February 13, 1975

"A Map?" Sirius asked staring at Peter. Peter nodded emphatically and looked to James for support, who was standing beside Peter.

"It's a good idea," James said smiling. Sirius gave him a look that suggested that the two of them were not of the same opinion. Sirius rubbed his hand across his forehead. He could already feel the tension building in what was, no doubt, going to be a massive headache.

"We're supposed to be working on becoming Animagi," Sirius said.

"And we'll keep on it but in the meantime, this map will help with things," James explained.

"How? A map would have been helpful for the first day of Transfiguration but I think we have all found our way by now," Sirius said sarcastically.

James opened his mouth to explain but then closed it quickly. There was some parts of the idea that James didn't fully know and if they were going to convince Sirius, he would have to know every single detail.

"Peter can explain it better. It's his idea." James clapped his hand's on Peter's shoulders causing him to squeak in surprise.

Sirius turned his eyes back on Peter waiting for this explanation.

Peter twisted his hands nervously as he shifted his weight from one foot to another. He had not been expecting to be put on the spot like that.

"Um…..well….um….the map….it will….um….tell us where to go and stuff," Peter started, his voice high and squeaky.

"Really?! Pete, I had no idea that's what the map would do. That's brilliant mate!" Sirius said sarcastically, making Peter's cheek turn a bright pink in embarrassment.

"Ha ha. Very funny mate. Come on, let him finish," James chided.

Sirius rolled his eyes but gestured for Peter to continue. Peter took a deep breath and started from the beginning trying to get his voice under his control.

"When we become Animagi, we are going to have to sneak back into the castle before Madame Pomfrey comes to get Remus in the morning. That's where the map comes in. We'll use that to help us get back in the castle undetected," Peter explained.

The entire time he spoke, his eyes had been on the floor, afraid to look at Sirius. Peter had thought about the idea for creating the map ever since him and James were almost caught after yet another failed attempt at trying to transform into Animagi. Peter thought it was a good idea and researched it extensively to make sure that such a thing was possible. Not only was it possible but it also had the potential to solve all of their problems, or so Peter thought. Now all Peter had to do was get the others on board.

When Peter looked up at Sirius, he was surprised to see not the usual contempt and judgment that his eyes normally held whenever Peter had an idea, but instead noticed what seemed to be consideration quite possibly even slight interest.

Did Sirius actually like my idea? Peter thought to himself, his confidence surging at the mere suggestion of the possibility that he had impressed Sirius.

"How will the map help us be undetected?" Sirius asked. Before Peter could answer James jumped in.

"The map will show us where everyone else is in Hogwarts. That way we can see them coming beforehand. Brilliant right?!" Peter looked crestfallen.

He had wanted to be the one who told that special part of the idea, especially he since had come up with all by himself. Peter watched the expression on Sirius' face as he contemplated what James had told him.

It was a pretty amazing idea. It sounded extremely complicated but it wasn't like any of them to back down from a challenge. Despite the appeal, there was a part of Sirius that was apprehensive about taking on yet another project especially since they were struggling so much with becoming Animagi.

Sirius looked at James and Peter who was waiting for his response. Sirius sighed.

"What about we've already started? We can't just stop working on that. We're doing it for Remus, so he doesn't have to keep going through transforming alone anymore," Sirius explained.

"We can do both. Besides we wouldn't have to keep this project a secret from Remus. He could help. Us doing all this stuff with Animagi is making him feel left out," James said.

Sirius nodded in understanding.

Remus would never say anything to them outright about what he was feeling, but they all saw how Remus reacted whenever the three of them them would go off to do something by themselves without him. Despite all that the four of them had been through and the promises that they had made each other, Remus was still afraid that one day Sirius, Peter, and James would eventually turn their back on him. It was a fear that in Remus' mind was becoming more and more a reality with every secret meeting.

That was why Animagi was so important to Sirius. He felt that once they made that final step, that any suspicion of thought of lack of loyalty between the four of them would be forever crushed.

Sirius sat down on the edge of his bed, contemplating the decision.

