For a second the only thing the marauder registered was the cold. It seeped deep past his skin- chilling his very bones to what we was sure must be ice. This, he thought with melancholic wonder, must be the true feelings brought by death. Surely it must be. It was the only thing that explained the loneliness that seemed to pull at him from every direction, as if wanting to greedily consume him whole. Then as suddenly as it appeared it was gone. Sirius Black, once again, fell into the abyss.

Slam! A flailing foot hit, hard, against the bed's metal frame. This he was able to deduce from the echo of pain that shot up his leg like a bolt of lightening. "Shite!", he cursed rather loudly sitting up all too suddenly. He leaned forward steadying himself as the blood quickly rushed to his head. Putting a hand to his forehead he blinked slowly adjusting to the room's light. Then it hit him. Light. Their was light here. His eyes opened wider as they quickly scanned the room taking in it's all too familiar features. It was a lie, he knew it must be. This certainly could not be a real room, specifically not the hospital wing. Unfortunately the reasoning did nothing to appeal to his eyes which screamed at him to recognize the same old room he thought surely he would never see again in this lifetime. This was the hospital wing, this was Hogwarts, this was home.

||OhOhCee|| Sorry in advance, I took over James a bit - just to get things rolling. Hope you don't mind. :] Also, feel free to use an NPC anytime... It makes it easier if we don't always have to ask for permission from eachother. ^^ ||OhOhCee||

The werewolf huffed as him and his two friends hid beneath James’ invisibility cloak. Peter, like himself, was looking around nervously for teachers. James on the other hand was delighted to have a reason to sneak out. It wasn’t the fact that they could get caught that had Moony nervous, nor was it the fact that he was huddled against the others bending low so the cloak wouldn’t rise above their feet; Moony was nervous because in his subconscious he associated sneaking out with his little ‘problem’. Or it could also be the fact that Sirius looked like he dropped dead earlier that day. The nurse has assured them he would be alright, but by the time they finished classes the hospital wing was closed and they couldn’t get in to see their little pup.

“Peter, if your knees don’t stop rattling together like that the whole school will know where we are.” James said, a grin still plastered on his face.
“S-Sorry James, it’s just...I keep seeing a shadow following us.”
”Ah, well... It’s probably just Peeves.” Lupin said reassuringly as the group turned down to the hospital wing. A quick spell unlocked the doors, and the three quickly removed the cloak and ran to the bedside of their friend.
“Sirius! Are you okay?” They all seemed to ask in unison. James and Remus were on either side while Peter was at the foot of the bed.
“We were worried, that was a pretty nasty fall. You went about two flights down the stairs before you finally stopped.” Lupin said, eyed his friend to make sure everything had been healed. He hated being in here, but he would have to compliment Pomfre on her work.

(It's perfectly fine, and feel free to control James or Lily as you see fit, side characters are pretty unimportant as far as I'm concerned. C: )

In mere seconds he was pulled from his thinking by the sound of a lock turning in it's place. He flicked his vision to the door as it soundlessly swung open, though he saw no people to explain the phenomena. Luckily this question didn't go unanswered as the invisibility cloak was swiftly removed from the three boys. One of them, the kid with light brown hair, spoke first, making a concerned comment about an accident that Sirius concluded somehow involved he himself and stairs. Well now, that didn't sound to pleasant. Something about this boy was familiar; the former prisoner decided this as he silently traced the boys features. Another of the threesome commented, "Honestly Padfoot, you look genuinely surprised to see our dear Moony here."
Relief flooded over him as he recognized his godson clutching the infamous cloak.
This sense of security didn't last long as a chill settled into the base of his spine. The hair was a little too long. The grin was a little too wide. The eyes were a little too brown. This was not Harry at all. This was, "James?"
"You must have hit your head harder then we thought, eh?", Came the bespectacled wizard's reply as he helped himself to a seat on the bed.
James, this was James. The marauder's James. Dead James. But here he was! Vibrant with life in his youth, his eyes still aglow with mischief. All Sirius could manage was a small pained metallic squeak, a noise of confusion and utter lament. Something clicked in his head as his eyes roamed back to the brown haired boy, who he understood now was his same old Moony. No, not quite the same. This Remus was in his prime, his hair untouched by the peppered gray of aging. His skin was also younger, devoid of the tell-tale deep set lines caused by years of stress and transformations. Sirius realized with a start that with his looks he couldn't have been much older than sixteen.
Remus and James. The old friends side by side once more, but of course he had not forgotten. Marauders came in fours. With some amount of trepidation he let his gaze sweep over to the foot of the bed. There he stood inconspicuously, beady little eyes looking straight at him. Briefly Sirius wondered if the others heard the gentle snap. The gentle sound he had heard clear as crystal when the last tethers of restraint were severed quite beyond repair. The next sound he heard was the heavy thud of two bodies hitting the ground, his was clearly among them. Honestly the only real sense he paid any attention to at all was the feeling of a very living neck underneath the firm grasp of his hands. Well, he would have to change something about that now wouldn't he?

