Convincing Harry

By Abay

-Chapter-Three-

Logic

Enjoy:)

Sitting huddled in a corner sat a man, shivering uncontrollably, his blue lips mumbling the same incoherent words. "Can't be…Impossible…Please Lily, Harry, please…don't leave me alone. Oh god, please don't leave me alone." His blood shot eyes were wide and teary, darting this way and that, as though expecting his wife and son to emerge out of the corner, walk towards him and pull him by his hands and take him away from this place he found himself prisoner in.

The dark murky sky started to turn into a blood red one, reflecting the feeling of odd death inside of him. Looking up into the sky, James realized how much time he had wasted sitting here, wallowing in his self-pity. But what could he do? He was stranded in no where, scarcely able to move, feeling scared and tired. He could not turn to Sirius or Peter for help, they were in hiding, where he did not know, risking their necks to save little Harry like the loyal friends they are…But there's still Remus, a voice reminded.

But he could not, Remus was their suspect, the one whom Sirius and Peter warned him might be the spy. He's a werewolf James, Sirius had told him gravely. Although I hate to admit it, Remus might have…you know…joined Greyback. We haven't seen him for a while now… who knows if those speeches Greyback's been giving turned his head around? We've got to be careful…for little Harry's sake…

But James however found himself not regarding this point Sirius had pointed out to him at all. Remus would know what to do, he told himself. He always did.

Close his eyes tightly, James summoned up all energy he could find in him, breathed in deeply, then thought of his destination. He imagined Remus' cottage in his minds eye, and then, he felt the familiar walls close around him, binding him. He could not breathe…a dull buzz was imitating in his ears…his eardrums would surly burst—he needed air! He needed to get out of this---Pop!

James had to use the wall to support himself and keep him from falling. Opening his eyes and breathing deep, shuddering breaths, James looked around for any sight of Remus, and although the cottage looked slightly different before, James did not notice for there was only one thought lingering in his mind.

"Remus!" he called as his heart beat fast against his ribcage. "Remus!"

"REMUS!"

Mumbling unintelligibly, Remus Lupin rolled over on his bed, tangling himself within his shabby blankets and covering his head with them. He had of course heard someone yell for him, it was probably Sirius, but he chose to ignore it and finish off his dream of running with under the moon with both stag and dog.

From the very day he was bitten by Greyback, Remus had started to have these dreams of a werewolf, more of a cub really at his age of youth every time the full moon would draw nearer. The cub-wolf would be howling at the moon, alone and lonely, but the wolf remained alone no more when Remus had met Peter, Sirius and James. As they accompanied him in his transformations, they convoyed him in his dreams as well. Wolf, dog, stag and rat ran under the moon in a pack that was unbreakable…or so they thought.

Years later, his packs oath to remain together had been severed…One had died…The other served wasted years in Azkaban though innocent of charge, and the other…The other had betrayed them…scuttled away into hiding…fearing for his own life…unaware of the many lives ruined for the sake of his own, and once again, Remus and the wolf found themselves in solitude and seclusion, shunned from the world for what he was, for the mark engraved on his left shoulder. The werewolf mark.

And another twelve lonely years later, Remus had found that a bear-like shaggy dog would be accompanying him in those dreams, barking and howling with him at the moon. Remus marveled on why he was having these dreams and came up with the delusion that the news of Sirius Black escaping Azkaban had weaved into his dreams as well as his waking moments. But Remus new that there was more to it…and in the end, he was proven that his gut feeling had proven right.

And tonight, Remus was having the same usual dream of the Wolf and dog running under the moon, but this time…a stag was accompanying them, trampling across the grass with speed and agility, raising his antlers and standing at his rear legs.

"REMUS!"

