}{—}{—}{
October 1971
Remus Lupin had never dared give Hogwarts much thought, as a small child it had been an impossible dream that had now somehow become a reality.
Not getting the opportunity to be around other people as a child, he hadn't known what to expect but after four weeks and experiencing his first full moon, he was finally starting to settle in.
"Rook to E7" Peter retaliated, his rook demolishing Remus' pawn.
They were sat on Remus' bed on an early Tuesday evening, James was on his own bed watching the Arrows take on the Cannons via his omnioculars and Sirius was sat at his desk finishing up tomorrow's Transfiguration essay.
Over the past month, Remus had grown fond of his dorm mates. Peter was a little quiet but he was up for anything, like a game of Wizards Chess when he still had homework to do or binging on chocolates late into the night.
Sirius was nice to him, he rolled his eyes a lot and Remus had trouble picking up on his sarcasm at first but now he was fluent in Sirius speak.
James was his favourite, he was straight forward and blunt, what you saw was what you got. He was quick with his wand but even quicker when it came to getting into trouble, he'd received two detentions already.
"Queen to E1" Remus grinned "checkmate" he unnecessarily added.
Peter groaned and frustratedly ran his hand through his blond hair
"Instead of losing to Remus why don't you come and finish off your essay" Sirius lectured "it's due tomorrow" he said not bothering to look at them when he spoke
"I suppo-aaah" Peter wailed, flailing off the bed and hitting the ground with a hard thud.
Remus jumped up in surprise, the chessboard scattering on to the floor, Sirius and James howled in laughter as Peter twisted and turned screaming "get it off me! Get it off me!"
Remus leaned down and gently grabbed the toad off of Peter, cradling it in his arms as he straightened up.
Peter scrambled up desperately brushing away at his clothes.
"It's just a toad" Sirius managed to choke out through the laughter.
Peter's face reddened with humiliation and Remus did his best to keep a straight face, the other two in the room had no such luck.
"I was just surprised" Peter weakly defended, his words drowned out by the laughter in the room.
"Ignore them" Remus advised earning a small thankful smile from Peter.
"It's Gus" Remus said aloud. "Hermione's toad"
"That's the third time this month" Sirius spoke up.
"I'll go and see if she's in the Common Room" Remus said
"Better you than me" Sirius shook his head "that is one weird Witch" he added going back to his essay.
Remus chose to ignore the remark, walking out of the room and down the cold stairs.
Hermione Evans wasn't weird, at least not from his point of view. She was quiet and clever, really, really clever.
Remus only ever saw her in class or in the library, she didn't have any friends, except that Hufflepuff boy and her sister but friends didn't seem to be that high on Hermione's list, she didn't really talk to anyone, she didn't join in any discussions, the most he'd ever heard her talk was when answering a question in class.
Remus scanned the Common Room, the seventh and sixth years had commandeered the comfiest seats by the fire and the third years had taken over the tables by the window.
Hermione wasn't in the Common Room but he spotted a few of her dorm mates sharing a table in the corner. Remus hesitated, his body subconsciously leaning back towards the stairs.
The girls of Gryffindor House were a varied bunch and he was thankful that all six weren't there but out of the three girls sat at the table, two of them, he rather disliked.
Grabbing a hold of his courage, Remus persevered and forced himself forward.
Arlo Stuart was the first to notice his presence. She was pretty, perhaps the prettiest out of all the girls, with honey coloured skin, wavy hair and staggering hazel green eyes. Apart from Lily, she was the only other girl that sat with Hermione in classes, she was nice and sweet and great at Herbology.
"Hi Remus" she smiled
"Hi" he awkwardly returned, catching the attention of the other two girls.
Marlene McKinnon with her pale blond hair and calculating eyes and Diana Zhou with her high cheekbones and constant smirk.
"Gus" he said, holding out the toad, "was in our dorm room, I was hoping to find Hermione down here"
"As you can see she isn't here" Marlene rolled her eyes at him, going back to work on whatever essay she'd been completing.
