Remus flinched as the stick was brought down again.
"Nasty piece of-"
Whack.
"Don't ever think of walking down here again!"
Another punch from the stick, painful and bruising to his thin body. How long was this going to last?
"You're just a useless Werewo-"
Whack.
With a final kick, the boys' footsteps gradually faded, and Remus opened his eyes.
He was crouched up against the lane's brick wall; the stones form the path digging into his skin through his shabby clothes and the trees hung over his head, shading him from the sun. His head ached as though it was being pushed off his head, and his nose felt fuzzy and hot, gradually dripping more and more blood.
He gingerly pushed himself into a sitting position and glanced around, trying to swallow the taste of blood. Remus wiped his mouth, rubbed his eyes, and flecked his hands. The pain tingled still, and the red blotches were starting to colour. He sighed, his chest hurting as he breathed, and grabbing the mossy wall, heaved himself up onto his feet.
The country lane wasn't far from his home, and Remus was suddenly glad that he hadn't taken the long walk near the river. He rolled his shoulders several times before glancing down at his body. His shoes were covered in blood from his dripping nose: his brown robes had soaked up the blood from his face…at least his jeans and shirt weren't stained…
With the pain starting to ease, Remus began to walk down the road, trying not to limp as he felt the cool breeze. Just a few more minutes and he'd be home.
"Remus dear, is that you?" called his mother, her voice sweet and caring as always.
Remus limped into the kitchen, slamming the front door angrily. It had only taken a few minutes for his anger to boil, but by the time he'd got home, it was serving from him like hot lava.
"I hate them!" he snarled, pulling the chair across the floor to sit on it, putting his head into his pale hands. "I hate them so much!"
"What's wrong Remus-You're bleeding?"
"Yes, mum."
"Oh, Remus honey…" she began, and hurried around the kitchen fetching a bowl of water and some bandages. She placed them on the table and rung out a sponge. Gently, she lifted Remus' head from his hands and studied it, looking into his eyes.
"What happened this time?" she asked, as she soaked the sponge into water.
"Just some boys."
"What did they do to you?"
"Beat me."
"With what?"
"A stick." Remus growled, shuddering at the memory which reoccurred in his mind.
"A stick?" exclaimed Mrs Lupin, her face turning stormy. "Your father will hear of this! This is ridiculous! How did they find out?"
"Katy probably told them." Remus mumbled, thinking of his only friend in the village. "We don't get along anymore." Well, ex-friend.
"Urgh!" Mrs Lupin sighed, wiping the blood from her sons face carefully. "At least you're back at Hogwarts tomorrow." She inspected Remus' face. "All clean." she smiled, her son giving her a crooked, painful grin. "Have you packed?"
"It's nearly all done." Remus mumbled, pushing his hair from his eyes.
"Go finish it, dear." Mrs Lupin told him, "Whilst I talk to your father…"
With that, Remus got up and hauled himself up the spiral stairs to his bedroom.
"Lily!"
The shout came from behind her, and the red headed girl spun around on her heels to face another girl. She was short, with long, dark brown hair, olive skin, and huge, chocolate brown eyes rimmed with mascara. She wore a bright green dress, with floral patterns on it, and wide, green shoes that made a loud sound whenever she walked.
"Giz!" Lily cried, seeing her friend. She ran to her and hugged her, feeling a serve of happiness. She hadn't seen Giz for six weeks, since she had gone back to her home country, Italy, to see her Grandparents. Giz spoke English without an accent, and her Italian was fluent and authentic sounding. Lily envied her linguistic ability, and admired her tan.
"How was Italy?" she asked, holding the girl at arm's length and assessing her jokingly. Giz blushed and pulled at a strand of her long hair.
"It was eventful…" she mumbled, with a wink.
"TELL ME!" Lily wined, her voice going higher with excitement. "You must tell me!"
"Well, I have…a boyfriend!" Giz exclaimed, engulfing Lily in a huge hug. Even though Giz was only five foot two, she was strong and noticeable- mainly because of her good looks and loud voice. She squealed with delight and glanced around the platform, looking for other friends she could share her news with. She grabbed her large trunk marked 'G.' and beckoned Lily to follow her. Lily quickly rushed to say good bye to her parents, who were drinking in the scene of wizardry, which was far from unnoticeable at the station of nine and three quarters. Hugging them and giving them a quick kiss, she waved and ran off to catch up with Giz.
"Your sisters not here then?" Giz asked, showering the crowds of people with a critical look.
"No." Lily sighed, flicking her long red hair from her freckled face. "She didn't want to say good-by to me this year. Still thinks I'm a freak, as always…"
"I think she needs to get over it!" huffed Giz, moving faster through the dense crowds of people. Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks and waved in the distance. "It's Kit."
