Ain't No Rest for the Wicked by Cage the Elephant

I seriously thought I was done for then. I couldn't see them at all because of that Invisibility cloak!

But I had nothing to fear. I almost forgot that James liked to talk too much when he was stressed about something.

"We should use the Herbology corridor to leave this time. Moony was really on edge today and we have to get out quickly," came his whisper somewhere ahead of me. I assumed that the three of them were all huddled together underneath the cloak. Good thing the Herbology corridor was close.

I followed their short path to the corridor that led to the outside. Once they had opened the door to be let out, I quickly ran ahead so they wouldn't leave me behind.

"That breeze is rather nice," James commented as he whipped off the cloack with a dramatic flourish. Irritated, Sirius tsked at him. "What breeze, you prat?"

James shrugged. "Never mind."

A sad, low sound, painful and angry ripped through the night.

The howl of a wolf.

James, Sirius, and Peter all looked at each in alarm, then broke into a run towards the Whomping Willow. I almost groaned as I realized that I too had to run to catch up with them. Again.

"We're coming!" Sirius shouted.

What? Why on Earth would you tell the wolf that?!

Yet as they ran, Peter and Sirius seemed to shrink, the former downsizing the most. James actually grew. Dark patches of fur sprouted all over their bodies, and they all hunched forward. I could hear bones breaking and hissing closed to heal and it made me sick. However, their noises of discomfort were quiet and few.

It finally dawned on me that they might be used to it.

They weren't done yet, though; my jaw physically dropped as the three boys' faces elongated; James, into the snout of a deer. Sirius, into the face of a dog. Peter, into the face of a rodent, complete with whiskers. Horns sprouted rapidly from James's head and I nearly screamed at the sound. He was a deer! Well, a stag, but an animal, no less!

Oh, Merlin, I muttered when I finally realized what was happening. They're Animagi.

A large back dog bounded next to him, and a rat jumped onto the stag's back. They continued to run and I continued to follow. I was in too deep to stop.

I was glad they stopped when they reached the Whomping Willow. It gave me a chance to catch my breath. The boys (animals?) waited and listened for a minute.

Another pained howl pierced the night again. This time, I ran backwards, farther away from them. I had no idea what was going to happen, but whatever it was, I did not want to die or get hurt in any way.

The boys (animals? I was still not sure and still very afraid) seemed to ready themselves. Almost on cue for a movie, a beast bursted from the roots of the Whomping Willow. It landed right in front of the stag, dog, and rat. It rose up on its hind legs, howled once more.

It stayed on its hind legs.

I almost fainted when I realized it was a werewolf.

Dodgy creatures, my arse, I thought. James was such a prat; calling them dodgy then seeking one out. Who was it, anyway?

I got my answer when the werewolf made direct eye contact with me. Usually warm amber eyes stared back.

"OH, MERLIN! REMUS?!"

The dog and the werewolf both ran at me and I wasn't sure of either of their intentions. I just knew I had made one of the worst mistakes of my life.

I sprinted away for as long as I could before I tripped on a tree root and fell. I felt stupidly like one of those simple girls in Muggle horror films who couldn't get up after they tripped on a flat surface they weren't even trying to run on. It was then that I noticed I could see my hands and my hair. How long I'd been visible, I didn't know, but it was long enough to get me killed. I selfishly pitied myself when I curled up in a fetal position, too scared to rock back and forth.

Sirius (as a dog) got to me before Remus (as a werewolf) did. Instead of trying to attack me, he wrapped his large body around my vulnerable form like a snake. When Remus arrived, spitting and snarling like Lily after her Sleekening Hair Potion seemed a little lighter(I couldn't actually believe I thought that at the most inopportune time. I'm horrible.), Sirius growled. Remus growled back. He barked loudly and snapped at him and Remus reciprocated with more snarling so many times it seemed like they were about to fight. It went on for awhile before Remus backed off, whimpering a little bit. His whimpering got louder when I heard more bones cracking. His bones. With a sigh (or was it more of a cry?) of relief, I watched as my friend became human again. Tears streaked his dirty, scratched face, but other than that he was fine. And naked. Very naked.

