September 1st, 1971
8:00 am
Remus
Remus awoke that morning by a shouting voice:
"Get your arse out of bed and to that train before they change their minds!"
It was his father's voice, low and steely, and it almost always had a snarl to it.
Remus sat up on his uncomfortable mattress and said with a tired voice, "Thank you for the wake up call." He meant to sound sarcastic, but, with his head not quite out from under the blanket of sleep, he failed.
His father grunted, and walked away without closing the door.
Remus rubbed his eyes and yawned.
As his mind began to become more alert, he remembered what today was: September 1st, the day he would leave this god-forsaken house and move to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
He was both delighted and upset by the thought of this. Is he sure he wants to go? What if someone finds out? What if they tell the Ministry? Werewolves weren't allowed an education. If the Ministry of Magic found out, he would be killed, or worse, tortured.
Remus would just have to make sure that no one found out. He just needed to stay distant. No one could find out if he wasn't close to anyone.
He crawled out of bed and began to dress. Remus had meticulously laid everything out the night before. He dressed in his school robes, which looked very plan without a house tie. No matter, he would receive one after the sorting ceremony.
After he went to the corner of the room which held a small sink and toilet (where he relieved himself, brushed his teeth, washed his face, and brushed his hair) he returned his toiletries to his trunk, where he made a spot on top for them to fit.
Remus' stomach grumbled. He took didn't know if his father would feed him this morning. What will the consequences be? He's leaving today, anyway. Remus resolved to try to sneak some.
He climbed the stairs that separated his room (the cellar) from the rest of the house. As Remus opened the door, he peeked his head outside to check if his father, John Lupin , was around.
He wasn't, and Remus let out the breath that he hadn't realized he held.
Remus lightly tiptoed his way further into the kitchen. He opened one of the cabinets as slowly as he could, to avoid the creaking. Successful, he grabbed the half loaf of bread, opened it, and slid two pieces out.
Remus placed these into the toaster on the counter, and pushed down the lever.
Unfortunately, it was at this moment that John decided to come into the kitchen.
"Well, well, well. Look what we have here. Did you really think that you'd get away with that?"
Remus looked at the floor mutely.
"Don't you ever try to take food from my kitchen without my consent again." John growled.
Remus nodded submissively.
The toast popped up, making them both jump. Remus yelped, very caninely, and John lost it.
John shoved Remus out of the way, opened the utensil drawer and grabbed a silver spoon. He grabbed Remus's arm, tugged back his sleeve, and pressed it to his skin.
Remus tried not to cry or scream or beg. He just froze his body and stared at the spoon on his skin with a clenched jaw. He watched as the silver burned his skin as if it were a white hot iron.
He knew not to pull away or howl in agony like he wanted to. That just made John angrier.
After about seven seconds it was over, to much relief of Remus.
"I never want to hear that beast again, do you hear me?"
Remus nodded frantically. John, who was still holding tightly to Remus' arm, swung around, grabbed a piece of toast and forced it into his son's hand.
"You'd better be ready in 10 minutes, you hear me?"
"Yes, sir." Remus said, the first words he spoke since he woke up.
Remus scrambled away, into his cellar, his bedroom, and ate the toast slowly, while sitting on his bed.
He dug out the burn salve that his mother taught him to make before she died. He rubbed it carefully on the burn on his arm. The wound looked like it would heal nicely.
His eyes examined his bedroom, slowly taking in every bit before he left for nine months. He stared at the door, which was covered with scratches that were obviously made by claws. John made him transform in here and live in here. That wasn't fair.
His eyes traveled to his "bathroom" corner. He eyed the dirty, tiny sink that, thankfully, had a running faucet attached. He gazed at the disgusting, stained toilet with no seat that refused to get any cleaner, no matter how hard Remus tried.
He then turned to his dresser, which had blood stains that had soaked into the wood, that wouldn't come out no matter how hard he scrubbed. It had been scratched and beaten by the wolf for years now. On top of the dresser lay the standard Hogwarts letter, along with the supplies list. However, Remus received an extra letter. It read:
Mr. Lupin,
We are aware of your Lycanthropy and should you choose to accept you place at Hogwarts, we will provide a safe place for your transformations each month as well as health care from our school healer, Poppy Pomfrey, for any injuries you may sustain. You will have a meeting with the headmaster after the Sorting Feast on the first day of term to arrange the details.
Minerva McGonagall
Minerva McGonagall x
Deputy Headmistress
His stare travelled along the blood stained concrete wall, then to the floor, and finally to the bed that he sat on.
It could hardly be considered a bed. It was a torn up, saggy mattress lying on the floor. The blood stains were worse on the mattress, the fibers sucked it up and would not give it back. It had been gouged and scratched for five years now.
Remus slowly stood up. He checked his things at the end of the bed, making sure that he had everything he needed. He did.
