Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. All characters mentioned are JK's, and though Remus Lupin's parents are just implied and technically I characterized them, that's all I did. Er…Some of you may have picked up on where I got their first names when I mentioned them in Fa A Bhialainn Ann, which came from The Jungle Book, obviously by Rudyard Kipling. Just amusing myself…

A/N: Erm…Right. I've just posted the latest chapter of Fa, and was going back to look at all the previous chapters. And cringing. And wondering vaguely why I thought it was good at the time. Anyway, so then I decided I wanted to write this. I dunno; the idea just sort of popped into my head. I hated that first chapter, and I thought I might do this in Remus' point of view, partially because I just adore Remus Lupin, and partially because it will make me feel better to do that chapter with my *coughcough* exceedingly improved writing skills (hey, you don't believe me? Go check out the first few chapters of everything under my profile…That's some serious advancement…). Oh, and I'm still going with Lily's last name being Andrews. I know it's Evans. And she's a Gryffindor. I know. But I started this story last summer, remember?

A Companion to Fa A Bhialainn Ann, Chapter 1

By Veralidaine

Take your time and you'll be fine

And say a prayer for people there

Who live on the floor

And if you see what's meant to be

Don't name the day or try to say

It happened before.

~ Things Behind the Sun, by Nick Drake, from the album Pink Moon, 1967

(What, you thought I only did song quotes for Fi's stuff? I love Nick Drake's music…)

It was the morning of September the first, which, though to most is a completely normal date and nothing to think about for longer than a few seconds, was a completely different story for people like Remus Lupin. He sat on the foot of his bed, picking at the patchy quilt and checking over the items in his trunk for a final time--the first Hogsmeade visit wasn't for another month, and so it would be impossible to buy school supplies if he forgot any…Quills, parchment, robes, socks, dre-what? With a look of extreme distaste he pulled out the navy blue dress robes between two fingers and, sighing, threw them at the chair in the corner. They caught on the back, one sleeve dangling limply to the floor. He certainly hadn't needed or asked for dress robes. He supposed it was his mother's doing, slipping those into his trunk.

Fed up with checking the for third time over to make sure he had everything, Remus stood, rubbing his eyes tiredly. Sirius' owl had continued to plummet into his window with notes every few hours the previous night, making annoying slamming sounds and forcing Remus out of bed to let the poor thing in. Padfoot, it seemed, was simply too excited to sleep, and due to that he needed to keep somebody awake, or he might get bored. And, apparently, James had told him to "stuff it and go to sleep, you bloody moron." So who did that leave? (Well, technically Peter was available, but he had a tendency to go to sleep at eight-thirty every night. Once he was asleep, it was impossible to wake him--that owl would have been banging against his window for hours, with no response.)

Remus glanced at the mirror above his dresser, annoyed at the unhealthy reflection that stared back, scowling. He still had dark lines under his eyes from the previous full moon, from which he'd just recovered, and his hair simply refused to lie flat. He jerked his sweater straight, hoping he didn't look too off-color, and grabbed his wand off the bedside cabinet, heading downstairs.

Remus' mother was standing at the stove, simultaneously making bacon and using her wand to fly toast across the room to the table, where it landed neatly in a stack on a large plate next to the butter and marmalade. She was rather tall and slender, with shoulder-length, dark brown hair and a rather large nose, that, unfortunately, Remus thought, he'd inherited. She was a genuinely cheerful woman, and was obviously quite talented in the kitchen. Remus ducked instinctively as her wand directed two more plates toward the table, where they landed and spun noisily for a moment before settling flat. Raising his eyebrows, he called out over the hiss of the bacon and the sound of cutlery zooming out of its drawer, "What is this, the trenches?"

His mother turned suddenly and smiled at him, dark eyes crinkling as she did so, and directed all objects in mid-air to the nearest flat surface. "Remus, good morning. You're ready, then?" She had a soft, low voice that held a smile just as noticeably as her face did. "Did you find the dress robes?"

He grimaced. "Yes…What do I have those for?"

"Love, you're sixteen," she said, sounding amused. "Eventually you might want to look nice for someone." She waited until he was out of the way and next to her before starting up the relocation of breakfast items via air.

