Chocolate and Honey

Dear Nora,

You were right. I have officially been sorted into Gryffindor. Here’s your chocolate.

Hogwarts is absolutely amazing! The first years went in these little boats across the lake. The castle is so big and majestic. I'm definitely going to get lost, though luckily the prefects gave us maps. In the Great hall, candles actually float above us! I guess I shouldn't be surprised but it is just so breathtaking. 

Professor McGonagall took me away at the end of the feast and I had a short meeting with the headmaster, Professor Dumbledore. He told me where I will be going for the full moons, and that the nurse Madam Pomfrey will take me there and look after me afterwards. Please don't worry about me, I'll be fine.

I got put in a dorm with three other boys. Their names are James Potter, Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black. I also sat with them on the train. James and Sirius are really loud and are already talking about pranking the teachers. Sirius has been looking at me weirdly though. I'm hoping if I just stay quiet for seven years, no one will figure out my secret. Although it would be nice to make friends. I don't even know what having friends feels like (apart from you) and I don't even know how to make people like me.

At the moment I am writing this from my new bed. James and Sirius are still whispering about pranks. I will go find the owlery in the morning to send this to you before lessons start. I'm missing you already. I hope you’re alright at home.

Your brother,

Remus

Nora smiled at the letter in her hands. She absent-mindedly stroked the tawny owl that was sitting on her windowsill. On her lap, a chocolate frog rested from where it dropped out of the envelope the owl delivered. She missed her brother already too. His presence was not a loud one in their small family cottage, yet she could feel his absence greater than ever. 

Breakfast was an ordinary affair at the Lupin household that morning. Except for the empty seat on the left side of the table. Of course, they were all used to it being empty during certain times of the month, but this was different. It was as if the three of them took turns glancing at the modest wooden chair which wasn't being sat in that morning, and won't be sat in for months to come. Lyall would subtly peer over the top of the Daily Prophet, probably wondering whether his son was put into Ravenclaw. Hope nearly made four cups of tea, the fourth one with extra sugar. Nora just gazed at the chair, wondering if her brother would suddenly appear and it would be back to normal. She tried to imagine what Hogwarts was like, and what Remus was doing at this very moment. He described it with such amazement. Two years felt like too long to wait for Nora. 

“Remus got into Gryffindor,” Nora said to Lyall and Hope. “He sent me a letter this morning.” 

Lyall Lupin folded up his newspaper in front of him, revealing a face tinged with slight disappointment, but full of happiness for his eldest son. Hope beamed at Nora, her face glowing with pride. “Which house is that again, dear?” she asked. 

“Traits found in Gryffindors are bravery, loyalty and boldness,” Nora responded promptly. 

“That fits,” Hope sighed happily. “Now that it’s just us three, I think it's time that I teach you how to cook. Apparently that's what women are good at.”

Hope flashed a cheeky smile at Lyall. He chuckled. Nora grinned at her parents. 

Hope looked at her with a little bit of sadness twinkling in her eyes. “I wish I could have seen you growing up. Already you're halfway towards being grown up and I feel like I've missed most of it.”

“You haven't missed anything,” Nora said firmly.

“Such a strong woman already,” Hope laughed. 

—

In the morning after they had arrived, Remus got up early and got ready quickly. No one needed to see his scars, so he decided that changing in the bathroom would be mandatory. People seeing his scars led to suspicions, and then theories, and eventually someone will connect the dots and find out. 

After getting ready, he grabbed the envelope addressed to his sister he had written last night and the map of the castle they had handed out. It took him about twenty minutes to find the owlery, but he was grateful for the time to think and process everything that happened in the last 24 hours. Finally at the owlery, he chose a pretty tawny owl that he was sure Nora would love to deliver the letter.

By the time he made his way back down to the Great Hall for breakfast, it was already filling up with students, some still half asleep and others bouncing with newfound energy. One of those nearly bouncing off the walls was Sirius Black.

“Where were you this morning?” The dark haired boy asked as he enthusiastically ladled scrambled eggs onto his plate opposite Remus. “Peter thought you had been kidnapped by a werewolf in the middle of the night.”

“I did not!” Peter squeaked as Remus almost choked on the sausage he had been chewing. James clapped his back while he spluttered. 

“I- I had to send a letter,” Remus muttered after recovering.

Fortunately, Professor McGonagall came round at that moment to hand out timetables. Remus peered at what classes they had today: transfiguration, charms and double potions. It didn't sound too bad.

“Look! We have flying lessons tomorrow!” James exclaimed, waving his slip of parchment in Sirius's face. “I’ve been flying since I started walking. My dad bought me the broomstick of the newest model as a present this summer. He said I have to wait for next year to bring it to school though.”

Lily strode up to the table and sat down next to Remus. He glanced at her while she made a disgusted face at the two pureblood boys, who were now boasting about their broom skills to anyone that would listen. 

“You think their heads would explode holding that much ego,” she said to Remus.

Remus laughed lightly. “Good point.”

The classes weren't so bad that day, as Remus had predicted. Before classes started, he had decided that the best place to sit would be in the middle of the class, where it wouldn’t be suspicious. After all, he didn’t have any friends to sit with and he didn’t want to make a fool of himself yet.

