After the landmark Gryffindor vs. Slytherin game, it felt as though time was speeding up for Remus. Part of this was down to the balance having been restored to their dorm room. James was once again the hero, Sirius's rebellious streak was back in full flow, Peter was no longer treading on eggshells around either of them, and Remus had no peace and quiet at all - though could hardly complain about it.
As if trying to make up for lost time, James and Sirius tore through the final weeks of winter with a renewed zest for pranks and mischief. They spent half of their time under the invisibility cloak, casting hexes at unsuspecting students in the halls, raiding the kitchens and causing upset in the dining hall. At least three or four nights a week they crept out together with Remus's map to plot the castle - though most of the time they returned with armfuls of sweets from Honeyduke's instead. Peter often tried to tag along, but Remus needed all the sleep he could get.
His January and February full moons were not good. Neither was quite so bad as the December moon that had left him so obviously scarred, but neither were at all pleasant. Madam Pomfrey was relentless in her quest to find a solution - in January she tried vanishing his fingernails ('only temporarily, you understand, you'll have them back in the morning') but it did not stop his claws from growing in once the transformation took hold. Remus was somewhat relieved by this, as she'd had plans to vanish his teeth next.
In February, she tried securing his arms and legs with magical manacles to stop him from hurting himself. She was extremely apologetic about these measures - even more so when she returned in the morning to find that he had dislocated both shoulders breaking free of the shackles. He was too tired to care very much.
While engaging in less pranks than he had the year before, Remus chose to throw himself into his studies. Secretly, Remus hoped to take advantage of Sirius and James's determination not to focus on their schoolwork. He wanted to come top in History of Magic again, and knew he had a good chance - not just that; his marks had been getting better and better in Transfiguration, Herbology and Astrology too, and he at least had the chance to be in the top three.
Charms and Potions still belonged to Lily Evans, but he wanted to close the gap between them as much as possible. As such, he finally overcame his fear of the library, and spent almost every free hour he had in there, completing essays and revising. His reading had improved a fair bit - he was still slow if he didn't use the spell, but he found that his constant practice helped him recognise the letters much faster than before.
Lily was often in the library too, and after a few days of nodding politely to each other across the desks, Lily gathered up her things and came to sit next to him. They got along very well together, either reading quietly or querying each other on various points.
Inevitably, Lily was the second person after Sirius to discover Remus's secret.
"Why do you do that?" She asked, looking at him curiously.
"Do what?"
"Every time you open a new book, you put your hand on it and scratch your head with your wand."
"No I don't." Remus put his wand down, guiltily.
"Yes, you do." Lily said, calmly, a small smile playing on her lips, "You muttered something, too. Was it a spell?"
"Um."
"Oh go on, tell me - is it something to do with the books? Is it how you figure everything out quicker than me?!"
Remus was so pleased by this compliment that he dropped his guard for once.
"Promise you won't tell anyone?"
"Promise."
"It's to help me read. I'm not... I can't... um... well I find it harder than everyone else. Reading the normal way."
