Monday, 13th November 1972

'If you're going to eat half a pig for breakfast, at least have some beans or tomatoes with it,' James said, eyeing Sirius' plate of sausages and bacon with distaste.

Sirius groaned, grabbing the dish of beans and spooning them onto the plate next to the bacon. The orange sauce spread rapidly, and he used his fork to push the bacon out of the way. He didn't want the perfectly crisp rashers to get soggy. 'Happy?'

James grinned. 'Very. Beans are good for your heart. And you need to take care of your heart. It gets a lot of use, what with all the running from scenes of crimes we do.'

'You're a strange one, Sunshine. No doubt about it,' Sirius said before filling his mouth with lightly spiced sausage. The food at school was so much better than the fancy stuff they ate at home. When he was allowed to eat, that was.

'Thank you,' James said, as if he thought being called strange was a compliment.

'Post's here!' Peter announced unnecessarily over the flurry of wings.

Sirius was already looking up, scanning for any birds headed their way. They'd written to the twins on Saturday and were expecting a reply today. A regal-looking owl soared over and dropped four identical envelopes on the table between them before flying away without waiting for a treat. A second owl, this one a plain barn owl, deposited a parcel with a scroll attached in front of Remus and nuzzled his hand expectantly. Remus smiled and fed it some bacon rind before turning his attention to the parcel.

'It's from the twins,' he said. 'We should probably open it back in the dorm. Who are the envelopes from?'

'I'm not sure, but the handwriting looks familiar,' Sirius said, picking them up and looking at the names. 'There's one for each of us.'

He peeled open the envelope marked Sirius Black and pulled out two sheets of high-quality parchment.

Sirius Black

We cordially invite you to witness the union of

Andromeda Irma Black

and

Edward Harold Tonks

at

11:00am

on

Saturday 2nd December

Sirius felt his mouth form into a smile as he read the words. She was doing it. Andromeda was free, and she was marrying the man she'd fallen in love with. It gave him a little burst of hope. He wasn't sure how she expected him to get to the wedding, though. There was no way his mother would give him permission to leave Hogwarts for it. But, of course, Andromeda had thought of that, and the second sheet provided the answer.

Sirius,

Keep a hold of the invitation. It's a portkey. Ted has a friend in the DMT who sorted it for us. You and your friends just need to find a way to be outside of Hogwarts at 10:45 on the 2nd. You'll need to dress in muggle clothes, as some of Ted's muggle family is unaware of magic. Please let me know if you're unable to do so, and we'll try to think of something. I do hope you can come.

I miss you, cousin,

Andromeda

Sirius grinned. That sneaky, clever, mischievous little witch.

'Your cousin's invited all of us to her wedding,' James said. 'Are you going to be able to go?'

'Yeah, she's sent me a portkey. We just have to get out of Hogwarts on the day.'

'That's easy enough. Guess I won't need to write mum for permission, after all.'

'What do muggles wear to weddings?' Sirius asked. 'She says we have to dress muggle.'

'Suits, usually,' Remus said. 'I don't think any of us has anything suitable.'

'I can ask my dad to get us all something,' James said. 'He won't care about us sneaking out to a wedding.'

'Great. Write to him now. We only have a couple of weeks.'

James reached for his bag to get some parchment, but sat back up when Dumbledore called for attention. He stood at the front of the stage with a stern expression. Sirius gulped, feeling suddenly guilty, though he'd done nothing wrong as far as he knew. Not recently, anyway.

'I have a grave announcement, the like of which has not happened before in the entire history of Hogwarts,' Dumbledore began. 'When the Snitch at last week's Quidditch match was tested, it was discovered that the first to touch it was not, in fact, Miss Vanity, but a student who is not a member of any of the House teams. It has taken some time, but their identity was discovered yesterday morning and they've since been questioned. They admitted the Snitch was removed from play at the beginning of the match and not returned until moments before it was caught.'

Sirius heard a gasp from the other side of the table and turned to see James looking furious.

'This information, of course, invalidates the result of the match and it has been decided that Slytherin and Gryffindor will play each other again on the 26th.'

'Who was it?' James shouted. 'Why'd they do it?'

Dumbledore turned his gaze towards him. 'The student will remain anonymous, as I fear many of you may seek your own forms of retribution if their identity is revealed. Rest assured, they have been dealt suitable punishment. I'm told the reason for the crime was to make possible the delightful bonfire you all enjoyed after the game. Despite their good intentions, however, we cannot allow students to interfere with sporting events in such a way.'

'Look at them, acting all smug. I bet it was a Slytherin,' James muttered as Dumbledore retook his seat. 'Slimy bastards.'

'That doesn't really make sense,' Remus pointed out. Bravely, in Sirius' opinion. He certainly wasn't about to argue with James in the mood he was in. He'd never seen James look so mad; he was more than a little scared.

'Why not?' James snapped.

'Because the longer the game lasted, the bigger the lead Gryffindor had. If they'd done it to rig the match, they'd have put the Snitch back much sooner.'

'Maybe they were hoping they could catch up.'

'Look, whoever it was is also the Marauders' Malediction. If we find out who they are, we'll find out who voided the match.'

James slammed his hand on the table so hard the plates rattled. 'Right, because we've made so much progress on that so far. We still have no fucking clue who it is.'

'Hey! Don't yell at Remus,' Sirius said. 'He's just—'

'Of fucking course you'd jump in to defend Remus. You're so fucking predictable.'

'What the fuck is that supposed to mean?'

'Nothing.' James ran a hand through his hair and stood up. 'I need to get out of here. I'll see you in Charms.'

Sirius stared at his back as he marched out of the Great Hall, waiting until he was out of sight before turning to the others. 'Well, he took that well.'

Peter snorted. 'What's he gonna be like if we don't win the rematch?'

'Do you think we should go after him?' Remus asked.

'I think he probably needs some time to cool off,' Sirius said. 'He said he'd see us in Charms. You know that's code for "I need to be alone for a bit".'

