After lunch, all four of the Marauders sat down to study for Potions. Remus sat on his bed and nervously opened his book. Draught of Living Death, huh? I'll soon be turning into the bloke of living death.
After trying and failing to memorise the potion's ingredients for the thirteenth time, he huffed and looked up. He'd been failing because Sirius was somehow being adorably distracting just by sitting there on his bed. He smiled at Remus and threw a small, folded bit of parchment at him. It read, 'Let me know if you want to take a break, my Moonstone.' The gesture was so endearing. Just knowing Sirius was there for him, made his stress level come down to a zero. Remus daydreamed about what he'd like to do with Sirius during break, and he chuckled to himself.

"Oh no, he's going mental," said Peter.

"Moony, calm down, alright? You're going to do fine. You will pass!" James told him.

Remus nodded. "Yeah, yeah!" he said, hastily getting back to his ingredients list. He looked up and saw Sirius smirking at him, like he knew exactly what he'd been thinking about.

The theory of Potions exam went quite well for Remus, but in the afternoon, they had practicals. Remus couldn't exactly remember the events that took place between the end of the theory exam and halfway through the practical, he was in some kind of trace. He suddenly snapped out of it and looked around.

"Mr. Lupin, are you alright?" asked Slughorn patiently. "You've added the Valerian sprigs already, go ahead and start mixing."

"Horace!" squeaked Professor Tofty. "You're not supposed to help the students!"

"Right, er... I wasn't," said Slughorn awkwardly and moved to the far end of the classroom.

Professor Tofty gestured to Minerva and she bent down to listen. "I don't think the subject professors should be allowed into the exam halls anymore," he said to her.
She nodded and straightened. "I'll tell Albus," she whispered.

"Thank you," Remus mouthed to Slughorn. He was a kind-hearted professor after all. Remus mixed his potion. Apparently his Forgetfulness Potion was three-quarters done, and he had no memory of doing anything.
How incredibly ironic.
Somehow, he managed to brew a weak potion, and walked out of the room with the confidence that he'd at least be getting an Acceptable.

The next day, Remus had his Arithmancy exam and the other two had Muggle Studies. Sirius enjoyed his practical exam a bit too much, he spent twenty minutes explaining to Professor Tofty how he was fixing a motorbike at his uncle's house, although he neglected to mention he had been charming it to try and make it fly as well. Peter didn't have any exam, he spent the whole day sleeping.

Care of Magical Creatures went well, but Remus was convinced Professor Tofty had discovered his true identity, no matter how much the other three tried to tell him otherwise. There was an innocent-looking Crup standing amongst a bunch of similar-looking Jack Russell Terriers. The students had been asked to identify the Crup as a part of their practical, and as soon the Crup spotted Remus, it started howling at him. And the worst part was, that Remus had to resist howling back and he started sweating. Professor Tofty looked at him suspiciously.

Sirius was still at the flobberworm table, choosing what to feed them with, and he saw the whole scene. He had to do something, he had to save Remus. "Awooooo..." he went, and suddenly all the dogs were barking and running over to Sirius. They pushed him to the ground and started licking him all over. All the students burst out laughing, and Professor Tofty forgot about Remus amidst all the confusion. Remus was amazed.

"Well, the Crup identified itself for you, Mr. Lupin," said Kettleburn, ticking something on the parchment in his hand. "That'll count as a correct answer." Remus was even more amazed.

"Now that's what I call the bark side of the moon," said Peter and Remus laughed.

"I feel extremely thankful fur Sirius."

"Anything is paw-sible if you just believe," said Peter.

"We should really spot this now, we're in the middle of our OWL!" said Remus and Peter laughed again.

James drank his tea nervously. "Don't be nervous," said Professor Zhao.
It was James' Divination exam and his topic was tasseography, or tea-leaf reading. James took the professor's empty cup, drained it of the remaining tea and turned it in a clockwise direction, trying to interpret the signs. "Er, there's a bird of some sort, it looks like an eagle."

"The type of bird doesn't matter, what matters is what the bird represents," said the Professor.

"Right. Bird equals good luck and possibly a journey," said James, smiling. "You'll be going on holiday over summer."

"Sounds excellent, I need it," said the professor. "Go on."

"No, hold on!" said James, suddenly. "Eagle represents a change of house, you'll be moving this summer!"

"Hopefully, I'll do both."

"There's a dagger, you'll have help from friends, they'll probably help you move," said James.

"Great. But are you sure it's a dagger? It could be a knife."

"Oh no, a knife, that means you'll fight with someone!" said James.

"Maybe they won't help me move after all," said the professor lightly.

