Remus coloured a little. He'd said worse, far worse, about Sirius to his face. But that was different: Sirius and he knew what each other was about, and even when other students had said similar, well, they knew what Sirius could be like at his best. And they knew he was a Black.

Not for the first time, Remus was hit with just how insular Hogwarts had been, how closed and parochial wizarding society was. You tended to forgive people a lot when almost everyone was second cousins twice removed. "Well, he just...takes a bit of getting used to," he murmured, suitably abashed. "But it's hardly required. Still. do invite us, please: it'd be lovely to get to know more people."