Remus ducked as a frying pan containing scrambled eggs flew over his head and began doling out portions onto either plate. "Somehow," he said, grabbing the orange juice pitcher and a glass on their way to the table and pouring himself a cupful, "I doubt I'll get the opportunity."

For a fraction of a second, his mother's dark eyes flickered with sadness, but she covered it up with a smile just as quickly. "Now, that's ridiculous." She turned back to the stove and prodded the bacon, looking annoyed. "I don't think this is cooking properly…"

"'S alright, Mum," Remus muttered. "I'm not very hungry."

She turned around, hands on her hips and a smile tugging at one corner of her mouth. "Of course not. First your father, now you. Honestly--he had to leave for work early this morning, and he wouldn't have breakfast, either. The both of you look emaciated."

"I don't look emaciated," Remus said indignantly, remembering his pathetic reflection and groaning inwardly. "I'm just not hungry. Nerves."

His mother grinned as his stomach punctuated this remark with a rather loud growl, audible over even the noise of the kitchen. "What do you have to be nervous about?" He looked annoyed, but she pointed purposefully to the table. "Sit. Eat. Don't argue." That last order was added as Remus opened his mouth plaintively, but then obeyed.

Sighing theatrically, Remus slumped into his seat, grabbing a piece of toast, which had just finished buttering itself. "I'm not…nervous exactly. Not about school itself. I mean…" He sighed again. "It's just the usual leaving-for-school nausea that sets in. You know, the what-ifs." The flying had stopped and his mother carried over a pot of tea, setting it on the table and patting his cheek, making him mutter, "Mum…"

"You've nothing to worry over. Dumbledore explained the situation to me, with the place you go for the full moon and all that. Nothing will happen, and you needn't worry that it might."

Remus swallowed his orange juice too quickly, the acidity of it burning his throat and making him cough and splutter. Yes, that was all well and good, but Dumbledore didn't know the whole story…

His mother misinterpreted his choking on the orange juice for more worries, for she reached across the table and straightened his sweater, smiling at him warmly. "Love, I know it's hard. I'm sorry you've had to endure all of this nonsense." She grimaced. "But you can do it. I got a letter from your Defense teacher saying you were the best in your class, and even surpassed a few seventh years in knowledge that you'd not even covered yet. Your O.W.Ls came back with brilliant results. You're doing just fine." She smoothed his hair fondly and summoned the cream and sugar for her tea.

As she stirred in the aforementioned ingredients, Remus stared blankly at the black and white chessboard tablecloth, chin in his hands and mind elsewhere. He didn't want to leave home. His mother always took such good care of him during the full moon, and leaving for school meant…Well, it meant more adventures, of course, but the sense of security and care was gone. He was brought back out of his reverie as his mother said, "And I want a full report in a letter, every week or so." She grinned impishly across the table. "Especially if there's a girl."

"Mother," he intoned in a long-suffering voice. After a moment, he muttered, "I'm not taking the dress robes."

She smiled stubbornly. "Oh, yes you are. It's such a nice color on you!"

Remus flushed. "Oh, and when would I get the chance to wear them?"

"The Hallowe'en Ball, Christmas, Hogsmeade…" She continued to list appropriate times, and Remus had a sneaking suspicion that she'd made up this list in her head previously, anticipating the very question he'd asked. He held up a hand and she stopped.

"What would be the point? I only go to stand idly around the punchbowl, pretending to have fun." It was true. James usually just stared at Lily, who stared at James; Peter tried to dance with various girls, while Sirius made crude comments regarding different girls and their tastes in dress robes, and Remus reprimanded him, being a prefect. That was pretty much the routine.

"You might meet someone," his mother said insistently. "You might want to look nice if you see her there."

Laughing in disbelief, Remus shook his head, running his fingers through his hair. "When did you become so obsessed with my social life?"

"Since you turned sixteen. It's not unusual," she said defensively, seeing the look on her son's face. "Andromeda has the same problem concerning Sirius."

Remus wondered if Sirius knew this. Or cared.

