Chapter 4
From Foe to Friend
xxxoooxxx Remus xxxoooxxx
Remus was sitting in an empty compartment with a bar of chocolate in his hands. He fiddled with its wrapper as he tried to decide whether he should eat it now or save it for later.
After a few minutes of internal battle, the compartment door slid open and a frazzled red haired girl and scrawny boy with shoulder length greasy hair came in.
"Hey," the girl started. "Do you mind if we sit with you?"
Remus shook his head. "Go ahead. I do not mind." Remus offered the girl a small smile as they sat down on the seat across from him. "My name is Remus Lupin," he offered politely, remembering his manners.
The girl smiled at him kindly, her green eyes sparkling. "I'm Lily Evans." Lily nudged the boy next to her but, when he didn't respond, she continued, "And my friend here is Severus Snape."
"It is nice to meet you Miss Evans and Mister Snape." Remus gave them another shy smile and then tucked his chocolate into his bag. He felt it would be rude to eat in front of them when they didn't have something to snack on as well.
Remus looked back up at the others. Snape had gotten out a large textbook and had buried his nose into it. When he looked over at Evans he was startled to see her large emerald eyes staring straight at him. "Er," he said nervously.
"So, where are you from, Lupin?"
"Oh. Well, I-I am from Scarborough," Remus replied.
"Oooh, I've heard it's positively lovely there," she replied with a dreamy expression. "I bet you've had lots of fun wandering through the towns, right?"
"N-not really." Remus bit his lip nervously. He hadn't yet learned how to talk with anyone outside of his immediate family and he wasn't sure what was acceptable.
"Why not? I hear there's lots to do in the towns."
"I was always home," he replied quickly.
"Bummer! I would just about explode if I always had to stay home. Severus and I are from Ashbury. That's a really small town though and not nearly as lovely as where you're from," Lily giggled.
Remus smiled nervously. This girl was very talkative.
"We've known each other for a while actually. We met when we were only five. Severus is from a magical family but I had no idea magic even existed until I got my acceptance letter. I mean, I know I've had a few magical accidents here and there but I never quite understood what happened. You can bet I was surprised when I got my letter. Both my parents are muggles. What about you? Are you from a muggle family or were your parents magical?"
"M-my mother was muggle-born but my f-father is a pureblood."
Snape snorted from behind his book.
Remus quickly glanced at him, wondering if he said something wrong. "Sorry?"
Snape looked up at Remus, his dark eyes boring into his own. "I just find it humorous how many purebloods enjoy disgracing themselves by mixing with muggle-borns."
Remus' face flushed and he quickly looked down at his hands that were laid on his lap.
"Sev," Lily hissed. "That's rude. Lupin, he didn't mean it."
Remus felt a small hand touch his and he jumped. Quickly looking up he saw Evans withdrawing her hand and offering him a kind smile.
He wasn't so sure about Snape but he thought that perhaps Evans could make a nice friend. She seemed like a very sweet person.
xxxoooxxx James xxxoooxxx
After almost an hour, the Hogwarts Express finally got out of the city and had entered into farmland. James watched the seemingly endless fields of wheat and corn pass by. There had been silence in the cabin since the earlier argument and James was really beginning to feel antsy. He wasn't the type that kept quiet and still.
He had contemplated trying to find another compartment but he was really hoping that maybe Black would come around. James didn't know why but he just felt some sort of connection with Black earlier. It felt almost like he was destined to be his friend.
James looked over at Black who was still sitting across from him. He had his head down and seemed to be glaring at his hands that were elegantly folded in his lap.
Almost as soon as James looked at him, Black immediately rose and strode quickly out of the compartment. James then heard a quiet knock and a door slide open from across the hall.
"Hey, Blondie?" James recognized Black's voice.
"It's Gallagher," a female voice replied shortly.
