"Paddy, you stay here and look after Harry. I'm going to apparate home." Remus said standing up.

Realization dawned on Luna. "Full moon. I forgot." Luna said giving her brother a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Yeah, and it's losing power again. Wolfsbane doesn't even help." Remus said.

"I forgot about the power thing." Sirius said also standing. "But don't apparate, it'll tire you too much. Floo, all the fires here are connected." Sirius walked over to the fireplace and held out a small box towards Remus. Remus accepted some sparkling powder.

"We'll see you tomorrow." Luna told her brother.

With "The Den", Remus was gone.

* * *

"Moony, are you okay?" Sirius asked walking over to where his friend was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall.

"The moon comes in an hour." Remus replied distantly.

"We'll go out to the shack. Just us. Lily and James can stay here, if you want." Sirius suggested.

"I want." Remus accepted the offer. As with the future time, the last few moons had held a different power. Remus hadn't been able to transform no matter how hard his body tried. Sirius had been there all the time trying to make Remus relax to take away some of the pain.

"I'll tell James." Sirius disappeared through the open tapestry. James and Lily were sitting together watching Harry sleeping.

"Hey, I'm taking Remus down tot he shack, it's full moon tonight." Sirius said getting his friends attention.

"You don't need me to come?" James asked. James in animagus form had more strength than Padfoot.

"I'll be right. By the sounds of it, I'm not even sure he's going to be able to change." Sirius told them.

"I wonder what's up with the moon." Lily wondered aloud.

"That's what the future me is wondering too." Sirius told her. "Better go, see ya's in the morning. You know where to find us."

Sirius went back into the other room and hauled Remus to his feet. The two boys walked down the little passage and out through the tapestry.

It took about 20 minutes for them to get into the shack. Sirius finally remembered that he had his wand in his robe pocket. With a quick spell the upstairs room was clean. Remus collapsed down onto the bed.

"Try to sleep while the moon's down." Sirius told his friend. Remus nodded and closed his eyes obediently, falling asleep a few seconds later.

As soon as the moon was up in the sky, pain washed over Remus. His muscles contracted and his bones felt like they were going to break. Liquid fire ran through his veins and the transformation never came.

Sirius held his whimpering friend's head in his lap trying to sooth some of the pain away. Sirius couldn't touch any part of Remus except for his head as any touch sent bolts of pain shooting through his friend's body.

Remus let out a strangled scream as his body once more tried to transform.

Sirius kept repeating himself as he tried to get Remus to listen to his words of comfort and take his attention away from the pain.

"Okay, you don't want to listen to words of comfort, then, I'll tell you a story." Sirius said. Remus had his eyes tightly closed, but he nodded.

"Okay." Sirius cleared his throat. "Once upon a time, not so very long ago, there were these two boys. Best friends they were, and some of the strife they got into. Detentions, at least one a week…" and on Sirius went with his tale until the two characters were fighting a dragon, before his story got interrupted.

James and Lily entered the room quietly so as not to disturb Remus.

"What are you two doing here?" Sirius asked.

"We have a problem." James said.

"What kind of problem?" Sirius asked.

"The 'we're not invisible anymore' kind of problem." Lily said.

"What?" Sirius exclaimed nearly bolting upright, but a moan from Remus made Sirius become still again.

"How are you, Remmy?" Lily asked Remus as she knelt down beside the bed.

"Been better." Remus replied his voice tight with pain. Lily brushed his fringe back from his face as James spoke again.

"We were seen by the Malfoy boy. We were just going for a walk and we bumped into him coming around the corner. He's a prefect. He thought I was Harry and Lily was Ginny." James said.

"Who's Ginny?" Sirius asked.

"She's the young Weasley girl." Lily replied.

"Anyway, we bolted down the passage under the one legged knight to shake him off, and here we are." James finished.

"This is not good." Sirius said. "Why did we have to be so memorable? If we looked like a Hufflepuff, I bet e could go anywhere and not be recognized."

"Snape's here, he'd recognize us whoever her were." Lily pointed out as she lay her outer robe over Remus' trembling body. "What are we going to do?"

* * * *