A/N: I am so sorry! I know it's feeble to give an excuse, but here goes anyways. I was swamped in the longest and most useless project in the entire world. Once again, I apologize for the delay. I'm definitely not quitting this story, I'm not even halfway through!

As for this chapter, it's my feeble attempt at a full moon night. After lots of editing, I still don't like it, but I hope you all like it. Thanks for being so patient!

Special thanks to the reviewers: emmys, windstar, ellieo, Kates Master, miwako , redcrushedvelvet, .., Tauril Hawk, and LovePadfoot5867. You're all brilliant; thanks for everything!

November, 1974

Marauders in the Moonlight

"Ready?"

It was what seemed like the hundredth time that Remus had asked that question on the same night.

"Yes!" James, Sirius and Peter yelled at the same time.

"All right!" Remus said defensively. "Just curious."

"You've asked that exact same question countless times, Remus," James groaned. "Please, please don't ask us again."

"I'm sorry, okay?" Remus sighed. "I'm really nervous."

"It seems we're more nervous than you are, as we should be," Sirius said sarcastically. "That's why we're not asking you the same question every ten seconds."

"Give it a rest," Remus snapped. "I can't control my fears."

"If anyone should be nervous, it should be us," Peter said quietly.

"But you guys have never stayed with me for a full moon," Remus sighed. "A werewolf is not to be taken lightly."

"We're not taking you lightly," Sirius said.

"On a full moon, I'm dangerous," Remus said. "You guys need to be in your Animagus form for the whole night, do you hear me? Or else I would turn you into werewolves."

"We hear you," Peter, Sirius and James said together.

"Good." Remus paused. "Could you all turn into your Animagus form for me again?"

Sirius groaned. "Remus!"

"No, really," Remus insisted.

"Okay," James said, giving in. "But Remus, this is honestly the last time."

"Fine," Remus said.

James, Sirius and Peter stood up and spread out. One minute Remus was looking at his three best friends. The next minute he was looking at a stag, a rat and a dog. A second later, they had all turned back into their human forms.

"Happy?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah," Remus said. "But remember, tonight, you all have to stay in your animal form the entire time."

"We know!" Sirius said loudly, throwing up his hands in frustration.

"Remus," James said calmly. "Honestly, we're not stupid. You don't have to worry about us anymore. We'll be fine. We'll take care of each other."

"Promise?" Remus asked.

James nodded solemnly. "We promise."

"Good," Remus sighed in relief. "Now, how about transforming again?"

"Remus!" James, Peter and Sirius groaned together.

Remus threw up his hands. "Just kidding."

"I cannot believe I'm still pink," James groaned loudly.

Sirius roared with laughter. "I can't believe it either. But a pink stag, you have to admit, is pretty funny."

James scowled. "That Lily Evans…I'll get her back if it's the last thing I do."

"So you're really over her," Remus said.

"I thought I made that perfectly clear?" James said peevishly.

Remus shrugged. "I suppose."

"Well all right then, moving on," James said.

"It's almost time," Remus said nervously. "You guys all know the plan, right?"

"Yes," James, Sirius and Peter chorused.

"Should I outline it again?"

"No," James, Sirius and Peter groaned.

Remus ignored them. "Now, remember, when Professor McGonagall comes to get me, you guys stand there. Don't go out of the common room until you can see from the window that we've gone to the tree. And don't act like you know what's going on either. Okay?"

"Yes, we know," James sighed. "Moony, stop fretting. I promise you, we'll be fine."

Remus looked uncertain, but nodded.

The clock struck five o'clock right then. Remus jumped up nervously. "Well then," he said in an unusually high voice. "This is it, guys. Now, remember, act natural."

"Look who's talking," Sirius muttered.

Remus narrowed his eyes, but didn't respond. The other marauders followed Remus down the stairs to the common room. "Right," Remus said, once the four of them were assembled in front of the couches. "Now, she's coming to get me in a couple of minutes, so just…act like you would any other time."

"Right," James said. He slumped onto the nearest couch and picked up a random book that a student had left behind. He began to leaf through the pages.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Remus strode over and plucked the book out of James's hands. "What are you doing?" Remus asked.

"I'm acting natural," James said.

"Since when do you read?" Remus said, raising an eyebrow.

