Chapter Fourteen:

In Which People Go Home for Spring Break

It was Spring Break, and, much to his delight, Sirius had been invited to James's house. He had eagerly accepted the invitation, and was now waiting beside James at the train station, looking for Mr. or Mrs. Potter.

"Where are they?" asked James. "One of them was supposed to be here."

"Maybe they're running a little late." Suggested Sirius.

"Doubt it." James said. "Might as well find a bench and get comfortable. It's probably going to be a while." They sat down, and five minutes later, were approached by some woman in muggle clothes with black hair that was currently in a long, tight braid.

"Hello, James. This must be Sirius. Well, let's go." Following James's example, Sirius gathered his stuff and followed the stranger. They put their stuff in the trunk of a black mustang and climbed in.

Once the car was started, the stranger started talking.

"Sorry your parents couldn't make it, James. Your father is out on a raid and your mother is a nervous wreck-this is the sixth raid this month- so I volunteered to come and get you. Got stuck in traffic, though, which is why I was late."

"My dad is an Auror." James explained to Sirius. "This is Audrey, one of dad's co-workers."

Before very long, they reached the Potter mansion. Sirius, living in a mansion himself, was more impressed by how happy it looked than its size. They made their way inside, and Audrey left them in the front hall.

"Have your dad contact me." She said to James as she left.

"Okay." He said, then, "MUM! I'M HOME!"

Mrs. Potter came out of the kitchen. She had blue eyes, like her son, and red hair. "Hello, dear.

Why don't you and Sirius put your stuff in your room, and then it should be time to eat."

"Okay." He said. Then turned to Sirius. "Come on."

James led the way up two flights of stairs and down the hall into his room. The walls were covered with Quidditch pictures. The beds (there were two) were decorated with Quidditch themes. The room was all Quidditch.

"Wow." Said Sirius. "Cool."

"Thanks. Just throw your stuff down somewhere and pick a bed." Said James.

"Okay." Soon the two were situated and headed back downstairs. Dinner was ready, so James, Sirius, and Mrs. Potter sat down and ate. The conversation was mostly about school. It eventually ventured from behavior and grades to friends.

"So," Said Mrs. Potter, "Are you and that Lupin boy still 'hanging out?'"

"No." said James.

"You actually listened?"

"Well, we had an argument of sorts."

"Oh?"

"Lupin tried to steal his girl by asking her to the Yule Ball before he did." Sirius broke in.

"Oh." Said his mom. "Sorry, dear."

They finished their dinner, and went back upstairs to James's room. They spent the rest of the evening playing exploding snap and talking.

"Thanks for inviting me over." Said Peter. He and Remus had just finished dinner at the Lupin house.

"Thanks for coming."

"Hey, are we still going to my house Wednesday?"

"Yes."

"Cool."

"So, what do you want to do?"

"Doesn't matter. Whatever's fine. Want to explore?"

"The woods?"

"Is it safe?"

"Yeah, during the day."

"Do you want to?"

"Sure, if you want to." They checked in with Mrs. Lupin, then went out and explored the woods. Moony seemed to know where he was going, despite the lack of paths.

"You sure know your way around." Said Peter after a bit.

"Yeah," said Moony, "I used to spend all day up here."

"You did?"

"Before Hogwarts. And before my dad was arrested."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Don't be. It's better this way. He was a Deatheater."

"Oh. Do you miss him?"

"No." Moony said quickly.

"Sorry."

"No, I am sorry. I did not mean to snap at you."

"That's all right." Peter wondered why Moony was touchy about that.

"My dad hated me."Remus said after a minute of silence. "Mainly because of what I was. He also blamed me for the death of Romulus."

"Who?"

"Romulus. He was my twin brother. He was killed by the samewerewolf that bit me."

"Oh."

"He used to hit me sometimes. Only when mom wasn't around, though. She would not have stood for it if she had known. She would have tried to defend me, and who knows what would have happened. He was pure evil."

"Sorry."

"That was years ago. He is gone now."

"Oh."

"Sorry. I should not have bothered you with that."

"That's okay. After all, what are friends for?"

"Thanks."

"No problem. Should we head back? It's getting dark."

"Yeah, we should. This way."

The two made their way back to the house. It was dark by the time they returned. Being very tired from their walk, the two boys went to bed shortly after their return.

James and Sirius awoke the next morning at 8:00. They got up, dressed, and went downstairs. James's mom was in the kitchen.

"And what are you two doing up at this time?" she asked.

