A/N: I'm back from the Land of the Dead, y'all! Have you missed me? *smiles hopefully* Uh, if you're still following my story, please give me a shout, yeah? Thanks so much and enjoy the story.

Warning(s): As usual, this hasn't been beta'd or ever checked for errors. Ugh, I'm so lazy! Also, I apologize for some inconsistencies you may find in this chapter… I must admit I wrote this whole chapter with varying states of consciousness… Please forgive XD

Disclaimer: Well, if you think I'm trying to be Jk Rowling… Yeah, I got nothing. None of the characters are mine. I just own the plot.

STARTOFCHAPTERSTARTOFCHAPTERSTARTOFCHAPTERSTARTOFCHAPTERSTARTOFCHAPTERSTARTOF

Chapter 11: Lost and Found

'Way too much sugar!' Remus thought to himself as he attempted to make himself more comfortable for about the thousandth time that night. He had been tossing and turning in his bed for hours, regretting with each passing moment, accepting Sirius' helping of chocolate after their run to the closed Honeydukes store that night and raid of the store's seller.

He looked at his bedside watch: 3:03am.

'Lovely.'

The sandy-blonde got up and stretched his arms, groaning as he contemplated a solution to his sleeplessness. He eased out the kinks and yawned, scratching himself as he considered going for a walk.

Swinging his leg off the four-poster, the werewolf pushed himself up-right and stood for a second or two, battling with the million and one options his hyperactive brain was throwing at him, and finally deciding visiting the loo would be the most logical choice.

Remus hardly noticed the little shuffling sounds coming from behind the bathroom door, but once he opened the door, he spied a little plump figure perched next to one of the toilets, tiny moaning sounds emitting from that direction.

"Peter?" Remus asked uncertainly, still rooted to his spot in confusion.

The little figure turned to face him and Peter's sickly green face was staring at him in distress. "Remus," he said in a small voice, looking frail and ill for the first time since Remus had met him. "Hi."

The longer Remus looked at Peter the clearer the picture before him. Remus could now see that Peter had been sick in the toilet and that he might even be in need of Remus' assistance. Hesitantly, with an odd sense of déjà vu, Remus walked up to his smaller friend and knelt down a few feet away from him.

"Do you need any help, Pete?" he asked kindly.

Peter groaned a little and shifted his weight about gingerly. "Too much sweets."

Remus couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Yeah, me too. Can't sleep."

Peter nodded, but the movement seemed to be taxing him since he turned a tad greener and turned away to be sick again in the toilet.

'I should rub his back like Mum would when I'm not well,' Remus thought, as he watched Peter spill the contents of his gut out and release little distressed moans. Quickly, before he changed his mind, Remus reached out and began making soothing circular motions on Peter's 'Lil Wizards' pajamas with his hand, holding his breath so that his over-sensitive sense of smell wouldn't make him feel sick too.

When Peter had flushed the toilet and wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve, Remus asked if he was feeling any better.

"A little," Peter mumbled.

"Want some water?" Remus asked, making to stand up. "I have a glass of water on my bedside."

Peter nodded and Remus got up to fetch the glass, leaving the poor lad to squirm uncomfortably on the cold-tiled floor of the bathroom.

The bedroom was a lot warmer and Remus made a mental note to grab Peter's comforter from his bed to warm him a little in case he stayed longer in the freezing boys' bathroom.

Remus did a quick hop to his bedside and stopped, staring at the lonely parcel beside his water glass. He wondered, for the trillionth time whether Sirius would like and appreciate the gift and the friendship behind it. What Remus hoped for, really, was just to make Sirius feel he was liked and valued as a friend at Hogwarts. He'd never met anyone who was treated badly by their family, even though he had read about such cases in his favourite books and watched them on Muggle Telly. It saddened Remus to see it laid out before him in real life, especially to one of his friends.

Remus was contemplating whether or not to move the gift to Sirius' bedside when he noticed there was a light coming from the curtain surrounding Sirius' four-poster. He hesitated but then stepped forward when his curiosity won over, tip-toeing quietly to see if the dark-haired boy was awake.

He was.

The curtain was open just a tiny fraction but Remus could see a halo of light emitting from Sirius' wand on the bed. Sirius was sitting up against the headboard, his head bent over a roll of parchment which he seemed to be writing on at an increasingly-angry pace. The wizard's brows were furrowed, and the soft light of his wand made it look like he was wearing very thick-framed glasses. His hand was racing across the parchment at a speed which was almost too fast for Remus, as he watched with increasing worry for his friend. Remus hesitated only for a moment before deciding announcing his presence was the best idea. He coughed.

