Remus Lupin hadn't been this happy since he was four years old. He held in his hand, clutched tightly as though to keep it from dissolving into dream, an acceptance letter to Hogwarts. He read it again as though to make sure it was real

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Remus Lupin

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Remus smiled and ran into the sitting room where his dad was taking his afternoon nap.

"Dad! Dad! I got in!" he cheered, jumping up on the couch to show his father the letter. His dad awoke with a start.

"What," he grunted angrily, "and get off the couch". Remus jumped down, to excited to even care about the injustice of being ordered off the couch like a dog.

"Look! I got accepted to Hogwarts!"

"Impossible! They don't teach monsters," he snapped sourly. Remus's face fell, finally remembering the truth: He was a werewolf, not a wizard. A monster, not a man". He pulled out the other page, and was surprised when a third page fluttered to the ground. Remus's father snatched it up. Glanced at it, did a double take, and sighed.

"Well, this changes things," he said holding the paper out to his son. Remus read it, and the happy feeling in his gut fluttered back to the surface.

Dear Remus,

I would like to inform you that we are aware of your lycanthropy and your acceptance still stands. Professor McGonagall is an animangus and will therefore escort you to a safe house where you can transform on the night of the full moon. As Headmaster I'd like to request a meeting with you on the night of your arrival, we can discuss this more in-depth then.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

Remus looked up at his father, smiling hesitantly.

"So… I can go," he asked in a low voice. His father shook his head, looking resigned.

"You might as well lose these foolish dreams now rather than later. Monsters have no place at a wizarding school, you won't last one semester,"

"At least let me try!" exclaimed Remus, worried that he wasn't even going to get to attempt the biggest opportunity he'd had since he had become what he was.

"It goes against my better judgement, but I guess you can go for a trial semester" He was annoyed now, Remus could tell. He gave him a quick hug and, before his father could shove him away, rushed off to his room to send the acceptance owl.

Later that week he went to diagon alley. It was a new experience for him as he hadn't been there since before he could remember. His father gave him a bag of gold and shoved him out the car door, saying he'd be back in four hours and Remus had better be there. The car door slammed and Remus was alone.

He walked into the dingy bar and, a bit nervously, asked for help getting into the street. The barman took one look at him, walked out the back door, tapped a brick and waked back inside. Leaving Remus to do his shopping alone.

But Remus was used to being alone. With a dad who not only all but ignored him, but who forbid him from making friends, Remus had learned to be, not quite comfortable, but settled with being alone. He opened up his list and walked into Madam Malkin's Robe Shop to get his plain, black wizard robes. There was another boy being fitted already, his mom browsing witches' robes towards the back of the shop. Remus stepped up on a fitting stool and had a black robe unceremoniously shoved over his head. Here's your chance, he thought, just say hello.

"Uhhh…. Hi" he stuttered, "I'm Remus Lupin". The boy grinned at him. A happy lopsided grin that immediately put him at ease.

"I'm Sirus Black," he said confidently, "Hogwarts?"

"Ya," replied Remus, "first year,"

"Same," there was a short awkward silence

"So what house do you think you'll be in," asked Remus hesitantly. Sirius's shoulders suddenly sagged.

"Slytherin," he sighed. He suddenly whipped his head around making sure his mother was distracted. "But I really want to be in Gryffindor," he whispered turning back to Remus.

"Why do you think you'll be in Slytherin" asked Remus, genuinely confused.

"Because everyone in my family's been in Slytherin, so I'm kinda expected to," he replied dejectedly.

"All done, boys!" Madam Maulkin suddenly interjected, "You can go now." Remus and Sirius wrapped up their bags and walked out of the shop.

"Hey mom!" Sirius yelled to his mom, who was still browsing dress robes, "I'm going with Remus Lupin here! He's pureblood, don't worry!" He grabbed Remus's arm and dragged him off without waiting for an answer. They jogged down the street to Olivander's Wand Shop on the corner. They burst in and almost knocked down poor Mr. Olivander and his customer, a girl.

"Sorry about that sir," panted Remus, catching the girl before she could fall, "We're just here to get our first-year wands." Olivander smiled at them, brushing himself off.

"no harm done, no harm done," I was just finishing up with Lily here. He flicked his wand, causing a couple of tape measures to start measuring every inch of the boys, while Lily paid seven Galleons for her wand and left.

"Okay, okay Sirius first," said Olivander, walking over to a large number of wand boxes on shelves. He looked at him and pulled out a longer box.

"Cherry wood, 14 inches, core of dragon heartstring" he announced handing the wand to Sirius. He almost immediately grabbed it back, "no, no that'll never do." He strode back to the shelves.

Sirus tried ten or eleven more wands. From an eight-inch cedar with a unicorn hair to a 13 in oak with a core of phoenix feather. Finally Olivander pulled out a mid-sized, light colored wand with no pattern. Sirius took it in his hand and it became warm. He waved it in a long swishing motion, releasing a line of brightly colored smoke into the dim shop.

"Good, Good," muttered Olivander distractedly, "9 inches, Alder wood with a phoenix feather. You're mom and dad were both chosen by longer, denser wands with dragon heartstring, but you don't seem to be much like them, do you?" he said all this hardly above a whisper so Remus strained to hear him.

"Okay, now it's your turn young man." He stepped over to Remus and looked at him. His eyebrows rose as he consulted his tape measure. "Interesting…" he trailed off as he walked over to the shelves. "I think know just the wand for you" Olivander brought over a cypress wand with a bulbous end. "Ten and a half inches, core of unicorn hair. An unusual combination, but I think it will suit you." Remus took the wand and immediately sparks shot out of the end, breaking a tall vase that had been standing by one of the waiting chairs.

