Presenting you another lovely new chapter to enjoy. It's a long one, so I hope that makes you all even happier :P.

I'd just like to say a special thanks to my lovely beta, Hydraspit, who has been flat-out in an effort to get all these chapters to you in such short time. The poor thing has been inundated over the past few weeks.

"It is not so much our friends' help that helps us

as the confident knowledge that they will help us."

(Epicurus (341 - 270 BC) Greek philosopher)

SIRIUS:

Christmas at the Potters was one of the most amazing experiences of Sirius's life. Perhaps the thing that felt the most special was the fact that the Potters never treated him like an outcast or a guest. They treated him as another son – hugging him, scolding him, giving him treats, allocating chores for him, playing Quidditch with him … it was something Sirius had never experienced before and as a result lapped up like a thirsty dog.

One of the first things he and James did when they arrived at the manor was to steal the book on animal transfiguration from the Potter library, replacing it with another one that they wrapped in the original's dust jacket so it didn't stand out from the others. James had not been kidding when he had described how complicated and archaic the text was. Together, they spent nearly all of their quiet time poring over the book trying to decipher the tiny copperplate words and put together manageable instructions on how to carry out the animagus transformation.

"Once we've worked it all out and tested it," James said, as they lay on their stomachs in his room getting some last minute studying in before Remus and Peter arrived later that day, "we must write the Marauder's version that's readable by normal people. And we'll definitely introduce the new and exciting letter 's' into proceedings. I mean, look at this!"

He held out a page and put his finger under a line which read; When thou haft achieveft the defired effect to an exemplorie degree by initiating the altered cave canus charm under the correctlie recommended conditionf, one fhould find the refulting canine to be fufficiently altered to the cafter's fatiffaction…

"We need Remus," Sirius complained, tilting his head to the side to see if the passage made any more sense from a different angle. "He reads stuff like this for fun. What does 'fuffciently altered to the cafter's fatiffaction' mean?"

"'Sufficiently altered to the caster's satisfaction', I would imagaine, " James told him. "Just think - if you had lived in this era, you would have been called 'Firiuf'." He frowned down at the notebook in Sirius's hands. "So what have we got so far on animagi? And on a side note, do you know your writing is almost as curly and whirly as hers is?"

"It's not my fault," Sirius said. "My mother hired the best copperplate tutors in Europe to teach my brother and me. If we didn't write perfectly they would make us use those quills that scratch the words out on the back of your hand. It became ingrained rather quickly. Pun fully intended."

"Those quills are illegal," James said, disturbed. "They could get put in Azkaban for that."

Sirius raised an elegant black eyebrow at his friend. "The Moste Ancient and Noble House of Black? People would be more amazed if we didn't do things like that."

"Evil buggers," James muttered. "No offence."

Sirius shrugged. "We pride ourselves on it."

"So what have we got?"

"Well, we know you definitely can't choose your animal." Sirius flicked through the pages of his notebook. "It's part of who you are. And that you have to take a potion and meditate to discover what it is before you can even begin trying to change. We've worked out what most of the ingredients for that potion are, though some are a bit obscure and we're going to have to find a book on ancient herb-lore to discover what they're known as nowadays. Then there are more spells and potions and a lot of practice before you can actually become the animal. I hate to break it to you, mate, but I reckon it's going to be a very long time before we can actually become full animagi. Especially if we have to be sneaking around Moony all the time as well."

James sighed and traced the lettering on the cover of Gertie Trebbletome's Advanced Animal Transfiguration and How To Do It. "Well, it's the only plan we've got."

"I know."

The sound of the door-knocker echoed through the house and both boys brightened. "That'll be one of the lads," James said. "Quick, hide this stuff in my safe." He stood up and tapped one of the pictures in his room with his wand. It swung open to reveal a small safe filled with James's many 'treasures' – most of which were objects that no one but another mischievous adolescent boy would want to steal anyway

Sirius jammed the book and his notebook inside, before they slammed it shut and headed downstairs to greet their friend.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

It turned out to be Peter at the door. Remus arrived later, looking very pale and sickly due to the full moon the day before. Sirius felt himself relaxing for the first time in weeks as he helped his friend up the staircase to his room. He hadn't realised how stressed he was when he was unable to check up on Remus until the tension left him. He glanced across and smiled when he saw Remus staring round Potter Manor wide eyes and open mouth.

