A/N Hi everyone.

I hope you're enjoying my story.

A couple of trigger warnings for this chapter, mentions of animal abuse and eating disorders.

Thanks for reading :)

Thursday, 2nd September 1971, 10:44pm

Sirius lay in bed listening to Peter snoring on the other side of the room. The rhythmic rumble was the only sound in the otherwise silent dormitory, but the peace was soon broken by James' voice on the other side of his bed curtains.

'Sirius, are you still awake?'

Sirius sighed, he'd known this was coming. 'Yes,' he whispered.

James pulled back the curtains, climbed onto the bed uninvited, and pulled the covers over himself. Sitting back against the headboard, he looked down at Sirius where he was still lying with his head on the pillow.

'So, what was all that about earlier, with Filch? Why were you so scared?'

Sirius sat up and leant back next to James. Looking down at his hands, he sighed again.

'It was nothing, mate. Don't worry about it.'

James frowned and crossed his arms.

'No, Sirius. I'm not having that. I'm your friend, and friends help each other.' He sighed. 'Look, you don't have to tell me why if you don't want to, but at least tell me what I can do to help.'

Sirius glanced up and searched James' face. His expression was sincere. He was only asking so he could help. There was no sign of an ulterior motive in his eyes. Dare he tell this boy about the thoughts that worried him? That he felt there might be something vile and rotten in his family? Sirius had only known him for a day. Could he trust him? Something deep inside him, some extra sense, screamed that he could and that maybe James could help him.

Sirius averted his eyes before he spoke. The intensity of James' gaze unnerved him.

'What do your parents do if you misbehave?' he asked in a quiet voice.

James hesitated before answering.

'It depends how bad it is. Sometimes they tell me off, you know, explain what I did wrong, why it was wrong and what I should have done differently. They think it will help me "learn", but it's just annoying, really. They never bother to ask why I did it, so their advice doesn't help.'

James shrugged.

'If I do something really bad though, then they might take something away from me for a while. Like when I flew my broom through the house and broke my mum's favourite vase. They took my broom away for a month. Worst month of my life, I didn't do that again. I got them back though, put dungbombs in their bed,' James said with a laugh.

He looked over at Sirius, and his smile disappeared.

'Why? What do yours do?' he whispered.

Sirius hesitated, wondering how much to reveal to his friend. This boy who thought losing a treasured possession for a month was the height of harsh punishment. Who was so unafraid of his parents that he would dare retaliate with dungbombs when they punished him. James would be horrified if he told him the worst of it. Something small then. A single event in the life of Sirius Black, but something that wasn't actually done to him.

'When I was eight,' Sirius said. 'I asked my father for a pet. He thought it was an excellent idea. Thought it would teach me responsibility, so he bought me a dog. I named him Snuffles. He was big and black, and he was my best friend. He followed me everywhere.'

Sirius paused and looked up from his hands. He wanted to see James' face when he told him what happened next. He needed to know if it was as bad as he was beginning to think it was.

'When I was nine, I was rude to my mother. Answered her back when she was listing all the ways I'm a disappointment to the family. She killed him. She cut Snuffles' throat with a severing charm, and he bled to death in front of me.'

Sirius watched as James swallowed. His brown eyes filled with tears, but he didn't break eye-contact.

'Sirius. I am so sorry that she did that to you.'

James reached out and pulled him into a hug. Sirius felt something strange, wrapped up in James' arms. An odd warmth spread through his body, combined with a peculiar, fuzzy tingle.

'It's not right. You know that, don't you, Sirius? What she did. What she does to you.' He squeezed Sirius harder. 'It's not right. But you have me now.'

Sirius' eyes watered when he realised what he was feeling, and the tears spilled down his cheeks and onto James' shoulder. It was understandable that he hadn't recognised it because he had never felt it before.

He felt safe.

Friday, 3rd September 1971, 8:25am

Remus arrived early to Defence Against the Dark Arts and, choosing a desk at the back of the classroom, he settled into his seat before pulling parchment and a quill from his bag. With everything ready for the lesson, he turned his attention to examining the odd classroom.

The classroom was in the dungeon and had the usual set-up of student desks in rows, facing the professor's desk at the front of the room. In this classroom, though, the teacher had positioned his desk on the left of a raised stage area - rather than in the middle. At the back of the stage, there was a sizable pool edged with white stone. He could see the Black Lake through the window behind the pool. The water's surface was level with the lower edge of the glass. Remus thought there must be an opening in the wall, below the window, which allowed lake water to flood the pool, but why?

