Author's note: I did want to talk about Muggle records/record players. Muggle record players do not work at Hogwarts. Any record player you see mentioned being used at Hogwarts is magical. Lily and David both have them. Muggle records, however, will work on magical record players.

Also in regards to comments I am going to try to catch up on them soon! I'm sorry it's taken me so long but I'll get to them sometime soon I promise :)

Also warning for very quick, minor, unaware self-harm. It's only a tiny little bit and not on purpose. I honestlu don't know if it's enough to put a warning about but I thought I would just in case.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Half the school seemed to be preparing for the big final game on Saturday, while the other half were preparing for the final exams. The fifth and seventh years—whose exams were before all the other years—looked like zombies as they wandered through their days. On Monday at lunch, Remus saw Charles Litten, the seventh year Chaser for the Gryffindor team, sobbing into his food.

"That's going to be you in our final year," Sirius teased, poking James.

"Is not," James snapped.

"Bell and Hooper aren't doing much better," Peter remarked, glancing over at the two fifth years on the Gryffindor team.

Remus wondered how Bell managed, being Captain as well as preparing for her O. . She looked about as peaked as Remus did before a full moon and was methodically cutting up her sandwich into smaller and smaller bits, staring blankly ahead.

"Least you won't have to worry 'bout being a Prefect and being on the team," Peter added as they took their seats.

"Prefects are losers," James yawned.

"I wouldn't say that," Sirius said.

James closed one eye, squinting with the other. "Eh?"

Sirius tipped his head towards Remus. "Who the hell do you think is gonna be our year's Gryffindor Prefect, you knobhead?"

Remus pressed his lips together, shaking his head even though James was trying to explain he meant 'most' Prefects and not 'all'. "I won't be," he whispered. "I can't be."

"Who else would be though?" Pete asked.

But he was still shaking his head. "I can't. It will be either David or Spinnet—"

"Fhuuuaaa!" James drew out. "Between those two, it'd better be Struthers or I'm gonna have a word with McGonsie! Nah, Sirius is right, it'll be you."

Sirius studied Remus with a puzzled expression. "Why wouldn't you?"

"I can't begin to imagine what giant obstacle might be preventing me from being put into a position of power," Remus hissed out. "Even if McGonagall would agree—which she wouldn't—the other Heads most likely wouldn't feel comfortable."

"Other Heads, or one in particular?" James asked.

"Besides, it—it's three years away—"

"Two," Sirius pointed out, and the three of them stared at him. "What? We're at the end of our second year, more or less. It's two years and three months away until we're fifth years."

Is that it? Remus thought, hardly able to believe it. Already?

"Already?" Peter asked, echoing Remus's thoughts. "Blimey, feels like—I mean—huh."

James dropped his head on the table. "Urgh. The Hogsmeade visits will be nice but eight am classes and more classes with Slytherins will suck!"

"Look on the bright side: we won't have to worry about any Slytherins in Muggle Studies," added Sirius, and James gave him a thumbs up.

"Well, there will be at least one," Remus said. "Aegis."

"Really?" Sirius looked quite startled, glancing over at the Slytherin table. "Huh."

That reminded Remus of a question he had had, one itching in the back of his head since they settled on electives. One he wasn't sure if he should ask or not, though he was desperately curious. "Hey, um, S—Sirius?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you…" Remus trailed off, worried now about how rude his question might be.

Sirius grinned. "Am I what?"

"Dumb?" James muttered into his glass of water. "He is. Ow!" he added when Sirius kicked him.

"No, I—I was wondering about… well… I mean, I know your family isn't exactly… pleased with Muggle things," Remus said slowly, and Sirius's smile faded. "I w-was wondering about… you taking Muggle Studies."

"It's fine," Sirius said stiffly, back straight.

"Are they—"

"It's fine," he repeated, picking up his fork. "I've taken care of it. You know, I was wondering about the prank—I was thinking maybe doing something with flowers? Maybe we could have bright flowers bursting out everywhere and summer-y insects like, you know, bees and butterflies?"

