Chapter Text
REMUS
May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see their light surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
And may you stay
Forever young
Forever young
Forever young
May you stay
Forever young
Friday 14th June, 1974
As the end of the Marauder’s third year drew closer to its end, Remus found himself spending more and more time up at the castle with his friends. His Da was barely around anymore, and seemed to be taking as many night shifts up at Hogwarts as he could, oblivious to the fact that his son was sneaking up to Gryffindor tower most nights a week.
Remus had even continued to attend classes hidden under the invisibility cloak. The only one he avoided was Defence Against the Dark Arts, as he was keen to avoid a repeat of the Werewolf lesson.
It was as they were making their way back from the final class of the day, Charms, that Remus came face to face with the Marauder’s mortal enemy for a second time. James and Sirius were walking ahead, strutting down the corridor, Peter scurrying along slightly behind them, while Remus hung back to walk with Lily, Mary and Marlene.
Remus was wearing one of Sirius’ spare school uniforms and had removed the invisibility cloak as they walked through the crowded halls, confident that they were far enough from the Defence corridor that he wouldn’t run into his Da. No one blinked twice as he passed and Remus felt rather pleased at the thought that he looked like any other third year student heading to the great hall after a long week of lessons.
Lily was talking animatedly beside him, recounting her favourite parts of the charms lesson. Remus was nodding along eagerly and adding in little comments.
“I’m pretty sure cheering charms will be on our final exam, too!” Lily exclaimed happily. She had been the first in the class to succeed in casting the spell, and had sent an invisible Remus as well as a very visible James into peals of laughter.
“You’ll definitely get top marks, Lils,” Remus told her confidently, feeling invigorated by his friend’s success.
“Thanks, Moony.” She beamed.
“What on earth is Moony ?” A snide, slimy voice sneered from behind them. Remus and Lily both whirled around, shocked. Mary and Marlene turned too and both scoffed when they saw who it was.
“Hi, Sev,” Lily sounded surprised. Snape pulled a strange face that Remus supposed was an attempt at a smile, then his eyes flickered over to Remus. He had to tilt his head up slightly, as Remus was quite a bit taller than him.
“Who are you?” Snape demanded in a nasally, superior tone.
“None of your business.” Remus said, his voice cool. Snape’s face distorted with anger.
“Don’t be snide with me,” He hissed.
“Or what?” Remus raised an eyebrow. He wasn’t quite sure where this attitude was coming from, but he knew that it most likely had something to do with a little too much time in the presence of one Sirius Black mixed with the constant disparaging of Snape by the Marauders.
“Boys.” Lily said in a warning tone, her voice sounding eerily similar to Professor McGonagall.
“C’mon, Rem, let’s just go.” said Mary, reaching out and threading her arm through Remus’. Remus started to turn away, but stopped when Snape spoke again.
“You aren’t a student here. You must be Filch’s apprentice, then.”
Remus whirled around, anger bubbling in his chest. Snape looked extremely smug at having provoked a reaction from Remus.
“Sev,” Lily gritted her teeth, “Stop it.”
“Oh come on ,” Snape shot her a disbelieving look, “Why are you defending him? He looks like a feral degenerate!”
Before Remus could stop himself, he had lunged forward and sent his fist flying right into Snape’s long, hooked nose. A gruesome crack resounded through the corridor, stopping several people in their tracks. Sirius, James and Peter all rushed over to them. Sirius’ worried gaze was fixed firmly on Remus, who was breathing heavily.
Snape raised his head, blood trickling from his clearly broken nose.
“You’ll pay for that you filthy mudbl-”
“Oi!” James stepped forward, puffing out his chest, “Don’t you dare use that word!”
“Or what, Potter?” Snape spat nastily, flicking his greasy curtains of hair out of his face. James glared at Snape in a very un-James Potter sort of manner.
“Or, I’ll-”
“Stop it!” Lily stepped between James and Snape.
“Lily, you can’t honestly be defending him!” James cried, “He’s a horrible person!”
“What, like you’re any better?” Lily asked disbelievingly, “Don’t think I haven’t seen the way you strut around these halls like you own them! All that pureblood privilege has gone to your head, Potter.” She glared at James as if he were something particularly disgusting on the bottom of her shoe.
“Shut up!” Sirius joined in too, “Don’t talk to him like that, Evans.”
Lily scoffed, “God, Black, you’re even worse than he is.”
“Lily-” Remus murmured reproachfully, and Lily rounded on him, looking angrier than he had ever seen her.
“And you! What do you think you’re doing? Punching Sev like that? You’re completely out of line!” She shouted.
“I know,” Remus bowed his head.
“No he wasn’t!” Marlene said hotly, “You heard what Snape said about him!”
