Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, do you think I'd make this fanfic about killing Remus?
A/N: My take on our favourite werewolf's death in Deathly Hallows, should Harry be there instead of Tonks. This is partly because his death was not explained in detail, which made me RAGE at the book for a moment.
Yes, Remus still dies (sob), and yes, this was extremely hard for me to write because he's one of my favourite characters. I now know how JKR feels, killing off someone close to you in a story. (weep)
I'm sorry for no Tonksness!
Warnings:
AU – Harry here, not Tonks. Plus, this might have not been how Moony died. Plus, in here I made the AK curse have a slower effect on werewolves.
Slight fluff at the end, if you consider it fluff.
Character Death – WHY REMUS WHY
Angst – Harry's teenage angst is showing.
Spells were flying everywhere. Multitudes of coloured beams shot out from wands while screams of terror and agony filled the air. The Astronomy Tower, known to many as a quiet place of peace and solitude, was now a nightmare of deaths and murders. The walls were crumbling and stained crimson; the ceiling was almost falling apart, distant bursts of moonlight shining through its cracks and holes. The floor was littered with dead bodies, broken wands and rubble. Pools of blood collected around the corpses, the metallic smell wafting about the atmosphere.
"Crucio!"
"Impendimenta!"
"Protego!"
"Expelliarmus!"
Harry Potter was battling three unknown Death Eaters at once. He was quite heavily wounded- fresh scars were everywhere on his body, blood was oozing out from the wounds on his arms and there was a nasty gash on his left leg. His breaths were ragged and his face was covered with dirt and grime.
"Stupefy!" Dolohov cried, immediately sending the beam of light towards Harry. As the Stunning Spell was sent hurling his way, he cast a Shield Charm and watched the red beam collide with his newly-erected shield. He wiped the sweat from his brow and regained his breath before aiming his wand at his opponents, blasting a powerful Cutting hex after a mental count of three. He watched with grim satisfaction as it hit one squarely in the chest, sending the person tumbling backwards and screaming in agony as the spell worked its way through.
It was, at last, the Final Battle, the one that will determine the fate of this war. There was once a time he hoped this day would not come; yet now here he was, battling Death Eaters at the Astronomy Tower alongside a few Hogwarts students, professors and a handful of Order members. Many had fallen, and so many had been injured..
"Reducto!" Someone had shouted, the wand pointed Harry's way. Harry was momentarily stunned by the spell, watching dazedly as it made its way towards him. Shaking his head, he cursed himself for getting distracted for a while and hastily avoided the red beam of light coming his way. He dodged a couple more spells before sending a body-bind curse at a random enemy and dived to hide behind some rubble.
He hissed as one of the sharp rocks accidentally scratched against the open wound on his left leg, tearing into the flesh and forcing blood to gush out again. He cast a few Healing Charms he knew of at the said injury, before hexing the nearest Death Eater with a Stinging Hex. He watched as the white beam of light hit his target directly on the face. The wizard's face slowly began swelling up, his hands fumbling around clumsily, trying to stop it from bloating any longer.
"Harry, to your right!" screamed a comrade, though Harry never knew who exactly.
Years ago, Harry would never have had that strange feeling of satisfaction and victory in his heart every time he had injured someone. Now, a small part of his mind was cheering him for hitting his target accurately with a hex, and Harry did not like it one bit. This was what war had done to everyone- make a certain part of themselves grow dark, selfishly immersing themselves in a spur of the moment victory over a jinx. He cursed under his breath once again for ever thinking such malicious thoughts about hurting another.
Yet it cannot be helped. This was war, the one thing that can change people around, efface thousands of souls and torment a few hundred- all at the same time. Loved ones are lost, enemies become allies, and the ones you trust the most are the ones that betray you in the end. He would not, could not, have history repeat again.
"You sold Lily and James to Voldemort!"
Peter Pettigrew. The betrayal of one man led to many deaths, broken souls and prison sentences, just because of trust. Trust and betrayal. Two words that can fit so many emotions in between each other. Pain, regret, desolation, anger- these were just a mere few of what you can obtain just by giving trust to the wrong person.
