Third Year - Part One

Remus sat on his four poster bed, his back against the head board as he tried desperately to finish the last two scrolls of his Charms essay. Usually such an assignment would only take him an hour at most but he was currently distracted examining his three friend's behaviors.

All day his dorm mates had been acting oddly, each one swearing to him that nothing was wrong. It was obvious to Remus that they were lying, but he had yet to figure out what was going on inside their heads. Initially he thought it was just the regular anxious expressions they put on before a secret prank they had planned was about to happen. It wouldn't have been the first time they hadn't told Remus about it. But now that their classes had passed and night was coming up shortly, Remus was less convinced.

It's definitely something though, he thought as he stole quick glances at his friends.

Peter, like Remus, sat on his bed flipping much too quickly through a Quiddich magazine to actually be reading it. During their classes that morning, it seemed as if Peter was extra jumpy and trying hard to avert his eyes from ever meeting Remus'. When Remus had enough of his awkward squirming, he demanded to know what they were up to. Peter had instantly stood up out of his chair, fumbling with his books to rush out of the room while stuttering about how he'd promised not to say anything. Remus had been about to press the boy for more information, knowing that Peter was always the easiest to break, but couldn't catch him before he had bolted for the door.

Sighing with puzzlement, Remus re-adjusted his legs on the bed in order to take a closer look at James. If Peter had been odd, James had been even more so. The tall boy kept giving Remus encouraging pats on the back at random times all afternoon. Once, while Remus was brewing a potion and twice when he was eating in the dining hall. Every unnecessary pat was accompanied by excessive praise.

There you go Remus, eat up.

Merlin you brewed that potion perfectly.

It was as if James thought Remus needed a boost of self esteem just to finish his meal. Had Remus not been so boggled by the sudden change in James' behavior, he might have found it insulting.

On top of it all, James hadn't stopped talking until they had retreated into their dorm. While Sirius and Peter had been bent on limiting their conversations with him all day, James decided it was imperative that he fill every uncomfortable moment with useless chatter. Remus swore that he'd even started talking about flowers at one point.

Looking at him now, Remus could see the young boy fidgeting endlessly in his bed while occasionally looking at his night stand clock.

What are they waiting for?

Remus turned his head slightly to eye Sirius just to the right of him. Sirius' behavior had been by far the most disturbing. He had barely uttered two words all day and yet Remus had caught him numerous times just staring blankly at him. It was unnerving.

He glanced at his own clock, itching to be altogether done with the distracting bunch. Remus never thought he'd be grateful to leave for the Shrieking Shack, but he didn't think he could handle Peter's avoidance or Sirius' stare any longer. The full moon was tonight and he'd already told the three that he'd be visiting his mom for a few days. Like most of the other times Remus made up similar excuses, they took his explanation in stride, not asking any questions and simply nodding their heads in understanding. Remus did notice however, that Sirius' short words of reply were coldly delivered. He was slightly angered by Remus' statement, but since Siruis tended to get angry over just about everything, Remus quickly shrugged it off as irrelevant.

He gave a yawn and stretched his arms before removing his unfinished essay and quill to the nightstand. He figured he could head down a few minutes earlier to Madame Pomfrey in order to escape his current company. As he stood up, he watched as he triggered a chain reaction in his friends. Sirius, James, and Peter all jumped up out of their beds at the same time, standing to look at him. Remus cocked his head, wondering if maybe this was the precise time they'd planned to jinx him.

A little late for games, but you never can assume with these three.

"Everything alright?" Remus asked, cocking one eyebrow up at the three of them.

None of them reacted, each one standing perfectly frozen as if Remus' words and movement had stunned them into silence. He crinkled his brow, eyeing each one carefully.

"For Merlin sake, what are you three planning already?" Remus said as he threw his hands to his hips. "I'm actually starting to worry now."

"Are you leaving?" Sirius blurted out suddenly, taking a bold step forward. Remus sighed in frustration, finally giving up trying to get an answer out of them.

"Yes, Sirius. I'm leaving."

