Year 1979
Lily Evans:
Petunia was utterly impossible. I know for a fact that she was not allergic to owls or any other feathery creatures, but she claimed she would die of heart failure if any of the wedding owls came near her. So I had to scratch out the showering of white roses from the flying owls above the guests' heads, as James and I were to walk down the narrow path as man and wife.
Father was crying like a girl, when he handed over me to James, he was crying so dramatically that I felt a bit of laughter rising out of my belly, stopping my own tears in the process. I bet that was exactly what father was going for, because I saw Sirius wink at father's direction as I stood facing James.
James, oh Merlin, my dear James. He was just so handsome, although his messy hair refused to lie low even for the pictures. He clasped my hand as we faced the crowd as Potters. When I saw Professor Dumbledore's pointy hat sneaking off in the back, I squeezed James's hand, "He was here," I whispered.
"I know," James replied as we walked down slowly.
Everyone except for the muggles from my side knew of the war and he-who-must-not-be-named. Professor Dumbledore the major force behind recent wins against the death eaters, and James and I knew how busy he was of everything, and did not expect him to be there.
Our wedding was modest, for it was the time of dark war. Many of our friends did not make it our wedding; many were fighting in the front line or sadly had been killed or went missing.
I smiled at Peter, who had a broken arm, after the bombing of the section 13 of the Ministry of Magic. Next to him stood gallant Jo, who threw bunches of tickling charm at us. Next to her stood bashful Ashley, whose golden curls never lost their beauty despite the ration of the war. My eyes searched for Meg despite knowing the news of her brave death only few months ago. After the thought of Meg, my eyes searched for the familiar smile of sweet Remus.
After our graduation, Remus and Sirius moved in together to a small flat, in London. James, Peter and Sirius were going to be aurors under the trainings of Mad Eye Moody, despite his outstanding grades in DADA, Remus was denied to even apply for the aurorship. For he, was considered dark and dangerous by the people he wanted to serve and protect.
Dumbledore wanted Remus for a secret force I am not supposed to describe even before the graduation, but Remus was unsure, hesitant to take a job from Dumbledore. I supposed, he felt he owed Dumbledore too much to accept another favor from him.
Hoewever, after the months of unemployment, he finally consented. He's been working on something for a quite a long while, unable to meet us frequently. I had to be content with Sirius's descriptive words to James. Of course, most of his stories were corrupted by Sirius's disgustingly outrageous description of their hot dates one night after the other. Honestly, I began to be jealous of their amazing stamina. James did warned me, we would put them to shame on our wedding night…
I had not seen Remus since the wild night of bachelorette's party, where he had been the victim of the girls' make over. The boy should have been faster at his getaway to the wild night of bachelor's party after our rehearsal dinner last night.
It was his fault for being so bloody nice.
Honestly, he was better looking guy by the end of the night. I didn't understand why Sirius called me earlier today to complain, completely waking the nervous bride on her wedding day, when Sirius should have been shagging the brains out of Remus.
Oops, bad mental picture! That's not how a bride should think on her wedding day!
I must have had a dirty smirk on my face, because "Bride is having dirty thoughts!" was shouted out loud as I was temporarily blinded by a Poof of a visocamera, capturing my unguarded moment.
"SIRIUS!"
That sod!
"That was for Remus!" The idiot in the name of Sirius Black said as he tugged at the pretty girl next to him. I was going to give him a piece of my mind, when I suddenly realized the pretty witch in a blue jean and a punk rock t-shirt(who tried very hard to look muggle. Clearly nobody explained to her how to wear muggle cloths for a wedding…not just her either, half of the attendees were wearing mixed and oddly matched muggle clothes) was looking very familiar. Very, very familiar in fact.
"Oh my god. I didn't know it was this bad," James muttered next to me, stiffening his rising laugh.
It was then I realized why I didn't see Remus the handsome boy at the wedding. It was because he was the pretty looking witch next to Sirius. It should have been funny, if not for the scowl on Sirius's face.
"Lily! Turn him back!"
"How? I don't know what we did!" I cried as I hugged and comforted uneasy Remus.
"What you did…" said Remus in hushed voice, looking utterly miserable.
