Chapter Four: Wands, Goblins, and Books.. Oh my!

"Boys! Are you ready?" Dad yelled up the stairs loud enough to startle a herd of deaf elephants.

"Be down in a second!" Remus called back down, sounding as if he was just outside my door.

I was right because not a moment later Remus opened my door, raising an eyebrow in a chastising way that no eleven year old had any business being able to do. The brat picked that up from our Mum, Rem always was a quick learner. Mum could guilt me into doing anything with that stupid eyebrow; His wasn't as refined but it conveyed the same message: 'I know you aren't a stupid person, I know you know better than this, please don't make me have to get upset.'

"Seriously, 'Phy?" Remus said, rolling his eyes as I grumbled and sat up from my supine position on the bed. I half-heartedly began putting my shoes on while attempting to smooth my rumbled hair down. It had gotten longer than I was used too, maybe I should have Mum cut it soon.

"I thought you were excited to go to Diagon Alley?" Remus asked, sitting down next to me and tying my shoelaces while I fought a losing battle with my hair.

"It will be there in a couple of hours." I said defensively, finally giving up and standing abruptly. I grabbed my jacket from the back of a chair in my room and walked out of the door, Remus right behind me and waiting for me to elaborate. "I am excited, I'm just tired from running so much last night and I really don't want to get fitted for robes."

"You'll daydream the entire time anyway!" Remus said, leaning against the doorway of the bathroom as I went inside and turned the water on at the sink.

"True." I admitted shamelessly, ducking my head into the sink when it was filled with water. Once my head was soaked I brought it out and grabbed the towel Remus was handing out to me, using it to dry my hair before continuing our conversation. "I just hate standing."

"You ran like two miles last night!" Remus exclaimed, shaking his head. "You'll survive standing for an hour. Besides, I'll be there to distract you."

"Hmm, good point. Love you Rem." I said cheerfully, clapping him on the back as we both headed down the stairs.

"Why have you been running so much anyway?" Remus asked from behind me, the stairs too narrow to be able to walk side by side. "And I saw you doing those weird things last night again too."

"Those are called crunches, Rem, it's a muggle form of exercise. I read about it in a book. I wanted to get in shape, a sound body makes for a sound mind, y'know?" I said, unconsciously moving to the side and stopping for a moment as Remus took his normal spot next to me.

We moved as a unit, my twin and I, so used to being around one another that I could guess what he was thinking a lot of the time. Doesn't mean he doesn't still surprise me sometimes. Remus was about to respond as we walked into the living room but was cut off by Mum.

"Zephyrus Lyall Lupin!" Mum scolded, looking at my wet hair and rumpled clothes with a critical eye. Ah, damn. There goes the eyebrow. "Were you sleeping? Again? It is almost noon! Never have I met someone so lazy, I swear-"

"Yes, yes Hope. There's no time." Dad said pleadingly to his wife, moving just out of her sight enough to send me a wink. Mum gave me one last scowl before turning to face Dad. I sent a grateful look his way, grinning crookedly, but wiped it off my face just as Mum turned back around to face Remus and I again.

"Where are you going?" Mum asked

"Mum, we kno-" I complained

"Where?" Mum interrupted sharply, making me close my mouth with an audible click. I really need to learn when to pick my battles.

"Leaky Cauldron, Diagon Alley." Remus replied promptly, enunciating each syllable in a perfectly clear voice. "We've got this Mum, we're right behind you."

"Alright. Be safe you two, see you in a moment then." Mum bit her lip, still worrying a little, but Dad grabbed her arm and they left with a small pop that signified apparition. We would be using the Floo.

"Ready then?" Remus asked, turning to the fire and throwing in the green dust.

"Always." I replied, grinning as I stepped into the fire. "Leaky Cauldron, Diagon Alley!"

I watched as Remus disappeared from my view, everything spinning in an unpleasant sort of way. I held my breath, not wanting to inhale any soot or something worse, waiting until the spinning stopped to step from the fire once again.

I moved to the side as Remus came through, our Parents already heading towards us. Dad got his wand out and cast a cleaning spell on us both to get rid of the telltale signs of Floo travel.

The first place we visited was Gringotts, which fascinated me to no end. The building was amazing although the goblins running the place were a little intimidating. Rem stayed closed to me throughout the trip so I assumed he felt the same way I did about the small, unpleasant race of people. They just gave off an unwelcoming vibe.

