Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling is the queen.

It was a stormy night in August when a drunk man appeared outside the graveyard of the church at Godric's Hollow. He fumbled at the kissing gate, stumbling towards a marble tombstone, the final resting ground of his family. The rain beat down his back like a hundred cold needles. He fell a few feet away from his destination. Losing all will to walk he crawled towards the headstone. The rain had washed away all dirt from the headstone. It shone brightly, the names on the headstone much clearer than the last time he visited them.

James Potter, born 27 March 1960, died 31 October 1981

Lily Potter, born 30 January 1960, died 31 October 1981

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

He believed that he will find some peace, some solace here but the words kept reverberating in his head. Harry had called him a coward. The baby that used to calm down as soon as he lifted him in his arms after he had woken up from a nightmare had called him a coward. He screamed at the night, unleashing his agony bottled in him for years. He wept bitterly; life had never been fair to him. In another life, he would have been free of his curse; he would have been Remus Lupin, a professor at Hogwarts. In another life James, Lily and Sirius would be alive. Harry would know him as Uncle Remus, who would drop by on Sundays for the weekly Sunday Brunch. In another life he would be sitting in Lily and James drawing room, telling them about his wife's pregnancy. In another life his child won't have his curse; his child won't hate him, won't be ashamed of him. In another life, his child would have a happy childhood but he was living this life; where he was Remus Lupin the werewolf; a man in his late thirties, husband of Nymphadora Tonks who was pregnant with his child. And he had nothing to offer to this child. He screamed at the night again, sobbing like the broken man he felt he was.

How long he laid there crying he didn't know, but when his sobs subsided and he regained some of his usual calm, he sat up. Closing his eyes; he was there again, at their cottage, with Lily holding him as he cried and James offering him a cup of strong coffee while Sirius sat on the floor playing with Harry to keep him distracted but he could feel their disapproval rolling off them. For once he was happy that they loved him enough to not reject him outright.

"I am sorry, Remus but I don't see your point or reason" Lily would burst out as James would pace and Sirius would whisk out Harry to put him to bed. "You don't even know if the child will inherit your problem and even if he does the fact that you are running out on him is much more shameful than having a werewolf for a father."

"You don't understand-" he protested weakly to be slapped by the wind and the rain.

"Understand what Moony?" James asked his eyes ablaze with fire, "Harry was born with a fucking prophecy hanging on his head. Now we know for sure that Voldemort's after him. What should we have done when we found out? Let him die in Lily's womb because the life we would bring him to is a terrible one with a lunatic hunting us down? Think about what you are saying Moony."

"It's not the same-"

"Not the same? Not the same? Damn right it's not the same. You don't know if your child will be werewolf or not. We know Harry is being hunted. Don't even think for a minute that we don't fear that he will hate us for bringing him in a world where he has a prize on his head. It doesn't mean that we would abandon him with the excuse of keeping him safe. Keeping him safe from what? There is a war going on, no one is safe, you don't even know if you will live tomorrow, how can you abandon your child in such an environment? Really Moony, I have been proud of you all my life, I don't feel so proud right now."

"Listen Remus" Lily would cut in to save him from James' rare to concur wrath "It's perfectly fine to be scared of the future. All of us are, but leaving Dora in such a state is not just cowardice but completely unfair to her. I know you are ready to die for Harry; why can't you love your child enough to want to be there for him? If the worst happens and the child is a werewolf then you bring him/her up in a way that they are able to accept the affliction and be able to lead a normal life. And we would always be there for him/her, so would Harry. He would look out for the child regardless, you know that. You know your child will be loved, Harry would see to that."

"I agree with Lily Moony" Sirius would say walking in nodding slightly to James who would leave the room to go to Harry's nursery. "We know nothing; it's not fair on Tonks to be abandoned in such a way. With the way you are treating her, I doubt if you ever loved her."

"Of course I love her" he screamed enraged at the insinuation, how dare anyone doubt his love for Dora. Can't they see that he loved her so much that he was ready to break his heart to pieces and walk away from her to save her the pain of looking at him and being reminded of the curse he placed on their child.

"Then show it. Abandoning her while she is pregnant with your child doesn't really say love if you ask me. If the child turns out to be a werewolf, how will she handle it? How will she raise your child alone?"

"But what if she hates me for cursing her child?" He sobbed to the wind.

"Remus, she won't hate you for being there for your child" Lily would say gently "But she might hate you for abandoning her. And your child would love you, no matter what you are. Give him/her a chance to know you at least. Go back to Dora, Remus."

He nodded, before letting a sob out again. "I hit Harry; I hit Harry for saying the things I didn't want to hear. Will he ever forgive me?"

"Harry shouldn't have said what he said." Lily would say frowning, "And you shouldn't have hurt him. But what's done is done. Harry has already forgiven you; you understand why he reacted badly. It will be fine."

Remus nodded. The rain had given way to a mild drizzle, he leant his forehead against the head stone and sat like this till dawn. At dawn a cold and drenched Remus, stood up and walked away, vanishing outside the kissing gate. The storm had blown away, and a soft breeze blew over the headstone. If you listened hard, you could hear a man and a woman, calming another man down, telling him that their friend is going to be fine.

AN: So this is not the end of this fic. It would again be a three chapter fic. Please read and review. Happy Reading.