A werewolf howled. A dog barked. A mouse squeaked faintly, and a stag rustled through the Forbidden Forest ahead of them. The Marauders were hidden under layers of dark branches and a canvas of leaves, despite the bright, full moonlight.
The wolf ran ahead of the stag in pursuit of a small forest animal no one else had noticed, and the others followed him.
'Cause nobody wants to be the last one there, everyone wants to feel like someone cares.
The bear-like black dog growled playfully towards the shiny gray rat, almost luminescent in the dark forest. The rat squeaked, scurrying towards him, and the dog started hopping around him with its two front paws.
Finally catching the animal, the wolf watched it squirm for a moment, before proceeding unto what he did with tiny woodland creatures every month. The stag rotated his attention from the wolf to the dog and rat, until he decided with the much less gruesome choice – although still keeping a well-trained eye on the creature-devouring animal.
Someone to love with my life in their hands; there's gotta be somebody for me like that.
A twig snapped nearby, and all four animals' ears pricked up, their dark, luminescent eyes staring in the darkening distance. The wolf was the first to move, darting into the familiar forest. The dog hurried after him, with the other two animals in tow. Padfoot saw his tail disappearing around a corner, but before he could get there, a branch that Moony had unknowingly held before him whipped around and hit him in the chest. Stumbling backwards, the dog knocked over the stag on his way to the ground, also causing the rat to fall off of his perch on Prongs's antlers.
"Moony!" Sirius called an hour later, still unable to find the werewolf. It was nearing dawn and the moon was getting lower and lower in the sky: They had to get him back into the Shrieking Shack and get back into their dormitory before anyone else found out.
"Where the bloody hell is he?" James swore, ducking behind a bent and gnarled tree for the third time that night. "He never runs off like this!"
Remus had run off before, but James was right: It was never like this. "Let's just hope he hasn't eaten Peter yet," Sirius muttered, casting a glance around for the small gray creature that had wandered off ten minutes ago.
"Let's hope he hasn't eaten a student yet," James corrected, although it really wasn't anything to joke about. They both knew that if Remus went within twenty yards of a student or any other person he'd probably be carted off to Azkaban.
'Cause nobody wants to go it on their own, and everyone wants to know they're not alone.
Moony ran through the deep woods, looking for something he didn't even know he was pursuing. He could hear the others shouting for him – Sirius especially, for he was the loudest – but he ignored them, too engrossed in his activities.
Animals scurried around him, trying to get away, and he ignored them too, running though the forest without a thought, not knowing where he was going or who was leading him. The small part of him that was still human was begging him to go back, either to the other Marauders turned into animals or to the Shrieking Shack, but the werewolf almost always won arguments like that.
He wasn't even sure which way he was going anymore, winding through trees and avoiding bushes – for all he knew, he was going backwards.
Tonight, out on the street, out in the moonlight; and dammit, this feels too right.
Padfoot's head whipped around, ears making a slight whistling noise in the process. He was sure he had just heard the werewolf not too far off in the distance. Prongs and Wormtail were still far behind him, but he pursued the subject nonetheless.
He soundlessly changed back into Sirius once he was out of the way of the trees and bushes, straining his eyes for any sign of the light brown creature. "Goddammit Moony," he whispered breathlessly, staring at the animal in front him. He didn't know why Moony had stopped, but he was facing the same way Sirius was, his furry back facing him.
Moony's ear twitched, but he didn't turn around. Sirius's eyes looked towards the sky – oh, bloody hell. The sun was coming up, flecks of red and orange peeking up through the trees.
It's just like Déjà Vu, me standin' here with you.
Sirius knew better than to call for James or Peter, so he merely stared at the werewolf, his body paralyzed. This had never happened before! Moony had run off dozens of times before, but never for this amount of time, not right before the sun came up. He knew that the werewolf knew that too, the way he was just standing there looking up at the sky. As quietly as he could, Sirius transformed once again, creeping up behind him. Maybe he could guide him back to the Shack, or at least closer to the edge of the forest where it would be easiest to get him out. When he was an inch in front of him but still to the side, his black eyes like looked up towards Moony's face, saw that his pupils were dilated, half way between Remus and Moony.
Growling slightly, he nudged the werewolf's thigh with his nose, causing him to look down with a curious whine. His ears wiggled faintly, and Padfoot knew they didn't have much time left. He started towards the general direction of the Shrieking Shack with a final flick of his tail, and thankfully Moony followed him, at a much slower pace than last time. Sirius could see the faint outline of the Shack ahead of them as he quickened his pace, glancing back to see if Moony was all right. The latter could run faster than him if he wanted to, but at that moment, he seemed to be going the same pace as Peter on a regular basis.
Could this be the end? Is it that moment when I'll find the one that I'll spend forever with?
Finally arriving at the Shack, the sun was well up in the sky now, and Remus was over halfway transformed. Just in case, he had decided to stay in his dog form until Remus was completely human again. Padfoot nuzzled up against the shaking boy, licking his wounded and scarred chest. This would look quite, quite odd if he had been Sirius at the moment, but dogs could get away with anything. Remus had transformed fully back into his usual form, although still shaking and completely pale – and, as usual at this time, naked. He looked down at the large black animal, a small, weak smile coming to his face. He shakingly wrapped his arms around the animal in a hug, and the two stayed like that until Remus fell asleep a short while later. Padfoot carefully transformed back into a human, but he didn't shift his position, and Remus didn't appear to wake up; although he could've sworn he felt his arms wrap more protectively around him.
The sun was fully risen now, a bright yellow ball in the sky, and Sirius estimated it to be five-thirty or so in the morning. James and Peter were probably still off looking for them in the forest, or maybe they had already left to go back to bed before they were discovered. Either way, Sirius was quite content where he was.