Unfortunately, next was Madam Malkin's in order to get our robes. The process was as dreary as I feared it was going to be although it was over much quicker thanks to magic than it would have been without it. Mum was fascinated that the measuring tape moved on its own while a floating quill recorded the measurements; Mum was a muggle, so even after being married to Dad for as long as she has, magic was still amazingly convenient and a little awe inspiring to her.

After we finished, we decided to split up to cover more ground since we got a late start. So, after everyone pointedly looked at me when the late start was mentioned and after I coughed, rubbing the back of my sheepishly, Dad took Remus to get potion ingredients while Mum and I went to get quills, parchment, and envelopes to take with us to school.

"Hey Mum?" I said, the lilt at the end of the sentence turning the statement into a questions.

"Yes, love?" Mum asked, threading her arm loosely through my own as we walked down the street towards the shop.

"Do you ever feel sad that you can't do magic?" I asked, hoping I wasn't treading on thin ice. I had always wondered about my Mum, who remained ever optimistic and loving in the face of all of our troubles. It was inspirational.

"Hm, not really. Sometimes when I'm doing the dishes maybe." Mum replied, shrugging a little. She must have noticed that I wasn't completely satisfied with her answer because she stopped walking, pulling me to the side of the street where we had a relative amount of privacy. "Why do you ask?"

"I just wonder if it's hard for you; being around Dad, Rem, and I when we can do magic. It doesn't bother you?" I asked, the thought spilling out of my mouth before I had time to think about it.

"Oh, Zephyrus." Mum said, her laughter spilling out and filling the air of Diagon Alley for a moment. I loved her laugh, it reminded me of hearing a clear bubbling brook in the middle of the woods. Her amber brown eyes, so similar to Remus' own, gentled as she looked at me with love clearly expressed on her face.

"It's easy to forget how young you are sometimes, you've always acted like a little adult. I think your father and I sometimes forget you are just a child and expect too much from me." Mum admitted, her lips turning downward for a moment at the thought. I was about to interrupt, to tell her that they never expected too much from me, but she continued talking before I had the chance. "I love your father and I love both you and Remus. I know who I am and where I belong in this world, it's with my family."

"I know, Mum, but-" I started, quieting as Mum shook her head softly and held up a hand to ask for me to stop and let her finish.

"Magic is amazing, don't get me wrong, it is truly amazing and it has been responsible for some of the most beautiful things I have ever seen." Mum said, her eyes glazing a little and lips twitching as she thought about some memory. Only a moment later, her expression darkened, though not with hate or revulsion, just with the expression of someone who had seen some of the worst the world had to offer but kept looking for the best in it anyway. "Magic is also responsible for some of the worst things I have ever seen. It is terrifying, powerful, and capable of horrendous, unspeakable things. There is one thing I want to tell you and have you promise me it is a lesson you will never forget."

"Anything, Mum." I responded, my eyes wide as I looked at my earnest Mum with her shining amber eyes. I noticed something I hadn't noticed before, whether it was because I wasn't paying attention or because it had snuck up on me, but my Mum looked older than I thought. There were stress lines on her face that hadn't been there a few years ago, a haggard yet determined air about her. She was still easily a beautiful woman but she also looked like someone who had been struggling for a while, hiding her exhaustion behind smiles and laughing to ease some of the tension in her shoulders.

"People will tell you there are bad people and good people, Zephyrus. They will say one person doesn't deserve something for a reason and then they attempt to justify their reasoning. The world isn't black and white, love, and I know how smart you are; you probably already know that."

"What I want you to remember is that those who discriminate, even when it is done in the most despicable way, aren't always beyond redemption. They deserve pity, compassion, and empathy as much as those who are being discriminated against. You never know someone until you have walked a mile in their shoes; it is only when you cry with someone, laugh with them, eat with them, grieve, teach, learn, and love with them that you can truly know who they are." Mum finished, rubbing my arm gently as I silently took in her words.

She once again threaded her arm through my own, pulling me along down the street and guiding me while I was lost in my thoughts, committing her words to memory and thinking on them carefully.

I was not the most compassionate person in the world, my family was as aware as that as I was. Remus was full of compassion, it was one of the traits that endeared him to me, because he was always going out of his way to help others. I wasn't like that most of the time; Sure, I would help someone struggling by holding a door or help someone pick up their books if they dropped them. I wouldn't give the metaphorical shirt off of my back to a stranger if they needed it like Remus would though.

