The Marauders had never been known for their subtlety. Everything they did was wild, loud, and almost disappointingly obvious. Prime examples included James' obnoxious attempts at winning over Lily Evans, and Sirius' blatant and cold disregard for the greater majority of his family. Remus and Peter alone could achieve any kind of nonchalance, and only on a good day. This was universally acknowledged as a curse, even by the boys themselves, and yet they never bothered to self-evaluate. This occasionally led to problems; maybe they would toe the line with a prank or get a little too overzealous with a joke. And yet they almost always managed to reign themselves in before anything got too out of hand.

Almost always.

Next to subtlety, the least of which the boys were known for was likely their sleeping habits, which would otherwise be of no interest to anyone; the boys were enough during the day. Worrying about them at night would have been too much for any sane person to handle. But on Friday November 25, only four months into their sixth year at Hogwarts, their sleep habits became surprisingly and unsettlingly relevant.

Sharing a room with best friends can be trying, to say the least, but the Marauders had something close enough to a routine that they were able to stay out of each other's hair. The less crowding, the better. It was surprising to no one that Sirius tended to go to sleep the earliest, unless prompted otherwise, in order to achieve adequate beauty rest. Remus and Peter followed next, the former later than the latter, in order to catch up on school work and readings he clearly couldn't manage during the daylight hours. James was nearly always the last of the group to hit the hay. Quidditch practice kept him energized well throughout the day and late into the night, hours which he spent practicing Wizards Chess, looking into new spells, and wandering the corridors and grounds in search of new secret passages and hidden treasures.

One particular night, one that was rather uninteresting in general terms, Sirius did not get to bed before James did. This in and of itself was odd, considering that in six years Sirius had only ever gone to bed so late when the rest of the group insisted it, or when something very (very) important occupied him. Peter alone had gone to bed, almost twenty minutes prior, his four poster curtains drawn protectively around to keep out the chill of the castle and the bright light from the stars – and the full moon. The time of the month being considered, Remus would be lying low in the shrieking shack, locked away to ensure his own safety, and the safety of his fellow students. Normally on such a night James, Sirius and Peter would have snuck out after his transformation had already occurred to romp around in the Forbidden Forest, but Remus had insisted that this once, they sat it out. Exams were fast approaching, and he promised that he could survive one full moon alone while they got their rest; he was already well ahead of them anyway.

And so as James prepared himself for bed, he had to wonder where Sirius had gotten off to. Maybe playing ladies man in a broom cupboard with a girl from another house, or even sneaking around the castle without him. He didn't dwell on it long, fairly certain that Sirius was just out making an ass of himself, and jumped into his bed without bothering to pull the curtains shut, throwing his glasses on his bedside table. Sprawling out with his face shoved into his pillow, James fell asleep in minutes, blissfully unaware of the danger brewing out on the grounds.

It was with a vicious start that James was woken from sleep, completely disorienting him. It seemed as though mere minutes since his head had hit the pillow, a fact that didn't make him any less irritable as he squinted his eyes to see who had the nerve to wake him. It was Sirius, wide awake and fully clothed, grinning like mad as he picked up James' glasses and shoved them onto his face, eliciting a sleepy cry of irritation. James had rarely seen Sirius so happy, but if he had said a word about it James hadn't heard. Making a waving motion with his hand James groaned and rolled over on his other side, not bothering to take off his glasses as he attempted to lull himself back to sleep.

"Did you see the time?" James asked, his mouth dry and seemingly full of cotton balls. It wasn't all that late; barely eleven, but he had been sleeping for near a half an hour. He didn't press further, just pushed his face further into his pillow and muttered, "Wanker." under his breath.

"Don't you even want to know why I'm awake?" Sirius asked, the pout in his voice all too clear. "I worked for this, you know."

James groaned again, attempting to cover his head with his second pillow. "I'm proud of you." His voice was so muffled it sounded more like "M prouf f ew", but he wasn't about to repeat himself. Instead he turned his head slightly to the side, allowing his mouth some freedom. "But can't it wait until morning?"

Sirius sighed heavily and crossed his arms, standing over the bed until James moaned in agony and removed the pillow from over his head. This was not out of character for Sirius, gloating about his accomplishments, although why he insisted upon doing it people were trying to sleep was a mystery. And so it was only one thing that dragged James into a sitting position; the determination that it had to be something good. Really good.

