A/N: Hope people are still reading this. Not much to say, except this will actually be a happy chapter! Enjoy! Oh, and I realized that Pettigrew can't be Muggle born, so that's been altered a little.

Disclaimer: I think everyone gets the point by now, that none of the characters are mine, except for a handful of original characters, and everything that should carry a copyright belongs to JKR, her publishers, and Warner Bros. Don't sue me.

Once, They Were Friends

Book One: Moony

Chapter 3: Unlikely Friendships

It was early in the morning on September 1, 1971. Remus Lupin actually woke his mother at six-thirty in the morning, not wanting to miss his train. He was filled with a muted sort of boundless energy. Usually silent, or at least very quiet, he couldn't stop talking during breakfast, or when he carefully rechecked his trunk to make sure he packed everything, or during the taxi ride to Kings Cross station. He followed his mother through the train station, each of them holding one handle of his trunk, and he searched all of the platform signs. Seven, eight, nine. . . Nine and three quarters must be next, he thought excitedly. But the next sign he could see was ten.

"Where's the platform?" he asked his mother nervously. "Shouldn't it be right here?"

"Well, of course it's hidden," she answered him, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "It's between platforms nine and ten."

"So how do we find it?" he asked, wondering if this would be some test to see if he was worthy of Hogwarts admittance.

"Follow me," she said, and, walking straight into the wall between platforms nine and ten, she disappeared. He had no choice but to try and follow her, as they were both still holding the trunk between them. When he found he could easily pass through the wall as if it were nothing but air, he stared up at his mother. "I saw my brothers do that so many times. I wasn't sure if it would work for me, but clearly it did."

A shining sign told him that they were indeed on platform nine and three-quarters. Other children, some in Muggle clothing, some in wizard's robes were saying good-bye to their parents and siblings, finding their friends, and taking seats on the train.

Emily Lupin looked down at her son. "Have a wonderful year, honey."

"I will, mom."

"Be careful, and do try and make friends."

"I will." She bent down and kissed him on the cheek.

"Bye, Remus. Be careful." She gave him a hug, and turned to return home on the taxi she had left outside. Remus was left to carry his trunk to the train, which he managed with some difficulty. Not having any friends to sit with, he hoped to find an empty compartment on the train so that he could read in peace. He did, and quietly opened his book.

Outside of the train, children were still arriving and mingling on the platform. Two boys, both first years, were waving good-bye to their families. Not looking at where they were going, they collided into each other. Dungbombs, fireworks, and other pranks spilled out of their pockets.

One of the boys, who had messy black hair and glasses, asked, "Do you know which ones are yours and which are mine?"

The other, who had dark brown hair combed neatly and deep grey eyes, replied, "I can't tell. Do you want to just spit them in half? Or we can sort through them on the train."

"That sounds good. I'm James Potter, by the way."

"I'm Sirius Black." Both of them looked the other over, thinking about the names, which sounded very familiar.

James remembered where had heard the name Black before. "My parents say your family is narrow minded and represent everything that is keeping wizard kind back in the Middle Ages."

Sirius also remembered the name Potter. "Well, my father says that Potters are blood traitors and Muggle-lovers, desecrating the purity of wizard blood." He struggled a little with the last few words, as if remembering an oft-repeated speech that he didn't care to understand.

"Shall we be friends then?" asked James, a smile on his face.

"Of course. I never listen to what my parents say, anyway." They scooped up the pranking products and began to talk about the havoc they could begin to cause at Hogwarts.

Another boy, small and rather mousy looking, was watching this scene. He realized that if he befriended anyone at school, he wanted to be on the right side of these boys. He held back until they were on the train, then hurried along afterwards.

By the time James and Sirius arrived on the train, nearly all the compartments were full. They found that one of the last compartments only had one occupant, Remus.

"Can we sit here?" James asked. Remus looked up from his book to see two boys, probably first years like himself.

"Sure," he said softly, returning to his book. They wouldn't want to talk to him. They were already friends, and they wouldn't want to talk to him.

James and Sirius slid into the two seats opposite Remus. "What's your name, and what year are you?" Sirius asked, pulling some candy out of his bag.

"Remus Lupin. This is my first year."

"Ours too," said James. "I'm James Potter, and this is Sirius Black. We've only just met, but we've decided to be friends." He smiled, holding his hand out for Remus to shake. Remus took it, putting his book in his bag.

At that moment, the short, mousy boy strode rather leisurely into the compartment. "All the others are full. Do you all have room?"

"Sure, I guess so," said James. "Do you guys mind?" The others shook their heads.

"I'm Peter Pettigrew." The others introduced themselves, and Peter sat down. An awkward silence settled, and Remus turned to his book again.

"Are your parents wizards, too?" Sirius asked, trying to make conversation.

"Nope. Well, not really," said Peter. He continued when he saw their looks of confusion. "I'm adopted. I never really knew my real parents, but the ones I live with are Muggles.. They thought it was some sort of hoax until my mother mentioned it to my aunt, who knew my birth parents. She says they were both wizards. So here I am."

"What about you, Remus?" asked James. "What's your family situation like?"

"My mum is a Sqib; I think my dad was a wizard. He left two years ago, and he had never brought it up around the family." He didn't think now was the best opportunity to go into the details of his family life.

"Well, both my parents are magical," said James. "Though some would argue whether I would be classified as half-blood or pure-blood." He shot a dark look at Sirius, who instantly became defensive.

