A/N: Italics denote song lyrics. The song is "I'll Keep Your Secrets," from Beethoven's Last Night by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. That's all till later.
Lost in your dark
I see you there
What do you see beyond your stare
And you believe that noone else can know
Remus Lupin sat in the dark of 3 A.M. and stared out the window beside his bed. Lost in his thoughts, staring at nothing, he didn't notice Sirius Black watching him. Sirius lay in his bed, curtains half drawn, and watched Remus as the 14 year old third year stared out of the window, silver tracks of tears coursing down his face. The other third year watched, and longed with all his being to take Remus in his arms and tell him it would be ok, but he knew that would never happen.
The next night Remus was gone. He left straight after dinner, summoned by Madam Pomfrey because a relative was ill. Again. James stared after Remus as he left with the nurse. "There's something not right there. Remus doesn't have that many relatives. And for all of them to be sick like this? He's hiding something."
Sirius tore his gaze away from the door through which the pair had exited and met James' eyes. "No. You are not going to meddle again. Can't you leave him alone? Let him have his secrets. We all do."
James merely grinned, but noted the look in Sirius' eyes as he defended Remus.
What is this thing you keep inside
Out of the light and wrapped in pride
Always afraid that it will show
The next morning Remus was back, but he was pale and had bandages wrapped around his arms.
"Hey Remus. How is your- who was it this time?" James asked over bacon.
"Fine. I may have to go back again tonight." He said staring at the food on his plate.
'And maybe tomorrow,' Sirius thought moodily, remembering the sleepless nights while Remus was gone. James stole more bacon from Remus and ran to Herbology, where he knew Lily Evans would be. Peter Pettigrew got up just after James and followed the same path.
Sirius looked after him and growled mildly. "Squeaky little rat. Always hanging around." Remus looked as well, but made no comment and gathered his bag, wincing as the weight settled on his shoulder. Sirius frowned and took the bag from his friend and added it to his bag.
Remus smiled faintly at him as they walked out of the Great Hall, and passing through the doors to the grounds, he stumbled and caught himself on Sirius' robes. "Are you alright?" the black haired wizard asked worry tingeing his words.
"I'm fine," the other assured him as the continued to the greenhouse. Sirius wasn't completely satisfied with the answer, but let it go.
Over the next few days Remus seemed to become more and more pale and quiet. Sirius didn't want to confront him on it, but he did ask James what he thought.
"You notice it's for three days every month or so?" The Quidditch player asked. "You think he's a werewolf?"
Sirius smiled. "Yeah. That's it. He goes away to be a werewolf. Moron. You really think so?" His voice trailed off as Remus entered the common room and joined them at the fire. James left them after looking at the clock and muttering something unintelligible.
Sirius' mind was racing. What did James know, and where in all hell did he go? He looked over at Remus and saw that he had fallen asleep curled in the chair. Sirius' anger with James melted and he covered the Gryffendor with his robe then went to find James.
Who are these ghosts you see at night
There in the shadow of your life
They only exist by the light that you cast
"You really think he is a werewolf." Sirius said, later when he found James in the library.
"When Remus was gone these last few times, it was a full moon." Looking bored, Sirius beckoned James to go on. "And it says here 'werewolves who are confined during the change at the full moon are forced to bite and injure themselves for a lack of prey.' Do you remember all those bandages he had on his arms? The ones he tried to hide?"
Sirius nodded, remembering all the times Remus left to 'visit' relatives and come back covered with cuts and bruises. "I don't want to spring it on him, but I think we should ask him. Talk to him, we're his friends right?" He saw James' grin deepen. "What?"
"You don't want to be Remus Lupin's friend. I've seen that look before. Mostly in girls looking at any of the three of us. You like Remus, don'tcha mate?" Sirius sighed.
"Yeah. I don't know what it is. Ever since the very beginning of the year. It'll never happen though." He stared into the book on the table, not really reading any of the words.
