Harry made the roundtrip again through the families he observed, but for once found himself in a strange surrounding. The house was poor, but fairly neat, but it held an exceptionally angry man, who scowled at his wife and a visibly shaking child, which Harry instantly recognised. It was an eleven years old Severus Snape, who looked exactly the same as the adult, just smaller. There was the sallow, thin face surrounded by greasy and long black hair that Harry would have recognised everywhere. Harry watched how he asked his father whether he'd come along to the station, but Snape Sr's only reply was a slap on the face of the child and another on the face on his wife, followed by a few swift kicks that must have left horrible bruises on her. Harry was not too surprised as he had seen a few of Snape's memories.
In hindsight Harry wondered how with such horrible childhood experiences Snape's *worst* memory could be the taunting he got from the Marauders! Okay, it was very embarrassing and the people around him, even Slytherins, had enjoyed torturing him extra, but that could not possibly have been worse than what Snape had to do for Voldemort and the treatment he got from his father. Harry supposed that maybe Snape was so used to his father's beatings that he never even lost a thought about them anymore. That still left the raids he had to join and the killings in which he had to partake.
By the time mother and son reached King's Cross Station they were both acting the haughty purebloods. Mrs Snape doted on Severus and sent him to the train, where he sat alone and read.
How different was the way James and Remus were sent off to the train. They actually weren't that far away from each other; Harry saw them on the platform, just two carriages of the train separating the future friends. He looked around through the throngs of people at the station. Had he thought it was full when he went to school? THIS here was full! The last year of the 50s baby boomers were sent off to school and there were many, many children in all seven age groups. Even the number of prefects was larger than what he was used, one glance at their gathering showed him that there were three per house for fifth, sixth and seventh years, and the head girl and head boy extra on top of the set of prefects.
Remus was accompanied to the train by his complete family, who saw to it that he was settled comfortably in a compartment and all wished him a good trip and a great start.
"You'll do great, cub! And you'll love it there, just don't hide yourself too much, will you?" Richard Jr. told Remus.
"I'll try, okay?"
"Very good! I want to see some owls now and then, is that clear?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Don't forget to tell us everything about Hogwarts you can so we'll be as well prepared as you are, Remy!" cried Rowland.
"Will do, to both of you," Remus promised, smiling.
Two carriages further, Dorea and Charlus Potter said goodbye to their only child. Dorea hardly wanted to let the boy go, but she took a determined step back from James and told him:
"You'll do fine, James, I'm sure. Find a good balance between work and fun and we'll be very happy with you. I enjoyed Hogwarts a lot, it gave me confidence and happiness…"
Dorea smiled at her husband, who grinned back.
"Don't let Madam McGonagall have to send the first owl about any misbehaviour before at least a week has passed, young man, that would be stretching the limit of my love of fun a bit, understand?"
"At least a week, Dad! I'll try my best. What was your record for detentions in first year again?"
The elder Potters laughed.
"You won't enjoy detention so much, dear, try to avoid them if you can. The best thing is still not to get caught," suggested his mother sagely.
"Still need to find a few companions, but I'm sure that I will do once I get Sorted. And I hope I can get Siri to join me."
"Yes, you will! Hogwarts lets no one down in that department. Remember, you do get a word in edgewise when you're Sorted. Make your wishes known and why and you'll find yourself in a good house. Let Sirius know, too, James, will you?" said Dorea.
With these words the elder Potters left the compartment where they had stowed James' trunk under the seat. They were just turning out of it when they saw through the window that the Blacks had arrived. As usual they made an impressive entrance, or at least they thought they did. James (and Harry, the silent observer) saw how they passed Eileen Snape and sneered at her. The disgraced Prince woman just pushed her nose in the air and left through the barrier. The Blacks, with four children amongst them, stood themselves in front of the train and sent the three Hogwarts students to the train, while Regulus, still too young, had to remain on the platform. Narcissa had Bellatrix on the hand, while Sirius strode confidently to the train, got in and never looked back out again. The house-elf deposited his trunk right before him on the train. Sirius said:
"Thanks, Kreacher. Go home now."
