Title: Home
Author: eMu
Rating: PG-13
Summary:
Disclaimers: Usual
Author's Notes: I wrote Home a few years ago, it was one of my first HP fics, and when I look back on it, very amateurish. There are some parts I can't even read now because they're so out of character it's painful, or something of the sort. I guess this means I've grown as a writer since then, which is my goal in all of these scribbles and rambles. Still, there are some good parts in that mess of a fic too, and it seems to have developed a fan base, both in the never-met-internet folks who were kind enough to review, and in my own life. My little sister Pengwinn and my friend Dragon's Eye remain faithful to my incessant spews of computer generated verbal diarrhea, and this fic is written partially for them. I know I promised a sequel to them…pretty much right after I finished writing the first one, and I know it's been posted here that there would be one, so I'm going to try. A few changes will be made as I go, and I plan to spend more time on this and take it more slowly. Plus OOTP has come out since I wrote this and I'm wondering how much of that nasty canon stuff to include. There will be contradictions made in this fic that go against the first one and I'd ask you to kindly ignore that.
Oh yeah…Wendy's is another fast food place. It's sorta like Burger King and McDonald's only they have a lot of other stuff. My friend was telling me that they have statistically the dirties restaurants in the United States, even though the one in our town seems kinda clean…anyway, that's Wendy's.
And if anyone's still with me, thank you and please review! ^_^
"Reya, can you keep an eye on your little brother for a few minutes?" Lucille Lupin shouted out the window.
"Mum, I have a friend over!" Reya whined. She had been playing a hand slap game with her friend Violet before her mother's interruption. The thing Reya hated more than anything was having to watch her brother. Remus was a full four years younger than her, practically a baby. There was something weird about him too. Despite being four years old, he could hardly talk and never used full sentences. She hated having to play guessing game to figure out what he was trying to tell her.
"I don't care Reya Anne, you watch over Remus and make sure he doesn't hurt himself! It's getting dark out." Lucille yelled back.
"Mum just take him into the kitchen with you!" Reya walked under the window now.
"I'm cooking supper in here Reya. I don't need him to burn himself. Just watch him."
"But Mu-u-u-um-"
"If you don't want to listen to me then you can just send Violet home and you can spend the rest of the night in your room!"
Reya let out a final pout and then walked back over to the picnic table where Violet was waiting for her. The Lupins lived in a somewhat large house set far back in the woods. It was a good walk to the main street, and there was another good stretch of lawn in the backyard with a low wooden fence around it. Within the yard was a sandbox and swing set for the kids, as well as a small garden for Mrs. Lupin. Outside the fence were thick woods the kids sometimes played hide and seek in. There were neighbors scattered around here and there, but for the most part the house was very remote and peaceful. The neighbors generally consisted of young families like the Lupins with a few senior citizens sprinkled here and there.
Remus was standing a few feet away from the girls playing with a ball. He narrowed his eyes at Reya, having heard the argument. Reya sent him an equally nasty look, then pointedly turned around, ready to ignore him. Violet seemed to have a different idea. She leaned over and whispered something in Reya's ear. They both began giggling, then turned to Remus with evil smiles on their faces. The walked over to him, towering somewhat menacingly above him.
"Remus, wanna play a game?" Reya asked in a falsely sweet voice.
Remus shook his head.
"Sure you do." Violet said. "Besides, you have to anyway. Reya and I are babysitting you so you hafta do what we say and we want to play hide and seek."
"And we can't play hide and seek by ourselves. We need at least three or it's no fun." Reya explained.
"Don't wanna." Remus stated, backing away a few paces. Reya and Violet followed.
"Doesn't matter." Violet snapped.
"I'll be it, and I'll count and you and Violet go hide in the woods. Then I'll go find you. Honestly, even a stupid baby like you should understand it." Reya said with an eye roll.
"You won' look!" Remus exclaimed. He'd played that game a few times with Reya. The last one had ended with him crouching in a bush for a half hour. He finally went in when it began to rain and found Reya drinking hot chocolate in the living room.
"Too bad, you're going to play." Reya said, holding up a fist menacingly.
A few minutes later Remus was sulkily walking through the woods, looking for someplace to hide. He heard voices behind him, so he ducked behind a tree. Violet and Reya walked by, talking about some boy they knew who'd kissed some ten year old at school. They weren't making any pretense of looking for Remus. He kicked at a rock angrily.
