Remus sat alone in the Gryffindor common room. Outside the window black clouds were gathering, threatening the Earth with rain. Remus stared into the fireplace, lost in thought.
"Hey, Moony!" called a familiar cheery voice "We're away to prank Slytherins, want to come?"
James, Sirius and Peter had just come down the stairs leading to the boys' dorms, all wearing the same mischievous smile they always had when planning pranks.
"Not in the mood." Remus grunted.
"Oh come on!" Sirius whined, sitting next to Remus, "It'll be fun, take your mind off tonight, and we'll be done way before the moon comes up."
Remus almost flinched as Sirius said the last three words. He would have continued his protest, but he was too tired and too full of dread, so he allowed himself to be lead from the common room. He hadn't even realised they were already in the dungeons until a girl with long, red hair came walking towards them, her eyes intent on James.
"What are you lot up to?" Lily asked, suspiciously.
"Nothing!" James answered, a little too quickly perhaps, because Lily's eyebrows narrowed and she placed her hands on her hips.
"Okay, come into this classroom, and we'll explain." He muttered, realising Lily's look of disbelief and casting a nervous glance at the end of the corridor.
They all entered, and Remus, who had hesitated before entering, made to close the door, but it swung shut itself, unnoticed by the others, he turned around, his mind on more important things than self-shutting doors.
The room was dull and dingy, the dust covered windows were the only source of light, the cold stone floor was covered in dirt and a desk was over-turned in the far corner. The chalk board read "Peeves was here!" followed by a number of rude swear words and insults directed at the caretaker, Filch. This classroom had not been cleaned for years, never mind used to teach. The room had an air of neglect and the smell of decay settled itself all around them and trapped them in its horrid stench.
"Can we hurry this up, James?" Remus muttered, his face growing darker each minute.
"Right, here's the plan." James announced, very seriously, "We get under the cloak and follow a Slytherin into the common room, then we set off about ten dung bombs and leg it out of there."
Lily looked shocked, Peter nervous, James and Sirius were excited, but Remus, he was looking out of the grimy window, to see the sky was streaked with yellow and pink. Sunset.
"Guys, it's sunset, I'm going to head to the hospital wing." he said, his voice nearly shaking.
He swung around and headed to the door, but stopped "You will come, right?" he asked.
"'Course we will!" James and Sirius answered together.
Remus turned again to open the door, he pushed down against the handle, but it didn't move. He let go, and tried again, yet, it still did not move. He began to panic; he stood there forcing all his weight upon the handle, which still would not open. He slammed his fist hard into the door, his friends jumped round to look at him.
"It's stuck." He croaked, his face darker than ever.
Sirius blinked at him, then went over to the door and tried to push it open, then James started to help too, but their combined strength was not enough to shift the door. Peter, Lily and Remus stood, watching the two boys struggle, all looking worried. Then James and Sirius started firing every curse they could think of at the door, so the room was full of flashes, cracks and bangs.
"Stop it!" Lily cried, "You're going to hit one of us!"
James and Sirius immediately ceased their storm of curses and jinxes and turned to face Lily, Peter and Remus.
"I don't see what's so bad," Lily began, quietly, looking from one James to Sirius, "they'll find us, maybe not for a couple of hours but…"
Lily stopped at the look on James and Sirius' faces, a warning. They all glanced at Remus, who had sunk to the floor, his back against the door.
"Lily, in an hour there will be a murderous monster trapped with us." Remus stated simple, looking at his feet.
"Don't say that about yourself!" Sirius yelled, angrily.
"It's the truth." Remus said, calmly, much to James and Sirius' annoyance.
"Will someone please tell me what the hell is going one here?" Lily shouted, looking from Sirius to Remus, confusion and frustration etched on her face.
"Lily, I'm a werewolf." He spat, with disgust and shame.
He looked at Lily, expecting her to run screaming or to proclaim that he was vile and threaten to kill him. What he did not expect, was the warm understanding "I figured it out ages ago" look she gave him. Lily took a few steps forward and pulled Remus into a hug, and Remus hugged her back, glad of someone to hold on to, relieved at her touch, as if he was transmitting his panic, pain and grief into her.
"Remus, I don't care if you're a werewolf! I wouldn't care if you had two heads or had the body of a dragon, just as long as you stayed the amazing man you are now."
Remus smiled.
"Moony! This is exactly what Prongs, Wormtail and I have been telling you for years!" Sirius exclaimed, sounding annoyed.
Remus stood up and began pacing, Lily being so understanding seemed to bring back his grip. He stopped by the door and stooped down, lying flat on his stomach, he tried to peer through the gap and between the door and the floor.
"Err, Moony," James asked, looking confused at his friend, "what are you doing?"
"I'm trying to see if the enchantment is on the the door handle or the door itself, because if it is just the handle…"
"We would have been able to break down the door with our curses." Sirius interrupted.
"Not necessarily, but it doesn't matter anyway, because it is the curse is on the whole door."
"So we're screwed." James said.
Everyone scowled at him. Outside the window the sky was a vast inky-black, there were clouds directly above the trees in the forbidden forest. The clouds were obscuring a large circle from view, only just visible from behind them because of its' bright light.
Seeing this Remus began to panic again. He felt sweat on his forehead and his arms. He felt his voice break as he told the others the moon was up, but as soon as the clouds parted…
A wave of icy fear washed over every one of them. James took Lily by the hand and dragged her under the dis-used teachers desk, where she was completely blocked from view. Peter whimpered and transformed into the tiny little rat and scurried away.
Remus sat at a desk, his body heating up; he kept glancing nervously out the window, as sure enough the clouds were beginning to break. Sirius and James sat on either side of him, no one said anything, but they knew they were all thinking the same thing, will they all make it out of this one?
The clouds parted at the same moment the three of them looked to check. The reaction was instant. Remus lost all control of his body. His arms and legs started sprouting fur, his face was elongating, and his toes broke out of his shoes. His shirt ripped his teeth stretched and Sirius and James jumped out of their seats and ran to the desk, behind which Lily was hidden.
Remus howled a long, lonely note, then sniffed the air. Human. He smelt human. He lumbered a step forward, looking around at the room. With one sudden swish of his paw the desk to shoved aside and those hidden beneath it where now in plain sight.
A burst of red light, a bang a high-pitched scream, several yells and a wolf-like whimper. James, Sirius, and Lily turned to the door, framed in the eerie light of the torches was Albus Dumbledore. He shouted at them to run, as he and Professor McGonagall ran forwards to help secure Remus and take him to the Shrieking Shack.
They didn't need to be told twice. They ran. Sirius, last to leave looked back;
"Professor Dumbledore, please don't hurt him." He pleaded, his eyes full of fear and longing, before he ran off, after the others.