[i]Disclaimer: All recognized objects, names, events or people are the intellectual property of Joanne K. Rowling, I do not lay claim to them. The rights to the oneshot, however, lie with me.

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A warm summer night


Despite the slowly approaching darkness, the air was still mild. Everyone was happy that the Indian summer didn't seem to want to end this year.
In the garden behind a cute little house you could hear the happy laughter of some women, the men had already withdrawn and were now sitting in the living room in front of a game of wizarding chess. In doing so, however, they did not behave as one should expect from people who played chess. They literally encouraged their characters to massacre the opposing "army". Only an older man in his early seventies had lit a pipe and relaxed in the rocking chair, from where he watched the game with a smile.After a while the men were interrupted by a faint clink from the chain curtains that had been hung in the doorframe to protect against mosquitoes and other insects.
John Lupine reluctantly averted his concentrated gaze from his king.
Damn it, he couldn't lose again! His colleagues had teased him incessantly with it the last time.
"Honey?" Came softly from the door that led to the terrace.
"Hm", John muttered and finally tore himself away from the game, which for him had long been more than just that, with a serious look and looked into the face of his wife leaning against the door frame.
"Did you put your son to bed?" Rebecca asked softly, nervously wiping a strand of light brown hair from her face.
"I thought you wanted to do that?" He muttered, frowning.
"I asked you to do it earlier ... it's getting dark. Even when it's vacation time, it is high time for him to go to sleep," his wife replied with a stern look that John didn't know whether he was him or not Remus, his son, was considered."Child, leave the boy," came a deep, calm voice from the direction of the rocking chair. "He's probably still playing outside and enjoying the beautiful weather and the mild evening air."
Rebecca put her hands on her hips.
"And that's what someone tells me, of all people, who would like to have his own daughter in bed at eight o'clock, no matter how long it was light outside! Really, Dad ..."
The old man raised his left hand in defense.
"That's something completely different. You were a girl, and girls are always a little more taken care of than boys ..."
"Yeah, you might. I don't want Remus to get used to this ..."
She crossed her arms over her chest and looked around disapprovingly.
The men at the table, who were waiting for John to make his next move, had long since turned their attention to the conversation and now, when Rebecca's gaze met them, they looked embarrassed at the floor.
"He had played with the neighborhood kids earlier.Maybe he's still there? "suggested John, who, propping his chin on his hand, had already turned back to his king.
With a slightly annoyed sigh, Rebecca parted the curtain with her fingers and slipped back outside, where her friends carelessly sipped their wine glasses and told each other the latest gossip.


.o.O.o.


Remus hopped along the beaten path in the forest a little way from his road, humming happily to himself. In his left hand he held a long, strong branch. He had played brooms with his friends all evening. Each time someone else was allowed to pretend he was a famous hunter or beater while the others had commented on the Quidditch game, just as they knew it from their parents' reports.
He'd seen Quidditch games a couple of times when his father took him to see their favorite team. It had always been exciting and he kept dreaming of becoming a famous player himself.He would prefer to be a custodian, although being a seeker would certainly be exciting too. After all, the two positions were particularly important in the game.
Remus was glad it was a vacation because he could watch the moon rise. He had stayed up late for that - normally he would have belonged in bed long ago, of course. His playmates weren't on vacation, but they were much younger than he was, so they'd been home long ago and counting sheep. The boy gave a short giggle at the thought.
Christine was only five and Hugh had recently turned six. Remus was seven years old and would go to second grade in Muggle elementary school after the holidays. His mother had insisted that she not teach him herself - as was the custom with many other wizarding and witch children - because she wanted him to "socialize," as she called it.
Remus liked school a lot, even if he wasn't allowed to do magic there.Well, at home he was only allowed to do it very seldom, but he just thought it was a shame that he wasn't allowed to tell any of his classmates about magic. He would really like to ... He was all the more looking forward to when he could finally go to Hogwarts with many other witches and wizards. But that was still a while. Until then, Remus kept taking out his father's photo album, in which he could admire the castle in all its details. Besides Qudditch, photography was one of his father's great hobbies.