"If you're not careful, nargles will come and nest in your mouth," Sirius teased him. "What's the matter – never seen a proper house before?"

"No," Remus murmured. "Not this big, anyway. I've never seen anything this big except for Hogwarts. Did you really grow up here, James?"

James looked at him in surprise. "Yeah. I though you knew."

"I didn't know how massive it was. How long does it take to clean?"

James shrugged. "Who knows? The house elves do it."

"House elves. Right." Remus sounded rather faint.

"I don't see what the big deal is," Sirius said shaking his head in bemusement. "The Black country estate is twice this size and Grimmauld place is not much smaller. I thought most people's houses were this big on the inside."

Remus and Peter gave him incredulous looks and James said, "Do you even know how much it costs to get permission from the Ministry to make your house larger on the inside? Hundreds of Galleons just for a few square metres. Dad told me when I wanted us to install an indoor Quidditch pitch."

"Really?" Sirius asked. "My parents must have spent nearly all my inheritance on extending Grimmauld, then. My mother's taken it up as a hobby."

"I can't believe you don't know this," Remus said. "Don't you remember what my house looked like when you came to rescue me that time?"

"I didn't really think," Sirius admitted, picturing the tiny, poky living room and small battered kitchen they had walked through. "I guess I thought it was the house elves' entrance or something."

He was aware of the other staring at him and flushed. "Well, I only got to go to other pureblood houses when I was little and Hogwarts is pretty big as well."

"You really should have taken Muggle Studies this year," Remus said. "You and James both. Honestly! And I thought I had a sheltered upbringing."

"Wait!" Sirius said, stopping suddenly and turning to stare at Remus who was eyeing the top of the stairs with relief as he held onto his side. "You lived in that tiny house your whole life until Hogwarts?"

Remus looked embarrassed. "Well, Dad took me to Diagon Alley a couple of times."

"A couple of times?" Peter asked weakly. "Where else did you go?"

"Nowhere," Remus said. Now it was his turn to look bemused. "I told you he kept me shut up."

"But weren't you really scared to go to school then?" James asked. "If you'd never really been in other places with other people before?"

"Yes," Remus admitted. "I was bloody terrified. That's why I was hanging round at the station on the first day. And why I don't…didn't really know how to make friends."

"Oh, Moony," James looked torn up with guilt. "I'm sorry!"

"Why? It wasn't your fault."

"But I was mean to you."

"Well…" Remus glanced at Sirius for help. "You're not anymore. I don't care. You're my friends now."

"Come on," Sirius said, determined to change the subject beofre it became unbearably soppy. "That's your room up there." He bounded up the stairs and opened the door with a flourish.

"This is my room?" Remus said, leaning against the doorframe and staring in with a look of wonder on his face. "Our whole house could fit in here. Where are you lot sleeping?"

"The other doors down the hall," James said. "Dinner will be ready in a bit, so just dump your trunk and we can head down to the kitchen."

"Down again?" Remus asked, looking back at the stairs they had just climbed with resignation.

"It only takes a few seconds if you use the banister," Sirius told him.

"I though you weren't allowed."

"If she really didn't want us to she would have put an anti-sliding charm on it," James said cheerfully. "We'll go first and catch you at the bottom so you don't hurt any of your injuries. Bad moon?"

Remus shrugged. "You lads weren't there. It was okay. I've had worse."

"You've always had worse, Moony."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Most of the Potter Manor was not used in the family's everyday lives, and the small section in which the Potters actually lived seemed much more homely and welcoming than the exterior first suggested. In spite of their wealth, Mr. And Mrs. Potter believed in doing things for themselves. The house elves were in charge of taking care of the main house while Mrs. Potter did most of the cooking herself. She also allocated chores like washing dishes, painting rooms, or weeding the kitchen and formal gardens to James - and Sirius when he was there - in order to teach them that 'nothing in life came easily.'

Sirius was particularly unamused by this lesson a few days later when he found himself washing up in the kitchen while the other three Marauders sat in the living room playing Gobstones with Mr. Potter.

"Blacks aren't designed to do menial tasks like this while their friends play Gobstones without them," he announced to the room at large, eyeing a piece of floating pasta with disgust. "Especially without magic. We're designed for looking down on people and bossing people about and being crazy and…um… torturing people…"

"You sound like a very pleasant family," Mrs. Potter said dryly, and Sirius glanced over his shoulder to see her standing in the doorway watching him with amusement.

