(I forgot to mention, these will be a series of oneshots in chronological order. Some will be closer in time than the rest and others will be a great bit further in the future)

CHAPTER FOUR

MEETING THE MARAUDERS

T*W*O*M*O*N*T*H*S*L*A*T*E*R*

Remus sat in the back car of the Hogwart's Express. He didn't really want anyone to sit with him. Making friends was not one his goals. If he did, they would find out his secret, tell the whole school and he would be friendless and discriminated against. He had to reassure himself of the dangers of friends constantly today. So many witches and wizards his age. Remus never really got to meet anyone his age. His parents made sure that he had maybe two good friends. Too many could result in him being found out and so far, the only people outside of The Ministry they could trust with disclosure were their own family and two very close friends.

'Don't do it. Be the best wizard there. You don't need friends to do that. Being the best wizard there does NOT require friends,' he thought to himself.

"'Scuse me."

Remus was startled from his reverie and looked up to see two boys standing in the doorway of his carriage. One had untidy black hair and friendly eyes hidden behind glasses. The other had piercing eyes and shaggy dark hair, a bit taller than his friend.

"I'm James Potter and this is my mate, Sirius Black. Can we sit with you?" asked the one in the glasses.

Remus paused as his eyes flickered between Sirius and James.

'You can let them sit. You don't have to be their friends,' thought Remus.

"Y-yeah, take a seat."

Sirius and James clambered in and took seats on the side opposite of Remus. It had been a while since Remus had met new people and he had forgotten how to interact with them. They murmured to one another, then looked at Remus.

"Well, after much consideration, we've decided to make you our friend," James concluded.

"But you have to do one thing first…" said Sirius, mysteriously.

Many thoughts raced through Remus's mind.

'Friends? Friends? Oh, no…'

On one side, Remus wanted to have friends. Talking to these boys felt good. They were nice and actually wanted to be his friends for some weird reason. Quickly, he decided that he could be their friends, but not allow them to prohibit him from being the top of his class.

"O-okay, what do I have to do?" Remus asked, nervously.

"You have to tell us your name…" whispered James.

Remus smiled and found himself laughing slightly. That was pretty funny. He liked this feeling. His friends at home were nice, but something about these boys felt really comfortable.

"Well, I'm Remus. Remus Lupin," he nodded.

Sirius and James exchanged dark looks and for a moment, Remus's heart sunk. Had he somehow revealed himself? No. He couldn't have. Impossible.

"What? What are those looks for?" Remus asked with forced curiosity.

"Nothing, mate. That name is just…kind of wicked," grinned Sirius.

James nodded.

"Well, it's no Sirius Black, but thanks all the same," Remus grinned.

The boys laughed and Remus felt a little happy. He had made them smile. It had been a while since he'd made someone outside his family laugh.

"Hello…"

The three looked up to see another boy in the doorway. He was short and a tad plump with mousy brown hair and dark eyes that were full of embarrassment. Remus couldn't help but pity him and feel slightly bad. Here he was hoping no one would want to touch him and this boy was obviously wishing the opposite and desperately seeking friends.

"Hi, would you like to join us?" Remus asked.

The boy nodded bashfully and stepped inside. Sirius and James shrugged at one another as the boy sat beside Remus.

The boy nodded something unintelligible. Remus's eyes flickered from the boy to Sirius to James, then back to him.

"I didn't catch that…" Remus prompted.

"I said: I'm Peter Pettigrew," the boy murmured.

James and Sirius snickered, shaking their heads.

"I'm Sirius Black, that handsome boy is James Potter and that studious lad is Remus Lupin."

The boy nodded and looked down at his fingers that fidgeted anxiously in his lap.

"Hey, mate, don't look so scared," James grinned.

"Yeah, we don't bite."

Sirius's joke made Remus's expression instantly shift from amused to anxious. His eyes widened and he nodded vigorously, attempting to look like he agreed.

'…we don'tbite…'

The remark throbbed in his ears. His face got hot and he fell into a cold sweat.

'…we don't bite…'

Remus panted trying to suck in a deep breath, but to no avail.

'You DO bite, Remus… You bite quite a bit… More than most people… But that's okay…You're not really a person… You're a monster…' an evil voice told him.

