Chapter Text
The Marauders and the Hogwarts’ Monster
- Chapter 2 -
REMUS J. LUPIN was scared.
Since he was four, Remus didn't have more than a few good days, with the whole 'being bitten by a werewolf and consequently turning into one every month' thing. Life had been painful, and sometimes, everything seemed completely hopeless, and Remus couldn't see the light, couldn't see a future in which he had time to do more than to worry about surviving the current day.
It wasn't like his father was a bad parent. No, not at all. Lyall had been doing his best to deal with their situation, as soon as his father recovered from the shock of their new reality, he moved them out of the city to the countryside - a small cottage, heritage from his grandfather, served as their new home - so Remus could be better accommodated during his transformations; left his cushy position as the Minister's personal assistant for a more humble and but flexible position in the lower hanks of the Ministry, so he could dedicate more time to Remus and to managing their new life. Being a single dad wasn’t easy, being a single dad to a werewolf pup was even harder.
Lyall searched for treatments, not a cure , he knew his son was condemned to this life until his death, but something that would make it a little less painful, a little less scary, a little easier . And there were potions available, of course, but not considering the extreme lengths Lyall would put himself through to get to them without compromising Remus' identity, the costs were… well, more than just 'expensive.'
Sometimes, they didn't even work properly… Although Remus didn’t have the heart to tell his father the truth, not when he witnessed all the trouble the man got himself through to get him some relief. During those times, Remus muffled his cries. He eventually got used to it. To the pain, and to the act of pretending it wasn’t there.
As soon as Remus was old enough to understand what was happening, he begged his father to stop, telling him it wasn't necessary, that he could survive without them, but Lyall was relentless about it. The man knew how agonizing Remus’ transformation was, and the screams of his five year old son cursing through their hollow house still haunted his nightmares, although Remus was ten already. His son argued that, although transforming was hard, and painful, and shitty, it wasn’t, or it wouldn’t be, as hard, or painful, or shitty as not having his father at all. Lyall was killing himself. Not because he was willing to take it easier for his own good, but because he recognized the deep fear in his son’s voice. He wasn’t wrong, Lyall knew it, if his father was dead, Remus would be completely truly alone. And there was nothing that scared him more, not the pain of the transformations, not the multiplying scars around his body, not anything else.
Sometimes, Lyall's best wasn't enough though. Sometimes he would fall asleep on the table, overwhelmed with work, and Remus would be left alone to tend to the domestic chores. Lyall wasn’t raised on wealth, but his parents had decent amounts of money, enough for him to be comfortable while growing up, and enough for Lyall to receive the education of an acceptable young man of his stature. That meant Lyall had no idea how to be a caretaker , he wasn’t taught how and was reluctant to learn, grumply half expecting things would magically get done. Unfortunately, it never happened. And from a young age, Remus learned how to wash and cook for himself and his father. He couldn't get out much, also - his father was afraid of what the neighbors would think of Remus' scars, if anyone was to investigate their life, they could find out about Remus' secret, and he would be, most likely, sent to a 'special orphanage'.
Lyall didn't tell Remus with the intent to scare him into behaving. But mostly, it was the effect his father's tales had on the young boy.
As Lupin was almost always busy, he didn't have much time to teach Remus the basic education he was supposed to be receiving. By 9, Remus could barely read, nor did he know basic etiquette or other subjects. Lyall didn't have time to dedicate himself to the boy's studies, and on the rare occasions he did, the older man would get frustrated with Remus' difficulty towards the subjects, he was supposed to be going off to Hogwarts - he would be going, Lyall reassured him, his father would figure out something by the time he turned eleven - in less than two years! Forgetting to take into account the young boy's troubles were caused only by himself, if Remus was too old to be struggling with word formation, it was only because Lyall had taken too long to begin teaching him, and now wanted the boy to learn in months knowledge he should be absorbing over the last four years.
Everything changed when Lyall met Helen.
Remus didn’t know how it had happened. Lyall barely had time to eat, much less to go out meeting women, but regardless, it did. And one year later, his father told him they would finally be a normal family again.
And Remus wanted to let himself believe, he truly did. But couldn’t help being scared.
Did Helen know she would be marrying the father of a monster? He begged his father not to tell her, if he truly would be going to Hogwarts soon, she would never need to know, Remus didn’t want to ruin his father’s opportunity of experiencing happiness for the first time since his mother died. Lyall obliged to his son’s request, however, assured him that, whenever he was ready, Helen would be understanding of their situation.
Since he was four, Remus didn't have more than a few good days, but this definitely was one of the: It was the middle of the summer, the sun was shining brightly and Remus was glad because it was the kind of day his dad deserved to have his wedding celebrated.
