It was the last day of term before Easter break, and the days seemed to be flying by even faster than James Potter on a broomstick. And that was really saying something, seeing as James was easily the fastest person in their year.

"You're going home for the holidays, Remus, right?" asked James that evening in the dormitory, munching on a Chocolate Frog.

"Yes," said Remus. "Not because my mum's really ill again, though... just because I want to." He felt the need to clarify, seeing as the full moon fell smack-dab in the middle of Easter holidays. That would raise suspicion for sure, and Remus was absolutely certain that James was going to point it out at some point within the next two minutes or so.

"So... do you want to come over to my house?" asked James in lieu of an accusation. "March twenty-seventh? I'm having a birthday party."

Remus stopped and considered. March twenty-seventh was two days away from the full moon—he'd probably be feeling very ill. But he really wanted to go and be there for James, of course. And it sounded like so much fun. He'd never been to a friend's house before, and he was certain that whatever James Potter had planned would be an absolute blast. Yes, he wanted to go... but still, it was complicated.

"I'll have to ask my parents," Remus finally said.

"Yeah," said James slowly. "You know, it's two days away from the full moon..."

"That has nothing to do with anything," Remus said. He'd known that James would point this out, the prat.

In through his nose. Out through his mouth.

"If you say so," James sighed. "We haven't used those notebooks yet, you know—the ones that I got Remus for his birthday."

"Now's the time to start!" said Sirius. "We can write to each other all the time. I'll be with James for Easter holidays, of course, but the thought is still there."

"I think we need code names," said James. "That way, if anyone finds one, they won't know it's us!"

"Sure," said Sirius. "Any ideas?"

James grinned. "I think Remus should be F.C.D."

"Why?" asked Peter, but Remus cut him off.

"I am NOT a fragile china doll!"

James laughed. "You totally are!"

"I think James should be Annoying," said Remus.

"He already is," joked Sirius, and all four Marauders started to giggle maniacally while James hit Sirius with a pillow in mock anger.

"Okay, but seriously," said James. "I want to be... Nimbus!"

"Like the broomstick?"

"Yeah!"

"Of course. We were so stupid, for thinking that James Potter had a life outside Quidditch..."

"Oi!"

"I want to be Godric," said Sirius. "Like Godric Gryffindor!"

"Hey, no fair!" said James. "I want to be Godric, too!"

"You're already Nimbus."

"You can't be Godric, Sirius," said Remus. "He already existed. It's confusing." It wasn't that confusing, actually, but he didn't want James and Sirius fighting.

"Be Red," Peter suggested. "Like the color. That's a Gryffindor color."

"I like that," Sirius decided, but Remus didn't like it. The name reminded him a bit too much of Little Red Riding Hood—he wasn't fond of the story, but he couldn't tell them why.

"What do you want to be, Peter?" Remus asked.

"I'm not sure," said Peter. "What do you think, James?"

James pretended to think very hard. "Stupid."

"That's not nice!' said Remus. "You should be Gold. You know, since Sirius is Red. That's the other Gryffindor color."

"Yes, please!" said Peter, eyes shining at the prospect of having a dual-name with Sirius.

"I'm gonna call you Goldfish," said Sirius.

"Deal," said Peter, giggling. "What about you, Remus?"

"I can just be Romulus." Remus shrugged. "Like the story. Remus and Romulus."

"Oi, you can't be a real person if I can't!" argued Sirius.

"Romulus wasn't a real person, Sirius. Well, probably not. It's a Roman myth."

"But it's too obvious," said James. "You should be... what's your favorite animal?"

"Sheep," said Remus immediately.

"Not a wolf?" joked Sirius, and Remus glared at him.

"My mum. Is not. A werewolf."

"I'm talking about your name! Remus Lupin, you know? It's basically Raised-by-Wolf Wolfish. Sheesh. No need to get all worked up, mate."

"My favorite animal is a sheep," insisted Remus, standing his ground. If they gave him a wolf-related nickname, he'd just die. There was no way he'd let them do that, not in a million years.

"All right, we'll call you 'Sheep'." said James. "It's good a name as any."

Remus wasn't sure how to feel about that. "Better than Red," he mumbled, and Sirius hit him.

"That's that, then! We have code names!" said James; he was far too excited about the whole thing. He jumped to his feet, face aglow. "Nimbus, Goldfish, Red, and Sheep!"

