Disclaimer: Not mine. The world of Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling

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"That's what a friend is for: When you're lost in darkness and searching for the light, to help you through those lonely nights, when everything around you fails - just hold out your hand, and I'll come running. That's what a friend is for."
(Marty Keith)

SIRIUS:

Sirius could not sleep that night. He kept thinking about Remus alone in that blood-soaked room, screaming with the pain of the transformation. Every time he closed his eyes, he pictured Remus's little pointed face lengthening and spouting fur. He could see those amber eyes slowly losing their human sanity; hands warping, cracking, changing into clawed paws that then proceeded to rip and slash and hurt. As always, he thought about blood. Blood and moonshadows.

Since finding out about Remus's condition, Sirius rarely slept well on full moon nights. This night, however, was even worse than usual. It was going to be a rough moon for Remus. He knew from reading bits of the books James brought from Potter Manor that the more agitated a werewolf was before the transformation, the more likely his wolf side was to become angry and frustrated.

Sirius groaned into his pillow and rolled over again restlessly in his bed.

"Sirius?"

He stilled as he heard James's quiet whisper from the bed beside his.

"Yeah?"

"Can't sleep?"

"No."

"Nor me."

Sirius sat up and pulled aside his curtains. He could just make out the messy head peering short-sightedly at him through the curtains of the bed beside his.

"Come here so we don't wake Pete," James suggested.

Sirius climbed out of his bed and padded over to James's. He sat on top of the covers and sighed as he looked at his friend. James cast lumos and a silencing charm so they wouldn't wake their fellow Marauder before putting his glowing wand back on the bedside table.

"Yeah," James said, "me too."

"'You too' what?"

"I'm also worried about him. He was upset today and we know that's never a good thing."

Sirius huffed, wondering if he was really that easy to read, or whether James just knew him too well.

"It's not hard to guess what you're stressing about," James said, sounding amused. "You always worry about him."

"It's not my fault," Sirius said defensively. "He's hurting and… and… eccentric and he needs people to worry about him."

"I know. No need to bite my head off. Why d'you think I'm still awake?"

There was a rustling from the basket James had transfigured from an old shirt that now sat on his bedside cabinet next to his wand.

"Look, you woke up Hamish!" Sirius accused as he reached over to pick up the basket and draw it into his lap. The hedgehog blinked up at him in the light of James's wand.

"We should take him with us tomorrow morning," James said. "I bet Moony'd love to see him."

"We'll have to sneak him in," said Sirius. "I don't think Madame Pomfrey likes animals in her hospital wing."

"True. But they don't call us Marauders for nothing! Come on - time to plan Operation Smuggle Hamish."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Honestly, mate."

"What?"

"Why don't we just wrap his basket in your invisibility cloak?"

James sulked. "Well, that was no fun."

"Idiot."

"Git."

"Snivellus."

"Oi! That was below the belt."

Sirius yawned, surprised to feel a wave of tiredness was over him now that he knew he had someone to share the burden of worrying. "Budge over. I'm going to sleep."

"Hey!" James protested, as Sirius proceeded to replace Hamish, lie down, steal all his covers, and shove him to the edge of his bed. "This is my bed. If you're going to sleep, do it in your own."

"C'n't be both'red," Sirius mumbled.

"Get off, you lump."

Sirius ignored him, thinking about Remus and wondering what the wolf was doing to him now.

"Fine!" James said, standing up and stalking over to Sirius's bed. "Just know that I'll remember this the next time you want to borrow my invisibility cloak."

Sirius didn't answer, staring out the half-open curtains as the full moon hovering white and vicious in an indigo sky.

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"Peter, OW!" Sirius hissed, as the four of them made their way to the hospital wing early the next morning.

"Well, if you're going to put your toe under my foot it's going to get stood on," Peter said grumpily. He was still half asleep and if he hadn't been sharing the invisibility cloak with the two dark-haired Marauders, Sirius was sure he would have walked into a wall by now.

"We're almost there, lads," James said. "Good thing too. I don't think I could bear you huffing down my neck for much longer, Sirius."

Sirius deliberately huffed harder, causing James to give a girly squeak and stumble out from under the cloak.

"Hey! Watch Hamish!" Sirius made a grab for Hamish's basket as it almost slipped from James's hands.