He turned around to grab a few pairs of clothing from his trunk. If they weren't going to tell him what was going on, he was determined to leave as quickly as possibly.

"To your mum's?" Peter squeaked, suddenly finding his voice.

"Yes." Remus said again, grabbing his wand and shoving it into his pocket. He quickly placed his folded clothes into a rucksack and began moving towards the door. "I'd love to find out what you lot are planning to sabotage me with, but I really have –"

His words were cut off as Sirius stepped out in front of his path, blocking his way to the door.

"What are you-"

"Stop lying." Sirius said coldly. His eyes bore into him as Remus felt his curiosity fold from underneath him.

Silence engulfed the room as Remus tried to comprehend exactly what Sirius was saying. Perhaps their behavior hadn't involved anything as innocent as he had originally thought.

Perhaps they'd found out, he panicked.

He took a tentative step back from his looming friend and glanced towards Peter and James.

"Remus, we've been…researching." James started, taking a few steps forward. "And we think we may have found an answer to where you go every month."

Every month. They've noticed it's every month?

Remus could feel his heart beginning to slow, coldness running through his veins. He was starting to sweat with a sudden rush of anxiety. He silently begged that this was some sort of misunderstanding, that James hadn't actually found out what Remus thought he did.

"I don't leave every month mates." Remus tried, but his voice was betraying him. It shook with nervousness and Remus had begun moving back, foolishly allowing himself to be literally cornered.

"Every full moon you do, Remus." Peter quickly added. His words sent a cold chill down Remus' back.

They know. Oh Merlin, they know!

He was sure his heart had completely stopped and his vision began to blur. All his hard work, all his 'friends', everything was ruined. They were going to tell everyone if they didn't plan on killing him right here first.

"I don't-" He tried desperately to breathe out. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You're a werewolf." Sirius said blankly.

Remus couldn't catch his breath. As he looked at each of them, he realized that all day he'd been misinterpreting their expressions. Peter wasn't avoiding him because he was scared he'd let something slip, he was scared of him. And James had been fidgeting for the same reason. They were petrified of him, of the monster they've been living with for the past three years right under their noses. Sirius had been staring because of hatred. His eyes had been full of loathing and resentment. Resentment that Remus had lied about what he was, disguising himself as his friend.

No, no, no! How did I not see this?

Remus threw a hand to his chest, gasping for air. He watched as the three boys started moving closer, their dark shadows casting out any light on his form.

"That's why you have the scars isn't it?" Sirius' voice boomed.

Remus looked up pleadingly, begging him to stop talking. He watched horrified as Sirius held up his wand. A short incantation later and Remus felt the fibers of his shirt rip, pieces of it falling to the floor around him. Remus threw his arms across himself, trying hard to hide the raw cuts that covered his frame. The three boys stared at him with menace in their eyes as the room continued to grow darker and colder.

"I can't believe it…" Peter muttered, staring at him.

"You never said…" James continued.

Sirius only stared and Remus felt himself close his eyes, trying hard to pretend that he was somewhere else entirely. He waited with fear for the attack or harsh words they would inevitably begin to say, holding himself. He was no match against three.

He heard himself scream as a body rushed into him, knocking him down to the floor. He struggled to escape their grasp, but the weight on top of him increased as the other two pounced as well.

"Oh Merlin!" he shouted, feeling as though those might be his last words. He began running off in his head all the things he never had a chance to do, all the things he had wanted to be, and all the times he should've told his parents that he loved them. Now he'd never have the chance.

Strong hands pinned him as he continued to fight off what he could. Their ruthless grips were no match for his scrawny muscles and their laughter rang through his ears like torture. They-

Remus stopped moving suddenly.

Laughter?

He opened his eyes to meet with three smiling boys, all toppled over him, grappling not only Remus, but each other as well.

They weren't attacking him. They were wrestling. And laughing…

He heard Peter giggling somewhere near him.

"I can't believe I'm friends with a werewolf!"

"All this time I thought you were a big dork and little did I know how cool you really were." James smiled, ruffling up Remus' hair while elbowing Sirius in the gut.

