Full Summary:

Remus was sure he'd have to say goodbye to his friends this year, but oddly it seems they have forgotten about his secret entirely. Or, more likely, they are hatching some sort of plan to uncover it. But with a strange new Professor who seems determined to lessen his classes' prejudices, maybe, just maybe, there's hope yet—even though Remus knows it's only a matter of time they find out. However, he has bigger things to worry about. Mainly keeping his other two friends from murdering Peter, finding a way to be supportive about Quidditch to both Sirius and James, and trying to hold off Patricia's attempts to take them to the forest, which seem far too dangerous and suspicious. Oh yeah, and the Triwizard Tournament is being attempted to be held at Hogwarts for the first time in hundreds of years, though if the attempt will be successful is anyone's guess, especially since there might be a secondary reason for why some of the students from other schools are at Hogwarts. Between classes, Quidditch, tasks, and moons, Remus doesn't know how he's going to make it through this school year without slipping up, but he sure is gonna try.

Chapter One: Middle of Nowhere

Summer did not go how Remus planned. After the disastrous ending to their train ride, Remus had found his father very angry about how long he took. His quiet explanation of falling asleep was believable but not excusable in his father's eyes. Not that he cared about waiting for Remus—as usual, his father's main problem was Remus himself.

"You aren't supposed to stick out at all! What happened to you keeping your head down?" his father shouted for the fifteenth time in the past two weeks. It had only been two weeks, yet it felt more like months. Worse, Remus hadn't been able to contact Sirius with the mirror, which worried him to no end.

"I'm sorry, dad."

"I don't want to hear you're sorry!" his father shouted, slamming the dishes he was collecting so hard they cracked, one plate breaking clean in half. Remus jumped, his knees shaking.

He almost wished his father hadn't started eating dinner with him. At first, it had seemed like a reward, but he had realized quickly it was more a punishment than anything. He longed for his expected lonely but quiet summer. Instead, his father didn't leave the house and stamped around the place as if Remus had done something horrendous, slamming doors, breaking dishes, and yelling...a lot.

His father hadn't hurt him...yet. But it seemed like he would at any moment, and the stress at waiting for it to happen was driving Remus insane.

"I don't have friends, dad. Those three students I got in trouble with...it was just a misunderstanding," he pleaded, his father shaking his head in disgust.

"Don't you dare lie to me!" he roared, making Remus flinch again. He felt miserable and small and, worse, his father's logic was beginning to wear on him. After all, unlike his uncle, his father really was scared for him, which made it harder to deflect the points he brought up….over and over again.

"Don't you get it!" he hollered, crossing the short distance and gripping Remus' arm tight enough to hurt, dragging him away from the broken dishes and into the living room-his father's bedroom.

"Y…..yes!" he whimpered, and his father finally looked at him, at Remus' eyes, wide with fear, and cheeks damp with tears. He let Remus go, looking disgusted, then sighed and took up his usual place pacing in front of the fireplace, shooting anguished looks at his son, who was quick to make himself small on the couch. He knew the routine well by now.

"Remus, do you know what would happen if anyone found out?" he demanded, his anger turning into a fear that made Remus afraid as well. Back and forth they had gone, nearly every day since he returned home, and Remus wasn't sure how to make it end.

"They would tell the Professors and I would be in big trouble and so would Dumbledore," he cried, quickly wiping at the tears, but they wouldn't stop falling. He wanted to ask his dad when he'd go back to work but he knew he deserved this. After all, his friends…...oh, how much it hurt to think of them as anything less….had come close to discovering what he was last year. If he didn't put a stop to it he was sure they would find out this year.

"You could be killed, Remus Lupin. You could be taken away from me again, and I…" His father's voice broke and he quickly turned his back to Remus as he composed himself and Remus pretended not to notice. As if he couldn't hear his father crying at night, as if he hadn't heard his father crying before, since his mother died.

"What do I do, dad?" He continued crying, and his father just looked stressed now, staring at the broken dish in the kitchen that could barely be called a kitchen and sighing heavily.

"I'll try to convince Dumbledore to let you change rooms. I understand…..I do Remus….when you live with three other rambunctious boys it's hard to simply ignore them. You can't have a single room, though, I already tried." Remus nodded and listened to the familiar rant of his father as he tried to puzzle out what to do, how to solve the mess Remus had caused, to solve the mess Remus was.

He listened patiently for over an hour, answering quickly when his father asked him a question like "did they ask questions" and "will they leave you alone if you ignore them." He should have answered honestly but he didn't, more to get his father to stop than because he felt much faith in his friends. He had heard them talk about werewolves and other monsters, after all.

"May I go outside?" he timidly asked after his father stopped pacing and sagged into an armchair.

"Yes, but stay close." Remus nodded and all but ran outside as his father got back up on his feet with a groan and walked to the kitchen to start cleaning up, muttering to himself. As soon as he was outside, Remus took a deep breath. He looked back, to make sure his father wasn't watching him. Checked to make sure he wasn't standing in the window of the even tinier house than they usually had, the one his father had moved them too, a mere cottage in the woods. But his father was poorer than he had ever been, now having been unemployed for months, and he had pointed out that this way they were very, very far from anyone else.

