Runaway

Remus Lupin edged closer to the bush. There was something grey and fluffy in there. Remus wanted to hold it.

Suddenly the thing in the bush let out a horrible growl. Remus paid no attention. He was, after all, just three years old. Remus heard his mum calling his name but paid it no mind. His mother wasn't important right now. The thing in the bush was.

Suddenly the thing in the bush jumped out. It was a werewolf. Remus screamed. His mother ran toward him but she wasn't fast enough. The werewolf fastened its overlarge jaw onto Remus's small wrist. The next thing Remus felt was considerable pain.

Remus awoke in a cold sweat. He hated that dream. It was so long ago when he had been bitten by a werewolf. Remus sighed. He wished the dream would go away but it never did. Remus had already had the dream three times this week. That was because this was the week leading up to the full moon. Remus knew that he would yet again turn into the dreadful werewolf.

Remus was in fifth year in Hogwarts and very happy. He had three great friends named Peter AKA wWormtail, Sirius AKA Padfoot, and James AKA Prongs. Remus was AKA Moony. His friends were animagi and kept Remus company while he was a werewolf. The three boys were Remus's truest and greatest friends. Remus had not even known the meaning of friendship until he had come to Hogwarts.

Remus now looked around the dormitory at the shapes of his three friends. Remus was anxious about the adventure the four boys had planned for this month but he couldn't help feeling a bit excited.....

The night of the full moon, Madam Pomfrey led Remus across the grounds as usual and toward the Whomping Willow.

"There you go dear," she said. Remus thanked her, then picked a stick up from the ground, and walked forward into the tree.

MEANWHILE......

Sirius and Snape were having a heated argument.

"Where does that stupid friend of yours, Lupin, go every month, huh?" Snape spat at Sirius. "None of your business;" Sirius replied angrily. Heat was rising in his face and he could feel himself getting angrier.

Suddenly Sirius had an idea. "You'd love to go after him wouldn't you?" he asked Snape, trying to keep his voice angry and trying not to smile at the plan forming in his head.

"Yes, that's why I'm asking you, you dungbrain," Snape replied, thinking that he was getting the better of Sirius. "I know he goes into that tree, how does he get inside?"

"You want to see what he does there, is that it?" Sirius asked, almost unable to keep the laughter down. "Well, you're in luck slimy Slytherin. All you have to do is press the knot on the tree with a long stick and you can follow him."

"Why are you telling me this?" asked Snape, suddenly suspicious. "Oh, no reason," Sirius answered.

Snape smirked at Sirius and ran out toward the grounds.

Sirius stood there laughing when James came running up to him. "I don't believe it!" he screamed at Sirius. "Peter just told me that you did a bad thing. That you said something about Remus to Snape."

"Yeah," said Sirius, "So."

"What did you tell that slimy, overlarge nosed, idiot?" James asked, trying to keep his voice calm, but was unable to keep the anger out of his voice.

"I told him how to follow Remus into the tree," Sirius replied.

"What?!" James raged. "You idiot!" And without another word he ran after Snape.

"Severus," James yelled, "Severus wait! Stop!"

Snape was already at the tree. James could not tell if he had heard him or he just didn't care. Snape picked Lupin's stick of the ground and pressed the knot on the tree.

The tree froze. Snape was about to go inside when he saw something that made him stop dead. Just a couple hundred feet away from Snape and staring hungrily at him was a werewolf. Large teeth produced from its mouth and it was snarling.

Wild thoughts flashed through Snape's mind. "Lupin," he screamed "It's you isn't you! You'll be sorry!"

The werewolf growled menacingly and Snape suddenly realized that his life was in danger. He screamed and tried to move but his feet weren't working.

Suddenly James grabbed Snape by the arm. "C'mon," he said. He started to pull Snape back when the tree unfroze and started to move again. James tried to make Snape move faster but he wouldn't budge. "C'mon," he said again. Suddenly James felt a blinding pain on the top of his head. He blinked blood out of his eyes. His vision was clouding. He felt himself let go of Snape's arm. "No," James whispered, "No."

