Yes, I have written this chapter and posted it before, but it was such rubbish and there was such a lot that I didn't say, so here you are!
I hope this is as far better as I think it is!

Please review, I would love to hear if you have any ideas for the following chapters, or don't like what you are reading!

The view out of the reasonably sized window was quite pretty, Remus thought absentmindedly. The Hogwarts Express was going swiftly past green-grassed open fields and languid cows that grazed. At this rate they would make Hogwarts in plenty of time.

The compartment was not large by any means, but it was spacey enough for four second years. Sirius and James had previously claimed seats next to each other, with Sirius sitting closest to the window after having wrestled James for the prime spot. This left Remus and Peter beside each other, which Remus didn't mind, as Peter reassuringly only had the bare minimal of luggage, like him, whereas Sirius and James' luggage racks were overflowing with trunks and random bits and ends. Remus worried that the racks might collapse under all of that combined weight, but evidently Sirius and James hadn't given it a thought.

With one ear, Remus listened to James, who was retelling the exaggerated, spectacular tale of his holidays to the room at large, but mostly just Peter. No one had asked James to, but Peter listened to James with rapt attention and obvious envy. Sirius appeared to be listening to his best friend politely too, but Remus could tell Sirius was merely putting into practise his ability to sleep with his eyes open. It was a talent Sirius had spent the better part of last year learning how to do, and now it seemed that he had perfected it.

Remus stifled a smile, and continued admiring the rest of the compartment. He couldn't help himself. Sirius, James and Peter didn't pay the slightest amount of attention to their surroundings, but then again, they had seen it all before. Remus hadn't.

The compartment had one door that was charmed to open by itself when you stood in front of it. The door lead into the corridor, which from what Remus remembered was mostly just wooden panelling and red carpets, much like the inside of the compartment. The compartment had two lanterns, one on each side of the window. At the moment there was enough light pouring in from the window to not need them, but Remus imagined that as they got closer to Hogwarts and twilight approached they would flicker to life.

James jumped up out of his seat, a look of fierce concentration now adorning his face for reasons unknown to Remus. Suddenly, James swiped at the air, an expression of delight taking over his features as his hand clasped around something invisible. Remus reflected quickly on the last part of the conversation, and came to an understanding. James was supposed to be a seeker catching a snitch in a Quidditch game. He looked ridiculous.

Sirius was startled out of his dreamy stupor when Peter broke into the loud applause James had been expecting. Sirius shot Peter a filthy look.

Remus just shook his head, grinning, about to enter the conversation, but the sight of his exposed wrists distracted him. Hastily, Remus adjusted his sleeves to cover his hands.

He wasn't quite recovered from the previous full moon. Both of Remus' wrists and ankles had thick bands of blistering red wrapped around them. They ached somewhat terribly, but looked far better than they had four days ago.

Above Remus' head, Sirius made faces behind James' back that James didn't see.

The marks had come from the iron manacles.

Shuddering, Remus forcibly shoved that memory to the deepest, darkest corner of his mind.

James paused to inhale a massive breath, but before he could start rambling again and continue going around in maddening circles as he repeated himself, Remus injected himself into the conversation, and pointedly turned the focus of it off of James.

"So, Sirius, how was your holiday?"

James, paused, words just on the tip of his tongue. He glared, annoyed, at Remus, then seeing he had no other choice, he shut his mouth and turned to Sirius with something resembling actual interest on his face. Sirius appeared to not have even heard Remus' question, or realised that James was quiet.

"Sirius?" Remus prodded.

Sirius snapped out of his trance, blinking furiously as he straightened. Confusion was written all over his face.

"How-was-your-holiday?" Remus enunciated each word carefully, staring intently at Sirius.

Sirius belatedly replied.

"It was awful." Remus instantly gave Sirius a scandalised look, shaking his head in a silent no! He had meant for Sirius to make James jealous if he could.