Very well, he thought, going back to his lunch; it was very clear Sirius had no intention of talking about it, and he didn't want to pressure his friend. He caught Peter's eye and noticed Peter looked a little concerned too. They talked about it later, well after lunch when the Marauders were headed towards History. James and Sirius were far ahead while Peter and Remus shuffled behind, quietly discussing their worry over what might happen with Sirius when his family got the book list over summer.

"What do you think he meant by taken care of it?" Peter asked.

Remus shrugged, hugging his books to his chest. "I haven't the faintest. Perhaps…" Would he have talked to McGonagall about it, requesting that she send a separate letter to him with the list of what was needed for Muggle Studies? Wouldn't that make her suspicious? He couldn't imagine McGonagall not being suspicious about it. But what about buying anything needed? Could he keep it hidden from his family?

"Perhaps?" Peter asked when Remus was silent for a while.

"Oh. I don't know. I guess we'll know next September."

He clutched the books tighter, wishing he knew more… wishing he knew for certain. Assuming what Sirius went through at home was very different than knowing for sure, and maybe Remus's imagination was… worse than reality.

Merlin, I hope that's true, he thought miserably as he followed his friends into class.

/\/\/\/\/\

After Herbology on Tuesday morning, Remus went with Rivers instead of the Marauders so they could do more work on their project. Remus was very tired, as he had pretty much spent all of Monday studying hard and may have stayed up far too late. Now, he struggled to fend off yawns as he and Rivers went to the library; only once they were there they found they'd be unable to study as an older student had been practicing spells and had accidentally transfigured some of the bookshelves into a very angry dragon that Professor Kettleburn had managed to subdue and McGonagall transfigured back. But the library was temporarily closed while Farrow and some volunteers did cleanup. So instead they went to the Great Hall, but it was very noisy there. It was also raining outside which meant they couldn't find a spot outside.

They wandered around the castle a bit until Rivers said 'aw who cares' and took Remus down to the Hufflepuff dorms.

"Nobody really cares that much," he explained as he tapped out the rhythm. Remus nervously followed Rivers through the 'hobbit hole' and stiffened when he came out the other side, when several older Hufflepuffs looked their way. A couple gave Remus's Gryffindor uniform a lingering look but then they went back to whatever they were doing.

"Not like you haven't been in our common room before anyway," Rivers muttered as he guided Remus up to his dorm.

Remus was silent as he went in, looking around wide-eyed at Rivers's dorm. It was round and had five four-poster beds with soft yellow curtains hanging from them. There were also strange-looking round things sitting on the floor, at the edges of a large rug in the shape of a badger's head. Rivers flopped down onto one of the round things and it squashed down.

"Have a seat!" he said brightly. Remus eyed the round thing then nervously sat down, squeaking when it was even squashier than he expected. Rivers began laughing. "Beanbag chairs," he explained. "A Muggle thing. They're brilliant, aren't they?!"

"They're—they're s-something," Remus agreed, thinking his friends would love them. He tried to get himself into a better position but it was difficult maneuvering ones self when the chair went every which way!

"These aren't real ones, of course," Rivers said, giggling over Remus's flailing. "I mean, not ones we properly bought from Muggles. Mikey saw them over the summer—his cousins had one—and explained them to us and we managed to… recreate them."

Remus finally adjusted himself until he was in a better position and found the chair really was comfortable, if not a little awkward. Rivers jumped up suddenly, asking if Remus minded music. Remus shook his head and Rivers put a record on, one of the Hufflepuffskein albums. He didn't play it very loud, thankfully. Then as soon as he sat down he got right back up, getting two bottles of grape soda for them after making sure Remus liked it.

Then the two of them were working on their project, Remus writing most of the stuff down but making sure he didn't reword anything Rivers put in. After about ten minutes the door opened and four Hufflepuffs came in, all of them stopping when they saw Remus.

