Thank you for all of the followers that I have. I'm sorry that this has been a slow update; college life gets in the way sometimes. Remember that I own nothing that you recognize! It all belongs to the magical woman that is J.K. Rowling.

Please read and review!

Chapter Four

The first weekend of the semester came and the Fifth Years were grateful for it. This year was turning out to be the most stressful they had ever had. The teachers were piling on the homework, like never before, after the first lesson in order to prepare them for their O.W.L.s. It was proving to be almost too much for the four Marauders who, forced by Remus, had to put their start of the year prank aside. Remus, ever the academic, wanted to make sure none of the boys fell too behind on their school work.

"Come on Remus," Sirius whined. "I don't want to be stuck here doing homework! It's the weekend, let's have some fun."

"It's only Friday," Remus replied. "You can have fun tomorrow and Sunday if you get everything done tonight."

"You have to get that stick out of your ass sometime mate," Sirius said jokingly.

Remus threw a pillow at him and went back to his work. The boys liked to work in their dormitory; Remus wouldn't be disturbed by anyone except Peter, who always seemed to have questions, and James and Sirius wouldn't be seen doing homework, which would ruin their reputation as 'bad boys'.

The boys worked on their homework and, after Remus checked to make sure all of their answers were right, were finally able to relax and enjoy their weekend. They knew that Remus was right and if they didn't keep up their work, they would fall behind very easily. The night wore on with the four boys talking in their dorm and being able to goof around with each other; their other dorm mate, Frank Longbottom, usually stayed in the Common Room with Alice Prewitt and her friends. Because of this, Sirius and James thought it would be the perfect time to show Remus their surprise.

"Remus mate, I know you've been freaking out all week," Sirius started.

"I have not been freaking out," Remus replied. "It's natural to be suspicious when you're involved."

"Look, do you want to know what we did or not?"

"Yes, just get on with it," Remus snapped.

"Pete," James said. "You should make sure the door is locked."

Remus sat down on his four poster bed and watched his friends move about the room. Peter was locking the door and making sure the windows were covered while James and Sirius were going about the room moving clothes and other discarded items off of the floor. The boys made sure that there was nothing in the middle of the floor; a miracle since the floor hasn't been seen since their First Year.

"Remus," James said, turning towards him. "We know that you've been hurting yourself because of your furry little problem, and we found a way to help you."

"James, there's nothing you can do to help me. I'm going to be cursed for life," Remus said. "Calling it something cute like a 'furry little problem' won't produce a cure."

"We know that mate," Sirius said. "But there is a way to be there with you during the process to, you know, make it easier on you."

"You can't make it easier on me!" Remus snapped. "The only things that can be near me are animals. If I bite one of you, I'd never be able to live with myself."

"Remus, do you really think we'd put ourselves in danger? We made ourselves Animagi," James said. "We worked on it for the last two years and we just got it right."

"No! I won't let you put yourselves in danger," Remus cried out. "You have to be seventeen in order to become an Animagus and even then, you have to go through the Ministry to register."

"Remus, it's too late," James said quietly. "We finished over the summer. We wanted to show you what we turn into."

Remus put his head in his hands. He didn't want his friends to be in danger because he was a werewolf. It was bad enough that they knew what he was. It didn't take James long to figure out that he was lying about his sick mum, and Sirius figured it out not long after; it was only after Remus' pleading that they didn't tell Peter right away—he didn't figure it out until their Third Year.

When Remus lifted his head, his friends were gone. In their places were three animals; a rat, a stag, and a shaggy dog. He couldn't believe his eyes! His friends had pulled off one of the most amazing pieces of magic in the world, even Peter was able to transform. The dog was wagging his tail and looking nervously between the stag and Remus. He could tell that the dog was Sirius; only he would have the energy a dog could have. James' personality as a stag didn't surprise Remus at all. James was a naturally born leader and always stood proud, like a stag. What shocked Remus was that Peter turned into a rat. This brought questions to the fifteen year old that he didn't like; was peter a liar? Did he mean to tell others their secrets? Could he be trusted if his inner animal was a sneaky rodent?

"I…I can't believe it," Remus started. "What you guys have pulled off…it's amazing and extremely illegal! What made you do this?"

James, who had just transformed back, said "we're going to help you get through your transformations each month. We're tired of you hurting yourself and we don't like that you have to be alone."

"Yeah mate," Sirius said after he and Peter transformed back. "It'll be safe for us to be there for you if we're animals. Your bites won't turn us into werewolves."

"No," Remus said adamantly. "You can still get hurt or even killed! Plus, if Dumbledore finds out, we're all going to get expelled."

"It's a risk we're all willing to take," James replied. "We've all talked it over and it's taken us three years to be able to figure this out and tell you."

"Remus," Sirius said. "There's nothing you can do to stop us. On the next full moon, we're going to be under the invisibility cloak and go out to the Whomping Willow; Peter's rat form is even small enough to press the knot on the tree to make it stop moving."

"I don't know what to say," Remus said. "You've thought this through. I still think you're all crazy."

Remus gave each boy a hug. He didn't believe he would ever have friends as good as the three boys in the room with him. He helped them clutter up the room again so their roommate, Frank Longbottom, wouldn't notice anything different. Frank was a nice guy, but he never hung out with the four boys on an intimate level; he didn't know about Remus' problem and that slightly alienated him from their group. Once Frank came up to the room, the five teenagers got ready for bed, all of them with thoughts of sleeping in the next day.

Lily and her friends bade Frank goodnight as he went up the boys' staircase. Once he was out of earshot, the girls turned to Alice to question her about Frank and how much time the two were spending together alone.

"Come on Alice," Marlene said, glaring at the blonde. "Spill it. Are you dating him or not?"

"Well, we like each other," Alice said shyly. "And he asked me to the next Hogsmeade trip…but I'm not sure that he's my boyfriend."

The girls giggled and gossiped after that. They made their way to their dormitory planning on going over what Alice should wear and where Frank should take her on the date. Lily was the most adamant that Alice and Frank should be together—after all, he was the only Gryffindor boy in their year who wasn't a pig headed Marauder. Alice and Frank made a great couple, all of the girls agreed to that, and Frank had become the much needed male out put their group lacked.

As the girls got ready for bed, Lily began day dreaming. So much had happened in just one week back at Hogwarts; Alice has a new relationship, they were getting more homework and preparing for their O.W.L.s, Marlene and Emmeline aren't bickering back and forth, and James Potter had asked her out. That last one was the weirdest of all; Lily and James had been arguing since their first year at Hogwarts. He was always picking on Severus and Lily hated it when anyone made fun of her friends. Sure, Severus was in a different house and could be a little weird at times, but that didn't mean someone should be so hateful towards him.

Lily let her thoughts wander between Severus and James for the remainder of the night until she finally fell asleep in her four poster bed. Her last thought that Friday night was a hopeful one about James changing and everyone getting along with Severus. She had no idea how wrong her wish would be.