"Then I wasn't describing us very well." He rinsed a plate and placed it in the dish-rack.

"I'll dry up and keep you company," she said. "There's something I wanted to talk to you about anyway."

Sirius immediately tensed. Pleasant conversations very rarely followed those words. "What about?"

"Remus."

Sirius glanced through the door of the living room where James was chasing Peter and trying to stuff a gobstone down his shirt, while Remus sat beside Mr. Potter on the sofa, his face alight with laughter. Sirius felt a familiar surge of protectiveness well up inside him.

He went over and quietly closed the heavy kitchen door before walking back to the sink, his heart hammering. What did she want to know?

"He wouldn't have heard us," Mrs. Potter reassured him.

"Remus has very sharp ears." Sirius went back to washing the dishes.

"I just wanted to know what's wrong with him," Mrs. Potter said. "It's impolite to ask, but he just seems so wasted and drawn. I mean he's better now, but I'm worried he'll get worse again. When you boys said he gets ill a lot, I thought you just meant he was prone to colds or wizard flu or something. I just need to know what I'm dealing with, Sirius. I thought I would ask you because you seem to take the most care of him."

"I do?" Sirius thought about it for a few seconds. "I suppose I do. I worry about him."

"I know," she said gently. "Will you tell me?"

Sirius's mind raced. He hated having to lie to her, and he wanted her to understand how much Remus suffered, but he knew he could never tell her Remus's secret.

"He asked us not to talk about it to people," Sirius said, as truthfully as he could. "We're not going to catch it. It's something he developed really young."

Mrs. Potter looked frustrated. "Can't you tell me anything else?"

"You're putting me in a very difficult position," Sirius admitted. "I don't want to betray confidences."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. Can you at least tell me a bit about it? Is it fatal?"

Sirius thought about Remus's wounds on the bad days, and Madame Pomfrey saying, "It was a close one this morning." He thought about the Ministry and the punishment Remus would receive if he was ever discovered, or if Moony accidentally killed someone.

"It can be," He said eventually. "There is a high chance he will die because of it. His mother did. And sometimes I think he might just give up himself. If he ever stopped fighting against it every day, I don't think he would survive for long."

Neither he, nor Mrs. Potter spoke for a long time, and the only sound in the kitchen was the swish of water and clink of dinner plates. Eventually she cleared her throat. "Thank you, Sirius. I won't ask you again. I just… I wish I could do something for him. Anything, really."

"We all do," Sirius said. "James, Pete and I are determined we are going to do something to help him one day."

"You're good to be friends with him."

Sirius frowned at her tone. "It's not a chore, Mrs. Potter. We aren't friends with him because we feel sorry for him. We like Remus. In lots of ways he's the strongest of the lot of us. He holds us together. If something happened to him I don't know what I would…" Sirius trailed off, his face heating up at an alarming rate. He hadn't intended on voicing his feelings so strongly, and he suddenly realised that it probably wasn't something a fifteen-year-old boy should be saying out loud if he wanted to retain any street cred at all.

"I didn't mean for it to sound like that," Mrs. Potter said gently. "It's just very rare that teenage boys can look past physical weaknesses to see a person's strengths."

"Can we stop talking about it now?" Sirius was beginning to feel trapped, and wasn't sure how much longer he could answer her questions without lying or giving away Remus's condition. To his relief, Mrs. Potter's face softened, and she gave a short nod.

"Of course. Forgive me. Thank you for talking to me."

She sighed and dried her hands on her dish-towel. Then she reached out and affectionately ruffled Sirius's hair before opening the door and returning to the lounge. Sirius turned back to the washing up, his heart still racing as he thought back over the conversation to see if he had accidentally given away any clues to Remus's condition.

"I don't know what I would do without you, either," a soft voice said behind him, causing him to jump guiltily.

"Moony." Sirius glanced at him. Remus was leaning back against the kitchen table with his arms crossed over his chest. "I should have known you would overhear that, although I thought the door was pretty thick. How good is your hearing anyway?"

Remus smiled. "Not that good. I have to confess to a bit of eavesdropping. I heard her say she wanted to talk about me, so I snuck over and pushed the door open a crack again and sat nearby."

