Lionhearted: The Moon Ascendant

By Animegirl300

.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.::.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.

"Good morning dearest." Orion greeted from his place at the head of the dining room table, a newspaper perched on his lap and a cup of morning tea on his finger as his wife strode into the room.

A place was set for all three of the family, and Kreacher was filling their plates with breakfast and fussing about Regulus who was sitting politely at the table but otherwise leaving his food untouched, a melancholy look on his face. Walburga raised a brow at him but said nothing as she took her seat, Kreacher pulling it out and pushing it in for her, and she took up her utensils gracefully.

Orion Black was in a good, if not cheerful mood.

Sirius was away at Hogwarts, not here, sulking about the house, asking blasphemous questions, trying his best to get a rise out of his mother, and thus the house was blessedly quiet, more quiet and peaceful than it had been in years.

But more importantly he imagined that his first born was now waking in the Slytherin common room, already settled and poised for the mentorship of his fellow housemates. Soon they would be reaping the fruits of their labors. Soon Sirius would be coming back to them, a polished, well disciplined heir to the Black household, ready to commit himself to the family's cause.

He flipped to the next page with politely contained glee.

"Dear, did Narcissa ever contact you about what we asked?"

"Oh yes, Narcissa agreed full heartedly to watch out for our son, and in fact she most graciously offered to put in a good word for him to Lucius as well, bless her. It does my heart good to see how well brought up my nieces are. Sirius will be well looked after in Slytherin house. As a matter of fact, I am expecting a letter from her today with an update on to how he's settling in."

As she said this, Kreacher popped away from where he'd been trying to tempt their youngest son with scones, and he appeared with a crack once more with a owl perched on his elbow, and a letter in his hand.

"To you from Miss Narcissa, my mistress." Kreacher croaked, bowing lowly as he held it for her, and she plucked it from his hand primly.

"Ah, speak of the sun and it will shine! Excellent. My dear niece moves quickly."

She opened the neatly folded letter, and Orion was looking down at his paper when suddenly there was a terrible scream.

He and Regulus jumped from their chairs; Walburga had gripped the table, her eyes bulging as the scream died in her agape mouth, and before Orion or Kreacher could reach her she fell back to floor, fainting.

"MISTRESS!" Kreacher wailed as he grabbed a handkerchief and started fanning her where she laid on the floor, and Orion pushed him out the way roughly, sinking to his knees at her side, before holding her up and flicking his wand at her chest to mutter "Reneverate."

Immediately Walburga stirred once more, to his relief, but she looked close to fainting again, her skin pale and eyes still bulging as she stared off into the distance.

"Dearest, what's wrong!? What's happened?!" He asked, and she looked at him with wide desperate eyes, before pointing a shaking hand towards the letter she'd been reading; it had floated in front of the fireplace glowing ominously on the ground in the light.

"Sirius… house... wrong… it's all wrong!"

"What?"

But he couldn't get much more out of her then as with a sob she fainted once more, and he ordered Kreacher to bring her to her room. He stood and looked towards Regulus who was standing there watching where his mother had collapsed with a look of horror his very pale face. He was shaking, not that he could blame the boy.

"Regulus, quickly, pass that to me. Let me see what it says!"

That snapped him out of his reprieve and he hurried to grab the letter and bring it to his father as Kreacher apparated Walburga away, and he stood there still staring at the place she'd been as Orion grasped the letter and braced himself before reading their niece's scrawling script. Then his heart sank.

Dear Aunt Walburga,

I regret to inform you that your beloved son and my cousin Sirius Black, heir to the Black household, has failed to gain the prestigious membership of Slytherin, the house of our ancestors, and it is with heavy heart that I must tell you that he has been judged in front of the whole school by the sorting hat, and was placed most unfortunately and troublingly into that hateful house of Blood Traitors-Gryffindor.

I offer my sincere condolences, and await your instructions of how to handle this breach in our family's good name and reputation.

Yours Sincerely,

Narcissa Black

Orion stood there for a long time reading it over and over again, feeling very faint himself. Sweet Merlin, What have we done?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The first morning waking up in the Gryffindor dormitory was one of the most liberating feelings Remus could have ever imagined.

