Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. This applies to all the chapters, so if I forget to write this, know I don't own Harry Potter it belongs to J.K Rowling, as I'm sure you all know.

Full Moon

"I wish Professor McGonagall would be more kind about giving homework on the night of the full moon. I'm not going to be able to finish this stuff, you know how I get after," Remus complained.

"Well it's about Animagi, come on Remus, you were the one that got all the information for us. You should know all about it," Sirius said not looking up from his own essay. Remus chuckled as he looked over at his friend.

"Gee, Sirius, since when are you such a hard worker?"

"Shut up, Moony."

"This doesn't have anything to do with that Ravenclaw, does it?"

"So what if it does?"

"Nothing, it's just funny, that's all."

"Hey guys," Peter came and sat down in his usual seat and observed Sirius. "It's that Ravenclaw, isn't it?"

"That's what I said."

"Yes! Now will you two leave me alone?" Remus and Peter smiled and looked at each other.

"No," they both answered at the same time.

"What's her name again?"

"Samantha isn't it?"

"No, I think its Kate."

"It can't be Kate. That was the name of that sixth year Hufflepuff."

"Oh yeah, whatever happened to her?"

"She caught Sirius going at it with that fifth year Gryffindor," James said, sitting down next to Remus. He looked over at Sirius who was still scribbling away. "Good god! My fellow procrastinator! What are you doing?"

"My essay, you prat. What does it look like I'm doing?" Sirius spat acidly. James just smiled at his angry friend.

"Looks like you're trying to impress the Ravenclaw. I think it's good someone finally turned you down. It shrank your head a bit."

"Come on, Wormtail. Nothing could shrink the head of our Padfoot here."

"Shut up, Remus!" Sirius yelled.

"I still don't know her name. Sirius, help me out," Peter said.

"Her name is Beth Andrews," Sirius growled in barely contained rage.

"I thought that was the name of the fifth year Gryffindor," Remus said.

"No, that's Melanie Barnes."

"Gee, James. You seem to know the names of all these girls too. I wonder why that is..." Remus asked sarcastically.

"What can I say? I'm irresistible they all keep telling me to owl them with love letters."

"Right, Prongs. You wish."

"So then, wait, if Melanie is the fifth year, who was the one Sirius was going with before the Hufflepuff?"

"That was..."

"Will you guys please stop talking about my private life? I'm trying to do my essay!"

"It was Jane, wasn't it?"

"No, it was some other Ravenclaw. Anna something or other."

"SHUT IT, OR I'LL HEX ALL OF YOU!"

"I'd like to see you try, Padfoot." James yawned and continued. "Anna James, isn't it? I remember because she has the same last name as my first name."

"Keen observation there, Prongs. I'm surprised you noticed."

"So what if I'm a little slow on the uptake?"

"It can't be Anna James, she was the one Sirius went out with in fifth year."

"Oh yeah..." James and Remus said in unison.

"So that means it was the other Anna."

"What other Anna?"

"I don't know, but it's another Anna."

"Oh wait, its not Anna, its Angela isn't it? Angela..."

"Silencio!" Sirius pointed his wand at James and then Peter and then Remus. There was silence. Sirius smiled happily and returned to his work. His friends muttered the counter curse and then proceeded to give Sirius dirty looks, but Sirius was far too happy to notice.

Remus glanced outside the window and saw the sinking sun; it was almost time for him to go.

"I better go and pack, you guys," Remus said loudly. He got up and went up to the boys dormitories. Remus stuffed a handful of robes into a worn knapsack. "Better look the part," he mumbled to himself. Full moons were always an adventure for Remus, but for some reason tonight was different. His thoughts turned to Lily and pictured her repulsed face when she saw who he really was.

"No, I'm not going to think about that," Remus said aloud to himself, but still the thought lingered.

"Oy, Moony. You better go. Madam Pomfrey will have your hide if you don't get down there soon." James walked into the room and sat down on his bed.

"Oh, thanks Prongs."

"No problem." There was a pause. "Is there anything wrong, Remus? You look kind of distant."

"No, I'm fine." Remus sighed and got up from his four poster bed and began to head for the door.

"I'm here if you want to talk, Moony." The knot of guilt that had been buried by the thoughts of Lily had resurfaced.

"I know, James. I'll see you in a while."

Remus managed to make it down to the entrance before the sun had set. He was greeted by a rather ruffled looking Madam Pomfrey. She looked at the sun and clucked disapprovingly. "Mr. Lupin, you're late."

"Sorry, I got caught up saying my goodbyes," Remus joked but caught a glance at Lily eating in the Great Hall and became sullen.

"I was afraid you were going to transform in your dormitory," Madam Pomfrey said as seriously as possible, but she smiled anyway and tried to keep the atmosphere as cheery as possible. She eyed the gloomy look on Remus' face. "Don't worry," she said soothingly. "It'll be morning before you know it."

They walked down to the Whomping Willow and Madam Pomfrey poked the knot at the base of the tree with a stick. The tree stood still; not a leaf twitched.

