Chapter Text
August 12th, 1975
Remus
Remus didn’t know how he ended up in an empty field probably miles away from his house. All he knew was that his head was pounding and that he had an empty bottle of vodka in his left hand.
He groaned loudly as he felt a cold summer breeze hit him in the face. It was warm the day before so why not now? As he ran a hand through his hair, Remus sat up and looked around. He was all alone, which wasn’t a surprise. Remus had probably kicked off when someone tried to join him in his plan to wallow in self-pity.
Remus chucked the empty bottle to the side and watched it roll. He rubbed his eyes and ran a hand across his face. His face was dry and slightly sticky from the tears he had shed. It didn’t help that his lips were chapped, making him feel even more uncomfortable.
“Fuck,” Remus muttered to himself. He wrapped his arms around his body, trying to slightly heat it up.
He had a pounding headache, which didn’t surprise him. Remus looked over to the bottles he had finished the night before. There were a lot.
Internally, Remus was screaming. However on the outside, he made no noise of complaint. Remus had done this to himself. He had put himself through this pain to drown out the other noises in his head. The ones telling him to do things which would surely get him killed.
Well, that wasn’t a bad idea.
Except he knew he couldn’t put his parents through that pain again. They had only recently lost their oldest son, and Remus doubted they could survive if they lost their last one. However, Remus wondered if they even cared. They had been so preoccupied with his brother, it was like they had forgotten Remus was their son.
Maybe if he got himself shanked, they would pay more attention to him.
Immediately, Remus regretted that thought. He shook his head, trying to rid himself from the images of his dead brother. But he just couldn’t.
The ‘incident’ happened a month and a bit ago. But to Remus and their parents, it felt like it happened yesterday.
It felt like only yesterday that he had seen his brothers dead, cold body lying in a pool of his own blood. He still remembered the screams of pain and the sobs that had escaped his friend’s mouth. They were loud gut-wrenching sobs which made Remus feel sicker than he already had been.
In fact, as Remus thought back to that moment, he felt sick. Remus felt like anything that was in his stomach was going to come out in just a few seconds. He was drowning in pain – his body broken and his mind unravelling. Remus then yelled into the palm of his hands. It was a short but loud scream, just to stop his head from thinking back to that moment. He knew that if he did go back, he would not be able to get over it at all.
He had learned to do that shortly after his brother's death. He learned that if you shut everything out and imagine it never happened, his life would be much quieter.
The noise he had made startled the birds in the trees. They left the tree and flew higher and higher. They flew up until they were practically invisible.
Sometimes, Remus wished he was invisible.
Well, he used to be. But that all stopped when his brother died. It seemed that everyone's attention was on him after what had happened. Instead of ignoring him, people started asking about his well being. Remus had never been asked about his well being. Not even from his closest friends.
Remus, instead of standing up to leave, shook his head before standing up to grab the cigarette box that was a few feet away from him.
There were only three left.
He took one out and lit it. Remus took a long drag before deciding what to do next.
Remus had no clue what time it was. The sun had risen but he could tell from the cold air that it was still early. Remus guessed it was around six or seven o’clock. He knew his parents would be up and they had probably noticed their remaining son hadn’t returned home.
There were two options. Remus could either go home now and calm his parent’s nerves. Or, he could not go home and instead go to Ray’s. That would definitely stress them out more.
For a moment, Remus felt slightly bad for his parents. They were never cruel or awful people. Hope and Lyall loved each other and their children very much. But ever since the ‘incident’ happened, they had changed. It was like a switch had flipped in them.
They suddenly become more angrier and protective of Remus. Remus understood. However, there was a limit of protectiveness that Remus could handle. And they had been crossing that limit for a month now.
Remus took another drag of the cigarette before putting it out under his foot. He was cold and hungry. So, he decided to take the first option.
Remus stood up and wiped himself down. His trousers were covered in specks of mud and grass. He made a face of disgust as he smelt his t-shirt. The Bowie t-shirt his mum had gotten him, which he had slightly ripped so it fell off his shoulders, smelt of sweat and booze.
“I need a shower,” Remus told nobody. He patted his stomach before grabbing the cigarette and lighter from the floor.
As he walked away, Remus turned to look at the empty bottles. The thought of picking them up and putting them in the bin crossed his mind. But he didn’t.
He hummed to himself as he walked down the empty street. Remus wasn’t surprised everybody was asleep. It was only his parents that awoke at the crack of dawn to have a cuppa and some toast.
Remus was nearly at his front gate when someone stopped him. He turned his head to see a man lying on the bus stop bench with his wrinkled hand stuck out.
“Wot?” Remus asked. He was too tired to deal with someone this early in the morning.
The man smiled at him in a creepy way, “Got a quid?”
Remus rolled his eyes and snapped, “Do I look like I’ve gotta quid?” The man grimaced, “Sorry, mate.” After the death, many things did not change. However, Remus’ temper had gotten shorter. It was like he was ready to fight everyone.
“You’re alright. Do you have a fag I can bum?” He asked hopefully.
Remus kissed his teeth but didn’t hesitate to pass him one, “Here.” The man took the cigarette and let Remus light it for him.
There was one left.
He took a drag and smiled, “Ta, mate.” The nameless man looked away.
Remus nodded and left him alone.
He got to his house quickly and stood outside the gate for a minute. The lights were on, which meant he had been caught.
They were waiting for him. And sadly, Remus wasn’t fucking ready. He took a breath before walking to the front door.
“Where have you been?” Hope Lupin yelled from the kitchen door. Remus shut the front door behind him and looked his mother dead in the eyes. “Do you know how worried we were?” She asked. Her hair was frizzled and the bags under her eyes were more recognisable than usual.
Remus just shrugged. He slid his shoes off and gently kicked them away from the door. He didn’t move. Remus knew that if he did, Hope would just shout more. He had done this before.
“Me and your dad have been worried sick,” Hope leaned against the wall like she was going to faint at any minute. The back of her hand rested against her forehead, “You didn’t even think to give us a bell, you absolute muppet!” She raised her voice even more.
Remus was about to speak but then his dad came thundering down the stairs.
“Oh, Remus,” Lyall didn’t move any closer to him. Instead, he just fell down on the last step and looked up at his son. “You nearly gave us a bleedin’ heart attack. Don’t ever do that again.” He put a hand on his heart.
Remus had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. “I didn’t mean to. I just ended up falling asleep at Ray’s before I could make it home,” the lie came out quick and easy. He had rehearsed it many times because he knew Soraya’s house was the only place he was allowed to sleep at.
Hope scoffed, “I called Ray’s mum.” Remus was fucked, “She said that you’ve not gone over. She said that no one made any plans either. So, Remus Lupin, you’re fucking lying to me!” Her voice went up an octave and Remus swore he felt the house shake.
Lyall stood up at the sound of her yells, “Calm down, Love.” He walked up to her and held her tightly against his chest. “Don’t get yourself worked up over this idiot’s stupid actions.” Lyall shot him a dirty look. Remus did roll his eyes.
Hope snapped, “You’re going to be the death of me boy. Is that really what you want?” Remus groaned at her, “Do you want me to drop dead?”
“Don’t say that!” Remus shouted back and she flinched back slightly.
She had used this tactic a lot since his brother had died. It was a way of making him feel guilty. Lyall used it as well. But it hurt more coming from her. Especially because Remus loved his mum more than he could explain. They were best friends. And Remus could never fathom losing his best friend.
“You always do this,” Remus felt tears forming behind his eyes. He couldn’t cry. He refused to let himself do so.
“Do what?” Hope exclaimed. “Worry for the well being of my son? How horrible of me!”
“You make me feel guilty for wanting to live a life after his death!” Remus cried out. He was sick of it. He had never snapped at her before. Remus had always kept the anger he had that was directed towards them in. “I’m not like Johnathon! I’m into the stuff he was into which means I’m not going to die by the time I’m twenty!” Hope gasped like an actress in a 50s Hollywood movie. Remus ran a hand through his hair. It had grown long as he hadn’t cut it since his brother’s death.
Lyall practically growled, “Don’t you dare disrespect your brother like that.”
“He’s fucking dead! I doubt he cares about being disrespected,” Remus spat out. It was too early in the morning to be dealing with their nonsense. Hope let out a sob and covered her mouth with her hand. Remus wanted to shoot himself in the head right there and then. He felt guilty for thinking it, but he couldn’t wait around for them to finish mourning so he could live his life normally again.
Remus, instead of shouting anymore, lowered his voice to a whisper, “I’m going to bed. It’s early and I have a headache.” His father muttered something under his breath but Remus ignored him. “I’ll speak to you guys later when you’re over your little tantrum.”
It had been like that for a while. His parents would go through mood swings every couple of hours. One minute, they would be upset but would be able to deal with it and not make Remus hate himself. But another minute, they would practically blame Remus for Johnathon’s death.
Remus hated to admit it, but it had been his fault. If only Remus had gone to the shops himself, they wouldn’t be in such a predicament. Everything would be going smooth sailing. But no. Remus had to have fucked it up.
He dragged himself up the stairs of their small three bedroom council house.
Remus walked himself to the box room and threw himself on his single bed.
His room was tiny. Remus could barely fit through the door. He had thought about moving into his brother’s room, which was bigger and nicer. But he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. In fact, they hadn’t gone into Johnathan's room since he passed. Remus wouldn’t have been surprised about the amount of dust that had probably settled.
Remus should probably do it soon.
He stripped himself of his clothes and threw them on his desk chair.
He looked at himself in the mirror opposite the bed. He was only fourteen, but already taller than anyone he’d ever met. He was taller than his teachers, taller than his friends, even taller than his dad, which felt weird because Lyall was a tall man. Remus was still pretty skinny but he could tell he was starting to fill out. There was a bit of muscle showing in his arms now, barely, but enough to make him feel proud when he caught a glimpse in the mirror.
His posture, though? Still awful. Ray never let him forget it. “Stand up straight, you look like my sexuality,” she’d say, every time she saw him slouch. Remus never got that joke.
And yeah, his hair was too long. It kept falling in his eyes, and it curled weird at the ends, but he hadn’t gotten around to cutting it. Maybe he liked it that way, or maybe he just didn’t care enough to do something about it.
It was definitely the second one.
He sighed as he pushed his hair out of his face before laying down on the bed.
Remus stared up at the ceiling and felt himself try to drift into a quick and easy slumber.
Sleep rarely came easily to Remus, especially in a time like now. His stress had stopped him from getting more than four hours and even the medicine the doctor prescribed him hadn’t worked. Ray suggested meditation but Remus just laughed in her face.
He rolled around in his bed for another couple of minutes before abruptly sitting up. Remus groaned into his hands. Too many thoughts were rushing through his head. His brain was loud and refused to turn off. Too much had happened recently for his brain to be capable of turning off.
He reached over to his bedside table and grabbed the dark red notebook that was practically falling apart. The only thing that would make his brain somewhat shut up, was to write. But annoyingly, his brain would work faster than his wrist could. Remus stares at a blank page for what seemed like hours. He couldn’t bring himself to put anything on the page. He fiddled with his pen and nibbled on the cap.
Remus sighed and grabbed a cigarette that was laying on the small table. Smoking was a bad habit he had started before his brother had even died. In fact, Johnny was the first person to offer him one. He lit it and took a drag. The smoke stayed in the air. Remus had forgotten to open the window.
Groaning, he stood up and opened the window in his room. He leaned on the windowsill and looked out. The view was uninteresting and quite ugly. There was nothing interesting outside Lupin's council house. If he squinted his eyes, Remus could barely see what his neighbours were doing and that was the only entertainment he had.
The Lupin’s weren’t a rich family. Actually, they barely had any money at all. His parents worked in a chippy from morning to night and they struggled to keep the family standing. Remus tried to help but no one would ever hire him. It really pissed him the fuck off.
He put out the fag and walked to his bedroom door. Remus had heard his parents leave to go to work so he was home alone. He stepped out of his room and looked at the door opposite his.
His brother’s room. It had a sign which read Johnathon Lupin’s room. Do not Enter.
Remus would never take heed to that sign and would walk in. That never ended well. Let’s just say his brother liked to bring people home and he got traumatized more times than he could count. Remus ended up blocking out most of the people he had seen in his brother’s bed.
It had been a while since he had gone in. Maybe he should? No, Remus knew better to break his brother’s rules.
“Fuck it,” Remus whispered to himself. He took two large steps down the hallway and ended up by the door. He didn't know if he should. He placed his hand on the doorknob.
Remus sighed and turned it and pushed the door open.
He was left to face the mess of a room.
His brother had been in a rush to leave in the morning. It was obvious Johnathon had no clue what to wear because clothes had been thrown all over the place. There were a couple of letters on the table which were covered in dust.
Remus stepped towards the bed and lightly grazed the orange duvet covers. He sat on the edge, careful not to mess with anything, and picked up the only teddy bear that sat there.
He hugged it tightly and breathed in the strong smell of apples and cinnamon. A wave of memories came rushing back. They had spent so much time in this room playing and just talking. Remus held back a sob.
Gently placing the teddy back where it was, he stood up and walked to the desk. Remus sat down on the desk chair and grabbed a few things to look at.
His brother never studied. He only used the desk for doing things he shouldn’t have been doing.
Like drugs.
Remus shook that thought away and wiped a tear from his face.
There was a pile of papers sitting on the corner of his desk. A thick pile of dust had collected onto the letters. Remus blew it away before picking them up.
He shuffled through the letters. None of them caught his eye. Some of them were letters from magazines he had subscribed to or some letters were from his now ex-girlfriend.
Suddenly, something interesting caught his eye. Remus stopped at that letter with something familiar in the corner of it. It was an emblem. A red, green, blue, and yellow emblem. Remus pulled it out and looked at it. He turned it around in his hand.
On the side of the emblem was a name and address. It was his name and his address.
Hesitantly, Remus ripped open the letter and read what was in it. Well, it was his letter so it shouldn't be that much of a problem.
Hogwarts School of Arts Tuesday 27th July 1975
Headteacher: Albus Dumbledore
Dear Mr Remus Lupin,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been granted a full scholarship to Hogwarts School of Arts. The school will be sending you your equipment and uniform a week before your departure.
Sincerely,
Albus Dumbledore.
Remus dropped the letter on the table. He looked up and let out a shaky breath. Remus was unbelievably confused. His head was hurting more than it previously was.
He had no idea what this meant and he didn’t know what to do. His parents weren’t home to explain any of this. And Johnathon, who had been the one storing the letter, was fucking dead.
Remus was just going to have to wait until he could get a proper answer.
Chapter 2
Notes:
This chapter came out sooner than I expected! I was editing this while watching httyd, so if there are any mistakes tell me in the comments! This chapter introduces one OC who will make more appearances btw.
TW:
-slight mentions of blood
- slight mention of abuseI think this is it but tell me if you find anymore!
Also, this is the start of the 'don't like, don't read' thing I briefly mentioned in the first chapter xx
Chapter Text
August 27th, 1975
Remus
He didn’t know how long he had been sitting there for. It must’ve been the entire day with the way the sun had started to slowly fall. Remus had heard the door knock a few times but chose to ignore it. It was probably just the postman anyway.
The news still hadn’t been processed. It wasn’t possible. Remus didn’t even remember applying for Hogwarts. But he had been accepted? Remus rubbed his eyes and looked down at the open letter in front of him.
He had reread it multiple times and tried to grasp what was going on. Remus wondered why it was on Johnny’s desk in the first place. Had he been the one to apply on behalf of Remus? Remus doubted that was even possible. Wait, what if it was? Remus dropped his head in his hands and sighed.
How could his brother not tell him about this? It was such important news. Johnathan could never keep his mouth shut about anything, so why was this any different?
The clock on the desk made a tick-tock noise beside him. The time was 5:04. His parents should be home soon. Remus hoped that his parents would know more than he did.
Just as Remus thought that, he heard a key turning in the door. Remus wasted no time and rushed down the stairs, letter in hand.
He stood on the last step and watched the door open. Remus tucked his hair behind his ear and waited for them to get settled in. God, he really needed to cut his hair.
Hope slid off her shoes and smiled up at Remus, “Hello, love.” Hope’s expression changed when she saw the look of distress on Remus' face. “Is everything okay? Are you upset because of this morning? I am sorry-”
Remus cut her off, “No, it’s not that. I just need to ask you guys something.” In fact, he had forgotten all about this morning's incident because of the new information he had found out.