"Huh. Marauder."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Remus pushed himself away from the kitchen table and wandered over to lean on the counter beside Sirius instead. Having recovered a lot in the week since he had arrived, his movements no longer looked laced with pain and his tawny hair glowed with reddish tints in the dimmer light of the kitchen. As Sirius watched him, he thought that it must be Remus and not himself who was the best-looking boy in their year.

"I'm sorry," he said, turning his head away and pretending to be absorbed in washing the last of the dishes. "But she asked. I didn't know what to tell her."

"You did very well. I would have just stuttered and mumbled and made her suspicious. I don't think you even directly lied to her."

"I didn't want to. I really like Mrs. Potter. She's exactly what I picture a proper mother to be like."

"Yeah," Remus said wistfully. "Me too." He glanced sideways at Sirius and a light blush flourished on his cheeks before he directed his gaze to the floor. "It meant a lot to me – what you said to her at the end. About not just being friends with me out of pity. I really don't know what I would do without you either. I definitely wouldn't have survived this long, I don't think."

Sirius wished he could believe that Remus meant that figuratively. "I meant every word, Moony," he said, also blushing. "I didn't mean to come out with it – it wasn't exactly manly – but I did mean it."

"I know. And I just wanted you to know it meant a lot."

Remus raised his head to meet Sirius's eyes and Sirius felt his heart rate pick up, though he couldn't have said exactly why. It was that same electric, excited feeling he had felt when he and Remus had been sticking up spider webs on their brooms. Something that wasn't Moony but seemed just as wild and enigmatic seemed to flare in Remus's eyes as well. It felt like they were standing on the edge of something important – one more step and they would fall into something new and frightening and wonderful.

Then there was a loud crash as James and Peter fell in to the room, trying to wrestle a gobstone from one another. Neither one seemed to notice when a kitchen chair toppled over onto their heads. Mr. Potter was cheering from the lounge, while Mrs. Potter winced and put her hand over her face.

"I won it!" Peter was yelling. "It was mine by rights!"

"You did not! I saw it go wonky!"

The moment between them was gone and Sirius didn't know if he was disappointed or relieved. He wondered if it had been another mysterious 'pack thing', and if it happened to James and Peter as well. Strangely he hoped it didn't. It felt too personal – something special between Remus and himself.

"Do you reckon we should help them?" Remus asked, still leaning against the counter.

"Nah, I wouldn't bother," Sirius said. He flung the last plate onto the dish rack before emptying the sink with relief. "I vote for a trip into Muggle London tomorrow. You and Pete did promise one this holiday."

There was an even louder crash as James and Peter hit the ornamental dresser and created an avalanche of plates that rained down on their heads. "I'll second that," Remus said. "One more day with you lads and your cabin fever and I might go feral myself."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

"What on earth possessed us to do this?" Remus asked Peter, as James and Sirius flirted shamelessly with the refreshments lady on the train so they could get a longer look at the hot chocolate machine.

"I don't believe it does that without magic," James pronounced, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms.

The refreshments lady looked a little confused, and eyed her trolley dubiously. "What?"

"That thing that makes hot drinks. How does it work if you don't have magic?"

"Er…" she stared at him, obviously trying to figure out when either the bad joke or chat-up line would become apparent.

"It has to be magic," Sirius put in. "Things don't run without magic. They must have nicked it from us."

"I'm sorry, I don't understand."

Remus sighed. "Ignore them. They don't get out much. It's electricity." He added to James and Sirius.

"That thing that they do where they catch lightning and put it in a box?" Sirius eyed the machine suspiciously. "Sounds like the kind of mental thing Muggles would do."

"Sounds like a fire hazard to me," James added. "Will it blow something up, Pete? Can I have a cup?" He fumbled in his jeans pocket and pulled out a handful of galleons, sickles and Muggle coins. "Which one do you want?" he asked the lady holding out his hand to her.

She glanced at Remus doubtfully. "Give them hot chocolate," he sighed, reaching out to pick out the correct amount of change from James's hand.

"You can't just say stuff like that in front of innocent Muggles," Remus scolded the two dark-haired boys as she moved away.

"Well, it is mental," Sirius said, completely unrepentant. "And this tastes vile."

"It's train hot chocolate," Peter said. "It's supposed to taste vile."

"Well, why did we get it then?"

"Because you wanted to see if the machine would explode."

