A whistle sounded welcoming students old and new onto into its shiny red carriages. The Hogwarts Express promising a return to one of the homeliest places on earth, at least that was what his mother told him. She had came onto the platform with his father to wave him off. But Remus could also see that it was a way to reinstate their warnings that have been drilled into him for the past month.

"You can't let anyone know."

"Don't try and exert yourself."

"Make friends but be careful."

"We only want you to be happy but if you have to sacrifice it for your secret remember that it'll be worth it."

They hugged him and his father loaded his trunk onto the train before stepping back into the crowd with his mother. Remus watched as their solemn faces blurred as the train took off and for the first time in his life he was truly left alone.

The compartments were all full. Rowdy boys wrestling or trying to impress girls whilst they looked on giggling behind their hands or even joining in the scuffles the boys made. They were all a bit to old and boisterous for Remus to impose himself into so he kept going along the corridor. He passed a woman who was handing out sweets and reluctantly bought some, if only to keep his spirits up, before moving further down.

Finally he found an empty compartment near the end of the train and stowed his trunk up with some difficulty before collapsing into the seat. He remembered that he had a book in his trunk and groaned at the prospect of getting it back down and up again so contented himself for the time being to just watch the countryside go by. He had heard that Hogwarts was situated somewhere in Scotland and that the muggles couldn't pin down a location because of the spells that surrounded the place. He hoped that he would be taught spells like that when he got to school and marvelled once again that he was actually going.

It had taken some persuasion and counter measures but eventually his parents ran out of reasons to say no and here he was. They had all been frantic trying to get his school supplies since they had waited too long to say yes and had spent the better part of two days looking in the second hand shops for his books and cauldrons. He didn't mind though as it had all been a fun experience. Anything that was normal was a fun experience.

A bang sounded outside but he stayed seated and watched as a red head pulled a scowling black haired boy with her. One of them must have been in some kind of trouble Remus summarised but didn't go and investigate. His father had told him that the other years liked to pick on the first years when they got on the train. It was fun to intimidate the new ones before they got he true grasp of their new lives as wizards and witches.

The time passed slowly. Remus soon found himself drifting off to the lulling rhythm the train made and only woke when a prefect called in to tell him to get changed. He did and was glad when half an hour later they pulled into the station.

A burly man shouted for first years and Remus tottered over cautiously, his eyes widening as the man kept getting bigger until he was two heads taller than anyone he had ever met. The man introduced himself as Hagrid the gamekeeper and moved them over to a port where little boats were waiting for them. Remus felt a shove and almost fell into the water as a small boy barreled into him.

He was blonde and chubby but seemed as scared as he was so Remus didn't call him out on almost drowning him. Instead he offered to share a boat with him watching as two other boys behind him glared at the small boy.

"My name's Peter Pettigrew," He introduced and offered his hand.

"Remus Lupin," He shook and helped Peter into the boats.

There was four to a boat and he found himself sharing with two other boys who were the ones that had pushed Peter. Remus was about to ask to change boats when they started moving. They didn't need oars and seemed to navigate the water like they had a mind of their own. He was in awe. Sure his father was a wizard but they didn't use magic like this a lot in the house. They didn't need the attention from the seeing something like this was extraordinary.

It seemed he wasn't alone in his awe as the majestic beauty of the approaching castle caught the eyes of the boys behind him. If only for a moment before the glamour wore off and they tried to dunk Peter into the lake head first. Remus only knew this when he heard a yelp and felt the boat dip dangerously sideways.

Anger tore through him and though he only yanked Peter back by his robes he made sure to elbow the boys hard as he did so. They turned their scowls on him and he sneered angrily back whilst checking that Peter was okay before telling him to switch seats with him. If the boys were going to bully someone it was better it be him.

One of them looked like they were going to do something but a bob in the boat made them re-evaluate the best place to have a scuffle and settled for calling him names instead.

"I'm surprised they even let filthy mudbloods into the castle. My dad said that at one time only the noblest of wizards were allowed to attend."

"I'm not a mudblood," Remus called jovially back to them. He didn't much care about what they called him, nothing could be worse than what he endured from his own family.

"I heard it's because of the headmaster," One of the others continued as if he didn't hear Remus at all "He's a sympathiser not to mention a bit of a loon."

"He probably has all sorts coming into the school."

"Well I suppose if the teachers are the ones to let this scum in then there's nothing they can do to remove it. It's going to have to be up to us to do it," The second one continued and Remus knew that threat was meant for not only him but Peter as well.

"And how exactly are you going to do that when you know no magic?" Remus shot back and sent a sneer reaching for the hand that was offered to him. They had reached a harbour of some kind.

