Warnings: Slash, eventual RLSB

Disclaimers: Don't own it.

Notes: Thanks to the Betas of Doom – Rry, Sibbie, and Oony.

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The Worst Year Yet

By Rekahneko

Chapter 1 - First Year

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"Okay honey, it's time for us to leave. We'll see you at Christmas. Just remember we love you! And don't forget to owl at least once a week." Hugs were exchanged, the mother and son clinging to each other while the father patted the son's head slightly awkwardly.

Remus rapidly blinked his eyes as he avoided looking at his parents' retreating backs. He was eleven years old, much too old to cry, at least in public. After all, this is what he had been looking forward to for the last month, ever since he had gotten his letter. He was finally going to Hogwarts! It shouldn't have even been possible for a boy like him, but the new headmaster was liberal and open-minded and had made special accommodations. Remus would have to be very careful, but in return, he would get the finest education in the world and have a better future than any other lycanthrope in Britain.

It would be a bit lonely without his parents, but he had his books, and Remus supposed that would be enough. The multitude of people in the station around him was a bit disconcerting to say the least. He was used to being by himself, and because of his condition, he rarely socialized. In fact, though he was going to school and would be surrounded by children his age for the first time since the life altering bite, his parents had actively discouraged him from associating too closely with the other students.

'They won't guess if they don't get close' was the mantra of the elder Lupins. Remus knew that his education was entirely dependant on the other students not discovering his secret so he agreed with his parents and was ready to distance himself from the other students (though of course being very courteous, he added absentmindedly, such rudimentary manners already ingrained into him).

Remus gathered his courage and his trunk and made his way onto the train. As he carefully maneuvered his baggage through the corridor, he peered into each compartment, hoping to find a nice empty spot or at least somewhere filled with some quiet, studious looking children. The best he could find was a compartment with a slightly pudgy, young, and very anxious looking boy.

"May I please sit here?" Remus asked politely.

"Okay," the boy replied, peering up at him nervously from the seat closest to the window. After dubiously considering the height of the overhead racks, Remus put his trunk under the seat and sat down opposite the boy.

"My name is Remus Lupin," he submitted.

The worried looking boy wiped his sweaty hands on his pants and tentatively shook the hand that Remus had offered. "I'm Peter Pettigrew," he mumbled awkwardly.

Remus gave him a small smile and, remembering his parents' words, buried his nose into the book he had brought with him, saying nothing more.

Three chapters later, Remus was startled out of the manuscript by two boys bursting into the compartment, breathing heavily and snorting with laughter. They promptly threw themselves down on the seats, only afterwards asking, "Hey, can we sit here?"

Remus looked at Peter's wide eyes and nervously twitching hands and nodded to the two newcomers.

The two launched into a tale involving a flatulence curse and someone they didn't know the name of but whom they had dubbed 'the greasy haired git.' It all sounded terribly exciting but Remus reminded himself not to look too interested. Polite and standoffish was what he was aiming for. Peter, on the other hand, laughed through the entire story. Even during the parts that Remus didn't think were supposed to be funny.

After the long, rambling story, the two finally got around to introducing themselves as Sirius Black and James Potter. Peter squeaked out his name in return and Remus formally introduced himself. Then Remus picked up his book and continued reading, hoping that he had somehow achieved the correct balance of politeness and disinterest.

"So, Lupin, what are you reading?" Sirius peered over inquisitively, wondering what kind of book would be more exciting than meeting new people on your first day at school.

"Physical Principles of Magical Cartography: Implications and Influences on the Muggle World."

"Oh. Right. Okay." Sirius looked at him rather strangely.

Several times, one of the three boys would ask Remus a question, trying to draw him into the discussion. Each time he would answer politely and then continue reading his book. It was more difficult than he imagined, turning away from what looked like an enjoyable time with boys his age, but he agreed with his parents that it was important.

Finally Sirius had enough. "Lupin, what is so bloody interesting about that book that makes it more important than talking to me?"

