A/N: POTTERMORE UPDATED.
Sorry about the wait; I had a convention to attend and high school started up again. Now it's the weekend, and I finally got the chance to post. Yay! But I am sorry this is so short. The next one will be MUCH longer.
POTTERMORE UPDATED.
This is mostly a filler chapter, but I promise chapter four will be pretty interesting.
POTTERMORE UPDATED.
In case you can't tell, I'm pretty psyched about the new info.
REMUS' BIOGRAPHY IS ALL KINDS OF SAD.
To avoid spoiling for any of you who want to find out for yourself, I won't say anything here. For those of you who don't have an account, I'll list some of the major things at the end of my closing note. Mm-kay?
Also, there was some new information regarding Remus' early childhood and his parents' names. I'll try to alter what I originally had planned, so I can stick to canon as much as possible, but what with I already have established, changing Remus' parents' names would just be odd. I now feel awful about that. :/ Some small details about Remus being attacked are also changed, but hopefully everything else will be canon. Ish.
Also, thank you guys SO much for all the reviews! You are all the best, and thank you thank you thank you! I can't tell you how awesome you all are. :D
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or else POTTERMORE WOULD ALREADY BE FINISHED AND EVERY LAST CHARACTER WOULD HAVE DETAILED BIOGRAPHIES AND THERE WOULD BE A MILLION TIMES MORE INFO ON THE MARAUDERS. J.K. Rowling, I'm talking to you.
Remus woke with a heavy feeling of trepidation. It took him a moment to remember why.
His father was taking him to the Ministry today. The new legislation that had been passed yesterday took the Lupin family by surprise, to say the least. As if Remus didn't already have enough to worry about for his future already.
Though he'd been a werewolf for eight, almost nine, years, he'd never been on the registry. Maybe it was breaking the law, but Remus' parents didn't want their son to have an even harder time finding a job once he was older. But now... it seemed like there was no choice. If anyone found out that Remus wasn't on the registry, he could be killed.
he made sure to wear his best pair of jeans- the ones that weren't completely worn through at the knees- and a plain, collared shirt that was only a little frayed. Checking his reflection in the mirror, his eyes kept lingering on the scars across his face. Remus suddenly felt extremely self-conscious, and he tried to brush his bangs to cover the worst of the one that cut above his right eye. There was nothing he could do about his cheeks, though, unless he wanted to walk around covering his face with his hands. Of course, that might have been preferable to having some extremely bigoted adult wizards realizing why he had those scars in the first place.
Remus shook his head and straightened his shoulders. The least he could do was keep his chin up. He wouldn't be able to hide behind his parents and friends for his whole life. If he was going to do anything about the bad hand he'd been dealt, he'd have to start somewhere.
He tried to smile at his reflection, but it looked more like he was baring his teeth.
Remus sighed and headed into the kitchen, averting his gaze from the gouges in his doorframe.
He didn't have much of an appetite; he managed to choke down a piece of toast, but it was difficult as his mouth and throat were so dry.
"Just be polite, and you'll be fine," his mum said, smoothing his hair. "It should only take an hour, and then you'll be back here. nothing to worry about." She gave him a kind smile, but Remus' anticipation only worsened.
When Mr. Lupin entered the kitchen, clean shaven and his hair neatly combed, Remus ducked his head to avoid his father's eyes. Several uncomfortable minutes passed as Mr. Lupin ate his breakfast, then, standing, he motioned for Remus to follow.
"Remember- just be polite, and you'll be fine," Mrs. Lupin said, looking nervous. That didn't exactly help Remus' own nerves. She hugged him and kissed her husband, then stepped aside as they headed out the front door.
Once outside the house, Remus tentatively took his father's arm and clamped his mouth shut. Not a moment too soon; as soon as he'd grabbed hold, his father twisted away and Disapparated, taking Remus with him. Remus was quite glad he hadn't eaten much.
The Ministry was surprisingly full for an early Monday. Remus hunched his shoulders as he tried to keep up with his father's long strides. Several people they passed stared curiously at Remus, but only for a moment. After a time, Remus realized they were probably just surprised to see a child at the Ministry, and he wasn't being singled out for his condition. He allowed himself to relax slightly.
