Remus could hear the Gryffindor Common Room buzzing with curiosity and furious exclamations from the 5th and 7th years who'd have exams. Their plans now ruined by the war. Something told Remus that that would be the least worrying thing about this whole ordeal. From everyone's view only Remus, Sirius and Peter walked downstairs to the lounge but what they didn't know was that James and Grant were covered by the invisibility cloak. It was a task for the two of them to not accidentally bump into the bustling students rushing around for last minute things to pack. Luckily some of the students hadn't even unpacked yet so they were on the couch discussing what was to come.

Lily's fiery red hair caught Remus' attention and he felt a huge surge of relief when she ran over and embraced him tightly.

"Oh Remus" She said holding back tears.

"I know Lil" Remus muttered, burying his head in her shoulder, breathing in the cinnamon scent of her woollen cardigan. He was going to miss her. She was the only person outside of the marauders that knew he was a werewolf and she'd been a really big help last year.

Lily pulled away, looking up at Remus.

"When James told me I...I couldn't believe it..."

"I know but...can't say much against Dumbledore no matter how easy that would be" Remus said in a quiet yet sulky tone.

"At least you won't be alone" she said patting his arm reassuringly.

"Thats what I told him" Sirius agreed looking over and smiling at the two of them.

Lily's eyes darted from Remus to Sirius and her eyes lit up with excitement.

"You two are talking again! Oh that's great, are you two back toge..."

"No" Remus said at the same time Sirius had said "Yes"

They eyed each other confusedly.

Before they could get another word out Sirius yelped as a foot kicked him from under the coat. He brushed it off as a cough but Lily just raised her eyebrows. 

"I'll pretend that I don't know James is under the cloak....but one question, why is he hiding?"

"It's a secret Evans. Marauders stuff" Sirius stated casually, crossing his arms, knowing that the more people knew about Grant the more trouble they'd all be in.

Lily shrugged before hugging the rest of them goodbye and walking away before she could let herself cry.

"She seems nice" Remus heard Grant mutter from under the cloak and they all nodded before leading the way out and making sure no student accidentally walked straight into the two in disguise.

Once they were out of the chaos of the common room they rushed to the outside of the grounds. Luckily for them, James had aced apparition classes last year so Dumbledore had made him the job of transport. This actually worked in their favour since getting Grant to go with them without a teacher noticing would be far easier without a teacher there.

James finally pulled the cloak off of both him and Grant and the latter took a breath of fresh summer air. 

"The cloaks great and all but it sure gets stuffy with two people" he said with a small sigh. "So, we getting to the forest by train?" Grant asked innocently.

Sirius snorted slightly and Remus kicked him hard in the shin.

"No" James said with a kind smile "Wizard's have a slightly different way of travel"

Grant's eyebrows raised in curiosity "Really? Okay well, what is it?"

"It's called apparating" James said "Me and Sirius are the best at it and have made the most progress and Remus isn't too bad either"

"Thanks" Remus muttered sarcastically, hearing Peter sigh behind him.

"I did well too" he squeaked but no one seemed to notice.

""So....how do you..." Grant said but James reached out, his hand hovering over Grant's arm.

"Stay still" James said with a slight grin before putting his hand on Grant's arm and they flipped away in a second, leaving a quick breeze that tumbled over the blades of grasses they did.

Everything was silent and Sirius looked at Remus "Ready?" he asked holding out his hand.

Remus nodded slowly, hoping Grant had apparated okay.

He reached forward and clasped Sirius' hand into his tightly and the next second he saw a blur of landscape and they both appeared in a forest. Thin trees lined every corner and pebbles and grass made up most of the spaces between. A few steps away he saw James rubbing Grant's back soothingly as Grant bent over, vomiting all over the grass.

"Didn't take well to it" James explained as Remus rushed over. 

"I got this" he said nodding at James who went over to Sirius just as Peter appeared who was looking slightly green himself. He may be able to apparate but it made him nauseous.

Grant coughed, getting most of the dizzy shock out of his system before sitting down, looking sideways at Remus.

"You wizards have a strange way of transport" he muttered, a smile playing on his lips "Gotta get used to that"

"Peter still get's nauseous sometimes. It's normal but it passes" Remus said, sitting next to Grant. He pulled out his wand and made the vomit disappear.

They sat together in silence before James' voice called over "Grant, mind helping me and Pete set up the tent?"

Grant nodded with a grin and rushed over, wanting to help in any way he could. It was an admirable trait but Remus couldn't help but worry that it would end up getting Grant in danger.