"I know" Remus said "I was hoping….that….uhm…as you're-"
"We're studying" Diana said in a clipped tone, her eyes darkly analysing every inch of him.
"I'll take Gus" Arlo spoke up.
A sigh of relief escaped Remus as the girl held her hands out.
"Thank you" he said, as he handed over Gus.
"It's not a problem, Hermione's up in the dorm, I'll go and give him to her"
Remus couldn't help the wide grin on his face as Arlo bid him goodbye and walked up the stairs leading to the girls dormitory.
"You can go now" Marlene told him, Diana chuckled besides her as the two went back to their work, pretending like he didn't exist.
As Remus walked away, his opinion of the two remained unchanged.
He really didn't like them.
}{—}{—}{
November 1971
"Think of the cauldron cakes!" James whined
"And the treacle fudge" Sirius smirked
"And the butterscotch" Peter excitedly added
Remus heaved a sigh as he stared at them from his bed "we don't even know where the kitchen is" he repeated for what seemed to be the hundredth time
"I have it on good authority that it's near the Hufflepuff Common Room" Sirius rebutted
"And where is the Hufflepuff Common Room?" Remus raised a brow
"We'll just have to figure that out on the way" James grinned
"It's almost midnight" Remus feebly argued "we'll get into trouble"
"The Prefects should be done with their rounds by now" James said "that only means a few Professors to watch out for"
"And Filch" Sirius frowned, he'd had a rather dull detention with the man just yesterday.
"And Filch" James agreed "but that's it, come on Remus" he pleaded
He should have said no, he should have let them go off without him but he'd never had friends before, friends who begged and pleaded for him to join in, he didn't want to disappoint Dumbledore, he wanted to prove that the man had been right to trust him, that he wouldn't be any trouble but his need to be good was beaten out by a far more desperate need to be normal.
"Fine" he conceded to great cheers from the boys. "I hope that you're much quieter sneaking around" he joked.
The four boys quietly made their way down to the empty Common Room and through the portrait door. The halls of Hogwarts were dark and silent, the only light coming from the candles positioned on the walls and the light shining in from the great big windows.
Remus found himself at the back, with James leading the small group down towards the Entrance Hall.
They came to a stop in front of the Great Hall, from his position, Remus could see past the Entrance Hall doors that lead down to the field, the sky was pitch black shrouding the outside in a dark cloak, making it difficult to see anything
"The Hufflepuffs always go this way after dinner" James quietly said, pointing down a corridor "come on" he eagerly said, his hazel eyes alight with delight.
Remus would never admit it but he felt a strange thrill at sneaking about. He began to follow the others when a 'meow' roared through the silent hallway
Sirius was the first to react, his shoulders going tense "that's Filch's cat!" he heatedly whispered, right on cue Filch's brown cat appeared out of nowhere
"Run!" Sirius called out
"Sirius no-" James began but it was too late, Sirius turned and thundered down the hallway
"Oy!" A voice barked and the three remaining boys spotted Filch down the other end of the hallway.
Not a word was exchanged but the three simultaneously moved, running after Sirius and away from Filch as fast at they could.
"Come back here!" Filch roared giving chase.
Remus' heart rattled in his chest as he ran past the Great Hall and up the stairs, James and Peter hot on his heels with Filch right behind, screaming so loud that a Professor was bound to come out and catch them.
Remus ran, not even thinking about where he was going, just following after Sirius who was only a few feat ahead but suddenly came to a thundering stop.
It was so sudden that Remus almost smacked into him but stopped himself just in time, spotting exactly why Sirius had stopped, right at the other end of the hallway was the tip of a wand lit up.
"We're trapped" Peter quietly cried, his red face quickly losing colour.
Remus' gut churned and his hands went numb. 'it's only a detention' he thought, but really it meant far more than that. Dumbledore would hear of this and they'd most likely write to his father. James had had three letter sent home already this term.
Remus felt sick at just the thought of their disappointment in him, when the portrait of the singing choir lurched open, revealing one Hermione Evans on the other side and what seemed to a be a dark tunnel behind her.
