I have accepted to go through a list of various prompts, trying to challenge myself to write categories I normally would shy away from (although certainly there will be some I am used to writing). I had originally planned on making all of the stories WolfStar, however I don't want to force anything that doesn't come naturally to the story, so this will be where I have the non-WolfStar stories posted. If you are not a fan of slash, this will be a safe series for you to read. There may be friendly gestures between the boys, but nothing will go past hugging, so do not fret.
Should any of these short stories receive enough requests to be made longer, I just may go through with it, so feel free to speak up!
Prompt: A Family Mystery Uncovered
Words: Sunday, Secret, Wallpaper, Swap, Sister,
Curiosity, Island, Notebook, Marathon, Demand
Sort-of AU
(but not so much that it couldn't be canon)
...oOo...
The summer following fifth year found Remus at home with his three dorm mates underfoot. He had tried in vain to convince the rowdy wizards to stay at the Potter manor, but seeing as the Lupin household was on Inishtrahull off the coast of Ireland, the two dark haired Marauders had insisted there was no better place than an island getaway for summer break.
"I'm bored," Sirius declared shortly after dinner on Sunday evening, a demand for entertainment clear in his voice. He was lounging on the floor using Remus' legs as a backrest while picking at the threadbare rug idly.
"We can go swimming again," James suggested from his position on the large brown couch in the living room, his head hanging over the armrest causing strain on his vocal chords.
"It's too cold to go swimming now," Remus replied hesitantly, shooting a wary glance out the window. An impromptu summer storm had come through earlier that day, bringing with it an uncharacteristic chill. This close to the full moon, Remus did not fancy the idea of chilling his aching bones.
James nudged Remus with his foot playfully. "Are you a wizard or not? Ever heard of warming charms?"
"Ever heard of underage magic restriction laws," he quipped back, a wry grin alighting Remus' face.
"Oh come on, Moony," James whined, seemingly liking the idea of a midnight swim. "It's not like we'll get in trouble for a couple of innocent charms."
"No," Sirius cut in, crossing his arms as he drug his gray eyes up towards James. "If Moony doesn't want to go swimming, we won't be going swimming."
James' dark eyebrows rose in surprise.
"How about another movie marathon on the telly?" Peter piped up from behind his cup of cocoa.
James and Remus exchanged an indifferent shrug whilst Sirius scowled in obvious disinterest.
"What's so great about the telly?" Sirius complained. "Haven't we wasted enough time looking at that box? It'd be more fun to stare at wallpaper. And not the wizarding kind either. The muggle wallpaper that doesn't do anything but sit there."
Remus snorted in amusement. "What do you suggest then, Padfoot?"
He scrunched up his face in thought for a long moment before his eyes lit up and an excited laugh slipped from his mouth. "Ah hah! I got it!" Sirius rose to his feet with an explosive hop, placing his hands on his hips in a proud gesture.
Three sets of brows rose in curiosity as they waited for Sirius' grand idea.
"We can go exploring!"
"Exploring?" James asked, not bothering to hide his skepticism. "You mean like explore the island?"
"I doubt my parents would like us doing that after dark," Remus hedged, nervously pulling at the sleeve of his navy blue jumper.
A timid squeak came from the blond wizard as he tried to bury himself deeper into the green oversized armchair. "Don't dark creatures come out at night?"
"Of course they do, Wormtail," Sirius replied, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. "I hear rat is considered a delicacy to certain dark beasts."
Peter whimpered, spilling cocoa on his trousers from his violent shaking.
"Oh leave Peter alone," Remus reprimanded, crossing the room to settle on the armrest by Peter as he rubbed his friend's back in a reassuring manner.
Not at all remorseful, the tall wizard threw his head back as he barked a laugh, his gray eyes filled with amusement. "Oh come on Wormtail. Don't be such a wet blanket! You run around with a dark creature every month!" Sirius crowed as he settled into Remus' abandoned spot on the couch.
Peter sputtered, his watery blue eyes flicking between Sirius and Remus. "But that's different! Moony isn't scary."
Remus laughed incredulously. "How is a werewolf not scary? I'm definitely scarier than anything on this island, I assure you."
A delighted grin lit Sirius' face. "Yup. Moony's definitely terrifying, Wormy. Much scarier than banshees, thestrals, kappas, and lethifolds."
Peter squeaked again causing a scowl to adorn Remus' handsome face. "Padfoot, I said to leave Peter alone." He wrapped an arm protectively around the pudgy boy's shoulders. "Don't worry mate, I won't let them go exploring at night. The mutt and buck will just have to wait until morning." He gave a pointed look at the two other wizards, his sharp amber eyes making it clear there was no room for argument.
James' hazel eyes rolled in annoyance, but he wisely chose not to argue with the werewolf.
