Shadows of the Moon
By WlfGrl86
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Harry Potter. Those characters are owned by J.K. Rowling. I do however take credit for the original characters.
Chapter 1 - Into the Mystic
Diana Lycaonia had has no problem crossing onto platform 9 ¾. The crossing seemed perfectly natural to her. Just go straight through and you come out onto the other side. Of course, such a school as Hogwarts would have such an ingenious delight to begin the year. And besides, it wouldn't do to have a muggle accidently board the train, now would it?
What amazed Diana, though, was that she was actually crossing onto the platform; she was actually standing in front of the train that would take her to Hogwarts, a place that she had never dreamed that she would be allowed to enter, let alone attend. It wasn't that she had no magical background in her family or that she hadn't shown any promise, in fact, she was quite bright for her age of just 11, it was something else entirely that she thought had expelled her from Hogwarts doors before she had ever set foot into them.
There had never been such a student as her, then again, there had never been such a headmaster as Dumbledore either.
All around her the platform station was bustling with activity. Mothers and fathers were kissing their children goodbye, seeing them to the doors of the train with hugs and promises to owl. Diana clutched her belongings a little closer to her chest and smiled, suddenly missing her parents. She'd never met them, but she was sure that they would be proud of her now, would be standing there with her, hugging her and wishing her the best with promises of treats by owl.
"Oi! Sorry!" a young boy, right around her age said as he accidentally ran into her, knocking what she was holding to the ground. His black hair fell in all sorts of obnoxious ways, a lock here and a lock there, never really deciding how it wanted to lay. His glasses were a bit skewed on his face and he took a moment to adjust them before diving down to help pick up the mess that he had made.
Startled, she blinked a few times, her shoulder feeling the soft sting of the collision. "I… uh… it's alright," she stammered, bending down to retrieve her belongings from this boy.
"JAMES!" a voice whined, pushing back through the crowds, in an attempt to get back to his friend, who Diana assumed was the boy who had run into her, judging by where this new boy was looking. "JAMES!"
"Hold on Sirius!" James called back, running a hand through his hair, making it stand even more on end. "I am so sorry," he said again to her, still trying to help her pick everything up despite her protestations that she could get it.
"What did you do now James?" the other boy, Sirius asked, finally making it over to them, looking down at the mess and the two scrambling on the ground to retrieve it all.
Diana looked up, her large blue eyes settling on this new boy, who, like James had black hair, but this one's didn't look as though birds might have nested. No, this one was smoothed and combed and obviously well off.
"I accidently ran into…" James paused and looked over at her, "I'm sorry… and sorry I keep saying I'm sorry, but, um, what was your name? I'm James and this is Sirius."
Sirius's gray eyes swung over to settle on her and he raised an eyebrow in a well perfected manner. With both set of eyes on her, she did her best to appear unfazed to not show any reason that she shouldn't be there, that she didn't belong, just like them. Pulling the last of her things back into her arms, she stood up, offering James a hand as she did so. "I'm Diana. Diana Lycaonia."
James's smile was like a million watt lightbulb as he stood up. "James Potter."
"Sirius Black."
Sirius speaking made Diana look back over at him. Something told her that he was somehow used to that, commanding attention with just a word. "Black? As in…"
"Yeah, the most noble and ancient house of Black… blah blah blah."
Her eyebrows shot up as she looked at the boy in front of her. A Black? This was not good. That family was known for their hatred of anything that wasn't pureblood and normal. "I… uh… I have to go… Um… nice… to um… meet you," she stuttered uselessly, making as quick of an exit as she could, leaving two confused boys in her wake.
"Look what you did!" James exclaimed at Sirius, cuffing his newfound friend on the back of the head.
"What I did?! You're the one who ran into her. Probably knocked her arm out of place."
"I did not!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Don't make me curse you!"
"I'd like to see you try!"
Diana could hear their bickering as she made her way through the crowd, which was now thinning, to the train. A giggle floated out past her lips and she had to hide her smile as she boarded the train, still thinking about the two cute boys, even if one had been a Black.
