After he told the others and saw their not terrified reactions, Remus seemed to be a little happier. Sharing his secret was a thing he had been told since he was five to never ever tell anybody, under any circumstances. But he found himself easily trusting James, Sirius, and Peter with the secret that could and most likely would ruin his life. And they kept it. They didn't treat him any differently. Sure, they brought him a bit more chocolate from the kitchens, but so far they were just the same friends he'd had before. But still, Remus was worried. They hadn't seen him go through a transformation. And he thought they didn't know how dangerous he could be. But they knew. They'd seen him nearly take James' head clean off. But to them, Remus was still their Remus. He still folded his socks and enjoyed afternoon tea with McGonagall and the other teachers on Sundays. To them, Remus wasn't a monster. And James Potter promised himself that he would hex anybody who ever said differently.

Remus, on the other hand, didn't think that would last long. He basked in his happiness while it was there, but there was still another night of the full moon this month. His friends could tell he was nervous and now that they knew why, they were determined to help. They distracted him from what was to come by asking for help in their homework. Remus knew that James' favorite subject was transfiguration and he knew James definitely didn't need help with his paper on the proper wand movement to use when transfiguring a small inanimate object. But Remus needed the distraction, and James was good at keeping his mind off of his worries. He acted so carelessly and free minded that Remus couldn't help but feel a hint of the same.

It was the last class of the day when Remus knew he needed to leave. He weakly raised his hand. Professor McGonagall smiled as she called on him, although he could see she was slightly annoyed he'd interrupted her lecture.

"I'm not feeling well," he said quickly. "May I go to the nurse?" He still asked politely, even though it wasn't really a question. The transfiguration teacher watching him curiously for a moment before nodding and getting back to her lecture. Sirius watched him rush for the door and raised his hand, not waiting to get called on.

"I need to use the toilet!" He jumped from his seat and ran after Remus. James caught Peter's eye and also raised his hand.

"Sirius has my quill!" he excused, getting up and following them. The door closed and the professor looked expectantly at Peter. She wasn't an idiot, and she'd rather have Peter leave before she was interrupted again. Peter sighed and glanced in the direction his friends had gone.

"I forgot my homework." He clumsily stood up and jogged to the door, tripping on his chair. McGonagall watched after the moment, deciding she'd wait until after she heard their next creative excuse to give them attention. This was peculiar, even for those boys. James rarely skipped transfiguration and Remus would never bail on a class unless he knew the others were going to get into trouble without him.

Remus stumbled and nearly ran into a wall before Sirius caught his arm. "Woah there, Moony. Here, lemme help."

Remus would never admit it, but he liked the nickname. It was by far better than Moon-Moon. Every time one of his friends called him Moony, it was a reminder of what they said. He wasn't a monster. But in a way, it helped him accept what he was. Even if he was a werewolf, it didn't mean he deserved to be outcasted.

"You should get to class before Professor McGonagall-uhhhg," he cut himself off by groaning in pain. James caught up to the pair and knelt beside them.

"What's wrong? You look sick," he put a hand on Remus' head but Remus pulled away.

"I have to get to the forest," he explained. The boys understood immediately. They glanced over the shoulder and caught Peter's arm.

"How are we going to get out without getting caught? Filch caught a Hufflepuff and a Ravenclaw trying to sneak out to go find Leprechauns yesterday, and now he's sitting at the front doors like guard-dog," Sirius pointed out. Remus groaned. James made his I've-got-an-idea face that usually made Remus and Peter nervous.

"Peter, where's the nearest exit? Besides the one Filch is guarding," he said. Peter wandered off to a painting of a bored looking knight. James grabbed his backpack and pulled out a familiar cloak.

"Uhg James, please tell me you didn't bring that thing with you," Remus groaned.

"Shut up, Moony."

Peter motioned for them to follow him. James draped the cloak over the four of them, but it didn't quite fit.

"James, you grab Pete and I'll get Remus," Sirius suggested. Sirius re-positioned Remus so the other boy was nearly underneath him when he was crouched over. James took Peter, who was significantly smaller, on his back. They smushed together and finally fit under the cloak. In the upcoming weeks, James would figure out how to make the cloak magically grow in size. Until then, this would have to do. Peter stuck his head out of the cloak and spoke to one of the paintings. While he was on James' back he was able to talk to the painting face to face, which must have looked funny to anybody walking by. The painting smiled at Peter's floating head, not looking the least bit surprised at the sight. Peter was a shy guy and had made friends with most of the paintings, so he didn't have much trouble finding the nearest exit.

