Bitten

Chapter Four--

After what seemed to Remus like a very prolonged farewell to his parents, he found himself boarding the Hogwarts Express with his tawny owl, Huckleberry. It was already full of students, but all of them seemed to be so much older than Remus. He began to look for a compartment with an empty seat, but as he was about to head down the corridor, he heard a shout behind him.

"SOMEBODY CATCH THAT BLOODY CAT!"

Remus wheeled around just in time to see a small black cat zipping in his direction. It was running fast, but surprisingly, it stopped suddenly in front of Remus and began sniffing his pant leg. Remus looked down at it nervously, knowing how animals often had an odd interest in him and that hoping no one at school would notice. Thudding footsteps approached him, and a boy with round glasses rushed up to him.

"Thanks," he said breathlessly. "He just slipped out of my hands.... Can't keep track of the stinking thing...."

He scooped up the cat with one hand, and then held out the other to Remus.

"I'm James Potter. Who are you?"

"Remus Lupin," replied Remus, shaking his hand.

"Looking for somewhere to sit?" asked James. "I've been looking for about fifteen minutes. Those bigger kids are really stuck-up about letting first years sit with them. It's not like we're diseased or anything. C'mon, maybe we can find some other first years."

Picking up his trunk once again and shifting Huckleberry's cage in his arms, Remus followed James down the corridor.

~*~

Audrey heaved her trunk on to the train and dragged it along behind her in her search for a place to sit. Most of the compartments were full of students, all of them looking much older than first-year. Audrey frowned; she had been hoping to find an empty compartment so she wouldn't be forced to mingle with the more gregarious people. She reached the end of the train and found a compartment with only one person in it: a boy who looked about her age and not too friendly. She decided that he would have to do, so she slid open the door and said, "Is it all right if I sit here?"

The boy turned around. He had slightly long, dark hair that hung in his eyes in a good-looking sort of way. Audrey's frown deepened. Why did even a boy have to have better hair than she had?

"Sure," he said brightly. "Here, let me take your trunk."

"No, it's all right. I've got it," said Audrey stiffly. She dropped it onto the luggage rack and sat down across from the boy. They sat in silence for a good five minutes, while the boy looked at her as though he had never seen anything quite like her. Audrey began to grow uncomfortable and irritable, and she shifted in her seat. Finally, the boy said, "I'm Sirius Black.. What's your name?"

"Audrey," Audrey mumbled, realising how wrong she had been about this boy. "Audrey Primrose."

"Are you new too?" asked Sirius.

"Yes," Audrey replied.

"Do you know anyone here?"

"No."

"Do you know what house you'll be in?"

"No."

"Did your parents go to Hogwarts when they were kids too?"

"My dad did."

"What House was he in?"

"Hufflepuff."

"Cool," said Sirius, sitting back and putting his feet up on the seat. "My cousin Andromeda's in Hufflepuff. She's a sixth year."

"Did your parents go to Hogwarts?" asked Audrey.

"No," said Sirius, frowning slightly. "They went to Durmstrang. That's where they wanted me to go too, but I'm glad to be going to Hogwarts--to do something different from my family... and especially to get away from them."

"Me too," said Audrey.

"What's wrong with your parents?"

"Well... nothing I suppose," said Audrey. "I'm just sick of them always making me feel like I'm not good enough. I guess they don't mean to, but that's what it feels like, you know?"

"Do I ever," said Sirius. "I'm a huge disappointment to my parents. They love my brother Regulus--he's a year younger than me--just because they're all hung up about pure blood and all that, and he's just like them. I can't stand it. Blood shouldn't matter, right?"

"Right," said Audrey, deciding that this Sirius kid was all right. "I'm a half blood."

"Exactly!" said Sirius. "It's just that-- "

But what it just was, Audrey never found out, for that that very moment, the door to their compartment slid open and a boy with messy black hair and glasses peeked in.

"Er-- " he began.

"Hey," said Sirius suddenly, "don't I know you from somewhere?"

"Yeah," said the boy, a look of recognition appearing on his face. "I think so. It's Sirius, right?"

"Yep. I came to one of your family's parties."

"Right! Mind if we join you here?" he asked. "No one else'll let us sit with them."

