Year 1: Part 21

Thursday, 2nd December, 1971

"Hey, er, guys?"

Peter continued to stare at his charms essay, eyes unfocussed and glassy as he tapped his quill against his cheek. He made no indication that he had heard anything, so lost in his own world was he. Remus glanced towards the other corner of the dormitory where James and Sirius were locked in an epic game of wizarding chess.

"Get him, come on, get him!" Sirius urged his bishop as it chased one of James' errant knights around the board. James himself was in fits of laughter on the floor as his white knight blatantly disregarded the rules and zig-zagged around the board before hiding behind three pawns who looked around in confusion as Sirius' black bishop came panting to a halt before collapsing in exhaustion.

Remus watched, fascinated for a little while longer, silently promising to himself to teach his dorm-mates the rules to chess, before he took a deep breath and tried, once again, to get their attention.

"Guys?"

The game continued and Peter remained dead to the world. Remus sighed and continued regardless.

"I just thought you'd like to know that I'm going now. I probably won't see you all until the beginning of next term. So, you know, Happy Christmas."

He waited a few seconds, before sighing once again and standing up, slinging the bag containing a spare pair of robes over his shoulder. He then made his way towards the door.

"Hey!"

He turned at the sound of James' voice. All three boys were looking at him with puzzled expressions on their faces.

"Where're you going?"

Remus, having prepared his excuse earlier that day, replied easily.

"You remember I was going to my cousin's wedding? In Florida? Well they've found another minister. I'm going tonight."

"Tonight?" James asked. "We probably won't see you until after the holidays then, will we? So, we'd better wish you Happy Christmas."

Remus mentally rolled his eyes.

"Yeah…" he began.

"Do you like your cousin?" Sirius asked suddenly.

"Huh?" Remus was stumped by the unexpected question. "Uh,yeah, I guess so. I mean, I don't really know her that well…"

"I've got to go to a wedding over the holidays as well," Sirius continued gloomily. "My dear cousin Bella. It's taking place on my birthday as well…"

"Wait, you're birthday?" James asked. "What date? We'll send you presents."

"Thirty-first," Sirius said. "New Year's Eve. It's a terrible day to have a birthday. Nobody wants to celebrate it, because they're all celebrating New Year instead."

Remus glanced at his watch. The moon would be rising in less than an hour.

"Look, I've really got to go," he said, glancing apologetically at his three friends. "I'll see you all next year. Happy Christmas!"

And as he left the dorm and headed off towards the Shrieking Shack, where he would be forced to face his worst fear once more, he heard behind him the merry cheer of, "Happy Christmas!", and he smiled.

XXX

Sunday, 5th December, 1971

When he returned to the dorm a few days later, it felt eerily quiet. He found it odd that, during term time, he had often wished for the other Marauders to be silent, so that he could enjoy a good book, but after reading the same paragraph for the sixth time in a row, he realised that he had grown used to the company of his new friends and had adapted his reading style to accommodate for their rowdiness. Now, without them, he was surprised to find it difficult to concentrate.

He decided to wonder down to the common room. But it was even worse there. He was, he soon discovered, the only Gryffindor to be staying at Hogwarts during the holidays. He wondered idly, if he were the only student at all left in the castle and, despite the warm fire flickering before him, he shivered.

He began to pace before the fire. True, being alone had its advantages. The comfortable seats close to the fire, usually occupied by seventh years, were now available to him, but…

It was then that Remus realised he had never truly been alone before. His mother was often at work, yes, but Uncle Ezra was always in the house, and even if he didn't talk much, it was a comfort just knowing he was there. And when Remus was in St Mungo's, there was always the Healer on duty, or the other patients.

Five days later, Remus thought he would go mad from lack of company. On the first day of his solitude he had gone to breakfast and sat at the empty Gryffindor table, watching as one or two of the teachers sat at the head table, sipping their coffee and browsing through The Prophet. He had seen only one other student, Severus Snape, who had sneered at him from across the hall. He felt suddenly very vulnerable and, after that instance, he had decided to eat in the kitchens. There the elves had pampered him but, he had soon discovered, being with them lacked the easy-going companionship he had become used to when around the other Marauders. Besides, there was only so much food he could eat in one sitting, and since they always gave him snacks to take away with him, he rarely needed to come back to the kitchens to eat until breakfast the next day.

Finally, he decided he'd had enough of seeing the same four walls of his dorm, and enough of seeing the barren common room. Grabbing a coat and his Gryffindor scarf, he left the tower and headed outside.

The chilly winter air hit him as soon as he exited through the doors to the Entrance Hall. He paused for a moment, enjoying the sensation of freedom that came with it.

"Good Morning, Mr Lupin."

Remus spun around and came face-to-face with the twinkling blue eyes of Albus Dumbledore.

"Professor," he gasped, and immediately began to wonder if he had broken a rule. Maybe he wasn't allowed in the grounds, except for herbology or flying lessons, or for his monthly trips to the Whomping Willow and the feared prison beyond.

"I often find that when one is feeling a little down, a good breath of fresh will always cheer me up. And the grounds at Hogwarts are so extensive. They are free to be used by students and staff alike. Except for, of course, the Forbidden Forest, which are out of bounds for students."

He smiled down at Remus, who breathed a sigh of relief. Of course he wasn't in trouble. He was just so unused to seeing people that now, being in another's company, he felt a little jumpy.

