AN: Oh! would you look at this! It's an update around two weeks of the last one! It's amazing! lol. I actually meant for this to get posted on Friday, but something was wrong, and I couldn't log in to post. I was quite distraught. Anyway, here is Chapter Ten . . . and chapter eleven has already been started!

disclaimer: As much as I want any and all, well, maybe not all,recognizable characters to be mine, they still aren't. 'Tis a shame . . .I know.

enjoi


Remus walked down the deserted hall, trying not to limp too much and trying to ignore the shooting pain in his left leg. It was around noon on Monday, and Madam Pomfrey had finally let him out of the Hospital Wing after he had been there for over a week. He had hoped that she would let him out before classes started, but he had no such luck. He already missed Transfiguration and double Herbology on top of all the classes he missed the previous week. At this rate, he would be happy if he managed to pass any of his classes by the end of the year. Currently, he was looking for his three friends, who normally were wandering around the halls causing some sort of trouble around this time of the day. As of yet, he had no luck in finding them at all.

"Remus?" he heard someone call behind him. He spun around, trying not to put too much pressure on his left leg. He smiled.

"Hi Athena. Hi Lily," he said, waiting for the two girls to catch up with him.

"How have you been?" Lily asked, pushing her red hair out of her eyes. "It's been over a week since anyone's seen you."

"Oh, I've been fine," he lied. He hated lying.

"Where have you been?" Athena asked.

"I've been back home," he lied again. "My mum fell really ill, and no one was sure if she was going to make it or not, so I went home . . . just in case. I mean, she's fine now, but . . ."

"Well, that's good," Athena said. "That she's fine now, I mean, not that she was sick in the first place."

"Mhmm," Lily said, looking at Remus rather suspiciously. "How were things at home?"

"Oh they were fine," he said. "Or as fine as they could have been, given the circumstances." He was more than aware that Lily didn't seem to believe him completely, and decided a change in subject was in order. "Have you seen James, Sirius, or Peter around lately?

Lily made a sound the resembled something like "Tkach", causing Athena to laugh. "I haven't seen them since the end of Herbology fifteen minutes ago," Athena said. "They ran off to do who knows what."

"They're probably trying to blow-up a toilet or something," Lily muttered. "Or terrorizing first years. Or both, at the same time."

"I don't care what they're doing," Athena said. "So long as they get it done, and James can concentrate on Quidditch again."

Lily shook her head. "That's all he ever thinks about," she said. "Pranks and quidditch. Quidditch and pranks. That's it. It's like he's got the mental capacity of a flobberworm."

"He's not that bad," Remus reasoned. "He's actually a pretty decent person."

"You keep telling me that, Remus," Lily argued as they rounded a corner. "And I still don't believe you. And you're going to keep telling me that, and I'm going to keep not believing you."

Remus laughed. "It's your opinion," he said, looking up. A very familiar person with shaggy black hair was about to turn the corner at the other end of the hall. "Speak of the devil," he said, before calling out, "OY!"

Of course, James didn't hear him. Remus sighed. "He's deaf, you know," he told Lily. He smiled mischevously as he pulled out his wand. "You don't mind, do you?" he asked as he aimed it at a point just above James's shoulder.

"By all means," Lily consented.

With a flick of his wrist, Remus shot red sparks over his friend's shoulder. James spun around, his wand out, ready to throw a hex. He lowered his wand at the site of Remus, Lily, and Athena at the other end of the hall and smiled. "Moony!" he called, before poking his head around the corner and yelled, "Padfoot! Pete! Moony's back!"

"Padfoot?" Remus questioned as James got closer.

He nodded. "New nickname."

"I got that, but 'Padfoot'?" he asked.

"Yup," James said. "Just go along with it."

"Okay," he mused. "And you've been Prongs, lately, right?" James nodded. "Is Pete going to be Henry VIII soon?"

"Nah, he's still Pete," James said, laughing. He ruffled his hair and turned his attention to Lily. "Good afternoon, Evans," he said regally.

Lily was saved the trouble of coming up with a witty retort (there were only so many responses she could come up with when he hit on her every other day, after all) by Sirius, who had finally come around the corner, and yelled "Moony!" Sirius charged down the hall and collided with Remus, wrapping his arms around him in a (literally) bone-crushing hug. Lily watched with concern as pain flashed across his face when he was set down by Sirius. His friends seemed to notice as well, but Remus was laughing, trying to shrug it off.

