Remus was too tired to notice dragging himself out of bed and into the bathroom. Even as the hot water from the showers hit him, He could not wake up. The water just blanketed his in a drowsiness he could not decline. Pulling on his robes multiple times (his head had attempted to squeeze through an arm hole on his first attempt) Remus grabbed his book bag and made his way down to the Common room. Here he met Lily, though he was so asleep that he could only mumble a slight 'good morning'. She lead him to the Great Hall as he drifted through his sleepy haze, and sat him down, piling food onto her own plate before he could finally blink himself awake.

"Not a morning person then?" she asked with a chuckle, watching him rub his eyes repetitively.

He shook his head, and grabbed a piece of toast.

"One of the prefects told me we get our schedules during breakfast. I thought you wouldn't mind one yourself."

Remus rested his elbows on the table, propping up his head as he looked down at his plate.

"Are you going to stare at that toast all morning, or are you actually going to eat it?"

He took a small bite. Lily looked toward the front of the hall, and rose from her seat.

"I'll get you a schedule."

she returned in what seemed like seconds.

"We have every class together! Charms first ….. Where is that?"

"Charms hallway." he said bluntly

"Where is that?"

Remus shrugged.

"Maybe I'll ask a prefect,….. Do you want some… some coffee or something?" He lifted his head off his plate, not quite aware that it had drifted from his hand.

"Sure." the cup appeared in front of him. He took a sip, and nearly spat it out. He struggled to swallow.

"Ugh! What is that?"

"Coffee…. You never had any?"

"No. It smells a lot different."

She scooped some sugar in and stirred. "Try sugar."

He drank it.

"It still tastes funny."

"You're awake now though."

"it's a miracle." he said, rubbing his eye again. "So, Charms is……?"

"I think it might be in an east hallway…… which way is east?"

"That way." he pointed to their left.

"Really? How do you know?"

"Sense of direction….. We're going to get lost on our way. We should leave now."

"You barely ate anything."

"I'm not hungry. Come on." He hoisted his bag over his shoulder and led their way out of the hall.

They made it to Charms with two minutes to spare, having taken a trick staircase on the way. They entered a virtually empty classroom, and took their seats towards the front. The pair watched as a group of giggling Ravenclaw girls came in, followed by Ian and Jacob, who looked as if they had run all the way from the great hall. A girl Remus recognized as Alice Drew came in just seconds before the bell, and sat down on Lily's other side. A tall, round man in burgundy robes appeared towards the front on the classroom. Professor Danwood, he said his name was. His wrinkled face sagged down like a bulldog, and his voice resembled its low bark.

As he spoke, Remus wrote. Soon, only a monotony of words came to him in his notes, as he tried but failed to block out the scratch of every quill in the room. A flutter of paper, a cross out, someone curled their fingers back and forth against some parchment. His head began to throb at the noise, the scent of ink creating a strange sensation in his nose. Someone was rapping their foot against the wood of a table. He looked over at Lily, watching her fluid writing, which barely made a sound. He tore a piece of parchment, scribbled something, and handed it to her. She took it, gave him an annoyed look, and wrote back.

I don't know when this class ends, but you should be paying attention.

Sorry he wrote back

The bell rang, and the quills stopped. Remus let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. He rubbed his eye. The little caffeine he had drank had wore off quickly. Now his body seemed to move very slowly.

"Potions next." said Lily as she put away her parchment. "In the dungeons. How do we get there?"

"Go down, I suppose."

"Thanks Captain Obvious. Come on, lets go."

"Potions is unlike any magic you will use in your years here. It is an exact art, a creative chemistry. Precision, is the key. Now, let's see now……. Potter! Can you recognize any of these potions in front of me?"

James looked up from an elaborate doodle.

"Erm……. That one, there." he pointed towards goopy looking potion that reminded Remus of a sort of boiling chowder. "Polyjuice Potion. I think. Or it could just be throw up."

"Very good Mr. Potter, I assure you it is not throw up. But Polyjuice Potion, a tricky little brew. About a month's time to create, depending on how well it stews and when the full moon is. Can anyone tell me what it does?"

Lily's hand shot up like lightning, as well as Severus'. Remus kept his hand down. He didn't want any attention on him at the moment.

"Ah, Miss….?"

"Evans, Sir. Lily Evans."

"Well than Miss Evans, what exactly is the purpose of this potion?"

"It changes the outward appearance of the drinker to match that of who they took something of, such as hair, or blood."

"Very well put. What are the downfalls of this potion- Miss Evans again! Delightful!"

"The potion wears off after only an hour, and does not change all characteristics of the drinker. Posture can be a dead giveaway."

"5 points to Gryffindor young lady. Simply marvelous."

Lily blushed through her smile.

"Wonderful." murmured Slughorn, looking around the class for a familiar face or name. "Lets see now……. Black! What is the name of this potion here."

Sirius looked up lazily. "Shrinking solution."

He went back to a game of hangman with Peter, who seemed to be getting frustrated more and more as the man walked towards the gallows.

"What exactly does the shrinking solution do Mr. Black?"

