Chapter One

One Year Later

It was another sunny afternoon in the village, and Remus Lupin and Michelle Cooke, now ten years old and still best friends, could be found slowly making their way towards the small play park that the muggle children used. School had just finished for the summer, and they intended to enjoy their first day of freedom by playing on the giant swing set and sliding board all afternoon. Unfortunately, when they got to the park, they saw something that drove playing out of their minds completely.

"Oh, I don't believe that evil git!" Michelle's older brother, Andrew, was fighting with another boy, a muggle. "He just can't keep from beating the crap out of some poor little kid, can he?" Scowling, Michelle and Remus made their way over to were Andrew, an eleven year old boy who was rather large for his age, had short flaming red hair, no neck, and an attitude to match his hair, was holding the other boy, a short brunette named Mark upside down by his feet. It looked as though Andrew had been messing with the poor kid for quite a while, because the boy was crying, had a black eye, and a bloody nose already.

"Just what do you think your doing? Leave that boy alone!" Remus shouted, enraged. While Michelle and Remus were practically inseparable, Andrew absolutely hated Remus.

Perhaps he didn't like Remus because he knew the boy was a werewolf, or perhaps it was because Remus wasn't a pureblood, but regardless of why Andrew hated him, Remus knew that they feelings were mutual. Michelle's brother could always be found beating up some poor muggle kid, and his bullying had gotten so bad that the only other kids in the town who weren't terrified of Andrew were Remus and Michelle. They were the only ones who ever stood up to him. Andrew just sneered down at Remus, saying, "And who's going to make me? You two? Lupin, I could beat the crap out of you anytime I want. Why don't you just mind your own business for once?"

"Why don't you just leave these kids alone, Andrew? It's not as if they've got anything you want! Why do you have to keep bothering them like this?!" Michelle asked. She very clearly wanted to give her brother the same sort of treatment he gave all the other kids.

"Why? Because I can, my dear sister." He said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Now why don't you to just run along home and leave me alone? Of course, if you want to take his place, I really don't have a problem with replacing him with filth like you, Lupin." Andrew said, with a sinister smile on his face.

With that, Michelle leapt at her brother, knocking him to the ground. He let out a shout of surprise as Michelle's fist collided with his face, breaking his nose immediately. "You stupid idiot! How dare you call Remus that!"

Remus finally regained his senses, and pulled Michelle off of her brother before Andrew could overcome his shock and realize that he was actually much bigger than his sister, and wouldn't have any trouble taking care of her. "Michelle, just leave it. He's not worth it." Remus told her.

"I don't care! He shouldn't talk to you like that!" Michelle shouted still trying to get at her brother.

"You little bitch!" Andrew snarled, finally getting to his feet, stemming the flow of blood from his nose with his sleeve. "You're gonna get it now!" With that, he lunged at his little sister, trying to hit any part of her he could. However, an unexpected force slamming in to him, knocking him back to the ground, stopped him. This time, the fist that hit him didn't belong to his fiery-tempered sister, but instead it was Remus who was on him, punching him with every bit of his strength. Normally a boy with Remus' slight frame wouldn't have caused much of a problem for the older boy. However, Remus' lycanthropy gave him enough added strength to knock Andrew out cold in no time.

When Remus realized what he'd done, he turned to Michelle and said, "I think we'd better get him back to your house. We can't just leave him here, and I'll have to take responsibility for knocking him out."

Michelle nodded reluctantly, and Remus bent down to pick him up and carried him back to the house. As they made their way back through town, many of the other kids, the ones Andrew liked to pick on, stopped to stare as Remus carried their long-time and obviously beaten foe home. "Well, this has certainly been a productive day," Michelle said sarcastically, as they reached the gravel driveway leading to her large, two-story house.

Remus snorted. "Oh yes, very productive. We beat up your brother. Somehow, I don't think your parents will appreciate that very much." He said.

"My dad might not, but I'm sure mum'll understand, with all the crap she has to put up with from him. Besides, he looks much better now, don't you think?" Michelle said, taking in her brother's now crooked nose, along with the numerous bruises on his face and arms.

