The Forgotten Life

Chapter 2: Friend or Foe

In prosperity our friends know us;

In adversity we know our friends.

~*~Churton Collins, aphorisms ~*~

Remus looked down the Gryffindor table to where Sirius sat with a group of fifth year girls, and groaned. This was getting ridiculous! Sirius was obviously board out of his mind but too proud to admit it. It had been a month since Sirius had punched James over the whole Syndil fiasco and quite frankly he was sick of it. The both of them were acting like six year olds. So, last night he had sat down with Peter and the two of them had decided that something needed to be done.

Peter shot him a meaningful look as James rose saying "I should get down to the pitch. Frank will be starting the pre-game drills in a few minutes." James turned and headed out of the Great Hall; Remus followed him.

"Oy! James," He called as they left the Great Hall.

"Yeah, Moony?" James said turning to wait for Remus to catch up.

"Don't you think it is time to put this nonsense behind us?" Remus asked as he caught up and the two of them started walking in the direction of the Quidditch pitch.

"He hit me, Moony," James said indignantly, "I don't think that is nonsense."

"I know he hit you, mate," Remus said patiently. "I was there remember? But think about this, what would you have done if it had been Sirius idea and Lily had given credit to someone else? What would you have done if Lily had started dating someone else because of that idea?"

"I would have beaten the hell out of him." James responded seriously.

"There. . ." Remus began but was cut off.

"But I would have apologized for it right away." James persisted as he ducked into the locker room.

Remus sighed and headed back towards the castle. Maybe he would have better luck with Sirius. A little voice in his head whispered Yeah, right!

~ * ~

Remus almost growled his frustration. Sirius had managed to somehow avoid him right up until the Quidditch match and everyone knew there was no talking to Sirius during Quidditch.

When they were finally on their way back to the castle, it was time for Remus to make his move.

"Sirius," Remus called

"Moony," Sirius voice only held a slight chill.

"This is ridiculous, you know that, right?" Remus asked his friend entreatingly. "James had no way of knowing how Syndil would react."

"He should have thought of the possibility, Moony." Sirius insisted furiously. "I can't believe you're taking his side in this, Moony." Sirius pouted.

"I'm not taking any side, Sirius. If I'm on any side it is the Marauders. Sirius, you and James are the heart of the Marauders and this fight is tearing us apart." Remus had to fight to hold his control. "You and James are two of the few true friends I have, friends who know me exactly as I am. Those aren't friends I can afford to loose and I certainly can't choose between them. If this continues I will be left with no choice but to walk away form both of you." At that, Remus practically fled. He was holing his control by a mere thread and the last thing he had set out to do was put Sirius on a guilt trip.

The moment he was out of Sirius sight, Remus gave up all pretenses and broke out running. His feet carrying him to his chosen destination before he even knew he had chosen it. The Shrieking shack, the one place he knew would bring him no comfort but the only place he knew his friends wouldn't look for him.

As he closed the door behind him, suddenly he was furious. How dare they put me through this? With that thought Remus picked up the nearest chair and flung it across the room. How dare they get so caught up in such a petty grudge that they stop thinking about anything else? Moving on to the next chair he sent it flying across the room, with a well placed kick. Realizing that he was also crying, Remus fought to get himself back under control. I never loose control; he told himself over and over, while smashing chairs, tables, anything that came his way, the consequences if I do are too high. None of this seemed to help. The thoughts would simply be followed by I am alone here; there is no one for me to hurt. So, why shouldn't I be allowed to vent once in a while? Picking up a chair he broke it against a wall. So long as I'm careful not to vent where I could hurt someone? Picking up another chair he turned and caught sight of a large mirror across the room, everything here was put here so that I had something to destroy other then myself, for a brief moment, he considered his own reflection and if I keep holding this in I'm likely to take it out on someone instead. He sent the chair flying right into the center of the mirror. Remus sighed and quit fighting himself, better furniture then people, he told himself as he placed a fist through a nearby table.

It was a good thing that this house had been designated for his transformations, because otherwise he would be in a lot of trouble. When his tears finally stopped and he had sufficiently worn himself out, many of the few pieces of furniture that were even partially whole were at least in two pieces if not more.

In the end he collapsed in the bed upstairs and nodded off to a fitful sleep. His last thought as he drifted off was I didn't accomplish anything, with either of them.