"Anyway, we've got to get to King's Cross. I'll wrap up some sandwiches for on the train--go lug your trunk downstairs."

*

"Moony!"

Remus glanced up to see Sirius Black galloping in his general direction, earning disapproving stares from some of the Muggle adults and more than one curious glance from others. His cart rattled violently behind him as he pulled it, and Remus felt a sinking in his stomach as he knew that Padfoot wasn't going to be able to break in time, due to the momentum the cart had taken on. He nimbly stepped out of the way, hearing his mother chuckle behind him, as Sirius whizzed past, leaving streaks on the floor from his shoe heels as he tried to slow the cart. He succeeded, barely, before hitting an old Muggle lady who looked to be about two-hundred-something and glared openly at the boy.

Grinning sheepishly, Sirius turned the cart around and headed back in Remus' direction. Remus snorted as the path that had been hastily cleared for Sirius' speeding cart filled up again slowly with pedestrians, all glancing indignantly at him as they picked up their dropped luggage. Sirius was grinning broadly, and his mother, looking extremely flustered, came jogging in from the Black's car, which Sirius' father was currently driving away from the doors. "Sirius Altair Black, what mayhem have you managed to create this time?" She looked up mid-lecture, violet-colored eyes registering recognition. "Oh, hello, Remus."

"Hi," he said, still grinning at the stares that their little group, especially Sirius, was still getting. His mother and Mrs. Black began chatting idly about something-or-other, and Sirius grinned at Remus, shifting a large duffel bag to his other shoulder and completely ignoring the looks he was getting. Luckily, the platform was starting to quiet down after the disruption. However, if that particular guard standing nearby didn't go stare at somebody else, it was going to be quite difficult getting through the wall to nine-and-three-quarters without grabbing his attention. After all, it wasn't every day that an obnoxious teenaged boy disrupted the public peace and then proceeded to disappear through a solid wall.

Suddenly, Sirius' head was snapped back as somebody yanked on the too-long-without-a-haircut mop of black hair he sported. He turned around, glaring, to see the freckled face of Annelle Jensen, and behind her, Lily Andrews. Annelle grinned wickedly. "We need to introduce you to scissors, my friend," she said in her thick Liverpudlian accent, hands on her hips. Brown eyes slanted in an all-too-sincere grin, and she raised her eyebrows. "Well? Going to say anything, or are you just going to stand there like an idiot?"

Sirius crossed his arms. "Oh, aren't we mature today," he said, not even posing it as a question. Remus found this rather humorous, owing to the fact that not ten minutes ago, Sirius had come hurtling through the station, nearly running down an old lady in the process, and hooting at the top of his lungs.

"Well I am. Dunno about the we part."

Lily gave Remus a grin and "hello!" and then tapped the still-bickering Annelle on the shoulder. "Er…Can we get settled on the train?"

Annelle turned, one eyebrow piqued, and grinned. "What, you don't want to wait around for your darling James?"

At this, Remus and Sirius' mothers stopped chattering and looked at Lily interestedly. Lily flushed. "No, Annelle, I don't. Come on. Let's go get seats before they're all taken and we have to sit with somebody we don't want to."

As they walked off in the general direction of the platform, casually conversing and then leaning--and then disappearing--through the barrier, Remus turned back to Sirius, who was watching them go with a smug expression on his face. Sirius grinned. "She fancies me."

Remus rolled his eyes. According to Sirius, the entire female population of Hogwarts (with the possible exception of Professor Minerva McGonagall) "fancied" him. Remus was used to such proclamations, as were Peter and James. And speaking of…

James came jogging through the doors, nearly out of breath. "I…had to run…all the way…from the car…Late," he finished, pointing at the clock overhead shakily. Indeed, Remus saw, with an extreme case of nerves setting in, they had two minutes before the train departed. Bugger, he thought fiercely, and gave his mother a quick kiss on the cheek (Sirius couldn't mock him, as his own mother had grabbed him and was forcing a kiss onto the struggling teenager) before casually sidling through the barrier and onto the platform. James followed suit, and then Sirius, who was busy wiping lipstick smudges off his face with a disgusted expression twisting his features.