Sirius and Peter burst out in laughter at this. "Oy, Prongs, he's got a point, you know," Sirius grinned.

James scowled. "Fine." He looked around. "Well how am I supposed to act natural, then?"

"Start eating," Sirius shrugged.

"Prat," James said, grinning. "You're the one that thinks about food day and night."

"I do not," Sirius said, pretending to look offended. "I'm a growing boy. I need my nutrients."

James snorted with laughter.

"Well, how do we act natural?" Peter asked, shrugging.

"You'd better think of something fast," Remus said urgently. "Because here comes McGonagall."

Sure enough, the portrait door swung open and green robes clambered through the hole and into the common room. Remus smiled nervously at Professor McGonagall as she made his way toward him.

Remus turned around to see what his friends were doing. James and Sirius were now teaching a non-existent lesson in Charms to Peter, who looked halfway between laughter and a nervous breakdown. James and Sirius were trying their best to avoid actually demonstrating any charms in front of the professor, trying to avoid the fact that they might accidentally cast a jinx they had practiced for Snape.

"Good evening, gentlemen," Professor McGonagall said.

Peter, James and Sirius turned around from their so-called lesson to look at her.

"Of course, as you know, I will be taking Mr. Lupin here to see his ill mother," Professor McGonagall said gravely. "So, goodbye." As this she led him out of the portrait hole. Remus waved one last time at his friends before the portrait door swung closed on them.

As soon as Remus and Professor McGonagall were out of sight, the remaining marauders ran to the window and peered out to the Whomping Willow. Five minutes later, James saw Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall freeze the tree with a long stick. Beckoning to Sirius and Peter, James walked quietly out of the portrait hole.

"We won't need this until we're outside," James said, patting the invisibility cloak that was under his robes. "But we need to be quiet, in case we run into any Prefects that question where we're going.

Peter and Sirius nodded their consent. The three boys sneaked out of the castle and onto the grounds, where James took out his invisibility cloak and threw it over the three of them, and not a moment too soon. Just then, Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall climbed out of the hole in the tree, and walked back towards the castle.

"That was close," Peter whispered once the two women were gone.

"Yeah," James whispered. Dark was beginning to fall, and the gray sky seemed to blot more and more with darkness as each moment passed. "Right. Now how did we get in last time?"

"We just went down the hole after Madam Pomfrey and McGonagall left," Sirius shrugged. "Shouldn't be any different this time."

The three friends walked toward the Whomping Willow. This time, though, before they could get within reach of the tree's branches, the tree seemed to come alive again. The wind blew hard, and suddenly the willow seemed to shake its head and stretch its branches in a yawn.

"That's not good," Peter moaned. "What are we supposed to do now?"

"Maybe if we inch on it closely…" Sirius said, stepping closer to the tree.

"Sirius, don't," James said urgently. "That tree will murder you."

Sirius didn't listen, but stepped closer, arms trying to reach out to the knot in the tree. Suddenly, a branch swung toward his face, and only by pure luck did he manage to duck in time and avoid the collision.

James pulled Sirius back. "We can't get to that knot without killing ourselves," he said.

"Well what are we supposed to do?" Sirius exploded. "No one is telling me that we spent three bloody years on these transformations, all to find out that we can't get past a bloody tree!"

"We obviously can't get across," James said, frustrated. Suddenly, an idea dawned on him. "Or maybe we can."

"Come off it," Sirius snapped. "How are we supposed to get to that knot to freeze the tree?"

"Not us, exactly," James said, grinning.

"Well, stop messing around and tell us already," Sirius said impatiently.

"Peter," James said, turning to his friend. "Think you can transform?"

"Now?" Peter asked.

"Yeah."

Peter shrugged and obliged. James squinted his eyes as he looked from Peter to the tree. "Okay, transform back," James said.

Peter transformed back. "What's going on?"

James grinned broadly. "I think Peter is small enough to make it through the branches of the willow without getting hurt."

Peter paled instantly. "Me?"

"Yes, you," James said. "Me and Sirius are too large to hope to get through without getting killed."

"You want – me? To run through those branches?" Peter asked again.

"Yes, and I think it's a brilliant idea," Sirius said. "Give it a shot, will you?"

"I don't know," Peter said nervously.