" It can cause an organism to revert back to an earlier state….. No Peter, there is no A's."

"…..Good. Hmm. Mr. Nott. What are the effects of a swelling solution?"

"Swelling, sir."

"Correct, if not blunt. 5 points to slytherin. Let's see now. Who can tell me the difference….. Ah! Mr. Snape ! Tell me the difference between Monkswood and Aconite?"

Remus could have sworn he saw Slughorn glance towards him.

"There is no difference sir. Both are a plant known as Wolfsbane."

"Good, Now can you tell me what these are commonly used for?"

"They're used in commercial healing balms to ensure quick remedial relief, though it is not very thorough."

"Good! 5 points to Slytherin. By Mr. Snape's comment we can tell just how important brewing your on potions is. Remember, Be the brewer, not the brewed. You are the master of the potion. You can control how it works for you. Ready-made just won't cut it! Now now…….. Mr.……. Lupin! Lets make this difficult now. What is the main ingredient of a memory potion?"

"J-Jobberknoll feathers, sir."

"Can anyone tell me where the Jobberknoll is found?"

Slughorn waited a moment, but no hands rose.

"Oh, come now! Give it a guess, a the very least! Ms. Williams! Give it a try."

The girl Robin Williams gave Professor Slughorn a death glare.

"Jobberknoll?" she mumbled feebly.

"Not quite. Wonderful guess though. Jobberknoll's are actually the common raven, if you would believe that!

Slughorn looked down at his watch.

"I believe that is it for today, if you didn't take notes, don't worry. Review of what we need to know is on Monday. Well done all off you. Mr. Nott, tell your father thank you for the crystallized pineapple. Always my favorite. Alright! Dismissed! Have a good first week children, don't get stuck with peeves. If you do tell him the Baron sent you!"

Dear Dad,

I'm in Gryffindor. I thought I should tell you now since you were probably wondering.

How is everything at home? Are you living with Mum now?

I made a friend already, on the train, who is also in Gryffindor. Her name is Lily Evans. She's really wonderful, and has already memorized about half of the curriculum for this term. I'm glad she's studious; I thought I would be the only student in my year to know the material. Lily likes to draw, and is sitting across from me right now, making a sketch entitled "Remus Writing". This letter might be a bit long, since I'm her model.

Lily and I have every class together, so when I got lost on the way to potions two days ago, I had someone to get lost with. This castle is so big! Hopefully I can manage to learn my way around by next week. If not, the teachers will transform Lily into a map, as they threatened. A map really would be great, but I prefer when It's not made of someone I know…

My roommates are….. Entertaining. James Potter and Sirius Black are already partners in crime. They like to joke around, which is funny when their jokes aren't aimed at me. But they already introduced Peeves to water balloons. This morning I was drenched on my way to Transfiguration. I hope the way they're acting doesn't last….. Or at least I hope I'm not in the line of fire. My other roommates, Jacob, Ian, and Peter, are nice. Ian and Jacob seem witty, but I don't really know them, though I did talk to Peter yesterday during Herbology.

How Is Mum? Is she angry? I hope she isn't, but I know better. Please tell her I'm sorry, and I miss her. Ask her if she would write to me.

Write back soon. I really miss you. I can't wait to hear back.

Your Son,

Remus

"Lily, I'm finished."

"I'm not." she said briskly, looking up from her sketch pad "Just pretend. I'll be done really soon."

He placed his quill on the parchment, staring at it dully.

"Perfect. Stay there."

Remus let his quill hover a centimeter above the paper, pretending to write.

"Alright, that's it."

"May I see?"

"No." she slid her pad under a textbook. "Sorry, I don't let anyone see my sketches."

"Okay."

"…. Did you finish your survey for Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

"Yeah"

"Er, What did 'my favorite breakfast food' have to do with anything?"

"Maybe they were thinking of poisoning our morning pancakes." said Remus.

"I think Professor Berkeley just wants to get to know her students…. In a weird, straight forward way."

Lily picked up the survey from the table before them, and read through the questions.

" 'If you find a bag of Galleons on the street, with no tags indicating it's origin or owner, what do you do?' I put give it to charity." she answered amiably

"I said I would leave it there. Because it could be cursed."

"That's a good, paranoid answer."

Remus shrugged, and Lily read the next question "' What dueling stance is your preference?…… None of our books cover dueling. "

"In an alert, ready position, with a clear view of my opponent if possible."

"Sounds good." She yawned "I'm going to turn in."

"Alright. Good night."

She rose, and gathered her things. Just as she made to leave, she turned back to Remus.

"You should get some sleep too. "

Remus smiled a lightly "I'll try. Tomorrow's a weekend. I'll sleep the day away."

"Alright. Sweet dreams."

"You too." Remus let himself drift off in front of the fire.

(A/N) Sorry it took me so long to update, and that this chapter isn't the best. I wrote it while I should have been doing my chemistry homework. ;)

Thanks you thank you thank you to all who reviewed. You make me happy :)

Read and Review, much love and cookies to those who do.

Happy reading,

Valerie

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