On Tuesday he got back the test grades for Transfiguration and History. 109%, 101% respectively. That's more like it, he thought proudly as he pinned his Transfiguration paper up on his cork board, ignoring Sirius complaining that it wasn't fair someone could get more than a hundred. In Occlumency that evening he was in such a good mood that most the memories Fawley dredged up were nice ones. Building the snowman the previous day, his friends being worried about him, opening all his presents on Christmas. He still couldn't stop her though, despite the memories being simple and easy.

However there was one memory that wasn't simply, easy, or happy. Since he was thinking a lot about Christmas... of course the memory of McGonagall's visit was brought up, and she saw his father slapping him across the face. For the first time, she broke contact with him.

"What happened?" he asked, wondering if he had managed to push her away.

Fawley's brow was very furrowed as she became tense and angry, or at least that's what Remus sensed coming from her. "Remus..." She spoke his name slowly, as if holding herself back from yelling. "Has that happened before?"

"Has wh-what happened?" he asked, confused.

Fawley's lips moved a little though no sounds came out until she managed to say, "Your father. Hitting you."

"Oh. Yes," he said, not sure why she seemed to somehow smell even angrier. Had he done something wrong?

"Remus..." she said again, clearly distressed. "I-the thing is..."

Ohhhh, he thought, realizing her problem. "I understand, Ms. Fawley."

"I was afraid that you didn't," she said softly.

"It's cause I was so, uh, casual with Professor McGonagall."

Fawley jerked back, eyes huge. "What?"

"Isn't th-that why you're so upset?" Remus looked up at her, extremely bewildered now. "Cause it isn't safe? That's w-what Dad said. I was being too-too casual about everything. I know how you feel about this, and I know safety is-"

"Remus..." Fawley trailed off then her hand went to the side of his head, however she didn't go into his memories. "Oh, my dear." Now she seemed sad which made Remus even more perplexed. "I-I think we're done for tonight."

"But-"

"It's been thirty-five minutes already. Besides, I'm not feeling well." She was lying. She was upset, extremely upset, and sad, and angry, and he had caused it. He felt so sick to his stomach.

"Ms. Fawley, p-please, I'm sorry-"

"You don't need to apologize."

Remus felt his nose beginning to itch. "I do! I don't-know what I d-did but-I'm sorry... I-"

Both her hands cupped his face suddenly, quieting him. "You have done nothing wrong," she said so intensely that he found himself unable to respond. "Don't ever forget that. Go have fun with your friends, all right? I... I'll see you next week."

"P... promise?" he whispered.

"I promise."

()

Despite the strangeness with Fawley, the unhappiness didn't really stick to him too much. On Wednesday he got more grades back: Charms, 108%, Herbology 100%, and Astronomy 100%. He was positively giddy, happily writing to his parents about how well he had done (not really talking about Defense, just sort of glossing over it). Thursday at Potions he knew that test would be on the lower side, but before he got it back he had to get through the class which turned out to be harder than he thought.

Slughorn explained the potion would be very difficult, and he'd be pairing everyone up himself. Remus gulped, hoping he'd be with Lily. They worked well together. As Slughorn read out the pairs Remus realized he was pairing good students with bad ones. Peter's the one that got partnered with Lily. If he was doing this that meant he'd probably pair his worst student with the best student in class which meant...

Merlin, please, no!

"Mr. Lupin, with Mr. Snape."

Remus took in a quick breath as he got up to go over to Lily's friend. He had every intention of playing nice however Snape definitely wasn't. He raised his hand. Slughorn kept reading out the final pairings and Snape kept his hand up, paying no heed to Remus as he approached. "Sir," Snape said when Slughorn finished. "Sir, I object to my partnering." Everyone stared as Remus stood awkwardly next to Snape's desk with the Slytherin pointedly ignoring him, his other hand on the bench next to him to prevent Remus from even sitting down.

Slugorhn gave a great sigh, his mustache fluttering. "Mr. Snape, I've put these pairs together for a reason-"

"Yes, I know," Snape said, leaning forward. "However I request you switch me with someone else."

"Request denied," Slughorn said, frowning at his favorite student.

"My apologies, Professor, however-after he missed returning with all the other students on the train, it's become clear Lupin's sick with something. I don't wish to risk my own health."

Remus burned now. Sirius jumped to his feet, fingers twitching towards where he kept his wand in his robe. "What did you say?!"

