Remus snarled, turned, and started stomping away from the goblin. Remus suspected that as merely a friend of the family, he would be in no legal position to ask about getting the Potter will read, but he'd never imagined that the wizarding government would seal the will. "Though Gringotts has copies of the will for its own records, we can neither give you an official copy nor can we execute the will while it is sealed," the goblin had told him.
Remus had taken exactly six steps when he suddenly stopped on a dime. He spun on his heel and retraced those six steps. "Answer me this: one, who specifically sealed the will, and two, how can I go about getting an unofficial copy of the Potter will?"
For a second, Remus imagined a shark in place of the ferally-grinning goblin. "One, Albus Dumbledore, and two, pay eight galleons at that desk over there."
Remus was surprised when Dumbledore's name came up. He'd have to talk with the man later about that. Remus assumed that the man had his reasons for it, but it did seem a little out of character.
The ex-werewolf went over to the desk, paid the mildly hefty price, and was on his way with the unofficial will ten minutes later. He left the will unopened in his robe's pocket until after he was at a table at Fortescue's with a chocolate sundae — he was afraid of what he would find, and out of habit, he went for chocolate rather than fire whiskey when he needed to calm his nerves. Spoon currently held in his mouth, he tore open the envelope and started reading the last will and testament of his best friend and the man's wife.
His eyes greedily scoured the document, not searching for what, if anything, he had gotten from them. No, what he was searching for was something that would give him closure. Unfortunately, no such closure was to be found. If anything, the letter tore open Remus's heart once more.
It seemed that Lily and James had filed a new version of their joint will just before going into hiding — as in literally the day of their withdrawal from society. It detailed that they intended to replace that will if they ever came out of hiding and that this particular one would thus only come into effect if they were betrayed. Worse, they said that they were under the fidelius charm with Peter as their secret keeper, not Sirius. The only way they would ever have died is if Peter betrayed them.
Remus's jaw clenched. The metal spoon in his mouth snapped under the intense pressure, but Remus hardly noticed. His appetite was gone anyway. In his hands was proof that an innocent man was currently in Azkaban. Mercifully, it seemed that the traitor was dead, but that was little consolation for the ex-werewolf, who was snarling and growling to himself.
He crumpled up the letter, shoved it into his pocket, spat out the scoop of the broken spoon, and threw the rest of his ice cream away. Then, with a twirl, he disapparated from Diagon Alley.
He materialized in the Ministry of Magic's entranceway with his emotions so chaotic that even he couldn't decipher them all. Raw magic poured off of him in waves, tickling the magics of those around him in a rather unpleasant way. His hold on his human form had loosened, causing him to grow a few inches in height and take on a slightly more predatory appearance.
He had to wait a bit in line get his visitor's badge and find out where he needed to go. This did nothing to help his emotions, and if anything, the delay made him irritated on top of everything else he was feeling. He may have snarled a bit at the poor bloke at the desk, and he may have snapped at a group of witches blocking his way, but they all screamed like he was about to bite their heads off.
When he stepped onto an elevator, most of the other witches and wizards found an excuse to step off, leaving him alone with a woman he vaguely recognized. She was clutching her wand tightly. "What floor?"
"Second."
"Convenient," she replied. "And... do you mind calming down a bit? Your magic is making me feel quite uncomfortable."
Remus blinked. "What? Oh, bollocks." He reeled his magic back in and reverted his partial transformation. "I leaked magic like that in years. I'm so sorry."
"I find that vigorous exercise helps with that immensely," she said. "Remus Lupin, right? I saw you in the paper the other day."
"I... yes. That's me. You look familiar too if you don't mind me saying."
"You've probably seen me in the paper as well. Amelia Bones, Assistant-Director of the DMLE."
Remus clapped his hands together. "Ah, yes. That's it. You're up for promotion, aren't you?"
"Indeed. Now," — the elevator dinged and let them out at their destination — "can I help you with anything, or do you already know where you need to go?"
"I'm good. No, just today I stumbled across some information from my dead friends, Lily and James Potter, that strongly suggests that Sirius Black may, in fact, be innocent of betraying them to You-Know-Who. I just wanted to hand it into the Investigations Department, and to find out when his trial is so that I may testify," Remus said.
"Curious. It seems that there's more to this than meets the eye," Amelia observed. "The odd thing is, I don't know when Black's trial is either. I usually keep myself informed of these things. Well, if only to satisfy my curiosity, I'll walk you to who you need to talk to."
Remus motioned with his hand. "After you, Ma'am."
The high-ranking Auror and the ex-werewolf walked down the hall and turned through an unremarkable wooden door. Then they located a young witch filing paperwork. "Ms. Fairchild, would you please find me the file for Sirius Black's arrest?"
