PART 1: 'NO FRIENDSHIP IS AN ACCIDENT' - O. Henry

Chapter 7: A small inconvenience

Remus woke up around midnight, his body feeling heavy and every movement causing his joints to protest. Lying still, Remus tried not to think about how much worse the pain would get when his body would be forced to transform into a monster. But it was hard to keep it out of mind when his body did its uttermost to give him advanced reminders.

Saturday he would once more become the beast - a product of pain and to cause pain to others - or himself in their absence. Hope had encouraged Remus to give the wolf a name, something to distance it from himself - a muggle trick of sorts. But Remus felt strongly that this was cheating. However much they could pretend otherwise, he was - and would always be - a monster designed to hunt and kill humans - innocents. People who were not like him.

With such 'happy' thoughts to keep him company, Remus spent most of the night waiting for morning to arrive. He knew he drifted off occasionally, as he'd wake suddenly from his body protesting at any significant movement. One more night like this before hell would break lose.

It was still very early when Remus heard movement coming from one of the other beds. Remus opened his hangings to see James Potter getting changed into some baggy muggle trousers and a t-shirt.

'Remus!' James exclaimed in surprise before looking guiltily around at the other beds.

'What are you doing awake at this hour?' the messy haired boy asked - now in a whisper.

Remus shrugged.

'Couldn't sleep?' James asked.

'Lots to take in.'

It wasn't entirely untrue.

'I know right?' James said, trying to keep his voice down, his hazel eyes bright with excitement. 'I am going for a run, do you want to join?'

Remus could hardly have come up with something he less wanted to do. He shook his head.

'Your loss,' James shrugged.

Then, looking at Remus more carefully, James said: 'maybe you should try to get some more sleep? You look done in.'

And with that, James was off.

Nearly an hour passed before Remus decided it was time to get up, thinking it wasn't too long before the others would awake. He hadn't been able to get any further sleep.

Studying himself in the bathroom mirror, Remus had to agree with James: he did look done in. But there was nothing new in that. He thought about how quickly Madam Pomfrey had been able to fix James' tailbone, and wondered, not for the first time, why magic could heal some injuries within seconds, whilst some conditions remained void of any effective treatment.

Unconsciously Remus let his fingers trace the deeply scarred tissue just below his left shoulder; the bite that had forever cursed his life. Remus had other scars across his torso from that fateful attack, but had it not been for that one bite, he would have been normal.

Normal like who? James Potter? There was a rational side to Remus who knew that Sirius had been right in telling James that nobody's family was normal. But none of the boys knew that Remus wasn't simply abnormal - Remus wasn't even fully human. He was a beast, a killer-in-making and a half-breed.

/

'Where's James?' was the question that greeted Remus as he entered the dormitory again, fully dressed.

Sirius Black looked like he was in a foul mood. Whether that was because he didn't know where his friend was, or if it was because of the double potions he had so expressively told them he was unhappy about, Remus didn't know.

James Potter had started to make sense to Remus. He wasn't that difficult to understand. James could be summarised as a Quidditch enthusiast (whatever Quidditch was), with too much energy and the sort of confidence that came from a happy upbringing. Sirius though... Remus could only describe him in terms of others. He was James' friend and he disliked his family. And that was about everything Remus knew about the black-haired boy in front of him.

Peter scurried to the bathroom, evidently keen to get away and unable to provide an answer to Sirius' question.

'He went for a run,' Remus said, walking over to his bed.

Starting to fold his pyjamas, Remus asked: 'did you sleep well?'

Sirius ignored this question.

'A run?' he asked, the disbelief laced in his voice so clear that Remus began to wonder if Sirius knew this was something people could do. Maybe this was an exclusively muggle-activity? But then, James came from a wizarding family. Better safe than sorry, Remus thought-:

'You know, for exercise.'

'I know what going for a run means, but why on earth would he do that? Are the hundred-and-forty-two staircases around this castle not enough for him?'

'Everyone walks those stairs,' came a voice from the bedroom door. James Potter, sweaty but happy-looking, had returned: 'and I want to be fitter than 'everyone''.

'By engaging in muggle torture?' Sirius asked, shaking his head.

'You should join,' James said, getting undressed unashamedly in front of the two boys. Then again, he had no scars to hide. 'Gives you something to write home about.'

'I like my sleep, thank-you-very-much,' Sirius replied dryly. Throwing a towel at his friend he said: 'And cover yourself, you're making Remus blush.'

