Chapter Two

Remus sat down on the curb outside his house. The street around him was dark and deserted. It was still about a week to the full moon, so he didn't have to worry about being around wizards - yet. He had to admit, his rage was a little unethical, and quite unlike him. In their group of four, he had always been the calm, rational one. A surge of anger rose in his throat once more. There was no group of four. Not anymore.

Now, to business. He couldn't help being businesslike at a time like this - it was in his blood. On his mother's side, he believed. But that wasn't important. Where was he going to go? He needed to be somewhere that was all-wizard (he couldn't risk biting a muggle in his werewolf state) but he didn't want to be found. So basically, Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley were both out. Where was another all-wizard village somewhere in Europe? He needed a place where neither Dumbledore nor his parents would every think to contact him.

Then it hit him. He could go stay in Hogsmeade, but nobody would recognize him if he had a disguise! What could he do to disguise himself? He didn't want to dye his hair - he liked it. It was a nice light brown that tended to flop ever-so-annoyingly into his eyes. Although some girls, like Lily, had said it made him look rather mysterious...

Remus all of a sudden felt like kicking himself. Lily! She had, of course, been with James when You-Know-Who had turned up at their flat. He supposed that she, too, was... oh, GOD. He hadn't even thought of her, he was so absorbed in his best friends. But he had come to regard her as one of them as well - she and James had been dating for three years before they married.. Remus had always thought of them as the perfect couple, and couldn't fathom them being with anyone but each other. He had always secretly longed to be in a relationship as close-knit as theirs, but unfortunately, he seemed to have slight commitment issues. It probably had something to do with his being a werewolf.

And then Lily and James had a son, Harry. He was the spitting image of his father - well, what his father would have looked like was he only half a metre tall, that is. Except for his eyes. Lily's beautiful green eyes shone in place of where James' normal blue ones would have been. Remus was certain this boy was going to be popular when he reached Hogwarts age.

If he had. What if You-Know-Who had killed Harry, too? That would be extremely tragic. The boy was barely a year old. Remus couldn't sit there any longer. He had to go and see if Harry was alive! Remus stood up so quickly he startled a gray cat that was strolling by. The cat meowed loudly and took off down the road. He payed no attention to her. Instead, he strode quickly to the curb with his suitcase, stuck out his wand arm, and waited. Just as he knew it would, a purple triple-decker bus appeared out of nowhere in front of him. A stout, bald man hopped down the steps of the bus.

"Hello, welcome to the Knight Bus. I'm your conductor, Lawrence -"

"Yeah, yeah, we've met before," Remus replied shortly. He pushed past Lawrence the conductor and started up the steps. "Godric's Hollow, please. As fast as you can possibly get me there."

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Remus stepped off the Knight bus several minutes later. He stood at the side of the road, gazing at the shambles in front of him. Lily and James' house was positively squashed. No, squashed wasn't the word for it - it was obliterated into a million pieces. Parts of the roof lay twenty feet away, and what looked like a bathtub was lying forlornly in across-the-road's front lawn. It was evident that no people survived this.

He stepped gingerly around various pipes and bricks, until he was standing in the middle of the squashed house. He sighed. James and Lily hadn't lived in Godric's Hollow for long (they had moved there only to flee You-Know-Who a mere two weeks prior) but they had held a quiet housewarming party and were perfectly content with their small flat. Then again, they seemed to be content with anything, as long as they were together.

Then Remus noticed something, half-hidden by a scorched curtain. He knelt down and picked it up. A small band of gold glinted in the light of the half moon. On the inside, he could see two initials engraved into it. J.P. James' wedding band. Remus clutched the band inside his fist and began to do something very uncharacteristic for him. He screamed.

"Noooooooo! James! Lily! Harry!"

And as his voice echoed down the road, as empty and hurting as Remus' heart, tears slowly pooled and ran down his cheeks.