New chapter everybody! And it's a long one too! Enjoy!

Chapter 14 - Homecoming

Remus placed the three books onto the pile, and quickly closed the trunk. His friends were almost finished packing their last items.

The Hogwarts express was to leave in a few hours, and Remus and his friends would soon be going home for the Holidays.

James and Peter were chattering happily like a bunch of starlings, placing the last items into their trunks.

Meanwhile Sirius was packing slower than his two companions, a miserable look spread across his thin face. Remus couldn't help but wonder what his friend's home life was like, and he couldn't help feeling bad for his mysterious ally.

"Hey," Remus began, and Sirius looked up gloomily, "Excited to go home for the Holidays?" Remus had to admit, he was really excited to see his parents for the first time in months. I can't wait to tell them about school, Remus thought happily.

"I guess so…" Sirius shuffled his feet, avoiding eye contact.

"Aren't you excited to see your brother?"

"Maybe…"

"Come on, he's your brother! And your parents will be happy to see you too!"

"Sure…" Sirius said sarcastically, and James glared at him from the side of his eyes, casting Remus a confused look. Remus just shrugged and closed his trunk quickly.

"Come on lad," James said, shoving Sirius a bit who just grumbled. "Let's go!"

The four friends quickly made sure they had packed everything, and then left, pulling their quite heavy trunks behind them.

Suddenly, Remus realized that he had forgotten to get his parents something for Christmas… I should've gotten them something from school! Remus thought.

"You ok?" Peter squeaked behind Remus and he jumped.

"Oh yeah, fine," Remus smiled, following his friends out the door, and into the snow filled school grounds.

"Hey! Maybe we could meet up over break!" Peter suggested, excitement gleaming like a Puffapod plant.

"Maybe!" James smiled, clearly excited to go home, "Though my Holidays are going to be quite busy!"

James immediately launched into an explanation of what he was planning to do; his relatives were going to visit, he was going to have an extensive family meal, and he was going to ride on his father's broom.

"Sounds fun!" Remus explained, suddenly aware of how bland his holidays were going to be compared to James'. "Right Sirius?" but Sirius just looked at the ground, and he looked quite worried…

Eventually, they got to the train, and they all climbed on. Surprisingly, they were one of the first to board it.

James led them to a compartment in the back, and he closed it once Remus, Sirius, and Peter, got inside.

"Remember when we first sat on the express!" James exclaimed, looking around the compartment as though it were the greatest thing he had ever set his eyes on.

"Yeah, I remember…" Remus whispered, and he remembered that his ride to Hogwarts was full of fear, fear about being discovered, and fear of whether he was doing the right thing going to school…

Remus looked through the glass door to the compartment and saw Kingsley staring at Remus with a look of hurt on his face, and he quickly hurried away.

"What's his problem…" Sirius grumbled, staring at the door, "You stopped hanging out with him forever ago…"

"Maybe he feels betrayed…" Peter whispered, and Remus nodded slowly. He wasn't aware that Kingsley felt sad about Remus hanging out with his new friends. Maybe if I paid more attention I would have noticed, Remus thought guiltily, looking away. I'll make more of an effort to notice him, Remus vowed.

"Remus!" Remus heard a voice call and he turned to see James staring at him "Did you hear my question?" I must have blanked out for a second, Remus thought.

"Oh… Sorry, say it again," Remus said, embrasement rising in him.

"I said where do you live?" James repeated, and he didn't seem annoyed. At least, Remus thought thankfully.

"Oh." said Remus, "Quite far from here, I live near ." Remus only then realized how small his living space was. It's because of me, Remus thought sadly, realizing that a lot of his parent's money went to his medicines…

Suddenly, a familiar ringing noise sounded in the hall of the train, and a kind looking woman opened the door of the compartment.

"Anything off the trolley dears?" she asked, gesturing towards the mounds of sweets treats, piled on the trolley.

"Ooo!" exclaimed James, jumping from his seat, "It's on me guys!" he said, taking out a large handful of coins from his pocket. Remus blinked at him gratefully, eyeing his own small mound of coins.

James handed the nice lady several coins, and in return, he was given a large stack of many different kinds of treats.

He set them down on one of the seats and gestured towards them, "Dig in!" Remus' mouth began to water as he stared at the array of sweets. There were creamy, sweet, cauldron cakes. And savory chocolate frogs which Remus quickly grabbed.