Clearing his mind of anymore distracting thoughts, Harry refocused his vision onto the battle unfolding in front of him. He sent a barrage of spells to a group of Death Eaters and narrowly missed a Cruciatus curse headed his way.
"Aaaargh!" a Death Eater screamed, clutching his abdomen desperately in pain. Harry dodged the spell coming after him, sent by the same Death Eater.
Taking refuge behind a cluster of huge rocks, he surveyed the battlefield before him. Hannah Abbott was fighting off a Death Eater while Wayne Hopkins was tending to a comrade's wounds. To the right of Harry, he saw Tonks battling Bellatrix, the latter having the upper hand. He was just about to help her in her duel when Shacklebolt came along and fired a few purple and yellow beams at Lestrange. An inequitable duel, maybe, but when has Bellatrix herself been fair in her life?
"Is wittle Tonksie wonksie scaredy-waredy of cousin Bewwatwix?" She cooed, before laughing hysterically and shooting Dark spells left and right. Harry shuddered, trying to shake off the mental image of Sirius' death at the Department of Mysteries. If he were to lose focus now, he'd end up the same fate as his godfather - dead. It was hard to say it, but everyone needed him now and he was certainly not going to let them down. His hero complex was screaming at him to save everyone before they were dead at the hands of Voldemort. Like my loved ones, Harry thought bitterly.
Not far away from the trio was Remus, dueling two Death Eaters at once. Harry could see that his ex-professor's strength was wavering, and immediately rushed to his aid.
"Rem-" He cut off abruptly, not wanting to alert them of his presence just yet. He crept stealthily up to the duel, navigating his way slowly through the rocks and wood.
As he came closer, he realised who the two Death Eaters were: Antonin Dolohov and Fenrir Greyback. Of course. Harry cursed himself for not realising that sooner. Greyback's lips curled into a malicious grin as he noted who was coming to aid his adversary. He shot a Cutting hex towards Remus, who was quick enough to swerve to the left and avoid it.
Remus' eyes widened in shock as he noticed Harry coming his way. His tired amber eyes pleaded with him to leave, for it was too dangerous, but the teenager shook his head furiously and shot a few spells at Dolohov. Sighing, he too refocused onto his opponents and a fierce duel began, two Death Eaters dueling two friends.
As they fought back to back, Harry let his thoughts wander a bit, while at the same time battling Greyback. He could not let Remus duel with this belligerent werewolf; he had seen how Greyback had fought the lycanthrope, and it was with a serious vengeance. He distracted his opponent with the Conjunctivitis Curse, before enchanting a nearby rock to launch itself at him. He turned around to see how Remus was faring, and was glad to see that he was dueling well now that Greyback was out of the way.
The extremely close friendship between Harry and Remus had blossomed since the start of third year. It began with frequent letters, sometimes up to thrice per day, then moved on to meetings at either his house, the Order quarters or - if Remus dared to take the risk - the Dursley residence itself. When school started they had not even bothered to hide their new friendship from anyone. They were close like family, like pack mates, like the Marauders even. No one had ever seen Remus that happy before, nor did they see Harry so carefree since then either.
With a war going on, allies are essential and enemies are inevitable. That was what Moody had told Harry before his unfortunate death. Get the best allies and the best enemies. With allies, you won't die alone, and with enemies, you'll forever be constantly vigilant.
"CONSTANT VIGILANCE, BOY!"
Moody's raspy voice rang clear in his mind, causing Harry to hastily put up a shield as Greyback shot a nasty-looking black jet of light at him. Harry was knocked back a little by the alarming force of the spell. Apparently the werewolf had countercursed the Conjunctivitis Curse and was now extremely enraged, by the look of his bared teeth and how his hardened eyes were scrutinising his every move. This werewolf certainly had a surprising alacrity for a man- er, werewolf, his age.
"You alright back there, Harry?" Remus yelled while deflecting a curse from Dolohov. Harry saw, or rather heard, him send a nasty hex in return.
"Just fine, don't worry!" he replied, shooting a leg-locker curse at the momentarily-distracted Greyback. He watched as his assailant get hit by the spell. If the situation hadn't been so dire, Harry would have laughed at the shocked look on the werewolf's face.