"I want my name to be first!" said Sirius. "Red, Nimbus, Goldfish, and Sheep."

"Nimbus, Goldfish, Red, and Sheep has a better rhythm," said Remus. "Three trochees and an extra syllable. It would also work if we switched Nimbus and Goldfish... then Peter would be first."

"Nimbus, Goldfish, Red, and Sheep it is!" said James, not even acknowledging Remus' suggestion. "I love it!"

Madam Pomfrey wanted to speak with Remus before he left for the holidays, so he showed up in her office alone Saturday afternoon. "Come on in, Mr. Lupin," she said briskly. "No one's in the Wing right now, so we can talk freely. Now, how are you feeling?"

"I'm... please tell me the jar doesn't count today..."

"I'm afraid it does. Please be descriptive."

Remus sighed. "Full moon's sort of coming up and I'm rather tired. Nightmares are doing better. I'm sore, but that's normal. I'm feeling plenty well enough to travel tomorrow, though—honest I am."

Madam Pomfrey sighed, too. "If you say so," she said, though it seemed it pained her to say it. "You won't be causing trouble on the train?"

"Of course not, Madam Pomfrey." Why did everyone think that he was going to cause trouble? He wouldn't cause trouble. He was generally well-behaved, in his own humble opinion.

"You'll nap if you need to?"

"It's a train, Madam Pomfrey. It's just quiet sitting. I'll be fi... I mean, there's nothing that could possibly harm or otherwise overexert me. How different is sitting on a train from sitting in the Hospital Wing?"

"None of that cheek. You're not stressed?"

"No, Madam Pomfrey."

"Good. I'm going to be staying here for the holidays, Remus. If you find you need medical assistance, all your parents have to do is either Floo or owl me. Got it?"

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey." Remus was getting extremely annoyed, and he reprimanded himself sharply for letting his emotions get the better of him. But all the same, his parents had been taking care of him for six years before he went to Hogwarts, and he hadn't died yet. That was substantially longer than the half-year that Madam Pomfrey had done so. He couldn't say it because of the jar... but he'd be fine.

"Now, your mother mentioned that your family can't always afford Pain-Relieving Potions..."

"Er."

"How does that work, may I ask? You're clearly in pain afterwards, based on the many months I've cared for you. Do they give you a Sleeping Draught?"

"Er, I just... well, I..." Remus scrambled for the best possible wording. "...I deal with it."

Madam Pomfrey shook her head. "That's horrible. I'm sending you home with a few potions. Don't argue."

"It's not that bad. I'm typically so tired afterwards that I could sleep through anything—you know that. And we have enough to give me a little when it's watered down. That's why I told you I didn't need it that first full moon, remember? I honestly don't when I'm sleeping the whole day."

"That's horrible," Madam Pomfrey said again. "Here you are—there's just enough for the thirtieth. And you'd better take it, you hear me?"

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey."

"Good. Be careful."

"I'm always careful."

Madam Pomfrey snorted. "Well, you're certainly more sensible than your friends. You should have seen Professor McGonagall's face after they flew back to the castle on broomsticks. She can't bear to take Potter's broom away—she does so want him to make the team next year—but she was furious." Oh. That was why everyone expected Remus to cause trouble on the train—because they assumed that his friends would be causing trouble. That was fair, actually. "Again—don't hesitate to ask for help," continued Madam Pomfrey. "I'm not going to be busy at all."

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey."

"Run along, now. You're starting to look pale already."

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey."

Remus hopped off his bed and left the Wing, stuffing the potions bottles into his bag to avoid questions. He hated being fussed over, but the potions truly did make the transformation's aftermath easier.

He couldn't tell Madam Pomfrey that, though. He was far too stubborn.

When Remus and his friends left the dormitory to board the train on March twenty-sixth, they were laughing about something. Remus didn't even remember what they were laughing about, actually—oh, that's right, Sirius had said that James was 'jam' if you took off the E and the S. And then James had retorted that Sirius was 'sir' if you took off the end. And then Sirius had called James 'Sandwich' and James had called Sirius 'Professor' and then Remus had tried to imagine Sirius as a professor and promptly started laughing.

"Professor Sirius," he forced out. "I can't imagine."

"You think I'm not bright enough?" said Sirius incredulously.

"No, I think... I think you'd prank the students!" More laughter. "Poor things. What would you even teach?"

