Chapter 5
As it so happened the moon reached her peak on Boxing Day. Remus didn't mind that much though. To be explicit about it, he was actually in a rather good mood. The morning of Christmas day had been abundant with pleasant surprises. The first had come at around nine o'clock. Remus had just been about feeding Harry when he'd heard a soft pop! from the living room. It had been Mrs. Figg. She had brought with her various toys and clothes for Harry, an assortment of candies for the werewolf - he had a sweet tooth, Arabella knew - and a turkey. After they had prepared and feasted upon the meal and Harry had opened all his presents they had settled down on the light blue couched and watched the small boy play with the toys and the litter that was strewn across the carpeted floor.
*//December 25th *//
"It seems," Mrs Figg said mildly as Harry put a red and gold striped piece of paper on his head, "that the little tyke has more fun with the litter than with the actual presents." Remus chuckled. "I don't think he means to be ungrateful." The woman cast a sideways glance at him. "How are you holding up?" He didn't know what to say. How WAS he holding up? Well, it could have been better. "It's okay, I guess. I -", he faltered. To tell her of his financial problems would be impolite and embarrassing. She might have been able to help him finding a landowner who charged less rent for a house but money was not a subject one talked about freely. Instead he opted to tell her of another matter that bore down just as heavily upon his mind.
"I'm a bit nervous, though. It's like...everyday I wake up I expect a horde of Ministry people trying to knock down my door. I still don't have an official permission to raise Harry and..." He chewed on his lip. It was an infuriating habit. It irked himself the most. Arabella pretended to take no notice. "I don't think you have to worry about that much longer.", she said with a mysterious smile. She had rather hoped he would mention that. "As a matter of fact, this isn't solely a social visit. Yesterday morning I received an owl from Albus that instructed me to give this to you personally as he himself is too busy. He says hello, though." She reached inside her purse and extracted a formal looking piece of parchment. Remus took it with shaky fingers. If this was what he thought it was. "Well, read it!" Carefully, as if fearing it would burst into flames like a howler any moment, he unfolded it.
12-23-1981 Alfred Crockford Youth Welfare Office Ministry of Magic London 2359
//Dear Mr Lupin,
we are pleased to inform you that your application for guardianship of Mr Harold James Potter has been granted. It's... //
He stopped. The words swam before his eyes. It was impossible. The Ministry had really, truly granted him guardianship. Him, a werewolf. While there was no legal decree that barred werewolves from adopting children, it was still unheard-of. There had never been just one single case in history when one of his kind had achieved this. In most cases there were other relatives to take care for the child or it was given to another petitioner.
This act, this little piece of parchment, was a milestone for werewolves on their way to equality. Remus didn't give a single knut about it at that moment, however. All that was important to him was this: he was officially the legal guardian of Harry. "Thank you!", he whispered and took Mrs. Figg into a bone-crushing hug. "Don't thank me. It's Albus' doing. He pulled more strings within the Ministry than I care to count." She patted his back lovingly. Suddenly aware of what he was doing he released the elderly witch and instead pulled Harry closer to him. Unnoticed by the two adults the boy had crawled over to them and had positioned himself on the man's lap. Remus wasn't even surprised anymore. Harry had the uncanny ability to move around undetected. Sometimes it brought the werewolf close to a heart attack when the child vanished without a trace again. Yet, by now he had found the child's favourite hiding place and could retrieve him easily from under the four-poster.
~~**~~
Remus stared at the official letter. 'We are pleased...' He snorted. No offence but he strongly doubted that they were anything but outraged, even at the very notion of it. A werewolf the guardian of Harry Potter. What a scandal! The werewolf couldn't help but take pleasure from it. He could just see this Mr Crockford sitting in his pompous office, on his pompous little ass, gnawing on his lip violently as he was forced to write these lines. Remus smirked sardonically. He had met Crockford. The man had visited him about three weeks ago when he was still suffering the after- effects of his last change. That arrogant peacock had questioned him so thoroughly that he had been sweating profusely at the end of their little talk. 'More like interrogation.' Then he had left without a single word on how Remus had come off.
