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The following is a fan-based
FICTION
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In Harry Potter the Order of the Phoenix, the traumatic experience caused by Sirius upon Snape by having him encounter Remus Lupin in his Werewolf form is a particular turning point for the whole plot. Snape is horrified by the lies sprout by his bullies and the blatant favoritism shown by Dumbledore and so then he joins the Death Eaters willingly.
But the potion prodigy was not the only one changed by that situation. Remus Lupin is shaken by how close he had been to actually turn or kill a fellow classmate. He then recovers by being cheered by the other Marauders and he start to be wary of his curse.
In this What If, an eavesdropped conversation will change completely the fate of many. The one mostly straying will be the same Remus Lupin.
'What if Remus Lupin reacted more harshly to the Shrieking Shack Accident?'
1975, Hogwarts, Scottish Highlands
It was early in one of the cold morning of Scotland that Remus Lupin had learnt something truly horrible.
It had started when he woke up in the school infirmary. The whole predicament was normal for him because of his 'furry problem'. After having lashed out to the empty shack and having fallen unconscious because of the transformation back to human, he would be then taken by the Headmaster back to school without suspicion.
He had been quite grateful to the grandfather-like Albus Dumbledore. He had been one of the kindest men, Remus had ever encountered in his short life. When he had been cursed by Fenrir Greyback, he was supposed to not attend Hogwarts because of the Ministry's laws related to the Werewolf Control Act.
Dumbledore had proposed to him a solution. Attending the school lying about his condition and use the empty house just outside Hogsmeade for the Full Moons. It had worked well for the first two years.
His secret was discovered when Sirius Black and James Potter had followed him in his normal Full Moon routine. He had been glad that they had been good friends then and had kept their word in not revealing him to the other classmates. When Peter Pettigrew, nicknamed Wormtail, joined their group he too learnt about this secret and he also kept from telling anything to anyone.
Things were going great. He had been chosen as a prefect by Professor McGonagall and had been doing his best in this new and important duty.
But...
But then he eavesdropped that discussion..
Few Hours Earlier...
Waking up at the usual soreness of the day after the Full Moon, Remus Lupin noticed that he was not alone in the Infirmary Ward of the school. An unconscious Severus Snape was occupying one of the many beds, away from him.
Generally speaking, none of the pranks the Marauders pulled on poor 'Snivellus' set the Slytherin on harm's way, so he started to think what might have got the grease-haired boy in Madam Pomfrey's ward.
Fuzzy memories of the day before started to return to his mind and the sensation he felt in that session of Full Moon were far more different from the other ones. He could remember Sirius and James but also...
He paled considerably at the image. He was chasing the Slytherin in the Forbidden Forest and he had more than once ready to claw on Snape's skin. One of the many things he had promised himself to never let happen, and possibly the most important of them all, was to never let his werewolf form curse anyone else.
Remus analysed the unconscious form of his 'victim' and thankfully noted how he had no damage on his school robes.
Sounds of someone walking in the halls before the ward, made him wary of who could have been and, before the individual could enter the room, he closed his eyes and laid on the bed as if unconscious.
Albus Dumbledore was the first to enter the ward, followed by the Medi-Witch Madam Pomfrey. He gave a short glance to the still form of the child cursed with Lycantrophy and then focused onto the unconscious Slytherin boy in the other bed that had been occupied.
He gave a glance at the Healer close to him and she nodded at his silent request.
He pointed the Elder Wand onto Severus Snape and muttered a quick 'Renervate'.
The effect was instantaneous and the boy woke up. "Headmaster?!" He was slurring, still feeling the sleepyness not having left his body.
"Hello, young Severus." Dumbledore started with a blank tone, his always twinkling eyes now giving a disappointed look. "We have to talk about many things."
The following discussion shocked Remus in his whole. While the Headmaster had retold what had happened the earlier day by portraiting Snivellus as a curious, danger-seeking idiot, the boy replying by telling his own description, faulting Sirius for having sent him in that predicament.
Differently from many times, the version of the story told by Snivellus seemed to hold more truth than the one descrived by the old wizard. His memories of that night, while missing some details, were matching with what Severus was telling and he started to believe once more to an old suspicion of his.
Back in third year, when the number of pranks had started to growth, Remus had been skeptical in how the Headmaster had always believed how James and Sirius giustified the pranks.
While it was expected that the Headmaster to show once in a while a soft spot to Gryffindor's students, it was blatantly showing negligence when he never had them assigned to any detention. Those came mostly from McGonagall herself, being a responsible Head of the House.
What truly horrified Remus in that moment was how the Headmaster seemed to not hearing the pleas of the Slytherin. It was just... unfair.
Two hours later...
Albus Dumbledore and Snivellus had left the ward an hour later and Remus had been left in his own thoughts about what he had heard.
The headmaster had been quite clear that Snivellus now had to bend the knee because of the 'Life Debt' with James Potter. It was so much wrong in many levels how the old wizard had been completely adamant in this being the only truth.
