Piano, Poncers, and Pubs?
Chapter 2 – Remus Lupin’s POV
Remus Lupin fought with tooth and nail to get into Balliol. Every single day since he was 14 had been dedicated to this very place. And now that he was standing in the door of his very own dorm, it all felt so…lackluster. Maybe it was moving in a day later than most of the other First Years – he’d informed one of the many Fellows at Balliol that his mum had needed his assistance for an extra day. It was true, she had. And yet, with this one slip up, he’d already separated himself from the other students. He tried to shake the feeling off, but it persevered. He furrowed his brow and pulled his sweater tighter.
He hadn’t brought much. When Tad died, him and Ma moved away. Quietly, like water running down windowpanes. The Lupin family seemed to slip through the cracks, and into the grass of backdrop Wales. With that came selling or donating everything that wasn’t essential. So, Remus did. He kept his books – Mam’s books – and his sweaters – which had been Tad’s – and a beaten up Go board. Beyond this little eccentricities and oddball collections, Remus sold it all.
Standing in his dorm, he regretted it slightly. Nothing to decorate his walls, besides a few pictures. He reckoned he could print out paintings, tape them to the wall. The thought made him embarrassed. No, he’d get a part-time job and he’d decorate his walls himself.
At the thought of decorating his walls, the lackluster feeling faded – thank God. Remus felt eager, and then a strange sense of relief. He’d done it. Six years later…he’d done it.
Before Tad had died, he’d sat his son day and told him “what was what.”
“You’re a smart boy, Remus. A very bright boy. No matter what you do with these,” he touched Remus’s hands. “I want you to do what your Taid said I couldn’t. Go so far from here, Remus. Get out and do not look back. You are not me.”
The next morning, Tad had shot himself in the backyard by the tulips.
Remus pinned the picture of Tad, Ma and himself at the traveling fair on his wall above the bed.
He left his dorm room, jiggling the doorknob after closing it to ensure it was locked. His long legs knocked over someone’s move-in box, and then another.
“Shite. Sorry!” he called behind him, hoping he didn’t break anything.
“S’aright!” someone called back.
Remus managed to get out of the dorm building, and wound up stood by the grass, staring at the spires all around him. Remus spotted black hair, nose deep in a book – a fresher sat under a tree looking focused. A good first friend, Remus thought to himself.
“Hi there, I’m Remus.” he said, outstretching his less-scarred hand.
“And I’m busy, so shove off and find someone else to talk to.” The voice was nasal, and evidently trying to sound rich. But Remus grew up around slummers, and knew one when he heard one. The face didn’t appear from behind Hegel’s Theories.
Remus straightened himself back up.
“Er, right. Enjoy Hegel.”
What an actual git. Remus hurried past the trees, spotting numerous more kids alike to that one. All dressed in black turtlenecks, noses in books of varying German philosophers. He knew bigots when he saw them, and that lad was well on his way. Moseying about the rooms under the dining hall, Remus heard piano to his left. He turned to follow it, going through what looked like an old kitchen, a laundry room, and then…
A broom closet. Okay. He turned around and saw there was another door hiding from him, and he opened it. It was another storage-y room, a bit bigger than the last, with a shitty upright piano against the far wall.
There sat a girl, with long red hair, and a green jumper on, head bent down and fixated on the keys in front of her. The music was…not amazing. It sounded like Debussy, but truthfully it left something to be desired. But it was charmingly naïve – it was played with the pure desire to play. Remus stood there in the doorway listening to her hit wrong notes and mutter curse words, start from the beginning, and repeat the process. His stomach growled, and he was reminded that it’s lunch and he hasn’t eaten anything at all. Carefully, he turned around only for a long limb to knock a broom. It careened into the floor and the girl playing piano leapt out of her skin.
“FUCK’s sake. Fuck’s sake. I am so sorry, I did not mean to frighten you. Seriously. I was actually just – I heard your playing! And it was really pretty, and I just … I was looking for the sound and I got lost down here, and I really just.”
Remus stopped talking when he noticed the redhead was making a strange wheezing sound. It turned out to be laughter and Remus was relieved that on his first day of uni and third year of practicing pacifism, he hadn’t killed an unarmed and alone girl.
“Holy shit. My name is Lily. You’re alright, mate. I’d heard there was some piano on campus, and I sincerely doubt they meant this one.” Lily gestured around the room, and Remus laughed.
“No, what are you talking about? This room is screaming England’s Oldest Uni, and you know it.”
Lily clapped her hands while she laughed. “Brilliant, you’re so right!” She stood up from the piano and walked over to him. “What’s your name?”
“Remus. Remus Lupin.” He gladly shook her hand
“Remus and Romulus! Do you have a brother?”
“Not, er, that I know of…?” Remus smiled awkwardly. The two kept chatting, and eventually found their way out of the near-catacombs of Balliol, riffing and joking about wolves, and piano, and whatever came their way. Having found sunlight at last, they walked across the grounds, careful not to trod on the grass. The Fellows had been veryclear about not ever standing on the grass.
Walking past the tree outside of Remus’s dorm, Lily went stock still.
“YOU. You there, hiding behind Hegel. Get out.” she pointed at a familiar greasy mop og black hair. Remus didn’t move.
“Not now, Evans. I am very busy.”
“Severus, I’m not asking…Come on! You can’t avoid your best friend forever, can you? I know I ran off at breakfast, but I wanted to find that piano.”
The black hair lowers its book, and peers out. Glasses covered in grease, and unfortunate acne scars appeared. Despite his awful look, the boy seemed to be peering down his nose at both of them. But Remus thought he saw a light twinkle when he saw Lily.
He stood up and gave her an embrace, and Remus thought there was a light blush on his sallow, milk-ish skin. Remus clears his throat, and Severus looks up at him.
“Oh, Lame-us.”
“It’s Remus.”
“I’m aware. I was making a joke.”
“Oh, ok.” Remus stared at Severus, and Severus stared back. The air was palpably weird.
“I was trying, so, well. I was trying to be funny, but sometimes people aren’t as smart as me so they don’t –“
“Well, yes, obviously you’re very smart. You’re going to Balliol.”
“Yes, so the likes of you wouldn’t really…Oh. You go here, too.”
Remus pursed his lips. “I’d best be off, Lily. It was an absolute pleasure to meet you.”
“Bye, Remus! Don’t get too lost!” Remus thought Lily reminded him of a little bird, so much energy, bright colors…A delightful critter flittering about. But there was a stark intelligence in her eyes, an edge to her tone that called to mind a hawk. He waved cheerily, and headed towards the Porters’ Lodge. He was looking for a pub.