A Pearl For Arrogance

First year - September

There was a loud ringing sound blaring from something across the room. As his eyes adjusted to the bright light streaming in and his legs untangled from the mess of sheets he had snuggled into, he realised the culprit to the ringing was James Potter’s alarm - as it had been the past three days. It was quickly turned off by a fully dressed prince, looking rather awake considering the time - that Remus now knew was 5 o’clock, having been subjected to James’ early morning ritual - and then he was out the door. James normally woke up with his alarm, got dressed into his activewear, went out  - for what Remus assumed was a run - then returned for a shower and got ready for school, before waking the rest of the dorm for breakfast.

He knew all of this because he could never fall back asleep, once his ears heard that blasted alarm he was awake and silently cursing Potter’s ‘early bird’ blood. Casting a glance to the bed next to him he could make out a lump hidden under the blanket, with a small tuft of blonde hair barely peeking out. Across from Peter, a body moving in the bed captured his attention. Sirius. His pale hand went to his hair and stilled against his bare neck before Remus heard an annoyed sigh in remembrance fall from Sirius’ lips. He had been doing that a lot and Remus couldn’t figure out why. Maybe he got a haircut. But then why would he be annoyed about it? 

Soon enough Sirius was asleep once again, deduced in the way his breathing had shallowed and his nose made funny noises. Remus allowed himself to huff out a quiet laugh before finding his book from the bedside table to his right. He was jealous of the way Peter could sleep through anything - like a rock - and the way Sirius could fall back asleep after being woken up. It wasn’t fair. But it did allow him some time to read his novel ‘ Nowhere Boy’ by Katherine Marsh. 

His mum had given it to him for his birthday but he hadn’t gotten around to reading it until this week. He found himself relating to the character Max in some ways, feeling disconnected from the world at Bloom College, always getting himself into trouble and now the unshakeable homesickness. The thought of being so far away at Hogwarts could never prepare him for the longing to fill the absence of his parents. This book was very different to the ones he had previously read. It had themes of racism and terrorism that gave Remus pause in most parts of the book. Oftentimes he would get lost thinking about the people Ahmed represented and what their lives must be like. It made him reflect upon the things he took for granted and the people in his life that cared for him. 

He took a few moments to collect his thoughts, deciding to set a new goal, to improve his happiness at Hogwarts. Today he would try to talk with the people surrounding him. Since so far the only person he could be himself around currently lived in a dorm somewhere downstairs. Maybe he could find friends in the group like El had. He was proud of her for making friends so quickly and a little envious about how easy she made it look. The endless thoughts were soon interrupted by James returning to the dorm with a careless bang as the door shut behind the sweat covered boy. He gave Remus a large smile and tossed up his hand in greeting, before making his way into the bathroom, picking up the uniform already laid out on the bed. Remus took this as his cue to get his own uniform ready for today.

Inside of the wardrobe Remus picked out one of his shirts, a pair of trousers, socks and his red jumper. He didn’t bother with a tie - if only to save himself the embarrassment of not knowing how to tie it. He changed quickly and made his way back to his bed, taking his phone off charge to send his mother a simple “good morning” text. Then opening Spotify, Remus went into a new collaborative playlist  James had called “Lads in 203” and clicked the first song, ‘Come On Eileen’ by Dexys Midnight Runners, which seemed to be the only song that - after a lot of experimenting - could wake Peter up in the mornings. 

As the first verse started to play from his phone Sirius let out a pitiful groan followed by a loud yawn. Stretching his arms above his head as he sat up, fixing Remus with a playful glare. He snorted softly, coughing quickly to cover it up and moved towards the end of his bed to pack his bag for the school day ahead. Collecting his textbooks after examining his timetable and water bottle. Soon after James threw open the bathroom door for his dramatic entrance, uniform clad, a billow of steam surrounding him as he burst into song.

“Come on Eileen, oh I swear what he means, at this moment, you mean everything.”

Sirius joined in excitedly and Remus laughed loudly, letting himself enjoy the unfurling fun of it all. Peter was soon coaxed out of his sleep by the pure chaos Remus had purposefully created. Swinging his legs over the side of the bed and making his way into the bathroom to brush his teeth, the boys carried on with their new daily routine.

“Good morning sleepy head!”

“Shove off Shiriush. You guysh voo thish every morning, ish geshing old.”