"I think that we should work on the map after we become Animagi. That's what will be most important especially if something if this new potion that Slughorn's talking about doesn't work out," Sirius explained.

"You don't think that it will?" Peter asked taking a seat next to Sirius. Sirius shrugged.

"I don't know. I'm hoping it does for Remus' sake but if it doesn't…." Sirius trailed off.

The idea of a potion that could help Remus with his condition had given him hope. Hope that he wouldn't have to hide from the rest of his friends, hope that for once he wouldn't feel and be a monster. If that option didn't work or didn't come soon, it would be the most devastating news that Remus had ever received.

"What are we going to do until then? We can't sneak around the castle to even find a place where we can't figure out what it is we are doing wrong. We can't go to the boathouse," James said leaning against the bedpost.

"Why not? We still have your cloak," Sirius said. James ran his hands through his hair and looked away from Sirius and Peter with a strange expression on his face.

"We still have your cloak right?" Sirius asked looking from Peter to James.

"Well….." James started.

"Did Filch catch you with it?" Peter asked. James shook his head.

"No. Nothing like that."

"Well what is it like then?" Sirius asked.

"I….I may have went too close to the Whomping Willow….and it may have decided to attack me," James explained.

Luckily, for James, his skills as a Quidditch player came in handy as he was able to dodge the thick trunks that came trying to flatten him. Unfortunately for him, his cloak managed to fall off and was repeatedly smashed into to the muddy ground leaving the cloak covered in thick stains, which for some reason was causing it not to turn invisible anymore.

He explained what happened to Peter and Sirius their faces a mixture of exasperation and amusement.

"Did you ask your dad about it?" Sirius asked.

"Of course not! There's no way I'm telling him about this," James said shaking his head.

"You worried about getting into trouble with him?" Peter asked.

"Not with him. With my mum. I tell my dad what happened, she's gonna want to know why it happened and telling her that I was sneaking out after hours will not go well with her," James explained.

"Well where is it. Maybe we can try to fix it," Sirius said.

"I don't have it."

"Who does?" Peter asked.

"Nicole." There was silence as Sirius processed what James said.

"Nicole. Has. Your. Invisibility. Cloak," Sirius said slowly, punctuating every word. James nodded.

"Are you mad?! Why in the bloody hell would you give your cloak to Nicole?!" Sirius said practically yelling.

"Peter told me that she was the one who helped him researched the map idea so I thought she might have some ideas about what to do. She's very smart you know." Sirius looked at Peter, who shrank back under Sirius gaze.

Sirius shook his head at James.

"You really need to get over your obsession with Nicole," Sirius said.

"I completely agree. Especially after what I learned last night," Marlene said walking into the boys dormitory without an invitation.


"Hi Lily." Lily looked up from her book to see Remus walking toward her. She smiled at him.

"Hey. How are you?" Lily asked as Remus took a seat on the bench next to her.

"Good. What are you reading?" Remus asked trying to peer at the thick book that Lily held.

"Oh. Um…." Remus raised Lily's hands so that he could see the title of the book.

"It's a Muggle book," Lily explained, a slight pink tinge creeping unto her cheeks.

"'Steal from the poor to give to the rich.' Or something like that," Remus quoted in reference to the book.

"Close. Really close," Lily said smiling. Remus laughed.

"I'm surprised you know the story. It's not one that many people here know," Lily said closing the book.

"My mother used to read all types of stories to me when I was younger. It was the only thing that really helped after the f…" Remus caught himself before finishing his sentence.

"After the 'furry little problem' happened?" Lily said using James' code words for Remus's transformation.

"Yeah. That," Remus said blushing slightly.

"I imagine that it doesn't have anything to do with a big bunny or something," Lily said smiling. Remus burst out laughing.

"No. Definitely not. No bunny. Though it does sound quite ridiculous doesn't it."

"Knowing Potter, I imagine it could have been a lot worse," Lily said knowingly. Remus nodded.

There was silence between the two of them as the true identity of what exactly the "furry little problem" was hung between them.