"This one looks like a ladder, wow you really are going travelling, aren't you?" said James, and the professor smiled and nodded.

"Pine tree, contentment," said James, smiling. "This is a good cup."

"That it is," said Professor Zhao, taking the cup from him and checking the tea leaves. "You've done well."

"Awesome!" said James, standing up.

"Wait, don't you want your fortune read?" he asked.

"Well, I wasn't curious until you said that," said James and the professor laughed.

"Come. sit, I'll read you leaves." He took the cup and drained the tea and turned it clockwise. "A full moon."

James smiled. "A full moon means happiness and success," said Zhao.

"Perfect," said James. Maybe it also means more full moon adventures with Moony.

"Many mountains, my my, you have powerful enemies," said the professor.

"I don't have any enemies, I'm a student... oh, wait," said James, remembering the Slytherins. And the war. and Voldemort.

"An angel, good news in love-related matters," said the professor.

"Are you serious?" said James.

"Is there one who has caught your eye, Mr. Potter?" said the professor, chuckling, but he didn't seem to require an answer. He went back to the reading.

"Fox, a back-stabbing close friend."

James decided he won't believe him. Hmph! Tea-leaf reading is bogus. But the angel though... If he wanted to believe one, he had to believe the other.
"That's intense, isn't it?" he asked the professor.

"Doesn't have to be literal. Could be they'll ask out the girl you've had your eye on, or something small... no need to take these signs too seriously," answered the professor.

"Right."

"And an apple, indicating a long life," the professor finished. James nodded thoughtfully.

All four boys did excellently in Astronomy. Peter even named all of Jupiter's moons correctly. The Astronomy practical made Sirius very happy, because they had been asked to point out the Canis Major constellation.
"Why are you smiling, child?" Professor Marchbanks asked him jovially.

"I'm named after the Dog star in Canis Major," he replied, and he watched as her grin sagged.

"You're a Black, are you?" she asked, she knew of the Blacks' tradition of naming their children after constellations.

Sirius couldn't believe she actually took two steps back as she asked. He glanced at James, who was yawning and looking through his telescope, it was nearly midnight. "Yes," Sirius replied to her.

"Yes, Sirius is in my house, and he likes Astronomy very much," said Professor McGonagall, stepping into the light. Sirius hadn't even known she was there, she was apparently standing in the dark corner and keeping an eye out for cheating students.

"Your house?" asked Professor Marchbanks. A Black in Gryffindor?!
"Oh, er, continue with your exam, dear," she told him.

"Thanks Minnie," he whispered, after Professor Marchbanks moved away.

"Get back to your star chart Mr. Black," she replied. Sirius grinned at her and got back to looking through his telescope.

Remus found the Defence Against the Dark Arts exam the easiest, he knew for sure he'd get an 'Outstanding' in it. He had excelled in the practical test in the morning, and he knew all the answers in the theory exam. He followed the others out into the grounds to take a break before they had to start revising for Transfiguration, their last exam. When he heard James mention Severus, he looked up from the book. James and Sirius getting to their feet, and before he could stop them, they had their wands out and Severus was in the air. Even Peter was excited.
(Cue bullying scene from the chapter Snape's Worst Memory, from OOtP).

I hate that Potter! And that pestilent Black, such bullies, the pair of them! SO INFURIATING! There's no redemption for them!
But as Lily hurried away, she realised her tears were because of Severus. Everything James had been telling her over the past two months was true, only she hadn't wanted to believe it. Severus had called her a mudblood as easily as asking for butter at a breakfast table.
And that curse he had used to slash Potter's cheek had clearly been of Dark origin! Why, Severus, why? You proved Potter right after all… and he will hold this over me forever! Aaargh!

"Lily! Lily, are you alright?!" asked Alice, running up to her. Marlene and Mary were right behind her.

Lily wiped her eyes roughly with her sleeve. She was mad. At everybody. "I want to go back to the Tower," she said, the girls nodded.

"Let's go," said Mary.

Without realising it, Remus got to his feet and stared after Lily as she'd hurried away.
Were those tears in her eyes? Oh no, and I was just sitting here, doing nothing... I should have stopped them.

"Who wants to watch me take off Snivelly's pants?" James was saying behind him, and he turned around.

This has gone long enough. "Expelliarmus," said Remus, and both Sirius' and James' wands zoomed into his hand.

"Moony, what…" said James, turning around to face his friend.

"Stop this now, you've got what you wanted," Remus said, but his wand was trained on the now recovering Severus. He could see Slughorn running down the front steps of the castle towards them.