The Professor was sitting at his desk doing paperwork, his head bent low over the parchment, and Remus could see a bald spot in the middle of his short, black hair. When Remus had entered the classroom, the professor glanced up from his work long enough for him to notice a lined face and glasses but nothing more. All the teachers knew his secret; it was necessary so they wouldn't make a fuss about his absences and draw attention, but Remus was worried about this one. The Defence teacher would be the most aware of how dangerous he was. He just hoped he wouldn't be too obvious in his dislike of the werewolf in his classroom.

The rest of the class had trickled in while Remus was lost in thought, and when he became aware of the noise and activity around him, he noticed that Sirius and his friends had taken the surrounding desks. Sirius was to his left with James as his partner and Peter was in front of them sitting alone. His eyes met Sirius' and the other boy winked at him before turning back to James. Remus couldn't understand why he seemed so friendly now when he was so awful before. He shrugged, maybe he was misreading the signals. He had no experience with socialising, so it was a distinct possibility.

Remus was startled from his thoughts when the other chair at his desk was pulled out and Lily plonked herself down next to him.

'You don't mind, do you? The girls in my dorm have already partnered up, and I don't know anyone else,' she said, shuffling her chair a little further away from him.

Realising her movements were intended to make him more comfortable, he was flooded with affection for the girl. Perhaps it didn't matter that she was friends with Snape after all.

'No, it's fine. I don't know anyone else either.'

Remus turned his attention back to the front when the professor called the class to attention and introduced himself as Professor Hawthorne.

'I previously worked for the Ministry in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and that is the topic we will be focusing on this year. You will learn all about the various magical creatures you may encounter in your lives, their distinguishing features, traits, strengths and weaknesses. Most important, you will learn how to avoid encountering them at all and how to defend yourself if you do.'

Remus swallowed hard. His dad had worked for the DRCMC too, before the attack. If Professor Hawthorne held similar views, this would be a difficult class for Remus.

'I have recruited an assistant to help me with these lessons. Quite an unusual assistant. But before I introduce them, I will explain. On my arrival at the castle two weeks ago, it did not surprise me to find out that the Black Lake,' he waved his hand towards the window behind him, 'was home to several species of magical creature, but one in particular did catch my interest. I'm sure you have all heard of the giant squid, but I doubt any of you are aware that she is, in fact, a kelpie.'

Several students around the room gasped, including Remus.

'There is no need to be frightened. She is quite friendly, I assure you.'

'But, sir,' James said, 'kelpies are dangerous. They lure people into the water and kill them.'

'I'm aware of the stories. But answer me this. Would you be more likely to tell someone if you saw something dragging people into a lake, or if you saw some people sitting by a lake having a pleasant conversation?'

'Well, the first one obviously, sir.'

'Exactly. There are good and bad members in any species capable of higher reasoning. Unfortunately, people only tell stories of the bad, because the good don't create stories worth telling.'

He looked around at the class, his gaze pausing on Remus for a moment. Remus felt a fluttering in his stomach. Was the professor telling him he would give him a chance? That's what his words seemed to imply, any species capable of higher reasoning, that must include werewolves, he thought.

Professor Hawthorne continued, 'I spoke with Emhio at length. Her home was destroyed by muggles. A previous headmaster allowed her to make a new home here, where she would be protected. She has been living at Hogwarts for over a hundred years and has never harmed a student, but has rescued many that have found themselves in the lake. She is lonely though, and eager to help with your lessons. Please give her a warm welcome.'

Professor Hawthorne waved his wand, and the sound of stone scraping against stone screeched through the classroom. The surface of the water rippled and Remus watched as a young woman emerged from the pool. She had long brown hair and wore a pale pink robe which clung to her skin.

'Hello, students,' she said as she climbed from the water to stand on the stage. She waved and the students all murmured greetings in return, still a little shocked by her presence.

Professor Hawthorne spent the rest of the lesson lecturing on kelpies, and towards the end, Emhio demonstrated their shape-shifting abilities and invited the students to ask questions. Before dismissing the class, Professor Hawthorne instructed them to write an essay on kelpies for homework, due Monday afternoon. Remus groaned, he would have to get that done now if he wanted to hand it in on time.

'It's a free period next. Do you have plans?' Lily asked as they packed their things.

'Thought I'd go to the library, get this homework done so I'm free for the weekend.'

'That's a good idea. Mind if I join you?'

'Not at all,' Remus said.

'Guess we better get to detention then,' Peter said as they left the Defence classroom.

'At least we're already on the right floor,' Sirius said.

