Chapter 1
Something had happened. Remus could sense it in the way that the world seemed just a little bit lighter, yet a little bit duller.
Something had happened.
Something was missing.
Remus entered the flat. It was quiet. Sirius wasn't home yet. That was okay. Remus needed to sleep for a little bit, anyway. He put his wand down and went to shower.
He couldn't shake the thought that something horrible had happened. Something to do with his pack friends. It was something that he didn't want to feel.
There was a knock on the window. An owl with a letter on it. Remus frowned and went over to let the owl in. It flew around a little bit until it landed on the table. Remus walked over to the bird and took the letter. It hooted, somewhat sadly, and watched as Remus opened the letter.
Dear Mister Lupin,
It is with a heavy heart that I write to you. The war is over, but it comes at a great cost. Lord Voldemort found out where James and Lily were hiding with Harry. He visited them on Halloween, and neither James nor Lily survived. Harry has been placed with his aunt and uncle in Surrey, and Sirius Black has been sent to Azkaban without a trial.
I watched the Dursleys all through the day. They are the worst kinds of Muggles, but Albus thinks that it is the safest thing for Harry. I don't believe it myself, but I cannot take care of the boy full time myself. I believe that, according to James and Lily's Will, it is best for you to decide who the boy should live with.
Before you go doubting yourself, James and Lily trusted you the most next to Sirius. If there is anyone who can take care of Harry, it would be you. If you are worried about the full moons, then we can plan for them. Someone who can be there overnight and while you recover from the full moons. Whatever is the most convenient for you and Harry.
It might take some time, but Harry will be better off with you. This, I trust.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall.
Remus was frozen to the spot. James… Lily…
His friends, his family, his pack. Torn apart, and he didn't know who remained. James and Lily were dead, Harry was with Lily's horrid sister and her horrid husband, and Sirius…
Sirius…
He sank to the floor, letter clutched in one hand and his face in the other. Sobs wracked his body, and he didn't-
His pack… what happened to Peter?
He sat on the ground, unable to move, for who knew how long. The owl left at some point with a hoot. He hardly noticed it, too consumed by his grief.
He sat there, even after he had stopped crying. His family was dead, Sirius was a traitor, and he didn't know what the hell had happened to Peter.
There was a knock on the door. Remus got up and went to answer it.
"Remus."
"Mary." The two of them looked at each other. Remus let her in without another word. "What happened?" he asked. His voice was quiet, so unlike him.
"Sirius betrayed them. Peter… he went after Sirius. The street was blown up. All they could find of him was a finger." Remus sat on the couch, head in his hand, letter still clutched in the other. Mary sat next to him and leaned against him.
"Fuck…" Remus didn't know what to do anymore. He looked down at the letter in his hands.
Mary stayed with him for a while, crying on and off. She had to leave though, which meant that Remus was alone.
Again. No one to spend the full moons with. No more running around with Padfoot and Wormtail and Prongs. No more Lily, or James.
He didn't go back to his room, too hurt to do anything but sit there. He kept crying until he was too tired to cry, and he laid down and tried to sleep. He couldn't, not when his life had changed so much.
_______________________________________
Barring Harry, James and Lily had been the last of the Potters. The meant that Remus and Mary were left to plan out their funeral, just as they had to plan the funerals of their other friends.
The first one after his life the war ended was Peter's funeral. Order of Merlin, First Class, and just a finger in a box. That was all that remained of the timid boy he had known since first year. Remus stood with Mary, wearing his best that Sirius had bought him because Remus didn't have money, but Sirius did.
Well, he didn't know how to feel about it. Not anymore.
Then it was straight to planning James and Lily's funeral.
It hurt so badly. The house that they had lived in was partially blown apart from the curse rebounding. People from all over the country were coming by and leaving flowers outside the gates and thanking Harry for saving them. Anger burned in him, because they were celebrating the fact that his life had been torn apart for the war to be won.