"It'll happen. Trust me. You'll disappoint two thirds of the population of the girls, but it'll happen." James looked at Sirius, serious for once. "But first we have to talk to Remus."
They quickly made their way back to the common room, which was empty (as it was past midnight) except for Remus, still asleep in the chair. The teenager was in the grips of a nightmare. Sirius all but ran over to wake Remus up, and as he knelt, Remus whimpered and lashed out, protecting himself from demons, but hitting Sirius on the cheekbone.
"Ow!" Sirius backed away holding his face as James woke Remus up.
"Whar'e you guys doin here?" He asked sleepily.
"We were trying to wake you up, but you decked Sirius. Gave him a decent bruise, I'll say." Remus blushed and looked down at his fingers.
"I'm sorry. I was having a nightmare."
"It's ok," Sirius moved closer and sat down on the arm of the chair Remus was in. "We actually wanted to ask you something." He looked to James for support, and the green-eyed teenager jumped right in.
"Are you a werewolf?" Remus sighed and leaned back in the chair, just touching Sirius.
"Since I was a child." He whispered, not meeting their eyes.
"WHAT?!" The shout came from a dark corner of the common room and all three turned to look at the offending presence.
"Peter Pettigrew." Sirius growled. "What in hell are you doing here?" He looked at Remus who seemed on the verge of tears, and put a hand on his shoulder.
"I was just here... and I heard... I didn't mean to. Really!" The third year stuttered. Sirius felt Remus stiffen, so he squeezed the latter's shoulder and was pleasantly surprised when Remus relaxed slightly and leaned back so he was resting in Sirius' leg and side instead of the chair back.
James advanced on Peter. "If you ever tell anybody what you heard, or even think about it I will know about it and I will curse you into a weasel like you deserve to be."
Peter shook his head from side to side so fast Sirius thought it would fly off and promised over and over that he never would do anything of the sort. After letting Peter ramble for half a minute James waved his hand at the boy and watched as the spy ran up the stairs to the boys' dormitory.
Sirius could feel Remus trembling, so he reached down to retrieve his robe and wrapped it around Remus' shoulders.
James strolled over and looked at Remus for a long moment. "If that git says anything I'll tear his arms and legs off. 'Night." He waved and followed Peter's path into the dormitory.
Sirius contemplated Remus for a while as well. "I'll help James with Peter. Can I ask you another question?"
Remus blinked and nodded a little, head still resting on Sirius' ribs.
Sirius took a deep breath, and gathered all his courage, and then borrowed some. "Can I ask you out sometime?" He felt Remus sigh again and turn to look at him.
"What's wrong with now?" His voice was low, but full of hope.
"Will you go out with me?"
I'll keep your secrets
I'll hold your ground
And when the darkness starts to fall
I'll be around there waiting
Where dreams are fading
And friends are distant and few
Know at that moment I'll be there with you
The next morning at breakfast James eyed them warily. "I didn't hear either of you come to bed." Sirius merely grinned and moved closer to Remus, raising his eyebrows.
"And why were you still up to care? As a matter of fact we were talking. Like a couple does." He glanced at his better half and saw Remus was smiling as well, but slightly nervously, as though he was wary of what James would say to that.
"At least I didn't have to set the two of you up. It's about time." Shaking his head, James stole more bacon from his friend's plates.
"James," Remus said patiently, "you do know there is a platter of bacon sitting right in front of you, don't you?"
"Of course," James replied, mouth full, "but it tastes so much better stolen."
"Good morning!" A chipper, if slightly nervous voice greeted them from near James' elbow. "Can I sit with you guys?" Glances were exchanged as James shrugged. "I have something you want," he continued as he piled food on his plate, "and I want something from you in return."
Sirius rolled his eyes and looked at James. "How thick are you?" The black haired Gryffendor asked. "That's nothing a simple Memory Charm wouldn't fix."
Peter stared, eyes growing bigger. "But- but those are against school policy. You can't do that!"
