Chapter 2: In Which Sirius Drives James Mad, So Everything is Fairly Normal

A/N: This chapter has been revised, and now matches with the canon in Half Blood Prince, especially as it pertains to a certain werewolf Death Eater. I'm not entirely positive if the general public was aware of him at the time this story is set in, but we do know he was around, so call it artistic liberty that the other three Marauders were aware of him.

Disclaimer: The Marauders are controlling my brain. I did not invent them, but they are inside my head anyway. There has GOT to be something wrong with that situation. JKR, please, take them away from me, they're driving me crazy...

"Now, my three friends could hardly fail to notice that I disappeared once a month. I made up all sorts of stories. I told them my mother was ill, and that I had to go home to see her..."

A few days later, James and Sirius were sitting at a table in the Common Room, swearing at pieces of parchment that were supposed to be Potions essays. Peter had mumbled something tiredly about doing it later and left the room, and Remus, who had finished his essay two days ago, had retreated upstairs to sleep. Sirius had noted that he still looked a little pale, and had asked him about his cold, but Remus had dodged the question yet again...

For as long as he had known Remus, Sirius had been getting a nagging feeling that there was something strange about him - some mystery yet unexplained. There was something odd about how he kept disappearing once a month, and how he always looked really sick when he came back. If it was his mother that was ill, why did he always look like Death warmed over? And yet when they asked him, he just shrugged and found some way to avoid giving a straight answer.

"Hey, James?"

"STUPID bloody book with its unhelpful--what? Damned impossible index..." James said absentmindedly, trying to look something in an ancient-looking tome of Potions ingredients.

"D'you think there's something funny about Remus?"

"Won't bloody well give me a straight answer about--"

"JAMES!"

James jumped and looked up. "What, did you find something good?"

"No, I asked you if you think there's something funny about Remus?"

"I don't know, Sirius, I'm trying to do this bloody essay, and I can't find--"

"No, I want to talk to you while he's not here, I really think there's something strange about how he keeps disappearing every month."

"He says his mother's ill," James said, finally tearing himself away from his book.

"I know, but it's a little bit weird, y'know? And...well..." Sirius lowered his voice and leaned forward. "You saw his boggart today."

"What, the crystal ball?"

"You and Peter...I really think the fumes from that Divination room muddled your head. It didn't look like a crystal ball to me."

"Well, what do you think it looked like?"

"I think it looked like a full moon."

"You're mad! Why would Remus be afraid of the moon? And didn't it shatter?"

"No, I'm serious! Think about it...James, it was hanging in mid-air. If he was afraid of the moon, wouldn't he want it to just be...blasted out of the sky?"

"Yeah, but why would someone be afraid of the moon? Anyway, he said it was a crystal ball."

"No he didn't."

"What? I could have sworn..."

"No, that was Peter. Remember? I started to say I thought it was a moon, and he interrupted me and said it was a 'long story' and he'd 'tell us sometime.' He changed the subject on us!"

"Hmmm..." said James thoughtfully, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes.

"You see? And he's always looking sick...there's something funny going on here, James."

"Well, how do you know the boggart and the sickness are related? It could be two different things."

"It seems to be a constant condition, doesn't it? He's always leaving, he's always sick...if he's got some kind of chronic illness, wouldn't something related to it be his worst fear?"

"Well, maybe you're right. But I don't think we should bother him about it. If he doesn't want to tell us, it's his business."

"Yeah..."

"Let's just get this bloody Potions essay out of the way, and then we can worry about mysterious disappearances and lunar boggarts."

"James, you've been working on this essay for far too long."

"That's my POINT!"

"Whatever..."

But as they pulled the books towards them again, Sirius couldn't keep his thoughts from straying. There was something about the moon...he just couldn't put his finger on it...

About three weeks later, it was October, and nothing had changed. Sirius kept a sharp eye on Remus, but the boy seemed to be in perfect health. He came to all his classes and studied harder than any of them - he even managed to get a week ahead of them. They teased him about it, but it didn't strike Sirius as odd until a week later, when Remus' mother fell ill - again.

"What is it about him?" Sirius asked James in frustration. "It's been exactly one month since he was sick in the Hospital Wing! It's like he knew he was going to be gone! How did he know?"

"I don't know, and I really wish you would stop asking me these questions when I'm in the middle of writing essays!"

"What're you talking about?" Peter asked, who was also trying to do the essay, "Does anyone know what the characteristics of a Grindylow are?"

