Author's Note: Here is Just Passing Through. Please enjoy. And I'm not sure, but I think this chapter is more fun if you read Sick lol. Okay, so here's the deal. This chapter was very complicated to write. It's less of a chapter…more of separated scenes. You'll see what I mean when you read it. Some people may like it more than a normal chapter. Some people may not. It's…different, you know? That's all I can really say. Now, this was also a hard one to write because the fun stuff really begins next chapter, and from now on, it'll jump month to month, year to year because, like I said at the beginning, it's not like a normal story. It won't flow from moment to moment. Know what I mean? Enjoy. Please review. Oh, and another thing. Most of you know that I'm against putting lines to separate scenes because I feel it takes away from the story, but for this time and this time only, I will do that. This chapter wouldn't be good without them. :)

"A werewolf."

"A werewolf?"

"A werewolf."

Peter and Sirius looked at James skeptically.

"Look," said James, "it all fits."

"I'm looking," said Sirius, "and I'm not seeing."

"Remus can't be a werewolf…" said Peter softly. "He's too quiet."

James sighed. "I don't think that really matters. Look," he said, pulling them in closer, "Remus happens to leave for a few days every month. He gets sick, moody, and he abandons us."

"But that doesn't necessarily mean—"

"Don't believe me," James interrupted Sirius, shrugging. "All I have left to do it ask him about it."

James sped up the stairs without offering them time to stop him.

Peter and Sirius exchanged a look. "This may not be good," said Peter.

"Let's go," said Sirius, following James upstairs.

Remus was relaxing on his bed, reading a good, calming book when James burst into the room, followed by the other two idiots.

"Where's Frank?" James asked immediately.

"With Lily," said Remus slowly, lowering the book. "Why?"

James grinned, leaping onto his own bed. "I've got a question for you, Remmie."

"Don't," said Remus half-heartedly, rolling his eyes. "I refuse to respond to that name."

Sirius snorted. "Like James cares."

James turned around to glare at Sirius. "Anyway," he said to Remus, "I have a question."

"I'm listening," said Remus, sitting up straight.

"He wanted to ask if you'd be in class tomorrow," said Sirius.

James glared again at Sirius. "What is your problem?"

Sirius stepped further into the room and sighed. "Okay, fine. James has this crazy idea that you're a werewolf." He rolled his eyes to show Remus how stupid he thought he was.

Remus chuckled weakly. He looked at James. "Me? A werewolf? Please."

James shrugged, unabashed. "Well, I know you have something. I just don't know what you could have that would humiliate you so much."

"Well," said Remus, "I have my secrets, but I am not a werewolf."

James' grin didn't fade. "Are you offering me a challenge?"

Remus rolled his eyes, raising his book again. "Whatever you say, Potter."

"If you'd just admit it, you wouldn't have to go through the trouble of my stalking you."

"I'll be taking him away from you now," said Sirius.

"Thank you," Remus replied distracted by his reading.

Sirius pulled James up by the wrist, leading him out of the room. Peter followed, shutting the door behind them.

"I don't know why you're so obsessed with him, but enough is enough. Accusing him of being a werewolf? That's insulting."

"Well, it shouldn't be offensive," said James, crossing his arms.

When they got down the stairs, James sat down moodily in a chair by the fireplace. "He shouldn't be embarrassed about it."

"Do you ever accept defeat?" said Sirius somewhat admiringly. "Just admit you're wrong, okay?"

"I'm not," said James stubbornly. "Tomorrow night, I'll follow him wherever he goes, and you'll come with me."

"I—" Sirius would have argued, but he had learned that trying to resist James was futile.

Peter sat down on the floor next to them. "I agree with Sirius. Remus can't be a werewolf," he whispered.

"Whatever you say," said James, repeating Remus' phrase. "I'm going to prove it."

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Sirius watched James out of the corner of his eyes, silently observing him.

