Disclaimer: I do not own JKR's beautiful work, for if I did I would be selling it to a publisher instead of posting it here. No offence intended of course.
Summary: Remus Lupin was once a normal boy, but one fateful night changed all of that.
Author's Notes: Thanks a whole lot to my wonderful Beta, Ozma. I am really sorry for the wait. My summer has just been super hectic with things going on left and right. I'll try to update more often.
From Monster To Moony: Year One
Chapter Two: The Cost of the Curse
Remus stared at the letter that he held in his trembling hands. He blinked rapidly as if expecting the words to change. He looked up at his parents, both of whom were watching for his reaction.
He opened his mouth to say, "Yes, I want to go," but the words were lost halfway out of his mouth. Instead he blurted out, "Honestly?"
Remus's father chuckled, "Honestly."
He tried to say yes again, but this time the words didn't come out at all. He just stared at the letter in awe. He looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder and blinked in surprise. He hadn't even heard his mother stand.
"Do you want to go, my little prince?"
"YES!" Remus cried a lot louder than he had intended. He cleared his throat. "I mean, yes."
"Are you sure?" Amelia asked, unable to keep the worry out of her voice.
"Yes! Of course I'm sure!" He looked down at the letter again and smiled widely. "I've never been so sure in my life."
His mother sighed and frowned. Edwin stepped forward and put one hand on Amelia's shoulder and the other on Remus's. Amelia looked up at him and stared for a moment. They spoke to each other without any words, and after a moment, Amelia smiled.
"Then you're going to Hogwarts, dear, and you'll love it there."
Remus smiled up at his mum and jumped up from his seat. He'd never felt so energetic before. "I can't wait!" he cried. "When can we go to Diagon Alley? Today? Tomorrow? Next week?"
His mother and father laughed.
"How about in two weeks. It'll be too early for the crowds, but late enough so that we can be sure that you won't have a growth spurt between now and September," his mother suggested.
"Like that'll happen," said Remus, "I haven't grown since I was nine."
"You've grown—a few millimetres," teased his father.
Remus just stuck his tongue out at him.
CRASH!
The unexpected noise from downstairs made Remus sit up in bed. He glanced at the clock and saw that it wasn't quite four in the morning. He knew that his mother had gone to sleep ages ago and his father wasn't due home until the day after tomorrow.
He began to kick the sheets off of him when he heard another crash from downstairs. He froze. He stayed still, staring at his door, for a while before finally getting the courage to move and slide out of bed.
His insides gripped at him as he thought of possible burglars from town. He didn't think the small town that they lived by had many thieves, but he had only been there twice himself.
Slowly, he tiptoed toward his slightly open door and peeked out.
There was another crash.
Remus started slightly and saw his mother's door open. Amelia stepped out of her room in her bathrobe with her wand out. She slowly stalked toward the stairs. She came to the top step and peered down. He heard her gasp.
"Edwin?" she breathed before she descended down the stairs, not even looking back toward him.
He pushed open his door a bit more and crept out down the corridor in curiosity. He remembered his father once telling him that his curiosity would get him killed, but even now those words seemed quite hollow.
He was nearly to the top of the stairs when he heard his mother's voice float up to him once again.
"Edwin?" she asked. "Edwin, what are you doing home—are you drunk?"
Remus's eyebrows shot up. By the sound of her voice, he could tell that he wasn't the only one surprised by that statement. He had never known his father to drink alcohol other than once in his life, and that had been the night of his first transformation. He crept closer to the staircase and peered over it.
"What happened?"
"I can't believe they—the Ministry is corrupt—why would they—"
His father's syllables kept getting lost in his throat, and Remus had a hard time trying to determine exactly what his father was saying. He slid down the first step clutched the banister.
"You aren't making any sense. Please, just tell me what's wrong."
"I've been let go, Amelia."
"What?"
"I've been let go! Fired! Sacked!"
Remus's eyes widened and he had to hold his breath to keep from gasping out loud. He slid down another step to get closer to the conversation. There was a long silence.
"Why?"
"You don't want to know."
There was a pain in his voice that made Remus shudder.
"Yes, I do. Tell me. Why?"
He slid down another step, and his father sighed.
"Do you remember Bobby?"
"The trainee? Of course I remember him—he used to get you so annoyed. Why? What's this have to do with your old trainee?"
"Well, he still works in the department, and he still remembers why I left in the first place."
"Because of Remus?"
"Because Remus is a werewolf."
Remus nearly slipped, but he caught himself before he fell. Swallowing hard, he strained to catch what his parents were saying.
"What do you mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. Bobby remembered that my son was a werewolf and thought that if this got out it would make the company look bad, so he went the Department Head and of course they agreed."
"They can't fire you for something you can't control!"
"Apparently, they can."
Remus felt his surprise quickly be replaced by guilt. He knew, in the back of his mind, that he couldn't control the prejudice that other people had, but he couldn't help feeling slightly guilty.
"Things will be alright, though. I'll get a job in town—as a waitress or something—we don't need to worry about that."
"Yes, we do," his father sighed. "Remus is supposed to leave for school in less than two months—we'll never get enough money for all of his supplies before then."
"We have money saved up, Edwin—"
"No we don't, Amelia. We used nearly our whole life savings on Healers."
The house was filled with an uncomfortable silence. Remus found that he was holding his breath as he waited for his mother's answer. He should have known that something was bound to happen to prevent him from going to school.
"We'll get the money somehow." She paused. "I haven't spoken to my parents in years, but I'm sure they'd be willing to let me borrow something from them. My sister will be willing to help, I'm sure—"
"Amelia, is this the same family you decided to never talk to again when you married me?"
"Yes," she said slowly, "but desperate times call for desperate measures. I will not let this stand in the way of my son's education."
