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Remus had almost hoped he wouldn’t have a soulmate.
He knew he would. Everyone did, after all. His father had told him of the time he had first touched his mom, their hands brushing in Potions, and how the world had burst into color. It had been overwhelming and beautiful, and that was when they knew.
He also told him of other cases. Of how sometimes people would see color, only to find out their supposed soulmate didn’t. Those were rare, apparently only 5% of the population were like that, but Remus hoped he was part of those 5%. After all, he doubted anyone would want to be with a werewolf, and he wanted to see color. He was bored of white and black and gray. He wanted to see red and blue and gold, wanted to see a sunset and be enchanted by its beauty.
Maybe he would, one day. Hopefully. Probably not. It wasn’t like anything else in his life had gone the way he wanted. The scars cutting across his body was proof of that.
“Remus?” his dad asked him, sounding worried. “Are you ready? You remembered everything, right?”
He sighed, nodding. “Yes dad. I’m ready. I’ll see you in December.”
His dad paused, fiddling with his hands for a moment before giving Remus a quick hug. “Good luck. You’ll love Hogwarts.”
“Hopefully,” he said, grabbing his suitcase and hopping onto the train. “Bye. I love you.” The last words just slipped out, but he didn’t regret them. He always thought they should say them more, but they never had.
Maybe they would if he wasn’t a werewolf.
The train started chugging away from Kings Cross Station, and Remus started down the hallway, ducking his head and trying to make himself as small as possible. He wasn’t going to make any friends anyway. He might as well act like it.
He glanced into every compartment he found. All of them were full. Every single one. That was what he got for arriving at the station late.
By the time he accepted that he couldn’t hope for an empty compartment, he stopped at the one that looked the most empty. Remus took a deep breath and opened the door.
Inside sat two black-haired boys (maybe their hair wasn’t black, maybe it was a color he couldn’t see yet), one in a t-shirt and jeans and the other in clothes that did not look comfortable at all. They were both grinning and laughing, even when they turned to face him.
“Can I sit here?” Remus asked. “Everywhere else is full.”
“Oh, yeah!” one of them said, the one in the t-shirt. He smiled at him, like he had all the love in the world to give. “I’m James. This is Sirius.”
“Your name is Sirius?” the words came out before he could stop them. “Like the adjective?”
He didn’t seem offended, giggling instead. “Like the constellation. Family tradition. It’s still a stupid name though. What’s yours?”
“Remus. Remus Lupin.”
“Well, sit down, Remus,” James said, pulling something out of his bag. “Do you want candy or food? My mom packed me way too much, you know how it is, so take as much as you want!”
He did sit down, grabbing a chocolate frog and popping it into his mouth before it could jump out the compartment.
“We were talking about Hogwarts Houses,” Sirius said. “Which one do you think you’ll get into, ooh, or which one do you want to get into?”
He shrugged. He had thought a lot about it, and figured he wouldn’t mind any of them. “I don’t really prefer one over the other. Maybe I’ll get into Ravenclaw? I like books.”
Sirius grinned, and it was a little devilish. And a little pretty. Remus wondered what color his eyes were. “Oh, so you’re smart. Not like James over here.”
James punched him in the arm. “Piss off.”
“All of my family has been in Slytherin,” he continued. “So I’ll probably be in Slytherin.”
“Not necessarily,” Remus said. “You’re a different person then your parents. So who knows. Besides the Sorting Hat.”
Sirius beamed at him, and his heart leapt up into his throat for some reason.
“Good point,” James said. “I want to be in Gryffindor, like my parents. That’s where the heroes go.”
The three of them keep talking, and Remus finds that he likes these people. They’re funny and nice, and they have interesting thoughts on all sorts of topics. Like what Quidditch position is best (James thinks Seeker, Sirius thinks Chaser), which subject will be the most interesting (they’re both wrong, it’ll be Charms, Remus knows it), and Muggle music (neither of them know jack shit on the subject).
They’re halfway to Hogwarts when someone else bursts into the compartment.
He has gray hair (probably not, but that’s what it looks like to him), and he’s short, a little pudgy. He looked nervous, and he was panting.
