!!!TRIGGER WARNINGS: IMPLICATIONS OF ABUSE!!!

~~~~~

Harry waited to see one of his friends at the train station, his older cousin, Dudley, standing next to him. Harry had no idea how Dudley had managed to convince his parents to allow him to go, especially because of the disgusting, atrocious, freaks he would be surrounded by. Harry was thankful for his presence nonetheless, though.

"Harry?" Dudley spoke up, patting his on the shoulder. Harry tuned to him, "You said one of your friends is a red-head with freckles? And is also tall? And that he has a big family that he would show up with? 'Cause he looks very much like that description," Dudley said, gesturing to a family.

All of them having semi-tanned skin, red hair, freckles, and blue eyes, made them quickly recognizable. Four of the six people standing there were dawned in Hogwarts robes, all of them having red and gold details.

A short, round woman fussed over their dressings, trying to make sure they were all laid flat on their bodies and that their ties were properly tied. Of course, while she fussed, a duo of tall, slightly gangly boys were messing with their mother by repeatedly pulling their ties apart. She had not noticed that she had re-done their ties at least five times each, she was too busy with other things.

An even taller, slim man stood behind her, covering his mouth to hide his small laughs at his twin son's pranks on their mother. The couple's outfits left much to be desired, the man wore a bright purple, sparkly suit jacket and yellowish cargo shorts, while the woman wore a dark green sweater-dress and orange leggings with hearts embroidered all over them.

An average height girl stood beside the twins, giggling at their stupid jokes. If you asked her, though, she would have feverishly denied that she found them funny at all.

But one person in the group caught Harry's eye. A tall red head with hair that brushed the base of his neck, freckles all over his slightly chubby face, happy, blue eyes, and a smile that made Harry feel safe. His best friend, Ronald Weasley, and his family, the Weasleys.

Dudley saw how his cousin lit up when he gestured towards the family that seemed to be of six, but was really a family of nine. He instantly knew he had found the right person.

"You go with them, I'll head back to the car," Dudley suggested, and Harry looked at him for a moment. Dudley was extremely confused at the blank stare was suddenly being pinned on him, and the swirls of emotions happening behind his bright green eyes, "Uh, Harry?" He mumbled, slightly concerned.

He was more than surprised when twig-thin arm wrapped around him— or, almost around him. He was too big, and Harry was too small for that to happen. As suddenly as it happened, Harry pulled back and walked off, pushing his trolley in front of him as he left, "Bye, Duds!" He called as he walked over to the Weasleys.

Dudley froze for a moment, before smiling. He turned and walked back to his parents' car, smiling a sad smile. He didn't deserve his cousin to be so kind, to forgive him just like that, to act like Dudley hadn't bullied him for years on end for things he couldn't control. He didn't know what to do about that, but he did know that he didn't deserve it and that he really didn't want to fuck up again.

"Harry!" Ron called out the second he saw the short head of messy, black hair headed towards him. He let go of his trolley at that and turned on his heel, running full force towards his friend. Harry quickly pushed his own trolley to the side so Ron wouldn't run into it.

He was pulled into a bone-crushing hug, his face was buried in Ron's upper chest as arms secured themselves around his torso and a chin was placed upon his head. He flinched upon the contact, but disregarded his pain. He took a moment to recuperate and hug Ron back, grabbing onto the back of his robes and undoing all of Molly's hard work to smooth them out.

"Hey, Ron," Harry said, smiling widely. Smiling hurt a little bit, it tugged at the tear in his busted lip and scrunching his eyes made his black-eye ache, but he didn't care. Not only had he been through worse, he was too happy to care about the slight pains shooting through his face. Well, there was more pain than the pain in his cheek and mouth, but that's not too important as of now.

"Harry, I missed you!" Ron cried, pulling back and ushering him over to his family, where he was pulled into another hug, this one just as suffocating, if not more.

Molly rubbed his back as she hugged him, and she held the back of his head, holding him in the most motherly way possible. He grabbed onto her as well, inhaling the scent of the Weasley household. Home cooked meals, dust, and the forest; a scent he had come to relate to safety.

She pulled back, setting her hand on his shoulders and holding him at arms reach so she could look him over. She was, evidently, dissatisfied with what she saw.

"Harry, dear, what happened to your face? You're all cut up! No, no, that won't do," Molly said, voice starting loud before she mumbled the last part, letting go of him so she could fish her wand out of her back pocket (did I mention that she wore a brown cardigan over her clothes?). She waved it around aimlessly, "I'll patch you up when we go to the platform, don't worry," She assured him.

Harry nodded, "Thank you, Mrs.Weasley—" He started, but she was quick to cut him off.

"Ah-ah, it's Molly to you," She corrected, "Now, everyone to the platform! Fred and George first, then Ron and Harry, then me, Ginny, and Arthur. Off you go, go on!" She shooed, corralling her children to the red-brick pillar, "You two, in!" She called to her sons.

"Fine, fine... Fred, d'you wanna go first?" One of the twins asked, allowing the other to go in front of himself. The other twin nodded, stepping forwards.

"Fred, stop it! You're not getting me with that again, you pest," Molly scolded, "George, off you go, I expect nothing to have exploded by the time I get through there, you hear me?" She said, already theorizing what pranks they could be planing.

"Fine, fine," Fred said, "George, you first? Or shall I?" He asked, and George stepped to the side, allowing his twin to speed by. Fred ran full-speed at the pillar, crashing through it, followed within a second by the other, who nearly tripped over his shoelaces, but was quick to correct himself.

Molly sighed tiredly, before turning to the next two, "Ronald, I expect you not to do anything stupid if you don't make it through this time," She said sternly, eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed. He gulped and nodded, and she continued, "And, Harry, dear, don't get hurt again, okay?" She said sweetly, smiling widely.

Harry turned, and Ron followed suit, "No promises, Molly, but I can try!" He said, speed-walking into the entrance to platform inn-and-three-quarters, quickly followed by Ron. Molly rolled her eyes affectionately.

They stood a few feet away from the column, Ron standing with his arm around Harry's shoulders as they chatted, waiting for the rest of Ron's family to arrive through the gate.

