For days after Sirius's tussle with Snape, it was the only thing that Remus and the other boys could talk about. Peter was awestruck that Sirius would be roguish, and shameless, enough to engage in Muggle fighting. James was miffed at first. "You tell me I can't curse his face off, and then you go and punch him?" he cried when the news first reached him. But after hearing what Snape had said to Sirius beforehand, James was fully supportive of Sirius's retaliation. Even Remus, who disapproved of violence on the whole, had to admit that it sounded like Snape deserved it.

The excitement still hadn't quite worn off by the time Saturday evening rolled around. Sirius was scheduled to head to detention soon, but lingered in the common room with the other boys after supper, procrastinating with more discussion of the fight.

"Sounds like you got off easy, actually," Remus commented. "Only fifty points from Gryffindor and one detention?"

"Yeah, but on a Saturday night," James groaned. "That's when we have the most fun!"

"He probably should've gotten more detentions," Remus said. "Professor McGonagall hates Muggle fighting—I heard that she gives a week of detention to every Gryffindor who tries it, and writes home to their parents about it, too."

Sirius shrugged. "I dunno, I guess Slughorn isn't as strict as McGonagall, then."

"Did he write to your parents about it, though?" Peter asked, eyes wide. He knew, as they all did, how much trouble with his parents Sirius was already in, even without a disciplinary letter from Hogwarts.

Sirius shook his head. "He didn't even threaten it. I think Slughorn doesn't want to give them bad news and, you know, get on their bad side." He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Most people try to stay on my parents' good side. That's why they usually get what they want."

"That, and all the gold," Peter said. "I still can't believe you bought a Collapsing Chair last year. Four Galleons, just like that! My mum would kill me if I ever spent four Galleons on anything."

"I doubt I'll be getting any more Black family gold after this year, so I'll have to make it last," Sirius said. "But that prank was worth it. People kept checking their chairs before they sat down for weeks."

"It's too bad we didn't manage to pull it off on McGonagall like we planned," James said ruefully. "I swear that woman has cat-like reflexes. I don't think she even noticed anything was amiss—she just caught herself on her desk and said, 'Well, I'll have to ask Mr. Filch to bring another chair up from storage.' Thank Merlin we snuck back into her classroom to retrieve the Collapsing Chair before she chucked it in the bin!"

"But you still got Marlene McKinnon really good, didn't you?" Remus pointed out. Marlene was a fifth-year Gryffindor girl who was on the Quidditch team and sometimes agreed to practice Chasing a bit with James. He'd picked her as a target for some friendly chair fun after she teased him about his Quidditch concentration face. Admittedly, Remus thought, James did look rather constipated when he focused really hard.

"Plus that one Ravenclaw bloke!" Peter piped up.

"And Casey Wood, when he stepped away from his Wizard's chess game for a minute," James reminded the group.

"I still say we should target Cissy's boyfriend," Sirius said darkly. "That git needs to be taken down a peg, or nine."

"No way, mate." Remus shook his head emphatically. "I said it back then, and I'll say it again: that Malfoy looks capable of murder, and murder is where I draw the line. I don't want to end up skinned and hung from the Astronomy Tower."

"Remus: always the voice of reason," James said, hanging his head in mock disappointment. "And Malfoy's a seventh-year, so we don't even get another chance at him next year, when we're back from summer holiday."

"I honestly can't believe it took almost the entire school year for one of you to finally get detention," Remus said with a small grin.

"Well, we run fast and Filch is slow," James explained in a pompous voice.

Sirius let out a short bark of laughter. "Plus, we've been getting lucky with finding hiding spots right before he comes around the corner. We know some really good ones now! He keeps grumbling under his breath that he can't do this alone anymore, that he needs to get an assistant."

"Maybe he'll recruit a house elf," Peter joked. "Or maybe he'll get a cat."

All four of them chuckled at the ludicrous image of crabby Filch, sitting in his grubby office packed with files on misbehaving students, petting a cute, fluffy cat.

