Love Bites | Amy & Toby

[tobias charles watkins]

Early morning Toby awoke to an owl from one of his colleagues asking if he could come in on his day off to fix a fence for the moon calf enclosure that blew away overnight due to strong winds. Apparently magic wasn’t always reliable. Fortunately his coworkers were able to locate the moon calves that escaped but the enclosure needed immediate assistance while they temporarily moved them into a new pen with other creatures. As soon as Toby rolled out of bed he headed to the reserve to take care of business, with no time to drink morning tea and eat breakfast - and mistakenly forgetting his dose of Aware Wolf..

Pebbles crunched under Toby’s work boots as he crossed the path to the moon calf enclosure, kicking up clouds of dust as he dragged his feet. A large bead of sweat dripped down the side of his face when he realized he should have stayed home. He wasn’t feeling great due to a lingering cold over the past week. December had been particularly difficult blur due to two Full Moons, which affected him more than he’d ever admit. Body aches, horrible sleep, weird cravings, mood swings.. Most days leading up to a Full Moon he woke up feeling terrible, having to practically pry himself out of bed to get the day started, convincing himself sunshine would do him right. The days he woke up with Amy by his side were always the easiest days to wake up. Those were his favorite days.

Once Toby finally arrived home from tending to the enclosure and settling in the creatures, he was battling a raging headache. He made his way to the medicine cabinet where he had several shelf stable potions and poked through them with shaky fingers. In his search for something to cure his headache, he came to a scary realization. Two untouched doses of Aware Wolf with yesterday and todays date. Todays was already over nine hours late. That was why he felt horrible. Somehow the second Full Moon slipped passed his mind after getting overwhelmed with the reserve and being so invested working toward his masters.

Panic nipped at his gut and he knocked both vials back in two motions, nearly vomiting it up but he choked it back down with watery eyes. Aware Wolf didn't taste anywhere near as foul as Wolfsbane but it still wasn't enjoyable.

Two Days Later...

New Years Eve. Toby's fingers traveled across the mobile keyboard as the blue light of the phone illuminated his face, straining his eyes under the covers.

Hey Babes. I screwed up taking my potions this week and I feel really weird.

Please forgive me, I think we should wait until next week to see each other.

I don't want to get you sick or try to eat you or something.

Love you xx

After pressing send he rolled over and immediately slipped into a deep slumber. 


AMY ESMA ASTOR-SHAW

[AMY ESMA ASTOR-SHAW]

New Years Eve 2028

Amy was itching for graduation, she she still had two full terms left. But as much as she enjoyed Professor Burke's classes and being able to pop over and visit her sister's greenhouse and trot over to see Toby at the reserve whenever she liked, she was itching for a bit of freedom. And a significant decrease in the amount of essays she had to write. That would just be the cherry on top. And maybe a note from her daddy that he was proud of her, but Amy was beyond such childish wishes.

The holidays had whipped by, and New Years Eve was upon them at last. She had plans to spend the evening with Toby in their usual manner - had she become an introvert? Was it being introverted if she only wanted to talk to one person, and not actually be alone? Amy shook away those errant thoughts, pointing her wand at her speaker to turn up the music. The recently dropped EP by Jack Clark was actually better than she had expected.

It was not long before she was due to leave that Amy's phone lit up with a message from Toby. She frowned at the contents - well, that just wouldn't do. Leave it until next week? No, it was New Years Eve, and she didn't have other plans and she wanted to spend time with Toby. Amy knew vaguely how Aware Wolf worked, and sure there had been lots of research and improvements and stuff. Besides, Toby told her that he always felt better when she was around. So Amy brushed off his message, and pulled on a jumper against the biting Scottish winter.

Amy plodded down the familiar path from her dorm to Toby's flat in Hogsmeade. She spent so much time there, it was a rare thing for her to sleep alone in her room. The moon hung low in the sky, almost taunting her as it tried to change her plans. But Amy was determined to make Toby feel better. Besides, she trusted him. He could never hurt her, werewolf or not. Toby had gifted Amy a set of keys to his flat, and Amy let herself in. "Toby? I know you said next week but..... well, I decided you were wrong," called Amy with a smirk as the door shut behind her.

tobias charles watkins

[tobias charles watkins]

Toby’s chest raised up and down slowly as he lay in bed, face smushed into his pillow as sweat rolled down his forehead. It was times like these he hated being a werewolf. A Full Moon on New Years Eve was a great time for regular people. Tonight, he had to miss out on a New Years kiss and turn into a beastly creature for the second time that month.

Sitting up in bed suddenly, Toby started to feel a familiar sensation from head to toe. Dreading the moment because he was completely unprepared, the hairs on the back of Toby’s neck raised at full alert. His skeleton suddenly felt too large for his skin. Within moments he was a full sized werewolf in a tiny flat flipping over his bed and throwing the lamp across the room by its cord.

About an hour later…

The front door of Toby’s flat swung open and closed behind Amy. All of the lights were off, something wasn’t quite right, other than the usual Netflix ‘are you still watching?’ on the screen.

The dying Christmas tree was splintered in half, pine needles littered across every inch of the floor, along with shards of glass. Strings of holiday lights were scattered through the flat. Everything was eerily untidy.

Large yellow eyes appeared, a low guttural growl erupted from the bedroom as a dark mass appeared in the dark doorway, lunging toward Amy at full force and latching onto her with its sharp claws.