As the three wizards put up the tent, Peter levitating the pins and putting them in place as James and Grant held the fabric down, Sirius went over to Remus.

"I'm sorry" was the first thing he said and Remus glanced over in surprise.

"For what?" he asked genuinely confused before Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"When Lily was going to ask if we got back together I just...I said yes because I assumed..."

"It's alright" Remus said "Quite frankly right now I don't know what we are but with everything going on...I can't be angry with you because...you're the only thing in this war that makes any sense" he admitted.

Sirius looked like he could cry as he sat next to Remus leaning his head on the boys shoulder, the softness of the jumper making him relax. "We'll be okay right?" he said in a whisper. 

"Always" Remus said softly, placing a soft kiss to the side of Sirius' forehead. 

They didn't need words to know how they felt, actions said it all.

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

"Lunch!" Peter called over, a steaming saucepan of chicken and mushrooms levitating over a fire. 

Sirius had fallen asleep on Remus' shoulder and Remus had sat there, staring into the endless trees, his mind adrift. Peter's call seemed to wake Sirius up from his nap and he sighed with delight when he smelt the food.

"Finally" he muttered as he lazily lifted his head off of Remus' shoulder "How long was I asleep?" he asked yawning.

"3 hours I think" Remus said with a small grin.

"You should've woken me, your shoulder must be numb" Sirius said with a slight laugh.

"Nah. I liked it, having you there" Remus said. In that moment he could've kissed Sirius but they were called over by Peter again so they walked hand in hand over to the fireplace.

Grant and James were talking animatedly as they ate, James explaining the rules of Quidditch and Grant was listening with pure fascination. Peter ate his food faster than any of them, practically exhausting from setting up the inside of the tent as well as the outside.

"Remus" James said looking over at his friend "You should've seen Grant's face when he saw the tent"

"It's like a TARDIS! It's bigger on the inside!" Grant added excitedly and James doubled over laughing.

"I asked him what a TARDIS is, and I still don't get it!" Jame laughed "A phone box that travels through space and time..."

"It's from a TV show" Grant said, clearly explaining for at least the 4th time "It's called Doctor Who"

"Doctor Who?" James said questioningly and Grant keeled over this time.

"You don't know his name...he's just 'Doctor Who'" He said finishing his mushrooms before nodding over at Remus.

"We used to watch episodes on the old TV at St Edmund's" Grant said and Remus nodded with a small smile.

"Didn't know you watched that much muggle TV" Sirius joined in with a teasing smirk.

"I only watched it when it was on" Remus said, eyes down on his plate of food.

"Don't let him fool you, he watched reruns when he thought I couldn't hear" Grant said and Peter and James giggled, Remus reddening.

"Did not" Remus muttered, his mouth full of chicken and mushroom.

"Oh please I caught you rewatching episodes multiple times" Grant pointed out with a grin.

"It's just really good" Remus said and Sirius nudged him.

"Wow didn't know you were a Doctor Who fanboy" he teased kissing Remus' cheek.

"You didn't even know who Doctor Who was a minute ago" Remus retorted, suppressing an amused smile as Sirius chuckled to himself, finishing off his meal.

"All I know is that it aired on BCC" James said and this time Remus laughed heartily, him and Grant exchanging an amused look.

"No, it's the BBC" Grant corrected nudging James playfully. 

"Oh yeah" James aid before looking at Sirius "Muggle TV is weird" he commented before putting his plate down.

"Coming from the wizard boy that transported into thin air" Grant said putting his plate down too.

"Yeah but that's cool!" James insisted and Grant just shook his head.

"I'm just teasing J" Grant said and Sirius tensed.

Nicknames? What? James was his best friend...

Remus seemed to detect it because he placed his hand on Sirius' knee.

"Remember it's a good thing that they're getting along" he said under his breath so that Sirius could hear him as Grant and James carried on with their loud conversation.

Sirius nodded but clearly was in his own head about it. "I'm gonna do the protective enchantments" he said quickly before leaving them.

Remus sighed before looking over at Grant and James. He didn't know why Sirius was insisting on not liking the friendship, but it was nice for Remus to see. Grant was making friends with his friends and even though he'd kept his two worlds separate, he really enjoyed seeing both Grant and James smile this much.

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

It didn't take long for the afternoon to pass since they were all working on making the inside of the tent perfect. Peter was sat in his corner bed, smiling in delight again as he beat Grant at wizards chess. Grant just sighed with an easy smile saying "You're amazing at this Peter"

James was busy at the main table, drawing out a map and labelling places where Greyback's pack had already been in red marker. He pushed his glasses further up his nose in concentration and had a radio to his left, listening out for any important news. Remus had been skimming through his History of Magic book but he wasn't really focusing, his mind was on Sirius.

