A/N: I may be moving this story elsewhere (somewhere that is a little more lenient with ratings) so I don't offend. If anyone knows of anywhere that would like to host it, please drop me a line. I will of course let you know if it is going anywhere, not just delete it. Hope you enjoy this chapter, and thanks for the helpful reviews!

Chapter Five

True to his word, Sirius was gone when Remus opened his eyes the next morning around eleven. It was Saturday and he usually indulged himself by sleeping in, especially around the full moon when he needed sleep most of all. When he pulled back his curtains, Sirius and Peter were out of their beds. James' bed looked like it hadn't been slept in, which of course it hadn't. Remus yawned briefly before his feet touched the cold hardwood of their dormitory. He showered quickly, and dressed faster than usual when he realized that Sirius and Peter were probably visiting with James in the hospital wing.

When he arrived downstairs though, the three of them were lounging about on the couch in front of the fireplace. James was telling the younger Gryffindors about breaking his arm and the threat of amputation. Remus chuckled softly to himself as he descended the stairs. The way James told it, you would have thought he had wrestled a dragon with his bare hands, not merely been hit by a rogue bludger because he was too busy looking at Lily Evans. Sirius smiled at Remus when he sat down in his usual armchair. It was an overstuffed blue affair with a couple buttons missing but so very comfortable. Sirius handed him a mug of tea that he had just heated up with his wand. He watched as Remus smiled at him wearily and sipped from the mug, watching James retell yesterdays events.

"Nice to see you out of the hospital wing, Prongs," Remus told him.

James grinned at him. "They couldn't keep me there if they tried! And they did, but I insisted that I was all healed."

"Well, you sure do seem in tip-top condition. I'm sure Melissa would agree," Sirius grinned as a second year Gryffindor reddened and turned away from where she had been ogling James. Eventually either James got tired of telling his story or his audience grew tired of listening (most likely the latter). He got up and went into the dorm room. Remus, Peter and Sirius followed. Sirius watched warily as Remus climbed the stairs slowly. It looked like a gust of wind could knock him over, causing a domino effect with Peter and Sirius behind him. No strange gusts of wind occurred though, and the three boys soon found themselves sitting on their respective beds.

"So, Moony, what's this Wormtail tells me about a certain hickey?"

Remus shot a look at Peter and it was hard to tell who looked more embarrassed. Finally Remus said, "What about it?"

"Well, who gave it to you?" James asked, his eyes full of bemusement.

Before Remus could answer, Sirius spoke up. "I did." James and Peter started laughing as Sirius had anticipated. Sirius just smiled at them and waited for them to finish patiently. Remus set down his tea on the end table next to his bed.

"No, really. Who gave it to you? That blonde Ravenclaw? I saw her eyeing you the other day," James teased.

"I did," Sirius repeated, his voice more serious. James looked very confused for a moment and then the confusion passed and he grinned. "Good one. You almost had me there."

"I'm not joking, Prongs."

James looked from Remus to Sirius and back to Remus. He stared at Remus, silently asking him to deny these mad claims. Remus nodded his head slowly.

"Have you gone mad?" James exclaimed. He was off his bed now and pacing. "I mean, I knew you were gay, Remus, but Sirius? Have you lost your bloody mind?"

"Wait, how did you know?" Remus interrupted.

"Locker room talk. You know, guy stuff," James said gruffly. "I was going to tell you I knew..."

"You're joking!" Peter gaped.

"No, no he's not," Remus sighed. He silently wished that Padfoot might have discussed this with him first before letting the cat out of the proverbial bag, but Sirius had always been impulsive. It was one of the reasons Remus liked him, actually, but right now it was irritating.

"How long?" James asked. He had sat back down on his bed, his face full of shock.

"Not long," Remus said quickly. "Only a few days."

"Well," James let out a low whistle. "You learn something new every day."

He grinned at the two of them and shook his head in disbelief. "You two are nutters."

"Yeah, we know," Sirius replied.

"I mean, between the two of you, you're disappointing more than half the female population."

"They'll get over it," Sirius shrugged.

"You're not joking?" Peter asked in a small voice.

"No, we're not joking," Remus said patiently. "And what do you mean about Sirius losing his bloody mind, earlier? You'd have to be insane to go out with me? Is that what you're saying?"

"No, I was in shock. I still am, I suppose. But the two of you...," he paused, considering the matter. "It's daft but it's perfect."

James said no more on the matter and accepted their relationship without doubts or questions. He would tease them later, but only that they were mad to go out with one another. After all, you'd have to be mad to be going out with someone whose worst secrets you already knew, and had known for a while now. Peter was silent on the matter as well, but Sirius and Remus were never sure if he approved or not. Remus had a suspicion that Peter denied the relationship silently in his mind and Remus never said anything to the contrary. If it meant keeping Peter in their circle, he would gladly not discuss their relationship in front of him.

