Taking a deep breath, he slowly boarded the train. Platform 9 3/4 never seemed so dreamlike to him, albiet, he's never been there. But he's seen pictures of his parents there and it seemed like he would never get a chance to actually come.
Luckily for his sake, Albus Dumbledore recently became the new Headmaster at Hogwarts, who's sanity is questioned everyday. He had allowed him to come to Hogwarts, even with his affliction.
Remus Lupin smiled as he walked down the narrow hallway on the train, looking for a compartment to sit in. He was slightly late, due to his family's clumsy ways, and therefore all of the compartments were filled. Near the middle of the train he was lucky enough to find a compartemnt which contained only two boys and what appeared to be a pile of coats in the corner behind the one boy. Chiding himself to act normal and not be nervous, Remus announced his presence by knocking on the door.
The two boys looked up from examining what Remus could only assume was candy. One boy wore glasses and had messy black hair. The other also had black hair, was slightly more built then the other and had a mischevious grin plastered on his lips.
"Well then, there you have it James. Our first visitor" announced the boy to Remus' left. "What's your name? I'm Sirius Black and -" He looked to James, who spoke.
"I'm James Potter."
Remus forced himself not to bow out of habit. Years of living with his parents and without any friends was the blame for his horrifically mature personality and actions. "Hello. I'm Remus Lupin."
Sirius moved over so that Remus could sit down, allowing Remus to get a good look at the fourth person in the compartment. It startled him. He hadn't realized that there had been three boys in the compartment. He had thought it was a small spile of coats!Yet as he looked at the person next to James more closely, he could see why he had not noticed at first.
Sitting far back in the cushions of the seat sat a boy with ink black hair which came down over his face and down to his shoulders. Remus didn't mean to stare and looked away quickly when he saw two black eyes looking at him critically.
James and Sirius saw Remus' curiousity and decided to speak.
"We don't know what his name is. Hasn't spoken since we got here. Didn't even respond when we asked him if we could sit in here" James explained. "Just sits there, hiding behind his hair."
Sirius was about to speak, but at seeing the silent boy's glare, Remus spoke up instead. "Maybe he just wants to mind his own business. I had a neighbor like that back home."
The silent boy made a faint sound which sounded slightly like a cough or clearing of the throat.
"Or" spoke Sirius. "Maybe he's just a git with an attitude."
No one spoke for several minutes. James looked up at Remus, then down at his lap full of candy. "What you like one?" He offered Remus a small peice of chocolate. Remus looked up and smiled.
"Yes please. Chocolate is my favorite. It's always there when I'm down" Remus accepted the chocolate peice from James and ate it slowly.
"So, what house do you think you'll be in?" Sirius asked to no one in particiular.
"Gryffindor" stated James with confidence. "I know this only because I come from a whole family tree who were all Gryffindors."
Sirius' gaze turned to Remus. "Ummm...I'm not sure. Ravenclaw...perhaps. My mother was a Ravenclaw, though my father was a Hufflepuff...So it's really up in the air."
The two boys nodded. There was a quick moment when they all thought the silent boy would answer, but it turned out to be a simple yawn.
"Sorry we're so boring" Sirius mumbled with a hiss. The silent boy ignored his comment, continuing to glare into space.
Remus felt bad for him. "Are you nervous or something? I'm sure there's no reason to be. We could possibly be friends..."
"Friends with that git?" snickered Sirius.
"Sirius" James warned, giving his friend a look.
The silent boy crossed his arms over his chest, slouching slightly into the cushions of the seat even more. "My name is Severus Snape."
"Wow!! Twenty minutes after we ask for his name, he finally answers! Ha!!" laughed Sirius coldly. The look Severus gave Sirius looked deadly.
"Snape?" repeated James. "My mother knows a Snape. I don't know if there is any relation, but she used to get all her potions from that man." Severus nodded dully.
Taking in a deep breath, Severus began talking in a low, mundane voice. "That was probably my father. He's brilliant at potions. He used to sell them before--Nevermind. But yes, that was probably him."
Remus nodded, happy they'd managed to get him talking.
"As for what house I'll be in? Knowing my rotten luck, I'll be a Slytherin, just like my family." Sirius made a face.
Remus shrugged. "You never know, maybe you'll be a Ravenclaw like I might be. Do you like to read and study? Ravenclaws are known for their knowledge."
Severus gave a hint of a smile. "Sure..." he said with sarcasm. "Maybe I'll be a Ravenclaw." He started mumbling. "We all know for damn sure though that Sirius Clack here won't be in that House."
Remus fidgeted at the word he used, being grateful he was the only one who'd heard it thanks to his heightened hearing.
The rest of the train trip to Hogwarts went by relatively slow. James, Sirius, and Remus continued talking amongst themselves after Severus fell into a light slumber against the window.
James finally spoke up after night fell on them. "We'd better get dressed into our robes."
James and Sirius started getting dressed while Remus moved over near the window and sat across from Severus, gently tapping him on the knee. "Severus, its time to get into our robes. We're almost at Hogwarts."
"Leave him" hissed Sirius.
Remus ignored him and continued tapping Severus' knee. Pitch black eyes suddenly opened as a startled Severus awoke. "Wha-?"
Remus smiled. "We're almost at Hogwarts and need to change into our robes now" repeated Remus.
"Oh..." Severus sat up and started to change after retrieving his robe out of his trunk above him.
"Why are so nice to him?" demanded Sirius after seeing what just took place.
Remus was about to answer when Severus spoke up. "Because he actually has some dignity and actually thinks of other people. His heart is not as black as yours is...Black"
James turned his friend's attention to a wrapper on the floor, telling him to pick it up for him, in hopes of keeping his temper in check.
