Alright guys, here's the second chapter for you. Again like I said before there are a whole bunch of missing pieces when it comes to Remus so I decided to use my imagination on that so it's a bit AU there. Otherwise it's all either from the book or the movie. So please, Enjoy!
Remus Lupin fought very hard not to snicker as he allowed the information he was hearing to sink.
"I see...what happened after Harry blew her up?" he dared to ask the giant standing in front of him.
"What'd ya think happened?The Ministry saw 'er and deflated 'er a'course. Put a strong memory charm on 'er too" Hagrid, the scragely 8ft 6 inch half giant replied "Oh stop tryin' to hold it in Remus. The hag deserved it and we all know it. Harry's growin' mighty fine if I may say so myself. You'd love 'im"
Remus allowed himself to laugh a bit. He knew he would.
He had just arrived at Platform 9 3/4 a few minutes ago with what little baggage he had, ready to head off to his new job. He still couldn't believe he was going to be the Defence teacher at Hogwarts. Not only was he thrilled to be in Hogwarts once more, but also to meet the people that he had left behind all those years ago. And he was definately glad to start with Hagrid.
The train whistled rather loudly, causing Remus to look over his shoulder towards it. He returned his gaze to Hagrid "Well, I better get on" he smiled "I will be sure to stop by for a visit once we arrive there, alright?"
"Course Remus, the hut's always open for ya" Hagrid returned the smile.
So with that Remus turned away and headed towards the nearest entrance to the elegant train, his trunk rattling noisily behind him as he dragged it along. He glanced around the platform, fond memories filling him up as he did. He found a smile creeping onto his face as he remembered right in front of that sign right over there...
"Be good boys, and make sure to study hard" Adrienne Lupin told the three young men that stood before her.
"Will do Mrs. Lupin" James Potter nodded.
"No promises though" Sirius Black laughed "But we'll try" he added.
Remus Lupin simply chuckled at his mother and his two friends.
"And remember, I'm taking you three to the World Cup next month! So be good or I'll sell the tickets off to a Slytherin!" John Lupin grinned at the three.
"Not a Slytherin! Anything but that!" Sirius shouted, clutching his chest dramatically.
"Merlin's beard Dad, look, you've killed Sirius" Remus, who was a spitting image of his father, cried.
James just laughed.
Oh, how he missed those days....how he missed those moments with those people. Yes those people were only alive in his memories now...
Remus sighed and walked along. He stowed his trunk in the storage are of the train and decided that he would keep his handbag with him . He took a glance around for anyone he else might knowbefore boarding the famous Hogwarts Express. He walked through the familiar corridors of the enormous train. He glanced into a few of the compartments that he passed by, though most of them were empty. He assumed most of the students were still saying their goodbyes to their friends and family. Remus had planned on taking a seat at one of the compartments in the front of the train, however his feet had other ideas. Because when they finally stopped moving, Remus found himself standing in front of a more than familiar compartment.
Compartment M4
The compartment that Remus, James, Sirius and Peter had used every single time they were on the Hogwarts Express beggining from their third year Christmas break. Around the time that they had began calling themselves the Marauders. Sirius had insisted on this compartment in general because the "M" could stand for Marauder and the 4 could stand for the four members of the Marauders. It was brilliant and the other three agreed. So from then on M4 had become their compartment, and if anyone else even tried to use it they would end up personally hexed into oblivion by James and Sirius.
Remus chuckled fondly at the memory of that third year that had not only taken their compartment once, but also badmouthed Sirius right there. Poor kid was strangled before he even reached Hogwarts. Ah good times.
Remus smiled as he slid open the door of the compartment and took the seat closest to the window. He peered out to the hoards of weeping mothers and excited reminded him of his own mother.
"Aw, Mum come on this is the seventh year you're sending me off to school, you've really got to get a grip" Remus said as he put a comforting and on his mother's shoulder.
"Don't worry Mrs. Lupin, we'll watch over Remmi here for you" Sirius grinned "That's a promise."
"Just like that promise you made to stop shagging every other girl you met and to get your grades up, and to stop hexing first years?" Remus rolled his eyes.
"I'll be there for him. That should help" James joined in.