"Neither will I," said his father, sounding slightly surprised at how passionate Amelia was being about Remus going to school when she had been the one opposed to it.
"Then I'll owl them tomorrow. For right now—" she made a sound of disgust, "go make yourself a cup of tea while I brew you a Sobering Solution."
It seemed as though neither of his parents wanted to discuss their financial problems with Remus. He knew they thought he would ask them why they were suddenly without income, and he had to admit that they were right. He just wished that they thought him mature enough to handle it.
He had thought it over that night while he lay in bed and decided there was nothing that could be done about it. He couldn't control other people's prejudice, could he? It didn't stop him from feeling guilty, but it did stop him from brooding on it constantly.
Three days later, his mother sent him off to the Brookes house so that she could "visit some relatives." He knew that she was going to go talk to his grandparents and aunt about getting some money. All he could do was pray for her success.
Remus must have been quieter than usual while he was sitting in Cassi's room, because she kept asking him what was wrong. He finally came up with an excuse that she seemed to believe.
"I got accepted into a boarding school in Ireland, and I won't be able to see you for a year. I just hate goodbyes, you know?"
In all truth, he had no idea where Hogwarts was. He remembered his father telling him about the furious snowball fights that he and his dorm mates used to have during the winter season, though, so he assumed it had to be somewhere up north.
Cassi had been sad at the news, but had congratulated him on being accepted. When she asked if they could write each other, however, Remus got tongue-tied and stumbled over his words, finally telling her that he'd have to ask his parents if that was possible. She seemed satisfied with the answer, and Remus decided that she was either very gullible or he was just a good liar. He didn't know which was better.
As July ended, the full moon passing with it, his mother finally mentioned taking a trip to Diagon Alley. Remus took this as a sign that she had finally collected enough money for his supplies. He supposed that he ought to feel bad that it had taken her so long, but all he felt was excitement about the trip that was coming up. To him, this was just another step along the way to get him closer to Hogwarts.
A week before September first, Remus and Amelia found themselves riding the underground toward the middle of London. Remus kept fidgeting in his seat unable to keep still. He was extremely nervous and excited.
He kept wringing his hands together so he could do something other than bounce in his seat like a four year old. After nearly ten straight minutes of doing this, however, his mother reached over and firmly placed her hand on top of Remus's.
"Stop it," she ordered.
"Stop what?" asked Remus, not really paying attention as his hands went back to wringing themselves nervously.
"Stop that." She reached over and held his hands again. "It makes you look dreadfully nervous."
"But I am nervous," said Remus.
"You're nervous because you're afraid people will notice that you're nervous and they'll only notice you're nervous if you show that you're nervous."
Remus stared at her. "Huh?"
"Just do something else to make it less obvious that you're nervous," said his mother simply. "My mother used to tell us that when we were young. I ended up getting the habit of biting my nails—don't do that."
He grimaced a bit at the thought and was about to say that the thought didn't particularly appeal to him when she spoke up again.
"My sister used to chew her lip, though—always made her look like she was thinking. You could try that if you want."
Remus still had no idea what the conversation he had just had with his mother was about, but he nodded in agreement anyway. He kept unconsciously wringing his hands with his mother scolding him every once in a while. He couldn't help but be nervous, however. He had never been to Diagon Alley, and he kept coming up with crazy scenes of what it really looked like. The real thing was nothing like he had imagined.
The moment his mother tapped the brick that opened the archway into the alley, Remus was in awe. He completely forgot about his nerves and felt a huge grin spread across his face as he scanned the arrays of shops that lay before him.
"Get your supply list out. We might as well begin." Amelia said promptly as they walked down the lane and into the hustle and bustle of Diagon Alley.
Remus stuffed his hand into his pocket and fished out the crumpled piece of parchment. He looked it over and knitted his eyebrows together. "That's a lot of stuff to buy. Will we be able to affo—er, I mean, will we be able to get it all?"
Amelia didn't reply as she was looking around searching for a recognizable shop through the crowd, but Remus knew that she had heard his slip. She had tensed and swallowed hastily before pointing to their left as if she hadn't heard him.
"Ah! There's Madam Malkin's. Let's go in there first—"
"Mum?" asked Remus, not moving even though his mother had taken a few steps forward.
She stopped and turned toward him, a tight expression on her face. She forced on a smile and nodded, "Of course we will, my little prince. There's nothing to worry about. Now come on—let's not dawdle."
He gave his mother a sceptical look, but followed her into the shop. Madam Malkin and her assistant were both busy with two boys (twins, it looked like) who were already being fitted. With a quick look at his mother who had gone to the closest rack to browse, Remus decided to explore.
It wasn't a very interesting place. There were many racks with mostly women's robes, and every single one of them looked to be priced over five galleons. He winced. His mother had talked about getting him at least four school robes. If they did that he was sure that they'd be out of gold by the time they left the shop.
Remus sighed as he wandered to the window and looked out it. He watched as a wizard with four young girls walked past the window, a witch was dragging her son by the arm a bit more forcefully then needed slightly behind them, and straight across the main street a cute blond girl with curls was entering Sally's Second-Hand Robes for All Occasions. Remus blinked and smiled slightly. That was exactly the type of shop they needed.
He called his mother over and showed the shop to her. She gave him a sad look as she realized what he was trying to do, and after a moment in which mother and son stared at each other stubbornly, she finally nodded. They left Madam Malkin's and entered the second-hand robe shop.
It was nearly identical to Madam Malkin's except there were more racks for robes and no place to be measured. The blond that he had seen earlier was looking through one of the racks at the other side of the store with her mother, father, and Sally, the owner. Amelia and Remus found a few robes for him and paid for them after the blond had left.
