Disclaimer- As of now, 12:14 a.m., I do not own anything related to Harry Potter. Ooh now it's 12:15! Damn still don't own anything.

Authoress's Note- Wow, I seem to have a bout of hopelessly romantic readers on my hands! (cheeky grin) Wonderful for reviews! Anyway I'm nearly positive that the next chapter will be the end, and then voile sequel! Hope you all the like the (hopefully) second to last chapter of Summer with the Arrogant Prat! Oh and everyone please read the letter on my bio page for an update on me and certain recent events. Ta! E.D.J.

Reviews! Oh so wonderful reviews!

ThelovelyladyLily- Yes, it's quite hard to be forgiving when someone gets James's eye color wrong when the writer could have easily looked up in OoP. Or even easier, online! Yes, great reviewer who reads author's notes! Thank you! I'm glad you think voices in people's heads are comical! I enjoyed making Monica squirm. Heh heh. And yep, sarcasm, the best. Ah when I said 'coyly' I meant the meaning as 'shyly', but the whole batting her eyelashes bit was merely Monica acting like a dork because come on does anyone bat their eyelashes at blokes anymore? Ah, secretly hopelessly romantic, hm. Meaning you are hopelessly romantic but you don't want people to find out? (laughs) That's probably me as well.

Auramistealia- Hopeless romantic! (pumps fist) Yes! Never been kissed eh? It's blush-worthy to admit but ... me too. Experience extends to books, so ... yeah. Seen the movie with Drew Barrymore? You'll get there. And me too! Hopefully not when we're around twenty-five though. (shudders) Yeah, some of the stuff on here can get a little ... ugh.

you-don't-understand- Another romantic! (confetti) Sorry, I think it's great how many people have admitted to it. You shouldn't hate that about yourself! You just have to get a bloke who's willing to be romantic and then POOF romantic fantasies and dreams come true! I'm glad you thought the end was cute. Me too. But then again I wrote it so I would think it was cute ... eh, who cares? Crazy Chats has been updated! Which of course you already know seeing as you reviewed the newest chapter, and Seven Years of Marauding will be updated ... eventually! I left you all at a big event here, so I decided to update this first! Besides, I've been itching to write further on this!

MagicFairyDuster- (laughs) Yes, finally! I hope you mean ending as in ending to the chapter because that wasn't the end of the story! See? (points to chapter below) Oh Merlin, THANK YOU for the compliment on my 'writer's craft' as you put it. It was greatly appreciated and really made me smile! Hee I'm glad you think my uncle's funny. He said that over Christmas when we went to one of those wildlife sanctuary's you can drive through. We saw about two animals (a raccoon and an alligator if I recall correctly) on the entire drive and he said something along the line of: "Look at that! A nice steaming bowl of SQUAT!" Hilarious.

Pauly-85- Wow three days! How dedicated you are! Thanks! Thank you for the compliments!

Skippy- Yes, IT happened! And yes the other IT will happen in the sequel! (giggles) Marissa? Been watching a bit to much of the O.C., Skippy? (coughs, not that I have watched that ever ... alright three episodes!) I think you mean Monica. No worries though I forgive dedicated reviewers like you! Yes, that line was most amusing!

vixen black- Wow you read further? (Unless you're not the same vixen black who reviewed before ...) I'm happy you read more since in the first review you sent, you didn't sound too happy with the story. I'm glad you couldn't find the right words to express the romanticness of it! That's a great response!

Reader4ever- I'm glad you liked the first chapter! Hmm ... DADA was probably Harry's last O.W.L. but I believed I could safely assume that the O.W.Ls aren't so set in stone that they couldn't be switched around thirty years ago! I'll have to take a look at the chapter ending you found confusing. Perhaps I missed a divider or can give it a small rewrite. Well, there's not really anything that says they don't have maids and house-elves, but hmm. We can safely assume the Jones family has house elves as well; perhaps I'll edit the maid into a house-keeper like James's who can regulate the house-elves's chores or something. (shrugs) Ah yes I've noticed the James shouldn't be allowed to use magic outside of school. I'll edit it to shouting or we can say that James didn't really care about the restriction on underage wizardry and he didn't do it front of Muggles or blow anything up, so we can maybe say the Ministry wouldn't be too miffed at him. Yes, flying on mops! (laughs) Got that from a Harry Potter dream I had. I played Quidditch and there were mops to fly on. No idea why. I also was dating Remus, heh heh. Liked that dream.