AMY ESMA ASTOR-SHAW

[AMY ESMA ASTOR-SHAW]

Amy, who would never admit to doubting herself in her life, traipsed down the well worn path between her block of dorms to Toby's apartment. She didn't even spare a moment to wonder if she was being silly - since it was the full moon and all, wouldn't she be safer away from him? But Amy trusted Toby unequivocally. No matter what his body form was, she knew his true nature to be kind and loving. And after all, it was Toby. What harm could he really do? Advances were being made in potioneering every day, and surely a few missed doses wouldn't spell doom.

If Amy had been a different person, she might have had the aforementioned misgivings. But Amy was not that person, and perhaps that was part of why Toby loved her so much. So confident in his adoration, Amy flung open the door to his flat and entered. It was eerily silent, quieter than she had expected. Usually Toby had on some background noise, a vinyl spinning in the sitting room. But there was no sound, not even the ambient noise of the outside street. There was only a dim glow emitting from the television, and Amy looked around, her palms suddenly sweaty.

Amy took a step into Toby's home, and then another. A floorboard creaked under her boot, setting off a string of activity. A low, guttural sound came from the direction of the bedroom, and Amy whirled around, opening her mouth to call for Toby. But she didn't have time to make a noise - not even to scream as the beast lunged in her direction, claws out, digging into the fine knit of her jumper and hooking into her flesh. Amy's first instinct was to mourn the tattered sweater - it had been cashmere! - but then the pain took over. The beast locked its jaws onto her abdomen and she felt like she was on fire. All the breath left her, chased out by flames that nothing could douse. Amy closed her eyes, wishing it was a bad dream. But she couldn't feel this much pain in her nightmares.

tobias charles watkins

[tobias charles watkins]

The next day Toby awoke sprawled under the dining room table, tattered clothes barely hanging from his body. The entire apartment was in shambles. Every bit of glass was on the floor with all of the cabinets open. A small trail of blood led to the door which was quite unsettling but he assumed it was his own considering the state of the flat. Thank Merlin he didn't get out last night or he'd be in big trouble.

Toby felt off. He wasn't sure if it was the start of the New Year or the after affects of the second Full Moon in one month but he felt an impending state of doom deep in his core. Early morning Toby stopped by Amy's dorm with coffee and her favorite treat with no answer, followed by a string of unanswered texts. He didn't want to be a creep and hang out by the girls dorms for too long, or be the overbearing boyfriend, but he was getting worried now. She was probably upset for cancelling on her on New Years Eve, which was a bit of an overreaction considering it was a Full Moon and he was a bloody werewolf.

In an attempt to get his belated New Years kiss, he reached out to Amy again with no response. Something was definitely wrong. Amy wasn’t the type to go radio silent unless if she were pissed off about something. He gratefully never had to face Amy's wrath first hand since it was rare they 'fought'. They had moments of silly bickering or disagreements but could quickly move on and forget about it after one kiss. The past couple of months they had grown inseparable, the only time they were apart was because of work and school - and stupid Full Moons. It was a bit out of character for Amy to leave him unread so he knew that something was wrong. Worry officially set in. What if she officially decided to go back to America because the homesickness was just too much..fuck. 

Hey Babes.
I screwed up taking my potions this week and I feel really weird.

Please forgive me, I think we should wait until next week to see each other.

I don't want to get you sick or try to eat you or something.

Love you xx


Happy New Year, Love
I'm sorry for having to cancel last night.
Popped by your dorm this morning and you weren't there.
Lemme know when you get back x
Love you


Haven't heard from you. Is everything alright? xx



AMY ESMA ASTOR-SHAW

[AMY ESMA ASTOR-SHAW]

The haze of pain descended quickly upon Amy as she squeezed her eyes shut, wishing it for it to be over. And almost as fast as she'd been set upon, it was. The beast rolled off her, and dashed back into the bedroom. The sound of tearing fabric indicated that the wolf was otherwise preoccupied, so Amy mustered all the strength she had to crawl back towards the door. She clutched at the throbbing wound in her side, lamenting more the loss of a good jumper than the fact that she might not survive this.

By some miracle, Amy made it back outside Toby's flat and stood on unsteady legs in the crisp night air. The high street was busy with holiday revellers, and it was not long until she was spotted. A couple dashed over to her, but Amy didn't hear what they were saying. There was a high pitched ringing in her ears. Were they calling for help? She wasn't sure. She wished she hadn't worn cashmere.

the next day

Everything ached. Amy felt like her bones were too big for her body. Groaning, she tried to move her arms to scratch an awful itch on her side when a soft voice washed over her. She recognised the Hogwarts healer's soothing tone, and her eyes flew open. "What..." she croaked, her voice raspy and broken. The healer looked upon Amy with pity, and the whole evening came back to her. She closed her eyes again, silently swearing at herself. Stupid. How could she have been so stupid.

Hot tears coursed down her cheeks as Amy half listened to Miss Garnet's diatribe about how she'd be living a very different life. A part of her didn't want to believe that Toby could have done this to her - but who else could have it been? She should have listened to his warning. She should have thought about the danger for once in her life. But when the healer asked Amy the identity of the werewolf who bit her, Amy kept quiet. With Aware Wolf in regular circulation, it was more common for werewolves to live amongst others rather than in packs. Amy was certain there was at least a dozen living in Hogsmeade now. Maybe they'd find out eventually. But until then...

Amy didn't glance at her phone, which she knew kept lighting up. Toby would be worried about her, but she couldn't face him. She couldn't face any of it. What had she done?

tobias charles watkins / end