Fate or Coincidence
Remus and his mother were sitting alone in Kings Cross station. After showing them how to get in, Lyall had disappeared, insisting that there was a problem at the Ministry that he needed to help with. It was an obvious lie but Hope let it slide, she wanted to spend as much time as she could with Remus before he went away and she didn't want it interrupted by Lyall's complaining. Remus sat silently beside her, staring at his feet that were swinging from the bench. They had arrived incredibly early because of Hope worrying that they wouldn't get there on time. Now, the pair of them were sitting at the station with no train or people in sight.
"What time is it now?" Remus asked. They had been sitting for almost fifteen minutes, and the breeze from the tunnel at the end of the station was starting to turn his hands blue.
"Almost half past ten." Hope said, looking at her watch. Both of their heads whipped around as the sound of someone coming through the barrier reached them. Slowly, the station began to fill with students and their families, looking excitedly around. Remus briefly saw a family who all had flaming red hair, they were also the source of the wailing child in the mother's arms. There were no young children around them, just an older boy, who looked to be in his final year, based on his head boy badge.
Remus' attention was brought away from the red haired family as another group came through the barrier. Their heads were held high, their black hair bouncing as they swept onto the platform. The only ones who were distinguishable from the rest were the two with platinum blonde hair. The boy with blonde hair seemed to be the same age as the red haired teen, and when he saw the freckle faced boy he scowled. The girl clung to his arm but was speaking to a girl with unruly black locks. She laughed at something the blonde said, and something about the way she threw her head back, unnerved Remus. The rest of the family had raven black hair, like the girl and they all held themselves as the others did, with an air of regalness. Something about the way they strode through the station told Remus that it was best to avoid them. He was scanning their faces, trying to commit them to memory so he could stay away, when he caught sight of a boy who was about his age.
He held himself the same way as the others, but Remus could tell it was more out of instinct than trying to intimidate people. The way his dark eyes reflected the sunlight told multitudes to Remus. It told him that he wasn't like the rest, his face wasn't pointed and stern like the rest, instead it was soft and warm and friendly. The boy looked around the station in awe, in doing so he caught Remus staring at him. Instead of looking away, like most would, Remus just stayed watching the boy. He smiled at Remus, his enticing smirk making Remus smile back at him. They were pulled away from each other when the rumbling sound of the train reached their ears. Remus watched as the scarlet steam engine entered the station and let out a screeching noise as it stopped in front of the waiting passengers. When Remus looked back, the boy had gone, swept up in the crowd.
"Come on, honey, let's get you a seat." Hope grabbed Remus' hand, leading him to the train. She helped him lift his trunk across the small gap. After a lot of grunting and shoving they were finally able to get it up the small step. If it were anyone else they wouldn’t have been able to get it up. Looking around the station, Remus saw that it was almost three to a trunk, even more with the older students who had accumulated more belongings over the years. Ever since that night all those years ago, Remus had exhibited a sort of super-human strength that nobody his age had. He had once shown his father that he alone could lift a heavy box of tools that the older man had been struggling with. Lyall wasn’t as proud as Remus had hoped, in fact, he wasn’t proud at all. Remus didn’t discover what the tools were actually for until he saw his father in the garden, functioning some kind of bunker. It was a place that Remus was very familiar with now.
“Right, then.” Hope sighed, wiping the sweat off her forehead with the back of her sleeve. “Be good. Don’t get into trouble.”
“Yes, Mum.” She was trying to list off the things that a normal mother would say, but none of these things applied to Remus. He was a quiet boy who rarely spoke out, never mind getting into trouble. In fact she wouldn’t be surprised if he landed in detention for his lack of participation.
“Work hard. And remember, you can always go to Professor Dumbledore if something is troubling you. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.” Remus looked into her pleading eyes. She was so desperate for this to work, for him to finally be allowed out in the world that he found himself smiling at her. “Most importantly, have fun.” She grasped his head and brought it forward onto her lips. She kissed his forehead gently before releasing him. This was their goodbye, Remus realised. He turned slowly and walked down the train, looking for the first empty compartment, wondering when he would next see his mother.
Hope watched with a nervous glint in her eye. This had to go well, for Remus’ sake. It had to go well. Once she saw he had found a compartment she waved to him though the window, trying to hide how scared she really was. She failed, but Remus decided to indulge her and waved back slowly. Not wanting to stick around with all these unfamiliar faces, Hope turned reluctantly away from the train and sidled slowly back towards the exit of Platform 9 ¾. Remus watched her go until her green raincoat vanished out of sight. He leant his head against the cool glass window and hoped that nobody would come in here and disturb him. He knew that wouldn’t be the case with all the students that were currently on the platform, and with the many more to come. He knew he would be disturbed eventually but until then he relished in the fact that he was alone. As it was always destined to be.
