Disclaimer: Harry Potter, and related characters, ideas, settings, events, etcetera, etcetera all belong to J.K. Rowling and her creative genius (I don't care if copyrights belong to Warner Brothers, its not theirs). *sigh* This story is mine, so read and enjoy.

Chapter 2: The Morning After

James looked nervously at his mother, awaiting her approval. She looked ill all of a sudden, and was staring at the rigid Remus.

"What are you waiting for?" She asked her son. With a meaningful look to Sirius, James grabbed one of Moony's arms, and his friend grabbed the other. They carried Lupin back into the hallway, then to the halfway down the cellar stairs, leaving them just enough time to dash up and secure the door behind them. In the effort, James's glasses had been knocked off by a swift kick from Lupin, now thinking like a wolf, and Padfoot's sleeve had been ripped off. Sirius put one hand on the wall, breathing heavily and listening to the howling wolf behind the door. "We are definitely making him go on a diet," Sirius panted, though he knew Lupin was thin enough. James agreed anyway.

When they rejoined Mrs. Potter, she and Peter were both looking very afraid. They all simply stared at one another, until their attention was reverted to the door, where Mr. Potter as entering. "What is all that screaming?" He asked. "From outside, the place sounds haunted." No one said anything.

"Hello everyone. No Remus today?" Still silence. "What's wrong, and what is that noise, already?"

"There's a werewolf in our basement." Mrs. Potter said at last, in a strained voice.

"What?" Mr. Potter was now removing a wand from the folds of his robes.

"No Dad!" James said at once, "Leave him alone." Mr. Potter's wanded hand froze, and he stared at his son, utterly confused. "Remus is a werewolf." James said, he couldn't meet his parents' eyes.

"I see." Mr. Potter didn't pocket his wand. "I expect his parents will contacting us any time now."

Minutes later; Mrs. Lupin's crying face was in the fire place, twitching every time her son let out a painful howl. She kept saying she would pay for the damages, but Mr. Potter assured her it was fine. Finally, she thanked them for taking care of her boy, only because she needed to get her head out of the fireplace.

No one in the Potter home slept that night. They all sat and listened apprehensively. Peter had almost nodded off, but was awoken by breaking glass from below.

"I hope that wasn't my grandmother's mirror," Mrs. Potter frowned. Her husband put a comforting hand on her shoulder. They each had their son in their appearances. Mrs. Potter was tall and thin, with sleek black hair, now streaked with gray, and glasses. Mr. Potter too had glasses, which had exact replicas of James's hazel eyes behind them. His hair was more of a balding dark brown, and his build was far fuller than his son's. James's mother looked at him with round, gray eyes, and for the first time, he met her gaze.

"I'm sorry about this, Mum" he said sincerely.

"It's no one's fault James," she said softly. No one said anything after that; the night seemed to last forever. Finally, when sunrise came, Sirius immediately went to his friend's aide. They remerged into the living room moments later. Remus, looking pale and fragile, was wearing Sirius's robes. The shoulders were too wide, and they were too long, but effective none the less. Sirius was now wearing the shorts and t-shirt that he had had on under them. Sirius lead Remus to a seat, but the werewolf's gaze didn't leave the ground even once.

"Remus?" Mrs. Potter asked cautiously. He didn't look up; he still stared at the rug, and adjusted his sleeve. She repeated his name twice more, and he finally raised his face to hers. James could see blood, dry and fresh all over his face, from cuts and scratches made from various objects. He had a very bruised left eye, and his light brown hair was very messy and bloody. Mrs. Potter gave a small gasp, and then forced one of his sleeves up, to reveal and equally banged up arm. He tried to move away, but the effort proved that he had a few broken ribs.

"Don't feel bad," he said with a bitter, uncharacteristic smile, "You should see your basement." She gave a You-Know-You're-Safety-Is-More- Important look, so he added, "Madame Pomfroy usually does a few healing spells." Mrs. Potter took out her wand, said a few choice words, and Moony was as good as new.

"Thanks," he said, "Shall I go clean up the mess now."

"We'll all go," James said at once.

"Alright, I'll contact your parents." She said slowly, after determining that some of Remus's color was returning.

Mr. Potter went to shower before work, so the four marauders were left to the task of cleaning the basement alone. James was shocked to see part of his house looking like the shrieking shack. His basement had been finished, with a rug and furniture, shelves filled with books. Now, the furniture was torn, the bookcases were knocked over, and the floor was scattered with stuffing and book pages. It turned out that the breaking glass had actually been a large amount of wine bottles stored in a cabinet. Starting at the cabinet, and trailing across the whole floor, was a trail of blood, and red paw prints. The sight of this cause Peter to sway a little where he stood. Remus was the one who started the repairs, then he taught his friends the spells he was using, because they were planning on cleaning up the muggle way. Magically enhanced, the job only took an hour, and, while some things could not be salvaged, the basement was practically back to normal.