Remus wondered if his face fell as visibly as he felt his stomach drop. He knew of memory loss through certain charms but he remembered vaguely that it was a common muggle condition when one took a blow to the head. He had thought his friend seemed all right, he looked as lively as a chocolate frog before the spell wore off, but if he had somehow lost his memory... Glancing quickly over at Peter, all three boys soon had their eyes back on Sirius. James, obviously the one to lighten the mood was the first Sirius seemed to remember. Though, as relived as he was, Moony couldn’t help but feel second best to James once again. It wasn’t that he had any resentment... but James and Sirius were the pair in the group, no matter how much they all said they were ‘best friends’ people were more likely to pick those two out as ‘best friends’. Still, his childhood crush on the bedridden pup had him wishing it was his name the black haired boy called out. ‘Stop thinking like a stupid school girl, at least he’s all right.’

Well, Remus thought he was all right. One second he had been on the bed, looking all dazed and confused, the next he was rolling on the ground with Peter. The plump rat was turning purple as he gasped for air and tried to push Sirius off of him. Within seconds both Moony and Prongs were trying to pull Sirius from Peter. Remus could have sworn he saw a murderous glint in Padfoot’s eyes, but he was more concerned at the current moment for his purple friend. Stepping away, he took his wand out and pointed it at Sirius giving a quick “Flipendo” to send the two flying apart from each other. “What the hell, may I ask, was that?” Lupin exclaimed, his eyes wild as he searched his friend for answers.

He was quickly to Peter’s side, taking out a piece of chocolate that he had brought for Sirius. He stood protectively in front of Pettigrew, his eyes not leaving Sirius for a moment. For a second, he thought his eyes deceived him. He didn’t see the playful schoolboy he knew... He saw a troubled man, a boy with worry lines sketched prematurely into his face... It was only for a second though, so he couldn’t be sure.

He could feel his eyes practically rattle in their sockets as he glanced at Remus, to James, back to the still recovering Peter. His nerves were at a fever pitch, he could feel them clearly as he sat there desperately looking for an opening.
"Traitor!", he barked still keeping his sitting position upon the floor. On shaky arms he leaned forward, lowering his livid dark pupils to shoot a venemous glare at Peter. Tensing his jaw he added with a shrill hiss, "You murdering rat!" One of his hand shot to his face, rubbing his eyes in his frustration. "You, it's your fault. All your fault." He could feel the tears building up, like always he choked them right back down. "James", he said quietly as he turned grief-stricken eyes on his friend.
James looked a little lost, knitting his brows in confusion. It was easy to tell his conflict between helping his two suddenly rivaling friends.

He cried out, "Bloody hell, Pads! You almost killed him!"
Sirius breathed deeply thinking to steady himself a bit. He spoke hurriedly in an almost hushed pleading tone, "Let me go, please. You have to believe me. It's his fault. His fault, James. He did it. Because of him you-" The words died in his throat. "He ruins everything. It's his fault Remus- Remus!" Suddenly remembering the young werewolf's presence he shifted his eyes, "Remus, you of all people have to believe me. It wasn't me, I was innocent- you know it's true. I was innocent. Innocent!"
He only recognized the mantra he had kept in Azkaban once it had already left his lips, even to his ears it sounded not unlike madness.

