Authors Note: This entire story is based around one of my headcannons on tumblr "the reason that the marauders finally become animagi in fifth year is because that's when it could wait no longer. When fifteen year old Remus had his growth spurt Moony went crazy. Although the boys had all been trying hard to get their animagis form, it wasnt until pubescent Moony left remus in the hospital for a week and a half that they tripled their efforts. Two months later, Moony, Wormtail, Padffot, and Promgs had their first full moon together." Also, pretty, pretty please cherry on top leave a comment! I will keep writing anyway, but it will happen much faster if I know that there are people want to read what I have to write. They only way that I know that people have this stpry is if you review or favorite it. Wow, that was long. Enjoy!

The Day Before

Remus awoke with a familiar pounding in his head, although a crazy marauders' party did not induce this one. It was the monthly reminder of what was to come in the next seventy-two hours, and he was not at all excited. Only yesterday he had been at the peak of his energy for the month, when the wolf had just begun to enter into Remus's mind. He would have been willing to take on an aggressive dragon had one presented itself, and now he was barely willing to take on the day.

At first he simply lay in bed, mentally preparing himself for the day ahead, until he heard the telltale cracking of the back that told him that James was awake. James was always cracking his bones in the mornings after quidditch practices. Usually Remus couldn't bother to care, but today it ignored him.

"He gets to do it out of leisure, and in two days time my bones will be broken by force," He thought to himself. "Calm down," but even though he knew that it was only the pre-moon symptoms, he still allowed the thoughts to fester.

"Mornin' Remus." Said James gaily, placing his glasses on his face as his shoulder made a loud cracking noise too. His black hair was a rustled mess, but that was the way he liked it, and even in his grouchy mood Remus knew better than to criticize it.

Remus simply nodded in response, and as he did so his stiff neck cracked in a rather painful way, as would the rest of his bones and joints as the day wore on. Tiredly, he reached over to his bed stand and opened the top drawer, where he pulled out a container of Advil, a muggle medicine that his mother had given him to help with the pain. Even though Madam Pomfrey had stronger potions that worked more effectively against his condition, he enjoyed using the things that his mother gave him, as they provided a small comfort.

Sirius and Peter continued to sleep, as Remus slowly began to get ready for the day. He went to go take a shower, as he needed something to wake him up and he knew that by tonight he would be too exhausted to take one. When he returned twenty minutes later he was glad, but not surprised, to see that his robes and socks had already been placed on his bed, courtesy of James. Lethargically, he began to pull his robes over his head.

He moved more like a man of fifty, rather than a newly turned boy of fifteen. His birthday had been only last week, and for perhaps that 20th time in the last fortnight, he was thankful that it was not a week later. After taking nearly 10 minutes to get into his uniform and robes, Sirius and Peter began to awaken.

The rest of the boys did their best to help Remus during the full moon time of month, but they also reaped rewards from his disability. When they were younger, all four of them would wake up together and help to get Remus ready. As time went on and Remus became more and more tired and on edge around the full moon, they came up with a better system. One boy would wake up early with him, and the other two would sleep in. They always went down to breakfast late around the full moon, because Remus couldn't stand the noise of the mail owls and the overwhelming scents of the food. Instead, they came in at the very end once everything had quieted down.

While the other boys quickly got dressed, Remus tied his shoes while trying to ignore his pounding headache. He got up from his bed, and stretched his lengthening body. In the last two months he must have grown a good three inches, and while he certainly didn't mind the extra height, it seemed that the growth was making the wolf particularly anxious.

When at last all four boys were ready, they grabbed their book bags, climbed down the steps to the common room, and exited from the Fat Lady. James walked in front, his messy hair standing up in all directions and his glasses slipping down his nose. Short Peter walked next to him, rubbing the sleep from his watery blue eyes. Sirius lagged behind them next to Remus, tying his tie as they walked down the stairs, not caring about his appearance due to them being the only ones left in the tower.

