The moon had just settled for the day and the sun had come out to shine when Remus Lupin found himself cold, shivering on top of scarlet and gold blankets.
He looked around, dazed and confused, and feeling very disorientated. Why was it so dark? Why was he so cold?
Then, it all flooded back to him.
A wide grin slowly stretched across his face as his mind managed to fit together the pieces and come to the conclusion that he was in Hogwarts.
Just as Remus felt as though he could probably do something extraordinary, like a cartwheel or other similar acrobatic moves, last night's supper came back to him.
How could he have said such an awful thing to an innocent girl?
She wasn't really innocent, said a small, evil voice in his head
She had, of course, called him a hag, but had that really merited his racist reply. Remus Lupin didn't care at all about the blood that ran through people. Remus Lupin was kind and forgiving.
He got up and walked over to the bathroom which was connected to the dorm.
A large, slightly dusty mirror was placed on one of the walls.
Remus looked into it.
Who are you?
Sirius Black awoke to floorboards creaking and curtains being ruffled.
He felt almost euphoric as he realised that he wasn't at home and that wasn't Kreacher coming to bring him down to the dining room.
It was all over in a second, though, as he saw the unmistakable red of his bed hangings and sheets.
What will mother and father do?
Sirius felt nothing but dread as he got up and padded over to where the shared bathroom was situated.
He put his hand on the doorknob and twisted it, but hastily shut it when he saw none other than Remus Lupin at the sink.
Remus Lupin was a strange boy, Sirius thought. He hadn't struck him as the type to have the word 'mudblood' in his general vocabulary, but there you have it. People aren't always what they seem, he thought wistfully.
Remus was still slightly flustered over his short encounter with Sirius Black. He had probably just added fuel to the fire concerning their guess that he was mentally unstable.
You are mentally unstable.
Besides the point.
Remus hurriedly grabbed his toothbrush and cleaned his teeth and face, then stepped out of the bathroom to find Peter Pettigrew and James Potter getting out of bed and going about their daily activities.
He had considered James a friend less than twelve hours ago. Why had everything changed so quickly? Why was it always his fault?
"Morning, loony!" Potter mocked as he saw him rummaging through his small trunk.
"Lost something? Your mind, perhaps?" Potter looked extremely proud of himself, despite the fact that it really hadn't been that funny.
"Potter, would you shut up?" Black said quietly, from the bathroom doorway.
"Aw, c'mon, Black, I was counting on us being friends, don't get angry," Potter exclaimed, arrogance practically radiating from him.
"James, you're not funny," came Pettigrew's voice, from under his bed.
"Say Peter, what are you doing down there?" James replied, ignoring his remark.
"Looking for my slippers, ah there they are!" Pettigrew attempted to get himself out from under the bed but only bumped his head quite hard on the bed frame.
"Karma," remarked James.
"Piss off," remarked Peter.
During this exchange, Remus had found a clean shirt and retreated behind his bed curtains to change.
As he unbuttoned his pyjama shirt, he resolved to ignore the boys and hopefully make friends with others who were less likely to know about his slip-up at dinner.
It turns out, Remus broke his resolution the minute he had finished changing. Again, he blamed it on the full moon.
"Loooony," James teased.
"No offence, Potter – actually yes, take offence – but you're an ass and I'm sure the world would be better off if you kept your annoying mouth sealed. At all times." Remus took a deep breath, then grabbed his bag and walked out the dormitory.
"He has a point, James, there's no need to be so rude to him." Peter was the first to speak when Lupin walked out.
"No need? He used the m-word!" James said, astounded that no one agreed with him.
"We all saw him yesterday. He was in a right state, it was clearly an accident!" Peter shot back, internally proud of himself for not just going along with what James was saying.
"Well, who cares, he's still completely insane, I don't want to be friends with someone who's loopy!" James clearly finished the argument.
Peter heard a muffled whisper just then, and suddenly, James was hanging upside down, with his trousers off.
Peter slowly turned around and saw Sirius Black with his wand out, pointed at James. Then all three of them burst out into laughter.
"Hey let me down now!" James shouted, mid-laugh.
Black flicked his wand in a neat motion and James was lying in a heap on the floor.
