The other boys had been miffed to learn John had visited Remus without them. John defended himself by saying he'd only been there for a minute or two before he left. When Remus returned, he looked at John with wariness. It was clear he remembered John seeing him in that awful state. He didn't want to answer questions, but he knew he would have to. John left him alone until the weekend. His attention had been taken by his desperation to receive good marks in Transfiguration. It was only afterwards that he remembered he'd been meaning to speak with his friend.

Remus had gone up to the dormitory to study in peace as the common room was loud and crowded. John watched him go before following after him a few minutes later. The scarred boy was sitting on his bed with his nose buried in his battered potions textbook. It was his worst subject, if John remembered correctly. He glanced up as John opened the door and didn't look back down at his book. The two of them stared at each other for an awkward moment. John cleared his throat and Remus closed his book, fiddling with the end of his jumper.

"I'm… glad you're doing better." John said, sitting on the bed across from Remus. He thought it was Sirius's?

"Er, yeah, loads." Remus responded, avoiding eye contact.

"Did the chocolate help?" John asked. Remus laughed and John could see tension melt away from his face.

"You know what? It actually did. Thanks for that."

"Anytime." John waved him off. "Actually, maybe not anytime. It was kind of hard to find. Can you believe nobody had any chocolate on them?"

"Fools, the lot of 'em." Remus concluded. The two of them were quiet for a moment.

"Remus, why were you in the hospital wing?" John asked, breaching the subject he intended to from the start. "You said you were visiting your mum."

"I…" Remus hesitated, furrowing his brows and looking down at his lap. "I can't tell you."

"Can't tell me? Remus, you had bandages all over your body. What could you have gotten into that Madam Pomfrey couldn't fix with just a wave of her wand?" John questioned, frowning. Remus bit his lip and looked away. "We're worried about you. The only reason the others haven't said anything is because they didn't actually see you lying there."

"Sirius didn't see?"

"No, just me. Madam Pomfrey didn't let anyone see you. The only reason I got the chance was because I got in while she was grabbing lunch." John scooted forward on the bed. "I just want to help you, you know."

"I can't tell you. You'd hate me. Or you'd be scared." Remus said, his voice heavy.

"No I wouldn't." John scoffed. "Unless you're in a murder cult. Doing wizard drugs."

"I'm not doing wizard drugs." Remus huffed, crossing his arms.

"That sounds like something someone doing wizard drugs would say." James said from the doorway. John and Remus jumped, not having heard his approach. "Relax, I'm just getting a book. Sirius and I were trying to plan out a prank for Snivellous." He rummaged around in his trunk.

"Don't embarrass him too much. He might start doing wizard drugs to distract himself from the pain." John said, a serious expression on his face.

"Oh come on, that's absurd." Remus rolled his eyes. John only laughed.

"Maybe we should trick Professor McGonagall into thinking he does wizard drugs." James said, his voice muffled as he practically crawled inside his trunk in search of the book.

"Why not Slughorn? He's the Slytherin head of house." Remus pointed out.

"Slughorn's a big softie. He likes Snape too much for that to work." John told him.

"Ah." Remus had never noticed Slughorn to be a 'big softie' as he usually had a terrible headache during potions and tried to avoid the dungeons to the best of his ability.

"Found it!" James exclaimed, triumphant as he emerged from his trunk, book in hand.

He bounded down the stairs to rejoin Sirius and an uncomfortable quiet fell between John and Remus. The previous subject matter returned to their minds though they were unsure how to continue that conversation. Remus's eyes flicked back to his potions book, though he didn't really want to read any more of it. John chewed his lip, not knowing what he could possibly say for Remus to tell him what was going on. He wasn't visiting his mother when he left, that was certain, but there were no clues he could think of that told him the truth. John stood from the bed.

"Well, if you ever want to tell me what's wrong, I promise I won't judge you. I won't even tell the others." He said. "I just want to help you."