"Make way for your elders Pete," teased Remus as he shoved past Peter to make it through the portrait hole. As he clambered through, a very audible "pop" echoed out from his knee. Still, Remus walked on with an almost-normal pace. While he may be grouchy, irritable, tired, and stiff today, it wasn't until tomorrow that he would be too weak to function, and he was determined to use his last twenty-four hours to their full potential.

At first, the four boys were uncharacteristically quiet, for Peter and Sirius were still waking up. That is, until a third year came running past them, probably to fetch something from her dormitory before class. As she ran past, Sirius's eyes followed her, until he whipped his head back forward, a sly smile on his face.

"Merlin's pants, Sirius! A third year? Please tell me that you haven't exhausted the castle's entire resource of our age witches." Remus exclaimed in a hushed angry voice.

Sirius simply rolled his eyes. "Bloody hell Moony, just breathe. No one said that I have but I have to weigh my options in case I do. But you'll never know. You lot know I don't kiss and tell."

Peter smirked, Remus sneered, and James burst out into laughter. "Right! You don't kiss and tell, you kiss and yell it to the whole world!"

Good thing that they were no longer on the staircase, or Sirius would have pushed James right over the handrail.

When they arrived at their destination there were only ten minutes left for breakfast, so they quickly plopped into their usual seats. James began to pile his plate high with eggs and sausage, and craned his neck, which gave a satisfying crack, as he scanned the Gryffindor table for Lily Evan's pillar of fiery red hair.

"She's over there," said Peter with an exasperated sigh, pointing over to the Slytherin table with his fork.

At this, Sirius whipped his head around, his eyes narrowing in revulsion. "What's she doing over there?" he said as he buttered his toast.

"Talking to Snivellus." Stated Remus matter -of-factly as he nibbled on a sausage. As the full moon got closer he usually would not be able to keep down much food, no matter how hungry he was. But since he still had 36 hours until the true horror began, he decided he needed to put some type of energy in his body.

"About what?" prodded James, whining like a little kid.

Remus strained his ears, allowing his heightened senses to pick up the words. In a whispered tone, he heard Lily say

"…just tell me what you guys have been doing Sev. Please! Mary was telling me about some suspicious things that's been happening to first years, just tell me that you didn't have anything to do with it!" Remus could hear the desperation in her voice, the silent plea. Since becoming prefects at the beginning of the year, he and Lily had become incredibly close. He hated that she hung out with those slime ball Slytherins, and a sneer grew on his face when he heard Severus's reply.

"Lils, it's not like that-"

"Sev, I don't know what's wrong with you lately! First that Hufflpuff girl that ended up in the hospital wing, but you said that that was all Mulciber's fault. And now this!"

"Lils-,"

"I have to go to charms, see you later Sev." Said Lily abruptly, and with that she stormed out of the Great Hall, her head held high.

Remus looked at James, who was looking back at him eagerly. "They're in a small fight it seems." stated Remus. He couldn't help but smile at the joyous look on James's face.

The boys all took a moment longer to enjoy their breakfasts, until they stretched up from their seats and headed to class. As they stood, James cracked his knuckles, and Remus's thoughts turned bitter "So bloody arrogant, a show off, going around cracking every fucking part of him for the pure bliss." As unnecessary anger flowed through him, Remus forcefully swung his bag over his shoulder, causing a painful kink in his shoulder to pop, and he winced in the slightest annoyance.

Rather adamantly, Peter insisted that he carry Remus's bag, and they set off towards charms class.

They were working on silencing charms today, and Remus couldn't be happier with the timing. They had broken up into partners, and were then meant to try to yell their names once the charm had been cast. Remus was enjoying the blissfully quiet class, until Oliver Zeller accidentally said the color change spell instead, and when his partner yelled out in his now magnificently fuchsia colored robes, his yell echoed around in the otherwise silent classroom.

While everyone mostly ignored the outcry, Remus immediately covered his ears with his hands. " Fucking pillock," he whispered through gritted teeth. The drumming in his head, which had become subdued since breakfast, suddenly came back in full force.

"Calm down Remus," said Sirius, giving him a rather sympathetic smile.

