Midnight Dreary
All elements of the Harry Potter Universe belong to JK Rowling. I benefit in no way, except enjoyment.
Chapter 1
Remus was four years old when Fenrir Greyback attacked him and turned him into a werewolf. Lyall Lupin had been passing werewolf legislation through the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and Greyback, a werewolf who stayed partially transformed throughout the month so he could infect with every attack, wanted to put him in his place, namely below the "creatures" he sought to regulate. Lyall was horrified, of course, as any parent would be, but he took it one step further, and stopped any physical contact with his son, for fear of infection. Remus's mother Hope, had died in childbirth. Remus was, for all intents and purposes, alone in the world.
He spent his monthly transformations alone in the warded cellar of Lupin Cottage under a silencing spell so he wouldn't disturb his father's rest with his screams as his bones broke and mended, and his skin tore. He recovered alone as well although when he emerged from the cellar the next morning, he'd find a single pain potion left out by his father. The potion only did so much of course and Remus suspected that they'd be much more effective if administered by a loving hand. He spend the rest of the day that followed alone in his room, although by 10 years old he had long ago stopped crying over his father's abandonment.
The only real hope for both Remus and Lyall was Remus's 11th birthday and the arrival of his Hogwarts letter. When Remus bounded down the stairs that fateful morning, he was in the best mood he could remember. Lyall was sitting quietly in his regular seat at the kitchen table with the morning post in front of him.
"It's not here." He said, looking up at his son.
"What?" Said Remus. "How can it not be there? I've been having bursts of accidental magic since I was two."
"It would appear that your...condition" Lyall sneered at the boy as if he were somehow to blame for his lycanthropy. "was enough to keep you from being accepted."
Remus stared at his father as the man's words filtered into his brain. He hadn't been accepted. No Hogwarts. He'd been counting on going to school to get away from the man who could barely stand to look at him. He'd been hoping for peace, the hospital wing well stocked for his recovery, and maybe, if he was extremely lucky, a friend. Just like that it had all been stripped away from him.
Lyall was still speaking. "Luckily, I've been preparing for this possibility."
"You have?" Remus asked curiously. Maybe it would be ok after all.
"Yes," Lyall replied. "I have a gift for you."
"A gift?" Remus couldn't recall his father ever having given him a present.
Lyall slid a small blue box across the table to his son. Remus excitedly opened it, fingers fumbling.
"A time turner?" He asked his father.
"A very special time turner. It's time delayed as a matter of fact. The channels I've gone through to procure it weren't exactly legal." Lyall said.
But Remus couldn't hear him, he was already gone.