Then he took the trunk, never looked back whether his cousins followed, and went for the search of his distant cousin, James. So far they had only ever met at formal functions, but they had liked each other fine and Sirius definitely preferred him to the friends his parents thought more suitable. Not that anything unsuitable could be said about the pure-blooded James Potter, a fairly close relative at that. Sirius found him three compartments into the carriage and when he opened the door he met up with his cousin quicker than Narcissa and Bellatrix could follow him. Once they had said hello James didn't wait long to give Sirius the hint about the Sorting he got from his mother.
Harry drifted around the train still at the station and soon found his mum. Lily was alone on the platform, as her Muggle relatives were unable to cross the barrier. She had her trunk and the carrier with her owl on the caddy. When she saw how high the steps into the train were she began to worry, but as she was just close to where the prefects stood she was discovered quickly. One of the prefects saw her and came over, introduced herself and then carefully levitated Lily's things into the carriage.
"Thanks!" said Lily and followed her luggage.
"Some people let their owls fly on their own wings to Hogwarts, but yours looks quite young, so maybe you shouldn't let it out just yet."
"That's fine, I'll let her out once I've settled down."
"You seem to be a first year? Would you like to find me a few others for you to sit with?"
"Oh, that would be great…"
"There's still enough time before the prefect meeting starts, so come on, we'll find you some friends."
Lily was led through the train, until the prefect spotted a compartment where there was free space and where obviously three other first years sat. Lily was welcome to stay and found her seat next to the door.
Harry marvelled at the train. It was at least two carriages longer than what he was used. There were so many more children in this school year he began to wonder just how many of these children had not made it through the next eleven years of Voldemort's terror. He fervently hoped that the changes Fate planned for Dumbledore would have an impact on these children, and that none of them, or at least only very few of them would perish. He went on the lookout for his father and found him happily getting to know Sirius better. The two were hitting off splendidly with each other.
"How come you were looking for me, Sirius? We only ever met at those 'important' gatherings…"
"Easy! You were one of the few my parents could not forbid me to see - you know, the whole pureblood rubbish - but they wouldn't let me invite you because the Potters, while socially indisputable, were not likely to be seen at House Black. But I thought once I get to Hogwarts we could become friends?"
"I certainly don't mind. But my parents think I'm trouble on two legs, well, pranking trouble on two legs, what if you get in trouble because of me? I wouldn't want you to get in trouble with your folks, you know…"
"Don't really care, so no worries. They don't care for me in any case. I'm only glad they never forbade entry to the house to my Uncle Alphard. He was my carer so far, my mother's brother. I think your mum is Mother's and Uncle Alphard's aunt…"
"That makes us cousins, yay! I never noticed. Mum never said anything. But I think she's not so thick with her family."
"I'm glad she's not been kicked out… they can do that, kick out family members, you know! My mother just loves to be that kind of rude."
For a while Harry watched his father and his godfather as they talked about this and that. It didn't take James very long to corrupt Sirius into pranking someone. Sirius promptly offered his cousins as a target. James dug into his trunk and brought some stink pellets out that he thought they could plant in Narcissa's or Bellatrix's trunk. Sirius called the two girls out of their compartment and distracted them while James quickly entered the compartment and deposited the pellets. Then they returned to their own compartment and laughed themselves silly. Harry grinned. Yes, he thought, that would be a good start to the upcoming Marauders Pranking Company. He moved on and searched for Remus.
Remus was alone in his compartment for the better part of the trip. He didn't mind at all, as he had something to read which kept him happy and occupied enough. He got changed to the school robes and had just finished that when two boys stormed into his compartment.
"Sorry, do you mind if we hide out here for a while?" they asked and giggled.
He looked at them. Both seemed to be around his age, even if both of them were considerably taller.