"Guys, over here" she whispered to the group of dumbstruck boys. Remus didn't need to be told twice, he ran past the portrait and came to a stop behind Hermione, the other boys following suit and she shut the portrait just in time, shrouding them all in darkness.
"Lumos" she quietly said, the tip of her wand lighting up, giving Remus a better look at the Witch.
Her hair was in it's normal state of curly disarray and her whiskey brown eyes looked as surprised to see them as they were to see her.
"Follow me" she quietly said, moving past Remus and Sirius to get to the front, ignoring the curious gazes aimed her way.
They quietly followed after the Witch, shuffling one after the other down the dark passage way. Remus wondered how Hermione knew where she was going in such darkness.
Although it must have only been few minutes, it felt much longer to Remus' poor heart when Hermione came to a stop and gently shoved at what seemed to be a concrete wall.
They all rapturously stared as the wall reacted and with a click moved fluidly aside to reveal an entry way just big enough for them to squeeze through.
James and Sirius shared a look that Remus didn't want to decipher as he followed the witch out of the passageway.
He found himself on the 5th floor hallway, rather close to Gryffindor Common room.
"Thank you" James earnestly said "you could have let Filch catch us but you didn't"
Hermione gave him a small smile, staring a little too long at James' face before she shook off the look on her face.
"No problem" she smiled and it was an odd sight for Remus. Hermione Evans wasn't much of a smiler.
"How'd you find this tunnel?" Sirius asked, his grey eyes focused on Hermione.
"It's a secret passage" she told them "they're all over the castle" she shrugged, "I'm surprised you didn't know about it already" she said, turning away and walking towards Gryffindor Common Room.
James and Sirius once again shared a look and Remus felt a twinge in his stomach because this time he did recognise it. It was the look they had when faced with a challenge.
"Come on" Peter said, quickly following after Hermione.
Remus dutifully followed although it took a little longer before he heard James and Sirius' footsteps
"Sherbert Lemons" Hermione told the portrait of the fat lady, it took a moment for the woman to shake out of her slumber and open the passage door, giving Sirius and James enough time to catch up.
When she finally did, Hermione walked through and then paused turning to face them "Filch tends to stick to the first two floors" she told them, "if you're going to sneak out, try and stay away from them" with those parting words, she walked towards the girls dormitory and up the stairs.
It was only when they were safe in their own dorms that the four boys dared to speak.
"How did she find that passageway?" Sirius asked. He was sat atop his desk, his feet on the chair and his hands on his knees.
"I don't care" Remus shook his head as he began to get dressed for bed "I'm just glad that she saved us"
"From detention" Sirius snorted "you're acting like she saved us from a troll"
"Detention is worse than a troll" Remus feebly argued back, getting in to bed.
"And Filch's routine?" Sirius continued "Am I the only one that cares?" he asked, baffled at their reactions.
"She probably sneaks out all the time" Peter said "that's the only way she'd know"
"But why?" Sirius asked exasperated.
Remus pulled his curtains shut, wishing that he knew how to do a silencing spell so that he could block out the irritating conversation.
}{—}{—}{
The next morning at breakfast, Remus was trying to do his best to forget about what happened last night, Sirius and James however were making that extremely difficult.
"Give it a rest" Peter moaned, he had his Charms textbook laid out on the table, trying to catch up on the reading he hadn't yet done.
Remus sent him a thankful look, he was getting sick of talking about it all.
"Why is she sitting with the Hufflepuffs?" James asked, turning his body around so that he could get a better look at Hermione.
Remus kicked him under the table.
"Ow!" he cried out, jumping in his seat.
"Don't be so bloody obvious" Remus frowned, frustratedly rubbing at his face.
The bell chiming was the best sound he'd heard all morning.
"Let's go" he huffed in relief.
"No one should be that happy about double Potions with the Slytherins" Sirius shook his head.
Remus ignored his comment in favour of helping Peter put his books away.
The four boys made their way down to dungeons where the Potions classroom was located, Remus followed the other three into the room and took his usual seat besides Peter, with James and Sirius taking the table in front of them.
