A/N: I intended for this to come out this past Friday, but I didn't manage to get around to it (sadly). But here it is, only two days late!
Written for The Houses Competition, Round 5.

House: Gryffindor

Category:Theme: Discovery – what does it take to discover new places, self-discovery, inner meaning, strength, even treasure.

Prompt: "You will stay here until I give you permission to leave," [Speech]

Word Count: 2,091

The calls of all the other children reached his sensitive ears. Remus attempted to hide further behind his mother's body at the sudden sense of fear he got from hearing all of these voices in such a large space. They had just made it onto the train platform, and already he was feeling quite overwhelmed.

"Come along, dear." Hope Lupin pulled on her nervous son's shirt. He knew he was visibly shaking. "You have to be brave. I know it's a lot to hear at once, but I promise you're going to be okay."

"Mum, why … why is it so piercing?" He looked around with wide eyes at the scene before him. All around them, what would soon be his fellow students were calling out to each other or to their parents.

"They're all very excited, Remus, and you should be as well. This is a great opportunity."

Remus knew his mother had never been to this station before either, and it had been made obvious when she'd had to ask someone else where the platform was to be found. His father had been unable to come, so they'd been left to fend for themselves. Now that they were here, he could tell she was a little hesitant to leave him there.

But he wanted to be on his own nearly as much as he was scared. This was a chance to get away from home!

"Alright...well, how do I get on?" Before she could answer him, someone tried to push between them.

"Oh, sorry ma'am." This shockingly red-headed girl - who looked to be his age - looked back at them, smiling nervously. "I was just trying to get past, I didn't realize you were there."

"It's alright." Remus replied before his mother, watching the girl carefully.

"Well, thanks then." She went over to the stairs and climbed aboard the train without another thought. He noticed she had first handed her trunk over to one of the people in uniform near the train.

"I think I can get on, mum."

"If you're certain...then goodbye, Rem. Take care, please. Remember to write home once a month, and tell us all about it! I know your father will be very happy to get news." She smiled as she attempted to straighten his collar a little, bending down to reach.

All he could do was respond by leaning in and giving her a hug. "I promise, mum." He whispered into her ear.

As Remus Lupin boarded the Hogwarts Express for the first time, he looked back at his mother who was waving and smiling. She was hiding her fear for him that was quite evident. It was alright. It was going to be alright.

With cautious steps, he climbed into the main corridor of the train. Most people were already in seats and as he passed each room he noticed how full they were. These kids had friends. Actual friends - not just people who didn't want to interact with you anywhere else but the public place you'd been introduced at, like the park. With a swallow, Remus continued walking, ignoring the looks of anyone else.

That wasn't the way to make friends...how did one talk to other kids?

Such a question remained unanswered, and would for a little while longer for him. Lupin made sure the cabin he entered was empty, and sat down with a small sigh. Okay, he was a little early. But it was fine, no one really cared.

Looking out onto the station, he saw the groups of people still coming in and the kids who were still saying farewell to their parents. Some joined others - and boy, did he feel lonely.

No one would ever want to be his friend, that was something he was certain of. It was useless trying to talk to anyone, as he was horrible at interacting with other people and it certainly would make a bad impression if he tried to do so on his first day -

A loud clang made him jump nearly two feet in the air as someone opened the door to the cabin with urgency.

"JUST YOU - oh, sorry for barging in on you, mate." The boy seemed to be being chased by someone, as he had attempted to call out the door before he saw Remus. "I'll just be going, then. Getting chased by siblings, you see."

And just like that, he was gone. Remus hadn't even been able to ask his name. The boy had had this plain brown hair, placed in a rather boring hair-style. Even his face wasn't exactly memorable. All that Remus could do after such an encounter was settle back down into his seat and stare out the window.

The train began moving before long, blowing it's long whistle and chugging out of the station. Off they went.

For a few minutes, it was fun to watch things go past on a train. He'd never really been on one before, so the whole experience was brand new to him.

It was a while before anyone else bothered to run into his cabin.

A loud knock at the door caused him to jump yet again - he cursed his hypersensitive ears - and he looked up to see two boys he'd never seen before staring in at him.

One was rather tall, with messy black hair and dark eyes, glasses surrounding them, and he had this look on his face that told Remus this was someone who was into mischief. The boy beside him was slightly shorter, with less of a striking appearance. He looked rather like a mouse, and his figure certainly told of one.

"Sorry to intrude, but have you seen any, er, suspicious animals flying around this here cabin?" The dark-haired one poked his head in, smiling almost nonchalantly.

"No." He shook his head.

"Great. Sorry Peter, I don't think we're going to find her." He said to the boy beside him, and then looked up and nodded at Remus. "Thanks anyways."

