First things first, let me introduce myself. My name is Remus Lupin, and I am here to tell the truth. The only real reason I'm here to tell the truth is because, well, I'm really the only one left to do it. Everyone else who could tell you everything is gone now, dead, six feet under, however you want to say it. But, none the less, they are currently unavailable for comment as one could say.
But why do I need to tell the truth? Because, apparently very few people know the truth; and when people don't know the truth they are liable to make stories up. I really do hate it when people just, make things up willy nilly. Especially when it comes to the lives of me and my friends. So that's why I'm here to tell the truth, so you all get to know the real story, the real truth. I'm here to set the record straight….
Now, before I really start getting into this story full on, I need to explain some things first. Like one, I might as well tell you who everyone is now, that way I don't have to stop in the middle of my story to tell you some mundane detail about a person that could ultimately get me sidetracked. Because if I get sidetracked, there's no telling where this story could go. We have five main people in this story, all of them were my friends, three of them have passed on, and one remains alive but is dead to me. These amazing five people are James Potter, Sirius Black, Lily Evans (who became Lily Potter), Peter Pettigrew, and myself.
James. Ah, how to sum up someone of his character into a few words, that is something I don't think anyone could do. He was just, such an amazing friend and complex person. I have never felt myself to be so blessed to know a person like him, especially later in his life. For awhile, especially when we were about fourteen to when were sixteen, James was a little bit, well, a jerk. Of course, we all were. I'm not going to sit here and be a hypocrite saying I was an innocent little boy. But then again, I did have the reputation of being the good one. Of course, anyone looks like a "good one" when put next to James and Sirius. I swear, they must have set a record in having the most detentions while attending Hogwarts. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.
James was the dreamer, the one with the big ideas. He was the guy who got up in the morning and knew what he wanted to do that day. Of course most days it was to get Lily to go out with him. Man did he love that girl. Now, I'm not talking about some little crush either, I'm talking about full on love. I don't think the guy owned a single think that did not have "I Love Lily" or "J.P. + L.E." written or carved into it. Hell, you should have seen his bed post! I don't know what would have happened to James if Lily hadn't finally said yes to him seventh year. Ah, once again, I'm getting ahead of myself. See, getting sidetracked and ahead of myself, two things I most commonly do when I'm trying to get this all out.
James was the tallest one of us, which he liked to point out, even if it was only once inch over myself. And here is a pristine opportunity to set a few misconceptions about him and us as a group. James was the only one out of us for to play quidditch. Yes, we all enjoyed the game, but James was the only one actually good enough to play for the house team. And he wasn't just good, he was superb. And another thing, James wasn't a seeker, he was a chaser. Sure, he was often seen with a snitch in his pocket, but that's only because he nicked it one day and liked to show it off. Besides, a snitch is much easier to carry in one's pocket than a quaffle is.
Another common misconception, that James was this big ladies man before he got together with Lily finally. Nuh-uh. The boy was crazy about her, and her only. Yes, he did have a date every now and then, but never an outstanding girlfriend. I mean, think about that logically, if James had a girlfriend, how could he ask Lily out every bloody time that he saw her? Simple, he couldn't. James was a decent guy, he would never do something like that. So, for simplicity's sake, he never had a girlfriend, knowing that one day Lily Evans would say yes to him. And that day she did…well, I'll get to that later.
The other common misconception, that James and Sirius aren't smart. Oh Merlin how smart those two were. The were probably some of the brightest students that school had ever seen. The things they could do with magic was amazing. After all, a stupid person couldn't make that map. No, making something like, creating their own spells and such, that takes pure talent and ingenious capabilities, which they both had. They're the reason I had to study so hard, so I didn't look like some stupid idiot trailing along with them. Besides, stupid people don't master being an animagus by the time they're sixteen either. But once again, that's another story.
But, enough about James for now. You'll get to know him and his mannerisms better as I get into the story more. Let's move on to Sirius. Now Sirius was an interesting character. I know people know some things about him, but they don't know everything. Sirius, like I said before was a genius yes, he just lacked in the common sense department, simple as hat. He was also a bonafied ladies man. He was what many people thought to be the best looking out of all of us. Sirius was the only guy I knew who could pick up a girl without even trying. He could flirt, and he wouldn't even know it. Girls just simply flocked to him. And that brings me up to my first pet peeve. People, Sirius was my best friend, not my boyfriend, lover, crush, no, none of that. Sirius was all about the girls. I, well, I was under special circumstances when it came to the dating realm. But, this is not about me right now, its about him.
