Beginnings

Midorino Mizu

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all associated characters are the property of J.K. Rowling.

It was snowing.

Remus Lupin pressed his fingers to the cold glass of the window for a moment, smiling as the huge flakes fell on Hogwarts silent and mostly deserted campus.

It was Christmas break, and the students had returned home to their families, leaving Hogwarts to the professors and caretakers.

With a few notable exceptions, thought Remus, as his smile slipped from his face. Himself included.

He could have gone home; his mother had asked him several times, in fact, if he was sure he would be all right at school for the long break, and each time he had assured her he’d be fine.

He’d miss Christmas at home, he thought, but he’d put his parents through enough suffering in the past four years, since he’d been infected by the werewolf bite. He didn’t want to do it anymore.

Remus sighed, moving away from the window, and sinking into one of the comfortable chairs that were scattered around the Gryffindor common room. Intellectually, he knew it was best to just cut off his family ties, best to set his parents free.

But Remus Lupin was still only eleven years old, and he’d never been away from home at the holidays before. And he was practically alone in Gryffindor Tower.

Practically.

There was one other student still at Hogwarts, another first-year Gryffindor like himself. Sirius Black.

Of all the students at Hogwarts, Remus would have never imagined that Sirius Black would stay behind at Christmas. The other eleven-year-old was brash and immensely popular, and from one of the most prominent wizarding families in Britain. But he hadn’t gone home, and he hadn’t gone to a friend’s house, either.

Remus was sure Sirius would have been welcome with James Potter, at least. The two were roommates, and had been inseparable since the day they’d arrived at school.

He wasn’t particularly close to either of them, but Remus still noticed these things.

He picked up his book, staring blankly at the page, remembering back to that first day at Hogwarts. Sirius Black had been one of the first names called at the Sorting Ceremony, and while he’d been worrying about his own fate, he’d noticed that the reaction to his placement had been…odd.

Later, he’d heard that the Blacks were one of the pureblood families, and that they were always sorted into Slytherin. Always.

But the Sorting Hat had placed Sirius in Gryffindor. Remus could only imagine the uproar that had caused.

Thumping footsteps sounded on the stairs outside the common room, and Remus glanced up to see the object of his thoughts standing outside the doorway.

“Hi, Sirius,” he said, setting aside his book and brushing his light brown hair out of his face. “Do you want to come in?”

Sirius shrugged. He’d obviously been outside…drops of melting snow sparkled in his longish hair, and his cheeks were red from the cold. “Yeah,” he said. “Remus Lupin, right? You sit next to James in Transfiguration.”

Remus nodded. “That’s right,” he said. He was a little surprised that Sirius knew that; most people didn’t notice him. He tended to blend in with the woodwork.

Not that he had a problem with that. Really.

Sirius plopped into the chair across from him, and the two boys stared at each other in silence for a few minutes.

Neither one of them knew exactly what to say to the other. The obvious question would be to ask why they were spending the winter break at school, but neither Sirius no Remus was particularly comfortable with that option.

So they were silent.

Finally Sirius spoke. “Do you want to play chess?” he asked. “There’s not much else we can do when the weather’s like this.”

The snow was still coming down heavily, he thought. So outside activities were out. He would have liked to go for a fly around the school – the snow would have made it exciting – but he had a feeling that the professors would kill him, and then give him detention for the rest of the year.

There was no point in asking for that much trouble. Besides, he liked chess, too; it was challenging. And he was a little lonely.

Not that he would ever admit that out loud.

Remus smiled. “Sure,” he said. He pulled his wand out of his robe’s pocket, waving it with a muttered word. The chess table sailed towards them, landing right between their two chairs. He tipped his face up, grinning a little.

Remus Lupin was good at chess.

“Do you want white or black?” he asked.

Sirius brushed back his hair, a crooked grin on his face. “I’ll take black,” he said.

Sirius Black was good at chess, too.

The two boys played in silence for a while; the only sound that of the pieces moving across the board.

“Checkmate,” said Remus, leaning back.

Sirius stared at the board for a while, a line forming between his eyes. Finally he looked up with piercing blue eyes and grinned. “You’re good,” he said.

Remus shrugged. “Thanks,” he said. “But I was playing white.”

Sirius snorted. “I don’t know if that would have made that much of a difference.” His mouth twitched. “No one at Hogwarts has beaten me at chess before,” he said.

Remus’ smile seemed to be a little lonely. “I play a lot,” he said.

Sirius nodded. He’d noticed, before, that Remus Lupin tended to separate himself from the rest of the students. He did it subtly; it had taken Sirius a long while before he had seen that was what was going on, but it was quite clear once he recognized it.

He didn’t know why the other boy did that, but he didn’t think that Remus should have to. No matter what the reasons might be.

He glanced up at the clock – it said “Missed Dinner,” and he groaned.

Remus raised his eyebrows. Sirius had been smiling just a moment before; now his expression practically epitomized abject despair. “What is it?” he asked.

“We missed dinner!” Sirius complained. “We’ll starve!”

Remus snickered. He hadn’t realized, before, that Sirius Black had a serious melodramatic streak.

“Of course we won’t starve Sirius,” he said. “We’ll just raid the kitchen.”

Sirius grinned and his eyes gleamed a little. “Now?” he asked.

Remus grinned and stood up. “Sure,” he said. “Now. It’s probably best to catch the house elves by surprise, anyway.”

Sirius bounced to his feet and gave Remus an answering grin. “I like the way you think, Remus Lupin,” he said. “You’re tricky.”

Remus laughed as they went out the door, and headed towards the kitchen. “Thanks,” he said. “I have a feeling you’re ‘tricky’ too.”

That night, a friendship was forged over stolen cheese, pumpkin juice, and cake.

It was a friendship that would last beyond both of their lifetimes.