Title: A Werewolf and Dog Plan a Funeral
School: Hogwarts
Year: 4
Theme: Imperious Curse
Prompts: Main-Invisibility Cloak 2) Azkaban Prison 3) Funeral
Word Count: 3282
A/N: This is a A/U Harry Potter story. Also emotional trigger warning for this story. Some characters OOC
In a remote mountain stood an old stone cottage. The moonlight shone through the bathroom window illuminating the man leaning over his bathroom sink. His damp, sandy hair hid his golden-flecked brown eyes. He wore a pair of tattered, torn pants, and his bare chest was drenched in cold sweat. It was evident in the tension of his shoulders that he was dealing with far more than any human should.
Then again, Remus Lupin wasn't just any human. He was a werewolf. He had been attacked by Fenrir Greyback many years ago. The past few nights had been a horrific torture for him. Halloween had been a blood moon, and that triggered his werewolf genes in a different way; it amplified his abilities and his urges.
When he was human once more, he was bombarded with the memory of his best friends, James Potter, and his families brutal murder at the hands of Lord Voldemort.
As his werewolf urges were triggered the beast had tried to crawl out even in the light of day. The intense emotions and remnants of the blood moon flowing through his body, the werewolf was trying to claw its way out of his human form once again. To Remus, it felt like being split in two. He knew he needed to keep control of the werewolf, otherwise he might die. He had made the decision to lock himself away in his cottage. He would make all of the funeral arrangements for his friends from there via owl post and Floo. The vision of that night still vividly played in his mind.
He had been on a late-night walk to visit James and Lily. James would be able to help him through the blood moon. James had even prepared the cellar for his visit.
But as he had rounded the corner he saw Peter Pettigrew standing across the street, and he was staring at the Potter's house.
"Wormtail, what are you doing here? And why are you staring at their house?" Remus had asked.
"Moony, I've done something terrible," Peter had told him. "I can't move until the task is complete. I know you'll never forgive me," he whimpered.
"Wormtail, what have you done? Wait, the Imperius Curse?"
"I told Voldemort where they lived." Peter looked at Remus with wide eyes.
"What! But Sirius is the secret keeper, not you!" he exclaimed.
"I know! I know! It got switched at the last minute by Sirius."
It was in that exact moment that he was the green flash, and then there was an explosion, throwing both of them back. Remus and Wormtail sat up and shook the daze off. Wormtail realized he was free and started to run. Remus started after him, aiming many stunning spells, but Pettigrew Apparated before one landed a hit.
"NOOOOOOO!" Remus screamed in a fit of pure rage and anguish. His eyes changed from brown to a pure gold.
The clouds cleared and the blood moon shone down on Remus. His emotions were already so unstable, and so he just let go and morphed into his werewolf form and ran. The dark street was filled with pain of his howl.
Remus heard a small pop which was followed by a light knock on his cottage door. He took a deep breath and answered. It was none other than Albus Dumbledore, and he wore regal sky blue-grey robes with a silver trim, his long, white beard tucked into his belt, and he wore half-moon spectacles.
Remus welcomed the headmaster into his modest home, and led him to the sitting area. He slumped into an cosy chair, and gestured to Albus to sit too.
"Sir, what are you doing here? And how did you find me? Only three people know about this cottage," Remus questioned.
"I know more than you think, Remus." Albus smiled. "I came to check on you, I imagine losing James would be such a hard time for you. I also know that the you are the person with the responsibility to arrange their funeral. I didn't know what you wanted to do, so I sent all the required papers to your basement. You also need to know, unfortunately, I did not find the body of young Harry," Albus stated calmly.
"Thank you. My mind has been horribly unhinged since the event. To be honest, sir, I have been having more than a rough time. There are only three people I can trust to help me through this, and two are now dead and another is in Azkaban," Remus breathed.
"What if we could get Sirius out of Azkaban?" Dumbledore offered with a smile.
"But how? It will take months to prove his innocence," Remus mused.
"Don't you worry about that. Sirius will be here within the next hour or so," the Headmaster responded.
"Yes! Thank you, Sir." Remus agreed.
