Author's Note: I'm really excited about my newest story Just Passing Through. It's sort of a companion to this, but it's a lot about Sirius. I would love it if any of you decide to read it. Oh, another thing: you may notice James is having rather repetitive thoughts. For example, last chapter (or maybe even the one before) he was worried Sirius hated him, and he'll have the thoughts again. It's intentional.

"Poor job, Mr. Potter," said Professor McGonagall, shaking her head when she put his recent test down on his desk.

James turned it over, hoping Remus hadn't seen the bad mark.

"How'd you do?" James asked his friend.

Remus shrugged. "Umm—okay," he said, looking uncomfortable.

James raised an eyebrow. It wasn't normal for Remus to be embarrassed about a grade.

Remus sighed, showing him the paper. He had done perfectly, of course, and as a good friend, Remus didn't want to rub it in.

"One test," said James, "isn't a big deal."

Remus didn't say anything else about James' test.

"How much longer do we have?" he asked, glaring at the clock.

"About five minutes," said Remus, looking just as tired as James.

Since James' panic attack two weeks previously, James had noticed a significant change in Remus. He had become so careful not to offend James, and that itself was rather offensive.

"Mr. Potter? Mr. Lupin?"

The two boys looked up at Professor McGonagall guiltily. "Perhaps, Mr. Potter, if you paid attention instead of talking, you wouldn't have a problem."

James would have given anything to have prevented McGonagall from bringing attention to him, particularly in a negative way. Everyone knew Transfiguration was James' best subject. He had always excelled in it, and he didn't appreciate people knowing he had failed an exam, especially Sirius. He didn't need more of an excuse to bother James.

James nodded quietly, and Remus looked a tad embarrassed. They decided to pay attention for the last four minutes of class.

Finally, after the longest two hundred and forty seconds of James' life, the sound of the bell gave them freedom.

James smiled at Remus. "Crazy day, eh?"

"Oh, yes," said Remus. "First, I make my potions exam explode, then you fail a Transfiguration test. Something new every minute."

"It is just one test, Moony," said James, feeling rather defensive about the poor mark he had received.

"Mr. Potter?"

James sighed.

"May I have a word?" she asked, but James knew he didn't have a choice in the matter.

"I'll see you later," he said, rolling his eyes skyward.

Remus smiled weakly, meeting Sirius and Peter at the door. Sirius looked at James unsurely, but James waved him off.

James watched the rest of the class leave, and then he walked to the teacher's desk.

"Yes?" he asked, realizing his voice was cold.

Professor McGonagall sighed, not pleased with his tone, but she let it go. "James, I want you to know that you are failing my class," she said sternly. "You haven't passed on quiz or exam. You have not given me one assignment…"

"Sorry," said James. He wasn't sure what else to say.

"Don't apologize to me," said Professor McGonagall. "This isn't my problem, Mr. Potter."

James didn't understand why she would be bringing it up again. Then, he got the idea.

"I won't graduate, will I?"

"It's early," said McGonagall softly, trying to be understanding. James' grades were never a problem before. "There is plenty of time to bring the grades up, but that's not what the problem is."

"Hmm?"

"I'm worried. This—this isn't like you, James." She only used his first name on special occasions. "You are a great student. I—"

"I'll bring it up, like you said," said James. "Problem solved."

McGonagall raised an eyebrow. "Is it?" McGonagall decided to take a different approach. "How are you doing in your other classes, Potter?"

"Fine," James quickly answered.

"Indeed?"

James nodded.

Professor McGonagall shook her head. "That's not what I've heard. Some other teachers are concerned, James, and we—"

James could not take it any longer. "Stop talking to them! What? Do you think I am failing for fun?"

"Do NOT shout, Potter."

James felt a detention coming on, but surprisingly, McGonagall said, "You may go now," wearily.

James turned around. Before he made it to the door, McGonagall called him again. "If you need anything," she said, letting the words hang there.

