AN: this is just a little bit. If enough people want me to continue, I'll write more. Also, e-mail me any ideas you have for the next part of the story. .
STORY:
Sirius looked around him. Magic cuts weren't a common occurrence at Hogwarts, but the Marauders had learnt these were not the best times for pranks as they couldn't use LUMOS to see where they were going. James was sat on the couch next to Lily, they were deep in conversation but Sirius knew James and knew his attention was far from rapt and seemed to be more interested in staring at Lily with big eyes; Peter had dozed off in the armchair nearest the fire; Remus was laid out on the couch opposite, propped up on the cushions at one end, Issy was laid next to him with her eyes closed, a peaceful look playing across her face. Remus had his arms snaked one around her shoulders and the other round her waist, holding her close. Sirius felt a strange emotion stirring within him. He wasn't used to seeing Remus with a girl, and a pretty one at that. Moony had removed his glasses and was staring distantly into the fire, a smile curving the sides of his lips. It wasn't the laugh that crossed his face whenever someone made a joke; it was a content curl. Sirius suddenly felt uneasy. His mouth went dry and he swallowed a few times. Without knowing what he was doing he'd stood up and crossed the common room. The portrait hole was left open in magical blackouts because the password didn't work. His step quickened as the emerged into the corridor, and once he'd rounded the corner, he broke out into a run. He ran flat out up and down several staircases. As a Marauder he knew the school better than most but even he felt lost as he exploded into an empty classroom and collapsed onto the desk furthest from the door.
Sirius sat in the dark breathing heavily and tried to clear his head. 'What was that all about? Can't I stand to see Reme happy?' Sirius knew that wasn't the reason. So what was it? He knew straight out that he wasn't gay. Even the thought made him laugh quietly to himself. But wait. There had been two people lying on the couch. Remus… and Issy. Could it be possible that Sirius was jealous of Remus? He was having trouble thinking straight – it wasn't something he was accustomed to. He thought back to when they had first met on the Hogwarts Express.
The door to the apartment slid back revealing Remus. Sirius and James had jumped up and cried out 'hellos' to their werewolf friend.
"Guys I want you to meet Issy, a new friend of mine."
Issy had only joined in the second year because she'd previously lived in France.
Sirius had taken one look at her blonde hair and blue eyes and offered his own introduction.
"The name's Bond. James Bond." He had said, in his best secret agent accent.
"What a coincidence, mine's Halle Berry."
Sirius smiled at the memory; she had been the first ever girl to give a response other than a giggle. He had known from that moment she would fit right in with them. Unfortunately for the other three Marauders, she had eyes only for Remus, though they had only started going out earlier this year (sixth). However, she wasn't nearly as 'book-orientated' as Remus, and often joined the others when they went down to the lake. Sirius and Issy wrestled and she raced James and joined in their mini-match Quidditch. She had always been one of the guys and they often forgot that she didn't want to join in their in-depth analysis of certain other girls. She was just as reckless when it came to pranks and the only thing that stopped her being a proper Marauder was that she didn't yet know of Remus' condition. He'd asked his friends to keep the secret to themselves and he would tell Issy himself when he was ready. Sirius felt uneasy again. It was two nights before full moon and yet Remus had looked so peaceful with Issy so close.
He took a few deep breaths. The guys were getting tattoos tomorrow, Lily and Issy were coming too, though not to get one themselves. He needed to sort himself out before he could face them again and attempt to pretend everything was normal.
"Sirius?"
Remus Lupin was stood in the doorway to the classroom, an all too common concerned look across his face.
Sirius recovered from the shock of seeing his friend stood there.
"Hey Moony, what's up?"
"I was going to ask you the same thing Sirius. What's going on? You just took off. Is everything OK?"
Sirius' heart twisted at the worry in his voice and felt guilty for thinking about Issy.
"I'm fine Remus. I just didn't feel too good. It was a bit hot in the common room."
Remus raised an eyebrow.
"Now I know something's wrong. You haven't called me Remus since third year."
Sirius licked his lips and cleared his throat.
"Like I said, I'm not really feeling myself."
He found all of a sudden that he couldn't meet Remus' eye. There was silence for a few minutes. Finally, the werewolf admitted defeat.
"OK then, I just wondered if anything was wrong. Maybe you should get some sleep; we have an early appointment in Hogsmede tomorrow."
Remus turned to leave and waited for Sirius to follow, when he'd caught up, the pair made their way back to the common room.
