Title: Blood and Stars
Description: I'm just playing into the marauders years at school. ^_^ the intro will be rather slow, but this is basically told from the point of view of Remus. There will be romance later on, just so you know, and much violence. Once the story picks up, I should think it'll be pretty good. ^_^ There are obviously new charas. The main one, Aduial, will play a big part in the story later on. I'll probably have some links of fanart of him up sooner or later, because I'll be darned if he isn't bishi! *_*
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Remus stepped off the Hogwarts Express, his long black robes rustling slightly as he followed the bustling crowed of jittery first years. He was nervous, completely. There was nothing more to it; he felt like his fingers were ice! He balled his hands into a fist inside his sleeves, folding his arms over his chest in the chilly night air. His shaggy golden-red hair fell over his eyes, and he stared out through them at the looming towers ahead of him. It caught his breath in his chest as he walked towards them; he felt pathetically tiny against their towering peaks, and he didn't quite like the feeling, but at the same time it was invigorating. He smiled faintly, tearing his eyes away to glance nervously about at his new classmates. He didn't know anyone at Hogwarts, his family didn't know many other wizarding families; they lived out in the middle of nowhere… It was Remus's fault, he knew, but he supposed it was good that he didn't know anyone. He didn't know if he could handle being exiled if the whole school found out about his… condition.
Remus was torn from his thoughts when a man appeared from the shadows in front of him. His long soft hair seemed to glisten unnaturally in the moonlight as he bade them all to quiet down so he could speak. His gray-blue eyes were shimmering as brightly as his hair; his skin seemed to even have a sort of unnatural glow, pale and otherworldly as the rest of him. Remus had never seen anyone like him before, and his eyes frantically searched the new figure, attempting to grasp what sort of creature he was.
"Students! First year students," the man called, his voice accented with a heavy British tongue, firm but smooth, "You are to take the boats up to the school, follow me please!" he instructed, guiding the students through the dark to a long stretch of boats in the icy waters that lay ahead of them. The night echoed off of its glassy surface, shining brightly the long shimmering rays of the moon in its reflection. Remus shuddered, knowing that soon, very soon the darkness would take him, too. He followed the crowd blindly, his mind wandering off to the circumstance of his condition. He'd spoken to the headmaster about what would happen when the moon came around; he was to spend the nights in a house far away from the grounds, boarded off from the rest of the world until the curse passed for the month. Remus sighed, he hated it, and he hated all of it. He wished he could just be the same as everyone else, he wished he could just be a child…
Suddenly someone pushed into Remus, and he nearly fell.
"Sorry mate!" came a voice from behind Remus. They'd reached the peers and everyone was pushing to get into the boats. Remus turned to face the boy who'd knocked into him, and found himself face-to-face with a boy no taller than himself, his own shaggy, neck-length hair black as the night sky. "I'm really sorry, er…"
"Remus," Remus answered, quickly to tell the boy his name. He couldn't help but smile; it was nice just having spoken for the first time since his parents dropped him off at the station! "Remus Lupin," he added, "No worries, I don't mind."
"Sirius Black," said the bow, sticking out his hand for Remus to take. Remus grasped it hesitantly, as if unsure if he were safe.
"Oi! There you are! Sirius, I've been looking all over for you!" came another voice. Remus's eyes darted keenly to the new figure before him, a boy slightly taller than himself, with short, messy black hair and emerald green eyes. The boy pushed his glasses (which had fallen slightly) further up onto his nose, and noticed Remus staring at him. "James Potter," he said, grabbing Remus's hand and forcing him into a brisk shake.
"Remus Lupin."
"Where's Peter?" asked Sirius, glancing over the crowd, "Oh, yeah… Remus and I just met, he's a good guy." Sirius said, punching Remus's shoulder playfully and tossing him a cocked grin.
"Great to meet you, Remus. Hey, mind being a fourth on our boat? I just don't want to get stuck with some chattering twit, y'know," James said, somewhat detached as he too looked for his friend Peter.
"Not at all, James," Remus said, feeling more and more relieved by the minute. He smiled at Sirius, who was calling out for Peter. Finally they seemed to have spotted him, and Peter came rushing to join them.
"Finally!" cried Sirius, "Come on, there won't be any boats left if we don't hurry!" Sirius led the way as the four of them hurried into an empty boat a little down the way. They settled into their seats and sighed, glad to be out of the crowd. "It's a good thing we found you, Peter, we were about to leave ya for someone else's boat." He said, grinning. "By the way, this is Remus Lupin, we met up on shore. He's good," Sirius said, as if implying that Remus was clear for something. Remus just smiled, and stuck out his hand as the others had done,
"Nice to meet you," he said, confidently.
"Hey," said the boy called Peter, "I'm Peter Petigrew," he added, shaking Remus's hand. Suddenly, their boat lurched forward, as theirs and all the rest of the boats began across the lake. Ahead of them stood the man who had greeted them earlier, alone in his boat at the head of the boat, shining like a beacon for the rest of the boats to follow.
The ride was short, but it seemed much longer than it was. The whole crowd of them grew hushed as they neared the school; even Sirius, who always seemed to have something to say, was awed by the gargantuan spectacle they had seen as they crossed.
