Paws, Prefects, and Pretty Girls
Remus had thought he had seen quite enough of Saint Mungo's recently. Apparently he had been wrong, for here he sat, once again, in the magical hospital. At least he was in a different ward this time. He wasn't in the Creature Induced Injuries ward where he had spent a week after he had been bitten. He was in the one ward in the hospital which, according to his mother, who was Muggle-born, resembled a ward in Muggle hospital: the maternity ward. It wasn't even part of the main hospital, but a side branch. Even still, Remus did not like being back in the hospital.
He had been very scared earlier that night, when he had been hugging his mother on the sofa and she had suddenly let out a cry of pain. At first Remus had thought he had hugged her too tight. Then he worried that he had hurt the baby, despite his promise to his parents moments before. But he hadn't hurt the baby; at least that was what his dad had told him. According to his dad, tonight was the night that the baby was going to be born.
Remus had still been worried. If he hadn't hurt Mum or the baby, why was Mum in so much pain? Surely having a baby couldn't be that painful, right? And surely all of this yelling his mother was doing wasn't necessary?
Remus's dad had not let him in the room where the baby was being born. Remus told his dad that he wanted to see how the baby was going to get out of Mummy's tummy. How the baby had gotten in her tummy in the first place was something Remus still didn't fully understand, and wouldn't understand for quite a few years. But Remus's father had refused to let him in to see the baby's birth, and now Remus sat alone in the waiting area of the maternity ward, listening to his mum yelling and his dad yelling and the healer yelling at his mum to just push a little harder.
"I AM PUSHING!"
Oh how Remus hated the hospital.
He wanted to go home. He still felt achy from the night before. The cut and scratches on all over him still felt raw. He was tired and he wanted to curl up in his bed, not this hard chair in the cold waiting room where his father had put him. He wanted to pull the blanket up over his head and hide from the memories that were haunting his mind. Memories he could make neither head nor tail of. Memories of pain, of his body changing, of something inside him taking control, of darkness and blood, of...
"Are you okay little boy?"
Remus opened his eyes. He hadn't even realized that they had been closed or that he had been drifting off the sleep. He straightened himself slightly in his chair to face the woman who was crouching down in front of him. She was younger than his mom and had dark, curly hair. She was wearing lime-green robes and was smiling in a friendly way, though her eyes looked concerned.
"My daddy said I'm not supposed to talk to strangers," he told the woman.
"Well, your daddy's right," she said. "But I work here in the hospital, so it's okay to talk to me. Where is your daddy?"
"With my mummy."
"And where is your mummy?"
"She's having a baby."
"Oohhh, I see," she said. "Did he leave you here to wait all by yourself?"
"Yes," Remus said. The woman pursed her lips and seemed on the verge of saying something, but Remus beat her to it. "Are you a healer?" he asked.
"I'm an assistant healer, yes," she said.
Remus frowned. He had mixed feelings about healers. When he been in the hospital after he was bitten, some of the healers were what his mum called "sympathetic" and had been nice, but most of them had been cold or mean to him, and he just didn't understand why. And then there was the look. Everyone had given him this funny look. He didn't know why they did it or even what it meant. He only knew that it wasn't a friendly look and he didn't like it at all.
"Are you a nice healer or a mean healer?" Remus asked. It was best if he knew these things up front.
She slightly smiled again. "Well, I like to think that I'm a nice healer." Then her smile was gone again. "Why? Did you meet some mean healers?"
Remus nodded.
"When?"
"When I was here before."
"You were here as a patient?" she asked. Remus nodded. "When?" she asked, her voice heavy with sympathy and concern.
"After I was bitten."
"Bitten? Bitten by what?"
"By a werewolf."
And there it was: the look. The woman, who had been kneeling right in front of his chair was suddenly on her feet and several strides away, her wide eyes giving Remus the look he had come to hate. Remus flinched at the horrible sense of d�j� vu, curling up in his chair again, not because he was sleepy, but because he wanted to protect himself. He hated the hospital. He hated the look. He hated this healer. She had said she was nice. She had lied. If she were nice, she wouldn't look at him like that. He wanted to leave. He wanted his mummy and daddy.
"Remus?"
Remus looked up. He had never been so happy to see his father in his life. John was walking toward Remus grinning from ear to ear. "It's a girl!" he said. He bent down and hugged his son. "Congratulations Remus! You have a new baby sister!"
"Can I see her?" Remus asked breathlessly.
"Of course you can," his father replied. Remus climbed out of his seat and took his father's hand. They started to walk away"
"Excuse me."
They turned back. It was the healer who had spoken. Remus had almost forgotten about her when his dad had come, but she was still there. But she wasn't looking at Remus anymore. She was looking at John.
"Yes?" John replied. He was still grinning, apparently to happy to register the cold look he was receiving from the healer.
"I don't think you should take him back there with you," the healer said.
John's grin faded slightly as confusion clouded his expression. "Why not?"
The healer glanced briefly at Remus before looking back at John. "Because I don't think that a maternity ward is a suitable place for someone like him."
The grin was gone. "What do you mean 'someone like him'?"
"I don't know what kind of world you live in, sir, but in my world we don't allow dangerous creatures around newborn babies! I'm afraid I can't permit this."