With one leap he hopped onto a fallen tree trunk that was wrapped in warm green moss. Carefully he balanced on it, using the branch to keep his balance, as the circus performers always did.
The sun had almost completely set, but it was still warm enough that he didn't shiver in his light T-shirt. He loved the summer, if it was up to him he shouldn't stop at all ...He sat on the dry forest floor and stared up at the sky. He had chosen a spot where the trees weren't so close, and so he could already see the first stars twinkling in the darkening sky. Since it was a little too quiet for him, he began to hum again.
Before long, Remus jumped up happily. There it was at last, his beloved moon! The boy opened his mouth in awe. The face of the moon was full and round. Full moon. Remus smiled widely.
"Hello, man in the moon!" He shouted loudly and waved the branch that he was still holding in his hand.
Of course he knew there was no man in the moon, and yet he enjoyed pretending the moon was smiling at him. With a little imagination, it almost looked like it.
He stood there for a while, watching the sky move slowly. Soon the moon was so high that he had to tilt his head back to see it.
There was a brief rustle in the bushes next to him, which made him startled.He stared at the orange cat, who eyed him suspiciously and then scurried away with a stern look.
'Oh dear,' thought Remus. "Mama is probably worried."
When he looked around now, he only noticed how dark it had really gotten by now. Fortunately, thanks to the moonlight, he could still see everything, but it was very clear night.
In addition, an eerie silence had spread. Usually it was never perfectly quiet in a forest - but he heard nothing. No rustling of trees in the wind, no soft chirping of crickets or the soft call of a bird.
An unknown feeling of fear crept up his back and up his neck. It was time to go home. He dropped his branch carelessly.
His feet began to run, although his head wasn't sure which way. It all looked so different than during the day. The trees were like thin monsters that wanted to reach for him and suddenly the moonlight was no longer his ally, because he cast ghostly shadows on the forest floor.Remus was running as fast as his little thin legs would carry him now. He wanted to go home as soon as possible, no matter how angry his mother would be with him.
For a moment he was inattentive and so he did not see a root sticking out of the ground. His foot got caught in her and so he was thrown headlong to the ground with full force. The air rushed out of his lungs as his ribs came hard against the earth.
"Ouch!" Remus sobbed, unable to hold back the tears. His arms were grazed and it looked like his pants were torn at the knees. The expensive jeans ... He lay there for a while and sobbed a few more times. Would his mother be less angry when he saw his abrasions and tears?
He slowly pushed himself up to get back on his feet. But a little later he stopped again. Something was different. It felt different ... It wasn't as quiet as it was before.Remus listened intently. There! There was a sound. It was getting closer. He was trying to place it somewhere. With shock he realized that it had to be the sound of a living being, a breathing, no, panting, softly growling living being.
It was right behind him.
Remus turned a little to the side, even when everything in him "Run away!" screamed. He wanted to see what was there.
He didn't get this opportunity, however, because the next moment he heard a loud growl, followed by a sharp, hot pain in his leg. Something was caught in it and it was causing him terrible pain. He felt something sharp dig deeper and deeper into his flesh. Remus squirmed and screamed at the top of his throat.
After shaking it several times, he managed to straighten up - and with horror saw a large, wild-looking wolf standing in front of him, whose shoulder height was at least one and a half meters. Foamy saliva emerged from between his bared teeth, synchronized with a low, terrifying growl."B-braves ... Hundi," Remus breathed desperately. The deep flesh wound in his leg suddenly stopped hurting.
He didn't want to die, he didn't want the wolf to bite him dead! He just wanted to go home, to his mom, to his dad and to his grandpa!
With a tremendous force the big animal pushed itself off the ground and landed with its front paws on Remus' chest, still aching from the impact. The sharp long clawed pits cut into his chest and he was thrown hard against a tree trunk, head first. He groaned in agony. His small body was tossed back and forth.
Stars danced before his eyes, accompanied by severe nausea. The last thing he saw before a merciful swoon enveloped him was the snout of the loudly barking