My mind latched onto the scenario instantly, not noticing the way my Mum was watching me being consumed by my thoughts with a fond expression as we turned a corner then continued towards the proper shop.

If a stranger needed the shirt off of my back, my first reaction would be to take a step back and analyze the situation. It's how I worked. Why did they need the shirt? What happened to cause them to lose their own shirt or means of getting a shirt? Would giving them this shirt affect me or anyone I know in a negative or positive way? Questions were always first, then came anwsers.

After gathering whatever information I could, I would then create a mental pro's and con's list. What were the positive reasons for giving the man the shirt, what were the negative. Whichever one made the most sense and had the most points would result in my decision.

The last 'phase' of my thinking was my conscious. Even though it sounded mildly heartless, it was the way that I was raised before and your entire way of thinking doesn't just change; especially when I saw no reason for it TO change. If the decision would not be defying my morals or otherwise negatively impact my mental or emotional faculties, than logic would rule out.

Granted, it would have to be a serious situation that caused me to go against logic and reasoning. For instance, if I was required to kill myself or another person, an innocent person that I knew nothing about, logically I would kill them in order to make sure my plans come to fruition and I save my loved ones. I couldn't, however, in good conscious kill that person because they could have a family of their own and I would never be able to forgive myself. Thus, I would most likely decide to kill myself in order to preserve my morals. Well, I'd like to think that I would anyway but who knows until they are put into the situation. Only if there was no other way out of the situation, which is highly unlikely because there is always another way; you just have to be creative enough to either find one or make one up yourself as you go along.

"I think I understand." I said out loud quietly, snapping out of my thoughts and refocusing on the world around me. I noticed absently that we were actually standing outside the shop, Mum casually observing the members of the magical community walking by with a smile on her face. I grimaced a little, mentally berating myself for once again getting completely lost in my thoughts and tuning the rest of the world out. It was a bad habit I had that was dangerous as well.

"Oh?" Mum asked, both of her eyebrows raising just a little to express her desire for me to share my thoughts.

"You're right, it is only rational to withhold judgement until you have all of the facts." I said, smiling a little at what seemed like a good realization for me. This was one of the reasons I loved my family, they were a smart bunch and challenged my viewpoints without aggression, then gave me the space to come to my own conclusions.

"I see." Mum said, her face falling just a little bit which made my lips instinctively turn down at the corners. Why was she not pleased? I thought about what I had said and decided that I hadn't clearly expressed myself, so spoke up again before she turned to head into the store.

"I mean, without using all of the available tools at your disposal to gather all of the information you can, it would be negligent to make a decision because it would be uninformed." I said, talking a little faster as I tried to tell my Mum what I had learnt from her. "Humans, well sentient beings in general I guess, are complicated and have many layers. We are both gifted and cursed because we feel emotions in a more complicated way than most others. Most of the time, people do not do things without having a reason. Its why the term the ends justify the means is so famous; people excuse doing bad things because they want a better outcome."

"So, because we are so complicated, it is only when you 'walk a mile in another person's shoes' that you can actually form an opinion, even though as with all opinions it would be one full of bias." I said all of this quickly, gesturing a little with my hands as I spoke. It was an interesting topic of conversation and easily one of the most stimulating conversations I have had in awhile, so I was making the most of it. "When I say 'use all of the tools at your disposal', I don't just mean getting facts about people. Empathy, compassion, pity; these are tools just as much as logic and fact gathering are. They just gather different information! It's only when you combine all of the information that a decision can truly be 'informed', y'know?"

The look of pride on my Mum's face really said it all. I beamed at her, happy to have invoked that look to appear on her face, and she quickly had her arms wrapped around me in a warm embrace.

"You are going to be a great man one day, Zephyrus." Mum said, ruffling my hair and laughing as my expression soured. The 'hair ruffling' was an annoying gesture, even more so because I secretly enjoyed the warm feeling it produced in my stomach when they did it because of the fond look my parents gave afterwards.

"Thanks, Mum." I replied, wiping the sour look of my face and giving her a smile as I fixed my hair to lay flat. "Ready to get the supplies and meet Dad and Remus? It's almost time to get our wands!"

