Author's Note: Well, not too much to say. Read and review!

"James?"

James groaned, pushing his friend away. "Don't want to," he mumbled into his pillow.

"Charms, James."

James only groaned again. "Fine," he said, irritated. "I'll be there in a bit."

"No," said Sirius, his tone stern. "You will come with us to breakfast first. Up."

James seriously did not wan to, but he thought, by going to breakfast with them, he would be able to discuss quidditch with McGonagall.

"Okay," he said, slowly getting out of his bed.

"I've got to go to talk to Lily," said Sirius, "but you guys make sure he is out of here in time for breakfast."

Remus mock-saluted his friend. "Yes, Sir," he said. It was clear that Remus was not keen on the idea of babysitting.

Sirius walked downstairs, seeing the girl he had needed sitting by the window with Frank, Alice, and Gavin. He made his way over to her, sitting himself down by Alice's chair. Lily jumped off the windowsill when Sirius arrived.

"Hey," she said. "You wanted to talk?"

"Yes," said Sirius. "I was hoping…alone?" He stared meaningfully at Gavin, who raised his hands in defense.

"I'll go," he said, kissing Lily good-bye. "See you at breakfast."

Frank and Alice got the hint as well or, rather, Alice got the hint, and she pulled Frank along with her.

"What's up?" she asked, now that they were alone.

"I was wondering if you could help keep an eye on James for me," he said.

Lily closed her eyes and slowly shook her head. "Don't do this to me. I knew you were going to dra—"

"Lily," said Sirius, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Lily, I am so worried about him."

Lily sighed, opening her eyes. "Look, I admire your friendship, but don't get me involved."

"But I figured," said Sirius, "since you're so caring and all, that you—"

"Don't DO that to me!" said Lily. Sirius could tell she was trying to keep her aggravation to a low level. "It's just not fair."

Sirius knew she was right, in a way. He had always been convincing her to do things for him by taking advantage of her need to constantly help people. He knew it was wrong, but it was for a good cause, wasn't it?

"Can you just tell me if you notice anything strange?" asked Sirius desperately.

Lily smiled. "That's a given, sweetie," she said. "I've even got Gavin on the case. However, don't put James in my—don't make me responsible for him. I won't follow him around both day and night."

"Mhmm," said Sirius. "I let him sleep through dinner last night."

Sirius wasn't honestly sure if that decision had been right or wrong. After all, James was supposed to be eating well, but sleeping was also good, especially for a boy like him, right?

"Just make sure he eats breakfast," said Lily, shrugging like it was no big deal. Perhaps it wasn't. Sirius had been very over-protective, and maybe, as Remus had requested, they all could show James they had faith in him. Maybe they could trust him? He had been sweet as hell the night before, asking Sirius' permission for everything, wanting to shower and rest before dinner, and…

Sirius' heart fell into his stomach. James had manipulated him once again. What a bloody surprise. He would just have to calmly talk with him about it.

"I'm going to go now, all right?" she said. Sirius had almost forgotten she was there.

He nodded somberly, feeling stupid.

"Hey," said Lily, noticing his helpless look. "It will be fine, and if you need me, I will help. I'm just tired of people having that assumption that—"

"—you automatically will," Sirius finished for her. "I understand."

Sirius knew exactly what she meant. He, too, was tired of being taken advantage of.

Lily smiled. "Relax," she said, leaning up to kiss his cheek.

Sirius only had to wait for a few more minutes, after Lily left, for his friends to come down the stairs, dressed and ready to go.

"Hi," said Peter cheerfully.

"Hey," said Sirius, trying to smile convincingly.

Sirius tried not to focus on James' walking patterns on their way to the Great Hall, but it was extremely difficult for him not to. He was so exact, whispering so quietly to himself that only Sirius, who was practically connected to him, could heard his counting.

It honestly drove Sirius insane, the way he counted and made sure that the same amount of steps were taken in each square, how many steps he took in all, and made sure he was always behind the others and next to Sirius.

"So, we need to discuss something," said Sirius.

James did not look fearful, as Sirius had expected. In fact, it seemed as if he had been waiting for it.

"Yes. We must talk about what you told Lily," said James.

"What…do you mean?" asked Sirius.