Peter and the unnamed boy wandered away slowly after that, as Remus didn't try and ask what they were up to. He didn't really want to get involved in anything that could prove to be a huge prank or trouble of some sort. It was sort of amazing he had even been allowed into Hogwarts; he was not going to ruin that chance by getting in trouble on the train.

That sort of decision was luckily held all the way through the train ride. Remus rode the whole way to Hogwarts completely alone, and he rather hated it and liked it at the same time.

%

The glowing magnificence of the school itself was shocking to every student who sat in the boats and stared up at it. Remus had never imagined something so ridiculous yet so amazing at the same time. The large man who had guided them into the boats was talking, but no one heard his words. For a moment, Remus almost felt like he was a part of something.

Even though they could have all sat there gaping in awe for hours, the boats were still steadily moving towards the castle, and soon enough they found themselves getting out. Remus felt his moment of near-acceptance broken by the announcement that they were to be led into the castle.

As soon as they were inside and gathered in a hallway, Hagrid - for that was the large man's name - turned to them with a smile and informed them that he was going to be off. When he left, a tall woman with a stern face came out.

"You will stay here until I give you permission to leave," She said haughtily, but kindly, "Once I tell you to come with me, you will go to be Sorted."

Whispers ran through the group as she finished speaking. The Sorting was somewhat of a mystery to most students, apparently. Remus had to scoff at them internally, for hadn't they read anything? The Sorting was simply the tradition that determined what House you were going into, and it wasn't scary or threatening at all. It wasn't even a test of any type.

Yet by the time the teacher returned - who had informed them her name was Professor McGonagall - everyone else had worked up a sweat while Remus Lupin had remained quite calm. They entered the Great Hall, and it began.

The first few people were sorted without any reaction from the older students in the Hall except for cheers from their tables that they were going to join. It was only when a boy Remus hadn't seen before was suddenly sorted into "Gryffindor!" that the whole Hall fell silent for almost a minute.

The black haired boy's name was Sirius Black, and as far as Remus could tell, didn't seem special compared to any of the other students. But the rest of the Hall apparently considered this to be a huge shock, and they were all suddenly silent.

Then, Gryffindors started to cheer as the shell-shocked Sirius Black made his way to the table, seemingly numb. Remus couldn't imagine what was so bad about it that made the boy so scared looking, but he supposed he shouldn't ask.

Some more people filtered by, and then it was suddenly his turn.

Remus felt quite silly with the large black hat going over his head, but he sat there patiently, thinking about the fact that there was a whole massive Hall of people watching him.

"Gryffindor!" The hat called, and the table cheered, and suddenly he was seated beside Sirius Black and a girl - the girl whom he'd been pushed by at the station - named Lily Evans.

Both boys whom he'd seen on the train, Peter Pettigrew and James Potter, as the dark haired boy's name turned out to be, were also sorted into Gryffindor. They were two of the last ones to be called up, and the feast began soon enough after the mandatory rituals of tradition.

Remus ate in silence. He'd found it was easier to simply listen to these people rather than to try and communicate with them. It appeared Sirius was still in some amount of shock, but both James and Peter were trying to comfort them from their seats directly across the table.

"Don't worry man, you're going to be fine!" James grinned as he bit into a chicken leg.

"You're not the one with the mother who's going to punish you for being in this House." Sirius said. He appeared to be reluctant to eat.

"No one's going to harm you, Sirius. You'll be fine, you're in bloody Gryffindor, after all!" James spread his arms wide as he spoke. Remus raised an eyebrow at his actions; and was actually noticed by the boy. "Hey, you're that kid that was alone in the cabin! My name's James Potter. Yours?"

Clearly James had the attention span of a duck, but Remus wasn't going to tell him that right then. He was a little slow to answer, as suddenly nerves shot up. He was actually being spoken to. Now he needed to have the courage to reply.

"R-Remus, Remus Lupin." He shook the hand that was offered.

"Nice to meet you. This is Peter Pettigrew, that's Sirius Black." James smiled. "You're so quiet, I almost didn't realize you were here."

"Well, I ... it's just a lot." Remus struggled to find an answer to that. He didn't want to be the one who was wrong in what he said.

"Agreed." The glum boy beside him agreed.

"Oh, come off it, Sirius. It's going to be fine. As for you," James said, turning to him again, "Do you have any friends?"

"Not really. Sort of… lived in the country."

"Well good news. I think I'd be glad to have another friend."

He couldn't speak after that. James was distracted by something else after that. But Remus was still stuck on the fact that he had suddenly just made a friend. What's more, he had actually been able to talk to other people.

For once in his rather short life, Remus felt a surge of acceptance and courage. He could do this. He would survive in this life, and Hogwarts was going to be a change.

In the next minute Remus did something that he never normally would have done before realizing this was all loads easier than he'd thought. He inquired about someone's personal life.

"So, why're you so upset about being sorted into Gryffindor?" Remus turned to look curiously at Sirius.