James glanced around, once they'd gotten their trunks on the train (in the middle of the aisle, but on the train, nonetheless), and his eyebrows knit together. "Where's Peter?"

Sirius shrugged. "He said he was sick."

"Sick?"

"Yeah," Sirius replied, picking up one end of his trunk easily and dragging it down the aisle, glancing in the windows for an empty compartment. "Apparently his mum's going to drop him off at school tomorrow for classes. I got his owl this morning."

"Didn't know that was allowed," James muttered, following Sirius down the aisle to the compartment he'd selected. Remus picked up his trunk, arms straining against its weight, and dragged it behind him, tailing James.

"Well, what d'you expect?" Sirius said, draping himself casually over the seats in the compartment, having deposited his trunk in the overhead compartment already. Remus set his trunk up next to James' and slumped down in his seat. Sirius shrugged. "I mean, if you're sick on the first day, what are they supposed to do, say you can't come for the rest of the year? He's just missing out on the pumpkin pasties, the feast, and watching a bunch of nose-picking firsties get sorted.

At that precise moment, a rather large group of nose-picking firsties slid open the compartment door, looking absolutely terrified. A girl towards the front who sported blonde pigtails cleared her throat nervously and said, in a very small voice, "All the other compartments are taken. Can we--"

"Go ahead," Sirius said, standing up. "Let us grab our robes and we'll go elsewhere."

"Well you don't have to leave--"

"'S okay," James assured them with a smile, popping open his trunk and grabbing a ball of wadded-up black material. Remus discovered upon opening his trunk that the blue dress robes were folded neatly on top of the stack of black school robes, and made a mental note to berate his mother in his next letter home.

Once out in the aisle, James pulled his robes on over his Muggle clothes, mussing his hair more than usual and setting his glasses askew as he did so. Sirius, having already pulled on his robes and smoothed his hair back down, grinned at him. "Fix your hair and glasses. You go see Lily like that and she'll wonder who you're cheating with."

"You have a one-track mind," James said darkly, smiling nonetheless and smoothing his hair as best he could, having righted his glasses.

"Yes, but at least no one has to wonder what I'm thinking about," Sirius said proudly, earning a chuckle from both his friends. "Now, let's go find Lily and Annelle. They got a compartment ages ago--they've probably got lots of room." Sirius led the way, glancing into all the compartment windows, making faces at some of the occupants inside while James rolled his eyes at Remus, making a he's supposedly sixteen, right? face. Finally, Sirius let out an "Aha…" and slid open the compartment door at the end of the train. James and Remus stood behind him, looking in confusion at the girl in the compartment with Lily and Annelle.

She was odd-looking, Remus thought, but in a nice way. She had very pale skin and long, wavy brown hair that, around her face, separated into little curls, which framed big, blue-gray eyes. The rest of her was rather plain--but the eyes drew attention immediately. She was looking quite shocked to see the three of them standing there, and it didn't help when Sirius asked, "Who's this?" and nodded his head at her.

Annelle sighed, glancing at Sirius with a patient look on her face, as if he were merely a toddler that was asking stupid questions. "Well, she's right there; why don't you ask her?"

James shot Lily a curious glance, but other than that, no one said anything, being the oh-so-tactful adolescents they were. After a few seconds, Remus gave the new girl a smile, realizing that no one was going to start this, and stepped forward, sticking out his hand. It looked exceedingly big and clumsy when compared with the small, pale one that clasped it. "Hi. I'm Remus Lupin," he said, rather unsettled by the intensity of her eyes.

Sirius had regained himself (and stopped the staring contest with Annelle). "I'm Sirius Black." He grabbed her hand and pumped it up and down.

"I'm James Potter," James added, smiling warmly and, in turn, shaking her hand. "Good to meet you…er…"

"Fiona," the girl said, in a thick Irish brogue that made the three of them stare, lips turning up in a small smile. "Call me Fi."

Sirius broke into a wide grin, and Remus was afraid for a moment that his friend was going to laugh or do something equally rude. "Are you Irish?"

