- Remus reread the letter at least five more times before pulling out a sheet of his own parchment and deciding how he should explain to this kid that people who were in Gryffindor and Slytherin generally didn't get along. -
Clearly it wasn’t a very pleasant night at the Lupin household, as Mr. Lupin was forced to lock his son up in the attic with a number of precautionary spells. None of the Lupins slept as they listened to Remus’s cries of pain as he made his transformation. How could they even think of sleeping once he was a fully fledged werewolf clawing at the attic door? So naturally it was a very long night for all of the Lupins. Only once dawn broke did any of them get any sleep. At around noon Mr. Lupin broke out of his dead sleep and removed himself to the attic to check on his son.
Opening the door, he looked around and discovered Remus curled up in the corner, in very bad shape. He knelt down beside Remus and gently turned his son onto his back and examined him. Along both of his cheeks were three gashes which were steadily seeping blood onto the floor and into his mouth, which was hanging open. His nose was bleeding and swollen. His arms also had gashes, much like the ones on his face, and he was covered in many bruises. Also, Mr. Lupin could see that his son’s braces had broken in several places, especially around his incisors. Mr. Lupin pulled out his wand and quickly muttered some healing spells that the Healers at St. Mungo’s had taught him many years ago. With another flick of the wrist and a swift mutter of the incantation Reparo, Remus’s braces had mended themselves.
He smiled, satisfied, when the wounds mended themselves and Remus was left only with some bruises. Mr. Lupin hesitated, wondering if he should wake his son up being that it was noon already, but he didn’t have to, as Remus began to stir. Moaning faintly, Remus’s eyes flickered open and he looked slightly confused at first, but recovered quickly. He sat up, rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and muttered a quick good morning to his dad, who didn’t bother to tell him it was the afternoon already.
Remus took his father’s hand when offered it, and the two traipsed down to the kitchen to find Cassie and Lucy eating lunch at the table. Mr. Lupin announced that he had to leave to go send in an article he had been writing for the Evening Prophet and quickly Apparated off the spot. Cassie offered a ready-made sandwich to Remus, who declined it. He felt that his stomach was not yet ready to digest anything. He contented himself with a glass of water and listening to his sister telling him about her latest job at Gringotts.
The story was actually very interesting. Apparently there was a large amount of gold in an unknown pyramid in Egypt. They had to spend a week and a half trying to crack the spells that had been placed on the tomb where the gold was hidden. But, as a result, three goblins got blasted away in the attempt. Remus felt bad for the goblins, even more so when his sister said they had found them in bits and pieces that were scattered across the desert. He could only imagine the disgusted looks on the face of Cassie and her fellow workers.
“Those poor goblins,” she said quietly. “But they knew what to expect, I guess. I’m just glad it wasn’t more of us.”
Remus nodded and focused his attention at the wall.
“So, did you have fun at Diagon Alley?” Cassie asked him curiously.
This was what Remus had been hoping someone would ask him. He had two things he wanted to discuss with someone, and, truth be told, Cassie was the best person to talk to about issues like friendship.
“I met some transfer from Durmstrang at Gringotts,” he said.
Cassie nodded slowly, her eyebrows curving together and her brow furrowed. Clearly there had never been a transfer at Hogwarts when she went there. “That’s strange,” she commented. “But I guess with Dumbledore as the Headmaster… He takes everyone in, hates to turn anyone away.” Remus agreed. It was only because of Dumbledore that he was even at Hogwarts. His predecessor, Armando Dippet, would never have allowed a werewolf to come to Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore, on the other hand, saw no reason why Remus shouldn’t go. So it shouldn’t have seemed strange that Professor Dumbledore would allow a transfer student to come to Hogwarts. “Was the kid nice at least?” she asked after some time. Remus nodded. He didn’t think the boy seemed mean at all. “Well now you have a potential friend, so that’s good.”
“Yeah,” Remus said, smiling slightly. Then he thought of something else he had wanted to tell his sister. “Sirius Black talked to me in Flourish and Blotts.”
This really got his sister’s attention. Cassie knew full well that Sirius Black usually tended to ignore Remus, as did his friends. It certainly was odd for him to suddenly acknowledge Remus’s existence. But it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, quite the opposite actually. Maybe this meant that Remus had a chance to become friends with Sirius and his mates. They weren’t exactly bad kids… they were just mischievous.
“That could be a good thing,” Cassie said sensibly. “I mean, if he was talking to you civilly. He was, right?”
“Yeah, he asked me if I was taking Care of Magical Creatures. He said it should be interesting.”
