Disclaimer: I own no characters or names.
7-years-old Remus John Lupin was alone, and a little scared. He wouldn't be alone for too long, of course, his parents would come home later, hopefully with a bit food for him if they had succeeded to earn some money, but for now he was on his own. He was a little bit scared because the royal family was visiting Peverell Island, where he lived, as they did every summer and there was guards patrolling the entire island to ensure their safety. It was the first time he was all on his own when the island was filled with soldiers. Soldiers had weapons, and weapons could kill. He was a nice boy, he knew that, and even though the Lupin family was really poor they never stole to get food (except once when Hope had been very sick and had needed it to survive) so there wasn't really any reason why they would use the weapons on him, but he was still scared. He had heard stories about how soldiers could be really mean and steal from poor people and hurt them if they didn't do what they wanted. Remus knew that if the soldiers stole from his family, they would starve.
It was in the middle of the summer and it was hot inside the Lupins' shack. They lived close to the beach so he could hear the ocean call on him, locking him with the wonderful cold water. He was allowed to be outside on his own, Remus told himself. Mum and dad had wanted him inside now because of the royalties, but why would they be on their beach? It was a very small one that no one who wasn't from Peverell Island knew of.
Yes, he decided. He would go out and bath a little. If he was lucky he might find some lobsters or fish that have been flushed into the beach and they would have supper for sure.
Following the path down to the beach he marvelled in the beauty of where he lived. The shack was small, dark and not very nice, but it was placed on one of the most beautiful places in the world, if you asked Remus. Of course, he hadn't seen anything which wasn't on the island and probably never would, but he knew that there could be no prettier place than here either way. In a tree he saw a bird's nest. Maybe he could climb up and take some eggs? He didn't like to steal the bird's children, it felt wrong, but he was so hungry too. He had gotten some old bread and milk to breakfast but hadn't eaten since then and that was hours ago and he had told his parents he wasn't hungry during supper yesterday so they would eat a little too.
Suddenly his nose caught a wonderful smell. Unconsciously he walked away from the path, following it. It smelled of delicious food. He reached the edge of the beach and heard laughing voices. He didn't recognize them, only knew it was three boys, and he knew everyone on the island – it wasn't very big.
"Sirius! Give me my raspberries!" One of the voices said, laughing, and was replied with more laughter.
"Never! I will be the king of raspberries!" another voice said. Remus heard footsteps coming closer. He watched around for somewhere to hide. If he didn't knew them they must be a part of the royalties' assembly and then they couldn't see him! He wasn't allowed even close to them, no one of the commoners was if they didn't come to them first.
Remus hurried in behind one of the bushes, hoping they would leave soon, or walk past him. The delicious smell grew closer and he looked through the bush a bit and saw that it came from a picnic basket that a woman who followed the boys held. Except the boys and the woman two guards also was there, in armours with the emblem of the kingdom of Gryffindor and the royal family: a roaring lion. It looked very hot. He gasped in fright. What if they found him hiding there?
To his dismay the boys stopped right in front of the bush.
"Here is good." One of the boys with black hair said. He also had rectangular glasses. Glasses were extremely expensive, and Remus had only seen one more person have them; the mayor's wife, Madame Hooch, so these people must be rich. But if the glasses hadn't been proof enough the lady behind them soon began to pick up food from the basket, and Remus couldn't help but ogle it hungrily. He had never seen so much food in his whole life except in the slaughterer's.
The three boys began to eat and laugh with each other and Remus soon learned that the boy with shoulder-long, black hair and mostly purple clothes was named Sirius, the boy with blonde-brown hair and mostly blue clothes was named Peter and the one with messy black hair and glasses and mostly red and gold clothes was named James. They laughed and threw food at each other like food was nothing and those expensive clothes weren't something that would be taken care of. It almost hurt Remus physically to see how they wasted food like that. But on the other hand, maybe he could take some when they left. He only needed to wash away the sand from it. At the thought his stomach rumbled. His green eyes widened and he immediately put his arms over his belly as to try to stop the sound from reaching them, and when he did that he made the bush rustle too.
The three boys immediately stopped play and looked over toward the bush, and the guards held out their spears toward him. Remus swallowed in fear, sure that his last moment now had come. His parents would never get to know what had happened to him.
"Who's there?" One of the guards demanded to know. He had a very deep voice. "Show yourself, or we will force you!"
With flacking eyes Remus forced himself to stand up and he stepped out from behind the bush, shaking in fear. His eyes flickered over the boys – probably nobles – and the lady before they landed at the guards and their spears.
"Pl-please! I-I haven't done anything!" Remus stammered. "I-I just watched, I didn't do anything!"
The boys stared at him in confusion before realization seemed to dawn the black-haired boys. James raised his hand and looked at the guards.
"Lower your weapons." He said, sounding very authoritative. The guards glanced at each other before they looked at James.
"But, your highness…" one of them protested but Sirius stood up and glared at them.
"Didn't you hear what the prince said?" Prince? Remus thought, panicking. "Lower your weapons. It's an order." He demanded, with a tone that not would accept any objections. It was extremely strange to hear it from someone his age, Remus thought. He had only ever heard it from Monsieur Hooch and his mother.