Sirius' head shot up so fast, it reminded Remus of his last potion attempt, which had been bubbling softly and innocently when Remus had added the last ingredient. Unfortunately, Remus had chosen the wrong time to peer closely into his cauldron of another nasty-smelling glob, because at that very moment the potion had decided to fire a face-full of smelly substance into the werewolf's face so fast that he never would have had time to react and move away. Remus was sent, yet again to the infirmary and received a less-than-desired grade for his work that day.

"Lupin!" Sirius said a little too loudly, a mixture of fear and rage written on his face. "What is it? What do you want?"

Remus paled considerably and swallowed. Immediately, his mind started yelling, "Danger! Danger!" but Remus pressed on, keeping a safe distance between him and the aristocrat.

"Can't sleep either?" he ventured, sounding braver than he felt. "Doing homework?"

Sirius scowled. "I never do homework," he growled angrily, shoving his parchment behind his back quickly. "Why are you awake? It's"- he looked at his bedside clock- "Merlin's beard, it's past three in the morning!"

Remus nodded, hiding the gift behind his back. "Yeah, must have been the sweets we had," he chuckled. "Peter's having… stomach trouble in the loo."

It was to Remus' relief that Sirius' face relaxed quite considerably, and the ebony-haired boy shook his head. "Fun night, wasn't it?" he said grinning widely.

"Yeah," Remus nodded, remembering almost getting caught by the store owner three times as one by one the Marauders snuck around the sweet shop, pocketing what they wanted and leaving the right amount of money on the cash register. Remus himself was hyperventilating the whole time but was enjoying himself a lot more than he had expected he would. He managed to get three chocolate frogs, and leave some cash on the table to pay for it. "Um… so I just wanted to check that you were alright. I need to go back to Peter, though. Promised him I'd get him some water."

"Right," Sirius nodded, still eyeing Remus intently. "Got something for me?"

"W-what?" Remus was so shocked by Sirius' question that he almost dropped the gift behind him, but caught it between his fingers just in time. "What makes you say that?"

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Some water, Lupin," he said flatly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Don't you share with others, or is Pettigrew your favourite of the group now?"

The blush gracing his face made Remus feel so hot and uncomfortable that he forgot to be thankful Sirius didn't guess what he was truly hiding behind him. "Oh, oh yeah… hang on, I'll just..."

He backed up just enough to get out of his friend' vision range then hurried to his bed, stuffing the gift under his pillow, and poured a glass of water.

"Thanks, mate," Sirius said when Remus returned, muttering apologies, with his glass.

He waited for Sirius to finish, then retrieved the glass and poured it a second time for poor Peter in the bathroom, snatching up his comforter on the way.

The smaller boy had shifted it seemed from the toilet to the sink, clutching at the bowl so tightly his knuckled were white.

"Sorry, Pete," Remus hurried to say upon seeing Peter in that state, and rushed to hand over his glass and throw the bed comforter over his shoulders. "Got distracted. Sirius is up too."

He watched as Peter downed his drink in one gulp and moaned pitifully, his eyes screwed shut. At this point, Remus had no idea what else to do but to resume rubbing his friend's back and asking him again if he was feeling any less pain.

"I think so," Peter said, trying to balance himself on his unsteady feet. "Just really tired."

They stood for about twenty minutes before Peter surprised Remus with an unlikely question.

"Remus? Do you think… do you think James and Sirius like my-my company at all?" the small boy asked quietly.

Remus stilled his hand and thought of all the times the four of them had hung out together as a group. The thought of Sirius and James caring for anything other than mischief was… well, laughable to say the least, and Remus wondered why he found himself caring about what they thought of him because they seemed to be so hung up with what they're doing at the time to be paying Remus much attention.

"Of course," Remus said finally, nodding his head. "James and Sirius… They wouldn't have invited you to the group if they didn't like you around. I'm sure they enjoy your company."

Peter was quiet for a whole minute, the only sound Remus could hear was their breathing until the smaller boy once again broke the silence.

"I have something to tell you, Remus," he said in a very small voice, which made Remus frown a little.

"Y-yes?" Remus said, trying his hardest not to show how nervous he was feeling at his friend's nerve-wracking sudden behavior.

"I… I used to think you were dangerous. Before-um…"

Remus felt his heart stop completely. 'Dangerous?'

"I was on the platform with my mum," Peter said, his eyes firmly on the floor, hands gripping the sink tightly. "Just waiting to get on… She grabbed me by the arm and pointed you and your family out to me. She said you're dangerous and that I had to stay away from you at all costs. That's-that's why I acted very nervous around you for a while when we met."

Remus couldn't think. He couldn't breathe. He listened intently, trying to find anything -anything- in his smaller friend's words to disprove his own theory that someone out there knew of his lycanthropy.

