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Title: Quite Past Time

Chapter 1: Cause

Author: EC-Chan

Disclaimer: Don't own it- not my characters,

anything else you need to know?

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Remus Lupin stared at his reflection for a long moment. It had been weeks since he had last stopped to take a look at himself in a mirror and longer since he had studied himself so intently. He most obviously wasn't a vain man, but that didn't stop himself from standing there, noting his red rimmed and heavily lidded gray eyes, messy hair which he didn't remember when he last decided to pull a comb through, and overall haggard appearance.

                    "Remus, I hate to say it but you look like a bloody mess," He said to himself in an emotionless voice, staring at his moving lips in detachment. Sighing heavily, he pulled himself away from the mirror, and regretted doing so half-way through the action but had no strength to stop mid act.

                    He could almost hear his mother's voice shooting through the shadows of his overrun heart, idiotically whispering into his ears while he recovered from each transformation, 'Everything will be alright Remus love, everything; just you wait and see. Everything will turn out all right. Life goes on love; it won't always be this bad.' Liar, he accused her bitterly, but to all honestly there was some truth to her words.

                    It had gotten better after all. After Dumbledore entered his life with that letter and he chuckled to himself ruefully as he fell against the door, enjoying scrapping against it until he teetered too much forward and was forced to stumble into the hallway. "Everything will be alright," He said, imitating his memory and laughing bitterly.

                    "Doubtless."

                    He almost missed the equally sarcastic reply, but thanks to his overly sensitive ears thanks to the Wolf he hadn't. The appearance of another human being quickly sobered the Werewolf and he hastily straightened, his pain quickly retreating to the depths of his eyes once again.

                    "I daresay, has the Professor been drinking?" Again the sarcasm and Remus noted blankly that the owner of the voice did indeed belong to the one and only Severus Snape, his one-time enemy. He smiled softly at this, bitterness now safely tucked away under his usual smile.

                    "Not at all Severus," he assured his one-time colleague. "Not at all. Is there a reason why you're invading my privacy?"

                    He thought he had asked politely enough, but the other man bristled. "Albus requested me to see why you were delayed for the meeting. You did remember the meeting of course?"

                    Remus frowned. "What time is it?"

                    "Half past two," came the immediate reply.

                    "Oh," was all he could say, though he was wondering where the last two hours had gone. Had he really been swimming in his self-pity for so long? "I suppose we should go then."

                    Snape eyed him for a moment in doubt, and then nodded. "Quite past time."

~

"Operation Timebomb," Hestia Jones finished, her chirp voice striking with a finality that left the other Order members staring at her in varying degrees of shock. She had just finished dictating to them a theory that seemed so implausible that they were all trying to decide how to let her down gently that Voldemort definitely was not stupid enough to think that he could alter space and time. That and he had no need to. "What?" She stared at them crossly.

                    "Thank you Hestia," Dumbledore said solemnly. "Does anyone else have any information that they feel they should bring to light?"

It was common standard in the order to hear out all of the facts on a whole before discussing them. It kept everything in perspective more often then not, and at this time was something all felt equal relief over considering no one had any idea of how to refute Hestia's statement without setting the young woman off. No one dared to speak and after a moment Dumbledore nodded significantly at the middle of the table.

"There is one matter that I would like to discuss; Harry Potter," Dumbledore said as calmly as if he were throwing a bone into a fire. There was once again silence, but this time it was filled with unease. No one had yet dared bring the boy into this; he was after all still a child and it seemed unbearably cruel to place any hope at all in what the boy's future might bring. But the fact of the matter was that Voldemort was, if confined to one word, unmerciful. "And if no one has anything more to add, I'd like to start out the discussion."

                    It had been a long summer. Voldemort, having been unveiled to the Wizarding World, had been ruthlessly brutal. The Muggle torturing had begun once again in zeal, forcing aurors and the rest of the Ministry to work around the clock. Still the Dark Lord had the advantage, though for once they had some luck: it turned out he wanted more then just power this time around. Not that ensuring that he could never be overthrown again and his immortality were all that different from his previous goals.

                    "All of you know of the events last June," Dumbledore began, hearing no protests. "And how Harry Potter played a role in them."

