A/n: Well, I can definitely say it's been an extremely long time since I have busted out a fanfic. Therefore, NaNoWriMo will be my excuse to get a story written from start to finish for everyone! I was going to wait until December to post it, but I decided that if I post each chapter as I write it I'll be more likely to actually do all 50,000 words. Enjoy!

Chapter One

A boy with sandy hair was lying on his blue-and-white plaid comforter, twirling a book between his long, boney fingers above his face as he stared idly at the ceiling, a cool breeze blowing through the window against his soft cheekbones. His body was long and thin, nearly to the point where one could see his bones. His amber eyes stared at nothing as he was lost in thought.

"Darling! Don't forget to pack Mr. Moonshine!" came a shout from up the stairs. "You couldn't fall asleep without him when you were a toddler; you don't want to leave him home now!" The boy, startled by the sound, accidently let go of the book. He let out a muffled oomf! as a rugged corner landed squarely against his nose. He sat up slowly, rubbing at the spot. He looked up as there was a knock on the door before a woman pushed it open. She was a pretty woman in her mid-forties who went by the name of Charlotte Jane Lupin. Charlotte had light blond curls surrounding her pale visage, long black lashes lining her cerulean eyes. She smiled softly at her son. "Remus, darling, did you hear me?" She picked up the wolf in question off the nightstand in the corner of the room. She held it out to him.

Remus shrugged it off. "Mum, I'm eighteen years old. I don't need a teddy to help me sleep." He turned away from her. Charlotte cradled the toy in her arms, tears coming to her eyes as she sniffled softly. Remus turned back to her before standing up and hugging her. "Oh, Mum, don't cry. I won't be gone forever. You'll see, in a few months I'll be home again for the Christmas Holidays. I bet you won't even notice I'm gone." He chuckled. "Just think, the books from the library won't disappear as often." Remus pushed a lock of his mother's hair behind her ear before hugging her again. He pulled away before sitting back down on the bed.

Charlotte glanced around the room again before sitting down on the bed, sighing softly. It seemed so strange to have this room all boxed up. She already missed the books lining shelves against the wall, the desk, the bed, the closet…. The smell of chocolate and incense had already begun to dissipate. While she knew that sending her son off the University was the best thing that she could possibly do for him, but that didn't mean that it didn't upset her any less. After her husband and Remus' father, John, had died several years previously due to a car crash, Remus was all that she had left, especially when Charlotte was forced to remove Remus from school and teach him from home. She had lost all contact with other PTO mothers, teachers, coaches, everyone. Had John still been alive, Charlotte could have used her nights to catch up with adult conversation, but alas, she had been forced to work nights as a waitress at a bar down the street from the Lupin household to just to barely make enough to keep her son and herself out of the poorhouse. She did not know what she would do when her life was several hours away from her.

Shaking her head, Charlotte patted Remus' knee before pushing herself off of the bed, tears brimming her eyes again. "Well, you have a big day tomorrow. Finish packing and get some rest," she instructed her son, turning and kissing him on the forehead before turning and walking out of the room, closing the door softly behind her as tears started to make their way down her cheeks.

Inside the room, Remus lied back against his pillows, his heart heavy. He would never admit it aloud, but he was extremely nervous about going away for school. He hadn't participated in public schooling for over two years, and even when he was there, he hadn't been very good at making friends and participating in typical social norms. He felt sure that he , once again, would be considered the rude, unfriendly, bookish nerd that everyone at his secondary school had assumed that he was. Not that he was rude or unfriendly, mind you, but he was considered that nonetheless. He supposed that it was because of his lack of desire to seek out real people. He had more than enough friends within the pages of his novels and plays.

True, though, he did have one close friend who stuck with him even after he left the school, a girl named Lily Evans. The two were practically siblings, for their mothers had been friends in both college and university and, once they had discovered they were delivering their babies within months of each other, decided to raise their children together as much as possible. Lily was also the only person who understand how Remus felt about the loss of his father, as both of Lily's parents were killed in the same crash as John. They had been picking up a cake and decorations for a surprise birthday party for Charlotte. Lily and her younger sister, Petunia, were being raised by an aunt, who graciously moved into the Evans' house down the street from Remus and his mother. Fortunately for Remus, Lily was also attending Hogwarts University with him. While none of their classes were the same, their dorms were in the same building, so they would not be too far apart from each other.