"My parents are idiots, James. You know that. Who cares about purity of blood and whatnot. Hell, our family motto is 'Always Pure.' My mother has this family tree where she burns out family that 'betrays our purity of blood.' I think they arranged for me to marry one of my second cousins, just so our line stays 'noble.' They're crackpots, I swear." Sirius was shaking his head, out of breath from talking so quickly. James was laughing.

"I didn't mean to bring up a sore subject. Anyway, Sirius and I seem to be of like mind that the best way to make a name for ourselves at this school, without relying on the fact that every one knows our families, is to cause mild mayhem as soon as we can get a descent footing in the goings on of the school. Would you both be willing to join us in this endeavor?" Sirius glanced sideways at James, impressed and a little taken a-back by his business-like manner and choice of vocabulary. James noticed his expression and asked, "What?"

"The way you talk. It's like you swallowed a dictionary or something."

James looked embarrassed. "I- I read a lot," he said quietly. "I had a lot of time on my hands."

"Whatever." Sirius laughed a little, then turned back to Remus and Peter. "Anyway, do you two want to get in on some pranking?"

Peter said yes instantly, very excited to be getting in on this opportunity. Almost a little too excited, thought Remus. He, on the other hand, was considerably more hesitant. He had been given a tremendous opportunity by being allowed to attend Hogwarts, and he really didn't want to mess things up. However, these people wanted to be his friends. Granted, they didn't know the secret he kept, but they didn't have too, did they? The desire for friendship of this boy was stronger even than his desire not to make waves at this school.

"Remus, are you in?" asked James.

"Why not," he said, trying to hide anything in his voice that might show his concern over rule breaking.

"Alright then," said James in an official sort of way. "We'll be friends. Provided we all wind up in the same house. Speaking of which, do any of you know how you get sorted? My parents wouldn't tell."

"The only cousin I talk to, she's in her last year here, wouldn't tell either. I guess it can't decide by family or anything though, 'cause she's a Black but she wound up in Ravenclaw." Sirius looked thoughtful for a second. "I wonder where she is. It'll be good to see her again."

Remus, obviously unaware of the structure of the school, asked, "What are the houses? What do you mean, sorting?"

"Well," said Sirius, "there are four houses. Ravenclaw, that's for people who are rather smart, like my cousin Andie. When anybody talks about Gryffindors, it's always how brave they are. Hufflepuffs are supposed to be really loyal and trustworthy, and Slytherins are ambitious."

"More like evil," said James. "Power hungry and obsessed with purity of blood."

"Hey," said Sirius in an offended sort of voice. "All my family's been in Slytherin. Everyone except Andromeda and my Uncle Alphard. He was in Hufflepuff, but we don't talk about him."

"Well, all my family's been in Gryffindor, and I've never heard good things about Slytherins."

"Neither have I," said Sirius, laughing now. "And I have to live with them, I oughta know."

Glad that his new friend hadn't been offended, James laughed as well. The four young boys continued to discuss the sorting and what it could entail, and rumors about teachers they had heard. Sirius knew the most, because he had talked with cousins who were already at the school. A witch came with a trolley of snacks midway through the ride, so James and Sirius pooled their money to buy food for the group. All Peter had was Muggle money, which was rather stupid. Remus didn't have anything to spend, but no one made anything of it.

About half an hour after the snack witch came, they had another visitor, a much less welcomed one.

The door to their compartment slide open, and in the doorway stood a tall, pale boy of about seventeen. His grey eyes were cold, and he had a look of extreme superiority on his face. He was surrounded by a few other boys: two who were large and rather dim looking, one who had dark hair and a rather malicious look on his face, and one very short boy with greasy black hair and a long nose, probably a first year. "So," said the pale boy, obviously the leader of the group. "Yet another Black will grace the halls of the school with his presence. I sincerely hope he lives up to the prestige of the name. I, for one, am thrilled to be coming into the family in a few years. You know I'm engaged to one of your cousins, of course."

"I know," said Sirius. He was looking fiercely at the group of older students.

"Of course you do. Now, I suppose no one has told you the way things work at this school, but if you need someone to show you the ropes, Rodolphus and I would be happy to take you under our wing. We have already found one of your classmates, Severus Snape, who seems to agree with our family's way of thinking. The way of thinking which almost certainly excludes this sort." His eyes wandered over James, Remus, and Peter.

Sirius' voice became low, like a growl. "Go away, Lucius. I don't need any help around this school, and I most certainly don't want yours."

"Fine then," said Lucius, unfazed by the younger boy's anger. "You'll come to see who you are supposed to be. Come on, everyone. We don't need to waste our time with blood-traitors and mudbloods."

After they left, Sirius began to rant loudly about how he hated that part of his family, and begging his new friends to not be offended. Though they easily forgave him, he continued to rant, so Remus turned to the book he had been reading, eager to finish it before arriving at Hogwarts.

Finally, the train pulled into the school. They filed off to a loud voice. "Firs' years!" it called. "Firs' years this way!" The largest man they had ever seen lead them over to small boats that would carry them across the lake. The new students found themselves in the large entrance hall, where they were awaited by a middle-aged witch with the sort of expression that made one wonder if she ever laughed at anything.

"Please line up," she said over their chatter. "The sorting will begin momentarily."

A/N: Sorry about the delay, school has been really busy. But now all I have is a week left, which of course has to be filled with finals, but at least the days are shorter. What that means is, until I start camp, I'll actually have time to write and update. Yay! Please, please, please, please leave reviews, because they make me happy, and then I'll write faster and better!.