The Women Loved by Two Men: The Covered Past

Disclaimer: All characters, but Lizzie and a few other minor characters are owned by J.K. Rowling. We are of course not receiving any profit of this work of fiction.

AN: Hey everyone! We hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving and enjoy our next installment as the marauders tend to keep getting into trouble and upsetting the girls!!! We hope you enjoy it and we'd love to hear from you! Thanks again!

Chapter Four: "Fireworks and Confession"

"I think something's going on with Remus." James stated as he and Sirius made their way across the platform on their way back to Hogwarts after the Holiday break was over. "Thought about it during the break."

"You mean I'm not the only one that thinks his sick mum is just an excuse?"

James nodded as Peter joined them and the three boys stepped onto the Hogwarts Express. "Speaking of which, have you seen Remus?"

Sirius shrugged it off. "Not yet, but we should figure out what's going on with him."

"You mean why he gets so sick when his mum is sick too?" Peter asked as they loaded their belongings onto the storage compartments.

"That's exactly what we thought." Sirius put in as they walked up and down the train corridors looking for some seats. "But what in the merlin could it be?"

"No idea." Peter said and the two glanced towards James for his opinion, but James' attention was suddenly drawn away as the girls were heading their way.

"Lily alert." James pushed between the boys, completely forgetting the conversation, heading straight to the object of his affections. "Hello ladies."

Lily pushed her trunk into an empty slot, completely ignoring James. Lizzie, Alice and Amy stood close by trying not to laugh as James ran a hand through his hair, obviously trying to impress Lily.

"So, how was your Holiday?" James asked her as the other girls got their luggage settled.

Lily glared at him a bit suspiciously, but managed a polite answer. "It was fine."

James nodded and smiled a bit. "That's nice." He was trying to find something else to say when Remus joined their group.

"How was your Holiday?" Remus hugged the girls and then greeted James.

"Good and are you feeling alright?" Lizzie certainly hoped he was okay, especially since Remus was still a touch too pale.

"I'm fine Lizzie." Remus smiled at her. "Glad to be going back to school."

"Me too." James smiled at Lily, trying to get her attention again.

"Hey James." Sirius yelled down the corridor, interrupting the conversation. "Peter and I have a compartment. You two coming?"

"We're coming." James turned back to the girls and gallantly bowed. "We'll see you ladies later."

The girls rolled their eyes and said their goodbyes before they turned, walking down the corridor to find an empty compartment.

"What are you guys up to now?" Remus entered the boys dormitory, closely followed by Peter as the two had been working on some homework before dinner. Even though they were only several weeks into the Spring term, the professors were already laying on the work.

Sirius and James looked up, both wearing looks of innocence on their faces. "Who said we were up to anything?"

Remus eyed them skeptically, knowing them much better than that. "I know those looks."

Peter looked on with avid interest as the other two boys glanced at each other then back to Remus.

"Tonight we're going to sneak downstairs and set up some fireworks in the hallway, outside of the Great Hall." James started out, grinning mischievously. "Then, in the morning, we'll set them off and watch the show."

Remus walked over and glanced down at the map Sirius was working on. "That'll be a big explosion if you put them there."

Sirius grinned, not looking up from marking the map. "That's the point Remus. Are you guys in or not?"

Peter grinned, anxious to join in on the fun. "Sure."

Remus hesitated. He knew it was wrong, that they could get into trouble, cost their house points and receive detention. However, he'd never had friends like this before and he didn't want to loose them.

"Well, are you going to help us or not?" Sirius butted into his thoughts.

Remus smiled and shrugged lightly. "Why not?"

"Good, then you can tell us if this will work or not." James grabbed the map and nearly shoved it under Remus' nose.

Remus took the map and studied it for several long moments. "Actually it would be better to put a few here. If they explode right, it would cover more of the area." Remus paused, not believing that he was helping them, but he wanted his new friends to like him. "What fireworks are you using?"

The three other boys grinned at each other, very glad that they asked the smart Remus to help them and James pulled them out from under his bed. "These."

With that the four boys got to work.

Late that night, the four troublemakers, under the invisibility cloak, snuck out of their tower and into the main castle. They crept along, careful not to make a sound and finally stopped outside the Great Hall. With Peter playing look out, Remus, James and Sirius followed the redesigned map, setting up all their fireworks. Once satisfied with their work they vanished underneath the cloak and quietly crept back to the dorm. And they crawled back into their beds, greatly anxiously awaiting the dawn.

"It's show time." James woke them up very early the next morning. "Can't wait to see all their faces when the hall lights up."

Sirius grinned, clapping his hands together, suddenly wide-awake. "And hopefully Snivellus is there this morning."

"Well, let's go find out." James' voice was muffled as he pulled a shirt over his head.

Several minutes later, after all of them were dressed and ready, cool as to please, the four made their way down to the Great Hall.

When they arrived, students were coming and going. The smell of bacon, eggs and toast made their mouths water, but they wanted to see the show before eating. So, they played it cool, waiting for the opportune moment, wanting to get as many of their fellow students as they could.

And it came several minutes later, a huge group was leaving and one coming down the hallway towards them, one that included Snape. James and Sirius glanced at each other, then pulled out their wands, muttering a spell.

And suddenly the hallway lit up in an explosion of color and the sounds of popping, along with all of the students screaming, filled the hall. The four boys watched as Snape nearly took one to his face, turning it nearly black with the smoke. The boys laughed out loud as Alice and Amy ran from the scene, their hair lighting up with multi-colored sparks. Meanwhile, Lily's hair, nearly on fire, was quickly doused out by Lizzie before the girls fled the scene.

What they failed to notice was the professors coming from all different directions. With a few words, Dumbledore extinguished the remaining crackers, then turned to the boys. "Now, after you clean up the walls, you will report to Professor McGonagall for your detention. And ten points each will be taken from you."

The boys were a tad disappointed to be caught, but seeing all those students running in pure panic had been worth it. And Remus felt like he'd been totally accepted by Sirius, Peter and James. As long as they didn't discover his secret.

For days afterward, everyone was talking about the fireworks display and the four boys who somehow did it. Still in first year, they were already becoming famous. But not everyone was pleased.

"I still can't believe those boys." Lily said, loud enough where half the hall, all eating dinner, would be able to hear her. "Setting off those fireworks, enough to seriously hurt a fellow student. But I guess that they don't care about others at all, only themselves."

"I certainly agree." Amy turned and glared down the table where the boys were sitting. After all, her hair was still singed a bit at the ends.

"They'll never grow up." Lizzie added, she had thought that setting up fireworks was a brilliant plan, but not with all those students in the hallway. Someone could have really been hurt if someone had caught more of those sparks on their clothes or their hair or if one broke and backfired on them. On the other hand, Lizzie already discovered if one let every prank those four pulled get under your skin, you'd be angry and upset for the rest of your life. It was much easier to let them go and to get even.

"Let's go." Lily stood up, glaring at the boys again. "Unlike some I actually do my work."

Agreeing with her, Amy, Alice and Lizzie followed their friend from the Great Hall.

"Where's Remus?" Peter asked as the boys settled into their room several nights later. "I haven't seen him since before dinner."

"Guess you weren't paying attention." Sirius told him. "His mum is sick again and he went to see her."

"Am I the only one that still thinks that Remus' mum is an excuse to hide something else?"

"No." Sirius said lying down on his bed, crossing his ankles, and lacing his hands behind his head. "And he looked awfully sick this morning too."

James pulled out some parchment and a quill. "Let's write down everything we've noticed about Remus and maybe we can solve this mystery."

Within the next moments, they wrote down everything they could think of and then studied their list.

Sirius fell silent as Peter and James continued to discuss what Remus' condition could be. He gazed through the window and up at a full moon, glowing bright....... Sirius sat up. It couldn't be it....or could it? "I think Remus is a werewolf."

The room fell deathly silent as the other two contemplated Sirius' words.

"Are you sure?" Peter squeaked a few minutes later.

James shrugged. "It makes sense."

Sirius swung his legs over, so he was sitting on the edge of the bed as the boys continued to discuss the issue and kept coming back to the same thing. So finally, Sirius asked. "So, what are we going to do now?"

"I think we should be honest with Remus and tell him we know or at least ask him about it." James summarized.

"Confront him?" Peter squeaked again.

Sirius shrugged. "Why not? I mean, I don't care what he is. He's just Remus and the smartest kid in the school. He'll always be my friend."

The other two immediately agreed, but James asked. "But what can we do for him? Transformations can't be easy for him."

Peter sighed, not quite sure what to say. "I guess we can cover for him."

"But I want to do more for him than cover for him while he's gone." Sirius nearly interrupted Peter. "But what can we do as humans to help a werewolf?"

Peter and James grew silent, not sure how else they could help their mate.

"I think we should ask him about it when he gets back." James said as the boys were sitting in the Great Hall for breakfast the next day.

Sirius swallowed a big bite of bacon, his stomach still growling. "He'll deny it."

"Who will deny what?" Lizzie interrupted as she sat down next to him.

Sirius looked at her, not wanting her and the other gals, who were just sitting down, to know what they were really talking about. "Nothing."

Lizzie eyed him skeptically, not believing it. "You're lying Black."

James and Sirius glanced at each other before the later spoke. "You're concerned about Remus. We think he's sick."

Lily glared at James. "He's not sick. Unless you count sick with worry. You boys should know how close he and his mum are."

"Yea." Lizzie put in as she filled her plate. "Just leave him alone. He has enough to worry about without you blokes teasing and questioning him about everything."

The boys eyed each other and let the subject drop, not wanting to anger the girls any more. "Fine, we won't mention it to him."

