Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot & Prongs:
the Story Behind the Marauders
Chapter 3: Dinner and the Hogwarts Express
"Remus seemed like a nice guy, don't you think, Sirius?" James turned around to look at him. "Sirius?"
"Yeah. Wait, I'm sorry. Wasn't paying attention."
"Yes I can see that." He looked down at the pile of Chocolate Frog cards on the floor. "I said, Remus seemed like a nice guy, don't you think."
Sirius nodded. "I'm hungry."
"Wonder if they're here yet." James began to get up from his bed when his someone knocked on the door.
"Apparently," Sirius said, stacking up James' cards.
James walked to the door and opened it, expecting his mother. Standing at the door instead was Remus, smiling.
"Aye, Hello! When did you get here?" James asked, standing back so Remus could enter his bedroom.
"Just a few minutes ago. Your mum t-told me where your room was. I hope you d-don't mind." he said glancing at his feet.
"No, not at all." he said, pushing a chair out from the corner of his room. He sat back down on his bed and Remus sat on the chair.
"Do you collect chocolate frog cards?" Sirius asked, grinning from the floor.
Remus looked very confused at this, but shook his head and said, "No. We don't have m-much money to buy extra stuff." He looked very embarrassed and stared, once again, down at his feet.
"No worries," James said, smiling, laying back on his bed to stare at the poster of his favourite Quidditch team. "I'll buy you a bunch on the Hogwarts express and we can trade if you have duplicates."
Remus looked up and smiled at James. "You don't have to do that."
"Yes I do. Just think of it as a.." he thought for a moment, "..special gift to our new friend."
"Friend? B-but.. you.. hardly know me."
"That's what you're here for." Sirius said, handing a few cards to Remus so he could look at them. "That's Dumbledore. Turn it over, then turn it back and he disappears. Can't be there all the time, now can he?" He laughed at his own joke, but quickly stopped when no one else was laughing.
"So, did me mum ever say when dinner was going to be ready while you were down there?"
"Yes. But it took a while to actually find your room. That was twenty minutes ago. Said it'd be ready in about thirty."
"Mhm.. My room is kinda hard to find. Advanced magic you know. Put a spell on it so only if you wanted to find my room you could, but if you were just walking through the hallway, you'd never be able to see it."
"Ingenious, eh? It was my idea." Sirius had gotten up from the floor and was walking to the door. He opened it and inhaled the sweet aromas of the food downstairs. "Yep. I'd say it was about ready."
"I'll have you know, Sirius Black, that it was my idea for the spell.." he walked out of the room. Sirius held back Remus until James was out of sight.
"It was my idea, but," he held a finger to his lips, signaling to be quiet about it, "he thinks he winning." He let out a laugh and Remus joined in.
When they arrived downstairs, the smell of prime rib, mashed potatoes-
"Oh, great. Enchanted green beans again?" Sirius whined.
Yes, enchanted green beans, leftover vegetable soup, and a delicious blackberry cobbler made their mouth water so much that they could hardly wait.
The table had stretched to allow three more chairs once again. Sitting at the head of the table was Mr. Potter, dressed in his good dining robes made of purple velvet with just a hint of sparkle to it. Mrs. Potter was sitting at the opposite end wearing black robes and a emerald green skirt, Mrs. Lupin was sitting on the left of Mrs. Potter, a man that they had never seen, only to assume that it was Remus' father was sitting next to Mrs. Lupin and three chairs on the opposite side to seat Remus, James, and Sirius. Seven white china materialized in front of them full of delicious, steaming food when the three sat down.
Remus looked longingly at the plate and looked at his mother, who was already starting to eat, but only because Mrs. Potter had begun.
She looked at Remus and nodded, at which point he started to cut his slab of prime rib, juices flowing across his plate, and stuck a piece in his mouth. His face spread into a wide grin. One can only imagine the delights of a warm meal when you haven't much to begin with.
You see, the Lupin's weren't exactly the richest wizarding family. They barely had money to get by with, just enough to afford all of Remus' school supplies.
Silence lingered as forks clattered against plates, glasses making thumping noises against the wood table when sat down, and knives magically cutting the prime rib, serving the second piece to Remus, who dug in as soon as it touched his plate.
James had never seen such behaviour before, but soon shrugged it off. He paid no attention to it, but considered it normal. He understood, but Sirius had quite a time trying to whisper in James' ear.
"Sirius, knock it off!" he whispered harshly back at Sirius.
"But-"
"No!" he quickly shoved another piece of meat into his mouth to prevent further conversation.
Mr. Potter broke the silence. "So, Mr. Lupin," he looked at the man to the right of him. "What do you do for a living?"
Remus looked as if he lost his appetite.
Mr. Potter felt as if he had said something wrong.
