James sniggered when he saw Sirius the next morning.

"What's Moony been doing to your neck?"

"What?"

"I'm referring to the huge hickey currently residing to the left of your Adam's apple"

"Oh no... how bad is it"

"It looks like a bludger got you"

"Merlin..." Sirius leaned over to his bedside table, a massive purple blotch was, indeed, residing to the left of his Adam's apple. James snorted and tore Remus's hangings open

"Oi Moony, wake up!"

"'s full moon James so' off" Remus nuzzled his pillow and shrank beneath his duvet

"Look what you did to Sirius's neck!"

"Can't be arsed" he groaned, shrinking even further bellow his scarlet quilt. James shook the quilted lump that was Remus

"Get off him James, it's full moon tonight and it's Saturday, let him have a lie in." Sirius warned, his eyes fixed tenderly on the Remus-quilt-lump

"Alright. Have you seen my Quidditch robes?"

"What? Quidditch season doesn't start for another month!"

"Yeah, and we're short two chasers... I told you a million times we had try outs scheduled today!"

"If I'm honest James... I'm thinking about quitting the team"

"WHAT?!"

"Well, it's just I-"

"NO"

"Don't I get a say in this?"

"No! You are not quitting!"

"But..."

"No"

"I-"

"NO!"

"FINE! Merlin's beard you're grumpy in the mornings... hey, Moony"

"mmm" he mumbled from under his quilt

"If you want me, James and – is Peter coming"

"He's trying out" said James, his eye brows raising

"For chaser?" laughed Sirius

"Yup"

"Fucking hell... any way, if you want me, James or Peter, we're all down at the Quidditch pitch"

"M'kay" he mumbled again, a pale, bony hand appearing from under the duvet pulling the hangings shut. Sirius and James were about to leave the room, when Remus's head, wan, gaunt and exhausted, hair sticking up at odd, James-ish angles, poked through the hangings

"Did you just say Peter was trying out for chaser?" he asked with a curled lip and a yawn

"Yep"

"Jesus fucking Christ" he sighed. Disappearing again, a soft thud as his head hit the pillow

*

"Okay who's up first Jamesy?" said Sirius, straightening out his Quidditch robes while Toby Cheng gave Samantha Bradley the signal she was safe to come into the boys changing room.

"Fuck me Black! What on earth happened to your neck!?" Samantha exclaimed, giving his hickey a little jab

"er..." Sirius faltered. He couldn't remember if him and Remus were being secretive or not. Every other day they seemed to discuss why they should tell everyone or the next day why they should keep it quiet. His vote, at this moment, was on keeping it quiet.

"Say no more" she frowned contemptuously. Samantha was one of the few nice-looking girls in the school Sirius hadn't slept with (Though not through lack of trying) and she clearly held him with a fairly high level of derision for his womanising ways. Even though he hadn't been near a girl in almost a year, rumours were always flying around about him.

"I shan't Samantha, dear. You were about to tell me who was up first James"

"Er..." James looked at the crumpled and torn parchment he'd written the names on "Cheng"

"What?"

"Not you Toby, your sister"

"Oh yeah" Toby laughed at himself. The boy looked very peaky and his eyes were unfocussed

"You hung over again Cheng?" tutted John Mitchell, a tall broad beater with short black curly hair, who had sworn off alcohol after one particularly dodgy incident, after he'd downed a bottle of Rubtsovsk's finest Goblin brewed Vodka, with a wet start firework last year.

"Might be..." said Toby tentatively

"I hope your sister won't be as irresponsible" said Samantha coolly, pulling her wavy brown hair into a very tight pony tail and then forcing it into an equally tight bun.

"She's not on the bloody team yet!"

"I've seen her tactics Cheng, if she can fly decently, she's guaranteed a place" said James, awing over the memory of the girls ideas

"So you'll be having her do your captaining for you?" Sirius said snidely

"No! She'll just help me with formations and stuff, that's all"

"Right... whatever. So who else is trying out then?"

"Seven more. From second year there's just Teresa Jarman, from third year there's Mickey Bell, Phil Stone and Annie Noble and then as well as Cheng, there's Balthazar Piotrowski and Timothy Barat from fourth year. Just Peter from our year and no one from sixth or seventh"

"By Peter" began Samantha with a sneer "Do you mean the fat blonde lad you two go round with?"

"I'm afraid I do" said James with a scowl

"Oh... is he a good flyer then?" asked Toby with a distinct note of amusement in his groggy voice.

"No. Not at all" Sirius twisted his lip "He's going to make a tit of himself"

"I know Sirius"

"And we're going to have to tell him he can't join the team"

"No, I'm going to have to tell him he can't join the team, I'm bloody captain, remember"

"Sweet" said Sirius casually "Should we go and have a look at James's future girlfriend?"

