A/N: Thanks for your review, DerangedDynamic :) Here comes the next chapter!

xxxxx

6. The Solution

Albus Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk. McGonagall hadn't got a slightest idea of what he was doing, but apparently it demanded deep concentration, since she had been waiting for him to answer the question almost five minutes.

'I don't believe it has something to do with potions', the headmaster said finally. Thanks to Merlin, he hadn't forgotten what they were talking about.

'You don't?'

'No. I've instructed Slughorn to do his best to find a potion that could make a boy turn into a girl, but he has found nothing. Or, at least, nothing that helps us.'

McGonagall inhaled deep. She couldn't help feeling sorry for poor Remus Lupin. 'Well, what else could it be?'

'I don't know', Dumbledore said, a bit absently, but it was nothing uncommon to him. 'I guess we have to contact St. Mungo, just to be sure that this case is really unique.'

'That sounds sensible', McGonagall admitted. 'But slow, too. The situation isn't surely any nice for Remus, Albus. I'm a bit worried.'

Dumbledore turned to look at her. The headmaster's face was calm and reassuring. McGonagall couldn't help feeling that Dumbledore knew exactly what to do, even though she was quite certain that the Headmaster didn't really have a clue what was going on with that poor Lupin.

'I'm sure he's doing just fine', Dumbledore said. 'Don't worry, Minerva. Remus is a brave boy and this isn't the most difficult thing he has gone through.'

'And he shouldn't have to face more troubles.'

'I know, I know', Dumbledore admitted. 'Well, we'll do what we can. I'm sure we'll find the cure for him.'

McGonagall nodded. Yes, they would surely find a cure, but how long would it take?

xxxxx

Remus stood in front of the mirror, observing his reflection. His eyes were still a little red because of the flu and fever, but he didn't care. He had some flurry images that involved him sleeping in the same bed with Sirius because of that fucking flu. It was surely time for him to recover.

Besides, he wasn't sure if the images were that bad. He thought that he remembered Sirius' arms wrapped around him, but even though he tried he couldn't make himself feel sorry for it. He only felt a bit terrified.

But of course, it was all natural. Having a flu, he was always a bit more sentimental than usually. It wasn't a wonder at all that he would like someone to comfort him or even hold his hand. And the fact that he was theoretically a girl for now didn't have to do that any more complicated.

Remus sighed. Besides his reddish eyes, he looked quite normal, or at least as normal as he had been for past five days.

'Remus? What're you doing?' James called from the dormitory.

'Just a sec', he answered, pushing a few brown straws aside from his face. He surely looked like a girl. Nobody should be amazed if he sometimes felt like one, too.

'Moony! I'm hungry!' he heard Sirius calling him.

'There's nothing to eat here!'

'This is serious. I have to get to the breakfast. I'm starving.'

'Okay, I'll come', Remus said and threw one last glance at his reflection. The girl would have been quite good-looking, really, if he hadn't known the truth. 'And you can't starve. You sneaked to the kitchen last night.'

'Fuck', he heard Sirius swearing. 'I told you he would notice.'

'But we got the jam', Peter answered. 'It's worth detention, isn't it?'

Remus opened the door. The three boys were staring at him and he rushed to get his robe on. Being a girl had some disadvantages, and one of them surely was the fact that he had to wear proper clothes all the time if he wanted there to be any chance that they would look him in the eyes.

'I guess we'll go, then', Sirius said. 'Are you sure you can manage this?'

'Breakfast? I don't think it will kill me.'

'If you want to skip some lessons, I can keep you company', Sirius volunteered.

'I don't think that's necessary. Besides, we have Potions this morning. You'd be crushed if you had to skip that.'

'You're too clever, Moony.'

'Yes', Remus said with his clear, high voice and rolled his eyes right afterwards. When would he learn not to get frightened of sounding like a girl?

'Okay, I'm ready', James said, coming back from the bathroom. 'Let's go.'

Remus followed them to the stairs. He was quite certain that he was supposed to think about something quite soon, like why Dumbledore and McGonagall didn't seem to find a way to make him turn back into himself or why he had only good memories about sleeping next to Sirius when he had been sick. Anyway, now he was too hungry. He needed a few pancakes covered by chocolate before he could think anything else.

xxxxx

Before dinner Remus had already made a decision. Dumbledore had twenty four hours to make things go back to normal or otherwise he would go and ask the Headmaster by himself, why nothing was happening.

