Facades

Facades

Chapter One: Prologue

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Even at age sixteen, Remus Lupin was far from ordinary. He'd lived half of his life believing false stories, making false stories. Everything he was based on seemed to be a lie. It wasn't just that which made him different, for it was his past that created everything that had ever occurred so mysterious.

When he had come to Hogwarts, Remus had been welcomed, yet viewed with caution from his professors, always having a second eye kept on him. He knew he was being watched, although his watchers might have not known of this knowledge. He knew all the same. It had been in his nature to know these things since he was young.

He also knew it was not only his professors watching him, but a certain raven haired Slytherin by the name of Severus Snape. It had been in his first year, in which he'd made many friends and many enemies, that Remus had come to discover the Slytherin's certain obsession with watching. He was always watching, almost as if waiting for the time to spring something on someone. It reminded Remus of how a cat stalked a mouse, lying low in the grass, ears back, and waiting for the right moment to spring upon its prey, to give the fatal blow it required to make the capture.

For six years those ever-watchful beetle-black eyes had surveyed him, and it often made Remus uncomfortable. Being anything but ordinary, Remus had viewed everyone with his own suspicions, often pondering why Dumbledore allowed him to come to school here. Even at this older age, he was not quick to trust, or to be open to more lies.

Yet, it was he who was always lying. He was a lie himself.

Before Hogwarts, what Remus was had been considered to all in his family a fictional thing. Being a wizard had not been surprising after he'd been turned, bitten by a werewolf, and cursed for the rest of his life. That was the one thing in which he always tried to hide. He thought that this secret would ruin any chance he had of keeping his friends, which he'd come to grow closer to each passing school year, for those five years since his first. Everyone knew that werewolves were feared greatly, and it was this fact that caused him to stay silent and to never reveal it to anyone. Dumbledore knew, as did the professors. That was enough for him to be highly nervous, questioning what his head master had behind it, his true reasons for admitting a dark creature.

It seemed right to believe it was based out of pity, or perhaps the goodness in his heart. It was common knowledge that Remus' parents had been murdered long ago, and that he now lived with a foster family. His foster parents, whom he referred to as Mama and Papa, had never told him the exact cause of his genetic parent's deaths. It continued to elude him, but it was half because he'd never asked. He could not bring himself to question it, did not want to. He figured it was better this way. His biological parents were dead, and there was no bringing them back. He was happy with his current family, even so much so he had given over to them the titles he'd never known to any other. His single foster sister, Elizabeth, was to him an actual sister. He'd never known another, nor had he ever known his parents. He'd been told it was because he'd witnessed their murders, or found their bodies. He preferred not to remember which one it was. It only matter that he'd seen one of them, and his mind had tried to protect him from this information, causing him to forget every last bit of it. It was the body's way of dealing with such a great trauma, they'd said.

So, he could not remember, nor did he want to. His life was anew, and he had learned to cope with never knowing previous events. He never asked; therefore, he was never told. He liked it that way, truly. He figured the saying 'what you don't know can't hurt you' was as true as any. As the years passed, and he grew, Remus made the best of what he had. Though his foster parents weren't exactly wealthy, they were neither poor. He was often targeted for teasing, with his hand-me-down robes, patched and worn, frayed at the bottoms and at the ends of the sleeves. Slytherins took no mercy, nor did they have any respect for what they did not understand. He had many enemies in that house, but he also had many friends.

First, there was James Potter, loyal and kind, and always true. James had been the first to speak to him, as they shared a compartment together on the Hogwarts express at the beginning of their very first year. James was very easy on the eyes, with unruly black hair, glasses, and bright blue eyes. He was a very intelligent boy, and very skilled at the wizarding sport called Quidditch. His position on the team fitted him very well, or so Remus thought, seeing as James could often be very rash, giving not a second thought to things, yet always managing to come out of the mess in the end, mostly unscathed. He was thin and lanky, slightly built, and with the form of a chaser. It was almost certain no other position would describe him as best, as that of chaser. Yet, atop all that, it had to be his mind that made him a force to be reckoned with. James was cunning, always knowing what to do and just how to do it. He had pulled very successful pranks on the members of the Slytherin house, mainly on Severus Snape and Evan Rosier, Snape's right hand man. Of course, none of those pranks could have been accomplished without the helped of one Sirius Black.

