Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Harry Potter. This chapter starts off with a wedding video and then brings you to the present.
b Chapter One: Not Your Memories /b
i "My brother, Nathan, deciding to take Krystal Carry as a wife at the age of twenty. I never thought that I would see the day when you would take responsibility for yourself, never mind another person for that matter," eighteen year old John Lupin tried his best to fix the sleeves of his robes but failed miserably. "Dad would be proud of you for finally growing up."
"You were dad's serious child, John, and he never forgot to point that out whenever I ended up in trouble," Nathan paused while standing in front of the oval shaped mirror against the wall. He tugged the bottom of his robes in an attempt to make himself more presentable. "You were his favorite and I was just some child that lived at his house. Before he died, John, he whispered that I must have been some mistake because I turned out to be something that he hated." Nathan ran his hand through his light brown hair; a nervous habit that he had never outgrown.
John admired his older brother's reflection in the mirror, and for a few moments their differences seemed to melt away. John had the same shade of gray eyes that Nathan inherited from their mother and the same mouth that formed a thin line whenever they were concentrating hard on something. They had the same problem with their hair; strands that would fall over their eyes when they really didn't need it. Then their differences re-appeared and John could see that he was, indeed, the serious child and Nathan was the out-of-control one.
John cherished fictional novels above everything else that he owned and kept a growing collection of written work on shelves in his bedroom. He regarded movies spoken in different languages as something that people should attend more often. John spent countless hours pouring over a textbook in order to pass his classes with the top grades. He refused to attend most parties hosted by fellow students except when he drove them to their homes when they were unable to drive themselves.
Nathan considered himself to be unrestricted when it came to abiding by the rules set by his parents. He regarded his brother as being some kind of know-it-all and joked around with him about life after school. Nathan had been the type of person who dated a couple of girls here and there but he knew he was falling in love when he started going out with his neighbor's daughter Krystal Carry. The problem was that Krystal came from a background where her family members were witches and wizards and she was a girl who was known around as being innocent. Nathan would spend every chance that he had with Krystal during the summer holidays and proposed to her when they were both nineteen.
"We should prepare for your wedding, Nathan, before things start to get under way," John placed his hand on his brother's shoulder before steering him away from the mirror. "Since you are going to marry Krystal, I might as well admit now that used to have a crush on her."
"You might have had a crush on Krystal, the neighborhood boys might have had a crush on Krystal, but I'm the one who is going to marry her." Nathan let out a bark like laugh before pulling his brother into a quick hug.
"I am envious of you, Krystal, because you make the most beautiful bride I have ever laid my eyes on," Krystal turned around to face her smiling Maid of Honor, and best friend, Ivy Renolds who had just entered the room. Ivy rushed over to her best friend and started fussing with her hair. "I just love it when you wear your hair in curls."
"Would you believe that this woman, who once promised us that she would never fall in love, is about to be married." Selena Luna, a fellow witch that Krystal met during her stay in Ravenclaw at Hogwarts. Selena fished her hands through her purse and pulled out a beautiful necklace that reflected golden specks of light off of it. Selena put the necklace around her friend's neck and pushed Krystal in front of the mirror so that they could all admire it.
"Selena, why would you give me something so beautiful?" Krystal wiped the tears that were streaming down her face with the palm of her hand. She pulled both Selena and Ivy into a group hug.
Selena broke herself apart from the group before saying, "My mother reminded me last night that I should pass down something to the bride. It's a tradition that somebody in my family started years ago and I decided that I would keep it up by finding you something that reflected your personality. Your a beautiful angel, Krystal, inside and out. This belonged to my mother when she was a young girl and I want you to consider this your something new." This time Selena was the one who had to wipe away her tears.
"You girls, I promised myself that I wasn't going to cry today... but I can't help it." Ivy grabbed a tissue out of a box that was sitting on a small rounded table. She handed one to Selena, who was starting to get teary eyed again, and passed one to Krystal, who shouldn't have to look puffy eyed on her wedding day.
"Ivy, we should believe that we are not losing a friend because she is always going to hang around us," Selena tossed her golden blonde hair behind her shoulder. "If she doesn't than I am going to have to resort to jinxing her, after all I was top of our class."
"You've been to Hogwarts but I'm what you call a Muggle." Ivy laughed before pulling her friends into one final hug.
"It's time." somebody said happily from the doorway.
