first year - an attack on the toes
Remus woke up in the morning to a letter. Finally! He had written to his parents around 2 weeks ago now and so this reply from his mum was long over due
Hello Remus my love
I’m glad Hogwarts is treating you well so far, I hope you’re doing something other than reading in your spare time? Try and enjoy the magical atmosphere at least, it’s not everyday you get to go to bloody magic school. Frankly I’m jealous, moving staircases, floating candles and plates that refill certainly weren’t features of my secondary school! I bet the castle itself is well posh too, I’m envisioning the complete opposite of that primary school you went to for a couple months. Now that was a joke of a school, I remember I had to pick you up one day because the ceiling had almost collapsed on some poor year 2’s, I think that was probably the day your dad decided it was better to homeschool you instead.
Things over here are pretty much the same as they’ve always been the only big change being that you're no longer here to help with the washing up! Seriously though, the plates are really starting to make a mini mountain in my kitchen
We've both missed you alot and the house is starting to feel quite empty without you which means we really can't wait until Christmas to see you! It’s a while away I know but I’m already planning out all the celebrations and maybe I can meet the boys you wrote about? James, Sirius and Peter? Your brief description were just that, brief, but I’m sure they are lovely people and Remus I know your dad keeps telling you to listen to him but right now I'm telling you that you shouldn't, even when I'm probably meant to be encouraging you. Well now, I’m discouraging you. Of course you have to keep yourself safe, that goes without question, we're running up the walls with worry, but Remus you shouldn't shut yourself away from the world - you're already out and about and I think maybe it's time for you to allow yourself to socialise - more so that me and Lyall should allow you to socialise. That is my honest opinion darling and I know it differs greatly from Lyall's but school isn’t just meant to be a place for learning, it’s a place for forming friendships and enjoying yourself too, so go and make friends because I know you are more than capable! The short-term friends you have had in your life have always said wonderful things about you. Your dorm mates sound lovely and I bloody well hope that they aren’t just your dorm mates. Go. Make friends. It’s ok, I promise, you just have to be careful ok?
Don't go jumping off roofs.
Look after yourself darling
Hope x
Remus didn’t know what to think. He had been at Hogwarts for just over three weeks, and he had spent the majority of his time being careful, just like his parents wanted him to be. This meant that at first he avoided the three other boys, however Remus hadn’t been able to get rid of them that easily and he found that they clung to him like chewing gum stuck to the back of his shoe. During this time he started realising that although they were mental like he had first thought on the Hogwarts Express, they were also not bad company. They were funny, and had his sense of humour and they obviously wanted Remus around. All week they had been planning and practicing the spells they needed for tonight's revenge on Snivellus and Remus had actually started to have some fun.
He was still unsure though, having friends could be wonderful but was it really in his safety’s best interest? Everyone's best interest? His mum had told him to go for it, and although Remus loved his mum, she didn’t get it, it wasn’t as simple for him as it was for her. He couldn’t just be friends with someone and that was that.
There were other things to think about, more important things in his life which would get a whole lot more complicated if he allowed himself to have friends.
After their revenge, he'd have to distance himself even more, complicated wasn't something Remus was sure he could handle.
But then he felt something tug down on him.
He looked at the letter again.
He inwardly sighed. Wasn't complicated something he had been dealing with his whole life?
But this was a whole other level of complicated, and at least before he had help from his parents managing that complicated, if he had friends he'd be completely exposing himself and he would be left struggling, no help at all.
He frowned, looking at the letter again.
The thing was though, Remus was capable of managing a complicated situation even if his dad never really seemed to think so. He was old enough now to take care of himself, if he was mature enough to go to school, then surely he was mature enough allow himself a little bit of lenience?
He couldn’t deny that he found some enjoyment in messing around with them, so maybe he’d try a little harder when they were all together and then maybe if Remus so allowed, maybe then they could be friends, for now they were all still on trial though. He wouldn't let his guard drop completely just because his mum had sent a single letter.
He still had to be careful, otherwise his life could fall apart.
No biggie.
Remus wrote a quick reply and posted it before heading to charms. It was one of the more enjoyable lessons of the lot and Remus wasn’t half bad at it either. Definitely not the best in the class, that was Lily Evans, the girl from the train.
