Chapter Six - Letter from a Friend

"I wonder how long it will take until Sirius realizes it's after eight- thirty and he HAS TO GET UP FOR CLASSES!" screamed James in Sirius' ear.

He and Remus had already ate breakfast and returned to their dorms in hopes of seeing Sirius up and ready to go to yet another day of classes... but being such a sloth, moving was not in Sirius' vocabulary at the moment.

"Get up, wittle puppy!" crooned James, shaking Sirius and making noises a person would only make towards a pet, "Its time to go to our classies and you've got to be awakie for the morning classies at schoolie!"

Remus laughed, before shortly picking up a pillow. "James, you know, never use that tone of voice again. It's frightening."

James grinned awkwardly, but laughed as he eyed Remus' wearily. "What're you on about?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Remus told him nodding his head to another pillow lying in the distance. "If you really want to wake someone as stubborn as him up... there's only one thing to do."

James' eyes lit up as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Is your demonically corrupt mind thinking the same evil plot as mine?" he asked, he too picking up a pillow.

"Of course! On three?" inquired Remus, an easy smirk working its way across his left cheek.

"One…" counted James.

"Two..." added Remus.

"THREE!"

Sirius had been awake all along, and had been watching them through narrowed eyes the whole time. He jumped up in his bed, taking both Remus and James by surprise because he was fully clothed and he raised his wand. It was seconds before the two shocked boys realized they had raised pillows over their heads. Slowly they lowered them at the sight of Sirius' reckless grin and raised wand.

"And what were you two planning to do with those?" asked Sirius, his long dark hair cascading into his face as he hopped up and down on his four-poster mattress.

Remus exchanged expressions with James. It was to happen quick.

"This!" screamed both young men, launching their pillows and both beaming Sirius at the same time on his forehead. The bouncing, hyper little puppy hit the bed from impact of the pillows but rebounded from the attack quickly. He was on James and Remus' heels as they dashed down and out the common room. They were all late for classes.

"You're going to have flobberworms leaking from your nostrils for that Potter! And you too Remus, only because I can't remember your last name!" screamed Sirius, giggling in an unusually shrill voice as he grabbed his bag and hunted down his friends.

They ran blindly; they were all first years and none out of the three knew where they were going even though they had been in school for nearly three months now. After about ten minutes, James found the entrance hall. He sighed greatly and stopped for a split second too soon; Sirius had just floated a large water balloon over his head. It erupted with a sound like a large bell, soaking James down to the sneakers he was wearing.

"SIRIUS BLACK!" screeched James. Remus watched innocently from behind a nearby tapestry; no one noticed where he had gone.

"Where's Remus My-Last-Name-is-Hard-to-Remember?" asked Sirius, grinning as James repeatedly mumbled swear words under his breath and occasionally smacking Sirius in the back of his head. Sirius was seen floating a large, light green balloon over his head with his wand. Remus had a sinking feeling that the fluid inside the balloon wasn't just plain water; it gave off a weird color in the candle light.

"What're you doing?" said a calm voice behind the soaked James and the mischievous Sirius. At hearing the voice, Sirius lowered his wand at once and the balloon shattered. Remus' suspicions were correct; there wasn't water in the balloon... it was some kind of liquid that smelled and looked like pus.

"Pro-Professor Dumbledore, sir." James said, his cheeks growing slightly scarlet. He had never met Dumbledore in person, although his parents were good friends with him. He wished he could have represented himself better, but it was Sirius' fault he was sopping in the first place.

"Er - we're late for classes sir." explained Sirius, tucking his wand into his robe pocket, "And - er -"

"Sirius was late and he didn't want to wake up so James and I played a prank on him and he was trying to get us back. It's the truth, I swear it," said a small voice from behind a nearby tapestry. Dumbledore's eyes swept over Remus, then returned back to James and Sirius.

"Well, evidently you're late - what is it that you have? Charms? You'd best be running along, mind, I won't take points away from you this time... even though I should for using magic in the hallway. Oh, no matter." Told the Headmaster, ends of his mouth twitching. "Hurry along, boys."

