The Marauders: Year One | #Wattys2016

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Remus sat huddled against the wall in his compartment on board the Hogwarts Express, his knees tucked up close to his chest, a book balancing upon them, intently reading. The other occupants of the compartment shouted quite loudly, jumping about, tossing a balled up Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean box and pretending that it was a snitch they had to catch as they took turns being seeker, jumping bench to bench and shouting. He'd already switched compartments once or else he'd switch again, but he didn't want to end up being known as the boy who'd visited every compartment on the train before the first hour was up. He'd have stayed in the first compartment without any trouble at all, if he'd been allowed to. It was held by a couple of seventh year boys who'd been talking quietly on their bench while Remus sat on his side, keeping to himself. But then one of the boy's cousins had come in, along with a girl who smiled meekly at Remus, and the boy had kicked him out. So Remus had wandered through the train until he found the half-empty compartment in the back of the car where the two rambunctious boys had been sitting alone. They'd introduced themselves as James and Sirius and asked Remus if he was much into Quidditch, which Remus wasn't, and they'd pretty much ignored him since, choosing instead to play this noisy mock-Quidditch game, only pausing to rush to the sweets trolley.

Nerves were eating away at Remus and his anxiety was only growing with every bounce of the seat as James and Sirius played around him. He struggled to keep his mind on what he was reading - his eyes kept moving over the same sentences over and over and over. Admittedly, he was more afraid of the effects of his - er, condition - than he was of the actual school year. Remus was a nice guy, he knew that much was definitely true about himself, and he wasn't nervous about making friends for any reason other than trying to explain his monthly "illness" that would keep him out of sight for several days every month.

His mother had warned him many times over to be very, very careful while attending the school, to remember the risks involved in Lycanthropy and that Dumbledore was keeping an eye on him. "Remember, go straight to the headmaster the instant you're at Hogwarts," Hope had told him repeatedly as she'd helped to pack his trunk the night before. "Dumbledore has made arrangements for you that will help you in controlling your condition."

It was always his "condition" that they referred to it as, never directly calling Remus a werewolf. Speaking the word in the Lupin house would elicit a gasp from Hope and a firm scolding from Lyall. "Werewolf is a cursed term, son," Lyall would say sternly every time the word came up, "You aren't a - a true werewolf. You're too good a boy for that. You'd never bite someone - but - I suppose. Just to be safe..."

It had been seven years since Remus had been bitten by Fenrir Greyback in the yard of their cottage, and since that day Lyall and Hope had dedicated their lives to keeping Remus's condition a secret. They shrouded him away from the world during the days of the full moon, hiding him in a bomb shelter below the garage, which smelled of wet paint and dust. "It's the only way, son," Lyall had said apologetically as he stocked the shelves with food to sustain Remus and locked him away until the moon had waned.

When Remus received his letter to Hogwarts, none of them could believe it. Lyall had been sure there had to be some sort of mistake. Surely Dumbledore didn't know -- But Dumbledore did know. Dumbledore just didn't hold stock in the belief that werewolves were any more dangerous at Hogwarts than any other sort of magical person was. "So long as certain precautions are taken," he'd said when they family had gone to meet with him back in May. When Lyall had worried about the other students at Hogwarts at length, Dumbledore had said, "Don't you worry, Mr. Lupin, I will hammer out the details and we will all have a very pleasant term." He'd smiled at Remus and winked one of his old blue eyes. Remus heard, via owl, that Dumbledore had spent the summer diligently preparing for Remus's arrival. But despite all of the headmaster's enthusiasm, it still had been with a most worried and protective air that Hope and Lyall had brought Remus to the Hogwarts Express that morning.