From up in his bedroom, Peter could hear the sound of his parents fighting as they made their way out the front door. Once he was sure it was shut and locked, Peter grabbed his trunk and and the Mars Bar from the O'Dell's to put it in his pocket with the rest of his sweets, and with one more glance around his room, he made his way downstairs and out the backdoor. 

Mittle Hill wasn't far from the Pettigrew abode, it was actually a trip Peter made quite often as it was a wonderful place to be alone at. With the added weight of Peter's luggage, however, the uphill trek left him a little more out of breath than he was used to. 

As he looked down at the watch on his wrist, Peter's nerves grew. He only had a ten minutes left before the boot his mother spoke of was supposed to disappear. The hill wasn't very large, but between the trees and bushes, the old boot could be hidden anywhere. Peter searched, dragging his trunk behind him, and finally found it placed on top of an old fungus-covered stump. He looked at his watch: two minutes. Knowing he was about to leave his home town for the first time and wouldn't even be back until winter, the 11 year old boy took one last look around. He could see his whole town from atop the hill. Every memory he had was made here. He could feel his eyes start to water but refused to cry. He quickly closed his eyes, shook his head, and turned back around to the boot. 'I know I'll be alright' he thought to himself, 'and so will mum'. 

With a new found excitement and only moments left, Peter grabbed his trunk with a firm hand and the boot with his other. As the watch ticked, the boot began to disappear, taking the boy and his luggage with it. Not even a split second later, he was at a new location. 

Dizzy, Peter attempted to stand up, however that only resulted in him falling back down and a piercing pain shooting through his head, along with an urge to vomit. Eventually standing up, Peter took a look around at his surroundings. Despite never having left his home town before, he recognized the ally way he was now in. It was the same one that his mother had described. 

Still nervous, but more confident (and somewhat in disbelief), after seeing real magic for himself, Peter was quick to follow the rest of his mum's orders. Out of the alley. Sidewalk to the left. As he walked towards the station in the distance he couldn't help but stare at everything and everyone he passed by in wonder.

London was beautiful, especially compared to his home. Men with suits and briefcases walked by, and Peter thought they looked tired, a bit mean, and all very much the same. Women walked by with children crying or running around. Smoking teenagers lingered in alleys similar to the one Peter had just left. They reminded him of the older boys at his school-- well his old school now. They would always push around the younger ones, especially himself. Peter was never all that popular, only having a few friends though his times in primary school, each of them leaving him eventually. He found himself not minding so much now; he always knew he was different than the rest of the kids, but now he was on his way to a school with others like him. Maybe he might have more luck this time around.

***

As the young boy walked through the gigantic station, Peter began to feel more and more out of place as he lugged behind him the trunk that was surely almost as large as he was. He watched the sea of people: old ladies sitting on benches holding hand fans and magazines; more business men having coffee, reading files, shaking hands with each other, all the typical business-man behavior Peter could only presume; families with adults laughing and children holding large signs as they welcomed relatives off trains. Out the corner of his eye, Peter briefly caught the sight of girl about his age pushing a cart with a large trunk and... an owl in a cage?

Peter turned and rushed over to where he had seen the girl, but it was too late. She was lost in the crowd. Rather than sitting in the middle of the walkway and looking even more out of place, he decided to head in the direction the girl was walking. Approaching platform 9, Peter looked around again for the girl. He knew, from his mother, that to reach the magical train he had to cross through an invisible barrier somewhere around here, but how exactly Peter was supposed to manage that was completely lost on him.

Just as he was losing hope of ever making it to school, Peter felt a light tap on his shoulder making him jump. 

"Sorry! I just- do you need help? Getting to the platform I mean," it was the same girl Peter had seen before. She had bright blonde hair that almost reminded him a bit of the sunflowers that grew in the fields back home.

"I- uh, yeah actually," Peter replied bashfully after regaining his composure. She grinned at him.

"Alrighty, just watch me! All we have to do is run directly into that post and just like that you'll be on the platform." She explained sweetly with a bit of a laugh and a sparkle in her eyes.

"Okay..." He responded hesitantly. He knew better than to doubt magic if all of his mother's stories were true, but still, running into a wall?

