Chapter 1: The Day it Came.

Sunlight burst through my curtains on the beautiful July morning. Outside birds sang happily on one of the trees in our front yard and a gentle breeze flowed through a window rustling the grass on the lawn on it's way up. The smell of my mother's cooking filled the air through the slightly ajar door filling the air with a soft smell of porridge.The pastel blue walls around my bedroom were mostly lined with shelves but it did have pictures of family too. Most of the shelves were covered in books and artwork while a box stood on the desk with chocolate frog cards inside. I had a range from Albus Dumbledore all the way to Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin. I was quite proud of my collection and I always gave duplicates to Remus. Remus is my twin brother who is roughly ten minutes older than me. However, there is a problem with our friendship. His lycanthropy. He has the ability to change forms into a werewolf every full moon and so when the week before every full moon we were seperated until Remus was once again human and healthy. My bright blue eyes open slightly and my bedroom slowly swims into view. The smell of porridge fills my nostrils and I climb out of bed groggily. I walk over to my wardrobe which was opposite my bed and pull out a top, a pair of jeans and a hoodie. I take a quick shower in my side room and change into the clothes I had picked out. I was in the middle of brushing my hair when I see something brown flutter past. At first I thought my mind was playing tricks on me but I wasn't so sure. Something soft brushes up against my left arm causing me to jump and almost whacking the creature around my face. It hoots in annoyance and my eyes make out the barn owl holding their foot out. A letter was tied around their foot with a red wax seal and in emerald green ink read 'Meadow Lupin'.Wait I had mail? I never had been sent mail so I was confused. Who would send me mail? I had no friends, not even muggle friends so who would try to communicate with me? The owl hooted again to get my attention so I snap out of my trance and untie the letter. My fingers play with the wax seal and as the barn owl soars out of my window, my bedroom door bursts open and Remus comes in grinning and a roll of parchment clutched in his hand."Guess who got accepted at Hogwarts" Remus smiles broadly waving a roll of parchment in my face. I look up from my letter and smile, Remus notices the parchment in my hand and grins. "Go on open it." I nod and rip open the seal. A train ticket falls out along with a list of equipment and a letter addressed to me. I pick up the letter and in emerald green ink read:Dear Miss Lupin,We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.Term begins on September 1st. We await your owl no later than July 31st.Yours sincerelyMinerva Mcgonagall, Deputy Headmistress.I reread the letter through again, confused about how I got a place at a wizarding school. I always knew I was a witch but how was Remus going to cope with his transformations? How did I get a place when my parents kept me away from all magic and magical people? How did Minerva Mcgonagall know about Remus and I and did they know about my brother being a werewolf? Questions swam in my head until I snap back to reality and hang my head. "I've b-been accepted at B-beauxbatons" I stammer although I knew it was a lie. I slide my foot on top of the other parchment and slide them under my desk when Remus wasn't looking. His face drops and he sighs."Oh well... congratulations... good for you" he turns around and sighs. I grin cheekily and get up slowly and silently. I pounce landing on Remus's back laughing."I've been accepted at Hogwarts too silly! Like they would accept me at Beauxbatons anyway! I would hate strolling around their school going Heer Heer (or whatever sound they make when they enter Hogwarts in Harry's 4th Year)." I laugh and Remus wraps me in a hug."Oh Meadow at least we will be together" he smiles happily until I pull away and pick up my letters from the floor. "Come on lets go tell Mum and Dad" Remus grins leading me out of my bedroom and down the wooden stairs up the hall. We walk in silence, the sound of our feet climbing down the stair was all we heard. As we exit the stair way, we find ourselves in the tiled kitchen where our Mother is cooking in a large, steel pot on the hob and our Father is reading the Daily Prophet at the table. I was actually surprised to see Lyall- our Father- at home for once as the Ministry had been busy with the attacks on muggle Born from the Death Eaters. Although Lyall worked in the Magical Creature section, he was still used massively to control the dangerous creatures which had been used by them. On the front of the Daily Prophet was a picture of a muggle couple and the headline above read:Muggle couple murdered by a pack of werewolfs. I gasp and all heads turn in my direction. In my Father's chocolate brown eyes, I notice fear as I seat myself at the table. He sighs, folding the newspaper in half and throwing it down in front of him. Lyall puts his head in his hands while Remus rubs his back sympathetically. I take the newspaper and begin reading the article.On the 14th