Chapter 11
James had noticed he and his friends were getting more attention this term.
Particularly Remus.
Particularly from the opposite sex.
Up till now it had mostly been Sirius who was considered the "ladies man" of the group.
That's not to say girls didn't like James.
He knew girls liked him he wasn't sure why but they seemed to. It's more the fact that he never acted on it. He was only really interested in one girl as reluctant as he had been to admit that due to teasing from his friends.
And the fact that she was not interested back.
But this term Remus had become awfully popular with the 5th year girls.
They seemed to be responding to his short hair and growth spurt.
Sirius seemed vaguely jealous. Presumably because he was no longer the heart-throb of the marauders.
But Remus himself couldn't seem to care less about the attention. In fact he gave the impression he'd rather be left alone. The trip to Hogsmead was in three weeks and he'd already politely declined at least 5 invitations.
Remus had told the group he planned to use the trip to Hogsmead to use a phone box.
"Ohhhh" Pete teased "Who's the lucky girl Moony"
"No one" Remus said flatly
"C'mon Rem tell us who she is" Sirius said curious.
"I said no one." Remus repeated sounding more annoyed.
"I heard Emmeline was asking you out you'd either have to be some fool or have a way fitter bird to say no to Vance." Sirius joked.
"I'm calling a friend OK!" Remus snapped.
James felt the need to diffuse the situation.
"Leave him be Pads." James said giving Sirius a 'shut the hell up' look.
"It's alright Moony you don't have to tell us who she is if you don't want to" James said sympathetically giving Remus a pat on the shoulder.
Remus's face frosted over.
"I'm going for a walk." He said coldly.
With that the tall boy got up hastily and walked past Sirius out the door.
"I don't know what he's so angry about. I'd love for heaps of girls to fancy me." Peter said in a self pitying tone.
"We'll I don't see why he's being such a prick one way or another. We're his mates we have a right to know who this secret girl is." Sirius said defiantly. "Moony acts like he's in a Sherlock Holmes novel with the amount of stuff he hides!"
"Pads you know that's not fair to say" James reminded.
All the marauders knew about Remus's lycanthrope.
James felt it unfair to criticise Remus for being guarded when it was most likely a defence mechanism he's had to use his entire life.
Sirius's face froze.
"I didn't mean it like that Prongs. You know I didn't. I just wish he'd let us in a bit that's all."
James understood this all too well. He had spent the summer helping Sirius to speak again and he eventually opened up about what he experienced at Grimmauld Place.
He had a feeling Sirius had to Remus too.
But the difference was Sirius trusted no one but his friends.
And Remus just trusted no one.
James knew this was hard for Sirius to understand. James knew the (former) Black heir better than he knew himself. He knew that Sirius was a very kind and loyal person but he tended to struggle seeing things from another perspective.
Sometimes James wished he had that problem. He couldn't seem to help seeing thing from every perspective. Sometimes it was exhausting.
He worried about Remus. He knew there was something more going on but he didn't think he should press.
He was even more worried when Remus came back to the dorm after hours of being out smelling like muggle cigarettes.
James had started to notice that happen more since the start of term.
Things were rough for Remus but he never talked about it.
James knew about him being a werewolf and the boys home but not much else.
He just hoped that he was doing enough to be there for him he didn't feel like he was.
But he wasn't sure what else to do.