LINER NOTES:
This was written when I was taking a break from setting up my Creative Writing portfolio, which is only half-done, due
tomorrow, and it's 11:00 at night. Be thankful I'm posting this, you ingrates. It'd serve you right if I didn't. (Just kidding. The
break from staticky cover pages and sorting shuffled pages was a good one and well needed.)
Oh, one other thing: I just joined The Master and the Wolf FQF, and am in the process of writing a rather twisted (in a good
way!) Remus/Severus for the Third Wave. I'll post a notice in my LINER NOTES for this story when I've posted at the
FQF.
DISCLAIMER: Does J.K. Rowling have pillows under her mattress because it's too old and sagging and she can't afford to
replace it? No? Well, then, I'm not her and we all know she's the Grand High Poohbah of Harry Potter, so . . .
ARCHIVING: See chapter 1.
RATING: PG-13 for mild language andhomosexuality. Please don't flame me about these things - this is your fair warning.
REVIEWERS!:
Eleonora1: Be patient, young Jedi. The band will show up in the next chapter. (yes, I'm answering your review in reverse
order . . . because I feel like it.) Yes, Remus tells his identity to the twins - I agree, seeing it not once but in double would be
hilarious! And you never know, Remus might just have a few more Marauders' tricks up his sleeves . . . ; ) Severus' opinion
on Harry's ace of the test? Well . . . I guess you'll just have to see for yourself sometime soon! Nate will not remain Nate for
much longer . . . in fact, only until next chapter . . . muahahaha . . . Neverwinter . .. she's probably my favorite character to
write. Very mischievous, she is. In my mind Remus is and has always been (ever since the second time I read the book, in
fact) an avid Chocolate Frog card collector, an opinion that only solidified when I saw how many people online make him a
chocolate addict : ) And it's not necessarily that Nate is trying to impress Remus - in spite of your opinion on the subject when
I revealed his identity to you, O Impatient One, Nate is quite a caring person in my mind, and truly felt badly when he found
out that Harry has never really had much of his own to speak of.
Yulara: Well, you never know, Nate COULD be Severus . . . I could have misled Eleonora so she'd be completely thrown
off when I make the reveal next chapter! I have not read much Shakespeare, but Hamlet is undoubtedly the best I have read!
I pick most of these works from things that either my friends or I enjoy, so if I don't know facts about them (i.e. I couldn't tell
you who's an elf, who's a hobbit, or what an Ork is from Lord of the Rings) I can ask around and get some dirt fast, so you
are seeing either a) a lot of my favoritesor b) works similar to my favorites. I honestly have no idea if pizza arcades exist
elsewhere, and in fact I'm not sure they're even called that (it just seemed to fit what they are, so I used it), but both of my
best birthday parties (ages 4 and 12) were held at Chuck E. Cheese's, our local pizza arcade, so I built on experience : )
Remus is always kind! He's Remus! And what's this about an abandoned story? NO!!!! ::cries:: ::pouts::
Well, enjoy . . .
Remus sat with the end of his quill in his mouth, cogitating furiously. He had a secret. He had a secret that had to be shared
before he could go any further, but he wasn't sure he was ready to share it. He'd had too many bad experiences with people
who couldn't look past his secret once they knew about it. Finally, in complete frustration, he slammed his quill on the table (it
broke, and he was not so angry that he couldn't spare a moment to grieve a little over the loss of an almost brand new writing
instrument) and turned in his swivel chair until he was facing completely away from the kitchen table. It had not originally been
a swivel chair, but it was so old and loose that finally Remus had given in and magically modified it because he was tired of the
seat coming off. Now it was in danger of coming off again as Remus stood so quickly he nearly knocked it over. He
wandered into the living room, where Harry was again reading the book Nate had given him for his birthday.
"Harry?"
No response.
"Harry."
Still nothing. Remus was almost ready to raise his voice before it occurred to him to try closing the book – so he did exactly
that, slipping the bookmark in place as he did so, and Harry looked up.
"I thought so. Come out of the world in your head, Anne Shirley (1), and join the big people in the real world. I need your
help."
Harry groaned openly. The last time Remus had said "I need your help," Harry had spent the day aiding him in scrubbing
floors and carpets and furniture because Dumbledore had declared that there would be a core meeting of the Order and he
wanted Remus to "sponsor" it. (It was really just a sneaky way of finding out how Harry was doing and living now that he
was in Remus' care.)
Remus looked annoyed. "Harry, honestly, it's not like I'm going to make you scrub the toilet with a toothbrush. I just need
some advice."
"Advice is easier to get than help."
"I know." Remus paused, sitting down while deliberating on the best way to open this discussion. Finally he decided the direct
approach would be the best one. "Harry, I need to tell Nate about . . . my problem."
"You mean about being a werewolf."
Remus nodded.
"That's easy. Just come right out and tell him the truth."
Remus rolled his eyes. "It's not that easy, Harry. What do you think I've been writing at the kitchen table for the past two
hours, a royal summons?"