James strode out of the Great Hall, ignoring the looks he was getting from the other students. They would never understand why he was so angry about it. He wasn't sure he really understood it. His parents told him all the time how special he was. A miracle they called him; a gift. But he'd never really felt like he deserved it. Not until his first time on a broom. Quidditch was it; the thing that made him special. And he'd proven it to everyone with that last-second goal. Everyone had seen that he did deserve all the praise he'd received in his life. And it was taken away, just like that, because some asshole had thought it would be fun to steal the Snitch for a few hours. When he found out who it was, they were going to pay.

He reached the bottom of the Grand Staircase and paused to let his friends catch up, turning to watch the doors. Several seconds passed, but they didn't appear and with a sinking feeling in his stomach, he realised they weren't coming after him. Fucking brilliant. When Remus had a fit and cursed them out, James had gone after him. When Sirius went into a rage at his brother, James had gone after him. When Peter… Well, Peter never got mad, but James always helped him through his panic attacks. But when it was his turn, when James needed support, they couldn't be bothered? Some fucking friends they were.

Fucking money. He kicked the bottom step of the staircase hard and regretted it immediately as pain jolted through his toes. He fucking hated being rich. How could he ever know for sure if people liked him or if they just wanted what he could give them? But he'd earned it, hadn't he? Their friendship? Not paid for it—though Merlin knows, he'd given them all a lot—but earned it through being a good friend? He was supportive, loving, and kind. He'd done everything right. So why the fuck weren't they here?

'Lost your fan club, Potter?' a voice sneered from beside him.

James turned and came face to face with his least favourite person at Hogwarts. 'You!' he spat. 'You great, slimy, ugly little bastard.' He reached down and drew his wand from its holster. 'What the fuck were you thinking, taking Evans to that meeting? Depulso!' Snape shot across the slippery floor of the Entrance Hall so fast he bashed his head on the wall. James marched up to him and shoved his wand tip into his throat. 'You need to stay the fuck away from her, you greasy little shit. Actually, let me help you with that grease issue. Evanesco cappilum.'

Snape's hair vanished, leaving him as bald as a newborn baby At the same moment, James' head swam and everything went out of focus for a second. He stumbled and lent against the wall for support. Fuck. He'd never felt like that after casting a spell before.

'Mister Potter, are you well? Mister Snape, my goodness, what happened to your hair?'

Professor McGonagall's voice sounded strange and James realised his ears were ringing. 'Professor? I don't feel so good.'

'Did you do this to Mister Snape?'

James nodded, weakly. His stomach was tied in knots and he felt like he could throw up at any moment.

'Merlin. We need to get you to the Hospital Wing immediately. Purly!' The house-elf appeared next to McGonagall with a crack that made James' head explode with pain and his vision darkened. 'Please take Mister Potter to the Hospital Wing. Tell Poppy he's depleted his core.'

'Yes, ma'am.' The house-elf took him by the wrist and apparated him, dragging him through a sickening tunnel and James threw up all over the floor the moment they materialised. Then his legs gave out, and he collapsed, waiting in vain for the room to stop spinning.

'Why's it so dark in here?' he asked, but his words sounded garbled and slurred to his ears.

Someone responded, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. Was he dying? This felt a lot like dying. Had he killed himself by scalping Snape? What a way to go. He laughed, but the noise that came out sounded an awful lot like a sob. He was floating. Was he dead? There was something soft under him. He was lying on it. A cloud? Something touched his lips, and he heard a sound like bells. It was comforting, and he opened his mouth to sigh. Liquid filled the opening and ran down his throat, and he choked, coughing weakly. He could barely move. When he could breathe again, the liquid returned and this time he swallowed. It tasted of fire, and some dribbled down his chin, pooling on his chest in a damp patch. If he could feel that, he must still be alive, right?

His surroundings were getting lighter, and he recognised the bed he was lying on. He was in the Hospital Wing. Someone must have lit the torches. And the bells were back. The more he listened, the more they sounded like words.

'Mister Potter, can you hear me? Mister Potter, please answer if you can hear me.'

'Yes,' he said, testing his voice. The word sounded right this time, so he tried again. 'Yes, I can hear you.'

'Oh, thank Merlin. That was close. I wasn't sure the potion would work in time,' the bells said. No, not bells. He blinked, and Madam Pomfrey's worried face swam into focus.

'How is he, Poppy?' Professor McGonagall's voice said. James turned his head and saw her striding across the room, a very bald Snape trailing along behind her, scowling. James felt a wave of humour engulf him at the sight, but he was still too weak to laugh.

'He's recovering. I got the potion into him in time, but it was close. Is this what caused it? A scalping hex?'

'Yes, the foolish boy. I never thought I'd see the day when a second-year attempted a seventh-year spell.'

'Me neither. The threat of death usually puts them off. Of course, he is a Gryffindor.'

'Sorry to interrupt, but I'd really like my hair back,' Snape said.

'Of course, young man. Come with me,' Madam Pomfrey said, leading him to a bed on the opposite side of the room.'

Professor McGonagall turned and approached James. 'Mister Potter,' she said, peering at him over the top of her glasses. 'How're you feeling?'

'Better.' It was the truth. He could feel the potion burning a trail through his body and leaving strength in its wake. There was something else too, a heaviness in his gut. Shame. 'I'm sorry, Professor. I wasn't thinking. I was just so angry about the Quidditch match.'

'And you very nearly killed yourself over it. How do you think your parents would have felt?'

Merlin, that hurt. He hadn't even thought about his parents. They'd be devastated.

He hung his head. 'Devastated. I'm sorry. It won't ever happen again. I promise.'

'I'm sure. I've heard core depletion is an extremely unpleasant experience. I'm afraid I will have to punish you for what you did to Mister Snape, though. Detention, tonight.'

'Tonight? But I have Quidditch practice tonight. I need to be ready for the rematch!'

'Perhaps you should have thought of that before scalping Mister Snape.'

'Can't I do it another night?' James tried. 'I'll do double if you let me go to practice. Please, Professor. I know you want us to win just as much as I do.'

She shook her head. 'I'm sorry, Mister Potter, your detention will be tonight and that's an end to it. Report to Mister Filch after dinner.'

James fisted his hands in annoyance but gave up. Professor McGonagall had that look that meant her mind was made up and he knew arguing further would be futile. 'Yes, Professor.'

