Author's note: CW emetophobia mention

-x-

The rest of Sunday was agony for Remus. He spent the afternoon with a miserable Peter then switched with Sirius, as Remus and James had detention together after supper. Thankfully, it was writing lines so James was unable to complain about Peter during the actual detention though the whole walk to and back was spent nodding quietly as James grumbled.

The evening was tense and after everyone went to bed Remus figured that would be it and he could get some homework done, however ten minutes after James disappeared into his bed there was a gentle tap at Remus's bed. He flicked aside the curtains to see Peter's wide eyes.

"Can I talk to you a minute?"

Remus slid back so Peter could climb into his bed. Instead of talking, Pete sat there with a heavy frown on his face. Remus traced designs on his Runes book, waiting for Peter to say something. Finally he did after what felt like an eternity.

"Can I sleep with you?"

Remus jumped a little, rather shocked by the request. Where had this come from? He stared at Peter who stared back, looking so pathetically sad that he didn't have the heart to kick him out of the bed.

"Er, I—I suppose. I mean, yes, it's fine. Is it because of the fight or…?"

Peter nodded, climbing under Remus's covers. "I'm sad. Really sad. And kinda scared my mum's gonna be furious about the camera."

Remus shuddered, thinking about how his father would react if something expensive of his had broken. "Will you get into trouble?" he asked as he closed his book.

Pete shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe. Probably." He ran a finger across Remus's cover, nail catching in a loose thread. "She'll probably say I shoulda put it up after leaving the pitch."

"It's not your fault," Remus said immediately. "It's a very unfortunate accident, and Catterick is the one to blame. The President of your club even said he did a failure of a job with the spell—"

"I lied."

Remus blinked a few times. "About… how your camera broke?"

"No. Yes. I mean, it—it wasn't the flipendo spell." Peter began gnawing at one of his fingernails, eyes going a little shiny. A tear slipped out down his cheek. "I didn't recognize the spell. But since it sent me flying back I—"

"You got hit with a spell you don't know about?" Concern seized Remus and he grabbed Peter's arm. "Do you need to go see Madame Pomfrey? If it did that to the camera, it could have done something to you! Why did you lie? Why would you protect Catterick?"

Peter turned his head away. "I don't know! I panicked. I felt stupid because I didn't know what the spell was and didn't want to admit it—I don't know. I panicked."

"Do you remember what he said?"

"Not really. I think it had 'ful' in it."

That could be dozens of spells. Remus wracked his brain trying to connect 'ful' with what happened to the camera, and right when he thought it might not have 'ful' in it something clicked.

"Fulgurus?" Remus whispered and Peter screwed his face up, shaking his head. Remus let out a quiet sigh. Thank Merlin. "Fulmerio?"

"Oh, that mighta been it," Peter said. "What's that?"

"It's a weak lightning spell," Remus explained. "No wonder your camera got fried. It's not something we're supposed to learn until our fifth year. Fulgurus is—is the advanced version. Seventh year. They're both rather dangerous though, and it's absolutely stupid of him to do that! We should tell Professor McGonagall—or Professor Sprout—"

"Why?" Peter asked dully and before Remus could respond, he added, "Not like we can prove he used it, huh? He'll say he didn't. He'll say it was an accident. Plus I already said it was flipendo, he'll—he'll say it was that and—and that we're just tryin' to get him in more trouble."

Remus reluctantly agreed that Peter had a point. Then he suggested Peter see Pomfrey anyway, in case he was hit by the spell. Peter said he felt fine and he was pretty sure the entire spell went into the camera. They argued about it for a moment until Remus gave in, not wanting to stress Peter out more.

"All right, but if you start feeling odd I am taking you to see her," Remus whispered furiously as he slid under his covers too.

"Deal."

Remus turned the light off his wand and curled up on his side, wondering how he wound up in bed with another Marauder. That was all three, in only a couple of months. He hadn't shared a bed with anyone until James wanted all of them to share one back in June and now here he was, in bed with one of them again.

-x-

At least it was easier sharing a bed with Peter than it was James or Sirius; although he did snore a little bit, he didn't move around much, and when Remus woke up, he didn't find Peter clinging to him.

Hopefully he and James make up today, he thought as he shook Peter awake for class. Unfortunately, neither boy seemed to be in the mood for much more than glaring at each other as well as pretending the other didn't exist. Sirius had breakfast with James while Peter and Remus sat with Lily and the girls.

