"Lupin, Remus."
Remus stumbled forward, tripping on the extra-long hem of his robes. Keeping his eyes down as he made his way forward to the stool. He had been looking forward to this day for such a long time, the day he could leave the confinement of his house. Where he was trapped day after day. It hadn't been so bad, when his dad was still alive, he would always take him outside. Letting him run around. Like he was almost normal. But, his mum, she was ashamed of him. He would be to, if he had a son like… him.
He reached the stool, gently sitting down. As he placed the hat onto his head, Remus glanced up at the Great Hall. He felt all those eyes bearing into his and turned away. Now Hogwarts didn't seem like such a great idea. He should have just stayed home, like his mum had wanted. He knew he looked funny, sickly looking with the skin hanging loose on his frame; from all the times it had been stretched when changing shape. He wanted to run; maybe he wasn't supposed to be there. He knew Dumbledore had given him special permission, but maybe…
"Gryffindor." The hat called out, reverberating all around the expansive hall. Startled, Lupin jumped up. He carefully lifted the hat off his head, gently setting it back onto the stool. Lifting up the hem of his robes he lumbered towards the table at the far side of the hall. Oh, he wished everyone would stop starring.
Now he was faced with the challenge of where to sit, this seemed much easier to do when he was safety at home. Just dreaming. Lupin walked down the table a bit and set himself down next to a shaggy headed boy.
"Hey." The boy said to him.
"Hey." Lupin answered.
"Sirius Black. Full Blood." The boy said. "You?"
"Lupin. Remus Lupin. Half. "
"Oh." The boy, Sirius said. "Who was it? Mum or dad?"
"My mum. She's the muggle born."
"Aren't you stoked to be here?" Sirius asked him, "I mean. It's Hogwarts. I've been waiting years for this day."
"Me too." Remus said, "Ever since I was little."
"I'm so glad I'm a Gryffindor." Sirius said, "Everyone in my family is a Slytherin but, not me. I'm a Black and we're related to a ton of dark wizards. My cousins are older, Bellatrix is a fifth year, and Narcissa's a third. And everyone knows there parents are some of Voldemort's folks. My parents never do anything with him but, they think he has the right idea. I don't really like him, who wants to go around killing people for fun? Not me. That's for sure." He paused, shaking his dark hair out of his eyes and flashing a smile at Lupin.
Just then, a pasty skinned boy scampered towards the seat across from the two boys. He had a pinched in nose and a pointed face, he reminded Lupin of a rat. An overgrown, overweight rat.
"H-h-hey." The boy stammered, "So, you're both in Gryffindor?" His voice cracked near the end of his sentence.
"No, you idjit, they were just in the mood to sit over here." Laughed a black, shaggy haired boy.
"R-really?" The mousy looking boy questioned, worry lines were forming between his eyebrows.
"What do you think?" The shaggy haired boy retorted. "Yes they're in Gryffindor"
He turned towards Lupin and Sirius, "That's Pettigrew. I met him on the train, not the smartest in the world, I'll tell you that." He paused to mess up his hair and then continued. "Me, I'm James Potter."
Sirius stepped in and offered, "I'm Sirius Black and this is Remus Lupin."
"A Black? In Gryffindor? What happened to you?" James asked.
"The only this I share with the Blacks is the name." Sirius' voice was hard.
"Goodness, it was a joke." James laughed. "Come on, let's eat."
After a dinner of pickled ham and treckled tarts Lupin trekked up three staircases down two passages with the other boys and a perfect. They stopped in front of a portrait of a lady.
"The Fat Lady." James said, "My mum told me all about her." Seeing Lupin's confused look he continued, "She guards the entrance to the common room… where we live. God, don't you know anything about this place? I thought you had wizarding blood."
"My mum," Lupin paused, "Didn't really say anything."
"Well," said James, "There's a password you need to get in and it's changed every so often."
"Fortunado," said the perfect and the portrait swung open. Revealing a whole in the wall which led unto a big, long room filled with chairs and two spiral staircases.
"Wow." Sirius said, "It's amazing."
"Isn't it," said James, "Come on, let's go up to bed."
The four boys climbed up a spiral staircase, passing two doors until they came to one with a sign.
First Year Boys Dormitory