Sirius sighed and tapped his quill on his forehead, deep in concentration. Centaurs. Gah, no second year should ever have to write an essay on that, even during detention. He admitted to himself he knew next to nothing about them, so wrote a few paragraphs on what he did know, then gave up. Clearwater couldn't punish him for not completing an impossible punishment after all... well he hoped not.

He started to scribble on the desk to pass the time, but the charmed quill flew out of his hand and initiated a brutal assault on his head, considerably harder than Sirius had been tapping a few minutes previously. The Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher, Professor Clearwater, walked in to find one of her brightest (and by far one of her worst behaved) students with arms flailing to ward off the attack. Stifling a laugh, she flicked her wand and the quill promptly fell to the floor.

"Having fun, Mr. Black?"

"Oh yes, Professor. The best detention I've ever had," came the sarcastic reply from under the table, as Sirius bent to pick up the now slightly bent quill.

"Excellent." She came to look over his shoulder at the parchment on his desk and frowned. "I think you'll find that was a werewolf, not a centaur. I'm off to drop off these books with the headmaster. I'll return in about 15 minutes when your detention will be over. I expect you to sit in silence until then if you are finished with that." She pointed at the parchment, then left, charming the door again to make sure he couldn't get up to any mischief, although she was quite sure he could find some way around it anyway. He usually did.

Five minutes later, he sat with his feet propped up in front of him and his head on the table behind, counting the tiles on the ceiling, when he heard a funny hissing noise. Confused he looked around the room before realising the sound was coming from his bag. As he opened it the hissing became clearer. "Psst! Sirius! Psst! Sirius, you idiot!"

Mentally kicking himself, he pulled out one half of the new two way mirror he and James found on one of their many trips to the caretaker's office. "It takes one to know one, James!" He grinned at his best friend in the mirror, who rolled his eyes.

"You know all the great comebacks. I take it Clearwater's out the way?"

"Indeed. If she hadn't have been, I'm sure half the classroom would be turned upside down in search of the mysterious, dark magic causing the hissing." They laughed. It was a long running joke that Professor Clearwater was extremely cautious about the dark arts. There was a rumour that she had been threatened by He Who Must Not Be Named, but very few actually believed it. "So what do you want? I'm very busy doing nothing, you know. Oh drat. I just thought. You made me lose count of the tiles!"

James sighed dramatically. "I'm terribly sorry. How ever will you live? Listen. It's Remus. What do you think? That comment Snivellus made earlier got him worked up. It's just... odd. The way he reacted when we talked to him about it."

"I think we should leave him alone. If he wants to talk about it, he will."

James raised an eyebrow. "Of course you do. Now, last time he had a 'stomach bug', he disappeared all night- I woke up and he wasn't there. He must have left maybe two hours after dinner. He wasn't in the hospital wing, because being such a great friend I went to visit him to make sure he was alright. I just so happen to have an invisibility cloak on my persons, and I expect to see you at the Fat Lady after detention so we can follow him where ever he goes. Great, Slughorn's coming back out the cupboard. No arguments! I'll see you later."

Sirius saw his own face appear in the mirror, gaping out at himself as he tried to figure out what had just happened.

The clock down the hall had just chimed 7 when James threw his cloak over Sirius' head. "Why, hello there!"

"Look, I'm still not happy about this. Remus is our friend. It feels weird spying on him. What if it's nothing?"

"Then our minds will be at rest. Come on, you can't tell me you're not even the slightest bit curious? Shh!"

The portrait of the fat lady (who was looking rather confused at the disappearance of Sirius and the body-less voices) suddenly swung wide open and out came an uneasy looking Remus. He looked around the corridor before setting off on his way. James and Sirius hardly dared breathe in case they were heard, and were subconsciously very careful about their steps. Both boys were confused about the direction Remus was going. Down corridors, down stairs, up another corridor, past the great hall, and eventually they ended up outside a statue of a gargoyle. Why on earth had Remus taken them to the headmaster?

"James, Sirius, I know you're there. Please don't follow me. It's too dangerous. You have to trust me." James gave Sirius a look and covered his friend's mouth before he could reply. Did Remus really know they were there, or was he guessing? Should they give themselves up? James really was concerned about his friend and didn't want to leave him, especially if he was going to do something 'dangerous'. Remus whispered something, and the statue hopped to one side. James and Sirius made to follow, but it moved back into place again too quickly and they were forced to wait outside.

"Strange. Do you think he stays there all night? Surely not. And what's so dangerous about visiting Dumbledore... except those strange looks he gives you like he can tell what you're thinking..." James shuddered.

"Well we can't stay here all night. What now?"

"Give it ten minutes, then we'll think of something else."

"I don't like the way you say 'something else'."

"What's happened to your sense of adventure? We could work out the password...or maaaaybeeee..."

"I don't even want to hear what crazy plan you have as a 'maybe'. Besides, wouldn't it be a bit suspicious if the door opened and nobody came in?"

Luckily, they didn't have to find out. Once more the gargoyle moved out the way and out came Remus again, this time with the nurse, Madam Pomfrey, following. James turned to look at Sirius with confused look on his face. Was Remus really just ill? Why did he meet Madam Pomfrey in Dumbledore's office? They were off again. Down more hallways, up stairs, down stairs. They were outside now, walking along past the lake. They walked further from the castle and stopped beside the Whomping Willow. James and Sirius were both confused. This was certainly dangerous, but what were they doing here?

