Back To The Old House ♡ Marauders Story

chapter one year one- the train

The smell of smoke and candy wafted around the train as Remus Lupin sat down in an empty compartment. He looked out of the window at his father, who was waving to him. It wasn't raining, but his father's face was wet. But from sweat or tears he could not tell. Not that Remus was surprised, he was nervous too, having hardly ever been with anyone his age, let alone wizards. He wondered what they'd be like.

Remus' eyes darted from person to person, some dressed in peculiar ways, some dressed rather nice, when his eyes caught on a particular family. A father dressed in mismatched clothing and a mother wearing a shawl were giving their bespectacled son a hug and sending him on his way. The boy looked determined and confident. He felt a ping of jealousy in his chest. He wasn't sure if he had ever felt those things, and he certainly didn't feel them now. But despite the overwhelming nerves he felt, he could still feel excitement bubbling inside of him. He would finally get to be around people his age. Maybe I'll even make some friends. He thought as he looked at the students passing through the corridor.

For a while, nobody joined him. That was until a light-haired boy wearing robes peeked into the compartment.

"Are you waiting for anyone?" The boy asked with a tremor in his voice.

"No," said Remus. The boy nodded and put his things on top of the suitcase rack and took a seat. For a bit, neither of them said anything. Remus wasn't quite sure what the etiquette was for a casual meeting like this. In any case, he gathered himself and introduced himself. "I'm Remus Lupin, it's my first year here."

The boy smiled at him. "I'm Peter Pettigrew, it's my first year too." Remus gave a smile in return and, before he could do or say anything else, was interrupted by a teary-eyed redhead girl, who quickly sat in the compartment and folded her arms across her chest. A greasy black-haired boy with a look of disgust at the other boys followed right behind and sat opposite her.

The girl seemed to snap out of her thoughts though, and a look of regret came across her face. "Oh I'm so sorry, I didn't even ask if it would be alright if I sat with you guys, how terribly rude of me." The girl laughed nervously after speaking.

"It's totally fine, we weren't waiting for anyone. At least I wasn't, anyways," Remus said.

"My friend is coming in but there's plenty of room for mo-" Peter begins but is cut off by a boy with expensive--yet disheveled--clothes walking in and sitting next to Remus. He looked like he didn't want to talk, with folded arms and a look of discomfort spread across his face. His wand rested on top of his ear, which kept his black hair out of his face. These attributes sparked an interest in Remus, who tried to think of something to say to him.

"There you are, Peter." The boy with glasses Remus was looking out the window at before was now standing in front of him. The stinging in his chest came back when he thought of the boy's alive, caring parents.

"I'm James." James sat down in between Peter and the greasy boy. He immediately started talking to the boy next to him. The boy responded back. He tried not to listen to what they were saying but they seemed to both be engaged on the conversation, before James turned to Peter. Remus took out his book.

He felt someone's eyes on him, so he looked up to see the boy next to him, eyes fixed on Remus.

"What?" Remus asked. The boy smirked.

"Whatcha reading?"

"Why?" The boy shrugged. "It's called The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, it's old." Remus didn't have anything else to say, but the boy still looked interested. "It's about a mischievous lad growing up. It's pretty good so far."

"You Welsh?"

"Yeah, Cardiff, born and raised."

"Cool. Well, the book sounds good, maybe I'll read it sometime. I'm serious." The boy stuck out his hand. Remus took it.