Chapter One: Remus and Alianna

I disclaim that which is recognized as being famous from JK Rowling.

This story is branching out of my AU series and will just be 3 chapters long (one per male Marauder). This chapter is told in Remus' POV.

If you're unfamiliar with my AU here's a little background: Keena Potter (James' adopted sister-1 month younger) is pregnant and engaged to Sirius (who was proven innocent at the end of canon 3rd year) and the two of them adopted an orphaned Ravenclaw first year (Alianna) near the end of canon 4th year. Kailey Snape is Harry's best friend and James and Lily are both alive. This scene takes place in Potter Mansion the summer after canon 4th year. ENJOY!

"Padfoot, can I talk to you a moment?" I murmured as my goddaughter dragged Tonks up the stairs to show off her new bedroom.

"Yeah, Moony, sure," he replied, placing a swift kiss on his fiancé's cheek before standing to follow me into Potter Mansion's expansive library. I figured it was the one room where Harry and Kailey wouldn't catch us and I wasn't even sure how often James had even entered this room growing up. "You alright, mate?"

"Huh…? Oh, yeah," I answered slowly, catching the smell of disbelief from Sirius and shaking my head. "Just confused."

He quirked an eyebrow and gave me a look that I took to say go-on.

"Don't think I'm not grateful," I began hastily. "But I just can't figure out why you made me Alianna's godfather."

The other eyebrow rose to meet the first.

"Is that what's had you so worked up since she came home?" he asked point blank.

"I haven't been worked up," I disagreed.

He snorted, shaking his head.

"Moony, we made you her godfather because we trust you. You took care of Keena when she couldn't do it herself; we know you won't walk out on our daughter," he answered, leaning back against one of the desks that littered the room.

Something wriggled inside of me for a moment and it must have showed on my face.

"What else is it?" Sirius asked, frowning as he watched my expression.

"If you could trust Prongs that way, would you have picked him?"

"We do trust Prongs that way."

"Then why did you choose me?" I insisted. "Was it just because Alianna couldn't know about James and Lily when you made the adoption official? Or did Keena just come up with it out of the blue?"

"Remus, calm down," Sirius said, standing up straight and putting a hand on my shoulder. "Look, Keena didn't come up with it randomly; I am capable of serious discussions, you know. We decided that you would be a better personality match with her. You're both smart and very loyal to your families."

"James is smart," I muttered, matching Sirius in switching back to normal names. "And if he isn't loyal then I don't think I know the meaning of the word."

"Why do you keep arguing me on this?" he groaned. "D'you want me to just switch her godfather to James?"

"No, I'm grateful! Truly, I think she's a wonderful little girl," I defended, trying in vain to think of how to best explain what I was feeling. "It's just…Sirius, don't you see how odd it is for me to accept this? They made you godfather and I was positive that you and Keena would've made them godparents if things had…worked out. Not only that, but you made Tonks her godmother. Neither of you are even that close to Tonks, where did that come from?"

Sirius frowned again, letting his hand slide off of my shoulder. I shook my head and yanked the chair out from the desk and sat down in it, ignoring the dust mites that filled my nostrils. No matter what the house elves did, I could always smell the dust. The only other scent competing with it at the moment was Sirius' confusion.

"You're not upset that you're her godfather, you're upset that Tonks is her godmother?"

I huffed.

"Upset is not the word I would use."

"Confused then," he conceded. "Keena said that she would trust Tonks with her life. As far as I know, the two aren't even amazing friends or anything," he paused and gave me a questioning look.

"They worked together for a little while," I replied to his look. "But that was it."

"Well, she is my cousin's daughter, so it isn't completely random. If she wasn't somehow related, I think I would've pushed more for Lily to be her godmother," he shrugged off-handedly. "But Alianna seems to love Tonks; you saw her reaction when she got here. As long as she's happy, I'm not overly concerned with who has the title. Just as long as that person is willing to do anything that I would do for my daughter. And Moony, unless I'm horribly mistaken, I think you are that person."

The tension in my chest eased somewhat as I inhaled the smell of pure honesty. Perhaps I was being slightly ridiculous in my concern.

"Moony, can I ask you something?" he said quietly after a few moments of silence. I nodded, my face transforming into a frown as I saw his discomfort. "I know you've told me that Keena had…problems. After everything happened. And the Prophet was more than happy to point out some of them, but I was just wondering to what extent…how bad was she?"

"Padfoot…" I trailed off softly.

His expression was pure pain.

"Moony, I need to know. She's pregnant and Voldemort is back," he paused. "Merlin knows what's going to happen this time around. I need to be able to…to know what to do if something bad happens."

"She was…she got better once Dumbledore threatened to take her access to Harry away. I dunno, Padfoot, she needs someone to take care of and she'll be…better."

"How often was she…bad?"

I cleared my throat and looked away from him.

"Almost every night," I murmured. "Look, Sirius, I don't think she's going to go back there. She's got you back and that was probably the worst of it."

"Merlin," he moaned, dropping his face into his hands. "So if I hadn't been in Azkaban…"

"No, Sirius, don't even go there," I growled, yanking his hands away from his face. "You can't do that because then she'll feel guilty over it and then where are we left?"

"With you cleaning up after us like you did all seven years at school?"

My lips quirked.

