For anyone outside of the magical world, there was nothing out of the ordinary about the tall, sandy haired boy walking towards Platforms 9 and 10 with his family, except for perhaps the large scar on his neck. But someone who was a part of the wizarding world would have known exactly what Remus's scar meant as he pushed his cart through the barrier on to Platform 9 and 3/4.
He stared up in awe at the huge scarlet engine. It was a breathtaking sight, but he only saw it for a few moments before his mum enveloped him in one of her crushing hugs. Remus could hear the barely restrained tears in her voice as she spoke into his hair.
"You be careful, okay? And behave yourself," she said as sternly as she could manage, gripping his upper arms tightly and holding him at arm's length. "It would be nice if a month or two passed before I started getting letters from your professors, all right? I love you so much," she said before pulling him close again and squeezing him tightly.
"I love you, too," Remus said back, and Rosey hugged him for a few more moments before releasing him to his dad.
"Time to prove yourself, R. J.," said John, extending a hand toward Remus as they both smiled at the affectionate nickname, before pulling him into a tight hug. Remus pulled in a deep breath of his father's comforting scent, an old habit, and felt some of his nervousness filter away as his dad said, "I know you'll make me even prouder of you than I am now."
Grace, nestled against John's chest, reached out and grabbed a handful of Remus's long hair gently, smiling at him as she tugged lightly. He reached his own hand up to wrap around hers, and her smile grew as the twins wrapped their arms around him, silently, trying to appear brave at Remus's leaving for reasons that only six year olds understood.
"I'll write you two so often you'll get sick of my letters," he said, and Lawrence and Sam nodded against his stomach before releasing him and moving towards Rosey, who silently nodded at the train, still barely holding back tears.
"You'd better go find yourself a compartment, they fill up awfully fast," his dad said, putting an arm around his wife, and Remus nodded shakily and placed Shaaro's cage on his trunk. Pushing it away from his family, he tried not to look back, as seeing the distance between them made the platform seem immeasurably large.
About halfway down the train, he saw two red-haired boys struggling to push a trunk up the stairs as a group of children with the same vivid hair stood watching around their legs. Remus left his own trunk for a moment and moved next to the shorter of the two boys, who smiled in gratitude through his effort. When they'd managed to get the trunk off the stairs and onto the floor of the car, the taller boy, strands of his long red hair drifting out of its ponytail, extended his hand to Remus.
"Thanks for the hand, mate," said the older boy, "I'm Bill Weasley, Head Boy, and this is my younger brother, Charlie. And, well, all of these are ours too," he added, gesturing to the crowd of smaller children, "And you're?" he asked, but before Remus could respond, Bill's eyes found the exposed part of the scar.
"You're Remus Lupin!" said Charlie, who had apparently seen the scar too, and extended his own hand for him to shake. Remus glanced around quickly, trying not to look too nervous at the thought of his name being said so loudly. But nobody else had seemed to notice in the bustle of the platform, and Remus turned back to the other boy with a slight nod.
"This is, uh, I mean, it's," said Charlie, whose red hair was cropped close to his head in comparison with his brother, but he couldn't manage a full sentence. His brother laughed and punched him gently on the shoulder.
"Forgive him, he can be a bit star-struck. You should have seen him when we saw Peta Corner at the Leaky Cauldron one time. Well, if you need anything, Remus, just let me know," said Bill, and grabbed two of the scrambling children around his feet by the shoulders with his long arms, "Fred, George, you watch it. Come on guys, back to mum and dad for you. Charlie and I have to get going."
Remus gave a short wave and pulled his trunk down a few more cars. With great effort, he managed to get it up the short staircase and into an empty compartment, and went back to retrieve Shaaro's cage from the platform. The staircase was blocked by a large trunk though, and Remus, noticing that the owner seemed to be struggling as much as he had, seized the handle closest to him and tugged. When the trunk was sitting in the aisle of the car, Remus expected the owner to emerge immediately, but he had to wait a few seconds before he heard footsteps coming up the stairs.