Now Sirius was a real charmer, between he and James those two probably got out of half of their detentions, which is scary when you think of how many they couldn't get out of. He just had that certain charisma about him. It's a shame to think of what he once was, but than what he was reduced to all because of one little rat, literally. Sirius, just like James was one of the best friends a guy could ever ask for, and I really do feel lucky just to have known them.
It kind of hurts to think about it, but I only knew James for ten years. Can you believe that? I met James our first year of Hogwarts, 1971, and then in only 1981, he was dead. Ten bloody years! That's not fair, not fair at all. And similar circumstances go for Sirius. Sure, he lived until 1996, but from 1981 to 1994 I thought he was responsible for killing Lily and James and Peter and that he should rot in jail. So really, I only got eleven years with him. It really isn't fair at all.
Now, for the one person I admired the most, Lily. Now when I say admired I do not mean to say I had a crush on her. I mean to say that I, well, admired her. Lily was one of the nicest, kindest, people you could ever have met in your entire life, and I really mean it. I have encountered very few people who have treated me with such kindness, respect, and friendship that she showed me.
But, Lily wasn't always, well, the sweetest person. As much as she was a nice person, she was a bit, well, conceited. She knew she was smart, and she didn't mind reminding people on occasion. She didn't mean to be rude about it, but some people took it as that. She was just, Lily, simple at that. To be honest, Lily was pretty, I will admit that. After all, it wasn't every day you found a girl with dark red hair and bright green. James certainly found her striking.
Again, there is another thing that so many people get wrong. There was no love at first sight for those two. No way, no how. In fact, more people were shocked when they finally did start going out rather than saying "I knew they would." No one really expected her to ever say yes. After all, she used to basically tell him he was an arrogant prat every day for about four years. But, she did say yes finally in seventh year. And I know at least I was saying "Thank Merlin she finally yes." I firmly believe that if Lily had never said yes, that James would have just spent the rest of his life obsessing over her. Sad I know, but still true none the less. But, Lily really doesn't come into play until later on in this story.
Next, would be Peter. It's very hard for me to talk about him though. Why? Because he single handedly ruined for lives directly. It's his fault Voldemort knew where James and Lily had been hiding and why he could find them to kill them, which orphaned baby Harry. Then, Sirius was blamed for him being a traitor, and then he was framed for Peter's death which never happened. So, Sirius went to jail for thirteen years, knowing he was perfectly innocent. And here I was, left thinking three of my friends were killed and one was a traitor. It was just a mess for those thirteen years for me, it really was. No real friends, no steady job, it was horrible.
But Peter does bring up an interesting point. Him being the traitor was probably the most surprising thing ever. I see whenever people make up these little stories that they always talk about someone having a "bad feeling" about him. If any of us had thought Peter was capable of what he did, we never would have let him in our circle of friends in the first place. No one knew what he was going to do, no one.
And now finally, I'm on to what I probably should have told you about first, myself. But, I feel rather stupid talking about myself. After all, it just feels weird talking about oneself. But, there are some important things to know. Most importantly, I am a werewolf. Simple as that, once a month, more specifically ever twenty-eight days I become afflicted due to a full moon. Of course, now its much easier with the creation of the wolfsbane potion. At least now I have control, and I can just curl up in a little whimpering ball away from everyone. But before, back when I was in school, it was completely different. Back then I had no control, I was dangerous, and yet my three best friends stood by my side. My condition is part of the reason they even became animagi. And for that, I am always grateful to them.
Being a werewolf is a particularly sad lifestyle, but, it's not by choice. When I was a little boy no one asked me if I wanted to be a werewolf. Nope, because believe me if I had had the choice I would have declined it. Being a werewolf is not fun. I can't keep a job down because no one wants to work with a werewolf, and with no steady job comes no steady paycheck. And not having a steady paycheck means its hard to always pay rent on a place, which means I'm not exactly a stranger to asking for a place to stay, or hiding out some run down shack. It's not a pretty life, but it's what has to be done, simple as that. And with your best friends gone, it's only that much harder. But for the probably twentieth time, I'm getting ahead of myself. Because, to really set the record straight, you have to go back. Way back, back to 1971 when I, and the rest of my friends were just innocent little first years getting ready to go to Hogwarts…
a/n: This is a repost of this story. I had it posted somewhere else first, but after some time thinking, I realized people on are much nicer and I'm more like to get some helpful feedback on this story. I would appriciate it much if you left a review. Thanks.
