(A/N: So I wrote this pretty fast. I was so excited to find more inspiration here. Thanks to all new readers who have reviewed in the past few weeks, you helped me find it. I have missed all of you dearly, thank you for your continued support. Sorry for the long wait.)

"Sirius," James hissed. It was past midnight, and Peter and Remus were snoring in their beds. "Sirius, wake up, mate. I want to talk to you."

Sirius jumped. "What's wrong with you? Can't you see I was sleeping?"

"Yeah, but I need to talk."

That was enough for Sirius. He sat up straight, making room for James to sit on the bed beside him. "Spill it, James. I'm all ears."

"It's Remus. Have you noticed how sad he looks?"

Sirius paused, thinking. "I guess. I thought he was more shy than sad."

James nodded. "Yeah, he's definitely shy. He doesn't even talk. But there's something more. He doesn't smile, Sirius. It's been worse since you pulled that prank a few days ago. He hasn't come near us."

"I was annoyed that he didn't think the prank was funny. He just stared at me, James, like I had no right to be laughing. Damn, if I'm not allowed to laugh even here—"

James' face darkened. "I know. You get to laugh all you want with me, Sirius. I just wish Remus would laugh, too."

The two friends sat in silence for a moment, thinking. "Maybe he's jealous," Sirius said.

"Jealous? Of what?"

"That we laugh and smile and pull pranks. That we can talk." Sirius sounded oddly thoughtful.

"I guess that would make sense. But if he's so jealous, why doesn't he at least try to join us?" James furrowed his brow in confusion.

Sirius shook his head. "It's not that simple. My insides are practically eaten alive with jealousy every time you get a letter from home, but that doesn't make my parents love me." Sirius froze at the expression on James' face. "I mean—"

James growled, then flinched. Sirius' words had thrown him off. Maybe Sirius had his own reasons for avoiding Remus.

"James, I'm sorry. I know this is about Lupin. But I wonder, you know, if he's like me."

"Like you? Sirius, what are you on about? I know your family are assholes—"

"We were talking about Remus, remember?" Sirius crossed his arms and looked away.

"Yeah, but…I dunno, Sirius. You're scaring me. Tell me what you're thinking."

"Would scare you more if I stopped talking, wouldn't it? If I started scribbling on a little paper pad like Remus does."

"That would…yes, you wanker, that would scare me. Don't you dare do it." James whistled between his teeth, wishing Sirius could be as carefree as he was.

Sirius stared out the window, wiggling his fingers. "James, would you say I was crazy if I told you I've thought about doing something like that? About cutting the world off?"

James sighed. "No, Sirius. I wouldn't think you were crazy. Not when I know—"

"Shut up." Sirius hissed. "Lupin and Pete might be listening."

James thought it was unlikely that their roommates could hear them (they were whispering, after all), but he didn't comment on it. James didn't know what it was like to live with a family like Sirius', but he knew it was scary to talk about. He swung his arm around Sirius' shoulders. "Sirius," he whispered, "I'm sorry."

Sirius narrowed his eyes. "I don't want you to be sorry, James. Now, what were you saying about Lupin?"

"I don't know what's wrong with him. I don't know if he 'like you', or if there is something even worse going on for him. But I know, Sirius, that when you are sad, I can make you smile. Why can't I make Remus smile? Am I not good enough?" James' wavered, it was hard to admit his insecurity.

"No, James. It's not you. I reckon Lupin is just more difficult than most. With my help, you could make him smile. Together, we'll cheer him up. Suppose we should play a prank on him?"

James' face split into a grin. "Yes, let's. But it will have to be special for him."

Sirius grinned back, glad the focus was on something happier.

James went back to his bed, brain whizzing with ideas about how to prank Remus.

Peter Pettigrew woke to a squeak beneath his head. "Shut up, Wormtail," he groaned. "Don't want you to be found out, do we?"