Remus picked up his things, including the Hogwarts letter on his dresser, and walked out of the cellar.
September 1st, 1971
8:30 am
Lily
Petunia burst into Lily's bedroom. She ran up to her sister's bed, pulled back the covers and crawled in.
Lily had woken up as her sister climbed into her bed, and opened her bright emerald eyes.
"Hey, Tuney." She said with a slight smile.
Petunia's forehead wrinkled and her lip quivered.
"Don't go. Don't leave me. I love you." Petunia whispered.
Lily frowned. "You know that I love you too, but I can't just not go."
Tears were now silently streaming down Petunia's face. "Yes you can. You don't need to go. We can go to school together, here."
"Tuney," Lily sighed, "I love you, I want to stay here with you. I really, really do. I just can't. I'm a witch, I don't know how, but I am. I want to learn to do magic."
Petunia's tears dried up. "You don't need to do magic." She said each word slowly and forcefully, like she wanted to convince Lily with that one sentence that she should stay.
Lily's eyes watered up now. "I know… I know. But I really want to."
Lily knew that Petunia wouldn't understand. She hadn't gone to Diagon Alley and seen all of the wonderful magic there. How special it is. How there's a whole other world besides their own. A world full of extraordinary things that she had the chance to be a part of.
"So it's magic over me?" Petunia shrieked.
"Of course not!" Lily tried to repair the situation quickly, but Petunia wasn't having it.
Petunia had already slid out of Lily's bed and was walking towards the door, fuming with hot, angry tears.
Lily was in quick pursuit, her bad temper flaring.
"Tuney! I love you, but there is this whole other world that I don't know about yet. I want to be a part of it so badly. Why can't I have that and you?" Lily nearly yelled, her voice cracking on the last word.
Petunia have stopped in the middle of Lily's speech. She slowly turned around and looked in her sister's eye. In the calmest voice she could manage, she said, "Because you are leaving me now."
Petunia left before the tears flowed, running to her room and slamming the door.
Lily stood there, dumbstruck by what just happened. She just lost her sister, maybe for forever.
September 1st, 1971
8:30
James
Rosemary Potter opened her son's door quietly, tiptoeing across the room to his bed. She sat on the side of his bed nearest his face. She led her fingers to his hair and began stroking it. She chuckled silently at how wild it was, and how similar it to his father's.
"James," she cooed, "It's time to wake up. It's your first day."
James didn't respond.
"James," she said a bit louder, "Wake up."
He still didn't move.
She lightly grabbed his arm and shook it a bit, hoping for a response.
James smiled a bit, just a small twitch of movement at the corners of his mouth. His eyes remained closed, and his mother knew he was feigning sleep.
"Well, since he's asleep, I guess he won't mind me… tickling him!"
James laughed and laughed as his mother tickled him, the sound music to his mother's ears.
A minute or so later, she pulled back, both of them breathless from James' infectious laughter.
"Chocolate chip pancakes?" Rosemary asked with a mischievous smile.
"Yes!" James replied, his tongue lingering on the s.
"Okay, get dressed and come down when you're ready."
Rosemary gracefully walked out of James' room, maneuvering around the obstacles that are James Potter's messy bedroom.
Right before she walked out of the door, she said, "And tidy your room, the house elves don't have to do all the work, you know." She winked
"Ugh, okay mum." James replied with his nose scrunched up.
He grabbed all of the stuff on the floor and began shoving it underneath his bed.
After that task was done, he got set to getting dressed, one thought racing through his mind: "I'm going to Hogwarts! I'm going to Hogwarts!"
September 1st, 1971
9:00
Sirius
"Sirius Orion Black! If you are not fully ready and down here with your bags packed by 9:30, so help me-"
"Relax, mum! I'm already ready." Sirius Black said amusingly as he stuck his head out of his bedroom door, "And packed." He added as the rest of his body followed suit, carrying his stuff.
"Fine." His mother, Walburga Black, snapped back. "Breakfast is ready."
Sirius walked down the stairs and set his bags by the front door. He then walked into the dining room, and found is father there, his mother there, and his little brother, Regulus, there.
"Good morning, everybody!" Sirius said with fake enthusiasm. "It's so lovely to see all of your faces."
"Sirius, stop it and sit down. Your porridge will get cold." Walburga cut.
Sirius sat down without a fight, his father and brother both watching him.
They all sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes, and just when it looked like no one was going to break it, Sirius' father, Orion, said:
"You better be in Slytherin."
Sirius sighed. "I'm sure I will be, dad."
"If you tell the sorting hat that you want to be in Slytherin, it will most likely put you in Slytherin. It is the house of your fathers."
Sirius sighed again. "Will do."
Sirius tried not to roll his eyes or yell at them right there at the table. Thankfully, he refrained himself from doing so, as that would bring on punishment.
