Saturday evening, after dinner, Remus was surprised to see James and Sirius both quietly getting on with their homework. He sat in one of the armchairs, reading a book his parents had picked up for him in Diagon Alley. He'd been waiting for the chance to read it for a while, and having got his current work done, he found he had the time.

He glanced up, watching as Sirius wrote something down, his tongue poking out the side of his mouth.

"This doesn't feel right," Remus muttered, shaking his head as he glanced at Peter. The boy nodded in agreement.

"What doesn't?" James asked, glancing up only briefly before his attention returned to his work.

"You two doing work, on a Saturday evening," Remus explained. "And, well, not asking to copy mine, either."

Sirius shrugged. "Might as well do something."

Remus frowned, before returning to his book.

"What are you reading, anyway?" Peter asked, gazing at the book with curiosity. Remus tilted it so the other boy could see the cover. A History of Magic on the Sea; Pirates and Wizards. "Oh," Peter muttered, blushing as he asked, "so what's it about?"

Remus grinned. "Mainly pirates and wizards. Apparently, quite a lot of boats had someone on they thought possessed magical powers. For the most part it was rumours, used so other ships would be scared of them. I ended up reading some of it last year, but Mum and Dad brought me this copy in the summer."

James was staring at him, nodding slowly. "So...were there wizards on the seas?"

"Yeah," Remus chuckled, before telling them about the boat of wizards attacked by pirates, originally heading for the New World only to end up back in Great Britain. "But some of them ended up joining the pirates, becoming marauders themselves."

James leant forward, looking thoughtful. "Marauders?"

"People who raid and pillage," Remus explained. "Usually for spoils of some sort. You can borrow it when I'm done, if you like."

The other boy leant back, his hands in his lap as he stared down at the table. "Yeah, thanks, Remus."

"No problem."

They returned to their work, and Remus returned to his book. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when Gerard came into the Common Room, stopped at the notice board and pin something up. James and Sirius were both looking up from their work, eyes fixed on Gerard. He turned, nodded at them though it was hard to tell if it was both or just one, and which one? and then headed towards the dormitories.

The pair scrambled off the chairs and over to the board.

Remus watched the expressions on their faces. James' changed from one of sheer fear to pure joy. Sirius' dropped, before he turned to his friend, grinned and clapped him on the back. Remus and Peter stood and joined them at the board.

There, under Team, was written James Potter Chaser. Under Reserves, Sirius Black Beater.

"That's good, isn't it?" Peter muttered, glancing at Sirius. "At least you might get to play. And don't reserves usually have a better chance of getting on the team the following year?"

Sirius grinned at him. "Yeah, you're right."

James stepped back, his shoulders relaxing as he let out a low whistle.

"I can't believe it," he whispered. "Did I...my name is James Potter, isn't it?"

The other three laughed. "Congratulations," Remus said, clapping his friend on the back. "You got on the team!"

Under the list was a note. Practice for Team Members Reserves on Monday. First game vs. Hufflepuff, two weeks from today.

"The game's pretty soon," James muttered, stepping back from the board. "Sirius, fancy going to the pitch now to practice?"

"Really?" Peter glanced out the window. "It's less than an hour until dark."

"So we'll practice until dark," James replied. "You up for it, Sirius?"

The other boy nodded. "Yeah, sure. Let's go."

X X X

Monday evening, and Remus ended up dragging Peter to the library, determined to continue studying Defence, even if they didn't have any classes. They said good bye to the other two in the Entrance Hall, before watching a very excited pair make their way down to the pitch.

Outside, James was surprised to see Michael and William sitting under a tree. William glanced up, frowned at them before quickly looking away. He decided to ignore it. William hadn't said a word to either him or Sirius since Saturday evening, although he had made a point of discussing work with Remus.

He'd already decided to ignore it. If William was going to act bitter about the weekend, then James and Sirius would have to rise about it. There was no point wasting time with him.

Soon they were at the pitch, standing with the rest of the current team and the reserves. Gerard stood in front of them, arms folded as he surveyed the newest recruits.

"Right, firstly, well done to all of you. Including the reserves." His eyes fell on those who had joined the reserves team. "All of our reserves last year were seventh years; some of them had willingly left the main team to focus on schoolwork." He let out a wistful sigh, as if he really couldn't understand the logic behind the decision. "Anyway the reserves will practice with us once a week. Bobby there is the reserve captain." He gestured to one of the reserve chasers, who lifted a hand in a wave to everyone else. "And he'll be organising the rest of their practices. As for our main team, we practice Mondays and Wednesdays, and next week we'll be out here every evening possible, understand?"

They all nodded.

"Good. I expect to see you doing runs around the castle, too, when you have the time. And for Merlin's sakes, try to eat slightly healthy, okay? You need to keep your body in shape. Now, grab your brooms we're going to play against the reserves for now."

