Word count: 3,302

Chapter 12

People Always Surprise You

"Remus, we need you to back us up."

Remus glanced up from the book he'd been reading while waiting for his friends to join him in their usual compartment on the train. He hadn't expected to have favors demanded of him the second they arrived, but he supposed he shouldn't have been surprised.

"Back you up on what?" he asked Sirius, marking his place in his book and placing it beside him.

Sirius smirked as he threw himself on the bench across from Remus. With James having claimed the spot next to Remus, Peter unceremoniously knocked Sirius' feet to the floor, making Sirius laugh as he rearranged himself to sit in the typical fashion.

"Tell Peter to ask out the girl he likes," he said as he placed his arms behind his head and stretched his legs out on the floor so that they reached towards Remus.

Suddenly, Peter was much more interesting than the proximity of Sirius' feet to his.

"You like someone?"

Peter blushed at Remus' question, not looking at him as he fiddled with his sleeve. It was sweet, Remus decided, how flustered he looked about it.

"Maybe," he said slowly, "but James and Sirius think I should ask her out, and I'd rather not face humiliation."

"Tell him." Sirius nudged at Remus' foot with his own, and Remus struggled not to draw himself back in response. "Tell him he should do it."

Remus raised an eyebrow in Sirius' direction, trying to figure out how he'd gotten it into his head that this would be a funny joke. Remus loved all three of his friends dearly, but Peter wasn't entirely wrong in thinking such a thing could end in rejection, if not outright humiliation. The girls in their year weren't really chomping at the bit to date Peter, and as far as he knew, there wasn't an exception to that.

Sirius, though, appeared nothing but innocent while he watched Remus with an expectant tilt of his head.

"He should do it," James said.

He smiled at Remus in reassurance, having caught on to his reluctance to trust Sirius.

"It'll give him the confidence he needs," James concluded. "Sometimes you just have to go for it, whether you're confident it'll work out or not. Even I've been turned down Peter." He ignored Sirius' snort. "That doesn't mean you shouldn't give it a shot."

Remus did his best not to roll his eyes. He understood wanting to make Peter more sure of himself; Remus tried to compliment him whenever possible to do the same. But he wasn't sure telling him to just face rejection was the right way of going about it.

"You should do whatever feels right," he told Peter.

Far from comforting him, Peter squirmed in discomfort at Remus' advice.

"I want to be confident enough to do it," he admitted, "but I don't think I am."

"You know what would make you confident?" Sirius asked. "Actually doing it."

"Sirius, stop," Remus said.

Sirius shrugged, far from affected by Remus' half-hearted attempt at scolding him.

Peter, however, didn't seem to be listening anymore. He was looking at the door to the compartment with a tight jaw and squared shoulders.

"I'll do it."

The other three boys fell quiet, as they gaped at him. For a beat, no one said anything. Then Sirius let out a loud whoop and rose from his seat.

"Merlin, Padfoot. Sit down."

Sirius did as Remus had instructed, smirking as if he'd won some argument that Remus hadn't realized they were having.

"I'm going to do it," Peter repeated.

He'd tuned the rest of them out. Even Sirius' cheering hadn't reached him. He stood, staring into space at something the rest of them couldn't see.

"Go for it," James urged, getting a nod in response.

"I'm going for it."

It took several seconds of nodding and a nudge from Sirius for Peter to realize that he wasn't actually making any moves to do what he'd said he would.

The others stared after him as he disappeared down the corridor, their mouths hanging open.

"Who's he asking out?" Remus asked, suddenly realizing that no one had informed him of that detail.

He wasn't expecting Sirius' and James' shrugs.

"That's the big secret," Sirius said. "He wouldn't tell us a thing about her except that she's apparently the most beautiful girl in school."

"I told him that if he asked Lily out I'd never forgive him, and he ruled that out. Other than that, it could be any girl in school."

"And you encouraged him to ask her out on nothing more than that?"

James raised an eyebrow. He had a genuinely perplexed look on his face.

