Chapter Text
The memory of the train whistle kept Remus up at night. The memory of his friends and his classes filled his dreams. He was happy to be out for summer, but he missed Hogwarts dearly. And it was only the second week of break. Summer at home was filled with short conversations with his parents and roaming the fields near his house. It was boring. And to top it all off, the full moon was coming up. The bad thing about that was his parents knew the full moon was coming up. He had gotten used to no one knowing about his secret. It was refreshing, in Remus' opinion. But because his parents tracked the moon cycle, Remus was stuck in the house. His parents babied him; they treated him like he was about to shatter into a million pieces. And he hated it. So, lately, Remus had taken to reminiscing. And today was no different. Remus sat on his bed and stared at his ceiling, thinking back to the last day of school.
Remus woke up earlier than his friends, around 4:30. They didn't need to be ready to go until 8, but sleep didn't seem like an option anymore. Remus was sad more than excited, but he didn't let it show. His friends were ready to go home and he didn't want to be the weirdo who didn't want to leave. But he didn't. He really didn't. The school had become better than his real home. He had friends and teachers that cared for him and a whole new world to explore. At home, he had no freedom. He was treated like a fragile baby, watched over like a hawk. But at school, he could roam the grounds at 2 in the morning and no one would yell at him. Well, maybe Hagrid, but only if he found him. And Remus was good at hiding.
That morning though, all Remus wanted to do was savor every second. He stayed in bed for an hour or two, just thinking. Thinking about everything that he had been through that year. Meeting James, Sirius, and Peter. Watching James fawn over Lily and make a fool of himself trying to win her over. Befriending McGonagall. Exchanging snide comments about Severus during Potions. Laughing with Lily in the Library. Everything had been perfect. He couldn't have asked for anything different.
Peter was the second to wake up, doing so around 6:30. He got up and took a shower, making Remus realize he should've done that. But when Peter got up, Remus did too. He got up and started to pack his things, wasting time until Peter finished in the shower. He packed up all of his belongings in a little less than 20 minutes, locking the trunk and moving it aside just as Peter exited the bathroom. Shooting him a quick good morning, Remus headed off to shower.
When Remus was finished getting ready, he walked back into the bedroom to find both James and Sirius awake. The two were sitting up in bed, barely conscious. It was quite a sight.
"Good morning, you two." Remus chuckled, greeting them. They only grunted in response. "Have you packed your trunks?"
"James has, but Sirius hasn't left his bed," Peter replied for them, shaking his head. The other two appeared to be too tired to function at all.
"Well, let's get going, Siri. We have to go down to breakfast soon." Remus pulled Sirius out of bed and gently guided (read: pushed) him toward his trunk. Sirius grunted once more and began packing his things.
"Somebody's tired." Peter laughed, moving his trunk to where Remus put his.
"Shut it," Sirius responded, sounding annoyed. The other three boys knew not to mess with him anymore. They recognized that tone, and it was one that once led to James getting pushed down the stairs. So everyone settled into silence while they finished getting ready. But shortly they were ready for breakfast and headed to the Great Hall.
The Great Hall was filled with excited students and teachers alike and the food was extra good that morning. A spread fit for a king was laid out on the tables and the aroma surrounding it was heavenly. The four boys met Lily and her friends at the Gryffindor table and settled into a comfortable conversation. The whole hall was louder than normal, but that was expected.
“We need to meet up during the break!” James exclaimed, seemingly thinking the same thing everyone was that morning.
“Of course,” Peter said, smiling at his friends. “But where?”
“There’s this little restaurant near where I live. It’s a bit of a hole in the wall, but the food is amazing and the owners are two witches. It’s kind of like The Three Broomsticks, but more homey and comfortable, you guys would love it.” James told everyone.
“Well, owl us and maybe we can meet up there,” Remus said. Everyone agreed and moved on to another subject.
The rest of the morning passed by quickly, and soon enough it was time to meet the train. After saying goodbye to McGonagall, the four boys found an empty compartment on the train and settled in for the ride.
