After Charms instead of going to the Great Hall the Marauders went up to the tower, to try out their big plan. Their test. Which Remus still felt weird about it being his idea, technically (though Sirius kept saying how proud he was for Remus to think it up). There were a few people in the common room (the furniture still on the ceiling) but luckily they didn't need the entire tower empty. They headed up to their dorm where James got out his broom, carefully mounting it before Sirius arranged the cloak over him.

"Open the window!" he exclaimed.

Peter ran over, throwing the window open. They heard James going over then leaving. All three of them crowded together, leaning out to try to see even though there was nothing to see; then Remus glanced down, feeling ill. Quickly he pulled back in.

"You think he'll manage?" Pete asked.

"Probably, I doubt they've enchanted the windows," replied Sirius, leaning out even farther. Remus got out some snacks from his desk which drew Pete away from the window. They sat on his bed, sharing the food, while Sirius just kept leaning out the window. "I hope he's all right," he said after a few minutes. "I think we'd've heard something by now if there was an alarm on the windows too, right?" He stayed still, watching. A few more minutes passed. "Come on, Jimmy."

"Standing vigilant won't do anything," Remus pointed out.

"I don't know what that word means so I'm not gonna answer," Sirius said, eyes still locked on the sky. Remus rolled his eyes.

Remus and Peter finished off the apples and most the crisps, wiping their hands off then joining Sirius back at the window. Another moment or so passed until they heard James's voice telling them to please move.

They backed away as James came flying in, nearly crashing. "I did it!" he laughed, ripping his cloak off. "I got in a dorm! I'm not sure which one. I think the third years? But it works! Lads, it works! We can sneak into the girls' dorms! We got past all their barriers! We'll be able to play pranks on them and NOBODY will ever suspect it's us! Hah!" He carefully put his broom back in its case then, with a flourish, whipped out a bra from his pocket. "Ta-da!"

"Yes!" Sirius shouted while Peter clapped his hands and Remus snorted.

This bra was vastly different from Professor Dedenne's bra, the only other one they had to compare it to. This one was much smaller and didn't quite hold the—the cup shape that Dedenne's had. Wasn't so stiff. It was white with delicate pink flowers though it did have tiny white sort of scallop-y shapes around the top of the boob area.

"This one's so floppy!" Pete said, taking the bra and waving it. "It's not that shiny, either. It's just like... plain cloth."

"Yeah, it's really boring," Sirius said. "Just like a pair of underwear. Not interesting."

James grunted. "Next time you can steal fancier ones. I didn't want to take a really fancy one cause I don't think we'll be able to return it anytime soon. That one looked like it wasn't as pricey so that's why I chose that. But guys—guys! The underwear drawer was like..." His eyes got enormous as he spread his hands out. "So many colors! And they all felt so different too!"

"Didja look at the panties?" Sirius asked with a grin, taking the bra from Peter and holding it up to his own chest.

James snickered. "I did. A little bit. I didn't want to stay too long. Next time you can come with me. Though I doubt we can fit all of us on a broom..."

"That's fine, I don't particularly want to go stealing girls' underwear," Remus put in quickly, trying his best to pretend he didn't notice the looks they all gave him. Like they thought he was crazy. "I—I don't think we should be stealing underwear at all. It's not—not nice to steal clothes of any kind!" He thought for a quick second then shrugged. "Unless it is Slytherin clothing."

"EW SLYTHERIN PANTIES!" Peter squealed which sent them all into loud gags.

"It smelled so different from our dorm." James went to flop onto Remus's bed, hand snaking into a bag of crisps. "Like, flowery? There was makeup all over the dressers too. Some of them. There were lots of magazines everywhere like our dorm but most of them were girly magazines. Posters and pictures of boys on the walls. There was also a spell stuck up next to one of the mirrors."

"What spell?" Remus asked.

Sirius snorted. "Oh yeah, that's what gets your attention. Not the panties, but the spell."

Remus stuck his tongue out at him, quite annoyed, slight embarrassed. Maybe he should pretend to be interested in the bra? He took it very carefully between a thumb and forefinger, holding it up to look at the bizarre article of clothing. He wondered briefly who it belonged to then quickly dropped it realizing it'd had boobs in them. Uggggh. "What spell?" he asked again, wiping his hand off.

James squinted, trying to remember. "C-i-r-r-a-t-i-u-m."

