PART 1

THE SCHOOL YEARS

Chapter 1

The Monster of King's Cross

Each year, Earl Katzenbaum drove the large shiny red steam engine in and out of Platform 9 ¾. Each year, he saw the random students in their Muggle clothing enter through the magical barricade and clamber onto the cars with excitement. Each year, their hopeful parents saw them off, waving and smiling and blowing kisses and saying embarrassing things like "Now John Isaac Morris! If I hear that you haven't taken a shower for a week, I'll send the biggest Howler you've ever seen!" Each year, Katzenbaum saw the same scene with changing faces. He saw the first years grow to seventh years, and their brothers and sisters succeed them. So the hot September day of 1971 shouldn't have been any different.

Yet everyone was tedious on board the train. Earl wasn't the only one who had wanted to bar one of the compartments closed with steel and swallow the key. But alas, that stubborn old headmaster would not budge to his requests. Dumbledore had looked down his half-moon glasses at the train staff, and said in a very forceful voice, "Every student will be treated equally. No matter his misfortunes."

This hadn't gone over very well with the food cart lady, who knew very well that she would have to run into the monster at least once on the trip if she had any prayer of keeping her job. She had been found, tensely pacing back and forth, rubbing her arms as if a draft had blown into her room, muttering to herself about the atrocities of Dumbledore's desegregation endeavors.

"It's madness! I tell you, someone will be hurt! I can feel it. Something horrible's going to happen!"

So Earl, who had usually looked forward to the first day of school, was now dreading it. The nightmares came more often, and the weeks turned to days turned to hours and --- finally --- minutes.

Now the old engineer of the Hogwarts Express was forced to look out his window to the usual scene below. Students crowded around their parents, saying last goodbyes. He wondered if he could spot the little demon in the midst of them. Did he have hair growing out of his ears? Did he have whiskers? Come to think of it, Earl had never seen one of them before. Were they freakish, or did they look like everyone else?

He could imagine a twenty-foot creature making its way onto the train, snarling and clawing at everyone in sight. His luggage would be in his hand, with the Hogwarts robes worn tightly around his neck like a cloth chain.

He wouldn't be able to fit into the compartments.

"Now remember, our entire family has upheld our good name by landing in Slytherin. You remember that, boy."

Earl's glance shot towards a large pillar, where three figures were saying their good-byes. A placid looking woman with a pale face was turned toward a small boy with the blackest hair he had ever seen. The father, he guessed, was a man that looked as if he had been chiseled out of stone. He had his arms crossed and he looked down his pointed nose at the boy as if he were a roach.

"I know, Father, I know," the boy said quietly, shuffling his feet and casting his look to the ground. "I'll try, but I don't get to choose."

"If you show that old git of a hat your lineage, he's bound to put you where you belong," the woman piped in. Her voice was cracked and worn. She patted her son on the shoulder, and pushed him toward the train entrance. "We will write you, and expect you back home for Christmas. Your brother will be pleased to see you again. And your cousins will be visiting for the holidays."

"I can hardly wait," the boy grumbled, and he made his way slowly to the third car. He was a Black. Earl could tell from the dark eyes and pale complexion. Another Slytherin for Hogwarts, he thought as he cast his gaze back at the crowd earnestly. He wanted to catch a glimpse of this beast that was due to arrive.

He saw a fat pudgy boy enter, holding his pet rat. He was followed by a skinny first year with thick glasses. Then a severe looking boy with a hooked, pointed nose, who was waiting patiently for a red haired girl, who was accompanied by her parents and what looked like her older sister. The sister had a look of pure disgust on her face, and the mother and father were dressed in genuine Muggle clothes.

Muggles, Earl thought to himself.

He darted his eyes back and forth throughout the crowd. No one seemed out of place. No one looked like a shaggy monster with fanged teeth. They were all children.

Hank made his way into the engine room, and knocked on the door. Earl looked at him, turning his stares away from the window. Hank grinned that stupid fat grin he always had, and said, "Well, sir, we'll be pullin' out in about five minutes."

"Erm, Hank," Earl stopped his co worker as he started to retreat. "Do you have that list handy? I'd like to take a peep at it."

"Er…sure, Earl," Hank said, taking out his clipboard and shuffling through the papers. "You checkin' on someone?"

"Something, actually," Early said bitterly, and grabbed the board from him, "You remember that name of the kid? You know --- the kid?"

"Oh, you mean the freaky one?"

"Yeah, that one."

"Can't really recall offhand --- well --- it started with an L, didn't it?"

"Was that the first name or last name?"

"Heck, I dunno, Earl. Either? Both? Who cares? We's got three minutes now 'till we ship out," Hank grabbed his clipboard back, and disappeared through the doorway.

Earl sighed, rubbed his neck, and went back to watching the scene outside.

And finally, he caught a glimpse of the monster.