"Why wouldn't we? If he likes her, he should go for it. Maybe she says no and he's upset, but maybe she says yes. It's worth a shot."

Remus wasn't sure if he agreed with that or not, but he could tell that James—and Sirius if his nodding was anything to go by—both thought it to be true. Perhaps they knew better than he did. They had both, after all, asked girls out before while Remus had tried to avoid developing feelings in the first place for fear of where they might lead.

"Relax, Moony," Sirius said, closing his eyes as if he were about to take a nap. "He has to work up the courage to ask someone out eventually. If it doesn't work out, it was practice for the next time."

"I just hope he's not crushed."

Neither James nor Sirius spoke as Remus pressed his head back into the seat behind him and waited for Peter to return.

It took half an hour for Peter to return, and by that time, all three of them were anxious.

"Do you think this means she said yes and they snuck off to snog, or do you think she said no and Wormtail's locked himself in a toilet stall where we should go find him?" Sirius asked after twenty minutes had passed.

The other two boys had shrugged, and instead of going looking for their friend, they continued to sit in anxious silence.

"Why didn't one of us go with him?" James asked after twenty-five minutes. "We could have provided support, and more importantly, we wouldn't be in the dark right now."

Sirius shrugged.

"I just figured that he'd rather do it without an audience."

When Peter did appear at the door, James was on his feet in seconds, looking Peter up and down for signs of emotional distress. Peter was smiling though and didn't appear the least bit upset, something that Remus was ashamed of being surprised over.

"What happened?" James asked as he mirrored Peter in taking a seat. "What did she say?"

"She said yes. We're going to Hogsmeade together in February."

Peter was trembling with excitement. Sirius let out a cheer and clapped him hard on the shoulder.

"I knew you had it in you, Wormtail!"

Peter beamed. His cheeks had a light pink tint to them that Remus was most used to seeing when he managed to get a decent score on an assignment.

"You'll tell us who she is now, right?" James asked.

Peter grew shy at the question, but he gave a slight nod before saying, "It's Sandra."

The compartment fell silent as the other three boys looked at Peter in shock.

"Sandra, Ravenclaw prefect Sandra?" James asked. "The one who totally would have been Head Girl if Lily hadn't been chosen and who's her house's star Quidditch player, the one almost single-handedly giving Gryffindor a run for our money this year. That Sandra?"

"Is there another Sandra at Hogwarts?" Peter asked in a tone that implied he was genuinely inquiring. "Yes, that Sandra."

Peter shifted uncomfortably as the others continued to gawk. Remus got the distinct impression that Sirius and James would never have encouraged Peter to go for it with the girl he liked if they'd known that Sandra was the girl in question.

After a moment, Sirius burst into laughter.

"Way to go, mate. Who'd have thought you'd work up the nerve to ask out one of the most popular girls in school. I'm impressed."

Peter muttered a thank you under his breath, still looking embarrassed, if proud, about the whole thing.

By the end of the first week back, it felt as if the Christmas holidays had never happened. The pressure of their upcoming NEWTs was as heavy as it had been in December, and Remus found himself full of the same anxieties that had haunted him for the duration of the first term.

As he walked from his last class of the day to the library, he couldn't help but run through everything McGonagall had told them in class that day. Some of it had been review, but plenty of it had been new material. Remus knew a lot of it would come up on the exam, and his commitment to memorizing it was so strong that he didn't notice the group of Slytherins that had congregated in the corridor, not far from the library, until he was only a few feet away.

He immediately cursed himself for coming to the library alone. It wasn't usually a big deal. He'd been doing it for seven years, but he wished, for once, that he'd forced one of his friends to come along. Instead, they'd all gone to mess around on the grounds, insistent that they needed a break before they started on their homework.

"Busy, Lupin?" Avery sneered.

Remus was careful to keep his face an emotionless mask. He'd been facing torment from the same group of Slytherins since he was a first year, and he refused to let them see his weaknesses anymore.

"Of course I am, Avery," he responded carefully. "Some of us would like to pass our NEWTs."