hiei's lil dragon- Hm. Got your review three times. But eh, more reviews for me! (hugs reviews) Yes, Gavin is weird and a freak. If you didn't notice he was inspired by a character Alec Baldwin played named Parker on Friends. Sadly to say, Parker was just as bad as Gavin.

m-girls- One of the best? (smug grin) Thanks!

Chapter 25- Sleep-Deprivation and A Boys' Night In

"Oy, Marauders! Anyone awake?" Sirius bellowed, as he and Monica made their way up the stairs of the Potters' house.

Well, seeing as it was four in the morning, if anyone wasn't awake, they certainly were now.

Monica squeezed Sirius's hand and then opened the door to the Marauders' sitting room.

They were instantly met by a barrage of falling bodies that all shouted out loud curses as they fell; it seemed James, Hestia, Remus, Emmeline, and Peter had all had their ears pressed up against the door, listening for Monica and Sirius's arrival.

Everyone disentangled themselves from each other—all grumbling darkly about what a stupid idea that was—and stood up. They looked from Monica to Sirius and then back again before bursting out in an array of approval.

"Finally!"

"'Bout time!"

"Took you two long enough!"

"Lily will have a fit when she finds out she slept through this!"

"It's four a.m.! What were you two doing?"

James raised and eyebrow at them, and healthy blushes rose up on both Sirius and Monica's cheeks.

"What'll we do with the pair of you?" Remus tutted, following James's lead and smirking slightly.

"Oh no …" began Sirius, backing away slowly and tugging Monica protectively along after him.

"Aw, Padfoot, you know it's tradition!" Peter pointed out, his eyes glittering with amusement.

"To hell with tradi—"

In an instant, Sirius was torn quite forcibly away from Monica, and the three boys pounded him violently on the back amid loud cat calls.

The three girls looked on for a few moments, murmuring "blokes" and shaking their heads.

Finally, unable to contain herself any longer, Monica flung her arms around Emmeline and burst into happy tears.

"I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" she said severely into her friend's ear.

Emmeline grinned. "Well, Mon, you got a good-looking bloke out of the whole ordeal, so I think you'll live."

"Yeah," murmured Monica, gratefully taking a handkerchief from Hestia and dabbing at her eyes.

"She's crying!" said a stunned voice, and Monica looked up to see the four Marauders staring at her and Emmeline Hestia looking as if they could barely contain their giggles.

"Can't a girl cry because she's happy?" she snapped, glaring at them.

"And sleep-deprived," added Hestia with a small smile.

"Off to bed then," said Emmeline sternly, and she steered Monica toward the door.

"Wait!" Sirius strode over and quickly kissed Monica. "See you tomorrow."

"It is tomorrow, you dolt," she pointed out waspishly, but she grinned at him.

"Alright, alright," he said, holding up his hands in surrender. "Em, Hest, just make sure she gets some sleep. We can't have her biting everyone's heads off; she has to save some of that for the Slytherins next term."

"I have enough irritableness for the Slytherins and then some!" Monica protested tiredly, putting her hands on her hips.

"Of course you do," said Hestia soothingly. "Now go, Mon."

"Fine, fine." She turned to Sirius and smiled. "G'night, Black."

He grinned back. "G'night, Longbottom."

"Come on, you bloody love bird!"

With that, Hestia and Emmeline shoved Monica out the door.

The next day, everyone slept late due to how late they'd all been up the night before.

Lily had obviously been delighted to find out that Monica and Sirius had finally admitted their feelings for each other though the fact that she hadn't been their to congratulate them had provoked a lot of cursing on her part.

She'd pushed her mixed feelings about Andy and James to the back of her mind, deciding that if she didn't focus on her confusion, it would go away.