Peter shook his head and finally made eye-contact with the werewolf, looking more abashed than ever. "For a while I listened to her. But I don't see anything dangerous about you, Remus. Nothing at all. You're-you're very nice to me and everyone else… I don't believe what my mum told me; I don't believe you're dangerous."

It took an exceedingly long time for the words to sink in. Remus was having a heart-attack, he knew it. The words just wouldn't register. 'His mum knows, she knows. But Pete doesn't believe her?'

Finally, he found his voice and some of his courage. "Uh-thanks…" he croaked. "I don't think you're dangerous either." 'What?!'

"What?" said a confused-looking Peter, wiping his eyes with the back of his hands.

Remus shook his head quickly and backtracked. "I-I mean you're a very nice friend too. Thanks for-for not believing that I'm dangerous." He tried a smile, but it didn't feel genuine so he settled for a blank look.

Peter smiled. "We're friends, right?"

Remus sighed. "Of course."

"Best friends?"

That caught Remus off guard and he hesitated. 'He's going to hate me when he-No! He won't find out. But he might, and if he does it will be too late anyway…'

Meanwhile, Remus noticed how squirmy Peter was getting as the seconds dragged in silence. The werewolf finally grinned lightly at his uncomfortable friend, feeling a twinge of guilt for Peter. He was sure Peter wouldn't want to be his friend if he knew of his problem… But Peter needed a close friend, just as James and Sirius had each other. Peter was quiet and seemed to be quite fearful of their Pureblood friends. It would be nice if he had a friend he could talk to easily.

"Yeah," Remus answered confidently, linking his arm around the mousy boy's shoulders. "Best friends, you and me."

Peter's eyes grew impossibly wide and he stuttered. "R-Really? Wow, thanks, Remus. Best friends."

The grin on Remus' face came naturally this time, so did the little warm sensation in his chest.

"Want me to help you clean up?" he asked, indicating the little mess on his friend's shirt. "Or would you prefer to shower?"

Peter's face fell as he looked down to the little spot of sick on his front and groaned. "Brilliant."

"I know a spell!" Remus assured him quickly. "Um- don't have my wand though."

"Got mine here," Peter muttered, holding his up as he attempted to wipe his face with water.

"Right, so the spell is simple: 'Scourgify.' Just wave your hand in the shape of an 's' and…"

The smaller wizard turned the tap off and pointed his wand at his shirt, doing as Remus instructed him. The next moment he was standing there with a clean pair of 'Lil Wizards' pajamas, smiling at his new-found best friend as Remus looked on with pride.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

It looked harmless enough. The furry creature was pink, cute and round, gazing innocently up at the werewolf with beady little eyes. There was just one problem.

"I don't think he likes me, Peter."
"Oh, I don't know about that, Remus," chuckled a watchful Sirius from the staircase, who had his arm around a sniggering James. "I think he's very interested in you, he definitely wants to give you little, Puffskein kisses!"

Remus scowled at his friends and held Peter's pet farther away from his face. The smaller boy had requested Remus to hold onto little Dinx while he rummaged through his school bag to make sure he had remembered to pack his Herbology textbook, and the two dark-haired Marauders were finding Remus' discomfort with Dinx absolutely funny and entertaining. They had stopped in front of the staircase leading down to the ground floor to tease Remus and watch as the puffskein attempted to nip at the boy's nose in earnest. It was the fourth period of the day, and Remus had thought it was going exceptionally well… until Peter began to doubt his memory and insisted they stop after every lesson to make sure he had all his books for the remainder of the day.

All the other students were staring now, and most of the girls were cooing and pointing at Remus and the Puffskein. The best Remus could hope for was that everyone pay more attention to the little ball of fur in his hands rather than his obvious discomfort. He wasn't sure what made his nose a target for the puffskein; although James had mentioned that puffskein usually liked to stick their tongues up people's nostrils, Remus was fairly certain Peter's pet was more interested in biting it off all together rather than tasting it first.

"Have you found it yet, Peter?" Remus tried his best to sound patient, but it seemed the shorter eleven-year-old was taking ages to find a fairly large textbook. "My arms are getting a bit tired holding up Dinx."

"You're going to miss class, Remus!" called the angry but anxious voice of Lily Evans from somewhere down the stairs. "Is he still-?"
"Just use the 'accio' spell," another, less familiar voice called from the same direction as Lily's. "You'll find it faster."

Glad for an excuse to be rid of the creature now making wet, sloppy noises, Remus handed Peter the puffskein and reached for his wand, focusing on the Herbology textbook in his mind's eye, and ignoring James and Sirius' cries of "Let him bite you!"