"Sure," said Sirius. "Who all's out there? The whole first-year class?"

"Nah, just one other guy," said the boy with the glasses.

He turned and called out to someone behind him.

"Hey, I found us a place!"

Then he pulled his trunk into the compartment and stacked it on top of Audrey's. Behind him came another boy, walking backwards as he carried his trunk and owl's cage. He had a mop of light brown hair and was rather thin and small for his age, though still taller than Audrey.

"I'm James," said the boy with the glasses, "and this is Remus."

The other boy turned around, and Audrey's mouth dropped open. So did his..

"Remus?" said Audrey.

"Audrey?" said Remus.

"Hey, you two know each other?" asked Sirius.

Remus nodded speechlessly. He was stunned. It was most undoubtedly Audrey. She had the same dark hair that she'd always had, the same brown eyes, and the same slightly rebellious look. But the smile that had always brightened her face when he had known her seemed to have disappeared.

"What... what are you doing here?" he asked dumbly.

"I'm going to Hogwarts. What else would I be doing here?" said Audrey.

"I...I haven't seen you in three years."

"Yeah, I know."

There was a short silence, during which Sirius and James exchanged extremely puzzled looks and Remus's owl clicked his beak impatiently. Then Audrey suddenly exclaimed, "Oh boy! I knew I'd find a way to get around my parents!"

"What do you mean?" asked James.

"Erm," said Audrey, casting a look at Remus. "Never mind."

There was another silence. James, apparently not used to so little talking in such a long period of time, cleared his throat loudly.

"Well, this is all very interesting," he said. "I'm sure you have so much to catch up on."

He sat down next to Sirius, and began to twiddle his thumbs restlessly. Sirius looked between Remus and Audrey as though expecting something interesting to happen.

"Er--well," said Audrey awkwardly, "it's--er--good to see you."

"Yeah, it's good to see you too," said Remus.

They looked at each other for another moment before the train began to move and Remus sat down.

Audrey opened her mouth to say something else, though she didn't know exactly what, but she was spared the trouble of thinking of something when the door slid open again and a small chubby boy stuck his head in.

"Er..." he said slowly. "I-- "

"Need a place to sit?" said Sirius.

"Yeah," said the boy.

"Come on in," said James.

Yet another trunk was added to the pile and the boy sat down.

"What's your name?" asked Sirius.

"Oh, er--Peter," said the boy.

"There a last name that goes with that?" asked Audrey.

"Pettigrew."

As time wore on, Sirius, James, and Peter began a game of Exploding Snap.. Audrey watched with little interest. She wanted to talk to Remus, but she found herself at a loss of words. She glanced sideways at him, but he was staring out the window. Finally, Audrey took out an issue of Which Broomstick that she had in her trunk and began to flip through it. But soon she grew tired of reading about the different styles of broom tails and the different prices of broomsticks that she could only dream of affording. She looked back up at Remus.

Remus was watching the farms with cows and horses fly by through the window, but he wasn't really seeing them. For the last three years, he had imagined what it would be like if he met Audrey again. He never imagined that he would be rendered speechless. He always thought that they would go back to being best friends like they had been. And maybe they could....

"So," he said suddenly, so Audrey looked up from her magazine, "er--how have you been?"

"Well," said Audrey, slightly surprised that he was talking to her, but nevertheless glad, "until I got my Hogwarts letter, I've been pretty crappy.. How about you?"

"Not too bad," said Remus.

"How--er--" Audrey cast a quick look at the others to make sure they weren't listening and lowered her voice, "how are the full moons?"

"Oh," said Remus, "well, I guess they could be worse. But..."

"But they could be better," Audrey finished.

Remus nodded.

"You know, Audrey," he said, "er... that night... when I got bitten... you just disappeared. I mean, you came into my room in St. Mungo's and then... I just never saw you again. My parents didn't really tell me all that happened. They... they just said that... you had to leave. And that your parents were worried about... you know, what I am. And you moved away without even telling me... and I never saw you again."

Audrey looked guiltily down at her trainers.

"I know. It was my parents," she said, unable to keep the anger out of her voice. "They didn't want us to be friends because of... well... you know....."

She trailed off awkwardly.

"Oh," said Remus.

