Howdy, Here's Chapter Four woot! Enjoy.
A/N: I know this fic seems a little AU so far and it will seem that way in future chapters, but not to worry, Remus will be at Hogwarts with the Marauders in no time :)
Disclaimer: Everything you recognize is JK's, everthing else is mine.
Chapter 4
The Shed
Remus Lupin tore down the street as fast as his little legs could propel him. His silver eyes and strange pupils were wide with fear. Despite his heavy breathing, he could discern the pounding feet and taunting jeers closing in behind him. His lungs were on fire, and very soon he would be able to run no longer. Remus stumbled, his golden curls of hair marred his vision as he tripped painfully on the sidewalk curb. He did not attempt to rise up again because he knew there was no escape from what was coming.
A troop of boys surrounded where Remus laid curled up."Don't..." he mumbled as they lifted him up from the dirt and began shoving him around in their human circle.
They chanted:
Little, loony Lupin lives in a shed,
Little, loony Lupin wets the bed!
When he was a baby, he ate paint lead!
Clings to his granma, old bat, she's better off dead!
He's such a stupid dummy,
No one answers when he cries for his mummy!
LITTLE, LOONY LUPIN LIVES IN A SHED!
With that final shout Remus' captors hurl him back onto the ground. On of the boys picked up a stick and everyone took their turn whacking him with it. He whimpered for his mother and begged them to stop but he was only met with more jeers. If any adult happened to poke their head out the window they would have thought a group of kids were having their fun tormenting some small animal.
With one final air knocking kick, the little savages grew bored of their game and retreated to find some new amusement. Remus lay sprawled on the ground crying out for help. Fresh cuts and bruises covered his old ones. This always happened; the boys would chase after him, catch him, laugh at him and beat him. No one ever helped. The group of boys were comprised of both Muggle and wizard children. They picked on him because he was small, quiet, different and did not quite fit in to their games. The wizarding children had been warned by their parents just how different Remus was, so they had an extra reason to make him suffer.
After about five minutes or so Remus climbed to his feet and trudged home. Remus checked himself over to see how much damage had been inflicted. He had stopped bleeding and his new bruises had already begun to fade. For some reason he always healed remarkably fast, although this did not make the intial pain any more bearable. Remus creaked open the rotted screen door and stepped into the kitchen where his mother was making lunch.
She spotted the dusty banged up Remus and said,"Remus you're filthy! For Merlin's sake you know better than that. Your almost ten years old now and you look like a crazy toddler," she dusted him off, avoiding his very obvious bruises and scratches.
"Go on get outside before your father comes home," she said, shooing him away.
"But Ma-" Remus hesitated. A hug? A kiss? A word of consolation?
"I said leave before your father sees wha-"
"Sees what?" asked a man in the doorway. Mr. Valent walked into the the kitchen, "What's the boy done now?"
"Oh its nothing Derek, Remus was just tracking some dirt in the house," Mrs. Valent said hastily. Her eyes were tired, and strained.
"Really?" the pudgy man asked as he stepped meaningfully toward young Remus. As the large man lumbered closer Remus could see nothing of the reluctant affection the man had shown him years ago. He only saw anger, disgust, hate and maybe, a trace of fear. This was always the way he had been since that night...
"Have you been starting fights again boy? Where did you get these bruises? Starting trouble again!" Mr. Valent said, his voice rising to a yell.
"N-no sir," Remus shook his head. That quiet reply was all Remus could manage because Mr. Valent's voice was so harsh and he was so utterly terrified.
Derek was now towering over Remus' slight frame, his eyes alight with a feeling of power. He slapped Remus sharply across the face (which elicited a small shreik from Mrs. Valent) and shouted, "GET OUT! YOU KNOW YOUR'E NOT SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE HOUSE! STAY IN THE SHED AND NO MEALS UNTIL TOMORROW NIGHT!"
Remus walked slowly out of the house with his head down, his long golden locks obscured the tears sliding down his cheeks for the second time that day. He looked up at his destination. A forlorn rickety old shed in the backyard. It was full of rotting holes. It was scorching hot in the summers and bitter cold in the the winters.
Remus walked inside the shed and closed the door which locked itself magically behind him. The shed was filthy and muggy from the summer heat. Forboding clawmarks lined the walls. A pile of dirty hay was piled up in the corner to be used as a bed. There was no furniture but the were piles and piles of dusty books scattered all over. They were written by muggle authors like Marx, Melville, and Shakespeare, as well as magical authors like Corfurgi, Blotts, and Dumbledore. There were massive volumes covering the Goblin Wars and Mermaid dialects. There were thin volumes of fanciful fairytales. The only likeness these books shared was the fact that no eight year old should or would want to read them.
But Remus did read them and he loved to read them. They taught him many things but most of all they comforted him. They shielded him somewhat from the outside world and its sins. Remus grabbed a book from one of the stacks-Das Kapital-plopped on his hay pile and began reading. His brow furrowed in concentration and he frowned as he heard his parents' arguement drifting out the kitchen window.
"We changed his name to my maiden name so the Ministry knows he has no relation to you, Derek, you won't lose your job. You need to stop treating Remus this way!"
"The Ministry handbook states that the legal guardians of a minor werewolf should have a secure place to put the creature at all times. It also says that you should keep the more aggressive ones tied up.Whenever he is out he is a danger to everyone around him and to himself, Magenta! If the Ministry knew we let him in the house or out to play..." Mr Valent paused then sighed,"I don't see why we can't just dump him off on your mother, she'd be happy to take him..."
"The Ministry prohibits the elderly from handeling werewolves," Magenta said quietly.
"DAMN IT!" Derek shouted, " I don't see why they just lock everyone of those monsters up!"
"The law of Capitalist Acculmination states," Remus tried not to listen.
"Derek!" Remus' mother shouted in a rare show of anger, " I know Remus has problems. But just because my mother condemned you as an unfit coward after she dropped him off at Mungo's does not give you the right to hit him and treat him like dirt!"
"QUIET!" Mr. Valent shouted. Remus snapped his book shut and tried not to listen to the obscenities and the other umpleasent sounds coming from the house as the fight escalated.
There was only one thing Remus could do at times like these. He pulled out Albus Dumbledore's book, The Obscure Adventures of Oddment and Winkernoodle, curled up deep in his pile of hay and lost himself in the insane, fanciful world of Oddment and Winkernoodle.
The shed could often times be a loneley and terrifying prison for Remus Lupin, but other times; times when crashes and screams could be heard from the house, it was his only sanctuary.
How do you like it? Reviews please!