He'd fallen asleep with one of the hangings open and could see the room awash in gentle early morning sunlight. He was the first one up, judging by James and Peter's snoring, and he felt warm and fond of the messy haired boy as he stepped over loose articles of clothing and miscellaneous stuff he'd strewn across the room, to get the washroom before the others could wake.

They were still fast asleep in their beds when he'd finished, which left him in a strange position. Did he wait around for them to rouse, or take this opportunity to go off on his own? Deciding to take the moment to get some extra studying in, he grabbed his charms textbook and his wand, placing his astrolabe in his pocket gently, before heading down the spiral staircase to the common room.

It was almost empty except for the redheaded girl from the train who'd looked up as he came down but then glared at him a little before going back to her own book and parchment. He shrugged and went to sit in the squashy corner chair near the bookshelf and window, flipping his textbook to the levitation charm page. After Dumbledore's demonstration last night he was determined to learn the charm properly so he could prod the Whomping Willow all by himself.

He looked over the moving picture in the book and practiced the motion a few more times before he chose one of the books on the coffee table, and with a swish and flick of his wand he firmly said "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Unfortunately he must have made a mistake with the amount of force because the book shot into the air with bang, hitting the ceiling, and came crashing down on the stone floor noisily, scattering pages around. It startled Lily, earning him a hateful look before she jumped out her chair and stomped to the portal, leaving. Red faced, he decided to try the charm on something lighter next time.

The bang had apparently woken up some of the students too; he could begin to hear the drone of chatter coming from the spiral stairs.

After a while the first of the students started trickling in, already dressed for the first day of classes and talking amongst themselves happily. He practiced for a while longer, a lot less confidently, and managed to get the quill he was trying to lift to wobble in the air weakly before finally James and Sirius arrived, Peter trailing behind them as though not fully sure if he was allowed.

"Hey Remus, we wondered where you'd gone off to." James said cheerily as they approached. Sirius raised a brow at the ruined tome.

"Getting a head start are we?"

"Just practicing," he said evasively before the the three and kind-of Peter who he smiled at encouragingly but who remained a few paces behind, made their way through the portrait and down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

The hall was filled with just as much excitement as last night, and as they took their seats they had their choice of all kinds of breakfast foods, from flapjacks to scones, to oatmeal, and bacon, sausage, and hashbrowns.

Remus ate his fill as he sat with his friends, and soon the hall was buzzing with excitement once again as the other students began to trickle into the great hall. At some point during breakfast Peter pointed out to Sirius the blonde girl at the Slytherin table who was giving him hostile, disapproving looks as she sat next to the stoic Slytherin Prefect.

He glanced back at her and then quickly turned away with a shudder.

"That's just Narcissa. My cousin." He said calmly although he was frowning.

He hadn't missed the other ugly looks he was getting from the Slytherin table. The Wilkes, McNairs, Averys, Greengrasses, Rowles, and Lestranges were all part of the group of purebloods he would meet at the family gatherings, and although he was still immensely happy to be in Gryffindor and not Slytherin, the glow of his triumph was fading and he was beginning to worry about the repercussions of having defied... well, everyone!

"You know… I think I want to go send my brother that letter," he said quietly to the others, and they nodded as Professor McGonagall came sweeping into the Great Hall with the student's schedules, and set off quickly towards the owlery.

They had just gotten to the tower when they ran into another unpleasant pair.

"I don't know why you're bothering, she's just a muggle!" said the voice of Severus Snape from further up the stairs.

"Because she's my sister!" Lily Evans snapped at him as she appeared, coming down first before she caught them out the corner of her eye and the two paused on the stairwell glaring angry at the four.

"What are you doing here!?" she demanded, green eyes flashing as she drew herself up, and Severus behind her roved his beady black eyes over them dangerously.

"Why, hullo Evans," James said, grinning as he waved his own letter in his hand before turning to Sirius "You know Siri, I just forgot. What were we here at the owlery for with our mail again?" he said scratching his head dumbly with the hand still holding the letter, making Lily flush both angrily and with embarrassment. "I think it was something to with sending something… but I can't remember."