That ride was similar to the first one they had taken back in September. But this time, they knew each other and the conversation was about who was joining the Quidditch team the next year and things like that. Remus sat back and observed each of his friends and wished he never had to leave. He was going to miss James’ smile whenever he talked about Lily, and Peter’s obsession with exploding snap, and Sirius. Just Sirius. Everything about Sirius. The two of them had become the best of friends and they never left each other’s side. Though James would be coined Sirius’ best friend, Remus and Sirius were just as close. Remus confided in him when he was feeling down and stayed up late to watch the constellations through their dorm window. He was going to miss being able to talk to someone who didn’t think he was crazy or nerdy or stupid. He was going to miss having friends. Because during the summer, Remus knew he wouldn’t have any. Just his parents. And he really did love them, but sometimes he couldn’t take how they looked at him with such pity and sorrow.
By the time the train pulled into the station, Remus had memorized every possible thing he could about his friends and made sure to owl them at every chance he got. He told James he would love to meet up during the summer and that even if they weren’t able to, they would have to catch up when they had to go school shopping in August.
The four boys said their goodbyes and found their respective parents, parting ways for the few short months of summer. Remus really should have been more excited to be home, but he wasn’t. He knew this was going to be a long summer.
Remus sighed and got up out of his bed. His owl was sitting in his cage beside the window of Remus’ bedroom. It had been 2 weeks since their last day of school, and he still hadn’t heard from his friends. And it was hard on Remus, but he didn’t want to be a bother and send a letter first. But finally, he gave up and decided to send one anyway.
Dear Sirius,
I know it’s only been two weeks but I miss you all so much. Things are really boring at home and I hate not being able to do magic. We live in a muggle area, so I can’t even really discuss magic with anyone. I hope you’re doing well! We should go to that place James spoke of soon, I’m sending him a letter too. Are you free anytime soon? Well anyway, I can’t wait to see you guys again and I hope you’re having a better time than I am.
Sincerely,
Remus Lupin
Remus wrote Sirius’ letter first, sealing it into an envelope and setting it aside to write the other three. But before he could even get another piece of parchment, something knocked at his window.
Remus jumped up to see an owl fluttering outside of his window and immediately ran over to open it. He recognized it as James’ owl, Felix (named after a famous quidditch player). There was a letter tied to his foot and Remus gently retrieved it to find his own name scrawled across the envelope. Definitely James’ handwriting. Remus opened it to find a message inside,
Remus,
I can’t believe it’s only been two weeks! It feels like we’ve been out forever already. But I’m really missing you guys and I was thinking we could get together next Thursday. Would you be interested in going to that restaurant I mentioned on the last day? I was thinking we could meet at 1 pm next Thursday, the 20th, and then go to this park across the street and hang out after. I’ve sent similar letters to both Sirius and Peter. Hope to see you then.
James
With a smile, Remus pulled out a piece of parchment and went downstairs to ask his parents if he could go. The full moon was this Wednesday, the 12th, so he would be fine to go a week later. His parents thankfully agreed. So he went back to his bedroom to write James back. Despite how his day started out, he was extremely happy and couldn’t wait to see his friends again. Even the full moon didn’t seem as bad anymore.
Sirius was not having a good time. It had been 15 days since he parted from his friends at the train station. It had been 15 days since he had last smiled. 15 days since he had been happy. For the past 15 days, Sirius spent the majority of his time hiding in his room or roaming the land around his house. He made a point to not speak to his parents and they didn’t seem to mind. If it wasn’t for Regulus, Sirius would’ve left by now. But his brother was only 10, he hadn’t even been accepted into Hogwarts yet. The two brothers didn’t get along extremely well, but they stuck up for each other. They knew they had to stay together for each other’s sake, so Sirius endured the abuse and cruelty of his parents in hopes they would leave his brother alone. And they did, for the most part. Only on occasion would they even yell at Regulus, Sirius took it all. Regulus was thankful and Sirius knew that.
Currently, Sirius was sitting on his bed, reminiscing about the past school year. He could vividly remember the last few days of the year and he frequently daydreamed about them. It was one of the only ways he kept sane.
The night before their last day of school was cool as the wind moved through the trees. The four boys had snuck out to roam the grounds. It was sort of a way for them to keep the place fresh in their memories. So they spent most of the night walking around the grounds, joking and talking about the past year they had spent there. It was a perfect way to spend their last day there and Sirius couldn’t have asked for more.
He was trying to keep happy, so he wouldn’t ruin the other’s excitement, but Sirius really didn’t want to leave. He knew exactly what home would bring him. Fights, lectures, and torture. His mother, no doubt, would yell at him for his actions throughout the school year and then probably give him the silent treatment. His father, on the other hand, would definitely spend every hour he possibly could torturing him. A Black in Gryffindor? He was a traitor and the entire summer would prove that. All of the parties he would have to endure would be worse than what his own family will do to him. But he has to take it, for Regulus. If only he can remember that all summer.
