Warning!

This chapter contains: *Bullying

*Mental health issues

"James discretely took out his wand and aimed it at Severus's legs.

"Tarantallegra!"

Severus's legs made a quiver, and before he knew it, he had lost all control over his legs. His inner panic intensified as his feet started stepping automatically, almost as if he was dancing. The only thing he could think was: "Please ... Not here, not now, not in front of Lily."

Pearls of sweat had started to form on Snape's forehead as he kept struggling, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make his legs stop moving.

A shocked expression spread across Lily's face as she watched Severus's legs start spazzing and his feet moving even more unpredictably. She even had to jump back a step to avoid getting stepped on.

"Sev, what are you … Are you all right?" she asked hesitantly, looking a little confused.

James, Sirius, and Peter were full-on roaring with laughter by now. Remus was leaning against the wall, keeping an eye out for teachers.

"Nice moves, Snivellus!" James shouted.

"You're a natural," Sirius agreed in between laughs.

It didn't take Lily long to figure out what had happened. Her eyes shot daggers at James and Sirius. "James, cut it out!" she snapped.

"Cut what out?" James asked innocently. "It looked as if you needed assistance. 'Could see Snivellus slobbering all over you from over here," he said dryly.

"Oh, shut up," Lily snapped before turning back to Severus. She pulled out her wand and gave it a swish before pointing it at his legs. "Finite Incantatem!"

Snape's feet came to a stuttering halt. He stumbled forward and fell to the ground.

"If I see you do something like this again, I will make sure you won't play a single quidditch match this season!" Lily threatened James and Sirius.

"You're such a buzzkill, Evans," Sirius said, and Lily responded by giving him a death glare.

James sighed and put his wand back. "Fine, I'll be good ... for you," he said.

"Good. I'll hold you to that," Lily said, before turning back to check on Severus.

Severus had had enough. He pulled his wand out and pointed it towards James. As he did so, Peter quickly stumbled back a few steps, almost hiding behind James. Sirius and Remus were both quick to rush to James's side, wands at the ready. It was almost like a deeply rooted instinct, telling them to protect each other.

Remus tried to move in front of James, slowly and with caution. He put his wandless hand protectively in front of him. "Severus, please ..." he said calmly. "Let's not do anything rash."

"Don't act as if you are any better," Severus snarled. "If you only knew the things I could-" He cut his own sentence. Lily grabbed Snape's arm. "Sev, stop ... What are you talking about?" she said with concern laced in her voice.

James and Sirius suddenly looked amused.

"You could do what, Snivellus?" James mocked.

"Spike our pumpkin juice with one of his 'dangerous' potions, probably," Sirius said, rolling his eyes at Snape.

Severus was tempted to say something but held his tongue. He needed more proof, and it would be easier for him to get without them knowing about it.

"I don't see the use of arguing with two idiots," Snape stated, giving the Marauders a look of despise. "It never ceases to astound me, just how thick-headed and arrogant you are, Potter ..." he continued. "... As for you, Black ... Keep rolling your eyes, and perhaps one of these days you will be able to locate your brain."

Before they had a chance to respond, Severus had turned and started to walk away.

"Sev ..." Lily said, trying to make him turn around and look at her by grabbing his arm.

"Don't touch me!" Severus snapped, breaking his arm free from her grip.

The truth was that he was too embarrassed to face Lily at that moment. And so he did the only thing he could do and pushed her away.

"Oh. Fine." Lily said dryly before she turned and walked away at once.

The doors to the Great Hall opened, and they were welcomed in by professor McGonagall. The rest of the Hogwarts staff was already seated at the high table, with Headmaster Dumbledore in the middle.

The room was filled with decorations. There were tons of pumpkins; some were gigantic, while others were of regular size. The light was dimmer than usual, and the atmosphere was cozy yet spooky.

Instead of the regular white candles, black ones were floating in the air. Sirius had to pull Peter back as the latter almost walked right into one of the lower-floating ones.

Meanwhile, Remus and James were checking out the other decorations. Remus shuddered when a bat flew by, flapping its wings an inch from his ear.

A skeleton was standing by the wall, nearby the Gryffindor table. The table was full of candy-filled pumpkins, and the plates and goblets were golden.

As the Marauders were about to pass by the skeleton, it came to life and turned its head towards them.

"You!" the skeleton shouted with a voice as cold as ice. "Yes, you ... What are you looking at?!" it said.

Remus, James, and Sirius flinched from surprise, while Peter jumped back from fright. The skeleton turned its head back and went back to standing by the wall.