"You see, Adrienne, no worries, our son is in the hands of James and Sirius!" John nodded "Oh wait...on second thought..."
"Dad!" Remus laughed punching his father lightly in the arm.
"I am offended!" Sirius cried in the best "offended" expression he could sum up.
This made even Adrienne grin a little.
His mother would cry at the beggining of every single term, Remus recalled with a smile. He shifted into a more comfortable position in his seat. He took a sip out of the bottle of firewhiskey that he'd been carrying around for a while now and pulled out a small pocket watch from his robes. It was a dulling golden color, with the word Lupin engraved onto it in neat script. The item had once belonged to Remus's father, John Lupin, but John had given it to him for his 17 birthday when he became officially of age. John had told him that the watch had been passed on from several generations of Lupins, and hope that one day Remus would pass it on to his own children.
Remus smirked at the thought. He was a werewolf...children? Not even an option.
He pushed the thought aside and checked the time.
10:30 am
He sighed. The train wouldn't be leaving the station for almost a half an hour. For a moment Remus considered going back outside to meet up with Hagrid again, but then decided against it. It had been only 2 days since the full moon and he still felt the dull throbbing of his most recent wounds. As if transforming itself wasn't painful enough, he had to deal with the injuries he gave himself during them as well. He was still severely sore. Because ever since his pack(consisting of the animagus forms of James, Sirius and Peter) had left him, the wolf had become alone once more and had to resort to more painful ways of entertaining itself. He decided, a little rest wouldn't kill him at the moment. He placed his bottle of firewhiskey onto the small table that extended from his armrest. He settled in, brought his cloak tighter around himself and slowly closed his eyes for a peaceful sleep.
HP
HP*****HP
HP
Remus was awoken by the sound of three different voices.
"It's a bloody beast I tell ya. No cat looks that evil and depressed!" the first voice complained.
"Crookshanks is a very well trained cat Ron. And besides he has better things to eat than your mangled little rat" the second asserted "Right Harry?" she added.
Wait....did she just say Harry?
Remus's heart suddenly lodged itself into his throat and refused to come down. The first person that came into mind when he heard the name Harry was..Harry Potter. And the first person that came to mind when he heard Harry Potter was James Potter, and then Lily Potter and then Sirius Black and then-
Quit it Remus! Get a grip! There are tons of boys in London named Harry, alright?!
But still....he had to be sure. If this was really Harry Potter....Merlin...if this was Harry Potter....
Remus slowly opened his eyes to slits. He didn't nesicarily want to alarm the children, or face an awkward confrontation just yet. He peered around carefully as not to catch the eyes of his cabin mates. The young boys sitting across from him was a rather wreck of a red head. He held a squirming rat in his hands. The rat rang a bell somewhere in the back of Remus's head but he couldn't exactly place why. Seated next to the red head was a blossoming young girl with light brown hair. She held a pudgy, rather unhappy looking golden cat in her arms. She, Remus figured, was the one that had spoken Harry's name.
Finally Remus brought his gaze to the person seated next to him. And upon setting his eyes on the boy, his heart shot into his mouth and he found himself suspended in time.
That messy black hair.
Those round glasses.
That nose.
That mouth.
And heavens...those eyes....
Those eyes....it was upon seeing those piercing green almond shaped eyes that Remus Lupin knew, this was his cub. Little Harry Potter from all those years ago. Merlin's beard he was so big now! He definately wasn't that sweet one year old child he remembered.
Remus forced himself to look at the boy's eyes again. Sweet merciful heavens, those eyes.....it was just like staring at Lily Potter herself again. The boy was a spitting image of James. Everything from the hair to the lips, he was all James...but his eyes where unmistakably his mothers.
Remus's breath cought in his throat as the image of his two friends flashed before him, and a terrible sense of nausea swept over him.
Suddenly, he heard the compartment door slide open.
"Would you children care for anything?" he heard the voice of the food cart witch.
"Yeah, I think I'll take a couple of couldron cakes" Remus was startled to hear James's voice say. But then he realized, it was really Harry that had spoken. Merlin, he even sounded exactly like James!
"D'you think we should wake him up?" the red head said motioning towards Remus "He looks like he could do with some food."
Remus almost chuckled; was it that noticable?
