Chapter 2: A Favor from Remus

James Potter

James awoke the next morning to see the faces of his three friends watching him. They were all smiling and had already dressed in their school robes. Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, and with him they would now be called the Marauders.

"Mornin' James!" Sirius said happily, his long hair being pushed aside as he grinned from ear to ear.

"You three… never do this again. It's creepy…" James sat up and put his glasses on, bringing the room into better focus than before. Remus smiled and nodded at him.

"Get dressed," he said, "we have to be down to breakfast in ten minutes."

"Are you always going to be reminding us of anything in existence?" James asked, "If you are, let me know now. That way I'll know to strangle you before it gets annoying."

"Only when something important happens," Remus replied, rubbing his eyes and yawning. "At the moment, breakfast is important."

"Right you are, Remus," Sirius said happily, patting him on the back, "I'm starved."

"Don't they feed you well in Black Manor?" Remus asked jokingly.

"Oh no, my mum hates me. She just adores Regulus though." Sirius turned around and ran his hands along his sides, imitating two people hugging and kissing each other.

"Who's Regulus?" Peter asked, chuckling at Sirius' impression. Sirius turned around and scowled darkly.

"My little brother. Foulest little thing to ever pop out of the devil," Sirius replied.

"Wouldn't that make you a son of the devil too?" James asked.

"Yeah, but I'm the nice one!" Sirius grinned. "Let's go eat!"

The Marauders arrived at the Great Hall a few minutes after breakfast started, but they weren't the only ones who were late. No one was angry with them, so they supposed it was "come as you please," which suited them very well. The Gryffindor table was roaring with laughter and brimming with excitement over the nearing classes. Some were debating about their favorite subject, while others were groaning about their least favorite.

James sat beside Sirius in front of a large plate of bacon and ham, while Remus and Peter sat on the other side of the table, calling dibs on a pitcher of pumpkin juice and a platter of eggs. After breakfast, which sped by quickly with all of the fun the Marauders were having, the strict woman from the night before began to give out schedules. Sirius checked his and screwed his face up in disdain.

"We've got Potions first… with Slughorn… who's that?" Sirius asked, peering up and down the staff table at the end of the room.

"The large one," Remus said, not looking up from his schedule.

"Oh! Is that a professor? I thought there was a walrus at the table… that clears things up a bit," Sirius did a double take as he found the person Remus was talking about. The four Marauders laughed at Sirius for a moment and continued to examine their schedules.

"All right," James said, "we'd better get a move on. Classes are in the dungeons, and I have no idea how to get there."

"Entrance hall," Remus said, providing more information that the others didn't know.

"How do you know all of this, Lupin?" Sirius asked, glaring at the boy.

"I read a book, a skill that you so far appear to lack," Remus replied. James chuckled at Remus' joke and pushed the doors of the Great Hall open, looking around for a door marked 'dungeons,' which he didn't find.

"Right here James," Remus said, pushing open a door nearby and ignoring Sirius' wand, which was pointed directly at his head.

As they traversed the dungeons, the boys found a queue of people outside of a door, all from Gryffindor house. James immediately stood behind the last girl in line, who just happened to be Lily Evans. James grinned and cleared his throat, adjusting the collar on his robes and running his hand through his hair. She turned around, then turned back quickly in disgust, emitting a furious sigh.

"Save it," she said, not bothering to even acknowledge his presence any further.

"You're so uptight… lighten up a little, have some fun!" James said, trying to get her to face him again. She didn't budge.

"Give it time, James," Remus said, patting him on the shoulder. Moments later, the dungeon door swung open and the walrus-like Professor Slughorn stepped out, smiling happily and beaming at his new students.

"Hello all!" he said aloud. "Welcome to Potions! We'll be in this classroom here, but I suppose you already figured that out. Now, inside, inside…"

James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter all sat down at one table, while Lily sat alone at a table nearby. James looked at her differently for a minute, noticing that nobody would go near her. He decided to keep her company and waved to the other Marauders, pointing at Lily and leaving to go sit with her.

"Why are you all alone?" James asked seriously, trying to stay as far from hitting on her as he could.

"I'd rather be alone than with you!" she said, glaring at him furiously. Slughorn was saying something apparently, but like the night before, James was too caught up in conversation to notice. He caught the words 'glory' and 'death' somewhere, but that was all.

"Hey, give me a break! I'm trying to be nice and keep you company so that people don't make fun of you," James replied, glancing at the rest of the class. None of them seemed to notice either of them was there. "Now tell me, why are you alone?"

"If you must know, it's because my friends all got sorted into Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff!" Lily continued to glare at him. James sighed.

"Lily…" he said.

"What?" she snapped quietly.

"Come on… come hang out with my friends and I. We aren't that bad," James motioned towards the others, who were laughing amongst themselves.

"The only person there I'd consider hanging out with is Remus! Sirius is just like you, and Peter is…" Lily stopped as she searched for words.

"Pete's weird, I know. He's loyal, though, and I know he'd never do anything to hurt the rest of us," James smiled.

"How can you be sure of that?" Lily asked, momentarily stopping her verbal war with James.

