Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Anyone who thinks I do has clearly gotten me mixed up with the very talented author known as JK Rowling.
A/N: This is, in essence, the story of how Remus and Lily met. It's just the beginning of the friendship which finds its way through all of the Moonlight Series.
I apologize if my attempts to dumb down language to the level of two eleven-year olds failed. It's quite hard for me to put myself, not only in the mind of a fictional character, but into the mindset of someone younger than myself.
I endlessly await comments on how to improve my writing, or general observations. Thanks for reading this boring author's note; I hope you find the story itself more interesting. Reviews are the food that fuel writer's minds. There's still at least three more parts to the Moonlight series after this that I have to write. (Actually, it's only one because the other's are handwritten and waiting to be typed up. But who knows when I'll actually find time for that.)
Finding the Moonlight
Most eleven-year-olds would be excited to start their education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And most students were in this particular year. One, however, was downright scared.
Remus Lupin was not the average first-year; he was not a pureblood, half-blood or even a muggleborn. Remus Lupin was a werewolf.
Thanks to Professor Dumbledore, Remus was about to become the first werewolf to attend Hogwarts. He should have been excited.
As it happened to be, he was so "excited" that his mother force fed him two calming droughts before they headed off to Kings Cross Station.
"I'll be fine, mum" Remus reassured his mother as he freed himself from her arms. With the calming droughts in affect, his mother had taken the role of the worried member of the family.
"I know, sweetie, but a mother never wants to see her child hurt, so you be careful." His mother, reached out to ruffle his sandy hair one last time.
"Bye mum" Remus gave his mother one last hug before turning towards the barrier. She gave him a final, teary wave that Remus caught before running through the barrier.
Only to collide with a small girl.
Stumbling, he bent down to help her pick up her books. Curiously enough, she was only carrying two books: The Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Absently, Remus wondered where her trunk was.
He reached down to help her up.
Remus' first thought after she stood up was that she was short, barely reaching Remus' nose in height. She brushed some of her long hair out of her face. Her hair was red, truly red. Not the kind of red hair the puzzled Remus because it looked orange to him. Remus also noticed that she had bright, emerald eyes.
She smiled at him, "I'm Lily. What's your name?"
"I'm Remus. Sorry I'm so clumsy. First year jitters, I guess."
"Me too. This is all so new to me."
For a moment, Remus was shocked. She seemed like a natural element in the wizarding world, "You're a muggleborn?"
"I guess. Should we be getting on the train now?"
"Probably. Did you lose your trunk?" He asked as he grabbed his belongings.
"It's already on the train. Some annoying boys came into the compartment I was sitting in. All I wanted was to read and they kept talking to me." She pouted at the end.
"I take it you like reading?" Maybe he wasn't the only one who enjoyed a good book. After he'd been bitten, his parents kept him away from other kids, afraid that someone would find out his secret. The only company he'd had for years, aside from his parents, were his books.
"Yeah, I hope that I'll have time to read once we start classes. Do you know anything about how we're sorted? I found a book about Hogwarts, but they never mentioned how people are assigned houses."
"You know how there are four houses, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff?" She nodded before Remus continued, "Well, each house has different traits and they find the house that fits you." Remus couldn't help finding himself at ease with Lily.
"So it's like a personality quiz?"
"What's that?" He was almost positive that it was a muggle phrase. Although he and his family lived in a muggle village, he didn't didn't spend much time outside the house and had no idea of what she was talking about.
"It's like a survey where you answer lots of questions, and in the end, they tell you that you're a personality type A, B, C or something like that."
"I guess so. I don't really know what they do. It's supposed to be a secret. I think the older students like throwing out theories to scare us."
She laughed, "That sounds like something my sister would do to me."
A warning whistle blew through the station; the pair startled before they started heading towards the train.
"You have a sister?" Remus asked, "Is she a witch too?"
For a moment he thought he'd done something wrong. For a moment he thought he'd ruined one of the first friendships he would ever have.
Lily stared at him blankly, eyes wide open. "Petunia a witch? She'd probably kill herself if she was. She hates anything abnormal," She paused before whispering, "like me."
It was only due to his sensitive hearing that Remus caught the last bit. Trying to change the subject and make Lily feel better, Remus asked, "Is everyone in your family named after flowers? It kinda seems that way since your name's Lily and your sister's name is Petunia."
"We aren't all named for flowers. Just me, Petunia, my mother Violet, my cousin Daisy, my Aunt Lavender, my other cousins Lilac and Pansy, and did I mention my grandmother Rose?"
Remus gasped, "Please tell me you're joking."
"Not really. My mother is named Violet and my grandmother's name is Rose. But other then that…" she started giggling, "I can't believe you fell for it! I don't think I even have that large a family."
Remus wondered if all girls were this crazy.
"It's not my fault," he fake-whined. If she was going to tease him, it was only fair for him to return the favor.
He wondered if this was what a real friendship was like. He was still in amazed that he was talking to her. Wasn't he supposed to be shy? How could this slightly insane, obviously smart girl want to be his friend?
