By the time Remus returned on Sunday in the early afternoon, Severus felt much more confident that James and Sirius were no longer out to get him. He could see-as could anyone with a working set of eyes-that they were much closer friends with each other than with him. All the same, not only had they not hexed him, they had even made more of an effort to include him within their group during Remus' absence. Perhaps they had noticed that, when they did their homework, it tended to be two groups who sat at the same table, yet with physical distance between them. Severus hadn't minded this arrangement, as he and Remus worked well as study partners, but with him not there, Severus had been alone. James and Sirius had seen this, made space for him, and included him in their study plans. They even asked Severus' input regarding which the order of subjects to study, and assigned him to create the study questions for Potions, while they would work on ones for the subjects in which they thrived.

James, for instance, was downright brilliant at Transfiguration. While he was still on a first year level, he was able to complete the tasks assigned to them on the first attempt, and it was a struggle for him not to go ahead and try the next assignment. His essays also needed no rewriting, as he managed to get his thoughts down intelligently on the first attempt. He also had a knack for Herbology, even though he admitted that the subject didn't interest him very much.

"Why bother with growing plants when they'll just be cut up and used for potions?" he'd complained, more than once. "If I go into Potions as a career, I'll just hire someone else to grow the plants."

He could, too. His father had already been rich, but his development of a hair potion meant to tame even the worst of nests provided him with money that would rival the Malfoy family-though, perhaps, not the Blacks.

Sirius, on the other hand, had a real talent for Charms. He also, to everyone's amusement, enjoyed Herbology as much as it bored James. His spells always worked on the first attempt, or the second if he wasn't concentrating, and he rarely bothered with learning the theory behind the wand movements.

"It's all just rubbish to help you focus," he'd say. "The intent is what really matters."

He demonstrated this by using the levitation spell, something they would not learn in class until Halloween, while keeping his wand hand entirely straight, and still managing to raise his quill five feet in the air and hold it for as many minutes.

Severus, of course, knew that his talents lay in Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor Slughorn's class rather bored him, because he'd been making potions to cure boils and warts and moles with his mum since he was six years old. While Slughorn could see his talent, and awarded him points accordingly, he didn't bother assigning him with more advanced work. Defense was also fairly easy, especially since they only used practical spells half of the time, if that.

Remus shone when it came to Charms, as well as Transfiguration, but he didn't believe that he was as good at the latter class as he really was. To James' amusement, and a bit of teasing, Remus kept studying the theory, even after his transfigurations went perfectly.

Peter, Severus had to admit, didn't seem to have the same talent for the practical fields, and relied on James and Sirius' help simply to keep up. Not that he was without talent. Astronomy and History of Magic was where he shone, and he could create decent memory devices for the others to keep track of dates and planetary cycles.

"My dad mentioned in his last letter that we'll add more classes in our third year," James said, once they had finished their homework for the weekend, and he had finished looking over Peter's essay for Potions.

"Just what we need, more work," Peter said, with a bit of a sigh.

"I'd sign up for two classes if it meant being able to drop History of Magic. Why should we care about the Veela Revolt of 1652? Has anyone here ever even seen a Veela?" Sirius grumbled.

Everyone shook their heads.

"It would be easier if we could just study the history on our own and take the tests," Severus allowed, shutting his Potions book. "The class itself is only good for an aid for insomnia."

James grinned at him. "Too bad muggle technology doesn't work here. We could record Binns' lectures and sell them as a sleeping aid."

"Far less addicting than Dreamless Sleep," Severus added, dryly.

Peter looked surprised. "Is it really?"

"All potions are, to one degree or another, if used regularly," Severus explained, not managing to keep the surprise out of his voice. Didn't everyone know this? "Dreamless Sleep's level of addictiveness is debatable, but most Healers won't allow for its use in full-grown adults more than twice a week."

"Where's that in our textbook?" James asked, raising his eyebrows at Severus. Quickly, he added, "I'm not accusing you of lying, mate, I know that you could whip up potions circles around the rest of us."

Severus tried not to smile. James and Sirius were at the top of their year in nearly everything, but Slughorn had told Severus in private that he had a real career in the field.

"My boy, you could take your O.W.L.'s with a year of hard work, were that permissible!" he'd told him, quietly, after he'd handed in his latest potion. "You and Miss Evans will be the potioneers of your day, I'd bet galleons on it."

"Professor Slughorn loans me his copies of Potioneers Weekly, once he's finished with them," Severus answered, with a small smile.

They were far more challenging than his textbook, and Slughorn had told the class that they would continue to use it for their second year. Severus hoped the intermediate guide would prove more stimulation.

James seemed satisfied with that response. "D'you think he'll let us borrow them, once you're finished?"

