That night, Remus suggested they transfigure a couple of pieces of furniture into beds, as neither he nor Sirius had slept very well on the spare mattress the night before. However it soon transpired that none of them knew a spell for this.

"Why were we taught how to turn an owl into opera glasses but not how to make something to sleep on? Surely that would have been more useful?" Sirius ranted, driven by the thought of the unforgiving mattress.

"Unless it was taught during a moon, so none of us had any record of it?" James mused.

"Next time I try to get a job, I should say I got 18 NEWTS instead of 6."

"Maybe there'll be something like that in Lily's book?" James suggested, "And yes Moony, we would still be in 5th year if it wasn't for your notes."

It turned out there was a "bookshelf to bed" spell in the book.

"What is it with wizards and alliteration?" Sirius commented.

James shrugged as he performed the spell.

-

They'd all decided to get an early night, as they were moving in Remus' stuff the next day. Although from what Sirius had seen of his friend's living arrangements, it would only take an afternoon at most. Sirius was settling into the expertly transfigured bookshelf when he remembered the conversation he and James had had that afternoon.

"Moony?"

"Mm."

"I'm sorry."

He could hear Remus sit up in the darkness.

"For what?" His friend sounded genuinely confused.

"For making fun of you."

"Oh." Sirius had been making fun of Remus since they'd been 11, and he never usually apologised unless they'd been having a full blown argument. "Thank you?"

"I mean it. I was out of line."

"Ok?"

Sirius' apology wasn't going quite the way he thought it was going to. Remus wasn't prone to flying off the handle. In fact the only time he did so was when the marauders "borrowed" his homework and lost it/ blew it up. This had actually happened quite a few times, and the pattern was unchanging: someone (usually Peter) would be sent to tell Remus about the unfortunate fate of his latest essay. He would then yell at them and stomp off somewhere, throwing a couple of hexes over his shoulder. That night they would apologise one by one, and bring a peace offering if it had been a potions assignment. They'd know they'd been forgiven when a gruff "It's alright." was issued from the direction of Remus' bed.

That was the kind of familiarity that Sirius had been talking about to James. He tried again.

"It was really rude of me to constantly comment on your hair and call you useless."

"You didn't call me useless, you said I was useless with babies, which I am." Remus reassured Sirius, equably. "And my hair was an absolute state which you fixed for me very nicely. But thank you," he added after a pause, "for apologising."

Sirius still didn't think he'd quite managed what he was trying to do, but he had at least made a start. Based on the complete lack of movement from Remus' bed, he assumed his friend was trying to sleep, so he decided to do the same.

-

"I think…" Remus began quietly after about an hour, "that we need to remember how to be with other people again. Both of us were living on our own for really quite a long time and maybe we've forgotten how to communicate when we're not in the heat of battle."

Sirius listened, gradually realising that Remus had hit the nail on the head. He had forgotten how to be kind; compliments only wasted time in a fight. The Order was a group of soldiers not friends, who had conversed through teasing in order to not become too close. Nothing was taken personally when you knew you could die tomorrow.

"I love you, you know that don't you Moony?"

Remus didn't reply, and Sirius wondered if he'd fallen asleep until he said,

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Is it weird that I have imposter syndrome right now?"

Sirius had been about to reply with an emphatic, yes, it is weird that you feel like that, who on earth could you be replacing, when he remembered another definition of the phrase- feeling like you don't deserve something. Remus, he realised, had been whisked out of that hut, into a world of 4 bedroom houses and freshly mown lawns. Previously alienated from his friends, he was suddenly living with two of them once again, whilst simultaneously discovering that Peter had been a spy. He'd been thrust into James' expensive clothes and scrubbed and groomed to within an inch of his life.

"No. It's not weird. I feel the same. I think it's because we're living in Prongs' house with all his things, once we move in properly it'll be more like our house."

"I guess." Remus acquicessed, though he still sounded unsure. "I love you too, Padfoot." He added as an afterthought.

-

Much to Remus' dismay, James was already up and in the kitchen by the time he came downstairs. Ever since he'd agreed to live in Godric's Hollow, he'd nursed the vague hope that he'd be able to slip out and grab his things without either of the other two ever having to see his previous living situation. Unfortunately, an uncharacteristically productive James had put paid to this plan, so he'd decided he would sneak out before anyone else woke up. Moving would've only taken an hour or so- Remus had few possessions and he wanted to keep even less.

But he'd slept in, so now it would be a group activity and he'd have to endure the looks of shock and pity James and Sirius would be unable to hide.

Remus ate his toast in mutinous silence, thankfully Sirius' cooking phase had been short lived, while James and Sirius cheerfully discussed a quidditch game they wanted to go and see.

-

After they'd finished, the three of them assembled in the hallway, James with Harry on his hip. Remus would have to take all of them in side-along apparition because none of the others knew where he lived.

"Are you sure it's safe for a baby to apparate?" Sirius checked.

"He's already done it once when we took him to that Order meeting." James reassured them. "Lead on then Moony."

"Alright." Remus said reluctantly, before disappearing with a loud crack.

-

Knowing that all four of them probably wouldn't fit in his living room, Remus had taken them to the edge of the field by his hut.

It turned out side-along apparition didn't agree with James who had promptly emptied his stomach on the grass.

"Oh no." He groaned when he'd finished, "the farmer's going to be furious with me."

"It doesn't matter." Remus said briskly.

"Why not?"

Remus ignored him and set off towards the shack in the middle of the field.

"Why not Moony?" James asked, jogging to catch up, while Sirius bought up the rear with Harry in his arms.

"It's my field." Remus mumbled, avoiding James' eye.

"What?"

"It's my field." He repeated, more loudly.

"Really?" Said Sirius incredulously.

"Yes."

"Why have you got a field?" Sirius asked.

It was at this point that Remus wished he was better at making light of things. Sirius would probably have joked that it was part of his dream to breed miniature sheep or something but Remus was unable to think of a single reason. So he continued marching, pretending not to have heard the question.

But now they were at the hut and everything would be even worse. He tapped his wand on the door and it swung open to reveal his squalor.