                    There was a general consensus of murmurs.

                    "Forgive me Albus," it was Remus Lupin who spoke. "But I-."

                    "I know Remus," Albus said, his eyes and voice suddenly weary. "Believe me I know, but there is no choice. He's still a boy, but time cannot be bought." There was a finality in his voice that struck at the heart of the group. "It is time to retrieve him from his Aunt and Uncle's care. Past time I believe."

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Remus Lupin would have stalked out of the meeting room like a child having a temper tantrum had he not spent the duration of his life in forced control of his emotions. Instead he settled on walking out of the room rather quickly, without a single glance at Dumbledore or any of the other members of the Order. He was just about to turn and head upstairs to the room he had been staying in for the last few months, but the sound of his name stopped him in his tracks.

                    "Remus?" It was Tonks, her flaming green hair set in vicarious spikes and her dark eyes fixated on him. He forced himself to smile softly at her, although there was a slight pain in his heart as he noticed her "Black features." She looked so much like him…. "What's wrong?"

                    'Moony?' a voice from his memories echoed the younger Black. A voice that Remus had last heard in what seemed like ages ago, but in fact it had only been one year since it was he and not Tonks whom followed him out from an Order Meeting just like this one equally concerned if not more so. 'What's wrong?' He had asked that also and upon receiving no answer had frowned and said in a very unlike Sirius voice; 'Why don't you want to bring him here Moony? I know what those people do to him- hell- you know what they do to him!'

                    "No, of course I want him here," Remus refuted his memories softly just as he once had and seeing Tonks' confused face, shook his head. "Of course I want Harry here," He clarified, but remembered when he had echoed that same line with less surety.

                    'If you had seen him Moony; if you had just seen him when I offered to take him in!' The dark haired man had said pleadingly, his dark eyes boring into Remus' own. 'I didn't think he'd want to leave them. He grew up with them after all….but his eyes. They lit up so much. Remus- this shouldn't have happened. It shouldn't have ended this way. How could things go so horribly wrong?'

                    Remus took in a shaky breath, and suddenly saw Tonks staring at him with more then mild concern. "Remus?" She asked again. "Are you okay?"

                    "I'm fine," Remus assured her, but looked away, his eyes hovering on the empty spot where Sirius had once stood, so full of life….so adamant in his beliefs. "I-," He paused and then smiled gently. "I just need to talk to Dumbledore for a moment that's all."

                    "Remus- I didn't know Siri-," But Remus shook his head.

                    "You don't need to say anything," Remus said with a smile, and walked past her, retracing his steps back to the meeting room. He knew she was still staring at his back, more confused then ever, but he had no energy to explain.

                    Dumbledore was talking to Moody when he stepped back into the room. They both looked up when he arrived and Moody immediately grew silent, a thoughtful expression gracing his face. Dumbledore had turned to him and smiled warmly, however.

                    "Ah, Remus," He said. "Is there something that you would like to discuss?"

                    "Harry," Remus said quietly, summing everything up in one word.

                    "Of course," Dumbledore said easily, only the normal twinkling laughter absent from his eyes giving away their growing despair. "I understand Remus, that you would-."

                    "No," Remus cut Dumbledore off; already knowing the conclusion the Headmaster had jumped to. Remus had always been adamant in his beliefs when Sirius and he were discussing the boy in the past whether they were in an Order meeting or not. Remus did not like the idea of taking Harry out of the Dursley Household, though the Ancient House of Black had been as safe as it possibly could the year before. It was this and various other small disagreements that had kept the well being of Harry in perspective in Sirius' eyes when he was alive, but now….things had changed to say the least. What he believed in the best interest of Harry one of them.

"As you most likely know Albus, James and Lilly had very specific guidelines set in their will in Harry's concern. Sirius would be the foremost legal guardian, Peter the second, and I the third." Every word was costing Remus a great deal, but some things simply had to be spoken to be taken into affect no matter how unbearable. It was time to take matters into his own hands. "James would have trusted any of us with his life, you and Sirius above all. He trusted the Marauders with his son."

Dumbledore was eyeing him almost wearily now, realizing Remus' intention before it rolled off of Remus' own lips. Moody, still standing beside Dumbledore, was completely taken aback by not only the coldness in Remus' voice but also exactly what he was saying and moreover implying.

