Hullo wonder world of Harry Potter fans. First HP one-shot so go ahead and be as horribleas you possibly can in the comments! Sorry for any spelling or grammar.
Harry Potter belongs to, sadly, not me, but the wonderful acclaimed Rowling!
Even though it had been twelve years, Remus Lupin still felt shocked when he saw the face Sirius Black in the Daily Profit, or on the posters that jumped up and out at him in Diagon alley and other Wizarding localities. The monotone coloured images flashed with the repetitive moving duplicate of his once-been-friend, because his friend Sirius Black could not be the person in the photo; a creature whose grey eyes were blank and ancient instead of brilliant; holding the curiosity and mischief of the Earth, sky and universe combined. His friend had never had such recessed, ragged looks that made if cheeks bone protrude violently from his white, sickly face, or his eyes look hollow and his mouth a thin, bloodless gash. His friend, while having a fine temper that even James had not been able to control, had never been so consumed by rage, or madness for that matter. But the picture was Sirius Black, and madness seemed to cling to his bones.
And now that madness was obtainable because Sirius had escaped. Remus dreaded what was to happen next. He had always known James and Sirius were the most dexterous males in their year at spells, and of course Sirius had the benefit (or hindrance) of a fully Pure-Blood overwrought family, who had presumably taught him a few tricks; (Sirius had always tarnished playfully at a few hexes though none of them had ever articulated of where he had learnt them).
Remus closed the Daily Profit with a rustle, setting it down on the tartan train seat next to him, the back page up- sporting an advertisement titled: MR. JIM PORTLY, POTIONS PRANK BOX, NEW EDDITION COMING OUT THIS HOLLOWEEN- and proceeded with a picture of four children turning obscene hues and shapes- so he could put the haunted face out of his mind, and peered absently out the window.
Soon, he presumed, they would make to King Cross Station- the large golden and iron building he was quite familiar with. At the moment they were chugging gently across yellow and green farmland, appearing so ordinary it was hard to tell if it was Wizard or Muggle terrestrial. Not that it mattered of course, because the Hogwarts Express was enchanted so that no Muggle could possibly see it, and if they were unfortunate enough to pass near the tracks they would suddenly recall an appointment or such that they absolutely could not afford to miss, and averted their paths to the opposite direction, away from the rails.
Not many people knew where the Hogwarts Express really was kept, though Remus would have been surprised if it was somewhere near the castle, if not on Hogwarts grounds. Remus hadn't been certain how he was going to get to Hogwarts, and had left his preparation to the last minute (which was becoming quite the bad habit as of late) so had apparited onto the train, not daring to apparite near the castle because of the spell barriers protecting it.
He was sure James had tried to apparite into Hogwarts once, ending up in the Hospital Wing for two months and had received a severally bad telling off from both his parents, a extremely distraught Madam Pomfrey (who had driven James mad, he had told them, from mumbling about irresponsible, senseless broods), and Professor McGonagall, though he had missed out of receiving any detentions because she had dearly (although had pretended not to) wanted to win the house championship at Quidditch. But then James had always been a crazed lunatic, who would have brought MR. JIM PORTLY'S POTIONS PRANK BOX just to see what horrible things he could do with it, (turning Wormtail blue perhaps, or his own owl scarlet for the Quidditch festivities).
He hadn't really known what had possessed him to except the job, and his condition had been driving him stir-crazy since the time he had expected. But it was safe now, and as long as nobody found out that he changed skin every full moon without consent, he could happily teach children.
Another reason that had sparked his interest, of course, had been the chance to meet Harry Potter, though not for the reasons the boy would expect. Remus had been close to both James and Lily since school and to meet their son, well, it was just an opportunity that he didn't want to miss.
But what had been his foremost reason, he told himself coldly, was Sirius Blacks escape. He still felt some guilt over the Potter's death, but the real traitor was on the loose again, and even though there really had been nothing he could have done to save either James or Lily, there was a chance he could protect (to try to) their son.
The Hogwarts Express was slowing down in hard jerky movements. Remus awoke stiflingly, watching the lights flicker with bleary, light blue eyes. That's odd, he thought, coming completely back to his senses, they couldn't possibly be at Hogwarts yet.
He heard a small lurch and a few trunks fell down from their shelves. Muffled voices sounded in the darkness of the carriage.
"D'you think we've broken down?"
"Dunno …"
"There's something moving out there. I think people are coming aboard. …"
"Sorry — d'you know what's going on? — Ouch —sorry —"
"Hullo, Neville."
"Harry? Is that you? What's happening?"
"No idea — sit down —"
"I'm going to go and ask the driver what's going on."
"Who's that?"
"Who's that?"
"Ginny?"
"Hermione?"
"What are you doing?"
"I was looking for Ron —"
"Come in and sit down —"
"Not here! I'm here!"
"Ouch!"
Remus found his voice abruptly, pulling out his wand from a pocket inside his robes. He spoke. "Quite," he muttered hoarsely, still slightly sleep-dazed.
There had been a noise that he had heard, coming from outside the train, over the sound of the muttering students. Silently he summoned Bluebell Flames to the palm on his hand, letting the blue-coloured fire grow larger as he willed it on. Slowly the light induced the whole carriage and he saw that a collection of students were all looking up at him with wide, expectant eyes- not something he was used to in the least.
"Stay where you are," Remus commanded the children, getting to his feet. But by the time he had approached the door it was already being opened by long bone-like fingers, protruding from under the hem of a long, ripped cloak.
Remus had only once seen a real dementor before, but he knew from research a lot about the specimen. Of course most people in the Wizarding World had heard of the dementors, and even if they had not seen one they knew they were things to be feared; having the power to genius you a pain worse than death.
The one standing before him was little under the height of the roof. Having no feet the thing floated a few inches of the train floor like a ghost, only it wasn't pale (it was black) and it was very, very much alive. The dementor took a rattling breath, sending cold shivers down his spine, directing its face around the room, looking for someone.
"He's not hear," Remus said over the heavy, labouring sound that came from under the dementors' hood. "Black's not hear." He knew it was useless saying the words. Dementors couldn't see really, and they found their way by peoples emotions, feeding on the most happy. He highly doubted a few words were going to stop a dementor from feed.
Remus summoned a happy thought to him now, letting it become strong, stronger than the dementors feeding. "Expecto Patronum," said Remus, pointing his wand at the dementor as little wisps of white exploded from the tip, forming a small white wolf.
The dementor streaked and plummeted backward through the open door which slammed shut behind its body. From behind him he heard a person collapse with a heavy thump!
"Harry! Harry! Are you all right?" Said a faint voice warily.
He turned as the lights came back on, flickering hesitantly at first. So this was Harry Potter, he thought looking down. He looked very much like James with the unruly black hair, messy as always. As Harry Potter's eyes swam back into focus Remus saw that the boy had very bright green eyes still; Lily's eyes.
There you go, hope you liked it. Wasn't sure what Remus's most happy memory would be so i didn't put it in there. The text is taken from the book in the second bit, appearfrom Remus talking to the dementor.
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