Whoops, looks like I've been confusing people, so I'll explain.

The year 7 thing: Year 7 is the 7th year of an English school education, equivalent to a secondary school first year. Since a primary school would contain the years: reception, followed by 1-6, unlike the grade system I'm sure most of you are familiar with, the more modern way of referring to first year is year 7.

Uhmm. Oh yeah, the OWLs thing: basically, you need all the knowledge from your first 5 years to pass your OWLs, because without a base for later knowledge you won't be able to learn anything. So thus, they're learning to pass their OWLs from first year.

Well, hope that's ok with y'all. Sorry for the long wait time, I love you all for all your fantastic reviews; they make me feel so happy… and really guilty when I don't update. And I'm on 8 peoples' alerts! You guys make me feel so loved!

Sorry it's late, but my cat ate my computer and my brother spilt porridge over my writing and my toilet exploded. Not really. But nobody cares why a chapter is late, people, they only care that it's up! So shut up and get on with it, already.

Start chapter:

"This is so boring!" James muttered, leaning his chin on his hand and idly doodling with his quill.

"If it was fun, Potter, it wouldn't be a punishment. And let's face it; you're hardly beer and skittles yourself," Sirius muttered, scrawling quickly in an attempt to get his 500 lines done before McGonagall came back from the hospital wing, where a third year had accidentally turned her hair into snakes when a crimping spell went wrong.

"It's your fault I'm here in the first place!" James turned to glare at the other boy, who stared stonily back.

"You can't blame me for your violent tendencies," he said, smiling as James got to his feet, pushing his chair backwards out of the way.

"James, sit the fuck down," Remus snapped, finally unable to bear it any longer. Upon noticing James's surprised stare, however, he added, more quietly, "He's not worth your time,"

James, still looking at his friend in stunned surprise, consented to sitting down, but didn't let it go. Remus hated swearing with a passion, and there he was cursing at him! His best friend! "Remus, I wish you'd tell me what's going on," he said a little dejectedly, and Remus turned guiltily back to his lines.

"Leave him along, Potter. He's not your wife. Or your husband, as the case may be…" said Sirius, smiling to himself as he resisted the urge to look up to see James's response in favour of showing the utter contempt he had for his unwilling detention companion, To tell the truth, though, he was as surprised as James had been by Remus's outburst, but he's apparently been bugged by James all day, and that would get on anyone's nerves. But, of course, he wasn't going to tell anyone that, least of all James. Or Elliot. Actually, it would probably be least of all his mother, since she would not only publicly humiliate him but also make him suffer through whichever form of violence caught her fancy at that particular point in time.

"Black, have you finished your lines?" Professor McGonagall was suddenly standing over him, and he snapped out of his thoughts with a start.

"Just a few more minutes, professor," he said, smiling pleasantly. Past McGonagall's shoulder, he saw James roll his eyes and mutter something.

"You'll be back tomorrow for that, Mr. Potter," McGonagall said, turning to face him, and James's face fell. Behind McGonagall, he saw Sirius wink at him, and shot him a glare.

"And that's an extra day for you too, Black."

Annoyed but refusing to let it show, Sirius shrugged and returned to his lines.

"I'm done, Professor," James said after a moment, figuring that if he couldn't get any further entertainment out of Sirius, he'd at least rub his departure in his face.

"Alright, Mr. Potter. Same time tomorrow," McGonagall took the parchment from James, who nodded his understanding and left the room, pausing only to smile sweetly at Sirius, who pretended not to see him. As the door closed behind him, however, a full thud from behind Sirius made him look up and turn around, and he saw that Remus had actually fallen asleep at his desk; something he'd evidently been resisting strongly in James's presence. Frowning in what could only be sympathy for the other boy; Sirius glanced at McGonagall, who was watching Remus with a pitying expression on her face.

"Professor, did you have to give him detention? He's got homework as well," Sirius ventured, not exactly sure if it was true but figuring that it was, considering how much he had for his second week at school.

"Mr. Black, it may surprise you to know that you are the reason that he is here. Had you not followed him, sparking rumours that are getting lewder but the way, we could have claimed that he was in the hospital wing as we'd initially planned," McGonagall turned to look at Sirius, "and, had you not provoked Potter into earning a detention of his own, I would have let him sleep."

Sirius stared at her, stunned by the revelation. This was all his fault? He couldn't even feel proud of his stalking skills, having found that out. Remus had been willing to sacrifice his place at the school in order to stop Sirius from getting into trouble, and how had the favour been returned? Sleep deprivation and pointless labour.

