Some of our Friends
"Henry! Henry! Where are you?" A small, thin woman ran around the house, pocking her head into each room that she passed. Her brown hair fell to her shoulders in a most untidy way. Her blue eyes were filled with tears. She sobbed trying to hold them in, but no such luck. Her once white dress was ripped in some places and covert in dirt.
"Henry, where are you?" Her voice was cracking with each painful shout. The sound was cutting her throat, but managed to escape her lips.
She was holding the hand of a small boy that rubbed his red, puffy eyes and dragged along with his mother. His feet were barely holding him, but he kept on moving after her.
"Mummy," he suddenly said.
"What is it baby?" The young mother bend down to be face to face with her little boy. Her gentle hand brushed his light brown locks from his eyes. "What is it?" She repeated.
"Where is daddy?"
"Oh honey. I'm looking for him." She managed to force out of her. Her lips trembling.
"I miss him. Who did this?" The boy pointed at the torn down walls, scratched linoleum, and crashed windows.
"Oh Remus, we'll get there soon. We'll get to the place where your daddy is. He must be home." She pushed him into her arms and hugged him tightly to herself.
" Rrrrrrrre! Rrrrrrr!"
"Ah! Mummy!" A huge gray wolf dragged him out of his mother's arms.
"Remus!" Two more such wolfs jumped to the woman, ripping her into pieces.
"Stupefy!"
"Stupefy!"
"Stupefy!"
Three blurry figures appeared before Remus that lay shaking on the floor, blood running down his leg.
"He needs Healer's attention!"
"Minerva apparate the boy to St. Mungo's. I'm afraid he has to rest and recover before we can tell him anything. He will have to deal with more than he must, when he'll awake." Minerva's eyes drifted to the bloody figure that now lay motionless on the cold floor.
"Oh Albus! The poor child!"
"Go quickly, or it will be too late."
"You're lying!" Remus cried into his pillow. Two med-wizards stood besides his bed. Not far away from them sat an elderly man with a long silver beard. He wore dark blue robes that resembled the night sky. His bright gray eyes sparkled under his half moon spectacles. His face was expressing pain and sorrow, but kindness escaped his every glance at the tragic scene before him.
"I saw her," Remus continued crying. He was choking on his own tears. His mouth felt dry and his body icy.
"Lift over child!" One of the med-wizards ordered. "It's not going to do you any good denying the facts that are laid out before you! Are you blind?"
"That will be enough!" Dumbledore's low voice ran through the hospital room. "I'll ask for you two to leave. I'll speak with the boy myself."
"But we have to..."
"I'll call you back when he is ready. In his condition, it is not wise for you to engage in a conversation." The two med-wizards exchanged glances and walked out of the chamber.
Dumbledore proceeded up to the little bed in which lay the quivering body in blue velvet pajamas.
"Have you ever heard of a beautiful bird with flaming feathers?" He began. There was no answer.
"It is a marvelous bird called the Phoenix. I have one at the castle where I live."
"You have a Phoenix?" Remus shouted, jumping from under his pillow and glaring at the old man.
"Yes, Do you know why Phoenixes are so unique?" The small boy shook his head. "Because they never leave this world. Their death is just a plain fire. The body turns into ashes from which a new such bird is born. You see, your parents died, but it doesn't mean you'll never see them again. They are still alive and are waiting for you."
"They are?" The boy asked surprised. "Are they going to come back again?"
"I'm afraid your parents are not birds, but the good part about being a human is that if you'll live an honorable life, you'll see them again when you'll get older."
"You promise?"
"I do. Now, about you being a wolf, it's not that bad. It's only once a month and during a single night. You have nothing to worry about. I'll make arrangements for you; you'll have a place to stay and a place to go that night. You'll got to school in four years. You are a normal boy like everyone else."
"Is it alright if I sit with you?" A red haired girl with bright green eyes stood in the doorframe to the train compartment. She looked closely at a thin and pale boy that sat by the window slowly drifting off and daydreaming.
"Are you talking to me?" He asked so quietly that she could barely hear him.
"Well, you are the only one here." She answered very much confused and scanned the compartment with her eyes.
"Oh, sorry! Ya sure, you can sit here if you wish." She carried her bag in and sat opposite of the strange boy.
"My name's Lilly."
"I'm Remus."
"That's an interesting name. Is this your first year at Hogwarts?"
