Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or any of the characters that appear
in those books. They are the wonderful creations of J.K. Rowling.
Note: This short story is the first of seven that will be companions to my series of fanfics about the "Old Crowd's" Hogwarts years. It contains spoilers for my other series (which is currently in Year 2). You can find Remus Lupin and the Werewolf Within (Year 1) and the in-progress Peter Pettigrew Year 2 at http://boards.harrypotter.warnerbros.com/web/hpus/messages.jsp?topic=7686054 &board=Book&so=a Please read, review and most importantly, enjoy!
~A Rough Week for Remus~
The end of October was nearing and Remus Lupin was quite nervous. He was about to go out for dinner with a Miss Arabella Figg. That in itself was not nerve wracking; the two of them had been a couple for a few years now. What was making the young man extremely anxious that particular day was that he was planning to ask Arabella to marry him. He spent an extraordinarily long time looking at his reflection in the mirror, trying to get everything just right. Finally, he gave up and let his light brown hair be, in spite of the gray hairs beginning to show.
He showed up at Arabella's doorstep right on time and knocked. She opened the door and Remus stood staring at her. She looked so amazing; her long dark brown hair was flowing down her shoulders and the red dress she had on emphasized just the right parts of her body. For a moment, Remus was utterly speechless, but he recovered enough to stammer, "You, you look, v-v- very nice tonight."
"Thanks, Remus," she replied with a laugh. "That suit looks good on you, too."
Remus blushed, and quickly offered her his arm. "I thought we could walk," he explained.
Arabella took his arm happily.
As soon as the couple's dinner dishes had disappeared, Remus knew it was time. Reaching into his pocket, he got down on one knee in front of the woman he loved.
"Will you marry me?" he asked simply, holding out a beautiful diamond ring.
Arabella's brown eyes sparkled with tears of happiness. "Yes, Remus, I will."
He placed the ring on her finger and felt as if he were walking on air. He put a hand on her cheek, then pulled her close in a soft kiss. When they broke apart, they were both smiling widely.
Dessert arrived and the happily affianced couple fed each other chocolate cake, Arabella's ring sparkling merrily each time she moved her hand. Remus couldn't imagine being more happy, and he looked forward to the day that he could bring Arabella home as his wife and they could begin their lives together.
For awhile, Remus even forgot the danger his friends were in, for unfortunately, trouble was brewing, in the form of the Dark Wizard Voldemort and about a week into Remus and Arabella's engagement, Remus was awoken from a deep sleep by a familiar voice.
"Mr. Lupin?" it called gently.
Remus sat up groggily. He realized that the voice belonged to Hogwarts' headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.
"Professor Dumbledore?" he asked, confused.
"Albus," the old wizard answered. "If you are to be working with me, you must call me Albus. But there is really no time for that now. We must get over to Miss Figg's house, for there is a matter of grave importance that must be discussed."
Remus immediately jumped out of bed, asking only, "Where to?" before disapparating away. Why Arabella's house? he wondered, worried, as he appeared in her living room. Dumbledore was beside him an instant later.
Asking his question with his eyes, Remus glanced at Dumbledore, who shook his head. "No, Remus, Arabella is fine."
Curious, but still apprehensive, the young man followed the older wizard to Arabella's bedroom, where Dumbledore motioned to Remus to wake her. Gently, Remus shook her beautiful shoulder and whispered, "Arabella, please wake up."
She stirred, then her eyes fluttered open. Seeing Remus, she looked surprised, but not entirely unhappy. She smiled and was about to speak when the look on his face stopped her.
"What is it?" she asked nervously.
Remus didn't answer, only looked hopelessly at Dumbledore.
"I have some very serious news that I am afraid I must share," he began. Remus sat down on the bed, holding Arabella's hand.
"Voldemort has found and killed Lily and James."
"What?" Remus asked, sincerely wishing he had heard wrong. Lily and James Potter couldn't be dead; he couldn't believe that was true.
Dumbledore nodded. "Their house has been destroyed and their bodies found. It happened only an hour ago."
Remus sat, stunned by shock and grief as tears streamed silently down Arabella's face. "What about little Harry?" she asked, looking terrified to hear the answer.
