Author's Note: I love writing this story so much because of all the things I have planned for Sick, but you guys aren't reviewing much, so I don't know if you like it as much as I do. It will be very infrequently updated if you don't give me any feedback. And, I've decided to split this chapter into like…two parts, sort of. So, the next chapter will obviously be part two, but the chapter after that is going to be fun.

"That's ridiculous," said James, rolling his eyes.

"Do you have a better theory?" asked Sirius.

"Does he have a better theory than 'Remus is afraid of coming to class too often?' Most likely," said Peter, chuckling.

"Shh," said James, nodding his head toward the Portrait Hole.

Remus walked in, chatting quietly with Frank about what he had missed. "Thanks," they heard Remus say.

Remus walked right past the three boys without a word. "Hey, Remus."

He turned around cautiously on the first stair when he heard Sirius' voice. "What?" he asked.

"How is your mother?" asked Sirius.

Remus looked as if he did not know how to respond. He wasn't used to such obvious concern.

"She's okay," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Good," said Sirius. "Hopefully, she won't get sick again. You miss a lot."

"Hopefully," said Remus, smiling. "Look, I'll be upstairs."

"Okay," said Peter.

James watched Remus walk up the stairs, and then he shook his head at the others. "You let him get away with too much."

"James, just leave him be," said Sirius.

Sirius and Peter did not understand why James was so obsessed with Remus' life. If Remus' mother was sick, they were willing to accept that. If he were lying too them, what did it matter? He had a secret, they weren't friends…it probably wasn't their business.

James, however, did not quite see it that way. "Look, you don't believe him, do you?" he asked.

"Not entirely," said Sirius. "I just don't see why it matters to you."

James shrugged. "Fine. I'll bother him alone."

"James…"

There was no stopping James when he was on a mission. "Should we follow him?" asked Peter unsurely.

"Uh, I don't know," said Sirius. "Okay. Let's go."

Sirius and Peter reluctantly went upstairs to their dormitory. When they opened the door, they were immediately dragged into the argument without their consent. It was almost as if James knew they would soon come to his aid.

"—even they don't believe you!"

Remus rolled his eyes.

"You missed dinner," said James.

"I ate at home. Thanks for your concern."

The relationship between Remus and James had only gotten worse after the first week of school. By the end of November, it seemed that James would do anything to get Remus to talk, and Remus would do anything to avoid him. James' plan was working a little better. Avoiding a person is harder when you're forced to share a room with him.

"Why can't you just tell me?"

"Why do you care?" asked Remus.

Unless Sirius was mistaken, Remus looked almost hurt by James' attention.

"Let's go back downstairs," said Sirius, guiding James to the door.

At first, it was only James that could control Sirius, but Sirius eventually learned how to switch that around.

"But…I—" James complained.

"Evans, James! Let's go find her!"

James quickly agreed, and Peter followed them obediently.

James had gone a little mad. For two full weeks, he did nothing but search for a reason to Remus' problem. Instead of paying attention to the teachers during classes, he would carefully watch Remus' behavior.

"This is ridiculous," whispered Sirius.

Peter nodded. "He's like obsessed with him," he whispered in return.

James was taking notes, not on Transfiguring pots, but on Remus.

"McGonagall's going to regret pairing them up," said Sirius, laughing.

Remus and James were not speaking, but it was obvious that Remus knew James was staring at him, checking to see if he was doing anything that might give away his secrets.

"I like Evans," said James abruptly.

"What?"

"There's my secret," said James, determined to get Remus to see it his way.

"Oh, please," said Remus, rolling his eyes. "Some secret."

"So, you do have one?"

Remus blinked. "You are unbelievable. Really."

"Mr. Lupin, is there a problem?" asked Professor McGonagall.

Remus sighed. "No."

Remus whispered," I'm so tired of your getting me in trouble for everything you do."

Miraculously, James decided to leave Remus alone for the rest of the class, but he still turned around every few minutes to tell Sirius something that was worth noting, ("he's ambidextrous!" So far, however, neither James nor Sirius saw anything that would explain his frequent absence from school.

Needless to say, by the end of class, James was distressed.

James let Remus leave before him, and then he turned to Sirius and Peter. "Any ideas?"

"Come on," said Sirius, gently pushing him towards the door. James took the hint, but he continued to talk during their walk to Charms.

"He's so stubborn," James complained. "It's not like it would hurt him to tell me."

"Not like it would hurt you to give up," said Peter.

"Very true," said Sirius.

But Sirius had gotten to know James enough to realize that, even if he didn't fully understand why, it did hurt James to give up on something. To him, it was considered a sin not to win something.

Sirius quickly tried to change the subject. "So, when were you going to tell me you liked Lily Evans?" asked Sirius.

"I don't," said James, pushing open to the door to Flitwick's classroom.

"That's what you told Remus," said Sirius.

Peter separated himself from them to go to his assigned seat, and James and Sirius went to take their own.

"Well, I thought it would help me get information on Remus," said James.

"You like her," said Sirius teasingly.

"Do not," said James.

"Do too," said Sirius, smirking.

"Excuse me," said James, "but this is a class, and I'd like to learn."

