two; closed.

remus.

Sirius knows what he's doing, I continue to reassure myself. He knows what he's doing.

For some reason – perhaps it is the horrible sinking in my stomach or perhaps the fact that his suggestions are usually reckless and brash – I am completely unsure of this. Of course I want to know if Ainslee is hiding something, but – for Sirius to shift and trick her into thinking he was a dog?

Maybe I should back up; in second year, the rest of the Marauders found out my secret. The secret that I was bitten by a werewolf as a small child thus I, myself, transform into the very hideous creature every full moon. And the amazingly loyal, caring people that they are…decided to attempt the improbable (though proven to be entirely possible).

They all became Animagi. It took them a great part of three years, but they had managed by the time we were fifteen. James and Sirius are both brilliant in Transfiguration, unlike Peter, who constantly was in need of their help to achieve their similar goals.

I could possibly be muddling your brain with this information. Animagi are wizards and witches that can transform into a certain animal at will. James shifts into a stag, Peter into a rat, and Sirius…yes, a dog. A gigantic, black dog.

They make every full moon exciting instead of unbearable; see, werewolves don't harms animals when transformed. Only humans. And only humans stupid enough to approach them. Though I cannot control myself when I am transformed, I don't usually need to. So we simply roam about. Lately we've been rather partial to the Forbidden Forest (the name itself suggests the Marauders' reason for entering).

Sirius draws my gaze to him as he motions me forward.

It's almost eleven o'clock in the evening and we're assembled around the fire. The common room is nearly desolate with the exception of one Lily Evans and one Ainslee Bordeaux. I know automatically what Sirius wants as I push closer to him. "Yes?"

"I shall be off to bed, aye?" He wiggles his eyebrows in a fashion that only females would find flattering.

I sigh, mentally berating myself for ever agreeing to this foolish plan. "Aye. As should the rest of us," I affix, eyeing the others contemptuously.

James throws me a signature glance of exasperation but Peter merely nods as to concur. He has been more quiet than usual today.

I have no time to dwell on any particular thought though. Sirius leaps to his feet, startling the two girls – each in their own individual chair away from the fireplace – and smacks his hands together. "It is, after all, eleven," he articulates loudly.

I spy Lily flipping the face of her Muggle watch over after he says this and I have to smile. She may not favor him (definitely not) but Sirius surely knew how to get rid of her when she was not needed.

Ainslee, however, returns to the book she had been reading, wrapping gold tips around her index finger. This is not the first time I find my eyes lured to her and I am abstractedly aware that it will not be the last.

I reluctantly clamber to my feet and follow the others up to the boy's dormitory. As the door slams shut behind me, James is already clutching his Invisibility Cloak. He hands it to Sirius.

Sirius tips an imaginary hat in my direction. "I'll see you prats later," he grins casually. With that, he swings the Cloak around his body and disappears. The only way I know where he's off to is by the way the heavy, bruised door opens and closes of its own accord. I smirk ruefully after him.

"Wish you could go?" James slaps a hand across my back and stares at me inquiringly.

"A bit, yeah," I confess.

He nods understandingly. "Can't blame you. If it were Lily, I'd want to know."

Wait. What?

"What brought Lily into this?" I turn around hesitantly as he drops to his knees, digging through his trunk. More than likely, looking for clean clothes.

"Well – you fancy Ainslee, don't you?"

I know I must appear positively horrified from the way that James' face flushes.

"Oh, bloody hell. Sorry, mate. Must've misread your looks?"

I wag my head vigorously. It's a bit of a lie, really. It's not that I fancy Ainslee – I don't know Ainslee – rather, I just find her beauty breathless and stunning. And that causes me to stare at her. Quite often.

James chortles at my reaction. "You've got to admit though, not my fault for assuming such. You're going to go colour blind from taking in that much vibrancy for too long."

I reflect on his description. Yes, Ainslee did have that effect on a person. The poetic tone in his words is one to be admired though; no one has ever given James enough credit. Only we know that he's more than just a nice face, sense of humor and athletic ability.