With one more glance and a wink thrown Peter's way, the girl sprinted towards the tall brick post. Peter couldn't help but wince at the sight, but once she had vanished, a big smile and a new vote of confidence broke free. He started running just like she had, and no sooner than he could snap his fingers was he on the other side.

"Woah..." Peter gasped as he looked at the scene before him. Children running around; kids his age pushing carts as large as his; owls and cats and rats and frogs; people in fancy clothes, people in suits and dresses, people in odd clothes that were bright and colorful and in a way kind of looked like his mother's bathrobe; parents hugging children; kids hugging siblings; people crying, people laughing, people nervous, people...angry? There was so much happening that Peter could hardly wrap his mind around it, so instead he chose to stare at the bright red steam engine behind it all. 

After a few moments mesmerized by the train, Peter turned to thank the girl he had just remembered about, only to find that she was no longer by his side. He looked all around in every direction but couldn't seem to find her.

With no family to give goodbyes to and no girl to thank, he decided to get on the train and sit down, as there was no point in just standing around.

***

As Peter got onto the train and turned into the hallway to begin his search of a compartment to ride in, he suddenly felt something hard hit his head. He put a hand up to his head to rub the soon-to-be bruise, and he looked around to see what he had run into, but instead he saw a person. It was another boy about his age, who appeared as if he had fallen to the ground after they collided. The boy on the floor had caramel colored hair and hazel eyes that had a look of fright in them.

"Here, let me help you up," the Peter said as he extended a hand to the boy on the ground.

After warily taking the help, the other boy began to speak. In a fast and panicked voice he rambled, "Thank you for helping me up and I am so so sorry that I ran into you I was just- uh well- trying to get away from those guys over there cause they kept making fun of me and I wasn't really looking where I was going and-"

"Hey hey, look don't worry about it, I'm alright. Are you ok?" Peter said trying to calm down the other boy. The boy only nodded his head, then looked to the ground, still feeling guilty for not watching where he was walking. "See neither of us got hurt so its all good. Say, what were they even making fun of you for? You seem perfectly nice to me," the he asked the hazel eyed boy in front of him.

Out of instinct, the boy immediately tugged down his sleeves and tried to hide his face, refusing to answer the question, but despite his best efforts, the Peter had seen what he was trying to hide. The scars. The boy with caramel hair in front of him had scars on his wrists and hands, on his neck and face, and he assumed they covered the skin beneath his clothing as well.

"Oh. I see. Hey, don't worry, I'm not going to laugh at you like those other guys did. I uh... I have them too," Peter said sheepishly as he rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, letting many scars show on his arm. He quickly rolled the sleeve back down, and said, "ya know, you still look really nervous. Whenever I get nervous I just eat some candy. There's this fantastic little shop down the street from my home that I would always go to. I actually have some in my pocket that I got this morning. Here, you look like a chocolate kinda guy."

The caramel haired boy slowly took the chocolate bar from the other boy's outstretched hand. "Oh, um thank you." He said as he began to open the bar, but as soon as he took a bite his eyes lit up. "Wow, this is really good!" he stated with the first smile Peter had seen on his face.

"Brilliant isn't it? It's "muggle" chocolate. Well, to me its just normal chocolate, but that's what my mum says it is. I'm kinda new to this whole magic thing so I'm still getting a hang of it all." Peter said, feeling the need to explain himself. Then, feeling a bit awkward, he said, "Anyway, we should probably start looking for a compartment or else they'll all be full. Would you like to sit with me?" The other only nodded in acknowledgment as he was still gnawing at the chocolate bar.

And with one more thought and a slight smile, Peter added, "Oh, I'm Peter by the way, Peter Pettigrew."

"I-I'm Remus Lupin, it's nice to meet you Peter," the boy, apparently called Remus, answered with a small smile of his own.

The two boys headed down the isle looking into each of the rooms they past, however nearly all of them were either full or had much older kids in them where their presence wouldn't likely be appreciated. Just as they were losing hope of finding a room at all, they came across one with only two other people, who luckily happened to look as young as they were.