Hello! Long time no see; I haven't posted in a while due to holidays, exams and a bad case of writer's block. But I'm back!
I know many have done this before, but I couldn't help but take my own stab at writing the Marauders series, from years 1 to 7. Here's hoping I actually complete it :D
Now, I'm going to try to make this as canon as possible - obviously this is difficult, with the most of the Marauders' story being shrouded in mystery of which I can only make guesswork of... but I'll do my best. If I make any mistakes or miss out anything really important, then let me know and I'll do what I can to correct it. Although, I must point out, that I may not include particular scenes that we know of already (i.e. the ones in the books and the films) because that's kind of directly taking Rowling's work literally from the page - instead I'll work around them and mention that they happened.
As it's canon, this will eventually be a Jily fanfiction, but because I simply must, I'm going to make it a Wolfstar fanfiction too, so if that's not your kind of thing, much as I'd love for you to read my story, I'm just making it clear that this pairing will come up as the story goes on.
I'll put a disclaimer here, rather than every single chapter: I'm sorry that I'm not JK Rowling guys, and I sadly do not own these wonderful characters.
Apologies for the long A/N; I'll let you get to the story. Enjoy!
This was it. The beginning of a new era.
It had been a while ago when Remus Lupin had looked through the window of his compartment and waved at his parents until they and the station had become too small to see. It had also been a while ago when the nerves had begun to set in, but Remus was doing his best to ignore that. He was finally off, to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Even now, the thought brought a smile to his face. He had been so sure, so certain that he'd never deserve a place, never be considered as being worthy enough to be taught in the arts of magic; even when the letter had arrived confirming his place, he'd assumed it was a mistake. That was, until, when none other than Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster, had knocked at their door. And now, here Remus sat, on the train to a school to learn and be educated, like a person – a human. The thought was so surreal in his mind. Remus peered over through the compartment window again, where rolling hills of green blurred by and the sun glowed through. Even the weather was impressed, Remus smiled.
His eyes trailed across the rest of the compartment, where there were empty chairs. Remus had never really spent that much time with other people his age, let alone had friends. He still wasn't quite sure how he was supposed to act, to communicate with other students. But he was certainly going to try. This was his first, proper chance; the first opportunity he had been given to be considered normal, to be deemed deserving… and he was hoping to do his best in making sure he belonged as much as possible, however difficult that may be. The only thing that worried him was being discovered – because he knew that the moment someone found out about him, he would be sent away in disgust.
Remus shook away the thoughts plaguing his mind, and glanced down to his hands. The jumper he was wearing was far too big for him (it had been second hand), and the sleeves bundled up right to his knuckles. He loved the jumper all the same – in fact, the size made it all the more better; he could curl up within the fathomless realms as though it were some large blanket, cocooning him from the rest of the world. He did so now, hiding a yawn under the great swathes of material. It was nearly lunchtime and already he needed a nap – which was excusable, giving the circumstances. His muscles were already aching for the coming full moon later that week. Remus snuggled up further in his jumper, hoping to perhaps get a little rest…
Remus awoke – had he fallen asleep? And for how long? – To the sound of knocking at the compartment door. He glanced up in surprise, to see the figure of a young girl that looked around his age, with long, dark red hair. She slid the door open and peered in.
"Is it alright if my friend and I come and sit in here? Our last compartment had a pair of idiots and everywhere else is full."
Remus blinked slowly. He can't have been asleep for that long, he decided, as the sun was still high in the sky. He gave the girl a shy nod, who in response beamed and walked in, followed by her friend – a young boy also around Remus' age, with a pale face and black greasy hair.
The girl took the seat opposite Remus and grinned. "Thanks very much; I thought we'd have to go back to those boys in our first compartment," she said with a roll of her eyes, before extending out a hand. "My name's Lily Evans." Remus stared at her hand curiously, before slowly untangling his own from within his jumper and stretching over to shake hers. "What's your name," she continued with a pleasant smile.
"…I'm Remus," he mumbled politely.
"Nice to meet you, Remus! Oh, and this is Severus."
