One.

"Oh, hello, Moony."

James sat up on the bed and ran his hand through the back of his hair, smiling as Remus shut the door behind him and moved to kneel in front of his trunk. Sirius was sprawled lengthwise across the middle of the bed, propped up on one elbow. He smirked as Remus looked up from the bag he was unloading.

"I'll be out of here in a moment." Remus really didn't want to return to the library or even go down to the common room. Full was in two days and he was tired and achy and just wanted to curl up on his bed and stop thinking for a while. He wasn't oblivious like Peter sometimes was, though, and he could tell James and Sirius had thought he'd be wrapped up in the library with his Ancient Runes project a lot longer this evening. Without focusing, he stared into his trunk and grabbed the first book his fingers touched.

"Found it." He forced a smile to his face and stood. "See you in a bit."

"You don't have to go."

James was looking at him, his brow creasing a little as he took in Remus' pallor and the circles under his eyes. The hand Remus had curled around the spine of the book gripped a little tighter. He hated the weakness each cycle brought.

"You should rest."

"Thanks, mum," Remus murmured, letting one side of his mouth just twist up.

Sirius, who had remained silent so far, gave a snort of laughter and pushed up off the bed. James grinned and waggled a finger at Remus.

"Someone's got to look after you, young man. You're a growing boy and all."

"How much more do you want him to grow?" Sirius asked. "He's had to buy new shoes once already this term."

"Yes, I know. Our ickle Moony has finally become a strapping young lad." James wiped away a pretend tear.

"Shut it," Remus said sedately. "Anyway, you know what they say about big feet."

"Why, Moony!" Sirius adopted tones of shock. "Are you bragging about the size of your prick? Whatever is the world coming to?"

"It's not bragging if it's true."

James and Sirius laughed.

"He's got you there, Padfoot."

"So he says. Seeing is believing."

"Just what are you suggesting, Mr. Black?" Remus infused his tone with breathless dismay.

"Drop trou and prove it, Mr Lupin."

"I'm not that kind of a boy, I'm afraid. You'll have to get your jollies elsewhere."

He could have bitten his tongue. James and Sirius exchanged smirks.

"Well, yes, I suppose we had better be off and leave our blushing little virgin to his book and bed."

Remus rolled his eyes but dropped resignedly onto his bed. At least he wouldn't have to bide his time in the common room. He threw an arm across his eyes and tried to remember that even before James and Sirius had started this-whatever it was-between them, Remus had sometimes felt like a third wheel in their presence.

Somehow that didn't make him feel any better. Still, he couldn't help wishing they would stay and keep him company, even while wanting at the same time for them just to go and take the awkward tension with them.

"Do you need anything?"

Remus moved his arm and saw Sirius standing over him. He was studying Remus carefully with a thoughtful expression of concern that many would have found out of place on his face. It made the blood in Remus' heart surge strongly for a beat.

"I'm fine, Padfoot, honestly." Remus smiled. "Just tired."

James appeared next Sirius, the invisibility cloak draped over his arm. "Sure you don't want to come out with us?"

The offer warmed Remus a little, even as his cynical inner voice noted that James had only asked because he was secure in knowing that Remus would decline. Maybe James did even mean it genuinely. The two of them did make an effort most of the time not to pair off on their own excessively, well not more often than they ever had. Not that Remus was about to intrude when he was sure they were hoping for some time together alone. The thought made him want to cringe into his pillow.

"Nah. I'll stay here with my book and Sirius' Honeydukes stash that he thinks no one knows about."

They laughed again and he shooed them away with a mocking little flutter of his fingers. The door closed on their laughter and Remus tried not to think about what they were off to do. He rolled over and tucked his face against his pillow. Just a little a nap and then he would get up and shower and maybe catch up on his Potions reading.

He didn't wake up until the next morning. Someone had taken off his shoes and drawn a blanket over him at some point in the night-Sirius probably. A flare of gratitude made him smile softly and regret his bout of envious brooding.

He heard stirrings across the room and he looked over to see James stick his tousled head out of his curtains and look around. When he saw Remus awake, he grinned.

"All right, Moony?"

"Morning, James." Remus yawned and stretched until his back popped then got up and padded to the bathroom to relieve his bladder and give Sirius time to get back to his own bed before Peter woke up. It wasn't as if it was a secret exactly that Sirius often slept in James' bed this year, but the forms had always been upheld.

