Kilikapele- Yes, yes! They know(but are in complete denial about it)! haha. Anyways,I'm touched! I should be thanking you for reviewing, I'm glad you enjoyed my fanfic thus far.

brennQT- Yes, Stacie Orrico rocks! And yes, I agree that Bella is a bitch...lol!

Allacaya- That's a very good point. I really need to change that, don't I? Bellatrix is in her third year... I sorta changed it around because I want her to stay in the story longer.

SeekerGirl17- Thanks :D! Here's the next chapter!

paige-rossi-black- blush I am not a fantastic writer... but thank you very much for the compliment!

tiggergirl12- Seriously... those things really do rock!

Janet Lily- oh wow... that made me feel really bad. I'm really sorry for taking such a long time... Inspiration just wouldn't hit me xx!I've been in the Philippines for vacation, so I couldn't get a handle on writing.Well I have this next chapter up, and I'm going to FORCE myself to write the next chapter after this...Cause it's getting to the part I've been WANTING to write since the start. I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

Author's Notes: I can probably guess that some of you might be mad at me for taking such a long time on this next chapter. Hopefuly I can make it up to you by finishing chapter 23 sooner than I had this chapter. After reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, I've gotten a good lot of inspiration for writing. I've... updated this chapter to be adquately accurate for HBP, so don't be surprised if there might be a reference. They're not really big spoilers since this is a Marauder fic, but I thought I'd warn you before hand. Happy reading !

CHAPTER 22

LIES AMONG FRIENDS

"R-Remus…"

…Was about the only thing that either James or Sirius could sputter before the silence could take hold of them. The two boys had known very well that this moment would come eventually, yet in actuality they did not know how to react when it did. This in turn left them speechless, only staring in wonder at their tired and weary friend's face longingly—as though wishing to dig up the truth hidden beneath his flesh.

Unbeknown to Remus, his best friends had nosily uncovered some rather startling information about him. Although the information came from the mouths of some very reliable sources, both James and Sirius wanted to know the truth from the prime source: Remus Lupin, himself. But that was where the problem lied, how could they possibly ask such an awkward question out of the blue as though it were a normal comment about Quidditch or homework? If Remus were to know… James became troubled by the possibility that Remus would no longer want to consider them friends. Being accused falsely for being a werewolf was one thing, but actually being a werewolf and accepting those around you was perilously hard, especially for one of Remus's stature.

Clueless about the state of mind his friends were in Remus helped James to his feet and proceeded to ask the question again, this time with a bit of urgency in his voice: "Exactly what are you three doing here, James?"

James opened his mouth to reply but it immediately shut before he could manage even a syllable. He could do no more than bite his lower lip and stare in agonizing guilt back at him.

Sirius, who had been flung a fair few feet away by the brute force of the willow, barely managed to limp to where they stood while agonizingly clutching his stomach as he did so. Upon reaching them, his legs began to wobble immediately telling him that he could walk no further; it was a good thing he was closer to them now for he would have fallen face first into the dirt had James not caught him.

With no sign of any further conversation about it, Remus decided a change the topic.

"It's been a while," he said with what seemed to be a forced smile, "I figure I've missed quite a bit by the look of your grand battle against the Whomping Willow. Forgive me if I interrupted you, had I known you were just testing your abilities. I—"

"Don't say that," growled Sirius, refusing eye contact. "You know very well that we were not testing our abilities, or whatever, Remus."

Remus scratched his head and looked between them.

"Sorry—I can sort of guess what happened here by the look of Peter," he began, "I-I didn't mean to sound rude—James, Sirius. I was just startled by seeing you here, especially seeing you about to get smashed! You can't really blame me for being concerned…"

"Bloody hell, Remus, you're beginning to sound like me mum!" gasped James exasperatedly, but quickly caught the sight of Sirius's heated glare and added, "B-but, you're right, though—we can't blame you."

Remus laughed, "Same as always, aren't you, James?" then with a straight face asked, "It was Bellatrix and Rodolphus, right? I mean to say, well, you know… you weren't taking a stroll out to the Whomping Willow just for the sake of it being here, were you?"

