Sorry this chapter is late, but I had absolutely no inspiration

Remus' POV

Next Monday, we would have our first test. Charms. Well, it wasn't a real test, more like a check for if you understand everything up till now. And if you didn't, then you'd get more help from Professor Flitwick. Because it wasn't a real test, James and Sirius didn't learn for it. I did. A lot. Almost the whole weekend I was practicing all the spells we had learned: Lumos and Wingardium Leviosa. Professor Flitwick had told me I was very good in both, but I just couldn't stand failing. I had to get them absolutely perfect, and that is why I read all the books about those spells you could find in the library. Luckily, I wasn't alone.

'Hey, Remus, you're here earlier than usual,' Bianca said as she sat down next to me. It was nine A.M. I was here extra early because I had skipped breakfast. Not that I was gonna tell anyone, they would get worried or laugh at me for studying so much.

'Yeah, since it's Sunday, I woke up earlier.'

'But Sunday is a day to sleep in.' Bianca grabbed the same book she was reading yesterday: Mysterious Mists. I didn't see what it had to do with Charms, but she must've had her reasons.

'Well, you're here too, aren't you?'

'You got me there.'

We read in silence for a while, until I noticed the library getting colder. Normally, it was the perfect temperature here, but now, it was a little chilly. I looked up from my book, and saw a mist hanging on the floor. How had I been ably to read with this mist? I had no idea. The mist got thicker and higher and I could swear I saw something coming out of the ground. Like, a bone or something. Of course, that was ridiculous, how could a bone come out of the ground?

'Uh, Bianca,' I nudged her, getting her out of her concentration.

'What?' She asked a little irritated.

'Look at the ground.' I pointed to our feet. At least, to where I thought were our feet, I couldn't see them anymore.

Bianca looked shocked for a second, then she regained her calm and took a few deep breaths. 'It's nothing, Remus,' She said it with such calm, I almost believed her.

I decided to drop it and read. After a few minutes, the mist was completely gone. I couldn't help shake the feeling that something was wrong. Something with Bianca. She was literally reading a book about mists, maybe she could find something in there.

'Bianc?' I asked carefully.

'Yeah?' She didn't look up from her book.

'That book that you're reading,' I was regretting having said anything already, 'it's about mists, right?'

'It says so on the cover,' She smiled.

'Does it say anything about cold mists that suddenly appear in libraries?'

Her smile faded, 'Remus, that mist, it wasn't just a coincidence. It was-' Bianca didn't get to finish her sentence, because at that moment, James, Sirius and Nico stormed in.

'Hey, Remus, come, were gonna do something fun,' James said, grabbing the book I was reading out of my hands, and closing it.

'I need to study.'

'You've been studying all weekend-'

'Sunday has just begun,' I interrupted.

'You deserve a break,' Sirius went on like he hadn't heard me.

'I can't leave Bianca alone.'

'Bianca will be fine,' Nico said, 'Right, Bianc?'

'Yeah, go.'

'But the thing we were talking about?' I asked, raising my eyebrows.

'I'll tell you later, it isn't that big of a deal,' The guys exchanged looks like: "What are they talking about?"

'Fine, I'll come. What are we gonna do anyway?'

'Something fun,' James grinned as we walked out of the library.

'So, you have no idea what we're gonna do.'

'Uhuh,' James nodded, still grinning like an idiot.

'Why have you been studying so hard anyway?' Nico asked. 'You are amazing in Charms, and it's not like you get a grade or something.'

'I just don't want extra help.' I was never going to tell them my real reasons for why I didn't want to fail. If I failed or got into trouble or something else like that, Headmaster Dumbledore might reconsider if it really was a good idea to have a trouble-making, failing werewolf at his school. And I couldn't get send away, that just wasn't an option. Maybe I'd have to get home schooled, because no other school wanted me. I'd never see my friends again… No, getting expelled wasn't an option. And if I had to study all year long to be sure that I could stay, so be it.

'Just be glad it isn't a Potions test, James,' Sirius snickered.

'Like you're so good at Potions,' James spat back.

'I'm pretty sure that you've blown up more potions than I have. How many was it again, two?'

'Three,' James whispered, 'but someone is sabotaging my cauldron!'

'Yeah right,' I laughed. It was true, if we ever had a Potions test, James would totally fail without learning.

'What were you and Bianca talking about before we got there?' Nico asked. I knew this was coming, but I also knew that I couldn't rat Bianca out. Plus, I didn't even know what it was yet, so there was nothing to tell.

'Oh, that,' I said, as nonchalant as possible, 'it's nothing, don't worry about it.'

'Well, she's my sister, of course I'm gonna worry about it.'