“What is it, son?” Lyall asked as he shut the door behind him. They were all cramped up in the small corridor.
Remus held up the letter in his shaky hand, “What is this?”
“Oh,” Lyall tilted his head. He grabbed the letter from his son’s hand and read what the inside said.
Hope looked over his shoulder, “What is it, love?” She read the words on the paper before clearing her throat, “Right.”
“Right?” Remus repeated. “Did you guys know about this?”
Lyall looked at him with a sad expression, “Your brother applied on behalf of you. We didn’t think it would actually happen.” Hope hummed and grabbed the letter.
“Well it did! Now, I have no idea what to do!” Remus exclaimed, his hand still shaking.
Hope stepped away from the front door. She thought for a moment before speaking again, “Let’s go to the living room, how ‘bout that?” Lyall agreed. Remus and Lyall followed her into the cozy living room.
There was slight tension in the room. Hope had reread the letter multiple times. It seemed she still hadn’t processed it, just like Remus.
“Do you know what this means?” Remus pointed to the letter and looked at his parents. He could feel tears forming behind his eyes. “Johnny applied for me. He knew I had the ability to do it so he fucking applied for me but no one told me.” Remus sniffled, “This is my chance!”
Hope looked up from the letter, a tear dropping from her blue eyes, “Yes, my love. It is your chance.”
“Why didn’t he tell us you got in?” Lyall stroked his beard. “We helped with the application. Why didn’t he tell us?” Why didn’t he tell Remus?
“I don’t know,” Hope choked, her face red from the tears she had been silently shedding. “But it happened.”
Remus didn’t know what to do.
He stood in front of his parents, shaking. His mind was moving at a thousand miles per hour. Remus couldn’t shut it up. A million questions were popping up in his head and Remus couldn’t figure out an answer to any of them.
If only Johnny were here.
He could’ve given Remus an explanation. A reason why he did this. What he had done to make this happen.
Remus may not have known much about this letter. However, he did know that doing something like this could not have been easy or cheap.
Hogwarts was the greatest art school in England. They had a reputation that no one could ever forget. They taught a range of different types of art. Like Drama, Art, Photography, and Music, which was Remus' most preferred.
Their acceptance rate was only 8% and only the best of the best could get in. And it wasn’t uncommon knowledge to the public that many children of famous people attended Hogwarts. It was like when they were born, their space had been claimed. Even if they lacked talent, that was something that really pissed Remus off.
“Remus, is this something you want?” Hope asked him, cutting him off from his train of thought. “I’m being serious.”
Remus ran a hand through his hair and let out a shaky breath. If he said yes, that meant Remus had an opportunity people would die for. If he said no, Remus would surely be stuck in the same pit his parents were in.
He didn’t want that.
He wanted something else. Remus wanted something that only a certain amount of people can get to. Remus wanted to be known.
This was his chance.
“Yes,” Remus fiddled with his fingers. “It is.”
Hope and Lyall shared a glance before looking back.
Lyall was the first to speak, “If it makes you happy, then you can go.” Hope rubbed her face and agreed with him. “I know it isn’t the best circumstances, but it’s something that your brother obviously wanted to happen.”
Remus couldn’t speak. His throat went dry and his brain immediately shut up.
It was something that Johnathon wanted. And it was something that Remus wanted. Even if he had to do it without his brother, he was still grateful he could do it in the first place.
☾✧☽☾✧☽☾✧☽
“Ray!” Remus ran into the front garden of his best friend’s house. “Ray! Holy shit, I have amazing news!” He rapidly knocked on the red door, hoping she was home. “You better be home otherwise I look crazy!” Remus tucked his hair behind his ear. He really needed to cut it.
Remus was about to knock again but then the door opened.
“Whatcha want?” Ray rubbed her eyes, “I was having a nice nap.” Her hair had been put into two messy plaits and her t-shirt was falling from her shoulder.
“I don’t care! Look,” he stuffed the letter into her hands. Remus watched as Ray skimmed over the letter. She was silent as she read through it, but then her eyes widened, “Isn’t this amazing?
Ray looked up, her eyes wide from shock, “Oh my fucking gosh. Rem, this is amazing!”
Remus nodded quickly, “I know!” Remus explained, “Johnathon had applied for me before he died. He got the acceptance letter, but I guess he just didn’t have the time to give it to me.” He still didn’t get how it happened. But he wasn’t going to question it any more.
She covered her mouth with her hand and looked up. There were tears in her eyes. Remus couldn’t tell if they were from happiness or if she was upset he was leaving.
“Are you upset?” Remus grabbed her hands and pulled her closer. “I don’t want you to be upset.”
Ray shook her head and wiped the tear that fell, “No, I’m nowhere near upset. I am so freaking happy for you. Do you know what this means?” Remus smiled brightly. “I can’t believe it.”
It had been a while since Remus had felt as happy as he did in that moment. It was like every bad thing in his life had just disappeared. He felt guilty. But Remus knew his brother wanted for him to be nothing but happy.
“You’re gonna be famous,” Ray chuckled.
Remus rolled his eyes, “Hopefully. But there are so many kids with fame running through their blood in that school, I don’t think I have a chance.”
Ray snorted, “You’re better than all of those cunts anyway. They’re all probably fed food from a silver plate and do shots in gold cups. They won’t survive a day in the real world.” She wasn’t exactly lying.
Remus threw his head back and laughed. “They probably are,” he shrugged. “Oh, I’ve heard Euphemia and Fleamont Potter’s son goes to Hogwarts!”
“Oh god, not another rich dick sucker!” Ray exclaimed. “Imagine having to room with them. You’re gonna wanna kill yourself when you go.”
Remus shrugged, “I’m sure I’ll fit right in.” Ray comically frowned. “Or I’ll suffer by doing shots from gold cups and learning the ways of the rich people.” Ray didn’t reply. Instead, she carried on staring at the open letter in her hands. “What’s wrong?”
“They’re gonna change you,” Ray shook her head. “You’ll never be the same.”
Remus rolled his eyes. She was always the one for dramatics, “I’ll be fine. I’ll come back this Christmas the same. The only difference will be the fact that I can play instruments better.”
Ray didn’t look convinced. “Sure. And then when you come back in the summer, you’ll have a posh accent and friends you love more than me.”
Remus was slightly shocked at that statement. He knew that could never happen. Ray had been his friend since the day he could remember and he doubted she would ever be someone he forgot.
Someone had stolen his ice cream and Ray beat up the person who did that. In return, Remus taught her how to speak English. It was a perfect friendship. One that Remus would never not hold onto.
“That will never happen. There is no one out there that I love more than you,” Remus whispered.
Ray looked up, a tear had fallen from her eye. Remus wiped it away with his thumb, “Except for your girlfriend.”
Remus shook his head, “You’ll still be my number one girl.”
Ray blushed, “You’re making me cringe.” Remus laughed, “And you’re making me second guess a couple of things so stop.” Remus raised both hands in defeat and stepped away.
“Wanna go tell the others?” Remus asked. The ‘others’ being Ethan and Ellis, who were the only two people who could deal with Remus and Ray.
Ray nodded. She folded the letter and handed it back to Remus, “Give me five and then we’ll go.”
Remus smiled and watched as she disappeared upstairs to change.
☾✧☽☾✧☽☾✧☽
Sirius
Walburga and Orion’s room was unsurprisingly dark and gloomy. The curtains were open but no light came through the windows. It was like they attracted nothing but darkness.
Sirius stepped into the room with no reason. He didn’t know why he had gone in but something had made him just want to.
He had not entered their room in years. The last time he had done it was Christmas when he was five.
Sirius had wanted to tell his parents about something he had read called ‘Santa Claus’. However, when he stepped into their room, Sirius was immediately shunned out by his very angry father.
He hadn’t gone in since.
It wasn’t like he was scared. Sirius never got scared. He just didn’t want to annoy them more than he normally did.
Walburga and Orion had gone to Paris, and they weren’t planning on coming back until after the brothers left for Hogwarts. Sirius didn’t mind. It meant he could be at peace for the last few days of the summer holidays.
Regulus had locked himself in his room since the morning and made no attempt to leave. So Sirius knew he had a lot of spare time on his hands.
He practically skipped across their room and went up to the vanity that sat opposite their bed.
Sirius picked up the necklaces that were sprawled across the table. Kreacher had obviously not cleaned their room before he was also dragged to Paris.
As he eyed the jewellery, he grabbed one of the necklaces resting on a wooden stand. It had a green stone in the middle. Sirius frowned. He hated the colour green. It reminded him too much of his awful family.
He threw the necklace back on the table and walked toward the full-body mirror in the corner of their unnecessarily large room.
Despite being home alone, Sirius still wore clothes which would impress his parents. A black turtleneck paired with black slacks and a silver watch engraved with the family name. Sirius hated it.
The jumper was making his skin itch. It was too hot to be wearing one. And the watch was too tight. It wasn’t made to fit him.
Sirius ran a hand through his straight black hair. It had grown a lot in length and hit the middle of his back. His parents despised it and threatened him with scissors many times. They found it ‘ too feminine ’ and ‘ queer ’.
Sirius ignored them and just put it up whenever they moaned.
Regulus hated it too. He just chose to ignore it or scowl whenever Sirius’ hair was down. But Regulus’ opinion was unimportant to Sirius. In fact, Regulus was just unimportant to Sirius.
Sirius sighed. He didn’t know what to do.
There was nothing interesting going on in the house. Not that Sirius liked what usually went on in the house. However, it would probably be more fun than what he was experiencing now.
Sirius turned around to face the room. What could he do to spiritually piss off his parents? Slowly, he looked around.
His parents were boring. They had no hobbies, no friends (only acquaintances), and basically no life out of work. They enjoyed nothing except for torturing their children.
Suddenly, his grey eyes caught something that may just change what he had been thinking.
There were a set of doors that sat beside the king sized bed. Those doors led into a large walk-in wardrobe that stored hundreds of dresses, suits, and shoes.
An idea crossed Sirius’ mind. He smirked.
“ No, no. Ew, no. Oh! No ,” Sirius pushed his father’s clothes out of the way after looking at each of them. “Why are they all so fucking ugly?” Sirius moaned.
It seemed that his father did not have a good sense of style. Each suit was boring and lifeless. They were all a different shade of green and each was more ugly than the previous one.
Sirius threw his head back and groaned, “Why can’t this man dress nicely? And, why is everything fucking green?” He spoke to himself. Sirius tucked his hair behind his ears and put the clothes back to wear they were.
Annoyed at the outcome, he sighed and went to walk out the room. But before he could leave, he stopped in front of his mother’s side.
Walburga’s side was shockingly more colourful despite her heart being the darkest shade of black possible.
He hummed and thought about it for a moment.
It wouldn’t hurt to try on one. Just one.
But…it was weird .
Sirius straightened his back. No one had to know. It could just be his little secret. And it wasn’t like he was going to enjoy it. It would just take his mind off the boredom he was originally feeling.
He stepped closer to the rack of clothes.
Just one.
Sirius’ long pale fingers grazed the fabric of the dresses. There were so many colours. Red, purple, yellow, green, and even white. Though, Sirius had never seen his mother in a white dress. She usually stuck to darker shades.
He looked through the clothes one by one. There were many different types. Some had long sleeves, some had short sleeves. Many had jewels embroidered into them. Some were just bare pieces of fabric.
Sirius hummed as he looked through them.
He wanted to choose something colourful. Except, his eyes kept on locking onto the long white dress which sat untouched in the back of the room.
The last time Walburga had worn a white dress was for her wedding. However, she never spoke about it.
Sirius stepped closer to the dress. On closer inspection, it was covered in small diamonds and was made from silk. The dress was backless and instead led into a short train.
Sirius knew exactly what he was going to do.
“ Fucking finally ,” he muttered as he finally zipped up the end of the dress. He looked at himself in the large mirror next to one of the racks of clothes.
Surprisingly, the dress fit perfectly. The train fell behind him and made him look like he was about to get married.
The dress hugged all the right places and scared Sirius quite a bit. Not because of the fact he was wearing a dress, but because he looked creepily a lot like his mother. Something that Sirius always knew but hated to admit.
He looked down at himself and frowned. What if someone was to see him like this? What would they say?
The heir to the House Of Black was wearing a fucking dress.
And he looked bloody good doing so.
Sirius turned to the side and examined his body. His figure was the result of harsh punishments and overthinking, which was something that never left him.
He stepped back and looked at the door.
His mind went back and forth with the same thought. Regulus would think Sirius looked cool, wouldn’t he?
Sirius sighed and tucked a hair behind his ears. School started soon which meant he would finally go to a place filled with joy and warmth.
Most people hated school but Sirius thought it was the only place he could have some sort of freedom.
It was the only place which filled him with some sort of happiness rather than a feeling of numbness.
He had felt this numbness all summer. His parents had not allowed him to read the letter James and Peter tried to send and he wasn’t allowed to pick up the phone. So, Sirius had been truly isolated.
It wasn’t all his fault. Yes, he crossed lines and broke rules. But those lines and rules were useless. They were there to restrict him. And Sirius hated nothing more than restricted.
To put it simply, any sort of restriction made Sirius feel like he was drowning in his own thoughts.
Sirius knew when he shouldn’t cross a line. However, being told he couldn’t cross it made him want to do so even more than before.
That sounded silly. But it was the truth.
Sirius breathed out. His hand went to the zipper of the dress and he pulled it down slowly, not wanting to cause any damage.
Carefully, after taking the dress off and redressing, he placed the dress back to where it was and shut the door behind him.
Sirius took another glance at the room his parents haunt every time they return to England, and frowned.
He couldn’t wait to get out.
Though, he wouldn’t say that out loud. Despite the rocky relationship between him and his brother, Sirius still couldn’t risk to hurt him that much. Sirius doubted Regulus could do it alone.
A sudden knocking noise broke Sirius’ train of thought.
He heard Regulus walk down the stairs and open the door. Sirius heard a small ‘thank you’ and the door shutting.
“Sirius,” Regulus called out as he walked up the stairs.
Sirius stepped out of his parent’s room and watched his brother frown at that.
“What?” Sirius shut the door behind him.
Regulus’ frown deepened, “Why were you in there?”
Sirius snapped, “It’s none of your business.” He could not risk telling his brother the truth.
Regulus rolled his eyes. “Fine. This is addressed to you,” He threw the letter that was in his hands toward Sirius. “It’s from school. Hey, who knows? It may be your letter of expulsion.”
“Sure, whatever you think,” Sirius caught the letter in one hand and looked down.
Sirius left Regulus standing in the large hallway and walked into his bedroom.
Sirius’ bedroom was unnecessarily grand. It was definitely the size of someone’s house. He threw himself on his bed and ripped open the letter.
It was short so it definitely wasn’t an expulsion letter. He knew it wouldn’t be. Dumbledore had promised he would stay even after the fight, despite it being the worst one Sirius had ever gotten into.
His eyes quickly skimmed through the words. One thing that his friends hated about him, was how fast he could read. It was something his brother also greatly despised about him.
Hogwarts School of Arts Tuesday 27th July 1975
Headteacher: Albus Dumbledore
Dear Mr Sirius Black,
I am writing to inform you about a certain change which will be affecting you. You will be receiving a new roommate at the start of the year and I hope you make him feel very welcomed.
Sincerely,
Albus Dumbledore.
Sirius hummed. It was going to be strange having a new roommate, because it had only been James, Sirius, and Peter in one room since the start. However, it wouldn’t hurt to have one more person.
In fact, the new roommate may be able to assist Sirius in his little master plan he had his mind set on for years.
“It can’t be that bad,” Sirius threw the letter to the side and went to his desk.
He wanted to send a letter to James to know his reaction to this new change in their life. Except there was security surrounding the house and that meant Sirius wasn’t allowed out to post it.
Sirius groaned and sat on his chair. He could tell Regulus about this. Though, Sirius didn’t think Regulus would care.
“I don’t care,” Regulus muttered after Sirius informed him what the letter was about.
Regulus was at his desk, writing in his little notebook filled with sad boy poetry (as Sirius called it). He hadn’t even looked up at Sirius.
Sirius rolled his eyes, “Can you just try and care? I can’t get Peter and James’ reaction to it so you're my next best thing.”