And then everything went black.

When James awoke, he was in the hospital wing. He could hear people talking quietly. He sat up and looked around. Snape was lying in the bed next to him and looked unconscious. James could see dried blood on his robes. James tried to scratch his head but couldn't owing to a large bandage covering it.

James looked around and saw that Sirius was sitting by his bed. "Hey," Sirius said.

"Hey," James answered.

"Look, I'm really sorry James. It was just a joke. I never meant for anyone to get hurt."

"I'm sure you didn't," James replied. "You just wanted to pay that slimeball back for all those bad things he did to us. But he could have been killed Sirius! So could I, I suppose."

Snape choose that moment to wake up. "So," he said with glee. "Your little friend's a werewolf. And he tried to kill me last night. He'll be expelled for sure. Wait till all the parents find out about this. They won't be happy. You can say good-bye to your little friend right now cause it's his last night here."

At that moment Dumbledore walked into the ward. He walked up to them. "Mr. Black," he said. "I would like to speak with Mr. Potter and Mr. Snape. If you could please excuse us for a second."

"Yes of course headmaster." Sirius replied and left the ward.

Dumbledore turned to James. "That was a very brave thing you did Mr. Potter. Risking your life to help someone you particularly dislike. For that I award Gryffindor 40 points. Now Mr. Black has played a joke that was, how should I put it, not quite up to Gryffindor standards. For that I subtract 20 points from Gryffindor. Now if you don't mind, I would like to speak with Mr. Snape in private so I hope you don't mind me magically plugging your ears."

"No, of course not," James said.

Dumbledore smiled, waved his wand, and all sounds stooped. James lay back on his pillow and waited to be able to hear again.

Dumbledore turned to Snape. "I saw him professor Dumbledore, sir. I saw the werewolf, I mean I saw Lupin, I mean....."

"Listen Mr. Snape, you are never to tell anyone what you saw inside the Whomping Willow. Ever. Do you understand that?"

"But headmaster," said Snape in a whining voice "Remus is a werewolf, he could be dangerous, the world's got to know."

"Mr. Snape, you have to understand, it could be dangerous to Remus to have anyone find out he is a werewolf, you don't want anything bad to happen to him do you?"

"Of, of course not", said Snape in a voice that stated quite clearly that that was not true. Dumbledore saw that at once.

"Let's put it this way Mr. Snape. I forbid you to tell anyone what you saw inside that tree or what I told you tonight. Your saying anything could lead you to expulsion from this school. Of course I would hate to resort to such measures so I hope this will be our little secret. Also, your foolishness of going into that tree has caused me to take 10 points from Slytherin. Good day to you." And with that, Dumbledore unplugged James ears and left the ward.

During that day, James had a lot of visitors, all intent on cheering him up. Snape had no visitors. James could see he looked a bit sad and jealous.

James girlfriend, Lily Evans, came with a get well card that she made herself and a box of chocolate frogs. Peter came and told James to feel better. Sirius came again and apologized again. Remus came the next day.

When Remus changed back and heard what happened, he was really angry at Sirius. "It's my fault," he muttered to himself "My Fault."

Remus visited James and asked if he was ok.

The next day, Madam Pomfrey discharged James and Snape from the hospital wing. This month adventure lay forgotten but there was still next month adventure up ahead.

In a month, Madam Pomfrey walked Remus to the Whomping Willow again. Remus thanked her and walked inside. He ran to the Shrieking Shack were he transformed into the werewolf and paced the room angrily (ripping things apart) waiting for his friends to arrive.

Soon afterward, he heard noises downstairs. This meant that his best friends had arrived. In came a big shaggy black dog that was Sirius, followed by James who was a stag, and then came Peter the rat who was hard to see because he was so small.

