Chapter Text
Conan had to run through a crowd of buzzing parents who were parting ways with their beloved children for at least four months. Platform Nine and Three-Quarters was packed to the brim as always. Conan was used to this, since this day marked the official start of his sixth year at Hogwarts. He was running late, as always, so he had to push his way through the crowd to reach the train.
His parents didn’t give a damn about magic, since they were both Muggles. Because of their business travels, he and his sister had essentially grown up without them. The first time he had to leave for Hogwarts, he felt terrible. His sister claimed she was fine without him, but sometimes when he came home, he could hear her sobbing for him through the walls of their terraced house.
In any case, Conan was now sixteen years old and preparing to enter his sixth year at Hogwarts, the school of witchcraft and wizardry. Other than a few sixth graders — Lily Evans, Mary Macdonald, Marlene McKinnon, and the well-known troublemakers James Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew, also known as the Marauders — he didn’t have many friends at school.
Conan’s first task on the train was to locate his friends. He examined every train compartment he passed until he heard familiar voices behind one with its curtains drawn. He opened the door and saw the girls giggling at James and Peter, who were playfully fighting over the seat by the window. The moment they saw him, their familiar faces brightened with joy.
“Good to see you again, Cone,” said James with his playful smile. He was greeted by the rest of his friends when it occurred to him that two usual attendees of this compartment were missing.
“Where are Remus and Sirius?” Conan asked.
“They said they were going to buy some snacks,” Lily said without looking up from her book.
Conan realized he could actually use something to eat as well, so without a word, he spun on his heel and walked out of the compartment.
He eventually located the elderly woman selling candy, but even after years of seeing her on the train, he couldn’t recall her name. However, Sirius and Remus were nowhere to be found. Conan surmised that they most likely couldn’t remember where their compartment was.
The handle didn’t work when he tried to open the only carriage with the curtains tightly shut after he had walked through the whole train without a clue where Remus and Sirius were hiding.
“Maybe they wanted to discuss something without the girls,” Conan thought as he cast a spell to unlock the door. The door slowly creaked open — and right there, Conan caught sight of his friends passionately kissing, their faces pressed together. Sirius must have sensed someone’s presence, because he was the first to look up from Remus’s lap — and froze when he saw Conan standing there. Sirius quickly stood up, leaving a very flustered Remus, grabbed Conan by the wrist, dragged him inside the compartment, and locked the door again with a horrified look.
“All right,” Sirius said, exhaling. “I guess we have some explaining to do.”