By the time Madam Pomfrey released him an hour later, James was no longer angry, but he was still hurt that his friends hadn't followed him when he stormed off. Maybe if they had, he wouldn't have gone after Snape and nearly killed himself. Sighing, he schooled his expression and pushed the door to the dorm open. As he'd expected, while hoping he was wrong, his "friends" were inside. Even after missing Charms, they hadn't come to look for him. Did he matter so little?

'James!' Sirius yelled, doing a fantastic job of pretending to be pleased to see him. 'You're okay. What the hell happened? You never came to class and we—'

'What do you care?' James snapped. Oh, would you look at that? He was angry again.

'What? — James? Of course we care. What's the matter?'

James balled his hands into fists. 'What's the matter? Oh, nothing. Just my friends abandoning me the first time they ever see me pissed. Snape getting in my face and goading me into casting a spell way beyond my ability and nearly dying. And my friends still not caring enough to look for me.' Ignoring the stunned expressions his words caused, James stomped over to his bed, climbed on, and drew the curtains with a flick of his wand.

The curtains immediately opened again, and he suddenly had a lap full of Sirius. His arms went around James' shoulders and his face burrowed into his neck. 'You nearly died?' he mumbled.

James nodded, suddenly feeling less than sure about the conclusions he'd drawn in his temper. 'Yeah. Snape's bald, though. So there's that.'

Sirius snorted. 'I can't wait to see that.'

'Pomfrey gave him an ointment, but said it'd take a few days to grow back.'

'You vanished his hair?' Remus asked. 'That's really advanced. What the hell were you thinking?'

James peered at him over Sirius' shoulder. His face was pale, and he was frowning. 'I wasn't thinking.'

'James?' Peter said, lowering himself onto the mattress beside him and taking his hand. He squeezed it gently and James squeezed back. 'We didn't come after you because you said you'd see us in Charms.'

'So?'

Sirius sighed and drew back to look at him. 'That means "I want to be alone". So we gave you space.'

'Since when does "I'll see you in Charms" mean "I want to be alone"?' James asked, incredulous. 'Is this some weird ass language your parents taught you?'

'It's what I say when I want to be alone,' Sirius said.

'Yeah, well, you're not me,' James said. 'For future reference, when I storm off, I want you to follow me. I never want to be alone.'

'Noted,' Sirius said, returning to hugging him tighter than James would have thought possible. 'We'll never leave you alone again. I solemnly swear it.'

James was an idiot. Of course, his friends loved him and not his money. What had he been thinking? Guilt washed over him. Doubting one's friends the way he had was the height of dishonour. Trust was so important. Resolving to work on it, he made himself comfortable and filled them in on everything they'd missed, finishing with his punishment from McGonagall.

'That's so unfair after what you went through,' Sirius complained. 'Haven't you suffered enough?'

'Apparently not,' James said. 'King's going to be so mad when I tell him I have to miss practice. I don't even want to think about it. Let's talk about something else. What did the twins say?'

'Oh,' Remus said. 'We haven't opened it yet. It didn't feel right to open it without you.'

James smiled. They'd waited for him. It made his chest glow with warmth. 'Where is it?'

'I'll get it,' Peter said, already disentangling himself from the cuddle pile they'd formed. He grabbed the package from Remus' bedside table and pulled off the scroll, handing it to James.

'Dear Marauders,' James read aloud after unrolling the letter. 'Unfortunately, the knife does use magic to work, and so would set off the alarm on the door in question. We suggest learning an old muggle method for opening locks without the appropriate key. Lock picking is a useful skill to learn for any self-respecting maker of mischief. We've enclosed the appropriate tools, a few locks to practise on, and a book to teach you the method. We hope to hear of your success soon. Good luck. Fab and Gid.'

Remus pulled the paper off the parcel and took out the book, flicking through the pages with an interested expression. 'I've always wanted to learn lock picking. This is going to be so cool.'

'Me too,' Peter said. 'Bet I won't be able to do it, though.'

'You'll be great,' Sirius said. 'You're always good at stuff that requires precision. It's one of the many reasons you're so good at brewing.'

Peter blushed and looked away. He always found compliments awkward. It's why James and Sirius both tried to compliment him whenever they got the chance. The more they did it, the more used to it he would be and maybe, eventually, he'd start believing them.

The day sped by quickly after that. They spent the rest of the free period reading the first pages of the lock-picking book together, practiced slowing a person's fall with arresto momento in Defence, and brewed hair-raising potion in Potions (which brought up a rather uncomfortable memory). Dinner was marred by a loud and angry lecture from King when James informed him he wouldn't be at practice, but his friends rallied to cheer him back up and James was in a fairly good mood when he knocked on Filch's door for detention.

Filch yanked the door open immediately, a sneer on his face. 'You're late,' he growled.

'No more than a minute,' James protested.

'Well, get a move on, then. You two will be cleaning the trophies. Without magic.'

'Two?' James asked. Filch swept past him, heading down the corridor and, behind him, Evans followed. She had her held high, determinably not looking at him. James couldn't believe his luck. Two hours in the company of the lovely Lily. He was bound to win her around.

'So what did you do to earn detention?' James whispered, after jogging to catch up and walk beside her.

'None of your business.'

'Ah, come on. I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours.'

'I already know yours,' Evans hissed. 'Sev's hair's going to take a week to grow back.'

Their conversation was interrupted at that moment by their arrival at the trophy room. 'Here we are, then,' Filch said. 'Your rags and polish are in the bucket there,' he pointed. 'And you better do a good job.'

James waited until he'd gone and they were both armed with their tools, polishing a trophy each before speaking again. 'I nearly died, you know?'

'What?'

'Hexing Snivellus this morning. I nearly died.'

'Well, that's your own stupid fault, isn't it? And I've told you not to call him that.'

'It's affectionate,' James said, shrugging. 'But, yeah, it was stupid. I was just so angry about the match being voided. Can you believe someone thought it was okay to do that?'

Lily carefully put down the trophy she was polishing and turned her back on him to pick up another one. 'Yeah, it's unbelievable.'

