DisclaimerI do not own anything that was originally written by J.K. Rowling.

Author's Note: And now I am onward to Chapter 3! I hope that everyone is enjoying this so far! I give my eternal thanks to MuyKiay who has been my person to bounce ideas off of and who fixes my inevitable mistakes.

Chapter 3

The next morning, Remus rose bright and early. The crisp Sunday morning sunlight streamed through the windows of his dormitory, revealing the still sleeping forms of James, Sirius, Peter and their fellow 7th year Joseph Crazter. Dressing quickly, he quietly made his way down the smooth stone stairs and into the still deserted common room. The fire had burned low during the night, the coals in the hearth giving off only a faint glow to contest with the light shining through the tower windows. Without missing a beat he climbed carefully out through the portrait hole that was the secret way into Gryffindor tower, waking up the portrait's occupant in the process.

"My, you're up at the crack of dawn today aren't you?" the Fat Lady said sleepily. "That's not like you at all."

"Life's full of surprises." He replied half-heartedly, still trudging along in the general direction of the Great Hall. His thoughts began to drift towards his homework that he had yet to tackle. He still hadn't completed his essay for Care of Magical Creatures, nor had he practiced for Charms. For nearly a week now he had been unable to master the charm that allowed one to manipulate the air around them to form sound, to vibrate the air so to speak. Indeed those that became masters of this charm could even create music if they had the mental discipline. But he had only barely managed to create what, unfortunately, had sounded like a dying cricket. Professor Flitwick had told him to practice over the weekend and had made it quite clear that if Remus did not show a proper understanding of the spell within the next couple of weeks then he would have little choice but to fail him for the period. And this would undoubtedly come back to haunt him later when he would be taking his N.E.W.T.s (Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests); Flitwick had hinted that it would be included in the charms portion of the exams.

Upon entering the Great Hall, which, despite five or six students was just as deserted as the Gryffindor common room, Remus spotted none other than Severus Snape. Like himself, Severus was also finishing up his last year at Hogwarts. However, Severus was a Slytherin, the sworn enemy of Gryffindor, and therefore not very high on his Christmas list. Sirius and James had taunted Snape mercilessly during their 5th and 6th years, and the slimy git never missed a chance to get them back. Just before summer holidays their prior year Sirius had played a trick on Severus, knowing that Snape would love to get one of them in trouble, something which had almost cost the moron his life.

Sirius had told him how to enter the secret passageway under the Whomping Willow, and therefore how to find the already transformed Marauder. Severus knew that something was strange about Remus and upon hearing about how he would 'sneak' out of the castle; the Slytherin couldn't wait to catch the young werewolf, not knowing the extent of the danger he would be in. Had James not pulled Severus back things could have become extremely nasty. Dumbledore had warned Severus not to jeopardize the young man's chance at normal schooling and had punished Sirius severely for his gamble. And so now, with their final year almost half way over, the Marauders had taken to ignoring Snape and vice versa (that is unless one was directly provoked by the other); things were simpler that way. So far, Snape had kept his promise to Dumbledore and had not told anyone about what he had seen that night, and Remus was eager to give him no reason or encouragement to do otherwise.

Severus was sitting alone at the Slytherin's table, a book propped open in front of him and a look of deep concentration on his face. Remus could see that he was rapidly muttering to himself. Must be reciting potion ingredients again, he thought. Honestly, the guy could remember even the most complicated mixtures yet he couldn't seem to figure out how to have a real life. How like a Slytherin.

"All right there, Lupin?" came a voice from behind him. Turning sharply, Remus found himself staring into the beautiful hazel eyes of Ashley Ames. She grinned up at him as she flicked aside her long blond bangs. "It's going to be a great day, don't you think?"

Confusion knitted his eyebrows together, "Why is today going to be a great day?"

"Hogsmeade visit today." She said, sounding surprised that this hadn't been obvious to him. "Sirius and I were going to go to that lovely little café, Madam Puddifoot's, and then meet up with you guys at Zonko's. Don't you remember?"

He groaned. Now that she mentioned it he did remember, they had made these plans nearly three weeks beforehand. When was he going to get his homework done? "Right, that's right. I remember." He fought a smile as he pictured his very robust and stubborn friend being dragged into a very…romance oriented teashop. "I'll make sure to remind James and Sirius when they come down."