"Certainly." The skinny witch twirled around and practically dove into the filing cabinets. A moment later, she had a folder in hand. "Here you go, Madam Bones."
"Thank you. Now, let's see..." She flipped through the documents. "Odd... where is the scheduled hearing form?"
"The what?" Remus asked.
"It's a form that lists when the preliminary court hearing is supposed to be. Usually, they're made within eight hours of an arrest, and the first hearing must be within three weeks of the arrest," Madam Bones said. "Fairchild, did the paper fall out?"
"I don't think so," the woman replied. "I'm pretty sure that the folders are enchanted to keep things from spilling accidentally. I'll check anyway." She stuck her head back into the filing cabinet. "No, I don't see it. It looks like it was either never included, or somebody removed it. But I'm the only one with access to these files, and I didn't take it, and I can't remember anyone else ta—"
Fairchild stopped mid sentence. She picked her wand up off her desk and aimed it at her head. "Memorias invenire!" Her wand glowed an ominous red.
Remus wasn't familiar with that spell, but Madam Bones was. Her wand was out in a heartbeat and aimed at her own head. She cast the same spell as her secretary, and her wand glowed the same foul red. "Bugger me sideways. Sonorus. AURORS, OBLIVIATION CHECK, NOW!" Canceling the spell, Amelia turned to Remus, who was clutching his ears. "Sorry. Remus, come back later. Missing paperwork is one thing, but when I and the woman in charge of said paperwork have also been obliviated..."
"I'll see myself out."
Amelia grabbed his shoulder, preventing his departure. "Remus, do me a favor. In three days, write me a letter specifically asking about Black's trial. Use two different colors of ink and say that your first inkwell went dry; that's my passcode for this month. If I see that letter and I can't remember telling you this, I will know that something is up. Call me paranoid, but my gut tells me someone wants Black gone. Also, keep a journal and read it every night."
Remus gulped. "I will. Thank you for the advice."
"Be safe."
Three days later, Remus sent the letter. Almost immediately, a patronus came, which told him in Amelia Bones's voice that he should report to the DMLE immediately. When he arrived, Amelia greeted him personally by grasping his hand with both of hers. He felt something hard press against the palm of his hand. "Thank you so much for keeping this discreet. We stumbled across something big, and we're well on our way to getting it all resolved, thanks to you." She let his hand go. Remus pocketed the item without looking at it. "We cannot tell you anything more at this time about it, but the DMLE would like to thank you for your assistance."
"I'm glad to help," he said, though he didn't really know what he had helped with or how much he'd actually helped.
"Also, as of yesterday, Sirius Black's trial was scheduled for November twenty-ninth. He has been transferred from Azkaban to ministry protective custody. Every precaution is being taken to assure that he does not escape and that he reaches his trial unharmed," Amelia said.
"That's good. Amelia, I have a question. Two, actually. First, might I visit him?" Remus asked.
"No, but you may send him a letter. Note that it will be inspected beforehand, and can be used as evidence in the trial by both sides. I wouldn't say more than hello, if I were you," replied Amelia.
"I see. I won't even bother right now." Remus waved his hand dismissively. "Secondly, I never got around to handing over my evidence for his case. That's not my question, though. My question is, if I happen to have an unofficial copy of the last will and testament of James and Lily Potter, given to me by Gringotts, and the official one is sealed by Albus Dumbledore as head of the Wizengamot, would either version be admissible in the trial?"
"May I see it?" Amelia asked.
Remus held up the crumpled letter. "Gemino," the Assistant-Director incanted. She caught the duplicate copy as it fell to the ground. "Thank you. No, an unofficial copy is not permitted. However, in cases of criminal activity, an unofficial copy is more than enough to get a warrant for an official copy. It won't be unsealed, so the will won't be executed, but it can be used."
"That's all I ask for," Remus said.
"Remus, expect a letter from Black's defense in a few days," Amelia added. "They'll want to interview you before you officially testify."
Remus sat down in his favorite chair at home. He pulled the little object Amelia had given him from his pocket. It was a box with the words unshrink me written on one side. Remus tapped it with his wand and wound up with a box roughly the size of his head. He opened it.
Inside, there was a quill floating with its tip pressed against a mostly-filled piece of parchment. "What?" he asked nobody. The quill transcribed his question. Remus looked over everything it had written so far, which turned out to be an entire transcript of everything he'd said and heard since Amelia had given him the box, all labeled by the speaker's name.