'You should ask her. Anyway, what have you three been doing since I left this morning?' I quickly changed the subject. I knew Nico was looking at me and he wanted to know, but I couldn't meet his eyes. He dropped it and we walked on, Sirius telling us about some crazy dream he had where he was hanging out with a deer in the Forbidden Forest.

We were just walking through the castle when we ran into another ghost. The ghost was the Grey Lady, ghost of Ravenclaw house. She flew towards us and immediately turned her attention to Nico. She opened her mouth to say something, but Nico swapped her away with his hand and walked on. This had happened a few times before, but I still didn't understand why he ghosts did it. Nico clearly didn't want to talk about it, so we didn't say anything.

We wanted to go to the Astronomy Tower, but Peeves stopped us. I glanced at Nico, who looked irritated. Another ghost who bothered him.

'I wouldn't go there if I were you,' Peeves smiled mischievously. 'Oh, hello, Prince Nico.' Nico rolled his eyes. At least Peeves didn't ask for forgiveness, like other ghosts did. Maybe it was because Peeves is a poltergeist, not a ghost.

'What are you planning, Peeves?' James asked with the same smile Peeves had.

'A surprise.'

'Can you tell us?' Sirius asked, also an enormous grin on his face.

'If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise anymore, now would it.'

'Tell us, Peeves,' Nico said sternly.

Peeves seemed to think for a second, something he didn't do often, and then decided it was better to do what "Prince Nico" asked of him. 'The 5th years have an Astronomy class tonight, and… let's just say they will be seeing something they won't expect.'

'Did you put glue on all the binoculars again?' I asked disapprovingly.

'Something like that.' Peeves grinned like an idiot. I scowled, and looked at my friends. Nico still looked irritated, and James and Sirius were still grinning as bad as Peeves. The three of them would make a great team.

Peeves laughed like a madmen and flew off. We decided to not take a look at the Astronomy Tower, no matter how much James and Sirius pleaded, and we went to have an early lunch.

While we were walking to the great hall, I knew James was going to ask Nico something about those things the ghosts keep saying. I could see it in his eyes. I nudged and gave him a look like: "This is a bad idea, don't ask him!" James gave me the puppy eyes, not that they ever worked on me, and I gave him a disapproving look back. He shrugged, and I knew things were about to go wrong.

'Hey, Neeks,' James began.

'Neeks?' Nico asked

'Yeah, why do all the ghosts and poltergeists and whatnot keep calling you Prince Nico?'

'I don't know. Why do they keep calling Bianca Princess Bianca?' Nico shrugged.

'Good question. So, you really don't know?'

'If I did, I would've told you already.'

After we were done eating lunch, we explored the castle a little more. I got sick of it after about an hour, and suggested we'd played wizards chess.

'Wizards chess?' Nico laughed. 'Is that like, little famous wizards like Merlin instead of the king?'

'No, it's almost the same as normal chess.'

'What's the difference, then?'

'You'll see…' James said.

We walked to the Gryffindor common room to get our sets. James, Sirius and I had our own, but Nico obviously didn't. We told him he could borrow someone's set.

'Wait, can I come into your common room? Being a Slytherin and all…' Nico asked uncertain. Sometimes it still surprised me how little Nico knew about the wizarding world.

James, Sirius and I looked at each other. 'Well,' James said eventually, 'there isn't a rule against it, I think, but no one really does it.'

'Maybe it's better if you wait outside,' Sirius agreed.

'Okay, sure. Just, hurry up.' I looked apologetic, and Nico gave me a very fake smile like he didn't mind.

James, Sirius and I walked inside, finding Lily and Marlene laughing next to the fireplace. James walked over to them, and I shot Sirius a look. We followed anyway.

'Hey, do you have a set of wizards chess that we can borrow?' James asked, interrupting Marlene.

Lily and Marlene looked at James, then at each other, and then at me and Sirius. I shook my head, not knowing what James was thinking either.

'Uh, James,' Lily began, 'I'm a muggle-born.' Realization dawned upon James' face. It looked hilarious.

'And I don't play wizards chess,' Marlene added.

'How could I know that?' He asked Marlene, and I slapped myself, thinking how stupid and forgetful James was.

'Oh, I don't know, maybe because I say it almost every day when you ask us to play a game.' James stared at her with blank eyes.

'So, you don't have a set for us?'

I grabbed James by the arm, done with him embarrassing himself. 'Come on, James.'

'Hey, James, do you even remember my name?' Sirius asked laughing his head off.

'Yeah, of course. I'm not stupid. Your name is Sirius.'

'And my middle name?'

'Uhh…'

'You don't?' Sirius exclaimed overdramatically offended.

'Like Remus knows.'

'Orion,' I said immediately.

