It was a perfect day for Remus John Lupin. Today, he was heading off to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Ever since he could remember, His parents had feared that he wouldn't be accepted because of his affliction. But now, his only worry was keeping the news of his illness a secret from the students of Hogwarts. The more Remus thought about it, the more fearful he became. What if it somehow got out, or worse still, he got out as the Wolf and attacked somebody! Remus knew he had to try to stop thinking about this. After all, he could not be bothered from something like this on a day as perfect as today. Well, today was almost perfect. The full moon was four days away.
Remus cringed. He could already feel the dull ache that came before the moon was full. It had been like that his entire life. If he really tried, he could almost remember a time when life was different. When he did not have to fear the moon. But that was a long time ago, and there was no point in fantasizing over things that would never happen. With a sigh, Remus cleared that thought from his head and padded down the hall for breakfast.
His Mother, Hope set a plate of bacon and eggs in front of him. She exchanged a glance with Remus' Father, Lyall, and when she turned her eyes back to Remus, he was surprised to see how sad they looked. "Now Remus," she started by saying. "We know you want to go to Hogwarts, and we know that all of the plans are made, but is it really the safest option?" Remus opened his mouth to retort, but his father beat him to it. "We aren't just talking about to those around you, Remus. Dumbledore has assured us that every precaution will be taken for the safety of the students. We are talking about how you'll be a danger to yourself." "What do you mean, to myself!" Remus interjected.
Now, Hope picked up the thread of conversation. "We mean that there will be a new atmosphere, that the Wolf won't like, and Remus, you'll hurt yourself!" Now she sounded desperate, but there would be nothing she could do to change Remus' mind. "And what would happen," she continued, "if you escaped?" Remus wanted to hear where his mother was going with this, but what she said just directly contradicted what Lyall had said. "But Dad said that Dumbledore had taken every precaution to-" Remus was cut off by his mother saying "I know what your father said. But there is always that slim chance that you could escape and hurt somebody. And, well, the Ministry has Laws that would have you killed if you ever attacked somebody. I just don't want that to happen to my boy!" Hope was in tears by the end of this statement and looked as though she were about to have a meltdown.
No Matter how much the news that he might end up executed scared him, he knew deep in his heart that he had to go to school. "Mum, Dad, if I don't go to school, what can I do in life? I don't want a life where I don't do anything just because i'm too ashamed to walk with my head tall because of who and what I am. I might not like what I am, you might not like what I am, but there is one thing I know for sure, and that is that no stranger can say they don't like who I am because of what I am. And going to school can prove that who I am, and what I am can be two very different things."
Remus looked up at his parents, expecting more of an argument from them. Insted, his Father told him to go get his trunk. "If you want to go to Hogwarts that badly, Remus then get ready to go" said Lyall
BREAK LINE BREAK LINE BREAK LINE BREAK LINE BREAK LINE BREAK LINE
As soon as they got to the platform, Remus' nerves started again. This time, he wasn't nervous about his condition, but about himself. He turned to Hope and asked, "Mum, what if nobody likes me?" "Nonsense Remus" Was her reply. "Why on earth wouldn't they?" Remus just shrugged. "Goodbye Mum," he whispered. "Goodbye Remus" she whispered tearfully, before scooping him into a hug. Then, Remus turned to Lyall. "Have fun and be careful. Especially on full moons" he said. "Be careful Remus" called Hope as Remus started to drag his trunk to the train.
Remus could barely lift his trunk onto the train, but he managed alright. He had gotten to the train early enough that finding a nearly empty compartment wasn't hard, but there were no completely empty ones. Remus decided to sit with the first person that looked like a first year he could find. With any luck, he would make a friend. To Remus, the idea of anyone wanting to be his friend was laughable. Even if they didn't know his secret, Remus would probably say something stupid, or worse, not be able to say anything at all from shyness. Good people skills were not something you acquire from years of iceolation.
Remus pushed all of those thoughts aside as he walked up to a compartment door. He very slowly and timidly slid the door open. In the compartment sat a plump, mousy boy with watery blue eyes and a pointed face. Remus was practically shaking as he politely asked the boy if he could sit with him. "Sh-sure." The boy said, sounding as terrified as Remus felt. Remus hoisted his trunk onto the rack, and sat down, placing the cage that held his barn owl Romulus down next to him. After riding in nervous silence for about an hour, Remus decided to take a leap of faith and try to befriend the mousy boy.