John left, failing to hear Remus mutter there was nothing he could do to help. He caught a snippet of Sirius and James's conversation and decided not to try and figure out what they planned to do with broccoli, a bar of soap, and a shoelace. His only other friend in Gryffindor was Lily, but the redhead was surrounded by many of her other friends so he elected to leave the common room. It was around midday, though lunch hadn't quite rolled around yet. He wished there were some easy way of asking Herbie where he was, but there wasn't so he wandered about aimlessly. John was bored. It was as simple as that. He couldn't believe it was possible to be bored at Hogwarts, but there he was. A sigh escaped him as he wondered what Allie would do in this predicament. Probably slide down the railings of the moving staircase.

His thoughts were interrupted as he bumped into someone. He expected to be on his way after a quick apology but he was instead knocked to the ground. John looked up from the stone floor to see two Slytherin boys. Their names were Mulciber and Avery if he remembered correctly and he noted Mulciber's drawn wand. John tried to think of a spell to defend himself with before remembering he'd left his wand in the dorm room. It struck him that this was the first time he'd been assaulted by any Slytherins. He scrambled to his feet, balling his hands into fists and accepting that he was outnumbered, but also wanting to punch the smug smirks off of their faces. The two of them jeered at him.

"Aw, look at the poor little mudblood, I think he's forgotten how to talk!" Avery laughed, harsh and short.

"What's he gonna do? Glare us to death?" Mulciber guffawed.

"Was that supposed to be funny?" John asked, wishing he could think of something properly witty to say. He'd probably think of a good comeback a few hours from then and wish he could time travel.

"What an idiot." Avery snickered, and John felt his hands twitch.

"I bet he doesn't even know any spells."

"I don't need any spells to do this." He grunted before stepping forward and letting his fist fly. Sure, he'd never thrown a proper punch in his life, but these were purebloods. They'd probably never even seen a fistfight in a movie.

With those two busy with Mulciber's bloody nose, John went on his way, trying to get as much distance between them as possible. Being alone made him anxious now. He realized he'd managed to avoid negative Slytherin interactions until then thanks to almost never being unaccompanied, and now that he wasn't with any of his friends he wasn't sure how safe it was to wander about the castle. It was lucky he'd run into first years, but what if he ran into seventh year blood purists? They probably knew all sorts of dark spells and he didn't want to push his luck. At least Avery and Mulciber only used flipendo. They could've gone for incendio and John would've been in a world of hurt on his way to the hospital wing at that moment.

He realized he'd gotten far from Gryffindor tower. He also realized his hand stung from punching Mulciber but he didn't know what to do about that. John decided to go to the Great Hall because it was relatively close. Lunch was soon anyways, so hopefully other students would be there and he would be in no danger of being assaulted again. None of his friends were there yet so he decided to place himself near the end of the table. It was hard to see the entrance to the room from the Gryffindor table, as it was the furthest from the doors, but he tried his best. He felt awkward sitting alone but he would have felt even more awkward joining a random conversation. This awkwardness was alleviated when he spotted Herbie walk in. He stood and practically ran across the room. Thankfully, his friend had already seen him before going to sit down. John wondered why the Slytherins got to be closest to the door. It seemed unfair.

"Are you alright?" Herbie asked when John had to lean over and put his hands on his knees to catch his breath.

"Just- just give me…" John took a deep breath and stood back up. "Alright. I'm good." He nodded.

"What's wrong with your hand?"

"I… may have punched someone." John admitted, eying the other Slytherins with wariness as Herbie piled a plate high with food. They returned the look.

"Punched someone? That doesn't sound like you." Herbie said, walking away from his table. John breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, Mulciber and Avery were calling me a mudblood." John said, reaching to take a muffin from Herbie's plate after being given silent permission. "Mulciber also used the knockback jinx on me, so I punched him."

"He's not going to be happy about that." Herbie pointed out.

"I know, but I didn't have my wand."

"You could've just waited for them to move on. You didn't have to fight him. Now he'll see you as a threat and try even harder to bully you."

"Sometimes I forget you're in Slytherin." John huffed. James and Sirius would have given him a high-five for punching Mulciber.

"That's the goal." Herbie laughed. "Make sure nobody takes me seriously so I can strike when they least expect."

"Remind me to never get on your bad side." John shuddered. He waved at Lily as they passed her on their way down the hall. "D'you reckon Lily's getting too popular for us?"