The book came racing towards them within less than thirty seconds, and Remus caught it. He handed it over to Peter and urged him forward. James and Sirius may be alright with tardiness, but Remus was not one to miss the beginning of any class- especially not with his increased distractibility.

They ran past Lily and a girl with blonde hair, whose name Remus remembered was Alice, and together they raced to the Hogwarts grounds, towards the green houses. They made it just the teacher was asking them to pair up for a class exercise. Naturally, Remus would've picked Lily, but it appeared that she had found a partner in Alice, and they both looked happy with each other. Instead, the sandy-blonde turned to Peter and cringed when he spotted Dinx again.

A loud CRASH! made Remus look around and his eyes fell on a scared-looking Hufflepuff girl with short pig-tails who was staring at the floor next to her. Unsurprisingly, James and Sirius started chortling in no time, thumping the table in front of them and wiping tears from their eyes.

"Mr. Potter! Mr. Black! Seize the laughter right away," yelled Professor Plains, rushing to the crying Hufflepuff and righting the fallen pot.

Remus shook his head in disbelieve and set down his school bag on the floor next to Peter's. "Alright, Pete?"

Peter nodded and grinned shyly at Remus, as if they were sharing a private joke.

Just as Professor Plains had taken her place back at the front of the class, Remus felt a small tap on his shoulder and turned.

A bespectacled, bushy-haired girl waved excitedly at him, eyes round with anticipation, and leaned in whispering, "Want to be my partner?"

He stared back at his friend Sybill and immediately started feeling his mind working over-time. The first question that popped into his head was 'Does she not see me here with Peter?' The second was 'How do I tell her I already have a partner, gently?'

During the little battle in his mind he watched as Sybill's expression shifted from excited to hopeful to dejected, all in a matter of seconds. He smiled apologetically and decided to break it to her straight away without delay. He thought quickly.

"Sorry, Sybill, Peter and I are already paired up. But that Hufflepuff girl looks partner-less, why don't you join her?"

Without looking at where Remus was pointing her towards, Sybill nodded mutely and walked off, shoulders slumped and head bent, clutching her books to her chest possessively.

Peter whispered in Remus' ear. "I don't think she knows you meant the girl in the pig-tails, Remus."

Remus made a noise of agreement in his throat and looked away from Sybill's retreating back. He frowned. "I wonder if there was a way I could've told her without upsetting her," he said sadly.

As it turns out, Remus did find out, and the answer presented itself in the form of none other than Lily Evans herself.

When Peter had stopped, for the tenth time that day, to check his bag for all his textbooks, Remus excused himself to the bathroom and promised to meet Peter in the Potions classroom afterwards. To his great surprise however, Remus' path was blocked by a fuming Lily who had her hands on her hips, jaws clenched so tightly it looked as if she were attempting to bite her teeth out, and her bright green eyes flashing dangerously. For a moment Remus thought his friend was going to ask for James or Sirius, as she was always yelling at them for one thing or other. But she kept her intensely-angry gaze focused squarely at him, and Remus realized he was definitely in trouble.

"Um…"

"I can understand your need to –or should I say, insistence- on spending time with your dorm-mates and making sure they're alright from time to time. But what I don't get is that you require to resort yourself to stooping so low to their level and start behaving like them! Remus, I'm surprised at you!"

"Sor-"

"-I thought you were better than this, Remus! Sybill is your friend, and you don't even care to look out for her. Is it so difficult to maybe offer to be her partner just once in your life, Remus?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I realize she was upset but-"

"-But what?

"But Peter and I had already paired up. I'm sorry if I hurt her feelings but I couldn't just leave Peter alone."

Lily's eyes softened only a little at that and she hitched her bag higher up her shoulder, pursing her tight lips together. "Maybe you should've offered to partner up with her next time," she suggested sternly.

Remus sighed. So that's what he could've said to the upset girl!

"I'm sorry," he repeated shaking his head. "I wasn't sure how-I-I mean it didn't occur to me to say that. I feel like such an idiot."

He shook his head again, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration and squeezing his eyes closed.

He heard Lily's voice reach him from far away as he felt the bubbling guilt rise up his chest rapidly take form. "You're not an idiot, but you do need to apologize to her. She's absolutely gutted by what happened this morning."

He let go of his nose and opened his eyes to see a slightly concerned-looking lily look back at him.

"Is it normal to upset a friend?" he asked in a small voice, feeling his heart beat in time with the blood pounding in his ears- he couldn't fight off the feelings of guilt and shame threatening to overwhelm him.

Lily's expression softened even further and Remus took refuge in her kind eyes. She spoke with a gentle kind of sternness in her voice, gazing at him so intently Remus had the impression of being scolded by an eleven-year-old mother figure. "It's normal but not nice. It's not something you repeat over and over again although sometimes it can't be helped."