"I don't know how I could piss my parents off anymore." Sirius chimed in, beaming like an idiot as he began choke holding James back.

Remus, unmoving and completely shocked, stared up at them. Although they had tackled him, his lack of playfulness had them preoccupied wrestling eachother, using him purely as their battle field instead. None of them seemed to notice Remus' still body underneath them and his state of utter confusion.

There were so many reasons Remus should have stopped them and forced them to talk to him instead of acting like children. For one thing, being a werewolf was not cool, it was a serious and horrible disease he suffered every month. For another, he needed to be absolutely sure they weren't going to tell anyone, because now that they held his darkest secret in their hands, they could ultimately ruin his life.

But surprisingly, Remus did nothing but lye there and watch them. Instead of his mind racing to the important and responsible things he needed to do, he could only focus on the one thing that nearly made him stop breathing again.

They know what I am and they're still here.

XxxxX

Remus quickly smacked Sirius' hand away from the boiling hot potion brewing in their cauldron. Being the partner of such an energetic person usually resulted in playing the parental supervisor. Sirius grinned back at him as he retreated his hand and Remus couldn't help but smile back.

Sirius knew this potion like the back of his hand, but instead of trying to impress Slughorn like so many other students were trying to do, he was focused on baiting Remus. Apparently, Sirius found Potions class much more amusing when he teased Remus with trying to add in wrong ingredients or stir a brew the opposite direction. Every time Remus caught him trying to sabotage their project, he'd rightly scowl and roll his eyes. It was mostly just a bluff so that he wouldn't break out in laugher instead. If he encouraged Sirius' behavior, something was bound to blow up.

He'd just finished elbowing Sirius for the second time behind him when Remus heard a girlish laugh from the opposite side of the room. He looked up to see Lily and Severus smiling over their own cauldron. Caught temporally distracted staring at the two of them, Sirius managed to snake a hand around him, throwing in what looked like an unpeeled shrivelfig into the liquid. Remus was forced out of his gaze to the pops and fizzles of their failing Shrinking Solution. He stepped back quickly as he watched the liquid turn into a black tar-like substance.

"Sirius!" Remus whispered harshly at him. Sirius barked a laugh and ducked as Remus reached out to take a playful swing at him. "Now we have to start all over, Merlin."

"We still have a half hour, please." Sirius replied smugly, taking a seat down and waving his wand to empty out their cauldron.

"Fine, then you can stir for the first ten minutes this time." Remus said, as he sat down and began skinning another shrivelfig. As Sirius busied himself re-starting the project, Remus found himself looking up across the room again.

He never agreed with Lily hanging out with Snape once he found out that Severus had befriended some very dodgy blood purists, but any negative remarks Remus attempted to voice to her were quickly and angrily shot down. Lily Evans hadn't many push buttons, but Remus caught on early that there were two things she absolutely would go spare over. One was when Remus defended James' behavior and another whenever he said a bad word against Severus. Remus knew she was infatuated with the Slytherin, but he also couldn't help worrying about whether that was good or not. He had a hard time seeing what Lily loved so much about Snape. The boy wasn't exactly a charmer.

Looking at them now, as Severus allowed his hand to linger on hers when passing ingredients, Remus contemplated if he'd been wrong to judge him so quickly. It was apparent they were both enamored with each other, whether they admitted it yet or not. They're exchange of blushing glances gave that away easily enough. If Severus always looked at Lily the way he was looking at her now, Remus was sure he wouldn't have a problem with their destined relationship.

As Lily laughed again, presumably over some inside joke Severus was whispering to her, Remus found a smile playing on his own face from her happiness. He supposed Severus couldn't really be that bad if he had fallen in love with Lily.

"Are you even listening to me?" Sirius' voice interrupted him. Remus quickly looked over to see his friend glaring angrily back at him.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about something…" he mumbled before grabbing the ladle inside the cauldron.

"You mean thinking about Lily Evans." Sirius spat back, grabbing for the half peeled shrivelfig in front of Remus and throwing his own knife into it. His face seemed to redden in anger as he struggled to peel it's skin away.