"Well, I can't, but I trust him. That's more than I could say of you. Do you trust anyone but yourself?" James narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"Not at the moment. I don't know anybody trustworthy. And don't start; I wouldn't even think about trusting you. You're too… pompous!" Lily snarled.

"Pompous? You're calling me pompous? Look at yourself miss, 'I'm Too Good to Trust People!' You're just as stuck up as I am!" James whispered sharply, examining Lily's reaction with enjoyment.

"YOU? Say whatever else you want, but never, ever compare me to you!!!" Lily was no longer whispering. The entire room was staring at them, including Slughorn.

"Is there a problem, Miss Evans?" he asked calmly, watching her turn dark red.

"Um, no, no problem here… sorry for interrupting." Lily hid her face, "Just go away Potter…"

"Whatever… I don't think I'd like to go out with someone like you anyway… you sure you don't want me to stay here with you?" James asked in a friendly tone.

"Go away…" Lily was still blushing when James left to rejoin the Marauders.

"What was that about?" Peter asked, looking at Lily.

"Yeah, why's she so angry about you comparing her to yourself?" Sirius asked him, paying even less attention to Slughorn than anyone else.

"She called me pompous… I haven't even done anything yet. What can she base that on?" James explained, questioning her logic.

"Well, there was that bit on the train, but that wasn't pompous…" Peter replied, digging for explanation, "and just outside the classroom."

"Well that's true," James said, shrugging, "but I still don't understand why she's alone. She said it's because her friends were sorted into Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, but…"

"Well, it's obvious," Remus said, speaking for the first time since class started. His paper was filled with notes that the others had failed to take.

"What? Why is she alone?" James asked, glad for some real insight.

"She's alone because her friends were sorted into Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw… if you insist on it being something else, she may as well be right about your pompousness." Remus licked his thumb and rubbed off a wrong letter, replacing it with the correct one quietly.

"I guess you're right…" James spent the rest of the class watching Lily scribble down notes and shoot him dark looks.

After class, the boys decided to head back to the common room to grab their other books. James caught Remus before they left the dungeons and pulled him aside, deciding to ask him a favor.

"Remus?" he asked, pulling the other boy into another corridor with him.

"Yeah James?" Remus replied innocently.

"I need to ask you a favor…"

"Don't worry about it. You guys can borrow my notes, I don't mind," Remus said, smiling and starting back towards the exit.

"Oh, I was going to do that anyway. I need something else."

"Sure. What do you need?" Remus stared at James quietly, waiting for a response.

"Well… hm… I don't know how to put this… It may sound a bit… rude, but it's not, I promise," James began. Remus' expression began to change, but he still stood there waiting, "Okay. Lily said that the only person she'd consider hanging out with of the four of us is you, and…"

"You want me to become her friend so that I can learn things from her and eventually turn her onto you? That way you can have a nice happy wedding and make Sirius your best man and eventual godfather of your child, leaving me in the dust?" Remus finished, raising his eyebrows questioningly.

"Well… there were different words… but… yeah… would you?" James said, staring at his feet.

"Of course… I'm sure she'll be more intelligent conversation then Sirius… and she's not creepy like Pete… and I suppose if things don't work out between you two, I could always advance on her…" Remus said, gaining a blank stare with dark undertones from James.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," James said tonelessly, starting back towards the entrance hall, "but thanks Remus."

"No problem mate." Remus smiled and matched his pace.

Sirius Black

The rest of the day went surprisingly well, with the Marauders not paying any attention in their classes, save Remus, then leaving to go to another one. Currently, they were all in the Gryffindor common room doing miscellaneous things. Peter was staring blankly at the fire, mesmerized by the dancing flames, James was talking to Remus at a table near one of the windows, and Sirius was sitting in a beanbag chair, staring at a sock. Nobody looked at him strangely, already expecting odd behavior from him.

"I hate you, sock!" Sirius shouted, blinking suddenly.

"Sirius, how many times have I told you?" Remus asked from afar. "You will never win a staring competition with an inanimate object. I thought you'd've learned your lesson with the lamp…"

"Fine, have it your way Remus, with your logic…" Sirius put an angry emphasis on the word 'logic,' giving the sock one last glare before tossing it aside. Deciding to try and impress Remus for once, he picked up the book Remus had read the night before and began to read. Before long he consulted Lupin for help.

"What's this word?" he asked curiously.

"Sirius… the book is upside down…" Remus turned the book around and waved him off, continuing his and James' conversation. Sirius scowled and walked away, beginning the book again. Moments later, he went back to Remus.

"What's this word, then?" he asked.

"So if I just… It's 'the' Sirius… So if I just go and…" Remus said, barely interrupting his conversation again and continuing it just as simply. Sirius frowned.

"Oh… is that how you spell it? That actually explains a lot…" Sirius rubbed his eyes sleepily and yawned. "Well, I'm going to head off to bed now. Good night, all!" Then he went off into the dorm to sleep.

"Something about these curtains…" he said once he was inside. He shivered and tore them off quickly, going to sleep in the only curtain-less bed.