"Potter's awful, stick to your guns," Lily said, waving her fork at Peter. "Make him apologize first."

"You know, now that I know what guns are," said Alice, wrinkling her nose, "that saying is rather macabre. Muggles have odd sayings."

Peter slumped miserably in his seat. "I won't apologize first."

In Potions, Slughorn had the students pair up. This was awkward since James and Peter usually paired off together, since they were both good at the class. This time both went for Sirius (which didn't surprise Remus since he was so terrible) and the loser, James, sulked over to Remus.

"I'll do my best," Remus promised.

James folded his arms, glowering over at the other two. "Whose side are you on? His or mine?"

Remus swallowed, extremely uncomfortable that James was even asking that. After thinking for a few seconds he answered, "I'm on the Marauders' side."

James frowned at him before sighing and leaning forward, reaching for his potions' kit. "It wasn't my fault. I didn't shoot the spell."

"I know."

"I only wanted to help."

"I know, James."

Remus read from the book while James worked on the ingredients and made the potion. Monday morning Potions class only lasted forty-five minutes, which wasn't really long enough to make most potions, so when they were nearing the end everyone took their cauldrons to the other room in order for them to simmer for the next few days until they were ready to continue.

After Slughorn dismissed everyone, Remus left with Sirius. James stomped way ahead (pushing another student out of the way) while Peter trudged far behind. Sirius inquired about what Remus thought, who he thought would give in first. Remus groaned, not wanting to speculate, not wanting to even think about this.

"Maybe we should do a sticking spell on them, make them stuck together until either they forgive each other or kill each other," Sirius suggested. Remus managed a tiny smile which faded quickly.

On the way to History, the Gryffindors were stalled on the first floor because of a fight going on. James began jumping up and down to try to see over everyone and finally convinced Sirius to let him get on his shoulders. Sirius grunted and staggered as James climbed up onto him.

Remus hung back, far too short to see anything going on though he could hear everything. Two very furious voices were shrieking at each other. From what it sounded like, some girl caught her boyfriend cheating and was taking it out on the other girl. Which, while understandable, also confused Remus; wouldn't it be as much the boyfriend's fault?

"Their wands are out," James said, able to see everything. "Blimey. OH!"

There were shouts from the crowd as spells began firing. Remus jerked back, knocking into Nettle. Sirius flailed, nearly dropping James then unfortunately they both went down, crashing into some fifth years who were in the crowd as well.

One of the spells hit the ceiling sending some dust and chips of rock down. There was a piercing scream almost right in Remus's ear and he saw Peter begin to shake violently, his face drained of color as he stared up at the ceiling.

"No—no—"

Remus wasn't really sure what was going on with his friend but it was obvious he needed help. "Come on," he whispered, pulling at Peter away from the fight, away from the chip in the ceiling.

Pete was shaking hard, barely able to walk. By the time Remus yanked him into a side corridor, away from the crowd, Peter looked like he might empty his cauldron. He sank down, covering his face, giving frightened squeaks.

Remus crouched in front of him, putting a hand on his arm. "What's wrong?" Peter flung his arms around Remus, clinging to him. Remus awkwardly put his arms around Pete, hugging him and patting his back. "It's okay." He didn't know what else to say.

"I know," Peter said, voice muffled in Remus's shoulder. "It—it's—it's just—" He sucked in a deep breath. "It reminded me of the cave-in."

Oh, Remus realized. The bits from the ceiling falling had triggered it. "That's understandable," he said. "It's okay."

Footsteps. Remus twisted a little without letting go of his friend, expecting to see James and Sirius; perhaps they had seen Peter react badly and this would mend everything. Instead Lily was there, eyes wide as she stared at the two of them. He suddenly felt uncomfortable and weird hugging Peter like this.

"Is… are you okay?" Lily asked, coming over.

Peter, having not heard her till she spoke, quickly pulled away from Remus, trying to look less afraid. "Yes," he said in a garbled sort of manner, obviously trying to sound normal and failing completely.

Before Lily could say anything, James and Sirius came around the corner. "Prefects came running," James said, bouncing over all excitedly. "They are in big trouble, apparently one of the spells hit one of the kids watching and now half his nose is a plum." He stopped when he saw Peter, his brow furrowing. "Er…"

"We should get to History," Lily suggested.

James kept eyeing Peter, and Remus hoped maybe this would kick some sense into him—but then he whirled around, yanking Lily's ponytail before running off. Lily screeched and began chasing him, calling him all sorts of unsavory names.