He glanced to the other boy who had sat beside Lily; he was already wearing his dress robes, and wore a mildly annoyed expression. His lip curled up in distaste as he looked Remus over. "Nice jumper," he muttered by way of introduction – yet he sounded amused by his own comment; it was snide. Lily turned and glared at him.
"Thank you," Remus replied with a wide smile, ignoring the sarcasm; the boy, Severus, appeared stunned for a moment.
Lily gave Remus a sympathetic smile, before tactfully changing the topic. "Are you looking forward to going to Hogwarts, Remus?"
Remus nodded again. "I think it's going to be very interesting. I'm looking forward to learning all the different things about magic."
"Oh, are you a muggleborn too," she exclaimed. "I am. Severus here isn't though, so he's been explaining a lot about the magical world so that I understand it better."
"That's nice of you," Remus told Severus, who merely shrugged as he kept his eyes trained to anywhere other than Remus. "I'm a half-blood," Remus said to Lily, "but I don't know that much about this world either."
"That's alright," Lily nodded, "Severus says it doesn't matter as to how magical we are, really. But if you want to know anything, ask away; I might be able to explain some things."
Remus looked over at her with a smile. She was being very nice, he thought, considering who I am – not that she knows about that, of course. He was more used to the reaction he was being thrown from Severus: the sneer and the suspicious glare. That was usually how he was treated by other magical folk. But Lily was being kind, and offering to help him out; though Remus was tired and sore, he decided to keep this conversation going as long as possible, simply because he was fascinated by the prospect.
-oooO0Oooo-
The train was slowing to a stop. It was now evening, and Remus had changed into his more appropriate dress robes. He'd walked out of the compartment with Lily and Severus, and exited the train to step out onto a platform lit by glowing orange lamps. Up ahead was a large, looming shadow, holding one such lantern aloft. "Firs' years, over 'ere," boomed the voice of the shadowy figure, to the barks of a big dog slobbering at the shadow's feet. As Remus walked over, the figure became clearer: he was a giant of a man, with a great tangle of dark hair and a beard obscuring the most of his face, save for two twinkling, beetle-black eyes. Remus lost Lily and Severus amongst the crowd of first years that were clumping around this giant – but no matter, Remus decided. He would probably see her later.
"This way," the giant man directed, swinging his lamp and leading the first years off along a narrow path. Remus was dragged along the herd of the others, getting elbowed and clipped in places by others as they walked. Gasps of delight could be heard from the front and rushed through the crowd as they turned a bend. Remus glanced up, as everyone else had done, to see a grand black lake, and beyond that the mountainous silhouette of Hogwarts in all its glory.
"No more'n four to a boat," the giant instructed, as first years began to dart about to get a space on the boats. It appeared that many students had already made friends and were trying to sit with them; just as Remus wondered whether he could find Lily again, her hand grabbed his arm and tugged him to a boat.
"Hello again," she said brightly, as she clambered in the boat in Severus' wake, dragging Remus in too. Another boy practically fell in after Remus, sending the boat wobbling precariously.
"Are you alright," Remus asked, offering a hand to help the boy up. He was small, a little rotund, with blonde hair and watery blue eyes that widened up at Remus. The boy nodded quickly and scrambled to his feet, with Remus' help, before taking his seat.
"FORWARD," came the mighty voice of the giant, the echoes rippling across the lake's surface, and all at once the boats started to move in unison towards the castle up ahead.
Remus looked around to the other boats: other potential classmates, roommates… friends, he thought longingly. He wondered quite what it would be like to have a true friend – or even a group of friends.
"Heads down," the giant warned; Remus whipped his head around quickly in surprise to see they had reached the cliff of which Hogwarts sat upon. Remus ducked his head down as the boats trailed through a curtain of ivy, and on still through a dark tunnel. Finally, the boats slowed at the point of what seemed to be an underground harbour, and everyone stepped out upon the rocks, looking around in awe. Once again, the crowd followed after the giant, to a staircase which led up to a grand set of double doors. Three knocks resounded loudly; they were about to head into the castle at any moment. Remus swallowed down his nerves, and his gaze caught sight of the small blonde boy, who was quivering with fear. "Don't worry," Remus assured quietly, "It'll be fine." The boy nodded and gave a weak smile of thanks – at which the doors swung open.
