Promises

17th July, 1971, 12:28 p.m., Leaky Caldron

Remus was buzzing with excitement. Dumbledore had somehow convinced his parents that Remus going to hogwarts was a good idea. His father was taking him to Diagon Alley to get his Hogwarts school supplies. Hogwarts! His dad was talking to the bartender, apparently an old friend, while Remus was reading and reading his letter for the hundredth time.
He needed a cauldron, a few robes, tons of books, a wand, dragon hide gloves, a telescope, brass scales, and a glass or crystal phial. It had to be expensive.

“Remus, are you ready?”, Lyall asked him.

“Yeah! How do get in? Are you gonna do magic? Are you gonna use your wand?”, questioned Remus.

“Yeah, I’m gonna do all of that”, He answered, laughing.

Lyall led Remus through the back door into the alley behind the pub. The alley behind the Leaky Cauldron looked like any other alley in London—weathered bricks, a grimy dumpster, the faint smell of trash lingering in the air. But as soon as his father tapped the bricks with his wand, something extraordinary happened. The bricks began to shift, grinding against each other, until a tall archway opened up. Beyond it, Remus saw the bustling streets of Diagon Alley—shops filled with cauldrons, owls, broomsticks, and witches and wizards hurrying about their business.

“Wow!”

“It’s great, isn’t it?”, his father said.

They went into the robes store-the second hand one, of course. They could never afford the nice, never before worn robes. He stepped in and saw a motherly looking witch making random things in the store float and go to their proper places. He had to duck to avoid getting knocked out by a flying hanger.

“I’m sorry dear! I didn’t see you come in! That damn doorbell has been broken for a month now!”, she exclaimed. She waved her wand and a stool came zooming towards the empty spot near the window as she grabbed her measuring tape. “I’m Mrs. Montauge. I suspect that you’re here for hogwarts robes?”

“Erm, yeah”, Remus answered,”First year.”

“I though so. You look more nervous than an animal about to be cooked.”, said Mrs. Montauge

“How much would the robes be, exactly?”, Lyall asked as he fished out his wallet from his robes.

“Well, if you want to get the Hogwarts required amount, I’ll charge 15 galleons.”, she said.

He agreed, and she took remus’ measurements as he started out of. the window onto the street. Just across the street was a store called ‘Quality Qudditich Supplies’. He saw a boy with wild black hair and glasses drag a plump boy with sandy hair into it, his pockets bulging with gold coins. The boy’s father, Remus assumed as they looked almost identical, trailed behind them, holding bags from other shops. Remus sighed, wishing he could go around the shops and pick out whatever he wanted.

“I found some robes in Remus’ size! They look pretty new, too!”, Mrs. Montauge said, holding a couple of robes in her arms.

“Great! Remus, are you ready to go?”, Lyall said.

After they paid, Lyall took Remus to the book shop. Remus looked around at the rows of books, floor to ceiling. He had never seen so many books in one place. He was in complete and utter awe. He wanted to get his hands on every single one of them and read their entirely.

The rest of the shops blurred by with Remus in awe of each of them. He couldn’t stop staring at the magic practically seeping through the walls. It was unlike anything he had ever seen or imagined before. He never wanted to leave.
1st September, 1971, 9 a.m., Platform 9 and 3/4

“And you packed your books, cariad?”, Hope questioned.

Remus threw his head back and groaned as his Mother asked him the hundredth question.

“Why do all of these kid’s robes have different colors and the ones we got you are black?”, Hope asked.

“The robes get their color when they get sorted, love”, Lyall answered, sighing.

“Right, Ok. I apologize that I didn’t know the details about a school I didn’t attend, Lyall.”

“I’m not asking you to. I’m asking you to stop harassing our son about everything that-“

“I’ve got to go!”, Remus interrupted as the train whistle sounded.

“Right, well, bye my little moon”, Lyall said as he hugged Remus.

“Dad! You’re embarrassing me!”

“Be good, cariad.”, Hope said as she threw a pointed look at Lyall.

Here they go again, Remus thought. They had been at each other’s throats ever since Remus had been accepted to Hogwarts. It was like they wanted to kill each other and the only reason they weren’t ripping each other apart was because Remus was there. He didn’t even want to think about what would happen once the train left the station.

