A/N: This is my first Marauders fanfic. Basically, Remus hides his secret from his friends, but they aren't as stupid as they look. Follow their journey from discovery to Animagi transformations.
Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns all these characters, I am not worthy, yadda yadda. Now on with the story!
The gleaming scarlet steam engine that was merrily making a noise in the station would have attracted attention anywhere. But this was platform 9¾, and none of the wizards and witches gathered around saying their goodbyes to their children paid much attention to the Hogwarts Express. One boy in particular was trying his very best to prise himself from his mother's grip.
"Mum, get off!" He leapt back from his mother's arms and rubbed his cheek where she had kissed him. He looked up to see his mother's eyes shining.
"Oh James I'm sorry, it's just that you look so grown-up, in your second year at Hogwarts now, and oh, my baby boy…" Here she dissolved into tears again and James Potter rolled his eyes in silent exasperation. A boy with hair as dark as James' suddenly walked up behind Mrs Potter and gave James a wink that said, "I'll take care of this." He opened his mouth and said,
"Mrs Potter?" Mrs Potter turned and smiled when she saw who it was.
"Hello dear, how are you?" The boy arranged his face into a mock-distraught expression.
"I'm hurt, Mrs Potter. You, my second mum, are here crying and I, Sirius Black, can do nothing to help. Except this." He effortlessly pulled her into a gentle hug, an effortless task as he easily towered above Mrs Potter. Sirius Black looked fairly unfriendly… he was tall for his twelve years, with dark hair and eyes that could change from warm to aggressive in a second. But he held a special place in his heart for the Potters, and therefore he looked upon Mrs Potter as a second mother. He looked down kindly and said,
"Now, I'll look after Jamesy-poo for you, as long as you promise me one thing, Mum." When she looked at him quizzically, he bent down and whispered something that made her burst out laughing, her tears forgotten. As the whistle blew, Sirius let go of Mrs Potter and ran for the train. He boarded and looked back in time to see James also hug his mum, then run after Sirius. They walked along the corridor of the train as it pulled out of Kings Cross, looking for their friends.
"Must you flirt with my mother?" growled James to Sirius. Sirius held up his hands.
"Eurgh! I don't flirt with her James… on the contrary I love her to bits. She's like the mum I never had. She's a hell of a lot better than my old bat, and cleverer too. My mum's so stupid that she blinked and got lost." In spite of himself, James had to laugh at this.
* * *
Sat quietly in one of the carriages was a pale, slim boy with sandy blond hair. He had pale skin as it was, but he looked even paler for some reason. To a passer-by, it would appear as if he was ill, but Remus Lupin knew better than to imagine that he was just suffering with a headache. The full moon was fast approaching; tomorrow night on the 2nd of September he would have to go through his monthly ritual of deceit. He hated lying as it was, but lying to his closest friends made him feel even worse. He'd never had friends like them before… would he lose them if they knew…? He closed his eyes and lost himself in thought. He couldn't have been sat there for more than five minutes when his reverie was interrupted by the sound of someone calling his name with a loud, bark-like shout. The next thing he knew, he was being roughly yet playfully tackled to the ground. He opened his eyes to be confronted by one of his best friends apparently trying to squeeze him to death.
"Hello Sirius," said Remus calmly. Sirius straightened up and surveyed Remus closely.
"Dammit Lupin, does nothing fluster you? I perform a spectacular tackle on you worthy of Ireland's star Beater and all you can do is say hello to me? Hi to you too, by the way." James now came into view and he helped Remus up from the floor.
"Ignore him Remus, it's great to see you again, mate! How come you never answered my letters during the summer? I must have sent you about one a week." Remus shifted uncomfortably as they all sat down; time to put on the mask of deceit.
"Ah you know how it is James, parents and all that. Mine wanted me to spend time with them this summer, so I didn't really get time to reply to anyone, I'm sorry." James nodded, although he wasn't entirely convinced by this explanation. Remus hurriedly changed the subject and asked where Peter was. Peter Pettigrew was the fourth member of their little gang, and at the moment he was nowhere to be seen. Sirius yawned.
"I hope he's not getting beaten up again. I don't really fancy wading into a fight so early in the school year." He looked round lazily to see James and Remus staring open-mouthed at him. Remus got up and put his hand on Sirius' forehead.
"No, he's not feverish." Sirius slapped Remus light-heartedly and shrugged.
"I'm just tired and don't want to march into anything before I have to." The minute the words were out of his mouth, the sounds of what was unmistakably Peter Pettigrew whimpering floated into their carriage. Sirius rolled his eyes and heaved himself up from his chair. "I'll be back in a second." He was true to his word; in no time at all, he came strolling into the carriage, Peter in front of him. Peter looked relieved, Sirius looked faintly irritated, and James heard him mutter something about some people always needing to hang around with people bigger than them. As they sat down, the four boys began to play Exploding Snap and wonder aloud what their second year at Hogwarts would have in store for them.
