"I think I'll just go down and have some pudding and wait for it all to turn up - it always does in the end."

- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, J.K. Rowling

Remus was perhaps the only person in the class remotely interested in the things Professor Tacey had to write. Defence Against the Dark Arts – taught by an old lady named Professor Enid Tacey who did not speak at all but rather waved her wand a bit far away from the enormous board and shaky handwriting appeared.

Nevertheless, Remus was fascinated by the things she had to write. Remus copied down everything she wrote. Next to him, Lily did the same.

It was the middle of October now – weeks had passed since they had been sorted. Remus decided he liked Charms and Defence the best. Lily, along with her friend Severus, adored Potions and the Potions Master Slughorn. James was excellent at Transfiguration, though he was haughty and rude about it. Sirius's most-attended class was probably detention. Peter's was lunch.

His first transformation at school was very shortly after the sorting, and the procedure was quick and crude. Madam Pomfrey had ushered him to the newly-grown Whomping Willow, which she calmed down with her wand. They had crawled underneath, and walked to the Shrieking Shack, and the rest had been a blank to him. The next morning, he found cuts and gashes all over himself and Madam Pomfrey had fixed them all.

The next was worst – he had to stay in the Hospital Wing for a few more days, and he was sure to wear his robes over his clothes for the new few days though he was quite hot.

Another thing Remus had done was resolutely ignore Sirius – ever since the first of September, he had deftly avoided Sirius, and it seemed the other boy was doing the same. Remus sneaked a look back at Sirius, who was staring back at him, and embarrassed, turned back quickly to read Professor Tacey's penmanship.

From what he guessed, she had once been a Dark creature catcher or at least studied these creatures thoroughly. She was a new teacher – Remus knew this because Albus Dumbledore had introduced her to the school at the start-of-term feast. She must have been an expert before, for she had lots of things to say about monsters and their powers, such as Hags and the type of magic they possessed. For one, she said they were quite similar to wizards, though they had poor magical skills and required a lot on potions to get magical tasks done. She wrote on how to spot different types of Hags by the number of warts they have.

"Oh, where did my parchment go?" Lily wondered aloud, searching for it around her. A collective snigger jarred Remus from copying his notes down, and he whipped around to see Peter and Sirius laughing quietly. Where was James?

Remus too, found something of his missing. He could not find his favourite quill, though he was sure he had had it just a second ago. He wildly fished about. Oh, this couldn't be happening, that quill was the special one from his father–

In his haste, he knocked over his ink bottle, and the black spilled over his robes and rolled onto the floor, shattering.

Flustered, he began ferretting about, aware of roaring laughter from the whole class, especially from the back of the room – and a bark of laughter from someone he swore was James, though of course Remus had heard wrong, because James wasn't in the class right now – where he was determined not to look at. Professor Tacey cleared the broken glass, and Lily siphoned the ink off him quickly, though it didn't stop him from going very red in the face.

After everything had calmed down, the Professor continued inscribing onto the board.

A snicker from the back echoed throughout the classroom. Professor Tacey stopped writing to send an enquiring look at the back, where, to Remus's utter irritation, was Sirius and Peter laughing at something that Remus couldn't see. Remus noticed that the seat beside Sirius was empty, James's seat. Lily sent Remus an angry, questioning look, as if Remus would know where James was.

James was probably causing even more trouble elsewhere, or arguing with Severus, as the two had taken a fierce hatred to each other, even more potent than the one between James and Lily. Remus turned back.

"Oh, sorry, Professor," James said loudly, and to Remus's utter amazement, James was sitting in his seat, looking as if he had always been there in the first place. "We were just laughing at the look on Lupin's and Evans's face."

Remus's quill – not his dad's favourite one, which he had lost – scratched against his parchment resolutely and what he hoped to be louder than James Potter's attempts to get his attention.

"Psst, Remus," James hissed, leaning to the side where Remus was. Lily, on Remus's other side, jerked awake from James's voice and sent him a glare.

They were in History of Magic, easily the least interesting class they had. Even Remus agreed. However, he was determined to do well in all lessons, and he usually ignored James and Peter's playful antics during class – and Sirius's sad looks at Remus when the latter ignored the former. Lily seemed of the same resolve – but even she got sleepy while Professor Binns spoke in his monotone voice.

Nothing, however, stopped her from bickering with James Potter.

"Be quiet, Potter, and do your work," Lily said, sounding very much like Professor McGonagall.

