Year: 1971, 1st Year.
Peter's Prattle:
Quote of the Day: Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes
It was a Wednesday morning and the students had gathered in the Great Hall to have their breakfast. Remus had come back to school from visiting his sick mother early that morning, and he did not look well at all. He had heavy bags under his eyes, and his skin was paler than usual, he also seemed distant and not just from us, but from everyone around him. He seemed oblivious to everything and walked around as if in a dream. I didn't make much of it though because Remus obviously didn't want to talk about it. All he said was that his mother was getting better and that she would be okay soon.
"What have we got first?" Sirius asked us over the loud cluttering of the daily owls.
"Defence Against the Dark Arts," I replied excitedly.
"Cool, I hope this week Bones will let us do something exciting. He's been teaching stuff that half the class knows already," Sirius said.
"That's mainly for the muggle borns," James replied.
"I learnt some new stuff," Remus said unexpectedly, he still seemed in a daze. He had been acting weird all morning, and I noticed that he had scratches and scars along his body, which he hastened to cover up when he saw me looking at them. None of us replied, because Remus had said few words to us the whole morning and because we didn't know what to say. I went back to eating my breakfast as an uncomfortable silence overcame us.
Before I had a chance to finish eating however, the indicator went for the first class and the occupants of the Great Hall started moving off to their classes.
"Remus you look a little pale, are you all right?" James asked Remus as we made our way up to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.
"What? Oh, I'm fine… just, you know, needed a bit of food," Remus replied distantly.
None of us replied however, and we kept on walking up to our classroom.
When we got to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom Professor Bones was already there sitting at his desk scribbling down some notes on parchment. He looked up at us upon our arrival and smiled.
James, Sirius, Remus and I took a seat close to the front - this was becoming somewhat of a habit of ours, because Bones' classes were very good.
Professor Bones was a good teacher; he was kind to us and made the classes exciting, though he did seem a little strange, (but what Hogwarts Professor isn't a little strange anyway?! I think they're all strange in their own way, some are just plain weird). In the first week of school we found that if you asked him about, say, muggle items, then he could spend nearly the whole lesson going on about them, it was quite amusing, and very handy if one did not feel like doing work at the time. But as it was, the class was quite eager to actually do the Defence Against the Dark Arts work because we found it exciting, especially from what Professor Bones had told us about it, and what he planned for us to learn.
"What are we doing today Professor?" James asked eagerly.
Professor Bones stopped writing and packed his quill and parchment into his desk drawer, "I think we'll start to learn a couple of basic curses and counter-curses, we'll start with the disarming spell," Professor Bones replied, standing up.
James and Sirius looked excited at this reply.
"Mr. Lupin, are you all right, you look a bit pale," Professor Bones asked, looking at Remus concernedly. This also seemed a bit weird, but it looked also for a flitter of a moment as if Professor Bones looked at him knowingly and sympathetically. Maybe Professor Bones knew about Remus' sick mother. A likely explanation, because the staff probably would have known that Remus had been visiting his sick mother.
"Yes Professor, I'm fine… thanks," Remus replied. Professor Bones nodded. I noticed Sirius and James exchange looks.
When all the students had arrived, Professor Bones began to address the class.
"Good morning class," Professor Bones said as the class sat down, "today we'll be learning the disarming spell. For the next couple of weeks we'll be learning basic curses and counter-curses, then we'll move on to basic creatures," an excited murmur went around the room at this, "now, if you'd like to follow me please," Professor Bones said as he made his way out of the classroom door.
The class followed excitedly.
"I wonder where we're going," James wondered.
Professor Bones led us along the empty corridors and through the castle. Finally we came outside and into the sunshine. Professor Bones stopped when we arrived at a large patch of green grass.
"Seeing as it's such a lovely day I decided that we could do our disarming spells out in the sunshine," Professor Bones said, the class seemed to like the idea, "and it also means that the classroom won't be in disorder because of stray books flying around from misguided spells." Professor Bones smiled.
"Now, form into pairs please," Professor Bones addressed the class.
The class went about forming into pairs, Sirius and James paired up, they seemed to be becoming fast friends, and could always be found doing things together. Remus and I paired together.