"Today we are going to learn how to make things fly" Professor Flitwick squeaked
That got Remus' attention. He looked over at the other three boys next him to see what they thought. He couldn't help but smile to himself when he saw their eager faces and eyes twinkling with excitement. Even though they were still on trial, he found himself thinking that maybe having friends wouldn’t put him in that much danger. After all, all that was happening to him right now was him being happy that they were happy.
Anyway he couldn’t blame them Remus was pretty excited as well. Levitation sounded like a lot of fun and could be used for a great deal of things
"Now please get your wands out and copy what I'm going to do" Professor Flitwick took his own wand out "Ready? Ok, you will need to do a nice wrist movement like this" he demonstrated with his wand "Swish and flick, now you try."
The classroom was now full of first years waving their wands around like lunatics. Peter had done the 'swish' part with too much force and his wand went flying across the classroom almost taking out the eye of Ravenclaw Melissa Gyles on the other side of the room , James and Sirius had done a similar movement to Flitwick's once or twice, but they then got bored of doing it properly and started playing some sort of very weird mirroring game with the use of their wands instead. Remus didn’t even want to ask.
Remus had tried it a couple of times and thought he was ok at it. Once the whole class had gotten hang of the action, Flitwick stood up on his pile of books and quietened them down "Now we will learn the incantation. Repeat after me. Don't use your wands yet." he cleared his throat "Wingardium Leviosa"
The class chanted back "Wingardium Leviosa"
"Very good! Now you can start putting the two together"
The room filled with sounds of the spell being cast. Remus felt a little silly saying the words out loud, especially when nothing was happening.
"Well done Miss Evans! 10 points to Gryffindor" Remus looked over at Lily and saw that she had managed to float her feather quite quickly. He tried again expecting his feather to stay there. But to his surprise it started levitating. It was quite shaky and he really didn't feel very in control of it. He had a lot of energy and he was actually finding it hard to manage, to him it felt like the feather was one small flick of the wand away from smashing through the window next to him, he slowly brought it back down focusing on keeping the feather from going rogue.
"Well done Mr. Lupin!" The professor smiled at him. James also flashed him a grin and then levitated his own feather for the first time
"Mr. Potter. Very good!" By the end of the lesson they could all levitate their feathers, even Peter who had been struggling a bit had managed to do it.
After dinner, they went back up to their dorm to prepare. James whipped out his invisibility cloak, confirmed the plan with them all and told them to all budge up and get cozy.
Remus wasn’t sure how well they’d all fit, but he was pleasantly surprised as the cloak was bigger than he thought and all of them were just about able to squeeze under with even some room for movement.
It wasn’t much however and they struggled to keep as one unit as they made their way through the Portrait hole and down about twenty flights of stairs, before arriving at the dungeons.
Remus didn’t like being this close to the others, Sirius kept pushing right into him and it made him feel like his privacy was being severely violated.
He got what he deserved though.
"Hey! That was my foot" Sirius whispered
"I'm sorry that you keep placing your feet in the way of mine" James whispered back dryly.
"My feet have a right to be wherever they please, you’re the one that’s so keen on attacking my precious toes"
"I am not keen on attacking your toes"
"Yes you a- wait you didn't add the precious part. You don't think my toes are precious James?"
"Absolutely not weirdo."
"Excus-"
"Please for the love of God, both of you just shut up" Remus snapped. He did not have the patience right now and Sirius jostling around next to him, with the added arguing did not make him any less uncomfortable.
Anyway, they had to be quiet for the sake of the prank. They’d arrived at the entrance to the slytherin common room. They all stopped. They hadn’t actually discussed how they were going to get the password. That was stupid of them.
“Erm” Peter squeaked “Does anyone actually know how to get in?”
They all shook their heads
“Guess we’re waiting here for a bit then” James said directing them over to the wall so that they were a bit more out the way
Luckily they didn’t have to wait long as not even a minute later Bellatrix Lestrange came walking down the corridor. Remus felt Sirius stiffen beside him, Bellatrix was one of his cousins and apparently one of the nastier ones as well.
She was their key to the common room though, so they stuck close behind her making sure now more than ever that the cloak was covering them properly.
The Slytherin Common room was the complete opposite to Gryffindor tower. It had rough stone walls and ceiling from which round, greenish lamps were hanging on chains. A fire was crackling under an elaborately carved mantelpiece ahead of them, and everything felt significantly more cold and gloomy.
