Remus crouched under a tree on his hands and knees just inside the Forbidden Forest, waiting for the transformation to take him. His friends had already changed into their Animagi forms. After finally figuring out during their second year that Remus was a werewolf, James and Sirius, who both excelled at Transfiguration, had tirelessly worked on becoming Animagi and had finally succeeded last year, helping Peter to do the same. Now James, as a stag, and Sirius, as a large, black dog, circled Remus protectively. Peter, in rat form, clung to the thick fur near Sirius's neck.

The first time Remus had allowed them near him during the full moon was fall term a year ago, after the others had proven to him not only that they could maintain their Animagus manifestations, but that James and Sirius were strong enough as Animagi to fight a werewolf should the need arise.

The boys had checked the Marauder's Map before leaving the castle. No one was likely to surprise them; Hagrid wasn't working in the forest tonight, but instead sat quietly in his hut; Severus appeared to be working in the Slytherin Common Room; and Filch puttered in his office. James had hidden a set of extra clothing in the forest, as Remus always tore every stitch from his body once he was in werewolf form. Unlike the clothing and wands of Animagi, which were incorporated into their transformations, Remus's possessions did not transform with his body. With Dumbledore's approval, Remus now wore a set of Hogwarts exercise clothing, a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt; he usually tried to wear these at the full moon, because whatever he had on was always destroyed and lost.

Remus had asked the other boys repeatedly since last year to try not to watch him transform; he knew it must be very ugly to see and, though he knew his friends cared deeply for him, he couldn't help but feel embarrassed by the loss of control he experienced. He had no way of knowing whether or not they honored his request, because once the first pains hit him, he lost all semblance of human awareness.

His friends insisted that his mind became less "wolfish" when they were with him; and he supposed that it must be true, for when they went together to Hogsmeade in animal form, he returned with fewer self-inflicted bites and scratches on his arms and legs. He always felt a bit more like himself the following day, as well, and seemed to recover more quickly. When he was alone in the Shrieking Shack, he invariably injured himself out of frustration; and it took a good two or three days before he began to feel normal again.

Now Remus felt it beginning. The change had happened so many times that, like a scientist observing from behind a two-way mirror in another room, Remus noticed the shifts with almost a cold detachment. He could only analyze what happened right at the start of the transformation, because that was all he could remember; and he was always too depleted to pay much attention to what happened when he transformed back into a human. Tonight, as usual, it started with a brightening of the light as his pupils dilated. The dead twigs on the earth between his hands became more vivid; everything stood out in greater detail, as if someone had quickly outlined them with some magical paintbrush. Of their own volition, his fingers curled into the earth, digging in as if they could somehow hold him here. He began to hear a rush of blood in his ears and felt his lips curling backward involuntarily. A low howl began in his throat, a sound that seemed like it came from somewhere else. Then the spasms of pain began as his body cramped into itself, resisting the mutation and yet powerless to refuse it, and he was aware of no more.

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"Just leave it! Leave it!" Remus heard a voice whispering frantically.

He felt a shirt sleeve slipping from his wrist and heard a soft rustle. The shirt must have fallen on the ground.

He was being carried, each arm draped over someone's shoulders, his wrists held fast by the person on either side. He was clothed only in a pair of wool pants, and his naked feet dragged the ground. His eyes fluttered open and he realized it was morning. The light was grey and depressing, the ground scraping across his toenails damp and cold.

"James?" he croaked.

"Yeah, mate. Sirius and I have got you. Best to stay quiet."

Not a problem. He heard what could only be Peter struggling to keep up behind them, stumbling and breathing hard. They appeared to be making their way back to Hogwarts through the Forbidden Forest on the east rather than by the road from Hogsmeade. James and Sirius were running so fast that they were practically hyperventilating. What had happened?

Now the shaking began, and Remus felt his friends tighten their grips on his arms. His entire body trembled for several minutes, and he tried to focus on the ground rushing past his knees until the quaking stopped. It was an odd sensation to experience in an upright position; he was usually still naked on the ground when this phase of recovery happened.

"We're almost there," Sirius whispered encouragingly.

Remus managed a weak laugh.

They crossed an open field and began to climb a hill. He was dimly aware of the Whomping Willow on his left. When they reached the castle, they skirted around to the west side until they reached classroom eleven, an unused room across from the Great Hall, which had a window low to the ground. James had snuck in and left this window slightly ajar last night, and now he clambered into the room while Sirius held onto Remus. The two managed to hoist Remus inside, and soon Sirius and Peter joined them. Safely indoors, they all sat leaning against the wall, panting and peering out the window, for some time.

Remus was now shivering from the cold and James threw his cloak over his friend's shoulders. Remus stared at his dirty toenails, relishing the mental numbness that allowed his mind to forget the pain, to refocus, to resharpen itself into its human sensibilities. The three sat in silence for several minutes, waiting for Remus to come back to himself. Finally Remus asked hoarsely, "Care to tell me what you got us into back there?"

"You're not going to believe this, Remus" James began.

"I was right all along," Sirius whispered through gritted teeth. Remus realized that Sirius had been sitting with his fists over his eyes all this time, since they had climbed through the window.

"Yeah, yeah, you were," James admitted. "But you had no proof."

"I had all the proof I needed!" Sirius growled. "And now we know for sure."