Remus wanted to share, to let the girls in on the big secret but it was a lot easier said then done. It wasn't that he didn't trust them, he just couldn't imagine the look of fear and disgust on any of their faces. He didn't want any of the girl's opinions of him to change.

"I forget sometimes that you're like me," Lily said, thankfully changing the subject.

"What do you mean?" Remus asked.

"You're just so...at home here. With Magic. Sometimes I forget that you know about the Muggle world to. Or at least more than the others do. You fit in with this lot so easily." Lily explained.

"Not everything is how it seems Lily. It's not so easy for me." Remus said sincerely. Lily was silent as she thought about that.

Sometimes Lily was more than baffled when it came to the Wizarding world. Sometimes she felt completely overwhelmed with all the differences and nuances between the world she went to school in and the world her family lived in. Even though she had known about her magic for many years now, it was still an adjustment for her. Almost 5 years at Hogwarts and yet she still found herself surprised and amazed at some of the things that happened at school even more so by the people there.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply that you have an easy life. I know that what's going on with your mum is hard on you," Lily said. Remus waved off her apology.

"You feel like you don't fit in with all of us?" Remus asked picking up on what Lily had previously said.

"It's like there are two sides of me and they are in constant conflict with each other and yet I love them both. I love magic and being able to learn and to do things quickly and yet I like the slowness of being back home," Lily explained. Remus nodded in understanding.

Growing up with a Muggle for a mother he had seen the other way of doing things. While magic was definitely more efficient and helpful, Muggle had their appeal as way.

"Sometimes I just feel like I'm alone. Like no one understands how I could even possibly miss things or prefer things about the Muggle world. Even I don't understand it completely."

"But you're not alone. You have Snape," Remus said. Lily scoffed slightly.

"Severus hates the Muggle world. But I'm sure you knew that," Lily said sadly.

Lily couldn't blame Severus for his feelings of contempt. Severus never told Lily the full story when it came to his parents but she knew that things weren't always pleasant in the Snape household. Her father had been called over to Spinner's End several times to break up arguments between his parents that had become loud enough to attract the neighbors attention.

Eileen Snape was a wonderful mother and Witch while Tobias was nothing but a mean drunk and a Muggle. Lily knew that was how Severus dealt with the categorization of Muggle and Witches. Because of the that, their conversations never really included the positive things about their muggle life, much to Lily's disappointment.

Remus watched Lily as her face filled with sadness. He never would have guessed that things between Severus and Lily were as strained as it appeared to be by their conversation. He, among many others assumed that it was the shared Muggle connection of Lily and Severus that drew them together, now it seemed that the connection was adding to the strain on their relationship.

Remus reached out and touched Lily's hand.

"You have me. Whatever you want to talk about, you can talk about it with me. I'll be here," Remus said smiling. Lily squeezed Remus' hand back in gratitude.

Remus looked into Lily's green eyes and saw how much kindness and love was within them. In that moment, he felt so stupid for ever hiding from Lily. Felt ashamed for ever doubting in her kindness and love that permeated every part of her. It was for that very fact that Remus hesitated when it came to telling his secret. He was not worth the friendship of Lily Evans but he wanted to be and he would do whatever it took to prove himself to her and to the rest of them.

Remus cleared his throat and look down at their interlocked hands.

"I want to tell you something," Remus began. Lily smiled and squeezed his hand in comfort, encouraging him to continue.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Lily and Remus looked up to see Severus standing behind them.

"I thought we were going to go practice our spells for DADA," Severus said coolly.

His eyes scanned both of them, resting on their hands that were still holding on to the other. Remus noticed the slightest narrowing of Severus' eyes.

Lily looked from Severus to Remus.

"Um...actually…" Lily looked at Severus.

"We were somewhat in the middle of something," Lily said smiling to help soften her words. Remus saw Severus' jaw clenched and disappointment fill his eyes.

"No. Don't worry. Go. We'll talk later," Remus said releasing his hand from Lily's.