James had a lot of interesting characteristics that Sirius had yet to see in another Hogwarts student. For example, he had read almost every book in his home library before he was nine. Yes, he had a home library, probably twice the size of the school's. He was a very speedy reader, and even after he had found his theory or Remus' lycanthropy, he continued to read the whole book he had found it in just for fun.

James also had a strange fascination with time. It wasn't a problem, of course, but Sirius didn't understand it. He would finish his homework…and then he would record the time. If he woke up in the middle of the night, he would write down what time it was. Even when he, Sirius, and Peter were enjoying themselves, perhaps relaxing outside, he would write down the time they were done. It was sort of frightening and extremely neurotic.

Then, there was the sister thing that came alone with James.

"You want the rest of my pie?" asked Sirius.

James ran his hand through his hair, staring down the table at Lily.

"No," he said.

Sirius pushed the plate away from himself. James seemed to get along very well with Mercedes except when she became protective. He avoided his other sisters, however, as if each and every one of them had the plague. He didn't even like to speak of them. Sirius could not understand why because they seemed just as nice as Mercedes was, and they seemed to treat James reasonably…as far as siblings go. Again, that didn't bother Sirius because it wasn't really his business.

The only thing that Sirius really had a problem with was that James hated secrets above all things, but he was quite hypocritical when it came to them. James was nosy, rude, and obsessed with knowing every little detail about people that they didn't feel comfortable giving out. The irritating part: James was probably the most secretive person Sirius had ever met. It was insane.

"Hey."

Sirius looked up to see Remus sitting down across from him. James didn't notice any disturbance, his eyes still glued on Lily sipping her pumpkin juice.

"Hi," said Sirius. "Can I apologize for James?"

Remus smiled, but he looked away from him. "There's no need."

"He is just very open about things," said Sirius. For some reason, he felt it was his job to explain James' actions if he did not do it himself. "He likes to help people, but he doesn't always go about it in the best way."

Remus finally turned back to him. "It's really okay," said Remus. "I'm not mad."

Sirius smiled. "Okay, James. Time to join us."

"She said hi to me today," said James dreamily.

"And he's not coming back to us, is he?" said Remus.

Sirius shook his head.

His friends certainly kept Sirius on his toes.

Since the night Sirius had confided in Lily the situation with James' sister that he had witnessed, he and Lily had become friends. It was mostly from a distance, but he and Lily had found a strong bond: trust and understanding in each other. The two had begun meeting once a week in the common. James still hadn't noticed, happy with the extra time to harass Remus or read.

"He's just a spoiled brat, really," said Sirius.

Lily was lying on her stomach in front of Sirius, listening to him and writing a Potions essay simultaneously.

"Mhmm," Lily replied. "That doesn't really mean they love him, though. Spoiling a kid with stuff is like telling him, 'I'll do anything if you leave me be.'"

"I know," said Sirius, sighing. "I don't really hate him…It's just frustrating because he has the potential to be…well, like my twin."

"My sister has the potential to be an even bigger pain in my arse than she already is," said Lily, "and I don't want her reaching that potential."

Lily pushed her hair behind her ears, reading a paragraph over in her head.

"So, I have a piece of advice for you to pass onto James," she said.

"What is it?" said Sirius, looking interested.

"Tell him not to talk to me when I'm with Severus," she said seriously. "He does not like James."

"I think the feeling is mutual, but I suppose in James' case, it's just jealousy."

"Jealously?" Lily furrowed her brow. "What would James be jealous of?"

Sirius was rather surprised to hear her say that. Surely, Lily wasn't oblivious to James' stares. She had to have noticed his stalking her. Snape obviously had.

"Umm," said Sirius, not wanting to spoil his friends' secret if it hadn't gotten to Lily yet. He looked down. "Well, Snape…I don't know. James is strange."

"Okay," said Lily, going back to her essay. "You might also pass on this. I'm tired of being stared at as if I'm some animal in a zoo."

Sirius laughed. He should have known she was aware.

"I will."

"Can I ask you something?"

James smiled, closing his book. "Absolutely," he said.