"Hey," Bones said cheerfully. He was in a bathrobe, and his red hair was damp and sticking out everywhere. "Didn't expect to see you two here."

"Library's closed," Rivers said as the Hufflepuffs came in. "Great Hall is loud."

Bones went over to his wardrobe, shedding the robe and being absolutely naked underneath. Remus turned brilliantly red and ducked his head, burying his nose in the notebook. He still wasn't quite used to James's habit of getting naked openly, and it was definitely weird seeing someone he knew less well.

"You're working on puffapods, right?" asked Stephen Yardley. Rivers confirmed it, and Yardley nodded. "Pettigrew and I are doing gurdyroots. They're so dumb."

"You think all plants are dumb," Michael Wright complained, throwing his wet towel at Yardley.

"They are though, Herbology is bleedin' boring!" Yardley groaned.

"You're bleedin' boring," Bones retorted and everyone laughed except for Remus, and Nirav Jha who was quietly brushing his hair in the corner.

Rivers made a face at Remus who was trying to keep his eyes lowered since Bones was being very slow at getting dressed. "Guys, could you perhaps hurry up and go? We need to work on our project, and lunch will start soon."

The Hufflepuffs were very noisy as they finished doing whatever it was they were doing, except Jha who was very quiet but Remus couldn't really remember him speaking much in class; he seemed to be a very quiet person. The four boys tumbled out of the room, leaving Remus and Rivers alone again.

They definitely didn't get enough written before it was time for lunch, and Rivers asked if Remus wanted to meet up after supper. Remus explained he couldn't, since he had his weekly checkup with Pomfrey that night though if Rivers was willing to meet for half an hour or so in the library after that was over, Remus could do that.

"Weekly checkup?" Rivers asked as he watched Remus flail around, trying to get out of the chair. Rivers laughed and took Remus's hand, yanking him to his feet so quickly that Remus almost crashed into him. They stumbled a bit, Rivers holding onto Remus to prevent him from falling over.

"Th—thanks. Y-yes, I—yes, Um, I have to see her every w-week," he mumbled, putting all his things back in his satchel.

Rivers stared at him, opening his mouth then closing it, a faint blush on his cheeks. Remus suspected he wanted to ask about Remus's illness, as much as Remus wanted to ask about his illness. The two stared at each other for several long seconds then Rivers coughed, turning to take Remus out of the common room. Once out, they agreed to meet up the next day to finish their project.

They walked to the Great Hall together then split up, Remus going to his friends and informing them about what happened in the library since it seemed to be something they'd enjoy knowing. Naturally, James grew a little pouty that he hadn't thought of it first.

"It wasn't a prank, it was an accident," Remus pointed out.

James gave a huff. "Still," he grumbled. "We need to step up our game."

Remus rolled his eyes, and didn't say anything more on the matter, hoping James wouldn't harass him about learning a spell to transfigure things into dragons.

He then took the opportunity to weasel the Whomping Willow into conversation, pretending like Bones had been talking about it. Then he very—very—casually asked if they had been bothering the Willow, since he said Rivers saw them near it the other day.

"Why would we bother it?" Peter asked. "That thing could kill us!"

"Why does Rivers care if we're near it?" James asked.

Remus shrugged. "He didn't, he thought—he thought maybe one of you were going to try to use it for the project. That's all. Then I got worried because as Peter said, it could hurt you. Or kill you. The Wilow is extremely dangerous and not something to be trifled with."

Sirius poked him. "Don't worry, fusspot, we didn't bother the Willow."

Remus couldn't figure out a way to press the subject without it seeming suspicious, and he gave up, hoping that they had been near it for reasons other than speculation about him.

/\/\/\/\/\

When Remus went to Occlumency that night, he mentally prepared himself for the inevitable lectures about pushing himself too much. He was also a little worried since last week she had said the thing about helping out with the expense of his elective, as an investment. Would she bring it up again…?

"Good evening, Remus," she said when he came into the room.

