disclaimer - the characters from Harry Potter are not mine...as much as i wish they were!!!!!

well i hope people like this story better then my other one...i no i do...maybe thats why i worked on it soo much!!!!!!!

Growing Pains

Chapter One – The Story Starts

He was the first one there. Sure the little first years were all there eagerly running towards the train and talking to their parents and sure there were other students there, Prefects and the new Head Boy and Girl. But out of his friends he was the first. Not that he minded. To have some time alone to think was a treasure during school time. Sinking down in his seat, knowing he would have to go to the Prefect meeting once the train started moving, he pulled out a book and began to read. About five minutes later and a short, blond boy trudged in dragging a trunk behind him. He greeted the reading boy as he stowed his trunk above them. Then he sat down and pulled out a magazine and started flipping though it. Not long after that a tall, skinny boy with wild black hair bounded into the compartment. He greeted his friends and shoved his trunk in the rack before bounding out of the compartment once more. The two boys read in silence. With a jolt, the train started to move. Remus, the boy reading his book, shut the book and stood up, smoothing down his robes. Saying bye to Peter, he left the compartment to go to the meeting. It was then that he realised that one boy had not shown up. He needn't have worried. As he looked down the train, he saw a small, dark haired boy helping his older brother onto the train as it began to pick up speed. Regulus Black may have been small, but he was a lot stronger than his older brother. Remus turned the other direction and went off to his Prefects meeting.

When he returned, there were three boys in his compartment as well as two girls. Mackenzie Troy was talking to James about Quiditch, which was no surprise seeing as both were on the Quiditch team and James was Captain. The other girl, Madelyn Queen, was playing Wizard Chess with Peter. The last boy was curled up, his head resting on James' lap, sleeping. Remus smiled as he sat next to Madelyn. She barely looked up as she leaned against him while ordering a pawn to a square. Remus looked over the game with a practiced eye and saw that Peter was winning. Really it was no surprise. Peter was surprisingly good at Chess. Listening in to the Quiditch conversation, Remus decided it was far to complicated. James and Mackenzie seemed unaware of anyone else in the room as they argued about different teams and the upcoming matches. James suddenly turned to Remus, surprising him.

"So Moony, who is the other Gryffindor Prefect?" he asked suddenly shooting a glare at Mackenzie. The girl just smiled sweetly and stuck her tongue out. The two had dated briefly in Fourth year but had only lasted a week before retreating back to good friends. It appeared Mackenzie had with held certain information from James.

"Lily Evans I believe! And you have a Head Boy on your Quiditch team so you better be good!" grinned Remus. His smile only widened as he watched James' face transform into one of shock. Then James started to laugh his wild cackle which spelled trouble.

"This year is looking better and better!" he cackled as he almost jumped out of his seat. Remus thought for the briefest of moments that he had forgotten Sirius, but he was proved wrong. James carefully kept Sirius from falling off as he wriggled about in excitement. Mackenzie soon joined in the laughter.

"Check mate!" smiled Peter suddenly, "Good game Maddy!" Peter was always polite about winning Chess. Madelyn smiled and handed over a chocolate frog to Peter. It seemed that they had been betting on the outcome.

"Did you have a good summer Moony?" asked Madelyn, turning to Remus for the first time. Remus smiled and pushed her nose gently.

"What a silly question when you heard it all as it happened!" he said with a grin. Madelyn gave a cheeky grin and she leaned in closer so her nose brushed his.

"But I want to hear it again!" she purred softly.

"Oh really?" smirked Remus as he pushed her back a little.

"Really!" Madelyn giggled before turning to Mackenzie and James.

"Did you hear about Melody? She may be coming back this year!" she said with a trace of sadness in her voice. James nodded.

"Yeah, my mum's a Healer at St, Mungo's!" he said. Remus sat back and linked his hand with Madelyn's as he listened to them talk about Melody and the start of the year. Sirius slept through all the chatter and Remus felt his eyes straying to him. With an experienced eye, Remus studied every inch of his sleeping friend, noticing where there was a cut or new scar on his arms and where his face looked slightly hollow like he had not eaten for a while. He noticed how his friend was looking far paler than usual and it worried him. Sirius was simply horrible when he got a cold and Remus knew it would be a long start of term for all of them.

