A/N Hey here's the next chapter. Btw I don't know how you haven't already guessed it but I'm not J.K. Rowling. I don't own one bit of the Harry Potter franchise. The characters and ideas are all hers. I may tweak them though. We all like to tweak them.

Also, I decided to do three parts to year one. It's just too much to cover year one in two chapters.


Year 1 part 2

James was mad. Well, not really. He was frustrated with his best friend. They had to find out it was Sirius' birthday from Andy. On November 3, 1971, Sirius, and James walked into the Great Hall and sat in their usual spots on the Gryffindor table. Sirius and James sitting next to each other on the left side of the table, facing away from the rest of the hall. Remus would be sitting across from them if he had not gone home for the night. It was an odd thing Remus had done every so often, leave without a good explanation. But his new friends never pushed him. They enjoyed the boy. And they still would after they found out about Remus' 'furry little secret'. The two Gryffindor first years were so consumed by their breakfast, so Sirius and James didn't see Andy making her way over to them.

"Good morning, Sirius." Andy greeted. The two boys turned around in surprise. James started eyeing the wrapped package that was under her arm. She smiled. She made to put the package on Sirius' plate, but Sirius abruptly took the package from her.

"What are doing, Andy?" Sirius glared at her and looked at the scarlet colored package he had taken from her. The tag on the package said "To Sirius, From Regulus. I'm sorry for the way Mum and Dad have been treating you. I'll do what I can to keep you from coming home for Christmas. Happy Birthday!" Sirius tried not to get emotional from the sentiment of his younger brother.

"Happy Birthday, Sirius." She bent down and kissed the boy on the cheek. He huffed. Sirius glanced back at his friends nervously. James was staring wide-eyed back at him. Sirius huffed and turned to his food ignoring his friends.

James looked from Andy to Sirius. He turned to Andy.

"What's wrong with him?" James asked slowly. She smiled ruefully.

"He hates his birthday. In his defense, he has plenty of reason not to like it." Andy fortified. Sirius huffed again.

"Andy," he growled. She shook her head at him before turning back to James.

"As you can tell, our family isn't the most loving family there could be. Love is shown by not insulting someone and, if you love them very much, not yelling at them. The most attention Sirius has ever gotten on his birthday was on the actual day he was born. The rest is 'celebrated' by the 'birthday boy' getting to do whatever he wants if he does it quietly. Sirius has never done anything quietly. His birthdays ended up with him getting 'punished' by his mother. At least my parents have learned it's more of a private matter." She finished grimly. James brow furrowed in understanding and he frowned.

"Mate, I…." James was promptly interrupted by an irritated now twelve-year-old.

"Look, I'm not a lost and injured puppy. Stop looking at me with pity. I can handle myself at home and I don't need you to worry about me." Sirius completed with a, what could only be described as adorable, pout. James at first wanted to laugh at his statement of himself as 'not a puppy,' because, gosh did he look like one.

"I understand you don't want my pity. No one wants someone to pity them. I think it's pretty safe to say you're my best mate and that means I do have the right to worry about you. Plus, if I had known, I could have made this birthday your best one yet. Guess it'll just have to wait until Remus comes back and I have time to write mum. Goodness, how could you not tell me it was your birthday! Even if you hate it, I would have still like to have known." James scolded. Andy looked like she agreed with that.

"Where is Remus anyway?" she asked the boys. They both shrugged.

"He says he went home because his mum was sick. The thing is, his mum was sick two times over the last two months as well." Sirius explained while setting his present beside him, promising himself he'd open it later. James rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, it's not like his Mum could still be sick. No, when people get sick they get better immediately and it never comes back. What if it's some sort of terminal illness? Like some muggle one that even wizards have no clue what to do about." James replied.

"Well, he could still come up with a better excuse. You know, one that is less vague?" Sirius retorted. James shook his head. Andromeda just ruffled the brunet's hair and bid them goodbye.


The rest of the day was rather uneventful. They had Charms and Transfiguration. In Transfig. they decided to ask Professor McGonagall when Remus was coming back. The woman sighed. She looked worryingly at the boys and said he should be back in the dormitory sometime tonight.

They went back to the common room and decided to plot a few mischievous tricks they could do once they knew more magic. So far in the year, James and Sirius were only able to do so much. They had levitated their DADA professor's toupee off his head and revealed to the entire school he had one. The two naughty boys had also decided to taunt a tabby cat hanging around the Transfiguration classroom, but that had backfired when the cat turned into Professor McGonagall. She looked far too satisfied when she saw the two boys scared out of their wits.