Sirius met his eye dourly. "Why is it that your nicknames are getting worse and worse?" James just laughed, and Sirius turned towards the two who were still standing in the way. "If you must know about my private affairs Evans, I've got mail to send. So if you'd kindly stop hogging the stairs and move out the way…"

He made a walking gesture with his fingers and both Lily and Snape stomped past them the boy's eyes trailing them, still glinting dangerously. But neither James nor Sirius were intimidated. Sirius adopted a haughty look that reminded Remus so much of what he'd seen of his father that he had to hold in a laugh, and James stuck out his tongue and made faces at their backs as they left. Peter for his part was looking equal parts frightened and in awe, and they finally set up to the owlery to get their business done.

"We can double up on mine Sirius," James offered pointing to his bold and sturdy looking Eagle Owl that floated down to perch on his shoulder. "Foucault could use the exercise."

They handed him the letters and soon the owl gave a hoot and was launching itself into the air, and they left to go back to the dorm to get their textbooks, gripeing along the way.

"I mean, 'What are you doing here!' in the bloody public owlery?" James was saying, mocking Lily's voice and fuming. "I mean, who do they think they are!? Classes haven't even started yet and they're already being a pain in the arse!"

Sirius just nodded, looking melancholy again, but it didn't last very long as soon he and James were bickering over James' inability to come up with a good nickname for him.

"I'm telling you, one day I'm going to find one for you and it's going to stick."

"Maybe you will, but for now you are to leave my name alone. Save it for people like Snivellus."

"Spoilsport. How about you Remy, come up with any good nicknames for Sirius yet? "

"I'm staying out of this." Remus said wisely, avoiding Sirius' impish gaze.

"Oh, you're one to talk! Your name literally means Wolf-Wolf."

Remus was so shocked that he actually froze, his heart sinking, and the other three got a few paces before they noticed and looked back at him, and he shook himself to hide it.

"Um.. does it really?" he asked faintly not meeting either of their eyes.

"Well yeah; Remus is one of the twin blokes that got raised by a wolf, and Lupin is like, latin, for wolf or something. But at least it's better than most of the names in my family. Mine isn't so bad, but then my mum's name is 'Walburga'. No wonder she's turned out so cross."

Remus said nothing as Sirius continued his ranting, digesting this. He'd asked his mother before, once when he was seven. She'd told him that they'd gotten a Naming Seer to do it, but otherwise didn't elaborate. Well, now he supposed he knew why.

His mood was altered for the rest of the time it took for the quartet to reach the dorm and grab their textbooks then make their way down to the Transfiguration classroom for their first class with the Ravenclaws. Thankfully they didn't seem to notice, or if they did they said didn't mention it as they gathered into the classroom and found seats, James and Sirius on leftmost side and second row from the back with Remus then Peter next to them.

Immediately the two started goofing off as Remus pulled out his textbook and examined the first chapter, his quill and parchment at the ready. They were playing hangman under the table with Peter as they waited for everyone else to file in, and for Professor McGonagall to appear.

At the desk in front of the classroom sitting on a stool next to the chalkboard was a tabby cat, looking around at them and swinging its tail back and forth.

A few minutes before class was due to start people began chattering to each other.

"I wonder where the professor is. Doesn't seem the type to be late to class." Sirius was saying as James was eyeing the next word, 'Sherbert' Remus guessed after taking a quick glance, his tongue out in concentration, when the clock chimed the hour and in a blur of movement the tabby cat jumped from the stool and before she even reached the ground Professor McGonagall appeared!

"Wicked!" James and Sirius exclaimed as she strode forward to address the class.

"Quite right Mr. Potter, Mr. Black. Now put that parchment away." she said sternly as they scrambled to get out their books, and she turned to address the room. "Welcome first years to my class. In here you will be learning the foundations of Transfiguration, some of the most complex and dangerous magic that you will ever be learning at Hogwarts. Due to the nature of transfiguration I have these words for you" she said look at them over her spectacles sternly, especially towards Sirius and James who were trying their best to look innocent. "Anyone caught messing around in my class will leave and not come back. That is my only warning."