The two of them, Remus and Harry, worked extremely well together. Hexes and jinxes were abundant in their fight for victory against the two Death Eaters. Soon, everything slowly became a mantra: shoot, duck, repel, curse, hex, deflect, hex, swerve, dodge, jinx, jump, curse. The pair worked flawlessly together, advancing upon the other two as they gradually gained the upper hand. This was not two separate battles; this was a single battle between forces.
"Stupefy!"
"Reducto!"
"Expelliarmus!"
"Protego!"
Once again, Harry's thoughts drifted away from the scene, leaving his instincts alone to duel the ferocious werewolf. Werewolf.. There are times when Harry could not comprehend how anyone can stay as amiable as Remus after being bitten by the vengeful creature in front of him. To any outsider, Remus was the quintessence of a calm and composed man, never to lash out at anyone or hurt anybody on purpose. Yet when you observe him closely, you can see the tiny part of him unconsciously being controlled by the wolf within him- the growls of promising revenge when one of his loved ones get hurt, the hungry eyes when he is served a plate of steak or meat, the gentle amber eyes turning a vindictive gold when someone harms his closest ones.. It sometimes hurt to know that he could not do anything to help his friend escape from this curse. Was the Dark creature writhing inside of him truly worthy of the insults and deceitful glares society hurl at him each day?
A sharp cry woke Harry up from his thoughts. With a blast of the Impediment Curse towards Greyback, he looked behind his shoulder to see Remus clutching his left arm in pain. His hands were stained crimson as he struggled to stop the blood from gushing out of his wound. Cursing under his breath, Harry searched his mind for the most powerful Healing spell he knew of. Aiming his wand towards the deep gash, he muttered, "Vulnera Sanentur." He mentally reminded himself to thank Snape for the spell later.
Remus shot Harry a grateful, albeit tired, smile in return. Just as the wound began to knit itself, Harry felt a sharp pain in his right leg, causing him to lose his footing and fall on the floor with a loud thud. Apparently the lycanthrope he had been dueling had shot a particularly Dark cutting curse at him while he was tending to Remus' wound. Harry went on his feet again, hissing at the sharp pain in his leg. Looking away from his wound, he felt anger course through him as he saw Greyback inch closer to Remus, a malevolent grin spread wide across his face, his wand twirled around lazily by his fingers. Feeling rage pulse within his veins, Harry quickly channelled his magic into his wand and blasted the Reducto Curse at Greyback with so much force that he was thrown back across the floor and into a wall with his head bleeding profusely, either from the curse or the collision, Harry couldn't tell.
He would have inflicted much more pain onto Greyback had Remus not screamed in pain behind him. His face contorted with fury, Harry spun around, wand aimed at Dolohov, who was laughing away hysterically at the sight before him. Remus had doubled over in pain, clutching his stomach while screaming out in agony. Harry immediately rushed over to his side and tried all the Healing spells he knew of onto the huge wound. After about twenty spells or so, the wound was almost vanishing, though the pain still lingered, making it hard for the werewolf to stand up. Growling, Harry stood up and faced Dolohov, who quickly grew somber at the sight of his adversary's face.
Blinded by his fury, the teenager threw all caution to the wind and sent a volley of spells toward the Death Eater with such a vicarious amount of rage bubbling within him. No one, no one, hurts Remus and gets away with it. No one!
Harry kept on dueling one-on-one with his opponent, throwing curses and jinxes left and right while dodging and deflecting each spell sent his way. Yet his anger may be his biggest downfall, for it has deafened him with chants of, Kill him, kill him, don't hold back, and blocking out the sounds of Remus' cries for him to stop.
"Harry, stop, he's not worth it!"
Kill the man who has caused great harm to your father figure.
"Harry, stop.. Harry! Harry, can you hear me?"
Attack, Harry! Never hold back! It's time for revenge!
"Harry! Harry, listen to me right now! Stop this!"
It's time for Dolohov to get a taste of his own medicine..
"Harry, what are you.. NO, stop! Don't do it!"
Harry raised his wand, its tip emitting threatening red sparks, upon the heavily injured Dolohov, the incantation of the Cruciatus Curse on his tongue.
