Dropping down beside Sirius in the Great Hall for breakfast the morning of their fifth day, James dumped his bag on the bench between them.

"Tell me, what is the point of having such a heavy load all day? Do they want to give us back problems later in life?" He complained by way of greeting as he rubbed his shoulders, the distance from Gryffindor Tower to the Great Hall already enough to make them burn.

"Good morning to you as well," Sirius' greeting made James blink surprised as the other looked even paler than usual and fairly tired.

"Sorry, morning. Are you feeling all right?"

"I did not get much sleep last night, no worries about it. Would you like some help with your bag?"

"How?"

"A Feather-Light Charm. I looked it up and so far it works really well. I already applied it to Remus and Peter's bags as they complained about the same thing, but couldn't find yours."

"Is that what you were up to yesterday? I hadn't seen you since before dinner."

"Kind of. I wanted to get a bit of fresh air but forgot the time. It was fairly easy to sneak back to the dorm despite it being far after curfew, though. For all their threats about it, patrolling teachers are pathetically easy to avoid."

"I didn't hear you return tonight," James admitted.

"Not surprising, Peter's snoring truly is loud. But I was extra quiet while sneaking back in to not wake you," holding up his wand, Sirius raised a questioning eyebrow and James happily held up his bag, sighing in relief as the bag was suddenly weightless moments later.

"Thank you, it hadn't occurred to me to use something like that."

"I noticed none of the older students are dragging their bags around despite having more classes and asked around. If you would like, I could teach you?" Sirius' gaze shifted past him for a moment before he stirred four spoonfuls of sugar into the bowl of porridge he had just poured.

"I thought you weren't too fond of sweets?" James watched the other confused.

It was one of the two things he had learned early on; Sirius didn't have much of a sweet tooth compared to the rest of them and he wasn't very used to touch. It was why he had dropped his bag between them, as a reminder to keep some personal space between them instead of constantly causing the other to tense by brushing against him.

"I am not, it is not for me. You are right on time."

James looked up to see Remus approach and he smiled as the other sat down across of them.

"Welcome back, how is your mother?" His smile faded as he got a good look at the other's face and realised he was as pale as Sirius and looked even more tired. Not to mention that he was clearly favouring a leg and looking around the Great Hall nervously. "Are you all right?"

"Yes," Remus responded with a tight smile, managing to look both ready to fall asleep at any moment and tense at the same time. "She is doing a little better. It was kind of Professor Dumbledore to allow me to visit her."

"It was, what happened to your leg? You weren't limping yesterday."

"I- I twisted it when I slipped down the stairs upon returning here. Madam Pomfrey already checked it and said it would be fine within a few days."

Humming in sympathy, James caught Sirius relax from the corner of his eyes, suddenly realising the other had been fairly tense. But all trace of it was gone as he leaned forward to place the bowl of sweetened porridge before Remus.

"You need to eat well or you will get sick yourself. And please be more careful next time."

"I couldn't possibly... thank you," James could barely stifle a laugh as Remus dutifully tucked into the porridge at Sirius' raised eyebrow.

"He's got you drilled rather well already, hasn't he?"

"Shush and eat your toast," Sirius commanded playfully and James threw him a lazy salute.

"Yes, boss," humming he took up his own meal, meeting Remus' amused eyes as the other snorted.

"Good lad," Sirius patted his head like he was an infant before lifting James' bag up and dumping it on the ground with the other bags.

Meeting his dark-haired friend's eyes surprised, James flushed as the other rolled his eyes knowingly, clearly aware why he had put it there but having none of it even if it did make him a little uncomfortable.

"That reminds me, what did you guys do to my bag?" Remus seemed unaware of their silent conversation, still looking a little distracted as he ate his porridge.

"I put a Feather-Light Charm on it this morning. Did the same for Peter and would have done so for James if I could have found it. You were saying it was so heavy and I finally got the spell down so figured I would apply it already."

"Ah, I left it in the Common Room last night," James smiled sheepishly.

"But that is a second year charm, how..."

"I refuse to spend years carrying a heavy bag so I looked it up once I knew the spell and learned it," Sirius shrugged like it was no big deal. "I figured you guys would probably like to make use of it as well."

"I do, thank you. But it is fairly advanced magic, how did you manage to learn it without guidance?" Remus cocked his head curiously.

"It was not that difficult; I doubt it would give you any difficulties if you would like to learn it, too."

"I'd love to, but I think you have too much faith in my abilities. Unlike the two of you, I haven't even gotten the Levitation Charm down properly yet," Remus admitted.

"If you would like us to, we could help you practice?" Sirius offered and James nodded in agreement.

"Peter already asked for my help so maybe we can hold a weekly study time where we practice together."