Regulus put his pen down and slammed his notebook shut, “You got my reaction so either take it or leave it. It’s not my fault you’re too thick to understand it. I just hope your new roommate doesn’t go insane when he meets you.” Sirius scowled, “What? Am I telling a lie? You have no respect for anyone besides yourself!”
“God, and I thought I was dramatic. All I asked is that you care about something that goes on in my life. But I guess you’re too important for that!” Sirius threw his hands up.
Regulus didn’t say anything.
“You are so fucking annoying. And it doesn’t help that you’re a suck up,” Sirius snapped. He straightened up from where he was leaning on Regulus’ door. “You’re such a fucking freak .”
Regulus looked up at him, “You’re not even supposed to be talking to me after what happened before the summer!” Regulus yelled out, “You really cannot follow simple rules, can you?”
Sirius sighed, “It was never as deep as anyone made it out to be!” That was a slight lie.
“You nearly killed me!”
“You’re overreacting. You were fine. There was only a little bit of blood.” Sirius still could feel the blood in his mouth, but he would never say anything about it. Not when it was his own fault.
Regulus rubbed his temple, “I cannot deal with you anymore. I nearly died, and this is how you act? Just get the hell away from me.”
Maybe leaving wouldn’t be the worst idea. It was obvious Regulus didn’t care much.
Sirius slammed his brother's door behind him and stomped back to his room.
“Only four more fucking days,” Sirius fell stomach first onto his bed. “Only four.” He covered his face with his hands and sighed.
Chapter 3
Notes:
I'm back! I'm sorry it's been so long since I've updated. I tried to update earlier; the ao3 curse hit me, and my home country was attacked, so...
But it's fine, I'm here with a new chapter! It isn't much, I apologise, but it's all I could bring out during these times.(I'm sorry about the grammar mistakes I am too tired to fix all of them)
Chapter Text
September 1st, 1975
Remus
Remus entered Kings Cross station shaking. His trunk and book were in one hand, and the other hand was busy scratching the inside of his palm. Stop doing that. Remus remembered his mum grabbing his hand to stop him from hurting himself.
Remus quickly relaxed his hand at the thought of his mum.
He looked around and took in his surroundings. From a distance, he could see groups of kids walking towards the platform Remus needed to be at.
Immediately, he was forcefully drawn to a group of three boys who looked around his age. Two of them were laughing about something (loudly, may Remus add). The other boy looked tired of them.
It seemed like one of the laughing boys felt Remus’ gaze on him. The boy turned his head and flicked his long black hair behind his shoulders as he caught Remus’ eye. The mystery boy grinned and sent him a wink. Remus was unsure on how to react. Luckily, the boy turned back to face his friend and carried on laughing about their previous joke.
Remus was left to stare at the back of the mystery boy’s head.
His hair had obviously been cut by himself. Some sections were longer than others, and from what Remus had seen when he looked at him, the boy had a fringe which had been messily cut.
Remus then remembered how his brother had once cut his own hair. It turned out horribly and they laughed about it until it grew back.
He ran a hand through his hair, which Hope had forced him to cut before departure, and sighed.
Remus then followed the groups of children and found himself at the platform shortly after. He looked around again, trying to find the boy he had seen only a couple of minutes ago, but it seemed the group had randomly disappeared. Remus frowned but knew he would probably see them again soon enough.
Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Remus turned and looked down.
He was standing in front of a short ginger girl. Her hair had been put in a ponytail and her uniform was already on. He squinted at a badge on her chest. It read Prefect. Ah, that’s why her uniform was on.
“Hi,” she stuck out her hand. “I’m Lily Evans.”
Remus awkwardly grabbed her hand and shook it, “Hi, I’m Remus. Remus Lupin.”
Lily let go of his hand and smiled kindly, “Are you new?” She looked him up and down. Not in a judgemental way. But in a gentle way which made you feel calm.
Remus grinned, “Is it that obvious?” He felt a surge of anxiety in his stomach. Remus wasn’t very good with new people, especially when it was obvious he stuck out like a sore thumb.
Lily laughed lightly, “Don’t worry, Remus. I only noticed because you look my age and I’ve never seen you before.” She reassured him politely.
“Ah, that makes sense,” Remus nodded and tried to laugh, but nothing came out. Instead, he looked down at the floor and back up at her, hoping something would happen which would result in a new conversation topic.
Then, it seemed like God had sent him a gift because she then asked a question, “Do you read?” Lily was grinning widely. Remus looked up and saw her glancing at the book in his hand.
Remus held up the worn out book for her to see the cover, “If it’s a good book, yeah. Do you?”
She nodded and took the book from his hands, “Reading is quite fun and calming. Especially in a school like this.” Remus smiled. Great, they had something in common. She skimmed the book and hummed, before passing it back to him.
Remus then looked her up and down and took her appearance in. Her ginger hair was long and even in a ponytail it was below her shoulders. She had flower earrings in and a gold heart-shaped necklace.
Remus looked up and was immediately drawn to her eyes. They were a light green and the brown eyeliner she had applied made them look even nicer.
“Admiring me?” Lily joked.
Remus smiled, “Who wouldn’t?” He wasn’t lying. She was quite beautiful.
Lily threw her head back and laughed, “Oh, Remus. Don’t let anyone hear you, they’ll tell Potter and he’ll go mad.” She kissed her teeth.
“Potter?” Remus felt the name was familiar.
Lily nodded, “James Potter. Euphemia and Fleamont Potter’s son.”
Remus felt his jaw drop. Euphemia Potter? “Euphemia Potter?” The best pop singer in the world? “The best pop singer in the world?” Lily nodded, “Her son actually goes to this school?” His mum had told him about it, however, he thought it was just rumours.
Remus didn’t usually listen to pop. It wasn’t his forte. However, everyone knew and listened to Euphemia Potter.
“Yep. Now, imagine how big her son’s ego is,” Lily smiled.
Remus nodded, “It must be huge. I know mine would be.”
“It really fucking is. And, it doesn’t help that he’s rude. I don’t understand how someone who has had everything handed to him on a silver platter, can’t give one thing back to the world. Kindness.” Remus could tell she was getting annoyed just thinking about him.
Lily frowned after she finished her rant, “Sorry, I just don’t like him.”
Remus shrugged. He hadn’t met James Potter yet. So, he wasn’t in the right place to make a judgment. But if Lily was telling the truth, then Remus was sure to hate him. He could barely deal with Ray’s ego, he doubted he could handle the son of the one of the greatest singers ever.
Lily looked down at her gold coloured watch and tutted, “My friends are late. Do you want to go and find a compartment? Hopefully, there are some left.”
Remus hesitantly agreed and followed her onto the train. Just before he stepped on, he saw the same black hair he had seen previously. The mystery boy turned around and smiled towards Remus. How did he know? Remus thought to himself.
Remus then got a quick glance at something silver on him. When he squinted, he could barely make out the shape of a star on his ears. Remus looked at the boy again. But this time, he was scowling.
Not at Remus, but at Lily.
Lily called out his name. Remus looked at her and muttered an apology before following her.
They walked down the train and looked into every compartment. Luckily, there was one left. Lily walked in and Remus came in after her.
She put her trunk up and sat by the window. Remus did the same and sat opposite her.
Remus looked out the window in hopes he would find the mystery boy. But, he had sadly disappeared. Again .
“So,” Lily gained Remus’ attention. “Tell me more about yourself, Remus.”
Remus fiddled with his sleeves, “What do you wanna know?” Remus was not very good with ice-breakers. He would usually go to the toilet during ice-breakers in Primary school.
Lily shrugged, “Where are you from?”
“Manchester.”
Lily nodded knowingly, “I could tell.” Remus frowned, “Your accent made it obvious.” Remus nodded and asked her the same question. “Bath.”
“Fancy,” Remus muttered. Lily chuckled.
“Any siblings?” Remus asked.
Lily sighed, “I have an older sister. Her name’s Petunia.”
Remus tilted his head, “Do your parents like flowers or sumet?” Lily smiled again. She smiles a lot. Remus thought.
“Sadly, yes. Except, I don’t know if it’s just my parents because my mums called Primrose and my aunt is called Marigold,” Lily frowned. “It’s very strange.”
Remus agreed. They fell into a comfortable silence as Lily went looking for something in her bag.
He was surprised that he had made a friend this quick. Most of the time, it takes around a couple of weeks for someone to even realise he was there. But this time, it was different. It seemed more…comforting.
Maybe this school was the right place for him like his brother thought.
His train of thought was cut off by a loud slamming.
Remus turned his head and saw two girls. One with long blonde hair and the other had long brown curls.
“Lily!” The blonde girl exclaimed. She leapt onto Lily and pulled her into a tight hug.
Lily, who didn’t seem fazed by the action, hugged her back, “Hey, Marls.”
The other girl kissed her teeth, “Gonna ignore me? How bloody rude! And after all I’ve done for you, Lils.”
Lily freed herself from her other friend’s grip and smiled, “Stop being dramatic, Mary. You know how much I love you!”
Mary stepped into the compartment and hugged her friend. But after she let go, Mary spun around to face Remus. She smiled at him.
“Hello,” Mary smiled and looked him up and down. “Who are you? Who is he, Lily?” Remus could immediately tell she was a very confident person, unlike himself.
Remus cleared his throat, “Uhm, I’m Remus Lupin. I’m new.” Johnathan was probably laughing at him so hard at that very moment.
Mary hummed, “Well, Remus Lupin, It’s nice to meet you.” She took off her denim jacket and sat next to him. Remus could feel her looking him up and down.
The blonde girl hummed and spoke out, “Hmm, nice to meet you, Remus.” Remus smiled at her. “I’m Marlene.” She stretched out to shake his hand.
Mary piped up, “Oh, I’m Mary.” However, Remus already knew from when Lily had spoken to her. Remus smiled in response. “How was your summer, Lils? Did anything interesting happen?”
“Petunia got engaged,” Lily sighed. “I am not going to hear the end of this one.”
“That must suck. Don’t worry, you can invite me to piss her off,” Marlene smirked. “What about you, Mary?”
Mary immediately started telling everyone what she had done that summer. She had travelled around Paris and had also gone down to South England. Remus didn’t speak much but he would make sure to slightly interact with her.
“So, Remus,” Marlene spoke after Mary finished explaining. “What’s so good about you that Hogwarts let you in so late? They don’t usually do that.”
Remus shrugged and looked at his calloused fingers, “I’m good with instruments.”
Good was an understatement. Since Remus did nothing most of the time, his music teacher decided to take him under her wing and teach Remus every instrument she could. He was smart so things came naturally to him. And, he loved it. So that made him even more motivated.
His most preferred instrument was the guitar. Remus found it the easiest and the funnest to play.
“Are you any good at guitar?” Mary asked. It was like she was reading his mind.
Remus nodded, “It’s what I’m best at.”
Lily smiled, “Potter has competition.” Remus smiled awkwardly. He doubted he could beat someone like that.
“Yeah, but Potter’s good at a lot of things,” Marlene said. “Did you see his final art piece last year?”
Mary nodded, “It was fantastic. I’m pretty sure McGonagall put it up in one of the corridors.” Lily rolled her eyes. “Are you still praying for his downfall, Lils?” Mary snorted.
The ginger girl nodded, “I pray every night that he loses all his fingers and can never do anything again.”
Marlene shook her head, “Knowing James, he probably has the voice of an angel.”
“He might do. But he would never beat Sirius. No one’s better than Black,” Mary started to fiddle with her hair. “You know, over the summer I was thinking about calling him up. But then, I remembered how much of a dick he was last time.”
Marlene shrugged, “You are what you eat.” Mary gasped. “What? Am I lying?”
Lily made a noise of disgust, “Never date him again. Him and his weird group of friends are horrible.”
Remus piped up, “Who are we talking about?” It seemed that the girls had forgotten he had only joined.
“I told you who Potter is. And, you’ll meet Sirius and Peter soon,” Lily explained. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they immediately come up to you and ask questions.”
“They’re very nosy,” Mary explained. “They’re even bigger gossips than I am!”
Marlene agreed.
Remus nodded and stayed silent as they talked more about them. Even though the girls were talking about how annoying they were, Remus couldn’t help but find himself thinking they’re very fun people to be around.
The girls explained the pranks they have pulled and the people they had teased in the past. Remus thought it was all quite fun. Except, he wouldn’t risk telling them. It seemed like the girls wanted them dead.
Remus looked out the window and took in the scenery. Everything was so beautiful. The sky was clear and the grass was greener than anything he’s seen before. Remus couldn’t wait for when he arrived at school. It would definitely be a shock to his system.
“Guys!” Mary shouted, seeming like she remembered something important. Remus snapped his neck towards her, expecting something bad to have happened. “I’m not a gossip,” Marlene scoffed, “Shush. I’m not a gossip but rumour has it Sirius ran off to Potter’s for the last couple of summer days.”
Lily hummed, “Is there a reason?”
Mary shook her head, “I’ve got no idea. It was probably an argument with his brother that ended horribly.”
“Their parents need to send them to family therapy. I’m sick of hearing about their stupid fights.” Marlene suggested.
“I don’t think family therapy can fix it anymore,” Lily looked out the window. “Family therapy is good for me and Petunia. However, Regulus and Sirius’ relationship is beyond fixable.”
Remus stayed silent, unsure of what was going on.
Marlene caught his eye and started to explain, “Sirius and Regulus, his brother, have some sort of rivalry going on and they absolutely hate each other. It’s silly, really.”
Remus asked, “Do their parents not care?” Hope would always care when Johnny and him got into an argument.
“I doubt it. If they did, they would’ve done something about it a long time ago. Besides, no one knows anything about their parents except for the fact they are loaded,” Mary answered.
Remus hummed, “Maybe they’re in the mafia.”
Lily snorted, “Maybe. I guess we’ll never know.”
They carried on discussing what happened. Every once in a while, Remus would throw in a theory that would extend the conversation much more.
Let's just say, the majority of the train ride was interesting with these girls. Remus learnt things about people he had never and probably would never meet.
He also learned that Mary dated Sirius for four months.
“He’s a nice guy,” Mary had said. “When he wants to be.”
Lily groaned, “Please, Mary. Never ever go close to him again.”
Marlene agreed hastily, “Don’t be fucking dumb. Remus, tell her not to date him.”
Remus was unsure when he had been invited to the conversation, but it seemed like the other girls were waiting for his answer, “From what I’ve heard, Sirius is a right dick and you shouldn’t date him.”
“See!” Marlene exclaimed.
“Wait, which one is Sirius? ‘Cause, I saw a group of boys and I feel like they’re the ones you were talking about. ” Remus asked them.
Marlene tucked her hair behind her ear and said, “He’s got long black hair that he cut himself. He’s really bloody pale, it’s like he’s never seen the sun in his life. Oh, and he has grey eyes that scare the living shit out of people, and he’s really skinny.”
“Is he really loud?” Remus asked, wanting more confirmation. Marlene nodded. “Wait, the one who looks like a vampire?”
“Yes!” Mary clapped her hands together.
Lily chuckled, “We thought we were the only ones who thought that.”
Remus ran a hand through his hair, “Oh yeah, I saw him on the station and I thought he was Dracula’s child.”
Marlene laughed lightly, “His entire family is supposed to be unbelievably pale. I heard it’s from the incest.”
“What?” Remus asked, confused and slightly disgusted.
“Rumour has it his family married inside the family. His mum and his dad are supposedly cousins,” Mary explained.
“Why is that the only thing you guys know about his family?” Remus was unbelievably shocked. Mary just shrugged. Remus didn’t think any family did that nowadays. It seemed like he was proved wrong.
Lily sighed, “Let’s stop talking about Satan’s spawn and talk about better things.”
“Like what?” Marlene asked.
The ginger girl shrugged, “I dunno. Just anything but him.”
Mary was about to give them a conversation topic, but she was rudely interrupted by a loud knocking.
Remus looked out and saw exactly who they had been talking about.
Sirius was knocking on the glass door with a wide grin on his face. However, Remus could tell there was a suspicious glint to his eyes.
The boy opened the door and greeted the girls with a massive smile, “Hello, Mary, Marlene, leprechaun , and you,” Sirius gestured towards Remus. “Who is this, by the way?”
Lily let her head fall back onto her seat, “We were expecting your arrival, snake .” She sounded tired of him already.
“Oh, Evans. Lovely as always it seems,” Sirius tilted his head. He looked at Mary and smirked, “Hey, Macdonald. Missed me?”