"And I'm afraid this is none of your business." John said, his look and his tone now matching hers in temperature.
"I think it is my business," she replied.
"Was he bothering you?" John asked.
"What?"
"My son, was he bothering you?"
"Well, no, he was just sitting there - "
"He was just sitting there, not bothering anybody, but for some reason you decided that it was your business to butt in where you don't belong and tell my son what he can and cannot do?" John's voice was rising steadily with his temper.
"Sir, I just think it's wrong - "
"Shove what you think! I don't give a damn. My son has every right to be here and see his sister and you have no right to say otherwise. You don't know anything about him and you have no right to judge him. So, if you no what's good for you, lady, you'll bugger off and leave me and my family alone!"
The healer didn't say anything. Eventually, she gave a contemptuous huff, shot an angry look from John to Remus, and turned on her heel and stalked away.
Breathing deeply, John turned back to his son. Clearly trying to forget the woman and focus on his family, he gave Remus a small smile. "Let's go see your sister then, shall we?"
Still holding each other by the hand, they walked out of the waiting room, down a short corridor, and into a ward.
Remus's mother was lying in a bed, looking exhausted but grinning just as broadly as her husband had been. In her arms was a bundled up blanket.
John helped Remus climb up onto the bed next to his mother. Fay smiled at her son. "Hi Remus, would you like to meet your sister?"
Remus then saw, with surprise, that the bundled up blanket in his mother's arms had a baby inside it. A real baby! His very own baby sister!
"She's small," Remus observed.
"Yes, she is," said Fay. "But she'll get bigger. They always do." She looked at her husband. "John, are you okay?"
John gave her an almost-completely sincere smile. "I'm fine."
"John..."
"Later," John said quietly, laying a gentle hand on Remus shoulder. "Not now."
Fay held his gaze for a moment, then nodded. She turned her attention back to the baby. "Hi baby girl," she said, smiling. "So what do you think of your new family?"
The baby made a sleepy noise but didn't elaborate.
"Can I hold her?" Remus asked.
John hesitated for the briefest moment before saying, "Sure you can."
He helped Remus off of the bed and sat him down in a chair beside it. He took the baby from his wife's arms and turned to his son.
"You have to be very careful when you hold a baby, Remus."
"I will be," Remus assured him. John carefully lowered the baby into Remus's arms. "Watch her head," he instructed.
Remus held his baby sister for the very first time. It was a surreal experience, even for someone who was only four. She seemed even smaller now than when he had seen his mother holding her. Her eyes were closed, but he could hear her breathing. She was very warm.
"She's beautiful, isn't she?" Remus's father asked. He was still right beside Remus to make sure the baby was okay. "She going to be a very pretty girl when she grows up."
Remus was going to have to take his dad's word on that, because all he saw was small, not pretty. Still, he was growing attached to her, small as she was. Her warm weight was comforting in his arms.
"You're going to help us take care of her aren't you?" John asked Remus.
"Yes," said Remus. He lifted his eyes to look at his parents. "What's her name?"
"Well," said Fay, "we hadn't really decided that yet."
"What do you think," John asked Remus. "What do you think your sister's name should be?"
'Kytalin!"
"What?"
John Lupin turned around in the front passenger seat of the car to look at his daughter in the back. "Are you going to whine all of the way to the station?"
"Maybe," said Kytalin.
Remus, who was seated in the back of the car beside his little sister, rolled his eyes. Ever since he had returned home for the summer he had noticed that Kytalin was showing all of the signs of becoming a pre-teen. She had developed an attitude and was suddenly much more interested in her appearance than she ever had been. And she was only ten! If she was this bad when she was only a pre-teen, Remus couldn't imagine what she would be like as a teenager.
"It's not fair!" Kytalin shouted for the eighth time since that had gotten in the car to drive to Kings Cross and at least the hundredth time that summer.
"Life's not fair," Remus told her. He ran his finger over the large, barely-healed scratches that were slashed across the right side of his face, souvenirs of the full moon three days ago. They were particularly gruesome, even for him, and very obvious. Remus wondered how he was going to explain them away to curious students. Poorly, he supposed, as he always did. Most people had stopped asking him about every little injury he procured; he always had so many, it was hard to keep up. He was pretty sure that most people had come to the conclusion that he was just extremely accident-prone. However, with scratches as large and painful-looking as these, Remus couldn't help but worry that he would attract some awkward questions.
"I should be allowed to go!" Kytalin protested, ignoring Remus.
"You're not old enough," Remus told her as calmly as he could. He had had this argument with her so many times this summer that he was losing his patience.
"I'm almost old enough," Kytalin whined, "And I'm smart too! It's not like those kids who are a few months older than me are going to do any better than I would."
"You have to be eleven," Remus said.
"I'll be eleven in three weeks!"
"Yes," said Remus, "and when you go to Hogwarts next year, you'll be one of the oldest in your class."
Kytalin glowered at him. "I should be allowed to go this year."
"Why are you still whining about this?" Remus asked her. "It's too late; it's September 1st. You wouldn't have time to go get all of your school stuff for the start of term even if they would let you come to school a year early. You're just going to have to wait it out like everyone else."
"They could make special arrangements for me."
"They won't make special arrangements for you."
"They made special arrangements for you," Kytalin said angrily.
