The Shrieking Shack || The Marauders (Book 1)

1. REMUS

On a rainy August evening, a small boy with brown hair and green marble like eyes sat in front of the fire listening to the rain pattering on the roof while playing gobstones by himself. He could hear his mother in the kitchen preparing dinner while his father was busy reading The Prophet on the patched up old couch.

That's the life Remus Lupin had known for as long as he could remember. Soon his mother would get him some crumpets and by the time his father was done with the paper, dinner would be ready. After dinner it would be time for his last lesson of the day and Remus would cast all the spells he had learnt for his father to evaluate.

His mother brought him the crumpets. Hope Lupin was a gentle lady with soft brown eyes, brown hair and a sweet smile. She smelled faintly of bread and cinnamon as she spent most of her time busy in the kitchen making treats for her little boy, hoping it would fix his wiry frame or sad eyes.

She smiled at him and ruffled his hair. This was the best part of Remus's day. Not the lessons, not the magic, not playing outside in the yard and certainly not the nights. This- just sitting by the fire watching his father read and feeling his mother's hand on his head. The smiles, the touch, the warmth- this.

It almost made him feel like a normal child. But 'normal' was the last word anyone who really knew little Remus would use to describe him. His mother often tried to put a new spin on it and convince him that he was actually a special boy. But he was barely even a boy, much less a special one.

There was a knock at the door.

That wasn't usual. Everything at the Lupins' was planned and done accordingly. As far as Remus remembered there weren't supposed to be any visitors today. There weren't supposed to be any visitors ever.

His mother emerged from the kitchen again, her eyebrows scrunched up in worry as she wiped her forehead on her sleeves, looking at his father.

His father looked at the door while biting his lips as he usually did whenever he was thinking. Lyall Lupin was a very thoughtful man indeed. He had the same green eyes as Remus, frizzy brown hair and a very gentle demeanour. But Remus knew his father had the heart of an adventurer, for that's how his parents had met the first time.

"Probably a traveller, or a Muggle postman asking directions. Don't worry," Lyall said, though he looked plenty worried.

The Lupins' hadn't had a visitor since a long time. They had worked very hard to make sure they didn't. And so Remus went back to his game, trusting his father's instincts.

He heard some voices from the door and then it was slammed shut. His parents went straight to the kitchen.

He scrunched up his tiny eyebrows much like his mother, then shrugged and continued playing. With time, Remus had learnt not to worry about things. Things like people giving him strange looks, kids whispering behind his back, the cuts and bruises he got once every month, strangers at the door and so much more. He took another bite off his crumpet.

"Mind if I join in?"

Remus flinched dropping his crumpet and looked up. A tall man in emerald green robes had stepped out of nowhere right in front of him. His mane of long white beard and hair glittered in the firelight. Rested on a long crooked nose were half-moon spectacles. Remus should have been alarmed, he should have called his parents, but there was something about his smiling blue eyes that calmed him down.

"I know who you are," Remus said, his heart beating rather fast. "You are Albus Dumbledore. I have your Chocolate-Frog card."

Dumbledore chuckled.

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A/N:Thank you so much for giving my story a chance. It means a lot to me. :) xx

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PS- I'm currently re-editing this story, so all the chapters that are numbered have been edited.