Title: Something More

Author: Mandi

Disclaimer: They're Not Mine

Characters: Remus, Sirius, James, Lily, Lucius, Narcissa, and Harry

Summary: Harry stirs up some memories for Remus and Sirius as they begin to tell the tale of Narcissa Black.

Author's Note: The italicized part is obviously present time and in my world, Sirius Black is still alive. And even though the central character of my fic is Remus Lupin, I'll still have alotta Remus/Sirius/James and even Lily interaction because well, I'm a big fan of the days of James and his friends at Hogwarts. I guess, I'll add a lil bit of Peter in there once and a while even if I prefer not to. Anywho, thank you for reading! I appreciate it so much!

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"I saw Malfoy's mother today," Harry admitted, strolling into the kitchen of Sirius Black's family estate. His eyes fell upon his godfather and his former Defense against the Dark Arts teacher who were both seated at the kitchen counter.

Sirius looked up from the newspaper he was reading and flashed a sly grin at Harry, "how is my dear cousin?" he asked in a subtle sarcastic tone. The truth was, he could care less of the Black who had married into that treacherous Malfoy family.

Harry shrugged, "she seems decent compared to the rest of the family."

"Don't be fooled by the charming smile, Harry. She is married to a pitiful excuse for a human being after all," Sirius warned, his face contorted into a slight snarl at his mention of Lucius Malfoy.

"Yes, but I can't understand how she can stand Mr. Malfoy. He's so—he's—," Harry paused, trying to find the right words to describe the man.

"Scum?" Sirius finished for him. Harry smiled, his admiration of his godfather evident.

Remus looked up, meeting Harry's eyes, "she wasn't always like how she is now…" he confessed, turning his attention from Harry to Sirius, "in school—she was— different…"

"Not evil and vindictive is what he's trying to say, Harry," Sirius added, winking jokingly at his godson. Harry let out a muffled laugh.

Remus grunted, not appreciating Sirius's attempt at humor.

Sirius turned to the man next to him, affectionately patting his friend on the back, "you're just sour because you had bit of a crush on her back in school, didn't you Moony?"

Harry turned his attention to Remus, who suddenly seemed to find interest in the fork laid out on the counter top in front of him. Sirius playfully ruffled his fingers through Remus's hair.

"Aw, Remus…it's only Harry…" Sirius cajoled, trying to get his friend to open up and break out of his sometimes bashful shell.

Remus slapped away Sirius's hand and proceeded to comb his hair back in place using his fingers. Unfortunately, fingers were not made to comb hair and his hair remained in a rumpled mess. He sighed heavily and threw a brief glare Sirius's way.

"She had her finer qualities back in school…even you can admit that, Padfoot."

Sirius shrugged, "yeah, she was alright in school…but she still followed around ol' Lucius like a lapdog…I don't know what girls saw in that bloody no good…"

Sirius stopped himself when he caught sight of Remus's disapproving expression.

"You were just jealous cause you had to share the attention with him," Remus teased, a small smile creeping to his lips. Sirius laughed, clearly entertained by his dear friend. Harry took a seat on the stool in front of them, resting his chin on his elbows and watching the scene before him. He wondered if he and Ron or even Hermione would have as strong a friendship as Remus and Sirius when they got to their age.

He could only imagine how different the circumstances would be if his father were still alive. He knew his father, Sirius, and Remus were as close as brothers all through school and even after. Until James met his downfall against Voltemort. Their friendship was always something Harry admired and tried to emulate in his friendship with Ron and Hermione. A friendship like what James shared with Sirius and Remus was rare. Harry was grateful that he found one with Ron and Hermione.

"Ya know, I too have always found Narcissa's relationship with Lucius a bit disturbing. I mean, the man clearly loves no one but himself…" Sirius stopped again after glancing at Remus. He innocently smiled back at Remus before speaking again, "I'll just let you take it from here, Moony."

