They made their way to Defence Against the Dark Arts, only to find Remus deep in conversation with Lily.

He pointedly ignored the others as they approached, averting his gaze when he saw them coming.

Lily glared at them too. She had evidently been told what had happened and, unlike Remus, she chose not to ignore them. "You hexed Sev's broomstick!" she hissed. "You did, didn't you? You arrogant toerags, you evil scumbags, you- you-"

But words apparently failed Lily.

She stood there and glared at them, her green eyes burning with hatred, her red hair practically crackling with fury.

"Evans-" James began, with a half-glance at Remus.

Lily, however, shouted him down. "You're nothing but a mean, bullying jerk, Potter! You strut around acting like you're better than everyone else, you're horrible to Sev, even though he's done nothing to you-"

Sirius raised one eyebrow. "Nothing? Who says Snape's done nothing? He laughed at Peter! He's a Slytherin!"

"So?" Lily demanded, her furious face inches from his. "So? Your whole family is in Slytherin, aren't they?"

"Yeah," muttered Sirius darkly. "And they're so great. Not."

But Lily wasn't listening. "Being in Slytherin isn't a crime, you know! Why don't you just accept that people are in other houses? Sev's my best friend-"

"He doesn't only want to be your friend!" cried James suddenly, unable to help himself. His face burned as he looked into Lily's almond-shaped eyes, but he fought to keep himself under control.

Lily looked even more furious. "And what's that got to do with you, Potter?" she snapped. "Why is it any of your business who I hang around with? Why do you even care?"

James blushed deeper than the Gryffindor lion emblazoned on his robes. "I- I just… just think you deserve better."

"Better than what, exactly? Better than who?" Her eyes had narrowed to deadly-looking slits.

"Better than… better than… Well, better than... Snape."

"Oh, really? And who," Lily's voice had surpassed shouting and become an angry whisper, "do you know that fits that category? Who do you know that's better than Severus? Are you, Potter? Are you better than him? Do you consider yourself to be a cut above everyone else, or are you-"

"Evans, Snape is a git-" James began, trying to reason with her.

Lily exploded. "AND YOU'RE NOT, IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE SAYING? THAT YOU'RE SO SAINTLY AND KIND AND GOOD? YOU JINXED HIS BROOMSTICK, YOU GOOD-FOR-NOTHING, LITTLE-"

"Is there a problem here, Miss Evans?" said a vague-sounding voice from behind them. Professor Octavius had arrived, along with the rest of the class.

Lily blushed as she realised they were all staring at her. "N-no, Professor. I just…"

"Well, go inside, please. The lesson is about to begin. Where's my quill gone? Perhaps I left it on my desk-" The Professor ushered his students inside, patting his pockets as he did so.

Remus sat next to Lily and avoided looking at James, Sirius or Peter all lesson.

Lily, meanwhile, kept shooting the boys filthy looks across the classroom, hardly able to concentrate on her notes.

Professor Octavius stood at the front, talking to them about ghosts and poltergeists, and the difference between the two. He then lost the textbooks he was supposed to be handing out and left the classroom to go and find them.

While the teacher was gone, Sirius scrunched up a piece of paper and threw it at Remus. It hit him on the arm and bounced off.

But Remus ignored it easily and pretended he hadn't noticed.

Sirius tried again, determined to get the other boy's attention. When, once more, it failed, he threw his quill at Remus and hissed his friend's name. "Psst! Remus! Listen to me, will you?"

Remus pretended not to have heard him and Sirius was prevented from trying again by the reappearance of their teacher.

"Sorry about that," said the professor, hurrying into the room and dropping the books down on his desk. They slid everywhere and he hastily picked them up and gathered them back into a pile. Then he pushed a strand of brown hair off his forehead. "Right. Now that I've found the books- Could somebody hand them out?"

Lily volunteered and moved around the classroom, placing a copy of 'Poltergeists - A Beginner's study' on each desk. She slammed James and Sirius' copy down a little harder than was necessary when she reached them last, then returned to her seat.

"Thank you, Miss Evans, thank you…" Professor Octavius gave her a couple of house points and began the lesson properly. "So. Poltergeists. Could you all turn to page two-hundred-and-three and read the summary given by the author?"

There was a great rustling of pages as the class found the page and began to read.

The professor moved around them all, as usual, occasionally asking them to write down a particular date or fact.

Sirius and James both resigned themselves to the fact that they wouldn't be able to get Remus' attention until after the lesson and waited patiently for that end to come.

When at last the bell rang, Lily hurried out of the classroom as fast as she could, leaving Remus to pack up alone.