"I'm sorry," he said eventually, and Professor McGonagall stared at him. Sirius Black, apologising for upsetting a fellow student? Usually he enjoyed the power that the abuse of his classmates brought him, but this...? A student had never had such a sudden change of heart before. But then, she supposed, there had never been a werewolf attending Hogwarts before. She had never actually seen a transformation, but various accounts told of a disturbing display of pain and suffering, and in such a young boy… it was almost unbearable; the thought of something so fragile going through so much so often.

"I'm not the one you should be apologising to," she said eventually, retreating to the other side of the classroom and rearranging a few of the items on her desk, "take him back to the dorm at half past, and make sure he gets some sleep. Your task tomorrow is a lot more… demanding, physically speaking. You will need to stay alert."

Sirius nodded and returned to his lines, since he'd done fewer than half the required number and didn't want to spend yet another evening in the transfiguration classroom instead of in bed. He felt horribly guilty for adding to the pain of an evidently suffering classmate, but as well as the guilt, he felt a little fear. What would they be asked to do the next day? He had learnt early on the in the wizarding world, physical exertion usually meant danger since magic could be used for most of the more difficult physical tasks, but what could they possibly ask three first years to do without cocking up?

Change scene:

"Remus? Remus, mate, come on!" James shook his friend, who had skipped dinner in favour of sleep and was curled up in a ball on his bed, blankets shoved aside.

"Go 'way," Remus groaned, his usual composure lost in the want to sleep.

"We have detention!" James reminded him, still shaking his shoulder. But why is he so tired anyway? What is it that he doesn't want to talk about? Why would two first years have been having sex in a greenhouse, of all places? Why would they have been having sex at all? They were only eleven years old, for God's sake!

"Okay, I'm up… I'm up!" Remus batted James's hand away with surprising force and dragged himself into a sitting position. He rubbed his eyes, before getting to his feet and forcing a smile onto his face, "What are we doing today?" he asked, as he searched under his bed for the shoes he'd kicked there earlier.

"I don't know," James shrugged, his face solemn as he retrieved his friend's cloak from its place on the floor, where it had been thrown earlier. Remus, looking up as he pulled on his shoes, reached out to take it but paused halfway as he saw his friend's expression.

"James, what's wrong?" he asked, although in all reality he knew.

"Why won't you tell me what happened?" James asked, looking hurt, "if you can trust that pureblood wanker with whatever it was, but can't I know anything about it? We're supposed to be friends…"

Remus felt a stab of guilt. They were friends, and even though it had only been a week or so since they'd met for the first time, even that was a long time to spend in the constant company of someone, and they'd developed a trusting bond already. And if Sirius had taken it that well, after spending a night trapped in a downstairs toilet, James, who had stood by him from the very beginning, even going so far as to defend him from Sirius when he'd made a less than friendly comment about the state of Remus's clothing, deserved to know. He deserved to be told, much more than the idiot who had followed him in an attempt to gain some blackmail evidence.

"Will you get a bloody move on?" Sirius's voice was heard from the common room, where he had been told to wait for James and Remus prior to crossing the grounds, "I've got the next two weeks booked up with detentions as it is without you getting me any more!"

"Shut up, Black!" James yelled back over his shoulder, before turning back around to face his friend, who was still struggling with his decision. Feeling a little guilty himself about putting his best friend in such a predicament, he held out his cloak once more, "Maybe later, alright? We've got to get going."

For the first time in days, Remus's smile was genuine, and he pulled James into an embrace before donning his cloak and following his friend downstairs, where Sirius was waiting.

"About time," he said as James pointedly ignored him, leading the way to the entrance hall. Remus, however, nodded a greeting that was returned with a small smile, and together the three of them made their way out of the common room and down the corridor. They were silent, since none of them had anything to say that they wanted both of their companions to hear. As they reached the entrance hall to find Professor Slughorn waiting for them, however, Sirius groaned.

"Oh no…" he muttered, before smiling as the potions teacher looked at him, "Sluggy, my man! What's happening?"

"Now, now, Black. This is no laughing matter," the Professor said, and Sirius's face fell, "I've run out of Baurealis weed, and the only plant nearby is in the forest."

"So you're taking three first-years with you?" Sirius arched an eyebrow, wondering just why it was that Hogwarts, which was supposed to be the safest place in the world, always managed to put its students in danger without them even having to leave the grounds. Although, oddly enough, very few of the other students seemed to have the same problem…

"The forest?" James asked, looking a little nervous.

"Yes, well. The centaurs will not attack a child, so if anything should happen to me, then one of you will go up to the castle and tell them of my demise," Professor Slughorn told them, puffing his chest out in an attempt to look impressive. This was helped, of course, by the fact that he had neglected to mention the fact that a deal had been made with the centaurs; if the humans didn't go anywhere near their territory, then they would be left alone.