"I guess I better get going now," Sirius said, getting to his feet reluctantly.

"Who's your detention with, anyway?" Remus asked. "Not Filch, I hope?"

"No, it's with the gamekeeper, Hagrid. He lives in that cottage on the far side of the grounds. I think I'm supposed to help him weed his garden—without using magic, of course. He grows a bunch of plants there to feed the creatures that Professor Kettleburn uses for Care of Magical Creatures lessons."

"Hagrid? That huge bloke who took us over the lake in those boats at the beginning of the year?" Peter said, looking scared. "He must be at least nine feet tall! I've heard rumors that there's some giant blood in him. Maybe you can ask him tonight if that's true, Sirius!"

James shook his head. "He can't, Pete, that would be really rude."

As Sirius bade them goodbye and climbed out of the portrait hole, James began to explain to Peter why the question would be rude. Wizards rarely came into contact with giants, but in the tall tales that every Wizarding child knew from their bedtime stories, giants were always portrayed as violent and brutish. Even implying that you thought someone might be related to a giant was a serious insult to his or her intelligence.

"I never thought about it that way," Peter said, shrugging.

"Yeah, you're a little dense about this kind of stuff," James replied. "Certain things are sensitive topics among wizards. As a pureblood, you should know that. Nobody wants to be called a half-breed."

Remus had stayed silent during this conversation, his previous cheerful mood draining away with every word. A little while later, when he could no longer pretend that nothing was wrong, he told James and Peter that he was going upstairs to study. He wasn't sure if they could tell something was bothering him, but he hoped not. He just felt the sudden need to be alone.

He retreated to their empty dormitory room with tears hovering in his eyes and James's words ringing in his ears. Nobody wants to be called a half-breed.

If nobody even wanted to be called a half-breed, Remus knew that they certainly wouldn't want to befriend a real, live half-breed. And he had just started to feel more at home here at Hogwarts. Even though he still had his monthly transformations, in-between full moons he was happier than he had ever been before. But this was a harsh reminder that it was all an illusion, a mirage that would come crashing down if they ever discovered his secret.

Remus stayed alone in the dormitory all evening, curled up on his bed with a book. Stewing in his own thoughts, he barely took in a word he read. A couple hours later, he heard James and Peter come back to the dormitory, chatting about something mundane. And awhile after that, when they were all brushing their teeth and getting ready for bed, Sirius returned from detention, covered in dirt and looking cheerful.

"It wasn't that bad," Sirius declared. "I dunno why people are so afraid of getting detentions. It was actually kind of fun, crawling around and getting dirty. I've never done that before."

Seeing Sirius's muddy, grinning face made Remus feel a little better. "I hope you and James don't take this as some kind of sign that it's okay to get a bunch of detentions now," he said dryly.

"If they're with Hagrid, I wouldn't mind," Sirius replied. "He's a cool bloke! He didn't even lecture me about fighting, or treat me differently because I'm a Black. He just said, 'Ah, yeah, well, Professor Dumbledore taught me to never judge a book by its cover. Yeh seem alrigh', Sirius, so I'll give yeh the benefit of the doubt.'" His imitation of the gamekeeper's gruff voice was passable.

Although Remus had never met Hagrid for more than a few moments, he was thoroughly impressed by this response to Sirius's parentage. Usually, Remus knew, any mention of the Black family around most adults inspired strong reactions of awe, fear, or disgust. Even Remus's own father Lyall—as much as he believed and preached total tolerance—had had a difficult time once he discovered that the "Sirius" so often mentioned in Remus's stories from Hogwarts was actually Orion Black's son. Remus had spent much of the winter holidays convincing Lyall that Sirius really was different from his parents. Lyall hadn't accepted it until Remus reminded him that judging Sirius based on his father was just the type of prejudicial assumption that Lyall didn't otherwise stand for.

Remus wondered if maybe Hagrid was so open-minded because he knew what it was like to live with the shadow of half-breed stigma looming over him.