~ * ~

Remus groaned and covered his eyes. Why was the sun coming in from that angle? I can't have slept that late and why is my bedding torn?

Remus bolted upright, heart racing, for a moment thinking the worst. Then he remembered, he was in the shrieking shack and judging from the way the sun was coming in, he had barely enough time to get back to the castle before curfew.

Remus stood up and quickly wiped his face on his robe. He hoped he didn't have to face Sirius yet tonight. With any luck, the way things had been going, Sirius wouldn't come in until very late and his appearance would leave little doubt as to where he had been, although, Remus had never known him to come back from the Astronomy tower in such a fowl mood before.

Remus quickly headed in the direction of the castle, the last thing he needed was for a professor to see him out of bounds. They all seemed to take the guilty by association stance on the Marauders.

"Stubborn fools!" He muttered his mind traveling back to the matter at hand. Why couldn't the two of them get along? When he had first come to Hogwarts Remus had been sure he wouldn't have any friends or that what friends he did manage to get would abandon him as soon as the figured out that he was a Werewolf.

He had learned very quickly that people didn't like him. At first he hadn't understood why what he was made such a big difference to people and neither, he thought ruefully, did the other kids I'll bet. He understood now and he would be willing to bet that back then it had been the parents and not the children that had decided that he couldn't play with them anymore. Remus felt the old rage at the injustice begin to rise again and quickly squashed it. He couldn't change what other people thought and being furious about it would do nothing but make him unhappy.

Unhappy. The thought brought him back again to his problem. A problem he still didn't have an answer for. "I think it is time for another meeting of the Marauder's reversal squad" Remus snorted at himself as he hurried back to Gryffindor tower. Squad? More like duo.

~ * ~

Sirius sighed as he entered Gryffindor Tower, it was always the same. No matter which girl he would take up to the Astronomy tower, all he could think of was that it wasn't Syndil. He mentally kicked himself. Get over it, dim-wit! She's got a boyfriend! She was never interested in you and she never will be. Like anyone from as good a family as hers would ever connect themselves with The noble house of Black. Sirius sneered. The Starborn's had been involved in muggle protection laws since the beginning, the absolute opposite of the Black family, who had as far as Sirius knew always been high on Pureblood superiority. He didn't see what was so superior about his family, more then half of them were either mad or half-wits, at least in his book anyway.

As he entered the common room Sirius saw Peter and Remus sitting, talking, quietly in a corner, when they saw him they quickly ended their conversation and went up the stairs to the boys' dormitory. Sirius sighed; he didn't have to think hard to know what they had been talking about. He was sure that the reason for his fight with James seemed silly to anyone but him, but he didn't care. James should have thought about the possibility.

Sirius went quietly up the stairs to bed, ignoring both Remus and Peter. He didn't quite know what to make of Remus outburst on the way back from the Quidditch pitch today; Remus had never been one to get overly emotional about anything. Oh, well, maybe he should make up with James, if for no other reason then Remus. Remus had a point, not many knew about exactly what Remus was, indeed outside of the teachers, Sirius was almost positive that he, James and Peter were the only ones who knew.

Anyway, what had he lost when Syndil thought that poem was from someone else? Nothing really, she still thought the exact same thing about him now as she had then. With that thought he drifted off to sleep.

~ * ~

Remus looked over at where Sirius lay snoring softly. He couldn't believe it. He had expected a confrontation with Sirius tonight. That Sirius might come in and not say a word had never crossed his mind. Oh, well, all the better really he had been dreading a confrontation. Maybe he had made Sirius uncomfortable enough that it would be an incident that they never spoke of.

Not that it mattered come Monday night Sirius and James would have more than enough to keep their minds off of his little outburst, smiling to himself he drifted off to his first peaceful sleep all month.

~ * ~

Sirius anxiously paced the Room of Requirement; he honestly hoped that James would come. He hated seeing Remus upset, and the yesterday had been a hard day. Sirius stiffened as the door opened and shut without, so it seemed, anyone coming in. In the next moment James threw off his cloak and waved a small bit of parchment in front of Sirius.

"What is this all about, Black?" James asked rather coldly.

"Look, James, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have hit you. I am no worse off now then I was before the whole Poem fiasco. I . . . I've just never felt like this about another girl. I go to the astronomy tower and all I can think about is how the girl I am with isn't her. How could I have even thought I had a chance with her; with a family like mine?" Sirius ran a hand threw his hair and sighed. "It just hurt, mate." Sirius was being bluntly honest; there were very few people who he would have told that too, in fact, James was probably the only one.