"Good evening, Miss Fawley." He set his satchel down then fell onto the couch next to her. "How are you doing?"

"I am well," she said, turning her face towards him. "How are you doing?"

He licked his lips, hoping he didn't sound too tired as he said, "I'm good. Busy with… schoolwork and—and everything. We have a Herbology project I need to finish up tomorrow."

Fawley was frowning. "Not too busy with schoolwork, are you?"

"Er, the—the usual."

"The usual… for your exams?" she inquired, and he knew he was had. "You're not staying up, are you?"

Why does everyone want to make it their business how much I sleep!? he thought angrily. "Not too late."

"What time did you get to sleep last night?"

He ran his fingers through his hair, glad she couldn't see him scowling. "Not very late." She raised an eyebrow, pressing her lips thin. "Um, around… midnight…" All right closer to two in the morning but… close enough.

Fawley sighed. "I know we've discussed at great length how important sleep is so I shan't go on too much, however I will state again that you need to sleep! Next year you'll be having to wake up even earlier. I am worried you'll keep these hours and get even less sleep than you do now!"

"I—I'll be fine," he said, tugging at his collar. "Really. Um, can—can we start the lesson?"

"You're only trying to avoid the conversation," she accused lightly. "But very well."

They began to go through his memories, him doing his best to keep her out or push her out. He could feel that his barrier was getting a little strong… perhaps like a regular paper towel instead of a wet one. In addition he managed to kick her out twice, though one of the times was barely a light shove. Still, it was great progress and she was very happy when they came to the end of their lesson. Remus was sweating, and his head was pounding.

"You did so well," she said, clapping her hands. "I'm very proud!"

"Th—thanks," he panted.

"Are you all right?" She reached out, touching his forehead. "That's not a fever, is it?"

"No, it's—I'm a little sweaty from the exertion," he said, pulling from her touch. "Even if it is a fever that wouldn't matter much."

She gave a sort of humming noise. "I suppose not, but it is concerning that Occlumency has drained you this much."

He rubbed his forehead, wishing the pain would stop. "I'll be all right," he promised.

"Okay…" She sat back, folding her hands in her lap. "Before you go I wanted to discuss one more thing with you. James's final Quidditch game is this Saturday, correct?"

"Um. Yes. Uh, against Slytherin."

She nodded. "Perhaps next week your friends can come with you so I can talk with them one more time before summer? I'd like to… figure things out for next year. Sirius—well, even though he isn't having any lessons I'd still like to chat with him again."

"Um, I can ask," he said.

"If not next Tuesday then perhaps the twelfth or nineteenth?" she asked. "The exact date isn't very important, just sometime before summer."

"I don't think they'd mind," he said, sliding off the couch. "I'll ask them tonight and—and send a letter tomorrow."

"All right." She stood as well, reaching out to grasp his shoulder. "Please don't push yourself too much, Remus. I know the exams are important to you but…"

"I—I won't," he said nervously. "Not too much."

Fawley suddenly got a small smile. "Do you think James would mind if I came to the game this Saturday?"

Remus was startled by the question. He almost asked her why she'd come since she wouldn't be able to see anything, then bit the comment back because it was so rude, and chastised himself for even thinking such a thing. "I don't think he'd mind, he'd probably love it."

"I might do that. Have a good evening."

Remus left, swinging by a bathroom to splash cold water on his face. I should talk to her about the headaches, he thought, drying his face off. What good would that do? The headaches went away quickly enough, his lycanthropy made sure of that. No, he decided, leaving the bathroom and heading back to the Gryffindor tower. It's fine.

/\/\/\/\/\

Naturally Remus stayed up late on Tuesday, especially since he could sleep in on Wednesday. Not that he slept in very long. He woke up earlier than he normally did on Wednesdays and went to the library to study more, glad to see the library was back to normal. He asked Farrow about the dragon and the librarian ranted for a good five minutes about inconsiderate students who didn't care about being careful around precious books. Remus nodded in agreement, not saying much, then asking if any books had been permanently damaged; he was greatly relieved when Farrow promised all the books were safe.