Of course, as soon as they walked into the Department for the Regulation and Control of magical Creatures, Remus hunched his shoulders. A few people, all with young children, were standing in a line, waiting to register. A nine year old girl whose arm was roughly held by a Ministry official was crying, asking for her parents. A little boy who couldn't have been more than six was held by his mother. Remus' stomach clenched when he saw that the boy's left leg had been bitten off above the knee.
Now that they were in line, Remus was subjected to the mutterings of passersby. He kept his head down, but his ears reddened when he caught marts of the whisperings.
"...killers, all of them."
"That boy has a nasty look to him."
"...shame about the girl..."
"Careful, they might bite..."
Remus risked a glance around him and caught the eye of a toadlike witch wearing lurid pink robes. A wide smile was plastered on her face.
"Please, please! I want my mummy and daddy," the little girl cried, grabbing at the official's robes. "I'm scared, I want my parents-"
The man backhanded her across the face without even looking at her. "Shut up."
"My daddy-"
"Your daddy doesn't want you," the man snarled. "And neither does your mummy. Nobody wants you, and you'd better get used to the idea. Now shut up or I'll muzzle you."
before he knew what he was doing, Remus had walked over to the man and grabbed his arm. "Let her go," he said quietly. "You're hurting her."
Slowly, the man turned. "Do you know-?" His eyes narrowed as he examined Remus' thin, scarred face. "And what do you think you're doing, ordering me around, werewolf?"
Remus felt a hand on his shoulder and he jumped, expecting to see a law enforcement officer, but it was just his father. Mr. Lupin's eyes were cold. "Don't talk to my son that way."
Remus' eyes widened. So did the official's. "John! How's it been? I hear you've moved on from boggarts. What is it now, hinkypunks?" He laughed cruelly. "I haven't seen you around fpr years. When was it, again? Nine years, almost, eh? I'm surprised you even kept this thing around." He casually kicked Remus in the shin.
"Remus, could you leave us for a moment?" Mr. Lupin's voice was dangerously low.
Remus stared uncertainly at his father. What was going on? Was his father actually... sticking up for him?
he hesitated for a moment, but he quickly backed away, looking around nervously as he approached more people. Several skirted away, but most didn't seem to notice that he'd been in the line. When he was not quite out of earshot, he stopped.
"...tell me you don't believe what you said?"
"He's my son, Nathan."
"...not anymore... should have gotten rid of..."
Remus strained his ears, trying to hear. The chatter around him rose and fell, making it difficult to listen in.
"...hadn't said what I said, it wouldn't..." Mr. Lupin gestured towards Remus, only heightening his curiosity.
"...still your fault..."
"And it's haunted me..."
A large crowd suddenly hurried by, and Remus missed what the men were saying until his father snapped, "I could have prevented it and I didn't! You don't know what it's been like for him!" Mr. Lupin and the other man, Nathan, stared each other down for a full minute. The little girl had long since ceased her struggling and was staring at them, her mouth slightly open. She glanced anxiously towards Remus.
Finally, Mr. Lupin turned away and strode over to Remus. "We're leaving," he said flatly.
Remus was more than happy to leave. As they headed for the exit, though, he glanced over his shoulder to see the little girl held in Nathan's cruel grip, her large, sad brown eyes staring knowingly after him.
"Dad-?" Remus began.
"Not now, son," Mr. Lupin said. "I don't want to talk about it."
It was as though Sirius had suddenly expressed a desire to do homework. The world had gone mad, that was the only explanation. Wasn't it? Remus couldn't remember the last time his father had directly addressed him, much less called him 'son'.
The morning's events had certainly given him a lot to think about.
Sirius nervously twisted a strand of hair, staring at the two-way mirror. He'd finally worked out what he was going to tell James about his father's threat. Now, all he had to do was actually talk to him.
Sirius wished he could just write a letter instead, but he didn't have his own owl and he didn't want to risk having his warning be intercepted by his parents.
Mentally shaking off his anxiety, Sirius reached for the mirror.
"James?" There was no response. He tried again. "James?"
The mirror shimmered as James' grinning face appeared. His hair was even messier than normal, and his face was rather red. He'd probably just come in from the Quidditch field. "Hey, Sirius! What's up?"
Sirius bit his lip, suddenly reluctant to start. "It's... not exactly good."
James' grin faded. "What happened?"
"My parents. They've decided that I'm not allowed to be friends with you and everyone else."
