As Remus pulled his trunk through the partition of platform 9 ¾, he gave a nervous look back at his father, who was carrying his owl, Twilight, just behind him.

“Dad, are you sure everything will be alright with…my little problem?” he asked unsurely, looking around at all the wildly chattering students around him on the platform.

John Lupin knelt down to his son’s height and put his hands on Remus’ shoulders. “Dumbledore has arranged everything, and he assured he that no one will know, that is, unless you choose to tell them, that is.”

Remus looked a bit incredulous. “I’ve waited forever to be somewhere where people don’t know about me. Why could I ruin that?”

His father shrugged. “I’m not advocating you tell your secret to anyone you meet. I simply meant that someday, you may want to tell someone. But that’s enough talk about that. Do you have all your things?” He changed the subject.

“Yeah, I think so. Everything’s in my trunk, except Twilight and my wand.” Remus gestured towards the pocket in his robes, where his wand hung close to his chest. Then, Remus reached out and took hold of Twilight’s cage, and rubbed the bird’s dark feathers through the cage.

“I’ll write you and Mom everyday,” Remus promised.

John chuckled. “I said the same thing to my father when I went off to Hogwarts, and it didn’t end up happening quite that way. Once you get there,” he looked at the train almost wistfully, “that castle becomes your second home.” He glanced at the clock on the wall. “Ah. Enough of that. You need to get on the train, young man.

For a moment, Remus looked as though he was going to cry, but then he got ahold of himself. “I’ll miss you, Dad.”

“I’ll miss you too, Remy,” his father assured Remus, using his old pet name for his son. “But you’ll be alright; I know you will be. You may even make some friends, if you let yourself.”

With that, he gave Remus a gently push, and the boy began to walk toward the car. When Remus got to the train door, he gave his luggage to the doorman, keeping only his wand with him. Freed from his bags, Remus began to look for a seat. There were still ten minutes until the train left, and so some of the compartments were still empty.

Remus passed several compartments filled with older students, but he dared not join the. Then, he reached a compartment with only two people inside. Through the small window in the doors, he could see that one was a boy his age, probably a first year as well, talking excitedly. He had black hair that kept falling in his face, and was talking to a girl of the same age, a girl with fiery red hair and an amazed look in her emerald eyes. For a moment, Remus considered joining them. They were his age, and they seemed to be nice. But, Remus reminded himself, they already seemed to be friends. He wouldn’t want to bother them, wouldn’t want to intrude.

A little further along, Remus found an empty compartment, and settled himself there. From the window, he could see the conductor at the station, trying to herd the other kids onto the train.

Remus liked watching people; he always had, especially when they couldn’t see him. When he was right up close to people, they would pretend to be nice, but when they thought no one was watching, people did the most unusual things.

One woman was scolding her young son, who was apparently finding using some form of magic to blow bubbles into others’ hair. One day, when Remus had been in his father’s library, his father had told him of a fantastic phenomenon; that magical children could perform rudimentary wandless magic, as an evolution of the accidental magic of infancy. However, once a child reached 4 or 5, the ability left them.

Engrossed in the people outside the window, Remus failed to realize that someone was standing at the compartment door until they began to speak.

“Anyone else sitting here?” A voice came from behind Remus. Remus spun around to see two boys, one with unruly hair and glasses, the other with his hair in a loose ponytail.

“No,” Remus stuttered, willing himself to try to say something that wasn’t so idiotic. “No one’s sitting here.”

“Brilliant,” said the boy with glasses. “Mind is we do?”

“Not at all,” Remus exclaimed, gesturing to the opposite side of the compartments. Both boys grinned, and sat where Remus indicated.

“Thanks, mate,” said the ponytailed boy. “I’m Sirius, Sirius Black.” Sirius extended his hand. “And this maniac over here,” Sirius jerked his head toward the boy with glasses, “He’s James Potter.” Sirius ducked to avoid being hit in the head with the end of James’ wand, and came back up with his hand still outstretched.

Remus shook it. “I’m Remus, Remus Lupin.”

Maybe, just maybe, Remus thought, things might not be so bad after all.