innerslytherin (innerslytherin) wrote in ever_fixed_mark, @ 2008-04-02 19:39:00 |
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Current mood: | excited |
002: Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters
Summers had always felt longer since Remus had gone to Hogwarts. Before the school, they'd felt like any other part of the year, but now he felt like a huge chunk of his life was missing when he was at home. Add to that that it took Remus a lot longer to recover after the full moons with all the damage he did when the other Marauders weren't around, and Remus was almost overflowing with eagerness to get back on that train. He might have even been packed a few days in advance, had the full not fallen on the 28th. He only hoped he wouldn't have to write home that his dad had forgotten anything and that he looked relatively healthy - well, normal - considering.
He pushed through the barrier at 9-3/4 and stepped out of the way for other people to come through, then scanned the platform for Peter. Well, any of his friends, really, but Peter had said he'd be meeting him here.
Peter's da had always thought it was a little silly that, as a Glaswegian, he had to travel all the way to London to make the trip on the Hogwarts Express to Hogsmeade Station, but Peter loved it. He'd met his friends on the train, after all, and still suspected that was why the Sorting Hat had agreed to let him be a Gryffindor instead of a Hufflepuff. When Da grumbled about the trip, Peter's mum just smiled indulgently and said that just wasn't how wizards did things, and Peter always grinned in agreement.
This year he'd been able to Apparate to London, though he'd had to go back for his trunk, because in his excitement he'd forgotten it. He pushed his way past some Muggles, waited until they weren't looking, and crashed through the wall onto Platform 9-3/4. Almost at once he saw Remus, so he pushed his trunk out of the way, then sneaked up behind him and covered his eyes. His shoulders shook with merriment, but he didn't make a sound.
Peter's hands were warm and moist, but Remus only laughed and folded his arms over himself. "Am I meant to guess who this is?" He grinned and leaned back against his friend lightly. "What happens if I'm wrong?" he asked, not expecting an answer. "Okay then, I think - have a sneaking suspicion - that the person behind me might, just might, have an alliterative name and be capable of fitting into very small spaces." He said the last bit a little quieter than the first.
Peter snickered, sort of liking that Remus was leaning against him. "What if Severus Snape were a snake Animagus?" His breath puffed against Remus' ear, then he pulled back. "But I suppose you could just tell it was me." He moved his hands and grinned at Remus. "You look a bit tired. Still not recovered?" His voice was low.
"Severus Snape Snake. Nice," Remus praised the, probably unintentional, additional alliteration with a smile. He tried not to squirm at the way Peter's breath tickled him and only pulled away when Peter did. "You did say you'd meet me here, and it's doubtful Snape would play guessing games with me anyway," Remus joked. He shrugged one shoulder. "I'm fine," he lied. It was a lie he was used to telling though, and one that didn't hurt anyone, so it barely registered as a lie at all anymore. He inclined his head towards the train and levitated his trunk. "Got your last letter just yesterday," he added conversationally.
"True, he'd probably just hex you," Peter agreed. He levitated his own trunk and moved with Remus towards the train. "I meant what I said about those photos. I'm convinced they left with you, and they'd better not show up for the entire house to see. I don't mind you keeping them because you fancy me madly, but I could do without the firsties seeing me in naught but my trunks." He nudged Remus in the ribs, grinning and hoping Remus wouldn't call his bluff. Jokes along that line were common enough, but this summer Peter had noticed that his gaze wandered more towards fit blokes at the beach, instead of birds, and he wasn't looking forward to the day the other Marauders might find out. It might change things Peter wasn't ready to have changed.
"Probably," Remus agreed. It was unfortunate. Remus found Severus sort of fascinating, but any tiny amount of hope of actually getting to know the other boy had been destroyed by Sirius and his "prank." Remus frowned in thought, but just a moment later he was looking back at Peter. "What's all this all of a sudden about me fancying you?" He hoped his tone was even. Peter had mentioned it in his letters and now this. Remus was starting to wonder if Peter knew about him. Peter didn't seem too upset about it if that were the case, but Remus wasn't about to come out with it. "Anyway, if I really fancied you, don't think I couldn't just sneak into your bed after curfew," he teased. "Don't need a photograph."
Oh bugger. Peter glanced over at him with raised eyebrows, hoping his cheeks weren't getting red. "Oho, I knew it was you," he said in a jocular tone. "Only other option was Sirius, and I didn't think he knew about the beach photos." He gave Remus an exaggerated wink, then nudged him again. "Never mind, I won't tell anyone." He laughed, hoping Remus would let him laugh it off. "Of course, we all know Jashraya Patel fancies me, too, so don't say anything to dash her hopes." That was even more blatantly bizarre than the idea of Remus fancying him; Jashraya was madly in love with some Ravenclaw Quidditch player, and everyone knew it.
Remus laughed, but he sort of wished Peter would stop talking. It wasn't the first, and wouldn't be the last, time Remus had ever thought that, but that could be said of any of the Marauders, really. "Right, mate. I'll try to keep the longing looks to myself when she's around," he joked, then wondered if there was a hole he could crawl into.
Peter giggled and then felt stupid, because he hated that bloody giggle. He sounded like an ickle firstie when he giggled like that, and here he was almost eighteen. "Well, I imagine Mr Bighead Boy will be preening around in front of Evans, but Sirius should just be loafing around somewhere. We can snag a compartment and wait for him to find us."
Remus rolled his eyes at the mention of James, grateful at the topic change. "They should really give out awards for delusion. Honestly, he should just move on." Remus almost felt sorry for Evans, the way James hounded her, but he kept his mouth shut like he usually did. He nodded at Peter, then hoisted himself into the train, floating his trunk behind him. He waited for Peter and then started off through the train in hopes of finding an empty compartment.