The boy that stepped into the aisle on the other side of the trunk had Shaaro's cage in one hand and the cage of a large eagle owl in the other. His shock yellow hair stuck out in odd directions all over the place, and his blue eyes seemed to flash with a hint of electricity as he smiled. He extended Shaaro's cage over to Remus, who took him with a quiet thanks.
"He looked lonely out on the platform, I thought he might be yours," he said, shrugging slightly, "I'm Adam. Adam Chamberlain."
"I'm Remus Lupin," Remus answered, habitual hesitation evident in his voice, and he nearly cringed as the other boy's eyes widened slightly.
"Nice to meet you," was his only verbal response though, and Remus breathed a sigh of hesitant relief, "Got any room in your compartment? Everywhere else is just about full up."
"Sure. I'm in there by myself right now."
Adam clambered over the trunk without too much trouble, handing the other cage to Remus, who took it and led the way to his compartment. After they'd stowed Adam's trunk, and settled their owls on the floor, they sat across from each other, and stared out the window for a time at the still bustling platform in silence.
"So, you're really him?" asked Adam, after a few minutes, but when Remus looked from the window to the other boy, he blushed and looked away.
"Yeah, I'm really him," said Remus, unconsciously titling his head to more openly reveal the part of his scar that reached up onto his neck. Adam seemed stunned for a moment, but quickly composed himself, and smiled at Remus.
"Cool. My dad always loved to tell me about you, before he died," said Adam, and then again seemed embarrassed at his words, "Sorry, you probably don't want to hear about that kind of stuff the second you get on the train. Mum says I've got a problem when I'm nervous, blurting stuff out and such."
"How'd he die?" asked Remus, and then blushed as well and wondered if he perhaps had the same problem as Adam.
"He was an Auror. Killed in action when I was seven, a few months before Halloween," said Adam, and silence fell over the compartment again. There was no need to ask what Halloween he was referring to, or why that was his reference point.
Remus, searching around for something to say, looked out the still open doors in time to see a girl with vivid pink hair trip over what appeared to be nothing more than her own feet and pitch forward. Remus moved quickly out of his seat and managed to wrap an arm tightly around her waist before she collided with the floor.
When he pulled her up to vertical again, his eyes met her own dark brown ones, and he felt a strange warmth spread through him as she smiled, "Wotcher. Thanks," she said, and he returned the smile.
"Need a seat? We've got plenty of room," he said, and then wondered what had caused him to extend the invitation. It was true that they had plenty of room, and she seemed nice enough, so he blamed it on that and grabbed the girl's trunk when she nodded.
"Thanks again," she said when they'd stashed her trunk and they'd settled into seats, her next to Remus, Adam sitting across from them, still staring out the window, though he'd acknowledged the new girl politely when she'd entered behind Remus, "I'm Nymphadora Tonks, though you should just call me," and she leaned forward and dropped her voice here, as though waiting for someone to jump out and catch her, "Tonks."
Remus raised his eyebrows at her as Adam seemed to come back from wherever he had been after talking about his father to laugh at her, and she shrugged, "I don't like my first name, but my mum doesn't think it's lady-like to go by Tonks, so I don't tell her. Or, I try not to. It slips out in arguments sometimes that I can't believe they would give me such a dreadful name. She doesn't seem to appreciate my thoughts on the matter very much. Do you two have names, or are you simply Tall Boy and Blonde Boy?"
"Adam, Adam Chamberlain."
"Remus Lupin."
Rather than gaping in amazement as he had grown used to people doing, Tonks smirked and then, as though unable to contain it, gave several hearty laughs, "That's amazing. The word started going up and down the platform that you were here, and I've never seen more people boasting that they'd already seen, met, or were sharing a compartment with you. And here I am, little old me, actually sitting in the compartment with the real life Remus Lupin."
Remus wasn't quite sure how to reply to this, but it seemed like a pleasant enough reaction and certainly better than most, so he just smiled and relaxed the tension that had taken a grip on his shoulders at his own utterance of his name. The cabin was silent except for Tonks's laughter for a few moments until Adam spoke up.
"Does she think the pink hair is lady-like? Your mum?" asked Adam, his eyebrows rising to indicate the bright, colorful spikes.
