If Remus was capable of feeling only one thing for the rest of his life he was sure it would be exhaustion. The first night back at Hogwarts in his sixth year was just extra awful because for starters he'd had to deal with Sirius and James being rude to Snape again, but it was also worse because the full moon was only a week away and he was already starting to feel a little sick. It would be awful, he suspected, because usually he was still feeling good this far in advance. He'd refused to see his friends before going back to Hogwarts despite previously making plans with them, as he hadn't wanted them to have to deal with his increasingly bad mood.

He'd thought that maybe, just maybe being back at Hogwarts would calm him slightly, but all it did was make him nervous about the transformations he would go through throughout the year. Yes his friends were going to be there throughout all of them to keep him in line when he lost his mind, but the first years looked so bloody small and he was terrified that he would hurt one of them. He'd have to leave Hogwarts then, without a completed education and-

"Moony you look like you're about to have a heart attack," Sirius whispered from across the table. "Calm down, mate, whatever's going through your head is probably ridiculous anyway,"

"As ridiculous as Sirius' obsession with-"

"Don't you dare say it, James," Sirius hissed, narrowing his eyes at the boy beside Remus.

"-Renee Jordan, that Hufflepuff girl,"

"Screw you, Prongs,"

James grinned as another first year was called up to be sorted. He waited a moment, for the hat to make its announcement of the girl's house so there was less of a chance of being overheard, before he muttered, "Isn't that what you want Jordan to do to you?"

"James!" Sirius practically yelled, reaching into his pocket and grabbing a chocolate frog before throwing it at James' head. It missed and hit Remus' nose instead, which might have been funny had he not already been irritated.

"Can we not get through one meal without causing a problem?" Remus asked angrily.

His friends shut up almost immediately at his tone and Remus turned his attention back to the sorting in time to hear a, "Norewood, Maxwell," be called up to the front. Remus' eyes narrowed slightly, as the last name sounded vaguely familiar, before Sirius snorted.

"Slytherin that one, I'm sure of it,"

A moment later the hat shouted out that the kid was a Gryffindor. James smirked at the announcement and said, "Sure of it, are you Padfoot?"

Remus rolled his eyes but continued to watch the boy, who was looking frantically at the Slytherin table. After a second he moved to sit at the Gryffindor table, looking at his housemates with wide, fearful eyes. "Do we know another Norewood?"

"That prat of a Head Boy from when we were fourth years," James answered.

Remus grimaced at the memory of the head boy; they'd lost so many points when he was in control for things like laughing too loudly. Sirius had even had twenty points taken off for having too long of hair. Which was ridiculous and everyone knew it, but no one fought back on the matter. "Is there another one?"

"Not that I-"

"Isn't that the name of Slytherin's Mummy?"

"Slytherin's what?" Remus asked in disbelief. He'd never heard that term before, applied to anyone in Slytherin. To be quite honest he couldn't see anyone as a mother in Slytherin, because most people there were incredibly cold there and mothers, in his opinion, were warm people.

"I'm fairly certain that the last name of the girl who acts like every Slytherin's mother," Peter mumbled, trying to add to the conversation.

"The girl from the train, do you think? Regulus' friend, right Sirius?" James asked. "Isn't that her last name? That or it's something with a direction,"

"No that's her. My pathetic excuse of a mother went on and on about her once she became friends with my mother. She thought the girl would be the perfect pureblooded wife that would make you settle down," Sirius said, raising his voice in a poor imitation of his mother at the end. "Trust me, once you hear nonstop about the bloody girl for an entire summer it's hard to forget her name. Well, her first name I don't have any recollection of, but her last name is most certainly Norewood,"

Remus nodded. He really hadn't needed an entire story, but he should have expected that from Sirius. He was always the one for drama, which Remus had only just started getting used to. "Explains why he was looking over there then," he muttered, trying once again to focus on the sorting. That didn't seem to work very well though, as his eyes kept flickering to the scared looking boy who was, if Remus saw correctly, shaking in his seat.

