(A/N): Hey Guys! So, I'm in maths now... we did have work, I've finished it... most of it, anyway. I have a test this week apparently, which I am well prepared for, so, more writing!

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.

Elaine

I was a little worried when Leo didn't show up for the first lesson, transfiguration with Min- Professor McGonagall, but I knew he could take care of himself, for the most part. Lily was still worked up over how he had insulted Severus, but she at least had the common decency to act worried about his disappearing act as well. Professor McGonagall kept shooting glances at his empty chair beside me, a stern expression thinly veiling a look of concern, and at the end of the class, she called Remus and I back.

"Professor...?" Remus asked cautiously, glancing at me as we stood before her desk, her fingers neatly knitted together in front of her.

"As I'm sure you two have noticed, your friend Mr. Joannis," Her tone was formal, but her eyes twinkled here to show a fondness for us- or maybe only for Leo. "Didn't show up for class today. Would you happen to know why?"

I glanced at Remus before starting to speak. "Er... Severus- Severus Snape-" Professor McGonagall nodded, showing she recognised the name. "Came up to Leo at breakfast and made a few snide comments concerning... Remus and Leo's... conditions." Her elegantly poised eyebrows shot up in a moment of surprisingly unrestrained horror.

"And what did Leo do?" She demanded to know, and Remus shrugged.

"He told Snape to stop being a git and walked out. We tried to follow him but- he's, uh... he's a bit quicker than us."

Minnie paused for a second, slowly lowering her gaze to the desk, a look of stern admiration on her features. "I see. Tell Mr Joannis he has detention at seven o'clock, here with me. I will deal with Mr. Snape." The sharp finality in her tone told us the conversation was over, but I saw the corner of her lips twitch up in my peripherals as we turned to leave.

Our next class was Potions, and as Remus and I entered the room, we immediately recognised the halo of blonde hair that obviously belonged to our best friend. His back was turned to us, as well as the other Marauders as they shared a table behind him- James immediately craned his neck around and shot us a pointed look that I couldn't decipher, right before not so subtly angling his head in Leo's direction in a way that I didn't doubt Leo had a good chance of having noticed even if he was fully human. Lily was sitting across the room, with Snape.

Remus and I quickly took our seats beside Leo, and I glanced at him, trying to gauge his mood. I saw only a blank mask with a slight tint of amusement on it, like it was a canvas splashed with highly watered down paint, before his eyes suddenly connected with mine and I had to look away, forcing back a blush. "You alright?" Remus asked in a whisper, and I saw Leo shrug.

"I've been better. Of course, I've also been worse, so..." He smiled sardonically before flipping open the front cover of his notebook open, dipping his neat looking quill into his inkwell and starting to copy from the board.

Lily

A hand clasped tightly over my mouth as an arm wound around my waist, pulling me backwards into a small, darkened room. A flare of light and a murmured word later, I was released. "What the-" I tried to yell, but nothing came out. I thrashed, even though nothing was holding me down, and two hands landed firmly on my shoulders.

"Calm down, Lillian." I recognised the voice, and, growling silently, I struck out, my foot meeting Sirius's shin. "Ow! She kicked me! James, she kicked me!" Another flare of light, this time staying around, and I saw, now that the room was lit by wand light, that Sirius, James and Peter were here- and, strangely enough, Remus. I mean, usually it was just the two boys- Sirius and James- with Peter tagging along. Remus was too bright to follow their every move, and spent most of his time with Leo and Elaine in the Room of Requirement. It was odd that he was here, now.

"Now, if you agree not to scream, I'll take the silencing spell off of you," James explained calmly, to which I nodded slowly. "Good." With another word mumbled under his breath, I squeaked experimentally, and, finding it to have worked, glared at the boys.

"What the hell?!" I demanded in a growl, and Remus grinned lightly.

"We wanted to talk to you. Me, I would have gone with a casual sit down, maybe some tea and biscuits, but you know, kidnapping just sounds like so much more fun to them." He gestured to the other Marauders with his thumb, rolling his eyes. "Barmy gits..."

"We wanted to talk to you about the fight this morning," Peter explained timidly.

I was confused for a second before I realised what they were talking about- and immediately became just as annoyed as I had been then. "Oh, that. Leo shouldn't have-" Remus cut me off, his demeanor changing completely.

"Don't say that! Leo did nothing wrong."

I raised an eyebrow, as did Peter and Sirius, but James just nodded. "You don't understand, Evans. What Sniv- Severus," He corrected himself. "Said, was completely wrong. I mean, look at what he said about Remus! How does he even know that?" He looked at me suspiciously but I shook my head.

"I didn't tell him!" Even by my own ears it sounded rather defensive, and I looked to Remus. "I don't know how he figured it out... but what does that have to do with Leo?"

Remus and James froze for a second, glancing at each other before James sighed. "It has to do with that secret of Leo's." At once, Sirius, Peter, and I's eyebrows all shot up.

"Wait a minute, you know what the secret is?!" He glanced at Remus again before shrugging sheepishly, looking to the ground, and nodding. "Oh, wow... that really puts things in perspective," I grumbled bitterly, my eyes stinging slightly with unshed tears.

"It's not like that, Evans! I figured it out for myself."

I stared at him before shaking my head. "You make it sound like it's obvious." He shrugged, looking back at Remus with a small, almost secretive smile.

"It kind of is," Remus said with a laugh, and I frowned.

"Then why can't I see it?" I asked quietly, and Remus smirked.

"Because you're the three blind mice," He said, looking to Sirius, Peter, and I. "And I'm the big bad wolf."

(A/N): Maths is about to end in like, ten minutes, so I probably won't have another chapter until after school seeing as I actually have work to do in my English lesson...

I hope you liked the fairy tale reference.

This chapter has had minor edits made to it on 30/12/22 - McGonagall called Leo 'Leonides', so I changed it to either Leo (when she's too surprised to act formal), or Mr Joannis, when she's being formal.

This chapter has had edits made to it on 29/2/24 - formatting, and reconfiguring of sentences so they make more sense. Also, Lily growled a lot, so I cut down on that.