"I was on my way to visit the groundskeeper, Rubeus Hagrid. Perhaps you would like to accompany me? I have no doubt that he will not mind. In fact, he would enjoy making a new acquaintance. Although, I have to warn you, the rock cakes are a little difficult to chew. Best to dip them in some tea first."

Remus, who was remembering the giant of a man who had taken them over the lake before the sorting ceremony, felt a little bit nervous about meeting him again. But he felt that he could not refuse the headmaster's offer. After all, the man was the sole reason he was allowed to be at Hogwarts in the first place.

And so the two of them set of at a gentle pace towards the groundskeeper's hut on the edge of the forest. During their journey Dumbledore asked Remus how he was finding his studies and the boy was quite happy to talk animatedly about the first time he had transfigured a button into a paperclip and how Sirius had decided to imitate a honking daffodil in Herbology.

"Ah yes, Mr Sirius Black. He, Mr Potter and Mr Pettigrew are good friends of yours?"

"Yes. I mean, we all sleep in the same dorm and have the same lessons so we do pretty much everything together. And we help each other out a lot. Peter's better at potions than the rest of us, James is a whizz at transfiguration and Sirius is pretty good at charms when he puts his mind to it."

Dumbledore smiled. "It is good to know that you have a close set of friends around you. I believe that you will need them often over the years as they will need you. Ah, we have arrived."

They stood before the wooden door to the groundskeeper's hut. Dumbledore smiled at Remus as the boy bit his lip nervously, before knocking lightly on the door.

Remus jumped as a series of loud, booming barks sounded from within the hut, followed by an equally loud and booming voice. "Back, Claw, back!"

The huge hairy face of the giant-man Hagrid appeared from behind a crack in the door.

"Professor Dumbledore, sir, make yerself at home."

He opened the door, allowing them to enter, pulling back a rather large boarhound as he retreated back into the hut.

"This is Remus Lupin, Hagrid," Dumbledore said, as Remus sat down gingerly on the edge of an armchair so massive it looked as though it might eat him whole.

Hagrid looked up, clearly interested, and in doing so he let go of the dog which bounded towards Remus, knocking him flat on his chest before proceeding to lick his nose. Remus, started, alarmed, but then began to giggle as the dog began to lick a ticklish spot under his ear. He scratched the dog affectionately on the nose, and the dog barked happily, before jumping up to sit next to Remus on the chair, his wagging tail hitting the boy enthusiastically on the shoulder.

"He likes yer," Hagrid said, pouring tea. "O'course, Claw likes mostly everyone, he's a real softie, but he seems ter really like you. Makes sense, I s'pose. You being a werewolf an' all."

Remus froze. Claw, barked, objecting to the lack of stroking, and butted his nose against Remus' cheek.

"Hagrid is, ah, fascinated by all manner of magical creatures," Dumbledore explained. "I don't believe he's ever met a werewolf before."

"Not that I know of," Hagrid said, offering Remus a rock cake. The boy accepted but, remembering Dumbledore's earlier warning, did not take a bite. "O'course, most werewolves don' tend to advertise wha' they are, do they? An' I don' blame 'em. There's a lo' of prejudice around. An' ministry regulations aren't helping are they?"

Remus shook his head, partly in agreement, and partly because he couldn't believe his ears. Was this man, this scary giant-man, a werewolf sympathiser?

"I know wha' it's like," Hagrid said, leaning in conspiratorially, "ter be considered a half-breed, not quite human, a freak. You see – mind yer, you gotta promise not ter tell anyone, not even yer friends – me mum, well," his voice dropped to a whisper, "I'm half gian'."

Remus' eyes widened as he subconsciously gathered up all the information he knew about giants. They were brutal, stupid, and, well, gigantic. They ate children for breakfast, they…

In another half of his brain, a different voice began to speak up. 'This man, Hagrid,' it said, 'he seems nice enough. I mean, he's big, but not that big. And he doesn't seem that stupid and, hell, he just offered me a rock cake and made me tea, and his dog, alright, it looks terrifying, but it's really just a softie. So this Hagrid isn't exactly brutal or violent. He's just nice and friendly.'

And then, yet another voice said, tauntingly, 'Eats children for breakfast? That's what they say about werewolves. Ever eaten a child for breakfast, Remus?'

Suddenly he became aware of his surroundings again. To his left, sat comfortably in his armchair, Dumbledore sat, looking unconcerned and sipping his tea. To his right, Claw sat curled up against his side, tail still wagging contentedly, although his eyes were now closed. And before him sat Hagrid, looking at him nervously, as though expecting him to run away screaming.

Remus took a deep breath and smiled.

"Yeah," he said, a little shakily. "There's a lot of prejudice against… against people like us. I mean," Remus continued, gathering up his courage, "I've heard a lot of wild stories about werewolves, like how they eat children for breakfast, but I certainly haven't, and I highly doubt any werewolves have either."

Hagrid let out a booming laugh. "I've heard the same thing about giants," he said. "But tell me, is it true that werewolves have a heightened sense of smell, even when untransformed?"

An hour later, when Dumbledore left, the two were still talking animatedly about werewolves, giants and various other magical creatures and, when Remus left the hut at about five that evening – his pockets heavy with rock cakes and his ears ringing with Hagrid's promise that he could come and visit, any time – Remus' felt the happiest he had been since the Marauders left.

XXX

A/N I'm sorry for the long wait. I promise to try and put up some more regular updates in the future!

And, once again, thank you for all the lovely reviews!