The Marauders: Year 1

Worried

Five-year old Remus Lupin was sitting at the table finishing up his breakfast with his right hand and then holding up a large picture book with his left.

"Remus, dear, I thought I told you not to read while eating. Your food is getting a bit cold," his mother had lightly scolded.

"But Mum," Remus whined. "I'm almost done with it." His mother raised her eyebrows and then shook her head in defeat. He was right, there was only a page or two left of the book and her son was a little bit stubborn.

"So what do you plan on doing today, Remus?" she questioned after he had closed his book with satisfaction.

"Hmmmm, when is Daddy coming home? He didn't come home yesterday either," Remus sighed and looked fallen. As though to answer his question, someone struggled for a moment with the front door before pushing it through.

"Daddy, you're home!" Remus jumped down from his chair without finishing his bowl of oatmeal z,to his mother's chagrin, and rushed to see his father. He stopped in front of him and looked up with a large smile plastered on his face. His father did not immediately return the gesture. His eyes had large rings around them and his face looked considerably thinner than it was three days ago when he had left for work at the Ministry of Magic. While his dark circles and apparent weight loss were not noticed by his child, they were not overlooked by his wife.

She had immediately questioned him.

"What's wrong, dear?"

Her husband had snapped out his daze momentarily and looked down at her with a weak smile.

"It's really nothing, it's just been a really long case at work," he said.

Lyall Lupin had a relatively high ranking position at the Ministry of Magic. While his Muggle wife did not know all the ins and the outs, she was aware that he dealt with many of the wizarding world's cases regarding all the sorts of magical creatures that she never properly understood. It wasn't rare for him to leave for a couple days all of a sudden and come back very exhausted. While completely unknown to the little Remus, Hope Lupin could easily tell that exhaustion was not the only feeling consuming him. From a quick glance into his eyes, Hope could tell that he was confused.

Maybe worried.

Or perhaps... scared?

No. She finally decided that "scared" was not enough. He was utterly terrified. She was going to question him further, but her son had spoken up.

"Mum, Dad can I go and play with Andrew today?" he beamed.

"Of course..." Hope had started before she was cut off by her husband.

"No," he said coldly. His family stared at him for his stiff response before he shook his head and answered,

"I mean, son, I brought a little surprise for you!" Lyall scrambled back to the front entrance and picked up a long thin package. Remus tailed behind bouncing up and down in excitement. The gifts that his father brought from work were usually more extravagant than something they could get in town. Number one, Lyall worked with many higher ups who usually had extra objects that were to be thrown away anyways. Number two, these objects were magical. Growing up in a small little Muggle town, the family could not simply walk into the local store and purchase chess pieces that moved on their own or a book that would always open up to the last page you were on. Remus was particularly excited about this one because of the package's size and weight. He started to rip open the wrapping paper excitedly before revealing a long piece of sturdy wood with a bunch of bristles at the end of it: a broomstick.

"Another one?" his mother interjected. "He has one already, right? Or is this a new model?"

"Oh no, it's not a new model," Lyall had explained. They weren't exactly poor, but keeping too many magical artifacts could cause trouble when they had Muggle visitors over. "But, this is a real one, Remus. I got you the toy broomstick two years ago, but that one doesn't go that high does it?"

Remus nodded in agreement. The toy broomstick wouldn't hover more than two feet off the ground. But this broomstick would. Lyall took his son and wife in his car to the familiar field in which Remus had first tried out the plastic broomstick two years earlier. The field was far away from the eyes of Muggles and an excellent place to practice flying.

As soon as they reached the outside of the field, Remus had bounced out.

"REMUS!" his father had shrieked, startling the little boy. Remus stopped in his tracks and turned around. His father sprinted up to catch up. "DON'T RUN AWAY FROM ME LIKE THAT. You have to stick close to me."

"But..."

Although Remus's first time flying on a broomstick was supposed to be a thrilling and fun experience, it quickly turned cold and straight. He wasn't able to fly more than five feet away from his father, so it wasn't much better than flying on the toy broomstick. It was now that Remus finally noticed that his father definitely wasn't feeling himself.

Remus was definitely having fun and was slightly down when his father said it was time to go. The sun was setting and it wouldn't be wise to have a beginner flyer practicing in the dark. His mother, who was watching her husband and son fly around while reading a book also started into the car. This wouldn't be the last time Remus would fly on a broomstick. But, that was the last time he would enjoy it.