"You'll have to ask Lily Evans, as she reads through them once I'm finished, and gives them back to Slughorn," Severus explained.

"Right. Think I'll do that, then," James said, with a grin. "Sirius? Peter? Want me to add your names to the list?"

Sirius nodded eagerly, but Peter shook his head.

"I have enough trouble keeping up in his class as it is," he said, with a half laugh, half sigh. "It's even worse than Transfiguration."

"Your partner doesn't help much," James comforted him. "Shame Slughorn won't let you work with one of our groups."

Peter shrugged. "At least I can give it up after my O.W.L.s. Only nearly five more years to go."

"Well, once you make these changes, you'll be all set with this essay," James told Peter, handing him back his essay that was about half covered in red ink. "Shall we check on Remus before heading to dinner?"

This received agreement from everyone, especially Peter, who looked at his essay as though it were a basilisk before putting it back in his bag.

The curtains to Remus' bed were closed, and Severus was the only one who felt comfortable enough to push them aside and prod the likely sleeping boy. Remus was curled in on himself, sleeping heavily, and Severus gently prodded him.

"Remus," he said, speaking softly.

To his surprise, Remus' eyes opened almost immediately. "Severus?" he asked, his voice rather husky.

"We're heading to the Great Hall for dinner," he explained, still keeping his voice low. "Join us, won't you? You missed lunch earlier."

"All right," Remus agreed, rubbing his eyes. "Give me a moment to get dressed, will you?"

"Sure. I'll hand you your robes?"

"Thanks."

Once Severus retrieved the necessary articles of clothing, Remus' curtains closed again. Severus stepped backwards, wanting to give his friend plenty of space.

"Poor bloke. He's still worn out from the festivities," Sirius observed, looking at his friend's bed with fondness.

"Has he been like that since we left, d'you think?" Peter wondered.

"Might have risen to go to the bathroom," James noted, then shrugged. "Should we just bring him some food back?"

But Remus pushed aside the curtains then, fully dressed. He looked more pale than usual, but smiled at the rest of them.

"Thanks for waking me up. I might have slept all night," he said, with a yawn.

Sirius put an arm around him. "Your family knows how to party, I reckon?"

Remus chuckled. "I suppose so."

Severus noted that Remus didn't eat very much, and wondered if it had been a mistake to wake him up. Upon returning, Remus looked rather longingly in the direction of their dormitory for a moment, but turned back to Severus and the others before they could say anything.

"What have you been doing today?" he asked, hiding a yawn.

"Exploring the castle for a couple of hours this morning, then homework and some studying in the afternoon," Severus answered. "You must have a lot to do..."

But Remus just shook his head. "No, the teachers all knew that I'd be out, so they gave me my assignments last Friday. I finished everything before I went home."

"Good thing, then," James noted, giving him a relieved smile.

"Yes, well, family gatherings are always like this, and I'll need to go home again next month. They promised to do the same, then," Remus explained, taking a seat in one of the armchairs.

"What's going on next month?" Peter asked, removing his essay and some fresh parchment from his bag.

"Nothing specific, only it will be a lot colder, and Mum always gets rather terribly ill around then," Remus explained. "Dad works, and will need me to help him take care of her."

"Aren't there potions for that?" Severus asked.

"She's a muggle," Remus reminded him. "She likes magic well enough, of course, but she'd rather stick with muggle medicine for herself."

Severus nodded. He'd read about the effectiveness of potions on muggles, and while they didn't generally poison them, they certainly didn't work as well as they did on witches and wizards. Remus' mother was wise to keep them at a distance, especially if there was a muggle alternative.

"Then," Remus added, with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, "my aunt Jessica is marrying Philip in November, so they'll want me home for that."

"If that wedding is anything like the party you just attended, you'll need at least two days to recover," Sirius noted.

"Well, she's my favorite aunt," Remus said, with a shrug.

The conversation fizzled out, then. In spite of his near exhaustion, Remus helped Peter with his essay while the others finished their Transfiguration homework. It was still rather early, but Remus kept glancing in the direction of the dormitory, and it probably wouldn't hurt to get to bed at a reasonable hour.

James and Sirius seemed to be thinking the same. Once everyone had completed their work, they made a big show of yawning, and they all headed to their dormitory. Severus had rather hoped to get a chance to talk with Lily-even though they were in the same house, they didn't see each other nearly as often as he would have expected-but she was busy with a group of girl friends.

It was a good thing that James and Sirius had extended an offer of friendship to him, and that he'd accepted. Otherwise, with only Remus, he would have been very lonely. And possibly looking over his shoulder every minute in case the two of them were planning on hexing him.

Author's note:

Next up: It's the Halloween feast! And, perhaps, some foul tricks are at work?

As always, constructive feedback is most welcome-and thanks for those who have been so kind as to leave their thoughts!