"James. James. James Potter. Oi! Wake up!" James groaned, and tried to pull his covers over his head. He didn't want to get up, but that voice was trying to make him. It wasn't his dad. Or his mum. Or a house elf. "James! Are you alive? Remus, Peter, I think he's dead. How can you be dead already?"

"He's not dead, you git." Another unfamiliar voice. Wait. Not completely unfamiliar- James's had heard those voices before. Was he crazy, perhaps, and only realizing it now? "James, you're gonna miss breakfast."

"Breakfast!" James shot up immediately, alarmed. He glanced around. This was not his room. This was- "I'm at Hogwarts!"

"No duh, genius!" Sirius grinned. "Don't tell me you've forgotten all that happened yesterday!"

"Give him a rest, Sirius!" Remus chuckled. "He's only just woke up."

"Sleep okay, James?" Peter squeaked, beaming at him. James smiled back. "That's good. I woke up kind of confused this morning too. My dad's a Muggle, see, our house is still rather non-magic. Mum refrains a lot at home. It was weird waking up here."

"Jamie here just ate too much last night." Sirius teased. James hit his new friend lightly on the arm. Sirius just grinned jokingly at him. "Well, it's true, mate!"

"We have Defense Against the Dark Arts first," Remus declared, quite randomly. James blinked at him. "All four of us, see?"

James stared blankly at the sheet of paper Remus held up.

"Yeah, whatever, mate." He replied. "When?"

"Five minutes."

"Oh, crud!" James and Sirius jumped in alarm, staring at Remus is horror. James hopped out of bed, and hurriedly pulled his school robes over his pajamas, and shoving his glasses on his face. "Why'd you wait till now to wake me, then!?"

"You think I knew!?" Sirius cried. "Remus! Why didn't you tell us!?"

"I did," Remus rolled his eyes. "You just failed to listen."

"He did!" Peter confirmed, nodding his head. "I heard him!"

"Well, let's go!"

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Black. You are late." Sirius and James entered the Defense classroom, panting. "Ten points from Gryffindor. Take a seat."

Sirius and James sat down next to Remus and Peter, staring at them incredulously. Sirius didn't understand; He and James had left before Remus and Peter, yet Remus and Peter had reached the classroom first.

"You," Sirius hissed to Remus. "Aren't human."

Remus stiffened.

"And why do you say that?" He whispered back.

"You got to class before us!" Sirius cried quietly. "And we left first!"

"Talking in class, Mr. Black. Five points from Gryffindor." Sirius sent the professor a quick glare- this man reminded him far too much of his parents. "Make that ten, Mr. Black."

"Nice going." Lily Evans muttered behind him. James heard her voice, turned around, and grinned stupidly at her. "What're you looking at, Potter?"

"Nothing," James responded absently. "Nothing at all."

"My name is Professor Scleur, and you will address me as such." The professor declared. The class quieted down. "In this class, you will learn to defend yourself from evil. As many of you know, there is a Dark wizard rising. The Dark Lord is a dangerous man, and he will not hesitate to kill you if you get in his way. I am here to teach you how to save your own skin. We do not go back for others in this class, it is every man for himself. Petty alliances will get you nowhere in the end, besides possibly betrayed and ultimately dead."

No one spoke. It was quite obvious that Professor Scleur's speech had frightened many.

"What a lie!" Sirius declared, glaring at Scleur. "It's safer to work with people! Friends are-"

"Silence!" Scleur yelled, whipping his wand out and pointing it at Sirius. Sirius glared at him. This man was all too much like his parents. "I will not tolerate trouble-makers. Friends get you nowhere."

"Just because you," Sirius stood up, and pointed a finger at Scleur. "Never had friends, doesn't mean that friends get you nowhere."

"Petrificus Totalus!" Sirius's arms snapped to his sides, and his legs snapped together. He fell ungracefully to the floor, unable to move. "I'd advise you to watch your mouth, Black."

Sirius could not retort.

"Professor, you can't just-" Scleur turned to James, who closed his mouth, still glaring at the teacher. "What I mean to say is, Sirius is a bit eccentric. You can't blame him for wanting to state his opinion. And, after all, it is true-"

"DETENTION!" Scleur screeched. "BOTH OF YOU! MY OFFICE, TONIGHT!"

The full moon was approaching. It'd been two weeks since Sirius and James's detentions with Scleur. It'd gone… badly, to say the least. Both had returned to the dorm grumbling angrily about the professor. Remus wondered what in the world Scleur had had them do, but neither boy offered an explanation, and Remus didn't pry.

James and Sirius were turning into complete troublemakers- just as they'd said they would. Professor McGonagall- their Transfiguration teacher- had given them a week's detentions for turning the Slytherins' hair pink. It was… amusing, to say the least.

Needless to say, the two of them had so far gotten on nearly every teacher's nerves except Dumbledore, who seemed to find their pranks quite amusing.