"Er...Professor?" the girl call softly "Excuse me...Professor?"
For a moment Remus thought of actually responding to her call, but then decided against it. If Harry even so much as glanced at him with those green eyes so soon, it would bee too much for his rappidly aging heart to take. Though he was only 34, Remus knew his heart would shatter on the spot if he were to confront his best friend's son so soon. So he remained silent, pretending to be asleep.
"Don't worry dear" he heard the witch say "If he's hungry when he wakes, I'll be up in the front with the driver." And with that the compartment door slid closed. Remus was thankful to the witch for diverting the attention off of him.
"I suppose he is asleep" the red head said quietly "I mean-he hasn't died, has he?"
"No, no, he's breathing" the girl answered hurriedly.
Remus was so close to choking up in laughter it almost hurt. He was glad Harry had found such friends. They really could give a laugh(or in his case, severe pains from trying to supress laughter.)
As the urge to crack up began to die out, Remus thought he probably should get a little more sleep before they arrived.
And just when he was about to drift off into a light sleep, the compartment door slid open again. This time it sounded like it had been thrown open, roughly at that.
"Well look who it is" a new voice drawled lazily "Potty and Weasel."
Remus frowned underneath his cloak. Who was this new person? Why was he messing around with Harry and his friends so early? And why on earth did his voice sound so painfully familiar? He listened closely as this new person spoke again:
"I heard your father finally got a hold of some gold Weasley. Did your mother die of shock?"
Did he just say Weasley? As in Arthur and Molly Weasley? Remus remembered the couple very clearly. They were order members as well, and they were 10 years senior to him and the Marauders. And then suddenly it hit Remus, who the red head was; Ronald Weasley. The second youngest child of the Weasleys. Remus had only seen the boy once or twice back before Lily and James were killed. He had heard they Weasleys had an even younger daughter now, whom he hadn't ever met, but was sure he would as the new defence teacher.
Remus suddenly saw Ron shoot up. His eyes burned with rage and he looked like he was going to beat the magic out of whoever it was that was at the door.
Remus knew if someone didn't step in, then Ron would do it. And it looked to him like his other two friends weren't going to stop him. So as realisticly as he could, Remus shifted a bit to make it look like he had done so in his sleep.
He felt all eyes turn to him.
"Who's that?" the intruder at the door said taking a step back.
"New teacher" he heard Harry say. The boy suddenly realized, having a professor here, the intruder wouldn't dare do anything stupid. When Harry spoke again, Remus could practically hear the grin in his voice "What were you saying Malfoy?"
Malfoy! That was it! Remus's thoughts finally clicked. This had to be Lucius's son! Remus knew that Lucius Malfoy had a son about Harry's age, he just had never seen the boy before. No wonder his voice sounded so familiar. And from the looks of it he had inherited his father's pratty attitude as well. What a shame.
"I'll see you lot at the feast. Potter, Weasley....Mudblood" Remus felt a twinge of anger hit him as he heard the last word. It couldn't have been directed towards Harry or Ron; they were both pure or half-blood. So it must have been directed towards the girl. It reminded Remus painfully of Lily, who was called a mudblood by Slytherin member Severus Snape back in their school days.
Remus heard the sound of Ron sitting back down "That loathsome troll. Merlin, how can someone be so...so....argh?! Oh and if he ever makes fun of Hermione or my family ever again I'm going to get a hold of that blo-"
"Ron!" Hermione, Remus now knew the girl to be, hissed. He got the feeling she had stopped him from cursing in front of a teacher like that. Whether he was "asleep" or not.
Remus heard the rain pound against the window beside him. When had it started to rain? He guessed he had probably slept through that....
Another half an hour or so went by before Remus suddenly felt the train begin to slow down. Wait....that wasn't right...they weren't there yet were they? No, they couldn't have possibly arrived so soon. So why were they slowing down?
And as if she had read his mind, Hermione spoke "We can't be there yet..."
"So why're we stopping?" Ron asked.
They slowed until they were barely even moving. The pounding rain and wind against the train sounding louder than ever. Remus heard the compartment door slide open and he figured one of the trio had decided to see what was going on. The train suddenly came to a complete halt with a jolt. Remus heard a thud next to him and assumed that it was Harry that had opened the door and had fallen back into his seat because of the sudden movement.