"My name's Remus."Said Remus so quietly that he was afraid the boy didn't hear him. But Remus was proven wrong when the boy stutterd out "I-i'm P-P-Peter." "Pleased to meet you, Peter" said Remus with more confidence then he felt. Apparently, though, Remus' fake display of confidence was enough of a boost for Peter, who stopped stuttering, and started conversing with Remus. Remus wasn't really paying attention to what he said, but it was all along the lines of "What House do you want to be in, what is your favorite subject, what is your favorite animal," the list went on and on.
All of a sudden, the compartment door slammed open, and in stomped a angry red-haired girl and a greasy black-haired boy. Neither of them asked if they could sit with them, they just went ahead and did. The girl kept muttering about two idiots in the next compartment over, and how stupid they were. The boy had an expression of fury on his face. Remus decided it was best to leave the two of them alone, but it seemed Peter had other plans. "Hey, who do you think you are, barging into our compartment without asking!" yelled Peter, who seemed as though Remus' presence alone was the only thing that gave him this courage. For the first time in the whole train ride, Remus started to wonder if there was more to mousy little Peter than meets the eye.
The girl seemed to take a minute to get herself together before answering the question. "Right, sorry" she said. "I'm Lily, and this here is Severus." She gestured to the greasy boy to the left of her. "Were sorry for intruding, but we couldn't stay in the compartment over there with those rude idiots." Peter didn't seem to care about that. In fact, he seemed rather rude with his response. "Well, we never invited you into our compartment. So were leaving. Come on Remus." For a second, Remus considered staying were he was. But instead, he rose, gathered his things, and followed Peter out the door and into the next compartment, desperate to stay with his new friend.
He did, however, want to talk with Peter about his rude behavior. It didn't even occur to Remus how just this morning he thought that he would be all alone. They entered the compartment with the "two idiots" that Lily was talking about, to find two black haired boys that looked just like twins from Remus' vantage point, play fighting on the seats and scattering candy wrappers everywhere. From the outside, it looked like they were having a grand time, but with Remus' superior scenes, he could tell that somebody here was in pain.
"Excuse us" said Remus, looking for a reason to break up the fight. It worked both boys looked up and sat back in their proper seats, one with a look in the eye that suggested he thought he was in trouble. "We were wondering if we could sit here." "Be our guest" one spoke up. "My name is Remus, and this is Peter." "I'm James" said one of the boys. "Sirius" said the other. Now the boy called James looked confused. "About what?" He asked. "No, my name is Sirius." Remus was shocked to find out that they didn't know the name of the other one. They looked and acted just like twins! "So, what brings you to our humble compartment." Said Sirius. "We were kicked out of our compartment by a greasy boy and a red haired girl!" Said Peter. Remus was not about to say that Peter had rudely chosen to leave.
The two boys had settled into a discussion of their own. "I told you they were trouble" spoke Sirius. "Your right about that Snape character, but I think that Lily was only like that because of Snively." James argued. "Please. You're only saying that because you think she's pretty." Sirius retorted "Do not!" But James' red face said otherwise. Remus decided now would be a good time to speak up. "Um, guys, if my watch is correct, then we'll be at school in about ten minutes, so you might as well get dressed."
Upon hearing Remus' announcement, James, Remus, and Peter started to change, but Sirius announced that he was going to the bathroom and came back fully robed. When asked by James why he went to the bathroom to change instead of staying in the compartment, Sirius' response was "you think i'm going to get dressed in a room full of people I don't know?" Remus decided that Sirius was very modest.
Just as Peter finished changing, the whistle blew, and the train slowed down. Sirius reached up to get his trunk from the rack, just as the train rounded one final bend. Sirius' trunk went crashing down and scattered his belongings all over the compartment. James and Remus immediately sank down to help him re-pack, but it turned out there was no need. Sirius just waved his wand and clearly spoke the word pack. Immediately, all of his belongings flew through the air, folded, and arranged themselves in his trunk.