James nodded, but he seriously doubted he would go to his teacher if he needed someone.

James left the room without another word.

"Do you see?" asked Sirius, flipping through his textbook pages absentmindedly. "McGonagall noticed it too."

Remus rolled his eyes, resisting the urge to close the hangings around his bed, blocking Sirius from sight.

"I'm not saying there's not something weird going on, Padfoot," said Remus. "I just don't think it's anything serious."

Sirius sighed. "Whatever."

Peter looked anxiously at the bedroom door, knowing that James would walk in at any moment, and Peter didn't want him to hear they were discussing him again.

Sirius continued flipping through the textbook. "So, you know why she wanted to talk to him."

Remus shook his head, not willing to expose James' secret.

James opened the door. "I'm here," he said, closing the door behind him. "Last time I went for a walk, you sent out a search party. Can I go now?"

Sirius knew James was speaking directly to him, but he didn't answer. He simply turned to a page in his textbook, pretending to be doing homework.

"I'll take that as a yes," he said, shrugging.

James grabbed his cloak. "I'll be back soon enough."

"Yeah, maybe for dinner," Sirius mumbled.

James had learned quickly to ignore any comments from Sirius. He put his cloak on, and he went down to the common room, prepared to run off his toast from the morning.

James looked at his watch. It was already three-fifteen. He had wasted valuable time with Professor McGonagall. James had been strangely surprised when he heard that he was failing the class. True, as McGonagall said, he would be able to pull up the grade if he tried harder, but…for some reason, he could not bring himself to give a crap if he did fail. Even graduating did not seem to be such a big deal for him.

But if James were failing Transfiguration, he could not imagine how badly he must have been doing in his other classes. Transfiguration was his best, and that was probably why McGonagall was worried.

James sighed, taking a deep breath before starting to run. It wasn't fair. Nobody was understanding. Professor McGonagall was angry with him. Sirius practically hated him. Sirius hated him. Sirius was mad at him.

James stopped, putting his hands on his knees. No. He had to keep going.

What the hell had he been thinking, eating breakfast? Did he really think he would be able to rid himself of his splurge by a bit of running and skipping lunch? That wasn't going to be nearly enough to satisfy him.

He just had to eat. He hadn't been strong enough to resist temptation. "No," said James. "I'm doing this to make it less obvious." He wasn't weak. He could easily resist food. He had been doing it for weeks!

James stopped running after spotting Lily and her boyfriend walking down to the lake. Afraid of being seen, he ducked back behind a tree. He was close enough to hear them talking.

Lily sat down on the ground by the water next to him, laying her head on his shoulder. James shuddered. What a beautiful couple.

Lily had her hair curled in ringlets, much tighter than her normal waves, and she had decided against robes, dressed in light blue jeans and a t-shirt. James shivered just looking at her, pulling his cloak more tightly around himself. It was cold.

"Quidditch Wednesday?" she asked.

Gavin sighed. "I don't know," he said. "Potter has been canceling practice all the time. It's almost like he doesn't like it anymore."

Lily laughed slightly. "That's ridiculous. He is going through a tough time, isn't he?"

James smiled. He loved her. She could be so kind and understanding. She…. Understanding about what?? Lily couldn't—Lily didn't know anything that was going on. Did she?

No. James shook his head. She probably meant because of all the petty fights they had been having more frequently than usual.

"Lily, I haven't been able to notice anything different during our very few practices. Maybe…Sirius was wrong."

"It's possible."

Sirius? Sirius had been talking to them? What did they know? What had Sirius said?

…Maybe Sirius was wrong. Maybe Sirius should just mind his own business from time to time!

James was tempted to shout at them, to tell them that nothing was wrong, and they had no right to talk about him that way, but he couldn't. Lily would know he had been spying, and that would be it for him. He had somehow been comforted by the fact that Lily knew nothing about his problems; it had made him feel less humiliated. Now, she knew, and it was all his friend's fault.

