HOGWARTS PAST: Prongs' Queen.

Intro: Remember...?

A tall man sat on the cold yellow ruins in front of the clocktower. He sighed yet again, reminding himself of how sad he was going to be in a few days, when he'd have to leave Hogwarts: school of witchcraft and wizardry. He had taken the habit of calling this home since he spent much more time there than at the country house where his parents lived. Yep, James Potter was about to finish his seventh year at Hogwarts, and after the exams earlier that week, he felt there was nothing more fun to do than walk around and remember the good times he and his friends had had together.

He ran a moist hand (it was very warm outside) through his messy raven locks and thought about his friends. He leaned back on the wall halfway covered in moss and let himelf doze off a bit, and his mind wandered the vast gardens of his past.

It felt really strange to know a werewolf. All those rumours... Naturally, his reaction would've been just to laugh and figure it was all one big joke, but this time, on a frigid winter day, when all gryffindor students were crowded up in the tower or in the library, it looked and sounded serious. I mean, why would anyone want to go outside alone at this time? Suspicious, Sirius and James had followed the frail sandy-haired boy before interpelling him just in front of a 'haunted' tree.

The Whommping Willow's branches were whipping around, Remus stood just inches from their grasp. "We can't let him do this, he'll kill himself!" The two other teens, who had been hiding up 'til then, jumped to get Remus to safety.

"What did you think you were doing over there?" James shook the pale, tired figure. "You know, if you want to commit suicide, there are much better ways you can think of." Sirius retorted, arms crossed. "So are you going to tell us why you were going there?" He pointed to the dangerous organic mass, blowing a strand of hair out of his face.

Remus had no choice. They'd never let him go until they found out the truth, and he'd never get there on time, before his transformation if he kept quiet. Beside the fact that it was obivous he was sick, James and Sirius didn't know what was up with him. "I've been wanting to tell you... if- if a friend of yours was... er- different, what would you think?" "You mean the black sheep in the white herd? Awesome. What are you, a vampire? A werewolf?" They questioned, smiles lighting up their faces. "Yeah, actually." He answered, whispering though no one else could hear them "I'm a werewolf."

"Very funny." They both laughed, although they knew it wasn't a joke. Every thing fit: the reason he would dissapear every full moon, the reason he came back with huge gashes on his face and bits of flesh between his teeth...every thing made sense, and yet, it seemed impossible, unreal.

James and his friend had quickly gotten used to it, however, and they had found a way to help him fight the loneliness of being held, for a week, inside a shack, as an untamed wolf. They became animagi to keep him company. Because Werewolves were only attracted to the scent of humans, animals didn't bother them.

It took the Marauders two years to finally perfect the spell they had secretly been practicing. Transforming into animagi was a very long and somewhat painful process, and it was very deangerous, not to forget strictly forbidden to students of that age, and anyone who wasn't 'registered' by the Ministry of Magic. So, naturally, they went about the plan. Every month, for a week, when Remus would take the passage under the Whomping Willow, his friends accompanied him. Only at night, though, for they couldn't afford missing another day of school.

Constantly in detention, they were, oh yes, for, firstly, they never listened in class and never finished their homework on time, they had also picked up the habit of bothering a certain slytherin student, Severus Snape, or 'Snivellus' as they liked to call him. Every new spell they would learn, they'd always test out on him before anything or anyone else. See, Severus wasn't well-liked in Hogwarts, mostly for his hatred of...well, pretty much everything, so many students liked to gather 'round and laugh as the Marauders hexed him over and over, until raging Evans came around the corner to stop them. In fact, James was pretty sure, if Lily hadn't stopped some of those fights on time, they could've turned out very bad, and I mean VERY bad. Sure, James utterly dispised Severus, but not enough to become a murderer.

James blinked, looking around him. The sun was going down. Had he really slept that long? The grounds were bathed in a reddish-orange light and the small amount of clouds surrounding the first quarter of the moon shone violet.

"Ow!" James slapped the mosquito that was sucking the blood from his hand and swore. Maybe he should go in, before a horde of bloodsuckers decided to feast on him. Picking up the bag he had brought with him for no reason, he headed toward the castle's main doors, taking one last glance at his favorite spot; the clocktower.

Pushing the heavy doors to the Great Hall, he remembered the sensation that came over him the first time he had seen this place. The intriguing arquitecture of the walls made it clearly noticeable and when he had looked up... he had gasped and pointed to the sky. "Wow! The ceiling is see-through!"Undoubtedly, Miss Perfect Evans had rolled her eyes and declared she had read in a certain book that it was just some kind of holograph. "Show off..." he had muttered, frowning at the girl.

A smile krept on his lips as he waltzed up the moving flight of stars. He had, on many occasions, gotten lost in the castle, but his friends and him had come across the idea of making a map. Every corner, every staircase, every secret passage was drawn, and every person walking, running, sitting, sleeping, eating was tagged. 'The Marauder's Map' was perfect. The very meaning of pride had been put in that object, and at night, under James' invisbility cloak, they'd prowl around setting their traps and stealing many things from many people. They'd eventually go to the kitchens to fill their stomachs and have a few good laughs until their eyelids were drooping, halfway shut.

They were known as the troublemakers of the century, that wasn't exaggeration. To think that the Marauders would have to split soon. He couldn't imagine not ever seeing Sirius' or Remus' face again. Peter, well...he'd get bored without him around. Point is he didn't want to leave. Not one bit.

"Pomum" he muttered, before the portrait swung open to let him into the common room. The fire wasn't lit, so it was dark enough. The red carpet squeaked under his feet and he threw off his shoes and socks. James readjusted his glasses and hopped on the sofa, turning himself upside down to look at the ceiling. The giant lamp swung from side to side and James wondered if it might fall on his head.

He turned his attention to the landscape painting to the right of the room, hung over the red, and decorated wallpaper. The trees seemed to jump out of the canvas and the sky varied from blue to violet. A dragon, most probably red, was painted just over the horizon and a gryffin, the 'mascot' of Gryffindor sat with pride on the right. Its' feathers ruffled with the light breeze and once in a while, if the room was quiet enough, someone might hear it roar like a lion. It once bit Sirius. Seems impossible, but it's only uncommon.

James ran a hand through his hair once more...he was really going to miss them...his friends, and everyone else he had seen since he was there.