"You lot can meet Hagrid soon, if you're keen," Sirius said. "I told him about you, and he invited us down for tea at his cottage next Friday after class. Says he does that sometimes for students he likes."

"Okay," Remus agreed. "He sounds nice."

"Sure, why not?" said James. "Anything to avoid studying for final exams."

Peter squeaked anxiously at the reminder that their end-of-term exams were looming near, but nodded. "Alright, if you three are going, I'll come, too."

"Merlin, Pete, you're such a tag-along," James teased. "Always clinging. You're like the little bit of poop that stays clinging to the arsehole even after wiping!"

"Does that make you the arsehole, then, James?" Sirius piped in with a wicked grin.

Remus rolled his eyes and took pity on Peter, whose cheeks were turning as pink as a pygmy puff. "Don't listen to them, Peter," he said. "You're not a tag-along. Now stuff it, you prats, I'm trying to go to sleep." He drew his bed curtains shut, cutting off the sound of James and Sirius's howling laughter.

Hagrid's hut was far from the castle, on a part of the grounds that Remus had never visited before. The edge of the Forbidden Forest was near enough that the four boys could hear the rustling and cooing of forest creatures while standing on Hagrid's front stoop. Peter kept looking over his shoulder nervously, as if expecting something to leap out from between the trees and attack them.

The wooden door swung open and an enormous figure filled the doorframe. Remus had met Hagrid during his first day at Hogwarts, of course, but he still wasn't easy to get used to. Between his size and the wild black beard that obscured half his face, Hagrid looked quite intimidating. But the image crumbled immediately as Hagrid looked down at his guests, a huge grin breaking across his face.

"Good, Sirius, yer here! And yeh brought yer friends!"

He ushered them over the threshold into the cottage, greeting and clapping each of them on the back. Peter was last to enter, eyes wide, nose twitching, half hiding behind James. The cottage appeared to be a large building from the outside, but once inside, Remus could see that it couldn't hold much: everything in the cottage was scaled twice as large as normal, from the pillows to the dish racks to the furniture. Remus found himself wondering if he'd even be able to lift the mugs that Hagrid was now pulling out from the cabinet above the washtub-sized sink.

"Well, find a seat and I'll get some tea started," Hagrid said warmly, gesturing to the roughly hewn wooden table and chairs by the fire. "I like having students over to visit every now and again. Keeps things interesting. Sirius here said you lot might get a kick out of it. Summat different to do on a Friday after classes, anyway."

"Yes, it's nice," Remus said politely. "Thank you for having us."

James was gawking up at the bundles of animal hides and hairs strung up in crisscrossing patterns along the ceiling rafters in lieu of other decoration. "Wow, what are those?" he exclaimed. Remus followed James's gaze to a bright cluster of long orange feathers hanging above the fireplace. As Remus looked on, he thought he could see the feathers shift colors, flickering with red and yellow and taking on the iridescence of the flames below.

Hagrid, clutching a teakettle in one hand and a flowery apron in the other, turned and saw what had caught their interest. "Ah, griffin feathers," he said proudly. "Very rare. Yeh won't see 'em often because there are only a few griffins round these parts. Lucky if I find even five feathers a year on the forest floor."

"What do you use them for?" Peter asked in a small voice.

Hagrid put the kettle on in the giant fireplace. "Not much in Great Britain – wandmakers out here don't fancy 'em for wand cores right now. Not in style. But they're popular with wandmakers down south in Spain and Italy, so I trade 'em, mostly." He smiled up at the bundle of iridescent feathers. "Griffins are smart, elegant beasts, they are."

"You must find loads of interesting creatures in the forest," James said. "What else is out there besides griffins?"

Hagrid's entire bearded face lit up in an eager smile. "So, yer interested in magical creatures, then?" he asked James. "Interested in going out into the forest?"

"James is interested in anything forbidden," Sirius interjected smartly.