"Gallagher." There was a small sigh as if it was hard for Black to muster up the strength to speak. "Look I wanted to apologize. I shouldn't have spoken to you like that. I-," there was a pause where James could hear Black let out a slow breath. "I'm sorry," it was very apparent that Sirius didn't have much practice saying those words.
After a moment of silence, there was the sound of a door closing and then Black soon reentered, shutting the door behind him.
"Hey," James said.
Black looked over at him, his eyes radiating defensiveness.
James offered him a smile. "Black, would you like to just start over?"
He briefly glared before relaxing and returning a smile, though Black's was significantly smaller than his own. "Sure. I'd like that."
James stuck out his hand in greeting. "I'm James Potter."
"Sirius Black," he responded, grasping James' hand and giving it a firm shake.
"It's nice to meet you," James replied.
xxxoooxxx Remus xxxoooxxx
It was now almost noon and Evans had long since stopped talking and was now thoroughly engaged in 'A History of Magic.' Snape still had his nose buried in 'Advanced Potion-Making' and seemed to be thoroughly contemplating and re-reading the text. Remus had retrieved his textbook of 'Hogwarts: A History' from his luggage and went through it again briefly to ensure he had learned as much as possible about the school he was about to arrive at.
There suddenly was a knock on the door which caused all of them to jump in surprise.
The door slid open and a friendly elderly woman peeked her head in and displayed a cart of many assorted sweets. "Would you like something sweet, dears?" she offered politely.
"Oh no thank you, ma'am," Evans responded. "Do either of you want something," she offered the boys in the room.
Remus shook his head, embarrassed. In all honesty he did want to try something off the cart but he didn't come from the wealthiest of families and therefore had no pocket money.
When Snape didn't respond, Evans turned back to the woman. "No, we won't be getting anything. Thank you, though."
The woman nodded and smiled kindly. "You kids have fun." She then closed the door behind her and they could hear her push the lightly squeaking cart further down the hall.
Remus closed 'Hogwarts: A History' quietly to not draw too much attention to himself. He felt that, after going over it five times already, he had a pretty good understanding of what was in the book.
He looked back up at Evans who had returned her attention to her book. Remus thought that she was a very beautiful girl and he wondered why he hadn't noticed it before. She had striking almond-shaped green eyes that seem to twinkle with what could only be identified as childlike innocence. Her face was dotted with the smallest of freckles and there was just a hint of soft pink blush on her cheeks. Evans had strikingly radiant red hair that just delicately landed on her shoulders and she was currently munching on a few strands which led Remus to realize just how enticing her pink champagne tinted lips were.
Suddenly Evans looked up and caught Remus' eye. She flushed when she realized that he was staring at her and he blushed in response, quickly looking out the window.
They were in what appeared to be a large forest. There were huge, dark brown trunks passing by at a quick rate. Every now and then Remus saw a low-hanging branch and the forest floor appeared fairly damp. As the window was cracked open, the smell of earth and fresh leaves was busily wafting through the compartment.
He closed his eyes and rested his head back, a content smile on his face. He knew that this would be a great adventure, even though he was scared to death of screwing it up.
xxxoooxxx Sirius xxxoooxxx
"So you're going to get into Gryffindor with me, right? I know you'd love to rile up your mother, yeah?" Potter nudged Sirius' arm playfully.
Sirius laughed at the idea. "That sure would ruffle her feathers alright. I'm not sure I'm the Gryffindor type though. Maybe Hufflepuff is more up my alley?"
"Yeah, totally. When I look at you, I just think 'badger!'" Potter threw his head back in laughter.
Sirius smiled and shook his head. That Potter sure was one over-dramatic kid.
"Hey! So, do you like pranks?"
"Pranks?" Sirius rose an elegant eyebrow in suspicion.
"Yeah, you know, doing things to get on people's nerves. It's fun." A gigantic grin spread across his face.
"Oh! You mean like enchanting your mother's brush to comment on every new gray hair she gets or your brother's socks to run away in terror when he goes for a new pair?"
