bioinnovel Chapter 152 York's Summer
Chapter 152 York's Summer
Chapter 152 York's Summer
Summer 1993, Yorkshire.
As evening approached, the sky was overcast, carrying a sense of desolation and loneliness.
Remus Lupin walked through the streets as the streetlights came on, his shabby old clothes standing out starkly against the bustling traffic behind him.
In his early thirties, Remus Lupin showed premature wrinkles, his impoverished life had left him in poor clothes, and his tormented heart had turned his hair gray.
Over the years, kind-hearted Remus has had a very hard life, constantly moving from place to place, living a life of hardship and displacement, because of Remus John...
Lupin is a werewolf, a werewolf not accepted by the world.
Remus didn't want his presence to disrupt his father's peaceful retirement, even though his father, Lyle, missed his son dearly.
Kind-hearted Remus lived a lonely and sad life, doing jobs far below his abilities, barely making ends meet on a meager salary, and mending and patching his worn-out clothes again and again.
Twelve years of wandering, twelve years of hardship, the once kind and gentle Griffin has long been sealed away in yellowed old photos and swept into the dustbin of history.
Remus Lupin walked forward with his head down, turned the corner and entered a deserted alley. At the end of this alley was another, more dilapidated street, where Remus was temporarily staying.
That's right, it was just a temporary stay; a dilapidated, semi-abandoned hut was Remus's place of residence.
Suddenly, Remus stopped his hurried steps. The streets in front of him were still as dilapidated as ever, just like his life, which was without improvement or hope.
The reason Remus stopped was that he saw a familiar figure, a figure that did not belong here.
The woman was wearing a black women's blouse with a sparkling gemstone brooch on her chest, a black skirt embroidered with dark red patterns, and high-heeled leather boots with buckles.
Belvina Black!
The summer of 1993 seemed to overlap with the summer of 1991, except the location changed from London to York, and instead of Remus, several burly Muggles were lying at Belvina's feet.
Taking advantage of Remus's momentary daze, Belvina strode over, showing no joy at the reunion, but rather a punch filled with hatred, which landed precisely on Remus's abdomen.
The haggard and exhausted Remus bent over in pain, his superior height bent into the shape of a cooked shrimp.
"You've really given me a run for my money, Remus," Belvina said through gritted teeth. "From Merseyside to Lancashire, from Norfolk to Suffolk, from Kent to Surrey, from Greater Manchester to York—you've been on the go these past two years!"
Whenever someone noticed Remus Lupin's pattern of becoming weak during the full moon, Remus had no choice but to pack his bags and leave.
The werewolf burned Remus's flesh like a red-hot iron, branding it deep into his soul.
"And you were the one who wrote to that old geezer Dumbledore, weren't you!" Belvina said. "Do you know what a miserable two years I've had at Hogwarts!"
As she spoke, Belvina stomped hard on Remus's foot.
Poor Remus had pain in his lower abdomen and toes, and for a moment he didn't know whether to deal with his abdomen or his toes.
"I didn't even pursue the matter of you disguising yourself and infiltrating the Ministry of Magic, and you repay kindness with enmity!" Belvina became angrier as she spoke, but thankfully she didn't continue to use Remus Lupin as a punching bag.
Belvina, hands on her hips, said aggressively, "Speak up, are you mute?! Weren't you quite talkative back in the Ministry of Magic?!"
After a while, Remus finally spoke, saying, "It hurts, I don't have the strength to speak. Is this how your family always hits people without any restraint?"
"Oh," Belvina replied, crossing her arms, looking up at the sky, as if it were none of her business.
After a while, Remus Lupin calmed down. He didn't blame Belvina for her rude behavior, since she had indeed written to Dumbledore and wasn't entirely innocent.
Remus straightened up; his superior height should have been imposing, but his thin and frail body was as precarious as the hut he was temporarily staying in.
He asked, "What's going on with those people? You didn't take out your wand, did you?"
Belvina said nonchalantly, "They treated me like a prostitute, and when they couldn't make a sale, they tried to force me, and that's how it happened. The security in this godforsaken place is almost as bad as that of a wizarding society."