"That," Dumbledore answered with a hint of triumph in his eyes, "is the most mind boggling part. Harry is fine, quite untouched, actually. The spell Voldemort attempted to use on him apparently backfired and he got the brunt of it. We don't know where he's gone, but Harry is safe with Hagrid now."
"He couldn't be safer," Remus replied, trying to smile, but failing. After a moment of silence, he added, "Their secret was hidden, though. Only Sirius knew where they were. Only Sirius." He trailed off, the implications of this statement hitting him and his tears overcoming him. "How could he betray them like this? How could he?" he exclaimed through a throat tightened by tears. Arabella embraced him, rubbing his back as his body shook with sobs.
"I must ask for your help, though," Dumbledore reminded the couple sternly after a minute.
"Anything we can do to help, sir," Arabella said bravely.
Remus looked up and echoed, "Anything." His eyes were filled with a grim determination.
"Harry will be taken to Lily's sister's house- Harry's Muggle aunt- until he comes to Hogwarts. I will have several spells in place that will keep him safe from Voldemort there, but I would still like to have one of us nearby always. I am sure Voldemort will be back once he recovers from tonight's events. There is just no telling how long that will be." Dumbledore looked meaningfully at Arabella. "I would like you to go, my dear, and live near Harry and keep an eye on him."
"Of course," Arabella answered immediately.
"When do you want us ready to go?" Remus asked, wanting to be doing something to help.
Sadly, Dumbledore shook his head. "No, Mr. Lupin, just Miss Figg. I have a house for her to move into that is two streets from the Dursley's. I would like to see you moved in by tomorrow when Harry arrives, Miss Figg."
"But-" Remus started, "I-I want to go too! Harry is very important to me and so is Arabella! The two of us could take care of Voldemort, should he choose to call." He hoped his face looked as determined and defiant as he felt.
Arabella looked pleadingly at Dumbledore for a moment, but when his face remained set, she turned back to Remus.
"Remus, you know I love you. You also know I have to do this. For Lily and James, and Harry, too." She looked into his eyes, pleading with him to understand. "You are much more closely connected with the Potters, Remus. Your presence may attract attention; you may be too close to the situation to do the right thing. Or maybe Dumbledore just needs your help somewhere else."
Remus nodded silently, unable to stop his tears. He understood, but why did he have to lose some of his best friends and his fiancee in one night? "You're right, Arabella," he choked. "You have to do this. When Voldemort is gone for good and Harry has nothing left to fear, we will be together again. Until then, we must do our part to make sure the unspeakable monster is eradicated."
Arabella didn't say a word, just kissed Remus full on the mouth. He responded instantly, pulling her closer, feeling their tongues collide and their tears mix together. A slight cough from Dumbledore reminded them of his presence and they reluctantly pulled apart.
"I have other things I must do before Harry arrives on Privet Drive," Dumbledore said. "I must thank you for your cooperation and excuse myself." With that, he disapparated, and Remus and Arabella were alone on her bed.
"Well," Arabella began, straining to keep her voice cheerful. "We certainly have a lot to do." She looked uncertainly at Remus. "That is, if you are willing to help me get ready."
"Look," Remus said, looking at Arabella with grey eyes full of a strange mixture of grief, love and determination. "I don't like the idea of us being apart, but I support you 100 percent. It will be difficult, but we must do it. I am not going to waste our last hours together sulking at home. We had best get packing."
Nodding, Arabella rose from the bed and began looking about her room. "What is the best way to do this?" she thought aloud.
"You'll be going to a Muggle neighborhood," Remus reminded her patiently. "You need to put all of your things in boxes and hire a truck to take it to your new house."
"Oh, yes," Arabella smiled. "Thank goodness you're here."
They spent the rest of the night and most of the day packing the souvenirs of Arabella's twenty some years of wizarding life. Many things they sent over to Remus' house, being too 'wizarding' to go unnoticed in a Muggle home. As the tired couple began to think a lot about dinner, Albus Dumbledore appeared in the room.
He nodded, tiredly. "I am glad to see you have packed in the Muggle fashion," he said without preamble. "Are you almost ready to go?"
