Chapter 5
Remus Lupin was an excellent wizard. In fact, excellent was a tad bit of understatement when it came to him. After all, he had ten OWLS and eight NEWTS - indicator of a very high academic performance. Apart from that, Lupin was also one of the co-creators of the Marauder's Map - an artifact capable of tapping into the Hogwarts wards' schematic and mapping the presence of witches and wizards on it - a feat deserving of a mastery in charms. Of course, it was not solely Lupin who had created it but the main research and enchantments that went into the creation of the map was due to him. All in all, his accomplishments were enough to warrant an excellent job at the ministry for anyone but him.. or his kind.
Sadly, the magical population of not only Britain but all over the world did not take too kindly to those afflicted with Lycanthropy. Bluntly put, if all werewolves were to somehow die overnight, the magical population would throw out a party that would rival that of the day celebrated after the demise of the Dark Lord Voldemort. Yep, it was that bad. Incurring direct hate and loathing of the wizard-kind aside, being a werewolf posed another more serious problem. It was extremely hard to get a job for a werewolf.
In fact, it was nigh impossible to cross the threshold of any respectable shop in Diagon Alley without the Lycanthropy ward alerting the owner that a werewolf had entered their shop. Thus, the only place that one like Lupin could ever shop at was the rather infamous Knockturn Alley. At least, the people there did not install wards to discourage werewolves or vampires. They did overcharge them though. Preying on the weak and stuff like that.
A sad smile crossed the face of Lupin as he just remembered his latest interview. It was another shop of the Knockturn Alley and he rather had a good feeling about it. Had being the key word. The owner of the quite infamous Hag's Breath had, after recognizing Lupin, refused to even hear a single word of his. That would have been understandable if it had not been that particular bar, seeing as most of its customers were shady types and hiring a werewolf to the establishment wasn't that big of a deal. No, the man had not refused to listen to him because he was a werewolf. Rather, it was because he was a werewolf that associated with the wrong sorts of people. Or at least the owner thought so.
It was well known in the Knockturn Alley that one werewolf by the name of Remus Lupin was a known member of the Order of the Phoenix. Actually, it was meant to be a secret but a rather unfortunate incident involving Mundungnus Fletcher had brought that little tidbit of information to light. And Remus' life had changed after that. Well, more than before that is. Now the inhabitants of Knockturn wouldn't dare risk the wrath of the darker wizards, noticiably the infamous Fenrir Greyback, by providing him a sanctuary. And Diagon Alley was against him from the start. Essentially, Lupin was now shunned by both light and dark shades of the magical population. If that was not unfair, then Lupin didn't know what was.
Regardless, getting his mood down wouldn't do. He had to find a job after all. He had performed the duty of the Order one last time by attempting to bring the werewolf population to the peace talks with Dumbledore (as the ministry won't hear any of it). Now, he was back to his living his own life and a job was essential for him. Of course, Sirius and James had argued with him, multiple times, to take their money. They were quite rich after all. Sirius had been particularly passionate about it but no, Lupin couldn't, wouldn't, take their gold. His pride wouldn't allow him to.
Which brought him to present. What should he do now? Diagon Alley was off limits as always. Greyback had still a bit of nasty reputation, so Knockturn was off limits. Yep, that left only one choice for him. The muggle world. At least there he wouldn't find any form of prejudice against Dark wizards. Still, he would need a degree for it, wouldn't he? Nowadays, even the menial of jobs in the muggle population required a respectable sort of background. While it would be extremely easy to slip in an innocent confundus but his morals would never allow him to do that.
He was brought out of his musings by an unexpected collision,
"I am so sorry!" Remus said hastily, only to stop stupefied as he saw the one with who he had collided.
"It's alright," the blonde man with the eyes of the deepest blue that Remus had ever seen, said in a dismissive manner. The man looked awfully familiar to him. As if he should know who he was. But for the life of him Remus couldn't remember him. No, he would've known if he had ever met this stranger before. Being a werewolf had enhanced his nose to the keenest level and Remus remembered people from both sight, sound as well as smell. Thus, Remus concluded, it was his first time meeting this stranger. However, the man that accompanied him, now him Remus couldn't forget. Nor could he forgive.
