Chapter Text
Remus walked down the platform, looking over all the heads to find his friends. His sudden growth spurt over the summer meant that he was now standing at just over six feet, easily taller that about eighty per cent of people gathered on the platform.
“Who are you looking for, Remus?” His mother, Hope Lupin, asked from beside him, looking around the platform in wonder. As the mother of a wizard, she could pass onto the platform, even though she was a Muggle. Remus’ father, Lyall, was standing on the other side of Remus, shaking hands and greeting people he recognized from work as he passed by them.
“Probably these best friends he tells us so much about,” Lyall responded, clapping Remus’ shoulder and beaming with pride.
Remus had been very lonely as a child and the fact that he was well-liked at school, had solid friends, got along well with teachers, and just had an all-round pleasant time with life at Hogwarts was all incredibly relieving news for his parents.
They’d been scared that Remus’ shy exterior and the scars on his face would make him stand out, make him a target.
Remus grinned at his father. His parents had decided to join him on the platform this year, something that hadn’t happened since he was eleven.
Now in sixth year, Remus had done the platform routine enough times before to be ready and waiting before the train even arrived.
This year, however, the traffic had been terrible, there had been a huge game of Muggle football that had been kicking off at the same time that the train was due to leave, so they’d had to rush and take detours, which now meant that they’d made it to the platform with only ten minutes to spare as opposed to their usual half an hour.
Remus’ gaze drifted back towards the crowd.
“Moony!” a familiar voice called from behind them. All three Lupins turned around and Remus brightened, recognizing Peter’s blonde hair immediately.
“Hiya, Wormtail!” Remus replied, leaving his luggage trolley at the front of the train, along with other student’s luggage, and embraced his friend.
“Merlin’s beard, I barely recognised you! You’ve grown!” Peter’s eyes were bulging as he took Remus in. Remus chuckled.
“Have you seen the others?” Remus asked.
“Yeah! I’ve seen Prongs, he’s just a bit further ahead. I haven’t said hi yet, my parents always get emotional when the new year rolls around. But he’s alone, I haven’t seen Padfoot yet.” Peter said. He looked at Remus’ parents. “You must be Remus’ parents. I'm Peter,”
Remus’ parents nodded, introducing themselves, and Peter went to the front of the group and showed them over to where he had seen James, who was leaning against one of the brick columns.
He was looking around absentmindedly, but when his eyes landed on Remus and Peter, who were just over ten feet away, his eyes lit up and he grinned, standing up properly.
“Now then, lads! How are we doing?” he hollered over the hundreds of voices standing around them. Remus and Peter arrived in front of him, and the two of them embraced James. “Bloody hell, Moony! I thought I’d had a growth spurt.” James said. Remus smiled.
“Was it a growth spurt or have you just started putting lifts in your shoes to impress Evans?” Remus asked cheekily. James let loose a laugh, cheeks reddening as he gently punched Remus’ shoulder.
Once again, introductions were then made amongst James and Remus’ parents.
“Where’s Padfoot?” Remus asked, trying to sound casual, noting the only Marauder not here yet. James gave him a strange look, amusement combined with knowledge.
James had guessed that Remus had a crush on Sirius at the end of the previous year, after seeing how terrible Remus had felt in the aftermath of the prank-that-shall-not-be-named, how much he had wanted things to be okay with him and Sirius.
Even though they’d worked through it and were still friends, by the time they parted for the summer, Sirius had still been carrying around a lot of guilt and hadn’t been ready to forgive himself yet.
“He went to the loo. He’s been there for a while. I think he secretly just wanted to make a dramatic entrance once everyone was here.” James replied. Remus rolled his eyes. Of course that’s what Sirius was doing. “I should probably let you guys know that he’s been staying with me all summer.”
“Why?” Peter asked.
“Why do you think? His parents kicked him out. He still hasn't told me why and I haven’t pushed. You know how he gets if we try to get more out of him than he’s ready to share. He flew to my place to me in the rain, soaked to the skin, had no other clothes than the ones on his back. He said that his parents had burned all his other ones before shoving him out of the front door with nothing but his broom.” James said. “So probably not a good idea to ask how crap his parents have been like we usually do.”
Remus’ heart ached for Sirius. He had a very close relationship with his parents, couldn’t imagine it being any other way. Sirius had never had that closeness with his own parents.
“Well, well, well … if it isn’t the three most eligible bachelors in the sixth year. Careful now, boys, don’t look, but I can see at least six girls drooling over our dear Moony alone, and that’s not even counting the hundreds chasing after me.” Sirius said, emerging through the crowd with a lopsided smile on his face, hands in the pockets of his tight jeans, and half of his hair pulled back into a short ponytail, the other half lying against the nape of his neck.