He took his time brushing his teeth and hair and then headed back to his bed, stopping at his trunk to pull out his trousers and shirt and sweater. Sirius was sitting up in the middle of his bed nibbling on a chocolate frog, and James was heading into the loo for his daily hair ritual that took half an hour even though he always came out looking almost the same as when he went in.

"Nice breakfast." Remus smiled at him. "Don't you know chocolate is very bad for dogs? Though, given what Padfoot found and ate by the lake last week I suppose it won't hurt much."

"Woof!" Sirius grinned back. "Anyway, I'm hungry and you know how long Prongs takes to get ready."

Sirius always looked good effortlessly, even after rolling out of bed at the last possible moment.

"Indeed I do," Remus grimaced as he slipped out of yesterday's clothes and wished he had time for a shower. Once he was dressed in his fresh uniform, he picked up his Potions book and sighed. "Guess I'll read a chapter before breakfast then."

"You've forgotten your tie." Sirius gestured with the headless frog.

"Oh." Remus frowned, looking around his bed and crouching down to sort through his trunk again. "Have you seen it anywhere? I took it off yesterday and I thought it was here."

"I've an extra you can borrow." Sirius crawled to the end of his bed and grabbed it from his trunk.

"Ta."

He reached to take it but Sirius held on, smirking at their little tug of war. Remus raised an eyebrow which only made Sirius smile more widely.

"It does make a nice leash," Remus said dryly. "But I don't have time to take you for walkies before class."

"You'd better take him out before he piddles on the floor again." Peter's sleep-thick voice came from within his still shrouded bed.

"Sod off, Wormtail," Sirius called, letting go of the tie. "That was only the once."

"Tell that to my bedpost." Peter finally emerged and sat on the edge of his bed, rubbing the heels of his hands against his eyes.

Breakfast was a subdued affair. Peter was shoveling in sausages with one hand and propping his Potions text open with the other. Remus was only nibbling at the food on his plate. With the full moon being so close he felt slightly nauseous, though he knew he should force himself to finish if he wanted to keep any sort of strength after.

James called out a greeting to Lily as she passed them and Remus looked up in time to see Sirius scowl and stab at the eggs on his plate. James was oblivious. He kept looking down the table in between bites barely paying attention to the comments Sirius would throw out. Once he'd finished he pushed his plate away and murmured a quick excuse before rising and sauntering down the table to take a seat by Lily. Sirius' expression turned even blacker and his hands tightened around his silverware before he let them clatter to the table.

Remus dropped his eyes when Sirius looked up at him.

"You're going to finish that." Sirius' clipped tone made Remus lift his eyebrows in mild surprise. It wasn't a question. He looked up at Sirius again and shrugged.

"Not hungry."

"Eat it anyway."

The look on Sirius' face was purely thunderous on the surface. Underneath, though, Remus thought it was a little lost, so he simply forked another bite into his mouth and chewed slowly ignoring the slow roil of his stomach. Peter looked up from his text with mild sympathy.

"Rough morning?"

"I'm all right." Remus smiled wanly. "Sometimes it's a bit like feeling hungover, only without the fun of the evening before."

Sirius snorted and actually cracked a grin. "Maybe we should get you drunk, then, if you're going to suffer the consequences regardless."

"Oh God," Remus groaned. "Don't talk about alcohol now." His stomach churned again, and he carefully laid his knife and fork across his plate.

Sirius' eyes flicked down the table, and Remus followed his gaze. It was no surprise that Lily didn't look particularly pleased by James' attention. At least some of the tension seemed to go out of Sirius. When he looked back at Remus his smile seemed genuine.

"Want to go have a smoke before class?"

Remus pushed his plate away with relief. "Sure."

"Wormtail?"

"Can't." His eyes ticked back and forth over the page of his book.

Remus followed Sirius out onto the grounds, and they both leaned into the shelter of an overhanging arch as they puffed their fags into life. Sirius inhaled deeply, tilting his head back to blow a column of smoke into the crisp morning air. His cheeks hollowed with each drag and Remus watched him from underneath his too-long fringe.

His own actions were economical and efficient, jerky motions that accomplished his task rather than creating the grand theatrical gestures that Sirius could always pull off effectively without even trying. Remus sucked in a harsh breath and let the smoke fill his lungs before exhaling sharply.