…
Sirius had watched the interaction between Remus and his mother with a keen interest. He had never really seen how other people treated their family for he had been surrounded by Blacks his whole life. Now that he had noticed it in one boy, he saw it happening throughout the station. Parents were wishing their children luck with the year ahead, warning them not to get into any trouble or there would be consequences. He wondered silently what those consequences were and whether they were different as well. He had been so busy with watching the families throughout the station that he hadn’t realised that his family had finally stopped in front of the steam engine, making him slam into Bellatix’s back. She turned and glared at him furiously, before turning back to Narcissa to continue her conversation, as if he were nothing but a minor inconvenience.
He had also noticed that the people around them had cleared a path for them as they walked, meaning they weren’t swept up in the crowd or delayed in reaching the train. Usually Sirius would have been proud, he would have held his head sky high and taken the compliment proudly, just as his parents did. But there was something in the way they had backed away that made Sirius feel uneasy about the whole thing. As if they were backing away in fear, not admiration.
Walburga looked up and down the train at all of the families struggling to lift their trunks onto the train and tutted. The rest of the family laughed, Sirius did not. He was at the back of the large party so nobody noticed his confused face or lack of laughter. He couldn’t think why they were laughing at those people, he thought it wholly unnecessary for he couldn’t think of another way to get them onto the train. He soon discovered why Walburga had laughed, for she took out her wand and waved it at the trunks. They lifted up into the air and deposited themselves onto the train. The family laughed again, even Regulus, but Sirius thought it was just because he wanted to be involved. Sirius didn’t laugh, he still found it unnecessary for his mother to point out the mistakes of others. He would have only done that to someone he disliked, and he found it very unlikely that his mother held contempt for all of these people.
Lucius and Narcissa strolled onto the train, quickly followed by Bellatrix. He followed on afterwards. There was no goodbye, there were no warnings for good behaviour, there certainly was no wishing of good luck. It was exactly how Sirius had suspected and yet he found himself disappointed. The only form of goodbye was with Regulus. He gave his brother a sad smile, which Regulus returned. He didn’t want to leave his brother but he saw no other option. He had to go to Hogwarts. It wouldn’t be long before he saw him again and he kept that in mind as his parents turned away, dragging Regulus with them as they left Platform 9 ¾. He waited till he was sure they could no longer see him and he rushed away from his cousins. None of them objected, he wasn’t sure if they even noticed. They turned in the opposite direction, still talking and searched for a compartment.
He strode down the train, looking in every compartment he passed. Some were empty, some had only a few students within them, pushing their trunks onto the luggage compartments above their head. He carried on, past the empty compartments in search of the boy who had smiled at him on the platform. In that moment he had already felt a connection to the other boy, and he felt that he was the best option to spend the rest of the journey with. At last he found the compartment. It was empty apart from one boy who was watching the people rushing about on the platform, leaning against the window. He slid the door open, startling the boy from his people watching.
“Wotcha.” He greeted, letting the door slide shut behind him. He placed himself down on the seat opposite the boy, leaning back as if he owned the place. He looked at his fellow passenger and saw that he was watching Sirius carefully. His people watching was not over, it had just been diverted to him. “Don’t mind if I sit here, do you?” He asked. The boy’s unwavering stare was starting to unnerve him a bit. He didn’t think the other boy even blinked. He said nothing. “What’s your name?” Still nothing. “Do you speak?” He asked, cheekily. He was hoping that would get a rise out of him but he still said nothing and just knitted his eyebrows together. That was something, Sirius thought. “Well, I’m Sirius. Sirius Black.” He held out his hand for the other boy to shake. He seemed to assess Sirius one more time before replying.
“Remus.” He introduced. He didn’t shake Sirius’ hand, in fact his hands seemed to retract into his baggy jumper more, if that were possible.
“Okay.” Sirius said, dragging out the last syllable as he too retracted his hand. He put it on the seat behind him trying to play it off as if he was completely relaxed, even though he had to resist the urge to squirm under Remus’ gaze. He inspected Remus more closely, he hadn’t got a good look at him in the station and he had been too busy trying to strike up a conversation to notice anything about his features. His light brown hair almost went over his eyes and his thin mouth was pasted into a permanent neutral expression. All of his clothes were baggy and they had a few rips in them, especially his trousers. Poor. That was the first impression Sirius got from him. Although his parents held themselves above others, especially muggles, they had a strange tolerance for the poor. He remembered them speaking of one family, the Prince family. Before Eileen Prince had run off to marry a muggle, they had held the Prince family in quite a high regard, despite their poverty, but after that they never spoke of them again. Just like Andromeda.