"What?" James' jaw dropped. "Sirius, don't tell me you're going to listen to them!"
"I'm not!" Sirius said quickly, "But the thing is, Regulus is supposed to report to our parents, let them know that I'm 'keeping my word'. Reg doesn't want to cause trouble for us, but he's going to be watched by Narcissa. They want to make sure he's not lying. So, I guess I'm going to ave to stay away from you all this year."
"I can't believe- wait. this year?"
Sirius nodded. "This is Cissy's last year at Hogwarts. She'll be verifying Reg's letters home, so we just need to put on a show for her."
He could almost see the gears turning in James' head. "We're going to have to make everyone think we don't like each other anymore," he said. "We can't just act hostile when Narcissa's around, since she might hear we're hanging out from someone else..." He grimaced. "merlin, this year isn't going to be fun."
Sirius grimaced, too. "I know. But, we still have the dorm to ourselves, and the Invisibility Cloak, so maybe it won't be that bad. And we'll be allowed to go to Hogsmeade this year- with the teacher's permission- so maybe it won't be that bad."
James grinned at him. "See? It'll be alright." There was a pause, then, "So... how's your summer been?"
"Lousy. Yours?"
"Pretty dull."
They were silent for a moment.
"This is awkward,' James finally said, forcing a laugh.
"Talk to you tomorrow?" Sirius asked. "I'm sure something will have happened by then."
"Sure. I'll keep the mirror on me, so if you need to talk..."
"Sounds good. Pass the message on to the others, will you? I don't want my parents finding any letters."
"Will do."
The mirror rippled again, and James' face vanished.
A/N: Aww, I want to give all of them hugs. But that goes without saying. Anyway, for those of you who DON'T want spoilers, stop reading NOW. Oh, and the next chapter will be up Sunday. Okay, NOW stop reading.
Here's what we learned on Pottermore's last update (and for anyone who wants more detail, PM me and I'll be more than happy to tell you stuffs.)
Remus' parents are named Lyall and Hope. (Her maiden name was Howell.) They met when Lyall saved Hope from a rather nasty boggart. D'aww.
His father is a wizard, his mother a muggle.
Remus was bitten at the age of FOUR. Even earlier than we thought it was! *cries*
He was the one who first made friends with Peter. Awkward, now that you think about it.
The Marauders discovered his condition in their second year.
WEREWOLVES AREN'T ALLERGIC TO SILVER. BOO-YAH.
REMUS' EYES ARE GREEN. AGAIN, BOO-YAH. (I know I said blue. Again, something I wont change because of what the fic has established. But they're not amber! At least, not all the time.) Oh, and he's also six feet, two inches tall. Just like my dad. :D
WEREWOLVES AREN'T ANY STRONGER OR HAVE KEENER SENSES EXCEPT WHE THEY'RE TRANSFORMED. BOO-YAH.
TAKE THIS, ALFONSO CUARON! Werewolves are barely distinguishable from regular wolves!
Teddy Lupin and Ted Tonks? Their names don't stand for Theodore, like I thought. It's short for EDWARD. *head explodes*
Tonks' Patronus used to be a jackrabbit. Then it became a regular wolf. Remus' Patronus is a regular wolf, too, but he doesn't conjure a corporeal Patronus if he can help it, since he hates it and thinks it gives away too much.
His wand is cypress and unicorn hair, ten and a quarter inches long.
Also, I totally called that he was able to smash down doors (as a wolf) when he was little. I feel so proud.
No mention why he never checked on Harry, though since he was living a 'hand-to-mouth existence', it could be because he was having a hard enough time just getting by.
He was the first-ever werewolf to be awarded an Order of Merlin. It was First- Class, but unfortunately... it wasn't until after he died. D':
Tonks was killed by B**chface Lestrange.
Dolohov killed Remus because after going back to Tonks in the seventh book, Remus ended up using mostly protective charms and enchantments, and he fell out of practice dueling. Dolohov was able to beat him easily. DNDCHK SMASH DOLOHOV'S UGLY BUM-FACE.
REMUS (and Tonks) DESERVES ALL THE HUGS IN THIS WORLD AND EVERY OTHER WORLD. Let's have a Remus and Tonks party in the reviews.
Until next time,
-Dndchk
Now please excuse me while I go cry a river. Again. Remus would be flattered if he knew so many people were traumatized over his death. *bawls*