"Hey! Hey you!"
An auburn-haired boy runs across the tall grass, over to the fence line. His overalls are itching him, his trainers scattered somewhere along the front porch. He puts his hands on the barbed wire and smiles, a crooked, popsicle grin spreading across his face. "I've never seen you 'afore. Whas' your name?"
A tiny girl with thick, rolling brown curls puts her hands on her hips and cocks an eyebrow at him. "An' why should I tell you?"
The boy shrugs and sticks his hands in his pockets. "I 'unno. My name's Remus."
"That sure is a funny name."
"You won't think it's so funny when I try'n give you some candy."
The girl's cerulean blue eyes grow wide with excitement, but it's quickly squelched. "Mother said I'm not 'sposed to take candy from strangers."
Remus thinks on this a moment, the candy rustling in his pocket. "Well, how 'bout this. I told you my name, so you tell me yours, and then we won't be strangers no more. I don't know a rule that says you can't take candy from a friend."
She smiles, wipes her hand on her pinafore, and sticks it out in introduction. "Pleasure, Remus. I'm Sadie. Now gimme some candy."
And this is how they became friends.
-xxxxx-
"Oh, Mum, she's brilliant! She's got lotsa hair an' she lives nex' door with her Gram she says, though I've not seen a house nex' door never, and she has a dress thing that's got a cartoon character on it, Mum! Bugs Bunny!" The young boy chattered away as he sat in a hard-backed chair and fidgeted excitedly.
"Remy, hold still, darling. You're going to make me slip and hack off your ear."
"Mum!"
"Honestly, Remus. Hold still or I'll cut your hair all lopsided."
The Lupins, Mary, John, and Remus, were self-sufficient. They reaped what they sowed in the most literal sense of the phrase. John worked on the land and made what little money the family had that way; Mary stayed home and raised her chubby, cooing baby to a gangly, long-limbed five year old. Remus ran the farm like it was his own world to explore, and in a way, it was. He'd wake early to the sound of Atticus the Rooster crowing and he would shiver with anticipation as he put on his play clothes to gather the eggs with Mary. She'd give him a full, beaming grin as she plucked egg after egg from beneath the hens, and her bubbly, talkative son would rattle on with questions, observations and noises of enthusiasm beside her. This resplendent, captivating little bundle of knowledge and energy was reason for her existence. They didn't have but a two-bedroom cottage and a lot of harsh land, but it was cozy and they were happy. The Lupins made do.
"I dunno why you gotta cut my hair you'self."
"Because, Remy."
"Because. Because, because. That idn't an answer, Mummy."
"It most certainly is."
Remus pouts as the scissors snip away his quickly-lightening hair and the chickens cluck and peck outside the open window. A breeze blows into the cottage, the faded blue curtains twittering in the wind.
"There. All done! See, wasn't so bad, was it?"
"Can I go play now?"
"What'd you say that little girl's name was, again?"
"Sadie," he says as he rolls his eyes. "And she's not little, she's five an' a half!"
"Well, excuse me. I forget how important halves are to children. I firmly believe that I will stay twenty-nine forever."
Remus doesn't understand his mother. Why stay twenty-nine when you could be thirty or forty or fifty? Wasn't bigger better? He brushes the hair from his shoulders and runs out the front door, the screen smacking behind him with a loud clang.
"You watch this door! It'll fall right off the hinges!"
He turns to the house as he runs and sees his mother run her fingers through her dishwater blonde hair and wiping her palms on her apron. But the clang is exciting, he thinks. He really doesn't understand grownups sometimes.
He runs as fast as his legs can carry him, his feet plodding with light thunks on the browned Earth. He careens around familiar landmarks in the yard: the old tire from the Buick, the planks of wood to rebuild the barn door. He dashes over ant hills and around the well spicket and screeched to a stop at the rusted fence gate. She's there waiting, clapping to herself.
"What're you doin'?"
"You're late," she says continuing to clap. "And I'm clappin', can't you see?"
"Why for?"
"'Cos I got bored waitin' for you."
"Oh. Sorry 'bout that," he says sheepishly.
She sighs and stands, brushing the dirt from her knees. "Gram says you're 'lowed to come on this side-a the fence, if you wanna."
"Do you have stuff to do over there?"
"Well, I've got all my stuff from back home."
"Like what?"
"Oh, dolls and dresses and my fancy tea set that Mummy never lets me play with, but Gram says it's okay at her house."
Remus crinkles his nose and lets out a disgusting groan. "Ugh, girl stuff."
Sadie clucks her tongue, in a perfect imitation of Remus's mother, he thinks, and gives him a look. "Well, whaddya think we should do then, Mister Smart Guy?"
"Well, uh," he pauses, going over the layout of his property in his brain. "We got a rope swing and a creek."
Her eyes light up again and she smiles broadly, and Remus notices her front tooth is missing. "You got a swing and a creek? Count me in!"
She crawls underneath the barbed wire and grabs his hands. "Show me where 'is creek's at."
"Oh, you're'n luck!" Remus says as he takes off into a run. "The swing's close by the tree! So we can do both!"
They sprint across the abundance of upwardly crawling green grass to the bed of the creek. Mary can hear them giggling as they run past and she smiles to herself as she washes the dishes. They are both in the water as soon as their bare feet hit the mud and Sadie throws some on the giggling boy. He lets out a wail as the water hits his bare arms. "Thas' cold!"
"It's 'posed to be cold! It's the summer, goof!"
They splash and play, searching the floor of the creek for buried treasure. By the time the sun begins creeping under the horizon, they are soaked to the bone and shivering. He's pushing her forward as she sits on the wooden paddle-seat of the swing, swaying her legs. She turns her head to him, her thick hair slapping the ropes on either side of her. "Remus?"
"What?"
"I like this."
"Me, too. 'S fun."
"Yeah," she says, turning her gaze back to the sunset. "I think I'd like to do this everyday."
"The same ol' thing?"
"Well, not 'zactly. But I like to sit in this swing and watch the sun fall down."
He says nothing, just pushes her forward. She sighs contentedly. "Yes, Remus, I think I very much like this. Can we do this, just this part, every day?"
"I guess," he shrugs, giving her a good push.
She turns around and smiles at him, the freckles exploding on her face in the waning sunlight. "I like you, Remus Lupin. I am very glad't we are friends."