No wonder Slytherins always looked so miserable.
They started with the first phase of their plan. Peter was holding a small bag bulging with little blue pellets, those had been James’ creation and Sirius had named them bubble bombs - a more pleasant version of dungbombs. James had actually just manipulated a bunch of those so that instead of letting off a funny smell, it would explode in a fountain of multi-coloured bubbles. Sirius’ touch. Because in his words “The Slytherins look like they need a bit of cheerful colour in their lives” The pellets had been pretty weak on their own however so to get the effect Remus was imagining, he cast an enhancing charm that had taken him the whole week to learn.
They planted a decent amount of the bubble bombs in the common room. Obviously none of them had set off yet, Peter had been the one perfecting the timing charms so that they wouldn’t explode so early in the evening where there was sure to be lingering Slytherins around and about.
They then headed up to the dorms, planting their homemade bombs in each and every room. This had been the most stressful part because not all the Slytherins were sleeping, so it had been nerve-wracking trying to sneak into every room undetected. They had managed to do it though and had come across Snivellus too, the person at the very centre of their pranking genius.
And luckily for them, he was lying in bed sleeping. How did they know? His curtains were flung wide open and what was even better was that no one else was in the room so it had been incredibly easy.
Sirius had learnt the spell the best so he was the on who cast it
“Careful Guys, don’t get too close, his smell might be contagious” James warned jokingly
“At least this spell will sort it out in a jiff” Sirius grinned at him and swiftly cast the spell.
They had tested it the other day on Peter so they knew it worked for sure. It didn’t spring into effect at once because they had put a timer mechanism with it but hopefully by tomorrow Snape would be covered from head to toe in soap bubbles.
They unfortunately hadn’t been able to target the Girls’ dorms. They knew this because just the other day Marlene had asked Peter to go up to her room with her so that they could have a catch up, however poor Peter suffered the shock of his life went he had tried climbing up the stairs and all that had happened was that he had slid right back down to the very bottom. James and Sirius couldn’t stop laughing at him for a whole ten minutes after that.
They did however attempt chucking a few of their bubble pellets up there so at least the entrance to the Girls dorm would be affected.
Remus felt very proud of their work. A lot of research had gone into it, and all four of them had been equally involved. They had managed to do the hardest part now, and all they had to do was wait for chaos to erupt. He just really bloody hoped it had worked, otherwise all their work would’ve been for nothing, that whole thrilling adventure, put to waste.
They returned back, giggling hysterically, Remus couldn’t help but join in, the feeling of having done something like this was filling his entire body. Mischief might as well have been his middle name at that point.
All four of them then woke up the next morning eager to go down for breakfast. It was actually quite sad they didn’t get the witness the explosion of bubbles firsthand, they probably should’ve thought that part through a bit more to make it all the more glorious
And it was glorious.
“All the Slytherins are fuming” James whispered as they sat down at the breakfast table.
He was right. All of them were arguing with each other in such loud volumes that they could be heard all the way from the other side of the hall
“Blaming the women is idiotic Mulciber! Why would we want to attack our own house”
“Your dorms weren’t affected at all, you look the most suspicious”
“It wasn’t the girls!” the slytherin girl screeched
“Who was it then?”
“Probably the gryffindors, they’re always targeting us”
At this Frank who had been sat a few places down sipping tea had turned around and shouted back “You’re the ones targeting us first!”
At this point McGonagall had gone over to the Slytherin table to try and get them to lower their voices
James started buttering a slice of toast “I don’t know why they're all so mad, it’s only a few bubbles, easy to pop” he laughed, eyes twinkling
“Yeah but if the rest of the Slytherins are anything like my cousins then they’ll throw a hissy fit over any minor inconvenience” Sirius smirked, looking utterly delighted.
So was Remus, the main body of their prank had worked, all they had to figure out is how badly Snape had been affected.
“JAMES POTTER!” Lily Evans now entered the hall, hair flying in all directions.
“Yes Lily flower” James looked at her innocently
“What on earth did you to Severus?” she slammed a hand down next to James’ plate
Sirius snorted, trying to hold black laughter
She snapped her head toward him, furious “And don’t act like you weren’t involved Black”
“What ever do you mean Lily Flower?”