Upon realizing their confused looks, Remus quickly interjected, "Uh… I mean you didn't come here by choice, right? You're not after the Willow's secrets—?"

"Oh! After the secrets—without you?" exclaimed James, a burst of realization erupting into his eyes, "Why would we do that? Course not! Not with out you, mate! Ain't that right Sirius?"

Sirius made the effort to nod, but soon gave up after feeling the pain ricochet down his leg to his ankle. He nearly slipped out of James's grasp when he bent over to clutch his ankle. Remus, in turn, also helped Sirius onto the grass beside Peter, who had been sleeping soundly as though nothing had happened.

"I tell you," stated Sirius, wincing as he massaged his foot, "that Peter's something else… Even in the face of death herself—Bella, in other words—he can still sleep like that! If I had that close of an encounter with that monster, I'd be lucky to pass of with a taunting nightmare… and yet he can sleep like that! Honestly, mate, I bet you anything if Hogwarts was attacked by a hoard of angry looking dementors and he was smack dab in the middle of entire thing—he could still sleep soundly that very same night!"

James and Remus exchanged looks, a sense of smugness seemed to pass between them. It was as though all the worries that had been crowding in the back of their minds only minutes before had been swiped clean from their memories.

It was this sense of friendship that made James relax again.

"I—"

James stopped abruptly causing them to look at him oddly.

He quickly snuck a glance at Remus then rumpled the back of his hair as he usually did, and said, almost laughingly, "We wouldn't doubt it, Sirius. Not one bit."

Aside from the slumbering Peter, the whole lot of them talked for what seemed like a lifetime beside the ever-suspended Willow. Not only did they have enough time to catch up on what happened the passed two weeks, but they also went on talking about the meals they ate and even the different class projects they had to finish. Sirius was so deeply absorbed in their conversation that he even forgot his own injury, often times sliding in several corny comments that allowed the three of them to burst into a fit of laughter without holding back. After the fourth time he did so James, who was already red in the face, was on the verge of tears. Remus also shared in the laughter, he admitted to them rather cheerfully that he had never laughed this much in his entire life. Hearing their weary friend say such a thing gave them all a good feeling, and it pushed James to continue their conversation further.

By the time they had realized how long they had been sitting there, the usual blue sky they had remembered when they last looked up had become a beautiful tapestry of color blending wonderfully into the direction of the setting sun. Remus also noted that the Immobulous spell had begun to wear off since he had cast it. James and Sirius realized this also when one of the willow's branches suddenly thwacked into the ground not far from where Peter had been lying down. Luckily for them, though, Peter was a hard sleeper and he merely shifted to his other side then fell right back to sleep.

"Being the leader of you lot, I think it's time we moved away from here. Anyone up for going to the Common room?" suggested James, taking the time to push himself up off the grass and stretch. "All those for it say 'ay'!"

"Ay, I'm for it," agreed Remus, smiling.

James, as though pretending to be a captain of a ship, turned from Remus to Sirius with his chest out, so as to prove he had authority over them. Remus couldn't help but bite back his laughter at the ridiculous way James carried himself. Sirius, on the other hand, remained completely calm so as to play along with James's silly game. The look in the handsome lad's eyes showed that of a mutinous crews man on board a ship, and James, being as clever as he was, was quick to notice this.

"So?" he urged, pulling out his wand and jabbing it teasingly at Sirius's shoulder, "You coming or what what?"

Sirius grinned sinisterly, "I prefer 'what what' thanks, Captain Jamesie Potter. I don't quite agree with your way of doing things."

Remus crossed his arms, "Why's tha—?"

James quickly silenced him, "You're supposed to let your captain do the talking! No speaking out of turn!" then upon seeing Remus's frown he whispered, "Com'on Remus! Play along, would you? Don't tell me you've never read books on famous Wizard pirates that traveled the world? I'd 'ave thought you've read almost every book out there! They're my absolute faves, I ought to let you barrow some of 'em—"

Sirius coughed loudly.