"YOU!" He cried out at Severus Snape, wand at his hand.
"Hello.. wolf," Snape sneered.
Remus blanched. Snape was one of the few who knew his secrets and boy had that ever been the scandal. Snape had nearly lost his life due to a poor prank done by Sirius.
"Snape! How dare you show your face to me after betraying Lily and James!" Remus was getting rather loud about his argument and Knockturn Alley was not the sort of place to do so. But he was a little too angry to take care about this sort of thing.
A blank look passed through Snape's features at the mention of Lily and James and just for a split second, Remus could swear that he'd heard a phoenix cry somewhere. The moment passed though, and Snape's face settled to normalcy and the phoenix cry vanished as well to the point that Remus dismissed it as an illusion (rather conveniently).
"Err.. This your friend Severus?" Harry said in a carefully measured voice. He meant to give a genuine first meeting vibe to his words and if he may say so himself, he was rather successful at it.
Remus was brought out of his anger temporarily by the new voice. For a moment, he had lost himself in rage at Severus Snape which was quite out of character for him. Of all the four marauders, Remus was known for his analytical thinking and cool mind.. which, he thought to himself, was betraying him at the moment. The cause being a particular greasy haired person with an affinity for potions (and Dark Arts).
It was after the incident in which Lily lost her sanity for a full year that Dumbledore had explained the existence of the prophecy to both Potters and Longbottoms as well as Sirius and Lupin. He had explained, how a lady from a line of seers who had met him for an interview for Divination post at Hogwarts had, out of nowhere, given a prophesy detailing how two children born at the end of the seventh month to those who had thrice defied the Dark Lord would ultimately be the one to vanquish him. He had also reluctantly revealed the role of Severus Snape who had intruded upon the said interview and carried an incomplete prophesy to Voldemort himself.
That session with Dumbledore had been enlightening, to say the least, for the Potters, Longbottoms and the remaining two marauders. Not only had they known the reason Dumbledore had insisted upon the hiding of the two families, but also why the Dark Lord himself had tried to kill the little Neville Longbottom, as well as why the remaining Death Eaters had banded up and attacked the Godric's Hollow, incapacitating Lily for an entire year.
Understandably, James had been furious. For a brief moment, he had wanted nothing more than Snape's blood and Dumbledore had to personally intervene and intimidate James out of his bloodlust. Dumbledore had argued that Snape was a changed man and had he not delivered the intentions of Voldemort, both of their families would have been wiped out much earlier than that fated night. He had been rather insistent on giving Severus a second chance but Remus, James as well as Sirius, none would ever forgive him for what he had done. After all, Snape was the sole reason behind the Dark Lord deliberately targeting both Longbottoms as well as Potters. Snape had managed to fool Dumbledore but the marauders won't be so forgiving. Not after the fate that Lily had to go through.
"We.. are acquainted, yes." Snape said in his usual drawl, snapping Remus out of his darker thoughts.
"Is that so?" Harry asked innocently, "Seemed to me as if you two were quite the friends."
Both Snape and Lupin lost their bearings for a bit. Friends? Hah! Had it been a secluded place, Remus would have cursed first and asked later.
He calmed himself. It wouldn't do good to him to lose reason in front of one dangerous and one unknown entity.
"And you are?" Lupin asked the said unknown entity, wand still firmly held in his hands.
"Oh, pardon me. I am Harry Flamel. A friend of Severus."
Remus' eye darted to Harry's right wrist following the statement, no doubt in search of a rather hideous tattoo.
"And that was pretty rude," Harry mock admonished him. It pained him a little to see Remus so distrusting of him.
Wariness didn't leave Remus' face. Better safe than polite; the war had taught him.
"I have never seen you around here," Remus said.
"Well, that's because I am new around here. I am French you see," He said the latter part in a perfect French, "With your Dark Lord gone and Britain becoming safer, I have come here to try my luck."