"What are you doing here?" Remus asked. "Do you need something?"
As Remus spoke, he walked over to check on the group of clueless Muggle thugs. Remus figured they were either high or drunk, and that they were incredibly reckless to provoke people who practically had "don't mess with me" written all over their heads.
"Would you believe me if I said I came here for tourism?" Belvina said. "After all, the late King once said that the history of York is the history of England."
"I believe you," Remus said. "Did you go to the cathedral? What about the All Saints' Church? The ancient Roman walls? Oh, and the River Us was quite nice too."
Sometimes it's not that Belvina has a bad temper, but rather that Remus Lupin keeps going against her every whim.
Having traveled all the way from London to York with the clear purpose of standing before Remus Lew, how could Belvina have come here just for sightseeing?
Remus stood up again. The Muggles lying haphazardly were unharmed, and Belvina, though a bit temperamental, was alright.
But they were careful in their actions; these people were only knocked unconscious.
Remus crawled into the dilapidated, semi-abandoned shack, and a minute later returned to the shabby, run-down street with his suitcase.
The tattered suitcase was tied with many ropes, which were neatly knotted. The words "RJ Lupin" were printed on one corner of the suitcase, but the letters were already peeling off.
"Let's go, this isn't the place to talk," Remus said. "If you had come any later, I would have left York."
"Where to next?" Belvina asked with a smile. "How about Wales, or Northern Ireland?"
Remus Lupin did not respond. He led Belvina out of the dilapidated alley and back to the sparsely populated side street. It wasn't late, but the shops along the street had all closed early. The two had no choice but to continue walking and eventually entered a roadside shop that looked fairly lively.
The two entered the noisy little shop one after the other and sat at the innermost part of the shop, a spot that didn't attract much attention.
And you won't be disturbed too much.
Once the clerk had placed the fish and chips and gingerbread on the table, Remus discreetly waved his wand, turning the noisy sounds in the shop into a soft hum, and the people in the shop would temporarily ignore their presence.
Remus was clearly starving; he'd eaten most of the fish and gingerbread. Belvina, on the other hand, ate her fries slowly. She wasn't hungry, and besides, she had a party at the Ministry of Magic that evening.
A few minutes later, Remus swallowed the last gingerbread, and his haggard and tired appearance improved; at least he didn't look so bad anymore.
Belvina spoke slowly, saying, "You have no fixed abode, you call every place your home, it must have been very difficult to find you."
Remus didn't answer, his gaze drifting out the window. He had always tried his best to hide the fact that he was a werewolf, ever since he was a child.
The Lupins took him on a journey to various places, and Remus had become accustomed to wandering.
Remus had loving parents back then, and later James and Sirius were born.
Now, Remus Lupin has nothing.
“I went to Azkaban last summer and saw Sirius,” Belvina said. “That bastard is still the same, like he doesn’t have a mouth.”
Remus looked away, waiting for Belvina to continue.
"There are other details to what happened back then, though it's just my speculation," Belvina continued. "I've already informed Professor Dumbledore, and I'm telling you now."
Remus appeared calm on the surface, but his heart was in turmoil.
If Sirius Black didn't betray James and Lily back then, who else could it be? And why is Sirius Black unwilling to speak out and clarify?
A series of questions tormented Remus's heart, along with the only answer he could not face—Peter Pettigrew, the Peter Pediru who was known to the public as dead.
"What are your plans?" Remus asked. "To clear Sirius's name?"
"Why would I do that? Let him out to fight me for the inheritance?" Belvina retorted stubbornly. "I'd rather he died in Azkaban."
Remus Lupin didn't believe this. If Belvina really wanted Sirius to die in prison, she wouldn't have needed to go to Azkaban. She couldn't have gone there to rush things, could she?
"Anyway, I've already told Professor Dumbledore about this. He can handle it. I'm not involved," Belvina continued. "Oh, and this is for you."
As she spoke, Belvina took a letter out of her skirt pocket and tossed it to Remus across from her.
Belvina replied, "You're so hard to find! Even the owl couldn't find you, so this chore fell to me. Why am I so unlucky!"