Author's Note: Yay! People seem to like the two chapters I've posted of this, so I have the will to keep going. One correction: A friend pointed out that I have Pettigrew as both an only child and having two sisters. That was a mistake, obviously; I added the bit about his sisters later, forgetting that I had said he was an only child. I'll actually correct that in the story soon. (He's going to have sisters). Someone said that my first two chapters were too sad, and I'm sorry about that. This chapter will also be pretty depressing, but it will get happier afterwards, once the Marauders are brought together and begin causing mayhem.

I upped the rating to PG-13 for violence, BTW.

Disclaimer: Characters and stuff are JKR's and her publisher's, don't sue me.

Once, They Were Friends

Book One: Moony

Chapter Two: Solitaire

Three years, or thirty-six full moons, had passed since that fateful night on the playground. Remus and Romulus grew bigger, as little boys are apt to do, and they were still the best of friends. They had to be, because since the first full moon, they hadn't seen or spoken to anyone else their age. Emily had wanted to move away, in hopes that it would confuse any authorities who might search for their family, but Julius reminded her that a sudden change of address might arouse suspicion. They lived happily.

It was 1969, in August. The twins were eight years old, their ninth birthdays in two weeks. Tonight was a full moon, but it wasn't anything new. Remus spent the day rereading his favorite book, The Hobbit, or else played card games or chess with Rom. They had learned how to play chess from their mother, who also tutored them in all the subjects they would need to learn, not being able to send them to the local primary school. Remus liked summer moons, because the moon always rose with the sun rise and set, and night was shorter this time of year.

Julius looked at the shed that had well served its purpose for those past thirty-six moons. He would probably need to reinforce the door and the sides the next day, but it looked as if it would hold for tonight, at least.

The Lupin family slept uneasily that night as the werewolf howled and thrashed in the small shed. Close to dawn, however, a very different noise came from outside. A loud crash woke the family from their light sleep. Julius and Emily leapt out of bed in time to see the back wall of the small shed fallen to the ground and the werewolf in their yard. Julius bolted down the stairs. Ahead of him ran Romulus. "Stop!" yelled the father. "Stay in the house!"

The athletic boy didn't listen, and he ran ahead of his father and out the door. The sky was just beginning to grow lighter in the east, as sunrise fast approached. "Remus!" Rom called. "Remus stop!" The wolf turned at the sound. Rom ran out into the middle of the yard.

By this point, Emily was also waiting in the doorway. "Romulus Matthew Lupin, get into this house now!" she yelled, more terrified than angry. Her son ignored her.

"Rem! Listen to me!" called the boy. The wolf's ears pricked up. "You have to stay here until the sun comes up!"

Their mother tried to call her son again, "Rom, baby, he doesn't understand you. Come back into the house!"

"No, mum, I think he does understand me." Rom turned his back on the wolf for a moment to answer his mother.

The next few moments played out as if in slow motion. The wolf began to run toward Rom, who wasn't looking. When he realized what was happening, he tried to run back into the house, but it was too late. The wolf pounced on him, its long claws sinking into Rom's soft flesh, ripping and biting its prey. Rom screamed at the initial attack, but soon fell silent, falling unconscious from the pain and injury. His mother fell to the ground, tears filling her eyes. Julius had disappeared inside the house.

The first glimmer of sunlight was just rising over the eastern treetops. The wolf turned from its prey, now looking at Emily. Blood covered its face and paws, and it was still for the moment. Its ears pricked up again, sensitive to the sound of the footsteps behind the sobbing woman.

Julius reappeared in the doorway. The wolf moved away from the dying child, coming towards the house. The sun was now casting a glow over the trees, and the sky was pink. Julius Lupin's face was set. A single tear fell from his eye onto his hand and the trigger of a rifle, pointed at the wolf. Another tear falling, he fired.

But before he could stop, before he could change it, his target changed. Instead of the vicious monster that had just killed his son, a small, terrified boy sat. His brother's blood mixed with his own as he fell to the ground, whimpering in pain. Emily ran out to her boys, one dead, one probably dying, both covered in blood. She pulled them into her arms and sobbed. Julius simply stood in the doorway, unable to comprehend what had happened. He had fired a silver bullet, but he had missed the heart, he could tell that, and his target had not been a werewolf after all, but his own son, his innocent, quiet, caring son. The wolf had killed Rom, not the boy, but Julius knew he could only destroy one by killing both parts of Remus, the good and the bad.

Emily saw that Rom was dead, but she could feel Remus' ragged, uneven breaths against her hand, feel a faint heartbeat. He was close to death, needed medical attention. She would not lose both of her children on this day. She couldn't. She turned to Julius, who had let the rifle fall to the ground, and her grief was momentarily replaced with such a rage, such anger that she had never before experienced. Had she been thinking rationally, it would have frightened her, but she couldn't think.

Her voice was low, but penetrating, like a growl. "How could you?" she asked her husband, her face shaking. "How could you take my baby from me? After we lose Rom, how could you take Remus from me?"

Julius looked away from her, but he answered, his voice breaking. "Remus is the reason Rom is dead. He killed his brother. He's a monster, Emily. An animal that needed to be put down. I knew I would have to do it one day. I hoped and I prayed that I would never have to, but I knew it would come. So I was ready." But he didn't really believe his words. He felt like a murderer. He felt his son's blood on his hands. Not just Remus' but Romulus' as well. He should have been able to prevent this. He looked at he horror on his wife's face again, the blood that covered both his boys. He stared out for a moment, then he turned to the house and ran. Ran out the door, out of the village. The family never heard from him again.

