The next month passed quickly for Remus. The day after the full moon the students were a bit afraid of their teacher. But he reassured them with a kind smile and class continued with out a problem.

One night after dinner Remus got a chance to ask Dumbledore about the shack.

"Professor?"

"Really Remus, I thought we covered this last time. You're not my student anymore."

Remus chuckled. "Albus then, I was wondering about the shack."

"Hmm?"

"Is there any other way to reach it, other then under the Willow?"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he pondered the answer. "Not that I know of; unless you boy's made one which I have not found."

Remus shook his head. They had not made an entranceway. Sirius had wanted to. But there was the problem of where to make it come out at. They could all ready get to Hogsmeade Where else did they need to go?

The werewolf drew in a painful breath as he thought of Sirius; his long black hair always getting into his eyes, the bark-like laugh, how serious he got when Harry was brought up in Order meetings, the big black dog that the werewolf raced side-by-side in the forest with the full moon lighting their path.

The week before the next full moon Snape turned up with the disgusting potion. He glared down at Remus while the werewolf tried to polish it all off in three gulps.

"You don't have to stand over me" Remus growled one evening.

"Don't want a repeat of last time now do we?" Snape replied coldly before turning on his heel and sweeping out of the office.

Remus's eyes burned holes into the door Snape had stormed thought.

The next full moon was upon them. Remus got out onto the grounds earlier then last time and quickly strode to the willow. Once in the tunnel he stopped to listen for movement sounds in the shack. Thankfully he heard them. Remus raced up to the door and quickly entered then magically locked the door.

Looking around the room he saw the sight that greeted him last full moon. The stag, wolf and panther standing beside each other, waiting.

The panther was lazily flicking his tail back and forth with a look upon his delicate face that clearly said 'Took you long enough'.

Remus chuckled as he reached down to scratch behind the cat's ears. "The students wouldn't clear out of the halls."

The Stag snorted. "Yes, I know. Not a good excuse. I could ask Harry to use his invisibilitycloak." Remus said greeting the stag.

"But I got here as soon as I could. Have fun this past month?" Remus asked petting the wolf's head.

She rolled her eyes.

Remus smiled and sank to the floor, leaning against the wall.

"Merlin, I have too many memory's in this place."

The wolf nuzzled up close to his right arm, nudging his arm to be petted. The panther took his left arm and the stag lay at his feet.

James and Sirius were playing exploding snap in front of the fire. Peter sat at a desk that they had placed an unbreakable charm on, doing his potions homework. Remus sat on the mangled couch with claw marks and stuffing coming out at odd places. They still had a while till the moon rose.

"Ha! I win!"

"Shut it Padfoot. I let you win."

"Keep telling yourself that. It might come true, Bambi."

James grumbled as he re-shuffled the cards, "Bambi my hoof. Moony, come play. Maybe you can beat the mutt."

Remus smiled and joined his best friends on the floor. In the background he could hear Peter muttering. "Infusion of what!"

As he dealt the cards James checked his watch. "20 minutes till guys."

Remus froze for a moment at the reminder of why they were in the cold shack and not the warm common room.

"Pack it up Wormtail." James called to Peter fifteen minutes later, who was still working at the desk.

Sirius was now the one grumbling as he collected the cards, "Stupid werewolf beat me."

Remus smiled. "Poor Paddy."

"Hmm."

Peter marked the page in his book and gathered up the parchment and quill. Then followed James to a cabinet where the invisibility cloak was and the map, locking them in for the night.

An uncomfortable silence fell over the group.

Remus's body went rigged. With in a second James Sirius and Peter were gone and replaced with Prongs, Padfoot and Wormtail.

In a minute Moony was where Remus had been.

The werewolf reared up, snapping his long jaws. Padfoot jumped up and grabbed the wolf's neck pulling him back down. The werewolf tried to take a bite out of Padfoot and Padfoot lashed out with a big paw and smacked him across the snout. Prongs got into it and the two huge animals pushed the third into a corner.

Moony's eyes flashed anger to the animals in front of him. Then Prongs and Padfoot could see a struggle going on behind the golden eyes. Then Remus gained control of the monster.

The wolf let out a sad whimper. Peter moved out from where he had hidden under the couch. The bear like dog nodded to the rat.

Wormtail grabbed his wand in his front teeth and scurried over to the door. Padfoot took a firm grip on the werewolf's neck. Prongs stood ready to charge with his sharp hooves and antlers.

Peter transformed back into human form, unlocked the door, then back to a rat so quickly that you only saw a flash of him.

The monster that had gained momentary control when human sent was detected and had tried to attack. But Padfoot and Prongs had too strong of a grip on him.

Once out of the tunnel they charged into the forest, Wormtail hanging on for dear life on Prongs antlers. They played all night; Padfoot and Moony wrestling each other, racing to Hogsmeade and along the old backroads that people had long since forgotten.

Remus woke up, finding the sight that greeted him last time. The wolf, stag and panther curled up around him.

Together the group went out of the tunnel and out on to the grounds. "Thanks" He said as they once again disappeared in to the forest.

He stared into the forest, his werewolf hearing picking up their movements. Strong hoof beats pounding the ground, cat pads lightly skimming the ground, wolf paws padding out a rhythm next to the stags.

He turned back to the castle. They would not meet again till next month

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