"I am ready, sir," Arabella responded.
"I will give you a few minutes to say goodbye, but as soon as the moving truck arrives, you need to have changed into Muggle clothing and taken a sip of this Aging Potion. Age will be your disguise from evil and your camouflage in the neighborhood. If you take a drink every day, you will remain old in appearance without many lasting effects when this terrible ordeal is over." He handed her a vial. "I trust you can remember the ingredients for an Aging Potion so you can make more?"
Arabella nodded silently.
As Dumbledore gave her a firm handshake and a grim good luck, Arabella suddenly asked, "Is it all right if I take Tibbles?"
The kind headmaster looked from Arabella to the cat that sat beside her and back. The Arabella he saw was Arabella at 13, sitting in his office, looking innocent and pure. He didn't even know what he was sending her into. He shook his head, dismissing the thought and returning Arabella to her grown woman self. Realizing she had interpreted this as a no, he quickly spoke up. "Yes, you may take Tibbles with you. I see no harm in that." He allowed himself one kind, and somewhat sad, smile before disapparating to her new house ahead of her.
Remus looked into Arabella's big eyes and was surprised by the tears welling there. She had seemed so strong earlier and he didn't want to see her cry. "Don't cry," he said firmly. "You have to have all of your strength for this adventure."
He smiled and was happy to see her smile back. There were no words for that moment, no way to express how much he loved her, how much he'd miss her, how worried he was for her safety. There were no words, but there was an embrace. Holding her in his arms, he knew she understood what he wanted to say.
"The truck will be here any moment," Arabella said moving an arm's length from Remus. "I want you to take care of yourself. I love you so much."
"I love you, too," Remus replied, his heart about to burst. "I know you'll keep Harry safe, but I want you to keep yourself safe as well."
A horn honked outside, stopping Arabella from what she was about to say. She only nodded, took a sip of Aging Potion and removed her robe to reveal a particularly ugly Muggle housedress. Remus watched as the potion took affect and Arabella aged fifty years right before his eyes. Looking meaningfully at him, she turned to open the door and let the movers in. Remus recognized his cue and with one last look, apparated back to his own house.
He fell onto his bed and began to sob uncontrollably. All of the emotions the last 24 hours had brought him flowed out and he wept into his pillow until at last he fell asleep. But it was not a restful sleep, for faces taunted him in his dreams. Lily and James lay dead while baby Harry cried next to them. Then it was Sirius, laughing, just laughing. And Arabella kept aging and aging. When he woke up, he felt more alone than he had ever felt before.
Then, a thought struck him. "Peter!" he cried aloud. For certainly the fourth Marauder would be feeling just as alone as Remus, and dealing with the grief of James' death and Sirius' betrayal. Not wasting another moment, he apparated to Peter's house and knocked on the door. A moment went by, with no answer, and Remus began to feel that something was amiss. He tried the door, and finding it locked, quickly used his wand to unlock it. He went in, and called, "Peter?"
He heard a sound in the back of the house, and rushed to see what it was. "Peter?" he cried, entering the room. But it was not his old friend who sat there, but Peter's mother and a Ministry witch.
"Where is he?" Remus asked, panicking.
The Ministry witch kindly took his arm and led him into the next room. "I'm sorry to be the one that has to tell you this, but Peter was killed yesterday."
"What?" Remus felt utterly deflated. Who did he have left now?
"He had apparently tracked down Sirius Black and accused him of betraying the Potters. Black killed Peter and a dozen Muggles with one curse," the witch said sadly. "I came to tell Mrs. Pettigrew that Peter has been posthumously awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class, and to bring her what they found of Peter on the scene." She indicated a small box that Mrs. Pettigrew held clutched in her hands.
Remus felt dizzy and managed to say, "I think I need to sit down," before he collapsed on the floor.
He regained consciousness in his own bed and wondered vaguely how he got there. The last thing he remembered was telling the Ministry witch that he needed to sit down. He tried to sit up, but was prevented by a gentle pressure on his shoulder, which turned out to be Albus Dumbledore's hand. His face was smiling at Remus.
"I understand the last few days have been quite a shock for you," the kindly wizard began.