The four friends sat out together towards Hogsmeade....

The four friends crawled out of the tree and headed towards Hogsmeade. They could still talk in their other forms but it was hard to string words together.

They walked into Hogsmeade and kept to the shadows. The four friends already knew six passages out of the school. They knew that Filch (the filth) knew about four of them.

Sirius had chosen most of the adventure for this month. They would play truth-or-dare at the edge of Hogsmeade. They could roam the whole town.

Since this was Sirius's idea, he was up first. "Remus," he said "truth or dare?"

Remus was feeling bored so he said dare. "I dare you to sneak into the closest house and lick the first person you see in the face.

"Fine," Remus said.

He trotted to the nearest house and opened the window with his jaw. It was a little girl's room. Remus climbed inside and licked her in the face.

This is so stupid he thought.

Remus climbed back out and closed the window again. He was only going along with this because he hated being a werewolf and needed something to distract him. He wondered yet again what Dumbledore would do if he found out what Remus and his friends were doing. Dumbledore had trusted Remus and had admitted him to Hogwarts. Remus wondered briefly how he would feel if he saw that Remus was not in the Whomping Willow, which had been planted to protect the students from Remus, but out in Hogsmeade, breaking about fifty school rules including the law.

They played the game for a while. Then it was Remus' turn again. James dared Remus to go to the outskirts of town and howl like an idiot. He wanted Remus to howl a stupid song. Remus trotted to the edge of Hogsmeade and began to howl. He was trying to howl "Itsy Bitsy Spider."

But as Remus started to howl, the wolf inside him was awakened. Remus forgot where he was and what he was doing. All he knew was what the wolf knew. He smelled prey, and he went after it......

Remus trotted toward the smell. He saw the outline of a young girl sitting on a bench. She appeared to be crying. Remus wanted to ask her what was wrong. He wanted to come up to her and help her, but his mind was no match for the wolf's instincts.

Remus could hear his friends searching for him. Calling out his name but they were irrelevant.

Remus moved closer to the girl. He could hear her words through her sobs. "Why? Why does everyone hate me? Why do I have to be a squib?" the girl was saying "Why couldn't I be a witch like a normal person?"

Remus felt sorry for her and wanted to help her but, the smell of prey was overpowering! She smelled so good!

Remus raised his haunches. He got ready. And, he pounced....

The little girl heard Remus, she turned around. She looked up. She saw an overlarge jaw with two claw-like paws flying right at her!

The girl let out a long piercing shriek which was quickly stifled as Remus fastened his jaws over the girls head. Only one person in town, Sirius, had heard the shriek. He raced toward it followed by James. Peter stayed behind, hiding under a bush.

Sirius and James saw Remus about to kill the girl. Sirius hurried forward and dragged Remus away. He then bit his tail and dragged Remus all the way to the willow. James transformed back and took a wand out of his pocket. The girl stared at him, unable to speak. James raised the wand. "Obliviate!" James yelled. The girl's vision became unfocused. She dropped to the steps. James left her at it. He transformed back and got Peter. Then he ran after Sirius.

The next day, Remus sat on his four-poster bed with his head in his hands.

"Don't blame yourself," James told him.

"Yeah," Sirius said "It wasn't your fault." But Remus knew that it was his fault for sure.

That night, when everyone went to sleep, Remus sat alone on his bed, thinking. Only bad things have happened since I came to Hogwarts Remus thought. He remembered that time back in his second year. Back when the Whomping willow was not fully grown and he had transformed in a special room east of the hospital wing. One night when the nurse (Madam Hunter) was leading him to the room and he had transformed too early and had bitten her leg off. After having her leg magically re-grown, Madam Hunter had quit on the spot and Madam Pomfrey had taken her place.

Remus knew what he must do to make things right. He had to leave. Tonight.