'You see?' Sirius said, pointing at and me. 'He is my real friend!'

'Just shut up and get your sets.'

We walked up to our dorm room to find Peter sitting on his bed writing a letter. It reminded me that I should write a letter to my parents. I decided to do it later today.

'Hey, guys,' Peter greeted us excitedly, 'haven't seen you in a while. What're you up to?'

'We were just gonna grab our wizard's chess sets and play with Nico. You know, that cool Slytherin kid,' James said, rummaging in his pack.

Sirius was looking all over the place for his set, 'Yeah, we're gonna teach him, since he's kind of a muggle-born.'

'Can I join ya?' Peter asked hopefully.

'Yeah, sure,' I said. I had found my set already, it was exactly where I left it.

James, Sirius and Peter found their sets as well, and we went downstairs again. Nico was still waiting in front of the painting which led to the Gryffindor common room. There was a sort of dark aura around him. As soon as he saw us, it disappeared.

'There you are, did you manage to borrow someone's set?' Nico asked.

'No, but Peter is gonna join us and you can just borrow one of our sets.' Nico only now seemed to realize Peter was there. He glanced at him for a second, he probably remembered what Peter had said about Slytherin on the train here. It wasn't very nice.

'Okay, let's go,' Nico said as we walked. 'Where are we going, anyway?'

'The great hall?' I suggested, and everyone agreed.

James and Sirius played the first game of our little tournament. We had forgotten to tell Nico that the chess pieces kind of murder each other, and when he saw for the first time, he totally freaked out.

'What the…' He muttered. 'Is that supposed to happen?'

'Oh, did we forget to tell you?' Sirius said casually. 'Yeah, that's normal. Just like it's normal that I'm totally beating James' ass.'

'You are not beating me,' James said. He was very concentratedly looking at his chess pieces. Sirius was right, James was losing very hard.

Sirius beat James hard, and then he beat Peter too. I beat Peter and James, and Peter beat James. Nico played one game against James, who has the worst, and lost. James acted as if he had just won the lottery, even though this was literally Nico's first game. I played the last game against Sirius, and he beat me. Everyone was pretty surprised about that.

All of us decided to go back to our common rooms to do some homework. I wrote a letter to my parents:

"Hey mum and dad,

I'm sorry I haven't written in a while, but I've been having so much fun here I kind of forgot. We have our first test on Monday, and I'm prepared, I hope.

My first transformation two weeks ago was fine. I don't remember much of it. Actually, I remember nothing. Headmaster Dumbledore led me to this house a few hundred feet away from the castle. We got there via a tunnel that began under a tree that had branches that hit everything and everyone that got too close to it. I woke up the next morning in the hospital wing. I got out after a few hours, don't worry. I do have a new very big scar across my eye. Madam Pomfrey said it probably won't go away, but it's getting less and less obvious every day.

I can't believe I'm not going to be home for Thanksgiving next week. I will be home for Christmas. Only two months left! I miss you a lot, and I can't wait to see you again.
Goodbye,

Remus"

I went up to the owlery. When I walked back to the Gryffindor common room, I ran into Bianca. 'Hey, can we talk about what happened this morning?'

'Yeah, sure, no point in trying to hide it anymore,' Bianca sighed. 'So, the first dinner here, after the sorting ceremony, that mist first appeared. I was feeling kind of sad because you guys were all in Gryffindor and I hadn't met Roxanne yet, and then suddenly that mist was there. It has been following me, showing up every time I was feeling kind of lonely or sad. That's what I've been doing in stead of learning for the Charms test. I've been reading up on all things mist related since school started. I still haven't found anything useful.'

'Have you told anyone?' I asked worried.

'There's a girl in Slytherin, I think 5th or 6th year, who I told that same day. She's a Black, so I don't know, I trusted her. Further, I haven't told anyone. Expect for you.'

'Not even Nico?'

'He'll get super worried about me. I don't need that right now.'

'But he's…' I began. 'No, actually, I get it.' Bianca nodded knowingly. 'By the way, I think I saw that same mist around Nico today. Or, he seemed darker than normal, I guess.'

'Really?'

'Yeah.'

'You think I should talk to him?'

'I don't know. It's your decision, in the end.'

'Yeah, I guess. Why are our lives so hard?' Bianca whined, and I smiled sadly. She was right, life hadn't been the easiest for us. It would get better eventually. That's what I thought back then, anyway.

I want to gice a quick shoutout to Bean, thanks for always letting me know you like the story! It always lifts my spirits

Anyway, there will probably be another chapter Sunday

Oh, and I wanna let you know that I've started a Percy Jackson fan account on Instagram: persassius._.jackson

Bye guys see ya later

-CTM-