Bless the Beasts and the Children - 1. Chapter 1

Remus Lupin’s eyes were glued to the open page of the textbook in his hands, but his thoughts were elsewhere. Although normally he found the discussion of charms to be a fascinating subject, today he simply could not concentrate. Every few seconds, he raised his eyes from the page and glanced about him, even as he pretended he wasn’t doing so. A maneuver which fooled no one. Least of all the friends who waited with him on the train platform—James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, and Lily Evans.

Technically, Lily wasn’t with them. She stood alone, lost in her own book, mere meters from where the three boys stood. But her attention was about as fixed on her reading as Remus’ was on his. At least the reason for her inattention was within plain, albeit stubborn, view. The cause of Remus’ disquiet was nowhere to be seen.

Remus lifted his head and sighed again. The train to Hogwarts had just pulled in, and a mad dash had begun to claim the best seats. Sometimes he wished that seating could be arranged in a more orderly fashion. For example, by house. That would not only be efficient, but would spare the Gryffindors the ignominy of being forced to listen to the scathing comments of the Slytherins. Plus it would help avoid any last minute scrambling for a place on the train.

Of course, if certain people could be arsed to show up on time, that would also help.

“Maybe we should just get on and find some seats,” Peter timidly suggested. Peter had been their friend ever since their first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A shy boy, he tended to go along with whatever the others wanted to do, especially James and Sirius, who were the leaders of their small group. Remus was more likely to try to talk them out of their current stupidity, and sometimes he was able to influence them. But all that was needed for Remus to become acquiescent to their desires was for Sirius Black to turn his beautiful dark blue eyes on him, and Remus came undone.

Where Sirius was concerned, Remus did not have much of a backbone—just a great deal of heart. For Remus Lupin loved Sirius Black to distraction. On the other hand, no one could control Sirius half as well as Remus, when Sirius was of a mind to listen.

“No rush, Pete.” James Potter brushed back a lock of his unruly hair with one slender hand. His gaze strayed to the seemingly indifferent redhead, although he would not have admitted to her being the object of his interest. Anymore than Lily would admit to her interest in him. Remus knew the truth, having heard it in confidence from both of them. Today, he was too distracted to care.

So where the hell was Sirius? And why couldn’t he manage to be anywhere on time?

“He’ll be here, don’t worry.” A gentle hand on his shoulder drew Remus from his reverie. He hadn’t noticed Lily’s approach, although certain other people were very well aware. James had drawn himself up to his already impressive height, affecting not to notice she was among them. But his body language betrayed him. He was drawn toward her, like a flower to the sun. And no wonder. Lily was a lovely girl, with her red hair and green eyes. If Remus were straight, he’d most likely be one of her admirers.

But he wasn’t. And his heart already belonged to Sirius.

“I’m not worried,” Remus bluffed. He shut the book as being an exercise in futility. He had no idea what he’d been looking at. Chances were it was something he already knew. He’d studied his books throughout the summer months when his opportunities to meet with Sirius had been few and fleeting. They lived on opposite sides of the tracks, so to speak, and Remus’ people were nowhere near as affluent as the Blacks were.

As if that weren’t bad enough, Remus was damned in their eyes because he was a half-blood, whereas the Blacks were pureblooded. Nothing Remus could do about that, other than grin and bear it.

“I have an idea. Why don’t I go ahead and get us all some seats?” Lily suggested.

Remus heaved a grateful sigh. He knew Lily was not overly fond of Sirius, thought he was rather vain and self-centered. If Remus wanted to be completely honest, sometimes he was. Didn’t mean he loved him any less for it. And Lily was a good enough friend to overlook Sirius’ behavior for Remus’ sake, although she was perfectly capable of getting into Sirius’ face when it suited her.

“I think that’s a great idea,” Remus began, as James hastily cut in, although she hadn’t been talking to him.

“I was just about to say that very thing, Miss Evans. Perhaps you’d care to accompany me?” How he managed to sound so formal and yet look like an expectant puppy dog, hoping to be thrown a bone, was something Remus couldn’t fathom. He had a good idea, though, what the reception to James’ idea would be. And he was correct.

