The next morning, Remus awoke to find his roommates either gone or half dressed and he realized he had slept later than he had planned. Yesterday’s early morning and the late night getting acquainted had taken its toll on his transformation wearied body. He dressed quickly and made for the Great Hall. As he passed through the common room, he saw Peter and Black, one of the two dark-haired boys, sitting in front of the fireplace. He started to continue on when he heard Peter call his name.

“Oy, Remus, you going to breakfast alone?”

“Hello, Peter,” he said. “Yes, I seem to have slept late. The others are already gone.”

“What? They didn’t wait for you? That’s bloody inconsiderate of them,” said Black.

“Well, I didn’t ask them to wait,” said Remus in their defense.

“Yeah, well, James didn’t ask us to wait either but, here we sit while he tries to tame that mop he calls hair.” 

“Why don’t you wait and go down with us?” asked Peter.

Remus gratefully accepted. He didn’t really want to go wandering into the Great Hall all alone on his first morning. 

“So, are you sharing a room?” Remus asked to either boy.

“Yeah!” said Peter brightly. “Me, Sirius, James Potter, Travis Phelps and Harold Vance. Travis and Harold are cousins and they already went down too. But, Sirius and I decided to wait for…”

As if to complete the sentence, James Potter came barreling into the common room, his hair as messy as it had been the night before at the feast. When he caught sight of them, he flung his arms into the air dramatically. 

“The bloody mess won’t cooperate. Never has…never will. You know what? I like it this way! So, sod it!” He ran his hands through the tangled hair and rumpled it even more as he turned to Remus and nodded. “Hello.”

“This is Remus,” said Sirius. “He’s going to go down with us because the lot he rooms with are a bunch of inconsiderate gits.”

“Well, that’s not quite…I just wasn’t ready,” said Remus.

“Never mind, let’s just go. I’m famished,” said James as he headed out the door.

Over the next few days, Remus found himself in a whirlwind of excitement. The classes were everything he had dreamed they would be and more. Not to mention the hubbub of activity that was nearly constant with so many living together in one building. Granted, it was an enormous castle that one could easily get lost in for days. Still, he had lived such a quiet life…He found himself a little overwhelmed, to tell the truth, and would go to the library for a bit of solitude now and then. 

He got along well with his roommates and enjoyed talking with them at night before they fell asleep. However, since there were five boys in his room and most of the classrooms were set up with two man desks, Remus found that he was nearly always the odd man out. He really didn’t mind. He figured it was probably best to keep his relationships somewhat distant. The closer he got, the harder it would be to hide his…problem.

Still, he was having the time of his life. He didn’t have to sit alone, anyway. With five man rooms, there were others who would find themselves the odd man out, as well. One of these was Peter Pettigrew. He was nearly always with Potter and Black, but they invariably sat together. So, Remus became Peter’s normal desk mate and found himself in the company of the three boys quite frequently, although it was more as an observer than anything. Potter and Black had become fast friends, and it would have been hard to get a word in edgewise even if Remus hadn’t been as reserved as he was. But they were entertaining and Remus enjoyed being in their company even if they hardly seemed to notice he was there. The fact was, the two boys were very entertained by themselves and seemed to enjoy the audience provided by Peter and himself. 

Friday evening arrived. Remus had made it through his first week at Hogwarts. His roommates had already begun a game when he arrived at the room from dinner. As usual, the game was limited to four players. He didn’t mind, since he wanted to write to his mum and dad anyway. He also wanted to work on his transfiguration assignment. Potter and Black were the only ones in class who had managed to master it, but he didn’t want to fall behind. He knew he would be losing at least a couple of days each month, so he wanted to stay on top of his course work.

He had planned to work in the library until he discovered that the librarian, Madam Pince, was a very stern witch, and didn’t permit students to perform spells in the library. She didn’t want a student accidentally setting fire to any or all of the fine and rare books housed there. Remus couldn’t blame her. It was one of the most impressive collections he could ever have imagined. He loved the school library. But since he couldn’t practice there, he went back to the common room. It was rather deserted for a Friday evening. The students in fourth year and up had a start of term inter-house social to attend and many of the first years would be taking the opportunity to explore the castle, something Remus planned to do the next day. So he took a seat at one of the empty tables along the wall where he could work undisturbed. He sat A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration on the table and laid a couple of toothpicks and his wand on top. Then he took out his inkpot, quill and a bit of parchment. He had barely started his letter home when someone called his name.