James ran a hand sleepily through his already plenty messy black hair, looking up at Sirius with half closed eyes. "All right. I'm up. What's your big accomplishment?" He yawned loudly and stretched his arms over his head. "The suspense is killing me."

His blatant sarcasm was ignored as Sirius planted himself on the edge of James' bed, his eyes alight. "Snivelly and I had a little chat today." James perked up immediately. Anything having to do with Snape had to be interesting. "I was out on the grounds before dark, when Moony was on his way to the Shack, right? And who else is out and about but our dear Snivs."

James' eyes widened and his heart dropped deep into the pit of his stomach. The last thing any of them needed was for Severus to find out about Remus' "furry little problem". He leaned forward, assumptions and questions flying through his head at a mile a minute, but he stayed quiet and waited for Sirius to continue. Once he decided that James' attention was properly captured, it was with a smug smirk that he did.

"He was very interested in what he and Pompom were up to, you see. So, I caught up with him and gave him a little…piece of advice." He let his words hang in the air, watching as James' slight smile faltered, as he didn't quite comprehend. "Which was…"

He leaned in closer, trying not to look too pleased. "I told him how to get into the Shack." He leaned back again, his grin having escaped the confines of his mouth, and waited for the congratulations. The pat on the back. Any encouragement whatsoever. Instead he got a wide-eyed look as James came to the slow realization of what he had done.

James turned his stare from Sirius to the full moon shining through the window next to his four poster. Severus would be walking in on Remus as a fully transformed and extremely dangerous Werewolf. He turned back to Sirius, and now his eyes were dark with fear and anger.

"What is wrong with you?" The words were spit, as if he could barely fathom that he was speaking them. He swung his legs over the side of his bed and stood, walking over to his window; and there, a tiny dark figure against a sea of green, was Severus Snape. He was far still from the willow; far enough that James could catch him, if he was quick enough. Sirius was trying to protest from behind him, but he ignored him entirely. Instead he bent down and grabbed the trainers next to his bedside table, yanking them on and turning to pull the t-shirt he had been wearing before he fell asleep off of the floor and over his head. Last he grabbed his wand, and as he made to leave he pointed it directly at Sirius' face. The other boy looked completely affronted. "You crossed the line. This isn't over."

And without another word he was off, flying down the stairs and out into the common room. A few stragglers were still awake, getting in a bit of late night studying, but James ignored them completely as he burst from the portrait hole and made his way down to the ground floor. It took some time, (as it always did) but eventually he was hopping over a railing and booking it out onto the grounds, only able to hope that he wasn't too late.

Despite his obvious hatred for the greasy haired boy, he would never wish Remus' curse on him. Or death. Whichever was truly worse. That thought made him pick up his already frenzied pace, and soon enough the Whomping Willow was within eyeshot. He cast his eyes around for Severus, but couldn't find him; not until he looked down towards the tunnel, where Remus was waiting on the other side. He was slipping his way inside, eliciting a loud curse from James and forcing him to give an extra push. That extra momentum almost caused him to miss the entrance entirely, but there was a certain familiarity that came from ducking in and out of it on a monthly basis that gave him the instinct to duck and slide at just the right moment.

Once inside, it didn't take long for him to come up on Severus; although James was taller, he knew the tunnel like the back of his hand, and there was no hesitation in his movements. Without saying a word he crept forward and grabbed the back of Severus' collar, and began pulling him back towards the entrance of the tunnel. Severus put up a decent fight, but as he struggled to free himself from James' grasp, a long howl erupted from the shack that made both boys stop fighting at once.

James turned his head slowly, peering over Severus' shoulder towards the other end of the tunnel, and caught a flash of movement. And then another. It was a werewolf, large and vicious, scratching and snarling at everything within reach. Remus. Without waiting to be noticed or for Severus to open his mouth, James pulled hard on the other boy's collar and dragged him again towards the grounds, but this time there was no struggle. Severus' eyes didn't leave Remus until he was out of sight.

When they surfaced at last, James didn't hesitate to stab the knot on the willow with the first thing he saw (a rock directly in his path) or to throw Severus hard onto the ground. For a moment he let relief wash over him; they were both alive. It was more than he had been able to hope for. But when he looked down at Severus, his face overtaken with horror and revulsion, a tiny part of him wished that he had let him walk. He suppressed the cruel thought immediately.