Mary scoffed, “Of course I didn’t. In fact, summer felt very peaceful without you.”
Sirius laughed but it sounded more like a bark. Remus watched as his head fell back and his hair dropped down. Despite being cut by himself, Sirius’ hair still looked amazing.
Sirius’ laughing slowly came to a halt. He tucked his fringe behind his ears and looked back towards Remus.
“I still haven’t gotten a name for the pretty face,” Sirius rested his head against the door frame.
Remus cleared his throat, “Remus Lupin.”
“Are you a werewolf?” Sirius asked.
Remus rolled his eyes. He had heard the question multiple times from his friends. But he had never heard it from a stranger. Normally, he would have to explain.
“No. But the real question is, are you a vampire?” Remus asked seriously.
Sirius cackled, “I wish. I would do anything to be young and beautiful forever.”
Marlene rolled her eyes, “I hope you’re the first person in your little friend group to go grey and get wrinkles.” Sirius flipped her off.
“Please, with my genes I won’t gray until I’m on my deathbed,” Sirius started to play with his hair.
“Is that because of the incest?” Lily stared at him.
Sirius’ jaw tensed but instead of showing his anger, he just smirked, “How’s your sister, Evans?”
Mary sat up but Lily got to him first.
“How’s your brother?” Lily hit a nerve.
Sirius’ grip tightened on the compartment door. His knuckles turned white and his jaw tensed. “He’s great, in fact.”
Lily hummed, “How’s Potter? You did seem to spend a few extra days with him.”
“James is fine. In fact, he’s even gotten over his little crush on you so he’s at peace,” Sirius smiled.
Lily sighed, “Thank God. I was close to beating the crap out of him. You know, since he’s obsessed with people who are mean to him, he may end up falling in love with your brother.”
Mary gasped lightly and Marlene was trying to hide her laugh.
Sirius went quiet. Remus could tell he was going to say something cruel, however, Sirius just slammed the door and walked away.
“Damn, Lils,” Marlene sounded proud. “You really pissed him off.”
Lily shrugged, not seeming to care, “Someone needs to start putting him in his place if he doesn’t fix his shit attitude.”
Surprisingly, Remus thought Sirius was slightly interesting.
No one knew much about him and that’s what made Remus even more interested. There was a part of him hidden under lock and key.
Remus was going to unlock it.
Chapter 4
Notes:
Sorry this took so long school has been annoying!
Anyway, I don't think there are any warnings for this chapter but correct me if I am wrong. I didn't really edit it much because I'm in too much pain, so if there are any errors, don't hesitate to tell me!
Chapter Text
September 1st, 1975
Remus
After they had stepped off the train, Lily asked Remus if he’d been given any information about his house. Remus had no idea. Yes, he had briefly skimmed over the rest of the letter but hadn’t taken into account certain details. He was too excited.
He went into his pocket and pulled out the letter Dumbledore had sent him. Lily took it from him and skimmed over it.
“Oh, perfect. We’re all in the same house,” Lily smiled up at him.
Remus tilted his head, “What house?”
“Godric Gryffindor. He’s known for being brave and confident or whatever,” Lily explained before finishing the letter.
Remus frowned. He wasn’t exactly confident, but it seemed that whoever chose the houses thought differently.
Marlene slapped his back and grinned, “You’ll fit in perfectly. That also means we can hang out all the time!”
Remus smiled back and agreed. He hoped he would make more friends quickly. However, he wouldn’t be upset to be stuck with these girls. They had welcomed him with open arms and Remus could tell they were great people.
“ Oh shit, ” he heard Mary whisper as Lily closed the letter.
Remus looked at her with a worried expression, “What?”
Lily and Mary looked at each other and then looked back at Remus. “Take a guess who you’re rooming with,” Mary tried to cover her smile but failed.
“Who?” Marlene asked. Mary gave her a look and she suddenly put the pieces together, “Oh! Oh, I feel so bad.”
Remus looked at them strangely, “What?” He looked at the girl’s disturbed expression and sighed, “Wait, am I rooming with Sirius?”
Lily nodded while Marlene and Mary burst out laughing.
Marlene wiped a tear from her cheek and let out a shaky breath, “Sirius is going to make your life living hell now that you’re friends with Lily.” Mary agreed.
Remus rolled his eyes, “Perfect.” He wasn’t surprised, especially with his luck. However, he thought everything was going well.
Seems like he thought wrong.
“Hopefully he hit his head on the way back to his carriage and forgot everything from that conversation,” Mary said. She didn’t sound hopeful at all.
Remus slowly nodded, “Hopefully.” He wasn’t convinced. Especially, with the way Sirius looked at all of them before storming out.
“Look, if he does try anything, I’ll deal with him. I am a prefect,” Lily comforted him.
Marlene shrugged, “You know, he may not do anything since you’re new. He’ll probably just try and ‘save’ you.” She started to walk to the coaches that would take them to the coach. They followed her.
As they walked down the cobbled path, a new conversation topic shot up. Remus was unsure how it started, but that conversation made him realise how hungry he was.
Remus had eaten a bit before he left for London, and he was able to buy some stuff from the trolley lady. Except, he was a growing boy, and that was not enough food to keep him full for the day.
“I really want a Sunday dinner,” Marlene seemed to be daydreaming about the food. “Especially my Nana’s. Hers is the best.”
Lily hummed in agreement. “Annoyingly, my sister makes a really nice one. She cooks everything just right.”
“Is your sister older than you?” Remus asked.
Lily nodded, “By a year. She acts like she’s way older, though.”
“My brother did that,” Remus muttered. “He thought he had so much power over me and would force me to do the stuff he didn’t want to do.”
“That’s what my sister does!” Lily exclaimed, “Does your brother call you downstairs so you can get them a glass of water, or is that just my sister?”
Remus reassured her that he would do that, “He was very annoying.”
Mary frowned, “Was? Did he grow out of it?”
“You could say that,” Remus blinked. He didn’t want to bring up his brother just yet. He doubted it would be a very interesting talk.
Mary seemed to have understood that Remus didn’t want to talk about siblings anymore, so she went back to talking about food. “No one in my family makes a good roast,” Mary complained. “And that means that I can’t eat yorkshire puddings.”
Marlene snorted, “One day, I’ll make one for you.”
Mary’s face immediately brightened.
They carried on walking down the street talking about whatever came to mind. Remus even listened to Marlene drone on and on about football.
“Liverpool is the best team. I have no idea what James is on about,” Marlene exclaimed.
She had told them about a debate she had with James over the phone about some sort of league. It ended in a heated argument about Manchester United and Liverpool.
“United is not the best team!” Marlene sighed into her hands.
Remus wanted to agree with her just so this conversation could end quicker. Except, Remus couldn’t bring himself to doing that because his entire family supported United. In fact, baby Remus also lived in his United shirt.
“I gotta disagree with you there, Marls,” Remus sighed. “As a Mancunian, I’ve got to defend my team.”
Mary snorted, “I thought you hated football.”
Remus nodded, “I do. But if I agree with Marlene, my Nana and Grandad would come back just to haunt me.” He could already feel their spirits surrounding him.
“Remus! I was just starting to like you, Froot Loops,” Marlene shook her head in disappointment.
Remus practically gasped, “You did not just call me that. Just because you can’t admit United is a better team than Liverpool, does not mean you have to bring in the silly nicknames, Mickey Mouse.”
Lily and Mary looked at each other, both equally confused.
“Where the fuck did you get Mickey Mouse from?” Marlene threw her hands up in the air.
Remus had no idea but he didn’t care. His only goal was to piss her off. “Oh, you know, McKinnon and Mickey sound very similar.”
Marlene stomped her feet like a child, “No they don’t”
Remus was about to hit her with a snide remark, but someone butted in.
“Now, McKinnon, calm down. You don’t wanna scare the new kid,” Remus turned around and saw Sirius, Peter, and James standing there with a smirk on their faces.
“Shut it, Potter. You two just can’t admit Liverpool is a better team,” Marlene straightened her back and glared at him.
Remus rubbed his eyes, “It really isn’t.”
Remus felt someone pat him on the back. He turned and looked to see James Potter looking at him with a freakishly large smile. Remus quickly looked him up and down.
James Potter wasn’t too short or too tall. He was the perfect height for Remus to look at so he didn’t have to crane his neck all the way down, unlike when he had to speak to Lily, who was around five feet tall.
His hair sat messily on his head like a bird's nest but he still made it look good. James had light brown eyes which were big and round. His glasses sat a bit wonky on his nose but he didn’t care. His teeth were unbelievably white and straight but one was slightly bent (probably from an accident). And, he wore gold earrings. One was different from the other.
From what Remus could see, James Potter was perfectly imperfect.
“Are you done analyzing me?” James whispered.
Remus let out a slight laugh, “Sorry.”
James tutted, “Don’t apologise. I do that too. It makes me understand the person better.” He gently poked him on the cheek, “However, Remus, my exterior tells you nothing about my interior.”
Remus hummed, “Ditto.”
“I like you,” James let go of him and grinned. “Don’t you like him, Sirius?” James looked to his friend.
Sirius, who Remus forgot was standing there, looked Remus up and down before speaking, “No. I don’t.” James asked why, “Look who he’s hanging out with. He’s practically asking for me to take the mick out of him.”
“Well, you’re going to have to get over your hatred for me,” Remus shrugged.
Sirius snorted, “I don’t have to do anything.”
“Well, I’m your new roommate,” Remus smiled innocently at him.
“No,” Sirius groaned. Remus was sure he heard an accent but he couldn’t place his finger on what it was.
“Yes!” James exclaimed. “I have a feeling we’re going to get along so well, don’t you think so too, Sirius?” Sirius rolled his eyes. “Sirius,” James whined.
Sirius sighed, “Whatever you want, James.”
Lily groaned quietly, “Please don’t turn him into one of you.” She was staring at them with a worried expression.
Peter snorted, “It seems like it’s too late, Lils.” They looked at James, who was staring at Remus with wide eyes.
James grabbed Remus’ arms and took a final glance at him, “We’re going to have so much fun, Remus.”
Remus was second guessing his analysis now. James Potter seemed quite strange . Remus couldn’t put his finger on what was different about him but he knew he would find out sooner than later.
James then looked at Sirius like he was his owner, “Can we keep him, Sirius? Please?” Remus felt very confused and slightly uncomfortable.
He watched as James and Sirius had a short conversation with a couple of glances before Sirius spoke again, “I suppose we can.” Though, he didn’t sound happy about it.
Peter clapped his hands together, “Perfect! Can we go now? I’m hungry.”
“It is perfect,” James whispered. He grabbed Remus by the wrist, “Say goodbye to them, Remus.”
Remus slowly nodded, choosing not to question anything, “Bye, guys.” Hopefully, he would see them again. But with the way James was acting, Remus doubted he would make it out alive.
“Good luck,” he heard Mary mutter.
Lily’s expression of worry and slight disappointment didn’t budge, “Have fun.” She nodded her head to the girls and they set off down the cobbled path.
James let go of Remus’ wrist and grabbed Peter’s wrist. They started to walk away from the group, leaving Sirius and Remus alone.
“Well, Lupin, it seems James has taken interest in you,” Sirius tucked a piece of hair behind his ears.
Remus looked at the two boys walking away and then back at Sirius, “Is James always this way?”
Sirius frowned, “What do you mean?”
Remus gestured to James, “You know, weird? No offense.”
“None taken. James doesn’t act like that usually in public ‘cause he’s good at masking it. He just seemed to like you.” Sirius looked towards the two figures turn around and gesture to hurry up. “Let’s go.”
Remus quickly followed Sirius down the path and listened to him hum a tune Remus knew.
He briefly remembered when Lily mentioned Sirius sounded amazing. Remus wondered if that was true or if they were exaggerating.
“I heard you have the voice of an angel,” Remus spoke after a minute of silence.
Sirius lightly snorted, “Yup. My teacher thinks I’ve got a lot of potential or whatever.”
Remus nodded, “When can I hear this angelic voice of yours?”
Sirius hummed, “When I think you’re ready.” The raven haired boy fiddled with a silver ring on his finger.
“Nice ring,” Remus tried to stop an awkward silence from happening.
“Thank you. My mother bought it for me,” Sirius showed him it properly. It was a silver signet ring that had a snake with green eyes in the middle. On the other side, was S.O.B.
“Are those your initials?” Remus asked. He knew what the S and B stood for. However, he didn’t know what the O meant.
Sirius nodded, “Sirius Orion Black. Orion is my father’s name.” He explained quickly. “My entire family has pretentious names.”
“Wait, Sirius as in the star?” Remus asked him. Sirius nodded in reply. “It’s more interesting than mine,” Remus shrugged.
Sirius shook his head, “Your name is fine. And it has so much history behind it when people check it out.”
“I don’t think my mum actually knew the history behind it and just thought it was cool,” Sirius snorted at that. “My parents are a bit slow.”
“It’s still a very cool name. Even if not many people understand it,” Sirius ran a hand through his hair.
Maybe Lily was wrong. Maybe Sirius Black wasn’t as bad as she made him out to be.
They were close to the other two boys now. In fact, Remus could slightly hear their conversation.
Suddenly, Sirius stopped, “Remus.” Remus faced him, “James Potter has a heart of gold. Don’t be the one to break it.”
Remus slowly nodded, unsure of what to say. “I don’t plan on breaking hearts any time soon.”
Sirius shrugged, “I’m just sayin’.”
Remus hadn’t even known James that long. And it wasn’t like they were in love. Besides, you can’t fall in love with someone you just met.
They carried on walking and sped up to catch up with the other two.
James smiled as Remus came into view again, “So, you’re in our room, Remus?”
“Uh, yeah I am.”
Peter hummed, “That’s great. Are you good at planning pranks, Remus?” Peter lightly touched Remus’ arm.
Remus nodded, “I used to pull them on my teachers.”
James lightly gasped, “That’s fantastic! We are going to prank the shit out of Snivellus and his friends this year.”
“I planned a bunch for this year. I refuse to be embarrassed by a man who doesn’t wash his hair,” Sirius snapped. Remus didn’t know who ‘ Snivellus’ was. But it was obvious they didn’t like him.
“Perfect,” James smiled and grabbed onto Sirius’ upper arm. “I’m hungry. Hurry up.”
They walked down the street again and could see a hoard of kids surrounding the coaches.
All four of them quickly signed in before jumping into one of them. They walked down to the back and sat next to each other. Remus was squished between Peter and James.
The drive quickly started and Remus could already see the school after a couple of minutes.
Hogwarts was a beautiful school. It reminded Remus of a fantasy castle. One where he thought the children from Narnia would live. It was surrounded by a forest and a large body of water.
If Remus was to ever get married, he would want Hogwarts to be the view.
“Do you think it’s pretty?” Peter whispered.
Remus nodded, “It looks really nice. Nicer than anything I’ve ever seen.”
Peter hummed, “The inside is even nicer. You’ll enjoy it greatly.” Remus smiled.
It seemed that Peter was the ‘normalest’ of them all. He looked the nicest and calmest. But Remus didn’t know all of them that well so he wasn’t in the right place to make a judgement.
Yet .
James and Sirius were laughing about something very loudly, just like they were on the station. Peter rolled his eyes and went back to staring at the castle.
Sirius cleared his throat very loudly, gaining Remus and Peter’s attention, “Remus?” Remus looked at him, “Do you have any instrumental abilities? Maybe a…guitar?”
Remus looked down at his calloused hands, “I do. Why?”
Sirius and James grinned at the same time. James giggled, “You’ll find out soon.” They turned back to face each other and started whispering over some private things.
Remus had heard James was good at the guitar. But, why would they need someone else who could play it?
Remus looked at Peter in return for answers, but Peter could only shrug. It seemed Peter was quite distant from the other two. Well, Remus wasn’t surprised with the way James and Sirius acted. Remus could tell it was affecting Peter.
After admitting defeat, Remus went back to reading his book.
Animal Farm .
His mother had given it to him as a gift for his tenth birthday and Remus read it straight away. Since he loved it so much, Remus reread it every couple of months.
At first, he didn’t understand most of what was going on. He thought it was just a battle between humans and animals. Once he grew older, Remus started to understand the meaning of it even better.
“Good book,” James whispered to him.