"Are you sure?" Lily asked, her voice full of concern.

Lily knew where the conversation was headed. She had patiently waited for when Remus finally felt like he was comfortable and capable of sharing his secret with the rest of them. Now that the time had finally come, she didn't want anything to interrupt it for fear it might not come again.

Remus shook his head and stood up from the bench.

"Go. I'll catch you later," Remus said. Lily nodded and stood.

Lily hugged Remus tightly. She pulled back to look at him.

"We'll talk," Lily said. It was as much of a promise as it was a question. Remus nodded.

Remus acknowledged Severus with a tilt of his head and left the two of them with Lily watching him walk away toward Gryffindor Tower.

"What was that all about?" Severus asked looking at Lily.

"Nothing," Lily said rubbing her hands together. Lily dragged her attention from Remus' retreating figure back to Severus.

"Shall we go?"


"Knight to D5. Check," Adrianna said triumphantly staring at the chessboard in front of her.

"Rook to D5." Sansa's rook casually strolled over to where Adrianna's Knight was sitting and slammed down onto it with a force that shattered the Knight into pieces and sent them flying across the board.

Adrianna sunk back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest.

"I don't know why I let you talk me into playing this bloody game," Adrianna said looking at all of her broken pieces.

Sansa chuckled.

"Do you and Sirius have any special plans for Valentines' day?" Sansa asked as she began to replace the pieces on the board.

Adrianna thought about the conversation that Sirius and her had had in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and the hint of something special to special. She felt heat rise on her cheeks as she thought of the implications of what that something special might mean.

"I'm not sure I even want to know where your mind just went," Sansa said chuckling. Adrianna stuck out her tongue at Sansa.

"Not all of us are prudes like you," Adrianna said getting up from the table. She went over to the window seat and sat down with Sansa beside her.

"I am not a prude!" Sansa exclaimed. Adrianna gave her a look that suggested that she didn't believe that statement for a second. Sansa rolled her eyes.

"Just because I have principles…"

"So what?! I don't have principles now because I have a boyfriend?!" Adrianna said in an amused tone.

"No! Its not because you have a boyfriend but because of what you've done with him," Sansa said quietly glancing around making sure that no one else in the common room could overhear them.

"All we've done is snogging," Adrianna clarified.

"Yeah well you want to do more, and we all know that Nicole has." Adrianna was silent at that.

Sansa spoke the truth. She definitely wanted to do more with Sirius, had wanted to for a very long time and now that they were officially together, they had free reign to act out all of Adrianna's many thoughts.

"I still can't believe her," Sansa said quietly shaking her head.

"I can."

"Really?!" Sansa asked.

"While I can't necessarily understand the choice of the person, the action is completely understandable," Adrianna explained. Sansa made a face at the statement.

The action was exactly what was not understandable, at least not to Sansa.

"Oh come off it. It's just sex," Adrianna casually.

"It's not just sex. Besides she's 14! Don't you think that that is a little young?" Sansa asked. Adrianna shrugged.

"I don't think that something like that has a set age requirement. I mean some people do it younger some do it older. It's their body," Adrianna said nonchalantly. Sansa stared at Adrianna in shock.

She couldn't understand how Adrianna could seem so casual about sex. Sansa understood how it worked and while there was a part of her that was intrigued by the idea, there was another part of her that was completely terrified about becoming so intimate with another person.

"You can't honestly tell me that you have never thought of any of the boys in that way, not even Peter," Adrianna said knowingly. Sansa looked away at the mention of Peter's name.

Adrianna inwardly cursed. She knew what that meant.

"Did you and him have a row today?" Adrianna asked. Sansa chuckled ruefully.

"For us to have a row, that would mean that we would have to say more than 5 words to each other which we haven't," Sansa said sadly looking out the window.

"You two haven't talked at all?" Adrianna asked.

Though the two of them had had series of radio silence on and off throughout the year, it never seemed to last long. Sansa and Peter would argue and complain about the other but soon they were back to being the best of friends.