"Oh definitely," Remus said, adjusting the larger boy in his arms to get a better grip. "He looks like he's served as a piƱata at some muggle kid's birthday party." Both of them burst out laughing, and Remus nearly lost his grip on Andrew as they finally reached the oak front door of the wooden house.

The next morning, Remus was woken up by the sound of someone banging on the front door of his house, demanding to be let in. He was shocked to find Michelle standing there in tears. "What's wrong, Shelly?" Remus asked, standing back to let his obviously upset friend into the house.

When she'd finally calmed down, Michelle managed to say, "Dad told us this morning. He's been offered a promotion at Gringotts." Michelle's father had worked as an accountant for Gringotts for years, and Remus didn't understand how his being given a promotion could be a bad thing. He said as much to Michelle.

"Remus," she began with an uncharacteristically sad look in her eyes, "accepting the promotion means that he'll be transferred to America. He and mum have already discussed it, and he's going to take the job. We'll be moving to Boston at the end of the summer." At this, Michelle broke into tears again, and Remus put his arms around her, not knowing how else to comfort his friend.

The rest of the summer flew by in a blaze of heat and sunshine that belied the dread both Remus and Michelle were beginning to feel. There was less than a week before the Cooke's would move to America, and Remus was already starting to miss his friend. He knew that summer would be over soon, and he would be busy with the muggle school he was currently attending, but that didn't make him feel any better. All the other kids their own age, because they had done accidental magic on a number of occasions, had always considered Michelle and him strange. Sure, most of the kids now looked up to Remus for beating up the boy they had long been terrified of, but that didn't matter to him.

When it finally came time to say goodbye, it was a depressingly bright August day. Ordinarily, Remus and Michelle might have gone swimming in the local pool, or explored the forest one last time, but not today. In fact, Remus realized with a slight jolt, he had no idea when he'd see his friend again, after today. Michelle's parents were loading their luggage into the muggle cabs they would be taking to the airport. "David, are you sure that's everything?" Michelle's mother called from the house.

"Yes, Julia! We've got it all! Now tell the kids to come on, if we don't leave in the next few minutes, we'll be late!" Her father called back, exasperatedly slamming the hood of the car door shut.

"We'll keep in touch. We've got our own owls now, so we'll be able to write letters and everything. And I'm sure we'll be able to visit each other sometime." Michelle was saying to Remus, while they carried the things she wanted to take with her on the plane out to the car.

"You're right, as always, Shelly. Friends forever like we agreed, right?" Remus said, doing his best to smile.

"Of course. We can't let a little thing like the Atlantic Ocean keep us apart, now can we? But you know, there is one thing I definitely won't miss. You calling me 'Shelly'. You know how much I hate that name." Michelle said, dumping her stuff into the back seat of the cab.

"Yes, and that's exactly why I call you it. Besides, you call me 'Remy', so I think it's only fair." Remus said, while helping her put the rest of her things in the car.

Just then, Mrs. Cooke walked up to them, saying, "I hate to interrupt, kids, but we've got to be going now, so you'd better say goodbye." She then gave Remus a short hug, telling him, "Tell your mum and dad we'll keep in touch, alright dear? And have fun at school this year."

"Thank you, Mrs. Cooke, I'll tell them. Have a nice flight." Remus said as then short, skinny woman got into the car, her red hair flying everywhere because of the wind. He turned back to Michelle, and noticed that she was once again in tears.

"Hey, don't cry, it'll be alright." Remus stated shakily, taking her into his arms. "We'll see each other again, you'll see."

"I know, but I don't want to leave. I'll miss you too much, Remy." Michelle said as she stepped back from her friend and tried to stop crying.

"I'll miss you too, but like you said, we'll keep in touch." Remus reassured her. Then she did something that shocked both of them to the core. Michelle kissed Remus on the lips, before jumping into the car, saying "Goodbye, Remus!" as they pulled away.