A/N: I'm so sorry, guys! I've been swamped with work...one project after another, one test after another... but that's no excuse. I really promise I'll write often. Thanks for your continuing support!

About this chapter. Well, it should be worth the wait. It's my longest to date. I'm saying that a lot now, aren't I? Well, this time it's definitely true. But don't listen to me, read! It's pretty action packed, especially near the end.

emmys: I know, I feel important when I get mentioned by authors too :) Well, Professor Storm's just evil. I thought it best to show the prejudices that Remus gets, even as he's growing up. I really didn't base him on any of my teachers, but now that I think about it, a couple would have fit the description :)

Kates Master: Thanks! Pointless fluffy chapters aren't really my thing, but I'll definitely try :)

Thanks soooo much to the reviewers! Thanks to GreenDragonDurl, starsword, mellonim, emmys, Kates Master, smittylovesHPfic, redcrushedvelvet and ellieo! I LOVE YOU ALL! Big hugs and cupcakes :)


November-December, 1973


Unleashed

The incident with the Amortentia was kept quiet throughout the castle. No one was sure why Marcella had turned giggly all of a sudden in the Great Hall. Even the teachers couldn't fathom the mystery, and Slughorn never noticed that a bit of Amortentia was missing from his cauldron. Lily called it pure luck; the Marauders called it talent.

There were now rumors that Marcella Greenwald was in love with James Potter. Both James and Marcella shot that rumor down as quickly as it came up. James said that Marcella wasn't his type, and Marcella said that James wasn't her type. She also added that she wasn't feeling quite herself that day. No need to elaborate.

Marcella had been given an antidote after Lily dragged her to the dungeons. Slughorn merely thought that some boys had slipped her a love potion to get her to fall in love with them. It was sort of the truth, so Lily didn't feel too bad about lying, but not all of the truth. Marcella, being able to remember everything that had happened, was highly embarrassed, but laughed it off. Lily couldn't help but admire her friend. She was a warrior, all right.

Lily's behavior toward the Marauders became absolutely alarming after the event. Every time they passed in the halls, her eyes would narrow to a glare so cold Peter often shivered at the sight of it. That gave Lily a distinctive sense of triumph, though she would still flare up with anger at any sign of the Marauders.

"They're all immature jerks," Lily growled, dipping her quill in ink. She was sitting in the common room with Marcella trying to finish an essay that was due in two days. "Especially that Potter."

Marcella rolled her eyes, bending over her own piece of parchment. "Lily, I agree, but do we have to bring up this subject again?"

"Yes!" Lily said loudly. "He just angers me so much, that Potter… and that Sirius Black! He's no better. Heck, he might even be worse. And that Peter Pettigrew…he just follows every little wrong thing that his friends do, and Remus…"

Lily paused, a bit torn. She liked Remus a lot. He was fun to hang out with, and a good friend of hers. Sometimes she wondered why in the world someone so smart, so good-hearted and quiet would hang out with people likes James Potter and Sirius Black.

"Remus is a decent guy," Marcella said, writing a sentence onto her parchment.

"Yeah," Lily agreed. "But I wonder about him…I really wonder why he would hang out with people like Potter and Black." As she said the last three words, she jabbed her quill so ferociously into her parchment that it made a huge hole.

Lily hastily whipped out her wand. "Reparo."

Marcella raised an eyebrow. "Lily, are they really worth your anger?"

"They should be worth yours," Lily exclaimed indignantly. "Really, that love potion was a stupid idea, even for a prank, and you were the one that got hurt in the process!"

Marcella shrugged. "If I could see myself that day, I think I really would have laughed at myself. Really, Lily, it's just a love potion. They're not bad guys. They're just pranksters. They wouldn't do anything dangerous."

Lily stared at her friend, then sighed. "Fine. Think what you want, Marcella, but if you're not going to be angry, I'm going to be angry on your behalf."

Marcella looked at Lily, torn between exasperation and admiration. She shook her head, her dark hair flying. "You're really stubborn, you know that?"

Lily looked at her, then grinned, bending back over her parchment. "Yeah, I know."


"I know it was him."

Snape was following Lily across the school grounds. She was walking quickly, her school books in her arms, her long red hair floating behind her.

"What are you talking about?" Lily said, without looking at him.

"James Potter. I know it was him that put the Amortentia in that girl's juice. He intended it for you."