It was a little boy, only about four feet in height. He hadn't hit puberty yet, Earl could tell. He was scrawny, and circles were under his eyes. He was already wearing his robes, which were hardly distinguishable because of the bad condition they were in. They were either hand-me-downs or compliments of the Second-Hand Store in Diagon Alley. His hands weren't visible from underneath the sleeves, and it draped over him like a nightgown. His father stood with him, proud all the same, beaming at the crimson red Hogwarts Express. The little boy with his gray-blond hair was shivering with nerves.

The man bent down to face his son, whispered something in his ear, and patted him on the back. The little boy smiled sadly, picked up his trunk (which was bigger than him), and headed off towards one of the entrances. The father wiped a tear from his eye, and waved at his departing son.

"All aboard!" Hank called from outside the door. "All accounted for, Earl. Go ahead."

Earl pulled the gears into place, and the Hogwarts Express gave a whistle. In a matter of seconds, the large train was pulling out of King's Cross and into the countryside.

And yet Earl didn't feel better.

"Mind if I sit here?"

Sirius blinked, and looked up, his eyes peering over the Daily Prophet. There was a boy with mussed hair standing in the entrance, his thick black glasses dominating his face. He was grinning at him. Grinning. What a loser.

"Sure. It isn't my train."

The four-eyed boy's grin got wider, and he plopped down in the seat across from him. Sirius sighed, and went on reading the paper.

Nothing interesting had been happening in the wizarding world lately. Some man named Crouch had become a member of the Wizengamot. A girl called Dorcas Meadowes had been inducted into one of the millions of Ministry cabinets. Jeremiah Sweeny had opened a new shop in Hogsmeade. Nothing important. Nothing interesting. The best headline there was one that read "GRINGOTTS INDUCTS NEW TROLL INSURANCE." Whatever that meant.

"My name's James."

Sirius blinked again. Was the weirdo actually trying to talk to him? Make conversation? He raised his eyebrow, but the grin on the boy's face just got bigger.

"I'm Sirius."

The conversation was over. He went back to the paper.

"Sirius, eh? Don't hear that name every day, do you?"

Sirius bit his lip, and his eyes narrowed. "No, you don't," he replied, not taking his eyes off the paper, "It's a family name."

"Is that like…the star or something? You know, that Dog Star?"
"I really don't know."

"Oh, all right. I see," James cleared his throat and went to looking out the window. Good. The git had shut his mouth. Now Sirius could be miserable in peace.

He didn't want to go to Hogwarts. He had been looking into Durmstrang. Well, his father had been looking into Durmstrang. His mother, however, had insisted that he uphold the family name by going to Hogwarts. By getting into Slytherin. By making many Slytherin friends and meeting a nice Slytherin girl. Together they would make beautiful pure blood Slytherin children. Yes, his life was planned out for him. And his life started today with the Sorting Ceremony.

"So…you're not a big talker, are you?"

"Mmm," Sirius mumbled, and he pretended to be drawn into an article. It was about the Muggle soap bars and their atrocities.

James's grin faded, and he shifted nervously in his chair. "Yeah, all right. I can take a hint. You find the paper more interesting than me. Okay."

"Mmm," Sirius said offhandedly.
"Excuse me, sirs."

The two boys looked up at a very pretty lady with a cart filled with food. Her hair was out of place, and she looked extremely frazzled for some reason. Her eyes were glazed over, and her hands shook with fright. She tried to keep her voice steady as she offered them some treats off of the cart.

"There's a new card in the Chocolate Frogs," she said. "It's of Mirva the Magnificent."

"Really?" James said, seemingly interested. He stood up with difficulty and walked to the cart. He picked up a few Frogs, examined them, and then shook his head. "Nah. I'm not really hungry. I don't really like Mirva all that well."

The lady seemed to not even hear him. Sirius heard the cart being pushed away down the corridor. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the thick glasses sit down again across from him, and remove something from his sleeve. Sirius dropped the paper in his lap, and saw a handful of Chocolate Frogs in his acquaintance's arms. He felt his jaw fall to the ground.

James's grin was exposed again, and he shoved one into Sirius's lap, "Here, have one. And enjoy it. They cost me a fortune."

And for the first time, Sirius felt himself grin as widely as his new friend.

However, this small victory was abruptly interrupted by the arrival of another. A little red haired girl, her eyes tear-strained and puffy, forced the compartment door open and then slammed it shut behind her. Not saying a word to the two boys, she tried to cover her wet face with a sleeve of her new robes as she slid into a seat near the window and pressed her blushed cheek up against the glass. James and Sirius said nothing in return, except for a small hoot on Sirius's part, and the two boys went back to eating their sweets. It wasn't this girl who began the incident. No, it was her friend who arrived only a few minutes later.

A long nosed boy with greasy black hair and wide eyes slid the door open, and stepped over James, who was presently threatening to rip Godfrey the Great's Chocolate Frog Card in half. With eyes only for the little girl, the boy took a seat opposite her. The girl's eyes flared, and her left eye twitched in a way that made everyone in the compartment mute.

"I don't want to talk to you," she spit at the boy, and the boy looked a bit hurt by this.

"Why not?"

