Moonlit Horizons

Chapter one

By Dizmius.

A completely plotless Remus Fic for a friend of mine

All thoughts in first person are in italics, this will mostly be Remus' thoughts on stuff. Who is thinking will be made clear by the situations, so worry not!  Yes, I live in Cambridge, UK, that's why it features primarily, you don't like it? Get over it.  Hols, sorry its not Shepreth… its just the name. Foxton… ya'll understand in further chapters.  This doesn't really have any evil plot at the moment. It's just a little story about the life of Remus mainly, but has a bit of Sirius in it, just cuz I like it like that. J

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It's amazing what a person can do with their life.  Small decisions that seem meaningless and unimportant at the time can cause the most havoc upon a whole range of people.  Believe me, I've been there.  It can't have been easy, for anybody who was around me at that time; they all knew I was friends with Sirius Black.  I know for a fact that Severus Snape thought I was helping him enter the school, I kept hidden the fact that he was an animagus, and I had hoped, that beyond the façade of the false reality brought upon us by the Fidelius Secret Keeper Switch, and Peter's lack of faith in his friends, I had hoped that there would have been a chance for Sirius to start again, be accepted in this society.  But we're two of a kind, Sirius and me, we're both social outcasts; me being a werewolf, something that was hardly my fault. And Sirius being a "murderer".  Azkaban escapee and everything. 

That's what makes being one of us so difficult. Stepping off that train back in Kings Cross was perhaps the most difficult thing I've done.  I had nowhere to go. All my worldly possessions are inside this leather case.  Well, except a small bit of gold in Gringotts.  I need to leave that there to earn some interest. Perhaps to give me enough to last out my years.  So I was what you may call a 'free spirit, or a 'lone wolf' in the literal sense.  This gives me the chance I've been looking for, for so long. I can't remember the last time such opportunity was open to me.  Looking up a the departures on that television screen Muggles love so very much, I picked the first train available.  That is where my new life starts, the faint glimmer of hope so far in the distance. All on the front of an orange train ticket.

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The train trundled northward bound, stopping of at small countryside stations on its journey.  Remus, having no particular place to go had closed his eyes and pushed a button at random when he'd purchased his ticket.  Foxton. Somewhere near Cambridge.  It wasn't perfect, but was good enough.  As the train went further north, various schoolchildren boarded the train, most in a dark navy uniform, some in neatly polished black shoes and grey blazers that showed very plainly what school they belonged to.  It was the early morning school train, obviously. The big public schools were in Cambridge; no doubt they went on this train every day.  Muggles, every single one of them, they didn't cast a second glance at the stranger sitting by himself near a side window dressed in shabby clothes.  One girl looked curiously at him as she got onto the train at her stop, but she sat down in an empty seat across from him and pulled out a hardback black book, and started sketching dreamily.   His stop arrived and stepping neatly over the train threshold, Remus stepped out into a new village.  It looked friendly enough.  Now to find an empty field, or barn or something. Away from the local population.

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Over a year later and Remus had settled into his small but adequate barn-converted shack he liked to call home.  Formalities over with the Ministry of Magic over his location. (Ever since 1984, any werewolf had to be named and numbered, and have his living address cleared with the Ministry) Remus had happily slipped into a semi-normal routine of life.   Days consisted of a walk round to the village shop, sometimes a visit to Cambridge itself.  Settled down in one of the library's chairs with a good novel in his hand.  But today would be different, for some reason Remus could almost sense it. 

Five thirty.  Remus always woke up at this time; it was almost like a ritual.  He never wanted to, it just happened, and once he was awake, he could never get back to sleep.  In the winter months, he sat in his chair, and stared out at the pre-dawn life outside his window, but this was July.  Five thirty meant an early morning stroll, to clear his head, start the day in a fresh way.  He pulled on a pair of faded blue Muggle jeans, the fabric was wearing out near the hemming, but they were still wearable.  A grey shirt, patched on the elbows matched the streaks in his hair. Premature ageing no doubt due to stressful activities such as being a wolf.  So far, his lycanthropy 'problem' had gone unnoticed by the residents in the area.  A big success that was due to the heavily charmed and hexed barrier outside his house. Silencing charms, inquisitive Muggle repelling hexes, allsorts.  He opened his door and was nearly bowled over by the flurry of black fur that leapt out at him.

"Oh, goodness." A young woman put her hand to her mouth in shock at the sight of the black dog pushing Remus over, and vigorously licking his face. "I… I'm sorry."

"Paddy!" Remus cried out in delight. "You should have told me you were coming here."

The large black dog barked out, alerting Remus to the lady standing in the doorway. Remus stood up, and smiled weakly, "I hope my dog here didn't cause you any trouble."

"Oh no," The lady smiled shyly, "You see, he was wondering round the village, he looked a bit lost.  And I sort of well… took him in… it was so early in the morning."

"How did you know he belonged to me?" Remus asked, giving Padfoot a sharp look.

"Oh, he had a tag, it said he belonged here, with a Remus Lupin." The lady said quietly,

"That would be me." Remus nodded, "He often wanders off like this.  Has a mind of his own.  I'm sorry if he bothered you too much, but he's a bit of an attention seeker."

Remus could have sworn that Sirius gave him a grin at that statement.

"He's a lovely dog.  Incredibly friendly." The lady gazed down at the dog, "Aren't you."

Sirius barked in approval.

"Do you want to come in for a coffee or something, it's so early." Remus said in an almost apologetic voice.

"That would be wonderful, but I really shouldn't stay.  I have to let out the horses. Clear up, you know the routine."

