YOUNG BUCK
Thanks to Mo and Liz for betas.As the train pulled away from the station, a few of the more shy First Year students still wandered the corridors, searching for a compartment in which to make their first journey to Hogwarts.
One such shy Firstie peered into compartment windows towards the back half of the train, hoping to find one with an open spot. He'd planned, initially, to have one nearly to himself, but the last few years had proven to yield a larger student intake than Hogwarts had previously seen. Some compartments were filled with five or even six passengers, so Remus Lupin quickly ascertained that he would be forced to interact with other students.
In the fourth compartment from the rear, three students sat quietly watching out the windows as the landscape gradually became more and more blurred as the train picked up speed. Remus thought they seemed harmless enough, so he opened the door. All three heads turned at the sound.
"Pardon me," Remus said, hating the feel of the six eyes staring at him. He pointed to the empty side of the right-hand bench. "Is that seat taken?"
The dark-haired boy occupying the other half of the bench eyed Remus warily, glanced down at the open cushion, then back up at Remus. "Reckon it's yours," he muttered, turning his head away to stare back out the window again.
Remus dropped his eyes and felt his cheeks redden at the short tone the boy took with him. Could they tell so easily? His father had always sworn that werewolves were just like other wizards for most of their lives, and that it took a particularly observant wizard to notice the pattern of absences and illnesses that a werewolf inevitably left behind.
"No one talks about werewolves, you see," Lovernios had said just days before, soothing his slightly-panicking son. "Not in every day conversation, at least. So they tend to forget that wizards and witches like you exist. They don't look at everyone around them and wonder, 'is that a werewolf?' So long as you're smart with your excuses, you should be just fine, Remus."
Remus really hoped his father was right.
Hefting his trunk was more difficult than he'd anticipated, and he blushed again when he felt a hand touch his arm.
"Let me," said the hand's owner, a tall girl who'd been sitting across from the young boy. Remus simply nodded and took a step back, letting her pull out her wand and mutter spell that floated the trunk up to the storage shelf above the seats. "There you are, lad."
Remus smiled shyly and took a seat. "Thank you."
The older girl sat back in her place, waving her hand dismissively. "Not at all. Trunks for First Years are always way too heavy, since you've got to bring so much more."
Next to her, the other girl in the compartment was not-so-subtly rolling her eyes; she'd yet to make eye contact with Remus, or even simply acknowledge his presence. Remus felt a lump start to form in his throat as his nerves began to take over. No one seemed to be interested in making conversation, so Remus reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a thoroughly creased and dog-eared paperback book. He opened the book at a random page, as he knew the story well enough to begin it at any point easily.
He'd finished the book once and was well on his way to doing so a second time when the compartment door opened, revealing a plump older woman with a trolley filled with various snacks and sweets.
"Anyone care for something off the trolley?" she asked, smiling pleasantly at the quartet.
The boy—who'd been staring out the window motionlessly for the entire ride so far—jumped to his feet and clamored over Remus to get a closer look. "Excuse you," Remus muttered.
"What?" the boy snapped, glaring.
Remus said, "Nothing," in a louder voice. The boy glared for another moment before turning back to the array of sweets, not bothering to budge over and give Remus more room.
The older girl stood up and grabbed the boy by the back of his shirt, hauling him away from the trolley. "Where're your manners, Sirius?" The reprimand seemed to sink in, and his eyes flicked over to meet Remus's briefly as he mumbled an apology. The girl smiled at the trolley woman. "We're fine for the day, unless young Buck here wants something?"
Remus's eyebrows shot up at the nickname, and he gripped his paperback a bit more tightly. "Er, no thank you, I'm not hungry."
The trolley moved further up the train to tempt other students, and Remus tried to hide deeper in the cushions and behind his book. Once again, the cabin grew quiet.
There was a bit of a shuffle when the blonde girl who still hadn't spared Remus even a glance needed to step out to use the on-board loo, and the dark-haired girl slid over to sit right across from Remus.
"So," she said, leaning forward and resting her forearms on her thighs, "you like Muggle books then, young Buck?"
"Seems you know a bit about them, too," Remus replied, peeking up over the pages. "And my name is Remus."
