Disclaimer: I don't own any of this. And I will admit, that I got the idea for this plot from another story. This is hardly the same, though, so the plot and any new characters are very much mine.

WARNING: This might turn out to be slash. In fact, I'd say that is fairly likely. I will not give any further warnings.

Chapter One

It had all started in the middle of their second year. Well, Remus supposed that it had really been going on long before that, but no one had really noticed anything odd or unusual until about the time he and his friends entered their second year of school. People, important people, started disappearing. At first, the Ministry had tried to call it a coincidence when several of their employees, along with three of St. Mungo's most talented Healers all disappeared within the same year. Then, in fourth year the attacks began. They were mostly small at first, and seemingly random. One or two Muggles in London, a half-blood witch in Wales, two Muggle-borns in West Essex, all killed or tortured by unknown assailants within the same month and all seemingly unconnected. Only Albus Dumbledore seemed to believe that there was a connection behind these attacks, a greater threat than a bunch of Pureblood-crazed teenagers. The Ministry still insisted that there was no real danger, no threat to the wizarding world. They paid for their unwillingness to listen to reason when, in the summer before the Marauders' sixth year, the Minister of Magic himself was attacked in his very own home.

Things really began to pickup after that, now that there was irrefutable evidence that these attacks were planned out, and not random at all. Not long after the attack on Minister Bulwark's mansion, the Death Eaters as the attackers called themselves, became more open. They no longer recruited people to their cause in secret. Dark Magical creatures were sought out, resulting in the Ministry enforcing new restrictions on werewolves, vampires, and other such 'half-breeds'. The Ministry feared that they would go over to Voldemort's side if left open to their own devices. Half-breeds were also now more open to suspicion. If an attack occurred near the residence of a werewolf, that werewolf was brought in for questioning – and, more often than not, assumed to be guilty. Fear and prejudiceswept through the wizarding world in a great tide, splitting up families, friends, and even schools.

Until their sixth year, it had seemed to the Marauders that Hogwarts was the one place that couldn't be touched by war, or hatred, or even prejudice – as long as you ignored the Slytherins. However, Remus would still remember years afterwards the day that all changed. That change happened through a number of very different events. The first such event occurred on October 31, the morning after one of the largest attacks until that point.

Sirius groaned as he rolled out of bed, before taking a look at his alarm clock. It was nearly ten, but as it was a Saturday, he still felt it was much too early to be up. Nevertheless, Sirius mused, there was no point in trying to go back to sleep after he'd already gotten up.

After having a shower, Sirius decided that he'd let his friends sleep long enough. Pulling on a pair of Muggle jeans over his boxers, Sirius spotted James' curtains hanging open and grinned evilly. He picked up his wand from his bedside table and snuck over to his best friend's bed. Just as Sirius was about to cover him in green goo, James muttered, "Don't even think about it, Padfoot."

"How'd you know it was me?" Sirius asked, puzzled.

"You sing in the shower, mate. How did you not expect us to wake up - especially with your godawful voice,"Remus said cheerfully, as he climbed out of his own bed, getting ready for a shower himself.

"Oi!" Sirius said indignantly, as he threw a pillow from James' bed at the offending werewolf. "I'm not that bad. In fact, I think I'm rather good."

"Sirius, you think you're good at everything, but believe me, you're not," said James with an amused smile on his face.

Sirius pouted before remebering that it was time for breakfast. He brightened, saying, "Well, I know when I'm not wanted. I'm going down to breakfast without you lot, then."

The other Marauders took their seats next to Sirius ten minutes later. Remus was glad to note that he seemed to have calmed down a bit. "Mail here yet?" he asked Sirius, who shook his head.

"Nope. Why? You expecting something?" Sirius asked, glancing at the shorter, sandy-haired boy across from him.

Remus was about to answer when the Great Hall was flooded with owls. As he looked up, searching for his own family owl, Remus noticed that there seemed to be much more mail than was normal, especially after only a month of school. He glanced at the head table, and was surprised to see that rather than eating, almost all of the teachers seemed to be conversing tensely with each other. Remus frowned when he saw Professor McGonagall giving him an odd sort of look, almost like sympathy, before turning back to her conversation with Professor Dumbledore.

Before he could point out this strange behavior to his friends, Remus was pecked rather harshly on the wrist by a large and important looking barnowl he didn't recognize. The owl flew off as he relieved it of both the letters it was carrying. One of the letters was in a black envelope, instead of the usual white, and both had the Ministry of Magic Seal on it. He frowned as he began to open the letter in the white envelope, wondering what the Ministry could possibly want with him.

Peter, who'd noticed the letters asked, "Hey Moony, what you got there?" James and Sirius turned to him with curious expressions on their faces as well.

"Dunno," Remus said as he unfolded the letter. His friends were surprised and faintly concerned to see his face darkening with anger as he scanned the letter.

"What is it?" James asked, worry shining in his eyes. "Remus? What's wrong?"

As he finished the letter, Remus stuffed it back into its envelope. He took a deep, calming breath before answering, "The Ministry. Apparently, they have passed a new law, requiring all 'half-breeds' such as myself to report to the Ministry within two weeks of receiving this notification. I am supposed to submit to an 'interview', after which I am to be branded."

"Branded?" Sirius asked, his eyebrows raised in shock. "What do you mean, branded?"

Remus' face took on a decidedly bitter expression. "According to this," he said, waving the letter, "they are going to magically tattoo my registration number, as well as a symbol that represents werewolves onto my skin. It says that I could be stopped by anyone at anytime and asked to show my tattoo and I will have to comply. Basically, it people want to find out what I am allthey'll haveto do is ask to see my arm and they'll know," Remus said.

"But that's ridiculous! The only thing that'll do is make you a target for discrimination!" James said indignantly.

"I know," Remus said witha sigh. "But it's not like I've got much of a choice, is it? It says in this letter that if I don't comply with their directions within the given time period, I will be removed from school and placed in a concentration camp - if not Azkaban."

The others shuddered. Remus had told them about an experience he'd had with werewolf concentration camps a few years ago. By the sound of it, the only thing that made one of those places any better than Azkaban was the fact that the wizard prison was guarded by Dementors, while the camps were guarded by a magically-enforced silver fence.

"What's your other letter about?" Peter asked, trying to lighten the mood.

Remus had forgotten about the black letter. Opening it up, he took out a rather short message on official parchment. His expression froze as he read it.

"What is it now?" Sirius asked in concern.

Remus' eyes were filled with tears by the time he'd finished reading. He turned to the others, not bothering to hide the fact that he was crying. "There was another attack last night - in the village where I live," he croaked out. "Nearly half the townspeople were killed - including my parents and my little sister. My family's - they're - they're all dead."

A/N: Do you like it? Should I continue? Please review!