Chapter Text
A Monday in late August
Remus got off the bus at school and dragged his feet inside to the auditorium. All seniors were supposed to meet in the auditorium on the first day, according to the e-mail he received the week before. He wasn’t the first person to arrive, and there were only a few seats left. None of the people he saw were in uniform, which was good for him, because the e-mail didn't say anything about uniforms.
“Can I sit here?” Remus asked a blond boy.
The boy nodded and moved his bag from the seat. “You’re new here. I'm Peter” he said.
“Remus Lupin, and yeah I just moved here”.
“That's tough, but it’s not that bad here. I can show you around if you’d like” Peter smiled. Remus noticed his slight sunburn and freckles and eventually smiled back.
“Oi, Prongs, Pads, over here” Peter yelled at the two other kids that arrived. One of them was tall with glasses and looked very athletic. He had a brown complexion that glowed in the light, and his hair was black and curly. Overall, he was very handsome, although he was wearing sweatpants on the first day of school, and his smile lit up the entire room when he saw Peter. The other boy was shorter, slimmer and paler, had wavy black hair down to his shoulders. He was wearing a leather jacket and bootcut jeans with a chain on them.
“Hey, Wormtail”, the taller boy smiled and ruffled Peter’s hair when they came closer.
Peter batted his hand away. “Good to see you too, James.”
“Oi, Wormy, who’s he?” the long-haired boy gestured to Remus, who was simply reading his book. His usual strategy while around strangers.
“Remus Lupin, I’m new” he announced to the three boys.
“Alright then, I’m James Potter, this is my brother Sirius, and I see you’ve already met Pete” the tan boy smiled. God, what is it with the bloody positivity?
Remus wanted to be a little miserable about starting over one year before uni, but James’ smile was very contagious. So, Remus gave a little smile and waved back. He shot a quick look at the long-haired guy and noticed his eyes. He wore a bit of eyeliner, and it made his eyes stand out. It made Remus' stomach knot up for some godforsaken reason.
What the fuck are those nicknames, Remus thought. And those two couldn’t possibly be brothers - at least not biological. Remus had a lot of questions, but didn’t ask. He didn’t want to come off as rude on his first day. He was past that.
“I’m gonna go sit with Marls, see you later” Sirius said before walking toward the back, over to a blonde girl.
“I’ll just sit here, it’s almost 10, Minnie’s gonna be here any minute now” James announced before sitting down in front of Remus and Peter.
“Who’s Minnie?” Remus whispered to Peter, whose reply was interrupted by a woman, and he didn’t ask again.
“Settle down, students. I know it still feels like you’re on holiday, but please remain quiet, thank you” the woman stated. She wasn’t young, but she didn’t look very old either, she was probably around 50.
“Hiya Minnie, missed ya” a voice called from the back of the auditorium. It was that bloke again, Sirius.
“Mr. Black, it’s good to see you too”, the woman replied with a small upturn to her lips.
“Looking forward to later” Sirius winked and blew a kiss to her, Minnie. A wave of whistles and coos went through the auditorium. The girl next to him snickered and sank into Sirius’ side.
“So that’s Minnie, I’m guessing?” Remus asked Peter and James.
“Professor McGonagall, the vice headmistress. We’re not supposed to call her Minnie, but Sirius… yeah” James drifted off.
After the announcements, the students were led to their respective classrooms - except for Sirius Black, who followed Professor McGonagall. Remus felt lucky to be in the same class as Peter and James. He knew two names already, so it was a start. His teacher was a very old man named professor Binns. Professor Binns took attendance. “Sirius Black” he announced, scanning the room.
“Meeting” James said in his brother’s place.
“Right, well everyone else seems to be here, according to my list and the assigned seats. Welcome to you, Mr. Lupin, it’s not often students transfer this late, but here you are”. Remus just nodded at the old man, slightly embarrassed.
Remus’ seat was next to a red-haired girl named Lily Evans, according to the piece of paper taped to her desk. The first day, there wasn’t any actual lessons, and everyone was free to do as they pleased, if they didn’t break any rules and stayed inside the classroom during lesson-hours. Peter and James spent the lessons playing UNO to pass the time. Remus watched them from the back, and kept on reading his book, A Doll House.
“Is it any good? I’ve been meaning to read it” Lily asked him, pausing her yarn project.
Remus couldn’t figure out if it was knitting or crochet. (It was crochet). “Yes, it is, but I hope she leaves him” he replied.