At least he was on his stomach

Regardless, I shoved Sirius's large (and, admittedly, soft) body off of me and crawled over to Remus. He was still sniffling when I rubbed his back.

"Shhh..."

He opened his eyes slowly then shut them again. "Oh, my God...please tell me this isn't happening..."

With a sheepish smile, I said, "Sorry, love."

I heard bones cracking behind me and Sirius (thankfully fully clothed) sat down across from me. He tried hard not to look me in the eyes.

"Moons, I have clothes," he said softly. He set down said clothes and stalked away, leaving me alone with my broken friend.

"Remus?"

He didn't give me any obvious/conscious indication that he was listening, but I could tell that he was anyway. He had stopped sniffling loudly and was breathing deeply.

"I'm sorry."

More deep breathing.

"This is horrible that this happens to you every month."

Still more deep breathing.

"This was the worst way for me to find out something you obviously wanted to keep secret, but...I'm alright with you being a werewolf. I didn't get to tell James this, but werewolves are people. Just with a special ability, but they're still people. There are still good and bad people, as there are good and bad werewolves. You just have to be careful about which is which."

Remus let out a loud sigh and continued to breathe deeply while facedown in the grass.

"You have a nice arse."

This finally got a reaction out of him.

He snorted once, but it became a full-blown laughing fit. He laughed so hard that he was literally rolling on the ground, clutching his stomach. He started to cry again, and this time it was good crying. Out of happiness more than pain.

When it had subsided, he smiled lazily up at me. "Thank you, Georgie."

"For what? For telling you that you have a nice arse? Because you do, it's the truth, not a-"

"No. Seriously. Thank you for accepting me for who I am."

"Well, of course. You're one of my best friends, aren't you?"

Remus reached out to touch my cheek. "I am. And thank you, Georgie, for your friendship."

"I would really hate to break this up, but in case you haven't noticed, it's three in the morning and we better head back to the castle," James said sassily. "And put some clothes on, Moons, you're indecent in front of a lady."

I bit my lip to keep from giggling inappropriately. James was right, so I tried to get up. Key word tried, because a sharp, searing pain shot up my right leg when I attempted to stand.

"Oh, great. Now we have two cripples," Sirius grumbled. I shot him a dirty look and opened my mouth to tell him off, but James had quickly transformed into a stag again. He nudged me with his snout. Sirius narrowed his eyes at me before asking,"Moons, can you walk well enough?"

Remus had put on his clothes and was pulling on a jumper over his bare chest. "Mhmm. Why?"

Sirius gestured to me with his chin. "This one's hurt."

The poor thing started to panic. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no, what did I do? How did I hurt you? Did I scratch you? Did I step on you? Did I kick you? Did I...bite you?"

"No, she hurt herself." Sirius snapped. To me, he said, "Does it hurt a lot?"

I was surprised at his tone. It was sincere. So sincere, in fact, that it confused me and I didn't answer the first time.

"Oi! Does it hurt?"

Yes. There was the Sirius I was used to. Snapping and snarling at me like I was a threat to him.

"Mhmm. I can try to walk, though, I'll just-WHOA HOLD ON WHAT'S GOING ON?"

Sirius had picked me up and set me down on James's back. I sat on his back astride. "We walk to the castle and we get you and Remus to Madame Pomfrey. Easy as that."

"Where's Peter?" I asked before we actually got started.

Something small climbed into my hand. I flinched and almost threw that something small away from me, but it was only Peter in his rat form. Gang's all here plus me. James, Sirius, and Remus started to walk

"Sirius?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you." He didn't need to be reminded why.

"...no problem, Paredes."

"And Sirius?"

"Yeah?"

"Does this make me the first girl to ride James Potter?"

Remus laughed so hard he nearly fell and hurt himself. James snorted sharply and tossed his head, his version of a laugh in his stag state.

"Oh, shut up," Sirius said. He tried to make it serious (ha) but I could hear him smile when he said it.