Again, and this goes without saying, James didn't have a problem. But, if he did, it wasn't Lily's business.

James took a calming breath, knowing that if he got himself so worked up, he would probably end up with the nurse again.

"Potter?"

James jumped, wondering who had caught him.

"Spying, are we?"

James knew that voice. He turned to his right, seeing Severus Snape was beside him behind the tree.

"I'm not—I…"

James raised an eyebrow at Snape. He had no books with him, as he usually did if he ever went outside, and he seemed to have walked behind the tree under the assumption he'd be alone. It didn't look like he had planned to come torture James.

"What are you doing?" James asked suspiciously.

Snape cleared his throat, looking as though he hadn't thought James would think to question him about that. Finally, he said, "Well, I had to figure out what you were doing, of course," he said. "Everyone knows you're…" his voice dropped to a whisper, "fragile nowadays."

In James' right mind, he might have seen that Snape was just trying to enrage him, so James would forget to embarrass Snape, who had obviously been spying on Lily as well, but Snape clearly knew that something was going on with him, and that got rid of every bit of common sense James had.

"What do you mean 'fragile'?" James asked, hoping that maybe Snape didn't know. Perhaps, he was just bluffing.

Snape smirked. "Oh, everyone knows, Potter."

James blinked. Lily and Gavin knew. Snape knew. Snape couldn't have been lying. There was too much proof.

"Kno—knows what?" James asked. He knew he was fighting a losing battle. It was clear that Snape wasn't stupid. Intelligence was probably one of the only things he did have.

Snape chuckled. "Aww, has Potter been gaining weight?"

Unable to control himself, he glanced down at his stomach. Snape was just provoking him.

"No," he said.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "The first match of the season is coming up, and the stress of the game could be causing you to gain unintentionally."

"I don't have a problem gaining weight," said James, laughing slightly. He thought he pulled off a rather convincing look. "I'm not a woman, thank you."

Snape's amusement only seemed to increase. He walked even closer. "I'm aware of that, Potter," he said slowly.

What if Snape were right, though? What if his stress was causing him to gain weight? He could have sworn he had felt different when he got up.

But that was ridiculous. What an idiot! Stress couldn't make a person gain weight.

Snape, however, was rather intelligent, wasn't he? He would be the one to know those things…but he would also be the one to lie to James.

Better safe than sorry. Quidditch was done. He was through with it. A little game, however enjoyable he may have found it, wasn't worth ruining every bit of progress he had made.

However, he didn't tell Snape about his decision. "If you don't mind, I'd like to get back to what I was doing."

"Which was what, exactly?" asked Snape, speaking more loudly than he had intended.

Both Lily and Gavin turned in their direction. Lily sighed, getting up.

"Hello, boys," she said, sounding irritated. She shook her head when they didn't respond. "What's the problem?"

"You ought to be a teacher, Evans," said James, feeling strangely hostile toward her after he had seen her head on Gavin's shoulder. "You've got the whole, 'I'm pretending to care about both of you' act down nicely."

Lily looked as if she had no idea how to reply to that. "Well," she said simply. James wasn't sure if she was going to say anything else. "Gavin," she said, turning to her boyfriend. He still hadn't moved. "Gavin, we have to go in now. These two idiots have some sort of vendetta against me."

Neither boy protested, knowing Lily wouldn't listen to whatever the two of them said anyway.

Gavin stood up, never once thinking to question his girlfriend. "See you, Potter," he said. He nodded at Snape.

Gavin then took Lily's hand, which caused both Snape and James to glare (who knew the two had anything in common?), and Lily and Gavin walked back into the castle without another word.

"So, freezing, are you?" asked Snape, making fun of James' large cloak. It was obvious that he was intending to be as nasty as possible, as he was under the impression that it was James' fault his plan to watch Lily was foiled.

"Yes. Problem with that?"

"Oh, no. It's just sad," said Snape. "Can't handle a bit of cool weather."

"Shut-up," said James under his breath, so close to boiling point.