Remus spent most of the morning studying, forgoing breakfast, and forgetting about it until he got to Charms class. His stomach was rumbling as he wrote down notes for the spells they'd be working on on Friday. At one point he got a note from Sirius about it, and he flushed a little pink, embarrassed his tummy had been so loud. Sirius then slipped him a small bar of chocolate which he pushed back, shaking his head. He wasn't going to eat in class! Sirius stuck his tongue out then unwrapped the bar, taking a big bite.

"Mr. Black!" Professor Flitwick said immediately, and Sirius gulped. "Five points from Gryffindor, please refrain from eating while in class! Put the chocolate away."

Remus snickered, giving Sirius 'I-told-you-so' looks.

"Stop being so smug," Sirius complained after class ended.

"I'm not being smug."

"You are so, you kept giving me smug looks."

Remus rolled his eyes, shouldering his satchel. "All right, maybe a little. Come on, I'm starving."

/\/\/\/\/\

Remus spent the afternoon after Transfiguration in the library with Rivers as they worked hard to finish their project. They worked through supper, and were still working when the Study Group showed up at six. They finished up shortly after, both feeling victorious and very pleased with how the essay turned out. Remus was also pleased that Rivers's voice seemed to come across clear in the essay too.

Instead of joining Study Group, Remus opted to simply head back to the dorms. He had some other assignments he needed to finish anyway, and knew James and Sirius were both in detention, and Peter had Photography Club so the dorm would hopefully be quiet. However when he went in he found David there, listening to music. Since it wasn't very loud, Remus sat down at his desk and worked while also half-listening. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before James and Sirius returned from detention and as soon as their voices rolled down the hallway, David jumped up to take the album off his record player.

"Sorry," he mumbled to Remus as he slipped the album back into its cover.

"It's f-fine," Remus said, glancing over as his friends burst through the door. David flashed him a smile as he scurried past the others, going off to find Spinnet.

"Wanna come with us?" James asked as he got his broom and invisibility cloak.

Remus eyed him. "Where are you going?"

"Some Prefects are gathered by the Greenhouses," Sirius explained excitedly. "We're going to go dump something on them."

James was in his trunk, trying to find the perfect thing to attack the prefects with. "I have some stink potion left, we can use that!"

"No thank you," Remus sniffled. "First of all, I don't think three people can fit on your broom."

Sirius smirked. "You're short enough not to count. Augh!" he yelled, dodging as Remus chucked a box of every flavor beans at him; of course, it missed by a wide berth. "Your aim is awful."

Remus got his wand out. "My aim with this is perfect." Sirius squeaked and ducked behind James. "In any case, no, I'll stay here. I have work to do. Besides, Peter will be back soon and it wouldn't be nice for him to come back to an empty dorm."

"Fair point," James agreed, handing his large jar of stink potion to Sirius. "Get the window for us though, will you?"

Remus opened the window as the two of them climbed onto James's broom. Remus also helped adjust the cloak so they were hidden, and then heard them fly outside. He was half-tempted to shut the window but instead he went back to his work. Some of the music David had been playing earlier was stuck in Remus's head and he began humming to himself until Pete came in. Remus explained to him where the two troublemakers were and Peter shook his head, agreeing with Remus at how incredible it was how much mischief they liked to cause.

"Don't get me wrong, it's fun to do," Peter said as he kicked his shoes off, "but they really take the cake!"

Within a minute James and Sirius returned, laughing at what they did, proud of themselves for pulling it off with aplomb. The prefects hadn't suspected a thing, hadn't seen them at all. Remus congratulated them, then returned to his work, humming quietly to himself. It was unusual for him to hum while he worked, but normally he either hummed wizarding songs or else Muggle songs Peter didn't recognize; this time, however, Peter recognized immediately what Remus was humming.

James and Sirius were chattering while Peter stared at Remus then suddenly, as Remus hummed the correct part, Peter shrieked, "BUM-BUM-BUM!" so loudly that Remus jumped, dropping his quill.