Peter’s words came out gurgled around the toothpaste foam that had been lathered across his teeth. The white bubbles dribbling out of the corners of his mouth and down his chin. Remus felt his face both cringe in disgust and amusement at the sight. Peter caught it and smiled and then opened his mouth to show off his work completely forgetting to lean his head back. Remus laughed louder then, as the foam splashed onto the bathroom tiles, but coughed once more to cover it up when he noticed the looks Sirius and James were sharing. He wasn’t used to this yet. The ‘friends’ thing. It was always just him and Eliana. But today is different. He reminded himself. I’m trying.

When Sirius and Peter were also dressed, packed and ready to go, the four boys left their dorm and headed down the stairs where they would wait in the first floor common room for the girls, as was decided by Eliana and Marlene on the Monday at lunch. They were all nervous about not getting a seat together at the table for lunch. So Eliana had suggested they all meet before going to dinner and Marlene had suggested the first floor common room. At first Sirius was disheartened about having to go downstairs to meet them. 

“Why can’t you come up to our common room?” 

But after Lily provided a strong point that the boys would have to go downstairs to leave the building anyway, Sirius was easily swayed. After a smooth sailing journey to dinner the group decided they would meet in the same spot before every meal time. 

Now the four boys were seated on one of the L shaped sofas against the back wall. Overly decorated with red, orange and yellow cushions. As they waited Peter somehow fell back asleep, James and Sirius talking to each other in hushed tones as Remus retrieved his book, to pick up where he had left off earlier. Just as he had made it to the last page of the chapter the girls plopped themselves down on the opposite sofa. Remus used the time it took them to wake up Peter to finish his last page. It was easier now than it had been in the dormitory to wake up the blonde boy as he was out for what could have only been fifteen minutes. 

“Come on then you lot. Breakfast awaits our arrival.”

Sirius called out, clapping his hands in front of his chest while wiggling his neat eyebrows. Ensuring the group's attention.

“Yes, because we are the only students at this school.”

Remus rolled his eyes as his words drawled out calmly. Sirius raised a plucked eyebrow, a smirk threatening to pull from his lips. He rolled his eyes once more pushing himself up to stand beside Sirius and look at the rest of the group.

“C’mon then I’m hungry.”

Not a second later as he turned on his heels and headed towards the entrance of Gryffindor he heard the kerfuffle of shoes and fabric struggling to follow him. The black haired boy’s sudden presence beside him almost caused Remus to jump out of his skin. He expected Sirius to fall behind and talk to James or maybe even Marlene but not to join him. He hadn't once this week talked directly to Sirius. Not once. There was normally someone with them, James and Peter in most cases. Remus had no idea how to talk to this boy, he was smart and elegant and had this air of confidence that pulled you in. This was bad, he was going to stumble over his words and make a fool out of himself. Apparently the odds were not in his favour because Sirius decided to start a conversation.

“So History with Binns first. How are we feeling?”

Remus glanced at Sirius from the corner of his eye trying to find a hint of farce but the other boy kept his gaze forward. Shaking his head softly he also returned his eyes to face straight ahead. 

“Oh I’m positively giddy by the notion, Sirius.”

His flat voice was loud in the quiet hallways but Sirius’ laugh was louder and Remus’ lips twitched before he allowed a small smile to trace his mouth.

“I knew you’d say something like that.”

A breathy laugh left his open lips, his grey eyes holding a wistful appearance. Remus felt the lines crease in between his eyebrows.

“A sarcastic comment like that. You like those I’ve come to realise.”

And Remus laughed at the truth of it. He did use sarcasm as often as he could, mainly in hopes people would stop talking to him. But not Sirius, if anything it made him talk more, so Remus saved them for him. So he indulged him with another.

“Really? I thought I hated them.”

Unfortunately this time his amusement wasn’t hidden as he turned to smile widely at Sirius, the taller boy mirroring the expression. They continued to talk - well Sirius mostly complained about their History teacher, Professor Binns, whom they met on Tuesday - until they entered the Great Hall. Remus turned around to face the rest of the group while Sirius addressed them with open arms.

“Now we eat!”

The girls all continued towards the tea and coffee table to collect a cup of Earl Grey for everyone - James also went to collect the milk and sugar - leaving Sirius, Peter and himself to find a spot at the table to fit them all. Peter and Sirius travelled down what was now their side of the table, as Remus followed on the opposite side. Normally they were able to secure a spot somewhere in the middle of the long table. Today however they had to move a few more spots along, closer to the teacher’s table at the front of the hall. Remus sat down with his back towards the teachers and lifted his legs to rest along the bench, propping his right elbow onto the table to rest his head in his hand. Sirius and Peter were talking animatedly with each other, looking towards Remus on occasion to make sure he was listening to them rant about a television show they had both watched over the holidays. 