"Remus, mate? You feeling alright?" James asked, his voice muffled by the ringing in Remus's ears.

Remus nodded, struggling to keep his eyes open.

"I just feel a little sick. I'm gonna go to the lavatory… S-sorry…" he stammered, clumsily standing.

The boys stared up at him with concerned expressions. Remus stumbled to the door of the carriage, bracing himself on the on the frame.

"S-sorry… I'll be right back…" Remus breathed.

"Do you need any help?" James asked.

Remus shook his head and made his way down the hall to the bathrrom. He opened the compartment door and shoved himself inside, relieved it could only occupy one person at a time. He sunk to his knees and leaned over the toilet, throwing up violently.

'You don't pity yourself, Remus. You aren't an animal. Get up, you miserable sod. Clean yourself up and go back to those new mates of yours,' he thought to himself.

"Get up," he grunted quietly as he planted his hands on the walls and stood.

He took a deep breath and stared at the sink, remembering what his mum did when he would wake up from a transformation.

She'd place a cool wash cloth on his forehead.

He snatched a paper towel from the dispenser and dampened it from the sink, slapping it on his forehead.

The ringing in his ears silenced. The heat on his face faded. The cold sweat ceased. Air returned to his lungs. He patted his face and tossed the towel in the rubbish bin. Before he could turn to leave, he caught his reflection in the mirror and stopped.

The scars on his face. The slash that went down his cheek. The slash that went from his hairline diagonally all the to his jaw bone. The slash that led from his left ear to the top of his left brow.

He ruffled his mop of light brown hair so it hid bits of the scars. Remus couldn't completely mask them but he could lessen the effect they had on people. His parents had tried ever charm and medicine to make the scars disappear, but a werewolf's wound was cursed. You couldn't hide it.

Remus lifted his sleeve slightly and saw the numerous bite marks and slashes. One still bandaged from the last moon. Those were easier to hide.

It wasn't just his peers he was trying to hide the marks of his curse from, it was also himself. Seeing the scars wounds made him feel inhuman, partly because he wasn't a human when they were caused and mostly because they were self-inflicted. No human would purposefully injure themselves to this extent.

'Self-inflicted means you did it yourself, on purpose. YOU didn't do this to yourself Remus. That werewolf did. He isn't you. Maybe he hurts himself to prevent hurting other, but Remus John Lupin certainly doesn't,' his father had said.

Remus assured himself that the best thing to do would be to return to the carriage. Not returning would seem suspicious, plus he didn't want to lose potential friends.

So he forced himself out of the lavatory and strode confidently back to his carriage.

"Hey, there he is!" Sirius laughed. "We thought you had fallen in."

"Hi. Yeah, I'm fine now," Remus smiled weakly, taking a seat again.

"What happened?" James probed.

"Motion sickness. I got a bit woozy and well…puked."

Sirius and James quaked with laughter. Remus found himself chuckling as well. Peter smiled from ear to ear.

"Did you miss the toilet?" James asked, eagerly.

"Oh, that I would have to see!"

"No, Sirius. There's nothing to see. I have perfect aim," Remus grinned, nudging Peter with his elbow.

Sirius and James's laughter finally faded and the boys quieted down.

"Where is that trolley?" mused Peter.

"Well, when it shows up, treats on me."

"Really, James?" Sirius gawked.

"Yeah, mum gave me these."

James extended his hand showing numerous Galleons and Sickles.

"What in the bloody hell did she give you all of those for?" asked Peter.

Everyone looked over at Peter. They had known him for about ten minutes and he had shown no signs of ever being outspoken. James blinked a few times, shaking himself from his surprise and Sirius smiled to himself. Remus pursed his lips and turned his eyes out the window. Suddenly, he realized what James was offering. To buy them all food from the trolley. Why would he do that?

"To buy thing for you guys," James shrugged.

"Why would you buy all that for us?" asked Remus, interestedly.

"Friends do stuff like that for each other, don't they?"

Remus kept his jaw in check, but his eyes still widened slightly at James's comment. Friends? They were his friends?

"Anything from the trolley?" a plump woman said standing in the doorway.

"Yeah, four of everything," James said.

The corner of Remus's mouth quirked up into smile. He had three friends. Three friends and he was the fourth.