But now, the fun and games didn't amuse Remus quite as much as they used to. He was on edge, with the full moon approaching. Madam Pomfrey had explained everything- she'd take him to the Whomping Willow, which was planted over a tunnel to an old, unused shack in Hogsmeade. Then, in the morning, she'd come to get him. Remus hadn't told her how bad his transformations could get, or how she'd have to make sure there was no furniture in there for him to bite. He saw no need.

Now, all he needed to do was come up with a good excuse for going missing.

His dad had come up with the simplest, easiest, nearly foolproof way: family emergency. Mr. Lupin had written down over fifty different aunts, uncles, cousins, and other relatives for Remus to use as an excuse. Half of these so-called relatives didn't exist, but no one needed to know that.

This month, his nonexistent Uncle Marcus had died and Remus needed to attend his nonexistent funeral. And, he'd conveniently fall into the conveniently placed thorn patch in the woods behind his house. That also didn't exist.

Tonight he'd have his first transformation at Hogwarts. Joy, oh joy. He wondered how Madam Pomfrey would react to the grotesque injuries he sometimes inflicted on himself. The wolf had no food, and thus fed on itself. Remus never could remember what happened- only waking up with bandages and blood covering his body. If this was one of the more..,. brutal transformation, he'd have to come up with a better explanation than a thorn patch.

"Hey! Remus!" Remus glanced up from his notebook. Sirius had entered the room, plopping himself down on the bed. "You'll never guess what happened at the Quidditch game! Go on, try!"

"Uh… Gryffindor won?" Remus guessed, noting Sirius's happy expression.

"Bella got kicked off the Slytherin team!" Sirius replied cheerfully. "Hit a couple of Bludgers at our guys- they dodged though, and Slughorn kicked her off! Said her actions were uncalled for and immature! Ha! Her face was hilarious!"

"I'm sure it was, Sirius." Remus said absently. "Hey, uh, I'm not gonna be here tonight. My Uncle Marcus died, I've gotta go to his funeral."

"Oh. I'm sorry." Sirius frowned. "Were you two close?"

"Nah, I only met him once, actually. He's a Muggle, see, my Dad's Uncle, and after I got- started showing signs of magic, Dad kept me away from him just in case. Uncle Marcus thinks magic is just child's play."

"But not all Muggles are like that, right?" Sirius asked cautiously. "Mum says they are, but I've never believed her."

"Nah, Uncle Marcus is just weird. Most of the rest of the family knows about witches and wizards." All of Remus's family knew about magic, but most of them, on his mum's side at least, were magical. His father was Muggleborn, though. But, still, it was hard to hide magic from his family- most of whom were checking in on him every few weeks. "In fact, my Aunt Terri is convinced that one day she'll be able to perform magic as well."

"Ah. Good, then!" Sirius beamed. "Well, good luck. James and I have detention tonight- Scleur again, surprised? He caught us running in the hallway. I swear that man has it out for us."

"Good luck," Remus scoffed. "You need it more than me."

"Darn right I do!" Sirius fell backwards on the bed, obviously attempting to lie down. Instead, he hit his head on the headboard. "Ow, bloody bed!"

"Smart, Sirius, real smart."

"Are you ready to go, Remus?" Remus looked wearily at Madam Pomfrey, and nodded. The healer smiled sadly at him. "Poor child, having to suffer this curse. Come now."

Madam Pomfrey led Remus outside to the Whomping Willow, a huge tree that attacked anything that moved. Remus had no clue how to get past the tree, but Madam Pomfrey did. She muttered a spell, and a stick on the ground flew at the Willow, poked it in a root, and the tree went still. Remus blinked.

"Well, off you go." Madam Pomfrey gestured to a now visible passageway under the willow with a heavy sigh. "Good luck. I'll come for you in the morning."

"Thank you." Remus whispered, before rushing down the passageway. It wasn't all that long, no doubt thanks to magic. Soon, he came upon a trapdoor, which he opened immediately. The shack he'd be spending his full moons did, in fact, have furniture. Not that it'd help.

Suddenly, Remus went rigid. The moon was up. The familiar feeling of his bones twisting and morphing, of fur sprouting from his skin, took over. The painful process lasted for several minutes.

Roughly five minutes later, a wolf stood in a pile of clothes. The transformation was complete.

"What happened to him?" As soon as James, Sirius, and Peter had heard that Remus was injured, they'd rushed to the Hospital Wing. As far as they knew, he was attending his Uncle's funeral last night. James was horrified to find his friend covered in bandages and blood, unconscious in the Hospital Wing.

"He fell." Madam Pomfrey said shortly, bustling around the hospital winging, looking for something or other. "His father explained it to me. Remus had been in the woods behind his house, and fell into a thorn patch."

James doubted that a thorn patch could do this.