Sirius laughed. "Likely story."

……………………………………………………………………………………

After class, James dragged Sirius to the library, insisting he had an idea.

"James, wait," said Sirius, stopping James from opening the door. "I'm going to ask you this one last time: why can't we just let the boy have a secret?"

James sighed impatiently. "We just can't."

"Not a reason," said Sirius. "Look, would you just—"

"Trust me," said James, pushing his hand away from the doorknob. Sirius followed submissively. What else could he do?

James threw his books down onto a table unceremoniously. He then rushed off to visit shelves. Sirius watched him grab book after book, and he finally asked what, exactly, James was looking for.

James shrugged. "I've read a lot of these, but I've obviously never sat down to read a book about—" he read the title of the next one he had grabbed, "—Wizarding Maladies."

Personally, Sirius thought Remus' illness was a lot less severe than James' obsession with it. He had never seen someone so determined on figuring out one tiny aspect of a person that he was not even friendly with.

"Can you take some of these?"

Sirius laughed. James had so many books that Sirius could no longer his face. "Yeah," he said, grabbing a few off the top.

The both of them carried the books over to their table, and James immediately got to work, flipping through pages and reading passages. Sirius wasn't sure he had any idea what he was looking for.

Sirius did not want to sit there and watch the madness, so he volunteered to go and find more information.

Sirius aimlessly wandered through aisles. He wondered how long he could go without being caught by James.

"Oh!"

Sirius had not been paying attention. "I'm sorry," he said.

Lily Evans stood before him for a moment, smiling shyly before leaning down to pick up her books.

Sirius felt he had to say something. "I'm Sirius," he said, holding out his hand.

"Yes, I know," said Lily. "We have met, you know, in the past three months…and I'd shake your hand, but I'm holding books."

"I'm bad at officially meeting people," said Sirius, chuckling.

"Ah," said Lily. "I'm probably worse."

Neither one of them said anything for a while. "So," said Lily, possibly to break the awkwardness, "what are you and…uh…James here for? Library doesn't seem your thing."

"Oh," said Sirius, leaning against the shelves. "He's neurotic."

Lily giggled. "That didn't answer my question, but I'm sure it's true."

Sirius could hardly see James from where they were standing, and he hoped James could not see him. He was supposed to be searching, but instead, he was socializing.

"His heart is in the right place…I think."

Lily laughed again. "I thought he was your friend."

"Oh, he is," said Sirius quickly. Had he said something to suggest otherwise? Maybe he wasn't good at this new friendship thing. "He is my friend…"

"Relax," said Lily. "I was just kidding."

"I'm—I'm going to go," said Sirius.

"Okay," said Lily. "Nice talking to you."

"And you," he said, getting out of the aisle.

Sirius walked over to where James was. There was a girl sitting next to him that Sirius did not recognize. Her light brown hair was in two long braids. She had light brown eyes. And Sirius could tell she was pretty, even though she looked angry.

As he got closer, he realized that she and James were in an argument, but he was too close to back away inconspicuously. Luckily, they didn't seem to notice him.

"Well, I don't have the patience for this, James," said the girl.

"Whatever," said James, rolling his eyes.

"You act like it's no big deal, but I know it's hurting you, and—"

"It is a big deal," said James, "but it's done."

"You're not done with it."

"Go away," he said.

"I'm serious," she said, sounding agitated. "You know what? Don't listen to me."

"I won't," said James.

The girl left in a bad mood.

"Hi," said Sirius slowly.

"Hi," said James. "I think I may be getting somewhere…"

"Sure," said Sirius. "Give up?"

"No way," said James. "I'll just take these with me."

Sirius walked up to the checkout desk with James. "Was that your sister?" he asked.

"Yeah," said James, slipping his hands in the pockets of his robes while Madam Pince checked out his books.

"Were you fighting?" asked Sirius, feeling stupid. Of course, they were fighting. It was pretty obvious.

"Yeah," said James again. "Thanks," he said to the library, grabbing half the books; Sirius took the other half.

"So, what was your conversation with Evans all about?" James asked, as they were leaving the library.

"You…oh, jeez," said Sirius. "Truthfully, we talked about nothing."

"Maybe a little bit," said James.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Maybe," said James, lowering his voice, "I like her…a little bit."

"Oooh," said Sirius. "I think she knows."

"Is that what you two talked about?" James asked worriedly.

"No," said Sirius. "Okay, so this is a pretty weird question, but it's one I've been dying to ask since I met you."

"Okay," said James slowly. "Watch it!"

Sirius reached up to grab the handrail with one hand, dropping his books. "I hate these stairs."

"Seriously," said James. He put down his books and held out his hand for Sirius to take, considering his foot was stuck in the trick step.

Sirius allowed James to help him up, and he bent down to grab his own pile of books.

"So?"

"What?" asked Sirius.

Subconsciously, he rubbed his scar, remembering the strange feeling he had gotten when James had touched it the last time. Now, he had to deal with that same…odd feeling in his hand. What were they talking about? He couldn't remember.

James looked at him expectantly.

"Your question…?"

"Ohhh," said Sirius. "It's going to sound pretty dumb."

"Sirius."