"Trying to kill me, are you?" he asked, jokingly.

"That was my intent, yes," Sirius responded lightly. "So why aren't you dead yet?"

Remus laughed again, and pretended to stagger dramatically, clutching his abdomen, as if he had just been shot. He bumped into a nearby suit of armor, which fell apart on contact. Remus froze, and started laughing harder. James flashed a grin and fixed it with a flick of his wand. Sirius threw his arm around Remus's shoulders and James did the same on the other side, and escorted him down the hall, still laughing and joking, with Peter walking alongside. Remus glanced back over his shoulders and waved at Lily and Athena who were still standing in the hall trying to make sense of what had happened.

"Well, he's certainly looking better," Athena admitted when the boys were gone. She turned to Lily, who was staring at the suit of armor as if it were trying to tell her something. "But you're concerned about something," she deduced.

"Yeah . . . I mean, I don't know," Lily mused. "Have you ever noticed that whenever Remus comes back from being gone, normally to his home, he always looks slightly ill, or hurt, or something?"

"What are you trying to say?" Athena asked. "Do you think he's got problems at home or something?"

"I don't know what I think," Lily answered, thinking of the look of pain that had flashed across Remus's face. "It's just . . . he's a good person. I don't want him to get hurt."

"Perfectly understandable," Athena said. "But, right now is not the time to worry about it. We can discuss possibilities of domestic violence in the Lupin household after we eat." Lily smiled slightly, but still seemed concerned. Athena sighed. She threw her arm out in front of her. "Come, let us go to yonder Great Hall and eat-eth to our hearts' content," she said dramatically, pressing her hand against her heart at the end for dramatic effect.

Sirius sat at the table and pushed his food around with his fork as he surveyed the Great Hall. "You know what?" he asked suddenly, breaking James and Remus out of their conversation about something Sirius hadn't been paying attention too.

"What?" James asked.

"I haven't snogged a girl since the term started," he said, looking concerned at the fact.

Remus snorted. "I haven't snogged a girl in fifteen years, Sirius," he said. "It's not a big deal."

"Yes, it is," Sirius said. "I need a girlfriend."

Peter looked up from his food. "Then go get one," he said. "It's not like it's hard for you."

"You've got a good point, Pete," Sirius mused. He stood up and looked around the Great Hall again, his eyes landing on a pretty fourth year down the table. "You will not see back here until I have a girlfriend." And with that, he left, no doubt to ask the aforementioned fourth year out.

James sighed when he was gone. "All right, gents," he said, pulling out a roll of parchment. "Betting on Sirius's Serious Relationships has begun. Mr. Moony, your bet?" he asked.

Remus grinned, and looked at the girl who was now flirting with Sirius down the table. "One week and four days," he said.

"That long?" James asked, as he wrote Remus's response. "I'm only going for a week."

Remus shrugged. "She's pretty. She'll hold his attention for over a week."

"All right," James said. "And Mr. Pettigrew?"

Pete chewed his lip thoughtfully. "Two weeks; three days," he said after a moment's thought.

"Really? Seems long for Sirius, don't you think?" James asked.

"Sirius hasn't kissed anyone in months," Peter reasoned. "She looks like she's a good kisser. She'll keep him interested."

James shrugged, and copied down Peter's answer. "The normal five galleons up for grabs all right for everyone?" he asked, getting nods in response. "All right. Same rules as always: Marauder closest to actual date of break up without going over gets the five galleons."

Ever since their third year, when it became apparent that Sirius had a knack with girls, and was often seen with at least two different girls each month, his three friends started to place wages on how long he and one girl could stay together. The winner got five galleons. Sirius, of course, had no idea that any of this was going on, and the other three intended on keeping it that way, which is why James buried his parchment in his bag when Sirius came back, holding hands with the fourth year he had been talking to minutes earlier. The girl was on the short side, and very skinny. She had long chestnut colored hair, and big brown eyes.

He grinned as he took his seat next to James, his new girlfriend sitting next to him. "Guys, this is Olivia Burns," he said. "Olivia, I assume you know James, Pete, and Remus?"

She gave a light tinkling laugh that nearly made James snort his pumpkin juice. "Oh yeah, I've seen you all around before," she said. She sounded like she was six.

Remus had the good graces to keep from laughing, unlike James, and politely said, "Pleasure to meet you, Olivia."