"No, I don't mind," he said, "why do you need to hide?"
"Oh, we just planted some stink pellets in the trunks of Sirius' evil cousins. Now they're on a rampage. I'm sure they'll turn up here soon, but I've got something to hide us. You just need to say you're alone!" one of the boys replied.
"Who's Sirius?" Remus asked.
"That would be me. Sirius Black. What's your name?"
Sirius held out his hand and Remus took it.
"Remus Lupin."
"You look too small for a first year. But you are a first year, aren't you?" Sirius asked.
"Yes, I am. You too?"
"Yep!"
While Sirius still stared at Remus with wondering eyes, the other boy pulled a silvery piece of fabric out of his pocket and said:
"Come on, Siri, there's no time for flirting, let's get hidden!"
He covered both of them with the fabric and Remus' eyes widened as he saw them vanish. From underneath he heard the other boy's voice:
"By the way, I'm James Potter. You're not going to give us away, will you?"
"No, I won't, but if you don't want to give yourself away then you should shut up!"
"Will do!"
The 'evil cousins' came and passed and passed again, but the two boys weren't visible, so they left. For the rest of the trip Sirius and James stayed under the Invisibility Cloak, but finally they left to gather their stuff and Remus only saw them again from far when they left the train and were called over to Hagrid, who took them across the lake. Remus wasn't near the two boys at the Sorting, but he watched as the Hat took quite some time to deliberate, before Sirius was sent to Gryffindor. To his astonishment he saw that all the teachers ware staring after Sirius, whose cousin Bellatrix had just been sorted to Slytherin. All the Slytherins seemed similarly perplexed.
Harry was even more astonished, because he was able to hear the whole conversation between the Sorting Hat and Sirius:
"Hello, there! Looks like your mind reflects the brightness of your name, young Heir of Black."
"Really? I like to learn, that means I won't have difficulties to learn, doesn't it?"
"You'll still have to work though, little man. Where would you like to be placed?"
"You're asking me? I thought we were just simply placed! I would like to be placed where you usually place the Potters."
"Gryffindor then. Are you sure? I'm only asking you because you have qualities for all four houses, you see! You could be a Slytherin if you liked, because there's a good amount of ambition in you and the cunning to back it up is there, too. Good for Slytherin. But I find that your mind reflects loyalty and readiness to do what's needed, which would point you to Hufflepuff. A freshly discovered sense of mischief and a healthy portion of courage coupled with the afore mentioned loyalty sends you straight to Gryffindor. Ravenclaw would not really suit you well, though you're bright enough to go there, but you probably won't like learning for learning's sake…"
"Gryffindor, please?" Sirius asked in his mind.
"Sure, hop off and join GRYFFINDOR!"
Sirius seemed astonished himself, but he dropped the hat on the stool and confidently walked over to the Gryffindor table, where he wasn't welcomed especially warmly even though the Gryffindors usually welcomed theirs with great enthusiasm and even more noise. He didn't seem to care though and followed the Sorting with interest. Two girls (Lily Evans and Roseanne Gosford) were sorted into Gryffindor and then it was Remus' turn. He put the hat on his head. It whistled.
Harry was able to hear the conversation with his mother and Remus as well. Though there wasn't much the Hat even said to his mother, just:
"I know what to do with you, dear child: GRYFFINDOR!"
But it said a good deal more to Remus:
"Well, hello there, young master Lupin. I've already had the pleasure to sort four siblings of yours, I thought I was through with your family."
"There's two more after me. But it will take a while," Remus thought.
"Ah, well. Now, what to do with you? All of your siblings were difficult to place, you know? You're a bunch of highly individual people, oh yes, you are! But there is plenty of potential in your head, you do like to learn, don't you?"
"I do. I love to read."
"And you are so very brave to face this school and the great handicap of your life... is that a bit of mischief I detect there? Hm. Now it gets easier. I think you'd be perfectly well placed in GRYFFINDOR!"