The three didn't need telling twice. They gathered their things, and were almost well on their way before Dumbledore called to them again.

"Oh, and Mr. Potter?"

James paled, fearing the worst on his guilty conscience. "Yes, sir?"

"Classes would be better, if you were - not... drenched, wouldn't you think?" answered Dumbledore, waving his wand gently. Vapor sapped itself from James' clothes, slowly drawing the moisture from it until he was completely dry. The messy-haired boy grinned.

"Nice. I guess we'll see you around, Professor..." trailed off James as Dumbledore gave him a nod and they headed off towards Charms. As soon as they were out of sight of the Headmaster, however, the three broke off into a run.

"Phew, boy, I thought we were in for detentions or something." Sighed Sirius, relieved. "I've already done sixteen!"

"For what?" said Remus incredulously, opening the door and allowing his friends to go in first. They apologized quickly to Professor Flitwick before sitting down in the back of the classroom. Seeing that they were practicing levitation charms, James and Sirius paired up (of course), and Remus decided to sit with the quiet Lily Evans, who was without a partner nearby.

"I think three was for setting that dungbomb off in the Common Room - second week of school. Then, I had a week's worth, so that's five more for calling Professor Stroud a great hairy git in Potions... and uh," Sirius tried to explain as he watched James try to levitate their feather, "Four more like... last month was it? Well, anyway, that was for kicking that Ravenclaw third year in the shin for insulting my family name... then it was two last week for calling my cousin in Ravenclaw a dirty harlot. Yesterday and today are the ones I'm serving for leaving muddy footprints in the Entrance Hall when coming from Herbology. I hate that Filch, he needs a life."

Remus rolled his eyes at Sirius, who was now whacking his and James feather with his robe sleeve. He didn't know what James had done, but whatever it was... the feather was swishing back and forth trying to tickle whoever was nearby. Remus sighed as we watched Lily perfect the charm again and again... but never said anything all the while. There was a full moon the next night... and he was more worried about that then anything else.

"I'm going to be walking around now! Call this a little pop quiz, if you may! You'll all be graded!" announced Professor Flitwick, twenty minutes before the class was over.

"Damn," James swore, still trying to get his feather under control. He had been stomping on it with his sneakers because it kept trying to rub under his nose to make him sneeze.

"Oh well, I guess we've failed." Sirius protested a little too cheerfully, "But who knows? Maybe he'll give us extra credit... I mean, the feather's doing something crazy... but it's charmed isn't it?"

James couldn't help but laughing as Flitwick came their way. "No, but let's pray Flitwick isn't a ticklish midget. Bloody hell, who knows? I just hope he knows how to take this charm off… because this feather will definitely give him a run for his money."

-x-

By now, it was lunch. Remus sat nearby the end of the table; he was feeling under-the-weather and didn't want to be bothered by James or Sirius at the moment. It made no matter to them, however, as they sat on either side of Remus, sandwiching him in the middle.

"How'd you score on your Transfiguration Essay?" asked James, standing and reaching halfway across the table for a bowl of mashed potatoes. "I've got an O."

"Lucky. I've got an D. How about you, Remus?" chipped in Sirius, nudging his friend with his elbow. Remus jumped with a little yelp.

"I - got an A." he said at last, unsticking his throat and pushing his long bangs out of his eyes. He had let his hair grow unusually long; each month at transformation times it always grew at least two more inches.

"What's wrong?" asked James, spraying Remus in pepper as he showered his mashed potatoes in it.

"My family's ill." Remus responded, in the usual lie. He wondered how long he could keep the constant lies up; James and Sirius weren't the dullest Bertie Beans in the box and they'd suspect something sooner or later.

"What is it? Is like your whole family going to die from Dragon Pox or something?" asked Sirius, so sarcastically that Remus began to get paranoid. "You've visited them for the last two months too."

"I know but -" Remus was going to explain, until the window at the top of the Great Hall flew open and a beautiful golden owl entered. It scanned the room quickly before heading towards the Gryffindor Table. Then, in a quiet flutter it landed on the table inbetween a bowl of potato chips and a bowl of fruit right in front of the trio.