----------------
A sea of students watched eagerly as the Great Hall doors opened and Professor McGonagall steared the first-years inside and up to where the Sorting Hat waited. Remus was now completely nervous. In the boats, he and James had been talking. James was remincing about all the stories his father had told him about the Sorting Hat.
"The Sorting Hat knows everything about you. It even knows just about you that you don't even know!" James had told him earlier.
The first thought that went in through Remus' mind was, 'He knows I'm a werewolf!' .
That was when the nerves started taking affect. It began occuring to him that even though James and Sirius were his new friends now, what would happen if they discovered his dreadful secret? He would be shunned. Shunned just like he has been his whole life.
James, who was currently next to Remus, smiled. "Relax, everything will be fine."
Remus tried to look fine, but he couldn't get the butterflies in his stomach to calm down.
Professor McGonagall then began calling out names from her list.
"Abel, Tiffany!" was the first name she called. Everyone watched as the nervous red-head walked up and sat on the stool. "HUFFLEPUFF!!" cried the Sorting Hat.
"Anderson, Breezy!" Remus watched as a girl with long, thin blonde hair murmured something to her friend and walked up and sat down. "SLYTHERIN!!" The girl smiled, walking past the students and to the Slytherin table.
Sirius leaned in next to James' ear. "There's a pretty one. Terrible house though."
"Eh, I liked the girl before her" replied James.
"Angstone, Juliana!" Sirius moved out of the girl's way.
"RAVENCLAW!!"
"Beans, Erin!" The friend of the other girl walked up next, allowing Sirius to see her as well. "Close friends eh? I like."
"They 'd be twins if her hair was longer and she didn't have glasses" mumbled Remus.
Black, Sirius!"
"Hey! That's me!" Sirius jumped up and sat down on the stool.
"GRYFFINDOR!!"
James high-fived him as he walked past to the Gryffindor table.
Remus listened closely at first, then started staring into space as she descended closer down to 'L'. He really didn't want the Sorting Hat to know all about him. What if he cried out, "WEREWOLF!! WEREWOLF!! YOU DON'T BELONG HERE!" Remus gulped at the thought.
"Evans, Lily!"
Remus was poked sharply in the rib cage by James as she sat down on the stool.
"Remus!! Have you not ever seen a prettier girl!?" he whispered with excitement. Remus smiled, looking up at her long red hair.
"Oh, yes. Very pretty" stumbled Remus, letting go of his sore side.
Professor McGonagall continued on down the list, quickly coming to 'L'.
"Lupin, Remus!"
Remus froze stiff and stood there until James gave him a rough shove forward. Slowly sitting down in the stool, he waited until McGonagall set the hat on his head, which covered his eyes.
"Well, well, what have we here? A lycanthropy student eh? Well...That's Hogwarts for you..." the hat began. Remus felt his heart stop at the mention. The Hat continued. "Now, now, you're secret is safe with me. It's none of my business afterall. Let's see, you have a head on your shoulders, that's for sure...Yet Ravenclaw seems too askew for you...Slytherin is out of the question...why...with your affliction, it'd be like being with a pack of wolves. Forgive the pun.
Hufflepuff does seem like an interesting choice, yet something tells me you'll be of more value in GRYFFINDOR!!"
Remus stood up from the stool as McGonagall took the Sorting Hat off his head, going towards where Sirius sat waiting for him.
"Miller, Kevin!"
"SYTHERIN!"
"O'Kanel, Alberta"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Pettigrew, Peter!" A small, slightly heavy boy walked up.
"GRYFFINDOR!!"
"Potter, James!" Remus watched at the table as Sirius crossed his fingers. It was quite obvious how close these two where and that they've been friends for a long time.
"GRYFFINDOR!!"
Sirius whooped for joy as James came to sit next to him, both high-fiving each other. Remus smiled.
The list continued on as James and Sirius celebrated their silent victory of being in the same House. Remus only started paying attention to the Sorting again when he heard a familiar name.
"Snape, Severus!"
"SLYTHERIN!!"
"See, I told you that git would end up in Slytherin, didn't I?" boasted Sirius. James and Remus looked at him.
"...No..." said James. "You just agreed with him when he said he'd be in Slytherin."
"Same thing" retorted Sirius.
"It's a shame he wasn't a Gryffindor or Ravenclaw..." Remus spoke softly.
Sirius looked at him. "Why!? He's a git! A slimy, greasy-haired git!! Besides, why would you want a nasty old jerk like him for a friend when you have us?" Sirius motioned to himself and James. Remus smiled widely.
"I dunno. You two are quite a pair" responded Remus.
The bench Remus was sitting on was now full since the Sorting was over, and all the fellow house mates where now welcoming them. The Second Years next to them began explaining how things worked and how classes where shared with other houses.
At the end of the feast, Headmaster Dumbledore said a few words, "Fizzle, Kiddle, and Fid. Goodnight."
Prefects began directing the First-Years to their dormitory. Sirius and James were side by side, already plotting their ideas. Remus walked close behind them, admiring all the paintings as they walked up the moving staircase.
"Remus! Come on!" called James up the stairs. Remus looked up and quickly got up next to James. Leaning in toward his ear, James whispered as the Prefect started talking. "Have you ever pulled a prank?"
Remus wasn't exactly sure what that meant, but he knew it wasn't good. "Uhh...no..."
James smiled. "Hmmm...We'll fix that."
Wrapping an arm around Remus' shoulder, James led him into the dormitory, following the students and prefect. This was going to be an interesting experience.
