RUNNING WITH WOLVES remus lupin

O35. 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆

𝐓 𝐇 𝐈 𝐑 𝐓 𝐘 - 𝐅 𝐈 𝐕 𝐄

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

IT WAS MIDNIGHT. Remus Lupin lay awake in Grimmauld Place. It had been weeks since he had acquired a good night's sleep. He doesn't know how, no one could blame him though. Throughout his whole life, something had always happened that took an emotional toll on him. He was turned into a werewolf by age four, he lost two of his best friends, and his other best friend, who he used to love by age twenty-two, and his whole life got turned upside down by age thirty-three.

Remus was now thirty-four, and alone. Just a few weeks ago, he was reunited with his best friend who, Remus thought, had been a murderer for twelve years. Who, Remus thought, had practically murdered two of his best friends. Then everything turned out to be backward and upside down. Remus found himself only seconds away from taking the life of the real traitor, and his old best friend, Peter Pettigrew.

"Peter," Remus whispered bitterly. Who could've guessed that Peter was a supporter of Voldemort? He was timid, but still a Marauder. And he was in Gryffindor's house, a dark wizard that had come out of Gryffindor was unheard of. But, in times of war, things change. Everyone was accusing everyone of being a dark wizard in those times. It was ridiculous.

A shuffling sound was coming from his front door. He got quiet and picked up a long slender piece of wood that was lying on the kitchen table. Was it Dumbledore? Did he know about what happened? Remus was almost certain that whoever was moving about at the door had to be someone from school.

The scratching at Remus's door continued as he walked cautiously and quietly toward it, holding out his wand. But, then, the commotion stopped and a whimpering replaced it. Remus, puzzled, opened the door quietly.

The person who was at the door wasn't a person at all. Instead, a large, black, shaggy dog sat at the entrance. Its head was cocked to one side, and its tail was wagging violently. A smirk appeared on Remus's aging face. He could recognize this dog anywhere. Remus opened the door a little wider to let the dog inside.

"Sheesh, Padfoot, you scared me! How did you even manage to sneak out of here with all of Dumbledore's wards?" Remus asked, while turning his back to the black dog and resuming preparing his tea.

"This is my house. I have my ways." The man said, who emerged from the spot where the dog once stood.

"Of course you do," Remus says, rolling his eyes, turning back around to look at his old friend.

"Well, yes, I did come here to bring news. It's not exactly the best news. In fact, it's the worst possible news," Sirius said, trying to figure out how he should say what was on his mind. Remus' mind instantly goes to Elodie. But quickly remembers Sirius doesn't know the full details of that situation.

"Harry's dead!" Remus exclaimed, his eyes widening.

"No, but he almost was," said Sirius, sighing.

"Sit," Remus ordered. "The past year has been rough on you, and I don't need you keeling over, not now that Harry needs you" Sirius obeyed. He sat his slim frame into an old, creaky, chair that was pulled up to the kitchen table. "Now, what happened?"

"Did you ever get news about the Triwizard tournament being held at Hogwarts?" Sirius asked, and Remus nodded his head.

"Three champions, one from each school, trying to win for eternal glory, correct?" Remus asked, making sure his information was true. Sirius nodded his head to confirm. Remus had been out of wizard communication for quite some time. The last time he had seen a Daily Prophet headline was last summer.

"Well, everything went according to plan, one champion for each school, until...the Goblet of Fire spat out another name. Harry's name," Sirius said. Remus's jaw dropped.

"But, doesn't he have to be a certain age? And I'm assuming Harry didn't put his own name in there, I know Harry wouldn't want eternal glory, seeing as he has had enough glory, and he wouldn't want to go through all those tasks. Unless," Remus's eyes widened. "Someone else in the castle was hoping he'd die in the process."

"That's what I figured. Well, Harry had to compete. So he did. The first task was to get to a dragon's egg. Watching him being chased by that dragon made me panic. Even from a distance." Sirius says slightly shaken up.

"A dragon? Who- who were the other champion's" Remus asked, shocked and worried. "From what I saw... two boys and a girl." Remus' eyes widened and his back bumps into the counter he was standing by. Sirius looked in thought for a moment. "But from what I saw it wasn't her, it was some blond girl." Remus sighed in relief, his hand clutching his chest. But his worries then continue.

He begins pacing back and forth. "Harry escaped, right?" Sirius nodded his head. "Yeah, he did it," Sirius says with a half smile, looking proud.

"Good, I feel I need to be in contact with Dumbledore soon," Remus pauses. "To see if I can get more information on Harry's situation." Remus then walked over to the teapot that was whistling loudly on the stove.

"Tea?" He asked Sirius, wearily.

"Please," Sirius replied. "I haven't had tea since who knows when. Though I feel we could use something stronger." Remus rolled his eyes.

"Haven't changed much since school have you? So what did you bring back?" Remus laughed, getting down another mug.

"If I recall correctly, you drank with me," Sirius smiled. "Firewhisky if you're up for it, I sure am." Sirius pulls out a bottle from his shirt.

Remus handed Sirius a mug and sat down. He then moves his mug towards Sirius. "Pour some in." His friend grins wildly, pouring some fire whisky into Remus' cup and then into his. There's silence between the two friends. Remus then really looks at the mug he unconsciously pulled out of the cabinet.

"You still have it," Remus commented.

"Have what?" Sirius questioned.

"My mug," Remus motioned to the blue mug he was holding.

"Yeah, I first went to their old cottage and found a few of our things," Sirius said, looking thoughtfully at it. Remus knew who 'they' were.

"I had always wondered what happened to mine. Probably still in this house, after all, they shipped almost all the stuff from my old place to here once I got put into Azkaban. I remember when James got those for the lot of us. That was our last Christmas together, wasn't it, Moony?" Sirius said sadly, sipping his tea.

"I haven't been called Moony this much in thirteen years," Remus smiled sadly. "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. The Marauders. We all thought we were invincible."

"How wrong we were."

"Yes, we were very wrong."