The Memoirs of Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs

Wormtail speaks of Moony:

Remus J. Lupin is the Hogwarts resident werewolf. Moony is his nickname, I'm sure you'd be able to guess why. Ever since we found out about Remus being a werewolf we've called him Moony, and I guess we got so used to it that the name kind of stuck, and now he isn't known as anything else other than Moony or Remus. At first Remus hated the nickname 'Moony', he always used to hate us calling him that, but when he sort of worked out that we weren't really going to call him anything other than 'Moony', he gave up complaining about it. I think he's grown quite fond of the name over the years, so he is now known as 'Moony'; other nicknames Sirius and James sometimes call him are Moon-Man, Moon-Boy, Wolf-Man, Rem, Reemie, Wolfie, Lupin, Loopy or Loony, Sirius and James being who they are call him these names on occasion.

When we found out about Remus being a werewolf James came up with the idea of becoming Animagi, Remus wasn't originally going to tell us about his lycanthropy but Sirius and James initially worked it out and we confronted Remus about it. He thought that we would have abandoned him if we knew about his condition, when James and Sirius finally convinced him that we wouldn't James had the idea of becoming Animagi a couple of days later.

I only say James and Sirius because at first when Sirius worked out that Remus was a werewolf and told us, James and Sirius were absolutely okay about it, whereas I wasn't too alright about Remus being a werewolf, the more I though about it the more uncomfortable I got. I know now that whatever Remus is, be it werewolf, monster or anything, it doesn't matter one bit because he's a great friend and that's what counts, but back in second year I didn't see that. To tell you the truth, I was slightly scared, I mean, wouldn't you be? To have thought you knew this person for a whole year, and then you find out that he turns into a monster that tries to kill humans once a month. I mean it's pretty astonishing to find out something like that about a friend that you thought you truly knew. After a while, I began to see past the werewolf and see that Remus was just as normal as the rest of us, and that he was just a normal person with normal tendencies. But it was harder for me to do this than it was for James or Sirius because, I mean, it's quite a scary thing to find out about. I don't know exactly why I was scared, because Remus goes to the shack to transform so he wouldn't be able to hurt anyone, but I used to come up with wild 'What if's', like what if one night he managed to escape the shack and try to kill people? Or what if he didn't go to the shack when he was due to transform and something terrible happened. I know they are very far-fetched and unlikely but I always thought that there was some small possibility of something terrible happening. But as I said, I got over this fear after a while because I saw how stupid I was being and resolved to try and become an Animagus to help Remus.

Becoming Animagi is no easy feat, there are several complex steps to finally become one, and it took us the better part of three years to work it out. James is a stag, Sirius is a dog, and I am a rat. In our Animagus forms we can keep Remus company and he becomes less wolf-like when he has us there to keep his sanity when he transforms, werewolves only harm humans so it's safe for us to be with him in the form of animals. Moony received the werewolf bite when he was very small.

Remus' parents both are wizards, his mother is a muggle-born, but she was accepted to Hogwarts and there she met his father, they got married and had Remus. Remus' parents are very supportive of him, when he received the werewolf bite they tried absolutely everything to find a cure (without any luck), but they still helped him out and were there for him when he needed them the most, they still help him a lot now if he needs it. Remus is an only child. Moony's parents are both very nice and polite, but sometimes they can be a little too overprotective of Remus, especially his mother, she's always worrying about her only child. Like one time when we came to get Remus for a bit of a get together we didn't get away until half an hour later because she was asking all kinds of questions and making sure he'd be alright. For Example: "Where are you going?" "How long will you be gone?" "But why do you have to have a get together so far away Remus dear?" "Are you sure you'll be all right?". Remus definitely gets his mother hen tendencies from his mother, though they aren't as bad as hers (thank Merlin). Remus' parents live in a lodge on the edge of a wood in the countryside, Sirius, James and I have been there a couple of times in the summer holidays.

Remus inherited his light brown hair from his father, it's sort of the colour of caramel and I noticed that he's got a couple of strands of gray hair, that's because of his lycanthropy, well that's what he says anyway, his eyes are a hazely greenish colour, with a tinge of amber, I think that's partly due to him being a werewolf, his eyes take on a hint of amber such as those of a wolf, though it's only noticeable if you look very closely.

Moony is a serious chocoholic, I swear, he eats the stuff every day, not that that's bad or anything, but I myself, like a wider range of sweets. It all started when Madam Pomfrey kept making him eat blocks of chocolate the day after his transformations; she practically shoved the stuff in his mouth, now he just eats it out of habit. I still remember when James suggested to Moony that he join chocoholics anonymous; it went something like this:

"Are you still eating that stuff?" James nodded to a bar of half eaten chocolate that Remus was clutching on to.

"Yes," Remus said as he took another bite.

"But it's about two weeks after your transformation, you don't need to eat it," James said.

"So? I happen to like chocolate,"

"It's a wonder you're not the size of Peter by now," Sirius snickered.

"Hey!" I said indignantly.

"Honestly Moony, you should consider joining Chocoholics Anonymous," James said.

"And you," Remus stopped eating and frowned at James, "should consider joining Stupid Idiots That Don't Know What They're Talking About Anonymous," Remus finished, then took another bite of his chocolate.

James started laughing, "Can't you think of a better comeback then that Moony? I mean honestly, even Sirius' comebacks are better then that," James teased.