"But that doesn't matter anymore," said Audrey, trying to sound more cheerful. "Because we're going to Hogwarts, and they won't even know."

"So you're saying you'll have to lie to your parents?" said Remus.

"Not lie per se," said Audrey smiling slightly. "Just... not tell them. You know, lying by omission. Because it's not like they're going to write me and ask, 'By the way, you haven't run into that kid Remus, have you? Because you know we don't want you talking to him.'"

"Yeah, I guess you're right," said Remus, feeling a little better.

"Hey, do you two want to play Gobstones?" asked Sirius.

"Sure," said Remus, plopping himself down next to Peter.

"Er..." said Audrey.

"Come on, Audrey," said Remus, "it'll be fun."

"I don't know how to play," said Audrey, feeling very stupid indeed.

"That's all right," said James. "We'll teach you. It's really easy."

Audrey reluctantly lowered herself onto her knees beside Remus as Sirius and James began to explain the game to her.

"Right, it's a little hard to play on the train, since we're moving and all that," said James, "but we'll make do...."

At around lunchtime, a witch pushing a cart full of food came by their compartment. The five of them bought dozens of Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Pumpkin Pasties, and Cauldron Cakes for all of them to share. Audrey, who had been too excited to eat breakfast that morning, was now famished and grabbed an armful of food.

"Eats a lot for a girl, doesn't she?" said Sirius to the others as he took an enormous bite out of a Chocolate Frog.

"You should talk," said James with a snicker.

"I said 'for a girl,'" said Sirius.

"My point exactly." James grinned.

"Hey!"

Sirius threw an Every Flavour Bean at James, while the others laughed. Audrey, hearing all of this, just laughed along with everyone else. Determined to demonstrate his masculinity, Sirius took a great swig of pumpkin juice and belched loudly. Remus, Audrey, and Peter laughed.

James, however, shook his head and said, "Pathetic."

He took up his drink, knocked back a great mouthful, and then held his hands up, as if anticipating something. Finally, he let out a belch even larger than Sirius's. He then looked around at everyone, daring someone to challenge him.

"Beat that," he said imperiously.

"All right, all right. You win," said Sirius, accepting defeat with grace.

James looked very satisfied with himself. He continued to have the same superior look on his face until an even louder burp erupted from somewhere next to him. He turned around sharply to see Audrey, grinning at him. Everyone stared.

"Whoa!" said Sirius.

"Merlin! Audrey's more of a boy than either of you," said Peter.

"Thanks a lot, Pettigrew," said Audrey dryly, though Remus could tell she was pleased.

When it began to grow dark, a prefect came into their compartment to tell them that they were nearly there. When he left, they decided to change into their robes. Audrey pulled the black robe on over her T-shirt and jeans and placed her pointed hat on her head. She waited while the boys did the same. James, Peter, and Sirius's robes looked newly bought from Madam Malkins, but Audrey noticed that Remus's were slightly tattered and looked as though they had been bought second-hand. Remus didn't seem to mind though; he looked just as happy as the others--perhaps even more so, given that he was about to begin living like a normal kid.

When the train came to a halt, it stopped so suddenly that all of the trunks fell off the rack and everyone in their compartment was thrown off their feet.

"Ow! Good Merlin!" exclaimed Sirius from somewhere under a trunk. "They should warn us that they're going to try and kill us when we get here!"

"A nice warm welcome to Hogwarts," said Audrey, pushing James roughly off of her legs and standing up.

A sound of screeching, flapping wings, and a small yelp told Audrey that Peter had fallen on top of Huckleberry's cage, and neither the owl nor the boy was happy about this.

"That bird of yours is evil," said Peter bluntly to Remus.

When they stepped off the train, Audrey suddenly felt very small, being pushed to and fro by older students.

"Where're we supposed to go?" she shouted over the tumult to James.

Before James could reply, they heard a voice calling, "Firs' years! Firs' years, this way!"

They looked to see where the voice was coming from and saw a very large, bearded man, with a group of gathering first years by his side.

"C'mon!" said Sirius, starting off in that direction.

