As May turned to June and June to July, the boys passed their exams with flying colours, accept for Peter who had only scraped by with passable marks. Sirius, James and Peter had chosen to take divination and care of magical creatures as extra subjects for their OWLs, Remus had also chosen care of magical creatures, but had opted for arithmancy over divination. Remus didn't speak to Caelan again that year, neither seemed to make an attempt to contact each other again, but this was only what Sirius knew; Remus had become more withdrawn and quiet since the night of their "date".

The summer was a long, hot boring one. He had been grounded when his mother had found a photo of Sirius with James, Remus and Peter.

"Sirius?" she had asked while cleaning his room, Sirius was lying on his bad doing a charms essay

"What?"

"Are these your friends?"

"Yes mother, they are, you know they are"

"Well obviously I know James. Peter Pettigrew, I know of his family, but who's this boy" She stabbed a long white finger at Remus's face on the photo, the photographic Remus, frowned and attempted to dodge it "the thin peaky looking one with the brown hair"

"That's Remus" he was hesitant to say his last name, his mother always knew who was pure blood and who wasn't

"Remus who?" she goaded

"Remus Lupin"

"Lupin... I don't know that name, pure blood I assume? Not been associating with the wrong kind of people have we?" he sighed and continued writing his essay "Well Sirius? Answer me"

"No mother, Remus is a half blood,"

"What?"

"His mother is a witch, his father is a muggle... or muggle born, I forget which"

"You're telling me" She took a deep breath and fingered her wand "You've been associating with Mud Blood riff raff!"

"Yes mother, I'm also afraid I no longer share your views on what makes a person "riff raff""

At this she had screeched at Sirius on the importance of preserving the Black name, locked Sirius in his room and told him he wasn't allowed out for the rest of the summer.

He had fleeting chats with his little brother Regulus through his keyhole. Regulus's strong desire to obey his mother was occasionally out shined by his curiosity over Hogwarts, where he would be joining Sirius in September, he would ask Sirius all of these ridiculous little questions about the castle, the teachers, the houses and the people, though this would only be when their mother left the house for a few hours and he knew he was safe to talk with him. Sirius did feel sorry for Regulus, not as good looking as he was, not as strong, no will power or opinions of his own, but he was basically a good kid. Sirius wished he could have done something to stop the twisted thoughts of Walburga and Orion Black not worm as deeply into Regulus as they had, but they had. They had always been much harsher on Regulus than they had Sirius, it was no wonder why he was so weak now, he must've had all of the rebellion beaten out of him at a young age.

Sirius got all of his homework done in a couple of days and even had time to proof read and re draft his essays. The thought of what McGonagall's face would look like when Sirius handed in a completed essay on time had amused Sirius greatly.

Apart from the occasional interrogation session with Regulus, the only thing keeping Sirius sane were letters he had received from James, Remus and a sheer testament to his desperation for contact with the outside world, Peter.

Since his mother's ridiculous reaction to Sirius's friendship with Remus, he had kept his letters well hidden, often on his person, as his mother did daily inspections of his room. He wondered how she would react if she found out that: not only was Remus a half blood, but a werewolf and a gay one at that.

He was so lonely, he would think of any excuse to write them letters:

James!

How the hell are you! I feel like we haven't written to each other in ages, you should be writing to me day and night considering that I am your best friend, and I'll be no fun next year if I've gone insane with lonesomeness. Anyway, I was just wondering if you knew which spots were open on the Quidditch team now. Do you think we should try for them?

Sirius x

Remus!

How the hell are you! I feel like we haven't written to each other in ages, you should be writing to me day and night considering it was your photo that got me grounded in the first place, you cheeky half blood you. Anyway, I was just wondering how you were and if any slimy evil Slytherin Quidditch Captain cunts had contacted you over the summer? Are you positive you don't want me to break his legs for you? Noticed it was a full moon last night, I hope you didn't break anything.

Sirius x

Peter!

How the hell are you! I feel like we haven't written to each in ages, you should be writing to me day and night considering how much brilliant you think I am. In fact! Why don't you send me a letter about that?

Sirius

As his letters got more and more repetitive and irrelevant, his replies became more tetchy and less frequent

Sirius

I'm fine. You know for a fact that beater and seeker are open on the team. You also know that you will be trying for beater and I will be trying for seeker. You know this because we've discussed it 6 TIMES ALREADY! FOR CHRIST'S SAKE SIRIUS FIND SOMETHING DIFFERENT TO SAY OR DON'T WRITE TO ME!