"Yep," said Remus. He refused to say anymore or pay her any more attention. He stared out the car window, watching London roll by, thinking about the upcoming school year.
Kytalin's temper was only increased by Remus's determination to ignore her. She whined for a bit more, then ended up kicking the back of her mother's seat in frustration.
"Girls who are old enough to go to Hogwarts don't throw tantrums," Fay told her daughter.
"Well apparently I'm not old enough to go! So I can do whatever I want!" Kytalin shouted.
Remus sighed. What had happened to the nice little girl he had said goodbye to last Christmas? What happened to the pretty little girl who had been so quiet, who had looked up to her older brother with reverence, who had always been so sweet? What had happened to the little baby Remus had held in the Saint Mungo's maternity ward almost eleven years ago and named after the heroine in a Wizarding storybook his mother had read to him before he was bitten? She had grown up, that's what had happened, and Remus wasn't sure that he liked that at all.
They finally arrived at the station. After circling a few times to find a good parking spot, Remus's mother parked the car and Remus unloaded his trunk.
"You want to push the cart?" Remus asked Kytalin.
"No," said Kytalin, who was still pouting.
So Remus pushed the trolley into the station and through the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10. Remus's mother came through next, followed shortly by his dad and Kytalin, who appeared to have taken the barrier at a run.
"It's still quite early," Fay said once they were all together again, checking her watch. "Do you want us to stick around until the train leaves, Remus, or should we say our goodbyes now?"
"You guys don't have to wait," Remus said, looking at the clock overhead. It was only half past. "I can probably manage on my own from here."
"Well then," said Fay, pulling her son into a tight hug, "have a great term Remus."
"Ah, Mum, not too tight," said Remus, wincing. His ribs were still tender from when he had broken them at full moon.
"Oh," said Fay, loosening her hold, "I'm sorry, Remus dear."
"It's okay," he assured her. "I'm going to miss you, Mum. I'll see you at Christmas."
"I'll miss you too dear," she said, releasing him.
"Take care of yourself, Remus," said John, laying a hand on his son's shoulder.
"I always do, Dad," said Remus, "You know me; I like a quiet life."
John pulled his son into a brief hug saying, "See you at Christmas then."
After hugging his dad, Remus turned to Kytalin. She was staring at the train with her arms folded and her lips set in a pout
"Aren't you going to say goodbye to me?" Remus asked her.
Kytalin let out an exaggerated sigh. "I guess."
He bent down and hugged her. "You're going to miss me," he told her.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," said Kytalin.
Remus laughed a little. "You behave yourself, you hear me?"
She looked at him for a minute, then said, with no hint of sarcasm or attitude, "Okay."
"Well then," said Fay, "I guess we're off."
"Goodbye," said Remus as he and his family went in their opposite directions.
"Goodbye," they all called back at him. They crossed back though the barrier, and were gone.
Remus set off for the train. He still had some time to kill before it left, so he decided to find a compartment for his stuff, as he would be riding in the Prefect's carriage at the start of the trip. He had been pleased but rather surprised to have been made a Prefect. He wasn't the most well behaved Gryffindor in his year. He did look to be the picture of obedience when standing beside James and Sirius, but so did pretty much anyone else. Remus wondered if he had been given the badge in hopes that he would be able to exercise some authority over his fellow Marauders. If this was the case, then Dumbledore and McGonagall did not know his friends like he did. Nothing would ever deter James and Sirius from their mischief, not a hoard of stampeding elephants, and certainly not a Prefect.
His parents had been nothing short of ecstatic that he had been made a Prefect. Remus felt this had to do with the fact that his parents had pretty low expectations of him, given his condition. It had been a miracle just for Remus to get in to Hogwarts; they had never dreamed he would one day be a Prefect. Remus wasn't sure how he felt about this. He supposed it was nice to have even his littlest achievements celebrated, but sometimes he wished that, on occasion, his parents would dream as big for him as other parents dreamed for their kids. Still, even for a normal boy, becoming a Prefect was a pretty big deal.
It was with this thought that Remus decided to change into his robes and put on his badge. Once he had, he went back out on to the platform to look for his friends. There were considerably more people there now than when he had said goodbye to his family, but the platform was not yet the mob scene Remus knew it would become as eleven o'clock drew nearer. He scanned the crowd for familiar faces.
Then, behind him, he heard a loud whistle and someone called, "Oi! Moony!"
Remus turned to see a bespectacled boy with untidy black hair waving at him from beside his dark-haired parents. Remus grinned and made a beeline for the Potters.
Mr. and Mrs. Potter, who were dressed in their Muggle best, smiled at Remus as he approached. James had gotten his extremely untidy black hair from his father. According to him, it was a trait that had plagued generations of Potter men before them.
"Alright there, Moony?" James asked, clapping his friend on the shoulder. It hurt a bit, but Remus shook it off.
"I'm fine. And you, Prongs?"
"Never better."
"It's good to see you again, Remus," said Mr. Potter, extending his hand to Remus.
"And you, sir," Remus said as they shook hands.
"How was your summer?" Mrs. Potter asked him.
"It was good. Pretty quiet."
Remus saw her eyes lingering on the vicious scratches across his face, but she said nothing about them, for with he was grateful. James had told his parents a few years ago about Remus"s condition. To Remus's relief and delight, the Potters had accepted James's assurances that Remus was safe without a single question. They trusted their son's judgment, and Remus liked them very much for it.