“That’s good, Remus. Maybe him and his friends’ll try and be friends with you this year.”
She checked her watch and jumped up quickly, having realised she should have been at work three minutes ago. So she said a hurried goodbye to Remus, asking him if he could tell their parents that she had gone, and she vanished with a faint pop. Remus sighed and got up from the table, thinking over what he could do that day. Maybe he could go flying, or he could just sit inside and practise the piano. Either one was appealing to him at the moment, the latter a little more.
He wandered into the living room and saw the small, organ-like, piano against the wall and sat down on the stool. He opened the music book on the stand and chose a song at random. He began to play; completely unaware of the fact that he was playing a Christmas song at the end of August. Remus loved playing the piano. He could play it better than anyone in the house, except for his mother and that was only because she had been playing it since she was his age.
Accidentally hitting the wrong note at the end of the song, Remus shut the book and discovered that Lucy had been listening behind him. Remus had tried teaching his little sister how to play the piano by writing letters down on a sheet of composition paper and writing the letters specifically for each hand. And to reinforce the letters he had taken torn pieces of the paper and taped them above the corresponding keys, using cellotape, an idea his mother wasn’t too fond of. He managed to teach her very few songs this way. But he was pleased that she had managed to learn something. At the moment, it looked as if she was eager to show off the little that she knew. So Remus reluctantly got up and sat down to listen on the couch.
The moment his sister started playing Remus regretted getting up, as he was now doomed to listen to Row Your Boat twenty times before she got bored of it. He knew quite well that Lucy would expect him to sit it out. If only he could perform a Silencing Charm on the piano… Although this gave him some time to sit and think, a privilege had been denied for a few days. Now he could just sit there and mull over what was going through his mind, although he was occasionally interrupted by wincing as his sister struck an ear piercing note on the piano.
He knew that Cassie was probably right in suggesting that if Sirius had talked to him it meant that he was trying to become friends, though Remus couldn’t possibly fathom the reason as to why the boy had waited two years to talk to him. They had been living in the same room for the majority of those two years. The thought that they might be wise to his condition had often been one of Remus’s ideas concerning the whole situation. But he strongly doubted that James, Sirius and Peter were positive that Remus was a werewolf. This year could be different though. He had a chance at being friends with that Larry Wilkins he had met at Gringotts.
Wincing once again as Lucy messed up the song she was playing, Remus lifted his feet up on the coffee table, after making sure his mother was nowhere in sight. He continued to focus on the subject of his third year at Hogwarts. Both Blake and Cassie had said that their third year was their favourite year. This was because they were still considered to be kids in the eyes of their professors, even if they were given the opportunity to go to Hogsmeade. When the teacher still considered you to be a child they weren’t as harsh with their punishments, should they have to give one.
Of course there was Hogsmeade. There were so many different places to go in the village that Remus didn’t know where he wanted to start. He wanted to visit every place possible, anywhere from Zonko’s Joke Shop to Honeyduke’s Sweet Shop. There was also the post office that had so many owls hooting you could barely hear yourself think. Blake had mentioned a few of the places you could go to get a drink. One of three that he mentioned were Madam Puddifoot’s (but he described that place as a place for couples who in were sickeningly in love). There was the Hogs Head (which was where all the tough people went). And, lastly, The Three Broomsticks, which he claimed was the perfect place for Hogwarts students.
He had already been mapping out his schedule for the first trip there, which would take place on Halloween. He thought that he would go to Honeyduke’s first, as they would be having the Halloween Feast when they got back and he didn’t want to be too full on Honeyduke’s sweets. Then he would head over to Dervish and Bangs. Then he would go to the post office to see all of the different owls, and finally to Zonko’s. He wondered if he should take his brother’s advice and completely buy the store out. But he decided against it after remembering that one of his fellow Gryffindor third years had actually talked to him. He didn’t want to jeopardize his chances at becoming friends with them by trying to pull pranks on them.
He was broken out of his thoughts by his dad calling him from upstairs, saying that he had gotten an owl. But I got my Hogwarts letter already, he thought as he made his way towards the stairs, treading carefully as his bruised leg gave a painful throb. Who else would he get a letter from? His dad was waiting for him at the top of the stairs, holding a parchment envelope with Remus’s address written on it in scarlet ink. Remus took the letter and stared at the letter curiously. It was the correct address, there was no mistaking it. He definitely lived at 547 Willow Road, but no one at Hogwarts knew that except for the professors.
