Fanfic / Against the Moon

Against the Moon is a Harry Potter fanfic written by Stoplight Delight.

The odds were stacked against him: a child from a blended home with no friends, no social skills to speak of, and a terrible secret. Yet slowly Remus Lupin began to discover there was a place for him in the world, if he could find the courage to claim it.

It was started in 2011 and last updated in 2017, currently on hiatus. The fic has 134 chapters. It's available on fanfiction.net here.

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Against the Moon provides examples of the following tropes:

• Abusive Parents: The Blacks, especially Walburga. She constantly belittles Sirius, and at the dinner she pinches Sirius when he refuses to escort his cousin. According to Sirius, the only reason she invited them (she said he couldn't come to people she hasn't had a dinner with) was because she thought they wouldn't come . Not to mention the Owl-Lockdowns and upstairs
• Adaptation Name Change: Due to the fact the fic was started far before Pottermore released extra-canonical information about the Lupins, the author gave backstories and names to Remus's parents.
  • Lyall's name is changed to Ross
  • Hope's name is changed to Dorothy
• Aesop Amnesia: You'd think Sirius would learn not to harass Professor Meyrigg or break into her office after the first time it went wrong.
• Afraid of Their Own Strength: Remus is afraid of hurting others when transformed to a werewolf, including his own friends.
• Angst: This story features a lot of angst, mostly due to bad family situations, keeping secrets, and in one case, a miscarriage
• Asshole Victim:
  • The Andrews siblings are acting like they are superior to others due to the fact that their dad is the Minister of Magic, and they have no qualms about others taking the fall for their own actions. They are locked up in a classroom by Sirius and James in order to prevent them from asking uncomfortable questions in a lesson featuring a touchy subject.
  • Rosier's gang, who like to bully students who they deem inferior to themselves, whether because of their family status or because they are younger. The Marauders knock them out during a duel and leave them unconscious at the dueling site.
• Attack on One Is an Attack on All: Sirius and James' actions fit this mindset, such as when they made Slytherin quills explode in retaliation for Slytherins vandalizing the book Remus checked out of the library in order to humiliate him.
  Sirius: Because what? Got a guilty conscience, do you? Want to tell your Head of House what you think you did to deserve this?
• A Taste of Their Own Medicine: The Slytherins are on the receiving end of this in chapter 133. Sirius and James make their inkwell explode in retaliation for their vandalism of the journal Remus prepared for his class.
• Awful Truth: Remus thinks the others are better not knowing about the fact he's the werewolf, because he, like his parents, is afraid what they will think about him and what they will do to him should they find out.
• Bad Powers, Good People: Remus is a good person, through and through, except when he transforms. Once he does, he becomes a mindless creature, and needs to be restrained in order to keep from hurting other people. This doesn't stop him from hurting himself.
• Bait-and-Switch: Peter tells Remus they need to talk to Sirius. Remus believes it to be about Sirius' plan. Then it turns out to be about Sirius' attitude towards his brother.
• Beach Episode: In chapter 99, the Marauders are taken to the beach during their get-together. They go for a swim in the ocean and convince Remus to join them.
• Big, Screwed-Up Family: The Blacks, who view themselves superior than most other wizarding families, and expect their children to marry for political gain rather than for love. They also treat those they view lesser than them with contempt.
• Birthday Episode: Three happen in this story. James, Sirius and Remus birthdays are celebrated, and they pull pranks on one another as part of celebration.
• Challenge Seeker: Sirius, who would do anything to achieve whatever goal he set his mind to, including prying into other people's secrets. Remus and Meyrigg call him out on this.
• Child of Forbidden Love: Nymphadora, who is a child of Andromeda and Ted Tonks, whose love could be consider forbidden because they got married against their family's wishes.
• Christmas Episode: Everyone at Hogwarts celebrates Christmas at least once during the course of the story, in a traditional manner, involving the presents.
• Cool School: Hogwarts, which is the school where magic is learned. There are many secrets that dwell within, and most of them are just waiting to be discovered.
• Cool Teacher: All teachers are cool and treat their students as most teachers do. The only exception is Alfstin, who treats his students as recruits for the Ministry. This results in his dismissal.
• Counter Spell: Plenty are used during the confrontations between the Marauders and their Slytherin enemies, mostly in order to defend themselves.
• Covered with Scars: Remus has many scars, most of which are from the wounds which were inflicted by himself. The only exception is the one that is from the wound given to him by the werewolf who bit him (revealed in canon to be Fenrir Greyback)
• Crossword Puzzle: Sirius and Ross solve one together, and Sirius asks Remus for the final answer they need to solve it. This helps Ross realize that Sirius isn't a bad person.
• Cut Himself Shaving: Remus tries to explain away his injuries in this manner. Eventually, his explanations start not adding up and the truth is discovered.
• Cycle of Revenge: Remus believes that should the Marauders pursue revenge, then the other party would retaliate, and then the Marauders would retaliate again, and then the whole thing would repeat itself endlessly. He tries to tell his friends this, but they don't listen.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Remus. He is a dark creature, yet he doesn't want to be, nor does he wish to hurt anyone.
