moony ~ remus lupin

Chapter One • Only The Beginning

Author's Note: I know we don't have much information on the Marauders and the Order of the Phoenix but for plot purposes Mary, Marlene, and Dorcas will be apart of the same year as James, Lily, Remus, Sirius, Peter, and Claire. Enjoy!

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"Do you have your coat? Snacks? The new socks Grandmother bought you?" Claire's older sister Rory asked. They were standing on the platform ready to get onto the Hogwarts express. Rory had graduated from Hogwarts and was now sending off her little sister.

"Yes, Rory. I have everything. Plus, if I did happen to forget something Lily and Marlene would let me borrow something of theirs, or Mrs. Potter would surely help me out," With a worried look over her face, Rory pulled Claire into the tightest hug possible. "I'll miss you, Claire," She said, squeezing Claire so hard her head would've popped off if she hadn't of let go.

Claire gave a small, reassuring smile to her sister before the sight of a particular brown haired boy caught her eye. James Potter. He was shoving around his two friends, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin as Mrs. Potter checked her bag for some galleons.

"Goodbye, Rory," Claire said before grabbing her bag and rushing over to her best friend. She had to dodge quite a few worried parents, nervous first years, a very angry ministry worker, and a lot of owls in cages before reaching James and his mum.

"JAMES!" She yelled dropping her bag on the platform. He quickly turned around and his face lit up when he saw her. "Claire!" He hollered back as he lifted her into a hug, much more comfortable than her sister's. Oh, how she missed his warm aura and the smell of his mum's cooking on his clothes.

"I've missed you, Potter," She said quietly. They hadn't seen each other since last school year. Now, they were fourth years and were very confident in being the best pranksters at Hogwarts. James hugged Claire harder before she let go to look at Sirius and Remus.

"Hello Remus, Sirius."

"Hey."

"Hi, Claire."

She wasn't really that close with Remus and Sirius despite her relationship with James. She had grown closer with Lily Evans and Marlene McKinnon instead. Lily being James's new found crush.

Remus gave a weak smile as Sirius rubbed his hands through his long dark hair. Had Remus gotten taller? That didn't matter. She turned around to tell James about everything, peering over at Remus and Sirius trading chocolate every once in a while.

One of James's best traits was how good of a listener he was. Claire could talk his ears off for hours and he wouldn't show a single sign of annoyance. She went on about the quidditch games she had seen and the places she went with Rory and her boyfriend and he managed to look interested the whole time.

Before they knew it, people started to board the train more and more. Claire had lost Rory in the crowd of parents and was now almost completely alone with James, Sirius, and Remus. Peter must've been running late. As always.

James handed Remus Claire's bag and asked him to carry it for her. Blushing furiously, Remus agreed and grabbed her luggage before stepping inside the Hogwarts express. With a few final waves to Mrs. Potter, they had entered the train to see all of their classmates. All the way down the train they had their very own compartment. They had even carved their initials into it. JP, SB, RL, PP, and CW were carved towards the bottom of the door. The boys always sat here and Claire always sat there on the way to Hogwarts but only sometimes on the way back. She wasn't quite close enough with Peter, Sirius, and Remus to sit with them all of the time.

James and Sirius pushed each other into the seats laughing as they did. Sirius's hair was messy and all over his face from turning around so much with James. At the same time Sirius fell into the seat, James's glasses fell onto the table almost breaking. The four of them laughed, just happy to be going home- well, Hogwarts.