"Oh," Remus said, "Well, in that case, I wish you best of luck. Although," he glanced at Snape, "it might be best for you to not associate with some people."
Harry frowned at him. This was like Malfoy. Remus wasn't supposed to be like Malfoy.
"As for you Severus," Lupin said in an eerily cold voice, "it'd be best if you avoid us in the future. James and Sirius won't be so patient as I am. A good day to you gentlemen."
Not wanting to remain in the same place as Snape, lest he lose himself and end up cursing him, Lupin hastily walked away.
"Your friends are quite.. interesting, aren't they Severus?"
Snape scoffed, "That wolf isn't my friend. Besides, had you looked at him carefully, you would have seen his wand at his hands, ready to curse me at a moment's notice."
"Oh I did see it, but what matters more is that he didn't actually do anything. Makes me think that you two have the potential of becoming friends."
"I don't want to be friends with that wolf," Snape said vehemently, "Did you know that he nearly killed me?"
"Again, what matters more is-"
"that he didn't kill me, yes. Pardon me if I still hold the grudge," he spat.
"Grudges frudges. Things of old do not really matter. You must make an effort and forgive him. And it wasn't as if he could control himself." Harry explained.
"Exactly my point. Mindless beasts are dangerous to health."
"But, he is only mindless for one night of an entire month. You could become his friend for the rest of the period, can't you?"
Snape looked at Harry with heavy curiosity, "I am confused. I don't really understand your insistence on me befriending that wolf."
"What can I say? I am an advocate of making friends. Specially when it comes to you. You see, I have a theory that they can cure you of your.. less than mature behavior?"
Snape sneered, "I am plenty mature."
"Performing a ritual which could potentially kill thousands of people in an instant isn't exactly the definition of mature," Harry said.
Snape was effectively shut off by that. He did attempt such a ritual. Though, he would argue, he was in total control of that thus lives were never in danger. Still, that was particularly risky. And now that he thought about that,
"I remember why I summoned you.. and what transpired that night," Snape said slowly.
Harry, for his part, looked a little surprised.
"I had thought that you would eventually remember it. However, I must confess that I never thought it would be so soon. Did meeting Remus trigger something?"
"Yes," Snape said thoughtfully.
"So? How are you feeling about that?" Harry asked carefully. This was a significant change and Harry was worried how Snape would react to that.
"Nothing. Although, I can't understand why I risked that ritual for that insignificant mudbl-."
"Language Severus," Harry said a little menacingly.
"I mean, muggleborn. It seems strange now that she would drive me to such desperation as to attempt such a vague and potentially dangerous ritual. Truth be told, I don't really know how I survived."
Harry smiled. "Congratulations Severus. It seems that you now have the full control of your.. err.. mental faculties. And yes, it is indeed strange that you survived the summoning. But as I said, it was magic itself that helped you. I advise you not to dwell much on it."
"Yes. Also.." Snape hesitated.
"Go on."
"I.. sometimes.. I feel empty. This horrible feeling of cold takes over me and it feels as if I have a large part of me missing. But then-"
"A phoenix song reverberates inside of you?" Harry offered.
Snape looked genuinely surprised. "Yes."
Harry smiled sadly, "That is one side-effect of your sacrifice. Believe me when I say that you genuinely gave up your love for her. Broadly speaking, every positive emotion that you ever felt for her is now lost to you.
"Man is a product of his feelings, Severus. By offering up your love for her, you have ended up giving a bit of yourself to Lily. The cold and the emptiness that you feel, it's due to you missing those feelings. A bit like being in presence of a Dementor, isn't it?"
Snape looked thoughtful at that. "And the phoenix?"
"That," Harry said gesturing the right hand that sported the image of the glorious phoenix, "is my doing. What? You don't think I gave you that just for show?" Harry grinned.
"That mark is the conduit via which I cast a very nifty bit of soul magic on you. A magic which was developed by yours truly. Believe it or not, it was originally designed to counter the effects of the presence of Dementors. In your case though, I have modified it to stimulate your remaining positive emotions whenever you feel the emptiness due to your loss. Also, it has a healing effect on one's soul. Quite a marvelous piece of magic, if I say so myself."