When they arrived, Remus headed straight over to the couch, and by the light cast from the fire, Sirius noticed Issy had wrapped herself tightly in Remus' shirt and the wolf was only wearing jeans. Sirius tried not to think about what his two friends had been doing while he was gone. James, Peter and Lily had disappeared off to bed and since he had been with Issy, Remus had become slightly less frigid. Sirius watched as he bent to scoop Issy up gently without waking her and as his throat began to close, ran from the room into the dormitory they shared with James, Peter and Frank. There was a noise from the stairs and Sirius saw with dismay that Remus had brought Issy up with him.
"Boys can't get into the girls dorm," he explained.
Sirius nodded and crawled into bed fully clothed. He listened to the sound of the running tap in the bathroom and Remus brushing his teeth. Eventually he heard all breathing steady as everyone fell asleep and unbeknown to the world, Sirius Black stared at the canopy of his bed, sleep evading him until the first light of dawn.
"Get up you retard!"
Sirius could hear shouting.
"Must you be quite so crude James?"
He could hear murmured replies.
"In all fairness he didn't feel too great last night."
He could hear the sound on an object flying through the air.
"OW!"
He could feel a lump rising on his head where the book had hit him.
"JAMES!"
"I'm sorry Moony, but we're going to miss our appointment unless he gets up soon."
"Sirius? Are you OK?"
This was a softer voice, a girl's voice. Issy's voice. Sirius eyes snapped open, watering from the pain of the book. He reached his hand up to the lump on his head and felt blood. He sat up too fast and swayed from the head rush. Issy took his head in her hand and gently turned it towards her. She pointed the tip of her wand to his head and muttered a charm. Sirius felt the blood disappear and the lump vanish. He murmured his thanks and went to get changed.
He looked at his reflection in the mirror. Even after a rough night, he still looked pretty darn good. The thought made him smile. Then another thought struck him. His face hadn't tingled where Issy touched him. And he hadn't blushed under her gaze. Sirius was known to get over girls quickly but this was ridiculous. He laughed loudly and burst out of the bathroom.
"Come on you lazy sods, we're getting tattoos and we'll miss our appointment if you don't get a move on."
Remus looked slightly bemused.
"I think he's back to normal."
Walking down Hogsmede Highstreet, Remus and Issy hung back slightly discussing when Issy got Dragon eyes tattooed on her lower back. James was walking ahead of them, hand in hand with Lily, looking like he'd won the lottery. Sirius and Peter were heading up the group. Peter wasn't getting a tattoo because his parents strongly disapproved and they were instead discussing ways in which to explain to Issy why they were getting certain tattoos. Lily knew about Remus' condition and also knew that the animal heads they were getting between their shoulder blades were their animagus forms. Seeing as Issy didn't know, Sirius suggested childhood pets, until Peter pointed out Remus wouldn't have had a pet Werewolf and James wouldn't have a stag. Peter in turn suggested favourite animals. Sirius was surprised at Peter's good thinking and swore to buy him and ice cream. This seemed to cheer him up, as he had been down all morning about not getting a tattoo.
The six students entered Troll Tattoos and were shown to a side room. The tattooist explained that wizard branding was not the same as muggle. The wizard process was considerably more painful though there were less risks involved, they lasted forever but could be reversed. Issy had already heard this speech so instead busied herself with looking as photos of famous witches and wizards with their tattoos. Sirius nudged Remus and told him Peter's idea and agreed to use it.
"So who's first?" asked the tattooist.
James, eager to impress Lily, volunteered himself to go first, however it was to no avail as Lily couldn't stand the sight of needles and left the room. He lay on his stomach on the table and under the tattooist's instructions rested his head on his arms.
"What sort of tattoo would you like?"
"A stag's head. Monotone." Replied James.
The needle was controlled by wand and James let out an involuntary gasp and the point touched his back. He bit his lip and closed his eyes, letting out a groan as the needle set to work. Every now and then, he let out a cry of pain. The needle was put to one side and a giant band aid was taped over the dark tattoo. James opened his eyes.
"Wicked." He smiled. He stood up, paid the tattooist and went outside to find Lily. Sirius offered to go next, said he wanted a shaggy dog's head and lay down on his stomach while Remus answered Issy's question about the animals they were getting. Sirius was so focused on his eavesdropping that he got a shock when the needle was set to work on his back. He let out a cry of pain not unlike James' and tried for the second time in 24 hours to steady his breathing. He also screwed his face up with the pain and bit his lip. However his teeth were shaper that James' and he licked away the blood with his tongue. He felt a warm hand touch the side of his face and opened his eyes to find that it belonged to Issy. She wasn't looking at him thought, she was talking to Remus. Sirius became aware of the needle carving in the dog's eyes and rubbed his cheek up against her hand. He could hear her laugh.