Things did not drastically improve once they were off the train. Sirius couldn't believe he had been living so close to such an alien world without taking an interest before. He and James gaped at traffic lights and light bulbs, and loudly exclaimed over vending machines and a television they spotted in a shop window playing a black and white film of two dancing muggles. Sirius wondered if he would be allowed to switch to Muggle Studies with Remus before the OWLs to find out more about the Muggle world. How on earth could they do all this without magic?

Sirius almost jumped out of his skin when a ferocious-looking Muggle machine roared to a stop right beside where he was standing on the pavement. A man dressed in black leather dismounted, pulled off his helmet, glared at the gaping boys and headed into a nearby shop.

"What the hell is that thing?" James demanded.

"It's a motorbike," Peter said rolling his eyes. "Honestly, don't you know anything?"

"How fast does it go?" Sirius stared at the motorbike with hungry eyes. It was the most intricate and beautiful muggle machine he had ever seen. It looked fast even though it was standing still.

"I dunno," Peter said absently. "As fast as a car, I guess. You want to go shopping now?"

The man returned from the shop with a pack of cigarettes which he shoved into his pocket. He gave the boys another suspicious glare, before shoving his helmet back on, swinging his leg over the bike and roaring off again.

"I think I'm in love," Sirius said dreamily.

"Eew!" James said. "He was all old and hairy and dirty, and in case you hadn't noticed, male."

"Not the bloke," Sirius said, making a face at his friend. "The motorbike. I want one."

"What on earth for?" Peter asked. "In a few years you'll be able to apparate. Plus you have a broom."

"Didn't you see it?" Sirius demanded. "It was amazing! Fast and streamlined and shiny. Plus my mother would hate it."

"And in the life of Sirius Black, that's always a winner," James said, rolling his eyes.

"You can't have a motorbike," Remus said. "Where would you put it?"

"Don't know, don't care. Can I at least have a picture? A big one. To hang on the wall of my room with a permanent sticking charm. And another one for our dorm. Maybe two in my room." Sirius sighed happily at the thought of Kreacher clawing frantically at an immovable picture of a motorbike while his mother stood in the doorway of his room and shrieked.

"We could probably find some posters," Peter said, starting down the street with the others trailing behind. "But won't you get in trouble?"

"It would be worth it to see her turn purple and start tearing her hair out. And it'll remind me of my new life's ambition."

"Which is?" Remus asked with resignation.

"To own a whole herd of motorbikes," Sirius announced. "And when I inherit Grimmauld Place, I'll keep one in every room and ride them up and down the stairs all day."

"They won't work in such a magical environment," Remus said. "Muggle technology doesn't mix well with magic."

"Then I'll alter them to run on magic," Sirius said, unfazed. "You could help me, Moony."

"Yay for me," Remus said dryly.

"And we can make them go even faster. And maybe even fly. Wouldn't that be cool?"

"Here's a place that sells pictures," Peter interrupted, entering a small, dark shop that sold records, videos and posters.

"Peter, my friend!" Sirius said, bounding into the shop, "You are a true Marauder!"

The others followed at a slightly slower pace, and by the time they caught up, they found Sirius staring open-mouthed at something on the poster rack.

"What? What?" James demanded.

"Naked girls," Sirius said faintly, pointing. The poster in front of them depicted three buxom, scantily clad girls lounging on a tropical beach.

"Well, damn," James murmured. "What kind of shop is this anyway, Pete?"

Sirius turned to see James and Remus staring with equally shocked and fascinated expressions. Peter was, oddly, looking at the three of them incredulously. "They're not naked," he said, shaking his head. "Honestly – wizards! They're wearing bikinis."

"Bee-what-sies?" James asked, apparently unable to tear his eyes away.

"Bikinis. Swimming costumes. Haven't any of you been to a Muggle beach in the summer? Everyone wears these. Well, not guys. They just wear the bottom half."

"You mean muggles wander round like this all the time?" Remus demanded in disbelief. "I've never seen any and I've lived in a Muggle neighbourhood ever since I was with the Anders. And I take Muggle Studies."

"Not all the time," Peter said patiently. Sirius got the impression he was enjoying being the one who knew something that the others didn't for a change. "Just in summer. And usually just on the beach."

"Muggles are odd," Remus said, leaning closer to the poster. "Where do you think it's taken? The Caribbean?"

"Who cares?" asked James. "There's practically naked girls on it."

