Author's Note:
Hello again! We're back with a Remus chapter this time, but before we get started we'd like to thank miniandminie and for such a sweet review! Comments like yours really brighten our day and keep us writing!
Happy reading!
A Fateful Encounter
His eyes shot open, pulling Remus Lupin out of the horribly vivid dream he'd been having only moments before.
Loud talking suddenly filled his ears, as his gaze flew over his surroundings in a panicked state, calming down only somewhat when he noticed that he was no longer facing the horror of his dream, but was instead welcomed into the lively atmosphere of the Hogwarts Express.
Remus cleared his throat awkwardly, immediately feeling heat rise to his cheeks as he quickly let go of the seat he was still clutching with both hands. He'd noticed two students eyeing him cautiously from the other side of the rather small compartment.
One was definitely a Slytherin girl, Remus noticed, glancing down at the silver and green scarf around her neck. She was maybe a year older than him, but Remus couldn't miss the deep frown which made her look twice her actual age. Her mouth shut with intent, and only then his mind put two and two together and he came to the conclusion that he'd just interrupted her conversation with the Huffepuff boy beside her. He didn't look as offended as her, but he still stared at him with confused eyes, slowly shutting the textbook he was holding.
"Sorry," Remus muttered quickly, looking away from the pair and turning to the window. It had only been a few hours and he already felt painfully out of place among the many students who were starting or returning to the famous school of witchcraft and wizardry. He gritted his teeth, so much for his wish to make friends.
He sighed, once again reminding himself of the words of courage his parents had given him before he'd said goodbye to them. He could be normal for once in his life, wasn't that already enough?
That thought alone made him smile a little and Remus pushed aside the last of his negativity, instead shifting his gaze to the view outside with newfound eagerness.
Just as he felt a little more at ease, a sudden poke on his shoulder almost made the boy jump up from his seat. His eyes snapped to the left, surprised to find another student sitting next to him. Had he been there this whole time?
"Hello," the boy said, words muffled by the amount of Fudge Flies stuffed into his mouth.
Remus watched the podgy boy with an unsure expression, but after a few moments responded nevertheless.
"Hello ... " he parroted, before quickly mumbling, "er- I'm Remus." The introduction sounded awkward out loud and Remus couldn't stop himself from nervously fiddling with the sleeve of his robes. He leaned forward a bit, if only to make himself appear less dejected and shy.
"Peter Pettigrew." Came the small voice of the boy, who's words were followed by a string of coughs after swallowing one too many of the candies in one go.
Remus smiled timidly at the other boy's behaviour, already feeling the nervousness rushing from his body. Peter seemed to be just as jittery and uncomfortable about all the unfamiliar faces and the daunting task of talking to complete strangers as he was. Maybe he'd judged himself a little too quickly, after all, he wasn't the only one who was going to start his first year at Hogwarts today.
"I can share if you want," Peter remarked, once his coughing fit had subsided, pointing towards the stash of sugary sweets piled at his feet. "The trolley came by while you were sleeping." A pumpkin pasty was suddenly shoved towards him and Remus was left with little choice other than to take it with gratitude. It only then occurred to him that he hadn't even eaten breakfast that morning, due to his incredible excitement.
"My mum didn't tell me much about her school time, but the things she did tell me sounded unbelievable!" Peter exclaimed, ears turning pink from the wonder that showed in his eyes.
"People told me there are monsters in the forest around the school, do you think that's true? Do you think we have to go in there?" The boy asked, fearful gaze meeting his, unsurely.
Remus took another bite from his pumpkin pasty, shaking his head. "I'm sure they were just trying to scare you. Hogwarts is the safest place, especially with Albus Dumbledore around." He smiled as he thought of the elderly wizard who had made it possible for him to attend the magical school in the first place. Remus felt truly thankful to him and he'd get to see him again once he started his first year.
"They say he almost killed Grindelwald that one time they dueled! I hope I can be that great of a wizard when I finish Hogwarts." Peter almost slid off of his seat as he motioned his hands into the air, telling Remus about the many things he wanted to do when he was older.
He listened as the small boy continued to babble on and on about the extraordinary adventures he could already picture, but Remus had trouble following Peter's words, he couldn't help it, he was too preoccupied with his own growing excitement.
Hearing the pleasant buzz of Peter's voice fill his ears, Remus moved closer to the large foggy window, wiping his hand over the surface to see the scenery outside of the train. His eyes peered through the glass, catching glimpses of blurred trees whizzing by.
From what he had read, Hogwarts was surrounded by lots of trees and a mountainous terrain, so it was clear they had almost arrived at their destination!
His guess was soon confirmed by the sudden slowing of the train and the many voices of other students becoming louder, as they started readying themselves for the awaited exit of the train.