“Can I stay here for a while?” was the first thing out of his mouth. “Sorry, but these boys were chasing me down the hall, and I need a place to hide. I’m Peter. By the way.”
“It’s fine,” James said, and Remus wondered if he was this nice to everyone. “I’m James. This is Sirius and Remus.”
Peter fit in with them seamlessly, laughing at their jokes and offering snacks and telling the dumbest jokes that made Sirius spew pumpkin juice all over James. He was pretty sure he was gonna be sorted into Hufflepuff and he thought Keepers were the best.
The train stopped, and that almost made him sad. They’d probably all get sorted into different houses, the chance of them all getting sorted into the same house was very slim, and he didn’t want to be separated from his friends.
Wait. Friends?
Were these idiots his friends?
The revelation (if it was even true) stayed on his mind as they were led by a tall man named Hagrid across a lake, when they saw the castle for the first time, and when they entered the Great Hall. It was beautiful, with candles twinkling over their heads and the ceiling enchanted to look like the night sky.
Remus wondered what it was like in color.
They finally got to the front of the hall, where a shabby looking hat sat on a stool. It opened it’s mouth (which probably wasn’t the proper term for it) and started to sing about the houses. Gryffindor, home of the brave. Ravenclaw, home of the smart. Hufflepuff, home of the kind. And Slytherin, home of the ambitious.
Even with the hat’s voice ringing through the room, he could hear Sirius swallow nervously next to him.
“Hey,” Remus whispered, getting his attention. “You’ll get into a good house.”
“Thanks,” he whispered back. “I just . . . really don’t want to be in Slytherin.”
“You? Ambitious?” He wrinkled his nose. “No way.”
Sirius giggled, nudging his shoulder with his own. “Rude. But thanks.”
They stopped talking when Professor McGonagall, a stern looking woman in olive robes, started calling out names. A few people got Sorted before she called out Sirius’ name.
“Sirius Black!” she said, and he walked up to the hat, his head held high.
He sat down on the stool, and Remus wondered if anyone else noticed how nervous he was.
It was about 20 seconds before the hat made it’s choice. “GRYFFINDOR!”
Cheers came up from the table to his right, along with some whispers from the other tables. He didn’t know much about the more famous wizard families, given that he was a werewolf and all, but he knew the Blacks were one of them. And he had said all of them were Slytherins. So Sirius being sorted into Gryffindor must have been a shock.
Still, Sirius was grinning, and he was happy. That was all that mattered.
Remus was the next of their little group to be sorted. When McGonagall called out his name, he walked up the steps to sit on the stool. A teacher placed the hat on his head.
Remus Lupin, the hat said in his head, which was the coolest and creepiest thing ever. Where to put you. You’re smart, and clever, and very hard-working. And you’d be fine with any house, you’re very fair, yes. And brave. And . . . resigned. To being unhappy.
I know, he tells the hat.
But you want to be in Gryffindor. With your friend.
Huh. He didn’t think he wanted to be in any house. It wouldn’t change that he was a werewolf, that he would have to keep a secret from any friends he probably wouldn’t make.
But Sirius was in Gryffindor, and James wanted to be in Gryffindor, and Peter did too. And they weren’t actually his friends, Remus wanted them to be.
Yeah, he thought. I guess I do.
Well, then there’s only one place to put you.
“GRYFFINDOR!” the hat shouted, and his table cheered, Sirius the loudest of all.
Someone took the hat off his head, and he stumbled down the steps and to the table to sit next to Sirius.
“Congrats, Remus!” he said, eyes bright and happy, and he held out his hand.
He high-fived it.
And everything changed.
Suddenly, his world wasn’t just black and gray and white. Suddenly, he could see the colors of Gryffindor, rich and bright and shiny. He could see the colors of the flames lighting the Great Hall, the gorgeous myriad of color that was the ceiling.
And he could see the color of Sirius’ eyes, the same steady shade of gray that was somehow so much more beautiful when it wasn’t one of the three colors he could see.
Because Sirius Black was his soulmate.
“It’s you,” they breathed at the same time, their hands still pressed together.