Remus packed the few things he would need into a bag. He took his wand and cloak. Remus was almost out the door when he thought of Hogwarts. Of what leaving the castle would mean. Remus looked over at the sleeping forms of his friends. Than he thought of the people he had hurt. "No," Remus said aloud "I can't risk that happening again." Making up his mind, Remus picked up his things and strode out the door...

Remus didn't meet anyone as he was walking through the castle. Remus got safely outside. He headed in the direction of the forbidden forest. Remus took out his wand. "Lumos," he muttered and the end of his wand let out a dazzling bright light. He headed forward onto the forest path.

As he walked forward he heard the forest's inhabitants making noises. Remus ignored them. He walked forward. He walked all night. When day came, Remus went into a little cave he saw to get some sleep and eat.

MEANWHILE...

James and Sirius awoke late on Saturday morning. Peter slept even later. James remembered how sad Remus had been last night and looked over at his bed. He didn't see him. James pointed this out to Sirius who shrugged and said that Remus probably went down to breakfast early and they shouldn't worry about it. James agreed with him and they went down to breakfast.

When arriving at the Great Hall, they noticed right away that Remus was not there. James became rather worried but Sirius said that he probably went outside or to the library to think. James agreed, but, he was still worried.

At that moment, James's girlfriend Lily and her best friend and adopted sister Jamie came in. James and Sirius looked up.

"Hi Lily," James said "Hello Jamie."

They answered hi.

"What's up?" Lily asked. Jamie, who was shy, remained quiet. James looked at them both meaningfully and said:

"Remus is missing."

"Oh," Lily said "Do you know where he is?'

"No," James answered.

"Not to worry about it ladies," Sirius said with a look at both of them "I'm sure he's fine. He probably just went outside or something. He was really upset last night." Sirius was looking at Jamie while he said that. He noticed that she was looking very radiant this morning. Jamie noticed Sirius looking at her. He noticed this and looked away.

"Why was he upset," Lily asked "Anything we should know about?" She lowered her voice. "He was ok in the Whomping Willow last night right? Nothing bad happened to him did it?"

James and Sirius looked at her. Sirius did not know what to say. He did not want to lie to the girls. They did not know that Remus had not been spending the night in the Shrieking Shack at all.

James, however, didn't want to get the girls worried so he decided to lie. "No, nothing like that," he said hurriedly. Lily looked at him like she didn't believe him but decided to drop the subject.

At that moment, Peter ran in. He looked upset and was carrying what liked like a piece of paper with him. When he came closer, they saw that the writing seemed to be smudged, as though the person writing it had been crying. The four of them looked at it worriedly.

"It's from Remus," he announced.

James grabbed the paper and read it. He bit his lip and seemed to be unable to speak. Sirius grabbed the paper from him and read it. "Oh no," he cried "It's Remus! He's run away!"......

"Listen to this," Sirius said.

Dear Marauders, Lily and Jamie,

I have decided to run away. I can't say here anymore and hurt more people that I love or don't know. Too many people like Madam Hunter have been hurt because of me. And remember when I almost killed Snape. I have brought pain to people ever since I came to Hogwarts. I could hurt someone seriously if I remain here. I'm sorry. I ask you not to tell anyone I have run away and I beg you not to go looking for me. It will cause me only more pain if you get into trouble. I am going somewhere where I won't be a danger to anyone. I'm not telling you where. Please understand that this is for the best.

Remus

"We have to do something," James cried at once.

"What," Lily said with eyes full of tears. She looked so sad with tears falling down her face and the front of her robes. James hugged her. Jamie was looking very sad.

"Poor Remus," she said. "I hope he's okay. He's out there all alone! What are we going to do?"

"Ok," Sirius said "Girls, you can relax, we'll find him. And don't tell anyone about this. Anyone at all. Understand?" The girls nodded and walked away, still in tears.

"Ok," James said "Peter, Sirius, we have to find him."

"But what if we get hurt?" Peter whimpered. Sirius threw him a murderous glare.

"Do you want Remus getting hurt?" he barked at Peter.