He was still nervous despite James' reassurance the night before. They had received their detention slips at breakfast, informing them they were to present themselves to Professor Slughorn in the potions classroom at 9:45 for an hour-long detention. Sirius had also received a ranting letter from his mother. The contents were no surprise, but they cemented his decision to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas and Easter. Best to put off that confrontation for as long as possible.

'I think it's this way,' James said, pointing down the corridor.

Remus had been absent from breakfast again, Sirius mused, as they hurried down the corridor in the direction they hoped to find the Potions classroom. He hadn't seen him at a meal since the Welcome Feast. The boy must be starving.

They arrived at the right door and James knocked, loud, confident, and unafraid. Sirius wanted so much to be like that.

'Come in,' Professor Slughorn called from inside.

James pushed the door open and walked in, followed closely by Sirius and Peter.

'Ah, hello. Wonderful. You're here for detention, yes?'

'Yes, sir,' James said.

'Right, well. Since your crime involved making a rather large mess, your punishment is cleaning. I have twelve cauldrons in need of a good scrub, the muggle way mind you. They need to be free of any traces of magic.'

Slughorn led them through a door behind the teacher's desk and into a large potions lab. Along the back wall of the room were several brewing stations, complete with cauldrons, some bubbling with potions, others under stasis and a few empty. In the centre of the lab there was a vast work station for preparing ingredients. The ingredients themselves lined two of the other walls in jars, bottles and vials, and sealed behind glass doors. The fourth wall held a cleaning station and Slughorn herded them in that direction, where twelve cauldrons were stacked in various states of cleanliness.

'Right, I'll leave you to it then. I'll be in the other room if you need anything.'

Slughorn left, and Sirius poked at the cauldrons. He felt relieved. Cleaning cauldrons was the most painless punishment he had ever received. It was barely even a punishment. There was nothing to fear. The Hogwarts teachers wouldn't hurt him and his parents couldn't reach him here. Something changed within him. Something significant. It was as if the sun had risen on his world for the first time; the shadows that had darkened his way for as long as he could remember faded, and he saw the vast expanse of life laid out before him.

Freedom.

The freedom to make choices.

The freedom to be himself.

The freedom to not hurt.

He turned to the others, his friends, and allowed a wolfish grin to spread across his face.

'Twelve cauldrons, three of us, that's four each. Shouldn't be too difficult.' He looked back at the cauldrons. 'How do muggles clean things exactly?'

James and Peter laughed.

'What? You've never had to clean anything before?' Peter said.

'No, we have house-elves for that.'

'Oh. Well, it's not difficult. I'll show you.'

Peter showed Sirius how to scrub the cauldrons, and they worked in silence for a while. Sirius was aware of James and Peter chatting beside him, but he blocked it out as his mind drifted back to his worry for Remus. As far as he could tell, the boy hadn't eaten for over twenty-four hours, and he didn't look like he could afford to skip one meal, let alone four. In Defence, he had looked even sicker than he had on their first day.

'Guys, have you noticed Remus hasn't come to any meals since the Welcome Feast?' Sirius said, interrupting their conversation.

'Huh, I think you're right,' James said. 'Do you reckon he's avoiding you?'

'Merlin, I hope not. It's bad enough that he thinks I hate him. I don't want to be responsible for him starving to death.'

'Maybe he has an eating disorder,' Peter said. 'He didn't eat much at the feast, did he?'

'No, just some rice thing. He didn't seem to enjoy it either,' Sirius said. 'Um… what's an eating disorder?'

'I saw it on TV. Sometimes people stop eating. Because they think they're fat, or they want control over something in their lives, or some other reason. They stop eating or they eat just enough to stay alive.'

Sirius stared at him. 'Okay. But what's TV?'

Peter laughed. 'It's a muggle thing. It's like a box with a window. The muggles record something, and everyone who has a TV can watch it through the window at the same time.'

Sirius blinked.

'That sounds brilliant. But are you sure? My mother says muggles are stupid. How could they make something like that?'

'Ever think your mother might be wrong, mate?' James asked.

'Every damn day, Jamesy boy. Every damn day,' Sirius said, putting his arm around James' shoulders and dropping a wet kiss on his forehead. 'So, if Remus has an eating disorder, what can I do?'

James wiped Sirius' slobber from his forehead and scowled at him, while Sirius just grinned back.

'He might just be avoiding the hall so he doesn't have to see us. We should test that first. Maybe take some food back to the dorm for him?' James suggested.

