The Collision Theory | Remus Lupin

33. A Thousand Memories

"Morning kids!" A loud booming voice pulls me from sleep all too suddenly, and I pull the covers over my head.

I hear James moaning groggily, "Dad! We were sleeping!"

"Well it's almost eleven mate," Monty says, "breakfast is ready."

At that, everyone seems to be inspired to get up, though we do so ungracefully. It's more of a mad rush to use the bathroom to wash our faces before heading downstairs.

Euphemia greets us, "Good morning! Pancakes?"

"Adopt me please." Miriam stares open-mouthed at the huge pile in the middle of the table. We tuck into breakfast like vultures, forgetting all table etiquette.

James talks through a mouthful of pancake, "We're getting Moony and Peter at one."

"From?" I take a sip of coffee, ignoring the small feeling off butterflies in my stomach that have mysteriously appeared. Maybe it's the caffeine, it can't be anything else, can it?

Sirius sets his fork down, being the only one who didn't use their hands. I guess some habits of growing up in a posh family are hard to break, "Train station."

*

After breakfast, Mrs Potter- with the aid of mum's stern tone- gets us to get changed into warm clothes. I pull on a blouse and a navy cardigan over the top, then my gloves and cloak. My hair being a mess- or at least that's what mum said it was- I braid it quickly, small locks still falling out of it because they're not long enough. I still look scruffy, but as mother always used to sigh, presentably scruffy.

We're just about to walk out of the door when mum catches us off guard, "Just where do you think you're going without hats?!"

"We were just-" Mim begins.

"No excuses," She waves her wand, and five hats that were previously left upstairs appear in her hand, "I will not have five sickly kids ruining Christmas."

We pull our hats on, scared to piss her off any further, and almost trip over each other in an attempt to get out of the house. Snow is falling lightly over the us, and the country road looks like a scene from a Christmas card. 

The cottages start to get closer together the more we walk, shortly forming into a small village square, with stalls set up and the smell of fresh bread wafting from the bakery.
A little further in the distance, church bells chime like a lullaby. This place is like a little piece of Heaven.

"James," Lily smiles as a toddler passes by, holding her mother's hand, "this place is beautiful."

"It's not much really."

"Are you kidding? I'd love to live here!"

James points to a large cottage at the end of the road, "See that? I've always wanted to live there. One day I'll buy Godric's Hollow, just you all watch me."

Indeed the house he's pointing to is beautiful. Ivy crawls up the side of it, small rose bushes just under the ground floor windows. It's inviting and warm, just the kind of place someone would raise a family.

"It needs some work." Sirius points, referring to the loose tile on the roof.

"Easy peasy, just hope it'll still be on sale by the time I move out." James sighs, turning away from his dream home and to the right, where the houses start to spread out again.
About five minutes of walking later, the station comes into view. It's a squat little building, no bigger than our dorm at Hogwarts, and looks as though it'll fall apart at any given moment.

"Took you long enough!" I hear someone shout. As we get closer to the station, I see Peter standing by the entrance with his mother, both of them wrapped up with their thickest outerwear.