Remus helped Peter up and Sirius joined them in walking to History. By the time they got there it was obvious Lily had gotten inspired by what happened, as James was trying to hide a bright purple nose behind his book.

At least the following period was free, and Remus escorted James to the hospital wing. He kept a hand clamped over his nose the whole time, ignoring anyone who peered curiously at him. Pomfrey frowned at the purple nose and asked if it hurt. When James said it didn't, she shook her head, saying it wasn't an emergency, it wasn't anything she really needed to help with, and it would fade on its own.

James muttered angrily as they left, and a few yards away from the door he turned to Remus and said, "Punch me."

Remus hugged his satchel, taking a step backwards. "As tempting as that is, I am not going to punch you."

"C'mon!" James bounced a little. "Right on the nose. She'll have to fix it if it's bloody."

"Jimmy, I'm more liable to break it. Or worse."

James's eyes fell on Remus's hands and he stopped the bouncing. "Oh. Right, you're strong. Right." He ran his fingers through his hair, gaze moving towards a door. "Okay then, open that on my face. Smash my—"

Remus yanked his wand out and used a spell to make the color fade. There was still a purple tint but only in certain light. James got out a knife from his potions' kit to study his reflection. "How come you didn't do that sooner?"

"Because you deserved to have a purple nose for pulling Lily's hair," Remus replied tartly, tucking his wand away.

James tilted his head this way and that before putting the knife away. "Thanks."

They began walking down the corridor, neither of them really sure where they were going since they weren't going to be meeting up with the other two. Remus shuffled along, one stringy shoelace dragging along the stone as he walked, his mind racing with everything going on.

"—spell sometime soon."

"Hmm?"

James knocked into him. "The sound spell, the prank. Y'know."

"I—I think so," Remus said, then promptly tripped on his untied shoelace, falling headfirst to the ground. James snorted and crouched down, helping pick up the books that spilled out of the satchel. Remus rolled onto his behind and sat up, rubbing his elbow. "What are you doing?"

James had picked up The Dictionary Of Celtic Runes and was staring at one of the open pages with wide eyes and a furrowed brow.

"What's wrong?"

"This…" James trailed off, not finishing his sentence.

Remus scooted over, peeking at the page. He didn't recognize the rune at all, and didn't know what it meant. James, though, was staring at it like it meant something to him. Something not good.

Suddenly he snapped the book shut and, with a big smile, handed the book over. "You are such a nerd."

"Thanks, Sirius."

Once all his books were put away they both stood up. Remus started to walk again but James grabbed his sleeve.

"For Merlin's sake, tie your damn shoe before that happens again."

-x-

Remus didn't get a chance to look in his Runes book until lunchtime, when he joined Peter for the meal. As soon as he was far enough away from James, he got the book out and flipped through until he found the rune again. The information about it was on the back of the page but that didn't clear anything up about James's reaction.

Rune of binding? Remus wondered, rereading the passage multiple times. The rune magically bound something to someone. Usually whoever was doing the binding included their personal rune inside part of the binding rune.

Shaking his head, Remus shut the book and began eating, barely paying attention to Peter going on about… whatever he was going on about. He couldn't stop thinking about the rune and a few hours later when it was time for Ancient Runes, he ran ahead to get there as soon as the previous class let out. Professor Quirke wasn't anywhere to be seen but Codde was there, erasing runes from the blackboard.

"Good afternoon, P-Professor," Remus stammered out after making sure Codde was the only one there.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Lupin," she replied without looking at him. "You're a little early."

"I had a q-question."

She finally turned, raising her eyebrows. "About your assignment due today?"

"Er, no. Um." Remus opened his book to the binding rune and held it out. "Wh-what does this mean?"

"That is a rune of binding," Codde said, and began basically saying the same thing the book said.

"Er—does it—is it—" Remus wasn't sure how to ask what he wanted to ask. "Could it also be something b-bad?"

Codde frowned at that. "Bad?"

"My—someone—a friend saw it in—in here and—and looked upset."

"If your friend who saw it is unfamiliar with runes, most likely they mistook it for another," Codde explained. "There is nothing bad or upsetting about this rune, or there shouldn't be. Unless your friend tried to use the rune and it backfired. Which, from what I've seen of some of your friends, is a possibility, isn't it?"

Remus ducked his head, easily imagining James trying to bind something to him. At that point the other students were showing up, so there wasn't any point in continuing to try to figure out anything else to ask her. "Th-thank you, Professor. He p-probably mistook it for—for something else."