They watched as Madam Pomfrey levitated a stick and used it to hit a knot in the trunk. At once the braches stopped dead. Remus shifted and looked over his shoulder at them, which was unnerving as Sirius and James both knew they couldn't be seen. First Madam Pomfrey, and then Remus ducked down into a tunnel at the base of the great tree, and so they followed as close behind as they dared. It felt like they had been walking for hours, although it couldn't have been nearly that long. Being under the invisibility cloak in the narrow tunnel, James and Sirius had to carefully walk along one close behind the other, trying their best not to pull the cloak off accidentally, or step on each other's feet down the winding passageway.

Finally they came to a strange room with boarded up windows. A breeze blew in through a crack somewhere, giving them all goosebumps. Remus stiffened and a worried look flared in his eyes. Madam Pomfrey swiftly left. James and Sirius were angry at this. Remus clearly needed help, and she, the healer of all things, was leaving as quickly as possible.

James pulled the cloak off. "I warned you not to come," ground out Remus, in obvious pain, "but you didn't listen, did you?"

"What's going on?"

"I thought you would have worked it out by now. I'm a werewolf! There, I've said it. And if you don't leave you'll be in serious trouble, the pair of you. Please, I don't want to hurt either of you. You have to go now!"

"No! There has to be something we can do to help!"

Remus let out a howling yell and ached backwards. Nails turned into claws and hair started growing on his hands and face. James and Sirius both stepped backwards slowly, neither wanting to leave their friend. Only when the howl turned far more wolf like, and a horrible glint appeared in their friend's eye that was never there before, did Sirius pull James backwards with him, and both boys sprinted back down the tunnel.

The scuffling and howling came louder and more frequent, and the boys ran faster. There was no way they could out run a werewolf, and he wouldn't recognise his friends, just the smell of human flesh. The best they could do was put as much distance between them as possible and hope for the best. Duelling werewolves wasn't exactly on the Hogwarts curriculum. At least, not in first or second year. There was no telling what you could learn at a place like Hogwarts!

On and on they ran, footsteps echoing around them. The long, dark tunnel back wasn't easy to navigate and gasps and panting soon filled the stale air. Neither boy worried that they were possibly making enough noise for Madam Pomfrey up ahead somewhere to hear. It certainly didn't matter if Remus could- he would sniff them out eventually anyway. Their hearts told them to stay and help their friend, but there was really nothing they could do. It was the most crushing feeling they had ever felt. If they stopped, they'd be attacked and neither knew any spells which would be any use against a hungry werewolf. Even if they did, they would never be able to attack Remus.

Their only choice was to run on like cowards, back up to the safety of the castle and pull the covers of their warm beds over their heads like a child would, thought James angrily.

They stopped running by unspoken agreement. Both were exhausted. They couldn't keep going forever. A howl (distinctly non-human) split through the hall. This was followed by sniffling and heavy footsteps. Remus had picked up their trail. Groaning, they stumbled onward, praying for a starry sky ahead of them, or cool, clean air to wash over their faces.

Fear and paranoia spread like wild fire. Each turned every so often to make sure an over sized wolf wasn't about to come clawing at their backs. Every sudden noise or gesture caused them to jump and panic was creeping into their minds.

What if they didn't make it back? Nobody else knew they were down here. Pictures of the next day came unwillingly to their minds. How long would it take for someone to notice they were missing? Breakfast? The first lesson? How would Remus be able to live with himself knowing what he had done?

Then they felt something. A coldness brushed past their faces. Cold air! They were nearly out!

They sped up again. The howling and sniffing was much clearer now. They were so close! Remus was getting closer too. Could they make it in time? A swishing sound came into the edges of their hearing now. The Whomping willow was moving again. If they did get out, would they be able to get past the tree? A million and one questions arose in their minds as they stumbled onwards. Questions they didn't have answers to but wanted so desperately.

Suddenly they were walking up a slope. Looking up, tiny specks of stars were glowing in the endless dark. Occasionally the dots disappeared from view as a large branch swept overhead. They were almost there.

Without warning, a growl came from the darkness behind them and Sirius was thrown to the ground. James yelled and pulled him outside as quickly as possible. The werewolf prowled behind them in the passage way. James didn't want to risk 'turning the tree off' or it would make it a lot easier for Remus to follow them. Instead, he helped Sirius limp back towards the castle. It was risky and several times branches connected with legs and heads. Finally, they got to the other side and fell to the ground.

Remus tried to follow, but being so much larger had an even more difficult time finding a way through the limbs. He let out an angry howl which filled the night air. After being hit back into the tunnel for the fifth time, he gave up and slunk away, and James and Sirius lets out sighs of relief.

Dun dun duuuun!! I was seriously considering a cliffie, but I decided to be nice xD

Thank you for reading- I hope you liked it... rather than having me guess if you did or not, maybe you could review... puppy dog eyes

Disclaimer: I own absolutely zip. The characters are JKRowling's and the PC is my dad's sigh