This is my newest story, since I'm taking a little break from "Playground Love" for the moment (well…. more like a writer's blocking break), I came up with this idea about two months ago and had been planning and plotting meticulously since then - and I thought, "what the hey! I'll write this story and I'll write it now!"
So here it is. Everything except for my take on the concept of this story belongs to J.K. Rowling… and who knows? Maybe I've been stealing her brainwaves or something because to my mind, it seems rather probable that James and Sirius would have needed a reason to choose Peter over Remus, right?
Please read and review! I know this chapter is incredibly short but then, my prologues always are! Look at "Playground Love" for more evidence of that!
Prologue
The first thing I ever remembered was the house. A huge, imposing manor on a hill doesn't fade easily from the memory. Tall fir trees framed it like a picture postcard – it was a dream, an ideal. I haven't been back in so long that I'm probably being led by a fit of fancy in describing it. The only thing that ever marred the perfection in my mind was me, playing in the freshly fallen snow.
I was always the failure in my family. My grandfather constantly assured me that I was akin to him and therefore could never be a failure, but I didn't really believe him. The looks I received daily from my uncle always proved his words otherwise.
As a child, I could not comprehend the enormity of my world. I would race down the long hallways with my playmates and gaze at the paintings the covered the walls. They were my ancestors, my blood. I'd try to think of them as real people, boys and girls who loved to play Quidditch and accidentally set fire to their cousin's cat and used to play pranks on the house elves.
They were boys and girls who went to Hogwarts, just like everyone else. Hogwarts was a privilege I doubted I would ever earn, and I felt like I would never become any closer to this long-dead family of mine. Even those who were alive were distant and peculiar.
Yet this was only because they were different, as was I, and even through my infant eyes I knew that our name meant more than life itself. It backed up all our opinions, our friendships and downfalls. We thought we ruled it but, in reality, it ruled us. This name could give you everything you ever wished for and more… love, success, wealth, happiness… it was a little genie that popped from its Aladdin lamp every time you uttered it.
My name is Remus James Lupin. I graduated from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at the top of my class, and I entered into an unspoken career of mysteries. I lost my friends, my love, and my reason to live over twenty years ago. I am a true failure, for I let my life be tainted by this name.
My name is Remus James Lupin… but my mother's name was Malfoy.