A grin spread over his face as his gaze returned to Peter, who was desperately trying to pack the many bags of sweets into his opened trunk. Remus laughed a little and quickly stood up from his seat to get his own trunk. He eyed it wearily, before balancing on his toes to reach it.
Remus stumbled under its weight, both hands holding onto the monstrous thing, as he tried to keep it from falling squarely onto his head.
"Let me help you with that," a voice suddenly said, as a second pair of hands lifted Remus' trunk from his grasp and onto the floor next to him.
"Thank you," he breathed out, recognizing the Hufflepuff boy who had just been sitting opposite him in the compartment.
"Nothing to worry about, I'm Frank Longbottom." Remus shook his outstretched hand, the corner of his mouth twitching upwards at the boy's strange name.
He cleared the silly thought from his mind, shaking his head to hide the smile that he just couldn't smother.
"You two definitely weren't listening to the conductor," Frank remarked, glancing at him and Peter. "You're supposed to leave your trunks in here," the older boy said, chuckling at them.
Remus rubbed the back of his neck, an awkward grin forming on his lips. Once again, he felt embarrassed in front of the blond Hufflepuff. He had probably zoned-out while staring out of the window and hadn't heard anything the conductor had talked about. Next year he would definitely remember.
That was, if he would still be allowed to after this one.
A lump formed in his throat, thinking about that possibility for the first time since that morning. The many new encounters and experiences of the day had managed to make him almost forget about everything, but now that his mind had returned to the nagging feeling in the back of his head, thoughts about the full moon began to circle around his consciousness again.
"Er - Remus, shouldn't we be getting off too?" Peter stammered, eyes darting to the open compartment door, which Frank and the Slytherin girl had already walked through. Remus slowly nodded in agreement, trudging after the small boy.
His train of thought was immediately stopped once he stepped onto the slippery wet platform. Loud voices suddenly surrounded him, as a group of students pushed past Peter and him, eager to go into a different direction. Remus almost lost his footing, but caught himself in the last moment, glaring after their retreating backs.
His heartbeat picked up in panic, as his eyes scanned the mass of people, each making their way to a broad path which snaked away from the rather small train station.
Were they supposed to go with them?
"FIRST YEARS TO ME! ALL FIRST YEARS COME HERE!" Remus heard a loud voice call over the many students laughing and catching up with their friends.
He made sure that Peter was still following him, before he stepped into the tumble of wizards and witches headed in the opposite direction. Remus squeezed himself in between a couple of Ravenclaws, who were apparently completely ignoring his attempts at asking nicely.
With much effort and a lot of elbowing, they both arrived in front of a white-haired old man with a rather wrinkly face, holding a brightly lit lantern in his hand. A crowd of students was already gathered around him, some shivering while others were already goofing off with their newfound friends.
"Now, now, settle down everyone!" the old man spoke over the whispering, immediately shushing everybody around him.
"My name's Ogg, I'm the Gamekeeper here at Hogwarts," he grumbled, steely grey gaze swiftly passing over the many pale faces listening to every word he said.
"We need to get going to the boats. Don't wander off, follow me, or my apprentice Hagrid here, will get you back on the trail," Ogg warned, left hand pointing to an abnormally large man standing half in the shadows next to him. Remus didn't know how he hadn't even noticed Hagrid the whole time he'd been waiting there.
His eyes grew large as he took in the rather scary appearance of the man, with his shaggy beard and equally as shaggy and unkept hair, he looked more like a bear than a human. The only thing that kept Remus from spontaneously sprinting back into the safety of the Hogwarts Express, was the warm smile that could barely be seen under his facial hair.
"Better do as yer told," Hagrid said, eyes twinkling happily. Remus shared a swift glance with Peter, before following behind a boy in front of him.
The trek from the platform was difficult to say the least. More often than not, he found himself tripping and slipping on the wet stones, his shoes providing little hold, if any at all. The narrow path winded through the thick clusters of trees, only illuminated by the yellow shine of Ogg's lantern and the moon.
Remus shivered, pulling his robes tighter around his body as he watched the looming clouds block out the last of the cold light from the moon, surprisingly calming his nerves quite a lot while doing so. Fog was drifting eerily around them, which didn't help the many scared first years, who were blindly following the old man at the front.
A breath he hadn't known he'd been holding escaped his lips, as the group of students finally emerged from the forest and found themselves standing at the shore of a glassy black lake.
"Everyone find themselves a boat, only four to each! And hurry up, I don't want to keep Professor McGonagall waiting any longer," the Gamekeeper yelled back at them, quickly stepping into the lake, leaving Hagrid standing near the edge of the gloomy woods.
Ogg trudged into the dark waves, his dirty brown boots becoming immediately soaked from the water surrounding them. He reached the boat floating farthest away from the shore, motioning for the group of first years to do the same.
"C'mon Peter, we have to get one before they're all full." Remus pulled at the other boy's sleeve, dragging him after himself, while walking towards the nearest boat, which two girls had already gotten to before them.