Remus grinned when he pulled the hat off his head and joined the table to a great amount of applause. He sat down next to Sirius.
"Hey there, Remus! Wouldn't have thought to be in the same house as you are, but I think it's great!"
"Hi Sirius. I'm happy to be here. Would have liked Ravenclaw, too, but this is just fine."
"Your family in Ravenclaw?"
"My mother and sister. Dad's been in Gryffindor."
"You have a sister here?"
"Left Hogwarts. I'm a late arrival in the family."
"Oh."
"And you? Happy to be here or would you have preferred another house?"
"'m not sure yet. They don't seem to like me very much. You've got a much better welcome. Though I wanted Gryffindor."
"I was wondering why..."
"Well, I'm sure it's because I'm a Black."
"And?" Remus asked, puzzled.
"They're all Slytherins. You saw my cousin before..."
"Bellatrix? That's your cousin?"
"Unfortunately. She's a real pest. She's sitting there, next to her older sister Narcissa."
"So you would have liked to be in Slytherin?"
"No! I'm glad I'm not one of them. As I said just now I wanted Gryffindor. My 'home' is enough of a dungeon, I don't need that at school on top of that. I hear Gryffindor is somewhere up in the castle."
Remus nodded.
"Yes, it's in a tower. Dad loved it!"
"Sounds great."
"They'll get used to you. I mean, as long as you don't go and hex them all the time they'll learn to know you, won't they? Besides, as you just said you wanted to be here, so you probably also belong here."
"I hope so. I was glad enough to escape from home."
"So how do you know James? Did you just meet on the train?"
"He's a distant cousin. His mum is a great-aunt of mine, so we've known each other for a long time. Not that my folks really liked my friendship with him, the Potters are notoriously light… they wouldn't have let us meet up outside of the official functions where we met."
"I suppose my father knows James' - I think Mr. Potter's an Auror, right?"
"Yep - then that would make your father, James' dad's boss, wouldn't it? The head of the DMLE's called Lupin, is that your father?"
"That's right. But I think he's on good terms with most of the Aurors."
"So you have an older sister then?"
"Three older sisters, all out of Hogwarts already, and the oldest in the family is another boy. And finally I have two younger brothers."
"Wow! Seven! Lucky number!" said James cheerfully, just as he joined the table.
"I only have a younger brother. He's Mother's favourite, but we still get along fine," said Sirius.
The four boys that had been Sorted into Gryffindor quickly warmed up to each other and their friendship developed to a really close relationship over the next few years. The closest were definitely Remus and Sirius though. Their relationship blossomed into something much stronger by the time they reached their fifth year. Remus only regretted that he wasn't able to invite Sirius to his home over the summer breaks, because Sirius' parents made sure he was safely inside of their house, almost locked up during all vacations.
They had been so angry at Sirius' Sorting into Gryffindor that they closed off all contacts for him outside of school.
Harry followed their path, never stopping to smile! How happy these four had been, even though they often clashed with Lily, they got along with the girls in their year and most houses as well. There was never more than friendly rivalry, the kind Harry could only dream of having had in his years at Hogwarts. Lily was good friends with a girl in her dorm, Darielle Sanchez, and she was also close to several girls in Ravenclaw, one of them, Hope Foster, could be called amongst her best friends. Her other best friend was Alice Pritchard, a Hufflepuff two years ahead of her, who was her study buddy at first, and soon became one of her closest friends. With the five other girls in her dorm she also got along well.