While the class formed pairs, Professor Bones told us about the disarming spell, "the disarming spell is handy for disarming your opponent or any witch or wizard whom can be a danger to you, it is only a simple spell but shouldn't be underestimated as wizards have come of better in duels simply by the disarming of his or her opponent," Professor Bones said as he walked up and down the lawn.
"Right then, the incantation for the disarming spell is 'Expelliarmus', now I want you to practice the incantation without your wands first on the count of three… 1…2…3."
The class repeated the incantation together; suddenly a couple of wands flew out of people's robe pockets. Including mine.
"Ah, seems like there are some potentially powerful wizards among you," Professor Bones said, looking at the class, "Some wizards can perform magic without their wands, or with wands close by. Some of you have just shown that. Of course, witches and wizards need a way to channel their magic and this is achieved by using wands," Professor Bones said, "Now, wands out everyone, if you haven't got them out already," Professor Bones instructed, "I want you to practice the disarming spell with your partner, remember, the incantation is 'Expelliarmus', start practicing," Professor Bones instructed.
We started to practice the disarming spell, and, almost instantly, before I had the chance to say the incantation, my wand flew out of my hands and landed neatly in Remus Lupin's palm. For someone so seemingly sick he sure was fine to perform magic.
"Very good Mr. Lupin, I see you're a fast learner," Professor Bones, whom had been walking around and inspecting the pairs separately, smiled down at Remus, "Now you have a try Mr. Pettigrew," Professor Bones said, returning my wand to me.
Almost instantly I felt nervous, I didn't think I could do the spell anyway, but having a teacher standing near me and waiting for me do it made me nervous. I went uneasy in situations like this.
I pointed my wand at Remus, "Expelliamius!"Wrong incantation. "Um, er, Expilliarmus!" Damn, wrong one again! I was flustered; I couldn't remember the incantation, "Expelliamos!" I tried again, it was wrong again, and this time Remus' hair stood up on end, (which would have been funny if I hadn't been the cause of it) "Oops," I said with an apologetic look at Remus. Remus just smiled.
"Oooh look what that Pettigrew boy did to Lupin's hair," I heard a voice say quietly, and the person giggled, others joined in. I looked over at the person who had said it, it had been Lavinia Fletcher, a blonde haired girl in Gryffindor, she was laughing with one of her friends, Alanna Capes - the bossy, strange, loud girl in our house. I felt my cheeks redden.
"The incantation is Expelliarmus," Professor Bones said, "try to remember it for next time," he added kindly before moving on to Sirius and James, both of whom were not only disarming each other but also everyone else, they each had about four wands in their hand and a bunch of angry people closing in on them. Remus looked disapprovingly at Sirius and James.
"I can't do it!" I said helplessly once Bones was out of earshot and the snooty girls had gone back to practicing their spells.
"Yes you can Peter, you just have to remember the incantation, it's Expelliarmus, if you got that right you could do it, now try again," Remus said, as he smoothed his hair back down (which didn't work very well).
I readied my wand again, "Expelliarmus!" I said, this time Remus' hair did not stand on end, but his wand did not fly out of his hand either, it merely wobbled a bit in his grip.
"I can't do it!" I said again.
"Listen Peter, if you keep saying you can't then you won't be able to, there's no such thing as can't, it'll just take a bit of practise, now try again," Remus said.
"Expelliarmus!" I cried out, Remus' wand jumped, but other than that it did not come zooming towards me, getting frustrated, I tried again, "Expelliarmus!" still nothing, "Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus!" I cried out loudly, getting frustrated, on the last 'Expelliarmus' Remus' robes caught fire.
"Oh, oh, oh," I said as Professor Bones ran back over to us and said a spell to put it out. The class was now laughing loudly. I wished they'd stop. I wished that the ground swallowed me so that I could avoid the humiliation.
"Quiet!" Professor Bones yelled loudly, looking almost angry. Instantly the class stopped laughing, "you never, I repeat, never laugh at a class mate because they have not grasped a spell as quickly as you have, it is belittling, and I will not allow it in my class, do I make myself clear?" Professor Bones asked.
