Secret Wings [Remus Lupin]

Chapter 5: Freedom is Mine

Chapter 5: Freedom is Mine

2 Years later, Summer Holiday

I've been going to Beauxbatons for 2 years now and to put it simply they were hell. I was ignored, and that's almost as bad as being bullied. Nobody ever said anything to me, it was like I was invisible. I didn't like being the center of attention but it would have been nice to have at one friend.

I never even got the chance to prove myself before the girls judged me. So I stopped trying to make friends, I went through it alone. There was this one time when a girl named Juliana asked to be my friend in my first year. She was a shy girl with blonde hair and green eyes, and I thought that for once maybe, someone actually wanted to be my friend. It turns out she was just dared by some other girls to pretend to be my friend. I was crushed. Juliana had just used me so she could become friends with the group of girls, and she wasn't even sorry.

The world is a cruel place where anybody will do anything to get to power. Except for the decent people in the world like Remus and me and my mum. I didn't trust people like I used to after that.

I pushed through it all though. I buried and buried all the memories, but like a lot of things in life, they can never be forgotten. And I figured that was okay, as long as I had the happy memories to keep me company.

My grades were always horrible because I never actually tried. I could have been the top in all my classes, but I didn't want to attract any attention to myself, so I just failed everything.

Instead of paying attention during lessons I usually thought about happier times and about Remus. I daydreamed of all the adventures we could of had at Hogwarts and what good friends we could have been. It made me sad a lot, but happy at the same time. I wondered if he ever thought of me and our shopping trip. I still have the book he let me borrow, I've read it more than a dozen times.

I missed Remus, more that I'd like to admit.

At the moment I was sitting in my bedroom, in the floor looking at the ceiling. I did this a lot. I liked to study the old cracked ceiling with it's fading white paint. I don't know why but I found it's familiarity comforting. It was always there, protecting me from the elements.

That's when I heard the shout from downstairs. "GET DOWN HERE YOU LITTLE WORTHLESS BRAT!"

I sighed, it was my birthday and I was turning 13 today. I didn't want to have to deal with this today of all days, especially since I had to start Beauxbatons again in 3 days.

I walked down the stairs and into the living room where my dad was sitting on the moldy couch. He had a bag full of books in his lap that he held out for me to take. I didn't look at his face as I took it, and he didn't look at mine.

"Those are your school books for this year. Now get out!" he said gruffly, as I flinched at his words. But just then an owl came flying in through the open kitchen window with a letter. It was a pretty owl, I observed, with big yellow eyes and grey feathers with white markings. It had my Hogwarts letter tied to its leg, just like all the previous ones. My dad always just tears the letters to shreds though, making it clear that I would not be going to Hogwarts. I wasn't expecting this year to be any different.

I stood rooted to the spot as the owl landed on the couch arm and held out its leg. My father untied the letter while I watched his every move. I wanted that letter more than anything in the world. It was my freedom.

I wanted freedom.

"Ah, so the wretched letter arrives once again." my father sneers, holding it up so I can clearly see it. "What shall we do with such a thing?"