The Bad Side

"I see it! I see it!" a tiny little boy's voice squealed, the sound echoing across the sea of grass and down towards the wooden stairs leading up to where she stood. "Look, Daddy! There's the big 'M'!"

From the house, the pair of them looked like shadows in the fading twilight, dark against only a little bit lighter than dark. The boy was only a spot in the distance, bouncing in obvious excitement, from where his mother stood, a hand resting lightly on the banister and the other on her engorged stomach. The baby wasn't due for another month and a half, for which she was grateful, but her first son seemed to be quite the impatient six-year-old, and simply did not want to wait to have a brother. She smiled absent-mindedly as the child pointed up at the sky repeatedly, attempting to reign in his father's attention. Those two were wonderful with each other; her son so full of wonder and her husband full of childishness. It was a sight to behold, the two of them discovering the world together, as if every time a bird chirped or a man sneezed, it was a memory to be cherished. She found it brought her joy to witness their explorations, and she sat in her rocking chair to silently share their happiness from the porch. Being pregnant meant she did not have the opportunity to actually join them, but she felt a part of them all the same, watching the shadows on the hill dance across the sky.

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"I see the 'M'! I found it!" he told his father, shaking the larger man lightly. His father smiled broadly, reaching over to pull his son to his side in a sort of half-hug from his sitting position on the ground.

"Good for you! It's just there, right? That's called Cassiopeia, Remus," the older man clarified, pointing a finger of his own alongside the small finger of his offspring.

"Cassy-opia," the boy repeated triumphantly, looking for all the world as if he had suddenly become a highly distinguished personage simply by saying the word.

His father smiled warmly, kissing Remus on the cheek. "Close enough," he muttered with amusement in his deep voice. "Are you hungry? It's passed supper, mind, but your mum's likely kept the food warm for us."

The golden strands atop the boy's head bounced erratically as he shook his head. "Nope. I want to find more pictures!" he insisted, flinging himself to the ground in a way that looked almost painful. He stared up at the sky with large, honey-colored eyes full of wonderment, folding his arms behind his head and sprawling his legs below him. There was an unconscious smile on the little boy's face as his eyes flitted across the blanket of stars painted on the night sky. He had a smudge of dirt on his nose, but that was only to be expected of Remus. Besides, he'd been rather fascinated by the grasshoppers he'd found earlier that day.

"Well," he said, conceding to his son's wishes. "If you look there, that's Canis Major, and the brightest star in there is named Sirius."

"Where?!" Remus asked, jumping up again, a ball of energy. His father chuckled at his antics, but moved to point out the constellation.

"See that? The Romans thought those stars there looked like a dog," he stated, and Remus' grin was a mile wide. Suddenly, though, he looked perfectly puzzled.

"What are Romans?" he inquired, fixing questioning eyes on his father.

"They're people who lived a long, long time ago. Older even then your mum and I," he explained. Remus' eyes widened.

"Older than you?" he said, his voice playfully incredulous and his grin bordering on devilish. "They must have lived with the dinosaurs!"

His father mock-scowled, sticking out his tongue. Remus giggled, sticking out his too. "Indeed," was all that was said, and they turned back to silently contemplate the sky once again.

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"There's a full moon tonight, Remus, see? It's a big, bright circle up there. Isn't it beautiful?" he asked, the soft bluish light skimming over his skin like a gentle breeze.

"Yeah," came the reply, a voice filled with awe. "Why does the moon change, Daddy?"

"Everything changes. Sometimes, the moon is beautiful, and sometimes it just doesn't feel like making the effort. We can forgive it, though; everything has a good and a bad side."

It was silent on the hill, for a while. The words sunk into Remus' mind, and he cocked his head thoughtfully, staring at a leaf in front of him. He picked it up, running his dirty fingers over the soft texture of it. It was green on one side, brown on the other, and it looked as if the leaf had been separated from its tree a long time since. Remus was fascinated by all the little lines and ridges, and how the moonlight that spilled onto the leaf left tiny shadows of its own.