"Exactly, except this time you've got an almost teenage daughter and a baby on the way. I am not changing diapers because you two are feeling too guilty about things that you can't change."

"You're right," he agreed quietly, looking up at me with his silver gray eyes. "I never understand how, but you're almost always right."

I shrugged.

"Except for when I'm wrong," I replied before sighing.

"Hence 'almost' always. But I hope you're done being confused over Alianna's godparents."

"Even if I wasn't, I like to think I'm mature enough to be able to be who she needs me to be," I answered.

I looked up at a light tap on my knee to see Alianna staring at me with wide blue-gray eyes. At the nervous look on her face, I closed my book and placed it on the coffee table. She sighed and sat down in the chair beside me.

"Something troubling you?" I asked lightly as she sank down as far as she possibly could into her chair.

"Why can't I tell Harry anything?" she grumbled, folding her arms.

"You can't tell him anything?" I replied mildly, mentally chuckling over her reaction.

"Ugh…Re-mus!" she complained dragging out of my name and sitting up. "Why can't I tell him about headquarters? Kailey already knows and Ron and Hermione already know and I even know! How come mum and dad say I can't tell?"

I frowned at her and she groaned, leaning back into the chair again.

"Alianna, I don't know if this is something I should tell you," I stated softly. Her face fell, but it was quickly followed by my resolve. "Alright, listen closely," I said.

She sat straight up and leaned closer, my lips quirked at her actions.

"Your mum and dad say that you cannot tell because that is what Professor Dumbledore has requested at the beginning of the summer," I said seriously.

She narrowed her eyes at me.

"Is that it?" she sounded disappointed.

I shrugged, leaning back in my own chair.

"It's all that Dumbledore would tell us."

"Well that doesn't sound fair! Shouldn't you at least ask why? Secrets shouldn't be kept unless they really have to be."

"But how do we know which secrets those are?" I asked, feeling my teaching voice reasserting itself. "Dumbledore likely feels that this is one of them in any case."

She considered this, squirming in her seat so that she was comfortable. I watched her cautiously, wondering how she would react.

"I guess I never really thought of that; I've never had a secret that needs to be kept. Not a really important one. Well, I guess I have to keep Auntie Lily and Uncle James a secret, but no one would ask me about them anyway. Have you ever had a secret like that?" she asked turning her gaze on me again.

Damn…we haven't told her this yet, have we? Brilliant, now she won't even want me as a godfather, never mind whether or not Keena and Sirius want me to be…

"I can't say that I have," I answered after clearing my throat.

She tilted her head to the side, pulling her deep, dark brown hair over her shoulder and running her hand through it, biting her lip as she did so. She looked so much like Keena, but with Sirius' eyes…

Aw, what the hell? She'll have to learn about it eventually, won't she…?

"Well, except for one secret," I admitted softly. I inhaled for a moment and could only catch the smell of pure curiosity from the eleven year old beside me. "Would you like to hear it?"

"Yes please," she smiled brightly, leaning towards me again. "And then maybe I can tell you one in return; it'll be like sharing."

My lips twitched again, but at the thought I was about to tell her what sort of monster I was, I controlled myself.

"Alright, well," I paused to clear my throat once more. "When I was very small, I was bitten by a werewolf."

Her eyes widened predictably, but she didn't lean away from me. She didn't even flinch.

"So is that why you had to go away last week?" she asked softly.

"Yes, I go to one of the other houses to transform in the dungeon," I replied with a nod, waiting for her to begin her real reaction.

"But then how come dad and Uncle James went with you?" she asked curiously instead of fearfully. "I thought when a person transformed into a werewolf that they had no control."

"Lily makes a potion for me every month, though sometimes Professor Snape does if she doesn't have time. It's called the Wolfsbane Potion; it allows me keep my mind while I'm the wolf. But your dad and James are animagi which keeps them safe from the werewolf venom."

"Dad's an animagus? Why didn't he tell me?"

"Because if your dad is an animagus and James is too, who else would you expect to be one?"

"Well, mum and Auntie Lily and you of course," she replied matter-of-factly before blinking as she thought over her words. "But you're not one, are you?"

"No, I never went through with it; I'm not even sure a werewolf could," I answered with a slight shrug.

"And then I would have wanted to know why you weren't and mum and dad wouldn't want to tell your secret without your permission," she concluded with a nod. "But why didn't you tell me sooner?"

I took a deep breath and shook my head.

"It's not something little girls like to find out about their godfathers."

"Uncle Remus, that's stupid."

I looked up at her and quirked an eyebrow. I could count on one hand the number of times she called me 'Uncle'. I suppose it was her version of a full name for me.

Her eyes were narrowed and she had sat up straight, placing her hands on her hips.

"Do you really think that turning into a big old puppy once a month was going to make me like you any less? You're still my godfather. Besides, there are plenty of people who don't turn into wolves once a month who are much scarier than you," she stated with a nod.

"So it really doesn't frighten you?" I asked after a moment of silence during which she gave me a look I was positive she had picked up from being around Keena so much for the past few months.

"It really doesn't."

The little bit of tension that had remained after my talk with Sirius drained away. She didn't care that I was a werewolf and that was all that mattered.

So ends Remus and Alianna's scene. Yay! Next up will be James with Aradia and the third will be Sirius with Harry. Here's to your enjoyment!

:-D