The magical world this story takes place in belongs to J.K. Rowling but the majority of the characters belong to HolyMae and myself.

AN: A big shout out and thank you to HolyMae who not only helped me re-write a couple of parts in this chapter but for giving me an idea for the entire story!


Part One: Growing up Lupin

Chapter Two

Ana is only a year younger than me so I have no memories before she was born. I can't imagine my life without her because she has always been there and my best friend. She has been there during the most difficult times of my adult life and I know she will continue to do so. Not only supporting me but helping me in any way she possibly can. I can only hope that I have done the same for her.

Ana is also my constant reminder of fun, laughter, and childhood innocence. It's a reminder I have needed in my life because not only is life hard but at times it sucks. Quite literally. Like a dementor, life, at times, sucks the happiness right out of you until all you have left is hurt, pain, and depression. Ana, along with other loved ones, have reminded me that even during those times, goodness exists and can be found. You just have to know where to look.

I've also learned through Ana that it's the hard times in life that make the good ones twice as special, twice as wonderful, and far more treasured. They are the times that make life worth living.


Ana would never forgive me if I put a dog above her on my best friend list so I quickly decided that Ambrose would be second. Third actually, because he couldn't go higher than Lia either. There was no replacing Ana and Lia. I don't know what it was but there was something special about them.

My brothers agreed with me about Ana, most of the time. She preferred playing with us boys so she was much more fun to be around than our cousins. They wouldn't spit watermelon seeds. They thought it was gross but not Ana.

My brothers never agreed with me about Lia because she was a year old and still a baby. They thought she was annoying. I thought she was adorable and Michael and Alex were only jealous because they were no longer the youngest.

For this reason, along with a few others, Ambrose was sometimes above my brothers. Not that I ever told them that but Ambrose sure heard it.


Charles was the oldest and by the age of eleven had become more serious and less likely to act like a little kid. It was the pressures of being the oldest and the first one off to Durmstrang and representing the newest Lupin generation. He had his moments though especially when Derek told a funny joke.

Derek was a year younger than Charles and the two of them were almost always together, like Ana and me. He thought he was funny and sometimes I agreed with him but not always. I didn't find it funny when he pulled Ana's hair. I got in trouble though for pushing him on the ground and hitting him with my small fists.

Two years younger than Derek was me and I was always quite happy about having two older brothers. I didn't have the same responsibility they did because I wasn't the first one to represent the family or even the second who had to continue that impression. The third child could be a little bit different as long as you represented the family well which I always had the intention of doing.

A year younger than me was Ana. Her full name being Anastasia. Being the oldest girl she was the first one to represent our family at Edgemere, which was the all-girls school near Durmstrang. As a child, she didn't care about that very much since that usually meant wearing dresses. So our parents ended up making a deal with her. As long as she wore dresses, without complaint, to any pureblood function or gathering, she wouldn't have to wear dresses at other times.

The twins, Michael and Alexander, were two years younger than Ana. When they were young, they thought they could get away with anything. Probably because there were two of them even though they weren't identical. All of us tended to play in pairs but there was something different about them. They were connected in a way no one else was, anyone I knew anyway. They could be quite odd sometimes and I never could figure it out so eventually I gave up.

Apparently our parents were happy with six children for a time because Amelia, or Lia, was four years younger than the twins. When we were kids, she seemed to be the opposite of Ana. Wearing dresses, hair up in bows, playing with dolls, and much to Ana's dismay, I was one of her favorite playmates seeing how I was the only sibling who enjoyed playing with her. However, as she grew up, you could see a toughness in her that matched Ana's.

A year later Emery was born. Even though Lia was the closest to his age, he didn't seem very interested in playing with her at first. As soon as he was able, he started following Michael and Alex around and taking part in their games and pranks. Things changed when an even older brother, myself, told them off for attacking Lia with snowballs. Emery stopped playing with Michael and Alex and started playing with Lia. The twins thought of him as a traitor after that incident.

Philip was born two years later. I wasn't very close to him as kids due to our age difference, ten years, but we grew closer once he graduated from Durmstrang and moved to England. He lived with my family for a short time while he was training to become an Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries. Remus and my goddaughter Hollie, who were still toddlers at the time, loved having him as a playmate. After he found his own place and moved out, the house seemed a little empty.

A year younger than Philip was my youngest brother Frederic and Alex and Michael started calling him Freddie soon after he was born. They wanted to shorten his name but weren't about to call him Eric because it sounded too close to Derek. It wasn't long before all of us were calling him Freddie. Our parents said it was fine at home but insisted the nickname was not formal enough to be used in public. We lessened how much we used it as he got older and Charles' girls were calling him Uncle Freddie but we never quite stopped. Freddie always seemed to fit him and still does.


I stopped talking and looked across the bed at my wife Katie. She had fallen asleep and I couldn't help but smile. It had been awhile since my rambling had put her to sleep but I knew it wouldn't be the last.

I always had the habit of rambling and here I was telling my wife not only my family's story but ours as well because she no longer remembered it. Tomorrow I would have to ask her where to start. I didn't want her to miss anything.


Now for the quote:

"The truth is I gave my heart away a long time ago, my whole heart, and I never really got it back."

Sweet Home Alabama