Remus looked up and saw James staring at the worn book in his hands. “Oh, have you read it?”
“ The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which .” James quoted slowly. Remus looked shocked while James chuckled, “Don’t be surprised that I’m educated. And besides, I spend a lot of time in my home’s library when I’m bored. I was bound to pick this book up.”
Remus looked at the book in his hand and then back at James, “What did you think?”
James faced forward for a moment and thought about his answer, “I thought it was very interesting. It surely changed my view of the world quite drastically. It made me realise the world isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, but it is cold, wet, and horrid.”
Remus agreed with him, “I didn’t understand what it meant, at first. But then one time, it just clicked.”
“You’re lucky. Most people will never understand,” James stared at Remus with his big brown eyes.
Remus tried to say something but he just couldn’t. He felt himself falling into James’ eyes with how beautiful they looked. Wait, that was weird. Remus thought. It was just because they were big and bright. There wasn’t any other reason.
Sirius cleared his throat, interrupting their conversation, “What are you two talking about?”
James straightened his back, “Books. Tell me, Sirius, when was the last time you read one?”
Sirius gasped dramatically, “I can assure you I read a lot. In fact, I’ve probably read the book you two are talking about.” He squinted his eyes, “Go on then. Tell me.”
Remus held up the book and watched Sirius read the title, “Animal Farm. Ever heard of it?”
“Of course I’ve heard of it. I’ve not read it though. It was one of the books my father threw in the fireplace. He thought it was ‘a disgrace to humanity’,” Sirius explained.
Why was his father burning books? He thought to himself.
“Don’t ask why he did that ‘cause I dunno,” Sirius smiled at him. It seemed like he sensed what Remus was thinking. He reached over and grabbed the book from Remus’ hand. He quickly looked through the book and skimmed the blurb before handing it back, “Do you mind if I read it when you’re done?”
Remus shrugged, “Sure.” Sirius thanked him and went back to staring out the window.
They had only known each other for a couple of minutes but Remus could tell this entire group were special. It may not be obvious to the entirety of the school, but they each had something different about them that Remus was sure he would discover soon enough.
“I hope you enjoy Hogwarts,” James muttered. He was fiddling with a bracelet Remus had noticed Sirius also wore. “Your life is about to change for the better.”
Remus snorted, “That better bloody happen.”
James laughed lightly at his response, “I’m sure it will.”
Chapter 5
Notes:
TW warnings:
none that i know of but if there are any, tell me!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
September 1st, 1975
Remus
Remus entered his new dorm room with a full stomach. When they had permission to eat, Remus grabbed as much as he could. He didn’t care if anyone thought he was weird. He was too fucking hungry to care.
He looked around and took it all in.
The room they were in was circular and the perfect size to house four growing boys. There were four beds with dark red duvets facing each other. The floors were wooden and the walls were made from stone. There was a large window next to one of the beds which he could easily see the moon from.
“Like it?” Remus heard Sirius ask.
Remus turned around and saw Sirius laying on the bed next to the door. “It’s nicer than my room back home.”
His room back home was small and cramped. There was barely any space left for his clothes and other things. His parents had promised him a larger room but they could barely afford the house they were living in.
James hummed. He took the bed opposite the toilet door. “It’ll be even more cosier once we unpack.”
Peter snorted, “Please, once we unpack it will look like the aftermath of a tornado.” He threw his luggage on the ground and leapt onto his bed. “You good with sleeping there, Lupin?”
Remus nodded and sat on his new bed. The moon’s light sat directly on top of his head. He didn’t mind it. Remus always had a mild obsession with the moon and stars but he could never understand why.
“Ha, it looks like you have a halo,” Sirius chuckled. He stretched his body and Remus’ eyes briefly caught his pale stomach. This boy really was a vampire. “You good, mate?”
He looked up at Sirius’ face and shook his head, “Yeah, I’m good.”
Sirius nodded and walked up to James’ trunk. He bent over and opened it, “Do you listen to music, Lupin?” Sirius asked as he pulled something from it.
“Of course,” Remus replied. His mum had always put on music when she was doing basic household chores. She said that it made doing them more interesting. “Are there people who don’t listen to music?”
James snorted. “Yes, my brother,” Sirius replied. “He’s boring like that.”
Remus frowned, “What does he study?”
“Art,” Sirius ran a hand through his hair. “He’s good. But, I’m obviously better.” Remus nodded. For someone so short, Sirius Black had quite an ego.
Remus cleared his throat, “James, I heard you’re good at the guitar. Is it true?” He was hoping James would say no and that Lily was lying.
James looked up from his bed and smiled, “And who did you hear that from?” Remus told him Lily. “Ah, of course Evan’s spreading things about me. She’s practically obsessed. Maybe this means I have a chance.” James giggled. Remus didn’t have the heart to tell him all the things she had said on the train.
“Potter,” Sirius snapped and James looked at him, frightened. “I thought you were over her.” It seemed like Lily wasn’t the only one who hated the crush James had.
“Calm down, I have gotten over her.” James reassured him. “And to answer your question, Remus, I am. I started learning when I was like nine because I was bored. And now, I’m the best in the school.”
He started when he was nine? Remus knew he was not and was never going to be as good as James Potter.
Peter hummed from his bed, “He isn’t lying.”
Was Remus surprised? No.
James’ parents probably wanted him to follow in their steps. So, Remus was not shocked that James was musically talented from that young of an age.
Remus felt a twinge of jealousy rush through him. His parents and friends had always made him think he was the best. But now, in a school like this, there were people who were way better than Remus could ever be.
“That’s really cool,” Remus masked his jealousy with happiness. James smiled.
“I can paint,” Peter spoke out. “If you didn’t know.”
James smirked, “And you’re amazing at it, Pete.” Peter blushed at the praise.
“That’s so cool. I need to see one of your paintings,” Remus nodded. He was quite interested in art. But, sadly, he was never good at it.
Peter agreed, “When I finish something new, I’ll show you guys.” James cheered.
Maybe Ray was right. Maybe everything would turn out okay. He had only spent a couple of hours with these boys, but he still felt some sort of connection. One that Remus was sure would grow stronger.
Except, Remus wasn’t good at ‘strengthening bonds’. He was better at sticking close to home. But he wasn’t allowed to do that now. No. Now, he was obligated to try his hardest.
Remus watched as Sirius stood up and walked towards the bathroom.
“I’m gonna go change. Does anyone need to piss?” Sirius asked.
James, who was in the middle of changing, shook his head, “Tout va bien?” Remus heard him switch to French.
Remus looked him up and down and took him in. Yes, James’ face was beautiful. But so was his body. Remus tried to look away but he just couldn’t.
So, James can play the guitar, draw, be unbelievably educated, speak another language, and be blessed with the most gorgeous body?
Life was not fair.
“Oui,” Sirius replied.
Peter and Remus watched as they had a private conversation just with a couple of glances.
“Okay,” James shot him a smile before putting his t-shirt on.
Remus shook his head. He grabbed his pyjamas from his trunk and quickly threw them on.
By the time he had finished dressing, Sirius had come out of the bathroom. His hair was now in a messy bun on top of his head and his skin was glowing.
Sirius chucked his previous clothes in a pile on the floor and caught Remus’ eye, “Like what you see?”
Remus felt himself turn a shade of pink but he shook it off and smiled, “I’m still trying to figure out if my roommate is a vampire.”
Sirius threw his head back and cackled like a witch. “Oh, Remus, sleep with one eye open tonight to find out.” Remus smiled and went back to sorting out his luggage.
He was looking for one of his books when his hand hit something at the bottom of his trunk. Remus pushed aside the clothes on top and picked up one of his mum’s records.
Abbey Road.
Remus frowned. He wondered how that got in there. But then, he remembered when his mother had slid something in his trunk but tried to hide it. Remus smiled to himself.
“What’s that?” James asked.
Remus held up the record, “Do any of you like The Beatles?”
Sirius practically ran to Remus and gently took the album from his hand. He looked at each side multiple times before speaking again, “Peter, how quickly do you think you can find a record player in this school?”
Peter smirked, “I already know where one is.”
“Get it tomorrow,” Sirius flipped the record and smiled. “I’ve not listened to good music in months. And stupid Filch confiscated the only records we had.”
“This is an art school. Shouldn’t you be allowed to listen to music?” Remus asked.
James snorted, “We are. But Filch is a pain in our arses.”
“And no teacher puts him in his place,” Sirius waved his hands around the air like a maniac.
“Filch is the school caretaker and he always gives out the worst punishments. He’s been around for years. Rumour has it, he’s immortal,” Peter explained. “Just like Sirius,” Peter played into the joke.
Sirius grinned, “Of course. Oh, and we have to get those records back this year. They’re the only thing Andy has sent me in a while.”
“Who’s Andy?” Remus asked, a bit behind on the conversation.
“My cousin. She left when I was like twelve,” Sirius handed back the record. “Before she left, she gave me like four records to keep a hold of. She promised me more so I’m waiting for my birthday.” Sirius laid back on his bed.
Remus gently placed the record back in his trunk and closed it. “When’s your birthday?”
Sirius looked up, “November third. I’m the oldest.”
“For someone who’s always talking about how he is the oldest, you are the most childish boy I’ve ever met,” Peter fluffed up his pillow. “When’s your birthday, Remus?” James looked up, a hopeful expression painted on his face.
Remus sat on his bed, “March tenth.”
James groaned loudly, “Why am I the youngest?” He pulled the covers over his head.
“When’s your birthday, Pete?” Remus asked.
“February twenty-fourth,” Peter smiled. “I’m the second oldest.”
“Spell February for me?” Sirius smirked.
Remus watched as Peter went through five different emotions at once, “You little cunt.” Peter grabbed his pillow and chucked it at Sirius’ head.
“You’re never getting this back,” Sirius practically growled.
Peter stopped moving, took a step back, and slowly shook his head, “You are a freak. You know what, Remus?” Remus smiled, “You’re gonna wanna kill yourself by the end of this year.” Remus’ smile turned upside down.
✩✩✩✩
Remus sat down next to Peter at breakfast.
It was the second of September and their first day of school. Remus had slept quite well the previous night and he was fairly excited for the day. Except, the only thing that ruined it was his awful timetable.
He had Maths first period which fucked up his entire day. Luckily, he had History next. Sirius had also briefly mentioned that Remus would be in the same class as his younger brother. Remus could tell they didn’t have that strong of a relationship because Sirius was always brushing over the topic of him.
“I thought he was younger than you?” Remus asked, confused as to why they were in the same year.
“He was born in August. That means he is sadly in our year,” Sirius quickly explained and Remus decided to ask no more questions about him.
Sirius and James had both taken History but, unfortunately, were in a different class to Remus because their behaviour was that bad. That meant that Remus had to actually attempt to make new friends without any help.
“I would tell you to befriend Reggie but he hates himself and everyone around him,” Sirius popped a grape into his mouth. “Besides, he’s only friends with people in Slytherin. The only exception is Pandora.”
Remus nodded. Before they had gone to bed, James quickly explained the houses and the rivalry between them all. It seemed that Slytherin and Gryffindor hated each other and that would never change.
“I think Lily and Marlene are in your Maths class so you won’t be alone,” Peter reassured him. “I heard them mention it when I walked past them.”
Sirius made a face, “Ugh, Evans.” He said that like it explained everything.
Peter nudged Remus gently, “They have some sort of rivalry which has been around since Year seven. At first, it was just about who gets the highest marks. But now, it’s pure hatred.”
Remus made a noise of acknowledgement and left it alone.
There seemed to be a lot of things that pissed off Sirius Black. He had figured out Lily and Regulus were on the list. And so were people who don’t listen to music. Remus wondered where the list ended.
“Remus!” Remus turned his head and saw a ginger girl walking towards them.
Remus smiled at her, “Hey, Lily.”
She smiled back at him, “How was last night? These idiots didn’t get on your nerves, did they?” Lily barely even glanced at them.
James waved, “These ‘idiots’ are right here, Evans!”
Lily slowly looked at James and scowled, “Potter. I was hoping you had died in your sleep.”
James laughed and shook his head, “You’re gonna have to try harder than that to make me upset.”
“James, I think the only thing that would make you upset is if Black left you alone for more than five minutes,” Lily grabbed a strawberry from the plate in the middle.
“You’re just jealous ‘cause you’ve never experienced true friendship like ours,” James leaned closer.
Lily went closer and lowered her voice, “I don’t think that’s friendship, Potter. I think that’s just an obsession.”
“Stop acting like you’re not obsessed with me. We can all sense the obsession when you speak to me,” he smiled at her.
Lily shook her head, “I think you mistook hatred for obsession.”
“You wound me, Evans,” James smirked. Remus was quite surprised at the personality switch in James.
“Don’t act like you don’t get off on me being mean to you,” Lily tucked her hair behind her ear.
James shrugged, “Wanna come back to my room tonight and find out?”
Lily was about to reply but Sirius reacted before she could. “Stop doing that. I hate when you do that,” Sirius was staring out into the open space.
Remus looked at Peter who had been physically restraining himself from laughing. Remus felt the same way.
James smirked, “I apologise.”
Lily shrugged, “I don’t.”
“Both of you shut up. Do you remember what you told me before summer, James?” Sirius snapped.
Remus saw an immediate change in James. He tensed up and nodded. Remus looked at Peter who was as confused as he was.
“What are you hiding from me, Potter?” Lily put another strawberry in her mouth.
James shook his head, “That’s a secret for another day, Evans.” He stole a strawberry that she had just grabbed and put it in his mouth.
Lily sighed and wiped her hands on a tissue, “Well then, have you finished?” She asked Remus. Remus looked down at his empty plate and nodded. “Let’s go.”
Remus had no time to react before he was being dragged off. He turned back and waved at them. Everyone waved back, apart from Sirius.
“I thought you hated James?” Remus asked. He was still slightly confused from that conversation.
Lily shrugged, “I do. Every morning I wake up and I hope he’s dead. I don’t know why I play along.” She seemed just as confused as Remus was.
Remus let himself be dragged along until Lily let go.
“Hey, Remus!” Mary wrapped her arms around him. “How was last night?” She let go of him and smiled.
Remus nodded, “It was good. They aren’t as bad as you made them out to be.”
Marlene smirked, “Just you wait, Fruit Loops. They’ll get even worse.” For some reason, Remus didn’t quite believe them.
“Who’s your Maths teacher?” Mary asked him.
Remus grabbed and looked at his timetable, “Uhm, Mr Avan.”
Marlene made a noise of disappointment, “You have Mary and Lily in your class! I’m all alone with stupid Mrs Sana.” Marlene banged her head against the stone wall and sighed, “Fruit Loops, kill me.” Remus rolled his eyes at that nickname.
Mary patted her on the back, “You’ll be okay.”
“Are you excited for Maths?” Lily asked Remus.
Remus’ eyes widened, “Is anyone excited for Maths?”
“I am!” Mary exclaimed and then Remus felt himself being dragged off.
✩✩✩✩
Maths had been pure torture. Remus barely understood what was going on and when he did the teacher moved on! What was the meaning of this?
“How did you find that?” Lily asked him.
Remus, who looked like he had been through war, moaned quietly into his hands, “I hate Maths.” He had disliked it in his old school but he made do. But now, Remus hated it. “I don’t understand studying Maths because I’m not gonna need this in a couple years time.”
Lily patted him on the back, “You’ll be okay. And besides, we have bigger problems.” Remus frowned. “Dracula’s coming our way,” she pointed towards the end of the corridor.
Remus looked to wear Lily was pointing at and saw Sirius walking towards them. It seemed he had put his hair into a ponytail during the lesson.
“You alright there, Loops?” Sirius asked.
Remus shook his head, “I hate Maths.”
Sirius laughed.
Sirius Black laughed a lot.
Sirius hadn’t buttoned his top button, so Remus watched as his pale neck came fully on display. Sirius had a necklace on with a moon and a star, which fell to the side as he laughed.
After regaining his composure, Sirius smiled at him, “Come. I’ll walk you to History.” He sent Lily a dirty look.
Sirius offered Remus his hand and Remus took it. He bid goodbye to Lily and was pulled down the busy corridor. Remus watched as Sirius slammed a few Year Eights into the walls.
“Damn, Black. What have these kids done to you?” Remus asked after watching Sirius body slam a small boy into a locker.
“They got in my way,” Sirius replied simply.
