When James woke up, he instinctively felt the absence in the room, a silence that would have been filled with light breathing any other morning. Lifting his head up to confirm it, he spied the empty, tidily-made bed across the room and then sank back against his pillow with a heavy feeling in his stomach. While he lay staring at the canopy above him, Sirius and Peter stirred out of sleep and began their morning rituals, neither mentioning the latest absence of their roommate. As they pulled on their clothes, gathered their school bags and chatted idly about everything but the glaringly obvious, James watched them quietly and wondered what they wondered.

He remained in bed while they finished their preparations and then waved them away when they prodded him to go to breakfast. After reassuring them that yes, he was fine, yes, he was skiving off classes, and no, he wouldn’t do anything fun without them, they finally shrugged and left, leaving James alone to wait.

Three hours later, when James had begun to wonder just what exactly he planned to do, the door squeaked open. Remus’s grey face peered briefly into the room, then the rest of him slunk inside and collapsed onto his bed with an exhausted sigh. Partially hidden behind his curtains, James watched as Remus rubbed his eyes wearily and burrowed his head underneath his pillow.

“Hey, Remus.�

“James!� Remus sat upright with a start, his startled expression giving way to guilt, and then just as quickly, betraying nothing at all. “I didn’t see you there; I thought you’d be in class.�

“Nah, didn’t feel like it today,� James said, eyeing Remus’s wan face and the dark circles under his eyes.

Remus looked uneasy under the inspection and ducked his head, pulling his bag off the floor and searching through the papers inside. “Why not? Did I give you that flu that’s been going around?�

James frowned slightly and shook his head. “No one else is sick, Remus.�

Remus’s hands stopped moving for a second, and then he set the bag down without having pulled out anything. “Sure they are,� he said, facing James almost defiantly. “There must have been about five people down in the Hospital Wing with me. Madam Pomfrey’s been giving out Pepperup Potion left and right.�

James just nodded, feeling more and more uncomfortable about letting his friend go on lying to him in vain. “Look,� he blurted out before he could change his mind. “This might be a really stupid question, but I have to ask. Are… are you a werewolf?�

The question hung in the air, reverberating between them, and the terrified look on Remus’s face told James that it was true. A part of him was surprised, but only a small part, that eternal streak of optimism that always held onto foolish hopes. The rest of him had suspected for quite a while and had finally deemed the matter undeniable at the last full moon. He needed to hear it from Remus, though, and after the silence wore on for several more seconds, Remus confirmed it with a single, despondent nod.

“Oh, I… I thought so,� James said awkwardly. He hadn’t planned the conversation past the initial question, assuming that it would come naturally, but he found himself drawing a blank on supportive replies. As the silence drew out while he searched desperately for anything appropriate to say, Remus slowly withdrew into himself. The light in his eyes dimmed and his face took on a cold detachment, as if he were slipping further and further away behind a stone wall. Alarmed by the notion that Remus could withdraw from him permanently if he didn’t say something fast, James decided to go with the tactic that always served him well: distraction by trickery.

“Hey, it’s not that big a deal,� he said with sudden inspiration. “So you drink people’s blood. So what?�

Taken aback, Remus cocked his head to the side and gave him a funny look. His confusion was a definite improvement over his misery, so James played up the ruse a bit more.

“I mean, it’s not as if you’re going to drink mine, so I don’t see why it matters,� he shrugged. “I’m sure Dumbledore keeps you well-supplied with bottles of blood so you don’t feed on any of the students.�

Remus blinked once and then twice before he finally stammered, “Er… are you joking?�

“No, why? Are you saying Dumbledore does let you feed on students?� James asked, putting on an incredulous voice. “Wow. Well, that’s… sporting of him, I guess.�

Remus stared at him, slightly open-mouthed, which almost set James laughing out loud, but he forced himself to keep a straight face.

“Speaking of feeding,� he continued seriously, “I’d always wondered why they never serve us any Italian food here. Is that because of you and your garlic thing? Does garlic actually hurt you or do you just not like the smell?�

“You know... I think you might be a bit confused,� Remus said, the corners of his mouth rising into a suspicious smile.

“I am not!� James objected. “I’ll have you know that I’m quite well-read on the subject of werewolves!�

“Clearly.�

“For instance, I know all about your aversion to crosses," James went on, pretending not to hear him, "and the fact that you can’t go outside in the daytime. You see, that’s why I first suspected that you were a werewolf when you didn’t try out for the Quidditch team. Too many practices outside in the sunlight.�

“It’s true,� Remus admitted. “You’re smarter than I gave you credit for. I was hoping you’d think it was just because I’m absolute rubbish at flying.�

“Ah, a clever alibi, but I knew you were faking that all along,� James said, nodding wisely. He pulled a small mirror out of his pocket and tilted it towards Remus. “It’s also hard to hide the fact that you don’t show up in mirrors. See? There’s no— oh,� he interrupted himself when he saw Remus’s amused face reflected next to his own. “Well, this one must be broken.�

Remus laughed as James gave the mirror an indifferent toss aside. “So, it really doesn’t bother you that I… drink people’s blood?� he asked with just a hint of apprehension.

“Nah, mate. I know you’d never bite me, so I don’t see what there is to be bothered about,� James replied simply.

With visible relief, Remus grinned and all remnants of the stone wall crumbled to the ground. “Thanks,� he said. “A lot of people have some pretty terrible ideas about werewolves, you know. It’s nice to have someone who understands."