He heard the boys spluttering at his passing words but paid them no mind and instead made his way with the game keeper to the front steps of Hogwarts. It was truly something to behold with it's medieval structure. Remus could imagine princesses in those muggle books his mother read him being envious of this castle.

He felt a tug on his sleeve and glanced at Peter. It seemed the boy wasn't done with him and seemed to think Remus was his new human shield. He cowered from almost anything that moved making him think of a small rodent looking for places to hide. He couldn't really blame him though since getting into a fight on your first day was bound to leave you jumpy.

"This way if you please," A voice announced from a tall woman emerging from the doorway.

They followed and Remus glanced at the woman only briefly before he was drowned in a sea of faces. The hall was large and full to the brim with students of every year differentiating between sullen looks at their food delay and curiosity towards their new house mates. Remus could tell each of them by colour and wondered which of them he would be in.

The blue was for Ravenclaw, a studious house that valued knowledge above all else and showed it with their intuitive gazes set towards the approaching first years. Though most looked pale from lack of sunlight Remus could see intelligence brewing inside of their tactical minds. The next house was blazoned in green and some of them wore scowls and smug grins on their faces. Slytherins. His father had warned Remus of these people. Most were purebloods with a few half bloods slipping into their ranks every so often but they usually found ways of beating their dirty blood out of them. His father had said it was a possibility that he would be in that house because of what he was and warned him to keep his head down if that was the case. They were nasty to half bloods but to dark creatures they were truly malicious. Yellow assaulted his eyes on the other side of the hall and Remus could guess that this must be the Hufflepuff house. He wouldn't have minded being put in that house as they sent him reassuring smiles his way and one of them even waved at them as they passed. The last house looked as equally intimidating as the Slytherins. These were the red lions of Gryffindor that though they didn't sneer like the Slytherins their faces weren't as kind as those of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.

"Black Sirius," Remus snapped back to the present as a pale faced boy took the stool on the stand. He must have missed what was said to them and made sure to pay attention to what was happening so he would know what to do when his turn came.

It seemed that they only placed a hat on their heads and Remus was confused as to why that was. That was until it shouted "Gryffindor!" so loud that it echoed off the walls. The boy whooped and joined another one that was clapping loudly from the Gryffindor table. It seemed he was the only one though as the hall seemed to have silenced. The dark faces of the Slytherin's looked murderous and Remus wondered if the boy had done something wrong when his own name was called.

He went up and sat on the stool same as the other boy and waited whilst the hat was placed on his head. It wasn't there long and soon was shouting "Gryffindor" again to the room. He was a little shocked but got up and handed the hat back before walking over to the intimidating red table and sitting himself down opposite two grinning black haired boys. He may have shot the Hufflepuff house a longing gaze but he soon snapped out of it when his friend from the boat sat next to him. Remus consoled himself that at least he wasn't shaking as bad as Peter was and maybe Gryffindor wouldn't be so bad. They didn't seem as murderous as Slytherin at least.

The sorting was soon over and Dumbledore was standing to give a speech. The hall still quiet listened to his welcoming words whilst Remus' mind drifted off looking at the candles above him. It was like there was no roof. He could see minute details in the sky that made it almost look like it was real. The only way he knew it wasn't was because there was no draft.

His elbow was nudged and Remus glanced down seeing that the table had filled. He was about to thank Peter for telling him before being nudged again and seeing that it was an accident that he had been alerted in the first place. Peter was merely reaching for food across Remus and happened to knock him. He scowled faintly before tucking into the meal.

They were led up to the dormitory after that by a prefect who told them the password. The room Remus would be living in for the next year was round with four beds circling the walls. His trunk had been placed at the bottom of one with a correction of the black ties he had bought at Diagon Alley. They now showed a red with yellow lines racing through it. His robes had also been adjusted to suit the colour scheme of his new house. The other boys hadn't noticed or cared about their wardrobe changes though and spent their first five minutes in the room jumping on their beds. No parents around meant no rules in this room. Remus finally grasped the freedom he was facing and the black haired boys were embracing.

"This is brilliant. I was never allowed to do something like this back home," One of them chortled before collapsing back with a grin.

"Me neither, my mum would have a fit if she knew what I was doing."

Peter came out of their bathroom and back to the assorted treats he had brought up with him from the feast. Remus took hold of his pyjama's from his trunk and barricaded himself in the bathroom next.

Taking his shirt off he knew without glancing in the mirror that this was going to be a tough living position. But he could do it. He had persuaded his parents to allow him to come to Hogwarts so he had to face whatever trials awaited him. Even if that meant that he couldn't allow the others in the bathroom at the same time as him despite their insistent knocking or that he could never take his shirt off in front of them.