"Watch it, mate," Sirius said, grinning. "You're drooling. Hey, Pete, why aren't they moving?"

Peter gave him another incredulous look. "You know for two people as clever as you and James, you really are quite slow," he said. "It's a Muggle poster. They're Muggle girls. Therefore – no magic. They stay in the position they were in when it was taken."

Sirius looked up at the poster again and felt an idea dawning along with a wide grin on his face. "You know who would really hate this poster?"

"You wouldn't," James said, looking away from the imobile girls for the first time to stare at Sirius in awe. "It would be suicidal!"

"Oh, Sirius, don't," Remus said. "She might actually kill you."

"A permanent sticking charm," Sirius said musingly. "This is brilliant! Now find one of a motorbike."

"You want a motorbike as well?" James said, flicking though the rest of the posters. "Why? There's loads of naked girls here."

"I told you, I'm in love with motobikes."

James flipped through the rest of the posters before pausing triumphantly on a picture of a long-legged blonde girl astride a motorbike. "Here you go. Two in one. Girl and bike."

"I want a different one," Sirius said, scowling at the poster. "She's covering all the best bits of the bike with her legs."

James gave him a disbelieving glance, before obediently moving on until he found a few more posters just depicting motorbikes.

"Good," Sirius said with satisfaction. "I'll have all the ones with motorbikes and two naked girl ones."

"You're really going to buy naked girl ones?" Remus demanded, looking embarrassed on Sirius's behalf.

"My mother will hate them," Sirius said, as if that answered the question.

Remus shook his head. "You're going to get into trouble."

Sirius shrugged and carried to posters to the counter. "You getting one?" he asked James.

James glanced back longingly at the bikini-clad girls. "I would, but if you think your mother's reaction would be bad, you should try mine."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

"Hey, Moony, what's this?" Sirius called to the tawny-haired boy who was having an animated discussion with Peter about washing machines while Sirius and James explored the rest of the electrical shop under the disapproving gaze of the shopkeeper.

Remus came over and stood on tiptoe to peer over Sirius's shoulder. He smiled wistfully when he saw what his friend was looking at.

"It' a tape player," Remus told him. "Muggles store music in tapes like these," he pointed to a few that were stored on a rack, "and then put them into that slot and the music plays out loud through the speakers. Like a wizard's wireless."

"They do that with electricity?" Sirius asked, dragging out the last word to ensure he got it right. "These Muggles are brilliant."

"My mother had one," Remus said, looking at the machine. "It was older than this one, of course. She adored Muggle music. She was a Muggle-born witch and she loved everything in the wizarding world, but she always liked Muggle music over wizard music because it reminded her of her childhood." He reached out and ran a slim-fingered hand over the buttons of the tape player. He smiled at Sirius. "I like it for the same reason."

"I'll buy you one," Sirius said impulsively. "Choose some of those tape things."

Remus took a little step back. "No, Sirius. You can't just keep buying me things. I'm not a charity case. Besides, it wouldn't work anywhere in the wizarding world. Like your motorbikes."

Sirius frowned at him. "I don't think of you as a charity case. But I have more money than I know what to do with. I want to spend it all before my mother disowns me. We'll magic it so it works."

"If you didn't do things to deliberately antagonise her, she wouldn't disown you." Remus gave him a frustrated look and waved his hand towards Sirius's bag of posters.

"You of all people should know what it's like!" Sirius snapped back, unaware that his voice was rising in volume. "You of all people should know that if I didn't deliberately do things to make her angry she would find them on her own! Just being Gryffindor is enough to have me locked in the cellar for a week!" He turned his head away, tilting it towards the tape player so Remus wouldn't see his face. "At least this way I feel like I've won a bit of pride back," he said. "This way I have some control. You should know, Moony. You of all people should know."

There was a long silence from everyone in the shop. Eventually Sirius heard Remus moving behind him and an arm went around his waist, although Remus made no move to look at his face – almost as if he sensed Sirius's need for privacy.

"You're right," the werewolf answered him, equally softly. "I do know. But I was never like you. I didn't take control. I let it all happen and tried to please him all the time. You're right. It didn't make a difference. Maybe it even made it worse."

Sirius felt some of the deep guilt inside him lift at the words. It was as if hearing Remus say them confirmed his belief in what he was doing. The tension drained from his body and he turned to give Remus a smile that he's intended on being cheeky, but was probably more along the lines of shaky. "Does this mean you approve of my naked ladies?"