"What the hell was that?" Severus' voice was eerily loud against the quiet chirping of crickets. Uncharacteristically, James scowled.

"That was me saving your ass. Now get up." He leaned down to pull Severus up from the ground by his bicep, but Severus shrugged him off and scrambled to his feet. His chest was heaving and his eyes were huge and manic, and James noticed how he took two steps away.

"I ought to have known. Should have seen the signs…" He was muttering to himself, working out the clues that had been there all along, staring him in the face. James face twisted into a grimace as he took the few steps that separated them and lifted his wand, pointing it directly at Severus' chest.

"Let's move." He flicked his wand impatiently, but Severus merely stared. A new thought had occurred to him.

"Black trying to have me killed, is he?" Remorse flickered behind James' eyes, making Severus scowl. He didn't want to say that, particularly not in those words, but what other explanation was there? There were only two possible ways that Severus walking into the shack could have gone; he would have been mauled, or he would have been killed. James couldn't have said which outcome Padfoot had been leaning towards.

Rather than answer, he pointed his wand a little more aggressively. "Go on, then." Severus refused to move, reaching instead for his own wand. In response, James lifted his own wand to the other boy's face. "We can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way. The easy way you walk. Do you really want to find out what the hard way entails?"

With a sharp glare Severus lowered his hand to his side and turned on his heel, starting off towards the castle at a clip. James followed closely behind, his strides shorter to keep the same pace as the walking head of greasy hair ahead of him.

It was a silent walk to the castle and once they returned to the safety of the dimly lit stone walls, Severus turned his head slightly to the side, looking at James in his peripheral vision. "And where, may I ask, are we going?"

James didn't look him in the eye, just ushered him up the staircases and sighed heavily. "Dumbledore's office."

Severus sneered. "Oh, isn't that rich? I nearly walk to my death at the hands of a filthy werewolf," The word made James cringe, and he looked around to make sure no one was around to hear, "and yet I'm the one being forcibly dragged to speak with the headmaster. Where's your buddy Black, hm? Going to gather him as well?" James didn't say a word, and Severus sniffed. "As I thought."

It wasn't long before they reached the gargoyle that blocked the staircase to Dumbledore's office. Severus still lead the way, but it was James who called out the password when prompted, causing the gargoyle to slide sideways and reveal the spiraling staircase it hid. They both stepped on, Severus first, and allowed it to take them up to the door to Dumbledore's office. Again it was James who made the move, reaching around Severus to knock cautiously on the door and inciting a glare for it.

It was only a moment later that Dumbledore, in his dressing gown and slippers, opened the door to behold the two boys, both looking quite bedraggled. He peered at them over his half moon spectacles, eventually opening the door wider and stepping back to allow them entrance. "I can see there's a story here. Please, have a seat." He motioned towards his desk, where he had clearly been working before they arrived, and each boy dropped down as Dumbledore settled into his own chair.

"Now, what brings you boys to my office at this hour?" He looked at them each in turn.

James shook his head, and almost immediately delved into the story of the past hour. Sirius' stupidity, James' rescue and Severus' discovery, all covered to the last minute detail. As he spoke Dumbledore's face became more and more grim, as though this were the last thing he wanted to deal with, and yet was clearly not unexpected.

When James finished he leaned his head back on the chair, looking at Severus from the corner of his eye. He had his arms crossed defensively and was staring unpleasantly at the wall across from him. Even in Albus Dumbledore's presence he couldn't stop being so…brooding. After sitting back in his seat for a moment and thinking, the Professor set his fingertips together and examined Severus more closely.

"I hope you both realize the gravity of the situation. Mr. Snape, if not for Mr. Potter, I feel correct in saying that you would not have made it through the night. You owe him your life." Severus, who had already been sitting stoically in his seat, stilled like a deer in headlights. The last thing he needed was to owe a life debt to anyone, let alone James Potter. But he pushed that aside, just for a moment, speaking or the first time since they arrived.

"And yet what, may I ask, is a werewolf doing attending this school, Professor?" There was more than a little malice in his voice, although Dumbledore seemed unphased.

"Remus Lupin is a wizard, is he not Mr. Snape?" Severus laughed out in response. "Any student willing to learn is to be welcomed at Hogwarts School, and Mr. Lupin has been no exception. We have taken the necessary precautions, and up until tonight we have encountered no problems with the arrangements."

