For Our Parents Willed So

For Our Parents Willed So

*

In the Train

*

"Hurry up, boys!" Mrs. Pettigrew shouted up the stairs. "We'll be late!"

"We're ready, Mom!" shouted Peter back. "Remie just helped me to pack the rest of my stuff!" With this said, they emerged to the stairway, dragging Peter's trunk between them. Remus's was already packed to the Pettigrews' car. Since Mister and Mrs. Lupin were on a trip, both boys were staying at the Pettigrews, and now they were leaving together for the Hogwarts Express.

Mr. Pettigrew tucked his son's trunk to the car, then smiled at the others. "Now, let's go!" he said cheerfully.

Remus and Peter settled to the backseat, while Mister and Mrs. Pettigrew and Peter's baby sister, Alicia, sat to the front. Their trip went smoothly with the boys' idle chatting and Mrs. Pettigrew's goodwilled warnings keeping silence far away.

At last, they arrived to the station. With Mister Pettigrew's help, the boys got their trunks to two carts. Remus kept Hector safely in his pocket, careful not to let the blue mouse to Muggles' sight.

In a pair, they went through the wall, arriving to the crowded Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Peter's parents followed them, then they moved away from the way of the still continuing stream of students and their parents. Mrs. Pettigrew gave her last warnings to the boys, and made them vow to owl home regularly - the Pettigrews and Lupins had bought an owl that belonged to both boys, called Cassidy. She now sat in her cage on top of Peter's trunk, eyeing their new surroundings curiously.

At last, the goodbyes were over. A little levitation charm from Mister Pettigrew helped the boys to get their trunks to the train, where they soon found an empty compartment, settling to it. Remus's werewolf strength made it easy to lift their trunks up despite the fact that they both were a lot smaller than boys usually were in their age, Remus because of the bite, Peter just because of his genetics.

They'd just managed to get seated next to each other, Peter leaning lightly against Remus's shoulder, as somebody pushed the door to their compartment open. Two black-haired boys, looking about their age, peered inside.

"Hey, little ones!" one of them said, his grey eyes glinting with mischief. "How did you get to the train? Shouldn't you be still with your mothers?"

"We're both eleven," Remus snapped. "So shut up."

"Okay, okay, I was just teasing," the boy said, grinning. "Is there room for two more boys in there?"

The boys exchanged a glance. "Sure," Peter said then, shrugging. As soon as he said this, the two other boys rushed in, their trunks with them.

As soon as they'd got their trunks put away and settled down opposite to Remus and Peter, the boy who hadn't spoken yet, a spectacled lad with muzzy hair, said, "So, who are you? I'm James Potter, and this is my best friend, Sirius Black."

"I'm Remus Lupin," replied Remus, "and this one here is my fiancé, Peter Pettigrew." He turned a bit to place a light, affectionate peck on Peter's cheek.

"Hi," the fairer boy grinned, waving a bit at the two.

"Lucky you," muttered James. "My fiancé is a complete idiot. We can't stand each other for a mere second, and still we should get married."

"That's little compared to me," said Sirius, rolling his eyes. "My family made a contract of engagement before either of us was even born, just stating that the first children of our families would marry. Therefore, my fiancé is six years older than I!"

Peter whistled. "Oh, yes," he said, sounding astonished. "Looks like I and Remus are very lucky to have each other."

"You bet," Sirius said. "To make it even worse, he's a Slytherin, and an insufferable snob. Usually, I see him about once a year - but now I'll have to live a whole school year seeing him every day!"

"Then you'll at least have a few years free," James said bitterly. "I'll have to see him every day the whole time we're at school!"

"What house do you think you'll be in?" asked Remus, trying to cut them off before they got any further. "I guess I'll be a Ravenclaw, that's where my Dad was. I'm a Halfblood," he added as an afterthought.

"I'm betting Hufflepuff for me," Peter said sadly. "That's where both my parents were, and my grandparents."

"My family's always been in Gryffindor, so I'd say that," James said, shrugging. Then he glanced at Sirius. "What about you?" he asked.

"Well, my family's always been in Slytherin," the boy replied with a frown. "But I'll be damned if I go there!"

"I'm sure you won't, Siri," James said reassuringly. "You're far too good to go there. I guess you'll be a Gryffindor, so we'll be together!" Then he grinned at his friend, trying to drive away Sirius's doubts.

"That's a pity, though," Peter sighed. "I'll never be a Ravenclaw, and Remie'll never be a Hufflepuff. Looks like we're destined to be separated, eh?"