Avery scowled, and Remus held back a pointed jab about how miserable the other boy was at Defense. Though his performance really was cringeworthy.

"Not like it matters much for you though, is it?" Mulciber said with a laugh. "You're not going to be rolling in job offers come June, are you?"

If Remus didn't have so much experience dealing with them, his shock would have been plain on his face. As it was, he merely raised an eyebrow, careful to make it appear as if he held nothing more than a passing curiosity about Mulciber's statement.

"Rolling in them? Maybe not," he said. "I never claimed to be the next Dumbledore."

Mulciber and Avery groaned in disgust at the reference to Dumbledore. Snape, the third in their trio, didn't react at all however. He was leaning against the wall behind Mulciber and Avery, looking bored with the whole situation. He seemed to hold no desire to taunt Remus with the others.

It had been a long time since he had last done so, and Remus suspected it was a mixture of reluctance to make himself a target of the Marauders and a desperate bid to regain Lily's friendship.

"Can't wait to see you get knocked down a peg once we're out of Hogwarts and you're living on the streets," Avery joked. "It'll be a nice reminder of your place."

Remus struggled to keep his breathing even and posture relaxed. He analyzed the two sniggering Slytherins and their silent friend behind them.

There was little reason for Avery and Mulciber to believe he would be unemployed unless they knew the truth about him, the truth that Snape had sworn to Dumbledore he would never reveal. Snape may not have held much respect for Dumbledore, but he certainly held an appropriate level of fear. Even You-Know-Who was smart enough for that.

Remus' mother was a Muggle. Perhaps that was what they were alluding to. It wasn't a secret, though he didn't often advertise it to the Slytherins. His dad's position in the Ministry meant that any of the pureblood families would easily have access to the information if they'd wanted to dig something up on him. With You-Know-Who's focus on Muggleborns, perhaps they were merely trying to attack him for his Muggle heritage.

That, too, might have been enough to keep Snape silent. Remus didn't know much about the other boy's heritage, but Snape certainly wasn't pureblood like Mulciber and Avery both were. No one knew of the family name.

"Excuse me," Remus said, taking a step around them and carefully watching to make sure none of them pulled out their wand. "I need to study."

They laughed and yelled taunts at his back, but he ignored them as he hurried down the corridor and around the corner.

Surely, if they knew of his secret, they would have done much worse to him. He tried to let that thought comfort him as he settled down with a stack of books in the library.

The door creaked as it swung open. Remus sat straight up in his bed in the hospital wing, a little anxious over who might be arriving. Sometimes there were other students who needed Madame Pomfrey while he was in there, but he always felt anxious that anyone who saw him would be able to piece together why he was there.

When the door opened, it revealed Hagrid, and Remus took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart now that he knew for sure there was no danger to be found from the visitor.

"Hello," Hagrid said brightly as he came bounding over to Remus' bed. "Sorry if I woke yeh. Jus' wanted teh see how things were after… yeh know."

Remus, though he was very tired, managed a small smile.

"Thanks, Hagrid. I appreciate it."

And he really did. Hagrid was the first person to visit him in the Hospital Wing other than the other Marauders, and that probably meant more than Hagrid even realized.

Hagrid beamed back at him, and it was impossible for Remus' mood to not brighten despite how exhausted every cell in his body was.

"Actually," Hagrid said suddenly, rummaging through his pockets, "I have something for yeh. Chocolate. Though' you could use a treat. Hope yeh like it."

"Oh, yeah," Remus said, accepting the chocolate despite being a little stunned by the present. "Of course I like it. Who doesn't like chocolate?"

Hagrid nodded along, assured that his present had been accepted and sat down on the bed next to Remus', making it creak in a way that left Remus momentarily frightened it would split in half.

"Where are yer friends?"

Hagrid looked around them as if the other Marauders would appear out of the woodwork all the sudden and declare hiding themselves their latest successful prank.

"In the common room I imagine," Remus said. "They were here earlier, but I told them to go get some studying. I hate when they hover too long and miss their assignments because of it."