After a moment the guards obeyed and held their weapons like earlier, with the tip against the blue sky. The black-haired boys stood up and looked expectantly at the last boy, Peter, who also stood up a moment later. They walked toward Remus, and first now he realized they, just like him, didn't wear any shoes. He wondered why, seeing as they obviously had money enough to own many pairs of shoes.
Reflexively Remus took a step backward. Most people in the village liked him ("those Lupins, so honest even though they have it so hard"), and most children too, but the 'rich' kids (even though they were poor in comparison to these boys) didn't really do that so mostly nice clothes meant trouble for him.
Then he swallowed and decided that he would meet his destiny as a brave boy, so his parents wouldn't be ashamed of him. At least he would probably not be killed, seeing as the guards didn't have their spears in his direction anymore.
To his great shock the boy with glasses stretched out his hand toward him, like he wanted Remus to shake it.
"Hi! I'm James. This is Sirius, and Peter." James said, stretching out his hand a little more. Hesitantly Remus took it, his upbringing setting in. As his parents always said, "being poor doesn't mean you can have poor manners".
"Hi…" Remus answered wearily. "…Your highness." He added, but to his surprise James grimaced.
"No thank you. Call me James, please." He said. Remus frowned but nodded, feeling a little more calm now.
"James." He said, tasting it. He had never known a James before, it was one of those names only important people had. "My name is Remus Lupin."
In that exact moment his stomach rumbled again as he took another breath of the delicious smelling air. He wanted food so badly, but he was used to being hungry. What he wasn't used to was being hungry when he was surrounded by food. Sirius grinned when Remus blushed slightly.
"Hungry?" he asked and Remus nodded, feeling like he should answer this boy. If adults did as he said then he probably was supposed to too. "Do you want to have picnic with us? We have food enough."
Remus stared at him in astonishment. Were these boys really offering to share that food with him? Wasn't royalty and nobility meant to be bad? Everything he had heard about people with power had been bad. The count of Peverell Island, who practically owned the place, was not a nice man from what he had heard. Lord McLaggen made life hard for the people on the island and was a quite big part in why the Lupins was so poor – and the lord's son, Douglas, was a real bully. And now these boys, royalty and nobility from the capital, from Gryffindale, offered him to have a picnic?
It seemed like the three boys saw his amazement because they looked amused, and then James grabbed his arm and dragged him to the plaid where the food was. The lady looked like she wanted to protest but Peter waved his hand and she closed her mouth and didn't say anything.
"Well, Remus, it's nice to meet you!" James said with a grin. "This is Sarah, one of my mother's maids."
Remus greeted politely but couldn't help but gaze at the food. It seemed like Peter noticed because he grabbed a plate and laid some bread with jam, fruit and cookies on it and handed it to Remus before taking some himself and began to eat.
"Come on, eat!" James urged him on when he saw that Remus hesitated. Remus gave them one last hesitant look before grabbing the bread and ate it quickly. Within a few minutes his plate was clean except the cookies. He saw the people from Gryffindale stare at him and he blushed again, staring down on his hands.
"S-Sorry." He apologized, embarrassed. "I haven't eaten in a while."
"What?" Sirius asked, surprised. "Why?"
Remus looked up and stared in confusion on the boys' faces. They really looked like they didn't understood why he hadn't eaten. But that was ridiculous. Obviously they must know why, right?
"Because we haven't had food, of course." He replied, frowning. "Not much, at least."
"Why?" Sirius asked again, he too frowning. Remus was amazed. These people, rich people with a lot of education that he never would get, knew less about the country they lived in than he did it seemed. Did they really not know that there were people who hadn't enough money for food? Did the king and queen know, then? He knew Lord McLaggen did, but he lived here in the village so that was different. Maybe no one in the capital was poor.
"Because food isn't cheap." Remus explained. "We don't have money, and we don't own any fields where we can grow our own food. Many villagers gives us the food they don't need, but they're poor too so they can't give much."
"So… what you're saying is that you don't get to eat?" James said slowly. Remus shook his head.
"I eat. I'm alive, aren't I? Mum and dad gives me everything they can, but sometimes I refuse to eat so they will too. But there's some people that don't. My grandma died because she gave all her food to me. It was when I was too small to know that she had to eat too."
James and Sirius looked shocked, but Remus realized Peter didn't. Maybe Peter had known. James seemed to realize this too and looked at his friend, asking if he knew about this.
"Yes." Peter answered. "There's poor people in Aleria. In Gryffindale and Grimmauld too. Especially in Grimmauld. Sirius, haven't you seen your own estate?"
Sirius looked ashamed.
"I suppose I haven't noticed."
Remus felt this was beginning to get a little too deep for his liking, but he didn't dare to say something, so instead he took a bite from the cookie. His pupils widened. Chocolate. He had eaten chocolate once before, on his last Christmas, and it had been delicious. But it was extremely expensive and Hope and Lyall had saved money for months to be able to give him a few bits of chocolate. It was something he had never thought he would have again, seeing that they lived hand-to-mouth. But even though they did, he did have a few nice things, even a book, because his parents saved every coin they could to give him everything they could. Remus moaned quietly, enjoying every bit of the marvellous taste.