"The part you've been looking forward to the most, I know!" Mum said, her eyes still shining a little with unshed tears as she smiled at me. The tears she held back, mostly because we were in public after all, were tears born out of pride and happiness. Those tears didn't bother me at all. "Now, before we finish up, to answer your question. No, I know how much magic means to you boys and Lyall, but I would not want to burden myself with it. I have no desire to wield it because I am extremely satisfied with my lot in life; the only magic I need is called family and love. It's more powerful than anything else in this world, not even death can stop its power."

I nodded along, thinking that my Dad had honestly gotten extremely lucky when stumbled on a woman in the woods and he decided to save my Mum from a Boggart that day. She was a rare kind of person.

"Although, I don't mind that your father can make the dishes wash themselves. It's definitely a perk to marrying a wizard." Mum said, giggling a little. She had told me once that some of her old friends would die from shock if they knew her husband did the dishes, let alone that he used magic to do so. "When you boys get old enough to use it out of school, you better swing by often enough to help your old Mum out with silly things like that."

"Of course, Mum. I wouldn't have it any other way." I said, shaking my head a little fondly at the way she could go from having a heart to heart to acting like a schoolgirl who had just fallen in love was beyond me. We finally stepped into the shop to buy the supplies we had come for, guiltily looking at the clock and hurrying so we didn't cause Dad and Rem to wait too long.

I wasn't lying when I said that I wouldn't have it any other way. The memories had all but faded now, only the ones I had drilled in my head revolving information about the Harry Potter books remained but those were hard facts anyway not memories. Despite not being capable of remembering, I don't think the family I had been a part of was quite as tight knit as we, the Lupin family, are.

Yeah, I wouldn't change a thing.

"There it is!" I crowed, tugging on Remus' hand impatiently as soon as I saw Ollivander's wand shop ahead of us. The sign was ancient looking, only slightly faded but not enough to be illegible by any means.

"I see it, I see it." Remus said, the exasperation written as clearly on his face as it was imbued in his tone of voice. "You know, if you hadn't taken so long picking out quills, we would be here already. We might already have our wands, actually."

"Extenuating circumstances." I replied absently, carelessly gesturing my hand in a wave as if I was pushing the statement aside. Remus knew I meant nothing by it of course, I could get quite focused. Who wouldn't be excited about their wand?

Remus was as well, though he was just as nervous as he was excited; I could feel the trembling in his hand, I knew him well enough that I could also hear the slight trepidation in his voice the closer we came to Ollivanders. He had a nightmare last night and it had really gotten to him in a bad way. I can't explain why I had woken up or why I had the sudden urge to see Remus, it was just something that happened. Maybe it was because we were not only twins but both magical as well? It was something that deserved more research before I could form a hypothesis.

When I had entered into his room, Remus was shaking underneath his blanket. It was the middle of June so I knew it wasn't from the cold. Without hesitation, I climbed into his bed, just like I had all those years ago in the hospital and many a time since.

I held him, letting the trembles wracking his body into my own and providing something solid, warm, and alive to hold onto. I was his rock in the middle of the ocean, anytime he needed one, just as he was mine. It was after thirty minutes, when I decided that he had calmed down enough, that I got out of bed and padded silently out of his room. I had felt his eyes, burning with curiosity no doubt, staring holes into my back as I left.

Honestly, I had only ever seen him this upset one time after the hospital, so I figured it was a special occasion. Opening the bottom drawer of my chipped secondhand dresser, I pulled out a small white box and returned to Remus' room. When I climbed back into his bed, I opened the box and pulled out two bars of chocolate for us to eat.

It was something Mum did after every full moon. She gave Remus a piece of chocolate, a treat that was insanely rare for her when she was a child and something she associated with love and familial affection because she only got one bar on her birthday each year. Dad had a stable job with the ministry, not his prior position because he refused to participate on any committee's since the attack, but he was an adviser who got paid well enough. We weren't rich, and it wasn't cheap moving all of the time, but we made do.

As we munched on the chocolate, I stayed silent and gazed out the window Remus's bed was facing. This last place was a little more out of the way than we usually went, but Mum loved the house and all the nature outside that the city lacked. Our nearest neighbor was about a mile away and I think this is the house that our parents were going to stay in for our years at Hogwarts; without Remus changing here all of the time, it's unlikely anyone will be suspicious.