"Wow, what an excellent theory," Lily snapped. "Sev, I don't mean to be rude, but it's none of your business."

"The hell it isn't!" he snarled.

She came to a halt. He stopped as well, and she turned to look straight at him. "What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing!" he said, clearly a bit flustered. "I just don't want to see you get hurt by that arrogant prick, that's all! We're friends, I'm looking out for you!"

"Friends, Sev?" she said. "We haven't talked to each other since summer break. It's been months."

She stopped short when she saw the pained look on his face.

"I'm sorry," she said, rather softly. "You know I didn't mean that. Of course we're still best friends, you know that."

"That's why I'm still looking out for you, all the time," he protested.

She rounded on him. "How?" she said angrily. "By picking fights with Potter whenever he's in sight? I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, Severus, you know that!"

"I do!" Snape said defensively. "But come on, don't tell me you don't want to get him back - "

"I don't need your help to do it," Lily snapped. "Especially after what your so-called friends have been pulling..." She turned and glared in the direction of Avery and Mulciber, who were guffawing at something across the grounds. "And don't even tell me the stuff they do is retaliation. They're using awful magic."

"And Amortentia isn't?" Snape asked incredulously.

"I can't believe you're defending them!" she said, stamping her foot in frustration. "I know they want to join You-Know-Who, the path they're headed -"

"So what if they do?" Snape said defensively.

They glared at each other.

Finally, Lily broke the silence. "Stay out of it Severus, and stop picking fights with Potter and his idiot friends," Lily said angrily. "It's not worth it."

Snape looked at her grudgingly. She blushed a bit under his gaze.

"Look, I'll see you at the playground over break, alright?" she said, her tone softening. "Sunday. Same time."

At this, his eyes brightened. "See you there," he said as she walked away.


The Christmas holidays arrived quickly, and Sirius became moodier instead of merrier. Snow was now falling in thick, pearly sheets onto the school grounds. The Marauders, when they weren't planning pranks on fellow classmates or sneaking out at night, often ran out onto the grounds for a snowball fight. Occasionally, Snivellus would pass by, and James, with his incredible Quidditch aim, would smack a snowball right into Snape's greasy hair. The Marauders would laugh, then would fake a look of pure innocence. Twice they accidentally hit teachers, earning a rather long list of detentions.

In Defense class, Professor Storm had told them that they would be moving past werewolves and onto Boggarts. It was all Remus could do to keep from cheering with joy. The whole unit had been completely uncomfortable for him, as Storm kept hinting at what horrible, vile monsters werewolves were. Remus had to exercise serious control on Sirius and James, or else they would have gotten kicked out of school for hexing or strangling a teacher.

Mostly though, he had to keep himself from strangling Storm. He warned himself not to stand up to Storm again and risk his secret getting out. He was very relieved that none of his classmates had come up to him with odd questions on defending werewolves. The last thing he needed was for his classmates to know the real reason he knew so much about werewolves.

The day of the departure from the castle for Christmas, Sirius was in a mood. As the Marauders sat in the dorm room, with Tawny on a table nearby, Sirius packed angrily and noisily, obviously annoyed that he was going home for Christmas. Remus was finished with his packing, and was trying to help his friends pack before they missed the train.

After watching Sirius slam the last of his possessions loudly into his trunk, Remus sighed, thoroughly annoyed. "Sirius."

"What," Sirius snapped.

Remus sighed again as Sirius slammed a pocket Sneakoscope into his trunk, nearly breaking it. "Will you stop it? This is not the worst thing that can happen to you."

Sirius laughed humorlessly. "Actually, yeah it is."

"No it's not," Remus argued.

Sirius looked at him defiantly. "Fine. Give me something that's worse."

Remus thought for a moment. "Your family could be dead and then you'd have nowhere to go."

"Give me a break," Sirius groaned. "If someone granted me a wish, the first thing I'd do is wish for their death."

Peter and James laughed while Remus looked reproachful.

"Really, Sirius," Remus said. "They are your family, after all, whether you like it or not."

Sirius slammed his trunk shut. "I don't like it, Remus," he snapped. "I never will."

"Then you've got to deal with it," Remus said quietly.

Sirius's eyes looked hollow and sunken for a minute, and then he looked back up at Remus. "You're right," he sighed. "But I honestly don't think I can deal with it anymore. It's madness, corrupt madness. I can't take it."