"We slept in." Sirius explained.

"Really?" she asked, amused.

"Yeah." Said James. "When's breakfast?"

"It's ready now." She replied.

After a good breakfast of pancakes, sausages, eggs, bacon, and biscuits, James and Sirius went outside. Since the Potter's lived out in the country away from muggles, Sirius and James were allowed to fly in the back yard with their broomsticks, as long as they didn't go too far. They played Quidditch until James's dad got home. They went inside to find him talking to Mrs. Potter.

"Hi, dad."

"Hi." He replied. "This is-?"

"Sirius." Sirius introduced himself.

"Glad to have you here, Sirius."

"I'm glad to be here, sir."

Mrs. Potter spoke up. "Why don't you boys go play upstairs, James?"

"Okay, mum." The two boys went upstairs and, not having anything else to do, did their homework that had been assigned for over the holiday work.

It was Wednesday morning, and Remus and Peter were headed towards Peter's house. They would be going camping with Peter's adopted family. Remus was nervous. He always was nervous about meeting new people. He hoped that they wouldn't notice anything odd about him. They would all be camping together for four days. That was a long time to spend with people you had never met before, even if they were the family of a friend.

Soon they arrived at Peter's house, and introductions began.

"This is Remus Lupin." Peter announced to the family, which was mostly in the yard. "Remus, this is my mom and this is my dad, Mr. and Mrs. Brown. This is my Aunt Julia and her husband Rob. This is their oldest daughter, Maggie, who is 21, and her boyfriend Aaron, who is 22. These are Aunt Julia's middle children, Jedediah, Jeremiah, and Jebediah, who are 15 and triplets. You can call them Jed, Jerm, and Jeb. This is Liz, the youngest, who is 9, and this is her friend, Rachel, who is also 9. And that is everyone."

Introductions having been made, the families packed up and headed for the wilderness. After several hours, they arrived at the campground and hiked out to find a place to set up camp. They found a place that was mostly surrounded by trees, and had a small clearing for a campfire. While the adults set up the tents, the children split into groups to find firewood. Peter, Remus, Liz, and Rachel went together, and triplets grouped up as well.

"Don't wander too far." Called Maggie as they set off. "And watch out for werewolves."

Remus looked at Peter nervously. "She's just kidding." He said. "She's just trying to scare us."

"Oh." He said, calming down some.

Soon they had found plenty of firewood and headed back to the camp. They piled up the wood and soon had a nice campfire going. As darkness fell, they all sat down and began roasting hotdogs for dinner. Remus found this new way of cooking neat, but figured that it wasn't all that unusual of a thing to do. As they ate, Aaron began to tell ghost stories, as Peter called them.

"They're all made up." Peter whispered to Remus.

Aaron, hearing Peter's comment, turned to Remus. "These stories are real." He said matter-of-factly. "In fact, the story I am getting ready to tell you happened in this very campground."

A few hours later, as the boys were getting ready for bed, Aaron stopped Peter. "Hey, Peter, can I talk to you for a minute?" Peter turned to look at Remus, to see if he would mind being left alone with the triplets for a few minutes. He shrugged.

"Sure." Said Peter, following Aaron outside the tent. "What is it?"

"I hope I didn't scare your friend too much."

"Oh, he's fine. He just doesn't go camping much."

"Oh. So he's alright?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, then, see ya tomorrow."

"See ya." Peter went back inside and finished getting ready for bed. He lay down in the sleeping bag next to Remus, who was looking at the ceiling. "Did you hear us?" Peter asked him.

"Yes."

"You know, he didn't mean anything about it. It's just tradition to tell scary stories around a campfire when you go camping."

"I realized that."

"Okay. Goodnight, then."

"Goodnight." Things were quiet for a few minutes, then Peter interrupted the stillness.

"Remus?"

"Yes?"

"Do you miss James and Sirius?"

"Yes. Do you?"

"Yeah. Do you think we'll become friends again? I mean, they can't stay mad forever, can they?"

"I don't know."

"Maybe they'll stop being mad over spring break."

"Maybe. Who knows?"

"Anything can happen."

"Yes, anything can."

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Author's note: Sorry it took me so long to update. I know it is frustrating. I have been and am busy this month. I will update as soon as I finish the next chapter. Also, Author's notes will now be at the bottoms of my chapters so that if you hate reading them you can skip them easily. Thanks to all readers Thanks to Spanky And Pie for reviewing. Have you read the first two yet? If not Check them out.