Remus began opening the package, but stopped when he saw Sirius looking gloomily out the window, not taking any notice of what his friends were doing.

"Come on Sirius," Remus said gently, shoving a Cauldron cake towards him, "Have this, trust me, it's good."

Sirius eyed it grumbling, but after a few seconds he grabbed it, and out of a piece of it to his mouth, suddenly his once tight and mad face loosened up and became one more of pleasure.

"Is it good?" Remus smiled, and he noticed a slight smile forming at the edges of Sirius' mouth. Suddenly, he began choking down the cake as though he hadn't eaten for weeks.

"Slow down!" Remus exclaimed and about a second later, Sirius had licked the entire thing clean, and there wasn't even a crumb left.

"Ew!" Remus heard someone shriek and he darted his attention to James, who had pulled something small from his mouth. Probably one of the beans, Remus thought, noticing Bertie Bott's every Flavored Beans grasped between his fingers.

"What flavor did you get?" Peter questioned.

"Ugh, how am I supposed to know?!" exclaimed James and everyone began laughing, eventually, even Sirius.

Remus grabbed a chocolate frog package and began peeling away the wrapping, excited to finally get his mouth on some chocolate.

He opened the package, revealing the card. It was Newt Scamander, a famous Magizooligist. My Mum should like this, Remus thought, and slipped it into his pocket.

"Hey! Watch it!" Sirius exclaimed and Remus noticed the chocolate frog squeezing out of the box, and it suddenly jumped.

"Catch it!" Peter yelled, and a second later, the four of them were bouncing off the walls, trying to catch the frog.

"It's in my hair!" Sirius screeched, and he was frantically hitting his long hair, in a desperate attempt to get it out.

"Here, let me-" Remus was cut off when it suddenly jumped. Remus dove towards it, and luckily, was able to catch it.

"Nice one!" James beamed, sitting back down, and busying himself in some Pumpkin Pasties. Remus and his friends were now laughing, and it took a while for them to finally stop.

The ride back was enjoyable. Remus and his friends ate the rest of the sweets (which resulted in Peter getting a pretty bad stomach ache), they played a couple games of Wizard's Chess, and they talked about what they were going to do over break.

Finally, after a few hours, the train slowly stopped, and Remus heard the excited chatter of the kids who were soon to be reunited with their parents.

"That was fun!" James smiled, gathering his satchel, and picking up his luggage, "But I'm so excited to get home!"

Remus helped Sirius gather his stuff, and the four of them walked out the door, and Peter right away ran off, running into the arms of his parents.

James looked around and suddenly smiled, "See you in a few weeks!" he exclaimed, waving goodbye and he ran to his parents, who greeted him with welcoming faces.

"Where are your parents?" Remus asked gently, also looking around for him, but he couldn't see them anywhere in the crowd.

Sirius just grunted in acknowledgement and his eyes suddenly widened, and Remus right away knew that he had spotted his parents. They were giving him a cold look and Sirius; with a quick nod to Remus, hurried away. His parents were both tall figures, and both were standing extremely straight. Sirius' mother has her black hair fixed in a rather strange looking bun atop her head, and her hands were displayed on her stomach. Meanwhile Sirius' father was a slender man, with a small mustache, and really short hair, his arms were behind his back, and he stayed expressionless and Sirius approached him. It took Remus a moment to realize that there was a third person, who very much resembled Sirius, just a bit shorter, and with more expensive attire on.

That's probably Regulus, Remus thought, and Sirius greeted his brother, who returned it quickly. And after that, the four of them were off. Right before the four of them were completely out of sight, Sirius quickly turned his head and Remus just waved.

Suddenly, Remus heard quick footsteps, and he turned to see his parents rushing towards him, a smile on their faces.

"Mum! Dad!" he exclaimed, and he hugged them tightly. "It's so good to see you!"

"Sorry we were late," Remus' Mother panted, "There was a lot of traffic, you wouldn't believe it…"

Remus just nodded, and hugged his parents even tighter.

"Come on," Remus' dad said, putting a hand on Remus' shoulder, and then they all began walking towards his Mom's car.

Remus threw his satchel and his bag into the trunk and he buckled up, eager to go home, and spend the Holidays with his parents.

"So honey," Remus' Mum began sweetly, "How was school? I bet you made a lot of friends."

Remus had been waiting to tell his parents all about his friends, and how much he had learned at school, he didn't know where to begin. "Oh! Well I have a few friends, there's Kingsley whom I met on the express… Then there's James who loves Qudich."