"The night you took Harry to the Dursleys, there was a full Moon," Remus said, his voice darkening. "Sirius had taken off, Peter no where to be found, Godric's Hollow complete rubble, and everyone thought I was the spy. It was only logical for you to take the decision of Harry's future into your own hands. I admit I could have reversed it after everything had been 'sorted out,' but I was a Werewolf and James had thought I was a traitor. I trusted your judgment. I still do. Sirius and I had a talk before….the incident. We came to a decision, and I still feel it my duty to carry it out. You have no claim over Harry's future Albus; your focus is on how his life will affect the Wizarding World. As it should be. Neither of us have ever considered that you don't care for Harry," Remus waved away the automatic protest, although Dumbledore's lips hadn't even began to twitch a rebuttal. "We just think that it'd be best to consider what James and Lilly would have wanted. In that end, I'm taking him away. Harry Potter won't be going to Hogwarts this year."

There was silence. Dumbledore seemed not to know what to say and Moody looked utterly flabbergasted. "You can't be serious," He said, staring at Remus as if he had grown a second head. "Not with Voldemort on the offensive!"

"I agree with you Remus," Dumbldore said softly, his voice shaking slightly. Now Moody turned to stare at him incredulously. "James and Lilly are more then likely severely disappointed with the decisions I have made concerning Harry, but I've never once presumed-."

"It remains," Remus said, this costing him more then anything else. "That the decision of what would happen to Harry should never have been given to you. As I said before your focus should be on matters that concern the whole; they shouldn't be tainted. I'm simply sorry that I didn't do this before now. It remains, however, that Harry and I will be leaving this house and most likely Britain with or without your consent."

Dumbledore was silent, his ancient eyes ablaze with weariness. He sighed and leaned back, defeated. "What do you need?"

"I have everything," Remus said quietly. "Or more accurately I can get anything we need. Sirius left everything in Harry's custody and gave me his key. That alone should be more then sufficient."

"What do you plan to do Remus?" Moody growled. "You can't hide from Voldemort; no one ever could."

"I assure you I have my ways," Remus said, his eyes flickering briefly in defiance. "Albus; I'd never presume to know anything you know or even simply understand, but you of all people know how much I owe you. I'm sorry to do this, but I don't see any other way."

"No, you're right," Dumbledore said. "I never considered myself quite as objective as you seem to think in Harry's case, however. Your words make sense Remus and I admire your courage to try and explain. I do, however, have one request."

"You can't mean you're letting him….?!" But Moody couldn't seem to think of anything to say he was so flabbergasted.

"What is you request?" Remus prompted the Headmaster, ignoring Moody for the moment.

"Simply keep me posted," Dumbledore said, a little of his old sparkle returning to his eyes. "And keep Harry safe, of course."

Remus was immensely relieved. For a split second he had thought that the Headmaster would ask him to bring someone else along to act as the impartial party, merely conveying everything he and Harry did and said to the Headmaster. It was something that he had been expecting, but dreaded for two simple reasons. The first was because it would make things a million times more difficult in hiding from Voldemort where they were and the second being whomever represented the third party could easily betray them just as Peter had. Remus wasn't about to repeat that little mistake and it looked like Dumbledore wasn't either. Or he simply knew Remus was unwilling to, despite what loyalties he thought (or rather knew) he owed.

'I'm worried about him Moony,' Sirius' dark eyes caught Remus' own gray, pleading with him to both hear him out and understand. 'I trust Dumbledore with my life and I'll go by any decision he makes except in Harry's case.'

'What do you mean?' He had asked, completely bewildered.

'Think about it Remus; if James and Lilly were alive….' His face was even paler then usual and drawn. Remus knew how much these words cost him. 'What would they want for Harry? Would they really allow him to face Voldemort not once but three times? He's still only a child- bloody hell he was eleven when he first saw the man! And before that….it's just all wrong!'

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So…what do you think ^^? There's only going to be two more chapters, and I already have them done. If no one seems interested I'm going to simply take this down. I started writing this to do a weird little flashback thing with Remus and Sirius, but it ended up with a lot more Harry then I intended. But….oh well.

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