The man in the faded black robes laid his knife down. "I work at the Leaky Cauldron," he hesitated. "In the back."
"Oh." Mr. Potter shoved a forkful of mashed potatoes in his mouth.
"It's a new job." Mrs. Lupin chimed in. "Where do you work, Mr. Potter? If I may ask."
"Oh, the, uh, Ministry of Magic. I could put a good word in for you, Mr. Lupin, if you would like." he smiled warmly.
Mr. Lupin considered this for a moment and said "I like my job very much, thank you. I don't need anyone's help." He began eating again, very fast.
James looked over at Remus who's eyes were turning red.
"M-may I be excused, Mrs. Potter?"
"Yes, of course dear."
"Where's your bathroom?"
"Down the hall," she pointed with a fork, "and to the left. You can't miss it."
Remus quickly got up and headed toward the bathroom, walking rather quickly.
James looked at Sirius, who's face had now gotten an expression of understanding. He got up from the table and headed down the hall.
"James? Where-" but his mother broke off her sentence, shook her head and began eating again.
James tapped on the bathroom door. He could hear sounds of sniffing on the other side. "Can I talk to you?" he asked at last.
"You don't l-like me, d-do you..?" the voice called from the other side of the door.
"Yes we do. I do. You seem very nice to me. Listen," he said, pressing closer to the door. "It doesn't matter what kind of job your father has. It matters who you are. I like you. That's why I called you my friend."
The sniffing stopped for a while. James didn't dare move, but just stood there.
"You m-mean it?" Remus asked, a hint of hopefulness in his voice.
"Yes." James said, smiling to himself, "I mean it."
The door slowly began to open and James backed away. He pulled a tissue from his pocket and handed it to Remus.
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it. What're friends for, anyway?" he smiled warmly and Remus wiped his eyes. "Back to dinner then?"
Remus nodded and followed James back to the table. Remus didn't look at or talk to his father the rest of the night.
At the end of dinner, after all the plates had vanished and all conversation had ceased, he looked at his mother and asked, "Hey, mum. Is it alright if I spend the night? If it's alright with Mr. and Mrs. Potter of course.."
His mother looked over at Mrs. Potter who said, "Oh, we'd be delighted to have him stay!" Then she looked over at her husband, who thought for a very long time, then, reluctantly, said, "Alright. He can stay. As long as he behaves."
James and Sirius gave shouts of joy. Remus beamed with excitement.
"What about your things?" his mother asked.
"I have plenty of clothes he can wear," James added quickly, before Remus even had time to wipe the happy expression off his face.
Mrs. Lupin nodded and Mr. Lupin stood to leave.
"Thank you for that delightful dinner, Mrs. Potter." Mr. Lupin tipped his hat to her. "And thank you," his voice stiffened, "for letting us into your home." He looked at Mr. Potter, who smiled and said nothing else but:
"It was my pleasure."
Remus got up and hugged his mother, then, very cautiously stepped over to his father. "Goodnight." he said, staring at the floor.
"Goodnight," he said, patting him on the back.
"Come on, Remus! Want to play exploding snap?" Sirius called, hanging over the banister.
Remus turned around, nodded and kissed his mother on the cheek. He took off towards the stairs and followed Sirius into James' bedroom, who was pulling out a big box.
They played exploding snap for nearly three hours until Mrs. Potter knocked on the door and told them to go to bed, and left a small portable cot for Remus. She said goodnight to the three and soon they drifted off into a dreamland, imagining what their first year at Hogwarts would be like. How many friends they would make, or how many enemies.
James thought about the girl he saw, and prayed silently that she, too, was there for Hogwarts. Sirius, on the other hand, was dreaming of all the trouble he could possibly get into, and Remus, of warm beds, hot meals, and his two new friends, James and Sirius.
- - - - -
The next morning, at about 9:45am, Mr. Potter came walking through the back door, into the kitchen.
"Lovely day, really. Nice weather for the trip to Hogwarts. Just hope it stays like this," he said as he walked across the floor. He kissed his wife on the cheek, sat down in one of the five vacant chairs, and spread out the latest copy of the Daily Prophet.
"Anyone we know, dear?" Mrs. Potter called, turning over strips of bacon without even touching them.
"Not today, Bella."
The room was silent for a few minutes, with the exception of bacon frying and Mr. Potter turning pages in the Daily Prophet.