For five years he observed how the Marauders took reign of the castle, he saw their best and their worst, he could finally form his own opinion about the treatment Snape got from the four Gryffindors. In many cases their bullying of Snape happened after someone had suffered Snape's less than savoury attacks. Most of what the Marauders did to him was embarrassing, but they never actually touched Severus. The infamous 'worst memory' as Harry had come to see it in the Pensieve in his fifth year happened at the end of the OWLS exams in their fifth year. Harry looked on, not really pleased about the Marauders' motivation and thinking that Remus as the prefect handled it a bit very nonchalantly, but he could see where they were coming from. What astonished Harry at this point was the obvious consent with the Marauders' actions from members of all four houses at Hogwarts! There were Lily's friends, especially those from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, quite a substantial group of Slytherins and of course the Gryffindors who all agreed that Snape deserved to be embarrassed. Harry had seen a few scenes with Snape already where the boy 'practiced' his hexes on younger students, by far not only Gryffindors. Some of them were clearly harassed on a regular basis. Harry could never fully determine when it had started, but it was early on when Snape felt aggravated by a second year Gryffindor girl and hit her with a stinging hex from behind. From then on Harry knew what Sirius had meant when he had told him, Hermione and Ron that Snape always gave as good as he got.
For five years the boys were close friends. Just before the end of their fifth year Sirius inherited half of the fortune of his uncle Alphard's. He needed to cut his family off from putting their hands on his inheritance and managed with the help of his uncle's lawyers. But this led to a huge row between Sirius and his parents. Sirius broke all ties with his family and left his home with his possessions. He went straight to James.
Harry had always wondered what the catalyst for Sirius' flight from his home was. He could easily understand that preventing his parents to take his inheritance away from him was quite a substantial reason to leave.
The Potters didn't even ask questions; when Sirius turned up on their doorstep they took him in, pampered him until he stopped shaking and only then they gently started to find out what had happened at Grimmauld Place. Sirius told them:
"They were outraged because Uncle Alphard left a lot of money to me and Andromeda. Well, they tried to get their hands on my part of the inheritance and I sought help from Uncle Alphard's lawyers. Anyway, they couldn't take it away from me and the will also stated that it was to come to my full use as soon as I got it. Then they tried to force me to give them the vault key, but I left the Gringotts key at the lawyers to make sure they couldn't do exactly that. And all of that made them slightly miffed at me... It's not that they need it, but I think they simply didn't want me to have it because it makes me independent."
James snorted. He wasn't the only Potter who could easily translate 'slightly miffed' to 'absolutely pissed off'. It was Dorea's turn to be 'slightly miffed'.
"You mean they were in a murderous mood, don't you?" he asked.
"Well, yes, at least close. Father thought it was enough if he hexed me around a bit. When I wouldn't back down he picked up some help. And then they started screaming at me that I would never become a proper follower of the Dark Lord if I kept up that mutinous behaviour of mine and bla and bla... you can imagine the drivel. And of course I screamed back that I wouldn't ever become a follower of their stupid Dark Lord anyway and the row turned out a bit nasty. So I packed and left. I'll have to find a flat now..."
"You stay here at least as long as you're still at Hogwarts, Sirius. There is no way you're going to get a flat of your own before you're of age next year, and you'll always have a home with us," Charlus Potter said.
Sirius smiled, relieved. For the first time in his life he was out of Grimmauld Place and he had been mighty glad for the Knight Bus to have taken him right to the Potters' doorstep. James tugged on his sleeve and said:
"Well, now that that's settled, let me take you up and give you a room. You can have the one next to mine!"
While the boys picked up Sirius' trunk and owl cage and rushed upstairs, discussing Quidditch, Dorea and Charlus Potter looked after them and wondered if they would receive the visit of Sirius' angry relatives soon. Not that they feared it if it should happen, Dorea would not have a hard time to put her niece and nephew in their respective places. She was beyond angry that they had behaved so lowly toward their proper heir.
"They are stupid - Sirius is the heir, they can't change that, unless they murder him! I suppose not even Orion would stoop that low."
"They're your family, I won't comment on any of that, love," said Charlus and smirked.
"I have to say that I'm very glad I only had the displeasure to know my parents for the first 25 years of my life! Pollux I can handle, my father was absolutely crazy! Even Cassy has more sense, and she's got the attention span and intellect of a baby mouse. Luckily she's also about as dangerous as one…"
"You don't especially like your sister, do you?"