Remus shook his head slowly in confusion, trying to comprehend what his friend was saying. Peter wouldn’t harm a fly, let alone murder someone. It just wasn’t adding up, it was weird enough that Sirius passed out suddenly on the way to class, but now he was accusing his friend of murder! This day couldn’t get any weirder. “Siri, we aren’t accusing you of anything! Look... You fell down two flights of stairs, I think you just had a bad dream is all.”
“Of c-c-course” Peter said, his voice shrill and high as he agreed with Moony, inching closer behind him as he spoke. “I haven’t murdered nobody...nobody.” Remus looked down at Peter, who was holding the piece of chocolate in his small hands; it was melting slightly, and Remus gave him a reassuring look. Peter nodded, and ate the chocolate, wiping his hands on his robes when he was done.

“Now, come on Padfoot.” Remus said, walking slowly over to Sirius as if he might jump and attack him next. “Why don’t you just get back up on the bed, have some chocolate, and explain to us just why the hell you attacked poor Peter.” Bending down, Remus and James both grabbed hold of his arms and lifted him off the floor, back onto the bed. He was still trying to wrap his head around it... sure, Sirius was acting like a complete lunatic, but the werewolf couldn’t help but go to his side once he called out to him like that. Still, he wasn’t butter, he wouldn’t melt so easily. He still needed to get to the bottom of this.

“What’s going on here!” Remus visibly winced at the voice of Madame Pomfre. The medi-witch came running into the hospital wing dress robes and all looking flustered as she stepped in on the scene.

Sirius resigned himself to sitting upon the bed rather benign way, vision locked upon his hands folded upon his lap. It was the first time he got a good look at them. They were a healthy pink in color, the only marring features were the slight callouses formed from writing. It was a far cry from the ashen waxy skin that was usually stretched across his emaciated fingers.

He turned his face up as he saw Madame Pomfre enter, noticeably disturbed by their noise.
James gave a weak excuse, "I assure you Madame, were only here out of the deep abiding love of our dear Sirus here that brings us. We just couldn't go on without getting an update on his condition, you see!" The witch scowled, it looked like it was not as effectual as he'd hoped.
Suddenly Sirius spoke up. His shaky voice was low in tone as if to fake calmness, "A mirror." He asked this clearly in the direction of the witch. "I'd like a mirror...please."

The witch obviously had a lot of experience, she could tell something was wrong with the boy, or so Remus thought, because why else would she have succumbed so easily to his demands? The witch stood from the bed, after handing the mirror to Sirius before looking down at Peter. “My dear boy, you look like you’ve been attacked! Come on then....as long as your here I’ll give you some calming draught, you look petrified!” Bringing the rat to another bed, it left James and Remus to deal with Sirius. Obviously she had bought James’s sweet talk and was letting them visit to help put their ‘deep abiding love’ at bay.’

“Sirius, mate... why on earth do you want a mirror? Want to make sure you still look good after your brawl.” James said, his glasses sliding down his nose slightly as he tried to joke. As long as Peter was okay, it wouldn’t seem like more than a brawl between friends. Though, Remus being the overly-protective person that he was felt there was something wrong. The way Sirius was looking into that mirror, the way he had looked at the three like he’d never seen them before... The way he attacked Peter. It wasn’t like Sirius at all.

Reaching into his pocket, Moony grabbed Sirius’ hand and put the rest of the chocolate into it. He was a bit pushy when it came to the chocolate... But of course, it always worked. Still gripping Sirius’ hand his eyes were fixed with worry. “You okay?”

His hands shook as he grasped the mirror as if it would fly off at any minute. Across it's surface his eyes darted, soaking in the image that stared back at him. A young face unmarred by the years, taught light skin touched just slightly by the last days of summer sun, a face plump in all the right places, and slightly tousled black hair with a healthy shine. This wasn't him. It couldn't be him. He had the face of a corpse, he could remember it. As much as he did his best to avoid the mirrors he would catch it's glimpse in the reflection of windows and metal. It was a constant, the face of the dead that served as a constant testament to all the mistakes he had made in the time before those miserable twelve years. He was a teenager. They were teenagers. At an agonizing pace the situation pieced itself together in his mind.