"Have they got him?" Remus interrupted.
Dumbledore looked confused. "Who?"
"Black," Remus spat, as if it were a dirty word.
"Ah," Dumbledore said. "Sirius Black. Yes, the Ministry got a hold of him right after Peter's murder. I believe they are planning on sending him straight to Azkaban."
"It's all his fault," Remus responded bitterly. "I'm all alone and it is all his fault."
"Now, Mr. Lupin," Dumbledore said sternly, "Pointing blame doesn't really do any good. But," he said thoughtfully, "I suppose I should follow my own advice, as I put a share of the blame on myself. I knew that someone close to the Potters was leaking information to Voldemort, and I offered to be their secret keeper. If only I had insisted on it, this catastrophe may have been avoided all together." He looked very sad and old to Remus, much older than he had when Remus had graduated from Hogwarts a few short years ago. Shaking his graying head wearily, Dumbledore seemed to shake his sadness and he spoke again briskly.
"But we must not dwell on the subject. I will need you ready for work by tomorrow, Mr. Lupin," Dumbledore stated.
Remus nodded weakly. "I'll be ready, sir. I mean Albus." He smiled half- heartedly.
"You know how sorry I am that I cannot offer you any pay for this work," Albus continued, looking very sorry indeed. "But having your services available to me at any hour will surely save many from suffering and death. You were one of the brightest Defense Against the Dark Arts students Hogwarts has ever seen." He waited until Remus nodded again before finishing.
"I am afraid I have to be going, the Minister of Magic has requested my help in this situation and I have already kept him waiting," Dumbledore said as he stood up. "You'll be fine, Remus. You're quite strong, you know." With that, he apparated off, and left Remus alone again.
But Remus didn't feel so alone inside. He felt better, stronger, to know he would soon be helping Dumbledore to protect their world, and to know that his mentor had so much faith in him. "I will be ok," Remus muttered. "I will." His thoughts turned to Arabella, but instead of feeling sad, he was filled with infinite pride to be sharing such a noble mission with the person he loved more than anyone else.
"We'll be fine!" he shouted defiantly, though no one was around to hear him.
Note: This short story is the first of seven that will be companions to my series of fanfics about the "Old Crowd's" Hogwarts years. It contains spoilers for my other series (which is currently in Year 2). You can find Remus Lupin and the Werewolf Within (Year 1) and the in-progress Peter Pettigrew Year 2 at http://boards.harrypotter.warnerbros.com/web/hpus/messages.jsp?topic=7686054 &board=Book&so=a Please read, review and most importantly, enjoy!
~A Rough Week for Remus~
The end of October was nearing and Remus Lupin was quite nervous. He was about to go out for dinner with a Miss Arabella Figg. That in itself was not nerve wracking; the two of them had been a couple for a few years now. What was making the young man extremely anxious that particular day was that he was planning to ask Arabella to marry him. He spent an extraordinarily long time looking at his reflection in the mirror, trying to get everything just right. Finally, he gave up and let his light brown hair be, in spite of the gray hairs beginning to show.
He showed up at Arabella's doorstep right on time and knocked. She opened the door and Remus stood staring at her. She looked so amazing; her long dark brown hair was flowing down her shoulders and the red dress she had on emphasized just the right parts of her body. For a moment, Remus was utterly speechless, but he recovered enough to stammer, "You, you look, v-v- very nice tonight."
"Thanks, Remus," she replied with a laugh. "That suit looks good on you, too."
Remus blushed, and quickly offered her his arm. "I thought we could walk," he explained.
Arabella took his arm happily.
As soon as the couple's dinner dishes had disappeared, Remus knew it was time. Reaching into his pocket, he got down on one knee in front of the woman he loved.
"Will you marry me?" he asked simply, holding out a beautiful diamond ring.
Arabella's brown eyes sparkled with tears of happiness. "Yes, Remus, I will."
He placed the ring on her finger and felt as if he were walking on air. He put a hand on her cheek, then pulled her close in a soft kiss. When they broke apart, they were both smiling widely.
