Chapter Text
Remus couldn’t get rid of the butterflies in his stomach as he stepped off the train, his three best friends right behind him. The last time he’d felt this nervous was three years ago, the first time he’d boarded the train.
It’s only for two weeks, he told himself.
“What do they look like again?” asked James.
“Knowing what they look like wouldn’t do you any good, Prongs.” said Sirius. “You’re blind as a bat.”
“Not all bats are blind.” Peter pointed out, but Sirius and James didn’t hear him as they shoved each other back and forth.
“Remus!”
They all turned to the woman’s voice. Remus smiled at the sight of his Muggle mother, a kind-hearted woman with soft brown hair and eyes, and and led his friends to her.
“Hi, Mum!” said Remus.
“Hello, love.” she replied. “Are these the friends you’ve invited for the summer?”
“Yeah, this is Sirius, James, and Peter.” Remus motioned to each one as he said their names. They waved in return.
“Thank you for having us over, Mrs. Lupin.” said Sirius politely, very much out of character, but Remus appreciated the respect Sirius showed his mother.
“Aren’t you sweet?” said Mrs. Lupin. “Remy is so lucky to have friends like you.” She turned towards the entrance of the platform. “Come along then. My husband left a teleporting shoe at my sister’s house that will take us to our home. It’s about a twenty minute walk.”
“A what?” asked Sirius.
“A portkey.” said Remus.
“Yes, that.” said Mrs. Lupin nonchalantly. She walked through the barrier and they followed.
“Mum?” asked Remus quietly as they left King’s Cross Station.
“Yes, love?”
“Why wasn’t Papa here?”
Hope Lupin’s face darkened again. “You know I don’t understand the politics of your world very well - goodness knows I hardly understand my own - but he’s at another meeting about werewolf rights. No one wants to take him seriously because…”
“Because of me?” asked Remus.
His mother didn’t answer him. “All you need to know, love, is that your father is doing everything in his power to give you a better life.”
Remus knew not to question her further. She was a very patient and loving woman, but she always made it very clear when she did not want to talk about something.
The heat from the sun made the normally pleasant walk stifling. They finally stopped in front of a cute little house in a suburb. Mrs. Lupin unlocked the door and led the four sweating boys inside.
“Now where did he put it?” She looked around before noticing a worn red stiletto next to the front door. “Here it is.” She held it up. “My sister lost the other one years ago. We’ve been using this one to go back and forth between London and Crescent Valley for years. Lyall loves to travel via portkey.”
Suddenly the shoe began to glow and she ushered them all forward. They all grabbed hold before the magic activated.
They reappeared in a forest, where they could hear the roar of a waterfall nearby.
“I hope you all brought your swim costumes!” said Hope, leading the way towards the waterfall. When the magnificent Crescent Falls came into sight, Hope opened her large purse and pulled out an umbrella. She opened it and walked through the shallow water and straight through the waterfall.
“You never told us about this!” shouted Sirius over the roar.
“What?” James shouted back.
Remus rolled his eyes and pulled out his own umbrella as well as an extra, both big enough for two people, although their trunks would be wet.
They finally made it through the falls and the cave, emerging on the other side inside Crescent Valley. Mrs. Lupin was waiting, with a very amused smile, underneath the Weeping Willow trees, where Remus’ friends were surprised to find the noise of the waterfall gone.
“Just the magic of this place.” Mrs. Lupin explained vaguely. She set off down the path, swinging her umbrella and reminding Remus of Mary Poppins.
James, Sirius, and Peter were thrilled at the sight of Crystal Cottage. Although they were all purebloods, it was one of the most magical places they’d ever seen, second only to Hogwarts and Diagon Alley, in their opinion. Inside, Mrs. Lupin had Remus take them upstairs to his bedroom and the guest bedroom.
“Just be quiet, though. Ruby is reading in her room.” she warned.
“That’s my grandmother.” Remus whispered. “She’s been staying with us and she likes quiet when she’s reading, which she always does at this time of day.”
They helped lug each other’s trunks up the stairs and stowed them in the bedrooms. Sirius was staying with Remus while Peter and James shared the guest bedroom. Remus thought it best to separate James and Sirius. They washed up in the loo downstairs.
By the time they returned to the sitting room, Lyall Lupin had returned home. Remus, despite being fourteen years old, nearly jumped into his father’s arms.
Lyall laughed. “Remy! Welcome home.”
“Papa! These are my friends.” He introduced them by name.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Lupin.” said James politely, obviously trying to outshine Sirius in the manners department.
“And you, too.” Said Lyall. “Are you all settled in?”
“We just got home.” said Hope. “They can unpack after supper. Remy, go upstairs and tell Ruby that supper is ready.”
Remus obliged.