"It would have been your fault if I'd dropped him!" James snipped. They reached the doors to the hospital wing. "Here, pass me the cloak."

Sirius and Peter ducked out from under the cloak and Peter passed it over for James to wrap around Hamish's basket.

"What if he suffocates?" Sirius asked.

"It's only for a short while."

They headed into the hospital wing. There was no sign of Madame Pomfrey, so they went straight to the door of Remus's room and opened it. They stopped in surprise when they spotted Angela and Neil Anders already inside.

James clutched the covered basket to his chest and moved behind Sirius.

"Um… hello, Professor," Sirius said awkwardly. "We didn't know you'd be here."

"We thought he might like us to be here his first full moon back," Angela said. She looked at them curiously, taking note of the chocolate in Sirius and Peter's arms. "Do you come here every full moon?"

"Er… yes," Sirius said. "Didn't Madame Pomfrey tell you?"

Neil opened his mouth to reply when a small voice called out, "Sir'us!"

Everyone in the room turned to look at the bed. Remus had evidently been hiding under the covers until now. His tawny hair was mussed and static as his eyes peered over the edge of his duvet.

"Hey Moony!" Sirius smiled, coming over to sit on the edge of the bed. "How are you today?"

"Moony hurt!"

"I know, I'm sorry."

"He talks to you?" Angela asked in amazement. "He usually just hides when we're here."

"Well," Sirius said, biting his lip. He didn't want them to feel hurt by Remus's unresponsiveness. "We've been with him for lots more than you have. It took him time to get used to us. Also we…" He glanced over at James and Peter who shrugged, then nodded resignedly. "We're kind of his pack."

"I'm sorry?" Neil said, blinking in amazement.

"His pack. Moony calls us his pack."

"Sir'us!" Sirius turned to look at Remus again. He was rather horrified to see the smaller boy holding his bandaged arms out for a hug. It was bad enough with James and Peter watching. He really didn't want Angela and Neil to see.

"Pack!" Remus said. "Pack come. Cho'lt! Wolf…James make." He dug round under his covers and pulled out the rather bedraggled looking toy wolf. He waved it to James, then whimpered and clutched at his well-bandaged side as a wound was aggravated. "Sir'us…" he whimpered, crawling painfully out from the covers and curling against Sirius who flushed, but put his arms around Remus and drew him close, careful not to hurt him. Remus seemed to be a solid ball of bandages this morning.

"This is amazing," Neil shook his head as James and Peter joined them on the bed. Remus reached out to grab a fistful of James's shirt with one hand and nudged Peter with a foot. "I've read about werewolves forming packs, but it's not really that common."

"Choc'lt!" Remus said to Peter imperiously, seeming unaware that he was sitting on a whole lapful that Sirius hadn't had time to move before he'd gained an armful of werewolf.

Peter unwrapped a chocolate frog and passed it over to Remus, who grabbed it and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Are you sure that's good for him?" Angela asked uncertainly. "It was a really rough moon, and Madame Pomfrey said he should eat well and get rest."

"He does eat well, believe me," James said. "The amount of chocolate he consumes is scary. It's never affected him before." He grinned suddenly and reached out to unwrap Hamish's basket. "Hey, Moony. Look what we have here."

"Choc'lt?" Remus asked.

"No, Hedgehog."

"'Edge'og?"

James lifted Hamish out of the basket with a flourish. Hamish's small, pointed face turned towards Remus and he struggled in James's hands. James put him on the bed and Hamish began to shuffle towards the werewolf.

"Okay, I very much doubt Madame Pomfrey allows hedgehogs in her clean hospital wing." Angela looked towards her husband for support, her scarves fluttering around her nervously.

"Probably not," Neil agreed. "But look at Remus's face."

Remus's whole face had lit up at the sight of the hedgehog. It was an open, beaming smile that was never seen on his face on a normal day. It was free from the shadows that always seemed to hover in his eyes. He reached out a sticky hand towards Hamish.

"Gently, Moony," Sirius said, reaching out to guide Remus's hand to softly stroke the hedgehog. Remus laughed as Hamish butted his hand.

"Watch this," James added. He pulled his wand out of his pocket and muttered a quick spell. Hamish's spikes turned brilliant red and gold.

"'Edge'og!" Remus cheered, clapping his hands. Sirius was sure he could feel him buzzing with delight, even through all the bandages. Affection flooded him and he ran one hand up and down Remus's back, causing the boy to lean into him and sigh, his eyes beginning to droop.

