White envelopes
For most Hogwarts students, one of the best days of their lives was the day they got their letter when they were eleven. For Remus, it definitely lived up to this.
When he came down the stairs for breakfast one morning near the end of June, Remus didn’t expect his sister to be waiting for him with a wide grin on her face. Behind her, Lyall Lupin was sitting at the head of the dining table, sipping his morning tea and squinting at the newspaper in front of him. Remus could hear Hope Lupin pottering around in the kitchen. Holding her hands behind her back, Nora asked, “which hand?”
Remus smiled down at his sister, brushing a couple of curls out of his eyes. “Ummm… that one.” He pointed at Nora’s left arm.
The brown haired girl revealed her hand and announced, “Here is your prize, kind sir.” In her small hand was a bar of chocolate that Remus recognised was from his supposedly secret stash of confectionery in his room.
Remus raised an eyebrow at her. “You need better hiding spots,” Nora said simply.
“And what’s in the other hand?” Remus asked slowly.
Nora’s grin grew even wider as she held out a crisp white envelope for Remus. Written in cursive on the front was:
Remus Lupin
14 ashridge end
Gwynedd
Wales
On the back was a red seal with a familiar crest on it. Remus’s mouth fell open. “I-”
His younger sister interrupted her. “No, you are not a slavering monster who shouldn’t be allowed to go to school. You are a normal eleven year old boy with a little furry problem.”
Remus looked down at his feet. “That’s not true.”
“You haven’t even opened it yet.” Remus looked at Nora and her patient chocolate brown eyes. Eyes that were much too mature for a nine year old. Eyes that had seen much more than the average nine year old.
Remus carefully slitted the envelope open and upended the contents of it onto the table. Out of the corner of his eye, Lyall rested the newspaper on the table to watch him.
Three letters sat on the table. Remus picked up the first one tentatively and read it.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Remus Lupin,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall Deputy Headmistress
Remus looked over at Nora to find she had already grabbed another letter and had read through it. “You need a lot of stuff,” she murmured, not looking up from the parchment.
Remus wordlessly handed the piece of parchment to his sister and picked up the other letter.
Dear Remus Lupin,
I am aware of your lycanthropy. I have set up a safe place for you to go each month for your condition. Please come to my office after the welcoming feast. I look forward to welcoming you to Hogwarts.
Yours sincerely,
Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
“Dad? Do you know about this?” Remus asked, an unsure expression on his face.
Lyall looked at his son over his reading glasses. “Do you want to go?”
Remus chewed his lip. “Well, yes but-”
“Then you should go.” His dad smiled tightly at him. “Your condition shouldn’t stop you.”
Remus couldn't stop smiling the whole day.
—
A few weeks later, the family headed to Diagon Alley to purchase the list of equipment for Hogwarts. Of the few times the two siblings had been to the small pocket of Wizarding shops, Nora had always been in awe. She could almost feel the magic whizzing about in the air around her. They had never been able to stay long due to the fact that someone might recognize them, but Nora enjoyed every moment. Gazing at the colorful window displays, strolling down the cobblestone street, licking enormous ice creams with her brother. Yet Flourish and Blotts will always be her favorite shop.
Her and Remus had grown up together surrounded by books. Their relationship was practically balanced on books. It was only fitting that both of them could spend hours roaming the aisles of Diagon Alley's bookstore.
Remus decided while consulting his list that they should save the best store for last. So, after an hour or two of robe tailoring, cauldron buying and listening to Ollivander mutter to his wands, the family entered the bookshop. Remus sidled up to Nora. “I propose a competition,” he murmured into her ear. “We split the book list in half and see who can collect their half the fastest.”
Nora smirked. “And the winner gets?”
“I know you still have that chocolate bar you stole from my stash.” Remus was grinning now. Nora loved it when he smiled. Smiles meant happiness, and happiness meant everything.
“Deal,” Nora reached out to shake her big brother's hand.
Nora's ears picked up the fond chuckling of their parents from behind her, but she was already focused on memorizing the bottom half of the list.
“Ready, set, go!”
Nora had a rather good memory. Even though she could count the number of times she'd been to this store on one hand, the locations of the different book sections came back to her as clear as ever. As she weaved through the aisles of books, grabbing the ones she wanted as she went, Nora found that being small had its advantages. So she knew when a larger figure loomed over her that she was going to bump into someone, so at least it didn't take her by surprise.
“Bugger! Sorry about that!” The shadow leant over to collect some of her dropped books from the floor. He straightened back up and Nora discovered that the shadow was actually a boy about Remus's age. Messy black hair, round glasses, and a seemingly permanent mischievous glint in his eyes. The boy looked down at Nora with slight concern. “Are you alright?”
“It's fine. I'm fine. You're fine,” Nora responded with a final look at the older boy before hurrying off. She had already wasted enough time in the Great Book Hunt against Remus.
He was certainly fine though. But she couldn't let that distract her now. She will let it distract her later.