Nine o'clock that evening found the four Marauders gathered in their sitting room with the sofas, chairs, and bedrooms' wardrobes barricading the doors and windows. The boys sat on the floor—obviously due to the lack of seating—and James, Sirius, and Peter all looked anxiously at Remus out of the corners of their eyes.

He was pale and perspiring slightly, every once and a while throwing a despairingly glance out the small corner of window not blocked off at the rapidly darkening sky.

"Are you sure this'll work?" asked Peter, chewing his thumbnail worriedly. "I mean, it's nowhere near as secure as the Shrieking Shack."

"Are you suggesting we should figure out a way to get to Hogsmeade in the next fifteen minutes or so, Wormtail?" asked Sirius incredulously.

Peter shook his head.

"It's what I do at home over the holidays," said Remus hoarsely, a trickle of sweat rolling down his brow.

"Have you told Em yet?" James quietly inquired.

Remus looked at him, as if he couldn't believe his ears. "Of course not! How in the name of Merlin do you tell someone that? 'Oh, honey, I just think you should know I turn into a rabid monster every month. Fancy a snog?'"

"Work on me," said Sirius absently.

Everyone stared at him in horror.

"You only heard the 'fancy a snog' bit, didn't you?" said James slowly. "And I dearly hope you meant if a girl asked you that and not Moony."

"Merlin, I did! I did!" squawked Sirius, covering his ears and glowering at James.

Remus laughed throatily. "I'll tell her sometime, but you don't expect me to waltz over their right now, do you? It's a bit hard to speak when I'm snarling and foaming at the mouth."

Peter turned his head back toward his friends after a quick glance out the window. "About five minutes, mates. Reckon we should transform?"

"Your parents won't hear anything, right?" Remus asked James.

Obviously the Potters—excluding James of course—had no idea of Remus's 'condition'. Though a highly tolerant and understanding pair, it might have been a bit much to ask Mr and Mrs Potter to house a werewolf in their home for an entire summer.

"No, they're on the complete opposite side of the house. Besides, I convinced them to put Silencing Charms on all the rooms before we got here in June. They agreed that it was a good idea." James grinned.

Suddenly Remus went rigid, and his entire body began to shake violently.

"It's time!" he growled through clenched teeth. "Change! Now!"

With a flurry of movement, James, Peter, and Sirius formed a circle around Remus, and after a moment of intense concentration, each transformed into their own respective Animagus forms.

A loud yelp came from Remus and amidst his shaking he managed to hiss, "Prongs, foot!"

James back up a few feet, removing his hoof from Remus's foot, which was rapidly growing thick gray hair.

The stag, dog, and rat watched silently as their friend collapsed to the floor. Remus's nose lengthened until it was long and snout-like. Cruel-looking, inch-long teeth sprouted out of his whimpering mouth. His shoulders widened until with the sound of ripping fabric his shirt fell away, revealing more shaggy, gray fur. They watched as his nails lengthened into lethally sharp claws, and hands and feet became large paws. With the appearance of a long tufted, gray tail, the transformation was complete.

The large wolf lay on the floor, muscles shuddering in pain, until Sirius went over and nudged him gently with his black nose.

Remus leaped up, snarling, yellow eyes wild until they fell on the stag, dog, and rat. The killer instinct abated a bit, and he gave a loud snort and sat down, looking a bit a lost as to what he was supposed to do now.

The black dog wagged his tail in friendship, and the werewolf looked down his snout at Sirius with the same condescending look Remus had sometimes.

Remus's memory was foggy. He could remember glimpses of running around wild with these three animals, but he couldn't recall why. A word formed in his mind. Friends. These animals were friends.

The great stag shook his antlered head, looking a bit bored.

Prongs, said part of Remus's mind.

He turned to the dog, that seemed to have an amused glint in its eye.

Padfoot.

A rat scuttled out from behind one of the stag's hooves and cocked its head at Remus.

Wormtail.

With this remembering came a flood of other names that swirled through the werewolf's mind, causing to whimper with the painful barrage of information. Mum. Dad. Dumbledore. McGonagall. Snivellus. Lily. Hestia. Monica. Emmeline.