Remus showed him out, astounded by the turn of events. Dumbledore smiled kindly at Remus, apparating away.
He reappeared in his office at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He didn't waste any time as he grabbed the Invisibility Cloak for which James Potter graciously loaned him to study. Now, he was going to use it to "visit" Sirius and help him escape Azkaban Prison.
Albus already had a plan in motion of a different nature. He knew little Harry Potter survived the Dark Lords attack that killed his parents but somehow he survived. Dumbledore had Hagrid fetch him after the attack. He had planned to hide harry away from the wizarding world until his 11th birthday when he would be welcomed to Hogwarts. Then Albus would train Harry himself for the desperate task that was given in the prophecy.
It was time to call upon a person that Dumbledore had hoped he would NEVER have to use for such a task. His name was Lex Barebone. He was a scruffy middle age man who happened to be a dog Animagus as well. He was vowed to Dumbledore by a life debt from when the headmaster saved him from near execution in MACUSA Death Cell. Dumbledore Apparated to Lex's hidden location for which he and Dumbledore agreed he would stay and live out his days or until Dumbledore called upon him to repay his debt. To ensure Lex didn't run away, Dumbledore raised a containment ward only himself could get through. He quickly told Lex that it was time and grabbed him by the arm.
"It's time,' Dumbledore announced without pretense.
Lex hesitated and asked, "Sir, where are we going and what am I doing?"
"You will be replacing a friend that got wrongfully put into Azkaban. You will go in as a dog and transform into a human at the same time as he transforms into his dog form. You will live out his sentence in Azkaban Prison paying off the life debt you vowed." Albus Dumbledore informed Lex.
"WHAT? NO! I refuse!" screamed Lex.
"Lex, you can either come willingly or I can force you. Please don't make this hard." Dumbledore stated.
"There is no way I am going to AZKABAN! I don't care if I have a life debt or not." protested Lex again.
"As you wish, IMPERIO!" Albus stated.
Dumbledore grabbed Lex's arm again and Apparated away a little from the front gate of Azkaban Prison. Dumbledore told Lex to change into his animagus form and Lex did as he was told. They walked up to the front gate, Dumbledore stated he was here as a representative for the Prisoner Sirius Black. The Auror let him and the dog though. They made their way through the labyrinth of the prison. Finally, they came to the cell for which held Sirius. The guard granted entrance to his cell for a visit.
"Oh Sirius, what have they done to you, dear boy?" Albus said concerned.
Sirius looked as though he had been through a round with a Hippogriff and a dragon.
"Dumbledore, is that you? Oh, thank Merlin! Sir, I am innocent! I didn't tell anyone about James and Lily!" Sirius whimpered rushing to him.
"I know Sirius. Right now though, Remus needs your help. He is struggling to tame the werewolf." comforted Dumbledore.
"How can I help? I am stuck in here," Sirius said confused.
"I have a plan. This dog is similar to your animagus and similar in human form. You two will switch forms at the same time as not to alert the dementors and you will walk right out." Dumbledore stated.
"Headmaster, that is a crazy, bold plan but it appears to be the only one we have," Sirius agreed hesitantly. "Wait, why do you have James's Cloak?"
"I will tell you after we get out of this horrible place. Lex, Sirius, on the count of three, you will morph to the opposite forms. Lex, you into a human, and Sirius, you into a dog. Understand?" Dumbledore instructed.
They both nodded.
"One, Two, Three." Dumbledore counted.
The two men changed their form at the exact same time and no alarms were triggered.
"Let's take our leave now. Guard, could you please let us out? We are finished here." Dumbledore said.
The guard let them out paying no mind that the animagus had changed. Once beyond the gate and to the spot that Dumbledore had Apparated to with Lex, he placed the Cloak over Sirius and picked him up and Apparated to Remus's cottage. Upon arrival, he set Sirius down and removed the Cloak.
Sirius took off running toward the cottage. Remus had already caught his scent and opened the door. Sirius ran through the door and morphed to his human form. Remus had a robe ready for Sirius to cover with. Dumbledore tailed behind carrying the Cloak. Sirius and Remus hugged then, Remus pushed away as werewolf cringe tried to crawl out.