Emily never new how she got through the next hours. She carried Remus into the house, placed him onto the couch. She found the cabinet that her husband always kept locked, found a neatly labeled healing potion, as well as a small hunting knife.

Holding her breath, she dug the silver bullet out of her son's shoulder, trying hard not to scream. She dabbed the potion onto the wound, and watched it heal. The boy's pulse became more steady and his breath more even. He would live from this.

Without saying a word, letting only silent tears fall, she buried Romulus under a favorite tree in their yard. In the days that passed, she planted flowers over his grave, letting tears fall on the soil as she dug. Remus slept without stirring for three days, and when he awoke he cried. Sat by his brother's grave and tried in his young mind to get over the guilt, but he could not. Not until after the next moon did he feel any desire to move on with his life, when, after a month of his mother's reassuring words, he realized that he could not remember the full moons. If he could not remember it, it must not have been him. It was someone else, something else. It had to be.

For a year they got on, mother and son. They grieved for Romulus, and they felt Julius' absence, but they lived. They loved and cared for each other, and they were almost happy.

A year went by, and it was July. Remus would turn eleven in a little less than two months, but he didn't think about what most wizard children would be thinking about. He had not thoughts that he may get a Hogwarts letter. He knew it wasn't possible, so he didn't bother to try. But deep within the back of his mind, he thought that there might be the tiniest of glimmers that he could get a letter. He didn't dwell on the thought, but he had a little hope.

And, in the most impossible of occurrences, a letter came.

It was addressed to him, quite plainly. Mr. R. J. Lupin. It was a traditional Hogwart's letter, the very same that Emily Lupin remembered her brothers getting. It alerted him of the start of term, and told him to send a letter back. There was a school book list, and along with that, a more specialized letter. It read:

Dear Mrs. Emily Lupin,

I understand that this may come as a shock to you. Under previous Hogwarts' headmasters, children with lycanthropy were denied admission. However, I feel that with a few necessary precautions, there is no need to bar Remus' entry in our school. The intentions of the founders of our school was to make a magical education available to all young witches and wizards, and any discrimination against qualified applicants would be unfair and against our school's goal.

If it would be at all possible, I would like greatly to meet with you before start of term to discuss any concerns you may have. Send an owl, and I will arrange for a meeting as soon as possible.

Yours most sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

Headmaster of Hogwarts School

Emily hastily scribbled a reply, thanking him profusely and asking for a meeting as soon as possible. Remus looked overjoyed, and immediately settled on the couch with one of the magic books that had been kept out of the way for so many years, eager to learn. The next day, Albus Dumbledore was scheduled to arrive at the Lupin home. Emily rushed about, cleaning and cooking a meal fit for this benevolent man that was willing to accept her son. At about two in the afternoon, a polite knock came at the door. In the doorway stood a fairly tall, very old man. He had long white hair and a beard to match. Friendly, compassionate, blue eyes sparked behind half-moon spectacles. He glanced at an odd looking watch. "So sorry for being late," he said to Mrs. Lupin.

"Oh, no, you're not late at all," she replied. "Come in, come in." They walked into the kitchen, and she invited him to sit down. "I must say, the Hogwarts invitation came as a complete surprise. As I had understood it, werewolves were denied entrance to the school because they had to become registered, and the Ministry often had them killed."

Dumbledore looked thoughtful. "This was the policy, that is true. I have only recently become headmaster of Hogwarts, and I decided that this was a rule spawned out of fear and prejudice, and it had no place in my school. I saw your sons' names written early on the Hogwarts list, but they had both been scratched off. I did some research, and I found out why. I added Remus to the list again and he got his letter."

"But what will happen on the full moon? Will he be kept safe from other students?"

"Every possible precaution will be made to make sure he isn't a danger to anyone. We have recently purchased a Whomping Willow, and we are working to construct a tunnel where your son can transform in safety. The tree will guard the entrance, and it will prevent his escape and the exploration of other curious students."

"And he will be able to make up classes he misses because of the moon? What about astronomy? Won't he have to have classes at nights?"

"He will be able to make up any work he misses. All of the professors will be alerted of his condition, and it will not be a problem."

"What about other students? Will they be told as well?"

"Only if Remus wants to tell them. Otherwise it will be a complete secret." Dumbledore smiled warmly and turned to look into the living room. A head quickly popped out of view, and the headmaster gave a small laugh. "Well, come in, young man. I'd like to meet you."

Remus stepped into the kitchen nervously. He looked up, right into Dumbledore's eyes, and asked, "Is it really true that I can come to school?"

"But of course. Every young wizard should receive an education."

"But I'll only be ten at start of term. Isn't that too young?"

"Your birthday is September the second, is it not?"

"It is."

"Then you qualify. We changed the cut off to the end of September in recent years, because we had students who were of age before classes had started in their sixth year. This way, students had at least a month of their sixth year before they learned to Apperate. Safer that way."

"So that means I'm going to school? With other wizards?"

"Yes, of course."

A bright smile lit up Remus' serious, usually stoic face. "Thank you, sir," he said, suddenly dashing off to read again.

Emily was smiling as well. "He's a good boy. It's not fair what happened to him. He didn't deserve it at all."

Dumbledore looked at the woman, who was rather young seemed older from worry and hard work. "Sometimes it is the challenges in life that make us stronger. It is true, he has been given a disadvantage in life, but he has dealt with it admirably. The test will come as he gets older, into the world."

Emily looked into Dumbledore's eyes again. "He'll be fine. I have faith in him."

"So do I," he said. "So do I."

Did you like it? Did you hate it? Then tell me! Reviews mean faster chapters. Next up: Remus goes to Hogwarts and the Marauders are united!