Very far. It was nearly a one-hour car drive in any direction before a living soul even appeared, and even then it was serious campers. They were in the Dyfnant forest in Wales. His mother had lived in Cardiff before meeting his father, and it would have been nice to see Wales a little more, perhaps visit the capital where his mother was born, but the forest they were in was so thick and remote that even if they had a car it would have taken a very long time. Also, they didn't have the money to use the floo to travel anywhere but St. Mungo's once a month if needed, and back to King's Cross, if his father decided to let him return, which at times seemed to be in serious question.

Kicking a rock far away from him, then again as he caught up to it, he waited until he was out of sight of the house, then took off running. He leaped over a stream and nearly fell over an old rotting root of a tree sticking out of the ground, but he kept running and running. Finally, he stopped, out of breath, and collapsed next to a very large oak tree, reaching underneath into an old badger hole and pulling out a package wrapped up tightly in one of his now too small shirts. Unfolding it gently, he let the two-way mirror fall into his hands.

"Sirius Black," he whispered to it, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice. He waited and waited, his tears falling onto the smooth glass that wasn't rippling. After ten minutes, as long as he could possibly wait to start heading back, he shoved it back into his old shirt, sniffling as he rewrapped it and hid it again. Maybe Sirius had figured out what he was and never wanted to talk to him again. Even that would be better than the alternative of him being so hurt or sick that he couldn't use the mirror. Most likely it had gotten taken and Remus wouldn't be able to talk to anyone all summer.

Maybe they just kept missing each other. It's not like you could leave a message on the thing. Admitting defeat, Remus hurried back to the cottage, the setting sun already blocked by the trees so it appeared pitch black. At least there was no way any Death Eater would find them here—not that it kept the supporters of Voldemort from hurting anyone else. Remus, more than once, had taken his father's copy of the Daily Prophet out of the rubbish bin and discovered just how active the Death Eaters had been. War In the Wizarding World had been the front-page title of the last edition, and the entire paper had been as depressing as one might expect.

"Remus, get inside now!" his father barked at him from the open door, and Remus ran the rest of the way, quickly entering the cabin, warm with the fire roaring in the fireplace.

"Tomorrow, I will go looking for a job. We simply can't….we need money," his father said gruffly before he had even finished closing the door on Remus.

"Yes, father," he said politely, though he felt a rush of elation. Maybe there was hope for his summer, after all. He just hoped there was for Sirius as well.

…

"It's like we're in the middle of nowhere," Peter laughed, absolutely delighted. James shrugged as his father came over and helped them start the campfire.

"We really aren't that far away from anything," he muttered to Peter, who wasn't paying attention to him, instead, he was watching James' dad looking eagerly to hear what he was going to say.

"It's fun to think of it that way though, isn't it boys?" Fleamont laughed, having been more than happy to take James and Peter camping. It was a good thing too, because, after three and a half weeks of summer, Peter showing up to spend a few nights had seemed like a fun idea at first, but James had quickly regretted it.

Even with his dad around it just….wasn't fun. Sure Peter was still his mate..sort of.. but he was also so boring and dumb and James had to stop himself nearly biting off his head night one.

"I don't want him here anymore," he had told his dad that same night and instead of sending Peter home, which his father said would be very rude, he had taken time off work to go camping with them instead. Which was OK, but his dad was being far too nice to Peter, who was fawning over it!

"Is this right, Mr. Potter?" Peter asked in the simpering little tone he had used all day, asking his dad all sorts of useless questions and gaining his approval on everything.

"Yes, Peter. Very good!" his father said enthusiastically, actually seeming to like Peter's constant annoying need for approval. James groaned and his father shot him a look, shaking his head.

"What's wrong, James? I can show you how to do it if you didn't get it," Peter replied with a far too condescending smirk. Peter's smug attitude when he couldn't even do it better than he could, finally broke James.

"Gosh, Peter, you are so annoying!" he shouted angrily, Peter's small smile falling in surprise.

"I...just…...was joking….." But James couldn't, wouldn't hear him anymore.

"I wish you never even showed up. You're such a baby!"

"James Fleamont Potter!" his father shouted sternly at him, in a tone that meant he was definitely in trouble. But James didn't care, he couldn't take it anymore. He even felt satisfied as Peter's dumb face crumpled and his eyes welled with tears. Ok maybe he felt a bit bad as Peter started to cry but he wasn't going to stick around to hear it. He took off running, ignoring his father's surprised shouts.

He hated this summer! Oh, sure, it had started out fine, and his parents were thrilled to have him back, but he hadn't heard from either Sirius or Remus and the worry he felt over his best mates was making him really irritable, which his parents had just called a "normal part of growing up". What could possibly be normal about two of his friends being hurt by their families?

Then Peter appeared! Peter, who his parents seemed to adore, with his "pleasant" attitude, while they were calling James an "early teenager", whatever that meant. Peter, who was constantly seeking their approval and taking up their time, especially his dad's! It wasn't fair! He also didn't seem worried about Sirius and Remus at all, he had even told James that he was being silly.