He pushed it aside for the funeral, a small thing with friends and classmates from Hogwarts. The Weasleys were there too, their youngest curled up on Molly's chest, fast asleep. She handed the baby over to her husband to hug Remus and Mary, a sorry whisper on her tongue. Remus allowed it.
He ended up at McGongall's house later, after the funeral. Mary sat next to him, sipping a cup of tea quietly.
"Why are we here?" Remus asked. He knew why.
"Because of Harry," McGonagall replied. Mary's breath hitched.
"I can't take him in, Professor, you know that." His voice was quiet as he spoke. McGonagall observed him with a look that was softer than it had been when he was at Hogwarts, but there was still a no bullshit look in her eyes.
"Why is that, Mister Lupin? Because you are a Werewolf?" She asked bluntly. Remus flinched. "We can plan for those. I can come and take care of the boy during and after your transformations, or perhaps Mary can. We can place wards around the house if it's Harry's safety against others outside of the house that you're worried about. Whatever concerns you have are valid, but we can talk through them."
"I don't-"
"Remus," Mary said, cutting him off mid sentence, "I think you should do it. Harry needs you, and I don't think that any of us here trust Lily's sister and her awful husband to give Harry the love and care that he needs." Remus took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
He needed to list all of the pros and cons of this. Of what would happen if Harry stayed with the Dursleys and what would happen if Harry lived with Remus.
First, the Dursleys.
Harry would grow up knowing only Petunia's hatred of Lily, and he probably wouldn't have any idea why.
Petunia and her husband would try to suppress Harry's magic. No magical child should have their magic suppressed, because it could cause major outbursts that would have the same result as the explosion that killed Peter.
Due to them suppressing Harry's magic, Harry would likely never know how or why his parents died.
There was a large chance that Harry was being neglected right now, and the thought of it made his hackles rise and want to growl.
Now the cons of Harry living with Remus.
Remus didn't know how to raise a kid.
He wasn't ready to be a single parent to a kid, even if the kid was part of his pack.
James and Lily weren't prepared for a kid and didn't know how to be parents. That didn't stop them.
Pros of Harry living with Remus…
His magic wouldn't be suppressed.
He would know who his parents were and why they died, and just how much they loved him.
Harry wouldn't be neglected.
Harry would probably be happier with Remus, anyway.
Harry knew Remus and not the Dursleys.
The pros were outweighing the cons here…
He'd already made up his mind.
"Fine," he agreed.
"I'll help where I can, but I can't guarantee that I'll be able to do a whole lot," Mary said. She was smiling though. She squeezed Remus' hand. "But I have every faith that you'll be able to do this." Remus nodded with a small smile.
Maybe he could, maybe he couldn't. Whatever happened, he wouldn't be as alone as he thought.
"I will also help where I am able," McGonagall added.
"We need a game plan to get Harry out of there," he said. They looked at each other, thinking.
"I can gather information as a cat, record what the Dursleys are doing to Harry to prove their incompetence," McGonagall said.
"I can help you find a better house than that flat you live in right now. Harry's going to need a yard and his own room, not to mention that you'll probably need to get house with another room for guests," Mary commented.
"That would be a lot of money that I don't have," Remus said.
"We'll help you. You can pay us back over time if you really want to. You will probably need wards, too. There's still Death Eaters out there that would love to get their hands on Harry for the fact that he survived Voldemort so easily." Mary's thoughts were going faster than Remus had seen them go, fueled by getting her friend's child to safety as soon as possible.
"Perhaps the Fidelius Charm," McGonagall said. Remus swallowed thickly.
"If we use that, then I'll be the Secret Keeper," he told her. McGonagall nodded.
"I wouldn't expect anything else, Remus," she replied. He nodded.
Of course not. He was a werewolf, and it wasn't exactly a secret when it came to Dumbledore, Madam Pomfrey and McGonagall. They had made it possible for Remus to go to Hogwarts at all. They had learned that Remus was protective of the people he called his pack, the wolf a part of him and not a separate entity.