The class began with much excitement, but then it ended with much less enthusiasm. After the Professor displayed her skills by changing her desk into a pig they were all excited to start, but then she gave them a lot of complicated notes on the transfiguration alphabet and formulas, and then they were all given matches and were tasked with trying to turn them into needles. To Remus' and, gladly, also Sirius' frustration James of all people was the one to get the most progress after getting his silver and pointy and Professor McGonagall even gave him the first house points, to the jealousy of some of the Ravenclaws.

"It's all in the wrist" James told them as they left, laughing then Sirius aimed to hit him.

Next class was Charms with the Hufflepuffs and Remus was very pleased to get his own back when he was the only one who managed to lift their feather. Unfortunately he'd also sent it further into the air then he'd meant to and it got lost somewhere, but Professor Flitwick didn't seem to mind, and gave him five points.

The next class was Herbology, and their second class with the Puffs, and they all trailed down to the greenhouse to meet Professor Sprout who spent the first class showing them the different plants and fungi and their uses.

At lunch time Sirius proclaimed his excitement for Defense Against The Dark Arts.

"I've been reading the book for jinxes to use against my cousins." He explained calmly, trying to ignore the dirty looks he was getting from Slytherin table again. "If they mess with me I'll be ready for them."

After lunch they headed towards the defense classroom, but somehow ended up on the completely other side of the castle due to the moving staircases, and thus were five minutes late for Professor Lenormand's lecture, but she was more preoccupied with going over the foundations and history of the Darks Arts to notice.

After Defense they had history which was the most boring class they could have ever imagined. Professor Binns was a ghost, which should have been exciting, but he just floated at the front of the classroom droaning on his welcome to the subject, and soon James, and Peter had fallen asleep, and Sirius was doodling on his textbook.

Finally it was their last class of the day; Potions.

Sirius and James had groaned loudly when they looked and saw they were sharing with the Slytherins, and they filed into the dungeon potions room, moving to sit as absolutely far away from the other house as possible. Upon arrival Snape had left his little group of Mulciber, Avery, and Wilkes to join with Lily, which unfortunately meant he was closer to them than any of them wanted.

At the front of the classroom was a large cauldron with a pale lightly bubbling potion inside that was giving off a soft mist but was otherwise unimpressive. A few students glanced at it curiously before going on to chatter with their neighbors. Remus quickly buried his head in his textbook trying to ignore the silent war going over his head at the tension of James and Sirius throwing dirty looks, which were equally thrown by the redhead and Snape, and he breathed a huge sigh of relief when their Professor, a very rotund man with a gigantic mustache like a walrus bounced his way in to the front of the class.

"Welcome first years!" He said, opening his arms wide at them. "I am Professor Slughorn, you potions teacher! I must say I'm looking very forward to this class. I even believe that I see a few familiar faces!" he said as he greeted a couple Slytherin students, Rabastan Lestrange, and Laurine Greengrass. "Now, before we begin, why don't we start with a little roll call!"

The class shifted in their seats as Slughorn took out a roll of parchment and cleared his throat. "Thibaut Avery! Yes, yes, already in my house, which is not surprising at all my dear boy. Why I know your father already, yes, he was a member of my Slug Club!" he said looking chuffed as can be. But then he looked to the next name and his eyes went straight to Sirius who tried to keep on an impassive expression.

"Why, Sirius Black! I still can't believe it, you can't imagine my surprise! Heir to one of the oldest wizarding families, almost every one Slytherin. Now, why aren't you in my house young man?" he asked, teasingly stern.

"It didn't seem the fit, sir." Sirius answer cooly, and a couple Slytherins in the corner tittered. Slughorn himself chortled.

"Well now, nothing wrong with something different I suppose. Still, you'll simply have to join my Slug Club. With someone of your connections I won't stand to have you slip away."

He wagged one of his pudgy fingers at him, then moved along to the next name, stopping almost every other one to comment or ask about some connection to some famous person.

"Remus Lupin," the man potions master called, and he wasn't ready when Slughorn continued say "I knew your father as well, dear boy! Ravenclaw of course, but still a splendid student! World-renowned expert on magical creatures if I recall."

"Yes sir." Remus nodded, his cheeks reddening furiously as a couple Slytherins sniggered. Slughorn continued with the list and Remus stared down at his textbook.

The professor didn't comment much more on family connections for a while after this, until he came to James, and then the man practically bounced in place as he did.