The three other boys smirked when they saw Remus' almost blessed expression and dropped the subject of poorness. They began to chatter and made sure that Remus ate everything he could, and Remus only smiled and felt incredibly grateful. When they finished the food he felt full for the first time in his life. By this time he too was dragged into the conversation and was talking with the other three boys like they had known each other forever, and had completely forgotten about the guards, Sarah, and the fact that they was located at completely different places in the hierarchy.
As soon as they could move again they began to play, and it wasn't before the sun began to fall closer to the ocean Remus realized he had to go home. His parents should be home by now. When he told his new friends, because he thought that was what they were, friends, Peter immediately ordered Sarah to give him the rest of the food. Remus tried to say no first, he thought they had done enough for him already, but they refused to take no for an answer. With a grateful smile he took the basket with the food, which still was heavy of the food inside, and thanked them.
"It's nothing. We've got lots more." James assured him. "Do you want to play with us again tomorrow?"
"Of course!" Remus exclaimed. It was ages since he had had this much fun.
"Great!" Sirius said happily. "Where do you live?"
Remus pointed toward the hill next to the beach.
"Next to Nundu Hill over there. A small shack. But now I gotta go. Mum and dad are probably home by now."
They said goodbye and Remus took the basket and left. He hurried home, knowing that his parents would be worried. He hadn't meant to be away for so long, it just had been so fun and the time had flown away.
When he walked in through the old door two relieved cries reached him.
"Remus!" and within seconds he was embraced by two sets of arms. He hugged back, feeling very ashamed of having made his parents so worried.
"Were have you been? We've been so afraid! What is this?" Lyall added when he saw the basket Remus was carrying. Remus smiled slightly.
"I'm sorry. I forgot the time. I made some new friends!" he exclaimed, unable to hide his excitement. New friends was very rare on the island seeing as everybody already knew everybody.
"New friends?" Hope asked with a smile, less worried but still upset over coming home with no Remus there even though they said he would stay at home, and then no Remus for hours. Remus nodded eagerly, almost jumping up and down. He was so filled with energy after all that food.
"Yes! Their name's James and Sirius and Peter! They had a picnic and they invited me when they found me! Oh, and James' the prince." He added with afterthought, thinking his parents might want to know. "They gave me the basket, it's filled with food. Even some meat! And chocolate!"
Hope and Lyall froze.
"Th-the prince?" Lyall asked and Remus nodded. He understood his parents' reactions, seeing how afraid he had been.
"Yes and Sirius is marquis of Grimmauld and Peter's going to be count of Aleria. I don't know what these places is but… They're really nice! I was scared first, but they invited me to their picnic and I got to eat as much as I wanted and then we played and then I realized it was sunset so I had to go home. But they want to play tomorrow again! Can I show them my things?"
Lyall and Hope glanced at each other. They wanted to say yes, it was a long time since they saw their son this happy and all of them needed all happiness they could get, and if Remus had been allowed to eat it could be nothing but really good, but still, it was the prince and the lords' sons. Royalty. Their only experience with nobility was when Lord McLaggen's tax collector came. On the other hand… it might be a possibility to give Remus a better life. They wanted their only child to have a life where he didn't have to count every single coin and only could hope that he would get to eat this night. Perhaps these new friends of his could give him that. In the end they nodded.
"Yes, Remus. You can."
Remus' smile lightened up the dark shack and Hope and Lyall couldn't help but smile too. His happiness meant everything for them. If he was happy with these new friends, then they couldn't keep him away from them.
Next day Hope and Lyall stayed at home. They wanted to meet these boys, to know if they were good for their son. Remus was just happy to have them with him. It wasn't very often he got to have them at home a whole day, because they had to work, and he was too young to go with them on many things because it would be dangerous for a child. They ate some of the bread and even a little ham to breakfast, and it was completely different to the old grain bread they usually ate. It felt almost celestial to eat it for all of them.
Suddenly voices was heard from outside the thin door.
"Do you think it's here?"
"It should be, it's the only house next to this hill."
"But can someone really live like this? It's so small!"
"Come on, knock. If it's wrong, then we'll have someone find the right house."
Remus smiled and jumped up from the floor where he had been sitting, playing with some spruce cone animals he and his parents had made. He opened the door and grinned as he saw the boys outside.
"James! Sirius! Peter!"
They grinned back.
"Remus!"
Behind them two guards was standing, like yesterday. Remus guessed they always had guards with them. He would ask later. He let them in and they stared around in astonishment. Remus shrugged. He had had people at home before and most had reacted like this seeing as most people on Peverell Island lived better than them, and since these boys probably lived in castles he supposed his shack was extremely small for them. But it was home.
Remus introduced his friends for his parents, who couldn't help but stare at the three well-dressed boys (their colourful clothes were an extreme contrast to the dark shack and the brown, worn and patched clothes of the Lupins) but they didn't seem to mind. Probably they were used to being stared at. But it went smoothly and then Remus eagerly began to show his things for his new friends, and his most treasured possession: his only book, the Tales of Beedle the Bard. He and his parents had read it so many times that it would've been in bits by now if they hadn't taken so careful care of it. It was the most expensive thing the Lupins owned so it wasn't something they would risk to destroy. It had been a gift from the village's doctor's wife, Mrs Ramsey, when Hope had been deathly sick and Remus had got it to get his mind of things.
