A year closer to the end
Saturday 2nd October 1971
Birthdays. Remus had never been a fan of those. No one he knew had ever really celebrated them. Most he had ever gotten was a quick hug and a “Happy birthday” and then it was forgotten. So when he was woken up by James in the early morning of the second of October, 1971, what awaited him possibly surprised him more than it would the boy who would be on the receiving end later that day.
He was dragged down into the common room, half awake and half walking. The sun still hadn’t risen, it was just that early.
When he was finally able to wake up from the night's sleep, he found himself laying on one of the many couches that surrounded the fireplace of the common room. He heard voices he couldn’t quite fully grasp yet and this only left him staring at the fire cracking in front of him.
“Ah, Remus, you’re awake!” Oh. Now, that was strange. Why was Lily there? Remus had thought it must have been something only including his dormmates. But now there was suddenly Lily, smiling in Remus’ face.
Remus heard other voices and then he felt his feet being lifted up and then pushed softly from the couch. He yawned, slowly sitting up, wiping at his eyes that had begun to water while he’d slept. “Mornin’” He muttered, his head now falling down on Wes’s shoulder who was the only one accompanying him on the couch.
“Good morning, Sleeping Beauty.” Sirius called from behind them, resting his hands on the backrest of the couch, “Have a good sleep?”
“I’m sorry?” Remus said, “Yeh h’ve woken meh u’in teh ass crack ef f’cking dawn, so no. I’ve had anythin’ bu’ a g’rest.”
“Going to take that as a yes.” Sirius laughed after a small silence had taken over the room.
“Teh ‘ell.” Remus cursed, closing his eyes back up again.
“Oi, don’t fall back asleep, we have planning to get done,” James said from where he was sitting on the floor, throwing something to burn in the fire. Remus didn’t have the energy to even think what exactly it was.
“Plan waht?”
“Don’t tell me you forgot!” Sirius gasped far too dramatically, “It’s Pete and Jack’s birthday!”
Oh.
Oh.
“Birth…day?"
“Yeah, you know the celebration of the day you were born?”
“I know waht a birthday is!” Remus raised his head only to turn back and glare in Sirius’ direction. “Bu’ why do I have t’be ‘ere?”
"We’re having a party, Merlin, do I have to explain everything to you?” Despite the harsh words, Sirius was smiling so hard it looked like his face was about to tear.
Peter turned twelve on the second of October, 1971. He was the first birthday of the small social circle that he had created during the previous month. And because he was the first and because he had had the grave misfortune (or fortunate, however, you look at it) of becoming friends with James Potter and Sirius Black and Marlene Mckinnon and Wes Creevey and Mary Macdonald, that the “greatest party ever to be held in the Gryffindor Tower” was going to be that day.
Thinking back, Remus would have agreed. But then, in October of 1971, he did not. He thought it to be too much, too loud, too early. He found it annoying and tiresome, been forced to join the others in decorating the common room.
Never in his life did he admit it, but he liked it; starting to be a part of something instead of only the background character he was used to being. That day was the first time that Remus actually looked at the people around him and thought ’I like it here.’
It took hours until the common room looked the way James —who had named himself the main planner— liked it. The Gryffindor tapestries had been charmed to read “Happy Birthday, Peter!” for the day, there were vines growing down from the ceiling, and the portrait hole was being held open to allow coming and going Hufflepuffs to enter without the need of the password. In the middle of the room, where the chairs and couches had been removed and pushed to the sides, sat a table half the size of the tables in the great hall. It was filled with food, sweets included, that Remus had gone to pick up from the kitchen with Wes and Mary.
Hours passed, literally, that’s just how early they had all gotten down there until anyone outside the party-initiating group made it down. And Peter was the same as Remus in the manner that he was anything but a morning person. If he was allowed, Remus was sure he would sleep multiple days in a row.
After Remus had gotten at least another hour of sleep while on one of the couches pushed into the corner, away from most of the others, he was woken up by a Hufflepuff. He may have seen him before in class but he couldn’t be certain, he was never one to approach people first to go and start conversations.
“Hi, sorry.” Why was Remus being woken up by an apology? “Sorry, I was uhm- told to wake you?” The Hufflepuff looked around but after gathering he had no one to turn to take this problem from his hands, he continued, “By a Gryffindor? Big birthmark and glasses?” Everything he said sounded more like a question than anything.
“Thank yeh,” Remus yawned, sitting up and stretching out his arms.
The Hufflepuff smiled sweetly and then with a call from the crowd of Hufflepufss of something like “Dear born?” he was again apologetically leaving towards the sound of the voice. Remus had never met a person with so many apologies to give.
Apparently, Remus had been woken up because it had been long enough (according to who? Remus couldn’t say) and James had decided it is time to go and wake Peter and that’s what he did —Well not before he gathered the rest of room 14 to stand by the stairs to be the first faces the poor unsuspecting now twelve-year-old Peter would see.
And so now Remus was yawning but this time standing up while staring up the steep steps that led into the boys' dormitories.
Wes was there, trying to tell him that he would be allowed to sleep as long as he wanted the next day but because that was the day before the full moon, Remus knew he wouldn’t be getting much sleep. And since he couldn’t say that, he decided to just nod and hope he could go and sleep early.
It took less time than expected to seemingly get Peter both out of bed and changed which he every other day took unnecessarily long. James was the first to be seen at the top of the stairs with his normal smug smile, Peter came behind him, rubbing at his half-open eyes.
He didn’t seem to have any idea what was going on as he just silently and obediently followed James down the stairs and then smiled tiredly at the sight of his other roommates.
It was all a blur to Remus the following hours. Maybe it was because of the stress of the people, though with the amount of house parties he’d gotten used to he doubted that. Maybe he was just feeling weird because of the full moon, he’d decided. That was all. Nothing more, nothing less, just what he’d felt for years.
There were pieces Remus could remember. Like wishing Jack and Peter a happy birthday, feeling bad about not buying them presents when he saw their happiness at the gifts they received from someone every hour, some sixth and seventh years goofing off while drinking and smoking in the corners of the common room. He remembered the first time he heard the song.
It had been a gift from Sirius. A vinyl and record player, the definite muggle kind, only causing Remus to wonder how Sirius could have gotten his hands on them but not having the courage to ask. Lily had somehow been wrapped up with them, teaching them how to work it.
And then it started to play. And Wes was dragging Remus to join the others.
A long long time ago… I can still remember how that music used to make me smile…
He wasn’t used to that, being invited to join in on something. Maddy never said anything and let him do his own thing so he’d never even tried… whatever this was. But he didn’t exactly hate it.
Singin’, “This’ll be the day that I die… This’ll be the day that I die…
That day was one to dream of, maybe the only one in a long while where these eleven-year-olds could put the stress behind them and continue looking forward. But it’s known, Happiness never lasts for long.