Remus made a face and stepped away. "I will never approve of your naked ladies."

"Why?" Sirius demanded.

"It just seems…tacky. You know; sticking pictures of naked girls on your wall. It should mean more than what."

"What should mean more than that?" Sirius asked, loving the way his question made a rosy blush rise to Remus's cheeks. "Sex?"

"There's no reasoning with you when you're in this mood," Remus said, his cheeks still pink.

"Go on, Moony. Say it. Sex. Sexsexsex."

"Don't Sirius!"

"You can't do it unless you can say it. Come on, Moony. You know you want to. Sex, sex, se-ex."

"Does it look like I plan on doing it any time soon?" Remus demanded. "Make him stop, James!"

Sirius glanced over his shoulder to see James and Peter watching them with a mixture of amusement and relief.

"You already said it, Moony," James said, grinning at Remus's embarrassment. "There's no reasoning with him when he's in this mood."

"Argh!" Remus said, throwing up his arms impatiently. "Sex. There, are you happy? Sexsexsex. Honestly!"

Sirius grinned and patted Remus on the head. He wondered why Remus's hair was always so soft when Sirius knew he never even conditioned it. "Good boy. Now go and choose some tapes."

"I'm not going to," Remus said, folding his arms and jutting his chin forward stubbornly. "If you get disowned, you'll need all the money you can get."

"Fine, don't," Sirius said, feigning indifference. "I'll buy a tape player anyway and choose all the music myself. James will help me and he will pick out all the ones with naked ladies on the front. I can see one from here."

"Yay!" James said, starting forward and sending a wink over his shoulder at Sirius.

"I'm not going to fall for it," Remus said, turning his back on them and smiling apologetically at the shopkeeper who was beginning to look very annoyed.

"There's one here with a naked lady who has a snake wrapped around her," James commented, holding it up.

"And another one with two girls who seemed to have put on paint instead of clothes," Sirius added. "You can even see their – "

"Fine!" Remus yelled, swinging round and yanking the tape out of Sirius's hand. "I'll choose some!"

Sirius grinned triumphantly. "…Nipples," he finished, relinquishing the tape and bowing towards the racks. "Go on then, Moony. You know if you blush like that in front of girls they will be falling over themselves to go out with you. It really is disturbingly cute. What, Potter? It is! Deny it if you will."

"You're a boy. You're not supposed to say things like that," James said, shaking his head and aiming a kick at Sirius.

"I'm a Black," Sirius said serenely. "I can say whatever I like."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

It seemed like a very short time before Mr. and Mrs. Potter loaded the four boys into the Hogwarts Express with expressions of great relief on their faces.

"Merlin himself knows that those teachers at your school don't get paid enough to take you all on," Mrs. Potter said, leaning through the train window to hand Sirius back the shoe he had charmed to blow loud raspberries and chase Snape round the station as soon as they had arrived.

"Have fun, boys," Mr. Potter added. "Give them hell. Where's James?"

"He went to find the snack trolley," Peter volunteered

The train belched out a billowing column of steam before beginning to roll away from the station.

"Tell him goodbye from us!" Mrs. Potter yelled after them, jogging to keep up. "And don't prank the teachers! And don't get detention! And don't…" The rest of her words were swallowed by the noise of the train as it sped up and moved away from the station.

"Where is James?" Sirius asked, pulling on his shoe.

"Went to find Evans," Peter volunteered again, rather more truthfully.

"Ah," Sirius said, sitting back. "I should've guessed."

James didn't return for a long time, and just as Sirius was about to go and search for him, he made an appearance, accompanied by a peal of feminine giggles. Sirius gaped at the door as it slid open to reveal James and a blonde-haired Ravenclaw girl named Bronwyn Kemp, who wore so much pink lipstick that Sirius was surprised her lips didn't droop under the weight of it. She clung to James's arm possessively.

"What's she doing here?" Sirius demanded.

"She's my girlfriend," James said, blushing furiously.

"Your what?" Peter asked, also gaping.

"My girlfriend. Keep up, Pete."

"Um…" Remus spoke up from his seat beside the window. "Hi Bronwyn. Would you mind giving us a minute?"

"Why?" she demanded. "He can go out with anyone he likes."