Tonks laughed, "Not lady-like, but she's never really made a fuss over it. Says I was born like that, and as long as I don't change it when we're around Muggles, than I can wear it any way I wish."
"Change it?" asked Remus, and Tonks screwed up her pale, heart-shaped face, the pink spikes turning dark blue and tumbling down her back. She smiled as the two boys looked on in astonishment as her hair returned to its original style and color.
"I'm a Metamorphmagus," she said proudly; smile widening as Adam continued to stare in question, although Remus brightened at the last word.
"A whatsit?"
"It means that she can change her appearance at will, without outside magic. You must be the only registered one in the past fifty years," said Remus, trying not to look too awestruck even as he openly stared, "You'll make people forget all about me when they find out about you," he said, and then ducked his head and unconsciously allowed his hand to stray to the exposed piece of the scar, "I mean, not that they'll be paying all that much attention to me after they actually meet me."
Tonks just laughed harder at his words, "Are you joking? I can make funny faces and turn my hair strange colors. You're Remus Lupin, the Remus Lupin, the boy who was barely six when he defeated one of the most feared werewolves in modern history, not to mention a werewolf that was in the inner circle of You-Know-Who. Half the kids in the castle were told about you as a bedtime story."
"So it's true," said a voice from the compartment door, still open even as the train began to move, "The heroic Remus Lupin does indeed grace us with his grand presence. Who'd of thought the Weasleys knew a thing," the voice continued as the occupants of the compartment turned to face the boy.
Remus recognized the boy from Madame Malkin's, with his slick black hair, hooked nose, and those predator eyes that were studying Remus with even more interest than the day back at the clothing shop. Now though, he was flanked by a girl with vivid yellow hair, drawn up into two slightly ridiculous pigtails, and a large boy with thick, tangled hair the color of very dry dirt, so large that he looked almost uncomfortably cramped standing in the doorway.
"Adelbert McNair," he said, extending a hand toward Remus, who took it gingerly, "We met in Madame Malkin's. This is Daisy Williams, and Raymond Leen, old friends of mine," continued McNair, and Remus wondered momentarily how one could address people as 'old friends' when they were eleven, but was distracted when the other boy turned his hawk-like eyes on the other two people in the compartment.
"Hello, Nymphadora. Long time, no see. It's a pity you can never make it to the family reunions, they are such fun," he said, and Tonks clenched her fists, but seemed to curl into herself slightly at the words. Remus reached out a hand, almost without realizing it, and rested it on her shoulder as McNair continued, "And my father worked with yours, Chamberlain, before your father's untimely death. A tragedy that," he said, then turned to Remus with an almost bored expression, "Well, Ray can help you with your trunk if you'd like to move down to my compartment, it's not very far."
The dark-haired boy raised his eyebrows, clearly expecting Remus to answer affirmatively and stand to join him, but Remus just looked at the other two, drawn into their own worlds by McNair's comments, and answered, "Why would I want to do that?"
McNair laughed, "Oh, please, Remus, you can't possibly want to be seen spending time with this type of riff-raff," he seemed poised to continue in this vain, but Remus cut him off.
"I think they're exactly the kind of riff-raff I want to hang out with. Or are we ignoring the fact that I'm just as half-blooded as either of them? Still want to be best pals? Either way, I think it's time for you to go," said Remus, standing and putting himself in between the door and Tonks and Adam.
"I can see you're almost beyond hope, Lupin," said McNair, dropping Remus's first name along with the smile before whirling around to stalk off, the girl and the hulking boy following meekly along, or as meekly as the massive boulder of boy could manage. The compartment remained silent, so quiet that Remus could hear the sound of wheels rolling down the aisle, and a smiling late middle-aged woman approached him with a cart full of treats and candies.
"Anything off the trolley, dears?" she asked, but the other two didn't respond at all, self-contained in whatever memories McNair's words had brought up. Remus dug into his pocket for the money he had there, and bought as much as he could carry before thanking the woman and re-entering the compartment. Carefully picking out a Pumpkin Pastie, he sat down next to Tonks and offered it to her with a half-smile.