Remus nodded, focusing on Harry once again, "as I was saying before…she wasn't always the way she is now…"

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"I was really hoping you had grown up during the summer, James. But I guess, I'm in for another year of disappointment," Lily Evans scowled, before she turned on her heel and angrily walked away, leaving a disheartened 16-year-old, James Potter standing alone in one of the many courtyards at Hogwarts.

James sighed to himself, lowering his head slightly. What would it take to impress the girl? He had tried every trick up his sleeve, but he still found himself falling short of gaining her affection. Little did he know, he already had her affection, what he lacked was her respect.

"Oh, that did not go well," a good-looking, youthful dark-haired boy spoke, coming up behind James and slinging his arm around his best friend, "I've seen better charming skills in ol' Snivellus over there."

James glanced to his right where Severus Snape sat under a tree, vigorously reading through another one of his favorite Dark Arts books.

"Am I really that bad, Padfoot?" James inquired, his head seeming to sink lower than it already was. Padfoot aka Sirius Black, shook his head and placed his hand comfortingly on James's shoulder.

"I'm sure you're not…you're just having a bad day," Sirius said, a bit of mockery in his tone. He laughed to himself, not bothering to notice James was not sharing in the joke. James ran his fingers through his hair, remaining quiet as he silently contemplated new ways to try and win Lily's heart.

"Maybe trying to make a joke of the situation isn't the way to go, Sirius…" Remus Lupin said, joining his friends. He cast a wayward look Sirius's way and the other boy simply shrugged innocently. Remus shook his head disapprovingly before turning his attention to James, "I'm sure she'll come around..."

James smiled, grateful at his friend's genuine attempt to comfort.

"Yeah, well, I'll catch you guys later, I need to study for a Potion's—thing…" James attempted, but it was obvious he was not the best liar, especially when it came to his best friends. But before his friends could protest, he quickly walked away, leaving Sirius and Remus to glare at one another.

"Honestly though, it's been years. Ol' Lily's just playing hard to get," Sirius commented after James was out of earshot.

"And of course you know this because of your vast knowledge on what girls want?" Remus threw at him.

Sirius opened his mouth to reply, but before he could say anything, he caught sight of Lucius Malfoy heading their way. Behind Lucius was his usual entourage, all wannabes that had no other purpose in life other than following around the attention-loving Malfoy.

"What does he want?" Sirius snarled. Remus looked over his shoulder, catching sight of approaching group of Slytherins. He turned back to Sirius, knowing full well that what was about to transpire would not be good.

"Just at least try to keep your tongue this time, Padfoot. The last thing we need is another visit to McGonagall's office," Remus warned just as Lucius arrived. He turned to greet the tall blond who was obviously blessed in appearance. With one hand Lucius swept his long white blond hair over his shoulder before nodding a greeting to Sirius and Remus.

"What do you want this time, Malfoy?" Sirius questioned, not bothering to hide his obvious contempt at the boy in front of him.

"I see your friend James is a lil inexperienced in the romance department…" Lucius spoke, his voice full of conceit and pride, "—pity…Lily Evans would be a good catch for the likes of James if you ask my opinion."

"We're not." Sirius replied, his eyes growing thinner with each passing minute he spent in Lucius's presence. Sirius could not believe the nerve of the guy. Acting as if he were better than everyone else. Sirius had no care whatsoever for Lucius's opinion on any subject matter, "do you really have nothing better to do than to come here and gloat?"

"Don't credit yourself so much, Black. Normally, I wouldn't waste my time being seen with filth like you, but my matter is pressing. Have you seen Narcissa?"

Sirius was fuming as he crossed his arms over his chest. Remus noted his friend's growing agitation and decided to step in before matters became worse.

"Why would he know where she is?" Remus spoke, keeping the calmness in his voice. Lucius turned to look at him, not appreciating the interruption.

"If I weren't mistaken, I wasn't addressing you, Lupin…I prefer not to be spoken to by mudbloods such as yourself," Lucius scowled.

"Why you—," Sirius started, getting right in Lucius face, "you take that back, Malfoy or I'm gonna—."

Remus stepped forward, grabbing Sirius's forearm and pulling him back, "don't even bother, Sirius. He's not worth it."