"What I did…?" Apparently, all the girls had too much drinks, and played around with the make up for far too long. We must have charmed the make up to stay put on Remus's face!
"I am so sorry, Moony!" I pulled out my wand discreetly, and muttered counter charm unmasking him.
"Good thing you were so good at Charms, Lily," Sirius said as he came closer, "And now about the picture…"
So I ended up having to charm my impossible sister to look as if she had a big…fat…mole on her face, in order to win back the picture of myself smirking dirty-mind-ly back at me, while poor James in the background was trying desperately to get my attention to no avail.
It was worth Petunia's screams…
I would never stand this down.
James Potter:
As I had promised Lily, our wedding night put Sirius and Remus to shame, even the great Casanova would not hold a candle to our beautiful night.
But our happy honeymoon had to end so suddenly, when all the aurors were called back to the front to depend the Ireland from the sudden attacks. It would take another week for me to go back to my wife, and another three weeks for the things to settle down.
During that time, I've slept, ate and spend all of my time with Sirius and Peter, it felt like we were back in Hogwarts, scheming another attack at the Slytherins, but this time more was at stake. We were depending our country instead of our house cup.
It was only of late, I began to hear some complains from Sirius that Remus was coming home later and was too exhausted to make love to him. I had to roll my eyes at him for that remark, but I too began to worry for Moony.
A whispering wind began to circulate that Voldemort was beginning to recruit dark creatures like Vampires, Ghouls, and Werewolves to stand beside the Dark Power.
Remus Lupin:
My job with Dumbledore was mundane yet important. It's important enough to be secret, even from my friends. I am not allowed to speak of it. I have spent endless hours researching for Dumbledore, endless hours of reading books and writing down what I have found at the London Library. I guess being an avid reader as a child had paid off in the end.
Compare to my relatively boring life, James, Sirius and Peter are having the most of their air kicked out of them. They have passed the auror tests, and in matter of hours, they became aurors. There was no ceremony during the time of war, but if it had been a peaceful time, there would have been much to celebrate their achievements.
I don't wish to myself that I could have been an auror like them if only I had not been bitten. I don't hope for those millions of what ifs… It would drive me crazy to dwell on the past and the facts of the present.
Besides, I tell myself, one good thing about being a researcher under Dumbledore was I had an unlimited amount of resources available to me. The Ministry's secret files and dark data were at my fingertips that I had never dreamed of reading.
It was one of those sleepless nights, I stumbled upon another TOP SECRET file. I was searching for the origin of the curse of Kazakum, which could aid the aurors to stop the deadly curses from the death eaters just a second before they were to received them. It would have been amazing find, but sadly, the secret of Kazakum was lost centuries after the Dark Age.
I was reaching for the top box that contain some reference I was looking for, when I clumsily knocked off the box next to it, spilling its contents to the ground. But it wasn't just any ordinary TOP SECRET file.
It had my name on the top. Next to it was the word that defined who I was to the others.
Name: Remus J. Lupin/Werewolf
The rest of the information stated my physical health and mental health. They even had tested my IQ somehow, and stated next to the score that 'The subject shows intelligence beyond his years, despite difficulties after his trauma of the attack and the separation from his human parents.' Then after long sentences, the file ends with 'Strange, the boy seems to understand far more than his average peers, yet is unable to speak. Only his eyes tell his real soul behind his silent wall. This one is recommended to be watched.'
I rested my head against the boxes of files and closed my eyes, trying to remember my young self. I could almost see a scared young boy amongst the vast of faceless figures of adults. But the image was gone before I could remember, and left me feeling lost as ever. I was only four. I was only four. I was only four.
That night, I came home even later than usual. I hardly noticed Sirius next to me, until he put his arms around me sleepily, drawing my cold body to his warm one. But that night, I could not fall asleep, and for the first time, I wished vainly for my narcolepsy to take me. Again, hoping for the peace that would not come willingly. My uneasy past stood out far more visibly than ever in my life, haunting me with its song of yesterday.
After that night, my obsession with my past began to swallow me. It was then, when the truth started to reveal itself, everything began to fall apart.
Peter Pettigrew:
He had captured me at last! Ever since my training with Moody had began, I had feared for this day, and my apprehension had painfully came true.