"We're just friends, Sirius." Remus sighed, wishing he could explain himself better. He should've known that whenever it came to Lily, Remus' actions would always be misinterpreted.

"Is that why you were staring at her for the last ten minutes? Cause you're friends?" Sirius ranted on, refusing to look at him while continuing to fight with his shrivelfig.

"Why are you so angry?" Remus asked.

"Forget it, you're as bad as James." He muttered back.

Remus was about to insist on an explanation when he heard a scream echo through-out the room. The entire class turned with him as he saw Lily lying on the floor, her hands covering her face. Above her stood an older Slytherin boy that Remus knew only as Lucius. His cauldron had tipped over, spilling it's boiling contents directly onto Lily, who'd been standing in front of him. Remus gasped in horror, jumping up to try and make his way across the room as several other students began surrounding her.

"Oops. Sorry mud-blood." Remus heard the boy say to her, staring down with cruel eyes.

Remus pushed through the small circle and knelt by Lily's side, trying to coax her to remove her hands. She only turned away from him, whimpering quietly. He looked up to see the blonde haired boy grinning from his deed and Remus finally realized that this hadn't been an accident. Severus, he noticed, was still standing, glaring at Lucius. For a moment, Remus thought Severus was going to physically attack him, his face red with anger, but Lucius eyed him back and took a step towards him.

"Got a problem Snape?" he said coolly. Remus could see the hatred in Snape's eyes as he stared back, his left hand clutching his wand so hard that his knuckles were turning white.

"No." Snape said through gritted teeth.

Remus' face fell to disbelief and he felt Lily's body turn ridged at the response. He was about to interject, not sure who he was angrier with, when he felt a nudge from behind. James had run through the circle, tripping over his robes and pushing Remus out of the way to position himself next to Lily's side instead.

"Evans! Let me heal it, I can heal it!" He said clumsily, trying to force her hands away from her face. Lily shoved him as hard as she could while still hiding herself.

"Don't touch me!" she yelled through her fingers, trying hard to now stand up by herself.

"Mr. Potter, please leave Ms. Evans alone." Professor Slughorn said as he approached the situation. Several students parted to let him through. Guiding James aside, he gently took ahold of Lily's shoulder, lifting her up. "Ms. Evans you'll have to remove your hands so that I can see the damage."

Reluctantly, Lily dropped her arms to her sides. Several gasps were heard through the room as her scalded face was revealed. The entire right side was bright red and some parts along her forehead looked as if the skin had already started to blister. Her eyes were glistened over but she continued to hold her head high.

Remus knew she'd die before she'd let the boy who did this to her see her cry.

"Oh dear..." Professor Slughorn mumbled, eyeing her face. "I believe you'd do best to head to the infirmary right away. Mr. Snape can escort you there."

"No." Lily said shortly, staring at Severus straight in front of her. "I'll go by myself."

"Very well." Professor Slughorn said as Lily began making her way out of the room. Remus watched as Severus stared after her, not saying a word. "Everyone, please return to your seats."

As Remus stood looking at Severus' cowardly form he took back his initial thoughts on the boy. Infatuated or not, there were still plenty of reasons to doubt Severus Snape's intentions.

Later that evening, as the four boys sat eating dinner, Remus couldn't stop staring at a sulking Lily. She had returned several classes later in the day, completely healed and not at all in the mood to chat with him. Her normal cheery demeanor was replaced with a sadness Remus had never seen in her before. It was disturbing to observe and he wished more then anything that he could shake her out of it.

She was only several seats down from him in the Great Hall and he watched as she played mindlessly with her favorite meal, not having taken one bite from it since the start of dinner. He frowned as her eyes continued to dart over to the Slytherin table where Severus sat with the very same boy who had scalded her in Potions.

Next to him, James and Sirius were talking animatedly about trying out for the Quiddich team. Every time James declared his flying already surpassed several of the upper classman, Sirius made sure to take a jab at his ego, which ended with bits of food zooming between them. It wasn't until a chunk of mashed potatoes hit Remus in his left ear that he finally turned from Lily's depressive state and noticed the mess his friends had made on the table.