James lacked his mother's subtlety. "Merlin, Moony, how many times do I have to tell you?" he asked, examining the right side of Remus's face, "You've got to stop scratching yourself in places everyone can see!"
"James!" Mrs. Potter said sternly.
"Gee, Prongs, great advice," Remus said, rolling his eyes. "Why didn't I just think of that?"
"Well, it would avoid awkward questions," said James.
"So far, you're the only one who's mentioned it," said Remus.
James looked away from Remus's scratches to take in the rest of his friend's appearance. Unsurprisingly, his eyes fixed on Remus's chest.
"What is that?" he asked, pointing openly at the badge pinned to the front of Remus's robes. Of course, James already knew what it was.
"It's a Prefect badge," said Remus.
James gave him a rather appalled look. "You're a Prefect?" he asked, he tone making it perfectly clear how he felt about the matter.
"It would appear so," said Mrs. Potter. "Congratulations, Remus."
"Thank you," said Remus, smiling at her.
"Moony," said James, "how did this happen?" He might have been asking Remus how about came the end of the world.
"Search me," said Remus, shrugging. "I wasn't expecting it."
"But...but...now you're going to have to follow the rules!" said James, again, as though it was the end of the world.
"I usually follow the rules," Remus pointed out. "You're the one who has a penchant for shattering them into pieces."
James considered him. "Well, I suppose that's true."
"Maybe you'll start behaving yourself," Mr. Potter said to his son, "now you've got a Prefect around to look after you."
"Yeah, that's likely," said James sarcastically.
Mr. Potter's response was lost to a snarl from someone coming up just behind Remus. Remus turned, this time to see Sirius hurrying towards them looking exceptionally pissed off.
"I - can't - stand - her!" he breathed between clenched teeth. "Honestly," he said, "can we get on the train now? I need to get as far away from her as humanly possible." No one needed to ask whom he was talking about.
"So, had a good summer, Padfoot?" James asked brightly.
Sirius glowered at James for a minute, then turned to Remus, by whom he was distracted.
"What, in the name of Merlin, is that disgusting thing you've got pinned to the front of your robes?" Sirius shouted at Remus.
"It's a Prefect's badge," James told him darkly.
Sirius gaped. "Take it off!" he demanded of Remus.
"What?" Remus asked.
"You've got to take it off, Moony," Sirius said. "That thing, that badge; it's got to go. I can't be seen with someone wearing one of those! Think of what it would do to my reputation!"
"I think your 'reputation' is solid enough to stand the shame of being seen with a Prefect," Remus assured him.
Sirius winced noticeably at the word "Prefect". "I'm not so sure," he muttered, "if people thought I was associated with an authority figure...I can't even think about it it's so bad!"
"Trust me, Padfoot, you'll live," said Remus.
"But if you don't, we'll remember you fondly," said James.
"Gee, thanks."
"Where's your stuff?" Remus asked; Sirius was empty handed.
Sirius swore. "Shit, I left it with her, didn't I?"
"Left what with who?"
Peter and his mother came striding up to the five of them. Peter was pushing his trunk on a trolley in front of him.
"My effing trunk," Sirius explained to Peter. He sighed. "Do you really think it's worth going back over there?" he asked them.
"Probably," said Remus.
"Well, Peter and I have got to get our own stuff onto the train," said James, checking his watch. Mrs. Pettigrew was chatting with James's parents behind him.
"I've already got us a compartment," said Remus, "about halfway down the train. I put my cloak on the seat so you'll recognize it. Why don't you guys go load your stuff on the train and I'll go with Padfoot to get his trunk?"
They agreed to the plan (Sirius rather reluctantly), and split up, James retrieving his trunk from his parents and heading to the train with Peter, and Remus and Sirius heading off in the direction of Sirius's mother. As they walked away, Remus heard Peter ask James, "Was Moony wearing a Prefect's badge?"
It was now ten minutes to eleven and the platform was packed. It took them a few minutes of wading though the crowd before they managed to locate Sirius's mother. She was extremely beautiful and looked a lot like Sirius. She also looked extremely unfriendly and intimidating. She was glaring around the crowd with a sort of superior disapproval, and was holding her arms very close around her as if worried she might rub against something (or someone) disgusting in the station. Beside her stood Regulus, who was about to start his second year at Hogwarts, and two luggage-laden trolleys.
"You should probably stay back here," Sirius said, stopping Remus a safe distance from his mother. He was looking at her with a calculating expression on his face, as though trying to formulate the best way to get his trunk with minimal interaction.
"Okay," Remus said. He wasn't at all sorry to be excused from having to meet the infamous Mrs. Black.
Sirius sighed again, then headed for his mother. Remus decided it would be rude to just stand there and stare at them like an idiot, so he let his gaze wander through the crowd until Sirius returned.
"That was fast," said Remus, as he and followed Sirius and his trunk back towards the train.
"Turns out she's not speaking to me," said Sirius indifferently. "It was easier than I expected. So where are the rest of the Lupins?"
"They left. We got here pretty early, so we already said our goodbyes."
"How was your summer?"