Remus blinked. 'Normal but not nice?'

"OK," he said dumbly.

Lily looked at him for a moment longer, her intelligent, green eyes scrutinizing him closely as they considered each other, then she spoke, as if speaking to her friend again, not an ill-mannered child of five years. "We need to get to class."

And they set off, Remus completely forgetting his initial need to visit the boys' loo.

A few hours later found the young werewolf in the Great Hall during lunch, begging forgiveness from Sybill and inviting her to sit with him during their next D.A.D.A lesson. Remus' insecurities grew as he watched her nod sadly with every word he said then offer him a small smile of appreciation. He wondered if he was, yet again, doing something wrong when Sirius' voice interrupted them from Remus' left.

"Pass the sauce, will you, Remus?"

Without glancing in his direction once, Remus reached over and handed Sirius the raspberry sauce, his eyes still trained on Sybill. He sighed softly.

"Remus, can you pass the pumpkin juice?"

The young werewolf bit hard on his tongue to stop himself from retorting to Sirius' second interruption, and extended his arm to the jug of juice. Just as his fingers closed on the handle, Sirius cleared his throat.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Remus turned to face his friend, his mind screaming in annoyance. "Yes?"

Sirius' face was impassive, but when he leaned in close to Remus he lowered his voice and spoke almost in a whisper. "My advice is to just ignore her when she's in this mood, mate. It won't be much good if you keep badgering her."

The irritation Remus felt in his stomach was growing with every word, and he feared he would say something undignified soon. To avoid this, he turned away from Sirius and addressed Sybill again.

"Would you like to study with me and Lily this afternoon, Sybill?" he asked kindly, wishing she would at least attempt to look a little cheerful, and that Sirius would leave him alone just for the moment. "We wouldn't mind if you wanted to, it's much more fun with three people anyway."

Much to Remus' horror, Sybill's shoulders started shaking with quiet sobs and a moment later she was gone. Before Remus could form a coherent thought over the whole exchange, Sirius tapped the werewolf on the shoulder and leaned in once again to whisper to him.

"Bad move, mate. Would've gone with a cheerful invitation to the first Quidditch game instead."

Too shocked to feel annoyed by Sirius' nonchalance, Remus just stared open-mouthed at the Great Hall doors, through which the distressed Sybill Trelawney had just rushed out.

"Lily's going to kill me."

For the next few hours, Remus avoided eye-contact with both Lily and Sybill by sitting next to Peter in every lesson and determinately taking extra care to take useful notes during class. He could almost feel Lily's glare at the back of his head when he hurried along the corridors with Peter to their next class, and didn't even stop to check when he was certain he heard Lily's voice call his name from behind.

Finally, at dinner, Lily found a terrified Remus sitting exceedingly low on his seat, attempting to hide behind an unsuspecting James at the Gryffindor Table. She crossed her arms over her chest when she spotted him, and he flinched.

"What happened, Remus?" she asked calmly and with a surprisingly cool expression.

Remus' mind played him a thousand and one different scenarios of what would happen if he decided to answer the red-head honestly; none of them appealed to him.

"I panicked," he said quickly, returning to his half-empty plate at hand and pointedly ignoring James' questioning looks.

"What do you mean by that, Remus?" Lily asked, sounding slightly impatient. "What did you say to Sybill that made her even more upset than before?"

'So she doesn't know,' he thought with a small sigh of relief. 'Maybe I can make it sound harmless enough that she won't think to get too mad at me.'

"Um well…" he turned towards her hesitantly- she had a relatively calm expression on her face, but her sharp gaze gave away her true emotion. "I may have invited her to our study sessions but I… I truly don't know why I upset her so much. Maybe I said it wrong or-or something… I'm sorry, I'm not-I-I don't really understand what I did wrong." He met her gaze steadily but he felt small. He felt tiny in this massive room full of people, talking to this very intelligent girl who knew about friendship and communication…

Remus was still waiting for Lily to reply when James spoke. "Sybill is still upset?"
Lily's green eyes flickered to James and Remus jumped at the opportunity to look away. He faced his dinner as he heard Lily ask James if he could give her his seat.

"Why?!" James asked in an astonished voice. "Can't you see Remus isn't exactly thrilled to see you? He'd rather eat with his friends, right Remus?"

Remus paled, keeping his eyes stubbornly down on his last few spoonful's of shepherd's pie.

He heard Lily's now shrill voice say, "Oh, and you would know this, wouldn't you, Potter? Because you're one of his friends, am I right?"

James was quick to reply, "Yes, as a matter of fact I am one of his friends!"

"I envy you your fantasy world, Potter! Friends don't treat each other the way you treat him; get over yourself."