“What?” Sirius snapped sharply, “What did Snivellus say about him?”
“That’s enough.” Lily cut in firmly. “All of you sort yourselves out and stop acting like little children. Come on, Sev, let’s get you to Madam Pomfrey.” She put a hand on Snape’s shoulder and turned away from the rest of the group.
Remus watched her go regretfully, he knew it was wrong to have punched Snape, but he had just been so angry. Sirius glared at Lily’s back, then came to stand defensively next to Remus.
“She doesn’t know what she’s talking about, Moony.” He muttered angrily, “Snivellus is manipulating her.”
“I don’t trust that greaseball one bit,” Marlene sniffed, crossing her arms.
“Me neither.” Mary nodded.
Remus stayed silent.
✴︎ ☾ ✴︎
May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
May your song always be sung
And may you stay
Forever young
Forever young
Forever young
May you stay
Forever young
Tuesday 18th June, 1974
Remus watched half hidden behind a tree as students poured onto the platform at the Hogsmeade train station. His eyes followed a head of familiar black hair as Sirius headed for the doors of the train, craning his neck over the crowd and looking around as he went.
Remus shuffled slightly to his left so he would be in Sirius’ line of sight. After a moment, Sirius’ grey eyes settled on Remus and his face lit up in a smile. Remus grinned and raised his hand to wave at his friend. Sirius nudged James and Peter then pointed towards Remus.
They all waved enthusiastically at Remus, whose chest ached at the thought of not seeing his friends for two whole months. He watched wistfully as his three friends turned away, distracted by the arrival of Mary and Marlene.
Remus’ eyes drifted over to Lily, who was standing off to the side, next to Snape. Since the incident in the Charms corridor, she’d been rather cold towards the other Gryffindors and had been spending more time with Snape. Remus had missed her far more than he’d expected during that time and was sure that he would feel it ten times more now that he wouldn’t see her at all.
Remus turned back to the Marauders, and noticed something rather odd. Something that didn’t sit quite right with him. Sirius and Marlene were standing extremely close to one another. Marlene’s hand was gripping Sirius’ upper arm and Sirius was whispering something in her ear.
Marlene laughed in a very dainty, girlish, un-Marlene way and Remus suddenly felt quite nauseous. A hot, bitter feeling arose in his throat, almost like bile. Feeling suddenly very put out, Remus turned his back on the platform, not wanting to see anymore.
The twisting feeling in his stomach didn’t let up as Remus walked home and by the time he stepped through the front door and flicked the wards back up behind him, he was entirely consumed by a new bitter resentment towards Marlene.
“Ah, so that’s how you’ve been getting out.”
Remus jumped at the sound of his Da’s voice, a jolt of fear running through his body. He looked up with wide eyes, his wand clutched desperately in his hand.
“Da…” He trembled.
“Where did you get it?” His Da asked sharply, his expression cold and furious.
“Found it.” Remus mumbled.
“Don’t lie to me, Remus.” His Da snapped. Remus raised his chin defiantly and didn’t speak. His Da sighed angrily. “Who’s teaching you how to use it, then? The same person who gave it to you?”
“I’m teaching myself.” Remus lied.
“How?!” Da spat.
“Found some books.” Remus said vaguely. This seemed to aggravate his Da further.
“Don’t be insolent, boy!” He shouted, “Don’t you see how selfish you’re being?! You put innocent lives in danger every time you leave this house and you clearly have no remorse! After everything I’ve done for you! I’ve protected you, I raised you, I care for you!”
“NO YOU DON’T!” Remus yelled, his anger bubbling over. “All you care about is yourself and your reputation! That’s why you keep me locked up in here! You don’t want anyone to know you’ve got a Werewolf for a son! And you don’t want anyone to know that it’s your fault that I’m like this! That you failed as a father!”
“Go to your room.” His Da’s voice was low and dangerous.
“No.” Remus spat.
“Just go, Remus! I can’t stand to look at you anymore!”
“Fine! I’ll go! I’ll just stay out of your life, like you clearly want me to!” Remus shouted, his chest heaving with the weight of his anger and hurt. Then, before his Da could say another word, he turned and stormed out of the front door and into the crisp early evening air.
Tears blurred Remus’ vision as his pace quickened into a run. He ran on and on, barely aware of where he was going. At some point he passed through Hogsmeade, but he didn’t stop. Remus kept running, on and on and on. The sun dipped lower over the horizon and soon, night had fallen.
It was fully dark by the time Remus stopped to catch his breath. He had found himself on the outskirts of a small village. His leg was aching and his knees felt like they might give way at any moment. He leant against someone’s garden wall as he struggled to get his breath back.
As he stood there, he looked around, trying to get some idea of where he was. He must be in a muggle village, he decided, as nothing around him looked remotely magic.
