Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers

Kings Cross Station

Sirius felt that the days leading up to September 1st were unnecessarily long. He spent most of his time locked away in his room, trying to read the books Walburga picked up for him in Diagon Alley.

Orion made good on his promise to trade the Sectumsempra curse for a tick leather belt. In Sirius' mind, this was worse because the Murtlap Essence could do very little to ease the pain of any wound that didn't expose raw flesh. The abuse must have become something of a habit, because soon Walburga was also throwing random things at him while she called him the dirtiest things she could think of. Nonetheless, Sirius counted down the days until he'd be able to escape 12 Grimmauld Place, and the day was finally here.

Remus fidgeted the entire way to Kings Cross Station. He was nervous to see Sirius again, a feeling he'd not experienced before. Remus was unsure about how to act around Sirius now that they had so many shared secrets.

After entering platform 9 ¾, Remus first spotted James. He hadn't changed much over their two month break. He was still built very athletically and had jet black hair that stuck up in random tufts. Of course he was also wearing his defining round spectacles.

Standing next to him was Lily Evans. This sight was a bit strange considering when they left Hogwarts last year, Lily wanted nothing to do with James despite his constant attempts at flirting with her.

Remus approached them, and greetings ensued immediately.

"Remus!" Lilly chirped excitedly, "How was your summer?"

"Lovely," Remus replied almost instinctively, a common response to anyone asking him for details pertaining to his time away. He and Professor McGonagall had determined that the answer was vague enough to not disclose any details, but seemed specific enough to not garner any further questions. "How was yours?"

A deep blush crept across the young red head's face. "It was really nice." She said softly, "I, um, spent most of it exchanging owls with this buffoon." She said a bit more confidently than she felt. Lily elbowed James in the ribs.

"Moony- it was grand!" James exclaimed, grinning broadly, and shooting Remus a look as to say, 'I'll fill you in later.'

Around the time the three friends' conversation was edging into being awkward, Peter approached them, nearly crashing into James on the account he was running while pushing his trolley.

"It's great to see you all!" The mousey man squealed after he composed himself.

"Same to you Peter," James said, his voice dripping with a bit of annoyance.

"How was your summer?" Remus asked him politely.

"Very good." Peter replied nodding his head. "My mum and aunt went on a trip to Egypt, so I had the house to myself for a week. I ate more sweets than I ever could have imagined possible."

"Sounds lovely." Lily agreed half heartedly, though the thought of Peter shoveling goodies into his mouth made her sick.

"Did you have a nice summer, James?" Peter asked. It came as no surprise that Peter all but ignored the two others who spoke to him. He idolized James since the moment they met.

Now James was undoubtedly annoyed with the boy standing in front if him. "It was great," he said through gritted teeth.

Remus felt a bit awkward standing there as Peter tried to make conversation with James, who was obviously much more interested in talking to Lily.

After about five minutes of staring mindlessly in the direction of the engine of the Hogwarts Express, Remus felt a firm hand grasp his shoulder. He turned around to see none other than Sirius Black. Remus spent a moment, taking in person standing before him. Sirius was still shorter than him, but now he was significantly closer to reaching the same height as Remus. Sirius' dark hair was also much longer, and the bags under his eyes were even more noticeable. Remus couldn't help but notice that Sirius seemed to fill out his frame a bit more now, he wasn't as boney anymore, which came as a surprise considering he'd been all but starved over the last two months.

"It's good to see you Moony," Sirius said softly, hoping that Remus would be able to hear more sincerity than Sirius was able to convey with just his words.

"You too." Remus mumbled stupidly, feeling completely lost for words.

Before Remus could even register what was happening, Sirius pulled him into a firm hug. This strange interaction lead to confused looks from the three others watching them. James cleared his throat nervously.

Sirius was enjoying hugging Remus until he realized he'd done it. Bloody hell he thought after James intentionally broke up the moment.

Sirius released the still stunned Remus and proceeded around the circle hugging his three other friends to try to normalize his interaction with Remus, beginning with Peter, who Sirius quite frankly didn't want to hug at all, and ending with Lily who was surprised and frankly a bit uncomfortable. James patted Sirius on the shoulder as if to say 'that's enough' when he felt their embrace went on for long enough. Sirius winced under the sudden contact, but no one noticed.

"Hello everyone." Sirius said calmly, making an obvious attempt to meet Remus' gaze, Sirius was unsuccessful on the account that Remus was looking very intently as the cement beneath him. "How were everyone's summers?"

Chatter ensued as Peter once again shared his story about his one grand week of junk food eating, and James and Lily both blushed profusely as they explained their new found friendship.

"And you, Moony?" Sirius asked finally.

Remus finally met his gaze "It was great," he lied poorly. Luckily, before any of his friends were able to press for more information, the train blew its whistle and everyone scurried to find a car inside to sit in.