Author's Note: Is it just me or does anyone else have problems with FFN too? During the last days, I couldn't read several stories and sometimes the latest updates were not listed at all... Strange...

Just so you know: This chapter is not meant to glorify smoking. It's just meant to create Sirius an image as a bad guy ;-)

Chapter Two

Confrontations

Remus Lupin liked the food in Hogwarts. He liked Lily. He liked the teachers. He did not like Sirius Black.

That was Remus's personal summary of his first day at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was strange to think that one single boy could outweigh all the good things of one day… Right now, however, Remus was busy with hungrily gulping down his second portion of mashed potatoes, while Lily was explaining to him about Hogwarts and its rules.

"…if you want to play Quidditch, go to the captain of your House, they will usually do tryouts. We have a new captain this year, John Lee, he belongs to Black's gang too but he is not half as bad as the one we had last year…"

Remus was not particularly interested in Quidditch and he was outright lousy at flying. He had never had someone to train with. When he was just about to shove another heap of mashed potatoes into his mouth, his food lifted off. Flabbergasted, his gaze followed the yellowish pulp which gently floated past his face and halted in midair right over his head.

"Black, don't drive me crazy with your childishness," Lily's annoyed voice jerked him out of his almost paralysed state. He tore his eyes away from the floating food and his eyes met Sirius Black sitting opposite him at the table. He was leaning back in his chair, his wand lazily directed at the mashed potatoes, and grinned self-confidently at Lily.

"You can't take a bit of fun, can you, Miss-Perfect-Evans?"

"I just wonder what your idea of fun is!" Lily shot back. "Whatever, as a prefect, I will take points from your House if you don't stop this…this nonsense immediately," she said warningly.

"That's not a very convincing threat, my dear. You won't go through with it. Besides, if you did, I'd certainly splatter this delicious meal on your neighbour's head and who knows, maybe your beautiful, long, red, shining, definitely washed with Fairy Conditioner hair would be ruined too."

Incredulously, Lily shook her head. "How would you know what Fairy Conditioner is? Oh, maybe you use it so all the girls will think you're so irresistible?"

Splash!

Cheers and laughter erupted around Remus. He had to blink several times until he could recognise the blurred faces of the laughing students. Clumsily, he tried to wipe the sticky, slushy stuff out of his face but it just got worse. The pulp stuck to his fingers and he just smeared himself up even more.

"Black, you're the most…immature, childish, babyish person I know!" Lily ranted while Remus started helplessly licking the mash from his fingers but he knew it was really pointless: It would take a very long time to lick it all off.

"See, I knew you wouldn't take points from your own House, Evans," Sirius said self-satisfactorily. He and his friends stood up and left the Great Hall.

Lily made a furious sound, then she pushed a handkerchief into Remus's hand, which he gratefully accepted. "Of course I don't take points from my own House! Black loses enough points anyway! If I take points from Gryffindor too, we'll be on the last place of the House Cup again! And the problem is: He knows very well I won't take points from Gryffindor! He's driving me nuts!"

"I think I'm going to take a shower," Remus changed the topic and indicated the mess of his hair. He and Lily looked at each other for a moment. Then both of them burst out laughing at the same time. "I must look like a complete idiot," Remus chuckled.

"Too right," Lily agreed, grinning.

When Remus entered the Gryffindor common room, he was met by a loud voice.

"Stylish hairstyle, Lupin!" It was one of Sirius's friends. That remark caused more laughter and more derisive comments on Remus's appearance.

It was then that Remus had enough of it. He had had enough of being laughed down.

"Black, could you lend me your Fairy Conditioner?" he asked ostensibly calmly and amicably. "I mean, it even helps against your dandruffs, doesn't it?"

"You use Fairy Conditioner?" asked a blonde girl who sat next to Sirius, and she sounded almost disgusted.

"You have dandruffs?" another girl asked incredulously.

"Sure, I've got dandruffs, warts, spots, athlete's foot, festers all over my body! …oh, yes, I forgot, there's a toe missing on my left foot!" Sirius retorted aggressively.

Satisfied with the reaction he had evoked in Sirius, Remus went up the spiral staircase to his dormitory and looked for shampoo in his trunk (naturally, he did not use Fairy Conditioner). Suddenly, he heard the door slam shut behind him. He was about to straighten up and look who had caused the noise when he was brutally seized and shoved hard against the wall.

His attacker was Sirius Black and he was very angry. Remus had no chance to struggle against him as Sirius was taller and stronger and pushed his shoulders hard against the wall.

"What are you doing?" Remus gasped.

