Remus John Lupin

[Remus Lupin]

LUPIN, REMUS JOHN
Time can take its toll on the best of us; look at you you're growing old so young

Your name/alias: Kori
Age: 22
Experience roleplaying: FOREVER
Other characters: Harry Potter
How did you find us: Emz

Character Name: Remus John Lupin
Nickname(s): Moony
Sex: Male
Age: 34
Birthdate: March 10, 1960
House: Former Gryffindor
Blood Type: Half-Blood
Occupation: recently unemployed, working at a local Muggle bookshop until he can find something more permanent

Appearance: Remus is incredibly thin and always looks like he’s running on 2 hours of sleep. His eyes have permanent bags that sit dark on his pale face with premature wrinkles at the corner of his eyes. He always seems haggard with a slight beard, and even if it is obvious his trousers have been well ironed and he has come from a fresh haircut, his general appearance is marred by the fact that he seems to get incredibly ill every month.

But even this worn appearance can’t hide the fact that he always has a friendly smile and warm eyes. He is often nervous in stressful situations and hides it by mussing up his hair with an innocent head scratch or by rubbing the back of his head. His nails are always chewed down to the skin and there are bits of skin around his nail that have begun to bleed when he gets overzealous.

Play-By: David Wenham

Likes: Reading classic literature (except for Dickens), music from the turn of the 20th century (big-band, jazz, and swing), going back to Hogwarts which holds some painful memories but also some of the best, chocolate, and a warm butterbeer
Dislikes: fighting, Potions (even as an adult, the class still makes his skin crawl), modern music, messes, broccoli, and Charles Dickens novels
Strengths: clever, well trained in Defense Against the Dark Arts, forgiving, brave, kind
Weaknesses: self-critical, overly humble, extraordinarily forgiving to a fault, a grand desire to please other people
Pet Peeves: dog earing books, putting empty milk cartons back in the fridge, cold tea, eating food in bed/on couches and leaving crumbs everywhere, messes
Mirror of erised: to clear Sirius’ name, get revenge on Peter for betraying James and Lily, to get a well paying job that has flexible hours for his transformations
Fears: heights, losing control of himself during the full moon, rabbits – he’s eaten enough of them that he’s sure they are plotting revenge.
Boggart: The moon
Dementor: The night he learned Sirius was innocent. He was so quick to rush to his friend’s side, suddenly aware of what happened twelve years prior that he forgot to take his potion. The oversight cost Sirius his freedom and allowed Peter to escape.
Patronus: a wolf; the day his friends found out he was a werewolf and didn’t leave him or call him a monster but figured out a way to be with him during the full moon.
Amortentia: old books, freshly cut grass, and warm wood

Relationship status: single

Turn ons: cleverness, being well-read, emotional strength, kindness
Turn offs: high pitched giggling, self-centered behavior, overly concerened about their looks

Personality: Remus John Lupin has many flaws in his character: he is too self-critical, overly humble, extraordinarily giving. His greatest weakness is his own desire to please other people. He cuts those around him too much slack and never once allows himself a break. Remus can come off as uppity, straight-laced, and up-tight. But in reality, he is so rule-bound because he feels as if he owes it to the Wizarding society for actually being admitted as one of them.

On the other hand, Remus has a mischievous air about him. He did enjoy the time spent marauding with his friends and is never one to turn down a good adventure. Remus is extremely brave and compassionate. He cares deeply for the entirety of the human race and the basic foundations of human morality. He is a hard worker and a patient guide. Remus is mature beyond his years, and kind beyond his race.

Mother: Mary Lupin, 52, house-wife, mother, Muggleborn
Father: John Lupin, 52, gardener, father, Muggleborn
Siblings: N/A
Other important figures: Harry Potter, 14, student, former student and son of two of his best friends, half-blood
Pets: Snuffles, large black dog, convicted criminal, best friend

Birth place: Glastonbury, England

Overall history: The Lupin’s were married shortly after their graduation from Hogwarts; Mary already a few months into her pregnancy. They decided to make a home together in Mary’s hometown of Glastonbury, a Muggle town surrounded by magical lore. Their home was a modest one story on the outskirts of town, a dwelling not unlike the others of the village. The real draw to the house was the fair amount of land it sat on, allowing them to build a small farm with a couple of sheep and a small vegetable garden.