"N-No," he answered.

That night, the boys sat in their dormitory.

"Do you think we should tell Dumbledore?" Sirius asked.

"No, no," James said "We should try to find him ourselves."

"But where would he go?" Sirius asked, thinking hard.

"Well," James said "He said he's going somewhere where he won't be a danger to anyone." They thought about it for a moment and then it clicked.

"Of course," Sirius cried "The Dark Forest!!"

"Let's go," James cried, grabbing the invisibility cloak. James and Sirius put the cloak on and ran out the door.

Remus woke up at around 2 in the afternoon. He walked out of his little cave and looked around. He was in a small clearing. Remus took some food out of his bag and settled down to a late lunch.

He was in a pretty good mood that morning. He wondered if anybody noticed he had gone yet. He knew they probably found the note already. He hoped they wouldn't do anything stupid.

Remus finished eating and packed up his stuff. He walked farther into the forest.

MEANWHILE......

Sirius and James were walking slowly under the cloak. They were very worried.

"What if we don't find him before the month ends?" James asked with concern.

"Don't worry, we will. We have a whole month to go." Sirius answered.

"But Sirius, listen." James said "It's February. He has 26 days left. The forest is very large and we can't exactly cut classes. Besides, how long do you think it will be before the teachers notice that he's gone? They're not that stupid you know. We can only cover for him foe so long."

"You're right," Sirius said. "We'll look today, and if we don't find him, we go to Dumbledore."

They walked for some time. Pretty soon, they started to get hungry. It was also starting to get dark.

"It's time to go back," Sirius said sadly then he added "You think he's ok James?"

"I don't know," James answered "I hope so."

They walked back for some time. Suddenly darkness fell. James and Sirius lit their wands.

Suddenly James stopped and looked at Sirius.

"Do you have any idea where we are?" he asked.

Sirius looked at him and said "Don't you?"

James shook his head. "Great," Sirius muttered.

"Don't tell me we're lost?' James asked. Sirius nodded.

The pair wondered through the forest for two days. Suddenly, Sirius saw light ahead. He pointed it out to James. Weak from hunger, they hurried towards it. It was Hogwarts. The boys sighed with relief. They took of the cloak and hid it inside James's robes. Then they hurried towards the castle.

As they walked through the entrance hall, they felt the rest of their strength leave them and they slid to the floor.

Dumbledore was going for a nighttime check up on the castle when he saw the outline of two forms in the dark. Dumbledore hurried towards them with concern. He hoped whoever it was, was not hurt. Dumbledore was very worried the past three days. He didn't know when he had been more concerned really. Three students were missing from the castle and no one seemed to know where they were.

When Dumbledore got closer he recognized them as Sirius Black and James Potter, who were two of the missing students. Dumbledore looked at them. Their robes were ripped and a little bloody. He looked them over but did not see Remus anywhere. They didn't seem to be seriously hurt. They just looked exhausted. Dumbledore magiked them onto stretchers and moved them to the hospital wing.

"Poppy," Dumbledore called when he got there "Poppy!"

Madam Pomfrey came in. She had pulled a sweater over her nightdress.

"What is it Albus?" she asked

"I have found two of our missing students," Dumbledore answered. "They don't appear seriously hurt but I believe you should check them over. I also want them to stay here until I come to question them."

"Of-of course headmaster," Madam Pomfrey answered.

She put Sirius and James on two beds. They groaned slightly as she moved them, but didn't wake up.

When Sirius woke up in the hospital wing, he wondered how he had gotten there. He looked sideways and saw James on the bed next to him was already awake. Madam Pomfrey came in with two plates of soup.

"Here," she told them handing them the soup. Then she left.

Sirius and James ate their soup quietly, afraid that they were going to be in trouble. At that moment Dumbledore came in. They looked at him nervously. Dumbledore looked worried.

"Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said "Mr. Black," James looked down at his feet while Sirius sat there with his hands on his knees. Dumbledore continued. "Do not worry; I will not be punishing you. I need you to tell me where Mr. Lupin is. You were all together were you not?"

"We don't know where Remus is," James said quietly "He's-he's run away. We think to the forest."

Dumbledore looked at them. He knew that they went to search for Remus. That would explain a lot.

"How can you be sure?" Dumbledore asked.

"He left this," Sirius said, holding up Remus's note. There was total silence while Dumbledore read the note. Nobody said a word.

Dumbledore finally put down the note. He was looking very grave. He looked at the pair of them and said.

"Do not worry about Remus. A search party will be sent. I, however, forbid you to go looking for him again. Do you understand?"

They nodded and Dumbledore left.

The next three weeks were very hard on the group. Remus was still not found. By now, the whole school knew about his disappearance. Everybody except people in Slytherin kept trying to cheer the group up.

When Sirius and James woke up on February 28^th, they were all out of hope. Remus had been lost for a month. Tonight was the night of the full moon.

MEANWHILE........

Remus walked through the forest. He had lost track of time, but he knew it was the night of the full moon. He could feel it.

Remus had long ago run out of food. He had learned to eat the plants in the forest. He had almost been killed many times. Remus was nervous to walk in the forest at night or in the daytime. He had, however, gotten over that.

Remus walked all day long. He didn't find any food or water that day and he was starving and thirsty. He finally stopped. He knew he would transform soon. It was only a few minutes away. Remus lay down on the ground to think.

Suddenly his body became rigid. Oh no Remus thought it's starting.

He transformed into the werewolf. Remus ran around the forest for hours. He killed many animals. He destroyed trees. Finally, weak from hunger and thirst, Remus collapsed onto the ground.

Every thing around him was shining strangely. Remus looked at himself and saw that he was a human again. But how is that possible he thought, the night is not over yet. Suddenly he saw a strange creature descending over him. It was bathed in silvery light. It had no shape and color but Remus could tell at once that it was a beautiful woman. She then spoke. Remus could not really hear the voice. It seemed to be all around him. It was inside him as well, but it wasn't really there. It was like he could see the words forming in his head and making up a sound to them.

"Remus," she said.

"How-how do you know my name?" he whispered.

"I am the angel that will show you why you must come back to Hogwarts." She said. Remus just stared. The angel continued. "My name is Alisandrena. I will show you the past and the future."

At once, Remus felt himself being lifted of the ground. He had a sensation of flying. He suddenly stopped. He was hanging in the air above the great hall. James and Sirius were sitting there. They were talking to Lily and Jamie. Suddenly, Peter ran in. He looked upset and was carrying what liked like a piece of paper with him. When he came closer, they saw that the writing seemed to be smudged, as though the person writing it had been crying. The four of them looked at it worriedly.

"It's from Remus," Peter announced.

James grabbed the paper and read it. He bit his lip and seemed to be unable to speak. Sirius grabbed the paper from him and read it. "Oh no," he cried "It's Remus! He's run away!'......

"Listen to this," Sirius said.

Dear Marauders, Lily and Jamie,

I have decided to run away. I can't say here anymore and hurt more people that I love or don't know. Too many people like Madam Hunter have been hurt because of me. And remember when I almost killed Snape. I have brought pain to people ever since I came to Hogwarts. I could hurt someone seriously if I remain here. I'm sorry. I ask you not to tell anyone I have run away and I beg you not to go looking for me. It will cause me only more pain if you get into trouble. I am going somewhere where I won't be a danger to anyone. I'm not telling you where. Please understand that this is for the best.

Remus

"We have to do something," James cried at once.

"What," Lily said with eyes full of tears. James hugged her. Jamie was looking very sad as well.

"Poor Remus," she said. "I hope he's okay. He's out there all alone! What are we going to do?"

"Ok," Sirius said "Girls, you can relax, we'll find him. And don't tell anyone about this. Anyone at all. Understand?" The girls nodded and walked away, still in tears.