"Cirratium..." Remus frowned, rubbing his chin. "Not quite sure of the etymology. It sounds like Latin..." He tried to work out what it could possibly mean, a few theories floating around his mind.

"What's it do?" Pete asked.

"One way to find out..." James whipped out his wand, pointing it at Peter who yelped, trying to dive out of the way. "Come on then, Petey, can't be too bad if some girls are using it! Cirratium! Sit still! Cirratium—Cirratium!" This last one hit Pete whose hair immediately poofed out in extreme curls.

Nobody spoke for a second then Sirius and James laughed very hard. "Ah!" Remus said with a smile. "Cirratus. Curly." Then he joined in with the laughing, clutching his stomach, wiping tears away.

"Explains why it was stuck on a mirror," Sirius said once he could talk again.

"Make it go BACK!" Peter yelled, clutching at his wild curls.

"I—I don't know how!" James said, trying to sound apologetic but his huge grin betrayed him. "Ask Remy, not me!"

"I haven't the faintest either!" Remus protested.

Pete lurched forward, grabbing Remus's collar as Remus squeaked with a little bit of fear at the intensity flashing in Peter's eyes. "Make. it. Go. BACK! I—I can't go to class like this! I look—I look horrible! I look like a—a poodle!"

"Oh, just wear your hat," snickered Sirius, joining James on Remus's bed to eat the crisps.

"Nobody wears the hats except for special occasions! I'll be laughed at just as much!" Peter looked a little teary-eyed as he stared in horror at his reflection. "Please—Remus... please!"

"I—I'll try," Remus said. "Finite incantatum!" he tried with no success. "Um."

"Um?" Peter glared at Remus. "What do you mean um?"

Remus threw his hands up. "I'm sorry! I don't know how to even begin to fix this if the general counter-curse doesn't work!"

"W—well what's Latin for straight?!"

Remus sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "It doesn't work that way."

Peter began trying to flatten down his hair but it kept springing back up. "I hate you, James Potter!"

"It's not that bad," James said with a snicker. Then he burst into laughter. "Nah, I lied, it is!"

Remus genuinely felt bad for Peter, remembering how he felt with a horrifyingly embarrassing hairstyle. So he flicked his wand towards James. "Cirratium."

James's hair now sproinged out, his curls a lot tighter and going in every direction. "Wh—REMUS?!" James scrambled off the bed, dashing to the mirror. "Why the erkling did you do THAT?!"

The other two were laughing again, Sirius gasping for air, while tears poured down Peter's cheeks.

"I did it because of the flippancy you have towards Pete's predicament," Remus sniffled then screamed, diving under his bed as James tried to hit him with the spell. "No! NO!" He wriggled his way under then did his best to put up a shield to protect him. The spell bounced off.

"Take your medicine, Lupin!" James yelled.

"Go away!"

Sirius fell off the bed from laughing so hard, pounding his fists against the floor. James crouched, glowering at Remus. "Come on out," he sang, wriggling his finger.

"Go away!" Sirius's hand wrapped around his wrist. "Sirius—no—no!" Remus yelped as the traitor began pulling him out from under his bed. He made a grab for the edge, holding on tight. "NO! If you do this so help me—YAHHH!"

Sirius gave a mighty tug and Remus rolled out, being hit with the spell immediately. "No!" He reached up, feeling that his own curls were more like Peter's than James's. They didn't feel too wild. "Why?!"

"All's fair," James said. Remus narrowed his eyes and pointed his wand. "You already got me with it, dummy, whatcha gonna do?"

"Cirratium!" Remus said, flicking his wand towards Sirius who shrieked. "That's what you get, traitor!" Then he scowled because Sirius's curls were very soft and looked... well, quite nice on him. But he still shouted about his 'poor hair' and 'how dare you!'. He stood in front of the mirror, lower lip sticking out.

Pete, watching all this from his bed, was grinning. "I don't feel so bad now. Thanks, guys!"

Remus peered into the mirror, running his fingers through his hair, trying to pull the curls out. "If we go out like this then the third year girls realize a bra is missing they might put two and two together."

"Nah, it's a reach," replied James. He took the end of one of his tight curls then pulled it out. When he let go it sprang back into place. "Don't want to go to class looking like this though."

"Everyone's gonna laugh at us," Pete agreed solemnly.