James suppressed a grin. "Well then, I guess you'll just have to spend Christmas at my house, then."

"Have you been deaf for the past year, James?" Sirius snapped. "They won't let me. Period." He snatched a book from his bed and flung it into his other open suitcase.

"Don't be stupid," James said, looking annoyed but calm. "Of course I wasn't talking about you coming with us. However, since none of your family talks to you anyway, just come over by floo powder whenever you feel like it."

"Whenever I feel like it?" Sirius asked slowly.

James nodded.

"So I can burst into your house…while you're sleeping?"

James laughed. "My parents wouldn't be too happy about that."

They all laughed.

"Same goes for me," Remus said once the laughing stopped. "You guys are all welcome to floo over anytime. I think there's a fireplace in my bedroom, so you guys can floo there."

"Great," Sirius beamed. "I'll definitely do that."

"What about you, Peter?" James asked, turning to his friend. "Can we floo over?"

Peter looked down at his feet. "I…I don't know…" He did know. His father…his father would never allow it, especially not James and Remus. James was considered a blood traitor, and Remus…Remus wasn't pureblood. That pretty much settled everything.

"Cheer up, Peter," Sirius said, offering a sympathetic shrug.

"It's okay," Remus said quietly. "We understand."

There was a small silence.

"I don't even know why they want me back at all," Peter muttered, trying desperately to avoid everyone's eyes.

"And now you know how I feel," Sirius said venomously.

James smiled comfortingly at Peter, ignoring Sirius. "You'll always be welcome at our house. I know my parents would love to have you. So please, spare me my misery of loneliness and floo over sometime, alright?"

Peter offered a small smile. "Okay," he agreed at last, nodding

The train whistled in the distance, shattering the silence.

"Time to go," Sirius said heavily, slamming his other suitcase shut.

Remus helped Peter stuff the last of his clothes into his suitcase, then went and dragged his own suitcase over.

"Come on, Tawny!" James groaned, trying to hold on to the cage without dropping it. The owl was making a heavy racket. Apparently it didn't want to leave Hogwarts very much. Even though it was locked in its cage, it was still flapping its wings, rocking the cage back and forth.

With an almighty wrench, James managed to plop the cage on his suitcase. Oddly enough, it shut Tawny up. Breathing heavily, James straightened up, face red.

"Nice owl," Sirius said sarcastically. "Very obedient."

James scowled. "Did you just notice I had an owl?"

Sirius thought for a moment. "I guess so," he finally replied.

"Your lack of observation skills amuses us, Sirius," Remus said, grinning.

Sirius shot Remus a look. "Oh, shut it."

Peter laughed.

"He's been with me since summer, I don't see how you couldn't have noticed," James said to Sirius, suppressing a laugh. "He was with me on the train and he brings me messages…almost every breakfast. Bonehead."

Sirius ignored this last comment, now eyeing the tawny owl with keen eyes. He walked over to James's suitcase, where the owl was still sitting. "So, the owl's name is Tawny?"

"That's right," James said proudly.

Sirius walked closer to the cage and stared at the owl. Tawny was now staring at Sirius as well. It resembled a staring contest, a very oddly proportioned one. Suddenly, Tawny snapped her beak, causing Sirius to jump.

"The name is so original," Sirius said, raising an eyebrow. He backed away from the owl's cage.

"Oh, shut it," James scowled. "I thought of it myself."

"It shows," Sirius said, mouth twitching. Peter and Remus laughed.

"Well I happen to like it," James said defensively.

Sirius laughed. "Whatever, rich boy."

James scowled even more. "I hate it when people call me that." It was true. James's family was extremely well off, especially on money. Sirius found that out first-hand on the Hogwarts Express the first day of school. But James didn't flaunt his riches…he didn't want to. It was more than enough that his parents pretty much spoiled him, but he was a good kid at heart.

"Move it, you three," Remus said urgently. "We're all going to miss the train!" The train whistle again sounded in the distance.

"I wish I could," Sirius muttered so only James could hear. James snickered.

With a depressed sigh, Sirius dragged his suitcases downstairs, following James, Remus and Peter. Almost everyone was already on the train, and a Prefect was herding everyone out of the castle. The Marauders all broke into a run once outside, and managed to hoist themselves onto the Hogwarts express a mere minute before the train departed. Peter almost left his suitcase on the Hogsmeade station, but James managed to take a swipe at it and pull it on board as the train was pulling out of the station.

