A/N: Thank you so much to Mary Jane Elle Jay, Tabbycat1220, and lady clark of books for your reviews! They really encouraged me to continue writing. Also, I'd like to thank MarieDalton and Brown-girl13 for adding my story to either their favorites or alert list. )

-No9

"It could have been worse," Sirius said.

"Yup," Jamie agreed, pulling off her sweater and sitting down on Sirius' bed.

"Really? I thought they were doing a pretty good job of trying to mentally kill each other from across the room," Remus added.

"Mmm."

"So tomorrow my parents are gonna come back up here and want me to show them around or whatever," Sirius said, flopping down next to Jamie.

"Great. So are mine," Remus said grimly.

"The castle's big. We'll go opposite directions. It's easy not to come into contact. One of us should take the Map with us, just to make sure though," Jamie said thoughtfully, pulling at the loose threads on Sirius' jeans. He looked up at her from where he lay.

"Y'know. My dad really seemed to like you," he said.

"Yeah, well, I am his goddaughter."

Remus laughed.

"My dad asked about you, too. And I did tell him we were friends, and that you'd probably come with us tomorrow," Remus took off his shirt and tried to find his pajamas in the mess that was the fifth year boys' dormitory. The scars on his chest and back were reflected palely in the weak moonlight streaming through the window.

"Your parents ask if I knew about your lycanthropy?" Jamie asked curiously.

"Are you kidding? It wasn't even a question. If my dad found out that one, let alone two, students at this school knew about me, he would go buy the silver bullets himself."

With that, Remus found the t-shirt he was looking for and pulled it over his head.

"Hey, wake up," Remus gently shook Jamie's shoulder.

She let out a low groan.

"Come on, my parents are gonna be here in fifteen minutes," he said, and disappeared into the bathroom.

Jamie slowly opened her eyes and allowed them to adjust to the bright sun.

She had fallen asleep on Sirius' bed, and thanks to the fact that Seamus went home for the Easter holidays, and that Neville and Dean were staying with their parents in Hogsmeade (or in Neville's case, his grandmother), she had had no problem with spending the rest of the night there.

Sirius had crashed in Neville's bed last night, after Jamie had gotten into a comfortable position and refused to move or act as a pillow for Sirius for the rest of the night.

Jamie sat up and rubbed her eyes, and glanced over at Padfoot snoring quietly in the bed next to hers. She threw a pillow at his head and he choked on one of his snores, and was thus rudely awakened by Jamie's laughter.

Sirius slowly became aware of his surroundings and sat up, yawning.

"Bitch," he muttered sleepily.

Remus came out of the bathroom, already dressed and groomed for the day.

"You. Shower. Now," he said, pointing at Jamie.

She groaned.

"Can't I just stay like this?"

"I don't know how my parents would react if they saw you wearing my pajamas," Remus said, smiling.

"True," Jamie looked down at the cotton pants she was wearing, covered with tiny paw prints, "plus, having 'Black' written on my back wouldn't be too good either."

The air hit her as she pulled off Sirius' quidditch hoodie and was left standing in her sports bra.

"Strip, strip, strip!" Sirius began chanting.

"Shut up," she said, and left the dormitory to return to her own to shower and dress, still wearing Remus' pajamas.

Sirius sighed, and lay down with his arms folded behind his head.

"One of these days, she's gonna do it for me."

"Ha! I'll believe that when I see it," Remus said.

"Oh good, you can watch too," Sirius said, throwing his friend a devilish look.

Remus rolled his eyes, but couldn't resist the small grin that crept onto his face.

Ten minutes later, Jamie reappeared, freshly showered and dressed in a pair of jeans and scarlet t-shirt with the Gryffindor crest emblazoned on it. Sirius had just come out of the bathroom as well.

"All right, so, I think we'll take the Map with us, so I can always check it to make sure we don't come too close to each other," Jamie said, holding up the old folded piece of parchment before slipping it into her pocket.

"Good, let's go then."

With that, the three headed out of the boy's dormitory and down the stairs into the common room.

After climbing out of the portrait hole, Remus and Jamie went one direction, Sirius the other, so that they wouldn't enter the Great Hall at the same time.

"You and my dad should get along just fine," Remus said.

"Well, Sirius' dad was exactly like him, and if you're anything like your father, I think I'll be okay," Jamie said as she recounted how similar Mr. Black and Sirius were.

Remus nodded, but he looked nervous. Jamie couldn't blame him. This would be the first time that Remus would have to introduce a friend to his parents, that they would be suspicious of knowing about their son's 'condition'. Well, at least Mrs. Lupin was already aware that Jamie knew. For her son to have a friend that stuck by him despite knowing he was a werewolf was probably one she thought worth keeping, and was most likely the reason she had taken such a shine to Jamie.