Peter rolled out of bed, clumsily pulling a box shaped cage from under his bed. He stuck his finger through the bars, tickling the rat's nose. "Hungry, are you?" Peter pulled a bag of bird seed from his drawer, and dumped some into the cage through a little door on the side. "Enjoy your breakfast, Wormy."

That morning at breakfast, Peter sat between Sirius and the weird new Lupin kid. Sirius and James were whispering, which was not unusual, but they kept shooting glances at Peter. Peter felt left out, and wondered if the others were making fun of him. He thought of talking to Lupin, but remembered that the boy wouldn't be able to answer him. So Peter sat in silence, lonely and othered.

Lily Evans sauntered into the room, plopping herself down across from Lupin. "Good morning, Peter," Lily said, grinning at him. "Morning, Remus," she said to Lupin. "Aren't you the quiet bunch this morning?"

"What do you expect, Evans?" Peter grumbled. "It's not like Lupin and I could have a chat."

Lily glanced at Peter, looking thoughtful. "Pettigrew, talking to Remus isn't difficult. Watch."

Lily took out a spiral notebook and scribbled: You finish Slughorn's homework? I thought it was pretty hard.

Remus dug a pencil out of his pocket and wrote: Yeah. I thought so too. Maybe next time we can work together.

That's not a bad idea. She tapped Peter on the shoulder, pointed at the paper, and wrote: What about you Peter? Did you think the Chemistry assignment was hard?

Peter shrugged. "Sirius did it for me in exchange for seven packages of chocolate." He didn't see the point of writing their conversation out just to make Lupin feel better. Peter's handwriting was too messy for most of the teachers to read, and he didn't want to embarrass himself.

Lily made a disapproving sort of grunt. That's cheating, Peter. Plagiarism. Don't you think so, Remus?

Remus shrugged. I guess so. Peter's really cheating himself, isn't he? I wouldn't worry about it.

Peter groaned. Even the mute weirdo had more friends than he did. He turned back to Sirius, but he was deep in whispered conversation with James.

And my mum wonders why I keep a rat for company, Peter thought angrily.

All throughout breakfast, James and Sirius whispered about the prank they were planning for Remus. It was brilliant, sure to be a success.

"Pete's got a rat, you know," James said, glancing at Peter as the other boy sat down for breakfast.

"Oh, I know," Sirius chuckled. "I've known since it escaped that day I was in bed with the flu last year. How long have you known about it?"

"First year, when I woke up to its squeaking. Honestly, why do you think Peter would keep it a secret from us? It's not like we're going to tell McGonagall." James mused.

"I dunno. Pete's like that sometimes. But you think we should use this rat for the prank?"

Remus had a normal day. He went to class, passing notes with Lily when the lecture went on too long. He didn't try initiate contact with James or Sirius…the three of them hadn't been on great terms since they'd burst into the room laughing on Tuesday. Remus couldn't complain, though, life at Hogwarts was far more entertaining than life at home.

After finishing his homework, he went to the bathroom to change into his pajamas. When he came out, all three of his roommates were asleep. This was strange. Sirius and James were usually up roughhousing for at least another half-hour.

Remus ignored their sleeping forms as he climbed into bed. Maybe they'd finally run out of energy.

When Remus pulled up his covers, his bed seemed to come alive. There was something moving at his feet…

The thing touched him, and suddenly it wasn't at his feet, it was on his leg, then his arm.

It feels like fingers, he realized, freezing in terror. He wanted to scream, but couldn't remember how. It was like he was there again.

He shook, trying to push the thing off him. He thrashed, trying to remember where he was.

Someone flicked the light on. Remus heard a laugh in the distance, then a voice saying, "Sirius, this isn't funny."

Two black-haired boys (Remus knew them, didn't he?), sprinted to his bedside. The one with glasses put his hand underneath Remus' bed cover, and Remus shrank away, thrashing harder.

There was a thwack of one boy smacking the other. "Stop that, James. Can't you see this is making it worse?" The hand left, and Remus calmed, though the finger-creature was still moving in his bed.