"Hello, I haven't seen you in ages," greeted Remus, smiling a little and patting the owl on the top of the head. "I brought you, didn't I?"

The owl hooted, extending its leg. Attached to a ribbon was an unusual envelope; around the edges were flowers and unicorns in weird designs. On the front, it was addressed in very flourished handwriting:

Remus Lupin
Hogwarts School

"Who's that from?" asked James, curious.

"It's from his Mumma." Sirius joked, a retarded grin on his lips as he watched Remus open the seal very carefully. "And I bet you two galleons it says: 'Dear Remus, I miss you already since you left me last month. I can't wait until you come to visit me again soon because I need to lecture you about being safe, obeying rules and staying away from that insane friend of yours. I also need someone to pour me my orange juice, due to the fact it always seems like I'm always so sick which is why I always need you to be home.'"

Remus felt himself grow angry… but he tried to roll his eyes. "Honestly, my mum doesn't say anything like that. She doesn't even know you beyond what I've written, so keep your fat lip shut, okay?"

"Touchy, touchy!" was all Sirius added, now smirking and clicking his tongue at Remus even though he had just got threatened. Throughout the last two months, Remus noticed that Sirius had a special knack for aggravating people.

"If you really must know, puppy -" Remus insulted him, causing Sirius to drop his smirk and glare. He and James called 'Sirius' puppy often, after they had learned in an Astronomy class last month that he was named after a constellation that meant the Dog Star. "-It's from my neighborhood friend, Alanze. She promised she would write me while I was at Hogwarts."

"Alanze?" James put in, "You've got a Muggle girlfriend?"

Self consciously, Remus blushed. "First of all, she's not my girlfriend. Second, she's just a girl who was my friend from my neighborhood. And third, she's two years younger than us, and I don't even look at her like that. I mean, she's super annoying and plus I'm only eleven."

Remus blinked, not even believing himself. Alanze wasn't that annoying…

"Well, you'd never know. Maybe you have some kind of fling for nine-year-old Muggles." Sirius suggested innocently, the smirk appearing back on his face, "So it's her you've been visiting, right? Not your mother? Wicked."

Remus tossed a bit of the potato chips that were nearby at Sirius. "Shut up, would you and let me just read my letter?" he growled, exasperatedly.

Sirius feigned his innocence as he frowned and began picking chips out of his sleek dark chestnut brown hair. It was now past his shoulders, and he hated for anyone or anything to be within three inches of his beloved hair.

"Well fine. If it's not secret love confessions, then read the note aloud, Mr. I-don't-have-a-fling-for-nine-year-old-Muggles." The Dog Star grumbled, now irked that Remus threw chips at him.

"Alright." Remus snapped, becoming agitated at Sirius " 'Dear R.J.' -"

"What's R.J.?" asked James, reading the letter over Remus' shoulder.

"It's my name. Remus... John Lupin. She likes calling me R.J. because she thinks its funny." Remus explained, a huge blush appearing over his face.

"John? Isn't that a little too normal to follow up a first name like Remus?"

Remus goggled at Sirius. "What in the world would you rather my middle name be, then? Something like Judicious?"

"But what kind of name is 'Judicious'?" asked Sirius rather rudely, a wide grin appearing on his face. Remus glared deeply at him.

"It's not a name, its actually a word," piped up a small voice from their right. All three boys glanced in the direction of the sound.

It was tiny Lily Evans. She was sitting three seats away from them, with her head resting lightly on her right hand as she gazed over at them. " 'Judicious' is an adjective that means wise and having careful judgment."

The girl dug deep into her rucksack, and pulled out a rather large Muggle dictionary. "It's an actual real word," she told the boys, glowing with pride.

"Yeah, that's all good and all," Sirius replied, looking just as dumbfounded as Remus and James, "But how do you know that?"

Lily stared at him, and Remus, despite himself felt impressed. He wasn't aware that somebody else, besides him, knew the meaning of the word. Sirius sighed in defeat.

"I mean, whatever-the-word is isn't a normal word... and I can hardly say it right. So how in the world did you know it? Did you swallow the whole Muggle dictionary or something?"