Over the next few days, unless class was in session, it was rare to see Olivia far from Sirius. She seemed to have rearranged her schedule so that she could meet up with Sirius in the corridors between classes. James learned to keep himself from laughing every time the girl spoke, but often joked about the girl's voice with Remus and Peter whenever Sirius wasn't around. James, Remus, and Peter also managed to adapt to having another person around at all times. Olivia's presence forced the boys to censor some of their conversations, particularly those concerning Remus and his furry problem. It wasn't long before Olivia came to the conclusion that most of Sirius's many girlfriends did: Remus owned a very poorly behaved pet. Olivia's presence around Sirius was so constant, that Lily was completely unsurprised to see the two of them walking down the hall together Thursday night when she trekked Sirius down.

After much debating with herself, and discussing her options with Athena, Lily finally decided that she should try to see what Remus's friends knew about what his home life was like. Lily normally didn't butt into people's business like she was doing with Remus's, but the experience she had with her friend when she was younger had taught her that matters like these only got worse when left alone. Confronting James was out of the question. She could probably get the answer from him if she tried hard enough, but she would probably have to kiss him in the process, and that was out of the question. Peter couldn't be pulled aside on his own. He clung to his friends like a leech. Which left . . .

"Sirius!" she called down the hall, spotting him hand-in-hand with Olivia about to round the corner.

Sirius stopped and turned around. He was surprised to see the red head quickly catch up to him. Lily had never paid any attention to him before, not that he cared. He didn't like her on the principle that she didn't like James. He raised his eyebrows in question as he thought It's at times like these that it would be nice to only raise one eyebrow like Moony does. I wonder how he does that . . .

"Could I have a word with you for a moment?" Lily asked in answer to Sirius's silent question. "Alone, preferably."Olivia opened her mouth to protest. She wasn't about to allow her recently-won boyfriend to be alone with another girl. "You don't need to worry, Olivia," Lily said before the younger girl could say anything. "I swore a long time ago that I would never date Potter or any of his cheeky mates, and that includes Sirius."

Sirius glanced between Lily and Olivia, who was now expecting him to tell Lily to leave. He sighed. If James found out he had been rude to Lily, he would never hear the end of it. Loyalty to his best friend came before loyalty to his girlfriend. "Why don't you go on up to the common room, Olivia?" he suggested finally. "I'll be up there in five minutes." Olivia looked put out by Sirius's request, but didn't argue. She gave Sirius a quick kiss on the cheek before she sauntered away, shooting a nasty glare at Lily as she left. Sirius turned back to Lily. "So, Evans, what can I help you with?" he asked casually, shoving his hands in his pocket.

"I've got a question for you," she replied.

Sirius grinned. "So, you've accepted the fact that I simply know everything, then?" he asked suavely.

"Er, no," Lily said shortly. "I wanted to ask you something about . . . about Remus." Sirius's eyes narrowed, but she continued quickly before he could say anything. "For as long as I can remember, whenever he comes back from wherever it is he goes practically every month, he looks terrible. He looks hurt. And he's been telling me lately that he's been home, and I don't mean to be nosy. It's just . . . is everything okay? At his home, I mean."

Sirius studied her for a minute. "It's none of your business," he said in a tone that settled the matter.

Of course, Lily was more persistent than most people, and Sirius's firm tone wasn't enough to deter her. "I'm worried about him, Sirius," she said firmly. "I just want to make sure everything's okay."

Sirius sighed. "Look, Evans," he said, lowering his voice so he wouldn't be overheard by people who were walking by. "I don't care that James thinks the world of you, and I could care less how you stumbled your way into Remus's good graces. It doesn't matter to me. What matters to me is that you seem to see yourself fit to dig around in his business. If Remus hasn't told you anything, then he doesn't want you to know. And it's going to stay that way. So keep out of our business."

"Sirius," Lily persisted. "I'm not trying to hurt him, and I'm not trying to be some nosy busy-body. I am genuinely worried. Is it wrong that I'm worried about him?"

"You don't need to worry about him," Sirius said. "We've got everything under control." Sirius didn't wait for Lily to argue again. Without even bothering to say goodbye, he walked straight past her and back to the common room where Olivia would be waiting for him.

Sirius didn't mention his conversation with Lily to Remus. Remus had enough on his mind without having to worry about the possibility of someone else discovering his secret. Several days after the conversation occurred, he did decide to tell James. They were walking back to the common room after serving a particularly mind-numbingly boring detention with Filch on Sunday night. "So I had a word with Evans the other day," he said nonchalantly.