It seemed that every room she passed was occupied. Having dwindled those minutes with those two had cost her her choice of rooms on the train. It didn't matter though. Poking her head inside one of them, she smiled at the tawny haired boy who was sitting there, engrossed in a book of some volume. "Excuse me. Can I sit in here, or are these seats taken?"
Visibly shaken, the book looked up at her with a timid expression. "I…uh… no… I mean… uh, yes, you can… they… um… have a seat?" he offered at last.
"Thanks." Stepping into the room, she pushed her things up into the overhead and sat down across from the boy. "I'm Diana. Diana Lycaonia."
"Uh…" the boy stammered, looking back up from his book which he had gone right back to. "Remus."
"Last name, Remus?"
"Lupin. My last name is Lupin," he seemed to push out in a single breath, eyes looking at anything but her.
Raising an eyebrow at this boy's strange behavior, settled back into her seat across from him, undeterred in her attempt at conversation. "Is this your first year?"
"Yeah," he nodded.
"Mine too. It's kinda scary and exciting all at the same time, isn't it? I mean… Hogwarts! We're finally getting to go! I never thought I would, but I mean, I am so…"
"I didn't think I'd be going either," he offered up quietly, almost too quiet for Diana to hear.
"Really? Well that gives us something in common! What are you reading?"
"Do you care?"
"Yeah! I love books. I'm always reading. Well, not right now, obviously… I'm sorry. I'm babbling." Blushing, she looked down at her hands and away from Remus, who was now looking at her with intense eyes. It was like he could see straight into her. Odd.
"No. It's okay. I'm nervous too. Kinda trying to keep to myself and not get in anyone's way, you know? Anyways, I'm reading our textbook for Charms, just trying to brush up before term starts."
Looking back up, she smiled at him, nodding. "I won't keep you from your book then. But yeah, I know what you mean about staying out of people's way. I keep expecting someone to look at me and ask me what I'm doing here, that I don't belong in Hogwarts."
Remus's smile was like a treasure, something beautiful and innocent and Diana knew in that moment that she and Remus were going to get along wonderfully, especially if he kept smiling at her like that. "You belong here."
"So do you," she smiled back. "We both do."
The train ride was uneventful. Diana caught a glimpse later of James and Sirius, only this time that had managed to pick up another boy to add to their small group. He followed the two boys around like a lost puppy begging for table scraps. Small, except around the middle, he was what appeared to be the doting fan club of the two more handsome boys, even if James's hair stuck up at odd angles. She didn't pay them too much mind however as she and Remus, after a rather shy start, had hit it off brilliantly, talking animatedly about the course work for the year and favorite books. They had a lot in common, her and Remus.
Herded from the train to the boats, they crossed the lake and made their way up to the castle, lit up like a beacon in the night. Diana didn't know if she had ever seen anything so beautiful in her entire life. She chattered excitedly with Remus about how they would be sorted into their houses when they got to the banquet at the great hall.
"My mom was in Ravenclaw, but my dad, he was in Gryffindor," she explained. "I don't know which one I'll go into, but I know I'm definitely not going to be put into Slytherin." That one word alone left a nasty taste in her mouth.
"What do your parents think?"
"I don't know. They died when I was really little," she said softly, looking down at the water under the boat.
"My dad died too when I was really young," Remus said in empathy. "Just me and my mum now. I can't even remember him."
Looking over, she gave him a shallow smile before leaning her head on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry Remus."
He swallowed audibly, obviously unsure what to do as she curled up against him on the boat. It had been too long since anyone had touched him as carelessly and as trusting as Diana was doing now. It didn't feel wrong, though, just strange. Wrapping a tentative arm around her, he rest his head against hers. "I think we'll both be in Ravenclaw."
"You think so?"
"I hope so," he said, smiling at the thought of finally having a friend in his life. "Or at least I hope we're in the same house."
"Even if we aren't though, we're friends, right?" she asked, looking up at him hopefully. She, like him, was just as starved for friendship.
"Awww! Look! Icky lil Loopy's got himself a girlfriend! Is she as loony as you loopy?" chorused a group of fledgling Slytherins in the boat over.
His face blushed scarlet, as did hers as they listened to the taunting. "Hey!" called out a familiar voice in the boat on the other side of them. "Leave them alone! You're just jealous!"