Remus hugged the smaller boy warmly. "What about if we try to get to the Gryffindor?" he suggested. "That's kind of between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, we might even get there!"

Now, Sirius's eyes lit up. "Maybe we could get to the same dormitory," he said, excited. "I mean, it'd be a lot easier if we didn't have to stick up with complete strangers, right?"

Just then, they heard the food trolley coming. Remus jumped up from his seat, a bag of money already in his hand. "You want anything, dear?" he asked casually from Peter, who smiled in return.

"Bring me a Cauldron Cake, will you, love," the fair-haired boy replied. "And a Chocolate Frog."

"Will happen," the sandy-haired boy promised, placed a quick kiss on top of his fiancé's head, and vanished out of the compartment. Sirius, too, stood up and followed him, but James made no move to go.

&qot;That's weird," the bespectacled boy commented, glancing strangely at Peter.

"What's weird?" asked the smaller boy in confusion. He didn't understand at all what the other boy was going on about.

"How you're behaving around each other." James straightened on his seat, then continued, "I mean, you use petnames and kiss and hug and all that. I this far only met my fiancé in parties and such, most we've ever done is sitting next to each other, and I don't think anything could force us to do more than that."

"Oh, that," Peter replied nonchalantly. "Well, I and Remus have been raised to it since we were just five. We're nothing more than friends at the moment, but when time goes on, I don't think we'll have any problems becoming more. There's no person more important to me than Remus is, honestly."

"Well, there hardly is a less important person to me than my fiancé, that's for sure," James said bitterly. "I think I'd kill myself rather than become friends with him, less alone anything more than that!"

"Why don't you try to change it, then?" Peter asked wonderingly. "The more distance you keep to him now, the harder it'll be when you're old enough to start actually dating!"

"Merlin forbid that day," muttered the darkhaired boy, shivering involuntarily. "I'll turn sixteen soon enough, thank you very much. Until then, I'm doing anything I can to make him feel as miserable as I do. We hate each other, Peter, hate with passion. We've always done."

"That's stupid," said Remus cheerfully, entering the compartment again. "You're only making things more difficult to yourself." The werewolf was carrying a huge load of sweets with himself, letting them down to Peter's lap. "Help yourself," he said cheerfully, settling down next to his fiancé.

"You're actually going to eat that all?" asked James with a disbelieving tone.

"Oh, not all of it," Remus replied cheerfully, starting to dig through the pile of sweets now in Peter's lap. "Half of the sugar mice re for Cassidy," he explained, nodding towards the owl, "and I'm going to give Hector some Chocolate Frogs. And, well, the rest are for our time at school," he added cheerfully, tugging a few sugar mice to the black owl's cage.

"Is she yours?" Sirius asked, now entering with a couple of Chocolate Frogs and a bag of Bertie Bott's Everyflavour Beans. "She's gorgeous! And who's Hector?"

"No, she's both I and Peter's," Remus replied, now rummaging through his pockets. "And as for Hector, he's - wait a second - here!" With a triumphant grin, he pulled a small, blue mouse from his pocket, showing it to the two black-haired boys.

James whistled. "Isn't that a commaroo?" he asked curiously. "They're amazing creatures. Where'd you get yours?"

"Peter bought him for me," replied the sandy-haired boy, giving his fiancé an affectionate look. "Yes, he's a commaroo, and yes, he's amazing." While saying this, he took a Chocolate Frog from the pile of sweets, and opened the bag. The frog immediately leaped out, but Remus's lycanthropic instincts got better of it. It had barely got int motion as he already grabbed it, then offered the now unmoving frog to his pet, who took it greedily.

Now it was Sirius's turn to whistle, accompanied with an approving nod. "That was a hell of a catch," he praised. "I truly want to get to the same house as you, because if you become a Seeker, the others won't stand a change in Quidditch!"

Blushing, Remus waved the praise away. "It's not that big deal," he said shyly, but grinned proudly as he let another frog free just to catch it and hand it to Peter, who accepted it with quiet thanks.

"You know, Remus, Sirius is actually right," James said with a thoughtful voice. "You're so small, and your reflexes are truly something I can just envy. You'd do very well as a Seeker!"

"Well, maybe I'll try to get to the team next year," mumbled Remus quietly. He exchanged a quick glance with Peter, who replied with a warm smile, clearly showing his pride of his friend's skills. Then they both leant forward to share a quick kiss, a sign of warm friendship more than anything else.

Both Remus and Peter missed the quickly fading looks of envy on their new companions' faces.