Hogwarts Express
September 1, 1971
After a long summer of being ignored by the Pentworth’s, Remus yearned for a companion, anyone to talk to or have a joke with. So when September first finally rolled around, Remus was exuberant. He fiddled with his sleeves and tugged on his curls, even as his butler, Jonathan, fussed over him at the busy Kings Cross station. The Pentworth’s had sent Jonathan to drop Remus off, their only words of farewell were ones in threats, warning Remus that if he casted shade on their reputation once more, it would be off to the orphanage for him.
“Now, Master Lupin, I have been instructed by your trusted guardian-” Remus rolled his eyes at the word ‘trusted’ seeing as the Pentworth’s were a last effort, and the only relatives, however far, that would take him in, “-to escort you to the station and ensure you make it safely onto the train,” Jonathan handed Remus a slip of paper -his train ticket- that read, ‘Platform nine and three-quarters.’ Remus smiled greatfully at the older man, even though he had no idea how to get to platform nine and three-quarters.
Jonathan had dark gray hair, shot through with black strands from his earlier days. He had kind, green eyes, crinkled around the corners from a life of smiles and laughter -much in contrast to Mary and Rupert.
At that moment, a girl, maybe three or four years older than Remus, with short, shoulder length brown hair hugged two older people, -presumably her parents- picked up her luggage and an owl in a cage, and ran straight at one of the white brick columns in between platforms nine and ten. Remus was about to call out, to save her from running head first into solid brick, but the girl didn’t need it. Instead of splatting against the stones, she passed right through the barrier. The bricks seemed to ripple around her, like-
“Magic,” Remus breathed in wonder. Jonathan, having watched it all occur beside Remus, placed a warm hand on his shoulder, “Do take care, Mr Lupin, and stay out of trouble, it would be such a shame if Master and Mrs Pentworth sent you away,” the butler offered Remus a comforting smile, which he returned brightly, before stepping towards the barrier, taking a deep breath and running towards it at full speed.
***
As Remus exited on the other side of the magical barrier, a beautiful scarlet steam engine was waiting next to the platform filled to the brim with people carrying various forms of luggage. Above his head, there was an old wrought iron sign attached to the wall beside him, it read ‘Platform Nine and Three-Quaters.’ Well this is it, he thought, I’m going to Hogwarts, I made it.
Remus pushed his way through the throng of people, lugging his golden embossed trunk behind him. A girl with flaming red hair skipped happily ahead of Remus, dragging behind her a boy with a mop of black, greasy hair; he had a long, beak-like nose, and his mouth twisted into a sneer when when he caught Remus watching. Remus immediately hated the boy.
As Remus made his way to one of the doors to enter the train, he noticed a tall, pale woman with long black hair and very sharp facial features speaking softly but cruelly to a young boy, probably Remus’ age. The boy had raven hair, reaching his shoulders and bouncing off with a gentle curl at the end, he had similarly sharp features to the woman before him -presumably his mother- except they didn’t seem so mean. As Remus navigated himself around the pair, he noticed the boys eyes, grey with a hint of blue, like diamonds. Mesmerising, the word popped into his head, sprouting out of nowhere, but Remus couldn’t deny it, the raven haired boy with diamond eyes was mesmerising, although, he deemed it obvious to anyone else looking.
***
Inside the train, Remus searched for an empty carriage, but came up empty handed. Finally he found a carriage with only two boys inside, both seemed to be of similar age to Remus, so he decided that was the best he was going to get, and should probably take the opportunity before it was too late.
Pulling the sliding door open to the mostly empty carriage, Remus stepped inside. The two other boys looked up at the same time. One boy, the taller of the two, had dark tanned skin, rounded glasses, brown messy hair and a big, goofy smile which he turned towards Remus. The smaller boy was slightly pudgy, and obviously hadn’t lost all his baby fat yet. He had light blonde hair, and blue eyes. He also looked terrified of Remus obviously taking in his serious attitude and the big scar across his nose, as well as the smaller scars peppering any visible skin.