And then, out of no where, the lights went out, plunging them into total darkness.
"What's going on?" Ron's voice came.
"Ouch!" Hermione gasped "Ron, that was my foot!"
"D'you think we've broken down?" Harry asked.
"Dunno..." Ron answered. From the what little his line of vision allowed, Remus saw Ron wiping a patch of fog off the window and peering out.
"There's something moving out there..." Ron whispered "I think someone's coming aboard..."
Something in the terrified tone of the boy told Remus...that something was wrong. Very wrong. The train gave another terrifying jolt. And this time Remus considered getting up to see what was wrong. But then again if it was only a break down then it would have been in vein.
Suddenly Remus felt very cold. He looked up slowly and saw his bottle of firewhiskey freezing up in the span of a single second. He took a breath and it apeared as a smal puff of smoke in front of him as he exhaled. Why was it so cold? The train shook once more, a lot more violently this time.
"Bloody hell, what's happening ?!" Ron yelled. But before anyone could answer, the compartment door slid open once more. Remus figured Harry was just checking again. But then suddenly, the cat hissed furiously and something hit him....something cold. Something in the air made him feel terrible inside...like all the happiness was being sapped from his life.
And then it clicked. All the pieces fell together in Remus's mind and suddenly he realized what was happening.
Dementors.
There were dementors on board searching for Sirius Black. It all made sense now. And then something else hit him. If that was a dementor that had opened the door to their compartment, then it would obviously go for the one of the lot that held the most amount of unhappy memories. And that person would be Harry....by a long shot. This realization hit Remus like a hex to the chest. The dementor was going to go for Harry...the dementor was going to give it "The Kiss."
Remus almost immediately shot up, his cloak tossed carelessly over his shoulders. His breath cought in his throat as he saw the dementor sucking in it's breath, tearing Harry's soul from him in the process. But he did not allow that to stop him. He thrust his wand forward and brought his Patrunus charm memory forward. The Patronus charm involved using a powerful memory to counteract the demenor's unhappy ones. So Remus thought back to the one memory he used every single time, and allowed it to fill him up...
"Wow...you're actually a...a werewolf!" 12 year old Peter Pettigrew gasped.
Remus hung his head very low "Yeah..." he said with a choked up sob. He sat on the bed as his three friends stood towering over him "I s'posse youre gonna go on your way now...don't wanna get cought hanging out with a monster like me do you now?"
But instead of recieving a reply Remus felt a sharp pain in his cheek as Sirius's hand connected with it.
Remus looked up slowly at his friend, wondering how much longer he could hold the tears back. This was it, they were going to leave him for sure.
"Remus Lupin, if you ever talk like that again I won't leave it at that. I'll personally hex you into oblivion" Sirius growled.
"How could you event think that we'd leave you?! After all we've been through!" James added
"So, you turn into an overgrown puppy once a month. Whoop de doo" Sirius rolled his eyes "You're still the utmost caring and brilliant guy alive other than that one day! It doesn't change who you are!"
"I mean you obviously haven't eaten us yet so you even your wolf has morals!" Peter nodded.
Silence
Remus heard James crouch down to his height "Listen Rem, we don't care about what you are...only who you are. And to us, the answer to who you are will always be...our brother."
The words made Remus feel so good inside. He felt a new hope erupt inside of him. He felt hapiness beyond any words' description. His friends weren't going to leave him! They didn't care what he was! What more could he have possibly asked for?!
In the moment of emotion, Remus launched his friend into a hug and began to cry tears of joy into his shoulder. James just chuckled gently. He heard Sirius laugh before he and Peter joined the hug as well.
And it was with that group hug that the boys truly became brothers in all but blood. It was then that they became The Marauders.
Remus allowed himself to feel the very same happiness he had felt that day, and then, loudly and clearly spoke the incantation in his mind:
Expecto Patronum!
A silver light erupted from the tip of his wand and quickly cut the dementor off from Harry. Remus forced the creature out of the compartment. He saw Harry pass out from the corner of his eyes and made a small prayer that he was alright.
Once the dementor was out of the compartment, Remus forced it back through the corridor to the front of the train. The silver blast of light shielding him the entire time. He spotted the driver standing outisde his cabin at the front of the train.