~~~~~

Harry and Ron got onto the Hogwarts Express, dragging their trunks behind them. They looked around, finally finding an empty cabin. They got in, putting their luggage into the compartments above the seats and depositing Hedwig on the floor, in front of Harry's seat, while Ron tossed Scabbers onto the seat beside himself, shoving him away.

He had been claiming for the past few months, Harry had learned from Fred and George, that the rat was acting odd and making him rather uncomfortable. Of course, Harry was under the impression that his mind was just playing tricks on him, but he would support his best friend no matter what.

Before they had been allowed onto the train, Molly had ensured to heal his face, and, just in case he had any other wounds, she cast a quick healing spell over the rest of his body. With that, she had delivered two more bone-crushing hugs and wet kisses and send them on their way.

"When d'you think 'Mione will be here?" Ron asked, consumed as to how they were there before their usually very punctual friend.

"I'm not sure. Soon, I hope," Harry said, shrugging. He pulled an owl pellet out of a baggie in his pocket and fed it to his owl, who chirped and nipped at his fingers in leu of a 'thank you'.

As if on cue, the door to their cabin was opened, and an average-to-short girl with dark skin, bushy, brown hair, and warm brown eyes stepped into the corner, smiling at her friends. She wore Hogwarts robes, red and yellow detailing them, signalling that she was a Gryffindor.

"Hey, guys!" Hermione said, waking in. She was carrying her trunk, which had a ginger cat atop of it. The cat had a flat, almost ugly face, with brown stripes all over its furry body. It was large and fat, with a bottle-brush tail. Something about it was mildly familiar to Harry, but he brushed it off; all orange cats looked slightly similar to him.

Harry instinctively got up, helping Hermione put her bag up, in the luggage racks. It wasn't that he thought she wasn't capable; he knew she was more than capable, he was just used to having to help with bags. She smiled gratefully at him, and he smiled back.

"Hi, 'Mione," Ron said, scooting over so she could sit beside him. He and Hermione sat on the right, while Harry sat on the left, picking up Hegwig's cage so she could take the place of a person beside him. Ron leaned against the wall beside the window, lifting his left leg up and putting it on the seat, between him and Hermione, who looked at it with mild distaste, but shook her head and ignored it.

"Hey, Hermione," Harry said, curling his legs up to one was up and the other was on its side, foot between his other thigh and heel. He also leaned against the wall beside the window, settling in for a long ride. He was excited, though, because he was finally going home.

"Did you both get all of your summer work done?" She asked, looking between them expectantly.

Ron let out a strangled whine, "Seriously? We've just gotten on the train, let us start moving, at least," He complained, pouting like a child. Hermione sighed, sounding much like a tired mother, and quickly disregarded his expostulation with a wave of her hand.