James glanced over at Sirius, flashing him a wide smile, before everyone grabbed their brooms and flew up into the air.

X X X

On Wednesday morning, after the owls had delivered the post, Dumbledore stood and stepped forward, lifting his hands up. The hall fell completely silent, every eye turning to gaze at him.

"Good morning," he began, his eyes twinkling as he surveyed the students patiently waiting for him to say more. "I hope you are enjoying your first weeks of school, and your heads are slowly filling up with the information forgotten over your summer holidays."

There were some light chuckles across the hall. Sirius leant forward, whispering, "What do you think it's about?"

"Defence," Remus replied, so certain that Sirius wondered if he'd spoken to another teacher about it.

"As you are well aware, you have had some free periods since the start of term, which were meant to be spent in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. I can only hope you have been spending them productively, although I understand the lure of free time is much too strong for some of you."

Lily beamed at Alice.

"But, as of this afternoon, those free periods will be spent in the lesson they were designed for. Your new professor will be arriving at lunch time, so anyone with Defence after that point should report to the classroom. Thank you."

He sat back down, and the students broke into chatter, throwing theories back and forth about who the new professor might be.

"I hope it's another ex-Auror," James said, as they gathered their bags and began to set off for their first class. It was no secret to the other three that James had really liked their old Defence professor; Caedmon had been a good teacher, and it had been hard on everyone when his death had been announced.

Remus nodded, but wasn't quite sure he agreed. He'd liked Caedmon, but he couldn't help but wonder if it was because of his profession that he had died.

By lunchtime, rumours were spreading like wildfire about the new professor. Some suggested he was a ghost, like Binns. Others said a werewolf would be joining them, but older students dismissed them, grunting that Dumbledore wouldn't dare put them in that much danger.

Remus kept his mouth shut, but couldn't ignore the looks James sent him as they moved past the students discussing the werewolf theory. Sirius and Peter, darting ahead and deep in conversation revolving around Quidditch, didn't see James place a hand on Remus' shoulder, squeezing gently before he whispered, "Don't listen to them. They don't know anything."

After lunch, the rumours were still being discussed. The students that had had Defence that afternoon just smiled when asked, refusing to reveal anything about the new professor. They whoever they were didn't turn up to dinner, and the rumours grew more wild.

"It's a vampire, apparently," a third year commented over dinner. "Apparently they had to make the class completely sun-proof, which is why they're not coming to dinner." He gestured to the roof, showing the sun only just starting to set. "It's just a little too early for them, see?"

"That's more ridiculous than a werewolf," Sirius scoffed. "At least a werewolf would, you know, only have a bit of a furry problem. But a vampire? In a room full of students with fresh blood? Please."

James glanced at Remus, glad to see a small smile tugging at the boy's lips.

Later that night, James woke from a dream of winning the Quidditch World Cup. He opened his curtains and spotted Remus' bed, empty with the curtains open. Wondering where the other boy was, he climbed out of bed and made his way to the common room. The fire was lit, and Remus sat on one of the armchairs, curled up and staring into the flames.

Softly, so as not to startle the boy, James called his name. Remus turned, glanced at him and nodded, before gesturing to one of the empty seats. James joined his friend, remaining silent, knowing that whatever was on the boy's mind, he would be told eventually.

Finally, after a while, Remus spoke.

"Maybe I should try to become a Professor," he mused, still watching the flames. "Prove them wrong."

"You still thinking about the werewolf comments?"

Remus' nod was slow, thoughtful. He sighed. "That and...maybe I should tell Sirius and Peter."

"I won't argue with that," James replied, unable to help the small smile that spread across his face. "I really do think they'll be fine with it, Remus."

"Maybe. But they're both from pure-blood families; they would have heard the stories."

"But they know you. And Sirius doesn't listen to anything that comes from his family. Anyway, you heard what he said today."

"A bit of a furry problem," Remus chuckled. "Yeah, I heard. That's what's made me think..." He stopped, shaking his head. "I'm still not sure, James."

"Look, mate, all I can really say is tell them when you're ready. If you're ready, great. If not...if not then we'll just keep it between us, still. I'll stick by you whatever, you know that."

The smile on his face grew. "Yeah, I know."

James reached forward, his hand landing on Remus' shoulder. He squeezed gently. "Let me know if you decide to tell them, yeah? I'll make sure I'm there when you do."

"Thanks."

He grinned at Remus. "Hey, what are friends for, right? So, what do you think this new professor is like?"

"I have no idea," Remus chuckled. "Although...they can't be too bad, everyone who's had them seems pretty happy."

"True." James yawned, shaking his head as he did so. "I'm going to head back to bed. You'll come up soon, right?"

Remus nodded. "Yeah, I will."

"Okay, night, Remus."

"Night."