Dessert arrived and the happily affianced couple fed each other chocolate cake, Arabella's ring sparkling merrily each time she moved her hand. Remus couldn't imagine being more happy, and he looked forward to the day that he could bring Arabella home as his wife and they could begin their lives together.
For awhile, Remus even forgot the danger his friends were in, for unfortunately, trouble was brewing, in the form of the Dark Wizard Voldemort and about a week into Remus and Arabella's engagement, Remus was awoken from a deep sleep by a familiar voice.
"Mr. Lupin?" it called gently.
Remus sat up groggily. He realized that the voice belonged to Hogwarts' headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.
"Professor Dumbledore?" he asked, confused.
"Albus," the old wizard answered. "If you are to be working with me, you must call me Albus. But there is really no time for that now. We must get over to Miss Figg's house, for there is a matter of grave importance that must be discussed."
Remus immediately jumped out of bed, asking only, "Where to?" before disapparating away. Why Arabella's house? he wondered, worried, as he appeared in her living room. Dumbledore was beside him an instant later.
Asking his question with his eyes, Remus glanced at Dumbledore, who shook his head. "No, Remus, Arabella is fine."
Curious, but still apprehensive, the young man followed the older wizard to Arabella's bedroom, where Dumbledore motioned to Remus to wake her. Gently, Remus shook her beautiful shoulder and whispered, "Arabella, please wake up."
She stirred, then her eyes fluttered open. Seeing Remus, she looked surprised, but not entirely unhappy. She smiled and was about to speak when the look on his face stopped her.
"What is it?" she asked nervously.
Remus didn't answer, only looked hopelessly at Dumbledore.
"I have some very serious news that I am afraid I must share," he began. Remus sat down on the bed, holding Arabella's hand.
"Voldemort has found and killed Lily and James."
"What?" Remus asked, sincerely wishing he had heard wrong. Lily and James Potter couldn't be dead; he couldn't believe that was true.
Dumbledore nodded. "Their house has been destroyed and their bodies found. It happened only an hour ago."
Remus sat, stunned by shock and grief as tears streamed silently down Arabella's face. "What about little Harry?" she asked, looking terrified to hear the answer.
"That," Dumbledore answered with a hint of triumph in his eyes, "is the most mind boggling part. Harry is fine, quite untouched, actually. The spell Voldemort attempted to use on him apparently backfired and he got the brunt of it. We don't know where he's gone, but Harry is safe with Hagrid now."
"He couldn't be safer," Remus replied, trying to smile, but failing. After a moment of silence, he added, "Their secret was hidden, though. Only Sirius knew where they were. Only Sirius." He trailed off, the implications of this statement hitting him and his tears overcoming him. "How could he betray them like this? How could he?" he exclaimed through a throat tightened by tears. Arabella embraced him, rubbing his back as his body shook with sobs.
"I must ask for your help, though," Dumbledore reminded the couple sternly after a minute.
"Anything we can do to help, sir," Arabella said bravely.
Remus looked up and echoed, "Anything." His eyes were filled with a grim determination.
"Harry will be taken to Lily's sister's house- Harry's Muggle aunt- until he comes to Hogwarts. I will have several spells in place that will keep him safe from Voldemort there, but I would still like to have one of us nearby always. I am sure Voldemort will be back once he recovers from tonight's events. There is just no telling how long that will be." Dumbledore looked meaningfully at Arabella. "I would like you to go, my dear, and live near Harry and keep an eye on him."
"Of course," Arabella answered immediately.
"When do you want us ready to go?" Remus asked, wanting to be doing something to help.
Sadly, Dumbledore shook his head. "No, Mr. Lupin, just Miss Figg. I have a house for her to move into that is two streets from the Dursley's. I would like to see you moved in by tomorrow when Harry arrives, Miss Figg."
"But-" Remus started, "I-I want to go too! Harry is very important to me and so is Arabella! The two of us could take care of Voldemort, should he choose to call." He hoped his face looked as determined and defiant as he felt.
Arabella looked pleadingly at Dumbledore for a moment, but when his face remained set, she turned back to Remus.
"Remus, you know I love you. You also know I have to do this. For Lily and James, and Harry, too." She looked into his eyes, pleading with him to understand. "You are much more closely connected with the Potters, Remus. Your presence may attract attention; you may be too close to the situation to do the right thing. Or maybe Dumbledore just needs your help somewhere else."