Lily blushed pink, put her nose up in the air, and with a slight, "Humph!" she huffed off, picking up her dictionary and taking her rucksack with her.

"That wasn't nice, Sirius," James remarked, trying to hide his own smirk as Remus sat quietly blushing from Lily defending him.

"Yeah, and I knew what the word meant. She was only trying to help, I guess." Remus added, returning to read his note in peace. His friends caught on quickly.

"Well, no one told her to get in our conversation. So, basically, Evans was asking for that treatment. I was just wondering how she knew that word... but... anyway... carry on, Remus!" replied Sirius brightly.

Remus rolled his eyes as he began to read aloud. Sirius and James both exchanged lovey-dovey glances as Remus ignored them.

" 'Dear R.J.,

I am so glad you got me this bird. She is so very nice and pretty. Mum already agreed that if I could take care of it they'd let me keep her. I have named her Aurora because of her feathers remind me of the Roman Goddess of the dawn. How are your classes at Hog-warts? Classes at Mulberry are going good... I haven't made any new friends yet. Have you made any friends? I'd just like to know. Maybe you could introduce them to me when you come back home from your term in June. Perhaps. I have to go to my Arithmetic homework before my Mum discovers that I write to you first. You know how strict my Mum is when it comes to my studies.

Your Friend,
Alanze' "

"How revolting, check out her signature. It's as zany as Sirius' designs on his underpants." James teased, looking at the flourish on the edge of Alanze's name.

"C'mon we've got to be going. We've got classes soon." James scoffed, prodding Remus upside his head with a sticky hand. Remus did NOT want to know what it was that James just rubbed on his cheek.

"Yeah, I'll be right behind you. I have to write Alanze back first... even if it is a few short words. Hell, I did promise." Remus replied, wanting to get away from them as quickly as possible.

"Alright, Remmie, we'll meet you in Potions then. Don't be late. Our ickle Lupiekins doesn't want a ickle detention now, does he?" crooned Sirius in a cutesy baby voice, slapping Remus hard on the back. Remus bit his tongue and glared at Sirius, fighting back a growl deep in his throat. It was a while after Sirius and James left, however, before he could control his temper to even attempt to write Alanze back.

" 'Dear 'Lanze,

It's nice to hear from you. I'm very glad you like your owl, and I have to agree that Aurora is a nice name for her. She's very pretty. It's a shame you haven't made any friends yet. I know you'll meet some new kids soon, so don't worry. I have two - well nearly three new friends. The first two are Sirius Black and James Potter. They're both really funny and they like pranks. The one named Sirius is starting to really get on my nerves nowadays, but he's alright. The other one is this shy little girl named Lily Evans. She's a Muggle Born and not too many people in this school like her. I only talk to her because I sort-of know how she feels. I'm only Half-Blood myself, so we can relate in ways I guess the other Purebloods can't. We're not much, but we're sticking together nowadays. I just can't let Sirius and James know, because they don't seem to like Lily very much. They think she's a know-it-all. I'll talk to you later, I have afternoon classes. Be sure to say hello to your Mum for me, and finish all your studies. Don't get in trouble because of me, okay?

Writing as Promised,
Remus' "

Remus hurriedly sealed his parchment as the second bell signaling for afternoon classes rang. He quickly tied his reply to Aurora's leg and the owl hooted, and nodded once as if she understood what to do before soaring off. Remus took a second to watch her fly before exiting with the crowd out into the Entrance Hall. Thoughts racked Remus' brain as he sighed deeply and rushed to Potions.

'If Sirius ever finds out that I speak to Lily, then he'll never let me hear the end of it. I don't mean to be so ignorant around her... but then again... both him and James would probably never understand what they put her through.'

Remus gave a feeble smile as he met up with James and Sirius, waiting outside the potions classroom. 'Maybe I'll have to put my foot down and tell them to stop teasing her. Or perhaps, if it does get that bad... I'll just have to stop... palling around... with them.'

His stomach clenched painfully. He just hoped things wouldn't get out of proportion so that he just had to end his friendship with James and Sirius.

Something just told him he didn't want to be on their bad side.