Chapter 3: The Hogwarts Express
September 1st was a warm Friday and the Hogwarts express was scheduled to depart at 11am. Remus and his parents stood with his luggage in platform 9 ¾. His mother cautiously sifted through his luggage and caringly said. "Are you sure you have everything: books, robes, undergarments-"
"Yes Mum! You checked everything three times last night." Remus said with a smile. "I'll be fine. I promise."
"You better write to us every week!" Mr. Lupin said.
"I will."
"Here's Moonlight. Make sure you feed her every night and clean her litter box. I might just miss her more than you." Mrs. Lupin said jokingly.
"Mum!" Remus laughed.
"And if your. . . condition is too overwhelming with school, just let us know, we will drive to Hogwarts to pick you up, no questions asked." Mr. Lupin said sternly. Remus nodded. Suddenly his father pulled Remus in for a hug with his big burly hands. Probably the first hug from his father since he was seven. "I love you so much Remus. I am so proud of you and I know you will be remarkable in Hogwarts." He gently released him.
His mother began to cry big teardrops. She gave him a big hug and kissed him on the forehead. She left a red lipstick kiss, giggled and whipped it off. She gazed into her baby's eyes "I love you sunshine. You are the greatest son a mother could ask for."
"I love you both as well. Thank you so much for letting me attend Hogwarts. I'll see you at Christmas I guess." Remus said trying, but failing, to hold back his tears. He grabbed Moonlight in her crate and stepped up on the platform and took one last look at his loyal parents, waved goodbye and stepped into his independence.
Remus looked in some of the cabins to find Severus and Lily but was interrupted with the announcement "All personal please find a seat, we will be departing shortly." Aw well, I'm sure I'll meet up with them at school. I'll just have to get to know more people. Remus came across a cabin with only two boys. One was tall, dark brown messier curly hair with round glasses, and the other had stylish black hair and sharp facial features and normal height. "Hello mate, do you want to sit with us?" The one with glasses asked.
"Sure, I'm Remus Lupin."
"I'm James Potter and this is Sirius Black." The glasses boy said.
"Pleasure. So are you both first years?" Remus asked.
"Yep, and we are ready to conquer Hogwarts with our fantastic practical jokes." Said Sirius.
"Sounds fun." Remus said. He was always a fan of watching pranks.
James stared at his muggle shirt. "What's your shirt about?"
Remus stared blankly "The Beatles." Sirius and James looked at eachother in confusion. "You haven't ever heard of the Beatles?" They shook their heads. "They're the best band ever! They had songs like Twist and Shout, All you Need is Love, and Help. Here, my I recorded some of their songs on this cassette." He played Twist and Shout for them. They all started tapping their feet and smiled.
"I really like this!" James shouted over the music.
"Me too! That's a cool muggle device, are you a muggleborn?" Sirius asked
"No. Half blood. My Dad's a wizard, Mum's a muggle." Remus said.
"Oh too bad. My family are crazy pure-blood purists and I'd just love to make my dad have a heart attack by having a muggleborn friend." Sirius said.
"Your family is crazy. We live on the same street in London, met last year. When his family found out I was a Potter, they didn't let me go to their house anymore. Said my family's "sympathisers to impurity of magic", some bullshit like that." James said.
All of a sudden they heard a squeal from the hallway outside their door. The boys investigated the noise. A boy with blond hair and very expensive looking black clothing had a chubby short boy with blond hair pinned up against the wall with his wand in his face.
"You mudblood filth! How dare you try to ride in the same train as us." a boy named Lucius Malfoy snarled.
"Please, let me go!" The fat boy squealed.
"Hey, how about you let him go, Lucius." James said with his chest held high. He held his wand behind his back in case he needed to use it.
"Mind your own business, Potter!" Lucius growled.
"I think you'll want to let him go, Lucius, for your own sake, or Potter, me and my new friend Remus will kick your ass." Sirius said. He and Potter held up their wands, and looked to Remus to do the same. Remus didn't feel peer-pressured, rather he knew raising his own wand was the right thing to do. Sirius and James smiled.
"Fine, have the little mudblood. Three against one isn't a fair fight anyway, right? See you at Hogwarts." Lucius said reluctantly, pushing the boy to them.
"Come in and sit with us." Remus said.
"Thanks so much blokes! My name's Peter Pettigrew." Peter said, still sweating from fear.
"Welcome to our group, Peter." James said. Remus's cassette was still playing the Beatles.
"Oh The Beatles! I love this band! You're a mudblood too?"
"No halfblood. Don't let anyone ever call you that again, you hear me? Including yourself!" Remus said.
"Okay, Remus, I won't." Peter said. "Is that your cat?"
"Yeah, I guess she can be the fifth of our group. Her name's Moonlight."
"So we want to stay together then?" James asked
"Hell yeah! Together Moonlight, James, Remus, Peter and I, the most handsome, Sirius will haunt Hogwarts with our practical jokes! We will be called. . . Um guys what should we be called?"
"The Pranksters!" James said
"No!"
"The Rascals!" Said Sirius
"No."
"The Jokers?" Suggested Peter.
"No."
The boys sat in silence before Remus had a brilliant idea.
"The Marauders!"
"Yeah that sounds cool, but what does it mean?" Sirius said.
"A group of people who raid and cause a ruckus in the moonlight."
"Cool. Good to know one of us is smart. We will be called (all together now!)" Sirius said signaling the others
"The Marauders!" They all screamed and afterward collapsed in laughter.