The three nobles had quickly realized that for Remus, all those things, the book, the stuffed wolf, the lion of tree, were real treasures and acted thenceforth. Hope and Lyall smiled widely. They knew these boys had things that was worth more than everything they owned, and still they did everything to not making Remus feel less worth or that his things weren't as nice as theirs. It mean the world to them. Maybe there was hope for the ruler class after all.
After a few hours, when Remus had taught the other boys how to make spruce cone animals and plait wreaths it knocked on the door. Hope got up to open and gasped in shock when she saw that a man in red and golden clothes (though paler than James') stood there with a solemn look on his face.
The boys looked over and the three nobles sighed.
"Good day, Lord Codnor." James said formally as he stood up and made a low bow, and so did the other two even if theirs was a little deeper. The man – Lord Codnor apparently – bowed back, deeply.
"Good day, your highness, milords." He replied smoothly. Neither his voice nor face did say anything about his mood. It was almost a bit spooky if you asked Remus. "Their royal majesties requests your presence."
"Of course, milord." James answered. Remus and his parents on the other hand froze. All of them felt horrified. The king and queen wanted to meet them? It was one thing with James, Sirius and Peter, they were children, but the king and queen were their rulers, the most powerful people in the country and two of the most powerful people in the world since Gryffindor was one of the most powerful kingdoms in the world together with Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Hogwarts. "We will come directly."
James turned back to the Lupins.
"Seems like mother and father wants to meet you. I guess we shouldn't be surprised, they want to make sure we don't meet the wrong kind of people – people who could hurt us and such. That's why we always have guards with us. They will be there until we've learnt how to defend ourselves. Both Sirius and I are great with the swords, but apparently not good enough."
"You needn't worry." Sirius said. "Their majesties are very kind. They'll love you, Remy."
Remus wasn't sure if he liked his nickname, but he liked his new friends too much to say anything. He nodded uncertainly. The three nobles just told the Lupins what they were supposed to do and then they went with Lord Codnor. It wasn't long to the village, only a mile, but there was a few horses waiting outside. Remus had only seen a horse close twice, when he was with his parents when they had a job in the count's stables a short time, and was a little intimidated. The nobles easily swung upon the horses, which actually were ponies to match the size of the riders, and looked at the Lupins, waiting.
In the end Remus rode on the same horse as his father. Both his parents had at least ridden a little before – they could a lot of things a little bit seeing as they took every job they could – and they made their way toward the village.
Remus felt the villagers' stares as he came there, on a horse, together with people who so obviously came from the royalties' assembly. He both felt amused and uncomfortable. They arrived to the Royal Family's summer castle, which were untouched the whole winter except for the people who cleaned it and the gardener's family. He had been close to it before, during the winter, but it didn't have half its beauty during the winter months. Now it was life everywhere, servants and animals, people in beautiful clothes hurrying here and there or just walking, flowers and fountains. It was a wonderful sight. But the thing that caught Remus' attention the most was one part of the castle garden where there was a lot of playthings. Swings and slides and trees to climb. It looked so funny.
When they climbed down from the horse some stable boys immediately came to fetch them. Two of them were friends of Remus' who stared at him. He waved awkwardly.
"Hi." He said. They weren't awfully close friends, he didn't have any of those, but he played with these boys regularly, even if he didn't think they would miss him very much if he disappeared. Probably would only his parents do. James, Sirius and Peter looked questioning and he gestured to the stable boys.
"I know them. James, Sirius, Peter, this is Jeremiah and Kyle. Jemmy, Kyle, this is James, Sirius and Peter."
They both bowed and Sirius nodded in return.
"We've met them. They made our horses ready this morning." He didn't sound very interested and didn't answer on their "Good day, milords, your highness. And Remus, Mr Lupin, Mrs Lupin.". Actually, only James did and only with a nod. Remus was confused, but decided not to care. He and his parents followed them when they began to walk away.
"Gotta go! See ya'!" he called and they waved hesitantly back when he disappeared.
They followed the nobles through the castle's hallways, staring at everything. They had never seen so much expensive things. Remus felt very much out of place in his old clothes. He had fit better in the stables with the other village boys. All the servants in here had uniforms or nicer clothes than he had at least. Remus wasn't ashamed that they were poor, and he was proud over his parents who worked so hard, but it was hard not to feel small in here. Especially as the three nobles, as soon as they came in public, seemed to float into a role of the persons Remus had imagined nobles to be, at least in behaviour even if they still was nicer than he had thought.
They looked so incredibly important and Remus knew he looked dishevelled with his worn clothes and quite dirty hair, and the same applied on his parents who was even dirtier because of all the hard work they did. They tried to keep themselves clean but it was hard when you lived like they did. Soon they walked through some oak doors that was opened by two guards and as soon as they closed Remus realized Lord Codnor wasn't with them anymore, and the three nobles looked much more relaxed in here.
