Disclaimer: See Prologue

A/N: Thanks everyone. The response was incredible and I don't think I'm going to top the last chapter but I'll give it my best shot. In particular, thanks to EmmaLeighx who thought this one up.

Sirius caught Lupin's eye as he handed Harry a photograph depicting the four boys standing together, arm in arm and laughing at Pettigrew who was adorned with almost every symbol of luck known to the Wizarding World.

"What in the name of all that is holy?"

Lupin and Sirius laughed.

"I think Peter is wearing all that is holy." said Lupin, trying to suppress his laughter as the teenaged Peter slapped the extremely younger looking Lupin round the back of the head, earning himself one of Lupin's rare angered glares.

1973

It was a Spring morning like almost any other. The birds outside were singing. The dew on the grass was falling. The trees swayed slowly in the calming breeze. The rain dropped in an almost musical fashion and from his bed, Remus Lupin listened to the rhythm of their beating against the glass panes.

The room was serenely silent and Lupin had decided that he was going to enjoy the peace and quiet.

CRASH!

Sirius groaned in his state of half-sleep and draped a pillow round his head, attempting to block out the sounds of Peter Pettigrew who was currently emptying his trunk in a paranoid frenzy.

"Peter!" hissed James. "It's six o'clock in the bloody morning. For Merlin's sake, shut up!"

"Do you know what day it is?" Peter asked, his reply as harsh as James's. "Do you?"

Sirius punched his pillow. "Yeah well, we haven't all got a degree in day arranging, Peter." he mumbled,

Lupin sighed and swung his long legs out from under the warmth of his duvet and into the cold morning air.

"Come on then Peter," he said, stretching arms that were a little too suspiciously muscular for a boy who had only three days before, turned thirteen. "Put us out of our misery."

Peter smiled triumphantly and took a deep breath as though about to disclose a great secret. "It's Friday the thirteenth."

Peter made it quite plain that whatever he had expected in response, it was not Sirius grunting and going back to sleep. Nor was it James throwing a pillow at him for being so stupid. Only Lupin showed concern. He certainly looked a little peaky at least.

"What's the matter Remus?" asked Sirius, suddenly awake and concerned.

"It's the full moon." muttered Lupin. He still didn't relish sharing his secret even if it was with his best friends. He would much rather not talk about it.

Peter whimpered. "Okay!" he shrieked, throwing his clothes back into his trunk. "What happened to my rabbit's foot?"

"I think Sirius must have eaten it." laughed James.

"Well where am I going to get a new one now?"

Sirius and James shrugged. Lupin was too caught up in the fact that he had forgotten that tonight was the night of his transformation. What if it hadn't been a significant date for Peter? Would he have remembered in time? Would anyone check that he hadn't just gone into the shack himself?

As though reading his mind, James threw his one remaining pillow at Lupin and told him to stop beating himself up about it.

"I think you'll just have to kill yourself a rabbit Pete." said Sirius, trying to hide his grin.

"Aren't you superstitious?" asked Peter. "Why haven't any of you come prepared?"

Lupin gave a bitter half-smile. "What's the worst that can happen to me?"

Peter was obviously about to have a minor panic attack. His breathing was shallow and quick. His hands were shaking and he had broken out into a sweat. Sirius snorted at the very sight of him and climbed back into bed, burying his face in his pillows.

James was slightly more practical. "Well what's lucky then?"

Peter's eyes rolled back in his head as though he was remembering a long list. "Right, I have to wear my lucky underpants."

"Please," began Lupin. "Today is going to be hard enough. On top of that, don't make me imagine your underwear."

Peter appeared not to have heard him. "I want my lucky rabbit's foot and a four leaf clover and something green and a horseshoe and um…oh I need a lion's tooth for courage and a fox's tail for speed."

"What is this Peter?" asked Sirius, from the bed. "A mass cull?"

"And I mustn't let a black cat cross my path or Remus will eat me tonight. I mustn't break a mirror or walk under a ladder or step on cracks."

Lupin was unimpressed. "I believe you are suffering from paraskevidekatriaphobia."

"What's that when it's at home?" asked James, widening his hazel eyes.

"It's the phobia of Friday the thirteenth." said Lupin, as though this were the most obvious thing in the world. "If you think you're having bad luck Peter then you need to turn yourself around seven times."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah."