They stopped to buy parchment and ink. His mother surprised him by buying different colour quills. He instantly felt guilty, but decided that one thing didn't matter and decided to enjoy them. They went into the Apothecary next. Remus quickly decided that it was his least favourite store so far. It smelt of rotten eggs and old cabbage, and he waited by the door while his mother got him the standard potion supplies.
In the next store, Remus bought his pewter cauldron and a used collapsible telescope. He followed his mother into the bookshop, Flourish and Blotts, as he heard her say, "This was my favourite shop as a kid. Then again, it was most Ravenclaws' favourite shop."
She led him through the shelves putting the books he would need for the upcoming term into his cauldron. She stopped in the last aisle and seemed to be considering something. After a moment, she reached back into his cauldron and took out a few books, and he knew that she had put second-hand books into his cauldron instead. This didn't bother him, however. The books didn't look to be in that bad condition, and he was eager to read them no matter what condition they were in.
"Now I need my wand, right, Mum?" asked Remus outside of Flourish and Blotts.
"Right, and the only place for that," she paused as she pushed him through the crowd, "is Ollivanders." She pointed at the shabby shop in front of them.
He looked at the shop curiously. He had expected the wand shop to be the best looking shop in the alley. There was a wand in the window sitting on a purple cushion. He wondered if it was a very expensive wand or if it was just very famous. He pointed this out to his mother and she smiled mysteriously.
"I'm not sure, but I hear it's rumoured to have once belonged to Merlin himself."
The shop announced their entrance with the sound of a bell tinkling. Other than that, the shop was completely silent. There seemed to be layers of dust everywhere and everything seemed oddly ancient. There were thousands of rows of neatly stacked boxes right up to the ceiling. He swallowed and looked behind him to realize that his mother had sat down on the only piece of furniture in the place, a chair.
"Good day, Mr. Lupin."
Remus started and spun around. A white-haired man stood in front of him. His pale eyes were shining like two full moons in the gloom of the shop. Remus shivered involuntarily. He began to wring his hands together again, but felt his mother's stern glare on the back of his neck and forced his hands to his sides.
"I wondered when I would be receiving a visit from you," Mr. Ollivander continued. "Let me see, Remus Lupin." He pulled a long tape measure from his cloak pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"
Remus held out his right hand hesitantly. The tape measure left Mr. Ollivander's hands and began to measure him on its own accord. Mr. Ollivander turned away and moved through the rows, taking down boxes and piling them in his arms.
Right when Remus thought he could carry no more, he said, "That will do," and the tape measure fell to the floor, lifeless. Mr. Ollivander set the pile of boxes at his feet and picked up the top box. "Try this one. Yew and dragon heartstring. Eight and three quarter inches. Nice and swishy. Give it a wave—go on."
Raising the wand, Remus gave it a little wave, but it was snatched out of his hand right away and replaced with another one.
"Oak and phoenix feather. Thirteen inches. Rather whippy. Wave it—"
Remus waved it and Mr. Ollivander snatched it from his hand again. He wondered what he was looking for when another wand was pushed into his hand. Odd warmth filled his fingers as he heard Mr. Ollivander say, "Ebony and unicorn hair. Nine and a quarter inches. Quite supple." He brought the wand down and a stream of gold and bronze sparks shot out of the end.
His mother gave a muffled squeal of excitement, and Mr. Ollivander clapped his hands together and cried, "Yes, yes, bravo, very nice indeed!" all the while staring at Remus with those wide, pale eyes.
Remus shivered and stepped back slightly. His mother paid five Galleons for his wand, and they left the shop for which Remus was glad. His mother jingled her purse and smiled.
"Just enough," she said.
"Just enough for what?" asked Remus.
"Just enough left to get you a pet."
"I don't need—"
"Of course you don't need one, but I want to get you one. Now come on, there's the Magical Menagerie." Amelia said as she walked toward the shop.
Remus hesitated a moment before hurrying after her as quickly as he could with a cauldron full of supplies. He slowed to a walk as he caught up with her and they went inside. There wasn't much room to move. Every wall of the shop was lined with cages whose occupants smelled, yowled, croaked or twittered. Remus followed his mother who was examining the cages.
"How about an owl?" she asked, as she gazed into a barn owl's cage.
"We already have Nylon; he might be old but he can still deliver mail," said Remus logically.
"Hmmm… Okay, what about a cat? I used to always want a cat."
Remus shook his head firmly. "I don't like cats."
Amelia looked at him and rolled her eyes while muttering, "Just like your father." She peered through the rat cages. She opened her mouth, but Remus beat her to it.
"What about a frog?" he asked. "Frogs are neat. I wouldn't say no to a lizard either."
"What is it with boys and reptiles?" Amelia sighed. "Alright, let's look at the frog cages."
They squeezed through the shop toward another set of cages. There were toads and frogs of all colours and sizes. A particularly bright-coloured orange, green, and yellow frog was sleeping on a willow branch that had been placed in his cage.
Remus crouched down to get a better look and said, "This one's neat looking."
"He looks poisonous," said Amelia.
She tapped the cage as if to make sure that he wasn't dead. The frog's red eyes snapped open. It started, fell off the branch, and suddenly vanished. Remus blinked.
"Er—where did it go?"
"Hey, it likes you!" the shop keeper cried as she bustled over, her thick black spectacles threatening to fall off the end of her nose.
She reached toward Remus and pulled the colourful frog off his shoulder. Remus's eyes widened.
"How did it—?"
"This," interrupted the shop keeper, "is a Red-Eyed Vanishing Tree Frog. It has its own Apparating license built in. Much like house-elves, it can Apparate even under an Anti-Apparation ward. Interested?"
Remus looked over at his mum and grinned. His mother sighed.