"James Potter! Another student who got away! But I'm not surprised, not surprised at all! Your father was a Gryffindor as well lad. Good man, Fleamont; a contemporary of mine as a matter of fact, he always sends greeting cards around the holidays. And such a great potioner too! Why just look at the success of Sleekeazy's! I'm expecting a lot from you dear boy!"

"Thank you sir." James said very proudly, earning a playful elbow to the rib from Sirius, and a few seats away Snape looked mutinous.

It had changed to a hopeful look when Slughorn called his name, but whatever hope Snape had gotten was dashed as the old professor moved on with no comment at all, and then he looked really murderous, his little fists clenched at the sides of his textbook as he sent a glare to James.

"Probably wanted an invite to the 'Slug Club', the git." Sirius whispered to Potter when he noticed, and the two were fighting to stay in their seats by the time Slughorn finally finished with Zabani, and rolled up his parchment with a flourish.

"So many fresh faces, so many new connection to make." he said as he bounced to the front of the cauldron that had now started to simmer, it's surface smoothing over like glass under it's mist.

"Now! Now that we've gotten that sorted out, it's time to get to what you're really here for; Potions!" The class started to stir with attention again, and Remus sat up in his seat with his quill ready as the professor started writing on the board.

"Yes, potions! One of the most complex types of magic to be sure, but also one with the most possibility! For example," he said as he finished his writing, a list of ingredients, "Who hear can tell me what this potion is?" he said pointing to the cauldron, and looking around although he didn't seem to truly expect them to know. "Come, come, don't be shy! Yes, you up to the left, what was your name?"

Snape turned red under his raised hand. "Severus Snape sir. And it's Oblivisci, the memory loss potion."

"Excellent! Why yes, dear boy that is correct! And could you please share what were the telling details?"

Snape sat up straighter looking very pleased as he listed off the signs, and James and Sirius shared looks, trying hard not to laugh when they were so close to Slughorn's line of sight.

"The smooth glass-like surface, and white mist sir." he said primly, and Slughorn gave a chuckle.

"Correct again! 5 points to Slytherin! Now, as mister Snape has said, this is the Forgetfulness Potion, also known as Oblivisci, and it's purpose as I'm sure you can surmise are of course, memory loss for it's drinker. Now, can anyone tell me why someone would want to use it?" James elbowed Sirius lightly before whispering "Watch this" and raised his hand.

Immediately Slughorn pointed him out. "Yes, Mister Potter?" He said, as Sirius tried not to snicker as Snape looked angry once more that he'd remembered James' name.

"For people who've gone through traumatic events sir. The kind that Mind Healers can't help with."

"Yes, Mister Potter! Great answer! Take 10 points to Gryffindor!" Slughorn said before continuing on with the lesson, the Slytherins and Lily looking mad as hornets.

"This Potion is going to be your final exam for year, which is why I thought to show it to you before we get started. Hopefully by the end of the year you all with have a well enough grasp on the ingredients and the process of potion making to be able to brew it yourself."

For the rest of the class Slughorn had them take notes of the the ingredient list on the board with the assignment of looking them up and explaining their properties before finally class was ended and the group began to gather their things.

James was verbally going over the scene for them again, to their amusement.

"And did you see that slimey git's face when he gave me ten points?" James was saying with glee as they got to the landing halfway to the entrance hall.

"Yes Potter, we were sitting right next to you." Sirius grouched although he was giving him a fond eyeroll.

"I know, but that was probably the most satisfying feeling I've ever had-"

Just as he was saying it the four stopped as they found their way blocked by none other than Severus Snape and what was quickly becoming his crew; Mulciber looking creepy as ever, and Avery who was about as bad.

"Why if it isn't Snivellus. We were just talking about you." James said with a broad smirk, although his hand was tightly gripping his wand. Sirius stepped beside him, his wand also out in a warning.

Remus watched the scene and was surprised to find himself also at the ready; the wand in his hand thrumming with anticipation. He didn't even know how to duel! But then, he also thought, he knew that even if spells started flying he wasn't going to let James and Sirius go it alone. He looked back for Peter who was standing far away back looking very scared and apprehensive. He thought approvingly then turned back to face the other three.