"That was close," Remus panted, wiping sweat off his brow. The Marauders were making their way down the corridor to their usual compartment.

"Too close," Peter breathed. "Thanks, James."

"No problem," James grinned, running his hands through his hair. They arrived at their usual compartment and found a group of what looked like first years sitting there. As soon as Sirius stepped in the compartment, the group of first years immediately wrenched their trunks out of the luggage rack and raced out of the compartment. One kid actually bowed to Sirius as he passed. Most merely gave the Marauders frightened looks.

"Now this is the life," Sirius sighed happily, plopping down on a seat.

James laughed. "Did you see their faces?" With a grunt of effort, he hoisted Peter's suitcase into the luggage rack.

"That was funny," Sirius grinned. "At least they know who are the masters of the school. I would have had to hex them if they didn't."

Remus, Peter and James sat down as well. As the train left the station, James looked back at Hogwarts with a small sigh of longing. The castle's stone walls seemed to glisten as James looked through the window. The cheery glow was still there, a tribute of the students who wished to remain at school during the holidays. Suddenly, James felt an odd sense of loss.

"I know how you feel," Sirius said quietly. "I'll miss the castle too."

Surprised, James turned to him. "How did you know what I was thinking?" he asked.

Sirius gave a slight smile and a shrug. "Because I have that same look on my face every time I leave Hogwarts," he replied softly. "I'm not going home right now. The House of Black is just another lousy vacation, because I don't see it as my home. No, Hogwarts is my home." He smiled sadly. "And it pains me to have to leave it, but I always know that I'll be coming back home."

As the train zoomed past the green hills and the shining lakes, James smiled to himself. He knew Sirius was right.

"Hogwarts is my home too," he whispered, still gazing out the window.


"GO BACK TO DUMBLEDORE AND ASK FOR A RESORTING!"

"I CAN'T!" Sirius roared at his mother. "AND I DON'T WANT TO!"

"DO IT!"

"NO! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!"

"FILTHY INGRATE!" Mrs. Black screeched, beside herself. The whole house shook. Windows rattled, and even the tables clanged a bit on the floor. Regulus, who was standing nearby, was watching the whole scene as if it was an extremely entertaining show. Mr. Black was out, doing some odd business for the day. "YOU STAND THERE, IN OUR HOUSE, WITH THE CLOTHES WE HAVE BOUGHT FOR YOU AND PUT ON YOUR BACK, IN YOUR STOMACH THE FOOD WE HAVE FED YOU! WE DID NOT PAY FOR YOU TO GO TO HOGWARTS TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH BLOOD TRAITORS AND FILTH! WE DID NOT PAY FOR YOU TO BE IN GRYFFINDOR WITH MUGGLE LOVERS AND MUDBLOODS! ESPECIALLY THAT OLD DODDERY FOOL, ALBUS DUMBLEDORE!"

"SHUT UP!" Sirius shouted, eyes narrowed to an angry slit. Around him, Regulus let out an amused laugh.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Mrs. Black screamed.

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Sirius roared with all his might. "SHUT UP ABOUT MY FRIENDS! THEY WEREN'T BLOOD TRAITORS, THEY WEREN'T SCUM! SHUT UP ABOUT DUMBLEDORE! HE'S THE GREATEST WIZARD THAT EVER LIVED!"

Mrs. Black laughed humorlessly. "ALBUS DUMBLEDORE IS A FOOL! AND AS FOR YOUR FRIENDS...THEY ARE!" Mrs. Black spat. "THEY ARE SCUM, FILTH, UNWORTHY TO WALK ABOUT OUR LAND!"

"THEY'RE MORE WORTHY PEOPLE THAN YOU EVER WILL BE!" Sirius snapped, so angry he thought seriously about ripping his mother to shreds. Instead, he teetered on his feet for a bit, then ran up the stairs to the only place of solitude, his bedroom. As he was ascending the stairs, he heard his mother's screams and his brother's peals of laughter from downstairs.

Sirius slammed the door shut with an unnecessary amount of force. "Stupid kid," he muttered to himself. He could still hear his brother guffawing through the closed door.

He ran his hands through his hair, and it fell back into place neatly, very unlike his best friend. Slamming his fist into the wall, Sirius slumped onto his bed. He couldn't take it anymore. He was seriously thinking about running away, but right now it was just too much on his plate to handle. Besides, where would he go?

