Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series. That credit goes to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling. Go Jo! I also do not own some of the material used. Again that belongs to Jo and Warner Brothers.

Chapter 7 Partners

January 10, 1972

All the students were now boarding the Hogwarts Express to go back to school after Christmas holidays.

"Hi, Sirius," James greeted his friend after telling his parents goodbye.

Sirius smiled and quickly closed the gap between them.

"Hi, James," he replied.

"How was your Christmas?" James asked as they waited on Remus and Peter.

"Awful," Sirius said sorely, letting his head fall forward. "Being a Gryffindor must really have upset them." Sirius then looked back up and smiled. "The Chocolate Frogs you sent, though, helped. Thanks."

"I figured you'd be needing some cheering up," James replied with a wide smile. "Thanks for the Chocolate Cauldrons."

Before could Sirius could reply, someone began yelling, "Hey, James... Sirius!"

Sirius and James turned, and there was "Remus!"

Remus caught up with them, looked around for a moment, then he asked, "Have you seen Peter?"

Sirius and James shrugged their shoulders and began to look around as well.

"Oh, there he is," Sirius said as he finally finally spotted him. "Peter!"

"Hi, guys," Peter said, his smile brighter than the rest.

He had never really had friends before, so to be about of this so called gang was what he now lived for.

"Come on, let's find a compartment," Remus said. They walked down the corridor, but all the compartments seemed to be taken. And then Remus spotted one. "What about this one?"

"No, way," James immediately rejected after glancing into the compartment and seeing Lily Evans sitting by herself, looking out the window.

He hadn't even taken notice that Severus wasn't with her.

"It's only Evans," Sirius said, his hand already reaching for the handle to open it.

Knowing he wasn't going to win, James sighed and replied, "Fine."

Lily turned as the compartment door opened. Her eyes were slightly red and puffy as they got a better look at Lily.

"Do you mine of we join you?" Remus asked, sounding as nice as he could without sounding as shocked as he felt.

"I suppose you can," Lily said with a small sniff.

Remus took the seat next to her, knowing that he might be the only one from the four that she'd confide in, and asked, "Are you all right?"

"I... I don't know," Lily said, her eyes on the floor, so she didn't see the concerned looks they were giving her.

"Do you..." Remus began to ask, but stopped himself when Lily's piercing green eyes met his.

"I don't feel like talking right now," Lily said bluntly.

Feeling uncomfortable, Peter got up and suggested, "Maybe we should leave."

"No, please don't," Lily begged, looking at Peter with pleading eyes. He swallowed hard and sat back down. "I just had a rubbish holiday."

"Sorry," Remus apologized.

The rest of the train ride was quite quiet.

Sirius took a deep breath as he stepped off of the Hogwarts Express and said, "It's good to be back."

"You said that again," Peter replied with a wide smile.

"What is she doing?" James suddenly asked.

The other three turned to the direction James was staring at. Lily was walking over to Snape, the reason James, as well the others, thought was the cause of Lily's rubbish holiday.

xxx

February 9, 1972

The Gryffindors and Slytherins sat down in the dungeon classroom where they took Potions.

"Now," Professor Slughorn began as he came into view, which was easy with his size, "for your next Potion assignment, I need you to please get into pairs."

James groaned as he turned to Sirius, and said with a sigh, "Oh, I don't believe it."

"What?" Sirius asked as he lowered his eyebrows and frowned. "You don't want me as your partner?"

James's eyes widen as he realized what his actions must have looked like to Sirius.

"Oh, no, Sirius," he assured him. "I didn't mean that. Look who Lily chose to be with."

Sirius glanced over at the girl in question. Lily had just sat her book down next to Severus.

"Well, that's not a shocker," he said as he turned back to James. Remus and Peter didn't seem to be paying attention to them.

"I just don't get them," James said as he got the ingredients for the potion.

"And you think people understand how we're friends?" Sirius asked with a laugh as he gestured to the both of them.

"I see your point," James said, laughing as well.

Sirius pretended that he didn't notice James occasionally glancing over at Lily and Severus's table. But when James started to pure the wrong ingredient into the cauldron, Sirius had to put his foot down.