"Great! I'll see you later then," she answered as she maneuvered around him and made her way towards a group of Gryffindor girls that had just entered. All of them seemed to be busily discussing their plans for the day.

He was about to sit himself down when he noticed one of the girls that Ashley was talking to. It was her. There was no mistaking that hair, or those eyes…. He gave himself a mental slap. Stop it, he thought. You can't let this happen, she's just a GIRL for Merlin's sake. Almost defiantly he sat down and grabbed an orange, tearing furiously at the peal. She's just a girl…

"Moony, my man, what'd the orange do to you?"

Remus stopped his vicious fruit murder to look up at the cocky grin of his friend Sirius. "I'm going to fail the ventus charm, and I am never going to get my essay done."

"Whoa, calm down. You're not going to fail. Didn't Flitwick tell you to work on it this weekend?"

"Yes."

"Well, any progress?"

"I haven't had a chance to yet." Remus said, getting frustrated.

"Well, why not?" Sirius pressed.

"Because I was helping you and James practice Quidditch yesterday and today is a Hogsmeade day."

Sirius paled. "That's today!"

Remus almost laughed at his friend's apparent panic. "Yes that's today. Your girlfriend was just over here reminding me of such."

"Crud…she wants to take me into that lovey-dovey little teashop doesn't she?"

Remus nodded.

Sirius sat down next to his friend. "Why do women love those sort of places? I mean, I'm all for a little bit of romance every now and then…but not in public."

Now Remus did laugh. "I think it's because it is public that they like it. They want to know that you don't mind showing how much you care about them to other people. It's a test of courage sort of thing."

Sirius stared at him.

"What?" Remus exclaimed.

"That is bloody brilliant. Can they really get all that information from a simple outing?"

"Apparently. Lily does it to James all the time, haven't you noticed?"

Sirius frowned. "No…"

"You might want to watch a bit more closely now that you are among the dating crowd." Remus advised as he licked his sticky fingers. "I only notice because I've a wonderful outside view of that crowd."

Sirius's smile left him to be replaced by a concerned frown. "I thought that you'd squared with those feelings. If James or I make you uncomfortable by having Lily and Ashley around all you have to do is say something."

Remus shook his head. "Nah, you both are happy. And those two are wonderful girls. Ashley's a bit talkative sometimes and Lily cares too much, but those aren't bad qualities, just things to get used to." He looked down at his mangled orange. "I'm fine, really."

"Alright, well…I guess I had better go do my boyfriend duty and sit with the woman, I'll see you in Zonko's later, right?"

Remus nodded as Sirius grabbed an apple and made his way over to Ashley. He watched as Sirius swept her into a broad hug from behind and as she giggled and exchanged looks with her friends. They were all so happy…

But her…she stood off to the side. She watched the couple with a dreamy look that was both criticizing and pensive. Like she was both angry and happy for them. She glanced at him as though sensing his gaze and he was met with an icy stare that startled him so much that he dropped the remnants of his breakfast in his lap.

She turned sharply and walked towards the opposite end of the table, as though desperate to sit far, far away from him, and upon taking her seat she too began to haphazardly shovel random bits of food onto her plate.

What was that about? He wondered, ignoring the sticky mess seeping into his robes. Such an enigma…such a beautiful and exotic enigma…

The massive flock of owls that swooped low over the tables to deliver the morning post interrupted his thoughts with hoots, screeches and a flurry of feathers. He rarely got anything, the exception being around Christmas or his birthday, his parents weren't much in the way of letter writers. Also, he had stopped taking the daily prophet at James's request a few months prior. The last time he had received a paper the headlines had revealed that the Ministry was going to try to pass a bit of legislation against Werewolves, something that required them to register their names with the Ministry and allow themselves to be locked up if they proved 'dangerous to society'. Needless to say this had made Remus quite upset, eventually resulting in him setting his paper ablaze and nearly blasting the other Marauders from their seats in his misdirected rage and spell casting. They thought it would be better in the future that they screen the news for him, if only to avoid any kind of loss of limb.

He looked up as the birds continued to circle in search for their owners, many of whom were probably still asleep. The enchanted ceiling showed a crystal blue sky with only the faintest hints of clouds. It would be a great day for Hogsmeade…even though he would be faced with an unparalleled amount of homework upon his return.

Remus grabbed a napkin and cleaned up the sticky remnants of the orange he had mangled. He'd sort out his homework situation later; first things first, and right now he had a day of sun and fresh air ahead of him.