Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters, setting, any of the great stuff... I'm also not making a profit, unless you count my great entertainment by writing this...

Remus, after having his talk with Lily, spent the rest of the journey laughing at James's impressions of Mandy and Sirius's impressions of James's face when he sees Mandy. It wasn't until they were sitting in the dorm talking that Remus brought up his holiday experiences.
"Moony, why weren't you at the New Year's party?" James asked.
"Denthulloon," Remus said.
"Pardon?" James said.
"December seventh was full moon. I forgot completely until my father said to go to my cottage. Apparently afterwards I growled at my parents because I was mad that they didn't remind me. My parents, on the other hand, feel that your influence caused my growls. I was forbidden to leave the house until it is time to return to Hogwarts. They also didn't let me owl you, and I had no floo powder. I'm sorry guys," Remus said.
"No problem! Me missed you and all, but we're not going to suddenly hate you just because your parents are stupid," James said.
"It'd take something a whole lot bigger than your parents locking you up to make up mad at you. You'd have to do something like get the Dark Mark and not tell us, but rather turn spy against us to make us forsake you," Sirius said.
"Or you James and Peter. It takes a willing act of real betrayal to make us turn against any of us," James said.
"Can we all take a vow? Saying that the four of us will remain friends and forgive small blunders. Should any of us betray the name of wizardry in an act of such blatant treachery, such as receiving the Dark Mark, then the faithful will join forces and give all their efforts to the act of killing the spy," Remus proposed.
"I'm all for it," James said.
"As deep as the doubt runs in my mind that one of us would actually do that, I do like the idea. Very hypothetically, if I went spy would you three actually kill me?" Peter said, terrified of the idea.
"Yes. Let us add one thing, though. That should one of us be killed by Voldemort's forces that the remaining will go to all lengths, not stopping at the prospect of death or lifetime imprisonment in Azkaban, to revenge the one who was ripped from us," Sirius said.
"Will it be magically binding, or bound on faith?" Remus asked.
"Both," James said.
Remus pulled out a sheet of parchment, touching it with his wand to ensure the following of the words written, and wrote:
'We vow to remain friends until death renders such impossible, but in death to remember those who have left us. The only act that could void such a friendship is the act of betrayal of the Wizarding name: joining or actively supporting Voldemort. Should any of us blatantly betray ourselves, our friends, and our race then the others will join forces and give all efforts in killing the spy. Should Voldemort or his Death Eaters murder one of us, then the others will revenge his death, risking everything down to our lives, our freedom, and our proud name.
Signed,
Remus 'Moony' Lupin'
Then he handed the quill to James, who added his name: James 'Prongs' Potter. Sirius read it quickly, when receiving it from James, signed his name in the same fashion, and passed it to Peter. Of the three Peter was, understandably, the most reluctant to sign it, but after some debating added his own Peter 'Wormtail' Pettigrew, and handed it back to Remus.
"Who should keep this?" Remus asked.
"It was your idea, Moony, keep it," James said, getting nods from Sirius and Peter at his words.
"I'll treasure it, but remember, though magically binding, remaining true to your word on integrity alone will create all the more power against the rising Darkness," Remus said.
"Voldemort's strength lies in ripping apart friendship, but when united we can be stronger than any evil. I hope only the first sentence is required, though," Sirius said.
At that moment Lily burst in, looking slightly confused, "What did you do? There was a huge burst of magical binding power just now."
"We... what are you doing in the boys' dormitory?" Sirius said.
"Finding out what you just did," Lily said.
"How'd you know we did anything?" Sirius asked.
"I was practicing a magic tracing spell, I'm not very good so I either get my Mandy and her Minions doing stupid little charms, or if a powerful spell is done very close around me. It was a binding spell? What did you do?" Lily said. "Lily? If you say one thing about how stupid we are, well, I can't quite think of a punishment fit for that. Remus?" James said.
"We signed this," Remus said, handing Lily the parchment.
"You... Wow. I hope you meant it," Lily said.
"Of course we did. I can't speak for everyone, but I'm pretty sure James feels similarly that the worst thing you can do is betrayal. That act deserves death. Of course we had to add that we would revenge the deaths of our friends. I personally can imagine no life worse than knowing that someone who I thought was my friend betrayed me and is not punished, or that my friend was killed and his murderer not punished. Azkaban can't be worse than a life like that," Sirius said.
"Are you going to tell Dumbledore?" Lily asked.
"If he asks, yes. At least, I don't want to burst into his office 'Professor, we just signed a binding contract, want to read it?' I can't imagine what he would say. If he does ask, then I think we should tell him," James said.