Shrugging, he proceeded past his father and straight to his room. Dropping down on his bed, he ripped the envelope open and unfurled the slip of parchment that had fallen out. The letter was written in handwriting unfamiliar to him, which only confused him further. Sighing, he began to read.
Remus,
I’m not sure if you remember who I am, but we met at Gringotts yesterday. I was just wondering what house you’re in at Hogwarts, as I just got sorted into Slytherin this morning. Write back quickly.
Sincerely,
Larry Wilkins
Remus reread the letter at least five more times before pulling out a sheet of his own parchment. He tried deciding how he should explain to this kid that people who were in Gryffindor and Slytherin generally didn’t get along. But just as he formulated a reasonable explanation, he decided against it. So what if this kid had been sorted into Slytherin? He seemed nice at the bank. Maybe he was just incredibly cunning? That wasn’t exactly a bad thing. He wouldn’t let the animosity between their houses stop them from becoming friends.
With that thought in mind, he began scrawling out a response. Once he was finished, he set his quill down and read his letter through two times before sending it off with the family owl, Dreyfus. Walking back to his bed from the window, he began to wonder if the fact that he was in contact with a Slytherin would have a bad effect on him at school. Naturally his fellow Gryffindors wouldn’t bode well with it, and the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. Although they might not detest it as much as the Gryffindors, they would still resent him for it. But what were the chances that they would even know? Remus was very good at keeping secrets, as he had been keeping one for practically his whole life. He thought that, if he played his cards right, he would be able to be friends with a Slytherin and allow it to remain a secret.
It was important to him though. This Larry kid could be the one person who would be able to look through Remus’s weak appearance and see who he really was. That was really all he wanted. He wanted to be friends with someone who wasn’t shallow, someone who could see through the outer exterior and appreciate the personality. But if Larry was in Slytherin… naturally they had a harder time seeing the better in people. Still, he couldn’t help but hope.
Remus’s arm took a nasty throb and he rolled the sleeve of his blue robes up to see that he had a particularly painful looking bruise there. As a matter of fact, all over his body his bruises were beginning to ache. He knew that his father had done his best to heal them all, but his father had never been skilled at healing bruises. The only time he tried he ended up mutating Remus’s legs, so he never tried again. The effects of the previous full moon were beginning to take their toll on Remus and he found himself slowly falling asleep right where he was standing. So he slowly backed towards his bed, nearly tripping over his trunk, which was resting innocently against his bed. He dropped down and was fast asleep within seconds.
The Lupins stood outside of Platform Nine and Three Quarters waiting for the all clear to walk through the barrier and onto the platform where Remus and Blake would be heading off for their third and sixth years at Hogwarts. Taking a thorough look around the station, Mr. Lupin nodded towards his sons and they quickly ran through the barrier. When they appeared on the other side they were face to face with a long scarlet steam engine “ The Hogwarts Express.
Blake was immediately hailed by two of his friends. He said a hurried goodbye to his parents and Lucy, all three of which had nearly knocked Remus over upon coming out of the platform barrier. Remus, on the other hand, stood with his parents and scanned the crowd of students as he looked for Larry. But he didn’t see him at all. The steam engine billowed a puff of smoke into the air and its horn blew, signaling that it was about to depart. Remus rapidly said goodbye to his family and ran over to the nearest open door and began his search for a compartment.
Unfortunately for Remus, all of the compartments were full. He found himself at the back of the train and looked into the last window and saw an only too familiar face “ Severus Snape, resident Dark Arts oddball. Looking to the opposite side of the compartment, he saw that Snape was conversing with Larry Wilkins, which made Remus worry. Snape was probably brainwashing Larry right now, telling him all these horrible, false, facts about Gryffindors. Just before Remus could retreat to another end of the train, Snape looked up towards the window and he grinned a dangerous grin.
He promptly stood up and opened the compartment door.
“Lupin,” he said in a false kind voice.
“Snape,” Remus acknowledged, trying desperately to keep his voice even. He glanced over Snape’s shoulder at Larry, who was watching them with a look of mild curiosity.
“Would you like to join us?” Snape asked, a sneer playing at his lips.
Remus dreadfully wanted to say no, that he would rather sit with the Giant Squid than Snape, but he didn’t want to appear rude in front of someone he was trying to become friends with. So he grudgingly took a seat next to the window. There was silence in the compartment for a very long time before Snape chanced speaking.
“So, Lupin,” he said, turning to face Remus, who remained staring out the window. “When are you getting those braces off?”