Sirius tightened his grip on Remus's shoulders so that his fingers dug painfully into Remus's flesh. "Listen, if you spread lies about me one more time, you'll be in mighty trouble! You understand me? You'll be in really big trouble!" He leant closer, his face inches from Remus's, and a scornful sneer tainted his handsome features. "Do you understand me?" he asked threateningly. Remus could feel Sirius's hot breath on his face, he helplessly squirmed and tried to free himself from Sirius's grip, only to be roughly shaken once again. "Answer me! Do you understand?" Sirius repeated. His dark hair hung in his face, almost hiding his face behind it, making him look really dangerous. Remus nodded weakly.

"And now go and wash out that ridiculous stuff from your hair!" Sirius said contemptuously and pushed Remus away from him, making Remus stumble on his trembling legs and landing ungracefully on his bottom. "Merlin's pants, you're pathetic," Sirius said disdainfully, turned on his heels and slammed the door shut behind him.

Too afraid Sirius might come back, Remus hardly dared to move or breathe. When several minutes had passed without anything happening, he decided to follow Sirius's advice to finally wash his hair. Supporting himself on a bedpost, he rose on his shaking legs and grabbed with equally shaking hands the shampoo bottle, which he had dropped when Sirius had attacked him.

He locked the door to the bathroom three times until he felt relatively secure. When the hot water ran down his back, he felt again the lump forming in his throat. He did not know how he could ever survive through this school, which suddenly seemed so hostile towards him. At the same time, he was outraged by Sirius acting as a leader of that stupid gang of his. Brutally, he rubbed the shampoo in his hair. There was a bitter taste in his mouth. Maybe it was the shampoo – or maybe it were tears.

-------

Remus had to share a dormitory with the other four Gryffindor boys in his year. No one was exactly happy about it. Chris McKinnon curtly showed where he was to sleep (to Remus's horror, it was the bed next to Sirius's) but aside from that, the other boys just behaved as if Remus was not there at all. Remus thought it could have been worse. For the moment, he was glad that no one threatened him. Feeling really uneasy, he sat on the edge of his bed and pretended to be busy rummaging his few belongings for the umpteenth time.

Apart from Sirius Black and Chris McKinnon, there was the boy who had made the remark on Remus's hairstyle. He was tall with blond, curly hair, a little nose and lots of pimples. The other boy was smaller and somewhat inconspicuous. He did not seem to be particularly hostile towards Remus.

While Remus removed his neatly folded clothes from his trunk, folded them neatly and place them into the trunk again, the other boys told each other of their holidays.

"I heard your sister got a new boyfriend, Alex," Chris addressed the blond boy with the many pimples.

"Yep, she got to know him when we were in Portugal," Alex, who sat on the windowsill, replied nonchalantly. He leant out of the window and spat down.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, stop!" Sirius counted the seconds until the spit hit the ground, it seemed. His arms crossed over his chest, he leant casually back against the windowsill. "Lousy performance."

"I really wonder how she manages to get new boyfriends again and again," Alex said. "With her looks…" The other three boys laughed briefly.

"What about you and Megan, Sirius?" Chris asked curiously.

"That has already been over for a long time," Sirius said, unaffected. "Dumped her in the Hogwarts Express, before the summer holidays."

"I see. So? Is there someone new?" Chris asked interestedly.

"Nah. I don't get to see many hot chicks during the holidays."

"Why don't you pick up that little Malfoy?" Alex suggested. "You've certainly seen her, haven't you?"

Sirius grimaced in irritation. "She's stupid."

"But cute," Chris said, grinning. "You see, if I were you, I'd consider her for a little flirt in the holidays."

"Too dangerous. My mother might hurl herself into the marriage preparations." That remark earned lots of laughter again.

"That's alright. I'm happy if you leave her to me," Alex said mischievously, making the boys laugh even harder. Remus did not grasp the joke in it at all. He wondered if it were just these four boys or if everyone here was as disgusting as that.

"And what about Lucia?" asked the little boy, who sat next to Chris on his bed.

"Lucia?" Alex pretended to have forgotten the name. "Aaaah, who needs Lucia if I can have Belinda Malfoy?"

"Uh-oh, don't let Lucia hear that," Chris said, waggling his finger in mock warning at Alex.

"Cigarette?" Sirius pulled a little packet out of his cloak.

"Sure, sure!" Alex said enthusiastically.

Sirius gave out cigarettes to the three boys. Then his gaze rested on Remus. He seemed to consider it for a while but then he abruptly asked harshly, "Want one too?"