There was a twinkle in Hagrid's eye, and Remus averted his eyes. Hagrid was just about to say something else when the Hospital Wing door creaked open again.

Remus' stomach tightened in anticipation despite Hagrid's presence putting an end to anything terrible that might have happened if someone with sinister intentions entered.

But, again, it wasn't anyone he needed to worry about. It was Sirius who appeared on the other side of the door, his arms loaded with a wide variety of sweets that he could have only nicked from the kitchens.

Remus' heart tightened with far greater strength than it had when Hagrid had appeared. He couldn't stop himself from smiling, but he held it in as much as possible to prevent himself from smiling like a complete idiot.

"Hey," Sirius said, sparing a quick glance at Hagrid before focusing solely on Remus. "I know you get bored when you're holed up here, so I wanted to distract you a bit."

"Thank you," Remus said, trying not to sound too emotional. "I appreciate it."

And he did, even if he'd already gotten chocolate from Hagrid. He felt a little overwhelmed by how much care he'd been shown that day, and he struggled not to get choked up over it.

"I best be goin'," Hagrid said, the bed squeaking again as he rose.

He offered one last smile at Remus and a nod of his head at Sirius.

"Have fun yeh two," he said before disappearing out the door.

Sirius didn't have much to say about Hagrid's appearance as he settled at the food of Remus' bed, arranging the food carefully between them. Remus smiled as Sirius held out a piece of his favourite cake for him to take.

Scarcely a day went by anymore where there wasn't a report of some sort of attack in the Prophet. The mere act of receiving the paper each morning filled Remus with dread that hung over him for the rest of the day, and each evening was spent dissecting what they knew about the events.

"How could we not fight?" James asked, still frowning at the latest report about a missing Muggleborn.

The sobbing face of the man's wife was hard for Remus to look away from, and he couldn't stopping thinking about the three children who were mentioned in the article.

"I'm with you, Prongs," Sirius said. "This is disgusting. How much longer can it go on?"

Probably a long time, Remus thought, but he couldn't bear to say as much out loud. He was much happier hoping it had a quick ending.

"Dumbledore has to be doing something," James continued. "There's no way he's sitting around waiting for other people to act. Once we're out of school, he'll have to let us in on it. He can't deny that we're adults, and they need all the help they can get."

"How much help are we?"

Peter fidgeted. He seemed to have immediately regretted asking the question. That didn't stop him from continuing what he'd started.

"We're young," he continued. "Dumbledore's got loads more powerful people as friends. They can do way more than we can. We'd be fumbling along and mucking things up for the rest of them."

"I don't tend to muck anything up," Sirius said, brow furrowed. "There's something we can do. I'm sure of it."

He leaned over the table, keeping his voice low.

"We know Snape and that lot will join up with You-Know-Who as soon as they've graduated. If You-Know-Who will take them, why wouldn't Dumbledore take us?'

"Padfoot," Remus said, sounding as exhausted as he felt, "there are a number of things You-Know-Who would do that Dumbledore wouldn't."

Sirius shrugged.

"Is it wrong to not want to fight?" Peter asked in a whisper. "All I want is to graduate with some respectable NEWTs, get a job, and live a normal life. I'm seventeen. I'm not ready to sacrifice myself for the world."

Remus sympathized with him. That was all he wanted too, although he didn't have the same luxury of escaping in a fantasy like Peter would have if he decided to go that route. James and Sirius, however, were staring at Peter with their mouths agape.

"How could we do that when so many people are suffering because of You-Know-Who?" James asked. "I couldn't live with myself if I sat around cozy at home while it all went down. I'd rather take the danger of fighting than that kind of guilt. At least then I'll feel like I've done something important."

Peter hung his head, appearing properly scolded. Remus patted him on the shoulder in consolation, but he kept quiet, not sure where he fell on the continuum of opinion. He couldn't escape like Peter wished to, but he wasn't as keen of throwing himself into the fight as James and Sirius were. He didn't think he ever would be.