"We have History in less than half an hour," Remus pointed out.

"Definitely not going," Sirius said, bending in to study his reflection closer. "Let's go to Pomfrey, maybe she can reverse it or summon the hair witch that cuts our hair. Don't wanna go through the halls though." Peter picked up his robes, sliding his arms through then pulling the hood over to hide his hair. Sirius grinned. "Brilliant."

They all got their robes on, hiding their shame under the hoods. In addition they took side passages as well as secret ways to get to the hospital wing so they'd be less likely seen; actually, not seen at all, thank Merlin. The four of them trudged into the hospital wing, having to wait until Pomfrey returned from lunch. Remus fidgeted, hoping they'd be able to get to History even if they were a little bit late.

Pomfrey looked more resolved than surprised to see the four of them sitting there. "What happened this time?"

None of them said anything until finally James stood up. "Erm, we sort've had an accident."

"All of you?"

"Uh... yeah, um, all of us..."

Pomfrey looked him up and down. "Are you going to tell me or do I have to guess?" James glanced back at the other three then pulled his hood down. Remus tugged his back, then Peter, then finally Sirius. Pomfrey's lip twitched slightly. "A hair accident," she said slowly. "Can you tell me exactly what happened?"

"Slytherins," Sirius said immediately.

Pomfrey raised her eyebrows. "I see. Slytherins attacked you and... curled your hair." They remained silent. "My guess is you found a spell somewhere or heard it, didn't know what it did, and decided to test it out."

"Um, it... might have gone more like that," James admitted then put on his best Potter smile. "Can you please help us?"

"This is a hospital wing! I'm here for medical issues, not..." Her eyes focused on the top of his head. "... styling trouble."

Now Sirius jumped up. "Please! Ma'am, come on, look at us, we look awful!"

"Again, that is not my problem," she sniffled. "Get to class. You're already late."

"It is a medical problem though!" Sirius continued. "It's causing me great distress and anguish!" He clutched at his chest, right over his heart. "Stress isn't very good on the ol' ticker, now, is it?"

"I highly doubt having curly hair for a few hours is going to give you a heart attack."

"You know I've always thought you were the most talented and amazing witch," Sirius went on, smiling very sweetly. "You're so pretty too."

"Out, Mr. Black."

They yanked their hoods back up, exiting out of the wing with grumbles. There wasn't any question about whether or not to go to class, none of them dared. Not even Sirius who looked perfectly fine with his curls. Remus wasn't amused by that, as it seemed like there was very little to make Sirius look less than amazing. Remus thought he could roll down a long, steep hill through mud and he'd still probably just be beautifully tousled, as handsome as ever. It really wasn't fair at all.

"Let's go to Remus's place," James suggested.

"My what?!" he half-shrieked, suddenly terrified they knew—somehow—about the house in Hogsmeade.

James grinned. "The library, silly. We'll find an answer there. With your research skills and my—whatever it is I have, we'll get the answer in no time, eh?"

It wasn't very far to the library normally however as they wanted to avoid the main passage it took a bit longer. Finally they crept in, ignoring the librarian glowering at them. Mr. Farrow wasn't a very pleasant man normally but he held special disdain towards James and Sirius. He didn't complain, just sneered as they headed through the aisles. Remus went directly to the Charms area, vaguely remembering some shelves dedicated to appearance-based spells. The other three didn't help much as he searched through multiple books until he found out that had the curling spell and its opposite, the straightening spell.

"But my hair isn't straight normally," Sirius pointed out. "We need a spell to just cancel it."

Remus took the book to a table to more carefully sift through, shaking his head. "Not finding much in here."

"I say we straighten our hair, then let the spell just wear off Sirius," suggested Peter.

"No I want my wavy hair!" Sirius growled. "Not straight! Not curly! Wavy! It's my hair! It's my look! Remus, this is your fault."

"You're the one who pulled me out from under my bed," Remus replied without looking up from the book. "You just have to deal with the consequences. I don't think these spells last long, in any case. After all the spell was tacked up next to the mirror, right?" he questioned James who nodded. "Therefore, logically thinking, they must need to use it often."

"If they used it often though won't they just remember the spell?" Pete asked, tugging his hood down lower. "I mean, I don't remember many spells but I do know the ones we use a lot."