Now, the Lycanthrope was sitting on the couch, the letter in one hand, a cup of tea in the other, feeling like the king of the world despite the tattered robe he wore which was hardly more than a rag. It was the one he always wore for the transformation. About two minutes before the actual change he took it off and put it aside. The wolf liked to play with it but usually left it intact enough to ward off most of the chill. It certainly was not what one wore when he met the headmaster of Hogwarts but then Remus hadn't been expecting Dumbledore to drop in that day. Mrs Figg HAD reported that he was extremely busy, just yesterday.
"I'm sorry to disturb you, my dear boy, but this is rather urgent." The alarm bells in Remus' head went off. The last time Albus Dumbledore had been that straightforward had been the day when he had learned of James' and Lily's fate. "Pack a few belongings you will leave immediately. - It's already taken too long but the Ministry has tried to hush things up." Before he even realised what was happening Albus had already ushered him halfway to the bedroom. "But what happened?" They went inside and Remus drew forth his trunk. "The Longbottoms have been attacked." He walked over to the wardrobe and pulled pieces of garment out. "They have been tortured for information. Probably about your whereabouts." Remus paused in his packing and looked up at him. "Is Harry-?"
"He's safe, don't worry! No one knows about the arrangement with Arabella." The werewolf exhaled deeply. "We have to leave as soon as possible. You'll be staying at the Shrieking Shack this night. We get the rest of your things later. Do you have everything you need right now?"
"One moment!" He crossed the aisle into the bathroom, grabbed a toothbrush, paste, comb and was back at his trunk which he shrunk with a spell. "Okay."
The portkey took them directly to the house that had been the werewolf's shelter during seven years of transformations. Dumbledore left immediately though not before seeking assurance that Remus would be fine. - Yes, no problem. - Will you take the trunk? Thank you, sir. - I'll be fine. Thank you. - Had that been him speaking? He didn't know, couldn't even remember the words. Must have been the right answers, though, the Headmaster seemed satisfied. He took a cautious step forward. There was the old table. One of its legs was missing. That had been on the third night he ever stayed here. When he had awoken the following morning he'd had splinters of wood in his tongue. He knelt down and traced the scratches on its surface with his eyes. There were several. Some of them were definitely not his.
//"What are you doing here?" 15-year-old Remus Lupin stared incredulously at his two best friends. "We've got a present for you." A black-haired boy with ridiculous huge glassed answered. He was smirking in a way that made the other swallow nervously. "It's half an hour before-".
"We know." Interrupted the second intruder, and he, too, had a strange smile plastered upon his face. The two of them wore these kind of expressions that made it easy to understand why it was them, who broke the record for largest amount of detentions within 24 hours - twice, within the very same week. "But we just HAVE to give this present to you now!" They wouldn't pull a prank on him directly before a transformation, would they? Remus eyed them suspiciously. Suddenly he noticed that Sirius had his hands hidden behind his back. He didn't get the chance to ask about it, however. The other boy was quicker than him. "May we present to you - your very own pet rat: Wormtail!" Indeed, it was a rat that found its way onto Remus' shoulder. He stared at it, then he stared at James and Sirius. "My pet rat?", he asked sceptically. The two black haired boys looked at each other and sighed. "He doesn't appreciate it."
"Nope, doesn't seem to."
James grinned. "What do you think? Shall we get him a pet dog instead?"
Sirius grinned back. "By any means."
And suddenly, where just seconds before a boy in a standard Hogwarts' school uniformed stood, there was a large, shaggy, black dog. The werewolf gaped.//
Remus smiled sadly. That had been one of the most wonderful moments in his entire life. True, it was not only exaltation he felt but also fear, for none of them could not know for certain that the wolf would not try to harm Wormtail, Padfoot, or Prongs, but it was still terrific. They were gone now, however, and nothing could be the old times back. Slowly, he stood up and shed his robe. Two minutes to go.
//They say that the Shrieking Shack is haunted and, though, no one comes close to the actual meaning of this, it is true. The ghosts of my past still linger here among the wrecked and broken furniture like wisps of fading memory. And this is all they are.//
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A/N: No, don't worry. There will be more memories. Remus just had to draw a line since his depression was getting out of hand. He decided the best way to deal with it was to banish any memory of them.... Just doesn't work though, at least not for forever.
+++
Chapter added on 07/25/ 2003. Reviews will be answered in Chapter One entitled "Author Notes, Disclaimer, Answers to Reviews, etc." Constructive criticism welcome! Please, review!
