The Moon and Star

Chapter Two

Remus

My first day at Hogwarts is a day I will never forget for as long as I live. I had woken late, and was surprised and overjoyed to find the other three boys dressed and sitting on the floor, watching me, waiting.

I walked down to the Great Hall alongside Sirius, who still seemed a little wary of me. I couldn't blame him; I was wary of him too. All of them, actually. If anyone found out… it wasn't worth thinking about. I sat next to Peter opposite Sirius and James who were studying everyone as if trying to find someone to pick on. I shrunk into my seat, but sat bold upright when I overheard a Slytherin behind me saying,

"If I lay eyes on one more mudblood, I might as well die!" A blonde haired snob was laughing with his many friends. I couldn't help it.

"If you really had a serious problem with a select portion of the Wizarding community, namely, the muggle-borns, I highly doubt you would have come to Hogwarts. Another thing I highly doubt is that Hogwarts can do anything at all for your exceedingly tiny mind, you giant, blonde prick, so you might as well go home now." I turned back around to face Sirius and James to see them exchanging excited glances, looks of triumph on their faces.

"We've found another one, James! Another Marauder!" Sirius was whispering joyously at James, who had an equally smug look on his face. Another what? I thought to myself, a frown creasing my eyebrows. James glanced at me, and seeing my confused expression, said,

"We'll tell you about it later, mate." Grinning at me, he turned back to his food.

Sirius

We bounded up the stairs back to the common room to grab our bags before lessons started. The moment we got through the door, James and I rounded on Remus and I took him by the shoulders, staring into his eyes.

"Remus. You possess the exact qualities we were looking for. We are now giving you the chance to become…" he paused for dramatic effect… "A Marauder." I waited for his reaction, but none came; Remus' face was impassive, giving nothing away. I shook him gently.

"Remus? Remus, a Marauder! Ok, Ok. The Marauders are a group we have created of our closest friends only, and we have chosen you." I smiled at him. One minute I was holding him by the shoulders, the next his thin arms were around me, holding me tightly. It took me a moment to recover, but I slowly wrapped my significantly thicker arms around the other boy, now knowing what I had given him. He suddenly leapt back, his cheeks red.

"I-I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me." Remus stuttered. I grinned, and walked over to him, taking him in my arms once again. He tensed, but then relaxed, just as I had done.

I had just made a friend; little did I know, Remus Lupin was a friend that would stay with me for a long time.

The next time we all came into contact with that particular 'blonde-haired snob' was a month later in the Potions dungeon, as Remus, James and I were on the lookout for our fourth and final Marauder; the one to complete the pack. I kept glancing worriedly at Remus; he was looking particularly haggard and tired that day. I nudged him lightly and he almost fell off his seat.

"Hey, Remus, you okay?" I asked, pulling him back up.

"Y-Yeh, I'm fine, Sirius." He said, scrubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. As he turned his head, I noticed a bloodied cut running from just under Remus' chin down under his collar. It looked as if it had been cleaned, but blood had begun to seep out of the wound once more.

"Remus! You're hurt!" I exclaimed. His hand flew up to his neck.

"It's nothing." He muttered.

"Did someone do that to you? Whoever it was, I'm going to kill them." I snarled. Remus chuckled mirthlessly.

"Well, I sincerely hope you won't, Sirius." He said, turning back to his cauldron. A frown creased my brow, but I let it go.

James

Potions. My worse subject. At least I could spend it with my best friends in the world… and it was the best opportunity to waste time looking for the fourth and final Marauder, of course.

I was almost falling asleep in my seat when I had what was possibly the best idea of my entire life. I earned a glare from the professor as I almost fell off my chair. Muttering my apologies, I excitedly caught Sirius' eye. I mouthed at him,

"Peter!" Sirius frowned at me, and I could tell he wasn't impressed.

"What, the other boy in our dorm?" He mouthed back at me.

"Yeah!" I replied, eyeing the back of the strict professor every few seconds. "He would be the perfect person to cover for us if we were… well, breaking the rules!" Sirius' frown slowly evaporated, and a mischievous understanding was alight in his eyes.

"Yes!" He mouthed.

Straight after a lunch of Sirius fussing over Remus like a concerned grandmother, we all hurried up to the dormitory. W found Peter in the common room, reading.

"Let's not interrupt him." Remus said, smiling. "He's reading, can't you see?"

Sirius and I ran forward anyway, grabbed the terrified-looking boy and dragged him up to the dorm. Remus followed grudgingly, but good-naturedly.

After the door was shut, and Peter was corned, we began to explain to him exactly what we had in mind for him. His terrified expression disappeared, and soon enough we were thinking up what our first prank should be as the Marauders.

"This will be our Hogwarts family, just us four. We will be unstoppable, and no one will break us apart. D'you understand me, Remus?" Sirius said, looking softly at the speechless boy beside him. Nudging him gently with hid shoulder, Sirius stood with Remus, and Peter and I followed suit.

"Come on guys," I said joyfully, "Lets go to Transfiguration."