Chapter Text
The summer had been warm and full of days down by the river with his sister and sometimes at the farm with his mum. Remus’ last transformation had left him on the couch and later in his bed for longer than usual though, as if the wolf knew what was coming. Today is September first. Remus woke jittery and nervous and had checked his room once again to make sure he hadn’t forgotten to pack anything. He had tripled checked last night but you never can be too careful. After eating an early breakfast all four of the Lupins made the journey to London, taking the floo into Diagon Alley first and then a cab to the train station. The station was full of people bustling around trying not to miss their train or forget their luggage.
“Okay over this way, everyone remember what I told you about the platform yes?” Lyall was talking quickly and seemed somewhat nervous. “Just straight between 9 and 10, don’t pause in the middle and move over to the side once your through.”
Lyall helped Remus push his trolly through the barrier, standing behind him and pushing the handle. Hope and Erin quickly walked through after, Hope’s eyes squeezed shut, Erin laughing giddily.
Once through the Lupins moved over into a free corner and took in their surroundings. The great big crimson steam engine, the platform packed with families, a few loose toads and rats hopping or scurrying away from their owners desperately trying to get them back. Suddenly Remus could feel his mother arms tightly wrapped around him, he could hear her sniffling and felt a tear drop onto his neck.
“Oh cariad, I’m going to miss you so much.” She whispered into his ear. After a very long hug she let him go and brushed his hair from his eyes fondly. “I love you. Be safe this year and make friends.”
Next Erin was squeezing him as tightly as her little arms could manage, only able to reach just above his stomach. Remus hugged her back tightly, knowing he was going to miss her the most. “You stay out of trouble while I’m gone okay. I can’t take the blame when I’m not even in the house.” Remus told her with a smirk. Erin just nodded and gave him one more squeeze.
Lyall was just returning from loading Remus’ trunk on the train. Remus was very surprised when Lyall reached out and wrapped Remus in a hug as well. Remus knows his dad loves him, he just doesn’t usually show it, especially not so physically. Lyall bent down and kissed the top of Remus’ head and ruffled his hair, coughing gruffly. “You have a good term. We’ll see you for Christmas. Make sure you write to us often okay, let me know how your studies are going. If you have any trouble with concepts I can always help, especially defense.”
“Thanks dad.” Remus looked at each of his family members in term and smiled at them all, doing his best to hold in the tears he felt when looking at Hope’s red eyes. The warning whistle sounded from the train behind him. “I guess I should probably get on then.”
Hope gave Remus one last quick hug and kiss before ushering him away onto the train. He climbed up the steps and turned to wave before heading off to find a compartment.
Most of the compartments already had lots of noisy kids in them and Remus really didn’t want to ask to sit with them. He was almost at the very back when he spotted a compartment with just one small blond boy and Remus decided that it probably wouldn’t get better than this so he opened the door and stuck his head in, startling the boy who was looking out the window.
“Hello, do you mind if I sit here? Everywhere is full.” Remus asked hopefully.
The blond boy perked up and smiled to Remus, nodding and gesturing for him to sit. “I’m Peter, Peter Pettigrew. You a first year too?” The boy, Peter, asked once Remus had sat.
“Yes, it’s nice to meet you, my name is Remus Lupin.” Remus said, feeling a lot better knowing Peter was also a first year. “Can you see your family?” Remus asked since Peter was waving out the window.
“Yeah my mum’s just out there, she won’t leave till the train pulls out.” Peter said, his cheeks reddening a little.
“My family is staying too but we were over by the other end of the train when we got on. Maybe I’ll see them when we leave.” Remus supplied, trying to make Peter less embarrassed about his mother. The train let out another whistle before starting up and moving out of the station. “Guess we’re off.”
Remus did see his family as they left, all waiting to wave at him once they saw him, his mother still crying and Erin jumping up and down to wave. Remus laughed at this and waved to them until they were out of site.
“Was that your sister?” Peter asked.
“Yeah, Erin. She’s six.” Remus replied fondly.
“I always wanted a younger sibling. I only have my older brother and he’s already finished Hogwarts.” Peter said disappointedly.