Potter nodded. "Hey, so I haveto show you what I just got. It's awesome." He reached under the bench, pulled out his bag and began to unzip it when there was a knock on the door.
The door slid open and the woman with the candy cart opened the door. "Would you boys like something sweet to munch on?" she asked with a smile.
Potter immediately pulled out a handful of galleons and sickles. "Yeah, I'd love some candy!" He went over to the cart to see what was there. "Mmm - I'll have two boxes of Bertie Bott's, twenty chocolate frogs, three fizzing wizzbees, a pack of fudge flies, two bars of treacle fudge, a pack of Drooble's, ten pepper imps, and a sugar quill. Oh, and I want two bottles of pumpkin juice, too." Potter smiled smugly as he waited for her to get his order.
He exchanged the sweets for money and then sat down on the bench, piling his food next to him.
"And what about you?" she asked, turning to Sirius.
Sirius rose swiftly and strode over to the cart. "Give me three cauldron cakes, some chocoballs, five fizzing wizzbees, a pack of that saltwater taffy, two ice mice, a licorice wand, four bloodpops and I'll also take a bottle of butterbeer. Oh, and can you throw in a handful of acid pops?"
The candy woman handed Sirius the goodies he asked for and he gave her a couple galleons in exchange.
Once she left, Sirius carefully laid down his treats and started working on one of his cauldron cakes.
"Acid pops? Are you seriously going to eat that?" Potter rose an eyebrow in suspicion.
Sirius shrugged and gave him a smug smile as he popped a piece of cake in his mouth. "You had something to show me?"
"Oh right!" Potter sat down on the floor and continued opening his luggage, popping a chunk of fudge in his mouth. "Look what I got," he said proudly, holding up a sack of off-white powder.
"What's that supposed to be?" Sirius asked unimpressed as he finished off his cake.
"This," Potter started overdramatically, "is Pomaphyranga Powder."
Sirius shook his head. "Never heard of it."
He grinned smugly. "C'mon, I'll show you what it does." Potter reached into his bag further and pulled out a pair of thin white coachman gloves, putting them on with ease. He then sprinkled some of the powder on both palms and rubbed his hands together. "Now let's go meet some new people," James said a little too excitedly.
Wondering what this crazy boy could possibly be up to (and questioning his sanity a little), Sirius followed him out of the compartment and down the hall. Potter opened one of the compartment doors and stepped inside casually but Sirius chose to remain in the hall and watch.
"Hey, guys," Potter said with a huge grin on his face. "You excited? I know I am!"
There were three boys around the same age as Potter and himself in the compartment. One of them had a plump face and curly bright orange hair. The other was skinny and short with black hair and loads of freckles and the last boy had dark blond hair and huge round glasses.
"Yeah, I am," the orange haired boy smiled.
The skinny boy smiled sheepishly. "I hear that some of the seventh years pick on first years-"
"Oh come on, Diggle," the blond boy cut in. "Let's just focus on how much fun it's going to be!"
"Exactly," Potter said enthusiastically. "I'm James Potter, by the way." Potter stuck out his hands and gave a firm grasp to Diggle's hand. "Who are you guys?"
"I'm Dedalus Diggle," the small boy replied quietly.
"Gilbert Wimple," answered the orange haired kid, shaking James' hand vigorously.
Potter shook the blond boy's hand politely.
"Benjy Fenwick."
"It's nice to meet you all. I look forward to spending the next seven years with you guys." Potter winked slyly. He started to leave but then turned around and mock-gasped. "Eww! What's wrong with your guys' hands?"
The boys looked down at their hands, where Potter had touched them, with alarmed stares. Suddenly orange fur with purple spots started sprouting and climbing up their arms. They started shrieking and scratching their arms, trying to remove the fur frantically.
"What is this?," Diggle said in a panicked voice.
"I dunno," Potter replied. "Maybe you all got infected with Phillyweed Poison. I hear that stuff can do all sorts of weird things like cover you with fur, change your voice to sound like a girl and turn your feet into flippers."
