Chapter 2: ummm, Remus?

James Potter plodded quietly down one of Hogwarts many halls, concealed by the very handy invisibility cloak his father had given him on his 11th birthday. He was returning from the Slytherin common rooms, where one Severus Snape had yet again become the receiving end of one of his pranks. James grinned to himself, just thinking about Snape's face when he took a look in the mirror…and then again when he discovered that he couldn't remove it for the next 48 hours. He and Sirius would never be able to thank Remus enough for finding that spell. James had always known that there had to be a good reason for reading…

Sirius was at yet another detention that night, and Remus was sick AGAIN, so James was all alone. Over the past few months, they had become friends with another boy, Peter Pettigrew, a fellow Gryffindor, but James knew all too well how clumsy little Peter was, and had figured that he was better off on his own. They could only really afford to have Peter around when Remus was there, planning a quick getaway.

Remus. That boy was one huge puzzle- he was James' best friend, next to Sirius, and still, he felt that he knew nothing about him- either that, or he was just hiding really, REALLY big. He was sick more often than James, Sirius, and Peter put together, and it happened almost on a monthly basis. James had been a little hurt that Remus hadn't felt that he could trust James, but then again, he decided, NO one really knew what was up with him. No one, that was, except Lily Evans. James shuddered just thinking about her- argh, she made him so mad! Little miss know it all, always walking around as if she owned the world. He honestly couldn't figure out WHY Remus was even friends with her…James knew that if he and Sirius hadn't pulled a stupid prank on her the first night at Hogwarts, he would probably be friends with her too…but really, how was HE to know that she was going to come apologize? He still wanted to know exactly what the girls had been talking about that was so important, but thinking about Evans gave him a headache, so he decided to think of nicer things….

He found his mind drifting back to Remus. If only he could figure out what was wrong with him…There was a nagging something at the back of his mind, something that told him that all he really needed to do was put the pieces together, and he'd be able to figure it out. Just yesterday, Remus had looked as ill as anything, and James and Sirius had been afraid he was going to keel over, or something. James just felt that having a friend or two- or three, he reminded himself, Peter's always there, and if anything, he's loyal *a/n grr, yea right…*, everything would be better for Remus. He had reached the entrance of the common room, so he decided to go to sleep, and he resigned himself to go to the library the next day, and figure it out.

** ** **

James and Sirius sat there, staring downcast at the list they had compiled. They had written everything they knew about Remus down, hoping to find a pattern or something, but all they had found was that they knew very, very little about their friend. James glared at the paper, willing it to show him something…and while he was challenging the paper to a staring contest, something seemed to have clicked in Sirius' head.

"James, wasn't Remus sick right before the Halloween feast?"

"Yea," James answered slowly, "we had to spike the punch without him the day before…he got out of that detention with Filch too, lucky bugger."

"And on your birthday…I remember, he felt awful about it," Sirius said almost excitedly. He was staring at some chart that he had open, as he had been trying to do some homework at the same time.

"And last night, James…oh my god, but not Remus, there's no way…"

James just stared stupidly at Sirius. "What are you on about now?"

"Look at the chart!"

James looked at the chart Sirius had out- a lunar chart for astronomy.

"All those days were on full moons," he said, the answer finally dawning on him. It all made sense, but still, REMUS??

"Remus is a-" he started, but Sirius finished for him, quietly, but the astonishment clear in his voice,

"A werewolf!"

** ** **

James and Sirius sat anxiously on their beds, while Peter looked on curiously. They hadn't told him yet, even though he really was a part of their group. They wanted to be absolutely certain, before telling anyone, but they had no idea how to find out for sure. They couldn't just ASK him- that would be a fun conversation, "Hey Remus, have you turned into one of the most horrible creatures known to wizards lately?" Oh yea. That would go over GREAT. Finally, Sirius spoke up.