Severus rolled his eyes. "And how well has that gone over with the other students? The parents of those students? I'm sure they'd be perfectly fine with their sons and daughters sitting alongside a mangy, unpredictable, dangerous creature such as a werewolf."

James pushed his seat back and stood, trembling with rage. "You don't talk about Remus that way." His voice was just below a shout, but it was still loud enough that Dumbledore had to make a sitting motion with his hand. James took a few more quick breaths before falling into his seat, but not without muttering under his breath, "He's more of a man than you'll ever be."

Severus made to rise from his seat this time, but Dumbledore stopped him with a sharp glance, clearing his throat. "The parents and students have not been informed of the situation because, frankly, it is not anyone else's business but Mr. Lupin's, and those with whom he has chosen to share this information. That said," His tone gained a bit of an edge, "Mr. Lupin did not choose to share this information with you, which makes it all the more imperative that you do not speak of it to anyone."

Severus' mouth dropped. "I nearly died. Died because of that...monster." James' hand twitched, but he said nothing. "And you expect me to stay quiet about it?" He shook his head, greasy black hair flying about. "You're mad."

"That is exactly what I expect you to do. Mr. Lupin's school career, and future, both depend upon it. Now, if you cannot agree to cooperate on this matter I am afraid that I have other ways to ensure your silence, none of which I would like to resort to." After a long, unforgiving look at Severus, the Professor turned his attention towards James. "If you wouldn't mind, I would like a moment alone with Severus. You may head off to bed now."

James nodded his consent, standing slowly and starting towards the door. "And if you wouldn't mind," James turned back, "would you please inform Mr. Black that I would like to see him in my office first thing?"

James gave another nod, more curt this time, and made his way back down spiral staircase and out into the quiet of the castle. He stood for a long moment outside of the office, just taking in his thoughts, and then stepped out resolutely in the direction of the stairs. Several flights later he was outside of the Gryffindor common room, and then flying through it with rage flowing fresh through his body. By this time the fire had died and everyone was asleep, but that didn't stop him from storming his way up to the boys dormitory and bursting into the room he and six other boys shared. Including Sirius.

Only Frank Longbottom stirred, and only in his sleep, at James' entrance, but he was barely in the doorway a second before he brought his wand out and threw a spell at Sirius. His eyes opened briefly before he was tossed from the bed, eliciting a yelp of surprise and confusion from the floor where he landed. He poked his head up over the side of the bed, staring wide eyed at a heaving and disheveled James. No one woke, although there was a decent amount of mumbling from the others as James went around Sirius' four poster and bore down on him.

"What the bloody hell was that about?" Sirius whined pathetically, cringing away from the cold fury that burned in James' hazel eyes.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?!" He was trying his best not to shout, spitting the words between his teeth. "You do realize that you almost just sent a student into the open arms of a full fledged werewolf, right?" He was as quiet as he could manage, but he still looked around impatiently to be sure none of the other boys were awake; they were all snoring soundly.

Sirius seemed unaffected by the fact that James presented him with, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. "It's not just a student, you know. It's Snape. He deserved it." Sirius frowned. "Sticking his nose where it doesn't belong, getting into other people's business."

James stood up straight and gripped his hair, as though it was going to fall out at any moment. "Do you realize that you would have been expelled? Expelled! Forcibly removed from the place you yourself have called home." He looked beyond exasperated. "And Remus!" He put his arms out in desperation. "If he had killed him, do you really think he would have ever forgiven you?"

Sirius at last looked, at least, perturbed. He rubbed the side of his face anxiously, and beads of sweat began to form at his brow. James sighed deeply and ran a hand through his hair, turning and marching towards his own four poster. He sat down on the edge and glared at Sirius, pulling off his shirt and crawling under his comforter. Before he bunkered down for the night, his muscles aching, he called over to Sirius, who was just climbing back onto his bed, "You have an appointment to see Professor Dumbledore in his office tomorrow morning, first thing." He paused briefly, and then finished with, "And I am going to tell Remus."

If James had been watching his friend, rather than covering himself with all of his blankets and trying for some sleep, he would have seen the blood leave his face and a look of sheer horror. He started to beg, desperate for his silence, but James wasn't listening. He was drifting off to sleep, beginning to dream of monsters and jokers and a girl with fiery hair.