Disclaimer: Do I look like Jo Rowling? Nuh-uh. -wishes she could write half as well-
THAT APPLIES TO THE WHOLE STORY. I am not Jo Rowling and never will be!
It all began with the letter. All of this tyranny, this torment, this horror; it all began with a simple piece of parchment, addressed in green ink and carried by a tawny owl.
He had sat alone all summer, spilling his heart out onto the wrinkled pages before him. He had longed, and hoped, and dreamed for all these years to go to Hogwarts. But summer was drawing to its end, and his heart told him it would not become reality.
The small, dim bedroom grew even dimmer as the sun continued to set. He sighed, wishing with every fiber of his eleven-year old being that his one and only wish might come true.
He looked out the window wistfully, watching the vibrant oranges and pinks of the sunset. The mass of color turned the clouds a delicate salmon color. He imagined it the color of an esteemed lady's dress, swishing gracefully and smelling of roses. He could almost see the lady, beautiful and kind, eyes sparkling, and she was smiling happily. The image vanished in a gentle breeze.
A small, dark speck appeared on the horizon, and grew, approaching the windowpane. It was a majestic tawny owl, a piece of parchment addressed in emerald clamped tightly in its beak.
The years following that letter had been the best of his life, filled with happiness, sadness, romance, and adventure. He had made friends and enemies. He had pulled pranks and laughed. He had fallen in love. But with the last straw on the camel's back, his world shattered.
He was still not sure he believed it; still not sure it wasn't just a terrifying and horrible nightmare from which he would awake and everything would be right again.
No. In his heart, he knew it had really happened. That he would never wake up, trapped in this awful dream world for the rest of his living days.
On the dark and stormy Halloween night, 1981, Sirius Black had betrayed the Potters. Sirius Black, the trusted and beloved Secret-Keeper, their best friend, had betrayed their whereabouts to Voldemort. And he had killed them. They were dead.
No.
Remus Lupin was in a state of shocked disbelief.
He could not believe that Sirius would do that. He could not believe that his friends were dead and that now he was all alone.
Suddenly the world seemed like a great, big menacing place without them. And he was only a very small, insignificant being in the big scheme of things. He had no one left, and nowhere to go. How was he going to cope?
Everything he had known and loved was gone. It suddenly struck him, the terrible reality of it. There would be no more parties, pranks, or full moons. He would never see his friends again. The Marauders were over.
His life was over, even though it had only been just beginning. From here on out, life would be one long road. And Remus had no idea where it would take him.