Chapter Two
"Hey Remus! Over here!" Sixteen year old Remus Lupin turned at the sound of his name being called, and spotted his three closest friends about to step onto the Hogwarts express. Smiling as he walked over to greet them after not seeing any of his friends all summer, Remus said, "Hey guys. How was your summer?"
"Great," Sirius said. "I finally managed to escape that hell-hole of a house I was trapped in, and moved in with Prongs. It was brilliant! You should have seen the look on my mum's face when I gave Kreacher a good kick right up the ass on my way out!" Sirius said, smiling as they loaded their trunks onto the train, and went to find an empty compartment.
"Yeah, mum and dad were pretty surprised when Sirius showed up on our doorstep at two in the morning, but they agreed to take him in. I don't know why; if I didn't know better, I'd say they actually like the idiot!" James said, laughing as he dodged the playful punch Sirius threw his way.
"Well, my holiday was terrible," Peter stated, chuckling at his friends' antics, along with Remus. "We had to go to France to visit my grandmother. She's been sick for ages, and according to her healers, she's on her deathbed."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Pete." Remus said, frowning sympathetically at his friend. Finally, the four boys managed to find a compartment to themselves, and they loaded their school things onto the luggage racks. "Thanks, but there's nothing to be sorry about, really. I mean, the woman's ancient, and she's been 'on her deathbed' for about ten years now." Peter said with a slight smile, as he chose a seat next to the window.
The others chuckled as they each took their seats and the train pulled away from the station. "So, what about you, Moony? Anything interesting happen over the summer?" James asked, and they all turned to face him.
"Yes, actually. Have I ever told you guys about my friend Michelle Cooke?" Remus asked as he pulled his shoulder length sandy brown hair into a short pony tail.
"I think so." Sirius said, frowning in concentration. "She the one who moved to America when you were ten?"
"Yeah, that's her. We've kept in touch over the years, sending letters and such. Well, her parents have been going through some trouble with their marriage, and she told me they got a divorce earlier this summer. I got a letter about a week or so ago saying that her mom got custody of her and her brother, and they're all moving back to Britain." Remus said, grinning widely.
"Your friend, Michelle, is a witch right?" James asked.
"Yeah, so she and her brother Andrew will be starting at Hogwarts this year. They've been going to this school in America. Salem Institute for Magic, I think." Remus told his friends. "I was going to look for her on the train, but I'm -"
Just then, the compartment door opened, and Lily Evans, their fellow Gryffindor sixth year, stepped in. James' hand move automatically to his hair as he said, in what he clearly thought was a charming and mature voice, "So Evans, have you finally come to your senses and realized that you're madly in love with me?"
"Oh yes, Potter, you've finally broken down my defenses with your incredible charms. I'm now yours to do with as you please." Lily said sarcastically, as she leaned against the doorway, pushing her long red hair out of her face.
James grinned hopefully, saying, "Really? You mean it?!"
Lily laughed, saying, "Not a chance, Potter. I'm just here to remind Remus that the Prefects are supposed to meet with the Head Boy and Girl to get our patrolling assignments." Sirius and Remus couldn't help but chuckle a little as their friend was turned down once again by his long-time crush. "Alright, Lily, I'm coming. Lead the way." Remus said as he made to follow the redhead out of the compartment.
After an incredibly boring afternoon of patrolling the train, Lily and Remus were both exhausted, and ready to get to school for the feast. Although Remus had to admit he had received quite a shock when he found Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy in a very compromising position in the bathroom. He had been forced to give them both - separate – detentions, and to take points away for inappropriate behavior.
James and Sirius were still cringing at the mental image Remus' description gave them when the train pulled to a stop in Hogsmeade. "I feel bad for you, mate." James said as they left the train. "I mean, it's bad enough hearing about it, but having to see Malfoy with his pants down? Ugh, I probably would have puked if it'd been me."
"Who says I didn't? I think I may be scarred for life." Remus said, making his friends chuckle as they stepped off the train. As the Marauders made their way toward the carriages, they noticed a small disturbance blocking everyone's way. The four boys craned there necks over the heads of the other students to see what was going on, and saw two students, a boy and a girl, both with flaming red hair, having what looked like a blazing row in front of the carriages. They both had their wands out, and where yelling loud enough to be heard by the entire school.
"Oh shut up, you idiot! I'll talk to whoever I want to talk to! You can't tell me what to do!" The girl, who was very pretty and looked to be about sixteen, shouted at the boy, who was clearly her brother, her icy blue eyes flashing with anger.