In response, Remus fired at Sirius the very same silencing charm that they were working on. "Just shut up will you!" He exclaimed, grabbing his pounding head.

Peter, James, and Sirius exchanged a knowing look, and promptly switched up the groups that they were working in. James went with Remus, being the least likely to agitate him. The rest of class went smoothly, and when the four marauders headed off to transfiguration, everything was on track for a day prior to the full moon.

In class they had been assigned to be turning owls into eyeglasses, but when James had produced four pairs of eyeglasses in varying degrees of beauty, he decided to transfigure Sirius's hand into a lobster claw instead. Professor McGonagall saw this, and although she did not deduct any points, she did give a harsh reprimand.

"Mr. Potter, may I remind you again that we will not be starting human transfiguration until next year.

"But Professor, this is so much cooler than when I turned Peter's nose into a button!" James pointed out.

At this, Professor McGonagall suppressed a smile. With a wave of her wand she returned Sirius's hand to its normal state. "That, I will admit."

At the end of class the four boys were the last ones packing up, and McGonagall silently appeared behind them carrying a thick, brick red book in her arms. She handed it to James with a wink, and said "If anyone asks, you found this in the library. I'm not endorsing anything that you may or may not do with it." Switching to a more serious note, she then added for Remus "And Mr. Lupin, Madam Pomfrey would prefer if you came tomorrow when you begin to feel tired, not when you are almost asleep." She then shooed them from her classroom.

As they exited the room James examined the book with awe, fingers tracing the gold lettering that read Beginner to Intermediate Human Transfiguration by Shenoye Domeh.

James carefully placed it in his bag, and they advanced to lunch.

While the other three boys piled their plates high with food, Remus ate small bites of a roast beef sandwich. His drinking glass lay abandoned and empty, and a small layer of sweat had appeared on his forehead, peaking beneath his sandy hair.

Peter was the first to notice, and filled the werewolf's glass with water before intently pushing it in front of him. "You need to eat." The short boy said stubbornly as he piled food onto the sandy haired boy's plate.

"No, I really don't," replied Remus, casting a disgusted look at his usual favorite potatoes that had been forcefully laden onto his plate. "I'm fine." He said, pushing the dish away.

At this Sirius turned to face the table, facing away from the Ravenclaw girl with whom he had been making plans to meet up with later. He scoffed at Remus, who was maneuvering his uneaten potatoes around his plate with his fork. "No, you're not fine. Pete's right, you need to eat. It's not like you're gonna eat anything real tomorrow, or the day after!" At this Remus tried to protest, but Sirius persisted, "I don't care if you can't keep it down, at least try. As the oldest here, I insist that you eat your lunch," concluded Sirius, flashing one of his infamous mischievous smiles.

Remus rolled his eyes at this. "I'm not one of your hookups, Black." However, he succumbed, and ate a few forkfuls of potato.

When the quartet was done eating, they were going to head off to the library to spend their last twenty minutes before class. "Well, I'm going to head off to the toilet," said Remus sadistically. "I can feel those potatoes coming back up."

James nodded, for his face did look rather green. "Do you want us to come with-," he started, but Remus interjected.

"No, no. I have Arithmancy after and you lot have Care of Magical Creatures in the opposite direction. I'll meet up with you afterwards for Defense."

The other three boys argued, but in the end Remus won and hurried off in the other way to the bathroom. He walked in cautiously, and upon seeing that the room appeared empty, he moved with more urgency. He checked all of the stalls in case they might be occupied, and then ran into a stall. He felt nauseous and knew that his lunch would be coming up any moment. Quickly, he cast the silencing charm as a protective spell around his stall door, making him silent to anyone who might be outside. The room felt as if it was on fire, and he removed his robes, trying to cool down his feverish body. He loosened his tie, gasping for air. He threw his bag to the ground, and leaned over the toilet, begging for it to be over. He squeezed his eyes shut, and tried not to breathe in the putrid air of the toilet. He could feel his lunch being pushed out of his stomach, and crawling up his throat like a snake. When he could hold it no longer, he opened his mouth and let it all come out, the sandwich, the potatoes, even his breakfast seemed to be mixed in there.