All too soon they were nearly at Hogwarts. The two girls left and James woke Sirius up so they could get into their school robes. Remus was somewhat glad that Sirius was complaining about waking up, it meant he wasn't too sick or upset. Not long after they were all in their school robes, Frank Longbottom had joined them, the train stopped. The five boys made their way off the train, James pushing his way through with Peter and Sirius close behind him, Remus apologising to the other students as he walked behind his friends. Frank spied his girlfriend since second year, Alice Applewhite, and disappeared amongst the crowd. Remus got momentarily separated from his friends but James spied him and called him over to a carriage they had claimed. Remus saw Madelyn getting into a carriage with her friends; Alice and Frank were not with them. Sirius seemed much more awake now and seemed to be making up for lost time with James. The two boys were shouting and laughing about what pranks they were going to do this year. Remus tried to block them out when he heard them talking about sneaking into Professor Dumbledore's office. When James turned to Peter to explain something to him, Remus noticed that Sirius was staring at the things pulling the carriages as though he could see something there. Whatever it was he saw was obviously spooking him for he had gone an even paler shade of white. Remus stored this information in his mind as they finally arrived at the castle. Walking in the large double doors, Remus couldn't help but feel like he was coming home. Another year was about to begin.

Once the boys were up in the familiar dormitory, Sirius immediately claimed the bed next to James and Remus and curled up on it. It had been a long summer, one he had not enjoyed. He had been stuck in his room for most of it now he was free and with his proper family. He didn't get to lie on the bed for long before a pillow was thrown at him. Sitting up, Sirius picked up the pillow and threw it at James. One came right back to him. With an evil grin, the slight boy launched himself off the bed and onto James' bed. Then the two boys were rolling about on the bed trying to get the upper hand. Remus ignored them with skilled practice as he calmly unpacked some school things and his pyjamas. Peter was too busy laughing, for it was he who threw the first pillow. The last room-mate, Frank, was sitting on his bed laughing and trying to ignore the two boys at the same time. Some time later, Sirius was sprawled out on James' bed, James half on him, Sirius thought of how good it was to be home. How he had missed his friends and the room and even Professor McGonagall and some of the other teachers. It was good to be back. These were the things floating through his head as he drifted off to sleep. James curled into a more comfortable position before falling asleep and leaving it to Remus to place a blanket over the two slumbering boys before he too went to bed.

"I hate O.W.L.S!" groaned Sirius as he flopped down next to Remus. Remus ignored him and continued to flip through his Potions book. It was the third week of school and he was sitting in the Marauders favourite corner of the Common Room.

"I hate them, I hate them, I hate them!" Sirius moaned poking Remus in the arm. A corner of Remus' mouth began to twitch as he continued to ignore his mate. But Sirius would not give up that easily.

"Moony, Moooonnnnyyyy!" he whined before wriggling about until he was cuddled up against the poor boy. Remus still ignored him but he wasn't reading anymore.

"Don't ignore me Moonykins! Don't you love me anymore?" Remus glanced at Sirius and was amused to see the other boy's bottom lip begin to tremble. But Remus was not fooled. In fact, Sirius had often used this ploy to get attention from the other boys when he felt they were ignoring him. Untangling himself from Sirius, Remus closed his book and turned to look at the other boy.

"Where's James and Peter?" he asked taking into account the frown that graced the other boys face.

"Oh, Peter is with two Hufflepuff boys studying in the library and I think Prongs is visiting Hagrid or something, I'm not sure!" Sirius rambled as he watched Remus. Remus took all this information and processed it, Sirius was not a very good liar, before opening his mouth once more. Perhaps lucky for him, Madelyn took this moment to enter the Common Room and walk directly over to them. She glanced between them before sitting herself close to Remus. Remus watched as Sirius' face which had started to brighten, darkened and the dark haired boy stood up quickly. Remus saw him sway a little but soon dismissed it as his eyes playing tricks on him.

"Well then, I think I will be going now!" he said before turning and stumbling up the stairs. It was at that moment that Alice and Frank entered hand in hand and sat down to start kissing. Remus laughed and entwined his hand with Madelyn's.

"Poor Sirius, I think he needs a girlfriend!" Madelyn said in mock sadness.

"Poor Sirius, I think not, you have to think of the sanity of the 'girlfriend' in this case I think!" Remus laughed. Madelyn smiled.

"Want to go for a walk?" she asked. Nodding and smiling, the two quietest Gryffindor's left the Common Room hand in hand.

Once up in the dorm, Sirius threw himself on his bed and stared at the ceiling. It seemed this was the year of changes. James was not actually at Hagrid's as he had told Remus. In fact, James was off stalking Lily Evans. Even Peter was interested in a girl. Lucky for him the girl was interested back. Yet he had only told Sirius so far. Remus and Madelyn had been together for the whole of fourth year and looked like they would be together for fifth year as well. Sirius had decided life was unfair. No doubt Remus and Madelyn, though rather shy about their relationship, were walking around the lake or sitting somewhere close together. Peter was busy in the library with a girl from Hufflepuff, not studying with two boys as Sirius had told Remus. Why was it he was burdened with all the secrets? So Sirius lay and stared at the ceiling, hoping for someone to come and find him and give him something fun to do.