“The day I willingly accompany you anywhere, Mr. Potter, is the day they may gladly take me away to St. Mungo’s!” Her green eyes flashed fire, although she managed to keep her cool. Only Remus was aware of what an effort she expended to maintain such control in James’ presence. She hid her feelings for him well.

James spluttered, rather ineffectively, but it was a moot point as Lily had spun about and was even now headed toward the train.

“What the devil’s her problem?” James gave Remus a baffled look, but he had no easy answer to give his friend, so he just shrugged. Beside them, Remus heard Peter stifle a giggle. James didn’t really expect an answer, anyway. No sooner had the words left his mouth than he took off after Lily. Remus assumed they would catch up to one another on the train. By the time he and Peter and Sirius boarded, they would have seats for all of them, and would be pretending they hadn’t done any surreptitious snogging in the meantime.

“Why don’t you go on?” Remus suggested to the fidgety Peter, who seemed concerned about being left behind. Remus reasoned by the time Peter found James and Lily, they’d have gotten it out of their systems. Peter flashed a grateful grin and disappeared in the same direction, while Remus waited.

He couldn’t afford to wait forever. He had no other way to get to Hogwarts, and he couldn’t afford not to go. Just as he began to think he’d have to board without Sirius, he was met with an unwelcome sight. Three Slytherins were just coming onto the platform. One was Sirius’ nasty cousin Bellatrix. She was in her last year at Hogwarts, and so was her oafish boyfriend, Rodolphus Lestrange. The third member of their party was Lucius Malfoy, who was engaged to another of Sirius’ cousins, Narcissa. Narcissa wasn’t the evil bitch Bellatrix was, but she wasn’t exactly Miss Congeniality, either. Both Lucius and Narcissa were in the same year as Sirius and Remus. Oh joy. They could look forward to another year with the pair.

Bella and Roddy strolled across the platform arm in arm, as if they were reigning royalty, Lucius trailing them. Narcissa must be waiting for them on the train. As their little group passed by Remus, he could see that Roddy had a swollen lip, and his expression was more than a little sullen. On the other hand, Bella looked… pleased with herself. Lucius was immaculate, so whatever had happened must not have involved him. But then again, Lucius always managed not to get his hands dirty. That was a talent of his.

Remus’ apprehensions only grew as the trio passed him by and headed to the train. Mere moments later, just as Remus wondered if he were going to be Sirius-less for the long train ride to the school, he spotted a familiar dark head coming toward him, and his heart lurched at the sight. Sirius Black had indeed arrived.

As Sirius drew closer, and Remus was able to get a good look at him, his eyes widened. Sirius’ robes were disheveled, his face was scraped and bleeding slightly. And he had what appeared to be the beginning of a black eye. But he was grinning.

“Merlin, Sirius!” Remus exclaimed. “Are you all right? What happened to you? I was afraid you weren’t coming.”

“Not come to Hogwarts?” Sirius laughed. “That’ll be the day.” He leaned in close enough for his next words to be audible only to Remus. “I would never leave you, Remus, you should know that.” His lips just barely grazed Remus’ ear before he drew back again. “Got into a bit of a fight, I did.”

“I can see that,” Remus said. “Let me guess. Roddy and Bella?”

Sirius nodded. “Of course. She doesn’t know when to keep her big mouth shut, she doesn’t. And he’s just a big slab of meat, no brain.”

Remus sighed. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know what they were fighting about, but he’d ask, once they were alone. Not here. Not the time.

“C’mon, I’ll fix you up once we’re on the train.” There would be plenty of time while the Express made its way to Scotland. But they had to be on the train first. “Where’s your stuff? Didn’t you bring it?”

“Of course.” Sirius smirked, patting his pocket. “That shrinking spell does come in handy.”

Remus heaved a sigh of relief. “All right, then. You can pat yourself on the back later. We need to go.”

“After you, my dear sir.” Sirius bowed dramatically, and Remus bit his lip to stifle a giggle. All was right with the world once more, he thought, as they made their way to the train.