Well, he could bear boys watching his legs as he passed them by, or even staring at his breasts as he was talking to them. It was annoying, but quite natural, anyway. His own friends were doing it, too, and how could he have blamed the others, then? Besides, sometimes it felt even a bit flattering. His legs had to be really attractive if they all were staring at them.

But this was too much. Watching was fine, but he couldn't stand any propositions.

James wanting to practice kissing wasn't too dangerous, though. Remus knew that James lacked common sense when it came to Lily. And he hadn't been surprised when Sirius had wanted to kiss him, too, since James had apparently decided to do so.

Still, Gary Sanders making propositions was just totally inappropriate.

Remus had even thought if he ought to tell Sirius to go and hex the boy. Of course, he hadn't done it. He was Prefect, after all, and using Sirius as his personal body guard wasn't one of his favorite activities. He was quite sure that Sirius would had done it, though. The boy had looked almost as angry as Remus had felt, when Sanders had stopped to ask if he wanted to visit Astronomy Tower with him.

Remus tried to concentrate on the potatoes on his plate but it didn't work. Why the hell would Sanders think that he could actually say yes? He was a boy! He had a boy's mind! He didn't like the idea of snogging boys!

Well, he had liked snogging Sirius, but he had got a flu right after that. Maybe he had been a bit sick already and that had been why kissing Sirius hadn't disturbed him. Yes, that would be a very sensible answer. He felt quite satisfied to have figured it out.

'Lupin?'

He blinked. He didn't recognize the voice. Having turned his gaze away from the potatoes, he saw that Jason Adams, one of the Chasers of Ravenclaw Quidditch team, was standing next to him, looking quite confused. Far too confused, in fact.

'What?' he asked, noticing that James, Peter and Sirius were also staring at Adams.

'I was just thinking', the boy said, 'if you wanted to help me with Potions…'

'Oh. Well, I'm not that good myself, but of course I…'

'Have you been talking to Sanders, Adams?' Sirius asked with very friendly tone. Remus blinked. The black-haired boy was leaning onto his elbows and staring at Adams very firmly.

'Er, I don't think so', Adams said, but didn't sound so certain.

'Oh, I think you are', Sirius said. Remus wondered if he was supposed to warn Adams, but, in the end, if Sirius was right, he didn't want to, either. 'And I think you should find someone else to teach you.'

'I think you've got something wrong, Black', Adams said. 'I thought Remus was good at Potions…'

'Yes, she is, and she will keep on being good even when she turns back into a boy again', Sirius snapped. 'Got it? Do I have to explain?'

Adams rolled his eyes. 'Okay, no need to get angry. I'm not trying to steal her away from you, Black.'

Sirius looked like he had wanted to throw Adams with a fork. Fortunately James had already taken everything sharp and dangerous so that Sirius couldn't reach them.

'Go to hell', Sirius snapped. 'If you're so desperate, why won't you try to hit on real girls?'

'I'm going', Adams said quite quickly. 'See you.'

'We won't.'

'Sirius, he's gone', Remus said, when the Ravenclaw turned to return to his own table. 'You can breathe. And you didn't have to look like you wanted to kill him.'

'Well, he was hitting on you…'

'I look like a girl. We just have to live with it.'

'Really, Padfoot', James said. 'There's no need to act like a jealous boyfriend. Remus is a good girl… er, boy. She can defend herself.'

'It's he, James.'

'Sorry', James waved at him quickly.

'I'm not acting like a boyfriend', Sirius claimed. 'I'm just irritated. These blokes are hitting on my friend.'

'Moony looks good', Peter said. 'You can't deny it.'

'I know', Sirius burst out. 'But even though I can admit it, I'm not hitting on her…'

James coughed. Remus tried to find somewhere to look, but unfortunately everything he could find was Lily's red hair, and that was never a safe target to look at when James was around.

'I think I'm gonna go back to the dorm', he said finally. 'I've got a book to finish.'

'What's it called?' Sirius asked.

James stared at him. 'Did you seriously ask her about a book?'

'Don't stare at me!'

'I'm going now', Remus said and stood up.

Being a girl when you were really a boy was one thing. It made him feel daft and stupid and really weird, but he could handle it. But if his friends went crazy…even crazier than usually… that was something he couldn't handle.

xxxxx

'Remus?'

The girl turned to look at him. Sirius closed the dormitory door behind him and stayed in the doorway, watching how she sighed, quite frustrated. Well, Sirius felt frustrated, too. It had been a long day seeing all those wankers staring at Remus' ass. And both Sanders and Anders had had a nerve to ask her out… Sirius had seriously thought whether he should hex them or not.