Remus began walking in the opposite direction from them. The sun was setting spectacularly, and sending jets of crimson light through the trees. It was very pretty, but a tad disorienting for a small child. He soon found himself on a trail he'd never seen. He tried to retrace his steps, but slowly the light faded and that became more difficult to do. He was fully lost within twenty minutes.
"Reya? R-Reya?" He called hopefully. There was no sign of his sister, or her friend.
Remus heard a noise that made the hair on his neck stand up. It sounded like either a very hurt or a very angry dog. He stopped in his tracks, hoping the dog wouldn't hear him. He stood perfectly still. He heard the dog howl again, but it sounded farther away now. Remus let out a relieved breath, then jumped when a squirrel ran up a tree right next to him. He was so scared he didn't hear the snap of twigs as a man approached him, and didn't notice him until he was picked up.
Remus screamed and struggled against the strange person.
"Remey, calm down! It's me, your dad?"
"Daddy?" Remus said dazedly, finally recognizing the man. It had grown very dark very quickly. Raven Lupin hoisted his son onto his shoulders in piggy back style and began to walk through the woods.
"That sister of yours is going to get quite a punishment. Going into the woods without permission. Stranding you out here…lucky I found you." Raven muttered, half to himself.
Remus clung to his daddy's back, feeling much safer now. He'd almost forgotten the doggy completely.
Raven stepped out into a clearing, and blinked at the sudden light. A summer sized full moon flooded the clearing, the trees no longer preventing it from being seen. Raven stared at the trees around them, confused. "Never been to this clearing before."
"Lost?" Remus asked, feeling scared again.
"I think we might be…only thing to do is keep going. We're bound to hit somebody's yard eventually." Raven answered. He kept walking, the forest now taking on a menacing tone it never had in the daylight. Remus clung tighter to Raven's shoulders, trembling a little.
"It's alright Remus, we'll be home soon. Mum cooked a big supper for us, and then I can read to you before bed." Raven said in a comforting way. They were almost done with Peter Pan, and the thought of finishing off the book calmed Remus considerably.
Then they heard the dog again.
"Yep, got a good bedtime story, sitting right on the nightstand. Maybe have a mug of hot chocolate while we read it." Raven babbled. He'd begun to walk faster now.
"Daddy, m'scared." Remus whispered.
"Nothing to be scared of, nothing at all. We're almost home." Raven lied. He still had no idea where they were, he just needed to get away from that howl. The moon was too full for a howl like that to be any good.
"Daddy?"
The howl sounded again, closer now. Raven began running. "Nothing to worry about Remus. Just a hurt puppy. I bet he's trying to get home too. You like puppies, right? What sound does the puppy make?"
"M'scared Daddy." Remus said in a small voice.
"It's all right Remus, everything's going to be-"
The wolf had somehow come up in front of them. It blocked their path, impossibly large and frightening. Its eyes glinted fierce yellow, fangs bared at the potential prey.
"Remus run!" Raven set Remus on the ground, then began moving away from him, attempting to draw the wolf's attention. It couldn't have been a difficult choice to make, there was a lot more meat on the father than on the son.
"Get help!" Raven yelled, as he took off into the woods.
"Daddy!" Remus yelled. But he was nothing if not obedient, and he ran down the path. He put his hands over his ears to block out any noises and kept going as fast as he could. It wasn't very far, and it wasn't very fast, as there's only so much the little legs of a four year old can do.
Finally he emerged into an unfamiliar yard. An old man was standing on the back porch, letting his cat in, when he saw Remus, who was gasping for air and trembling so hard he couldn't speak. The old man started hobbling up the long and sloping yard.
Remus' eyes were wide with fear. He tried to walk forward and fell to the ground. Then he froze in terror as he heard that horrible monster howl again. The wolf lunged out of the trees, crimson now matted into its fur. It grabbed Remus in its massive jaws, long teeth sinking into the boy's abdomen. Remus let out a shriek of pain and terror.
The old man pulled out his wand and fired a stunning spell at the monster. It collapsed to the ground, and Remus landed next to it, his head hitting the dirt hard.