• Dark Secret: Remus has one — he's a dark and dangerous creature, and despite the fact that his friends know, he still has to keep it from everyone else.
• Don't Say Such Stupid Things!: Sirius says this in chapter 61 in response to Remus saying that nothing can help him and that trying isn't worth it.
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: This part of the story takes place in Britain during the 1970's, which explains why the normally enlightened James calls Remus' Irish mother a "paddie", without intending to be offensive or bigoted. Sirius calls him out for this.
• Doing Research: The Marauders research the topic of werewolves in order to help Remus and keep him from hurting himself.
• Dr. Jerk: Selwyn. She is prejudiced towards werewolves and treats them like animals instead of people. Fortunately, there are more compassionate doctors around.
• Elopement: Andromeda and Ted elope to get married, knowing that her family would never accept their relationship.
• Family Disunion: The family dinner with Blacks. The whole dinner is a trap, designed to paint both James and Remus in the worst possible light. Sirius knows this and warns them in advance. Unfortunately, he is unable to prevent them from throwing Remus out onto the street, bodily.
• First Day of School Episode: Chapter 3 is this for Remus, as it describes his first day at Hogwarts, including him being sorted into a house.
• Flying Broomstick: All characters receive a broomstick so that they can learn to fly on it, and some characters even own one of their own. They also use the brooms to play Quidditch, which is a wizarding sport.
• Foil: Peter to Remus. Like Remus, he's shy and scared of losing his friends and not as brave as James and Sirius. Unlike Remus, who is very considerate and kind as a result and wouldn't have abandoned Peter were their positions reversed, he thinks nothing of only pretending to be Remus' friend so he doesn't lose Sirius and James, thinking it 'only fair', as he keeps Remus' secret (in return for Remus keeping this from James and Sirius). Even though it is with Remus' permission, it says heaps about his character.
• For Your Own Good:
  • Remus has to be locked up during his transformations, because he would hurt someone otherwise, and he'd never be able to forgive himself for that.
  • The Marauders exclude him when going after Slughorn's ingredients because the main ingredient they are trying to steal is wolfsbane potion, which makes him unable to breathe (which is why they are stealing it in the first place)
• A Friend in Need: Remus is treated in this manner by the other three Marauders, who feel compelled to be there for him (largely because of his specific circumstances, such as his monthly transformations) and help him to keep these circumstances a secret from the rest of the students.
• Friendly Scheming: The pranks pulled by Marauders on their birthdays are done to make the birthday celebrations more lively. Seriously harming one another or hurting one another's feelings is a line that they would never cross.
• Gang of Bullies: Rosier's gang behaves this way towards Marauders, even going as far as kidnapping one of them for the sake of revenge.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Sirius helps Remus overcome his pessimistic attitude by shaking him in chapter 61
• Good Parents: Ross and Dorothy obviously care for their son's well-being and are trying their best to keep Remus comfortable and raise him well.
• Haunted House: The Shrieking Shack is believed to be haunted by rowdy ghosts.
• Hot-Blooded: Sirius. He would never back down from any challenge easily, regardless of the consequences, which can be more serious than he thought they could be.
• I Am a Monster: Remus feels this way about himself, especially during chapter 61 because believes he can seriously injure other people when transformed. Sirius snaps him out of this mindset by shaking him.
• I Don't Think That's Such a Good Idea: Remus feels this way about many of the plans Sirius comes up with, believing that they would either backfire or do irreversible damage. He is especially against Sirius prying into Meyrigg's private life, because he knows how it feels to have someone poking their nose where it doesn't belong.
• I Just Want to Have Friends: Remus' motivation for being so secretive. He doesn't want his friends to find out the truth, because he believes that they would abandon him if they did.
• Jerkass Realization: James, in chapter 49 (more open in chapter 51). He realizes that the way he treated Remus was unacceptable, with some help from Sirius.
• Little "No": Uttered by Remus in 49, when he thinks James is going to break his wand, and begs him not to do this. Sirius intervenes before this could end badly.
• Living Hat: The Sorting Hat. It can talk and sing, and think.
• Lured into a Trap: Snape tricks Remus into going with him against his will Mulciber's orders in order for them to gain revenge against the Marauders.
• Magical Society: The wizards and witches have their own society. They have laws designed to keep their society unnoticed by people who don't have magic
• Magic Wand: Every character has a magic wand, as it is one of their essential tools for wizarding school. They use it to make casting magic easier.
• Mundane Object Amazement: A typewriter for Sirius, as he is fascinated by the mechanism allowing it to function. He even requests to use it, and his request is granted.
• Mysterious Parent: Mr. Pettigrew. His family doesn't like to talk about him much. It turns out he was in prison.
• My X Is AY: Remus turns out to be a werewolf, which Sirius, James and Peter discover. While James and Peter are initially cold towards him due to this fact, they come around upon realizing how harmless he truly is.
• Nice, Mean, and In-Between: Although there are four Marauders, they roughly fit this trope.
  • Remus is the Nice, as he is friendly, polite and the best behaved of the Marauders.