"Is he the first?" James asked Sirius quietly over dinner later. Remus had not joined them, but had opted to lie down before the moonrise.

"Yeah. Well, the first... you know."

James nodded his head thoughtfully as he shovelled mashed potatoes into his mouth. He was so busy thinking he didn't even notice when Lily Evans sat down across from him.

"So, you're not going to, you know, in our room are you?" James asked, suddenly wide eyed.

Sirius laughed. "Where else would we do it?"

"Oh, Sirius," he groaned. Lily looked up from her dinner. James was groaning a name other than her own? This must be important.

Sirius laughed again, a barking sound that caused some of the younger Gryffindor girls to turn towards him in something resembling awe.

"What's so funny?" Lily asked.

"Nothing," Sirius said in a sing-song voice.

"Something's funny," Lily pressed.

"Evans, its nothing," James said in a voice that was almost a warning.

"Okay, fine," she resigned. She looked at Peter for a clue but he was busy eating and trying to ignore the other boys. "Where's Remus?" she asked suddenly.

James and Sirius shrugged simultaneously. They muttered excuses at the same time (He's reading...He's sleeping...) and Lily didn't ask further. They ate their dinner quickly and returned to the dormitory, Sirius carrying a plate for Remus consisting of dinner, minus the peas. Remus hated peas. They weren't surprised to see Remus lying in bed still, but it unnerved them how pale he looked. Every full moon was the same but they never really got used to it.

Sirius crouched beside Remus' bed and set the plate on bed carefully.

"Remus," he said softly. He place his hand on Remus' shoulder and squeezed lightly. No response. He tried shaking him and this time at least Remus opened his eyes. His eyes had gone a lighter, more amber shade of hazel, Sirius noticed. He saw the wolf creep into those eyes, the ones he had gazed into only hours earlier.

"Do you want dinner?" he asked a bit timidly.

Remus nodded and tried to sit up. He managed on the second try and slowly ate dinner. It looked like it took all of his effort and concentration to do it, but he did. Sirius sat silently beside him and watched while James and Peter got ready for the evenings events. Getting ready consisted mainly of provisions for Remus for the next morning including clothes, water and bandages. James also threw his invisibility cloak on the bed, they would need that soon enough. He glanced over at Remus' bed when he was done packing the bag and smirked at Sirius taking care of Remus. It was almost cute. At least it would have been cute if it hadn't been his two best friends; the ones that before today he had assumed were straight, or at least one of them was. He had actually thought Colin was joking when he was bragging about Remus being his boyfriend. It just seemed so unlikely that Remus and Sirius were together. He turned away from the pair, feeling as though he were intruding on a private moment.

"Peter," he called across the room. "You ready?"

Peter muttered something that sounded like an affirmative.

"Alright, you guys ready?" he asked Remus and Sirius.

Sirius nodded over at James. He set the unfinished plate of food on the floor for the house elves to collect later. He hoisted Remus out of bed, surprised briefly at how light he was. No lighter than any of the girls he had picked up before, but lighter than he expected Remus to be considering he looked more muscular than any of the girls he had dated.

James took Remus' other arm and together Sirius and James helped Remus get on some shoes. He was feverish again and seemed to be barely conscious. His head lolled to one side and rested on Sirius' shoulder.

"Peter, grab the bag," James ordered shortly. Peter complied without saying a word and grabbed the invisibility cloak as well. He threw it over his three friends and opened the door for them. He followed them down the stairs, trying not to trip on the cloak which he knew was right in front of him. He grabbed the Gryffindor common room door as it opened by itself to make it look like he had opened it and then stepped through after waiting a few seconds.

He looked around blindly for a moment before realizing that he had the Marauder's map in his knapsack. He pulled it out and saw three dots belonging to his best friends heading down the corridor. A quick glance told him no one else was in sight.

"Coast clear!" He stage whispered. James and Sirius paused in order for Peter to catch up with them. Once he had met up with them, they started off again. It was slow progress at first. Remus was really in no shape to walk anywhere. Finally Sirius picked him up and they started off again. Remus' head felt warm against Sirius' shoulder. Small beads of sweat ran through Remus' hair and onto Sirius' shoulder, but neither noticed.

"We're almost there," James told them in a low voice. They stopped in front of the Womping Willow and threw off the cloak once they were sure no one was watching. The evening air felt cool against their skin. The sound of thunder could be heard far off and Sirius and James exchanged brief worried looks as Peter transformed. There was a brief whooshing sound as the branches ceased movement. The trio hurried after Wormtail, or went as fast as they could, which wasn't too quickly considering Sirius was still carrying Remus. He set him down once they were in the tunnel and James supported Remus' weight as they walked through the long tunnel to the Shrieking Shack.