"Won't that slow you both down instead? I mean, you both pick up things much more easily than we do and that will still take a lot of your time," Remus' expression was a perfect mix between hopefulness and worry and for a moment James thought about teasing him a little, but Sirius took the option away by shaking his head and reassuring him immediately.

"Although I cannot speak for James, I do not think the lessons will keep me very occupied by what I have seen so far. They are rather boring so helping you study will be a welcome challenge."

"I agree, the lessons seem rather easy," James agreed as he thought back to what they'd learned so far, most of which he would be capable of doing in his sleep. "We could set up a regular time to study together? When would be smart?"

"I think either after or just before dinner might be smartest. We could either go to the library or our dorm, depending on what we are studying at the time," Sirius mused. "Or if it are spells that might inflict damage, we could find ourselves an unused classroom to ensure our possessions remain unharmed."

"That might not be such a bad idea," James ran a hand through his hair. "Not only would it keep our possessions safe, but it would also keep any burnt or otherwise unpleasant smells out of our sleeping space."

"You truly don't mind helping out?"

"No," James and Sirius smiled in unison and Remus slumped relieved in his seat relieved.

"Thank you, both of you."

"Don't thank us yet, you do not know if we will be of any help yet," Sirius glanced around. "Has either of you seen Peter already this morning?"

"He rolled out of bed when I left the dorm," James sighed, feeling slightly guilty that he had left the dorm without their last classmate. "You were already gone and I couldn't be bothered to wait even longer."

"I think it's pretty much a bother to wait for each other for breakfast as we're not all awake at the same time," Remus said. "I've noticed that Sirius is usually up much earlier than we are and it wouldn't be fair to make him wait until we roll out of bed."

"I do not mind waiting," Sirius shrugged. "It is much nicer to all eat together when we can, though it might not always be practical in the weekend."

"We could always just meet up for lunch and dinner then. But you are right; I've noticed that Peter seems to have severe difficulties getting out of bed," Remus picked up the banana Sirius slid towards him after he finished his porridge.

"Maybe we ought to make a routine to wake him up in time and prevent him from costing all of us points for nothing?" Sirius suggested as he picked up a pear and apple and slid them into his bag, Remus following his example even as an apple was held out to James himself.

"Thanks, an alarm clock doesn't really work; he sleeps right through it."

"His snoring is louder than any alarm you might set out non-magically," Sirius snorted. "Here, take this as well."

He pulled out a bar of hazelnut chocolate from his bag and slid it over the table to Remus.

"I couldn't..."

"Where'd you get the chocolate from? The little shop here at Hogwarts doesn't open until our second week, doesn't it?" James asked confused.

"I sent an order to Honeydukes early this morning, but despite their utterly amazing reaction time, they sent back the wrong bars. I was going to throw them away, but then I remembered you mentioned that you love hazelnut chocolate so I thought I would donate them to you instead."

"You shouldn't..." Remus trailed off as Sirius pushed the bar into his hands.

"Just take it and make sure you eat some of that, might even make you feel better," Sirius ordered as he clearly saw just as well as James how pale and tired Remus looked.

"I...thank you," accepting the bar with a nod, Remus broke a piece off and slid the rest into his bag. "You have a good memory though; didn't I tell you that at the welcoming feast?"

"I just pay attention," Sirius smiled.

"I have to admit that I didn't remember, though I do remember that you like milk chocolate the most," James grinned, relieved to see that some colour returned to Remus' complexion as he ate the chocolate.

"Same as you," Sirius answered his grin readily.

"Did you at least get new bars? It's not like Honeydukes to make such an error," James blinked as Sirius' twitched for a moment before smiling disarmingly.

"They did and told me I could keep the wrong ones. Why do you not have one as well?" Sirius pulled another bar from his bag and handed it over.

Something about what Sirius said was odd, but accepting the milk chocolate bar with a thankful smile, James decided to let it slip.

Almost a week in his new friend's presence had already taught him that the other rarely did anything unthinkingly and clearly knew what he was doing.

"Thank you."

"Any time," Sirius smiled. "It would be a shame to let them go to waste, after all."

"We wouldn't want that," Remus hummed, making them both laugh as his sweet tooth was already well known.

"Hey, can I ask you two a question?" Remus' serious expression sobered them both up immediately.

"Of course," James immediately nodded.

"Has either of you ever heard of a Vow of Silence?"

"That's rather old fashioned," James frowned. "Where did you come across that?"

"It was written in a book and I wondered what it meant. Is it a different name for an Unbreakable Vow?"

"Not quite," James hesitated, unsure of how to explain it.

"It is a vow of promised silence," Sirius spoke up. "Comparable with a Tongue-Tying Curse. The one taking the Vow cannot speak of what has been promised not to talk about until the one it was cast for gives permission to do so."

