I Solemnly Swear... (Marauders // Wolfstar // Jily oneshots!)

My Responsibility (Remus Saves Baby Harry)

Summary: Lily and James had been gone for six years and Remus had lost everything. However, one cold November evening, he realised he hadn't lost everything. Harry was still out there and if Remus could see him, even if it was just once, maybe it would give him the motivation to carry on. 

But when he arrived at the Dursley's house, he found something that shook him to the core.

TW: Mentions of abuse.

***************************************************************************************

Remus really didn't know what possessed him to do this. All he knew was that he'd woken up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, his heart beating rapidly as images of forest green eyes floated in his mind. Eyes that were so hauntingly like Lily's and yet belonged to a very happy and chirpy little boy. It was the first time Remus had thought of Harry since the Potters' death all those years ago and he hated himself for it. He'd been selfish, only thinking about what he'd lost and not what was still with him. Knowing that he wasn't going to get any more sleep that night, Remus had thrown the covers aside and began working on how he was going to get to the Dursley's house the next day.

And so there he was, standing on the pavement and standing in front of Number 4 Privet Drive. It seemed a nice house with a tidy garden and gleaming windows sparkling in the sun. The brass door knocker and letter box looked like it had been polished to an inch of its life. It was a very well kept house and looked very respectable. Remus was beginning to feel self-conscious in his shabby looking coat. But he was here now, holding a feeble looking box that contained a few scones he had made as a gift. He was sure they weren't the best, but it was Lily's recipe and so they had to be acceptable in some way. Swallowing hard, Remus took one last glance at himself before stepping forwards onto the drive. As he made his way towards the door, he mumbled to himself the words he had practiced the night before and hoped that it would be enough for Petunia Dursley to let him see Harry. 

Reaching the door, he knocked politely and waited. A few moments later, the door opened and Remus took a breath to begin his speech then realised that there was no one there. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion but then a timid, small voice called up.

"Hello?" it said. Remus looked down in surprise to see a small boy holding onto the door handle and looking up at him. Remus was struck for a moment. This boy looked so much like James from the messy black hair to the crooked nose. Even the glasses he had reminded Remus of the first ones James had at Hogwarts. But not the eyes of course. Lily's eyes. For a minute, Remus thought he was going to cry at the sight of Harry Potter but quickly pulled himself together. 

"Oh, hello there," he said, trying to keep his composure and not wanting to scare Harry. "My name is Remus. Remus Lupin. I-well-I came to see your aunt and uncle. Are they in?" Harry shook his head, pointing to the driveway where Remus had only just noticed the car was missing. "Oh, I see," he said, biting his lip. Did the Dursley's really just leave a small child on his own? Surely there must have been a reasonable explanation. Who on earth would leave a seven year old alone in the house? There had to have been some sort of emergency. But even then, surely one of the neighbours would have looked after Harry...?

"Do you have any idea when they might be back?" Remus asked politely, feeling slightly unnerved that he was talking to a child who had opened the door to a house just like that. If it wasn't Remus here, he feared that Harry could have been kidnapped by someone. Harry shook his head once again, his hair falling across his forehead. For the first time, Remus saw his lightning shaped scar that had fallen into legend. He looked at it with sadness, knowing himself exactly what it felt like to be irreversibly scarred for life.