The Last of the Four- Chapter 1
The First Meeting
By Lillian Evans
****
"But Mum, if I run straight at the barrier, two things will happen, first, I'll make a fool of myself, second, I'll get hurt. We need to find platform 9¾, not run into walls."
"I'm telling you Remus, if you run at the barrier, it will take you to 9¾. Now hurry! We don't want to miss the train!"
Remus Lupin was 11 years old, and was standing with his school trunk about ten feet away from the barrier between platforms 9 and 10 at Kings Cross Station. His mother was telling him to run at the barrier, and he was thinking it was a very foolish idea indeed. Just then, two boys, both with untidy black hair ran past him with their carts, knocking him over.
"Get out of the way, stupid, we're about to miss our train!"
Remus watched the boys running towards the barrier, but he blinked and they disappeared.
"See, Remus, dear, those two boys just ran through the barrier and they weren't hurt! Now, let's go, the Hogwarts Express is always prompt, and we only have 3 minutes until 11:00."
Remus grumbled and got to his feet. He didn't like the idea of going to the same school as those boys, but he didn't have much of a choice. No other wizarding school would accept him. That's why his parents had moved to London, so that they would be in the vicinity of Hogwarts, because the new headmaster, Albus Dumbledore was allowing werewolves and vampires to enter the school, as well as muggle borns and others.
And so, with his heart thumping, and he himself thinking what a stupid idea it was, he turned his cart toward the barrier and began to walk towards it. The next thing he knew, he had entered a whole new platform, with a scarlet steam engine in front of him, blowing its whistle. He looked over his shoulder at the solid wall behind him just in time to see his mother appear out of nowhere.
"Remus, why are you dawdling? Get on the train! It's about to leave!" She hustled him toward one of the doors. "Have a good year now, and don't get into too much trouble! If you need anything, just owl me and I'll send it along to you. I love you sweetie, and don't worry, you'll be fine!" She kissed him on the cheek.
"Love you too Mum, bye!" Remus replied to his mother as he climbed onto the train and wiped the lipstick off of his cheek. He walked down the corridor until he reached an empty compartment, where he stowed his trunk and sat down. He was extremely tired, since the full moon had been less than a week ago, and he still hadn't fully recovered the lack of the night's sleep, so he was just about to close his eyes, when a knock on the compartment door brought him abruptly back to reality.
"Sorry to bother you, but everywhere else is full, do you mind if I sit here? I'm Peter by the way, Peter Pettigrew."
"Of course not, go right ahead! I'm Remus Lupin."
They spent the next fifteen minutes discussing which house they would like to be in, and they both agreed that Gryffindor would be best, although they would probably land themselves in Hufflepuff.
After the discussion had died down, and Peter had taken out his exploding snap cards ("You want to play?") the two black haired boys from the platform ran by the compartment, but when they caught sight of Peter and Remus, they stopped, and backtracked with malicious looking grins on their faces.
"Hey, James! Look who it is! It's Peter! And look, he's got a friend with him! Aren't you that kid from King's Cross who was too scared to get onto the platform? Did your mommy finally convince you that it was safe? Tell me, how much did Peter have to pay you to be his friend? One galleon or two? Or did he break his own record and give you 5?"
"Actually, I wasn't paid at all. I'm sure that if you took the time to get to know him, you'd see that Peter is a very nice person. Now, we were just about to start a game of exploding snap, if you'll excuse us. Peter, I think I'll deal."
"Fine, but you haven't heard the last of us yet," said the boy called James with another grin. "You'll find you don't want to get on our bad side."
And with a swish of their robes, they left and walked down the hall.
"They'll be in Slytherin for sure," grimaced Peter as Remus dealt the cards. "But at least we won't have to deal with them in Gryffindor!"
Remus smiled and looked at his cards. Precisely twenty games later, they pulled into Hogsmeade station.
****
"But Mum, if I run straight at the barrier, two things will happen, first, I'll make a fool of myself, second, I'll get hurt. We need to find platform 9¾, not run into walls."
"I'm telling you Remus, if you run at the barrier, it will take you to 9¾. Now hurry! We don't want to miss the train!"
Remus Lupin was 11 years old, and was standing with his school trunk about ten feet away from the barrier between platforms 9 and 10 at Kings Cross Station. His mother was telling him to run at the barrier, and he was thinking it was a very foolish idea indeed. Just then, two boys, both with untidy black hair ran past him with their carts, knocking him over.
"Get out of the way, stupid, we're about to miss our train!"
Remus watched the boys running towards the barrier, but he blinked and they disappeared.
"See, Remus, dear, those two boys just ran through the barrier and they weren't hurt! Now, let's go, the Hogwarts Express is always prompt, and we only have 3 minutes until 11:00."
Remus grumbled and got to his feet. He didn't like the idea of going to the same school as those boys, but he didn't have much of a choice. No other wizarding school would accept him. That's why his parents had moved to London, so that they would be in the vicinity of Hogwarts, because the new headmaster, Albus Dumbledore was allowing werewolves and vampires to enter the school, as well as muggle borns and others.
And so, with his heart thumping, and he himself thinking what a stupid idea it was, he turned his cart toward the barrier and began to walk towards it. The next thing he knew, he had entered a whole new platform, with a scarlet steam engine in front of him, blowing its whistle. He looked over his shoulder at the solid wall behind him just in time to see his mother appear out of nowhere.
"Remus, why are you dawdling? Get on the train! It's about to leave!" She hustled him toward one of the doors. "Have a good year now, and don't get into too much trouble! If you need anything, just owl me and I'll send it along to you. I love you sweetie, and don't worry, you'll be fine!" She kissed him on the cheek.
"Love you too Mum, bye!" Remus replied to his mother as he climbed onto the train and wiped the lipstick off of his cheek. He walked down the corridor until he reached an empty compartment, where he stowed his trunk and sat down. He was extremely tired, since the full moon had been less than a week ago, and he still hadn't fully recovered the lack of the night's sleep, so he was just about to close his eyes, when a knock on the compartment door brought him abruptly back to reality.
"Sorry to bother you, but everywhere else is full, do you mind if I sit here? I'm Peter by the way, Peter Pettigrew."
"Of course not, go right ahead! I'm Remus Lupin."
They spent the next fifteen minutes discussing which house they would like to be in, and they both agreed that Gryffindor would be best, although they would probably land themselves in Hufflepuff.
After the discussion had died down, and Peter had taken out his exploding snap cards ("You want to play?") the two black haired boys from the platform ran by the compartment, but when they caught sight of Peter and Remus, they stopped, and backtracked with malicious looking grins on their faces.
"Hey, James! Look who it is! It's Peter! And look, he's got a friend with him! Aren't you that kid from King's Cross who was too scared to get onto the platform? Did your mommy finally convince you that it was safe? Tell me, how much did Peter have to pay you to be his friend? One galleon or two? Or did he break his own record and give you 5?"
"Actually, I wasn't paid at all. I'm sure that if you took the time to get to know him, you'd see that Peter is a very nice person. Now, we were just about to start a game of exploding snap, if you'll excuse us. Peter, I think I'll deal."
"Fine, but you haven't heard the last of us yet," said the boy called James with another grin. "You'll find you don't want to get on our bad side."
And with a swish of their robes, they left and walked down the hall.
"They'll be in Slytherin for sure," grimaced Peter as Remus dealt the cards. "But at least we won't have to deal with them in Gryffindor!"
Remus smiled and looked at his cards. Precisely twenty games later, they pulled into Hogsmeade station.