The first entry was different, in that he hadn't heard it himself. It read, "Remus, someone has been regularly obliviating Aurors and manipulating our paperwork. I cannot say who, but they are the same person who has been trying to deny Sirius Black a trial.
"For the sake of your memories, I ask you to avoid people as much as you can and look nobody in the eye. One of my fresh recruits also created the technique you just saw; namely, wearing a shrunken, self-inking dicta-quill and parchment. We also use the protean charm to make duplicates the event that one of ours is lost. This is so that we can identify who was with us at the time we lost our memories and potentially our attacker's name.
"I wrote this message the day before I will first attempt to arrange a meeting with you, the day the date of the trial was officially decided. If I told you some date other than November 29th, my memories have been altered again."
Here, Remus stopped reading to go check the notes the quill had written. November 29th was correct.
"I really hope that this bastard can be brought to justice. To my dismay, I suspect that this will not happen anytime soon. Regardless, keep yourself safe so that we may see justice served.
"~Amelia Bones,
"Assistant-Director of the DMLE."
Remus slumped back in his chair. Exhaustion set in. He'd just gotten out of a war with a Dark Lord, he didn't need this. At least with the Death Eaters, their M.O. was predictable and their goals were obvious. This was a total unknown.
In the days leading up to the trial of Sirius Black, Remus made an effort to completely drop off the map. Considering that he didn't exactly have a stable job at the moment (though he did have some hobbies that made him money sporadically), it was disappointingly easy. His inner Gryffindor wanted something like what one would find in the James Bond movies (which Lily had loved). Instead, his inner Slytherin made him take a far more pragmatic approach, namely that each morning, he pulled out a map of the UK and threw a dart at it. Whatever city or area it landed in would be the city he used that day.
Today's dart throw landed him in Hampstead, near London. It wasn't exactly as far as he wanted to go, but he trusted the randomness of his poor dart aim. Using the apparition network, he was able to blindly jump there and land in a safe, designated area, which he immediately jogged away from.
He wandered around for a bit, then asked directions from a muggle for a local gym. Amelia had suggested working out, and it wasn't like he had anything else to do that day. He couldn't just stay cooped up in his house all day long; he'd go mad. At least he didn't have to think about anything while his body was burning from physical exertion.
As he walked out, the muggle woman at the front desk said, "Wait... I'm not crazy, right? I could have sworn you weren't that beefy when you came in."
Remus looked down at himself, realizing that he'd let his other form slip out a bit. That would be really bad if it happened in a muggle area. "Well, I did have a good workout. But for something like that to happen, it would take a bit of magic. Hah! Thank you, though." The lycomorph walked out with a parting wave. Picking his direction at random, he walked left.
He'd barely gone two blocks when he realized that there was somebody walking next to him, a small, familiar boy. "Hello again, Remus Lupin. Are you enjoying yourself?"
"Not really," he replied. "But I am alive."
"I see that," the god replied. "I have two pieces of news, both good. First, you've done well so far on your first task. I am pleased."
Remus hummed in a 'that's nice' sort of way.
"Second, I have another task for you, one that's also very simple. Payment will, of course, be up to you to decide after the fact. That said, your payment can only affect you directly, and must be made selfishly. If others happen to benefit indirectly..." The god trailed off. "Anyway, your next task is this: Directly ahead of us, there is a family consisting of a man and a woman, both six years older than you, and their two-year-old daughter. The parents are muggles, the daughter is a witch. In about three minutes, she's going to have her first bout of significant accidental magic. Her parents will scream, which will scare her in return, causing the girl to have a second, larger burst of magic. This second one will summon the local Obliviation Squad. Here is your choice: Accept and help them, or walk away and reject my offer."
Remus didn't need even debate the offer. It wasn't even about the reward. He'd just been told that a child needed help, and he'd be damned if he didn't offer his assistance. The ex-werewolf glanced down at where the god had been and was unsurprised to see that he was no longer there.
Quickening his pace to a light jog, he approached the family. Neither the husband nor the woman, who was carrying her daughter in a baby backpack carrier, noticed the grumpy expression on the two-year old's face. The woman certainly noticed the toddler pulling on her hair, though. "Hermione, let go of mummy's hair."
"No! Tired!"
"Hermione..."
"No!" The toddler promptly burst into flames.
Remus had his wand out in a heartbeat but had to stop his casting of a water-conjuring charm when he realized that the child wasn't screaming and that the flames were only an illusion. A finite incantum did the trick instead. It was about that moment that the father registered what he'd seen out of the corner of his eyes. "Bloody hell, what was that?"
