my discomfort. His hair was light brown with a few gray streaks, which blended well with his golden brown eyes. When he reserved a smile for me, a kind smile that lit up his tired face, I couldn't help blushing.

I decided to stay in the kitchen and set the table while mum showed him around the house. The kitchen was small with a fitting table inside decorated in flowers. The counters were an ugly white colure with flowery wallpaper. Mum and I had decided when we first moved in to redecorate the kitchen as soon as we had time.

After I finished the table then went out onto the back porch to gaze at the moon. I loved the moon, so big and shiny. (Ok, that has to be a side affect of his smile).

We sat down and had grilled vegetables with beef ribs and mashed acorn squash. I ate an onion slice and spent the rest of the night listening to a conversation the reports on the Ku Klux Klan wannabes and how strong they were getting and how many more people are starting to take precautions and helping with finding information.

Now to make things clear for you my dear listener or reader person...thing... I had a sense that Remus was leaving out information of those nutters in masks, and about himself. He turns away from his school days when it came to his favorite subjects or special skills. He avoided my gaze when I bore deep into his eyes searching for a clue to the source of his sketchy answers to simple questions concerning what other jobs he had before the one he is doing now.

It was as though he was telling half-truths about this group of nutters because he was scared of revealing too much. Whenever he started to go into to much detail about the subject and give away what he believed was "too much information" he would change the subject to ask me about my new life in England. Why would he leave out anything if it were so important to catch them? Were they a strange race not yet seen to our race and may scare us too much and cause us to retreat on the project? Or is Remus hiding more up that shaggy sleeve of his?

I'd only raise an eyebrow and tell him tidbits of information about myself, such as my going to the local school and being interested in art. After dinner, he looked through my drawing pad and complemented my talents.

He then asked my mother if she wanted to go to a local restaurant that served ice cream and really good coffee, ("or at least what the news paper says"). He offered me an invitation but I declined and made an excuse that some neighborhood kids had already invited me to hang out with them tonight. So I got away.

I was scared my mom was getting over my dad way too fast. Ever since we left she had been happier. She even let me play the same CD in the car ride seven times. (Mind you it was Elton John and my favorite Disc) She found Lupin very quickly and formed a friendship, which led to dates, which led to other things that come with the love part.

When we purchased the house, I found an escape ladder in my room that leads up to the floor. I often go there to have a place to think. And that night was definitely a night to think.) The warm breeze swept passed my face and made me shiver slightly. Lightening bugs blinked around the front yard searching for mates.

Man this place needs more trees I mused looking around the neighborhood. I missed my old home with all its large and small trees. It was annoying to have tics constantly and lots of gumballs on the deck but it was always worth it. I remember my adventures in the thick woods near my house. I would climb around on the fallen trees with my friends and pretend we were orphan kids lost in a wood full of dangers. We would follow the streams leading into the river were we would play in the tide. I remembered the small stick houses we built as pretend shelter when we role-played as orphans.

I felt my eyelids droop as the warmth of the breeze relaxed my body and mind. A soft rustling of wings made me snap away from my daydreams. A white owl glided past me and flew towards an open window on the side of my neighbor's house. A black haired boy with glasses greeted the owl and stroked its head affectionately. He gently stroked her back and whispered something to it, which made it hoot happily. He was wearing a very worn out shirt and his hair was in a messy bunch as though he had just woken up from a long slumber. His tone was soft but a bit sad as far as I could tell from my spot.

Another sound directed my attention from the boy momentarily, but I saw a look of disgust cross across his face, and then he closed his window, as though trying to block insects from getting in, or a very smell. But then I looked away to see where the sound was coming from.

The noise was coming from the street and consisted of loud laughter and jeering. I climbed carefully to the other side of the roof where it was shadowed by the chimney. I held onto the hot metal chimney and watched a group of kids riding bicycles. One boy was extremely fat and I wondered by what miracle the bike was managing not to collapse under his weight, the others were an assortment of different heights, and all were much thinner than their leader. They passed my house and the fat one turned into the driveway of the house I had been watching and shouted goodbye in an obnoxious way to the others.

He seemed to want the whole block to hear what he was saying for I could hear some people opening their windows on the other side of my house trying to locate the loud sound.

I could see why the black haired boy was disgusted. The fat boy seemed to be a gang leader. He, as far as I could see, had blond hair and pale white skin. He parked his bike on the side of the house and opened the lock to his door screaming inside that he was home and hungry. I too looked at him in disgust and knew that I didn't want to run into him at school or anywhere around the streets.

My eyes flickered from the door that the piggy boy had just slammed and landed on the black haired boy again. He was stroking the owl, and then ran a hand through his messy hair. I wanted to inspect him more critically, but just then, he flopped on his bed, so I could only see a glimpse of his baggy blue shirt. I decided I wanted to meet the black haired boy tomorrow and see if I can actually make new friends here. At least I hope I can.

My mum returned from the ice cream shop a few minutes later, laughing. I could hear Lupin talking to her and she laughed again even louder then before.

I climbed inside my window quickly and lied down on my feathery bed, listening to the two of them, a knot forming in the pit of my stomach. It grew when I didn't hear Lupin leave, but rather, make his way up the stairs with my mum. I held my breath as they passed my room, laughing and talking, and then there was the sound of a door closing; all went quiet. I could only imagine what they were doing in the closed up room and felt sick while thinking of it

Trying to shut the mental picture out of my mind, I turned over to sleep.