"I bet you liked that, Potter." Snape spat. "Couldn't help showing off could you?"

"Ha! I don't need to show off." James said boastingly and Sirius beside him rolled his eyes.

"Right. Then I guess we'll make sure you won't want to show off that face of yours-" He opened his mouth wand raised about to cast a spell and the three raised theirs at the ready, when a voice boomed from behind them.

"What's going on here?" Startled, the seven all looked up, dropping their wands to their sides as Professor Slughorn was making it up the stairs, slightly huffy from the exertion.

James was the first to recover.

"Oh, nothing Professor, my friends and I were just waiting for you to ask you about your Slug Club. Snape here was just leaving." James said quickly, and Snape's face blotched over but he turned on his heel and left, Mulciber and Avery moving to follow him.

Slughorn beamed at this and so the four were stuck listening to the man boast about all the activities and visits he had planned for most of their free hour, until finally he finished off, giving them all the next meeting date.

"Now don't you boys forget." he said wagging his finger as he went away.

"Geez, why'd you have to tell him that, Potter? I don't want to go to stinking Slug Club." Sirius whined when he was out of earshot, and Remus had to agree although Peter wouldn't meet their eyes at that, so he guessed that meant he was looking forward to it.

"Well I didn't hear you coming up with any ideas." James replied defensively "And we didn't want to get caught fighting on the first day did we? Think of poor Remus," Remus spluttered at his mention "We've got to protect his reputation." James turned to him "Saw you, by the way, standing up with us. Good lad." James said cuffing him on the shoulder, and Remus reddened, realizing James was saying it because he was bigger than him. If only he could grow taller, then he'd show them.

"Oh yes, because swotting it up to Professor Slughorn is going to help anyone's reputation." Sirius grouched, although he looked a little more mollified. "Come on, we might as well go straight to the Great Hall; Dinner will be starting soon."

As with the first day of the Start of Term Feast, the golden plates and goblets were soon being filled with food, and the four sat at their table happily, even as the Slytherins began to file in and they started getting angry looks.

"Already making enemies boys?" Marlene asked them as she took a spot across.

"Us, making enemies? Wherever did you get a silly notion like that, McKinnon?" Sirius said with a wink. She smiled knowingly and then went back to filling her plate and talking with Dorcas.

"You know, we still have to go about finding out where the kitchens are." James said as the tables cleared from desert and the four got up to make their way to the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Are you still on about the house elves?"

"Oh come on Sirius, where's your sense of adventure?"

"I left it, along with my Slug Club invitation." He sassed but they all had the idea that sooner or later James was going to succeed in convincing him.

They entered the nice, comfy common room, and only made it halfway across when they were beset once more by Lily Evans who was standing in front of them, her hands on her hips and her eyes glinting a dark green.

They all groaned and Lily seemed to flush a little but she still held her ground.

"Leave me and Severus alone." She said, her voice a low hiss.

James sighed but his grin was soon back. "You know it'd be much easier to do that if you two would stop blocking my way all the time."

"I'm serious! It hasn't been two days and you boys have done nothing but cause us trouble!"

"No, he's 'Sirius'" James said pointing to their friend who aimed a hit at him, and Lily's eyes if possible got even darker. "Look, Evans. I don't know what you think is happening here, but either way I think we're all agreeable here," he said turning to his three new mates before looking back at her. "We can call a truce, although I think that there needs to be a war first before you can really call it a truce."

"Hmph!" Lily said as she crossed her arms but she nodded, her face still suspicious. "Fine! We'll call a 'truce'. You leave Severus and me alone, and we'll do the same."

"Great, perfect. Pleasure doing buisness with you Evans." James said holding out his hand cockily, but instead Lily turned on her heel, red hair swinging behind her, as she walked away to the girls dorm, her nose in the air.

"What is with that girl." He muttered under his breath as the four went to the left to the boys dorm. "We're not the ones doing anything."

"Don't worry about it mate. Look on the bright side; if Snivellus tries anything then she might get mad at him for once. I'd almost like to see that." Sirius said as he grabbed off his robes and threw them on his bed to look for his pajamas.

"Yeah." James said with an oddly brightened tone as he threw his clothes around the room.