Peter and Remus didn’t talk too much on the train, they talked about the different houses, what they were excited to learn, how cool it was to live in a castle, where they were from. Peter tried to bring up quidditch but Remus never really followed it, his father not interested in the sport. Remus then tried mentioning football and Peter looked at him with a bit of understanding, “Oh you’re not a pureblood are you?” He said.
“Um, no. My mum’s a muggle. That doesn’t matter though, I’m going to Hogwarts because I have magic, my parents magical status doesn’t matter.” Lyall had warned him that something like this might happen in private a few nights ago. He didn’t want Hope to know, and neither did Remus, that some witches and wizards thought something as stupid as blood status mattered. Lyall didn’t explain it in detail, just that some purebloods thought their magic was stronger because they had two magical parents.
“No, no of course not, I don’t care about that stuff at all, I just meant the muggle clothes and not knowing much about quidditch. It really doesn’t matter to me, it just makes more sense now.” Peter rushed out when he realized his mistake.
“Alright.” Remus said hesitantly.
Then the trolly witch came by with sweets and Peter jumped up. “You getting anything?” He asked.
“No I’m good, my mum packed me food.” Remus replied, digging his sandwich from his bag. Peter turned up his nose slightly at the sight of it and went to buy his sweets. Remus was a little offended until Peter returned and dumped a pile of sweets onto Remus’ lap.
“We’re going to Hogwarts, we have to celebrate in some way.” Peter supplied to Remus’ questioning stare. At this Remus smiled and began eating the sweets with Peter.
After hours of riding the train an older student came by their carriage to tell them to put their robes on since they were nearing the castle. The two boys quickly dug their robes out of their bags and threw them on over their clothing before the train began slowing down and pulling into the station. Remus and Peter collected their things and hurried off the train with all the other students. Off to the side there was a massive man calling out for the first years so they headed over to him with all the other short soon to be Hogwarts students.
“Righ’ firs years, I am Rubeus Hagrid and I’ll be takin you up to the castle. In the boats we get, four to a boat. Do not, and I repeat, do not rock the boats. There is a big ol’ squid in there tha you don’t wan te mess with.” Hagrid instructed. Obviously the end part was a mistake because two black haired boys hurried right into the boats looking to the lake excitedly. They would definitely be rocking the boat. Remus decided to lead him and Peter as far away from those two as possible They climbed into a boat with a kind eyed red haired girl and a solemn looking black haired boy with a hooked nose. On the boat ride Remus discovered their names to be Lily and Severus and that they grew up in the same little town named Coke worth.
“Where are you from Remus, you have a different accent.” Lily asked curiously.
“Oh I’m from a little village in the South of Wales.” Remus explained. They all continued to talk until their boat rounded the corner and they all fell quiet. The castle was looming big and bright on the cliff side in front of them. It was light up from inside and was so much bigger than Remus had imagined. No word other than ‘magic’ could explain the breathless feeling he got from looking at Hogwarts with its light reflecting off the surface of the lake.
They weren’t the only ones to go quiet, every single first year was starring up in awe at the castle, even the two rowdy boys who had, in fact, managed to tip their boat and were fished out by a disgruntled looking Hagrid.
Their boats pulled into the docks by the castle and they all clambered out and made their way into the castle, the two black haired robes dripping water, Severus looking back in disgust and whispering something into Lily’s ear. There was a stern looking witch standing in front of the first years now. She went to begin speaking until she saw the two wet boys and looked at them in slight annoyance before drying them off with her wand. Some of the kids let out sounds of excitement at the display of magic while others rolled their eyes at their reaction. After giving the two now dry boys a stern look she began to speak in a thick Scottish accent.
“Welcome to Hogwarts, first years. I am professor McGonagall and I am the school’s transfiguration teacher as well as the head of Gryffindor house.” At this one of the black-haired boys, the one with glasses, inhaled sharply. “McGonagall seemed to not notice or care and continued on, adjusting her glasses. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a tight bun and her eyebrows were sharp while she looked at all the first years. “We will be walking through those doors once the beginning of the welcoming ceremony has finished and you will start the sorting ceremony. I will be in there calling out your names one at a time in alphabetical order and you will come up to the front and sit on a stool. I will then place the sorting hat on your head and it will announce your house. You will then make your way over to your new house table and sit there to watch all the others be sorted. Any questions?”
