mandrake leaves (wolfstar)

Chapter 1- Fith year: Home

peel the scars from off my back

i don't need them anymore,

you can throw them out

or keep them in your mason jar,

i've come home

September of 1975 rolled around and Remus prepared himself for a much longed for return to Hogwarts.
Just 4 years ago, Remus had received a letter via an owl that had flown through his bedroom window at his Grandmother's house, inviting him to a magic school.
both of Remus' parents had died in an accident when he was five, and he was left orphaned.

His grandmother had no choice but to take him in, much to her distain as she wanted nothing to do with her daughter, or any children that she bore after she had ran away to marry a 'wizard'.
Remus' extra problem didn't help ease the situation, and every month he was locked away in the cellar of the house- with the worst monster of all, himself. 

He had secured a good bundle of scars over the years, the claws of the beast ripping through its own flesh- and therefore Remus'.
The cuts only got worse as Remus got older, puberty seemed to anger the wolf as it did any teenager, and Remus was slightly nervous to greet his peers with his newest scar- one he could not hide.
over summer he had accomplished a large scratch that reached from the top of his right eye, across his nose and down his left cheek- unavoidable.

At Hogwarts the efforts to control his 'problem' were much better than at home, especially thanks to the magical healing that the muggle world did not support- much better than the sudo-cream his Grandmother offered.
The school nurse was also much better than his Grandmother, who only shunned Remus and treated his pain as a burden to her.

Madame Pomfrey however, had a kind smile and a soft voice, she carefully wrapped and healed remus' wounds without a trace of annoyance for the inconvenience.

Every evening of the full moon she would walk him down to the large tree at the edge of the grounds, infamous for injuring students that got in its way. The witch would cast a spell and the tree would relax, allowing the two of them to get to its trunk and enter the secret passage way down into the shrieking shack.

The shack wasn't exactly the most inviting of places with its creaking doors and broken floorboards, not to mention the dust that made remus sneeze, but was much better than that dreadful cellar, and certainly better than a cage.

Remus was dropped off at kings cross station without a farewell, his trunk in hand as he ran without any hesitation right into the brick wall that stood between platforms 9 and 10.
As every year he looked around in wonderment at the colours and sounds that filled platform 9 and
3/4.
Almost immediately he spotted a rather tall boy with a large mass of dark hair and round glasses, leaning against the back of a wall, James Potter.

He slowly walked towards the boy and finally caught his attention.
"Moony!" he smiled straightening up and embracing him in a hug.

Moony was the nickname given to Remus by
the three boys he shared a dorm with- who also happened to be his three best friends.  In his 3rd year at hogwarts after they had finally figured out why he disappeared every night once a month, and came back with fresh cuts.

Not one of them showed any signs of fear or hatred, not even peter who was usually not as daring as the other two boys, and they all stayed supportive promising this new knowledge wouldn't change a thing.

That was the first time remus could really remember
feeling truly loved, it was a weird sensation- a burning in the pit of his stomach that reached up and seemed to form a lump in his throat.