"I mean, it was… great! Yeah, it was something. Um, I saw a lot of uh… Andy, you know, Andromeda? And well, Bella and Cissy too, but um, yeah." Sirius said, at a loss as to how to continue. Remus nodded encouragingly, shooting James a furtive glance, but Sirius had nothing.

Sirius' holiday really had been terrible. There was no good part about it. It was all one continuous blur of pain and blackouts that had only lessened in the past few days, because his parents hadn't wanted Sirius to go back to Hogwarts looking as though he had been in a deadly fight.

"Ehm." Sirius coughed awkwardly.

"What- er, what about you, Remus?"

Remus smoothly picked up the line Sirius had thrown him.

"Oh, I had a wonderful time. It was so nice being able to take care of my mother and spend time with my family. A bit boring here and there, of course, and I read all of our new textbooks at least twice."

Not all of that was a lie, but… well.

"My holiday was so much better than both of yours! Spending time with family, ha, particularly yours, Sirius!" James rushed to say, leaning forward, but-

"Peter! What was yours like?" James frowned, and Peter thankfully did what Sirius had failed so miserably at.

"My holiday was awesome!" Peter went gladly into description about travelling on an airplane, and for once all three of Peter's friends were riveted on his words, since not one of them had ever been on an airplane before.

The Trolley Witch tapped on the door, but not one of the four boys could hear the soft raps over the sound of Peter playing airplane, his arms outstretched and his mouth making whirring noises. Remus, Sirius and James laughed with Peter, their stomachs tight and tears rolling out of the corners of their eyes.

The Trolley Witch smiled at such a blatant display of friendship. She knocked again after a lengthy minute, unwilling to disrupt their fun but needing to finish off her rounds.

Remus was the first to gather himself together, and by default was also the first to notice the incessant knocking.

There was a witch at the door. Shocked, Remus pointed her out to Sirius, who, upon seeing the witch, literally threw himself across the compartment to wrench over the door, somehow avoiding James' outstretched legs and Peter's slumped form.

The witch was a very elderly lady with a sweet round face and a worn matching hat and apron. A tip of a wand poked out from the witch's apron pocket. She had one wrinkled hand on a trolley that was laden down with all manner of things colourful and eye catching.

"Yes!" Cried James, rubbing his hands together excitedly.

"I'm starved!" Remus gave James a perplexed look. What did James' stomach have to do with anything?

Remus took a second look at the trolley, and then it dawned on him.

The trolley was carrying lollies.

Remus' eyes bulged. He went to stand behind Sirius, his body moving without his express permission.

He had never seen so much tooth decaying candy in the one place, and he had both feasted at Hogwarts during Halloween and shared a dormitory with Sirius, James and Peter.

The Trolley Witch blinked at Sirius in mild surprise before smiling kindly past Sirius at Remus and the other occupants of the compartment.

"Anything from the trolley, dears?"

"Oh, no," Remus said, backing away. He was starving, but he had no money. He figured he would eat when he got to Hogwarts, but, stupidly, he had forgotten to bring food for the journey.

Remus took his place. Sirius gave him an odd look, then his expression cleared, coming to some sort of decision.

Sirius turned around and rattled off a pre-memorized list to the Trolley Witch, ticking things off on his fingers as he went.

"Right, so nothing, for Remus, but I'll have three no, six chocolate frogs, two sugar quills, two of Bertie's Every Flavour Beans, one of those, you know those mice things? Yeah, those- and um…" Sirius scratched his head, deep in thought.

"Might I suggest a new addition? How about the Tongue-Tying Toffee, or perhaps a Liquorice Wand? How about the Ever-Blowing Gum?" The Trolley Witch didn't seem at all impressed or repulsed by Sirius' large appetite. She kept her smile in place and simply pointed at something Remus couldn't see. Sirius instantly perked up.

"Two of each! And something really chocolatey." Sirius grinned, and James rolled his eyes.

"Hurry up, Sirius!"

"That will be… nine sickles and three knuts." From his pocket, Sirius drew out the correct amount, passing over the silver and bronze coins to the waiting Trolley Witch and scooping up his booty.