"Yes Professor Bones," the class said in unison.
I felt humiliated, and Professor Bones little speech only made me feel worse.
Finally, to my relief, the signal went for the end of class, and the students moved off the grounds and made their way up to the castle.
"Great job on setting Remus' robes on fire Peter!" Sirius chortled. James laughed as well, Remus, however, threw them both a dirty look. During the first lesson Remus seemed to regain his former manner, but he was still different to what he was usually like. I felt myself going red once again.
"Just because Peter can't do the spell yet, it doesn't mean you have to rub it in his face!" Remus said coolly.
"Hey, Remus, cool it mate, I was only joking," Sirius said.
"Yeah, well, not all jokes are funny you know," Remus replied, somewhat frostily.
Neither Sirius nor James replied, they both exchanged glances and we kept on walking back to the castle.
The rest of the day went by uneventfully, Remus and Sirius didn't talk to each other much, I don't think Sirius cared much, he was too busy with James, but I could tell that Remus was still irritated with Sirius for laughing at me earlier.
"Remus…" I said, looking over at the small, pale boy sitting on his bed reading. It was after dinner and Remus and I had already went to our dormitory, I went because I wanted to avoid my classmates, perhaps because they'd laugh at me, or say something similar to what Sirius said, and Remus went because he said he wanted to read and he couldn't concentrate in the Common Room. Sirius and James were still downstairs.
Remus looked up from his book, "Yes?" he asked.
"What was wrong with you this morning?" I asked a little hesitantly.
Remus' face contorted for a fleeting moment and I noticed a mixture of fear and nervousness in his features, but he was back to normal again almost as instantly as he had changed.
"I was just a little tired that's all, I've been sitting up all night for the past few days at mum's bedside because she was so sick," Remus answered. So that explained everything. Remus had been sitting up for his mother and taking care of her for the past few nights. That's why he was so tired and had bags under his eyes, and looked paler than normal and looked like he hadn't eaten anything in days. He was too worried about his mother to care for himself. I could only imagine what that would be like. He must care for her a lot, I thought as I looked over at the tired boy opposite me. I wondered why he didn't mention his father though; surely his father would have looked after his mother? But I decided not to ask, as I had already asked personal questions of him.
I didn't reply for a while, then… "What do you think of Sirius Black?" I asked, changing the subject.
Remus didn't reply for a long while.
"Well… I think he's… nice enough," Remus replied.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Well, he can be very inconsiderate, he's got a lot to learn, that's all, he comes from one of those families where everything is expected of him, and I think that's why he is like he is, and he acts that way because of his family," Remus replied.
"So he takes after his family?" I asked.
"Yes and no, he probably has traits of his family, you can't help that no matter how hard you try, but he also acts the way he does because his family led him to that, I think, well that's what I think anyway," Remus explained. I was amazed at how much Remus knew about other people's personalities.
"Oh," I replied. Remus had a very good insight into Sirius Black's personality. And when I got to know Remus more, I found that he was very observant and knowledgeable of other people's personalities.
"So why were you hard on him earlier?" I asked.
Remus didn't reply, until, "Because I don't like it when people belittle others for their own amusement," he said simply.
"Oh," I replied, "…So what is your family like?" I asked, attempting to get to know this strange and intuitive boy better. Little did I know at the time however, that understanding the character of Remus Lupin was like the peeling away of the layers of an onion in one piece, very complicated indeed.
"Well, they're pretty good, they've always been looking after me, sometimes though, they can get a bit overprotective," Remus said smiling - seeming to reminisce about his family life. He seemed, like me, to miss his family somewhat since coming to Hogwarts. Sure Hogwarts was unlike anything I've ever experienced before but I missed the kind of warmly comfort that my home life offered. I missed my talkative and humble father, and my mother, who would go about her work and always listen when my father went on one of his rants. I missed being together with my family.
"What about your family? What are they like?" Remus asked.
"They're nice as well, I sort of miss them," I replied.
"Yeah, I miss mine as well, I'm an only child, what about you? Do you have any brothers or sisters?" Remus asked.