Another cheer came from the corner bed, indicating that Peter had check mated Grant in 2 moves. He could hear the two laughing as he stood up to exit the tent. When he stepped outside he could see the sun setting over the tress which caused a crimson glow over the forest. He saw Sirius leaning against a tree and sharpening what looking like a large branch.

Remus walked over, his shoes crunching on the twigs below him. The noise made Sirius look up and he seemed tor relax when he saw who it was.

"Not coming inside?" Remus spoke first and Sirius shook his head.

"Why not?" he asked "You could play Peter at chess cause I don't think Grant's gonna win"

Sirius stayed silent with his pocket knife in his hand, turning the blunt stick into the sharpest point he could muster.

"When Remus looked at Sirius with a raised eyebrow the boy just sighed "In case of emergency" he said with a slight shrug.

"We have our wands"

"Believe it or not Remus we could get disarmed, I need something more sustainable than a wand"

"And that would be another thing shaped out of wood?" Remus asked with an amused smile before Sirius dropped the stick, giving up.

"I just want to be prepared"

"Wow, that's a first" Remus joked managing to get a smile out of him. Sirius pushed his hair back out of his face and locked eyes with Remus.

"Fine I'll go inside but...James has to turn that damn radio off"

"You know he won't" Remus said before walking back, Sirius soon following. 

The sky turned a deep blue as the stars glistened, both boys making their way back into the tent. The radio blurred with noise at the table and Grant was thinking over his next move against Peter.

Sirius sighed when he heard the radio and walked over to Peter and Grant.

"Can someone convince him to turn that thing off?" Sirius complained with begging eyes.

"It comforts him" Grant said, his eyes still on the chess board.

"Well it sets my teeth on edge" Sirius muttered with frustration before going over to James and looking at his map. There were a lot of red circles and notes.

"That's a lot of locations" Sirius said looking over James' shoulder at the map and James nodded, still in full focus. Remus walked over and joined them, standing on the opposite side of the table.

"Any news?" he asked, trying to keep the anxiety out of his voice.

"Two more muggle families killed and a break in at hogsmeade. 30 casualties" James said, his voice hollow and numb. 

It was strange to see him so miserable and serious, James found the fun in everything. But this was something James couldn't control and it was clear that he hated not being able to help more.

"Bastards" Sirius muttered as he watched James add another dot to Hogsmeade.

'in more news' the radio blurred out 'the hogsmeade murders have been confirmed to have been caused by many of he who must not be named's followers, death eaters and dark creatures alike. eye witnesses say that loyal followers such as McNair and Goyle were seen leaving the scene and the black heir Regulus Black with his cousin Bellatrix Lestrange were spotted at the scene....'

with that Remus reached over and turned the radio off, not wanting Sirius to have to hear another word of it. Both James and Remus looked at Sirius, waiting for him to talk but he didn't, he just looked down at the map, trying to focus on anything but what he just heard.

"Padfoot..." James said placing a hand on Sirius' shoulder "I'm so sorry.."

"No" Sirius said shaking James off and forcing a smile "Who cares really? He's no brother to me anymore" Sirius said before walking over to lay down on his bed.

Both James and Remus sighed, knowing it was best to leave him in this state. Regulus was a sensitive subject and they hated what Sirius had to go through in terms of his brother. Peter and Grant had finished another game of chess and had seen the whole thing.

Grant looked back at Peter and said in a hushed voice.

"Regulus? Is that his brother?" Grant asked Peter and the other boy seemed to sigh and quickly cast a silencing charm so Sirius couldn't hear.

"Yes. He's joined you know who"

"What...Voldemort?" Grant asked casually but Peter began shaking and shook his head.

"We don't...say his name.."

"Sorry" Grant said "It's just when James mentioned him he had no trouble saying it"

"Well, that's James" Peter quivered before turning back to the subject at hand "Sirius was supposed to be the heir of the Black Family but he was disowned because he rebelled and refused to join the death eaters"

Grant nodded slowly, taking in the information "But Regulus agreed to join?"

"Yeah" Peter said, glancing down sadly "Never thought he actually would. Sirius seemed stunned about it, James showed me a letter from him explaining it and, I could tell he'd been shaking when he wrote it"

"It must be awful for him" Grant said glancing over at Sirius who was laid on his bed with his back to everyone. Grant noticed his shoulders shaking. He was crying.

Grant looked away quickly and sighed.

"Another game?" Grant asked, changing the subject.