“Sorry, there wasn’t any other carriages free,” Remus said, his chin high and back straight.
The tanned boy smiled, “No problem, are you a first year too? I’m James Potter,” he held out his hand, which Remus shook, greatful for something to do with his hands, James gestures to the blonde boy, “This is Peter Pettigrew.”
“Remus Lupin.” He offered, taking a seat on the cushioned bench opposite the boys, leaning against the window and looking out at the platform full of smiling and tearful faces.
“Don’t think I’ve heard of a Lupin before, who’s your parents?” James asked.
Remus refused to look at the other boy as he answered, “You wouldn’t know them, they’re dead.” A solemn silence followed after his statement, forcing Remus to drag his eyes to the other boys, James’ wide eyes were filled with pity and his mouth had fallen open in an ‘O’ shape, while Peter was fiddling with his fingers, looking down at his lap.
“Sorry, mate,” James said softly. Remus pressed his lips into a thin line and nodded his thanks. Peter took that as his queue to start up conversation again, something about Quidditch, which Remus could recall Dumbledore mentioning it, saying his father played on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. He now knew what Quidditch was, -thanks to the boys’ very animated discussion: a wizards sport you play while flying on brooms, flying. On brooms- but still couldn’t figure out what a Ravenclaw was, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to ask James for fear of looking stupid.
Some time later, a loud ‘toot’ came from the train, signalling it would be leaving platform nine and three-quarters soon. Remus could feel the butterflies in his stomach, he was going to a boarding school of magic, somewhere his father went, maybe he could learn a thing or two about him, maybe he would be like him?
His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden banging of the carriage door opening, and the beautiful raven haired boy with diamond eyes from on the platform waltzed in. He flipped his hair over one shoulder, grinning at the other three boys, “Alright, lads?”
James stood up, grinning, “Alright. I’m James Potter,” he offered his hand to the new boy.
“Sirius Black,” he shook James’ hand, grinning wide.
Peter introduced himself, and Remus sat back, watching, studying Sirius again, there was an air of rebellion around the raven haired boy, which Remus reasoned was expected if he had to deal with such a horrible looking woman as his mother.
Sirius settled himself down next to Remus on the bench, and turned to him, raising a perfectly sculpted eyebrow, “You got a name?” His eyes flicked over the scars permanently etched into Remus’ tanned skin, and his smile grew.
“Remus Lupin,” he replied, taking the supposed scrutiny in the other boys’ gaze.
Sirius snorted in laughter, “What sort of name is ‘Remus Lupin’?” Remus scowled, his brow furrowing in displeasure. He had always been picked on at his old schools because of his name, so it was a sore topic.
“What sort of name is Sirius Black?” He challenged, earning himself an extremely infuriating grin and a middle finger from Sirius as the other boys giggled amongst themselves.
***
At some point during the long train ride to Hogwarts, an old lady with a trolly full of many strange lollies came by their carriage. James and Sirius went all out, buying multiple of each sweet on the cart, including Cauldron Cakes, and Pumpkin Pasties, Liquorice Wands, Bertie Botts Jelly Beans -which turned out to be disgusting as Remus unfortunately picked out a vomit flavoured one- and Chocolate Frogs, which he contentedly nibbled on, while puzzling over the little wizard moving about on the collectible card that came with the chocolate.
Peter looked up from stuffing his face with sweets and pointedly said to Remus, “So, what’s up with your scars?” He gestured to Remus’ face, which he could already feel heating up as blood rushed to his cheeks in humiliation. Remus raised his chin, pushing away the embarrassment, and stared down his nose at the other boy, tone sharp enough to cut glass,
“Have you got a problem with them?” Peter immediately went bright red and looks down at his hands, murmuring an apology. After a while, James broke the awkward silence, starting up another animated debate about Quidditch, but this time including Sirius.
Although the diamond eyed boy was happily chattering away with James, Remus swore he could still feel Sirius’ curious eyes on him for the rest of the train ride.