A tall, thin witch, bespectacled and with black hair in a tight bun, appeared at the doorway. Her lips were pursed as her eyes washed across the nervous group of first years; she thanked the giant, and directed them to follow her lead.
The walked into the entrance hall, which was ginormous; the ceiling was leagues away, and straight ahead of them an imposing grand staircase swept up to the upper floors. Torches held in brackets lit the hall, and to the right was another room, where a great deal of noise escaped through the ajar doors. The woman paused, and turned to face them all.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said, peering down at them over her glasses. "This, for the next seven years, is to be your school, which I hope all of you have high expectations to do proud. Before we begin the start-of-term feast, you will be placed into your houses, of which you will find you treat as your family through the years.
"There are four houses at Hogwarts: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin and Ravenclaw – all of which have been known to produce a great many outstanding witches and wizards. You can gain house points as reward, but you can also lose points for rule breaking. At the end of the year, the house with the most points wins the annual House Cup, which is considered a great honour.
"The Sorting Ceremony in front of the rest of the school is about to proceed, so I suggest," her eyes narrowed slightly as she scrutinised them, "you try your best to smarten up."
At once there started up a rustling of movement as students attempted to straighten their ties, brush down their robes and tidy up their hair. Remus swallowed again, checking his tie multiple times out of paranoia that it had suddenly unravelled to an appalling state. The Sorting Ceremony? That didn't bode well. How do they sort people? How would they sort him?
"Form a line, now," the witch stated sharply, "and follow me."
Remus stepped behind the smaller boy, and together the first years were led into the Great Hall. Immediately Remus felt he had been blinded; everything was so bright. He blinked rapidly, to take in four long tables (already occupied with the rest of the students of the school) that ran along the hall. Remus doubted he'd ever seen a room so big. Looking up, he squinted at the thousands of brightly burning candles floating above their heads, and beyond that, the scope of an evening sky. Did the ceiling not exist? Remus looked to the walls, to note that they faded from stone to a navy blue the further up his eyes travelled; perhaps the ceiling was enchanted. At the opposite end of the hall, there was another table, which faced the rest of the hall, where the professors were sat – including the giant man who'd brought them to the castle. At the centre of this table there sat (Remus beamed) Albus Dumbledore himself. Remus relaxed somewhat at the sight of a familiar face, as they were led over to the front of the hall.
The strict looking witch that had brought them in now placed a stool in front of the first years, upon which sat an old hat. It was immensely frayed and patched up in multiple areas. Remus frowned slightly, as everyone else stared at the hat, as though waiting for something to happen.
After a couple of moments of silence, a rip near the brim of the ragged hat opened like a mouth – and all at once, the hat began to sing.
"Welcome, young wee first years,
I am the Sorting Hat.
I may be ragged and tatty,
But I know where your mind is at.
With one look I can tell
Exactly which house you do belong.
And be assured: in all of my sorting,
I have never once gotten it wrong.
Four houses there are, and each unique,
With attributes they consider the best.
And so you must decide out of these which is close to your heart,
That you value more so than the rest.
Is it bravery and a chivalrous mind
Of which you do adore?
For those of such with great daring and nerve
Belong in Gryffindor.
Or perhaps is it the kindness of friendship,
And loyalty that you hold dear?
Therefore you would do well in Hufflepuff,
Among those true and patient here.
Or is it intellect that reigns strong,
To help you surpass far more?
Quick witted minds of ingenious creativity
Suit well in Ravenclaw.
Or if not, do you admire achievement,
And feel that is where to begin
In order to attain true greatness?
Then you'll do well in Slytherin.
So now is the time to discover,
Where all of you do belong.
Thus without further ado, I thank you,
For listening to my Sorting song!"