"Mother of Gryffindor! This is not good. No wonder Dumbledore came to get me. Do you still have the journal Lily gave you with all the notes and potions?" Sirius asked somewhat panicked.
"Yes, it is in the trunk over there by the recliner," Remus doubled over grabbing his ribs gasping for air.
Dumbledore came in at that moment and gently closed the door.
"May I suggest we brew some chamomile tea? Might help the nerves," Dumbledore offered.
"Yes, sir. That is a good idea. Could you also do a quick inventory for me of what herbs are in the pantry please?" rushed Sirius.
"Yes, absolutely," responded the headmaster.
Dumbledore moved off to the kitchen and Sirius helped his friend to the recliner. He then opened the trunk to find all of Remus's old Hogwarts uniforms, books, and the journal.
"Remus, I am so sorry you are going through this. Okay, I have the journal, let's see if we can find the subduing potion to help," Sirius started to quickly scan pages.
"Sirius, the kettle is on. As far as inventory goes, all there is some Bezoar and Rosemary," Dumbledore informed him.
"Okay, we need to somehow quickly get these ingredients to brew the potion needed. Sir, can I trust you to fetch these things? I have to stay here with Remus to keep an eye on him. You will have to get them discreetly as not to raise any suspicion that there is a werewolf loose," Sirius requested.
"I think I can accomplish that," winked Dumbledore raising the Cloak.
"Perfect, let me make a copy of the list, then you can be off," Sirius grabbing parchment, quill, and ink.
Sirius made a quick copy and handed it to Dumbledore. Dumbledore turned, wrapped the Cloak over himself and Apparated to the closest magical market possible.
"Remember brother, this is who you truly are. Your heart is who you are," Sirius placed his hand over Remus's heart.
Remus was gripping the chair, wolf nails growing out and fangs sprouting. Remus held the wolf back again, panting and sweating a cold sweat. "ARRRRGGG! JAMES, LILY, HARRY! I'M GONNA KILL WORMTAIL!"
"Remus, you must calm yourself! I will go get the tea. It should help a little," Sirius told Remus.
Sirius ran to get the tea, the kettle had just started to whistle. He turned off the burner and pulled the kettle off the stove and set it onto a hot pad. He got two cups down out to the cupboard and placed the tea leaf bobbles in each cup, then poured the hot water into each. He carried the cups out to the sitting area and handed one to Remus.
"Thank you, brother, for coming to help me. I was on my way to the Potter's house to seek shelter from the super blood moon when they were murdered. Wormtail admitted to me that he leaked their location to the Dark Lord," cried Remus. "Wormtail leaked James location and the Dark lord dragged him to the house placed him under the Imperius curse to make him watch the murder and then he was released. That is when the werewolf took over. Next thing I knew I woke up just south of my cottage," he informed Sirius.
"What needs to be done? I know James and Lily had decreed it that you and I were to make all necessary arrangements in case they were ever killed," Sirius sighed.
"Dumbledore brought their bodies to my basement and put them in stasis as to preserve them. However, when he went to retrieve them from their house, Harry was nowhere to be found. I planned on making the arrangements via floo and owl post," Remus stated.
"What? How?" Sirius shocked.
"I don't know, Dumbledore said he didn't find Harry's body. ARRGGG!" Remus's snout, fangs, and claws started to come out but he regained control of them.
"Oh, Merlin! I am here now, brother!" Sirius cried as he grabbed his friend in a loving embrace to console him and take a moment to grieve for their best friends.
"In the same trunk, there should be a copy of the Potter's will and instructions for the arrangements they wanted," Remus panted out.
A light pop sounded in the entry hall and Sirius went to investigate. Dumbledore carefully took off the Cloak so he didn't jostle the basket full of ingredients he had fetched from the market.
"Here you are, Sirius. Everything on the list plus a few sweet treats to help tide the urges. There is a sizable bag of chocolates in there for Remus and licorice wands for you. I remembered they were Remus's favorite in school," Dumbledore stated handing the basket to Sirius.
