James was standing in the freezing cold on the Quidditch field. He was excited to finally train again, but he hated this weather. Damn it, he thought. If they would just hurry up with getting the Quaffle and everything else. The sooner he would be back in the common room the happier he would be. "Okay everyone, listen up! The game is just four weeks away. The last one before the Christmas holiday. And if we win this one, we are one step closer to the House Cup! After that it is only Ravenclaw left to beat and I know we are more than capable of it." The captain was looking around and trying to motivate everybody. "I know Hufflepuff seems like an easy team to beat, but don't be cocky now. We need to consider them as a real threat due to two new hires. Their keeper and their seeker. They tried to play things low-key so they can surprise their opponents during the match, but I saw them train the other night. The keeper stopped the most difficult throws and the seeker, well, she was fast and skilled! Do not underestimate them!"

When James finally returned that evening from practice he was freezing. He sat down by the fire. Everybody else was already to bed, since it was quite late. The rest of the team quickly went to their rooms, but James needed to warm up first. A few days ago Peter somehow managed to break a window. And when they told McGonagall about it she was outraged. "The four of you have no clue about any consequences do you? You just do things without thinking about it and what could happen. And no Mr. Pettigrew, I don't want to hear it." She said strictly when Peter wanted to tell her it was only his fault. "I don't care who did, why you did it and how you did it. This is the fourth time this week I see the four of you about something that I need to fix and I won't have it. I will tell the house-elves not to fix it until I say so. You are not allowed to use magic on your own to fix nor to ask someone to do it for you." The four them had protested loudly, saying she couldn't do that since it was winter and freezing outside. "I. Don't. Want. To. Hear. It." McGonagall emphasized every word. "Fix it by not using magic, how muggles would do it. And once I think that you have learned your lesson about consequences, the window will be fixed."

So since then Remus and Sirius taped the window shut with some paper, two scarfs and tape. "I have no idea how muggles do this." Sirius complained. "McGonagall can't do this. It is freezing outside. What if we went straight to Dumbledore? He would never allow this." Sirius kept complaining most of the night. James was sulking as well, but there was no use in complaining out loud. They just had to get through. Remus was saying again and again to Sirius to behave during class, especially Transfiguration. If one of them gave McGonagall another reason to be mad at them, the window would take even longer to fix.

So James now tried to soak up as much warmth as possible before heading to bed. He was sleeping with two pair of socks, a sweater and a scarf on top of his usual pajamas. But it was no use if he got in all those clothes while freezing. He moved his chair a bit closer to the fire, slouched down in it and let the warmth warm up his toes. He felt how his toes slowly felt less like ice cubes and started to warm up. There was a strange, tingly sensation in his toes and he stretched them a bit. It slowly faded away and the warmth continued spread towards his knees. James felt warmer already and slowly started to drift away a bit. He tried to stay awake but somehow I was too comfortable, too warm and he was tired after such a hard practice.

"James! James, wake up!" James felt someone pull on his arm. He mumbled something and tried to turn around. "No, wake up. James!" James opened his eyes and looked Remus right in the face. "What?" He said grumpy. He hated being woken up. "Why are you down here and not in bed?" Remus asked. "I needed to feel my limbs again after that practice and I fell asleep by the fire. It was just for a few minutes." Remus shook his head. "It is 5.30 in the morning, James. You slept here for the better part of the night." James was lost for words. It felt like he just fell asleep. He sat up and flinched. He felt his muscles aching in his neck. Remus must have noticed him flinch. "That is what you get for sleeping in that position for hours. Come on, take a shower and roll your neck. It will do you good." James stood up but then realized that Remus just told him it was only 5.30. "If it is that early, why are you up already?" He asked. Remus shrugged. "Bad dream. I couldn't fall asleep after that anymore, so I left our cold dorm and wanted to read a bit next to the fire until you guys woke up."