"She's not my future girlfriend! Just probably my future chaser"

"Hey, woah now Potter" Toby scowled dangerously "You're not planning on shagging my sister, are you?"

"No! I just want her on the team, that's all! I have no romantic intention towards her what so ever"

"Oh, so she's not good enough for you? Not pretty enough?"

"No! She's really pretty"

"So you want to shag her then?"

"Stop it Toby, you're being a dick" Samantha snapped "C'mon, they're freezing their arses off out there" Samantha stepped out of the changing room onto the pitch and the other players followed her. She mounted her broom and took her place in front of the goal posts, giving James a thumbs up as she pulled her gloves on.

"Alright. Yumiko Cheng!" James called at the stands where the seven hopefuls were sitting with their brooms "you're up first!" Yumiko smiled and kicked off on her broom. She flew well, very well, actually and scored seven of her ten attempts to get past Samantha. Annie Noble was next, who scored six of ten, her aim wasn't bad but her flying was rather a bit too wobbly to get a place. Mickey Bell looked like he might be a good bet, he scored eight out of ten, a better aim then Yumiko but like Annie was a bit of a dodgy flyer. Timothy Barat completely cocked up, crashing into a goal post before he could even attempt a goal and had to be taken to the hospital wing, and Balthazar, who was a bit small to be a chaser any way, fell of his broom when Samantha misplaced a kick at the Quaffle he'd just thrown, also had to go to the hospital wing. Phil Stone wasn't bad, 5 goals scored and a fair flyer. Soon all that was left was Peter and Teresa Jarman. Peter took a moment to mount his broom, which then took a moment to leave the ground and then took a long time to get all the way up to the posts and then got distracted when Samantha bent forward on her broom and Peter realised he could see down her robes. Because he lacked any sort of subtly, the rest f the team looked up when they heard a cry of

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU LOOKING AT, YOU FAT PERV!" a few argumentative squeaks from Peter followed and before James knew it, he was racing into the air on his broom to catch Peter, who Samantha had just hit with a very nasty bat bogey hex.

After James had taken Peter to the hospital wing, it was just little Teresa left to try out. A tiny, plain looking second year with large brown eyes and a bouncy ash blonde bob.

"C'mon then love" said James patronisingly "have a go and then we'll wrap try outs up" she smiled, un able to disguise a little frown at James. John poked James between his shoulder blades.

"We're having Yumiko and Mickey, right?"

"By the looks of it" said James

"You never know, Teresa might be good" Sirius said watching the small girl whiz from the ground up to the goal post

"It looks like a stiff breeze would knock her off her broom" said James with a frown. To everyone's surprise a breeze did not knock her from her broom, and neither did a lethal (if accidental) kick from Samantha, who looked twice the other girls height. Teresa scored all ten of her goals and landed with a smug grin and a dumb founded Samantha.

"Oi! You four, down here!" yelled James. The remaining hopefuls trotted down onto the pitch from the stands. "Okay, Yumiko, Teresa, you're in" they both beamed, Yumiko hissed a yes under her breath and punched at the air.

"Mickey mate, you try again next year when Toby's gone, you'll definitely get in. Annie, Phil... you just keep practicing, we'll need another beater and a keeper next year as well. Annie you're built better for keeping anyway" Annie smiled sadly and walked off, Mickey nodded enthusiastically, his thanks and assurances he'd try out next year tinged with bitterness. Phil didn't try to mask his disappointment, cursing and kicking at the ground as he left.

"Alright team! We'll have the usual captainly lecture from me, then a quick run through of some of our formations"

"What about the three in the hospital wing who didn't get in?" asked John

"They don't need telling they were shit, do they?"

*

Remus awoke with a start as he heard a flop and a muffled whine. His eyes snapped open, he had slept very late, his bed and hands dyed scarlet by the daylight filtering through his hangings. He let out the obligatory just-woke-up groan and rubbed his face. He pulled himself up and stuck his head through his hangings

"Peter?" Peter was lying on his bed, his broom thrown on the floor "I thought you were at tryouts" he yawned

"I was... then I looked down Samantha Bradley's robes" Remus snorted at him "Shut up, she's fit alright. So anyway, then she hexed me, I fell off my broom and James had to take me to the hospital wing" he sighed "I fucked up so badly"

"'course you did. Anyone could've told you Samantha is known for kicking the arses of men who objectify her"

"Really?"

"Yep, a bit of a feminist. Lily loves her"

"She's probably a dyke"

"Just because she doesn't appreciate tubby, mouth breathers leering at her doesn't mean she's a dyke" snapped Remus. As Peter's face fell, regret consumed a hormonal, grouchy pre moon Remus "I'm sorry Pete... you're not tubby"

"Thanks" Peter sighed "I think I'm to go down to the kitchens for some comfort food, wanna come?"

