*DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING OF OR BELONGING TO HARRY POTTER AND ITS UNIVERSE.*

Chapter 1: The Shrieking Shack

"Prongs! Prongs, wake up! Oh for Merlin's sake..." Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin were all crowded around James Potter's bed. Each had a special nickname symbolising them in unique ways: Sirius - Padfoot, Peter - Wormtail, Remus - Moony, and James - Prongs. It was very late at night, probably one or two in the morning, and the three fourth year Gryffindors had jumped out of bed to do some mindless exploring, only to find that their oh-so-mighty, confident and charming leader, and of course, friend, was dreamily snoring away to glory in his bed, oblivious of his gang.

"Prongs!" Peter shook James' arm, in attempt to wake him up, though this resulted in nothing more than a slight stir. Holding his wand, which was currently illuminating the room, Peter turned desperately to Sirius and Remus.

"What now? He's won't budge!" Sirius merely smirked.

"This ought to do it." Sirius rummaged inside his small leather sack he was carrying, and pulled out a bottle containing some kind of liquid. Then, he opened the lid and poured the contents on James' snoozing expression. There was a pause, a moment before -

"Aah! Ugh, what the... Ugh!" James furiously blinked his eyes, wiping his face with his sleeve, while simultaneously hacking and coughing. Satisfied, Sirius put his curious flask back in his sack.

"Wake up sleepy head, we're going exploring." Remus smiled at James' frustrated face, he being the kindest of all. James frowned at the lot, putting his round black glasses on.

"You... Padfoot... What was it you threw on my face? You're all a bunch of foul gits, you know that right?" James grumbled, whilst Sirius just snickered.

"You left us no choice," he replied. James still looked angry, however.

"Why couldn't you just call my name?" Prongs questioned. Peter looked up at that comment.

"I did. But you wouldn't move a muscle!" Remus watched them all bickering, then glanced at his watch.

"Listen. If you all want to chat, great," he said, in a hushed tone. The other three stopped to look at their dear friend Moony. "But if you want to go exploring, I suggest we leave right now. James' already wasted twenty minutes."

"Where are we?" Peter asked, his wand in one hand. The quartet had silently left the Gryffindor dormitories after Remus' much appreciated rational speech. They were now outside, facing away from Hogwarts and looking beyond, ahead toward the endless forests and trees and hills ahead.

"Don't ask me," Remus replied, standing next to Peter. It was a chilly night, and every breath of theirs made a whisp of smoke. Sirius and James looked at the other two as if they were mad.

"You're not meant to know where you're going if you're truly exploring!" James said, exasperated. "Come on then!"

They all walked down, towards the Forbidden Forest. They were still a fair bit away, when they heard a loud thump. Sirius was the first one to see it, of course.

"Bloody hell..." Sirius said, astounded by what stood before him. "What is... that?" The others turned around, and met the same awe, though Remus seemed pretty sure of himself.

"Its the Whomping Willow. Known for, you know, whomping things. And people. Quite dangerous, if you ask me." They all stared at the tree for a couple more seconds, before James piped up again.

"Lets take a closer look," he said, running closer to the plant, bursting with enthusiasm. Sirius and Peter followed, though Remus stayed put.

"I wouldn't do that," he called out, alarmed. "The Whomping Willow has a tendency to- " Remus got cut off because right then, one of the big, bulky branches of the willow thundered down of Peter. And then on Sirius. And then on James. And then on Sirius again. And then on Peter. The three ran around wildly, trying and failing to dodge the roots and branches of the violent willow, while Remus stood back, amused.

"Moony!" Sirius screamed. "Help - ow! - us!" He had his arms in the air and was runnng around like a mad man. Of course Remus had no intention to save his proud friends, it was much to fun watching them flail ever-so-gracefully. But then again, that wasn't who Moony was.

After a lot of struggling and jumping and slashing, Remus managed to untangle the rest from the Whomping Willow.

"Oh Merlin," Sirius began, pawing at his graze on his cheek. "That's some tree..." They all nodded in agreement, still in shock of what they just experienced. Suddenly, James turned to them all, sharply. They returned his intense gaze, but with a lot more confusion.

"What?" Peter said, on behalf of Moony and Padfoot. He too had a gash on his knee, but he did not even look at it.

"I saw a hole. A passage of some sort." James said, still very intent. "Right there," he continued, pointing towards the bottom of the willow. "There, underneath the branches. I wonder where that goes..."

"Are you barking mad?" Sirius said, now his voice uneven. "That stupid tree nearly killed us. And now you want to go exploring it?" James grinned at Sirius.

"Yeah. Pretty much." Sirius' face melted into a grin itself.

"Very well. I suppose we all are barking mad... me especially..." At this, they all laughed.

"Alright, on the count of three, run to that hole over there," James said, motioning towards the gap at the trunk. "One..." They all stood up. "Two..." They got into their running positions. "Three!" The quartet ran as fast as they possibly could, and didn't stop until they had successfully fallen down that curious rabbit hole.

"Look! A passage!" Peter got up from his spot and began trudging towards the dark underground passage ahead of them. They had just slid down that hole at the base of the Whomping Willow, and found themselves in a rather odd looking clearing. It seemed as if they were, in fact, underground. The gang walked cautiously down the passage, flinching at every noise, and always having their wands at the ready.

The passage seemed to be going forever and ever and ever, until it came to an abrupt stop. There, before them, was a musty looking room. Everything was covered in at least an inch of dust, and the whole place looked pretty disorderly. There was a staircase that lead up to a second level. But the planks of wood holding it looked brittle and old. The group lowered there wands and explored the place with their eyes.

"Its... a house," Remus said, looking up and around in astonishment. "A house..."

"Oh, this is great!" Sirius said, a bit too enthusiastically. The others looked at him quizzically. "Remus, when's your next... When's do you next... When does..." Remus didn't need to comprehend what Padfoot's uncompleted sentences meant; he knew.

"Tomorrow," he said, quietly. "I guess it could work..." James was losing it.

"What are you two on about? Padfoot? Moony?" James just wasn't catching on. Peter, however, finally understood. He met Remus' eyes, and got a silent approval before he continued.

"Tomorrow is when Moony becomes, well... When Moony is affected by the moon," Peter said. "Tomorrow Moony become a werewolf. His true form. We tried to hide him every month, but now we have found this perfect hideout. Where we can really let Moony be himself." Peter admired the strange, shabby architecture around him.

"So your saying that we use this to hide Moony every month, until he changes back?" James asked, his gaze shifting from Sirius, to Remus, to Peter.

"Well, yes," Remus replied for Peter. "It would be we helpful. I wouldn't want anyone getting hurt because of... my monster."

"Well Prongs, almighty Prongs," Sirius said. "What do you say?" They all turned to James, each upholding a different expression. A small beam crept up James' face.

"I say, we have ourself a hideout shack!"