"Yes," he said simply. His eyes were always lowered to his fingers, and he didn't dare to look at the wonderful fairy that sat before him. In all his life, he never seen a more wonderful girl.
"Alright then…Hmm…do you know magic?"
"A little, just what I learned from my folks."
"Can you teach me some of it? I really want to know something out of it all. My parents never even heard about magic. Well, I mean real magic. They've read about it in books and such, but they thought it was all fairytales. They were really surprised to find out that I was a witch, and to tell you the truth I was shocked myself!" Lilly was talking really fast and gesticulated every time she said something exiting. Remus couldn't hold himself from looking at her. It was hard listening and understanding her without actually looking her way, otherwise everything turned into a single word with no meaning.
"Diagon Alley was amazing! I never even knew that such a place exists. There were brooms, and wands, and potions, and people were dressed in cloaks! Can you believe it? I mean you sure can, but I was shocked!"
"I'm glad that you had lots of fun."
"Pardon me for talking so much! I just feel like I'm in a dream."
"You're not in a dream mud blood, so keep it quiet. Some people need to relax before the big day ahead of us." A tall boy with silvery hair and deep blue eyes was standing just behind the compartment's door holding it with his wand.
"Well, no one's forcing you to stand in the hall, go somewhere quiet if you wish." Remus said angrily.
"Remus Lupin! How nice to see that you will be joining Hogwarts this year. I thought that the death of your good for nothing grandfather will keep you away from here at least for another year."
"Well, you thought wrong, so get lost!" Two boys pushed the snob from out of their way and entered the compartment. One of them had round glasses and looked really sure of himself. The other one didn't look half as bad as the first one. His black hair lay smoothly on his head, and he smiled at the young girl that sat next to him.
The boy with the glasses continued speaking, "Get lost Malfoy! Go find yourself a more suiting place to relax!"
"Ya, I think it will be a menace here for you. Especially if we are around!" A black haired boy had said smirking.
"We might sent you to the Hospital Wing before you get a chance to be sorted into your house."
"Potter? What are you doing here?" Malfoy asked furiously looking at him.
"Oh well you see, I felt that I rather go to school in England. There's more freedom to kick you around. I mean no one can replace such a notable individual such as yourself." The two boys laughed, as Malfoy turned on his heals and left.
"I feel this is going to be a good year!" The boy with the glasses said to his friend.
"Ya, I have a good feeling about it too. So what do we have here?"
"We have a pretty girl, and Remus Lupin!"
"Remus Lupin! I know him!"
"I know him too, but who is this lovely girl?" Lilly looked at the two gentlemen that she decided to be clowns and trouble makers and answered coldly, "I'm Lilly Evens."
"Little cold, are we not?"
"And after we saved you from a big, bad wolf?" On the word wolf Remus shuddered, and small droplets of sweat became visible on his forehead. His head began twisting and turning, and his vision blurred.
"Are you ok?" He heard, as if someone was talking far away from him and in an underground tunnel. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he forcefully opened his eyes. He saw Lilly's worried face and was slowly coming back to normal. He realized that the hand on his shoulder belonged to his old friend, Sirius.
"I'm alright! I just felt dizzy that's all."
"Ok then. Well, I am Sirius Black! Nice to meet you." The black haired boy smiled once more, and grabbed Lilly's hand. He then lay a barely touchable kiss and let it go.
"Oh, stop with your aristocratic ways. I'm James Potter!" He said smiling broadly. Lilly didn't even look at him.
"I would advise you Mr. Potter to use a brash or a come before going out in public. It looks like you've just woken up."
"It always looks that way," Remus found the courage to say, as it was pretty funny, and he found himself laughing for the first time since last winter when his grandfather passed away. James's face was covered with a barely noticeable veil of a light pink color, and he quickly rushed his hand through his hair.
"Oh you mean to say that he doesn't know the meaning of a hair brush?" Lilly continued in a oily voice.
"No he knows the meaning!" Sirius said trying to catch his breath. "It's just, he was born without a comb to brush it, and I'm afraid it stayed that way for life."
"Well, what can I say? Not everyone has the ability to brush hair in the womb of his mother, unlike our friend Sirius. You sure that your mother did not eat a hair brush while she was carrying you?" Sirius through James a nasty look, and the conversation ended. The train started to move. Kids were waving good bye to their parents, but the four young people in the twelfth compartment on the left were all turned to different direction bathing in their thought, dreams, and wishes.