When he saw Mary and Eliana following behind Lily, he dropped his legs back underneath the table. Eliana sat down beside him putting a teacup in front of him, Lily sat beside Eliana and gave Sirius a cup, Mary sat beside Lily and gave Peter a cup. Then James sat next to Sirius, laying out the milk and sugar onto the table in front of them. Marlene settled into the spot next to James, across from Remus and passed the last cup of tea to James. 

Remus reached over to collect two sugar packets and stirred them into his tea as he waited for everyone to put in their milk. When it was passed to him there was still a moderate amount left. James is getting better at this. Yesterday Remus had to use the large milk jug that was supposed to be used for cereal - which he may or may not have spilled all over the table - after Eliana used up the last few drops of milk for her own tea. 

“Good job James. There was enough for me today.”

There was a quiet sputtering as James lifted his head to stare at Remus. It was the first time he had addressed the prince in a confident manner and by his first name. Friends aren’t formal with each other, all the others call him James, it's not weird. But as James kept staring at him his faux confidence started to slip. And then a yelp escaped Potter’s lips as he turned to his right, where Sirius had just pinched the prince’s shoulder.

“Ow Sirius! What was that for?”

“So you can talk to me but not Remus?”

James’ eyebrows shot up comically high on his face to accomodate for the widening of his eyes. Turning back towards Remus, James’ mouth started to open and close like a gaping fish before he shook his head and tried a reply.

“Y-yeah, sorry about yesterday Remus.”

“Better.”

James whacked Sirius upside the head before smiling at Remus and he gave a grateful nod back, becoming speechless at the prince’s stutter. He was nervous to talk to me?  The thought troubled Remus for the rest of breakfast until everyone started collecting their things and standing to go to their form class. Remus hung back but got stuck with Marlene, she was a lot more chatty than any of the others but Remus found he didn’t mind it. She allowed him to just listen as she spoke and didn’t expect him to answer, it was a welcome change to Lily’s persistence.

“-but it doesn’t matter because I can just sleep in the back corner as she drones on. I mean honestly, how interesting is God? Jesus was probably more interesting- no wait - Mary! Mary’s the most interesting she got pregnant - pregnant - without having to, you know-”

“You know?”

Remus didn’t know. And was feeling a bit embarrassed now that he had even asked because of Marlene’s incredulous gaze. She looked at him with a puzzled expression, conflicted about telling him or not.

“Oh. It’s ok if you don’t know, I just thought you would. Sorry Remus. But don’t worry a lot of kids our age don’t know yet. If you want me to explain, we can meet after dinner? Otherwise Madam Pomfrey will explain in-”

She cut herself off and stopped beside the open classroom, Remus realising only now that he had followed her. Luckily his form class was the one beside it, not wanting to think of how late he would have been if he had been located on the other side of the school grounds, he focused back on Marlene.

“Explain in what, Marlene?”

Her eyes widened and she looked around where they were standing in the corridor. There were throngs of students travelling along and making their way into the classroom with the odd teacher following. She looked back up to him and shook her head apologetically.

“I can’t say it out here. Just… Do you want me to explain, or Madam Pomfrey?”

“You. Definitely.”

He didn’t hesitate, if it was bad enough that Marlene wouldn’t say it out in the open he wanted to save himself the embarrassment of getting told by a teacher.

“Ok then we’ll figure out where to meet at… dinner?”

“Sounds good.”

“Alright, bye Remus.”

And with a quick wave she was gone, quickly entering the classroom before the door shut behind her. Remus was left standing in the now empty hallway, his mouth hanging open and his mind drifting. When he regained his bearings he was being pulled by his elbow into a classroom, his saviour was none other than James Potter.

“I’m not even going to ask.”

Was all he heard, before being gently guided into the seat situated between Sirius and Peter. The latter becomes all too curious now, his interest being piqued by James’ words. The former looked at him expectantly, failing to hide his eagerness for gossip in those wide eyes.

“Ask about what?”

Peter asked James before turning to Remus for the answer. But James took the lead- obviously sensing Remus’ lack of awareness at the moment.

“Just whatever Marlene said to turn Remus as… well as quiet as he was since Monday, I suppose.”

“She better not have rebooted him! I was making progress!”

Sirius’ shout caught the attention of their whole class, including their teacher, Professor Scamander, who was trying to read out their daily notices. 

“Mr Black, please wait until after I have finished to continue your conversation.”