Remus strolled down to the kitchens for lunch, thinking about his last lesson. He had been looking forward to History of Magic; he had thought it would be interesting to learn about the past. When the Professor had arrived through the blackboard, he had been even more hopeful that the lessons would be good. How could a ghost teacher possibly be boring after all? Oh, how wrong he had been. Professor Binns must have been the most boring teacher to ever exist. His voice droned monotonously and had a soporific effect on the students. Half the class had fallen asleep, and the professor hadn't even noticed.

Remus had struggled to stay awake himself. It was only two days until the full moon, so he was drained, but he had managed to pull through and get down some decent notes. Near the beginning of the lesson, he had sensed someone's gaze and looked around to find Sirius examining him. That boy paid him far too much attention. He would need to be careful.

He arrived at the painting of a bowl of fruit and let himself into the kitchens. An elf scurried up to him at once.

'Good afternoons, Master Remus. Breen has prepared your lunch for you over here. Follow me, sir.'

'Good afternoon, Breen,' Remus said, following the elf to a small table in the corner of the kitchen.

Teely, the elf in charge of the kitchen, had assigned Breen to Remus duty, and the elf had questioned him extensively on his likes and dislikes the day before. So, Remus was sure whatever he had prepared would be enjoyable. His stomach growled in anticipation.

He sat down and Breen presented him with a plate of steak and cheese sandwiches and a goblet of pumpkin juice. The steak was still warm, and the cheese melted, gooey and delicious. Remus thanked the elf and began eating, Breen stood to one side, waiting in case Remus needed anything else. Remus felt a little uncomfortable with the elf watching him eat in silence. He didn't even blink, just stared at him with those big, green eyes.

'So, Breen. I know the house-elves do all the cooking. What else are you responsible for at Hogwarts?' Remus asked, hoping conversing with the elf would make the situation less awkward.

'Oh, lots of things, Master Remus. We does the laundry and cleans the dormitories and common rooms. We fix or replace broken things and make sure the fires is all lit. I can show you if you wishes?'

Remus agreed, delighted. It would be interesting to see how the elves did things, since he never saw them in the castle, and it would make him feel less like a museum exhibit if he ate while Breen showed him around. The elf led him through the kitchen, the other elves moving to clear a path for him, and to a door at the end.

'This is the laundry room,' Breen said, pushing the door open.

Steam billowed out, and Remus stepped into it and looked around. There were over a hundred baskets lined up in rows against one wall, each labelled with a house name, gender, year and dormitory number. In the centre of the room were several vast buckets of steaming hot, soapy water, the contents swirling around of their own accord.

'We could clean the clothes with magic, but hot waters and soap does a better job,' Breen said, pointing at the buckets, 'so we use magic on the water instead.'

At the other end of the room, wet laundry was heaped on a long table and several elves were drying the items, folding them and sorting them into piles. When a pile got too big, an elf vanished it.

Seeing Remus watching, Breen said, 'We sends the clean laundry to the clean laundry basket in the owner's dorm.'

'How do you get the dirty clothes?' Remus asked.

'The students put it in the basket in their dorm room, when we is ready for it we calls it to the basket here.'

'Fascinating,' Remus said.

'Would you likes to see the storage rooms now?'

'Yes, please.' Remus said, popping the last bite of his sandwich into his mouth.

Breen led him back out of the laundry room and through another door in the kitchen.

The storage rooms were much bigger than Remus had imagined. A network of rooms and corridors that housed every type of furniture you could think of, as well as fixtures and fittings, decorative items and soft furnishings. All of it was clean and ready for use despite most of the items appearing quite old. Remus was not surprised when Breen led him into a room where several elves were busy fixing broken furniture and sewing damaged curtains with enchanted needles. It was clear they preferred repairing to replacing. When he had seen everything there was to see in the elves quarters, Remus thanked Breen for the tour and left.

He climbed the steps to Gryffindor tower, beginning to wish he had been placed in Hufflepuff so there would be fewer stairs involved in his daily life. He needed to retrieve his Herbology equipment for fifth period, and there wouldn't be time to get all the way up to the tower and back down to the greenhouse after Transfiguration. When he reached the common room, he checked the time on the clock above the fireplace. There was only five minutes until class started. He was definitely going to be late. After dashing up to the dorm, he pushed the door open and was pleased to see an empty room.

Remus grabbed what he needed from his trunk at the end of his bed and turned to leave, when he caught sight of something strange out of the corner of his eye. He turned back to get a proper look and was surprised out of his rush for a moment. There was a sandwich sat on his bedside table. He sniffed the air. It was bacon. How odd. He stared at the out-of-place food for a few seconds before mentally shaking himself. He needed to get to class.