James eyed her back. She was acting weird. Normally, she'd be outraged at the rule-breaking. Maybe she just didn't want to rant about it with him? 'I worked so hard training for that match, the whole team did, we played really well, I scored an epic goal in the last-second, and none of it counts. It's infuriating.'

Lily hummed an unconvincing agreement. 'Yes, it was terrible.'

This was getting creepy. Why wasn't she being mean to him? James examined the trophy in his hand. It looked good enough to him, so he put it back and joined her, picking up a plaque to polish. 'Did you see my last-second goal?'

'Er… no. No, I don't like Quidditch. I was in the library.'

James cocked his head to the side. 'All day?'

'Yeah, I was reading.'

'But you were at the bonfire. How'd you get out?'

Lily bit her lip. 'Um. I—'

'No, fucking way,' James said through a breath. 'No fucking way.'

'What?'

'It was you, wasn't it? That's why you've got detention! And why you're not being all grumpy with me like you usually are.'

'I'm not grumpy!'

James chose to ignore that blatantly untrue statement. 'You're the Marauders' Malediction.'

'Shush,' Lily hissed. 'Someone'll hear you.'

'There's no one else here,' James said. 'I'm right, aren't I?'

She turned away again. 'You can't prove anything.'

'Oh Merlin, people only say that when they're guilty.'

If Lily, and probably McKinnon, McDonald and Meadowes, were the Malediction, then that meant she took the Snitch. James wasn't sure how to feel about that. On the one hand, he was furious about the game being voided, but on the other, it was Lily. Lily! How could he be mad at Lily?

While James pondered the issue, they worked in silence, polishing several trophies before someone spoke again.

'I guess I better watch my back,' Lily said. 'No doubt you and your friends will be seeking revenge.'

'I've heard it's a dish best served cold,' James said, shooting her a grin. 'And I'm not sure we're the ones you should be worrying about.'

'What do you mean?' Lily asked. 'No one else knows it was me. Unless you're planning on telling everyone.'

'Your secret is safe with me, Evans. But rumour has it, the Marauders are Gryffindors, and they're bound to figure out who you are sooner or later. You better hope we beat Slytherin in the rematch.'

'Shit,' Lily said, much to James' amusement. This was going to be fun.

The next evening, Peter took up his usual position at the back of the group as they cautiously approached the Defence classroom for their Tuesday lesson. After their experience last week, they were no longer underestimating Professor Tenebris. Her methods were twisted and sadistic but Peter had to admit, she was a damn good teacher.

He watched Remus hold the magic detector against the door and waited for the verdict.

'It's not enchanted,' Remus told them. 'No traps on the door.'

'Doesn't mean it's safe, though,' James said. 'Shields up.'

Sirius and James cast the shield charm while Remus and Peter took position behind them, wands raised, ready to counter anything she might throw at them as they entered the room.

'Good to see you're prepared, boys,' Professor Tenebris said, smirking at them as they passed through the opening in a group. 'But you can lower your defences. I have something different planned for today.'

James lowered his wand an inch before bringing it back up again and maintaining his shield. 'I don't know if I believe you.'

She threw her head back and laughed. 'Oh dear. I have made you paranoid, haven't I?' she said when she finally stopped. 'I promise. No fighting. Today we're going to poison Remus.'

'What?' Sirius demanded, stepping to the side to better cover Remus. Peter fought a smile. Sirius was so obvious sometimes it was painful.

'We're going to run a scenario where Remus is poisoned. It's your job to brew the antidote before he dies.'

'That's stupid,' Sirius said. 'If that happened, we'd just take him to St Mungo's.'

She frowned. 'I take it you haven't seen the paper today.'

'No, why?'

She sighed and took a seat on the edge of her desk. 'Several werewolves got themselves admitted to St Mungos the night before the last full moon. It was a massacre. The Wizengamot passed a new law yesterday banning lycanthropes from the hospital. Everyone is being tested on admittance.' She looked at Remus. 'I'm sorry, Remus.'

'Merlin, that's horrible,' Remus said. His face had turned white. 'How many dead?'

'Forty-six.'

'And turned?'

'Nineteen. Five of them children.'

'Fuck,' Remus said. There was a pause and then, 'Sorry, Professor.'

'That's alright, under the circumstances,' she said, pulling out a chair. 'Why don't you sit down for a minute?'

Remus sank into the offered seat as if his knees wouldn't have held him up a second longer. Peter couldn't imagine how he was feeling, not having any traumatic memories of being attacked by a werewolf himself, but he could imagine what he was thinking. He'd be reliving every moment he could remember of his own attack. Swapping out his childhood home for a hospital ward. Switching out himself for a group of sick kids. Peter went over and took his hand, squeezing it gently, wishing there was more he could do.

Then he realised there was more he could do. He could brew a perfect fucking antidote to whatever evil poison Tenebris had concocted and reassure Remus that he wasn't screwed because he no longer had access to medical treatment.

'Where's the poison?' he asked. 'And the equipment?'

Tenebris smiled approvingly at him. 'Professor Slughorn has agreed to let us use his lab this evening. When Remus is ready, we'll head down there.'

Remus squeezed Peter's hand before pulling his away and standing up. 'I'm ready.'

Professor Tenebris eyed Remus for a moment, but Remus held her gaze, his expression unreadable, and she nodded once. 'Let's go then.'

James and Sirius took up positions on either side of Remus on the way to the dungeons, Sirius holding his hand, James taking his arm. Peter followed behind them, ready to hex anyone that looked at them funny. No one did.

They arrived at Slughorn's lab, and Peter glanced around it, fondly recalling the last and only time he'd been there. His first ever detention with James and Sirius. Remus had still been rejecting their attempts to befriend him back then. Probably, Peter realised, because he was afraid they'd find out he was a werewolf. It was incredible how far they'd come in a year.

'Alright, this room has everything you'll need,' Professor Tenebris said. 'You can take fifteen minutes to check the chapter on brewing antidotes in your textbooks. After that you won't be allowed to use your books at all.'

'That won't be necessary, Professor,' Peter said. He was gazing at the expensive, shiny equipment, his stomach fizzing with excitement. Slughorn was really letting him use this stuff? It was a dream come true.