When they told Remus the story of their misfortune he had actually fallen out of his chair laughing. James and Sirius didn't find it half as funny as the scarred boy, but they ended up giggling along as well.

When they had finally decided to go up to their dorm, it was about ten o'clock at night. They ran up the stairs, walking into an assumed empty dormitory (as Kingsley was still downstairs studying), only to find their friend lying on his bed. They found this strange because neither of them had seen Remus go upstairs. They turned to each other to see what the other thought and were met with an identical expression on the others face. Wide eyes, brow's disappearing into their hairline and mouth's slightly agape.

"Did you see him come up?" Sirius asked his counterpart. James' brow furrowed in thought and he bit his cheek. He started shaking his head slowly.

"Nope, no I don't think so. I'm guessing you didn't see him either, then?" James countered. Sirius shook his head as well and sighed. He made his way to the sleeping boy to check on him. When he got there, he noticed the youngster was covered in new scars from head to toe. From the way Remus was positioned, he most likely just threw himself on his bed and pulled a cover over his shoulder, not bothering to cover his legs.

"No, this won't do." He said shaking his head once more at the boy. "Why is he covered in scars? He said he went home… Do you think they're beating him?" He asked, scared for the answer. He would of course still be friends with the boy. I mean, he of all people would know what that's like. But poor, innocent, defenseless, little Remus being beaten helpless. No, he would have to do something about that.

James sighed and went over to look at Remus for himself.

"No, it looks like…. scratches or something. I don't think this could be the work of a parent. Plus, wouldn't he have more bruises then?" James pointed out, looking at Sirius because, sadly, the other boy had more experience with this sort of thing. Sirius turned his head to the side and bit his lip.

"Yeah... Yeah, I guess you're right. He would have a lot more bruises. The thing is, what could they be from?" Sirius asked the raven-haired child. James scrunched his face up in thought for a while before loosening up his expression and sighing.

"I have absolutely no idea. We could wake him up and ask him." James suggested. Sirius considered this for a moment.

"No. Well, not intentionally." Sirius added with a playful smile. James grinned and picked up the pillow underneath Remus' head and hit Sirius with it. Sirius' eyes lit up and his brow raised as in asking 'Really? This is how you want to do it? Oh, you're on.' Sirius ran across the room to his own bed and grabbed the pillow. He then began striking his attacker. Once again, Remus found himself stumped by a pillow fight between Sirius and James. Only this time it was happening directly over him, with one boy on each side of his bed; reaching over him to hit the other one.

"What the hell are you two wankers doing?" Remus asked incredulously, sounding completely done with the pair of pranksters. Over the past couple months, Remus had taken up to swearing. Well, at least that was the impression he gave Sirius, James, and pretty much everyone else in the school. For some reason, everyone thought Remus was so innocent. Maybe it was because he was so polite to people. All Remus knew is he had surprised Sirius and James when he uttered his first 'shit'. They must have thought Remus had wanted to expand his vocabulary now he was away from his parents. Little did the two pure-bloods know, Remus' father swore like a sailor. His mother never really liked it, but she never tried too hard to stop him. Now Remus' first thought when he ran into something was, 'Shite' or 'Fucking shit'. For an eleven-year-old, he had quite the dirty vocabulary.

Finally, Remus sat up in bed, so that the other two boys in the room would, in fact, notice his presence. Sirius grinned and hugged the small boy. Yes, he hugged Remus. Ever since the Black had realized how nice physical affection felt, he never stopped some sort of physical contact with someone. Anyone, really. Remus winced, feeling Sirius come across his broken rib. He quickly covered it up with a small chuckle and a tired smile.

"How was your trip?" James asked. Remus looked at him like he had two heads.

"Trip?" Remus challenged. Sirius looked at him confusedly.

"Your trip home?" Sirius supplied for him. Remus remembered the fib he had told them yesterday and inwardly winced.

"Uh, yes. It was good. I, um, my Mum is feeling much better." Remus lied. He really needed to keep track of his lies. James smiled, a bit sadly, Remus remarked inwardly. Sirius looked like he wanted to ask Remus something. "What's on your mind, Sirius?"

Sirius sighed. "Where'd you get all those scars?" He blurted out without any tact whatsoever.

Remus tensed. What could he tell them now? Do they think his parents did this? That would be a reasonable lie to get him out of this and Sirius would understand why he didn't want to talk to him about it further. No, he couldn't use his parents as a scapegoat. But what could he tell them?