It was ridiculous and annoying to the other Gryffindors who had to bear witness to the seemingly never ending cycle but it had become the natural state of things. It was simply how things were done between the two of them.

Adrianna reached out her hand in comfort. She could tell that whatever was going on was really upsetting Sansa.

"What's going on between you two anyway?" Sansa sighed heavily.

"I don't even know. We got into a bit of a row last week about Nicole…."

"Nicole?" Adrianna interrupted. Sansa nodded.

"You know how Peter had been acting weird a couple of weeks ago. Sneaking off without the others, constantly researching in the library or reading in his free time?" Sansa asked.

Adrianna nodded, though to be quite honest, she hadn't noticed any of that.

"Well he was working on something and Nicole was helping him. At least, he asked her for help in trying to find out some information," Sansa explained.

"So….you're mad at Peter for asking Nicole for help?" Adrianna said slowly. Sansa gave her a look.

"Don't say it like that! When you say it like that it sounds like I'm bloody mad."

"Well…." Adrianna trailed off. Sansa hit her arm lightly causing Adrianna to laugh.

"Explain it to me."

"They're hiding something. All of them and I'm not talking about like hiding an upcoming prank. It's something big and I thought….I thought that whatever Peter was doing had something to do with it," Sansa explained pulling at the fabric of the seat.

"But what does that have to do with Nicole?"

"I thought that he had told her. That she was in on...whatever it was."

"And that would be a bad thing?" Adrianna asked.

"Of course! Them telling her before us," Sansa said practically hissing.

"Whatever the secret is, we deserve to know before Nicole," Sansa said matter-of-factly.

Adrianna thought about what Sansa said. All of the girls knew that the boys were hiding something. It was becoming more and more apparent as they got older. It was something that all of them were dying to figure out but really had no clue where to begin to even get the truth.

Nicole has a right to know as much as any of us. She's their friend too. Adrianna thought.

She turned her attention back to Sansa.

"Sounds to me like someone's jealous," Adrianna said jokingly but the look on Sansa's face told her that it might not be much of a joke after all.

"You have to know that nothing is going on between her and Peter…" Sansa waved off the comment.

"Of course I know that," Sansa said.

"Then what are you jealous of?"

To be honest she wasn't sure. Her feelings toward Nicole weren't those of malice. She genuinely liked Nicole. She was a sweet person, albeit a tad bit too flirtatious for Sansa's taste but for the most part the two of them got along.

She thought back to the argument that her and Peter had had.

"My problem is that you're hiding something. And instead of talking to me about it, you go and talk to Nicole. She's barely known you and now you're confiding in her!"

"Ask yourself why that might be Sansa."

"You're upset when I speak. You're upset when I don't. I don't know what to do anymore," Peter said, his voice low.

"Sansa?" Adrianna called out bringing Sansa away from her thoughts.

"Are you okay?" She asked. Sansa nodded and got up from the window seat.

"Where are you going?" Adrianna asked.

"To talk," Sansa said heading up the stairs to the boys dormitory.


"What are you doing here Marlene?" James snapped.

"Wow. Grouchy much," Marlene said folding her arms across her chest.

Her tone was light and somewhat playful taking all of the boys off guard. This was a completely different Marlene than they had seen the last couple of weeks. This was the playful Marlene they had known before.

"What are you boys up to?" Marlene asked casually sitting on the edge of James' bed. She swung her legs off the edge back and forth as she looked to each of them waiting for a response.

"Um….Nothing," Peter said dumbly.

"Hmm," Marlene said shrugging. She got off from James' bed and rifled through the bedside cabinet until she pulled out a box of Bertie Bot's Every Flavor Beans. She laid back on the bed going through the box looking for a safe bean to eat.

James went over to Marlene and snatched the box from her hands.

"Oy!" Marlene whined as James held the box out of her reach. James grabbed a handful of beans and tossed the box back to Marlene.

She stuck out her tongue at him.

"You owe me another box," James said as he sat down on the bed beside Marlene's legs.

"Consider that you're Valentine's Present," Marlene teased. James threw a bean at Marlene who squeaked in surprise.