Remus opened the doors to the Great Hall, glancing back at James and Sirius behind him. "Guys, we're here. No fighting."

There was no mistaking the plea in Remus' voice. He sounded ready to get down on his knees and beg.

James stopped counting when he entered the hall. James and Sirius stopped talking during the walk to their seats at the Gryffindor table, but Sirius began again as soon as they had sat down.

"I wanted to talk to you about last night. I really don't know what the hell I told Lily," he said, helping himself to a plate, a biscuit, and a muffin.

"What about last night?" asked James, afraid that he had done something and blocked it out. It had been known to happen.

"James," said Remus loudly, interrupting the soon-to-be argument, "have some oatmeal," he said, not bothering to ask if he wanted it. "Good for you."

James took the bowl from his hands and put it down in front of him. "Well?" he asked, looking expectantly at Sirius.

"James," said Sirius, putting his biscuit down. "You tricked me into letting you skip dinner."

"What?" James asked incredulously.

"I was asleep; you did not wake me up. How did I 'trick' you?"

Remus gave Sirius a significant, 'he's right, and you're ridiculous' look, which Sirius ignored.

Sirius did, however, clear his throat, slightly embarrassed.

"You were all…nice and cooperative, so you knew I would let you sleep."

"My evil plan," said James, grinning, knowing he had won.

Sirius sighed and shook his head, feeling his appetite suddenly decreasing.

"Well, what did I do wrong?"

James' grin faded away, and he resorted to staring down into the bowl of oatmeal Remus had given him. "You told Lily I had something wrong with me," he said pathetically. "There's nothing wrong with me."

Sirius did not miss the way that tone in his voice that showed how betrayed he felt.

"Sirius," said Remus warningly. He had never wanted Sirius to get involved in the first place.

Sirius ignored him again. "Eat your breakfast, James," said Sirius, going back to his own food.

James crossed his arms, finally looking up at him. "Don't even dare. 'Eat your breakfast, James.' Prat."

James went into a sudden rage, throwing the bowl of oatmeal to the ground, somewhat glad for the anger that gave him an excuse to walk away from Sirius without eating. He didn't clean it up.

"Jackass," he said, deciding to throw another insult in his friend's direction before turning to Remus kindly. "I'm going to go talk to McGonagall about my quidditch situation. See you in class." He waved.

James got up from his bench and walked up to Professor McGonagall at the staff table. Remus shot Sirius an annoyed look, but Peter looked confused. "What situation?" he asked.

Sirius didn't look at Peter while he answered. He stared at James' back as he walked to the front of the hall. "He's been kicked off the team," he said softly, stabbing his muffin repeatedly with a fork.

Remus reached out an open hand, expecting him to drop the fork into it. Like an extremely obedient two-year-old, Sirius gave it to him without a word of protest.

"Why?" asked Remus.

Sirius sighed. "The talk with McGonagall he had after class yesterday," said Sirius. "I feel so sorry for him, at I'm still so angry."

Peter looked from one friend to the other. "Remus, remember when we had to count the days James and Lily could go without a fight?"

"Yeah," said Remus. "Looks like we'll have to do the same for these two idiots now."

"Exactly," said Peter.

"Would you stop?" Sirius asked, not bothering to hide his frustration.

"You know he is failing, right?" asked Remus, lowering his voice. "I want to help him, but I don't want to let him know I know."

"I'm well-past caring about what he wants over what he needs," said Sirius.

"We know," said Remus and Peter simultaneously

"Hi," said James awkwardly, fiddling with his hands. McGonagall looked at him with a small amount of concern.

"Hello, Mr. Potter," she said, raising an eyebrow.

James did not know exactly how to tell her what was on his mind. Giving up quidditch—willingly—had possibly been a rash decision, so sudden that he hadn't thought it over at all. What if it was a bad idea? Maybe he needed it. What if…

No. Stress was bad for him. Therefore, quidditch was bad. 'But I would be letting my team down,' he thought to himself.

'But…if they only want me for quidditch, what good are they?'

No arguing. He knew what he had to do.

"Professor, I'd like to resign from my position o—on the quidditch team," he said. He was fairly proud of himself. He had said it with barely any hesitation at all.