"Oh, fantastic," Sirius muttered, falling back into step with Remus as Slughorn led the way outside, followed closely by James, who was trying to make a point but failing somewhat since Remus wasn't actually awake enough to notice. He always found that, for some reason, listening to their potions professor left him feeling rather unwilling to stay awake.

"Keep up Black, Lupin, Don't want you getting lost now," Slughorn called over his shoulder, and James turned to look at them, eyes narrowing slightly at Sirius, who held up his hands in a 'I'm not doing anything!' gesture. James gave him a sceptical look, but turned back around. Remus frowned, blinking a few times to wake himself up as they neared the forest, and Professor Slughorn took out his wand to light the path.

"It's no wonder that most students behave if detention involves going in there…" Sirius muttered as they passed the first few trees and were immediately consumed by the darkness. He pulled out his own want and lit it, careful to stay close to the rest of the group, and together the four of them traipsed deeper and deeper into the forest, following a trail that got more difficult to manoeuvre with each passing minute.

Finally fully awake, Remus let his enhanced senses guide him, occasionally pulling Sirius out of the way as large holes or rocks in the path made themselves known.

"This is ridiculous." Sirius whispered eventually, "At this rate we'll starve to death before we get there."

"Quiet in the back there, Black," Slughorn said, frowning as the trail curved and led them in the wrong direction, while a smaller, more overgrown pathway at the side headed in the right one. Shrugging to himself, he followed the smaller one, forcing the group to walk in single file as they ducked under various branches. Still feeling slightly guilty about being the sole reason for the group having to take this trip, Sirius noticed how Slughorn's body blocked the light from his wand and figured that his own, although built just a little slimmer, was probably doing the same. Reaching back, he took hold of Remus's wrist and was surprised to find that he didn't pull away. Well, at least he didn't hate him. Not that he really understood why it should matter if he did hate him.

"Keep up, boys, Keep up," Slughorn called back from a distance much too far ahead for Sirius's liking. Since he, James and Remus, however, found it a lot more difficult to fight their way past the trees and branches that pay in their path than the stronger, rather larger professor, they soon fell behind and were left alone in the forest.

"Bugger," James muttered, as he completely lost sight of the light he had been following.

"That would hardly be an appropriate gesture," Sirius told him, frowning into the darkness with his hold still tight around Remus's wrist.

"How can such a fuckwit be teaching us?" James ignored him, pulling out his wand and lighting it. Narrowing his eyes against the increased brightness, Sirius released Remus's wrist and settled for holding his cloak, since James was obviously very suspicious already. Remus, however, had other ideas. Suddenly terrified of being left alone, he took Sirius's hand again, and grabbed James's with the other.

"Remus, mate, calm down," James said, patting his friend's arm reassuringly, "it'll be fine; we'll just go back the way we came."

"We can't," Remus said, causing James and Sirius to look at him rather strangely, "They won't like it. We're already too close to them…"

James and Sirius exchanged a baffled look, finally finding something they agreed on, but swiftly looked away as they realised what they'd done.

"Them?" James asked, frowning curiously while Sirius hoped that his suspicions were wrong.

"The centaurs. We can't go near them; it was probably part of a deal Slughorn made to save his own skin. If we stray into their territory, which I take it is kind of in the direction we came from…" he trailed off, leaving his companions to figure out what he meant.

"We'll get the crap kicked out of us. Literally," Sirius muttered darkly, and waited for James to take control of the situation. He didn't particularly want to get into a pointless but lengthy argument about who was in charge, but as he waited, there was a clopping sound in the distance, and instinctively the three boys moved in the opposite direction, trying to shield themselves from low branches but failing rather miserably since none of them actually had a free hand. Despite their efforts, however, the sound of hooves got closer, and as James tripped on a stray root and fell to the floor, pulling the other two down with him, the noise suddenly stopped, unnervingly close to the trio.

"These young ones dare to set foot in what they call the forbidden forest?" a voice came from a short distance away and Remus, as the only one with hearing good enough to identify the six or so feet of distance between them and the centaurs- judging by the sound there were three- looked up at the speaker, who in the dark was identifiable only by his hair; long, blond and perfectly straight, it passed the centaurs shoulders, giving him a rather ethereal appearance. Although, as Remus considered the situation, ethereal wasn't that bad. It was better than hostile, violent, murderous…

"Humans, particularly young ones, seem to find it necessary to prove their worth by placing themselves in as much danger as possible," a second, darker centaur muttered, his contempt for the bipedal species evident in his tone and expression.

"We're not here by choice…" Remus ventured quietly, and the centaurs looked at him for a few terrifying moments.

"This is the one Dumbledore has spoken of. We cannot harm him," the third centaur mentioned, and the other two turned to him.