"It hasn't even been a month yet, James, they're probably just busy," he had said to him earlier that day as they had walked behind his father, looking for a good campsite. Busy! Busy! He was so stupid and James had wanted to tackle him to the ground then and there, which he probably should of. Only when James had tried to tackle Peter last night, as he often did to Sirius, the boy started complaining and didn't wrestle back, so it was no fun. He was no fun! He got scared at the ghost stories James had tried to tell him night one and wouldn't even prank the village children with him. How had he ever thought Peter was fun?

He heard the crack of his father Apparating nearby and calling his name, no longer sounding angry, just worried. But he stubbornly didn't respond, just sat down and picked up a stick, dragging it across the ground. It took him a minute to realize he was trying to draw Hogwarts, and he scratched it out angrily. They really should have worked on a map last year. Maybe they could try to map out the castle this year. But he wasn't sure if he wanted to include Peter in that and Remus would probably not participate if Peter was excluded and then it was just him and Sirius, who would try to hog the whole project.

He wiped his eyes, trying not to cry. They better be alright. He was supposed to have gotten a letter from Sirius week one and the two-way mirror was several days late! It wasn't fair, it wasn't fair at all.

"James, don't you ever ...what's wrong?" He sniffed, trying to hide his tears from his father, which seemed a little silly, he had never cared about crying in front of his dad before. But it would be a lot harder to explain this time when he was bound to secrecy and all. He hated that, too! Stupid friends, stupid camping trip, and stupid, stupid Peter.

"James, talk to me," his father instructed, sitting down across from him.

"Is Peter gone?" he asked instead, and felt shame rise up in him as his father's gaze hardened into disapproval.

"Yes, he's gone. I apparated him back to our house and your mother is contacting his parents now. He's really upset, son. What you did was not nice."

"Yeah...well…..well, he's so annoying…." His dad shook his head, signifying this wasn't reason enough and James knew what was coming.

"You have been a very….well, young man you have had quite an attitude after the first week of you being home and…..well, we won't stand for it…..I know your body is going through changes…..but making your friends cry….I didn't raise a bully, James Potter…...you are grounded, no broom riding privileges for a week."

"That's not fair!" he cried, though whether he was more frustrated at actually losing his broom or his father suggesting he was a bully was hard to tell. His father wouldn't listen, but James knew that if he apologized for his 'behavior' tomorrow and produced a few tears he could get his broom back by tomorrow at the latest. At least it had worked all the other times he got in trouble.

"Yes, well... Neither was your behavior to your friend. Now when we return you need to apologize to him…...if you still want him to leave after, that's fine, but not beforehand alright?" James nodded, his frustration rising again. It really wasn't fair! But fair or not, his father pulled him into a hug he didn't reciprocate and Apparated back with him to their backyard.

"And I want a sincere apology, lad," his father explained as he started walking with him towards their mansion.

He tried to break away from his father's grip on his shoulder, but he firmly pushed him up to the patio door, where he could see his mother sitting on the couch hugging Peter, who was crying as if he was five or something.

"Dad, I don't want to talk to him now," he pleaded, but this time his pleading didn't change his father's determination and soon he was standing in front of his mother and a blubbering Peter. His mother gave him a disappointed look that hurt even more than his father's had and he squared his shoulders.

"I'm sorry, Peter."

"Sorry for what, dear?" his mother urged him gently. Peter sniffed and lifted his head, his eyes red and puffy and a little snot dripping from his nose.

"Sorry for calling you a baby," he said stiffly, and Peter sniffed again, actually looking hopeful. He turned away in disgust, and his father's eyes bore into him, forcing him to continue.

"And that I wish you hadn't shown up," he added, and Peter actually smiled, jumping up and hugging him. James patted his back awkwardly, feeling a bit worse at him losing it with Peter, especially with how excited he was at what had been a pretty poor excuse of an apology.

"I'm just worried about Sirius and Remus," he whispered to Peter, who nodded.

"But they're fine, James, we'll hear from them soon." He was so optimistic about it, and to think he had almost decided to let Peter stay until tomorrow! He almost shouted at Peter again but was aware of his parents' eyes on him.

"Listen, mate. I think I'm getting sick, so maybe you should go back tonight, ok?" he offered, with more patience than he felt.

"Oh….. Sure. Are you ok though?" Peter asked, gazing up at him with concern. James forced a smile he didn't feel at all.

"Yeah, probably just a cold. Wouldn't want you to get sick though." Peter nodded, but bit his lip and shifted slightly.

"Are we…..are we alright though? I was just joking... honest."

"Yeah. I'm going to lay down. I'll write and see you later, ok?" Peter nodded, looking a bit put off and he left quickly, glad his parents didn't stop him. An hour later, his mother knocked on his door to let him know that Peter was gone and find out if he wanted to talk.

Normally he would, normally he would tell her and his dad everything. Instead, he turned around in his bed and pretended to be asleep until she left. They better be ok, they just better be.