James's attention perked at the mention of Lily's name. "What'd you talk about?" he asked quickly. "Did she mention me at all?"

"She didn't mention you," he said, "but she did mention something that concerns me . . . a lot."

"Wait, you can be concerned about something?" James asked, looking awed. "How come you never told me?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "It turns out she's reached her own conclusions about where Remus goes every month."

James stopped dead in his tracks. "She knows about –"

"I didn't say that," Sirius interrupted. "She asked me if everything was alright at his home. She seemed to think his parents hit him or something."

"That's ridiculous," James muttered, conveniently forgetting for the time that they had speculated the same situation before they had discovered Remus's secret.

"I know it is," Sirius responded. "But that's not the point. We need to make sure she doesn't keep nosing around. You'll keep an eye on her, right?" he asked, knowing well that James already watched Lily more than was normal or natural.

"Right," James said, distractedly. "I'm on her." Sirius laughed. "It!" James corrected himself quickly. "I'm on it."

"Well, whatever you're on," Sirius said, still grinning. "We've got other problems too."

James sighed. "What is it this time?"

"I looked through the ingredients on that potion," Sirius said. He didn't need to specify which potion; James knew he meant the one for their Anamagi project. He pulled a piece of parchment out of his pocket and handed it to James. "That's a list of all the ingredients for the potion that we don't have access too."

James studied the list. "How many of these can we get from Slughorn's private stores?"

"About half of it," Sirius said. "We can't send out for the rest of it, because Filch will search anything that comes from Diagon Alley, especially if it's addressed to us. A Knut for your thoughts?"

James chewed his bottom lip for a moment, thinking through all their options. He knew from experience that Filch searched mail addressed to them that came from Diagon Alley. He had gotten two dozen dungbombs confiscated two years ago because of Filch's searches. But, as far as he knew, Filch never searched anything that was addressed from family members. Slowly, a smile crept over his face. His parents would never send him anything like what they needed, but, with a little pleading, his brother would. "Jared," he said finally.

"Your brother?" Sirius asked.

"No, the other one," James said sarcastically. "He'll send us what we need."

"Are you sure?"

James nodded. "I'll have to beg and plead a little, but nothing I can't handle."

"Jared'll want to know what it's for, though," Sirius countered.

James shrugged. "We can always make something up," he said. "It's nothing we haven't done before. Or have you suddenly decided that you no longer want to lie?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Are you sure Jared will send it?"

"I am positive," James said.

"Okay," Sirius said, knowing that James wouldn't lie about Jared's reliability. "So, how do you suppose we get into Slughorn's private stores?"

James grinned again. "The usual," he said simply.

"Create a distraction, and break in?" Sirius said.

"Of course," James answered. "It's what we Marauders do best."

"We should get Remus to cause the distraction," Sirius said, as they got closer to the common room.

"Any particular reason why?"

"Because if either of us do anything, it'll be obvious that we're trying to steal something," he reasoned. "Teachers trust him. We need to use that to our advantage as much as possible."

"True, true . . . very true. Flibbergroit," James said when they reached the portrait hole.

No sooner than they clambered into the common room, Sirius's attention was drawn by a loud, and rather obnoxious squeal of: "SIRIUS!" Hardly a millisecond after that, Olivia had attached herself to Sirius's arm. James sighed heavily as Sirius and his conquest gave each other a completely nonverbal greeting and went to sit by Remus and Peter, both of whom looked sincerely thrilled that Sirius was back, and Olivia was gone.

"I don't where she got the idea," Remus muttered to James as he sat down, "that just because she and Sirius suck face constantly that she also gets to sit here and bother me about him when you two are off in detention."

James laughed. "She is a bit annoying, isn't she?"

"I don't know how Sirius puts up with her," Peter said. "She sounds like six, and she looks like she's ten."

"Are you implying that Sirius is a pedophile?" James asked just as Remus made the comment that ". . . her voice doesn't bother his, because they don't talk. All they do is snog."

"Hey, Moony," James said when their laughter died down. "Can I borrow some parchment?"

"Do you need my notes to?" he asked as he dug through his bag for some spare parchment. "I know you don't take any when I'm in class."

James shook his head. "I just need to write a letter to Jared," he said. "I need some supplies for something Sirius and I are planning."

"Which would be . . . ?" Remus questioned, handing the parchment over.

"Oh, just a few potion ingredients," James said nonchalantly. "Can I get a quill and some ink too? I haven't mastered writing without those yet."