They entered the marble hall, and Remus immediately spotted his parents, quietly exchanging words with Professor McGonnagol. As the two approached though, the adults halted their conversation abruptly, and Jamie felt Remus' slight nudge to her side. Professor McGonnagol bade Jamie and Remus a good morning, gave one last meaningful glance at Mr. and Mrs. Lupin, then hurried away down another corridor and in the direction of her office.

"Well then, you must be Jamie. We've heard so much about you, it's so nice to finally meet you," Mrs. Lupin said quickly as to cover up the abrupt departure of the Transfiguration professor.

Jamie smiled and shook her extended hand, then turned to face Mr. Lupin.

"I'm very pleased to meet you. Remus has told me you two have been friends for several years," he said, giving Jamie a small smile. Jamie smiled and nodded in agreement, noting that Mr. Lupin's ash brown hair and light brown eyes matched his son's, despite the premature wrinkles that lined his face and the gray that sprinkled his hair.

"Well, I don't know how I could have survived the last five years without Remus," Jamie said, returning the smile and giving her friend a playful nudge. She hoped to liven Remus up a bit, as she could feel the tension of his body.

Remus smiled despite himself, and suggested that they take a walk around the grounds and take advantage of the weather. They all readily agreed and headed out of the castle doors and down the stone steps. Numerous students were on the grounds, with friends or relatives, having picnics or simply sprawled out on the school's sloping lawns, enjoying the shade by the lake.

"So what are you interested in doing after you graduate from Hogwarts?" Mr. Lupin asked Jamie as they walked down one of the paths.

"Oh, I'm not sure yet. I've considered becoming an Auror, but haven't looked into anything seriously as of yet," Jamie said.

Mr. Lupin nodded approvingly. "It would be a fine field to enter. You must be skilled in the art of dueling."

"Um, yeah, well I've had some…unusual circumstances arise. But even then, I've had lots of help."

"Oh shut up Jamie. She's the best dueler in our year, highest marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts," Remus interjected. Jamie turned slightly pink and hit Remus on the arm, but he only grinned at her embarrassment.

Mrs. Lupin laughed and commented that it was good that Remus had some other students to challenge him at school. Conversation came easily enough between the group, and Jamie didn't feel out of place at all, as she was sure Remus had feared.

They were now nearing Hagrid's hut on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and Jamie waved at Hagrid as she saw him out behind in his garden. Jamie and Remus instinctively headed towards him.

"Hullo you two, not up to anything, I hope," Hagrid greeted them with his smile hidden behind his mangle of wild hair.

"I would hope that they rarely are," Mr. Lupin said, and it was then that Hagrid first took notice of Remus' parents.

"Blimey, if it isn't Remus Lupin," Hagrid said, beaming, "An' Nymphadora! Why, seems like it was only yesterday I had ter chase yer lot from the forest!"

Remus raised an eyebrow.

"Now what would you be doing in the Forbidden Forest? And who is this 'lot' Hagrid is referring to?" Remus eyed his father curiously, a small smile on his face.

"I don't claim to have been perfect at any point in my life," Mr. Lupin said grimly.

"Mhmm," Remus said, giving Jamie a sideways glance, "Never got into any serious trouble though, did you? No detentions of course."

Thankfully, Jamie had no trouble with having to hide her smile as her attention was drawn away at the sound of a girl's shrieks from near the Whomping Willow. Everyone turned towards the sound as one of the Willow's branches caught a boy in the chest and hurled him twenty feet across the ground. Several Hufflepuff girls standing nearby screamed. A couple more students around the tree had come under attack, and before she knew what she was doing Jamie had taken off towards them.

She whipped out her wand halfway to the third years struggling to dodge the Willow's thick branches as they came pounding down around them, leaving deep gouges in the earth.

"Ferio!" shouted Jamie. The jet of violet light hit its mark, and the tree immediately froze.

The students around the Willow slowly removed the arms covering their heads, and looked up at the tree in amazement.

"What are you doing? Get away from there, you idiots!" she shouted, finally reaching the tree and pulling the two stunned boys out from underneath it. She lifted the other Ravenclaw boy gruffly to his feet by his collar and made sure he hadn't sustained any serious injury from the tree's blow.

"Don't you know better? You've been at Hogwarts long enough to know that the Whomping Willow is not a tree to joke around with! If I even see you near this tree one more time, be sure that it will be the last time you ever have a chance to set foot outside the castle walls again!"

The three boys nodded glumly and, after yet again assessing the other boy's inuries, scurried off in the direction of the lake, happy to get away with only a warning, and that Jamie was not a Prefect.

Remus sprinted up behind Jamie. "Should have let me deal with them, I would have definitely made sure that they ended up with a detention."

