Author's Notes: I'm going to admit, writing this one made me very sad. I think Lupin was a very complex guy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Remus Lupin

There's too much complication, too much that's been muddled with for the past to be revisited once again.

It's tough on a child to learn about prejudice at a young age. Trust, which is much to easily given, is a precious thing indeed then. And so the idea of non-action essentially ruled my young life. If I didn't do anything, I wouldn't stand out, and people wouldn't know what I was.

I never put up much resistance towards society's expectations of what I was, just like I never put up much resistance towards James and Sirius's actions. Most of that has made me what I turned out to be, and even, to some extent, shaped others into who they were.

But that's life. It gives you your lot and you can only go from there.

There was no real future for me, I knew that. I think I knew it even while still in school, but it was easier to dream then, when the others were there. James, Sirius…even Peter, when we were young and real life didn't seem as real.

It hurt later on, if I let it, to realize I was the only one left. The last real marauder. Those days seemed so long ago, and though I wouldn't easily go back to them, it was never easy to look forward either.

That's why the Order was such a blessing…and a curse as well. Nymphadora Tonks…I don't know what she saw in me. An older man, battered and beaten down by life in general, his life in specifics. No real means of making money, no real future, cursed with a disease that could harm her, the sort of man mothers warn their daughters about. But she always swore there was more to me than what I wanted to see.

And there is, I know. It's just that, I hadn't let that part of myself out for a very long time. As it was, only the marauders, and Lily to some extent, had gotten to know me, to see past the lycanthropy, and accept me. But so very few do, those in the know, and it's so much easier to just go along with that.

But she wore me down, enough for marriage, which was quite enough of a challenge for me to accept, but then, a child! Thank goodness for Harry, or I might have really missed one of the most important moments of my entire forsaken life! Just like back then…James could so easily talk sense into me, if I'd let him…

I cannot even begin to express how thankful I was that Teddy received her metamorphmagi abilities, rather than my lycanthropy. That was the first moment that I knew his lot in life would be easier. And with Voldemort's impending defeat, that was simply another dark cloud in his life gone. Everything I could have possibly wanted for him, for his life to be perfect, wonderful, was there. And still is, of course, except for his parents.

I'd always ached for Harry, that he'd never get to know James or Lily, that he missed out on that essential part of childhood, of his past. And I swore to myself that, if by some miracle I ever were to have a child, I would make certain he knew me. Look - I couldn't even keep it. Now Teddy's lost both of us.

Andromeda's a good woman, she'll raise him right. And I know Harry will take the right hand in helping him grow up. He'll know the right stories to tell him as well, so that maybe Teddy will know us, know me, in some small fashion. Yes, Teddy's got Harry, who knows what it's like, and so that cloud over his life can be alleviated somewhat. It won't be the same as if we were there for him…but we at least did our part for him to have a better world to grow up in.

And I can finally rest, rejoin those all those who were lost, my friends, and sit back as time tells our own tales. And wonder of wonders, if I look back on it, my own tale, it's not as bad as it always looked like it must be. I may not have done a lot, but when it mattered, when it really mattered, I stepped up and did what needed to be done. Perhaps that really says it all.

Time is limited and fleeting, and extra complications may make it seem hopeless, but I think I finally realized, in the end, is that there's always something that makes every bit of it - the sorrow, the tragedy, and the pain - worth living through to reach it. You've just got to be able to admit it to yourself.

And accept it.