Author's note: some internalized homophobia, vague emetophobia, and body talk. And a quick note about the American schools: I don't like the "canon" idea of there just being one. I know that's what's been said, I just don't like it. Also I'm going to get a bonus chapter out this Friday, since this chapter is literally just the train ride haha I thought I'd post a second chapter this week too :)

-x-

One of the first things Remus realized, once he and his friends were settled in their compartment, was that the rest of them had gotten taller. It was extremely unfair. Every single one of his friends had gained at the very least an inch and, in James's case, at least two, while he was still the same height he was at the start of summer. Ugh.

James had always been rather scrawny with knobbly elbows and knees, but he seemed to be more limb than ever. His messy black hair had gotten longer and wilder over the summer and his dark skin had gotten a bit darker. He was wearing new glasses, too. Or really, a new style of glasses. They made him look older than thirteen, in Remus's opinion, and when he asked James about them, James proudly declared they were an aviation style.

"They're brilliant!" he said, adjusting them proudly. "I love how they look on me!"

Other than his rather chubby cheeks, Peter had grown thin—well, somewhat thin; thin for him. Though he always did over the summer because his grandfather put him through the paces. He had gotten quite tan, and his usually mousy-brown hair had become blonde from all the time in the sun. It was still in the bowl-cut style he detested, but his mother insisted he have.

Remus reached up, running his fingers through his own hair. He had only gotten into a fight about it with his mother once, near the beginning of the summer, when she had seen how long it had gotten at school. She despaired over it the night they got home, wanting to know if he ever got it cut. Honestly, he rarely went to see the hair witch that came in multiple times a month. There was usually a long waiting list and it felt like a waste of time. So his hair was usually very long and shaggy—though, nowhere near as long as Sirius's, which came down slightly past his shoulders now. Remus's currently came down to the bottom of his ears, but at school it would go as long as nearly chin-length, except for his fringe which always hung long enough to cover his eyes when he needed it to. He just didn't have time to keep his hair in some sort of perfect state all the time! Or… much of the time. Or ever, really.

"Third years!" laughed James, bouncing in his seat. "We are third years now, lads! Can you believe it?"

"Since I'm turning fourteen in two months, yes," said Sirius.

James kicked him while Sirius laughed. "Oh, shut up, you're ancient, you shouldn't be allowed to talk."

"Only cause you're the baby," Sirius said, kicking James back.

"I am not the baby—"

"Younger than Remus—"

"Shut up!"

Sirius began counting on his fingers, slowly to make it meaner. "October, November, December, January, February, March—end of March, really, so pretty much almost seven months until you're fourteen! Lil baby Jimsy-Wimsy."

"There's loads of students younger than you," Peter said helpfully.

Unfortunately, that put Peter on James's radar. His eyes narrowed behind his glasses and he gave a thin-lipped smile before digging around in his bag. "Petey, I have something for you! Some sweets I found!"

He handed a box to Peter and Peter screamed, dropping the box. James laughed so hard he began wheezing, while Peter scrambled away from James, diving to the seat that Sirius and Remus sat on. "You wanker!" Peter shouted.

James tried to suck in air and began choking. "You—you—you mean—kn—knobhead?"

Remus picked up the box since it was at his feet and found himself looking at a neat little row of octopus-shaped gummies, all of which were wriggling their tentacles.

"James, this is mean," Remus said, trying not to giggle. He handed the box to Sirius, who didn't have as much decency and began laughing. Peter stuck his lower lip out. "Come here, sit on this side of me," Remus said, patting his other side, away from Sirius. Peter scrambled across his lap and jammed himself into the corner.

"I hate both of you," he pouted. "Remus is my only friend."

"You deserved it for that Howler," James managed to say, taking his glasses off so he could wipe his eyes. "Blimey, your face."

Peter made a huffing sound. "All right, maybe a little bit."

James put his glasses back on. "In my defense, I didn't expect you to scream. They're not big."

"No but they're… wriggly!"

Sirius opened the box and pulled a gummy out. The tentacles flailed everywhere. Sirius bit one of them off and Remus winced, turning his head away. He hated sweets that looked alive. Chocolate frogs, banana bats, peppermint toads… it made him uncomfortable. It made him feel… predatory and wolfish, eating something that acted alive. Not that he ate animals as a wolf—or wanted to. As far as he knew, animals were safe around werewolves in wolf form. When Sirius handed the box out Remus declined one, which meant he and James ate all of them since Peter wouldn't touch them either.

