Horror Books

Remus Lupin is four and a half years old...

"This is The Hobbit." Remus looks up at his mother. "I thought you might like to read it with me," she says, looking in to his round eyes. He nods and she sits down next to him. "The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien..."

Remus and his mother read every chance that they can. They make it through The Hobbit by his fifth birthday.

Remus Lupin is five years old...

"Come inside Remus, we'll start The Fellowship," Remus's mother calls into the night. There is no answer. "Remus," she calls again.

"Mama, mama," a little boy calls in the forest; the only response is a low growl. "Mama!" he calls again.

A giant wolf comes out of the bush in front of the little boy; it would be pointless to say he is startled, as I'm sure you already know that.

The little boy turns to run, but how much faster is a little boy than a wolf?

The wolf pounces, jaws extended, and the little boy calls out as the teeth of the wolf sink into the small of his back.

Remus Lupin is still five years old...

"I'm sorry, Ms. Lupin. The only thing you can do is put him out of his misery." The doctor at St. Mungo's is quiet and unsympathetic.

"Are you crazy!? I will not kill my own son!" Ms. Lupin glares at the man. "Good bye."

Remus Lupin is six years old...

A weary woman, though only thirty-two, is aged beyond her years. She crosses silently over a bridge, a small boy asleep in her arms; there are tears in her eyes as she sets the sleeping boy on the steps of an orphanage. She pulls a handkerchief out of her pocket, along with a letter. She places the letter in the little boy's hand and kisses his forehead. Than she turns and walks away. If you strain your ears you might hear her say, "Goodbye my angel, I am sorry," without turning. The little boy does not stir.

Remus Lupin is ten years old...

"Lupin, loony, loopy, Lupin." The boys dance in a circle, a worn book clutched high above the little boy's head, for though he is their age he is much shorter than them.

"Give it back. Please," he cries, "please." He calls to them; he has just reached the best part and he wants to know what's going to happen.

"Little Lupin wants his book back. Do you want your book back, little Lupin?" the boy who is obviously the leader of the jeering boys calls out to him, still waving the book.

"Please be careful with it," the little boy in the middle of their circle calls.

"You want me to be careful with it?" the leader asks, and the little boy nods. "Like this?" the leader asks as he drops the book in a puddle left over from last night's rain storm.

"No, please, no. It's special."

"Do you love this book, do you love it?" he asks, stepping on the book in the mud. Sneering, he turns away and leaves. Remus bends down to fish the book out of the mud.

Remus Lupin is eleven years old...

He sits on the Hogwarts express and stares out the window. All the parents, the ones who love their children, are saying goodbye. His eyes are drawn to a tall boy with straight midnight black hair, who is arguing with what must be his mother. She turns abruptly and walks out of the platform. He glares after her, sticks out his tongue and lugs his trunk on to the train. Remus loses sight of him as he turns back to the worn book, a book with mud encrusted on it, in his lap.

The next thing he knows, the door of the compartment is thrown open, and standing in the doorway is the boy he had seen on the platform.

"Hi, my name's Sirius Black," the boy says.

"Remus Lupin," Remus whispers.

"May I sit here?" Sirius asks. And Remus nods, turning back to his book.

"There you are," a new voice says, a few minutes later. Remus jumps and looks up from his book to see a tall boy with the messiest black hair in existence. He is looking at Sirius, who is looking at him.

"Hello, James." Then he seems to think of something, and he points at Remus. "This is Remus; Remus, this is James, he's an old friend of mine."

"Hello," Remus whispers again, and goes back to his book.

"Bit shy?" James asks. And Remus gets the feeling they're going to start talking about him as if he isn't there.

Remus Lupin is twelve years old...

"Remus?" Sirius pokes his head into the dorm, to see Remus lying on his back reading. "Come on you guys, he's in here," he calls back into the stairwell.

Remus looks up in surprise as James and Peter file into the room after Sirius. "What's up guys?" he asks, closing his book and sitting up.

"We know," Sirius says, getting straight to the point.

Remus looks at him, puzzled. "Know what?" he asks, though his stomach is fluttering, 'they couldn't have found out' running through his head.

"Don't play dumb, Remus. You're a werewolf," Sirius says, and Remus's stomach falls through the floor. Scared senseless, he moves to put the book in his trunk; it's the only thing that hasn't been packed. Slowly, trying to hold back the tears, he closes the trunk.