Remus was the first one to break the silence, as he always was. He told me he had a dream that Ollivander had told him the wand chooses the wizard, but what wand would want a monster as a master? The man then refused to serve Remus, casting him out into the street filled with people who were all staring at him with thinly veiled disgust.

Rem told me that in the dream, he ran down the street to avoid prying eyes but people were lining the streets to watch him run past. Calling out to him that he was a monster, unlovable, a killer, a dangerous beast to be put down. No better than a rabid dog.

It broke my heart, as it always did, to hear Remus say these things because I knew that it was what he thought about himself even though I disagreed. I was family, he would scoff, of course I wouldn't think it or voice it even if it was true. So, I did what I always did, and I held him even tighter. I told him that he knew it was us against the world, that no matter what we would get a wand for him and he would live the life he wanted to live. We were Lupins, enduring when others would or could not endure is what we do.

"Alright there, Rem?" I asked, snapping back to the present when I felt Remus' slightly sweating hand slip out of my own.

"Of course!" Remus replied with fake bravado oozing off of him, which was his attempt at covering his nerves.

"Alright then, let's go." I said, pulling the door open and casting my eyes about in open fascination as I took in the dusty shop. It smelled like furniture polish, dust, and everything had an almost timeless feeling. It was the strangest sensation I had ever come across, I wonder if it was from wandmaking itself, which was allegedly a complicated art, or a feeling in all wand shops.

There was no one at the front counter, where Remus and I waited patiently, turning to face our parents when they stepped into the shop. I don't think my Mum quite knew how to feel about being inside the store because she was sticking close to my father's side, something she did when she was feeling out of her element, and though her eyes were wandering they constantly settled on Remus, Dad, and I in a never ending cycle. Almost as though she was reassuring herself that we were here, safe, and nothing had changed.

"No one's here. Should we come back later, Dad?" Remus asked, looking as though he was about to bolt any minute. Dad raised his eyebrows incredulously, suppressing a smile.

"Well, Well. What have we here? Hogwarts students?" an airy voice said quietly, though the sound carried clearly in the otherwise silent shop. The voice had a strange lilt to it that made it seem as though it's owner was steeped in knowledge; it gave off a mystical feeling that I found hard to describe. Peculiar seemed a decent word to choose.

The word peculiar, meaning strange or odd as well as unusual when used as an adjective, was certainly a word that fit Mr. Ollivander perfectly. His eyes were a pale silver and seemed luminous in his rather dimly lit shop. His eyes were the most dominant feature on his face, despite the wizened skin or white hair hanging loose to his shoulders. Those eyes had an eerie quality about them, almost as though they were projecting that they knew all of the secrets of the world. It gave me goosebumps.

At his sudden appearance, both Remus and I almost jumped out of our skins. Mr. Ollivander paid it no mind, simply finishing his evaluation of us both before looking towards Dad, a flash of recognition crossing his face.

"Ah, Lyall Lupin. 12 inches, Ebony, unicorn hair unyielding flexibility." Ollivander said, smiling softly.

"Your memory serves you well, Mr. Ollivander." Dad replied, nodding to confirm Ollivander's statement and fingering his wand which was currently stashed inside of his robes.

"I remember every wand I've ever sold." Ollivander stated, no hint of arrogance in his tone when he spoke. "You first then."

Remus jumped a little when Ollivander pointed to him, swallowing nervously before stepping forward to the counter. Ollivander retreated to the back of his store before appearing again with a box in hand, laying in on the counter in front of Remus and gesturing for him to pick it up. Apprehensively, Remus picked up the wand from the box and held it aloft, looking from it to Ollivander.

"Give it a wave!" Ollivander said cheerfully, gesturing again with his hand. Remus did so and I cringed as a vase on the counter shattered. Ollivander frowned, looking at the wand and ignoring Remus' petrified face, before snatching the wand back and putting it aside after placing it back into the box.

Remus tried four more wands before finally finding one that shot out red sparks when he waved it. The look of excitement, happiness, and pride on his face was a memory I will cherish for a long time. It was a Ten and one quarter inch cypress wand with a unicorn hair core that was, according to Mr. Ollivander, quite pliable.

