"Are you sure we can afford all this?" Remus asked softly, glancing up from his list of school supplies.

Rhea Lupin smiled at him, gently pulling him into a hug. "Anything for my only child. I am so proud of you, getting into Hogwarts!"

Remus shook his head, sending his shaggy, light brown hair flying. "I didn't think I'd be able to…because of my…disability."

John Lupin put a hand on his son's shoulder. "Remus, don't call it that. It was just an unfortunate incident. Life throws us things like that sometimes, to make us better people. It's not going to stop you in the long run. You'll see. You just have to stay strong, Son. And we Lupin's, we're the strong silent type."
Remus smiled slightly at that. "I'm just surprised they let me in. I don't really know why they did."

"Because Albus Dumbledore is a good man. They should really make him Minister of Magic; things would be much better for all of us. He's one of the few people who actually treats everyone equally, he can look past the blood one has blood to the person they are. Blood doesn't matter, not in the end. All that matters is if you are a good person. If Dumbledore were Minister…well you wouldn't have to check in with the Beast Division once a year, a shameful practice if you ask me…"

Remus shrugged, looking slightly less woebegone. "It's not that bad, Mum, really."

Rhea gave him a smile tinged with sadness. "It's not fair for you to have this kind of burden, especially at so young an age." She kissed the top of his head. "It'll make you into a good man though, I have no doubt. I just want you to study hard and be on your best behavior… you'll have loads of friends if you just be yourself. Who wouldn't want to be friends with such a kindhearted, intelligent, handsome boy like you?"

"Yes, you did inherit the classic Lupin good looks from your old man." His father agreed.

"With my mind." His mother countered. "Remus, honey, I know you'll love it there, just as your father and I did."

"But don't forget to have fun!" His father added, clapping Remus on the back. "I think we need to lighten the mood here. How about after we're done getting your school things, we go for dinner in honor of your acceptance to Hogwarts."

"Where, Dad?"

"Your choice. Wherever you'd like."

"But the cost—"

"I think we've got more than enough money to treat our son to a celebratory dinner."

Remus beamed at his parents; his first real smile all day. Sure he had been excited about getting accepted to Hogwarts, especially with his "problem," but the gloomy thoughts had begun to slip into his mind…that he wouldn't have any friends, that people would know and therefore ostracize him, that if they didn't know already, they would find out turn against him. He was sure that they would turn against him in the end; people always turned against him eventually. However, for the first time he had hope, hope that maybe things would be okay for him. Maybe for the first time, people would want to be his friends, not bully him or avoid him. Avoidance was by far the worse though; sometimes he wished that other people would hurl insults at him or beat him up because then at least he would have some kind of human contact with kids his own age. But perhaps…perhaps Hogwarts would be different…and for some reason, he had a strange feeling that it would be.

A/N: Wow, I didn't realize how depressingly I painted Remus' existence out to be…aw, show of hands, who wants to line up to give him hugs? ;)