**************************
*TBC*
Author: eMu
Rating: PG-13
Summary:
Disclaimers: Usual
Author's Notes: I wrote Home a few years ago, it was one of my first HP fics, and when I look back on it, very amateurish. There are some parts I can't even read now because they're so out of character it's painful, or something of the sort. I guess this means I've grown as a writer since then, which is my goal in all of these scribbles and rambles. Still, there are some good parts in that mess of a fic too, and it seems to have developed a fan base, both in the never-met-internet folks who were kind enough to review, and in my own life. My little sister Pengwinn and my friend Dragon's Eye remain faithful to my incessant spews of computer generated verbal diarrhea, and this fic is written partially for them. I know I promised a sequel to them…pretty much right after I finished writing the first one, and I know it's been posted here that there would be one, so I'm going to try. A few changes will be made as I go, and I plan to spend more time on this and take it more slowly. Plus OOTP has come out since I wrote this and I'm wondering how much of that nasty canon stuff to include. There will be contradictions made in this fic that go against the first one and I'd ask you to kindly ignore that.
Oh yeah…Wendy's is another fast food place. It's sorta like Burger King and McDonald's only they have a lot of other stuff. My friend was telling me that they have statistically the dirties restaurants in the United States, even though the one in our town seems kinda clean…anyway, that's Wendy's.
And if anyone's still with me, thank you and please review! ^_^
"Reya, can you keep an eye on your little brother for a few minutes?" Lucille Lupin shouted out the window.
"Mum, I have a friend over!" Reya whined. She had been playing a hand slap game with her friend Violet before her mother's interruption. The thing Reya hated more than anything was having to watch her brother. Remus was a full four years younger than her, practically a baby. There was something weird about him too. Despite being four years old, he could hardly talk and never used full sentences. She hated having to play guessing game to figure out what he was trying to tell her.
"I don't care Reya Anne, you watch over Remus and make sure he doesn't hurt himself! It's getting dark out." Lucille yelled back.
"Mum just take him into the kitchen with you!" Reya walked under the window now.
"I'm cooking supper in here Reya. I don't need him to burn himself. Just watch him."
"But Mu-u-u-um-"
"If you don't want to listen to me then you can just send Violet home and you can spend the rest of the night in your room!"
Reya let out a final pout and then walked back over to the picnic table where Violet was waiting for her. The Lupins lived in a somewhat large house set far back in the woods. It was a good walk to the main street, and there was another good stretch of lawn in the backyard with a low wooden fence around it. Within the yard was a sandbox and swing set for the kids, as well as a small garden for Mrs. Lupin. Outside the fence were thick woods the kids sometimes played hide and seek in. There were neighbors scattered around here and there, but for the most part the house was very remote and peaceful. The neighbors generally consisted of young families like the Lupins with a few senior citizens sprinkled here and there.
Remus was standing a few feet away from the girls playing with a ball. He narrowed his eyes at Reya, having heard the argument. Reya sent him an equally nasty look, then pointedly turned around, ready to ignore him. Violet seemed to have a different idea. She leaned over and whispered something in Reya's ear. They both began giggling, then turned to Remus with evil smiles on their faces. The walked over to him, towering somewhat menacingly above him.
"Remus, wanna play a game?" Reya asked in a falsely sweet voice.
Remus shook his head.
"Sure you do." Violet said. "Besides, you have to anyway. Reya and I are babysitting you so you hafta do what we say and we want to play hide and seek."
"And we can't play hide and seek by ourselves. We need at least three or it's no fun." Reya explained.
"Don't wanna." Remus stated, backing away a few paces. Reya and Violet followed.
"Doesn't matter." Violet snapped.
"I'll be it, and I'll count and you and Violet go hide in the woods. Then I'll go find you. Honestly, even a stupid baby like you should understand it." Reya said with an eye roll.
"You won' look!" Remus exclaimed. He'd played that game a few times with Reya. The last one had ended with him crouching in a bush for a half hour. He finally went in when it began to rain and found Reya drinking hot chocolate in the living room.
"Too bad, you're going to play." Reya said, holding up a fist menacingly.
A few minutes later Remus was sulkily walking through the woods, looking for someplace to hide. He heard voices behind him, so he ducked behind a tree. Violet and Reya walked by, talking about some boy they knew who'd kissed some ten year old at school. They weren't making any pretense of looking for Remus. He kicked at a rock angrily.
