Prologue: "Accepted"
His hands shook as they held the precious envelope. The emerald-green ink was perfectly clear, but he couldn't bring himself to believe it was there, neatly spelling out "Mr. R. Lupin."
"You can open it, you know," a gentle voice said.
Remus looked up and met the shockingly blue eyes of Albus Dumbledore. Five minutes ago he'd been playing Gobstones with the kindly old man, a bit confused about his sudden appearance, but excited by the idea of having a visitor. They never had visitors. Then his parents had come in, looking rather terrified, and addressed the man as "Dumbledore." Only when the old man reached into his robes, pulled out the envelope, and handed it to Remus had he realized this was truly the Albus Dumbledore, and the envelope held Remus's own letter from Hogwarts.
Terrified of waking himself up from this impossibly good dream, Remus turned the envelope over, broke the Hogwarts seal, and pulled out the letter. He reached the word "accepted" when his vision became too blurry to see the rest. He simply stared at the parchment in his hands as his parents asked all the questions burning in his own mind and Dumbledore calmly answered each one.
"Of course, we will take every precaution to ensure young Remus's safety and that of the other students. We should also be able to hide the nature of Remus's condition fairly easily, for his own sake. I have come up with an arrangement which, I must say, I believe to be very clever…"
Remus's thoughts began to stray as Dumbledore explained about a tunnel, a house, and some sort of tree. His still-blurry eyes skimmed the list of items he was required to bring and fixed on "one wand." This was it—he was going to be a wizard. He was going to be a Hogwarts student. He was going to be more than…what he was.
He wasn't sure whether he'd ever felt so happy, or so terrified. He was going to Hogwarts.
...
"I've got it! I've got it!"
He waved the envelope in the air as he ran through the house, flashing a green "Mr. P. Pettigrew" every direction.
"I've got my letter to Hogwarts!"
His dad patted his head absentmindedly, not taking his eyes off the newspaper. His mum gave him a smile, looking at the envelope rather nostalgically. Peter, however, continued to dance around.
"I'll get my wand, I'll get to learn, I'll meet teachers, I'll meet Dumbledore, I'll do spells, I'll be sorted into a house, I'll have friends…"
He spun around as he read his letter, continuing his chant of everything he'd get to do now that he was going to Hogwarts.
...
His feet pounded up the stairs, not stopping until he'd reached his bedroom and slammed the door shut. His mother screamed something at him, but he didn't hear. He ripped open the envelope and let it fall to the floor, "Mr. S. Black" shining up at him in green ink.
He read through the letter so quickly that he didn't comprehend any of it, except the word "accepted." After two more read-throughs, he threw himself back onto the bed.
"Master Sirius shouldn't make such a mess of his room," a low voice in the corner grumbled.
"Kreacher!" Sirius yelled, sitting up. "Don't startle me like that! Why are you always skulking about?"
The house elf shot him a reproachful glare as he moved around the room, picking up bits of trash on the floor.
"Kreacher is simply cleaning, Master Sirius," he said, stooping to grab the envelope.
"Not that!" Sirius jumped off his bed and snatched the envelope off the floor. "You can clean in here later. Out now."
Kreacher muttered under his breath until he'd left the room. Sirius locked the door before returning to his bed, envelope still clutched in his hand. He looked around the room, trying to imagine what his dormitory would look like. Of course, that would depend on what house he was in. Hopefully even the Slytherin rooms would be better than Grimmauld Place.
He spread out on the bed again and grinned up at the ceiling. He was finally getting away, finally going to Hogwarts.
...
"'Dear Mr. Potter, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.'"
A giant grin on his face, James read the entire letter aloud, including the books and supplies list. When he finished, his parents applauded.
"We're so proud of you son!" his mum said, pulling him into a hug. His dad tousled his messy black hair.
"Of course we'll have to make a trip to Diagon Alley to get you everything you need," she continued. "James, can I see that list? I'll start making plans."
"This calls for a celebration!" his dad said. "Who wants some treacle tart?"
James couldn't stop grinning. This was it, everything he'd been waiting for. At last, he was going to Hogwarts.