James, Sirius and Peter hovered behind him, waiting for an opportunity to speak. They were now the only people left in the classroom, Professor Octavius having left almost as quickly as Lily.

Remus turned around to finish doing up his bag and Sirius seized his chance.

"Remus? I'm sorry I was an idiot. And a liar. And a horrible friend."

Remus blinked. Coming from Sirius, that was like grovelling.

James jumped in. "And we won't lie to you like that again. You have every right to be mad at us, but we're sorry."

Focusing his gaze on his bag, Remus took a breath. "I'm not mad at you," he said slowly. "At least, not now. Yes, you shouldn't have lied to me… But I shouldn't have shouted. I overreacted quite a bit and I think we're equal."

"Really?" James couldn't believe his ears. This had gone much more easily than he expected. He'd been imagining a lot more shouting than this. "You aren't going to ignore us anymore?"

"No," sighed Remus, swinging his bag onto his shoulder. He looked at their stunned faces and laughed. "I can't believe I lasted an hour. Only an hour. You guys are clearly my weak spot; I'm usually excellent at ignoring people."

Sirius grinned. "Oh, you'll learn how to resist us eventually. But, I have to admit, I am very charming. Most people can't live without me for more than a minute."

The four boys burst out laughing, the sound ringing around the empty classroom.

"I wonder where Professor Octavius went," said Peter suddenly, looking around. "Teachers don't usually leave their classrooms straight after lessons. Most of them stay to tidy up first."

"He could've gone to the bathroom," suggested James. "Or he could've lost something again. He's always hurrying around, looking for things."

"Peter and I saw him in the first-floor corridor, remember, Pete?" said Remus as they left the classroom and headed downstairs for lunch. "He was coming out of an empty classroom that day I took you to the Hospital Wing."

"Yeah," said Peter. "I remember. And we thought he'd been looking for something."

"Poor bloke," said Sirius cheerfully. "He'd lose his own head if it wasn't screwed on."

They left the second floor by hurrying down a staircase and passed the Gryffindor prefects, Marcus and Felicity talking with their heads together. The pair seemed to be arguing.

"Typical," whispered James as they moved out of earshot. "Marcus always looks so surly. He's always arguing with people, too. Poor Felicity."

"I know, right," said Peter, looking back over his shoulder. "The other day, I was collecting my potions essay from the library and Marcus came round one of the shelves near the restricted section. He nearly knocked me over. Then he started shouting at me, telling me I was clumsy and that I should look where I was going- And it wasn't even my fault. He's the one that should be more careful!"

They had only just sat down to the Gryffindor table when Frank Longbottom came hurrying up to them. Behind him was his friend Alice.

"Hi," said Franks breathlessly, flinging himself down on the bench beside them. "I just remembered that I haven't actually introduced my friend to you, have I? I mean, you know who she is and everything, but you've never been properly introduced. This is Alice. Alice Fortescue."

Alice waved cheerfully. She had a round, smiling face, dark hair and pink cheeks. "Hello," she said. "Nice to meet you at last. I hear you're Frank's dorm mates."

"We are," said James.

But, before he could get any further, Peter had blurted out. "Are you related to Florean Fortescue? That man who runs the ice cream shop in Diagon Alley?"

Alice laughed. "No, I don't think so," she said as Peter blushed. "I suppose I could be related to him very distantly... But that's a great question. I've never been asked that before."

Peter blushed even harder and mumbled something that sounded like, "I'm not food-obsessed, I promise."

"I'm food-obsessed!" said Sirius loudly, having overheard Peter. "I love food. Who doesn't?"

"Food is good," agreed Frank, pulling a baked potato onto his plate and dumping some butter in the middle of it. He then reached for the cheese. "It keeps me alive, so I can't really complain about it, can I? And it tastes nice. That's just an added bonus."

"Favourite food?" asked Alice immediately. "I can't choose, to be honest."

"Me neither," said James.

"I've always had a soft spot for peanuts," admitted Frank. "I know it sounds weird, but I do."

"Chocolate," said Remus at once.

"I have to say cake," said Peter. "I mean, it's sweet and yummy and it comes in all kinds of flavours…"

Sirius just shrugged. "I dunno. I'll eat anything really."

"What, even rats?" Remus teased.

"Uh… I guess. Like, I would if I was starving."

"I think everyone would," said James.

"Mary wouldn't," said Alice. "You know, Mary MacDonald. She's scared of them. But she likes mice, for some reason."

"I can't even tell the difference, generally," said Frank. He paused to chew his potato, then continued. "Isn't a rat just a big mouse?"

The others all looked at him blankly.

"You tell me," said James. "But there's got to be some kind of other difference. Otherwise, rats would literally just be called 'big mice', wouldn't they."