"It was fine. My sister drove me a little nuts, but," Remus looked back over his shoulder at Mrs. Black, "doesn't seem like I've got much to complain about."
Sirius looked back as well, "And she wants me home for Christmas too. Big Black family reunion; so it will either end in a single suicide or a mass homicide, depending on my mood."
"Interesting."
"If I go with the homicide thing, can I lay low at your place?"
"My parents would be thrilled about that."
"They're already harboring a werewolf," Sirius pointed out. "Nice face, by the way. Goes lovely with your new badge."
"Don't be jealous, Padfoot."
"Oh, don't worry, Moony. I'm definitely not jealous."
Remus helped Sirius carry his trunk onto the train and into the compartment. James and Peter's stuff was in there, but the two boys had apparently gone back onto the platform to say goodbye to their parents.
"Well," said Sirius, sitting down in a seat and stretching out, "shall we make ourselves comfortable?"
"Sorry, mate, I've got to go sit in the Prefect's carriage for a while."
Sirius winced at "Prefect" again. Remus could tell it was intentional. "Well I'm not just going to sit here all alone," said Sirius, standing up, "I'm going find the others."
"Tell them where I've gone, will you?" Remus asked, as they headed their separate directions.
"If I came stand the shame," Sirius said melodramatically. He smirked and left the train.
Remus made his way up the corridor. The Prefect's carriage was supposed to be right near the front. It wasn't hard to locate; the Head Boy and Head Girl were standing just outside the compartment door.
"Remus Lupin," said the Head Girl, making a tick next to his name on what was clearly an attendance sheet, "go on inside and sit down." She looked up from her parchment and smiled at him, but her expression changed to puzzled as she took in the scratches on his face. Remus darted into the compartment before she got the chance to ask.
It was clearly the compartment for new Prefects, because all of the people Remus saw were also fifth years. There were five (not including Remus), a boy and girl from Ravenclaw, a sour-looking Slytherin boy, a rather grumpy-looking Hufflepuff girl, and Lily Evans.
Lily was chatting happily with the two Ravenclaws, but turned and smiled at Remus as he entered. "The missing Gryffindor," she said. "How are you, Remus?"
"I'm good," he said, returning her smile and taking the seat next to her, across from the Ravenclaws.
"Remus, you know - " Lily began.
" - Hank and Michelle," Remus finished. "Yes, of course." He had had classes with both Ravenclaws before. He knew neither of them well, but he at least knew their names.
Hank acknowledged Remus with a wave of his hand. Michelle asked, not unkindly, "What did you do to your face?"
No beating around the bush for this one, I see, Remus thought. "Oh, this?" he asked, touching his hand to the scratches on his face as though he had forgotten they were there, which he hadn't. "My uncle's dog. Yeah, we went to visit him a couple of days ago and Killer just took a big swipe out of my face. You've gotta love family visits." He was becoming a better liar, but apparently not good enough.
"But couldn't you heal them with magic?" Michelle asked, "I mean, you're parents are wizards, aren't they?"
Wow, look at that. Is it time to change the subject already? "So how was your summer, Hank?" Remus asked.
"He was just telling us about it," said Michelle, seemingly oblivious to the abrupt change in subject; she was clearly one of those easily distracted types. Hank filled Remus in on the events of his summer. As Hank talked, the last two fifth year Prefects arrived and the train pulled out of the station. Once the last waving parent had been whipped out of view, the Head Boy and Head Girl came into the compartment.
Julie Bishop and Fredrick Hurley (the newly appointed Head Girl and Boy) were nice enough, so the next hour and a half in their company passed enjoyably. Remus, Lily, Michelle, Hank, and the other four new Prefects listened as Julie and Fredrick explained all of the new responsibilities they would have now, but livened up the dull list of rules and duties with some fun anecdotes about their own experiences as Prefects.
When the Heads left to go talk to the sixth and seventh years, Remus stuck around for a little while to exchange more summer stories. Lily told them all about her sister's new prat of a boyfriend, Vernon (whom she had cleverly nicknamed Vermin), and how hard she had had to resist the urge to turn him into some kind of amphibian. The new Hufflepuff, a boy called Kern Henderson, introduced himself and told a few of his own summer stories. The Hufflepuff girl, Chelsea, had disappeared the moment that Julie and Fredrick had, but the two Slytherins stayed a while. They sat together in the corner whispering to each other and shooting evil looks at Kern and Lily. Remus had an idea he knew what that was about; it appeared that the Slytherins didn't believe that Muggle-borns were good enough to be Prefects. Wonder what they'd say about a werewolf Prefect"
Eventually, the Slytherins departed, and not long after, Lily and Remus decided to take their leave.
"We'll be seeing you then," said Kern, waving and grinning at Remus as he and Lily exited. Remus smiled back and closed the compartment door.
"Well," Lily said cheerfully as they set off down the train, "at least we have a few good people to do Prefect duty with."
"Yeah," said Remus, "and a few not-so-good people."
"They can't all be wonderful, I suppose."
Remus and Lily walked together until they reached the compartment that James, Sirius, and Peter occupied.
"Finally!" said Sirius when Remus opened the compartment door. "Did they hold you lot hostage or something, mate? You've been ages!"
"I'll see you later, Remus," said Lily. She turned and continued to walk down the train, looking for her own friends.