"So." James stuffed an entire octopus in his mouth, two of the tentacles flailing around out of his lips. He chewed and swallowed. "So, how was everyone's summers besides the letters? Sirius, you said you saw Remus?"

"You did?" Pete asked, surprised. "In Diagon Alley?"

Sirius tore another tentacle off his octopus. "Er, no, in—in July. Family had a wedding in Wales. I, er, left on my own early because it's my family, and I swung by Remus's."

Remus raised his eyebrows, not saying anything about Sirius's very light version of what happened.

"And your parents…?" James asked Remus.

"They didn't know," he explained. "We—"

"We met up in the woods," Sirius said, flashing a big smile. "A snake almost bit me. I could have died."

"It did not!" Remus protested without any hesitation. "It wasn't a venomous snake anyway. All it did was thrash about. And you fell in the water."

"Neither of you mentioned this," Peter said, sounding a little put out.

"They didn't to me either," James said, which lessened the annoyance on Pete's face.

Remus waited for Sirius to explain and when he didn't, Remus said, "I wasn't sure if Sirius wanted to talk about it." Why did he have to be the one to say anything? Everything was beginning to feel very awkward and uncomfortable, and he didn't like it.

"I had a fight with my family," Sirius finally said stiffly. "That's one of the reasons I didn't bring it up."

James's expression softened. "Right. Yeah. Uh. You—you all right?"

Sirius shrugged, raking his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, everything's all right now. Also, I didn't write about it since I wasn't sure if Remus wanted me to mention being at his house, since we're not supposed to be there. It wasn't for very long, anyhow. Speaking of visiting, though, Peter, you promised us photos of James hiking?"

The weird feeling in the air slowly dissipated as Peter showed off the photos, though Remus noticed James kept looking at Sirius with a strange look on his face. Upset at not knowing something that happened, or something else? Worry about Sirius's fight? Whatever was going on in his head, he soon got over it and began laughing at the pictures Peter was showing of them struggling to hike along some hills. James and Peter's faces were all red and sweaty and they occasionally saw a photo of Peter's grandfather looking as rotund as Professor Slughorn with hardly any sweat on his face. Then Peter showed the pictures of James's chest with bright red stripes and occasional clumps of grass still stuck to him, and by then all the awkwardness had completely left.

Still, Remus was a little surprised Sirius hadn't told James at all.

-x-

The Marauders hung out by themselves for a while until James and Sirius decided they wanted to go prank other compartments. Peter went with them, and Remus stayed behind to keep the compartment claimed in case anyone tried coming in. He planned to go looking for Lily once his friends returned, but she showed up first with her two friends in tow.

"I knew this would be yours, because of the sign!" Lily said when Remus opened the door. Then she squealed and hugged him tightly, sending him staggering back. "Remus! It's so good to see you again! You're looking he—good!"

Remus knew she was going to probably say 'healthy'. It was around the midway point between full moons, when he looked… not healthy, but not quite as bad as usual. "It's good to see you t-too!" he stammered out. He had gotten a lot better with his stuttering since starting school, when it had been extremely difficult to talk, but he still had difficulty when he was around people he didn't know very well. The only students he knew he could talk to without stuttering were the Marauders, Lily, and Aegis Silverlocke. Since Colgate and Inkwood were there, he knew he would have a bit of trouble.

The girls came into the compartment and Inkwood frowned. "Where are the others?" Which actually meant 'Where is Sirius?' since Sirius and Inkwood were practically dating. Not officially yet, though Remus suspected it wouldn't be long before they were official.

"Off pr—pranking," Remus explained, sitting down. "You look good too," he told Lily.

She rolled her eyes and fluffed her hair which had been cut to around her shoulders. "I can't wait to see the hair witch and get this fixed." The last time Remus had seen her, her hair had been past her waist as a statement to her mother.

"It's g—good to see both of y-you as well," he added, switching his gaze to Colgate and Inkwood who had taken seats across from them.

Alice Colgate was around Peter's height and had a round face, big brown eyes behind tortoiseshell glasses, and a massive amount of curly brown hair. Cassandra Inkwood was very tall—almost Sirius's height—and had very dark skin; her thick, bushy hair was pushed back with a bright yellow headband. Inkwood was, according to most boys, one of the prettiest girls in their year. Remus never really saw it but—

Oh. Remus's stomach curled as realization dawned on him as to why he had never understood it. Immediately his skin felt clammy and he fought off the urge to get sick right there in the compartment. No, stay calm, don't think about it. Bloody hell, he needed to do better at not letting these thoughts surface. They needed to be locked tight and kept hidden.

