It had been a long day, to say the least. Even though it was the weekend, and the beginning of the school year, of course the infamous Remus Lupin was studying. A single stack of rather large books sat to his right while a plump boy sat to his left.

"Could you chew quieter, Wormtail?" Remus mumbled, preoccupied with his reading. "I can't concentrate."

"Sorry Moony," the boy muttered around a mouthful of sweets. "It's kind of difficult. I'm a nervous eater; I haven't been able to find James and Sirius all day long."

"They were out by the lake, last time I saw them." Remus said, taking another page in between his pointer finger and thumb, flipping it to the next one.

"They're not there either!" Peter said, exasperated.

Remus sighed in annoyance, "Then check our dorm."

Peter gathered up his belongings with a huff and began walking up the stairs in the direction of their dorm. He didn't understand why Remus seemed so snappish. It was possible that he knew what was going on and didn't want to bother himself with it, or that he truly didn't know and he wanted Peter to shut up. The latter option seemed like the most likely.

When he reached the door that led into their dorm, Peter paused, curious at the sounds that were coming from the room. He leaned forward and pressed his ear against the wood, trying to hear.

Muffled tense voices greeted his ears. Peter pressed harder against the door. It seemed that he only caught the tail end of the conversation that occurred between Padfoot and Prongs.

'Just... answer... question?" their voices had gotten dangerously low. Then Peter heard James laughing and Sirius acting indignant at it. A few more muffled words, and he heard Sirius say, "A Hufflepuff? Come on, James. Don't make me do this."

Peter pushed himself lightly off the door. James and Sirius would be seriously angered if they knew he had listened in to their private conversation.

"What are you doing?" Said a Gryffindor that had been walking out of his own dorm area; a first year.

Peter bit his lip in nervousness. His eyes then narrowed slightly; he shouldn't be afraid of what a first year had to say. "Keep moving." He spit out eventually to the curious kid.

The eyes of the first year widened considerably and he scurried away, chagrined at having realized that he had dared to ask an upperclassmen what he was doing. Peter allowed himself a triumphant grin before turning away from the door to head back into the common room.

It wasn't like him to eavesdrop, but it also wasn't like James and Sirius to coop themselves up to talk. Normally whenever there was a problem with one of them, there was a problem with all of them, and they resolved the issue together. But this time was obviously different if whatever issue that had popped up between the pair required them to be alone.

Peter shuddered, his mind conjuring up nasty images of his torture if his friends found out that he had overhead their conversation.

"So were they up there?" Remus asked indifferently, flipping to the next page of his book. "Did you talk to them?"

"Yes and no," Pete collapsed into a nearby chair. "They were arguing about something. I heard some of their conversation. Please don't tell them."

"I wouldn't dare dream of it." Remus said, his eyes still fixated on his book. Peter saw the shadows under his friend's eyes. Which was understandable considering that Snivellus now knew his dark secret. The werewolf was probably losing sleep at the threat of Snape letting it loose.

"Haven't you slept?"

"Does it look like it?" He spent his nights turning and twisting, trying to go to sleep. At the most, every night, he had only been able to get four hours of sleep. If it weren't for that stupid, stupid incident last year! He might've rested well. But now, he just couldn't.

Remus told Sirius that he forgave him. That they were still friends, but Sirius hadn't believed him. To be honest, Remus barely believed himself, if not at all. He had trusted him with one of his greatest secrets. A secret that could get himself killed and essentially, many others. And Sirius had allowed a slip of the tongue, and to Severus Snape of all people. Remus had almost shredded another student because of Sirius's thoughtlessness.

"Have you heard?" A spry, scrawny girl in their year asked. She walked up to the couch that Remus and Peter were on and sat herself next to Remus. Alice, her name was. Remus had seen her in Lily Evans's little group of friends.

"Heard what?"

"There's a new kid in our year and he got into a fight with Sirius," Alice said conspiratorially. "He looked like he got pretty beat up. He ran away from the scene as soon as James gave him the opportunity."

Peter and Remus shared a glance. "Who started it?"

"I heard it was the new kid," Alice said, sitting straighter. "But I don't think anyone actually knows."

"So that's what that was about." Remus directed to Peter, a glowing understanding upon his face.

"What was what about?"

Remus set his book aside and looked at the girl sitting next to him. "Alice, will you give Peter and I moment? We've got things to discuss that I'm afraid can't involve you. I apologize."

Alice nodded in understanding. "It's okay, Remus. I'll see you two later, okay?"

"Alright," he waved, waiting for a moment before he turned to Peter. "What exactly did you hear?"

"Bits and pieces. But it sounds as if they're questioning this whole thing." Peter waved his hand vaguely around.

"This whole... thing?"

"Our friendship. Theirs, to be specific."

Remus took a deep breath and leaned back into the seat, thoroughly shocked. Never once had he questioned the friendship between James and Sirius. They had always seemed tighter than brothers. Remus and Peter couldn't even touch the bond they shared.

"What does that mean for us?" Remus asked quietly, more to himself than to Peter. The boy shrugged, unable to answer the werewolf's rhetorical question.

"Should we go in there and smack some sense into them?" Peter offered.

"No, this is something they need to work out on their own," Remus shook his head. "If we bother them it might make things worse. They just have to figure things out."

"And if they don't?"

"I don't know."

They sat silently for awhile until Peter cracked a smile."I do feel sorry for the kid that was on the receiving end of Sirius's temper."

Remus chuckled. "We'll probably never get the chance to meet him."