"What?" Wimple began fidgeting around frantically, not sure what to do. "How can we stop this?"
"I hear it's irreversible," Potter replied nervously.
"Irreversible? No, please, you have to help us!" Fenwick started towards Potter.
"Stay away from me man!" Potter backed up quickly. "That stuff is contagious!"
"Wait, you can't leave us," Diggle sobbed.
Potter quickly turned back and headed down the hall with Sirius close behind him. He only took a few steps before he started bursting out laughing; they could still hear the boys' panicked voices behind them.
"That was awesome, man. Those kids were so scared." Potter could barely control his laughter.
Sirius couldn't help but let out a small laugh as well; it was pretty entertaining. "What was that stuff?"
"I told you already. It's Pomaphyranga Powder. It causes instant orange and purple hair growth that spreads to your entire body. It wears off after about two hours but it's very hard to reverse before that." Potter smiled widely.
"So, you have that stuff on your gloves then?"
"Yup," Potter smiled. "Wanna see?" He held his right hand out, threatening to touch Sirius' face.
"What? No!" Sirius darted back to their compartment, Potter hot on his trail.
"What's wrong, Black? You don't want to be pretty?"
"Keep that glove away from me!"
"Alright, what about the other glove? I have two y'know!"
Sirius quickly turned into their compartment and ran straight into the fat kid he'd seen earlier that morning.
"Oof!"
"Ow!"
Potter stopped just inside the door to see the two boys piled on the floor. "What the - Oh, hey Peter!"
The round, blond boy looked up confused. "You know my name?"
"Of course! You ran into me at the station entrance."
"Oh."
"Yeah, and you nearly knocked me over when you ran in front of me while your mother screamed after you, Pettigrew," Sirius added irately, shoving the boy off of him.
"Oh yeah, she does that," Pettigrew said, sitting up.
"Hey wait a minute, what's that in your hand?" Potter snatched a golden pentagon shaped box from Pettigrew's hand. After examining it, he glared at him. "Were you stealing my Chocolate Frogs?"
Pettigrew immediately turned bright red. "I-uh-uh-"
He quickly opened the nearly-empty box and pulled out the card, relieved. "Well, at least you didn't take my card." Potter sat down and examined it. "Awesome! I got Morgan le Fay! I've been missing this one." He grinned widely and tucked the card in his pocket.
"You collect those cards?" Sirius questioned, his eyebrow raised.
"Yeah - you got a problem with that?"
He rolled his eyes. "Nah, just wondering." Sirius looked down at the boy that was still sitting on the floor and noticed he was currently eating Potter's fudge flies. "Did you ever think about asking before taking food from Potter?" he asked shortly. The little fat kid was really beginning to annoy Sirius.
Pettigrew stopped chewing and stared at Sirius with what looked like utter terror.
"Nah, it's okay, mate. I got plenty." Potter nudged the boy lightly with his foot. "Just make sure you give me any cards."
Just then the boys from earlier appeared at their door now completely covered in purple-spotted orange fur.
"Oh hey there, guys." Potter replied casually. "How's the hair?"
"My big brother told me what this is and I know you did it on purpose," Fenwick said angrily.
"What? Why would you think I did it on purpose?"
"Don't try to lie to us," Diggle piped in.
"Oh!" Potter tapped his head with his palm in feigned-realization. "You know what must've happened? I spilt some of that stuff all over earlier this morning. It must have gotten on my gloves somehow."
"Like we're really going to believe that," Wimple didn't sound very convinced. "Just admit it, it was you and you're going to be in trouble when we tell the teachers what you did to us!"
"Hey, you know what guys?" Sirius strolled over casually. "Let's look on the bright side. It is only temporary and will wear off soon so just enjoy the moment while you're in it. I mean, not every first year gets to say that they had orange fur with purple spots for a few hours, right?"
Fenwick shook his head in disbelief. "Oh yeah, we're so lucky," he responded, voice laced thickly with sarcasm.