James reached out, fingers brushing against the book. "At least let us straighten our hair. I mean, my hair's not like, completely straight either but I'd rather it not look like this."

"S'not as wavy as mine," Sirius grumbled however didn't protest any more so they left the library once Remus checked out the book, and found a hidden passageway to test out the spell. Remus tried a couple times until he managed to fix Peter's hair, for once willing to be the first test subject. He fixed James's hair, then his own, then looked at Sirius who let out a loud groan, covering his face with his hands while agreeing miserably.

"What's the big deal?" James asked as Sirius's hair was straightened. It looked just as nice completely straight as it did wavy or curly.

"My hair... is important to me," Sirius mumbled, tugging at one of the strands.

"It looks nice either way," Remus said with a smile, trying to cheer him up. Sirius sank down lower,cheeks going a little pink, tugging at his hair more, staring intently at the strands. He didn't say anything so Remus figured he had said the wrong thing, and felt a little bad. "Well, um, looks like we pretty much missed all of History so we'll be getting into trouble for that."

They hung out in the passage until History was over then headed to Transfiguration where McGonagall was waiting for them with her lips pressed thin. "I admit, I am rather surprised to find you here," she said as they slunk over to their seats.

"Why is that, Professor?" James asked sweetly.

"I've been told you skipped History. Again."

Sirius tossed his hair back. Despite the spells being used on it, it still moved beautifully. "We had an emergency. You can ask Madame Pomfrey, we went to the hospital wing."

"Oh, I'll be sure to inquire later today," McGonagall said stonily, "but for now five points each from Gryffindor."

Remus tried not to feel too depressed over another twenty points lost. They were in last place as it was, which was pretty much solely thanks to the Marauders. Most the other second years scowled at them throughout class then afterwards Lily asked what the emergency was. Remus didn't really want to say so he said it was a personal matter.

"Remus, were you lot just bunking off again?" she asked, eyes narrowed.

"No, we—we really had some... issues," he said, rubbing his elbow. "Perhaps not an emergency but... well, we—we found a spell and tried it out It had... embarrassing results."

"Is that why you were missing from lunch?" Her eyes danced with amusement. "What happened?"

Remus made a huffy sound. "I'm not telling! It was really embarrassing." Though actually he hadn't really minded his curls too much, they hadn't looked terrible really. Definitely not as bad as that stupid Christopher Robin haircut! Between that or the curls, he'd choose the curls in a heartbeat. "We tried to get Pomfrey to help us however she decided it wasn't an emergency, so we had to help ourselves."

A hand came down on his shoulder causing him to jump. "You're not telling her what happened, are you?" James demanded rather furiously. Beyond him Sirius and Pete were looking betrayed and angry.

"No, he won't, he's keeping whatever secret it is that's upset you so much," Lily informed him haughtily before walking quickly off.

James put his thumb on his nose and wriggled his fingers at her before pulling Remus back to the Marauders, all of them making it clear they hadn't really thought he'd tell Lily, but one did have to be careful.

It seemed McGonagall was satisfied enough with the fact they had gone to the hospital wing because she didn't seek them out, and by morning Sirius's hair had returned to its regular waves. Remus had no clue what the others had done with the bra nor did he care.

Spinnet, on the other hand, wound up having to go to classes the next day with extremely curly hair and complained that he had no idea how it happened he just woke up that way. Professor Prewett fixed it in Defense, though Spinnet still sulked the remainder of the day.

That evening at James's practice it was quite difficult for Remus to concentrate on his book or the flying. He sat in the bleachers with Sirius and Peter, a book propped in front of him, but he felt a little too tired to even attempt to read. The next night would be the moon and he was starting to get a little frightened at the prospect of being alone. It's what he wanted all last year—not to have to drag himself to the hospital wing every morning only to go back every evening, especially in the winter when there wasn't as much daylight. It was rough. However... he had never been alone before like that. He'd been alone plenty on nights that he didn't transform, but not after transformations. He always had his parents or Pomfrey to take care of him.

I have to get used to taking care of myself, he thought for the millionth time. But it was still rather scary.

He gave up trying to read and just propped his elbows on his knees, his chin in his hands as he watched James flying around. On top of feeling afraid of being alone he was still unsure whether they'd be... showing up or not. None of them had mentioned wanting to come hear the haunted house during the full moon ever since James first mentioned it, so he figured he was safe. He hoped.