The room had scarlet walls filled with portraits with golden frames, and the furniture was extremely elegant even though it seemed more comfortable than the rest of the castle's.
"Welcome to our quarters." Peter said with a smile. Remus' eyes widened. Did they live here? James smiled at Remus' gaze.
"Yes. This is our common room. Then we've got our own personal rooms too. At home we have our own quarters of course, but this castle is too small for that. Well, at my home. When we're in Aleria or Grimmauld I and the other guest sleeps in guest rooms or in a few occasions, in each other's' rooms."
The nonchalance he said it with was incredible. This only room was bigger than Remus' whole house. Shack. Sirius seemed to notice Remus' reaction and raised his hands.
"Remus, don't believe we didn't like your home just because we lives in castles. At least at your home you can go a whole day without anyone coming in and tell you that you have to do something. Well, at James' you can that too sometimes, but both Peter's and my parents – especially mine – tries to have us study or meeting diplomats all day."
Remus nodded slowly. He would've loved to be able to study all day – an education was his biggest dream, which he never would reach since it cost too much, but meeting diplomats sounded boring. James clapped his hands and a man in uniform came in and bowed.
"Your highness?" he asked.
"Please take out some clothes to Remus and his parents, Nathan." He ordered and the man nodded and left. "That's my manservant." James explained for the Lupins. "He's nice, but extremely boring."
Soon Nathan returned and gave clothes to the Lupins. Remus had never felt cloth that soft, and he had never ever had coloured clothes since it was expensive to colour fabric. Nathan showed Hope and Lyall where they could change and soon the Lupins all had new clothes and a maid came in and brushed Remus' hair – they didn't have time to wash it. He was overwhelmed and wasn't sure what to say, actually. The nobles grinned and began to ask Remus about the myth about merpeople in the ocean outside Peverell Island and Remus soon forgot the alien feeling of high-quality fabric.
After a while it knocked on the door.
"Come in!" Sirius called and the doors was opened. Outside two people stood, a man and a woman, in expensive jewellery and the man looked a lot like James in hair and face meanwhile the woman had James' brown eyes. It wasn't hard to understand that this was King Fleamont I and Queen Euphemia of Gryffindor even though they didn't wear any crowns. Especially as everyone in the room, including James, got on their feet and bowed or curtsied. Remus hurried to do the same even though it felt awkward. He had never been taught how to bow so it probably looked strange.
They both smiled when they walked in and waved to everyone to stand up again. Remus felt relieved as he did so.
"Mother, father." James greeted, smiling.
"James." They nodded and smiled back. "This is your new friend?" they looked at Remus who unconsciously took a step backwards. Even if James was very nice he had lived his whole life in fear of the only nobility on the island and it wasn't hard to forget. James nodded.
"Yes. This is Remus Lupin, and his parents, Hope and Lyall Lupin."
"A pleasure." The queen said and reached out her hand to Remus. After a moment hesitation he took it and did as Sirius had told him earlier, bowed and kissed it. It was extremely strange, but the queen didn't seem to mind his ineptitude.
"Ditto, your majesty." He said, hoping he did alright. He glanced up at the queen who still smiled. She did look kind, like Sirius had said before. But then why did she allow Lord McLaggen to terrorize the village?
He greeted the king too and they greeted his parents before they sat down in the red coach in the middle of the room. The royal couple asked them a couple of questions but otherwise they most listened and seemed to be quite interested in Remus, which Remus never had expected from such important people.
Two hours later they left to go home, but was allowed to keep the beautiful clothes and got back their own, washed. None of the Lupins wanted to accept it, those clothes cost more than they earned during a whole year, but finally King Fleamont ordered them to take them.
"Th-thank you, your majesty." Hope stammered, in shock.
"You're welcome, Mrs Lupin." The king replied with a kind smile. "Have a nice evening."
The rest of the summer Remus played with James, Sirius and Peter almost every day. He had never had so much fun and thought the three nobles were much better friends than he had ever had. He felt closer to them than the people he had known his whole life and who was much closer to him in status. After the first week Remus even stopped worrying about the people around him and that they would think he was insolent who dared to call the prince and the lords by first name and only had fun. And for the first time in his whole life, the Lupins didn't go hungry. Of course they didn't eat as much as not poor people, but they had enough to even feel full sometimes. It was a miracle and Remus enjoyed every second of it. Sometimes he had tried to get his old friends in it, but they were nervous around the nobles and the nobles didn't seem very interested. They learnt their names but not more. Also, by now Remus was sure that he knew more of the summer castle than anyone else on the island. His favourite part of the summer was his encounter with Douglas McLaggen. Douglas had been horrible against him as usual but then James, Sirius and Peter had come out and threatened to have him whipped if he ever hurt Remus again, with words or physically. It was a bit harsh if you asked Remus, but it was really funny to see Douglas stammering trying to excuse himself.