She'd been expecting him to say that he'd be the Secret Keeper after what Sirius did.
"So it's settled? You'll gather evidence and us two will find a place for Harry and Remus to live in?" Mary asked.
"I believe it is," McGonagall agreed.
For the first time since he learned of James and Lily's deaths, Remus felt hope. It was small, but it was there. Hope that, with Harry, Mary and McGonagall around, life would become a bit brighter.
He wouldn't rely on it too much, but he allowed himself to hope.
_______________________________________
It had been a few months since James and Lily were killed, and life wasn't any easier.
Frank and Alice Longbottom had been tortured to insanity, and trials were ongoing. Some of the Death Eaters got away with their crimes with little to no punishment, though Bellatrix admitted to using the Cruciatus Curse. Remus couldn't believe it when he heard the news. It seemed to him that more and more of the people he knew were either dying or going totally insane for one reason or another.
Nothing really seemed right anymore.
He kept going, though. Through full moons and looking at different houses, through mourning people he knew and the friendships he used to have that were now nothing but burning embers.
November turned to December, and December to January.
"How are you so picky?" Mary asked him. They walked together, side by side. Remus shrugged.
"I didn't know that I could be so picky about a house," he replied. They'd just looked at a nice house in Brighton, but it didn't fit what Remus wanted. He didn't even know what he wanted. He wanted a yard for Harry, and a couple of rooms so that the boy would have space once he was a teenager. That was about it, though.
"We'll figure something out. That flat is way too small for a growing boy such as Harry." Remus rolled his eyes.
"You say that often," he said. Mary smiled at him and linked her arm with his.
"And I'm correct every time," she remarked.
"As though I'm not aware of it myself," he sniped.
"Moving on from that. What do you think would be best for you both? I have a few more ideas, but you need to look at them."
"What are they?" Remus asked.
"One is a cottage near where the Weasleys and Lovegoods live, but there is another one near a Muggle town that might be nice," Mary explained. Remus thought about it.
A Muggle town might actually be the best bet for him and Harry. Somewhere away from the majority of magical Britain, where they could exist with their wards and Harry would be able to learn how to be human without all of the Boy-Who-Lived fame he had.
"Perhaps the second one," he said. It wouldn't do for Harry to have a large ego because he survived the killing curse at a year old.
Remus honestly didn't think that it was anything to be proud of. If it were anyone else, his heart would ache for the child who lost their parents.
"We'll go and look at it soon," Mary promised. Remus smiled.
"Thank you," he said, "for everything you're doing here. I really do appreciate it."
"You don't have to thank me, Remus. We're friends, practically family. We only have each other now, and it's important that we stick together through as much as we can."
"You're right," he agreed.
_______________________________________
The cottage that Mary had mentioned was a quaint little thing on a plot of land large enough for Remus to grow his own food and maybe have some chickens, maybe some sheep, and still have plenty of space for Harry to run around. There was a forest imbued with magic not too far away, and from what Remus knew, there weren't any werewolves there, making it the perfect place for his transformations.
They were greeted by a Muggle man in a suit and tie.
"Hello! I'm Michael Stewart," he introduced himself.
"Remus Lupin," Remus replied.
"Mary Macdonald," Mary said.
"Lovely to meet you both. Now, I don't like to waste too much time with small talk, but if you have any questions then feel free to ask," Michael said.
"We will," Mary promised. Michael smiled.
"Right! Now, let's have a look around. This house is perfect for a family of four. Three rooms, two bathrooms, a study that can be anything you want it to be. Playroom, study, whatever. There's plenty of space for kids to run around, too-" Remus listened half-heartedly, instead looking around at the house.
The downstairs bathroom was just a toilet and a sink in a room between the study and dining room. The upstairs bathroom had a shower and a bathtub, perfect for giving a pup a bath…
"It's perfect," he said. Michael grinned.
"Shall we talk money then?" He asked. Remus and Mary looked at each other.
"Yes, we shall," Remus replied.