"And those potion ingredients would be for . . . ?" Remus asked, pushing his quill and ink in James's direction.

"A potion," James said, trying to avoid the topic.

"For what?"

"For something dear old Padfoot and I are fixing up," James said, pretending to concentrate on his letter.

Remus sighed. "Will I know what these are for any time in the near future?" he asked.

"By Halloween," James said firmly. "At the latest."

Remus gave up. James was as stubborn as a mule; there was no way around it. He wouldn't deny that it didn't hurt to think that his friends were trying to keep something from him. The Marauders told each other everything, after all, but there wasn't much he could do about it. If James said he'd know by Halloween, which was incidently the night of the next full moon, then he would know by Halloween. He sighed and turned back to Peter who was looking to him for help with their Charms essay.

It wasn't until Wednesday night that Remus heard any more about James's and Sirius's secret plot. Remus flopped down on his bed. Being friends with James and Sirius could certainly be exhausting, and he hadn't even seen them since dinner. He just spent the last fifteen minutes convincing Filch that he had not been waiting outside the girls' bathroom on the third floor because he was keeping look-out for James and Sirius, but because some poor second year girl was sick, and he wanted to make sure the girl could make it down to the hospital wing all right. Filch was positive they, being Remus and his friends, were up to something, never mind the fact that James had been at Quidditch practice for the past hour and a half and Sirius was currently up in the Astronomy Tower with Olivia. Granted, Filch didn't know that that was where Sirius was, because he would have been up there and Sirius would have been in detention by now. The Astronomy Tower was forbidden territory, and thus the basis of its appeal to Sirius. Remus finally managed to escape Filch's office when the temperamental caretaker got word that a couple of third years had let off a half dozen dungbombs in the Charms corridor. Filch had left his office in a foul temper, swearing angrily under his breath and stating vehemently that Dumbledore should allow him to reinstate the use of thumbscrews.

Now Remus was safely in his dormitory, feeling as though he were a wet towel that had just been wrung dry. It was the common consensus that conversations with Filch could leave anyone feeling like that. He was trying not to think about the pile of homework he still had waiting for him, particularly a nasty essay for Thelen, who was still just barely passing his best work. He pressed his face further into his pillow when he felt two people sit down on either side of him.

"Not trying to smother yourself, are you?" James asked as he pulled the pillow out from underneath Remus.

"Not today," Remus said rolling over to face James and Sirius. "Maybe next week," he joked. He looked between his two friends for a moment before asking "What do you need?"

"We need a diversion," Sirius said. "And you're the only one of us that teachers still trust, so we figured you'd better do it."

Remus laughed. "When? Where? And why?" he asked grinning.

"Friday."

"In Potions."

"Because I couldn't get everything we need for out secret project from Jared."

"And we need to break into Slughorn's private stores to get the rest."

"Okay," Remus said slowly, brushing his light brown hair out of his face. "What kind of diversion?"

"Well," Sirius said, glancing quickly at James. "We were thinking that you could pretend to get sick."

"Or really get sick if your acting skills aren't up to it," James added. "Then make a miraculous recovery within ten minutes."

"No," Remus said firmly. "I will do anything but play sick."

"Why?" Sirius wanted to know.

"Because as soon as I even look like I'm sick, somebody is going to run off to get Pomfrey," he explained. "And I would probably end up spending the rest of my life in the Hospital Wing before I actually got sick and died."

Sirius was laughing, but James said, "Well, sometimes you need to take one for the team."

"Yes, the team that won't even tell me why they need said potion ingredients," Remus said sarcastically.

"What if we can guarantee that Pomfrey won't be informed of your fake illness?" Sirius asked.

"Not possible," Remus said. "That woman finds out about anything."

"She won't find out about this," Sirius said. "I swear."

Remus still looked like he would rather swallow knives. "Please," James added emphatically.

"Yeah, please," Sirius said, looking at Remus with what he thought was an adorable puppy-dog face.

I can't believe I'm going to do this, he thought to himself. "Fine," he reluctantly agreed. "But if Pomfrey does find out, you two will owe me so much."

James and Sirius both grinned. "Agreed," the said in unison.

For Remus, double Potions on Friday rolled around way too quickly for his liking. They had spent most of Thursday going over exactly what they wanted to happen in Potions. Everything from signals to jobs were appointed, and now there was nothing left to do but go through with the plans. Needless to say, Remus wasn't entirely convinced that Pomfrey wasn't going to find out and he hardly wanted to play ill in front of the entire class. It's amazing what people will do for friendship, Remus caught himself thinking when Slughorn started going over that day's lesson.

