Chapter 1

Mi Casa es su Casa

The station platform was flooded with people all shrieking, running, laughing. Remus' skinny body was jostled and bumped by the hoards of people milling about him. He clutched his suitcase with small pale hands and tried to shelter between his parents. His mother had a proud smile plastered on her face. His father wiped a tear from his eye and patted Remus on the back.

"You're going to have loads of fun. I did. Best years of my life, actually. Just throw yourself in."

Remus suddenly felt himself swept up in a hug. A part of him wanted to squirm away – after all, it wasn't like he was a child anymore – but another part of him wanted to cling to his parents so that he wouldn't be forced to board a the Hogwarts Express, full of people he didn't know.

"Just remember," he heard his mother whisper. "Remember how lucky you are to be here."

"Mum, I know," he said rather shortly and then, realising that if he didn't leave now he never would, gabbled, "ByeseeyouatChristmas," and stumbled onto the train, trying not to scrape his suitcase on the floor.

"Mudblood scum, filling up the train with their bastard offspring, soiling the name of good, decent Pureblood families…"

"Mother, please!"

The handsome eleven year old pouted and tried not to look as if he was related to the dark-eyed woman complaining loudly next to him.

"Don't take that tone with me, Sirius!" All her disapproval redirected itself at her tall son, standing, hands in pockets, with a surly expression on his face. "And do hurry up or the train will leave without you. Kreacher, carry Master Sirius' bags to the train."

"I can carry my trunk myself," retorted Sirius through gritted teeth as he hauled his trunk away from his mother and boarded the train. He could still hear her muttering to herself as she left, "They may as well let a herd of filthy Muggles on the train along with the rest of the blood traitors. Half of them are probably Squibs…"

That night Remus sat on the perfectly made bed in his dorm and pulled out of his suitcase a battered leather-bound book about the size of his hand. He flicked through the cheap thin pages. Each one had a date and an entry neatly written on it in navy blue ink. Next to each date there was a tiny drawing of the phase of the moon at the time. The entries tended to be shorted was the moon was full – mostly they because only a sentence or two long, saying things like, 'Dad only just got me to the Safe Room in time' or 'I think I broke a bookcase. Can't remember clearly' or once, in very shaky script 'Hurt more this time. Never seen so much blood before'.

Remus turned to the next blank page, dipped his quill in the ink pot on his bedside table, checked that his dorm mates were fast asleep and then began to write.

Ist September, 1971

I'm a Gryffindor! I'm sharing a dorm with Sirius Black, James Potter and Peter Pettigrew. Sirius Black seems especially pleased to be in this House. He says that his whole family before him have been Slytherins. I asked him if they would be a bit upset that he was in a different House and he said yes. I don't really think he minds that much. James Potter wanted to be in Gryffindor so I suppose he's happy about that. He had a pillow fight with Sirius as soon as he got in the dorm. They've been friendly to me but they weren't particularly nice to the other people in our compartment on the train. Especially this boy who has been Sorted into Slytherin. His name is Severus Snape. James and Sirius have started calling him 'Snivellus'. I think it's rather cruel but I won't say anything. I don't want them to give me a nickname.

Hundreds of owls swooped into the Great Hall. A tawny with cruel amber eyes landed neatly in front of Sirius Black. He cast it a contemptuous glance before taking the parchment from around its leg. The boy sitting opposite him, bespecaled and showing the first signs of adolescent acne, looked up.

"Who's it from, Sirius?" he asked. "Home?"

Sirius didn't answer. His eyes flew over the parchment hungrily, breakfast lying forgotten in front of him. James stared at him intently, the effort to remain patient almost visible. A vein twitched in Sirius' temple.

"It is from home, isn't it?" repeated James. Sirius clenched his jaw and gave a stiff nod.

"My mother," he said in a quiet and falsely cheery voice. "She found out that they sorted me into Gryffindor. One of them," – he threw the Slytherin table an accusatory look as he spoke – "must've written home like a good little Pureblood the moment I got Sorted…"

That seemed likely, Remus thought to himself. He could recall perfectly the mingled expressions of horror and shock on the Slytherins' faces when Sirius had been Sorted. Whispers had flitted around the Great Hall from those who knew about the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black and Sirius had walked to the Gryffindor table as if in a daze.

"What do they want you to do?" James asked, bringing Remus back to the present.

"Well, they want me to go to Dumbledore and tell him that the Hat was wrong and that he should move me into Slytherin."

There was a pause. Remus opened his mouth hesitantly.

"And – and are you going to?"

Sirius looked at him sharply as if he had quite forgotten Remus' existence.

"Like Hell! Do you seriously think that Dumbledore would move me? The Hat's put me in Gryffindor and there's nothing I can do about it now."

Remus shut up. Sirius seemed okay with being in Gryffindor despite his family. But the moon was waxing fast and Remus suspected somehow that Sirius might be slightly less inclined to stay in his current dorm if he ever discovered that he was sleeping in the same room as a you-know-what.

Author's notes: Well, there we go! That's chapter one. Not particularly exciting and not much Snape angst yet. :( But we'll get there.

I would love reviews – please tell me what you think even if it's only a sentence or two!