"Mine's Andromeda," she said with a grin, "but I'm still calling you Buck. Nasty habit I have, nicknaming people when I first meet them. It's not always accurate . . . or flattering. Isn't that right, Prune?" This nickname was directed at the other boy—Sirius, she'd called him earlier—with an affectionate smirk.
"Shut it, Andromeda," Sirius said, his voice sulky. "And I'll be telling Uncle Barnard what you've been reading under your blankets at night, I think."
"As though he doesn't already know. Sometimes I leave the books out in the open just to irritate them."
Sirius had no answer for that, and so she turned back to Remus. "You probably oughtn't call him Prune, I don't think." She winked. "So then, young Buck, how do you expect your Sorting will go?"
Now this was a subject Remus had put a great deal of thought into. "I suppose either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. That's where most of my dad's family was in, one of those two."
Andromeda nodded. "What about your mum's family?"
Remus bit his lip. He knew this answer would be controversial to some people he'd meet at school, but he supposed he couldn't figure them any easier than they could figure his own secret. "She's a Muggle. Not a smidge of magical blood in her whole family history."
He watched as Andromeda raised an eyebrow, and he began to worry that she'd be one of the ones who would hate him simply because he wasn't a full-blooded wizard. But then she smiled, "Lucky for you that you got your dad's magic then, or else we wouldn't be having this nice chat, right?"
Remus grinned in relief, and nodded in agreement. Andromeda revealed that Sirius was her cousin and the other girl, who was still off at the loo, was her younger sister, Narcissa. She also had an older sister, Bellatrix, who'd already left Hogwarts and presently traveling the world with her fiancé.
"What house are you in?" Remus asked, wondering he'd he be lucky enough to have made a friend of a housemate already, to have a Seventh Year already fond of him and willing to look out for him.
But Andromeda proudly announced, "Slytherin," though when she saw Remus's face drop in disappointment (he really didn't think there'd be any chance he'd be sorted there, he just didn't have the character for it) she added, "But don't worry. I've got friends in all the houses, so I'll make sure my young Buck is looked after properly."
Sirius made a huffing sound; Andromeda kicked out a long leg, catching her young cousin in the ankle. "And you're to be friendly if you share any classes, Sirius Black. Someone's got to keep a sense of open-minded decency in Slytherin after I've left, as Morgana knows Narcissa is too far sucked into the bloodline to bother with the other houses."
Remus looked at Sirius. "You'll be Slytherin, then?" He wasn't sure if he was pleased or disappointed by this—it wasn't as though Sirius had been particularly pleasant to him, but it would've been nice to hope to have a familiar face with him in his dormitory.
"I s'pose I will," said Sirius. "Nearly everyone else in my family's been. And I'm not poofy enough for Hufflepuff—" Andromeda kicked him again, chastising him for the inappropriate stereotype "—or bookish enough for Ravenclaw. And," he smirked, "I expect I'd be put up for adoption if I somehow got into Gryffindor . . ."
The compartment door slid open; a new voice, male and soaked with pompous disdain, said, "Don't even say the name of that bloody house, young man."
Andromeda's head snapped around, frowning at the newest occupant. "Stay away from my cousin, Lucius."
Remus just watched quietly; from behind the older boy, Narcissa stepped back into the compartment. "Frankly, I think it'd be better for the boy if you didn't speak to him, Andromeda."
Her frown deepening, Andromeda stood and crossed her arms. "I thought I told you to stay away from my sister." Remus wondered how anyone could possibly dare to defy that tone of voice.
Lucius took a similar stance. "I think she's quite capable of choosing her own company to keep, Black. Really, she's much better at it than you. Where's your little mudblood, hip-attachment boyfriend, anyway?"
Remus didn't even realize Andromeda had lifted her hand before he heard the slap. "Out!" she yelled. "Get out, and stay away from my sister, my cousin, and anyone else I associate with on a regular basis!"
He stood there a moment longer, as though searching for a weakness in his foe, then finally spun on his heel and left, letting the compartment door slam shut behind him. Narcissa, for a moment, looked as though she would follow him, but the cold glare coming from her older sister convinced her otherwise, and she sat down next to the window in a huff.
Satisfied that Lucius and Narcissa would not be meeting up for the remainder of the train ride, Andromeda settled in across from Remus again, and with a wink she said, "Welcome to Hogwarts, young Buck."