"Quit staring at her!" Sirius scowled, his face full of annoyance. Remus blushed slightly to having been caught again. It wasn't worth the effort to try and explain that it wasn't what Sirius was assuming.

"Staring at who?" James asked, dropping the small amount of food he was about to throw at Peter.

"Remus here can't seem to keep his eyes off of our red-haired nemesis today." Sirius answered for him. Remus quickly buried himself in his food, ignoring James' shocked face.

"Lily?" He asked, turning his head to examine Remus. "Why would you be looking at Lily?" Remus noticed a small amount of possessiveness in his voice. That, and the fact that he was suddenly calling her by her first name.

"I'm worried is all," Remus tried to explain. "Her face nearly got burnt off this morning for Merlin sake."

Sirius huffed in disapproval, shoveling a few spoonfuls of potato into his mouth before responding. When he did, Remus could barely understand his harsh words between all the half chewed food still in his mouth.

But whatever lecture Sirius had begun spewing out about Lily Evans was completely ignore by Remus as his attention focused back on the very girl they were debating. To Remus' horror, Lily was now slowly starting to make her way up to the Slytherin table.

"Oh no," Remus breathed out, watching her take bold steps up to Severus. She hesitated only a mere second before greeting him. Remus could see Snape's face contort into shock as several of the other boys surrounding him stared back up at her with smug superiority. Remus didn't have to hear what words were being exchanged to realize that the boys were going to shamelessly taunt her and that Snape was going to sit by and do nothing once again.

Sure that he couldn't watch it for a second time that day, Remus began standing up to rescue her from her own stupidity.

"Oi! I'm not finished talking!" He heard Sirius shout as the three boys watched him run over to the other side of the dining hall. He knew that this would not help his case for later arguments over Lily's friendship with him, but he also knew he'd regret it more if he didn't help her.

" I was just wondering if you'd like to meet in the library later to study, Sev." Remus heard Lily's voice say as he began getting closer. She was ignoring the cold eyes of the others and looking only at the black-haired boy.

"I –uh.." Severus began.

"What he means is that he wouldn't be caught dead with a filthy bint like yourself." Said a small brown haired boy to the right of Severus.

Remus reached out a hand, grabbing onto Lily's arm as he finally approached.

"Come on Lily, it's not worth it." He calmly whispered in her ear, turning himself away from the Slytherins so that they couldn't hear.

"No," Lily said defiantly, ripping her arm away from him. "I want to hear Severus' answer."

Remus moaned in agony. She was impossibly stubborn. He turned to see Severus gaping blankly back at her, unable to form any words for himself.

"Well?" Lily asked, unrelenting in her gaze. When Severus still refused to answer her, the rest of the boys began laughing.

"I think that's your answer mud-blood." Said one between crackles.

"Stupid bird." Muttered another.

Remus felt himself boil. There wasn't a lot that could get Remus in a rage, but this had to be one of them. He grabbed Lily's arms once again, now more determined to force her to leave.

"Those pure blood genes didn't seem to help you much in Transfigurations today Avery." He heard himself say at the small brown haired boy. "And I'd be surprised if any of you inbred prats could out perform Lily in any of our classes."

The light laughter died almost instantly as the dumbfounded group stared up at Remus in surprise. Feeling he was ahead in the game of insults, he quickly nudged Lily away for a quick escape before the group decided to stop with words and begin using their wands instead. He heard himself sigh with relief when he realized that Lily was allowing him to lead her out the door and that Severus' friends weren't intent on following them. Once they were safely in the hallway, Remus let her arm go.

"Lily, have you gone completely mad?" Remus started, ready to begin a long lecture on why someone born of muggles shouldn't walk into a group of blood purists.

But before he even had a chance to start his second sentence Lily turned on him and tightly wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face into his chest. Remus froze in surprise as he began feeling a wetness soak through his robes.

"I hate him." he heard her mumble through sobs.