He felt his hand being grabbed, the chocolate placed firmly into his hand as the werewolf gently asked him a question. His mind seemed to work on a fast track. Soundlessly the candy slipped out of his fingers as he gently reached for Remus' retreating hand. This was still his friend, the one who had still been there for him after all that dreadful time. It was this man of whom he'd spent much time of his imprisonment thinking of, he could clearly remember hoping with all his being that at least the last marauder would have faith in his innocence though he knew he hadn't deserved it. After all, wasn't Sirius himself the one who had foolishly distrusted the warewolf? Despite all the things that had happened in the past, or future as you could take it, he was certain. If there was anybody who could help him now, it was Remus Lupin. That was precisely why now he took a second to gaze into his friend's eyes as if they held the key to this enigma, quietly at first he uttered his name. "Remus...." He said once more, almost in exchange for all the questions that were now rapidly stirring about in his mind.

It wasn’t the fact that he grabbed his hand like a lost child, it wasn’t the fact that he was looking at him, it was the way his voice said so much, and the way his eyes told a story without any words. Remus felt his breath caught in his chest for a moment, as his eyes locked with his fanatical friend. Whatever happened to Sirius, he believed it wholeheartedly as the truth. Of course, he would make it his job to find out what exactly this truth was, but in truth – he was scared to find out.

Letting go of the breath he didn’t notice he was holding, he broke the gaze and looked over at James. There were questions going around in everyone’s head at the moment, and he was sure they needed to be answered. A loud snore broke through his thoughts, and his eyes fell a few beds down to the now sleeping form of Peter. His eyes furrowed, as he was still trying to associated the word murder with Peter...No sense, none at all. Though, as if sleep was contagious, he felt the drowsiness begin to pull at him , calling him forward to the land of sleep. It was just as well that the medi-Witch came back and told them they had to head back to their dorms.

Nodding, he looked back down at Sirius and squeezed his hand once more before he let it go. ”We’ll come first thing tomorrow, alright?” He said, worried to leave a friend alone in this state.

Sirius frowned as they said their goodbyes, slowly breaking eye contact as he heard the promise of tomorrow's return. It was disheartening in the least, the knowledge he had only brought profound isolation. His friends, the ones he loved so much were right there in front of him. The four of them, just like in their glory days. Together. Before the fighting, before the distrust, before the killing. It was like living in a disgusting horror movie that's ending had been perfectly spoiled.

Then an idea came upon him as he listened to Peter's slumbering breath. The old Peter was different, but the same. He was still young and though held all the rotten standards the old one did- he hadn't betrayed his friends. Not yet. It was the same with James who smiled quite innocently with that very famous Potter charm. He was very much still alive and kicking, if his attempt to pull apart the two wizards was any demonstration. And not least of all Remus, constantly the innocent bystander in all of it. It was in his power. He could stop it all. He could keep his eye trained on Peter, and keep his activities in check to spare everybody harm. He could save his best friend, Lily too. James Potter would not be condemned to an early grave once more. Harry! The young Harry could live with both his parents! Never again would his godson suffer abuse from the hands of those filthy muggle relatives of his. It was up to him. Only he could wipe the premature wrinkles off of Moony's face. Always and forever he would look as he did today, all smiles and responsible concern. No longer would Sirius have to see it. The hardened face of exhaustion, deserved by someone much older than merely thirty, the one that adorned the werewolf's features on a near constant basis. This face in particular he knew so well, he should though. He saw it himself in his own pallid expression.

It was as if he was forced to resume the role in a grotesque performance, but this thought only brought a smile to his face. If this was simply a theater then he would be a good little actor, playing his part. But, this time he would change the script on his own. Detail by excruciating detail.

Remus kept his eye on Sirius, even after he and James disappeared from the dog’s sight, the silken folds of the invisibility cloak hiding them from view. James eventually forced him to turn back around once the hospital wing was out of sight. It was a silent walk back to the common room – and both stayed low to the ground from habit even though with only two out of four marauders were under the cloak. “Some ones coming,” Moony said, panicking slightly. Both boys held their breath as James pulled out their map, tapping it with his wand. Remus pulled out his own, giving light so they could see who’s footsteps were coming. Both gave a sigh of relief when the name ‘Peeves’ showed up.

“So, you’re jumpy too then.” James stated, Moony nodded slowly.
“More worried, something is different.” James offered his own nod this time. It seemed there was an understanding of what was going on. No one was going to jump out and say their friend had finally lost his rockers – in fact, he doubted anyone but Sirius would bring it up after tomorrow. Peter may put a few inches between them, but things would go back to normal soon enough – it always did.

