CHAPTER 2

Up To No Good

Dumbledores office was nearly impossible to find, but Sirius, James, Remus and Peter knew Hogwarts better then any other student. They knew where to go. What they didn't know, however, was the password to get in.

"Damn!" James shouted as they stood in front of the gargoyle statue. Seconds later the statue opened. That couldn't have been the password, James thought, but Albus Dumbledore stood in front of them.

"Ah, hello," Dumbledore said surprised to see five students standing at his office door.

"I trust you students are not out of your common room walking the hallways this late at night for no reason?" He asked.

James showed Dumbledore the letter. "I just received this," he said.

Dumbledore's eyes flashed, and he said to the group, "Oh, I see. Why don't you follow me?" He stopped and looked at the small group, "Perhaps it had just better be Mr. Potter."

Sirius, Remus, Peter and Lily didn't move.

"You know how to get back to Gryffindor tower? Would you like an escort?" He asked.

"No, sir," Sirius replied, leading the group and turning back the way they had just come.

Dumbledore walked up the spiral staircase with James behind him, trembling.

He sat behind his desk and held up a piece of parchment. "I just received a similar letter from your father and one from the Black family. It appears that Voldemort has found out your secret."

"What can we do about it?" James asked.

"Very little. What can be done has already been done--your family is in hiding. Meanwhile, the Blacks and the Flanagans are trying to come up with a spell."

James thought a second. He tried to remember what the Flanagans would have to do with this, then remembered that Sirius' mother's maiden name was Flanagan, so they too had a connection to the Potters.

"I assure you that Hogwarts is highly protected. Since Voldemort became a threat there has been an enchantment on this school. It is safe from him."

James felt a slight bit calmer. "What is the Ministry doing about it?" He asked.

"They are also working on a spell that would stop Voldemort, though I would much rather trust the Blacks. Personal investment is much more incentive. Your families have been friends for as long as I can remember. The Blacks will do their best to keep you safe."

"Then that's all we can do, just wait?" James asked, irritated.

"That's the best I can offer. I was just on my way to send an owl to Miss Arabella Figg and the Longbottoms. The more people we can get involved in this the better. Can I walk with you back to your dormitory?"

They left Dumbledore's office silently and walked through the corridors of the castle. When James reached the stairs up to his common room he smiled weakly at Dumbledore and they separated.

James walked numbly through the portrait hole and up to his room. Sirius, Remus, Peter and Lily were sitting in silence when he entered. They were looking just as worried as James did. All eight eyes turned to him and he sat on his bed. Sirius put a hand on his shoulder. "What did he say?"

James told the group what Dumbledore had said in a quiet tone. "I can't just stand around and let Voldemort kill my family."

"We will do whatever we can to help, but honestly, it doesn't make sense to leave Hogwarts," Remus said sympathetically.

"Yeah, we'll search through all the books. We'll find something. There has to be something," Peter said.

"No sense in worrying about it until we know more about what we can do," Sirius said.

"First thing tomorrow I'll head to the library and see what kind of spell books I can find." Remus looked helplessly at James. "Maybe we can concoct a charm."

"I think I'd just like to be alone now," James said softly.

"Alright," Sirius opened the door and shuffled the gang out the door, then took a last glance at James. "We'll be downstairs in the common room if you need us," he said sympathetically and left the room.

"There's nothing!" Remus slammed a library book shut in disgust. They had been looking for two months in all the spellbooks that Hogwarts had, and could find no spell that would aid the Potters. They found an illegal spell on how to turn a two room flat into a castle; they found spells on how to give your worst enemy warts that would sprout up every time they blinked, which they considered using. But there was no spell on how to keep a family safe if they have a mortal enemy after them.

"We'll have to go to Flouish and Blotts next time we're in Diagon Alley and check out there," said Peter who was sitting right next to Remus but hadn't been looking in the books.

