The Last Marauder
You remember the day. You sat alone with a fire blazing before you. You stared into it with not a single thought running through your mind. You were at a loss for thinking. You had already drained your third glass of firewhiskey, but you didn't feel any better. Why did he have to go? you finally think to yourself. Why couldn't it have been you instead? You who had nothing to live for. You who had no purpose.
But with his death, came your purpose. Although you pushed it away, it came back. You remember the way she looked at you, that night, with longing in her eyes. You had it to, perhaps more. You weren't sure if it was the effects from the firewhiskey, but that night you couldn't keep yourself from her. She came to see if you were all right. You needed her and she sensed the yearning in your eyes. You kissed her that night, and it was unlike anything you had ever experienced before. It felt more than magical.
The feeling of a purpose scared you. You had never had someone to care for before. She wanted to be with you. But you knew it couldn't work. You were a werewolf. You pushed her away, but she came back every time. You married her finally, but it felt so wrong to you. It wasn't what you wanted for her. She was young, beautiful, talented. She could have any wizard she wanted, and she chose you.
She chose you, out of her own heart, which was something you failed to see. You didn't understand what it was like to love and be loved. But she helped you figure those things out and realize that it didn't matter to her what you were or how old you were. All that mattered to her was that she had you.
And you remember the day she found out she was pregnant. She looked radiant that day, you remember. Yet when she told you, you felt a wave of coldness wash over you. A child? You, a father? It didn't make sense. It couldn't be. You were a werewolf. Werewolves didn't have babies. What if something was wrong with him? What if he would be teased by his peers? All these things you didn't want for him. All these things were what happened to you and you couldn't bear to let them happen to your son. So you left that night, with fear in your heart.
How strange it is that the young and restless can be so wise, sometimes. How strange it is that they know what is best for us, when we don't. You returned later that evening feeling raged, but when you saw her smile up at you it all melted away. Harry Potter had been right.
Yet your fears still haunted your dreams. What kind of life would he lead? What if he inherited your problem? What would he do when he walked into a room and people started howling at him? What if no one would be his friend?
These had been the exact same thoughts you had for yourself many years ago. But you found friends. You found a group of people who were understanding of your secret. You found a group of people who would care for you. These became the happiest years of your life, as you look back on it. Friendship would last forever. That would be the first lesson you teach him.
You smiled when you think of them. Your friends. You missed them dearly. And suddenly as you thought of them, you felt a pain in your heart and felt like something had been ripped away from your soul. You realized that you were the last Marauder. You somehow realized that Peter was gone and hopes for forgiving him one day were lost forever. You were the last Marauder. James, Sirius and Peter were now gone, leaving you alone.
Your friends. The friends who loved you and who you loved. Your heart felt empty. As you looked next to you, your wife gave you a concerned look. You smiled at her and rubbed a hand gently over her stomach. You kissed that little lump that had begun to form and thought that someday in the future he would become a Marauder and experience similar moments that you had enjoyed so long ago.
And if that happened you would no longer be the last Marauder.