I gave a congratulatory clap on the back to Remus before coming up to the counter eagerly. Ollivander's pale eyes bore into my own jade eyes for a moment, seemingly searching for something, before retreating to the back. He set a wand down in front of me and gestured for me to try it. I had barely had it in my fingers, not even waving it around, before it was snatched back by the eccentric wandmaker.

"No, no. Definitely not." Ollivander muttered, once again reaching for one of the many boxes on the dusty shelves.

The process was repeated for quite awhile, almost twenty minutes going by, and I was getting restless. What if I didn't have a wand because I wasn't supposed to be in this world? I dismissed the thought almost instantly because I knew I had magic, which rendered the argument invalid, I just needed to relax and be patient. Obviously, some of Remus' nerves had rubbed off on me.

My Dad seemed unbothered by the wait, casually watching on in interest, but both my Mum and Remus seemed discomforted by the amount of time. I could see the worry on their faces as clear as day even though they were trying to hide it. In contrast, Mr. Ollivander seemed only to get more excited about how long it was taking, muttering about how much he enjoys difficult customers.

"Here we go! 10 inches, pine, dragon heartstring core." Mr. Ollivander said, laying down the box and looking at me eagerly.

I picked up the wand and felt warmth flood my arm and then the rest of my body. My magic hummed and the wand seemed to hum back in response, almost as though it was begging to be used. I waved it and smiled in satisfaction when red and blue sparks came out of the tip.

"Ah! Knew I'd get it eventually. Pine is an excellent wood; only for those who are independent individuals." Mr. Ollivander said, clapping a little with a happy expression on his face. "Very adaptable to new magic and perfect for non-verbal spell casting, I'm sure you will do great things with that wand."

"Thank you, Mr. Ollivander." I murmured, staring at the wand in my hand with reverence. The wood was a fine grain, the handle a darker color than the rest of the wand which was a very light brown. It had a wonderful thin spiral design going up to the tip on the lighter portion that was the same dark brown as the handle. I was enamored instantly.

Dad paid Mr. Ollivander for both of our wands and we all left the shop, Remus and I excitedly comparing our wands. The last thing we did for the day was stop by the bookstore to get the necessary books for our first year. In addition to what was required, Dad let us pick out two books each that we could read for pleasure.

Remus chose Hogwarts, A History as well as one that was about Non-Human Spiritous Apparitions. The second book was on a subject that I know Rem had been interested in for quite awhile; it was what our Dad specialized in after all. Creatures like Boggarts, Dementors, and Poltergeists.

Personally, the first book that I chose was called Occlumency: Mind Arts for Beginners. I had not forgotten my decision to learn how to protect my mind, especially from Dumbledore and Voldemort; it could be fatal if either of them were able to see into my mind. I think why Voldemort gaining this information would be detrimental, or, y'know, apocalyptic, is rather self explanatory.

Dumbledore not so much because I feared he would use the information with bad intentions, with him it was because I honestly thought he might do nothing at all except prevent me from doing anything to change the future.

In the end, the 'Light' side does win after all and Voldemort is destroyed. I think fear of a bad outcome would provoke him into staying my hand, bordering on the side of caution as those who are older tend to do, instead of using the information to his advantage and saving lives. "Sacrifices must be made" after all. No, my plan hinged on the idea that I would be the only one with knowledge about upcoming events. I was going to be the puppet master in this story.

The second book that I got was one that garnered a strange look from both Dad and Remus. Guide to Gobbledegook: Goblin Language, Customs, and Mannerisms. Another book that fit neatly into my plan, though it wouldn't be useful for seven or eight years, I like to be prepared - which means gathering as much knowledge as possible to rely on.

'Yes, I think things were coming along quite nicely' I thought, smiling with a bit of a skip in my step as I hummed thoughtfully to myself. I had one hand on my new wand and the other holding a bag with the books Dad had bought for me, happy that the time for passivity was almost over. Soon, it would be time for events to begin unfolding, much like one of the plays Mum used to take Remus and I to at a local theater. The actors had their lines, though they didn't quite know it, and I had the metaphorical playscript open in my lap with a quill poised to make a few crucial changes. The culmination, the moment when my plan finally came together, will be a beautiful, beautiful finale. Now I just have to make sure everyone lives to be able to see the results of my efforts.

One misstep or miscalculation could result in the plan derailing or exposure. It would be remiss of me not to have backup plans in place just in case some of the… riskier parts didn't go as well as hoped but with luck it would be mostly smooth sailing. I was an unknown factor considering I obviously had no idea how my presence would change things, which was why I needed to lay low for the most part.