"Bye," said Remus. He entered the compartment and closed the door.
"Damn!" James said the moment the door was closed, "Evans had a good summer, didn't she?"
"She said it was okay," said Remus, taking a seat beside Peter. "Her sister's got a new boyfriend whose pretty annoying apparently, but otherwise her holiday was pretty good."
"I don't think that that's what Prongs was talking about," said Sirius. "I think he was referring to other aspects of Evans's summer."
"Like what?" Remus asked.
"Like the fact that she's a totally hot!" said James, standing up and pressing his face against the window in the compartment door to watch Lily walking away. "I mean, she's always been pretty, but she was definitely not that hot last year."
"I didn't really notice," said Remus.
"Didn't notice! Are you blind, Moony? She's amazing!"
"Aww," said Peter, "I fink widdle Prongsie is in wuv!"
"Am not!" James snapped, turning away from the door, his face rather red. "I just think she's hot. I don't see how you don't see it, Moony."
"I guess she's just not my type."
"You have a type?" Sirius asked. "What, does girl have to sprout fangs and grow fur once a month to catch your eye?"
"No," said Remus composedly, "I'm just saying that Evans isn't my type."
"So you don't mind if I ask her out?" asked James in a rush.
"Um, no offense Prongs, but I don't think she likes you very much," said Remus. Boy, was that an understatement.
"Oh, she just hasn't seen the right side of me, that's all," said James confidently. "I just have to woo her, then she'll see how much she likes me. I think I'll go find her now." He opened the compartment door and stepped out into the corridor.
"A little eager now, aren't we Prongsie?" asked Sirius.
"The moment is opportune," said James. He closed the door behind him and hurried off.
"Oh, he has it bad," said Sirius.
James walked down the train, looking into each compartment to see whether Lily was in them. Toward the end of the train, he saw her, standing outside one of the compartments talking to Delangela Narkin.
"Hi there, Evans," he said in his deepest and sexiest voice. "Narkin," he added, nodding at her.
"Hi Potter," said Delangela. "How was your holiday?"
"It was fine," James said to her shortly. Then he turned soft eyes on Lily. "How was your summer, Evans?"
She eyed him suspiciously, clearly off-put by his unusual amount of interest and his odd tone. He usually ignored her. "It was okay, I guess."
"Just okay?" James asked, looking as though he were troubled that her summer hadn't been super fantastically amazingly awesome.
"Yeah," said Lily, "nothing special."
"Oh," said James, "that's a shame. Well, maybe this year will be a bit more exciting for you." He flashed her a smile.
She raised an eyebrow, more suspicious than ever. "Yeah," she said shortly. "Maybe."
Delangela looked as though she was trying hard not to laugh. Lily didn't understand what was so funny.
"I guess I'll be seeing you around then," said James, looking intensely at Lily.
"Err, sure," said Lily.
"You ladies enjoy the rest of your trip now," he said. He winked at Lily and walked away.
As soon as he was far enough up train that he was no longer in earshot, Delangela burst out laughing.
"What?" Lily asked her, still a little bemused by the peculiar behavior of James Potter. "What's so funny, Del?"
Delangela didn't respond. She was laughing too hard to form coherent words and was starting to attract stares from other people in the corridor.
"Come on," Lily said irritably, grabbing her cackling friend by the arm, opening the door of the compartment behind them, and dragging Delangela inside.
There were already four girls in the compartment, all in Lily and Delangela's year, Mary and Betsy from Gryffindor, and Gretchen and Jane from Hufflepuff. The girls broke off mid-conversation as Lily and Delangela entered and all turned to stare at Delangela as she collapsed into a seat beside Jane, still laughing hard.
"What's so funny, Del?" Mary asked as Lily sat down next to her.
Delangela swallowed several times as she attempted to control herself. Then she said, with tears of laughter still swimming in her eyes, "James Potter just hit on Lily!"
"HE DID WHAT?" Lily, Mary, and Gretchen all exclaimed at the same time.
"Seriously?" Jane asked.
"James Potter hit on you?" Betsy asked Lily.
"No he didn't!" Lily said. "He just..." Her face drained of color. The strange looks, the odd, deeper voice, the phrases "maybe this year will be a bit more exciting for you" and "I'll be seeing you around then", and the wink flashed through her memory, and suddenly it was all painfully clear. "Oh my god, James Potter just hit on me."
Mary and Gretchen started to giggle. Jane looked as bemused as Lily felt. Delangela was smirking. Betsy asked, "So, are you two going out then?"
"NO. WAY."
"Oh, why not, Lily?" Mary asked. "He is cute."
"Since when is mad-scientist hair cute?" Lily asked.
"It's not mad-scientist," Mary said, "it's windswept."
"Yeah," Gretchen agreed. "And he's got a great smile."
"He has an arrogant leer," Lily said tonelessly.
"And I thought you liked boys in specs," Delangela said to Lily. "Didn't you have a crush on that Pierre kid last year?"
"I think that was more for his accent than for his glasses," Betsy said.
"He does have an amazing accent," Jane sighed.
"But he's not a Quidditch player," Gretchen said. "Potter's an amazing Quidditch player."
"Who cares?" Lily asked.
"I do," Gretchen said. "He's so talented."
"He's amazing," Mary gushed.