“He’s covered in bubbles and he thinks you’ve had something to do with it” she pointed directly James “Frankly, I think so too”
“Sounds to me like he’s finally decided to take a shower”
“Permanent bubbles, they won’t pop”
“Not my fault he’s got to buy a different shampoo” James shrugged
“I’m telling McGonagall you did something”
“I did nothing Lily flower”
“And never call me Lily flower again” she stared at him intently, and James surprisingly nodded obviously receiving the message.
She stormed off
“Aggressive that one” Sirius said looking at her as she exited the great hall
James replied “Aggressive? No. Passionate? absolutely” and Remus saw how James’ features seemed to soften slightly, almost like he was thinking deeply about something.
Suddenly he snapped out of it and grinned at them all with shining eyes
“Our first great success! Well done lads!”
And Peter cheered.
The rest of September and October passed by fairly quickly.
Sirius had really been enjoying his time at Hogwarts, and although he was a little worried no one in his family had said anything to him yet about the whole Gryffindor ordeal, he mostly ignored it because after all he was trying to bask in his new sense of freedom and he didn’t want anyone to ruin it with punishments and dissaprovement.
The lessons were easy, the teachers were annoying sometimes, and his friends were something else altogether.
James was his best friend, there was no doubt about that. Together they were an unstoppable force, slipping dungbombs into unsuspecting people’s bags and robe pockets, using funny jinxes on people in the hallway whenever they felt like it, cursing every Slytherin’s name because that was a true Gryffindor’s trademark, hating on Slytherins. They were all a bunch of blood purists, so it wasn’t like they didn’t deserve it. They complained about detention’s together, did their homework together, played exploding snap together. Two months into Hogwarts and they were practically joined at the hip.
James was lively, always had a twinkle in his eye, and he lived in an outward way that meant whenever he entered the room he made sure that people knew he was James Potter. It also meant that he was everywhere at once, at all times James Potter followed you around even if he wasn’t in the room. If he wasn’t in the bedroom than you’d see him in the form of his bed, sheets rumpled, clothes haphazardly thrown in every direction, his invisibility cloak hastily stowed away so that it was still draping out and over the edges of his trunk. If he wasn’t in the bathroom you’d see him through his two week old towel in a pile on the floor somewhere mixed with odd socks and the quidditch shirt he wore on weekends. Or if you’d just gone in there after James had had a shower you’d see him through the little smily face he always drew on the corner of the mirror. If he wasn’t in the gryffindor common room you’d see a quidditch magazine splayed out wide open because he’d left it there a while ago. See, he was everywhere.
Peter was often with them as well, and although he wasn’t into causing as much havoc as possible as much as him and James were, he was still up for a good time and was generally quite a nice person to be around - even if he was a bit annoyingly scatter brained at times. He was unfailingly generous and he always laughed at Sirius’ jokes even when they weren’t particularly that funny or no one else had laughed.
And then there was Remus. And he completed their little group perfectly. He was witty and his droll humour was often packed with sarcasm, he also turned out to be really clever and at times was probably more logical than James, Sirius and Peter put together. Unlike Peter though, he wasn’t always around, and there had been some really lengthy periods of time where Remus would just disappear for a day. He guessed it just added mystery to the boy that was Remus Lupin. None of them actually knew any personal information about him. Not that he was obligated to say anything of course, but it was very frustrating for Sirius sometimes. At first James had really tried to push him into talking however he stopped after Remus had snapped at him, out of no where, sometime at the beginning of October. The boy hadn’t been feeling well and James and Sirius were insisting on accompanying him to the hospital because they (well Sirius at least) thought he looked on the verge of fainting and didn’t want him collapsing in the middle of a corridor - the boy had outright refused and just ended up storming off.
After that they had laid off a bit, getting the message that he didn't want them to question it.
Out loud anyway.
Sirius questioned it in depth, and so did James, so if the topic was ever brought up when they were alone they'd question it together.
They were both concerned, the only difference was that James wanted to wait a little longer, plan out how they were going to ease Remus into it so by the end of this year they knew everything about him, where he went and what he did at all times. Sirius wanted to take immediate action, demand the answers out of him - why did Remus Lupin, their friend, have to keep such secrets? Sirius doubted that wherever he disappeared off to during the day (and although he'd said he'd been in the hospital wing, twice during the night too) was somewhere so twistedly dark and evil that he had to hide it from everyone.