"There," Remus said satisfied, "I guess I'll be leaving."

"Don't go Moony," James appealed, "Padfoot and Wormtail are staying, maybe we can all aperate down to Diagon Ally for some sundaes."

"Are you sure your mother wants me in your company."

"Even if she doesn't, I'm legal now; she can't do anything about it. Plus, you know you want a sundae."

"Er, alright," Remus agreed, "Just as long as we can get some school shopping done."

"Well, nothing else would improve your mood quite like shopping for books." Sirius joked.

"We could all use some new robes, except for Peter, I don't think he grew." James said, not letting even Sirius give Remus a hard time today. But then again, it had been Sirius that rushed to Remus's aide when he needed it's it, Sirius who gave Remus the robe off his back, and carried him up the stairs. And now, James was trying to win affection with ice cream and school books. Did that make Sirius the better friend?

"Alright, alright," Sirius said, unaware of James's thoughts, "Diagon Ally it is, for Moony." He clapped Remus on the shoulder, and he received a broad smile. Lupin was clearly enjoying the attention.

They left Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions with their last batch of school clothes in hand. Lupin was wearing his Hogwarts robes now, to prevent himself from tripping over Sirius's again. Sirius threw his short sleeved Navy robes back on, as they walked toward Quality Quidditch Supplies. James admired the brooms happily, and then tore himself away from the Nimbus 400 to buy himself a golden snitch.

"Old Wood threatened to cut off my hands last time I took one from the broom shed," he explained.

"Wood could've hurt you if he wanted to," Sirius laughed. Thomas Wood was indeed very old. He had an adult son, Michel, that had graduated when James was a first year. He was an unbelievable chaser in his day.

"Maybe you're right." James said as he affectionately took out his snitch and let it fly a little ways before catching it back in his hand. Peter clapped, and Sirius sighed.

They picked up their school books, and refilled their supplies. Remus bought a new cauldron, and Peter bought a new toad (his fifth one). Remus frowned a little looking at his list. "We're going to have to go into Muggle London," he said gravely, "For muggle studies, look." He showed them the list, and there was indeed a number of muggle items listed:

One muggle electronic (television, radio, or telephone will do well), four batteries of varying sizes, two plugs, and muggle writing utensils.

"Looks like we're studying muggle technology," Remus added brightly.

"Good thing Mum already disowned me," Sirius said, "Because this would've done it for sure." Peter giggled at this.

"This means we'll have to go back to Gringotts and exchange Galleons for pounds. I wonder how much we'll need.No matter, I'm sure the goblins can help us."

"Come on Moony," Sirius whined, "It's so far, I'm sure we could just nick the stuff on the list. I'll do it for you if you want."

"Sirius," Lupin said rubbing his head in a frustrated matter, he only used his friend's real name when he was upset, "Do you have any idea how large a television is?"

"You could always make a nice shrinking potion." Peter suggested.

"Yes, and waste an hour of my time, because Padfoot would sooner break the law then take a little walk."

"It saves money," Sirius shrugged. Remus apperated away with a loud pop.

"Now where did he go?" Sirius asked confused.

"Probably to Gringotts." James said, and then followed Remus's lead. He concentrated hard on Gringotts, then willed himself to disappear and reappear at the entrance. Peter and Sirius appeared at his side, and sure enough, Remus was approaching a little, severe looking Goblin behind a desk. After a small argument, he left with paper money folded in his pocket.

"It is convenient isn't it," Lupin said fondly.

"It's barbaric, Moony," Sirius corrected. Remus just smiled and shook his head.

James led the way to the leaky cauldron. Once there, they had lunch before taking the main doors out of the pub, into London. They found a small electronic store, where they each bought a cheap telephone, plugs, and batteries receiving strange looks from the cashier as they tried to use their muggle money. They bought pencils in a small gift store, Remus, who couldn't decide, bought four different kinds.

Even Sirius became interested in the Muggle London, though he kept insisting he was only staying because Wormtail was having fun. James and Sirius spent the rest of their money on second lunch in a Muggle restaurant, but only after examining everything from parking-meters to stationary pictures. As he stuffed a large burger in his mouth, he heard a shocked voice from behind him.

"Potter?"

A.N: Thanks to my one reviewer :'( .I'm posting the third chapter with this one (it was just too long as one) so keep reading.