Thanks for the Memories by tiger_lily821
Chapter Notes: Disclaimer: You all know the deal, I don't own Harry Potter, yada, yada. Let's just get to the story, yeah?
James was acting extraordinarily un-Marauder-ish. He was absorbed in a book while Sirius and Peter plotted. This particular book was excusable; a library book in which James was looking up anything and everything that would help to unveil the mystery surrounding Remus.
Sirius was brainstorming aloud, and Peter was listening attentively.
“…and we can have it show everyone in Hogwarts, all of the secret passages, everything! And if anyone tries to read it other than a Marauder, we can give them a piece of our minds! I actually got the idea from when Hancock took that bit of parchment from Jamesie””
James looked up from his book, bemused.
“You remembered that? After all these months?”
“I remember every detention every Marauder has ever had, but don’t make me go into the details now. So if some brainless moron steals it, it can””
“Oi! You two, listen to this! I found something.”
Something in James’ tone made Sirius stop talking immediately and both he and Peter gave James their full attention.
“I looked up the dates of Remus’ absences…and they’re all full moons.”
The truth hit Sirius first.
“You mean””
“Yeah! It would explain everything!”
“All the scratches””
“”and the scars…”
James and Sirius stared at each other excitedly. Peter cleared his throat.
“Would you mind telling me what is so terribly exciting that you’ve just discovered?”
"Man, you’re slow, Pettigrew,” Sirius said fondly.
“We’re saying that””
“”we think Remus is a werewolf.”
“Way to play the drama, Sirius,” James said disgustedly. But it didn’t seem as if Sirius had heard. He sprang up from his bed and started pacing the dormitory.
“It makes perfect sense! That’s why he didn’t want to tell us! He thought we’d turn on him!”
“We share a dormitory with a werewolf,” Peter said, his eyes wide. James chucked a balled up set of robes at him.
“You idiot, that’s just how he was afraid we’d react!”
“But how do we tell him we know? That’d be a pleasant chat; ‘Hey mate, we found out about your furry little problem!’” Sirius said sarcastically.
“Whose furry little problem?” said a familiar voice from the door.
Remus Lupin was standing in the doorway.
James, Sirius and Peter looked at each other and decided to tell the truth.
“Yours,” Sirius said quietly. Remus still didn’t understand.
“I haven’t got any pets.”
“We know you haven’t,” James replied. He squirmed slightly. “We were referring to your, er, condition.”
At those words, Remus’ eyes grew as round as dinner plates. He made to bolt out the door again, but James sealed it with a wave of his wand and a whispered spell. Remus turned slowly to face his classmates, and they saw that he was shaking. Peter kindly ushered him to his bed.
“Remus, we don’t care. We know you can’t help who you are and we will still like you now that we know.”
Remus turned his head to each of them, hardly daring to believe this piece of amazing luck. All three boys nodded encouragingly. He spoke, his voice hoarse at first, then growing stronger.
“I got the bite when I was six. My father offended one of the neighbors, we had no idea he was a werewolf. I was playing outside, and the next thing I knew, he’d bit me and I transformed myself. I told my friends, and they never spoke to me again. Then I resolved that I would never make close friends again. I wouldn’t have been able to bear it if I lost more friends.
“I broke my resolution when I met Peter and James in Diagon Alley. Then, on the train, I met Sirius and Lily, and my promise to myself was pretty well in smithereens. I was so afraid that you lot would turn on me like my old friends had that I couldn’t stand the thought that you might find out. But now you have, and it seems as if it’s for the best anyway.”
A long silence followed this speech.
“Does transforming hurt?”
That question was so childish and stupid-sounding that James was instantly appalled at himself for having uttered it. Remus had no choice but to be sarcastic with him.
“No, James, these bruises are entirely painless.”
Sirius had a rather more intelligent question.
“Are you dangerous to animals too or just humans?”
“Just humans,” Remus shrugged. “What, are you worried about Godric or something? ‘Cause I swear I never attacked any owls.”
“No, not him,” Sirius said. James recognized the glint in Sirius’ eye that came before his suggesting something either very brilliant or very stupid. Or both.
“What if we,” Sirius gestured to himself, James, and Peter, “became Animagi?”
“No way,” Remus said, inhaling sharply. “That would take years””
“We’ve got years,” James said.
“”and you’d have to be really, really good,” Remus said, pretending he hadn’t heard James.
“Well, not to sound like I’m bragging or anything, but me and James are top of the year, and we can give Peter a bit of a boost,” said Sirius.
“Look,” Remus said, “I’ve hung around with you lot long enough to know that if you really want to do this, nothing I say is going to stop you. But I’m going to ask you to at least think this through.”
“Maybe you haven’t hung round with this lot long enough,” Sirius said, raising his eyebrows. “Since when have any of us ever thought things through?”
Upon reflection, Remus couldn’t think of a single instance. He admitted this.
“Knew you’d see it that way. Thinking is your specialty and Evans’, not ours.”
James’ stomach gave a funny lurch.
“Are we going to tell her?”
“Who?” Sirius wanted to know. It was at times like these that James strongly suspected his friend of having severe short-term memory loss.
“Evans. She’s been just as worried about Remus as we have. And she was the one that gave me this book.”
“I don’t know, this is sort of a Marauder thing,” Sirius said doubtfully.
“And she’s an Honorary Marauder! She’s been a load of help with our plots and everything. She deserves to know.”
In the end, Sirius, Remus, and Peter agreed, and they went to the common room to look for Lily. It wasn’t hard. She was sitting at one of the tables, writing an essay for History of Magic.
“Evans, we found out about Remus,” James said when they had her attention. She put down her quill.
“Well, it certainly took you long enough,” she said tartly. The boys gaped at her. “I’ve known for ages; why d’you think I gave you that particular book?”
“How long have you known?” Peter asked in awe.
“About two months.”
“Two months?! Evans, you are the limit! How could you know something like that and not tell us?” Sirius burst out.
“Quite easily, really,” Lily said lightly. “It’s rather enjoyable, watching you three try and figure it out. Eventually I took pity on you and lent James that almanac. Though I did think you’d figure it out before now, though. You’re supposed to be intelligent.”
“Is that a complement, Evans?” James said, his eyes twinkling.
“Now that I think about it, no, Potter, it isn’t,” Lily said. “If your head was any more swelled they’d have to rebuild Hogwarts to accommodate it.”
Insert considerable “ooooh”-ing and high-fiving here.
James walked to a chair by the fire and sank into it. He had to do the History of Magic essay as well, but he was putting that off. At the moment, all he wanted to think about was Evans.
There was a spark there, he was sure of it. All the compliments she so cleverly disguised as insults, all the times she looked at him when she thought he wasn’t watching…
Lulled by these comforting thoughts and the heat of the fire, James finally fell asleep.
A/N: Now, this is my little spiel, before you all go off and leave angry reviews about how soon they found out. Hermione figured out Remus' lycanthropy in less than a year too. James, Peter, and Sirius actually live with him, so it stands to reason that they would discover it fairly quickly. (And don't get the wrong idea that I don't want reviews; I love them! I just wanted to clear up that bugger first.)