Nathan stood beside his brother in front of his family and friends. His normally untidy brown hair had been pushed back and he had a smile on his face that made his puppy dog eyes glow with a certain beauty. Krystal's stomach formed into a nervous knot and a lump started to form in the back of her throat. She waited for her father to lock arms with her as her youngest sister, who was only eight, strolled down the aisle tossing flowers in two different directions. Arabella finished with the flowers and Krystal knew as soon as The Wedding March started that it was time to take the biggest step in her life.
Krystal walked down the aisle, past family and friends that she had known for years, and remembered everything that she had gone through from her time as a child to a beautiful bride.
"We gather here today in front of family and friends to witness the joining of Nathan Maurice Lupin and Krystal Annemarie Carry. These young adults have proved that love changes people from the better and happens when you least expect it to. Love binds people together in a way that nobody could ever imagine. Instead of reading the traditional vows, they have decided to recite ones that they have written themselves." The man who would be marrying them motioned with his arm towards Nathan.
"Krystal, you have been the type of person that people have admired for the past couple of years and it has been an honor getting to know you. When I first saw you move in next door, I thought that you were more of my brother's type of girl than mine but being with you has changed my life. Everyone has told me that I have grown more mature since meeting you, and that I should be lucky to know you as a person," Nathan gazed into Krystal's eyes. " I'm lucky because you are who you are. I'm lucky because you gave me a chance and I'm lucky because I fell in love with a remarkable young woman."
"Nathan, I knew what I was going to say but now I feel that the words I had could not possibly describe how I am feeling at the moment. Selena mentioned a few moments ago that it is a tradition in her family to give something that reflects somebody's personality as a gift. You would receive my heart because you are caring and I know that you would never break it. Love is a gift and we should shout it out to everybody we know." Krystal wiped her face once again with the palm of her hand.
"Who has the rings?" the priest muttered with his hands at his sides. John raised his hand and brought out two velvet black cases from his robes pocket and handed them to Nathan and Krystal. "The wedding rings are a symbol of your unbreakable commitment to one another. You may exchange wedding bands."
"With this ring I thee wed," Nathan whispered to Krystal while slipping a thin black wedding band on her finger. The ring flashed a bright color before fading back to black. "The ring is from your world."
"With this ring I thee wed," Krystal said to Nathan while she placed a thin black wedding band on his finger. "This ring is from your world."
"I now introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Lupin. You may kiss the bride." Nathan pressed his lips against Krystal's and for an instant their worries left them. They pulled apart after about a minute.
"For all of you on the bride's side, and any of you on the groom's side, who want to see what we do in the Magical world for a wedding remain in your seats." Krystal announced before turning around and tossing a bouquet of flowers behind her. She heard a squeal of delight erupt from her younger sister.
"Before Krystal starts explaining what her family wedding traditions in the Magical world are, for all of you on my family side, I believe she is entitled to one father daughter dance." Nathan guided Krystal to where her father stood and walked away into the crowd as they started dancing, followed by other fathers with their daughters.
"My great grandfather invented a tradition that he wanted to stay in my family, and that tradition is that the bride and groom each make a slice mark on their arms. They were supposed to press their blood together to symbolize a strong bond between them. After the bride and groom finish with that, they were supposed to toss something that reminded them of their past into the fire and something that could have been part of their future. It means that their past and their future are combined. The bride, if she was part of the Magic world, would then pass her wand over the flames and mutter a spell which is supposed to mean luck," Krystal brought out a wooden box from beside her. Their wedding guests were sitting in their seats still while night fell behind them. "This box was passed down ever since my great grandfather carved it. He made his wand pieces into wood for it before he went blind." she pulled out a knife and slowly ran the blade against the upper part of her arm until there was a visible line of blood running down it.
Nathan pressed the tip of the knife against his skin and winced while the blade cut into his skin. When he finished he set the knife besides where they sat.
"When blood meets blood, an unbreakable bond is formed." She said before pressing both of their cuts together. A warmth filled every inch of her.
Krystal fished in her robes pocket for something and pulled out a piece of parchment with writing on it. She tossed it into the flames that she had made using her wand. The piece of parchment went up in smoke. Krystal then pulled out another object that Nathan didn't recognized and threw it into the flames.
Nathan found a picture of that had his brother in it, his father, and himself when they were all younger and threw it into the flames. He then set another object, a letter, into the flames where it burnt up.
