Chapter 15 - Life with the Lupins

There was a stunned silence. Hope Lupin tried to reason with Mrs Black when she came back to collect Sirius' brother, but the woman snarled at her, grabbing her second son and dissaparating.

"Is she mad?!" She asked, turning to her husband and the boys, desperate for some sort of explanation.

James was looking grim, Peter was looking scared, Lyall regretful.

"She's a Black." He said eventually, sighing and turning to put the kettle on. "There's a slightly mad streak to their family, yes."

But Sirius wasn't mad. Sirius was his friend, and he'd done nothing wrong, well, except for sneak out of his house and travel halfway across the country without permission.

"Shouldn't we do something? Call the… aurors?" She paused as she tried to remember what the police were referred to in the wizarding world.

Lyall laughed hollowly. "And what would they do about it?"

"Well, stop that boy being manhandled by his mother for starters." She said hotly.

"They won't do that." Lyall said, pouring them all tea. "She wasn't doing anything illegal and you'd be surprised what the Black family manage to get away with…" a dark look crossed his face as he handed out mugs.

They drank their tea (it was his parents' favourite go-to when anything upsetting had happened) and Remus' mother told them all with a cheery smile that they were to put the horrid events to the back of their head and try and enjoy their holiday.

But Remus couldn't. He felt powerless, weak and as though he were letting his friend down in a terrible way. He knew what Sirius' parents were like, but what had he done when his mother arrived? He'd stood there like a lemming. Why couldn't he have spoken up for him? Why didn't he speak up now? Maybe there was nothing the ministry could do for his friend, but didn't he deserve to see that they at least would fight for him?

"You're worrying." James observed. They were in Remus' bedroom. James and Peter were setting out their sleeping bags and James was watching him knowingly.

Remus nodded. "He told me something after Christmas. I said I wouldn't tell you, but I don't think he's safe at all."

"I know. He sort of told me too…"

Remus turned a tortured face to James. "We have to do something."

But James shook his head. "Like what?"

Remus didn't know.

"What are you talking about?" Peter asked. He'd successfully laid out his sleeping bag by Remus' wardrobe and now was digging into his satchel to pull out his trusty stash of sweets his mother had clearly packed for the trip. He never went anywhere without it…

"Nothing." James said, turning from where he'd been gazing out of the window and looking at them both again. "That's what he'd want us to say, isn't it?"

Remus knew it was. He'd had the chance hadn't he, to speak out to McGonagall before the end of term and he hadn't done it. He'd chosen to keep his parents' abuse a secret and they needed to respect that. James was right.

"Your mum's right." James said, getting to his feet. "Let's all do something to cheer ourselves up."

Remus suggested they go for a walk, so throwing on jackets and shoes, they accepted a picnic hamper from Mrs Lupin, that's exactly what they did.

The part of the country the Lupin lived in now was rural and scenic. They'd moved about a dozen times since Remus had been bitten. Though his parents did their best to keep his lycanthropy a secret, there was always the inevitable time the silencing charm broke, or else their muggle neighbours started asking questions about where his cuts and bruises were coming from (especially as they were so frequent.)

Remus remembered a time once when he'd been about eight and some muggle policemen arrived at the door to question his parents about their treatment of their son. His father had quickly confunded them, grabbed Hope and Remus and disapparated with what few possessions they could take with them.

Remus had been born in Oxfordshire, in a big country house with half a dozen bedrooms and an enormous garden. His parents had moved to the county before he'd been born for the good schools (they weren't yet sure if Remus would be a wizard or not). He vaguely remembered his life before he'd been bitten. His parents had been so happy… there had always been laughter in their house, and they were constantly entertaining.

His dad had been very successful in the Department for the Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures, and had been paid handsomely for his world class work. Hope has been a secretary, but given up work when Remus was born. He remembered her taking him to the houses of other children and inviting others round to theirs. It had been such a happy, normal, rich life, until he had been bitten.

But he and his parents made the most of it. Their new home in the north of England was quite beautiful really, although they all spoke a little differently to what he was used to here. "Alright my ducks?" An old lady pushing a shopping trolley said as she passed the boys. "Where are you boys off to today then?"

But they were so much friendlier, it had to be said.

The lady told them to pop into Dulcies sweet shop on the high street and tell them Mrs Green sent them. Apparently her son owned it and would give them a little something to take on their picnic.

"Muggles are so nice!" Peter exclaimed as the shop proprietor laughed at their story and handed them a little bag of fudge to share.

"Most are." Remus said. Many weren't…

They climbed a hill and sat down to eat their picnic. They would see the town from up here, as well as the beautiful countryside with its grazing sheep, clumps of heather and even wild horses.

"My dad says there are unicorns where there are wild horses." James said, watching the animals.