Remus was suddenly flying again. Suddenly he was in their dormitory. Sirius was speaking to James.

"Do you think we should tell Dumbledore?" Sirius asked.

"No, no," James said "We should try to find him ourselves."

"But where would he go?" Sirius asked, thinking hard.

"Well," James said "He said he's going somewhere where he won't be a danger to anyone." They thought about it for a moment and then it clicked.

"Of course," Sirius cried "The Dark Forest!!"

"Let's go," James cried, grabbing the invisibility cloak. James and Sirius put the cloak on and ran out the door.

Great Remus thought. They went looking for me.

Suddenly, Remus was flying again. He stopped at a wedding. He looked down at the scene in front of him. Lily and James were kissing in front of a priest.

I always knew they would get married Remus thought.

Suddenly, they were flying again. Then they stopped. Remus saw James smiling while Lily was holding a baby boy in her arms.

"We'll name him, Harry!" she said while James beamed at them both.

He was flying forward again. Remus was in front of a house. Then he was inside it. He saw James lying dead on the floor. Remus stifled a cry. He saw someone in a cloak aiming a wand at Lily. He heard the stranger screech the killing curse to the night. "NO!" Remus screamed as he saw Lily crumple to the ground. He watched with bated breath, as the wizard raised the wand again and aimed it at the boy. Harry. He cried the curse. He saw the curse reflect off the boy like a mirror. He saw the curse fly back at the wizard. He saw him evaporate in a cloud of smoke and rush out of the house as it collapsed.

He was flying forward again. He saw Sirius standing in front of the ruined house, holding Harry and crying. He then saw Hagrid turn up and take Harry away.

He was flying forward again. He saw Sirius standing in a street with Peter. He saw Peter blow up the street. He saw Sirius being taken away by Dementors and wizards.

The then flew forward once again to see Sirius sitting in a cell in Azkaban.

He flew forward again. He saw James fight against a man with two faces. Wait! It wasn't James. Than it had it be Harry. He saw Harry defeat him. He saw Harry fall to the ground.

Flash forward to another event. Remus saw Harry tied to a tombstone. Saw a dead body lying next to him.

Flash forward again. He saw Harry fighting with someone. Saw the wands emit a golden line. He saw Harry break away and return to Hogwarts.

Flash forward to Harry hugging an older Sirius.

Suddenly Remus was back.

"Is that's what's going to happen in our lives?" he asked.

"Yes," Alisandrena answered. "You will always know this but you won't remember any of this. I'm sorry Remus. You understand why it's so important for you to get back to the castle now?" Remus nodded. Suddenly the angel was gone. Remus woke up. He was on the outskirts of the forest. The castle was in view. Remus remembered nothing of the angel or what she had told him. He had only on thought; to get back to the castle.

Remus stumbled forward. He ran towards Hogwarts. He had a void in his heart and knew that the only way to fill it was to get back to the castle.

Remus ran and ran but the castle didn't seem to be getting any nearer. He finally stopped to rest and leaned against a tee. He looked up and saw in horror that it was the Whomping Willow. It was lashing out its branches at Remus!

Remus weighed his chances. He was too close to the tree to try and get away. Remus did the only other thing left to do. He grabbed a branch off the ground and pressed the knot, but it didn't do anything! Remus did the only thing he could think off to do. He darted inside the tunnel. The tree lashed out at Remus, catching him in the arm. He felt pain and heard bones snap as his arm broke.

"Argh," Remus groaned as he slipped down into blackness from the pain.

Remus woke up a couple of hours later. He was lying in the beginning of the tunnel. His arm hurt so much. Remus groaned again. He tried to get out of the tree but he had no stick. Remus sighed and began to crawl towards the Shrieking Shack.

It took him around an hour to get there. He finally climbed the stairs in the Shack and collapsed on the bed.