Remus stood bug-eyed for several moments not sure of what to do. He hadn't much experience in consoling people. Actually, he didn't have any experience. He looked around the hallway awkwardly, wary that no one would see them. All he needed was for someone to report back to Sirius that he had hugged Lily Evans.

Convinced there was nobody around to see, he relented and gently let his own arms fold around her.

What are friends for, he thought, sighing slightly while tightening his embrace.

XxxxX

Sirius was stretched across his bed, lying on his stomach and grunting in frustration. In front of him, spread out on his duvet, were several homework assignments he should have finished over a week ago. Due to his knack for procrastination however, he had waited until tonight to even glance at them. His mind was trailing everywhere except on 'the uses of trans-species transformations' and even the looming threat of Professor McGonagall scolding him in the morning did nothing to help him focus on his task.

Remus Lupin was his problem. He could not help but glance over at the other boy, who was laying down in his own bed, staring up at the ceiling. Although Sirius felt the two of them had grown much closer since discussing Remus' lycanthropy, he couldn't help but notice how much he still didn't know about Remus. Unlike his other two friends, Remus was completely unpredictable. James and Peter, in a very loose sense, were normal. When they were happy, they smiled, when they were sad, they acted like complete cry-babies. It was all cohesive with the natural emotions of a fourteen year old boy. But Remus never allowed himself to be so forthcoming. When Remus was happy, sometimes he'd shoot a smile, but more often than not he'd hide it for whatever reason. And when Remus was sad or upset over something, he'd pretend as if he was happy. Sirius could not even fathom the logic behind it. Even when the boy was angry, he'd speak in the most calming tone known to wizards. It was maddening.

Aside from his guarded personality, Remus also had an all-knowing aura about him. With a soft amused smile and a twitch of his eyebrow, he could read your every thought and discover your deepest secrets. Or at least, that's how it seemed to Sirius anyway. Even now, Sirius squirmed uneasy on his bed thinking of all the times Remus had locked eyes with him and proceeded to cause that exact feeling. Remus' sixth sense made it impossible to keep any secrets from him and sometimes made Sirius wonder if Remus knew more about himself than he did. It didn't really seem fair that Remus was blessed with the ability to read other peoples minds, yet kept his own under lock and key.

He was an ambiguous, godlike puzzle that Sirius desperately wanted to crack open.

It was frustrating and annoying, but mostly just immensely intriguing. Sirius had never found any one individual so interesting to him, which was why he was now boring holes into the side of Remus' head, trying to figure out what was going on between Lily Evans and him.

Remus had been acting as though he fancied Evans and he certainly had denied that he fancied her, which usually meant that he did, but Sirius was unsatisfied with that idea and so refused to believe it. Evans was a self-righteous, boring know-it-all and Sirius could not believe that someone as captivating as Remus would fall for someone so unmistakably plain.

Although, she is rather pretty. Well, some thought so, not Sirius obviously.

He frowned contemplating this. Surely Remus wouldn't be so naïve as to base his interests in Evans purely on good looks, right?

Finished arguing inside his head, Sirius slipped his scrolls together in one giant mess at the end of his bed and stood up. Determination etched along his face, he made his way over to Remus' side of the room and without asking, plopped himself down near the light haired boy's feet. Remus, who saw him marching over, only eyed him up and down, with that amused smile stretching across his face.

"Something a matter?" He asked, slowly using his arms as leverage to sit up in the bed.

"Do you fancy Lily Evans?" Sirius asked straight out. No use dabbling around the inevitable.

As James' head shot straight out of the closed curtains of his four poster, Remus let his arms collapse from underneath him, falling back onto the bed.

"Merlin Sirius, let's not do this again." He pleaded, throwing an arm over his eyes.

"Is that a yes?" Sirius bugged, crossing his arms and positioning himself more comfortably. He wanted to make sure that Remus knew he wasn't going to let it go this time.

Remus groaned in annoyance as James got out of his bed and proceeded to make his way around where Sirius was sitting.

"Well?" James asked, joining in on the conversation.