Remus wore his jumper high on his neck, but as he fiddled with the edges of his sleeves it fell down slightly. Before Remus snatched it up again, Sirius spotted a number of pale white scars and as he put his jumper right again, Sirius saw similar scars on his hands as well. Maybe the impression he had got on the platform had been wrong. But it genuinely seemed like Remus’ mother cared for him. Maybe it was the father, he thought. Orion Black was the culprit for the scars on Sirius’ back. It was one of the only things that he believed the muggle way was best. Walburga was still determined to use the wizard way. He noticed that Remus squirmed under his gaze. Yeah, that’s how it feels, he thought, but he eventually took pity on the boy, after he had soaked in every single one of Remus’ features, and looked out onto the station.
Remus looked up again, sensing that Sirius had looked away, but Sirius was watching him out of the corner of his eye. He inspected Sirius for a little while longer (again, Sirius resisted the urge to squirm), before he picked up the book that was sitting in the seat next to him, Sirius hadn’t even noticed it. He glanced at him one more time, but Remus took no notice. Instead he opened up his book and began to read.
…
James and Peter almost missed the train. It was mainly Peter’s fault. James had made the fatal mistake, a few days before, of promising to wait for Pete on the platform. He had not taken into consideration that Peter was a lazy fat lump and probably wouldn't get there on time. His parents had tried to convince him many times to get on the train, but he refused. He hated himself for it but something within him stopped him from breaking a promise, no matter how much he wanted to. As the clock neared 11 o’clock he began to get worried. His trunk was already waiting for him on the train. It was placed in the doorway and many people tripped over it as they stepped onto the train. Fleamont went to apologise to them but James stepped on his foot. He didn’t need to be known as that annoying first year who wouldn’t get on the train.
With three minutes to go, James finally spotted Peter, followed by the rest of his family, come rushing onto the platform. He pushed through the crowd, earning a great many complaints. It seemed to take an age for him to reach James, but eventually James had a clear view of Peter’s red, blotchy, sweaty face.
“Sorry, I’m late!” He shouted over the restless crowd.
“Never mind that.” James said,seeing that they only had two minutes remaining to get on the train. “Get on!” James jumped the small gap and helped Peter pull his trunk onto the train. “What have you got in here?!” He asked as he blew out a breath, trying to tug the trunk towards him. He took another glance at the clock. One minute. It took the combined efforts of Leonard and Fleamont to finally get the trunk on, by that time the train had let out a whistle and it was slowly starting to move down the platform. Fleamont pushed the door closed and Peter and James stuck their heads out of the window to wave at their parents.
“Work hard!” Euphemia called out as Enid shouted,
“Be good!”
“And don't get into…” Euphemia trailed off as the boys got out of hearing distance. She saw James’ head vanish behind the train door. Peter’s head was still stuck out of the window but he was abruptly tugged back into the train by James before his head got chopped off. “..trouble.” She sighed. She shared a glance at Fleamont and could see that he was thinking the same thing as her. Even if he had heard her warning, it wouldn’t have mattered. She felt as if she needed to warn the rest of the train. Look out everyone, James Potter’s on his way.
…
“Thanks.” Peter muttered as he rose from the floor, massaging his bottom. He had tugged Peter too hard when he had saved him from his beheading and it had sent them both tumbling to the floor. Luckily for Peter, he had James to cushion his fall. James groaned on the floor and Peter looked around at him, quickly offering his hand.
“I’m never waiting for you ever again.” James said, as he took Peter’s hand. Eventually, Peter was able to lift him off the ground. James grasped his trunk and set off down the train, looking for a compartment where they might be welcome.
“Sorry.” Peter mumbled.
“It’s fine.” James said, he was terrible at holding a grudge, especially with his friend. Peter brightened up at James’ response and set off into a ramble about what had happened that morning to cause his lateness. James wasn’t paying attention to most of it, but he picked up that Holly had once again sent her breakfast to the floor, and flew into a screaming fit when they tried to leave without giving her a full breakfast. They finally reached a compartment that wasn’t practically bursting at the seams with all the people it housed. There were only two boys in this compartment and James could tell that they had avoided this compartment because the people inside were clearly First Years. “Come on.” He said and slid the door open.
The boy with dark hair, and equally dark eyes turned to them as they entered, the other boy simply glanced up from his book before returning to his reading.
“You don’t mind if we sit, do you? It’s just that, everywhere else is full.” James said, directing the question at the dark-haired boy as the other boy still hadn’t looked up at them.
