Remus' newfound excitement quickly died away. All it took was one step into the Leaky Cauldron before every drop of happiness was sucked away and replaced with fear. What would she do every month? What if she somehow got out? What if she killed somebody, or worse, turned them into a monster like herself?
Her father caught her frown as he led her up the steps to a shop for robes. He looked down at her and smiled as gently as he could. There was nothing he could say to cheer her up. Her father knew much of her pain; he had to live with it too, but he would never truly know what it was like to turn every month into such an awful creature.
Her mind could barely function as she stepped into the robe shop. All she could smell was the over powering stench of strawberries. Sweet, sweet strawberries all around. In her nose, under her eyes, the smell was everywhere. She practically gagged s the lady came near her to begin taking measurements. It was her. The lady smelled of those…those…oh, Merlin. Remus was sure she was going to puke. She had to look out the window and imagine the fresh air, and took shallow, short breaths in through her mouth, out through her nose.
She saw a boy outside with dark brown hair and glasses that were too large for his face. He was flipping a coin higher and higher, but always catching it. Show off. Remus rolled her eyes, and next thing she knew, he was starring at her. And he winked. He winked! What did that mean?
The woman moved, and the stench rolled off in another wave, threatening to send Remus overboard. She looked towards her dad and tried to get her discomfort across. Her father met her eyes and knew instantly. He was always worried about taking her out on full moon days because of how sensitive she was.
"Is that all?" he asked. The woman shook her head, and Mr. Lupin beckoned to his daughter. Remus leapt of the pedestal and ran as fast as she could to the fresh air outside, and ran smack dab into someone else. That someone else had very untidy hair, and a coin in his hand…
Oh no.
"I'm so sorry." She sputtered. "I didn't-I just, I'm-"
"Hey, no worries." The boy said.
"I'm Remus." She said quickly, and then wanted to punch herself. Why had she said that? Why had she said Remus and not Rem or Joan or-
"Remus?"
"Yeah, yeah I know-"
"Cool name." And he said it with such sincerity that Remus smiled.
"I'm James," he said, "James Potter."
"Nice to meet you."
"Same. Buying things for Hogwarts?"
Remus nodded her head, "First year."
"Me too! Man, I'm so excited. I've got pranks planned that'll knock your trousers off! Literally!"
James' head whipped around when he heard someone shouting his name. "Better go, or Mum will rip me a new one. See you around, Remus!"
"See you!" she called back as naturally as she could muster. Her father came up behind her and grabbed her arm gently. It still hurt though. Every touch sent pins and needles throughout her body. The day was wasting away. They had to be quicker.
"Be careful around Potter," her dad muttered to her, "I had potions with his father. Real troublemaker."
She was lead into a dusty shop that made her sneeze every thirty seconds, but thankfully, finding the right wand did not take long.
She was paired with a long, thin ebony wand with a core of unicorn hair with a small, round ball at the end. Remus loved her wand. She hated having to give it up to her father when he had to put it in her trunk. It chose her. It had to have known what she was like, and still it chose her. It liked her. Remus quickly trotted behind her father. This was their last day of shopping. Tomorrow, she would be boarding the train to go to Hogwarts.
There was no telling what this school had in store for her.