The Newcomer
Remus Lupin gripped his traveling cap close to his chest and tried very hard to not throw up from excitement all over his brand new Hogwarts uniform. The full moon was four days away, a fact that his mother had forced him to obsessively memorize alongside his letters and numbers and all manner of normal things, and he could feel the telltale signs of fatigue and nausea settling over him. But this time, it was made worse, or perhaps better, by the fact that he was actually looking forward to something for the first time since his first transformation.
It would be a fresh start, a step into something new and out of the confines of the four walls of his house, and he was practically buzzing with anticipation.
He counted down the days to when he would go to Hogwarts for the first time, and he was determined not to have anything ruin it for him.
Not even his parents incessant worrying, justified though it may be, could dampen his good mood.
He felt his mother shift next to him, clammy hand reaching down to grab his as his father stepped towards the fireplace, Floo powder glittering the floor beneath their feet. Remus wanted to ride the train. In fact, he wanted it more than he wanted anything in a long time, to feel just the slightest bit normal for at least a few days before the transformation. But his father refused, and his mother agreed with his father, and all Remus could do was count his blessings that he was able to go away to school at all as his family crowded around their sooty fireplace.
"Remember what I told you, Hope?" Lyall Lupin said, turning to look at his wife with his eyes wide. She was a muggle, and while she adapted extraordinarily well to the magical world around her, she always felt uncomfortable with the travel. She griped Remus' hand tighter as she nodded, face now a similar pallor as his. "Hogsmeade. Clear and loud."
Lyall stepped into the fireplace and turned around, hand clutched around the Floo powder, before he shouted their destination, threw the powder down, and disappeared in a burst of green flames.
"Best go next, Mum," Remus said, giving her hand a slight squeeze just as it started to shake.
She looked down at him, pale blue eyes wide as saucers, before she nodded and let go of him. She looked small in the large fireplace, even smaller still when she scooped up some Floo powder and held it aloft in a tightly clenched fist. She smiled at him nervously before she threw down the powder and disappeared like his father.
It was quiet once they were gone. They had only been there a few transformations, as their small family had come to measure time, but the wear and tear was already visible throughout the house. His parents would be able to live there longer with him gone, a blessing although he was certain neither of them would ever say it out loud.
Remus sighed and stepped into the fireplace, thin fingers grubbing around in the Floo pot. The sparkling powder stuck to his hand, filling the cracks and making him feel like he had gripped a handful of wet clay. He took one final look at their house, eyes zeroing in on the latest set of scratches he left on the wooden doorframes, before he threw the Floo powder down.
There was no sense in dwelling.
Not when what was waiting on the other side of the fireplace was something so wonderful.
"Hogsmeade!"
It was a pleasant traveling experience, as far as he was concerned, and he felt his face crack into a wide smile as he saw his house disappear from sight.
He spent far too much time staring at its walls to ever miss it.
His parents were waiting for him on the other side, matching expressions of forced positivity. Next to them, stood Albus Dumbledore. He was taller than Remus remembered, and dressed far more ostentatiously in a long robe of deep purple.
"Hello, Remus," Professor Dumbledore said, stepping away from his parents to greet him. "Welcome to Hogsmeade."
"Professor." It was the only word he could muster as a pit opened deep in his stomach as he looked around the small pub. It was closed for the night, as evidenced by the chairs upturned onto the tables and smell of fresh pine. Just to the right of his mother, he could see a broom sweeping the floor.
It was an empty bar, but it was the closest he had come to human civilization in what felt like years and he was not certain he could contain his near giddiness much longer, despite the fact that his transformation loomed.
Four days away.
He could feel it at the back of his mind, pressing, prodding, clawing, and scraping, but he pushed it aside and stepped away from the fireplace.
He still had four days to enjoy himself and he would enjoy himself again on the other side.
"I thought you might like to be sorted in front of your parents," Dumbledore said, pulling one arm from behind his back to waive his wand. A bar stool sprung to life and crawled over to them, its legs sounding very much like hooves on the wooden floor as it moved towards them. It came to a stop in front of him and Remus reluctantly sat down.
An old hat was set on top of his head only a moment later.
"Interesting."
Remus jumped at the sound, but stayed in his seat, folding his hands in his lap to try and fake the appearance of calm. He was not nervous for his house placement, as he truly and genuinely had no preference, but the idea that something as simple as a hat could see right into his very soul disturbed him greatly and made his hands shake.
"No preference? That's uncommon."
Remus kept his back straight and looked to his mother, happy to see that she was smiling at him in her most encouraging way. He didn't care what house he ended up in and neither would she. He just wanted to be sorted and to actually make it to the castle. He just wanted to be like the rest of the students. He had been pushed away from communities for the last several years, hidden away in the dark and made to fear something he couldn't control. But that had been his parent's choice and he refused to make the same one for himself.
"Hufflepuff!"
Professor Dumbledore smiled at him and pulled the hat off his head. "Hufflepuff. Wonderful fit, I think."
Remus had no preference, but as Dumbledore said it, it felt right in his mind and he smiled at his parents as he stood up from the bar stool. His mother enveloped him in a hug, rocking him back and forth as she pressed kisses to his cheeks.
"Yellow was always your color, Rem."
His father clapped him on the back, giving him a subtle squeeze as his mother continued to shower him with kisses.
"Mr. and Mrs. Lupin, I think it best if you say you goodbyes here."