Remus shook his head to stop his brooding after he spared a quick glance at the clock, realizing that it was already nine o'clock in the evening, and his mother was right, tomorrow was a big day. He spent an hour making sure that everything he needed was packed before crawling into bed, trying to force himself to fall asleep as quickly as possible. It was a challenging feat, though, for as soon as he lie down, thoughts of school and nervousness attacked his mind, drawing the possibility of sleep as far away from him as possible.

Remus fell into a fitful sleep around midnight, only to be awoken a mere five hours later when his alarm rudely woke him up. He groaned as he rolled over to turn it off, wondering why in the world the clock would be going off this early during summer break. Suddenly, he remembered, and shot up in bed. It was moving day. Oh God, I'm not ready for this, Remus thought, burying his head in his hands. The butterflies were definitely starting to appear. He threw his head back onto the pillow, pulling his blankets over his head. Maybe he could just hide here all day and not have to deal with the hoards of new people that will be bombarding him from the time he steps onto the campus.

A knock on the door forced Remus to stick his head out of his cocoon. "What?" he groaned, swinging his body around so that his feet were on the floor.

"Shower and get ready, Remy," Charlotte called, yawning in the middle of her statement. "I'm making your favorite breakfast for you to eat before you're stuck with four months of café food."

At the mention of food, Remus' stomach grumbled. He could already imagine the sweet taste of double-chocolate-chip pancakes that he was sure that his mother was going to make. He grabbed the clothes that he had left out on the table the night previously before heading to the bathroom to take a quick shower. A mere ten minutes later he was sitting at the table, hungrily watching the griddle on the stove as his mother flipped the pancakes.

Charlotte finished cooking, placing the delicacy onto a plate before setting it down in front of her son. Remus immediately dug in, making a contented sound when the taste of chocolate exploded across his taste buds. He had always been a chocoholic, ever since his childhood, and today was no exception.

It only took Remus a few minutes to polish off his breakfast, and he let out a wolfish smile at his mother. Charlotte rolled her eyes, understanding her son's silent plea that she make more. She nodded in agreement before setting back to work.

Half an hour later, Remus was finally done eating and ready to leave. Everything was loaded into the car, and Remus was standing in front of his childhood home sullenly, a sudden stab of sadness panging at his heart as he realized that he was no longer a child who could come home and cry to his mother when he had a bad day. He could call her, but that was not the same thing. He couldn't hug someone who was 300-miles away, couldn't have them play with his hair like she had always done. Remus bit his lip distractedly before glancing down the street towards Lily's house to see her standing outside doing the exact same thing. She waved idly before looking back at her house and going inside, coming out moments later with more boxes. Remus turned back to his own abode to see his mother exiting the front door, holding a Tupperware container in her hands. Remus looked at it in confusion before she let out a small smile. "I made you cookies," she admitted softly. "I figured you'd want some for your first few nights at Hogwarts."

Remus smiled before walking up to her and kissing her on the cheek before he gathered her in his arms in a big hug. "I'll miss you," he said quietly, resting his head against his mother's shoulder.

"I'll miss you, too. Stay safe, darling. I love you." Charlotte held out the cookies.

"I love you,too," Remus replied. His eyes stung as he pulled away, taking the container in his hands before walking to his car and getting into the driver's seat, placing the cookies on a box next to him. He desperately wished that his mother could have come with him to see him off, but he understand that she couldn't take another day off work. She had taken enough days off because of him. Letting out a slow breath, Remus put the car in reverse, and slowly began to pull out of the driveway.

As he started his six hour drive, he let his mind wander. What would his room be like? Would he like his roommate? He didn't know much about the boy, just that his name was Peter Pettigrew. He had texted him a few times to figure out what they needed for their room, but that was it. They hadn't really talked about anything more serious than that. If Peter's Facebook profile had any predictor what the boy was like, it seemed as the slightly rat-looking boy's only hobbies were eating and watching Criminal Minds. Remus prayed that they would get along well. Being an only child, Remus had never had to share his living quarters with anyone else, and he hoped that his first time wouldn't be a nightmare. Lily had gotten lucky and was rooming with one of her friends from college. Molly Prewert, Prescott, Prewett, something like that. Remus liked the girl well enough from what he remembered of her, but he hadn't stayed in touch with her much in the last few years other than when they were both with Lily at the same time.

Before Remus knew it, several hours had gone by, and his stomach was beginning to grumble, and he was in serious need of a bathroom as quick as possible. He kept his eyes open for a gas station as the pressure in his bladder increased greatly as the road grew longer and longer through the countryside, although it wasn't for another half hour that Remus grew so desperate that he was having trouble focusing on anything besides his need to relieve himself. Fortunately, when he got to the point where he didn't think he could hold it in any longer, he finally found an exit. He quickly sped off it, putting his car into park and sprinting across the parking lot, nearly plowing into a young man in the process. "Sorry!" he yelled over his shoulder, but not caring too much to check to make sure he hadn't harmed the man.