---

Mornings started as usual, aside from the fact that Remus was groggy and sleep-deprived. His internal clock wouldn’t allow him to sleep in – which was usually a good thing during the week. But forcing himself out of bed so early in the morning was really maddening. Sitting up suddenly, he remembered yesterday’s events and his promise to go see Sirius this morning. Throwing the blankets off of him, he rushed blindly through his morning routine, grabbed his and Sirius’s school books, – because he was riding on the hope his friend would be well enough to go back to class – and left forgetting to awake the sleeping James.

His robes floated around his feet, as he sped-walked through the corridors, passing by the other early risers without a glance. Remus slowed down though, once he started walking down the familiar path of beds. He quietly moved to the side of the bed, and, being quite used to waking the marauders up prodded Sirius behind the ear. “Mornin, feeling better?”

He had not been sleeping, couldn't have been sleeping. Every time he drifted off he seemed to repeat the same scene over and over again. It was not more than a second when he was hit by the particular spell, his feet giving out in front of the quite innocently fluttering veil. He had watched it himself for a spare amount of time till his eyes silently slipped behind gray. Screaming, a profanely giddy laugh. These were the only sounds he could hear.
Naturally, he was reluctant to drift into sleep. After all, didn't They did say that sleep was the closest a person could get to death? Well, he wasn't quite sure who 'they' were, but death was certainly one thing he wanted to stay away from. Far away from. This was the reason Sirius Black had awaken so early, much earlier than he had chosen to arise for the entirety of his years at Hogwarts. Perhaps that is why when he felt the gentle touch behind his ear both eyes shot open. Quick as silver his hand grasped for the offending fingers.

Breathe out, it's just Remus. Breathe in, still as young as ever. It took a paltry bit of time for it to sink in before he released his captive friend.
"Sorry there, Moony, a little jumpy still. Nerves and all.", He tried with limited success to replicate the same boyish grin he had held his entire childhood, what was produced was more of a sly half-smile than anything. Damn, not nearly as lighthearted as intended.
He rubbed a hand through his notorious Black hair while flicking his eyes over to the window for a second. It was bright and sunny outside bathing everything with a fine goldenrod hue, it was obviously about time for class to begin one more. That must be the reason for the books Remus held, though there were far more than what Sirius considered necessary for one person. Then again, he supposed he esteemed one book to be too much when his own learning was concerned.
Drawing his legs up slightly he crossed his arms, leaning them upon his now very conveniently located knees.
"Well then, I suppose that answers your question of wellness. I suppose you're here to drag me back to the knowledgeable clutches of education then?" Another smile.
"Then again, you always were the bright one of us."

Remus nearly jumped out of his skin as his finger was taken hostage by Padfoot. It usually took awhile for the black haired boy to even stir, much less move. Remus’s eyes wandered to meet his eyes. Taking his hand back, he subconsciously rubbed his finger before returning the smile, but something was off. He just couldn’t shake the feeling that the Sirius he knew was lost. Not gone, just...lost. Moving over slightly, he plopped down on the bed, careful not to sit on the recover-ee. His eyes fell onto the school books, than back up at Sirius who was trying to seem cheerful. Remus was observant enough to notice it didn’t curve up at just the right angle, and his eyes didn’t shine quite as bright. He doubted his friend needed homework and study time to feel better.

“Well, I was hopping you’d be up for it...Unless you want to skip.” It was true. Remus – prefect – was the more studious of the group, which is why he could afford to skip a day if he so wanted. Not very, prefect-like of him, but his instinct was telling him not to go to class today, and it hadn’t been wrong yet. “Unless of course, you’re to scared to risk it?” He said, grinning as he quickly stood and dropped the school books into his lap.

Sirius huffed dramatically as the books fell neatly onto his lap, "Really now, Moony? That's considered abusing an invalid!"
He was not completely unaware, though James seemed pretty well-adjusting Remus' curiosity would not be quelled by the excuse of delirium. Even now as the boy joked with him he could feel the compassionate gaze hot on his skin, as if the rare pass to dodge the day's classes weren't example enough. The problem was a slowly leaking poison; unnoticeable, deadly. Obviously neither would be bringing it up in current conversation.