"I think the dog's instincts are rubbing off on you Sirius."
When it was Remus turn, James came back into the room looking slightly dejected and mumbled something about Lily spotting her other friends. Sirius had come to the conclusion that the only reason James hadn't made more noise was that he didn't want to lose face with Lily the other side of the door. He knew James, knew they were like twins, and knew that he himself had rarely felt pain that intense. The breath was still unsteady and he felt Issy push up against his chest. Seeing as he no longer felt strange around her, he held her close realising she didn't want to see Remus in any sort of pain. They needn't have worried; there wasn't even a trace of a frown on his face.
When all the tattoos were finished, the artist gave them a bottle of cream that had to be applied in a certain way every day; they were saved the trouble of learning how to apply it to each other by Issy who already knew.
On the way back to Hogwarts, Sirius bought Peter and ice cream, he and James stocked up in Zonkos, and Lily agreed to distract Issy at full moon tomorrow night.
"Didn't that hurt at all Reme" asked Sirius. Remus smiled.
"I'm used to pain."
"Why?" asked Issy. James and Sirius exchanged awkward glances.
"Because I'm going out with you" explained Remus innocently. That earned him a slap.
When they reached Gryffindor common room, the guys removed their band aids and showed off the latest additions to their bodies. Lily and Issy sat on the couch watching them. Sirius had the most muscled torso and the strongest arms, courtesy of being a beater. James had the strongest legs, courtesy of being a seeker, Remus was somewhat of a surprise to Lily; he was muscular and had a strong back, and he had a darker tan than James with smooth skin stretched over his ripped stomach. Lily proceeded to congratulate Issy on her catch.
Three hours later, and the tattoos have to be bathed with the potion the tattooist had given them. Remus lay on the couch with his shirt off while Issy dipped the end of her wand on the potion and traced the wolf's head branded between his shoulders. Remus winced a little at the touch, unnerving James and Sirius. When she had finished she grabbed hold of his hair and lifted his head up, planting her lips on his, while he deepened the kiss. After a chorus of 'Eww's' from the non-biological twins, it was James' turn. He buried his head in his arm and bit down in a bid to let no sound escape in front of Lily, when she was finished tracing the stag's head, Issy grabbed James by the hair studied his face, and then dropped it in mock disgust
"Lily, you can take this one"
To James' surprise Lily crouched down by his head and kissed him on the lips without the usual protest and grimacing. Finally Sirius lay down and Issy began the same process. She felt guilt creeping through her as she saw the pain in Sirius' face. She tried to be a bit more gentle, but there was no getting around the fact that his tattoo was bigger than the other two's. When she had screwed the top back onto the potion she lifted his head up gently with both hands and kissed him lightly on the lips. Sirius opened his eyes in shock and found Issy smiling at him.
"I didn't want you to feel left out" she said.
Sirius was about to reply when she stood up and walked over to Remus and launched a full, tongue propelled attack on him.
Sirius instead remained silent. Even after all this time, it was so weird seeing Remus with his shirt off and a girl draped over him, never mind seeing him enjoying it. It felt as though the werewolf had grown up, over the summer he had turned into somewhat of a girl magnet although he didn't play the field like Sirius and seemed content to have Issy by his side.
'I would be content to have her too.' Thought Sirius suddenly.
That night there was a party in the common room to celebrate the end of autumn term. Remus made an excuse about having a headache and went to bed early as there was little chance of him getting any sleep tomorrow night, what with full moon. As the music started playing from the walls of the room itself, Sirius relaxed and became himself more. He had the attention of more than a few girls and it was well known that he was the king of dancing dirty. Everyone had drunk a few too many firewhiskeys, Sirius more than anyone, and McGonnagal had already tried to send everyone to bed twice. The music changed when there were just fifth, sixth and seventh years left and the party became a rave. Issy was dancing nearby and Sirius made his way over. Their two bodies started grinding against each other in beat to the music, Sirius began to spin Issy across the floor both singing along loudly to the music thumping through the room. Sirius took his chance and pulled Issy close to him, setting his lips on hers. When she didn't pull away, he opened his eyes, only to find that it wasn't Issy he was kissing but a fifth year who didn't look remotely like her. She was still nearby though, dancing with Lily. Sirius detached himself from the unknown girl and joined them, throwing another firewhiskey down his neck in the meantime.