But much faster than Remus would've wished the summer ended and it was only a few days until his friends would go home again. Almost worse, now they were used to eating but his parents still hadn't got jobs so even though they had money saved, for the first time ever, they would have to get used to being hungry again. Before it hadn't been a problem because they were always hungry and Remus hadn't even known how it felt to be full, but now he knew and he feared the hunger. Two nights before James, Sirius and Peter would leave he cried himself to sleep meanwhile his parents in vain tried to calm him down. He cried because he didn't want to be hungry again, and he would miss his friends. He had never ever felt like he belonged in the same way as he did with them, which again was extremely strange since they by all logic didn't belong together since he was a poor commoner and they were toward the richest and most powerful people in the world.
The next day, the day before they should leave, three very excited boys came down to the Lupins' shack and walked right in, as they had got used to during the past weeks. Remus was helping his mother clean meanwhile Lyall was down in the forest to cut wood for the smith. Remus was just cleaning out the ashes of the wood stove as they ran in. All of them looked startled as they saw him, seeing as he and his clothes was entirely black because of the ashes.
"Whoa." Peter exclaimed, not really knowing what to say. Remus looked up and smiled when he saw them, even if his smile wasn't as big as usual.
"Hello." He greeted. "If you can just wait some moments so I can finish, and then I think I can go. Can I, mum?"
Hope smiled, she was changing the sheets in the only bed in the room (Hope and Lyall's. Remus slept in the coach) and nodded in answer.
"Sure. Just clean yourself first. You're sooty."
The three nobles looked at each other, unsure, before turning to Hope.
"Eumm… Mrs Lupin, do you want help or something?" James asked unsure. He had no idea how you cleaned, but it felt selfish to just stand here doing nothing meanwhile Remus was cleaning. They weren't sure why they felt like that, because they didn't even think about it when it was the servants in the castle, but they did. Hope smiled again and shook her head.
"No thank you, your highness. It's fine."
After around fifteen minutes Remus finished cleaning the stove, grabbed his other set of clothes and took his friends with him down to the ocean to bath off the ashes. They quickly took off their clothes and the usual guards stood a bit away since they by now had accepted that none of the Lupins was dangerous for the prince or the young lords before the boys ran into the water and began to play. Soon Remus was clean, even though it took a while to get away the ashes from his hair, and they walked up on the beach again, exhausted but happy.
They dressed again, Remus in his other pair of shirt and trousers, and sat down in the sand, gasping for their breaths. After a minute James sat up.
"We're going home tomorrow, you know?" he asked, and Remus nodded sadly and dragged his fingers through his wet hair.
"I know. I'm going to miss you. I've never had so much fun as I had this summer."
The three other boys looked happy when he said this and smiled. James grinned.
"What if you didn't have to?" he asked. "Your parents still haven't got jobs, right?"
Remus shook his head. It was a real problem. They had managed this long, but as he grew he would need more food and new clothes. He had very bad conscience about the burden he was for his parents, even if he knew it wasn't his fault. But what did James mean with 'didn't have to'?
"Mother and father said that your parents seemed very trustworthy, and they had people to talk with the villagers. They're willing to give them jobs as their personal servants! You could come with us, and live in my castle! But if you don't want to, we understand." He hurried to add. "I mean, it's beautiful here and this is your home, so…"
Remus was speechless. They offered that he and his parents could go with them, leave Peverell Island, move to Gryffindale and get real job as personal servants to royalty? He loved the island, he had never known anywhere else, but…
"I-I…" Remus stammered, not sure what to say. "I need to talk to mum and dad."
His friends nodded and Remus picked up his clothes and ran back up to the shack. During this time Lyall had come home and was now helping Hope to sweep the floor. They took one look at their bewildered son before hurrying toward him.
"Is everything okay?" Hope immediately asked and Remus swallowed, still trying to overcome his shock. He threw his sooty clothes in a pile next to the door before looking at his parents.
"James said that their majesties has offered you a job their servants in the castle in Gryffindale." He said in one breath, thinking that that was the only way to get it all out.
Hope and Lyall gaped, staring at their son.
Finally they caught themselves and looked at Remus.
"Do you want to?" Lyall asked carefully. Remus looked upset, but something glittered in his eyes. It was hard to say whether he thought this was good or not. Remus swallowed once before taking a deep breath and looking at his parents.
"I think so. I would miss them very much otherwise, and you having permanent jobs would be great, but I'm scared. I have never been elsewhere and going to the capital and the royal castle is scary."
Hope bowed down and hugged her son and Lyall put a hand on his shoulder with an understanding smile.
"I know. But I think we should go. Maybe we could get enough money to send you to school, if it isn't is too expensive in Gryffindale."
Remus gasped, his green eyes sparkling when he looked up at his father with hope in his eyes.
"Do you really think so?"
Lyall nodded.
"We'll do our best. I promise."
"Then we'll go! Please!" Remus exclaimed, jumping up and down. His parents laughed and nodded, sending him down to the beach to tell his friends that they'll do it.
James, Sirius and Peter got very excited and they happily began to chatter about everything they would show him before they left to go back to the castle and tell their parents. Remus went back to the shack to pack his few belongings and help his parents pack and say goodbye to all his friends and the villagers.