"Did you yell 'bum'?" James asked.

Peter blushed a little. "It's part of the song he was humming."

"Bums?" Sirius asked.

"No, it's a music bit," Peter said, gesturing towards Remus. "That's what you were humming, right? Sweet Caroline?"

Remus was a little taken aback that Peter knew what he was humming since that never seemed to happen, or maybe Peter never paid much attention. "Hands," he sang out in response.

Peter grinned. "Touching hands!"

"Reaching out..."

"Touching me!"

"TOUCHING YOOOOU!" they sang together as they stretched their hands out towards one another, both voices very loud. "SWEET CAROLINE! BUM-BUM-BUM! GOOD TIMES NEVER SEEMED SO GOOOOOD! I'VE BEEN INCLINED, BUM-BUM-BUM, TO BELIEVE THEY NEVER WOULD!"

James and Sirius were both staring in shock, James's eyes bulging a bit behind his glasses while Sirius's jaw hung open. Peter and Remus both burst into giggles, and Remus covered his mouth, feeling a dizzying sort of joy that Peter knew the song! It was the same feeling he got when he first heard David playing Muggle music.

"Uh, what just happened?" Sirius asked, eyes darting back and forth between the two.

Peter fell over, burying his face in his pillow while he laughed.

"Okay. Okay." James held up a finger. "Pete. I can… see Pete doing that. But… Remus?"

"Yes?" he asked, biting his bottom lip, trying not to grin.

"You—you never sing like that," Sirius remarked.

Remus shrugged. "It's a good song."

"What the hell song was that?" James asked.

"Sweet Caroline," Peter piped up. "And it needs to be sung real loud."

"I agree," Remus said with a nod. "You must sing the chorus as loud as you can, in my opinion."

"I didn't know you knew it though," Peter said, sitting back up.

"What song?!" James demanded.

"Apparently Sweet Caroline," Sirius said, and James smacked him.

"I mean, I've never heard of it!"

Remus picked his quill back up. "It's Muggle," he explained. Then, "And where it began, I can't begin to knowing."

Sirius frowned. "That doesn't sound—"

"But then I know it's growin' strong," Peter snickered, and they both grinned again.

"Was in the spring—"

"And spring became the summer!"

"Who'd have believe you'd come along?"

Peter reached out. "Haaaannnnds…"

Remus reached out as well. "Touching hands!"

"Reaching out!"

"Touching meeeeeee!"

"TOUCHING YOOOOOOUUU!"

"SWEET CAROLINE, BUM-BUM-BUM!" they both sang again, then they were unable to sing anymore from the laughter, especially at the confused looks on their friends' faces.

"So you—you like Neil Diamond?" Peter asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I do," Remus admitted, feeling a little hot realizing his love for Muggle music was coming out in front of the purebloods. He really didn't think James or Sirius would think it was that weird, but it was still a secret of his coming out into the open.

"I really like I am… I said," Pete said then suddenly looked a little uncomfortable. "Um, it's neat, I think."

Remus's forehead wrinkled as he tried to recollect the song. "I—I'm not sure if I've heard that one."

"Oh! It's, um, it's real good." Peter definitely looked awkward though, like it was a confession he hadn't meant to say.

"Neil Diamond?" Remus heard James whisper to Sirius who shrugged.

"So—um, this is your favorite song or something?" Sirius asked Remus.

"Favorite…? Oh, Sweet Caroline?" he asked and Sirius nodded. "No, no. It's just a very good song, and fun to sing."

"I guess it's… I've never seen you so enthusiastic about a song," Sirius said, studying Remus.

Remus turned back to his desk. "Um, well, as I said, it's the sort of song that needs to be sung like that—"

"What other Muggle artists do you like?" Peter asked.

The looks on James and Sirius's faces made Remus not want to talk about it. "Er. Ah, well, I—a few, I suppose. It doesn't matter, Um, I should get finish this—"

"Why doesn't it matter?" Sirius wanted to know.