Fiona nodded, a blush creeping onto her cheeks. "Aye." Remus liked the sound of her voice. And immediately kicked himself, mentally, for thinking something so stupid.

James smiled his James-the-Super-Gryffindor smile and crossed his arms. "Well, welcome to England, then." He gave Lily a little smile, then turned back to the new girl. "Is it much different here?"

Fi nodded, sighing deeply. Her eyes, Remus noticed, were a little red-rimmed, as if she'd been crying--or trying not to. He wondered vaguely why, but held his tongue. James was the king of social situations--he'd leave the conversation to him. Fi smiled lightly. "Much. Everyone stares when they hear me talk," she said, making Remus redden slightly, embarrassed for doing just that only moments ago, "and not to mention I'm Muggle-born, so I get enough trouble as i'tis."

Lily shook her head, csending oppery locks flying around her face and making James stare at her dazedly for a moment. "I'm Muggle-born. Don't let it worry you."

Sirius nodded vigorously. "Yeah. So, what house are you in?"

"Well, I don't quite know yet," Fi responded thoughtfully, crossing her arms and leaning back in her seat. "I hope I end up in Gryffindor, though Ravenclaw doesn't sound bad."

Lily nodded, and Remus cringed, knowing what was coming. "You don't want Slytherin, though. Trust me."

Everyone went quiet, Sirius jamming his hands in his pockets, Remus staring out the window, and James winding an arm around Lily's shoulders. Lily cleared her throat. "I'm in Slytherin."

It always bothered Remus to no end that Lily had been put into Slytherin. She was the sweetest, most generous, selfless (not to mention pretty) person Remus knew, and she went against everything that Slytherins were supposed to be. (He knew that the house-prejudice in the school greatly influenced these feelings, but really…) Fiona looked positively shocked, and Remus grimaced. Obviously she'd heard enough about Slytherin to know the implications of Lily being in that house. Slytherin, after all, had a reputation that traveled to other schools.

Remus cleared his throat, trying to be tactful, and yet almost afraid to open his mouth. But the subject had to be changed. "So, ah...D'you mind us sitting with you, Fi?" It sounded stupid, even as he said it, but it got everyone considerably more cheerful.

"Not at all," Fi replied, and those eyes locked on his again. She lowered her gaze, obviously embarrassed, and scooted over towards the window so that they could all fit. Sirius nudged Remus, wanting to sit across from Annelle so they could argue (and flirt) easier. He sat down quickly and scooted next to Fiona, not quite sure how he felt about it. He chanced a sideways glance at her, and she was looking down at her feet, her hair falling in her face in loose curls.

The ride continued in this fashion--Sirius and Annelle quarreling good-naturedly, James and Lily keeping up the conversation, and Remus sneaking glances at Fiona, who absolutely fascinated him, for some reason. It was odd, really, but there was a sort of strange pull coming from her, and he wasn't sure what that meant. For some reason, he could almost sense what she was feeling. Of course, he reprimanded himself, that was stupid. But he could feel this sort of anxiety, worry, and deep-seated dread emanating from her, and he wondered more than ever what it was that was making her eyes red-rimmed. She was hiding something important that was making her afraid of Hogwarts, and of them. Whatever it was, it was a big secret, and one that she probably felt would ruin her chances of ever leading a normal life there. And Remus absolutely sympathized with that.

Finally, it was announced that the students should all prepare to leave the train for the school. Wishing Fiona luck, as she had to leave and be sorted after the nose-picking firsties, Remus pinned on his prefect badge and led the way out of the train, intense relief coming from leaving the new girl behind him (there was a strange feeling in his stomach from sitting next to her), but also immensely curious about just what it was she was hiding. He decided, politely, he thought, that it was her business and he should stay out of it, but he was curious, just the same.

*

The nose-picking firsties were being sorted, and Professor Flitwick was currently in the Cs. Remus was seated next to Sirius and James at the Gryffindor table, mildly interested in the sorting of a boy who had apparently fallen in the lake, even though the weather was perfectly clear outside. Suddenly, James nudged him and pointed to the staff table, where Professor Dumbledore was motioning pointedly for him to head in that general direction.

