Summary:James is making Sirius get to know Remus, their nerdy room-mate, so they can pull a great prank on him. But what if Sirius doesn't want to hurt Remus?

Rating:M, just to be safe

Author's note:Yes, this is my first multi-chapter story! Exciting, huh? However, I will NOT post another chapter anytime soon unless you review. So review me please!

"C'mon, hurry up!" Sirius panted between snorts of laughter to James and Peter. They were running as though all of Slytherin were behind them, laughing like mad.

Behind them came Snape, breathing coming in short gasps, shaking his fist in the air with one hand, doubled over and clutching his ribs with the other. He was yelling out a stream of hex and swear words, all useless because of his panting. To complete his look was fluorescent green hair, which would be blowing behind him if it were not so greasy.

Past the Great Hall Sirius and his friends streaked towards the Gryffindor Common Room, all the while hurling insults back at their pursuer.

Snape soon came after them, flipping the tail of his billowing robes over his head to cover his hair. Screams of laughter followed him as he ran past the Great Hall, intending to give Sirius, James and Peter what they deserved.

Howling with laughter, the three friends gave the Fat Lady the password between combined snorts of laughter and wheezes, Snape now so far behind the sound of his breathing had vanished.

They stumbled inside the common room, leaning on each other and patting each other on the back. Stumbling over to the overstuffed chair by the fire, still guffawing, they heard footsteps and labored breathing just outside the Fat Lady's portrait.

Snape had just run by the Fat Lady, not knowing it was the entrance to the Gryffindor's common room. This only made them laugh harder, tears streaming out of Sirius's eyes.

"James that may have been your best yet!" said Sirius, thumping James on the back so hard his glasses were knocked off his face.

"Did you see the look on his face?" said James triumphantly, patting the ground around his feet for his glasses.

Before Sirius could reply, Remus Lupin came down the spiral staircase, clutching a book close to his chest as though afraid someone might steal it. He would have went unnoticed, as he was good at scurrying past the group before they noticed him, if it weren't for James finally finding his glasses and pushing them up onto his nose.

As f he could sense trouble, Lupin made a dash for the door, but James, with quick reflexes born from quidditch, sprang up and blocked the door with a smile that didn't reach his eyes, which were screwed up in triumph.

"Where are you going in such a hurry Loony Lupin?" James asked a terrified Remus, smiling innocently. Sirius felt a twinge of pity for Remus. Deep down, he felt that Remus didn't deserve how James treated him, for he was always so timid and shy and never bothered anyone.

"Library." mumbled Remus, holding his book so it covered his mouth.

"Aw, I thought you could hang with us. Pity." said James innocently with a sneer, towering over Remus, who was at least two heads shorter. Remus made to dart past him, but James blocked him easily.

"James, lay off." said Sirius soothingly, "What's he done to you?"

Rolling his eyes, James stepped aside and, shooting a fleeting, timid smile over his shoulder at Sirius, Remus flew out of the portrait.

"We have got to prank him." said James with a sigh, plunking down on the couch between Sirius and Peter.

"Hear, hear!" squeaked Peter, who was easily overlooked and always looked for a chance to poke his nose in the conversation.

Lately, James has been extremely prank-happy, even going as far as getting teachers. It was quickly getting out of hand, but he didn't say anything in case he upset him.

"Yeah." muttered Sirius awkwardly. He did not want them to know he didn't want to prank Remus.

"Maybe we could switch his robes for pink ones? No, maybe turn his skin blue? Nah, how about switching his wand for a stick of wood? No…what do you think?" James asked Sirius, with a look that came only with pranking: Pure glee.

"Oh, um…Er" stuttered Sirius, racking his brain for a lie.

"I got it!" said James suddenly, making Peter jump and the coach squeak in protest, "This has got to be a big one! So why don't you, Sirius, do the honors on this prank? You haven't done one in a while"

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked fearfully.

"You got to get close to him, find his weaknesses, so we can sabotage him." James said giddily, his eyes shining with mischief.