As it so happened the moon reached her peak on Boxing Day. Remus didn't mind that much though. To be explicit about it, he was actually in a rather good mood. The morning of Christmas day had been abundant with pleasant surprises. The first had come at around nine o'clock. Remus had just been about feeding Harry when he'd heard a soft pop! from the living room. It had been Mrs. Figg. She had brought with her various toys and clothes for Harry, an assortment of candies for the werewolf - he had a sweet tooth, Arabella knew - and a turkey. After they had prepared and feasted upon the meal and Harry had opened all his presents they had settled down on the light blue couched and watched the small boy play with the toys and the litter that was strewn across the carpeted floor.
*//December 25th *//
"It seems," Mrs Figg said mildly as Harry put a red and gold striped piece of paper on his head, "that the little tyke has more fun with the litter than with the actual presents." Remus chuckled. "I don't think he means to be ungrateful." The woman cast a sideways glance at him. "How are you holding up?" He didn't know what to say. How WAS he holding up? Well, it could have been better. "It's okay, I guess. I -", he faltered. To tell her of his financial problems would be impolite and embarrassing. She might have been able to help him finding a landowner who charged less rent for a house but money was not a subject one talked about freely. Instead he opted to tell her of another matter that bore down just as heavily upon his mind.
"I'm a bit nervous, though. It's like...everyday I wake up I expect a horde of Ministry people trying to knock down my door. I still don't have an official permission to raise Harry and..." He chewed on his lip. It was an infuriating habit. It irked himself the most. Arabella pretended to take no notice. "I don't think you have to worry about that much longer.", she said with a mysterious smile. She had rather hoped he would mention that. "As a matter of fact, this isn't solely a social visit. Yesterday morning I received an owl from Albus that instructed me to give this to you personally as he himself is too busy. He says hello, though." She reached inside her purse and extracted a formal looking piece of parchment. Remus took it with shaky fingers. If this was what he thought it was. "Well, read it!" Carefully, as if fearing it would burst into flames like a howler any moment, he unfolded it.
12-23-1981 Alfred Crockford Youth Welfare Office Ministry of Magic London 2359
//Dear Mr Lupin,
we are pleased to inform you that your application for guardianship of Mr Harold James Potter has been granted. It's... //
He stopped. The words swam before his eyes. It was impossible. The Ministry had really, truly granted him guardianship. Him, a werewolf. While there was no legal decree that barred werewolves from adopting children, it was still unheard-of. There had never been just one single case in history when one of his kind had achieved this. In most cases there were other relatives to take care for the child or it was given to another petitioner.
This act, this little piece of parchment, was a milestone for werewolves on their way to equality. Remus didn't give a single knut about it at that moment, however. All that was important to him was this: he was officially the legal guardian of Harry. "Thank you!", he whispered and took Mrs. Figg into a bone-crushing hug. "Don't thank me. It's Albus' doing. He pulled more strings within the Ministry than I care to count." She patted his back lovingly. Suddenly aware of what he was doing he released the elderly witch and instead pulled Harry closer to him. Unnoticed by the two adults the boy had crawled over to them and had positioned himself on the man's lap. Remus wasn't even surprised anymore. Harry had the uncanny ability to move around undetected. Sometimes it brought the werewolf close to a heart attack when the child vanished without a trace again. Yet, by now he had found the child's favourite hiding place and could retrieve him easily from under the four-poster.
~~**~~
Remus stared at the official letter. 'We are pleased...' He snorted. No offence but he strongly doubted that they were anything but outraged, even at the very notion of it. A werewolf the guardian of Harry Potter. What a scandal! The werewolf couldn't help but take pleasure from it. He could just see this Mr Crockford sitting in his pompous office, on his pompous little ass, gnawing on his lip violently as he was forced to write these lines. Remus smirked sardonically. He had met Crockford. The man had visited him about three weeks ago when he was still suffering the after- effects of his last change. That arrogant peacock had questioned him so thoroughly that he had been sweating profusely at the end of their little talk. 'More like interrogation.' Then he had left without a single word on how Remus had come off.