One would think that an aged wizard would be the definition of humility. Clearly, Severus thought, the one before him didn't exactly fit that image.
"Humility becomes you," said Snape.
Harry snorted.
"Severus," Harry said in a small voice, "Do you regret what you did?"
Snape thought about it for a moment. He now understood that he had given up a huge sacrifice that left him horribly empty inside. Yet, for some reason, he did not feel regret.
"No, I do not. I feel strange, yes, that I would do so much for that mud.. muggleborn girl. However, for whatever reasons, I do not really feel regret. Is it weird that I feel so?" Snape asked.
"Who knows," Harry shrugged, "Soul is a very complicated construct you know. Thousands upon thousands have tried and failed miserably to understand the entity that we call soul. Not even I, or Perenelle - my instructor of the soul magic - has truly understood its mechanics.
"I can, however, say that it is good that you do not feel any regret."
"Why?" Severus asked.
"Because what you have lost, Severus, there is no way to bring it back," Harry smiled sadly.
At one particular place in Britain, Godric's Hollow stood tall. The house had been in the Potter family for a long long time and as a result, the wards surrounding the house were one of the most complex in the entire magical Britain, inferior only to the likes of Gringotts and Hogwarts. The wards not only protected the house from magical attacks, they also prohibited Dark Creatures from taking a single step inside the perimeter. All but one.
Lupin walked inside the house as he had done all these years. He was one of the few whom the wards provided unconditional access to. Waiting inside the house were his best friends, the remnants of the marauders and Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts.
"Hello Remus," Dumbledore greeted him with a small nod.
"Hello Albus," Remus greeted back. Albus Dumbledore was one of the few people who Remus respected with his very heart. After all, had it not been for him, Lupin would never had the chance to study at Hogwarts.
"Back from job hunt?" Dumbledore asked.
"Sirius told you?"
"Yes.. Forgive me, my boy. To see one such as you struggle to find a job really breaks my heart." Dumbledore had really meant that. Remus Lupin was the brightest wizard of his generation, comparable to Lily Potter and Severus Snape, the potions prodigy.
"It is not your fault, Albus. Besides, I found a job at the other side." He meant the muggle world. "It is not much but it would do for now."
Dumbledore nodded.
"Moony!" A voice that belonged to Sirius Black emerged from inside the house, which was followed by the emergence of the man himself. Sirius Black was a handsome man, if the Witches' Weekly's list of top ten most eligible bachelors was to be believed. His regal appearance, bestowed due to the noble line of the Black, sporting a roguish smile was a certified heart breaker. What few knew, however, was that there was another kind of smile that Sirius had. One that he only showed when in presence to his friends and when he was truly happy. One that he was showing right now.
"How went your job hunt?" He asked.
"It went fine Sirius. I got hired by a construction company-"
"You went muggle?" Sirius asked with genuine surprise.
"Yes," Lupin said with a small sigh. He knew how the conversation would progress.
"But Moony! You are a wizard! You should be working at a prestigious magical institution. Hell, you would qualify for Minister of Magic itself! Why would you go muggle?"
Lupin looked at Sirius as if to say, 'Are you joking?'
Sirius, too, seemed to realize the error in his question. "Of course," he spat, "fucking hypocrites. Sorry headmaster," he added after remembering that the two of them were not alone.
"That's quite alright, my boy. In fact, I myself was thinking along the same line, albeit with a little politeness," Albus chuckeled.
"Never mind that Sirius, where are Lily and James?"
Lupin deliberately changed the subject, knowing that if Sirius was allowed, he would rant on and on about the unfairness of Lupin's constitution. He didn't really want to listen to it at the moment.
"They are inside, tucking in Rose. I swear, prongs is treating Lily as if she were made of porcelain, You should have been here earlier Moony, he was even refusing to let her go to the bathroom unattended. Only when Lily threatened to hex his bits off to Tibet did he let go."
Remus laughed at the mental picture. It was understandable that James wouldn't let go of Lily after all this time but he was pushing it a bit.