Of course, she might not always act like this, "Do you always tease people? Or are you more of a prank person?"
"Sometimes for the teasing and only when necessary for the pranking. It's fun to tease friends and make them laugh. Why aren't you laughing?" She glared at him.
Remus was laughing before he knew what was so funny. This glare might have been fake, but Remus now had a feeling that Lily had a temper. A rather large one.
"Much better. I only prank people when it's necessary. Or if it's Petunia. I can't help myself when it comes to her. I see her and I just can't stop thinking about how annoying she is and how much better she'd look if I dumped syrup in her hair."
"Okay. Backing away slowly," Remus inched away from her, well aware that he was trying to get on her nerves.
"What? You act like you've never pranked anyone before?"
"I've never been around enough people. My parents and I live in a small village. There weren't many kids my age and I always liked reading, so I never had time for pranks."
"Someday, you and I will pull a prank and get away with it. It might be in years, but it will happen." She gave him a pointed look.
"And someday I will return the favor and play matchmaker with you and your worst enemy," Remus replied sarcastically. He wasn't sure that he would do that… but he thought it might be fun. He always thought the matchmaker was the funnest character in the books he read. And he wouldn't really put her with someone she didn't like, maybe someone she only thought she didn't like…
"You wouldn't," she gasped. "You have to promise, at least, not to do anything until we're older. I still don't understand romance. And it can't be one of the annoying boys who was bothering me earlier" Remus knew Lily had caught onto his bluff. Maybe he really should do something…she was right. They were too young for romance, but when they were older…
"That depends. Do you hate them?"
"I dislike them. I find them to be incredibly immature."
"Do you dislike one of them more than the other?"
"I despise the one that stole my book. I'm going to have to get it back. I will die if I can't have my copy of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." She finished dramatically.
"I make you no promises." It was odd, being friends with a girl. Some people might look at them and think that the two might become more then "just friends," but Remus felt something. It was along the lines of the bond between siblings. As an only child, Remus always wanted a younger brother or sister, but due to his condition, his parent's only had him. Maybe Lily was the sister he'd always wanted to have?
"Okay." She smiled again.
They finally reached the train just as the one-minute warning whistle sounded.
"Are you sitting with anyone?" Remus hoped she'd say no, so he could spend more time with his new friend. He was certain that Lily was the exception. There was no way he could avoid being shy around anyone else.
"I'm planning on sitting with Alice, a girl I met at Diagon Alley. That is, if the two boys have finally left my compartment. Do you want to sit with us?"
Although he felt comfortable around Lily, he didn't think he'd be able to handle another girl. What if she was even stranger than Lily?
"It's okay. I'll see you when we get there. Maybe we'll be in the same house."
Lily looked at him, concerned. "Are you sure you'll find somewhere to sit?"
"Yeah. Go on, it'll be harder to find Alice if she's already in a compartment."
"Well, if you're sure. But if you can't find a seat, you will sit with us. Promise?" She thrust something into his hands before shoving her way through the crowd of students on the train.
"Promise." He watched her red hair disappear into the sea of people.
He looked down to his hands and clutched the first volume of The Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes to his chest before taking a deep breath.
He headed to a nearby compartment as the train started moving. Two dark-haired boys were in it, they looked like they were first-years as well.
"Is anyone sitting here?" he asked.
The boys shared a look, grinned and replied, "Yes, you are."
"I'm Sirius," The longer-haired boy promptly told him.
"I'm Remus," he moved to sit across from the two.
"And I am James" the messy-haired boy with glasses offered.
"It looks like our new friend's a bit of a bookworm, James." Sirius teased.
"We might have something that'll interest you. I nabbed it off a girl we saw earlier. I thought she was going to kill us for a moment there. Her eyes were glowing, I tell you." James showed him the book he'd stuffed in the corner.
It was Lily's missing copy of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
"There's nothing wrong with liking books."
"Of course not." Sirius condescendingly patted Remus on the shoulder, "I can see the future, you know. Within weeks, you will be our conscience that reminds us to do unimportant things like homework."
"And tries to stop us from pulling pranks. But don't you fear we won't let you drown in boredom; you will join us in our quest for mischief." James finished for Sirius.
Remus took the book from James. He'd be sure to give it to her when they met up later.
The English countryside blurred outside the window. Remus watched James and Sirius tease each other, and occasionally him. He couldn't help joining in the conversation at some points. Maybe Lily wasn't the exception. Maybe he would be able to make friends with other people.
Even after the calming drought his mother gave him hours earlier wore off, Remus was still in control. Hogwarts didn't seem as scary as it had when he'd woken up this morning. Now all he had to do was make sure none of his friends discovered his secret.
He guessed that Lily, Sirius and James probably wouldn't care about him being a werewolf, but he could never be too sure about people. He'd have to make excuses that they would believe.
For now, he would enjoy these friendships as long as they lasted. This was the first time in years he'd laughed so much, that he'd felt like he belonged.
And strangely enough, it was all because he ran into Lily. Literally.