My small Pettigrew legs had failed to keep me safe any more, but you-know-who offered me power instead of death. He had killed off all the captured aurors but me, the small, insignificant Peter. Who would have thought anyone so powerful could possibly want me? Lord Voldemort offered me a choice, death or join. And with the trembling hand, I accepted his death mark on my arm.
My faith was sealed, my choice was made.
Nothing can undo what I had done. I had made my stands against my friends.
Sirius Black:
For weeks, I had been worry about Moony. He has been acting a bit off. Well, offer than his usual, I mean. Moony was always been little bit weird compare to rest of us, but he has been really not himself.
I had taken myself out of the mission to be home more with him, in attempt to figure out what was bothering him so. Only Peter went with the mission, after James pulled out on a last minute to attend his mother's sudden death. I wasn't thinking of the mission or Pete, until I suddenly heard the news from my old pal from Hogwarts, Daniel Jones. He had been taken from the school to the secret location, during our Hogwarts stay, and apparently he had been working for Dumbledore the whole time he and I had been out of the touch.
I had been sick with worries for Peter's life, when James and I heard of the utter failure of the plan to capture the death eaters at the Forrest of Esa. We hopped on to be the rescue team, but nobody really expected anything but to retrieve their bodies.
It was so gruesome sight that I had nearly retched. In my mind, I was afraid I would find Peter's torn body, but hoping to find an answer to his where about.
"Padfoot, you okay?"
It was concerned James, who should have been back home with Lily, grieving for his own lost.
"Y-yes." I had nodded numbly, clutching the nearby tree to steady myself. I nearly fell down, when my hands slipped against the tree trunk. Upon my closer examination, the tree was covered with slick blood.
"James, do you think this war would ever end?" I had asked my best friend with such hopelessness, he stopped his track and faced me. "I mean, all these," I moved my bloodied hands around the silent forest. "What is this for? I mean, why are we doing this? Why are we killing each other?"
I didn't even know I had given up on Peter, until James quietly came closer, holding me up. He tipped my face to face him in the eye. "Sirius Black, we are doing this, because we have to. We are doing this for all the people Voldemort-"
I had flinched visibly at the name, but James went on steadily, "had killed in his greed for power. We are doing what we are doing, because if we don't, we are as good as giving up the world. We might as well just throw ourselves in the fire, and give up on Peter."
I looked at him through tears in my eyes. "On your parents. On my mother. On everyone. This war, my friend, will end one way or the other, and I am not giving up until Voldemort is brought down."
It was James, who had clapped my shoulder and pulled me up from the brink of despair. It was James who found Peter's still form under the file of dead bodies, still breathing, still alive. We had cried with joy as he moved his chest to take in air. Peter was, the only one found, to be alive, they told us later.
Lily had once told me what seemed like ages ago that Peter was the strongest among all of us. I did not take her seriously then, but I sure was glad our little Peter was breathing, here alive. I think before then, my pompous arse of a head had never consciously accepted him as our equal partner in crime, but after that night, he was the hero in my eyes. And James was the believer, because of people like them, we were going to win this war. I was sure of it.
James taught me what we stood for, and I would make sure with my life that it would stand for millenniums to come.
Severus Snape:
I watched in horror behind my mask as my fellow death eaters began to brutally kill all the cows. They were laughing as they killed the defenseless animals. Avory was snickering as he and Bale were trying to outdo each other by casting the most gruesome spells on the creatures. As their wretched cries of pain echoed through the cold winter night, the owners of the animals were already silent in their death.
Only their little boy was crying against the hands of his parents' killer.
I watched mutely in my place safe in my shadow, unable to turn away, as a hand brutally covered his small mouth, and the owner of that hand appallingly violated the little boy. I turned from the sight, as the raper suffocated the boy in his attempt to bring it up. As the little body fell still, the raper smiled and pulled back his cock from the limp little mouth. Malfoy stood up, looked back at me with the superior glint in his eyes that chilled me to core. It was as if I was looking back at myself. It was as if he and I were the same.
