I do not own Harry Potter, this was purely an idea that came to me as a random spark.
Warning(s): Mentions of abuse, prejudice, character deaths
It was just after the Sorting Ceremony in his first year that Remus Lupin became acquainted with James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew. They had been grouped in together along with a boy named Frank Longbottom at the Gryffindor table, and being the new students they were, they got to talking with one another. The introductions were simple enough, with a, "Hi, my name's James / Sirius / Peter / Remus, what's your name?" followed by a short discussion on their bloodlines and heritages. James and Sirius were purebloods, Remus and Peter were halfbloods. Truth be told, Remus was surprised that James and Sirius still continued to talk with him and Peter after they found out they weren't purebloods too. His father had always told him that pureblooded wizards wanted nothing to do with anyone other than other pureblooded wizards. Remus Lupin was in his first year of school when he decided his father wasn't always right.
It was just before Christmas Break in his second year that Remus Lupin's friends discovered that he was, in fact, a werewolf. They had been sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room chatting when they confronted him about it. "You're a werewolf, aren't you?" Sirius had questioned. Frozen with fear and knowing he was absolutely cornered, Remus was able to do nothing but nod. Words had refused to come, but tears hadn't.
He remembered James had put a kind arm around him. "What are you so upset for?" he had asked. "You're still Remus." That was what Remus had always found strange about James. He could be downright cruel to the people he disliked, but when it came to his friends, he was always there. And when one of his friends was upset, come hell or high water, James was going to make them happy again. Remus Lupin was in his second year of school when he decided that he had the best friends in the entire world, and that he couldn't imagine life without any of them.
It was just after Christmas Break in his third year that Remus Lupin discovered just how horrible of a life his best friend Sirius Black had. He, James, Sirius, and Peter had been in the compartment of the Hogwarts Express that they always sat in when Remus had noticed something seemed off about Sirius. Being the quiet one he was though, he never brought it up. He saw the evidence plain as day, bruising, cuts and gashes in places he wouldn't have been able to reach himself, things of that nature, and he hadn't said anything. No one else had either, though Remus remembered seeing something akin to hatred flash in James's eyes. Or at least, he assumed it was hatred. It was the same look that James seemed to get whenever he saw Severus Snape around Lily Evans. James didn't say anything, though. He simply gave Sirius a 'we're going to discuss this later' look before going into a discussion on how he couldn't wait for the Quidditch match against Ravenclaw when they returned. Remus Lupin wouldn't decide until years later that he should've said something that day.
It was in the middle of the night on the 13th of November in his fourth year that Remus Lupin was found by McGonagall and told that his mother had passed away. He didn't remember much of what happened after that, but his friends had said he was a right foul mess. He knew it would happen soon, and he felt as though he should have been relieved, after all his mother had been sick for a long time. But all he could think was that he had lost one of the very few people who were supportive of his situation, and that he would be left at home with someone who had more prejudice against werewolves than most Ministry workers who dealt with the bad ones on a regular basis. He had gone home that very evening, where he was greeted with choruses of "I'm so sorry for your loss"es and "She's in a better place"es. Remus Lupin decided on November 20, 1974 that he never wanted to attend another funeral for as long as he lived.
It was in the spring of his fifth year that Remus Lupin was not alone during a transformation during the full moon. Rather, Moony, as his wolf had been so kindly named by his friends, was joined by friends Prongs the Stag, Padfoot the Dog, and Wormtail the Rat. Moony had been cautious of them at first, even slightly aggressive, but soon decided they were friends of his, and caused them little trouble. Remus knew that they had become Animagi illegally, and he wanted to yell at his friends for it, but he had to admit that they did make his transformations easier, exponentially easier. Remus Lupin decided that same spring that maybe laws and rules and regulations could be bent. Remus Lupin also decided that same spring that he would help his friends create an enchanted map of the school.
It was in the fall of his sixth year of schooling that Remus Lupin decided he wanted absolutely nothing more to do with the monstrosity that was Sirius Black. Sirius had told Severus he ought to look into the passageway in the Whomping Willow during a full moon. It was during that next full moon that Moony may have very well slaughtered Severus Snape if James hadn't pulled him out of the passageway before Moony could get to him. The next day, Sirius had apologized profusely, but Remus refused to listen to him. He had been betrayed in the worst way possible. He was about to risk losing everything he had worked so hard and so long for, all because his stupid ex-friend had wanted to play a cruel joke on the poor kid that couldn't catch a break from their endless tormenting. Yet Remus Lupin decided in the fall of his sixth year at Hogwarts that he couldn't stay angry with Sirius Black for too long a period of time.