"You'll do what I tell you to, you little bitch, if you know what's good for you! I won't have you hanging around with riffraff like them!" The boy bellowed, his crooked nose and large ears going red with rage, and the others noticed Lily standing with her two best friends, Grace Pole and Jennifer Sharpe, each of them watching the scene apprehensively.
Suddenly, Remus understood just why the fighting pair seemed so familiar to him. As the boy began to raise his wand at his sister, Remus jumped forward, shouting, "Expelliarmus!" The other boy, now wandless, angrily turned to Remus, saying, "Just who the hell do you think you are? Why don't you mind your own business?"
Remus just smirked, and said, "Don't your recognize me, Cooke? But then, you always were quite thick, weren't you?" The rest of the students were watching in shocked silence. Remus was normally extremely quiet and shy, and even the other Marauders were surprised to see there friend taunting another student the way he was.
"Remus?!" The girl said in surprise, moving forward to give her friend a hug, and to everyone else's shock, a kiss on the cheek. "My God, I don't believe it! It's great to see you again. You look great!" She said, smiling widely.
Remus grinned at her. "It's good to see you again, too, Michelle. You're looking pretty good, yourself," he said, making her blush slightly.
"So, it's you, is it Lupin?" Andrew said, growling somewhat. By this time, the rest of the school had moved on to the carriages, with the exception of the other Marauders, Lily, Jennifer, and Grace. "Yes, it is me, Cooke. Now, I'll give you back your wand, provided you move on now and don't disturb us with your presence anymore." Remus said, frowning at him. Andrew growled again, and for a moment, Remus thought he was going to try and jump him. But then James and Sirius overcame their shock at the entire situation, and pulled out their own wands, not wanting to be left out if there was going to be a fight. At this, Andrew seemed to think better of attacking him.
"You'd better move on, now Cooke. There's no one here to protect your sorry ass." Remus said, throwing the scowling boy his wand. As Andrew turned to join some Slytherins in a carriage, Remus and the others put their wands away. Remus turned to Michelle and said, "These are my friends, James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew. I think I've told you about them."
Michelle nodded, greeting each of them in turn. "The Marauders, right? Remus has told me a good bit about you guys." She said, as Lily and the other girls moved to join her.
"So your Remus' friend Michelle? I see you've already made friends with the lovely Miss Evans and her friends," James said, smiling winningly at Lily and the girls as they walked over.
"Yes," Lily said somewhat impatiently, rolling her eyes at James. "Come on, Michelle, you can share a carriage with us, if you want."
"Yeah, you don't want to spend too much time with these idiots, they'll just get you drag you down with them," said Jennifer, her curly light brown hair blowing in her face, but Remus could tell she was joking by the way she gazed adoringly at Sirius. It was obvious to everyone else that Sirius and Jennifer fancied each other, and that they would be perfect together, if they would ever admit it. Unfortunately, neither of them seemed able to see what everyone else could.
"Alright, I'll see you guys later." Michelle said, giving Remus another hug, and then moving to join her new friends.
"Well, that was certainly an interesting start to a new year," Peter said, later that night. They were walking back up to the dormitory after the feast. Michelle had been sorted into Gryffindor, much to her relief, while her brother had, unsurprisingly been placed in Slytherin.
"You've got that right. Remus, what was up with you and that boy, Michelle's brother? What was his name?" James asked, as they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"Yeah, you two really seemed to hate each other," Sirius said, looking sideways at his friend.
"That's because we do hate each other. Potter's a Pansy," Remus said, smirking at the password Lily had come up with as they Fat Lady smile at them in greeting and swung open. "And his name's Andrew. He's Michelle's older brother, and let's just say that the two of them get along about as well as you and Regulus do, Padfoot. Before they moved, Andrew was always finding some excuse to beat the crap out of some muggle kid who didn't stand a chance against him. Michelle and I were the only ones in the village who actually stood up to him. I think that's why we hate each other so much. He doesn't like it when his 'victims' fight back. I remember this one time, he pissed Michelle off so much, that she broke his nose. That's why it's so crooked now." Remus said, chuckling slightly at the memory, as they walked up the spiral staircase to their dormitory.
When they reached their room, discussion of Andrew stopped as the boys began to get ready for bed. "Ah, home sweet home!" Sirius said, throwing himself into bed. "Night guys," he called, pulling his curtains closed.
"Night," the others responded.