"Remus," the same voice said firmly. "Remus, look here. It's me, Sirius. You know, the one who asked if you were a germaphobe?" The voice was soothing. "Remus, can you get out of bed? Just step on up here. Good. That's it." Remus stepped from his bed, placing both feet on the floor. He stood on the opposite side of the others, arms crossed across his chest.

The boy with the glasses (James, Remus recalled), put his hand back in the bed, searching for something beneath the covers.

"Remus," Sirius said. "I'm sorry we scared you. We were trying to do something funny."

James pulled a flailing rat from under the covers. The rat had a chocolate bar tied to its tail with a piece of string. James held it out to Remus, smiling weakly. "This is what was bothering you."

"We put it on your pillow," Sirius added. "We thought you would see it before you laid down. We never knew it would run wild in your bed like that."

James untied the string from the rat's tail. "We thought it would be a funny way to give you this, like we had a furry little messenger." James held the chocolate bar out to Remus, but he kept his arms crossed.

"Oh, God, Sirius," James said, "We screwed this up big time."

Sirius held his hand out. "Give me the rat."

"What?" James was thoroughly confused.

"Trust me." James set the rat in Sirius' hand. Slowly, Sirius walked toward Remus with the rat.

"Look, Remus," Sirius said. "It's only a rat. A rat trying to deliver you some chocolate. A stupid little rat that would never hurt you. Touch its fur."

Remus reached out his hand and stroked the animal's silky back. He sighed in relief. He knew that there had been no human fingers in the bed. More than that, the feeling of the rat's fur on his hand was relaxing. It reminded him of Pig, the dog he had had before anything in his life went wrong.

"You like that, don't you?" Sirius soothed. "Would you like to hold it?"

Remus nodded. Sirius tipped the little creature into Remus' hand. Sirius saw Remus' features relax, his eyes light up. They would not get a smile out of him today, but maybe it wasn't far off.

Remus took Wormtail to bed with him that night. After James was sure he was asleep, he went over to Sirius' bed, to find his friend wide awake.

"Bloody hell," James said. "That was scary."

"Yeah," Sirius agreed. "But he's okay now. He likes that rat."

James nodded. "You were awesome with him, you know? I was so freaked, I didn't know what to say."

Sirius shrugged. "It's not like that's the first time I've seen something like that."

James' heart ached at the implication of Sirius' words. When, Sirius? James wondered. And who? He didn't push his friend though, not tonight. Instead, he glanced at Remus' bed and said: "I wonder what was scaring him so bad."

Sirius gave James a sad look. "I'm not sure I want to know."

Peter woke up the next morning because he didn't hear a squeak. That bothered him. Was Wormtail sick?

Peter rolled out of bed, grabbing the cage. It was empty. His little friend was gone!

"James!" he shouted. "Sirius! There's something I have to tell you."

James and Sirius jumped out of bed, running to Peter's side.

"What's up mate?" James asked sleepily.

"You see, I keep a rat under my bed. He's escaped from his cage. Have you seen him? I'm sorry I didn't tell you…"

"Oh, Pete," Sirius said. "We know all about Wormtail." Peter blinked in shock. He had been so careful to keep the rat a secret.

"We know where he is, too," added James. "Come and see."

The three boys circled around Remus' bed. Remus lay on his stomach, with his head turned to one side. Little Wormtail was curled up against Remus' face, fur just a shade darker than Remus' hair. Both were fast asleep, their breathing in tune.

Peter was annoyed that his roommates had taken his rat. He reached out to take him back, but James' hand stopped his. "Let Remus have this. Just for now."

Peter nodded. "Alright. But don't make a habit of it, eh?"

"Course not," James said.

Sirius remained silent, his eyes on the sleeping boy in front of him.

What will it take to make you happy?

(A/N: Let me know what you think. Can't say when the next update will be, but it should be within the month. I definitely am not quitting. )