Remus raised an eyebrow. That was the last thing he expected Snape to ask him. But he merely shrugged his shoulders. Truthfully it would be another year until he got them off. As his mother was Muggle-born; she thought it was important for Remus to use Muggle techniques for things such as largely spaced teeth. Snape didn’t question him any further after that, he simply continued the conversation that he had been having with Larry before he invited Remus inside. The conversation was just what Remus had predicted “ Snape was indeed trying to brainwash the transfer. But, to Remus’s happiness, Larry didn’t seem to be buying anything that Snape was saying.
Snape was doing his usual round of reasons why Gryffindor was the lowliest of the four Hogwarts Houses. The first and foremost reason being that they allowed filth into their house “ Muggle-borns, or as Snape preferred to call them “ Mudbloods. Remus was very close to opening his mouth and yelling at Snape, but then thought that he was giving Snape a clear target for a punch in the mouth. So he refrained from saying anything. He just kept glaring out the window as the green hills rolled by. He also proceeded to explain to Larry that Gryffindors were far too trusting. He claimed that they would trust someone who was threatening to use the Killing Curse on them.
Every now and then Larry would side glance at Remus, possibly waiting for him to reprimand Snape for insulting his house, but Remus never said anything. He was in no mood to pick a fight with Snape. Perhaps tomorrow he would say something, but not right now. So for the moment he contented himself with envisioning the many ways in which he could hex Snape.
The trolley came around after an hour and, as Remus was buying a Cauldron Cake, his brother appeared. Blake smiled at his brother and glanced into the compartment that he had seen Remus come out of. Nearly choking on the Chocolate Frog he had just bitten into, he gestured for Remus to pay the trolley lady and to follow him. Remus did as he was told and followed his brother in the direction of the bathroom.
“Blake, what are you doing?” Remus asked after his brother locked the bathroom door.
“What am I doing?” he asked rhetorically. “What are you doing is more like it. Why are you sitting in a compartment with Severus Snape of all people?” Blake was positively fuming at his brother, and that was a rare occurrence.
Remus fumbled with his answer before saying, in a feeble, quiet voice, “I don’t know… there was nowhere else to sit.”
Blake rolled his eyes.
“Then why didn’t you come and find me?” he asked, making it sound as if that was the most obvious solution to the problem, which it was. “You know my friends would have let you sit with us!” Remus shrugged. His brother was making him feel increasingly stupid for not thinking of that before he decided to accept Snape’s invitation. “Come on, Remus,” Blake said finally, in a much calmer voice. “Come and sit with us.” And, with that, Blake led Remus towards the front of the compartment to where he was sitting with a few of his sixth years.
Sitting with Blake and his friends was, if possible, more boring than sitting with Snape and Larry. Although he didn’t have to listen to Snape jabber on about how superior Slytherins were, a topic that could make anyone sick. Occasionally one of Blake’s friends would ask Remus a question. Other than that Remus was allowed to keep to himself, until he eventually fell asleep, only to be awoken by his brother once they arrived at school.
Getting off the train, Remus listened as the Gamekeeper, Hagrid, called all of the first years to him. He veered off in the direction of the horseless carriages and looked for a vacant one. Just as he was stepping into one he heard a voice calling him.
“Hey, Lupin!”
He looked over his shoulder and saw a boy with extremely messy black hair, hazel eyes, and glasses coming his way, with two other boys following him. One of the boys was a mousy looking boy with watery eyes, and the other was Sirius Black. James Potter, Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black stopped just short of Remus’s carriage and James folded his arms across his chest.
“So, been hanging around Slytherins, have you?” he asked.
Remus blanched when he heard this accusation. He had no doubt in his mind that the other Gryffindors would know about this by the next morning at the latest. He looked past James at Sirius and Peter, both of whom looked like they would rather be anywhere than where they were at the present moment.
“James… just leave him alone,” Sirius muttered out of the corner of his mouth.
For this Remus was glad because Sirius clearly showed that he didn’t want to get Remus angry and thought that his friend was being rather stupid. But James neither heard him nor cared as he only went on with his interrogation of Remus.
“Too good for Gryffindors, are you?” he continued.
“I never said that,” Remus said, finally finding use of his voice. “I… well there was nowhere else to sit and…”
“And so you decided to sit with Severus Snape of all people?”
“James…” Peter mumbled warningly. But, yet again, James seemed to not have heard Peter.
“Look, James,” Remus said, his voice rising with each word. “I’ve already heard this from my brother. I don’t need to hear it from someone else, especially from you.” And before James could even utter another furious question, Remus slammed the carriage door shut in James Potter’s face.
