"I'll see you at the Potter's!" I promised, enveloping all three girls at once. They each waved over their shoulders as they split off to find their parents. I turned to face the brown haired boy behind me.
"Ready?" He smiled.
"No," I laughed hollowly. His grin widened and he kissed the side of my head.
"They'll love you."
As we forced our way through the crowd, I couldn't help but remember with fondness the last time I was on this platform. I had only one trunk this time, but the same backpack and the same guide. But still, I was different now. The boy who led the way held my hand, not my baggage. Instead of complete terror, I was a happy sort of nervous, the kind where I knew deep down everything would be alright. And this time I wasn't looking for a home or an answer, I had already found both.
"Remus!"
The sound came from our left. Remus snapped his head to the side, his eyes scanning the crowd before lighting up. He looked down briefly, as if to make sure the hand that was holding him was still attached to my body, before pulling me towards the voice.
"Mum," he breathed with a warm smile that reached his eyes. He set his suitcase down and dropped my hand in order to properly embrace the woman.
She was a thin and fadingly pretty woman of average height. She resembled her son in many ways. Her long coffee hair matched Remus's in color and texture and she had the same crinkles by her golden brown eyes as she smiled up at him.
"You must be Sydney," she concluded, breaking away from Remus as he moved to greet his dad. Her voice was smooth and casual, it reminded me of warm caramel. "Remus has written so much about you."
I smiled and looked over to the boy.
"I promise I'm much nicer than he makes me out to be," I said with a light chuckle, reaching out my hand. She laughed brightly and took my hand, using it to pull me into the same sort of bear hug she had given Remus.
"You're exactly as funny and lovely as he described," she grinned as we separated.
"Thank you, Mrs. Lupin."
"Oh, Hope, please," she waved. "And this is Lyall," she held one arm out as if to present her husband to me.
He was a tall and regular looking man. Not out of shape, but not necessarily built either. He smiled with the same sort of warmness as Remus and extended his hand.
"I won't attack you like my wife did," he said, his voice scratchy and moderately deep, like firewood. I laughed and took his hand as Mrs. Lupin rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue.
"Well, shall we be off?"
None of them moved and I wondered how they planned to leave without walking to some sort of car. Apparently my confusion was evident, as a small smile spread across Remus's lips.
"We're going to be apparating, love," he explained.
"That's right!" Mrs. Lupin cried. "You're muggle raised!"
I smiled a little.
"I'm a muggle myself," she described. "All of this magic takes a bit of getting used to, doesn't it?"
I nodded politely before Mr. Lupin stepped in.
"Apparating is easy," he said. "Hope will just make you nervous with all the rubbish about how it feels. It's best to just jump right in, yeah?"
I looked to Remus for confirmation and he nodded, still with a fond smile on his face. He always did enjoy my cluelessness.
We picked up our bags and I mimicked the way that Remus placed his hand on his father's arm. Within milliseconds, I was being thrown in every direction of the abrupt blackness. My chest expanded and shrunk at the same time, metal bars seeming to clamp down on it, restricting my airways. My eyes felt as though they were being pushed to the top of my brain, and my ear drums were sucked into my skull.
Then, just as soon as it began, it was over. We dropped into the yard of a small, suburban home with no more than a 'pop'.
Mrs. Lupin rubbed the back of her neck and grimaced before physically shaking out her head and arms.
"Never does get easier," she smiled. Her and Mr. Lupin picked up our luggage and headed towards the front door of their white home. I turned to Remus.
"You alright?" He asked with a grin, knowing the answer.
"Yeah that was just the worst thing I've ever done," I said derisively, still feeling extremely dizzy.
"It'll wear off in a bit," he chuckled, reaching out his hand. I took it and he led me up the freshly shoveled dirt path to his front steps.
His house was traditional and homey. It had a carpeted living room with a deep red leather couch and matching loveseat and recliner, as well as a small TV and glass coffee table in the center. The kitchen and dining room each had dark hardwood floors and the light brown kitchen cabinets matched the long table in the room adjacent.
Mrs. Lupin was already sitting in a tall black stool, her legs crossed and her face buried in the newest edition of The Daily Prophet. She picked lazily at a bowl of grapes, her face pressed into a deep frown that once again resembled her son's.
"There's a new list of muggles," Remus whispered solemnly from beside me. "I think she checks to see if she knows any of them."
He lifted both of our large suitcases effortlessly and used his head to nod me towards the carpeted staircase.
Remus's room was painted a dark blue color, though it was hard to tell as the walls were covered with an array of posters, photos, and banners. I slipped off my backpack and placed it beside his wooden desk, which had a pile of books on one end and a framed photo of a young him, James, Sirius, and Peter covered in paint and smiles on the other.
I heard him sigh and flop down onto his bed behind me but I kept looking around.
The photos on his wall were pinned to a medium sized cork board. They were all polaroids, some of him in a group, some of just him, and some of just our friends. They each had their own little titles at the bottom, scribbled in Remus's cursive. The most notable in my opinion were as follows:
- Lily and Remus asleep in the common room, books sprawled out amongst them, labelled 'All nighter with Evans? 24/11"
- James in the Great Hall using forks as antlers, reading 'PRONGS 14/3'.
- Peter and Sirius dangling upside down from their brooms, titled 'just hangin' 7/5'.
- And Remus, no older than 12, smiling and flashing a thumbs up behind Professor McGonagall who appeared to be scolding James and Sirius. That one said '6/2 I'm Minnie's favorite' but the 'I'm' was crossed out and replaced in red with 'We're' and there was an accompanying red 's' at the end of 'favorite'.
"Oh, here," he mumbled, forcing himself upright and digging around in his trunk.
He held out two small white slips and smiled.
"Use one of the pins on the side."
I took the pictures with amused suspicion and flipped them over.
The first was a photo of him and I in the quidditch booth, taken at the match versus Slytherin about a week after I had woken up. I had on his large grey hoodie and was sitting atop the table with my back to the field and a smile across my face. Remus was below me in a beat up, leather black, swivel chair, his elbow propped up on the arm rest and supporting his head. He was looking at me with that familiar sparkle in his eye and seemed to be saying something. The bottom was labelled '17/10 Gryffindor v Slytherin 280-20'.
I grinned at the memory and moved to the second picture.
This one was just of me, taken a few days before we departed from school. I had on a red 'Gryffindor' pom pom hat and was standing outside, my face pink from the cold. Snow was visibly falling around me and I was smiling at the camera, my eyes closed and my hands framing my face with my palms towards the ground. This one read 'My love 21/12'.
I found an empty place on the board and tacked the two pictures up, my heart aching from how cute this boy was.
I spun back around to find him laying sideways on his bed, propped up on one elbow and smiling. I crossed the room and jumped into the spot beside him, bouncing him off balance. He laughed and looked down at me from his position, with his head still on his hand.
"I like the labels," I said softly.
"Yeah?" He asked, still smiling and with deep and sparkling eyes. I nodded.
He leaned down and kissed me quickly before saying,
"I like you."
________
A/N
it pains me that this is fake.
song: in luv with you - finn
how i think it applies: even though they haven't actually said it yet, syd & rem are def falling in love (ugh so cute please) and the vibe of that song just fits this chapter idk.