"Well, you weren't quite fast enough, were you, Mr. Prefect?" Jamie rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Nice shot at the tree."

"Thanks."

"Yes, it was a very well placed jinx. How is it that you knew the Whomping Willow would freeze if hit there?" Mr. Lupin asked as he and his wife joined them. Hagrid followed closely behind.

Jamie paled ever so slightly. She had been so caught up in the moment, had been completely unaware of what she was doing, that she was oblivious of what it might reveal to Mr. Lupin.

"Well, I suppose I'm guilty of playing a similar game when I was younger. Found out a few things about the Hogwarts grounds since then," Jamie said, thinking quickly.

"Yeah, Jamie is quite familiar with the Hogwarts grounds," Hagrid said, "Which reminds me, I was wonderin' if you could head into the clearing I showed you a couple of months ago and get me some more of those Dittany leaves. Seems that one of me Hippogriffs escaped the other night and must have harmed herself on summat. The leaves should help ter heal the wounds."

Mr. Lupin suggested that they go and gather the Dittany leaves together, as he didn't want to hold Jamie from helping Hagrid.

"Oh, that's quite alright, Jamie can do it fer me at anytime. No need to go right away," Hagrid said.

But just then Jamie spotted Sirius rounding the corner of the lake nearby, his parents at his side.

"Actually, that area of the forest is safe enough, and it's a rather nice walk. If you really don't mind, I would greatly appreciate the help," Jamie said quickly.

Remus raised an eyebrow but Jamie only gave him a warning look as to tell him not to interfere.

Mr. Lupin looked rather happy at the prospect of going into the forest, and Jamie could only think of one reason why as they entered the path that lead into the underbrush. He missed the forest and the memories it had held for him.

"The clearing isn't too far in, as Dittany plants grow rather close to the ground and need an ample amount of sunlight," Jamie explained as she climbed deftly over fallen trees and jumped easily from rock to rock, not tripping over any of the mangled roots and avoiding mossy areas.

Remus did the same, and found that moving through the forest had become almost as second nature to them, hanging branches and vines doing little to hinder their progress. Mr. Lupin himself had little difficulty in moving among the forest's thick vegetation, but Mrs. Lupin's hair and clothing kept getting snagged on passing shrubbery and when her ankle caught in a snarled root, she cried out for the group to stop. Mr. Lupin hurried back and helped her loosen her ankle from the root's grasp and then nearly tripped again as her foot hit a patch of slippery moss.

"Okay, tell you what. I'm going to go back, this is no place for me," she said, smiling wryly.

They all protested that she would miss their little adventure, but silently agreed that the forest was a place only for the light footed. With one last wave, she turned and carefully made her way back out of the forest, following the dirt path closely.

"Shall we move on then?" Mr. Lupin asked as Mrs. Lupin disappeared from view.

Remus and Jamie continued moving, Mr. Lupin following closely behind. Jamie and Remus recounted several stories from their past years at Hogwarts as they neared the clearing, Mr. Lupin chuckling to himself at their antics. Jamie glanced back at Mr. Lupin on several times, happy to see he was enjoying himself. When Mr. Lupin caught her eye on one such occasion, she saw the warmth in his eyes as he regarded the friendship his son had developed with this curious girl. She wondered if it reminded him at all of her father or Mr. Black, and what their friendship had meant to him.

Jamie could see the light filtering through the trees in the clearing ahead when Remus grabbed her arm and stopped her. He held a finger to his lips and she noticed Mr. Lupin had frozen at almost the same second.

Remus squinted into the underbrush as if trying to see something, his hears pricking at the slightest sound. Jamie was silent, and listened closely, but she could not hear anything except for the chirping of birds and the sound of distant voices and laughter. Yet Mr. Lupin and Remus both had their eyes fixed on one dark spot between two trees.

'Damn those wolf ears,' Jamie thought to herself.

Suddenly there was a rustling of leaves where father and son had been staring, and Mr. Lupin stepped in front of them, wand drawn. A twig snapped, and a wild boar stepped out from the bushes, grunting and sniffing the ground curiously. Remus loosened his grip on Jamie's arm as the boar dug its yellowish tusks into the ground.

"Well, it seems I remember other beasts being in the forest when I was in school," Mr. Lupin laughed to himself.

"Oh, don't worry, we still get the occasional rumors of vampires and werewolves Dad," Remus told his father offhandedly as he took Jamie's hand and helped her jump onto a nearby log.

"Yes, but those are only rumors. If we did have vampires or werewolves stalking the grounds, I'm sure that Remus and I would have run into one by now," Jamie smiled mischievously.

Remus and Mr. Lupin laughed and they finally entered the clearing and began stripping the Dittany plants of their leaves.