He had to be as normal as he could possibly be.

Not that he was very normal as it stood, what with being a monster, but he had to try.

"I don't think I've ever seen you in short sleeves," Inkwood noted, giving Remus a look-over.

"He's worn short sleeves before," Colgate said, pulling a lollipop out of her pocket and tucking it into her mouth. "Wait. No, you had long sleeves on underneath."

Remus tugged at the baggy sleeves of the t-shirt under his button-up, regretting wearing short sleeves. "It's v-very h-hot." He had a sudden image of somehow wind kicking in and blowing his sleeves up and revealing his bite mark.

"It looks good on you," Inkwood said, smiling. "The colors do too."

"Er, th—thank you…"

Lily wound her arms around Remus's arm, holding him. "How's Arthur doing?"

"Eh? Oh—oh, um, all r-right…"

They settled into talking, all four of them, the girls chattering about their own summers and Remus not saying much. Then they remembered he was taking all of the electives and asked him about his book list, Colgate and Inkwood giving bug-eyed looks when he told them he had eleven books.

"Twelve," he said, furrowing his brow. "I keep f-forgetting we have the—the—the one b-book from last year."

Colgate crunched down on her lollipop, eating the rest of it. "I hope we have a girl teacher again."

"I didn't like Dedenne," Lily said without any hesitation.

Inkwood snorted while Colgate rolled her eyes. "I didn't mean her, she was kind've weird."

"'Specially to Remus," Inkwood said. Remus froze, trying not to stare at Inkwood. "What?" she asked, frowning. "You think we didn't notice? I did, at least."

"I did too," Colgate said, and Remus tried not to panic at how much they had noticed, or what they thought. "At least, I got the… feeling she didn't like you. Didn't she get mad at you once for turning in homework late? When you had been in the hospital wing sick?"

Remus swallowed, slowly nodding. "Y-yes," he whispered, not wanting to discuss this. Certainly not wanting to discuss Professor Dedenne.

"How bloody unfair," Inkwood growled. "What a cow. Anyway, maybe we'll get a female version of Professor Prewett. He was nice. And fine," she added with a giggle. Colgate and Lily both began giggling too.

"As fine as Sirius?" Lily teased.

Inkwood swatted at Lily. "That isn't any of your business!" She gave a loud sniffle and looked out the window. "Anyway, there's a difference between a teacher being cute and someone my own age being cute."

"I thought you called him sexy earlier," Colgate said with a smirk. "Sirius, I mean."

Inkwood squealed and grabbed Colgate, covering her mouth. "SHUT UP!" she shouted, shooting anxious looks towards Remus; Colgate's face was going red as her body shook with silent laughter. "Please don't repeat that to—to him!" Inkwood begged. "I didn't!"

Remus was rather stiff with awkwardness, ignoring the fact Lily was practically crying into his sleeve as she laughed. "I w-won't," he promised, wondering how the heck he was being caught up in this girl drama, or why it mattered to Inkwood that Sirius knew she said that. Wasn't that something she'd want him to know? They obviously liked each other.

Inkwood looked relieved. "Thank you. Ugh, I hate you," she hissed, pushing Colgate away. Colgate wiped her cheeks off, obviously not caring.

There were loud bangs and shouts from outside the compartment and then the door slid open with a crashing sound. James, Sirius, and Peter fell in, Sirius yanking the 'Do not Enter' sign off from outside the door most likely to hide the fact this was definitely their compartment. Peter slammed the door shut and James locked it.

"Get into a bit of trouble, did we?" Lily asked as there were hurried footsteps going past in the corridor. It was obvious the Marauders had been chased by someone, or someones.

James looked horrified when he saw her sitting there. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" he roared.

Lily tossed her hair back. "Visiting my friend."

"Hi Sirius," Inkwood said.

Sirius stood up a bit straighter, puffing his chest out and pushing some hair back. "Hey Cassie. Wow, you look… really nice."

Inkwood gave a tittering sort of sound. "Thank you." She smoothed down her skirt then lifted her gaze back up, looking at Sirius through her long lashes. "You look good too. That color suits you."