He knew James would gladly take him in. He was grateful for it. But he didn't need this right now. It was just too stressful.

Sirius stood up and began pacing around the room, hot anger once more coursing through his body. Abruptly stopping, he took a deep breath. Fine. If they were going to be like this to him, he needed an outlet, somewhere to vent.

"James, here I come," he muttered.

Sirius grabbed a handful of floo powder from the pot stashed under his bed. He took out a jar of flames that he had made during school and emptied its contents into the fireplace. A cheery, red fire sprang up at once. Of course, a wand would have created a fire, but Sirius was still underage.

He took a deep breath and flung the powder into the fireplace. His family wouldn't miss him. They wouldn't care if he were gone. They wouldn't bother to check. Sirius stepped into the deep green fire.

"The Potter Manse!" he said clearly. Remembering to keep his arms tucked tightly in, Sirius saw a swirl of darkness before he was spinning, spinning dizzily through air…

Then the sensation was gone. Coughing, Sirius pulled himself out of the ashes and stood up, rubbing his eyes. He was standing in the Potters' living room, covered in soot.

"Hello?" he called. "Anyone home?"

A house elf burst suddenly into the room from the kitchen, beaming widely. "Master Sirius!" Heda squeaked excitedly, clutching a towel. "Heda is glad to see you!" She threw her little elf arms around Sirius in a hug.

Sirius's face broke into a wide grin, a look that he had been deprived of ever since his arrival home. He hugged her back. "Hello, Heda. I'm glad to see you too. Can you tell me where James is?"

Heda let go of him, still beaming. "Young Master Potter is upstairs in his bedroom, sir. I can go and get him if master wishes."

"No need," a cheerful voice came from the doorway. Sirius looked up in surprise to see James with his odd-angled hair. "I'm already here."

"James!" Sirius said, grinning.

James laughed. "Sirius." He turned to Heda, smiling. "Thank you, Heda."

"My job is done," Heda bowed. She ran out of the room, still beaming.

"I think Heda's happy to see you," James said, grinning. "So. What brings you here, Sirius?"

Sirius's grin faltered. He sighed and proceeded to explain the argument he just had with his parents.

"Bloody hell," James muttered when Sirius had finished. "Stupid gits."

Sirius could not help but grin at this. "So I just thought I'd drop by, you know, say hello and everything," he said, twiddling his thumb. "See how you were doing."

"Oh I'm fine," James said, laughing. "Plus my house is a convenient sanctuary, right?"

Sirius beamed. "Absolutely."

"You're welcome anytime," James said, still laughing.

They both walked up to James's room. The walls had some new Quidditch posters plastered on them. Spellbooks and Quidditch magazines littered the floor. Sirius could barely walk without stepping on something. It seemed to be a lot worse than the last time Sirius was here.

"It's a bit messy," James said casually. "I'd clean it up, but I'm too lazy."

"Thanks for stating the obvious," Sirius said sarcastically.

James artfully sat down on his bed, somehow able to avoid the clusters of junk that already was spread upon it. "So," he said slowly, looking at Sirius. "How long are you staying?"

Sirius shrugged. "I don't know," he answered honestly. "They won't notice I'm gone, so I guess for a while."

"Do you need the guest room?" James offered. "I could set it up for you if you're planning to stay overnight. My parents wouldn't mind."

Sirius let out a bark-like laugh. "I'm not sure I'd want you to set up a room, considering the state of your own room," Sirius grinned, gesturing at the messy clumps on James's floor.

James pretended to look offended. "Well I would give thanks to a person who's letting their friend stay over and avoid their overbearing evil twits of parents."

Sirius laughed again. "Thanks."

"No problem," James said, grinning. He stood up from his bed. "Want some food?"

Sirius grinned back. "You know me. I'm starving."


Sirius stayed over at James's house for the rest of the day. Heda delighted Sirius by cooking his favorite foods. With his stomach warm and full, Sirius and James played some Quidditch, played some exploding snap, and then had fun poring over huge volumes that contained funny hexes.

"This one would look great on Snivellus," James said excitedly. "We'd no longer have to worry about his greasy hair."

Sirius laughed. The Balding Charm looked a bit complicated, but he was willing to try it out, all for the sake of old Snivelly.