"Or next time we're in Hogsmeade we'll see what they have," Remus sighed. "I guess there's nothing else we can do now." He looked at the clock on the wall. He needed to hurry, Quidditch practice had just ended and Remus was supposed to meet Sirius in a secret passage. His heart gave a lurch when he thought about it. "Peter, I need to go talk to McGonagall about our homework. Should I just meet you at dinner?" Remus asked as he piled his books into his bag.

"Yeah, alright." Peter replied.

Remus gave an innocent smile and left the library. He walked down two flights of stairs and quietly down an empty corridor on the fourth floor. He stood in front of a giant mirror. "Aleviara," he muttered quietly. The mirror opened. Remus climbed in and stared at Sirius, who was already there waiting. "I've missed you," Remus said. It had been days since they'd been alone together.

Sirius leaned in and kissed him. "I missed you too. James is insane with all this Quidditch. He was running us into the ground."

Remus gave a look to Sirius that told him he wasn't remotely interesting in hearing about Quidditch practice. At least not right at that moment. Remus pressed Sirius against the wall and kissed him, blocking him in with his hands that were pressed palm down against the cold stone wall. The kisses were furious. Sirius wanted so badly to rip his clothes off and take Remus on the cold ground. But he didn't get the chance. A second later the entrance to the secret passages opened.

"Oh my God!" James yelled as he witnessed his two best friends in mid kiss. James stood in shock as Remus and Sirius nervously pulled him into the passageway, so he wouldn't attract unwanted attention from Filch or any other looking to get them into trouble.

"What the hell? What?" James couldn't seem to get everything out he had to say, in fact he couldn't get out anything he wanted to say.

"What are you doing in here?" Sirius asked, more annoyed then anything else.

"I saw you on the map. I figured you were up to something. Obviously you were. What's going on?"

Remus looked at Sirius, then to James, then back to Sirius. "Can we tell him now?"

Sirius's eyes were on James. For the first time in their lives, he couldn't tell what his best friend was thinking. "Well, um, Moony and I are, um..."

"Oh for God's sake, I'll tell him," Remus stammered rolling his eyes. "Sirius and I are a couple."

James stood shocked for a second. It was a lot to take, and a little confusing. "So, it's Moony you've been sneaking off with?" James said, a cross between amusement and annoyance in his voice.

"I told you we couldn't tell you in front of everyone. How do you think Wormtail would take this?" Sirius asked.

James chuckled, "Does this mean you two have been doing it in our room?"

Remus and Sirius looked guiltily at each other and smiled.

"I may never look at you guys the same way again. Should I go now and let you finish?" James asked, not sure he really wanted them to finish.

"I think the moment's gone. Let's just go get some dinner." Remus smiled at Sirius, who looked a little disappointed but relieved that finally his best friend knew.

"Dinner sounds good." Sirius said, putting an arm around him looking at the map James had in his hand to make sure nobody was near. The coast was clear, and the three entered the hallway and walked side by side to the Great Hall.

Remus entered the dorm room after dinner. He had just finished making his plans for tomorrow night with Madame Pomfrey. He could tell this was going to be one of the more difficult transformations. He was already starting to feel the irritation and edginess that accompanied it. He saw Peter, James and Sirius huddled in a spot on the windowsill. James appeared to be pouring some sort of solution into a bottle. The bottle had a name etched on it. The name was Severus Snape.

"Where did you get that?" Came the astonished voice of Remus.

"Our little Wormtail here," Sirius patted Peter on the back, "he just snuck into the Slytherin common room, went up to Snape's dorm and got this. Of course sneaking back out was a different story, since a rat can't carry a bottle of shampoo, but none the less, here it is." Peter beamed as Sirius finished.

"What is he doing to it?" Remus asked, watching as James poured a solution into it.

Sirius snickered, "It's a coloring potion. It'll turn his hair yellow."

"Course, he never washes his slimy hair, so he'll probably never use it," James said, pouring the last of the potion into the shampoo. "There. All done." James put the lid back on the bottle of shampoo, shook it up and gave it back to Peter. "Can you put it back now?"