He flushed it away, and began to put himself back together. When he was fully in uniform, he emerged from his stall to see himself in the mirror. He winced when he saw the sickly looking reflection looking back at him. His face was pale and clammy looking, and his eyes appeared to be bloodshot. His sandy colored hair, which was usually well brushed and groomed, appeared wild, more like James' then his self. Tentatively, he ran his hands through it and- yup, it was thicker than normal. He ran his hands up his arms, and could feel that the hair there was also thicker than usual. There was no use denying it, the wolf was fast approaching.

After swallowing a few more Advils and splashing some cold water on his face, Remus at last deemed himself appropriate to leave for class. He found that he only had five minutes, to get there, and set off in a hurry.

He was relieved when he arrived on time, for although all of his teachers were sympathetic towards his condition, Professor Vector did not tolerate tardiness. Remus was relieved when class started, for he really did like the subject. The numbers were constant and non -changing, and the material came easily to him. It was an easygoing class, for they did not have to practice wandwork or incantations, but only sit at their desks and solve equations. Remus allowed the work to engulf him, and when he exited the class an hour later he felt noticeably distressed. However, he knew that that would not last long.

He arrived to Defense rather early, and took a seat near the back of the room as he waited for the rest of the Gryffindors and Slytherins to appear. There were a few Slytherins who took Arithmancy as well, but they were seated towards the front of the class today. Then, a few more Gryffindors arrived from Muggle studies, and at last, the rest of the class came from Care of Magical Creatures. As the final wave of kids trudged in, Remus noted that Lily avoided eye contact with Severus, and while they normally sat near or next to each other, today they sat at separate ends of the classroom.

"Did they get in another fight during class?" Remus asked Sirius, keeping his voice at a low whisper.

"Something like that. They were bowing to the same hippogriff and then she was yelling at him, something about not appreciating the beauty of animals." He responded, making sure that James could not hear him. "I still don't get why she talks to him though, everyone knows he's a bloody bastard."

At this point, Professor Tressona came before the class and told them all to take out their wands. Remus had to admit, he thought Profesor Tressona to be a rather good teacher, and thought it a shame that something horrid would happen to her by the end of the year. When Peter had scolded him for being too morbid, Remus had simply replied with "It's true though! No Professor has lasted longer than a year at that post in over a decade!" Well aware of this, Professor Dumbledore had chosen not to tell her of Remus's condition, should she go insane (it's happened before) and reveal his secret. Although Dumbledore made sure that it was understood not to reprimand Remus for his missed work, Professor Tressona had no clue about Remus's sensitivities. Perhaps if she did, she wouldn't have chosen today to practice the Reducto charm. Nothing like exploding objects to help with acute senses.

They were all supposed to be practicing exploding targets from fifteen feet away. While usually Remus was first to step up and show off in Defense Against the Dark Arts class, today he chose to hide behind the mayhem that was James and Sirius. They had decided that hitting their own target was boring, and opted instead to aim for everyone else's target. Still, there was not much that could be done to soften the noise. The sounds of explosions were everywhere, a deafening din that filled the room. A few of the Slytherin girls had stuffed their fingers in their ears, and Remus shamelessly chose to follow in their footsteps. Still, his face had turned even paler, and the sheet of sweat had returned. He could not have been more thankful when after fifteen minutes, Professor Tressona told them to stop.

"You all seem to be hitting the target, so we're going to try something a bit harder. Everyone get into four lines! The object is going to be to hit the coffee can from 35 feet away! The aim is for everyone on line to hit the can twice, first line to succeed doesn't have to write the essay due next week, which will be twenty inches on why reducto is useful during a battle against multiple opponents! "

The class scrambled to break into four lines, everyone trying to get the better students. The marauders got together with their friends, resulting in a line that was a force to be reckoned with. Remus was first, followed by James, Sirius, and Peter. Behind them was Frank Longbottom, a smart friend of theirs, followed by Marlene, Alice, Mary, and Lily. Lily had opted to go twice, as their line was the shortest by one person.