"He'll go to sleep soon," Peter told the Anders. "Then we have to go to class."

"You boys are good friends," Angela said. "There are very few thirteen-year-olds who would support their friend through everything you have."

"We're his pack," James said, lifting Hamish back into his basket without bothering to change his colour back.

Sirius felt Remus's head droop against his chest as he dozed off.

"Tempus," James murmured, waving his wand. "We have to go, lads. We've got Herbology."

Peter reached over to pull back the covers of the bed and James helped Sirius shift Remus onto the bed. Thankfully, the werewolf hadn't eaten enough chocolate to merit the full clean-up operation that usually followed, although Sirius's lap – now covered in melted chocolate – was another story. He made a face and Angela laughed, giving a wave of her wand to clean up the mess.

"Thanks," he mumbled.

"So will we see you again?" Peter asked the Anders.

"Probably not," Neil said, reaching over to brush away a strand of hair from Remus's sleeping face. "We both have work. We just came to check he was all right." He smiled. "It turns out we didn't need to worry about him."

The Marauders shifted in embarrassment, suddenly aware that any grown-up, masculine status they had managed to accumulate was rapidly depleting.

"We're his pack," James said again, as if that was their get-out-of-non-manly-jail-free card.

"Yeah," Sirius and Peter echoed.

Neil grinned, his boyish face showing that he knew exactly what was going through their minds. "You don't have to be ashamed of caring."

"We're not!" Sirius said.

"And we've got Herbology," Peter added. "If we don't hurry, we won't have time to get Hamish back to the dorm."

They hurried out of the hospital wing and to the Gryffindor Tower.

"Well, that was weird," Peter said breathlessly and he climbed through the portrait hole.

"That was embarrassing!" Sirius said. "I can't believe he climbed into my lap like that. In front of the Anders as well."

James and Peter laughed as they went into their dorm and grabbed their bags.

"It's your own fault," James said. "You encourage him."

"I do not. You know he always starts it."

"Yeah, but you sit there and cuddle him and stuff."

Sirius blushed furiously. "I do not 'cuddle' him. I hug him. Manly hugs. And what – you think I should just shove him off?"

"Nope," Peter said, grinning. "We never said anything of the sort. You're the one complaining."

Sirius sighed. "He was bad today, lads. I could feel bandages all over him."

They fell silent for a while as they made their way back out of Gryffindor Tower and towards Greenhouse three for Herbology.

"I wish we could do something for him," James said eventually.

"We can't," Sirius said not bothering to keep the bitterness from his voice. "If we were there, the smell of humans would make it even worse."

"Maybe we could put Hamish in there with him?" Peter suggested. "He's not scared of Moony and that book said animals might calm him."

"Peter!" Sirius said. "You can't do that to a poor innocent hedgehog. He may not be scared of Remus in human form, but I bet anyone would be scared if they saw a great big, slavering wolf coming towards them. Besides – you saw the furniture in that room. He might accidentally slash him."

"If only Hamish was bigger," James said. "And we could explain to him that we were trying to help Remus. What we need is a big animal with a human brain." He brightened. "Hey, do you reckon centaurs would work? I hear there are some in the Forbidden Forest and maybe we could bribe them."

"With what?" Peter asked. "Dung bombs? Besides, they're half human as well."

"Animals with human brains…" Sirius murmured. Suddenly he stopped as an idea hit him. He felt his heart leap up in his chest and he sucked a deep breath into his lungs. "McGonagall!" he gasped.

"What?" James asked. "Sirius, are you insane?"

"McGonagall changes into a cat!" Sirius said. He started leaping around his friends excitedly. He grabbed James's shoulders and shook him. "Don't you see?"

A couple of fourth year Ravenclaws eyed him oddly as they passed the Marauders in the corridor.

"You want to ask McGonagall to go stay with him in her cat form?" Peter asked dubiously.

"No, you git," James said, his eyes also lighting up. "We would!"

"Huh?" Peter looked completely lost.

"We'll become animagi," Sirius said impatiently to their chubby friend. "Honestly, keep up, Pete."

Light dawned on Peter's face. "But isn't that really hard?"

James sighed. "Yeah. Remember she said it takes years and some really complicated spells and potions."