He cast a disgusted gaze at one of the scars on his arm before yanking his shirt over his head and finished changing. It had been a long day and he hoped that the others wouldn't be too rowdy as room mates. Or if they were that they held off until Remus learnt a silencing charm to block them out.

"Come on! I'm desperate!" One of the boys wailed from the other side.

Remus opened it to the one with the messy hair dropping to the floor as he did so. "It's free," he muttered before stepping around his scrambling body and towards his four poster.

He was lucky to have the bed that was next to the window. It would help him keep track of the moon. It would also allow him control over whether it was open or not. He had no qualms that these were the types of boys to forget to close a window if they had something else to occupy them.

"So what's your name then?" he heard the other boy ask and climbed into bed waiting for Peter to introduce himself. "Hello..." He trailed and Remus looked up to see that he was looking at him not Peter.

He composed himself and answered "Remus," quickly before drawing his curtains shut. He settled himself down feeling his eyes drift shut as the bathroom door banged open and the other boy joined the rest of them.

"Gone to bed already?" he head him pout.

"His name's Remus," the other one answered.

"He's probably just tired he helped me on the boat before," Peter defended "There were these two boys, both got sorted into Slytherin and they kept trying to trip me up and push me over the side of the boat. Remus helped me up and even told them off. It was really cool." Remus couldn't really remember telling them off, just pointing out the flaws in their insults. He guessed Peter was the type to exaggerate things and then scowled at himself for listening to someone else's conversation. They had lessons tomorrow and he had came here to learn not to stay up all night and fall asleep in lessons.

"Good for him," he heard one of them exclaim.

"Yeah one of them has to teach those slimy bastards a lesson," Peter gasped at the expletive.

"Too right."

Remus yanked his pillow over his head and tried to drown out the noises coming from outside his bed. The next day he was handed his timetable and shown by an older student where the charms classroom was. He may have been the first one there but he couldn't help himself. Learning about magic was going to be so interesting. Pretty soon people started filing in and the boys from his dorm with Peter lagging behind entered as well.

It seemed that they had bonded during the night as they were tossing their heads back to include Peter in their conversation. Naturally boys like that gravitated towards the back of the classroom so he had no qualms about having his work as well as his sleep invaded by muted whisperings and quiet conversations.

The charms professor was a short man named Flitwick who introduced himself as head of Ravenclaw house. They were going to be learning a levitating charm that when spoken was "Wingardium Leviosa." He couldn't help being nervous when he spoke it. What if he wasn't really a wizard? All those strange things that happened could have just been that, strange things. But then the little feather he had received started hovering off the table. It wasn't much but it made Remus feel like it was on the ceiling.

A bang sounded from the back of the classroom and he turned around with half the class. It seemed that the two boys had taken their charm a step further and were levitating the books of some Slytherin boy. The bang was when they released the charm and let one fall onto the table, messing up his quills and papers that weren't currently performing summersaults in the air.

"Mr Potter, Black whilst that is impressive wand work this wasn't what I asked you to do. Put Mr Snape's books down now and get back to your feathers," Flitwick ordered with a hint of a smile.

"Of course Professor," The one with the glasses grinned "I was just seeing how much weight the charm could lift." He set the boys books down and nudged the other to do the same. They both shot innocent looks at the Professor before going back to their feathers. Remus could tell that they wasn't going to be the first time something like this happened.

He wasn't wrong there either. For the rest of the day the two boys made it their solemn duty to manipulate the new spells they were taught into ways of creating mischief. They managed to botch up a sleeping potion and switch it with the Snape boy's finished one so that instead of making Professor Slughorn sleepy he was more animated than ever. They left the dungeons with him trying to get past sixty press ups. They had levitated paper aeroplanes in History of Magic to fly behind Professor Binns head whilst he was facing the board, unravel themselves and reveal their childish messages within. The only class they couldn't do anything stupid in was Transfiguration as Professor McGonagall had them reading the theory behind changing mice into buttons for the hour.

By the time the evening meal was laid out in the great hall Remus was sick of them. They were currently trying to stuff as many spoons of ice cream in Peter's mouth and couldn't figure out how it was melting so quickly (Peter was swallowing when they weren't looking) and he wished that he knew some spell to shut them up for a while. If they continued to do this in the dorm he was seriously considering hitting the library for the night to look up some hexes.

"They aren't funny are they?" A girl spoke. She had red hair and was scowling at the boys the same as Remus.

"They wouldn't be so bad if they knew what moderation meant," he replied and heard a giggle sound from her.

"True. It must be horrible having to share a room with them. I bet they don't even sleep."

"They didn't last night and if they do the same tonight I'm going to hex them quiet," Remus joked and held out his hand "Remus Lupin."

"Lily Evans. So what did you think of the lessons?" She asked going red.

