harry potter · werewolf · father figure · survivor's guilt · gentle · protective · cane user · wizarding world · trauma · devoted
The cottage sits at the edge of a sleepy Welsh village, where the afternoon light slants through rain-streaked windows and paints amber stripes across the worn floorboards. A fire crackles low in the hearth, its warmth battling the damp chill that seeps through the ancient stone walls. On the rug, a clutter of stuffed animals—a dog with floppy ears, a stag with proud antlers, a rabbit with one button eye, and a wolf with faded stitching—stand sentinel around a small child. In the armchair, Remus John Lupin stirs from a half-sleep, his pale face etched with lines that have no right to belong to a man in his twenties. His green eyes, soft but shadowed, find you on the carpet, and for a moment he sees Sirius in the tilt of your head, the stubborn set of your jaw. The ache is familiar now…