Saturday, 4th September 1971, 1:00am

Something was poking him in the side, and it had better bloody well stop if it didn't want to be punched in the face.

'Sirius, wake up.'

That was James' voice. Why was James speaking to him now? He was sleeping for fuck's sake.

'Come on, Sirius, we have to set-up the joke,' James whispered.

Right. The joke. How could he forget? It was going to be brilliant. Sirius forced his eyes open and blinked at James' face hovering above him.

'Okay, I'm awake. Go wake Pete,' Sirius mumbled.

'He's already up. Can't you tell by the lack of snoring?' James asked with a chuckle.

'I thought it seemed a bit quiet.'

Sirius hauled himself upright and swung his legs out of bed as James jumped back out of the way.

'Get dressed, we'll meet in the common room.'

Sirius grabbed some clothes and went into the bathroom to dress. When he was finished, he tiptoed down the stairs to meet his friends for their first big practical joke. The first of many, he hoped. He felt much better about it all after serving his first detention. The punishment for misbehaviour was so mild compared to what he suffered at home that it was laughable. His anxiety about getting into trouble had vanished, and in its place was excitement and a sense of freedom. He was bubbling over with energy like an overheated cauldron.

'Here he is, excellent,' James said as Sirius rounded the last bend of the staircase. 'Are you both ready for this?'

'Yes, sir!' Sirius said, standing to attention. Peter copied him, and then they all giggled, their excitement overtaking them for a moment.

'Right, I have the balloons, and I have something else too. You remember the thing I took from Filch's filing cabinet?'

Sirius and Peter nodded.

'I had a chance to examine it earlier, and it's perfect for this joke, just you wait and see. Right, everyone get under the cloak, we don't want to be caught on the way there.'

They all crammed themselves together, and James swung the cloak over their heads. Walking with caution, they made their way down the stairs to the Great Hall. They saw no one along the way, the halls of Hogwarts were deserted and eerily silent.

Sirius and James left the cloak with Peter at the doors to the Great Hall and went inside. James pulled out the box of balloons, opened it and placed it on the nearest table, which happened to be Gryffindor's.

'Let's get started then,' he said with a cocky grin.

Sirius grinned back and grabbed a balloon. He pulled out the tag, and the balloon began to inflate. As it grew, its shape formed into that of a purple tiger, complete with lime-green stripes. The tiger expanded until it was three times its natural size. When it stopped, Sirius released it and let it float up to the enchanted ceiling, where it bumped against an invisible barrier.

'They're all different, you know, each one is unique,' James said, releasing a gigantic bright yellow mouse into the air.

They continued inflating the balloons for over an hour. At one point, Sirius had inflated a balloon shaped like a black and green striped pig, and it reminded him of the bacon sandwich he had left for Remus in the dorm. He hadn't eaten it. After a tedious afternoon spent learning the theory behind object to object transfiguration and planting wormwood in greenhouse one, they had returned to the dorm to find the sandwich still sat there, cold, stale and unappetising. Sirius had never realised that something as small as a sandwich could weigh so heavily before today.

When the hall was filled so tightly that they could barely move, James turned to him. 'Now for the finishing touch.' He pulled the door open a crack and hissed, 'Pete, get in here.'

Sirius felt the air move against his arm and then Peter appeared, pulling the cloak off.

'Right, watch this.'

James pulled a small vial from his pocket and held it aloft. Inside, turquoise smoke spiralled, creating intricate patterns momentarily, before swirling away into a new pattern. It was mesmerising.

'When I take the cork out, we need to leave fast. As soon as the smoke is released, it will start to animate everything it touches. By morning everything in this room will be acting as if it is alive,' James said with more than a hint of glee in his voice.

'How long will it last?' Sirius asked.

'Depends on the quality. Up to a week.'

'Excellent.'

'Ready?'

Sirius and Peter nodded. Both had their hands on a door handle ready to flee, and James placed the vial on the floor, holding it with one hand while the other gripped the cork.

'Three, two, one, now!' James yelled, pulling the cork out at the exact moment Sirius and Pete pushed the doors open and dashed through. James spun on his heel and hurried out, Sirius and Peter slammed the doors closed and they all breathed a relieved sigh and grinned at each other.

'We're not safe yet, still need to get back to the dorm,' James said.

Peter pulled the cloak out and swung it around their shoulders, making them invisible, and they crept their way back to Gryffindor tower.

So, it's my birthday today, and comments make great presents, just saying ;-)