"A young witch's magic can be quite petulant when she's in a sour mood, wouldn't you say? Next time, she'll be attacking you with flying toys for not giving her sweets fast enough," Remus said as he stepped up to them. Twirling his wand, he conjured a few floating orbs of light before transfiguring them into butterflies that landed on Hermione's mother's head, much to her daughter's delight.
"Magic?!" her father exclaimed. "What are you on about, sir?"
"Youre daughter is a witch," Remus said. "I saw her set herself ablaze with illusory flames — accidental magic. You're lucky I was there to stop them; a burning toddler is hardly the most normal thing."
"Sir, you know magic isn't real, right?" the father said. "I would be grateful if you left us alone now."
Remus pointed his wand at the woman's hair. The butterflies that were sitting on it exploded into confetti, causing Hermione to giggle. "Sir, do you know that magic is very real and that the only reason I am legally allowed to tell you about it is because your daughter is a witch? Magic is in our blood, hers and mine. Not believing in magic, for her, is like not believing that you have a left hand. Not believing doesn't mean that you don't have it."
"Dan," the woman said, "I think he might be the real deal."
"I am. I can give you more proof if you want, but not out here. We're lucky that this street isn't too busy; this isn't a conversation to have in public."
"Our house is nearby. We were just walking home," the woman said. "We'll go there."
Remus followed them to their house. It was nicer than the place he was currently living in by a good margin. As they walked in, the woman said, "You say Hermione is a witch. Does that make you a sorcerer?"
"No, merely a wizard. 'Sorcerer' is a title that one has to earn. And I, Remus Lupin, have no titles to my name." He clapped his hands together. "Alright, what would you like to see? I don't often get a chance to show off like this."
"Pull a rabbit out of a hat," the father said.
Remus's enthusiasm plummeted. "Seriously? A muggle magician's trick? How uninspired. Very well then." He pulled out his wand and then grabbed a picture frame off a nearby shelf. "First, I need a hat to pull a rabbit out of." He transfigured the picture into a silk top hat. "Then, I need a rabbit to pull." He silently summoned a book from a shelf across the room and turned it into a living rabbit. "Then, I need to put the rabbit in the hat. A little charm work, and..." he tapped the hat, expanding the space inside while making it so that nothing could accidentally spill out. Then he levitated the transfigured rabbit into the hat. "Now, I say the magic words, I'll pull a rabbit from a hat, as promised." He pointed his wand into the hat. "Gemino Maxima."
Remus flipped the hat over and began tapping repeatedly on the back as fast as he could. With every tap, another rabbit popped out. Each rabbit, the moment it touched the floor or another living thing, duplicated again. Within seconds, the floor was entirely covered with a swelling mass of rabbit fur. The two magicals in the room found it highly amusing, with Hermione shouting, "Bunny, bunny!" repeatedly.
The parents, however, found it quite distressing. "Ah! Make it stop! I believe you!"
"Finite incantatem. Reparo maxima." The swelling mass of rabbit flesh vanished in a puff of smoke, and in the haze, everything in the room that had been knocked out of place or damaged moved back to where it had been before and repaired itself to perfect condition. Even some things that had been broken before Remus had shown up were fixed. "Pull a rabbit out of a hat, he says."
"So, you're a wizard. And Hermione's a witch? What are we going to do if Hermione does something like that?" the mother asked.
"She won't," Remus assured them. "That was all willing and highly calculated. A child couldn't possibly do what I did. She lacks the understanding of magic that seven years of magical schooling bring, but more than that, she lacks the raw power. She's a toddler; wizards and witches generally don't start training until they reach eleven, since, before that, they're prone to exhausting themselves. Magic also draws upon emotions, and the emotions of a little kid aren't anywhere near as developed as a teenager's or an adult's."
"So you say there's a school?" she asked.
"Yep. Several, actually, plus the option for private tutoring. Hogwarts is the state-sponsored one, and the best school in the UK. Although it is my alma mater, so I could be biased," Remus replied.
"Magical people must not be that rare if the government pays for a school for magic," Dan said.
"Actually, it's not the muggle — non-magical — government that pays for it. It's the Ministry of Magic that pays for it. And although the Ministry is technically answerable to the crown, it practically works as its own government, a country within a country, hidden behind a massive amount of secrecy magic. To be honest... we just came out of a civil war. The muggle UK might be a nice place to live, but the wizarding UK..." He shook his head. "Let's just leave that there. I really don't mean to scare you."
Dan looked Remus in the eye. "Look, you're not a father, are you? You barely look twenty. When you become a father, you'll see that knowing what lies in wait is always better than a rude surprise. So, I don't care if it's grim. You came into my house to warn me that my daughter was a witch, well, now you're going to warn me about whatever else that entails."