"You're right, Evans. Friends don't treat each other that way, but best friends do!"

Lily's harsh laugh could've cut through glass. "Don't flatter yourself!" she said coldly, and stalked off towards the doors, leaving Remus in an even worse state than before.

He barely heard James when the messy-haired boy tried to reassure him of something to which Remus only half-listened. The werewolf caught words like "delusional," "best mates" and "Mini McGonagall" during the mostly one-sided conversation, but his mind was focused on Lily's last words. Slowly but surely, his mind was creating an orbit of negative thoughts, with Lily's words as the centre of the solar

system; he was spinning and spinning, critisising himself and not really getting anywhere…

The day didn't get much better from that point on. Lily was ignoring him for the most part, and when she wasn't, she was shooting daggers at Remus with her dangerous pair of green orbs. He sought refuge with Peter when he could, but James and Sirius were insisting on badgering Remus with questions about the incident with Lily, so all he could manage was a shrug and a hopeless grin whenever that happened- and that happened all the time.

Sybill wasn't being very helpful either, in Remus' opinion. She was sulking and pouting every time Remus sneaked a glance at her, and when the young werewolf tried to approach her in the Common Room at the end of the night she began to shed tears. This left Remus at a complete loss for words. Gaping stupidly at her, Remus felt his brain freeze in horror and confusion, wishing for once that his mum could be there to offer him advice about girls.

He didn't notice when Sybill disappeared through the girls' dorms. When he shook himself out of his daze, minutes later, Remus was left alone in the Gryffindor Common Room, watching someone's cat lick itself lazily in front of the fireplace.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Despite everything he's learnt over the years about himself and his A.D.D, Remus was quite positive he was a master at hyperfocus. He could dwell and dwell thoroughly on his mistakes for days -weeks even- without noticing time pass him by. And before he knew it, Remus Lupin had gone through three weeks of auto-pilot mode, regretting his last words to his friend and trying to find a way to fix his less-than-desirable situation. He found himself staring at his book one evening in the library when he felt a hand shake him vigorously by the arm.

"Happy Halloween, Remus!"

The owner of the hand was dressed in a badly-designed, blue fish-head costume which smelt of rotting garbage, and looked as if it'd been chewed on by Lumos one too many times. The head went down to the person's elbows so that the shirt underneath was visible if and when the person raised their arms. Remus stared.

"Sirius?" he asked, spotting his friend's favourite black t-shirt from underneath the costume.

"How'd you guess?" Sirius asked, sounding both impressed and disappointed. "Is my voice a give-away?"

The smile Remus felt tugging at his lips came before he could stop himself. "Not really," he responded. "But everyone can see what you're wearing under that smelly fish-head."

The fish-head moved and Sirius' beaming face appeared before Remus. "It's a shark, actually. But you're right- it does smell. Got a spell for that?"

"Why are you going as a shark?" Remus said, pulling out his wand and muttering a smell-vanishing spell he'd seen his dad use once. "Wouldn't you rather be some magical creature, like a kelpie or something?"

Sirius laughed. "I think Pete's going as a kelpie. I prefer Muggle creatures, though. They're really fascinating! Like, they're not magical at all yet they're really strong and fast- it's bloody amazing."

"I think it's called "adaptation," Sirius," Remus said, laughing a little at his friend's obvious keen interest

in all-things-Muggle. "All animals need qualities and characteristics that will help them survive in the world- otherwise they'd all be extinct."

"Well, it's good to see you smiling and laughing in any case," Sirius chortled, resting his free hand on Remus' shoulder. "It's good to have you back, mate."

"Wha-? What do you mean-?"

"-Well you were out of it for weeks, Remus," Sirius cut him off, his tone suddenly growing more serious. "You were hardly looking at any one of us, let alone smiling or laughing at any of our jokes. You had Pete worried, you little half-wit."

Remus' face flushed with heat and he tried to hide his face, looking back down at- 'What book was I reading, again?'

"You coming to the party then, Remus?" Sirius asked, his tone regaining most of its teasing quality. "Or do I have to ask Evans to drag you there? I'm sure she wouldn't object to that, although I could always do it too. It's not a problem."

The book between Remus' hands was losing its novelty with every word he read. Sirius' voice was piercing through his brain and was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore despite Remus' increased efforts to do so. The world was against Remus and it just wasn't fair!

"I'll go," Remus said quietly, not looking at his shark-head friend. "Don't wait for me."

"Well that's no way to treat a friend, is it, Remus?"

That wasn't Sirius Black's voice. It was female. Curious, the young sandy-haired boy looked up from his large textbook to the source. Lily Evans smiled at him.

"Hello, Remus."