He tried to joke, "Remus my dear, it's obvious to me that you are the one under the weather. Telling me about skipping class is like correcting a fish on it's swimming pattern."
Paging one of the books open briefly he scoffed, "It looks like I won't be missing anything. Really now, how to identify a Kneazle? Easy, find a cat with a raging superiority complex.". Closing the book he handed it off to the werewolf.
"Honestly, I don't know how what all the studying is about." He kept his grin for a second before he realized something quite suddenly, making the expression falter ever so slightly.

"Moony, may I ask you something? Of course, when I do I will need you to keep your faith that I am indeed quite on my rocker.", wincing slightly he finally asked, without waiting for an answer to his earlier inquiry. "What date is it exactly?"

Remus scoffed, shaking his head in a playful manner. “Padfoot, you are hardly an invalid.” He wasn’t flawed in Remus’s eyes, and he certainly didn’t have a long term disease...unless being a bigot was classified as a mental disorder. Though, the way he carried himself was one of his endearing qualities if you were on side. Reme had noted long before that he was lucky to have Sirius as a friend, because even if he could be... well a bully sometimes. He was fiercely loyal. Though, it crushed him slightly too even want to question his friend’s mental state.

“I’m fine my dear friend, but-“ Moony reached out and took the book from him, scanning the pages for a moment.”Since when do you read ahead in class?” He asked, raising a brow for a moment. Though, the serious look on his friends face made the smile on his own face disappear. Shuffling closer, he found himself leaning in slightly a worried look on his face.
“Of course, you’ll always have my faith.”

The date? Remus almost sighed with relief. He was expecting... well, he didn’t know what he had been expecting. But the date, well...that was easy enough. “It’s October 18th.” He said, still sounding mystified and relived.

His lips quirked into a fleeting smile. October 18th, the year had barely began.

"That's bloody brilliant, Reme!", he nearly shouted at his friend. Practically a whole year was just waiting to be changed. Now, if only he knew exactly what it was that he would not screw up this time. An investigation was in order, and as much as he would like to sit down and explain to his friend the exact cause of his new found erratic nature he couldn't risk being taken for a complete loon. Yes, he would have to walk a fine like to find out exactly what he needed. It looked like it was indeed time for the long awaited return of the famous Black charm.

First the smile, the sides of his mouth curled into a sly grin. Next was tone. "Moony, my dear", cooed the dark-haired marauder. He leaned forward, resting his chin on an open palm. Murky grey eyes narrowed mischeviously, he was still ever the pro. "Tell me my furry little friend, what exactly has been occurring in my momentary absence?" Silently he crossed his fingers hoping a hint, any hint, to put together the current events.

Remus was relieved to see the mischievous glint back in Sirius’s eyes. It kindled his heart to think that maybe he had overestimated the situation – and maybe just maybe Sirius was well on his was back to normal. Though, his seemingly uncalled for attack on Peter wasn’t that far off from his normal attitude... Always so unpredictable. Maybe that was one of the reasons he liked him so much. He never knew what was coming. Having things on a set schedule just made things so...unbearable when you were waiting.

Caught off guard as Sirius leaned in, he caught his breath in his throat and pulled away – muttering about not having missed much, just class as usual. “Oh, there is one thing.” Lupin remembered suddenly. ”You owe me for thing one, I expect. The Professor paired us off in potions class for the remainder of the year. James obviously went with Lily, you weren’t there and well.... we all know Severus is the last to get picked – despite him being the best in the class. So, I told Peter to take you as a partner.” Remus stopped suddenly. After his pups little show, maybe he’d rather be paired with Snape.

Ever so slightly his breath hitched, but the facade was still adhered to his face.
"You always did get along better with Snivellus.", said the man with some amount of nostalgia. Ah, Snivellus. It had been so long since he had said that name, out loud at least. He couldn't say so much about actually seeing his ugly mug, little snake bastard had taken to taunting him in his last days. All pretenses aside, Sirius Black was not an idiot, he had known how useless he was rotting away his time at Grimmauld Place. The reminder was quite unnecessary.