Slughorn was in a rather jovial mood that morning, it helped that Snape and the Evans twins answered whatever questions he threw their way.
Unluckily for Remus it was a practical lesson and he'd learnt early on to never let Peter anywhere near a cauldron, which meant that he found himself doing the bulk of the work.
"Don't touch anything" he warned Peter, "I'm going to get some more Fluxweed from the cupboard" he said.
The class was in full swing, everyone far too preoccupied with their potions to pay any attention to anyone else.
Remus pushed open the door to the potions cupboard, Slughorn only unlocked it when they were doing practical work.
His eyes scanned the shelves in search of the Fluxweed he needed when the door opened behind him, he turned, surprised to see Hermione enter the small space.
"Hi Remus" she said
"Hi" he awkwardly replied as her eyes went from him to the shelves.
Remus was unsure of what to do but Hermione paid him no mind as she grabbed various ingredients and put them in her bag.
Remus' eyes narrowed as he realised exactly what Hermione was taking.
Why in Merlin's beard did she need Bat wings and Aconite fluid? And why was she stealing from Slughorn just to get it?
She caught him watching and he quickly averted his eyes, remarkably, he spotted the Fluxweed he'd needed as panic consumed him.
Would Slughorn notice?
Would he think that Remus was an accomplice?
Would he be kicked out of Hogwarts?
"See you later Remus" Hermione said as she walked out of the closet.
"Yeah" he breathlessly managed to say.
When she was gone, Remus sagged against the shelves, his heart racing. Was she not worried that he would turn her in?
Should he turn her in?
The thought barely crossed his mind when Remus crushed it. Their was no need to say anything and hopefully Sughorn just wouldn't notice.
With that hope, Remus grabbed the Fluxweed and exited the closet.
}{—}{—}{
Although Sirius and James' obsession with Hermione quickly died down, Remus found himself paying far more attention to her than he'd ever admit.
As the weeks passed by at Hogwarts, the first years soon fell into their roles, their were only a handful of students that truly stood out. They fell into two positions;
The popular kids; James Potter, Lily Evans, Sirius Black, Levi Dumont, Marlene McKinnon and Tony Rosier.
The clever kids; Hermione Evans, Sebastian Wilder and Bertram Aubrey.
Remus considered himself to be rather intelligent, but not like those three. Bertram Aubrey was the standard Ravenclaw, just a heck of a lot better. Sebastian Wilder had a gift for looking at things differently and thinking outside the box and Hermione Evans was just terrifyingly intelligent, their wasn't a question she couldn't answer, a potion she couldn't make in record time, a spell or a charm that she couldn't get right almost immediately.
So it really didn't come as much of a surprise when a few of the Ravenclaws took offence, it didn't matter how clever Bertram was, he was no match for Hermione.
They started off small with petty remarks and jibes but when that failed to have any affect, they grew bold, Remus had heard rumours all week that the Ravenclaws were going to do something but they were cleverer than they looked and a few in their ranks were wary about facing the smartest witch in their year head on, but on a quiet November afternoon - it finally happened.
Remus had just survived another class with Proffesor Binns, who put almost the entire class to sleep and the gathered first years were running for the door as soon as the bell rang.
"Does he realise how much he goes on" Sirius complained as they made their way out into the hallway.
"The man doesn't even realise that he's a ghost" James grinned "I doubt very much that realises the crap that comes out of his mouth"
Remus smiled at the jibe and came to an abrupt stop, so that he didn't walk right in to a Ravenclaw girl.
A circle had formed right outside of their History of Magic class and in the centre were a handful of student's wearing the blue and bronze of Ravenclaw House and the Evans twins.
"Oh no" Peter frowned.
"Five against two" James spat "bloody cowards" he said and began to push his way to the front, the other boys right behind him.
When they made it to the front, they stopped right at the edge of the circle, Remus wasn't sure what to do, he liked the Evans girls and he wouldn't let the Ravenclaws gang up on them but he wasn't keen to get himself hurt either.