James had taken out a paper clip and was playing with it.

"What's that?" Sirius asked interestedly.

"Paper clip," James answered.

"What?"

"It's a Muggle device. My dad brought it back for me. He said he found it on a Muggle street."

"Right... What's a paper clip?"

"It clips paper."

"What's paper?"

James laughed, eyebrow raised. "You really should take Muggle Studies, mate." He pocketed the paper clip and flipped through another book of hexes.

The sun was setting. The golden horizon outside streamed through the window, like golden thread. The color-painted sky glared brightly against the bland mountains. James and Sirius laughed and talked some more until the beautiful sunset was replaced by the darkening night, black and hollow. The clouds were thick and nearly covered the whole sky in its blanket.

Sirius's eyes traveled over to the black abyss outside. "James," he said slowly.

"Yeah?" James said, not looking up from a volume of Haldrion's Hexes.

"Where are your parents?"

James didn't answer for a bit, but then he slowly looked up. "I don't know," he said, voice a bit strained. Then he sighed. "There's been all these attacks lately from Voldemort. My dad, as you know is an Auror, and my mum does something for somebody. This holiday I haven't really seen much of them. I really miss them. It's Christmas, and instead of being happy, I'm so constantly worried that they're going to get hurt, or even die." He sighed again wearily. "I do hope they're okay."

Sirius felt his heart get a bit heavier. Of course, he never knew the love of parents, but Mr. and Mrs. Potter were like parents to him. For once, just this once, he had an idea of how James felt.

"They'll be fine," he assured James confidently.

"I sure hope so," James said, eyes traveling back down to the book.

Sirius felt bad about bringing the subject up. Flipping through a volume of Heckling Hexes, he suddenly thought of a way to cheer his friend up. "James, let's go," he said suddenly, standing up.

James looked up. "Go where, Sirius? Back down to the kitchens?"

"Of course not," Sirius said. "I have enough food in my stomach to feed three hungry people. Anyway, didn't Remus say that we could visit him any time we wanted?"

James nodded slowly. "Yeah. You're not thinking about going to visit now, right? I mean, it's really late."

Sirius shrugged. "He'll be happy to see us."

James looked outside. "It's already dark. What if he's asleep?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "He's probably up doing his holiday homework or something. Come on, James. You need to get out of this house, and I know Remus will be happy to see us. We'll floo up to his room."

James looked doubtful.

"Come on," Sirius grinned, gesturing toward the open door. "What better than a night adventure to raise your spirits?"

James raised an eyebrow.

"Come on!" Sirius repeated. "We're Marauders, remember?"

James slowly grinned as well. "Okay," he finally agreed. "But we'd better get back before my parents come back."

Sirius beamed. "Deal. This is going to be great. We haven't seen Remus in a while."

"True," James agreed. "Okay, so we're going to floo there. Do we need any floo powder on the trip back?"

Sirius thought for a moment, then shook his head. "I'm sure Remus has some."

James nodded. "Okay, then, let's head on out." He sprang up and followed Sirius out the door to the living room, pocketing his wand along the way. Sirius had left his wand on James's desk, and refused to go all the way back and get it. Heda was apparently cooking a late dinner for James's parents. With all the clashing and noises from the kitchen, James and Sirius had no trouble getting to the fireplace without being heard.

James stepped in the fireplace first. The flames engulfed him. Sirius followed suit. Soon, he found himself climbing out of an extremely ashy fireplace. He bumped suddenly into James.

"Ow!" Sirius said, rubbing his head and wincing.

"Sorry," James grinned. He looked around Remus's bedroom. It was a rather large room, with a bed and some drawers. The walls were blank. There was what looked like a hand-knitted rug across the floor. Spread across the desk was some books for Charms and pieces of loose parchment. James strongly suspected that Remus had been doing homework.

On one small section of the wall, there was a portrait of a woman. The woman smiled at James and Sirius as they looked around. A basket of fresh flowers hung underneath the portrait. On the basket there was a sign that read:

Aunt Mae: I Miss You.

James smiled sadly at the portrait. This must be the aunt that passed away, the one that helped Remus so much with his transformations, the healer that brought Remus out of the wolf. A wave of understanding gushed through James. He knew how it felt to lose family members that had given you so much while alive.

"So where is he?" Sirius asked, jerking James back to reality. Sirius walked carefully around the room.

