Chapter 9. Runner Bean

September 6, 1971

As soon as the infirmary door closed behind him, Remus stood there, confused, for a few seconds. He hadn't the faintest idea where he was. He looked around and saw that the corridor was empty.

Great!

There was no one to ask for information and he didn't even have his map with him. He took a deep breath and composed himself. He walked over to a window and noticed that he was high up.

First thing: get off. Good. But how?

Randomly he chose to turn right and continue walking down the corridor hoping to catch a glimpse of the stairs which he soon found. After descending two flights of stairs, Remus recognized the Transfiguration room and so with relief made the last flight and found himself on the ground floor. He smiled unconsciously. At that moment he felt much calmer, thanks both to not being lost and to the potion that Madam Pomfrey had given him earlier: it had made him more relaxed and he felt in a good mood. He saw that in front of the Great Hall there was a coming and going of people and he smelled a magnificent scent of food in the air: it must be dinner time. He took courage and walked into the crowd of students queuing to enter the Hall. Once inside he walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down. He was agitated. He couldn't wait to meet his companions again but was afraid they would ignore him.

What if after my behavior yesterday they decided they didn't want to spend time with me anymore? I would understand them .. I was a real hothead. But it wasn't me. Or rather, it was me but I was conditioned by the full moon.

He knew he had known them for a short time, but in those first three days he had had a great time and the very thought of not being able to relive those emotions and go back to spending time alone saddened him. He was staring at the table when a voice called him.

"Remus!" Peter yelled, attracting the attention of many people who looked at him confused. Remus turned and saw the three boys at the entrance. He could not help but smile to see the little boy turn red and embarrassed lower his head and the other two laugh in amusement at the same scene.

"Welcome back, Remus." James said smiling, standing next to him.

"Hi guys .. I wanted to say sorry about yesterday .." he apologized.

"Hey, don't worry! Indeed, you excuse me! I should have known right away that you didn't want to be disturbed. "

"It's just… about every month my mother has a relapse and every time that period comes I get a little nervous." he explained.

"Understandable." James continued.

"How is your mother?" asked Peter who was standing in front of him.

Remus shrugged and looked down.

"I hope you don't mind, but we used your stereo to listen to some music last night." Sirius looked at the boy with a guilty face.

"You did very well! " Remus calmed him with a smile. "What did you listen to?"

And so they started talking about the tapes they listened to, the songs they liked and the songs they didn't remember because of the strange titles.

"Ah, you know Lily got mad at James?" Peter asked out of nowhere.

"Why?"

"Dunno, she says I'm just arrogant and that I have to mind my own business .." James smiled amused.

"And now she doesn't talk to you anymore." Sirius added, raising his eyebrows.

"Just because I gave my opinion on her little friend! Is not that I insulted him or anything, I simply said that he doesn't seem a very nice and easy going guy, that's all. Then she got upset and now she barely looks me in the face. She did everything! "

"Ssh, she's on his way…" Sirius silenced.

"Hi guys .. Remus, hi!" Lily exclaimed smiling and sitting next to Remus. "How are you?"

"Oh, well thanks .. you?"

"Fine. I'm just a little nervous about tomorrow, but I'm fine! "

"I'm glad .." he said smiling at the girl. "Dorcas and Mary?"

"They are arriving. They stopped to ask the Flight and Herbology teacher what to bring for tomorrow's lessons. "

"Right, tomorrow we have flight class .."

"Yeah! I'm terrified too .. "

" There's nothing to be afraid of. Flying is beautiful! "
Lily on hearing James's voice immediately became serious and rolled her eyes. Sirius and Remus exchanged complicit glances while Peter seemed not to have noticed. An awkward situation arose in which no one spoke until Dorcas and Mary arrived.

"Hi Remus!" they said in unison.

Fortunately for a while only they spoke: they updated the classmates on the material to be brought to class the next day.

"So I really think we'll fly tomorrow…" Mary pointed out.

"Let's hope not! God, at moments I don't even know what a flying broom is, let alone if I already know how to mount it! " Dorcas said, laughing at her own statement. Everyone laughed with her except Lily and James who continued to have a serious and hurt face.

"Really? You're not saying anything about Quidditch now, Potter? Are you only talking to annoy me? "

James didn't answer, he just smiled satisfied. Lily snorted and ignored him again.

After another little awkward pause the food showed up on the table and the two guys calmed down. Everyone ate, chatted about this and that and then talked about the lessons that were now very close. At the end of the dinner Dumbledore wished a good start to the school year and then some students got up and left the Hall, but they didn't. They decided to wait a while to avoid crowding with people and as soon as the room emptied the group got up and started to leave.

"So you stay here, Lily?" Dorcas asked.

"Yes yes, I stay with Sev for a while and then I arrive."

"Keep an eye on the time .." Mary added.

"Don't worry, see you later!" she smiled first at the girls, then at the boys, being careful to ignore James, and walked over to the Slytherin who was still sitting at his table and staring at them.

They spent most of the evening in the common room and then around 9.30, shortly after Lily's return, they decided it was time to go to bed. Classes would start the next day and everyone wanted to be well rested for the occasion. Once in the dorms, they listened to some music as they took turns going to the bathroom. Remus went last: he took with him the purple bag Madam Pomfrey had given him and, with effort and patience, he healed the biggest wounds after taking a shower. When he finished, he put on his pajamas, brushed his teeth and went back to the bedroom. Peter was lying on the bed - a matter of a few minutes and he would have fallen asleep -, James was checking his uniform hanging from the closet and Sirius was sitting on the floor watching the tapes.