"Okay, how about a truce?" Sirius held out three acid pops for them. "We got a bunch of candy and we wouldn't mind giving you guys some. There's plenty."
All of the boys' eyes widened. "Really? Thank you!" They boys merrily took the venomous lollipops from Sirius and then ran back to their compartment.
Sirius quickly closed the door and cast a locking charm. He then turned around with a broad grin on his face and winked at Potter who was staring at him knowingly. "Like I'm really stupid enough to eat those myself."
Potter laughed. "Good work, Black."
Pettigrew looked between the two boys, confused. "What do you mean 'good work?' What happened?"
Potter merely held up a finger and the three boys remained silent for a moment until-
"!"
Simultaneously Sirius and Potter threw their heads back and roared with laughter. Moments later there was loud banging on their door and angry screams from the other side which only caused them to laugh harder.
"So you guys like Exploding Snap?" Potter inquired while holding up his deck.
xxxoooxxx Remus xxxoooxxx
The sun was just starting to set off into the horizon and Remus knew that they would be arriving soon at the station. He was really hoping that they would be able to eat soon after they got there as he was beginning to feel rather peckish.
"Are you going to change, Lupin?" Evans asked as she began buttoning up her school robes.
"What?" Remus looked up confused about her question.
"We're arriving soon so we need to make sure we're in uniform."
"Oh, right. Of course."
He reached into his bag and pulled out his black school robes. His robes were purchased from a hand-me-down store so they were fairly frayed and faded. He slipped his arms through both sleeves and buttoned up the front of his robes carefully.
Soon the train began slowing down. Remus glanced out the window and noticed a good number of stone and wooden buildings and lamps lighting up countless streets. They were pulling into a town and, if Remus remembered correctly from his readings, this should be Hogsmeade station.
Remus felt his heart rate quicken. 'This is it. From this moment on, life will be different. I can finally have a chance to do something worthwhile with my life.'
He looked over at Evans who was staring out the window grinning widely.
"You excited?" she asked.
All Remus could do was nod. There were so many thoughts racing through his head and he felt excited and scared at the same time. He went back to staring out the window with Evans, observing just how different buildings in wizarding towns were in comparison to muggle towns.
A whole new chapter was about to unfold for one Remus John Lupin.
xxxoooxxx James xxxoooxxx
James felt the train pulling to a stop and could hardly contain his excitement. He had been waiting his whole life for this moment - the moment when he would be able to go to school and learn all sorts of amazing spells.
James could remember his father telling him about the school and saying that James would need to pay extra attention in class. That was all nonsense though. James was sure he was brilliant enough already. Paying attention in class was for the people that were incompetent with magic; not for the people that were as awesome and all-knowing as he was.
He already knew what he wanted to be as well. James Morpheus Potter would grow up to be a great auror just like his father. He always thought those "secret missions" seemed so fun. It would be like he worked as a secret agent or a superhero in those muggle stories. How great of a career choice would that be?
Things were already off to a great start for James. He had already met two people: Black and Pettigrew. Sure Black was probably going to be sorted into Slytherin and Pettigrew seemed more like Hufflepuff material and James would obviously go into Gryffindor, but he was sure they could still be friends. Least of all secret friends.
He liked them. Black seemed really laid back and ready to risk detention for a little fun. Pettigrew seemed easy-going and willing to do things just because he wanted to please.
James looked around at the other two boys in the compartment. Black was standing by the door, flicking a strand of his elbow length hair out of his face. Pettigrew was still sitting and he appeared to be shoving whatever left-over candy there was into his mouth.
"We've stopped," Black stated before exiting.
James nodded and turned to leave, with Pettigrew close behind.
xoxoxoxoxoxox
A.N. Well, I sure hope this was a fun train scene for you guys; I know I enjoyed writing it.
Personally I've always thought the train was over-looked and typically uneventful so I wanted to kick it up for you guys.
Please, please, please review!
