Disclaimer: Not mine. Duh.

Everything has changed for Sirius and Remus, but there is still much that must happen in their lives before they are through. Tonight the moon is in the first of its last phases, Waning Gibbus. The moon after a full moon, and the time when we begin to see how the Full Moon has changed us.

Tonight we tell the story of two friends beginning a daring plan, a plan which will change their lives all too soon...

Remus stood up from the chair in his office so quickly that he might have knocked it over if he hadn't been so determined not to make a sound. He tapped the map once to clear it, then rolled it up, put it carefully away, and strode purposefully out of his office.

His footsteps were fast but inaudible, a skill left over from earlier days. His feet led him out the door and down a path he had walked so many times that he could have walked it with his eyes closed. His heart and head were pounding with what he had just read, and he was so caught in the moment that he didn't notice the setting sun, didn't notice the darkness and moonlight waiting to cover the land...

He poked the knot in the willow and nearly ran down the tunnell, certain of what he would see at the end...a voice cried out to him, a female voice, shouting for help...he opened the door...he knew his face was pale as death...Harry was standing over him, he had to stop him..."Expelliarmus!"

Two wands flew at him and he caught them easily, then stared at Sirius. Remus did not even flinch when he saw the filthy mass of hair covering his friend's face, nor the dead, hollow look in his eyes. He was far too intent on what he had come here for. "Where is he, Sirius?"

For a minute, Sirius just looked at him through his empty eyes. Then he slowly raised his hand and pointed it at Ron, who looked utterly bewildered.

Ignoring the mystified glances of all three children, Remus stared at Sirius, thinking hard. "But then...why hasn't he shown himself before now? Unless--" suddenly, Remus' brain broke free and he could feel his eyes widen. "--unless he was the one...unless you switched...without telling me."

Sirius' eyes never left Remus' face. He nodded slowly, and Remus felt the most powerful feeling of relief he'd ever had since he told his friends he was a werewolf and they hadn't turned him away - it was the same feeling, flooding over him in waves so strong that he didn't think about what he was doing, just crossed the room and hugged Sirius, hugged him with all the relief he felt...

And then it happened so fast that afterwards he couldn't have said how he did it, but Sirius pushed him away, broke into a huge grin, and started laughing maniacally. "No, you old fool! No! I did it! I killed them! Ahahaha! You'll never get me! Never, never, never, never, ne-WAKE, never WAKE UP, never--"

"WAKE UP, REMUS!"

Remus awoke with a jolt, only to find himself staring into Sirius' grinning face. "Go to hell, Padfoot," he muttered, and rolled over.

"Oh, come on, Moony! It's a beautiful day! The sun is shining, the birds are singing..."

Remus opened one bleary eye to look at him. "And how would you know? In case you haven't noticed, it's..."

"Black as night in here," said Sirius, making Remus roll his eyes at the pun. "Yeah, I know. It fits with the mood, you know - pure Black blood, pure Black house. Now wake up." His good mood was gone now, and he looked like he was about to start brooding again.

"Oh, cheer up," Remus grumbled, "You're always in a Black mood these days."

"Ha ha. You pinnacle of snarky wit, you," Sirius said sarcastically, then added, "Ahem. Pot. Kettle."

"Well, you are Black," Remus said. He couldn't resist.

"Oh, grow up, Moony, you thought of that joke ages ago." But Sirius was grinning at him as he stormed out of the room, and Remus knew he'd done his job well.

Now there was the bother of getting out of bed. He groaned, and pondered staying in it for another three hours, maybe four...

"DON'T THINK YOU'RE GOING TO GET AWAY WITH SLEEPING ALL DAY, MOONY!" Said a loud voice from the kitchen.

Damn it. "Why do I choose to live with annoying escaped convicts?" Remus groaned aloud.

"I HEARD THAT, MOONY!"

"Oy, shut up." Remus glared balefully at the floor for a few seconds, then made a decision. Wrapping himself up in blankets, he pulled himself up carefully off the couch, then padded his way to the kitchen, still in his cuccoon.

"Love the outfit, Moony, it makes such a bold statment! Where on earth did you get it?"