He found the meal and Dumbledore's speech uninteresting as his body began to ache once again, as it had been for the past few days. The pain was less intense now than it would be later, but it was certainly there and he was not having an easy time dealing with it. Letting his friends see, however, was not something Remus intended on doing. They would fuss over him like they always did-and they thought the Norewood girl acted like a mother. Obviously they didn't realize how pathetic they made him feel during each full moon with the way they treated him.

"Be honest with me for a moment," James said, attempting to pull their group into a conversation.

"Aren't we always, James?" Peter asked with a small smile.

James only rolled his eyes and smiled back at him. "Yes, Peter, and I thank you for that. You two though, have a tendency to lie,"

"Just spit out what you want to say," Sirius said.

"Do you think I should serenade Lily at the first quidditch match? I mean as captain I'm sure I have some ability to get that kind of time. Maybe a big proposal like that will make her notice me more,"

"For crying out loud, James, leave the poor girl alone. She already knows you have feelings for her; give her time," Remus said, forcing himself to take a bite of dinner. He chewed slowly and thoughtfully, taking his time so he wouldn't start to feel sick and have to run off to the bathroom. That had happened this morning; his mother had force fed him bacon and eggs, and a large helping at that, and as soon as he'd gotten it all down he'd run to the bathroom and, well, it had all come back up. So far his friends hadn't noticed but if this continued Remus knew he was in for a lot of nagging.

"Never," James smiled, digging into his own plate. Sirius began giving out song suggestions and Peter laughed as well, and Remus was sure he was going to be rolling his eyes for a long time. It was an absolutely idiotic idea but he was half sure James would actually go through with it. Remus made a mental note to mention the boy's plan to Lily when they had their first patrol together.

Remus chose to ignore his friends throughout the rest of dinner; he couldn't deal with their actions at the moment and forcing them out of his evening was really the only way to make sure he didn't have to deal with them. He loved his friends, he really did, but he was so damn tired and he was never in a good mood when he was tired. When dinner was dismissed he let out a sigh of relief and hurried to find Lily, who'd told him that they were going to trail behind the group of first years to make sure none got lost. The fifth year prefects were always the ones to show the first years around their house, but Lily wanted to make sure nothing bad happened when she was in charge.

Lily smiled when he reached her, patting his shoulder as she actually looked at him. It was one thing he loved about Lily Evans; she actually looked at a person. She was a good friend, though he knew James was jealous of the fact he could talk to her without being hexed. "How was your summer Remus?" she asked as they followed the sound of the fifth year's voices. For the life of him Remus couldn't remember their names, but he figured he would learn them at some point.

"It wasn't awful," he shrugged, offering her a tired smile of his own. "How was yours, Lily?"

"It was okay, a little quieter than normal," she said, her smile faltering. Remus nodded in understanding; he knew that Lily and Snape lived close to one another and usually spent the summer together, but after the messy end of their friendship the year earlier he assumed they didn't hang out together.

"I'm glad it was okay," Remus said, following the first years out of the great hall. Most were talking excitedly, which almost made him want to smile more, before he noticed that a boy with short brown hair was walking with his head down. Remus couldn't see his face from where he was standing, but he was willing to guess that it was Maxwell Norewood who was silently following the other first years. Remus hesitated slightly before turning to glance at Lily. "Have you ever heard of the Norewood in Slytherin? The girl, not the older one from a few years ago,"

"You mean Camellia Norewood? Of course I've heard of her; Sev-Snape used to talk about her every now and then,"

"What did he say about her?"

"It was really just in passing. He used to mention that she liked Potions, and that she seemed halfway decent for her older brother being who he was. That and the fact that she treated him and everyone else like they were five,"

"What was wrong with-"

"I never spoke to him myself, but I've been told he liked to experiment with dark magic. Snape said he'd heard her parents were more indifferent to the matter, but the older one apparently had a fascination of what You-Know-Who was doing,"

Remus chose to nod instead of responding, watching the younger Norewood curiously. He was probably disappointed with being in Gryffindor, as it seemed his entire family was probably in Slytherin. Remus couldn't understand that; Slytherin was the worst house to be in because of what they seemed to love to do. Which, as far as Remus had seen, was torment people if they were anything other than a pureblooded Slytherin. He'd seen it time and time again, and it was hard to think of that house doing anything else.