Sirius sat down on his bed, pulling his knees up to his chest. "When I go to your house, could we not mention my surname?"

James sighed. "Sirius, they won't care," said James. "Did my sisters care?"

"No. I know they won't…just…please."

James shrugged. "I guess."

Sirius continued to watch James closely after their short conversation was over. He seemed annoyed, and that bothered Sirius. What the hell did he have to be annoyed about? Sirius was embarrassed by his family. Remus was uncomfortable giving away his big secret. What was so terrible about that?

"You are so nosy," said Sirius.

It didn't have quite the reaction Sirius had been hoping for. James just smiled. "I know."

Getting a rise out of James wasn't an easy thing to do, so Sirius didn't push it further.

"Are you in, Peter?" James asked, grabbing the invisibility cloak from his trunk.

"I don't know," said Peter hesitantly. "I don't know if it's a good idea."

"Suit yourself," said James. "Come on, Sirius."

Sirius wasn't asked to give his opinion. James counted on him to be on his side, which, for the most part he was. The only thing they actually disagreed on was Remus.

They walked through the corridors quietly, sticking as close together as possible to keep the cloak over both of them.

"Where are we going?" Sirius whispered.

"Hospital wing," said James, trying not to step on Sirius' feet.

"I thought you didn't believe he was there," said Sirius.

"I'm going to have to prove that to you, though," said James.

Sirius didn't need James to prove it. He simply didn't care. All he wanted was to go back to their dormitory and forget about Remus.

"Whatever," said Sirius, rolling his eyes. "Let's just be quiet."

They finally arrived at the door, leading to the hospital wing.

James pushed the door open, swearing softly when there was a creak. Luckily, Madam Pomfrey was too busy tending to a boy with a twisted arm to notice.

James, as quietly as he could, closed the door behind them.

There were only two people in the large room. James recognized one boy from their Potions class, but the other was a mystery. One thing was for sure: Remus was not there.

"Do you see him?" James asked.

Even though James was basically moving his lips without sound coming out, Sirius could tell that he was proud of being right.

Sirius still had a hard time believing that Remus was a werewolf, but there were so many signs that pointed to it. The only thing keeping Sirius from admitting that it had to be true was Remus' word. Then again, Remus had lied to them about where he was, so could his word really be trusted?

"Okay, supposing I believe you…how do we get him to admit it?"

"First of all, we let him know we won't hate him. Then, we tell him we have proof…well, sort of. Basically, we trap him."

"We're mean," said Sirius.

"Speak for yourself!" said James.

Sirius smiled, and James laughed.

There weren't many lights on in the castle so late at night, but with the few that were, Sirius could see James' face brighten when he laughed. "Wall," he whispered.

"What?"

Sirius had been so distracted that he did not notice he was guiding them straight into a wall. He backed up and sent them both to the floor, Sirius on top of James.

The invisibility cloak was still covering half of their bodies, and despite the fact that they could have gotten in trouble if one of the Prefects or Head students came around, James laughed again.

"Good thing that didn't happen in front of Madam Pomfrey, eh?"

Sirius nodded, remaining where he was.

"You want to just hang out here on the floor? See, I kind of like the idea of getting back to my room."

"Okay," said Sirius, getting up. He made sure not to even glance at James the entire way back to their room.

"Remus…"

James had forced Sirius and Peter to get up as early as possible to see if Remus had gone to the hospital wing. By six-thirty, they were walking into the room, careful not to disturb any of the sleepers.

They were not, however, prepared for the sight that met their eyes.

Remus' face was covered in bruises. He looked as though he had just gotten to sleep. He was still pale and ill looking, but worse than anything, there were strange lesions covering his arms.

James was the first to walk over to him, gently shaking him awake.

"Can't he let him sleep?" said Peter.

"That's not James' way."

"Good point." Peter agreed.

Remus groaned and rolled over, obviously not ready to be woken up.

"Remus, come on."

Reluctantly, Remus opened one eye. "Great," he said sarcastically.

