What if they all lived?

Chapter 6

First year- The full moon and Potion classes

5th September 1971

Remus Lupin

By the time Sunday afternoon came to be Remus was dreading Monday, which would not only be the first day after the full moon at Hogwarts, but the first day of lessons after a full moon. After dinner – which Remus spent alone, a few seats away from the twins and Peter, who seemed to try and make Sirius listen to him, failing miserably – he made his way to McGonagall's office. She was waiting, along with the school nurse, who he'd been introduced to already. She was a kind, pleasant sort of woman; if a little fussy but she seemed to really be interested in keeping Remus safe, which was an improvement from how things worked outside the school. At home, his father locked him in an underground room and placed wolfsbane on the door, not only was it there but on the walls as well so if Remus wanted to conserve his skin after a transformation he had to stay in the middle of the room. This particular plant was also placed on the door of his parents room. It was hurtful to know your parents were afraid of you but he knew it was for their safety.

"Good evening, Mr Lupin," McGonagall smiled, "Thank you for being so prompt. Come along please."

To Remus' surprise, the two women led him not to the dungeons, as he'd thought they might, but outside the castle, towards a very large twisted tree. The whomping willow was a recent addition to the grounds – Dumbledore had explained in his speech at the beginning of the year that it had been donated by an ex-pupil. Remus thought that whoever had donated it must have really hated the school, because the tree was not only terrifying in aspect, but mindlessly violent. As they approached, Professor McGonagall did something so unexpected that Remus almost cried out in shock. She seemed to vanish – shrinking down suddenly, until she was no longer there at all. In her place was a sleek yellow eyed tabby cat. Remus, as every other wizard kid, heard of and knew of animagi, but he'd never seen one and certainly not this close. It was interesting to see one transform, he wondered how it was that he hadn't heard of this ability the professor possessed. Madam Pomfrey gave no sign that she was surprised, as the cat ran forward towards the tree, which was flailing its branches like a child having a tantrum. The cat was able to run right up to the trunk of the tree, escaping injury, and pressed a paw against one of the knots in the bark. The tree fell instantly still. Remus and Madam Pomfrey continued on, walking into a hollow beneath the tree which Remus had never noticed before. Inside, McGonagall was waiting for them, to his disappointment, not a cat anymore.

The passageway was dimly lit by torches giving off a greenish glow, and at the very end was a door. This opened into a small cottage, which looked long abandoned. The windows were boarded up and the doors bolted. It looked abandoned even if it wasn't exactly ugly. "Here we are." McGonagall tried to sound pleasant, though it seemed a very grim place.

 "Now I hope you understand that we cannot stay with you, but if you would like Madam Pomfrey to wait outside until the... transformation is complete?" Remus shrugged. "I'll be ok. How do I get back in the morning?" He wanted to do this as alone as he could, though he knew that would probably be childish of him, knowing that they had to make sure him and the rest of the school were safe. "I'll pop by as soon as the sun rises," Madam Pomfrey assured him. "Patch you up and have you off to your lessons before anyone even notices you're gone." "You'd better go." He said, quickly, retreating into the bare room. There was a little cot against one wall with clean sheets. It looked as though it had been put there for him. He hated this even more than his transformations at home. This was way more stressful.

The two women left, locking the door heavily behind him. He wondered what sort of spells she was placing on the house. Whatever they were, it was better than that awful silver plating on the walls of his little room at home.

He sat on the bed for a moment, then got up again, restless. He paced the room. Sometimes it felt as though the wolf crept into his mind before it got hold of his body, and as darkness fell outside his senses became sharper, the hot swell of hunger beginning in his stomach. Remus removed his clothes quickly, not wanting to rip them. A dull throb started up in his joints and he lay down on the bed. This was the worst part. His heartbeat was thudding in his ears, and he could swear he heard his tendons creaking as they stretched, his bones and teeth grinding against each other as they elongated, his skull splitting and reshaping.

Sirius Black

Monday morning, what a drag. Classes, ugh, and worst, if that was even possible, it was potions. Potions on a Monday morning! He got out of bed and saw Peter and James getting ready, he looked around the room but couldn't find what he'd been looking for. "He didn't come back yesterday, did he?" he asked James, the boy turned around and looked at him with big eyes, "No, sorry mate" He didn't know why it bothered him, only that it did. As if on cue, the scared blonde entered the room looking absolutely miserable, it almost made Sirius less angry, almost.

The boy wore red dark circles under his eyes, that made Sirius wonder if he even got to sleep, where was he? How did he skip curfew? How did he manage to go unnoticed? "Where were you?!" Peter asked, letting some books fall on his bed as he looked at the state Remus was in. "Nowhere" ugh he needed to lie better. "Mate, are you okay?" James said looking at him wearing genuine concern on his face "Oh, fuck off". The boy ignored all of them all throughout breakfast.

James, Peter and him walked into Potion class together. He managed to get to Thena, he went over to where his sister was and they started talking until James grabbed him by the sleeve and dragged him to the far back of the class where he sat them in the same desk with Peter and another Slytherin, it was already bad enough that they had this class to them but now he had sit next to one of them. He watched his sister sit next to Lily, who dragged Snivellus with her. He enjoyed maybe a bit too much watching his sister roll her eyes and give him a death glare as Lily shoved her elbow in her stomach. Now rolling his eyes he saw Remus standing alone at the door looking for a place that wasn't taken, he almost went to sit with him when his sister waved her hand in his direction and got him to sit next to her.

Professor Slughorn entered the class and started taking attendance. He stopped various times, looking at kids trying to figure out who they looked like or where did he know their last name from, talking about how someone's grandfather always asked him for advice when in doubt about the Ministry.

"Black! Ugh, the twins, I heard you were arriving this year!" He said looking between him and Thena, whose bored glare made Sirius laugh to himself "Quite surprised at the sorting! Never expected to see it happen, not in this lifetime at least" he laughed at his own joke, making Sirius sick only looking at the old man. "I've had every one of the Blacks in my house since I started teaching! Shant take it personally, but I shall expect great things from both of you uh!" Sirius could feel the eyes and the glare burning holes on his body as Slughorn announced how he shamed his family in the class. While he looked ashamed and as if he wanted the world to eat him whole, his sister looked as if she would jump on the professor and cut his neck open at any moment.

If there had been any hope that some students might not know that the Black twins were a shame to the family, that they'd broken a five hundred year old tradition, it was gone now. 500 years and you two are the ones to ruin it, his cousin's voice hissed in his ear. Even Andy had been a Slytherin.

Slughorn continued to call names, as if he didnt just say the most mortifying thing possible in front of all these people.

"A Potter and a Pettigrew, eh?" he stopped a second only to look at them "Along with the blacks, this class has quite the pedigree, eh?" Slimy old git, Sirius thought, talking about everyone's pedigree, who did he think he was.

The class was utterly boring and as they reached the end of it something far more worthy of his attention happened. Remus launched over and punched Snape right in the face. He watched Lily try to make Remus stop as a small tear left her eye and Thena sat there as if nothing was happening looking at her nails and laughing as she heard the desperate cries of Severus Snape.