They quickly sat down, watching as the other students seemed to catch on and find boats for themselves.
Remus glanced at the girls looking over at them. His gaze only passed over them briefly, but he noticed that one was dark-skinned, while the other was blonde, long curls tied back in a loose ponytail. After regarding them curiously for a moment longer, he quickly averted his eyes, not wanting to be caught staring.
"Let's go with this one, Sev." Remus picked up a voice as two pairs of footsteps came closer to the boat next to theirs. The witch swiftly glanced at Peter and him as she and her pale friend settled down near them.
Suddenly, a laugh could be heard coming from the direction of the beach. Two boys came stumbling down the path, clearly being the last ones to come out of the deep forest.
Remus watched closely as both of them started to walk closer to their boat. They were grinning while they both glanced at the boy sitting with the redheaded witch.
"Get a move on you two!" Came the impatient voice of Ogg, who was also watching the boys with a deep scowl evident on his face.
The two students seemed to completely ignore the others waiting for them, slowly clambering into their boat while talking quickly to each other.
Only after they had found their proper place, could the Gamekeeper start the awaited journey across the looming black lake.
Remus shared a nervous grin with Peter, as the group of boats drifted over the glassy surface. His own reflection stared back at him as his eyes were transfixed on the dark waters, peering into their seemingly endless depths. He was sure he could see something moving below them.
His curiosity got the better of him and his fingers grasped the wood of the boat. He tried leaning further out to snag a better look at the shadow he was seeing in the water, but all of a sudden, the boat rocked to the side, due to Peter having spontaneously jumped up from his place next to Remus. Both girls screamed in fright, not having expected the disturbance.
"Remus, look!" Peter squeaked, nearly falling over from his lack of balance.
At first Remus didn't respond, still trying to find the creature he was sure he had seen only moments before. But Peter quickly shook his shoulder, forcing him to turn his attention to whatever he was so excited about.
"What is it -" Remus cut himself off. The fog was just clearing from the view ahead, revealing a truly magical sight as he looked to the other side of the water. His mouth parted as he finally saw the magnificent castle standing atop the cliff. Bright lights shone from every window, with many towers and turrets rising high into the sky above.
Remus could hear many voices from the boats next to his, everyone was staring with excitement, whispering amongst themselves. The first years' curious gazes were caught on the looming castle showing itself from behind the wispy fog surrounding it.
"Marlene, it's Hogwarts!" The dark girl yelled excitedly, staring wide-eyed at her friend, who had an identical expression on her face. Both girls leaned forward so far that their boat creaked under their combined weight, but they just continued to stare ahead, too entranced by the castle to notice.
"I'm actually here," Remus mumbled under his breath, eyes shining as a wide genuine grin stretched over his face. He couldn't believe it was actually happening after he'd waited and hoped for many years, fearing that due to his condition, he would never be able to step foot into the castle his father had told him so much about.
Their boats drifted further along, but Remus stared at his new home until the last towers disappeared behind the rock face. They had reached a small opening between the slick boulders. It was covered with a blanket of ivy, but the boats pushed through, parting the heavy plants wide enough to enter through. A cavern opened in front of them and Remus marveled at the eerie reflections the dark water cast onto the uneven walls.
Soon enough, the bow of their boat stranded on the shore and Remus was the first of them to climb out. The pebbles crunched beneath his shoes and he looked back, waiting until Peter had joined his side once again.
The first years huddled around the old Gamekeeper, some faces pale while others couldn't keep their grins from their faces. Remus was one of the latter, he couldn't stop a smile from tugging at the corner of his lips. The only time he'd been more ecstatic, was when Dumbledore himself had sat across from him in his parents' sitting room. He'd been the first who had ever treated him like any other young wizard, but not only that, Dumbledore had changed his life when he'd invited him to become a student at Hogwarts.
"Well, don't just stand around," Ogg growled, "get into a single-file line and follow me."
The man didn't wait, his heavy steps echoing around them as the fist years struggled to coordinate themselves, before they hurried after the grouchy Gamekeeper. The climb up the narrow stone path way was harrowing and Remus breathed heavily by the time he'd crawled out of the gloomy shaft. He let his eyes wander then, as they waited for the rest to make it to the surface. They stood in the shadow of the castle, on the school grounds. From up here, Remus could see to the far away shore of the lake they had just crossed.
Peter caught up with him, as their trek took them across the planes of dewy grass, but the boy stayed quiet. Remus supposed he must have been just as flabbergasted and overwhelmed as everyone who accompanied them.
Silence hung over the first years up until Ogg halted in front of a massive wooden door. Then, the whispering began and Remus felt the nervous jitters from before with such force, he half expected his knees to buckle under him.
His breath hitched in his throat, as the sound of a single knock sounded.