"You're the only one who can do this," James said encouragingly. "Come on, Peter. We need you."

The color started to come back to Peter's face as he looked at his friends. They needed him. They couldn't do this without him. He smiled. "Really?"

"Yes," Sirius said impatiently. "Now, do it already."

Peter obliged. The gray rat shuffled nervously up to the tree, eyeing the branches apprehensively as he slowly approached it.

"What if this doesn't work?" Sirius whispered nervously to James.

"Have a little faith, will you?" James said quietly.

They watched with bated breath as Peter the rat darted between the branches of the tree. Thrice the tree lashed out at him, but as he was so small, he could, with agility, dart away without any harm. In what seemed like no time at all, Peter the rat had touched the knot in the tree with his tiny paws, and the branches of murder froze.

James and Sirius cheered as Peter transformed back into a human. "That was brilliant!" Sirius said, grinning as he and James joined Peter at the trunk of the old tree.

Peter smiled with delight. It was the first time that Sirius had ever paid him a compliment, and he felt like he truly belonged.

"Let's go before Remus transforms," Sirius said, beckoning them to the tunnel.

The three friends ran along the pathway. Behind them, out on the Hogwarts grounds, the sun was setting rapidly. Only a dim sliver of light remained behind the darkening night. They ran along the tunnel, barely able to see where they were going. Twice, Peter crashed into somebody. Overall, the bruises collected in that tunnel were disastrous.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, the trio made their way into the Shrieking Shack. As soon as they entered, they saw Remus sitting on a beaten couch, looking frazzled. He immediately jumped up as James, Sirius and Peter approached him.

"Where were you?" he asked frantically. "I was beginning to think that something went wrong or something detained you from getting here!"

"Something did detain us from getting here," Sirius said grudgingly. "That bloody tree."

Remus smacked his palm onto his forehead. "I'm so stupid! I forgot all about that." He looked at the three of them. "How did you manage to get to the trunk?"

"Peter did it," James said, rather proudly. "He transformed into a rat, and being so small, was able to slip between the branches and touch the knot."

"Wow, brilliant job, Peter," Remus grinned.

Peter flushed with happiness.

"Right. Now, I've found a place to keep your cloak, James," Remus said. He led his three friends to a little trunk upstairs in the bedroom. "This trunk isn't as damaged as most of the other furniture."

James lifted open the little bronze trunk and placed his cloak safely inside it. Then, he and the rest followed Remus back down the stairs.

Remus sat down on the couch again. The four friends watched the darkening sky nervously, unsure of what to say.

"There's still time to go back," Remus said quietly, turning to his friends. "There's still time to go back to the castle."

"You're crazy," Sirius said, shaking his head. "Do you really think we would back down, Remus? After all those vows and promises, I thought you knew us better than that."

"I do," Remus sighed. "I'm just…"

"Worried," James finished. "We've heard that one countless times."

"We're your friends, and we'll be here for you," Peter said.

"No matter what," Sirius finished. "We've spent too much time and gone too far to back down now. We can do it."

"So you're telling me you're not scared at all?" Remus asked doubtfully.

"Are you kidding?" Sirius said quietly. "Of course I'm scared. I'm scared to death. But I believe we can help you, Remus. I can help you. And right now, that's all that matters."

Remus nodded and let out a little smiled. "Thank you."

As soon as those last words escaped his lips, his calm face turned into a face of horror.

"Remus?" Peter asked tentatively.

"Transform!" Remus commanded hoarsely. Then, his whole body went rigid. Beams of moonlight hit dramatically on his skin, and his limbs began to shake uncontrollably. His face turned pale, and the bones on his body seemed to mold to fit his new form. His pupils bulged, and Remus began to grow and howl in pain. Fur sprouted. Teeth grew. Paws grew sharp nails. Before long, Peter, Sirius and James found themselves looking at a full-grown werewolf.

Remus the wolf was exactly how Sirius remembered him. But this time, it was different. This time, he was ready. He was ready to help.

Quickly, the three friends transformed. James charged up to the wolf as the wolf lunged at him. They began to wrestle violently. Come on, Remus! James screamed inside his head as he used his antlers to prevent from getting clawed. You can do it, you can gain control, remember your friends!