"Will you two stop arguing and tell me what happened? Peter?" Remus implored, turning his head toward him.

Peter stared wretchedly at the stone floor. "Death Eaters," he mumbled.

"What?"

"Death Eaters in Hogsmeade," Peter repeated, looking up. His small eyes burned into Remus's.

"And not just Death Eaters," Sirius spat. Suddenly he leapt up and began pacing the room like a caged animal. Peter watched Sirius circle the room, an unfathomable expression on his pinched face.

"What? Who?" Remus was becoming agitated. "Tell me!"

James shifted so that he was facing Remus. "We passed by the Hog's Head early this morning and thought it was strange that the lamps were still lit inside. So Sirius went closer and looked in the window. He saw a group of Death Eaters in there, with their robes and hoods. He even spotted a Dark Mark on one of their forearms."

"No one noticed him?" Remus asked anxiously.

"No, he was just a dog, remember?" James said, glancing at Sirius, who still paced furiously.

"So he came back to where we were hidden and told us what he'd seen," Peter explained. "And they – we decided that I should go in as a rat and try to hear what was going on."

"That blasted old bartender was just standing there, washing the same glass over and over again, watching them," Sirius seethed. "Why the hell would he let those monsters in there?"

"Sirius, shut up for a minute," James ordered quietly. "Go ahead, Peter."

"So – so I edged along the walls and under the booths until I was near them. I listened for about ten minutes." Peter was sweating and blinking a lot, Remus noticed. He could only imagine how terrified Peter, a defenseless rat eavesdropping at the feet of killers, must have been. "It seemed to be – to be a kind of a meeting. A – a –"

"A recruitment meeting!" Sirius raged.

Peter swallowed. "Yes. A recruitment meeting."

"And you'll never guess who was there," Sirius said dangerously, kneeling on the floor in front of Remus, their faces close together.

"Why don't you tell me?"

Sirius hissed the words, his grey eyes glinting like steel. "Severus. Snape." And he was on his feet again, storming around the room, tearing at his hair.

Remus looked at James, who nodded. They watched each other bleakly for a moment, then James went on. "There were others, too."

"Oh, yes, my family is full of great ambition!" Sirius practically shrieked. "It's a veritable Who's Who of the Black family!"

James flinched at the racket Sirius was making, but said nothing.

"Who was there?" Remus asked.

Sirius groaned as he paced.

James spoke quietly. "Well, we knew that Lucius Malfoy was one of them already. Narcissa Black was with him. Bellatrix Black and Rodolphus Lestrange were there."

"They invited me to their wedding, HA!" Sirius barked.

"There were a few other Death Eaters Peter didn't recognize. There were some recent graduates there – Crabbe and Goyle and Avery were three that Peter saw. And some current students, as well – Snape, of course … and Regulus Black."

Everyone was silent. Remus looked at Sirius, who now pressed his fists against the far wall as if he could topple it. Sirius's younger brother was only a fourth year at Hogwarts.

"Stupid. Bloody. Kid." Sirius muttered to himself, his black hair hanging around his face as he stared at the floor between his shoes. "Told him not to talk to Snivellus. Told him and told him – "

Was this why Sirius had lured Severus to the Whomping Willow? Remus wondered. To protect Regulus from the Death Eaters? He hugged his knees to his chest and turned to James, who was watching Sirius carefully. James took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes roughly, then replaced them. Everyone was quiet for several minutes. Remus heard birds beginning to chirp and caw outside. Peter's stomach rumbled.

"So, why exactly were we running back to Hogwarts?" Remus asked.

"Well," James said, "we stayed in Hogsmeade a bit longer than we had planned. You, er, started getting restless –"

Remus winced.

"– and the Death Eaters heard us and came to the window. We had to wait for Peter to reach us and jump back onto Sirius, otherwise he'd never have gotten out of there."

"We should've gone in – " Sirius mumbled into the wall.

"Don't be daft," James retorted impatiently. "We were outnumbered thirteen to three! Remus couldn't have helped us; he was about to transform and had no wand anyway. Besides …" James paused. "Once they see us, it's all over for our families. You know that, right? The Blacks may be relatively protected because there are so many of them on Voldemort's side, but the rest of us …" James glanced at Remus at Peter, then quickly looked away.

Sirius took a long, rattling breath and punched the wall once.

James continued. "We made our way back through the forest as Animagi so the Death Eaters wouldn't see us, but they still fired some spells in our direction. I doubt we were followed, but we didn't want to take any chances. We made our way back as close to the school as we could, then you changed back and we got some clothes on you –"

"I remember the rest," Remus interjected.

"Yeah. Well. Here we are." James leaned his elbows on his knees and stared at Sirius again, who hadn't moved from the wall.

Peter still gazed miserably at the floor. Remus spoke compassionately to him. "I'm glad you're all right, mate."

Peter merely tittered nervously, flashing his eyes briefly at Remus. Then he occupied himself with watching a piece of lint drift across the floor in a draft.

James stood and slowly crossed to the center of the room. "I suggest we all get some sleep. There's nothing to be done about all this right now."

He stood next to Sirius and waited. Sirius remained still for a long moment, then he dropped his hands and threw open the door, striding angrily toward the stairs. James went back to Remus and helped him to his feet. With Peter, they climbed slowly back to Gryffindor Tower, where Sirius was already pretending to be asleep.