"No thank you, I don't smoke," Remus said and blushed slightly.

Without paying him further attention, Sirius got back to his place in front of the window.

"Wow, that's really a luxury brand," Chris said admiringly after thoroughly examining his cigarette. "How did you get your hands on them?"

"Nicked it," Sirius said, shrugging as if it was not a big deal at all. "In Knockturn Alley."

Chris and the little boy looked at him in awe and Alex wolf whistled. "That's brilliant, mate."

"It's really hard stuff, you know," Sirius said casually. The others nodded knowingly. After a short time, thick, pungent smoke filled the room. It smelled distinctly of wormwood and made you feel sleepy but it also gave you a bit of a headache. Remus had to try very hard not to cough. Soon he closed the curtains around his bed and lay down to sleep.

But sleep did not come easy. Even when everyone else had already fallen asleep, Remus lay still awake in his grand bed. Maybe it was the still lingering unpleasant smell from the cigarettes. Or the new bed, which did not feel uncomfortable but just so different. Or the fact that there were four other boys in this room who did not like him. Or maybe it were just the many impressions and sensations of this big castle, which was buzzing with life and so unlike the life Remus had had earlier.

When he decided to get up and get something to drink or go to the toilet, he realised he was not the only person who was still awake. The room was completely dark and he could only recognise Sirius's scheme because he was leaning out of the open window, puffing little clouds of bluish smoke into the night air. Remus thought he resembled a living shroud. Dark, dangerous, a silent predator of the night. Very careful not to produce a sound, he closed the curtains around his bed again and lay down. He did not want Sirius to notice he was being watched. He feared Sirius was the kind of person who would even become aggressive if someone just watched him.

-------

The next morning, Remus had almost overslept. He had had only very few hours of sleep and he was not a morning person at all. To make matters worse, he had double History of Magic, which proved to be exceptionally soporific.

After the lessons, Lily took him aside. "I've heard you have picked a quarrel with Sirius Black," she said, shaking her head. "Don't do that again. It's not worth it. You're just making your life a living hell."

"Honestly, I think it's bad enough if someone just drops mashed potatoes on my head for no reason whatsoever!"

"Of course that's not great but trust me: Black can do much, much worse things than dropping mashed potatoes on your head. He can't cope with being a scorn to his comrades. And since Potter has left, he is even worse… Potter was his best friend," she added as an explanation upon seeing Remus's confused expression. "He was as bad as Black but now he's gone to some sort of Quidditch training academy and since then, Black obviously thinks he has to make up for it, making as much trouble as two people, you know. This morning, he really shocked the first years with such disgusting, wet, slippery hands which would grasp their throats – isn't it great what sort of rubbish some shops sell?! – he beat the living daylight out of Snape and I just heard him show off with the amount of detentions he has already been given by Filch – Filch is the caretaker." Lily took a deep breath. "What I wanted to say is: Stay away from him."

Remus would have liked to argue that it was very difficult to stay away from someone if you shared a dormitory and had most classes together. But then it was already time for him to hurry to his next classes, Herbology.

When he arrived at the greenhouses, many students were already there. Remus uncertainly took a look around. Most of the other students stood together in little groups, chatting animatedly. Not knowing if he was allowed to just join a group, he nervously shuffled his feet in the wet grass. Then he saw Davies, the girl with whom he had Defence against the Dark Arts, walking down the slope from the castle. She was alone and searchingly looked around. Remus quickly took a few steps towards her.

"Hello!"

She briefly looked at him absent-mindedly. "Hi."

"Do you have Herbology now too?" Remus started a conversation.

"No, Potions," she retorted slightly mockingly but not really unfriendly.

Remus grinned. "By the way, I wanted to tell you that lethifolds do not live in Europe. They are very rare and are only found in tropical regions. So you don't have to worry."

She grinned but rolled her eyes in irritation. "I'm neither anxious nor stupid. I've already checked in my textbook for Care of Magical Creatures."

"Oh –"

"Hi Lucia!" Alex, Sirius, Chris and the little boy had appeared behind Davies.

"Hi Alex." She kissed him lightly on his cheek.

"In what kind of company are you?" Sirius reprimanded her. "You better be careful, we don't want you to become a little nerd like him."

Alex put an arm around Lucia's shoulders and suddenly the five of them had formed a circle and Remus was on the outside.

"So have you already a date for studying together in the library?" Sirius teased her.

Davies laughed. "Don't be so mean, Sirius."

Remus quickly put a few feet of distance between him and them. He did not feel like listening to that conversation any longer.

And the rest of the week passed much like that.