No one dared ask her any questions or clarifications after her speech. Professor McGonagall nodded once and turned to open the doors and lead the first years into the great hall. It was incredible. Remus had read Hogwarts, A History cover to cover before coming to school and he knew the ceiling was just enchanted to look this way, but it still took his breath away and he couldn’t take his eyes off of it. Above he could see the Milky Way cutting the ceiling in half and on each side of it were scattered constellations and above he could see the waxing moon. Just below the ceiling were hundreds of floating wax candles and beneath those were four long tables filled with students and one up at the front for teachers.
All of the first years crowded together in front of Professor McGonagall as she began to unroll a long sheet of parchment. As she went through her roll call and a few kids were sorted the hall was respectfully quiet, the tables erupting in polite cheers for a first year being sorted to them. When she got to one “Black, Sirius” most of the hall broke out in whispers and Remus saw some teachers give each other meaningful looks. Sirius was one of he boys from the boat incident, the one without glasses. He strode confidently to the stool despite all the whispering about him. He held his chin up high and looked out defiantly at the students who quickly quieted down. He was much more intimidating than any eleven year old rightfully should be, Remus thought.
The hat was placed on his head and Remus could see some blond girl over at the green and silver section, Slytherin, standing up to get a better look. The hat took a full minuet of Sirius’ head before yelling out “GRYFFINDOR” and the hall was dead quiet.
McGonagall slowly lifted the hat from Sirius’ head and there was a look of fear in his eyes that he quickly hid as he determinedly didn’t look at the Slytherin table. Then from the group of first years the black-haired boy with glasses yelled out “YES SIRIUS! LET’S GO MATE!” and that’s when the Gryffindor table erupted. It was thunderous how loud they were and a smile broke out across Sirius’ face as he ran over to his new house table.
Remus was confused on the bigger display for this boy, not totally understanding why so many were acting different about this boy than all the other kids. Remus remembered his dad telling him something about entire families being in one house and assumed Sirius’ family were mainly Slytherin. Remus didn’t realize how long he had been thinking out the black-haired boy until his name was called out and he tripped up to front and sat on the stool.
The hat began speaking into Remus head, startling him, “oh interesting very interesting indeed. You have a lovely mind Lupin, yes you do. A love of reading and knowledge for sure but there’s something else yes. I see so much loyalty in you for the ones you love not to mention the bravery of even coming here with what you are, yes I know that you’re not entirely human Lupin. Oh, don’t worry I won’t tell, still it takes courage to come to a school full of wizards and witches knowing how so many view you. Yes, yes I believe I know where you’ll do best, it must be GRYFFINDOR” The last word was yelled aloud and the hat was removed from his head. Remus was slightly shaken by the hats words but the Gryffindor table was cheering and McGonagall was getting ready to call out the next name so he made his way over to the red and gold table, sitting down next to Peter and across from Lily who had both been sorted there as well.
The sorting continued and the black-haired boy with the glasses, James, ended up in Gryffindor as well. There was a total of nine Gryffindor first years, five girls and four boys. They all ate together at the end of the able when the feast started, James and Sirius sat beside each other causing a racket, Lily looking at them disapprovingly along with the other first year girls. Once the food disappeared, the prefects stood to lead them up to the Gryffindor common room. They had to climb all the way up to the seventh floor, taking turns down hallways and having to choose different staircases when the ones they were about to get o decided to change directions. His dad also warned him about that. By the time they finally made it up to the tower they were stood in front of a portrait of a plump woman desperately trying to break a glass with her voice, Peter was out of breath and all Remus could think about was how on earth he was expected to remember his way back here.
The prefects turned to face the first years and explained how the password and portrait worked, telling them the password was ‘Baneberry’ and if they forgot it they’d be locked out. They led the nine first years into the common room and the first word that came to mind was ‘cozy’ to Remus. There was a fire blazing in the fireplace surrounded by big comfy looking armchairs and couches. The whole room was red and gold and the windows overlooked the aces of land surrounding the castle. The girl prefect who’s name Remus missed led the girls over to the left up to their dorm while the other prefect, Spencer Willak, Remus got his name, led them to the right. The four boys were taken up to the very top of the tower and were ushered into their room with four poster beds. Spencer left them there when he knew they were fine and headed off to whatever older students do.