Applause erupted throughout the hall; Remus clapped too, though slightly bewildered by the whole thing. The hat fell still, and beside it the tall witch rolled out a long piece of parchment. "When I call out your name, you will sit on the stool and put the hat on, to be sorted into your house." She began to declare each name from the list, and one by one, pupil after pupil walked up with expressions of excitement and fear over to the stool. Once the hat was put on each head, it came to life once more, and after a pause (or some consideration) it shouted out the student's house to the rest of the school. Nerves began to claw at Remus. The witch was steadily getting through names, for subsequent applause to ring in his ears as each pupil took their seat after being sorted. What if he didn't fit with any of the houses, because of his condition? Dumbledore might consider Remus worthy to be a student here, but what if the hat thought otherwise?
The small boy beside him gave a small gasp as the witch stated, "Black, Sirius!"
Remus peered curiously to the stool, where a gangly boy with black hair strode over, taking a seat and having the hat put on his head. After several moments' consideration, the hat yelled, "GRYFFINDOR!"
Remus winced expectantly for the cacophonous applause, to find that it didn't come. He frowned. The entire hall was silent. Remus looked back to the boy, so named Sirius Black, who appeared utterly shocked. His mouth opened and closed, and his eyes darted confusedly between the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables.
The sound of clapping broke through the thick silence – and it was coming from amongst the crowd of first years. Hundreds of eyes swung around – including Remus' – to fall upon a boy with dark, messy hair and glasses, wearing a broad grin and clapping enthusiastically.
Slowly, the rest of the hall began to clap too; Sirius smiled gratefully to the spectacled, grinning first year as he hopped off from the stool and darted off to the Gryffindor table. The Slytherin table didn't clap at all, they just started whispering and shooting Sirius odd looks, which Remus found very odd. What was wrong with a first year being placed into Gryffindor house?
The list went on, and Remus' stomach plummeted further with nerves.
"Evans, Lily!"
Remus watched with a smile as Lily walked nervously over to the stool, her legs shaking. She sat down, and a second after the hat had been dropped onto her head, it cried, "GRYFFINDOR!" Applause resounded: Lily stood up and walked over to Gryffindor table, shooting her friend, Severus, a sad smile. No one reacted to her sorting as they had to Sirius… except for Lily's friend; Severus had practically crumpled in disappointment as the hat had spoken Lily's house.
Further on the list ploughed through – Remus had been quick to realise that it was ordered alphabetically, and knew he was getting closer and closer to hearing his name. His heart was hammering in his chest, his limbs feeling weighted and heavy, and the noise of the hall was making him giddy. Closer and closer until his name was to be called; Remus felt slightly lightheaded. All this tension was painful to endure so close to the full moon.
"Lupin, Remus!"
That was him. His name. Remus walked through the crowd and over to the tall witch, and he sat obediently upon the stool. For a moment, he sat with his gaze upon the entirety of the school – when the hat was dropped onto his head and the brim fell low over his eyes.
"Ah," came the hiss of a voice in his ear. "Interesting, very interesting… I've never had to sort a werewolf before…"
Remus froze. For a horrible moment he was certain that the whole school had heard those words too. But, then again, he hadn't heard the hat discussing with anyone else.
"Oh, there's a clever mind in here, that's for sure… incredibly quick… loyal, too… and a pure heart…"
"So you think I belong in a house, then, do you," Remus thought. "Because I know that I do. Dumbledore himself told me that I should come to this school."
"Really?" There was a pause. "You would do well in all of the houses, you know… so, the question is, where you think you belong..."
Remus faltered. "I'm not quite sure where I belong," he thought honestly.
"Because those with a knack for studious learning," the hat continued, "usually side with Ravenclaw."
Remus frowned. "I'm not just here to study," he thought indignantly. "This is my first chance to prove to everyone that I'm more than what everyone thinks I am."
The hat hesitated. "You're a defiant one, aren't you?" The hat paused again, before shouting – and Remus could hear this shout resound across the whole hall – "GRYFFINDOR!"
The hat was retrieved from his head and Remus picked himself up from the stool. The whole table for his new house was applauding him as he walked over and took a seat: it happened to be beside Lily, who beamed at him.