"I saw you sleeping, don't pretend you weren't," said James, before turning back to Remus. "Anyways, Lupin, I wanted to talk to you about something important…"

Remus pushed his face away with his free hand.

"Go away, he's trying to do his work," Lily hissed to James.

"Oh yeah, like you were?"

"You hypocrite!"

"You know you love me."

Remus felt very awkward, being in the middle of the argument as he so often was, being Lily's friend – yes, Remus still flinched at the possibilities that could unfold, but he had resolved to being friendly without trying to get any closer – and being James's roommate.

The bickering became louder but Professor Binns remained unfazed and continued to drone on about goblins rights through history. Remus was very glad when the lesson ended as he and the rest of the Gryffindors in his year moved from the History of Magic classroom to Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall.

The teacher began the lesson by asking Marlene McKinnon to hand out one match to each person. There was something about the prim lady kept the whole class quiet as they moved to their seats – except, to Remus's utter annoyance, James Potter and his friends.

Indeed, while the Professor was talking of the complexities of the subject she was teaching and how difficult Transfiguring a small cushion into a matchbox was, the three boys were sniggering quietly in the corner of the class.

"For the past term, you have only Transfigured things of a relatively similar size. Now you will begin Transfiguration of objects of different dimensions and weight." Professor McGonagall noticed James and Sirius and Peter snickering particularly joyfully and said, "Do you have something to say, you three?"

"Well, Transfiguration isn't nearly as hard as you say it is, for starters," James said loudly.

"Oh, really?" McGonagall said with a cold fury. "Perhaps you can demonstrate how simple it is then."

To Remus's, Lily's – and from the small flicker of emotion on her face, Professor McGonagall's – absolute shock and irritation, James managed to easily transform the pillow into a matchbox as easily as his grin appeared on his face.

Professor McGonagall recovered quickly. "Well, that was a very good show of magic, Mr Potter. Ten points to Gryffindor. You, however, have interrupted my class, so ten points from Gryffindor as well. Though you seem to know a lot more about Transfiguration than your fellow classmates, so much that you would so gladly do an essay by Monday for me to read out to the class the following day."

That wiped his grin off his face.

"Now, for everybody else, you will take your wands out and carefully practice the Transfiguration …"

By the end of the lesson, Lily managed to perfectly Transfigure the pillowcase, and at least Remus's cloth was definitely straighter and looked as if made of wood. Peter might have eaten his pillowcase. He still resolutely ignored Sirius. Mysteriously, Remus could not see James anywhere for the rest of the lesson, though he was probably, Remus reasoned, crying in the bathrooms over his extra homework or something. Remus accidentally had a hilarious, delighted conversation with Lily before he remembered to dislike her.

Potions was taught by Horace Slughorn, a large, walrus-like man with corn-coloured hair and a bushy moustache. He was quite jubilant, but preferred to talk to Sirius – even though he had a large dislike for Potions – and Lily, who had been taken to since the first lesson, rather than Remus. Remus was admittedly, very horrible at Potions, and this was made even worse by the addition of having the class with Slytherin, who disliked Gryffindor mutually.

Usually, Remus on a table with Lily and Severus, but due to a very loud argument between James and Severus that had attracted a lot of attention in the hallway the other day and that had none of the innocent playfulness of James and Lily, Severus was left in the Hospital Wing with a bloody nose for the rest of the day.

"Right, children," Slughorn announced. "This lesson is a very important practical lesson! You have studied the theory for a few potions these past weeks, and now you will work with a partner to brew a Forgetfulness Potion, Boil Cure and Herbicide. Whichever pair brews it the fastest and the finest will get a special reward from me. Turn to Page 54 to begin!"

Often, Lily would pair up with Severus and Remus with Peter, but today Lily partnered up with Remus. Obviously, Sirius and James were working together and Peter was left to pair up with a nasty looking Slytherin.

While Remus borrowed a container of Lethe River Water and passed it to Lily so she could pour two drops in, she muttered to him, "You really need to sort out your friends thing."

"What?" Remus said back, snatching a Valerian plant from James who waggled it playfully above his head.

"Well, sometimes you seem really friendly with James and Peter, and especially Sirius, and other times you push them away," Lily said back and dropped two sprigs in the cauldron before passing the plant to Mary McDonald.

"You wouldn't understand," Remus whispered back as he stirred the potion three times clockwise and then they left it to set for an hour.

