"Why do you need my invisibility cloak?" James asked when Remus dragged him out of the compartment with an urgent look on his face, leading the dark haired boy towards the bathroom.

"Trust me, you're gonna need to help me" Remus said as he gripped onto James' sleeve, pulling him through the crowd of lingering students. Once they reached the bathroom, Remus said "I'm back"

The door opened and James stared at a boy he'd never met before in his life.

"Um..hey...Moony...who.."

"This is Grant. Grant Chapman. He's a...friend from home" he said blushing slightly as James reached his hand out friendly.

"I'm James Potter"

Grant shook his hand happily, his eyes brightening, and nodded "I'm guessing you know why you're here then"

"Not really, Remus won't explain a bloody thing to me" James aid, turning back to Remus with an expectant expression.

Remus rolled his eyes before shutting the bathroom door again.

"Grant snuck onto the train, he wanted to see me off and then...he saw the barrier and then...well one thing led to another, he's on the train and I can't exactly tell the professors..."

"Woah Moony slow down" James said, placing a hand on his friends shoulder "this is a muggle who....shouldn't even know about the wizarding world?"

"Yeah" Remus said "I know it sounds crazy..."

"No it sounds great!" James said, honestly taking Remus by surprise. Of all reactions he hadn't expected the word 'great' to be involved unless the phrase 'great disaster' was involved.

"Really? Um...okay...well I need to get the cloak for Grant so the Proffessors don't see him"

"As much as I'm enjoying this...would it be so bad to tell the school? I mean..they'll just send him back to that muggle place..."

"You know they'll wipe his memory and....under no circumstances is anyone using magic on him" Remus said determinedly, the barriers of his two worlds were merging by Grant being on this damn train and going to Hogwarts,and that's where the line stopped. Using magic on Grant was a step that Remus wouldn't take. That's why the cloak was perfect, it was harmless and useful for this situation.

"That's true" James said when he saw how worried Grant seemed when the words 'wipe his memory' were spoken.

"Um...this may be a stupid question but how is a cloak going to help me?"

"Oh you're in for a treat" James said with a mischievous grin before nudging Remus "I'll grab the cloak and we'll sneak Grant into the compartment and tell the marauders...'

"Wait..." Remus said going wide eyed "But Sirius..."

"...Will help" James said reassuringly "it's too risky not to help and besides...he's always up for mischief" James said and Remus knew he couldn't argue, so he just watched James run off with a spring in his step towards their compartment.

"I'll ask again...how is a cloak gonna..."

"You'll see" Remus responded, putting his head in his hands.

.....................................................

"We're going to...what?" Sirius asked, his eyes wide and eyebrows raised, clearly not exactly appealed to the idea James was explaining enthusiastically.

"Come on Padfoot! It'll be an adventure. And the biggest secret mission we've ever pulled off. Think of the thrill!" James said, barely being able to stay in his seat. Even at 15 his eyes lit up with delighted anticipation.

"Won't we get in trouble?" Came Peter's nervous quiver from next to Remus, glancing warily at the doorway.

Grant could sense the nerves and just waved politely, hoping that Peter wasn't as scared as he looked.

"He's right" Sirius said, siding with Peter for possibly the first time in his life. "It's too risky"

"Weren't you the one who said 'what's life without a little risk?'" James asked, crossing his arms challengingly. The same expression on his face that he got when he got into heated debates with the Slytherin quidditch team. The expression that said 'Don't disagree because you know I'm right'.

Sirius rolled his eyes, brushing a loose strain of dark hair behind his ear.

"Yeah but..."

"Come on Pads" James said, a little more desperation in his voice "He's Remus' friend and....marauders are always there for each other. We've got to help"

This tone seemed to break Sirius' harsh facade because his expression softened slightly. It wasn't clear to anyone but Remus who saw Sirius relax his shoulders, slowly letting his guard down. The only thing James could achieve.

"Fine" Sirius muttered through gritted teeth "So long as he stays out of the way"

"Nonsense" James said with a smile and going over, wrapping a friendly arm around grant's shoulders "He's our guest"

And with that James led Grant over to sit between him and Sirius. Remus could practically see Sirius' face go red as his eyes narrowed. He could read him like an open book. He clearly didn't like Grant for a simple reason...Grant liked Remus and now James was making friends with him.

And then Sirius' barriers went back up and he crossed his arms. And then there was Peter who seemed to become more comfortable with the muggle as James started up a conversation. By the time they were only 10 minutes away from the Hogsmeade Station the three were all laughing and talking non stop. Remus couldn't help but smile slightly. It was still strange to have his two worlds collide like this but it was nice to see though.