They walked down the stairs to the first floor. However, instead of going straight to lesson, Sirius decided to take a detour and do a lap around the building.
“Are we skiving?” Remus asked.
Sirius gasped dramatically, “It’s the first day, Remus!” Remus shrugged. “We start skiving on the second week, idiot,” Sirius whacked him on the back of his head gently.
“Ah, okay,” Remus let himself be walked down the corridor.
It was slightly less busier. Most kids had gone straight to class but some were still loitering.
After a couple of seconds, they had finally reached the door. Sirius smiled at him and Remus smiled back. But then, Sirius’ smile turned into a frown.
Remus turned to see what he was looking at and was greeted by a boy who looked identical to Sirius.
“Regulus,” Sirius greeted his little brother.
Regulus was taller than Sirius by a couple of inches but he still hadn’t reached Remus’ height. His hair was shorter and slightly curly. His eyes, instead of being grey like Sirius’, were a bright blue. Remus tried to look away but he couldn’t.
“Sirius,” his voice was quiet and croaky. It was like he hadn’t spoken in a while.
Sirius cleared his throat, “Have fun, Loops. I’ll come pick you up afterwards.” Remus nodded. Sirius took another look at Regulus, “Smile, Regulus. It’s only the first day.” Regulus, who hadn’t looked Sirius in the eye once, turned his gaze to the ground.
Sirius smiled at Remus before walking away.
Remus and Regulus were left standing outside alone. Remus moved first and opened the class door. He wasted no time in checking the seating plan and taking his designated seat. Regulus did the same.
“It seems like we’re partners,” Remus smiled at Regulus, who was looking at his pencil case.
Regulus only hummed in reply.
On the other side of Remus, was a boy. His hair was slightly greasy and black. He seemed to be in the same house as Regulus was. However, Regulus’ uniform was much neater than his.
“Hi, I’m Remus,” Remus introduced himself to the boy sitting next to him.
The boy looked him up and down and scowled. “You’re Potter’s friend,” he said.
Remus nodded. How did people know they were friends?
“Well then, I already hate you,” he replied quickly.
Remus clasped his hands together and faced forward.
This was going to be an interesting lesson.
The teacher entered the class and placed her books on the table. She looked around the class and absorbed all the new students in her class.
“Hello, everyone,” she greeted the class and sat on the edge of her table. “I’m Miss Walker and I will be your new teacher for the year.”
Miss Walker had long black hair that curled slightly at the bottom. She was wearing a black turtleneck and had paired it with black slacks. Her skin was smooth and her eyes were big and brown. They reminded Remus of James’ eyes.
“I only have one rule in this class,” she grabbed a piece of chalk and started writing on the board. “Don’t speak unless you have been spoken to,” Miss Walker underlined the sentence multiple times. “Is that clear?”
There were murmurs of agreement.
“Pardon?” She repeated the question again but louder. Everyone agreed. “Perfect. Now, let’s start.”
Miss Walker quickly went through the register. During this, he had learnt he was sitting next to Severus Snape. Remus was unsure why he hated James so much but he couldn’t be bothered finding out why.
Miss Walker rubbed off her rule and replaced it with their new topic.
Henry VIII
“Hands up if you know who this is?” She asked the class.
Remus did know. But, he didn’t want to be the only one with his hand up so he kept quiet. It also seemed that Regulus knew but he was doing the same as Remus.
“Right then, Regulus,” she pointed at him. “Do you have any idea?”
Regulus shuffled in his seat before speaking, his voice quiet, “He was the King of England and was known for his six wives.”
Miss Walker leaned back on her table, “Yes, he was. Can you name them? In order.”
“Uhm, Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Semour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr,” Regulus answered the question swiftly.
Remus nodded. He had briefly read about them in a book he had randomly picked up in a charity shop.
“Of course you know that, freak ,” Remus heard someone say from behind. Remus watched as Regulus’ jaw tensed.
Remus turned around and saw two people laughing about their joke. It was obvious Miss hadn’t heard but he wasn’t going to let them get away with it.
“What is your problem?” Remus whispered to them.
The boys looked at Remus. One of them answered, “I’m just pointing out the obvious.” The other boy laughed.
“It’s just not funny though, is it?” Remus asked them. It wasn’t like Regulus had said something to them. So, there was no need for this entire conversation.
Snape shook his head, “Stop defending him. And besides, what they said was right.”
Remus snapped his head towards Snape, “Why don’t you wash yourself before you chat to me?” Snape sat up. Remus then felt something pull his school jumper, “What?” He asked Regulus.
“Arguing with them is useless. Words go in one ear and out the other,” Regulus waved him off.
Remus was about to say something but Miss Walker rudely interrupted him, “Is there a problem, Remus?”
“No, Miss,” Remus turned back to face her.
She hummed, “Speak one more time and you’ll get a detention.”
Remus sighed and let his head slightly fall back.
He doubted Sirius would like to hear his little brother was getting made fun of. Or, would he? Remus barely knew much about their relationship so he couldn’t exactly answer that question yet.
The teacher had handed out some worksheets they were to complete using the information from the textbook. However, Remus knew the answer to most of the questions because he had already done research about them. That meant Remus had to spend half the lesson doing nothing but stare at his teacher.
Luckily, she wasn’t bad to look at.
“Stop staring,” Regulus muttered.
Remus looked at him, confused, “Huh?”
Regulus looked up from his notebook, “Stop staring at the teacher. She’ll notice.”
“Oh,” Remus straightened his back and looked over Regulus’ shoulder. “What are you doing?”
Regulus breathed out, “Drawing. Now, can you please move back a bit. You’re too close.”
Remus leaned back by an inch but carried on his conversation with him, “What are you drawing?”
“Nothing.”
Remus attempted to get a glance but failed. “It doesn’t look like nothing to me.”
Regulus slammed his notebook shut, “You’ll get along perfectly with my brother and his annoying gang of Marauders.”
“Why’s that?” Remus asked.
“Because you’re just as annoying as them,” Regulus stuffed his notebook back into his bag and went back to reading the textbook.
Remus made a noise of acceptance and looked around the class. His mind then travelled back to his home. He wondered what Ray had been doing..
She was probably laying in bed with her uniform ready for school tomorrow. Or, she was out with Ellis and Ethan, enjoying the last day of the holidays.
Before Remus had left, she had promised to write everyday. He wondered if she would stick to that promise or if Remus would have to be the one reaching out.
Luckily, the lesson ended five minutes later. Remus shoved all his stuff in his bag and left the classroom.
He looked around and wondered where to go now. Remus had Music next but this school was massive.
Then, he felt someone poking his shoulder, “Let’s go, Loops.” It was Sirius. James was standing next to him with a grin on his face.
“How was History?” James asked him as they walked down the stairs.
Remus shrugged, “It was alright.”
“I saw you sitting next to my brother,” Sirius scowled. Remus nodded and explained it was the seating plan.
“Ugh, I hate them,” James frowned. Remus agreed.
“Your brother was getting picked on,” Remus told Sirius, who was messing with the rings on his finger. “By Severus and his mates, I think.”
James gagged, “Stupid, slimy Snivellus.” Sirius grinned. “What were they saying about ickle Reggie?”
“They were calling him a freak and whatnot,” Remus explained. He felt Sirius’ body shake. “What?”
Sirius shook his head, “I’m not surprised. He is a right freak.” James agreed but Remus didn’t seem convinced. “Just wait until you get to know him more. But I warn you, he may curse you,” Sirius made a weird gesture with his hands.
Remus frowned, “Witches aren’t real.”
“Wait until you meet Pandora. Now, she’s a real witch,” James nodded.
They walked a bit further and talked about other things like Remus’ new history teacher. When they arrived at the arts block, James split off from the rest of them and went to his art class.
“I thought he took music?” Remus asked Sirius.
Sirius nodded, “He takes music and art. That’s why his timetable is a bit weirder.”
Remus looked confused, “I didn’t know you could do that.”
Sirius shook his head, “You can’t.” He dragged his finger along the walls and spoke, “James is an exception.”
“That’s cool,” Remus followed Sirius. Sirius hummed in reply.
As they walked down the corridor, Remus took in the artwork framed on the walls. Some were dated back decades ago and some were only from last year.
There was a massive one that had taken up the majority of a wall. It was a painting of a man or an angel (Remus couldn’t tell) and he was falling from the sky. It seemed that his wings had been falling apart and that is why he fell. At the top of the painting, the words ‘ The Fall Of Icarus’ had been written in exquisite handwriting. And at the bottom of the painting, James Potter’s signature had been painted in red.
“James spent weeks on that. He practically went insane trying to perfect it. He didn’t sleep and he barely ate. I was getting quite scared,” Sirius whispered. “But, James still hates this painting because it’s not ‘his best work’. Personally, I think it’s better than anything I’ve ever seen. And I have seen a lot of paintings. Also, it won a competition.”
Remus nodded, “It is actually perfect.”
Sirius grinned, “Make sure you tell him that.” Remus told him he would.
They walked and walked. Sirius had told him that the music class was at the bottom of the corridor. To be honest, Remus and Sirius were both walking at their slowest pace.
Just before they could reach the door of the classroom, Sirius stopped in front of Remus. Their faces were only a couple of inches apart, “Did you speak to my brother?”
“Once or twice. He insulted me one of the times,” Remus explained.
Sirius nodded and then proceeded to walk into the class.
Most of the kids were sitting down and talking to each other about their summer. Remus recognised a couple of the kids from his Maths class but that was about it.
Remus followed Sirius to the back of the classroom and sat beside him. Sirius threw his bag under his table and re-did his hair into a ponytail.
Remus looked around the classroom. The walls were covered in educational music posters, quotes from famous artists and even a guitar signed by Paul McCartney. This classroom was much better than his other music classroom.
Back in his old school, the posters had been ripped down by the kids and the majority of the instruments were broken. Remus was one of the only ones who cared for them.
“Better than your old school?” Sirius asked. He had taken out a pen from his blazer pocket and placed it in front of him.
“Much better,” Remus nodded.
Sirius smiled, “It better be. I helped design it.”
Remus looked at him, “Are you serious?”
Sirius snorted, “I actually am.”
Remus rolled his eyes, “Never make that joke again.”
“You know what? Now, I’m going to purposefully make that joke all the time,” Sirius patted him on the back. Remus groaned quietly and let his head fall into his hands.
The teacher walked in and the entire class went silent.
She was a middle-aged lady with short brown hair. She was wearing a long flowery dress and had gold bracelets on both arms. But what caught Remus’ attention the most, was the large earrings she was wearing. They were in the shape of a moon with stars dangling down from it.
She cleared her throat and said, “My name is Mrs Donell and I will be your Music teacher for the rest of the year.” The class murmured a greeting as she picked up the register. Mrs Donell wasted no time and got through it as fast as possible.
But, just after a couple of names she stopped and muttered something under her breath.
“Sirius Black,” her voice had switched from a monotone sound to something more bright and happy.
“Here, Anna,” Sirius greeted her with a large smile.
She shook her head, “That’s Mrs Donell to you.” Sirius just winked at her.
Remus didn’t know if he should be concerned or humoured. Right now, he was leaning towards the first option.
She read out a couple more names before she said his, “Remus Lupin. You’re new.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Remus fiddled with his pen. She only hummed in response.
Then she quickly finished up the rest of the names before leaving the sheet of paper on her desk.
She clapped her hands together and sighed, “Right! Let’s see if I can make the new generation of artists out of you.”
Sirius cheered loudly. Remus cringed slightly as everyone turned to look at them.
“What?” Sirius shrugged. “It’s not my fault youse are all boring.” Remus smirked.
Mrs Donell cleared her throat again and gained everyone’s attention. “Sirius is right. Stop being boring and embrace the artist in you. And besides, I plan to beat the other teams in the festival this year.”
Remus looked at Sirius for an explanation.
As the teacher was speaking, Sirius lowered his voice and told Remus what it was. “Every year, we have a huge festival before summer. The first part is like a summer fair so we have games, food, and all sorts of things. But, the second part is different. The second part is a competition between the different art subjects.”
“So, it’s like Music versus Art versus Drama versus Dance?” Sirius nodded. Remus still wasn’t getting it properly. “They’re such different subjects so how does the winning part work?”
Sirius hummed, “Have you ever been to a talent show?” Remus shook his head. “Well, there are a group of judges who watch. If your performance or art work is interesting to them, they give you a high score. If it isn’t, they give you a low score. And the people with the highest score, go against each other in the final round to win.” The pieces finally clocked in Remus’ head and Sirius realised that. “Sadly, the music department never wins because no one ever tries. But this year, it’s going to be different.”
“Why?”
“Because we have you.”
Remus made a face. How was that supposed to happen? Sirius didn’t even know if Remus was good. What made him think Remus could help them win? Remus was about to ask that but Sirius had already turned his attention to whatever the teacher was saying.
“Who won last year?” Remus asked quietly.
Sirius leaned closer to Remus, “Art. It was James who did most of the work.”
Remus was not surprised.
Remus sat back and spent the rest of the lesson listening to Mrs Donell’s master plan to win the competition. She mentioned how certain members of the class were going to have more opportunities to shine. While she said that, she looked directly at Sirius, who was beaming at the compliment.
They learnt nothing from that lesson. But, Remus did come to the conclusion that he had a very competitive person as a teacher and he would not be surprised if she killed to win.
As they exited the classroom, Sirius asked Remus his opinion on her.
“She’s…a lot. But, she’s cool,” Remus followed Sirius down. “It’s obvious she really wants to win this festival thing. Do you guys have a lot of these sorts of things?” Remus asked.
Sirius thought about it for a second before answering, “Well, we have this festival every year. But in our last year, we have another sort of performance thing. That is much cooler!” Remus asked what it was. “Basically, a bunch of agents and representatives from different recording companies and stuff like that, come and watch you perform. And if they like you, they’ll sign you on. Except, it’s very hard to catch their attention that much. They’re basically only there for the free food,” Sirius rambled on. “But I promise you, Remus whatever your middle name is Lupin, that I will be signed on to the best recording company that comes.” Sirius sounded very sure of himself.
“And what do you plan on doing?” Remus asked. They were nearly at James’ classroom.
“I’m gonna be in a band, you muppet,” Sirius said like it was obvious. “And who knows, you may be a part of it.”
Remus didn’t say anything.
That would be fun. If they were all in a band together, they may have a chance of becoming something. Remus doubted that though. Sirius did say it was hard. But, what was life without a bit of struggle?
“John.”
Sirius looked at him strangely, “Huh?”
Remus stopped outside of James’ class, “My middle name is John.”
Sirius smiled, “Well then, Remus John Lupin, welcome to Hogwarts!” Remus chuckled lightly.
Notes:
Im sorry it took so long but I really hate the way this chapter turned out but I hope you guys like it
Chapter 6
Notes:
Sorry for the delay, I was enjoying rotting during the summer holidays before Hell starts again. Anyway, still can't promise the updates will become any smoother; however, I am working on some other stuff that you'll see soon xx
Warnings for this chapter:
Mentions of blood and fighting
Talks about safe sex (it's highschool don't expect anything else)
Chapter Text
September 5rd, 1975
Remus
“Remus!” Remus jolted awake. He quickly rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked around for the reason for the noise.
That’s when he saw Peter, still in his pyjamas, standing above him with a letter and a bright smile.
Remus groaned and rubbed his face, “What?”
He looked at the only clock on the wall and saw the time. It was slightly blurry but Remus was still able to make out the time. 5:52 . Remus was surprised that Peter was awake and ready for the day. He was usually the one who slept in the latest. That’s why he was always late to first period.
Surprisingly, Peter wasn’t the only one awake. James and Sirius were sitting in Sirius’ bed giggling like a bunch of gossiping school girls.
Once Sirius had realised Remus was awake, he crawled to the end of his own bed. “Lupin,” Sirius said in a sing-song voice.
Remus yawned, “What?” All three of them looked at him like they were hiding something. “What is it? And, why are you guys awake so early?” They usually didn’t get up until 6:30.
“It’s your fault,” Sirius scoffed. Remus frowned and attempted to pat down his messy bed hair. Sirius got up and grabbed the letter from Peter’s hand. “When were you going to tell us you have a girlfriend?” Sirius exclaimed and hit Remus on the head with the letter.
“I don’t,” Remus’ frown went even lower. James disagreed. He attempted to get a look at the letter but he couldn’t. “I’m so confused. I don’t have one,” Remus shook his head.
