The Last of the Four- prologue
By Lillian Evans
Remus Lupin sighed as he climbed the stairs to his shabby two-room apartment in downtown London. Once again, his thoughts had come around to Sirius, and once again, he was feeling very depressed because of it. He took out his key, and was about to open the door when his neighbor called down the hall to him.
"Oy, Remus, ought to be a nice night out tonight, eh? Full moon and hardly any cloud cover!" Remus nodded politely and turned the key. Dorothy stuck her head back inside her door and Remus entered the apartment. Dorothy was one of the nicest people he knew, with the exception that she was very nosy. She had often confronted him about his illness, knowing that something was wrong with him, but he would never confess. Dorothy was a muggle, and Remus knew that he would have to find another apartment if she found out he was a werewolf, and Remus just couldn't afford to do that now.
He put his package on the table and lit the lamps in the room with his wand. He had electricity in the apartment, but preferred to only use it when he was in the company of muggles, which wasn't too often. He walked over to the window and drew apart the curtains, letting the morning light into the room. There, that will help brighten things up, he thought as he gazed at the muggle street below, busy with the hustle and bustle of the usual morning traffic jams. The busy muggle street, that was a familiar setting for a time he didn't want to remember. He sat down onto the sagging sofa that was all he could afford until the Ministry of Magic passed some new laws on werewolf rights, which didn't appear to be happening soon, and he could find work again.
As he sat there he heard the sounds of muggles driving to and from work, innocent and naïve to the troubles currently being looked after in the wizarding world. He remembered the morning after Lily and James had been killed, the morning that had changed his outlook on life. It was so far away, but yet still vivid in his memory. Just as vivid as the day he first met Sirius, James and Peter on the Hogwarts Express when he was just starting at Hogwarts. But the greatest of his troubles, what gained instant priority in his mind after what Dorothy had told him went back to when he was only three years old, and was playing on the little swing set his parents had bought him for his birthday. It had been dark out, and he had been sitting on the swing looking at the full moon. He had always loved the full moon as a boy, and had waited anxiously each month for the one night his parents would allow him to stay awake long enough to see the moon.
This particular night, he had been sitting on his swing, just near the forest, when all of a sudden a massive hairy thing had jumped out of the forest and bitten him on the arm. He shrieked with pain, terrified, until his parents came out and discovered him, lying on the ground. His mother had been very worried, but his father stayed calm, and they rushed him to St. Mungo's. Ten minutes later, the healers had diagnosed it as a werewolf bite, and from that night on, Remus had no longer loved the full moon.
****
A/N: Well, that's it for now, soon to come: Remus looks back upon his years at Hogwarts, from the time when he met the other Marauders.different than most fics.please review!
Remus Lupin sighed as he climbed the stairs to his shabby two-room apartment in downtown London. Once again, his thoughts had come around to Sirius, and once again, he was feeling very depressed because of it. He took out his key, and was about to open the door when his neighbor called down the hall to him.
"Oy, Remus, ought to be a nice night out tonight, eh? Full moon and hardly any cloud cover!" Remus nodded politely and turned the key. Dorothy stuck her head back inside her door and Remus entered the apartment. Dorothy was one of the nicest people he knew, with the exception that she was very nosy. She had often confronted him about his illness, knowing that something was wrong with him, but he would never confess. Dorothy was a muggle, and Remus knew that he would have to find another apartment if she found out he was a werewolf, and Remus just couldn't afford to do that now.
He put his package on the table and lit the lamps in the room with his wand. He had electricity in the apartment, but preferred to only use it when he was in the company of muggles, which wasn't too often. He walked over to the window and drew apart the curtains, letting the morning light into the room. There, that will help brighten things up, he thought as he gazed at the muggle street below, busy with the hustle and bustle of the usual morning traffic jams. The busy muggle street, that was a familiar setting for a time he didn't want to remember. He sat down onto the sagging sofa that was all he could afford until the Ministry of Magic passed some new laws on werewolf rights, which didn't appear to be happening soon, and he could find work again.
As he sat there he heard the sounds of muggles driving to and from work, innocent and naïve to the troubles currently being looked after in the wizarding world. He remembered the morning after Lily and James had been killed, the morning that had changed his outlook on life. It was so far away, but yet still vivid in his memory. Just as vivid as the day he first met Sirius, James and Peter on the Hogwarts Express when he was just starting at Hogwarts. But the greatest of his troubles, what gained instant priority in his mind after what Dorothy had told him went back to when he was only three years old, and was playing on the little swing set his parents had bought him for his birthday. It had been dark out, and he had been sitting on the swing looking at the full moon. He had always loved the full moon as a boy, and had waited anxiously each month for the one night his parents would allow him to stay awake long enough to see the moon.
This particular night, he had been sitting on his swing, just near the forest, when all of a sudden a massive hairy thing had jumped out of the forest and bitten him on the arm. He shrieked with pain, terrified, until his parents came out and discovered him, lying on the ground. His mother had been very worried, but his father stayed calm, and they rushed him to St. Mungo's. Ten minutes later, the healers had diagnosed it as a werewolf bite, and from that night on, Remus had no longer loved the full moon.
****
A/N: Well, that's it for now, soon to come: Remus looks back upon his years at Hogwarts, from the time when he met the other Marauders.different than most fics.please review!