Author's note: Hello, all, s'been a while. SO SO SORRY to my usual readers who were left hanging at my other fic. I have just got over a severe case of writer's block, and it was due to the ending of that particular fic, which i knew needed to happen but I was just so uninspired by ...anyway, here's a new 'un. Hopefully it'll rejuvenate me and help me finish the other one off. It's going to be split into a few parts, each from different POV's (though all will be in third person). Set in 1981. Many many prompts, including the line "Your mother was there for me at a time when no one else was" from the POA film, and the fact that Sirius thought that Remus was the spy. And "You're like James... who would have regarded it as the height of dishonor to mistrust his friends" from Deathly Hallows. Reviews are lovely :)

First, James' POV.

"I'm telling you, James, we cannot trust him!"
"And you can keep telling me, Sirius, but it won't make this any easier to deal with or to understand!"

James Potter rarely raised his voice when talking to Sirius Black. It wasn't often that they referred to each other by their real names as opposed to their childhood nicknames either, despite being 3 years out of school. Therefore, if anybody who knew them happened to be sitting in on their conversation in the Potter's living room, they would barely believe their eyes. James was pacing backwards and forwards in front of the smouldering fireplace. The mantelpiece behind him flickered with moving photographs of a baby boy and his red-headed mother smiling with matching emerald eyes, and four young boys laughing and joking beside a vast lake.

Sirius watched him from the sofa, a dark expression swept across his usually jovial face. James had never known Sirius to be so, well, serious. His trademark cocky grin had vanished, replaced by clenched teeth beneath tight lips. It was this seriousness that made James concerned. He had only seen Sirius this angry a handful of times, and each time his anger had been justified. But to think that Remus would betray them to Voldemort... Remus Lupin, the shy, retiring young man who would do anything for his friends. Remus Lupin, who didn't have a single bad bone in his self-deprecating body. James simply could not believe it. He stopped pacing, and with a deep sigh planted himself next to Sirius on the sofa, taking a swig from his bottle of butterbeer.

Neither man said a word for a few moments. James could feel Sirius loosen next to him, and some of the tension in the room was lifted.
"I'm sorry Sirius. I just can't imagine Remus being capable of something like that," James said finally in a small voice, swirling his butterbeer in the bottle absentmindedly. "He's our friend, for Merlin's sake! Do you remember in our second year, when we found out about his furry little problem? I've never seen him look so terrified in his life. He was so scared of losing us, that I can't imagine him ever even thinking of betraying us."

Sirius smiled sadly at the memory.

"Remus isn't that 12 year old boy any more, James. You know as well as I do that since he's been on this werewolf mission for the Order, everything about him has changed. He's been drinking more-"
"-And we should help him," James retorted.

"No, James, don't you see?" Sirius suddenly flung himself away from the sofa, rounding on James. "He's finally realised what a harsh life his kind lead! He's bitter, James, any old Squib can see that! And Voldemort...Voldemort is the only one promising protection for his-his-"

"Don't refer to him as if he's not a human being, Sirius," James said through gritted teeth, placing his bottle on the coffee table beside the sofa.

"But he ISN'T a human being, bloody hell James! He's a fully fledged monster once a month, we've seen it with our own eyes!"

"What on earth is going on down here?" Lily Potter had just entered the room, an empty glass in her hand as she frowned from her husband to his best friend.

James sighed in defeat. "Sirius has some rather interesting ideas about who might be betraying us," he said, never taking his eyes off Sirius, who looked as if he was about to explode.
Lily, who, like James, refused to believe that any of their immediate friends would betray them, pointedly ignored this as she replied, "Again? Well keep it down then, Harry's sleeping upstairs and Remus is still recovering-"

"Why in the name of Godric Gryffindor would you let him into your house, Lily?" Sirius hissed. James' eyes darted to his wife, whose eyes were glinting with a dangerous glare.

"Because he's my friend, Sirius! And up until quite recently, he was yours as well, until you started treating him like sh-"

"He's betraying you. Pete saw it with his own eyes! He saw Remus with Snape, a known bloody Death Eater!"
"And why would you believe that snivelling idiot over Remus?" Lily bit back.

"Because I'm not completely blind, Lily! Have you not noticed the bandage around his left arm? Coincidentally, that's the arm they get their poxy little Dark Marks tattooed on. I saw him myself coming out of the Ministry, looking shifty. He refused to tell me what he was up to. He's bad news, Lily! And you're letting him sleep in your house, near Harry!"

James had never seen his wife look so angry, which was rather monumental, as she had spent the majority of her teenage life being inexplicably angry with him. He had to hand it to Sirius, who didn't even flinch under her glare.

"Sirius Black, I cannot believe you. The man has just spent the past year with feral werewolves, trying to get them on our side even though he knows it's a suicide mission, for the Order. Did you even see the state he was in this morning when he came knocking on our door? I hate to think what might've happened to him if he hadn't have reached us in time. He's going through a horrible time in his life, in case you were too blinded by your own twisted theories to notice! He needs his friends, and all you can do is accuse him of gallivanting off with Death Eaters!"

Sirius seemed lost for words. James had always known that his wife had a deep affection for Remus, but he was still taken aback by her angry cries, the wave of tears brimming in her emerald eyes.

Rather bravely, Sirius spoke in a quiet voice.

"Lily, I know you don't want to believe it. I don't want to believe it either. But he's changed. Since being on this mission... hell, since leaving Hogwarts, he's become a completely different person. He goes missing for days, weeks, when he's meant to be home from his mission. His drinking has got out of hand, and he won't let anyone go near that damn bandage on his arm. Did he let you near it? Just now, when you were helping him out?"

Lily frowned. "No, no he didn't. And yes, he's changed. But before you go jumping to ridiculous conclusions, just remember the opportunities you've had. How you didn't need to even try to pass your NEWTS, and how the Auror office practically begged you to come and work for them. Remus had none of that, and he worked harder than all of us put together. I thought you'd know better than to be so bloody insensitive! And James agrees with me, don't you James?"

James flinched, his eyes wavering between his wife and his best friend, who were both staring at him impatiently. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose out of pure exhaustion.
"Can we not discuss this another time? Remus is...Remus is ill, Pads. We need to help him, like he would help us."
"But James-"
"Sirius, just stop. I don't believe that any of you are betraying us, least of all Remus, and that's the end of it. It looks bad, I know, but I can't get my head around it."
It was then that James noticed the glint of a badly bruised pale blue eye peering through the gap between the door to the hallway and it's frame. It disappeared as soon as he had noticed it.
"Do what you want about the secret keeper thing if it makes you feel better. It's in your hands, Pads," James sighed, placing a hand on Sirius' shoulder. Sirius responded with a curt nod.
"Just let me know when you're ready, mate."
Sirius clapped James on the back, and James returned the favour, his arm around Sirius' shoulder. Their argument seemed to be forgotten, although it hung in the air around them as thick as lead.
"Right. I'm going to brew this potion for Remus. I won't be long, James," Lily said pointedly as she exited the room.

James let his eyes wander over to the photograph of him and his best friends beside the glistening lake. He caught a glimpse of Remus, realising how much he had aged in such a short amount of time. In the photograph, his pale blue eyes gleamed happily as James slung his arm around him, and Sirius bunny-eared him. Peter was running to get into the picture, and subsequently tripped over his own shoelaces. As his watched his photograph-self, and his young friends, laughing with each other, james wondered where it had all gone wrong.

It was going to be okay. It had to be okay.

That's the first chapter! Reviews would be amazing, I enjoyed writing this (though it's taken me the best part of a day aha) and would like to do the ideas in my head justice. Second chapter shall be up asap