"Mr. Black," Slughorn warned, holding up a hand. "Mr. Snape, we all come down with illnesses now and again-"

"He's missed classes before, hasn't he?" Snape asked, keeping his chin up. "It must be something recurring. I don't want to catch-"

"We're with him all the time, and we're fine!" James snarled as several students began whispering to one another, the word 'sick' cropping up.

Lily was covering her mouth, watching her friends in horror. "Severus, please," she whispered.

But Snape was now glaring at James. "Doesn't change the fact he's absolutely disease-ridden and-"

Sirius exploded. He whipped his wand out trying to shoot a spell, but Slughorn was faster and disarmed Sirius, sending Sirius's spell flying to the ceiling. "MR. BLACK!" Slughorn roared.

Snape just kept going. "He's crazy, too. Everyone know that. He probably shouldn't even be at Hogwarts, he should be at Saint Mung-"

He couldn't even finish the sentence; since Sirius didn't have his wand anymore he just charged forward, tackling Snape to the ground. All the students jumped up, crowding around the boys fighting like Muggles except for Remus who backed away, hardly able to breathe. He felt sick and disgusted, feeling more hatred for himself than usual. He looked over at Lily who was watching in absolute horror.

"Severus, stop it! Right now!" she cried out.

Slughorn pushed his way through the students, knocking a few over as he went. He pointed his wand sending Sirius and Snape rocketing up into the air, stopping just before the ceiling, suspended horizontally. Sirius had a black eye and his fists were still flailing to try to hit Snape who just hung there, blood dripping from his nose down to the ground below.

"Never-in all my-how you even thought-" Slughorn spluttered then motioned for everyone to back off so he could lower the boys to the ground. "Black, twenty points from Gryffindor, Snape ten from Slytherin, detention for both of you! I am ashamed!"

"He attacked me! I was just defending myself!" Snape protested.

Slughorn narrowed his eyes. "You're being punished for your insolent remarks about a fellow student." Snape's eyes darted to Remus then he looked away. "Both of you, out of the classroom. Go on. Out. If you start fighting in the hallway, I'll consider suspension! And not in the air! You'd both best get to the hospital wing."

Both boys grabbed their things and stormed out, Sirius faster than Snape.

"Colgate, you were with Black; you'll be with Lupin now. All right, come on kiddos, let's get to working on our potions..."

Remus was so shaken up he couldn't do anything until finally Colgate just had him read the instructions out of the book, occasionally preparing an ingredient when it didn't call for precise hands. After, he got his test results back and also took Sirius's to give to him.

"Remus...!" Lily was waiting for him, flying to his side, grabbing his arm. "I am so sorry! I can't believe he said all of that!"

"It's okay," he said though his cheeks tinted again as the memory flooded his head. He wanted to reach in to tear the memory out, get rid of it. It made him feel like absolute crap. Humiliated. All those things said...

Lily shook her head, walking with him. "I had no idea he'd...! I'll talk to him."

James and Peter, hurrying to catch up with them, heard that last bit. "Why are you friends with that git anyway?" James demanded then pointed a finger at her. "If he says anything like that about Remus again I swear I'll break his stupid head!"

Lily bit her lip. "I... I'll talk to him... But he isn't a git-"

"You heard what he said about Remus?" Then he put his hands on his hips and raised his voice, imitating her exactly as he copied her words from Monday, "Excuse me for thinking you cared about your friend. My mistake!"

Lily looked on the verge of tears. "I care! And I'm not defending what Severus said-"

"Just defending him, eh?"

"You don't understand-"

"Obviously I don't! Course, I stand by my friends when they're attacked like that!"

"James!" Remus snapped. "Stop it!"

James's eyes flashed angrily as he stared hard at Lily. "Whatever," he finally muttered. "Come on, let's find Sirius." He took a few steps forward with Peter then both of them looked expectantly at Remus.

He slid his bag onto his shoulder then turned to Lily. "I'm not upset with you," he said and she sniffled in response. "I'm not." Then he did something he never thought in a million years he'd ever do in his entire life: he hugged her. It was the first time actually hugging someone not his parents (hugging someone around his own size) and it felt very weird. But she was distressed, needing comforting, and since she hugged him when she thought he needed comforting, he figured he ought to do the same for her even though he thought he needed some of his own comforting. Hugs didn't really comfort him. They just scared him.