"So he can throw around a stupid red ball," Lily said. "What's that matter to me?"
"Athletic physic," Mary said. "Can't beat a Quidditch player's body, that's for sure," Gretchen said.
"I'd rather have a plain non-Quidditch-player whom I can tolerate over an insufferable idiot like Potter any day."
"I don't find him completely insufferable," Betsy said.
"Then why don't you date him?" Lily asked Betsy.
"Because he wasn't flirting with her in the corridor," Delangela said. "Come on, Lils, he is pretty attractive. Nothing on Black, of course, but..."
"Oh, here we go," Lily sighed. Everyone knew tat Delangela was still as much in love with Sirius Black as ever. It hadn't stopped her from having a positive battalion of boyfriends over the last few years, but it was still plain that her heart belonged to Black.
"I'm just saying," Delangela said, "that you could do a lot worse than Potter."
"I could do no worse than Potter," Lily said.
"I disagree," Jane said. "You could be dating some creepy, Death-Eater-wannabe Slytherin."
"Like that Snape kid," Mary said venomously.
Lily turned to look at Mary, very surprised. Mary knew that Lily and Severus were friends, and even though Lily knew that Mary disliked Severus, Mary had always refrained from openly criticizing him for this reason.
"Severus is my friend," Lily said coldly.
"Is he?" Mary asked, her voice full of uncharacteristic sarcasm. "Is he still your friend, Lily? That's odd. I wouldn't have thought he would still want to be friends with someone like you."
"What's that supposed to mean, 'someone like me'?" Lily asked.
Mary shifted in her seat, her expression very sour. "Ran into your 'friend' Severus on the platform this morning. Want to know what he said to me?"
"What?" Lily asked in a small voice.
"He called me a Mudblood," Mary spat.
"Oh Mary!" Betsy said, putting an arm around her friend.
"He's wrong, Mary," Gretchen said firmly.
"But...but he couldn't have," Lily spluttered.
Mary glared at her. "Imagined it, did I?" she snapped. "I heard what he said and so did half-a-dozen of his snake-friends who were with him!"
"But Severus would never..."
"Oh, you don't think so?" Mary asked. "Think he's still just a wonderful friend? Open your eyes Lily! He's one of them now. He's always been one of them really. And if he thinks my blood is dirty just because my parents are muggles then what makes you any different?"
The compartment was silent. Lily was lost for words. How could this have happened? It didn't make any sense. Severus knew that having muggles for parents didn't make any difference. He had said so himself when he had first told her about the Wizarding world. And even though he was hanging with less-than-desirable crowd these days, she still couldn't see how he could possibly call anyone a Mudblood. But...why would Mary have said it had happened if it hadn't? Mary wasn't the type to invent stories for the sake of gossip; that was Delangela's job. She couldn't see why Mary would lie about it, but it still just could not be true. Severus was different. Severus would never call Mary a Mudblood.
Would he?
James Potter strutted back up the train feeling very satisfied with himself after his conversation with Lily Evans. Wow was she beautiful! Was this something new, or had she always been beautiful and he had just never noticed? He supposed that it didn't matter; he noticed her now. And after his brief conversation with her a minute ago, he knew that she was into him too. Well of course she is, James thought. Who could possibly resist me?
He thought of Lily Evans all the way back to his compartment, but then became distracted when he tried to open the compartment door. It was locked. Why did they lock the door? James wondered. And why did they let the blinds down too?
"Who's there?" Remus's tense voice called from inside the compartment. They must have heard him trying to open the door.
"It's Father Christmas," James called back irritably. "It's Prongs, you moron, open up!"
"Give us a minute, Prongs," Remus called back. There was a thump and the sound of Sirius swearing loudly inside the compartment. What on earth were they doing?
James waited impatiently for them to do whatever it was they needed to do before they opened the door, all the while enjoying a symphony of Sirius's colorful vocabulary. Finally, Remus opened the door just wide enough to stick his head out. "Okay, you can come in now." He opened the door a faction more and James squeezed his way inside. Remus stuck his head out again, looked once up the train, once down the train, then quickly pulled his head back in and slammed and locked the door.
"What in the name of Merlin have you been doing in here?" James asked, his eyes moving from Remus, to Peter, to Sirius, the last of whom had his arms hidden under Remus's balled-up cloak on his lap.
"Padfoot has been...practicing," Remus explained, sitting down next to Peter.
"He was showing us how far he got over the summer," Peter said. "But then there was a problem..."
"A problem?" James asked, taking the seat beside Sirius.
Sirius pulled his arms out from under Remus's cloak. His forearms were covered in thick black hair and his hands had turned into large black paws. "I got stuck," he explained. "It's happened before. It always goes away eventually, but it's bloody annoying! I can't let anyone see me like this! Ugh, did I tell you guys about the time over the summer when I had to go down to dinner trying to hide my tail beneath my robes?"
"No, you didn't," Peter said. "How was it?"
"Uncomfortable," Sirius said shortly.
"Don't worry about it too much, mate," James said. "I've gotten stuck before too."
"So have I," said Peter. "All the time."
"And trust me, antlers are a lot harder to hide than a tail," James added.
"Yeah, but how am I supposed to hide these?" Sirius asked, holding up his paws.
