First Year:
Remus slid into an empty seat in his first ever class at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Glancing around the room, he didn't know anyone. Well, he knew the other first year Gryffindor boys, but not very well. Two of them, Sirius and James, seemed to already know each other. Then there was the short one, Peter, but he mostly laid in his bed crying. It had made Remus feel a little better. At least he wasn't the only one nervous about being away from home, though he knew it wasn't for the same reasons. What fear of discovery could Peter possibly have?
He withdrew his copy of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration from his bag and slid it onto his desk along with several sheets of parchment and a quill. At the top of his first sheet, he wrote Transfiguration, September 2. He glanced around. The room was almost full except for a few empty seats, one of which was right next to him. He slid his book over so it didn't look like he was sitting alone.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Were you saving this seat?"
Remus looked up into the greenest eyes he had ever seen, made larger by a pair of wire-rimmed glasses.
"No," he answered, sliding his book back in front of him.
"Good," she answered, sitting next to him. "I thought I was going to have to sit with a Slytherin."
Her red hair hung at her shoulders in tight little curls, held from her face by two enormous leather barrettes. She began removing her own supplies from her bag, but stopped to wave at another student across the room. Remus glanced over to see another Gryffindor girl with lighter red hair. Lily Evans, he thought her name is.
"Isn't this cool?" she asked, looking back over at him. "Our very first class. I'm so excited."
"Me too," he answered.
"I'm Moira. Moira O'Shaughnessy. You're Remus Lupin, right?"
"Yeah."
"I thought that's who you were. And the short one's Peter, right?"
Remus nodded.
"Alright." She glanced around the room.
"And those two are James and Sirius?" she asked, pointing to the table shared by his other roommates. "Which is which?"
"James is the one with the glasses and Sirius has the dark hair."
"There aren't many of us, are there?" she went on. "My last school had about three times as many in a class. Not in a classroom, of course. But there would have been a lot more first years, I mean."
"Where did you go?"
"St. Patrick's Primary. It's a muggle school. The kids were nice though."
"So are you-?"
"No. My dad just wanted me to go to a public school before coming here. He said it would help prepare me for my future. He wants me to work for the Ministry like him. Muggle Affairs or something like that, but I'm not quite ready to decide the rest of my life yet."
"Who is?"
She smiled warmly at him
"Yeah. Who is?"
Professor McGonagall cleared her throat and class began. Throughout, Remus found himself glancing over at the girl who sat next to him. Moira. He smiled to himself. His first real friend. Maybe life here wouldn't be so bad. He took notes for the remainder of the class, smiling happily to himself. At the conclusion, they packed up their books to go to Defense Against the Dark Arts and crowded around the door with their classmates to leave.
"Remus!" Sirius Black threw his arm around his shoulders. "Why didn't you sit with us?"
"There wasn't an empty seat."
"Yeah, well, that's where you ask someone to move. And if that doesn't work, you slide a Filibuster on their seat." He smiled mischievously. "Come on. Sit with us in the next class."
Remus glanced over at Moira.
"Go ahead," she mouthed. Then aloud added, "I'll go find Lily."
"She's pretty cool," Sirius said, watching her retreat into the crowd. "What's her name?"
"Moi-"
"James! I found Remus! He's gonna sit with us!" Remus was pulled along with the flow of students. Once in the dungeon, she smiled at him again as he was pulled to a table with James and Sirius.
"Can I sit here too?" Peter asked, dropping his books on the table. "I'm never going to keep up with all this. We already have homework!"
"It's just reading, Peter. Just skim it," Sirius said.
James looked down the table, pushing his glasses back onto his nose.
"It's not like they're going to give a quiz on the second day." He glanced around. "So has anyone met the girls yet?"
"Remus has," Sirius answered. "He was sitting with one in Transfiguration." He pulled an apple from his bag and munched on it loudly.
"Is she your girlfriend?" Peter asked.
"Which one?" James asked.
"Moira. The red head."
"That one?" he asked, pointing down the table at Lily.
"No. That one's Lily. To her right."
James and Sirius leaned way over the table.
"The one with the frizzy hair," Sirius pointed out.
"Oh. So the one with frizzy hair is Moira. And Lily has the lighter hair. What about the blond and black haired ones?"
"The blond is Lana or Ana or something like that," Sirius told him. "I think the one with black hair is a Ravenclaw."
"No," James said. "I think I saw her in the Common Room last night."
"You sure?" Sirius asked, biting again into his apple.
"There's two of 'em," Peter said. "Look, there's another in the corner."
This time, Sirius stood up and looked around the room. Turning toward the corner, he said loudly, "Hey, there is another one!" James reached up and pulled him clumsily into his seat as the girls in back giggled. Sirius waved at them, a wide grin on his face.
Remus' own laughter was stifled by the tall professor who now stood in the front of the room. His face was heavily scarred and he was missing two fingers on one hand. He stared forebodingly around the room.
"I hope you've all had a good laugh." His voice was low, but carried through the spines of the entire room. "You boy, your name," he demanded, staring at Sirius.
"Black, sir," Sirius answered, unsure if it was even a question. "Sirius Black."
"You don't seem so serious to me, Mr. Black. See that you make the proper adjustment for the remainder of the class."
Remus snickered, despite the severity in the professor's voice. His steel gray eyes turned on him.
"You find Mr. Black funny?"
"No, sir."
"And you name is?"
"Lupin, sir. Remus Lupin."
The professor's eyes narrowed.
"Ah, yes. I heard you were coming."
Whispers rose throughout the room, but were silenced by the professor's icy stare.
"I don't recall asking for discussion," the professor snapped. With a last long look at Remus, he launched into his lecture. Remus sunk low in his seat. What did he mean he had heard he was coming? How many people could possibly know? He would have to do a better job and blending in.
"What was all that about?" Sirius asked as they retreated from the room. "He heard you were coming?"
James broke in before Remus could answer.
"He's probably just trying to intimidate you, Remus. Make it seem like he'd been warned about you, or something."
"Yeah," Remus answered gingerly. "Probably."