"How much does it cost?"
Twenty minutes and instructions on how to care for his frog later, Remus and his mother made their way back to the Leaky Cauldron. Remus hadn't really taken a good look at the pub when he had first entered it, being too keen on getting into Diagon Alley to really notice anything else.
The famous pub was much like the wand shop. Though highly recommended, it looked worse for wear. It was poorly lit with several different smells mixing together. It was fairly crowded today with people laughing and talking at their respective tables.
Amelia and Remus took a seat at an empty table and he set his supplies at his feet and put his frog on the table. He rested his chin on the table so that he was eye-level with the frog.
"What are you going to name it?" asked his mother.
He looked up at her. He could tell that she still wasn't too thrilled about having something wet and slimy with the ability to Apparate at will in the house.
Remus looked back at the frog. "I don't know, perhaps… Rodger."
"Rodger?"
"Yeah," said Remus grinning, "Rodger." He tapped the cage and said, "Hello, Rodger."
Rodger looked up at him with large red eyes and 'pop' disappeared. Amelia squealed and Remus grinned. He brought his other hand out from under the table and held out his palm where Rodger sat.
"Could you please stop having him do that?" pleaded Amelia.
Remus bit back a smile. "I can try." He looked down at Rodger and said, "Stop scaring my mum. Now, back in your cage."
'Pop.'
His mother squealed again and Rodger reappeared in his cage. Remus smiled innocently at her and she glared at him in response.
Two days after the trip to Diagon Alley, there was another full moon. Remus was glad it hadn't come any closer to September first. He was nearly back to usual strength the day before he was to leave. He decided to spend his day with Cassi. They had become closer friends over the summer, and though he wouldn't admit it, he would miss her.
They both threw on their swimwear and ran the whole way to the lake. This had become a routine for them over the course of the summer. The picnic area that they had begun to build at the end of June looked more like a camping area in Remus's opinion.
The lake was another thing that he was going to miss. His father had told him that there was a lake at Hogwarts, but he also told him that people didn't swim in it because of the giant squid.
While they waded into the depths of the lake, Cassi said, "Soon, we're going to have a rope hanging from one of those trees over there and we'll be able to swing into the lake!"
Remus thought the idea was sort of crazy, though also a bit intriguing.
Remus and Cassi had splashed and played for nearly an hour when Remus began to feel a burn on his skin. Not wanting to be sunburned on his first day at Hogwarts, he climbed out of the lake and settled onto the bench that Devlin had put there the day he had gone shopping in Diagon Alley. The thought still made him smile.
"What are you smiling about?" asked Cassi as she climbed out of the lake as well.
"You didn't have to get out," he told her.
"It's no fun by yourself," she explained. "So, what were you smiling about?"
"I was just thinking about when I went to buy my school supplies," he said.
"Really? Why were you smiling then? Shouldn't you dread school?"
Remus chuckled. "You would think so, wouldn't you? No, I'm looking forward to it."
"Well, if your school is such a wonderful one, I want to go too."
Remus got the impression that she only half meant it. He just shrugged it off and grinned.
"Did you ask your mum about sending letters?" she asked suddenly.
"Huh? Oh, yeah… she said to just give her the letters and she'll send them and then I can send the replies back to her and she can give them to you."
"That's a bit complicated," said Cassi. "Why don't you just give me the address to send it myself?"
Remus bit the inside of his lip nervously and forced his hands to remain at his side. "I don't know, that's just what my mother said," he said not meeting her eye.
"Hmmm," she said absently. "Okay. Do you have to wear a uniform and is it completely hideous?"
Remus laughed.
That evening, before supper, Amelia walked into Remus's room to find him flipping through his Charms book with his wand in his right hand and a completely black Rodger in front of him. Amelia stared for a few moments before shaking herself out of her confusion.
"What did you do?"
Remus started, then turned toward her with an innocent smile. "I'm just practicing a bit of magic."
"Did you mean to turn him black?" asked Amelia sceptically.
Remus nodded. "Of course I did."
"Are you going to just leave him like that then or are you going to turn him back?"
He shifted nervously and looked up at her sheepishly. "I—er… don't know how."
She rolled her eyes and brought out her wand. "Here… Finite—"
"No!" interrupted Remus quickly. "I want to do it. Can you tell me the spell, please?"
Amelia placed her hands on her hips and surveyed her son closely. She slowly nodded. "Alright, I'll teach you." She sat down beside him and held her wand out in front of her. "It's a very simple spell—ends most incantations—but if you mispronounce it you can have very interesting results." She smiled. "Trust me."
"What type of results?" he asked, intrigued.
"Well," she said, smiling in remembrance, "one time when I was about fifteen, I went to put out a small magical fire and said Incan-TAR-tem instead of Incan-TA-tem. I ended up surrounding the fire with bright pink daffodils."
Remus stared up at her, his eyes wide.
Amelia nodded. "Yes, you can get quite odd results when you mispronounce a spell. So first, you must learn how to say it. Remember: It's Fin-ITE Incan-TA-tem. Say it."
"Finite Incantar—er… sorry, I mean Finite Incantatem. Right?"
"Right, we don't want pink daffodils in your room, now do we? Though, I suppose it would brighten the place up a bit…"
Remus grimaced as his mother laughed at him.
"Perhaps not, huh?" She smiled. "Alright, now try it with your wand. All you need for this spell is a simple flick. There's nothing much to it other than pronunciation."
He brought up his wand and cleared his throat. He flicked his wand and said determinedly, "Finite Incantatem!"
Nothing happened. Remus looked up at his mother.
"Well, you didn't expect to get it right on the first try, did you?" said his mother, smiling. "Go on, try it again."
"Alright," said Remus uncertainly. He flicked his wand again. "Finite Incantatem!"
