52Chapter 12
Chapter 12
Remus's POV
Remus was listening to James and Sirius debate about using a spell to change the hair color of all the girls in their house. Sirius thought it would be brilliant, but James didn't want Lily mad at him. He groaned at his two best friends already dreading the detention they were sure to get afterwards.
"Mr. Lupin," Headmaster Dumbledore called from behind them. He groaned again trying to think of what they had done recently that could get them in trouble.
"Yes, Professor?" he asked, stopping to turn and look at the man. His ears picked up his two friends sneaking off down the hallways. Cowards, he thought with no real heat.
"We have two new students that will be arriving at the front gate in a half hour. I would like for you to greet them and show them into the Great Hall to be sorted." The old man smiled at him.
Remus shifted his feet, he would much rather go off and see what his two idiotic friends were doing but knew that he couldn't say no to the headmaster.
"Of course, Professor. I'll head that way now."
"Thank you, my boy," the headmaster said and then turned and walked away. It was only after the headmaster was far enough away that he let out a sigh and started walking towards the front of the school.
It wasn't that he minded doing things for the professors or helping other students out. It was just over the last few years it seemed to become expected of him. People were always seeking him out, and when they asked for his help it, their tone implied that he wouldn't be able to say no. James kept telling him that he had to start saying no or people were going to keep taking advantage of him.
He knew he should listen to his friend but somehow every time he went to say no, he agreed instead. He sighed again.
As he approached the front door, he felt the wolf in him raise its hackles. He slowed his step and when the wolf let out a growl in the back of his mind he turned around wand in hand and pointed it at the student following him.
Lucius Malfoy sneered at him but did not raise his own wand.
"Why are you following me?" he asked.
"I am not," the blonde spoke as if it was beneath him to do such a thing and Remus had to bite the inside of his lip not to throw out a comeback Siri would be proud of. Instead he lowered his wand and waited.
The two of them stood them staring for a few moments, Remus silently cursing the blonde because he was sure he was now late to meet the two students he was supposed to be showing in, and he really hoped the two young kids didn't wander off.
Finally, Malfoy appeared to grow bored because he just turned around and walked away.
Remus's wolf, Moony, growled at the man's back. They both knew the man was following them, him and his friend Snape had both taken turns watching him for months now. It made him uneasy, he was sure they knew what he was but neither of them said a word. Just kept following him.
He let out a frustrated breath and rushed out of the school.
When he reached the front gate, he had a moment of panic that the two kids weren't there but then there was a buzz in the air that had Moony snarling. Then two large bodies came into view.
The first landed proudly on his feet. While the second hit the ground hard enough to have the air knocked out of him. Remus ears picked up the grunt that followed. He quickly moved to help the young man up.
"Need help?" he asked reaching down.
"Thanks" the kid said, reaching out to take his hand. There was tingle along of Remus's hand.
"Are you okay?" he asked, and almost dropped the younger man's hand when a wave of protectiveness washed over him. Moony didn't growl at the brown-haired boy instead it seemed almost playful. Like this was a packmate he wanted to run with.
Twice the kid, started to talk but shut his mouth over the words. His companion quickly answered for him but Remus's wolf was pushing him to check over the other student. He shook his head and stuck out his hand, "well, I'm Remus."
Moony whimpered at him for not doing what it wanted, but it wasn't the full moon, so Remus was in control. He shoved the wolf down.
"The headmaster asked me to show you into the main hallway. The first years will be waiting there to be sorted. I believe he wanted to sort you two first. Please follow me." He walked away quickly tried to understand what the hell was going on with his wolf and his mind was always going over that these two new students where a lot older than first years.
"Isn't that…" he heard one of them mutter behind him and almost stopped to see what was
going on, and asked but he told himself he didn't want to know and kept moving. Keeping his ears open to make sure the two followed behind him.
Once the three of them made it to the main staircase outside of the Great Hall. Remus quickly took off. He knew he should have probably stayed and given the two boys a welcome speech or something of the like, but the truth was he was way too confused at the moment to even try.
He needed to talk to Sirius or James. They might have an idea about what was going on. His two friends weren't hard to find once he entered the Great Hall. James was flirting with Lily who for her part looked a little bored, but she kept smiling at James. Remus knew it was an act. Every time the redhead acted a little bored with his friend, James would do something outrageous to get her attention. He shook his head and felt himself calm down a little at the familiarity of the room.
Sirius seemed to be arguing with Peter, who sat across from him. He sighed. The two always seemed to be fighting lately. He quietly slipped into the empty spot between Sirius and James, and felt his wolf relax. The scents of his friends hung heavy in the air and the smell of pack calmed his wolf. It also helped ground him. He sucked in a deep breath and let himself calm down. He knew thinking about things rationally was more likely to lead to answers then panicking. Sirius elbowed him in the ribs to get his attention.