"You have got to teach me that!" he said, as soon as he had righted himself.
"Well what you do is..." and Sirius launched into a full explanation, complete with hand gestures, and excited babbling.
Peter smiled. It looked like making friends wasn't that hard at all, looked like being a Gryffindor wasn't too much work.
Later, the three of them had become acquainted, and James and Sirius were already planning pranks and jokes to play on people.
"Hey, we need someone to test this on, just incase it goes wrong," James pointed out, tapping a page in what they dubbed 'The Troublesome Trio's book of Troublemaking' and were already 6 pages into.
"Let's do it on loopy!" Peter put in.
Sirius looked a little disconcerted, but James lit up.
"Yes! Let's!"
Sirius – half-heartedly, Peter noticed – agreed, then got on with the notes.
Soon enough, breakfast was over and all the timetables had been handed out, showing that they all had Charms first, followed by Defence Against the Dark Arts, History of Magic, Potions, and Transfiguration last.
They made their way up to the Charms classroom, which was – according to the timetable – in room 314, on the 3rd floor.
Unfortunately, due to moving staircases, disappearing steps and large crowds, Peter, James and Sirius turned up at least 10 minutes late to Charms, with a hardly good excuse.
"Care to explain why you are so unfashionably late, young men?" asked Professor Filius Flitwick.
"Disappearing steps–"
"Moving staircases–"
"Large people of crowds–"
They all turned to look at Peter.
"Crowds of people! Crowds of people!" he squeaked, embarrassed.
"It is your first lesson here at Hogwarts, so I shall let you off, but please do note that I have a punctuality policy that other teachers may not feel so strongly about. Now come along, sit according to the seating plan, which is on the board.
They all collectively groaned, then searched for their names on the seating plan.
James laughed at Sirius when he read he was seated next to Lupin, then sauntered over to Lily Evans, leaving Peter to sit by a blonde girl, coincidentally the one who had been the victim of Remus' outburst the previous day.
"Hello, Remus," Sirius said as he sat beside the terrified-looking boy.
"I- what?"
"I said, hello Remus," Sirius repeated, clearly and slowly, wondering if the boy may actually be a little loopy.
"I heard you. I just don't know why you used my first name," Remus muttered.
"Because," Sirius began, "I know why you said what you did."
Remus' suspicious expression instantly changed to an alarmed one.
"Y-you what?" he asked.
"No need to act so afraid. I was pretty terrified that I'd been put in Gryffindor, too. Not too far from a mental breakdown myself."
"Oh. Oh yes," Remus responded, relieved.
"Of course, I know there's another reason, and there's a reason you talk to yourself, and." He grinned at Remus, "I'm going to find out."
"Stay out of my life, Black." And that was the end of their conversation.
Sirius was starting to think Remus was really quite rude. But there was a reason, he stuck by that, and he would find out.
Halfway through Transfiguration, the last lesson of the day, a 5th year with a shiny red prefect badge knocked on the door.
"What is it, Avery?" asked Professor McGonagall.
"I've got to take Remus Lupin, here's the note," the boy– Avery, apparently –replied.
Remus looked up and started to pack his things away, noticing McGonagall realising why he had to go and no doubt recognising Dumbledore's signature.
"Very well, off you go Lupin," she smiled, and Remus hurried off, loosening his tie slightly as he went.
Sirius narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Where on earth did Remus have to go which was so important that he had to miss part of his lesson?
Sirius raised his hand, "could I go to the bathroom, Professor?" he asked.
"Yes, yes, hurry along," McGonagall said, clearly distracted.
Sirius let the classroom and turned right, seeing Remus' figure slip around the corner.
Despite having been about 10 steps behind Remus, when Sirius turned the same corner, he saw nothing but a long, empty corridor.
He sighed in frustration.
He had only known of the boy's existence for a day or so, and already he could see there was something a bit off. It wasn't up to Sirius to find out, but that wouldn't stop him.
"Why did you slip out of TF?" asked James, when he spotted Sirius walking over to him and Peter.
"He followed Lupin," said Peter, then looked at Sirius, "right?"
"Yeah, how did you..?" Sirius asked, confused, he hadn't taken Peter to be the sort of person who could figure that out.
