Physics, Remus and James quickly realised, is just maths pretending to be a science. 

Measuring the speed at which toy cars moved along different inclines (which was apparently a very exciting activity in a muggle classroom) was hardly too mentally taxing for the boys, especially when there were used to planning pranks and talking in code when brewing potentially life threatening potions over a naked flame. 

James knew that he had to tell Remus about what B had said, but he'd have to be careful about it. Luckily the boys were sat alone at their table, there was no chance they would be overheard, but a quick sweep around the room showed a number of possible threats. James 2.0 and some of his cronies sat towards the front of the class and there had been some certainly unfriendly looks from the table of girls opposite them. James was a paranoid person, but he was sure that he had not imagined that more than half of this class had shot dirty looks in their direction. 

"Well, that one went one meter in 5 seconds so that's 0.2 meters per second making the final average...0.46. This is too easy." Remus was quickly writing down the final results of their experiment, having finished far before anyone else in the class. 

"Remus, I need to tell you something." James had lowered his voice to just above a whisper, but it had come out hoarse. 

"Hm? What's that?" Remus had heard him nevertheless, though he didn't seem phased by this sudden seriousness. 

James swallowed hard and considered his next words carefully. "B told me something this morning, well, she showed-no, no that's not important. Something's happened and it's not great..." 

"James, what's going on?" Remus finally sensed the importance of what James was struggling to say, every possibility of what it could have been rushed through Remus' head, finally landing on the correct event as James came to admit it. 

"Someone, I don't know who,"

"Oh god."

"saw you and Sirius yesterday..."

"Oh he's so stupid." 

"when you were-"

"Yeah I know what we were doing, thanks. Oh god I'm so stupid, how could I let this happen?" Remus spoke fast and low, he was angry at himself. 

"Remus, it's okay. We'll just have to keep our heads down and keep to ourselves, it'll all be fine." 

Remus seemed as though he might begin to calm down, when he looked around at James suspiciously. 

"What did B show you?" 

"What?"

"You said B showed you something."

"No, no, that's stupid." 

"Oh my god, the bruises. Was that because of us?" 

"How did you-never mind." James sighed, nothing got past Remus. "Yes, some girls caught up to her before school and, I don't know, must have thought that she was something to do with you. But you can't beat yourself up about it, Moony, she's fine."

Remus had grown whiter than before. He stared straight down at the table, jaw clenched. 

"I-we-need to apologise to her. And I'll go away, back to Hogwarts or my parents or something. Or you guys can go back to Hogwarts and I'll stay here, then everything will be fine." Remus spoke as if this was a decision that had to be made, one that had been considered for a long time and was the only remaining option. 

"Are you stupid? No one is going anywhere. We're fine."

"No, James. I am sick of people getting hurt because of me. It has to stop." His voice was but a hiss now. 

"Do we really have to keep doing this, Remus? We're not going anywhere and neither are you. Stop being a bitch about it. Sirius made a careless mistake that everyone will forget about in an hour. Now give me your book, I think I wrote the times down wrong."

Remus sat back and allowed James to take his book. This was an argument he'd had hundreds of times, and it was one that he had never won. 

Suddenly more aware of the harsh gazes of others, Remus kept his eyes firmly fixed on the table in front of him for the rest of the lesson, carefully planning all of his future actions to ensure that he wouldn't put anyone else in danger. 

The common room, it transpired, was little but an unused classroom with a battered two-seat sofa and a kettle tucked neatly into one corner. Despite its meagre looks, this seemed to be home to most other Year 11 students, almost as the common rooms had in Hogwarts. 

Some students studied while others crowded around a small radio commentating on some sports game or another. Those who had claimed ownership of the sofa comfort and its surrounding area held steaming cups of what seemed to be black coffee, but the bitter smell of tea and lack of refrigerator explained otherwise. 

As Sirius and Peter entered the room, each student, no matter how preoccupied they may have been, stopped their activities to stare at them, like they were monkeys in a zoo. 

"This room is for year 11's only." A girl who had been bent over a book remarked, somewhat rudely. 

"We are year 11." Sirius said monotonously. He tried to continue into the room but a boy, completely unremarkable in appearance, had appeared in his way. 

"Well, I've never seen you before." He pressed. 

"That makes two of us then, doesn't it?" Sirius asked, still unfazed. 

"We're new." Peter offered from behind. 

"That is a shame, because we're all full up." One of the boys sprawled unceremoniously across the sofa called, while gesturing about the room, which was, arguably, very empty. 

"Oh, Paul, be nice." A girl sat at his feet pleaded. Paul laughed her off. 

Peter looked to Sirius to anticipate their next move, but Sirius just rolled his eyes and turned on his heels. They would find somewhere else to waste the next hour. 

The two boys chatted mindlessly as they wandered to the library, the topic heading swiftly back to the earlier motorbike ride whenever Sirius saw the opportunity. Peter knew that he had to tell Sirius about what he had overheard in his form class, he just had to wait for the right time, so that he couldn't shout or kick things or punch anyone. The library was perfect.  

Once they were sat at a table, the library completely deserted, save for the librarian who was falling asleep behind her desk, Peter had to find a way to start the conversation. It must have been obvious that he was struggling because Sirius spoke up before he managed to. 

"You're fidgeting and your breath sounds like words that didn't quite make it. Do you need to say something?" Sirius had a joking tone, but they had known each other for many years now, Peter had tells. 

"Yeah, yeah I do but you need to stay calm..."

"Not the best start, but go on ." 

Peter dropped his volume lower still. "People know. About you and Remus."

"Uh, that's not a huge surprise, Pete. I don't know if you've noticed, but we've been together a little while now." Sirius seemed amused, he hadn't realised what Peter was saying. 

"No, Sirius, people here. And they don't like it. Some boys were saying that if you don't...stop, they'll, well, I don't know what they'll do." Panic was rising in Peter's voice, but he couldn't help it. He just wanted his friends to be safe. 

"Oh, what an idiot! I need to apologise to Remus. I'm such a dick! Why didn't I think?" Sirius was getting louder as he got more stressed.

Peter tried to quieten him down, to no avail. 

"We'll have to leave. No. I'll go, I'll go back to my parents and then it'll all be fine. We can all be in Hogwarts together again when this all blows over. Yeah, I'll go, tonight. Oh wait, it's full moon Thursday. I'll leave Friday morning, first thing." 

Sirius was rambling manically, only stopped when Peter kicked him hard under the table. 

"Ow! Well, I don't see you coming up with any practical ideas!"

"We don't need practical ideas, Sirius. They've got it in for us all, they thing we're all 'the same way' or whatever, so we just have to keep our heads down-stay out of trouble." In Sirius' madness Peter had gained clarity. 

"You're right.' Sirius sighed. "Yeah, sorry, Pete." 

Sirius sat back and spent the rest of the hour thinking of Remus. How would he tell him about this, he would be crushed. Sirius' only agenda was, as it always had been, to keep Remus as safe and happy as possible.