"Wouldn't they scare each other off?"

"Not at all, apparently they live in harmony. And from time to time they even breed. Just like muggles and wizards."

"But the foals are either a unicorn or a horse?"

"Yes, I suppose so, can you be both?"

"You can be a squib." Peter chimed in.

"Squibs would be horses."

"It's funny." Remus said, thinking about their caretaker. "How some muggles are so bitter they're not wizards but then some don't seem to care at all."

"Don't be daft." James said. "Everyone wants to be a wizard."

"It's true." Peter said, nodding and looking a little smug. "My sisters would give anything to go to Hogwarts."

Remus considered. His mother had never once expressed any jealousy towards her husband or son. She might complain how long it took to do the dishes without magic, but he knew she was genuinely happy with her lot, even if she had no money and a son who became a monster once a month…

They packed up and made the journey back to the Lupins' home for dinner. "Don't you have a house elf?" James asked as he saw Remus' mother in the kitchen.

Hope had heard him and she laughed. "I'm the house elf round here!" She said.

"And quite the prettiest one I ever saw too." Lyall said, wrapping his arms around his wife and kissing her neck.

They had beef stew for dinner. Remus' mother made all their meals from scratch (she said she loved to cook for her family, despite her joke about house elves), and served them all at the small dining table, where they had brought in an extra chair from the living room so they could all sit.

"This is delicious Mrs Lupin." Peter said, tucking into his meal with gusto.

"Thank you Peter." And smiled at him. "So, what are you boys up to for the rest of the week?"

Remus worried his friends would be bored in their small house with no big garden to run around in or exciting quidditch games to go to, but they seemed perfectly happy playing board games and going on walks.

One night, Lyall made a suggestion. "It's going to be dry for the next couple of nights." He told them. "Why don't we all take some tents and go camping?"

James and Peter were delighted and Remus grinned too. "Can we really?"

"Absolutely!" Lyall said. "I'm owed some time off work. I'll take you and let your mum have some peace and quiet. What do you all say?"

Of course they all said yes, and so the next day, they traipsed along the countryside, rucksacks on their backs, to find a nice secluded spot near a little stream to pitch their tent.

"This is wonderful dad." Remus said as his father lit a fire (with magic, because why not?) and they gathered around, drinking the Coca Cola that Hope had packed them and cooking their dinner.

"Do you ever go camping with your parents, Peter?" Lyall asked and Peter shook his head.

"I can't imagine it being mum's thing." He said and Lyall was tactful enough not to ask about his father.

After toasting marshmallows and telling ghost stories (Remus' dad had loads, and, he promised them, all true from his days of dark arts detection), they bade goodnight to Remus' dad and entered their own tent.

But James and Peter weren't tired. "It's still so early!" James moaned. "I can't possibly sleep yet."

"We could play cards?" Remus suggested. His mother had packed a deck for them.

"No that's boring." James said a little insensitively. And then his face lit up. "I know what we should do. Let's go and look for the unicorns!"

Remus glanced nervously at the tent door. "Better not." He said. "It's nearly dark."

"That doesn't matter, they glow in the dark." And he was already pulling on his jacket. "I absolutely insist that you join me." He said, grinning at them. "Otherwise I'll be eaten by the jealous horses and you'll have to explain to my devastated parents why you weren't there to save me."

Thanks, James.

"Alright." Remus agreed, pulling on his own jacket, while Peter did the same beside him. They unzipped their tent very slowly, trying not to disturb Remus' dad, and crept off into the wilderness.

"It's so big and open." Peter said. "What's it like having all this green space around you?"

"Wonderful." Remus replied honestly.

He did lighten up a little as they journeyed on, jumping every so often as a stray animal here or there would move from its hiding place.

Eventually, they struck gold. Quite literally.

"Oh my God." Peter whispered as he too caught sight of the unicorn.

It must have been a baby. Firstly, it was gold, not white, and it was pawing the ground in a curious, playful sort of way. It seemed to sense their eyes on it and moved slowly over to them, possibly picking up on their magic in the air.

"Wow." James said, totally breathless, as he reached a hand forwards to stroke the foal.

Remus did the same. The unicorn was soft to the touch and incredibly warm. It gave a little neigh as he stroked it, and he smiled.

But all three of them jumped as there came the sound of hooves from behind. They turned to see two adult sized unicorns galloping towards them.

They were clearly not at all happy that the boys were near their foal. One of them neighed angrily, raising its legs into the air as if to kick out and the other advanced threateningly on Peter.

"Hey, it's OK! We're not hurting him. We just wanted to say hello!" James said, reaching out to touch the pure white unicorn who was looking so hostile, but this was a mistake.

The unicorn raised its legs and neighed loudly again and began to paw the ground.