"You practically ran out of the classroom after him, I'm offended that you were about to make up a different excuse. Anyway, why did you chase after him?" Peter questioned.
James looked at Peter strangely.
"There's something not quite right about him, I thought I'd be able to find out," Sirius told them.
"Well yeah, he's mental," James said, as if it was the most simple thing in the world and was confused as to why anyone else wouldn't get it. Which, of course, was exactly what he had thought when saying the words.
"I'm starting to think you're right, you know," Sirius remarked.
Peter gave a small murmur of agreement.
"I have something to tell you both," James suddenly said in a loud, dramatic voice, "come, my dear fellows, we must talk in my private chambers."
Peter laughed and Sirius rolled his eyes, but they both followed James to the dormitory.
"Well, I've decided I trust you enough with this information, so." The messy-haired boy ruffled his hair further, then dug around in his trunk and produced what appeared to be a large cloak, seemingly made entirely of silver silk.
Sirius let out a loud gasp, "you are joking!"
"A cloak?" Peter asked, not understanding what had startled Sirius so much.
"An invisibility cloak, lad," James corrected, smiling proudly, "it was my father's," he added.
"The Wizarding World never ceases to amaze me," Peter said.
James and Sirius both looked at him.
"What?" they asked in unison.
"Well, I didn't think invisibility cloaks were actually a thing," Peter chuckled.
"Are you muggle-born?" Sirius asked.
"Yeah, didn't I mention it?" Peter replied.
"Why aren't you more affected by what loopy said?" James questioned.
"Well, to tell the truth, I didn't know what it meant at first but after supper, Longbottom told me, but I don't know, it hasn't affected me," Peter explained quietly, slightly nervous.
"This is brilliant, Peter! Don't you see? You can get all sorts of muggle stuff and we can incorporate it into our amazing pranks and by merlin, how have you not thought to mention this?" Sirius babbled excitedly.
"I've known you for about 24 hours, give or take, forgive me if I didn't start spouting information about my bloodline," Peter replied teasingly.
James laughed, "these are going to be the best years of my life."
Sirius smiled, "let's make them the very, very best."
Peter almost cried. So this is what it feels like to have best friends. This is what it felt like to have people who cared about you.
Remus was frightened. He had never transformed anywhere but the basement of the small Lupin House, and he hated to think how bad tonight's would be.
"Madame Pomfrey, would it be okay if I went down a little early? I can feel tonight will be bad," Remus asked, very quietly.
She looked at him sympathetically, "of course, let me just grab my cloak and I will take you down to the Shack. Have you eaten?"
"Yes," Remus lied. He'd felt too scared to eat or rest, and he was getting sick of those sympathetic looks.
Earlier, he'd had to leave Transfiguration early to attend a meeting concerning his lycanthropy, and all he'd got was sympathy and pity, it was enough to make him excuse himself because of a "pre-moon headache," as he'd called it.
Madame Pomfrey helped him up and accompanied him down the stairs to the large doors that led outside.
They walked for about 20 minutes, before the reached the Shack, and Remus assured her that he could make it down the passage by himself.
"Here goes, beasty," Remus said to himself as he undressed and placed his clothes out of sight, so he wouldn't accidentally maul them.
It was absolute agony slowly seeing the sun set, but Remus tried to spend that time familiarising himself with the room, hopefully accustoming the beast to the change.
Alas, the sun sank completely, the sky fading from blue, to orange, to a light shade of pink, then plunging into darkness.
"Under this killing moon," he whispered to himself, remembering a song he had heard shortly after his first transformation, "under this burning sky," he sang, a little louder, "the fire's shining groom." His body began to change, plunging him into agonising pain.
"I hold my breath and close my eyes."
The wolf took over. Remus screamed and shouted, but soon the cries turned into howls and growls. The wolf couldn't form any proper thoughts but one thought stayed with him that night, thoughts of a dark night, silver blades, cries of pain, and amber eyes slowly shutting, telling him to hold on, telling him everything was good to be alright.
That transformation was probably the worst since his first moon.
Madame Pomfrey had stared at him, pity and a hint of anger in her eyes.
"You'll be okay," she whispered, taking him to the hospital wing.
Remus awoke to his joints aching and a strange pain on the side of his face, and very, very bright white.