/

It seemed the run had done James some good. He was calmer than Remus had seen him thus far. The four boys managed to get down to breakfast together, which was, if nothing else, an improvement on the previous day.

It became clear to the four boys that the story of Sirius and James' attempt at touching the trunk of the Whomping Willow had spread like fire through dry grass. Only the Gryffindor first years, however, who had been witness to their attempts, seemed convinced that the game was not worth repeating. Everyone else seemed to think that they or their friends might succeed where a couple of first years had failed.

This lack of belief in their skills didn't seem to bother James and Sirius in the slightest. Sirius because he, Remus began to observe, didn't really seem bothered about the attention, and James because he had his own interpretation of it all-:

'If they are this impressed before they know how crazy that tree is, just you wait until they have had a go.'

It was clear James expected that the two of them would be hailed as heroes before the week was over. Remus, however, felt increasingly unhappy about the amount of attention this tree was getting. Professor Dumbledore might have considered it an effective gatekeeper for the secret passage he had described to Remus, but how long could it be a secret if the tree was the talk of the whole school?

'Hey! Black! Potter!'

It was Gideon Prewett who had called for the boys, the red-headed prefect that had handed them their timetables yesterday morning. He was closely followed by an equally red-haired boy, whom Remus realised had to be his brother, the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Fabian, was it?

Sirius and James, who sat across from each other at the table, exchanged a quick look. Sirius lowered his spoon.

'What's up?' James asked, turning around so he could see the two boys.

'Are these stories true - about the Whomping Willow?' the prefect asked, looking serious.

Remus could no longer see James' face, but Sirius' grey eyes darted to the back of James' messy hair before looking back at Gideon Prewett.

'Oh, give them a break, Gid,' his brother shot in, placing a hand on Gideon Prewett's shoulder. 'There's no rule to say they can't go near it.'

The prefect sighed: 'Well, you don't look any worse for wear.'

'No, we were really careful!' James lied.

Gideon Prewett laughed: 'That's impossible.'

'Alright, fine, but we weren't stupid.'

Another lie, in Remus' opinion.

'And we're not planning to go near it ever again,' Sirius said, with feeling.

That was also a lie, if Sirius included Remus in that statement, but Sirius wasn't to know that.

'Did you hear that we nearly touched the trunk?' James asked, eagerly.

'We did,' the Quidditch captain said, looking impressed. 'I heard you were only a few inches away.'

'Oh don't encourage them, Fabian,' his brother said with a hint of despair.

So it was Fabian!

'I am very good at dodging stuff - branches, bludgers,' James said quickly. 'And I've got a good aim too.'

'Oh yeah?' Fabian Prewett asked, smiling somewhat knowingly, like he had heard things like this before, and knew not to take it too seriously.

'Yes, I am!'

Remus guessed James was either unable or unwilling to pick up on the Quidditch captain's - not exactly disbelief - but lack of confidence in the boy's self-proclaimed skills.

'Well then, you should come to the Quidditch try-outs,' Fabian Prewett said, kindly.

'I will!'

'Well, we'll see you then - if not before. Stay out of trouble, won't ya? I don't think Gideon feels he used his badge enough last year.'

Fabian Prewett smirked at his brother. The prefect simply rolled his eyes, and the two boys left them.

'Are they twins, do you think?' Peter asked, curiously.

'Can't be,' James said, eyeing the two boys. 'Gideon is definitely older.'

'I don't know,' Remus said, following James' eyes.

'They're not twins,' a slightly plump girl said, as she shuffled closer to the four of them, 'but they are in the same year.'

Sirius gave the intruder an annoyed look, but Peter and James seemed pleased at having someone who could tell them more about the brothers.

'How?' Peter asked.

'It's not impossible,' James said, 'but poor Mrs Prewett.'

'Oh it's not like that,' the girl said, waving her hand. 'The way I heard it, Fabian got really ill the year Gideon was meant to start at Hogwarts, and Gideon flat out refused to leave his brother. The family let him stay home, as they weren't sure Fabian would make it.'

She looked at them all seriously, but her pale eyes seemed pleased to have an audience.

'They could have home schooled him... so he didn't have to lose a whole year,' Peter said.

'Maybe he wanted to start with his brother?' James suggested.

'They will have had their hands full if Fabian was seriously ill,' Remus corrected them.