"Muggle Studies," suggested James, and that was the last thing that anybody said before they were fighting for breath. There was no way on planet Earth that Sirius would teach Muggle Studies.

This, Remus realized, was the first time that he had ridden the train with the Marauders. He hoped it wouldn't be the last. James pointed towards an empty compartment, and Remus sat next to Peter while James sat next to Sirius. Then James pulled out his notebook. "Here, everyone write your name on the first page. Code name, I mean. Sign it. And then you have to write your code name every time you write something so that we know who's speaking."

"My code name is dumb," Remus grumbled. "I don't want to be Sheep."

"Too late, Sheep!"

Remus watched Sirius' neat cursive and James' sloppy scrawl spread across the first page of his notebook as Sirius and James wrote in their own. Peter added his own name, and then Remus found the courage to write "Sheep" in his most normal handwriting.

Nimbus. Goldfish. Red. Sheep.

Presenting... the Marauders! James wrote at the top of the page, and Sirius added the date.

"We can write in it over break," said James, grinning, "now that it's been properly broken in. This is brilliant."

It was brilliant, and not only the notebook—Remus relished being so close to Peter, James sitting right across from him, the notebook in his lap, and the constant smiles that were not fake at all. Smiling was such a small thing, but Remus was ever so glad that he had a reason to do so.

"Hey, Sheep, have you gotten permission from your parents to visit my house tomorrow?" asked James.

"I haven't asked yet. It's probably better to do in person, since I've never been to a friend's house before."

"Never?" said Peter, eyes wide. "Never ever?"

"Well, he's never had any friends before. Of course he hasn't," said Sirius.

"I hope your parents let you," said James, leaning back into his seat. The train had started moving now, and Remus felt a little jolt of excitement with every rise and fall of the tracks. Trains were so much fun with friends. Gosh, trains were fun even without friends. Remus loved trains.

"We're going to have such fun," James was saying. "My parents basically let me do whatever I want, so we can ride broomsticks and explore the house and play hide-and-seek and all that. You're coming, Pete, right? Of course you are. I'm inviting some of my friends from the neighborhood, too. I can't wait for you to meet them. Janice is a bit annoying, but she can do a backflip. That's pretty cool. And Marcellus has a parrot that can talk. We taught it swear words when we were younger, Marc and I..."

Remus listened to James' rambling and closed his eyes blissfully. He thought that perhaps he'd be happy like this forever, just sitting on a train with his friends. It was such a small thing, but exciting nonetheless.

Then Remus realized that he was going to miss them. And not just over Easter break, of course, but when they figured out the truth in a couple months, he'd never see them again, and...

"Hey, let's play Exploding Snap," he suggested, his eyes flying open.

He wouldn't think about werewolves, prejudice, or losing his friends. Not right now. He would just enjoy it while he could—like Professor Questus had told him to.

The train came to a stop, and students started streaming off the train, laughing and shrieking. "Who's picking you up, Remus?" asked James eagerly. "Your mum or your dad?"

"I think both," said Remus.

"Ooh, I want to meet them. Your dad's in the Defense textbook, you know."

Remus smiled. Professor Questus had assigned updated versions, and Remus' father was indeed in it a few times. "He's world-renowned," Remus boasted.

"And your mum's in the textbook, too," added James carefully.

Remus blinked. "No, she's not. She's a Muggle, remember...?"

"Yeah, in the Dark creature section..."

"My mum is not a werewolf, James, and if you say that to her then I swear I shall hex you until your ears turn blue."

"Fine, fine."

"I want to meet her, too," said Sirius. "I've never really talked to a Muggle before. Are they really just like us?"

"Yes," said Remus firmly. "Just like us. Sometimes better."

They got off the train together, and James waved enthusiastically at two people whom Remus assumed to be his grandparents. "I'm gonna talk to Mr. and Mrs. Lupin!" he shouted. "In a second!"

Remus' parents were waiting on the other side of the platform by the car. He and his friends passed through, and James waved maniacally. Remus gave his parents an apologetic smile before leading James, Sirius, and Peter over. "Mum! Dad! This is James, this is Sirius, and this is Peter."