"Yeah, good thinking James, this'll be funny." Sirius said, not looking at his eyes; he didn't want to hurt the poor boy.

"Good, you got to get real close to him, find out what scared him the most, and WHAM!" he exclaimed, slapping his hands together unmercifully, "We pull the rug out from under his feet! He won't be able to look at us again!"

"Awesome, James, really brilliant." said Sirius with false enthusiasm.

"Well, go on then!" James said, shooing him out the portrait "I can't wait to hear what Loony Lupin's got hiding."

Feeling defeated, he followed Lupin to the library. He walked with his head down, a battle raging in his mind:

The poor kid's never bothered you! Just tell James you can't do this.

But he's been your mate for as long as you can remember, you can't! He'll hate you!

You'll hate yourself more after the poor boy's been emotionally scarred.

Without looking where he was going, he ended up in the library, the smell of dust and parchment and the sound of rustling pages reaching him.

Looking up, he saw no trace of Lupin anywhere. He strode over t the first aisle and peeked down it. Being unfamiliar with the library, he had no idea where he was looking or where Lupin might be.

He had just poked his head down the third aisle when a hand seized his wrist and pulled him down the aisle and into a corner. Being totally surprised, he had no way of fighting free from the strong grip.

"How long did you think you could ignore me?" a small, but sinister, voice reached him when he was finally pulled to a stop. Before he had time to think, he was pinned against the wall.

"Get away from me Lucius" he snarled, fighting with all his might against the force that held him to the wall, but to no avail.

Lucius pushed him into a nearby chair and straddled him so he could go nowhere. He gave a one-of-a-kind Malfoy sneer at his struggles.

"You can't escape me." whispered Lucius. Scowling at him with every ounce of hatred he possessed, he spat right into his face, sending him reeling backwards.

"Stay away from me. I'm not interested and I never will be" Sirius growled, pinning Lucius to the wall and magically binding him there. He plucked a book off a random shelf, pulled a few pages from it, and stuffed them into Lucius's mouth so he could not speak.

Triumphantly, he strode away, looking for Remus. As an afterthought, he walked back to the struggling Lucius and kicked him with all his strength on both his shins, making him howl inaudibly.

Mussing up his hair, he resumed his search for Remus. He found him, ten minutes later, behind a mountain of books, reading so fast his eyes were blurred.

"Hey Lu-Remus, how's it going" Sirius said cheerfully, plunking down next to him.

"Studying." muttered Lupin, not looking up from his book.

"Could you do me a favor?" asked Sirius, trying to catch Lupin's eyes. When a reply didn't come from the small boy, he continued, "Would you help me with my Transfiguration? Tutor me?"

Looking alarmed, Lupin looked up, his eyes finally settling on Sirius's, and spoke slowly, "Sure, Sirius. I've noticed you are slipping behind. When do you want your first lesson?"

"How about tomorrow night at seven 'o clock?" he asked, startled at Lupin's easy agreement.

"Sounds good, see you soon." said Lupin, giving a small smile, and resuming reading his giant book.

Feeling relieved and guilty at the same time, he waved and walked out of the library.

What had made him agree, without any persuading? Did Lupin pity him, because of his bad grades? Was he just being friendly? Did he just say that to get him out of his hair? Will he actually show up?

Thoughts swirled around in his head as he made his way back to Gryffindor Tower. He gave the Fat Lady the password (Diffliato) and scrambled into the common room. Immediately, he was hailed by James, who steered him towards the couch and sat down.

"So, how did you do?" he asked, eying Sirius with expectancy.

"He's going to tutor me tomorrow night in Transfiguration." Said Sirius slowly, refusing to meet James' eye.

"Brilliant! Keep it up and he'll be pranked in no time!" said James, thumping Sirius on the back.

"I'm tired, I'm going to bed." he muttered, and darted up the spiral staircase and up to the boy's dormitories.

Thoughts once again swallowed him as he willed himself to slip into sleep. The suspicions became wilder as he thought. His final thought, before going to sleep was:

I'm just going to have to suck it up and prank him.