Remus looked back up to where he'd just come from, and further on to the staff table behind, his head reeling with the overwhelming noise and relief that he'd been placed. His gaze ran along the staff table, when it snagged upon startling blue eyes; Remus backtracked, to see Dumbledore smiling over at him. Remus reciprocated the gesture weakly, his nerves calming once more.
"Pettigrew, Peter!"
The small, watery eyed boy that Remus had been stood with quaked as he walked to the stool. It took a while until the hat finally exclaimed, "GRYFFINDOR!"
Remus smiled over at the boy, Peter, as he took a seat beside him, looking pale and nervous in the aftermath amidst the applause.
"Potter, James!"
As the first year sauntered over to the stool, Remus recognised him as the boy from earlier, with the black, messy hair and glasses. The result was instantaneous; perched upon the stool, with the brim of the hat brushing the tips of several chaotic strands of hair atop his head, the boy grinned as the hat yelled, "GRYFFINDOR!" He jumped up immediately, his grin growing wider at the cheers, and rushed over to the table, where he took a space on the bench on the other side of the table from where Remus sat. The boy practically launched himself across the table to grin excitedly over at the other boy, Sirius. "I knew you'd get in! What did I tell you?"
The Sorting continued, the repetitive applause giving Remus a dull headache. Now that he was placed into his house, he wanted nothing more than to go and sleep. Lily was peering around Remus to get a better look towards the Sorting: Remus shuffled back and turned around curiously.
"Snape, Severus!"
Remus caught the sound of subsided giggling from along the table, but ignored it and watched with Lily as the boy made his way over to the stool. He heard Lily sigh as the hat shouted, "SLYTHERIN!" Remus turned back to see Lily looking a little downcast. "I'm not surprised, really," she informed Remus, "he really wanted to be in that one. I just… I would've liked to have been in the same house as him."
"You'll still see him though," Remus pointed out. "In classes and free time, and on weekends and stuff."
"Very true, Remus," Lily nodded, brightening up. Remus was surprised she'd remembered his name. He wasn't exactly a memorable person, after all. The Magical Society preferred his kind to be forgotten.
The Sorting was coming to a close, and the lasts rounds of applause dimmed down. As the tall witch took the Sorting hat away, Dumbledore rose to his feet with a twinkle in his eyes. "Let the feast, commence!" He exclaimed loudly.
Remus suddenly caught the overpowering scent of all manner of foods; he looked to the table and to his surprise the table was cluttered with hundreds of dishes that had most certainly not been there before. There were sausages, bacon, eggs; roast pork, roast beef; roast potatoes, boiled potatoes, chips; carrots, peas, broccoli; gravy, ketchup; there were even a couple of bowls filled to the brim with sherbet lemons.
Remus had been ready to collapse onto a bed and sleep, but with all this food laid out before him, he couldn't help but take a few things here and there (particularly on the meat side; one of the side effects as he drew closer to the full moon). It was absolutely scrumptious.
Just as he reached out for the gravy, the flicker of a silvery figure swam through the table. Remus' jaw dropped in astonishment; it was a ghost. The small boy beside him, Peter, yelped. The ghost beamed across to them. "Hello, there! Pleasure to meet you all. Wondrous sorting this year."
"Who are you?" Lily asked him politely.
"I am Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington," the ghost introduced with a bow as he floated above the table. "Resident of the Gryffindor Tower."
"Nice to meet you, sir," Remus said quietly with a smile.
"Are there other ghosts as well," Lily said.
Sir Nicholas gestured to the rest of the hall. "Take a look for yourself," he beamed.
Remus gazed across the hall, and sure enough, other silvery figures were trailing around, greeting pupils and talking animatedly amongst one another. Sir Nicholas bowed once more, before gliding off, humming to himself.
The meal came to a close, to which all the food miraculously disappeared from the tables and in its place arose assortments of desserts. Remus immediately went for the plate of chocolate éclairs, taking one and quickly demolishing it, before his eye caught sight of the various ice cream flavours, and he simply had to have a spoonful of the chocolate one.