When they arrived at the train station, the castle looming in a most intimidating fashion from across the lake, Remus found himself sticking to Sirius's side as the First Years were escorted to a fleet of rowboats at the shore. He wanted to wave goodbye to Andromeda, but since Sirius didn't seem to be taking interest, he figured it wasn't his place.
They scrambled into a boat with a couple other boys, and presently the inherent magic of the lake began to draw the vessels across to their passengers' new home in the castle.
A stern-looking witch met them on the other side. She quickly introduced herself as Professor McGonagall while escorting the group towards a door that, she explained, would lead into the Great Hall, where they would stand before their new schoolmates and be Sorted into their Houses.
As the youngsters shuffled into the enormous room, they stared in awe at its brilliant decorations and size; while Remus's father had described the Great Hall, the reality was far beyond anything Remus had imagined. He glanced to the side and noticed that Sirius looked . . . well, almost bored.
Professor McGonagall carried out a small stool and a large hat, and placed it at the foot of the high table, where it seemed all of the teachers were sitting. "I shall call out your names one-by-one. When you hear your name, please step forward and sit on the stool, placing the Sorting Hat upon your head. It will decide into which House you're to spend your years here at Hogwarts." She unrolled a long piece of parchment, and called out, "Anderson, Ellen!"
Remus watched with interested as the girl shyly crept forward and followed the professor's instructions. For a moment the Hat sat on her head as one would expect any normal hat to do. Then a large tear on the front brim opened wide, and a voice called out, "RAVENCLAW!"
A huge cheer rang up from the table just in front of Remus, and Ellen Anderson quickly jumped from the stool, placed the Hat back on the seat for the next student, and joined her new Housemates. Remus wondered what might happen if the House that was chosen for him wasn't quite as enthusiastic to receive him as a mate.
"Black, Sirius!"
Sirius grunted and bumped Remus a bit as he made his way to the stool. If it was so obvious where he'd be Sorted, Remus thought, why even bother with the ritual?
He plopped the Hat on his head and crossed his arms. His face was blank and emotionless at first, and then suddenly his eyes flew open, and his arms dropped to his sides, grabbing at the stool as though he feared he would fall off. What was the Hat doing to him? Did it hurt you if you were sour about tradition? Remus bit his lip and hoped that everything was all right, despite Sirius's less-than-friendly attitude that day.
It seemed nearly an eternity, but finally Sirius relaxed. He was almost smiling, Remus noted. The boy nodded briefly, and once again the front brim opened wide like a mouth to proclaim that Sirius was headed for Slythe—
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Remus felt his eyebrows attempt to escape his forehead, and the cheers from the table on the far end of the Hall were at once enthused and a bit confused. Remus tried to search the tables for Andromeda, eager to see her reaction, but he was too short to see over several taller girls standing behind him.
The Sorting continued, but Remus didn't pay much attention to it. Rather, he began to reevaluate his guess on which House he'd belong to. After all, if a boy from an all-Slytherin family could be put in Gryffindor (and Remus knew from his father's stories, the ones that made his mother press her lips together in disapproval, that Slytherin and Gryffindor were a huge rivalry and rarely associated with each other) . . . well, then what good were predictions at all?
Somehow he managed to snap out of his musings in time to hear "Lupin, Remus!" called out. Taking a quick breath, he took his place on the stool, put the Hat on his head, and tried to suppress his surprise when the Hat began to mutter in his ear. It mentioned that he was a smart young boy who liked to learn, that he had a knack for getting into trouble, and that he was quite shy. But once it discovered his Big Secret, it seemed to make up its mind. "Here we go, I'm going to put you in . . . GRYFFINDOR!"
Pleased with the result—his father would be tickled mauve to have his son following in his footsteps—Remus scrambled over to the Gryffindor table, grinning as they cheered him on and slapped his back and ruffled his hair.
He spotted Sirius sitting a few seats away from the other two First Years who'd already been sorted, a couple of girls who politely said hello as he passed them. Feeling emboldened by Sirius's unexpected Sorting, Remus took the seat right next to Sirius. He nudged the other boy's shoulder with his own and said, "Well, it's nice to have a friend right from the start there, yeah?"
Sirius said nothing, but he ducked his head in a quick nod, grinning a bit, and Remus knew that he did indeed have a friend.
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