"Yes, Peter, it's right here!" James said, shoving a book at him and pointing at a passage. "You've asked me that five times in the last ten minutes!"

"But I don't understand what it means!"

James sighed loudly and explained it to him.

"I don't know why we're still doing these wimpy creatures anyway," Sirius said thoughtfully, "I want to know how to defend myself against the real Dark Creatures."

"Like what, O Great Auror Black?" James asked sarcastically.

"I don't know..." Sirius flipped through his textbook. "Vampires? Werewolves? Yeah, I'd like to know more about werewolves...that would be a cool lesson."

"I don't know...werewolves are kind of scary," Peter said anxiously, "D'you really think they'll teach us that stuff?"

"You've got to be prepared! And anyway, they're only dangerous once a month," James said reasonably.

"I heard a story about a werewolf who bit somebody and became one permanently," Sirius said solemnly to Peter...but as soon as he looked away, he threw James a huge wink.

"What happened?" said Peter, fascinated.

"Well, he was trapped, wasn't he? His brain couldn't decide whether he was a wolf or a man...he went insane and got really dangerous, but he was smart enough to stay away from silver and they never caught him...he's still out there."

"Really?"

"Yeah...it's a full moon tonight," Sirius said, looking out the window, "He could be out there right now."

They were all silent for a minute. Was it just them, or was that a howl?

"He's pulling your leg, Peter," James said finally, breaking the silence.

"Potter! You traitor!"

James smirked at him. "Those are just children's stories. They can't become werewolves permanently when they bite someone, and they're only dangerous once a month. The rest of the time they're fine."

"Then why do you hear such horrible stories about them?" Peter asked.

"People are scared," James shrugged, "They get really paranoid about all this stuff, so the Ministry's put really strict laws up that keep close tabs on them and prevent them from doing a lot of stuff."

"Well why don't they just make sure they have somewhere safe to go during the full moon?"

"You'd think that would be smart, wouldn't you?" James said with a grin, "But no, people are too scared. My dad always says it's stupid, but that's the way it is."

"Wow, you're lucky your dad knows so much," Peter said enviously.

"Yeah. What do your parents think about werewolves, Sirius?"

"Oh, you know," Sirius said offhandedly, "They're so prejudiced about everything...they think werewolves are evil dangerous beasts who should be locked in rooms of silver and fed bread and water."

"That's awful!" Peter protested.

"What do you think, Sirius?" James asked.

"I think they're cool," Sirius said with a grin. "Anything my parents hate is awesome in my book. I think we should be nicer to them so they don't...you know...end up on the wrong side."

"Like that one werewolf," James said with a shudder.

"What?"

"Greyback? Heard of him?"

"Oh yeah," Sirius frowned. "He's that nutter who became a werewolf on purpose and likes to bite little kids?"

Peter shuddered. "What? Why does he do that?" He squeaked, his voice going up an octave.

"Crazy," James said flatly, "Bites them, gets them over to his side and brainwashes them to hate wizards. And of course the Ministry doesn't exactly help, putting all those laws in."

"But if they really are crazy!" Peter protested.

"And being prejudiced is going to help?" Sirius frowned darkly at him. "All those laws are just making Greyback's propaganda true!"

"I guess so," said Peter, but he didn't sound completely convinced.

They were quiet for a minute.

"Well, we're not doing werewolves right now," James said, "We're doing Grindylows. Someone look up the information on how to defeat them..."

And they were back to work again..

Two Days Later...

"Feeling better, Remus?" Sirius said, leaning over his friend's bed.

"Mggrrrmpth."

"I think that was a no," James hazarded.

"You want to come to class this morning?" Peter asked.

"Mrght...?"

"We have Defense Against the Dark Arts and Potions," Sirius replied, ignoring Peter's "What!"

"Mrrrrrrrgh!"

"He wants to come," Sirius translated, "Well, get yourself up, moon-boy, or there'll be no breakfast left."

"Mmmmmmph. I'm sure." Remus raised his head and looked at Sirius through blood-shot eyes. "Moon-boy? Where did you get that from?"

Sirius shrugged. "Your boggart was a moon, right? I was hoping to scare you out of bed..."

"Whatever..." Remus swung his feet over the bed and looked at them all blearily. "I have to get dressed, don't I?"

Peter giggled, and Sirius and James exchanged amused glances. "Do I have to call you moon-boy for you to wake up more? Yes, you have to get dressed."