All too soon, the puddings disappeared. Remus was utterly stuffed, and definitely ready to sleep now. His muscles were begging for him to lie down.
Professor Dumbledore got to his feet once more, beaming towards the school. "I hope you've all enjoyed the feast," he said happily. "Now, before we all pop off to bed, I have a few announcements to make.
"First years should be aware that the forest at the edge of the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. Also, a reminder that magic should not be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term; please talk to Madam Hooch should you wish to play for your house team. Finally," he added, with a grave note in his voice, "a tree called the Whomping Willow has been placed in the grounds of Hogwarts, but that does not give one invitation to go investigating it. Anyone who chooses to go near the Willow do so at their own risk." Remus frowned. Why would they plant a tree, and then keep it upon realising that it was dangerous to go near? And what exactly made a tree so dangerous?
"But for now: to bed with us all!" He clapped his hands for order, and at once the hall came to life with movement. A pair of tall Gryffindor pupils appeared, one stating, "First years, follow us: we're Prefects, we'll take you to our house Tower."
Remus got to his feet alongside Lily and Peter, and the first years were once again herded along, through the doors of the Great Hall and up the grand staircase Remus had seen earlier. They trekked through corridors, up many staircases – which were moving at random intervals – and down thin, spiralling passageways that Remus was certain he'd never be able to remember. Finally, they stopped outside a portrait of a large woman dressed in pink. She was moving within her portrait, smiling down at them all before asking, "Password?"
"Crataegus monogyna," one of the Prefects responded; the woman nodded and the portrait swung forward, revealing a large round hole in the wall. "Come along through, then," the Prefect instructed, climbing through. Remus followed on, clambering into a cosy, round room draped in red and gold at every nook and cranny. There were several squashy armchairs surrounding a glowing fireplace, and a golden chandelier hung in the centre of the room. The wooden floor was covered in carpets – which were, again, a deep red with gold lining.
The Prefects directed the girls through a door to their dormitory, and the boys to the other. Lily smiled at Remus before being dragged with the other girls to her new room. Remus followed after the other boys, where they walked up a spiral staircase. At the top was a door, which was opened to reveal a round dormitory, with four four-posters draped with red velvet curtains. With a sigh of relief, he found his trunk and brought it over to one of the beds, and collapsed down upon the red quilt cover. He closed his eyes and smiled, as he listened to the commotion of the other three boys.
"What's your name, then?" Remus looked up, to see the boy with the messy hair and glasses peering quizzically down at him.
"I'm Remus," he replied politely. He sat back up, to have his hand stolen and tugged into a vigorous shake.
"Brilliant," the boy grinned. "My name's James Potter."
Remus managed to extract his hand from the grinning boy, and he gave a small smile. James spun around and pointed over to the boy with the black hair, who was gazing around the room from where was sat cross-legged on his bed. "And that's Sirius," James continued. Sirius looked over upon hearing his name, and saw James and Remus looking over at him; he waved. James swivelled around to see Peter standing in the middle of the dormitory. "Oh, he exclaimed, "Who are you?"
"Peter."
"Welcome, Peter, to the Gryffindor first year dormitory," James announced with a grand wave of his arms, darting over to shake Peter's hand. He then proceeded to circle the room, running animatedly with a great energy that Remus could only admire.
Remus stifled another yawn just as he thought this. Now was not the time to be conversing – there was plenty of time for that to come. For now, what was in order was several hours of a decent sleep. At this Remus pushed himself off his bed and opened up his trunk. Quickly finding his pyjamas, he closed the trunk and pushed it under his bed, leaving it to organise another day. He made to get changed – to remind himself that there were three other boys currently in the same room. He couldn't risk the chance of them seeing his scars. After a moment's panic, Remus remembered the curtains around his bed. He scrambled over to the four-poster and drew the curtains, quickly getting changed. Remus folded up his robes, put them at the end of his bed, and slipped under the covers. He immediately fell asleep – despite the sound of James whooping from outside the curtains.