Sirius stepped around James and Peter who had risen to fill his space in the doorway.

Sirius struggled his way over to his seat, where he collapsed, spilling his purchases all over his legs. Remus watched him in disbelief; in the doorway James and Peter got their orders mixed and gave the witch the wrong coins.

"Sirius… How are you going to eat all of that?" Remus inquired in a light voice.

Sirius gave him no answer.

"Remus," he asked, instead,

"Where is your lunch?"

Remus bit his lip.

"Well, see, I… forgot to pack it. It's okay, though," he added,

"I'll eat when we get there."

"Excellent!" Exclaimed Sirius, disregarding what Remus had just said.

"You can help me, then!"

"Oh, no, Sirius, that's your food! It's your problem if you can't eat it!" Remus said, admonishingly.

"Rems, I brought it to share with you. I am a good friend, remember? Friends share?"

Sirius grinned, satisfactorily.

"I knew you wouldn't have brought anything."

Remus gaped at him, then shook his head.

"How could you have known? I didn't know!" Sirius just smiled a Mona Lisa smile.

"I can't pay you back," Remus muttered, folding his arms and twitching uncomfortably.

Sirius rolled his eyes. He decided to help Remus out by not allowing him freedom of choice. He began to parcel off half of his food to Remus, just as James and Peter settled themselves back down.

XXX

The next hour was spent gouging more candy and sugar than they might possibly ever need to eat.

Remus hoarded his little pile of chocolate frogs and Honeydukes chocolate bars, savouring the sweet taste and thanking the high Heavens that Sirius knew Remus so well.

The four took turns eating the Every Flavour Beans, no matter how ludicrous and disgusting they sounded. They traded the collectable cards they got with the chocolate frogs and blew multicoloured bubbles as big as they could with the Ever-Blowing gum.

Peter fished around in his pocket and withdrew from the depths of his pockets a packet of Exploding Snap cards. They played until the sugar kicked in, and then Sirius and James gave new meaning to the words 'sugar high'.

Sirius and James lost themselves in elaborate plans for pranks they would pull. Peter, feeling the effects of the sugar himself, nodded giddily along.

Remus became mellow. He decided to read one of his textbooks, and happily absorbed whatever he could from the yellowing pages.

Sure enough, as the sun sunk down into the horizon, the lanterns turned on, and the compartment was bathed in honey toned light. Sirius and James stretched out of their hunched-over positions. A Hufflepuff Prefect came to inform them that they were five minutes away from Hogwarts and that it would be a good idea to get their pets ready. They wouldn't have to take their trunks with them.

Remus didn't have a pet, but he really wanted one. If Sirius and James' parents knew their children at all, then there was no way, ever, that either of them would own a pet. Peter would mostly misplace his pet if he ever got one, just as he so often did his homework.

Remus' thoughts were disrupted.

By a loud screeching, coming from Sirius' corner.

Peter dropped the Exploding Snap cards he had been trying to stuff back into their cardboard casing.

The cards fanned out to litter the floor. Remus, James and Peter peered around the compartment in confusion.

"Was that an owl?" Remus asked hesitantly, only just familiar enough with the animals. He had only recently being using the ones at Hogwarts, since he was separated from his friends for such a long time. Before the holidays, the only contact Remus had with owls was with the ones who had frequently graced Hogwarts at all times of the day for the other students.

It was not as though Remus had had anybody outside of Hogwarts to talk to.

"I don't have an owl," whispered Peter, whose expression was comically terrified. James shook his head too at Remus' unasked question.

Remus studied Sirius, who had yet to say a word. Sirius was steadily turning red and looking increasingly guilty.

"Um. Oops?" Sirius jumped to his feet, and started rummaging around the racks for some as yet unknown reason.

"Sirius… What did you do?" Remus voiced calmly what they were all thinking, a thousand possibilities running through his mind, each of them worse than the last.

"I just… forgot, okay? It's not my fault, really, you guys distracted me… I wouldn't have left her up their the entire time…" Sirius said over his shoulder.