"Hi!" said James, grabbing hold of Remus' father's hand and pumping it energetically. "Woah, you kinda look like Remus. A lot less pale, though. And not as skinny. Whoops, sorry, that wasn't polite." James let go of Remus' dad's hand and ducked into a very low bow. "Good-day, Mr. Lupin. My name is James Potter, and I am very pleased to make your acquaintance."

Remus' father smiled and shook his head. "At ease, James."

"And you must be the wonderful Mrs. Lupin!" James studied Remus' mum's face, as if searching for fangs. "You're looking well! And gorgeous, might I add."

"Please don't flirt with my wife," said Remus' father, and James erupted into peals of giggles.

"Merlin's beard! You are like Remus. He'd probably say something like that. This is Sirius. Say hi, Sirius."

"Good afternoon," said Sirius a bit stiffly. "Pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine, Sirius," said Remus' mum, beaming. "You needn't be so formal. Remus has told us enough about you that I already know who you are. You're the one who takes all the photos and got Remus the jumper that he's wearing right now."

"Yes," said Sirius, obviously still a tad uncomfortable.

She turned to Peter. "And you must be Peter," she said. "Remus speaks very highly of you, you know."

Peter grinned. "Hello, Mrs. Lupin."

"Well," said James. "If that's all, Sirius and I should probably... wait! Can Remus come over to my house tomorrow? It's my birthday and I'm having a party."

Remus' parents looked at Remus, eyebrows raised. Remus shrugged. "I don't think so," said Remus' father slowly, and Remus' heart sank. "But we'll talk about it."

"Talk all you need!" James started bounding away, and Peter followed. "Come on, Sirius! It's time to go!"

Sirius was still standing, wide-eyed, and then he turned and ran after James. He didn't even look back. His demeanor reminded Remus a bit of a rabbit.

"Your friend Sirius seems rather shy," Remus' mother commented, and Remus almost laughed. Sirius was most definitely not shy. Remus wasn't sure whether it had to do with meeting a Muggle or meeting a potential werewolf, but the whole exchange was most uncharacteristic for Sirius. "James isn't shy, though," continued Remus' mother. Now Remus did laugh, and he turned to hug her. Was hugging in public supposed to be embarrassing? He didn't care. He hugged his father, too, and then the three Lupins piled into the automobile and rode home.

Home. It was a word almost as beautiful as friends. Remus had always liked words, but now he liked them even more.

"And then Professor Questus said he'd give me duelling lessons. I've been going twice a week. Did you know that I can cast Riddikulus nonverbally?"

"You can?" Remus' dad swung around in the passenger seat to face Remus. "You actually can? Remus! That's incredibly impressive for someone your age!"

"Well," said Remus modestly, "it's not very reliable. But I can a lot of the time! And I even did the Shield Charm nonverbally a couple times... but I can only get it occasionally. Even my verbal Shield Charm is hard to cast."

"Impressive regardless. That's not even a first-year spell." Remus' father let out a low whistle. "Very, very impressive. I'm very glad we sent you to school. Could you show me on Garrison later?"

Remus' mother frowned. "Lyall, you said he's not supposed to do magic outside of school."

"The Ministry won't know it's him," said Remus' father. "They can detect magic used around an underage person, but not underage magic itself. If I'm around, then they'll probably assume it's me and ignore it."

"Probably? We can't risk him breaking the law!"

"It'll be fine, Mum," said Remus. "The law is designed that way on purpose. Isn't that what you said, Dad?"

"Of course. This way, children can really only do magic when it's likely they're being supervised. Children in Muggle areas, however, are barred from doing magic since there's no one around to fix it if something goes wrong. Pretty clever, the Trace."

"So it'll be fine," Remus said again. "Oh, Dad! Guess what? Professor Questus doesn't have a Boggart! Did you know that?"

"Really? You're kidding!"

"I saw it myself! He picked up the Boggart and it didn't turn into anything."

"Did you ask him about it?"

"He said that he isn't afraid of material things—only emotions, so the Boggart can't possibly imitate them. I mean, I think that's what he said. It was a long time ago."

"I'd like to speak with him, I think," said Remus' dad. "That would be interesting for research..."

"And James and Peter and Sirius rode their broomsticks to Hogwarts after Christmas break, and Professor McGonagall was furious..." Remus chattered on happily all the way home. He loved Hogwarts, but he had missed his parents immensely. It wasn't until they were ten minutes away from the house that Remus worked up the courage to ask, "Hey, Dad, may I go to James' tomorrow? I know you said I couldn't, but... I do want to, you know."