Leaning around Remus to look at the voice who was standing up for them, her face instantly breaking out into a giant grin. There, across the lake was James Potter practically falling out of his boat as he threw insults back and forth with the taunting Slytherin hopefuls. The only reason that he wasn't falling out was because the pudgy boy was holding him back. Sirius just sat there with a bemused grin at the whole proceedings.
"JAMES!" Diana called over. "Don't fall out of the boat!"
"Do you know them?" Remus asked her, confused by her smile and laughter.
"Yeah! That's the guy who ran into me back at the train station. That's James Potter. JAMES! Sit down!" she scolded, laughing as he tried to fly himself out at the bullies.
"Bloody cowards! Come over here and say that to my face! I'll curse you into next week!"
"Bit melodramatic, isn't he?" Remus chuckled.
"POTTER!" Diana yelled as she saw him tipping forward and the rounder boy's grip starting to fail.
With a splash James fell into the water, curses, messy hair and all. He came up sputtering for air, a gigantic grin on his face. "Water's great! Come on in!"
"James Potter! You get back into that boat this instant!" an authoritative voice called out from back towards the end of the boats.
"Sirius! You have to try this! The water's great! Seriously!"
Raising another one of his sarcastic eyebrows, Sirius looked over the edge of the boat. "Sorry Potter, don't fancy cuddling up with the giant squid tonight."
"GIANT SQUID?!" Leaping, well, more like flopping back into the boat, James looked back down into the water, wary of any giant squid that might be trying to come after him. "Bloody hell. You're a ripe bastard Black, you know that?"
"I try," he grinned. "But then again, I'm not the one who fell into the lake, now am I?"
Diana collapsed back into her seat in a fit of giggles at seeing James flop back into the boat like a half dead fish, all thoughts of the Slytherin hopefuls gone from her mind. Clutching at Remus's arm, she tried to get hold of her laughter, to which she failed miserably.
Remus, looking uncomfortable, glanced from side to side and tried to slip away from Diana's touch. Like any eleven year old boy, he had liked a girl, forgot what he was doing and was teased for it, therefore he had to try and act as though nothing had ever happened and that nothing ever would happen. After all, she was a girl. "Diana…"
"Did you see him fall into the lake like that? And then when he thought there was a giant squid!" she giggled harder at the recent memory.
"Um, Diana, we're almost to the castle," he said softly, somewhat shyly. "Maybe we should just… calm down?"
Her laughter sobered and she looked at the distance that was between her and her new found friend. "Oh… Um, sure Rem. Sorry, I… don't know what… Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, just… tired. Kinda hungry too. I'll be happy when we get through with the banquet and get on to bed."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," she said, giving him a soft smile in agreement, though inside she was still jumping with excitement and part of her was suddenly wishing she'd gotten on the same boat with Sirius and James who were now splashing one another despite the protestations of the others in their boat. Something told her that they weren't thinking of sleep anytime soon, only mischief and fun.
Settling back onto her seat, she waited for the boat to reach its destination, feeling out of place once again in her life as the space between her and Remus seemed to grow the longer they sat in silence.
As the boats reached the shore, the children filed out in an almost orderly fashion. It was close enough for a large group of excited eleven year olds.
"Welcome to Hogwarts, first years! My name is Professor McGonagall. If you could all just line up and follow me, we will head up to the castle and to the Great Hall for the banquet." The woman, tall with thinly stretched lips, turned on her heel and began the way up the castle, knowing that the children would follow her.
They made their way up, Remus and Diana remaining quiet while Sirius and James, a bit further back in the line, continued to be loud and obnoxious. She longed to talk with Remus like that, or to go back there with those two, but what right did she have. She was lucky just to be there. Maybe Remus had the right idea. It was better to be quiet and not drawn attention to herself. Maybe then they wouldn't suspect anything, they wouldn't wonder why she was there. They wouldn't have a chance to rethink allowing her inside of Hogwarts.
"PSST!" whispered a voice right next to her ear.
"What?" she asked, turning around, looking for the source of the sound.
"Something wrong?" Remus asked, giving her an odd look.