Peter was gazing humorously at something in Sirius' trunk. "You own a teddy bear" he said through laughs. "Do you have a problem with that?" Sirius challenged. "N-no?" Peter said nervously. "Well it sounds to me, like you have a problem with that" Sirius said, picking up his trunk and the cage that held a jet-black owl. "Well, sure I have a problem with sitting in the same compartment as a big baby."It seemed as though Peter's fear had turned to rage.
Just then, a prefect came to tell them that they were there and that all of there luggage would be taken to the school. Sirius dropped his trunk and set the owl cage down. Then he turned to the Prefect. At first, Remus thought that he was going to tell on Peter. Remus was relieved when instead, his face brightened and he gave a small gasp. "Andy!" he yelled. "Andy" turned to Sirius and gave him a big hug.
"Siri!" Exclaimed the girl named Andy. "Oh, I thought i'd never see you again!" She said happily "Talk Later" Sirius stage-whispered, looking at everybody in the compartment. "Everybody, you had better get off the train and to Hagrid, the gamekeeper. Trust me, you'll be able to find him." Said Andy in her "Perfect voice." So the first years clammerd out of the compartment and joined the flood of people on their way off of the train. Andy wasn't lying when she said that they would be able to find Hagrid. He towered above the first years booming "fir's years over here, fir's years over here."
Once everybody was round up, Hagrid led the first years to a fleet of wooden boats. "No more'n four to a boat" Hagrid explained. Against Remus' better judgement, he followed Peter to a boat that "just so happened" to hold James and Sirius. Why Peter wanted to sit with Sirius is anyone's guess, but Remus wanted to stay with his friend. On Hagrid's command, the fleet of boats glided smoothly across the water. They rounded the bend, and once there, a breathtaking sight met Remus' eyes. There was Hogwarts, looking like it came straight out of a fairy tale. (Or a fantasy series of seven.)
The turrets stood out against the bluish-black sky, with light emitting from every window. It seemed as though Remus had stepped into someone else's life. The pain of the near full moon seemed to go away as he stared, transfixed, trying to capture this memory for life. But it was as though every good thing had to go away as soon as it came for Remus. One minute he was staring at the castle, the next, he was plummeting into the lake.
He sputtered as he climbed back into the boat, and watched James and Peter climb in too. But Sirius didn't resurface. James' grin quickly faded away as he watched the waters, anxious for the return of his new best friend. Suddenly, ripples broke the surface of the water, as Sirius came up, gasping for breath and thrashing around as he pleaded for help and screamed about how he couldn't swim. It was a wonder he managed to get any words out at all, seeing as he kept hacking his lungs out and disappearing under water.
James leapt into the lake and grabbed hold of Sirius' arm. He pulled him to the boat and dragged him on board. Sirius was shivering and kept coughing. He was in rough shape. Finally, he turned to James and said, "Thank you." James looked shocked. "But, I was the one that almost killed you!" James exclaimed. "I know you did, and it was stupid, but you saved me, so it evens out. Trust me, I know a lot of people that would almost kill me, and not save me."
James was cut off from arguing more, by their arrival at the other side of the lake. Remus thought that it was a wonder nobody had noticed a drowning first year. Everybody clamored out of the boats and up to the castle, with the exception of Sirius, who limped up to the castle. Remus thought that that was odd, seeing as he hadn't been limping before he fell in the lake, but then thought that he must have nicked himself coming out of the boat.
Hagrid stopped them in front of a small door in a hidden moore under the castle. Hagrid raised a large, meaty fist, and knocked three times on the chestnut wood. The door was opened by a stern-looking witch wearing emerald-green robes and a pointed hat. James was whispering something to Sirius, with a glint in the eye that suggested that that witch had better watch out. Remus got even more afraid when Sirius started to nod feverishly. Remus was so wrapped up in watching them plot, that he almost missed the witch (whose name, Remus quickly found out, was professor McGonagall.) saying to follow her.
She lead them into a small room with a door that Remus presumed lead to where the other students were going. Remus suppressed a laugh when he heard Sirius tell some scared muggle-borns that they had to battle dragons to be sorted. Peter, however, seemed to believe that what Sirius was saying was true. After a minute, he realized Sirius was lying, and wasn't afraid to tell everyone so. When Sirius asked him why he had to ruin the fun, Peter's reply was "because your a big lying baby, and you still need a toy to go new places." Upon hearing this, Sirius let out a low growl, that sounded exactly like an angry dog.