Rodger's black coat turned back to its usual bright orange, green, and yellow. Amelia made a face and stood.
"I liked it better when he was black," she said and walked to the doorway. "Dinner's nearly ready, Remus, come help your father set the table… and do put Rodger back in his cage, will you?"
"Okay, Mum," he said, grinning. He turned back to the frog in front of him and said, "Back in your cage, Rodger."
'Pop.'
His mother squealed.
Summary: Remus Lupin was once a normal boy, but one fateful night changed all of that.
Author's Notes: Thanks a whole lot to my wonderful Beta, Ozma. I am really sorry for the wait. My summer has just been super hectic with things going on left and right. I'll try to update more often.
Chapter Two: The Cost of the Curse
Remus stared at the letter that he held in his trembling hands. He blinked rapidly as if expecting the words to change. He looked up at his parents, both of whom were watching for his reaction.
He opened his mouth to say, "Yes, I want to go," but the words were lost halfway out of his mouth. Instead he blurted out, "Honestly?"
Remus's father chuckled, "Honestly."
He tried to say yes again, but this time the words didn't come out at all. He just stared at the letter in awe. He looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder and blinked in surprise. He hadn't even heard his mother stand.
"Do you want to go, my little prince?"
"YES!" Remus cried a lot louder than he had intended. He cleared his throat. "I mean, yes."
"Are you sure?" Amelia asked, unable to keep the worry out of her voice.
"Yes! Of course I'm sure!" He looked down at the letter again and smiled widely. "I've never been so sure in my life."
His mother sighed and frowned. Edwin stepped forward and put one hand on Amelia's shoulder and the other on Remus's. Amelia looked up at him and stared for a moment. They spoke to each other without any words, and after a moment, Amelia smiled.
"Then you're going to Hogwarts, dear, and you'll love it there."
Remus smiled up at his mum and jumped up from his seat. He'd never felt so energetic before. "I can't wait!" he cried. "When can we go to Diagon Alley? Today? Tomorrow? Next week?"
His mother and father laughed.
"How about in two weeks. It'll be too early for the crowds, but late enough so that we can be sure that you won't have a growth spurt between now and September," his mother suggested.
"Like that'll happen," said Remus, "I haven't grown since I was nine."
"You've grown—a few millimetres," teased his father.
Remus just stuck his tongue out at him.
The unexpected noise from downstairs made Remus sit up in bed. He glanced at the clock and saw that it wasn't quite four in the morning. He knew that his mother had gone to sleep ages ago and his father wasn't due home until the day after tomorrow.
He began to kick the sheets off of him when he heard another crash from downstairs. He froze. He stayed still, staring at his door, for a while before finally getting the courage to move and slide out of bed.
His insides gripped at him as he thought of possible burglars from town. He didn't think the small town that they lived by had many thieves, but he had only been there twice himself.
Slowly, he tiptoed toward his slightly open door and peeked out.
There was another crash.
Remus started slightly and saw his mother's door open. Amelia stepped out of her room in her bathrobe with her wand out. She slowly stalked toward the stairs. She came to the top step and peered down. He heard her gasp.
"Edwin?" she breathed before she descended down the stairs, not even looking back toward him.
He pushed open his door a bit more and crept out down the corridor in curiosity. He remembered his father once telling him that his curiosity would get him killed, but even now those words seemed quite hollow.
He was nearly to the top of the stairs when he heard his mother's voice float up to him once again.
"Edwin?" she asked. "Edwin, what are you doing home—are you drunk?"
Remus's eyebrows shot up. By the sound of her voice, he could tell that he wasn't the only one surprised by that statement. He had never known his father to drink alcohol other than once in his life, and that had been the night of his first transformation. He crept closer to the staircase and peered over it.
"What happened?"
"I can't believe they—the Ministry is corrupt—why would they—"
His father's syllables kept getting lost in his throat, and Remus had a hard time trying to determine exactly what his father was saying. He slid down the first step clutched the banister.
"You aren't making any sense. Please, just tell me what's wrong."
"I've been let go, Amelia."
"What?"
"I've been let go! Fired! Sacked!"
Remus's eyes widened and he had to hold his breath to keep from gasping out loud. He slid down another step to get closer to the conversation. There was a long silence.
"Why?"
"You don't want to know."
There was a pain in his voice that made Remus shudder.
"Yes, I do. Tell me. Why?"
He slid down another step, and his father sighed.
"Do you remember Bobby?"
"The trainee? Of course I remember him—he used to get you so annoyed. Why? What's this have to do with your old trainee?"
"Well, he still works in the department, and he still remembers why I left in the first place."
"Because of Remus?"
"Because Remus is a werewolf."
Remus nearly slipped, but he caught himself before he fell. Swallowing hard, he strained to catch what his parents were saying.
"What do you mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. Bobby remembered that my son was a werewolf and thought that if this got out it would make the company look bad, so he went the Department Head and of course they agreed."
"They can't fire you for something you can't control!"
"Apparently, they can."
Remus felt his surprise quickly be replaced by guilt. He knew, in the back of his mind, that he couldn't control the prejudice that other people had, but he couldn't help feeling slightly guilty.
"Things will be alright, though. I'll get a job in town—as a waitress or something—we don't need to worry about that."
"Yes, we do," his father sighed. "Remus is supposed to leave for school in less than two months—we'll never get enough money for all of his supplies before then."
"We have money saved up, Edwin—"
"No we don't, Amelia. We used nearly our whole life savings on Healers."
The house was filled with an uncomfortable silence. Remus found that he was holding his breath as he waited for his mother's answer. He should have known that something was bound to happen to prevent him from going to school.
