Remus Lupin liked his study time. He liked to do well in his classes. Or rather, sometimes he felt like he had to. Dumbledore always made sure to say hello when they passed in the halls, and maybe it was on purpose, but it always made him feel lucky to be where he was.

But he liked to read, too. He liked to read in quiet.

And the Gryffindor Common Room was not conducive to quiet. Remus preferred the sanctity of his dorm room, and so most of his homework was done there on his bed. It usually remained very quiet and calm, and it was usually a pretty safe place to be.

Which was why it was very startling when the door flew open and Sirius ran in, visible only in bizarre bits and pieces when the Invisibility Cloak shifted. He slammed the door shut behind him and dove under Remus's bed, jostling the mattress in a very uncomfortable way. Remus's ink spilled all over his bedspread as well as his current essay.

"Sirius!"

"Shhh!" Sirius hissed from under the bed.

"What the-"

The door flew open again, and James Potter stood there with as much rage in his hazel eyes as a twelve-year-old could ever muster.

"Where is he?" James asked, in a very low, threatening voice. As low as a twelve-year-old's voice could get, anyway. He glaring at Remus as though he could see The Truth if he looked hard enough. (But he hadn't yet, so Remus felt pretty safe.)

"Who?" asked Remus, though his voice squeaked. Common enough occurrence, he was thirteen. Really. But James had no such illusions.

"If you stole my Cloak, Sirius," James growled. But he left the threat unfinished. Remus looked on and moved his ink bottle so in case James figured things out and went after Sirius... But James noticed the movement, and saw the essay. Peter came in just as James's eyes widened in understanding. Remus practically jumped off his bed and held up his hands in the air, careful to not spill the ink any more. James stood where he was, obviously plotting.

"Remus..." came the whine from under his bed.

"Your hiding ruined my essay," Remus replied. "I'm going to have to start it all over again."

"But Slughorn likes you. He wouldn't care."

Sirius really did have the most obnoxious whine. Remus guessed it was the product of years of being the Heir to the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black Which Is Also Richer Than Most Third-World Developing Countries.

Except Remus had the feeling Sirius would never grow out of it. Especially when he paired it with his sad grey eyes, nobody could refuse. Oh wait, that might just have been Remus.

"Get out," James growled.

"What did he do?" Remus asked Peter in a low whisper. James didn't respond even if he had heard, and was trying unsuccessfully to mask his rage. Finally, he went after Sirius, with a pillow, and began to attack him under the bed.

"Pranked Lily Evans," Peter whispered back. "She went all purple-y 'cause she was so mad. I'm not really sure what happened."

Sirius yelped, and it appeared that James had taken some sort of more painful action against him.

"But you know it was brilliant!"

"I already told you! We will not be brilliant against Lily Evans!"

"You are the biggest git when it comes to her-"

"You're just the biggest git in the whole world!"

"Ouch, that really hurt!"

"Okay," said Remus. "This can stop now. James, move back. James."

James crawled backwards, out from underneath, and straightened up. He was completely covered in dust.

"Okay, Sirius. Get out."

Sirius moved out, petulant. He, too, was dusty. It clung to his hair, making it grey. Remus wanted to reach out and brush off a large chunk of it that was right over his left ear. He refrained.

"Okay, say you're not going to do it ever again."

"I will not ever change Lily Evans's skirts transparent ever again. Such magic is only impressive once."

Remus sighed. Peter giggled.

"James, tell him you're not going to kill him."

"I'm not going to kill you, because that would be too good for you."

"Shake hands."

It quickly turned into a hand-squeezing contest, which grew into a fight, and Remus and Peter silently nodded at each other, and sprang, grabbing the shoulders of the boy they were closest to and jumping back. Remus and Sirius landed flat on Remus's bed, bouncing slightly on the springy mattress, and Peter and James fell against the floor.

"Look, now there's dust all over my bed," Remus complained.

"Too bad," said Sirius, standing up and brushing himself off. He sneezed once.

"Bless you," said Peter.

"Can I study now?" Remus asked. "Would that be all right with you?"

"Fine, we're leaving," said James. "Sirius has some apologizing to do."

He grabbed Sirius by the hood of his robes, and dragged him out the door. Peter trailed after them, looking pink with laughter.

And Remus sat back down on his bed, but couldn't bring himself to rewrite his old essay. He lay back on the pillow, and stared at the ceiling.

It wasn't until later that he brushed off the dust.