Remus tutted as he gathered his things and went to the bath, kicking a shirt back over to his side of the room as James gave a thanks and then jumped into his four-poster.

He stripped and rubbed at his shoulders and neck; already there was a feeling in his joints and back, the beginning of an ache, and as he checked in the mirror his eyes were just a big more yellow than they'd been the day before. He was incredibly grateful that the full moon would be on a Sunday. The day before was always miserable but as it would be a Saturday he could get away with resting without having to worry about class.

He stood under the warm water, letting the heat settle into his bones a little and letting his mind wander. Only the first day of classes and already things were happening so fast. He hadn't even written his mother yet. He was saving it till after the full moon so he could let her know how it went without her worrying. But he wondered how she was doing, and he imagined her at the house doing laundry and cooking, and he hoped she wasn't too lonely before he rolled his eyes at himself.

"She's probably glad your gone. Relieved. She doesn't have to worry up all night if you'll escape and kill someone, or fix you up in the morning." He muttered, and he looked at his palms, examining them. They looked human now, but soon… only a couple of days and they would be different; hairy, his palms turned to pads, his nails turned to claws. And then they would be bloody and torn from biting himself. He turned his hands over to look at the silvery web of faint scars over them, his left middle finger where he'd once take a chunk.

He shook his head. Best not the think of it, or ever he'd go down that rabbit hole and not come out for a while.

Outside the door he heard a noise and shouts as his roommates were getting up to something rowdy, and his smiled fondly, picturing James and Sirius bickering and Peter looking between them not sure whose side to be on. Only a day and already he thought they were making friends. Friends. For the first time.

The thought warmed him more than the shower did, although there was that voice at the back reminding him that they were only his friends so long as they didn't figure out what he was, but he dismissed it firmly. That was fine. He would do anything to keep friends like these, he thought remembering how they'd stood up for each other in front of Snape.

He would never let them find out. He would have to think of some good excuses for the future: stock explanations about his disappearances. Perhaps he should start acting sick so they wouldn't be surprised when he disappeared on Sunday. He winced and wished he had James' penchant for cover stories.

With a sigh he ended the shower, and when he'd gotten back to the bedroom his roommates were still in full swing of what looked to be a game of jumping from bed to bed, and a row of their nightstands that they'd put in the middle of the floor.

They'd paused as he opened the door, James on his own bed holding a pillow over his head mid-swing aimed at Sirius, who was standing on Remus' bed with Peter trying to hold the stouter boy like a shield.

"The floors lava! Hurry Remy, get to safety!" James shouted and he flung the pillow, managing his target and Remus smiled and then tutted, finding a place for his bed things.

Sirius had fallen on his bed, but he found he didn't mind. At least they'd had the decency to keep their socks on.

He climbed up and grabbed his pillow, although he wasn't sure what they were playing or how. He'd never had people to play with before after all. But after he gripped the taller boy's extended arm by the elbow, his eyes glinting in excitement, Sirius yelled "Charge Potter!" and he followed as he and Peter jumped to go after their friend, who yelped and tried jumping away to Peter's bed before they all reached him, and there was a confusion of feathers and James shouting "I surrender! I surrender!" before they all collapsed together with laughter.

It was a couple hours and a few games later when they all collapsed in their beds, breathing happy and Sirius glady suggested they could move everything back in the morning before Remus found himself falling into the arms of sleep, smiling to himself.

He would do anything to keep friends like these.

.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.::.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.

Welp! Here's chapter 3! :D

I was able to figure out a schedule for their classes that I'm happy with that might explain some of the canon class decisions.

September 1, 1971 was Wednesday so they DID have their first classes in the middle of the week. I'm not sure if that's how other schools around the world do it:

Mine always started on the next Monday. *Shrug*

So, we're getting into the family dynamics of the Blacks! How fun! I LOVE Walburga even if her canon character was a horrible old hag, haha! We didn't get much info on what Orion Black was like either, but I'd almost like to think that Sirius' personality was half of each his parents: Walburga's wildness and Orion's calm and collectedness. But that might just be me.

Hopefully should have the next chapter up soon! Hope you enjoy and please feel free to comment! I love comments. :)