Chapter Three: Beginnings

Author's Note:  Don't worry too much about Sam's sudden appearance, Voltora, it'll all work out (grins).   This chapter, however, is all flashback to Remus first meeting Sosia.  As for disclaimers—well I don't own them, and I'm certain that you don't own them, since we all know that J.K. Rowling owns them!  And if there is any money being made off of this, no one has told me about it!

And please leave a contribution in the little box (at the bottom of the page), as they would say in the Labyrinth!

Chapter Three:  Beginnings

The first time he met Sosia had been on Platform 9 ¾, waiting to board the Hogwarts Express.  It had been the beginning of his second year and he and his friends had planned to meet and get a compartment together.  Sirius had mentioned that his younger sister would be starting that year, but Remus hadn't really thought much about that.

He and his parents had gotten there early, and Remus had already scouted out a large compartment for the eight of them—himself, Sirius and his sister, James, Peter, Lily, Simon and Margaret—to share as they planned their escapades for the coming year.  He was euphoric, he had friends and he was actually good at his studies.  His only worries centered on how to keep his friends from finding out that he was a werewolf.  He knew that Sirius and James had been a bit suspicious of his monthly disappearances, and he only hoped that they had forgotten about them over the summer.

"Daniel, over here!"  His father was calling to someone, and as Remus looked over two bodies came hurtling towards him.

"Remus!  We've missed you this summer!"  James cried after he and Sirius finished knocking him over and had picked him up again.

"Why didn't you come to the Midsummer celebration?  Didn't you get my owl?"  Sirius said at almost the same moment.

"Remus was ill, or I know he wouldn't have missed your party for the world."  His mother covered for him quickly, when she saw him begin to get flustered in his attempt to come up with an excuse.  The full moon had fallen on Midsummer's eve.

"It appears to be true that the Potter blood runs true, Daniel.  No one could mistake that James is your son."  Remus hadn't known his father knew James'.

Daniel Potter laughed, "Yes, Susanna said the same thing."

"Actually, she said that she would have to be very careful if she ever thought of cheating on Dan here, because she be sure to be caught out if the child didn't have that unruly thatch of black hair!"  Laughed the dark-haired man that was accompanying them.

"Matthias!  Really, repeating such things in front of the children."  The woman accompanying Matthias Black turned to the boys and said, "why don't you get your things on the train now, and Sirius, try not to do anything ridiculously dangerous while you're at it."  She did not, however, sound very confident in this last direction being heeded. " And take your sister, show her around." 

"Yes, Mum." Replied Sirius, and Remus noticed for the first time, the shy wide-eyed girl half hiding behind Mrs. Black, her arms wrapped around a cat that seemed to be an odd shade of blue.

"Remus, meet my sister, Sosia Aemilia Black."  Sirius announced with a flourish.  "Sosia, this is Remus Justinias Lupin.  The Professor here is just the fellow to go to if you need anything researched in that monster of a library they have at Hogwarts."

Remus mimed a playful blow at Sirius' head, then said "Hello, Sosia.  You probably already know that you should ignore most of what comes out of your brother's mouth."

Sosia smiled shyly at him and Remus was struck by how much she resembled her brother.  Almost like she was merely a petite female version from the same model.  They shared the same straight black hair and odd quicksilver-gray eyes, and the same quirk of a smile.

As Sirius proceeded to push the trolley containing their trunks in the direction Remus had indicated, James stood back by the adults, still looking speculatively at Mrs. Lupin. 

"Hey, James!  Come on lad, the train's this way."  Sirius called over his shoulder, "honestly, the boy's mind's been slipping over the summer."  He continued to Remus, shaking his head in mock-worry as James turned and dashed to catch up.  Sosia trailed behind them, carrying her cat.

"My mind's slipping?  Remind me please, Sirius, which of us wandered into the bonfire at Midsummer because he'd had a bit too much butterbeer?"

"I meant to do that, I was trying to see if those extinguishing charms our parents had been going on about were really any good."  Sirius replied loftily.  "Anyhow, that's not important; what's important is if Remus was able to find that distance explosion charm over the summer.  I've really been looking forward to seeing if we could actually soak the entire Slytherin house table in pumpkin juice."