The next day two servants came down to them to escort them to the harbour. They didn't have much things, Remus had one bag with his other sets of clothes and those he had gotten the first time he met the king and queen, his few toys, his book and some other things, like beautiful stones and such. Lyall and Hope carried three bags with everything they would have with them, but everything else they had left since they couldn't take the stove and the chairs with them. On the ship they got new clothes since they couldn't go around in rags if they were going to be a part of the court, even if they only was servants. And one of the prince's best friends.
The journey with ship was very exciting if you asked Remus and his curiosity wasn't a problem because James and Sirius were just as curious about the ship and he could follow them around when they asked the sailors how everything worked. Apparently they both loved the sea and would've wanted to be sailors if they already hadn't had their futures chosen for them as king and duke.
The journey took three days and during this time Remus didn't see much of his parents. He shared a cabin with them, but they had sleepover in James' cabin one of the nights, and the boys ate breakfast and lunch together. It was only during dinner he had time for them, it was so much new to see and do. It was strange for them all, seeing that earlier had Remus been with them every second they were free from work, but Hope and Lyall only enjoyed seeing their child so happy, so glowing, where he ran around and climbed on the ship with his three friends. He also had got to know the king and queen a little during this summer and he liked them very much. They were kind and had good humour, and it seemed like James had inherited his mischievous ways from his mother. Remus felt a little sad as Peverell Island disappeared, he had lived there all his life after all, but mostly he felt excited over everything that would come. He would live in the same castle as James, and Sirius and Peter would visit, and he wouldn't have to worry about food anymore, and maybe, just maybe, would he get to go to school – something he hardly had dared to dream of earlier. It all seemed too good to be true, but it wasn't. It actually happened!
When Gryffindale, which was a port town, came into sight Remus was caught in the prow, staring at the sight, and so was his parents. The royal family, Sirius and Peter joined them.
"It sure is a beautiful sight, isn't it?" King Fleamont asked and all Remus could do was nod. The gigantic castle rose over the city, its tower sprouting toward the sky. James pointed toward one of the towers.
"There's my quarters. In the highest tower. It's called Gryffindor Tower, since it's where 'the kingdom's future is resting' which mean's me, the heir of the throne." He grimaced. Remus giggled a little, it sounded quite funny, and James grinned toward him.
Three months later Remus is sitting in James' study reading one of his books about history. Sirius and Peter is visiting, but all of them are on their lessons and Remus has already finished the little work he does – cleaning up James' toys and sorting his notes about different things (he will get more as he gets older) – and have nothing to do, so he takes the moment of loneliness to study a little. He still hasn't got the opportunity to attend a school, but hopefully he will be able to soon. Only that except the fee for attending he also needs at least two uniforms, books, pens, notebooks, ink, quills and more and books is very expensive even if they're cheaper here in Gryffindale than on Peverell Island.
Remus was just reading about the last Great War between the five great nations when James, Sirius and Peter dropped into the room and he dropped the book in surprise. He hadn't heard them come, so engulfed had he been in the book, so when they suddenly stood next to him he wasn't ready.
"Oh no." Remus gasped before diving down and taking up the book, making sure it wasn't damaged. Sirius smiled. He found Remus' obsession with keeping things whole quite funny.
"It's okay. We drops our books all the time, they can take it. And if not, we only buys a new one."
Remus on the other hand still had extremely hard to cope with his friends' nonchalance about money and nice things. But he guessed that was what happened if you literally had things served to you on a silver plate (or gold in James' case) your whole life.
"We only dropped in because James' forgot his book in diplomacy. Do you know where…?" Peter asked. Remus sighed and pointed toward one of the bookshelves.
"Second shelve to the right." He told them. He loved to be here, he got to read all their books and most of the books in the castle's library, but he was very jealous about that they got to attend to private lessons, and they didn't even like it. They always complained about school, and he would keep his mouth shut because he was worried that he would scream at them how lucky they were who got to go to school, and to study for the best teachers there was. What wouldn't he give for that chance? What wouldn't his parents give to give him that chance? And his friends weren't even grateful.
James took up the book Remus' had been reading, the Proud History of the Kingdom of Gryffindor by Samuel Loonat, and looked at it.
"Why are you reading my history book?" he asked, confused why anybody would study if they didn't have to. Remus shook his head and took the book from James' careless grip.
"Because I want to learn, of course. Not everyone is allowed to go to school, you know, and I want to know things so I study the best I can." He said patiently, keeping himself from sounding frustrated.
"You-you want to go to school?" Sirius asked surprised. "And you don't get to?"
Remus sighed.
"Yes, I want to. More than anything. And it isn't like I don't get to, but school isn't cheap and even though we're a lot better off than before we don't have the money."
"Oh." Was all they said before they had to leave for Diplomacy.
The next morning the three of them bounced into the Lupins' quarters – a living room, a kitchen and two bedrooms – and shouted at Remus to get ready.
"What's going on?" Remus asked as he came out to them from his bedroom, smiling at his friends' eagerness. They grinned widely as Hope and Lyall also came out to them; they had a free day today.
"I talked to mother and father yesterday." James said. "And after a while they told me that yes, you could go to classes with us! So get ready, you're going to school!"
