A/N: Reposting this slightly reworked story, before I post the new version of it's sequel. Enjoy!

xxx

Chapter 1 - Be careful what you wish for

Remus sat in his bedroom, gazing out of the window at the whitewashed walls of the houses opposite, their roofs capped with snow. It was the thick of Winter and he was stuck inside with no one to play with. He sighed, his warm breath condensing on the cold window and wished fervently for a companion.

"Remus, sweetheart?" called his mother's voice from the doorway. "Can you come downstairs for a moment?"

Remus took one last mournful look out at the crisp, clear morning, then clambered down from the window sill and made his way over to his mother, a questioning look on his face. She picked him up, smiling, and carried him downstairs.

"Go on," she said, setting him down in the hall and giving him a gentle prod in the direction of the lounge.

Remus looked up at her and waited patiently for further information, still looking slightly bemused. His mother laughed and gestured once more for him to enter the room. Hesitantly, he poked his head around the door and surveyed it's occupants warily. A strange couple were sitting next to each other on the settee, drinking tea out of his mother's best china cups and talking quietly with his father, who was relaxing in an armchair. The strange women suddenly caught sight of him and smiled warmly.

"You must be Remus."

Remus nodded cautiously, sidling into the room and heading towards his father.

"These are our new neighbours, Remus," explained his father. "Mr and Mrs Archer."

"Oh please, call me Charles," laughed the man. "And this is my wife Sarah."

Remus smiled shyly at them, wondering why his mother had wanted him to meet them.

"They've got a daughter around your age, Remus," said his mother, right on cue, bringing in a plateful of biscuits. "She's in the garden. D'you want to meet her?"

Remus paused momentarily. Yes, he'd wanted a friend to play with but a ArchergirlArcher? Slowly he nodded; after all, any playmate was better than no playmate, right?

"Remember to put on your coat and scarf," reminded his mother as he hurried out of the room.

He grabbed his things from the special low peg his father had installed for him and pushed open the back door which had been left slightly ajar.

"Hello?" he called, looking down the white slope of the lawn.

"Hello?" echoed another voice. A girl with gleaming black hair, cut into a long fringe at the front that fell into a pair of dark blue eyes peered out at him from behind the small shed.

"Hello?" said Remus again, examining the girl curiously. The girl stared right back, mirroring his inquisitive stance, then giggled and asked:

"Is that all you can say?"

"Huh?" he asked, staring blankly at her. She giggled again, grinning cheekily at him.

"What's your name?"

"Remus John Lupin," replied Remus warily. "What's yours?"

"Katherine Arcadia Archer."

"Oh." Remus stared at her for a moment longer, trying to think of something else to say. He was shy enough around other boys of his own age – how was he supposed to deal with a girl? What was it they liked to talk about? Dolls? Pink things?

"Hey! Lupin!" yelled a brash voice from his left, breaking the awkward silence. There was scrabbling noise on the other side of the fence and a boy's head appeared over the wooden panels. Remus eyed his ten year old nemesis suspiciously; William Isaacs had dark brown hair and small mean eyes that always appeared to Remus to be black.

"Want to come over and play?" grinned William, and Remus thought he heard stifled laughter on the other side of the fence; Will obviously had company.

"No thank you," said Remus politely, looking nervously at his neighbour.

"Oh come on, it'll be fun- OW!" There was a thud as Will lost his footing on the flimsy wooden panel and fell backwards onto the grass in his own yard. Remus frowned and was about to go back inside when he heard the already familiar giggle of Katherine. He looked over at her as Will peered over the fence once more.

"Who threw that snowball?" he asked, glaring at Remus who shrugged. Will's gaze travelled around the garden and alighted for a moment on Katherine's wide eyed expression of innocence before flickering back to Remus. "If I find out who threw-" Will's threat was abruptly cut off as another fistful of packed snow hit him squarely on the nose and he toppled backwards for the second time in as many minutes.

Remus stared in shock at Katherine, who was dusting off her gloves as though nothing had happened. She caught his eye and managed to keep her innocent expression for a full two seconds before bursting into a fit of giggles.

"You threw them?" asked Remus, frowning; starting a snowball fight didn't seem like a very girly thing to do. In answer Katherine scooped up another handful of snow and hit him in the chest. Remus stood motionless for a moment, pondering this turn of events, then grinned and stooped to make his own missile just as Will's head reappeared over the fence for the third time, accompanied by a ginger haired boy of about the same age.

Remus paused, snowball ready in his hand, then looked over at Katherine, who was also on the point of throwing a similar projectile his way. He raised his eyebrows in question and got a huge grin in return, and as one they both turned and tossed the snowballs at the common enemy.

Remus laughed as Will and his friend jumped hurriedly down from the fence, narrowly missing being hit for a third time, and, from the raised voices, landed on top of each other on the snow covered grass. Remus looked over at Katherine and smiled; maybe having a girl for a friend wouldn't be quite as bad as he'd thought.

"Katherine?" asked Remus, drawing her attention away from the muffled argument behind the fence and onto him.

"Yes?" she asked, pushing dark hair out of her eyes. Remus grinned, and held up a freshly made snowball.

"Duck."

xxx

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