It was quick and bittersweet, even for Remus who was practically bubbling with excitement. When his mother was finally able to peel herself away from him, he saw that she was crying quite openly.
"I'll write you as soon as I can, mum," He assured her, thankful when he saw his father wrap a comforting arm around her shoulders. "I promise."
"You'll write us after?" His father asked, panic about not being there to help him through his first transformation away from them quite clearly written all over his face.
"Of course."
"Well, then, I guess we'll see you at Christmas."
Remus tried not show his parents how happy he was to be coming to school, as he didn't want to think that he was excited to get away from them, but he thought they got the hint well enough. They gave him one more smile, tinged with apprehension and fear, before they stepped back into the fireplace, were engulfed in green flames, and left him alone with Professor Dumbledore.
"Shall we?"
"Yes," Remus said, following Dumbledore as he led him out of the empty bar.
Hogsmeade was completely empty except for the two of them, but it gave Dumbledore the time to tell Remus how his transformations would work while at Hogwarts. He wished he could say that he paid attention fully, that he absorbed ever single word like he was probably meant to, but he could only focus on the view of the castle peeking out over the trees. It was glowing, so warm and inviting, and Remus had to stop himself from running towards it.
But he resisted the strong urge and kept a metered pace next to Dumbledore, taking in the sights as they got closer to the castle with his enthusiasm buried deep beneath the surface.
"None of your business."
Remus and Dumbledore stepped into a large courtyard and right in the middle of a conversation already ongoing. The boy, tall and lanky and sporting a mop of black curls, had his arms crossed over his chest as she glared at the short girl in front of him.
"Fine," The girl said, leaning back with a very displeased look on her face. He took notice of the yellow trim on her clothes first, heart rate increasing rapidly when he realized she was one of his new housemates.
"Fine."
"Fine."
"What do you say we see all the ruckus is about," Dumbledore said, peering down at Remus with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
All Remus could do was nod, too disarmed by the idea of interacting with people his own age for the first time in years. He smoothed his hands over his clothes and tried to look as normal as he could before either of them noticed him standing there. It was already bad enough that he wasn't able to be sorted with the rest of the classmates, it would not do well for him to be weird on top of that.
Not that he thought he was likely to be the weirdest amongst them, considering the short girl was currently covered in little owls and speckled with bird poo.
"Mr. Black, Miss Fawley, what are you doing out so late?"
The pair of them turned in tandem, each just now noticing that they had an audience for the first time.
The girl recovered from the shock quicker and plastered an obviously fake smile on her face. "Sorry Professor Dumbledore, I was visiting the Owlery and noticed a few of the hatchlings were a bit peakish. Sirius was sending a letter home to tell them the good news of his Sorting and he stayed to talk to me while I finished up."
"Allow me to introduce you to your newest classmate," Dumbledore stepped to the side so that Remus could see them even more clearly. "Remus Lupin."
At the sight of him, the girl moved towards them, a smile on her face. The little owls clinging to her for dear life gripping harder at the sudden change in direction and speed.
"Hello, Remus. My name is Mavis," She said, thrusting her hand out for him to shake. The boy lingered behind her, foul expression only lessening when Remus glanced at him over her shoulder. Dumbledore, ever watchful, smiled when Remus made eye contact with him.
"Hello."
"You're welsh," She said, moving even closer to him. He hardly thought he could be considered welsh anymore, seeing as how his family had lived every but Wales in the last few years, but he still bore the accent quite heavily. "And you're a Hufflepuff. Sirius, come say hello."
The boy, Sirius, glowered at the back of her head when she wasn't looking, but walked forward all the same, clearly unwilling to be so uncooperative in front of their Headmaster.
"'Lo."
"Perhaps you would be willing to show Mr. Lupin the Hufflepuff dormitory before you're out past curfew," Dumbledore said, causing Mavis to take on a suitably chagrined expression. Although, upon further inspection, Remus could see that it didn't really reach her eyes.
"Of course, Professor Dumbledore."
"And Mr. Black, back to Ravenclaw tower with you."
Sirius paled, but nodded, looking down at his feet.
Mavis looped her arm through Remus', surprising him with the familiarity of the gesture after so little time. But he did not pull back, thankful that the first person he met did not recoil like his parents acted like they would. Instead, she leaned closer to him as she led him back into the castle, dropping her voice to speak in a conspiratorial manner. "I know we're supposed to go to the dorm, but you look like you could use a good meal."
"My stuff…" Remus started, watching as Sirius started up the stairs.
"Probably already in the dorm. Now come on, my dad told me how to get into the kitchens." She pulled on his arm harder, steering him towards a staircase that led down into the deeper parts of the castle.
Perhaps he was not wrong to think of this as a fresh start.
At the very least, he had managed to speak to two people his own age and not send them running for cover. Of course, the girl currently chattering away in his ear had no idea she was arm and arm with a werewolf, but she did not physically flinch at the mere sight of him like he assumed she would. It was a first step, a giant leap in fact, and Remus could not find it within himself to be anything but excited.
Shout out to Remus for being the only one excited to be at Hogwarts. Now that we know which house everyone is in, we can start to get into the meat of how this changes the story!
As a note, right now Remus' relationship to his lycanthropy is very unbothered. I like to think of him being very similar to chronically ill children in our world, aka some of the time they only start to realize they are different when the people around them put limitations on them. His relationship with the condition will develop and worsen over time as prejudices increase in the wizarding world.