'Really?' Tenebris asked. 'Well, Peter, I must say it's nice to see you acting so confident. Do the rest of you agree to waive the revision time?'

'Peter's a genius with potions,' Sirius said. 'He'll be leading this operation.'

'We trust his judgement,' James agreed. 'If he says we don't need it, then we don't need it.'

'Alright then.' She placed a covered dish on the table and walked to the side of the room, where there were two chairs. Peter was fairly sure they hadn't been there the last time they'd been in the room. 'That's the food Remus ate that poisoned him. Have a seat Remus.'

Remus sat down, and Professor Tenebris waved her wand, conjuring a sign above his head. It read: Sweaty palms and nausea.

'And that's the symptoms Remus is experiencing. Keep an eye on the sign. You can buy yourselves more time to brew by applying the correct medical treatment in the interim.'

'Remind me to ask Madam Pomfrey about first aid lessons,' Sirius said.

'You may begin,' Professor Tenebris said, smiling at Sirius.

'Alright, Bubbles, you're up. What do you need us to do?' James asked, rubbing his hands together.'

'Find me dragon's blood, valerian and syrup of hellebore,' Peter said, grabbing the dish and lifting the lid. Underneath sat a large slice of chocolate cake with a single bite taken out of it. 'Well, they certainly knew how to get to him,' he said. 'Moons, you need to be more careful when strangers feed you chocolate, mate.'

Remus chuckled. 'I can't help it. It's just so delicious.'

Peter scraped the food into the small gold cauldron on the brewing station and set the flame to low with a tap of his wand. 'I need those ingredients,' he called.

'Got the syrup and the valerian,' James said.

'Dragon's blood!' Sirius yelled. 'Found it. Slughorn's organisation system makes no sense.'

'Finely chop the valerian, about five grammes, I reckon. Bring the blood and syrup here.'

'On it,' James said, throwing the plant sprigs onto the chopping board and grabbing a silver knife. 'Silver blade for valerian, yeah?'

'Yep,' Peter said, taking the other ingredients from Sirius. 'Thanks, Twinkles.'

Sirius grinned. 'Love seeing you like this, mate.'

'Like what?'

'In your element.'

Peter felt his face warm and turned back to the cauldron. He never knew how to react when his friends gave him compliments. And they did it so easily, too. Like the words were nothing. Instead of responding, he opened the bottle of dragon's blood, squeezing the bulb to draw some into the dropper. Considering the amount of cake, and the small amount "eaten" before the symptoms kicked in, he estimated he'd need three drops.

The red liquid sizzled on contact with the cake, and purple smoke drifted up. Damn. That reaction meant the base of the poison was an infusion of nightshade. That didn't rule a lot out. 'Hand me the Hellebore,' he said, holding his hand out to Sirius without looking up. 'I'll need a pitcher of water for this part, too.'

Sirius put the bottle in his hand and went to get the water. Peter poured half the bottle of syrup onto the cake, and put the stopper back in, placing it down just in time to receive the jug. He poured that in too, then turned the heat up and grabbed a glass stirring rod.

'Stir this counter-clockwise and tell me what colour it turns,' he said, handing the rod to Sirius. 'I'm going to start the next step. James, is the valerian ready?'

'All done, boss,' James said, glancing over at Remus. 'And Remus is feeling dizzy.'

'I am?' Remus said, craning his neck to look up. 'So I am. Ooh…' He put the back of his hand to his forehead and swayed dramatically in his chair.

'Make an infusion of two-thirds ginger root, one third honey, and a dash of dittany. That should treat the dizziness and the nausea,' Peter said, taking the dish of chopped valerian from the worktable in the centre of the room. James saluted him and dashed over to the shelves of ingredients.

Ignoring him—James knew how to brew a simple infusion without him hovering—Peter took a small, single-dose cauldron from the pile in the corner and placed it on an empty firepit. He dumped the valerian in and went to refill the pitcher at the sink. He glanced into the gold cauldron as he passed. The mixture was dark brown from the cake; the poison had yet to react to the syrup of hellebore. Sirius was stirring it steadily and Peter gave him a nod, earning himself a grin in return.

Five minutes later, James had taken his infusion over to Remus, who pretended to drink it (Professor Tenebris flicked her wand at the conjured sign and the description changed to just Sweaty palms), Sirius had announced his mixture had turned orange indicating the poison was slow acting (they already knew that), and Peter's valerian infusion was ready.

'Fill a small vial from that and bring it over here, Sirius,' Peter called.

Sirius did as instructed and Peter dribbled it into the centre of his cauldron. On contact, the orange liquid turned green and Peter tried to remember what that meant. His mum's voice rang through his memories. "Red means it will make you sick, but nothing too bad. Purple means it causes pain, but it won't kill you. Green is the worst. If it turns green, it's fatal."

'Brilliant,' Peter said. 'It's a fatal poison.'

'How is that brilliant?' Sirius asked, his tone incredulous.

'Remus' fingers and toes are tingling,' James said.

'It's brilliant,' Peter said. 'Because there are only a few poisons that are both slow acting and fatal. It narrows down our choices by a lot. Add the nightshade base, and there are two options. And only one of those causes tingles in the fingers and toes. I know what the poison is, and I know the antidote!'

'That is brilliant!' James said, grinning. 'You're amazing, Bubbles.'

Sirius came over and slapped him on the back. 'So, what's the antidote? What do we need?'

Peter shrugged. 'A bezoar ought to do it.'

'I saw them earlier,' James said, jogging over to the shelves and grabbing a shrivelled looking stone from one of the jars. 'He just has to swallow this?'

Peter nodded, and James walked over to Remus and handed him the stone.

'Very well done, boys,' Professor Tenebris said. 'You work together wonderfully. It may have been prudent to try a bezoar first, though. Don't you think?'

'No,' Peter said. 'There are two mild poisons that cause a fatal reaction if a bezoar is ingested. I had to rule those out first, and both have a nightshade base.'

'You really do know your potions. I'm impressed. Next time we run this scenario, I'll have to make it a lot more difficult.'

Peter grinned. 'I look forward to the challenge.'