"'Tuney h-hates me. Because we saw that letter from Dumbledore."

"So what?"

The girl threw her friend a look of deep dislike.

"So she's my sister!"

"She's only a ---" the boy caught himself quickly. The girl, too busy trying to wipe her eyes without being noticed, did not hear him. So he started again, "But we're going!" he said with as much exhilaration possible, "This is it! We're off to Hogwarts!"

She nodded, mopping her eyes, but in spite of herself, she half smiled.

"You'd better be in Slytherin," the boy said, and Sirius tensed uneasily. James spit out the head of Godfrey the Great and sat in complete awe of this new statement. Sirius, tersely looking to his new friend, slowly slumped in his seat as he saw the reaction the word "Slytherin" had caused. The girl, unaware of the boys' change, smiled a bit and nodded. This drove James to speak.

"Slytherin?!"

The boy with the hooked nose and the girl jumped a bit, as if realizing there were others in the compartment for the first time. James gave a bit of an uneasy laugh and said, "Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

Sirius, realizing this question was thrown at him, knew he was about to confess.

"My whole family have been in Slytherin," he said quietly.

"Blimey!" James sort of recoiled, "And I thought you seemed all right!"

These words stung Sirius, made him uncomfortable --- this was his first new friend --- and he had just lost him. That uncanny grin that always seemed to find its way to his face whenever he became nervous slowly climbed onto his lips, and he shoved himself out of his slump, swearing he would not let on that James had hurt him.

"Maybe I'll break the tradition," and then with a bit of quick thinking, he added, "Where are you heading, if you got the choice?"

"Gryffindor!" James said, throwing a long invisible sword into the air, "Where dwell the brave at heart! Like my dad!"

The boy with the hooked nose gave James a terrifying look and a little snort. James, obviously not used to this sort of break in ranks, turned on him.

"Got a problem with that?"

"No," said the boy defiantly, "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy ---"

"Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither!" Sirius said, stiffening once again. If there was to be a fight, he was ready. Half of the kids on his street was afraid of him; this little slimeball would be nothing compared to big Bernie McHiggins of Number 13 ---

But James, instead of stiffening, only could laugh a bit, and he slapped Sirius on the back with approval. Sirius felt himself warm up inside a bit as he saw the hooked nose boy glower at him. The girl grabbed her friend's hand and stood, facing the two boys.

"Come on, Severus," the girl said, "Let's find another compartment."

"Oooo!" James and Sirius imitated her lofty voice, and James playfully put out his foot to trip "Severus" as he walked by.

"See ya, Snivellus!" he sounded once more as the two disappeared into the corridor with a slam from the compartment door.

"I know his kind," James said, taking a seat and continuing his search for Mirva, "They come from old families that believe in all this old bullcock about purity and the dark arts. Mark me, Sirius, he'll have his long, slimy nose into all sorts of dark books once we get there."

Sirius, knowing quite well he himself was not at all much different from Snivellus and at the same time denying this fact to even himself, went back to the paper. It was a few moments before James said very quietly, almost in a whisper:

"But the girl --- she was beautiful."

"There's a new card in the Chocolate Frogs," the lady explained to the lone passenger of compartment number sixteen. "It's of Mirva the Magnificent."

The little boy wrung his hands together. Oh, how he wanted to buy the whole cart! He had never tried a Chocolate Frog before. He had heard about them --- about how warm and sweet they were! And he had skipped breakfast out of nerves. Oh, if only he had thought of asking his father for money.

"No, that's all right," he said. "I'm not very hungry."

The lady looked shaken, as if she was looking at a ghost. She knew. He knew she knew. They all knew. That engineer had looked at him so strangely when he had boarded the Hogwarts Express. Every time someone asked him his name, they would get this shocked look on their face.

The lady looked down at his hand. His sleeve had been pulled away for just a second, and a large cut had been revealed that extended the length of the back of his hand. He quickly shielded it from sight, and tried to look away from the horror written on the lady's face.

"How did you do that, dear?" she asked, her voice no longer trying to hide the quivering fear.

The little boy gazed down at the carpeted floor, and said very quietly, "I have a cat."

The lady nodded, in a daze, and left for compartment number seventeen.

It was a mistake. He had known that from the beginning. To even attempt to fit in with the normal wizarding society was a useless fight. He would always be an outcast. No matter what he did, no matter how good his grades were or how happy he would become, he would always be --- different.

Nothing would ever change that.

He was already knawing away at his insides. It had only been last Friday that it had happened. The end of the month. The demon had come. Had taken over his body and had made it his own. He always lived inside the boy, waiting for his night to release himself and show the world the true evil that lurked in his heart. He always enjoyed hearing the horrific screams and pleas from the little boy.

He liked it.

The little boy was terrified of him.

It was him that that lady should fear. But she feared both of them. Yes, she feared the monster and the man. Even if the monster was at bay.

Twenty-eight more days, Remus, the little boy told himself, and he wrung his hands together faster. Twenty-eight more days until he returns.