James sighed. "I shouldn't have dismissed all possibilities but success but that is how I am when it comes to Lily. I can't stand to think that I will be anything but successful or I will never try to get her attention again."

"Remus and Peter are planning something to get us to make up, you know that right?" Sirius asked smiling. "Should we let them have their fun?"

"Only if we get to have fun back." James said with a wicked grin. "Should we plot now or wait and see what they do?"

"Now." Sirius stated firmly. "It has been a month since I have had a good plotting session." Sirius was silent for a moment and then grinning he leaned over and quietly said, "Okay, how about we . . . "

~ * ~

Sirius barely kept from laughing as he threw another Batwing at James' back and heard Peter heave an exasperated sigh beside him.

James muttered a curse and Sirius almost heard a small bit of amusement in his voice. Careful, James, he thought, Remus has better hearing then most and we don't want him to catch on.

"Mr. Black! Mr. Potter!" The potions master's voice rang through the class room. "Since you obviously have time to fool around, you will have two feet of parchment on the properties and uses of Batwings to me by the end of class.

Sirius groaned. There was no way he could complete the potion with Peter and have two feet of parchment done by the end of class. But then, Professor Notte was well aware of that. Giving up on keeping Remus and Peter fooled Sirius went back to his potion. Working diligently they finished the potion and Sirius even got a foot and a half done on his essay done before class ended.

"Very good, Mr. Potter," Notte sounded quite put out. "You've got a full two feet here. We will see if the quality is better then the time you took to write it suggests."

Sirius growled, James would finish. Now I will get points taken for not completing it. No matter if my essay is better written then James.

"Mr. Black," The potions master drawled, sounding quite pleased with himself. "This essay appears to be a little short. I suggest in the future you better apply yourself so you may complete your class assignments. Ten points from Gryffindor. That is all, go to lunch." With that the potions master went back to reading James' essay, effectively ignoring Sirius.

~ * ~

"James." Remus hurried up to his friend; can you help me with that charms assignment we got the other day? I seem to be having trouble with it."

"Sure, Moony. Just name the place and time." James grinned. "Thanks to Sirius, I no longer have a social life. So, I might as well help my friends."

"How about the room of requirement?" Remus suggested slyly. "Right after dinner?"

"No problem." James assured him, as they headed off to class.

~ * ~

"Hey, Sirius," Peter said rushing to catch up to him as they were heading to Transfiguration. "Do you think you could help me with that Defense homework we got today? It just doesn't want to work for me."

"Sure, Peter. Name the place and time. I will probably have to disappoint a lady but hey, what are friends for?" Sirius wiggled an eyebrow at Peter, laughing as Peter turned a bright shade of red.

"How about after dinner," Peter stuttered, "In the room of Requirement?"

"Sure. See you then." Sirius said as they entered class and took their seats.

~ * ~

Do you think we did the right thing, Moony?" Peter asked plaintively from his seat in front of the common room fire.

Of course we did, Peter." Remus replied, fighting the urge to roll his eyes at Peter. "Would you rather wait until they kill each other or do you honestly think they would have made up on their own?" Remus eyed his friend intently.

"But what if they do?" Peter worried. "Kill each other, I mean."

"They won't Peter. They're too evenly matched, or too stubborn, I haven't decided which." Remus answered with a small chuckle.

"You're a real comedian, Moony." Peter Snarled sarcastically.

"Why thank you, Peter." Remus smiled sweetly and chuckled when Peter merely growled and turned away from him.

They sat silently for what seemed like forever. Finally, they heard the portrait hole swing open.

Remus felt his jaw hit the floor when he saw James and Sirius enter chuckling. Neither boy appeared to be injured or even slightly bloody.

Just at that moment Sirius and James looked up and seeing the astonished looks on Remus and Peter's faces, simply smiled and said in unison, "Night, Moony. Night, Peter."

Remus looked over at Peter and shrugged, "Night." He responded with Peter.

They sat in stunned silence for a moment before Peter groaned and said, "Payback is going to be really embarrassing."

Remus couldn't argue.