James agreed with this point of view - not the immediate action part though.
Anyways, Sirius was currently in quite a lot of pain. They were late. Very late.
"I'm disappointed in ourselves" James panted as they ran down the corridor. Transfiguration had started almost half an hour ago. They had completely lost track of time arguing about making plans for Sirius' upcoming birthday. Even Remus had forgotten the fact that they were supposed to be in a lesson
"Of course you are" Sirius said, coming to a halt and clutching his side. "We're incredibly late"
"Not because of that" James yelled as he ran. Remus and Peter had also come to a stop and leaned against the pillar beside Sirius. "Hurry up!" he shouted, looking back over his shoulder.
"We're late anyway James" Sirius called out "I really don't want to run" he then looked over at Remus and Peter who both seemed to be struggling as well. Remus especially, he was looking worse for wear.
"Fine" James had stopped at the end of the corridor and patiently stood there while he waited for the three of them to walk up to him.
"Why are you disappointed in us James?" Peter made to sit down on a little ledge, but James pulled him away and set off towards their classroom - meaning the others felt an obligation to follow.
"Well I don't know if you noticed what with the feast going on and everything, yesterday was Halloween."
"Your point being what?" Peter asked
"We didn't do anything for Halloween" James said this like it was the most obvious thing in the world. When no one replied he continued "We didn't prank anyone" he gestured with his hands wildly.
"James, I don't know if you recall, but we did actually start planning a certain something bu-" Sirius started, but then got a bit annoyed when Peter interrupted
"Yeah and you ruined it by putting all of us except Remus in detention for a week for that stupid thing you did to the 5th floor bathroom"
That had been funny Sirius smirked. And fortunately for Remus he had avoided taking the blame even though he had been pretty heavily involved.
"Yeah yeah I know all that '' James waved a hand "Just, I don't think our previous plan was good enough. We need to go all out for Halloween. So what do I say to that lads? Well, after lessons today we'll start planning next year's Halloween. It will be the best thing anyone has ever seen." Sirius', Peter's and Remus' faces all lit up with excitement
"Sound's perfect. And an added bonus, you'll be too distracted to be planning anything for my birthday" Sirius reached out for the door handle of the Transfiguration room
"Mate..." James groaned walking into the classroom "how many times do I have to tell you that Birthday's are special occasions, to be celebrated with enthusiasm! "
Honestly Sirius didn’t know why James cared so much. In his opinion birthdays were dull and he had always felt a bit ripped off.
"And how many alarms should I set for you four to ensure you are not 36 minutes late to your lesson?" McGonagall appeared out of nowhere with a stern look on her face. Well not out of nowhere. They had just entered a transfiguration lesson "Or perhaps I should give you several pocket watches to carry around with you for the day."
"Sorry McGonagall" James started. Their teacher raised her eyebrow "Professor McGonagall" he hastily corrected.
"Yeah sorry Professor McGonagall" Remus mumbled along with Peter and Sirius.
"Five points from Gryffindor each, and of course detention for all of you. Mr. Potter, Black and Pettigrew you can serve them tomorrow and Mr. Lupin you can do yours in a week."
In a week? Why did Remus get special treatment?
Sirius thought back to their very first day at Hogwarts where McGonagall had pulled Remus aside for a meeting...
The mystery continues...
"I am also giving you extra homework to do since you were all incredibly late. You will have to write about the things you have missed so far in the lesson, see page twenty three in your books."
Detention he could deal with just fine. Homework... hmm. No. And homework was something he did have to do, because although the consequence was detention, he didn't want to be seen slacking in his studies, Sirius was smart and he needed to prove that.
He just didn't need the extra work.
"Detention and homework?!" Sirius exclaimed
"For your favourites Professor really?" James tested the boundaries with a small smirk
"Mr Potter I am a teacher I have no favourites" and Sirius thought he saw something in McGonagall's expression change. He wasn't quite sure what but it was something, and that meant everything.
And even if they weren't her favourites now, they would be. Sirius knew it.
"It wasn't like we were ten years late" Sirius matched James' small smirk, also trying to slip their way out of punishment
It didn't work.