Author's Note: I might be moving a little bit too fast again, so just let me know if you think I am, and I'll slow it down. I have a problem with that.

Also, I decided to stop naming the chapters after song and using quotes from the chapters instead.

Lily absolutely refused to speak to James the rest of the day. Loraina kept silently looking at Remus's empty seat with concern in her eyes, and Delilah just huffed every time Sirius looked at her. James and Sirius were getting extremely annoyed; they felt like they hadn't done anything to deserve the cold shoulder treatment they were receiving.

When Loraina approached them at lunch, they were surprised to see that she was still speaking to them. "Look, I'm supposed to be mad at you, but I just need to know. Is Remus okay?"

"What?" Sirius asked.

"Is he okay? You guys are both here, and he's not. Is he all right?" Loraina asked slowly and deliberately.

"Yeah, he's fine. Just caught a bad cold," James lied through his teeth. When the blonde looked relieved, he knew it was worth the lie.

"Maybe I'll go visit him. I really want to talk to him about the other day," Loraina said distantly before wandering away, her face the picture of serenity.

"She can't visit him!" James exclaimed as she walked off.

"Why not?" Sirius asked dumbly, half chewed food spilling from his mouth as he spoke.

"Because he's currently got a broken arm and is covered in scratches," James said, hitting his friend over the head.

"Good point," Sirius said. "Now what?"

"We deter her."

"How?"

"I'm not sure. But we've got to."

And that is how Loraina found herself tied, inexplicably, to a statue. Outside. In the cold. In a rather short skirt. She was not happy, to say the least.

She had been walking to the hospital wing, then she was unconcious. And then, she woke up, tied to some freezing cold stone. The ropes were rather painful, actually, and she was hoping to God that her friends would, for some reason or other, venture outdoors and find her.

"Moony!" James exclaimed as he and Sirius ran into the hospital wing.

"What's wrong, Prongs?" Remus groaned, sitting up slightly with a wince.

"Loraina was coming here, so we stupefied her, and then we tied her to the statue outside. Someone's gonna find her eventually. You're smart. Help us throw her off!" Sirius rambled. Remus looked at him in horror.

"You tied her to a statue? Outside?!"

"Yeah. Brilliant, eh?" James said, nudging his friend lightly.

"No!" Remus disagreed. "It's freezing, for one. And she's going to kill you when she finds you."

"She doesn't know it was us," Sirius said with a "duh" tone to his voice.

"Why is she even trying to visit me as it is?" Remus asked suspiciously.

"James told her you had a cold," Sirius shrugged. "So she was gonna come visit. That's why she's tied up. The girls are already mad at us for no reason..."

"Yeah, because they saw you yesterday when you were supposed to be at your Mum's house," James continued. "So they stayed up all night waiting for me and then cornered me in the Heads common room. It was terrifying."

"So basically, they're acting like total and complete beasts right now," Sirius finished off.

"You two are such idiots," Remus grumbled.

"Loraina?" a startled voice asked as a distant figure approached. She gasped when she saw it was her ex boyfriend, Troy Hamilton. He was in Ravenclaw, in her year.

"Troy! Thank God! Could you help me out of this?" she asked, looking pointedly to the ropes around her.

"Who on earth did this to you?" Troy said as he waved his wand at the ropes that bound her. She collapsed into his arms awkwardly and straightened herself up, rubbing her sore limbs. She sniffled, shivering once.

"I have no idea. I was heading up to the Hospital Wing to visit a friend, and then next thing I know, I'm waking up tied to this thing!"

"You look like you're getting sick yourself. Let's get you to the Hospital Wing."

Loraina nodded and allowed Troy to lead her up to the Hospital Wing, where the nurse immediately began treating the welts on her arms and legs from the ropes. Troy smiled at her kindly, kissing her on the forehead.

"Lupin! Are you okay?" he asked in surprise as he saw the blonde haired boy looking like a train wreck. Not only that, but his face looked furious. James and Sirius stood beside him, awkwardly looking anywhere but their best friend.

"Just fine," Remus said through gritted teeth. Troy waved and left the Wing, looking back to find Loraina already asleep on the bed across from Remus.

"You stupid gits put her in the hospital wing!" Remus exclaimed angrily. "And her stupid ex boyfriend brought her here!"

"Well, that was unexpected," Sirius said.

"And extremely unfortunate. We should go now," James said awkwardly.

"Don't even think about it," Remus hissed. They both sat down obediantly.

"You do realize that we're screwed now, right?" James said to Sirius.

"Really?" Sirius drawled sarcastically. "I hadn't noticed."

"Look, you guys, she's going to wake up soon enough and notice that I'm covered in gashes and that my arm is broken."

"Yeah. That's gonna be a problem."

The Marauders put their heads together, discussing possible excuses to use, and didn't notice when the now recovered blonde approached them, standing with her hands on her hips.

"A cold, huh?" she said coldly.

"Loraina! I can explain," James started, but was cut off.

"I don't know what is with you guys, but I suddenly don't know you at all anymore! Maybe this whole friendship thing was a bad idea," Loraina said in a sad voice. As she went to walk off, Sirius grabbed her arm.

"Wait! Just hear us out," Sirius pleaded.

"No, Sirius. I'm positive that whatever excuse you come up with is just going to be a lie like your last one. And by the way, thanks for tying me up, you prat!"

With that said, Loraina stormed from the Hospital Wing, leaving extremely disheartened Marauders in her wake.

A week went by of pure silence from all of the girls. When Lily and Delilah found out that Loraina had been tied up by James and Sirius, they had flown off the handle. James had received a well placed slap from Lily, and Sirius was on the receiving end of visual daggers that periodically came from Delilah's eyes.

Remus was simply miserable. On one hand, his arm was finally better, thanks to magical healing, but he was being alienated by the girl he really liked because of some stupid stunt pulled by his friends. This wasn't the first time it had happened, he supposed, and it most definitely would not be the last.

For a moment, he had considered telling the girls his secret, but he just couldn't do it. Not yet. He hardly knew them; he felt close with them, but he wasn't ready for that yet. If they turned out to be vindictive about it, they could tell everyone and completely ruin his life. Simply put, he was not willing to risk that.

"I have a plan," James said at lunch.

"That's never good," Remus said with a nostalgic smile.

"I'm just going to grovel to Delilah for an entire day; she's going to be the easiest."

"No, she isn't," Sirius said with a terrified gulp. "Do you see those eyes? DAGGERS!" As he shouted the last word, he practically stabbed his messy haired friend with a fork.

"Calm down," Remus laughed, tugging his friend back down. "I've got a better idea. We write a letter!"

"How is that gonna help?" Sirius asked, cocking his head to the side like a dog.

"Girls love letters," Remus shrugged. "And, we won't risk physical harm."

"I like this plan," James said automatically. At his friend's amused looks, he held his hands up defensively. "Lily has a mean right hook!"

The next morning at breakfast, the girls were surprised when a large owl landed in the middle of their little triangle. Exchanging looks, Delilah reached out and tentatively grabbed the envelope.