He knocked on his grandmother’s door.
“Come in.” said an elderly voice.
“Nan? Mum says supper is ready.” Remus said, opening the door and peaking in.
Ruby Lupin looked up from her book and rocking chair.
“Remus? When did you get home?” she asked.
“Not twenty minutes ago. I’m sorry I didn’t greet you. I didn’t want to interrupt your reading time.”
“Nonsense.” She closed her book and stood up, giving him a hug. “My little grandson is always welcome to see me.”
Remus smiled and followed her downstairs. “My friends are here, too.”
“Oh, lovely. I’ve been anxious to meet them.” said Nan. “You’ve told me so much about them in your letters I feel as though I know them.”
They entered the kitchen then and Nan studied the three boys who were helping Mrs. Lupin bring food to the table.
“Ah, yes.” said Nan. “You must be James.” She pointed to the spectacled boy. “And you’re Sirius and you’re Peter.” She said confidently.
“And you’re Mr. Lupin’s mother, right?” Sirius asked. “How did you know our names?”
“Oh, Remus writes me all the time. I’ve heard quite a bit about you lot and your adventures.” said Nan, sitting down at the head of the table.
“Adventures?” James asked nervously.
Nan chuckled and gave them a mischievous grin. “This looks delicious, Hope. I do wish I could cook using a stove, but I never quite mastered the Muggle way, even after I married Lyall’s father.”
“Why don’t you make breakfast with me tomorrow?” offered Hope. “I can show you how to make hot cakes.”
“I’d love to.” The old woman accepted. “Now, Remy, tell us about your last month of school. How did your exams go?”
“Boys! Breakfast is ready!” Hope Lupin called upstairs.
Remus and Sirius rolled out of bed reluctantly. They’d been up very late talking to Nan, who apparently didn’t need as much sleep as most old people. James and Peter stumbled down the stairs behind them.
They greeted Mrs. Lupin and gratefully sat down at the prepared table. Mr. Lupin was gone to work already but Nan was there, already making her plate.
“What’s this?” asked Sirius, picking up a slice of bread from a stack that looked as though it had been burnt on both sides.
“Toast.” said Mrs. Lupin. “You can spread some jam or butter on it. It’s very good.”
Sirius, James, and Peter all tried it, and were surprised at how good it was. They each ate three slices, almost forgetting about the hotcakes, bacon and other foods the Lupin women had made.
After breakfast, Remus and his friends explored the valley, which was enclosed on all four sides, the only exit being the cave behind the waterfall. He showed them the clearing where his father had taught him to ride a broomstick and the four friends began a game of Quidditch (James and Peter versus Remus and Sirius).
The following days seemed to fly by. Remus didn’t know why he’d been so nervous about his friends visiting his house. His family adored them and his friends seemed to feel the same towards them. They also loved the cottage and the valley. They did, however, tease him about his nickname, Remy, but he didn’t mind.
Of course, toast became a regular on the morning menu. His father had already made three trips to London to buy more bread because Remus’ friends liked it so much. The Lupins found it amusing and gladly made toast every morning for them.
A week after they’d arrived, Remus’ parents and grandmother were getting ready to visit family.
“You sure you’ll be alright on your own?” asked Lyall. He’d learned very quickly that Remus’ three friends were… energetic, to put it nicely.
“Papa, I’ve lived with them for three years. I can handle it.” Remus assured him.
Lyall smiled at his son, “We’ll be back late. You’ll probably have to make dinner for yourselves. And I’ve left your wand on the coffee table for emergencies only.” And then he and his wife and mother left, making their way towards the waterfall, where they would Apparate away (his father would take his mother in Side-Along Apparition).
“Hey, Rem!” greeted Sirius as he, James, and Peter entered the room. “Where’d your parents go?”
“To visit family.” Remus said. “They’ll be back tonight but we’ll be making our own dinner.”
His friends glanced nervously at the Muggle appliances in the kitchen and Remus sighed. “I’ll be making dinner. You lot can set the table.”
They spent the day playing Quidditch in the clearing nearby, and when they finally returned to the house, it was time to start cooking.
“I’ve got to get some ingredients from the garden.” said Remus. “Peter, will you help me?”
“Of course!” said Peter, whose favorite subject was Herbology.
“What about us?” asked James.
“You two need a bath.” said Remus. “You stink.”
“Oi! That’s rude.” said Sirius, pouting.
“But true!” called Remus as he and Peter left through the back door.
Sirius was about to head upstairs to do as Remus had told him when he saw James’ I-have-a-brilliant-but-possibly-stupid-idea face.
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
“Remus said we’re in charge of our own dinner tonight, right?” asked James.
“Actually he corrected himself. He’s making dinner.” said Sirius.