Remus held up the leaf for his father to see. The other man stared at it, an eyebrow raised and a rather quizzical look on his face. "It's a leaf," he commented, his bemusement evident in his voice. Remus turned the leaf between his fingers, to the green half.

"Good side," he said, before turning it around to the brown part. "Bad side."

His father laughed. "Exactly," he said, beaming at his child. Remus grinned proudly, thriving in his approval.

"Good side," Remus said, pointing to his chest, and then he transferred the offending finger to his father's chest. "Bad side."

The older man's grin was sly. "Why, you cheeky little half-pint," he said, crouching predatorily. Remus stared, smiling, but wary of his father's next move. "I'll have your head for that!"

Suddenly, the six-year-old found himself straddled by his father, being tickled insanely. He laughed, squirming and yelling for his dad to stop. Deft fingers caught him at his ribs and just above his knees, where he was most vulnerable. It wasn't long before he was gasping for breath and attempting in vain the wriggle from his father's grasp. "Stop!" Remus gasped out, still smiling.

His father did so, and he leaned back to sit on his knees, flushed and smiling at his son as well. They silently regarded each other for a moment while Remus caught his breath, before a mischievous smirk appeared on the younger boy's face. Before his father could rightly interpret what said smirk meant, he took advantage of the ceasefire, taking the opportunity to run. There was a soft sound of surprise behind him, and when he looked back he found that his father had given chase. This made him run faster, laughing in his haste to escape.

"Oi! Come back, you! Thirty lashes!" his father was saying behind him in a mock-stern voice, and Remus laughed, running faster.

His feet carried him to the forest edge, but so caught up in the game was he that he forgot the rules: no going beyond where the shadows of the trees lie. His father's cries behind him instantly took on a far different tone, but he did not notice that either.

"Remus! Remus, come back! Stay out of the forest! Remus! Remus!"

"Can't catch me!" the boy shouted behind him, his voice filled with glee. The desperate sound of his parent's voice faded quickly, the silence surprisingly oppressive. Soon, Remus could hear nothing but his accelerated breathing and the soft footfalls as he ran. The wind whistled by him, and he could feel his blood pumping in his veins.

He felt his stomach begin to cramp; so, he slowed down. He came to a stop gradually, straining his ears to hear. Nothing. Only a heavy silence that hurt his ears more than any noise could have. He'd lost his father, finally. He smiled, feeling accomplished. Breathing heavily, he started to walk back part of the way he came. Naturally, he would find his dad soon enough.

Remus walked quietly, stealthily, through the wood, not wanting to give away his position, but still needing to find out his father's location. His steps were bordering on loud in the stillness, and he paused, wondering at this.

Only then did Remus realize where he was. The forest. He was in the forest. Oh no. Daddy would be so mad. Last time Remus had wandered into the dark mass of trees, it had been on accident, and he'd tripped over some roots and skinned his knee. That had been when he was three, but now he was six. He was much bigger, and he wouldn't trip on the roots anymore. Remus stopped and looked around. Nothing but trees, really. Since he wasn't going to trip, he had nothing to fear, right?

Right, he decided. Perhaps his parents had forgotten how big he'd gotten, and they had just assumed he'd still be in danger if he went to the forest. They would be terribly worried, he was sure. He would try to find his way back.

It was really dark, though, and he couldn't even see beyond the next tree. It was eerily quiet; not a leaf was rustling, and there were no sounds that indicated that animals were anywhere nearby. Now, Remus was not a believer in monsters. Sometimes, his dad would tell him scary stories before bedtime which made Remus have nightmares. His mother had virtually put a stop to it, but Remus did like the stories in and of themselves. She had explained to him one night that monsters and ghosts and giant spiders weren't real, and that he had nothing to fear. It had put his mind at ease... mostly. He had still liked to have a nightlight anyway; that way, the bogeyman had no hope of getting a hold of him.