"Excellent!" exclaimed Olivander. They paid 7 Galleons each for their wands and walked back into the street.

"Yours is a bit longer than mine I guess," Sirius looked over at Remus with such a look of saintly innocence that Remus could tell he'd known exactly what he said. He laughed and punched Sirius on the shoulder.

After that the day went smoothly. Sirius and Remus went to the book shop, the apothecary shop, the supplies store and even stopped to get ice cream from a little stall on the corner. On the way back to the inn they ran into somebody Sirius knew.

"James!" he suddenly yelled out, dropping his packages and running up to give him a hug. "I haven't seen you since the quidditch world cup!" They stood there chatting for a couple of minutes before Sirius remembered Remus, who was standing there uncomfortably, watching the obviously close friends reconnect.

"Oh my gosh Remus, I'm so sorry. This is James, we met a couple of years ago at a local Quidditch match, we've exchanged owls ever since." Remus took James outstretched hand and shook it, thinking about how upset his father would be if he knew how many people he had talked to today. James pulled out his wand.

"Check this," he said brandishing a brand new wand, "PACK!" the packages Remus had been struggling with flew out of his hands and into James's cart, stacking themselves by shape, size and color. "Pretty cool right?"

"How'd you do that?" asked Remus, "we're not allowed to have wands until we're eleven, not to mention the fact you could go to Azkaban for underage magic!" James shrugged.

"I've been stealing my mom's wand at night. They're not going to do anything to me," then, with a twinkle in his eye, "At least not yet. Wait until we get to Hogwarts, we're going to be the best pranksters the school has ever seen!" Remus smiled, he wasn't sure exactly how much fun pranking would be, but he would definitely try anything with his new friends.

"Remus," an emotionless voice and a hand on his shoulder alerted him to his dad's arrival, "We have to go." Remus said goodbye to Sirius and Remus, promising to find them on the train. Then he turned around, once again carrying all his packages, and followed his dad to the car.

CHAPTER 2

The full moon was approaching and Remus felt sicker and sicker. He tried to distract himself from the pain by reading his school books, but he couldn't seem to focus. He struggled to eat, to sleep, even just to walk. As the sun set on the night of the full moon, his dad came to get him.

"Lets go, monster," He growled. When Remus collapsed trying to stand up , his dad sighed, scooping him up and carrying him out to the shed, which had been retrofitted with magically strengthened walls and rounded corners to keep him from killing himself accidentally. Remus's dad gently laid him down on the bed and tucked him in, almost as if putting him to sleep. Then, he turned around and left without a backward glance.

Remus was shivering uncontrollably. He tried to take off his robe, knowing that it would just get ripped to shreds if he left it on, but collapsed from even just that small effort. Fur started growing from his hands and face, his finger nails elongated into claws, and he knew no more.

When Remus came to he was bloody, with long cuts down his sides, arms and legs. He knew he'd cracked a rib, but he couldn't assess anymore damage because he was blinded by pain. His dad walked in with his wand ready, in case the transformation hadn't completely worn off. Walking over to his son's side, Lyall Lupin knelt down and started pouring a potion on the wounds. The poison on his claws made the healing slower than a normal cut, but even then magic sped the process. Remus would be completely cut free in two days, just in time to get on the train to Hogwarts. Unfortunately, the scars would remain. A testament to all he'd have to hide at this school.

Too soon the day came, the broken bones had healed and the cuts had closed, but the emotional exhaustion had remained. Remus sighed as he dragged his bags down to the car and climbed in..

"About time," his dad muttered, slamming on the gas, "We're going to be late." Remus just laid his head down and went to sleep, too exhausted to even read a book.

When they got to the train station Remus was rudely awakened by his dad short-stopping in front of the door.

"OUT," he barked, "see you next year." Remus had barely pulled his bags out of the trunk when the car shot off, vanishing around the corner. Remus turned around just in time to see James walking into the train station, pulling along Sirius, who looked rather depressed. He ran up to join them, happy to see some familiar faces.

"Hey guys!" he called out, "wait up!" Sirus and James turned around, breaking into huge grins when they saw him. Sirus ran up to help him carry his bags to a luggage cart and James gave him a huge hug.

"What's been going on with you? Where are your parents! You didn't send any owls! We had no idea what had happened!" Remus had to think quickly, not wanting to admit that he had been locked in his room for weeks as a punishment for going too far towards the neighbor's house.

"Uhhh… I was really sick…. Sorry" he said, feeling the color rush to his cheeks.

"Oh, that's okay than," smiled James disarmingly, "At least you got better before the school year! Come on!" James grabbed Remus by the arm and tried to pull him along, almost dumping both their carts in the process. They all laughed as James' snowy owl hooted in protest. Once they were all safely on the train the trouble started.

"BANG" the loud shot echoed through the hallways. The boys jumped to their feet, running out into the corridor. Sirius smashed into a tall, thin girl with shocking, curly, black hair.

"Narcissa!" he said as she spun around, wand ready, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Taking care of this useless son-of-a-blood traitor," she sneered, pointing her wand over her shoulder. Remus glanced over to see a scrawny boy cowing against the edge of the train station. He rushed over, dragging the kid to his feet. Suddenly James was behind him.

"Back off Narcissa," he said warningly, "I don't want you to get hurt." She just sneered.

"You, hurt me? You're just a baby first year, what are you going to do against a fourth year."

"Nothing, he is," said James cockily, pointing to Sirius.

"EXPELLIAMUS!" he shouted loudly, swishing his wand. Nothing happened. Narcissa broke down laughing.

"Seriously, you thought you'd just casually disarm me," she stuttered, doubled over with laughter.

"Nope," stated Sirius simply. He tossed his wand to the side and punched her in the nose.

The laughter abruptly stopped.