That night, Sirius stayed up later than the rest of them. He watched the moon travel across the sky and picked out constellations that lingered around in the dark. Of course, he was tired, but he would have all summer to sleep at home. He wanted to savor this last night in the tower. His eyes found Hagrid’s shack out by the edge of the woods and smiled at the memory of the man. He might be a stickler for the rules, but there were times he let the four boys roam the grounds by the forest. He would miss him too.
Sirius probably went to sleep around 4 in the morning, knowing he would have to be up soon. They would have to be at breakfast by 8:00, so that gave Sirius a good 3 hours of sleep. James was the one to wake him up at 7, and he immediately regretted staying up so late. But he figured he could sleep on the train a little if he wanted.
“Good morning, you two.” Remus came from the bathroom, dressed and ready. How could someone be so collected this early in the morning? It amazed Sirius. But then again, Peter and James had already packed their trunks and both Peter and Remus had showered already. Sirius was the only one who hadn’t gotten up yet. “Have you packed your trunks?”
“James has, but Sirius hasn’t left his bed,” Peter told the boy.
“Well, let's get going, Siri. We have to go down to breakfast soon.” Remus pulled Sirius out of bed and pushed him to his trunk.
“Somebody’s tired.” Peter jokes, laughing as Sirius stumbled around collecting his belongings.
“Shut it.” Sirius snapped, not in the mood for jokes. He had no intention to yell at his friends, but he couldn’t help it. He was tired and miserable. He just wanted to stay, but he had to go home. This was a bad day. But thankfully all of his friends shut up and let him finish packing his trunk.
Breakfast went by quickly, but Sirius didn’t even register half of the things that were said. Nothing could shake Sirius out of the daze he had found himself in, even his best friends. James mentioned something about a restaurant and that temporarily got Sirius to speak, but after that, he sat in silence. It was within minutes that he was sitting with his friends in a compartment on the train that would take him home. Great.
The ride felt short, even though it took hours. Sirius talked with his friends, trying not to be such a downer, but he really just wanted to go to sleep. But if he did that, he would be home much faster, so he stayed awake the whole time. He noticed that even though James and Peter were very excited and talkative, Remus seemed more closed off, like Sirius himself. That made him wonder if Remus dreaded going home as much as he did, but why? Nothing had been said that Sirius would take to Remus’ home life being awful. He loved his parents, but he did stay over Christmas. Who knows in the end, Sirius knew from experience that people didn’t freely talk about their home lives if they weren’t good.
As the train pulled into the station, Sirius’ stomach dropped. Here we go, he thought. Time to spend 9 weeks hiding in his room and getting yelled at. The four boys said their goodbyes and parted ways. Sirius went to find his parents and only found Regulus. He should’ve expected that, honestly.
“Mom and dad refuse to pick me up, huh?” Sirius laughed as he put his stuff on the cart his brother had got for him.
“Sorry, I tried to convince them, but they wouldn’t budge. They gave me money and never told me when to be back, so we could go get ice cream or something though!” Regulus said, fishing the coins out of his pocket for emphasis.
“I think that sounds absolutely perfect. Did you floo here?” Sirius asked him.
“Yeah, I landed in that little bookshop behind the station. We can go there to get back to the house so you can drop off your stuff and then leave.”
“Well then, let’s go.” Sirius smiled at his brother, trying not to show how he was truly feeling. But he was good at that, plenty of years of practice.
The two boys found the shop within minutes and called for Sirius’ bedroom, which had its own fireplace. They dropped off Sirius’ things and headed to get a treat, their parents never even knew they were there.
Oh, how Sirius wishes he could’ve escaped his parents for longer that day, but he and Regulus had to come home at some point and when they did, Sirius got yelled at for 47 minutes (he counted). And things didn’t get better. Sirius had to laugh at the thought, he has been pushed around from party to party and be thrown every bad look you could think of. He even had to deal with the Malfoy’s one day. That was unbearable, Lucious was unbearable. But he got through it and he’ll get through the rest of the summer. He just didn’t know how much longer he could take being the ‘traitor’ for.