Sirius and James glanced at each other and back at Severus, who quickly got to his feet and straightened his robes. Then he paused as he realised what he had just done.
I called Lily a mudblood.
He glanced at James, who smiled back at him triumphantly. Severus gave him a black look which clearly meant, 'this isn't over,' before retreating into the castle.

Peter hadn't moved, he was still crouching in his position, rat-like. "Er, Peter?" Sirius said, and he slowly got to his feet and brushed the dust off his clothes.

"James, I don't care what your motive was, but this is the worst thing you've ever done," said Remus. James looked at him guiltily.

"This is not to be borne!" they heard someone yell. "Never in the whole of my teaching career have I heard of such public humiliation of one of my students! All of you are coming with me to Professor McGonagall's office this instant!" It was Slughorn, he seemed apoplectic with indignation.

"But they didn't do anything!" said Sirius, pointing at Remus and Peter.

"I don't care, you'll follow me right now!" he yelled and they hurried after him to McGonagall's office.

"Minerva, I was just finishing locking up my stores when Balsamo came running in to tell me that Potter and his friends were hexing poor Severus Snape! And it turned out to be true, they all had their wands pointed at him, and Mr. Snape was in the air, upside down, his robes falling over his head... It was humiliating spectacle!" he said loudly, and she seemed shocked.

"That's not true! It was only Sirius and I, these two had nothing to do with it!" said James.

"When I arrived there, I clearly saw Mr. Lupin point his wand at Mr. Snape!" said Slughorn.

She glared at Remus, unable to believe it.

"He disarmed us! He stopped us!" Sirius frantically explained. Minerva looked at the three wands in Remus' hands and nodded.

"Then why may I ask, was his wand trained at Mr. Snape?" asked Slughorn.

"So he doesn't hex us when we had our backs turned, because he's that kind of a sneak," said Sirius malevolently.

"That's enough, Mr. Black, be quiet!" McGonagall told him. "So, Mr. Pettigrew, you haven't participated in this duel, am I right?"

Peter looked anxious at being addressed. "Er, no I didn't, ma'm."

"You will tell me everything that happened. Everything, do you hear me?" she said sternly and he nodded. He truthfully told her everything, from when James first jinxed Snape unprovoked, the swear words Snape had used, Lily trying to stop them, Snape using the m-word on her(everyone glanced at Slughorn at that point), Lily walking away after that.

"Then Moony disarmed them and took both of their wands," he finished.

"Moony?" asked Slughorn, confused.

"Remus. It's Remus. I'm sorry," said Peter, looking guiltily at Remus.

"Okay Professor Slughorn, I'll take it from here," she told him, nodding at him.

"I want to see some punishment, Minerva. You've been known to be partial to Gryffindors," he said, and the Marauders looked at her in awe. "And look at the state of their clothes, Mr. Potter never seems to adhere to the dress code."

"I assure you Horace, I'll punish them appropriately," she told him calmly, as James hurriedly tucked his shirt in. "And I trust that you too will look into the matter of Mr. Snape using that unpardonable word on poor Ms. Evans?"

"Oh… of course, Minerva, you can be sure of that," he said nervously and closed the door behind him.

After he left, Minerva slowly sat down in her chair, glaring at the four Marauders.

"Why?" she asked simply.

"Pardon?" said Sirius.

"Why did you jinx Mr. Snape, unprovoked? Was this the result of a previous duel that we don't know about?" she asked shrewdly. The Marauders glanced at each other, she slammed her hand on the desk and they jumped. "Out with it!" she yelled, but they said nothing.
"I'm not going to let you go, till you give me a proper explanation on this, boys. As much as I know about your pranks and mischief, I'm not willing to believe that you'd just start hexing people at random," she said, and got the reaction she expected from the boys. The other three looked at James fleetingly.

"Mr. Potter?" she said immediately. For some reason he blushed slightly. "The rest of you may go," she said, and they reluctantly left, but she knew they would be waiting outside for him. "Well?" she asked him.

"Snape is a sneak," he told her, looking at the muggle paperweight on her desk.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"He goes around with his cronies, calling people the m-word all the time, but pretends otherwise," he said, and she understood.

So this was all a performance for Ms Evans, of course. What a Gryffindor thing to do!
"That was literally bullying, Mr Potter. You can't do whatever you want-"

"There was no other way…! I tried everything! She didn't believe me!" he blurted out, and then he was annoyed at himself for it.

She stared at him. How do I make him understand? "James," she said. "You cannot teach someone something in a negative way, and expect them to learn something positive. Do you understand?" she said slowly.

"But-"

"Did you hear me? Repeat what I just said," she ordered.

"You cannot teach someone something in a negative way, to make them learn something positive," he repeated.