Just when Remus thought that Sirius was going to let loose on Peter, McGonagall came back. "They are ready for the sorting, if you'll just follow me." The first years followed McGonagall through the door and into what looked to be a giant dining room. A frayed, brown hat was put on a stool, as the First years waited in suspense. Just as Remus thought he could take it no longer, a rip near the brim of the hat widened, and it began to sing about the houses and their founders.
Once the song was over, McGonagall started calling off names from a long list. She started with the few A names on the list, and soon moved to B. the first B name called was Black, Narcissa, who was instantly sent to Slytherin, with a triumphant look on her face. James whispered something to Sirius that Remus couldn't quite catch, but whatever it was made Sirius pale.
It was at that moment that Remus realized he didn't know any of their last names. He was pulled out of his musings by the shock of hearing the next name. Black, Sirius had been called. An expression that was a mix of furey and betrayal made its way onto James' face as Sirius slowly walked up to the stool. He sat down, and most, expecting an immediate Slytherin, were surprised to find that the hat sat on Sirius' head for nearly five minutes, before opening the rip near it's brim and shouting "GRYFFINDOR"
The effect was instantaneous. The whole hall erupted into boos and catcalls, with the exception of the first years and the teachers. Sirius shuffled his feet and looked down all the way to the gryffindor table, where no one wanted to sit with him, so he had to sit alone. He didn't look up the whole time. Remus glanced at James, whose expression had changed from anger\betrayal to guilt, to anger again. After Mcgonagall got everybody back into order, the sorting continued. Remus wasn't really paying attention, until it got to Evans, Lily, who became a Gryffindor. After that, he didn't look up until his own name was called.
Remus put the sorting hat on his head, and waited to hear something. He was shocked to find another voice in his thoughts. Very bright I see the voice said. Or thought. Don't be alarmed, it's only me, the sorting hat. Very bright indeed, but no, Ravenclaw is not for you. Definitely not Hufflepuff, and Slytherin is out of the question. Gryffindor is definitely the place for you. Well, might as well make it official, better be "GRYFFINDOR." Remus moved to sit at the new table. He decided to sit by Sirius.
"Hello." Said Remus. "You don't hate me?" Was Sirius' response. "Why should I?" asked Remus "Just because you come from a family of rotten apples doesn't mean you're one." "Just tell that to James" Sirius sighed. "He was the only friend I ever had. And now i'll never have another one again." Remus saw in Sirius the same streak of loneliness that was in him. "I'll be your friend" Remus felt the words tumble out of his mouth before he could do a thing to stop them. "Really?" asked Sirius, his face lighting up like a christmas tree. "Really." said Remus, and he truly meant it.
Remus heard a murmuring coming from the students of Hogwarts, and turned to see who was being sorted. There was Peter on the stool, looking petrified. Suddenly, the hat exclaimed "GRYFFINDOR!" And Peter jumped off of the stool, forgetting he was wearing the hat, and was halfway to the Gryffindor table before he remembered to jog it back. "Hey, Remus were in the same house!" said Peter, jumping up and down like a toddler. "Yes Peter we are in the same-" Remus stopped abruptly, staring at James as he was called up to the stool. The hat hadn't even touched his head before shouting "GRYFFINDOR!" James ran over to the table, and took a seat next to Sirius, sneering. Nobody there even heard the rest of the sorting, or payed attention at all as Dumbledore started the feast.
The minute they were allowed to talk, James spat out "Black" like it was poison. Sirius kept his head down. James kept on talking. "I should have just let you drown in the lake, then the world would have had one less piece of filth to deal with." Dinner and desert passed in that fashion, and when it was time for bed, a prefect lead them to their common room, and pointed them to their dormitories.
As soon as Sirius went into the bathroom to change, Remus rounded on James. "You were his only friend, you know." Remus accused. But James' answer was what startled Remus. "He was my best friend too, and I know I ruined it. I barely had a best friend for twelve hours, before I had to go and ruin it. I know it's not his fault that he is in that family, but now that I've messed it up, I don't know how to fix it. I've dug a hole I can't escape from. I know I messed up. I'm tired, and I want to sleep. Good night." James pulled the curtains around his bed.
Even though James had messed up, Remus was determined to get him out of the hole he dug, and he knew just how to do it.