James rolled his eyes, but before he could reply another pair of voices called out to them.

"James, Remus, Sirius!  Help us with this thing!"

"Ow!  That was my foot!"

Simon and Peter had managed to collapse their trolley and knock one of the wheels loose.  It had rolled off down the platform after bouncing off Peter's foot.  Laughing, James and Sirius went to help, leaving Remus to look after their trunks and Sosia, who had taken up position on the other side of the trolley, half hidden from him behind the trunks, still clutching her cat.  Remus decided it wouldn't hurt to try and draw her out.

"That's a very pretty cat, what is its name?"

"Gamaliel."  She replied shyly.  "He's a Russian Blue and he's very smart.  He can steal Tarsus' tail feathers without getting nipped.  They make wonderful quills."

Remus grinned at that; Sosia was definitely a Black, to train her cat to go after Sirius' owl for quills.

"Would you like to hold him?  He doesn't like these crowds," and, indeed, the cat looked as if he would be much happier somewhere else.  "But I'm sure he'll be nice if I ask him." 

"Ah no, I don't think so.  Cats don't seem to like me."  Came his quick reply, precious few animals would tolerate being held by a werewolf and he didn't want to panic her cat.

"Don't worry, Gamaliel isn't like most cats."  And with that, she deposited her cat in his arms before he could form another protest.  To his amazement, Gamaliel merely looked up at him for a moment before hopping onto his shoulder to command a better view of his surroundings.  Sosia giggled as Gamaliel used Remus' head for balance as he reared up to enjoy this new perspective.  After his initial panic, Remus found himself grinning back at her.

"See?  He likes you.  Well, he likes your height anyway."  She temporized, as Gamaliel climbed to perch a moment on top of Remus' head, then leapt down and curled around his little mistress' ankles, obviously demanding to be picked up again.  "Lazy."  She remonstrated him affectionately as she complied.

Just then, a sudden and loud crashing noise interrupted them and they turned to see the now fully wheeled trolley containing Peter and Simon's trunks go careening down the platform directly into the new Head Boy, Frank Longbottom, and Peter's brother Christopher.  It looked as if they were going to save the teachers the time and trouble of thinking up detentions for the second years by doing away with the lot of them right there.

"It was an accident!"  Protested Peter, scampering away laughing, as his brother shouted about removing him from the land of the living.  Soon, there was a massive game of tag going on as Frank and Christopher tried to catch any of the four boys who had been in control of the offending trolley.

"Oh, what have they done now?"  Lily had come onto the platform behind them during the commotion, pushing her own trolley and followed by Margaret and her luggage.

"It actually was an accident."  Remus explained, "at least, I think it was."  And he explained the lost wheel and the careening trunks.

Lily rolled her eyes and smiled, "that sounds like just their luck.  Do we have a compartment yet?"

"Yes, this way ladies."  And he executed one of Sirius' notorious sweeping bows, although with not quite as much success as Gamaliel chose that moment to jump onto his back.  "Ah!  Sosia, what is he trying to do, scalp me?" Remus cried as the cat attempted to climb up his back to his shoulders and head again.

"No, I think he just wants his nice view back."  She said between giggles.

"Well, tell him he can't have it!"

"Oh, all right."  And still giggling, she detached her cat from his robes and kept a good hold on him.

"Thank you."  Noticing Lily's questioning gaze, Remus introduced Lily and Margaret to Sirius' little sister as the boys came back from their invigorating game of chase, having eluded their would-be captors by hiding amongst the parents.

"Come on," cried Sirius. "There's lots left to plan, if we're going to win the House Cup this year and humiliate the Slytherins completely in the process!  We have to show Sosia how it's all done."  And grinning his exceptionally mischievous grin—the kind that many of his fellow students had already begun to associate with dangerous and often ludicrous pranks—Sirius put his arm around his little sister and they all followed Remus to their compartment.

Author's note:  If you're wondering what Gamaliel looks like, here are some pictures of Russian Blue Cats, they are a regally beautiful and mysterious breed.