"Dumbledore mentioned Remus?" James asked, still holding Remus's forearm protectively. From where he was sitting, Remus partially on top of him, Sirius felt the other boy tense. There was only one thing that made him stand out from the rest of the students.

"He feels that it is only fair to warn us of a possible threat," the third centaur informed him, although there was a shortness in his tone that showed his lack of interest in the conversation.

"What? Remus, a threat?" James stared at the centaur that had spoken, but received no reply beyond the arching of an eyebrow. Wanting an explanation, James looked at Remus, who was staring evasively at the floor. Ever alert, Sirius didn't take his eyes off the centaurs, who he considered to be the more serious threat at that particular moment in time. Well, at that particular time of the month, anyway.

"Sometimes even the gentlest of humans can lose themselves to the power within," the second centaur said cryptically, baffling James further.

"What are you talking about?" James persisted, and Sirius shot him a warning look that was duly ignored.

"It is not our place to say," the third centaur told him, and the first rolled his eyes, exasperated by his companions' compassion for the humans, "If you leave now, we will do you no harm."

"But we've got to find Professor Slughorn. And that Baure…alis…?" Remus's tone started off as though he was objecting, but at a withering stare from the first centaur, he lost momentum somewhat, eventually trailing off as he looked meekly at the ground.

"The plant for which you search no longer grows here. Your potions professor has exhausted his supply. Tell him that." The third centaur, who seemed to be the most talkative of the trio, informed them.

"So we did all of this for nothing?" James asked in disbelief, and Sirius cringed, hoping that the centaurs didn't see stupidity as a capital offence.

"So it would seem," the second centaur said, although he was evidently attempting to finish the conversation in as little time as possible.

"Right!" Sirius, cutting across James as he opened his mouth yet again to speak, said brightly "Let's go then!" and, ignoring the glare he was getting for interrupting, he pulled Remus to his feet and waited for James to get up. Smiling pleasantly at the centaurs, he inclined his head in thanks, and then grabbed Remus and James by the wrist and dragged them away in what he thought was the direction of the castle.

"Get the hell off me, Black," James warned, attempting to sound threatening but failing somewhat as a branch hit him in the face and he spent the next minute of so spitting out pieces of bark.

"We've got to get out of here," Sirius told him, frowning as he realised that what he'd just said was exactly what he'd been thinking the last time he'd spent an evening with Remus. Maybe there was some sort of connection...

"Yeah, well, thanks but I can do that without you holding my hand," as Sirius slowed and stopped, James pulled his arm away and stuffed his hands in the pockets of his robes, noticing suddenly how cold he was.

Rolling his eyes, Sirius turned to Remus, "Do you know where to go?" he asked, letting go of his arm as he sensed James's glare.

Remus paused, turning slowly in a circle as he considered the possibility of each direction with not only his eyes, but also his ears and his nose.

"No idea," he said eventually, and Sirius let out the breath he suddenly realised he'd been holding. Remus looked sadly at the floor, annoyed with himself. Why couldn't he have been more helpful?

Sirius sighed, "Well, sitting here's not going to help," he said with forced brightness before heading in the direction they'd been going. Wordlessly, Remus followed him, but James, still feeling resentful about the way Sirius had ignored him when making their decision, stubbornly set off in another direction, determined to prove the others wrong about his inability to lead. Well, not Remus so much… but he did keep hiding things from him. What had those centaurs been talking about? Remus, who wouldn't hurt a fly, a threat?

Again, he was struck with the suspicion that something was up.

Unfortunately, he didn't manage to take that thought any further. Beneath his feet, part of the path gave way, and he found himself slipping sideways, tumbling into a miniature valley of sorts and landing painfully about six feet below the path, with one of his legs trapped beneath him. Upon attempting to stand, a sharp pain shot up his leg and he cried out, realising with a shock that he could have broken his leg or ankle. Still, if he didn't put too much weight on it…

"Fuck!" he swore as his attempt to push himself onto his feet with his arms failed spectacularly, his hand going straight through the log he had been using as support. Sighing and cursing his bad luck, James attempted to get his hand out from inside of the log… only to find that no matter which way he moved it, it remained stuck. With two of his limbs out of action, and all other movement hindered by the pain that renewed every time he tried to move the rest of his body, he was forced to admit that, until his hunger managed to overcome the pain and he was able to drag himself back to the castle, he was stuck.

Something was definitely up. Unfortunately, it wasn't him.

End chapter

Boom, baby! It's finally up! Hooray! I hope you liked it; it was insanely long without actually going all that far, and I don't like it at all, but I'm working towards the next action-packed, dramatic chapter. Well, sort of.

Cookie anyone? Two for constructive criticism! Please?