"He's not here," James said, peeking under a desk.

"Thank you for that piece of hard-earned information," Sirius said sarcastically.

James scowled. "Well, he's not here. Should we just go back?"

Sirius stuck his head behind a drawer and pulled his head back out. "He has to be here. It's really dark outside, where else could he be? A slumber party?"

"Good point," James shrugged. "He's not in this room. Let's look around."

Sirius shrugged. "Okay."

He followed James out of the room. Deciding that Remus wasn't in any of the other bedrooms, they proceeded down to stairs and into the living room.

"Remus?" James called softly. "Are you here?"

"Nice couch," Sirius commented. The blue-patterned couch was filled with cushions.

"He's not here, either," James said slowly. He turned to Sirius. "You know, I think we should turn back now. I really don't think that anyone's here."

"He's got to be here," Sirius said stubbornly. "He has to be. Remus?"

Sirius and James trekked around the room for a couple more minutes.

"Okay, that's it," James said finally. "He's not here, Sirius. Accept it."

Sirius looked defiant for a moment, then sighed. "Oh fine. He's not here." His eyes traveled one more time around the room and spied a wooden door that they hadn't tried yet.

"Are we going?" James asked, already halfway up the stairs.

"Just a moment," Sirius said slowly. "How about we try one last door?" He pointed at the wooden door. "If he's not there, I swear, we'll go straight back."

James seemed to teeter on his feet for a moment. He finally sighed resignedly. "Okay, fine. If he's not there, we leave. I mean, we're not supposed to be here if Remus isn't."

"That's fine," Sirius agreed. James walked back down the stairs as Sirius reached for the doorknob. The door opened, and revealed a rather dark passageway downstairs.

James stepped down the stairs first. He could barely see. He thought about using his wand, but didn't want to risk illegal magic. As he made it down the stairs, his eyes got more and more adjusted to the darkness. Now he could make out some shapes ahead of him. At the end of the passageway, James saw another wooden door, almost identical to the one that they had just come through. Suddenly, he heard movement behind the wooden door.

"Did you hear that?" James asked Sirius, grinning. "I think he might be in here."

"Well?" Sirius's voice came from behind James. "Open the door!"

James reached his hand out to the wooden doorknob. It wouldn't budge. "It's locked."

"You have a wand," Sirius's voice came. "Use it."

James scowled. "We're not allowed to use magic outside of Hogwarts."

"Well? How are we getting in, then?"

James thought for a moment. He then reached in his pocket and pulled out the paper clip that he had been playing with earlier. "This should do the trick."

"Wait," Sirius said, confused. "I thought that paper clips clipped paper."

"They do," James said, now bending the clip. "But I heard about this thing that Muggles do, it's called picking the lock." He bent down and observed the doorknob. As he inserted the clip into the keyhole, he heard a slight shuffling noise from inside.

"Remus?" he asked. "Is that you? Well save us the trouble and open the door for us."

Sirius and James both waited for a while. The shuffling noise was now accompanied by what seemed like a low growl, but the doorknob didn't move.

"Come on Remus," James said jokingly. "Or we'll blast the door open."

Still, the doorknob didn't move.

James shrugged, stuck the paper clip into the keyhole even further, and began to twist it around. After a short while, both James and Sirius heard a click.

Grinning, James opened the door and stepped inside what looked like a very large basement. He heard Sirius walk in behind him and shut the door. The basement had stone walls and pretty much nothing else. The ceiling was very high up, almost impossible to reach. There was no furniture, only a single very battered chair that stood against the wall.

"Remus?" Sirius called from behind James. "Are you in here?"

"Remus?" James echoed. He walked further in the basement, and to his disappointment, did not see Remus anywhere. He shrugged to himself. "Okay, Sirius, satisfied?" he said finally. "He's not here. Let's go."

Sirius didn't answer. James turned around, ready to go, but then saw something that literally made his heart stop.

Sirius.

Sirius was staring at a full-grown werewolf.

And the werewolf was poised and ready to attack.

"Sirius," James said hoarsely, feeling numb. His heart was pounding, eyes wide with terror. They had to get out of here. Now. The werewolf was going to kill them. They had to get out.