"You do that" Remus smiled "Before you go, what time is it?"

"2 o'clock" Peter replied, leaving the room. Remus stretched, deciding it was, perhaps, time he got up. He ran his hands up and down his lightly scarred frame, his fingers lingering on his ribs, where they skittered up and down. He wasn't sure if getting up was the best idea. Because it would involve wearing something other than his comfy pyjama bottoms, it would involve having to see people and his tolerance was low at this time of the month, but most unfortunately of all, it would almost certainly involve movement. He was stiff all over, his back felt as if it had knotted itself cruelly and intricately while he slept. Remus cracked his neck and climbed back into bed.

*

He awoke again, to something much more pleasant than the sound of Peter huffing and grumbling.

Remus was lying on his stomach, he felt a heavy weight on his lower back and hands rubbing his shoulders.

"Sirius?"

"Hey hey sleepy head" Sirius leaned forward so Remus could feel his breath tickling the hair on the back of his neck "When I got here, your back was all tensed up" he pressed at the nape of Remus's neck with his thumbs, Remus whined at the combined pain and release.

"Thanks... my back's been killing me" He sighed and relaxed, enjoying the feel of Sirius's Quidditch roughened hands pressing gently on his aching rigid back. Nothing was said for a while, only the occasional moan passing Remus's lips.

"Peter totally cocked up his try out" Sirius said , his amusement completely undisguised

"I heard"

"He was looking down Sam Bradley's robes and she hexed him. Hi-fucking-larious" Chuckled Sirius "Horny little twat" he added affectionately. Remus had a sudden panicky flutter in his chest

"How much longer till sun sun down?" he tried to sit up but Sirius eased him back down

"Don't think about it right now"

"I need to know Sirius, I-"

"Just trust me Remus. I've got it sorted. I know when you need to go" he sighs, his pressure deepening and increasing "Trust me"

Intense words said with no intensity to them. As a simple request that Remus couldn't decline.

"I do"

"Good" Remus heard the smirk on his voice "Now shut up and enjoy your back rub"

*

"C'mon, wake up Moony" Remus's eyes flicker open with a low grumble "There we go" Sirius smiled at him. He smiled back. He pulled Remus up and placed a supportive arm around him.

"We need to get down now James, you let him sleep far too long"

"We let him sleep too long Sirius. Don't push all the blame onto me" growled James "It's almost dark... look at him, he's shaken, he's white as a sheet, he's barely even conscious. There's no way we won't attract attention" He sighed angrily. "And where the fuck is Peter?"

Sirius tugged a t-shirt over Remus's head, he snuffled and mumbled something resembling "What?"

"What are you doing Sirius?"
"The only thing more conspicuous than a half conscious, clammy, moaning pre transforming werewolf is a half naked one"

"Good point"

"Hey guys" Peter sauntered into the dormitory coolly, clearly having forgotten it was full moon.

"WHERE THE FUCK-"

"Not enough time Sirius, get angry later" said James, hoisting Remus over his shoulder and jogging heroically from the room, Sirius and Peter close behind him.

The hoisting and running would have looked incredibly impressive, had James's knees not given way half way down the dormitory stairs, resulting in him and Remus crashing at the bottom of them with a loud crash.

"Well done" sneered Sirius pulling Remus up and supporting him as he usually would.

"I thought he'd be lighter. He's so skinny"

"He's six foot tall James! Of course he's bloody heavy" Sirius rolled his eyes, suddenly thankful the common room was empty. Well, almost.

"What's wrong with Remus?" asked Alice, hopping from her seat to help. Lily got up behind her and grabbed her friend's shoulders

"Remus has a touch of the flu that's all" said Lily sharply, shooting James a knowing glance

"But he looks... very flu-ish now you've said it"

"We're just taking him to the hospital wing now" said James quickly.

"You'd better hurry. He looks veryill" said Lily dangerously. The three boys nodded and flew from the room, grateful of the low light. It was dusk and Filch didn't light the Hogwarts candles till the sky was black giving them just enough cover of darkness to be able to run the main route, and the shortest one, from Gryffindor tower to the Hogwarts grounds. They all ran till Peter got out of breath and transformed into a rat early, taking a seat in James's pocket so as not to slow them down.

When they reached the willow, James practically chucked Peter out of his pocket and down b the tree. They bolted through the tunnel and scrambled into the shack with a good ten minutes till moon rise. James and Peter retired to a small room in the shack, just off the main room where Remus transformed. Sirius pulled the now profusely sweating and shivering boy's clothes off and joined them, leaving Remus to transform in private. He closed the rickety door behind him and snapped it's rusted latch shut. James hastily cast a weak silencing charm, weak enough so they knew when Remus was done but powerful enough to drown out the screams and the cracking of bones. Sirius folded Remus's clothes and popped them in the corner of the room.