Because you'll probably think it's super weird? "Er. It—well…"

"I'm interested to know," James said. "Muggle music, I mean. I never gave it much thought that they had interesting music. The only Muggle music I really know is the booorrrinnng stuff like, um, from centuries ago." He then began humming a song.

"Tchaikovsky," Remus said.

"Bless you," James replied.

"No it—the artist. The composer. His name is Tchaikovsky," he explained. "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. It's… it's an absolutely brilliant piece of music, actually, and—and—and er, you don't particularly care."

"Well, if you care about it maybe it's not dumb, but it's still boring," James said, waving his hand dismissively. "But—I mean I didn't know Muggle music had words, I thought it was all like that. You know, only music."

Peter burst into peals of laughter while Remus tried not to choke. "Bloody hell, James!" Pete gasped out. "Muggle's have been doing music with words for ages! And some of it is super cool! I mean, don't get me wrong, I prefer magic music, but some Muggle stuff is terrific. Like Sweet Caroline! And Elvis! Rolling Stones! The Beatles! You're really telling me you haven't heard of the Beatles?"

"The kind that scurry on the ground?" James asked blankly.

Remus covered his face, unable to stop the laughter.

"I wish I had one of their albums with me," sighed Pete. "My dad has some."

Remus thought of David's collection, wondering if he'd ever lend some of them to Remus sometime. "I—I might know someone who has them here," he said. "I don't know if I'd be able to borrow them. I could ask."

"Evans?" Sirius guessed.

Lily might have some too. "I'm not saying," Remus replied, since David didn't want anyone to know. "Muggle… Muggle music is quite good. I—I really like… some of it." He reached inside his left sleeve, scratching a little at his arm, feeling anxious and hot about all of this. "A lot of it. I—I really like Elton John."

"Ooh, he's good," Peter agreed.

Sirius was still giving Remus a weird look. "It's… Muggle music is really good," Remus said rather defensively.

"No, it's not that," Sirius said, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm sure it is. It's just nice to see you so… excited about something besides schoolwork."

Remus made a face at that. "Thanks."

"No, I mean it," he said quickly. "Not that there's anything wrong with loving schoolwork. It's just nice to see this side of you. That you've never shown. After over a year and a half."

"I—" Remus knew he was going red now. All he could think about was James's note, about 'lying'. "I figured you two would find Muggle music to be weird. Most purebloods… seem to. My father doesn't particularly like Muggle music, though he'll put up with it for Mum. I have never heard a wizarding radio station play any Muggle music. I've never heard a Muggle song become popular around school. Last year I mentioned I had some Muggle albums at home and none of you were interested at all, and changed the subject right after, so I assumed it wasn't anything you'd like. I guess I thought if I brought Muggle music up again… you'd laugh at me or something."

"We'd never laugh at you," Sirius said then scrunched his face up. "Er, aside from when you walk into walls, I mean. I'd like to hear more about Muggle music. If you can borrow those albums, that'd be fantastic."

"I'd like to hear them too," James said, clapping his hands once. "Especially this Sweet Caroline thing."

"And El—El… tin… Joan," Sirius said slowly.

Remus giggled again. "Elton John," he corrected. "All right, I'll ask. No guarantees though."

"If you can't, I can maybe bring some albums with me when we come back in September," Peter offered. "I usually leave my Muggle ones at home."

"Remus, you can bring yours too," Sirius said sheepishly. "I remember that conversation now. It was right after the bat-bogey prank, wasn't it?" Remus nodded. "Yeah, I forgot about that."

"Ooh, me too," James muttered. "I guess we did kinda… ignore… that. Sorry, mate."

"No, it's fine—"

"We are definitely interested now though," Sirius promised.

"All right." Remus turned back to his desk, feeling quite buzzy. Were they actually interested or only pretending to be? He couldn't be sure, but maybe they would like some Muggle songs. At least, he hoped they would.