Maybe he should just tell them the truth. No. no that was not an option. Sirius was a Black for Merlin sakes. The Blacks reputation was enough of a reason for not wanting to tell him. Yes, James may be a little more understanding, but Remus knew the routine by heart. He would tell his friends and either they would 'accept' him or run away as fast and as far as they could. Then they would tell their parents. Eventually, the Lupin's would either be run out of the neighborhood with pitchforks or with rude insults and unpleasant stares from everyone around them. The friends who did 'accept' him would always pull further and further way until they never even looked at him any longer. He couldn't handle it again. He especially didn't think he could deal with those stares coming from James and Sirius. He also knew that he probably wouldn't make it to the end of the year at Hogwarts, not only because of the hurtful looks but because the other student's parents would demand him expelled from the school. No. he couldn't, wouldn't let that happen. Sirius and James could never, ever, know.

Remus had always hoped so much to be able to go to Hogwarts. He and his parents were so thrilled to find out the boy had magic. Ever since he could remember he wanted to go to Hogwarts. But Fenrir Greyback had taken that luxury from him the moment he took Remus' normal life. The dreadful full moon before his fifth birthday had been the turning point in Remus' life. He had lost his innocence, his childhood, and his future the moment Greyback took that bite.

He could never go to Hogwarts and endanger the entire student body. How would they be able to make an exception for one child when they had over 1000 other students to think about. No, Remus had to come to terms with the fact he would never go to Hogwarts, never have a Hogwarts house, and never walk the halls of that mysterious castle

Then, Dumbledore, the great wizard he was, came and changed that perspective for Remus once and for all. Dumbledore told Remus he would be able to come to that amazing school. He would have a school house, and the only condition was that Remus tells no one about his condition. Remus could have all he had ever dreamt about- a semi-normal life. Remus couldn't go back and betray Dumbledore's trust, no. No way could he tell Sirius and James.

"Uh, I have a rabid rabbit." Remus lied once more.

"A rabid rabbit?" Sirius inquired. Remus nodded. "What's its name?"

"Fluffy," Remus regretted that that was the first thing that came to mind.

"Fluffy the rabid rabbit. Hey, Sirius say that three times fast. Rabid Rabbit, rabid rabbit, rabid rabbit." James laughed as the words kept getting more jumbled together. Sirius stared at his friend.

"Rabid Rabbit, rabid rabbit, rabid rabbit." He mumbled to himself, "yeah, you're right! That is hard to say" Sirius laughed at himself. Remus smiled at his friends. No, he could never lose this.


When James woke up the next morning, he went straight over to Remus' bed, pulled the curtains open, and yanked the small boy out of his peace. Remus awoke with a start.

"What the fuck James!" he exclaimed. He was shut up by a glare and James shushing him.

"They're still asleep." James pointed out.

"Why aren't I asleep then?" Remus asked staring at James like he had just taken Remus' ice cream from him. James rolled his eyes.

"Because we need to plan Sirius' birthday party," James explained slowly. Remus turned his head to the side and smirked.

"You figured out when his birthday is?" Remus countered. James nodded his head.

"Yesterday. And he hates his birthday. Like absolutely despises it. That's why he didn't tell us. But Andy came over with a present for him. I think it was from his brother, but I could be wrong. Anyway, we are planning a party for him with Andy's help. He needs to understand why birthdays are AMAZING." James enlightened the child in front of him. Remus' brow furrowed in concern.

"Why does he hate his birthday? He seems like the type who would love to be celebrated." Remus pointed out.

"I would think so too." James agreed enthusiastically. "But he loathes it. He reasons too. It seems like he got birthday beatings instead of birthday presents. At least, that's what Andy implied." James finished with a sigh. Remus thought for a moment.

"Then we will have to show him why birthdays are amazing." Remus decided.

After Breakfast, they went to Andromeda, who was currently hanging out with Ted, her boyfriend. They were sitting on a bench, talking, and Ted's arm was placed over her shoulder. As they walked up to the couple James cleared his throat and put on his best gentlemen look.

"May we borrow your girlfriend for a while?" James asked politely as he could. Ted smiled.

"That depends. What are you going to do with her?" He asked good-humoredly. He got a playful swat from the girl in question. He cowered down a bit.

"What do you need me for James?" Andy asked, almost as if she was regretting the answer.

"Why do you sound so disappointed, milady? We just want help from a seventh year to plan her cousin's birthday party." James explained, the voice lacking innocence he was trying to portray.

"It sounds a lot more mischievous when you say it like that, Potter." Andromeda disputed. Remus rolled his eyes and spoke up.

"Trust me he's not planning anything bad, he really just can't sound blameless. We just need to know things only a seventh year could. Like the best place to throw a party, where to get food, and how not to get caught." Remus clarified.