'Exactly,' the girl said eagerly. 'That's why their sister had to come back to Hogwarts - because she was already in her... fourth year? yeah, I think so. And they didn't want her to fall behind too. Can you imagine? Leaving your brother like that? I mean, I bet she went home lots, but it's not the same.'

'No it's not,' Remus agreed, thinking about how tough it must have been for this sister - and the family.

Peter gave him a quick look Remus couldn't quite understand.

'Anyways, they are thick as thieves those two... And don't let Gideon fool you. He got up to all sorts of mischief until Dumbledore made him a prefect. Something I like to remind him of, when necessary.'

'Like what?' James asked, eagerly.

The girl just smiled.

'I don't think I caught your name,' Sirius said, coolly.

'Bertha Jorkins,' Bertha Jorkins answered.

'And I know who you four are: Peter Pettigrew, Remus Lupin, James Potter - and of course,' she turned to Sirius with a slightly hungry look on her face, 'Sirius Black.'

James, who had seemed to enjoy Jorkins' company so far, suddenly sat up a bit straighter: 'Alright - well... we better get going, haven't we? Double potions and all.'

James made to stand up.

'But Remus has barely touched his food,' Peter protested.

'Clearly he's not hungry. Let's go.'

Remus wasn't hungry, so he just nodded, and stood up next to Sirius.

'See you around,' Remus said to the girl, not sure he wanted to. Jorkins seemed like the sort of watchful girl he wanted nothing to do with.

'Blimey, I really don't understand why everyone gets their wands in knots about you being a Black,' James said as they made their way to their entrance, and Remus realised James was thinking of Gemma Dawlish - and Ciara Ryan - yesterday.

'That's because you don't seem to know my family,' Sirius said, looking grim. 'Ah, but here's the perfect opportunity to introduce you to one of them. Cissy, how lovely.'

'Sirius,' Miss Black said, looking down at her cousin.

It might have been easy to miss how similar they looked; disguised by their very different hair colours; she a blonde; Sirius, of course, black-haired. But if you got past that difference, they both had a haughty look about them, and they were both - undeniably - handsome. They also shared a look of utter distaste as they surveyed each other.

'Move along now, or I'll have to dock a few points from your precious house,' Miss Black tapped her prefect badge with a long, pale finger.

'Oh, are you a prefect?' Sirius asked, sarcastically. 'I am surprised aunt Druella didn't mention it. Oh wait - she did. About a thousand times.'

Sirius let a couple of students pass, but he didn't move and neither did Miss Black. A small crowd of curious onlookers started gathering.

'How is she?' Sirius asked. 'Aunty must be thrilled I am in Gryffindor. It must make such a nice change from one of her daughters being the biggest disappointment in the family?'

Miss Black laughed: 'You think you're this great big rebel, Sirius, but you're nothing but a small inconvenience. Well, off you go with your Gryffindor friends. And...' a cruel smile curled her lips: '5 points from Gryffindor.'

If Sirius had looked for something to cheer him up before potions, the encounters with Bertha Jorkins and his cousin had both served the opposite effect. He seemed liable to kick something as they walked down the stairs to the dungeons.

'There's something I am missing,' Sirius grumbled to James. 'It's more than a small inconvenience to them that I am in Gryffindor.'

'You sure? It's just a house,' James said.

This was rich coming from James, Remus thought. James put more store in people's sorting than anyone Remus had met so far.

'You don't know my family,' Sirius said through clenched teeth.

'You're right,' James said after a short break. 'But I suspect you can be more than a small inconvenience, if that's what you want.'

'Go on.'

'Well,' James said, just as they came to a stop in front of what had to be the potions classroom. 'It will take a couple of weeks, and I'll have to write to my dad, but I've got an idea.'

Just then, a short, balding man with an enormous belly came into view. He was lavishly dressed in purple velvet and polished, gold buttons that served no purpose as far as Remus could see. This had to be Horace Slughorn.

'I'll tell you about it later,' James said, keeping his voice down.

'Great,' Sirius replied quietly, eyeing the professor warily. 'I need something to look forward to.'

A/N

Happy Friday! I thought a long time about which house Bertha could belong to. She's described as idiotic and nosey. I don't think that fits Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. I could put her in the house with all the baddies, but come on - Gryffindor can have their fair share of less than ideal characters too.

And no, James doesn't know about the Blacks in my story - his parents does of course. I will get back to all of that later.