Sirius sat down next to her and soon the two were lost in their own conversation while James and Peter got seated. James sat next to Sirius, obviously not wanting to sit on the same side as Lily until she said he probably sat there so he could look at her which sent James into a fury.

"If I looked at you I'd throw up!" he snarled. "I am not looking at you, why would I look at you?! Peter, switch me seats." He practically pushed Peter off his seat next to Remus, and sat there instead, arms folded.

Peter disguised his laugh as a cough, and sat down next to Colgate. "You could have asked nicely, at least."

"So, Colgate, how was your summer?" James asked loudly, making it obvious to all that he was ignoring Lily.

"You know, you could call me Alice," Colgate said with a shrug. "I think by now we might as well be on first name basis, shouldn't we?"

Remus wasn't really sure why kids mostly used surnames at school, but he had never questioned it. After that they started using each others' first names, which was a little odd to Remus since he didn't know Alice or Cassie that much. Except James and Lily still called each other Evans and Potter, when they weren't using ruder terms.

After a while Cassie suggested they play a game, like guess the picture or charades. Peter pointed out they only had seven people and there wouldn't be an even amount for teams, and Remus got up at that, saying that was fine, he was wanting to go find Aegis to say hello anyway. Before anyone could argue he scampered out of the compartment, almost tripping over Sirius's legs.

It felt good to get out of the compartment. It was feeling too crowded with everyone there, though part of him wondered if he'd feel it was as crowded if he knew C—Alice and Cassie better. But either way he did want to find Aegis.

He found Aegis's cousin first, a few carriages down, and was a little surprised not to find Aegis with her.

"Hi Lupin!" Pandora Silverlocke said cheerfully. She was with two boys and a girl; one of the boys looked a little like Simon Bones. And the other girl was Narcissa Black. The first thought that went into Remus's mind was what the bloody hell Pandora was doing, hanging out with a girl who hung out with the boy who relentlessly bullied Aegis.

Remus straightened his shoulders, not liking this. Why would she do that?

"Are you looking for Eej?" Pandora inquired when Remus said nothing.

He slowly nodded. "Y—yes." No wonder Aegis wasn't in the compartment! He hoped his friend was all right.

Pandora clasped her hands around one of her knees, her many bracelets clinking together. "Oh, let me think, where did he go off to—"

"Next carriage over," Narcissa Black said, shrewdly studying Remus. Remus began to wonder if Black knew what happened between Remus and Malfoy back in the summer term, when Remus broke Malfoy's jaw. Had Malfoy told her?

Pandora snapped her fingers. "That's right! Thanks, Cissy."

Cissy?

"Th-th-thank you," Remus mumbled and darted out of the compartment, the hairs on the back of his neck raised like hackles. The wolf was stirring inside of him because of how upset and distressed he had become over what just happened. Rather, at the fact Pandora was sitting there with—all right, not one of Aegis's bullies but—but close enough.

Aegis was in the next carriage, sitting with a Slytherin girl whose name briefly escaped Remus before remembering it was Alexander.

"Remus!" Aegis smiled, standing up and offering his hand. "I was hoping to see you before we arrived at school!"

Remus shook Aegis's hand, finding it a remarkable difference from the hugs he had exchanged with his other friends. "G-g-good to s-see you too."

"You know Themis Alexander, do you not?" Aegis asked.

Alexander rose, offering her hand as well. Remus shook hers with a little trepidation, not very comfortable with touching someone he didn't know. She said, "I'll let you two be alone, I'm sure you've got things to catch up onto."

Before either of them could argue, she swept out of the compartment.

"Did I say something wrong?" Remus asked, staring at Aegis. Since he hadn't said anything beyond that it was good to see Aegis, he highly doubted it.

Aegis shrugged, sitting down. "I'm not quite sure," he said, in a tone that meant he did know.

Maybe she doesn't like half-and-halfs, he thought as he sat across from Aegis. But why would she shake his hand, if she hated half-and-halfs? Or thinks I'm loopy, like my nickname. "Have you spent m-much time with her?"

"Not… precisely." Aegis fiddled with the cuff of his shirt. He was already in the black trousers and white button-up for school, but he was in the long-sleeved version; Remus wondered how he could stand it. His long, pale blonde hair was tied back in its usual ponytail, and his pale blue eyes focused on his cuff. "She was sitting alone and did not seem averse to my joining her."