He was still riding the high of his success the following evening while preparing for his double date with Sirius and Marlene. It would be the first time he'd spent time with Mary since James told them Evans had admitted to being the Marauders' Malediction, and no doubt Mary, Marlene and Meadowes were involved. They'd all had a good laugh at James' inability to be mad about the match after discovering Evans was behind it. If anything, the discovery just made him like her even more, if that were possible.

James was currently tearing around the dorm like a whirlwind, getting ready for Quidditch practice. The problem was, he couldn't find his broom.

'What did you do with it after your last practice?' Remus asked. As the only Marauder not going out that evening, he was lying on his bed with a book in his hands, looking relaxed and carefree.

'That was a week ago!' James said, tugging at his hair in distress. 'I don't remember!'

'Well, it's got to be here somewhere,' Sirius said. 'Did you shrink it?'

James paused in the middle of the room, staring up at the ceiling and pulling his "I'm deep in thought" face. When he snapped out of it, he clapped his hands together. 'Yes! I shrank it and I put it in…' He ran over to his bedside table and pulled open the drawer. 'My drawer! Yes! Thanks Twinkles! Right, gotta go. Have fun on your date. Remus, enjoy your peace. Bye!' With that, he dashed from the room and slammed the door behind him.

Sirius laughed and turned back to Peter, looking him up and down. 'The outfit is fine,' he said. 'The colours are really working for you, but we need to do something with your hair.'

Peter was wearing a light grey jumper over a multi-coloured shirt and red bell bottoms, and his hair was in his usual style, short back and sides, long on top. He didn't really see what they could do with it, but Sirius had disappeared into the bathroom to get… something.

'Here we go,' he said, exiting the room with a small bottle clutched in his hands. 'Close your eyes.'

'Why?'

Sirius winked. 'Trust me, Bubbles. You're going to look ace.'

Peter eyed him dubiously, but he looked sincere, so he obeyed and closed his eyes. The feeling of Sirius' fingers running through his hair was weird, and the stickiness they left behind was even weirder, but he kept his eyes closed until Sirius said he could look.

Gazing into the mirror, he almost didn't recognise himself. Sirius had styled his thin blonde hair into spikes all over the top of his head, twisting them into points. 'Wow, thanks, Sirius.'

Sirius' reflection appeared in the mirror behind him, and he felt his hands on his shoulders. But he wasn't smiling. Instead, his eyebrows were drawn together in thought. 'Just one more thing, I think.' Sirius pulled out his wand and pointed it at Peter's head.

Peter yelped and jumped away. 'What are you doing?'

'Trust me,' Sirius said again.

'You can't keep using that to make me do whatever you want,' Peter said, but allowed Sirius to aim up on his head. Nothing seemed to happen, but after a few seconds passed, a triumphant grin broke across Sirius' face. 'Mary is going to go wild when she sees you.'

Peter turned back to the mirror. Sirius had transfigured the tips of the spikes red and and Peter had to admit, it looked amazing. 'What about you?'

It was a valid question. Sirius had barely spent five minutes on his own appearance, throwing on his favourite jumper and his boots, and tying his hair back in a loose ponytail.

'I'm good, let's go. You going to be alright on your own, Moonbeam?'

'Are you kidding?' Remus asked. 'I've been looking forward to this all day.'

'I don't think Moony appreciates us, Bubbles,' Sirius said, pouting.

'Oh, bugger off,' Remus said with a chuckle. 'Tell Marlene and Mary I said hi.'

'Bye Moons, don't have too much fun without us,' Sirius said, tugging Peter towards the door.

'Bye, Remus,' Peter called just before the door closed behind him.

'Pete, mate. I'm a bit nervous. You sure I'm not going to make a complete fool of myself?' Sirius asked as they made their way down the stairs.

'You'll be fine. You have good balance,' Peter whispered. They'd reached the Common Room and he could see the girls waiting for them across the room. 'It's not that hard. Promise.'

'Alright,' Sirius whispered back, then louder. 'Hey, Marls. You're looking more beautiful than ever. And Mary, I love that jumper. It looks great on you.'

'Thanks, Sirius,' Mary said, blushing. 'Hi, Peter. Your hair looks amazing.'

'Hi,' Peter said, cursing Sirius inside his head for complimenting Mary's outfit before he could. Now what was he supposed to say? 'You look lovely. Are you ready?' Mary seemed happy enough with that, but Peter was kicking himself for being so lame.

Both girls had dressed warmly, as instructed, in trousers and jeans, and held cloaks in their arms. Once they were through the portrait hole, Peter followed Sirius' lead in offering his arm to Mary. She took it with a giggle that made Peter smile. He still couldn't believe his luck that Mary actually liked him.

The journey down the stairs passed quickly with the girls first trying to persuade them into revealing their destination, and later attempting to trick them into saying. They were unsuccessful. If anyone knew how to keep a secret, it was Peter and Sirius. After leading them outside, they crossed the grounds and headed towards the Forbidden Forest.

'We're not going in there, are we?' Mary asked, sounding worried.

'Don't worry, it's not far. Just inside the treeline,' Sirius said. 'It's safe, I promise.'

'Come on, Mary. There's four of us. We'll be fine,' Marlene said.

'You don't have to go in if you don't want to,' Peter said. 'But it really is safe.'

'Alright,' Mary said, much to Peter's relief. He wouldn't have made her go, but he would have been a little annoyed if all his work had gone to waste.

They walked into the trees, and a moment later reached the destination. Mary and Marlene both gasped.

'It's so pretty,' Mary said, staring at the large stretch of ice covering the clearing, the forest floor clearly visible beneath it. The ice was surrounded by tiny floating lights making it sparkle in the dark.

'What's it for?' Marlene asked.

'Ice skating,' Peter said with a grin, walking over to the hollow tree he'd stashed the skates in earlier. Remus had transfigured them from some old shoes they'd found in lost property.

'Those look dangerous,' Marlene said, eyeing the skates. 'I can't wait.'

Sirius laughed. 'It's like we were made for each other, Marls.'

'You know it, babe,' she said, shooting him a wink.