James bounded through the Portrait Hole and raced up the stairs to his dorm. It was late and he had just come back from dinner. Sirius had not been there so James had snuck some food out to bring to his friend. Upon bursting into the dorm, he noticed it was very dark and quiet. Putting the food down on Remus' bed, he wondered over to Sirius' bed to see if he was there. To his surprise, Sirius was not there. James brought out his wand and lit it, looking around. There was Sirius, curled up on his bed, sleeping. James sat on his bed next to Sirius and watched his friend sleep for a while. Remus was down in the Common Room with Madelyn, studying. Peter was down there too, trying to finish his Potions assignment that was due in the next day. Knowing that Sirius would be grumpy the next morning if he didn't eat now, James gently woke him. Easier said then done.

"Wha-?" mumbled Sirius as he rubbed his eyes, "Go 'way Ma, leave me 'lone!" James stifled a laugh as he watched his friend wake up.

"Wake up Padfoot, I brought food!" he said shaking his friend. Sirius sat up and leaned against the bed frame, he didn't feel so good.

"Take it away, I'm not hungry!" he moaned. James frowned. It wasn't like Sirius to refuse food. He tried again.

"You have to eat Padfoot, its full moon soon and you have to be strong!" James had brought over the food to his own bed now. But Sirius turned away, trying to curl up into himself. James was having none of it though; his friend was going to eat. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen Sirius eat anything since breakfast; even then he hadn't eaten much. Thinking back to breakfast, James tried to remember what had happened. Sirius had got a letter from his mother. It had exploded in his face and sprayed him with some sort of sticky yellow goo. Maybe that had something to do with it. Putting the food aside, James turned Sirius around to face him, forcing the other boy to uncurl and look up. Sirius did look a little paler than usual.

"Turn the lights off Prongs, my eyes hurt!" moaned Sirius closing his eyes tightly. James darkened his wand and placed a hand on his friend's forehead. It was definitely warmer then it should be. Standing up, he pulled Sirius up with him. Or tried to.

"Come on Sira, I'm taking you to the Hospital Wing!" James said trying to get Sirius to stand. Sirius shook his head and tried to curl into a ball again.

"No, I'm fine James, I'm fine!" he protested, but James had always been the stronger of the two. He got Sirius standing and started to drag him to the door. Sirius saw he had nothing better to do then allow James to take him to the Hospital Wing. In truth he was feeling a little off colour. Slowly, the two boys made their way down the stairs and through the Common Room. Remus jumped up to ask what was wrong but James motioned for him to leave it. If anything stopped them then he would never get Sirius to the Hospital Wing. Luck was with James as they made their way through the corridors and down the flights of stairs until they ended up just outside the Hospital Wing. That was where his luck left him. Professor McGonagall was coming towards them. James sighed as turned to face her. She frowned upon seeing the two boys out of bed.

"Just where do you think you are going?" she asked sternly.

"I'm taking Sirius to the Hospital Wing, he isn't feeling good," James said tightening his grip on Sirius.

"I'm fine!" Sirius said, deciding he didn't need the Hospital Wing after all. All they would do was ask questions he wasn't prepared to answer.

"He isn't fine Professor, just look at him!" James insisted, pushing Sirius forward which caused him to stumble and almost fall. Professor McGonagall caught him and looked over the pale boy. Indeed, Sirius was not looking good. Sirius shrugged out of her grip and turned away from them.

"I'm fine! I don't need to be here! All I need is sleep!" he snapped. He swayed a little but put a hand against the wall to support him.

"Mr Potter is correct, you do not look well Mr Black, now pull yourself together and allow us to take you to the Hospital Wing!" Professor McGonagall said sternly. Sirius shook his head.

"I'm fine," he mumbled, but the world was spinning and his head was hurting. He knew it was the yellow goo that was making him sick. His mother had done it to him before to keep him in his room. It would clear up in five days and he would be fine. All he needed was sleep. James saw him start to sway and reached out to grab him. Then making Sirius lean against him he slowly steered him to the Hospital Wing.

"It's the yellow goo you got this morning isn't it?" he asked. Sirius nodded, too tired to do anything else. "She's done it before too! All those times you couldn't come over because you were unable to sneak out?" James was getting angry. How could a mother do this to her eldest son? No wonder Sirius always came back from holidays looking sick and under fed. If his mother did this then left him in his room not bothering to bring him food.