"Are you always happy?" he asked.

James considered the question for a minute, as if trying to see if Sirius had really asked it.

"Believe it or not," he said, "I get that a lot."

"Oh," said Sirius. He didn't feel quite as stupid if other people had already asked James the same question.

James smiled. "Of course not. No one can be happy all the time."

But, for some reason, this answer frustrated Sirius. "You are, though."

"I'm not," said James. "I am happy a lot, though. I'll give you that."

"Mhmm," said Sirius, watching James from the corner of his eye to see that he was still smiling. "You have some secret?"

"As to why I smile a lot, you mean?" asked James, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," said Sirius.

"Sorriso," said James to the Fat Lady.

"I think it might be because you never smile," said James, stepping through the portrait hole. "Therefore, you're not used to it, and it just looks like I do it a lot."

"But…I don't feel that way about Remus," said Sirius.

"He doesn't smile a lot either," said James, laughing.

"Peter?"

"No," said James slowly. 'Talk to some other people; maybe you'll find another as annoyingly smiley as me."

"Doubt it," said Sirius. "Upstairs?"

"Sure," said James.

When they got to their room, they saw that Remus was on his bed, looking out the window. He didn't make a move when they entered.

"Hi," he said.

Sirius was stunned. It was the first time Remus had ever greeted them without being forced. Were they making progress with him?

"Hello, Remus," said James, walking closer to his bed. "What's up?"

Remus turned away from the window. "What's with the books?"

"Oh," said James, tossing them onto his own bed. "For my sister."

Sirius had noticed that James was able to get away with almost any suspicious item by saying he was doing it for one of his sisters. Even if he didn't like them so much, they were beneficial for that reason.

"Oh," said Remus, pulling his knees up to his chest.

Sirius then realized that Remus wasn't being hostile because he didn't have the energy to be; he looked miserable.

"Are you okay?" James asked. For once, as Sirius was happy to see, he seemed to be ignoring that part in him that wanted to beg for Remus' secret.

"Yeah," said Remus.

"Your dad write back to you yet?" asked Sirius, seeing the letter on Remus' nightstand.

They had heard Remus complaining to Peter a few times during the week about how his father was taking forever to answer a simple letter. Since then, they had both been curious to know what was taking the man so long.

"Oh. Yeah."

James cautiously sat down on the end of Remus' bed, afraid to be pushed away. "This…isn't so easy for me to say," said James.

Remus waited patiently.

"I'm sorry…for being," he hesitated again, "pushy or whatever. It's kind of in my nature to know everything."

"I'm sorry, too," said Sirius.

James laughed. "What for? You never asked."

"But I still wanted to know."

Remus laughed weakly, but still looked rather upset. "Please don't say that."

"What? Sorry?"

"Yes," said Remus.

James and Sirius exchanged looks. James motioned for Sirius to sit down with him.

"Why is it that you don't me to apologize? Should I continue to harass you?" asked James.

"If you apologize, I'd have to forgive you," said Remus.

"Well, you wouldn't have to," said Sirius jokingly. "You could just hold a grudge forever."

Remus did not take it as a joke. "I don't want to hold a grudge. I just don't—I don't need a friendship, okay?"

"Okay," said James calmly.

"I don't have time for friends," said Remus.

"Okay," repeated James.

"I mean, I care very much about my school work," said Remus. It sounded as if he had to convince himself, more than James and Sirius, that all of this was really true.

"I'm sure you do," said James. "Of course, it's not like being friends or…very good acquaintances, has a contract, and you're also still allowed to do your work."

Remus sighed. "I like being alone."

"Oh, believe me," said James, "I understand that. With a family like mine, it's very hard to get a minute, but I don't always like to be alone."

"I do," said Remus defiantly.

"Okay," said James, throwing his hands in the air. "You know, I'm a damn good friend, aren't I?" he asked Sirius.

Sirius wasn't sure whether or not to laugh. "Uh, yes."

"See? Well, you just don't know what you're missing."

Remus looked as if he was having the same dilemma as Remus, wondering whether or not to laugh.

"I just don't do friends, okay?"

"Okay, are you okay with the idea of talking with us on occasion—during your free time, mind you—and maybe, also on occasion, doing your homework with us, as opposed to far away from us?"

"Maybe," said Remus, looking down at his knees. "Don't mock me; I'm serious."

"Not mocking," said James. "You can 'do' that?"

Remus sighed, looked away, and nodded.

"Thank you," said James, smiling.

"So, what's got you so depressed?" asked Sirius.

"No," said Remus. "No, that's what I mean—you don't get to ask things like that because we are not friends."

"Okay," James interjected quickly. "Don't kill us, Remus. We come in peace."

Remus laid his chin on his knee, glancing back at the letter on his night table. "My dad's a jackass."

"There, see?" said Sirius. "Already, we have something in common."

Author's Note: I hope you liked it. :) Please review! I really really need them. Today wasn't a good day. :( Therefore, I need to be assured that I still have faithful readers. Oh, and while I'm here…I don't know if I have any All You Wanted readers here, but I'd like to have a little poll: Should I update All You Wanted first or start my new story? Answer in a review, please.