Remus began walking in the opposite direction from them. The sun was setting spectacularly, and sending jets of crimson light through the trees. It was very pretty, but a tad disorienting for a small child. He soon found himself on a trail he'd never seen. He tried to retrace his steps, but slowly the light faded and that became more difficult to do. He was fully lost within twenty minutes.
"Reya? R-Reya?" He called hopefully. There was no sign of his sister, or her friend.
Remus heard a noise that made the hair on his neck stand up. It sounded like either a very hurt or a very angry dog. He stopped in his tracks, hoping the dog wouldn't hear him. He stood perfectly still. He heard the dog howl again, but it sounded farther away now. Remus let out a relieved breath, then jumped when a squirrel ran up a tree right next to him. He was so scared he didn't hear the snap of twigs as a man approached him, and didn't notice him until he was picked up.
Remus screamed and struggled against the strange person.
"Remey, calm down! It's me, your dad?"
"Daddy?" Remus said dazedly, finally recognizing the man. It had grown very dark very quickly. Raven Lupin hoisted his son onto his shoulders in piggy back style and began to walk through the woods.
"That sister of yours is going to get quite a punishment. Going into the woods without permission. Stranding you out here…lucky I found you." Raven muttered, half to himself.
Remus clung to his daddy's back, feeling much safer now. He'd almost forgotten the doggy completely.
Raven stepped out into a clearing, and blinked at the sudden light. A summer sized full moon flooded the clearing, the trees no longer preventing it from being seen. Raven stared at the trees around them, confused. "Never been to this clearing before."
"Lost?" Remus asked, feeling scared again.
"I think we might be…only thing to do is keep going. We're bound to hit somebody's yard eventually." Raven answered. He kept walking, the forest now taking on a menacing tone it never had in the daylight. Remus clung tighter to Raven's shoulders, trembling a little.
"It's alright Remus, we'll be home soon. Mum cooked a big supper for us, and then I can read to you before bed." Raven said in a comforting way. They were almost done with Peter Pan, and the thought of finishing off the book calmed Remus considerably.
Then they heard the dog again.
"Yep, got a good bedtime story, sitting right on the nightstand. Maybe have a mug of hot chocolate while we read it." Raven babbled. He'd begun to walk faster now.
"Daddy, m'scared." Remus whispered.
"Nothing to be scared of, nothing at all. We're almost home." Raven lied. He still had no idea where they were, he just needed to get away from that howl. The moon was too full for a howl like that to be any good.
"Daddy?"
The howl sounded again, closer now. Raven began running. "Nothing to worry about Remus. Just a hurt puppy. I bet he's trying to get home too. You like puppies, right? What sound does the puppy make?"
"M'scared Daddy." Remus said in a small voice.
"It's all right Remus, everything's going to be-"
The wolf had somehow come up in front of them. It blocked their path, impossibly large and frightening. Its eyes glinted fierce yellow, fangs bared at the potential prey.
"Remus run!" Raven set Remus on the ground, then began moving away from him, attempting to draw the wolf's attention. It couldn't have been a difficult choice to make, there was a lot more meat on the father than on the son.
"Get help!" Raven yelled, as he took off into the woods.
"Daddy!" Remus yelled. But he was nothing if not obedient, and he ran down the path. He put his hands over his ears to block out any noises and kept going as fast as he could. It wasn't very far, and it wasn't very fast, as there's only so much the little legs of a four year old can do.
Finally he emerged into an unfamiliar yard. An old man was standing on the back porch, letting his cat in, when he saw Remus, who was gasping for air and trembling so hard he couldn't speak. The old man started hobbling up the long and sloping yard.
Remus' eyes were wide with fear. He tried to walk forward and fell to the ground. Then he froze in terror as he heard that horrible monster howl again. The wolf lunged out of the trees, crimson now matted into its fur. It grabbed Remus in its massive jaws, long teeth sinking into the boy's abdomen. Remus let out a shriek of pain and terror.
The old man pulled out his wand and fired a stunning spell at the monster. It collapsed to the ground, and Remus landed next to it, his head hitting the dirt hard.
**************************
*TBC*