"Bloody hell…" Remus moaned. He quickly sat up in his bed, draping his feet over the sides and looked coldly between the two of them. "No, I do not fancy Lily Evans and I swear on Merlin's grave if you ask me one more time I'm going to hex the living day lights out of you."

"Then why do you stare at her during class?" Sirius pushed.

"Yea, and why do you always hang out with her?" James added, folding his arms across his chest to mimic Sirius' stance.

"And why do you insist on saving her from every Slytherin that pokes fun at her blood status?" Sirius quickly added before Remus could get a word in.

"Because we're friends." He replied, rolling his eyes and standing up.

"You never stare at me." Sirius jabbed.

"Sometimes I do." Remus said shrugging his shoulders. Sirius let his arms drop slightly in surprise. "When I'm thinking about random things, sometimes I drift off and don't realize I'm doing it." Remus added. He turned his back on them and grabbed a quill out of his desk.

"Look, I just need you to realize how horrible she is." Sirius continued with confidence. Remus chuckled softly as he turned back around.

"And what, may I ask, makes her so horrible?" He replied, looking amused.

"For one thing, she distracts you from your responsibilities." Sirius said. He lifted his forefinger, literally counting out Evans' crimes on his hand. James nodded his head eagerly in agreement.

"My responsibilities?" Remus asked skeptically.

"To your friends," Sirius answered, holding up his head a little higher. There was a short pause as Remus stared at him with narrowing eyes. "Us!" Sirius scowled, thinking that he hadn't understood his meaning.

"Yes, I got that. I was just amazed at your lack of logic." Remus said dryly.

"For another, she thinks she knows everything." Sirius continued, ignoring Remus' insult and counting out his second finger.

"She does not."

"Sure she does, she even tells me to my face that I'm an idiot." James interjected.

"Thank you, James." Sirius gestured, as if proving his point. Remus brought his hand up to his face, letting his forefingers massage at his temple.

"Oh I see," Remus droned sarcastically "because she calls James an idiot, she thinks she knows everything."

"Precisely. I'm glad your finally seeing it from our side." Sirius smiled, feeling as though he had made some progress.

"She's also hot tempered, goes spare over nothing." James added.

"Good point!" Sirius exclaimed, happy to have someone joining him in lecturing Remus. He held up three fingers proudly in front of Remus' face, taunting him. Remus smack it away.

"And she's a huge teacher's pet, constantly chatting it up with the Professors after class," James continued. "Also, she thinks she's too good for anyone, like no bloke would ever have a chance with her."

Sirius gleefully extended his entire right hand and smugly waved it at Remus.

"She also wears that perfume that smells like citrus so that I'm constantly distracted in all my classes," James ranted. " And what's with that dress she wore last week in the common room? As if her robes weren't flattering enough on her so she came prancing around in a sundress?"

Sirius, who had been trying to keep his fingers up with James' speech, stopped counting and looked up at him puzzled.

"I'm not sure-" Sirius started, but was quickly cut off.

"And the way she laughs!" James hollered, oblivious to Sirius' interjection. "It's so loud and happy all the time that it drowns out whatever else is going on. I can barely concentrate when she's in the same room as me!"

James began pacing the floor, fuming over every word he said as Sirius and Remus threw confused looks at each other.

"And that time in Transfigurations when she flipped her hair at-"

"Mate." Sirius interrupted him, placing a firm hand on his shoulder and stopping him in his tracks. "I think Remus gets the point."

James offered a meek look of apology before sitting himself down, lost in his own thoughts.

"Well, that proves it I suppose," Remus said sarcastically, stealing a suspicious glance at James. "Thank you for enlightening me Sirius, I think I'll be off now." He quickly grabbed his rucksack and began heading towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Sirius asked.

"To the library to meet Lily." He said before shutting the door behind him. Any objection Sirius had been about to make was cut out from the loud slam of the door. He grunted under his breath and looked over his shoulder to see James still sitting down on Remus' bed. His hands were running through his hair as he stared at the floor in thought and Sirius felt a small amount of pride swell up in him.

Well at least I got through someone.

He could tell that James had been significantly affected by his case against Lily Evans.

A/N:

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