"Okay, Cure for Boils now," Lily said, flipping to a page in Book of Potions. "Wow, it's complicated. And yes, Remus, I would totally understand!"

They set off for the potions cupboard for the ingredients.

"No, that's Pungous Onions not Fungus Bunions," Remus said. "And how do you know?"

"Give me the snake fangs," she said and he passed them over. "Oh we need to crush them! Can you do it? And you are my friend Remus, of course I would understand."

Remus began crushing the fangs with the flat side of a knife and winced at the 'F word'. "Lily…"

"Remus."

"Fine. I've got … a circumstance that makes it kind of bad for me to make friends," Remus said lamely.

Lily looked unperturbed. "Does it directly stop you from making friends?"

"Well, no…"

Rolling her eyes, Lily sliced the foul-smelling onions with vigour and tossed them in. "Heat the cauldron, will you? Plus, now I know that you're just being a bit of a stupid idiot, you can stop Sirius pining after you again. It's getting really annoying, I have to partner with him every time we have a practical Charms lesson, you know? Flitwick probably thinks I can assert some control on him."

But only one thing registered. "Sirius has been pining after me?"

"Oh yeah, loads," Lily said, annoyed. "He really wants to be your friend and you've ignored for him for weeks now, the least you can do is start talking to him again now that we've decided you can still make friends. I have to sit next to him in Charms, you know, and do all the partner tasks with him, though he does no work done while all he's doing is staring at you…"

Remus blushed.

"… Oh, here Potter comes…"

Indeed James arrived, smiling. "Do you think I could have a word with you, Lupin?"

"He – is – doing – his – work!" Lily hissed back.

"It's serious," James says under his breath, and then he chuckled like he just made a joke. "No, but, honestly, it's really important."

"Oh, fine," Remus said and Lily shot him a scandalised look. He shrugged apologetically.

James and Remus moved to a quieter corner and James began saying, "So about Sirius…"

"Oh, I know. I'll be friendlier with Sirius, and everything," Remus said quickly. "Or at the very least I'll clear things up with him."

"I – huh? What? Oh, OK. If you already know, that's great," James said and turned to go back to his table with the person they were talking about. At the least minute, he hesitated and swivelled around and said, "You know, Sirius has actually been really down. Just … hurry up and do it, OK?"

Now it was Remus's turn to be flustered. "I – What? Oh … I'm – oh…"

At the end of the lesson, it was Lily who had done the most work, and who had successfully brewed all three in the time limit. Indeed, three cauldrons, one boiling, one pink and one

"My, my!" Professor Slughorn bellowed near the end of the lesson. "My dear, Lily … I thought not even you! … oh, of course, Remus, you helped too? … well, I did promise a reward."

And with jealous eyes watching him, the large Professor went to his desk and from its drawers brandished a small, but very decorative, golden chest with swirls and patterns inscribed and gave an impression of intrigue and beauty. He also took out a smaller, wooden chest that looked decidedly less beautiful and looked close to breaking.

"Here, it's a potion-making kit! Lots of different little concoctions inside … nothing illegal … I'm sure you can all use it safely ... that wooden one is slightly empty ... I might have lost a few, or all, of the potions inside ... but it is a box where you can put some potions if you ever make any and decide to keep it!" Professor Slughorn said as he passed the golden box to Lily and the wooden one to Remus. Slightly resentful but thinking that it was very fair as Lily had done most of the work, he went to reach for his favourite quill to put in his bag when he remembered he had lost it.

To his surprise, Sirius approached him while he was packing up. Faux-casually, Sirius traced his finger around the table before saying, "You look sorta sad. Was it because of that grimy box Slughorn gave you?"

Remus laughed. "No, I just lost my favourite quill in Defence … it's nothing, really."

But Sirius seemed to think it was much more than nothing. Quickly telling Remus to stay where he was, Sirius rushed out the door to where James was in the hallway and had a hasty, fierce argument with James in which James passed something to Sirius at the end of it. Breathless, Sirius ran back to where Remus was standing, bewildered, as the former boy gave the latter his favourite quill back.

"James took it," Sirius panted, "for a laugh, you know. But … you seem really down about it. So I got it back."

And Remus's heart warmed up considerably and felt completely at ease as he walked out the door to the classroom, laughing and talking with Sirius like they had been friends forever, not wondering for a single moment how in the world James had gotten the quill in the first place.