Padfoot charged forward along with Wormtail, and they stood together with Prongs. The wolf snarled, but then seemed to shake his head. As if confused, the wolf took a good, long looks at the stag, the dog and the rat, and seemed to recognize who they were. Then, it bared its teeth, not menacingly, but in a grin.

Prongs and Padfoot grinned at each other happily. They had done it! They brought out the Remus in the wolf, and Remus would no longer hurt himself in his transformations. Remus himself was in awe. It seemed the first time during his transformations that he had control. He could feel the wolfish part of his brain fight to get back in the dominant spot, but he shook his head to clear it. He wouldn't give in to the wolf. No, not tonight. Tonight was his night. He had to keep his mind strong, he had to keep his mind on his friends. If he concentrated on them, if he concentrated on the people that made his life worth living, he could keep control. All he needed was them. If he fought and kept up the thoughts of who they were, he would survive. He would live.

Grinning still, Moony beckoned his friends to follow him. They obliged. Moony led them to a room with wooden cupboards that presumably looked like the kitchen. Remus was amazed. He had never taken the time to fully explore the house, as he was unconscious inside the wolf every transformation. This was the first time he truly admired the beat-up cupboards and the broken cabinets.

Prongs lifted up his antlers and opened the refrigerator door. Spiders and ants leaped from the fridge onto his antlers. Prongs seemed to shake his head violently, trying to throw the bugs off. Padfoot, Moony and Wormtail laughed at this as only animals could laugh until Prongs turned around threateningly with what looked like a scowl.

Moony smiled, and beckoned to his friends again. Seeing the kitchen from the wolf's point of view was so interesting… he wanted to see the rest of the house. The four friends pranced out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Soon, they had explored the bathrooms and the bedrooms. All had beat-up furniture, but Remus never remembered going up the stairs, and he didn't think he would remember it. The large bedroom was moth-eaten and had scratches on the bedpost. The smaller bedroom, the one that contained the trunk, remained weary but in decent condition. The bathroom smelled horrible, especially the toilet.

After visiting the bathroom, the four friends headed down the stairs again, Prongs leading the way. As he walked down, Prongs grazed his leg on the stairs. Drops of blood trickled out, but Prongs shook his head, as if to tell his friends that he was okay.

Moony stood on the stairs, transfixed. He could smell blood. He could smell blood.

He had to attack.

Suddenly, without warning, Moony lunged at Prongs. The two animals tumbled down the stairs together, landing with a loud crash on the floor below. Moony was growling and howling, while Prong used his antlers to try and battle Moony out of the way without hurting his friend.

No! Remus screamed inside his head. I'm in control! I won't let you control me! I won't let you! It was the blood that drove him, and he knew it. As soon as he smelled it, all control that he had was lost, and the wolf inside took over. Remus fought and fought, but the wolf was stronger. Time and time again, half-consciously, he felt himself attack James. He needed the flesh…blood.

Alarmed, Padfoot threw himself between Prongs and Moony. Prongs, whimpering, scuttled out of the way, physically hurt. The great black dog and the werewolf growled at each other, then lunged. From aside, Peter could tell that Sirius was being careful in trying not to actually hurt Moony, but the same couldn't be said for Remus. Moony the wolf lunged at Sirius relentlessly, ripping at his throat, biting savagely. Sirius was getting worn out by now, trying to defend himself from the oncoming assaults of Remus.

No! Remus was still screaming inside his head. But by now, he had lost control. He was slipping further and further into unconsciousness.

Prongs, by now, had revived. The cuts over his legs and body made him weaker than before, but he still lunged back up to Padfoot and Moony. Using his antler, Prongs pushed Moony back away from Padfoot, so Padfoot could rest. Then, Moony and Prongs began to wrestle.

Wormtail stood at the side, squeaking in terror. He didn't know what he would do if both Padfoot and Prongs were too worn out to fight.

Remus was battling with the wolf. I refuse to give up! He screamed, shaking his head. He felt himself slowly slide back into consciousness, but every bit of it was draining the energy out of him. But he wouldn't give up, not on his friends. Slowly, after what seemed like hours, Remus finally felt like he was gaining control. Slowly, he battled the wolf out of his mind.

