The hours of the detention had gone quite smoothly the previous day. Lupin had been helping him with the stupid Ancient Runes subject, what they hell did I ever sing up for that in the first place, and they were having a sort of conversation from time to time.

Sirius was sitting in the dormitory floor next to James who was talking too much. Maybe Lupin's company was making him lose perspective of how much was normal for a person to talk.

"...Sirius, are you even listening to me?"

"Sorta... sorry, what were you saying?"

"Look, this isn't going to work if you do not pay attention. Listen, the plan is to make the spells work once Remus enters the classroom. So you have to make sure to work out the triggers before he goes to the detention tomorrow. Do it today while you are leaving."

"I always leave before he does."

"Well, don't."

"Whatever... tell me again how are we going to avoid being blamed for this one."

"Oh, come... everyone hates the kid. And everybody will laugh at him when they see him all covered in blue jelly. Fabian will cast the sticky charm on him while he is on his way. It is bloody brilliant!" he got up excited.

"Excuse me if I fail to see the brilliancy of your plan."

"Hey Black, you are being weird. Are you having any girl issues... sorry boy. Boy issues."

"No James. I am not." he looked at the other boy who seemed more than relief about not having to talk about boys.

"Well... then this bloody detention is really taking its toll on you. Come on, you have to leave. And remember the spells for tomorrow!"

"Ok, ok."

Sirius did not know if he was feeling bad about doing this or not. It was easy to make pranks on Remus, but maybe that was the reason why it was wrong. But he was so weird about everything... the boy needed to talk to people more, to learn to laugh more... Pranks were always good way to have a laugh. But Lupin was definitely not the type who was able to laugh at himself. He should learn though.

While trying to convince himself that what he was going to do was not as morally wrong as it looked, he entered the class to find Remus already sitting in his usual spot, reading a book.

"Hi there." he said joyfully.

"Hello." Lupin answer without even bothering to look up his book.

Sirius went sit next to him. When the other boy did not react he started picking over his shoulder to see what he was reading. Lupin, realised and put the book down.

"Do you want to continue with Runes today?"

"No... not really. I'm tired." Sirius picked up the book and started reading out loud on the first page "It is a truth universally acknowledge, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife..." he snorted, "What the hell is this Remus?"

"A book" he said taking the book away from him and placing it in what he considered a safe place at the other end of the table.

"So you are into soppy romance novels?"

"It is not... whatever. You don't even care. I am sorry that my taste in literature is not of your liking."

"Yeah... whatever."

- Prolonged Silence -

"This weekend is a Hogsmeade weekend." Sirius announced.

"Yeah..." answered the other boy nonchalantly, having gone back to his boring reading.

"Don't you ever go to Hogsmeade?"

"I don't have anyone to go with." he answered putting the book down reluctantly, "the only boy in this school that I talk to is my roommate and he is even more awkward than I am."

"That's impossible!"

Remus stood in silence.

"Sorry" Sirius added, seeing the hurt look on the other boys' eyes. Beautiful hazel eyes, by the way. "Who is your roommate?"

"Peter Pettigrew." Sirius looked at him clueless. "Of course you don't know him" Remus sighed "He is the one who always makes cauldrons explode in potions."

"Oh! That one..." Sirius laughed. "Oh man, he is legendary."

"No, he is not."

"We are always waiting for him to explode something so we can make some prank without teachers noticing."

"Sweet."

They did not talk more during at least one hour. Sirius was bored as always and entertained himself walking around the room and looking out of the window. When he realised that the leaving time was approaching Sirius realised that he needed to start a conversation and somehow make the other boy leave earlier than him.

"You could come to Hogsmeade with us." he said before he could stop himself and think about something better. Fuck, what if he says yes.

"I don't think so." Well, of course he is not going to say yes!

"And why is that? You could start socialising with people, they would like you if they knew you." he was not so sure about that.

"I just do not want people to know me, ok?" Remus snapped.

Sirius motioned towards Remus' desk and rested his arms on it, bending over. He saw the other boy flinch and blush a little. Could he possibly...? What if this kid was gay? That would be a reason for not wanting people to know, for wanting to hide yourself, he was well aware of that. Maybe Prewett was right and Lupin just wanted to shag him. Sirius smiled. Ego busts always made him smile.

"And why would that be?" he said, moving uncomfortably close to the other boy's face.

"Because." sadly, Remus had too fast recovered his usual impassiveness.

Sirius stoop up again and started putting things in his bag, waiting for the other boy to mirror him. It took almost five minutes, though it seemed like an hour.

"So where are you heading now?" Sirius asked, sitting in the desk and resting his head on his hand.

"To the dorm? Where elese could I be heading to?"

"I don't know. The library?"

"Fair point." he shrugged.

They both started walking towards the door very slowly, both waiting for the other to walk through the door first. Sirius rested his back on the door so Remus felt obliged to go out first. And all of a sudden, Sirius planted a sonorous kiss on the other's check.

"See you tomorrow." he smiled, loving the confused and startled look on Remus' eyes.

"Yeah... see you." and with that, he left down the corridor, leaving Sirius to his plotting.

It was not just going to be a prank for the sake of it. It was an initiation, he was going to make a real person out of the mopping soul that was Remus Lupin. Only he was the only one who knew that.

The next day Sirius spotted Lupin during breakfast and realised that he was not looking very well. Determined to continue with the plan of introducing the boy to normal social relationships, he walked towards him.

"Hey, how are you?"

"Fuck off." is the only response that comes out of Remus' mouth, in a very torn voice.

"Excuse me?"

"Look, he is not in a very good mood today. So it is just better if you do not talk to him." the chubby boy who was sitting next to Remus looked up at him.

