Disclaimer: I did not invent Lily, James, Harry, Peter, Sirius, or Remus.
A/N: Okay, I don't know how many of these types of stories there are floating around, but it is my opinion that there aren't enough Remus fics out there. So I'm issuing a challenge and I wrote my own as an example. I just want short stories (or long ones if you want) on Remus' reaction to the Potters' death and Sirius' imprisonment. This isn't exactly song fiction, it's more like poetry fiction.
The Lone Wolf Howls
A lone wolf stands on a beach
Howling up at the full moon
The waves of the ocean crash on the shore
Drowning his sorrows in water
He releases his pain, his anguish
The torment of his very soul
I didn't even hear the news until today, two days after it happened. It was during a full moon, you see. I couldn't even be there. I had to read about it in the Prophet after I "recovered". Why didn't anyone tell me? Lily and James were my best friends! No one even bothered to tell me they had been murdered.
He howls because he is sad
He howls because he is lonely
He howls because he is a monster
He howls because he is lost
I never really saw it coming. I knew that Lily, James, and little Harry were under the Fidelius Charm, but I assumed they were safe. I mean, Sirius was their Secret Keeper. I can't believe that Sirius betrayed them. I suspected there was a spy in our midst because things happened that were too strange to be coincidence, but I never for one moment actually thought Sirius was the spy. It was Sirius. Sirius Black, the man I grew up with, the man who wasn't happy without a good prank. Who was always in a good mood, who was always there for me. Sirius, who came up with the idea to become Animagi. Sirius was my best friend. If someone had asked me a year ago if I ever thought that Sirius would betray Lily and James, I would have laughed. And kept laughing. The very idea was ludicrous. But who's laughing now?
A wind whips past him
Answering his mournful call
The sand beneath his paws shifts
Showing that his place in the world
Is tentative at best
Now he's a murderer. Our Padfoot, a murderer. Poor Peter, poor pathetic Peter. Wormtail was never brave, he was never smart. I never liked him much, I tolerated him for James' sake. Poor stupid Peter. Why did he go after Sirius? Order of Merlin, first class isn't much good to a dead man.
His cries echo across the water
Then sink like stones to the bottom
There is no one to hear him cry
No one to ease his suffering
I don't know what to do. I'm so alone. I have no family, no girlfriend, and now no friends. A lone wolf, that's what I am. Exiled from my pack. Or maybe they were exiled from me. Either way I'm alone. Everything I ever knew and understood is now so knotted and twisted, I doubt it will ever be untied.
The wolf is all alone in the world
So he howls to the moon
Telling it his troubles
Singing his sorrows
Lily, James, and Peter are dead. Sirius is in Azkaban, so I am the only Marauder left. I should have been their Secret Keeper. They'd still be alive, all of them. I wouldn't have betrayed them. I'd have let Voldemort kill me before I betrayed Lily, James, and Harry. But it does no good to wish that now. What was done was done. It leaves me alone and scared. I am afraid to continue my life with out them. What is Moony without Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs?
Then the sun comes up
And he is no longer a wolf
He is a man once more
But he is still alone
So he howls
I looked up at the stars in the sky, the crescent shaped moon, and felt my spine go rigid, the way it did when the moon was full. Tears ran down my cheeks. A wolf howled in the distance. I am the lone wolf. So alone, always alone.
And I threw my head back and howled. I am the lone wolf.
A/N: Now for the challenge. Here are the rules:
1) No slash implications please. I just want a story about a man mourning for his friends.
2) Can be song fiction or regular fiction, whatever.
3) It can be from Remus' PoV or just about him, but he should be the main character.
4) If you want, you can do an AU where Sirius wasn't captured or something, as long as it's about Remus.
That's it, otherwise use your imaginations. Oh, and if you want to branch off the original topic, that's fine. Another bunch of stories I'd like to read are where Remus falls in love, but I prefer it's not slash. I just feel that there aren't enough Remus fics about his struggle in life. So if you're up to the challenge, the gauntlet has been thrown down. Just be sure to e–mail when it's finished so I can read it.
*Seshat*