Something struck a chord in Remus's mind at the name 'Emmeline'. Emmeline … Emmeline … He gave a growl of frustration, and, as if that was all the urging his mind needed, the image of a small, brown-haired girl flickered in front of his eye.

Ah, that's Emmeline.

The werewolf gave a sort of sigh, and the three other animals gave him funny looks. Remus glared at them, daring them to nudge him further. His hackles rose up, and he snarled.

In an instant, the rat scuttled under one of the furniture barricades and cowered, but the dog growled right back at him, and the stag gave a superior sort of snort.

Testy berk, thought Sirius, slightly miffed.

James and Sirius stared at Remus for a few moments until he lay down with a low, irritable growl.

This was going to be a long night with these two beasts guarding over him.

Meanwhile, the four girls were all curled up in their own sitting room, chatting amiably about the blokes in their lives.

"You know, Mon," said Lily, a wicked edge to her voice. "You never really told us how you and Sirius ended up together. We've all been dying to know."

"Oh, that," murmured Monica with a superior sort of grin. "Well, isn't that a story! Maybe I'll tell it to you sometime."

"That sometime will be now, Miss Longbottom," said Lily sternly, pulling her wand out of her pocket and raising it threateningly.

"We aren't allowed to do magic outside of school, Lily," Monica pointed out.

"I'm always willing to make an exception," she smirked.

"Fine, fine, I'll tell you," surrendered Monica.

Emmeline and Hestia looked up eagerly from their half-hearted Exploding Snap game, which promptly exploded, singing the carpet and Hestia's hair.

After beating the sparks out of her hair, Hestia and Emmeline climbed into to armchairs and stared pointedly at Monica, urging her to start.

"Well, after I left here for my 'walk', I went to Potter's to see if Sirius was there," she began. "He wasn't; he was out. I reasoned he'd have to come back sometime, so I sat and waited. And waited. And then he tripped over me."

"He what?" asked Hestia incredulously.

"Tripped over me."

Lily, Hestia, and Emmeline burst out into hysterical laughter, and Monica glared at them.

"What is so funny? It hurt." She rubbed the bruise on her side and muttered darkly.

"You, you," gasped Emmeline through bursts of laughter. "You literally swept him off his feet!"

This caused everyone including Monica to burst into hysterics once more. When they'd gotten a hold on themselves once more, Monica began again.

"We were both a bit snarky with each after that, and then … I just told him."

"Just like that?" said Emmeline, staring at her. "It took a slipup from me for Remus to realize I fancied him." A blush rose up on her cheeks at the thought.

"What'd he do when you told him?" prodded Lily excitedly.

"He—he didn't believe me at first," said Monica with a slight laugh. "I had to reassure him that I was serious, and then he was all flustered."

"Sirius Black? Flustered?" repeated Hestia in amazement. "I'd pay just about anything to see that."

"He was a bit flustered when he found out Mon had gone to go break up with Gavin," Emmeline pointed out.

"Was he now?" said Monica, smirking. "Interesting. Anyway he was flustered and then he fell over into the water."

"He fell over again?" said Lily disbelievingly. "Being near you really makes him clumsy, Mon."

Monica snorted. "I reached down to help him up, and the great prat pulled me down in the water too."

"He didn't!" gasped Hestia, her hands flying to her mouth in an urge not to laugh. "What'd you do then?"

"Yelled at him and then—to shut me up I think—he kissed me." She smiled secretively, relishing the memory.

"Merlin, now that is romantic," groaned Lily, leaning back and closing her eyes. "I wish Andy would do something like that."

Hestia sighed wistfully as well, and Monica and Emmeline grinned at each other. They'd both had their own bout of romance and loved it completely.

Just then, there was a loud bang at the window.

Lily gave a shriek, thrown out of her thoughts of romance by the noise.

Hestia went and opened the window, and a ruffled, worn-looking owl fluttered inside. She accepted the letter, and the owl disappeared outside into the dark once more.

With a glance at the postmark she announced, "Lily, it's from Andy."

Aha! Another cliff-hanger! (grin of pure evil) I apologize for the mistakes, but I'm too tired and it's too late for editing. (yawns) G'night, all! E.D.J.