James looked at his friend and tried to study him. Remus just woke up, but the bags under his eyes were there almost every day now. And especially so recent after a transition they were worse. There was also a kind of sadness in his eyes. But somehow they sparkled on almost a daily basis. Especially during lunch and dinner when the four of them were laughing together and joking around. "I will take a shower in a bit." James decided. He wanted to talk to Remus. "Do you want some company?" Remus nodded. "Sure, it can be kind of boring down here all alone." He sat down in the chair across from James. James sat down again and thought about what his friend just said. "How often do you sit here all alone?" Remus shrugged and looked at the fire. "It depends. The week before my transition is usually the worst. And I think I have some aftermath problems in the days after my transition." But I would say a solid 2, 5 weeks out of 4 are okay. Sometimes even 3!" He smiled a bit. "You do know that we will soon start that potion and hopefully the start of transitioning as well. So hopefully only the upcoming few times will be the last time you go through this alone." Remus looked at James. "Thanks James, I really appreciate it that you guys are willing to do this for me. But I've done it on my own for so long now. I know I will get through. So don't hurry and if you decide you don't want to do it anymore, I will not hate you." James thought about the whole process. "Yeah I know. But no one should be going through that on their own. It is just that the procedure is quite risky. We already lost the last full moon for starting that Mandrake procedure. But in the end it didn't really matter since it was cloudy. So that wouldn't have counted. I just hope that once we decide to start to keep the Mandrake leaf in our mouths that no one swallows it or removes it. That is going to be risky with eating, drinking, answering questions and for me with practice. But we will get it done, Remus. We say we do it for you, which is of course the main reason. But somehow becoming illegal Animagi is something that gives me an adrenaline rush. There is something about breaking the rules sometimes." Remus had to laugh out loud when James said that. "That is something that I do admire in you indeed. Your braveness. You are bold and not scared. I wish I had those qualities as well." James rolled his eyes. "Come on, Remus. You know as well as me that you are brave and not afraid. You have been through so much already and you are so positive all the time." Remus smiled. "We sound like a bunch of girls now, don't we?" James laughed. "And who cares? I can continue being a girl to you if you want to. You are kind to everyone you meet, you want to help people and you are smart. Not only are you the perfect student, but also the perfect friend." James felt now he took it a little bit too far. "Okay, that was too cheesy. Even for us girls." Remus chuckled. "Yeah, it was almost as if you were going to ask me to be your boyfriend." And that idea gave both of them a serious laugh attack. After a few minutes both of them compiled themselves. "But thanks James, I know you mean it. I am happy that you are my friend. The same goes for Sirius and Peter." James told Remus he made sure to write it in the love letters they were going to receive with Valentine's.

"Can I ask you something maybe a bit more personal?" James was already carefully phrasing his next sentence. Remus nodded. "Sure, fire away." James was quiet for a moment. "Could you maybe describe what it is like to transform?" He looked what the reaction of Remus was. He looked a bit taken back and reprehensive. "If you don't want to, just say so. But I am quite curious." James added silently. Remus seemed to think. "It is not that I don't want to explain it, but it is quite hard to find the right words. But I guess I could give it a go.

So first of all it is really painful, extremely even. That is why I am unable to do anything in the first few days after my transitions. Due to my sore bones and muscles. Madam Pomfrey helps me with that. There is no cure or medicine that can help me with my transition, to make it easier or less painful. There is nothing that can stop it or make not transform. I heard about this potion, Wolfsbane, but it is really, really, really hard to produce. Slughorn might be able to do it and Dumbledore offered me to ask him or try to do it myself, but I refused. The complexity of this potion plus the time and the ingredients that it takes to make it, it is too much. A professor and headmaster need to use their time more efficient.

But there are a few treatments that Pomfrey uses to help me get rid of my pain faster. I have a fever, because the temperature of a werewolf higher than the average wolves. Not much, but enough to leave me with a small fever. But the transition itself. First I feel it in the bottom of my spine. I cannot describe with anything else than as you feel it stretch but curl up at the same time. It demands you to sit down on all fours already. And then the limbs start to transform. First your legs. It helps by the way if you are naked, because you will destroy all the clothes you have on.

