Redox

Redox: Remus Lupin

When he told me, I thought he was lying. He had always been a good actor, and I thought he was just using his idle skills to trick me. I should have known better, of course, because he'd never joke about something like that. He'd tell me with a deadpan face that Gryffindor had lost the Quidditch Cup because James fell off his broomstick and broke his arm just as Liam French had his eye on the Snitch, or that the house-elves had told on us and we were getting detention every night for the rest of our years at Hogwarts because of our thievery, or even that Dumbledore had decided to cancel all classes for the last three months of seventh year. He always presented them in such a convincing manner that I often believed him, no matter how whimsical or ridiculous the stories were.

For all his deviousness, there were two things that Sirius never joked about : lycanthropy, and love. No Marauder was ever allowed to joke about the former, because of its obvious personal consequence. Love, on the other hand, was something he decided consciously never to joke about. His mother's anguish over his father's unfortunate death had taught him at an early age that love was a force to be reckoned with. He was one of those people who would never say "I love you" unless he truly meant it, even in an offhanded manner. He would joke about people who were dating, but if he thought they were serious he would never deliberately demean their love. Given this, I had to believe him when he told me one spring afternoon before Charms that Lily and James were engaged. I also had to believe him when he told me that he loved me.

However, despite all my previous experience with Sirius and love, I simply could not believe him when he told me Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy were in love.

He was very upset when he told me about it. He didn't know what to make of it. I think he was just appalled at Harry's decision, but only because he knew the Malfoy name. He had no experience with the boy himself, just his father. I, on the other hand, have had the peculiar pleasure of teaching the young Malfoy in Defence Against the Dark Arts. A class for which I'm sure he had little use.

I had never liked Draco Malfoy, as I'm sure he never liked me. He was a spoiled brat who had been brought everything on a silver platter from the day he was born. He suffered severely under the illusion that his father was right about everything, but most of all the subservience of anyone but a pureblood wizard. Which, of course, included myself. I'm sure it would have meant two strikes against me if he had ever found out about my lycanthropy.

Which can only lead me to wonder how Harry can look past that. Sirius said that he had a long conversation with the pair of them, and it seems that Draco hasn't changed his mind on anything. How could Harry look past the fact that his... boyfriend? lover?... whatever has no respect for one of his fathers' best friends? Is he going to just discard me like the little Malfoy has? I don't doubt that Harry's a sensible boy, and he has probably thought all this through, but a small part of me doubts his capacity for true love at such a young age.

That, however, is a hypocritical statement, and I know it is. But look where it left Sirius and I: patching things back together after a long rift between us - a rift filled with suspicion, mistrust, and broken hearts. I only want to protect Harry from that. If he truly does love Draco, and there are sides to the Slytherin he hasn't considered, he will be left with a shattered life. I don't want him to have to go through that.

I suppose everyone should be allowed to learn from his own mistakes, and that interfering in Harry's affairs is not my prerogative, but it's my first instinct. He was my only link to my past until Sirius returned, and even still he faultlessly reminds me of James to the extent that I have mistaken the poor boy for his father on more than one occasion, so it's only natural that I want to protect him as I would my own son.

And, as a father would be, I am disappointed that Harry hasn't made a wiser choice for himself. I can admit that there are probably things Harry thinks he knows about Draco Malfoy, but I am sure there are things he does not consider about the legacy of the name that comes along with the boy. I understand that, to the true romantic, 'a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,' but Malfoy is not a name one can ignore. Draco has a long line of Dark wizards behind him, and Harry knows for fact that Draco's own father is a Death Eater, and there is no doubt in my mind that Draco will be expected to follow in the traditional Malfoy footsteps. While it is all very well to 'deny thy father and refuse thy name' in the name of love, I fear that that is easier said than done. Family loyalty, blood lines, and traditions are what ties the Malfoy family together, and I know for a fact that Lucius will not take kindly to his only son and heir being taken away from him by none other than Harry Potter.

And if Draco does not intend to sever ties with his family, does that mean Harry will then step down from his position as figure head of the Light for all wizarding people and join the Dark forces? It seems unlikely, but love has made people do things more ill advised than that. If Harry were to abandon us all and join Voldemort - or even merely abandon us - the wizarding world would be in danger of extinction. Harry has been our figure of hope since Lily and James were killed, and if he were to turn his back on that, people would be distraught. Nobody would want to fight, because nobody would believe we had a chance, if even Harry Potter had given up on our chances.

Besides which, to turn his back on the wizarding world, Harry would be turning his back on the sacrifice his parents made for him. They died so that he could live. He should understand that. I do not know that he has ignored everything he has ever been taught and turned his back on us, but I do know that just by being involved with Draco he has to have turned his back on Lucius' part in his parents' death, and that by itself is tantamount to spitting on their graves. That is what I am bitter over. His blatant disregard of Draco's ties to his own misery - whether intended or not - leaves me with a bitter taste in my mouth that I do not enjoy.

I do not expect to understand their relationship, especially not without having talked to either of them, but I am apprehensive of the whole situation. Too much is at stake for both of them, too much is tied up in their individual success as opponents, and they have too many strings attached to ever be carefree. While I want to believe that Harry has a firm grasp on the implications, I cannot overlook the vast, multifaceted consequences of their relationship that I could not expect a boy of sixteen to fully comprehend. I am convinced that neither boy has enough historical perspective to consider their positions carefully enough before... well, before falling in love. I guess it's too late for that.

I suppose my view is rather fatalistic, but my own personal experience has certainly influenced my opinions, and I know that no matter how much you may want something to work, not everyone gets a happy ending. Not right away, at least.

O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Capulet... What's in a name? that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet... Romeo, doff thy name, and for that name which is no part of thee take all myself.

I take thee at thy word: Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized; Henceforth I never will be Romeo.

- Romeo And Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2

William Shakespeare