“But Remus shouldn’t have to do it all on his own just because we’re a couple of incompetent pansies.”
Sirius grimaced at being called a pansy. “Where are you going with this?”
“We should make toast!” cried James.
“Toast?”
“Yeah, Nan said it was easy. Even she knows how to do it.” said James. “We’re geniuses. We can figure it out.”
Sirius sighed. “I don’t even remember how she said to do it.”
James smirked. “All we have to do is slip them into the toaster, set it for two and a half minutes and they’ll pop out when their done!”
“Alright, genius.” Sirius said. “Then which of these Muggle machines is the toaster?”
This had James momentarily stumped. “Well, I’ve seen Mrs. Lupin cooking a few times and she uses this.”
He pointed to a large, white, box with a door that opened down, and four circles of coils on the flat surface. Several white dials were above it.
“Are you sure?” Sirius asked uncertainly. “Maybe it’s this.” He motioned to a much smaller white box that sat on the counter. It also had a door, with a small glass plate inside. There were buttons with numbers on the front.
“Well I know it’s not this.” said James, opening a white rectangular box with two doors that was taller than them both. “Remus called this a frigid. And it keeps stuff cold.”
“Okay, let’s try both of these things.” Sirius said. “You try the big one and I’ll try the little one.”
“Got it!”
They set to work. Sirius found the bread and they each took two slices. Sirius set one in the small box and typed 2:30 onto the screen. Nothing happened. He studied the buttons before he noticed the start button and pressed it. The box started to hum and he smiled, turning to see how James was fairing.
James had placed one slice of bread on the rack in the oven, and set one of the dial to 230.
“What’s that circle and the ‘C’ mean?” asked Sirius.
“Not sure. Maybe it means ‘cooking’?”
They decided all they could do now was wait.
The small box went off first. Sirius opened it, hoping to see perfect toast, but the bread was still white. Even worse, it was soggy.
“Ugh.” said Sirius, dropping it in the rubbish bin. “I suppose this isn’t the toaster.”
“Why hasn’t mine gone off? Isn’t the toast suppose to pop out?” asked James.
Before Sirius could say anything, there was a strange, burning smell. James opened the large box and black smoke bellowed out of it.
“Shite!” coughed Sirius.
“What is going on in here?!”
They both turned to see Remus, accompanied by a nervous Peter, who was staring at the smoke like it was a Dementor. Both were carrying small baskets of vegetables and herbs.
“We were trying to make toast!” coughed James.
Remus looked surprised, annoyed and amused at the same time, something only he could pull off. He said nothing, instead going to the living room and picking up his wand from the coffee table. This definitely constituted an emergency. He muttered a spell and the smoke swirled into the tip of his wand.
“Why were you trying to make toast in the oven?” He asked, levitating the burnt bread out of the oven.
“Oven?” asked James.
“This.” Remus said, motioning to the object.
“And what’s this?” asked Sirius, motioning to the smaller box.
“A microwave.”
“And what do you d-”
They froze as the front door opened.
“Remy! We’re home early!” called Nan from the sitting room.
Remus paled.
“Remy, where is your wa-” Lyall stopped as he entered the kitchen and saw his son, wand in hand, levitating burnt bread. “Alright, what happened?”
“They were trying to make toast in the oven.” Remus said dropping the burnt pieces into the rubbish bin.
“Toast? In the oven?” Everyone turned to Hope nervously. It was, after all, her kitchen.
But she only stared at them for a moment and then burst into a fit of laughter.
Nan laughed, too, and opened a cabinet to pull out a white object with two slots in the top.
“I’ll teach you boys how to make toast. This is a toaster, dears.”
While Nan taught his friends how to use the toaster, Remus followed his parents into the sitting room and explained to them everything that had happened.
BOOM.
The three Lupins ran back into the kitchen, where Nan and the boys were standing over what had been a toaster, all covered in soot.
“Ruby! Did you try to use magic?” asked Hope.
“Just thought I’d try to make it cook faster.” shrugged Nan.
“Does this mean we can’t have toast?” asked Peter.
“Not tonight.” said Hope. “We’ll get a new toaster tomorrow.”
They cleaned the kitchen, and Hope banned everyone but Remus (the only other person who could cook the Muggle way) from her domain for the night, threatening them all with starvation should they break her rules.
It was, Remus had to admit, one of the best summers of his life, and he was sad to see his friends go a week later. As a goodbye gift, Nan gave James and Sirius the broken toaster, though it was James who took it home since Sirius’ parents wouldn’t have approved of them.
“Well, they are quite an interesting bunch, aren’t they?” said Hope when they were all gone. “I’m glad you have such loyal friends.”
Lyall nodded. “So am I, but hopefully next time nothing will blow up.”
Remus smiled, happy his parents were already talking about next time.