Professor McGonagall was their transfiguration teacher. In that first lesson, she just talked the entire time about the curriculum for first years and where transfiguration can take you. Remus’s suspicions were confirmed about her being a very strict professor when she caught James and Sirius passing notes and threatened them with detention. That could be a new record, Remus thought. Nearly getting detention before the very first class of first year is over. 

In charms, the group of first years had their first chance to get out their wands. Professor Flitwick showed them the levitation spell, wingardium leviosa, and encouraged them all to give it a go. To the whole class’s surprise, Lily Evans was the first to levitate her feather, making her eyes light up with joy. Remus was pretty sure he was the only one that caught James staring at her beaming face though. A few minutes later, Sirius managed to get his feather a foot off the desk. At the end of the lesson, Flitwick told them to practice it for homework. Remus was sure he saw his feather squirm a bit.

Remus had a feeling that potions would be his least favorite class. The potions master, Professor Slughorn, was a jolly old man a bit round around the belly and a suspicious resemblance to a walrus. The first half of the lesson was spent on him taking the roll with personal comments on each of the students.

“Ah, Mr. Black! I was looking forward to having you in my house, but no matter. I expect great things from you...”

Sirius leaned back and whispered something into James’s ear, who laughed. Remus watched from where he was seated behind them next to Peter. 

“Miss Evans! I heard that you were the first in your class to master the levitation charm! Very impressive for a muggleborn…”

Lily blushed lightly and glanced at Severus, who was sitting next to her and had his nose buried in the potions textbook, not even looking up. What a peculiar friendship, Remus thought. 

“Mr. Lupin! I remember your dad from the ministry! Horrible stuff he was dealing with, yes. I expect great things from you…” 

Sirius swiveled his head around and raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at Remus. He shrugged helplessly. Just when he thought he was getting a grip on his life, another mystery came and left him as confused as ever. 

After the lengthy roll call, Slughorn instructed them all to make a giggling elixir in their pairs. Remus got out his potions book along with the rest of the class. “Right. Um, Peter, do you want to chop the horned slugs up?” he asked Peter. 

“Sure,” Peter mumbled. The chubby boy got his silver blade out to dice the slugs. Remus tried not to flinch away from the heat resonating from the silver, and focussed on preparing the other ingredients. Yet another downside of being a werewolf.

“Oi, Lupin!” Twenty minutes later, Remus heard a whisper come from Sirius. He looked to find the boy and James gazing at him with mischievous grins on their faces. “Do you know how to make the potion explode? We want to get some on Snape when he comes past!”

Remus hesitated. This is your chance to make friends, the voice in his head said. At the same time, a part of him opened up and blossomed into his thoughts, a part of him that usually only made an appearance with Nora. This part of him encouraged the sly and mischievous side of him. 

“Add two more mistletoe berries,” he whispered back.

 The two boys’s smiles grew even wider. “Thanks mate! I’ll tell you when to duck,” James said. 

Remus intently watched James and Sirius in front of him while simultaneously trying to keep Peter from blowing up their own potion. Finally, Snape walked down the aisle past their cauldrons. James glanced back at Remus and Peter and mouthed “duck.” Remus nudged Peter and they both subtly took cover underneath the table just as James and Sirius’s cauldron spurted violet liquid everywhere within five feet. This included Severus, who instantly got doused in the potion and looked like he was stained purple. The greasy haired boy doubled over and started laughing, the potion dripping from his even greasier hair. At first Remus thought he’d gone crazy, but then he remembered what the potion was. James and Sirius were also giggling uncontrollably, though it was hard to tell if it was due to the potion or their own amusement. 

“Oh dearie me, did someone put a few too many mistletoe berries in?” Slughorn exclaimed, waddling down the aisle towards the mess. Remus consciously stood up again with Peter, dusting himself off and attempting to look as innocent as possible. 

“James got the potion,” Sirius said, catching his breath. “I’m fine.” 

“Oh dear,” Slughorn murmured. “Come along Mr. Potter and Mr. Snape, I’ll get the antidote for you. The rest of the class can be dismissed early.”

The class packed up their things and filed out of the door leaving James and Severus clutching their stomachs choking on their unsuppressable laughter. Sirius convinced Remus to stay outside the door with him and Peter to wait for James. Lily was also waiting out there, glaring in the direction of them, red hair tied up in a ponytail. 

“What Evans? It was just an accident,” Sirius said innocently.

At that moment, James and Severus walked out of the classroom, James with a big grin on his face as he joined them. Severus scowled at the four boys and grabbed Lily’s arm, towing her off. “Let’s go,” he muttered to Lily.

“Are you feeling a bit down, Snivellus?” Sirius called out to Severus. James and Peter guffawed at the new nickname for their future nemesis. Severus glared back at them, but Lily pulled him along. As they rounded the corner and slipped out of sight, the four boys broke out into giggles, even Remus. 

“That was totally worth it,” James wheezed as they started to walk out of the dungeons. The boys enthusiastically talked about Severus’s purply soaking all the way down the castle's corridors. At the turnoff to the library, Remus started to walk away from the others. 

“Hey, where are you going?” James asked. 

“To the library?” Remus said with uncertainty.

“Do you want to play exploding snap with us in the common room? You know, as a celebration,” James replied with his trademark grin.

“Um, ok, sure!” Remus said, and so he walked back to the common room with his new friends.