Smile - Book One of the RP Saga

The Journey Begins ( 1 )

She was awoken by a man calling her name. The girl groaned and rubbed the tiredness from her eyes, sitting up in her bed, still groggy from sleep. The voice belonged to Remus Lupin, her adoptive father, who had taken care of her since the day her parents died. His voice was kind, like it always had been. Lupin was the best and only father figure she had ever had in her life. Though, the term dad was never used between them. Just, 'Remus'.

Hopping from her bed, she slipped on her slippers and padded downstairs. A smile creeped onto her face as she saw Remus sat at the table, a small spread of cooked breakfast waited for her. Today was a big day for the both of them and Remus wanted to make sure they had a hearty meal before they left the house that day. 

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day." He would always say to her and today was no exception. The big day in question was September 1st. The day she would be joining Hogwarts. But she wouldn't be alone, Remus was too. He had been hired as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. 

"Now, no funny business this year, Rachel," Remus said, not looking up from his newspaper, "I don't want a repeat of last year."

A smirk crept onto her face. Rachel had previously been a student at Beauxbatons Academy of Magic in France. Her time there was short to say the least, it was apparent Beauxbatons did not appreciate a trouble-maker like herself. There wasn't anyone at that school like her, in fact Rachel had very few friends there and so her boredom and perhaps desire for attention, dragged her into the world of pranks. Her grand-finale that resulted in her expulsion resulted in swapping everybody's gender during dinner and whilst that commotion unfolded, she flooded the bathrooms for good measure. That same night, Rachel was sent home. She was enrolled into Hogwarts that summer.

Remus set down the newspaper he had been reading, pushing it with his hand across to Rachel for herself to read. She mumbled a thank you and picked it up, her eyes glancing over the cover.

'MASS MURDERER ESCAPES AZKABAN'

Below the bold headline was a photo of Sirius Black. Rachel shook her head in disbelief, rereading the front page just to check she had read it right. Azkaban prison was impossible to escape from, or so she had thought. She frantically read the article, trying to figure out how he could have broke free.

Noticing the silence, Remus looked up. His eyes rested on Rachel's confused face and gave her a sad smile when she finally looked at him. Once, Remus had told Rachel how Peter Pettingrew, James Potter, Sirius Black and himself had been best friends in Hogwarts. They were all so close, they even had nicknames for each other and became 'The Marauders'. Remus turned to the window with an empty gaze, which only made Rachel pity him. Her mind could never comprehend how Sirius Black could kill his own best friends. They finished their breakfast in silence.

"Right," Remus said with some effort, "you must go up and grab your trunk and Buddy ok? Then we will head off, it'll give us plenty of time before the train." 

"Sure," Rachel replied, tucking her chair underneath her, "I'll go now." 

Pushing the door of her bedroom open, she headed straight to the corner of the room where her draws stood. On top, in its cage, was her owl, Buddy. A sweet little tawny owl with flecks of white on its face, as if someone had flicked paint at it, with the gentlest temperament.  Rachel walked over and let Buddy out of his cage for a final stretch before the long journey to Hogwarts. She sat on her bed and let out a sigh, a sudden rush of anxiety flooded her. Would Hogwarts be as lonely as Beauxbatons?

From besides her, she pulled out her wand, holding it delicately in her hands. A faint smile came onto her face as she remembered the day she bought it. A handsome wand it was, cedar wood, a core of dragon heartstring, with curves etched into the hilt. As soon as the smile had appeared, it left. Her mind took her back to that day.

The two walked down the cobbled streets of Diagon Alley, a smile plastered on Rachel's face. She was listing off all the spells she would learn as soon as she got her wand. Remus just chuckled, while pushing the door open for Ollivanders. She rushed to the counter and looked around at the boxes upon boxes of wands stacked in every corner of the room in awe.

Appearing from nowhere, Mr Ollivanders kind blue eyes rested on her face. He smiled at her. "Ahh, Miss... Lupin." He glanced over at Remus. "I knew you would be here any day now and my, my... don't you look just like your parents."

"You knew them?" Rachel gasped. 

"Well of course I did," he chuckled, "I know every witch and wizard that comes into this store. No doubt you look like your mother but you have that mischievous air about you, just like your father." 

Rachel sighed. Though Remus had been the kindest person to her and had done such a good job raising her, she could never deny the empty feeling in her heart. The emptiness that would be filled had her parents been alive. Many times, Rachel had asked about them, but an answer she never got. Looking over at Buddy, she gave him a sad smile and stood up. Rachel put the owl back into its cage and held onto it carefully, before lugging her suitcase behind her and down the stairs.

The journey to Hogwarts begun now.

-