He had never had a girlfriend before so he was wondering what could’ve happened for them to mean that.
“Are you sure?” Sirius took the letter out of the envelope and skimmed over it. “So, who is writing a huge paragraph to you about how much they miss you and want you to come home? I doubt ya mum would end the letter with so many kisses. No one's mum loves ‘em that much.” Sirius’ voice was slightly croaky from just waking up.
Remus sighed and went to grab the letter but Sirius moved out the way. “You read my letter?”
“You weren’t waking up so we wanted to know what was so important,” James smiled. Remus was still not used to the lack of boundaries in this dorm.
Remus fell back onto his bed, accepting his defeat, “Who’s it from?”
Sirius cleared his throat, “This girl called Ray Kimiya.” Remus shot up and Sirius’ eyes widened. “Oh? So she is your girlfriend. Damn, Loops. You could’ve at least told us before we made plans to get you and McKinnon together.”
“What?” Remus exclaimed loudly. The other three boys laughed. “You guys are such muppets.”
Peter laughed louder than everyone else, “We’re just taking the mick, Lupin. But seriously, is she your girlfriend?”
Remus had to stop himself from throwing up in Sirius’ face. He could never imagine a world where he and Ray were together. They were siblings bound by something more special than blood. “We’re basically brother and sister. We grew up together.”
“So, you and Ray are like me and James, how cute!” Sirius whacked him lightly on the arm. Remus then asked for the letter. Sirius snorted, “No. Can I read it out to you?”
Remus sighed and reluctantly agreed because he knew Sirius wouldn’t give it back.
“Okay,” Sirius sat back next to James. James rested his head on Sirius’ shoulder and read the letter along with him.
Remus watched as Sirius’ eyes skimmed over the page. He was a fast reader, Remus had come to realise.
“She said she misses you a lot and you should come back. Well, that ain’t happening we’ve already claimed you,” Sirius said like it was obvious.
James whispered, “Not exactly.” Sirius looked at him, confused at first. But then, he slowly started to realise.
“No, James. Not exactly,” Sirius grinned like a maniac. He pushed his hair out of his face before reading again, “Ellis and Ethan also miss you but they’re too lazy to write their own letter. She also said they’re making her want to rip her hair out because they are so annoying.”
Remus snorted, “I’m not surprised.” Peter had sat next to him on his bed, “They have more energy than you guys.”
“I doubt that,” James shook his head and closed his eyes.
Sirius shushed them all, “She said that there’s a new girl in school and they are always arguing about who is gonna get her. She also said that they’re treating her like a toy and that you need to come back to smack some sense into them.” Sirius took a breath, “Damn, Loops, I never classed you as someone who’s violent.”
Remus shrugged, “I’ve been in my fair share of fights.”
A fair share was an understatement. He had been in too many to count and one even ended up nearly killing both of them. Remus chose to keep that one locked in his mind. It had left him with scars.
Physical and Mental.
“What was your worst one?” Peter decided to ask.
Remus sighed, “I don’t wanna talk about it.” The three boys frowned, “Let's just say there was a lot of blood.” Peter nodded and went back to reading the book on Remus’ bedside table.
Sirius waved them off, “How lovely. And she said that her parents are pissing her off. Oh, well we have something in common then.” James snorted, “Hush, and then there’s a massive paragraph about how much she wants you to get your ‘very beautiful arse’,” Remus held back a laugh, “Back to Manchester otherwise she’ll drag you back there herself.”
“How lovely. But your ‘very beautiful arse’ is now ours, Remus,” James smiled, his eyes still shut.
Remus nodded, “Well then, I’ll respond to her later.”
Sirius shook his head and shoved James off of him before standing up. James made a small noise of annoyance but replaced Sirius’ shoulder with a pillow.
“I think we should all send her a response,” Sirius corrected him and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen from his draw. “Shouldn’t we, boys?”
James and Peter cheered. Remus scowled at the noise.
“Woah, I don’t think that’s a good idea. I mean, she doesn’t know you guys and I’ve only known you guys for a couple days,” Remus waved his hands around.
Sirius gasped dramatically. He had spread his legs slightly and was slowly going down to the floor, “Why are you acting like we aren’t already the bestest of friends ever! Loops, do you not feel the connection?” Sirius seemed slightly disappointed.
Remus rolled his eyes, “Sirius, calm down. Yes, we are friends, don’t be silly. But I’ve not told her about you, so it would be random if you guys sent her a response to a letter you shouldn’t have read!”
“I don’t care. We need to make a good first impression,” Sirius was not backing down.
“ Sirius. ”
“ Remus.”
Remus sighed and dropped his head in his hands. Something he had recently learned about Sirius was that he didn’t understand the word no. In fact, it wasn’t like he didn’t understand it. He totally understood. However, he treated it like advice rather than an order.
“Alright, do what you want,” Sirius grinned, “But, I also wanna write her something at the very end,” Sirius agreed and got to writing.
Remus attempted to get a glance at what he was writing down but Sirius shoved him away. After a couple of minutes, Sirius handed the paper to James so he could write something.
James laughed as he read over what Sirius had scribbled down. He then proceeded to add another paragraph and then handed it over to Peter. Peter didn’t write much. Instead, he drew a couple of things before handing it back to Sirius.
Sirius looked over what they had written and handed it to Remus so he could write something small as well.
“What the fuck did you write, Sirius?” Remus’ eyes skimmed over the paper. Sirius’ part had taken over most of the page. “Also, your handwriting is very nice.” Despite writing unbelievably quickly, Sirius’ handwriting still reminded him of the cursive things they attempted to teach them in primary.
Sirius snatched the letter from his hand, “I gave you permission to write, not read, understand?” Remus nodded and asked for the letter back, “Here you go.”
Sirius was still standing over Remus and watched him write a couple of words down. Remus quickly wrote how he missed her and how he was having so much fun. He also mentioned how he would deal with Ellis and Ethan when he arrived home for Christmas. Once he signed it off with his name, he handed it back to Sirius. Sirius also signed his name and scribbled down James and Peter’s too.
“Perfect!” Sirius closed the letter and stuffed it in an envelope, “I’ll post it later!”
Remus nodded slowly and pulled the covers over him. Sirius hummed and stuffed the letter in his blazer pocket, which was hanging on the corner of his bed.
✩✩✩✩
After they had eaten their breakfast (tiredly, may Remus add), they split up to go to their difference lessons. James had art and Peter had geography.
Remus and Sirius waved James off to his worst nightmare and walked down to their music class.
“Miss is gonna finally let us use the instruments,” Sirius cheered. He had drank two cups of coffee during breakfast. Remus was slightly scared. “And that means you can show me if you’re any good.”
Remus smiled, “Does that mean you will sing for me?” Sirius had promised Remus he would sing for him when he was ‘ready’.
Sirius shrugged, “If Miss asks me to then I will. But I have to warn you, my voice is better than anyone you’ve ever heard. You may not be ready.”
“Sirius,” Sirius looked at Remus, “Your ego does not match your size at all.”
Sirius suddenly shoved him against the wall. Remus felt his head bang on a display. “No need to insult me, Loops.” Remus held back a laugh.
Remus rolled his eyes, “I hate when you call me that.” For some reason, Loops was worse than Fruit Loops. Maybe it was just because Sirius was the one saying it.
“Well, I’m trying to think of a nickname for you. Loops is the only one I have so far.”
“I see you, boys!” A voice from down the corridor yelled at them. “Get inside this classroom now, we wanna see you perform!” Mrs Donell yelled. It was obvious she was talking about Sirius.
Remus laughed as Sirius grabbed his arm and pulled him into the classroom.
All of the students were sitting in their seats waiting for them. Remus felt awkward and uncomfortable at that moment. However, the moment quickly passed when Sirius waved them all off and walked to his seat. Remus quickly followed.
“Now that these boys have finally arrived, we can finally go to the theater. I need to see what I’m working with,” Mrs Donell pointed her wrinkly finger around the classroom. “Get your stuff, let's go!”
Remus grabbed his bag that he had just thrown on the floor and followed Sirius out. Sirius was talking to one of the girls they sat close to about something Remus didn’t know about.
“I told her not to do it,” the girl groaned. “She just never listens to me!”
Sirius looked down at her and frowned, “Well, if you need a helping hand then you can always come to me.” The girl looked at him and smiled. She thanked him before walking away.
Sirius fell back and matched Remus’ pace. Remus looked at him strangely once the girl was far away enough.
“What?” Sirius had realised the look of confusion on Remus’ face.
Remus shrugged, “Nothing.”
“So, why are you looking at me like that?” Sirius asked.
However, Remus ignored him because they had entered the theater. It was huge and reminded Remus of somewhere a vampire would live.
There was a huge stage that had deep red curtains. At the back of the stage, there was a drum kit and a couple of guitars. There were no seats except for a couple of wooden chairs that Mrs Donell and some students were bringing to the middle of the room.
“Like it?” Sirius asked him. Remus nodded. “You still didn’t answer my question. Why were you looking at me like that?”
Remus frowned and waved him off, “No reason. And yes, I do like it. This place is massive.”
Sirius snorted, “You know what else is massive?”
“ Shut the fuck up. ”
Sirius doubled over and started laughing. Remus pushed him out of the way and sat in one of the seats.
After a couple of minutes, Sirius finally regained composure and wiped a tear. He sat down next to Remus.
“Oh Loops, that was funny,” Sirius poked him in the shoulder.
Remus shook his head, “It really wasn’t.” Sirius disagreed. Remus rolled his eyes so far back he could see his brain. It was much larger than Sirius’.
The teacher, who was standing on the stage, shushed everyone and raised her arms.
“Who’s excited for some music?” She exclaimed and took a step back towards the instruments. The class cheered, Sirius being the loudest. “Have you all been resting your fingers and voices?”
Sirius snorted and whispered, “My voice? Maybe. My fingers? Well, I can’t promise that.” He smirked and wiggled his long, pale fingers in front of Remus’ face.
Remus whacked his hand away and shrunk into his chair, slightly embarrassed by Sirius’ sexual jokes. “We are not that close, Sirius.” Sirius snorted in response.
Mrs Donell cleared her throat, “Boys, if you think you’re too important to listen to me speaking, then how about you show us what you got?”
Remus stuttered, “Uh-” Sirius stopped him.
“We’d be glad!” Sirius stood up and gestured for Remus to follow him.
Remus stayed sat in his chair. He was not ready to perform in front of people who were practically strangers. Sirius wiggled his fingers but Remus shook his head. Sirius sent him a look which said ‘don’t embarrass me and get your arse up’.
Remus sighed and took Sirius’ hand. Sirius dragged him up the stage stairs. Remus looked down at everyone and felt a surge of anxiety.
Yeah, he wasn’t great with people looking at him.
Sirius seemed to ignore them and went to grab one of the instruments. Remus followed him and watched as he grabbed one of the bass guitars.
Remus frowned, “I thought you sing?”
Sirius looked at one of the guitars before looking back at Remus, “I do. This is for you, not me.” Remus looked confused, “You play bass?” The taller boy nodded. “Well then, this is for you.” Sirius handed him a beautiful Fender bass guitar. It was a deep red guitar that fit perfectly in Remus' hands. “Like it?”
“It’s perfect,” Remus answered. He turned it around a few times before resting it against his body. “And really bloody expensive.”
“The festivals we host raise enough money for these supplies,” Sirius explained.
Remus’ jaw dropped slightly, “This school is fucking loaded.” Unlike his old school.
Sirius grinned wickedly and walked to the center of the stage.
“Go ahead, have some fun!” Mrs Donell exclaimed. She gestured for one of the students to help her leap down.
While Sirius cleared his throat and made some strange noises with his voice, Remus messed around with the guitar to see if it was ready.
Sirius stepped closer to Remus and asked if he was ready.
“No,” but Sirius didn’t care. Instead, he ordered Remus to play a beat.
Remus followed Sirius’ orders and played the first beat that came to his mind. The song he had chosen was one of his favourites to play. He just hoped Sirius knew it.
As soon as he started playing, a grin spread across Sirius’ face.
“ Perfect, ” Sirius mouthed. He cleared his throat before singing.
Finished with my woman ,
'Cause she couldn't help me with my mind
People think I'm insane
Because I am frowning all the time
The class started cheering as Sirius sang the next verse.
All day long I think of things
But nothing seems to satisfy
Think I'll lose my mind
If I don't find something to pacify
Remus was shocked. Yes, he had heard that Sirius’ voice was good. But he never expected something as good as what he was hearing.
Sirius sounded perfect. There wasn’t any part of his voice that someone could hate. And if they did ever hate, it would be out of pure jealousy. It was like a siren trying to lure a sailor to the ocean. He hit every note perfectly and made Remus want to drop to his knees and worship him like he was a God.
Remus watched as Sirius sang his heart out and didn’t hold back. He had to tear his eyes away from the vampire and make sure he didn’t fuck up the music. He doubted Sirius would be happy if he ruined the flow.
Once Sirius and Remus had finished the song, the entire class clapped their hands loudly. Mrs Donell was the loudest. Sirius grabbed Remus’ arm and bowed.
He turned to Remus and pulled him into a hug, “Wasn’t that amazing?” Sirius asked.
Remus quickly nodded, “It really was.” They both laughed. “Your voice,” Sirius looked at him, “It’s perfect.”
Sirius ducked his head to hide the blush, which formed on his cheek, “Thank you, Loops.” Remus shoved him lightly before returning the guitar back to its stand.
They jumped off the stage at the same time and landed in front of Mrs Donell.
She started speaking and telling them how amazing they were. It was obvious that most of the compliments were aimed towards Sirius.
Sirius tucked his hair behind his ear while he listened to her compliment him over and over again. Remus watched as Sirius slightly shrunk into himself. It was barely there but Remus could sense he was more anxious then he was letting off.
She gestured for them to sit back down.
“You were scared,” Remus whispered to him.
Sirius sat and spread his legs slightly, “Of course I was.” Remus smiled. “So were you.”
Remus shrugged, “Yeah, I was. I’m just surprised that someone like you can get nervous.”
Sirius looked at him for a moment but didn’t say anything back. Instead, he turned his attention to what the teacher was saying. Remus stared at Sirius for a few seconds before slowly doing the same.
Remus, however, couldn’t help but glance back at Sirius. He had gone freakishly quiet and Remus was getting worried. Had he said something wrong?
“Did I annoy you?” Remus asked after the teacher had given out her instructions.
Sirius looked at him but ignored him. Instead, he turned to Dorcas Meadowes, another girl in their class, and asked her to be partners. She was hesitant in accepting but ultimately agreed to it.
Remus sighed and turned to his side. He was sitting next to a black haired girl with glasses and a blue tie.
“Hello,” Remus introduced himself to the girl. “I’m Remus.”
She looked at Remus and smiled, “I’m Emmeline.” Now that Remus could fully see her face, she had green eyes and a few freckles.
They started talking for a bit while Mrs Donell handed out some sheets of paper. She instructed everyone to grab an instrument and play some notes. Emmeline and Remus grabbed a guitar and started messing around with it.
Every once in a while, Remus would look over and stare at Sirius. He and Dorcas were doing some vocal exercises or whatever they were called.
“I’m surprised they’re getting along,” Emmeline caught Remus looking at Sirius. “Since Dorcas is Regulus’ best friend.” Remus waited for an explanation, “It’s an unwritten rule that anyone who is friends with Regulus is supposed to hate Sirius and vice versa.”
“What is their problem with each other?” Remus asked. He played a couple of notes to make sure the teacher didn’t think they were being lazy.
Emmeline shrugged, “No one knows. They’ve just hated each other from the start. It wasn’t that bad in Year 7. But it’s gotten way worse over the years.”
He never thought siblings could hate each other. They obviously would have their differences and argue. But it was obvious Regulus and Sirius had stronger feelings than hate for each other.
“Maybe they love each other but just hate to admit it,” Remus suggested.
Emmeline snorted in response, “They do not love each other. You weren’t here last year so you didn’t see the fight.”
Remus frowned, “What fight?”
Emmeline looked up from the guitar. She looked around to check if anyone was listening and then leaned a bit closer to Remus. She smelled slightly like mint and apples. “I’m not the one to gossip, that’s Macdonald’s job, but there was a huge fight last June,” Remus fiddled with the pick. “They were having an argument about something in another language.”