Krystal passed her wand over the flames before muttering, "Felix-icis." /i
John pressed the eject bottom on the VCR that Jennifer had bought for Remus the month before, "They died when they were only twenty-three years old." he put the wedding video into a box where he stored his brother's things.
"We should explain to Remus the truth about his parents, John. Remus still believes that his parents are on a trip and are going to walk through the door any day now. He's six years old, John, and he's going to feel as if his parents abandoned him if we don't tell him that his parents are..." Jennifer turned away from John as the door opened to their living room.
Remus stepped into the entrance with his light brown hair pressed flat against his forehead and his clothes soaking wet with rainwater. He shivered for a few minutes while Jennifer went into the laundry room to fetch some towels.
"What were you doing at Bo Morrison's home?" Jennifer questioned Remus a few minutes later while she wrapped towels around his body. She pulled Remus into her arms and brought him into the kitchen, setting him down on the counter top.
"Bo's mum brought down games and Bo and I played the games." Remus shivered in his wet clothes.
"What games did you and Bo play, Remus?" Jennifer pushed his hair back with her hand.
"Bo and I played a game with a hippo and some other games that I can't remember the name of. Bo's mum made us hot chocolate and read us a story about three baby pigs." Remus's smiling face changed to a frown after he finished his sentence.
"Did you like hearing the pig story, Remus?"
"The pigs didn't live with their mum and I don't live with my mum. It made me sad because I don't see my mum," Remus started to gasp when he breathed which was a sign that he needed his medicine. "When is my mum and dad coming back from their vacation, Jennifer."
Jennifer gazed into Remus's amber eyes, gave a quick look towards where John stood against the wall, and spoke in a calm voice, "Remus, do you know about Heaven and the angels?"
"Is Heaven where the good people go? Do angels watch over other people? Is my mum and dad with the angels?" Remus was never the type of person to skirt around topics. He got straight to the point when he wanted to know something.
"Your mum and dad are with the angels, Remus, and they are looking down at you at this moment." John spoke from his spot against the wall. He turned away from his nephew who still seemed not to comprehend what he was hearing.
"When is my mum and dad coming back from Heaven?"
Jennifer pulled Remus into a hug and said in a whisper, "Your mum and dad are not going to come back, Remus."
Remus jumped off of the counter and landed on his feat. He sped off in the direction of one of the larger bedrooms and slammed the door shut with a bang.
Remus opened the closet door that belonged to his Uncle and dived inside of it. He positioned himself behind a couple of coats and between cardboard boxes. Remus moved and noticed the boxes. He opened one of the larger boxes and fished around until he found a black coat. He put it on himself and started going through one of the other boxes in which contained pictures of people he didn't know and a few stuffed toys. Remus pulled out a stuffed animal.
"Remus, are you hiding in here?" John asked aloud as he entered his bedroom with Jennifer at his heels.
Jennifer started looking for Remus under the bed and behind a chair.
"Remus, put those things away." John whispered when he opened the closet to find Remus sitting there in the coat and holding the stuffed black dog.
"Did these belong to my parents?" Remus had tears in his eyes when he looked at his uncle.
"These were their memories," John made to grab the dog away from Remus who refused to give it to him. "and they are my memories from when your father and I were children. These are not yours."
"Why can't they be a part of my memories?" Remus choked through his tears and a lump that was starting to grow in his throat. "They were my parents."
John remained calm, though visibly shaking. He tried to force his voice into a calm sounding level, "He was my brother and you are just some child he never got the chance to know existed."
Remus removed the coat from his body and handed it, along with the dog, to his uncle. He ran out of the room in tears.
"You shouldn't have said that," Jennifer spoke after the sound of their back door opening was heard. "It's starting to get pitch black outside and is raining. Remus will get sick."
"What I told him was true."
"Remus is only six years old." Jennifer left the room.
Remus decided that the only place that nobody would come searching for him was the woods that were near their dead end street. He made his way at an incredible speed through the rain, not wanting to be followed. The moon above him was glowing and illuminating his path in the dark. The only sound that could be heard was a soft growling coming from the clumped trees.
"Starlight...starbright. First star I see... tonight," Remus found a shaded area that blocked the rain from falling on him, "I wish I may. I wish I might. Have the wish I wish tonight. I wish that I could see my parents."
The growling at the edge of the woods grew louder with each passing second, the storm dying down, and the wind became almost mute. Remus glanced over his shoulder and what he saw terrified him. A bear sized black dog with its'teeth bared.