"Uh—erm…" sputtered James, trying to remember where he had left off, "Oh yeah! Why is it you're disobeying orders, Sirius, my most trusted first mate…?"

It took Sirius a little while to recover from being called 'most trusted', but somehow managed to croak, "W-well Sir, I believe we should set sail for the Great Hall for lootin'. Once we've swiped all the booty from them locals—it's about that time anyhow—we can take it for ourselves and have a feast!"

James inspected Sirius for a moment as though it were the first time he had laid eyes of him, "Greedy as always I see…"

"S-sir," mumbled Remus, attempting to play along too, "I have a suggestion."

"Let's have it then."

"Well, I was thinking, maybe, we could head—I mean—set our sights for the Great Hall, raid the place, like Sirius says, then set course for the Common Room. I'm sure we shall find leisure there, then turn in sometime later and head up to the dorms for some shut eye."

Sirius nodded in approval at his suggestion. If they had not been trying to act like a ship's crew, the suggestion would have been no more than the normal routine, but right now this wasn't the case.

"Brilliant!" exclaimed James, pretending to tip his imaginary pirate's hat to one side, "All who are in favor of this say 'ay'!"

"Ay!" shouted the two crew's men, simultaneously.

"Good, good, then we shall be off—!"

Sirius tugged at James's black cloak and asked, "What about the little one down yonder, Sir?"

James scrunched his forehead and muttered, "I don't think 'down yonder' is something a sailor says, Sirius…" he then looked over at Peter still sleeping like a log, "…but you have a point, someone'll have to wake up the bloke."

"James! But you know just as well as I that it's virtually impossible to wake him up!" implored Remus, "And not to mention that, but Sirius, didn't you injure your ankle?"

Sirius blinked then looked down at his ankle, which was now the color of dark purple, almost black. He had completely forgotten about it; he had been having so much fun.

"Argh… sorry, it slipped my mind," he said with a sigh, "I can get to the Infirmary myself, you lot head for the Common Room and drop off Peter. And don't give me that look James; it's just a sprain. Madam Pomfrey should be able to fix me up real quick."

Remus looked at the severe bruise then began ruffling through his right pants pocket for something. James who had been helping Sirius his feet looked around at him.

"What's up?" he asked him, as the weary boy finally pulled out what looked like a small bottle from within his pocket.

"Here, you can use this, Sirius," said Remus handing it to him, "It's a really powerful medicine that can instantly cure any sort of injury and—and heal, to an extent, cursed injuries. I got it from Professor Dumbledore during my last visit in the Infirmary… D-don't worry, I won't be needing it."

Sirius gave a nod and smiled thankfully at him while taking the medicine and inspecting the transparent, hazy green liquid inside. James seemed also quite thankful to him for being so generous, but he couldn't grasp the feeling that their weary friend would need it sooner or later. Despite his inner feelings about the situation, he said nothing; he didn't feel ready enough to ask Remus where he had gone to, or rather he didn't have the heart to at that moment.

"Wow, mate, leave it to Dumbledore to brew up this rare concoction…" murmured Sirius in a wispy-like voice. "You've got to ask how to made this! Professor Slughorn would die to see this!"

Sirius popped the cork off the top of the bottle, and sprayed a bit of it onto his bruised ankle leaving a good bit of it left. He winced slightly as the potion stung at his skin appearing to seep in through the pores to where the problem lied. Remus apologized sincerely for not warning him about the pain before hand, but Sirius just waved a hand saying that he could take the pain; it was merely kid's stuff.

James took the bottle from his mate to take a closer look at the substance within it. He also took the time to put the cork back on the top of the potion. When he was about to return the potion to Remus, the weary boy just said for him to keep it; that he may need it some day. Reluctantly, after having Remus to reject it so many times, he pocketed the potion.

After doing so, James looked curiously back at Sirius and wondered, "Slughorn? You mean our new Potions master? The one who recently came back from his so called 'important mission'?"

