Prologue
His leg hurt again today. It had been raining for three days straight. Every time it rained, Remus would get a blistering headache, and his leg would ache. He clutched his cane, his knuckles going white from the pressure. He would endure this pain like he always did. Remus could handle the pain as long as he had his routines he reasoned to himself. That was the one comfort to the chaotic environment he had to navigate every day.
He got up, got ready, ate the same three meals everyday, went to class, did some sort of mischief with his pals, went to class, studied, did his prefect duties with Lily, and finally after some more mischief, he spent an hour or two of reading before he went to bed. Then he would hopefully survive a normal school year, with the exception of his small wolfy problem every full moon.
Unfortunately, the headmaster had other plans, and Remus found that counting the floor tiles would only help so much stopping the oncoming dread he felt well-up inside him. They, the prefects that is, sat in a meeting in one of the spare classrooms they always used to conduct these introductions at the beginning of the year.
The head boy, a 7th year Ravenclaw named Matthew Bramwell, explained Dumbledore's plan to help extend an "olive branch of friendship" to promote interpersonal relations between the four houses. He thought that in these times, hogwarts needed to be able to trust each other. Which was a lot easier said than done, considering the years of not-so-friendly competition that had been encouraged throughout the many years. The bad blood between the Slytherins and Griffindors was well known, but the Ravenclaws hated the Griffindors just as much as the Slytherins. The Hufflepuffs had a grudge for all the other houses, often being the end of many jokes and often disregarded.
So, the prefects were made to set an example for the rest of their house mates and be paired with prefects from other houses.
Sometimes, Remus wondered if he had done something unforgivable in a past life or if he was just whichever God may-be's favorite joke. For he had been paired up with none other than one of his best mate's little death-eater brother. Regulus Black, he had never once talked civil with the Slytherin boy if they had even ever talked at all that is.
He had a feeling Dumbledore knew exactly what he was doing when he decided the pairs. To Remus's pleasure, he was not the only one miserable soul who had bad luck of a partner. For, Lily had been partnered with Alecto Carrow, a 7th year Hufflepuff with a nasty sense of humor if you could call it that.
He caught Lily's eye after she heard her partner's name be called. They gave each other sympathetic looks for their misfortune. Remus could already picture Lily ranting about the unfairness of their situation after they returned to their common room together. He quickly dropped his mouth to a frown after realizing he was smiling. He looked around at the other prefects, who all had their attention on William still. Remus started when he caught steel grey eyes looking back at him.
He could smell the boys' perfume, a deep eucalyptus and parchment. The latter being because of his lycanthropy condition, which made his nose more sensitive to smells. Remus broke eye contact with the other boy. Eyes facing the tiles on the floors again, as he began counting them once more.
It wasn't long before William finished his speech and dismissed the prefects. Remus waited in his seat as the others made their way to the door. Once everyone but William and Lily left, did Remus get up. "It's good to see you again, Lupin, Evans." William nodded to them as they left. They both waved goodbye and wished him a good night.
The only sound in the dark long hall were their footsteps and the knocking of his cane. All the other students already in their dorm for curfew. Lily had already begun her rant as soon as they left the classroom. "I don't know why Professor Dumbledore thought that if the prefects got along, that would somehow make the other houses like each other. I wish he would have had a more decisive plan or picked better pairs at the very least. I will be surprised if none of us kill each other before the end of the week." She grumbled. "Will you be okay? Carrow might try to pull something. She has tried before, and I wouldn't put it past her to try again. I can't believe Professor Dumbledore let her be a prefect." Remus worried.
Lily sighed, "It will be fine, I'm not helpless." Remus hastly added."I don't doubt your capabilities, but rather the malevolence of Carrow." He yawned. It looks like he might only be able to read for an hour. Lily thought it over, "I will bring Jitterbug with me. That way, I won't be alone if she tries anything." Jitterbug was Lily's sooty owl, which may not be the biggest owl, but Jitterbug was a fierce opponent, which James had found out while trying to impress Lily in the Owlery a few years ago.
The two entered the Griffindor common room, Padfoot, Prongs, and Wormtail sat in front of the fire talking about their summers. Padfoot had moved in with Prongs two years ago and has been close as brothers since 1st year. Wormtail started following Sirius everywhere since 2nd year and is often too eager to please in his admiration of the boy. As soon as Lily entered the room, Prongs shot up, making his way over to them. "Lily! How was your summer?" He greeted. Lily laughed, "We wrote to each other everyday, you know just about everything."
How James somehow got Lily to like him was beyond Remus's comprehension. He settled that their were somethings that you could spend a lifetime thinking about and not ever know. Remus moved past the two, not wanting to hear their flirting more than he had to already, seeing as James never went a day with swooning over her. Remus flopped on the couch with a heavy sigh, letting his eyelids fall shut. "You sound like an old man." Sirius snickered. "I am old." Remus groaned, rubbing his sore leg muscle. "You still haven't talked with your brother since you moved out, right?" Remus asked. Sirius leaned back, "What's bringing this on?" He questions back. Lily came up behind the couch, "We are being paired with prefects from different houses, and Remus is partners with your brother." She explains.
Sirius laughs a bit too loud for this time of night, "You poor sod. Good luck with that one, mate." He wishes. "Thanks." Remus mumbles to himself.
The fire crackled and sizzled, and Remus's ears perked up. He looked out the window into the vast night sky, up at the stars. He caught a glimpse of Leo peaking through the clouds. The rain had stopped.