Sirius transformed into his dog form and ran the length of the tunnel and back again. His tongue lolled out while he ran circles around Remus and James. He barked playfully, causing Remus to smile faintly at his friend. Padfoot chased his tail for a minute or so while waiting for James and Remus to catch up only to run further ahead again. He barked urgently at the two of them as if to say, 'What's taking you so long?'

"Okay, fine," James sighed at Sirius' impatience. He picked up Remus after hesitating only a moment and carried him the remainder of the tunnel. When they got in the shack, Peter had already transformed back into his human form and was sitting in the slightly broken green velvet loveseat. It only had three legs (Moony had chomped one of them off), but it was still fairly comfortable.

"Much help you are!" James grunted at Peter as he dropped Remus rather unceremoniously on the bed. James watched as a black blur ran past him and jumped up on the bed, nearly on top of Remus. Padfoot sniffed the still-human werewolf anxiously before turning twice and lying down.

"Come on," James called to Sirius. "You know you don't want to be on there when he transforms," he warned. The black dog whined, but got off the bed after licking Remus crudely across the face.

James saw the moonlight first and yelled at Peter to transform before transforming himself into the proud and handsome stag. Sirius found himself looking away as Remus transformed, which was very hard to do considering the dogs vision was attracted to movement. Luckily Wormtail was running around on the floor and Sirius chased the squealing rat trying to ignore Remus' shouts of pain. Only when Prongs whinnied did he look over to the bed again.

The boy he had held in his arms last night had disappeared. It had been replaced with a full grown werewolf who was sniffing the air cautiously. Padfoot bared his teeth at the snarling werewolf and then ran out the door. The werewolf chased him as he knew he would. The two chased each other into the forest. The rat and stag followed, one on top of the other. They ran until they got to a clearing where Padfoot turned on the werewolf, jaws snapping. They fought until they were both tiring. The rain started to come down lightly around them. It made a soft pattering noise on the trees that echoed around them. The firm forest floor turned to mud as the wolf and the dog chased each other around the clearing, pawing and biting at one another. Finally the werewolf submitted to the black dog which snapped playfully at his neck before nosing the wolf to get up.

The wolf looked over at the stag and the rat as if noticing them for the first time. He sniffed the air and recognized them as part of his pack. He approached them warily but stopped at the low growl from the dog. The werewolf growled back and approached again but the dog ran circles around him, distracting him from the stag and the rat. They snapped at each other until finally Padfoot took off through the forest, the wolf at his heels.

Things continued this way for the rest of the night until the first rays of sunlight had risen. The three boys turned back into their human selves and surrounded Remus as he transformed from the werewolf back into the Remus they all knew and loved. Once they were sure he was alright they hoisted him on Prongs and carried him back to the shack.

Once there, James transformed out of his animagus form and got out the water for Remus. Sirius helped him dress before Madam Pomfrey came.

"She's coming!" Peter yelped. Sirius started to get under the invisibility cloak with James and Peter, then hesitated and went back to Remus' side. He could hear steps ascending the stairs and that voice in his head told him to stop being an idiot and just go under the cloak already. He gave Remus a fleeting kiss on the lips before getting under the cloak with Peter and James. James gave him a look that Sirius couldn't quite decipher before motioning to Peter to be quiet.

Madam Pomfrey clucked in her usual way as she attended to Remus. She asked him the usual questions before dressing the minor wounds he had acquired. She always made the comment that he was the luckiest werewolf she had ever encountered. She had run into a lot worse transformations, she always said. Remus always nodded, half asleep, but happy to be in her care.

While she was looking through the bag she had brought with her, James, Sirius and Peter crept down the stairs and through the tunnel.

"I'm so glad it's Sunday," Sirius moaned.

"He was relentless," James agreed. Usually they managed to tire Moony out before the sunrise, but this time he was a store of energy.

"Aren't you supposed to be tiring him out, Sirius?" Peter asked, a grin on his face.

Sirius shot him a sly look. "I do my best, but that Remus, he's just a handful in the sack."

James and Peter both groaned and Sirius laughed. "You were asking for it!" he insisted.

They piled into their respective beds almost immediately when they got into their room. James lazily locked the door with his wand and dimmed the lighting. They closed their curtains simultaneously and each fell asleep as soon as their head hit the pillow.

Sirius woke up when the weight in his bed shifted. He looked over to see a familiar thin figure crawling into his bed.

"What're you doing?" Sirius asked in between a yawn.

"Madam Pomfrey said I should come to the dorm and rest," Remus said with a slight smile. Sirius pulled open the covers for him and Remus crawled in beside him after taking off his robes.

"Rest, huh?" Sirius asked, a smirk on his face.

"Yes, rest," Remus replied in a more serious tone. Sirius realized shortly that he had no energy for anything other than sleeping and was secretly pleased when he felt Remus' arm around his middle. He drifted off to the sound of Remus' steady breathing, thinking to himself, I could really get used to this.