It was the final day of his seventh year that Remus Lupin was approached by Albus Dumbledore to join the Order of the Phoenix. It was that same day that his friends were approached as well. He knew it would be dangerous and potentially life-threatening, but he wanted to help. It wasn't as though he would have been able to do anything else anyway, unless he were to join up with Greyback and his pack. The Ministry had tightened their laws against his kind. He would be lucky to get a job anywhere in the wizarding world, and he had exactly zero credentials for work in the Muggle world, plus any boss in the Muggle world would get fed up with his perpetual monthly absences. Remus Lupin decided the day after he graduated from Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry that he would do anything possible to help the good guys win.
It was during the summer of 1978 that Remus Lupin acted as a groomsman at the wedding of James Potter and Lily Evans along with Peter Pettigrew. Sirius Black, naturally, served as James's Best Man. Remus couldn't have imagined it any other way. And though he wasn't necessarily sure that his friends were making a wise decision marrying so young, he understood it was needed, given the fact that with the war going on, there might not have been another chance. It was during the wedding that Remus was first acquainted with then five-year-old Nymphadora Tonks, the flower girl at the wedding. Remus had been a good friend of Nymphadora's mother Andromeda, who had married another friend of Remus's Ted Tonks, and thought that Nymphadora was absolutely adorable in her little white dress and that one day she should date Molly Weasley's then five-year-old son Charlie . Remus Lupin decided the day that James and Lily Potter were wed that no one would ever want to marry a werewolf.
It was just after James's son Harry was born that Remus was asked to be the executor of his and Lily's will in the awful event that one or both of them were killed in the war. Sirius would be too busy with Harry and Peter would be off being, well, Peter, James had said. He trusted Remus with his life, he had said. Remus had agreed of course. He had never in a million years figured that he would have actually had to fulfill the duties and obligations the position would entail. After all, he was the werewolf. He was the one more likely to die young, not them. Remus Lupin decided several months later that he should have declined the offer when his best friends accused him of being a spy for Lord Voldemort.
It was just after Halloween of 1981 that Remus Lupin was given the terrible news that James and Lily Potter had been murdered in their home as well as the news that Peter Pettigrew along with several Muggles had been murdered by none other than Sirius Black. At first Remus hadn't believed the person that had told him the news. He wanted to believe it was all some sick joke that his friends were playing on them. It wasn't until Sirius was being shipped off to Azkaban that he began to feel the hatred rise up inside of himself, hatred so intense that it terrified him. In a matter of days, he had lost everything dear to him, and it hurt more than he would ever care to admit. Remus Lupin decided on November 13, 1981 that one memorial service and three funerals were more than enough to attend in one lifetime.
It wouldn't be until the 1993 that Remus Lupin would be happy again. He had everything he could have ever dreamed possible: a teaching job, friends, and people to look after. It was also the year that Sirius Black had broken out of prison, the same year Remus saw the name of someone he believed to be very much dead appear on the Marauder's Map that he had recently taken back into his position, the same year Sirius found him and explained the situation, and the same year that they had almost avenged the deaths of James and Lily Potter. Remus Lupin decided in 1994 that he had really missed having a real friend around and that he was thrilled beyond belief to have him back.
It was in the spring of 1996 that Remus Lupin had had to attend yet another funeral. It hadn't been like the others, though. This one had been small and quaint, a funeral perfect for a man who was wanted by the entire wizarding as well as Muggle population. It had been too small and quaint for Remus's best friend. Remus knew Sirius wouldn't have wanted the tears and the sappy stories and the small gathering of people. He would have wanted a party, a celebration, something to keep everyone happy and smiling, remembering the good and staying away from the sadness, the sorrow. Remus Lupin decided in the spring of 1996 though that funerals weren't for the dead, they were for the living. Remus Lupin also decided in the spring of 1996 that four funerals were really far too many for one person to attend in a lifetime.
It was during the late spring of 1997 that Remus Lupin married Nymphadora Tonks. It had been a small affair, after all it was the only way it could have happened with yet another war going on around them. Remus and Tonks had found two witnesses from the local tavern, gone to the courthouse, and all was set and done. There was no ceremony, no speeches, no dresses, no bridesmaids, no groomsmen, not that Remus would have wanted the latter anyway. Anyone he would have picked was dead or sided with Voldemort. Looking back though, Remus wished that they would have had something more like Bill and Fleur's wedding, though at the time, it just wouldn't have been possible. Remus Lupin decided a few months later that the prospect that he would soon be a father absolutely terrified him.
It was on May 2, 1998 that Remus Lupin was killed in the Battle of Hogwarts by Antonin Dolohov. His wife had outlived him by a matter of five minutes. Fred Weasley had outlived him by ten. Though it was on that same date that Remus was reacquainted with James and Lily Potter as well as Sirius Black. Remus Lupin decided on May 2, 1998 that death was really nothing more than a new beginning.