Gryffindor boy's dormitory, Hogwarts…

Remus slowly walked out of the shower, taking his time to towel his hair dry. He was in dire need of a haircut, but refrained from it in an attempt to cover the long red scar that ran from his neck and all the way across his shoulder. It was the only one that his father had not been able to heal and served as a constant reminder of what he truly was.

He entered the room to see two of his new roommates already chatting away with each other – Potter and Pettigrew, if his memory served him correctly. The third, by the name of Sirius Black was too busy grumbling and unpacking his belongings to pay any heed to his new roommates. He'd been like that since the sorting and Remus really saw no reason for his dark mood.

Being in Gryffindor was a like a dream come true for Remus. Being a dark creature, he had been sure of his place in Slytherin. His father, John Lupin, had told him countless stories about how half the people he'd caught during his auror days had been former Slytherins. 'Rotten apples, those, Remus, steer right into Dark Arts,' he had said at that time, with all the seriousness in the world. Remus Lupin didn't want to be a bad person; didn't want to end up in Azkaban; didn't want his parents to be ashamed of him.

The sound of a throat clearing broke Remus out of his reverie, and he turned around to see Black glaring at all of them impatiently. Actually, the boy seemed to have his eyes fixed on Remus specifically. Remus casually slung his towel over his shoulder to make sure his scar was well hidden.

Black scowled. 'Classes start tomorrow and I'd actually like to get a good night's sleep,' he said in an English accent so refined that it took Remus a while to understand the words coming out of his mouth. 'So, if you don't mind, I'd appreciate it if you brats kept your mouths shut.' Black looked at Remus one last time before getting into his bed and drawing his curtains shut.

'What a prat!' exclaimed Potter getting up from his own bed and opening his trunk. 'Just because he's a Black, he thinks he's king of the world. Shut up, my arse. I'll make all the noise I want. It's my room too, you know,' he breathed heavily after his rant and stopped, only then realising that there was another occupant in the room besides Pettigrew. He looked at Remus curiously and then smiled. 'Hi, Remus, right?'

Remus smiled and nodded, but didn't say anything else. He quickly climbed into his own bed and closed the drapes tightly shut before he got questioned further. He heard Potter mutter something that sounded very much like 'stuck up pricks' and closed his eyes. Remus hated being so…abnormal.

That night, Remus was plagued with nightmares. Of his earlier transformations, of his first few weeks in the hospital, but mostly of the last conversation he'd had with his father before coming to Hogwarts.

John Lupin affectionately moved the hair covering his son's eyes. 'You nervous?' he asked, the hint of a smile playing on his face.

Remus shook his head, then decided against it and nodded.

John threw his head back and laughed. However, he quickly stopped when he saw his boy's face reddening and pulled him into a tight embrace.

'Hogwarts is a great place, Remus,' his father whispered into his hair. 'And this…this is your one chance to prove everyone wrong, to show them all how special you truly are…'

Remus nodded weakly, his tiny arms coming up to encircle his father's broad shoulders.

'That's why your lycanthropy has to be a secret, Remus. No one can ever know, do you understand that?' John looked into those large amber eyes for reassurance.

Remus nodded again. 'Yeah.'

'It'll get lonely, Remus. So lonely that sometimes you'll feel like curling up and dying, but you'll have to be strong and fight it. Because they can never get close enough to find out.' John swallowed hard. He felt like he was announcing his own son's death sentence. 'If they knew…I-' he cursed himself for choking on his words. Now that he'd finally gotten to the point of this conversation, he was too much of a coward to actually say it. How do you tell your son that his life was doomed from the very start? How do you subject him to a life alone, at the tender age of eleven? So instead, he hugged him even tighter. So tight, that you could almost hear a bone crack. 'I'm sorry,' he said slowly. 'I'm so sorry…If I -sorry…'

And that's how they'd both stayed until Delilah Lupin had entered the room and pulled her husband off their son. Even then, John Lupin had never stopped apologising.

