CHAPTER 3: MEMORIES

Remus Lupin circled around the four figures in disgust, his tail as stiff as a board. The Wolfsbane Potion had helped him retain his human mind while his transformation, yet that didn't mean he wasn't willing to attack strangers. That's what the four were, strangers. Remus Lupin knew that the dementors guarding the school would lead to trouble.

Dementors were dark creatures that tried to take away the happiness in a person. Remus was almost certain that the vile creatures were with Voldemort and his followers, the Death Eaters. Voldemort, though he was not powerful, had many determined followers, alive and dead. Including Sirius, the traitor. Remus sighed, refusing to let his memories overwhelm him.

Hogwarts was still a heavily protected place. Nobody should have been able to enter the boundaries from the outside, including the Forbidden Forest. Remus felt his tail move as he paced back and forth, next to the strangers, the figures. Why would the dementors let them inside Hogwarts? Remus grimaced as he looked at the figures again in fear rather than worry. He could only think of a single reason why. They were followers of Voldemort, trying to make Voldemort rise once again.

Then, Remus looked at the first figure. The boy's hair had been streaked blue before but as soon as Remus rolled him on the ground, the boy's hair faded to a medium shade of brown, the same color as Remus's fur. A metamorphagus. Remus snarled. Voldemort seemed to be getting more followers daily. Remus knew metamorphaguses were rare in the Wizard World. Remus just couldn't imagine what other followers Voldemort had gotten.

The next three figures had toppled on top of one another. The one on the top, who Remus shoved with his snout, was a little girl who looked no older than nine years old. She had red hair that reminded Remus of the Weasleys, the family that Harry always hung out with. She had freckles dancing across her nose, reaching both of her cheeks. Her mouth was open a bit and Remus could see that her two front teeth were missing with little stubs of new teeth peeking out from her gums, only confirming how young she was.

Remus was shocked. Not only had Voldemort convinced rare breeds of wizards to be his followers, but he had little kids too. Remus sighed, disappointed. He suddenly felt overprotective over the little girl, whether she was Voldemort's follower or not.

The next boy shocked Remus as he rubbed his snout and rolled him off of the fourth boy. The third kid had jet black hair and profound cheekbones. Just like Harry. He looked exactly like Harry except younger. Remus couldn't help but list the differences between this boy and the one in his Defense of the Dark Arts class.

This boy was plumper than Harry, and his face shape was more round than Harry's. His hair didn't seem to be as uncontrollable as Harry's and he didn't seem to have glasses. Remus used his paw to push the boy's hair back. He didn't possess the famous lightning scar either.

Remus felt his wolf eyes widen. What would Voldemort be doing with a Harry doppelganger? Voldemort was not even in power yet. Could his followers really be that determined to help him achieve success? Voldemort's followers were strong-minded people. Remus pushed his suspicions behind him. It was no use questioning the uncanny resemblance.

Remus grinded his teeth together. Nothing could surprise him now, not after the Harry look alike. Yet, as Remus turned the fourth kid over, he realized he was wrong.

James.

It was impossible. It couldn't be. James Potter was dead. Remus tried to look for differences, yet he couldn't. The boy had brown, messy hair that seemed to be constantly getting a little darker. His face was neither thin nor round, yet his ears stuck out a little. The boy had a mischievous smile on his face that seemed to be a replica of the smile of Remus's old friend. Not to mention that the boy's eyes seemed to rise in the same direction, even with his eyes closed. He looked exactly like James Potter in his first year, when Remus had first met him.

Remus smiled. He still remembered the wonderful day as if it was yesterday.

"They won't accept me," Remus remembered muttering to his mother before he boarded the momentous train for the first time. "I'm a monster."

Remus's mother, Hope Lupin, only smiled sympathetically as she replied, "You are not a monster, and I refuse to let you tell yourself that."

Remus saw his mother's smile waver. He knew his mother was worried. Despite being a former Welsh muggle insurance worker, she had always wanted Remus to go to Hogwarts once she had heard it was the best wizarding school in the world. Dumbledore, the headmaster, had made a special provision for Remus, yet Remus could see that she was still worried that Dumbledore would take back his offer.

Remus sighed as he waved goodbye to his mother and stepped onto the train.

As Remus walked in the aisle of the train, he peered into each of the compartments. There were brothers and sisters together and little cliques with people who already knew each other beforehand. Then, Remus found a single empty compartment. He sat in it, wishing that he could be normal. Wishing that he could be a part of any one of the cliques on the train. Remus closed his eyes. It wasn't meant to be. Nobody would ever accept him anyway.

"Sirius!" Remus heard a sharp, cold voice outside of his window. "Remember what I tell you. Be in Slytherin, no matter what. You must bring honor to the Black family name!"

The boy, Sirius, nodded softly. Remus could tell that he was scared of his mother, the one lecturing him to be in Slytherin. Remus felt himself pitying Sirius, having such high expectations to follow. Sirius seemed like a normal boy with long black hair and pale skin. He had a pointed nose and he had a worried look on his face.