Eventually, all anxiousness over monsters had dissipated, and he slept peacefully. Big boys weren't scared of anything, anyway, even if monsters were real. So, he was obviously not scared at all of being alone, and he wasn't scared of the dark. He wasn't scared of the creeping feeling on his neck that made him want to believe that there was something hiding in the shadows. He wasn't scared of the light breeze that fluttered through the trees and chilled Remus to the core, and he wasn't scared of the fact that the silence stayed true, even with the wind rattling the branches around him. He wasn't scared of the trees, either; their twisted trunks and abstract shapes were no more frightening to him than a mere kitten.

And he most certainly wasn't scared of the feeling of being watched.

"Dad?" he inquired in the stillness. "Daddy...? Are you there?"

No answer. Remus thought he heard a twig snap, and he brightened immediately.

"Dad," he said, his tone chiding. "Dad, I know you're there." He ambled over in the general direction of the sound. "Come out! Dad, come out. I know you're hiding."

He jumped into the bush, expecting to find himself picked up by a laughing man with sandy hair. However, there was nothing and nobody there. Remus frowned, turning around. "Dad? Where are you?" he asked, though, this time, he wasn't sure if he was going to find the answer.

He climbed out of the bush, confusion painting itself on his features. "Daddy, where are you? Why are you hiding?"

Remus walked a few steps into a small clearing. The light of the full moon shone overhead like a beacon, beckoning for Remus to follow it. He squinted at it thoughtfully, and it still looked beautiful to him. It must still be on its good side. He didn't know what else to do; so, he decided to follow the good side of the moon to see where it leads. Along the way, he still made inquiries directed to his father, but they were half-hearted at best. He was lost, and he was aware of it, but perhaps the moon would lead him back.

It didn't take long for him to become tired. If anything, the woods were thicker, and the darkness more pitch then it had been when he'd started. Hungry, frustrated, and beginning to feel the first icy cold chains of fear locking around his heart, he stopped walking with the moon. "Daddy?" he whispered shakily. "Daddy, stop hiding. Stop. Stop it!"

He became desperate, as was only human nature. His body began to shake and the full force of his fear hit him so hard that he was momentarily paralyzed with it. "Daddy, stop hiding! Stop hiding! STOP HIDING!"

Remus started screaming. "Daddy, please! Where are you?! Stop it! I don't want to play anymore. I want to go home!" he pleaded, but the gnarled trees surrounding him paid him no mind and offered him no mercy.

"Stop it! Stop it! STOP IT! STOPSTOPSTOPSTOP!!" he commanded, but the moon watched him dispassionately as he began to sob uncontrollably. "Daddy, come back! I want to go home!"

"Stop hiding," he whined piteously, chanting it over and over, curled up into a ball on the cold, damp forest floor. "Stop hiding, stop hiding, stop hiding." He sniffled, wiping a muddy arm over his face to wipe away tears. As he was getting up, there was a noise, a rustling. Remus perked up immediately, his eyes burning with fierce hope.

"Daddy?" he asked, his voice quiet. "Daddy, are you there?"

And there it was, the rustling noise again. A smile lit his face as he started towards the sound. It had to be his father. It had to be. "Daddy, it's me! Remus! Please, can I go home? I'm cold. Did Mummy keep the food warm still?" he babbled, continuing to walk towards the sounds, sounds that were becoming more frequent.

It was too dark to see, but Remus still trudged on, until the sounds suddenly ceased. He found he no longer had any sense of direction. "Dad?" he asked again. No response, but something suddenly lunged at him, and he saw the sharp gleam of saliva as an enormous mouth bore down on his shoulder.

In the next second, Remus realized many things, things that he would carry with him the rest of his life.

First of them being that, when the moon is beautiful, that is really its bad side.

Second of all being that his father had not been anywhere near him at the time, and had not been able to find him until well into the morning the next day.

And last, but certainly not least, his mother had lied to him about monsters.