Reading Between The Lines ~ Remus Lupin ~ Book 1

chapter 1

Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling except the characters I created.

Wednesday, 1 September 1976

Lena Pettigrew could not believe it. Somehow, Lena had overpacked again for Hogwarts for the fifth time in her life. As a returning fifth-year student, Lena was aware that she did not need the torch, her record player, or her collection of summer clothes that weighed down her trunk. There was no need for her to pack a torch that weighed nearly half a stone. For Merlin's sake, she had a wand and all she needed to do was cast a simple spell to bring light. And although Maggie Cho, her close friend and roommate, promised to bring her record player to share, Lena did not take her word for it. Maggie was always forgetting things. During their first year, Maggie had left her owl Athena on the Hogwarts Express. In their second year, Maggie managed to forget to pack all her Hufflepuff ties. The following year, Maggie left half of her school books on her bedside table at home. Just last year, Maggie spent the first week of their fourth year without her wand because she left it in her parent's car. And unless Hogwarts was suddenly transported to Colombia, Lena would have no need for her summer clothes until July.

She was taken away from her thoughts as her mother began speaking to her and her older brother Peter.

"Now Petey, please try to stay out of trouble this year. I don't think I can handle you getting more detentions than years your grandfather has been alive."

"Which grandfather, mum? Grandpa is sixty-eight and Papa is seventy-five," Peter remarked. Lena could not help but smile at her brother. Her brother could be quite quick at times.

"Don't be smart with your mother, Peter," their father Mark ordered from the driver's seat.

"Yes, dad," Peter mumbled and Lena smirked.

"Oh, and Lena? Make sure that you tell your brother early enough each week when you need to go over your readings. We don't want Peter to get behind when he's helping you," Lisa, their mother, added as she analyzed her nails.

Now it was Lena's turn to mumble "yes" to one of her parents. Peter remained quiet but looked over and squeezed Lena's hand three times. Her face had turned pink, as it often did when anyone brought up her dyslexia.

When Lena was eight or so, she was diagnosed with dyslexia. She was grateful to know that she wasn't dumb or incapable of learning. Still, it frustrated her to know that it would take her at least three times longer than others to read anything. Even though she knew that her dyslexia was nothing to be ashamed of, she couldn't help but be ashamed of it. She hated talking about it to anyone, especially to people outside her family. She was angered that she got mostly A's with an occasional E or two when she could have received E's with a surprising O. She hated that she hated that she missed out time with her friends and Quidditch matches to stay on top of her courses.

The car ride remained silent until Mr. Pettigrew began speaking again. "So, you two must be excited to see all your friends again. I know you just saw your mates, Lena, but I bet you got loads to talk about already. And you haven't seen the rest of the 'Marauders' since Sirius moved in with James and his family, Pete. Nasty family, the Blacks, they are. Always have been."

"Yeah, they really are, Dad. I'm glad he finally got out of there," Peter spoke with conviction as their car pulled up to King's Cross and parked.

The Pettigrew family climbed out and pulled their trunks from the boot of the car. The family weaved about the station, avoiding slow walkers and people rushing to work. As soon as they reached Platform 9 3/4, the family ran through the barrier. Lena always felt a rush as she ran through the bricks. It felt as if she was doing the impossible.