"Remus?"

I blink slowly, realizing that James was patiently pending a reply. "Oh-oh yes. I agree."

"Alright, Moony?" Peter's voice pipes up from the chair next to the window.

I shake my fingers through the daft, sandy hair that I had brilliantly decided to let grow. "Yeah, 'course."

When James settles into his bed with one of his Quidditch books, I sit in the chair opposite Peter. The moon bathes me in its silvery luminescence; if I were a conventional person, I would not mind, but I feel like retching.

"What're you thinking?" Peter probes gently.

There is a silent moment before I recite my feelings into words. "I'm worried," I pause, "And confused by why you've been so mute."

Peter takes this in, leaning back in the cushions and closing his eyes. "Too much turmoil in this damn world."

"That's not what's bothering you."

"I didn't say it was."

I cringe; indeed, he had not said that at all.

He opens his eyes again, holding a countenance of bemusement. "It's alright," he grows serious, "Rather, I've been thinking about the thing that came up at lunch today."

A trickle of fear scrambles down my spine; I can feel the blood running through my veins grow colder. "Which thing?" I rejoinder, stupidly.

Peter fixes me with a shrewd glower. "You know exactly which thing."

I swallow hard, pinching my eyes shut.

Flesh, knife.

Flesh, crimson.

Connect the dots.

"REMUS!" Hands clasp at my shoulders and my eyes flutter open. I start, finding myself staring straight into Peter's panicked face. "Merlin, I'm sorry for bringing it up now!"

I caress my temples severely. "I'm fine, Peter."

"Are you?" He inspects my face closely and I push him away.

"Yes."

Peter's lips draw together in a very straight line. "Alright."

Suddenly, I'm incredibly impatient for Sirius' return. I don't want to think about this anymore, I do not want to be left with these reminiscences. Burned, imprinted against my memory forever. I ponder why a boy such as myself, hiding behind yellowed parchment pages and pretty words, would allow such thoughts to resurface.

"Wormtail, what have you brought upon poor Moony this time?" James peers at the pair of us over the top of his book.

"Nothing," I intervene before Peter can answer. "Everything's quite all right, Prongs."

James shoves a tissue in between the pages he had been reading and tosses the book to the wooden floor. It hits with a loud thud. "Well anyway, how do you think old Padfoot's holding up?"

Bank on James for a distraction.

"Knowing him?" I snort. "He's probably using some sort of animalistic charm to get her to begin a conversation with him."

"He's a bloody dog, for Merlin's sake. A dog can only be so charming."

I have to laugh at the expression on James' face. He makes a good point, I note. I fear that Sirius' plan still doesn't sit quite well with me; there was no telling it would work anyway. But if it did – and if Ainslee ever finds out…

My teeth dart over my bottom lip when this thought mercilessly strikes me down. "James, Peter?" They both turn to me and I voice my judgment, "Say Sirius' plan does work by some crazy loophole or something…what are we going to do if Ainslee realizes what's going on?"

The other two look at a loss and I sigh; I've been afraid of this.

"Well…s'pose we've got a lot of explaining to do if she grasps the idea. Like why the hell Sirius can change into a dog anyway. But I don't think she'll find out unless something very strange happens." James presses his back against his pillow and smothers a yawn. "I'll probably turn in. I can't make it to whenever Sirius decides to return."

Rolling my eyes, I nod.

"Don't stay up too late, Moony," he teases frivolously.

"Shut your face, Potter," I feign a growl. Peter and James laugh; a smile twitches at the corners of my mouth.

Now, if only Sirius would come back.

author note; sorry this is so short and boring. the next chapter will be much better, i promise.

madderthanyou; lol it hints at sb/oc and don't worry about not understanding the blood thing, you will eventually, it's meant to be a secret ;; thanks for the review btw.

chicklahoma, siriuszsecretlover, egg-n-head; wow, thank you for the reviews