Confused, and trying not to attract too much attention, he skirted the tables quietly, finally ending up at the raised staff table. The other teachers regarded him with interest as he passed, heading for the center of the table, and Dumbledore put a long-fingered hand on his shoulder as he stopped next to him. "Mr. Lupin, I've got a task for you," the headmaster said in a whisper, still watching the sorting that was taking place on the platform. Remus looked mildly surprised. In the middle of the sorting? "Our new student, one Miss Fiona McLellan, has mysteriously gone missing. Would you do me the favor of finding her and bringing her backstage for her sorting? We're rather pressed for time." The hall erupted into applause as MacMillian, Jonathan, was made a Hufflepuff.

"Of…Of course," Remus whispered, nodding emphatically, and heading carefully around the table and through the large oak doors, ignoring the questioning looks he was getting from other students. The hallways were completely empty, like they were during the holidays, and he headed for the Entrance Hall, figuring he should start there, if anywhere. The echoing sound of his quick footsteps was drowned out suddenly, as he was nearing the corner of the corridor leading into the entryway, by shouting.

It was a high-pitched, panicked voice that was doing most of the yelling, and in another language, no less. Remus thought he caught something along the lines of "Arracht!" before hearing the oily voice of Lucius Malfoy, followed by "Yeh watch yerself, Mister Malfoy. It's not a good idea to go makin' enemies with those whose powers you dunno yet."

How odd.

There was a hoarse shout, a thud that sounded like somebody's rump connecting with the floor, and then loud, fast footfalls. Suddenly, Remus was knocked off-balance by a small missile which, upon closer inspection, turned out to be the Fiona McLellan he'd met on the train. He'd managed to blurt out, "Whoa! Watch where you're-- " before realizing who it was. He then finished the statement with "Fiona?" and mentally kicked himself. She hadn't been able to regain balance as easily as he had, and had fallen quite painfully, it looked, to the stone floor. "I'm sorry," he said earnestly, feeling awful for shouting. She turned the round, blue-gray eyes up to his face, looking fearful. Numbly, he reached down, offering her a hand up and pulling her to her feet. "What were you--"

It was at that precise moment that Lucius Malfoy and his little band of Slytherins came hurtling around the corner, Lucius in the lead and wearing an absolutely malicious look on his face. "Out of the way, beast!" he shouted, making Remus cringe inwardly. "She's fair game!"

They found it amusing to refer to him as "beast," due to the fact that during the previous year, Sirius had played his amusing trick on one Severus Snape, which resulted in Snape's--and therefore most of Slytherin's--knowledge of his once-a-month issues. It angered Remus, and he wanted to beat every one of them to a bloody pulp every time they said it, because it actually did hurt him, though he denied it. He shook his head, noticing the curious glance Fiona was shooting him at the awful nickname.

"No, she's not," he said, recovering and ignoring the girl. He decided to use his advantage. "Actually, Professor Dumbledore couldn't find her and sent me to look for her. I take it you're responsible for making her late? Shall I tell him that?"

Remus noted with satisfaction that Severus Snape, who had been standing at the back of the group of three boys (Aaron Parkinson wanted in on the potential fight, but Snape was more the type to stand by and let others do the dirty work) merely looked tired at the sight of Remus, and, shooting him a rather mutinous glare, headed in the general direction of the Great Hall, muttering to himself. Aaron followed, scowling at Remus over his shoulder in a very unsettling way.

Lucius just stood there, however, glowering at them, daring Remus to do something. Giving in to his annoyance, Remus sighed loudly. "Get a move on, Malfoy. I've no patience tonight. You've already lost five points from Slytherin for causing this young lady trouble on her first evening here." He fingered the prefect badge on his chest, reminding Lucius of his status. He did feel stupid for referring to Fiona as "this young lady," but that couldn't be helped now. He wanted Malfoy to go away. "Now--d'you mind?"

But Lucius couldn't leave it at that. No, Remus reflected, later, he never could just leave people alone, could he? "You watch yourself, Lupin." He said, pointing one well-manicured finger at him. He turned hard gray eyes on Fiona. "And you, wench!" With that rather ridiculously dramatic ending note, he turned and stalked off.