For a good twenty seconds, the Transfiguration teacher merely stared at him with her mouth hung open wide in shock. Finally, she recovered.

"Well, this is certainly…I did not expect…"

James saved her from rambling. "I need to do this, Professor," he said. "It's the only way I'm going to be able to concentrate better on my studies. I'm very stressed."

"This is certainly a sacrifice for you. It's going to mean a lot of sadness for your team," she said with a frown, "but I still think it's very mature."

"Thanks," said James, looking away from her.

"Are you sure you wouldn't like to think it over for a while longer?"

"No," said James. If he thought it over, he would only become depressed. "I want to quit."

"All right," she said. "Madam Hooch and I will have a talk."

James nodded. "And, would it be possible for you not to tell people I quit? Maybe you can say—"

"I will not lie for you, Potter," she interrupted. "If someone directly asks me what happened, I will tell that person the truth. Otherwise, I won't—shall we say—spread it."

"I'll tell the team," said James. Therefore, only he and McGonagall would know the truth.

"Conveniently enough, James' talk with McGonagall prevented him from eating," Sirius explained to Lily on the way to dinner.

"Sirius," said Lily, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You are too stressed."

"Don't change the subject," said Sirius irritably, pushing her hand off.

Lily stopped mid-conversation to pull her long hair up into a ponytail. Sirius waited impatiently for her to finish, and then he started speaking again. Lily liked complete silence whenever she had to fix her hair.

Then, they started walking again. "He told me he was getting help in Potions during lunch, so he didn't eat then either," said Sirius.

"He wasn't lying," she said. "Frank was talking about meeting him."

"He could have taken food with him!" said Sirius, pushing open the doors to the Great Hall. "I'm so damn sick of this place," he muttered."

Lily tried not to laugh at his anger with the Great Hall. "Ah, and you wouldn't have been saying things like, 'he's probably not eating it' all day? You would have been satisfied?"

At first, Sirius did not answer. Was Lily at all concerned about his friend? "Lily, he is not eating."

"And you are not breathing," she said, laughing slightly. "What I'm trying to say is…you killing yourself over this…it's just going to destroy two people."

"Wise," Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

"I'm sure he will come to you. Just—"

"Lily! Hey!"

Lily held up a finger, letting her boyfriend know she would join him in a moment's time.

"As I was saying, just give him time."

Sirius nodded, unsure about whether or not he was going to listen to her advice.

"And if he says anything suspicious during our patrols tonight, I'll let you know," she said teasingly.

"Bye," he said, letting her run off to her boyfriend.

Lily was able to somewhat calm him down, but it didn't change the fact that she knew absolutely nothing about eating disorders. Taking a deep breath, he made his way—slowly as possible—to the Gryffindor table to sit by his friends.

The three of them were oddly quiet. Remus was immersed in a Herbology book, Peter was eating and barely looking up, and James was…eating. True, he was taking his sweet time, looked like he would rather have been anywhere else in the world than at the dinner table, and cutting his pieces into grain-like sizes, but it didn't matter. All that mattered to Sirius was…he was eating.

Sirius smiled widely at him when he saw this. James, however, glared and looked down at his chicken.

"He still mad?" he whispered to Peter.

"Yes, and I'm not deaf, thanks," said James.

"Well…yes, he's mad," Peter went on as if James hadn't said anything, "but he's also not here by choice."

"We can be forceful when we need to be," said Remus, making sure Sirius didn't fail to realize what he meant by the word 'need.'

Sirius could have sworn he heard James mumble something along the lines of, "not my parents…" but he let it slide. He was simply too happy with James' eating.

"I'm done," said James, dropping his fork and knife onto the plate loudly.

Remus flinched. He looked over the top of his book skeptically. He bit his lip while examining the contents of the plate carefully. He nodded.

"You're fine."

"Thank you," said James sarcastically, getting up from the table.

"James," said Peter slowly, "you know you can just hang out with us. We won't have to eat anymore."

"And why," said James, running his hand through his hair, "would I want to spend any unnecessary time with you guys?"

"Maybe because we're your friends," said Peter, sounding hurt.

"Oh, really?" said James. "I thought friends—especially the marauders—were supposed to trust each other."

"Don't be melodramatic," said Remus, rolling his eyes.