"D'you think he'll attack himself this month?" asked Peter, breaking the tense silence "just 'cause, he only started after his Dad was killed and he seems much better about that now and-"

"If I'm being perfectly honest Peter, I think this is just what he does now" said Sirius darkly "The wolf gets bigger every month and the shack gets more and more... like a cage... he's a wild animal... they don't generally take kindly to being caged" Sirius nibbled his fingertips and James pursed his lips.

"This is going to sound a bit... mad right" James began

"Right"

"But... do you think, maybe, just maybe, we could take him out into the forest... let him out for a run, so he can... you know feel... free? The he might stop attacking himself" James looked oddly at Peter and Sirius, waiting for their approval, something which James rarely did. Sirius grinned

"I like it... in fact, I love it" he giggled "You're a genius Prongs"

"Moony would never go for it" said Peter. Sirius sighed, of course he wouldn't

"Maybe, if we explained it to him like Prongs just did then-"

"No, Pete's right Sirius, he wouldn't. He'd think it was too dangerous"

"Which it is. Hogsmeade is just over there" Peter pointed in no particular direction "He'd get someone killed"

"He wouldn't if we were watching him properly" Huffed Sirius. James opened his mouth to reply, but he was interrupted by a loud crunch at the door.

"That'll be Remus then" said James, terror clearly present in his cracking voice.

*

"Why haven't you been in any classes this morning Lupin?" asked Snape flatly, his eyes narrowed as he bent over their cauldron

"I had a fever. Just a twenty four hour thing, sweated it out over night but Pop- Madam Pomfrey kept me in this morning, just in case" said Remus. He'd been planning his excuse all morning, Sirius told him that Alice had seen them and Lily had told her he just had a touch of flu, so he couldn't use his usual, "Sick mother" excuse. He made a mental note to talk to Lily in private later.

"Chop these roots" said Snape.

"Okay..." Remus pulled his potions things from his bag, taking out a small stainless steel knife. He took the thin straggly roots from by the bubbling cauldron and was about to begin cutting when Snape grabbed his arm.

"What are you doing?"

"I was going to chop the-"

"With a knife which is clearly made of stainless steel" he sighed "you have to use the silver knife Lupin"

"What does it matter?" Remus swallowed as Snape pulled a silver knife from by his side and offered it to him

"What does it matter?!" he snorted "Don't you know anything Lupin? Silver is pure, stainless steel will only contaminate the roots. Lessen their magical properties" he rolled his eyes "idiot... no wonder you're only getting an E"

"An E is a good mark! I don't understand why I can't just use the stainless steel knife-" began Remus. Snape have his horrible, snide, distinctly Snapey smile.

"Lupin... you wouldn't be allergic to silver, would you?"

"No... no" he cleared his throat, reaching for the knife and pulling his sleeve down over his hand he-

"Remus!" Called Lily, bounding over and giving Remus a hug, knocking the knife from Snape's hand. "Oops! Sorry Severus" she bent down and picked the knife up. "There you Remus" she smiled and pressed the knife into Remus's still outstretched palm. It didn't burn, she smiled and he began to calmly chop his roots, shooting a smug look at Snape.

A moment later, while Snape had gone to badger Slughorn about the next meeting of Slughorn's hideous little club, Lily turned around and tapped her nose, waggling Snape's silver knife. She tossed a note over to him.

Simple spell Wizards would use to cheat muggles out of money. Makes steel, iron and copper look like any precious metal. It only looks like silver, doesn't have any of its properties.

I know, I don't care

Lily x

A/N: Hello beloved reader! I will be visiting the beautiful city of Paris from next Sunday till the following Friday, and, as I am absolutely swamped with coursework etc. At them moment, so I fear there may be no updates for a while (not a long while, about two weeks maybe)

So sorry about that!

But! On the Brightside! I do have another fic in the making!

It's an AU, will feature Remus and Sirius being brought up on a dodgy council estate, Remus doesn't go to school, so he's a bit withdrawn and he can't read (I know!) and Sirius goes to the local muggle school. He's really poor because the Black dynasty had collapsed house of Gaunt stylee (though a council flat in place of a filthy shack with snakes pinned to the door) and then they grow up, Remus doesn't go to Hogwarts and later slashiness ensues. It was inspired by this AMAZING one shot I read on LJ by Minnow 53 called Ain't No Bitches it's breathtaking, I cried!!!!

But any whoooo enough of my shameless shameless plugging and onto shameless shameless pleads for reviews

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!!