"Oh, well I can help you with that" Ted supplied. They all looked at him funny before Andy finally caught on.

"Oh, yes, the kitchens are right next to the Hufflepuff common room. You showed me the Come and Go Room, but, well, I really doubt you know how not to get caught. You trip on air so loudly you couldn't surprise a deaf chihuahua." She chuckled as her boyfriend turned bright red. He was quite clumsy.

"That's beside the point, Dromeda. These boys need help with your cousin's birthday and we are going to help them." Ted explained. The two first-years smiled thankfully.


On Saturday, they all had their jobs. James was to distract Sirius all day by exploring the castle, making sure not to cross paths with any of his crew, of course. Ted was getting all the food they would need.

Cake- check. Treacle tart- check. Yorkshire pudding- check. Tea- check. Butterbeer- check. Don't you think butter beer is a little strong for the first year? He asked himself. Well, I'll make sure no more than one bottle per child then. He decided to head back to the Come and Go Room from the kitchens.

Andy oversaw decorating the room, with Remus' help, of course. It wasn't too difficult since the room did whatever you told it. Then Andy was sent off with money to get Sirius more presents, while Remus was to discover if Sirius had already opened the present from his brother.

He hadn't.

Remus found his mission complete; so, he headed back to the Come and Go Room with the present in hand. When he arrived, he placed the present on a table and looked around the room. They had really done a great job.

The room was colored gold on the walls with red finishes. It didn't look very fancy though. It looked homey: much like the Gryffindor common room. There was a fire-pit-like thing in the middle of the room. Only Remus and Ted knew why. Ted had acquired a bag of marshmallows and gram crackers during summer break. He had been waiting for the perfect moment to show his girlfriend yet another wonder of the muggle world- Smores. Remus provided the chocolate- being a chocolate hoarder and all- and decided to sit down on the nice comfortable couches.

Ted got there soon after Remus, with his arms full of food and drink for the event. When he finished putting down all the food and setting nicely on the table, he went over and sat next to Remus. The tired boy looked at him as he sat down.

"You got all the food?" Remus asked him. Ted smiled and nodded. "Good."

Ted stared at the tired, scarred boy. He shook his head, trying to figure out how to breach the subject. Ted had found a place in his heart for Remus that seemed to be a bit larger than its space for James or even Sirius. He really wanted to know why the small boy was plagued with all these scars. He wouldn't judge the boy no matter what, but he really thought Remus should have someone to talk to about his troubles.

When Remus realized why Ted was staring at him, he instinctively pulled down the sleeves of his jumper and buried his face in his arms (which were resting on his bent knees that were on the couch). Ted shook himself out of his daze.

"So, how have classes been? Any trouble with them?" he asked Remus.

"Classes have been good. Potions hasn't been easy, but I've always loved a challenge. How has studying for your N.E.W.T.'s been?" Remus inquired. Ted chuckled softly, and he was about to answer when Andromeda came bounding in with bags of presents.

They were mostly from her. She was really starting to realize what would happen when she told her parents about Ted. She would be disowned and have no family, except for maybe Sirius-if he lived that long. When she understood that Sirius may be her only family left after this year, she wanted to make sure he wouldn't leave her too. She may have been going a little overboard, though. Luckily, she still had access to her family vault.

She set the presents down, waved her wand and the presents started wrapping themselves. Ted, now being in the wizarding world for seven years, still gaped at the sight before him.

The presents were wrapped. The food was ready. Now all they had to do was wait for James to do his part.

James didn't do his part very well. They were exploring the dungeons when they had come across one Severus Snape. Of course, they had to taunt him, for some reason no one knew, and they both ended up in the infirmary with hexes covering their bodies.

Luckily, the food could be put under a preservation spell and the party postponed until the next day.

When Sirius walked in the Come and Go Room, he stood still amazed at what James, Remus, Andy, and Ted had done for him. But he did not tear up. No way. Not him. He wasn't emotional. No siree.

Sirius had finally enjoyed his birthday, for once in his life. He was a little frustrated that they had snuck into his personal things and gotten his present from Regulus. He was more surprised than anything to find out it was Remus who had done it. Poor, innocent, helpless Remus.

Merlin, why is it so surprising I can be mischievous? Remus thought to himself.

In all, Sirius knew this was something he was never going to forget. Ever.

A/N: there it is. The next chapter. A little longer than the other one. Just a tad bit. If you want to know what they got Sirius you're just going to have to ask me in the comments. *Grins mischievously* Anyway I hope you liked it. Please, please, please comment. Next chapter will cover Christmas and the end of the year. Sorry this got out a little later I expected but I do have a life. Until next time

~Marauderfascination