Audrey, Remus, James, and Peter followed. When all of the first years had arrived, the man, who introduced himself as Hagrid, directed them into several small boats that were waiting at the edge of a large lake. Sirius, James, and Peter got into a boat with a brown-haired boy called Frank, and Audrey and Remus shared theirs with a boy named Theodore Nott and, to Audrey's mild surprise and displeasure, the boy she had met in the Apothecary at Diagon Alley. Remus peeked over the edge of the boat and into the depths of the water as the boats began to move. He thought he saw something long and thin moving and leaned closer to see better. Suddenly, he heard a shout, but before he could turn around to see who had made it, he felt a hand on his back and was flung into the water.

Audrey saw the two boys Theodore and Severus talking in low voices to each other and pointing at Remus. She edged closer to hear what they were saying. Suddenly Theodore, crouching behind Remus, pushed Remus hard just as he was leaning over the side of the boat.

"Hey!" Audrey shouted, but it was too late.

Remus fell headfirst into the lake with a splash. Audrey hurried over to the spot where he had just been sitting and looked down into the water. Remus resurfaced quickly, coughing up water.

"Remus!" said Audrey anxiously. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," said Remus, treading water.

Theodore and Severus were bursting with laughter. Audrey rounded on them..

"What is your problem?" she said furiously. "What's he ever done to you?"

"Ooh, sticking up for little Lupin, are you?" said Theodore. "What are you, his body guard?"

"Why, you little--!"

"What's goin' on back there?"

Audrey turned to see that Hagrid had turned his boat back around and was glaring down at Audrey. Audrey felt a little intimidated, but said nevertheless, "These idiots thought it would be a fun idea to push Remus into the water!"

"Remus?" said Hagrid. "Not Remus Lupin?"

"Yeah, Remus Lupin," said Remus from the water.

Hagrid looked down in surprise, just noticing he was there.

"Galloping gorgons!" he said. He leaned out of his boat, grabbed Remus by the arms and placed him back into the boat next to Audrey, as though he were no heavier than a doll.

"Not even Sorted yet, and I'm reportin' yeh," Hagrid grumbled to the two offending boys. "What're yer names again?"

"Theodore Nott," the blond-haired boy muttered.

"Severus Snape," said the other grumpily and giving Audrey a very cold look.

"Well, after the Sorting, I'll be seein' yer heads o' houses abou' this, and maybe they'll take some point from yeh. Here yeh go, Remus."

He tossed to Remus a gigantic moleskin coat, which immediately engulfed him. It took a good minute for him to find his way out of it again.

As they continued their journey across the lake, Audrey continued to glare at Snape and Nott. Remus merely looked miffed at being wet.

"Oh--here," said Audrey, suddenly remembering a spell her father had taught her. She took her wand out of her pocket and pointed it at Remus. "Aridum."

Remus's clothes were suddenly dry.

"Thanks," he said gratefully.

"Little show off," Audrey heard Nott mutter.

"Insufferable prat," Audrey snapped back.

There was little talk until the castle of Hogwarts came into sight. In the boat next to theirs, James let out an audible gasp. Audrey felt the same joy, but contained it inside. When the boats landed at last, they climbed out, and Hagrid took them up to the front doors of the castle, where they were met by a formidable-looking witch with dark hair that was tied up tight in a bun.

"Evening, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid. "Here they are."

"Thank you, Hagrid," said Professor McGonagall.

"Those two over there migh' give yeh some trouble," said Hagrid, frowning at Snape and Nott. "On'y jus' got here an' already pickin' fights."

"I'll take care of it, Hagrid," said McGonagall, peering sternly at the students in the question over her glasses. "Thank you."

Hagrid left, and Professor McGonagall led the first years into the entrance hall. Remus, though he had already seen the castle, was still awestruck at the magnificence of it.

"Good evening, first years," said McGonagall. "I am Professor McGonagall.. I believe I already know some of you. I am the head of Gryffindor house. Gryffindor is one of the four houses at Hogwarts. The others are Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. Each first year is sorted into one of these houses. Now I will take you into the Great Hall, where you will be sorted."

She opened the doors and they followed her into the Great Hall, where all the other students were sitting at the four long tables. Audrey looked around in amazement. There were candles floating in midair, and the ceiling was enchanted so it looked like the sky. Though Audrey had had some experience with magic, she had never been exposed to quite so much at one time.

McGonagall brought them up to a stool, on top of which sat an old, worn, pointed hat. The hall went silent as a rip along the brim opened like a mouth and the hat began to sing.

