Summary: James, Sirius and Peter find out about Remus' secret yes I know it's been done a million times already

Disclaimer: You know I don't own this, JKR does.

THE SECRET

Chapter 1: The 'Illness'

The early morning sunlight was winking through the gap in the curtains around the bed. The bed was dressed in gold and scarlet, and there were three others, identical, in the room as well. In one, a handsome teenager was sleeping peacefully, his brown hair flopping over his face. In another, another boy was snoring loudly. The third was, strangely, unoccupied, and in the last slept a teenager with messy, jet black hair. On the table beside him was a pair of glasses, and as the sunlight crossed his face, he sleepily opened his hazel eyes, and blinking, reached across to put the glasses on his face. He sat up and looked around. He smiled as he saw his two friends sleeping still, but then his eyes came to the empty bed.

Where's Remus? He thought to himself, frowning. He had been there yesterday… though now he remembered; he hadn't been there last night. He had left the common room a little before sunset, complaining that he was feeling sick.

James had assumed that he would have come back to the tower, but obviously he was very sick, if he had to stay in the hospital wing. He had been looking rather pale. In fact, Remus seemed to look 'rather pale' a lot.

James was worried for his friend. He resolved to visit him right after breakfast.

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"Aaargh!"

Peter awoke to a splash of ice-cold water, which was now dripping down his back, the carpet beneath him soaked. Hang on… Why wasn't he in his bed?

As he was trying to figure this out, his thoughts were interrupted by cackling laughter. He looked up to see James and Sirius howling with laughter.

"You- You…" Sirius could get no further due to his hysterical state, so James finished for him,

"You… You wouldn't wake up. We t- tried everything, even…" he was struggling to keep his voice steady, "we even pulled you off your bed, but that didn't work… and this was our last resort. Sirius' idea" he added, before joining his best friend in laughing his head off.

Where's Remus when you need him? He'd have stopped all this, thought Peter, irritated. Grumbling to himself, he lifted himself up off the ground and went into the bathroom.

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As Peter left the room, Sirius calmed down enough to notice something: he'd got away with laughing at Peter for a while now, with no words from Remus. He turned to ask Remus what was up, and why he hadn't spoken, when he realised that Remus wasn't there. He blinked, and turned around again, making a full circle, so that he was once more facing James.

"Hey, James, where's Remus?"

"Took you long enough." James replied, and Sirius pouted. James sighed.

"He's in the hospital wing, remember? He left last night."

Sirius thought back to last night. Now he remembered. Remus had left saying... Hang on…

"But Remus told me that his mother was sick, so he had to go visit her." He was puzzled by this, and by the look on James' face, he was too.

"Well… maybe he was going to visit his mother… and then got sick…" he offered lamely. Seeing Sirius' dubious expression, he added, "Well we'll have to ask him when he gets back, because Remus wouldn't lie to us. He's just not like that. He knows he can trust us with anything."

Sirius was reassured by this comment, as he realised that it was true of his friend. Smiling, he said, "Why don't we go check the hospital wing after breakfast? I'm starved."

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­­­­­­­In the great hall, there were platters of delicious foods laid out on the four tables. Sirius was already digging in to his plate, which was piled high with a variety of foods, while James was still taking his seat. Peter was carefully deliberating whether to have a muffin or toast, but he couldn't decide, and his stomach got the better of him. He took both.

James slowly began to butter a slice of toast. He wasn't overly hungry today, as he had something else other than food on his mind.

"So… what do you think of Remus' 'illness'?"

"What do you mean?" asked Peter.

"Yeah, what are you talking about?" Sirius was also a little confused.

"Well… isn't it a bit suspicious?"

"In what way?"

They still hadn't caught onto James' point. He sighed. "He keeps disappearing, claiming to be sick. And half the time he isn't even in the hospital wing when we try to visit him."

"That is pretty weird… but you can't think that Remus is lying to us?"

"I don't know. I can't believe it, but logic tells me that something's missing in the equation. I'm getting worried about him, sick all the time. And it happens so often, it's almost a regular occurrence."

Sirius laughed. "Yeah, you're right. Maybe we can predict when he'll fall sick next."

James laughed along with his friends, but in the back of his mind, was thinking, Maybe…

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They headed down to the hospital wing after breakfast. They were all fairly sure that he would be there, and had brought some chocolate and lollies which they had retrieved from their stash up in the common room. They had all been sick before, and knew how great it felt to have someone bring you sugar. Sometimes you weren't able to eat it, but you could sit there and imagine how great it would be when you got to eat it. And also, it was very thoughtful.

By the time they reached their destination, however, Peter had eaten a third of the chocolate.

"I'm sorry guys! Really I am!"

"Ok," Sirius grudgingly said, "but next time someone else is holding the sugar."

Peter nodded meekly, and James knocked on the door. Madam Pomfrey opened the door only a little way, and positioned herself so that the boys couldn't see past her.

"Yes?" She was impatient, and she kept glancing back inside the door.

"Can we go in and visit Remus?" James asked.

Madam Pomfrey looked flustered; then quickly regained her composure. "Your friend Mr Lupin is not here," she said shortly. "Try somewhere else."

With that, she went to shut the door on them. But Sirius stuck his foot in the doorway, so that she couldn't close it.

"But he told us he was coming down here last night," he complained.

"He did come in last night, and I gave him a remedy for his sore stomach. But he is not here now."

"Well where is he then?" James looked directly into her eyes. They flitted around, and glanced at the door of the hospital wing so briefly that he almost couldn't be sure if he imagined it.

Then she blinked, and spoke sharply. "I haven't a clue where Mr Lupin is, but he isn't here. Goodbye." And she shut the door.

James stood staring at the door, as though trying to bore a hole through it. After a few seconds, he turned and walked away, followed by Peter and Sirius, who were both thoroughly confused.

A/N: Chapter one finished! This is my first fanfic so please be nice… ish. Constructive criticism is welcome, and all reviews are accepted )

Hope you like it! Tell me if it's really bad, I'm not that great of a writer… so please RR!