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There were plenty of interesting things in the Hogwarts Castle. For one, the stairs moved. There were secret passageways. And even, as Sirius had been told, vanishing rooms.
The atmosphere was interesting too, so much more accepting than the home Sirius had come here from. Though, Sirius began to realize, there must’ve been something a little wrong with home if he felt more relaxed at school of all places.
But the most interesting thing at Hogwarts was Remus Lupin.
Sirius had met him on the train. He’d been sitting by the window with a book in his hands. He’d been so absorbed by whatever it was he was reading that he didn’t even introduce himself.
So they’d properly met a few hours later. After the welcoming feast, in the Gryffindor dormitory.
“I’m Sirius,” Sirius said, reaching out his hand. “Sirius Black.
Remus eyed his hand for a moment like he was hesitating but eventually, he shook it. “Remus Lupin.”
They hadn’t really talked since then. In fact, Sirius hadn’t seen Remus talking to anyone. He dragged himself after the other first-years to meals and classes but he didn’t speak unless he absolutely had to.
Remus was scrawny. Lean, with that type of body that just seemed to be made for someone taller - he was only eleven though, he definitely had time to get there. He wore large jumpers over his school uniform, only the collar of his shirt and the very top of his Gryffindor tie peeking out from them. He had brown hair, curls falling over his forehead, sometimes even his eyes. And those eyes were a similar colour to his hair, the shade of dark honey.
Remus’ skin was covered in freckles - his face, his hands, and whatever else Sirius sometimes saw a flash of in the dormitory. But it wasn’t just freckles Remus’ skin was covered in.
It was also scars.
Some were small, barely noticeable but others were large. There was one that dragged on Remus’ cheek and through his lips, down to his neck. Sirius also saw some on his hands.
All the other kids saw them too. And they found them very interesting, just like Sirius did. But… they stared. Sirius tried not to. He realized that that might’ve not been nice. He also realized that maybe he found Remus’ scars interesting for a different reason than the other kids.
He thought that Remus must’ve had done something extremely brave to get them. Maybe he’d fought a monster? Or maybe he had some sort of mysterious past?
But everyone else simply laughed at Remus’ scars. Sirius saw them in the halls as they whispered and giggled between themselves, not even trying to hide that they looked at Remus.
Remus didn’t seem to care. He must’ve noticed but he never did anything about it. Which only made him more interesting in Sirius’ eyes.
But the most interesting thing about Remus Lupin was that just after the school year had started, he disappeared for three days.
He was gone for the first weekend of the semester. And the Monday that followed. Sirius didn’t see him pack a bag, more than that, he was actually pretty sure Remus’ trunk was still in the dorm, even when Remus wasn’t.
And as much as it could’ve been understandable to some extent that Remus was gone on the weekend, Sirius found himself absolutely confused when he woke up on Monday and saw Remus’ bed still empty.
He wasn’t in the Great Hall at breakfast either. Or in any of their classes.
No one else seemed to notice. And Sirius didn’t really have anyone who he could mention it to without seeming overly interested in Remus. To be fair, he wasn’t even close enough with Remus to be worried.
No, scratch that, he wasn’t worried. He was simply curious.
Remus reappeared the next day. He was at breakfast when Sirius came down from the Gryffindor Tower. He was eating cereal, somehow looking even skinnier and paler than before. And he had a new scar.
That only made him more interesting, of course.
Sirius didn’t want to be intrusive, though. He wanted to get to know Remus but he didn’t really know how to go about it since Remus didn’t talk to anyone.
In the first few weeks of his time at Hogwarts Sirius got closer with two of his other roommates - James Potter and Peter Pettigrew. James was really funny, seemed to have a similar sense of humour as Sirius, and Peter laughed at all their jokes so he was alright too. They made a nice little trio.
However , the idea of getting to know the mysterious scarred boy was still very attractive to Sirius.
One day, when September was coming to an end and so the evenings started to be chillier and the warmth of the Common Room was very inviting, Sirius was sitting there with his two friends when he saw Remus, twisting uneasily. A moment passed and Remus got up and went up the stairs to the dormitory.
Something in Sirius stirred but he stayed seated, trying to focus on the chess game between James and Peter. But he found that he couldn’t just stay there.
“I’ll go to the dorm for a moment,” he announced, standing up. “Will be back in a bit.”
Both James and Peter shrugged and went back to their game.
Sirius went up the stairs and before opening the door debated for a split second whether it was actually a good idea to do this. But then he thought himself stupid for worrying - it was just a boy, for Merlin’s sake.
He walked into the dorm and saw Remus sitting on the floor, his back against the wall. His gaze snapped to Sirius, something in the shade of panic appearing in his eyes.
“Hi,” Sirius said slowly. “Sorry, you okay?”
Remus swallowed. “Yeah. All right.”
Sirius closed the door behind him and made his way through the dorm to Remus. He took a seat next to him on the floor.
“You sure?” he asked. “You seemed kinda off downstairs.” He felt a flush flood his cheeks. “Not that I was staring, I just—”
“It’s okay,” Remus said and Sirius was surprised to see a smile on his lips. Remus looked pretty when he smiled. “I’m fine, there were just a lot of people and noises down there. Got a bit overwhelmed, I suppose.”
Sirius nodded. “Right. Well, uh— You could always try the library? It must be quieter there.”
This time it was Remus who blushed. “I don’t— I don’t really know where it is. And I feel stupid wandering around the castle on my own.”
“Oh,” Sirius let out. “Well… I could… go with you? If you wanted.”
His cheeks were warm, he felt so foolish. But then another pretty smile pulled on Remus’ lips.
“I’d like that,” he said.