turning page | A REMUS LUPIN STORY

i. HOME BOUND

The First Wizarding War.

There was something wrong that night. It was almost eerie: the war was ever looming, ever threatening, but something more sinister brew. He had told her that a bad thing had happened, and he had to confront it. She wondered if he was truly evil: had he murdered? There were always whispers about him at school, horrid words of hatred spread about the boy and his family. Maybe she had been naive back then to not believe them. Their final battle had been vicious, harsh words of hatred expressed as she cursed him for leaving, for abandoning what they had - who they had. He told her she would understand one day, that he would make sure of it. His eyes blazed with anguish, as he told her he had no choice, and no time. He left moments later. She would cry for hours. Short for breath, sobbing as though she was in mourning. Perhaps she was.

A panic-struck woman knocked on the door of Anne Montgomery that night. It was a nineteen year old with a bundle in her arms: a child, barely two, crying as she felt her mother's shivers. She answered the door with a look of surprise, eyes drifting from the thin, gaunt face of her friend to the baby clinging to her shoulder.

"He's gone." was all she said, and Anne understood. She opened the door further, allowing them both sanctuary in her house, a new home away from home, where they would remain for years.

1st of September, 1993.

"Adeline!" The shrill call of her mother's voice rang throughout the halls of their home in Mould-on-the-Wold in the Cotswolds. It was a quaint place: there were fields upon fields of untouched countryside, and their little cottage was sat happily at the end of the street. A mixture of muggles and magic folk lived there, and it was in harmony, with one being oblivious to the existence of the other. Adeline liked where she lived very much. She liked waking up in her bedroom, decorated with her mother's artwork, and venturing to the kitchen where they grew their own herbs by the window. She liked that her dad was always sat on their old, blue sofa in the morning, alternating his papers from The Daily Prophet to some bizarre muggle one. It would pain her to leave it.

She pulled herself out of bed slowly, dark auburn hair in a knotted mess of curls and volume. Adeline Montgomery looked strikingly similar to her mother, Esme, who possessed the same facial structure as her daughter, though her hair was not auburn, but an ashy blonde. Ade suspected it was not her natural hair colour. She looked almost nothing like her father, Nicholas, whose fair features were a striking contrast to that of his daughter's, light blue eyes meeting her almost black ones as she stepped downstairs.

"Have you only just gotten up?" Worried Esme, who glowered at her daughter with a disapproving look. "You're going to be late!"

It was September 1st, the day that Adeline would be returning to Hogwarts for her seventh year. Adeline adored her home, but Hogwarts was special, meaningful in a different way. Her summer had been long, working at the art museum with Esme, and hopping between her cousins in France and her cousins in Scotland. She hadn't the opportunity to visit her friends as much as she would have liked, but the chance would soon present itself.

"Now, now, Esme. I'm certain Adeline is all packed and ready to go. Right, darling?" Her father raised his eyebrows at her, as though prompting her to lie: and she nodded, moving from the staircase to the kitchen table to receive her breakfast.

"Of course, mummy." Her accent was gentle, and she smiled. "I was packed days ago."

Things went rather quickly after that: she was shooed upstairs to shower and change, performing a speedy charm on her hair to transform the dishevelled curls into a slick, straight mound. Her bags were floating towards the door as she said a silent goodbye to the house, and the three disapparated to Kings Cross station.

They ran through the barrier promptly, and unloaded her belongings onto the train for the final time. Adeline lifted her cat, Leonis, into her arms and hugged her parents goodbye, her mother holding her tightly before allowing her to leave. "Be careful." Willed her father, and as she departed, she turned to look at them one more time. Nicholas had his arm around Esme's shoulder, and they leaned into each other, as though for comfort. They were a content couple. Adeline had always noticed growing up that they were not passionate - they did not have big arguments or long kisses; but they comforted each other, smiled kindly, and they laughed. Love was never lacking in the Montgomery's cottage.

The train was busy, with almost every carriage taken. She was rather lucky that her friends had arrived before her, and she slid through the door to face the three of them. Margo was the first to stand, rushing over to envelope her in a gentle hug, mindful of the cat in her arms. Leonis jumped down, moving carefully out into the corridor where he would explore.

Margo Mather-Lee was a brilliant girl of a tall five foot ten. She had dark hair and mischievous brown eyes, slender fingers and long legs. Adeline and Margo were obsessed with each other: striding around Hogwarts, you would never see one without the other. They never fought, and told each other everything. "Adeline! I missed you." Spoke Margo with adoration.

"We only saw each other three days ago, Margo. It's hardly a long time." Adeline laughed. Margo's parents worked high up in the Ministry of Magic, and rather than opting to be alone in their apartment in London, she stayed regularly at the cottage in the Cotswolds.

"And yet three days without your company is three days not worth living." a grin grew on her lips, and she shuffled aside so that the other two could greet the auburn-haired girl. Oliver Wood looked up from his Quidditch gameplay and nodded towards his cousin. Adeline's father and Oliver's mother were siblings, Nicholas and Anne: they had visited each other all summer, and had grew up rather close, as though they were brother and sister themselves, being only children. "Cousin, dearest." His accent was thick and familiar.

"Oliver. Preparing for the season already, I see." Adeline didn't particularly like Quidditch, preferring to stay firmly on the ground, but her family were huge fans. Oliver had been begging her to practice with him all summer.

"If Gryffindor are going to win, I had to start months ago. It's my last ride as Captain, Addie - I need to win."

Eyes rolled away from her cousin whose head buried back in his work, and she turned to the final occupant of the compartment. Alexander Martin was a handsome boy, always with a displeased facial expression. He had a reputation around Hogwarts for being almost unattainable: every girl fancied him, but nobody could get him. He expressed annoyance with almost everybody except for his three best friends. He was particularly fond of Adeline. Nobody knew really what they were - people didn't know if they were dating, or if they were just best friends. She knew she had certainly not ever kissed him, or done anything else, but their habits were that of a couple. He would always put his arm around her, and she would fall asleep leaning on him in the library. They were immensely close, and those who knew they weren't dating assumed they would be soon. It was not as if they were devoted to each other: Alexander would often get with the odd girl at a party, and Adeline wouldn't mind. She wasn't his girlfriend. They weren't even certain that they felt that way towards each other, but their company was familiar, and uplifting.

Moving towards him, she wrapped her arms tightly around his head as he sat, and he stifled a chuckle. "You're suffocating me, Montgomery." His head poked up and he looked at her with doe eyes.

"My bad, Martin. I missed you." She grinned, and he mumbled back that he missed her too. They sat beside each other, and Adeline looked towards her friends with a feeling of complete contentment.

"Our final year, girls and boys. Let's hope it's a good one."

"Potter's in school, Adeline. It's always going to be eventful." Almost on cue, the train chugged to a stop. Everything went dark.