Kit moved towards them, with a small but cute smile plastered to her pale face. Her long, ginger hair fell just to her waist, and had a slight wave to it, clashing with her red jacket. Her flared jeans (this is the seventies, remember?) were dark blue and had a splatter of mud up the side from where she lived on a farm. She embraced both of the girls with a huge hug. She dwarfed Giz easily, and she was a few inches taller than Lily, who was five foot six. She smiled.
"I've missed you!" she said, as her parents came wandering over to them. Mrs Llewellyn-Jones was a small, pretty lady with blonde hair down to her waist and a motherly air around her, whilst Kit's father was a tall, slightly imposing man with carrot coloured hair (though his daughters was more of a dark red) and huge blue eyes. Kit tenderly kissed both of them before leaving them to walk with her friends. "Who are we looking for?" she asked.
"Anyone." Lily explained simply, mirroring Kit's confused expression. Suddenly, Giz squealed and turned around.
"Kit….I HAVE A BOYFRIEND!"
Several of the other families turned around to glare at the sixth year student, who was now bouncing up and down.
"Congratulations Gizzy!" Kit blurred, dodging another one of Giz's hugs. Kit wasn't the one to be hugged a lot, and Lily knew that. Giz, on the other hand, never remembered. As though it had never occurred, Giz ran ahead to find others, wheeling her luggage behind her.
"We'll be on the train!" called Lily, as loud as she could. Giz gave a thumb up before turning the corner.
"Sirius!"
James made his way into the compartment, his eyes wide and his face delighted. He hadn't seen his friend since he bid him and his family fare well during the last few weeks of summer: Sirius went to go live with his Uncle for a little while, giving the time the Potters needed, to go on holiday.
"Prongs!" Sirius yelled, and launched himself at his best friend, whose face was clear of boy-hood spots. James' hair still stuck up at odd angles, and his glasses were askew as usual, giving him an 'i-don't-care' look that the girls loved. He was wearing a simple shirt and jeans, with converse and a jacket slung over his shoulder, with his school robes in a plastic bag, hanging from his hands.
"How are you?" James asked as they both sat down, looking out of the window was the trains started to move.
"I'm good mate! My Uncle was understanding, and has given me some money to put into a volt at Gringots so I can get a motorbike! You'll have to help me tweak it when he gets it for me. He's gonna send it to Hogwarts at Christmas."
"Awesome!" James huffed, running a hand through his hair to make it stick up more, and glanced at Sirius. He hadn't changed much.
His wavy dark hair was still just above shoulder length, and his eyes were grey and lively. He wore a pair of scruffy old blue jeans with a black t-shirt, a leather jacket thrown on top: this made up Sirius' usual 'bad-boy' attire mixed with an odd elegance the girls loved and swooned over. He was still taller than James, at six foot, as James had only just reached five foot ten over the summer.
Sirius frowned.
"Where's Moony and Wormtail?" he thought aloud, and James shrugged.
"Not sure, really." He replied. "Maybe we should find them. I'll look for Pete, he's easier." James winked, and got up, heading to the door.
"Awwww, but Moony's really hard to fiiind!" Sirius wined jokingly, and he got up to, leaving the compartment to search for their friends.
"Remus?"
The boy straightened up, blinking rapidly to get rid of the tears. He wiped them away carelessly and looked through his hair at his best friend. Sirius stood there, arms folded, smiling at him. The smile was small and gentle, but it was a smile anyway. He sat down next to Remus, and pulled his body closer to his into a hug, and ruffled his hair.
"So…?" Sirius began, releasing Remus. "What's wrong?"
Remus blinked.
"Well…I…I just…"
"Spit it out, mate."
"I don't know! I'm just upset over nothing, I guess. Like always."
"Hush, Moony!" Sirius said, frowning. "It can't just be nothing…"
"Fine!" Remus snapped, "I'm tired and I nearly mauled a man during the last full moon! My friend in my village now hates me! I got beaten up! My parents are getting more and more worried about me…and I can't help it!"
Sirius took a deep breath.
"All of that?" he asked, taken back. "I see why you're upset. Well, if the 'friend' really was a friend, you'd still BE friends, wouldn't you? So, that's nothing…and the man's alive, isn't he?"
Remus nodded.
"And if you can't help your parents, then don't worry about them!" Sirius said. "Simple! Just…calm down, mate, yeah? You're always so stressed."
"I know, I know…"
Sirius let out a long laugh, patting Remus on the shoulders.
Sirius looked at Remus. He hadn't changed much since their last meeting. His hair was shaggy and light brown, but it was greasy as the full moon was soon. His skin was pale but smooth, and his wide eyes were still the same shade of green they were last year. He wore a tattered shirt and jumper, with a clean pair of pressed jeans and his red converse were on the floor by the door. He had obviously had enough of wearing shoes and curled up without them.
"Let's go see if James has found Wormtail." Sirius mumbled, helping Remus up and flicking the shoes at his friend by magic. Remus caught them and put them on, hopping out of the door to do his laces as they walked down the carriage.