“Right lads, no one minds if I claim this one?” James asked, bounding over to the bed next to the window by the door. No one objected and they all walked over to the remaining beds, Sirius taking the one by the other side of the door, Peter’s beside James’ and Remus by the other window.
James and Sirius immediately got into a conversation again, this time about quidditch and Peter tried his best to jump in as well while Remus busied himself with unpacking his trunk. “What’s your favourite team Remus?” James asked kindly, light reflecting off his glasses, his hair an absolute mess.
“Oh he doesn’t follow quidditch, he’s more into football!” Peter tried supplying helpfully.
Sirius scoffed from his bed, “Football? Is that some muggle game?” Sirius had a posh accent that Remus could not take seriously. He didn’t know people other than the Queen herself talked like that. Remus just nodded in response.
“Oh cool, well what’s your favourite team-“ James started with actual interest, but Sirius cut him off.
“So what you’re a half breed then?” He asked bluntly. The room was silent. James was starring at Sirius is disbelief and Peter was looking between all three boys to see what would happen. James began to tell Sirius off before Remus came over in front of Sirius.
“Halfblood. It’s halfblood, and yes I am. There’s no issue with that, there’s no reason for you to be a dickhead just because you think you’re better than everyone else.” Remus said in his face before storming off out of the room.
Remus could hear James begin telling Sirius off as soon as Remus left and Peter came hurrying out the door to follow Remus down to the common room. “I didn’t know you swore!” Better called from behind Remus.
“Yeah well sometimes dickheads need to be put in their place, so I did.” Remus said plopping himself in an open chair, most of the common room was empty, all the students unpacking and getting ready for their first day tomorrow.
“Right, yeah. He was being mean, blood status isn’t a big deal.” Peter said quietly from his chair.
Remus didn’t respond. He knew his dad had warned him about something like this but he didn’t think it would happen the very first night and not with someone he had to spend the rest of his seven years here. Peter tried starting a conversation a few more times but knew it was pointless and remained in silence but never left Remus’ side. Some time later James made his way down the stairs into the common room and walked over the Remus.
“He wants to apologize.” James said simply. Remus couldn’t read the expression on his face and this made him wonder if he should bother going up to the dorm at all.
“Alright.” Remus sighed after some time and stood from his chair, heading to their room. When Remus opened the door Sirius was sat on his bed, looking down at his hands in his lap. When he heard Remus come in he looked up and stared.
“So.” Remus said after Sirius remained silent. If this kid was just going to sit here and not talk then Remus was just going to go to bed.
Remus began to head to his side of the room but Sirius said quickly, “Wait, I’m sorry if what I said offended you.”
This just annoyed Remus more. “What do you mean you’re sorry if it offended me? What kind of shit apology is that.” He spat back. Remus was usually able to keep his temper very controlled but this Sirius kid was just getting on his nerves.
“Right, you’re right. I’m sorry I called you a halfbreed. I didn’t know that was a bad word, I didn’t know halfblood is the correct word. My family has only ever used the word halfbreed. I’m sorry that I said it to you. James explained why it was wrong.” Sirius said almost painfully, as if he doesn’t have to give apologies very often.
Remus decided to just take pity on him, mainly because he was tired and wanted to get up early tomorrow, and said, “Alright, you’re forgiven just don’t call me that again.”
Sirius smiled then and slyly said, “So you swear an awful lot don’t you?” trying to change the topic.
“Goodnight, Sirius.” Remus said shortly, grabbing his pyjamas to change into in the washroom and then heading to bed, closing the curtains around himself.
Remus could hear a huff from Sirius and then a knock at the door. James and Peter entering again now that they were finished. Remus could hear Sirius explaining what had happened with James and James telling him he was out of line earlier and should just wait it out till Remus came round. Some time later Remus could hear the other three boys even breathing one they had all fallen asleep. Peter was snoring to his left and Sirius was tossing around every once and a while. Remus forced himself to stop thinking and just fall asleep. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day and Remus promised his dad he would do his best in school. He had to.