But he ignored them all, in true Sirius Black fashion, by continuing his spill at the same volume.

“Do you have any idea what I’ve had to do?! Twist my arm and bloody all but break my leg is what! Today is the first day I get him to speak - to laugh as well, did I tell you, he laughed this morning, with just me James - and then Marlene comes and ruins it all!”

“Mr Black! Detention! Meet me here after your last class.”

“It’s a date Theseus.”

He threw a wink in their teacher’s direction who was caught somewhere between annoyed and shocked. That did it for Remus and the low chuckle that fell from his lips drew Sirius’ attention once more but no one else heard it because they were sharing laughs of their own. He started to talk quietly to avoid getting detention. I knew befriending Sirius was a bad idea from day one.

“Huh guess she didn’t reboot me after all.”

“Oh you tosser. Here I am complaining about a friendship I thought I lost and then you go and ruin the moment. Even if your sarcasm is one of your more redeeming attributes.”

The last sentence was mumbled under his breath but Remus still caught it. But what he was more concerned about was that Sirius had just described them as friends.

“Friendship? We’re friends?”

“Don’t be daft! Of course we’re friends, I wouldn’t be hanging around you if we weren’t..”

The two boys shared growing smiles, a reflection to this new declaration of friendship hanging between them. It was unspoken before then that he had become friendly with the group but he hadn’t thought that made them friends so quickly. Only Sirius had said anything though. Reminding himself caused a small ache in his chest. The others hadn’t said they were his friends yet. He only needed Sirius’ friendship right now though, even if he was the last person Remus should've made friends with. But the black haired boy had this magnetic pull to him that Remus couldn’t seem to escape, so he was stuck with him. 

After their names were called out Scamander let the students do whatever they pleased, in an appropriate manner of course. Some chose to finish coursework while others sat idly by, chatting amongst themselves. James quickly stole Sirius away and left Peter to anxiously stare at the side of Remus’ head. It was starting to freak him out. So he let out a forlorn sigh and turned to face him with the faux bored impression he had mastered, out of instinct to confrontation. 

“What?”

“No, nothing. Nothing at all.”

Suddenly quite fascinated with the yellowed ceiling, Peter tried to escape being caught looking at him, darting his eyes around the room in a comical fashion.

“What’s wrong Peter?”

“I just-”

He let out a deep sigh and Remus raised a pointed eyebrow at him, using a hand to gesture to him to continue.

“I just don’t know how to talk to you.”

“But-”

Remus felt his face scrunch in confusion. Was he not talking to a duke? The nephew of the King and Queen of England? Remus only had money - even then it wasn’t his but his father’s - while Peter had a title, a relation to the monarch. 

“I know, I know. It’s just you’ve never talked to me before, and you rarely contribute to the conversation during meal times. It’s hard to get a read on you. James is loud and open but also adaptive, he knows when it gets too much for me. Sirius is quiet - with me I mean - and he listens to me talk. But you, I’m not sure yet… And I’m just nervously ranting here because you’re just looking at me like I’m crazy- Am I crazy?”

“Yes.”

“What?”

Peter’s eyes widened in horror as his mouth dropped open before tightening into a thin line.

“Yes you are absolutely crazy. What the hell Pete? I mean I thought you were quiet too, like me, and then you just-”

Remus used his hands to circulate his arms around the air in front of him to demonstrate his point. Peter let out a relieved sigh and his facial muscles softened significantly.

“Yeah I tend to do that when I get nervous.”

“I think I’m the opposite. I just shut down.”

“Like you did just now? When James brought you in? Was it because Marlene made you nervous?”

Taking the opportunity to calm his curiosity, Peter let the questions fly out one after another. Unknowingly putting Remus back on edge. He had to close his eyes and take a breath for a moment to stop his unease from returning. But the reminder of the talk he would be having with Marlene in a few hours seemed to bring it back all the same. 

“Yes. Very, very nervous.”

“Why? What did she say?”

Remus opened his eyes and was faced with Peter’s concern riddled face. He shook his head and smiled softly at the plump blonde, who’s eyes filled with worry as the silence stretched on.

“Nothing Pete. I’m not entirely sure myself, to be honest.”

His words were so quiet he didn’t know if Peter even heard them, the confused look across his face didn’t contribute much to Remus’ analysis. It was either (a) he didn’t hear them and was trying to put something plausible together, or (b) he was plain confused about how Remus had a conversation with someone and couldn’t remember the context, which had obviously left him in a state of distress. 