Peter closed his eyes and began to turn, counting as he spun on his heels. James threw a questioning glance in Lupin's direction. Remus smirked and his shoulders shook with silent laughter.

"You're evil." James mouthed.

Lupin grinned. "That's why you love me."

Sirius raised an eyebrow before breaking out into a beaming smile. His entire face lit up and grey eyes, the colour of storm clouds, sparkled with mischief. He leapt to his feet and beckoned for Lupin and James to follow him quietly out of the room.

Once in the corridor leading down to the Gryffindor Common Room, Sirius allowed himself to laugh. He wrapped an arm around Lupin as though pinning him down.

"You're not going anywhere when you hear this, mind." he warned him. "We need you to conjure up some ladders for him to have to walk under and maybe a few easily reparable cracks on the stairs and if you could ask your fat little friend to let her cat out for a bit-"

"STOP calling her that!"

An awkward silence descended upon them. On the other side of the door they could hear Peter searching for his lucky underwear. They could have heard a pin drop. James took it upon himself to break the silence and the tension by whistling an irritating tune.

"Alright!" cried Sirius, throwing his hands up in a gesture of mock surrender. "Could you ask whatsername to let her cat out for a minute?"

Lupin's black eyes were still cold but he nodded once. "I'll think about it."

"I'm sorry Remus. I didn't think it would piss you off that much."

"Corse language doesn't impress me. Her name is Anna."

"Right. Well ask Anna-"

"Okay."

Lupin was now smiling in triumph. He had won. He couldn't believe he had shouted like that though. What if they had left him? He would have no friends. He would be another Snape, bullied relentlessly for sport and left to fend for himself in Potions. He shuddered. His life wouldn't be worth living. Though, they all knew what he was and they hadn't buggered off and told everyone yet. Still, it was best not to get on the wrong side of them. He flicked his wand and they now stood under an arch of ladders. He bit his lip. He didn't particularly want to deface school property. Neither did he want to annoy his friends after losing his temper over Anna. He pointed his wand at the stairs and tentatively muttered the curse that caused small cracks to appear in the stonework.

"Ask her then." said James, pushing Lupin towards the door of the girl's dormitories.

Lupin knocked the door hurriedly before he could change his mind and Sirius and James disappeared into their dormitory. From outside, he could hear the smash of glass and Peter's despairing wail. He wanted to stop now, this was cruel. It was funny though and ultimately the main choice in life for a man was between doing what was right and what was funny. What separated the Marauders was their ability to allow what was funny to take over all attempts at reason.

The door was eventually answered by a tired and disgruntled Anna Lovett in a nightgown that barely covered her thighs. She had the decency to blush and make an attempt at covering herself but it was still a disturbingly arousing sight for a hormonal teenage boy who had been secretly in love with her for two years.

"Remus?"

"Yeah." he croaked, hoping his voice wouldn't crack. He couldn't take his eyes off the hem of what served as her pyjamas. "I wonder if I could borrow your cat."

Ten minutes later, Lupin found himself holding a crying Peter in his arms. It was a far cry from who he hoped to be embracing at that moment in time. The black cat sat at Peter's feet, staring up at him. Peter had only continued to wail in response as he stood under thirteen ladders, on a staircase of cracked stone with a black cat repeatedly crossing his path on Friday the thirteenth.

"I feel awful." Lupin mouthed and Sirius and James sighed.

"I despair of you." said Sirius, not caring whether Peter was still crying hard enough not to notice. "You'll never make it as a Marauder."

"Although it has to be said," replied James. "He does have his moments of comic genius. And I am inclined to agree with him. I mean, Merlin, look at Peter."

Sirius was resigned to conjuring horseshoes and the feet of rabbits and draping them over Peter who was beginning to feel slightly better. They even placed a four leaf clover in his hair.

"What do you look like?" asked Sirius, in disgust.

"It's deserving of a picture." said James, trying not to laugh as Peter turned on the spot seven times once more for luck.

Lupin evidently agreed and soon returned with his camera.

The door of the girl's dormitory opened and Anna, now sadly fully dressed, emerged. She picked up her jet black cat and cradled him, letting him loose in order for him to stalk off into the dormitory, presumably to fall back asleep on her bed.

"Do you want me to take it?" she offered, brushing her fingers against Lupin's as she took his camera. "You look terribly ill Remus." she informed him. "Perhaps you ought to see Madam Pomfrey. Okay, smile everyone! Peter, that is not a smile!"

CLICK!