“Bye Mum! Bye Dad! See you at Christmas!”, Remus shouted as he stepped into the train. He looked down the hall and found, by miracle of God, an empty compartment. He just hoped that not a lot of kids would come in. It was a false hope, he knew. But he still hoped.

“Mind if we sit here, Mate?”

It was that boy he had seen at Diagon Alley, the one with the glasses. He looked behind the bespectacled boy and, sure enough, the sandy blonde was right behind him.

“Er yeah, no problem”, Remus replied as he made room for them.

“What’s your name? Mine is James Fleamont Potter and I’m going to be the best chaser you’ll ever meet. This here’s Peter Pettigrew.”, James said.

“Remus Lupin.”

“Blimey! Do your parents not like you or something?”, James exclaimed.

“Do you like wizard chess, Remus?”, Peter finally asked.

“Is it different from normal chess?”, Remus asked as he fed Calico a Mars Bar.

“Are you muggle-born? Because Remus Lupin is a pretty wizard-sounding name to me. Although, there are names like, well, James Potter and that’s a plenty normal name, if you ask me.”, James rambled.

“You talk to much.”, Remus said.
Just as James was about to snap back and Peter was laughing, a boy came running in and quickly shut the door behind him, panting.

He screamed posh. From the perfect clothes that he clearly tried to rumple and dirty to look more worn (for some reason), to the shoes that shined so bright that could almost see his reflection, he looked far too rich to talk to Remus.

“Can I hide in here? I’m trying to loose my cousin. She’s obsessed with‘upholding the family honor’ and all that shit”, the Panting Boy said in a rushed tone.

“Only if you tell us you’re name and get rid of that horrid Slytherin pin”, James answered.

“Gladly, mate”, the boy answered as he practically ripped the pin off,”I’m Sirius. Sirius Black.”

The boys all said their names and scooted to let Sirius join them. Sirius, contrary to what Remus initially thought, was a normal boy. Well, as normal as you could be being born into the ‘Noble and most ancient house of black’. He had that long hair that Mum would never let him get in a million years.

“Is that your cat, Remus?”, Peter asked a few hours into the train ride while playing wizard chess (it wasn’t that different from normal chess) as James and Sirius were pigging out on some jelly beans. Calico had just crawled into Remus’ lap and seemed to have fallen asleep.

“Yeah, her names’ Calico. Knight to e 7. Checkmate!”

“How come you didn’t get an owl? They’re very useful.”

“I’ve had Calico since I was six. I named her. I wasn’t going to leave her in wales for a year at a time, that’s for sure.”

“My mum made me use my brother’s old owl. The thing’s old and nearly blind and doesn’t know where to go very well.”

“You’ve got an older brother?”

“Yeah, twin older brothers and a younger sister. My sister’s name is Penny and my brothers’ are Patrick and Paul. I got my owl from Paul. Do you have siblings?”

“I used to have a younger sister, but she died when i was 6. I don’t remember her much. She was only alive for like, a month.”

“Oh, I’m sorry”

And they played chess. Peter was very good at it, but so was Remus. Remus liked Peter, he decided. He wasn’t too loud or talkative but he wasn’t too quiet. He didn’t pry at anything and was quiet when Remus was quiet.

James and Sirius were asleep while Remus was reading and Peter was petting Calico when the prefect came in.

“Hey lads, get your robes on. We’re 30 minutes away from the castle.”

Once he left, Remus and Peter woke them up and they all awkwardly got changed in separate corners of the compartment. Remus was extra careful that the other boys didn’t see the scars.

“I think we’re close now”, Sirius said as the Scotland plains had turned into a mountainous area.

“Are you nervous? Cause I am. I’m really nervous. What if I’m in Hufflepuff?!”, Peter exclaimed as he started pacing around the compartment.

“What’s so bad about Hufflepuff?”, Remus asked

“Everything, mate!”, James said, laughing.

Peter and Sirius laughed along with him. But Remus couldn’t figure out why they were laughing. Sure, Hufflepuffs weren’t brave or smart or ambitious, but they were still kind and loyal and always helpful. Still, he laughed along.

“Look! I think we’re here!”, Sirius yelled, smashing his face into the window.

“Really?!”, Remus asked, joining them. He was really starting to become friends with them. I like them, he thought. But no, he promised his dad that he wouldn’t make friends. Friends led to them finding out and that led to him getting kicked out or leaving.

And besides, He thought to himself, I promised Dad.

And Remus Lupin didn’t break promises.