Remus gave an incoherent grunt and looked at him through bloodshot eyes. "Coffee?" He said hopefully.

"What a name for a store! I'll be sure to check it out, it sounds so chic."

Remus felt his face drop. "No coffee?"

Sirius looked at him, and let out his loud, barking laugh. "You will never change." He set a pot of coffee, a mug, and a bowl of sugar in front of him. "Caffeine is bad for you, you know."

Remus ignored him and poured himself a cup. He had discovered long ago that it was the only thing that would wake him up the day after a full moon...how else could he have survived his NEWTs?

"How're you feeling?" Sirius added, a bit more seriously.

This brought the attention back to Remus' aching joints and roaring headache. If he didn't know better, he'd say he'd gotten drunk last night and was suffering a hangover. If only it was that simple..."Like hell," he said, then stopped. "Wait...how'd I end up here?"

"You stumbled in at eight o'clock in the morning and collapsed on that couch. Don't know why you chose it," Sirius added reflectively, "It's the ugliest thing I've ever seen in my life."

"I probably wasn't in any state to notice."

"So I'm guessing it wasn't a very fun transformation," Sirius said, giving him a piercing look.

Remus shrugged. "Not as bad as it used to be. The Wolfsbane Potion is used because it works, you know..."

"Yeah, yeah. I wish you'd let me transform with you."

Remus sighed. "We've been through this. You can't come into the apothecary, dog or no dog, they won't let you in, and there's no door in the basement, and you can't Apparate in or out. Believe me, Sirius, I wish you could come too..."

"A lot of help, that."

"Yeah, well..." There was an unhappy silence for a few minutes, until something occured to Remus. "Wait a minute...Sirius, if I came in here at eight o'clock, what time is it now?"

Sirius grinned at him. "I was wondering when you were going to ask. It's 5 o'clock in the afternoon."

"Well, I'm caught up on sleep, then," Remus mumbled into his coffee mug. Something was niggling at the back of his mind, something about last night...well, rather, this morning, it seemed that was when he had been sleeping..."I had a dream," he said suddenly.

Sirius raised his eyebrows at him, but said nothing.

"It was in the Shrieking Shack...with Harry and Ron...and I asked about Peter...and you said, no, you really did do it...and then you woke me up," he ended reproachfully.

"You could go back to bed and dream it again, if you like," Sirius said lightly.

Remus shuddered involuntarily. "No," he mumbled, "Worst nightmare I ever have."

"Except for the one where I never get out and you never find out?"

Remus just grunted and looked back at his coffee, no longer feeling like drinking it. He felt worse than ever...he hated that dream...

Sirius was watching him, and his eyes had gone empty again. "I'm sorry, Remus."

Remus snorted. "For what? It was Wormtail that did it."

"Yeah, but it was my idea...and anyway, I did suspect you..."

"If you don't stop blaming yourself, I shall dump this cup of coffee on your head. It wasn't you, it was Voldemort. So shut up and stop feeling sorry for yourself."

Sirius gave his usual barking laugh. "Spoken as only a werewolf on the day after a full moon can."

"Damn straight," Remus muttered, and took a huge swig of coffee.

"So I bet you were wondering why I woke you up," Sirius said conversationally.

"I was probably getting around to asking, yes," Remus agreed, glad of the subject change.

"Dumbledore said he was coming over tonight, and he's bringing a few people."

Remus looked up hopefully. "You mean...?"

Sirius nodded at him, eyes gleaming in what little light there was in the kitchen. "That's right. Tonight is the first full meeting of the new Order of the Phoenix."

There was an appropriately dramatic silence as they both pondered the gravity of the moment. Then Remus shifted in his chair. "Well," he said seriously, "I'd better get dressed, then."

Whatever Remus imagined it would be like to live with Sirius after discovering he was innocent, this was not it. For one thing, he never would have believed it could happen, so when a large black dog showed up on his doorstep earlier that year, walked into his house, and related a long story about a Portkey, Voldemort, and something about Harry's blood, it came as a complete shock. Not the dog talking - he transformed into Sirius before he started doing that - but the story. That, and the fact that Dumbledore wanted the two of them to start rebuilding the Order of the Phoenix.