"Oh?" Remus knew he probably shouldn't say anything except he continued speaking without meaning. "I was surprised you weren't with your—your cousin."

"I was earlier," he said. "I did not wish to intrude on her and her friends. That is probably why Themis left, in order to give us the chance to speak freely without someone else there."

"I, er, saw your cousin," Remus said. "Um. With—with Narcissa Black."

"Yes, they are friends," Aegis said, not sounding bothered. "What is wrong?" he asked, seeing the frown on Remus's face.

"Well. I—um—isn't—isn't she friends with Malfoy?"

"Yes?" Aegis looked puzzled.

"That—that doesn't bother you?"

Aegis tilted his head. "Why should it?"

Remus opened and closed his mouth. "I—I guess… I don't know, it took me by surprise, I guess."

"Oh. I understand. No, Miss Black isn't much like Malfoy," Aegis explained. "She is nicer. She and Pandora have been friends since their second year. I cannot pass judgment on her being around Malfoy no more than I can Lily with Severus Snape."

Remus swallowed, not really thinking about it like that. "No, you're right." He refrained from pointing out that while Snape was a jerk, Malfoy was a terror.

They talked for a while about their summers, not that either really had much to talk about. Remus did describe as best he could the two films he saw. Aegis was very fascinated by this, and said he hoped they saw a film in Muggle Studies but since electronics didn't work at Hogwarts, he knew that was a futile hope. Remus raised his eyebrows and said there were loads of ways to get Muggle electronics running on magic.

"Wouldn't that be against the law?"

"Er, yes," Remus admitted, not wanting to say he had been looking into it since Sirius suggested the telephones. "At least, without permission. The teacher could have gotten permission."

After another twenty minutes Remus decided that was probably enough, for Alexander's sake. If she had been sitting alone that meant she probably didn't have anywhere to go, and he felt bad about keeping her away much longer. He and Aegis bid farewell and Remus left, seeing Alexander down near the other end of the carriage, clearly waiting for him to go.

-x-

Back in the Marauders' compartment, the girls had gone. Later he found out that James and Lily had gotten into an argument which, according to all three boys, Lily started. Remus wasn't too sure about that, however he was a little glad Alice and Cassie were gone. Not that he disliked them, he just didn't want to share a small compartment with six other people at the moment.

When he went in, the other Marauders were discussing boobs. Specifically Lily, Alice, and Cassandra. Well, not really Lily. Mostly Alice and Cassandra, and there was a bit of a heated argument between Sirius and Peter which had the better chest.

Remus ducked into his seat, wishing he had stayed away for a bit longer.

"Remus," Sirius said, and Remus cringed, not wanting to get involved. "Since James is a bloody coward—"

"I am not a coward!" James argued. "I'm saying they both have nice knockers from what I can tell! I'm not going to pick one or the other!"

"Which do you say?" Sirius asked, ignoring James.

"He's just gonna say Lily," Peter said, which made Remus want to slap him.

"Evans doesn't have any tits," James said, putting a hand against his chest. "She's still as flat as me!"

Remus was burning red and shrinking as far back into the corner as he could get. "I—I—I am n-not going to discuss b-boobs!" he spluttered out. "I don't think that is a very n-nice thing to do! I've said before. It—it's inappropriate and…" He struggled to figure out the right words for what he meant. "It isn't fair to them." That definitely wasn't right. "It's not—not—not—"

"Please." Sirius flopped against the back of the seat, putting his feet up on the other seat. "They're probably discussing us right now."

"What do girls compare?" James wondered, stroking his chin. "Our cock sizes?"

Peter began choking while Sirius grinned. "Probably," he chuckled. "Though it's not as noticeable as tits."

"Except when you're looking at Cassie," Peter teased and Sirius kicked him, going red.

Remus wondered what would happen if he opened the window and threw himself out. He'd probably survive, but also probably be in a lot of trouble. Plus he'd be in the middle of nowhere with no way to contact the school.

"What do they discuss, though?" Sirius asked, leaning forward. "I mean… they've got to talk about boys, don't they?"

"Remus could probably ask Lily," Peter said.

Remus who had barely been listening in anymore went even redder, practically choking. "I am n-n-n-not asking her if they talk about—about—about—"

"Not our cocks!' James giggled. "Not that, specifically. Just in general. What they talk about. What they compare, when they talk about us."