"Thank you, Sir. Will you be staying or are you off to somewhere else?" asked Sirius.
"I will be off, but should need me, send an urgent owl and I will come straight away. Use only one word: RAGE. I will know what it means," informed Dumbledore.
"I will sir. Thank you again. Farewell," Sirius said gratefully.
"Farewell gentlemen, I wish you well, Remus." Dumbledore turned, still carrying the Cloak and Apparated out of the cottage.
"Brother, I can start brewing that potion for you! You will soon feel a thousand times better!" Sirius rushed back into the sitting room like a little boy on his first toy broom.
"I think I am going to try and nap a bit. I am exhausted," Remus starting to curl up.
"I bet you are after what you have been through. You have yourself a good sleep and I am going to start this potion," Sirius patted his friend and grimaced.
Remus laid back in his recliner and drifted off to sleep, soon snoring rather loudly. Sirius grabbed a blanket and softly covered his friend. He then grabbed the journal, will, and the basket of ingredients and went to the kitchen.
He set the items on the counter, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Opening his eyes again, he noticed a set of clothes on the kitchen table. Fortunately, he and Remus were very close in size. He snagged the clothes and put them on since he was still in the robe Remus covered him in. A pair of simple slacks and a brown button-down shirt now clothed him.
Turning back to the task at hand, he first opened the journal to the potion he had to brew so he could verify all ingredients. The potion was called the Wolfsbane, and it was fairly complicated.
Sirius began pulling each item out of the basket, checking it against the list. Once that was done, he grabbed a licorice wand to nibble on while he brewed the potion. He grabbed the copper cauldron from the back burner, mortar & pestle from the shelf, and a large wooden spoon for stirring. He started carefully reading the steps and grinding each of the ingredients that needed it separately and placing them in individual bowls.
Sirius then started to place the ingredients into the cauldron in order, according to the recipe. It started to bubble and hiss. He knew this was a good sign. Two hours had passed and he was ready to add the last ingredient, Wolfsbane. He dropped it on and stirred it a bit. A sizable puff of light blue smoke popped out of the potion indicating it was complete. Sirius spooned the potion into a mug and brought it along with the chocolates out to Remus.
Remus had just woken from his slumber. He groggily looked at Sirius then at the Potion and chocolates.
"Is that the potion? Where did you get chocolates? I didn't have any stashed here," asked Remus, curiously.
"Yes, it is the potion and Dumbledore picked them up for you when he went to get the ingredients," Sirius handed Remus the mug.
"Cheers. Here's to the werewolf sleeping for another month," Remus grumbled as he gulped down the potion. Instantly, Remus exhaled a deep breath and his body relaxed, a smile growing on his face.
"Better?" Sirius hesitantly questioned.
"Yes, a thousand times better. Now hand over the chocolates," demanded Remus. "Now shall we address the arrangements?"
"Yes, I'll go grab the will and bring it out here so we can lay it out," Sirius stated.
Sirius went to fetch the will and his licorice wands. He returned to the sitting room to find Remus putting his sweater on and somewhat tidying his hair. He laid out the will on the coffee table and went to fetch parchment and ink to make notes.
"Alright, it looks like they wanted to be laid at Godric's Hollow Cemetery. It doesn't say anything about what type of caskets they wanted though." Sirius told him, scouring the will with a frown.
"I think it would be a wonderful homage to them if we made their caskets out of the same wood their wands were made of. James' should made of Mahogany and on top of it, we put the Golden Snitch. Lily's made of Willow and we bestowed a radiant Lily on top, just as beautiful as she was," Remus suggested.
"I love it, and look, they gave us permission to use funds from their vault to pay for the expenses, plus we each are granted 50,000 galleons for our own needs," Sirius stated while taking notes.
"Where does it say to have the ceremony? Ah, there. It states to hold the ceremony under the Willow Tree at Lily's Parents home." Remus looked at the will intensely.
Remus started to sniffle out a cry. Sirius set down the quill and held his friend.
"I know it hurts, but we have to do this for them." Sirius had started to crumble in pain too but pulled himself together to be strong for Remus.
"Yes, for James and Lily," Remus boldly said.