As the boats came to a halt in a strange sort of dock under the school, all the students began filing out onto the tiled floor, the white room reflecting eerily the way the clammy water of the lake lapped against the docks in the odd cove. Ahead of them stood a large wooden door, inscribed with a large bronze crest of four parts, a G, with a lion, an H, with a badger, an S, with a snake, and an R, with a raven. Remus recognized it as the Hogwarts coat of arms from the seal on his acceptance letter, and the sight sent a sort of shiver down his spine; with its presence he seemed to realize how big a step of his life this really was. But their director interrupted his thoughts and fears, as he spoke to the group.
"You are about to be taken into the great hall for the sorting ceremony," he said calmly, his voice sweet and thick, "I suggest you sort your thoughts before you take your seat in the sorting chair. I am Aduial, potions master at this school of Hogwarts," he said, in his whisky sort of way that Remus had accustomed himself to. He led the group through the doors and up a narrow set of stairs, and through a side door into the great hall. There were four great tables stretched across the length of the hall, and all up and down them sat students already in the room, watching them expectantly.
An uneasy feeling passed over Remus's body as the group filed into the room, lining up at the end of a long row between the tables. At the opposite end of the row, sat a stool; simple in it's girth and construction, the only thing odd about this stool at all was what sat atop of it, for perched on the very seat of this stool was a hat, tall and proud, it's brim frayed and it's fabric patched and worn. Remus stared in wonder at this so simple an object, waiting for something to happen. Not until the hat began to sing, did Remus realize that this was no ordinary hat.
"That's the sorting hat," whispered Sirius in Remus's ear, startling him.
"What does it do?" asked Remus, quietly, hardly listening to the hat's words as he watched it sway on the chair to the beat of it's own song.
"It's sorts…" Sirius laughed, plainly, "You really don't know much, do you? Come from muggles?"
"No…"
"Er… Oh well," he said, "The hat puts us into our houses. I hope I'm put into Gryffindor," he said, grinning as the hats' song finished, "I just pray I'm not put into Slytherin!"
Before Remus could ask why, Aduial stepped before the crowds. Remus suddenly noticed that his robes weren't like the black ones that everyone else in the hall was wearing, but a silvery white fabric that seemed to glow without benefit of the moon. Remus certainly found this Aduial odd, but he was intrigued nonetheless.
"I will now call each of you to be sorted," Aduial announced, unrolling a long scroll of off-white parchment. "Allister, Janice!" he called, and a tall brunette stumbled forward from the group, nervously fidgeting the whole way down the long walk between the tables. She sat down on the stool, lifting the lat and putting it on her head as he began tapping her foot uneasily. A few moments of silence passed, and then finally the hat stirred,
"Hufflepuff!" it called, and the girl hurriedly put the hat on the stool and ran off to the cheering table that Remus concluded must be the Hufflepuff house table.
After a few more names we called and sorted, Black, Sirius was read off the roster. Remus watched as Sirius sat on the stool and placed the hat on his head. Moments later, the hat called out "Gryffindor!" and a burst of cheers erupted from the Gryffindor table, and Sirius ran off to sit at the end of the row happily. Remus noticed that he was elatedly happy, and decided that it would be best if he could be placed in Gryffindor, too. But something told him be belonged at the Slytherin table. Remus knew a few things about the Slytherins… He knew that they were dark, and he knew they were evil, for the most part. A gnawing feeling inside told him that he would sit at the table in the far corner before the night was over, and he shuddered. He closed his eyes and prayed for Gryffindor, muttering it silently under his breath.
Finally he was called.
Remus swallowed hard, clutching his hands into tight fists as he walked forward through the crowd. He took the long path in short steps, glancing up at Aduial as he passed. But as their eyes met, Aduial smiled gently, his probing eyes telling Remus that he would be fine. Remus paused and blinked, staring back up at Aduial. With sudden confidence he started back down the rows, sitting firmly on the chair and pulling the hat over his eyes.
"Hmmm…." Came a hissing whisper inside his head,
"What?" Remus thought, sensing it could hear him, "Where will you put me?"
"Your mind is filled with dark thoughts, Remus," it hissed.
"But that's not me!" thought Remus, terrified that the wolf inside of him would cheat him from Gryffindor.
"You're right, there is more here than that, but…"
"Please! Everything tells me that Slytherin is wrong, I don't want to be dark, I don't want to be…"
"Evil? Yes… Many have been consumed by the wolf inside of them, you, however… you have abstained from the evil within. That takes strength and will, great strength and will. I think…"
"Slytherin!"
"What?!
"Just kidding."
"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted. Remus took off the hat and set it harshly down on the stool, glaring at it. He didn't like the hate much at all. But his anger at the hat couldn't surpass his glee for being put into Gryffindor. He nearly ran to Sirius's side at the end of the table. Before long, James and Peter had both seated themselves across from Sirius and Remus, and were feasting happily on their meals.
"So, what do you think?" asked Sirius when the four had finished eating.
"What do you mean?" asked James.
"Is Remus part of our group, or what?" he asked, grinning as he nudged Remus with his shoulder, casting him a sideways smile. Remus smiled inwardly; glad to have Sirius next to him.
"What do you think, Peter?" asked James, grinning also.
"Seems okay to me," said Peter, smiling at Remus.
"If Peter thinks so… I think so," said James, "Good to have you, Remus."
"Then it's settled!" said Sirius, "Peter and James agree, and you know I do. Remus, welcome to the gang!" Sirius said, patting Remus's back. Remus just grinned and laughed with the others.