The Dreaded Author's Note:
So, it has been a while since my last update…(author hides behind desk, hoping readers will be nice!) In my defense, I just moved halfway across the country so things have been a bit hectic. With luck I will update more frequently, but it is impossible to tell, as I am on a rather disappoint job hunting spree out in the real world. No one is ever hiring when I am looking… I wonder if they know I am coming? Anyways, here is the next chapter, and I hope you all enjoy.
To Be A Monster
Chapter Five: Wedding Bells
August 12, 1980
Remus, Sirius, and Peter watched James pace anxiously with great amusement. He was getting married in less than an hour and he was a nervous wreck. It had been two months since the 'deer butt' incident, and they had all gathered at Godric's Hallow for the wedding.
"Prongs, you really should calm down. If you keep that up, you are going to wear a hole in the floor," Sirius said. James glared and let out several impolite swear words, causing his friends to roar with laughter.
"James, you have to kiss you Lily Flower with that mouth!" Peter exclaimed with a grin. James rolled his eyes and reluctantly sat down beside his friends.
"So, who did you guys bring as dates?" James asked in an attempt to distract himself. Sirius grinned,
"I brought a lovely witch by the name of Cassandra. She graduated from Beauxbatons last year. I think she may be the one!" The other Marauders snorted at this. Sirius claimed that each of his girlfriends was the 'one'. They doubted the declaration, deciding that it no long had any validity.
Shaking his head, Peter replied, "I brought Jamie, that Hufflepuff a year behind us. I think she might have finally lost her mind though. She wanted to wear nothing but flowers to the ceremony." The three of them looked at Remus expectantly. He blushed slightly,
"She's no one you know," he told them shyly. Before the guys could pester him further about his date, it was time to take their seats for the ceremony. When James was standing in front of the room beside Dumbledore, he looked around at his friends. His gaze finally settled on Remus, who was seated by a beautiful, but extremely uncomfortable looking young woman. James took a closer look at her and realized with a sudden jolt that she too was a werewolf. No wonder she was so nervous.
The ceremony ended up being perfect and even Sirius behaved himself for the duration, though he had a huge grin on his face. James and Lily said their vows and for once James managed to say what he felt for Lily without tripping over his own tongues. Peter, Sirius, and Remus exchanged happy smiles. It was about time!
Albus conducted the ceremony, honored to have been asked by some of his favorite students. His eyes were twinkling full force, as he pronounced James and Lily husband and wife. The group of about thirty friends and family stood up to cheer.
When they returned to Godric's Hollow for the reception, James and Lily gathered up the rest of the Marauders. They all looked at Remus expectantly,
"So Remy, aren't you going to introduce us to your friend?" Sirius asked with a grin. The girl he was with looked at them all a bit shyly, hovering just behind his arm.
"This is Jenna Michaels. I met her last summer," Remus said, but did not really elaborate on where exactly he'd been last summer.
"Welcome to our home, Jenna, we are all pleased to meet you," James said, giving her a bright smile. Remus grinned when he felt Jenna relax quite noticeably, though she still looked nervous. James glanced around to make sure Sirius and Peter's dates were occupied away from them, then leaned towards Jenna,
"No fear Jenna, you are welcome here by all of us, both side of you," he said softly. Jenna gave him and the others an astonished expression. Remus smiled at her,
"I told you they would figure it out, and it wouldn't bother them at all," he told her gently, squeezing her hand. "After all, I almost ate Lily last moon, and she still likes me," he said. The other Marauder's eyebrows shot up at that statement. Remus was not known for making any kind of joke about someone being hurt by him.
Lily chuckled at the astonished expressions on their faces, and looked at Jenna, "Yes, not to worry. Remus taught me a very important lesson when dealing with healing a werewolf. Always remember to keep track of the moon phases!" she exclaimed. They all laughed at that, and Jenna finally relaxed.
"I am glad to meet all of you finally. Remus talked about you a lot when I first met him," she said. Sirius caught his friend fidget slightly at that, but Jenna did not go any further into the subject.
"Of course he did, after all, it must have been dreadfully boring to be without his fellow mischief makers," James said with a grin. "How long's it been since someone jinxed your wand?"
"Two days," Remus muttered in irritation, glancing at Sirius. "For some reason, a simple cleaning charm changed my entire wardrobe pink with little gold stars."
Sirius let out a snort, then burst into laughter, "Sorry Moony, I couldn't resist. After all, it's usually very hard to play a prank on you. I figured that it had been so long, you might have your guard down. Besides, I still owed you a bit of revenge for that prank when we graduated."
"Oh yeah! I forgot about that," Peter exclaimed, glancing at James. The new husband had a rather wicked expression on his face. Remus rolled his eyes, glancing at Jenna,
"Don't be surprised if I can suddenly only speak in a rhyme, or you find that my skin is green with silver spots sometime in the near future," he said. Jenna giggled, looking a Lily.
