Remus Lupin sank down onto the seat with a sigh. He had stowed his trunk, said goodbye to his parents, and already changed into his school uniform. The full moon was in just a few days' time, and he could already feel it taxing him. He felt exhausted, sick to his stomach, and a little clammy. He let his head rest against the train window, just for a moment…
BANG! He jerked his head away from the glass with a start as raucous laughter burst out around him. He scrubbed at his eyes and blinked around him, trying to figure out where he was. Why was he moving? What had that noise been? And who on earth were the three boys sitting around him, laughing and carrying on?
"Sirius, you woke him up!" The boy directly across from Remus spoke, none to gently smacking the boy next to him. Both of them had black hair and grins on their faces. The boy who had spoken had glasses in front of dark brown eyes, and his hair was a little wild. The boy he had hit, who hit him back, had grey eyes and well-groomed hair.
"I didn't mean to!" the well-coiffed boy protested. "Sorry, mate," he added to Remus, who shook his head.
"I'm James, by the way," said the boy with the glasses. "James Potter."
He stretched out a hand across the compartment, but Remus just stared at it, scared to touch him, scared to touch anyone. He hadn't touched another living soul in months, ever since he had started refusing hugs from his parents. And he couldn't remember the last time he had touched anyone who wasn't directly related to him.
"And I'm Black. Sirius Black," said the other black haired boy. "This is Peter Pettigrew."
He gestured to the small boy sitting next to Remus, who certainly didn't look old enough to be heading to Hogwarts. He had sandy blonde hair, and a perky smile that he shot at Remus as the older boy looked down at him. "Hi!"
Remus still said nothing. James and Sirius exchanged a glance, Sirius looked a little haughty, while James seemed perplexed. They looked back at Remus. "And you are?" James finally asked.
Remus opened his mouth, closed it, then open it to try again. Instead, he coughed, choking on the words that he still hadn't managed to get out. As he coughed, he saw Sirius start to laugh at him, and felt himself blush bright red. When he had finally settled down his hacking, he turned to the window and stared out it, aware that all three boys were still looking at him.
James shrugged at Sirius, and the two went back to their pile of chocolate frogs and jelly slugs.
Twenty-two years later, Remus Lupin drowsed off in the same compartment. He awakened with a start and found himself sharing a compartment with a young boy with messy hair and round glasses. A boy that looked far too familiar, and far too young.