Sirius was an amazingly sly boy himself, though sneakier than James. He was a scoundrel, that one. He might have been a charmer with the ladies, but aside from those situations, Sirius Black was just downright rotten. He was ruthless as any Slytherin, sometimes getting into fistfights or duels in between classes. He'd been caught a fair few times out after curfew, off to duel with some Slytherin whom had been up for the challenge. He was headstrong and determined, and perhaps that was what drew Remus to him. He had the look of a common thief or criminal with long, untamed hair, pitch black and a lanky form. You could often hint stubble forming after a few days, simply adding to the rough look in which he often presented himself. With this look came much reasoning. One being, if ever in doubt, blame Sirius. It was as that, why Remus had been given quite a few detentions with James and Sirius, the excuse from their Potions teacher, Arabella Figg, being 'guilty by association.' Remus could well remember a time having to squeeze leeches well into the night after being caught sitting at the same table with Sirius, after the other boy had stealthily dropped a firecracker or two into poor Peter Pettigrew's cauldron.

Thus, leading to the next member of the gang, said Peter Pettigrew. Peter was the quietest of the group, never having much to saw in the company of all three of them. He was bumbling sometimes, mainly under the scornful gaze of Professor Figg, or perhaps the ever-seeing blue eyes of Headmaster Dumbledore. He was polite and kind, always friendly to a lower classman. Peter respected all things for what they were. He was never one to judge, and he was equally easy to trust. Sirius had often teased him for his blonde-colored hair, or his stubby posture. He was short, and easily mistaken for a third year, or perhaps lower. He was chubby, more baby fat on him than the others, and it often deceived people. Though all those things, he could be just as much a stealth as the other two. He played his fair share of pranks on Slytherins, though he was never one to be suspected for them. It was always James and Sirius, or himself. Peter was the type to be just a much a coward at times as he could be brave at others. Loyal through and through, he was one he could always trust with a secret, or perhaps just to lend an ear when you needed one. Remus had done those a few times himself. Peter was a very good person, and never one to be cruel in any way. It was that which made the other three boys close with him, knowing he'd never spill their secrets, and he would always be willing to back them up when they needed it. Sometimes Peter would get involved in the fist-fights with James and Sirius, which Remus never participated in, and at those times, it was the last of the group who took matters into her own hands.

Lily Evans was the fifth of the gang. Though she was the only female, she was the brain of the whole operation. She was top of her year, high marks in every class, only to be beaten out in Potions. She had only come to befriend the boys during third year. They never considered her to be part of their group truly, but in a way she was. It was an older alliance that the boys had, and with the arrival of Lily, they'd created a newer one, to fit to her presence. Lily was simply too wonderful to be defined. She was an optimist, and it got her into a mess more times than one. She seemed completely innocent, and, Remus would admit, he thought her naive. It wasn't wrong to him, as they often said ignorance could be bliss, but more time than one that saying had been incorrect. Lily was not one to be defined to Remus, and he wouldn't even try. She had the loveliest ginger-red hair, the most breathtaking emerald eyes, and the most brilliant, radiating smile one could ever even imagine. She was short, though not as short as Peter. At one glance one could be instantly captivated. She was always a good-natured person and willing to give everyone a benefit of the doubt. Like Peter, she was easily trusted and trusts others just the same. She was never quick to judge and believing in second chances when the first had failed. The other four were immediately put-off in the presence of Slytherins, but Lily simply was not. Nothing could break her mood, or so it seemed. It was clear to everyone but Lily that James fancied her just fine. He could often be caught staring openly at the girl, Remus simply rolling his eyes with a shake of his head. Lily liked everyone, and it was because of this that James got the wrong idea of her. All in all, the five of them made quite a team.

Yet, beneath the surface, things were rather complicated. A few of the members of this group held amazing facades, hiding behind masks, and keeping secrets that one should not. Remus was one of them, which was true. He would never deny it. He would also never deny that he was able to tell when one had a secret. Perhaps from a quickened heart rate, faster breathing, shifty eyes, or just by posture. Remus could sense everything there was when it came to being nervous or frightened of a secret slipping.

As sixth year started, Remus could sense these things more and more, often everyday, sometimes in long intervals, but it did not matter. They were there, and he knew so. Someone, besides him, was keeping a secret, and it was this that began quite a year, one that the five would never forget. It didn't take long for Remus to get a feeling of the nervousness, just at the Sorting Feast, the first night of return.

He was determined to understand it, and he was going to.

His determination built another web of lies and deceit throughout the whole year, the tension rising between him and another in the group. Tension so thick, it could but cut with a knife, as the saying went. So, with the tension, began another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and a very eventful year for those involved.

Author's Ending Note: By the way, did I mention I have no beta on this story yet? Any volunteers? The spots open, if no one complies, then back to Tenshi it goes. ^-^; Anyway, hope to have another chapter out soon. This is just a pet project; it has no relation to any of the other fics I'm doing, seeing as it doesn't even have Harry or the others in it. *rolls eyes*

PLEASE REVIEW!! ^-^