"Oh, this skeleton must be enchanted to scare anyone who walks by," Remus said, chuckling, as he inspected it. "Fascinating..."

"This could easily be an inspiration for future pranks," Sirius said, glancing at James.

"That's genius!" James exclaimed, grinning back at him happily.

"Right ... G-genius," Peter agreed, laughing nervously as if he hadn't just been frightened by a talking skeleton.

While James and Sirius kept poking and inspecting the skeleton, Remus ruffled through his bag. James waved his hand in front of its skull, but nothing happened. "Maybe it only works once?" he shrugged.

"Should we take a picture?" Remus suggested. "I brought my camera," he said, pulling out the camera.

"Sure, sounds good," Sirius said, walking up to stand at one side of the skeleton.

James and Peter posed on the other side of the skeleton, James being the one closest to it.

"You too, Moony," James said. "Hallie!" he then called as he saw his quidditch teammate approach them.

"Happy Hallowe'en!" Hallie chirped, smiling, as she walked up to them. "You too," James said, smiling back. "Take a picture of us, will you?" he asked, grabbing the camera from Remus.

When James handed the camera to Hallie, Sirius pulled Remus closer to his side. The four of them started to pose by the skeleton, making funny faces. After snapping a couple of shots, Hallie handed back the camera and went to sit down next to Lily.

Dumbledore was about to give a small speech when the Marauders sat down together at the table.

After the speech, food appeared on the tables, and the students happily treated themselves to the various dishes. Sirius poured them some pumpkin juice while the rest of the Marauders filled their plates with food.

The entertainment consisted of songs performed by the Frog Choir and a play performed by the Hogwarts ghosts. The play featured Nearly Headless Nick as 'The Nearly Headless Horseman' who terrorized a village of citizens. The Marauders suspected that the play wasn't really supposed to be about a nearly headless horseman. They had never heard of one before, at least.

"They never fail to surprise," Sirius said once the ghosts wrapped up the performance and took a bow to a standing ovation.

"Yes ... Quite the show, wasn't it?" Remus agreed, smiling subtly.

James threw a small piece of candy in Lily's direction, hoping to get her attention. As Lily turned to look in James's direction, the latter pretended he had nothing to do with it, whistling innocently. Lily glared at him for a moment before she tried to make eye-contact with Remus. Once she did, she tapped her wrist twice to remind Remus that they had to get back to the Gryffindor Tower soon. Remus nodded, and Lily smiled at him before she got up from the table to leave.

"We should head back soon," Remus informed the others.

"In a while," James said, but he soon changed his mind when he saw Snape heading out. "Actually ... Make that now," he said and quickly got up from the table.

The Marauders tried their best to keep up, but they lost James in the crowd as he hurried after Severus. James caught up with him just outside of the Great Hall. This time neither Lily nor the teachers were around.

James had been ticked off that Snape got the last word and saw this as an opportunity to change that. "Hey, Snivellus!" he called.

Severus reluctantly turned to look at his tormentor. "Yes, Potter...?" he said coldly.

"Oh, I was just wondering what your plans were for tonight," James said innocently.

"My ... plans?" Severus repeated while eyeing James suspiciously.

"Surely Evans must have invited you to the party," James said with a smirk, knowing very well that Snape wasn't invited. "Since the two of you are such great friends and all."

"Shut up, Potter!" Severus snarled. He knew that the other was trying to provoke him.

"Oh, that's right - It's only for the Gryffindors ... Such a shame," James said and clicked his tongue. "Well, I should be going then ... Wouldn't want to keep Evans waiting," he added with yet another smirk.

Severus's knuckles turned white from how hard he clenched his fists, but he managed to keep himself from saying something. His eyes burned with pure hatred as James walk away and met up with his friends.

While Severus trusted Lily's judgment, he couldn't help but feel a little bit worried, not knowing what would happen at the party. An unpleasant feeling started to coil inside the pit of his stomach, and as he walked off, James's last words still haunted him: "Well, I should be going then ... Wouldn't want to keep Evans waiting."

Neither of the Marauders had been too eager to dress up, but some of them ended up doing just that. James had made a lazy effort to dress up as a vampire, trying to impress Lily. Peter had done an even worse job making a ghost costume - a costume made from a bedsheet with two holes for eyes. Remus's mummy costume consisted of bandages wrapped on various parts of his body. As for Sirius, he hadn't bothered to dress up; he didn't see the point of it.