Lily hugged him back then they pulled apart. She had a shaky smile. "I'll talk to him."

Remus just nodded. "Don't... push him... on my b-behalf, all right?" He felt very awkward now, from the hug.

Then before she could say anything else he fled to his friends. Normally James would have teased about the hug but he was too grouchy and mad at Lily, calling her a traitor to the Gryffindor name as they went to the hospital wing. Sirius was already gone by the time they got there so they had to go looking for him. It took them quite a while to hunt him down outside where he was throwing rocks at the frozen lake. As soon as they showed up, James began complaining bitterly about Lily-the-traitor while Remus gave Sirius his test back before checking his own. 70%, a lot better than he ever expected. Guess my written stuff made up for my abysmal practical potion making exam, he thought. If he was able to keep all these grades up, he wouldn't have any problem passing Potions properly.

His friends were talking among themselves and suddenly he heard a word that brought him out of his thoughts. "No! No getting revenge!" he said quickly, head snapping up.

The three of them stared blankly at Remus. "We have to," James said simply.

"Sirius already bust up Snape's nose," Remus pointed out. "Isn't that enough?"

"Target like that, it'd be hard not to," Peter said, and the other two laughed, James giving Peter a high five.

Remus rubbed the back of his head. "Look, I r-really appreciate you standing up for me-"

"You're my friend, of course I would," Sirius said as it were the most obvious thing in the world. Remus felt warmth and happiness inside of him, despite the also-sick feelings he was having from the whole ordeal.

"Evans doesn't seem to agree," James muttered as he lobbed a rock at the ice, watching it skip and slide.

Remus sighed. "But you didn't need to punch him."

Sirius shrugged. "He deserved it."

He wasn't sure whether to say it or not, words he hated saying, words he didn't want to use. He thought this situation needed it so he gathered some inner strength to say, "But-I mean... I... am sick..." James froze mid-throw, Peter jerked, and Sirius frowned. "You know this, I've said before. My mum and I have this blood disease..."

"Doesn't give anyone the right to say what he said," Sirius growled.

James lowered his arm, letting the rock drop. "There's a difference between having an illness and being called disease-ridden." He spoke the last words with absolute disgust, looking as though he wanted to march right back into the castle and hurt Snape again.

"Plus he called you crazy, which you're not," Peter added. Then he whispered so quietly Remus was sure only he heard: "Right?"

Sirius snapped his fingers, pointing at Pete. "Exactly! Like James said, even if you have something, what he said was-was beyond wrong and rude and he should be punished for it, and he was."

"Slughorn would've-"

"He probably wouldn't have, if I hadn't jumped in," Sirius cut Remus off. "Look, it's all done and over, right?"

A triumphant smile began to spread across Remus's face. "Over and done with?" he asked. Sirius nodded. "Good. So, no more revenge?"

Sirius's mouth opened and shut then he clamped it shut, going bright red as he realized he put himself in a corner. James began laughing, falling over into the snow, pointing at Sirius. "Th-that's something else-entirely-" Sirius tried but Remus folded his arms, glaring until Sirius began grumbling. "Fine! No revenge over what he did to you, but I'm gonna get revenge for him giving me a black eye." Now he looked triumphant at getting through Remus's loophole.

Remus now scowled. "Fine." He turned his back to him to glower out at the lake. "Course don't you technically always have 'black' eyes?"

"What d'you m-" Sirius stopped as Remus began giggling, unable to stop. James started laughing again, then Peter. "Ha ha. Funny, funny. You're a real killer." Remus stopped giggling at that word, knowing Sirius didn't mean anything by it, but it being... too close to the truth for comfort. It especially hurt with all the awful emotions from Snape's outburst. "Now then. I was thinking we should start trying out potions. I mean we did before with the boils thing, but I'm meaning stuff to slip into something he's drinking..."

"Weren't we gonna do the bat-bogey thing?" Peter asked and everyone's head swiveled to Remus.

"Yeah, you said you had something to make it more epic?" James asked.

"Ooh, y-yeah," Remus said, having forgotten that entirely between what happened over the holidays plus being so excited over all his exam results. "So I was thinking, if we're going to do something we should do it on a grand scale." He slowly windmilled his arms to indicate so. "Splitting a spell to attack multiple victims is really really advanced so I th-thought we had a couple other options." He saw he had their rapt attention, three identical mischievous grins before him. "Two of us c-could do the bat-bogey hex while the other two do sort of... mirror spells that possibly could split the spell though not guaranteed. Or..."

