AN: this is the start of my first fa-nfiction that i have posted online, hope you like it
ALL CONTENT IS COPYRIGHTED TO J. , most of the characters and the setting.
Chapter 1: Welcome back
"hey Moony, nice summer?" came a familiar voice, one that Remus loved hearing as it meant he was going back to the place that he loved. "Not bad," he replied, looking for James, "how's lily? Still in love?" James laughed as he walked into the carriage, with his arm around Lily's waist, and she gave him a loving smile. Both were wearing a similar outfit, James with a checked shirt and lily with a dress with the same material. "No Padfoot yet?" James asked, wondering what was keeping their friend. Lily looked out of the carriage as though she knew something, and replied "he said he had to do something and then he will meet up with us later." Remus looked at lily with an I-know-your-up-to-something look in his eye but said nothing about it. Lily saw this look and spoke up, knowing that Remus would probe further unless she changed the conversation's direction. "Don't we have to go to the prefect carriage?" she asked. When Remus got up she said "I'll catch up. I'm just going to say goodbye to James." And with that Remus walked out of the carriage deep in his thoughts and towards his duties for the train ride, glad to be out of the lovey dovey atmosphere that was suffocating in such a small place. *** Stepping out of the carriages, Remus noticed Sirius; he had his arms around his latest girlfriend, Jessica. Remus sighed, wondering how he would manage to break this poor girl's heart, like he had done with so many girls before him. "Oi, Moony," James called, "you planning on running to the school? I mean I know you want to start lessons already, but wait for us, eh?" Remus turned a shade of maroon, as lily slapped James. "Don't be so rude;" she chided James, "he is just glad to be back" "Actually," Remus told them, "I think I've left something on the carriage, I'll catch up alright?" and quickly ran back to the carriages, not noticing the glares he got from the Slytherins and Ravenclaws. Remus walked into the great hall, tucking the letter into his pocket, his eyes sweeping the room. He saw Lily, wrapped in James arms. Peter was sat opposite, looking across at the Slytherin table, at his girlfriend Sara. Remus walked over to him and tapped his back. "You're going to scare her off, if you keep staring at her like that." he said, before sitting next to him. "Still no Padfoot?" he added, noticing their friends absence, "is he with...?" he left the answer short, knowing that lily would know who he meant. "Actually," a familiar voice replied, "I decided to grace you with my presence, now that we are off the train" he chuckled, and sat on Remus' other side, his arm wrapping around for a hug. Remus was unsure, but this hug felt different from the others, which made Remus' heart skip a beat. He glanced over at the other tables, noticing a ravenclaw girl staring at Sirius, probably someone else who wanted him to notice her.
Suddenly, there was a small, sharp tinkling on a glass, the marauders and lily looked up, noticing that Dumbledore had taken his stand at the podium, with the sorting hat in one hand and a stool in the other. "Well here we are, another magical year of learning for us all," he half shouted, "but first we have to fulfil the wonderful tradition of sorting the new first years into their respective houses. So without further delay, let us bring out the first years." Remus looked at the line of first years and shut off his brain, only concentrating on his thoughts, seeing but not really noticing anything. He heard a few calls of Gryffindor, but that was about it.
"Now that we have got that out of the way," Dumbledore's voice echoed around the great hall, "I have just two words to say to you, "Dig in" and with that, the plates had filled with food, mountains of chicken, pork, fish and beef, great huge vats of stew, huge piles of broccoli, carrots, salad, and fruit. There were even some foods that Remus had never seen before. A thick sausage stew, with sausages that were at least 8 inches long, and dishes that were served on beds of rice. The goblets filled with iced pumpkin juice, there were fresh pots of tea and coffee, hot cocoa and water. Remus knew that he was happy to be here, and that the better dishes were on their way. He satisfied his hunger with a little bit of the foreign (at least to him) foods and saw that peter's plate was piled up higher than anyone else's. Remus chuckled, and saw that lily was laughing at peter as well, something that he never really noticed before.
After a little while, the puddings appeared, this was what Remus was waiting for, the deserts stretched out in front of him like a display at a candy shop, the colours catching his eyes, like flames catch the corner of an eye. His mouth was watering; he grabbed the closest thing, a slab of chocolate cake, and the intoxicating smell started to make his head swim. He devoured the cake and reached out for some more, this time slowly taking his time with the cake, feeling its moist, spongy texture, and tasting the buttercream as it slid down his throat. Next he grabbed a piece of what he could only presume was a slice of apple pie and poured cream over the top. He slowly ate this as well, wanting to taste the apples, the cinnamon, and the pastry as one. He looked up to notice lily laughing at him. "What?" he asked her, disgruntled at being laughed at. Lily, between great bursts of crippling laughter explained. "I…It's just that y…you are h…hilarious. You eat the main courses delicately and hardly touch anything, but then when the chocolate appears," Lily took a shaky breath to calm herself, "…then you turn into some sort of b…beast!" she spluttered the last part out in one long breath and Remus had to laugh. He knew it was true, he just loved chocolate. The smell, the rich taste and the velvety smoothness of it.
While he and Lily were laughing, there was a sharp tap on glass again and the entire room fell silent instantly, Remus still with tears streaming down his face from laughter had managed to stop. Dumbledore stood up and walked to the front of the staff table. "Now that you are properly fed and rested, I would like to give out a few notices. Mr Filch has asked me to remind you that if he catches anyone out of bed after hours then he will personally hang you by your ankles in the dungeons for 1 hour. Also, a reminder that the forbidden forest is indeed forbidden, so you must not go in without a professor. Some of our older students need to remember that as well." With that he looked at the marauders, and then across at the Slytherin table. Now, we have new teachers, our first is a replacement for professor slughorn, as he says that he would like a year's leave. So please give a welcome to Professor Eleanor, and her assistant professor Gibson." With this, they both stood up and waved at the students. "Once again, at the end of last year, we found ourselves without a Defence against the dark arts professor. Luckily, I was able to track down an old friend of mine to teach it. Please welcome professor Crumly, who will also be heading Ravenclaw house." Dumbledore paused for the applause to die down before continuing. "I would also like to welcome back professors McGonagall, Binns, stegman and Acevedo to their respectful roles.
Just then, the doors flew open, a shadowy figure walked into the great hall and took his coat off. "Ah, professor Dunford," Dumbledore greeted him, "you made it, excellent." Dumbledore turned to the rest of the hall before continuing, as the new professor took his place between professors Binns and Eleanor. "This is the new divination professor, professor Dunford. Now, I know you want to be rested before your first lessons tomorrow, so off to bed with you." With that he walked to the back of the room and exited. Remus stood up and started calling the first years, making sure that they stood near him and Lily, ready for the trip to the Gryffindor tower.