“Well… what have you thought of doing in your free time? I’m thinking of joining the chess club.”

He knew Peter was trying to swerve the conversation into a different direction and he gladly took the option. Thankful to Peter’s nervous rambling.

“Of course they have a chess club.”

He mumbled sardonically under his breath. Peter chose not to notice the arrogance in Remus’ voice, powering on with the conversation.

“Yeah! I mean they have heaps of activities here, sports, clubs, dance, drama, music, art. Heaps of stuff for you to participate in! I think James is going to try out for the rugby team this year, if you’re interested.”

“I’ll stick to my books. Thanks anyways Pete.”

As Peter gave him a reproachful nod, looking a little more than disappointed by his answer, the bell went for first period, bringing an end to their conversation. The clanging of metal and swishing of paper encircled him. Remus began to stand, collecting his small, brown leather, shoulder bag from the floor in a disgruntled motion. It was heavy with all his textbooks and the new MacBook his father had bought him. Eliana also received one, identical to his, they had set them up a few days prior to leaving for Hogwarts. His father had someone set up the Microsoft Programme on both of them, a requirement for all students at the college. So far however only a handful of teachers wanted to use it, most of the staff were still set on using a pen and paper. 

Their first class was History with Professor Binns. The teachers at Hogwarts seemed rather set on being addressed as a Professor but Remus learnt that the hard way, calling him “Mr. Binns” and being reprimanded for it. The old man had used the words “highly disrespectful” and “be ashamed of yourself”. The only thing Remus was ashamed of was not knowing, otherwise the whole fiasco could have very well been avoided. Luckily he managed to dodge a detention by kissing up and apologising profusely to save face. But the old codger stayed stubbornly suspicious, often singling out Remus to answer questions without a hand raised. 

As the boys walked down the staircase to the first floor of the South Building a familiar head of limp black hair scurried in front of them. Surely not. Someone’s taking the piss. But after stepping onto the even ground Remus recognised the boy as Severus Snape and he was standing in front of the door to Eliana’s classroom. He hoped Snape had not seen him yet and that El would be safe without anyone from their group in her class. Quickening his pace and ducking his chin he made his way past the large windows. His abrupt change in behaviour did not go unnoticed by the other three boys but no one spoke up - until they were seated in their class without a teacher present.

“Alright then. What the bloody hell happened?”

Sirius.

“You just about look like you saw a ghost there mate.”

James.

“Do you need to pee?”

Peter.

“I don’t know, I think I did, no I don’t.”

“What?” “Pardon?” “Huh?” 

Remus let out a deep sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger. No one but Lily knew that he had transferred over to Hogwarts - apart from El - and he didn’t know how to tell them. If it was just him he would have said something long ago, but telling them about him meant telling them about Eliana and Lily and he couldn’t bring himself to break their trust like that. So instead he fashioned a half truth, letting them know about Snape and not anythingelse.

“I saw a boy who went to my old school. We got into a fight last term and I haven’t seen him since.”

“A fight? Was he a friend?”

James’ question snapped a coil Remus had been tightening. With a sharp inhale he surveyed the boys faces before exhaling around his next words, keeping them low and out of earshot in case Binns walked in.

“Fuck no, I punched him in the face. Bloody sexist prick.”

Sirius’ eyes widened in awe as James and Peter had similar looks of horror. All three open mouthed.

“What did he do to deserve that Lupin?”

Remus diverted his angered eyes to his desk, organising his paper and getting a pen out to write with, a proud smirk tugging on the corner of his lips.

“Bullied someone I know. Not that she knows - the coward always spoke behind her back. I just caught him alone one time and… Well-”

“You punched him.”

Grey orbs swirled with pride and amazement but Remus looked away chastising himself for staring. It was rude, no matter how kind and open they looked. 

“Yep sure did.”

“And you said the ‘f’ word.”

Remus lifted an amused brow up at Sirius as he became increasingly wonderstruck, leaving a pleasant feeling in his chest. It was nice having friends to joke around  and have fun with.

“Fuck?”

“I’ve never heard anyone our age use it before.”

“Oh. Yeah, Mam swears a lot. Her parents too - but I don’t see them much so I picked it up from her mostly. Don’t tend to use it though.”

Sirius looked like he was about to ask another question but Binns entered the class, ceasing all conversations. Their teacher seemed to be indifferent about his arrival time, setting his things on his desk. He picked up a whiteboard marker and  started to write notes. Remus picked up a black pen and uncapped it, flinging his notebook open to a clean page and hastily taking notes. This is going to be a long day.