Of course it was also useful in another way altogether, he needed to reacquaint himself with the rat if he ever wanted to keep an eye on him. Friends close enemies closer, right? Luckily he figured there would be little opposition. Peter was... simple. Well, to put it bluntly, he never put his intelligence in high esteem. It was easy to assume James and himself were above him, or at least would be if they put in the effort. Remus would be another story, by those standards Peter would own about 1/4th of the most studious marauder's cognitive ability. And that was being nice.

Snapping back from his reverie he shifted his previously unfocused eyes to Lupin with a smirk, "Well then, what ever could I do to repay you?"

||OhOhCee|| Gah, an OOC only post ewwie.
Moving, so this will be my last post until Monday.
I'm thinking of giving Remus a girlfriend? >o> Cause, I think he had a few, they all just ran when he told them about his monthly. ||/OhOhCee||

(( D: Sadness, it's alright though. Moving is tough! Also, I think Remmy having a girlfriend would probably be good, competition and all that. It might just help Sirius and his 'most-obtuse-puppy-in-the-world' syndrome a bit. ))

Remus thought for a moment, a multitude of thoughts ran through his teenaged mind – but his face fell and he felt guilty for thinking of such things. Not only was Sirius his best friend, a fellow marauder, a brother – would it be incest if he acted on his thoughts? Yes, probably – marauder incest. Besides, Remus currently had a girlfriend. Unlike most of the group, he tended to have many relationships. Not because he was a whore or a slut, no not at all – but it seemed as soon as he got close enough to someone – they ran screaming from him. Though, James and Sirius were the most eligible bachelors – Sirius wasn’t the type to be tied down by a relationship, and James had – since first year- been after Lily’s heart.

”Oh, um well.” he said, going red as he pushed his first thoughts back. ”Now that you mentioned it, I do need some assistance that will need a certain marauder charm.” His wheels started turning, in another direction of course. ”It’s the first trip to Hogsmede this weekend, and it’s been awhile since me and Sarah started going out as you know.” In fact, it had been around seven months. The two had started going out back in fifth year when they got together to study for the OWLS. ”I want to do something special, you know, I think I’m going to tell her.” He grew solemn, looking down at the floor for a moment. This was always the point where things would end, and he would hide away somewhere before his friends came and dragged what happened out of him. He just couldn’t lie to them. ”And well, James finally got Lily to agree to go with him – and Peter, well he already said he’s busy.” He continued. Looking eagerly at Sirius, standing up, if they wanted to skip class – it would be best to do it before the bell rang.

Sarah. He racked his brain to remember that name, nothing bubbled to the surface. It wasn’t surprising, he never did pay much attention to any of Remus’ girls. He hadn't taken a particular liking to any of them. Sirius considered it alike to what a father feels, in his eyes none of them were good enough for his Moony. They melded into one in his mind, after all to him they were all much of the same breed. Nice, proper students who despite claiming their ‘love’ would turn tail at the first sign of trouble. How thoughtless. Not so much cruelty, as just plain stupidity. Couldn’t they see how brilliant Remus was? Not just smarts either, no one was more loyal than the marauder’s little werewolf. He just wished he had seen that himself far before keeping the rat as a confidant. Plus if that wasn’t simply icing on the cake, the view wasn’t bad either. By not bad, he meant excellent, but it was all trivialities at this point. Sure he and James got plenty of pursuers based on looks alone, but he wasn’t blind. The brown-haired wizard wasn’t that far behind them. If memory serves he aged particularly nicely as well, gray streaks or not.

Sirius tugged off the covers, swinging his legs over the cot’s side. He said with an uncharacteristically sage like tone, “You can always count on me, you know that.” If it was the old him, the one fueled by the naivety of youth, Sirius had no doubt he would be launching into a full-blown anecdote of his strategies. Most likely it would have started with just one of his well rehearsed pseudo-helpful phrases such as 'well, it all starts in the eyes'. Something or other like that. Instead he paused before tipping his head up slightly, a small reassuring smile accompanying it, “But do you really think you’ll need it? This girl would be simply daft to reject you.”

||Augh! How did this get lost!!
Why why why! D8!!!

I'm so sorry... You've probably forgotten all about this too. Oh, sadness. ;-;'

I'd love to continue this... or at least start a new role play with you. I'm now on Mene faithfully, because I guess that's what happened with this one after I moved.

'Reads through' I know I defiantly didn't lose interest in this. It was barley beginning!

D8!||