Little did I know that Lupin would become more then a mere constant visitor to me but a father.

The next morning I found Lupin and my mum sitting at the kitchen table chatting about the newspaper and eating biscuits and tea. I grabbed the nearest biscuit and tried to make for the door but was stopped right at the knob.

"So Christian how was your night?" questioned my mum.

Lupin looked at me and I felt stripped down as though being x-rayed.

"It was nice. I mean I will be seeing them in school so I stayed only a little while. I am... I am going to go next door to see if my new friend can come out." Realizing that I probably hadn't made much sense, but not really caring as I bolted out the door before the mental image came back of their night together.

I walked up the driveway taking in the freakishly neat kept grass and garden. I rapped three times on the clean white door and waited. I could hear a demanding male voice inside then a shuffle of chairs. The lock clicked and the same black haired boy I saw last night greeted me with an annoyed look on his face.

"Hope I wasn't disturbing you," I said quickly, "but I am new to the neighborhood. I saw you at your window last night and wanted to know..."

"WHO IS IT BOY? HURRY UP THE EGGS ARE GETTING COLD!" shouted the same male voice inside.

"Oh, I guess I should probably try this later on when you don't have chores," I muttered a bit embarrassed. He only looked at me curiously and a small smile broke across his lips. He seemed half surprised to see a visitor at his door. This made me wonder about their popularity in the neighborhood.

The boy looked behind him and shouted angrily back at the man, " Don't make me get the door if you are in such a hurry to have your breakfast." He then looked hurriedly at me and stepped outside. "Besides I am going out!" he shouted before shutting the door.

"Sorry," I muttered.

"Not your fault. They are just to lazy to get up and make their own meals usually," he said. "So you just moved in?"

"Yeah," I said looking at my house and wondering if my mum and Lupin would be leaving for work soon)

"From where?" he continued.

"Australia, sort of."

"Sort of?" he asked.

"Well we rather moved to Australia for a job offer then my mum and I moved to England because of some problems," I finished lamely. I didn't want to tell too much about my parent's fight. Especially to someone I barely knew.

"Your mum did not like to live in Australia?" he asked as though uncertain if he should ask or not. He seemed uncomfortable to be talking so freely with me, and I wondered why.

"Yeah, we moved here to stay close to my dad but also for my mum's new job in the American embassy. I still am wondering why my mum chose this neighborhood to live in. Don't you get sick of having the same looking houses all throughout the street?"

He nodded. "It is a boring neighborhood."

"So what do you do for fun?" I asked, hoping there was something of the slightest excitement in this place.

"Well there is a small park and shop town, but I suppose it would take a car to get to the town."

"Oh, by the way my name is Christian, Christian Fasme," I said embarrassed that I had forgotten the first part of meeting someone.

"I'm Harry, Harry Potter," he replied, pushing his thick-rimmed glasses up his nose.

I did the same with my glasses and asked if we could go to this park he mentioned. He said yes and we walked off down the street.

The park was small with broken swings and a small blue peeled slide. There were some monkey bars that looked almost breakable and a fenced in court for street sports.

"What happened to the swings?" I asked staring at the only one that was untouched.

"My cousin sat on them," he said, snickering slightly.

"Your cousin? He lives near you?"

"I live with him, unfortunately. You see I live with my Uncle and Aunt." He explained this all very quickly and I decided not to push the subject. Instead I asked him about his school and hoped he would be coming to mine. I wanted to know why he didn't live with his parents but decided it was best not to ask on first meetings.

" I go to..." He stopped as though afraid or embarrassed to say it. I looked at him curiously, prompting him to go on. "A correction school for boys." he mumbled.

"Oh, I guess I am stuck with the local school alone." I felt a slight knot form in my stomach at the thought of not having my new friend at school with me.

Harry must have noticed my tone, because he said quickly, "Well, you'll have my cousin if that's much help. He was kicked out of his old school because of his behavior. I think the real reason was because they could not feed him any more."

"Hmmmm...not to sound ignorant but why would you be going to a correction school?" I asked, the full meaning of his words seconds before hitting me suddenly.

"My uncle believes I need to go. But then again he also believes his son is the greatest boy on earth."

I laughed, despite the fact I didn't know his cousin. It was getting hot and I knew my mum would be off to work already so I asked Harry if he wanted to come over and play a game. He accepted without delay and we made our way to the house. I checked inside for any voices and found complete silence. I let Harry in and started to take out some popsicles.

"So what are your hobbies?" I asked trying to find out more about my new friend.

"Qui... I mean writing," he said playing with his popsicle wrapper.

"Me too. I like to write about fantasy, especially wolves and werewolves. Or sorcerers. Anything fiction that gives me a story idea." I smiled to myself, thinking about my schnoogle project of "Werewolf Cub" yet to be finished.

"I like those things too," said Harry, smiling slightly.

We ate our popsicles and I introduced him to my dog. He then turned away and gazed out the window sadly. I wanted to question why he looked so depressed but decided to let Sandman cheer him up instead. Sandman sniffed his hand with his long black nose, and then sighed with content as Harry and I scratched his favorite spots. We played various games that I found among the storage boxes still waiting to be unpacked. And it seemed that Harry was relieved that he was not at his uncle's house. I was glad to have my first friend in England.

The morning went by as we talked and played more games enjoying our first week of summer, as all teenagers should.