"Hold up, listen to this," he said, laying the paper across the table. "'The Minister of Magic has sent a fellow Muggle Alchemist, specialized in her field, to teach Alchemy at Hogwarts. Professor Wren Monty, along with a very qualified authority at the Ministry of Magic, Ronald Dante, have very high credentials in their field. Alchemy, the study of transmutation, is being offered to first years as well. Special books will be needed, but as this article came out a bit late, a special classroom set has been purchased by the Ministry of Magic. Mr. Ronald Dante is also a Muggle, but have been sworn to secrecy about our world, just as the other alchemists have. He has been sent to Hogwarts to observe teachers and students in their studies. More information on page 6.'" He stopped reading and turned to look at Mrs. Potter. " I wonder if James and Sirius knows about this."
"Best not tell them, or they'll want to investigate it."
"Best not tell us what?" James said, already dressed, scratching his head. Sirius and Remus followed.
"Never you mind. Have a good night, Remus?" Mrs. Potter said, watching the frying pan as it laid three pieces of bacon each on everyone's plate.
"Oh, yes, thank you," he smiled, picked up a piece of bacon and took a bite.
Sirius had his head propped up on his arm, already falling asleep again.
"Ah, post's here," said Mrs. Potter. "Go get it, please, James."
He sighed and got up from the table. He took the letters from beautiful brown tawny owl. He noticed one of its feathers were loose. Most likely from wind. He plucked it and turned it in his fingers. A mad grin spread across his face.
"Here you go, mum." He sat back down and looked at Remus. He showed him the feather and mouthed the words 'Watch this,' and grinned. He took the feather and stuck it up Sirius' nose. At that time, his head fell off his hand and he sneezed right into his plate.
"What in blue blazes was that for!" he yelled, jerking the feather out of his nose.
Remus and James were deep in a fit of uncontrollable laughter. Even Mr. Potter had to raise his newspaper to laugh.
"Not funny. I sneezed on my plate." He wiped his plate with his shirt sleeve.
James stuck a piece of toast in his mouth to stop himself from laughing and managed to say 'sorry' in between bites.
"Right you are." Sirius looked annoyed. He pretended to yawn, then, just as James had put his glass of milk to his lips, Sirius smacked him in the back of his head.
Milk shot across the table.
"ALRIGHT! Enough you two! Knock it off!" Mrs Potter demanded.
It was clear that Mr. Potter was still laughing at the boys little antics because the paper he was holding was shaking.
"Listen to your mother, James," he said, amusement leaking all over his voice. He let out a little laugh.
"Don't encourage them, William," she said, waving a wand at him from behind the paper.
"I'm not, dear," he turned a page.
"Got all your things packed? Oh, and Remus, darling, your mum dropped by with all your things. They're in the den," she motioned off towards the dark room.
She pointed her wand at the milk on the table, waved her wand and all the milk had disappeared into the tip of her wand.
Mr. Potter folded up his paper and looked at his watch. He jumped in his chair and said, "GREAT SCOTT! 10:35! Hurry up or we'll be late!"
Sirius and James quickly choked down all their food and ran upstairs to fetch their things. Remus followed to help.
About 10 minutes later Mr. Potter yelled from downstairs.
"We have 15 minutes to get you on that train! If you're late, you're not staying here all term, James!"
The three of them came running down the stairs and each in turn, including Remus, gave Mrs. Potter a light kiss on the cheek goodbye.
"Thank you, Mrs. Potter," Remus said, smiling.
"Oh you're quite welcome, my dear. Have a great year, now hurry along."
They all hurried out through the front door and soon was on their way to King's Cross.
Once at King's Cross, they took turns going through the barrier separating platforms nine and ten to get onto platform nine and three quarters. Sitting there in front of them was the most beautiful scarlet and black train they had ever seen.
"Yes. That's the Hogwarts Express." Mr. Potter sighed and hurried them off to the ticket booth.
"Tickets?" asked the plump little wizard who sat inside.
"Uh, yeah I have them somewhere." He searched the pockets of his robes. "Aha! Found them." He heaved a sigh of relief and the ticket master checked each one.
"Very well. You may board."
"Now, boys. I want you to have a very good year and please try not to get into trouble."
"We will," they all said at once.
They left their luggage with the porter and stepped aboard. The long corridor was crowded with a variety of students. The larger ones obviously being higher than second year. Some were wearing silver badges on their robes with the letter 'P' on them.
"Move along! Move along! We'll be leaving any moment now and no one can be in the corridor when we start moving!" the tall, blond haired, blue eyed prefect called.
The three quickly found a compartment. They sat down and looked out the window to see if they could spot Mr. Potter. When they had found him, the train whistle blew long, loud, and clear and echoed off through the distance.
They opened the tiny window at the top and hung out of it, waving furiously to Mr. Potter. He spotted them and waved back.
When all the cars evened out, they sat down.
"I'm so excited!" Remus said, bouncing in his seat.
Sirius gave him an odd look, but shrugged it off and stared out the window.
James pulled out his collection of Chocolate Frog cards and started sorting them. Again.