"A thorn patch did this!?" Peter cried. "But… what kind of thorns could hurt him so bad?"

"Magical, no doubt." Madam Pomfrey's tone left no room for argument, but Peter seemed to accept this fact. James still, however, doubted it. Remus looked like he'd been attacked by some animal.

"You think he'll be okay?" Sirius whispered, staring palely at his friend. "I mean, I've had worse, I'm sure, but Remus isn't me."

"Why've you had worse?" Peter asked curiously. Sirius blanched, and did not respond. "Oh. Sorry I asked."

"It's fine, Peter, no harm done." Sirius replied quietly, unlike his normal, boisterous self. "C'mon, let's go to breakfast."

Sirius saw the red envelope before the owl even reached him. He'd been expecting something from his mother for some time now. But a Howler?

"You better open it." Arthur Weasley, a seventh year, declared. "Best get it over with."

"Right." Cautiously, Sirius opened the letter.

"SIRIUS ORION BLACK! HOW DARE YOU BECOME A GRYFFINDOR!? HOW DARE YOU ASSOCIATE YOURSELF WITH BLOOD-TRAITORS AND MUDBLOODS! YOU SHOULD KNOW TO STAY AWAY FROM THOSE FILTHY CREATURES! I THOUGHT I FORBADE YOU FROM SPEAKING TO THAT POTTER BOY!? YOU ASHAME ME! YOU DEFILE OUR HOUSE!" Sirius slid slowly under the table, wincing at his mother's voice. "AND NOW YOU'VE CAUSED TROUBLE AS WELL! YOU WOULD DO WELL TO FOLLOW YOUR COUSINS' EXAMPLES! IT WOULD BE WISE OF YOU TO GO AND GET YOURSELF RESORTED INTO SLYTHERIN WHERE YOU BELONG! GRYFFINDOR! IT IS INSULTING, DISTURBING, AND UNNATURAL FOR YOU TO BE IN GRYFFINDOR! YOU WILL REGRET THE SHAME YOU HAVE BROUGHT THIS FAMILY!"

With that, the letter exploded. Sirius felt his face burning. Why had he been cursed with such horrible parents? Why couldn't his parents just accept him the way he was? James's face appeared under the table. Sirius was sure that his friend would say something cruel, perhaps tell Sirius to stay away. Maybe even suggest that he go a become a Slytherin. Instead, the boy was grinning.

"Quite the set of lungs your mum has!" James snickered. Sirius blinked in surprise. "Doesn't seem too happy about you being my friend, does she? Perhaps I should write her a letter, explain to her that yelling isn't good for you."

"James, you are the only person I know who'd respond to a Howler with that." Sirius laughed, returning to his seat at the table. The Slytherins were glaring at him, but several of the Gryffindors were making jokes about his mother. "If I replied like that, I'd be locked in the cellar for months, probably beaten within a- er, James?"

James's face had gone from amused to confused to horrified in a matter of seconds.

"Beaten within a what?" He whispered, his voice deathly calm. Sirius blanched- of course James had caught that. "Sirius, beaten within a what?"

"Well, I was going to say beaten within an inch of my life, but-" Sirius winced at James's- and now Peter's- expression. "But that'd be exaggerating, I'm sure it'd only be a few more bruises than usual and-"

"A few more bruises than usual?" Peter repeated, eyes wide. "Sirius, what does that mean?"

"It's a… uh… a figure of speech, y'know?" Sirius laughed halfheartedly. "All that would really happen is that I'd be locked in the cel- room, and lose deserts or something."

"Oh. Well, if that's all." Peter smiled slightly, looking relieved, and began eating. James shot Sirius one last look- one that told Sirius that James didn't quite believe his lie. But a little white lie never hurt anyone, right?

"Oi, Sirius! How dare you be friends with a Potter? He's far too immature!" Gideon Prewett, a fifth year, teased, laughing with his twin brother, Fabian. They'd both sat down beside the James and Sirius.

"You're one to talk, Gideon!" James retorted good-naturedly. "Too immature. As if!"

"I'm not Gideon, I'm Fabian!" Gideon grinned. Sirius rolled his eyes. Twins. "Haha, saw right through me, eh, Sirius?"

"Yep." Sirius grinned. He liked the twins well enough; they always knew how to brighten someone's day. "It was easy!"

"Could've fooled me…" James grumbled. "Bloody twins."

Laughing along with the twins, Sirius momentarily forgot his parents, or any of his stupid life in general. Sirius smiled slightly to himself, glancing at James and Peter. He was glad to have such great friends.

A/N: Okay, I've probably messed up the time line just a bit with Arthur Weasley, but, oh well. By the way, is anyone even reading this? Poor Moony... And Scleur's a jerk! Yay! Ah, yes... well, Read and Review! I hope you lot enjoyed- until next time! :)