  • Sirius is the Mean, as he is the most impulsive, hot-headed and scheming of the four. Peter is also arguably the Mean (perhaps foreshadowing his fate in canon): although Peter is outwardly sweet and shy like Remus, he is also cowardly, taking longer to overcome his prejudice against werewolves than the others and briefly making an agreement with Remus to pretend to tolerate him so that Peter can stay friends with James and Sirius.
  • James is the Inbetween, with James being more cruel and mischievous than Remus but more cheerful and compassionate than Sirius.
• Our Werewolves Are Different: The only way to become a werewolf in this universe is to be bitten by another transformed werewolf. Once you become a werewolf, you change every full moon. There is no known cure for this condition, and the only thing anyone could do is make it easier for infected individuals to endure it. They are often given enclosures protected with magic in order to ensure they can't hurt anyone else, which sometimes results in them turning onto themselves due to lack of any other available prey.
• Painful Transformation: Remus suffers terribly during his transformation into a werewolf. His bones break, and his body undergoes a shift which is extremely painful for him. This is his friends main motivation for trying to find a way to help him.
• Prefers Raw Meat: Remus prefers raw steak in the periods before and after his transformations. He expects his friends to be disgusted by this. Instead, they specifically order it from the kitchens and explain to him that raw meat is eaten in France and a couple of other countries.
• Properly Paranoid: Ross does everything he could to prevent unwanted intruders from accessing his home. He is afraid that a man he had offended at work would come after him and his family. Too bad he overlooks one crucial detail.
• Scary Librarian: Madam Pince dislikes those who would desecrate one of her books in any way. This which is exploited by Snape, who desecrates the journal copy Remus used in class demonstration in order to get revenge on him for something he said a few days prior.
• Revenge: Mulciber and his gang go to great lengths to have their revenge on Marauders. Snape is willing to vandalize a library book just to get his revenge for Remus' comments about him and his father.
• School Nurse: Madam Pomfrey is a nurse in Hogwarts, who treats her students far better than an ordinary healer would. She is especially kind towards Remus.
• Sheltered Aristocrat: While not technically aristocracy- which doesn't exist in the wizarding world, and the Potters are lower in the social hierarchy than the Blacks, for instance- James comes from a from a family of accomplished wizards and witches. Being blessed with wealth and a pair of doting parents makes him Innocently Insensitive and slow to grasp to some of the societal ills of the world.
• Sins of Our Fathers: The reason why Remus was bitten in the first place. The werewolf who bit him had a bone to pick with Ross
• Smart People Play Chess: Meyrigg and Remus, who are both fairly smart, play normal chess in order to pass the time during their recovery. Meyrigg remarks that it's much harder to play than normal chess.
• Spoiled Sweet/Spoiled Brat: James is both- it depends on who you ask. Extremely loyal and generous to people he likes or respects, but is capable of being petty and mean-spirited to people he dislikes.
• Stepford Smiler: Each of the Marauders have some sort of issue they would rather keep to themselves. They each show a facade in order to keep others from prying. This doesn't always work.
• The Heart: Remus, as he is often the one discouraging his friends from doing anything reckless, and is the most sympathetic among them.
• The Power of Friendship: The Marauders have this in spades. They will stand up for one another, no matter what they have to do.
• They're Called "Personal Issues" for a Reason: Neither Remus nor Meyrigg appreciate others trying to uncover their secrets.
• Tragic Backstory: Multiple characters have one.
  • Remus was bitten by a werewolf at the age of four, and the after-effects of this never really go away.
  • Peter's father went to prison for an unspecified crime, and neither he nor the rest of his family are willing to talk about him much.
  • It is implied that Sirius is beaten up rather frequently by his own mother.
• Tragic Mistake: Ross forgetting to turn the deadbolt was what started the story, and also what ruined his son's life (at least until he went to Hogwarts).
• True Companions: The Marauders treat each other like brothers and are willing to go to great lengths for one another's sake.
• Troubled Fetal Position: Remus sits like this in chapter 61 because he is uncomfortable with the topic of whether he and the werewolf he transforms into are one and the same. The other three Marauders give him their support as soon as they notice.
• Vacation Episode: The Marauders take a vacation on the beach, and then go to James and his parents' ancestral home for the rest of the summer.
• Undying Loyalty: Despite all the teasing and occasional disagreements, the Marauders are fiercely loyal to one another.
• Wizarding School: Hogwarts. The school teaches various branches of magic, and practical lessons on how to use it are taught there as well.
• Wizard Duel: The Marauders and Rosier and his gang engage in a duel, mostly because of the rivalry between their respective Houses.
• Worth It: Sirius' attitude towards this misdemeanor. He believes that the end goal is worth it regardless of the consequences. And most of the time, he is right.
• Wound That Will Not Heal: The cursed bite Remus received when he was four years old would never completely heal, because it's infected by a transformed werewolf's saliva.
• You Do Not Want To Know: Remus thinks that others wouldn't want to know about him being a werewolf, mostly because he is fearful of their reactions.
• You Are Not Alone: The Marauders have each other's back, no matter what.

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