They made it to the Gryffindor common room and Remus instantly felt at home in the room. It was decorated exclusively in red and gold, which had irritated him at first but over the years he'd grown used to it. Remus' favorite spot was in one of the chairs by the fireplace, which was currently open. Those chairs were some of the most fought over spots in the entire castle, Remus was sure, because they were some of the most comfortable things in the world. He fought the urge to sit down as he listened to the fifth year's explanation of where the dormitories were, and Remus quickly became aware that there had been no actually reason for him and Lily to tag along. The fifth years were handling the whole thing beautifully; better than he had anyway.

A few seconds later the first years were dismissed and Lily waved goodbye to go find some of her friends. Remus took the opportunity to sit down in one of the chairs, running his hands over his face as he fought the urge to disappear to his dormitory. It wasn't even nine at night and he was already ready to go to bed and sleep for the next five years. Though he wouldn't be able to do that; his friends would keep him up all night trying to come up with some awful prank that Remus would want no part of but would ultimately help with. Honestly he wouldn't be surprised if they'd wake him up if he did actually go up to his dormitory then and fall right to sleep.

Remus was pulled away from his thoughts as the door to the common room swung open and people poured into it. His friends were laughing loudly upon entrance, which was something Remus knew would happen almost every day for the next two years. He didn't mind as he did enjoy having such happy friends; they made him feel better when he was miserable. They caught his eye and began walking over before Remus heard a sniffle. He turned around, expecting to find someone with a cold, though he only saw the Norewood kid sitting in a straight-backed chair in the corner of the room furiously wiping at his eyes. Remus stared at him for a few seconds, fighting the urge to walk over and find out what was wrong. As per usual he lost the internal battle and stood up almost as soon as his friends reached him. "I'll be back in a minute," he said, watching James shrug and Sirius narrow his eyes.

He made his way over to the kid and tried to put a comforting expression on his face. "Hey there," he said, watching the boy flinch and look up at him with fear in his eyes. "It's Maxwell, isn't it?"

"What?"

"Your name, it's Maxwell, right?"

"It's just Max," he mumbled, pulling his knees to his chest and looking at Remus with wary eyes. He wiped his cheeks again, obviously trying to get rid of any left over tears. "Who are you?"

"Remus Lupin; I'm a prefect,"

"Oh,"

"So I noticed that you seem to be a little upset," he said awkwardly, wishing the kid was a tad more open. If he could get the conversation over with then he could go back to his friends and at least have them leave him alone. The kid shrugged slightly though his lower lip began to tremble and Remus sighed. "Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?"

"No,"

"Are you sure about that? What is it that's got you so upset anyway?"

Max hesitated, trying to decide whether or not to trust the other boy in front of him. Remus wasn't sure if Max would actually tell him anything, but after a moment the younger boy's mouth opened. "Cam's going to be mad at me," he whispered.

"Who's Cam?"

"My sister; she's a sixth year. She… She told me to try and be in Hufflepuff but I got put here and she's going to be so mad and-"

"Hey, I'm sure she won't be mad. Why'd she want you in Hufflepuff?" Max went silent, his face going a light shade of pink. "Never mind. I'm sure she's very proud of you. Gryffindor's a good place to be,"

"But she said-"

"Would it help if you could hear her opinion on the matter?" Remus asked, not truly wanting to take a trip to the dungeons. But if it got the kid to stop crying then he was willing to try; he didn't want Max to have a bad first night.

"I don't know where she is,"

"She's a Slytherin, right?" Max nodded and Remus forced a smile onto his face before reaching out a hand. Max took it and Remus led him to the entrance, quickly pulling him into the corridor.

"Where are we going?" Max asked in surprise.

"To find your sister,"

"But she's-"

"She's a Slytherin. So?"