XxxxX

Laying there on the bed, listening to Potter rant about what an arse he was, Sirius fought the mad urge to punch something really hard. He'd known from the instant, back in the train, when he'd felt snot leaking all over his expensive new robes, that Hogwarts was not going to be the most pleasant experience. But this…this was just too much.

Mother was going to kill him, reincarnate him, and kill him again. Father, well, let's not get to that. How the hell had he ended up in Gryffindor? What in hell's name possessed the damn Sorting Hat to send him, of all people, here - in a house of love, friendship, bravery and all that ridiculous shit. He must have done or said something wrong, but what? Sirius tried to recall the conversation he'd had on the stool with the sorting hat rammed down his head.

'Ah, another Black. No doubt, old Slughorn will be ecstatic. But wait, you're different, aren't you? The Black sheep of the family,' the hat had chuckled at it's own wit.

Sirius has rolled his eyes and snapped irritably, 'Shut up and get on with it. If I'm lucky, I won't have to sit beside Cissa, and her cronies.'

'Temper, Mr. Black, is your only drawback, isn't it?'

Sirius had gone bright red at that. 'Shut up.'

'Well, it's been a lovely chat, but there's a long line behind you, so I might as well announce you're house, eh?'

'Finally.'

'GRYFFINDOR!'

'WHAT?'

Sirius's voice had echoed in the hall so loudly, that the very few who had bothered to clap, stopped mid applause. Sirius could still remember the smug grin on Narcissa's face and Mc Gonagall's amused, but impatient one as she pushed him towards the Gryffindor table.

And if that hadn't been bad enough, Sirius had ended up being dorm mates with a Potter – the biggest blood traitors to grace the surface of the earth after the Weasleys, and the snot boy wonder from the train. The only decent occupant seemed to be a peaky looking boy called Lupin.

But he too, was undeniably creepy. His eyes were too large, Sirius had concluded, too large and amber, like molten gold or a blazing fire. Those eyes had never flinched under his gaze. Not once, and Sirius's gaze was known to make even grown men shiver. No, instead, the boy had stared right back. His expression had not been adamant, just mildly curious. Then, there was his hair. It was long, like a girl's, and even that changed from brown, to blonde, to red, depending on how the light hit it. There was definitely something strange about that boy and even though he hadn't spoken a word since he came, Sirius felt an odd connection with him. If he listened closely, it was almost as if he could hear the pieces of an incomplete puzzle clicking together in a perfect fit.

Sirius rolled over and banished all such thoughts clear from his mind. He had to face it whether he liked it or not; Gryffindor was now his new home.

XxxxX

A week had passed since Sirius first came to Hogwarts, and he'd come to one definite conclusion: Remus Lupin was a bastard. Remus Lupin was a good for nothing, goody two shoes, bona-fide bastard. At a first glance, Sirius had assumed that Lupin, judging by his tired boyish looks, would be a quiet, kind, sweet and gentle sort of person. He'd been right. However, he had also forgotten to add, sarcastic and manipulative to the list. The boy seemed to know exactly what ticked Sirius off, today's incident being a prime example.

He'd gotten another letter from his mother this morning, elaborating on what a disgrace he was and how he was expected to atleast keep up his grades to make up for the shame he'd brought upon to the family. She'd concluded the damn thing by saying that it would be preferable if he didn't turn up for the Black Christmas Dinner since they were in no mood of seeing his face at the moment.

Sirius didn't care. Christmas at Grimmauld place was boring anyway, and you always had to mind your manners, and act all nice, and listen to a load of old people talking politics. Dinner at Hogwarts would be just great, he told himself firmly. So what if he hadn't managed to make any friends? He would manage just fine. It wasn't his fault that half the people in Gryffindor avoided him just because he was a Black or an occasional prick…

As much as he'd try to reassure himself, by the end of the day, Sirius was still in an exceptionally bad mood, and he'd made sure he took it out on everyone who dared cross his path. One such unfortunate first year was bold or at least stupid enough to do so, and Sirius had unthinkingly shoved her away on his way to Transfiguration. He hadn't meant to hurt her, not really, but apparently, she'd crashed head first into the person in front of her.