“No, no. I don’t mind at all. Mi casa es su casa.” He motioned his hands for them to come in. After the long process of heaving their trunks onto the luggage compartments they sat down, James sat next to the friendly boy and Peter, seeing there was still room next to James, squeezed in, not wanting to sit next to the mysterious stranger. “I’m Sirius Black.” he held his hand out to James, who shook it immediately. “This is Remus.” He nodded his head to the other boy, who glanced up at the mention of his name, before ignoring them once again.
“James Potter.” He introduced.
“Peter Pettigrew.” Peter introduced. Sirius smiled at him, but didn’t shake his hand, they were sitting too far away from each other. James leaned over to shake Remus’ hand. Remus looked at him warily.
“Yeah, he doesn’t shake hands.” Sirius said, smirking. James nodded awkwardly and took his hand away, returning to his seat. “Or speak.” He muttered, making Peter snort. Remus obviously heard him as he looked at Sirius over the top of his book. It was obvious he was more comfortable with Sirius than with these new people, after all Sirius had been able to get his name. Sirius raised his hands in defence. “But some people prefer silence. Very few, but some.” Remus rolled his eyes at him before returning to his books. Sirius smirked in triumph; it was obvious that he had been trying to strike up a conversation for a while and this was one of the only reactions he had got from the boy. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both.” He said, turning back to them both.
“You too.” James smiled his toothiest grin. After a few moments of silence Sirius decided that he couldn’t bear it anymore.
“What house do you reckon you’ll be in?” He asked.
“Hufflepuff.” Peter said, dejectedly.
“Peter, what have I told you about bashing Hufflepuff?” James scolded.
“You two know each other, then?” Sirius asked. He glanced at Remus again, realising that they weren’t all in the same boat and he and Remus were the outsiders. His eyes hadn’t moved from the page, but Sirius was sure he was listening as his eyes weren’t trailing the words as they had done before.
“Yeah, we’re neighbours.” Peter explained.
“Oh, cool.” Sirius had never spoken to his neighbours, he wasn’t entirely sure that they even existed.
“I hope I’m in Gryffindor.” James said, returning to the subject, seeing that Sirius was growing uncomfortable. “What about you?”
“I’ll probably be in Slytherin. It’s been my family’s house for 500 years.”
“Who knows, maybe you’ll be the one to break the tradition.” James said, sensing that the black-haired boy wasn’t content with his answer. “Trust me, you’ll never get anywhere by being like everyone else.” Sirius smiled, already feeling a strong friendship forming between the two.
“What about you?” Peter asked Remus. He glanced up from his book to stare at Peter, making him swallow nervously. Sirius had to hold back a chuckle at the way Peter was squirming but, after a moment, he decided to save Peter from Remus’ intimidation.
“You strike me as a Ravenclaw.” Remus’ eyebrows knitted together again. Sirius couldn’t see the rest of his face so he just assumed he was frowning. “Don’t worry, that’s good. It means you’re really smart.” Remus once again returned to his book. Sirius couldn’t see that he had been looking at him with a confused expression, not a frown, but his question got answered anyway. With a lull in the conversation again, James decided to direct his question to the one person who hadn’t spoken, hoping to learn more about Remus.
“What are you reading?” Remus didn’t answer him, he just held up his book so they could see the cover.
“A Beginner’s Guide to Transfiguration.” Sirius read out as he had the clearest view of it.
“What’s that about?” Peter asked. Remus, James and Sirius turned to him simultaneously with incredulous looks on their faces. It took a few moments for Peter to realise his mistake. “Oh, transfiguration. Right.” His face flushed a deep shade of red as the group’s eyes didn’t leave him. Surprisingly, Remus was the first to laugh. They all turned to him, not believing what they were seeing. It was obvious that he was trying, and failing, to hold in his laughter. James was the next to laugh, followed by Sirius and finally Peter. They sat laughing together for quite some time and after that moment all of the tension was broken. They chatted together like old friends, talking about a great many things. They talked about Hogwarts and the hopes they had for that year. They talked about how James and Peter had almost missed the train. At one point Peter had brought out chocolate frogs and Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans. They were munching on them while talking about quidditch. James and Sirius were explaining the rules to Remus, who said his dad didn’t enjoy it so he didn’t really know what it was. James was in disbelief but explained it anyway. Peter also benefited from this explanation because, despite all of James’ ramblings over the years, he had never quite understood quidditch, and even now he believed he never would.
James was in the midst of explaining a terrific goal he had once scored, when the door slid open again and a greasy-haired boy entered the compartment. His dark hair fell in front of his face in curtains, making his only noticeable feature his large nose which, Sirius noted, also seemed to look greasy.