"You can't go into their common room,"

"I'm not going in. I'm just going to ask for her to come out. If it will make you feel better then it's worth it,"

Max stared at him for a moment before he began to willingly follow Remus to the dungeons. Remus, after five years, knew exactly where the entrance to the Slytherin common room was, mainly because of James and Sirius. He knew they wouldn't be able to hear him if he knocked on the stone wall, so he sincerely hoped that someone would be walking in so they wouldn't have to wait there all night.

To his luck it was a blonde girl who could only be a fourth year who he found walking toward the Slytherin common room. "Excuse me!" Remus said loudly, jogging to catch up with the girl. She turned to stare at him, raising an eyebrow instead of asking what he wanted. "Could you please bring out Camellia Norewood?" he asked, remembering her full name only because Lily had said it earlier.

"What do you want with Camellia?" the girl asked, frowning.

"It's her brother; he-" Remus began, but the girl quickly muttered a word Remus didn't catch and she disappeared into the Slytherin common room.

"Is she going to get Cam?" Max asked softly.

"I hope so," Remus muttered, watching the door with a small frown. He really did not want to be stuck by the Slytherin common room on his first night back, but it was his own fault for bringing the boy there.

A few minutes passed before a girl with auburn hair ran out of the common room with a worried look in her eyes. "Is he hurt?" she asked frantically before spotting Max to Remus' left. "Bloody hell, Max," she whispered, attacking the younger boy with a tight hug.

Remus was surprised, to say the least. He'd never paid attention to the girl before and he'd assumed she was like the other Slytherins, but now he was being forced to watch her. But the way she'd started fussing over Max and asking him what was wrong made him raise an eyebrow. Maybe she really was Slytherin's Mummy…

He forced the thoughts away as he heard the girl say, "Don't be an idiot, Max,"

A few more hushed words were exchanged and Remus heard the name Vaughn a few times, and he assumed he was either their brother or their father. He may remember the older Norewood being at school but there was no reason for him to actually remember the boy's name. Remus found himself staring at the wall, growing rather bored as he wondered what James and Sirius would say to him when he got back to the common room. They'd probably be mad, because they seem to have something against the kid, though Remus wasn't sure what had happened between them.

"Can I sit with you for breakfast?" Max whispered, sending a worried glance in Remus' direction that confused him. He'd done nothing to make the kid worried, so he didn't know what the problem would be.

"Promise you'll try and make some friends of your own soon?" Max nodded and the girl smiled. "Alright then. I'll wait for you outside your common room in the morning. Now go get some sleep; it'll be a long day tomorrow,"

Max nodded and took a step closer to Remus. There was silence in the odd group for a few seconds before Remus cleared his throat. "We should get back; I don't-"

"You two don't need to be caught in the corridors at night and end up in trouble," the girl, Remus knew he should refer to her as Camellia or Norewood but he wasn't used to her yet, said with a small smile. "I assume you want some sort of compensation for bringing him?" she asked, her eyes narrowing as she focused solely on Remus. "Or was it just you being chivalrous?"

Remus stared at her for a second. "Excuse me?"

"Cam what's-" Max began, but she frowned and shook her head.

"Natural response to Gryffindors doing something nice for me or any of us Slytherins. I apologize for that, and I'm grateful you brought him down to see me," she explained quietly. She nodded once at Remus before turning to Max. "I'll see you in the morning. And I'll take care of him; don't worry," She reached out and ruffled his hair before turning around and walking back into her common room.

There was a moment where Max and Remus just stood in the corridor, staring at the stone wall, before Max aimed a relieved smile at Remus. "Thank you," he mumbled. "For bringing me to see her; I wouldn't have known where to go,"

Remus shrugged and smiled in a way he hoped looked natural. "Any time," he said as he led the younger boy back to the common room. Remus sincerely hoped that Max wouldn't take his words seriously because he could already tell that the year wouldn't be good and he wasn't sure if he could handle the drama of a first year as well. He had enough drama with his friends to last him a lifetime.