All of the Hogwarts students were getting ready to go off to school. Families saying goodbye and getting the kids onto the train.
One family stood off to the side of the crowd.
"You'll write to us won't you?" one of the little girls asked with tears in her blue green eyes.
"Of course he won't, he'll be to busy to bother, it's not like he cares about us anyways" the other girl said defiantly while looking at her brother with what was supposed to be a glare but was so filled with uncertainty that she couldn't hold his gaze.
"Of course I'll owl you, how could I forget you?! You're my girls, my best friends! I would be a horrible big brother if I didn't at least write to you about school!" He pulled them into a group hug and whispered "I'll tell you all about my pranks but you have to promise not to say anything to mum and dad ok? Pinkie promise?" With that they all linked pinkies and broke away from their hug. Knowing he only had a few minutes before he needed to get on the Hogwarts Express, he hugged his parents and said goodbye. Then he pulled one of his twin sisters to him and gave her a big bear hug.
"I'll miss you Claire Bear, I'll write all the time and see you at Christmas ok? Don't be sad, take care of mum for me, and have fun. I'll be home before you know it and then you'll get to come with me next year. Love you little sis"
With tears in her eyes, Claire hugged her brother just a little tighter "I love you too James, I'll write to you too, promise. See you soon."
James then turned to his other sister "Lee-Lee come here, I love you so much, take care of Claire for me ok? Don't you guys be too sad, I'll see you soon" He said while hugging her, "And I could never forget my two favorite girls".
"I love you too James, have fun. We'll see you soon, but expect a good prank by then cause we'll have had all term to plan" Leah grinned up at her brother.
"Gotta go, bye mum, dad, Claire, Leah! Love you!" And with that, young James Potter ran to the Hogwarts Express to begin his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Meanwhile, in another corner of Platform 9 ¾, another family was saying goodbye.
"Don't go mixing with the wrong sorts of people son, and ask Lucius or Cissy if you need any help. You'll be in Slytherin, the whole family has been, so they'll be your prefects. Andromeda will be there too, but she's a seventh year and needs to pass her NEWTS, especially since she hasn't found a good pureblood to marry yet. I don't know what she's waiting on."
"Ok mum, you and dad will be gone over Christmas holidays right? So I need to stay at school? What about Reg?"
"Yes, you'll stay at Hogwarts for the holidays, don't worry about your brother, Kreacher will watch him while we're away. Speaking of Regulus, don't forget to write him. He needs you to have an influence on him since he spends so much time with the house elf. We'll see you next summer, make us proud Sirius"
"Alright mum I'll try, see you next summer, tell Reg I said bye."
Sirius Black then trudged to the train, he wasn't sure how to make his family proud but at least he didn't have to worry about what house he would be in. All of the Blacks had been in Slytherin as far as he knew.
All around the station goodbyes were yelled as the whistle blew to alert the students they needed to board.
"Bye Tuney I promise I'll write, don't be mad at me! Please! I'll miss you so much!!! See you soon!"
"Oi Peter, you forgot your trunk, if your head wasn't attached you'd probably leave it behind"
The day before at Hogwarts
"Hello, you must be the Lupins" a strict looking witch said to the family as they entered the castle.
"Yes, I'm John, this is my wife Helen, and this is Remus." The father said.
"I'm Minerva McGonagall, the head of Gryffindor house, deputy headmistress, and the transfiguration teacher here at Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore had a meeting tonight and thought it best if I handled your tour. Since it's still early I'll show you the Great Hall before we head up to the Hospital Wing to meet Madam Pomfrey and go over the process we've come up with to help Remus." She said as she led them into the giant dining hall. Remus looked around in wonder and thought about what one of the books said about the ceiling, it's bewitched to look like the sky outside. It was amazing. Soon they were off to meet Madam Pomfrey.
"Oh hello there! You must be Remus! I'm Madam Pomfrey, but since we'll be spending a bit more time together than normal, you can call me Poppy. We've come up with a great plan for you so you don't have to worry about anything and nobody will be the wiser about your condition." The healer said as she shook Remus's hand. The sandy haired boy looked extremely tired, like he just wanted to go to sleep, but he needed to know what the plan was before anything else could happen. It was getting to be late afternoon already and he didn't want to take any chances.
"If you'll all follow me, I'll explain our plans. For now you can leave your trunk in my office, you won't be sorted till tomorrow so I'm not sure what house to send it to. I'll take care of that tomorrow during the welcoming feast. Alright, off we go then." The group left the hospital wing and headed outside.
"On the night of the full moon, Remus you'll come to me in the hospital wing by 5pm, or earlier depending on when the moon should be rising, sometimes it comes up early in the winter as I'm sure you know. I'll bring you down here. This is a Whomping Willow. There is a tunnel going from under the tree to a house on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. It's been vacant for many many years and many people believe it is haunted so nobody dares go near it. The doors and windows are charmed so you can't get in or out without a password, which I'll tell you later after we've made sure you're first transformation has gone alright. There are rooms, a bed, anything you should need. I'll come back to fetch you in the morning and you'll spend any time you need to recovering in the hospital wing with me before I send you back to your dorm. I'll help you come up with a cover story if you need. I have some ideas already. Right, here we are, now I just tap this knot on the tree and it will still long enough for you too get into the tunnel. I expect it's almost time for you to go down so I'm sorry but you'll have to say your goodbyes now."
Remus looked at his parents. This was his dream come true, he had always wanted to go to Hogwarts and never thought it was possible. He hugged his mum and whispered "I'll miss you so much, I'm scared but I know I can do this. Thank you so much for letting me come here. I love you mum"
"I love you too baby, owl us if you need anything, I expect to hear from you at least after the full moons, I won't be around to make sure you're ok so please help me by doing that ok? I love you sweetheart, we'll see you at Christmas" she said while hugging him close. She passed him to his dad.
John Lupin looked at his son with a proud smile on his face "I am so proud of you for following through with this son, you've never had it easy but you always keep going and your mum and I are so proud of you for that. Work hard but don't forget to have a little fun too. You are a kid after all even if you don't always feel like it. Make some friends and try to trust in people. I love you very much and look forward to hearing about your adventures this year. I have a feeling you'll love school." John released his son and smiled at him. They'd always been close and he always seemed to know exactly what Remus needed to hear.
Remus finished saying goodbye and looked at Poppy. "Ok I'm ready to go, I want to have a look around before it's time, so I should get down there. I guess I'll see you in the morning, thank you Madam Pomfrey." She poked the knot in the tree and it stilled, letting Remus down into the passageway so he could safely transform into a werewolf that night. She felt bad that the full moon was the night before the welcoming feast, but she'd try her best to get him to the feast so he could experience it with all the other first years.