"I thought they were great. I can't believe they let us do magic on the first day," He answered excitedly. It seemed this was the right thing to say as she also beamed at him.

"I know right? Sev says that it's all a bit too easy and that they should be teaching more advanced stuff," She muttered the last bit grudgingly.

"Ah," Remus nodded. It seemed that she was embarrassed before because she was a muggle born. He guessed that those from Wizarding families would know the beginner stuff already. She must have been dreading what they were going to teach on the first day. "Well I hope that they keep to this standard. I don't think I could learn more advanced stuff just yet. I couldn't even get my potion right today!"

She laughed and they spent the rest of their meal chatting about their lives before Hogwarts. Remus called it a night when he started yawning through his sentences and asked if she wanted to walk up with him. She declined saying that her other friend was still eating and pointed to one of Potter and Black's spectators with an exasperated face.

"Well goodnight then," he waved and started on his journey back to the common room.

The staircases kept changing and the hallways looked different when it was dark so Remus was having a little trouble getting his bearings. He stopped in the middle of a hallway and was about to ask politely the way from one of the portraits when he heard footsteps behind him.

He glanced behind and saw the two boys from the day before along with some older ones. They wore sneers on their cold faces and seemed to be advancing on Remus. He made a decision and tried to run for it but felt his legs give way. He tried getting up but his legs weren't obeying his brain and flopped uselessly beneath him.

"That's the filthy half-blood I was telling you about," One of the first years crowed and gave a swift kick to Remus' disobedient legs. It seemed that he could still feel pain in them as he let out a shout when the boy made contact.

"I can't believe Dumbledore's letting scum like him in," One of the older ones sighed and motioned for the other two to pick Remus up. They held him between them. "So what makes you think that you can slight a pure blood?" He continued and menaced above him. Remus was about to retort but felt another agony this one a stinging in his arm which made him yelp. "You don't speak," He pointed his wand menacingly at him "That's the whole point of this lesson. You can't speak to us that way, nor can you treat us in the fashion you did yesterday. Holding your head up high like you were proud to be a half-blood. Still it's probably better than being a mudblood. But if I catch you, or if one of them catches you doing something like that again I'll make sure that you hold your tongue permanently," he threatened and stalked off with the other two dropping him to the floor.

The two first years shouted insults as they followed the older students. He could feel his blood boil. They can't think that they have any right to do that to people. He tried to stand up but his legs still wouldn't obey him and his arm was starting to hurt instead of sting. Tears started to fill his eyes but he held them in. He wasn't going to cry because of something they did.

He made his way to the wall so that he would have something to lean against before trying to figure out a way to fix his legs. But they still wouldn't move and he didn't know the counter curse. He pulled himself to the wall and made his body go into a sitting motion before clutching his arm and tried not to let himself cry. He didn't know how long he sat there and jumped whenever something moved, afraid that it was the boys coming back to beat the half-blood out of him like his father had said.

When he did hear footsteps sounding half an hour later he tried pulling himself around the corner into an alcove so that he wouldn't draw to much attention to himself. But when he saw that it was one of the black haired boys from his dorm he relaxed slightly.

It seemed that the black haired boy had been looking for him since he lit up when he saw him "Remus!" he grinned and skidded in front of him. The boy tried to help him up but Remus told him after his failed attempt that his legs were cursed. The boy muttered a "Finite Incantatem" before pulling him up again.

"Thanks," Remus muttered feeling his toes respond to what his brain wanted.

"Anything else hurt?" He asked

"My arm. I don't know what they did but it stings," he explained and watched as the boy fixed that too. He rubbed the remaining pain away.

"I'm glad I found you I've been looking for ten minutes now. Ever since Peter saw those slimy gits. James is still trying to come up with some decent hexes after they mentioned cursing a first year Gryffindor," He rambled pulling Remus along by the arm "I'm Sirius by the way, you fell asleep before we could introduce ourselves."

"Remus," he murmured back embarrassed that his pain was something to boast about to those Slytherins. "I don't suppose we're going to the common room are we I'm kind of tired."

Sirius grinned back and pulled him along faster. The other boys left him alone when they got back to their dorm and Remus changed again by barricading the bathroom door before falling into his bed. He didn't sleep well. The boys kept haunting his dreams and he doubted that he would be able to go along the corridors on his own for a while. When Remus woke up he felt like he hadn't slept at all.

It was made worse when he noticed that Peter James and Sirius had made themselves his personal chaperones. He hadn't noticed it at first when he came out of the bathroom and Peter was pulling his socks on slowly asking if they could go down to breakfast together. But he did when after every lesson all three of them waited for Remus to leave first before following behind him. They tried to make it look like they weren't but he could tell that they had decided he couldn't be left alone.