The four of them left the dormitory and entered the common room. Most of the Gryffindors had turned up, and the party was in full swing. Some students had dressed up, but the majority had chosen not to.

"Want to get a drink?" Sirius asked casually, glancing at Remus.

"Why not?" Remus responded with a smile, following Sirius to the drink table that served pumpkin juice.

Peter saw James heading straight to Lily, so he quickly followed the others.

James approached Lily, who was dressed in a classic witch costume. He tapped her shoulder, and she turned to look at him in surprise.

"Look at you!" she said, smiling, as she inspected James's costume.

"Not bad for a non-muggle-born, right?" James said with a grin.

"Not at all," Lily admitted, happy that he had bothered to dress up.

James looked up and down, trying to figure out what Lily was dressed up as. Was she dressed up at all?

"What are you supposed to be?" James asked with a confused look on his face. "You look like you ... but with some kind of strange fashion or something."

"I'm a witch," Lily responded. However, this only seemed to make James more confused. "Uhm ... Yes, Evans, I know that ... but I thought you said to dress up as 'something spooky'," he said, looking at her weirdly.

"Oh!" Lily exclaimed, giggling at James's cluelessness. "No, this is what muggles think witches look like," she explained.

James blinked in confusion. "Really? Well, in that case, I'm not complaining," he said flirtatiously and grinned. Lily responded by hitting his arm, but at the same time, the compliment had sparked a smile.

The night went on, and the party had so far been successful. Lily had hosted a few games that were popular in the muggle world.

Some non-muggle-born students had been reluctant to try them. However, once James had encouraged them as well as participated himself, most of them had given it a go. As it turned out, once they tried it, they had realized how fun it was.

Hallie, who was dressed up as a black cat, was the last one up in a game of Hallowe'en charades. James was sitting in an armchair, and Lily was sitting on the armrest. The students who participated were divided into two teams. To James's delight, he and Lily had been sorted into the same team.

The rest of the Marauders were on the other team, and their team sat across from the other one. Remus and Peter had squeezed themselves into the same sofa, while Sirius was standing beside it, on Remus's side.

Both teams kept yelling out answers as Hallie made gestures. At last, Sirius won the last point for their team by guessing the word 'graveyard'.

Remus could hear James start up an argument regarding the game rules and chuckled at his competitiveness.

"I think I'll get a drink," he said, excusing himself as he got up from the sofa.

On the way to the drink table, he bumped into someone. He was just about to turn around to apologize when he heard something familiar - a growling sound.

When James, at last, had accepted the defeat, he had finally gotten a moment to speak to Lily. The two were still sharing an armchair, and Lily sat turned towards James.

"You did something good tonight, you know," Lily said, smiling at him.

"Yeah?" James said, smirking, as he fixed a string on Lily's costume. "And what's that?"

"I think you can be a good influence when you want to be," Lily said without pulling away.

"I suppose …" James said thoughtfully. "You weren't half bad yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"You made all this happen, didn't you?"

"Not that I didn't have help ... Thank you, though," Lily's said, smiling.

James drank some of his pumpkin juice before offering it to Lily, who took a sip.

Remus froze. His hands started shaking as memories flashed through his mind - memories of the werewolf attack. His chest felt heavy, and it got harder to breathe. But he didn't dare to look.

Slowly, he turned around to face the source of the growling noise. His face paled at the sight of a student who had his face painted to resemble a werewolf.

The student laughed and jokingly hit Remus's arm. "Looks like I managed to scare you!" he said.

Sirius and Peter, who had seen the whole thing, approached them. The student looked at them, confused, as Sirius pushed him away from Remus.

"Calm down. I was only joking," the student said.

"Naturally," Remus said with a pressed smile, pretending to be all right.

"Sorry," the student said with a shrug before he disappeared to show off his 'costume' to another student.

Sirius and Peter followed Remus, who made haste towards the dormitory. The panic attack fully erupted when they entered the room. Remus tore off the bandages and threw them to the ground. Tears were burning in the corners of his eyes as he started hyperventilating and clutching his chest.

"Moony, don't cry ..." Peter said and patted Remus on the back in an attempt to comfort him. "You ... You need to calm down."

"See, this is what they truly think about it!" Remus cried out, "If they ... If they knew, they would think of me as nothing but a monster!"

"That's not true!" Peter objected. "It was just a joke. It's nothing to be upset about," he continued, thinking he was helping.

Unfortunately, it only made Remus feel worse. He remained quiet, however, as he already had trouble speaking at the moment.