July, a muggle couple of the age of 27 and 26 was murdered by a pack of 3 werewolfs. In the small town of Bangor-on-Dee the victims were found in a destroyed cottage which looked like a war field."When I saw the destruction of the Graysons house, I knew it was the sign which meant that someone or some people must of died there. It was only when I heard howls in the distance my theory was correct especially after they exited the home. It was when I saw a bunch of aurors apparated to the location is when I felt safe" Hillary Stamburg (a squib) quoted at the scene of the crime.Lyall Lupin also apparated to Bangor-on-Dee seconds after the aurors to try to calm the trio. They were all taken back to the ministry to be kept in captivity until they had transformed into humans. It was then agreed with by the minister that they were to be released as 'once they transform they have the mind of a werewolf'. But was this the right move? We asked many witches and wizards if this was right and 79% of them agreed they should be in azkaban for their crime. Many have also questioned if Lyall is off his rocker. See next week for the truth about Lyall's life and personality.Written and edited by Rita Skeeter.Remus and our Mother Hope who had been reading over my shoulder, sighs and begin setting the table for breakfast. I give my Father's shoulder a comforting squeeze and he smiles weakly in return. A bowl of porridge is placed in front of each of us and we all eat in silence. It was Remus who finally broke the silence."So... um... I have... I mean, Meadow and I have good news". Both of our parents look up eagerly and we place our letters on the table one in front of Hope and the other in front of Lyall. They both pick them up and begin reading in silence. Father's smile immediately turns up as he lowers the parchment."Well I believe that you should attend Hogwarts" Lyall grins then spots my Mother's confused face from across the table. "If they go they will learn magic like I can do but they will be staying there for weeks at a time.""B-but what about R-remus? What about his t-transformations?" Mother stammers looking at Lyall. I cast Remus a worried look and as our Father is about to speak, he is cut off by a knock on the door. I gulp leaving Lyall to tend to the door. He walks out of the room and we hear the door open. We sit in silence, until our Father walks in with a elderly man in tow. His silver beard bounces off his deep blue robes. I give Remus an uneasy smile before turning back to my breakfast."Aaah you must be Remus, Meadow and Hope, it's nice to meet you. I'm Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am here to explain the solution to Remus' lycanthropy so he can still attend Hogwarts". His eyes twinkled and I smile warmly at the headmaster.Mother opens her mouth but Dumbledore raises his hand to silence her. "Everything is already in place for your son. Professor Sprout will be growing a tree called the Womping Willow for the transformations. Under it will be a tunnel leading to a shack especially for Remus. Every full moon, Madam Prompfrey our school nurse will accompany him to it and he will stay there 'till dawn. No one but staff and Meadow of course will know about it and that's all"."Okay but one question" Hope pipes up. "Is there a potion or charm which will make the process... bearable?""I'm afraid not, Hope. However protective charms will be cast around the tree and the shack for Remus's protection and if no one says anything the secret should be safe." Dumbledore nods at us and I smile shyly back."So shall we let them attend Hogwarts?" Lyall asks his wife and she nods."I will be sure to let Minerva know but do you mind if I stay for a cup of tea?" the professor questions and Father nods. They both take a seat around the table and the blue eyes behind the headmaster's half moon spectacles land on the Daily Prophet. "I'm dearly sorry about what Rita Skeeter wrote in the Prophet" Dumbledore apologies."Oh it's fine, i'm furious with that terrible woman but I should of known it was going to come sooner or later" Father replies innocently. He smiles and has another spoon of porridge leaving me angered by the horrible women. Then I thought about the toad like women Umbridge who I had met at the ministry one day when I came with Lyall. The woman clearly hated me and I guess that was because she knew about Remus' condition. Toady as I liked to call her, hated half-breeds so when she found out that I was the twin sister of werewolf, she wasn't pleased."At least Skeeter is better than that old fraud" I thought stuffing a knuckle in my mouth too stop me from laughing out loud. The professor notices this and turns to me."Something funny Meadow?" Mother asks cutting Dumbledore off. I remove the knuckle from my mouth and smile cheekily."Sorry, I was just thinking about how the old toad called Umbridge is way worst than Skeeter". We all chuckled, even the headmaster laughed lightly before setting down the mug he was drinking from."I better go, leave you all too your day." Albus Dumbledore nods towards us, wishes us a good day and exits our home."I'll be in my room" I say leaving my empty bowl on the table and heading back up the stairs towards my room.