Snorting out of his sleep, Remus opened an eye blearily then the other, finding it hard to adjust to the light seeping through the window, but another pleading scream reached his ears, shocking the hell out of Remus and sending him fling out of bed, for he had thought he would never hear this voice until his dieing day. That… that was …

Shaking his head at the absurd thoughts he was thinking, Remus donned on a threadbare and patched robe, snatched his wand from his bedside table and readied himself to attack if it was needed to, the wolf however was not in a stance of defense. Oddly, he was not feeling protective at all that someone had barged into his property, it was a usual wolf intuition, but instead Moony was howling with joy, and Remus could only remember him howling this ecstatically twice in his entire life. The former was the first time stag, rat and dog had joined on his full moon adventures, and the following was the day Sirius had rejoined him forming a pack of two.

But that was ridiculous! It couldn't be him! It just couldn't be …

"REMUS! YOU HAVE TO HELP ME!" cried the voice in despair, the voice that reminded him so much of….But he's dead! He told himself coldheartedly.

Breaking free of his bed sheets which were twisted around his feet, Remus stumbled out of the room clumsily, and ran down the hallway, finding himself face to face with someone whom he thought he would never see for the rest of his life, someone who had long passed to the other world.

"Good god."

Uncharacteristically like him, Remus' mind had gone void of all thoughts as he stared wide eyed at the man before him, he did not even notice the man walk towards him and shake him by the shoulders, hollering at him, screaming himself hoarse, screaming in anguish.

"Remus, they're here aren't they? L-Lily, and Harry, they're not dead Remus, they- they just can't be! Tell me they're her with you, please Remus, please!"

"J-James?" he said in a barley audible voice.

His mind would not think straightit would not comprehend what it was seeing. For this was far more than a nightmare, this was a dream come true, this was a dream that he thought was unfeasible, but he did not simply presume that, he knew for a fact that this was impossible. It was a verity. The dead were dead; they did not simply choose to walk around whenever they wished to do so.

But Moony was telling him that this was really James, that no other had that scent, but the Remus in him…he was telling him that James had departed to the other life, and that nothing could bring him back, that reincarnation was nothing but a mere myth, a fairy tale made up by people who had lost loved ones, living on false hope that somehow, it would bring them back.

"Remus, I-I don't- Lily, Harry, where are they?"

Flashback

On no account in his life had Remus felt so lost, so hopeless, and not matter how hard the situation he was in did he ever wish for his life to end. Not once did that thought cross his mind. Save for this tonight.

But in a sense, his life had really come to an end. On the horrendous night of October 31, 1981 his life had come crashing down upon him because of the actions of Sirius Black, a low deceiving coward who had fooled them all; Sirius used to be a person whom he had regarded as a brother, a branch of him though they were not related by blood, but not anymore…

Remus looked down at the once beautiful, full of life woman, and a gleaming white tear trickled down his cheek. She was not full of life any longer. Bending down, he kissed Lily on the cheek and bid her farewell…the hardest thing he had ever done in his life…

Then he turned to the man lying beside her. That man, he was part of him, he was among one of his friends who had helped him be who the man he is today, and as he looked upon James face, a choked laugh escaped his lips as he remembered the mayhem they had caused together, as he recalled the nights in which the marauders, care free as they could ever be- planned the next adventure knowing that they would live to see the next day…

…But James would never be able to relive those moments with him, he would never be able to create more memories with him, because James was gone, his brother was gone, and as he slowly realized that, his heart broke into pieces…pieces that would never be able to be put back together.

Wiping his tear stained face, Remus got up and took a step towards the door…a step that would take him further away from his friends more than ever before, because if he walked out of that door, he would never see James and Lily once more, this, he realized, would be his last moment with them…a dead memory, a memory of pains and a recollection that gave him nothing but a heart of lead.

But he did not want this memory…he wanted it to fade away…he wanted to forget James….Lily….Peter, he even wanted to forget his hatred towards Sirius. He wished that his memory of them would seize to exist, but Remus knew otherwise…he knew that they would always be engraved in his heart… for their sake…for Harry, a child's' sake, for he was the only remembrance of them, and if he had to be the one to suffer for Harry then be as it may be. Harry was the only thing left for him, and he had given his word to James that he would take care of Harry despite the fact that he knew a werewolf was never granted that right. He would do the impossible to get custody of Harry; he would do what was in the best interest of the child.