"Jesus, Peter, just shut up!" Sirius snapped at Peter and walked over to the two. He put a hand on Remus's lower back and led him towards the window. "Let's get you some air, all right?" he spoke, this time in a more calm and gentle tone. Remus nodded.

Sirius let go of his waist to open the window, and Remus sat down, trying to regain control of his breath.

"Do you want me to g-" was all Peter got to say before Sirius cut him off. "Oh, for Pete's sake, Peter, just leave!"

Peter flinched from the harsh tone of Sirius's voice. He couldn't quite grasp why Sirius was acting this way. He had only been trying to help Remus.

"Please ... don't fight," Remus said. His breath was a bit more stable now. Sirius looked at Remus before he turned around, mumbling a "sorry" in Peter's direction.

"Why don't you go and see what James is up to?" Remus suggested, "We'll be out in a minute," he added, forcing a smile to assure Peter. The latter slowly backed out of the room, closing the door to the dormitory.

Right after Peter had left the room, Remus's face fell. "It was like I was reliving it all again ... well, apart from the excruciating pain," he said, staring blankly in front of him.

Sirius, who was turned towards the window, turned around to look at Remus.

"You're safe. I know you don't feel that way right now, but I promise you that as long as I'm around, I won't let anyone hurt you," he said, bending down to give Remus's shoulder a light squeeze.

"I know, and I'm so very thankful for that, but ... when I was out there, and I heard that noise ... It just triggered something in me," Remus said, finally looking up to meet Sirius's eyes.

He stood up and started pacing back and forth around the room. His mind was still in overdrive. "It hit me; I'm the kind of monster that someone would dress up as for Hallowe'en," he said, and tears started rolling down his cheeks once more. Everything was starting to boil up again.

Sirius didn't say a word. He just walked up to Remus and wrapped his arms around him, hugging him tightly. At first, this made Remus tense up even more, but once he started to relax and lean into the warmth of Sirius's embrace, he started to feel better.

Although Sirius hated that Remus had to go through this, he couldn't deny how good it felt to be this close to him. He subconsciously leaned in to smell Remus's hair. "God, you smell good..." he mumbled under his breath, without thinking.

"What?" Remus said and looked up at Sirius. The latter cursed himself internally for slipping up like that.

"Did you say something?" Remus asked.

"It was nothing important," Sirius said quickly.

The Gryffindor common room had started to clear out, but there were some students left. Most of them were either sitting in the sofas and armchairs or standing by the drink table, conversing.

Hallie and a couple of other students had joined James and Lily. James had entertained them by telling ghost stories. He was about to tell another one when Peter rushed up to them.

"James!" Peter called out. He paused to catch his breath. James looked at Peter in confusion, and Peter leaned in to whisper something in his ear.

James got up right away, quickly turning to Lily, saying: "Wait for me? I'll be back in a minute."

Remus and Sirius's conversation was cut short as the door to the dormitory opened. They reflexively parted, just before James entered the room. Peter followed him inside, closing the door behind them.

"Remus, are you all right?" James asked. He sounded concerned.

"I'm feeling a bit better now," Remus responded, smiling sadly.

"Are you sure?" James asked again, still not entirely convinced.

"I ... think I should just go to bed," Remus said, sighing. "I will be all right ... Please, I don't want to keep you from the party."

"Don't think like that," Sirius said, squeezing his shoulder.

"Exactly," James agreed. "Why don't we stay in and play cards or something?"

"Oh, and then you can show Remus that new shuffling trick you came up with yesterday!" Peter chimed in.

Remus smiled vaguely and nodded. "All right then."

The four of them ended up playing cards, talking and laughing, for hours. Sirius and James became a bit tipsy since they had a couple of drinks. They passed out on different ends of James's bed. Peter and Remus, however, slept in their own beds.

Right before Remus went to sleep, he put up one of the photos they had taken earlier on the wall, above his bed. He looked at it for a moment and smiled to himself as the Marauders in the photo made funny faces, grinning happily.

He climbed into bed and turned off the light. As he drifted off to sleep, he kept wishing that he could see himself through their eyes. And though he knew that he may not ever be able to love himself fully, he felt in that moment as if he could, perhaps one day, grow to accept himself for everything that he was.

A/N: So, this took a little longer to write than I expected. But here it is - the second part of the Hallowe'en chapter. As for future parts, I'm not going to set a date or anything. Sadly, my family's dog passed away this week and I think I'll take a break for now. I'll probably write in the meantime, but I think it's better to not set a date (not that I usually do).

So if I don't update anything before, I wish you all a Merry Christmas in advance!