Soon the rune mystery slipped into the far back recesses of his mind, covered up by all the other things going on that were more important than James probably thinking it was something else.

-x-

Remus's session with Jean-Marie went mostly normal, though Jean-Marie seemed distracted—or bored, Remus wasn't entirely sure. He certainly wasn't paying much attention to Remus and when they ended the session, Jean-Marie said he wasn't sure if he could make it on Thursday.

Did I do something wrong? Remus wondered as he packed his things up and left. As soon as he stepped out in the hall he almost ran into Twycross. He muttered an apology and walked past her, except she walked in step with him.

"I had a question," she said, ponytail swishing with each step she took. "Why did you quit Study Group?"

Remus glanced up through his fringe, a little confused. Twycross never seemed to want him there anyway so why did it matter? "Er, I have a—a lot of things going on."

"You should come back."

The statement shocked me and he couldn't help but ask, "Why?"

Twycross stared at him with big eyes. "You're smart. Things have gone a little… hmmm… downhill since you stopped coming." She tossed her head, sending her ponytail swinging even more. "No offense to some of the others, but they aren't exactly good at school, if you know what I mean."

"Isn't th-that the point of Study Group? To—to help?"

"It's to study with those on the same level as you," she said bluntly. "Or that was my intention when I started it."

Didn't Lily start it? he thought, remaining silent.

"Craft and Evans are good, I'll give them that, and you, of course."

He still remained silent, biting back defenses about everyone else in Study Group. He really didn't want to start an argument with her right now, he was too tired to deal with that.

"I know you can't do Mondays but maybe you could come in on Wednesdays?"

"T-Twycross, do you need help with—with homework?" he asked, without thinking about it. It was the only thing that made sense to him.

It was, apparently, definitely the wrong thing to say as her face went red with anger. "Help? What?! NO!" She whirled around so she was in front of him, making him stop. Her hands went on her hips. "I don't need any help! What I need is a group of students who actually care about their homework and won't sit there gossiping or flirting!"

"Who's flirting?"

She glowered at him before taking a step aside, so they could continue walking. "Bones, with Pierce. It's annoying. Of course she doesn't seem to care. I think she's interested in someone else, though I don't know who. Hopefully someone less annoying than Bones. I mean, no offense to Bones but he isn't exactly the cream of the crop, if you know what I mean."

Now who is gossiping? "Bones is a very nice guy, and—and he gets good g-grades," Remus said. He almost added that Bones wasn't bad-looking either but he quickly swallowed those words before they reached his tongue, an uncomfortable shiver going down his spine.

"I guess. Look. Will you come Wednesday or not? Because I'd really like you there, and I'm sure Evans and Silverlocke would too. I need someone there who doesn't think the Beetle Theory is something about the Tales of the Beetle Bard!" Remus couldn't help but snort at that, gaining a hmphing sound from Twycross. "Yes or no?"

"I—I'll t-try to make it," he said, since he wasn't sure how to say no. He also didn't like leaving people in the lurch. If she needed help—which she seemed to, even if she didn't want to admit it, or maybe he was wrong about that?—he should at least show up once to help. Or to see if that was even the problem.

"Good."

She walked off and Remus watched her go, feeling very confused and a little bowled over by what just happened. He always thought Twycross hated him. Shrugging, he started walking again once she was out of sight, wondering about the encounter all the way back to the common room where he found Peter by himself. He explained to Remus that Sirius was 'with him' up in the dorm room, sulking because they were in trouble for trying to put a cockroach down Veronica McNab's shirt. Remus promised to spend time with him after putting his things away, and he headed up the boys' staircase.

"—what you're TALKING about!"

Remus froze, hearing Sirius's voice exploding out from behind the closed third years' door. Obviously they had moved on from the cockroach issue.

"I'm not stupid!" James snapped back.

Merlin. Remus backed up against the wall, heart pounding as he listened to his friends fighting. From what was being said (or rather, shouted) it sounded like James had said something to upset Sirius. Sirius was being very defensive, insisting James was essentially making whatever it was up. James gave an angry laugh at that.

"This is just TYPICAL Sirius behavior, innit? You don't want to talk about it, so you just pretend it doesn't exist!"

"And this is typical James behavior! You think you know what's right and nothing else matters except for the Great James Potter's opinion!"

"IT'S NOT AN OPINION IF IT'S THE TRUTH!"

