Almost everyone had gone to bed, leaving the Gryffindor common room empty except for Remus who sat in one of the large, ornate armchairs facing the crackling fire, Sirius who was sprawled on the couch behind him, reading the daily prophet, and James and Peter who sat on the floor opposite each other, engrossed in a game of wizards chess. Remus was in the middle of responding to a letter that he had received from his parents during dinner earlier that day. He didn't know what to say to them, or why they always had to ask the same questions. Remus had enough worries, he didn't need to add theirs to the pile. But, he knew he had to respond politely and above all, normally. Otherwise, Remus shuddered to think what they might do. Was it beyond them to show up at the foot of his bed one morning and haul him away forever, no questions asked? Sadly, he wasn't sure. A frustrated groan from James pulled Remus out of his thoughts. Remus leaned around the back of the armchair to see James fumbling to find a move that wouldn't result in Peter's victory. He couldn't find one. Relax, said a voice in Remus' head, they can wait a day or two, you're just being paranoid.

"After Peter wins, it's my turn to beat you." Remus said, smirking at James

"Ah, I haven't lost yet" James replied, rubbing his hands together. Peter looked up at him with quiet skepticism as sirius chuckled and folded the paper on his lap to watch the imminent defeat.

"You can't just sit there all night, make a move!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Alright, alright calm down! Fine, Knight to E4," James huffed. Remus and Sirius both laughed, shaking their heads at James, who was yet to realize his mistake. James looked confusedly at Sirius and Remus, receiving no help. He then shifted his now concerned gaze to Peter who just smiled pleasantly at him and said,

"Checkmate." James, for all his strengths was just horrendous at wizards chess. In fact, he was yet to win a game. Of course, he did claim that he had beaten Frank Longbottom when, conveniently, no one else was around. This was still hotly disputed, but no one really believed him, except Peter who despite having a front row seat to many displays of James' less than pitiful wizards chess skills, still trusted James' every word.

James hung his head in defeat as Peter, without gloating, except for the proud smile he flashed Remus as he passed by, went to go sit in one of the other armchairs. Remus plopped down across from James and began resetting the board to play another game.

"I think you might really have a chance this time." Remus said, glancing up at his friend

"Really?" James said defeatedly

"Not at all." Remus responded smugly, raising his eyebrows at James.

"I'll let you have first move." Remus offered. James narrowed his eyes at his opponent but began resetting his pieces.

Sirius sat up on the couch, lazily brushing off numerous chocolate frog wrappers on to the floor. He stretched his arms above his head and yawned before pulling himself to his feet. He sauntered over to the fireplace and began stoking the dying flames. He was bored. James and Remus played chess so slowly, with so much thinking in between each move that when they played, the combat between the pieces was so few and far between, that watching them play hardly entertained him. He was stretching his neck when he noticed an envelope addressed to Remus, sticking out from under a stack of papers on the chair Remus had previously been sitting in. Sirius knew hardly anything about Remus' family so this piqued his interest. He grabbed the letter and saw that it was from Remus' mother. He opened his mouth to loudly tease Remus for getting a letter from his mummy, when he accidentally read the first line.

"Remus, Professor McGonagall's monthly letter arrived and I have to say it is a bit concerning." Letters from McGonagall? Sirius thought. Sirius knew it was wrong to continue reading but he hardly knew anything about Remus' life outside of Hogwarts and he couldn't fathom why McGonagall would write monthly letters. His curiosity frequently overshadowed his moral judgement so he quickly skimmed the next few lines.

"She said that you are getting louder and louder and that various students have even reported hearing strange noises during your problem. This is not acceptable. Think about the trouble this could cause me and your father if your problem became public. Our reputations would be absolutely ruined." At this point in the letter, Sirius was absolutely lost as to what they were talking about and shocked by the secrecy and strangeness of it all. He did know though, that he had to stop reading. He put the letter back where he found it and looked over at Remus in a new light. It occurred to Sirius that perhaps, he wasn't the only one who preferred Hogwarts over his home and his friends over his family. After reading that letter, he was pretty sure that Remus was right there with him. He was also sure that Remus was hiding something and even though he knew it was probably wrong, he couldn't resist. He decided right there, that he was going to figure out what exactly Remus' problem was.