"I wanted to tell you something, James, I have been analyzing myself. The main reason I can't stand being civil with you for very long is because you can't seem to continue treating me like an actual equal. That one trait is the one that bothers me the most, being treated like I'm inferior by someone is actually equal to me. I don't mind if the person is honestly better than I am and there is no way that I can be as good as they are. If you can stop that, James, I'll go out with you," Lily said, then turned and left.
"G' night," James said, pulling his curtains closed to keep from appearing upset, but easily fell asleep as the others echoed his good night and the only sound in the dormitory was the soft breathing of the four occupants.
The next morning Professor McGonagall outside of the Great Hall met the four.
"Professor Dumbledore wishes to speak to you four. He says that he will provide breakfast. Follow me," Professor McGonagall said.
James caught Sirius's eye and nodded slightly. Once seated before Dumbledore's desk the four began feeling slightly more worried.
"There's no sense in avoiding this matter. I sensed a very powerful binding spell in your dormitory yesterday evening. Would you explain?" Dumbledore said.
"It was my idea, sir. I've actually been considering it since the full moon, I had a lot of extra time," Remus looked uncomfortable, but pulled out the parchment they had signed and gave it to Dumbledore. "You can read it, sir."
They watched his blue eyes, first grave, then brightening into a smile as they perused the document. "Why did you do this?"
"Sir," James spoke up, "I found it a brilliant idea..."
"As do I, Mr. Potter, but I am interested in knowing why you do," Dumbledore said.
Smiling James continued, "Voldemort's strength is basically the opposite of friendship and loyalty. He thrives on allegiance forged of hatred and fear. This, to me, is loyalty with a foundation of love, respect, and faith. I have also been thinking of what is the only way to conquer the fear spread by Voldemort's power. When Remus proposed this, I knew it was the solution: friendship. I would also like to add, sir, that I have been considering this for a very long time, so don't think it hasty and try and impress, but I honestly would rather be killed than support Voldemort."
Sirius smiled at James, then began his explanation, "James introduced me to a Ravenclaw girl, Katrina. I have been thinking a lot about the different ways of fighting him that each house would try. Slytherins would be best at being a spy for our side. Hufflepuffs would try and outlast them in face to face battle. Ravenclaws would use incredibly complex spells. This is the Gryffindors' way of fighting him, sir. Our only hope lies in our loyalty to our friends and allies and in our bravery in defending them and the very name of wizardry."
"I was the one who brought it up, sir, but I don't have nearly as eloquent a reason for as James and Sirius do. I wasn't thinking of future strength in fighting Voldemort or house loyalty or anything. I was thinking strictly about friendship now and what it means to me. You probably already know this, sir, but I forgot about the full moon last month. I was rather angry with my parents after the moon waned so I growled at them. You know that I sometimes retain wolfish qualities like that if I am very upset? I had never growled at them, so they thought that it was their faults," Remus paused to gesture at James, Sirius and Peter. "I was locked in my room and told 'think about their friendship'.
"I did follow my parents' command. I thought and, after talking to Lily in the train to give me enough courage to talk to them, I realized that they truly are the three people who I value most in the world. I won't deny it, I'm closer to Sirius and James than to Peter, but all three of them are worth lifetime friendship.
"My thoughts were to remind us of this friendship we have, and to give us an idea of what we will be facing in the future. Finally, I wanted to give us another excuse to keep in mind that our friendship is infinitely more valuable than any type of support you can have with Voldemort," Remus concluded.
"Any thoughts you would like to share, Mr. Pettigrew?" Dumbledore inquired.
"I guess so, sir. At the time I thought the same as James expressed, only a lot more simply. I don't actually have any different thoughts to add, they've already added them for me," Peter said.
"Breakfast is over in the Great Hall, but stay here and eat. I'll explain your tardiness to your teachers," Dumbledore flicked his wand at his desk, causing a large pitcher of juice, four cups, four plates, and a large array of breakfast food to appear.
The boys each ate a good-sized breakfast, while Dumbledore nibbled on a piece of toast. When they were finished Dumbledore handed them a note explaining that he needed to speak with them and ushered them out of his office. He watched their obvious friendship as they walked, laughing, down the deserted hall.
He hoped that their friendship would be tested only by time, but he sensed a future of betrayal, death, failed vengeance, and false accusations among them.
A/N: sorry for the long wait, wonderful readers, but I wrote another chapter and decided it wasn't good enough to let you guys read. Maybe possibly it will be severely edited and bits and pieces will find their happy way in, but not right now, it was dead-ending pretty quickly. This chapter has places to go, friends to make, and raspberry cheesecakes to eat.