He almost wished that Remus would still have been ill. It had been so simple, trying to make her happy by bringing her chocolate. And he had been able to watch her whenever he wanted, because she hadn't usually noticed it and when she had it hadn't mattered, anyway.

'Yes?' Remus asked. She was holding a thick book that looked extremely boring.

'Are you okay?'

'About what? Guys asking me out? I've watched to the mirror, Pads. I see why they're doing that.' Remus sighed. 'Well, they're still annoying gits.'

'Yeah', Sirius admitted happily. 'Er, I guess you already know that we wouldn't let anyone harm you… I wouldn't…'

'Sirius', Remus interrupted him, 'I'm not a girl. You don't have to protect me.'

'Sorry', Sirius said quickly, walking to his own bed and sitting down. 'Have you heard of McGonagall? Have they already found something?'

Remus shrugged. 'She said she would tell me immediately, so apparently they aren't making any progress. Well, I hope it won't take long. I think I'm gonna lose my mind if I have to stand this too long…'

'Why?'

Remus looked at him, surprised. Sirius had to bit his lip. Fuck, why did she have to so beautiful? Or why couldn't she be beautiful in a non-remuish way, so that Sirius could have forgotten that he was having daydreams about his best friend?

'What do you think? That I might like being a girl?' Remus asked, a bit annoyed.

'Of course not', Sirius answered quickly. 'But that doesn't mean that you should lose your mind because of it. It's not that serious, isn't it?'

Remus inhaled deeply. 'You won't tell James or Peter, will you?'

'No. What's going on?'

'I…' Remus bit her lip. Her very nice, red lip. 'I think my mind's sometimes forgetting that I'm not a girl for real… like… I don't know, it's hard to explain…'

'Like what?' Sirius blinked. 'Do you… er, fancy someone? A bloke? Is it Sanders? Please, Moony, the guy's just a git…'

'No!' Remus sounded genuinely terrified. Good. 'And I'm not fancying anyone, not really. I'm just… confused, you know…'

'Well, I don't really know. Of course you're confused, there's nothing wrong with that.'

'It's not…' Remus stopped the sentence, rolling her eyes. 'Okay. This is wrong.'

Sirius didn't get a slightest warning before Remus pressed her mouth against his. Well, it didn't matter. As soon as their mouths touched each other, Sirius mind went completely blank. He couldn't think about anything, just Remus, the fascinating girl who just happened to be Remus or maybe fascinating Remus who just happened to be a girl, he wasn't sure nor did he care. He wrapped his fingers to Remus' neck, and just then Remus moved away.

'Do you see?' Remus barked. 'That's wrong.'

'I don't see how that's wrong', Sirius muttered, still catching his breath.

'I like it', Remus muttered.

It took a few seconds for Sirius to understand her words, since all he could think about was kissing her again, but finally the words sank into his mind. Well, obviously Remus didn't find kissing him too gross, because she had just done it voluntary, but liking was a totally different thing, anyway.

'What?'

'I know', Remus said. She had blushed hard and didn't watch Sirius in the eyes. 'I know. I'm supposed to be a boy inside my mind, but I like that. I like kissing you.'

'I don't care', Sirius said. 'Can we do it again?'

Remus was beginning to look both frustrated and annoyed now. 'Could you be serious, just for once? I've got a problem here!'

'I don't really think that's dangerous', Sirius claimed. 'Apparently you've got some part of girl's mind at the moment. Or maybe it's just hormones. Besides, I'm probably quite good-looking. It would be stranger if you didn't like me at all…'

'Are you serious?'

'Yes', he said. He wasn't exactly sure what he was saying, though, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was to get Remus kiss him again. 'Er, maybe it's a bit weird. But then I'm daft too, because I've got kind of a crush on one of my best male friends. Even though he happens to be a girl now.'

Remus frowned, but she looked almost… delighted, too. 'You've got a crush on me?'

'Well, you've got everything a man needs - '

'I wasn't talking about that.'

Sirius swallowed. 'I'm sorry. I can't help it, Moony. You're just… you're being somewhat yourself and still you're… a girl… and those two things in one person… I don't know how I could resist.'

To his surprise, Remus laughed aloud. 'Okay, we're both daft, then. Great. I don't know if I was supposed to feel any better, but I do, anyway.'