"IT'S NOT THE DAMN TRUTH!" There was a thudding sound and Remus was terrified something had been thrown. "You aren't right about everything, as much as you want to be—"

"Don't give me that—"

"I'LL GIVE YOU WHAT I WANT TO GIVE YOU!"

"AND THAT'S ALWAYS NOTHING BUT LIES, HUH?"

"BUGGER OFF, POTTER!"

There were stomping footsteps and Remus scurried away, except he realized he didn't have time to go anywhere so instead he spun around and tried to pretend like he just came up the stairs. The door flung open and Sirius came out, eyes blazing. Remus opened his mouth to say hello but Sirius stormed past him, not even acknowledging him.

Remus remained where he was, not sure what to do until there was another thudding sound from the dorm. Swallowing, he crept over and peeked in. James was kicking his trunk and swearing loudly. Then he sank down on the trunk, head in his hands.

"Um. H-hi?"

James looked up, his face hard. "Oh. Hey Remus."

He glanced around the room and saw Sirius's chair sideways on the floor. "Did… something happen?"

"Sirius is being an arse, like always."

Remus went over to his bed, putting his satchel down, feeling his body practically vibrating with fear. James and Sirius never fought like this. It made him uncomfortable. Their fights ended with laughter and teasing, not thrown furniture and fury.

"Do you… want me to leave you alone?" Remus asked.

James's eyes were focused on the far wall, his jaw clenched so tightly Remus half-expected to hear his teeth breaking. Then his facial expression softened a little. "No. Please. I—you—please stay. I… I don't want you to hate me too. Cause now they both do, don't they?" he asked, looking at Remus now. "Peter and Sirius both."

"I'm sure they don't hate you…"

"Do you?"

"Yes."

A flash of hurt in James's eyes. "You hate me?"

"What?" Remus sat on the edge of his bed. "No! I meant… I thought—I thought you said 'do you' meaning, am I sure and yes I'm sure they don't hate you. If you were asking 'do you' as in do I hate you, then the answer is no. I don't hate you." He was babbling wildly, hoping this wasn't making things worse.

James put his head in his hands again. "Arrggh! I just—I don't—ugh!"

Remus drew his feet up onto his bed, wrapping his arms around his knees. "What was the fight about?"

James didn't say anything for several seconds then he flopped back against the foot of his bed. "I probably shouldn't say. Maybe I am wrong, maybe I did… misunderstand the… situation. I don't know. I don't know." He pulled at his hair, groaning. "I get it. I do. You two have secrets."

Remus stiffened, wondering how he was being dragged into this!

"I understand, and it's fine, it is, I made my peace with it, but—but some things shouldn't be secret, should they?"

"If… someone doesn't want to talk about something, they have their right to keep it private," Remus said slowly and carefully. "Not everything has to be out in the open. This—I—" He stopped, because he knew if he continued he'd get himself tongue-tied.

James sat up, blinking wearily at him. He began to say something, closed his mouth, then, after a few long seconds said, "I guess you're right. I don't know. I know everyone deserves their privacy, I'm not trying to say everything should be in the open. I mean—I'm trying to mean that some secrets shouldn't. Like… Dedenne. You kept her vileness a secret and you shouldn't have."

Remus sniffled. "That's something very different."

James frowned, running his fingers through his hair so it stuck out even more wildly. "Maybe," he mumbled. "I suppose. I don't know."

"James, why don't you tell me what's going on because I might be able to help you if I know," Remus sighed.

"No. I—if I'm wrong then—hell, maybe I am wrong." He shook his head. "Forget it. I don't wanna think about it right now. Let's play some Wild Adventures, eh? Please?"

Remus stared at him for a few seconds before slowly dropping his feet to the floor. "All right. Let me go tell Peter, since I was going to spend time with him but I'm assuming Sirius is going to spend time with him now. I'll be right back."

He went down the stairs to find Peter and Sirius playing cards, Sirius smelling furious. Remus quietly said he was going to hang out with James, and both of them glared at him like he was a traitor.

"Unless you want to tell me what the fight was about, since James won't," he added.

"James is being an arse, like always," Sirius said, slamming a card down. "Go ahead and spend time with him. I don't care."

This is bloody ridiculous. "All right," Remus replied levelly. "I'll see you two later, then."

He returned to the dorm where he and James spent the next hour listening to music and playing Wild Adventures, Remus hoping desperately that everyone would make up soon because he really didn't want to take sides (especially not knowing what James and Sirius were arguing about), and he really didn't know what would happen if the Marauders were completely torn apart.