“Hiya, Remus, what are you doing over there by yourself?” asked Peter. Remus saw James and Sirius disappearing into the opening to the boy’s dorm.

“Just working on a letter home, and then I’m going to try to transfigure this toothpick,” said Remus smiling mildly. “What are you doing? I thought you were going with James and Sirius to explore the castle.”

“I am,” said Peter excitedly. “James wanted to get something from the room before we go. You should come with us.”

“Maybe next time.” Remus knew Peter was sincere in his invitation, but he didn’t want the others to get tired of him always tagging along. It was one thing for Peter to do it; he was their roommate, after all. But it made Remus feel almost like an intruder.

When the two boys returned, James was holding something under his arm beneath his school robe. He looked more mischievous than ever and that was saying something. They were talking animatedly as they waved their wands around causing tiny showers of sparks to shoot from the ends.

“Hey, Peter, what’s your wand made of?” asked James.

“Um…I think its willow, why?” Peter answered hesitantly.

“What’s its core?” asked Sirius.

“Er…I’m not sure but, I think Mr. Ollivander said it was unicorn hair. Why?” 

“Don’t you know?” asked James incredulously. “That’s your wand for Merlin’s sake!”

Peter shrugged looking somewhat embarrassed. “I’m pretty sure,” he said. “Why?”

“Sirius and I both have dragon heartstring. Isn’t that cool?” Sirius and James smiled as if it were very cool.

Remus sat quietly, hoping they would leave soon. He didn’t want to field any questions about his wand. Like many things in his life, Remus was a little uncomfortable with the topic. He hadn’t told anyone yet, but he knew some might find it creepy.

“So, what is yours, Lupin?” asked Sirius and before Remus could respond, Sirius said, “Mine is 11 � inch ebony with dragon heartstring.” He held the wand up proudly. It was solid black with a very high sheen, a very nice looking wand.

“12 inch ash,” said Remus, unable to suppress the feeling of satisfaction that, while not as flashy, his was longer. He hoped it didn’t show on his face. Remus really wasn’t the competitive sort.

The others nodded their approval. 

“But, what’s in it?” asked James.

Remus’ heart sank, but he looked at them calmly. He considered lying, but he did that so often about other things. “Thestral mane,” he said steadily.

James’ and Sirius’ eyes popped, and they looked at each other uncomfortably.

“Bloody hell, mate,” James said slowly. “That’s bad luck.”

“What’s a thestral?” asked Peter anxiously.

Remus looked steadily at James. “That’s a common misconception,” he said patiently. “Actually, thestrals are fascinating and very magical creatures. There is no evidence, at all,that they cause bad luck.”

“Yeah, well, there is that whole bit about…er…death!” said Sirius. “Maybe it means you’re going to die…you know, fall on your wand or something?”

“That is all a myth,” said Remus remaining calm. “And even if it weren’t, I don’t think it would be me I should worry about. People can’t see thestrals because they are going to die. They see them because they’ve seen someone else die. So, maybe you should be worried about yourselves and not me,” he said jokingly, “since I can’t see them now.”

The other boys looked at one another nervously.

“Oh, come on!” said Remus less patiently. “You aren’t frightened of a baseless superstition, are you? There are a great many wizards who don’t have thestral hair in their wand, but have seen someone die. Do you honestly think Ollivander’s would use a substance that they thought brought about death? Or even bad luck?”

The three seemed to consider this for a moment.

“Look, thestral hair is a magical substance just like any other. It doesn’t mean I’m going to die or watch someone else die anymore than your dragon heartstring means you are going to start breathing fire or flying without a broomstick.” He looked meaningfully at Peter. “Or that your unicorn hair means you will never be sick or someone with phoenix tail feather will burst into flames from time to time but never die.”

He watched them as they seemed to accept the logic to this. Eventually, James and Sirius looked at one another and began nodding, until finally, they broke into grins. 

James turned to Remus still grinning and nodding excitedly. “Thestral mane!” he cried. “That’s wicked!”

“Yeah!” agreed Sirius. “Bloody brilliant!”

Peter still looked to be a bit unnerved, but was obviously not going to disagree with his two new, cool friends. From that moment on, Remus was no longer an intruder on their time, but a fully fledged member of their group. They would no longer see him as a quiet member of their audience, maybe because he no longer saw himself that way. He was still quiet, but now he was cool. He might be a somewhat scrawny eleven and a half year old kid, but he had a 12 inch wand with a bloody thestral hair in it! Now, that was cool! At least it was to other eleven year old wizards. 

For the first time in his life, Remus had real friends.