"Those horses down in the field are yours?" Remus asked. He'd often stopped to watch them in the field on his way past.

"They are indeed. I really should be going... I'm glad you've found your dog Mr. Lupin."

"No no, call me Remus." Remus called out at her retreating figure. After he closed the door,

Sirius transformed and rolled his eyes. "Would you like coffee?" He asked in a mimicking voice. "I know I'm gazing at you as if I've never seen anything female in my life… its not my fault really… I'm just not used to women around me you see… I prefer Grindylows. They occupy my bathtub at the moment."

He was stopped by Remus, embracing him in a brotherly hug.  "Good to see you alive, Paddy."

"You too, Moony." Sirius grinned.  "You know what? She makes the best bacon ever."

"Sirius!" Remus shook his head, "You're impossible!"

"I know." Sirius nodded, "Not my fault you were gazing at her like an idiot."

"Breakfast?"

"Would love another one." Sirius sat down at the small table in the kitchen, "I've been running for twelve hours straight, from Devon.  Mundungus Fletcher almost cursed me on the spot.  Arabella was easier, but still almost gave her a heart attack…."

"Sirius, slow down, what are you talking about? Why the hell did you go see Mundungus?"

"Dumbledore's orders, Moony- Voldemort's back. Harry was there and everything, pretty damn shaken up about it, Voldemort killed one of his fellow students, Amos' kid. Cedric, was he called? I can't remember. Anyway, that's not the point. I was sent to round up the remaining Phoenixes. You're included. But I'm supposed to lie low here until Dumbledore says anything different."

"Ah, I see." Remus almost smiled, "Enforcing you on my hospitality is he?"

"Of course." Sirius nodded, gladly accepting a piece of buttered toast. "Nice little place you have here.  I had difficulty finding you, so I wandered round a bit and found that lovely lady walking up to her horses."

"Did you get her name?" Remus suddenly asked.

"Not from herself, but her key ring had "Anna" written on it in fancy script.

"Anna…." Remus smiled "Formed from a Hebrew word meaning 'grace'.  Latin form used in Virgil's Aeneid.  Sister of Dido.  Saint Anna, the prophetess."

"What?" Sirius looked up, obviously confused.

"Her name, its what her name means and where it comes from."

"How the hell do you know?" Sirius asked, surprised at just how much his friend actually knew about names.

"You get bored sometimes, and I had access to books along the way, I picked up various scraps here and there…"

"You're a walking encyclopaedia." Sirius exclaimed, putting down his slice of toast. "As far as I can go on the name front is I'm a dog star, one of Orion's hunting dogs. You're one of the twins who built Rome, in fact you're the one that got killed, when they had a tussle about who the city was going to be named."

"You're not completely thick then." Remus let out a laugh.

"Yeah, but I don't spew forth knowledge at the bare mention of a name." Sirius grinned, "Go on, eat some too.  Or my toast will get lonely."

"Oh a moment of silence for your lonely toast… Let it regain some dignity before you eat it." Remus joked.

"Yeah, sure." Sirius snaffled up the toast as if it never existed, "Do you think it's safe for me to walk round like myself for a bit, I mean down in the village, you can only see so much as a dog you know."

"I don't think it would create any problems, if you wear a hat, they don't have those wanted posters anymore, I think most people have forgotten about you actually, well the Muggles anyway." Remus nodded, "As long as you're not planning on parading round in those robes."

"Nope, I'll transfigure them later."

"You have a wand?" Remus raised an eyebrow.

"Present from Dumbledore so to speak." Sirius nodded, "Why? Does Mister Lupin object?"

"Mister Lupin is worried about the potential havoc you could cause." Remus grinned, "Mister Lupin might confiscate that wand."

"Mister Lupin wouldn't dare." Sirius conjured up a cup of coffee.  "Because Mister Padfoot has seen a motorbike repair centre down in the village. Mister Padfoot is very interested."

Remus buried his face in his hands, "Do you remember what trouble you had with the LAST one? You're renowned for that bike, if any wizard sees some fellow wizard on one; the first name that comes to mind is yours.  Its dangerous."

"I wont buy one, I have no money on me. I just want to look, maybe help out a bit if I can." Sirius shrugged, "I want to know if they still make Vincent Black Shadows." He put a scrap of newspaper on the table, tapped it once with his wand and a black baseball cap stood in its place. "Check out the class of that!" Sirius laughed, "McGonagall would be so proud of me."

"Er… Sirius?" Remus suddenly had a thought. "What did you do with that Hippogriff you escaped with?"

"Oh!" Sirius leaned back in his chair. "Buckbeak… yeah, good friend he is, I was persuaded to leave him in the capable hands of Hagrid by Dumbledore.  He'd create too much attention if I took him along apparently." He muttered a few spells and Sirius' tattered robes transformed into semi-presentable Muggle clothing. "Well, I guess it'll do."

"And what are you going to call yourself if someone asks?" Remus asked over the rim of his coffee mug. "I doubt you'd be able to call yourself Sirius Black."

Sirius' face cracked into an evil grin. "You'll never guess what I've been calling myself on my journey…."

"No idea. Being you, probably you've gone and told people you're called Tigger or something."

"Nah, think of the one person who'd be so incredibly annoyed to know I'd been using his name to cause mischief…"

"Never." Remus's eyes widened, "Not Severus Snape… you wouldn't"

"The one and only." Sirius nodded, "I wonder if he'll get any angry howlers… oh well… what a pity.  I admit, it's not a very nice name, but that isn't the point."

"In an odd way, it kind of suits you."

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