"What did the old man want?" his friend whispered. Remus rolled his eyes, a lecture on respecting powerful wizards on the tip of his tongue but he bit it back, because now was the perfect time to tell his friends about the two new kids.
"He wanted me to show in two new students. They have to be transfers because they look about our age." That caught both Lily and James attention who both leaned in to hear more.
"We've never had a transfer student before," Lily whispered thoughtfully.
"That's not all," he said, lowering his voice. "The one, Moony liked him." He felt Sirius stiffen next to him, Lily's eyes widened and James raised a brow. He sighed. "Not like that. He thought he was pack," he whispered the last word harshly. Like he was angry at the word and not just his wolf.
His friends all exchanged looks and he felt Sirius relax next to him. Remus took a second to give his friend a look but Siri looked over him towards James.
"You think he's a wolf?" Peter asked from across the table, and Remus felt his stomach drop. That couldn't be it? Could it? Wouldn't his wolf feel territorial if another werewolf showed up?
"I..." he opened his mouth, a slow build of panic setting in. The front door opened and in walked a wave of first years. He tracked the movement of the two taller boys that were hanging towards the back of the mass of smaller kids.
"The headmaster wouldn't have brought another wolf here, at least not without telling you first," Lily said suddenly, and Remus wanted to hug her, because she was right. He let out a breath and felt Sirius sling an arm over his shoulder.
"It's okay Moony" his friend whispered in his ear.
He tried to pay attention as Professor McGonagall started talking but he couldn't. Sure, he wasn't worried about the boy being a wolf anymore. Lily was right. The headmaster wouldn't risk putting two werewolves together without at least talking about it, but that didn't answer why he felt protective of the other kid or why he smelt like pack. He felt Siri's arm tightened and looked up to see the boy was sitting down on the stool.
The hall fell silently for a moment and then the hat shouted out Gryffindor and Remus's stomach sank. Why couldn't the guy be placed in another house? That would give him time to figure things out before he did something stupid and outed himself.
"Sit with us," Sirius voice rang out loud and clear a moment later. He didn't even have time to glare at his friend before a body was squeezed in next to him. He smelt the shock on the new kid at being pulled down, and he was a little surprised when the kid went willingly and accepted Siri's manhandling.
"Sirius," he tried in a firm voice to remind his friend that not everyone liked being dragged around. Not that he listened.
"I'm Sirius." He watched as his friend stuck his hand out all smiling and playful. To his credit the new kid didn't seem fazed just shook Siri's hand and gave his name. "Evan."
"So, we've never had a transfer before?" Sirius went on. Causing most of them to groan at his lack of subtlety.
Evan just chuckled, "We were homeschooled," he said pointing out the other boy, but Remus' ears rang with the lie. He could hear it in Evan's heartbeat the way it skipped and the sour smell that came off him when he lied. It told Remus that it was a lie and that the young man didn't like lying.
"Really, that must have been hard?" he heard Lily ask as she leaned over James to talk to Evan.
"It…" he cleared his throat. "It wasn't too bad, but I'm excited to be here." Again, there was a sour smell in the air and Remus tried not to react to it.
"Are you two related?" Sirius asked, and suddenly it didn't matter to him that the kid was lying because he knew what was about to happen. He shifted to look at his friend, hoping that this conversation wouldn't go the way he imagined it would.
"No?" Evan said sounding confused.
"Good," Sirius said. Moony whimpered and Remus felt himself wanting to wrap Sirius in a hug. When ever his friend talked about his family, it made him sad and angry and neither Remus or Moony liked that.
"Good?"
"Sirius," Remus said in a deep voice, trying to get his friend to stop. Whoever this was didn't need to know their secrets or background. More importantly, Siri didn't need to go over this again.
When his friend went to open his mouth, he elbowed him. Hoping that was a clear sign to stop. Siri glared at him and he glared right back. Then his friend looked away. He watched as Sirius pushed his food aside and stomped away.
He sighed and got up to follow him. He hated that Sirius's family treated him the way he did, and he hated that his friend always seemed to blame himself.
He rushed after his friend and when he was close enough he wrapped a hand around Siri's arm and using his extra strength pulled his friend to a stop.
Sirius spun around and glared at him.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I just hate the way they make you feel."
"Fuck them," Sirius snarled, just a hint of Padfoot showing. "I was just trying to warn the kid. His friend will turn his back on him just like Regulus did." Remus pulled Sirius into a hug.
"We can't know that," he whispered. He felt his friend scoff at him, but he didn't pull away from
the hug.
After a moment they pulled apart.
"So, what do you think of Evan?" Sirius asked with a troubling smirk.