They sat on a nearby fallen log to change into the skates, and Peter helped Mary over to the ice while Sirius and Marlene clung to each other, giggling as they stumbled their own way there. Peter ran through a quick explanation of how to skate, before giving a demonstration, gliding across the ice and back again smoothly. He was quite proud of himself when he reached the edge and managed to stop perfectly right in front of Mary. Holding out a hand to her, he smiled. 'Ready to try?'

Smiling back, she took his hand and took a cautious step onto the ice, giggling and clinging to him when her foot slipped out from under her. Peter caught her and held her up until she regained her balance, and then she tried again. The second attempt went better, and she got the hang of it quickly, still slipping every so often, but Peter caught her every time. He was so focused on Mary that he had no idea what was happening with Sirius and Marlene until they came sweeping past them, hand in hand, looking like they were born to skate.

'This is brilliant, Pete,' Sirius yelled as they passed. 'Great idea!'

It figured that Sirius would be a natural. Peter had been hoping to outshine him for once. Mary seemed to be enjoying herself, though, so he was counting this as a success. He upgraded that assessment to epic success when, the next time he caught Mary in his arms, she reached up and kissed him.

Remus groaned as he climbed out of bed on Saturday morning. The moon wasn't until Monday night, but his muscles were already feeling the pull.

'You okay there, Moons,' Sirius called from behind his closed bed curtains.

'Just a bit sore.'

The curtains opened, and Sirius climbed out already dressed. His journal lay on his bed behind him. 'Already? There's three days yet.'

Remus shrugged. 'Guess I overdid it this month.'

'The crystal competition probably didn't help,' James said. Remus looked over at him. He was sitting cross-legged on his bed, a book open in front of him, writing something on a piece of parchment.

'Probably,' Remus agreed. 'What's that?'

'Huh?' James looked up. 'Oh, just making a list of what we need for the potion part of the tracking spell. We're going to Hogsmeade today to get it all.'

Remus grimaced. 'Don't think I'm up to such a long walk today, mate.'

'That's fine. You can stay here. It won't take all of us.'

Relieved, Remus nodded and went to shower, hoping the hot water would help with the pain. By the time he returned, Peter was awake and had already dragged James away for breakfast. Sirius had waited for him.

'Here, put this on under your jumper,' he said, handing Remus the t-shirt he'd slept in the night before. 'I'm not looking.' He covered his eyes dramatically and turned around. Remus laughed, but quickly pulled off the top he was wearing and replaced it with Sirius'. The scent engulfed him, and he took a deep breath, letting himself revel in it for a moment. His skin was still flushed from the shower and the pale scars on his arms stood out even more against the black backdrop of Sirius' shirt. "They're sexy as fuck," Sirius' voice said in his memory.

'Alright, you can open your eyes,' Remus said, waiting for Sirius to turn around before reaching for the jumper heaped on his bed.

'Suits you,' Sirius said, looking him up and down appraisingly.

Remus felt his cheeks warm under his gaze and pulled his jumper on to cover his blush.

'Shame no one else gets to see it.'

'I don't see why they'd want to,' Remus said. 'Come on, they'll be wondering what we're doing up here.'

Sirius winked. 'I know what I'd like to be doing.'

Remus laughed. He'd been expecting that and had his line prepared. 'Yeah? Why don't you tell me?'

'Oh I would, Moonbeam. But I don't want you fainting when all the blood in your gorgeous body rushes to your cheeks,' Sirius responded without missing a beat.

Damn him. Remus hadn't managed to stump him again since the first time, no matter how hard he tried.

They made it down two flights of stairs before Sirius spoke again. 'So, I couldn't help but notice you told me I could open my eyes before you put your jumper on.'

Remus didn't look at him, keeping his eyes on the stairs. 'Yeah, I did, didn't I?'

Sirius was silent for a moment, and Remus was dying to know what he was thinking.

'Okay.'

That's all he was going to say? 'Okay?'

'You don't want to talk about it. So, okay.'

Remus didn't want to leave it at that. He wanted Sirius to know that he was… what? Different? Special? Whatever. He wanted Sirius to know. 'I don't mind you seeing them.'

Sirius smiled like he did when opening presents on Sirius day. 'Yeah?'

'Yeah. Just… just my arms, though.'

'Sure,' Sirius said, as if that made total sense. 'Thank you. For trusting me.'

Remus shrugged. 'I don't seem to be able to stop myself.'

'Now you know how I feel all the time,' Sirius said with a laugh.

They arrived at breakfast just in time for the post and two owls dropped two identical newspapers on the table between James and Sirius. Remus raised his eyebrows at them both in question.

Sirius was the first to speak. 'I took out a subscription to the Daily Prophet.'

'Me too,' James said. 'I wanted to make sure I knew about any new laws being passed.'

Sirius nodded. 'Same. And to keep an eye on the news about this Lord Voldemort. If Reggie's getting caught up in it, I want to know what's happening.'

'Smart,' James said, pointing at him. 'I hadn't thought of that.'

They both disappeared behind their papers and Remus exchanged a glance with Peter, both of them shaking their heads before returning their attention to the food. A nice cup of tea will make everything better, Remus thought to himself.

Peter elected to stay behind with Remus while James and Sirius went to Hogsmeade. The two spent an enjoyably peaceful morning catching Peter up on his homework and practicing picking locks (as predicted, Peter was much better at it than the rest of them). Remus was tiring by midday, so Peter made a run to the kitchen and they had lunch in the dorm before settling down for a meditation session. Peter had the hang of it now, so Remus no longer had to talk him through it. Instead, he sank into his own mindscape and began preparing things for his transformation in a couple of days.

Sirius and James' return mid-afternoon pulled them both from their minds, but not jarringly. Their entrance into the room was uncharacteristically quiet. Remus heard the creak of the door and footsteps padding across the room in two directions, one set coming towards him. Then the bed dipped beside him.

Remus opened his eyes to see Sirius smiling at him.

'Hey, Moons. How're you feeling?'

'Not bad. How was Hogsmeade? Did you get everything?'

'Everything for the potion, plus some chocolate for you,' Sirius said, producing a ridiculously big bar of Honeydukes' finest from behind him.

Remus tore it open immediately. 'You didn't have to do that,' he said, before breaking off two squares and putting them in his mouth. The rich sweetness melted on his tongue and he hummed in appreciation.