"I did not ask for your opinion." and with that Sirius left, realising why the world did not like those two at all.

The prank needed to go on and it was not anymore to help Lupin. It was to freaking annoy him. The fact that he was in a bad mood that they would only help the effects. Sirius spends the rest of the day thinking about the plans for the evening and how Lupin was going to react to it.

When the time finally arrived he was waiting at the door, at a safe distance for Lupin and his friends to arrive. He saw him at the end of the corridor, looking annoyed and walking at a fast pace. James and the Prewett brothers were following him laughing quietly.

"Oh, hello Remus!" Sirius said when the boy passed him by.

Remus was grunting a sort of response when blue jelly fell from nowhere on top of him. The boy drop the books to the floor and tried to take it off unsuccessfully due to the sticking charm that someone would have placed on him earlier. He turned his back slowly to face Sirius grin and his friends laugher.

Without saying a word, Lupin took out his wand casting a hex that made Sirius hit the wall and fall back to the floor.

"Holly fuck!" Potter shouted running next to his friend while the Prewetts pointed their wands at Remus. "Hey, mate are you ok?" James asked Sirius.

"Yes! Yes I am." Sirius was angry. Incredibly angry. He stood up and started walking in Lupin's direction, but before he could even take his wand out, McGonagall appeared in the corridor and started shouting at them.

"What do you think you are doing?"

"Professor, looked what Lupin has done to Sirius!" James was screaming and pointing at his head. He touch the spot that his friend was referring to and when he looked at his hand, it had some blood on it.

"They did this to me first!" Lupin defended himself, showing his covered-in-blue robes and hair to their Head of House.

"Silence! I can't believe this. Both of you go to the infirmary to fix whatever needs to be fix. And I will see you both tomorrow at 10 in the morning. No Hogsmeade visit."

Lupin almost jumped at hearing that.

"Professor I… I can't do that tomorrow. You know I have to go visit my mother…"

"Oh, right." the expression on McGonagall's face changed drastically. "I am very sorry Mr. Lupin. We'll figure out your part of the detention later. Mr. Black, I expect to see you tomorrow in my office at 10."

Once they were out of the infirmary, Sirius with a bandage in his head and Remus still having patches of blue on his hair, they went back to the detention room.

Sirius sat on the window and entertained himself by looking at the people walking near the lake. The sky was clear and it was very nice weather, he should have been outside lying on the grass or riding his broom. He looked up for a moment to check on Lupin. He was definitely not looking any good, far worse than he seemed that morning at breakfast. He was extremely pale, and trembling.

"Lupin, are you ok? Do you want to go to the infirmary?"

"Lupin you say? I thought we were past formalities." Remus laughed. Though it sounded more like coughing.

"No. I mean, man, you look like shitte."

"Charming."

"Ok. Then just die there if you want to!" the boy was starting to really annoy him.

- Silence -

"Why is that you cannot do detention tomorrow?" he was awfully curious about the reasons for him having to rot alone in detention in a Hogsmeade weekend. "You did not tell me you were busy when I ask you about Hogsmeade."

"I have to visit my mother. She is sick."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"No, you are not."

"Ok. Whatever. I'm done talking to you." he went back to the place at the other side of the classroom when he sat the first day of the detention. And put his head down to take a nap. Only that he could not sleep because he was too busy thinking about all the things that Lupin was hiding. Why was he not going to the infirmary when he was obviously sick? What was wrong with his mother? Why was he so keen on shutting the world out?

That night when he was sitting as usual in the common room with his friends, having a game of exploding snap with James, he saw Lupin walking out of the portrait without giving anyone a second look. He felt the urge to go after him and see what he was doing, why would he leave in the night if he was going to visit his mother? It was really late. He controlled himself so the others would not ask him where was he going. He controlled himself until he couldn't anymore.

"Sorry, I have to go somewhere. I am borrowing the you-know-what." he said to James while running up the stairs to take James' invisibility cloak.

"Wait! What? Why?... Oh, bugger." came James' screams from down the stairs.

Sirius was running as fast as he could around the corridors until he spotted Lupin. He was waiting in front of the infirmary for someone. Not very long after, he could see Pomfrey dressed in robes putting and arm around Remus' shoulders and directing him towards the entrance of the castle. Sirius followed carefully. Where could they be going?

Lupin and Madame Pomfrey crossed half of the Hogwarts grounds until they arrived near a big tree. The Whomping Willow to be more specific. Sirius could see how she made the tree stop moving with a wave of her wand. The fact that this could be done was a very important discovery for Sirius and he waited until they both disappeared through the tree. When he wanted to come near to continue following them, the tree started moving again.

He could not understand a thing about what they were doing. Was that a secret passage? If it was, he definitely needed to tell James about it for their little project.

Sirius sat down on the grass trying to make sense of what was going on. It was a very clear night and he enjoyed watching the stars. He stayed there for at least an hour and did not see Madame Pomfrey coming out the Willow.

And suddenly, it washed over him. It all made sense. Why Lupin hide himself from the rest of the world, the sickness, the bad humour, why he was not able to attend detention the next day...

The beautiful full moon was shinning upon Sirius' face.

- Next day, at the infirmary -

"Good afternoon" Sirius said seeing Remus lying in one of the beds far away form the entrance.

Remus shrinked "Shouldn't you been in detention?"

"It's over."

"What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question."

"I... I had a... well, you see how I wasn't feeling good yesterday and..."

"You really are, aren't you?" Sirius said, with a hint of fascination in his voice, taking a chair and sitting next to Remus' bed.

"Excuse me?"

"Lupin, you are a bloody werewolf!"