James sat down on the end of the bed, hoping he didn't wake Madam Pomfrey. "Hey," he said.

"Hi," said Remus unenthusiastically, sitting up.

When he spoke, he spoke in a voice barely above a whisper. He didn't seem to have much energy for anything else. He pushed his bangs out of his face and tried to smile.

"Sorry," he said. "My throat hurts."

Sirius supposed he was apologizing for how low he was speaking, but he didn't see why.

"That's okay," said Sirius. Now that he saw James' head wasn't going to be ripped off, he decided to move closer to him as well.

"Remus, we know," said Sirius, surprising himself. Maybe he had taken a page out of James' book. "We know what's going on, and we don't want you to lie to us anymore."

"No, we don't," Peter denied. "We absolutely don't. You can lie all you want."

"Peter," said James, gesturing for him to join them by Remus. James then spoke with such compassion toward Remus, a compassion that Sirius had never heard before, let alone from James. "It doesn't bother us at all, Remus.

Remus closed his eyes, putting his head in his hands. "You say that now," said Remus, sounding as if he were on the verge of tears.

"Yes, I say that now. I say it now. I'll be saying it tomorrow. Next month. Next year…"

"No," said Remus, pulling his hands away. "Don't do that to me."

"Do what?" asked Peter obliviously.

"Don't make me trust you. People….former friends…have said that before," said Remus. "I know, from experience, that they don't mean it."

"I thought you don't do friends," said Peter, raising an eyebrow.

"And this is exactly why," said Remus. "Listen, I've built up a wall. Tell me now that you can't handle this. We can end whatever kind of friendship we have, and it'll save me a lot of pain in the end."

"Remus," said James slowly. "Don't be melodramatic, okay?"

"James, I'm serious. I spent a long time building up this wall, and I've already broken it."

"I can't believe someone would abandon you," said Sirius. "It's not your fault."

"Wait…so are you admitting it? You are a werewolf?" said Peter.

Remus nodded sadly.

"Well, that's kind of cool." Sirius and Remus looked at him, bewildered. "Well, I mean…it has its cool points."

Remus almost smiled. "Spoken like a true non-werewolf."

"Well, you know what. I really don't care what's happened in the past because I am not like other people," said James. "I'm not going to turn you away because you're different, and for Merlin's sake, haven't I shown you that I want you to trust me? I'm different."

Remus turned away from him. "If you wake Madam Pomfrey, she'll come out and start fussing over me."

James ignored him. "Remus, listen. I'll say this once. You can't hide anything from me. You can't even try. And…you shouldn't want to. Nothing offends me, nothing shocks me, and nothing scares me away."

"Trust me, I'm not scared away by much either," said Sirius. "My aunt and uncle kill people."

Remus laughed weakly.

"I'm not leaving either, Remus," said Peter.

"Don't be afraid to trust us," said James, smiling, seeing that Remus' wall was starting to crumble.

Remus didn't say anything about trusting their word. He cleared his throat and said softly, "Thank you."

And that was enough.

"What? Why are you mad at me?" James demanded, struggling to keep up with Sirius.

Remus and Peter lagged behind, uninterested in even attempting to find out what was going on between the two of them.

Sirius had been avoiding James for weeks, though not directly. They had spoken and laughed and terrorized teachers together.

But it was very obvious that Sirius would rather he didn't have to be around James.

"I'm not mad at you. Where did you get that idea?"

Remus thought that might have been true. He never showed any signs that he was actually angry with James. It seemed as if he were afraid of him.

James looked at him incredulously, grabbing his wrist to stop him. "Talk to me! Damnit!"

"Everything's fine, okay?"

Remus rolled his eyes. Since James and Sirius stopped walking, Remus and Peter were able to catch up.

"Might as well just tell us what it is," said Remus. "Or was all that stuff about 'not being scared away' crap? Are you being hypocritical?"

"Yeah, Remus tells us stuff and you don't?"

Sirius groaned.

This was different. This was not about being turned away. At least Remus knew what he was. Sirius thought he'd known.