"Sir Cadogan!" Peter greeted. The painting smiled widely, glad to be recognized.

"Hello there, young man! I don't believe I've yet had the pleasure of your acquaintance?"

"I'm Peter, it's very nice to meet you,"

James nudged Peter to go faster. "And I'd love to stay and talk to you about your adventures and your brave battle against Wyvern of Wye, but my friend is in some serious trouble and we need to get outside as soon as possible," Peter urged. Sir Cadogan was beaming.

"Of course, my brave young man!" The painting swung open, revealing a wide passage. "Farewell, comrades. If ever you have the need of a noble heart and steely sinew call upon Sir Cadogan. I'd love to speak to you of my adventures, Sir Peter."

Peter smiled and began to thank him and begin another conversation when the others rushed forward, cutting the conversation short.

"Ok, Moony, how much time have we got?" James asked, crouching to avoid hitting Peter's head against the ceiling.

"Many hours," Remus responded. "I won't fully transform until the sun goes down and the moon comes up."

James stopped the group for a moment and took off the cloak. "Wait, hours? Then why are you like, well, like this, now?" James asked, motioning at Remus' shaking hands.

"I told you, the transformation takes hours. Sometimes my body starts with the little things like bone deconstruction earlier in the day."

Even in the dark, Remus and Sirius could see Peter's face to pale. "Bone deconstruction?" he squeaked.

"Little things?" Sirius added. Remus nodded, clutching his ribs and bringing his knee to his chest, forcing Sirius to put him down.

"Werewolf bones are very different from human bones. They have to change in order for me to transform. But in an or so, you guys are going to have to head back to the castle," Remus warned. Serious shook his head. Peter followed suit.

"We aren't going to leave you out there, Moon-Moon," Sirius tried to joke by using the funny nickname, but Remus didn't seem to find the humor.

"If you don't leave then I will either eat you alive or severely disable you or even worse, I might turn you. I told you guys this secret because I trust you. Now please don't make me beg." Remus' fists were white in strain as he held back his pain. James slowly and hesitantly nodded.

"Ok, Remus. You know this best, we'll do as you say. But until that hour comes, we're staying," James said firmly. Remus nodded, allowing this. He was more than glad to have the company. As soon as the day of the full moon came he was locked away or sent to the shrieking shack. It was nice to have comfortable company.

James stuffed the cloak back into his bag and they continued to make their way down the tunnel. Remus let James and Sirius support him as Peter used the Lumos spell to light the tunnel and guide them.

"Here!" Peter whisper yelled, approaching a locked door. He stepped to the side.

With his free hand, James raised his wand, "Alohomora!" The lock opened allowed Peter to open the door. He stuck his head out before giving the other a thumbs up. The coast was clear. The four boys ran across the lawn between the castle and the forest as quickly as they could with the partially limp Remus between them.

"Where to now?" Sirius asked once they'd made it to the forest's edge.

Remus nodded up the hill. "Whomping willow. But from there it's going to get difficult. I only go by myself when my transformation starts early like this. Usually, Madam Pomfrey is the one that usually gets me there, but I don't think we have time to go get her," Remus answered. Peter glanced back the way they'd come, then at Remus' groaning form.

"If we go back to the castle now we'll get caught" Peter advised.

James nodded, agreeing with Peter. "Somebody will see us, probably Sniveluss with our luck. We'll figure it out, we can get you there," he said. Remus didn't disagree, so they kept going. They'd stop every few minutes to give Remus a break.

"Well, that's one angry looking tree," Sirius muttered when they arrived a reasonable distance from the whomping willow. They'd never really had much experience with the magical tree. They were warned to stay away from it but hadn't yet gotten the opportunity to investigate.

"Now what? Just sit here?" Peter asked.

Remus shook his head. "No. You see that little knob at the base of the tree? I've got to press that, then the tree will become immobilized and I'll be able to sneak down a passage behind it." Remus slowly began to stand.

"Blimey mate, hold up!" James held out his hands to keep Remus from continuing. "How are you aiming to get there?"

Remus shrugged. "I don't know. Usually, I can't get close enough until my transformation is nearly complete. So, you guys should probably just leave now."

They could tell by his tone of voice that Remus didn't want them to leave. They didn't.

"Nah, take a break Moony. We'll get it." Sirius cracked his knuckles rather un-menacingly and ran at the tree head on.

Bad idea.