And that was when an owl flew through his window. He had left it open so his own owl could come and go as she pleased, but this owl was definitely not his. In fact, it seemed to be James’ owl. Sirius recognized it from the owlery at Hogwarts, it was definitely James’. He got up and carefully untied the letter on the bird’s ankle and sat down at his desk to read it.
Sirius,
I can’t believe it’s only been two weeks! It feels like we’ve been out forever. But I’m really missing you guys and I really want to get together soon. Do you remember that restaurant I mentioned on the last day? I was thinking we could all meet there around 1 pm next Thursday, the 20th, and then go to this park across the street and hang out after. It’s a nice place and I honestly just want to hang with you all. I’ve sent similar letters to both Remus and Peter. Hope to see you then.
James
Sirius smiled to himself at the thought of meeting up with his friends again. James was right, it felt a lot longer than two weeks. Sirius thought to himself about if he had any plans next week, and when he realized he didn’t, he immediately grabbed a piece of parchment to write James back. He couldn’t wait to see him again.
Peter was excited. He had gotten James’ letter exactly 8 days ago and he was counting down the seconds until he had to leave for the restaurant. In further letters, James had explained where to floo to and exactly what to say, etc. etc. It had now been three weeks since they left Hogwarts for the summer and Peter had missed it every day. Of course, he loved being home with his parents again, but he really missed the school and his friends. His parents understood that too and told him stories about their days at Hogwarts and helped him with his summer homework.
As the clock struck 1:00, Peter grabbed a handful of floo powder and stepped into the fireplace. With a shout, he was thrown into the spiral and transported to ‘Marie and Myrtle’s Place’ to meet his friends. When he landed, a small room came into view, and standing before him were two boys. James and Remus.
James said goodbye to his parents and stepped into his fireplace, shouting his destination. He arrived within seconds to the cafe he deemed his second home, with how much he had been going lately. None of his friends were there yet, that he could see, which he figured. James had left 5 minutes before 1, as his mom ushered him to. The fireplace in the cafe sat in a back room, so the travelers wouldn’t tumble into a busy cafe. The room wasn’t very big, but it had enough space for at least 20 people to fit in comfortably. James moved the wall to the left of the fireplace and waited for his friends.
Remus was the first to arrive, landing gracefully in the fireplace and walking out. He noticed James in no time and walked over to greet him.
“Hey, James! It’s been too long since the last time we met. How’ve you been?” The tall boy asked, hugging his friend briefly.
“I’ve been well, but I miss school and you guys a lot,” James told him, smiling.
“Me too, I’m definitely ready to go back.” Remus smiled back, leaning against the same wall James was. The two talked and caught up until the next person came through the fireplace.
This time, it was Peter. He stumbled out and managed to stay upright, but barely. That didn’t seem to bother him at all, as he immediately walked over to his friends with a big smile on his face.
“Hey, guys!”
“Hey, Peter. How’ve you been?” Remus asked, hugging the boy.
“Pretty good! Just missing school a little, you guys?”
“Us too. I hope it goes by quickly,” James said, nodding at the statement.
Peter caught up with his friends as they waited for the last person to show up. Sirius got there a minute or two later, and he stumbled through the fireplace a little before dusting off his shirt and walking over to his friends.
“Hey, guys!” Sirius’s blank facial expression was replaced with a smile within seconds as he met with his friends.
James led the three boys into the cafe, telling them about the broom he bought a week ago. It was the newest model Quidditch broom that anyone offered. James was extremely excited to be able to continue playing for the Gryffindor team and it showed. Sirius talked with James about the handle coating while the other two listened cluelessly, admiring their friend’s passion. Soon enough, though, the kids were seated near the back of the cafe and given menus. Sirius, Remus, and Peter browsed the selection while James suggested different foods that he had liked. 10 minutes passed and the boys had ordered and received their food.
“How’s your mom, Sirius?” James asked the question and the air immediately tensed around them. Sirius stopped a fork that was halfway to his mouth. Everyone looked at him, awaiting his response.
“Dreadful as always.” Sirius brushed it off with a laugh, regaining his composure and continuing to eat his food.
The boys ate in silence for a few minutes before finding another topic to talk about. James told them that he had recently been owling with Lily and she didn’t seem as disgusted as usual when she talked with him. He took this as a sign that she actually liked him and was too shy to do anything about it, which made the other three simultaneously facepalm.
It was within seconds that the four boys fell back into their normal routine. They had all missed each other and this was exactly what they needed. They finished their food and made their way to the park and talked for hours. Nothing could have been better.