"Harry, don't do it! You'll only be as evil as him!"
Attack. Kill. Destroy.. never hold back..
Harry's eyes had gone a darker shade of green. His clenched fists trembled with rage, his brow furrowed in determination. He opened his mouth and muttered, "Cruci-"
"Harry, no!"
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
"NO!" Remus screamed, as Dolohov's Killing Curse headed straight for him.
"You know something, Harry? I think you would have given your father a run for his money, and that is saying something."
Harry watched as the green beam of light went straight towards Remus, as if in slow motion.
"Harry, there is nothing so important as you learning Occlumency! Do you understand me? Nothing!"
He wanted to stop it, to stop it from reaching him, but his feet wouldn't move at all.
"Maybe pelting the Slytherins with treacle tarts wasn't a good idea, Harry.. Minerva nagged me for hours while you only got detention!"
He watched Remus' face contort with fear, pain, sadness, and.. regret?
"You're very much like your father, Harry. Very much alike."
Harry made a lunge towards Remus, wanting to block the curse from reaching his friend..
"Are you kidding me, Harry? You're the reason I get up everyday!"
There was a sudden burst of light, a scream of pain, and then-
"I love you, Harry."
No!
"I'm so sorry."
Silence.
Harry opened his eyes, and there lay Remus, laying haphazardly across the cement floor in front of him, his skin extremely pale and his eyes closed shut.
Harry scrambled desperately closer to his friend, his eyes filling up with hot, salty tears. He lifted the werewolf's limp arm, hoping to find a pulse.
Silence.
No..
Harry let out a choked sob. This was unbelievable. This couldn't be happening. Remus..
No!
He barely noticed someone shoot the Killing Curse towards Dolohov. He barely heard the worried voices of his friends calling out to him. All that mattered now was Remus.
Remus, the only one who understood him.
Remus, the only one who cared for him completely.
Remus, the only one who-
"Harry.." .. Remus?
Harry gasped as he saw Moony gaze at him, his amber orbs reflecting so much pain and suffering.
"Harry.." Remus made to touch his face, but his hand only made it halfway before falling limp by his side with a dull thud.
With his throat raw from crying, Harry croaked, "How..?"
Remus merely smiled at him, that special smile meant only for Harry. The latter felt a twinge of sadness in his heart as a fresh batch of tears let loose from his emerald eyes.
"A werewolf takes a longer time to die from this curse." He reached out again, and this time Harry brought his face closer to him. Wiping his surrogate godson's tears away, he frowned, "Do not cry for me, cub."
Harry choked back a sob. Sniffling, he whispered the pet name he had used for the werewolf when he was only a year old. "Uncle Moony.."
"This had to be, Harry."
He desperately gripped the hand that was still on his face, as if trying to hold him back from venturing to death. Moony was now even paler than before, the brown swirls in his eyes fading as if they're going to disappear any moment. Harry looked into his friend's eyes and pleaded, "Please don't go.. Come back.. You-you'll be home, won't you?"
Remus smiled sadly at the boy he had long regarded as his son. With a sudden lurch, he cried at the sharp pain in his body as the curse took its toll on him. He shut his eyes and took a shuddering breath, one that felt so cold and so painful. Opening his eyes, he whispered the words that gripped Harry's heart with much grief.
"I am home, Harry."
"N-No, Moony, that's not what I-"
"We hope to see you soon, cub.."
"Remus, no-"
"Remember that I love you.."
"Remus-!"
"Goodbye-"
"REMUS!"
Then Remus' hand slipped from Harry's cheek and fell, his glassy eyes that were once so full of life now devoid of any emotion. His mouth was slightly parted, and no matter how many times Harry despairingly placed his hand over it, there was never just one breath to show he was alive.
Remus was as good as gone.
Harry Potter cried again, under the broken roof of the Astronomy Tower, clinging onto the peaceful body of Remus Lupin and never wanting to let go.
Faintly, he could hear laughter- the deep chuckle of Remus, the bark-like laugh of Sirius, and two other sounds of mirth that seemed oddly familiar to him; all sounding as one, as if reunited again after so many years..
Up above, Padfoot, Prongs and Lily welcome Moony home.