Mischief Managed Year One: Mayhem of the Moon

Chapter Five- Hogwarts At Last and a Dismal Train Ride

TW: Cruel Prank

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All throughout the next day, the tension in the Lupin household kept growing. Remus still dutifully laid out his father's breakfast and was polite when he was around, but there was no pretense that things were ok. Remus had blown that when he hadn't come downstairs before the full moon like he usually did. Remus was taught that responsibility from an early age. Only he had failed, he had messed things up again.

What made matters worse was that even though this was the day of his departure to Hogwarts, his father hadn't said anything about it to him. He would stare at him when he didn't think Remus was watching but would only speak to tell him to do something. It was aggravating to no end. Despite being at St. Mungo's Remus still felt sore and upset by the time they had traveled by floo to an out-of-order bathroom stall within the train station.

After that, it was a matter of finding the right spot then walking through a brick wall that logically Remus knew would lead to platform 9 and ¾ but which still gave him pause to reach their destination. In fact, it was arriving at platform 9 and ¾ that finally eased the tension between father and son. Most of this was because Remus didn't have time to feel bitter and hurt by his father, as he was faced with an even more daunting crowd than there had been at Diagon Alley.

The enormous platform was nowhere near spacious enough to prevent the flock of people from bumping into each other as families crowded around little children and sent them off with loving farewells that made Remus feel empty. Instead, he tried to direct his focus to the rising puffs of white climbing in a column above people's heads so that he wouldn't pay attention to the many families. Remus realized that the constant plume of smoke rising into the air must be coming from the Hogwarts Express. He tried to catch a glimpse of it, though found he could only catch flashes of red between the jumble of bodies

He jumped as a kid ran past him, struggling to steer a large cart loaded with luggage and a cage that rattled with a particularly irked-looking owl inside. Feeling small and stupid with his own rather shabby trunk, he stayed close to his father. However, unlike almost every other soon-to-be student and parent pair, they weren't holding hands. Which meant it was almost inevitable that they became separated.

"Dad!" Remus shouted, momentarily terrified as his father vanished from his view. He stayed where he was, vaguely remembering his father saying that was the best thing to do. But the shabbily dressed ill-looking eleven-year-old quickly drew attention.

"Honey, are you alright. Where are your parents?"

He looked at the rather old-looking woman who was crouching slightly and smiling at him reassuringly. Her eyes were a soft brown with flecks of spring green and despite her frizzly greying hair, she seemed to have youthful energy about her, like his mum had possessed. He couldn't help but feel relaxed around her, that was until she opened her mouth and ruined it.

"Come with me dear, and we will find your parents."

He wasn't going anywhere with anyone he didn't know ever again. Fear rose up in him and must have reflected itself on his face for she straightened and took a step back, clearly not wanting to upset him. However, it was too late. His mouth moved wordlessly. No. His mouth went dry and he suddenly felt the station closing in on him.

"NO!" he shouted terrified, his eyes wild and unfocused. In his panic, he dropped his bag and bolted.

"Euphemia, what on earth was that?" He heard someone shout but soon he was disappearing into the crowd.