Remus Lupin and the Prisoner of Azkaban (#Wolfstar)

Chapter One- The Decision

Story started: 19/4/17
First published: 2/6/18

Wordcount this chapter: 1308

His hands gripped the windowsill until his knuckles turned white. He looked out of the window into the night, observing the little village in Yorkshire. Only a few streetlights were illuminating the darkness. He rested his head against the cold glass and closed his eyes.

He felt a breeze of warm wind ruffling through his hair, making the brown curls fall into his face. It smelled of summer and must've come in through one of the many half-broken windows all around this ruin of a house.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes and looked at his reflection in the dirty glass.

At this state, he just looked like a hollow shadow. His eyes, which at times were deeply beaming with intelligence and happiness, just looked tired now and the usually white eyeball had yet to lose its red colour again. He had bags under his eyes from lack of sleep the past week, and the fresh cuts and the purple bruise on the side of his neck were clearly visible. A mess, to say the least. The full moon had just passed, it's been no more than two nights, so what really was he expecting.

"Think about it, Remus," the man standing a few meters behind him spoke up again.

Remus now examined his visitor's appearance, reflecting just above his right shoulder. To him, he looked like always. It's been eleven years since he last saw the older man, yet he didn't seem to have aged a single day. Or perhaps he was just oblivious to it.

"Albus, you know perfectly well about me and my condition, and in extended are also aware of the fact that I can in no way do as you asked," he reminded him and turned around to face him. "If I was to return to Hogwarts, I would be a threat to staff and students alike."

"Times change. You are not a teenager anymore, Remus, and unlike all those years ago, there now is a potion to lessen the danger of what lays within you," the older man said fiercely. Remus caught his gaze and shook his head.

"I have never taken the Wolfsbane potion, for I cannot brew it nor afford the ingredients. How do I even know it works for me? You have no certainty, Dumbledore." He looked away, around the ruin of the tiny muggle house he was staying in these days. After this, he would have to move again.

"It will, trust me. You will, of course, have a limitless supply, we have a more than qualified potions master at Hogwarts," Albus Dumbledore argued, stroking his silver beard absent-mindedly.

"Is it still Professor Slughorn, like back then?" Remus asked, genuinely curious.

"He retired a decade ago. Professor Snape took over his position as both potions master and head of Slytherin house."

"Snape? Severus Snape?" Remus shook his head in disbelief. "One more reason not to go back. He hates me."

"He does indeed," Dumbledore agreed, not trying to hide it. "Further, he has warned me a horrendous amount of times about how bad of a decision I was making. He is unsure of where your loyalty lays, Remus, now that your friend is on the loose."

He blinked twice, confused. Exactly who is on the loose?

"Excuse me, professor, I think I'm not sure what you mean. I don't have a friend in pri-..." Towards the end of his sentence, he began to stutter, as a face flashed before his eyes. He did have a friend in prison. But he can't have gotten out, can he? "In no way," he whispered.

Dumbledore reached into his blue cloak, revealing a neatly folded Newspaper. "Due to being preoccupied with full moon you might not have read the news."

Remus reached for the copy of the Daily Prophet the older man was holding, but he pulled it back. He looked him firmly in the eyes, delivering a clear message. It's not what it seems. Then he handed him the paper, and Remus unfolded it hastily, flipping it to look at the front page. His breathing was now out of his control as his eyes flew across the headline.

Sirius Black still at large

Sirius Black, possibly the most infamous prisoner ever to be held in Azkaban fortress, is still eluding capture, the Ministry of Magic confirmed today.

His hands could not hold still, so the rest of the article was unreadable to him. He turned to the picture. The man's shadowed eyes were the only thing familiar to Remus. Blacks face was sunken in, that and the waxy white skin made it look like he was dead.

Remus John Lupin stared into the eyes of the man he once loved. There was nothing looking back at him, nothing except hatred.

"He escaped five days ago. We both knew him well once, Remus, yet it is beyond me how he has done it. The rumour says that he is out to kill, out to kill the only person standing between Voldemort and his rise to power. Harry. Harry Potter," Dumbledore explained to the young man, but it was like he heard his voice from miles away. His head was clouded by memories and dark thoughts he had had over the years, about what happened to his dear friends, and how he could've prevented it.

It took all the strength Remus had left in him to look away from the picture. He met Dumbledores eyes, looking at him over his half-moon shaped spectacles.

"If there is anything, even the smallest detail, about Black that might help to find him, now would be the time to tell me," the professor said. He hadn't changed, Remus remembered the feeling of being looked at by him just like this from when he was a student. It felt like he was this wise headmaster who already knew everything you did, but needed you to admit it.

Dumbledore trusted him. Since the day he first met him, when he turned up at his house, he had trusted him. And how many times he had broken said trust without him knowing. He wasn't ready to admit it to him, even though it gave Black a huge advantage.

"There is nothing, headmaster. I am just as surprised as you are, by the sudden escape," he answered quietly. That was not a lie, he doubted he had ever been more surprised. But then again, was he really? No one ever escaped from Azkaban before, but Sirius Black was not an ordinary wizard. And no one knew him better than Remus. At least he thought he did.

"Alright. Now, will you, Remus Lupin, take the position as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher for the upcoming year at Hogwarts?" Dumbledore asked when a thought crossed Remus' mind. Maybe the headmaster only wanted him there because Sirius escaped and now he decided to keep a close look on him.

"Yes," he heard himself say, even though it did not sound like him.

"Thank you, professor,"  Dumbledore smiled kindly at him. "I need you to take the train on the first of September, at eleven in the morning from platform nine and three-quarters."

"The train is reserved for students, why would you have me take it?" Remus asked, now leaning again the windowsill.

"You will see," Dumbledore said and turned to leave. "Keep in mind that times may change, but some people never really do."

Remus silently watched him open the door that only was connected to one of the hinges, and as soon as he set a foot outside, he disapparated.

Now Remus Lupin looked out of the window again, the Daily Prophet still in his hands, and wondered if he just made a terrible mistake.