"Are they always like this?" she asked. Apparently it was loud enough for others to hear, because at least seven people answered, "Yes!"
"Absolutely dear, they are always like that. You wouldn't believe how much research I've had to do in order to release them when they prank each other. The one who cast the spell absolutely refuses to fix it out of some bizarre male principal."
"But Lily, what would be the point of the prank if we just turned around and fixed it again?" Sirius asked, a very convincing puppy dog look on his face. Lily rolled her eyes and smacked the back of his head.
ooOoo
Later that evening, it was time for the speeches. Sirius, Remus, and Peter would be speaking for James, while Alice and two of Lily's cousins would be speaking for her. After the girls finished speaking, Lily was in tears, hugging her friend and relatives. James grinned at his friends, mouthing an I told you she would cry. The Marauder's grinned at each other. James was expecting them to make him laugh. They certainly intended no such thing. Well, he would laugh some, but he would also pay for teasing Lily.
Sirius went first, giving his friends a smile. "The first thing I have to say about the marriage of James and Lily is, it's about time!" he exclaimed, causing everyone to laugh. "I have been listening to James talk about Lily since he decided that girls didn't have cooties. For anyone that doesn't know the two of them, it would be very difficult indeed to see that they love each other. I've never met two people that can shout at each other so much, yet still be together.
"When I first met James on Platform 9 and ¾, I was a little hesitant. After all, he was from a pureblooded Light family, and that was everything that I ever wanted to be. Why would he be willing to give me, a kid from a predominately Dark family, a chance? My mother was in the midst of a tirade about how I had better not cause problems, and she expected that I would be in Slytherin, despite my desire to be anywhere else.
"Much to my surprise, he walked right up to me, and asked if I would be willing to sit with him. He informed my mother, to her face no less, that it was not her decision about where I would be placed, and that if she cared that much, then perhaps she needed to reset her priorities. I was shocked; no one had ever stood up to my mother like that before. Apparently my mother was shocked as well, as she didn't say a word as James led me onto the train.
"I have no doubts that his act of friendship, before we were even friends, is the reason that I stuck with my determination to be the first white sheep of the Black family." Here, Sirius looked right into his friends eyes,
"James, I thank you for that. You are not only my best friend, but you are my brother. You and your family took me in at I time when I was convinced that no one wanted me. You are an excellent leader, a caring friend, a loving brother, and I know that you will make a great husband," he said, lifting his glass. James lifted his as well, looking rather touched, and startled by the way the speech turned out.
Peter went next, smiling at his friend. "James, I want to congratulate you on marrying Lily. We hoped that you would be with someone who was capable of making sure that you don't set your own hair on fire," he paused, then added with a grin, "Again, that is." The crowd laughed as James bounced his head on the table.
"James my friend, I have to say that you deserve to be happy with the girl you've loved for so long. We weren't immediate friends when we first started rooming together, but you and Sirius both took me under your wings. You were the first person to tell me that I was capable of mastering things that I perceived to be far beyond my ability, if I would just put my mind to it. You helped a scared little boy finally get enough courage to face going to Transfiguration without being terrified," he said, smiling a bit a Minerva McGonagall.
"You told me that it didn't matter what others thought of me, and that is something that I took to heart. I am very proud to have you as a friend, and a brother, and I too want to congratulate you and wish you all the happiness in the world with your Lily-Flower," he said, raising his glass. James again raised his glass, still smiling, and looking a little closer to tears.
Remus stepped forward for his turn. "James, have to say that this wedding turned out much better than the time you cast that charm on Sirius to make him think he was Lily and you were getting married," he said, causing an uproar of laughter. James blushed, and Lily gave him an incredulous look. Remus chuckled,
"I was the last member you pulled into your group of friends, and as I remember it, I tried very hard in our first year to ignore all three of you. After all, I was there to learn, not to play pranks on poor unsuspecting teachers," he said. Sirius let out a snort at this, as once he'd joined, Remus was the only one who could plan a successful prank on a teacher.
"When you realized that I was consciously avoiding making friends with anyone, and not just you guys, you showed the initiative to find out why. At the time, I was extremely annoyed with you. I had one chance to go to school, and I did not want to risk it by trying to be friends with anyone. After all, I'd never had a friend that knew me well before, so why should I start, and risk my shot at an education.
"You persisted relentlessly, and finally convinced me that the three of you were at least worth the chance. You told me that whatever I was hiding, or whatever I was afraid of, I couldn't know that you would hurt me unless I first gave you a chance.
"I did, and took on the role of "Guy in Charge of Making Our Ridiculous Plans Actually Work". By the end of our first year, I was relaxed, and found that it felt good to have kids my own age to talk to. During our second year, though Sirius was the first to become suspicious of my monthly disappearances, you were the one that insisted on finding out if I was okay.
"After all, you could hardly fail to notice that I consistently returned looking as though I had been fighting with a bear. You chased me around for weeks, trying to find out my secret. Though you drove me crazy with it, you also told me each time I caught you at it, that you didn't care what it ways. No matter what you discovered, you would still be my friend.