"I don't think I am being that way, Moony. See, I was all but chained to my chair while you stared and told me how much I had to eat. I mean, my God. When I say I'm fine, I mean that!"

"I don't have a fucking eating disorder. All right? If I did, I would tell you. I mean, where the hell is your proof?"

"Stop cursing," said Remus.

James shook his head. "I am going back to our dormitory. Have fun talking about me."

"James…"

"If I were sick, I'd tell you!" said James, practically shouting. Many other students had turned in their direction curiously. "But I'm not. And I really hate that you don't trust me."

Sirius kept telling himself that James was putting on a show. His eyes were glistening with tears, and he was being—as Remus had said—melodramatic. Sirius would not fall for any of his manipulation techniques any longer. James needed help, of course, but he didn't need Sirius to completely give in and, say, let him sleep because he looked so…innocent.

Yeah, people always look innocent sleeping.

"See you later," said James, walking out.

"It's very difficult for me not to run out to comfort him now…" said Remus, watching James leave the hall.

Sirius had been thinking along the same lines. "He needs to learn that this isn't the way to go about things," he said. "We can't give into this. If we do, he'll slowly get to the point where he wants to be."

"Which is?"

"Controlling us."

"Damn," said Remus, forgetting everything he had ever had against cursing. "I really do feel like we're parenting him."

"We kind of are," said Peter regretfully. "We don't even know for sure if he has an eating disorder."

That statement was so true, but so forgotten, that it caught Sirius and Remus off guard.

"I mean, he made some excuses, skipped some meals, and has been acting weirdly. Madam Pomfrey asked how his diet was and if he'd been eating well. Now, all of a sudden, we're positive he's got anorexia or something? He did just swear he doesn't have it. James doesn't lie a lot."

"But lately…" said Sirius.

"Yeah," said Peter.

Remus closed his book and looked down at his own untouched food. "We're all going to be losing weight," said Remus. "It seems every meal one of us gets so fed up with him we lose an appetite."

Sirius laughed. "True."

Remus attempted some applesauce, but he decided it wasn't worth it. "I'm going to go to the bathroom and then head upstairs to get some more reading done. It's difficult with all this noise."

"Okay," said Sirius, sighing.

For one measly second, he had been happy with James, but now he just felt awful. Unless Peter was right (which Sirius doubted), James was lying to their faces about his problems, and Sirius could not understand why. Didn't James want to get better?

Remus walked into the second floor bathroom wearily, making sure his book was safely secured in his bag. He winced as he realized a boy in one of the stalls was vomiting, something no one enjoys listening to.

The boy was obviously unaware of the fact or simply unconcerned that someone had come into the bathroom because Remus heard him talking to himself in between…well 'letting it all out.' As soon as Remus heard the voice, he knew who it was. He closed his eyes.

"James," Remus whispered to himself, but the boy in the stall didn't hear him, too preoccupied with vomiting, crying, and talking to himself.

Remus listened closely to what James was saying, and he even locked the door so that no one else would come in and possibly make James stop.

"I'm sorry," said James.

Remus raised an eyebrow, waiting for more.

"I'm sorry," said James, choking on his tears. "…no…screw-up."

There was more vomiting after this, and Remus bit his lip, not so sure why he didn't run from the bathroom immediately.

"Didn't want—you know I didn't…miss…"

What was James talking about?

He uttered only three more words, much stronger and clearer than everything else he had said. "Forgive me, please."

This was followed, unfortunately, by more vomiting, and Remus knew he had to leave quietly before James opened the door to see him standing there, listening.

Remus had only one thought on his mind as he made his way back the Gryffindor common room.

There was no mistaking it. He had an eating disorder.

"Well, great," said Remus sarcastically. "The first step is admitting you have a problem…what are we at? Pre-step one? Your friends admitting you have a problem?"

He rolled his eyes at his own comment. James had said it right to their face that they had nothing to worry about, that he was fine, that he wasn't sick, and that they needed to trust him. It wasn't as if any of them had believed it, but it still hurt to know he would do that to them. Besides, if he could and would lie that way, then who the hell was he anymore?

Author's Note: Please please please review! I really hope you enjoyed this one because…yeah, well, I'm never too sure.