Remus remembered how his dad used to give his Mum old Qudich magazines and she became quite amazed by the whole concept, but Remus didn't really know what Qudich was at the time, so he didn't understand all the craze.

"Well maybe you could give him those Quidditch magazines," Remus' Dad suggested, and Remus realized that was a good idea. Maybe I could mail them to him for Christmas? Remus thought.

"So who are your other friends?" Remus' Mum asked.

"Okay, so then there's Peter, and he's really nice. And then Sirius who is really fun, and also a really good friend."

"They sound like nice people," Remus' mother pointed out, smiling, "Maybe we could invite them over sometime?"

"I'd like that!" Remus beamed.

"You didn't tell them about… You know…" Remus' dad questioned, clearly struggling to say what he wanted to say, though Remus knew what he meant. Remus' father had always been quite uncomfortable with the subject of werewolves, and especially around the full moon he'd seem rather strange.

"Of course not," Remus reassured, remembering what happened when he was younger. He had become close to two boys named Theo and Noah, and Remus thought it would be ok to tell them about his true identity, but that didn't end up well… They insulted Remus, and even managed to hurt him with a sharp stick they had found. After that Remus vowed to never tell anyone about his secret ever again.

"Good," Remus' dad said firmly, nodding.

"What did you learn? You can do magic now, right?" Remus' Mum began, clearly trying to change the subject.

"Oh! I learned a lot!" Remus exclaimed, only then realizing how much he had learned at his time at Hogwarts, "Well, I can levitate some objects… I can also turn stuff like buttons into insects…"

Remus' Mother looked at him warmly, pride for her son shining in her amber gaze.

"How were full Moons?" Remus' Dad asked, "Did Madame Pomfrey treat you well? Did you transform away from everyone?" Remus noticed his mother glazing at his father, but she said nothing.

"Madam Pomfreys is really good to me," Remus responded, "And where I transform is good, it's big and it looks nice." Well it did look nice, Remus thought, before I destroyed it…

For a portion of the car ride, Remus explained more about Hogwarts, talking more about his classes, and about what he and his friends did. His parents listened with great enthusiasm, occasionally commenting, or smiling.

Eventually, after a few hours of driving, they arrived home. Remus opened the door to the car, collecting his things, and walking to the door, where his Mom slid a key into the hole, twisting it quickly.

Remus walked inside, looking around. Nothing had changed. The pictures were still on the mantle on top of the fireplace, and his Mom' favorite chair waswhere it had always been.

"I'll begin fixing up some dinner," Remus' Mother said, and Remus' dad looked at her gratefully, taking off his coat and hanging it up.

"I'm going to change," said Remus, and he hurried upstairs into his small room. He looked around, it wasn't much, but it was quite cozy.

Remus changed quickly, trying to avoid looking at the scars on his body. The only person who could look at them without disgust or fear was his mother, who had always told Remus he was beautiful no matter what, meanwhile his father looked a bit uncomfortable when Remus' scars were exposed.

For dinner, Remus and his parents ate some mashed potatoes, and they each helped themselves to a small slice of cottage pie. No one talked much, and Remus suspected his parents were tired, but he had to admit, he was quite tired as well.

After dinner, Remus went to take a quick shower and brush his teeth.

Remus' dad walked into the bathroom and Remus greeted him with a polite nod, not daring to speak with toothpaste in his mouth as he was told it was impolite.

"Off to bed," he said and Remus spit the toothpaste into the sink, wiping his mouth with his sleeve, and nodded.

"Yeah I think we're all tired," Remus said, washing his hands.

"I'm probably not going to be here tomorrow when you wake up," Remus' father began, "I have to be at work early."

Remus just nodded, quickly hugging his father before bed, but was surprised to see that his father didn't return the hug and just stared ahead.

"Goodnight," Remus said, and when no response came, he quickly hurried to his room, adjusting his blanket, and turning the lights off.

Remus' last thoughts before sleep overcame were thoughts about his father, he couldn't help but feel slightly betrayed by the way he behaved…

After note : I hope you guys liked the chapter! Yes I know it was long, and I didn't intend it for it to be this long but well, here we are! Also for those saying, "Why doesn't Lyall love Remus", well, I'm not going to spoil it, but yeah, you'll find out later on in the story! Anyways, it's the weekend, and I don't have much homework so that means a possibility of a new chapter soon! Have a great day peeps!