"I'm glad you like muggle music." smiled at Sirius.

"Liking? I love her!" the boy said theatrically, looking at Remus from below.

"Oh, really?" Peter asked ironically. He turned to his companions and together they burst out laughing.

"I seriously think you prefer the radio to us." James continued nodding.

"I neither confirm nor deny .." Sirius replied, raising his eyebrows and smiling.

September 7, 1971

The boys woke up slightly agitated that morning: with that day the first week of classes would begin and Remus was no longer in the skin. They ate breakfast quickly and then, full of objects that would be needed for the lesson, they went in search of the greenhouse. They were the last to arrive. Lily, Dorcas and Mary were already there and as soon as they saw them they motioned him to approach them and, in silence, together with other Gryffindor boys and the Hufflepuffs awaited the arrival of Professor Sprout.

"Hello guys and welcome to the first Herbology lesson!" she exclaimed happily. "I would say to start immediately, what do you think?" she asked, looking at the students one by one. "Well, first of all you will form pairs: a hufflepuff girl and a gryffindor boy and a gryffindor girl and a hufflepuff boy, and then you will go to the stations .. go on, choose a mate! Don't be shy! ".

After a few seconds of discomfort, some girls began to move and slowly couples formed. Remus walked over to a girl with long blonde hair with bangs, they exchanged embarrassed smiles and together walked to the table.

"Great! This year we will deal with the study and knowledge of herbs and magical plants, their properties and their uses; we will also learn to take care of them and use them - to plant them, fertilize them, transfer them and prune them .. and I would start from this, from practice. " the woman picked up something. "This is a Runner Bean and is part of the Simple Plants, which are often harmless plants whose effects are not harmful to humans. Today, together with your partner, you will try to plant it. So far so good, but the problem now comes: while it may seem like a simple bean, in reality it is not. As you will see later, it has small paws that allow it to be very fast and therefore difficult to grab. But don't be alarmed, it's a very simple process. "

The teacher made everyone prepare with aprons and gloves.

"You have a vase in front of you. First we will have to beat the ground so that it is as hard and compact as possible. Once this is done, we need to make a small hole where we will later insert the bean. " she showed how to do it and then told the students to repeat the action. Remus and the girl looked at each other and, without saying anything, began to work.

"Now the part that needs more attention: taking the bean. To catch him you have to put the bean at ease and not let him know that you are about to take it. Slow movements and sweet and delicate words are essential. While one of you will try to take the bean, the other will have to be ready with some dirt in hand so that you can promptly cover it once it is placed in the hole. All clear?" the boys nodded. "We will try to plant three per pair. Please, do not rush, we have the whole lesson. Start! "

"What do you want to start with?" Remus asked.

"Oh, if you don't mind I would like to try to take the bean .." the girl replied hopefully.

"Sure no problem!" she smiled happily and went to get the bag containing the bean, Remus instead took a handful of dirt and waited. He opened the envelope, rolled the bean into the jar and walked slowly towards it. At first the bean stood still, then began to fidget and run around the pot. It was a fun and tender sight at the same time.

"Hey little one .." the girl said softly, almost whispering. "How do you feel? You can trust me. I am your friend. "Her hands went to the jar. "You are such a gorgeous bean, you know? The most beautiful I've ever seen. " the bean stopped as the girl's hands moved toward him instead. Suddenly she took it, stuck it in the hole, and Remus covered it with the dirt he had taken earlier. They hit the surface well and walked away. They looked happy and smiled satisfied.

"Again?" Remus asked. The girl nodded and they did everything from the beginning: they prepared the pot, she caught the bean and he covered it with more dirt. They had taken a liking to it. Then, after preparing the third jar, she asked:

"Do you want to try and take it this time?"

"I don't think I'm as good as you are…"

"Nonsense! I'm sure you'll make it. You just need to talk to him gently and not make any sudden movements. Remember that plants are living beings, so just like us humans they need patience and gentleness. " she reassured him. And so they did.

Remus slowly approached the bean that was running desperately for the jar and then spoke very sweetly.

"Hey dude .. how are you? Wow, you are really fast. Very good .. You are also gorgeous, do you know this? Beautiful, really .. "Suddenly he took the bean, put it in the hole and she promptly banged it right on it with dirt.

"I didn't think I could do it .." Remus said, still incredulous.

"See? What did I tell you? You were very good! "

"Thanks to you for the advice!"

"For so little! Oh, how rude I am, we haven't even introduced ourselves .. my name is Marlene, Marlene McKinnon. " she introduced herself, smiling.

"I'm Remus Lupin."

"Well, Remus… thanks for the great job. We were a great team! " Marlene said, looking proudly at the vases. "I'm going to tell the teacher that we're done."

About ten minutes later the lesson ended. Marlene gave Remus a shy wave and left with some Hufflepuffs as he joined his companions. They discussed the lesson and everyone found it interesting enough. Then they decided to go to the Tower to get the necessary for the next lesson, go down again and spend the free hour in the garden.

Unfortunately the euphoria that had been created thanks to Herbology was destroyed by the Flight class. After a brief explanation of what they were going to do throughout the year, for the remainder of the hour they would have to call the broom to them and get familiar with it. Remus found it very frustrating: his broom didn't move at all, but he didn't care. He much preferred looking at James' happiness and enthusiasm every time the broom answered him, rather than trying to yell 'Up!' once more.