Leaning up against the rough stone wall and looking out over the courtyard as the early morning fog burnt off was remarkably soothing, and they didn't speak until they were grinding the butts into the stone and flicking them into the air before vanishing them.

"Are you all right, Sirius?" Remus ventured.

"Of course." Sirius shoved his hands deep into his cloak but looked at Remus with an arrogant lift of his eyebrow. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Remus just shrugged wishing he still had something to do with his hands. Instead, he just rubbed them together and blew on his chilled fingers. "It's getting cold early this year."

Not that November was ever all that mild here in the highlands, but the biting gusts of wind felt more like deep winter than late fall. Neither of them said anything for a minute then Sirius pushed off the wall and took a few steps into the courtyard. He squinted up, trying to find a hint of the sun through the caul of the overcast sky.

"I'm expected home for the hols."

"Oh. I thought you were staying here." Remus knew that given the choice Sirius would have spent Christmas with the Potters, but his parents had forbidden that. Sirius had said anything was better than being forced home for the holidays, even if he was the only Gryffindor staying over.

"I was," Sirius said bitterly. "But I got a letter from dear old mum the other day. They're insisting I go home so they can make proper arrangements for my future." His mouth twisted up in a sneer. "Apparently they think I'll bollocks it up beyond repair if they don't take charge now."

"I thought they felt you already had ever since you got sorted into Gryffindor."

A grudging laughed slipped past his lips, and he turned and looked at Remus. "They did, but things are different now."

"How?"

"Well, I'm almost of age now, aren't I?"

"And?"

"Don't be thick, Remus." Sirius scowled and looked away again. "They want to go over prospects. Solidify an alliance with another noble and most ancient family." He sneered. "Particularly one who's values are in line with that nasty business we only hear rumors about at Hogwarts."

Remus' eyes went wide. "They want..." Sympathy welled up in him as well as a sharp flare of denial that he had no right to feel, and that he tried rather futilely to stamp down. "Fuck."

Sirius shot him a grin, then, always enjoying the sound of a curse from Remus' mouth.

"Language, Mr. Moony."

Remus ignored this.

"But you...you not going to..." Remus didn't know how to finish the sentence.

"Pledge my troth?" Sirius said sarcastically. "Not if I can bloody help it."

"Does James know?" The question slipped out before Remus could contain it. Of course James knew. He always knew everything about Sirius.

"Yeah."

"What did he say?"

"He said I should tell them to sod off and come and live with him and his parents."

Remus absorbed that for a moment, letting the twist of jealousy subside as he thought about Sirius trapped in the home he hated with people who would never understand or accept him.

"Why don't you?"

"Oh, Moony." Sirius gave him a playful swipe to his chin. "You're so naive. It's not that simple."

"I'm not naive." He batted Sirius' hand away. "And I don't see why it's not."

"For one thing, I don't want to cause trouble for the Potters. You think my parents would just sit back and let me get away with that? Not bloody likely. I'm the heir whether they like it or not."

"What will you do then?" A line furrowed between Remus' brows. "They can't force you into anything can they?"

"Not legally, no. And I'm not of age yet, so for now it's all just intentions and such, but that doesn't mean they can't make my life even more unpleasant than they usually do. You've no idea what they're like."

Remus had some idea, actually, but Sirius didn't open up completely to anyone about his family. However, Remus knew enough to know that they'd go to questionable lengths to coerce Sirius into doing what they wanted. How Sirius would manage it was the unknown quantity in the equation.

"It won't be long before you're seventeen. What happens then?"

"I don't know." Sirius looked grim. "But I won't let them force me into any farce of a pureblood alliance." He smirked then, stepping back under the arch with Remus. "Perpetuating the Black bloodline is not high on my list of priorities. I'll leave that to Regulus if he's so inclined."

Now the conversation was skirting an area everyone had always tacitly avoided. Remus snorted and shoved his icy hands into the voluminous sleeves of his cloak. It was strange to have the unusually forthright comment hovering between them, so Remus made a joke to diffuse his unease.

"Good thing for you, too. Aren't all your first cousins taken already?"

"Ouch. Low blow, Moony." Sirius laughed and slung an arm around Remus' neck, reaching up to scrub his knuckles against his head with his other hand.

"Geroff!"

The boys tussled a moment before falling into step and heading back inside the castle.