"Fine. Harry, you at least got your work done, right?" She queried, knowing that he, in all likelihood, had, because he always finished his work. Ron abruptly sat up frowning.

"'Course I have," Harry said.

"Oi, I never said I didn't! I just don't see why we've got to talk about it now!" Ron protested, and Hermione looked at him like he was an idiot, "What? Why're you looking at me like that? What'd I do?" He asked.

"I'm asking because, if you hadn't, it'd take the whole ride to make up for it," She said bluntly, holding her finger up, as though pointing to something in the air that would back her argument. Ron sighed, falling back. He knew she was right, he just didn't want to admit it.

Harry giggled at their interaction, and the train started moving.

~~~~~

About twenty minutes, maybe a half-an-hour, into the ride, the train suddenly stopped. The trio looked at each other, confused as to why their travelling was halted, and slightly worried whether or not there was an issue with the train. The whole train was dead silent, and it all felt oddly cold.

Ron was the first to speak up, "Did... did we get there already?" He asked, knowing full well that they hadn't, but not understanding what else could've made the train still.

"No, it's only been twenty-or-so minutes, we couldn't have made it there already... but I'm not sure why else it could have stopped," Hermione said, voice soft, like it would disturb something, "Maybe a technical issue? But that would be easily fixed, we have magic. Maybe... maybe something is on the tracks? No, we could move that with magic, too, and that doesn't explain the cold and quiet..." She pondered, eyebrows furrowed and a slight pout on her lips.

Harry felt a shiver fly up his spine, and his eyes instinctively darted to the door to the cabin. He didn't know why he looked there, but he felt like he had to— maybe it was just the fact that he saw a figure behind the frosted glass. The cold was becoming stronger, and a growing feeling of dread filled him.

He looked at his friends and knew instantly that they had seen the figure as well; Ron had paled greatly and his eyes were wide, while Hermione was staring down the door like she could look through it as she but her lower lip, knuckles white from how hard her grip on the seat was. Harry suddenly realized he wasn't breathing and forced himself to take a deep breath, stabbing down his fears.

A dirty, slimy hand suddenly pulled the door open and curled around the wooden frame, before shoving it open.

This revealed a tall, dark figure, covered in a long, dark cloak that trailed the floor. The cloak was thin, and the slime-like substance from the creature made it cling to its pale, wrinkled, bluish-green skin. It's head was hidden in layers of cloth and shadows, but it's boney neck was barely in view, quickly covered by more layers of thin fabric, under which seemed to be a much thicker layer. The edges of its clock were tattered and torn to shreds, as was the rest, but the edges got the worst of it. It didn't have legs, it just floated around, but the cloak billowing aloud the floor mostly covered that feature.

But, by far, the most terrifying thing about it was that the whole room's temperature dropped to what felt like negative degrees the second it entered, and the way it practically exuded an air of horror. It made his skin sticky, his face pale, and his hands shaky. It was fucking terrifying.

The things came closer, going directly towards Harry. Hermione stood up, fumbling for her wand to try and find a spell to get it away from one of her best friends, but her mind instantly blanked, and she couldn't think of what spell could help in this situation.

It pulled its hood back, showing Harry its sickly face. It had wrinkles all over it, holes for eyes that seemed to go on forever, and, possibly the scariest thing about it, was the dark pit that was its mouth. It was lined with small, jagged teeth in circular rings going all the way down its throat, a saliva-like substance running down its chin, mixing with whatever the slimy-stuff the thing was covered in.

It got closer and closer, gripping onto Harry and pulling him closer. Cold washed over Harry, and it felt like everything was collapsing around him. Memories flashed behind his eyes, his parents' deaths, the Dursley's abuse, the Chamber of Secrets, the graveyard incident, everything tragic in his life.

Until it stopped.

A silver, almost ghost-like form danced around the room, bringing warmth back into the trio. The creature, whatever it was, retreated, dissipating into black mist, before seemingly disappearing entirely.

Harry watched the ghostly form, which he identified as a wolf, danced around the room for a moment, before prancing away, to the next cabin. They stood there, confused. Harry sat on the ground, having fallen when the thing dropped him, looking around. He was so, so bewildered by whatever he had just experienced.

"Harry...?" Ron asked hesitantly, standing up, "You— a-are you okay?" He asked, swallowing hard. His throat had gone bone dry.