Harry grinned a bit at the idea of Remus writing a royal summons, and then got serious again. "You can't just dance around it,
Remus. Tell him the truth, just like what you told me when I asked if you'd told him. If he's really the person he seems to be
he'll understand."
"A lot of people don't want to associate with werewolves, Harry, and they're decent enough otherwise. You seem to think
that being straight open about it is going to solve any difficulties I might encounter here."
Harry stood up with a huff. "I don't think that, Remus, but it's a lot less risky than beating around the bush until he thinks
you've actually got some really horrible secret that's even worse, like – like – oh, I don't know, like you're really Ludo
Bagman in disguise. That's a good one."
Remus actually laughed that time. "Well . . . it's not like I've actually got too much to lose, right?"
"Go slap those bigoted bastards a good one."
"Harry!" To say Remus was shocked would be like saying Voldemort had made a couple of bad decisions.
Harry grinned apologetically. "Sorry. I got to the last letter before you did. It's growing on me."
The blonde rolled his eyes. "Wonderful habits he's teaching you. What's really in that book?" The Marauder in him couldn't
resist a teasing jab before stridingout to the kitchen, and then back into the living room and up to Harry's school desk.
He returned to the kitchen with a ballpoint pen. Quills, after all, were very highly overrated.
Nate was in the middle of a book when Neverwinter soared through his window. He idly closed his rather riveting edition of
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (2), offered Neverwinter a piece of the chocolate-chip biscuit sitting next to him, and
unfolded the letter from Rémy. He'd been a bit startled at first by the other's odd habit of writing everything on plain
composition paper taken straight from a Muggle notebook, but it had quickly gone past surprising to become somewhat
endearing. Immediately his eyes riveted on the phrase "I have something I need to tell you," and his chest filled with icy dread.
This was it. This was the reason he'd stopped seeking people out and become his own little shell. Sooner or later something
rammed into the perfect setting and it moved and tore and was revealed to be only cloth, not reality after all. He half-
considered not reading the letter, and then logic came back to him as he realized that "I have something I need to tell you"
could be something as simple as "I'm going abroad for a bit and I won't be able to write for about two weeks." Nothing that
extravagant, of course, because Rémy definitely couldn't afford it (especially not raising a teenager), but something that
simple. Nothing to panic over. He lowered his eyes again to the paper.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Dear Nate,
I finally figured out how to tell when you're approaching a delicate topic – if you've spent two hours sitting at your kitchen
table with a piece of paper in front of you and a quill in hand, trying to write, and finally you end up breaking the quill by
accident because you get so bloody frustrated – well, that's a fairly good indication.
I have something I need to tell you, and I can only ask that you finish this entire letter before making a decision. You don't
have to, of course, but I would sincerely appreciate it if you did. The thing is this: I'm a werewolf.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Nate raised his eyes from the paper, stunned. Rémy's usual letters sounded like they came from a man of manydifferentkinds
of faces– sensitive, kind, talented, humorous – but they did not sound like they came from a werewolf. At least, according to
what he knew of werewolves, they were vicious and bloodthirsty even in their human forms and certainly would be neither
interested nor able to hold an almost expert conversation on literature – a good deal of it old and obscure – neither did they
write music, worry about telling white lies, or adopt teenagers. They certainly didn't get up at dawn or keep a birdfeeder.
Almost certain that this was another quirk of Rémy's odd sense of humor, Nate read on.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I know you're probably wondering why I didn't tell you before, and the truth is, I'm not really ready to tell youabout itnow –
but I think you know enough about me as a person to make a decision about whether or not you want this to end whatever it
is we've got here. I intended from the very first letter I sent to tell you the truth if things worked out, and I could be wrong
here (it certainly wouldn't be the first time), but I think things are working out. I don't want to keep someone I care about in
the dark, but I think you'd understand if I said I didn't want to just indiscriminately reveal my condition to any random person
I happened to speak to – or write to, in this case. Time and experience both teach you to be wary of things like that.
I suppose I've taken up enough of your time, if you've decided to stick with it and hear me out even though it's certainly not a
pleasant subject, so I'm passing the ball off to you -
Always,
Rémy
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Nate stared out the window. This hadn't been welcome news at all – but did he really care? Assuming Rémy was telling the
truth – and he had no reason to believe otherwise – then all of his beliefs about werewolves were nothing more than illusions
and he had a lot to learn. If Rémy was lying – and based upon how guilt-ridden Rémy had been over Harry's birthday, Nate
considered this highly unlikely – then all of his beliefs about Rémy were nothing more than illusions and he had gained only
experience from this entire thing.
He sat with the letter hanging from his hand, gazing blankly out at the sky as it changed from blue to gold to black, but still had
only questions without answers.
REFERENCE NOTES:
(1) If you've never read Anne of Green Gables, well . . . shame on you! What are you reading this for? Go read it! (After you
review, of course.) Anne Shirley is the main character, and is a very imaginative girl who can't be drawn from her dream
world for almost anything.
(2) Heh-heh-heh . . . I'm not telling you why I put this marker in! You'll have to figure that one out for yourself . . .