Its song told the first years of the four houses and the qualities that earned students admittance into each one. Audrey wondered which one she'd be put in.

Probably not Ravenclaw, she thought. Not smart enough. Hufflepuff? Dad would be proud. Gryffindor sounds good too. Even Slytherin seems all right, but I don't know about the whole Dark wizard thing. And plus, I don't want to be in the same house as that Snape kid.

When the hat's song was over, McGonagall opened a roll of parchment and began reading off the names of students.

Sirius was the third to be called. He stepped up to the stool, placed the hat on his head, and sat down, waiting eagerly. After a moment, the mouth of the hat opened and shouted, "Gryffindor!"

Audrey clapped hard with everyone else as Sirius skipped over to the Gryffindor table. No more students were put into Gryffindor until McGonagall said, "Evans, Lily." A pretty red-haired girl put the hat on, waited for a minute, and was declared a "Gryffindor!"

Audrey looked nervously back at James, who was standing behind her. He was talking to the boy called Frank. Neither of them seemed at all worried about being Sorted.

Audrey waited anxiously for her name to be called. Frank was Sorted into Ravenclaw, and as he was taking his seat, Professor McGonagall said, "Lupin, Remus."

The hat fell over Remus's eyes, and the hall around him disappeared from view.

"Ah yes, Remus Lupin," said a small voice, which Remus assumed belonged to the Sorting Hat. "I heard the headmaster talking about you... and your secret."

Remus tensed slightly.

"Don't worry, boy, only you can hear me," said the hat. "Being what you are, though, has shaped part of who you are. You are, no doubt, brave. You face horrors every month that most cannot even imagine. Very clever, as well, and much talent.... You'd be well suited, I think, in--Gryffindor!"

The hall was filled with the sound of the last word, which the Sorting Hat had shouted. There was applause, and Remus happily took off the hat and joined Sirius at the Gryffindor table.

Shortly afterward, Theodore Nott was Sorted into Slytherin. The other Slytherins greeted him, and Audrey wondered what they would to when they heard that he had already lost them house points.

Peter and James were both Sorted into Gryffindor too. Audrey was not quite nervous. What if she was put into another house and had to make new friends?

As McGonagall called, "Primrose, Audrey," and as Audrey put the Sorting Hat on, she hoped to be put into Gryffindor.

"Well, well, well, Miss Primrose," said the hat. "You want to be Sorted into Gryffindor with your new friends... and old one."

"I never said--" thought Audrey, annoyed.

"But you don't need to say it," chuckled the hat. "I can see it in your mind.... No matter. You do have the heart and mind of a Gryffindor.... though the temper of a Slytherin."

"Hey!" thought Audrey fiercely.

The hat just laughed again and said, "Calm down, child. I am putting you in Gryffindor!"

As the polite applause broke out, Audrey hurried over to where Sirius, Remus, Peter, and James were sitting. She was still miffed by the words of the Sorting Hat, but she was too relieved to give them much more thought. She watched as Snape became a Slytherin and all the rest of the first years were placed. After the Sorting and a quick announcement by Professor Dumbledore, the feast began, and the new Gryffindors tucked in.

"Glad we're all in the same house," said Sirius thickly, through an immeasurably large mouthful of mashed potatoes and peas.

"You said it," said Audrey, as she took a long draught from her goblet of pumpkin juice.

"Imagine being put into Slytherin," said James, "along with Snape and Nott. I'd die."

"Yeah," said Peter in agreement.

"We still might have classes with them though," said Remus.

"Oh boy, that'll be fun," said Sirius, grinning maniacally.

"'Fun'?" Audrey repeated.

"We can do all kinds of things to them!"

"I don't know if that's a good idea," said Remus. "I mean, we don't want to get into trouble."

"Ah, they'll never know it was us," said James.

"Don't be too sure of that," said Remus.

"Well, they won't be able to prove it was us," said Sirius. "Pass the potatoes."

"What exactly do you have in mind?" asked Audrey, handing him the bowl. "It has to be good, to get back at them for pushing Remus into the lake."

"You'll see," said Sirius, spooning a mountainous heap of food onto his overflowing plate. "You'll see...."