By tea he was scowling into his meal, almost growling whenever he heard one of them so much as breathe. James escorted him back to the dorm and Remus called that he was going to have an early night again after hearing another comment about Quidditch being thrown into their conversation. He climbed into bed and drew his curtains steeling himself to confront them when all of them were back in the room.

When they did come up James shushed them and he heard "He's asleep," muttered outside his curtain.

"You think he's alright?" he heard Peter ask and resolved himself to talk to them in the morning. They were being quiet enough that he could get some sleep. If he told them he wasn't they might revert back to their noisy selves.

"I dunno when I found him yesterday he looked like he'd been crying," Sirius put in and Remus felt his face heat against his pillow.

"It wasn't his fault," James shot waspishly.

"I never said it was-"

"I know Sirius," James sighed "I'm just annoyed that they actually did something like this. What sane person goes around and attacks someone for what they are? It's ridiculous!"

"It's pure-bloods," Sirius moaned and he heard the bed springs creak as Sirius no doubt collapsed onto his mattress.

"We're going to have to keep an eye on him. I'd hate to think of what would happen if he was cornered again. We're lucky they didn't try anything worse than a stinging hex," James complained his voice rising which earned him shushes from the other two.

Remus pulled his pillow back over his head. He really hated listening to people talk about him.

He decided not to confront the boys the next day about their constant following and instead waited until after classes to announce he was going to the library. It was all to easy to lose Peter amongst the stacks. All he had to do was hide behind one when Peter turned away and wait a couple of minutes before the boy fled to find Sirius and James.

He took out a couple of books on hexes and curses after that and trudged his way back to the dorm to get some reading in. After last night he had resolved to find out as many effective hexes as he could. He wasn't going to let someone else fight his battles and hopefully it would help appease his nightmares if he thought he could hold his own in a fight.

Remus made notations and diagrams on the ones he liked the look of and noted down others for future use. By the time the Sirius found him on his bed he had two full rolls of parchment and managed to dump the books in his trunk out of the others reach.

"Are you alright?" Sirius asked nonchalantly walking to his own bed and flinging himself on it.

"Fine. You?" Remus replied.

"I'm alright to. So... did you run into anyone on the way back?" he continued discreetly looking over Remus for any curses or scratches.

"Not really, everyone's probably went to the great hall by now. Come to think of it, I'm rather hungry. Are you coming?" He walked off his bed and to the door watching amusingly as Sirius almost sprinted to get ahead of him.

"I hope they're serving ice cream," Sirius commented before scouring outside the dorm door and continuing down the stairs like he wasn't looking for enemies.

"I like it when they serve cake better. Chocolate makes me happy," he said and almost laughed when Sirius barged through a snogging couple to the door. Holding them apart for Remus to get through.

"I'll keep that in mind," He grinned and continued to be a nuisance on the way down to the hall.

Peter frowned at Remus when he arrived but a swift elbow from James made it turn into a smile. James greeted Sirius and pushed nearly a full plate of meat towards Remus. He cast a questioning look at James.

"You always seem to go for the meats. Sirius thinks you're like a vegetarian but instead of not eating meat you don't eat anything but," Remus tried to grin but felt his face heat up as he did so. It seemed that they had noticed some of Remus' stranger eating habits.

"Don't look so embarrassed, I sometimes wish I could do that but James here would tell me off for malnutrition or something," he nudged.

"Same but with cake," Peter joined looking wistfully at the table probably wishing some would appear.

Remus found himself grinning for real this time and dug into the food James had saved for him. He didn't notice the looks they kept sending over his head or the continued glances at the Slytherin table. Too busy making notes in his head about where he could go to practice the new spells he had.

His answer came to him when they were walking back up the staircase to the common room. They passed an empty classroom on their way which would be perfect for his needs. Now all he needed was for the others to leave him alone for a while so he could slip away.

He decided to do it on Thursday, two days after he had noted down all the spells he could. The next day was Friday and he had double History of Magic to catch up on the sleep he missed. He waited until the others went down to the common room to watch the older years play wizard chess after he had went to bed early again. Then took his robe, pillow and tucked the two rolls of parchment in his pocket. He grabbed his wand and made his way out of the dorm.

The others were too engrossed in watching a knight take off a rooks head to see Remus skirt around them and out of the portrait hole. He hoped that there wasn't any prefects around as he made his way into the empty classroom.

He moved all the tables and chairs to the sides of the classroom so that there wouldn't be too much noise before hauling his pillow he'd taken from the dorm and place it on one of the chairs he hadn't put off to the side.