Hagrid's face fell a fraction of an inch. "Ah, right, well, it's too dangerous to be allowin' students in there, I guess that's true," he said ruefully as he turned back toward the whistling teakettle. "But I've always felt the teachers should let students go a little freer, if yeh know what I mean. Yeh need time to run about, be a kid. In my day, they used to allow a lot more to go on at Hogwarts."

"Oh really," James commented lightly.

Remus felt a rush of apprehension as he watched James and Sirius exchange a sharp glance behind Hagrid's back. A mischievous smile was spreading on Sirius's face, and James's hazel eyes were sparkling behind his glasses.

When Hagrid returned to the table with their mugs of tea and a plate of large biscuits that looked as hard as boulders, Sirius asked in a casual voice, "What sorts of things do you mean, Hagrid? Did students used to have more fun back then?"

"Oh, yeah," Hagrid chuckled, an air of reminiscence about him as he sipped his tea. "Yeh were always hearin' about so-and-so stealin' food from the kitchens or sneakin' off to Hogsmeade when they weren't supposed to. Guess it was a different time back then. I think Professor Dumbledore found it funny to tell yeh the truth, but once Professor McGonagall came on as Deputy Headmistress, well, she really cracked down. She looked and looked for weeks, but never found the secret passage that students were usin' to get to Hogsmeade. But I guess she scared them good enough that no one's really tried anything funny for years."

James and Sirius were kicking each other in excitement under the table, and one of their trainers accidentally caught Remus painfully on the shin. "Well, that's for the best," Remus forced out through gritted teeth, glaring pointedly across the table at his friends. "I bet it's not fun to get in trouble with Professor McGonagall."

Hagrid chuckled again. "Yer certainly right about that." He gestured to the pile of biscuits. "Have a cake, all of yeh, I made 'em myself."

Remus and Peter each selected the smallest biscuit they could find, but James and Sirius remained fixated on Hagrid. "Gee, I didn't realize students could get into the kitchens," Sirius said breezily. "I was thinking they must be underground below the Great Hall, for the food to appear on the tables like that."

"Yeah, I think so, too," Hagrid mused. "Never been down there myself, though. Back in my day, it was always the Hufflepuffs yeh heard about gettin' into the kitchens. Well-fed lot, they were. I reckon the entrance must've been around their common room or summat."

"Excellent!" James burst forth, grinning openly, unable to contain himself any longer.

Hagrid looked at him, confused. "What's excellent?"

But James was spared from coming up with an explanation as Peter interrupted from across the table with a yowl of pain, clutching his face. Blood was dribbling down from between his lips. He'd bitten straight into one of Hagrid's cakes without first dunking it into his tea to soften it, and had apparently lost a tooth.

"Blimey, we better get him to the Hospital Wing," James exclaimed, looking rather relieved. He leaped out of his chair, threw on his cloak, and ushered the rest of the boys toward the door, clapping Peter on the back. "Don't worry, Pete, I bet Madam Pomfrey can get that tooth right back in. This isn't the worst injury you've sustained this year, anyway. Remember that rebounded curse from Dueling Club last month?"

Hagrid followed them all the way down the steps, apologizing over and over and wringing his hands helplessly. Remus was sorry that Hagrid felt so bad for injuring a student, and so he hung back with the gamekeeper as the rest of his friends barreled across the lawn back toward the castle. "Don't worry, Hagrid," he said. "Peter will be fine and it wasn't your fault. You were really nice for asking us here."

Hagrid sniffed a little. "Yeh sure? Yer friends had fun, then?"

"Oh, yes," Remus reassured him dryly. "I'm very sure that they are extremely glad they came here today. That I can say for sure."

Hagrid blew his nose into a lace handkerchief he'd extracted from the pocket of his flowery apron. "Well, good. Yer welcome back anytime."

Author's Note: Hi all, I know it's been awhile - apologies. I've been busy moving to a new city, but I'm already working on the next chapter, so it should be a much shorter while before that's posted. I always love hearing from readers, so please drop me a review if you're so inclined! Thanks for reading!