Sirius blinked blearily. He was resting his head on James' chest. He jumped up embarrassed and looked around to see if anyone had seen. The only other person awake was Issy, sat in nothing but her underwear. They were still in the common room; several people had just crashed out on the floor where they had been dancing. Sirius felt the colour creep into his cheeks as he began to feel ashamed about trying to kiss her the night before. Fortunately, she'd either not noticed at the time or couldn't remember anything from the party. Sirius barely could. From the look on her face, she had a blinding hangover and she also looked mildly confused.
"Sirius?"
"Mmm?"
"Where are my clothes?"
Sirius found himself laughing but decided to stop because he had one of those splitting headaches that normally come with drinking too much. Instead he helped her up and took her up to their dormitory to find some of Remus' clothes so that they could go down to the Great Hall and get some coffee.
Emerging through the giant oak doors, Issy and Sirius were confronted by Severus Snape.
"Tut Tut, Black. Partying 'til ridiculous hours again? Which girl were you trying to lay this time? Surely you must be going round them all again by now?" Snape was now taller than all four Marauders, though this hadn't discouraged their incessant pranking in any way. To Snape's surprise, it was Issy who replied.
"You're quite brave really aren't you Grease-ball. Picking on someone bigger than you."
Snape didn't have to act confused.
"I'm taller than him."
Issy stepped forward and grabbed at his crotch.
"I wasn't talking about height."
Sirius and Issy walked off down the aisle roaring with laughter, leaving Snape fuming. They poured our two cups of coffee and left to take a walk in the grounds. Leaving the Great Hall, the pair bumped into Remus. He kissed Issy good morning and they agreed to wait so he could join them. As they sat under a Beech tree by the lake, Issy snuggled up to Remus and he worked as a barrier against the cold air.
"Issy?"
"Yeah?"
"Why are you wearing my clothes?"
After lunch, and after the tattoos had been cleaned, James, Sirius and Issy went back out into the grounds. Remus and Peter went to the library to work on their holiday project. James and Sirius would start theirs 24 hours before it was due and Issy couldn't work on hers because Lily was her partner and she was visiting her family for the day. (She would be back later to distract Issy from Remus' transformation.) James took out the snitch he'd stolen the previous week and started playing with it. Sirius and Issy decided to go for a walk but before they could take a single step, an owl flew across the lake towards them, dropping a letter at Issy's feet. She picked up the envelope and opened it, slipping out a hand written letter. Sirius began to read it over her shoulder.
Dear Isabelle,
I'm afraid to inform you that last night strangers showed up at the family home. They had wands with them like the one I've seen you with in the holidays. They started shouting strange words and different coloured lights shot out of their wands and hit your father. They continued like this until your mother and brother were also critically injured. More strangers showed up and the first lot fled. The new people said they were witches and have taken your family to a place called St. Mungo's.
We've have never had any sort of trouble from these freaks before you came along. They wouldn't have known we even existed before you. It's all your fault. You're lucky no one was killed young lady. Don't bother visiting the family; you've caused enough trouble as it is. Just stay away. I want no contact with you anymore. Keep your freakish ways out of this family. You're no longer welcome here.
Goodbye,
Uncle Paul.
Issy had finished reading before Sirius, dropped the letter and ran back to the castle. Sirius wasn't far behind. He picked up the letter, read the rest and looked up at James.
"How could this possibly have been her fault?" James didn't reply; he had no idea what was written on the piece of parchment still in Sirius hand. Sirius turned and ran back to the castle after Issy, with James hot on his heels.
Issy was fast and several times they lost sight of her. Eventually they arrived at the library in time to see Issy throw herself into Remus' arms. Their friend had a thoroughly bewildered look on his face. Sirius held up the letter and Remus read through it quickly, his face paling as he did so. When he got to the end he pulled Issy closer, closed his eyes and buried his face in her hair. James left to send a letter to Lily asking her to come back and Peter left out of awkwardness. Remus pushed Issy away from him gently.
"Is, I have to go find Dumbledore, I need to talk to him" He explained.
"No! Don't go." The sadness in her voice made Sirius shiver.
"Sirius will stay here with you." Remus looked up at his friend as he said this and Sirius gave a small nod. He stepped forward and took Remus place. He could see she was trying not to cry and let her bury her face in his chest. He watched Remus out the door.
"You don't have to be so brave you know."
"It's OK, I wasn't that close to them. It's just not nice being blamed for something that wasn't your fault."