"No matter what it is," she said, and he nodded.

"Think about what I just said. And keep it in mind whenever you feel the urge to do something like that again," she told him, and he nodded. "No matter what you aimed to achieve, bullying will not be tolerated at Hogwarts."
James nodded again. "Now, since we have only a week until term ends, I will be giving you your punishments after summer. Now, good day to you," she said, pointing to the door, and he sedately walked out of her office.

"Are you okay?" she heard Black ask him before the door even closed fully.

"I'm fine," said James, surprised at the concern.

"What did she say?" he asked, as they walked back to the Tower.

He told them what she said, and they all looked at Remus. "Why're you looking at me?" he asked.

"Well, you usually have a simpler explanation for these philosophical things that teachers are always telling us," said James, smiling.

Remus grinned back. "I guess she's right, isn't she?" he said.

"You cannot teach someone something in a negative way, to make them learn something positive?" he asked.

"Yeah, if you teaching something in a negative way, no one's going to remember what you taught them. It loses its value, they only remember the negative thing you did," Remus explained.

"Oh," said James dejectedly.

Remus put his hand on his shoulder. "She basically told you, you're not wrong. You're only going about it in a wrong way," he told him.

"Was that really advice on how to conduct yourself properly? Because that sure sounds like dating advice to me!" said Peter, and they laughed.

"Could be both," said Remus, and they looked at each other, deep in thought. "Why don't you boys go ahead, I need to talk to Professor McGonagall."

"What about?" asked Peter.

"Nothing... Prefect business," he replied, slowing down and stopping. "I'll catch up with you guys, where will you be?"

"The Great Hall," said James.

"I'll be along as soon as I'm done," said Remus and walked back to Minerva's office. The others nodded and went down to the Great Hall.

Remus knocked on her door, and she told him to enter. Remus walked in, but she wasn't at the table, she was at the window, gazing out at the grounds. She turned around. "Mr. Lupin, what is it?"

Remus removed his Prefect badge and put it on her writing desk.

"What may I ask, are you doing?"

Remus shrugged like it was obvious. "I'm not worthy of that badge."

Her eyebrows knitted together. "Why?"

"I was right there, when James did that to Severus, and I did nothing," he said, frustratedly pointing at the door. "I sat there and let it happen."

"You disarmed them," she said.

"After everything was over, when it didn't matter!" he said. "It's not just today, I'm always doing this, I- but after today, its been proven, I'm officially the worst Prefect in the history of Hogwarts!"

Minerva turned to look at the students out in the grounds. "You'd be surprised how many Prefects I've seen over the years, who were undeserving of that badge, but let me assure you, you're not one of them."

Remus was surprised at her honesty. But he knew that wasn't the only reason. "But it's not just that-"

"You feel guilty when you let the others break rules," she said, turning around. "Really, Mr. Lupin, I expected better from you."

He didn't understand. "Sorry?"

"When I suggested your name to Professor Dumbledore, even he thought it was a good idea," she said, walking up to her desk. "It doesn't matter if you let Mr. Black play a prank or let Mr. Pettigrew grab a sandwich from the Kitchens-"

"But today-"

"Today was an exception," she said sternly. "It was a new situation entirely, and you did the best you could, I do not expect my Prefects to be perfect in the first year itself."

"You don't understand, if it had been anyone else, I would have stopped them immediately, but it was James and Sirius-"

"Perhaps there was a delay in your actions because of the approaching full moon?" she asked.

Remus immediately got annoyed. "This has nothing to do with that," he said angrily.

She looked at him patiently. "So you were afraid of angering your friends?"

"I did think it was that, but to be honest, I think I was on James' side..." he mumbled.

"Mr. Lupin! Are you telling me you were condoning the bullying?" she asked.

"No! I didn't stop them because I- I didn't know he would do that," said Remus, then he sighed. "Look, there are so many reasons why I let it slide, really, I don't deserve being a Prefect."

"Mr. Lupin," said Minerva. "The worst thing a Prefect can do is be uncaring when someone's breaking the rules around them. But you weren't uncaring, you had all these reasons to delay your reaction, but you stopped them in the end anyway, didn't you?"

Remus nodded.

"That's what being a Prefect is all about," she told him. "And you can learn from this experience and be more alert next time. I'd like you to continue," she said, handing him his badge back.

"The other Prefects constantly tell me I'm being lenient with the Marauders, now they'll say it again," he said. "They'll say you made a mistake."

"Well, they don't know everything, do they?" she said. "There's a reason I made you a Prefect, Mr. Lupin."

"I think you're making a mistake as well," he said, looking down at the badge on his palm.

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that?"