Remus was breathless. Merlin, he’d missed Sirius. He always missed all the Marauders, no matter how long they were apart, but Sirius was a different kind of missing, a different kind of longing. And those jeans. Had he painted them on? How on earth had he managed to get into them? James and Peter greeted Sirius first, while Remus was still reeling.
Sirius’ eyes flicked to Remus and he softened slightly, the swagger was gone and a more genuine smile gracing his face, without the mischievous glint in his eyes to accompany it.
“Hello, Rem,” Sirius said softly.
Remus smiled back widely, barely able to contain his joy at seeing Sirius more like himself than he had been at the end of the last year. James and Peter were looking between them anxiously, clearly waiting for things to either be icy and awkward, or warm and calm like the two had always been.
“Hello, Sirius,” Remus replied.
He held out his arms and moving closer and saw as James and Peter visibly relax. Sirius looked relieved and stepped forward to meet Remus halfway, hugging him tightly as if he was trying to remember the feeling of Remus in his arms, scared that he would forget that feeling when they parted. Remus could hear the sigh of relief from Sirius as they collided and Remus closed his eyes, glad that the summer was finally over.
When they did part, he noticed the small trace of black stuff in Sirius’ waterline and grinned.
“Are you wearing eyeliner?” Remus asked.
“Only a tad. I went shopping for some new clothes in Muggle London over the summer. This girl who worked in one of the shops suggested it and showed me how to put it on. I thought it made me look a little more rugged. Girls love a guy who’s in touch with his feminine side, so I’ve heard.” Sirius said, his trademark swagger back in full force. He winked at Remus as if letting him in on a secret.
“You need all the help you can get, Black. When was the last time you dated a girl? Third-year?” James teased. Remus and Peter snorted.
“They only lasted two weeks before they got tired of each other. More like she got tired of Sirius and he's too proud to admit it." Peter added through his giggles.
James laughed loudly and clapped Peter on the shoulder, looking at him with pride as Remus congratulated him. He was impressed, Peter was approaching being confident at teasing Sirius as James and Remus were.
“Hey! What’s going on?! Is this lets-gang-up-on-Sirius hour? Even Pete’s put on his big boy trousers today!” Sirius exclaimed, pretending to be hurt.
“We should make an event out of that,” Remus said.
“What? Watching Pete put on his big boy trousers? I think I’ve seen enough of that just being in the same dorm for him for the last five years. But whatever floats your boat, Remus.” Sirius quipped.
Remus sighed, “No, not that. We should get everyone to put all their taunts for Sirius in a box and we go through them in front of everyone once a term. You know, as a stress relief so there are no riots when Gryffindor wins the Quidditch Cup for the third year running. And it might deflate Sirius’ ego a little, make him less insufferable to live with.”
“Bold of you assume Minnie would ever let such a thing happen,” Sirius huffed, “She’d be heartbroken at the level of bullying that would take place for her favourite student. Besides, it would be a waste of time. Our time at Hogwarts should be purely dedicated to all the new pranks James and I have been planning. The Halloween prank is going to be immense!”
Remus rolled his eyes, sharing matching looks with James and Peter at the drama. There was the familiar sharp cry of a whistle, signifying that the Express would be leaving shortly. Remus hugged his parents quickly.
“Have a good year, sweetheart. We’ll see you for Christmas.” Hope said, squeezing Remus so hard in a hug that Remus wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d choked. “I’d be very happy if you brought that Sirius boy home on your arm, you know. The way he looked at you shows how much he cares about you. I love you no matter what.” She whispered.
Remus’ heart stopped.
He had never told his parents that he was attracted to men. He knew his parents loved him to the ends of the earth and didn’t want that to change, which is why he had never said anything. Telling them would mean that something would change and Remus was terrified to see whether or not their love was as unconditional as they claimed.
“Thanks, Mum. I’ll see you at Christmas. Send Queenie if you’re missing me too much.” Remus said, pulling away and hugging his dad. “See you soon, Dad. Take care of Mum for me, she's already worried sick.” Lyall smiled as Remus backed away, ruffling his hair fondly.
“Love you!” Hope called as Remus stepped onto the train.
“Love you too, Mum!” he replied, waving.
“It was nice to meet you, Mr and Mrs Lupin! Now we know that Remus is the byproduct of very attractive parents and not just lucky like me!” Sirius yelled, sticking his head out under the arm that Remus had raised to wave with a devilishly cheeky smile.
“Sirius, you little shit!” Remus laughed, pushing Sirius back onto the train by the collar of his jacket and sending one last smile over his shoulder at his parents before joining the rest of the Marauders.