"We'll get the money somehow." She paused. "I haven't spoken to my parents in years, but I'm sure they'd be willing to let me borrow something from them. My sister will be willing to help, I'm sure—"
"Amelia, is this the same family you decided to never talk to again when you married me?"
"Yes," she said slowly, "but desperate times call for desperate measures. I will not let this stand in the way of my son's education."
"Neither will I," said his father, sounding slightly surprised at how passionate Amelia was being about Remus going to school when she had been the one opposed to it.
"Then I'll owl them tomorrow. For right now—" she made a sound of disgust, "go make yourself a cup of tea while I brew you a Sobering Solution."
He had thought it over that night while he lay in bed and decided there was nothing that could be done about it. He couldn't control other people's prejudice, could he? It didn't stop him from feeling guilty, but it did stop him from brooding on it constantly.
Three days later, his mother sent him off to the Brookes house so that she could "visit some relatives." He knew that she was going to go talk to his grandparents and aunt about getting some money. All he could do was pray for her success.
Remus must have been quieter than usual while he was sitting in Cassi's room, because she kept asking him what was wrong. He finally came up with an excuse that she seemed to believe.
"I got accepted into a boarding school in Ireland, and I won't be able to see you for a year. I just hate goodbyes, you know?"
In all truth, he had no idea where Hogwarts was. He remembered his father telling him about the furious snowball fights that he and his dorm mates used to have during the winter season, though, so he assumed it had to be somewhere up north.
Cassi had been sad at the news, but had congratulated him on being accepted. When she asked if they could write each other, however, Remus got tongue-tied and stumbled over his words, finally telling her that he'd have to ask his parents if that was possible. She seemed satisfied with the answer, and Remus decided that she was either very gullible or he was just a good liar. He didn't know which was better.
As July ended, the full moon passing with it, his mother finally mentioned taking a trip to Diagon Alley. Remus took this as a sign that she had finally collected enough money for his supplies. He supposed that he ought to feel bad that it had taken her so long, but all he felt was excitement about the trip that was coming up. To him, this was just another step along the way to get him closer to Hogwarts.
A week before September first, Remus and Amelia found themselves riding the underground toward the middle of London. Remus kept fidgeting in his seat unable to keep still. He was extremely nervous and excited.
He kept wringing his hands together so he could do something other than bounce in his seat like a four year old. After nearly ten straight minutes of doing this, however, his mother reached over and firmly placed her hand on top of Remus's.
"Stop it," she ordered.
"Stop what?" asked Remus, not really paying attention as his hands went back to wringing themselves nervously.
"Stop that." She reached over and held his hands again. "It makes you look dreadfully nervous."
"But I am nervous," said Remus.
"You're nervous because you're afraid people will notice that you're nervous and they'll only notice you're nervous if you show that you're nervous."
Remus stared at her. "Huh?"
"Just do something else to make it less obvious that you're nervous," said his mother simply. "My mother used to tell us that when we were young. I ended up getting the habit of biting my nails—don't do that."
He grimaced a bit at the thought and was about to say that the thought didn't particularly appeal to him when she spoke up again.
"My sister used to chew her lip, though—always made her look like she was thinking. You could try that if you want."
Remus still had no idea what the conversation he had just had with his mother was about, but he nodded in agreement anyway. He kept unconsciously wringing his hands with his mother scolding him every once in a while. He couldn't help but be nervous, however. He had never been to Diagon Alley, and he kept coming up with crazy scenes of what it really looked like. The real thing was nothing like he had imagined.
The moment his mother tapped the brick that opened the archway into the alley, Remus was in awe. He completely forgot about his nerves and felt a huge grin spread across his face as he scanned the arrays of shops that lay before him.
"Get your supply list out. We might as well begin." Amelia said promptly as they walked down the lane and into the hustle and bustle of Diagon Alley.
Remus stuffed his hand into his pocket and fished out the crumpled piece of parchment. He looked it over and knitted his eyebrows together. "That's a lot of stuff to buy. Will we be able to affo—er, I mean, will we be able to get it all?"
Amelia didn't reply as she was looking around searching for a recognizable shop through the crowd, but Remus knew that she had heard his slip. She had tensed and swallowed hastily before pointing to their left as if she hadn't heard him.
"Ah! There's Madam Malkin's. Let's go in there first—"
"Mum?" asked Remus, not moving even though his mother had taken a few steps forward.
She stopped and turned toward him, a tight expression on her face. She forced on a smile and nodded, "Of course we will, my little prince. There's nothing to worry about. Now come on—let's not dawdle."
He gave his mother a sceptical look, but followed her into the shop. Madam Malkin and her assistant were both busy with two boys (twins, it looked like) who were already being fitted. With a quick look at his mother who had gone to the closest rack to browse, Remus decided to explore.
It wasn't a very interesting place. There were many racks with mostly women's robes, and every single one of them looked to be priced over five galleons. He winced. His mother had talked about getting him at least four school robes. If they did that he was sure that they'd be out of gold by the time they left the shop.
Remus sighed as he wandered to the window and looked out it. He watched as a wizard with four young girls walked past the window, a witch was dragging her son by the arm a bit more forcefully then needed slightly behind them, and straight across the main street a cute blond girl with curls was entering Sally's Second-Hand Robes for All Occasions. Remus blinked and smiled slightly. That was exactly the type of shop they needed.
He called his mother over and showed the shop to her. She gave him a sad look as she realized what he was trying to do, and after a moment in which mother and son stared at each other stubbornly, she finally nodded. They left Madam Malkin's and entered the second-hand robe shop.
It was nearly identical to Madam Malkin's except there were more racks for robes and no place to be measured. The blond that he had seen earlier was looking through one of the racks at the other side of the store with her mother, father, and Sally, the owner. Amelia and Remus found a few robes for him and paid for them after the blond had left.