"That's the one," he droned, agreeing, "Though he's not really a new Professor. If I recall correctly, he's been here since my great-great-grandfather was headmaster here—oh look! My ankle's not black anymore!"

Sure enough, his ankle no longer looked as ugly and swelled up as it had merely seconds before. He proceeded to move his foot up and down slowly to make sure whether or not it was good enough to stand on. James and Remus helped Sirius to his feet still feeling slightly worried; both of them were ready to catch him if he lost balance. Thankfully enough, though, Sirius didn't even sway; he just stood there, both feet solidly placed on the ground.

"That's one pretty amazing potion," said James in a wonder, "you don't hurt anywhere?"

Sirius merely shook his head and took the time to hop on his previously aching leg, and found it completely normal. Remus beamed and sense of relief seemed to flutter through him; he felt that his contribution had been the right thing to do. Sirius, being as grateful as he was, even insisted that he carry young Peter on his back when James suggested they use magic to transport him to Hogwarts.

"Can't depend of magic all the time!" he shouted back at them, as he merrily bounded forward in the direction of the school with young Peter drooling against the back of his dark cloak.

Sirius dashed excitedly and quickly disappeared behind the small grassy hill ahead of them leaving his two friends behind to watch in amusement.

"You wouldn't happen to know, whether or not, if that potion has after effect of insanity, would you?" James asked the weary boy, a haughty grin spreading across his face.

Remus shrugged, "Who knows? It's Dumbledore, after all."

With that they both ran to catch up with their first mate, grinning widely as they did so.

It was at that moment that they left when the Whomping Willow was finally freed from Remus's spell, and it leisurely swung it branches about itself as though it were stretching.

Upon arriving within the cozy confines of the common room, Peter awoke suddenly. His little gray eyes appeared to be darting from side to side, utterly surprised that his surroundings were moving. He must have thought that he was being kidnapped for without any warning to anyone, especially Sirius, he began to wail at the top of his lung and flap his arms in a wild-like manner. Several of the Gryffindor students who had been at peace with themselves by the fire were all startled by the uproar, wincing at the piercing cry. By now, the lot of them had no question as to whose cry it was for they had endured this sort of thing almost every other week at one point or another. Most of the people, who could no longer stand it, groaned then got up from their seats and left the room. In the end, though, both Sirius and Peter were the only two left standing there; both James and Remus had lagged behind, still wandering through the corridors of the school.

"Wahhh! Get away from me!" wailed Peter, moving around as though throwing a tantrum, "Leave me alone! If Sirius or James hears me—"

"P-Peter! I am Sirius! Now would you calm down, I-I might drop you!" Sirius gasped, trying to raise his voice so it could be heard.

Despite Sirius's reasoning's, the screeching boy could not hear anything over his own high-pitched scream. He only became more violent, adding a few kicks and punches to his flailing. Several of the punches hit the spot, causing the handsome lad to teeter to one side. Sirius was really loosing his temper now, and had not James or Remus come into the room at that moment, he would have clearly head-banged Peter in the forehead. Instead, Sirius decided dropping him would be the best thing to do; it might throw some sense into him, he thought.

"Wait!" warned James, rushing toward them. "Sirius! Don't—!"

Unfortunately…dropping him wasn't such a bright idea after all, and James tried his best to warn him….

…But it was too late. There was an abrupt pause in Peter's scream where he realized he falling. Panicking, the boy immediately reached out to grab the closest thing to him; this being at the moment, Sirius's long, flowing black hair. The result? Well, the both of them landed with a thud on the carpeted floor beneath them, both groaning in pain.

James bent over and laughed so hard that he had to clutch his stomach to ease the pain. Sirius's face turned the color of crimson upon realizing what a fool he had just made of himself; the entire thing seemed to replay, in slow motion, over and over in his head and his best friend's laughs didn't seem to make him feel any better.

"You took quite the fall," implied Remus, trying to suppress the temptation of a grin on his face.

Sirius sat up, and grunted, "it doesn't really matter."