"As she's harmless I don't mind her half as much as Pollux, who really infuriates me on a regular basis, as you well know! I think dear Marius and I were the only ones who got any form of intelligence in that family…"
Now Charlus laughed and Harry laughed right along. What he had seen so far from Dorea Potter he absolutely adored. He wondered what had happened to her and his grandfather in his former life and hoped they met their fate through Death Eaters and that this time they would not see that very same meeting.
The elder Blacks stayed far away. A fact that astonished James' parents. Charlus Potter decided to talk to Sirius' father, but he was told rudely that the Blacks had washed their hands of such a disgrace of a son. Charlus took this as a clear indication that Sirius was free from his family. He would turn seventeen in October, so Charlus thought it could be overlooked that he had no guardian until then. He did inform Minerva McGonagall that Sirius was now living at his place though. Knowing that whatever happened Sirius could not lose his heir status, even if Orion and Walburga Black seemed to try to forget that fact Charlus thought it was for the best that Sirius stayed outside of their influence.
Indeed, Charlus had the hope that this family would turn an entirely different direction once Sirius would become the new Lord Black. Dorea reminded him of the fact that the current Lord Black was still firmly in the saddle - and that was Arcturus Black, who gave a damn to his son and daughter in law. Yes, Sirius was the male heir to the family, and he was the heir to two stems of the same family, so all was still very much in the normal flow.
James thought it was brilliant that Sirius was with him. For the first time in their friendship the boys spent time outside of school with each other at the Potters' place and of course James immediately thought of inviting Remus and Peter for a few weeks. His parents allowed it. Only minutes later, two owls fluttered into the night with a letter to Remus and another to Peter.
Harry switched over to Remus' house immediately.
Remus came down to breakfast the next morning and found the letter. Rupert and Rowland were already up and ate their breakfast. Remus, being a bit older, liked to sleep in during his vacations.
"Good morning, cub. Did you sleep well?" Venetia asked.
"Morning, Mum. Yes, I did, thank you."
"There's a letter for you. Sirius' owl brought it."
Remus smiled. Venetia loved to see that bright smile on her son's face every time a letter from one of his friends arrived. Though the smile was always the brightest when it was a letter from Sirius. Remus picked it up and read it.
"Sirius has left his home, Mum! He's at James' and the Potters have taken him in! They're inviting me for a few weeks. Can I go?"
"After the full moon, love."
"That's on the ninth."
"I know. You'll have to rest for the day though, but I'll allow you to go in the late afternoon."
Remus hugged his mother and thanked her.
"Thanks, Mum! - Come upstairs with me, Silas, I'll give you a letter to take back to Siri!"
"Breakfast first, young man, I want to clear the table!"
"Can I take it up with me?"
"Only if you promise to bring the dishes back down."
"Sure!"
Remus picked up a few pieces of buttered toast and a couple of rashes of bacon, his cup of hot chocolate and dashed up the stairs.
"Can I go, too, Mum?" asked Rupert.
"Yes, love, if you've quite finished."
"Yeah... I'd like to go and play."
"Fine, go outside, but stay in the garden, please. And take Rowland with you!"
"Okay. Come, Rowland. We can play broom tag, maybe even Remus helps playing later..."
The boys vanished to the garden and Remus saw them moments later on their brooms. He wrote his letter to Sirius and added an extra letter to the Potters in which he informed them that he would be allowed to come to their place on the tenth of August to the end of the vacation. He added both letters to Silas' legs and the owl took off, back across the country to the Potters.
Time flew and soon the dreaded full moon night came up again. It was summer, so Rowland and Rupert were already sent to bed before Remus had to go down to the cellar. Richard and Venetia hugged him as they always did when he was at home for a transformation, then Remus went inside, only dressed in a bathrobe, which he took off and deposited on a shelf high on the wall. He sighed when he sat down. For more than ten years he had transformed into the wolf now. One hundred and thirty full moons ago he had received that dreadful bite. He wondered how many more he would survive. He didn't remember the nights once they were over, but he knew that it got harder to transform as the wolf was growing up inside of him. Remus had had his growth spurts in the meantime, and he wasn't the smallest in the family anymore. The pain was only worse.