He lay there for twenty minutes trying to get his strength back. Remus then grabbed his wand and tried to fix his arm, but he couldn't do, he couldn't remember part of the spell. Remus sighed again and fell into a fitful sleep.

Remus woke up on a warm fluffy bed. He wanted to stay there forever but he knew he had to get out. His arm was hurting less. Remus wondered how long he had been sleeping. Come to think of it, he couldn't remember the bed in the Shrieking Shack being so soft.

Remus opened his eyes and looked around. He realized right away that he was not, in fact, in the shack but in the hospital wing. Remus wondered what he was doing there. He saw all his friends sitting around him.

"Hey," Remus whispered softly. They all smiled at him. Remus was happy to be back.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Peter saw the tree going nuts and he told us." James said quietly. "We told Dumbledore and he got you out. Peter saved your life." Peter grinned proudly at this.

"Peter?" Remus asked. For some reason, he felt a stab of anger at these words.

"Yes, Peter...Remus, what's wrong?" Sirius asked in surprise.

"No...it's nothing." Remus said. The emotion had disappeared as soon as it had come.

"Don't run away anymore, Remus. Please." Lily said quietly. Remus nodded.

Madam Pomfrey let him out of the hospital the next day. Remus and the marauders had a large party with all of Gryffindor tower. Everyone was glad he was back.

Late that night, Remus, James, Sirius, and Peter sat down together and wrote the Marauders Map

They used the map until it was confiscated by Filch in their seventh year when they dropped it on the stairs. Remus could still not believe they had ever been so stupid. It didn't matter though. They knew the map by heart.

When they grew up, Lily and James got married and Remus somehow knew they would. He did not know how he knew this.

Remus sat at Lily and James funeral. He was staring straight ahead, not listening o anything he heard.

I was sad, and yet, people all over were celebrating. Voldemort had disappeared.

Remus had never been afraid of saying his name. He had never seen a reason to be. The name he feared to say now was Sirius's. How Sirius could have betrayed them? How? Remus dint believe it at first. He had been in denial.

Sirius had been the spy after all. Remus had started to suspect Peter, not Sirius. Never Sirius. But, before he had even had a chance to tell his suspicions to anyone, Sirius had betrayed them, and murdered Peter. Yet, something didn't feel right. Remus had a feeling that maybe more was happening than he understood. He was thinking of angels for some reason. He dint know why. Perhaps it was because Lily and James were dead and there were angels all over.

He was brought out of his thoughts as someone suddenly sad:

"This is their son?"

Remus gasped. They could only be talking about one person. Harry. He whipped around.

A large beefy man was there along with a bony, horse-faced, woman he recognized as Lily's sister. The Dursleys. They had a carriage with two little babies in it. One seemed oddly familiar.

The woman seemed nervous while the man said gruffly:

"Yes...this is...Harry."

He seemed highly uncomfortable and the person left. Remus sat there staring at him. Perhaps he should have taken care of Harry. After all, James and Peter were dead, and Sirius, no! Black. Black was in Azkaban, where he deserved to be. But that wasn't right. Sirius shouldn't be in Azkaban. He couldn't have betrayed them. It wasn't possible. Or could he? Could he just turn on his friends like that? Remus had turned on Sirius when he found out, but still. Perhaps I should visit him and se what he says for himself. Remus thought, without realizing what he was thinking. No! How could he visit his best friends' murderer? They would never forgive him. And he couldn't raise Harry. What a stupid idea. Nott with his werewolf problem. No. Harry had to leave with his relatives. But they didn't care for him at all. Remus watched them some more.

He left the funeral in a haze. His life was destroyed. He had no one to turn to. Those days at Hogwarts were long gone. Angrily, Remus kicked at a rock on the ground and watched it skid across the sidewalk. It fell into a sewer and Remus could hear it clanging all the way down. With a sigh, Remus willed his feet to move, as he headed for a darker future than ever before.

THE END