James smiled at Marlene.

This was the Marlene that he had grown up with. He wasn't sure what had brought this sudden change of attitude on but whatever it was he was grateful for it. He was glad to have his friend back and not to be at each other's throats anymore.

"Can I have one?" Peter asked. James searched through his handful and tossed a yellow one toward Peter who caught it in his hands.

"Pretty sure that's cheese," James said. Peter popped it in his mouth and by the happy expression on his face, James knew he had guessed correctly.

"What about you mate?" James said as he sorted through his handful trying to pick out one that Sirius liked.

At no reply, James looked at Sirius to see him staring off into space.

"Oi!" James yelled throwing a bean at Sirius, which popped him in the eye.

"What the bloody hell mate?" Sirius said rubbing his eye. The other three all tried to hide their laughter but to no avail.

"What did I miss?" Remus said walking into the boys dormitory noticing all the laughter.

"Nothing much. Just blindness by troll bogies," Sirius said examining the bean that hit him in the eye.

"Thanks mate." James inclined his head to Sirius.

"How's Nicole?" James asked as Remus carefully looked at the beans that was in James' hand before choosing one.

"Nicole?" Remus said leaning against the bedpost of where Sirius and Peter sat.

"Yeah. You said the two of you were meeting up to work on Ancient Runes homework," James said matter-of-factly.

"Oh right. We were but she could barely keep her eyes open, so I sent her off to bed. I guess she didn't sleep much last night," Remus explained.

Sirius looked away at the mention of the previous night. He and Nicole had gotten into yet another argument which was all the two of them seemed capable of doing lately.

"Guess it was another sleepover with Avery," Marlene said. The boys turned to look at her.

"Sleepover? What's that supposed to mean?" Sirius asked. Marlene sat up in the bed so that her back was leaning against the headboard.

"Nicole stays over in the Slytherin common room," Marlene said trying to sound somewhat nonchalant.

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?! What do you mean by she stays over?" James asked.

"What do you think I mean?"

"Marlene….don't start anything! You know how quickly rumors spread around here," Remus chided.

"I'm not starting anything! Besides it's the truth!"

"What's the truth? What did Nicole do?" Peter asked looking at all the faces in the room for an answer.

"Marlene is insinuating that Nicole and Avery had sex," James said in a flat tone.

Peter mouth dropped open at the mention of that.

"But...wha...I…" Peter stammered.

"Don't worry about it mate. Marlene's just rabbiting. She doesn't know what she's talking about," Sirius snapped.

"I do know what's I'm talking about. In fact, all the girls know about it," Marlene retorted.

"How is it that all the girls know about something but none of us do?" James asked defensively.

"I don't know. That is weird, right. To hide secrets from each other and only share with some people when we are all supposed to friends," Marlene said accusingly looking at each of the boys in turn.

"If it's supposed to be a secret then why are you telling us?" Remus asked. Marlene blushed, her eyes glancing at James and then quickly away. She shrugged.

"Thought you guys should know. Plus you asked." The boys were silent.

"I still don't believe it," James said.

"Me neither," Sirius agreed. Marlene shrugged.

"Ask Lily if you don't believe me."

"Evans?! What does she have to do with this?" James asked.

"Lily caught her sneaking out yesterday and that was when Nicole told her everything. Lily told Sansa after we had all woken up yesterday and Nicole wasn't in her bed. Sansa told the me and Adi yesterday afternoon," Marlene explained.

Knowing that it was Lily that set all this in motion changed things. Lily was not the sort to spread rumors and out of all the girls, it made the most sense that Nicole would confide in Lily. There was nothing that any of them could say to that.

Marlene leaned forward and placed a comforting hand on James' shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Marlene asked. James looked around. Everyone was looking at him with concern on their faces.

"I'm fine," James said shaking off Marlene's hand. He got off the bed and headed to the door.

"Where are you going?" Remus called out. James left the room without answering.

"Lily or Nicole?" Remus asked.

"Lily." They all answered in unison.