Professor Tressona placed a coffee can 35 feet in front of every line, and on the count of three, each line leader began to fire the spell. Remus's first attempt hit it dead on, leaving a rather impressive dent in the can. Almost simultaneously, a deafening wave of noise fell over the room. His face contorted in pain, and he clutched his hands over his ears. The pounding in his head was almost louder then the noise, and for a moment, Remus struggled to see straight.

Everyone else fired his or her second spell, and nearly everyone hit the target. As the rest of the class scrambled for their second person to go, Remus was still shaking his head, trying to regain clear vision. James and Sirius were muttering words of encouragement behind him, while Peter nervously bit his lip.

You're stronger than this Remus thought to himself. In a surge of clarity, he cast the spell, hitting the mark dead on. He ran to the back of the line, and James made up for any lost time by firing his two spells in rapid succession, each one colliding perfectly with their intended target. Sirius followed, his quick time putting them ahead of everyone else. Even Peter kept pace, although he required three spells in order to hit the mark twice. Professor Tressona watched from the sidelines, repairing the cans when they were blown to smithereens, and watching over all four teams.

By the time Lily stepped up for her double turn, they were just barely ahead of a Slytherin team on the opposite side of the room. The other team, noting this, began to jeer at them, yelling taunts at Lily, careful not to say anything that would anger Professor Tressona.

"Hey Liiiily!"

Her first spell blew the can to bits.

"Lily! Hey Evans, that was a pretty loud fight you were having during Care of Magical Creatures!"

Two lines over, Snape's spell missed the mark by an inch as he whipped his head around to see the tormenters.

Lily's next to spells just barely hit the mark. Meanwhile, the team they were tied with had their last person step up. Snape's awry spell had hit a table, and Professor Tressona hurried to put it back together. The Slytherins saw it as the perfect opportunity and spat out the last insult.

"Don't see why you're spending time with Severus. Everyone knows that you're screwing Potter. Pity he's so blind, maybe otherwise he would notice how ugly you are," one girl yelled, just as Lily's last spell hit the can with such force that people ducked as bits of debris showered down.

The entire class went silent in shock, staring at the Slytherin girls. Lily whipped around, her hair arching behind her as she turned to face her line. Her eyes were red, and she wore an expression of sadness and anger. That was all it took. Like one, five bursts of light headed towards the girls, leaving one silenced, one's legs had begun to dance uncontrollably, another one's tongue had grown two feet long and was an electric shade of green, and one girl had begun to sprout purple fur all over her body. The four marauders all looked at each other with a nod of respect as to what spell they had each chosen to use.

Professor Tressona appeared livid. "That's it! Girls, 40 points from Slytherin. Boys, 15 points from each of your houses."

It wasn't until then that Remus saw that they girl who had said the last insult, who along with having the long green tongue, her hair had also been turned into an obnoxious shade or orange. He looked around, and noticed that Severus was staring shamefully down at his feet, his greasy black hair falling over his face.

"Miss Evans' line, you are excused from the essay, everyone else, I want it on my desk by next Tuesday, no shorter than twenty inches! Class dismissed!"

The four mischief-makers exited the room, each carrying their own bag.

Turning to face his friends with grin on his face, Sirius exclaimed "Alas gentlemen, it appears we have a free now to end our day. Would you like to head to the common room, the library or…" he glanced around, lowered his voice, and cocked his eyebrow and gave the look that was typically followed by a scandalous activity, "…somewhere else to work on something else?"

James gave a smile that was like an open window to a breeze of laughter. "Remus, mate, you up to it?"

Remus gave an eye roll and a rather exasperated look. He stretched his arms behind him, wincing when the shoulder blades popped. It seemed like the activities in class had given him an energy rush. "Aren't I always?"