Then, Remus saw as Sirius's mother looked to another part of the train station and looked down at her boy, eyes wide.

"Sirius, do not hang out with him," she spat. "Their family- they are traitors."

Remus just watched as Sirius stared at the young boy. He had brown eyes and brown hair that was so messy, it seemed like the boy could fit pencils in his hair without anyone knowing. The boy had a mischievous grin on his face, as if he was planning something. Remus didn't think the boy looked like a traitor, yet Remus knew looks never revealed anything about a person, being a werewolf.

The so-called traitor laughed with his parents as his mother hugged him tightly. His life seemed so easy. Remus found himself wishing that his life was simple. Then, Remus realized, his life was simple, before Greyback. Now, Remus was a monster, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Can I sit here?" Remus was pulled out of his thoughts as the young boy from before, Sirius, hovered in the doorway. 'There is nowhere else to sit."

"S-s-sure," Remus stammered a little. He wasn't used to the company. Ever since Remus became a werewolf, he never had any true friends. Whenever anybody got suspicious of him, his family always moved away without a trace, preventing any long-term relationships.

Sirius smiled a cheeky grin and held his hand out, "I am Sirius Black."

Remus noted that Sirius was nothing like his mother as Remus shook Sirius's hand, "Remus. Remus Lupin."

Remus shared a smile with Sirius when, suddenly, another boy came into the compartment.

"Hello to the people of the only empty, respectable compartment on the train!" Remus looked up and saw the 'traitor'.

"Potter," the boy grinned in a way that seemed like he knew something they did not, "James Potter."

The other two boys remained quiet after hearing what Sirius's mother had said. Finally, the train ride started. James started making a countless number of jokes and talking about his plans for Hogwarts.

Remus couldn't help but smile at James's happiness. Then, to Remus's surprise, Sirius joined in with James, laughing wildly and making stupid comments. Remus just teased his two new friends, trying to hide his own laughing with a small, sly smile.

That moment was the start of a long string of moments. It was fate, destiny that the three boys met on the train. The Sorting Hat sorted the three into Gryffindor, and they even shared a room with each other and another boy, Peter Pettigrew. The train was the start of an extraordinary friendship that Remus could and would never forget, despite the bond ending.

James Potter and Peter Pettigrew were dead. Remus still remembered the awful night the two died, the night of Halloween. When he had found out in the morning of November, Remus was speechless. It all seemed fake, especially when he was told that Sirius had been the one behind both of their deaths. Obviously, Sirius had been put into Azkaban for doing so, yet Remus felt his heart crack. He was the only one left out of the four friends. It was almost ironic. The monster being the only innocent one alive.

Yet, here was James Potter, Remus's old friend, on the ground unconscious near the door of his house.

It had to be a coincidence. It had to be. Remus felt his mind go to November 1 of that dreadful year, the day after he got separated from his friends permanently. Dumbledore had called Remus and he saw the dead bodies of his two friends, Lily and James. Memories surged through his brain as he remembered James's obsession of Lily and all the pranks he had pulled. Remus had held James's body in his arms and cried into it.

James wasn't a first year. He had graduated from Hogwarts and become an Auror. There was no way this could be him. Yet, Remus couldn't help but hope it really was James. The werewolf longed for his friends again. Remus held his breath. One thing was for sure: he would take the four kids into Hogwarts. He wouldn't lose his friends again.

Suddenly, Remus felt a jolt of pain across his spine. He whimpered and stood up on his hind legs. He looked up and saw the sun coming out. Remus's vision got blurry. He was transforming back into a human. Remus screamed as his neck was pulled back. The pain was excruciating. All the werewolf could do was look at the sky and try to ignore the pain.

The sky was a burnt red as the sun was just coming above the horizon. The moon had finally faded in the distance. Remus reminded himself of where he was, the people he was investigating. He sighed, he was human again. Remus tried to stand, but his legs didn't obey him. They wanted to stay put. Remus groaned. His body wanted to shut down. He was too exhausted, yet he had to at least show Dumbledore the four kids he had found. It didn't matter whether they were or were not a threat. The four were in Hogwarts territory and Hogwarts was Dumbledore's domain. He was the headmaster.

Remus closed his eyes. Just a little rest. Remus refused. He felt terrible, but if he fainted, the four kids could wake up and roam the forest as well as Hogwarts freely. That would be a danger to the school, to the students inside, even if one of the kids looked like James.

Crawling to the kids, Remus fought the pain, resisting the urge to faint. He gripped his wand in one of his hands and one hand of each of the four kids in the other. Remus took a deep breath, he had never done this before, yet he had to. Remus bit his lip. He could do it. Then, he lifted his wand and moved it in a familiar motion.

Remus apparated into Dumbledore's office with the four kids. Then, he let unconsciousness win the battle in his body.