“My friend Marlene recommended it to me a while ago, she’s half Norwegian and said they had to work with it in school back there. That girl over there” Lily pointed to a blonde girl in the front, the same girl Sirius sat with in the auditorium.
“She knows that Sirius, right? I saw her in the auditorium earlier” Remus replied.
“Yes, they’ve been dating for a bit, around two or three months now. I'm quite ambivalent on their relationship, but if she’s happy with him, that’s what matters, isn’t it?” Lily told him.
“Yeah sure” Remus answered.
“Hiya Binns, beautiful people, new kid” Sirius announced when he entered the classroom, grinning from ear to ear.
“Black, go sit next to McKinnon” Bilshin sighed before returning to his crossword.
“Speak of the devil” Lily said and kept on with her project.
“Now they’re full-on snogging” Remus commented, trying his best to avoid looking at it. He was not used to this sort of affection being shown in public - Frank and Alice barely held hands when walking the streets.
“Marls, do you have to? We are in class” Lily noted but was met with a middle finger from her friend, still mid-snog.
“They’re in love, Evans, can’t you see that? I’m happy for them” James said, turning to Remus and Lily.
“Being in love is one thing, but they don’t have to do all that in front of everyone. It’s a bit gross, if you ask me” Lily scoffed.
“Good thing I didn’t ask you, then” Sirius said from two rows a head of them. Lily gave him the finger along with a sarcastic smile. Sirius just blew her a kiss, which she rolled her eyes at.
After school and the horrible bus ride filled with younger kids, Remus finally arrived home. He was met with the smell of freshly baked pastries and hair-dye. He walked into the kitchen and found his mother doing the dishes.
“Oooo, what’s this?” he asked, referring to the chocolate pastries on the kitchen table.
“No, cariad, that’s for later. I’m inviting a few neighbours over to get to know them better” Hope Lupin said with a smile and a new look to her.
Hope Lupin was the definition of cool mum. She had pink hair - recently dyed, was covered in tattoos and let Remus do as he pleased, as long as he was safe, and she didn’t have to bail him out of jail at two in the morning.
“What, who are they?” he asked his mother, still focused on the pastries.
“Euphemia and Fleamont Potter, they live two houses down - the really big one with the roses. They have a few kids about your age I believe” Hope replied.
“Oh god, no, mum! Their kids are in my class, they’re so annoying, and one of them is too nice” Remus complained.
“Ain’t no thing as too nice, love” Hope smiled and returned to the dishes.
A few hours later, the doorbell rang, and Remus attempted to flee to his room, only for his door to be blocked by his mum. “Not a chance, cariad. Let them in, can’t let our guests waiting outside”. Remus sighed and dragged his feet to the door and opened it.
He was met with two older versions of James.
“Welcome, don’t mind the clutter, we’re not quite settled in yet” Hope said, referring to the cardboard boxes in the hall.
“Of course, it takes time” the woman, Euphemia, answered with a kind smile. Remus could clearly see where James’ smile came from.
“It took us three months to get everything into place when we moved here” her husband, Fleamont commented, laughing shortly.
“Would you like some tea?” Hope asked the couple, guiding them into the small living room.
“Yes, thank you” Euphemia answered for the both of them.
“So, you’re the mysterious new student at Hogwarts?” Fleamont asked Remus.
“Yes, sir” he replied politely.
“No need for that polite nonsense, we’re neighbours” the older man smiled and adjusted his glasses.
“Our sons James and Sirius attends Hogwarts, and James mentioned there was a new boy in their class”.
“I’m not that interesting” Remus replied, a bit embarrased.
The three parents talked about school schedules and boring adult things Remus had no interest in, so he slipped away to his bedroom. This one was a bit smaller than his previous one in Wales, but he liked it. It fit his bed, a desk and his books, that was enough for him. He checked his phone and saw a notification from Instagram messages. “Dora Tonks” the name read, and after looking at their profile and seeing them following Lily, Remus approved the message request. “You’re really tall” was all it read. He didn’t know what to reply, so he didn’t.
Another notification, “Man, don’t leave me on read” it read.
“Sorry, do I know you? This whole thing seems very stalker-ish, and my mum said not to talk to strangers online” Remus replied, hoping the person would catch the sarcasm.
“No, we don’t know each other, I just saw you at school today, I’m in the c-class with Flitwick.” the message said. Taken aback, he replied, “what do you want?” and opened A Doll’s House. Remus read his book, waiting for a reply that never came. He went to brush his teeth after the Potter parents left and promptly fell asleep earlier than anticipated.