Hermione and Lily stood side by side, wands in their hands although not pointed at the Ravenclaws.
The Ravenclaws were in a similar position, both sides waiting for someone to go first.
They didn't have to wait long, one of the Ravenclaw boys that Remus recognised as Monty Bradshaw threw a bat bogey hex and as quick as a flash, Hermione had a shield up without uttering a word.
That seemed to be what she was waiting for because in the next second, she retaliated.
"Bruchum Aculeatum" she said with a flick of her wand, a dark green spell shot of the tip and hit Monty square in the face, the force of the spell picking him up off his feet and slamming him into the ground.
Monty's face swelled up, blisters and welts appearing all over it and Remus recognised it as the stinging hex.
Before anyone could react, Hermione was at it again, the Ravenclaws tried to fight back but she was much quicker and far more brutal than Remus could have ever predicted.
A knee reversal hex hit one of the taller boys, a jelly legs curse another, one of the girls tried to run but Hermione hit her with a Levicorpus, the jinx hoisted the girl into the air by her ankles, exposing her underwear to the crowd.
Hermione's wand was already aimed at the last two when Professor McGonagall's stern voice filled the air.
"What in Merlin's beard is this!"
The crowd parted like the sea, revealing Professor McGonagall's furious expression.
Hermione lowered her wand but it was too late.
McGonagall's face grew crosser the more she saw, her eyes darkly flashing when they landed on the girl hoisted in the air who was now furiously sobbing.
"Ms Evans" McGonagall said in a clipped tone
"They started it!" Lily jumped in first, her face was as white as a sheet, clearly as shaken as Remus was at Hermione's actions
"The other Ms Evans" McGonagall scathingly said, in no mood for back talk.
"Yes Professor?" Hermione spoke up
"With me" McGonagall demanded "now" she turned away from the crowd, walking towards the battered Ravenclaws.
With a flick of her wand, the girl was gently lowered "get yourselves to the hospital wing" she ordered, walking on without another glance.
Hermione diligently followed after her.
}{—}{—}{
The thrashing of the Ravenclaws earned Hermione a bit of a reputation amongst the first years, most people were impressed but an even larger majority were frightened.
Hermione wasn't like her sister, you didn't feel comfortable in her presence and she likewise seemed content with her own for company.
Remus imagined it must have been lonely, the only thing he'd ever wanted was a friend.
"I still don't get it" Peter frowned
Remus held in a sigh, he'd explained the transfiguration formula twice already but Peter just wasn't picking it up.
They were sat in the library, November had given away to December and most people were tucked away in their own Common Rooms.
The library was filled with upper years studying for OWLS or NEWTS, the only other first year there, seemed to be Hermione Evans.
"It's really not that hard" Remus tried again, he picked up his quill and wrote down the formula, perhaps a visual aid would help it sink it.
Frustratingly Peter just stared blankly back at him.
Remus slumped in his seat and sighed.
He was about to voice his defeat when a bushy haired girl popped out from behind them, a curious expression on her face.
"Perhaps I can help?" Hermione asked, she had a large old tome in her hand and her tie was loose around her neck
Remus and Peter shared an apprehensive look, neither had a said a word to Hermione since the Ravenclaw incident and now neither of them knew what to say.
Without waiting for an answer, Hermione plopped her book down on their desk and grabbed the empty chair.
"The formula can be a little tricky" she said as she grabbed Peter's parchment and quill "you just need to break it down into four variables" she explained, "first is bodyweight, then viciousness, wand power and concentration" she said illustrating it on the parchment. Hermione continued on, explaining it in such a way that Remus could not.
Remus watched taken aback as Hermione managed to knock some sense into Peter.
"I get it" Peter grinned and then threw Remus an accusing look "why couldn't you explain it like that?"
Remus ran a frustrated hand through his hair, not bothering to answer.