Remus turned his gaze curiously on Fiona. The girl was still breathing rather raggedly from her run--she apparently was no athlete--and was muttering something in another language again--Gaelic, he supposed. She turned to him, large eyes friendly again all of a sudden, and smiled, giving a small sigh. "Thank you," she said, looking fixedly down the corridor the way he'd come. "They would've caught me."

Remus chuckled, a bit embarrassed at her gratitude. "Oh, not a problem," he said, grinning. "Actually, I'm impressed. It took me a whole hour to decide Lucius and I were enemies--on the Hogwarts Express, you see." He remembered quite well his first ride on the train, and how the pale boy had quite openly mocked him until Sirius bravely stepped in and popped him on the nose. Ah, the first train ride. The making of enemies, and of friends. Enough to make one ridiculously sentimental. Remus smiled. "Took you fifteen minutes."

They had reached the Great Hall, where the sorting was just closing, and Remus wondered vaguely why it had taken so long. Consulting his watch, he noticed it had only been a few moments since he'd left to search for Fi. Time had, inexplicably, slowed down. How odd, he thought, for the second time that evening.

"Well, here we are," he said, unnecessarily, as they stopped in front of the doors the (nose-picking) firsties had entered through. "This is it," he said, noticing how very wide her eyes got. She looked sort of pretty, he thought uneasily, before mentally kicking himself again and reminding his hormones just why it was that he wasn't allowed to think such thoughts. He shook his head, giving her a reassuring smile. "You go in, wait until Professor Flitwick calls you, and then go put on the Sorting Hat. Hope you end up in Gryffindor." He added as an afterthought, and was rewarded with a grateful, if nervous, smile. At that his stomach did some odd flip-flop and he knew he had to say something else and get away for fear of doing something stupid. "Then you won't have to deal with those twits," he finished, shifting his weight nervously.

She smiled at her feet, murmuring a "thank you" and flickering her eyes up to his face before hurriedly disappearing through the door. Remus let out his breath in a long sigh. What was up with him today? He figured it was all that nonsense his mother had been on about at breakfast. Her newfound obsession with him finding a girlfriend had made him subconsciously think about girls. And it had made him nervous. Of course.

Remembering himself, he quickly headed in the other doors, finding his seat at the Gryffindor table where he had been before his little quest. Shaking off James and Sirius' questions impatiently, he smiled as Professor Flitwick squeaked, "And now, we have a transfer student from Dublin Wizarding Academy--McLellan, Fiona."

The girl walked out onto the platform, looking more than terrified, and Remus wanted more than anything to reassure her. She would be fine. She'd end up in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, most likely, and he'd see her in class. The idea made his stomach do some interesting acrobatics, which seriously unnerved him. Swallowing roughly, he smiled reassuringly at her again, noticing that she glanced in his direction, and watched her sit on the stool, looking a bit braver now that she was actually out on the stage. She jammed the hat over her head, and silence ensued, broken only by the whispers of curiosity from the other tables. Remus saw Malfoy, Snape, and Parkinson watching her disdainfully, as if she were harboring some sort of disease. Snape noticed his stare and shot him a nasty look. Remus rolled his eyes and glanced back at the stool. This was taking an awfully long time.

Just as he was starting to wonder if something was wrong--undoubtedly, so was Fi, for she was squirming uncomfortably on the stool--the hat shouted "SLYTHERIN!"

His jaw dropped. From across the room, he saw Lily look torn between sympathy and gladness. How this girl could be a Slytherin--she was Muggle-born and…well…nice--was a mystery to him, but he knew Lily would look after her and help her get used to the school. They were in the same boat, apparently. She'd take Fi under her wing.

***

A/N: I'm enjoying this so much that I might have to do some more parts like this. ^-^ Depends on whether you guys like it or not. To be completely truthful, I rather like it, better even than the other version. Partially because I've written it having gotten considerably better at writing, and partially because it's a whole new take on things that I didn't even expect. Oh, and partially because I adore Remus. *grin* Anyway, let me know, and I'll gladly do some more, okay? Okay, then. Use the box below, if you would be so kind.