But things then turned to a more sour tone when Sirius entered the almost empty room.
Seeing Remus, the young Black scion walked to the bed occupied by his friend.
"Remy. You wouldn't believe in the last prank I was able to pull. It's probably one of the greatest of them all!" His cheerful tone just placed a weight on Remus' stomach. A wrong sensation that he wished to not feeling.
"You see. I had Snivellus grovel in the Forbidden Forest and had him scared goo-" He was interrupted when an hand hit his face. His shocked look intensified when he noticed the angry-looking Remus.
"How Dare YOU!" Every word was accentuated by a crescendo of emotions, Remus' scarlet eyes were vibrating with strong emotions.
"Not only you had my secret almost revealed to Hogwarts. BUT YOU HAD TO PUT SOMEONE IN DANGER, DIDN'T YOU?!" Sirius backed away few steps, unsure how to answer the unwavering temper of his always calm friend.
He laughed nervously. "H-he was never in danger, Remy. J-James was there i-if there had been any dangerous situation."
Oh no. That was not an excuse. AT ALL.
"James is just a fifth-year student that has an Animagus form, Black. Do you thing that without silver or fire he could have stopped me?"
Hesitating, the young scion shooked his head negatively. While James had shown to be a genius in Transfiguration in helping the group to learn the Animagus form, he wasn't as much prepared in fighting.
"Out.." "W-wha-" "GET! OUT!" The order was clear and the dark-haired boy left the ward, scared and confused. Once his once best friend was out of sight, Remus felt something wet falling from his face.
Tears. It had been a while ever since he had cried and for this moment it felt just right to cry.
He felt exhausted, tired, but he didn't felt he had done enough justice for the horrible situation.
He noticed that the bag he had bought earlier this year was on the bed's end and, taking a piece of parchment, Remus Lupin wrote to home.
His parents were going to hear about these and surely will approve this important decision.
End Mega-Flashback...
The reply from home arrived an hour later and his suspicion had been true. His parents had been devastated how he had felt to the whole predicament and had supported his choice.
Now, standing outside the Headmaster's office, he gulped slighly at what was going to happen. He had not talked with Sirius, nor to any other members of the Marauders. He didn't felt brave enough to actually talk to them. He bit down a chuckle.
A Gryffindor being unable to talk with fellow members of the house. Maybe his choice was truly the best for his life. He had been thinking seriously about his future after school and he was shocked in how the British Wizarding World was racist.
No matter how many OWLs and NEWTs he got, he would never be able to find a job affiliated with the Ministry because of the same laws that had almost blocked his path to education.
His parents had proposed him different solutions and he was still unsure which to pick.
The Gargoyle guarding the office had removed from his position, clearing his path, and Remus had moved to the door before the possibly 'greatest change in his short life'.
Knocking softly, he entered when he was permitted by the old wizard.
Albus Dumbledore was tired. He had come from an important session of the Wizengamot and he had been trying to pressure Minister Bagnold to take a more active role against the Knight of Walpurgis.
When the young Lupin entered the room, he softened his looks and gestured for him to sit in one of the two empty seats.
"Good Afternoon, Mr. Lupin."
The boy replied with a soft, almost whispered, 'Good Afternoon' of his. The boy held some document in his hands and Albus frowned at the unusual situation.
While the young werewolf had been having several visits in his office during his first year, those had started to diminish to having none in the last year.
"How may I help you, Mr. Lupin?" The boy hesitated before slowly presenting the document he was holding in his hands.
Albus took it and started to read it. The more he read, the more the old headmaster felt his eyes widen. After finishing reading the parchment, he gave the boy an incredolous look.
"Mr. Lupin, I'm sure that there has to be-" The words died when he saw the boy- no, young man shooking his head negatively, his eyes determined.
"No, Headmaster Dumbledore. I think it's clear." He took a breath of air before delivering the devastating news. "I wish to leave Hogwarts."
AN
CLIFFHANGER, YOU BEAUTIFUL BEINGS!
This is the first chapter of an idea I had been thinking for a while.
Sure, this is not the first time I had tried the whole 'What if' genre, but I feel that this one might have a chance to be better than the last and only one.
Important detail: This fanfic is going to be 'pairless' and by that I mean that the pairing will be mostly canon. I don't think Remus will wander long enough in Britain to actually 'fall in love' with Tonks and with the last encounter with Sirius, I don't think he will give more than a glance to any member of the 'Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black'.
For those that come from my RWBY fanfic, I'm sorry if this isn't going to be a 5k Oneshot but I have noticed how easy for me is to missing several details that would help the readers to understand better in my drafts. Trying to get ASAP to the 5k is not an easy task for me, mostly because I focus on doing a single draft in a single writing session.
I hope you all enjoy this and I wait with great trepidation any reviews. I remind everyone that I accept positive/constructive advises, I will not tollerate those who use Foul Language nor those who use hateful speech.
Thank you for your contribution and good reading for everyone. ;3