And so Remus did. As he talked, his emotions came to the surface. No longer was he merely informing a family of the state of the world, he was recounting stories from his past, of things he'd face, and of the things he'd seen Lily face as a muggleborn. Before he knew it, he was crying.
The Grangers didn't quite know what to do with the sobbing man. Yet, when he eventually dried his tears, Remus thanked them for listening. "You have no idea how long I've bottled that up. It felt good to get it off my chest. Sorry about that. I didn't mean to bawl like a baby."
The family ended up inviting the ex-werewolf to stay for dinner. Over a meal of reheated leftovers and ham sandwiches, they talked about more pleasant things, such as Remus's tales as a Marauder, or Dan and Emma's tales of baby Hermione. It wasn't a fancy meal, but it was immensely enjoyable for the three adults.
Eventually, they called it a night. As Remus said goodbye, Hermione said, "Bye bye puppy Remy!"
"Puppy Remy?" Remus asked, intrigued. "Remy, sure, but puppy?"
Emma answered for her daughter. "You have, um, dog ears growing out of your head. You didn't react, so we thought you knew..."
Remus reached up and felt the soft ears growing out of his head, then blushed. "Oh dear. This is still so new to me." The ears shrank down and slid down the side of his head until they reached a normal human's shape and position. "Remind me to tell you the story about this next time we meet; It's still ongoing, and I suspect there'll be a few more twists and turns until then."
"We'll be looking forward to it, Remus." Dan chuckled lightly. "Of course, that means you'll have to come by again."
"I look forward to it. Now, let me show you one more trick in a wizard's arsenal: apparition. So long, Granger family, and until we meet again." Remus twirled on his heels and disapparated.
He reappeared in his own home, a smile on his face. He imagined that the Granger family had shocked and awed expressions on their faces. Let it not be said that Moony didn't have a flair for the dramatic.
"Good work." Remus jerked around. The young god was lazily reclining on his couch. "You did what I wanted and went beyond the call of duty. What do you desire?"
"Well, I would like you to leave me alone, but I don't think that's going to happen," Remus grumbled. "And honestly, you've come to me twice and both times have brought good things for me. I'm going to take a gamble and hope the trend continues. As for what I want... Well, I like this 'not being sick all the time' thing, so I want excellent health for the rest of my life."
The god hopped to his feet. "Excellent choice. Now, I'm going to put you to sleep; you'll wake up tomorrow in the best health of your life. Understand?"
"Yes. Wait, before you do, what do I call you? You never introduced yourself."
"That is because there are two ways you could think of me. Do you want the name of the face you see, or the name of the being that I am?" the boy god replied.
"Both would be nice."
The god struck an exaggerated thinking pose. "Well, I believe the face you see is that of a thirteen-year-old Harry Potter, as he is when you meet him one particular day in the future. As to my other name... I doubt your human mouth can even pronounce it. Call me Nyarl, if you must call me anything. Now, off to bed with you." Nyarl suddenly struck Remus in the chest with a finger poke, causing him to collapse into a dream-filled sleep.
Remus awoke in his bed to the sound of an owl tapping on his window. He opened his eyes but found them obstructed by a piece of paper. He plucked the note off of his face and held it back, absently noting that he'd transformed in the middle of the night to his lycomorph form as his hand was currently a furry hand-paw hybrid. Ignoring his hand, he instead read the note clutched in it.
"Good news: your good health is part of your blood now; your future children will inherit it to a lesser degree. Bad news: your body now considers its current state as 'injured.' You will be extremely ravenous for a few days and live with a heightened appetite for the rest of your life. Don't eat anybody."
The note was unsigned, not that Remus needed a signature to know it was from Nyarl. As if agreeing with the note, his stomach rumbled fiercely. He hoisted himself up, surprising himself with how effortless the task felt. To his limbs, his own body felt as light as a feather.
Speaking of feathers, the owl at the window kept tapping. Remus jumped up but then slammed his head on his ceiling, having forgotten that he was currently much larger than normal. Shrinking down, the naked man opened his window to let the owl in. "Bloody bird; what do you have for me at this early hour?"
The clock on the mantle protested that it was in fact late in the morning, almost eleven, in fact. Remus ignored it, choosing to instead take the bird's letter. The bird flew off the moment it was relieved of its burden. Remus opened it and quickly skimmed through the letter; Sirius was meeting with his legal counsel and requested Remus as a witness. The lawyer wanted to talk with Remus beforehand in order to help construct the defense. Included was the meeting place and time, which unfortunately for Remus, was awfully soon. Panicking, Remus hurriedly dressed, raided his refrigerator for food, stuffed his face with said food so quickly that he barely tasted it, and then apparated out.