"Yeah, yeah," Harry responded numbly, not quite grasping what happened. Understanding it was out of the question, but he couldn't even grasp what had happened directly after. All he knew what that he was on the floor now, and something had out him there.

Suddenly, a man stepped into the doorway, looking at the three of them.

He was tall, maybe six-foot-five or six-foot-six, with pale brown hair that was partially styled. Tired, amber eyes flickered over them as a small, comforting smile spread over chapped lips, glad no one was hurt. Scars covered his face, the most notable being one from his left jaw to his right cheekbone. He wore an old, brown cardigan with matching pants, a black tie around his neck and dark brown shoes.

Something about him was tugging at memories in the back of Harry's mind, but he disregarded it. Aside from his scars, he didn't look too out of the ordinary— he looked like a lot of other men, he probably just saw someone who looked similar on the way to the train.

"Is everyone okay in here?" The man asked, holding his wand in a seemingly lazy way. Although, it was very purposeful, he had to keep his Patronus Charm up to check on everyone.

"Oh, uh, yeah, I think so," Harry mumbled, still slightly dazed. He could've sworn he'd heard that voice before. He walked over, extending a hand to help the boy up. Harry paused for a moment, but pushed himself forwards up and took his hand, allowing himself to be lead to the seat behind him and sat down.

The man stepped back, looking through his pockets. He pulled out a bar or some sort, handing it to the boy, "Here, eat. It's chocolate," He said, smiling gently. Harry nodded, taking the treat, "It helps with Dementor attacks," He continued.

"'Dementor'?" Hermione repeated, confused about the term she had never heard. The man turned to her, nodding.

"Yes, Dementors. They're the things that are supposed to be guarding Azkaban. I'm not entirely sure how they got here, but I'd bet it's probably got something to do with the... situation, going on in the world," He said, glancing at Harry as he said the word 'situation'. He seemed to remember something at that moment, "Ah, I haven't introduced myself, have I? I'm Remus Lupin, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher," He said.

Harry, who was just coming out of his daze, pricked up upon hearing the name. That name... that name sounded so familiar. Where had he heard it before? He shrugged that off. It was probably just similar to some other name he had heard.

"Oh, that makes sense," Ron spoke up, and the man— Professor Lupin, they should call him— smiled at that, "I'm Ron. Ron Weasley," He continued, smiling slightly. Recognition crossed Lupin's face. Ron was still slightly uncomfortable due to the Dementor.

"Weasley, huh? I'd assume Arthur is your father?" Lupin guessed, Ron nodding, suspicion clouding his features, "I knew Arthur when he was in Hogwarts; he's was a few years older than me. You look like him, you know?" He said sympathetically, noticing how creepy his very accurate guess looked.

"Really? Dad's never really mentioned anyone he went to school with," Ron said, nodding thoughtfully. Hermione spoke up.

"What was that charm? The wolf one? It's a charm, right?" She asked, voicing the question Harry had been pondering since he saw the wolf, but had decided he could ask Hermione about once Lupin left. Of course, she didn't know either, but his instinct was to go to her about any magic questions. If she couldn't answer, Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall were close seconds.

"Smart girl, it is a charm. That's the Patronus Charm, I think I'll do a proper lesson on it, actually," He said, and Hermione smiled, pleased with that answer.

"Thank you, Professor. I'm Hermione Granger, by the way," She said, glowing with pride at receiving a compliment from a teacher. Ron rolled his eyes at her antics, acting like he didn't do the same thing when people complimented him, specifically on his looks.

"I'm Harry... Harry Potter," Harry spoke up, hesitant to admit his last name due to the reactions he had gotten from other Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers upon hearing it.

"It's lovely to meet you," Lupin said, nodding at them, "I've got to go now, I need to make sure everyone is okay, but I suppose I'll see you soon," He said, smiling. The trio said goodbye, sitting back down. They sat in silence for a few moments, before one of them broke it.

"Y'know, I like him, I think," Ron said, leaning back. The other two nodded, "I think he'll be a good teacher— better than our other ones, I hope," He said, thinking about his previous teachers. Quirinus Quirrell, who was basically possessed by Lord Voldemort, Gilderoy Lockhart, who was a narcissistic arsehole, and Alastor Moody, who was actually Barty Crouch Jr. in disguise, "Maybe what a bit of a low bar, but I do think he'll be good."

"I think so, too," Hermione agreed, "He seems nice— and he can do that charm! I've never seen something like that!" She said excitedly, "I've gotta look into that. Maybe I'll go to the library," She added thoughtfully.

"He looked kinda familiar," Harry said, "That was random, but he does for some reason. I do think he'll be a good teacher, though. I hope so, at least..."