"So wait? How can your pictures not move?" James asked as he handed Grant the packet of Bertie Botts every-flavoured beans.

"Dunno. Camera's just work that way I guess" Grant said, nodding in thanks to James as he passed him the sweets. Remus knew that James knew Grant didn't know how different the jelly beans were but Remus was intrigued to see what would happen.

Without a warning, Grant tipped a few into his mouth, not expecting too much of a difference from muggle candy. That's when the blonde boys face contorted into one of disgust and he spat the chewed up beans out. James doubled over in laughter and Peter chuckled. Remus couldn't help smirking a little as he watched Grant rush around for some pumpkin juice to wash away the taste.

"Shit, what the heck was that?" Grant asked, his eyes watering as he gulped down the beverage. James only just calmed himself down before he patted Grant on the shoulder. He handed Grant the package and pointed at the label.

Grant couldn't help but laugh when he saw it.

"You wizards really have everything" he said, taking the prank light heartedly before furrowing his brows in concentration.

"Wonder which flavour I got then"

"More like flavours" Peter interjected "you ate like 8 at once"

Grant shuddered after that and chuckled to himself, drinking a little more pumpkin juice. "Then I'm glad the flavours can remain a mystery"

The 3 all laughed again and Sirius looked very out of place, not joining in. Grant seemed to pick up on the hostility of the other boy and handed him a chocolate frog from their pile of sweets.

"Want one?" Grant asked politely.

Sirius just looked at him with one eyebrow raised.

"Not from you" he snapped before averting his gaze back to the window.

Remus reached out and kicked Sirius in the foot. The other boy yelped slightly, not expecting it. When the 2 made eye contact Remus glared slightly and shook his head. This just earned him an eye roll from Sirius and more silence.

.........................................

Getting Grant into the castle had been a lot harder than anticipated but with James leading the whole endeavour they, of course, succeeded. Peter had looked nervous the entire time and Sirius was uncharacteristically quiet.

"I'll get Grant up to the common room" James muttered to Remus as they arrived in the entrance hall, Grant covered by the invisibility cloak. "I'll meet you, Sirius and Peter in the great hall"

Remus just nodded and James grinned before leading Grant up the stairs, although to anyone else it just looked like a Gryffindor sixth year taking a walk. The other students just thought he was going to use the bathroom.

As soon as Grant was away and hidden, Remus felt himself let out a relieved breath. Now his brain was pinned to a new topic. Sirius' cold behaviour on the train. Remus understood to an extent, but why should Sirius be angry? They'd broken up and it's not like him and Grant were dating they were just...well..him and Grant.

As the other Gryffindors made their way into the great hall, Remus reached out and grabbed Sirius' arm.

"We need to talk" he said and Peter noticed the two, taking his queue to leave, not wanting to be caught in the middle of a possible conflict.

Remus dragged Sirius away from the entrance doorway and into a spare classroom beside it. He turned to shut the door, not wanting other students to hear their conversation.

"Oh so you're actually talking to me now?" Sirius spoke first, arms crossed defiantly. Remus hated how good he looked.

Remus sighed. 'not a good choice of words' he thought too himself before he finally dove into every word he'd been holding back saying throughout the entirety of the train journey.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! What is your problem?! You've been nothing but distant and quite frankly, horrible to Grant! I know that this is the last thing you expected and trust me...I didn't exactly expect him to show up today but I can't turn him in to the professors and I thought that maybe you would help me out of genuine courtesy but no...you have to make everything difficult and sulk about it all!" Remus yelled, Sirius staying still the entire time.

"You done?" Sirius asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm, looking like he was about to burst out laughing.

"For fucks sake Sirius what's so funny?!" Remus yelled, stepping forward slightly.

Sirius just shrugged and let out a small sigh.

"You're cute when you're stressed"

This just made Remus put his head in his hands and mutter. "No..you don't get to do that. You sure as hell don't get to flirt with me after everything you..."

"After everything I did?!" Sirius yelled, finishing his sentence and his smirk disappearing in an instant.

All of the air in the room seemed to disappear and they both just stared at each-other, not knowing what to say for a few seconds of shock. They both glared daggers at each other whilst the other students all sat down at their tables ready for the sorting ceremony.

The chatter and bustle of the students didn't matter to the two boys though as they stood staring at the other.

"Yes" Remus broke the silence, his voice more quiet and hurt now "yes after everything you did" he said finishing the conversation by walking past Sirius towards the door. Before he could reach out for the door handle however Sirius reached out and grabbed his hand.

"Don't..." Remus said pulling his hand away "Don't make this more difficult Sirius" Remus said as he opened the door and walked away leaving Sirius in a state of sad shock.