But now he was terribly confused.

What was he supposed to say to his friends? He was mad because he fell on James when they were walking out of the hospital wing (spying on Remus, by the way), and then suddenly…Sirius got this odd feeling. Since then, he had been angry that he tripped because, if he didn't, he wouldn't be thinking so much about him.

Or…thinking about how he oddly wanted to be in that position again.

It was the stupid dreams that killed him.

"I'm really not mad, though," said Sirius desperately. "I'm not lying."

Perhaps he would just have to put up with James' company and hope that he didn't say anything stupid. He would have to just be better about hiding his emotions that begged him to avoid his friend.

James raised an eyebrow, looking hopeful. "You sure?"

"I've just been kind of stressed lately. I've got an angry mother to deal with."

James smiled. "You're coming home with me tomorrow, remember? Don't worry about the family."

Sirius tried to look happy as well. If he were in James' house, he'd be with him all the time… Was there no end?

"I don't understand," said James. "They're telling you that you can't come to my house, but you can't go to theirs?"

"That's right," said Sirius, his hand shaking slightly as he buttered his toast.

"That doesn't make sense."

"They don't make sense," said Sirius. "I'm sorry. I really wanted to come."

James rolled his eyes.

When Sirius first met James, he realized that James was, most of the time, very happy. As the weeks went by, he held onto that idea, but he noticed something else.

James didn't understand why the world did not revolve around him.

It wasn't that he was spoiled…not really. It was more that he got annoyed when Sirius made a point of saying something that went against James' belief, and Sirius didn't give into his stubbornness. What was worse: he expected that everybody lived the same way he did. It was almost as if he lived in a bubble, unaware that people in other places had problems.

Sirius wasn't sure James believed in those. Problems seemed to only exist in books for him.

So, James would easily get annoyed with a person if he went against what James wanted, but he'd get over it in a millisecond.

"Are you sure you can't convince them?" asked James.

Sirius was lying. His parents had never said anything of the sort—they didn't care where he went as long as he wasn't pronouncing that he was related to them. They didn't want to be given that shame.

James' reaction almost made him want to say, "Oh, I probably can go. I can convince them that they're wrong. I'll let you know. Okay?" But he couldn't. He needed some time to himself to figure things out. Spending time with James when he didn't want to would only make their friendship fall apart.

Yet…there was a part of him that did want to spend time with James. Very badly.

--

"You're very quiet today," said Lily.

Lily and Sirius were one of the few students who had decided to stay at Hogwarts during the Christmas Holiday. Lily could have gone home, and she had thought about it a great deal, but she finally decided she would give her sister some time to cool down.

Sirius didn't want to tell her that he didn't think her sister would cool down if she hadn't already. He assumed she knew that deep down, and he wouldn't be the one to wreck her fantasy world.

Sirius pushed his mashed potatoes around his plate, barely eating.

Lily was an extremely attractive girl, wasn't she? She had beautiful, wavy, red hair, ending just past her shoulders. Her eyes were a bright green that Sirius couldn't remember ever seeing on anyone else, and they sparkled magnificently when she was happy.

She was smart, kind, and became one of his best friends very quickly.

Surely, he was supposed to be imagining what it would be like to fall on top of her.

Though…Sirius thought if he were to be imagining falling on top of her, he would probably be imagining other parts of her body, not including the hair and the eyes.

What the hell was wrong with him?

Obviously, he was simply not attracted to Lily. Who said he had to be interested in a girl, anyway? He was young, not even twelve yet. Not every guy had to have some sort of a crush on a girl so young, right? Maybe he was just a late bloomer. One day, he would find an interest in someone, and it would absolutely not be Lily.

"I'm fine," he said.

And it wouldn't be James either.

James was most certainly not a girl, and Sirius was most certainly not that kind of guy.

Author's Note: Okay, so like I said, the scenes were kind of weird, but I think it came out pretty nicely. How about you? Reviiiiiew, please. Next chapter is fun and crazy and twisted.