Peter tramples up the Marble Staircase with lightening speed, his hands completely filled with paint jugs, leaving a splatter trail of pink and orange.

"RUN!" James shouts, not far behind Peter.

They run to the seventh floor side by side, casting wary looks behind to make sure Peeves wasn't close by. Passing all empty classrooms, they come across a large stone wall with nowhere else to run. Peeves would easily find them in any classroom, and it wasn't worth the risk.

"Dead end," Peter gasps, leaning against the wall.

"Bugger," James mutters. He paces the floor, keeping an eye out for the Poltergeist, while running a hand through his hair in thought. "Where can we go? The dorms are so far away..."

"Ahh!" Peter shouts.

James looks up, his eyes widening in disbelief. A large wooden door towers in front of him, and Peter has already stumbled inside. James follows, giving Peter a hand up, and shuts the mysterious door. "What is this room?"

*

*

*

The tips of the Forbidden Forest are turning various shades of red, orange, and yellow. Remus bundles his grey sweatshirt closer, observing the scenery before him through the lens of his camera. Not far ahead, Sirius sits underneath a sweeping willow tree with a pad of parchment. His knees are bent, holding up the pad, and his eyes are fixated on the lake before him. Remus focuses his camera on him, snapping the photo subconsciously. He grabs the photo before it falls, holding it in his hand while walking towards Sirius. 

Dead leaves crunch under Remus' weight. Sirius snaps his head up, lowering the piece charcoal he was drawing with. He has on a black sweatshirt with grey sweatpants and black trainers - not nearly enough for the weather. His nose is tinted with a light shade of pink, and his eyes sting faintly from the cold breezes nipping at his skin. 

"Hey Sirius," Remus says with a soft smile. "What're you up to?"

"Nothing much," Sirius answers. He flips his parchment over to a blank page and flattens his legs to lay out in front of him. "You?"

Remus sits down opposite of Sirius, stuffing the picture in his pocket. "Just taking a walk." He takes a deep breath when he eyes the parchment on Sirius' lap. "Do you draw?"

"Sort of."

"Can I see?"

Sirius bites his lips insecurely. But none the less flips over his parchment to reveal the half finished sketch of the Black Lake. Remus lets out an audible gasp, leaning over to inspect it closer. "This is amazing," he whispers. "I didn't know you were such a good artist."

"Just a hobby I picked up when...uh I was bored at home." Sirius flips the page back over and tucks the pad under his leg. 

Remus sits with his knees up and arms wrapped around them to bear the cold. 

Sirius observes as Remus looks onward at nothing in particular. The little scar just above his eyebrow; the way his sandy blonde hair falls just at his eyebrows in the wind, far different from its usual combed back neatness; the little dimple that appeared on his right cheek every time he even slightly smiled. It was a shame he didn't know how beautiful he really was.

"Do you take a lot of pictures?" Sirius asks.

"Only when I see something I like." Remus sets down his camera, a million questions sorting through his mind. Everything seemed so easy when it came to Sirius. Yet he could never find the right words. "Um, can I ask you something?"

"You can ask whatever you want. Doesn't mean I'll always answer."

Remus chuckles, "Fair enough." He leans back on his hands, cocking his head to the side. "Why do you pretend not to care about anything?"

Sirius twists the ring on his pointer finger absentmindedly. "Why do you care so much about people?"

"I want people to like me." Remus averts his eyes to the grass. He'd never said that out loud before. "I - All my life I've struggled to find people to...accept me. So I guess I try to please everyone so that they don't leave."

"You can't control what people think."

"Believe me. I know."

"I don't pretend that I don't care..." Sirius tucks his legs in, resting his arms on top of his knees in thought. He picks at a blade of grass, tearing it apart slowly. "I keep people away to protect them."

"From what?"

"Myself."

"What's wrong with yourself?"

"I -" Sirius stops himself. Remus' face falls, knowing that Sirius isn't ready to open up just yet. "Everything." 

Remus reaches out, placing a hand on Sirius' arm soothingly. "You don't have to hide from me."

"REMUS!"

Both boys turn in the direction of the voices shouting, and Remus retracts his hand from Sirius'. James and Peter come rushing over the hill, their arms flailing wildly trying to get the boy's attention. They stop in front of the two, taking a momentary breather. 

"Mate!" James gasps leaning on his knees.

"We found a room!" Peter exclaims excitedly. 

Sirius snorts, "Congratulations lovebirds."

"No, no," James says waving his hand in dismissal. "Not like that. We were running away from Peeves and hit a dead end on the seventh floor. And then this door appeared!" Peter nods enthusiastically behind him. "And Peeves never found us. The room just appeared out of nowhere! Surely you've heard of it in Hogwarts: A History. Right?"

Remus shakes his head, trying to keep up with the story. "No," he answers confusedly. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"It just appeared!"

"Poof!" Peter says, mimicking a small explosion with his hands. 

"It was perfect. Exactly what we needed."

"The Room of Requirement," Sirius states. All three boys look at him intensely. "It's a room that's created to meet your needs. You walk by three times and it will appear."

James' jaw falls to the floor, and Peter looks as if he is going to faint. But that might be due to the excessive amount of running he had just done. 

"A magic room?" Remus questions. 

"Why do you all look so surprised?" Sirius says raising an eyebrow. "It's like you've never heard of magic before."

A lightbulb goes off in James' head, shown by the excited grin plastered on his face. "We should go back tonight and check it out again," he suggests eagerly. 

Remus shakes his head, "Past curfew? I don't want to get in trouble."

"Don't worry mate, we won't get caught." James flashes a wary glance at Sirius. "I trust everyone here."