~ * ~

To Remus surprise, the train ride home was relatively uneventful. They played exploding snap, chess, and Gobb Stones. Then Sirius and James decided it would be cute to play Pin the Tail on Snivelus. Sirius even went far enough to turn Snapes hair pink, that was when Remus had quit paying attention to their antics.

James had gotten the brilliant idea for them to go to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor for Ice Cream to celebrate the beginning of summer. It hadn't been until he received the owl from his parents giving him permission to floo to Diagon Alley with his friends that he had remembered that Sirius and James owed them a payback.

"Hey, why don't we stop in at Quality Quidditch Supplies and have a look around before we go for Ice Cream?" Sirius suggested as they walked into The Leaky Cauldron.

"Great Idea, Sirius," James exclaimed, "I have been trying to talk my dad into buying me the new Clean Sweep." James eyes took on that maniacal gleam they always did when he was talking Quidditch. "Can't you just see me on a clean Sweep? Slytherin can barely keep up with me as it is."

The whole group chuckled. "The game would be over before they knew it had started." Sirius said still chuckling softly. As they walked into Quality Quidditch Supplies Sirius glanced back at Remus and then asked James, "So, when are we all getting together so Moony here can play some Quidditch?"

Trust Sirius to remember. Remus smiled to himself. Remus loved Quidditch, maybe not as much as Sirius, but the only thing that had kept him from playing was the idea of having practice or even a game during a full moon. His secret wouldn't stay secret for very long after that.

Luckily his friends knew and understood both his love for Quidditch and why he wouldn't go out for the house team. They would always see to it that he got the chance to play, either at school on the rare occasions that they were all free and the pitch wasn't being used and at least once at James' over the summer.

"I'm trying for as soon as possible," James responded distractedly. "I'll owl you guys after I have talked my parents into it."

They drooled over the new clean sweep and each of them pointed out what they wanted most in the store. When they finally left it was a good deal later.

Remus and Peter walked slightly in front of James and Sirius. Neither thought much of it until they felt the breeze on their bare legs.

Remus looked down and flushed a bright red, he knew their wanting to go into Quality Quidditch couldn't have been a good sign.

". . . but Mummy, I wanna go and look at the kitties!" Remus heard a young voice whine plaintively. "Mummy what are they doing?"

Remus groaned. He knew exactly who she meant by they. He turned an even brighter shade of red and slowly raised his eyes. The first thing he noticed was the doe brown eyes that seemed to swamp her tiny face. Great, now I've scared a child for life. Remus thought wryly, right before his eyes continued upward to her obviously furious mother.

Remus gulped and looked over at Peter, "I think we should make a hasty retreat, Peter. She looks about ready to beat us." Remus said sounding almost as nervous as Peter normally did.

"Right." With a gulp, Peter turned and ran as fast as his chubby legs could carry him.

"Hey!" Remus shouted taking off after him, "Wait for me!"

~ * ~

Coming out of Flourish & Blotts, Syndil couldn't believe what she was seeing; James and Sirius were standing in the doorway of Quality Quidditch Supplies. They were grinning and pointing their wands at Peter and Remus. As she watched horrified she saw Peter and Remus' pants fall to their ankles right as a mother and daughter cam out of the apothecaries shop.

Now having a sense of humor, a small part of Syndil was amused by the expressions on the pair's faces. Te little girl seemed openly curious while the mother's face took on the beat red color of someone truly furious. She very nearly burst out laughing when she saw Peter and Remus pale, quickly pull up their pants, and run as fast as they could. She had the distinct feeling that the boys didn't stop until they were well out of Diagon Alley. Syndil slapped a hand quickly over her mouth as a small chuckle tried to erupt, that wasn't funny it was cruel. No offense meant to Remus, he was a good looking boy but still, that girl was probably scared for life. At that thought she lost control and did laugh. "It's too cruel for words." She told Karin who had come out right behind her. "But the expressions on their faces were hilarious." She turned to glare at her friend, "If you tell anyone I laughed . . . " She threatened but didn't have to finish.

"I know, I know, you won't ever speak to me again and you'll tell the whole school that I am no better then the rest of my family. You can be really cruel when you're angry; you know that right, Syn."

Syndil just smiled and turned to walk towards The Leaky cauldron "Are you coming or are you going home?" She asked with a small smile.

"Why do you always ask that? You know I am going to your house. It's peaceful there." That said the two girls headed into the Leaky Cauldron and from there home.