“Sorry, everywhere else is full.” He said. He wasn’t asking for their permission to enter the compartment, he was just giving an excuse. They all stared at him silently. Remus, who had let his book sit in his lap for a while, started to fiddle with the spine, unnerved by yet another stranger. He went and sat next to Remus, who backed away from him as subtly as he could.
“Where have you been for the past hour?” James asked, trying to break the renewed tension.
“In the corridor.” The boy said coldly. Sirius saw that it was obvious he didn’t want to talk, but Remus had a warmth and shyness that made his silence easier to sit in. Remus’ silence was peaceful and calm, whereas this new boy’s silence made everyone feel like they were being harshly assessed.
“For an hour?” James asked, trying his best. The boy nodded, before he stared down at his lap avoiding any contact with them. James took one glance at Sirius and saw that they both agreed that it was best to leave him alone. “So, anyway… My dad was Keeper and I was trying to score so I went to throw the quaffle at the left hoop, but I curved my arm just right, so while he was diving it flew straight through the middle hoop.” He told them.
“That’s amazing.” Sirius said, but with less conviction than he would have if they hadn’t been interrupted.
“How do you two know each other?” Remus asked. This was the first time he had probed for conversation and they were all so grateful that they didn’t say anything about it.
“Oh, we live in a mainly muggle village so we’re the only magic kids for miles.” Peter explained. He really didn’t want to speak in front of this stranger but James had just done most of the talking so he felt it was his duty. James looked at him gratefully.
“Oh, my parents would love to live there.” Sirius said with sarcasm evident in his voice.
“Why?” James asked, not needing to elaborate any further. Remus leaned forward in his seat slightly, wanting to know what other wizards' opinions on muggles were.
“They think all muggles are worthless, and they’re made to be our servants.”
“That’s complete rubbish!” James exclaimed.
“Is it?” The stranger asked, making Remus and Peter jump. If Remus could have shrunk back in his seat further, he would have. James seemed outraged at this stranger's view and he burst with an explanation.
“Yes! We’re all humans! Just because we’re wizards doesn’t mean we’re any better than them. We have an advantage but that doesn’t mean that they were born to serve us, it just means that we’ll have to help them grow. We’re no better than them.” The compartment was quiet for a while. Sirius contemplated what James had said and he was immediately taken with the view, determined to live by it for the rest of his days. He looked at James with nothing but admiration in his eyes. This boy sat beside him was not only his newfound friend but his hero as well. He would be so proud if he grew to be even half the man James already was. The stranger did not seem to share his view as he scoffed. The stranger never once looked at any of them, and they all silently decided to go on as if he weren’t there.
“My mum’s a muggle.” Remus said quietly. He wasn’t sure if any of them had heard because they didn’t acknowledge him, but he noticed the stranger shrink away from him a little, as if he would catch some sort of disease from him. It only served to remind him of what he was, and he realised he was already growing too close to these boys. His father had warned him not to make connections, he could only cause them harm. For the rest of the journey Remus withdrew back into himself. It didn’t bother the others as it had before, now that they had seen his true side. They assumed it was just because of the stranger, and once he was gone he would return to how he was before. They were wrong.
As the train was nearing the end of its journey, the door slid open once more and a young girl came into the compartment. She had long red hair that flowed neatly down her back, and bright green eyes that seemed to stare into all of their souls. There was a kindness inside them that put them all at ease. She scanned the compartment before she found what she was looking for.
“Ah, Severus. I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” The boy finally looked up from his lap and looked at the girl. His whole demeanour changed and he was suddenly soft and shy, like Remus. This didn’t change the other’s distaste for him, for he had made them uncomfortable throughout their whole journey and his sudden change was scary. If anything, it only made things worse. Severus said nothing, he let the girl lead him from the compartment. The girl smiled at each of them, silently thanking them for taking care of him. He said no goodbye, he just left without another word.
The rest of the journey continued as it had before. They spoke of trivial things, just wanting to get to know each other. They sent worried glances at Remus every once in a while, for he was more subdued than he was before. Sirius knew that their journey was coming to an end, and he didn’t know if he was ready for it. If they were correct and they did get sorted into different houses, that would mean they would see little of each other. But for the moment, they were happy. They were free and it was as if the rest of the world could not touch them.
In the years to come James would often wonder whether it was coincidence or fate that brought them together that day. When he would raise this subject with his friends, Remus would take the logical route, claiming it to be a happy coincidence. Sirius, who had always wanted to believe there was a greater power in the universe, decided it was fate that brought them all together that day. James would laugh, watching his two best friends argue like an old married couple, until finally one of them relented, probably Remus, even though he still thought he was right.