Word count: 1,017

Chapter 24

Stick Together

"It's nearly over," James said as the four boys prepared for bed the night after finishing their N.E.W.T.s. "Just a few more days, and we'll be on the Hogwarts Express for the last time."

His voice had a faraway quality to it that might have been sad or happy about the coming end.

"Freedom," Sirius said, throwing himself onto his bed and letting his t-shirt ride up to show his abdomen. Remus pretended it wasn't distracting as he perched himself on the end of his own bed.

"Do you know what you're doing then? Once we're out of here?"

He didn't glance at Sirius, knowing that the other boy rolled his eyes at the question. He'd continued to avoid Remus' pestering on the subject since they'd argued about it, and James had kept just as mum about his own plans.

"I'm going to fight," he said with a shrug. "That's the only thing I can do without feeling useless."

"You and Sirius both," Remus replied dryly.

"Damn right," Sirius muttered, earning himself a glare from Remus.

"I've told you," Remus said, his focus on Sirius, "Dumbledore isn't going to pay you to fight in the war. You'll be living on the street if you don't come up with something else."

"I have money," James said, voice a bit quieter than normal even as he smiled.

"More than enough," he added. "I don't need to work, and I think that's a good thing. Devoting my time to fighting means something, doesn't it? A job would be a distraction. My parents will support me when I tell them what I want to do. They won't be happy about it. Mum will probably yell a lot, but they'll support me when it comes down to it. So, I can help the with the war as much as I need to."

Remus' body hummed with the energy in his veins. Though he didn't think of himself as someone prone to violence except when a wolf, he was fighting the urge to throw something.

"And what about Sirius?" he asked. "Who's going to let him mooch off them? Your parents too?"

"I told you," Sirius short back, "I'll get a job, Moony. Whatever you want me to do. I'll put food on the table. I just don't want—"

"You'll do whatever I want?" Remus mocked. "Clearly, you don't know shit about what I want, Sirius."

Before any of his friends could say anything, he stormed out of the dormitory, afraid of what he would do if he stayed any longer. His ears rang as he hurried through the common room and put into the corridor, not paying attention to which direction he was heading in.

He probably made quite the picture to any other students who passed, but that was the least of his concerns.

Eventually, he found himself in a small alcove. He was there for less than half an hour before James arrived, sweeping back the tapestry that hid Remus from view with the Marauder's Map clutched in his other hand.

Remus stared at the other boy's shoes, not brave enough to make eye contact. James was silent, too, as he sat on the floor across from Remus, the tapestry falling back to block them from view.

It was James who broke the silence first.

"People are idiots."

"Yeah, I figured that out after being friends with a few for seven years."

He still hadn't looked James in the eye, but he could see the movement of him shrugging his shoulders from the corner of his vision.

"I deserve that I suppose."

"You do." He braved making eye contact. "You really don't understand how lucky having money makes you, but you're even more clueless about how messed up everything feels when you're a werewolf. You could flunk your N.E. and still find a job. You're a pureblood. Sirius too. And both of you treat that like it's worth shit."

"It isー"

"Maybe to you, it seems like it's something that shouldn't matter, but to other people, it's worth a lot. And I don't just mean Voldemort. There are plenty of people who'd rather hire a pureblood than a Muggleborn, no matter what they'd say about everyone being the same if you asked them. Your blood status is worth something, even if you don't want it to be."

James was frozen in place for a moment, and all Remus could do was stare at him and fidget with his hands.

"Fair enough. You'd know better than I would," James finally said.

"I would."

He felt only slightly mollified that James had agreed with him. Though part of him was beginning to regret his outburst.

"We're not going to let you go hungry, you know?" James said.

Remus' eyes narrowed.

"I don't want to be your charity project. You're all young. You're meant to be having fun, not making sure your friend is making it by."

"There's a war going on. Providing you with some money for essentials, at least, isn't going to hurt anyone."

"You don't need to—"

"Need to? No, but I want to. You think I'd feel better if you were homeless and starving, Moony? Merlin, no. As you have no doubt realized, I didn't do all that much to deserve the Potter family fortune. Why do I have more right to it than you do?"

Remus shrugged, averting his gaze to the floor.

"I would have offered earlier, you know, if I'd known it was bothering you. I just considered it a given that each of us would make sure the others are taken care of."

"That figures," Remus muttered. "We are talking about the three boys who became unregistered animagi for me, but giving me an allowance or something isn't going to provide you with an adrenaline rush."

James snorted.

"Maybe not, but we didn't become animagi for the adrenaline rush. That was just a nice bonus."

"If that makes you feel better about yourself."

James shoved him, and both boys laughed, the last of the tension between them draining.

A/N: The next chapter will be the last, as hard as that is for me to believe. I'll get that up within the next few days.