"James!" Sirius yelled. "I know you're dead awful at Potions, mate, but you're not this bloody bad."

"Sorry," James apologized, his eyes on the ground.

Sirius sighed and put a hand on James's shoulder and said, "Don't let them get to you."

xxx

Remus hadn't return to the Gryffindor common room that night.

"Where's Remus?" Peter asked as he got into bed.

"Maybe he went for a walk," Sirius said.

"Possibly," Peter replied, letting his head hit the pillow.

Meanwhile, Remus walked out of the hospital wing, followed by Madame Pomprey.

"Let's go, dear," Madame Pomfrey said, placing a calming hand on Remus's shoulder.

Remus was surprised at how easily he was able to control the pain he was having now. No one had seemed to notice his distress the past couple of days.

"What is it this time?" Madame Pomfrey asked, knowing that Remus usually made up some excuse for having to go the hospital wing.

"I never got to the common room," Remus admitted. "I sneaked out before they noticed I was gone."

"I'll think of something," Madame Pomfrey said as they walked out on to the grounds.

Remus looked over at her shock and replied, "You don't have to do that."

"I don't plan on it the next time," Madam Pomfrey told him.

Remus only nodded and followed her to the Whoping Willow.

xxx

February 10, 1972

James, Sirius, and Peter woke up to find Remus's bed still empty.

"Did Remus ever get back last night?" James asked, hoping that one of the boys had seen him.

"No, I don't think so," Peter said as they walked down to the common room. "When I got up, his bed was made and he wasn't in the common room."

Peter recalled walking down to the common room earlier that morning after seeing Remus's bed still made.

"What do you think happened?" Sirius asked as they walked out of the portrait entrance.

James thought for a moment, and then replied, "I don't know, but I have a clue."

"Where are we..." Peter began to ask, but James ignored him as he and Sirius started down the corridor that led to the hospital wing.

Remus was sitting up in bed when James, Sirius, and Peter walked in.

"What happened to you, Remus?" Sirius asked as they approched his bed.

"We've been worried sick," Peter added.

Remus looked down, feeling absolutley horrible that he didn't have the courage to tell his friends the truth.

"Sorry, guys," he apologized. "I..."

"Stop bothering this poor boy and let him eat," Madame Pomfrey cut in as she placed a plate of food on Remus's lap and a glass of Pumpkin Juice on the bedside table.

"Sorry, Madame Pomfrey, but we didn't know what to think when Remus never showed up for bed last night," James explained in the politest way he could.

"I found Mr. Lupin past out on the floor last night," Madame Pomfrey bluntly said.

Their mouth's, including Remus's, dropped. He hadn't expected her to do that for him, even though she had told him she would.

"What the..." Sirius began to ask, his eyes on the nurse. Then he turned to Remus and asked. "Are you going to be okay?"

"I'll be fine," Remus replied.

xxx

May 29, 1972

A couple of months passed, and so did two more trips to the hospital wing for Remus.

"Come on, now, Remus," Sirius said, pulling him off from the table from where he had been studying in the Gryffindor. "Off to bed with you."

"What's going on here?" Remus asked as James and Peter joined them.

"You need your rest," Peter said as they began pulling Remus up the stairs to the boys' dormitory.

Remus resisted all he could, but he couldn't win.

"Rest? You do know finals are tomorrow, don't you?" he asked.

Remus had been studying for his Potion's exam when Sirius had intervened.

"Madame Pomfrey told us to make sure you were getting enough sleep," Peter said as he walked to the front of Remus's bed.

"You don't want to end up in the hospital wing again for exhaustion, do you?" James asked.

"No, but..." Remus began, filling exhausted.

He knew his friends were only thinking about him.

"Then get to bed," Sirius said, giving Remus shove so his head get the pillow.

"And what about the three of you?" Remus asked.

"You do know finals are tomorrow, don't you?" James asked.

Remus's eyes grew at James's comeback.

"Very funny," he replied. "If I have to go to bed, so do you all."

The three looked at each other for a moment, and then Sirius said, "Fair enough."

AN:

Wow! That took longer than I was planning. So sorry.