Remus looked up to find Sirius glaring at him. This wasn't at all the reaction he had been going for. "Umm, well…" He had no answer for the black haired boy.

Thankfully, the compartment door opened and an older girl poked her head in. "Ten minutes until we arrive. You should change into your robes." She looked at them carefully. "First years?" The four boys nodded. "Well, be on the lookout for a very large man named Hagrid who will meet you at the platform. He'll take you where you need to go."

With that, Sirius forgot to finish pestering his bookish companion and instead started digging through his trunk. Remus had carefully placed his robes on the very top of his trunk and so he was ready long before the other three boys. He slipped his robes over his clothes. Probably the clothes would make him too warm, but there was no way he would change in front of other people in case they noticed his tell tale scar.

As they disembarked, the four boys got separated in the crowd of excited students and bulky trunks. Following the sound of a booming voice calling, "First Years, follow me," Remus made his way to the boats. He caught sight of two of the boys from the train ride. Black saw him, whispered something to his friend, and steered them away from Remus.

Remus picked up a last comment as the boys headed off to a different boat. "Don't worry about it, Sirius. He'll probably be sorted into Ravenclaw and you'll never see him outside the library again."

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The first year Gryffindor dorm room was a whirlwind of activity as two black haired boys rushed around, looking for various pieces of clothing to wear outside in the autumn weather. The third occupant of the room was paying absolutely no attention, completely engrossed in a thick novel.

"Sirius, have you seen my Gryffindor scarf? I got it last week and I think it's lost already."

"Just leave it, come on! We don't want to be late." Sirius had been trying without much success to usher his best friend out the door in a timely fashion.

"Everyone is going outside to watch the Quidditch game. Are you coming, Lupin? It's Hufflepuff versus Gryffindor today!" James looked at the blond boy inquiringly.

"No, thank you."

"Why not?" Sirius sounded very annoyed even though he hadn't been the one to encourage Remus to go outside in the first place.

"I really want to finish this book."

"That's so stupid."

Remus looked up at his roommate, just now realizing that he had, once again, managed to make the boy angry at him. Remus had no idea why Sirius Black was always getting annoyed; as far as he could tell, it came from out of nowhere.

"Well, I don't really like quidditch and this novel is quite engrossing," he tried to explain.

His roommate was having none of it. "We're not good enough for you then, Lupin? Fine. See if we ever invite you anywhere again." He stomped out the door, James shrugging and following.

"Imagine, preferring the company of books to us. To me!" Sirius huffed indignantly as he stormed down the stairs. "I mean, I'm a Black for goodness sake! Lupin is so stuck up."

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Dear Mum and Dad,

Thanks for the package yesterday. It really cheered me up. I ate all the chocolates right away so that my pesky roommates wouldn't mess with them. Sometimes they poke around in my trunk when I'm not around which really drives me nuts. It is still better than when they make fun of me in front of the other students like they did last week, though. I don't even know what swotty means so I certainly can't be swotty, right? I looked it up in the dictionary but it wasn't in there. When I told that to Black and Potter (the two boys with black hair who are so obnoxious), they made fun of me even more. I hate it when people laugh at me and that Pettigrew kid (the nervous one) laughs at everything they say, even if it isn't a joke.

Getting along with kids my age is a lot harder than you made it seem like it would be. School would certainly be a lot more fun if it didn't have any students in it. Frank Longbottom is all right, I guess. Remember I told you about him? He is the tall skinny one with the cousins in Hufflepuff. He isn't around much though since he is always hanging out with them. I wish I had a cousin. It seems like a lot of people here had friends before they even arrived at school like Black and Potter. But it is okay, it's not like I need friends or anything; there are enough books in the library here for an eternity of reading!

