Chapter Three:

If it hadn't been for Remus, Sirius and James would never had found their Transfiguration class at all. Mind you, none of them were on time. They had burst into the class while everyone was sitting down copying something off of the chalkboard as it was being written. Lily glanced up, rolled her eyes, and went back to her notes. She could truly care less about their doings. Remus sat down at one of the desks.

"Sit down and get started." hissed Remus. "Get started before McGonagall gets here."

"No worries." said Sirius. "She's not here. We can do what we want for a while."

Before he had quite finished that sentence a cat sitting on the desk twitched and leaped forward, transforming in mid air in to Professor McGonagall. The color drained from Sirius's face.

"There is something so wrong about this." he said.

"Well, Mr Black. Now that I'm here, I expect you to take Mr Lupin's advice and sit down." said McGonagall.

James kept his mouth shut and sat down next to Lily. Sirius got Remus to budge over and he sat down. McGonagall transformed again went to sit down at her desk.

"Do you not think before you speak." joked Remus as he, Sirius, and James left transfiguration. "Do you not think before you speak."

"I didn't know she was an Animagus." snapped Sirius crossly.

James snickered quietly, but backed of after Sirius threw him a vicious look.

"I was surprised she didn't give you detention." said Remus. "She looked furious."

"Look, can we just drop it?" said Sirius.

So Remus did. The weren't quite sure where they were going now. They had a break now so they were, more or less, wandering around. Remus noticed, out of the corner of his eye, that Lily was nearby, but she seemed to have some purpose. She headed towards a group of girls loitering by the oak doors. James ran a hand through his hair, tousling it even more than usual. Most of the girls giggled as they went by. Lily rolled her eyes and tossed her hair. She did however smile at Remus.

"Out of my way, filth." said an oily voice.

Someone pushed through them. Remus caught a glimpse of his face. It was very pointed and pale. His hair was stringy and greasy like it had never been washed before. A fleeting glimpse of green and silver told him immediately that the boy was a Slytherin. James stepped forward to tell the boy off, but Sirius and Remus held him back.

"He's not worth it." hissed Remus.

He was staring to se that of the three of them, he was the smartest. He ushered them both outside into the bright summer sun. They found a small tree and sat down under it. Remus immediately dove into his bag for a book to read, but Sirius stopped him.

"No more reading." he said. "Not right now."

Remus opened his mouth to argue, but something caught his eye before he could speak. It was the boy who had pushed past them in the corridor. He was glaring over in their direction through curtains of his greasy black hair. A slight chill prickled up his spine and he was suddenly very uncomfortable. He turned back to his friends trying to forget what he had seen.

"See that kid over there?" whispered Sirius, pointing to the Slytherin.

Everyone leaned in to listen. Sirius's voice could be so annoyingly quiet sometimes.

"His name's Severus Snape .He's in with Bellatrix's lot." he whispered. "He's really into the Dark Arts and such, nearly went to Drumstrang to learn them."

"He creeps me out." said Remus, shifting slightly. "He was watching us a moment ago and I got chills."

James nodded sympathetically. He knew people like that and he hated the feeling with a passion. Sirius leaned back again and ran a hand through his hair.

"What's he up to now?" he muttered watching Snape carefully.

He was moving towards a group of girls near the lake. Remus pulled his glasses out of his cloak pocket and put them on his nose. He recognized one of them. She had flaming read hair that was pulled back into a ponytail and her striking emerald green eyes were sparkling with laughter. It was Lily. She had Kaz curled up in her lap. They hadn't noticed Snape yet.

"He's going to bother them." said Remus quietly.

"What's that, Remus?" said James.

"Snape." said Remus nodding at Snape. "He's going to harass those girls."

"Haven't you heard, Remus?" teased Sirius. "Chivalry is dead."

"Come on." pleaded Remus as he stood up.

James and Sirius got up and when they saw the malicious look on Snape's face they understood why Remus was so upset. This kid could really hurt them without caring Snape glanced over his shoulder at them and smirked. The three hurried towards him quickly. Snape sped up. It was all that Remus could do to keep from running. Snape beat them there of course.

"Get away from them." muttered Remus furiously.

He couldn't help it really. It had to do with his being a werewolf. It was like an instinct that told him someone was challenging him and he had to defend his territory, in this case it was the girls by the lake. A few of the girls screamed as Snape let out a few hexes in their direction. The three boy broke into a dead sprint. They were immediately between them. Remus was on one side of James and Sirius on the other.

"Leave them alone." said James angrily.

He and Snape were eye level. Their faces were stony and cold and it was apparent they loathed each other. Remus looked over his shoulder at the girls. They looked so confused that he almost laughed. He looked over at Sirius who could hardly contain himself. They both looked back at James and Snape before they completely lost it.

"Fine." spat Snape. "I don't have tie to waste on disgusting blood traitors."

James lunged forward, but Sirius and Remus managed to hold him back, but only just. Snape stalked off clearly satisfied with himself.

"That's the bell." said Remus. "Drop it!"

The fun lasted for two weeks uninterrupted, but non of those days had full moon nights. It was late in September when Remus became so jumpy that he spilled nearly everything he touch. All of the teachers had been informed about his . . . condition and most were very sympathetic about it (I say mos because Binns couldn't remember his name let alone that he was a werewolf). On the day of the full moon Remus was such a nervous wreck that Sirius suggested he miss his morning classes and go down to the Hospital Wings for something to help calm him down. James begged him to sleep in for his own sake. Remus agreed, but he knew he would never go to sleep. He was so used to being cooped up in a room all day that this was almost comforting.

At lunch James and Sirius stopped by to see how he was doing.

"I'm still a bit tired, but I'm definitely going to class this afternoon." said Remus looking at the bundles under their arms. "What are those?"

"Your homework." said James dropping his bundles onto the bed. "You'd better work fast."

"No worries." said Remus opening up the Transfiguration book.

A piece of paper fell out and Remus snatched it up. He unfolded it. James lunged forward to try and snatch it away, but Remus was too quick for him. It was a picture of a heart with an arrow going through it. It read JP loves LE.

"Who is LE?" asked Sirius who had been reading.

"Lily Evans." said Remus, smirking. "You like Lily?"

"So what if I do?" snapped James, blushing.

He snatched the letter away and stalked over to the door.

"Are you coming, Sirius?" he asked.

"You go ahead." he replied. "I'll catch up with you later."

James left, but Sirius waited until his footsteps had faded before he spoke. He rounded on Remus in an instant with determination.

"Are you sick?" he asked, his voice laced with concern.

"What do you mean?" asked Remus, still thinking about the conversation.

"What's been happening with you today?" asked Sirius. "Why have you been so jumpy all morning? Why have you been so tired? What's wrong with you?"

"I'm sick okay." said Remus. "I'll be better tomorrow. I promise."

"I want you to go see Madam Pomphery as soon as possible." said Sirius. "I worry about you sometimes."

Remus stared after him until the door swung shut.

"I'm so sorry." he whispered, but it was too late.

Sirius was gone, and, for the millionth time, Remus was alone.