'Black,' a voice from behind. It was low and hardly intimidating, but at the same time, there was an invisible hand forcing him to look.

Sirius rolled his eyes agitatedly and turned around, only to come face to face with the last person he wanted to see. 'Lupin,' he bit back sharply.

Lupin smiled sweetly and helped the girl up. 'You forgot to apologise.'

Sirius crossed his arms over his chest and looked into Lupin's eyes, challenging him. 'Oh? What for?'

Sirius had expected Lupin to ignore him, lash out, call him names, or maybe even go to the extent of beating him up. He did not, however, expect him to continue smiling like…like he was a friend…like he actually cared for Sirius. It wasn't mockery. No, it was worse. It was sympathy.

'For wrongly directing your anger, grief, and misfortune,' he said simply, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Sirius felt his face burning up. Lupin had hit home and he, Sirius black, couldn't think of a single sharp retort or witty thing to say. And to his ultimate chagrin, Sirius noted that the girl was still clinging on to Lupin like a lifeline, despite being perfectly capable of standing up herself. This was turning out to be some kind of lame fairy tale, where Lupin was the knight in shining armour and Sirius was the Jack who turned evil, but forgot to take off his bonnet.

Sirius's lip quivered as he fought an internal battle. He could feel the eyes of a gathering crowd boring into him, waiting for his reply. 'Sorry,' he said finally through clenched teeth and turned to walk away. He could almost hear the imaginary applause of the hundreds of students that had been watching the show.

He'd hardly taken four steps forwards when Lupin called him again. 'Black, wait up!' He caught up with Sirius and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Sirius shrugged his hand off. 'I said I was sorry, Lupin. What do you want now?'

Lupin's looked right into his eyes and smiled that annoying smile again. 'I wanted to apologise.'

Sirius raised an eyebrow. 'Apologise?' What a nutter. 'For what, exactly?' Being such an annoying brat? I accept. You may now beg for mercy.

Lupin shrugged. 'Just…you know…it seemed like I had to.' He walked away then; leaving Sirius more confused that ever.

What the hell did he have to apologise for? What kind of nice idiot apologised after embarrassing a person in front of nearly the entire school and making them look like a total arse? Why the hell did that damn brat have to make things so complicated? He was either supposed to be downright nasty, or wimpishly nice. But nooo…Lupin had to be all sweet and smiley even when he was being mean. Stupid arse.

Sirius trudged his way up the stairs, running a frustrated hand through his hair. This sort of retarded behaviour shouldn't be bothering him. He was a Black after all, uncaring and unfeeling of others. Yet, it did. And it wasn't in a bad sort of way. Infact, a very irrational part of him found this mysterious side of Lupin quite endearing.

XxxxX

Remus ran his hand across the spines of all the books that lined the third shelf. This was his first trip to the school library and though he wasn't much of a reader, he'd figured now would be as good a time to start as any, especially since he intended to spend seven years of his life here alone.

Alone…He felt a sharp twinge in his chest at the thought. Like solitary confinement, only I'm here willingly, he told himself silently. It's what muggles use to keep nutters under control, isn't it? Remus smiled bitterly. Seems like God has a sense of humour after all.

'Hi!' A cheery voice broke him out of his reverie.

Remus jumped. His mind took some time to register back to the present, and he realised that he'd been staring at My Pet Flobberworm for over five minutes. He blinked a few times and carded thin fingers through his hair, before turning around towards the source of the voice. Who in the world would want to talk to me? To his surprise, he came face to face with nothing at all. Remus frowned. What the hell?

'You're Remus Lupin, right?'