Stepping out of the door, he turned around and cast a look at Lily and James for the last time. Inside his very core, he felt his emotions tremble at its peek as his eyes lay once again on them, and he sobbed for what was taken away from him…he sobbed for Lily, for James, for Peter, and even for Sirius that was seduced by the dark side.

He sobbed for all it's worth.

End Flashback.

Suddenly snapping back to his senses he snarled, "Who are you?"

Remus pushed the imposter away from him with disgust, his face contorting into one of great anger. The imposter, whoever it was, standing in his hallway didn't seem to notice his extreme hostility, but continued in his deceitful act. Who would sink so low to try to deceive a man? he thought furiously as he felt his heart beating at an un-normal rate, but he had no doubt in mind at who would do such a coldhearted act; Voldemort. And if he thought that Remus was daft enough to believe this fowl charade then he had under estimated him greatly.

"Lily? Harry? I-I can't find them, oh god, please Remus, please tell me they're with you," he pleaded, his body shaking uncontrollably with coldness though he did not seem to realize it, and oddly Remus found that his heart was softening at the person in front of him.

He looked so helpless, so lost, and Moony was howling more than ever, ready to charge at 'James,' with a rib-cracking hug, but logic held him back. The dead remain dead, their bodies decomposed into ashes, and there was no way for them to return, unless they'd evolved into ghosts, and whoever was posing as his long lost friend was not in the slightest bit transparent. No, he was definitely solid.

"Who-are-you!" he repeated grinding his teeth with resentment as once again the battle of anger overcame pity.

"Remus, it's me, James-"

"James is dead!" he hissed horrendously, grabbing the poser of James by the front of his robes and slamming him hard onto the wall, pinning the imposter so that he could scarcely move.

"Moony-"

"SHUT UP!" Hearing the figure of James calling him by his childhood nickname had hit Remus hard more than he thought it would have, causing him to explode as he felt the temper of the wolf rise, as he felt the power of him bubble beneath his skin, and the next thing he knew, Remus had sent a punch full of resentment at the imposter, then left him to stumble onto the ground crying out in pain and surprise.

"Did your master really think he could fool me this easily?" he scoffed standing over the imposter keeping him at wand point. "But tell me, how did you get yourself to look so very much like James without any of his hair strands, or any part of him in fact?"

"I don't know what you mean," denied the imposter whipping blood away from his cut lip by the back of his hand, but Remus ignored the comment, and continued on.

"But you know what fascinates me? How did you get to smell so like him? Peter must have told you that I'm a werewolf—"

"Remus! I don't have time for this! Harry and Li-"

It was common knowledge that werewolves were overprotective of things they held dear, and when the mere mention of Harrys' name left the imposters lips, it sent Remus into another sudden storm of rage. "If you dare touch a hair on Harrys' head, one hair, I swear I will hunt you down myself!" he threatened loosing his mocking tone.

"I would never hurt Harry! I'm his father!"

Remus was loosing his patience with the fraud; he was finding it hard not to curse the hell out of this liar standing dangerously beneath his wand.

"HOW DARE-" but before he could even finish his sentence, the imposter got up with such a speed and jumped at him pinning him to the ground, sending his wand flying elsewhere, but Remus quickly pushed him off with another hard punch in the face.

Werewolves were powerful creatures, and when they got mad, you wouldn't want to mess with them.

James head painfully collided into the wall, but quickly scrambled to his feet. For some reason Remus thought that he, James, was not who he was claiming to be, but he had no precious time to spare! Lily and Harry were missing and he had to find them. He had no time to brawl with Remus. But when James saw him bending over to pick his wand up, he ran into him, ramming Remus as hard as he could with his shoulder.

And the affray started.

A.N:A minute worth of your time wouldmake me a really happy girl!;) So please, hit that review button and tell me what you think!