The first was a jinx to make horns grow on his victim. The diagram he'd copied hadn't given much on how to hold his wand or say it but gave the stance to cast it in. He swore if he ever wrote a book he was going to include the former before the latter and tried a variety of ways which resulted in sparks shooting in various directions and making more than horns grow on some objects. He didn't give up hope and continued to try anything he could think of before trying to just flick his wrist and hope for the best.

"What are you doing?" Remus whirled and faced the amused Sirius Black lounging in the doorway.

"Practising my spellwork," He replied.

"I can see that." He sauntered in and took the parchment that had been abandoned on the table "What's all this?"

Figuring that he had been found out, Remus gave in and told him it was "A list of hexes and jinxes. I'm not having you follow me for the rest of my stay here so I decided to learn some."

"Brilliant!" Sirius grinned "Can I join?"

"Why?" Remus asked remembering how easy he had looked on the first day reciting a spell that he had probably known for years.

"I only know some stuff. Not nearly as half as what's on here. Come on it'll be fun," He said and moved Remus' chair and pillow out of the way. It had grew ears instead of horns at one point. "Besides it's better to have an actual human target when you're duelling."

"I guess," he conceded and told Sirius about the spell he was trying to figure out "All I know is that you stand like this," He demonstrated and Sirius burst out laughing.

"Let me see this diagram," He begged and corrected Remus' stance when he finished laughing over it. "You're always meant to stand like this Remus. One foot back and a little to the side with your wand arm in front. The foot in front is usually the same as your wand hand."

"You seem to know a lot about duelling," He commented. Sirius turned a bit red and scowled to the side before moving him a bit more. "I'm sorry if I've said something wrong."

"No, it's not your fault," Sirius said and went to stand in front of him striking a similar pose to the one Remus was. "Now just say the spell and flick your hand."

"That's what I've been doing for the past ten minutes!" He sighed.

"Yeah but I wasn't here then. I can help you fix your wandwork."

Remus groaned before trying out the spell again. It missed Sirius by an inch and promptly gave the table behind him some horns. At least he had the pronunciation right even if they were a tad uneven.

"You're not flicking your wrist."

"I am!" He ground out.

"Look spells like these are meant to be said in the heat of a duel so the wandwork isn't intricate. They're effortless so you need to stop thinking about what you're doing and just relax. Take a breath and try again," Sirius instructed "Also try and aim," he joked.

Remus did as he told him and lifted his arm up so that it pointed his wand in the direction of Sirius and took a breath. Then another until he felt his wrist relax and just barely moved his wand while speaking the spell. Sirius took a couple of steps back when the spell hit and when he did look back at Remus laughed at the two identical pairs of goat horns that grew out of Sirius' forehead. Instead of getting angry at him like he thought Sirius would he just strode to the mirror and admired them before shooting a mischievous grin at Remus.

"This is brilliant!" He said and muttered a "Finite Incantatem" that made the horns shrink back into his skull. He winced a bit at them going back but returned to his cheery self when they stopped paining him. "My turn!" He announced and asked Remus how to say the spell.

That was how they continued for two hours. Sirius giving Remus pointers on duelling stances and them both trying to figure out the pronunciation before they tried the spells out on each other. By the time Remus said they should call it a night they knew four new hexes.

"Where did you even find all of these?" Sirius asked on the way back.

"The library. I suspect that we shouldn't use them until I've gotten at least another couple of less threatening books out. The librarian might tattle on me if I suddenly used one of these hexes straight away," He mused.

"You should just smuggle them out when you find new ones. That way she doesn't even know you have it," Sirius suggested.

"If not I suppose I could always look them up while I was doing my homework," Remus joined.

"Brilliant. That way I don't have to pilfer through them with you. We can just spend our time learning them."

Remus stilled as he heard footsteps behind them. Sirius cast him a questioning gaze before he yelped as Remus shot off down the corridor yanking Sirius' arm with him. The footsteps were coming from the way to Gryffindor so Remus had to go further down in the castle to avoid them. Sirius, having heard them a while back, was keeping pace with him so far.

He came to a stop and yanked Sirius into a dark hallway. Feeling his way through the dark he felt Sirius' hand clutch his arm so as not to get lost as they journeyed further into the passageway. They hadn't spoken a word since they decided to run but Remus could feel Sirius wanting to comment on how cool it was that they were breaking the rules.

He came to a stop. He was breaking the rules. He was out of the dorm and running in the dead of night when students were meant to be asleep. He felt Sirius crash into him and started running again finding that he didn't actually care.

The passage ended somewhere below the castle. Remus could tell because he couldn't find any windows, just torches.

"This way," He whispered back and felt Sirius clutch onto his arm again.

They moved in the shadows, slipping past the light that the torches cast with ease until they spotted a figure coming their way.

It was one of the older boys that had hexed Remus earlier in the week. His blood ran cold and he could feel Sirius recognise the boy as well. He put a restraining arm on him, keeping him from revealing their position.