Sirius didn't budge. His mouth was wide open, staring at the creature that bent menacingly over him. It was Remus…except it wasn't Remus anymore. A huge creature of seven feet towered over Sirius. It had hair that resembled what used to be on Remus's head, but now the whole body was covered with that hair. The sharp, yellow teeth were bared under the snout, the glaring yellow eyes staring monotonously at Sirius as if ready to kill. The claws of the werewolf were raised and poised, as if ready to slash Sirius to little pieces...

"Sirius, move," James said weakly, voice just as hoarse as before.

Sirius stood still.

"MOVE!" James suddenly roared.

That seemed to spark Sirius into his senses. As Remus the wolf lunged at him, he quickly ran out of the way, narrowly avoiding Remus's oncoming claws. James let out a little breath of relief.

Remus the wolf let out a chilling howl that made the hair on James's body stand up straight. It was only then that James looked outside and realized the bright moon shining, the beams of light streaming into the room through the window near the ceiling…the full moon, no longer surrounded by thick clouds in the dark night. The full moon...the worst fear of Remus Lupin.

"James, watch out!" Sirius suddenly yelled. With his quick Quidditch reflexes, James snapped out of his reverie and dived out of the way just as the werewolf made for him. The wolf hit the wall behind James instead, and looked dazed for a moment. Still, James and Sirius weren't close enough to the door to make it out in time. Remus the wolf let out another howl, this time louder than the last.

Sirius ran to the left as James ran to the right across the large basement. James closed his eyes, heart pounding, and tried to think of the steps for the Animagi transformations. No luck. He felt the familiar tingling sensation, but knew that nothing had changed.

"Come on," he whispered frantically to himself. "Please work…" Concentrating harder on the steps, he again felt the sensation, but knew once again that nothing had changed. Why wasn't the transformations working? He needed them to work... he needed them to work... but they still didn't work. They hadn't found the right steps.

"No, Remus, stop! It's me, Sirius!"

James whipped around and to his horror saw Sirius on the floor of the basement, the wolf towering over him. Sirius seemed to have tripped over his feet and was now backing slowly away from Remus. Remus the wolf was advancing and getting closer every second, mouth open to reveal sharp and threatening fangs. James couldn't move. He was transfixed and rooted to the spot with terror.

"Please, Remus," Sirius said, almost pleadingly, looking up at the werewolf. "I'm your friend, we're your friends, me and James…I know you're in there, Remus…don't give up on us...please...you know us...we know you're in there..."

The wolf seemed to hesitate for a mere second, then advanced further on Sirius, yellow teeth bared, growling. It let out another bone-chilling howl, then sneered evilly as only a werewolf could sneer. It growled louder, and stared at Sirius with those haunting yellow eyes.

Then, it lunged at Sirius.

Sirius closed his eyes, bracing himself for the worst…

"IMPEDIMENTA!"

There was a loud crash. Sirius slowly opened his eyes, afraid of what he might see. James was standing a few feet away from him, wand still pointed shakily. Against the wall was the body of Remus the werewolf, crumpled and apparently unconscious. Remus the wolf growled softly, then shuddered for a bit. He didn't get up.

"Remus, I'm so sorry," James said hoarsely, lowering his wand. Biting his lip, he looked away from the crumpled form of Remus against the wall. He helped Sirius up.

"We have to get out of here, Sirius," James said quietly. He turned one last time to look at Remus. "I'm so sorry." His eyes were watering, but he held the tears back. "Let's go, Sirius," James whispered, making for the doorway and holding open the wooden door. His hands were shaking.

Sirius nodded, still in a daze, and followed James up the stairs, making sure to close the wooden doors along the way. They arrived once more in Remus's bedroom. Fire sprung up from the fireplace at once. Maybe magic sensed the distress of the two boys. Either way, it prevented James from doing more illegal magic.

Shakily, James grabbed a handful of floo powder from a pot nearby and disappeared into the fireplace with a bunch of green flames. Sirius did the same. He felt the familiar sensation of whirling and remembered to keep his elbows tucked in. It was only that when they arrived back at the house of Potter did the two friends finally look at each other.

James closed his eyes slowly and slumped down into a couch in the living room. Sirius guiltily followed suit. They could still hear Heda cooking in the kitchen, meaning that the Potters still weren't back yet. Sirius sat on the couch, a million thoughts and memories teeming through his head. He turned to his friend.

A silent tear had made its way down James's face. He buried his head in his hands sorrowfully, and when he looked up again, streaks of tears were still running down his face.

"Remus, I'm so sorry."