"Nymphadora is a beautiful name," he said, and she looked up in surprise. "You know what's a stupid name? Adelbert," he continued, and she accepted the treat with a smile.
"Hey," he said to Adam, who looked away from the window and the scenery now rapidly flashing by in time to catch the Cauldron Cake Remus tossed his way. "That guy is a jerk, and he says that stuff to get you down. Don't let him win," Remus said, and tried not to feel ridiculous, preaching to these people with problems he clearly didn't understand. But Adam reached across to grab another Cauldron Cake and Tonks was already struggling with the wrapper of her Pumpkin Pastie.
The rest of the trip passed undisturbed, and just as they were reaching the bottom of the pile of treats, a deep voice came over an unseen intercom to let them know that they were ten minutes from their destination, and that there was no need to bring their trunks off with them, as they would be taken up to the dormitory at a separate time.
Tonks ducked into the compartment across the aisle, which had emptied out at some point, to change, while the boys pulled on their own things in their original compartment. She had just returned when the train slowed to a stop, and they began trying to make their way through the crowded hallway and out on to the platform.
When they finally managed it, the group skirted around a couple of older Hufflepuffs who seemed about to come to blows in their argument, heading towards a high lantern and a voice that was calling out, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" Reaching the faint circle of light given off by the lantern held high above the heads of the students, Remus found himself looking at the largest man he had ever seen.
His massive head was covered in thick black hair and a matching beard, but the dark eyes were jewel-like, and Remus felt comfortable around the large man almost instantly. Once the crowd of nervous looking first years had gathered around him, the big man lowered the lantern so it better illuminated them, and spoke in a deep, booming voice.
"This all of ya', than?" a few timid nods, "Well, I'm Rubeus Hagrid, but you all should just call me Hagrid, like everybody else, an' I'm the Keeper of Keys and Grounds here at Hogwarts, but tonight it's me job to get you all up to the castle fer the sortin' and such in one piece. All righ', follow me," he said, raising the lantern again to count heads and then setting off for a break in the trees. The first years followed nervously.
The sky had darkened to a deep purple, and as hard as Remus tried to concentrate on the uneven, slippery ground of the thin, steep path, visibility was almost zero. Generally, the only thing Remus could see in the darkness was Adam's electric blonde and Tonks's pink hair. Several times, Tonks slipped on the precarious footing and Remus had to catch her. The last time she slipped, it nearly sent them both crashing into the trees that lined the path, and she was still apologizing profusely, despite Remus telling her it was no big deal, when the ground finally leveled off and they found themselves standing next to a small fleet of boats.
"No more'n four to a boat!" shouted Hagrid, and Remus, Adam and Tonks clambered into one of the boats, joined by a boy with floppy brown hair and sad gray eyes who introduced himself as Lewis Lister. When all the first years had settled into their boats, Hagrid climbed into his own boat, and set the small fleet off with a shout of "Go!"
As the boats drifted slightly left, they finally broke around the thickest part of the trees, and a collective gasp went up from the occupants of the boats. Before them, candle-lit windows illuminating the outlines of its many towers against the inky, star-filled sky, grander than anything they'd imagined it as, stood Hogwarts castle.
Remus Lupin and The Centaur Ashes by discosuperfli
Chapter Notes: Okay, quick notice. In this fic, Charlie and Bill Weasley are considerably older then they are in canon (5 years older). I have no 'Remus went back and stuff changed' explanation for this, other than it seemed too easy to just put Charlie in their year and let them be best friends (I also wanted to make Adam, who used to be called Marc), so I made them older. How this will affect the story, I have no idea, but I promise I will figure it all out eventually. These guys are the only one's that I've knowingly made older or younger, everyone else is either non-confirmed or canon correct.
******Also, yes, Remus met his friends on the train, just like Harry. But I figured that a lot of people meet friends on the train ride for the first time, so I think it's okay. And yes, he confronts his 'enemy' for the first time on the train also. Same thing, it's like the first day of school, except moving and magic.
*********And I'll end another ridiculously long author's note with this: I've simply brought some of my little action figures with me to play in JKR's sandbox. Everything you recognize is hers.