'Don't eat it all at once,' Sirius said, patting his thigh.

'No need to pout, Pete,' James said. 'We got some sweets for you, too.'

'I wasn't pouting.'

'You were pouting mentally. I could see it in your eyes.'

'That's… not a thing,' Peter said, laughing. 'But thanks. For the sweets.'

'You're welcome,' James said. 'Now, down to business. I grabbed this from the Den when we dropped everything off.' He pulled out the enormous wall calendar and spread it out on the floor.

Sirius tugged Remus' arm and Remus looked at him. 'Want to lie down?' he whispered.

Remus nodded, and they shuffled backwards to reach the pillows. Sirius lay back and held his arm out and Remus snuggled into his side, laying his head on his chest and taking a deep breath. He instantly felt a little better.

'We got everything for the potion easily enough,' James said. 'You'll need to start brewing as soon as possible. How long do you think it will take?'

'About three days, total brewing time,' Peter said, walking over to him. 'But we'll have to do it over the next two weeks. There's a Quidditch match tomorrow, but we should be able to make a start in the afternoon. Monday night's the full moon—'

'You don't have to come,' Remus interrupted.

They all stared at him.

Remus fidgeted with the sleeve of his jumper. 'I mean, if you're busy…'

'Don't be ridiculous, Moony,' Peter said.

'The moon takes priority over everything else,' James said, like he thought it shouldn't need to be said.

'I wish you'd stop thinking we don't want to be there,' Sirius said.

'Anyway,' Peter said, kindly saving Remus from having to respond. 'As I was saying, Monday's the moon, Tuesday we have Tenebris, obviously. I could work on it Wednesday evening, but I'll need Thursday and Friday for homework. Next weekend, Saturday is free, but the rematch against Slytherin is on Sunday.'

'It shouldn't take all bloody day this time, though,' James said.

'As long as the lovely Evans keeps her hands to herself,' Sirius said. He was running his thumb back and forth across Remus' back. It felt really nice, and Remus let his eyes drift closed.

'She's not going to do it again,' James said. 'You'll have Sunday afternoon, Pete.'

Peter nodded. 'That still leaves about six hours of brewing, and the last part needs to be done in one go, so evenings are out. We have Andromeda's wedding the next Saturday, so it'll have to wait until Sunday.'

'That's the 3rd,' James said. Remus heard the sound of a quill scratching across parchment and assumed he was writing it down.

'How are we going to do this, by the way?' Sirius asked. 'The spell's designed for a couple. Are we going to split in to pairs? And what are we all going to use?'

'I was thinking we could do it more like a circle,' James said. 'You give yours to Remus, Remus to Peter, Peter to me, and me to you. And I thought we could use our Crests.'

Sirius' heart rate sped up. Remus frowned and opened his eyes to look at him. Sirius' eyes looked panicked.

'I mean, we already wear them all the time, and they're all identical, so it makes sense,' James continued, oblivious to Sirius' reaction.

'Just the chains,' Sirius said. 'Can we use just the chains?'

James looked up at him, frowning. 'Why?'

'I can't tell you,' Sirius said. 'I promised.'

James stared at him for a moment, then he nodded. 'Alright, just the chains.'

His heart was still racing, but it was slowing down. Remus grabbed his hand and ran his thumb back and forth across it.

The next morning, Remus stayed in the dorm alone while the others went to watch the Hufflepuff-Ravenclaw Quidditch match. He took the opportunity to curl up in Sirius' bed and surround himself with his scent. It was bliss. So much so, he fell asleep.

'Fancy meeting you here,' Sirius' voice breathed into his ear. Warmth pressed against the length of his back and an arm slithered around his waist. 'Do you come here often?'

For a second, Remus was confused, and then the horrible realisation washed over him. Shit. Sirius had caught him. He'd fallen asleep and Sirius had come back to find him in his bed. What would he think?

'Er… No?'

'You don't sound very sure about that.'

'I… Shit. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have—'

Sirius sat up and leant over him to see his face. His black hair fell in soft waves, tickling Remus' cheek. 'Hey, none of that. It's fine. I'm not upset.'

Remus rolled onto his back and looked at him properly. 'You're not?'

'Of course not. You can sleep here tonight if you want. I'll cuddle you all night and tomorrow you won't be hurting as much.'

Merlin, it was a tempting offer. Not having his scent the night before the full moon had been the hardest part about giving Sirius the dream catcher, but, 'Won't that seem weird?'

'To who?'

'James and Pete.'

Sirius waved a hand in dismissal. 'They won't care.'

'Where are they, anyway?' Remus asked, suddenly realising they were absent.

'They went to get lunch. They'll be here in a minute.'

'I should go back to my own bed.'

Sirius rolled his eyes. 'Fine. But I'm coming with you.'

When James and Peter arrived with lunch, Remus and Sirius were cuddled up in their usual positions on Remus' bed, looking for all the world like they'd been there the whole time.

Remus did end up crawling into Sirius' bed that night. He couldn't help it. The pain was unbearable. After two moons with pain-relief, he'd forgotten how bad the build-up usually was. Sirius didn't say a word. Just pulled him to his chest and nuzzled his face into Remus' hair.

Sirius woke him the next morning by whispering his name, and Remus found he couldn't regret his decision. He felt tonnes better than he had the night before. That had never happened before.

'Are you coming to class?' James asked, not batting an eye at Remus emerging from the wrong set of bed curtains. 'You were so bad last night, I assumed you'd be skipping today.'

'I think I can make it to lunchtime.' Remus said. 'Professor Tenebris will give me hell if I show weakness by missing class just because there's a full moon tonight.'

'Do you think?' James asked, looking doubtful.

'Are you kidding? It'll be "The day of the full moon is when you're weakest, so it's the time you're most likely to be attacked." Then she'd start making me take lessons every month an hour before moonrise to make sure I'm prepared.'

Sirius laughed. 'Yep. That sounds like her.'

'I think it'd make more sense to attack a werewolf the morning after a full moon,' Peter said.

There was a beat of silence in the dorm as they all stared at him.

'Alright,' Remus said, turning to Sirius. 'So, he's not visiting me in the Hospital Wing tomorrow.'