Peter laughed and trotted along behind Remus, content to let him lead the way. Happiness was thrumming through him at being back on the train, being back with his friends...he couldn't imagine how things could be better.
Remus found an empty compartment and ducked inside, securing his trunk above them before taking a seat. He immediately stretched out and propped his legs up on the opposite seat, grinning. He always liked these train rides, the familiarity of them. The castle was always changing, like a living thing, but these compartments were always the same. They even had their own smell that Remus always associated with them. "It's weird to think this is our last first train ride of a year, isn't it?" They'd ride it again with Christmas and Easter hols, but this time felt more significant.
"Yeah." Peter sat diagonally across from Remus, pulling his own feet up in front of him so he could fold his arms over his knees. He looked at Remus for a minute, then let his gaze wander out the window. "It makes me lonely, a bit, thinking how things are all going to change."
Remus cocked his head and regarded Peter thoughtfully, then laced his fingers over his stomach. "Yeah." There was a childish part of him that wished they could all get a flat and live together after school, but he supposed they had to grow up sometime. "I guess we'd better enjoy this then. Perhaps we ought to lock Sirius out," he teased.
Peter glanced sharply at Remus to make certain he was joking, then grinned widely. "We really should," he said. "Hmm, and maybe do a charm so he can't hear us talking to him when he comes in. After all, the wanker didn't answer my letters all summer."
Remus laughed a little bit, then nudged Peter with his foot. "Did my letters mean nothing? Peter Pettigrew, you break my heart," he teased, feigning hurt.
Peter giggled again and grabbed Remus' ankle, giving a yank. "'course they meant something! Why d'you think I said I'd meet you?"
Remus yelped, sliding off his seat a little and just catching himself on his elbows, not really hearing what Peter said. "Oi! What's that for?! You have no where to run in this little compartment, you know?" he threatened, though he realised even as he did that he was sort of gracelessly draped between the two seats, like some sort of werewolf hammock, and looked utterly non-threatening. Really, James and Sirius were much better at this, which was why Peter tried, wasn't it?
Peter raised his eyebrows, laughing at him. "Ooh, behold the terrifying werewolf," he said, and committed a far worse sin: he tickled him.
Remus only had time to dart a glance at the closed compartment door to see if anyone had heard before he fell soundly on his arse, gasping and flailing at Peter. "Not fair!" he managed, but it was difficult to actually do anything about it, so he only attempted to tug Peter to the floor too, because that way, he'd at least have some leverage.
Peter was laughing too hard to be able to properly resist, which was why they were wrestling around on the floor when Sirius finally found them.
"Oi, Lupin! I come in here and find a Prefect assaulting a perfectly innocent seventh-year Gryffindor? Good lord, Pettigrew, are you all right?" Sirius' strident tone broke through their tussle and made Peter burst into laughter, partly because of the way he was emulating one of the pompous Hufflepuff prefects, and partly because he'd settled immediately on Remus as the cause of the scrum.
Remus pulled back quickly, but only pressed himself against the seat in a sloppy looking slouch and grinned up at Sirius, flush from exertion. "Innocent, my arse," he muttered, giving Peter a mock glare. "We all know tickling is off limits by now. Not only off limits, but evil," he teased.
Peter stifled a giggle and gave Remus a mock-innocent look. "Oh, yes, behold Wormtail, evil incarnate," he intoned. "Glad you could be arsed to show up, Black," he added, climbing into the seat next to Remus and giving Sirius a look. "Even if you can't be arsed to answer a bloke's letters."
Sirius waved a hand and slid the compartment door shut. "Ah, I was just busy, Wormy," he said, grinning. "You know how it is. Places to go, girls to shag." He waggled his eyebrows.
Peter snorted. "You're still just as virginal as the rest of us. Remus'll score with the ladies before you do."
Sirius made an outraged noise and nearly started another skirmish, but fortunately Remus intervened.
"Whoa!" Remus exclaimed. He was still sitting on the floor, but he managed to get one hand on Sirius' stomach and the other on Peter's knee before anything started. "I'm not scoring with anyone, thanks, and I'd rather not be bruised on the first day of term." He pushed himself into his seat next to Peter. "Maybe the second, but not the first," he teased.
Peter grinned and settled in more comfortably, and Sirius flopped down across from them, shaking his head. "And here McGonagall is always on James and me for dragging the two of you into trouble. I've been comporting myself with poise and manners, calmly discussing our first day of term with our fellow Gryffindor seventh years, and come in to find you two on the floor." He clicked his tongue in mock sorrow. "It breaks the heart."
Remus snorted, then considered propping his feet back up on the seat next to Sirius before deciding against it. "Calmly discussing... Which one of our female classmates have you been harassing then? Not McKinnon this time?" Remus arched a brow at Sirius appraisingly. "You don't appear to have been hexed."
"Harassing? Moony, I'm hurt." Sirius leaned his head back and smiled. "You know, I think she likes me, McKinnon. She didn't hex me, even though she had at least forty-five seconds where she could have. No, I was talking to Alice and Frank, actually. Poor sod, I think he's going to marry her when we leave school."
Peter shrugged, because that wasn't particularly surprising. Alice and Frank had been inseparable for the past two years; why would anyone expect it to change now? "I like Alice," he said mildly.
Remus laughed a little at Sirius, then turned his attention to Peter. "I do, too." He shrugged. "Could do a lot worse, you know, settling down with someone you care about."