"What will happen if they do anyway?" Remus asked.

"That's the whole point, they can't," James said. "It's impossible to speak of it until permission is given. They can talk about the subject in general, but not give it away."

"And it is unbreakable?" Remus was tense as Sirius nodded.

"At least until the one it was cast for gives permission to the Vow taker to speak about it."

"Right, that's...that is good, right?" Remus swallowed.

"I believe so," Sirius nodded.

"Where did you come across it? Because that is a very old spell and rarely used any more as the Tongue-Tying Curse is much easier to cast."

"Just a book I was reading in," Remus smiled and suddenly the tenseness James had noticed in him before vaporised, making him blink.

"Why..."

"So, how do you think we should wake Peter up in time for breakfast tomorrow?" Sirius changed the subject and although James frowned, he went along with it as Remus eagerly took it.

"We could use cannon fire to wake him up," Remus suggested, flushing as both James and Sirius looked at him confused. "I mean...maybe a little over the top?"

"What is cannon fire?" James was relieved Sirius asked the question he hadn't wanted to ask, especially as Remus blinked surprised.

"Oh, it's...eh...Muggles have this big black thing that they put large round balls in and makes a lot of noise when it's shot."

"A big black thing?" James couldn't help but ask, feeling slightly guilty as Remus looked unsure of how to explain the Muggle object.

"Yeah...it's eh...kind of an engine. A big hollow pipe on wheels that you can put an iron or steel round ball in; a cannon ball, and there's something that allows them to fire it; which causes the cannonball to shoot away with lots of speed and explode upon hitting a target," Remus tried to explain, even going as far as to draw a rough and rather pathetic sketch on a napkin with his quill.

"So basically it's a killing machine?"

"That's pretty much true," Remus admitted. "People invented and used them a lot in wartime and on ships, sailors used to have several of them on board to protect themselves against pirates."

"Pirates?"

"Lawless scoundrels, who sail the seas, rob other ships blind and take their bounty. Many are accompanied by talking parrots and swords," Remus flushed as Sirius looked at him intently, interest clearly piqued by the idea of them.

"Are there a lot of pirates in the Muggle world?"

"They were mostly around in the Middle Ages, I'm not sure if they still exist now."

"How did you recognise one?" James spoke up curiously as he shared Sirius' interest.

"Well, they usually wore certain kind of clothes; a bandanna or large hat and talked weirdly. And their ship would have a special flag; completely black with a skeleton head and two crossed bones below it," Remus scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. "It was supposed to bring fear to those crossing their path."

Something akin to recognition flashed through Sirius' eyes as he pulled the abused napkin towards him, taking Remus' quill to quickly sketch a skull with two bones crossing below it on the back of it.

"That's the flag I mean, how do you know it?" Remus asked surprised, though James was more amazed by how detailed and well done the sketch was.

"From my bedroom window I could just see a small playground down the street; children would sometimes play there while carrying such a flag around. I never figured out what it meant, though."

"The pirate flag is well known in the Muggle world and most children use one in their plays at some time," Remus said. "I played with one sometimes as well when my neighbourhood kids played outside. Your flag is greatly detailed by the way, where did you learn how to draw?"

"I didn't, I just have a good memory."

"Well, it's really good, do you draw often?" James smiled, deciding to give his friend some praise as he had the feeling he didn't get it very often.

"Occasionally when I am bored. It is a nice way to pass the time," Sirius looked uncomfortable, clearly not thinking very highly of his own ability and it made James sad to see his friend think so poorly of himself.

Luckily it was something he could work on. Sirius might have the natural ability to put people at ease as all of the tension in Remus had faded now, James had always prided himself in his abilities and wasn't afraid to show others what they were capable of as well.

"If you would be interested, I could ask my parents to send Treasure Island to me. It is one of the greatest Pirates books out there and would explain them properly," Remus seemed to sense their praise was making Sirius uncomfortable and changed the subject this time.

"If it would not be too much trouble, I would like that," Sirius nodded, happily taking the out for what it was. "From what you are saying, they sound interesting but dangerous. Although I think cannon fire might be a bit loud to our other house-mates if it is as loud as I think it is."

"It is that loud," Remus chuckled.

"We could slam two drum plates together," James suggested, laughing as they both looked at him incredulously. "Or blow a horn beside his ear?"

"We could test several things until we find something that works," Sirius offered and Remus nodded in agreement. "And perhaps find earplugs for ourselves while we are at it."

"Probably a wise idea. But for now we should probably go see what is keeping him as classes start in an hour and he hasn't eaten yet," Remus laughed.

"He might have fallen back asleep without you there to drag him out of bed," Sirius teased as they rose in unison to go check on their dorm mate.