Prongs and Padfoot, who had been taking turns wrestling Moony, now were both tackling him, exhausted. Just when Prongs thought this night would never end, Moony stopped attacking them, shook his head, and sat down on the ground. Remus was exhausted after battling with the wolf. He had control now, though it had taken a long time to gain. Relieved, Prongs and Padfoot sat as well, and Wormtail cautiously came over.

The four animals entertained each other for the rest of the long night. Remus the wolf seemed to find Wormtail extremely amusing; many times, Moony picked up Peter by his tail, amid many squeaks from the protesting rat, and batted him around playfully in his hand, grinning as only a werewolf could. Prongs and Padfoot were also eager to help amuse their friend.

After a couple of hours, the sun peeked over the mountains. It rose up bit by bit, illuminating the room with a warm glow. Moony grew rigid; he began, slowly, to shrink. Soon, Remus Lupin was crumpled on the floor, weak and weary.

James, Sirius and Peter transformed back into their human forms. "Remus," James said softly, walking over to his friend. "Are you okay?"

Slowly, Remus opened his eyes. He sat up groggily, then grinned broadly. "This is the first time I've been conscious in the morning," he said brightly.

James, Sirius and Peter laughed. "Glad to see you're okay."

The familiar swishing of the willow outside suddenly stopped. "Up the stairs," Remus whispered urgently. "That's Madam Pomfrey!"

The other three didn't need telling twice. They scurried up the stairs and lunged into the bedroom, not a minute too soon. James extracted his invisibility cloak from the trunk. He could hear Madam Pomfrey downstairs, fussing over Remus, who was feigning unconsciousness.

"Oh, poor dear!" she was saying. "But this time you seem to have less scratches than usual…in fact, hardly any… "

They heard her footsteps receded back out of the tunnel. Cautiously, James, Sirius and Peter then walked back down the stairs. Once back into the living room, the three friends threw on the invisibility cloak and headed out of the tunnel, elated.

James had a big long scar on his face that was bleeding freely. Sirius had scratches upon his arm. But all that didn't matter.

They had helped Remus. They had saved him from pain.

They could do anything.

"Do we get to sleep?" Peter groaned. They four boys had arrived again at the dormitories. It was six o'clock in the morning, and all four were exhausted.

"I need to shower first," James said tiredly. Blood was smeared all over his face, a souvenir of his battle with the werewolf. "I look gory."

Sirius forced a smile. "Yeah, you do."

"How many hours of sleep can we get?" Peter asked, rubbing his eyes.

"At most, three, so we won't look suspicious," Sirius said. "Lucky it's a Sunday…"

James dragged his feet tiredly up to the bathrooms to take a shower. Peter collapsed on his bed, and Sirius was unsure whether to take a shower or go directly to sleep. Eventually, he himself got in the shower after James had gone out.

The four boys slept as long as they would allow themselves. The scar on James's face was still large, but he had washed all the blood off. Sirius had gashes on his arm, which he waved off, unconcerned.

Eventually, they got up. "What is that smell?" James asked, frowning as he put on fresh clothes.

"Don't know," Sirius said, shrugging. "It smells gross." He sniffed, frowning. "I think it's Peter."

Peter immediately turned red. "What?"

"Oh yeah," James said, yawning. "You didn't take a shower, did you."

Peter shook his head.

"How can I put this nicely…?" Sirius said. "I can't. Peter, you stink worse than Hagrid's dirty creatures."

"What do you want me to do?" Peter asked.

"Take a shower," James said. He and Sirius dragged Peter into the shower, turned on the water, and shoved him in.

After a while, Peter came out, clothes wet, teeth chattering. "The water was cold."

Sirius roared with laughter.

Once Peter dried up and got dressed, the three friends headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast. They were all famished. They planned to go visit Remus in the hospital wing after they finished eating.

"What happened to James Potter?" Lily whispered to Marcella as the two girls passed the boys in the hallway. Lily had gaped at James's scar on his face.

Marcella looked concerned. "I don't know. But that looks like it hurts…"

"Yeah," Lily said. Suddenly she giggled. "He's still pink."

Marcella grinned. "Good prank, eh?"

"The best," Lily laughed.

After a breakfast in which Sirius ate over five plates of food, the Marauders headed up to the hospital wing to visit Remus. At the door, they were halted by Madam Pomfrey. "Just where do you think you're going?" She said, nostrils flared.