- James (no x's for you, because you're pissing me off)

Sirius,

Please stop reminding me it's my fault you're grounded, it's making me feel horrible. Cunningham has sent me one letter since we last wrote, it was an apology for what happened in May and it also informed me he's been made Head Boy. I don't know why he thinks I'd care whether he's Head Boy or not, but I accepted his apology, you still don't have to break his legs. Indeed it was a full moon last night, I broke my collar bone, had to go to St .Mungo's, my usual healers and nurses were out, the healers I got instead thought my parents might've been abusing me, it was an awkward couple of hours

Remus x

Sirius

Can't you just look at one of the other letters I sent you about how brilliant I think you are?

Peter xxx

When the summer holiday's ended it was an absolute god send. His mother hadn't even let him leave the house to get his stuff from Diagon Alley; his mother had simply arrived with his things one day. It was a shame; he was looking forward to the fresh air and helping Regulus get his things. He was convinced Regulus would be made the Slytherin that his mother had wanted, but he hoped he would be placed in Gryffindor or even Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, perhaps a placement in somewhere other than Slytherin would finally help him break free from their parents influence.

When Sirius was finally reunited with James on platform nine and three quarters, he had jumped on him and knocked him to the floor, he did the same to Remus when he got on the train and when Peter finally found their compartment Sirius even greeted him with a quick hug and a slap on the back.

"It's been horrible! In my room for five weeks! Nothing to do but study! Ugh!"

"God knows how awful studying must have been for you Sirius" Laughed Remus, who had probably spent the entire summer revising; Sirius guessed he'd spent almost as much time indoors as he had. He'd gotten the most replies from Remus, of course every letter he'd sent Peter had gotten a reply, but he'd only hounded him a fraction of the amount that he had James and Remus. This reminded him:

"James!?"

"What?"

"Why did you start ignoring my letters?"

"Because you were driving me mental, if I'd answered them all I wouldn't have been able to leave the house"

"Remus managed to reply to most of my hundreds of letters, didn't you Rem?"

"I did Sirius, but I don't leave my house much, on top of that I was guilty as hell that I got you locked in your room!"

"I replied to them all" Said Peter proudly

"Well done Peter! Do you want a biscuit or something?" Sirius snapped sarcastically "I don't understand though James! You live out in the middle of nowhere, it's not like you had people be with or anything"

"What can I say Sirius, I'm an explorer, a wanderer, a marauder" teased James, Remus tittered; Sirius and Peter had no idea what James was on about.

Soon, they were interrupted by Regulus, who clambered into their compartment.

"Hey Regulus" said James smiling and waving slightly

"Hey James, Sirius, I can't find anywhere else to go, is it okay if I sit with you?"

"It's fine Reg" Sirius looked towards Peter and Remus, who both had questioning looks on their faces "Oh, Regulus Black, meet my friends Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, meet my little brother Regulus Black"

"Hi" Said Regulus shyly, Peter nodded and Remus raised his hand and gave a friendly

"Hullo" He smiled warmly at Regulus, who gasped

"You're the mudblood! The one from the photograph!" Remus furrowed his brow

"Please don't use that word"

"Which word?" asked Regulus, dumbfounded. Sirius cuffed Regulus on the back of the head

"Mudblood you moron, it's incredibly offensive" He turned to Remus "It's not his fault he said that, by the way, it's our mother's"

"I don't understand how it's offensive, surely he knows he's a mudblood, doesn't he know he is one?"

"For God's sake Reg, Shut up" growled James from the corner of his mouth

"But he should be told, he's a mudblood if he is one" He said this so coolly and matter-of-factly, that Remus didn't even look angry any more, he looked pityingly at the boy who had clearly had ridiculous values instilled in him from a young age, that ,as far as he was concerned, they were fact.

"Reg, just get out"

"It's okay, I don't mind sharing the compartment with him"

"Really? Are you sure he shouldn't just hang outside the train, so as not to offend your delicate pure blooded eyes" mocked Sirius, the sarcasm was clearly lost on Regulus

"No, he's fine in here" Regulus smiled completely innocently, Sirius rolled his eyes, grabbed him by his robes and hoisted him out of their compartment, Sirius dropped him outside and closed the door behind them

"You don't just go around calling people mudbloods now! It's not as bad when we're at home, but not anymore, it's only a word that ignorant wizards use, people hate it. You'll get yourself beaten up or you'll get yourself into trouble!"

"But..."

"No buts Reg! You don't say that word! It's muggle born or half blood r even their first name if you can handle it, you're going to apologise to Remus" With that, he hoisted Reg back into the compartment.

"Reg has something to say to you Remus"

"I'm sorry for calling you a mudblood"

"That's fine Regulus, as long as you know not to do it again, I don't even care"

They talked for a while, even after Regulus's little outburst, he and Remus seemed to get along well, he left the compartment when he was asked to join another group of first years, one of whom was one of Sirius and Regulus's many relations

"James?" asked Remus

"Yeah?"