He heaved, pulling down something that was covered in old robes. Remus caught a glint of steel before the robes swished back into place.

With contempt, Sirius considered the robed thing he held with both hands.

"Stupid owl…" Sirius caught himself, giving Remus a wide-eyed look, begging him to understand, before dumping the oddly heavy thing on Remus' lap.

"Really, is-not-my-fault," Sirius blurted out. With a reluctant, exaggerated flourish, Sirius whipped away the robes.

It was a cage, which explained the weight and the weird shape.

Another loud screech filled the compartment again, and James and Peter covered their ears.

In the cage was a brown and white spotted owl.

"Oh!" Cried Remus, relieved, and then a nasty thought occurred to him. The same thought also came to James too.

"Sirius, this is not… you didn't…" Remus began, then stopped, because he didn't know how to voice this idea without offending Sirius.

"You didn't…"

"Yes, yes he did, didn't you, Sirius! How did you do it?"

James, unlike Remus, was excited at the prospect of Sirius having done something to cause trouble, and he hoped that what he thought was true, that Sirius had somehow managed to turn some Slytherin, hopefully Snivellus Snape, into an owl.

Sirius tossed his friends a bamboozled look.

"My mum thought it would be best if she had a means of contacting me all year. There would be no excuse not to answer her letters because I have my own owl," Sirius explained, bitterly, and James slumped.

Remus winced, comprehension dawning on him.

The owl had stopped her shrieking. She regarded Remus with her wide, wise eyes, seeming to miss nothing.

Remus adjusted the birdcage.

"How did you keep her quiet for so long?"

*Cough*

"Silencing charm."

*Cough*

"Sirius!" It wasn't worth getting into that now, and besides, Sirius looked quite remorseful.

"What's her name?" Remus asked curiously, one of his slender fingers extending through the bars of the cage. The owl stayed very still, almost as though she was holding her breath, and just waiting to attack.

"Um? Nameless?... Spotty? Yeah, that's it! Spotty!" Remus gave Sirius a withering look over the top of the cage, and James gave a baleful laugh.

"Spotty? That's the best Sirius Black can come up with? Spotty?"

James snorted in mock disappointment. Peter joined in belatedly.

"What?" Sirius huffed, his face pulled down into a frown.

"It's not as though the thing has any loyalty for me!"

"Sirius, you can't call her a thing!" Remus stated, indignantly on the owl's behalf.

"And look, she's perfectly lovely," Remus cooed, and sure enough, the owl was fluffing her feathers and rubbing her neck against Remus' fingers. Sirius' eyes widened.

"Careful, Remus! She… bites." The owl did nip Remus' finger, but it was an affectionate bite. Remus laughed delightedly and Sirius sat back sullenly.

"She bites ME! Look, here and here…" Sirius yanked up his sleeves harshly, revealing his pristine skin. He pouted.

"It's okay, Sirius," Remus said, stifling a laugh.

"She just doesn't like you."

Sirius gasped as though Remus had said something completely ridiculous.

"Remus! How could anybody not like ME?" Sirius turned to James for support, but James waved him away.

"Oh, Sirius… even I don't like you sometimes…" James could only hold his serious expression for a second. He burst out laughing, and the owl gave a shriek, seeming to second him.

"Ooh, that's what we'll call her! Amana!" Remus grinned smugly at his brilliance.

"What does 'Amana' mean?" Asked Peter, confused.

"Loyal, faithful." Remus shrugged, smiling a smile that lit up his eyes. James gave a snort of delirious laughter that Peter mimicked, although Peter still looked befuddled.

Sirius, well aware he was being made fun of, retreated into his corner, crossing his arms pointedly and snubbing his three friends.

James continued to chuckle occasionally to himself as he twined a red and gold striped scarf around his neck. Peter gave up the pretence of knowing what was going on, and set about collecting his Exploding Snap cards one by one.

Remus marvelled at how soft the Amana's feathers were, wishing absentmindedly that he could own an owl himself. Maybe one day, he sighed, wistfully.

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