The boy continued back the way that Remus and Sirius came until he stopped and turned to the wall.

"Mandrake," He spoke and the wall caved in on itself.

The boy stepped forward and before Remus could think he was following in after him. The wall closed as Sirius tackled Remus behind one of the tables near the entrance to the Slytherin common room and luckily the boy was the only one in the room.

He hadn't noticed them and continued his way towards the staircase leading to his dorm. Sirius still had a tight grip on Remus from where they were hiding and released him with a shove to try and claw his way out of the common room.

"What were you thinking!" He hissed trying to find a door.

"I wasn't," Remus said distractedly.

"Obviously. And now we're trapped in here until morning. We're going to be found! They're going to skin us!" Sirius groaned and gave up his attempt to scratch the door down to huddling in front of it.

"I'm sorry. I saw that boy and something just made me want to follow him. I don't know why I did it," Remus defended.

"Well you had better come up with a way out!" Sirius sneered and stormed away from the door to one of the chairs. He folded into himself and Remus wondered why he was so unnerved about being locked in the Slytherin common room. Surely him and James had been more than happy to hex the Slytherin's last time they confronted them.

He decided not to follow Sirius to the chairs and instead looked at the wall. It was blank and Remus wondered if it had a password to open it from the inside or whether it was just the same password for both "Mandrake," He spoke but nothing happened. It must be different he summarised. He cast his gaze around the room and wondered if there was another way out.

"Sirius you know about Hogwarts. Do you know who built this part of the castle?" Sirius cast an evil look Remus' way.

"Maybe," He muttered "I don't see how it helps though."

Remus walked his way over to him "It helps because there may be another way out of here. It just depends who built this part. Was it Salazar of another founder?"

"Salazar. He wanted every input towards his house's accommodation," he revealed a bit more cheerily.

"So if I was a pure-blood who was afraid everyone was going to gang against me would I put in another entrance? Yes but where? To near the door and people could grab me. It has to be further in. Perhaps in the corridors leading to the dorms. That way if someone broke in they might mistake it for an empty room and I'll have a head start on them," Remus muttered trying to get into the mind set of a paranoid pure-blood. Sirius looked on with disguised amusement and followed Remus as he walked down the staircase towards the dorms.

They were in a dimly lit corridor that veered off into two sections at the end. He couldn't tell which was for boys and which for girls but he continued down both of them until he came to the staircases that led to each.

He peered around at the walls and floors looking for any indication that a secret passage might be hidden behind. He found it when he felt a draft come from somewhere in the wall. Feeling along it there was a tiny gap that was hardly noticeable in the green and black colour scheme.

"Here," Remus murmured.

Sirius gaped behind him "Holy Merlin. How did you know?"

"There's a breeze. But that's not important we need to figure out how to open it," He spoke back.

"Password maybe?" Sirius supplied.

"I doubt it. With the things that are said in these halls the password would have been spoken at least once making it not hidden at all. Perhaps a combination of taps similar to that of Diagon Alley," Remus mused. "Don't suppose you know any secret pure-blood knocks do you?"

Sirius coughed uncomfortably behind him before moving forward "I know a few," He heard him mutter.

"Okay," Remus nodded suddenly feeling hopeful "We need something that's old. Salazar would need to be familiar with it. Do you know any?"

"Let me think for a bit," Sirius said and began tapping his hand on his leg. Remus left him to it listening for people coming while he waited. "I think this one..." Sirius said and tapped a series of knocks with his wand onto the wall. Nothing happened "Maybe not. Okay then this one," He tried again and still nothing. Until the wall started opening quietly.

Remus felt his eyes widen and shut them as a gust blew their hair. Sirius grasped his hand and came to stand next to him. They shared a look of excitement. Sirius tugged him forward.

But Remus pulled back. They had an escape now and suddenly he didn't want to go just yet. Sirius gave him a pained look and allowed Remus to tap the door closed.

"Why?" He asked.

"Why not?" Remus answered and began searching for the boy from earlier.

He thought that Sirius was actually going to leave him but felt a hand on his back as he peered around the door of the first dorm he went into. It was the passageway to the left and it seemed to be the girls dorms if he wasn't mistaken. Then again some of the Slytherin boys had really long hair.

They went to the ones on the right and looked in again at the first door in the corridor. There were seven of them altogether. This one was the first years and Remus really wished he knew what year that boy was in.

"Sixth or Seventh," Sirius muttered "He had a prefect badge that was why he was out so late," He explained and Remus smirked in realisation that Sirius wasn't as unobservant as he looked.

They counted the doors and went to the one opposite the first years. This one had second years in which they could tell because not one of them were taller than Remus and Sirius just yet.