"Oh, we're just up here to, uh, clean the beds for detention," Sirius said charmingly. The boys had agreed that they wouldn't say they were visiting Remus; they would be shot down for sure. Madam Pomfrey would also grow suspicious, because she thought that the boys thought that Remus was visiting his sick mother.

"Clean beds for detention," Madam Pomfrey said, eyebrow raised. "Nice try, boys, but Professor McGonagall would have informed me of this. I don't know why you're trying to break into the hospital wing, but go." With that, she slammed the double doors in their faces.

"Now what," Peter said, looking at Sirius.

"Nice going, Padfoot," James said. "We're going to clean the hospital beds?"

"Like you could have come up with something better," Sirius scowled.

"Whatever," James said. "We're going to Plan B."

"We have a plan B?" Sirius asked, amused.

James extracted his invisibility cloak from a pocket of his robes. "Right. Now, just follow me, and don't make a sound."

"It'll be a miracle if we can pull this off," Peter groaned as James threw the cloak over the three of them.

"Have a little faith, will you?" James said. Invisible, he knocked on the door again.

Looking agitated, Madam Pomfrey once again threw open the doors. Puzzled, she stepped out into the hallway to see who knocked on the door. Seizing the opportunity, James beckoned silently to his friends to follow him. They slipped through the second doorway just as Madam Pomfrey closed the doors again.

They saw her head back to her office, shaking her head. Then, slowly and silently, the Marauders made their way to Remus's bed.

Remus was staring at the ceiling, looking quite bored. There were a couple of scratches on him, but they were all light and faded, and half of which, Sirius suspected, weren't even from this particular full moon.

"Remus," James whispered from under the cloak as he drew near.

Remus jumped in his bed. "James?" he whispered back.

James threw back the cloak, revealing himself, Sirius, and Peter. "Yeah," he whispered.

Remus looked concerned. "What happened to-"

"Hold on," James whispered. He took out his wand, pointed it at Madam Pomfrey's office, and whispered "muffliato".

"We're okay now," James said, beaming. "Madam Pomfrey can't hear us."

"Nice spell," Remus said, impressed. "Where did you learn it?"

"It's a popular spell that's going around school," James shrugged. "Don't know who originally started it. Useful, eh?"

"Very," Remus beamed. James stuffed his cloak back into his pocket.

"So, what were you saying, Remus?" Sirius pressed.

"Oh. Yeah. What happened to your face?" Remus asked James.

"This?" James asked, tenderly reaching up to touch the scar. "Oh. That's nothing."

"That was me, wasn't it," Remus said in a low voice.

"Yeah," James said hesitantly. "But don't worry, I'm fine."

"Maybe –"

"Don't even start," James said, cutting him off. "We're not going to stop accompanying you on your full moon nights."

Remus looked surprised, then grinned. "It scares me how much you guys know me."

James laughed. "It scares me too."

"So how are you," Peter asked Remus quietly.

"Better than ever," Remus said truthfully. "I think it's the first full moon here that I haven't hurt myself."

"Well then, gentlemen, we've accomplished our goal," Sirius said, grinning.

"Bloody wicked," James nodded.

"Truthfully, I'm more relieved than anything else," Remus said, smiling. "Nothing really went wrong."

"Exactly," James said. "I can't wait to do it again next month."

Remus stared at James in disbelief. "You're insane."

The group burst out into raucous laughter.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?"

The Marauders turned to face the angry Madam Pomfrey with guilty looks on their faces.

"Didn't I tell you you couldn't come in here?" she snarled in anger. "This boy needs his rest!"

"Uh oh, I guess the Muffliato spell wore off," James muttered under his breath.

"What was that, Mr. Potter?" Madam Pomfrey asked dangerously. "And why are you here?"

"We were cleaning Remus's bed?" Sirius offered.

"Out! OUT!" she shouted in rage. "I don't even want to know how you got in here in the first place! OUT!" Madam Pomfrey flicked her wand, and Peter, Sirius and James were thrown out of the room. The door slammed behind him.

"That was violent." Sirius said, rubbing his arm.

"Well, gentlemen, we're truly successful," James beamed. "I cannot wait until next month."

"Me neither," Sirius laughed. "Blood and lack of sleep puts me in a happy position."

Peter shook his head. "You're both crazy."