* * *The Great Hall looked as wonderful as it had done to the group of four last year when they had first arrived at Hogwarts. The Sorting had finished and they were all tucking into food, Remus slightly less eagerly than most. He felt sick and knew what was in store; nausea was always the first sign with him.
"You alright?" James' voice jerked Remus out of his thoughts and he smiled somewhat weakly.
"Yeah I'm okay, I feel a little bit ill though. I must be coming down with something." At this, Sirius glanced up from his plate, astonishment written all over his face.
"Lupin we've been back, what, ten minutes? And already you need Madam Pomfrey? I'm beginning to wonder about you two." Remus flushed, and vaguely muttered something about having a weak immune system. Sirius grinned and said, "Besides, look at Peter. Beaten up on the train and yet he's eating like this is his last meal. Like Judas at the Last Supper, eh Pete?" Peter looked up, completely oblivious to what Sirius had said and asked whether they'd heard about Professor Binns. Remus reluctantly picked up a chicken leg and began to eat with small bites; not noticing the puzzled look James gave him. The look was only wiped from his face when Dumbledore dismissed them all.
* * *
On the morning of the 3rd of September, Remus was nowhere to be seen. A query from James to their Head of House Professor McGonagall revealed that Remus was in the hospital wing. James accepted this news quite calmly, then at breakfast motioned to Sirius and Peter to follow him. They headed back up to the Gryffindor common room, Peter clutching a stack of toast. When they reached the common room, where a fire was blazing, Sirius and Peter stared in bewilderment as James walked around it making absolutely sure that nobody else was present in the room. When he had satisfied himself, Sirius spoke.
"Okay Potter, why the serious face?" Peter chimed in.
"James, you
look like you've just been told you've been dropped from the house team. What's
up?"
"Remus," answered James
perplexedly. The other two visibly relaxed at this.
"What about him?" asked Peter flippantly. "He's not well again, I know that, but it can't be anything serious." James angrily rounded on Peter the minute he said this.
"Peter, use your head! Remus has been in that hospital wing every month since we started at Hogwarts. Doesn't that tell you something?"
"Madam Pomfrey has a cute secret daughter?" ventured Sirius mischievously. He stopped when James fixed him with a stare, and then went on.
"What I'm saying," James continued whilst pacing the room, "is that it doesn't add up. None of it adds up. Why is it that none of the teachers ever chase Remus up about his work if he's off so much? If it was any of us they'd be breathing fire, but he gets away with it, and I want to know why. Besides, I'm worried about him." Sirius looked at James with a look of slight worry.
"James, listen to me. You sound like you're suggesting that Lupin has got some kind of illness that he's keeping secret from us." James waved his arms hopelessly, before rubbing his eyes.
"I don't know if that's it or what. But dammit, we're his closest friends! Doesn't he trust us enough to tell us what ails him every single bloody month?" Peter shrugged hopelessly.
"If he was a girl, I'd say it was, well, you know. Affected by the cycle of the moon and all that." Sirius laughed in spite of himself.
"Lighten up Peter, you make him sound like a werewolf." Catching James' expression, his voice changed. "Look kid, I'm worried about Lupin too, and so is Peter. But we're not going to find anything out if we're sat here. Let's go up to the hospital wing and ask him ourselves, okay?" James nodded his agreement and the three of them set off towards the hospital wing. When they got there however, they were to be disappointed.
"No." Madam Pomfrey looked unusually stern as she surveyed the three boys. There was also a hint of something else on her face, something that Sirius couldn't quite place. Was it fear, unease or pity? James muttered in Sirius' ear,
"Will you hurry up with your whole 'Black Charm' thing?" Sirius grinned and looked up to face Madam Pomfrey, his eyes now large puppy dog pools of brown.
"Madam Pomfrey, why do you begrudge us a look at our dear friend Mr Lupin? We only want to update him on the Quidditch… he loves the Wasps and we wanted to tell him how they thrashed the Cannons 250 to 40. It'd make him ever so happy, and would naturally confirm your position as the most benevolent and beautiful matron this side of St Mungos." James and Peter stifled their giggles as they saw Madam Pomfrey fight to suppress a smile. But any hopes they had of talking her round were dashed as she regained her composure and chivvied them out of the hospital wing. As they sat down on the steps Peter, careful to keep his voice casual so as not to give anything away, asked Sirius and James if they'd spotted anything out of the ordinary. When they shook their heads, he said,
"The thing is, I was peering round Madam Pomfrey when Sirius was talking to her. You can see all the hospital beds from that door, and every single one of them is empty and made. Remus isn't in the wing." When he heard this, James leapt up, fury apparent in his face. Sirius, who knew James' rages, groaned inwardly.
"Well, do you think that someone would mind telling us where the hell he is then?! Only, we are his best friends and all." A voice behind them made them all whirl round and come face to face with Remus himself.
"Do you really want to know?"
- - -
Dun dun dun! Cliffhanger! And that's the first chapter! Please R/R to tell me what you think. Constructive criticism is welcome :)