"Or?" James breathed out.

Remus began chewing at his thumbnail. "We c-could enchant a door so whoever goes through gets whammied by the hex."

"You can do that?" Sirius asked, impressed.

"I can't, and I doubt any of you could, but... we might be able to with enough practice and hard work." With that, the others made faces. "Though not anytime soon. It's a pretty advanced spell though the difficulty does depend entirely on how complicated the spell is. The bat-bogey hex is... sort of simple, however if we add on the furryness-"

"Which we can?" Peter asked eagerly.

"I think so... I-I think I might have gotten the spell fixed up however I haven't tried it since I was at home and we're not supposed to use magic out of school, plus I didn't have anyone to try it on..."

Sirius and James exchanged looks. Peter realized what was going on a split-second before both the black-haired boys shot their arms out, grabbing Peter and shoving him forward.

"I nominate Peter Pettigrew!" James exclaimed.

"Wh-what?! Noooo!" Pete whined.

"I second that notion!" Sirius said.

"Y-y-you r-really want him to-test out an un-tested spell on me?!" Peter squeaked.

"Yes," both boys chorused.

Peter began squirming in their hands then stumbled as they shoved him forward, closer to Remus who was already pulling his wand out. He didn't want to use an unwilling specimen though. "If you don't want me too, I won't," Remus said.

Peter looked back at the others who gave him threatening stares. He gulped, rubbing his nose miserably. "G-go ahead."

"All right." Remus knew Peter was still mostly unwilling but he gave the go-ahead so... "All right," he said again, totally unaware that to the others he started to sound like a teacher as he began explaining. "So the bat-bogey hex is strictly Latin in origin so I think using Latin to extend the spell is best. The spell is Nasusmusca!" He flourished his wand and great gloopy bits of snot crawled out of Peter's nose. He gagged, staggering around as it pulled out and split apart, growing wings, three of the things flapping violently at him. Peter covered his head as it did its best to attack him. "Finite incantatum!" Remus said sending the bat bogies dropping to the ground. "Now, I have a couple of ideas for making it furry. Are you ready, Peter?"

Peter edged away from the snot on the ground. "I s-s-suppose..."

Remus brandished his wand again. "Capelli nasusmusca!" Peter cowered but nothing happened. "Hmm..." He tried again and again, using various Latin words for 'hair' or 'fur', mixing them in with both words, until he stumbled on one that mostly worked. It sounded awful and convoluted but it got the job done. "Nasusmuscapelli!" When the snot came out of Peter's nose it was all matted with hair, some sticking out. It wasn't the completely furry bogies the boys had in mind, it was a million times more disgusting. Therefore, a million times better.

Remus got rid of them (a gross pile sclupping into the snow) then inspected Peter's nose. "Did it hurt?"

"Not really just the usual ugh-ness," Peter moaned, clutching at his face. He pulled his hand away to look at his glove then put his hand back over his nose. "I don't think it ripped anything up if that's what you're worried about."

"It is," Remus admitted. He couldn't smell any blood so he knew Peter was relatively okay. "I don't want to hurt anyone."

"This is going to be absolutely brilliant!" Sirius decreed. "And you think we can enchant a door to put it on people?"

"Ye-ees," Remus drew out. "However since the furry bat-bogey hex is more complex than the original, we might do better just using the original for a better probability of the-"

"Nasusmuscapelli!" James suddenly yelled, wand aimed at Sirius. For a second nothing happened then out came the snot with hair sticking out, forming several bat-like things and attacking Sirius's face. He ran in circles, arms flailing, while James laughed.

Then the three other boys began running around trying to shoot each other with the spell while Remus ducked behind a rock to try to protect himself. He knew the hex was dangerous for animals and while he wasn't an animal, he wasn't human so he didn't want to find out what it would do to him. He knew it wouldn't be long before one of them tried to get him so he figured a distraction would be best. He gathered snow, forming a ball, and throwing. It hit James in the shoulder sparking a very wild snowball fight between the four, with James coming out as victor due to his natural ability to aim.

Finally the four collapsed in the snow, laughing, Remus feeling a bit better already.