Disclaimer: I make no money off this, all rights go to the wonderful J.K. Rowling.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx- Friday, September 3rd, 1971

Remus blinked slowly and snuggled deeper into the softness around him and under his head.

Wait. What?

Remus raised his head and surveyed his surroundings. The soft was James' cotton Chudley Cannons shirt, and the rest was Sirius and Peter who had managed to sandwich Remus between them. Despite his past thoughts that he didn't need friends, he had to admit he liked it, being surrounded by people who cared. At peace with the world, Remus snuggled back into James' chest, not knowing Sirius was actually awake the entire time.

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Remus awoke for a second time that day to find three worried faces staring down at him. 'Oh no," he thought, 'It's too early for this.'

Peter spoke first, looking at the two purebloods across from him, "He's awake now," before turning back to Remus, "You were out forever, mate. Did you take a bloody Dreamless Sleep when we weren't looking?

"Nope. It was all natural, I was just tired." Remus hoped they wouldn't ask about the scars.

It was silent for a few moments as the four averted their eyes from each other, instead choosing to study the wall or tiled floor.

"Well, um, are you gonna tell us how you got all those scars?" Sirius asked, getting straight to the point. Great, the big question.

"W-What sc-scars?" Remus asked nervously, but of course, they knew what scars, the three long ones that raked down his chest and the two on his back, not to mention the smaller ones everywhere.

"You know what scars," there was a pause, "Wait, Remus, is there someone who's, you know, hurting you?" Sirius asked tentatively. Remus opened and closed his mouth in shock. His parents loved him! True, sometimes his father was a bit cold or his mother slumped back into depression, leaving her in a sorry state of regret and lost hope of a cure for her son, but they did love him.

A small voice in the back of his head protested, 'This could be your way out! There's no way they'll think you're a werewolf now.' The voice had a point, but what if the boys told the authorities? Then his Mum and Dad would be arrested, and he would lose the only people who ever stuck by him through his lycanthropy.

'No. There's another way to solve this,' Remus said back, 'I could always tell them that I'm clumsy, or that someone broke into my house and attacked me as a toddler. Yeah, that's believable.'" N-no."

"Really?" Peter pushed. Apparently, Remus wasn't as convincing as he thought.

"All the small scars are because I'm just clumsy. Honestly," he said, seeing their disbelieving looks, "the big ones are from an attack. When I was really young someone broke into my house, and went after me and my family." Remus said. It wasn't exactly a lie, when he was young, about four years old, Fenrir Greyback broke into the Lupin's tiny cottage after Remus' father offended him. Blinded by rage and in need of revenge, Greyback tried to kill Remus but failed, leaving the small boy with a bite mark and a three others exchanged a subtle look before turning back to the brunette.

"Are you telling the truth?"

This conversation was not going the way Remus had planned. They were supposed to believe him!

"Of course. I would never lie to you guys." Sirius, James, and Peter still eyed him warily but dropped the subject.

"Well, okay then. But if it ever does happen or something, owl us. We're your friends, we'll do anything for you."

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The rest of the day was quite uneventful. All they had was a missed was a Transfiguration lesson, which Professor McGonagall didn't seem to mind, actually, when the little group saw her, the professor took one look at them and gave a small smile as if she knew what had transpired in the bathroom.

Herbology, Double Potions, and Charms was what occupied them for the rest of the day besides lunch, an interesting affair where James had nearly managed to have his hair cursed off by one extremely ticked-off Lily Evans and her best friend Marlene. It was around dinner when things started to get really interesting, though."Well boys, what are we going to do for our first prank?" Sirius pushed his clean plate to the side and faced them with a mischievous grin on his face.

"Pranks?" Remus asked innocently. To his surprise, all three turned to look at him with horror-filled faces, having apparently discussed the topic without him beforehand.

"What do you mean, 'pranks?'" James asked incredulously, "Pranks are what's going to make us legends around this school!"

"I still don't understand. Why can't we get good grades to become legends?"

The boys burst out laughing, causing Remus to turn as red as the gelatin on Peter's plate.

"G-good grades?! Ha!"

"You must be joking!"

"Remus, love, 'good grades' won't leave first years bowing to us as we pass, or teachers too scared to speak our names. Good grades will just get you locked in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and called a swot."

"Oh, sorry."

"It's okay," Peter patted him on the shoulder, "you didn't know. Now, who has any ideas?!"

"We could charm the Slytherins to sing Christmas carols!" James said enthusiastically, although his suggestion was quickly shot down due to being too Christmasy.

"We could turn the dungeons into an ocean?" "No, we aren't ready yet. Peter can barely turn a match into a needle."

"Flood the Great Hall with pumpkin juice?" "Do you realize how much trouble we'll be in if we flood the Great Hall? Besides, where the hell would we get that much pumpkin juice?"

"Transfigure the Slytherin boys into girls and the girls into boys?" "Nah, we'll be expelled."

"Well, I got nothing!" Sirius exclaimed loudly after awhile, throwing his hands up in frustration, causing a certain red-head to glare at him from the other side of the table.

"We should just call it a night, I'm tired," Peter groaned as he slumped back onto the table. They were some of the only people left in the Great Hall beside some studious Ravenclaws and the regular late bunch who spent time talking.

"What about you, Remus?" James asked as he licked the rest of his treacle tart off his plate.

"I want to go up too. It's been a long day and we have Potions again tomorrow," Remus said, stretching his arms above his head. It was late, and the full moon was coming up, making him more tired.

James nodded in agreement and said, "I agree. Let's go lads."

The four boys gathered up their things and walked up to Gryffindor Tower, shoulders brushing and large smiles on their faces.

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