The Lupins stared at the prince in shock.
"…School?" Remus whispered, afraid that he had heard wrong. James smiled and nodded.
"School. With us. In an hour. So hurry up! We've got English first and Professor McGonagall won't be happy if we're late! Especially not on your first day! You needn't worry about equipment, you can share with us."
Suddenly the shock let go of Remus and he threw himself on his friends, unable to help himself.
"Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" he chanted, over the moon of happiness. They laughed and hugged him back before they parted.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Sirius demanded to know. "Get ready, I won't get detention because you took too much time in the morning."
"Nah, you get detention for pranking the teacher." Peter muttered cheerfully and Sirius nodded solemnly.
"Exactly."
Remus ran back into his room to get the few things he had meanwhile Hope left to the kitchens to make Remus a breakfast sandwich. Lyall's eyes shone with gratefulness when he looked at the three nobles.
"Thank you so much, your highness." He said, smiling widely. "You've just made one of mine and Hope's biggest dreams go true; give Remus an education. We can't thank you enough."
James blushed slightly, feeling a little embarrassed. He hadn't actually done anything, his parents had never been able to say no to him since he was their "miracle-child" who got born when they thought they never would get a child. So the only thing he did was telling his parents that he wanted Remus to go to classes with them and keep saying it a few minutes and then they agreed.
"It's nothing, Mr Lupin." He replied, feeling a bit awkward.
"Oh, but it is." Lyall assured him. "You hopefully learns that as you get older, but for someone like Remus, or someone like Hope and I when we were young, an education is something alien, something you dream of but knows you will never get. An education is the key to a better future, but the key is on a place you can never reach. But you gave Remus possibility to reach the key when you took us here, and then you gave it to him when your parents allowed him to participate in your lessons."
Thankfully, if you asked the three nobles, Remus soon returned, took the sandwich his mother gave him and they left to go to James' quarters before classes, so the brown-haired boy saved the nobles from more embarrassment. Really, it was nothing. They had only wanted to do something nice for their friend, and it was a bit selfish too because lessons would probably be a bit more funny if Remus was there too.
An hour later the four boys sat in the prince's classroom, waiting for their teacher to arrive. Remus had got parchment, ink and quill from James and shared book with Peter, who he sat next to. He felt nervous, because meanwhile he had met Professor McGonagall – Lady Minerva McGonagall, advisor to King Albus of Hogwarts – before, he had no idea what she really was like, and even less like a teacher. Also, this was his first lesson ever and the three other boys obviously knew a lot more than him since they had studied for years.
"Calm down, Rem." James said with a grin and Remus flinched at the surprise. "Minnie is strict, but she loves us and she'll love you too. You know, she's one of the only people in the castle allowed to use our first names even though she doesn't very often."
Remus nodded and suddenly the door opened and Professor McGonagall came in. Three of her students grinned and her new student glanced at her nervously. She looked at him. She didn't smile, but her eyes seemed sympathetic.
"Good morning, Mr Lupin." McGonagall said. "I've understood you're going to join us from now on?"
"Yes Professor." Remus agreed nervously and she nodded.
"You might get a little hard to keep up in the beginning, but I've understood you're intelligent and if necessary I will give you extra lessons."
Remus' eyes widened. Would she do that? She was a noble after all, and it was one thing to allow him to participate in the lessons, another to lay her free time to help him catch up with the other three. She seemed to sense his shock and smiled slightly.
"I suppose you can read?"
Remus nodded mutely and she began the lesson.
"Today we're going to study one of the most famous children stories, the Tale of the Three Brothers, to find the message of the story and if you think it might be any truth in it." She told them.
After the lesson Remus was happy. It had been really interesting, and he had known the tale by heart since he had read it so many times and his parents had told him that one his whole life. He suspected that McGonagall had chosen to do this today simply because his first lesson would be easy, and it was confirmed when Sirius exclaimed that this was the easiest lesson he could remember but he didn't particularly care. The rest of the classes during the day, such as etiquette (which was the hardest since he in difference to the others hadn't got any education in this other than usual manners) with Professor Penrose, Music with Professor Flitwick (Flitwick quickly saw that Remus seemed extraordinary talented with instruments) and a course in History (which was quite easy since Remus already had read all books about the subject he could come over), was interesting and he immediately liked many of the teachers even if Professor Trimble seemed to deem it unworthy to teach a commoner but Remus didn't care much since he was too happy over actually going to school – for free even.
Afterwards the boys took it for them to teach Remus horse-riding too, so he would be able to follow them on their adventures and when Remus went to bed that evening after doing his homework he was exhausted, but happier than he had been in a long time, which didn't say little since he had had some of his best moments in his life during the time since he met James, Sirius and Peter.
Review!
Even if you didn't like it I would appreciate if you said so, as long as you tell me why you didn't like it so I can write better next time. After all, criticism makes the writer or something.
This was the first AU I have ever written, so I don't really know whether it's good or not, but I hope it's okay at least. It took three days after all. I apologize that it was so long but I didn't want to make it a multi-chapter fic and I wanted to get a lot in it. And I didn't really know how to end it either, but I hope it was an okay ending. :)