"Thanks Hermione" Peter beamed "I may actually pass Transfiguration this year with a decent grade" he said chuffed
"No problem" Hermione shrugged "if you need help with anything else, you can always just ask" she offered
"Really?" Peter's eyes lit up, "I wouldn't want to take up too much of your time"
"It's fine" Hermione smiled "I use to have a friend that needed a lot of help with school stuff, so it'll be a welcome reminder" she shrugged but her bright eyes suddenly dimmed, a cloud of sadness suddenly taking hold.
"I better go" She said, getting up from her seat and grabbing her book.
"Thanks again, Hermione" Peter smiled as she walked away from the two.
"That's really nice of her" Peter said when she was too far to hear.
"Yeah" Remus agreed
"I wonder who the friend was?" Peter suddenly asked
"Probably a muggle" Remus concluded, Hermione was a muggle born, the only people she interacted with were Benjy Fenwick and her sister and they didn't seem the sort that would need constant help with homework.
}{—}{—}{
The weeks flew by and Remus found himself experiencing his very first Christmas with actual friends. He'd gotten very lucky this year as the full moon had been just a week before the break, which meant his return home was as joyful as it could be.
His parents, Lyall and Hope Lupin wanted to hear about every detail of his life at Hogwarts, from his new friends to his sleeping arrangement. Remus always wrote home and although he was repeating a lot of stuff they already knew, neither seemed any less excited.
What really made his Christmas though had been the letter he'd received a few days after coming home
Dear Remus,
I hope you're enjoying your break and that your Mum is feeling better. I wanted to invite you to spend the night at my house for New Years Eve, Sirius is already here and Peter has said yes as well, so it would be great if you could join us.
Your Friend.
James.
Remus had been over the moon when his parents had said yes and he'd repacked his sleeping bag at least twice.
When he finally arrived at Potter Manor, Sirius and James had been running around pranking the House Elf and Fleamont and Euphemia Potter, James' parents were as lovely as he could have dared imagine.
Peter arrived sometime in the afternoon and the four spent the day playing Quidditch with Sirius moaning the entire time as he disliked the sport.
Although the Potter's had offered them all guest bedrooms, in the end they'd ended up on makeshift beds on James' floor.
They were all exhausted but everyone was determined to stay up until midnight, they were going to welcome in 1972 together.
They were all lying on their makeshift beds and conversation had slowly died down when Peter suddenly said "oh, guess who lives near Hermione's house"
"Hermione Evans?" Sirius asked
"Do you know another Hermione?" Peter rolled his eyes, earning his makeshift bed a kick from Sirius.
"Snape" Peter eagerly answered
"Snivellus!" James balked
"Yeah" Peter grinned
"How do you know?" Sirius asked
"I went in to London with Hermione and Benjy" Peter explained, suddenly rising up, he looked through his rucksack for a moment before fishing out what looked like pictures, he handed them to James who passed them around.
"We were on the Knight Bus and Hermione got on just as Snape and her sister walked out of her house" Peter explained.
The pictures finally reached Remus, their were two of them, the first was a close up of the three smiling and waving at the camera and the second had Fenwick giving Hermione a piggy back the two in rapturous laugher as they stared at the camera.
"Why in Merlin's beard did you go anywhere with those two?" James asked as Remus passed the pictures on to Sirius.
"I wanted to thank Hermione for all the help she's given me but her family were going away and the only day she was free, she already had plans with Fenwick" Peter shrugged
"So you tagged along on their date" James laughed
"It wasn't a date" Peter scowled "they're like brother and sister" he adamantly said, taking the pictures off of Sirius.
"Can we talk about something else?" Sirius suddenly asked, a frown on his face.
"Whatever" Peter shrugged, putting away his pictures.
In the end, not a single one of them made it to midnight, falling asleep around eleven, but they weren't too disheartened.
"We'll do it again next year" James promised
}{—}{—}{
Next update: Thursday, it'll be Hermione's POV with a bit of a time jump and we'll stick with her for most of the story.
I'm also on Tumblr & we heart it, check out my bio for the links and I'm thinking of posting sneak peaks on tumblr, not 100% sure just yet though.
See you next week - El.
.