He nearly screamed. He remembered the blinding white lights that had awoken him the day his mother disappeared and his father went away and never truly came back.
You're safe, Remus, you're okay.
Remus had to be strong.
"Ah, you're awake, hello Remus!"
He blinked. This was new.
"It's me, dear, Madame Pomfrey," the voice said again, now confirmed to be Madame Pomfrey.
"Oh, hello," Remus replied, attempting to sit up but not being able to, due to the pain.
"Last night was a rough one. It's not accustomed to the change of scenery," Remus explained to her.
"They're usually better than this?" she asked.
"Yes. Not so much, though." He smiled weakly, then touched his hand to the side of his face, confirming his suspicions.
A magically scarred over cut ran from below his ear, down past his jaw and stopped just before his neck.
"That one can't be completely healed, but the others should hurt less and be almost completely scarred and scabbed over by tomorrow," she told him, her expression rather concerned.
"Thank you. Will I have to stay off lessons today?" He asked.
"Yes, I'm afraid you will, but Dumbledore had given your excuses. Your dormitory members were informed you are in the hospital wing due to a fever."
"Thank you," Remus said again, embarrassed that Pettigrew, Black, and Potter had been informed of his whereabouts when they didn't care at all.
"The guy's got a fever? Figures," Sirius said, as a Gryffindor prefect walked away after telling them that Lupin was in the hospital wing.
"What do you mean?" Peter asked him.
"He looked ill."
James shot Sirius a strange look, "really? I didn't notice. Mentally ill, yeah, but physically?" he said.
"Leave him be. You don't have to like him, but you needn't bully him. Apart from the prank. The prank doesn't count as bullying, because it will be epic." Sirius grinned, baring all his teeth.
"Should we really? Whilst he's ill?" Peter asked, worried.
"We'll do it tomorrow, you idiot." James rolled his eyes.
"Don't call me an idiot," Peter said, looking upset, but hurriedly laughed to hide his genuine anger and sadness at being called and idiot.
James shot Peter a strange look.
"Stop looking at people funny, like you're above them, it's rude," Sirius told him.
"I bet you used the wrong 'you're' in that sentence," James replied.
"What?"
"Never mind."
The three finally arrived at the Great Hall and seated themselves on the Gryffindor table.
"And now, my friends, we feast," cried James, earning a few cheers from around them. He looked rather pleased with himself.
"This food is magically enhanced, isn't it?" Peter asked, suspiciously eyeing a chicken leg, "you don't find food like this with muggles."
"Who cares? It tastes good," Sirius replied through a mouthful of beef and mashed potato, making it sound like "woo fares? If test goof" but James and Peter got the general idea of the slightly obscured sentence.
[short time skip: dinner has finished]
"What do you reckon happened to Lupin?" Asked Sirius in a corner of the Gryffindor common room.
The giver of strange looks shot Sirius one of his signature looks, which directly translated to, "what are you on about?"
"Didn't you see him at dinner?"
"He was at dinner?" Peter added to the mostly one-sided conversation.
Sirius sighed in frustration.
"Yes! Yes he was, and more importantly, he had a scar! Just here." He traced the area of the scar on his own face his finger.
"And? Scars are fairly common, probably from a fall or something," Peter said, uninterested.
"No! It wasn't there yesterday!" Sirius said.
"Are you sure? Maybe you just didn't notice," James joined in.
"No, I'd have noticed," he insisted.
"Yeah. Okay." Sirius was graced with another Strange Look.
"Heathens." Sirius walked up the stairs and opened the door to the dorm, only to find Lupin sat, reading on his bed.
Sirius nearly greeted him, but thought better of it at the last second, and awkwardly pretended to retrieve something from his trunk then walked back downstairs.
"Back so soon, Black?" James greeted him.
"Lupin was up there," he explained quietly.
"Did he look better? Time for The Prank, do you reckon?" Peter asked, an evil glint in his eye.
Peter was then made a victim of a Strange Look.
"Your attitude changes fast," James commented.
"He looked well enough. We should be able to do it tomorrow," Sirius told them, his heart not quite in it.
"Brilliant!"
(A/n) ngl i hate this chapter it's so bad buT
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-E