Little Lupin

Chapter One: The Shoebox and Escape

A/N: I hope you like the first chapter of my first story. I really hope I complete this story, and not just halfway write then give up and move on to a new idea. I'm feeling pretty good about this one, so fingers crossed. Also, if you recognize some of the ideas from another story about Remus having a daughter, it's because I was inspired by the story Lupin's cub (Remus Lupin's Unknown daughter) by BookieBat, so shout out to her and her amazing writing skills. And without further ado, on with the story.

"Go clean out the attic. Discard what needs to be discarded, you know the drill," Kathryn told her daughter lazily while flipping through a magazine.

"Yes, ma'am," she said and went straight to work. The attic was where she slept, surrounded by dusty boxes and whatnot. She had a very old and lumpy mattress for a bed and a thin, ragged blanket to sleep under. The girl herself was small and thin from malnutrition. Her eyes often had bags under them due to lack of sleep. Her sleep was more often than not plagued by nightmares, but those solitary hours tended to be the most peaceful ones of her young life. Her long brown hair hung limp in a curtain framing her delicate face. Her skin was pale because she rarely saw the sun. In short, she was neglected by her mother. It had been that way since before she could remember. Everything was fine until one fateful night when she fell asleep on the couch and her mother found her in her wolf form. She was a cute wolf cub, but Kathryn didn't see her that way. To her, her daughter was just like her father, a monster.

The girl began shuffling boxes and looking through their contents, taking out what didn't belong and putting them in their proper place. About an hour into her task, she came across an old shoebox that Kathryn had tried to hide but didn't do a very good job. Curiously, she opened it, expecting to find, well, shoes. To her surprise, the box contained old bits of parchment and a few photos. She pulled out the biggest piece of paper and unfolded it. It was her birth certificate! At that moment, she learned some very important information. Her name, her father's name, and her birthday included. Her name was Alyssa Paige Lupin, her mother was Kathryn Shaw, though she already knew that, and Remus Lupin was her dad. The rest were old letters from her dad to her mother. She knew they had split before she was born and Kathryn never spoke about her father; it was a forbidden topic. Nasty consequences followed when she asked about him, so she stopped trying. There were some wizarding photographs in the box as well. Soon, a plan was forming in little Alyssa's mind. A plan to escape from the house, from her mother and she hoped to find her father. Perhaps he would want her.

Kathryn shouted from downstairs to make sure her daughter was still cleaning. Alyssa quickly hid the box and all of its contents in the corner near her bed and assured her mother that she was nearly finished. Her discovery would stay her little secret.

Days later, she had finalized her escape plan, without her mother being any the wiser. The only problem was that she had no hope of going outside unless A) she was doing her chores, or B) It was the full moon. Luck was on her side, however, because that night would be the full moon. She would be able to escape.

Later, that afternoon, her mother sent her out of the house early. Alyssa couldn't believe her luck! If she played her cards right, she figured she could get to her father's house by nightfall. She grabbed the small bag that held some money, extra clothes, and of course, the contents of the beloved shoebox. After looking around to see if her mother was watching, she ran as fast as her short legs could carry her away from the house. Alyssa finally made it to a bus station and she bought a ticket to Tinworth, Cornwall, where her father lived. The whole ride, she stared out the window, thinking about what she'd say to her father and what he might say to her. She hoped he would accept her. If not...well, she didn't want to think about what would happen if she was forced to go back to her mother. She was determined to be optimistic about her father. He couldn't be worse than Mother, right?

Alyssa hadn't realized that she had fallen asleep, but was gently woken up by the kind driver. She paid and exited the bus. After asking around, she was able to find the Lupin residence, a small cottage with a red door. It had a garden with different types of flowers and vegetables growing and the house itself was surrounded by trees. Alyssa thought it was lovely. Slowly she approached the front door and knocked softly.

Remus was just contemplating taking a nap in preparation for the night ahead when he heard a tiny knock on the door. Had he not had his sensitive hearing that came with being a werewolf, he probably would not have heard it, but he did. With difficulty, he rose from his armchair and walked over to the door. What he found surprised him.

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So there's the first chapter of Little Lupin. Was it too short? My next chapters will be longer, I promise. In fact, I have the first few chapters written on a Google Doc, and the word count thingie told me that my other chapters are twice as long as this one, so yay! Next chapter, we will see Remus's reaction to finding out that he has a daughter. Thank you for reading!