ONE : BREAKFAST BEFORE

James Potter looked at the bowl of oatmeal before him, deep in thought. His friend beside him, Sirius Black, seemed to be in the same thoughtful mood. Remus Lupin looked totally drained and sleepless to the left of James. He always looked that way when the moon was full.

"What'll we be doing tonight?" asked Sirius quietly, so no one could hear him.

"Let's ditch ol' Wormtail and try to get to the entrance without pressing the knot," responded James jokingly after a pause.

Peter Pettigrew was next to Sirius and overheard the conversation. "Hey!" he squeaked.

"No," Remus answered serenely. "Davys Gudgeon is still down with Pomfrey. Dumbledore forbid anyone to go near the Whomping Willow, remember?" He lowered his voice to a low whisper. "You three have to transfigure closer to the tree this time."

"Why?" asked Peter worriedly.

James frowned. "Snape nearly saw us."

The four quieted down nervously. Peter kept averting his eyes to the Slytherin table, where Severus Snape held his usual sneer. Fortunately, he had stopped his latest way of reacting to James and his friends: staring and narrowing his eyes suspiciously. Last full moon, he had a glimpse of Peter just before his transfiguration into a rat, and had been quite annoying to Remus, James, Sirius, and Peter. Of course, Snape was always annoying.

Sirius finished the last of his oatmeal and put down his spoon with a clang. Peter followed suit. Both James and Remus picked around at the oatmeal, feeling clammy in the stomach. James was getting ready for the Quidditch match tomorrow, Gryffindor vs.Hufflepuff. He knew they were pushovers, especially on his Silver Arrow, but the thought of Snape telling somebody what he had seen always worried him.

Remus, on the other hand, was dreading the night. His last transfigurations weren't terribly horrible. The winter season often brought clouds, but now spring was advancing and the sky was clear. The full moon would rise and he would . . . he shuddered and shook his head at the thought. If only he hadn't received the bite . . .

The last bits of food melted from the plates and disappeared. The Gryffindor table stood up from their chairs and proceeded to the common room. James and Sirius went up in front of Remus, whose feet shuffled on the ground, and Peter, who sort of did a push and pull on him so he wouldn't fall behind. Sirius sunk into a deep chair as soon as they entered the common room through the portrait hole (the password: "Tiddly Wink") while James ran to his trunk to get his Silver Arrow. He didn't trust leaving it in the broom shed anymore, at least with Snape on his case.