"What yellow goo and who sent it?" asked Professor McGonagall. Sirius didn't answer, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. Soon he would be sleeping and nothing would be able to wake him.

"His mother sent him a letter today that exploded and sprayed him with yellow goo. It is making him sick, I don't know what it is called, but I think she has done it before during holidays." James answered for his sleepy friend. By now they were in the Hospital Wing and James lay Sirius down on a bed. Sirius curled up and started to go to sleep.

"Keep him awake please Mr Potter, Madame Pomfrey may need to ask some questions," Professor McGonagall said as she went to find the nurse. Half an hour later and James was slowly making his way back to the Gryffindor Common Room. Sirius was now sleeping and was to be force fed while he slept. Madame Pomfrey did not know what was in the yellow goo so James was going to look to see if any was in Sirius' bag. Then tomorrow he would take it back down and give it to the school nurse. Professor McGonagall was worried about Sirius and also James, seeing the close bond the two shared. She decided to keep a close watch on them the following week.

When James returned to the Common Room, he raced up to the dorm and began to rummage around in Sirius' stuff. Remus and Peter followed him up and sat watching him for a while. Frank entered not long after them and joined them on Remus' bed.

"What are you doing James?" he asked.

"The letter Sirius got this morning, the one which exploded that yellow goo all over his face! Do you know where it is?" James said tossing things from Sirius' already messy trunk.

"Should I ask why?" Frank asked glancing to Remus for answers. Remus shrugged and looked at James.

"It made him sick and they don't know what it is!" James said straightening up with a letter clutched in his hand. He then carefully placed it inside a bigger envelope and started out the dorm again. Remus, Peter and Frank watched him go.

"Well," started Frank, "I think I will go to bed, that boy is very confusing!" With that he promptly disappeared behind his curtains and Remus and Peter could hear him moving about as he got into his pyjamas and eventually into bed. Shrugging, Peter and Remus also got into bed. They would question James tomorrow.

Unfortunately, when Remus and Peter woke the next day James was no where in sight. It seemed he had risen early and left. Feeling slighted, the two boys made their way to breakfast and sat staring moodily at their food. Madelyn noticed this and made her way down the table until she was sitting opposite Remus.

"Now why would my usually happy boyfriend be looking so down?" she asked with a smile. Remus looked up and gave his girlfriend a half smile.

"James is avoiding us it feels like!" he said softly so that Madelyn had to lean across the table to hear him. She frowned upon hearing this news. It was simply unheard of for a Marauder to ignore a fellow Marauder. If James was avoiding Remus and Peter, then something must have happened to the last member.

"Is Sirius all right?" she asked putting two and two together. Remus and Peter looked up then exchanged surprised looks.

"Sirius!" cried Remus seeming a lot brighter.

"How silly we were!" Peter added. The two boys jumped up and Remus leaned across the table.

"I could kiss you Madelyn Queen!" Remus crowed as he half hugged her before dashing off to the Hospital Wing after Peter. Madelyn sat smiling after the two boys. It was days like these that she loved Remus all the more.

James had woken early and slipped off to the Hospital Wing. Sirius was still the same as last night, so James had sat on the bed beside him and just talked. About twenty minutes after he had arrived, Madame Pomfrey had come to check on Sirius, holding a bowl of what looked like mush in her hands. She gave James a calm smile as she fussed about the sleeping boy.

"Well Mr Potter, since you are here, you can give Mr Black his breakfast!" and she left the bowl and a spoon on the bedside table and vanished back to her office. James could just see her sitting at her desk flipping through a large book and taking notes. It seemed she was still looking for a cure for the yellow goo.

"Well Sirius, it looks like I get the job of mothering you!" James said with a tight grin. No sooner had he got Sirius settled in front of him, then the door opened and a slight, dark haired boy entered. If you only glanced at him, you would have thought it was Sirius only smaller. But this boy had glasses and was slightly bulkier at second glance. He made his way over to the bed James and Sirius were sitting on.

"Hello Regulus, nice of you to pop by!" James said not unkindly.

"She sent him the goo didn't she, silly woman," it was more a statement then a question so James remained silent. "Here, let me help you!"

"Why?" asked James clearly stunned by the younger Black's show of kindness.

"Because I know how to make him eat when he is unconscious!" Regulus said as he sat on the bed facing Sirius and James and taking the bowl from James' hands.

"Here, let me show you," and Regulus began to show James how to make Sirius swallow and open his mouth while the two boys fed him. By the time Remus and Peter arrived they had almost finished. When Madame Pomfrey came to shoo them all to class, they were all arranging to come again at lunch.

well? what do you think? you like it?? got any suggestions to improve my writing? click the review button and let me know!!!! please???