Remus nodded silently, unable to stop his tears. He understood, but why did he have to lose some of his best friends and his fiancee in one night? "You're right, Arabella," he choked. "You have to do this. When Voldemort is gone for good and Harry has nothing left to fear, we will be together again. Until then, we must do our part to make sure the unspeakable monster is eradicated."
Arabella didn't say a word, just kissed Remus full on the mouth. He responded instantly, pulling her closer, feeling their tongues collide and their tears mix together. A slight cough from Dumbledore reminded them of his presence and they reluctantly pulled apart.
"I have other things I must do before Harry arrives on Privet Drive," Dumbledore said. "I must thank you for your cooperation and excuse myself." With that, he disapparated, and Remus and Arabella were alone on her bed.
"Well," Arabella began, straining to keep her voice cheerful. "We certainly have a lot to do." She looked uncertainly at Remus. "That is, if you are willing to help me get ready."
"Look," Remus said, looking at Arabella with grey eyes full of a strange mixture of grief, love and determination. "I don't like the idea of us being apart, but I support you 100 percent. It will be difficult, but we must do it. I am not going to waste our last hours together sulking at home. We had best get packing."
Nodding, Arabella rose from the bed and began looking about her room. "What is the best way to do this?" she thought aloud.
"You'll be going to a Muggle neighborhood," Remus reminded her patiently. "You need to put all of your things in boxes and hire a truck to take it to your new house."
"Oh, yes," Arabella smiled. "Thank goodness you're here."
They spent the rest of the night and most of the day packing the souvenirs of Arabella's twenty some years of wizarding life. Many things they sent over to Remus' house, being too 'wizarding' to go unnoticed in a Muggle home. As the tired couple began to think a lot about dinner, Albus Dumbledore appeared in the room.
He nodded, tiredly. "I am glad to see you have packed in the Muggle fashion," he said without preamble. "Are you almost ready to go?"
"I am ready, sir," Arabella responded.
"I will give you a few minutes to say goodbye, but as soon as the moving truck arrives, you need to have changed into Muggle clothing and taken a sip of this Aging Potion. Age will be your disguise from evil and your camouflage in the neighborhood. If you take a drink every day, you will remain old in appearance without many lasting effects when this terrible ordeal is over." He handed her a vial. "I trust you can remember the ingredients for an Aging Potion so you can make more?"
Arabella nodded silently.
As Dumbledore gave her a firm handshake and a grim good luck, Arabella suddenly asked, "Is it all right if I take Tibbles?"
The kind headmaster looked from Arabella to the cat that sat beside her and back. The Arabella he saw was Arabella at 13, sitting in his office, looking innocent and pure. He didn't even know what he was sending her into. He shook his head, dismissing the thought and returning Arabella to her grown woman self. Realizing she had interpreted this as a no, he quickly spoke up. "Yes, you may take Tibbles with you. I see no harm in that." He allowed himself one kind, and somewhat sad, smile before disapparating to her new house ahead of her.
Remus looked into Arabella's big eyes and was surprised by the tears welling there. She had seemed so strong earlier and he didn't want to see her cry. "Don't cry," he said firmly. "You have to have all of your strength for this adventure."
He smiled and was happy to see her smile back. There were no words for that moment, no way to express how much he loved her, how much he'd miss her, how worried he was for her safety. There were no words, but there was an embrace. Holding her in his arms, he knew she understood what he wanted to say.
"The truck will be here any moment," Arabella said moving an arm's length from Remus. "I want you to take care of yourself. I love you so much."
"I love you, too," Remus replied, his heart about to burst. "I know you'll keep Harry safe, but I want you to keep yourself safe as well."
A horn honked outside, stopping Arabella from what she was about to say. She only nodded, took a sip of Aging Potion and removed her robe to reveal a particularly ugly Muggle housedress. Remus watched as the potion took affect and Arabella aged fifty years right before his eyes. Looking meaningfully at him, she turned to open the door and let the movers in. Remus recognized his cue and with one last look, apparated back to his own house.