"But we'll still try, won't we?" Sirius said jigging up and down with delight.

"Of course," James said. "If anyone can do it the Marauders can."

They started walking again, though it would probably be more accurate to describe their gait as bouncing.

"We're going to be the best pack ever," Sirius said.

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They returned after their last lesson of day to find Remus wrapped up in a blanket on a sofa in front of the common room fire. Lily Evans was sitting beside him, talking to him in a hushed voice, one arm around his shoulder.

Sirius frowned. "What's Evans doing?"

"Hey, Evans!" James said, sauntering over to the fire and dropping into the armchair opposite the sofa. "Stop chatting up the invalid."

Lily glared at him. "You don't own him, Potter. And I wasn't chatting him up. I was just checking if he was alright."

Sirius sat on the arm of the sofa beside Remus and peered at him. "You don't look very well, mate. Why did Pomfrey let you out?"

Remus made a face. "I hate the hospital wing. You know that. I escaped as soon as I …recovered."

Recovered his mind, Sirius thought. He could see the embarrassment and self-loathing lurking in the depths of Remus's haunted eyes.

"Did you find Hamish?" Peter asked, bobbing down to sit on the floor in front of the fire.

"Yeah," Remus shifted a little so they could see the hedgehog sleeping peacefully on the blanket in his lap. Hamish's spines were still red and gold. "What on earth did you do to him? I leave him with you for one night and he comes back looking like a Christmas tree bauble."

James grinned. "If you lose him now, everyone will know to return him to the Gryffindor Tower."

"But what if a Slytherin finds him?"

"Good point." James drew out his wand and pointed it at the hedgehog, who woke up and blinked sleepy black eyes at James. "Silver and green? They wouldn't hurt one of their own."

"No!" Remus put his arms protectively over his pet. "I'm not letting you change him into Slytherin colours."

"He has a point, James," Sirius said. "He would clash horribly with the décor of our room."

"What décor?" Peter asked. "Do you mean the unmade beds and that giant poster Sirius stuck up of James getting knocked off his broom in slow motion?"

Remus, Peter and Sirius sniggered as James blushed furiously and shot a glance at Lily. "Shut up!"

"Are you lot always like this?" Lily asked, looking a mixture of exasperated and amused.

"Always like what?" Remus asked, looking genuinely confused.

"Always so… boyish!"

"Pretty much," Sirius said, leering at her. "It probably has something to do with us being boys. Just the way you like it, hey, Evans?"

Lily shuddered. "You're so gross, Black." She stood up and tossed her dark red hair over her shoulder. "Couldn't you have found better friends, Remus?"

"I like my friends," Remus said mildly.

"Hmm. I'm going to find Alice and Rebecca. I hope you feel better soon."

She stalked away, shooting a last disgusted glance at Sirius who grinned back at her and winked.

"Sirius!" Remus said plaintively. "Did you have to do that?"

"What?" Sirius said. "I'm practicing my flirting. You told me all the girls were after me. I need to get my skills up to scratch."

"You're thirteen," Remus said. "It's just weird. And that wasn't flirting. It was practically molesting."

"I'll be fourteen in a couple of months," Sirius said. "And she deserved it for bugging you."

"She wasn't bugging me. She was being nice to me."

"He has a point, mate," James said.

"You're only backing him up 'cause you fancy her," Sirius said dismissively.

"I do not fancy her!"

"Do too."

"Do not!"

"Lads!" Remus interrupted. "Please just shut up? " He yawned. "I think I'm going to bed." He stood up every movement creaky and pained.

"Need help, Moony?" James asked.

"Nah, I'm good." He shuffled towards the stairs still holding Hamish and wrapped in his blanket. His hair was sticking up wildly around his head looking almost as bad as James's.

"Should we tell him, do you think?" Sirius asked, watching him.

"About the animagus thing?" James asked.

"Yeah."

James looked reflectively towards the stairs. "Not yet," he decided. "We should wait to see if it's possible first. We don't want to get his hopes up."

"I think I'm too stupid to do it," Peter said sadly. "You know I'm rubbish at spells and things. And McGonagall said it was really hard."

"We'll help you, mate, don't worry," James said, reaching over to ruffle Peter's hair.

"I just hope we can do it," said Sirius. "And I hope it will help him."

"We will. It will," James said. Sirius wished he could share in his friend's optimism.