"It's not that," Remus said, looking mournful. "I lost my spider somewhere in here and I don't want you to accidentally stand on him. Can you see him? He's quite big, but his black fur helps him to hide in the shadows under the seats."

Bronwyn looked horrified and glanced at her feet. She backed out hurriedly, but gave a warning glare to Sirius and Peter. "I'll be just outside the door," she said, before closing it with a little more force than was necessary.

"A spider?" Peter asked Remus sceptically, as the werewolf cast a quick silencing charm on the room.

"You should have heard her scream when there was one on her book in the library once," Remus said. "My head was ringing for a week, I swear."

"Girlfriend?" Sirius demanded, staring at James who looked sheepish.

"It's my new plan to get Evans," James explained.

"Your new plan to get Evans is to go out with a completely different girl?"

"No. It's to make her jealous," James said.

"Jealous. Right."

"Kemp wanted to go out with me, so I thought 'why not?'" James sent Sirius a pleading look. "You must get one too. You know practically every girl in the school fancies you."

"Me?" Sirius stared at him in disbelief. "You want me to make Evans jealous as well?"

"Well, no," James said. "But I don't want to be the only person going out with someone. And you know Moony won't because of his furry little problem, and Pete would dissolve into a puddle of goo before he plucked up the courage to ask anyone."

"You shouldn't go out with a girl just to make another girl jealous," Remus said.

"Of course I should," James answered airily. "Everyone does it."

"They don't."

"They do. I'm not going to dump her, so live with it."

Remus looked like he wanted to say more, but instead turned his head away and looked out of the window. Sirius wondered why he didn't continue the argument when he obviously felt very strongly about the subject. Then, when he thought about it, Sirius realised that Remus nearly always backed down rather than anger his friends.

"I'm not going to go out with some girl just because you want me to," Sirius said.

"That's not the only reason!" James protested. "You're going to be sixteen on your next birthday. Don't you think it's about time you went out with one? Or are you too scared to ask the real thing? Would you rather stick to your posters?"

"The posters are just to make my mother mad," Sirius snapped. "And my birthday is ages from now. Remus and Pete haven't even turned fifteen yet."

"Fine, don't if you're too scared. And they'll be fifteen in a month or two."

"I'm not scared!"

"Huh. Sounds like you are."

"Well, who am I supposed to ask?"

James looked at him in bemusement. "I dunno. Who do you fancy?"

Sirius floundered, his mind skittering over the many girls in their year and the years above and below. "I don't know. I've never really thought about it."

"Are you serious? Who do you think about when you…you know?"

Sirius felt himself blushing scarlet. "James!"

"Well who? Don't tell me you don't even wank."

"Of course I do," Sirius said defensively. "I just don't think of anyone in particular - just vague impressions. We all know who you think about."

"So what?" James said, unabashed. "Everyone does it. Even Remus."

"Hey!" Remus said, looking insulted. "What do you mean 'even Remus'? I'll have you know I think about sex just as much as any other boy."

"Do you?" James asked, a grin alighting on his face. "Who do you think about?"

"No one," Remus said. "Like Sirius. Just impressions."

"Bloody hell!" James shook his head. "You guys have to develop your fantasy life a bit. You're so brainy, Moony. You should have a three part epic on the go by now."

"Do we have to talk about this?" Peter asked. Sirius glanced over to the chubby Marauder and was amused to see that his face was almost puce with embarrassment.

"Who do you think about, Pete?" he asked slyly.

"None of your business! You'd tease me if I told you."

"So you do think about someone," James said, looking pointedly at Sirius and Remus. "See, even Pete has more interesting fantasies than you two."

"Fine!" Sirius said, throwing himself back against the seat and crossing his arms. "I'll ask out a girl if you drop this."

"Fine," James said, looking satisfied. "Who?"

"Rebecca. That friend of Evans's"

Why?"

"Because she's pretty and I know she fancies me."

James shrugged. "A good a reason as any."

Remus made an odd noise at the back of his throat. It sounded a little like a strangled growl. Sirius glanced at him, but Remus turned away and looked out of the window again. Although he had not said a word, Sirius felt shame coiling in his stomach like a restless snake and it was followed by an irrational burst of anger towards the werewolf that made him more determined that ever to ask Rebecca out and prove to Remus that he didn't have power over Sirius's emotions.

He ignored the slightly nauseous feeling that rolled in his belly.