Remus was born 6 months later and spoiled by both parents with the only thing they could afford: love. Over the next five years, Remus grew into a healthy young boy and lived a fairly average life. Remus filled his days playing in the garden as his mother tended to the vegetables; helping his father feed the sheep; and play with the neighboring children into dusk.

John made a small amount of money tending to the gardens of the townspeople. They found it remarkable that under his care their vegetables grew at an incredible rate and that at the end of the day it looked like he didn’t even break a sweat. If John happened to be working at a house close to his home, Remus would stand at the front gate to walk John home. Together they would make the trek home, Remus giggling and being swung over his father’s shoulder.

The papers began to fill with the news that several people in the town were losing livestock at an alarming rate. It appeared that a wolf had come into town and spent it’s time helping itself to the animals. Citizens had cried out for a hunt, but John refused to let them kill the wolf. He promised that for free, he could make it that no wolf enters anyone’s property. For a month, it seemed like the simple charms work he and Mary had devised worked.

One night, Mary called Remus in for dinner; it was well past dusk and the moon shone bright above. Remus came running toward the house, smiling brightly and with a stick knotted in his hair. Mary smiled as she watched her son come in that she didn’t even see the wolf coming up behind her son until it was too late. She called to her husband and armed with their wands, they took off after the wolf dragging their son. John came across the two first and stared as the wolf, that didn’t look quite like a wolf, stood over his son and made to make another bite. John shouted out a spell and the wolf flew back and running away as Mary came up beside her son.

They apparated to St. Mungo’s in London, not trusting the nearby Muggle hospitals with such a case. John who got a good look at the wolf sat in the waiting room with his head in his hands. Mary just paced around the room, ignorant to the facts that ailed her husband, and hopeful that her son would be fine in the hands of the magical medical team. After what seemed like an enternity to the concerned couple, a doctor had called for them and as they walked past the terrified looks of the nurses, John clasped at his wife’s hand. He couldn’t say the words, couldn’t warn her about his suspicions, because if he said that word the struck him in his core it would make it real. It would make it into a fact that what he saw, what his son had become was real. That one word. Werewolf.

For the next few years, Remus barely left the house. His father would explain to concerned neighbors that his health never returned after being attacked by a wolf and they would leave with a muttered “poor dear”. His friends grew up without him and forgot of him completely. Mary took up his education, exhausting the books in the house for the cause. The Lupin’s decided to leave magic out of his curriculum, to save their child the disappointment of not receiving his Hogwarts letter. Remus, for his part, forgot the magic performed by his parents that he witnessed over his youth.

The small family continued in this manner for the next 6 years. Remus’ magical parents almost forgetting what it was like to hold a wand and expecting Remus to never know what it was like. One summer afternoon, John was walking home from the market when he saw an owl sitting on the fence post of the front gate. Panicked, John rushed for the owl, taking the letter and shooing it away quickly. He crumpled the letter up and shoved it into his pocket, before continuing into the house. Mary was pacing in the entrance hall and Remus was tucked into the living area with his book.

“What could they want? We haven’t heard anything in 6 years.” Mary said in a frantic whisper when she saw her husband. John shook his head and looked in at Remus, who was walking toward them with his book open.

“See, Mum. That’s not normal owl behavior.” Remus shoved the book toward Mary, which she gave a high pitch ‘hm’ to. Remus looked at his father and nodded a greeting. He offered to take the groceries from him and to put them in the kitchen.

When Remus shut the kitchen door behind him, John went for his pocket to retrieve the letter only it wasn’t there. Mary gave him a confused look; John realized that when he handed his son the groceries, Remus must have taken it out of his pocket. In a flash, John was tearing through the small home and tore the kitchen door open. Mary heard her son ask in a small voice, “Dad? What’s Hogwarts?”