"Ya know, James, I bet Evans knows…He's almost closer to her than he is to us. And I bet she would have figured it out by now too, and he was more afraid of us shunning him than her. All we really have to do is ask her…" He looked about as happy to ask her as James felt. James was about to throw down the idea, but thought better of it. After all, they didn't really have any other choice. Sighing, he said, "You're right…what say we go ask her now, and get away from the fire breathing dragon as soon as possible?" And with that, the two boys walked out of their dorm, leaving a very confused Peter Pettigrew all alone.

"Hey Evans!" James said, as he got near her. Really, she wasn't as bad as he and Sirius made her out to be. In fact, most people actually thought she was very nice, and although she might not have been the most popular, or the sweetest girl to have ever graced Hogwarts, she was like well enough by her peers- except for James and Sirius. She had been talking and laughing at something Kate had said, but her expression turned to a cold one as she faced the two boys.

"What do you want?" she asked, he voice cold as ice.

"We need to talk to you," Sirius said, and then seeing Kate and Mandy, pointedly added, "alone." Lily rolled her eyes, but followed James and Sirius into an alcove near the dorms.

"Now what is it?" she asked impatiently. "In case you didn't notice, I was kind of in the middle of something." She hadn't really been, but it ticked her off that James and Sirius felt that she was at their beck and call.

"We need to ask you about Remus." At that, her manner changed completely. Pity, suspicion, compassion, all reflected in her eyes, and she asked, but quietly, and in a very different tone, "What is it?" James, seeing as she wasn't being hostile, decided to be nice as well, and spoke calmly, as though talking to a friend. "We need to know- is he a-a werewolf?" Lily surveyed them, as if deciding what their reaction would be. Finally, she sighed, and although her answer was "I'm sorry, but you have to ask him. I don't know," her eyes confirmed their fears. She looked at them, and sighed again, knowing that she hadn't fooled them. She got up to go, but first leaned down and whispered, "It doesn't matter- he's still Remus, no matter what." And with that, she left them to figure out how exactly to tell Remus that they knew, and to come up with a plan to help him.

** ** **

Peter stared at his new friends, dumbstruck. Remus? There was no way, absolutely no way…but Sirius was right- it didn't matter, it was still Remus. He said quietly, "Whatever you guys do to help him, count me in." James smiled, proud that Peter had gotten over the bigotry wizards had towards werewolves, and relieved as well- he and Sirius hadn't been completely sure what Peter's reaction would be like. Now just how to tell Remus…Sirius contributed first. "I say we tell him tonight, when it's just us. And we might as well get it over with, because we all know that this isn't going to be a pretty conversation."

"Yea," James agreed, "Tonight will be fine. And I think we should just wing it- rehearsed conversations always aound so corny."

So it was decided…

** ** **

Remus looked around at his friends uncomfortably. They looked so serious, not at ALL like how they usually looked. But they couldn't possibly have found out…James cleared his throat, and said,

"First off, Remus, we want you to know that this doesn't change anything, and you're still our best friend…"

"Yea," Sirius added, "we want to see if we can help you."

Remus had gone as white as a sheet.

"Wh-what are you guys talking about?"

There was silence for a moment, and it was Peter who broke it.

"Remus, we know you're a werewolf."

Crickets could be heard, while James, Sirius and Peter waited for Remus' reaction. Finally, he spoke, very quietly.

"You're- you're sure you don't mind? Because, it's all right if you do, you don't have to stay friends with me or anything…"

Immediately, there was an outburst of "NO!" and "of course we still want to be friends with you, you bloody moron!" and a sarcastic "Remus, we all hate you now, because we're shallow pricks like that." Remus looked around the room, and slowly, a smile began to form. "Thanks guys"

The next day, for one of the first times since the start of term feast, Lily looked over at James and Sirius as smiled- presumably, Remus had told her about what had happened, and she though more highly of them because of it. "We're gonna have to figure something out to help Remus," Sirius muttered. "It's not fair that he has to go through all of that by himself- and think about what an excellent opportunity it is to pull some pranks! I'm really quite jealous!" James laughed, and said "Don't worry, we go home in a few weeks- we'll figure something out this summer."

Hey guys! Come ON, r/r PLEASE!!!!!!! And then I'll, um, love you forever? :D