His father sighed. "I'm so happy you have friends. But you're looking unwell already."

"I always look unwell."

Remus' dad clenched his jaw and sighed again. "I know, and I'm sorry. But it's... it's too much. This is your first... month... away from school in a long time. You're about to have a very stressful week. I think that some rest would do you some good, because you need to get used to being back at home as much as possible so that the... so that this month isn't as jarring."

"I know what I can handle," said Remus stubbornly, and his dad sighed a third time, reached over, and ruffled Remus' hair. Remus wrinkled his nose.

"You're young," said Remus' dad simply. "We worry about you. And the Potters have a very large house, you know. I imagine lots of people will be there. That's often the good kind of stress, but still stress nonetheless. Professor Dumbledore wrote to us and told us that he thinks stress makes it worse..."

Remus couldn't deny that it did. He wanted to keep arguing, but he knew that it was futile. He wasn't going to James' house, and that was that. Honestly, his parents were probably right—they usually were. "All right," he finally agreed. "I'll stay home. I'll just wait a few weeks and see James after break."

"You're such a good kid," said Remus' mum. "I would have thrown a tantrum at your age, you know, if I had to stay home from my friend's birthday party."

"I can't really get close to them, anyhow," said Remus, attempting cheerfulness. "S'probably good to stay home."

And then the car went silent. Remus bit his lip. It had been a grim thought, yes, but it hadn't been untrue. Why were his parents so...?

"Tell me again about your birthday," said Remus' father, and Remus launched into the story, thankful for the distraction.

The door opened, and Remus was enveloped by the scents of his own house. His mother and father, the couch, and the distinctive Lupin household smell... he smiled brightly and sat on the couch, taking it all in.

He was home. He was actually home.

His mother collapsed next to him and closed her eyes. "Come here, Lyall. If you close your eyes it feels for a second like he never left."

Remus' father sat on the other side of Remus and closed his eyes as well. "Ahhhh." Then he opened them. "No, I don't like that. It's a darn good thing you left—Hogwarts is incredible. Here, I want to see that photo album you were telling us about."

Remus opened up the album and flipped through it eagerly. Its pages were filled with Quidditch games, laughter, hexes, owls, and a happy, smiling Remus. He babbled about every single picture, telling them how they were taken, why they were taken, and who took them; they sat there for ages, talking about every facet of Remus' year at Hogwarts so far... well, everything that didn't include werewolves. Remus sort of wanted to talk about that, too, but he knew his parents wouldn't appreciate it if he did.

"You all look so happy," said Remus' mother in awe. "And Remus, you're so healthy! Madam Pomfrey told us that you've gained nearly seven pounds—that's great."

"It's not polite to talk about a person's weight," Remus sniffed, but he was overjoyed. He really was feeling better than ever.

"It makes me wonder if..." Remus' mum shook her head. "Never mind."

"Yeah," said his father, and Remus, for the first time in years, did not know what they were talking about. That was weird. He could always tell. His parents had never had secret conversations from him before; he could hear them everywhere in the house. He always understood unspoken looks and unsaid words, but now he didn't. It was all so very unsettling.

"You can tell me, you know," said Remus.

"We just feel a little guilty that we didn't do this earlier," said Remus' dad gently. "We wonder if keeping you home had a bad effect on you. Now that it's all going so well, we realize that... well, we could have let you have friends when you were younger. We messed up, we think."

"You didn't. I wasn't ready yet. And where would you even take me? Someone's found out in nearly every neighborhood we've lived in—it only worked this time because of Dumbledore. You did everything you knew." Remus' parents didn't look convinced, so Remus said: "It's not like you wanted to keep me in. Half of it was my choice, anyway. I didn't want to meet people."

"Parents never want to hurt their children, but sometimes it happens by accident anyway," said Remus' mum softly. "We tried, dear, but it's not like there are guidelines for raising a... someone like you."

"It's not like I'm messed-up or anything. I'm fine. You did fine. I'm a good person, right? You did fine."

"Of course you are," said Remus' dad. "Would you start supper, Hope? I'm sure Remus is starved, especially since he's nearly seven pounds heavier now."

Remus laughed and shook his head. It was good to be home.

AN: Today is the anniversary of the deaths of C.S. Lewis and Blackbeard (in very different years, of course, but both on Nov 22).