The first crucial step was honestly most likely one of the more risky aspects, with no backup plan or idea of how it will effect the events. I mean, I've weighed the pro's and con's - logically, I believe it should circumvent some of the more negative parts and, hopefully, ensure the safety of at least two lives.

The butterfly effect states that one butterfly beating its wings could cause a hurricane on the other side of the world. I'm not quite sure if I believe that, honestly considering it a rather exorbitant hyperbole, but I was doing a lot more than beating some tiny wings. I was messing with fate, lives, and magic; all while hoping I'm good enough to stay one step ahead and not overestimating my abilities in the process.

If everything worked out as I hoped, then the world WOULD be a better place, I think. Remus would be alive, James and Lily Potter, Sirius Black. Dumbledore would survive, which considering how much he has contributed to the world could probably be revolutionary. Nicolas Flamel wouldn't destroy the Philosopher's Stone, meaning both he and his wife would live. Fred Weasley, Nymphadora Tonks, Alastor Moody, Severus Snape. The number of lives this could save - it was a huge undertaking, a calculated risk.

I also wouldn't mind if I, myself, survived as well.

Only time will tell, I suppose.

A/N: Wow, this ended up a lot longer than I originally intended. Seriously, they were supposed to be in and out of Diagon Alley. The Hogwarts Express was also supposed to be included in this chapter but I decided to end it and do the Express in my next chapter, where you see the first major change in the plot because of something Zephyrus does. Hope you enjoy ;)

Replying to Reviews: Thank you so much for your support!

Maya Poltergeist: Reviewing, especially lengthy ones where you tell me what you like or don't like, what you think about the character, and the sort of things you would like to see will ALWAYS make me review faster. I originally planned to update once a week, posting a chapter a week because I had this idea last weekend and have written over 30k+ words on it in just the last week, but seeing someone interested makes me impatient to see how you like the next chapter - which makes me post the next chapter! It also helps a tremendous amount by giving me another viewpoint and getting me excited about writing. As far as Regulus goes, I do think they would make a great match personally. Regardless of whether or not they end up dating or falling in love, I assure you Mr. Regulus Black is a very important piece of Zephyrus' plan and will be a reoccuring character in the story, more and more the older they both become. Thank you for the review!

Sakura Lisel: I think Zephyrus isn't worried so much about Remus' childhood as much as he is remembering the broken and eventually dead man that he ends up as when he read the series. This is his brother, his twin, that we are talking about - he knows the hard life Remus will live after school. He will be impoverished, heart broken by the death's of his friends, and become a shell of the person he once was. I do agree that Remus won't be as afraid as he might have been in Canon, but I also think a lot of his insecurities will still be there, which I address in this chapter briefly. Remus views himself as a monster and thinks that only his family could ever accept him for who he is now - Zephyrus is his age, yes, but still family. I don't think it helps at all that Hope and Lyall moved Remus around, both in Canon and in my story, and avoided allowing him to interact with anyone outside the immediate family. I think it only re-enforced the idea that no one could accept him - even his parents think so adamantly enough to spend a lot of money moving around. Basically, I am going to write Remus as being a lot less shy but still insecure about aspects of himself and interactions with others. I also think, because he has only really interacted with three people for years and years, he would be naive in certain social situations. I hope you enjoy the story as it progresses and continue to review in order to allow me to see how you view things!

~Rache

P.S. I wouldn't mind getting a few reviews with anybody's thoughts, comments, feelings, concerns - hell, I wouldn't mind seeing a flame to be honest. It tells me you read it and I did my job!

(As a writer, I feel that my job is to invoke a strong emotional response in readers - whether it be negative or positive - while just using the English language as my method of communication. The beauty that is the written word! )

Pairing Poll: In the lead is Mr. Regulus Black!

Sirius Black x Zephyrus = 0

Regulus Black x Zephyrus = 1

James Potter x Zephyrus = 0

Original Character x Zephyrus = 0

Other x Zephyrus = 0

Keep voting! Obviously romance won't even be a thing until Fourth year at the earliest, but I think the main pairing for the story might even begin a couple of years after that if things keep to schedule. Sometimes a story has a mind of it's own, so who really knows, but I want to hear who you all think would be good!