Peter also took the time to sit up, and he looked around at his three friends who were now sitting around him. The young chap seemed to have no recollection of what he had just done, and sat there looking innocently between them. James patted Peter on the head and smiled warmly at him.

"Oh, sure it matters!" he exclaimed, taking off his round glasses and wiping them clean with his cloak, "You should have seen your face!"

Sirius seemed to go an even deeper red at the mention of it, and he desperately stammered back at him, "How was I s'pose to know he'd grab my hair?"

Remus covered his mouth to hide the fact that he had also begun to chortle uncontrollably. Sirius frowned at them. He quickly forced Remus's hand away from his mouth while shouting: "there's no use hiding it 'cause you're doing one heck of a job!" This, unfortunately, had the opposite effect making the weary boy laugh even more. Not to mention James also joined in the chorus of laughter. All this made the handsome chap quite flustered, turning away from them to hide his face.

Peter blinked. Staring dumbly at the lot of them. He still had no idea what in all the Wizarding World was going on, and motioned to scratch his head when he noticed there appeared to be something clutched within his stubby left hand. James noticed this as well and reached out for Peter's hand, then lifted it up so that he could have a better look at the object. Sirius probably would have done well not to know what Peter was holding, but as the say goes: Curiosity surely slaughtered that blasted cat, no?

"I-Is that—?" hesitated Sirius, staring dumbfounded at the object clenched between Peter's round fingers.

Remus quickly backed away from Peter, knowing very well what was to happen next. James also quickly let go the instant he realized what it was, and backed away as far as Remus had. Sirius, unlike the rest of them, edged toward Pettigrew, eyes growing even rounder than James's spectacles. With every step he advanced toward him, Peter would crawl away, like a poor innocent rat about to get pounced on by an evil prowler. Sirius's hungry eyes seemed to gleam sinisterly down at Peter as he murmured under his breathe was sounded like Pettigrew… and start running…

"That…thing…" he snarled in a soothing yet angry voice, loud enough so that everyone could hear. "Tell me, Peter. You're bright enough, aren't yeh? What is it you have clutched within your tiny grasp?"

"I—I…" cried Peter, tears forming at the corner of his eyes, "I didn't mean to…"

Sirius slammed his hand into the table beside him, "Just answer the blasted question!"

Peter glanced around at Remus and James desperately for help, but alas no avail. If it wasn't Sirius, surely James would have jumped in and rationally tried to explain the situation, but he figured that this time around it would be best for Peter to try to work things out for himself—for experience purposes. The yellow-haired kid had to learn how to stick up for himself some time, so why not now? It's not like Sirius'd hurt him, thought James with shrug. Remus also seemed to be on the same wavelength James was on, for he just left them alone and proceeded toward the fireplace. After some time later, James followed him and took at seat in a comfy red chair opposite of him. The two of them, although were a fair bit away, still listened to Peter's and Sirius's conversation just in case they had to jump in.

"Well?"

"Um… it's your—"

"It's my, what?"

Peter gulped, "Your…h-hair?"

Sirius seemed to agree with this, and he nodded, "So what are you going to do with it?"

"G-give it back?" he whimpered.

Sirius seemed to have calmed down a bit since yelling; he couldn't bear to hold any grudges against Peter when it clearly had not been his fault. Also, Sirius didn't really seem to have the heart in getting mad at him…after all the boy, with his pudgy face and yellow hair, seemed a bit too innocent for him to yell at to begin with. He almost felt bad about the previous thought of head-banging him to be quiet. With a deep sigh Sirius extended his hand toward him to take back what had previously been a part of his head and waited for Peter to willingly give it back. The handsome chap figured that either he or James would easily be able to whip a charm to fix it, so there was no longer any need to be angry. He waited patiently, but Peter seemed to have something else in mind…

"Woah! H-hold on, Peter? What do you think you're doing…!"

Peter had happily whipped out his wand and pointed it Sirius's hair, "Don't worry, Sirius! I-I know what I'm doing."

