Chapter 2
1
The sun doesn’t compare to you darling.
“Imogen, it's time to go!” Remus yells from downstairs.
“I’m coming!” I yell back as I finally close up my trunk after laying on top of it. I run downstairs and grab a piece of toast Remus has prepared for me. He cuts up the piece of toast four ways and spreads marmalade in one triangle, jam in another, butter in the third, and lemon curd on the final fourth triangle. As I’m chewing up the butter triangle our aunt comes out of her office and rushes us to the car.
“Alright, let’s go” she says as she grabs the car keys off the kitchen counter on her way to the door. Remus and I both bolt to the car, trying to be the first one there. My hand hits the passenger door handle before he does, marking me the passenger princess of the day. I jump and cheer in his face as we walk back to the house to grab our trunks and bags.
“Wendy, come on darling, let’s go!” I call out to my orange cat, grabbing her when she comes down the stairs excitedly. Sometimes I think Wendy loves Hogwarts as much as I do, if not more. We get in the car and I automatically connect my phone to the car. I scroll through my phone before I stop on Heart of Mine by THE DRIVER ERA. The perfect song to wrap up the summer. My aunt drives us to King’s Cross. I can hear Remus bouncing his leg in the backseat of the car.
“So, any big plans for the year?” my aunt asks, looking Remus through the rearview mirror.
‘Not really. I’m sure this year will be the same as every year. The only difference this year is that I’ll be sleeping in the library. We’ve got OWLS this year”, says Remus. I can see on his face how nervous he is for these exams already and we haven’t even boarded the train, let alone started classes.“Remy, we haven’t even gotten to Hogwarts, chill!” I say looking back at him. “
Besides, we all know you’re gonna get all O's on your OWLS”. I say with a hint of jealousy.
“Everyone knows you're top of the class and will exceed in literally everything” I say as I turn around to look at him.
“Oh come on you're pretty good too, Gen. You’re gonna do great, I promise” says Remus with a proud smile in the backseat. I reply with a simple ‘thanks!’ knowing that if I try to argue or deny the conversation will go on for hours. No one’s quite as stubborn as a Lupin. We spend the rest of the car ride talking about our fifth year at Hogwarts goals and ambitions. My aunt thinks it’s very important to have goals at the beginning of every year. No one does New Year's resolutions and 12 grapes at midnight quite like her. Remus’ goals are all academic goals, to no one’s surprise, whereas mine are academic with a hint of romance.
“You don’t need a boyfriend right now, Gen. You’re 15 years old, dios mio!” says my aunt being the reasonable one out of the three.
“I don’t need one, Tia, but I sure as hell want one!” I say, sighing. My aunt rolls her eyes while Remus laughs in the backseat.
“Is there a boy that I don’t know about?”says my aunt. Though the question is about me she's asking Remus, looking at him from the rearview mirror as if Remus knows the answer.
“Not that I know of!” says Remus with a shrug. My aunt takes that as a valid and true answer. She wholeheartedly believes that because Remus and I are twins we share every secret, and while that’s true for the most part, this is the only secret that is just mine. Remus would kill me if he found out I had a crush on his best friend. Then again, Remus doesn't talk to me about girls or crushes so I figure he wants to keep some secrets for himself too. We pull into the King's Cross station, Remus goes and grabs a trolley for us since we (aka me) always overpack and can't carry it all ourselves.
Once we’re inside we rush to the platforms 9 and 10. My aunt likes to go with Remus since he’s always a bit more calm about going through the wall. Whereas I run straight into it with no fear or calamity. Once we’re on the other side, facing the beautiful crimson red Hogwarts Express train, you would think that we're first years. the way that Remus and I gape with our mouths wide open and a big smile on our faces as if it’s the first time we're seeing the train or the platform 9 and 3/4 sign.We give our trolley to the nice man who’s helping others load their stuff onto the train. Because I took so long to get ready this morning, we don't have a lot of time to say goodbye to our aunt before the train leaves. We do a quick hug and kiss on the cheek before Remus and I are running backwards and waving goodbye at the same time.
Remus and I walk down the hall trying to find our friends. Growing up, Remus and I never had the same friends. We hated sharing our friends, constantly feeling like one got them more than the other. But on that first day on the Hogwarts Express, we sat alone in the carriage when a boy with big brown eyes and round glasses walked in and asked if he could sit with us. He was accompanied by a quiet shy blonde boy who looked at the other boy like he was the sun. Remus was the first to nod and acknowledge them.
“I’m James, and this is Peter” says the brown haired boy with the glasses. Peter gives a short wave and an awkward smile plastered on his face, his cheeks a whole new shade of red I've never seen before.
“I’m Remus, and this is my twin sister, Imogen,” says Remus introducing us. I extended my hand to James who sat down next to me when Remus said they could join us. He looks at me with big deer eyes and shakes my hand, as if he’s never shaken an eleven-year-olds hand before. To this day, I still remember how when our hands shook it felt like it wasn’t the first time we’ve touched.
Not long after a boy with wavy black hair comes in and plops down next to Peter, completely out of breath and sullen-looking. “Sorry, do you mind?” he says as a means of introduction.James shakes his head and extends his hand to the black-haired boy, “James”.
“Sirius”.