Sirius scoffed as he ruffled his curly black hair in an irritated gesture. "Fine, we won't go outside, but we can still explore the house. How about the attic?"
"The attic?" Remus' eyebrows shot up.
"Yeah! You said earlier there's all kinds of boxes and stuff up there. I bet we can find some really cool things mixed up with all that junk."
"I dunno-"
"That does sound fun," James agreed. "We might even find an old game or artifact or something."
"Artifact?" Peter squeaked. "Like something dangerous?"
"Nah, Wormtail," James reassured his friend. "Moony's mum's a muggle. There wouldn't be anything in the house that would harm Mrs. Lupin if she stumbled on it."
"Oh, alright." Peter took another gulp of cocoa, finishing off the mug and leaving a chocolate mustache on his upper lip. "Well, so long as it's safe, I'm in."
As much as Remus didn't like the idea of spending the evening in a dark and dusty attic, with the other three marauders wanting to go upstairs, Remus found it hard to stop them – especially once Sirius pulled out his wounded puppy expression.
Less than ten minutes later, the four teenagers found themselves in the stuffy attic, rooting through the old boxes and trunks they found there. So far, the most interesting finds were a paisley scarf Remus recognized from a photograph of his great grandmother, a crystal candelabra with an everlasting candle enchantment, and a broken two-way mirror.
"Do you reckon we could fix this?" James questioned as he examined the mirror closely, adjusting his spectacles on the bridge of his nose.
Sirius shrugged, clearly more interested in the musty notebook he was thumbing through. "Don't see why not," he murmured without bothering to look up.
"It would require some hefty charmwork, but that shouldn't be a problem for the two of you." Remus pulled the notebook out of Sirius' grasp easily to scan through it himself.
"Even if you did get it to work though," Peter interjected, coughing into his hands from the copious dust mites, "it wouldn't do you any good without knowing who the other mirror belongs to."
"Oh, right," James responded dully, dropping the mirror disinterestedly back into the box.
As his friends continued their rustling, Remus thumbed through the pages of the notebook. It was his mother's journal apparently, dated ten years ago. While he had no intentions to invade his mother's privacy, he couldn't help but read a snippet every time he saw his name written in his mother's swirly print.
"Find anything good in there, Moony?" Sirius scooted closer to his friend, forcing Peter to swap spots with him in the process. "Found out a dirty secret, maybe?"
Remus shook his head, a gentle smile on his face. "No, just normal life events in here. Mum apparently lied to me when she said I did a great job dusting the living room though."
Sirius barked a laugh as he edged even closer to peer over the taller wizard's shoulder, his knee resting against Remus' leg. "So she's the reason you're so good at telling lies. You've been exposed to it since you were five years old!"
Remus shoved his friend playfully in the shoulder, the movement causing something to flutter out of the journal, landing softly on the dust-covered hardwood floor.
"What's this?" Sirius asked curiously as he lifted up the card. His eyes widened as he stared at it, holding the card at an angle away from Remus' line of vision.
James crawled over. "What is it, Pads?" As his gaze fell on the card as well, hazel eyes flicked up to Remus, something unreadable written in them.
"Uh, Remus-" Peter started as he also eyed the card warily. "You're an only child, right?"
Two sets of eyes shot the shorter boy a glare as they made various indignant claims about decorum.
Remus' brown eyebrows pinched together in confusion. "What? Yes, of course I am. What is it? Let me see." He reached for the card, forcefully prying it from Sirius' reluctant grip.
He turned it around, revealing it as a magical family photograph. His father, Lyall Lupin, was standing with a proud smile in a comfortable looking brown cardigan and khaki slacks. His mother, Hope, was snuggled partly in front of him, wearing a loose purple blouse and black sweat pants. Her photo self was alternating between placing a kiss on her husband's cheek and ruffling a five-year-old Remus' tawny hair. Little Remus was dressed to match his father and had the sparkle of youth clear in his eyes, showing Remus that this photograph was taken before 'That Night'. Lyall's hands were placed protectively over his wife's stomach were a bump was clearly visible, and little Remus would every so often rub his mother's stomach with an excited grin brightening his boyish features.
Remus' mind slowed as he tried to process what he was looking at. He remembered this photograph, but he hadn't seen it since it had been taken so many years ago. He also had the fuzzy memory of helping to paint a pink nursery, but he'd always discredited it to a child's daydream. The third bedroom had been a study for as long as Remus could remember.
His breathing grew ragged as memories he hadn't thought were real suddenly came back to him as though he had opened Pandora's Box. The day they took the photograph, him begging to go along to the doctor visits with his mum, watching his parents debate on what name to give his little sister.
No. No this wasn't real. It couldn't be.