"Oh, definitely. I'm surprised she even looks at Snape anymore."

"It's because she's nice. Snape's kind of a git. She's too good for him."

The two of them made their way to the corridor on the second floor with the view of the castle grounds. They could see lake, the whomping willow, and the forest through the windows. It was their usual lunch spot when they wanted to sit together. Gryffindor and Slytherin had a well-known rivalry so neither of them were exactly welcome at the other's table. John supposed he was okay with only talking to Herbie when they were away from all the people. It would be strange to mix his friends together. He would never want to ask him or Lily to spend time with his room-mates after all. They chatted aimlessly for a bit, wishing spongify would make the hard stone floor soft instead of bouncy so they could sit more comfortably.

"I invited a friend to sit with us today, by the way." Herbie said, preventing John from making a suggestion to bring cushions next time.

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, his name is Tatum Beaumont. I call him Tate."

"Is he that Ravenclaw bloke?" John asked. "The one who's always asking Professor McGonagall loads of questions in Transfiguration?"

"Well I'm not in your Transfiguration class, but he asks Professor Flitwick loads of questions too so yeah, probably." Herbie laughed in amusement.

John was alerted of Tate's presence when he heard an awkward shuffle, as if someone had just fallen and picked themself off the ground. He greeted Tate and the small talk began. John learned Tate was the middle child of his siblings, with an older brother and younger sister; neither of whom were magical. His father was a half-blood and his mother was a muggle. After sharing this information, Tate redirected the conversation to John's interests in school and they wound up in a conversation about potions. By the end of it, John managed to feel a bit smarter.

The three of them parted ways and John decided Tatum was a fine fellow. He was curious and asked a lot of questions John didn't know the answers to. It got a bit annoying after a while if he was being honest, but he tried not to be rude about it. He would be lying if he said he wasn't relieved when he returned to his room-mates and their hijinks though. There was something comforting about the simple boyish bond they shared.

Much of the months leading to the end of school were filled with the usual antics. John avoided being alone in the corridors without his wand. James and Sirius discovered Remus's penchant for mischief when the two became victim to a series of pranks. They'd initially blamed each other but it didn't take long to realize they were being had. It took them a few weeks to figure out who had been pulling the strings and when they did, the two boys insisted they form an unofficial prankster group. John wasn't around when they decided to make this group so he wasn't a part of it, but he supposed he didn't mind too much. He'd never been keen on the pranking aspect of their friendship anyways.

The weeks leading up to exams were the least hectic of the year thanks the lessened pranks. Many students spent their time studying regularly in the library, but others (like Sirius) elected to cram the night before the exam. John hadn't waited quite so long as Sirius, but he also hadn't started nearly as early as James and Remus. Him and Peter started their studying around a week prior to exams. The exams themselves were stressful and John was unsure whether or not he was remembering any of the correct information. His final exam was Transfiguration and by the end of it all he just wanted to take a long nap on school grounds.

"Mr. Smith, a moment please?" Professor McGonagall's stern voice stopped him before he could do just that. He tensed, slowly turning around to face her.

"Yes ma'am?" John stopped by her desk, where she was grading the exams that had just finished.

"You've improved significantly over the course of this school year." She sent him a warm smile. "Keep working as hard as you have been and I am positive you'll rise to the top of the class. Enjoy your summer, Mr. Smith."

"You too, Professor!"

John grinned before dashing out to join his friends. The rest of the school year before the train ride home passed in the blink of an eye and John found himself sitting in a compartment with Herbie and Tate. He would've sat with his room-mates but the compartment would have been crowded. John found himself already missing Hogwarts as they pulled into King's Cross Station. When he returned to muggle London and his parents called him by the wrong name, he couldn't wait for school to start again.

Word Count: 2,588

Finally! Year one is complete! I honestly don't know if I'm happy with this chapter or not, I'm just kind of disoriented time-wise because I'm in Scotland right now and it's 6 hours later than I'm used to. Next chapter I'll be able to explain what my plans for the more OC-centric Hogwarts fic are so if you're interested in that make sure to stick around for that author's note!

As always, I would love to get any feedback from you! I love all of you and hope to see you next time!