"No-well, not yet, I will soon though!" I replied excitedly, "Mum's pregnant! She just found out this month, they sent me a letter about it a couple of days ago, I'm excited, this will be my first new brother or sister," I replied excitedly.
"Really?" Remus smiled, "that's great, I've always wanted a brother or sister, I think it'd be great," Remus replied.
"Yeah, me too, I can't wait," I replied.
Remus and I kept on talking about family, our impressions of Hogwarts, Quidditch and lots of other stuff through the night, until James and Sirius joined us, then we went to bed.
I had found a good friend in Remus Lupin, and many years after that, we had become good friends and I had confided in Remus things that I had never told anyone. And sometimes, at night- we would talk for long moments just about life in general.
Author's Notes:
Spoilers for PoA
Warning, Long Rambling ahead Thoughts on PoA: Well I finally got my behind down to the cinemas and watched PoA, (about a month after its been out!!) And well… I thought it was good… as a movie that is, but as a movie based on my favouritest book, it didn't cut it (-As Random Beatles Fan said). Don't get me wrong, I thought it was good and everything, but they changed and left out too much for my liking. And the werewolf- what's with that?! I mean really, it looked more like an alien than a werewolf, with its hugely long legs etc, and since when do werewolves walk on two legs?! What did I miss? And what's the go with the change in scenery/settings? Why couldn't they just keep it the same settings as the previous two? Also the Shrieking Shack scene was much too quick and short for my liking, everything happened too fast in it, Lupin didn't explain anything. And Sirius, Gary Oldman acted brilliantly, but it just wasn't my Sirius, or, the way I saw Sirius, though the comment about James suggesting Sirius make the dog change permanent was something Sirius would say, I'm glad he said that. Neither was Remus, he wasn't the way I see Remus, my Remus. They're both (Thewlis and Oldman) are great actors, but they just weren't how I see Remus and Sirius. But I guess you can't please everyone. It would probably be very hard actually to please me. Padfoot was good, except he should have been bigger in my mind.
Oh, and at the start was that picture supposed to be of Lily and James?! Because it definitely did not look like them at all, no no no, they got it all wrong! Uh. Anyhoo. Please don't think I just complain about everything! (heh) but this IS my favourite book we're talking about here, if it was any of the other books I wouldn't have minded as much (well actually, I probably would have) it's the book where we first get to know Sirius and Remus, and we get to know more about James etc.
On the plus side, it was funny ("You tell those spiders Ron!" Hehe), I liked Trelawnley, very funny, and creepy when she made a real prediction. Er. And that's all I have to say. I could say much more, but you'd get bored or throw tomatoes at me (or both). In fact, you probably have already tried that.
Ducks from the rotten tomatoes
Er, I'll just reply to the reviews now. Oh, one more thing, I want to thank you all so much! Readers and reviewers, it means so much to me that you all review and I love each and every review, so thank you so much!
This Parrot has ceased to be- Sorry about the shortness! Heh. Answer of the day: the orb was a topic of interest for me, but it does have some significance/ symbolism in it, you can try to guess, it's not too hard to, it represents something, (to Remus, in his subconscious). It will be explained in a later chapter, when, I'm not sure, but I will fit it in somewhere.
Kady Rilla Wholly- Thanks, glad you liked it, well the first part, about the forest, is just him longing for his old life back I guess, longing to go in the forest before he was bitten, longing for things to be easy again and him not being bitten. The second part, the orb represents something, it's easy to guess, but there'll be more about that later.
Gevaudan- Wow, thanks! Glad I could help with your sanity in some small way! (I don't know how I can help people with their sanity, usually I help people with their insanity- i.e, make them go insane! Heh) Glad you're still enjoying it!
Janet Lily- Yeah, it was a bit short, sorry about that!
Ronda-Silverpaw- Glad you liked the chappy!
MutantJediBauer- Thank you very much! Glad you liked the characterization of the characters (heh) Glad you liked the bits beside the quotes about the teachers! I'm glad you like the story! Thanks again!
Koraena- Yes it is possible to be very smart and have no common sense, I think Sirius is sometimes very much like that.