To reply to your question, no one has even asked where I was off to yet and so I don't think it will be much of a problem. I just keep my curtains on my bed closed much of the time and they never know if I'm in the room or not. Don't worry. And since there are individual stalls, I just change in the shower room so no one has seen my scar or anything. Yes, Madame Pomfrey has been very kind and helpful with everything. Though her potions don't taste as nice as yours do, Mum, especially the pain relief one – yuck! Perhaps you could send her your recipe?

I miss home a lot and wish I could see you both sooner than Christmas holiday. Anyhow, I hope everything is okay at home and don't forget to feed Snuffles. But don't feed him any asparagus or poppy seed dressing. You know how he gets.

Love, Remus

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"Can you guys keep it down? I'm trying to get some homework done."

"Didn't you get it all done during the ten hours you spent in the library today? What do you do in there anyway if you aren't doing homework?"

"Read?"

"Don't you read enough already? How nerdy are you, anyhow?"

Remus didn't reply. Instead he just pulled his curtains closed all the way, hoping they would muffle all the noise a bit so he could concentrate better. He hated having roommates and missed his comfortable and very quiet room at home.

"What a snobbish prat," Sirius muttered, knowing he spoke loud enough to carry to the person in question.

"I wish he had been sorted into Ravenclaw...Or Slytherin," Sirius obviously felt that saying someone should be in Slytherin was one of the worst insults around.

"Me too," Remus whispered to himself, wishing desperately that he had been able to force the hat into placing him in Ravenclaw. He himself didn't see what was so bad about Slytherin; it was probably better than Gryffindor when it came to first year boys. Remus sighed.

"Come on, let's go down to the common room and leave the geek alone." Sirius' voice echoed clearly across the dorm, making Remus grit his teeth behind the closed curtains. At least they were gone and he could finally get some peace and quiet.

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"Hey you guys! Guess what I just got?"

"What? A headache?"

"No, Peter." Sirius huffed noisily at the pudgy boy. He turned to James and continued. "Anyhow, I got some dungbombs from one of the older students. Apparently there is a joke shop in Hogsmeade and you can just go in and buy all sorts of things like that!"

"Wow! What are we going to do with them?"

"Well, I already threw one in the bag of some Slytherin, but I think we should try and come up with something cleverer. Oh, and I have a detention next week, can you help me remember?"

James laughed. "You're so cool, Sirius!"

"I know," Sirius said, smugly.

Just then, Remus came out of the bathroom and as the other three watched silently, he gathered his things for class and left the room.

"I have an idea," said Sirius, grinning.

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Later that day, as Remus returned to the dorm room, he noticed it was strangely silent. Longbottom was out, as usual, but the other three were busy doing who knows what, and doing it quietly. This worried Remus for some odd reason.

He walked through the room nervously, opened the curtains around his bed and put his things down. As he pulled his robes off from over his clothes, Remus wondered if he was just easily worried. The three boys had a lot of energy, true, but they had to be quiet at some point in time, and perhaps this was the time.

Carefully folding his school robe, he looked around once more. Sure enough, his roommates were all still busy reading or writing quietly. Perhaps they were actually doing their homework for once.

He shrugged to himself and went to go put his robes away in his trunk. That is when it happened. As he opened the trunk, it exploded outward with the most horrendous smell, surprising Remus into falling backwards onto the floor. Dungbombs. Laughter erupted from the rest of the room as the three boys watched Remus' expression turn to one of disgust.

After a moment spent considering things like death, destruction, and whether or not anyone would care if three of his roommates suddenly went missing, Remus merely said, "You realize we all share the room, right? And now it smells like Dungbombs."

Remus didn't spare a glance backwards as he picked himself up, retrieved his clothes, and left for the shower room, trying to shut out the laughter of the other boys. He was sure if he stayed in the room a moment longer, he would say something he would regret. Remus had been trying so hard to be as polite as possible and at the same time to avoid the three boys, but so far, it hadn't helped at all. At least there was the library.

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Next Time:

"Oh, ha, ha. You three are so amusing," Remus said from somewhere underneath his robes.