"Let's go." Remus said. "We're sorry." He told the unicorns, and they turned and headed back in the direction of where they thought the tent was. The encounter reminded him far too much of run in with the centaurs the month before. He figured it was best to make a hasty retreat.

Maybe it was from the brightness of the unicorns they'd just met, but Remus found his eyes didn't seem to be working as well as they had been earlier. All the grassland looked exactly the same and he couldn't for the life of him remember where their tent had been.

James and Peter were looking expectantly at him.

"Er…" he had been about to say 'I think we're lost." But at that point there came the sound of running footsteps and Lyall Lupin appeared.

"Oh thank goodness." He breathed, bending forwards, hands on his knees and panting. "Remus, what were you thinking, wandering off like that?!"

"We met a baby unicorn Mr Lupin!" James said, completely unabashed. "Although I don't think its parents were very happy…"

Neither were Remus'. When they got back to the campsite his father told them to pack up their things and disapparated home with them.

Hope was still up when they arrived. She was wearing her dressing gown and had been reading a book with a glass when they'd arrived home early. She listened to what her husband told her then stormed into the kitchen where the boys were sitting at the table.

"Remus!" She scolded, looking quite as angry as he'd ever seen her. "I've half a mind to put you over my knee. How could you possibly be so irresponsible?"

Remus looked down at the table, blinking back tears. She'd be well within her rights to punish him he knew, and if she did he wouldn't complain. He felt so sorry for what they'd done it would almost be a relief if she did.

She turned to the others. "I thought you boys had more sense than that. What were you thinking, wandering off like that?"

"It wasn't their fault Mrs Lupin." James said gallantly. "It was my idea, Remus told me it wasn't a good one but I didn't listen. He's usually right, I should have known by now"

Mrs Lupin looked at him and then she looked at Remus. "Oh my darling." She said, rushing forwards and hugging him tightly. "Promise me you won't ever do that again? Anything could have happened to you!"

Lyall put a comforting arm around his wife and poured her a glass of wine. "It's alright. Everyone's alright. We're home now."

The boys were given hot chocolate (though Remus still felt they scarcely deserved it) and then sent to bed.

He wasn't used to getting in trouble with his parents. He was usually so well behaved that he could barely remember the last time his mother did more than raise her voice to him. He felt so guilty for the fear he'd caused them, especially after they'd been through so much for him.

He knew being bitten by a werewolf hadn't been his fault. His parents had always made that very clear. But whether it was his fault or not, it was still his responsibility. He owed it to his parents to make their lives as easy as he could. A small compensation for the inconvenience of the many house moves and constant worry he caused them. And what had he gone and done, added even more.

"Sorry Remus." James whispered from his sleeping bag on the floor.

"It's OK." He replied. And of course it was really. He couldn't say no to James.

They managed to stay out of trouble for the rest of the visit, and James redeemed himself in Hope's eyes (not that she held a grudge) by helping her make the apple pie for dessert the next day.

They left in good spirits, Hope and Lyall sending best wishes to their parents, and hopes they would visit again soon, and then it was just the three of them again.

"Well, what do you say we go out for some ice cream?" Hope asked, smiling. Remus knew she knew he would miss his friends dearly. They'd never had any more children after Remus. He supposed they hadn't been able to, with all the trouble he already caused… he didn't blame her in the slightest, but he knew she did her best to compensate for his lonely childhood in whatever ways she could.

And so they did. They talked about Hogwarts, about James, Peter and Sirius, about the adventures they had and the lessons Remus was taking.

The owner of the ice cream shop came over to them and (in true northern style), pulled up a chair.

"I've not seen you folk round here before."

"No," Hope told him. "We're from the South. We're here for my husband's job. He's… an architect." She said, inventing wildly.

"Well, hopefully there will be plenty of work for you round here soon." The man said. "I must say, what a lovely family you are. You folk take care, alright?"

They munched their way through the rest of their ice cream and left the shop.

Remus loved Hogwarts and being with his friends, but he loved his family too. And wasn't he just the luckiest boy in Britain that he could have both?

A/N: Well, I have to say I did love writing that chapter! Just a quick note on corporal punishment… while it's not something I agree with personally, I find the difference in its use between Sirius and Remus' parents fascinating. In Sirius' case, what his mother does is certainly abuse, less because of the act itself (at least at the time) and more because of the intention behind it (Walburga is furious she has been disobeyed and feels it's a slight on her). By contrast if Remus' mum had smacked him for putting himself in danger, that would have been OK (again, at the time) as it was from a place of love for her son. It's probably why the topic is so controversial and I usually steer well clear, but as an ex-lawyer, I find this particular nuance too interesting not to share! Peter next… Hope you're enjoying these home life insights. It will help with the rest of the story for sure.