"H-hello," Remus stuttered, unsure of what to say next. 'Well you've been avoiding her for almost a month, you silly boy! Of course this would feel extremely awkward.'

"Sirius was inviting you to go along with him," said Lily, walking up to a frozen Remus. "I would take him on his offer."

Strange. Lily was smiling and acting civil with him. What was even stranger to Remus was that she was tolerating and defending Sirius. Sirius, on his part, was just standing there, grinning for all the world as if he and the red-haired lass were the best of friends. Remus had no idea what to make of this situation.

"Am I dreaming?" the sandy-blonde asked no one in particular, looking back and forth between his two friends. "Why are you two not at each other's throats right now?"

It was Sirius who answered him, scowling ever so slightly. "We're not entirely sure… but we had to do something to get you back to this world. Just to be clear though"- he turned to Lily- "I never agreed to do this along side you, Evans."

Lily's smile was brighter than that morning's sun rays. "I know. But thanks for doing this for Remus."

She walked forward and gently tugged on the still-slightly-stunned Remus and coaxed him into standing up. Together, the three of them gathered Remus' things and cleared them off the table, heading for the door of the library.

They didn't walk in silence, but Remus was not listening to what Lily and Sirius were saying. His mind, as always, had its own preferred line of thinking, and Remus began to lose himself in his own thinking. Before long, they had reached the Gryffindor Common Room and Remus was being dragged up to the boys' first year dorm. He was still a bit dazed when Sirius opened the door and they saw a giant key standing in the middle of the room right next to what seemed to be an equally-large mushroom.

"Wha-"

"REMUS! About time, mate!"
The giant key was talking and it was facing Remus. Suddenly, the teeth were unscrewed and James' flushed face appeared from behind it.

"We didn't know what you'd like to go as," James said excitedly, "But we got you this from Zonko's," he finished, lifting up a bag in his right hand for Remus to see.

Smiling ever so slightly, Remus took the bag from James and peered inside.

"Try it on!" James urged, and Remus pulled out a blue and white striped buttoned top.

"Pajamas?" Remus asked, horrified.

"Yeah!" James said excitedly, grinning from ear to ear. "It's a joke, see?"

"No," an unimpressed Remus stated. "No, I don't."

From somewhere near the beds, there was the sound of obvious laughter and Remus saw Sirius' shark head bobbing as the laughter continued, getting more and more high-pitched.

Remus frowned. "Is this a prank?" he asked, folding his arms across his chest and looking from James' slowly falling eager expression, to Sirius' shaking shark custom, expectantly. "I'm not going in pajamas, James."

"Aw, c'mon, mate!" James pouted, clearly expecting Remus' reaction to be enthusiasm. "It suits your… your… uh laid-back demeanor."

'My laid-back demeanor? What planet is he from?'

He handed James the striped pajamas. "Look, I said I'm not going in that and I meant it. Either I wear something else or I don't go at all."

The mushroom walked forward then, the head bobbing up and down like a jellyfish from the movement. "You could go as a sailor," it said in Peter's voice. "Sailors wear striped shirts. Don't they, James?"

And James, jumping at the opportunity to have an ally, let out a triumphant "YES!" pointing a victorious finger at Peter and grinning more broadly than ever at a slightly startled Remus. "Yes! See, Remus? You could still wear these pajamas for the party tonight… but as a slyer's outfit. Brilliant, Pete, thank you."

Meanwhile, Sirius leapt off the bed he was lounging on (Remus' hyperactive mind wondered if it was his own) and approached the three roommates in the centre of the room, lifting his fish fins and extending them as if to embrace his friends. "It's settled then," he announced brightly, as Remus groaned softly. "Time to get ready, Remus. We'll meet you at the party, yeah?"

And they left.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"You look absolutely ridiculous."

"It's your painful honesty that I love most about you, Lily Evans."

"Well maybe it would teach you not to walk out on Sybill when she depended on you."

The glass of butterbeer in Remus' hand shook slightly as he raised it to his lips and took a sip. "You still mad at me for that, Lily?"
Instead of verbally answering, the Disney princess Lily jerked her head somewhere over Remus' shoulder, her eyes a sad pair of green orbs under her curtain of red.

Looking over to where Lily was indicating, Remus spotted Sybill Trelawney across the dance floor, wearing a pretty turquoise, knee-length dress. But that wasn't what caught Remus' eye; it was the fact that she looked… almost scared. Hunched over herself and clutching her butterbeer glass so tightly it looked like she was attempting to break it, Sybill was a fish out of water, and immediately Remus' heart clenched for his friend. He glanced once at his red-haired friend, who smiled sadly and gently pried his glass from his vice-like grip, and nodded, leaving the drinks' table to make his way over to Sybill.