His years at Hogwarts were his happiest. He met James Potter and Sirius Black on the train, both having bonded before they even found a compartment – Remus’ compartment. They were loud, boisterous boys, attracting the attention of another round faced boy – Peter Pettigrew. Remus would have never expected to call these boys friends, felt that they were all fairly different, but time proved that would never be the case. They were nearly inseparable from that first Welcoming Feast to Graduation and really past that to those short years that would follow graduating from Hogwarts.

The boys that Remus assumed he would have nothing in common with were the first people to learn of his secret. He had always been a secretive boy, knew what was at risk if anyone found out he was a werewolf, and when they told him that they had noticed the dates coincided with the moon he feared the worst. But the boys never rejected him, made the insane and wonderful gesture to become animagus so he would never be alone on those full moons. Remus never realized how alone he had been, how completely and truly awful it had been and the want to never be alone again.

Life outside of Hogwarts was a little more difficult, which was impressive considering there’s nothing worse than being a teenager. Finding a job that could work with a werewolf’s schedule was impossible and Remus followed his friends into fighting the war against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. The war was brutal and felt like every step forward they made there were at least a half dozen steps backward. Yet there were plenty of good days: James and Lily’s wedding, meeting James at the Leaky Cauldron to hide from Lily’s pregnancy rage, Harry’s birth, the first Christmas with them all together that would become their last.

The Halloween of 1981 is one that Remus never speaks of. People would ask if he was that Remus Lupin that knew Sirius Black and James and Lily Potter. It wasn’t that he had an incredibly common name for there to be another Remus Lupin that they could be talking about, but he always denied that he was their friend. An act that hurt more than he could really imagine, but he convinced himself that denying any connection to that night would somehow save him from the pain of their loss. It never worked and somehow by denying that he was ever friends with the Potters or Sirius or even Peter made his lonliness unbearable. The manner in which he dealt with his lonliness is not something he’s particularly proud of and lost him more jobs than his frequent illnesses.

Twelve years passed and it wasn’t until a letter from Dumbledore offering a job did he clean himself up; Dumbledore seemed far to lenient with the amount of chances he gave Remus and he refused to let anything ruin this latest opportunity. There were more important things than the past that he was letting rule his life which he realized on the train to Hogwarts. Remus feigned sleep when Harry Potter of all people found his way into his compartment. While he listened to the friends talk quietly to themselves, he wondered if he had some weird Potter magnet but knew the likely answer was the other way around.

He shouldn’t have been as surprised as he was the day Harry Potter found his way into his office and shouldn’t have been surprised that he was completely willing to teach him the impossible Patronus charm to a third year. Remus had never been able to deny Harry anything when he was an infant and it seemed that was still the case. For the first time in twelve years, Remus even told Harry that he knew his parents. Some flawed method of protection for him was childish when he could give the boy some information about the parents he never knew. It was a pleasant surprise to become Harry’s mentor and around Christmas of that year, he decided it was best to just stop being surprised when it came to Harry.

The rest of the year continued to go relatively well, even when he was blindsided with the knowledge that the map, his map, their map, was in Harry’s position. Remus became obsessed, staring at the map whenever he wasn’t in class or with a student. Peter Pettigrew died, Sirius killed him …for some reason after James and Lily died. Why would Sirius kill Peter? They said that poor Peter had the misfortune of running across Sirius that night, but Remus couldn’t think of any reason for Sirius to go after Peter when he could run away from Azkaban.

Remus found himself drinking that day when Hagrid had to surrender his hippogryff to the executioner. A weakness he wasn’t particularly proud of but he could no longer think properly on his own. The war had been horrible, yes, but if Sirius betrayed James and Lily that would mean he would be going back to the family he had litterally ran away from at sixteen. Sirius betrayed James and Lily, Remus corrected himself not particularly sure where the ‘if’ came from. He turned one of the folds of the map and saw Peter’s name fly across the parchment followed closely by Sirius’ and suddenly everything became very clear. Remus fled his office, not even properly locking it up or stopping to remember to take his potion, and heading toward the Shrieking Shack without having to know for sure if that was where they were going. Sirius was innocent, for the first time in twelve years he was completely sure of it.

He should have taken his potion. That was the fatal flaw that got Sirius recaptured, almost made him attack his students – Harry. When Remus woke up from that night, sore and feeling like he had been attacked by a hippogryff, Remus turned in his resignation. The news that Sirius escaped meant that he had to go find him. Remus had to right that wrong and offer him some sort of safe house. He wasn’t sure if Harry would understand how sorry he was and why he had to leave, but Remus hoped to explain it some day.

Roleplay sample: From HOTW –
There was always an easy rapport between Lily and Remus. Even when their past had awkward moments, they still managed an ease with their friendship that had never quite come with his other friends. Not to demean their friendship with him, because he treasured having someone to share his secrets with, but there were times where he just felt like he didn’t get the joke. Lily often reminded him that they were kindred spirits, which Remus couldn’t argue with as he often found her company the easiest to keep. Almost two months ago, he had confronted Lily against her doubts with Christopher and now she seemed to be returning the favor. She assured him that bubbling wine wasn’t a ‘necessary accessory’ and Remus had no want to argue with her. Even if he still had his doubts, it was best just to roll over and show your belly when Lily got that tone.

Lily gave him permission to say ‘I told you so’ and he took the opportunity without hesitation. Lily was far too clever to get many chances to actually say it and Remus wasn’t above taking the moment to do so. He didn’t actually think she was wrong for having insecurities, Remus had his own, but he liked when little things aligned and reminded her that she was actually wrong to worry about them. “I told you so. And really, I’m glad to be able to say it. Not that I had any doubts, but you needed to be reminded that while you are incredibly kind and clever, you can also be horribly wrong.” He smiled and looked at her out of the corner of his eye as they continued to walk. “Only about certain things, of course. I think we would forget how to feed ourselves if you were wrong all the time.”

That small moment of gloating about being right was shortened the way Lily commanded his attention. "And so now I get to tell you something.” His eyes widened, not out of surprise but to show attentiveness. He made a gesture for her to continue, which she would have without any permission but it was meant as another sign of paying attention. Long fingers searched for the back of his neck at his own compliment, rubbing slightly as he was feeling awkward about receiving such a complement. He let her continue, not out of any want to boost his ego, but he knew better to interrupt her. They were both good at self-deprecating themselves that it wasn’t uncommon to play this familiar dance as each other’s cheerleader.

“Thanks. I mean, we have some way to go, but thanks,” Remus said once Lily finished her assertion. “I just, I don’t really know where Sarah Jane is right now. I mean, I know where she is physically, but like mentally. She seemed still kind of bitter about the break up with Daniel only to find out last month that he was murdered.” There was also that afternoon where they were going to practice their patronuses and she had shown up with some level of intoxication. Remus really didn’t mind the fact she had been drinking, but did when she had been so upset. It was too easy to find alcohol as an escape and Sarah Jane was really better than that. “I don’t know. I have my own doubts, but I want to give her time, but the more time that passes the worse my doubts get and… Oh, I’m getting a headache just thinking about it.” Remus gave a bit of a laugh to hopefully put the matter to some rest.

Changing the subject. That had to be done. Remus had tried unsuccessfully to return the conversation to Christopher and Lily’s relationship before so it wouldn’t work again. He suddenly remembered the one thing that seemed to have everyone distracted with. “So, do the Gryffindor Boosters have anything planned for Sunday?” Lily was a cheerleader, whether it came to someone’s problems or a game, Lily was always there cheering the loudest. It was amusing to see her at the games as everyone seemed to expect the two of them to not be that interested. Remus just didn’t join the Boosters because he felt his friends had big enough heads and didn’t need any encouragement to make them any bigger, but Lily sometimes managed to get him to help.

Approved!