This is the second last chapter. Unfortunately the characters are all sitting at home feeling sorry for themselves...

Disclaimer - characters are not mine.

Chapter Eight – Contemplations

Remus sat quietly outside his house, under the shade of a large tree. A piece of parchment was resting upon one bent knee, an ink pot forgotten on the ground and a quill held loosely in his hand. His honey eyes stared blankly at the parchment before him, the heading glaring at him, goading him.

He let out what must have been his fifth sigh for the last ten minutes as he rested his head against the unyielding tree trunk and frowned. How was he supposed to finish this stupid assignment if he couldn't think of anything to write?

What had he learnt from this assignment anyway?

Sure, now he knew more than he had ever thought fit to know about wizarding society, but what was interesting about that, really? He wanted to end this assignment with something good, something that would make people sit up and take notice about how interesting and beneficial – in a twisted way – it had been for him. As loath as he was to admit it right now, this summer had been the best time of his life, even if it had ended in hurt…

With determination sparking in his eyes he dipped the quill into the ink and began writing.

***

It was just a fact that over the past few days Lily hadn't been able to concentrate at all. Every time she picked up a quill or a book, anything, all she could think about was those three stupid boys. Whenever she looked at a book she thought of Remus, when she heard the sound of a motorbike she half expected to see Sirius coming down the road and whenever someone came around the corner she always had a brief moment where she'd hope it would be James.

Frustrated, she snapped her potions book closed and tossed it carelessly onto her bed, sick of having read the same paragraph eight times already. She laid back on the pale red covers on her bed and stared blankly at the off-white ceiling. She couldn't understand it; why the hell did she care so much about three good for nothing boys?

It was true what James had said, as much as it hurt her to admit. They were all living in a world that just didn't exist. When school started in few short days she knew without a doubt that none of them would talk to her; that Sirius would sit alone in his compartment on the train, Remus would have a book open with his nose buried in it and James would be surrounded by more people then he cared for. As much as she had loved this summer – hell it had been the best time of her life! – She knew it was all just a fantasy world they had been living in. As Sirius had said, they were all a bunch of fakers.

Feeling as if she might cry for the 100th time in the last few days, she rolled onto her side and curled up into a ball. Hoping that by closing herself off from the world she could protect herself from the pain and hurt. Opening her glassy green eyes they came to rest of her neatly organized desk.

She frowned at the empty parchment sitting patiently, the stack of parchment beside it her copy of the assignment they had spent the better part of their summer completing. Well, she glared at the empty parchment, it was almost complete.

Heaving a heavy sigh she uncurled herself and pushed up from the comfort of the bed and wandered over to the innocent looking desk. Sitting before it she opened a new pot of ink before pulling out a quill in a flourish that would put a pure blood to shame, she lightly tapped it to her cheek as she contemplated the sheet before her.

Thinking over the past summer, thoughts began to take root and she slowly dipped her quill into the plain black ink and began to write.

***

Opening his door with a rag from the garage downstairs, Sirius meandered into his empty little apartment. Chucking the rag onto the small table carelessly he walked into the kitchenette and washed his hands free from grease and oil that had come from spending the past four hours working on his bike. Once mostly clean he dried them before grabbing a muggle soft drink from the fridge and wandering over to his couch. Sitting down heavily he cracked the can open and took a sip, eyes watering slightly at the fizziness of the drink. With a deep breath he settled into the seat comfortably.

He sat still for five minutes before opening grey eyes a crack and frowning at the stack parchment resting on one of the corners of the table.

"Stupid thing," he mumbled to himself as he took another sip of his drink.

Silence once again filled the area as Sirius found his eyes drawn back to the completed assignment. As he stared at it a silent war raged inside his mind as to whether or not he should give in and once again re-read his final piece of the assessment.

Grumbling to himself he finally gave in and, leaning over, he placed his drink on the table with one hand while he picked up the final piece of parchment resting on top of the pile with the other. Sighing, he began reading the words written in his own untidy scrawl, picking up a quill and occasionally making small changes for the third time since he had written it.

***

James shuffled into his messy room, the floor covered with magazines and clothes that the house elves had yet to pick up. He moved over to the only slightly clear thing in the room – his desk. There was only one thing sitting innocently atop the wood, a stack of parchment awaiting delivery.

He flopped into the chair and stared contemplatively at the stack. He knew that he needed to send it soon so that it would get to Hogwarts before him and thus be marked. He was pretty sure that they had passed quite well with it; after all they had spent enough time on the stupid thing.

A frown married his brow as he tried to banish the thoughts of the other three group members from him mind.

What he had said the night of the party was painfully true. He knew that it was always just a make believe world they were living in. There was no way that he would have ever talked to any of them if he hadn't of been partnered up with them. They might as well have been from another world entirely for how different their lives were. While James found himself living in a world of fake smiles and empty promises he knew that he wasn't the only one who suffered. Lily Evans, for all her tough talk and angry words, really she was lonely and had been ignored for so long that any kind of attention was better than nothing. Sirius Black wasn't the no good criminal that everyone thought of him as, he was a good guy who was just misunderstood thanks to all the rumors his own family had started up about him. Then there was studious little Remus Lupin who, when given the chance, enjoyed many things that had nothing to do with school or books, he was just so kind hearted that he allowed others to take advantage of him.

Shaking his head slightly, James let out another sigh before dragging himself to his feet and moving over to where his owl, Swift, was perched on the top of his cupboard. Calling him down softly, the bird landed on his shoulder and nibbled on his ear affectionately.

"Hey boy, I need you to deliver my assignment to Hogwarts. Can you do that for me?" He asked as he bundled up the parchment and tied it to the offered leg. With a soft hoot the owl waited patiently for him to finish before ruffling its feathers then hopping out the window.

Once again sitting at his desk, James Potter wondered silently to himself if he had done the right thing.

***

As the four teenagers struggled with their inner demons and doubts; the Wanderers Café remained strangely empty. The small both behind the half wall and bushes gathered dust as the regulars of the café ideally wondered where the four friends where who always sat there on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays were. It was strange that they had all suddenly stopped coming, they had always seemed to have such fun and they had been so close…

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