A/N Can I just say that I hate my internet? It's STUPID as HECK. Have I really not updated since before school started? I'm so sorry! Well at least I'll be putting more than one chapter up this time, but still – ok well, just don't blame me. I update as often as my comp will let me. Maybe it will stop blocking fanfic eventually, but until then, I can only update every couple of months. : anger. Ok well, hope ya like it!

Disclaimer – Everybody comes up with ways to make their disclaimers interesting. I don't. Sorry, folks, you're stuck with a boring old flobberworm for an author. I guess if ya gotta do it, ya gotta do it. I'll see if I can say it all in one breath. Idon'townanyHarryPottercharactersthatyouarefamiliarwiththeyallbelongtoJKR. gasps ok now I got that over with.

"No."

It seemed to Remus that he had shouted it at the top of his lungs, though he knew that he had barely whispered it. That one word had drained him of all his energy, but he instantly felt revitalized. His thoughts cleared, and he wondered how he had been so easily hoodwinked. "No," he said again, this time slightly louder, but still very quietly. Sirius smiled, and in a flash, Remus understood Sirius' shame from last night. Remus started to turn to look at Jeb, but instantly thought better of it and remained where he was.

"He did that to you, too," Remus whispered, looking at Sirius. The boy's smile faded and he nodded.

"I don't know why," Sirius replied, his voice strained. "I don't know what came over me, I didn't mean -"

"It's ok, Sirius," Remus told his friend, feeling a sudden rush of relief at being free of Jeb's spell. "I couldn't have done it if you didn't know what was happening. I almost did the same thing."

"What?" James broke in. "What are you guys talking about? Remus, what happened to you?"

Remus opened his mouth to reply, then stopped to gather his thoughts. He couldn't believe that he had almost traded his friends for popularity and girls. "It's – I – I guess I, well, I didn't mean to snap at you," he said, looking first at James, then at Lily, who was standing beside James. "I'm sorry."

James, Lily, and Peter stood silently, bewildered by the events of the past few minutes. Remus saw the look on their faces and grinned; he couldn't help himself. He laughed at the thought of what must have been going through their heads, and Sirius joined him.

"Come on, let's go get breakfast," he said, turning and walking down the corridor.

After that morning, Remus never saw Jeb again. Not that he regretted it – he felt that to have the dark boy around would have been a reminder of what could have been the stupidest thing he had ever done. It was the event that went along with the boy's departure that stuck out in Remus' mind.

During dinner, Professor Dumbledore found the boys and asked James, Sirius, and Remus to come with him. They left their food and followed him curiously, and were led into his office. Darr Bentley was standing in the center of the room, his cape blowing as furiously as ever.

"Hello," Bentley said in a gruff, but friendly voice. His face, although it was shadowy, didn't look menacing at the moment. "I've heard of your adventures this year from Albus. You boys have some courage, and you're sure not short on brains either!"

"Uh, thank you, sir," James said, looking up at Bentley in awe.

"I wanted to thank you for helping somewhat in the capture of Voldemort's cohorts," Bentley told them. "And for exposing the shapeshifter – after clashing with him twice!"

"You mean Jeb?" Sirius asked. "He's a shapeshifter? I thought he just – I mean – wasn't he –"

"He's a shapeshifter," Bentley assured them. "He enjoys messing with people's minds. He was the same person that went after you, Potter. It's incredible that you boys ended up fighting him off twice!"

"Three times," Sirius said without thinking, then bit his lip and glanced at Remus. Bentley followed his gaze and nodded slowly.

"Once you three leave Hogwarts, I would be proud to train you as Aurors," Bentley said, his mouth curving into a smile. "Just keep that offer in mind." With that, he swept out of the office. Dumbledore looked at the awestruck boys and smiled.

"You may go back to dinner if you wish," he told them.

"Do you know what just happened?" Sirius whispered as they walked back to the Great Hall. "We just got offered by Darr Bentley to apprentice after Hogwarts!"

"D'you think he meant it?" Remus asked, grinning widely.