Just as he said this, a blast shot out from Peter's wand straight at Sirius, not at his hair per say, but at him. The boy had apparently been absent the day Professor Dippet had explained to them that aiming your wand was an important part in directing your magic. Sirius felt the full force of the charm and fell backwards again, but this time, not by force; he was just startled. Remus and James who had been sitting calmly both started upwards in awe that Peter would even attempt such a thing; especially on someone like Sirius! Remus was about to dash over to make sure everything was all right, but the messy-haired boy had caught a hold of his wrist before he could rush over.

"It's all right," he snorted looking in the direction of Peter's now horrified-looking face, "Peter just used a hair-thickening charm I taught him not too long ago."

Remus stared, "Exactly why did you teach him that?"

"Not quite sure myself. Peter just came up to me one day and asked me to teach him a thing o' two. T'was the only thing I could think of at the time."

Remus's laugh seemed somewhat short lived when he asked whether or not the charm was a safe one, but James quickly reassured him that the worst thing Sirius could possibly get would be longer under arm hair. They both seemed to simper at the thought of it and both sat back down in the comfy red chairs by the fire, this time though, James took a seat beside Remus rather than opposite him.

After their small moment of humor, the two of them stilled. They seemed a bit too interested in their own worlds to take notice of each other and neither of them seemed to be listening to the bantering of Sirius's voice in the far corner of the room. James laid his head against the soft cushions behind him and gave a deep sigh.

"So, what is it you want to talk with me about?" asked Remus, staring intently into the burning fire, not wanting to give eye contact.

James lifted his head and cocked it to one side in question.

The weary boy merely rubbed the back of his neck as though he knew what James was doing even without looking straight at him.

"I know you want to ask me something." Said he, sternly, "So, what is it? Despite you trying to act like yourself all the while, you don't seem quite yourself at all. You appear somewhat disturbed…"

The messy-haired boy smiled, rumpling the back of his hair nervously, "Saw through me, did you?"

"I did," replied Remus, simply.

There seemed to be brief silence that came between them. Neither of them seemed interested in speaking first, they were both waiting for at least one of them to say the first word. James worried whether or not he'd have the right thing to say or the right thing to ask so that they could converse calmly. He didn't want to have the same tension rise here as it did when they first encountered each other back at the Willow—

"FIX ME, NOW!" bellowed the voice of Sirius, completely cutting any train of thought from James's mind.

"I said I was sorry!" squealed the high-pitched voice that was Peter from the distance.

Sirius appeared to be covered head to toe with thick, black hair, his face no longer visible to the light of day. If not for several important reasons, James would have gotten up from where he sat and proceed to tease the hairy, black thing that was Sirius. You've lived up to your namesake, he thought to himself with a grin, but it immediately melted from his face when he realized that Remus was now staring at him with a sense of amusement in his sad eyes.

"Ah—Remus…" he hesitated, turning to look at the carpeted floor with interest, "Well, remember when you said, 'I don't want to lie to your more than I have to', that one time? I was wondering, you know, what you meant by that…"

James grit his teeth, looking nervously from the floor back to Remus then down to the floor again. The pressure was killing him! Was Remus going to answer his question or was he going to stand up, leave, and never want to see the likes of them again? Just thinking about it made him want to run away and hide, but he managed to stand his ground, sitting there patiently.

"James…"

Here it comes…here it comes… James's mind raced; he imagined Remus uttering the words: 'don't ever speak to me again' in a loud, screeching voice that would scar his soul for life. Despite what he thought on the inside, on the outside, James calmly looked back at him. He gulped, for some odd reason he felt quite sure that his best friend for more than half the year would recoil and walk separate ways.

The messy-haired boy's fantasies had been rather harsh to him, but thankfully sometimes reality would look kindly upon you just as it did for James this one time.

Remus's saddened eyes seemed to smile at him as he spoke; "That's right, I don't want to lie to you anymore than I have," he admitted, "So keeping that in mind, I feel it would be better if we just left this conversation at that. I thank you for your concern, James, you truly are a good friend."

James looked at back him, bewildered; he didn't know how to reply. Seeing this reaction, the weary boy merely patted him on the shoulder and beamed. This pat felt quite reassuring to James: it signified that their friendship was still intact, not at all wavered by curiosity.

