Reinette Lupin: Book One
Chapter One
From Black to Lupin
Remus Lupin paced up and down the length of his father's kitchen anxiously awaiting the arrival of his former Headmaster. The crescent moon hung high in the inky sky giving off what little light it could to shine through the window, illuminating the kitchen and casting dark shadows on the walls. The house was deathly quiet, other than Remus' soft footfalls. And out there in the countryside, it was just as silent despite the weekend's long celebrations, but the Lupin Household was far from the festivities.
Lyall Lupin, the eldest resident of the house, was not home currently. He was at work. His son had moved back into his home recently with the news that he had adopted a child. Lyall welcomed him with open arms, happy to have family close after the recent loss of his wife. The child in question was the reason Remus was pacing the kitchen.
Remus Lupin was a tall young man, with prematurely greying hair that made him appear older than he was. He had a long scar that went all the way across his nose and other, smaller ones on his face as well.
He stopped pacing suddenly, dragging his hands across his face to rub away the sleep from his eyes. He looked out at the night sky surprised as if he hadn't noticed it even grew dark. Remus let a heavy sigh escape as he removed his wand from his sweater sleeve, with a turn of his wrist the lights flickered on. Now out of the darkness, the weary man sat down at the table and buried his head in his arms.
The man had been grieving. Three of his best friends were murdered and the other had been sent to Azkaban. He was left all alone, betrayed, and almost hopeless. Sirius Black had sold Lily and James Potter out to Voldemort and murdered Peter Pettigrew along with twelve muggles. In one night, Remus lost everyone.
Everyone except Reinette.
Remus became godfather to Sirius Black's child shortly after she was born. Remus quickly jumped at the opportunity to adopt Reinette Black, aided by Albus Dumbledore. Even if Sirius Black was a murderous fiend, he had a duty to that child's innocent life. He couldn't abandon her to an orphanage. Remus Lupin was a man of his word. Remus' luck ran out after Reinette's adoption:
Remus Lupin was unable to take custody of Harry Potter. No matter how much he wanted to. Sirius Black was Harry's godfather. It ended there.
Suddenly, the rumbling sound of a motor roared outside. Remus leapt up from the table, glancing outside to see a familiar motorbike fall from the sky with a very large passenger before scrambling for the front door. Outside he came face to face with Sirius Black's huge Triumph motorcycle. Just looking at the bike made Remus feel almost nauseated.
"Hagrid!" Remus exclaimed. "I expected Dumbledore." His voice was ragged as if it had been a long period of time since he last spoke.
The large rider shut the rumbling engine off and climbed off ungracefully but carefully from his mount with a grunt, "Evening, Remus. Dumbledore sent me."
"Is everything all right?" Remus asked with concern.
"Ya, It's all fine. I got her with me," Hagrid sat as he extended a bundle wrapped in pink blankets out to Remus. Remus didn't hesitate to hold the baby girl in his arms tightly. He looked down at the sleeping form's face, smiling at the long lashes against her pale cheeks and the dark hair on top of her head.
"She's been sleeping since I left an' hasn't made a peep," Hagrid said fondly.
Remus smile shifted over to Hagrid, "Thank you for keeping her safe. I'm glad Dumbledore sent you, Hagrid."
Despite the darkness, Hagrid's blush could still be seen in the moonlight. He coughed a little in embarrassment and gave a nod.
Remus glanced at the bike behind the man and quickly averted his gaze to the child in his arms once more. Curiosity bit at him and the young man couldn't help but look up and ask softly, "How in the world did you end up with Sirius's bike, Hagrid?"
"Young Sirius lent it ter me," Hagrid responded, shifting in front of the bike, "said he didn't need it. I'll be giving it back to Dumbledore after this."
Remus could only nod at that, head down. A moment of silence passed. Then he blinked as if he was forgetting himself, "Oh, I'm sorry, Hagrid, would you like to come in for tea?"
Hagrid chuckled a little, "No, that's alrigh'. I gotta go, Dumbledore's orders."
"Thank you again, Hagrid," Remus said.
"With little Harry off ter live with Muggles, I sure am glad yeh can take care o' Reinette," Hagrid said, sniffling and wiping the corner of his eye a little. The eleven-foot high giant bent down low at the bundle in the thin man's arms and gave the child a quick kiss on her head. Hagrid then climbed back onto the large bike and flew off with a roar, high into the dark sky and into the clouds.
Remus was alone again now, this time with Reinette safe in his arms. He made his way back to the kitchen. He held the child for the remainder of the night. The weight of the new responsibility was slumped onto his shoulders. The few tears that fell with the grief of each one of his friends' death was enough to make the man tremble.
When dawn broke and those large eyes opened and the familiar grey met green, Remus choked back a sob.
Reinette, oblivious to the man's pain, gave a toothless grin and babbled at the familiar face of her new guardian. She reached her little hands out and yanked at the thin locks of hair framing Lupin's face.
"Moony," She cooed his nickname.
Remus gave a wan smile. "Good morning, Miss Lupin," he whispered.
A/N: Thanks for reading and please review! Look on my profile for more details about this story