Title: Harry
Author Name: kithwynn
Rating: T: for alcohol, death
Spoilers: Um, Prisoner of Azkaban, probably. But if you haven't read that, what are you doing in the Harry Potter section?
Genre: Angst
Era: Shortly after the first war.
Character(s): Remus Lupin; minor Albus Dumbledore, James Potter, Harry Potter.
Ship(s): None
Summary: For Remus, it was easier to forget him.
Wordcount: 283
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by
J. K. Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books
and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or
trademark infringement is intended.
Author's Notes: One of a few short pieces taken from a long ramble in Remus' POV and edited considerably.
Harry was alive.
Amid the laughter as they had dashed down their Aurors' Wills, James had scrawled 'The Marauders' across the entire form, obliterating the line for orphaned children with the sweep of an 'e.'
Well, he was the only Marauder left standing, even if that position was often compromised by Merlin's Best Firewhiskey.
Some nights, to the soundtrack of empty bottles that clinked gently with each breath, he had levered himself upright, vague plans to rescue his best friend's son filling his mind. Once he had almost made it to the fireplace before passing out.
The old man had been to speak to him several times after James died, with a fine instinct for showing up when Remus was especially hung over. They both pretended that they were nibbling biscuits, instead of respectively taking root in the ragged armchair and carefully disregarding the taking root. Yellowed light waded through the choking dust to collect in the bottoms of bottles, like a parody of tea.
He might be able to see the boy, Dumbledore had allowed on one of these visits, if he would become Harry's guard. The yes caught in Remus' throat, and he had to let his no trickle out around the edges.
Remus wasn't good enough to take care of Harry, but the werewolf was good enough to watch him from the background. Remus was not good enough to be known to Harry, but the werewolf was—just barely—good enough to see him every day, and watch the child who should have been his change and grow without him.
Harry could have lived, but it was easier to file him away among the other regrets and could-have-beens; as dead.