"Open the front doors!" Remus growled "We're lucky there's only one."
The driver did as he was told. He ducked back into his cabin, and within a few second, the front doors swept open. Stinging cold wind rushed into the train, sending Remus's hair and robes fluttering all over the place. He narrowed his eyes to prevent the wind from stabbing at it. He watched as the dementor attempted to charge through his Patronus. And he knew eventually it would. So with one last burst from his memory, Remus greatly expanded the size of his shield and gave the dementor one last shove off the train. He allowed his patronus to die out, and just as he was about to turn and order the driver to close the doors before it came back in, the driver already did it.
Remus saw the dementor rushing back towards him but the doors snapped into place and cut it off.
"Come on, come on, let's move!" Remus ordered, running a hand through his hair in an attempt to straighten it somewhat. The driver complied and started up the train once more.
"Good" Remus said before he turned and headed back to his compartment. He noticed the lights flicker back on and took long powerful strides, as he was anxious to see whether Harry was alright or not. Once he approached the doors, he immediately threw them aside with a bit more force than he had intended. It had made Hermione and Ron jump a bit. They turned to look at him from the floor of the compartment. They were both crouched at Harry's side, who seemed to have fallen off his seat.
"Professor" Hermione gasped "Harry...he just got a really glazed over look on his face a-and then he fainted!" Remus could tell from her voice that she cared very deeply for Harry. Ron said nothing but wore the same expression as her.
"Alright, let's see what we've got here" Remus said as he crouched as well. He scooped his best friend's son into his arms carefully and laid the boy on one of the seats as gently as he could.
He then sighed as he collapsed onto the seat behind himself. Well that was rather tiring.
Ron and Hermione brought themselves to sit up next to their new professor. "Is he going to be alright?" Ron asked, not taking his eyes off his best friend.
"He should be fine..." Remus muttered. He turned to Hermione "I'm sorry, what is your name?" he asked her, despite already knowing her name. Remus got the impression she wouldn't like it very much if she knew he was concious the whole time that he was.
"Hermione Granger, sir" she answered.
"And you?" Remus turned to Ron.
"Ron Weasley, sir" Ron said.
"And I am Remus Lupin, your new defence teacher" Remus offered a kind smile.
"We know" Ron shrugged.
"You know?" Remus raised a brow.
"Saw it on your suitcase" Ron answered. At this Hermione glared at him. Remus's eyes quickly shifted to his small handbag that was stowed on one of the overhead shelves. Then back to Ron.
"And we sort of knew you were our new defence teacher too" Ron added.
But before Remus could ask and Ron could finish, Hermione spoke up "Our staff at Hogwarts is a very solid one. A staff member changes every fifty years or so...except for our defence teacher of course. So now every time we see someone we don't recognize we just sort of assume that person as our new defence teacher."
Remus raised his brows in amusement, he remembered having a different defence teacher every other year as well.
"It's a different one every year. Our first year it was...well I'm sure you already heard the story with that one" Ron rolled his eyes "And our second year it was that nutter Gilderoy Lockhart. Lunatic, that man" he said with an exasperated sigh.
Remus chuckled. He had heard about Quirell and the nasty incident with Voldemort...And of course who hadn't heard about Lockhart?
"But you don't look like you have You-Know-Who strapped to the back of your head and you don't look much like an egoistic nutjob either, so we should be safe this year" Ron nodded.
This made Remus laugh "Well, I certainly hope so. Now, Hermione, why don't you see if Harry responds to a call."
Hermione nodded and crouched down in front of Harry "Harry...Harry are you alright?"
Hermione, Remus and Ron all looked a bit more relieved when Harry's vibrant green eyes fluttered open. He looked around for a moment in a very dazed manner, before he spotted the cat sitting ahead of picked the glasses off the floor and handed them to him.
"Thanks" Harry whispered as he pushed himself to sit up.
"Here eat this, it'll help" Remus said as he pulled out a chocolate bar from his robes and held out a piece to Harry. He broke off a piece for Hermione and Ron as well, then one for himself. Ah chocolate, the only thing that could subside the effects of a dementor encounter. Remus had learned that one from his father, who was Head Auror for a long time and had dealt with dementors more times than he could count. Harry though, just looked at it skeptically.