The truth was, Sirius has never been a true Black. The Blacks were truly prejudice people. They do not like Muggles, they do not support Muggle rights, the do not consort with Muggles. And they most certainly do not marry a Muggle. Doing so would get you burned off the family tree. And well, if you consort with "mudbloods," you are guaranteed to be disowned.
Sirius never has cared about blood. He has been yelled (screamed at), whipped, and thrown in a cellar for a day or so for just mentioning that muggles aren't that bad.
Sirius knows that his family are bad people, and he doesn't want to be like them. He wants to be a Gryffindor.
September 1st, 1971
10:00
Remus
The silence was uncomfortable, though no one wanted to break it, as John drove Remus to King's Cross Station.
It had taken about an hour, and he was mad that he had to go so far for the little son of a bitch. Why did John have to drive him? Couldn't the Knight Bus take him? Oh well, as long as the little shit was out of his sight for the next nine months he didn't care.
Remus was now inside of King's Cross staring at platforms nine and ten, wondering how he would ever find platform 9 ¾.
He stood there stupidly for quite a few minutes before he noticed a girl with flaming red hair with two adults who were obviously her parents, a girl who only look a few years younger than the girl, and a boy with
Remus observed that she was very much close to tears, stuttering and murmuring 'goodbye' s and 'I love you' s.
She after she was done,
September 1st, 1971
10:15
James
The Potters all flooed to King's Cross Station.
James wanted to get there early to find a good seat on the train.
With his trunk in tow, he all but ran to it when he saw the Hogwarts Express. It was gleaming under the harsh lighting. All of the bells and whistle that adorned it accentuated its sleek red body.
James was bouncing up and down in anticipation.
"When can I board? Where do I put my trunk? How fast does it go? When does it leave? When can I get on?" James said so quickly that no one had time to answer his questions.
James' father laughed. "You'll get to get on right now. At least say goodbye first."
James hugged his father muttering, "'Bye, dad."
He did the same to his mother, but before he could turn and leave, his mother caught him by the wrist.
"Na ah ah. Not so fast. I would like a proper goodbye before my son leaves me for an entire year." She placed the back of her hand on her forehead during the last few words for dramatic effect.
James sighed.
"I'm coming home for Christmas, stop being so dramatic." James smirked. "Besides, I left some things at home for you to remember me by." He thought back to the various pranks he had plotted around the house.
"What did you do?" Rosemary said suspiciously. "Ah, never mind. I still want a proper goodbye."
James hugged her again, "I love you, mum. I'll miss you so much. Goodbye."
He did something similar for his father.
As soon as James was free of their grasps, he ran as fast as he could while still dragging his trunk.
James, far too excited by the train, did not notice the two students that were in his path until he was too late.
One second he was almost reaching the Hogwarts Express, the next, he was sprawled on the ground covered with strange clothes, next to a very cute girl.
He had crashed into her, he deduced. Her trunk must have opened and this is her stuff on him.
James laughed and started to stand up, picking socks and shirts off of him.
He turned back after and went to lend a hand to the girl still on the ground, looking stunned.
She just glared at it.
"I can get up myself." She snapped.
"Fine, fine." James said amusingly.
James started gathering her stuff before she stood up fully, and was quite surprised when she started to yell at him:
"Who do you think you are? Running through the train station like a six-year-old, knocking into people! Don't you have manners? What makes you think that's okay? And you don't even say sorry! I just… Ugh! I don't even know." She was breathing heavily with rage.
James couldn't help to notice how her cheeks reddned with her anger, making her even cuter.
James stood up straight and looked her in the eyes.
He smirked. "Who do you think you are? Yelling at me in the middle of a train station?" He said as arrogantly as he could manage, being only eleven.
The girl blinked her gorgeous emerald eyes in disbelief of what she was hearing.
By this point, they had drawn a sort of crowd.
Lily seemed to regain her mental footing. "You know what, kid-"
"James Potter." James interjected.
Lily looked like she wanted to rip his head off. "You know what, kid," she emphasized the word, "I don't like you. If we are going to be going to school together, you are going to need to stay away from me."
She turned around and immediately began to gather her items.
September 1st, 1971
10:25
Sirius
Sirius Black flooed in as well. His parents and brother came along.
His goodbyes were short, to the point. He did not hug his parents, he hasn't done that in years.
He started walking towards the train when he spotted a small crowd gathering around…something. He couldn't see what.
He could hear it, though.
"…know what kid-" a girl's voice said.
"James Potter." A childish boy's voice interrupted.
James Potter? Sirius had heard about the Potters. His parents called them blood traitors because they didn't hate Muggles.
Sirius automatically wanted to be friends with him, if only to piss off his parents.
"You know what, kid. I don't like you. If you are going to be going to school together, you are going to need to stay away from me."
Oh, yeah. Definitely wanted to be his friend.