'That's good', Sirius said and pushed his fingers to her pale neck. He felt Remus shivering, but the girl didn't move away and then he found her lips and oh, Merlin, snogging Melissa Hall in the third grade had been nothing compared to this…

'Okay, I think we've found a solution', said a voice that sounded pretty much alike James Potter's.

Sirius didn't know if he wanted to laugh or cry. Remus had blushed, again, and was trying to push her falling hair behind her lovely ears. James and Peter were standing in the doorway, looking at them quite blank expressions on their face.

'Solution?' Sirius asked, happy to find out that his voice was working just fine despite the fact that he felt completely out of breath.

'I've been thinking', James said. Bad sign, but this time Sirius didn't bother to care. 'Moony's having all those stupid gits trying to hit on her and you want to punch them all. Since we don't want you to end up being in a detention for the whole spring or Moony having a baby for Sanders - '

'James!' Remus barked.

' - I think we've got to do something with the situation', James kept on talking despite the interruption. 'And I guess this is the easiest way, after all.'

'But you two have to stay away from my bed', Peter said, looking a bit nauseous.

Sirius frowned. 'What the heck are you talking about? The easiest way?'

'You two seem to be fine with snogging', James said. 'Don't worry, I don't blame you. Remus has tits, after all. I just think you should do it in public.'

Remus mouth had fallen open. Sirius was quite certain that he looked pretty confused himself, too. 'What? Why?'

Peter shrugged, looking at James. 'Well, it might be quite good, after all. I don't think people will be too shocked.'

'And when have we cared about shocking people?' James grinned.

'And Sirius hasn't got a girlfriend, and Remus isn't getting one before he turns back…'

'And Sirius will have a good reason to punch Sanders when he keeps on staring at Remus…'

'Stop for a moment, please', Remus interrupted them. 'Are you actually saying that we should… kiss in the public?'

'I'm saying you should date', James said.

For a moment Sirius was afraid that Remus would pass out. The girl looked far too pale, it couldn't be healthy anymore. But then the color began to return to her face and soon her cheeks were all red. Well, Sirius wasn't sure if that was any better.

'Don't you think that's crazy?' Remus barked. 'No one will believe it. I'm a boy.'

'I don't think you're the weirdest thing that has ever happened in this school', Peter said. 'Everyone is used to thinking you as a girl.'

'Yeah', James admitted. 'That's true. Do you want to wait until someone proposes you before you believe?'

'No', Remus said quite weakly. 'And… you don't think that's weird? For us? I mean, when I turn back, you don't think everything will be strange?'

James shrugged. 'You were already snogging. You two dating officially can't be so much more disturbing.'

'We'll cope on', Peter confirmed. 'But you aren't allowed to do anything in my bed.'

'Nor mine', James said quickly. 'Pads, what do you think?'

Sirius blinked. He had been totally focused on following Remus' reactions, so that he hadn't been really thinking anything special. 'Er, I don't know. Remus can decide.'

'Do you want to date me?' Remus asked, looking at him behind her fingers.

Sirius shrugged. Yes, his mind was shouting. Yes, I want. I want to snog you in every corner of this castle and in the breakfast and lunch and dinner and in the common room and in the library and I want to kill Sanders if he comes anywhere near you…

Well, it could be worse, he thought, trying to mute the… irrational part of his mind. And he would do this for Remus, of course. So that Remus wouldn't get proposed by any of those gits. Remus was far too young to get married.

'I think we'll be fine', he said, lowering his voice hoping that James and Peter wouldn't hear. 'I guess they're right. Besides, we might have fun.'

Remus was looking at him quite suspiciously, but Sirius didn't mind. He was beginning to realize that if Remus only said yes, he would soon be dating her…

'Okay', Remus said finally. 'I'll do it. Your idea is almost sensible, after all, and it would be a shame to put you down when you manage to think something sensible for the very first time.'

James and Peter looked perplexed, like not knowing exactly if they were supposed to feel offended or flattered. Sirius hadn't got a slightest problem with choosing what he was thinking. Well, in fact he wasn't thinking. He kissed Remus hard and let the girl go only when she began to sound a bit suffocating.

'I totally wish that Dumbledore will find a cure', he heard Peter mumbling. 'Soon.'

'I don't', James said, sounding quite fascinated. 'This is like a private show in our bedroom.'

Sirius couldn't decide whose remark was worse. Well, it didn't really matter. He smiled at Remus, who was staring at him with her blue eyes confused.

'It will be okay', he promised, and Remus nodded.