Sirius stared toward the heavens with resentment glistening in his gaze. The moon, swollen with incandescent light, loomed high over pristine landscape before him. Sheer anxiety and hopelessness gnawed at his hunched frame. Listlessly he sighed into his arms which rested atop the apex of his knees. He could do nothing, and it was eating him alive.
"Soon, Sirius. Why don't you start practicing then?" James offered from beside Sirius, his tone gentle from both concern and lethargy.
Sirius turned his head in the direction of James's voice and forced his lips to quirk at the edges, "No, James, I'm far too worried tonight to attempt it. You know if I got stuck as a dog or something Remus would kill me." Affection laced his words, and Sirius winced slightly at the thought of the other Marauder whose presence was missed this full moon.
"Fat chance. He'd shout at you, sure, but you know he would never do that. The worst he'd do is throw kibble at you."
A snicker escaped the sole occupants of the Gryffindor common room. Sirius heaved another heavy sigh and turned back to the window in order to continue staring at the view before him.
"I'm probably wasting my breath, but, you should get to bed, Padfoot."
"You're right, Prongs," Sirius began, "you are wasting your breath."
James offered an understanding nod at Sirius's back. "Night, Pads,"
"Night, Prongs," was his response.
A howl pierced the night air, sending a chill through Sirius's body. He rubbed his arms as though fending off the cold as he continued his monthly vigil. His eyes traced a familiar path up a crooked, dirt road and past the fork near the dark forest and landed on a hill in the distance, the same hill on which the Shrieking Shack was perched.
"Please be okay, Remus."
-x-
"You look like hell."
"Thanks a lot. I'd say the same to you, but that would be a compliment." Sirius was most definitely not a morning person. And along with not being a morning person, Sirius also had stayed awake almost the entire night. Grumpy would be an understatement of his current condition.
"Someone's touchy this morning," Peter punctuated his statement with a yawn.
"Did you figure that one out all by yourself?" Sirius snapped. "Would be a first."
Peter blinked in shock. He opened his mouth to form a reply, but he only managed to exercise his jaw muscles seeing as no sound escaped. Affronted, Peter turned away and hastened his step toward the Great Hall.
"Whoa, Pads, wait a minute. That was just not right, mate," James responded, staring at his best friend with a touch of disbelief.
Sirius's sleep-addled and very fuzzy brain made several attempts at processing the information which seemed to have just recently registered in his mind as occurring. A moment passed and Sirius closed his eyes, exhaling forcefully. "I didn't just say what I thought I did, did I?"
James merely nodded, confirming a statement Sirius would have rather had been denied.
"And you know how Pete's like when it comes to stuff like that. He's … well, he's insecure, I guess." James shrugged as he finished his sentence.
"I know… It's just, last night and all, you know? It was rough." Sirius stated, seemingly believing that had explained it all. And for Sirius, it did.
James shook his head and continued walking in silence, content to just let things work themselves out on their own.
-x-
"Wakey, wakey!"
Pain shot through Remus's system with an intensity only rivaled by the approaching of the full moon itself as Sirius shouted and flung himself onto the mattress. "You mind?" He winced as his sore throat could barely stand uttering two words minutely above a whisper.
"Sorry, Moony, it's just that you looked all peaceful and cute in that infirmary bed, and I just knew you were in desperate need of a cheerful morning wake up call." All of the light and mirth and everything that made Sirius a Marauder seemed to have been rekindled and shined even brighter than before. He couldn't help the grin that threatened to devour his face.
That smile was infectious, and, despite the overwhelming agony he was in, Remus could not resist smiling in return. "Next time, just try not to dive onto my bed and upset my injuries the morning after the full moon, please?"
"You have my word, Sir Moony. But I can't make any promises for the time after next."
-x-
"The book says you have to concentrate on bending the essence of your magic to fit the mold of the desired transfiguration." James announced to the dormitory room, particularly to his three best friends who were in the dormitory room.
Peter stared at James with a glazed look in his eyes, "Oh guys, I really don't think I'm going to be able to do this. I couldn't even follow what you just said, Prongs."
Remus placed a friendly arm over Peter's shoulders, "You've gotten this far, Pete, don't worry."
James ventured one last speculative look over their current page in the transfiguration text which was filled with archaic language and scrawled diagrams before replying, "It's basically saying here that the most important thing at this point really is just concentration and knowing the form of our animals. I don't think you're up to the point of putting the two subjects together yet, Pete."
"Rats aren't that difficult to understand," Peter huffed.
"Yeah, but you got to know where your intestines and other organs are going to fit and stuff like that before you change." Sirius responded, smiling sadistically at the magnificent shade of green Peter's face was turning.
Both James and Remus shot Sirius a reproachful glare. Sirius shrugged them off before speaking again, "In any case, it really would be wise for all of us to get some anatomy study in."
James nodded in assent, "I agree with Sirius on this; off to the library. Remus, you lead the way."
Remus arched a quizzical brow at James in response.
"What? You're the one who knows the library like the back of your hand."
Sirius grinned a smug little grin and brought his arm around Remus's waist before the werewolf had time to consider being offended by James's comment and said, "That's our Remus, and we wouldn't have you any other way."
Remus struggled out of the embrace and pointedly replied, "I wasn't referring to that; I was just surprised the three of you would be the ones to suggest going to the library, that you would actually want to study." Remus paused before correcting his previous statement, "Well, that is, I'm surprised you'd suggest studying something other than how to leave Snape in the Great Hall wearing nothing but pink underwear and a matching garter."
The three other Marauders made faces of disgust in response. Sirius, however, was the first to recover, and his countenance shifted from disgusted to mischievous. A sly grin formed on his lips before he said, "No, no, Moony, that just won't do. We have to eat there. Now, Potions class we can do…"
Remus reached for the bridge of his nose in frustration and well concealed amusement, knowing this time he should have kept his mouth shut.