The ride to the castle seemed to take twice as long as it usually did. For Remus it was probably due to the fact that his ears were still ringing with the conversation that had just taken place. He could honestly not believe that James Potter would take it upon himself to scold Remus for sitting with two Slytherins. What business of it was his anyway? What did he care if a kid he didn’t talk to was sitting with someone he didn’t approve of? Now if it was Sirius or Peter that was sitting with Snape, Remus could see James’s problem. But it wasn’t, so Remus couldn’t see why Potter had blown up the way he did.
He shook his head dismally and slid down in his seat, waiting for the long carriage ride to be over and he would be able to go to the feast. The carriage halted and, looking out the window, Remus saw that they had finally approached the stone steps leading up to the castle. There was already a crowd of students pushing their way past each other, eager to get inside now that rain clouds had broken. Rain slowly splattered over the heads of the students as they scurried towards the castle, Remus in the thick of them.
Breathing a sigh of relief when he was in the warm castle, Remus made his way to the Great Hall. Craning his head to see the Gryffindor table, he saw that it was not even half full. Pushing through a crowd of Ravenclaw fourth years, Remus sat down next to his brother, who was busy entertaining one of his friends. Remus looked longingly at his empty plate in front of him. He sincerely didn’t want to wait until the Sorting to be over. But he was forced to satisfy his boredom with looking up at the High Table at the front of the Hall, looking at all of the teachers.
Of course the Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, was seated at the very centre, his long white beard gleaming in the candlelight. Professor Dumbledore could be described in one word “ eccentric. The first thing that made him eccentric, though very kind, was the fact that he had allowed Remus into his school. No one in their right mind would have even considered it. Professor Dumbledore was currently surveying the Hall through his half moon spectacles. When he looked at the Gryffindor Table he smiled slightly at Remus and then was engaged in conversation by the rather round man sitting next to him “ Horace Slughorn, the Potions Master.
Professor Slughorn was the kind of person who had many connections for the plain fact that he knew how to get them. He had basically researched the history of every student in the school and found the ones with the most famous relatives or the most talent or charm. He had formed what he liked to call The Slug Club. This was a club of which Remus was not a part of for the main fact that he was a horrid potion brewer. He was exceptional in all of his classes, with the exception of Potions and History of Magic. But the class he usually went to pieces in was Potions. He didn’t know what it was about that subject, but he couldn’t grasp it no matter how hard he tried. Periodically his potion would explode and anyone with a three foot radius would be splattered with whatever they happened to be concocting that day. Usually it resulted in a trip to the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, had become so fed up with Remus’s potion inaptitude that she had actually begged Professor Slughorn to allow Remus to not make any potions. Unfortunately, she had no luck.
The Slug Club consisted of only a few third years. Three of them were Gryffindors “ Lily Evans being one of them. She was a Muggle-born with red hair and green eyes, whom Professor Slughorn often fawned over because of her wit. He even suggested that she would have done well in his own house “ Slytherin. James Potter and Sirius Black were also part of the Slug Club, though they tended to miss a number of the gatherings due to their habit of getting detentions. He knew that there was at least a Ravenclaw and a Hufflepuff in the club from his year, and a Slytherin or two, but he knew none of them by name. He didn’t really know why Slughorn insisted on having that ridiculous club. It was showing favouritism in the worst way. He was very thankful for his horrible potion abilities for only that. If he was a great potions brewer he would find himself locked up in Slughorn’s office against his will.
Next to Slughorn was a small wizard with a nose as pointy as the hat that was perched on his head “ Professor Fillius Flitwick, the Charms professor and Head of Ravenclaw. Remus liked Professor Flitwick. He was always a nice person, and even if he had to be strict you could still see that it wasn’t wholeheartedly. Also his class was good for a conversation because there were usually loud noises, both from mishaps in performing a Charm correctly and from when it was performed incorrectly.
Alongside Flitwick was the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher “ Professor Hanks. He was a man described by the students to be schizophrenic, due to his random and rapid mood swings during class. Remus remembered one time when Hanks had been walking about the class, looking at all of the students affectionately, and Remus accidentally let ink drip off of his quill onto the desk. Hanks went berserk. Remus didn’t think he had ever had as much detention in his life as he did that day… two weeks for dripping ink onto a desk! But he wasn’t about to argue it, afraid he might bring about another mood swing.