Since Lyall had to run away to get married the first time, with the whole ‘getting married to a muggle against his parents’ wishes thing’, he didn’t really get a chance to celebrate it. Not that Hope - Remus’ mother - had cared about that, the free-spirit she was, or so Remus was told. Hope died during childbirth, before Remus could meet her. However, the young boy knew how much of a sentimentalist his dad could be, and how traditional celebrations meant a lot to him, so he couldn't be any shorter than glad about the whole ordeal. Even if it felt a little weird to be underneath the shining sun, like Remus was now. He was so used to hiding in the shadows...
Even if he was scared. Scared about how his life was going to change from now on. Not that Helen had been anything but kind to him but… Change scared Remus. After the wedding, Lyall and Remus would be officially moving - they had been packing for weeks - to a bigger, better located house that would be able to accommodate four people, instead of only two.
“Remus, are you ready?” A voice said from behind and Remus turned around immediately. His eyes fell on the silhouette of his soon-to-be stepsister, her face serene, as always. She had a thick accent, though he couldn’t point where it was from. Remus and Aurora had met only a few days before the wedding, apparently, how they would - or wouldn’t - get along wasn’t a circumstance worth of calculation on their parents’ plan. Remus had been told it was because Aurora wasn’t in the country before - Helen wasn’t widowed, as Lyall was, she was divorced - living with her father.
“Not really… I can’t seem to get this knot right” He answered. Remus wasn’t used to wearing traditional wizard clothing, muggle clothes were easier to maintain - and cheaper to buy - and so, that’s how Lyall and Remus had gone by for the last eleven years. The young girl approached him and began working on the piece Remus had given up some minutes ago.
“There you go.” She said, Remus looked down and realized Aurora had fixed his problem in no time. She smiled briefly at him, and he noticed how much she looked like her mother, especially when she smiled. She was wearing a fancy and beautiful golden dress that Remus estimated would be worth more than the house he and his dad used to live in. It had a very delicate design, reaching her knees, and adorned with bright flowers. Her hair combed with pearls.
Remus was wearing a similarly expensive black cloak. Also probably worth more than anything he had ever worn before. Helen had promised him a whole new wardrobe by the time Remus was going to Hogwarts for his first year. It led to a debate with Lyall, who wasn't used to the luxurious life his new wife was offering and didn't feel quite right receiving what he perceived to be as "grand gestures" .
"A son should only be able to have what his father can afford him." Lyall had said. To which Helen had gleefully replied, "That's ridiculous, Lyall. Besides, I'm his stepmother aren't I? His well-being will be just as much as my responsibility once we are married." Not feeling quite defeated yet, Lyall asked "why?" Helen shot back at him with "why not?" . His father hadn't been able to argue with her after that. To Remus’ soon to be stepmother, money wasn’t a problem, or at least, as far as he could tell, considering how much they had spent with clothes, food and decorating the place - the ceremony would be done in Helen’s parents garden, which wasn’t nearly as humble as it sounded when said it outloud, since Helen’s parents - Lord and Lady Selwyn - owned a manor.
As her mother was, Aurora had been nothing but kind to Remus since they had met, however, might it be the little amount of time they had actually spent together, he still felt like she was distant. But he couldn’t blame her, after all, it seemed no one had asked Aurora if she wanted to leave her father to join a whole new family.
"Are you nervous?” Aurora asked, after some time, breaking the silence. Remus shrugged, and offered her a shy grin.
“A little bit.” Aurora shook her head, giving him a confident squeeze on the shoulder.
“Don’t be, you are going to be fine.” She said. “Just don’t lose the rings.” The girl told him and Remus chuckled.
“I won’t.” He assured her, patting lightly the black little box inside his pocket.
“Great! Let’s go, the guests are arriving and we are responsible for checking the list.” She rolled his eyes. “I think they think we are going to be more excited if we are forced to participate.” Aurora murmured to him. Remus smiled and followed her outside the room.
Aurora and Remus took their places by the entrance. She had a clipboard in hand, and together they checked, one by one, the names of the guests coming in. Everything was going fine, until a beautiful young girl came in front of them. She had long dark brown hair falling through her shoulders in an angelic disposition, and mysterious silver eyes. Remus couldn’t stop himself from recognizing her beauty.
“What’s your name, miss?” Aurora asked with a charming smile.
“Hm, Andromeda.” The girl said. “Andromeda Black.” Remus realized she didn’t seem very confident in that information. Which was weird, in the least. He didn’t recognize the surname ‘Black’ and, considering his father wasn’t exactly popular and didn’t have many friends, she should be on Helen’s side of guests. However, Aurora also didn’t recognize her. Could she be trying to crash his dad’s wedding? Remus wanted to laugh, that idea was fascinating and hilarious at the same time. While Aurora tried to deal with the situation, Remus distracted himself looking over the garden, it was beautiful. Until…
“Aurora…” He whispered to the girl beside him. “I think there are people hiding in the trees.”