As if on autopilot, Remus found himself leaving the attic. He was vaguely aware of his friends calling after him. At some point Sirius grabbed his arm, but Remus easily broke free, barely even registering the connection. His feet carried him down the two flights of stairs until he was standing in the kitchen, stopping less than six feet behind his mother who was still washing dishes.
Hearing her son approaching, Hope turned away from the sink, shutting off the spigot, a warm smile lighting her time-worn face. "You and your friends are staying out of trouble right?" Her light brown eyes moved from Remus to the other three young wizards that had followed after him before turning to her son again.
"Mother," Remus began in a moment of recklessness, taking a deep breath to collect himself. "What happened to Emily?"
A wide range of emotions flitted across her face before settling on tentative concern. "Emily?" she asked quietly, obviously seeking clarification.
"Yes, Emily," he affirmed, showing his mother the photograph they had found. "I remember she was supposed to be born during the summer when I was five. What happened?"
Hope pinched her brow with two fingers, sorrow filling her eyes as she hesitated. "Remus-"
"Did you have to adopt her out? Is it because of my condition? You didn't want to risk having a baby around a dangerous half-breed?"
Hope shook her head firmly. "No Remus, it's not your fault. I don't want you to blame yourself."
"Then what happened?"
His mother hesitated again and Remus could hear his friends shifting nervously behind his back.
Feeling the tension in the air, Sirius stepped forward to support his friend, grasping Remus' hand in a reassuring gesture. "What happened Mrs. Lupin?" he asked in a gentle voice.
She sighed in submission. "How much do you remember about 'That Night'?"
Remus furrowed his brows. "What? What does that-" A feeling of dread began to settle into the pit of his stomach, clawing through his body with icy tentacles.
"Do you remember everything that happened?"
Of course Remus remembered everything about 'That Night'. 'That Night' had condemned him to a life as a monster. Because of that one dreadful evening when he was only five years old, his entire future was shattered. One stupid mistake had caused him to become classified as less than human and unable to get a job in the wizarding world - even with the education Albus Dumbledore had been able to offer him despite the laws on the matter.
Remus nodded numbly, unwillingly realizing what his mother was getting at. "I snuck outside because I wanted to look at the full moon. I know I wasn't supposed to go out, but the moon was so big, and it called to me. While I was staring skyward, I didn't see Greyback approaching. He leapt at me, biting into my shoulder as I was tackled to the ground."
"When I heard you scream," Hope continued when her son's voice faltered, "I ran out to save you. Lyall was upstairs at the time, so I got to you first. Naturally, I'm no match for a werewolf, but I had to protect you. You're my son."
She pursed her lips, whitening them beneath her teeth in the process. "After I pulled him off of you, the werewolf clawed at my stomach, knocking me back. Lyall came then and blasted him off before Greyback managed anymore damage, but the baby-" she made a choked noise, shaking her head as tears slipped down her cheeks.
"Mother," Remus stepped towards Hope, setting a hand gently on her face. "Please don't say any more. That's enough."
She took a ragged breath, pulling her son in for a firm hug. "Remus, I don't regret what happened."
"But if I didn't-"
"No," she asserted, tightening her hold. "Don't you dare blame yourself. If I hadn't gone out there to save you, I would have lost you, and you are the most important thing to me, dear heart. Yes, I wish that Emily had survived, but I had already loved you for over five years. Losing you would have killed me, Remus." She pulled back just enough to look him in the eye. "Don't ever apologize for living."
His lips trembled as he struggled to accept her words. She was completely ignoring the fact that if he had listened to his parents and stayed inside that night, he would not only still be human, but have a little sister as well.
Firm hands shook his shoulders as wide brown eyes stared at him intently. "Remus! Stop blaming yourself!"
"I'm not!"
"Don't lie to me, young man," Hope warned. "I told you none of this is your fault. Do you understand me?"
Remus hesitated before nodding resolutely.
"Good," she said, wiping an errant tear from her cheek. "Now," she clapped her hands together before adjusting her apron. "Why don't you boys head upstairs and I'll make you some chocolate biscuits."
The four wizards nodded and murmured their agreement before the three non-Lupin's hastily, albeit awkwardly, headed upstairs to Remus' bedroom.
Remus leaned forward to place a soft kiss on his mother's cheek. "I love you mum."
Hope smiled kindly, pinching his chin affectionately. "I love you, too, my dear heart."
...oOo...
Word Count: 2605
Thanks for reading! I had honestly thought this story was going to be much longer than it was, but I feel like this is a good spot to end. Please let me know what you think! Reviews keep me wanting to share my writing with you all – especially since I really want to get better. Constructive criticism is always appreciated, as well as prompt ideas if you come up with any.