"It's alright, it's chocolate" Remus said, avoiding those green eyes.
Harry, who was looking around like he was very disoriented, took the chocolate and sat up. He glanced around at his friends, and then at Remus.
It was then, at that moment that Harry's piercing green eyes met Remus's calm brown, that the werewolf felt a part of himself melt inside. He saw James, he saw Lily, but most of all he saw the prize that they had left behind. This beautiful, blessed child. And Remus felt such a rush of affection for the boy, that he just had to smile.
Harry, though, still as disgruntled as he was, looked over to the place where the dementor had been mere minutes ago. Remus followed his gaze.
"W-what was that thing?" Harry muttered.
"It was a dementor, one of the guards of Azkaban. It's gone now. It was searching the train for Sirius Black" Remus answered, forcing himself to speak Black's name as casually as possible "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to have a word with the driver" he said setting the bar of chocolate next to Harry. He stood up and strode out of the compartment.
Remus headed back up to the front of the train to the driver's cabin. He kocked softly on the open door of the cabin.
The driver turned around and spotted Remus "Oh it's just you" he said turning back to his work "I wanted to thank you for what you did earlier. That was very heroic of you...they should have more wizards like you in the ministry and auror service. Maybe then we'd get somewhere in this twisted political world. What may I ask is your name sir?"
"I am Remus Lupin. And thank you...that is quite the compliment" Remus smiled, he knew what the man said was right. He would make an excellent auror, just one problem. More specifically, his, as James would like to call it "furry little problem."
"Say, how'd that dementor get in anyway?" he asked.
"The back. The luggage cart doors weren't closed all the way. It found it's way in through there" the driver answered "We got someone to fix that already."
"That's good" Remus nodded "The thing went straight for Harry Potter you know. The boy sat in the same compartment as me, thank merlin. We should see to it that this doesn't happen again. The dememntor affects him much more than it does you and I."
"I can imagine" the driver replied "I am deeply sorry. Is he alright now though?"
"Yes, he's fine. A bit shaken up, but he'll live" Remus replied.
"That's good. I heard things have been tough for that boy. What with his muggle guardians and dealing with the entire boy-who-lived situation. I feel bad for him" the driver responded "No one really bothers to look past that at who the kid really is. Heard he's got a bit of an issue with the Malfoys too after his second year. And I'm sure you know the Malfoys get what the Malfoys want so things don't look to good for ."
Remus allowed the information to sink. Was Harry really that unhappy? Remus was starting to think he should have turned into the wolf all those years ago, eaten the entire ministry and just adopted Harry right then and there. Whether they thought he was dangerous or not.
"I've gotten to know him a bit. Nice boy. I think I'll go back and see how he's doing then" Remus said, starting to back away from the door.
"You go on and do that. It was nice meeting you " the driver said with a smile.
"And you" Remus replied before he headed back to his compartment once more. When he walked in, he found the three students in silence. All three still had their chocolate in their hands. Uneaten.
Remus smiled "I haven't poisoned that chocolate you know..."
Harry looked down at the sweet that he had seemingly forgotten was in his hand. He took a bite, and judging by the look on his face, Remus would say he enjoyed it very much.
"We'll be at Hogwarts in about 10 minutes" Remus informed them. He then narrowed his eyes at Harry "Are you alright Harry?" He quickly realized that Harry had never told him his name, hance making it a bit awkward for him to call him.
"'m fine" Harry muttered, a bit embarassed.
The remainder of the journey went in mostly silence. and before any of them knew it, they were at Hogsmeade station. They had stayed together until they reached the coaches. This was where Remus parted with the children to climb onto the staff coach. It saddened him to leave Harry so soon, but he knew he would see the boy again very soon. And then he was determined to make up for all those years of lost time.
HP
HP******HP
HP
So that was the second chapter for you guys. The next chapter will be up either tomorrow or the day after, depending on how much time I have =]
I noticed a lot of people put this on their alert list and only one of them reviewed. And I know I myself hate it when writers make you review for updates, so I'm not going to do that but I really would appreciate it if you guys took the time to review. Thanks a million! =]