"How did you know Regulus already?"

"I've known him and Sirius since we were babies" noting the look of confusion on Remus's face he added "we're related, didn't you know?"

"Had no idea"

"Yeah, James is like our second cousin or something. That's how it get's with pureblood families, we're all interconnected like this, from purebloods trying to keep their kids pure by marring other purebloods and so on and so on... most of us are interbred, it's sick really, my parents are second cousins are something. To be honest I think it explains a lot of the insanity in my family" Sirius chuckled darkly. James, Remus and Peter nervously reciprocated the laugh.

*

Their first month back at Hogwarts had been a fairly uneventful one, apart from Sirius's fear being realised when Regulus was indeed sorted into Slytherin, nothing major had happened.

It wasn't until October that things started to pick up. Sirius and James had tried out for the open positions on the Quidditch team and had been quite successful, James being instantly accepted as seeker and Sirius, after some consideration, had been appointed the new Gryffindor beater. Their first match was, unfortunately, against Slytherin,

"Brilliant! Any Bludger I get my bat near is going straight for that sleaze bag Cunningham" plotted Sirius to James on the way back from a practice

"Neither of you ever explained to me and Peter what happened that night"

"You seriously do not want to know the details Jamesy, all you need to know is he's a complete bastard and a perv" his eyes were glinting with a vengeful insanity

"Can't you just exact revenge by helping the team beat his team by aiming skilfully at chasers and the keeper, rather than firing Bludgers into his face?" pleaded James, he didn't want his first match ending in a disqualification for foul play. Sirius closed his eyes and threw back his head, he inhaled deeply and threw his head forward

"I shall try my best James, but if my best is not good enough then so be it"

"Sirius" he nodded at James "Please don't fuck this up for me"

"Fuck what up?"

"My first match, don't do anything dodgy, don't fuck this up"

"Again, I shall try my best, but if my best is not good enough..."

"...then so be it" scowled James, Cunningham better have done something pretty bad to Remus.

*

"They're playing WHO?" exclaimed Remus tensely, knocking his books onto the floor, the rest of his arithmancy class turned around to look at him

"Slytherin" answered Lily, picking up a book that had landed near her feet

"Oh fuck" he whispered as the class returned to their usual chatter as they worked

"Why is that so bad? I know James will be acting like a prat if Gryffindor win, but I thought you said he wasn't a prat to you?"

"It's not about James acting like a prat"

"Then what is it"

"I... I kind of had a thing with Cunningham for like 5 minutes last year"

"NO" said Lily her mouth, spread into a grin, practically on the floor

"Yes"

"NO!!!"

"Yes! Now keep your voice down"

"But he's been seeing a fifth year! Donna Ashcroft in Ravenclaw since last April!"

"He can cheat can't he"

"Well, yes, but Donna's a girl, all of his girlfriends have been, and you're not a girl" She was smirking, having not heard anything so scandalous since that Malfoy wears lady's underwear rumour, Remus shrugged,

"Well he didn't seem to have much of a problem with that at the time, no problem at all ,actually"

"Oh my God! I don't believe it" her eyes widened "Now you've said that, I can't help but thinking, well, Donna, she's really pretty, but she's really tall and thin and totally flat chested. Her shoulder's are broad and she doesn't wear much make up" Lily laughed "Even her hair's short! Shorter than yours! Anyway, what's this got to do with Quidditch?"

"Well, with Cunningham... it was a disaster, sort of... ugh.... well now Sirius really hates him and he wants to break his legs"

"So..."

"Well they just gave Sirius access to a big bat and huge dangerous balls"

"Ah..." She was too distracted by Remus's revelation to give any helpful advice "why was it a disaster with Cunningham? I didn't know you knew each other? When did you meet? What happened!??"

"Well... I had gone to the library one night, and he was there with his friends, they left, he came over. We talked for an hour or something, he told me to meet him at 11 that night so I did"

"And then what!?" Lily was grinning again

"Well, we snogged for a while and..."

"AND!"

"... and we had" he looked around and whispered "sex"

"OH MY GOD! How was it a disaster?"

"Well, I wasn't really up for it, when I told him I wasn't, he went a bit... funny"

"Oh" her face fell

"So I did and I've never regretted anything more, we didn't speak after, he sent me a letter apologising in the summer, I accepted, but I didn't mean it"

"Oh Remus" she said in the exact tone Sirius had used on that night. She hugged him, too tightly for Remus to shrug her off

"Hurting me Lily!" she released him, her eyebrows were furrowed with concern, she began to glower

"If Black wants any help breaking his legs, tell him to come find me"