As if on cue, James and Lily both came out into the living room.
"Moony, how went your job hunt?" James asked the same question as Sirius. Remus groaned, anticipating the conversation that would follow. Much like Sirius, James too was a bit sensitive when it came to his furry little problem.
"Can you believe it Prongs?" Sirius said, "Moony, our Moony went muggle!"
"Really?" James asked.
"Yeah," Remus said with a small smile.
"Why the pureblooded bigots of wizards! You should be running for fucking Minister of Magic, not running off to a muggle job! Oh, sorry headmaster (Albus chuckeled again)."
"Exactly what I said," Sirius exclaimed with a grin.
James would have contributed even more scathing remarks about the bigotry that ran rampart in the upper echelon of the magical community had it not been for Lily interrupting.
"Well I think that it is wonderful that you got a job, Moony," she said with a genuine smile that somehow lightened up the entire room.
Looking at Lily now, it was almost impossible to believe that she went through that year long horrible ordeal. Right now, she was the perfect picture of health, with her vibrant red hair and alive emerald eyes. She was the Lily that everyone knew and loved.
"Hello Lily," Remus greeted her with a smile of his own, "How have you been?"
"Oh I am quite alright Remus. In fact, I feel like running a marathon or something," she answered.
"What's a marathon?" Sirius asked.
Lily sighed. Leave it to the pureblood prince of the marauders to not know about a marathon. Thankfully, Remus explained it to him.
"So, you are saying that muggles go into these long runs? It's stupid." Sirius observed.
"Exactly what I said to her earlier," James concurred.
"Honestly, I don't know which one of you is worse," said Lily, "Anyway, what I meant was, I feel really really healthy."
"Oh.." Remus began, "Err.. James.. did you.."
"Filled her in, you mean?" James asked rhetorically, "Yeah. Honestly, she took it a lot better than I'd thought."
Indeed, after James had managed to contain his rampant emotions around Lily, he had explained to her in detail about her being afflicted by the prolonged Cruciatus curse. And Lily really did take it quite better. Sad though she was for missing an entire year with James and Rose, it went away soon enough once she held Rose again.
"James, Lily, may I?" Albus interjected. The four of them had just about forgot the existence of the Headmaster inside the room. Not that Dumbledore minded. This was a happy occasion for all of them and Dumbledore knew that he was not exactly wanted in here. Still, he had a diagnosis to perform.
"Albus, do you really need to do it?" James asked with a small frown. The healers at St. Mungos had pointed and prodded Lily enough for a lifetime. Had it not been Dumbledore asking, James would have never agreed to performing yet another diagnosis on her.
"I am sorry, my boy. An old man's curiosity knows no bound. It is a simple spell though, I assure you that I would leave you all afterwards," he said sincerely.
"Really, it's okay James," Lily answered for her husband, "Go on Albus."
Dumbledore thanked her for her permission and proceeded to enunciate an old Egyptian spell. A green glow left his elder wand and wrapped Lily around. The spell remained for but a few seconds after which, it died out.
Unbeknownst to the others, the spell that Dumbledore had used was one of the few spells that had its root in necromancy. Specifically, it was used to diagnose one's soul. It relayed the diagnosis as a visual information directly to Dumbledore's brain. That is to say, he would get a glimpse of whoever the spell had enshrouded. Of course, it was a rather crude way of saying it for no one could really perceive the soul.
When used to diagnose the soul of a rather Dark wizard, it would show the taint in his being due to the abuse of the Dark arts. What Dumbledore saw, when he used the spell at Lily's soul was the purest color of white, which should have been impossible. It suggested that there was not even a touch of Darkness in her soul. Nobody's soul was that pure, excluding the newborns.
"Lily," he said after thinking for a while, "Can I trouble you to cast a patronus?"
The request came out of nowhere. Regardless, Lily was cleared to do magic by the healers and patronus was a simple enough spell. She brought her wand forward and thought of her wedding day. Incredible joy filled her heart as she recalled her union with James. In a clear voice, she spoke,
"Expecto Patronum."