Halfway through the class, the room was filled with a variety of strong-smelling vapors, and one could hardly see across the room because of the thickness of the aforementioned vapors. Slughorn was now walking between tables, peering into the different cauldrons along the way. Occasionally he would make a comment or suggestion, but mostly he was silent, almost as if he were distracted by something else. James and Sirius kept shooting Remus furtive looks, which he desperately tried to avoid. He couldn't believe he was about to go through with this mad plan. He'd done a lot for his friends, and he typically didn't mind. But this! Merlin, if someone when to get Pomfrey (as he was sure someone would) he would never talk to them again. Slughorn was drawing nearer, and James and Sirius were still looking at him expectantly.

"You ready?" Sirius whispered.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Remus muttered under his breath in response. He was slightly grateful for the gnawing sensation in stomach; he was actually starting to feel ill.

Slughorn was now peering into James's cauldron, shaking his head dismally. He moved on to Sirius, making some comment about how the potion should be thicker, and then he moved on to Remus. Slughorn made a comment about Remus's potion, but Remus knew how to play the sick card well, and pretended he couldn't hear. "Sorry, Professor," he said hesitantly. "I didn't catch that."

Slughorn looked up into Remus's pale face. To anyone in the room, or at least anyone who didn't know better, it appeared that Remus was ill. His face was paler than normal, and (to his friends' astonishment) he seemed to have mustered a thin layer of sweat, almost as if he had a fever. "Are you feeling alright, lad?" Slughorn asked.

Remus blinked a few times, the same way he did when he had a headache before the full moon. "Oh, I'm fine, Professor," he said quietly. "It's just the fumes from the potions, I think." Remus started to sway slightly on his seat. It was hardly noticeable, and brilliantly acted. "I'm just getting a little light headed is all . . ." Remus muttered, letting his voice trail off. He blinked a few more times before rolling his eyes back and collapsing sideways off his chair and onto the ground in a dead faint. Or, at least, a fake dead faint.

"Remus!" Sirius cried, instantly leaping to his feet.

Peter and James were also on their feet quickly. "Somebody go get Madam Pomfrey!" Peter insisted loudly. On the floor, Remus suppressed a groan. So much for Pomfrey never finding out about this whole incident.

By now the entire class had turned around and focused their eyes on the back of the room where Remus was laying. Slughorn stood in front of Remus's cauldron, looking at the unconscious boy before him with bewilderment. James and Sirius exchanged a quick glance. Why was Slughorn just standing there? Any other teacher would have sent someone to fetch Madam Pomfrey by now and would at least be trying to revive the ill student. Well, Thelen wouldn't, especially if it was Remus who had fallen ill, but Thelen wasn't much of a teacher. Slughorn, on the other hand, wasn't a bad teacher, despite his blatant favoritism, but he seemed to have froze.

"Er, Proffesor?" Athena asked hesitantly from the front of the room. "Should I go get Madam Pomfrey?"

Athena's question seemed to bring Slughorn out of his daze and back to reality. "Yes, Miss Bryce," he said quickly, trying to act as though he had been on top of the situation the whole time. "Let her know that Mr. Lucas has fallen ill." Several of the Slytherins in the room snickered, and Sirius glanced over to see Snape glaring at them with a nasty sneer plastered across his face.

"Aren't you going to try and wake him up?" Sirius asked sharply when Athena had left. He let his voice rise slightly, to give the impression of a concerned friend. Really he was just trying to start more of a commotion so that James could slip away unnoticed.

"Yes, yes, of course, Sirius," Slughorn muttered, bending over Remus and pulling out his wand. Now the entire class was focused on the scene in the back of the class. Exchanging a significant, albeit quick, glance with James, Sirius leaned over, as if trying to get a closer look at his sick friend. James followed the suit, but bent over further so that he was completely hidden behind the table. Once he was safely out of sight, he quietly left the scene on his hands and knees, making his way to Slughorn's office.

Remus allowed Slughorn to gently roll him onto his back, telling himself the whole time to relax. He felt Slughorn's wand agaiinst his chest and heard the man loudly say "Ennervate." Had Remus not been pretending to be out cold at the time, he would have rolled his eyes. He had passed out; he hadn't been stunned. Honestly, what was the man thinking?