Sirius kissed her on the top of her head. They stayed stood together with their arms wrapped around each other until Remus came back some time later. Lily arrived at the same time and marched Issy off for 'Girl Time Out'. It was nearly six o'clock and he boys would soon have to make their way down to the Shrieking Shack. Sirius went off to find James and Peter. Peter was eating in the Great Hall. He agreed to help Sirius find James and they both set off to the Owlery. Once James had been found, they headed down to the forest ready to transform. They waited in the trees and bushes for twenty minutes with still no sign of Remus. Sirius offered to go and find him as he should have appeared by now, and if he didn't turn up soon, he wouldn't be able to hold back the transformation. He found Remus in the same classroom he'd ended up in during the magic blackout.
"Reme mate, what are you doing?" Sirius saw to his shock that Remus was crying. He wasn't making any sounds, but the tears were rolling down his face.
"The one time when she really needs me."
"What?"
"Issy. That letter was horrible. She needs me to be with her and yet I can't be."
"Now's not really the best time dude." There was something about the way Remus was talking was unnerving him.
"She needs someone who CAN be with her."
"She wouldn't want any one else." Remus wasn't listening.
"Maybe someone like you Sirius." Something definitely wasn't right, but this last remark caught Sirius off guard.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Don't play the fool Sirius. I've seen the way you look at her."
Remus had stood up now. Sirius swallowed.
"Lily said you made a pass at her."
"When?"
"At the party." Sirius swallowed again. Remus began to walk over to the door.
"You could have any girl in the whole school Sirius, they practically throw themselves at you. Then a girl decides she likes me instead and you just can't stand it can you? You've got to have her to yourself." Remus had reached the door now. He turned back to look at Sirius and smiled.
"Well thanks a lot buddy." Remus turned to leave and stopped. Sirius could hear him breathing hard.
"Reme?" Remus fell to his knees and gasped.
"REMUS!" Sirius ran over to him and looked into his face. There was something wild in the eyes that looked back at him and he suddenly realised what was happening. He shut the door and magically locked it, then ran over to the window and called for James and Peter. He could hear Remus crying out behind him and didn't want to look. He knew what was happening. After ten minutes of gasps, cries, and groans, everything went quiet. Sirius turned round. He had seen pictures of werewolves and studied them in DADA but he'd never actually seen one. His fur was the same colour as Remus' hair but had streaks of grey. The eyes were a wilder version of Remus' and when it bared its teeth, they were the same blinding white as Remus'. For a moment, Sirius wondered if the wolf recognised him, but it let out a haunting howl and Sirius changed into a dog just in time to leap out of reach of the teeth. Sirius refused to attack Remus. He just kept jumping out the way but he wasn't always fast enough and was beginning to get tired. He leapt at Remus' back and managed to pin him to the floor, scratching him as he struggles to escape. The door to the room burst open and Dumbledore stood there with James and Peter. Dumbledore crossed the room and threw open the curtains Sirius had closed in an attempt to stop the transformation. Sunlight flooded the room as Sirius realised just how long he'd been avoiding the werewolf's bite for. Remus retuned to normal and Sirius got off him, with just enough sense left to stay as a dog in front of Dumbledore. Remus stood up and swayed slightly.
"Perhaps you should all get some breakfast" said Dumbledore kindly. "You too Sirius." He winked at the dog.
Dumbledore left and Remus turned round slowly.
"I think I'm just going to go to bed" he said, as he walked past his friends.
Sirius changed back to human and he led the other two after Remus.
Lily and Issy were sat on the couch in their pyjamas and stood up as the boys entered. Issy shrieked.
"Sirius! What happened to your face?" Sirius was cut and scratched all over his face. They were deep cuts.
"It's fine"
Remus walked up to Issy.
"Reme? Are you OK?" Remus buried his face in her hair and sighed loudly. They stood there hugging for a moment until Remus broke away.
"We need to clean our tattoos again." James went first and then went to talk to Lily. Sirius went next, too tired to flinch at the burn. She stroked his hair out of his face.
"I have something I could put on those cuts."
"Don't bother I'm fine."
"But really, some of them look quite nasty"
"LEAVE it Is. I'm fine."
"Suit yourself."
"I'm going to have a shower."
Issy turned to put the potion on Remus' back but there was a fresh cut running through it.
"Reme, how did you cut yourself there?" Sirius stopped with his foot on the bottom step to the dormitory. He turned round.
"And what happened to you guys last night?" Remus looked at Sirius behind Issy's back. Sirius shook his head and mouthed 'Not now'.
"Issy, I'm a werewolf."