Mrs Potter listened hopefully as the boys re-told the tale of their day, sighing with relief when they all agreed that it had been a better day. But her face quickly changed when James' tone turned to one of false innocence. 

"Uh...we got detention. But it wasn't just us, it was the whole class! No one can prove it was our fault!" 

Remus laughed at James' lack of tact. 

"Bloody hell, you boys will learn to behave one of these days." Mrs Potter berated, still with a note of cheer. 

"It's after school Thursday." Sirius added in a telling manner. 

"Hm." She mused with concerned consideration. "Well, I'll have a think. Dinner will be ready in an hour." 

Once upstairs, the scene returned to its natural state. Remus began the homework that he had been set for the day. Sirius sat flicking through one of the many Muggle magazines he had acquired over the years, paying special attention to any featuring motorbikes. Peter and James sat discussing the successes and failures of their paper airplane plan. Normality. 

After dinner, Sirius and Remus returned upstairs while James and Peter moved to the study, where they listened to the radio for a little while. A newscast began and James went to re-tune the radio but his attention was caught.

"...we are urging everyone to stay at home this Thursday night in order to ensure your safety. It is to be a full moon and reports of werwolf attacks are rising daily. We have word from a reliable source that they are being used against us in the fight for power. Werewolves move freely among us, undocumented and uncontrollable. They are a danger to society at all times. Stay vigilant and stay safe. Now, here's Douglas Todd with the latest Quidditch news." 

James and Peter looked at each other worriedly. 

"I wish they wouldn't act as though werwolves are the bad guys here..." James said darkly. "It's as if we're supposed to hate anything that we don't immediately understand." A guilty feeling settled in his stomach. "Look, Pete, we've got to talk about it."

"Talk about what?" Peter hoped his assumption was wrong. It wasn't. 

"How we acted today. It's not fair." 

"I know...but I don't see why not wanting people to think I'm gay is such a bad thing?" He was growing unusually defensive. 

"It's not, I don't think. But we hurt their feelings, we have to be careful."

Peter had some select thoughts about how Remus and Sirius should be the ones being careful, but he was not one to argue with James, so he agreed and put the subject to bed. 

Meanwhile, Sirius and Remus sat about tiredly upstairs, talking about nothing in particular. Sirius yawned and stretched out on the bed. 

"What if we just didn't go back?" He mused

"What?" Remus laughed lethargically.

"I'm sure John and Ianto would cover for us, we could just stop going and then everything would be fine again." 

"Don't be stupid. What would we do?" Remus made his way over to sit on the bed with Remus. 

"Oh, of course, you couldn't go two days without learning something, you'd simply waste away!" Sirius joked. 

Remus sighed and shook his head at him, saddened by the thought of never having to return to that school and knowing that it couldn't be a reality. 

"So how was your day?" Sirius asked. 

"You were there for 90% of it." Remus remarked. 

"And the other 10%?" Sirius asked, refusing to drop the subject. 

Remus smiled sadly and looked down at his hands. 

"I'm not allowed to change in the boys changing room anymore, but that suits me just fine." He said, matter-of-factly. 

Sirius was lost for words for a moment, he tried desperately to say something but couldn't form any words for his anger. 

Remus stopped him before he could start. "Sirius, it's not a problem, we knew this was going to happen one way or another, we might as well accept it. Besides, I actually prefer it." He said genuinely. 

"This isn't fair."  Was all that Sirius could manage to say. 

"kids are mean, Sirius, it's fine."

"They weren't in Hogwarts." He argued. 

Remus laughed. "Yes they were, do you really think I made it through five years without ever being called a name or stared at in fear?" 

"Wha-I never knew..." Sirius felt disgusted. 

"That's because you were 11 and didn't know how to feel empathy. And if you lot weren't so damn nosey I'd probably still be keeping a fair few secrets from you." Remus hated thinking about the short time in Hogwarts before he had learned to trust anyone, loneliness was a difficult thing to face at such a young age. 

Sirius was, once again, rendered speechless. 

"I suppose that now isn't exactly the time for it, but maybe this will make you re-think how you treat Snape. Surely he hasn't done so bad as to be gay?" 

"Snivillus is worse by far-"

Remus cut him off. "I thought that might have helped you find your voice." 

Sirius sighed. "Do you want to tell James about this?" He asked. 

Remus shook his head. "No point in upsetting him." 

The wind outside was blowing a gale and the rain hit like tiny rocks against the window. It was the kind of weather that made you want to sleep and let the world outside be at rest. 

James and Peter entered the room and James' usual chaotic energy followed them, breaking the peaceful silence that had settled. 

"The radio said you're a danger to society, Moony." James announced as he slumped onto one of the mattresses on the floor. 

"Still? Thought they might have been over that by now." Remus replied apathetically. 

"Ah, better luck next month." James quipped. 

The rest of the night passed completely uneventfully. It wasn't long before the four boys were falling asleep. James desperately didn't want to break the peaceful atmosphere that had settled, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to rest until he was completely sure that his friends fell no ill feelings towards him of his actions. 

"It's so sad, what happened to John and Ianto." He began, trying to sound as casual as possible without stirring too much emotion. 

"Yeah, people are dicks." Sirius thought for a short moment, then decided, just as James had, to address the elephant in the room. "It's funny how if they'd just acted a little more straight everything would have been fine for them." 

Remus turned and gave Sirius a look of curiosity though the darkness, unsure in his tiredness why he wanted to have this conversation. 

"And that just shouldn't be the case, not now anyway!" James knew, at last, that he really meant what he was saying. "The way Peter and I acted earlier was out of line, mate. I'm sorry." He was sat up now, squinting through the low light and his short-sightedness to try and make out Sirius' form across the room. 

"I know." Sirius said, never truly in doubt of James' genuineness. 

"It was understandable. But thank you for re-thinking." Remus said, though his voice was muffled as he hadn't wasted the energy to roll away from his position of comfort. 

"I know Pete feels the same, don't you, Pete?" James raised his voice to Peter, who seemed to be asleep. 

James tried to throw a pillow at him but very badly misjudged by 6 feet and it landed right on Remus' head. 

Sirius laughed and took the pillow to settle down next to him. 

Remus could hear Peter's breathing, it was fast and light-he wasn't asleep. Peter hated confrontation, so he would fake a smile and force a laugh, but he would never be comfortable agreeing to what James proposed in this moment. He couldn't lie, but he couldn't hurt his friends so avoidance was the next best thing. 

"Will you all piss off? I'm trying to sleep." Remus complained groggily. 

It was mere moments until dreams and encompassed the reality of the four boys.