"Try elevating his feet," a girl from the front of the room suggested when that didn't work.

It took a great deal of self control not to laugh as he felt his feet get magically lifted into the air a good two feet off the ground. In fact, the only way he managed it all was repeating to himself over and over again that his dog had died. Of course, he realized soon after that that he didn't even own a dog. Relax, he told himself sternly. You're unconscious, so you need to act unconscious. You need to eat, sleep, and breathe unconsciousness. And where in the name of arse is James? Remus's train of thought was cut short when a ghastly sent was shoved under his nose, and he could only assume that Slughorn had brought out smelling salts in hopes to wake him. He checked the reflex to jerk back from the overwhelming odor, because he knew if he did, their whole plan would be blown.

Just when he thought he couldn't take anymore, he heard James saying "Come on, mate. Wake up." That, of course, was their predetermined signal for Remus to 'miraculously regain consciousness' as Sirius had put it.

Remus groaned slightly and let his eyes flutter open. Right above him was Slughorn, to his right was James and Sirius with Peter to his left, all three of them playing the part of overly-concerned friends quite well. "What . . . what happened?" he asked wearily as he struggled to sit up.

Sirius helped him to sit up properly as Slughorn said, "You passed out." Again, several Slytherins laughed, thinking that the idea of any Gryffindor passing out in the middle of class was hilarious.

Remus was about to say something more when the door to the dungeon was thrown open and Madam Pomfrey came bustling in, Athena right behind her. Whatever color that might have been in Remus's face was quickly drained. He had spent way too many weeks in the Hospital Wing under her watchful eye not to have a desire to stay away from her for the rest of the year. Of course, as soon as the healer saw Remus on the floor being supported by Sirius, she went into what Remus and James referred to as her 'mother hen mode'. In other words, she was completely overbearing. Pomfrey hadn't been in the room five seconds before she was crouching next to Remus, feeling for a pulse and checking his temperature.

"Madam Pomfrey," Remus insisted as she rested her hand across his forehead. "I'm fine. I really am. It was the fumes from the potions, or something. I'm fine now. Really."

Madam Pomfrey paid no heed to Remus's pleas, having grown used to listening him try and beg his way out of the Hospital Wing for years. She turned to Slughorn, who had stood up and was overseeing the whole situation. "He should really come up to the Hospital Wing," she told him. "Just to make sure."

"Of course," Slughorn said graciously. "By all means . . . whatever you think is necessary."

Madam Pomfrey stood up and helped Remus to his feet. Before he could even think of slipping away, she had fastened her hand around his upper arm in a vise-like grip and pulled him toward the door. Remus looked over his shoulder at his three friends in the back of the room. Sirius was trying to suppress laughter, and James wore a smirk across his face. Peter, at least, had the decency to look sympathetic, and gave a tiny shrug of his shoulders as he left. Before he was pulled out the door, he mouthed "You owe me," to his friends.

When the bell rang for the end of potions, James, Sirius, and Peter gathered up their things, and Remus's, and made a mad dash to the Hospital Wing, to bail Remus out. They walked through the double doors to find Remus seated at a bed just inside the door. His normally calm expression was marred by a very flustered one. Pomfrey was still bustling around, checking to make sure that Remus was absolutely fine.

"I told you," he insisted forcefully. "I'm fine. There's nothing wrong with me. I don't have a temperature. My heart rate is normal, as is my blood pressure. I haven't thrown up. I've been eating properly. My wounds from the last full moon are completely healed, and the next full moon is well over a week away. I bet the pH level in my blood is normal! So, please, can I go?"

Madam Pomfrey scrutinized him carefully. Finally, to everyone's amazement, she relented. "Go, but I don't want to see you back here til Halloween, you hear me?" Remus nodded emphatically, and met with his friends at the doors.

As soon as they were well away from the Hospital Wing, he turned to them. "What was it you said on Wednesday, Sirius?" he asked, raising one eyebrow. "'Pomfrey won't find out, I swear' or something along those lines, wasn't it?"

Sirius let out a bark like laugh and shrugged. "I lied," he said. "We planned on Pete insisting that someone fetch Pomfrey from the beginning. We just knew you'd never agree if we told you that."

Remus pretended to look shocked. "That hurts, Sirius," he said dramatically. He pressed both his hands against his heart. "That's a silver bullet straight through the heart, Padfoot. Straight through the heart."

James laughed. "Oh, come off it," he said. "We'll make it up to you."