There were some other teachers sitting alongside each other. There was the Astronomy teacher Professor Sinstra. Professor Sprout, who taught Herbology and was also the Head of Hufflepuff, sat beside her. However the table was devoid of one teacher “ Professor McGonagall, Transfiguration teacher and Head of Gryffindor House. She was standing at the head of the Hall and was holding a large scroll out in front of her and reading out names. As she called out names there would be a squeak of panic and a small first year would hurry up to the stool. Professor McGonagall would place a patched and frayed hat on their head “ the School Sorting Hat.
Remus drummed his fingers on the table impatiently. His stomach rumbling worse than ever as the list went on. He raised his hands to clap once or twice when a Gryffindor was announced, but only brought them together three or four times. A small monkey-like boy named Jason Turner was announced as a Gryffindor and he took the vacant seat beside Remus, who smiled in a friendly fashion. Remus was also smiling because there was only one more name after Jason and the feast was about to begin.
Professor Dumbledore stood up from his seat as Professor McGonagall rolled up the scroll and took her seat while the caretaker, Mr. Filch, removed the stool and Hat. Professor Dumbledore looked fondly at all of the students.
“I have only two words to say to you “ dig in!” And instantly the golden platters were filled with every food imaginable. Remus grinned at the shocked faces on some of the Muggle-born first years, and quickly loaded his plate.
“Careful, Remus, or you’ll choke,” Blake said offhandedly when he saw how his brother was stuffing himself.
Remus shrugged uncaringly and disregarded his brother’s warning. The conversation was lively in the Hall, but Remus would rather listen than talk. Right then he was listening to one of his brother’s friends telling everyone a story (clearly made up) about how he accidentally mutated his brother’s head three summers ago. It was funny to some extent, but more stupid if anything.
The chatter died down as the pudding disappeared from the table. Soon there was not but the dull murmur of the Great Hall as everyone waited patiently for Professor Dumbledore to give his notices for the coming year. And, soon enough, Professor Dumbledore stood up and the Hall hushed.
“To all newcomers, welcome! To all returning, welcome back!” he said in a voice that carried to the very end of the room. “Now I have a few start-of-the-term notices to give out. First of all, Mr. Filch would like to remind you all that dueling in the corridors between classes is strictly prohibited. Madam Pomfrey would also like to implore upon that notice as she had never had so many students in the Hospital Wing in one year.” A few students chuckled at this announcement and Dumbledore also found himself laughing lightly. “Now, I know I do not have to remind you that the Whomping Willow on the grounds is off limits to all who do not wish to lose a body part, like that poor student almost did last year.”
Upon hearing this Remus shrank in his seat, his ears turning red. Blake also side glanced at Remus, but didn’t say anything. The Whomping Willow was only there because of Remus. He hated thinking about Davey Gundgeon, the student who had nearly lost an eye by the tree. Although Blake liked to remind Remus that it was the kid’s own fault. He shouldn’t have been playing near it in the first place.
“Also, any students who wish to play on their House Quidditch team are reminded to contact their Head of House, or Madam Hooch, as soon as possible and anyone who wishes to commentate must do the same.” Dumbledore paused for a moment and then said, “Now if you would all follow your prefects to your common rooms, good night.”
Chatter broke out once more as the students got up and hurried to find the prefects so they could find out the new password. Remus followed lazily behind his brother, as he knew that Blake would have found out the password beforehand. He glanced further ahead and saw James Potter with his friends, talking animatedly. Remus felt a pang of anger towards the messy haired boy. He hated how James had just yelled at him for something as dumb as sitting with a Slytherin. It wasn’t as if he was joining in on the Gryffindor bashing.
But he managed to shrug the thought out of his mind as soon as he reached his dormitory. He looked over towards his bed and saw that all of his items had been brought up. The room was currently empty except for one occupant, Sirius Black. Sirius looked over his shoulder when Remus entered, but said nothing, which Remus was fine with. He didn’t feel much like talking. He pulled the hangings around his bed and hurried to change. But when he pulled them back around he was shocked to see Sirius standing in front of them.
“Look, Remus,” Sirius began in a rushed voice. “James was being stupid and he didn’t have a right to yell at you the way he did.” Remus nodded, he knew that full well. “I really don’t care. You probably had no choice, right?”
“Yeah,” Remus said carefully.
Sirius nodded and returned to his bed. Remus looked at the boy curiously, but said nothing more. He was now more confused than he was tired. Sirius Black was attempting to talk to him, he was glad about that. But he also knew that this might not make James happy, which could make things bad for the both of them. Remus rolled over onto his stomach and with that thought in mind, he fell asleep.