"This is where I leave you, Mr. Lupin. Have a good night." She gave him a smile of pity and compassion.

"Goodnight Madam Pomfrey." Remus turned and headed down the steep narrow passage. Remus began to hum softly to himself in hopes of chasing away the deafening silence. He followed the tunnel to its destination, a small circle of light at the end of the tunnel, the Shrieking Shack. He crawled through the hole and looked around the room. All the furniture was smashed to bits and stains of blood covered the floor and walls. Remus shuddered at the thought that it was all caused by him.

Remus sat down in his usual corner and waited for his friends to show up. The windows had all been boarded up, but Remus could see through a small crack that the sun had already set and the moon would begin to rise shortly.

"Moony, my dear friend, are you ready for an evening of mischief?" Remus turned to see three pairs of feet.

"Aren't I always?" Remus chuckled flashing them a very wolf-like smile as James pulled off the Invisibility Cloak that covered the three of them.

"So what's the plan for tonight, Sirius?" Peter asked, eager with anticipation. On the full moon, Peter seemed to shed his nervousness, sometimes, Remus thought that Peter underwent a bigger transformation than he himself.

"Well, I guess we'll just see where we end up." Sirius winked and suddenly without warning, Remus froze. His eyes widened with pain and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end.

"We're right here with you, Remus. We always will be, we promise," James whispered softly to his friend and both Sirius and Peter nodded. They looked at each other, and transformed into their Animagi forms. James became a stag, Sirius became a great black dog and Peter became a rat. They all stared at their friend in silence as Remus began to scream in pain. It was taking over. His eyes, no longer hazel but yellow shined with tears and with the blink of an eye, the tears and Remus Lupin had vanished; in his place was a terrifying werewolf thirsty for blood.

The wolf began to bite itself and then realized that it was in the presence of three other creatures. The wolf lunged at the stag but the dog held him back and put a paw on the wolf's shoulder as though to comfort him. The werewolf growled menacingly under the touch of the dog and lunged at the dog. The stag came and stood in front of the dog, protecting it. The wolf howled and the stag looked into its big yellow eyes. Finally, the wolf understood and disappeared and Remus Lupin came back.

The three bigger animals wrestled with the small rat circling the fight, squealing with delight. Then the four friends left the Shrieking Shack and ran about the Hogwarts grounds. They were the Marauders; an unstoppable group of friends and together the stag, the dog, the rat and the wolf ran together underneath the light of the full moon.

"You okay?" James asked worriedly.

"I don't know which part of me hurts more."

"Ah, don't worry about it, you'll be back to normal in a couple of days."

"Easy for you to say, Padfoot. You aren't stuck in this bed."

"Well you always do fine, Moony. Don't worry about it."

"Thanks Peter." Sirius yawned loudly.

"Okay, I'm going to bed. Full moons get more and more tiring each time."

"Yeah I'll go with you."

"Me too!" Peter squeaked.

"See you, Remus. Get some sleep."

"Thanks guys, see you later." Remus laid his head back in the hospital bed, his eyes had just closed when Madam Pomfrey bustled in. She took his temperature and pulse before setting some potion on the night stand.

"It's for those awful looking cuts," she explained. She dipped her wand into the purple solution and prodded one of the scrapes Remus had received from the night before.

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey," Remus said as gratefully as he could muster. She looked at him with compassion.

"You're welcome, Mr. Lupin," she said, smiling and then finished up healing his cuts. "There you are, Mr. Lupin. Good as new. You get some sleep now." She drew the curtains around his bed and Remus quickly fell asleep.

"Hi Madam Pomfrey!"

"Oh, hello Lily. Come to help out again?"

"Yep, is there anyone that needs something?" Lily asked.

"How about Mr. Lupin over there the last bed, I'm sure he could use some company. He's had a rough night."

"Remus Lupin?"

"Yes, dear, don't you know him? He's in your year and he's a Gryffindor."

"Oh I know him, it's just I thought he was visiting his mother." Madam Pomfrey suddenly realized that she had spoken too much. Of course the poor boy wouldn't have told his friends that he was a werewolf.

"Really? Well, you'll have to ask him what happened, dear." Madam Pomfrey bustled away to help a second year with awful boils on his face, while Lily walked over to the last bed, not quite sure what to expect.

At the sound of her footsteps, Remus stirred from his sleep. He stretched out his sore muscles and then when the curtains were drawn, he saw her emerald eyes and auburn hair. His stomach contracted. He winced when he saw the expression of anger on her face.

"So, you've gone to visit your mother, have you?" She asked in a deadly voice.

A/N: Okay, if any of my readers are still out there, I'm sorry I haven't updated in a really long time. I promise to finish this story no matter what. I hate those people that quit inbetween. So yes, here's chapter 5, and again I'm so sorry that I didn't update for nearly three weeks. I'm going to try to get another chapter up in the next few days to make up for that. Thanks to all who reviewed. -Jezy.