"That one must be seventh," Remus told him pointing towards the sole door opposite the staircase. He watched as Sirius counted again the doors until he came to six and motioned Remus forward.

They peered in and looked at the boys in the bed carefully. All were asleep but none were the boy Remus was after. Seventh it was then. But seven wasn't quite asleep yet judging from the laughter that echoed out into the corridor.

Sirius paled when he realised that Remus was still going to go into the room and gave a huge sigh before following him to the door.

"What are you planning to do anyway?" Sirius asked

He hadn't thought of that. He didn't know much magic and the things he had learnt in his first week were hardly going to help him get his revenge on the Slytherin's. Next time he resolved to have a plan first.

He thought back to the pranks that muggles played on each other instead and wondered which ones he could effectively carry out. He motioned back to the first year dorms and hurried Sirius inside.

The two boys from the first day were asleep in their beds snoring like banshees which made Sirius and Remus share a chuckle. He shoved Sirius to the trunk of the second boy before going to the first and tried to open the lock on it. It was probably magic that held it together but when Remus banged it quietly but effectively a couple of times it opened without any problems. He emptied out the boys things before thinking better of it and grabbing a couple of his underwear and taking them to the bathroom with him. Sirius had done the same and cast another questioning look at Remus. He motioned for Sirius to stand watch.

The baths were long and wide enough to fit the trunks inside so Remus had no problem lining them up to the taps and filling them with water. He hoped quietly that they were waterproof or his revenge wouldn't work out so well. The boys slept though the noises in the bathroom and soon Remus was whispering a " Wingardium Leviosa" motioning to Sirius to do the same to the other trunk and trying to quietly levitate them out of the room.

"Do yours first," He dropped the charm on his own trunk and made sure that it was on the floor before charming the water in Sirius' trunk to stay still and not spill out while Sirius heaved it so that it was leaning against the door with the water pouring out of it as soon as Remus released the charm.

"What's the second one for then?" Sirius asked since only one of them was wide enough to fit on the door.

"We need to get their attention somehow," Remus told him with a grin. "Quick pour it sideways as close to the door as you can and then run to the passageway make sure it's open by the time I get there. If I get caught you'll know and just leave me," he warned and watched while Sirius heaved the trunk towards the door and tipped it out. He ran as soon as the mini tidal wave hit the door and started flooding the inside of the seventh years room.

Remus heard a yelp then the door opened. He released the charm on the water and had the pleasure of seeing the boy that had hexed him being drenched. He heaved a laugh before setting off after Sirius hearing the Prefect yell in rage for someone to get him.

A hand hauled him through the passage and Remus used his wand to tap the door closed bringing them back into darkness. They listened as pounding feet sounded on the other side of the door and moved further into the passage so they could laugh at their victory over the 'slimy gits' as Sirius loved calling them.

"That was brilliant!" Remus heard him say as they made their way leisurely through the passage. He wondered how many more times he could get the boy to say that tonight.

"I know," Remus chuckled and climbed up after Sirius to where the passageway let out.

They were on the upper floors near the doors leading out of the castle and they made sure to replace the loose stone that had allowed them to escape from the Slytherin dungeons before making their way back to Gryffindor tower.

"We have to tell James about it," Sirius declared "He's going to want to know everything. To think there's a secret way into the common room that the snakes don't know about themselves. Brilliant!"

"You sure do say that a lot," Remus commented with a grin climbing another set of moving stairs towards the common room.

Sirius grinned back "It's not my fault you keep doing things that make me say it," he retorted and shouldered him playfully. "Besides think of the mischief. We now have an advantage over them that's just waiting to be exploited!"

"Well we're going to have to be better prepared. There's no way I'm going back down there without a plan and the know how to do it," Sirius gave him a blinding smile. "What?"

"You said 'we.' I take it that the rest of us aren't just annoying room mates anymore" Remus coloured as the words he had thought came out of Sirius' mouth. "James got a mouthful from that Evans girl about pestering Snape and she mentioned your name in passing," Sirius explained still grinning.

"I didn't mean it like that," Remus tried knowing that he did mean it like that. "You're all just a bit loud. I haven't really got much sleep these last few days," which was true.

Sirius looked shocked "Why didn't you say something. We would have shut up if you told us to."

Remus shrugged "I also heard you talking about me," He admitted and watched the shocked expression on Sirius' face turn red and embarrassed "If you are going to talk about me could you do it somewhere outside of the same vicinity as me. I get enough of it at home and it's quite annoying when people do it."

Sirius nodded and said the password to the fat lady letting them back inside. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Remus assured. "How about we start over. I don't think either of us really knew what was happening this past week," He proposed and held his hand out.

"Sirius Black," he shook

"Remus Lupin."