"I just suspected that since Narcissa is unfortunately a relative of yours, that you would know where she is…" Lucius continued, not shaken by Sirius's threats. It was apparent that the young man liked the sound of his own voice. He had yet to shut up since arriving.

"Narcissa is no more a relative of mine than Snape over there under that tree," Sirius stated, waving a hand in Severus's direction. Poor Severus. The boy would never cease to be the butt of everyone's jokes.

If the Snape comment amused Lucius, he did not show it. Instead, he smiled wickedly, "I see—I guess, it's better this way. At least we won't be forced to invite you to the wedding."

Sirius snickered, "no one in their right mind would marry you, Lucius…unless of course you cast a spell on her first, force her to do the nasty deed of being your wife."

Lucius chuckled, appreciating Sirius's words, "you'd be surprised. Unlike your friend James, I happen to have quite a way with girls, especially your cousin." He winked knowingly and proceeded on his way. Brushing pass Sirius and Remus as if they were as important as the ground beneath them.

"You should've just let me curse him, Moony." Sirius hissed under his breath as he glared after Lucius, "I mean, he insulted you! Right in front of me! I could just—."

Once again, Remus pulled back Sirius from going after Lucius.

Remus sighed, "it's over, Sirius. Let it go."

"I can't just let it go!" Sirius argued, "no one insults my friends and gets away with it! He'll get what's coming to him."

"I don't want you doing anything foolish on my behalf," Remus stated firmly, trying to calm his friend, "and I'm sure James would agree with me."

Sirius laughed, "James? James would be doing the troublemaking right along with me. You really put too much faith in him sometimes. He's just as mischievous as I am." He said, almost proudly.

Remus nodded, "yes, but I remain hopeful. That one day, the two of you will quit your mayhem making ways."

Sirius smiled and Remus was relieved that he was able to calm his friend's nerves. An agitated Sirius was not fun to be around and Remus knew this by experience. Sirius ran his fingers through his long dark hair, letting out a much needed breath.

"It's not like I would know what on Earth my cousin is up to or where she is. Why would I care if Malfoy's 'misplaced' his trophy girlfriend? That's all she is to him ya know, Remus. He just likes having Narcissa around to show everyone how pretty she is. Sometimes I actually feel sorry for her, I mean, if I cared that much about her in the first place."

"She is your cousin, Sirius. You're entitled to care," Remus replied, but his full attention was no longer on Sirius. His eyes had wandered after Lucius as well. A ways across the courtyard the group of Slytherins had stopped and were now congregated around Lucius and Narcissa.

From what Remus could tell from the faint voices he heard in the distance, it appeared that Lucius was somewhat scolding Narcissa for not appearing at lunch. Narcissa's gaze was lowered to the ground and she held her notebook firmly to her chest. Gripping the edges as if she wanted to curl up and hide away from the ridicule she was receiving from her 'boyfriend.'

"I can't stop her from seeing that rat carcass…" Sirius shrugged, not wanting to waste another moment thinking about Narcissa and her weird fascination with Lucius, "oh well. Let's go and find, James. He's probably on the verge of jumping off the tallest tower because Lily Evans won't go out with him," he teased, turning and starting to walk away.

Remus nodded, barely hearing what Sirius had said. His focus was still on Narcissa. His heart tightening as he noticed the brave face she was putting on while on the inside she was falling apart. He watched, angered, as Narcissa started apologizing for her behavior. Lucius seemed to eat it up, loving the power he had over her. He nodded approvingly at her need for forgiveness before he turned and walked away from her.

Narcissa watched Lucius go, before she turned and ran the opposite direction.

"Hey, Moony! Ya comin?" Sirius called from the other side of the Courtyard. Remus snapped back to attention. Startled by his friend's intrusion.

"I think I'll pass, Sirius!" Remus called back, "I'll see you at dinner!"

"Alright then! I'll save you a seat!"

"Thanks!"

Remus watched his friend disappear around the corner before he turned and followed after Narcissa.