Your feet become larger and your nails in your toes become longer, pointier and sharper. My hands start to tremble and my finger become shorter, until they are the same size as paws, but my nails grow into claws. And your bones move into these directions. Directions I have never ever seen somebody do with their body. You feel like you will break every single bone you have, but you don't. Your muscles will grow larger, move differently around those bones and tighten. And then, once your body is in the right position the hair starts to grow and my face starts to change. The hair grows from the bottom, very fast towards the top. And my face and head is the fastest part of the transition. My nose and mouth become a snout, I get whiskers, my ears almost move to the top of my head but it feels that way because my head is shrinking in size. It becomes smaller, but longer. And then it is done. Oh no wait. The teeth. That part is surprisingly not painful at all. Unless you bite your tongue with those teeth. That is something I have done already four times or so. That hurts! And that is something you still feel two weeks after your transformation. And I guess that is all that is there to tell. I hope it is not vague or something. There is no other way that I can describe it. Sorry if I scared you." Remus looked shyly at James.

James indeed felt a bit scared, but not because he was afraid of what Remus was capable off. More that Remus has done a transformation every month for years and takes all of this in like a professional. James made sure his facial expressions were okay and not scared or disgusted. "Remus, wow. Thank you for telling me first of all. To be honest, you did not scare me at all. You made me respect you even more. You go through this every month and still manage to go to school and do all these things. I am impressed!" James knew that this was a lot to process when he was alone, but now he just wanted to reassure Remus that he was still okay with his friend and would not go anywhere. Remus smiled. "Thank you, James. But the funny thing is, school is what triggers me to keep on going you know. And you guys. But the opportunity to have even little bit of a normal life, friends, classes, homework is enough to keep me going. All of this is what I dreamed of since I heard about Hogwarts and then Fenrir bit me. And I had to force myself to forget about Hogwarts. There was no way that I could possibly go to a school with my condition. I would hurt others or even worse. That was quite a hard time for me. There was no future for me I thought. And then of course you know, Dumbledore showed up." James saw his friend lighten up when he thought about that moment. "He offered me something that I thought that I had lost forever. A chance for even 25% of a normal childhood and for that I am grateful. He did so much for me already and still is by the way. I could never repay him, nothing is enough. But I try to by making sure that I follow my classes, do my homework, pay attention, try to stay out of trouble etc. That last one is quite difficult with you and Sirius around me though. But Dumbledore told me that I should live my life how I would have when I would not be a werewolf. Just like a normal student. So a little bit of trouble is okay I guess. It is all I ever wanted." He sighed and smiled.

James was at a loss for words. He never saw somebody being so grateful and humble about something. Remus did not had the same childhood he had. His was pain free, cruelty free, careless and happy. James knew that he had a future for sure. Somehow he felt a deep desire inside of him to do something for Remus. "Remus, you are truly an inspiration. Never let you anyone tell you anything else. You are worthy of a life, and an amazing life. With equal chances for a job and a family. If I can do something to help you with anything, I will. It doesn't matter what. And for now during our school years we will accompany you during your monthly nightly adventures." James winked. Remus looked grateful and happy, as happy as James had ever seen him. "You are a good friend James." James put his hand on Remus' shoulder. "You are wrong there, mate. We are best friends!"

Authors note: Hi guys! Another one, plain from James his view this time. Sorry the shorter chapter, next one will be longer. But I did love writing about Remus and his friendship with James and showing this side of James. Because this was also a quality of him, caring about the minorities and injustice. Especially since he is so loyal towards his friends. He would indeed literally die for them.

Secondly I am working on writing from Lily's pov, but it is really hard! What would you guys like to see happen with her? Or how do you see her at school? I need some help! I would love to get some input of what you guys would like to see/happen etc.

I feel like I am only putting in some boring parts from her part around this time of year, since there aren't much things happening. And I want you to love these chapters and that something happens eventually or is leading up to something. With James I have that feeling that is the case due to Quidditch, pranks, Marauders, Remus being a werewolf etc.

Maybe it might be time for another one of Slughorns party. I might skip to Christmas already for the next chapter or something like that. I wanted to do a bit of a longer story here within their year. I felt like I just rushed through their first year. Maybe second year is the hardest. Maybe that is it. In their third they are allowed to go to Hogsmeade for example. And I do have a few things that need to happen throughout the upcoming 2 years with Severus - Lily, Severus - James and the triangle.

If you have any feedback, compliments, complaints or just plain reviews, please drop them below! I would love to hear from you guys. So I am working on Lily, but somehow in a writers block with her story right now! Just bear with me. If you want to have notifications when I drop a new chapter, just follow and/or fav!