Work Text:
Part Three - 1
Sorting
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The first time he saw Sirius, he seemed… mangy. And in a way that Remus couldn’t quite define, either. Sirius’ hair was shoulder-length and looked as if it should have been silken, but instead it was a bit wild and frayed about the edges. His robes were clearly new, and while his attire had undoubtedly been pressed and cleaned at some point it now seemed a bit ruffled up and dodgy, as if the boy had been rolling on the grounds. Sirius also looked dreadfully excited; probably the most excited out of anyone else that Remus saw, which was hard to accomplish. A gaggle of eleven year olds in the great hall of Hogwarts for the first time was hard to beat out on the Excited Scale.
But no less, Sirius Black was the most excited.
Remus, on the other hand, was nervous. He was excited, undoubtedly so, but mostly he was just nervous. He had never really expected to be at Hogwarts, considering his condition, and now that it was happening all he could think of was, “What if I hurt someone?” But there were measures put in place and Dumbledore had personally assured Remus that nothing would happen. And if it did, they would deal with it then.
Still, Remus was a ball of jitters in the line and couldn’t stop tip-toeing from one foot to the other, much to the dismay of the girl behind him, for he kept accidentally stepping on her feet. Though she just smiled in a pretty way and reassuringly said, “It’s okay,” Remus still felt bad about it. Especially because it happened at least three times. Later on Remus would find out this was Lily Evans, famed mother of the one Harry Potter, but at the time he just felt guilty and stupid for stepping on a pretty girl with green eyes and a soft smile.
When his name was called he popped out from the line with a squeaked sort of noise that surely wasn’t appropriate nor exactly flattering and contained absolutely no boyish charm to it. His cheeks burned red as he got up to the Sorting Hat, and he could see Sirius Black in line, staring at him with that excitement he had stared at everyone else with, and something (perhaps the Hat itself) told Remus to relax. So Remus tried to (and failed quite miserably), but within a matter of moments he was placed in Gryffindor.
It was more than acceptable, really. He would have settled quite happily with Ravenclaw, but the surge of polite cheers from the Gryffindor table was welcoming (though the few upper classmen that began to squeak was embarrassing) and Remus hurried his way to sit with the other first years. Thankfully he didn’t step on any more toes that belonged to sweet girls.
Already among the first years was Peter Pettigrew, and sensing a shared bond of social awkwardness, Remus took a seat next to him. That was the start of their friendship, banding together because they were practically outcasts so far. Remus had squeaked and earlier Peter had tripped both up and down the steps to the Sorting Hat, and they had both successfully ruined any chances of popularity by making complete asses of themselves. It seemed like a good reason to start a friendship, or at least a mutual agreement to not dislike one another.
James was sorted next, a somewhat arrogant grin crossing him as he made his way to the table, chest puffed out and fists in little balls, as if he were already king. Then the moment someone said ‘hello’ to him he completely deflated and became incredibly charming and looked sincerely chuffed to be part of the group. He already knew some of the other students, and clearly didn’t have any reason to sit with Peter and Remus other than a lack of space at the tables.
And then, last of all, was Sirius. Remus felt the shift in the room as keenly as anyone else, and all chatter died down as eyes were cast upon the youngest of the Black clan. Remus hadn’t realized before that this was Sirius Black of the Blacks until this moment. Everyone seemed to know who he was now though, and everyone wanted to know where he would go and what he would do. There was talk that Sirius wasn’t exactly like the other Blacks, but there was always gossip going on about this family or that family and Remus wasn’t old enough (or certainly girlish enough) to appreciate gossip and rumors about pureblood households.
He had much more important things to concern himself with, such as the lunar cycle and whether or not Peter Pettigrew would ever stop fidgeting and moving his head about so that Remus could get a clear view of Sirius Black of the Blacks. Because despite his lack of care for gossip, Remus was terribly intrigued by the most excited boy he had ever seen. He would, obviously, continue to be intrigued by Sirius Black for years to come.
After several very long moments, in which Peter finally stopped bobbing about so that Remus could see properly, the tension finally came to a head. “Gryffindor!” The Hat shouted and Sirius looked so bloody pleased with himself. There were no cheers from the table except for James, whom immediately stood and began to clap and whoop and holler and make such a scene that Remus was embarrassed for him.
But James wasn’t embarrassed, and upon Sirius getting to the other boy they exchanged some sort of secret handshake (as all boys of this age must do when meeting a friend, Remus was soon to find out). The Slytherins looked completely… well, Slytherin-like in their utter contempt for this occurrence. Noses upturned and mouths shaped like the whole table had just eaten lemons. The Gryffindors, after such a stunned silence, finally began to applaud politely, if not with a bit of hesitant confusion.
Sirius was the first of any Black to ever be in Gryffindor; it was quite the scandal, and no one was exactly sure how to take it.
Except for James of course, who took it very well.
Remus was later to find out that the reason Sirius’ clothes and hair had gotten so out of line was, in fact, because he had been rolling about the grounds with James before they’d been ushered into the Great Hall. Their friendship had started immediately upon the train, when Sirius had jinxed a chocolate frog to explode upon someone, and that someone had ended up being James. Instead of getting upset about it, James, in all his curiosity and shared flair for mischeif, demanded to know how to do it. Of course James didn’t know that it was Sirius Black (of the Blacks) either. Not until his name had been called and oh poor James had thought, “Surely I will never be his friend again.”
Or, more accurately, “Damn it.”
But all happy endings occurred, and the two most rambunctious boys Remus had ever encountered were fated to become the best of friends and terrorize the entire school for seven wonderful years. Remus didn’t know it then, but now, all this time later, he realized that Sirius’ saving grace was James Potter.
James Potter who jinxed chocolate frogs with him. James Potter who ran up and down the train aisle with him, shooting sparks at one another. James Potter who wrestled with him on the dewy grounds. And James Potter who stood up and cheered for him, as no one else would have done.
Theirs was surely the most destined friendship, Remus thought. Sirius and James fit together like puzzle pieces, and it was only by luck that Peter and himself ended up becoming friends with them. Luck and maybe a little bit of Fate, and possibly a smidgeon of Destiny. After all, Remus couldn’t imagine what life would have been without The Marauders. A lot less exciting, probably a lot less rewarding, and definitely, without a doubt, the loneliest existence he could ever picture for himself.
But they weren’t all friends yet, there were trials and tribulations to be overcome before The Marauders took flight. Specifically, they were Boy’s Club trials and tribulations, which are always the hardest and possibly most embarrassing trials and tribulations of all.