And the room went white. Such was the brightness of the doe which she conjured that every single one of the wizard present at the room was forced to close their eyes. Lily, for her part, was ecstatic. The spell filled her with indescribable joy, as if she were living that very moment.
"Lily, end the spell," Dumbledore said. He too was shielding his eyes from the brightest patronus he had ever seen.
Lily was brought back from her happiness by Dumbledore's words. She ended the spell quickly afterwards.
"Whoa! What was that!" Sirius exclaimed, rubbing his eyes.
"Amazing," Remus said in awe.
James too, was stupefied. He had witnessed Lily's patronus before but never did he recall it being so bright and majestic.
"Albus! What was that?" He asked the only person in the room who could give an explanation to Lily's incredible patronus.
"It is what I thought," Albus said thoughtfully, "Tell me Lily, did the spell come easily to you?"
"Yes!" Lily said with excitement, "It was surprisingly easy. Even the emotions for the spell came easily enough. As if being happy was only natural."
"What does this mean, Albus?" Remus asked.
"I don't really know," Albus explained, "I do, however, have a conjecture."
"Well.. Don't keep us waiting then," Sirius said.
"I believe that whatever healed Lily back from that state has, how should I put it, nourished her soul. Yes, it's as if something has cleansed her very being of the affliction. Not many know, but the Cruciatus is a crude form of soul magic. I had thought at first that the damage to her soul must have been little, for she did manage to wake up, and her magic had somehow healed itself. Clearly, I was wrong. It was not that the damage she sustained was small, no, someone has healed it with very potent magic. Only, I have no idea how he could have done so."
The room became quiet following his explanation. After the initial excitement of Lily's miraculous recovery had subsided, the marauders had brainstormed about the possible cause of the said recovery. However, their theories had soon run out and seeing as even the experts of St. Mungos were clueless, they had given up on guessing the cause.
But now that Dumbledore implied that someone had healed her, it became an entire different matter.
"Who could have done that?" James asked to no one in particular.
"It must have been someone from St. Mungos itself. They are the specialist in healing in the entire world," Remus reasoned.
Albus shook his head.
"No, Remus, whoever did it has the knowledge of the arcane magic, in particular the soul magic that I can not even begin to fathom. I highly doubt that such individual works at St. Mungos."
Had Dumbledore not performed the soul diagnosis spell, he would have conveniently linked Lily's recovery to his to-be potions instructor. After all, love and remorse were the strongest motivations that one could possibly have and Snape was a once-in-a-lifetime potions prodigy. But now that he had performed the necromantic spell, that notion flew off from his mind. Talented Snape may be, but this type of healing was clearly beyond him.
The mood of the room had turned sombre and Sirius refused to let it linger any longer.
"I say, we should not trouble ourselves unnecessarily. It's not as if the man is a Dark Wizard, right? He did heal Lily after all!" Sirius exclaimed.
Dumbledore looked thoughtful at that and identifying Sirius' plan of lifting the spirits, he decided to play along.
"Indeed, you are correct there Sirius. I highly doubt that anyone with Darker tendencies can find it in their abilities to cast such a miraculous healing spell."
Dumbledore's word cut through the tense mood of the room and others let out a breathe that they didn't realize they'd been holding. The war had just finished and magical Britain was slowly starting to rebuild itself. Had there been an indication of a powerful Dark wizard lingering around, the entire nation would beset in panic. Thankfully, Dumbledore's assurances were more than enough to placate those inside the room.
"On that note, I would now ask your permission to leave, James, Lily. Thanks for indulging this old man in his curiosities."
Dumbledore nodded to the other two wizards present in the room and turned towards the floo. None in the room were aware of the internal emotions of the master occlumens for even though he had assured the marauders outwardly, he himself was not so confident of the mysterious wizard's intentions. One thing was for sure though, he would not make the mistake that he made with young Tom Riddle. If this wizard were to show even the smallest hint of being Dark, Dumbledore would not hesitate to act, not when the peace of the magical Britain was at stake, not when the greater good was at stake.