"Or 'mus magna'," suggested Remus. "That's the Latin translation."

James rolled his eyes. "How in Merlin's name do you know that?"

Remus glanced at Sirius. "Oh, I… um… borrowed Sirius' Latin dictionary."

Everyone stared at Sirius, who looked slightly embarrassed.

"You have a Latin dictionary?" gasped James. "You, of all people, have a Latin dictionary?"

Sirius sighed. "I- It's just a… Well, my- my family told me to bring it. They're kind of obsessed with… erm… tradition."

"Are you saying it's traditional to bring a Latin dictionary to school?" asked Frank. "Because I've never seen one."

"I didn't say it was normal," muttered Sirius, his eyes on his fork. "And, Remus, I told you not to tell anyone."

"Sorry," said Remus awkwardly. "I know I promised. But it's not that embarrassing-"

"Not for you, maybe," said Sirius. "But you don't have my reputation. You're not a gorgeous teenage heartthrob like me."

Remus burst out laughing. "Sirius, you're eleven years old! And you've been at this school for two weeks."

"So?" said Sirius defensively. "I can become an eleven-year-old heartthrob in two weeks, thanks. Just because you can't, Lupin-"

Remus laughed again. "Does it look like I care?" he asked.

"You should care," grinned Sirius. "I mean, have you looked in the mirror recently?"

"I can't," replied Remus, looking unusually grave. "It smashes every time I try." Then he looked at Sirius again and they both cracked up.

"Will you two get a grip?" said James, gulping down his pumpkin juice. "You've both been all over the place today. First you're shouting, then you're laughing... You'll be crying next!"

Sirius calmed down a little bit. "But seriously. Have you looked in the mirror recently? Because you do look terrible."

James groaned. "Sirius, just because I said you'll be crying next, it doesn't mean that you have to literally make Remus cry," he said exasperatedly.

But Sirius shook his head. "No, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that you look really tired, Remus. There are shadows under your eyes, you're really pale and... Remus, you look ill. Are you feeling okay?"

Very conscious of the fact that they were all staring at him, Frank and Alice included, Remus dropped his gaze to his plate. "I... Yes, I'm- I'm fine," he said quietly.

"Are you sure?" asked James. He too had been noticing how exhausted Remus seemed to be getting. "You've been looking ill ever since Friday."

"No, no, I'm fine." Remus glanced nervously at Frank and Alice to see what they were thinking.

What if someone worked out his secret? Full moon was drawing closer and closer... What would he do if he was forced to leave Hogwarts?

Peter caught Remus glancing at Frank and Alice too, and he leaned forwards. "We can go somewhere private if you like."

"Yeah," said Alice, standing up. "We don't mind. We'll see you in Charms and you can talk in peace. Come on, Frank."

Frank obeyed and followed her out of the Great Hall, throwing the others a small wave as he went.

James stood up too. "Come on, Remus. We'll go and find somewhere to talk. We can get away from all this noise." He gestured around him at the hundreds of chattering students.

But Remus didn't move. "No, really, James. It's fine. You don't have to-"

"Yes, we do," interrupted Sirius, trying to drag Remus to his feet. You can tell us what's wrong and we can take you to the Hospital Wing."

"But I don't need the Hospital Wing."

"Well, what do you need, then?"

"I-" Remus cast around wildly for an excuse. "I'm just... tired, that's all. There's nothing wrong really."

James raised an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah?"

"Yes."

"Then we'll tell Professor Flitwick that you've gone to get some rest. You can sleep while we're in Charms. I'm sure he won't mind - Flitwick likes you and Lily." Sirius stopped pulling at Remus' arm and simply stood beside him, his arms folded.

"What? No! No, I can't miss Charms!" Remus cried, leaping to his feet and sending his fork crashing to the floor. Flustered, he pushed his hair out of his eyes. "I'm not that tired. I can still come to Charms. Trust me, please. If I need the Hospital Wing, I'll go, I promise."

The others exchanged glances.

"You should go to bed early tonight," said Peter sensibly, after a long pause.

Remus nodded, grateful to have escaped the questioning for the time being. "I will," he told his friends. "And I should feel better in the morning."

A/N:

I know I said I'd only update on Saturdays from now on, but I'm hoping to have this book finished by the start of July and, as there are forty-four chapters in total, I'm going to have to update this more often. Especially if I want to meet my 'deadline' and get started on the second book.

Also, I love writing this and I can't bear only writing one chapter a week! I'm always so eager to write more XD

So, from now on, I'll be updating whenever I can - I hope that's not too inconvenient for you guys.