"Um, nothing. Did you head anything, just now?"
"No…"
"PSST! Come here!" she heard again just before a hand grabbed hers, pulling her back towards the end of the line, Remus too.
"What in Merlin's name…?" She turned to be greeted with the grinning faces of one James Potter and one Sirius Black. "Guys!"
Remus all but hid behind her, saying nothing, trying to remain unseen as the two boys grinned at them, the pudgy boy looking up at the other two with a look of awe on his face.
"We saw you up there, all bored and all, so, we decided to rescue you," Sirius responded, gray eyes dancing in the moonlight.
"Again," James smirked. Looking over at Remus, he held out his hand. "James Potter, what's your name mate?"
"I… uh… Rem… Remus… Lu… Lupin. Remus Lupin," he managed out through a bout of nervous stuttering.
Sirius's bark of laughter cut through the stuttering as he clapped his arm over Remus's shoulders. "Don't worry mate. I'm Sirius Black and calm down, alright?"
Remus just swallowed nervously and nodded, eyes locked on the arm that was around his shoulders, but not daring to say anything about it.
"I see you're all dry," Diana smirked, noting James's very unsoggy appearance.
"Yeah, Sirius knew a drying spell," he laughed, "though I now smell remarkably like dead fish."
"Well, I wasn't going to say anything," she grinned.
"Hey! That's not my fault!" Sirius proclaimed, arm still around Remus's shoulders, in what Diana guessed was a very good attempt to keep him from bolting away from the boisterous group.
"That remains to be seen," James jokingly glowered. "OH! Diana! This is Peter Pettigrew," he introduced, allowing the shorter, pudgier boy to step forward.
His hair was the color of straw, unremarkable, just like the rest of him with beady eyes she couldn't quite tell what color they were. Smiling, she reached out to shake his hand. His fingers were like little sausages, plump and warm and his smile was warm too though just a little nervous. She could tell he was nervous by the pink that dusted his cheeks as he touched her hand. This was a boy very used to not being in the spotlight. How he had ever taken up with the likes of James and Sirius was indeed a mystery.
"Hi Peter."
"Hi," he muttered out, doing his best to not look her in the eyes.
"So, what house do you guys think you'll be in?" she asked, looking back at the more suave members of the group.
James, attempting to puff himself up to twice his normal size, grinned, "Why, Gryffindor, of course! My mum and dad were both in Gryffindor and they are obviously the best house…"
"Oh enough James," Sirius scolded, deflating the ego that was growing far too large.
"Something wrong with Gryffindor?" she asked.
"Only if you happen to be in my family," he groaned. "All my family is Slytherins. I'd be right happy so long as I wasn't. That'd really bother mother."
"You and your family don't get along?" she asked, very intrigued where this conversation was going. Maybe a Black wasn't always as black as their name suggested.
Rolling his eyes, Sirius shook his head. "Not in the least. Actually, you know. I'm going to be in Gryffindor with James. I've decided it. Worst thing to a Slytherin, well, that's a Gryffindor."
"I want to be in the same house as James and Sirius," Peter squeaked out, looking up at his two heroes.
"Remus thinks we'll be in Ravenclaw together. It makes sense, I think." Diana supplied, looking a little sad about the thought that they wouldn't be in the same house as James and Sirius.
"So long as you're not in Slytherin."
"She wouldn't be in Slytherin. She's too nice," James said. "Slytherins are mean, ugly things."
"Hey, Remus, you don't say much, do you?" Sirius asked, looking at the boy he still had under arm.
"Only if I have something that needs to be said and right now, nothing needs to be said. You guys are doing enough talking for both I and Peter. Diana, maybe we should get back to where we were in the line?"
"Maybe you're right. Sorry guys. We'll see you later!" she called as she rescued Remus from Sirius and they started back up the line, Remus letting out an audible sigh at his release. "You alright Rem?
"Better now. Those guys…"
"Something wrong?"
"I don't know. I just don't know what to make of them."
"But they're nice!"
"To you," he said, as though that said everything and apparently that was all that was going to be said as they entered the castle doors and McGonagall shushed them all. It was time for the sorting.
TBC...
Review? Please???