As he got nearer and nearer, his mind did a quick recap of what happened a little less than a month ago, and his inner world was, for the moment, a television screen of past events. He got close enough to her that she noticed him and her expression changed. She looked… hopeful.

"Can I have this dance?" he asked when he reached her side, as soon as the question formed in his mind. Remus laughed privately to himself, remembering some cheesy movie he's seen on the Telly with his mum once wherein the man was too shy to ask his love interest for a dance.

Sybill seemed somewhat taken back bust she replied, smiling a little, "I-I can't dance."

Remus extended his hand as he'd seen in the movies, and grinned in the most impish manner he could ever manage. "I can't dance either."

The expression on Sybill's features shifted again, and then she was smiling as brightly as the first day of term, when they met in the very hall they were in now. She extended her hand and put it in Remus', her huge brown eyes never leaving his face, and Remus tugged her to the centre of the dance floor.

"Let's see if we can't manage to learn a few steps," Remus said, still grinning in what he imagined was a handsome smirk. "I'll start." When he looked to his right he noticed how the person was moving their legs, and he tried that.

"What is that?" Sybill giggled, watching Remus as he attempted a complicated move involving both his feet and arms, and failing miserably. "That's not how he's doing it!"

"Oh, yeah?" Remus asked, pausing for a second to mock-glare at her. "How does it go, then?"

Sybill lifted her arms and began moving them around in a circular fashion, her eyes straight ahead. Her legs followed and she was looking like a tornado amidst a sea of students. Remus laughed.

"I doubt you're any better at this than I am!"

He started to imitate her motion and Remus could only imagine what they looked like to everyone else. But he was having too much fun to care, and as he danced with his friend in the pretty dress, Remus never once worried about appearance.

When the music changed to a slow beat and a loud applause sounded, Remus and Sybill stopped to catch their breath, laughing and clutching their sides.

"Oh, I love this song!" Sybill exclaimed, when the applause died down and the new song could be heard. "Dance with me, Remus," she implored, reaching for Remus' hands and placing them on her waists.

Blushing only slightly and thinking of all the times he'd seen couples in movies do the same when dancing with their romantic partners, Remus obliged and began imitating the movements of the all the couples around them, shifting from one foot to the other awkwardly.

After a minute of silent dancing, Sybill's eyes locking with his sweetly, Remus decided it was time to apologize and set things right with his friend.

"I'm sorry for being an idiot, Sybill," he said, smiling apologetically and holding her gaze. "I know I'm such a lousy friend and… and I'm sorry I acted the way I did, refusing to partner with you and all. It's just that I've had a friend before you and Lily so-" He stopped himself. A scolding voice began in his head sounding a lot like his father's gentle tones warning him not to give excuses for his behavior.

"It's alright," smiled Sybill, relieving him of his discomfort. "You made up for it by your horrible dancing."
"MY horrible dancing?" Remus challenged playfully. "Oh, and I assume you were just pretending to be a lousy dancer?"

"I am not lousy!"

The pinch to his arm might have been only half in jest, but Remus took it as a sign of forgiveness. He enjoyed the rest of the night with Sybill and not once let a negative thought cross his mind.

When Sybill finally announced that she was going to bed, Remus was feeling like he'd gained a friend back and more, hugging her close and smiling like a fool. Sybill let go, flashing one of her brilliant, toothy grins at him and skipped out the Great Hall, her bushy, brown hair bouncing behind her.

"To tell you the truth, I was a tiny bit jealous by the way you were enjoying yourself with her tonight. I was feeling a bit left out."
Remus didn't have to turn around to know it was Lily behind him and he merely shrugged his shoulders, crossing his arms as he watched the last trace of his dancing partner disappear through the door.

"Well," Lily continued, sounding mildly amused. "I believe this calls for a celebration, Sailor. Go for a walk with me tomorrow?"
At that, Remus finally turned around to face her, and she was smiling as brightly as ever, her emerald green eyes a pair of sparkling jewels. "Yeah, sure. Haven't gone for a while."

"Your fault," she said simply, her smile never wavering. "I'm off to bed too, by the way. Good night, Remus. It's good to have you back."

"You too, Lils," Remus smiled, wrapping his arms lightly around his red-haired friend. "Thanks for waking me up."

Lily winked. "I'll try to keep you in line next time so that I catch you before you fall."

When Remus got to his dorm, tired but happier than he's been in what felt like ages, he found a note on his table, written in large, neat handwriting, like spirals of thin rope on the page.

Dear Remus,

I know it was you who left me the gift on my nightstand, you git. James is an idiot and Peter is scared stiff of me. But thanks. I haven't opened it because I want you to be there when I do.

-Sirius

P.s. I know you've enjoyed the party, so don't even try to deny it when I ask you.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx