Severus shifted back onto his heels.

"Oyster mushroom. It's perfectly safe. Grab as much as we can." The others hurried to comply. It was late afternoon now and they had covered many miles of terrain, heading south as much as possible, away from the castle. They were still hungry and tired but the wrapped fish and the pockets full of mushrooms buoyed them up enough to continue. Remus had suggested not stopping to eat until dusk when they'd be forced to stop anyway and the others had reluctantly agreed. They were all firmly ignoring the fact that they would need to find more food tomorrow and the day after and the day after that...

As the sun began to dip towards the horizon the five came to a stop for the night. Peter spread the blankets on the forest floor while Sirius tore the fish into equal portions.

"Thanks." Remus muttered when Severus passed around the mushrooms. James pulled out the water. There was silence while they ate.

"Not up to the standards of the kitchens," James smiled, "But I'm way too hungry to care now."

The others agreed.

"Fish is my new favourite food." Peter declared. "Or possibly my new least favourite food. Depending on what we end up living on for a month."

"At this rate? We'll be sampling tree bark and grass." James snorted.

"Nah, we'll go straight to eating our boots!"

"Why stop at boots? How much meat do you think James has on him?" Remus smirked.

"Not as much as you Moony! Not with all your chocolate!"

"Pah, everyone knows Slytherin's taste the most delicious, let's eat Snape!" James paused awkwardly, he was trying his best not to fight with Snape, they did need each other for the near future. Thankfully Snape didn't seem too upset.

"Well yet another reason Slytherin is better than Griffindor I suppose." He countered. "I think Pettigrew would be the easiest to catch."

"Was that a joke Snape?" James said in mock astonishment, "That's it, I'm hallucinating. These mushrooms were deadly!"

"Shut it Potter. If I was going to kill you I'd come up with a better way than poisoned mushrooms I'm also eating."

"You're sneaky enough anything's possible!" James collapsed dramatically, faking death in the growing moonlight.

"Are you ever planning on growing up Potter?"

"I don't think so." Peter commented sadly. "I think he's stuck at the mental age of six forever more."

Throughout the eating and banter Sirius had remained silent, watching the others but remaining apart. Isolated by his guilt and resentment of the situation. But his silence did allow him to hear the footsteps sooner than the others. He sat bolt upright.

"Shhhhh!" Sirius hissed. The others fell silent, straining their ears. The unmistakable sound of footsteps came towards them. Peter clutched at Remus' arm. James felt sick. Severus tried to melt into the tree he was sat against and Sirius paled to a ghostly shade of white in the moonlight. Closer and closer came whoever it was. Nobody dared run. Into the Forbidden Forest. When it was dark.

Not Hagrid decided Remus shakily, not loud enough. Not Dumbledore or the Aurors either, too loud. He ran through his mental lists of creatures in the forest.

The Centaur stepped regally forwards, observing the stricken youths before him. He didn't seem surprised Peter thought, dazed with relief it wasn't somebody come to drag them back to Hogwarts. All six stared at each other for a long beat of time.

"The Forest gets stranger each year." The centaur finally stated. "Why are four foals hiding from their school here?" He pawed the ground with a hoof uneasily. "The werewolf with them too?"

"You know Remus is, erm, cursed?" Sirius cut in. The creature blinked at him.

"The stars reveal much to those willing to seek."

"The stars told you about Remus?"

"The stars tell many things."

"Right." The teenagers looked unsure. Severus spoke up,

"Are you going to take us back?" The centaur looked surprised.

"Should I?"

"Erm...no, it's fine."

"Still you should not be here alone, so young as you are." He looked thoughtful. "Hagrid is nearby. Perhaps he can lead you back to your school."

"No!" James bit his lip, "I mean, we can manage. We need to stay out of Hagrid's way for a bit. Could you, er...not tell him where we are?" Now the centaur looked angry.

"You ask me to lie?"

"No! Not lie just...not mention us? We'll move on now anyway if Hagrid's so close...we just need a head start."

"Ah. I see. You are fleeing him?"

"No. Well, yes. But not because we're scared of him. We just need to stay hidden for a few more weeks to sort out our furry little problem and then we're going straight back." Sirius was babbling now, desperate to avoid revealing their position to the groundskeeper.

"Can you not solve your problem elsewhere? The forest is a dangerous place."

"No, it needs to be here, where people can't get hurt." Remus stated confidently. The centaur looked at him then turned his eyes to Snape who was favouring his right side despite the double dose of healing potions he'd taken earlier. Werewolf wounds resisted magical healing.

"I see." Stated the centaur and turned away, deeper into the forest.

"Does that mean h'll tell Hagrid...or not?" Remus asked faintly.

There was silence between the five briefly then an upsurge of movement as they leapt to their feet, gathering blankets and water and the remains of the fish. Not a word was shared between them as they moved swiftly through the trees in the opposite direction to the centaurs route. The dark soon led them to linking hands to keep from getting separated but still no one commented. It was understood this was a desperate situation and one that would never be discussed after. Remus led the way, his eyes were the best in the dark and James kept up the rear, wand in hand despite their vow not to use magic. If they had to, well, they'd face the consequences later. They were already guilty of endangering Snape's life, endangering everyone in the school's life by taking Remus out, kidnapping a student and running away from school. James was just profoundly grateful Snape hadn't seen Prongs or wondered how exactly James had pulled him away from Moony. Their becoming illegal animagi was not something he wanted to discuss with the headmaster. Ever.