Sirius nodded. "Hogsmeade trip tomorrow," he said. "We'll buy you lots of butterbeer."

"Chocolate," Peter corrected. "We'll buy him lots of chocolate."

"Your only saying that because you want to nick some off me," Remus said, enjoying their good mood.

"No," Peter protested. "I'd never do anything like that."

"Oh, of course not," James said.

"How could we have ever doubted you?" Sirius asked dramatically as they reached the Great Hall.

Their conversation was abruptly interrupted by a certain fourth year named Olivia who ran up to Sirius from across the Great Hall and threw her arms around him. "Oh, Sirius!" she moaned desperately. "I have had the worst day of my life."

"Oh, that's terrible," Sirius sympathized, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "What happened?"

She looked nervously at James, Remus, and Peter, none of whom were trying to look like they weren't paying attention. "Can we please talk about it somewhere else?" she asked, her eyes welling with tears. "Some place quiet and alone?"

"Of course," Sirius said. "Anything for you." Olivia wrapped her small hand around Sirius's wrist and pulled him back out into the hall, leaving the other three Marauders staring after them.

Remus shook his head. "He'll break up with her tomorrow in Hogsmeade," he said. "Mark my words."

James looked at him skeptically. "You sound confident."

"I am. I'll even put another five galleons up for grabs on my bet," he said. "He will dump her tomorrow."

James shook his head. "There's no way," he said. "You're on, Moony."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Sirius. October 24, 1974:

So, I'm sure you're all just busting at the seams to find out why I showed up in the Three Broomsticks in the middle of a date. No, we're not. You dumped Olivia . . . end of story-Remus. Whoa! How do you know? This is Moony, we're talking about, Padfoot. He knows everything . . . he's kinda' like Father Christmas-Prongs. You've got really lousy analogies, Prongs. Anyway, since you already know that I am an Olivia-free-zone, now, I suppose you want to know how it happened. No-Peter. Not particularly-Remus. We're not a bunch of girls, Padfoot. We don't sit around waiting to hear about what happened on you date. (Note to Moony: you should be using you nickname, mate. It's why you have one)-Prongs.Well, you know what? TOO BAD! (Just real quick . . . why are we bothering to write this down? We're only in the library . . . talking isn't forbidden. Isn't this a waste of ink? -Remus(MoonyNote to Moony: Quit being such a pessimist. Well, I am sure that future generations of Marauders would like to know precisely why I ditched Olivia like I did. Did it have anything to do with the fact that she sounds like a six-year old? -Peter. She does not. Maybe it's because she's clingy and wouldn't leave any of us alone. -Remus(Moony)Really? I was thinking more along the lines of she's ugly, a bad kisser, and she kept interrupting OFFICIAL Marauder business! I take it you guys never liked her, did you? I think I speak for all of us when I say: NO.-Remus(Moony)Okay, point taken. So I guess none of it really matters. She's gone, and there's no hope for a make-up snog . . . and she didn't snog that bad, James. She was just inexperienced. Anyway, I got rid of her because, as Prongs aptly put it, she interrupted Marauder business . . . even if it was just lunch. And dinner the night before. And breakfast last Monday. Don't forget when she tried to sit in on our diversion plotting session on Thursday. Oh, yeah. Well, it doesn't matter. We're through, and no doubt she is telling her little fourth year mates about what a terrible person I am, and I will have fourth years sending me nasty looks for the next two weeks. Have any of you ever noticed how when you break-up with a girl, all her friends suddenly hate you? Do they have some convention or something? You're supposed to be the Marauder expert on girls, not us. Especially not me -Peter Right. It doesn't matter. She's gone now . . . and things can go back to normal.

On the bright side (and forgive me as I gloat . . . I just can't resist), I WAS RIGHT! HA! I completely called the whole thing. In your eye, Prongs! -Moony.

What are you right about? And what do you mean, 'in your eye'?

Don't worry about it, Padfoot. It's nothing that concerns you-Prongs.


Final note:

Okay, you guys real quick poll. I need your opinions, seeing as how, in this matter, your opinions count quite a bit. So, do you, my faithful readers, prefer longer chapters with more time between updates (around a month or so), medium chapters with average time between updates (two and half to three weeks) or shorter chapters updated within two weeks? I can do any of them, I think. I want to know what you think about it.
As always, please forgive any spelling or gramatical errors.Your opinions and reviews are very much appreciated.

Delano