Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers

The Hogwarts Express

"I really can't stand the thought of you spending another summer with them." James spat the last word as he spoke.

Sirius stayed silent, watching the hillside blur by from his spot in the train car. He too did not like to think about returning to his family. He had cast aside his family's beliefs in blood purity years ago, but his mother liked to keep the betrayal feeling fresh. In an attempt the draw the attention away from himself, Sirius asked Remus, "and what about you, Moony? Will you your furry little problem be alright for a couple of months?"

"Quite honestly," Remus replied, straightening a bit in his seat across from Sirius', "I'm more nervous about the other thing."

The car fell quiet. Finally, Peter piped up, "if it makes you feel better, you've got our support no matter what."

Towards the end of their second term, Remus was unwilling outed as bisexual by Bertram Aubrey, a Ravenclaw of their same year. Remus and Bertram had been dating since the beginning of their fifth year's first term. But when Remus couldn't tell him about his monthly problems, Bertram suspected Remus was cheating. He sent him a howler the next week, which shouted Remus' sexuality across the great hall.

Remus smiled slightly. Glad that his three best friends didn't seem necessarily bothered by his sexuality. He had been working up the nerve to tell them for months before Bertram made it known to everyone. After the incident in the great hall, a letter was sent to Remus' parents, standard procedure when a student is being bullied claimed professor McGonagall; describing the incident thus outing Remus to his parents as well. "It's just not how I wanted it to happen, you know."

Peter, James and Sirius nodded silently, still not sure how far to push the matter. Sirius pursed his lips tightly before speaking, "I'm going to take a walk," he suggested, nodding towards James as to invite him to come.

James shook his head, "I'm staying, the snack cart will be coming around anytime now." Sirius then looked at Peter, who of course, sided with James. Remus however, stood up and made his way to the sliding door where Sirius stood. He handed some coins to James, "get me a couple chocolate frogs if we're not back when the cart comes along." James nodded and Sirius and Remus headed towards the community car.

Sirius has been the most curious about Remus' sexuality, and had on multiple occasions, pushed the questions a bit too far. Remus wasn't upset by this, if anything he was glad that Sirius was attempting to make it as familiar as possible, and that he asked the most personal ones when they shared no company other than their own. "How would you have done it?" He asked as they took a seat in either ends of a couch.

Remus chuckled, and thought silently for a moment. "Probably," he began, "it would be one morning after my transformation. And you'd all come to the hospital wing to check on me. Someone, most likely James, would ask how I was feeling." He paused as his grin grew. "And I would say, bisexual."

Sirius was smiling now too, "that would have been grand."

"Oh well," Remus said a bit deflated, "no hopes of that now."

Sirius sat silently as he slanted his eyes to peer out the window. Remus knew he was thinking something deadly. After a minute of intense thinking Sirius said, "I swear, when I see that bigot, Bertram, next year, he's going to deeply regret sending that letter."

"It doesn't need to come to that Sirius," Remus, the most level headed member of their tetrad, assured him. Sirius' gaze met Remus' and softened. "I sincerely wish we could stay at Hogwarts during the summer too." Remus added.

Sirius muttered an agreement while staring out the window again.

"I could transform safely, and you wouldn't have to.." His thought trailed off. He and Sirius had become closer in the last few months, due mostly to Sirius' increased curiosity regarding Remus' sexuality. However; Sirius still had his walls up. It was unclear to all of them, even James, exactly what was happening in the Black house. Sirius never came back to school with bruises or cuts. But he did return a bit more somber each year. If the two letters that Sirius had received this year from his mother and father were any indication as to what happened when Sirius shared a house with them, Remus inferred that their words hurt Sirius more than any physical punishment ever would. "..deal with your family," Remus finally finished.

They sat for a while in silence before James and Peter crashed down between them. James tossed Remus his chocolate, and handed a few toffees to Sirius. "We'll be arriving in fifteen minutes," Peter informed them. The three other boys nodded, all with varying levels of dread as they tried to enjoy the last leg of their fifth year together.

They each gathered their trunks when the reached platform 9 ¾ and began say their goodbyes. "Please write me," Remus said matter of factly to James and Sirius, the only two with personal owls. James' was a gift from his parents, Sirius' was from his uncle.

The two boys nodded and they all began pushing their trolleys in separate directions, towards their families. 

Disclaimer: this fic does not follow the cannon timeline 

:)