"You threaten one of my friends, and you'll see what we can't do." James said in a low voice. "What was it you wanted from us anyway?"
"To hang round with you." Whereas James' voice was low, Peter's was nearly inaudible.
"You could have anyway, if you'd wanted." Remus informed him kindly.
"Really?" Peter livened up and spent the rest of breakfast rambling about one thing after another.
That evening, leaving Remus and Peter in the library, Sirius and James went to investigate their new group member. In Gryffendor Tower, in the boys dormitory, they looked at the pile of junk that had accumulated under Peter's bed.
"I'm not going in there." James stated in disgust.
"Agreed. Let's look through his trunk then." The two searched through all of Peter's belongings, but found nothing odd.
James tapped his chin. "If I was a sneaky little weasel, where would I keep all of my secrets?" He grinned at Sirius, and they chorused, "In my bag!" They rejoined the duo in the library, already planning how to get Peter's bag.
Days passed before the mischief-makers were able to get hold of the bag and it's dubious contents. At dinner on a Friday night, Sirius and James volunteered to take everybody' bags back up to the Common Room, saying they needed the excuse so they could try to find a way to get into the kitchens. Little did everybody know they had already succeeded. Nipping in and winning a good number of bottles of butterbeer, James and Sirius ran up to Gryffendor Tower to examine their find.
Dumping the contents onto the floor, James sorted through books for pieces of parchment, money, whatever he could find. Sirius quickly read through any parchment that had writing on it. After a few minutes of fruitless searching, Sirius came upon a stack of parchment that caused him to swear and reach for his wand. James quickly went over to quell his friend's temper and read the writing for himself. There were three letters; one to Albus Dumbledore, one to Slytherian House, and one to the Daily Prophet. All were addressed differently, but the content ran the same.
I am a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and there is a problem that has come to my attention.
Recently, it has come to my attention that a student at this school is a werewolf. That student is Remus Lupin, but for my safety, I will not reveal who I am.
I thank you for your time and sincerely hope that this problem can be resolved quickly.
Sincerely,
A concerned student.
James and Sirius stared at each other for a heartbeat before James said, "Go up to the South Tower. I'll get Remus and Peter. I'd have the both of us do it, but I don't quite trust you mate."
Sirius, eyes dark, nodded and left. James took off for the Great Hall and emerged, 5 minutes later, from the stairs at the base of the Tower, Remus and Peter in tow.
I'll be around
When there's no reason to carry on
And every dream you've ever had is gone
And the dark is deep and black without a sound
And every star had been dragged to the ground
Know at that moment I will be around
As James and Sirius explained the situation, Peter looked more and more desperate. He finally spoke as Remus was reading over the letters. "I left the two of you out of it! I was trying to help you escape him!"
Sirius laughed and stared at Peter. "Escape him? Peter, we're his friends, something you quite obviously know nothing about. We want him here, which we can't say for you right now." James looked at Remus.
"It's your call. I think Sirius isn't thinking clearly. You're the one most at risk because of this."
Remus looked at Peter as though trying to read his soul. "We can protect you." He said quietly. "Isn't that what you want? To be protected by the biggest?"
Peter nodded and swallowed. "Can you protect me from them?"
Remus nodded. "As long as you keep what you know to yourself, they'll help me. Won't they?" He asked the two in question.
"But if you ever do anything to hurt him, I will hunt you." Sirius amended as James nodded agreement.
Remus nodded in agreement with all, and, as if a light bulb had been turned on, Peter was cheerful and talkative as they made their way back to Gryffendor Tower.
"Are you ok with this?" Remus asked in Sirius' ear.
Sirius nodded. "If you are. I still don't trust him completely, but you do, so that's good enough for me."
Remus smiled, and the two of them completed the trip fingers entwined.
Know at that moment I will be around
A/N: Yays!! Now I have to go concentrate on the Nanashi contest and my college apps. Mleh. Oni hoped you enjoyed, and is now going to sleep.