Two minutes later, Remus washed his hands, feeling incredibly better. He walked back out of the bathroom, casting his eyes around the store while he looked for something chocolaty to munch on during the remainder of his drive. After he chose his treat, he headed to the counter, not really paying much attention to anyone else in the store. After setting his candy and €4 down, he pulled out his phone, fiddling with it and updating on his mother on his drive. He jumped when the cashier acknowledged him.

"I saw your bumper sticker, are you a Hogwarts' student?"

Remus jumped, looking at the boy, freezing as his amber eyes met a silvery pair. His breath caught as he looked at the man. He was gorgeous. He was dressed in a black work shirt, his arm muscles flexing as he moved his hand up to push his baseball cap further over his ebony hair. He smiled at Remus, his perfectly straight white teeth gleaming as the fluorescent lights of the establishment bounced off of them. "W-what?"

The boy laughed. "Are you a student at Hogwarts?"

Remus nodded, his throat dry. "Yeah, I'm on my way to freshman orientation and move-in. Are you?"

The boy nodded. "Yes sir! Except I'm a sophomore, so I don't move in until Monday." He handed Remus back his change. "I'm Sirius, by the way. Sirius Black." He held out his hand, still smiling.

Remus smiled back, shaking Sirius' hand. "I'm Remus Lupin. Pleasure to meet you." He pulled his hand away.

"Well then, Remus Lupin, I hope that we meet again soon," Sirius said, winking. Remus felt his face flush, causing Sirius to laugh. Remus blushed harder before telling Sirius goodbye and heading back out to his car. Goodness, that man was gorgeous, Remus thought as he glanced over his shoulder back at the store. He let out a small smile when he saw Sirius making faces at him through the window until he got into the vehicle. He set back off on the road.

Several hours later, Remus pulled into the circle in front of his dorm. The car was immediately flocked with RAs and older volunteers. In a matter of minutes, all of the boxes in Remus' car were on their way up to his room. He drove back to a lot up the street to park his car before he walked back to the building.

Looking around, Remus marveled at the architecture and stone lining the buildings and sculptures around the campus. He had to admit, it was beautiful. Lush green ivy popped against the light brown stone of the building, and trees and bushes filled the quad. Students of all types were walking around campus carrying boxes and other items of their new life.

Once Remus had arrived back at his building, Wolfsbane Hall, he went to the front desk to get the keys to his building before drudgingly making his way up the flights of steps. He knew her lived up on the tenth floor, but he wasn't entirely sure of the room number. Fortunately, he noticed that the names were written on pieces of paper next to each door, probably so that other people on the floor would know their neighbors. He had circle around the majority of the floor before he finally found Peter and his room. Unlocking the door, he made his way into the room. The room wasn't much to look at. It was a mere sixteen feet by sixteen feet with beige carpet and dark navy blue walls. There were curtains in front of the closet. They were black and purple, proudly boasting the school's logo, the "Hogwarts' Wizards", in large silver letting. The beds were low to the floor, but after closer examination Remus realized that if he wanted to, he could move the bed up. He probably would.

Remus set to work setting up what he claimed as his side of the room. Peter had yet to show up (in fact, he had texted Remus an hour or so earlier saying that he got permission to move in the next day), so Remus figured that it was his right. He put his sheets on the bed, folding the corners hospital style like he had been taught to do back home. He winced when he realized just how badly his sheets and comforter clashed with the rest of the decoration of the room. He wasn't able to afford anything nice, though, so he had to make due with the things that he had either had in his room, or that his mother had been able to pull out of storage from their garage.

Remus sat down on the bed, bouncing slightly as he tried to adjust to the sinking of the mattress beneath his body. It would definitely take a few nights before Remus would be able to sleep comfortably. Although, now that he thought about it, it was ions better than the lumpy and aged mattress that he had been sleeping on for the last fifteen years. The mattress belonged to his aunt originally, though, so the mattress had lived for closer to twenty or twenty five years. Regardless, it would still be an adjustment.

Remus stood back up, looking out of his window to the grounds below him. He was so high up that he was unable to make out the faces of the student below him. Remus turned back to his room, looking at his alarm clock on the desk. It was only 1:30 PM, and he didn't have to be at orientation until quarter six, so he decided that a nap was in order. Moving in was hard work.

"Welcome to home sweet home," Remus murmered, closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.