"I'm sorry, I'll leave and you can forget me," he whispers as he pulls the trunk towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Sirius asks, blocking the door.

"Home," he says. "You don't want me here, so I'm leaving."

"Are you kidding?" James asks. Remus shakes his head and curls into a ball as James and Sirius come towards him.

Much to his surprise, there is no kick in the back or jeering laughter; instead, a pair of strong arms wrapped around him. "Don't go anywhere Remus, we'd never be able to pull off half our pranks without you," he whispers as James pulls Remus's trunk back to the foot of his bed.

"You are Remus and you are our friend, we are not going to abandon you for something that you can't control!" Peter says defiantly.

Remus Lupin is fifteen years old...

"Happy birthday, Remus," Sirius says as he pulls Remus out of bed.

"What are you doing Sirius, it's way too early to be up." He would continue to grumble but something wet licks his face. "What was that?" he asks.

"That was Prongs," Sirius says knowingly.

"Who?" Remus asks. "What did you guys do?"

"We're helping you," James says as Sirius turns on the light.

"How?" Remus asks, not sure he wants to hear the answer.

Sirius grins at him, and with not so much as a pop, a shaggy black dog is standing in his place.

"What did you do?" Remus shouts, trying not to panic.

"We became animagi," Sirius says as James transforms into a stag. "Werewolves are only dangerous to people; we can come and make sure you don't hurt yourself," Sirius says, obviously very proud of himself. Remus only stares, speechless, at him.

Remus Lupin is seventeen years old...

Remus is once again sitting on his bed, 'reading', though at the moment he is gazing over the top of his book at the wonderful boy in front of him, not that Sirius knows Remus is gazing at him. Sirius is oblivious to the entire situation and how much Remus loves him.

"...Remus...Remus." Remus jumps. "Anyone home?"

"What is it, James?"

"Do you like Sirius?" the other boy asks. "You can answer, Sirius went to breakfast already."

Remus nods and blushes, looking back to his book.

"Come on, say it aloud. Admittance is the first step to acceptance," James says, doing his best to imitate an all-knowing professor.

"Fine, I'm madly in love with Sirius, are you happy now? Will you leave me-"

He is interrupted as a pair of warm lips are pressed against his; at first he thinks it is James, then he opens his eyes and sees Sirius's midnight blue staring back at him, and he smiles.

Remus Lupin is eighteen years old...

"We did it, Moony," Sirius Black whispers in his ear. "We made it through school. And we're in one piece."

'Moony' smiles and sits up straighter to whisper in the other boy's ear. "And so's the school. I love you, Padfoot."

'Padfoot' stifles a laugh and slips his hand into 'Moony's' under the table.

Remus Lupin is twenty-one years old...

"Open your present, love," Sirius says, a smile playing on his face.

Remus kisses his cheek and takes the present out of his hands; it is heavy and shaped rather like a book. He shakes it and there is no sound. "It's not going to jump out and scare me, is it?" he asks, looking at the man beside him with an expectant expression. The man shakes his head. "Promise?" Again, the man shakes his head. Laughing, Remus rips into the wrapping; he is met with a gold title The Lord Of The Rings: Complete Edition. "No," he whispers, shaking his head. "No," he says, louder this time; he drops the book as if it is contaminated. Standing up, he backs away, staring in horror at the book. "NO," he shouts, and backing up, he turns and runs out of the living room, where he was sitting opening birthday presents.

"Remus," his love calls after him. "Remus, what's the matter?" The man stands and runs after him. "Remus. Love, what's the matter?" He catches the crying man in his arms and holds him tight. Remus fights and struggles. "Please, please Remus, tell me what's happening?" Remus slowly relaxes and looks at the man.

"Please don't make me read that, please," he whispers, his eyes pleading and swimming with tears. "Please."

"You don't have to do anything, just tell me what's wrong," the man pleads.

Remus sinks to the floor, right there in the hall. "My mother," he whispers as Sirius sits next to him. "When I was little."

"How little, love? Was it before?" Sirius asks, wrapping an arm around Remus's shaking shoulders.

Remus nods. "She read me The Hobbit. It took us six months. We started when I was four and a half..."

Remus Lupin is four and a half years old...