"I was completely horrified when I overheard the three of you one night. You had guessed my secret that I had tried so hard to keep. The one that could get me kicked out of school or even killed. I didn't know what to do, and was ready to panic. But then, I heard what you said to Sirius and Peter, and it was something that stuck with me, and changed my entire outlook on my curse.
"You said that no matter what, I was your friend. You didn't care if I changed into a violent wolf once a month, because you knew that above all else, I was a person. It was something I had never heard before from anyone that knew what I was. You said that your goal for the year, besides finding out if I was actually a werewolf, was proving to me that I was not a monster. It struck me very hard that you knew how I felt about myself, when you weren't even sure if it was true or not.
"For the first time, I realized that it was okay to risk things that were important to me to have friends. You gave me the confidence I needed to start seeing myself as human. It took a long time, but you never gave up on me. The first full moon after you discovered the truth, you snuck down to the hospital wing and told me that you would find some way to make things a little easier on me, and that once you did, you would teach my wolf a lesson for giving me such a hard time.
"I think it must have worked, as Moony still shies away from venison," he added with a smile. "If you can manage to teach a stubborn werewolf a new trick, then I know that you will be a great family man. Lily made a pretty good catch with you and I wish you both the best of luck," he said raising his glass. There were several tears rolling down James' face, as he jumped up and hugged his three best friends.
"I can't believe you guys made me cry!" he exclaimed quietly. "But you guys are the best. Thank you," he added.
"You're welcome Jamesie," Sirius said magnanimously. "I imagine you won't feel the same in a few minutes."
James backed up, looking suspiciously at his grinning friends, "Uh oh, what did you three do?"
"Oh nothing," Remus said loftily. "Just something we put together for you and Lily. Your parents were of great assistance."
Lily heard her name and abruptly stopped laughing. Both she and James whirled on their parents, who had wide grins on their faces. Sirius jumped up onto one of the tables,
"And now that we have all that mushy stuff out of the way, it is time for a little fun. We have compiled a rather interesting show of photographs for you all. We call it the lives of Lily and James, newborn to now. It is a compilation of cute, but horribly funny photographs that friends and family have collected over the year. We hope you enjoy."
By the end of the evening, everyone had laughed so hard, that their sides were hurting, including James and Lily. It was nice to be able to enjoy the evening for the first time in a long while. For once, their thoughts were not on the war, and they all took the chance to enjoy it. It was late in the evening when James and Lily Potter said farewell to all of their guests.
The Marauders were the last ones to go, and finally they were alone for the first time as man and wife.
ooOoo
Remus and Jenna Apparated to the small home that Remus had made for himself. Jenna sat down on a battered but clean sofa and watched as he made them tea. When he sat down with her in front of the fireplace, she spoke soflty.
"You really care about them, don't you?" she asked, holding his hand.
"Very much. They are my brothers. The only family I really have left," Remus said with a thoughtful sigh.
"But they still don't know everything about you, do they? Have you told them about last summer? Or what the Ministry is doing to us? Or what they want to do?"
"No, I haven't talked about it yet. I wanted to wait until after they got married. I didn't want them worrying about me the entire time. I'll have to tell them soon. If the Ministry manages to approve their new plan for werewolves, we won't be around that much longer."
Jenna hugged him tightly, "I am scared, Remus. I don't want anyone to get hurt. I don't want to die either. I don't understand why they are allowed to do this to us! The only crime we seem to have committed is being bitten by another werewolf, yet it seems enough to condemn us all!"
"I know Jenna. If I can just figure out a way past this first 'test' they want to try with me. As the only open, law-abiding, werewolf they know, they want to use me for their demonstration. If I can pass it, then I can buy us a lot of time. The only problem is, I have no control over my wolf!" he exclaimed in frustration. He kissed Jenna's forehead, holding us tight.
"I will figure something out. Once I talk to the Marauders, we can maybe come up with something."
"I hope so, Remus. I don't want to see the day when it becomes an open hunting season for werewolves. They will all seek refuge with Voldemort for sure."
Remus nodded in agreement with that statement. He knew that if the Ministry decided that werewolves were to be hunted down, the Light side would take a huge blow. At the moment, most of the big packs were neutral. They had decided that the Ministry did not count as either Light or Dark aligned. But if the Ministry allowed them to be killed, and either side started to kill them, they would all immediately join Voldemort, despite all the disadvantages. With luck, they would get out of the war alive that way.
Remus sighed, looking out the window at the celestial body that controlled so much of his life. It was a half moon tonight, which meant he was feeling his best. It was as far as he could get from either side of the moon. What would happen in the next few months, he didn't know, but he was not looking forward to it. Not at all.
There it is, chapter five in all its glory. Feel free to leave a review. I only did a basic spell check on this, so if there are any major errors, it is because I did not check my work thoroughly and the blame is on yours truly :)