Peter looked nervous for a minute. The Slytherin house was certainly the last place he wanted to be, and this would be the second time tonight he'd end up there. But he replied, "Okay," took the bottle and left the room.

"Wonder how long it will take him to use that?" Sirius said as the door closed.

"Probably months," James snickered. "But we'll know when he does, we can't miss yellow hair."

"I can't believe you lot. Determined to get thrown out aren't you?" Remus asked, only part serious. "Well, the full moon is tomorrow, I'm just wondering what we are planning?"

Sirius smiled, "I think a nice lie in the woods would be good." He gave Remus a peck on the cheek.

"Oh God," James retorted, "just because I know about you doesn't mean I want to see it. And if it's just a lie in the forest you are planning I may as well stay here. We have a Potions exam on Friday, you know."

"Fine then, maybe it will only be the two of us then," Sirius said, looking at Remus.

Remus smiled back but was a little nervous. Since the other three had become Animagus there had never been a time they hadn't all accompanied him. He wasn't sure one big dog could stop him from hurting himself, or others. Quietly he said, "If James doesn't want to go, maybe I should just be alone. Just this once." He couldn't believe he was saying that, it was the last thing Remus wanted. Some of the best times the group of friends had were when the moon was full and they were all animals.

James noticed the look and came back with, "No, it's okay. We've never deserted you before; we won't do it tomorrow. Same plan as always then? Meet you in the Shrieking Shack?"

Remus beamed. "Yes, alright."

The next morning Peter, James, Sirius and Remus entered the Great Hall and sat down next to Lily. Just as Sirius was getting ready to dig into his pancakes a furious 7th year student strode to the table. It took a minute for Sirius to realize who it was. When he did he broke out into hysterical laughter. A bright yellow haired Severus Snape stood in front of him and James, breathing heavily through his nose.

"Potter! Black! I know you did this. I will go to the Headmaster and report it."

Trying his hardest to stifle his laugh James replied, "How could we have done that?"

"You put a potion in my shampoo. I know you did. I could smell it when it washed out."

Sirius didn't hide his laughter. "How could we have done that?" He asked through chuckles.

"It would have meant getting into your dorm and finding your shampoo. There was no way we could have done that without being noticed." James was sounding more serious now.

"I know you had something to do with it," Snape glared at him. "When I find out you will be expelled." Snape shot a look at Lily, but it wasn't the same glare he gave the others. It was more of a look of sympathetic regard. She gave a small smile that said just to let them have their fun. Snape took his eyes off her and back to James. Then he turned on his heel and left the room. The whole table burst into laughter.

"Why can't you just give him a break?" Lily asked James.

"He doesn't deserve a break," Sirius smiled. He met Remus's eyes, which looked tired and grumpy. "You all right?" he asked quietly.

"Yes, I can just tell it's going to be a bad transformation tonight," he said.

"Don't worry. We'll be there." Sirius gave him a look that Remus had never seen before. It was almost a look of great caring. Maybe even a look of love.

That night down a long tunnel ran a stag, and huge black dog and a rat. The trip down the long underground tunnel wasn't as tiring when they were animals. Even Peter, who had smaller legs and couldn't move as fast as the others, seemed to think it was easier to travel long distances as a rat. They reached the end of the tunnel and Sirius pushed open the door with his long snout. Remus stood in a corner, chewing on a piece of wood from a chair he had torn apart. He looked up at them. Even though it was impossible to see emotion in animals, the group seemed to know what it was a relief to Remus that they had finally arrived. Sirius padded over to him and put his nose on Remus' furry nose. It was something he never would have done in front of James and Peter as a man, but it seemed natural to do now. They couldn't talk, but they had planned what they were going to do earlier that day, so words were unnecessary. They followed James back through the tunnel and out to the Forbidden Forest. They were going to spend their last full moon running freely around the forest. It was the last time they would be able to see the enchanting animals that roamed around in it. And if truth be told, they would all miss it. Even Remus who hated to transform would miss these great freeing moments with his three best friends.