Advoco Lupum

*****

Dear Mr. Remus J. Lupin,

We regret to inform you that your brother, Romulus B. Lupin died yesterday...

*****

As if my life couldn't get any more complicated.

I'd woken that morning in the middle of the forbidden forest disoriented and confused. Why was I out here? What had happened the night before? The Wolfsbane potion should have let me remember everything, so why was it all a blur?

But memory soon came back to me. The map, the shrieking shack, Sirius, Peter, having all the 'truths' I'd built my life around for the past twelve year all turned on their ear in the space of five minutes. Sirius was innocent, he hadn't betrayed James and Lily... or me.

But I had messed everything up. For the first time since I was six years old, I had forgotten about the moon. I had to get back to the castle, to find out what had happened. I was actually frighteningly close to school. And I had to make a mad dash in the predawn light from the edge of the forest to the Whomping Willow to retrieve my wand so I could summon myself some clothes.

I quickly made my way to Dumbledore's office to find out what had happened. I anything had happened to any of them I would never forgive myself.

I arrived in the Headmaster's office just past sunrise and he told me everything that had happened. I breathed a sigh of relief when he said I hadn't hurt anyone but nearly had a heart attack when he said Sirius had been captured. Dumbledore quickly assured me that he had escaped but it was a while before I got my hands to stop shaking. After all the explaining was done I thanked Dumbledore profusely, for everything, and excused myself and headed towards my office. I had a letter to write.

It pained me to realize it, but I was too big of a risk. I couldn't, in good conscience, stay at Hogwarts when I knew that my very presence put every single student in danger. I would have to resign. I had just sat down at my desk and pulled out a quill and parchment when my stomach informed me that it was time for breakfast.

I was so distracted that I had walked through the Great Hall, sat down and had started looking through my morning mail, of which I had much more that usual, before I realized that nearly every student in the hall was staring at me and many were whispering to each other in hushed tones.

It was like one of my old nightmares from when I'd been in school. Just waking up one day and having everyone suddenly know about my curse. It was a good thing I'd already decided to resign or I probably would have been devastated. I sighed and stood back up without touching my breakfast and left the Great Hall for what I thought was the last time.

I quickly returned to my desk, my hunger forgotten, and wrote a hasty resignation letter. I went back to Dumbledore's office and gave him the letter, and as expected he tried to talk me out of leaving even after he learned that the students knew about my condition. But when I had politely declined for the third or fourth time he finally relented and said that a carriage would be waiting out front whenever I was ready to leave.

I thanked him for everything and left to pack my things.

I quickly gathered my meager belongings, said my good byes to Harry and turned down Dumbledore yet again before I had made it out of Hogwarts and on the coach headed for Hogsmead station.

It wasn't until I was looking back to the only place that I had considered home in a long time that I realized that I had no idea what I was going to do once I got off the train at King's Cross. I also hadn't read my mail.

With the bizarrely optimistic idea that fate would be kind enough to send me a telegram telling me what it had planned for me next I picked one of the three letters I'd gotten that morning at random and opened it.

Fate was not being kind to me. In fact I'm pretty sure it likes making my life miserable. The letter was from some muggle lawyer informing me that I had inherited my family's old house and everything in it. Because its previous owner, my brother, had been mauled to death by a dog. And I also got custody of his ten-year-old son.

At that point I think I went on autopilot, because the next thing I remember is shaking hands with some muggle in a suit. He explained some of the muggle legal proceeding and had me sign several papers that I didn't even read before driving me to the hospital.

I was still in a daze as I was led through halls and corridors. It was only when I was stopped in front of one of the many unassuming white doors that I fully came out of my stupor. I couldn't quite tell why, but I did not want to go through that door.

But as soon as I walked in the room and the scent hit me, I knew why. I smelt Wolf. And I didn't have to look at my nephew, to look into eyes once blue and now a haunted gold, to know... My brother hadn't been killed by a dog, he'd been killed by a werewolf. And his son had been bitten.

What had I gotten myself into?