Despite the fact that Remus had given a rather convincing reply, James just could not shake the fact that his friend had been so relaxed, so calm, about the entire thing. Had it been him that was asked, and not Remus, the messy-haired boy probably would have croaked and gotten angry, after all where did the 'trust' part of friendship go? Upon realizing this, James was astonished that the friend standing before him did not look mentally hurt in anyway. It were as though he had already thought up an answer to this particular question before hand…it was like he knew that one day they would ask him that question.

Actually, thought James for a brief moment, Remus has pro'lly been asked loads of questions by professors and students, a like…as to where he disappears to all the time. James crossed his arms and furrowed his brow; it's only natural that we'd ask him as well, so he'd have to come up with an answer anyhow: He's been prepared this whole time…Remus...what are you trying to hide? Are you really a—?

"James?"

He twitched at the mention of his name, and forced his mind back into reality.

"Y-yeah?" he sputtered, finding no other way to answer back.

Remus's face suddenly went pale and he proceeded at a w whisper so only James could hear; "I-I will always consider you a good friend, always, James. But—You may not…want to be friends with me…" after saying this he gripped James's shoulder tightly, making him wince slightly, "James, would you—would you abandon a friend?"

The messy-haired boy gapped at the question, staring relentlessly back at him. Abandon a friend…James's mind raced again. Where did that come from? That was the very last thing James had expected him to ask. No matter how many times he thought of it, James knew that that wasn't precisely what Remus wanted to ask him; 'would you abandon me?' was what he really wanted to say.

Remus also gazed back at him, sternly, showing no sign of joking around. Even with being the cleverest student in their year, James was still only eleven years old at heart and being confronted by such a question… at the most crucial time startled him.

"Sorry…" whispered Remus, releasing his grip from James's shoulder, "…I probably startled you, didn't I? I didn't mean ill for you, so I apologies."

Before James could interject any further, Sirius—hair and all—came stomping toward them with Peter scuttling quickly behind him. Remus, although as tired looking as always, seemed quite relieved at their arrival, there was no doubt in James's mind that their conversation had pained him harshly on the inside for it even hurt him deeply.

"I-I didn't mean it, honest!" cried Peter, tugging on more of the black hair that dangled out from Sirius's cloak.

"Bloody—That hurts, Peter!" growled Sirius, now standing before his two gloomy-looking friends, "What's with you lot? I can understand Remus, but you, James? Anyhow, Peter tells me you taught him this so-called hair-thickening charm?"

James nodded in reply, staring blankly at them.

"Okay, then, would you get off your lazy bosom and please FIX ME!"

They resolved Sirius's hairy situation in a heartbeat, but despite the humor of it all, James couldn't even crack a smile for them. Even when they went down to the Great Hall and had their dinner feast, the messy-haired boy, with his glasses and all, couldn't even force himself to eat. Surely all of his friends were concerned about him, especially Remus, but he would merely shake his head and give another random alibi.

James Potter had never felt this bad in all his eleven years among the living. The comforting words Evans had spoke to him more than a fortnight ago seemed long gone, it were as though the special spell that sparked a bit of hope in him had finally worn away. He couldn't get to sleep that easily that night; his mind had been too busy in thought. I could have answered him, he whispered to himself in the darkness of their dormitory. He had made sure that all three of his friends had fallen asleep before he lay down. It took quite a bit of convincing on James's part to tell them to quit worrying about him and by this time, it was already well passed three in the morning. Covering his head with his blanket his mind continued to torment him, I could have said, just as I always do, 'I would never abandon you!' but… why didn't I? Why couldn't I say it?

"Why…?" was the last word that brushed through his lips before he finally fell asleep; falling into his never ending nightmare…

: To be continued very soon :

Next chapter: Forever Nightmare

I have no ideas for making you to review.

But just review anyway... lest you want the next chapter to come the same day as GOF the movie.

MWUAHAHAA...

I'm just kidding.