They stopped to buy parchment and ink. His mother surprised him by buying different colour quills. He instantly felt guilty, but decided that one thing didn't matter and decided to enjoy them. They went into the Apothecary next. Remus quickly decided that it was his least favourite store so far. It smelt of rotten eggs and old cabbage, and he waited by the door while his mother got him the standard potion supplies.
In the next store, Remus bought his pewter cauldron and a used collapsible telescope. He followed his mother into the bookshop, Flourish and Blotts, as he heard her say, "This was my favourite shop as a kid. Then again, it was most Ravenclaws' favourite shop."
She led him through the shelves putting the books he would need for the upcoming term into his cauldron. She stopped in the last aisle and seemed to be considering something. After a moment, she reached back into his cauldron and took out a few books, and he knew that she had put second-hand books into his cauldron instead. This didn't bother him, however. The books didn't look to be in that bad condition, and he was eager to read them no matter what condition they were in.
"Now I need my wand, right, Mum?" asked Remus outside of Flourish and Blotts.
"Right, and the only place for that," she paused as she pushed him through the crowd, "is Ollivanders." She pointed at the shabby shop in front of them.
He looked at the shop curiously. He had expected the wand shop to be the best looking shop in the alley. There was a wand in the window sitting on a purple cushion. He wondered if it was a very expensive wand or if it was just very famous. He pointed this out to his mother and she smiled mysteriously.
"I'm not sure, but I hear it's rumoured to have once belonged to Merlin himself."
The shop announced their entrance with the sound of a bell tinkling. Other than that, the shop was completely silent. There seemed to be layers of dust everywhere and everything seemed oddly ancient. There were thousands of rows of neatly stacked boxes right up to the ceiling. He swallowed and looked behind him to realize that his mother had sat down on the only piece of furniture in the place, a chair.
"Good day, Mr. Lupin."
Remus started and spun around. A white-haired man stood in front of him. His pale eyes were shining like two full moons in the gloom of the shop. Remus shivered involuntarily. He began to wring his hands together again, but felt his mother's stern glare on the back of his neck and forced his hands to his sides.
"I wondered when I would be receiving a visit from you," Mr. Ollivander continued. "Let me see, Remus Lupin." He pulled a long tape measure from his cloak pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"
Remus held out his right hand hesitantly. The tape measure left Mr. Ollivander's hands and began to measure him on its own accord. Mr. Ollivander turned away and moved through the rows, taking down boxes and piling them in his arms.
Right when Remus thought he could carry no more, he said, "That will do," and the tape measure fell to the floor, lifeless. Mr. Ollivander set the pile of boxes at his feet and picked up the top box. "Try this one. Yew and dragon heartstring. Eight and three quarter inches. Nice and swishy. Give it a wave—go on."
Raising the wand, Remus gave it a little wave, but it was snatched out of his hand right away and replaced with another one.
"Oak and phoenix feather. Thirteen inches. Rather whippy. Wave it—"
Remus waved it and Mr. Ollivander snatched it from his hand again. He wondered what he was looking for when another wand was pushed into his hand. Odd warmth filled his fingers as he heard Mr. Ollivander say, "Ebony and unicorn hair. Nine and a quarter inches. Quite supple." He brought the wand down and a stream of gold and bronze sparks shot out of the end.
His mother gave a muffled squeal of excitement, and Mr. Ollivander clapped his hands together and cried, "Yes, yes, bravo, very nice indeed!" all the while staring at Remus with those wide, pale eyes.
Remus shivered and stepped back slightly. His mother paid five Galleons for his wand, and they left the shop for which Remus was glad. His mother jingled her purse and smiled.
"Just enough," she said.
"Just enough for what?" asked Remus.
"Just enough left to get you a pet."
"I don't need—"
"Of course you don't need one, but I want to get you one. Now come on, there's the Magical Menagerie." Amelia said as she walked toward the shop.
Remus hesitated a moment before hurrying after her as quickly as he could with a cauldron full of supplies. He slowed to a walk as he caught up with her and they went inside. There wasn't much room to move. Every wall of the shop was lined with cages whose occupants smelled, yowled, croaked or twittered. Remus followed his mother who was examining the cages.
"How about an owl?" she asked, as she gazed into a barn owl's cage.
"We already have Nylon; he might be old but he can still deliver mail," said Remus logically.
"Hmmm… Okay, what about a cat? I used to always want a cat."
Remus shook his head firmly. "I don't like cats."
Amelia looked at him and rolled her eyes while muttering, "Just like your father." She peered through the rat cages. She opened her mouth, but Remus beat her to it.
"What about a frog?" he asked. "Frogs are neat. I wouldn't say no to a lizard either."
"What is it with boys and reptiles?" Amelia sighed. "Alright, let's look at the frog cages."
They squeezed through the shop toward another set of cages. There were toads and frogs of all colours and sizes. A particularly bright-coloured orange, green, and yellow frog was sleeping on a willow branch that had been placed in his cage.
Remus crouched down to get a better look and said, "This one's neat looking."
"He looks poisonous," said Amelia.
She tapped the cage as if to make sure that he wasn't dead. The frog's red eyes snapped open. It started, fell off the branch, and suddenly vanished. Remus blinked.
"Er—where did it go?"
"Hey, it likes you!" the shop keeper cried as she bustled over, her thick black spectacles threatening to fall off the end of her nose.
She reached toward Remus and pulled the colourful frog off his shoulder. Remus's eyes widened.
"How did it—?"
"This," interrupted the shop keeper, "is a Red-Eyed Vanishing Tree Frog. It has its own Apparating license built in. Much like house-elves, it can Apparate even under an Anti-Apparation ward. Interested?"