Suddenly the room seemed to spin, and spin, and spin. When I got my footings in place, I realized I was alone. I no longer heard the screams of the creatures nor the laughters of death eaters. I found my eyes lingering on the boy's face, and suddenly everything began to make absolutely no sense at all. It was my face, it was my young body lying there, dead. It was me that died there. And beside me was my dead mother. Her face contorted in silent scream, as she had died in the hands of my father so long ago. Strangled to death. She hadn't the time to even scream.
I closed my eyes in my memory, and tried to block it out of my mind. For so long in my life, I made myself to believe my father had merely left my muggle mother. But deep inside, I knew, I knew the truth. I so wanted to believe her to be the less deserving, so common and unfit to be my mother, but deep inside I knew her laughter and her warmth. I knew her love for her little boy. And deep inside I knew I had loved her once upon a time as well. Where had that little boy gone, mother? Where had all my innocence go?
When I opened my eyes again, in front of me, stood Hogwarts, in all her glory under the pale sunrise.
Albus Dumbledore:
I want to tell you a story, a very sad story that yet has a happy or sad ending.
Long, long time ago, there was a man, a very happy man, who adored and loved the little girl, and in return she loved him as well. Her mother was a fair and beautiful woman but had a very bad weak heart, and sadly she had to go away, leaving very, very sad man and very, very sad little girl behind.
The man decided, then, that he would never make his little girl sad ever again, and he succeeded…almost. They were very happy and very close to each other for a long time. However, the man did not see how the little girl had changed. Not in a bad way, but different. The little girl was no long a child, but a grown woman. She fell in love with a handsome young man, in secret to her father.
When the man found out about the affair, he was devastated. He did not understand. He had grown too fond of the routine. He was afraid. He did not want to be alone. He did not want to let her go. He did not like the young man she had fell in love. They fought, terribly.
In the end, the little girl whom he loved and who had loved him back was gone from his life forever.
And the man was left alone in anger and in sadness.
Years passed, and one day, a letter arrived from the little girl. Inside was a picture of a little boy, a handsome little boy. The little girl was a mama now. But the man did not forgive her for leaving him, and he never answered the letter.
Few more years passed, the man became a father to many, many little boys and girls. He was happier, but a desperate letter from the little girl arrived. She wanted the man's help to save her little boy, her precious little son. The man tried, but failed. He could not save the little boy. The little boy was lost to them forever. The man knew he had failed his little girl, and the little girl's heart also failed and was gone forever. And the man was truly left alone in his guilt and despair.
But one day, a hope came. The man had a chance to redeem himself. He had found the lost little boy. But the man was afraid, and left the little boy in the dark. Then the dark time came. The man was needed by the others, and he again failed his own. The man never told the little boy the truth. The truth was lost. The lost little boy had a hole in him that would never close.
The story yet has the ending, but the man hopes, in the end, the boy would stand by him when he learns the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Whenever that might be.
Lord Voldemort:
It is curious thing to learn how you have treated your only heir, but that's nothing new, compare to how you have treated so many others under your care, is it not?
The story is simple, Dumbledore. You are a sad excuse of a man. People called you and still call you, a hero. Hahahaha. You know, how funny all this thing is? I am trying to bring down the millenniums of corruptions, and yet, I am considered to be a villain. And you are their savior, who has utterly no conscious at all.
Do you know why I have so many followers? Hmmm?
The power hungry imbeciles are just a few, only a mere fraction of the masses. They are only there to carry out the less pleasant business of turning the tide. The real secret of my power lies with the less unfortunates.
The dark creatures, you people labeled them. You with the powers have treated them as they were animals, no, a less than that. You have shunned the unfortunates and killed so many mores under the names of rightesouness. Who gave you the power to judge upon them? Who gave you the ultimate choice to destroy their lives? Did you feel better, when you make them beg for their lives? Did that make you feel bigger?
Again, the story is simple. You failed.
But that's nothing new, is it? You had failed your wife, your precious only daughter, even your best friends died knowing how you failed them. And now you will fail everyone once again. You have let him down. But this time everyone will suffer as I have suffered in my lonely hellish of a life. This time I will take back what is rightfully mine. The vengeance is what I seek, and it alone will satisfy my incessant hunger, for the justice and for your blood. Who will stand beside you, after the truth is out? Who will stand beside you when all is said and done? Who will stand beside you now?
I am coming for him.
tbc