He fell onto his bed and began to sob uncontrollably. All of the emotions the last 24 hours had brought him flowed out and he wept into his pillow until at last he fell asleep. But it was not a restful sleep, for faces taunted him in his dreams. Lily and James lay dead while baby Harry cried next to them. Then it was Sirius, laughing, just laughing. And Arabella kept aging and aging. When he woke up, he felt more alone than he had ever felt before.
Then, a thought struck him. "Peter!" he cried aloud. For certainly the fourth Marauder would be feeling just as alone as Remus, and dealing with the grief of James' death and Sirius' betrayal. Not wasting another moment, he apparated to Peter's house and knocked on the door. A moment went by, with no answer, and Remus began to feel that something was amiss. He tried the door, and finding it locked, quickly used his wand to unlock it. He went in, and called, "Peter?"
He heard a sound in the back of the house, and rushed to see what it was. "Peter?" he cried, entering the room. But it was not his old friend who sat there, but Peter's mother and a Ministry witch.
"Where is he?" Remus asked, panicking.
The Ministry witch kindly took his arm and led him into the next room. "I'm sorry to be the one that has to tell you this, but Peter was killed yesterday."
"What?" Remus felt utterly deflated. Who did he have left now?
"He had apparently tracked down Sirius Black and accused him of betraying the Potters. Black killed Peter and a dozen Muggles with one curse," the witch said sadly. "I came to tell Mrs. Pettigrew that Peter has been posthumously awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class, and to bring her what they found of Peter on the scene." She indicated a small box that Mrs. Pettigrew held clutched in her hands.
Remus felt dizzy and managed to say, "I think I need to sit down," before he collapsed on the floor.
He regained consciousness in his own bed and wondered vaguely how he got there. The last thing he remembered was telling the Ministry witch that he needed to sit down. He tried to sit up, but was prevented by a gentle pressure on his shoulder, which turned out to be Albus Dumbledore's hand. His face was smiling at Remus.
"I understand the last few days have been quite a shock for you," the kindly wizard began.
"Have they got him?" Remus interrupted.
Dumbledore looked confused. "Who?"
"Black," Remus spat, as if it were a dirty word.
"Ah," Dumbledore said. "Sirius Black. Yes, the Ministry got a hold of him right after Peter's murder. I believe they are planning on sending him straight to Azkaban."
"It's all his fault," Remus responded bitterly. "I'm all alone and it is all his fault."
"Now, Mr. Lupin," Dumbledore said sternly, "Pointing blame doesn't really do any good. But," he said thoughtfully, "I suppose I should follow my own advice, as I put a share of the blame on myself. I knew that someone close to the Potters was leaking information to Voldemort, and I offered to be their secret keeper. If only I had insisted on it, this catastrophe may have been avoided all together." He looked very sad and old to Remus, much older than he had when Remus had graduated from Hogwarts a few short years ago. Shaking his graying head wearily, Dumbledore seemed to shake his sadness and he spoke again briskly.
"But we must not dwell on the subject. I will need you ready for work by tomorrow, Mr. Lupin," Dumbledore stated.
Remus nodded weakly. "I'll be ready, sir. I mean Albus." He smiled half- heartedly.
"You know how sorry I am that I cannot offer you any pay for this work," Albus continued, looking very sorry indeed. "But having your services available to me at any hour will surely save many from suffering and death. You were one of the brightest Defense Against the Dark Arts students Hogwarts has ever seen." He waited until Remus nodded again before finishing.
"I am afraid I have to be going, the Minister of Magic has requested my help in this situation and I have already kept him waiting," Dumbledore said as he stood up. "You'll be fine, Remus. You're quite strong, you know." With that, he apparated off, and left Remus alone again.
But Remus didn't feel so alone inside. He felt better, stronger, to know he would soon be helping Dumbledore to protect their world, and to know that his mentor had so much faith in him. "I will be ok," Remus muttered. "I will." His thoughts turned to Arabella, but instead of feeling sad, he was filled with infinite pride to be sharing such a noble mission with the person he loved more than anyone else.
"We'll be fine!" he shouted defiantly, though no one was around to hear him.