Remus calmed down a little, feeling a little stupid. "Oh. Er. I—I don't know, I don't think she'd say." If he tried to ask her he had the feeling Alice and Cassie would overhear, and then there'd be all sorts of rumors about them again. Lily would understand Remus, however her friends would probably think he wanted to know for himself.

"They probably talk about, you know, everything," James mused. "Probably have some sort of rating thing."

"Hair, ten," Sirius said, running his fingers through his hair. "Everything else, also ten."

"What, your two categories for yourself are 'hair' and 'everything else'?!" James fell into Peter's lap, shrieking with laughter.

Then they began talking about what sort of categories girls might like, which at least was not anything about cocks. Still, Remus pushed himself even more into the corner until it hurt, and got a book out to make it clear he wasn't going to have anything to do with this conversation. He knew he was brilliantly red, and hoped they wouldn't try to drag him into the conversation.

Soon, though, they were listening to music and playing cards, eventually starting a new topic of conversation about the new teacher and what they might be like. Peter thought that maybe Dumbledore would hire a witch again, while Sirius said he didn't care who it was just as long as they treated Remus well. James then dropped the big news that he thought he heard his dad talking the previous day, and thought he heard his dad say something about the teacher being a foreigner from another school.

"Like Durmstrangs or something?" Sirius asked.

"Or, um, that school in America?" Peter asked.

James's head jerked up. "What d'you mean 'that school'?"

Peter frowned. "Yeah, um, that one school. I can't remember the name."

Remus bit his bottom lip. "Um, Peter, America has loads of schools."

"No! I mean the one in, um, the United States!" Peter protested.

"Yes, the United States has multiple schools," Remus said.

"Have you ever seen the US?" James asked before Peter could respond. "It's HUMONGOUS! I mean, HUUUUUUGE!" He spread his arms out wide. "One school for all those states? They've probably got a hundred!"

"No, it's—I think there are about two dozen big name schools," Remus corrected him, trying to remember what he knew about the wizarding world in the USA. "Then several dozen minor schools. And a lot of wizarding communities have—er… how do I explain? I mean, what I mean is one teacher in the area. Like old-fashioned schoolhouses. Then a lot of families just have… home tutors."

Peter blinked. "Oh. I've only heard of the one school." He ducked his head, looking very awkward. "I guess that makes more sense 'cause it is a big place."

Remus lowered his cards, wondering if Peter realized how big the USA was. "The UK probably only takes up the space of… two states? And there are fifty states. And I think some of the states are bigger than our entire country."

Peter looked gobsmacked. "Oh. Um. Wow. I knew it was big, but I guess I didn't realize how big."

"I wonder if the new teacher will be from America, or somewhere else," Sirius said, slapping a card down.

Remus wondered what the American views and opinions of werewolves were. Or… wherever their new teacher was from, but he has a sneaking suspicion it was America; that seemed most likely. Maybe they don't mind werewolves as much over there, he thought as he put a card down, not really paying attention to the game. Then the memory of his mother's threats and some nightmares he had filled his head, and a shudder went down his spine. His mother considering taking them to hide out in Muggle America, his nightmare of himself withering away to nothing in some hidden house. Ugh.

As the train wound its way north, the Marauders conversed about loads of different things. Pranks, girls again, food, Hogsmeade visits, music—including Sirius showing off his acquisition of Cum On Feel The Noize, a single by Slade. James didn't have his record player with him, but they agreed to listen to it as soon as they got to their dorms. Sirius, Peter, and Remus all wanted to know what James's big prank idea was, and he told them he'd tell them later ("Probably tomorrow, since we won't be able to talk privately with Spinnet and Struthers there," he explained).

As it grew late, James stripped right there in the compartment to put on his uniform, while the other three disappeared off into loos to get changed.

Then, not too long after, the train rolled into the station at Hogsmeade. There was a lot of excitement up and down the train, and Remus felt very excited himself. He and the Marauders jumped off the train as soon as it stopped, trying to get to a carriage before anyone else. They went past a group of terrified looking first years, and Sirius made a joke about Remus still being shorter than some of the first years.

They claimed one of the carriages for themselves, not that anyone wanted to join them. Since the weather was nice, the carriages were open which gave James and Remus a good view of the creepy-looking thestral that clip-clopped the carriage towards Hogwarts. It also gave all four of them a great view of the castle, as they passed through the forest.

Remus's heart swelled a little when he saw Hogwarts again.

Home, he thought, feeling happier than he had for most of the summer.