"Good." Lily said taking a sip of her pumpkin juice. "Now, will you actually be a gentlemen and please pass the sausage."

James took the tray and held it out for her as she picked a few pieces. "There you go Miss Evans."

Lily raised an eyebrow as he set the tray down. "Thank you."

"Your quite welcome." James grinned, thinking he was in her good graces again. "Is everyone going to the Quidditch game on Saturday?"

The girls rolled their eyes as the boys started to talk about the chances the Gryffindor team actually had of winning the school cup this year. Quite tired of the subject, the girls ate quickly and left, saying they needed to study before classes started.

"What was that about?" Peter asked, still completely clueless about the girls once they were out of earshot.

James shrugged. "Do you think they suspect something?"

Sirius pushed a few eggs around on his plate. "They're probably still mad at us for setting the fireworks off, so they'll take any other excuse to keep yelling at us."

Peter glanced from one to the other. "Does this mean we're not going to tell Remus we know?"

"Of course not." James immediately put in. "Sirius is right and I think we still should help him. He is our friend."

The other two agreed and decided to confront their friend at the next available time.

"Hey mate." Sirius greeted Remus as he entered the dorm room some days later. "You feeling alright?"

Remus nodded, still a bit tired and pale from his last transformation. "I'm fine."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "When are you going to tell us the truth?"

James and Peter put down their work, wanting to be a part of this.

"Sirius what you talking about?" Remus edged as he sat down on his bed, his face already starting to go even paler.

"How long do you expect us to believe that your mum is sick?"

Remus grew silent, trying to think of something that would get him out of this.

"Come on mate." James put in quietly. "We already figured it out."

Remus rose from the bed and made the pretense of getting his homework out to work on. "I still don't know what you guys are talking about it."

Peter, James and Sirius all looked at each other, deciding to continue this conversation. "We think you do."

"And what gives you that idea?" Remus kept his voice calm as he possibly could.

"Well, for starters, you're gone once a month."

"My Mother has a condition." Remus interrupted Sirius. "She and my Father need my help. I've already told you that."

James leaned forward, completely ignoring Remus' protest. "And you always come back with bruises and scrapes."

"The cat doesn't like me." Remus protested again, but his voice wasn't as strong this time.

"If your family's cat did that, your parents would have taken care of it a long time ago." James said, continuing on down the list of symptoms. "And you're mother just happens to be sick on the full moon every single month. That's a bit suspicious isn't it?"

Remus glanced from one to the other, not quite sure what to say, how to defend himself.

The silence ticked on for several minutes before Sirius spoke. "And you just happen to be gone for a day or so on a full moon this month too. We know that you're the one that's sick, not your mother."

"Are you calling me a liar?" Remus grabbed at the quickest thing he could think of.

"Yes." Three voices chimed at once making Remus' stomach twist into knots.

"You're a werewolf aren't you?" James looked straight into Remus' eyes, his voice quiet, but compelling at the same time.

Remus finally admitted defeat. "Yes I am a werewolf." He held his breath and waited for the shunning to begin.

"Glad that you finally admitted it." Sirius slapped him on the back. "We'll help cover for you too."

"But we don't think that's enough." James put in. "We know humans can't be with werewolves but we're going to find a way around it. Sirius and I figured out that we're smart enough to come up with something that could help you."

Peter nodded and added. "And we'll get your homework for you too."

Remus jaw dropped open in shock. First Lizzie and Lily and now these three. His five closet friends were actually standing by him? "You mean you don't care that I turn into a monster one night a month?"

"Why should we care? You've saved our arses on more than one prank already." Sirius said. "You are our friend no matter what."

"And you're so smart." Peter said. "If I missed so many classes, I'd flunk out."

James and Sirius laughed while Remus stared back at them, still in shock.

"We'll always be your friends." James put his hand on his shoulder. "And if you want to talk or need anything, ask. We're here for you."

The three backed off a bit, spreading out some homework and the food that they snuck up from the kitchens. Remus watched them for long moments, suddenly very grateful that Professor Dumbledore had found a way for him to attend school. Not only was he receiving a great education, but he had five wonderful friends that didn't care about his condition. He sat down on his bed and sat for a moment before looking up. "Thanks guys."

The three chorused something back as they munched on their snacks. It was sometime later that James' voice broke the silence. "Do you blokes have any idea of how I can get Lily to go out with me?"

Sirius laughed. "Sorry mate, but despite that thank you at breakfast the other day, she's still a bit ticked at you right now."

James grimaced. "Remus help please. Those girls like you."

"Maybe because I'm nice to them." Remus said calmly. "Besides Sirius is right, she doesn't quite like you. Leave her alone for a while."

James groaned. "But she's so cute."

The other boys laughed and James threw his pillow at one of them. "This is war."

With the homework forgotten, four eleven year old boys sealed a bond of strong friendship