Once again, the voice caught Remus by surprise, but this time he recovered quickly and looked down. A small girl was staring up at him with the most brilliant green eyes he had ever seen. She curled a strand of her long red hair between her fingers and pursed her lips tightly as she awaited his reply.

Remus nodded and immediately, she split into a grin so wide, Remus thought it was going to fall off her face. He smiled back hesitantly, unsure of what was going on. At his look of hesitation, the girl's smile, if possible, grew, and Remus took a few cautious steps backwards until his back met the shelf. Was there something on his face? Why was she staring at him like that? He unconsciously tugged at the collar of his shirt, hoping and praying that his scar was well hidden.

'Er…I'm sorry, but do I know you?' he asked, cheeks tinged pink with embarrassment. He wished she'd stop looking at him.

The girl looked down, fiddled with her hair for a moment and then looked back up again. She was cute, Remus noted, when she wasn't grinning at him like a mad idiot. 'No, I don't think you do. We've never met, but I'm in Gryffindor, too.'

Remus smiled and looked pointedly at the red and gold emblem stitched to the chest of her black Hogwarts robes. 'Yeah, I figured that much.'

This time, it was the girl's turn to be embarrassed and she smiled sheepishly. 'I'm Lily Evans. It's a pleasure meeting you, Remus.' She stuck her hand out.

'Likewise.' Remus shook her hand and cringed inwardly when he noticed her gazing at him piercingly, as if scrutinizing his every detail.

'You're really tall, aren't you?' she concluded distractedly, letting go of his hand. 'I mean, for a boy your age. My friends at Hufflepuff – we haven't had a class with them yet – they thought you were a second year.'

Remus blinked. He wasn't sure of what to say. Was being thought of as a second year a compliment? There was no denying he was quite tall, perhaps the tallest in his year. It was just one of the few things that came with being a werewolf.

Lily Evans seemed to pay no heed to Remus's silence and continued conversing animatedly. 'Anyway, I was looking up a few reference books for Charms back there and saw you standing here by yourself. So I thought I should come up and talk to you.'

Why? thought Remus. But he opted to keep his thoughts to himself. She seemed really nice, and he didn't really want to put her down. So he smiled instead, in what he hoped was a reassuring sort of way.

It must have worked because Lily smiled and seated herself on a nearby chair. 'Actually, I wanted to thank you for standing up for my friend, Clarissa, earlier today.' She set down the books she'd been carrying on the table and blew off the dust from the cover.

Remus coughed. 'Clarissa?'

Lily huffed. 'Yeah, the girl Black had shoved away so rudely. Honestly, that boy is a menace! I can't believe they put him in Gryffindor. It's obvious he belongs in Slytherin.'

It took a moment for Remus to stop coughing and realise what she was talking about. He hadn't actually given the incident much thought since it happened. Really, it was no big deal. 'You shouldn't be so hasty in judging Black.' Remus found himself defending the ill tempered boy. Why he was doing so, he had no idea. 'He didn't mean it. He's just been having a tough time lately.'

Lily looked at him skeptically. 'You know him?'

Remus bit his lip. 'I-' He shook his head dejectedly. 'No.'

Lily smiled, and shook her head.'Listen, a couple of us have decided to study together in the library this weekend, and Clarissa never got the chance to thank you. So I was wondering if you wanted to join us, you know? It might sound sort of boring, but in truth, we hardly study much, and it's really quite fun.'

Remus had almost said yes. Almost, until his father's voice echoing through his mind stopped him. They can never get close enough to find out. 'I'm sorry, Lily, I'd love to come, but I've already got plans this weekend. I hope you don't mind.'

Lily's face fell with disappointment and she hastily replied to cover her distress. 'It's okay. It doesn't matter really. Some other time then?' she asked uncertainly.

Remus nodded and smiled softly. 'That would be nice,' he said, knowing there would never be another time.

XxxxX