With that, the four boys set off. They started up the stairs towards the owlery, going all the way up to the fourth floor. Remus gripped the handrail the entire time. They walked past a suit of armor, up a spiral staircase, and stopped in the middle in front of a large landscape painting of a unicorn in a field. It was in fact however, a door, and when Sirius ran his long finger down the horn of the animal, it swung open as if he had pushed it.

They filed into the room, and Peter ran to open the blinds. They had tested it from outside, and found that even when the windows were open, the room was impossible to spot from outside the castle. It was as if it didn't exist. He stopped by the corner, where an enchanted bucket of ice held a mix of butterbeers, as well as some domestic muggle beers that Remus had brought after winter break. Sirius was particularly fond of them and never missed an opportunity to try a new kind. Peter grabbed two beers for James and Sirius, as well as two butterbeers for himself and Remus. He placed each bottle in front of its intended drinker, and pretended not to notice when Remus put his back in the bucket.

James opened his bag and rifled around for something, a look of puzzlement on his face. "It's not in-"

Sirius procured a large, seemingly blank piece of parchment from his own bag. "Of course it's not there, I nicked it this morning."

James gave him an affectionate, yet effective, elbow to the ribs. "Git."

The boys each plopped into a chair, and Sirius spread the parchment out in front of them. He touched his wand to the parchment and stated; "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Like silk thread, words began to appear on the parchment "The Marauder's Map" it read in large swirly letters. "I still think we should add more to that," said Peter.

"Hush, we'll get to it," chastised Remus.

The map continued to seemingly write itself, until a large network of passages were displayed in front of them, stopping abruptly near the upper left side. "So did you manage to find out-," Peter began, before Sirius interrupted him.

"Course I did, where do I think I was last night, I found out everything I needed from that Ravenclaw girl from lunch."

"My dear friend, one day you will be skinned by a mob of vengeful witches," stated James as he took a swig of beer.

"I look forward to it."

Turning back to the task at hand, Sirius looked to the map. "There's another hallway heading west from the Great Hall. It forks off right there," he pointed "and the one on the left leads to Ravenclaw tower. On the right seems to be another way to make it to the dungeons."

Remus drew all of this out with a quill, checking for Sirius's approval. Upon receiving it, he cast a linking charm, so that the spell on the rest of the map would extend to the new area.

"I think there might have been another hidden passage, but one of you needs to come with me, I think it might lock from the inside."

The four of them checked over the map, fixing minor errors when they came across them. Outside, the sky darkened, changing from bright blue to a cerulean color. Eventually, Remus placed his head against the table and began to doze. At this James checked his wristwatch, and exclaimed in whispered surprise "Merlin, dinner's in twenty minutes, and we need to get him back to the dormitory," jerking his head toward the dozing boy among them. He pointed his wand at the parchment and whispered "Mischief managed," and watched in awe as the ink on the map retreated, until it was nothing more than a blank piece of parchment once again.

"So, should we wake him up?" Peter asked.

"No, no." James gave a knowing smile, and reached into his bag once again. He pulled out his shimmery invisibility cloak, and handed it to Sirius.

"It's not fair! All my family's got is silver, you get an invisibility cloak!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Pete, help me… no grab the other arm," together, the two boys managed to hoist Remus onto James back, so that he was in a piggy-back position. Each boy was proficient in the art of carrying a sleeping werewolf, as Remus often fell asleep in odd places in days leading up to the full moon. When he was just tired, Peter would often support him. When he was only half conscience, Sirius would prop him up. But when he was completely asleep, James was the one entrusted to carry him, as he was the strongest of the three, and had been taller than Remus until recently, when he had sprouted up.

Sirius covered Remus with the cloak, and Peter grabbed both Remus's and James's bags.

Remus was vaguely aware of movement happening beneath him, but it barely registered. He did not know how much time had passed, but he stirred slightly when he felt himself be lay down in his soft bed. He didn't even realize that he was cold until blankets appeared over his shivering body.

"We'll be back soon" managed to make its way into his subconscience, although he didn't know who had said it.

As he drifted away to the dark abyss of sleep, he knew that it would be a long night.