Now, the Lycanthrope was sitting on the couch, the letter in one hand, a cup of tea in the other, feeling like the king of the world despite the tattered robe he wore which was hardly more than a rag. It was the one he always wore for the transformation. About two minutes before the actual change he took it off and put it aside. The wolf liked to play with it but usually left it intact enough to ward off most of the chill. It certainly was not what one wore when he met the headmaster of Hogwarts but then Remus hadn't been expecting Dumbledore to drop in that day. Mrs Figg HAD reported that he was extremely busy, just yesterday.
"I'm sorry to disturb you, my dear boy, but this is rather urgent." The alarm bells in Remus' head went off. The last time Albus Dumbledore had been that straightforward had been the day when he had learned of James' and Lily's fate. "Pack a few belongings you will leave immediately. - It's already taken too long but the Ministry has tried to hush things up." Before he even realised what was happening Albus had already ushered him halfway to the bedroom. "But what happened?" They went inside and Remus drew forth his trunk. "The Longbottoms have been attacked." He walked over to the wardrobe and pulled pieces of garment out. "They have been tortured for information. Probably about your whereabouts." Remus paused in his packing and looked up at him. "Is Harry-?"
"He's safe, don't worry! No one knows about the arrangement with Arabella." The werewolf exhaled deeply. "We have to leave as soon as possible. You'll be staying at the Shrieking Shack this night. We get the rest of your things later. Do you have everything you need right now?"
"One moment!" He crossed the aisle into the bathroom, grabbed a toothbrush, paste, comb and was back at his trunk which he shrunk with a spell. "Okay."
The portkey took them directly to the house that had been the werewolf's shelter during seven years of transformations. Dumbledore left immediately though not before seeking assurance that Remus would be fine. - Yes, no problem. - Will you take the trunk? Thank you, sir. - I'll be fine. Thank you. - Had that been him speaking? He didn't know, couldn't even remember the words. Must have been the right answers, though, the Headmaster seemed satisfied. He took a cautious step forward. There was the old table. One of its legs was missing. That had been on the third night he ever stayed here. When he had awoken the following morning he'd had splinters of wood in his tongue. He knelt down and traced the scratches on its surface with his eyes. There were several. Some of them were definitely not his.
//"What are you doing here?" 15-year-old Remus Lupin stared incredulously at his two best friends. "We've got a present for you." A black-haired boy with ridiculous huge glassed answered. He was smirking in a way that made the other swallow nervously. "It's half an hour before-".
"We know." Interrupted the second intruder, and he, too, had a strange smile plastered upon his face. The two of them wore these kind of expressions that made it easy to understand why it was them, who broke the record for largest amount of detentions within 24 hours - twice, within the very same week. "But we just HAVE to give this present to you now!" They wouldn't pull a prank on him directly before a transformation, would they? Remus eyed them suspiciously. Suddenly he noticed that Sirius had his hands hidden behind his back. He didn't get the chance to ask about it, however. The other boy was quicker than him. "May we present to you - your very own pet rat: Wormtail!" Indeed, it was a rat that found its way onto Remus' shoulder. He stared at it, then he stared at James and Sirius. "My pet rat?", he asked sceptically. The two black haired boys looked at each other and sighed. "He doesn't appreciate it."
"Nope, doesn't seem to."
James grinned. "What do you think? Shall we get him a pet dog instead?"
Sirius grinned back. "By any means."
And suddenly, where just seconds before a boy in a standard Hogwarts' school uniformed stood, there was a large, shaggy, black dog. The werewolf gaped.//
Remus smiled sadly. That had been one of the most wonderful moments in his entire life. True, it was not only exaltation he felt but also fear, for none of them could not know for certain that the wolf would not try to harm Wormtail, Padfoot, or Prongs, but it was still terrific. They were gone now, however, and nothing could be the old times back. Slowly, he stood up and shed his robe. Two minutes to go.
//They say that the Shrieking Shack is haunted and, though, no one comes close to the actual meaning of this, it is true. The ghosts of my past still linger here among the wrecked and broken furniture like wisps of fading memory. And this is all they are.//
+++
A/N: No, don't worry. There will be more memories. Remus just had to draw a line since his depression was getting out of hand. He decided the best way to deal with it was to banish any memory of them.... Just doesn't work though, at least not for forever.
+++
Chapter added on 07/25/ 2003. Reviews will be answered in Chapter One entitled "Author Notes, Disclaimer, Answers to Reviews, etc." Constructive criticism welcome! Please, review!