As usual, Venetia found a very bloodied boy on the mattress in the cellar the next morning. It had been hard, but she had learned to stay away from the cellar during Remus' transformations, because he was only more agitated when he smelled someone outside of the door. He missed his friends. For four full moons he had been with them since they had transformed for the first time just after Christmas of the last school year. And even though his memories of the nights were hazy he knew that the wolf had been a lot calmer. He smiled, thinking of his big black dog, whom he regarded as his own puppy. Sirius was so cute, even though he looked like a ferocious beast, a churchyard grim. But he couldn't hide being an overgrown playful puppy in reality. Remus couldn't stop himself the first time he'd seen Sirius, who had flopped down and rolled to show his belly to be scratched, Remus simply had to comply. There was more than just a little bit of Sirius' personality in his dog.
But now he was back in the cellar at home and the transformations had been as bad as any before. Venetia healed the wounds, then she levitated her son up to his bathroom and right into the hot water, where he stretched out and sighed. He was glad he didn't have to walk up the stairs. Venetia helped him wash up and rinsed his hair. Then she helped him to bed, where he fell asleep and didn't wake up for six hours. Rupert brought him soup and bread up and shared some pumpkin juice with his big brother.
"Hey! Up to something to eat, Rem?" he asked.
"Mhm. Thanks, Roop!"
Rupert had just received his Hogwarts letter a few days before.
"Mum said we'd go shopping tomorrow. I can't wait, Remus! What house do you think I'll be in?"
"Hm, no idea, Roop! Where would you like to go?"
"You and Roxanne and Julia were all in Gryffindor. I think it'd be way cool if I got in there, too."
"Well, you'll see. You might, you know! The hat is pretty cool."
Remus spooned his soup and ate some of the homemade bread. His mother liked to cook and bake, so the family was always spoiled with lots of good food. The pot-au-feu tasted very nice, too. Remus fished out a section of a marrow bone and beamed. He spread the marrow over the bread, sprinkled a little salt on top and bit into the crunchy bread.
"Yum! There's not much over Mum's pot-au-feu!" he said.
"I like lots of other things much better."
"You'll love the Hogwarts food! It's great, too."
Remus finished his meal and Rupert took the tray back down to the kitchen. Remus turned around in the bed and slept for another three hours. Venetia checked on him just before dinner. He looked well enough, so she said:
"If you get dressed and come down I'll inform Dorea that you're coming before dinner..."
"Yay! Thanks a lot, Mum!"
She grinned. He was out of the bed in an instant and jumped over to his dresser to get some fresh clothes. They had packed a suitcase with summer clothes and his Hogwarts trunk. Remus would be allowed to stay until the vacation ended and Dorea would hand the suitcase with the summer clothes to Venetia when they met at Platform 9 3/4. She went back down and floo called the Potters. Dorea was there.
"Hello, Dorea. Remus has had enough rest now and he's ready to floo over. I'll take his suitcase and apparate, okay? He'll be down in a moment..."
"Hello, Venetia! That's fine. James and Sirius are waiting for him. Unfortunately Peter had to leave again last Saturday, his family had a vacation abroad planned, so he couldn't stay until Remus comes."
"Oh well, that's certainly better for you! I'm sure it's a handful to have the boys there..."
"It's fun, too. Sirius is a nice boy. I finally got to learn to know him quite well."
"He must be. Remus is quite taken with him. He is always happy when there's a letter for him, but he seems happiest when there's a letter from Sirius."
"How cute. How is he today?"
"Slept most of the day, but he emptied quite a big bowl of soup at lunch, which is usually a good sign. No wounds or bruises left, I've healed it all."