"Doesn't seem like a guy that would joke about that," James said, staring off into space. "Think about it – working with Darr Bentley!"

For the rest of the day, they were more quiet that usual. Each was imagining the days after leaving Hogwarts, spending their days known as the best Aurors in the world, catching the darkest of the dark.

A few weeks later, the chance to dream of being Aurors was left far behind. As it neared time for the exams, the teachers loaded on the homework.

"How do they expect us to get all this done!" Sirius exclaimed over a pile of books and parchment.

"I haven't gotten more than three hours of sleep a night for over a week," James complained. Remus didn't say anything until he had scribbled the last line of his Transfigurations essay.

"You guys know we still have to practice spells, right?" he reminded them wearily.

"Whatever," James replied, snapping his book shut. "I'm gonna go outside for a while. Too stuffy in here."

Sirius and Remus agreed wholeheartedly, and the three of them left to enjoy the warm day, with Peter tagging along behind them. Once they were outside, their stress disappeared – that is, until they ran into their least favorite Slytherin.

"Why did he have to come out here?" James grumbled, eyeing Snape with irritation. "Thought we came out here to relax." If the Slytherin boy had seen them, he gave no notice. The four boys continued towards the lake, though they would have to walk by Snape.

"I thought you would have learned to choose better friends by now, Black," Snape drawled softly as they passed. "Wasn't that why your cousin Jeb came?"

Sirius ignored him, but Remus could sense the tension building.

"You come from such a good family," Snape continued, obviously enjoying the opportunity to taunt Sirius. "It's too bad that you choose to shame them. You'll probably end up marrying a Mudblood or worse – I take that back, nothing could be worse than marrying a Mudblood."

Sirius whirled around and grabbed Snape's robes, slamming the boy back against the tree he was leaning on. "You just don't learn, do you," Sirius seethed. "No matter how much you flap your tongue, you have no chance against me." He drew back a fist and let it fly, smacking Snape's head against the tree. Immediately, his limbs slowed and Sirius came to a stop, still holding Snape's robes.

"You simply won't learn, will you," Malevolent said, unconsciously echoing Sirius almost exactly. "Fighting is not within Hogwarts' rules, especially the Muggle dueling that you seem to enjoy so much. I'm sure that you will enjoy another week of detention as well. Fifteen points from Gryffindor."

Malevolent walked away, and Snape smirked at them. Sirius drew back his fist again, and Snape's smug look disappeared. The Slytherin walked away quickly, trying to act naturally while wiping blood from his nose.

"Oh well, at least I got a punch in," Sirius shrugged, completely unconcerned. He had gotten used to being in detention, having at least one night of it every other month.

Remus breathed in the warm air. There had been little excitement or danger since they had talked to Bentley almost a month ago, and he couldn't say that he missed it. Right now, he just wanted to pass his exams and get to summer vacation.

A month later, Remus closed his neatly-packed trunk and watched James and Sirius throw a few more things into their trunks and struggle to close them. He walked with them out to where the Hogwarts Express was waiting, and found a compartment to sit in.

"The year went by pretty fast," Sirius remarked.

"Yeah, except for the times when we were fighting for our lives," Remus replied with a smile.

"Those were some pretty fun times," James said, grinning. "You can't forget that it all led to being offered a job by Darr Bentley, though. I'm going to have plenty of bragging rights about that when I get home."

The train started to move, and the group of friends settled back, getting ready for the long trip. Remus sighed. He was ready for a vacation, but he was sure that he would miss Hogwarts and his friends over the summer. Watching the castle fade into the fog, he tuned back into the conversation, suddenly feeling ready for whatever life chose to throw at him.

A/N End of Year 1! I kind of decided that the story was going downhill, so I wanted to end this year and start fresh for the next one. I hate writing endings though. Oh well. I'm going to try to put the first chap of the next story up when I put this one up, so plz start reading the next one! Title – Royalty and Werewolf. Ummm yeah the story will be better than the title. Hopefully.

Thanks to the faithful fans that stayed with me through bad ideas and bad computers!