BEAUTIFUL ||remus lupin||

Chapter |one|

Remus Lupin was tired. He was always exhausted. It wasn't his body, it was his mind. He could never pause the tide of his thoughts. Peace of mind was something he never had and possibly he will never get. From the bags under his eyes to the drooping shoulders his body language gave it all.

"Merlin, Moony, just by looking I can say you are in the 'I-am-such-a-shit' zone," Sirius said as he smacked his hand on his back, a little too forcefully.

"Stop, before Prongs sees you, don't want to hear his fussing," He grimaced as if he was visualizing James in his mother's gown. He was the unofficial mother hen of the troop and they learned it the hard way. James in Walburgha Black's gown was their inside joke. Though, James thought he could pull it off. Of course he did

"Are you guys ready?" He heard the timid voice of Peter. He was standing in the door with his trunk. They were at Potter residence, they had decided to spend last of the vacation together, before going off to Hogwarts together. Remus always thought that no time with them was sufficient. They weren't his friends, they were his brothers.

"Yes Pete, but we'll have to wait till Sirius gets his nose powdered," Remus jerked his chin towards Sirius who was now gazing at the mirror and messing with his hair.

"Almost done ladies," He winked at them and lugged his trunk. They made their way out of the guest room. Mrs Potter was their second mum, it was a fact without saying. She loved them and trusted them. Remus knew James was the kind of person who would do anything for a friend and he knew that ran in his family.

Sirius slung his arm around Remus as they ascended the stairs. Peter painfully towed his trunk and kept huffing.

"Leave it there Peter, Padfoot the ever muscular would do that for you," He said cheekily. Sirius was doing a show of his almost non-existent muscles last night and challenging him to arm wrestling. Which he refused, Remus knew better than to indulge Sirius in his juvenile games.

Sirius scowled at him and replied sweetly, "Oh, why don't I take yours and mine and his, maybe start asking around the station too," He snarked.

"Not a bad idea, the first years do look miserable with these trunks,"

"Shut up, Moony, no one likes a smart arse,"

"Being smart is actually considered very attractive," Peter said as a matter of fact and chuckled at him.

Sirius dramatically gasped, "I swear! You guys hate me,"

"I'll certainly hate you, if you don't stop snoring like a pig," James said from bottom of the stairs.

"You guys are such shit-"

Mrs Potter had precisely a good timing. It was mostly around when Sirius started swearing.

"Language children!" She clamored.

Potters were waiting in the drawing-room. Ready to depart for the station, James always preferred to reach early. Which was bizarre, because at school he was always late. Which also made Remus late. Remus was all in for mischief and pranks, but he liked getting things done on time.

"Let's go! We'll be late," James fretted.

"Idiot, we almost have an hour," Sirius sighed.

James ignored him and rushed towards the floo.

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They were early. Quite early.

After loitering around for a while, they decided to head towards the compartments. Everything pertained to Hogwarts felt like home. He didn't know if it was the place or his friends. Remus deemed himself fortuitous, he had friends who understood and did things for him. Deep down it terrified him that they would abandon him. In a hard way, he realised that they weren't quitters. They didn't quit on Remus Lupin and he certainly wouldn't quit on himself. Pulling himself out of his thoughts he averted his attention towards what Sirius and Peter were talking about.

"Hey, you know Neysa's sister is enrolling this year," Peter said.

Sirius frowned, "She had a twin all this time?"

"No, Sirius, do you even listen, she mentioned her sister many times and Neysa is a year older," Remus clarified.

Neysa Caldwell, a fellow Gryffindor and close friend of theirs, was a year older. Neysa had mentioned her sister once or twice, that she studied in America, in troubled school for kids. Remus never put a notion to it, but now it stimulated a slight curiosity.

Troubled? What sort of trouble? Mischief? Like them a prankster? Or much worse?

"There she is," James declared and pointed in front of them. He saw Neysa, the black haired beauty, her ever golden tan skin shining out, and her piercing eyes looking at them and then glanced behind her. She frowned but kept walking towards them. He couldn't make out who was behind her.

As soon as she reached them she hugged Sirius, "You need a haircut, Black,"

"You need to shut up,"

"Ever so sensitive," She smirked.

"Hopefully, you losers missed me," She said and hugged them all.

As they were done with the reunion, they started boarding the train. Remus looked ahead and saw her. The girl looked very similar to Neysa. Same hair, same skin tone but a little short and looked lost. While, Neysa always looked like she owned everything. This girl looked skeptical to even move a limb. She looked around the crowd and was slamming into people.

"That's my sister for y'all," Neysa sighed as she looked at girl- her sister.

Neysa's sister, pushed her way through people. But abruptly the small bag on her shoulder frayed open, from far away Remus could make out a very shabby palette. Like it had been used and not scrubbed at all and some colours. He heard Neysa swore as she made her way towards her sister. She hastily assisted her and nudged her into one of the coaches.

"You won't sit with her?" Sirius inquired as Neysa reached where they were.

Neysa gave him a straight look, "Trust me, she prefers this,"

Sirius frowned but the way she announced it, the topic was wrapped up. Remus felt a little bad for the lost girl. But shortly got over as Sirius started shoving him into a compartment.

"This one is closest to Prefects' compartment, bet Evans will be there," James wondered out loud. Like it was a surprise why James wanted to reach early at the station, this boy.

Prefect right! Remus was prefect. He didn't know if he liked it or loathed it. But if he was allotted a duty, he knew he would accept it. He thought Dumbledore might know better than this but maybe he should be grateful that someone like him was presented with this opportunity.

One more burden to his list. Well, no issues.