"Good. So there are no restrictions for him?"
"Not really. He'll sleep a bit more in the next three or four days, so no worries when he doesn't get up early."
"Very well, we'll let him rest up. - hello, Remus! Ready to floo over?"
"Hello, Lady Dorea! Yes, I am!" Remus called from behind his mother.
"Good, I'll see you in a moment, Dorea!" Venetia said, got up and helped Remus turn his trunk so he could take it easily through the floo.
After he left, Venetia followed with his suitcase. Arriving in the Potters' living room she witnessed Sirius pulling Remus into a tight hug.
"It's so good to have you here, mate! Let's help you take your stuff up. You can bunk with me!"
Remus seemed to have already greeted all others in the house. Venetia gave James the suitcase and told him to follow his friends. Then she turned to meet Dorea. They shook hands.
"Thank you for inviting Remus for the remainder of the break. It means so much to him to have friends."
"That's very much alright! We figured it's the first time ever that Sirius has his own friends for a visit; it would do him a lot of good, too. I'm sure we get along with Remus just fine," said Dorea.
"He's pretty easy to have. Don't hesitate to ask his help for chores."
"We will, if there's need."
"Fine! Well, I have to return home, Rupert and Rowland are alone at home. They're a bit dangerous to be left alone!"
"We'll see you at King's Cross then!"
Venetia left and the boys upstairs dropped Remus' stuff in Sirius' room, where there was a second bed next to Sirius' four poster. They had three weeks together until the start of the term. Sirius grinned at Remus and said:
"Do you want to unpack your suitcase? There's space enough in the dresser, I can put my stuff in one drawer and you can have the other... there's also still quite a lot of space in the wardrobe..."
"Are there shelves? Then you don't need to relocate your stuff in the dresser, I'll just put mine in the wardrobe..."
"Jolly good idea. Here!"
Remus quickly unpacked. Then he asked:
"Have you been out shopping for the school supplies yet?"
"Nope. Peter had already been right after he got the letter, that's why James and I decided to wait. We could do that in the next days..."
Remus smiled.
"Good!"
"Your Mum's very nice..." Sirius remarked.
Remus had never said much about his family. He had noticed that family was a sore spot for Sirius and he didn't want to deepen his friend's wounds by telling him a ton of fluffy stories about his siblings and parents. So Sirius knew almost nothing about them. Remus grinned now and said:
"I really love her to bits, Siri. She's always kind and she loves me, my dad, too. Without them I'd have never survived as a werewolf. My siblings are also great, they really carry me."
"Lucky you! I'm glad that you have good parents."
"Hey, Sirius, Remus! Are you coming? Time for dinner!" James called and banged the door open.
"Yeah, we're coming."
The three trampled down the stairs. Dorea thought an earthquake had broken out, but it was only three famished teenage boys who stormed the dining room with a big grin on their faces. She sent them to the kitchen to wash their hands. Charlus had arrived at home and greeted the newcomer.
"Hello, Remus! It's nice to see you again. Are you okay?"
"Yes, sir, I am. Thank you for inviting me..."
"You're very welcome! You boys will surely have a lot of fun together."
"Can you say Quidditch?" James called.
"Or broom tag?" Sirius followed suit.
"Or Exploding Snap all day long?" James continued.
Remus grinned. This was as close to a normal life outside of his own family he'd ever get, he thought. The dinner was a very pleasant affair. There was a lively conversation going on between the five. The Potters didn't treat the boys as children anymore; they regarded them as the young adults they were slowly becoming, so they discussed lots of things with them. As that was a very similar lifestyle as the one Remus was used at his own home he wasn't shy at all. After dinner the boys cleared the table and washed the dishes, then they took off outside for a while and when it got dark they returned and ran up to James' room, which had more space than Sirius', now that there was a second bed in there.
"Peter already bunked there, so we just made a fresh bed..." Sirius told Remus.