Molly22- Thankyou very much! I miss Sirius as well! But he shall live forever in fanfiction! Just think of it like that. I'm glad you like the fic. Thanks very much, I'm glad you loved those parts! Keep reading!
Steph- Thankyou, glad you like it! Well about the forest thing, I think that's just how most people see it; I don't think it's in the book. I think its because he was bitten by a werewolf and people tend to place them on the outskirts of a forest because the werewolf would have been around a forest somewhere.
Raye Caouette- Thankyou very very muchly! I'm glad you like it! Keep reading! Thanks again, I appreciate it!
Padfoot's Mate- Why thankyou. Don't worry about not reading my notes, I wouldn't blame you I tend to get boring after a while, hehe. I had a look at the story, and I think I'll have to learn a bit more German to read that story! (I'm a bit hopeless at the moment) thanks for offering to help make me understand it but you'd be translating a lot, because to be honest I could understand very little of that! But when I learn a lot more German I'll be reading that story!
Well, I'm on both sides about the movie, I mean, like you, my fave scenes are now ruined. I'm glad you liked the way I described the transformation. Thanks for reviewing!
Black-Mistress- That actually really was a short chapter, you didn't read too fast. Thankyou (about Dumbledore). If J.K did kill Remus well I don't know what I'd do, it's too bad to imagine, Remus isn't going to die as well!
I think there was divination when MWPP were in Hogwarts, I think that they had all the same subjects as in Harrys time, like the subjects never change since Founders time but the teachers, of course, would. I will take a look at the one shot when I have some time.
Tapaidh Sidh- Thank you very very much! I'm glad you have been reading, and glad that you like it, glad you liked the characterization. Thank you very much for reading. I really appreciate it that you've commented!
Mars-explorer- Lol, yes he's having weird dreams. But he'll be okay.
Rappy28- That's okay for not reviewing the previous chapter. Well Thewlis was okay as Remus, but not how I see Remus. Glad you liked the two chapters. Keep reading.
Visualpurple- Well actually no, it's not hot here, in fact its cold! Its winter here, that's why. Glad you like the story! You should post your H.P story.
Beansie- Wow I am proud that you stuck reading the story for that long! Wow, thank you very much! I really do appreciate it, that you could keep on reading for that long. J. I don't mind how long your reviews are, any length is fine! I'm very glad that you like the story!
Goldilocks31890- Thanks muchly for your comments, don't worry about not reviewing the last chappy, I'm just glad you reviewed!
Well I agree with you on PoA, esp. about the transformation, what was with that?! Grr. I didn't expect Sirius Remus to be drop dead gorgeous but they looked very different to how I pictured them, as well as acted different. Yes the wolf was very very very out of whack. Just, well, dare I say it- stupid really. I really didn't like it, couldn't believe how they did it. O.O
Gretchen- Accepts cookies Thanks SO much! It really means a lot to me! Thank you! Mmm, cookies… hehe.
Rondawg- Thanks very much! Glad you like it. Sorry about the shortness of the chapters, but I had to cut them down a bit, ( there was a good cliffhanger in there!) Very glad you like it!
Hpfinatic- Hum. He is a CHASER, J.K said so, until she says otherwise her word goes.
Snuffles2984- Thank you! Very very glad you're loving it! Hope you liked this chapter!
Hermoinewexa- Thankyou very much! I'm very glad you like it! (Btw, I hope you get over your RED soon! Hehe. I think its catching)
Hi I'm Crazy- Hehe, glad you liked the SITDKWTTAA (whoa, long abbreviation!) and CA, (Chocoholics Anonymous). I like the idea of Remus and Sirius having a close relationship as well, I think they were very close friends.
Elvengirl9- That's okay, I really love your poems about Remus, they're just amazing. I'm glad you liked the part about Dumbledore's socks. Hehe.
Weirdochelle- Thankyou very much, I'm glad you're enjoying it. J
Anarane- Thankyou very much! Really, I appreciate it when people tell me things like that, I'm glad you like my Sirius and Remus, and the way I handle Peter. Although, I must admit, Peter doesn't say as much as the other three do! But kid-Peter's okay. Thanks very much again!