"Not so friendly," said Snape, rolling his eyes. "I think I see a bit of extra skin there, Potter. You had best go back to running it off."

Before James could react, Snape had walked away.

James shook his head. When did everyone get so fast? James felt as if he were living in a world where everything was being played in fast motion, and he couldn't keep up. Or, perhaps, it was the other way around? He had become too slow?

"I WASN'T RUNNING IT OFF!" he shouted, hoping Snape could hear him. He didn't care if he sounded stupid. "AND THERE IS EXTR SKIN…A LOT!" Snape didn't turn around. "I DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT!"

"Damn," he said to himself after Snape had gotten inside.

He was planning on going straight back inside, but he couldn't after what Snape had said to him. Had he really put on weight since his stress came in?

James ran for a bit longer, deciding that if he had put on weight, he had to take every action possible to get rid of it, especially since his friends were onto him. Eating in the hospital wing was affecting his ability to rid all food from his body, so he would just have to try much harder to dispose of it. Apparently, he hadn't been trying hard enough. Snape was right. Snape was so right. All the stress was getting to him, wasn't it? Damn Quidditch. How had he ever let a game get the best of him?

Finally, James felt ready to go in. He was freezing, but he felt sweat dripping down his face.

He walked around groups of giggling girls, ignoring their obvious desire for him. He rolled his eyes, walking into the school, and eventually, reaching the Gryffindor common room. It seemed to take forever.

However, when something was not wanted, it always came faster. The same held true for James' walk up to his dormitory. He didn't want his friends to bother him.

James walked in, surprised to see that Sirius was alone in the room. He was on his bed, lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling. When he heard the door open, he turned to James with a smile on his face. Sirius actually looked so happy to see him that James almost forgot his anger. Almost.

"Hey, mate," said James sitting himself down on the end of his friend's bed, forcing a smile.

"Hi," said Sirius, sitting up. "How was your walk?"

It had been so long since Sirius and James had been so nice to each other, and James was wondering if it was a good idea to bring up his ill feelings. He decided to take advantage of Sirius' good mood to talk about his Quidditch decision.

"Umm, Padfoot," said James slowly. "Well, you obviously know I have had a lot on my mind, lately."

Sirius nodded, and he looked very interested.

"Okay," said James, realizing this would be harder than he had originally thought. "McGonagall said I have to quit the team…at least…for now."

Sirius looked beyond shocked. James couldn't believe he was so cowardly. He could have just said it was stressing him out, at least, but no; he had to lie.

"Why?" asked Sirius incredulously. "Did you—is that what she wanted to talk about?"

James nodded guiltily. "I'm doing terribly in…Potions," James lied. He was too humiliated to admit that it was really Transfiguration. "Yeah, and she reckons the stress is just too much for me right now, what with being Captain, Head Boy, and all of that."

Sirius looked so sad for him, and James felt even worse. "You're taking this all rather well," he said. "Maybe—hey, maybe I could help you in Potions!" said Sirius. "I don't want you off the team."

"It's okay," said James, exhausted. "I doubt it would help."

James then got off his bed and walked to his own. He pulled his shoes and cloak off before collapsing against his pillow.

"Can I rest and shower before dinner?" asked James, turning onto his side to face Sirius. He didn't like asking permission for everything, but he was pretty sure that it was helping Sirius trust him, and if Sirius trusted him, everything would be a lot easier.

"Yes," said Sirius, smiling again. "Of course, James." James could tell he had made him happy with the "before dinner" comment because it proved that he was planning on going. This felt good. Sirius was in the palm of his hand. Perhaps, he wouldn't bring up his anger with him just yet.

"I saw Evans and Gavin down by the lake," said James, his nose crinkling slightly on the boy's name.

Sirius nodded. "No surprise there, huh?" he said. "Prongs, I'm telling you this as a friend: don't go out there just to watch her."

"I wasn't," said James. That was actually true. "I went out for a walk, but then she happened to show up."