"That was good enough!" Remus said, still chewing.

"Well, at least now I know what to buy you for Christmas," James said.

"What?"

"The book called 'Cool Comebacks For Dummies', I think I seen one in a Muggle shop once," James, Sirius and I burst out laughing.

Remus really has a problem with eating too much chocolate, it's a wonder he's not sick of it by now, oh well, to each his own I guess.

Its weird to think that if Dumbledore hadn't become Headmaster when he did Remus wouldn't even have been able to come to Hogwarts, and James, Sirius and I would never have met him, and we would have never become Animagi or we wouldn't be as close to each other as we are now. So when it comes down to it Remus is the sole reason that we are all such close friends, even though we might have been anyway without him, but he is the reason that we are all great friends.

The most annoying thing about Moony would be that he is almost always cool, calm and collected (as they say). In the most unnerving situations he is absolutely composed, even when we get into trouble, and McGonagall is yelling her head off at us, Remus just stands there with an annoyingly calm air about him while everyone else is extremely nervous. I don't know how he does it, always being so calm in every situation. He's learnt to hide his emotions very well I've figured out, you don't know what he's feeling or thinking unless you ask, and most of the time he doesn't tell anyone anyway.

I think that Remus just likes to be liked, he loves having people around him that like him when they know who he really is, because mostly if someone finds out that you're a werewolf they're not going to like you for much longer, and we were the first people that wanted to still know Remus after we found out about him so he appreciates that. He distances himself from others quite often because he doesn't want people to find out about his lycanthropy, he keeps to himself quite a bit.

That's one of the reasons why Remus hasn't had many relationships (love-wise), I believe that he thinks he can't because he doesn't want to get too close to someone and lie about the fact that he's a werewolf, he doesn't want to hide something as big as that to a person that he loves. He also thinks that they'll reject him and they could tell everyone if he were ever to tell a person that he was a werewolf, so generally he stays away from relationships. I mean, he's had a couple of snogs here and there I think, but he's never been in a serious relationship. He's scared of letting people know the real him, and he's scared that the person he's having a relationship with will find out about him being a werewolf on their own. He doesn't want a close relationship because there's always a danger of that happening. Because we all became close friends throughout the second year we figured out about him being a werewolf, and Remus doesn't want someone else to figure it out.

Another thing about Remus is that he's a very forgiving person, and very understanding, he listens to people when they have problems, I go to him sometimes to talk and he listens. He is very kind-hearted and has gentle manners.

Remus is also very smart, he studies a fair bit, that's why we always borrow his notes, he's the only one that takes them in class most of the time. An example is like what happened the other day.

Remus, James and I were all sitting by the fire in the Gryffindor common room when the portrait hole opened to reveal Sirius.

"Moony! Just the person I was looking for!" Sirius said as he sat down on a chair.

"What do you want now?" Remus asked, knowing instantly that Sirius wanted something or other.

"What makes you think I want something?" Sirius asked.

"Because you always say that when you want something," Remus replied.

"Am I that predictable?" Sirius asked with a grin.

"Yes," James said promptly.

"Shut up Jamsie, anyway, Moony, old buddy, old pal, buddy old pal old buddy-"

"What do you want Sirius?" Remus asked impatiently.

"Well, Moony old buddy old pal, what I wanted was to borrow your Defense Against The Dark Arts notes," Sirius said with a puppy dog look in his eyes.

"You borrowed them yesterday!" Remus said, trying to ignore the notorious puppy dog look.

"Yes, I know, but I need them again, to check something because I think I did something wrong and I need to have a look," Sirius said with a hopeful look in his eye.

"Since when have you cared if something's wrong anyway Padfoot?" James asked.

"Once again Jamie, shut up. Anyway, please Moony," Sirius looked at Remus with the infamous puppy dog look once again.

"Where's your essay?" Remus asked.

Sirius pulled out a very crumpled piece of parchment from his robe pockets; he placed it on the table in front of him and smoothed it out, (which didn't make the slightest difference whatsoever.)

"See, I don't know if this part is right," Sirius indicated a paragraph halfway down the page, "and if you just let me borrow your notes then I could check it,"

Remus gave a long-suffering sigh.

"Give it here," Remus said, indicating the essay.

Sirius' eyes lit up "really?"

"Yes" Remus grunted, "I'll check it for you, but this is the last time".

"Thank you Moony! I don't know what I'd do without you!" Sirius grinned and handed him the crumpled piece of parchment, "I knew I could count on you! You're the best! I love you!"

James made a retching noise.

Sirius slapped him upside the head, "Not in that way you idiot."

"I'm heartbroken," Remus said sardonically.

Remus went on to check Sirius' essay and Sirius goofed around.

That's usually the way it goes. Remus always says that it's for the last time but then the next day he'll check something for Sirius, James or I again. Remus always gives in and helps us with our homework or gives us notes to copy out, he doesn't really approve of that kind of thing but in the end he gives in and lets us have them, that's the sort of person he is, he'd probably do anything for us if we asked, (and not just homework type of things) because he feels so lucky that he has a group of friends like us. I feel so lucky that I have a friend like Remus.

Remus is one of the best friends that I'll ever have, in a way he's sort of like an older brother to me because he's always there for me, and he looks out for me when I want him to or need it, he, like Sirius and James, is extremely loyal and would do anything to help his friends, though he may seem distant to us at times he still is a great friend and I really appreciate having him around.