Chapter 35

Remus crawled into the dorm room the next morning while the other boys were at their classes. He was exhausted after the long night and was ready for some decent rest. Madame Pomfrey had wanted him to stay in the hospital wing, but he had insisted on going to his own bed. He did not sleep as well in the hospital wing, and who could blame him? His scratches had all been healed and only a faint scar could be seen. However, he was so exhausted and pale that anyone would have thought that he was dying.

The werewolf spent the entire day in the dormitory, occasionally getting up to get something to drink or to do some homework that he had long procrastinated on due to the full moon. He really didn't like to do much of anything around the full so he usually would just attend classes up until lunch and then slip away. Slipping away had gotten a lot more difficult now that he had friends.

Remus could tell that Sirius was starting to get suspicious. James either didn't notice or just ignored the fact that Remus had the lamest excuse there possibly was, possibly because of his open minded friendship with Sirius, but Sirius was not so ready to accept it. Every time he mentioned going home to see his mom, Sirius's eyes would narrow and he would seem to be thinking over past events. It was never more than that, though. No confrontations, no evil glares, nothing to give a clue that Sirius knew. The way things were going, though, Remus was going to have to tell them soon or risk them finding out on their own and thinking that he had lied to them, which he had. The only problem with that, though, was the fact that Dumbledore had made him promise to not tell anyone. Plus, would his friends completely abandon him once they discovered that he was a dark creature?

The door to the dormitory opened and Remus could hear the playful banter of James Potter and Sirius Black. It sounded like Sirius had gotten his voice back and was having fun vocalizing his every opinion. Remus looked at his friends as they entered the room. His curtains were partially open so he could see them, but they couldn't see him.

---

James smiled as Sirius sat down on his bed. "Well, I don't know. Why would he not tell us though?"

"Because werewolves are evil," responded James, a hint of a smile on his young face. Sirius snorted.

"Werewolves aren't evil. They're victims! Most of the month they are just like you and me."

"Sirius, calm down, I know that. I was being sarcastic for everyone else on the planet who likes to automatically classify them as dark creatures simply because they were in the wrong place in the wrong time."

"Dude, you make it sound like a bank robbery."

"What's that mean?"

"Well, if you're in a bank when a bank robbery occurs, you're either gonna get blown up or shot. And that, my friend, is called bad timing, otherwise known as being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

James shook his head at Sirius's explanation. "You're an idiot, you know that?"

Sirius laughed and leaned back on his bed. "I could say something really immature right now, but I don't think I will."

"What's that?"

"I know you are but what am I?"

James burst in to hysterics. "Siri, no one has said that in years! Why must you bring it back?"

Sirius chuckled. "I told you it was immature. But noo, you insisted on me saying it. So I said it. And now you're laughing at me and thinking I'm an idiot."

"You are."

"So we've already established. Must we keep on bringing it up?"

"Um, let me think about it…yes."

"Ha, aren't we cute?"

"I would say so."

Sirius shook his head and stuck out his tongue. "How are we going to tell him that we know about his secret?"

"We could try with, 'Remus, we know something you don't…or do know'. Or we could say, 'you know, we're more than just good looks, we've also got some brains, and after a while we noticed that you are a werewolf'."

"James, you're an idiot."

"No, you're the idiot, remember."

"Oh my goodness. We can't stay on topic for more than one minute. We're doomed."

A thoughtful expression flashed across his face. "You know," he began, "maybe we don't have to tell him."

Looking skeptical, Sirius asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well, if we drop enough clues, maybe he'll figure out that we know on his own without us opening our big traps."

"Hey, I don't have a big trap!"

"You do when you can talk."

"I resent that!"

----

Remus sighed inaudibly. Those two argued so much that if he didn't intervene, nothing would ever get done. At least he knew that they weren't going to abandon him. They seemed set on accepting him the way he was, even now that they knew the truth. However, he had to stop their debate on how to tell him something he already knew before something bad happened.

"Yo, you guys," he said, emerging from his bed. James and Sirius both looked up, a guilty expression on both of their faces. They ceased to amaze him. They could have just pulled the biggest prank on Snape and the rest of the Slytherins and lie to a teacher with an air of an innocent angel, but they could not keep a guilty expression off of their faces when facing Remus. It was really kind of nice, to tell the truth.

"Hey, Remus," stuttered Sirius, not quite meeting his gaze. "Were you taking a nap? You look like you need a nap."

"Hey, Siri," whispered James, acting like it was a big secret, but whispering it fairly loudly, "I discovered a way to tell him."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "How did you manage that?"

James laughed and shrugged. "Hey, Remmie, were you eavesdropping?"

Remus raised his eyebrows. "What do you really think, idiot?"

Sirius chuckled, "I told you."

James looked at a loss, and retorted, "Well, so are you, so don't gloat yet. We still haven't told him."

"He knows!" exclaimed the dark haired boy, throwing up his hands in exasperation at his friend.

"Oh…"

Remus smiled and sat down next to Sirius. "So you guys are really alright with me being a werewolf and all?"

James nodded and Sirius said, "As long as you're out of the room on your special nights, it's fine with me. Personally, I always liked werewolves."

"You're just saying that so he won't bite you're head off."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

'Am-"

"SHUT UP!" shouted Remus, losing his patience with his friends. Sure he loved them, but not like that, but they were being really stupid.

"-not," finished Sirius in a subdued voice. Remus rolled his eyes and groaned. He finally had friends and they were complete, absolute, stark raving mad, idiots!

A.N. I'm taking a fairly long time on my updates and I feel so terrible about it. I'm sorry. I'm evil and highly stupid (like Sirius and James). Anyways, please review. How far do you think I should go with this fic? An opinion on that please. Thank you!