“French?” Remus interrupted.
Emmeline shook her head, “No, I think it was Arabic or something. I’m not sure.” Remus nodded. “And then all of a sudden, Regulus swings and punches Sirius straight in the face. I thought Sirius would be in pain or something, but he just laughed before hitting Regulus back. We all thought that was the end of it because the teachers had arrived. However, Sirius was not done.” Emmeline explained, “Sirius grabbed Regulus by the hair, pulled him back, and bit him.”
Remus’ eyes widened. He was too stunned to speak. Sirius had actually bitten Regulus.
Emmeline then explained how Sirius just spat out his blood before hitting him again in the face. She had said their friends were so shocked, they couldn’t even move.
Remus finally got some words out after a minute of silence, “What the fuck?” Mrs Donell cleared her throat. Remus muttered an apology, “What happened after that?”
“Well, Sirius had bitten Regulus so hard, a chunk of his neck came out but even when Sirius was punching him, Regulus did not stop. Regulus just started hitting him and Sirius kept on hitting him back. There was a lot of blood all over the floor and one girl passed out from the sight of it.” Remus cringed as he thought about it. “James and Barty, Regulus’ friend with like a lot of piercings and bright green hair, had to pull them apart and hold onto them with all their strength. I mean, who knows what would’ve happened if James or Barty had let go. But Sirius practically knocked him out cold.”
Remus felt his jaw slightly drop. Emmeline nodded at his response. He knew their relationship was bad from the few times they had seen each other in Remus’ history class. He was just surprised they had nearly killed each other.
“What happened after that? Did their parents come or something?” Remus frowned. With a fight that bad Remus wouldn’t be surprised if their parents got on the first train to school.
She laughed quietly, “Of course not. They wouldn’t dare visit the school! Regulus was sent home as soon as he could’ve and we didn’t hear about any punishment for Sirius. He was probably dealt with at home and that’s why he went off to Potter’s this summer.”
“Damn. I just thought they barely spoke. I mean, I didn’t exactly ask him what was wrong with them. It felt like I was crossing a boundary,” Remus explained. Well, Remus doubted they knew what boundaries were in the first place.
Emmeline hummed. It only took a second for her to regret saying what she said, “Oh shit. Look, don’t tell Sirius I told you that,” Emmeline was quick to say. “He’ll beat the shit out of me if he finds out I told you.”
“Don’t worry,” Remus reassured her. “I’m not a gossip.”
He was going to ask Mary for more details after the lesson.
Emmeline smiled and breathed a sigh of relief, “Thanks. You seem like a nice guy, Remus.”
Remus smiled back, “Thank you. You seem like a nice girl?” Remus said back.
Emmeline laughed loudly and from the corner of his eye he could see Sirius glance at them, “Have you never been complimented, Remus?”
“I have. I just don’t remember the last time it happened.”
“Well, I’ll make sure to compliment you a lot,” Emmeline told him. “Every day, I promise.”
Remus smiled. He was surprised he made a new friend this quick. Luckily, Emmeline seemed nice. She was easy to talk to and not as strange as some of the people he had to spend everyday with.
The lesson quickly ended after that. Remus was surprised how quick the time went. Well, time does pass quicker when you're having fun.
Remus cleaned up, grabbed his stuff, and said bye to Emmeline.
“I’ll see you around?” She asked politely.
Remus looked back at her, “Yeah, I’ll see you around.” She smiled.
He walked out the class and saw Sirius waiting for him with a scowl on his face. Remus frowned when he saw him.
Sirius spoke first, “Find Vance interesting?”
Emmeline Vance must’ve been her full name.
Remus nodded, “She was nice.”
“Nice?”
“Yeah, she was nice and pretty-”
Sirius stopped in his tracks, “Pretty?”
“I was going to say pretty cool before you rudely interrupted me,” Sirius rolled his eyes. “She’s also pretty,” Sirius looked at Remus strangely. “What? Got a thing for her?”
Sirius snorted, “No thanks. And besides, I don’t get ‘things’ for people. They get ‘things’ for me.”
Remus groaned, “Your ego hurts me.” Sirius laughed for the first time in an hour. Remus was surprised he went this long without doing so. “Also, what do you mean you’ve never had ‘things’ for people. What about Mary?”
Sirius shrugged, “Mary was hot. But I didn’t like her like that.”
“So you dated her for a bit even though you didn’t like her?” Sirius nodded. He seemed proud. Remus was slightly shocked. “Are you sure you’ve never liked someone? I mean you spend most of your year with these people. There has got to be someone.”
Sirius went quiet before speaking again, “There was one person. They were nice but I got over it quickly because I knew it wouldn’t work out.”
Remus nodded, “So you work efficiently? I like that.”
Sirius smirked before lightly shoving him. “What about you, Loops? Any girl caught your heart?”
Remus shook his head, “Nope. Most girls don’t go for guys like me.”
“Guys like you?”
“Nerds. Freaks. Weirdos.”
Sirius made a face, “Remus, you’re cool. I dunno what’s going on with girls at your school.” Remus laughed, “We just gotta find the right women for you. One who would listen to all your ‘nerdy’ interests.”
Remus cringed and ducked his head, “Sure, whatever you say, Black.”
Sirius hit him lightly in the stomach, “Alright, let’s stop this conversation because James looks like he’s walked through Hell.”
Remus looked from Sirius to James and frowned. James was covered in paint and sweat. He had a huge frown on his face and was slightly shaking. “If he hates art so much then why did he choose it?”
Sirius hummed, “To prove he can, I guess.”
James sped up his pace when he saw them. Sirius handed his bag to Remus. Remus took it and didn’t question why.
“I hate art,” James said as he fell into his best friend's arms. “And, I hate your brother.” Sirius snorted. “I’m sorry and I know I’m not supposed to mention him. But I’ve never met someone as rude as him!”
Sirius sighed as he let go of him, “What did he say this time?”
James rubbed his face and Remus watched a dash of pink become a line on his face, “ ‘ Oh, your art is perfect, why are you moaning? ’ First of all, if it was perfect then I wouldn’t be moaning!” James yelled. A couple of students scowled at him as they rushed past.
“Calm down, I’ll speak to him,” Sirius rubbed his shoulders.
“But then he’s gonna think I’m a pussy for not being able to speak to him myself,” James let his head fall onto Remus’ shoulder. The corridor was empty now. “He’s just really freaking scary.”
Sirius moved a strand of James’ hair away from his eye, “I understand. Regulus can be very scary despite being an absolute pussy himself.” James looked up at him, “I’ll deal with him.”
“Just try not to bite him,” Remus joked.
Sirius looked at him strangely, “Why would you say that?”
Oh shit, “Because you’re a vampire,” Remus quickly sorted that out.
Sirius nodded, but still seemed unsure, “You’re right. C’mon James, we have PSHE after break.” A smile creeped on James’ face. “And we’re having fucking sex ed!”
“Watch your language, Mr Black,” a teacher yelled as she walked past. “And put your bloody blazers on boys!” They sighed but put on their blazers anyway.
✩✩✩✩
PSHE was on the third floor so Remus’ thighs and calves were aching when he entered the classroom. Luckily, Remus, James, Peter, and Sirius were in the same class and they all sat next to each other.
But sadly, the PSHE classroom was actually a science class so the chairs made Remus’ body ache even more.
Sirius stretched his body and sat next to James and Remus, “Are you boys excited?”
Peter chuckled, “For the awkward sex talk? No thanks.”
“I think sex ed is useless for me,” Sirius pulled a pen from his blazer pockets. “I’ve done most things anyway.”
Remus made a face, “I pray that you used the thing they teach us the most about when doing it. I don’t want to imagine a world with baby Sirius running around.” James snorted.
“Oi, baby Sirius would be very cute,” Sirius snapped back.
“I didn’t say that he wouldn’t be cute! I said that he would be an absolute menace to society,” Remus explained. Sirius flipped him off. “Why are they starting us off with this anyway? Like, isn’t this stuff taught in the middle of the year?”
James shrugged, “I dunno. We never had it as the first topic.”
Peter pulled a blue lollipop from his blazer pocket. Remus noticed that Peter had everything but a pen in his blazer pockets. He had a lighter, sweets, spare change, and even a teddy bear. However, there was never a pen.
Remus, who was expecting the question, handed him a pen, “Here you go, mate.”
Peter smiled a lopsided smile, “Thanks! You know me so well already.”
Sirius snorted, “You’re getting unpredictable, Pete. You never have a singular pen or pencil.” Peter rolled his eyes, “What? Even I carry a pen around with me and I don’t give a shit about school.”
“You should,” James pointed out. He was nibbling on the end of his black pen and drawing something on a pink post it note. “You always need a back up plan because you never know what can happen.”
“Fuck backup plans. I go where the wind takes me!” Sirius raised his hands up in the air and waved them around. A few people shot some dirty glances at them, but Sirius didn’t care.
Peter rolled his eyes. Remus thought that if he did that one more time, his eyes would get stuck at the back of his head, “I think we’re doing sex ed first because of that girl who got pregnant last year.”
Remus looked at Peter, “What year was she in?”
“Ours,” Peter shrugged.
Remus slowly nodded, unsure of what to say. Sirius held back a laugh but James was too invested in his drawing.
Remus looked around the classroom and saw Lily wave at him. Her hair had been put up in a messy bun but she still looked good. Remus waved back and smiled.
Mary and Marlene sat next to her. Marlene turned around and her long blonde hair whipped a guy sitting next to her. She didn’t care and instead waved.
Remus smiled at them and turned his attention to James, who was muttering something under his breath.
Remus looked at him strangely, “James?”
Peter stopped him, “Don’t. He’ll be so mad at you if you interrupt him.” Remus backed away slightly and turned to speak to Sirius. “Where’s the teacher?”
Sirius shrugged. He was writing something down in a page he had stolen from Remus’ notebook. “I dunno who we have. There wasn’t any name on the timetable.”
“Great,” Remus sighed. He ran a hand through his hair.
Just then, the teacher walked in.
“Oh shit,” Remus muttered under his breath.
The other three boys looked away from what they were doing to what Remus was looking like.
Sirius was the first to speak, “Isn’t that your fit History teacher?” He looked at her and then at Remus.
Remus nodded, “Uh, yeah. Miss Walker.”
Sirius kissed his teeth, “Damn. She’s fucking stunning.” Peter hummed in agreement.
James looked at her but frowned, “She’s okay.” He went back to his drawings. Remus tried to get a peek but he could only see a couple of lines.
“James only pays attention to people who are cruel to him,” Sirius whispered to Remus, who was slightly confused at James’ reaction to her.
“Ah, I'm not surprised,” Remus looked at James.
The happy sunshine guy falling in love with someone who hates everyone but him? Surprisingly, Remus was not shocked. He only wondered who that someone would end up being.
Miss Walker cleared her throat, gaining the attention of the whole class. “Uh, alright everyone! Let’s get started.”
She ordered two students to hand out some notebooks and sorted out the projector at the back of the class.
After the students were done handing out the books, and had sat down, Miss Walker stood at the front of the lesson and spoke, “I’m your new PSHE teacher. My name is Miss Walker. I recognise a few of you from my History class and I can’t wait to teach you.”
“Could they not afford a proper teacher?” A boy from the back of the class yelled out.
She scowled, “I am a proper teacher and I am fully certified to teach you this. Got any problems, take it up with your head teacher.” The boy quickly went quiet.
Their head teacher was a man named Albus Dumbledore. He was a greying man with a long beard and a weird taste in fashion. From first glance, he wasn’t scary. However, his voice could carry for miles and did shake the entire school in the process.
The teacher wasted no more time and turned the lights off. The projector switched on and a video started playing.
The video was boring. It was knowledge they consume every year.
Don’t do this, don’t do that, oh, and never do this.
Remus struggled staying awake for the seven minutes the video played for.
As the video was playing, James slid something over. It was the pink post-it note he had previously been drawing on.
Remus picked it up and looked at the drawing. It was a drawing of a werewolf howling at the full moon. Remus leaned back and looked at James, who was watching the video with the same expression of boredom as everybody else.
He quickly poked James in the back, trying not to get Sirius’ attention, and smiled when James turned to look at him. “ This is amazing,” Remus mouthed. It truly was. Everything was perfect.
James shrugged, “ It’s okay,” he mouthed back.
“ Shut the fuck up. It’s perfect,” Remus tried to angrily mouth those words to him. James smiled slightly before saying thank you and turning back to the video.
Remus sat back straight and stuck the picture into this notebook. He looked down at it and smiled. It was so thoughtful he had done that. Remus couldn’t help but blush at the thought of James drawing that for him.
The wolf had a crazy amount of detail despite the canvas being so small. And on the moon, there was a small star that the wolf was looking at. For some reason, it reminded Remus of the moon outside their window.
Remus felt as Sirius glanced over and looked at the drawing, “That’s good,” he whispered to him.
Remus had to stop himself from moving as he felt Sirius’ hair against his neck, “It really is,” Remus whispered back.
As the video finally came to an end, the teacher switched it off and walked back to the front of your class.
She looked around the classroom before asking a question, “Now, what did we learn from that?” It was a simple question but no one wanted to answer. “Right then, Severus?” Snape looked at her, “Did you learn anything from this video? Or, did we just waste seven minutes of our life on nothing?”
Snape cleared his throat and pushed his hair out of his face, “Use contraceptives?”
Miss Walker nodded, “Yeah, that’s right. And, what did we learn is the best form of contraceptive?”
“The pills.” Snape said. He must’ve been the only one listening.
“Actually, the best form of contraceptive is your face,” James said nonchalantly.
Sirius spat out the water he was drinking and started laughing loudly. The class laughed along with him. Remus had put a hand to his mouth and tried not to laugh aloud because he doubted Lily would be very happy.
Recently, Remus had learned they were old friends and Lily loved him greatly. Remus had tried to not insult him with the rest of his friends. However, he couldn’t help but laugh at their jokes.
“That’s cruel!” Lily yelled at James, who was still unbothered. “How would you feel if someone said that to you?”
James shrugged, “I don’t care what other people say about me, Evans. I’ve heard it all. And besides, I’m not lying. No one would want to go near that greasy git.” Sirius slammed his head against the table and carried on laughing. Remus saw Snape roll his eyes.
Remus felt himself shake in laughter. Sirius wiped the tears falling out his eyes and dropped his vibrating head into his hands.
“SILENCE!” The teacher yelled. The class slowly went quiet. “Potter, you have a detention and I’ll send you to Flich’s for a caning.” The rest of the class jeered. “Black, you will also have a detention with him for making the mess. And you Lupin, will have a detention with them for laughing.”
Remus frowned, “The entire class laughed. Why am I the one getting in trouble?” It wasn’t like Remus cared much. Well, he doubted his parents would be happy their son got detention in the second week.
“You’re a part of their little group,” she said, like it explained it all. Remus rolled his eyes.
Peter kept quiet. It was obvious he didn’t want to get detention in the first week. And he didn’t want to risk getting caned either.
Sirius was still laughing. Water had covered the table and even some of the floor. He had turned as red as a beetroot. Remus had to stop himself from laughing when he saw Sirius’ face.
“Take a minute outside, Mr Black. Calm yourself down otherwise you’ll also be getting caned.”
Sirius shot his thumbs up before walking out the class. James looked at all the water and then at Remus, “None of it got on your drawing, did it?”
Remus looked at the pink paper, which was perfectly dry, and shook his head, “It’s fine. It’s beautiful by the way. I love it.” Remus promised to keep it forever.
James snorted, “I can do better. I just got some inspiration and quickly sketched it up. I’ll redraw it one day, I promise.”
“I’ll hold you to that, James,” Remus smiled. The other boy nodded in return. “Also, that thing you said to Snape?” James nodded, “Absolutely fucking hilarious.” Remus watched James grin widely.
They got shushed again and went back to the lesson. Sirius joined them shortly after that. He was obviously still not over the joke James had made.
Miss Walker spoke some more about safe sex. Remus tuned her out because he really didn’t care. He was sure everything would be fine once it came up to it.
As Miss Walker spoke, Remus’ mind drifted off to the events of the morning.
He was still shocked at the sound of Sirius’ voice. It was beautiful. Remus was sure he had died and it was an angel that was speaking to him. Or maybe he was being lured in by sirens that were going to kill him.
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