“Oi! Get back here, you stupid twat!” A shout arose nearby, making Remus jump and putting him on immediate high alert. He heard pounding footsteps, then a boy rounded the corner at breakneck speed and crashed right into Remus, sending them both toppling to the floor.
“Buggering fuck !” The boy hissed, lifting himself onto his hands and staring down at Remus. “Watch where you’re goin’, wanker!” He cried as he hurried to get to his feet.
Remus stared at the boy in disbelief, taking in his harried appearance. He was wearing worn out jeans and a shabby brown button up. He had closely cropped dark blond hair, big brown eyes, and was taller than Remus and more muscular. If Remus had to guess however, he would say that they were around the same age.
“Excuse you,” Remus grumbled, getting to his feet too, “ You ran into me .”
“Whatever, mate.” The boy waved a hand dismissively and Remus glared at him.
“You’re dead, Gibsy! You can’t hide from me!” The voice from before called out again and the boy - Gibsy? - turned white, fear written plainly across his face.
“Shit!” He muttered, looking around in panic. Remus frowned, watching him. He looked truly afraid of whoever the voice belonged to and Remus found himself feeling sorry for the boy, despite their less than friendly meeting.
Remus deliberated for a moment, then decided to take pity on Gibsy. He heaved a great sigh, then grabbed the boy by his wrist and began to drag him down the path out of the village.
“What are you doing?!” Gibsy hissed at Remus, his voice laced with panic. Remus ignored him and kept leading Gibsy out of the village. Once they had passed the last few houses, Remus led them off the path and into the edges of the forest that had carried on all the way down the path from Hogsmeade.
They stopped a few meters past the tree line and ducked down beneath some low hanging foliage. Gibsy was breathing heavily and biting the skin around his fingernails, looking very worried.
“This isn’t a trap is it?” Gibsy asked, flashing Remus a slightly worried look. Remus rolled his eyes.
“No.” He said shortly. Gibsy sighed,
“Look, I’m sorry for bein’ rude to you.” He mumbled. Remus nodded but said nothing. “Who are you, anyway? I’ve never seen you ‘round here before.” Gibsy asked after a short pause.
“I’m Remus- er John.” Remus stammered, belatedly feeling wary about using his real name with this muggle stranger and doing a very poor job at correcting himself.
Gibsy snorted and Remus glared at him. Gibsy chuckled and held up his hands defensively.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh. It’s just- well Remus isn’t exactly a common name.”
“Neithers Gibsy ,” Remus sniffed.
“That’s not my real name though. It’s short for my last name. Gibson.” Gibsy said, as if this were obvious, “My proper name’s Marcus. No one other than my Mum calls me that, though.”
“Why not?” Remus looked over at the blond curiously.
“Marcus isn’t exactly a good street name, is it?” He raised an eyebrow.
“You live in a village, it’s not exactly the place to have a street name.” Remus shot back, making Gibsy laugh brightly. He had a warm sort of laugh, one that sounded like bottled sunlight.
“It’s from back home,” He explained, “I was born in Manchester, but me and Mum moved here to be closer to her family. Only been here about a year now.”
“Oh,” Remus wasn’t quite sure what to say. “Well, I live up near the next village.”
“What’re you doin’ down here then?” Gibsy raised his eyebrows at Remus, who felt his face flush with embarrassment as he bowed his head.
“Had a fight with my Da. I think I’ve run away.”
“You think ?” Gibsy laughed disbelievingly. “You’re bloody something, Remus John.”
“You’re not exactly normal yourself, Marcus .” Remus retorted, unable to restrain the smile that was creeping across his face. Marcus scoffed but grinned right back.
Then, Marcus stood up and brushed some dirt from his jeans before holding out his hand towards Remus. Remus took it and got up too. For a moment, Marcus didn’t let go of Remus’ hand and something odd and warm sparked in Remus’ stomach.
“Alright,” Marcus whispered, “I reckon Ewan’s probably given up the search by now.”
“What did he want with you anyway?” Remus asked, his mind feeling a bit foggy from the prolonged feeling of Marcus’ hand in his.
“Ah, he thinks I stole from his Dad’s shop in the village.” Marcus shrugged.
“And did you?” Remus raised an eyebrow. Marcus grinned cheekily,
“Yep.” He snaked a hand into his pocket and produced a small rectangular box.
“What’s that?” Remus asked and Marcus laughed and shook his head.
“Come on, Remus John,” He said, “You can come to my house for tea and after I’ll corrupt your innocence with my stolen sticks of death.” He winked at Remus, who hesitated for a moment.
After a long pause of deliberation, Remus decided he would much rather go and eat with this odd muggle boy than go back home and face his Da.
“Alright then,” Remus smiled, “Lead the way.”