James shrugged. "Shove them in your pockets?" he suggested.
"Which is great," said Sirius, "until I have to doing something that requires hands and opposable thumbs."
"You"ll change back before we get to the station," Peter assured him. "We still have ages. Even I don't get stuck for that long."
"Right," Sirius mumbled.
"Did you get a lot of practice over the summer?" Remus asked James.
"As much as I could," James said. "But I was pretty busy this summer."
Remus nodded.
"Want me to show you how far I got?" James asked.
"Hell no," said Sirius. "There's not enough room in here for your huge antlers, especially if you can't get rid of them once you change back."
"Padfoot has a point," Remus said. "You can show us tonight in the dormitory."
"Have you gotten to the point where you can change completely into a stag?" Sirius asked. "Or do you still have some human parts?"
"No, I can change completely," James said. "But it's a rough change, and it takes a long time."
"Yeah," said Peter. "Padfoot had only got halfway transformed when you came back, and then, obviously, he got stuck changing back."
"What about you?" James asked Peter. "Can you transform completely?"
"I'm so close," Peter moaned, sounding very frustrated. "I can get to the point where I have no human features, but I still can't get the damn tail right!"
"Not really living up to your name then, are you, Wormtail?" Sirius smirked.
"Where as you are just a fine example of your name," James told Sirius, lifting one of Sirius's fur-covered arms to show off the padded underside of Sirius's paw.
"True," said Sirius. "People will finally understand my nickname."
"And mine if I get stuck with antlers again," James said, releasing Sirius's dog-arm.
"Just so long as no one figures out mine," Remus said. "But don't you think you'll raise a tiny bit of suspicion if you walk around sporting antlers and padded paws?"
"Right. We'll just keep it quiet like always then," James said.
"But then no one will ever understand," said Sirius.
"That was kind of the point, remember?" Remus asked.
"I was joking," Sirius told him.
"I know," Remus replied.
"Well," James sighed, "at least it won't always be like this." He patted Sirius's paw.
"That's true," Remus said. "Once you're true Animagi, you can't be part human and part animal, even if you wanted to. You have to choose one form or the other, there's no middle ground, and the transition is smooth and quick."
"That's the part I'm looking forward to," Peter said. "An easy transformation. It's so hard right now. You have to put every bit of effort you can into it and be one hundred percent focused. And even when I do that, I still can't get the effing tail! But once you're a true Animagus, the transformation is supposed to be almost effortless."
"Yeah," said James, "being true Animagi will be great. This transformation process is probably the hardest thing we've ever done = including making the Map. I won't be sorry to see the end of it when we can just reap the rewards without all the hard work. And, if all goes to plan, things won't just get easier for the three of us, they'll also get better for Moony, which was, I believe, was the whole point in the first place."
"You believe?" Peter asked. "This was your idea!"
"I know," James said proudly. "I'm so brilliant." It's part of what makes me so irresistible to girls like Evans, he added in his head.
"But until we reach the point of true Animagi, we're still just part-human part-animal freaks," Sirius said, pushing his hair back out of his face with his paw.
"And until you become true Animagi," Remus said, "you can't come to the Shrieking Shack with me. You need to be completely stable in your animal forms. There can't be any chance that I might mistake one of you for a snack."
"Here here," Peter said a little darkly.
"But it can't be too long," James said in a rallying tone. "If we've all reached the point where we can change completely - or completely sans tail - it's probably only a matter of mouths before we're finish it. Bet you we all can do it before Halloween!"
"That's pretty ambitious," Remus said.
"Why don't we shoot for before Christmas?" Sirius asked.
"Fine," James huffed, "if you want to aim for sub-par..."
The rest of the train journey passed very enjoyably. They talked, they laughed, and they ate the food James, Sirius, and Peter had purchased from the trolley while Remus was at his Prefect meeting. James tossed Every Flavor Beans for Sirius to catch in his mouth, since he couldn't get any for himself, which culminated in an interesting struggle between them when James tossed Sirius a toe fungus flavored bean, which Sirius choked on and spat out before leaping on James. James won the fight; Sirius's large paws were superior to James's fists for direct blows, but James's opposable thumbs could still hold a wand, and one well placed curse was enough to put an end to the struggle.
Sirius managed to turn his paws back into hands just as the lamps went on in the compartments. He, James, and Peter, changed into robes as Remus watched the night get darker outside the window. In what seemed like no time, the Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade station. Remus's heart skipped; he was so glad to be back at Hogwarts, which made him think of something...
"Let's go quick so we can get a carriage together," Sirius said as people started to surge out of their compartments.
"Aren't you supposed to help shepherd the firsties, Moony?" James asked. "Moony?"
Remus was pulling his trunk out of the luggage rack. "Just give me a second, I want to do something. I'll catch you up."
James, Sirius, and Peter vanished out the door and into the mob students. Remus opened the lid of his trunk and quickly extracted a torn off piece of parchment and a self-inking quill. Balancing the fragment of parchment on his knee, he scribbled the following,
Note to self:
Remember to buy a birthday present to send to Kytalin.
He shoved the note into his pocket, replaced the quill, and closed the lid of the trunk. Then, after swinging his cloak over his shoulders, he hurried out to the platform, and also to the start of promising new school year.
Author's Notes: Reviews are always appreciated!