Remus grumbled something obscene at him and stumbled into the bathroom.

Peter and James watched him, then turned to look at Sirius. "What d'you mean he's afraid of the moon?" Peter said.

"Remember his boggart?" Sirius' eyes were on the closed bathroom door. "I think it was a moon...a full moon..."

"You're cracked, Sirius," James said, "When are you going to stop obsessing over that?"

"I'm telling you, there's something funny about him, and I think his boggart has something to do with it, and I want to know what it IS!"

"You want to know what what is?" Remus asked, coming out of the bathroom.

"Nothing. Remus, your hair is sticking up on one side," Sirius said.

"I know. I don't care. I'm starving, what's for breakfast?"

"Let's go down and see."

Their Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson that day was about...on a strange coincidence...werewolves. This year Professor Greenbriar had decided that a good way to get them ready for Halloween was to scare the bejeezus out of them, so they had taken time out from their normal lessons to teach scarier subjects. Next week they were doing vampires.

Sirius was gleeful. Remus, on the other hand, was still looking pale. In fact, the longer the lesson went on, the paler and more sickly-looking he got. Professor Greenbriar kept shooting nervous looks at him, and his friends kept asking him if he wanted to go to the Hospital Wing, but he just shook his head.

It was the first time in weeks that Sirius had seen Remus not taking notes in a class, and yet, he wrote three feet of parchment that night without even looking in a book.

Sirius, on the other hand, had taken out stacks and stacks of books, and was gleefully going through them, all the while peppering them with facts about werewolves. "Hey, did you know how painful the werewolf transformation is? Look at these pictures, isn't it awful? And did you know some people choose to become werewolves? Greyback wasn't the only one! What psychos!"

Remus had been looking down at his essay, but at these words, his head shot up. "That's insane," he said flatly.

"Isn't it?" Sirius said, glad that someone was finally listening to him; James and Peter had been making noncomittal "mm-hmmm" noises and working through their Herbology homework. "They want a wild ride through life, this book says."

"By becoming a monster every night and ripping their own flesh out. Yeah, that's a wild ride through life," Remus said sarcastically.

"Wow, Remus, you sound bitter, is there something you need to tell us?" Remus froze, but Sirius didn't seem to notice - his nose was already back in the book. "And look, they run out in the woods at night without taking any precautions at all..."

"That's insane! I thought it was just the one! No wonder the Ministry has such strict regulations on werewolves!" Peter said, looking up from his Herbology notes at last.

"I know! And what about the poor people that get bit because they're irresponsible? They didn't ask to be werewolves, and now they have to deal with the Ministry's stupid rules!" Sirius said angrily. "These morons are are making everybody suffer so they can have their fun!"

"That's so stupid," Peter agreed.

"What's the look for, Remus?"

"Nothing...you guys are really tolerant about this stuff, aren't you?"

Sirius gave him a surprised look. "Well...yeah, if you say so. Why?"

Remus shrugged. "Most people aren't that accepting."

"We're the oddballs," said Sirius, giving him a lopsided smile. "What do you think about werewolves?"

"I agree with you."

"So you're an oddball, too! We can be the Werewolf Rights Committee!"

Remus smiled. "I kind of like that."

"We'll hand out pamphlets and yell in people's faces about how insensitive they are! We should start a campaign!" Sirius said enthusiastically.

"Sirius..." James said, finally speaking up, "I don't think that'll work. Werewolf prejudices have been in place for thousands of years, four teenage boys aren't going to change that in a couple months."

"Well, I can dream. Go back to your essay, Wet-Rag Potter."

"Yes, Professor Black."

"You take that BACK!"

"Why do their conversations end with them fighting so often?" Peter asked as Sirius and James promptly began hitting each other.

"That's just how they are. C'mon, Peter, let's finish this homework."

Later that night, Sirius was still engrossed in his book about werewolves. He had stopped pestering them with facts and was now sitting by himself in one corner of the Common Room, reading so intently that he didn't even notice when James started flinging balls of wadded-up parchment at him.

"I've never seen him so fascinated with something," Peter said in amazement, as three successive pieces of trash hit him in the forehead and he didn't even blink.

Remus glanced up. "Well, at least we know he can read. I'm going to bed, I'm exhausted."

As he got up and left the room, Sirius finally looked up, and his eyes followed him up the stairs. As soon as he was gone, Sirius slammed his book shut and sprinted out of the Common Room with it. Peter and James stared at each other.

"...What was that?"