Sirius shrugged. James wasn't sure if he believed him or not.

"Just don't get into anything with Gavin, okay He is very kind to you, considering how much you stalk his girlfriend." Sirius put up a hand as James opened his mouth to protest. "Don't ruin that. Now, go shower. You're all sweaty." He laughed.

James nodded, heading into the bathroom.

After James had fallen asleep, Sirius went down to find his friends at the library. To his relief, it didn't look like he was going to have to go all the way there because Remus was on the couch.

"Where's Wormtail?" asked Sirius, sitting down beside Remus.

"He said he'd meet us at dinner," said Remus, immersed in a book. "He was just finishing up, but I said I was going to come see if James came back."

" He did," said Sirius. "He was all sweaty and gross, so he showered, and now he's taking a nap…"

"Interesting," said Remus. "Vigorous walk," he muttered. "I do hope you didn't bite his head off."

Sirius shook his head. "I was good, and so was he. I said I would wake him up before dinner."

Remus nodded. "You know how he likes his sleep."

Sirius nodded. He certainly did.

After giving James a good amount of time for sleep, and after Peter had shown up, Sirius realized he had to wake his friend for dinner.

Sirius told the others to go on ahead, saying he would be there in just a bit. Before Sirius went upstairs, he heard Remus telling Peter that he and James were getting along nicely. He also heard Peter's scoff. He frowned. It wasn't that unbelievable that they would get along. They were, after all, best friends.

Best friends.

Sirius went up the stairs, always afraid of what he would see when he walked into his room. It seemed that James always made him worry so much more than anyone else, not that he would admit it to him.

Fortunately, when he entered the room, James was doing just as he promised he would be. Sleeping. Peacefully, too. That wasn't something that he had been doing lately.

Sirius had tried not to notice the many nights James had restlessly moved around, practically having fits in his sleep. On many occasions, James had woken up, crying, and Sirius had pretended to be asleep, not wanting to embarrass his friend.

This calming sleep was good for him.

Sirius sat down on the bed, careful not to disturb him, and he laid a hand on James' forehead, pushing his bangs away.

The decision of whether or not to wake him was proving to be difficult. On the one hand, James had to get up to eat. On the other hand, James had never slept so bea—peacefully in weeks.

And he had been being so good about eating. Maybe, it wasn't much, but Sirius had seen him at breakfast every morning, and no—not at lunch, but he would always eat a small dinner with them before going off for his walks, which he needed a lot of lately.

In fact, James was being very good.

'Okay', Sirius decided. 'He can sleep.'

Apparently, Sirius' hand had woken James, and he stirred slightly. His eyes were still closed.

"Sirius?" he said tiredly.

"You want to stay up here?" asked Sirius.

"Yeah. I'm not feeling so well," said James, sitting up a bit.

Sirius nodded. "Okay," he said sympathetically. James felt bad for lying again, realizing how damn caring Sirius sounded. "I'll bring something back for you in case you feel better."

"Thanks," said James, smiling, still half-asleep. "You'll need to take your hand with you."

Sirius was confused for a second, but then he pulled his hand away from James' forehead quickly, clearing his throat.

"Be back soon."

"Uh-huh."

Piece of freaking cake. Oh, cake. That sounded so good…

"And, by the way," said Sirius, "you're amazing, you know that?"

James had to open his eyes for that one, completely confused. "What?"

"The way you're dealing with this whole Quidditch thing. You should be proud of yourself," he said.

James could tell that, though Sirius was being truthful, he was mainly trying to make up for the distance between them.

"Thanks, mate," said James.

Sirius closed the door, and James groaned. For a minute, he had been proud, proud of how he had fooled his friend into letting him skip dinner. He was proud to be a conniving, manipulator.

James snorted. "Some gift."

Since he really was exhausted, James let himself go back to sleep, ignoring his self-deprecating thoughts.

Author's Note: Please review! Please! Anddddd, read Just Passing Through. Thanks. :)