Remus looked over at his mum and grinned. His mother sighed.
"How much does it cost?"
Twenty minutes and instructions on how to care for his frog later, Remus and his mother made their way back to the Leaky Cauldron. Remus hadn't really taken a good look at the pub when he had first entered it, being too keen on getting into Diagon Alley to really notice anything else.
The famous pub was much like the wand shop. Though highly recommended, it looked worse for wear. It was poorly lit with several different smells mixing together. It was fairly crowded today with people laughing and talking at their respective tables.
Amelia and Remus took a seat at an empty table and he set his supplies at his feet and put his frog on the table. He rested his chin on the table so that he was eye-level with the frog.
"What are you going to name it?" asked his mother.
He looked up at her. He could tell that she still wasn't too thrilled about having something wet and slimy with the ability to Apparate at will in the house.
Remus looked back at the frog. "I don't know, perhaps… Rodger."
"Rodger?"
"Yeah," said Remus grinning, "Rodger." He tapped the cage and said, "Hello, Rodger."
Rodger looked up at him with large red eyes and 'pop' disappeared. Amelia squealed and Remus grinned. He brought his other hand out from under the table and held out his palm where Rodger sat.
"Could you please stop having him do that?" pleaded Amelia.
Remus bit back a smile. "I can try." He looked down at Rodger and said, "Stop scaring my mum. Now, back in your cage."
'Pop.'
His mother squealed again and Rodger reappeared in his cage. Remus smiled innocently at her and she glared at him in response.
They both threw on their swimwear and ran the whole way to the lake. This had become a routine for them over the course of the summer. The picnic area that they had begun to build at the end of June looked more like a camping area in Remus's opinion.
The lake was another thing that he was going to miss. His father had told him that there was a lake at Hogwarts, but he also told him that people didn't swim in it because of the giant squid.
While they waded into the depths of the lake, Cassi said, "Soon, we're going to have a rope hanging from one of those trees over there and we'll be able to swing into the lake!"
Remus thought the idea was sort of crazy, though also a bit intriguing.
Remus and Cassi had splashed and played for nearly an hour when Remus began to feel a burn on his skin. Not wanting to be sunburned on his first day at Hogwarts, he climbed out of the lake and settled onto the bench that Devlin had put there the day he had gone shopping in Diagon Alley. The thought still made him smile.
"What are you smiling about?" asked Cassi as she climbed out of the lake as well.
"You didn't have to get out," he told her.
"It's no fun by yourself," she explained. "So, what were you smiling about?"
"I was just thinking about when I went to buy my school supplies," he said.
"Really? Why were you smiling then? Shouldn't you dread school?"
Remus chuckled. "You would think so, wouldn't you? No, I'm looking forward to it."
"Well, if your school is such a wonderful one, I want to go too."
Remus got the impression that she only half meant it. He just shrugged it off and grinned.
"Did you ask your mum about sending letters?" she asked suddenly.
"Huh? Oh, yeah… she said to just give her the letters and she'll send them and then I can send the replies back to her and she can give them to you."
"That's a bit complicated," said Cassi. "Why don't you just give me the address to send it myself?"
Remus bit the inside of his lip nervously and forced his hands to remain at his side. "I don't know, that's just what my mother said," he said not meeting her eye.
"Hmmm," she said absently. "Okay. Do you have to wear a uniform and is it completely hideous?"
Remus laughed.
"What did you do?"
Remus started, then turned toward her with an innocent smile. "I'm just practicing a bit of magic."
"Did you mean to turn him black?" asked Amelia sceptically.
Remus nodded. "Of course I did."
"Are you going to just leave him like that then or are you going to turn him back?"
He shifted nervously and looked up at her sheepishly. "I—er… don't know how."
She rolled her eyes and brought out her wand. "Here… Finite—"
"No!" interrupted Remus quickly. "I want to do it. Can you tell me the spell, please?"
Amelia placed her hands on her hips and surveyed her son closely. She slowly nodded. "Alright, I'll teach you." She sat down beside him and held her wand out in front of her. "It's a very simple spell—ends most incantations—but if you mispronounce it you can have very interesting results." She smiled. "Trust me."
"What type of results?" he asked, intrigued.
"Well," she said, smiling in remembrance, "one time when I was about fifteen, I went to put out a small magical fire and said Incan-TAR-tem instead of Incan-TA-tem. I ended up surrounding the fire with bright pink daffodils."
Remus stared up at her, his eyes wide.
Amelia nodded. "Yes, you can get quite odd results when you mispronounce a spell. So first, you must learn how to say it. Remember: It's Fin-ITE Incan-TA-tem. Say it."
"Finite Incantar—er… sorry, I mean Finite Incantatem. Right?"
"Right, we don't want pink daffodils in your room, now do we? Though, I suppose it would brighten the place up a bit…"
Remus grimaced as his mother laughed at him.
"Perhaps not, huh?" She smiled. "Alright, now try it with your wand. All you need for this spell is a simple flick. There's nothing much to it other than pronunciation."
He brought up his wand and cleared his throat. He flicked his wand and said determinedly, "Finite Incantatem!"
Nothing happened. Remus looked up at his mother.
"Well, you didn't expect to get it right on the first try, did you?" said his mother, smiling. "Go on, try it again."
"Alright," said Remus uncertainly. He flicked his wand again. "Finite Incantatem!"
Rodger's black coat turned back to its usual bright orange, green, and yellow. Amelia made a face and stood.
"I liked it better when he was black," she said and walked to the doorway. "Dinner's nearly ready, Remus, come help your father set the table… and do put Rodger back in his cage, will you?"
"Okay, Mum," he said, grinning. He turned back to the frog in front of him and said, "Back in your cage, Rodger."
'Pop.'
His mother squealed.