Mrs. Lupin meanwhile had emerged from the forest and back into the clear sunlight of the Hogwarts grounds. She didn't like the forest, but it wasn't the only motive she had for catching her ankle on one of the trees' roots. She had noticed Jamie's glance down to the lake and had seen the Blacks there as well.

Without any hesitation, she headed over to where they had seated themselves underneath an oak tree by the lake, enjoying the shade it provided.

"Sirius Black, now, I don't know what I would have done if you had seen me and didn't bother saying hello," she said as she neared the group.

Mr. Black looked up, slightly shocked, and Sirius had a difficult time in hiding his surprise at Mrs. Lupin approaching them.

"Dora…," Mr. Black said, obviously unsure of how to continue.

"Oh, Dora, it's so wonderful to see you again!" Mrs. Black immediately rose to her feet and flung her arms around her friend.

Mrs. Lupin laughed, "You too! Seems it has been too long since we've last spoken."

Her words were accompanied by an accusatory glance at Mr. Black, though he tried to ignore it.

"Umm…," Sirius said, trying his best to look confused (which in Sirius' case, Remus or Jamie would have told you, was not at all difficult).

"Oh, well, you must be Sirius, my son has told me all about you," she said quickly, "I'm Remus' mother."

"Oh!," Sirius exclaimed, as if this explained everything, "Well it's nice to finally meet you."

Sirius avoided his father's surprised look.

"You never told me you knew Remus Lupin," he said.

His voice was calm, but there was a hidden fire to his words.

"Yes, well, he's in Gryffindor too and in my year, sorta difficult not to become friends with people you've lived with for the past five years," Sirius said offhandedly, finally meeting his father's eyes. He gave his father a look that matched his own, as if daring him to object to Remus' friendship. Mr. Black remained silent, but did not break his son's gaze.

"Well…Remus and Jamie are off in the forest doing something for Hagrid along with my husband," Mrs. Lupin said. At the mention of Mr. Lupin, Mr. Black finally turned his attention away from his son and his face immediately darkened.

"How about we go and have a drink while we wait for them to return," Mrs. Black suggested, and Sirius immediately got up from the ground. Mr. Black, however, remained staring across the smooth surface of the lake, as if he hadn't heard his wife's words.

"Come, I'm rather thirsty from being out in the sun for so long," Mrs. Black said.

She urged her husband to his feet, and he accompanied them up the sloping lawn and towards the massive castle.

"Where could she have gone?" Remus asked as they delivered their armfuls of Dittany leaves to a very pleased Hagrid.

"Dunno, I hadn't seen her come out of the forest," Hagrid said distractedly, piling the shining leaves into several sacks.

"You don't think something happened to her?" Jamie asked looking slightly alarmed.

"No, no, Mum's clumsy, but we hadn't exactly been far into the forest when she turned back," Remus said.

Mr. Lupin looked across the grounds, hoping to spot his wife.

"Wait here a moment. Hagrid, let me help you bring those around back," Jamie offered, and before Hagrid could object, she grabbed one of the sacks the magical leaves had been stuffed into and heaved it over her shoulder. Hagrid followed her without a word behind his hut.

"Now what are you up to?" Hagrid asked as he dropped the bag. Jamie made sure they were out of sight of Remus and Mr. Lupin before she pulled the piece of parchment from her jeans pocket.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good," she said, tapping her wand against the parchment.

Immediately, ink spiraled in every direction, filling every crevice and corner of the parchment. She scanned the map quickly, trying in vain to find the dot that was Remus' mother amongst all the students and parents at Hogwarts.

When she finally did find who she was looking for, she blinked and had to look twice to make sure she wasn't seeing things. The dot labeled Nymphadora Lupin was sitting in the Great Hall at the Gryffindor table along with Sirius Black, Adriana Black, and Sirius Black II.

"What are ye doing?" Hagrid asked after Jamie failed to answer his first question.

"Nothing," she said, tearing her eyes from the map, "Mischief managed."

Hagrid raised his bushy eyebrows.

"Don't worry about it Hagrid," Jamie said, giving him a reassuring smile and walking back around his hut.

"Well, I'm sure we'll find her inside," she said as she rejoined the other two.

Remus knew immediately what she had done and agreed with Jamie that they might as well head back into the castle, as it was nearly lunch time.

Jamie's stomach gave a funny lurch at thought of what they would encounter if Mr. Black and Lupin were to face each other, but by the time they had entered the Great Hall, they found Mrs. Lupin sitting alone at the Gryffindor table, enjoying a glass of iced pumpkin juice. She winked at Jamie as she sat down, and she knew that Mrs. Lupin felt it was not the right time for the past friends to meet again.

Reviews make the world go round.