The idea of setting up Headquarters in Grimmauld Place had come in a moment of inspiration to Sirius. Rebuilding the Order had sounded very nice and glorious when Sirius related it in the kitchen of Remus' tiny, dirty flat, but the meager dwellings of a werewolf are not exactly the most ideal location for a secret organization that hoped to bring about the fall of Voldemort. They were stuck in a bit of a bind when Sirius had leaped out of his chair, shouted "GRIMMAULD PLACE!" and rushed to the fireplace to Floo Dumbledore. The rest, Remus supposed, was history.

Not that he hadn't had his doubts when he actually saw the place. At first it had seemed to be yet another wonderful idea that sounds great until you try it. No one had been more surprised than Remus when it actually seemed to be working. Both he and Sirius had been a bit reluctant when the idea of the Fidelius Charm was given, but, as Dumbledore said, it was their best option, especially if they were wise enough to learn from the past. Neither of them had even bothered to suggest that someone other than Dumbledore be the Secret-Keeper.

The biggest downside, he thought, was the effect it seemed to be having on Sirius. Remus didn't like seeing the man brood every two minutes, and he could tell that it was always niggling at him, in the back of his mind. He had mentioned it to Dumbledore, who had agreed and looked thoughtful about it, then asked Remus to help keep him as cheerful as possible until they could think of a solution.

It was going to be even harder than it sounded, though. Twelve years in Azkaban did not help Sirius regain an optomistic outlook on life, and being back in Grimmauld Place was nearly as bad. It wasn't so bad now - Sirius was still excited about the prospect of re-forming the Order and there was a passionate glint in his eyes now whenever they spoke of it. But Remus had a feeling that Sirius' situation wouldn't lend him to much more usefulness, and he figured he probably had his work cut out for him.

His hunch proved right at the Order meeting that night. The first order of business, once they had inducted the new members and Dumbledore had vouched for their trustworthiness, had been "What are we going to do now?" They planned to use the resources they had to their fullest extent, and everyone had a job to do. Everyone except Sirius. This didn't exactly do anything to daunt him yet, but Remus could see the glint in his eye get dimmer and dimmer as the meeting went on.

It didn't go out just yet, though. Some of the excitement of holding secret meetings in the dead of the night was still there, and while the prospect of cleaning the house wasn't a very romantic one, it would probably be enough to at least keep him occupied. Still, after everyone was gone that night, Remus left Sirius alone so he could brood in peace, and went to bed hoping he could find a way to help him somehow.

His hopes didn't amount to much, though. Remus found himself out of the house more often than he was in it, and when he was there, the cleaning and the newly arrived Weasleys and Hermione Granger were occupying Sirius' attention. The conversation was mainly about Harry - they were all worried about him and Sirius especially hated to keep him in the dark. This on top of everything else led to even more brooding on Sirius' part, and Remus was at a loss as to what to do, besides drag Sirius from the room every time Snape happened to make an appearance.

A short-term answer came a bit unexpectedly. Remus had come home one day after a long day's work for the Order only to find Sirius sitting in his bedroom, going through his things.

Well, sort of. He was wielding a duster and a wand and battling some mysterious objects in the bureau that Remus had been too wary to go near before, but that didn't change the fact that Remus' stuff was spread out all around him and he had been quite obviously rifling through them.

"What are you doing?" Remus demanded.

Sirius jumped a foot in the air and dropped the candlestick that was lighting up and trying to burn him, then swore and stunned it before it could scuttle too far across the room. "Dammit, Remus, don't scare me like that!"

Remus hid a smirk, and raised an eyebrow at him. "You're going through my stuff!"

"Am not! I got distracted by the candlestick!" Sirius realized his mistake a half second too late, and turned red. "I mean, I came in here to clean," he said unconvincingly.

"Uh huh. Remus bent down next to him and looked around. "So, what did you find?"

Sirius made a face. "Not much. You don't have a lot of stuff, do you?"

"Side effect of lycanthropy," Remus said lightly, "Believe me, I don't prefer it that way."

"Be nicer if you did," Sirius replied gloomily. They were quiet for a moment. "I did find one thing, though," Sirius said eventually, and pulled a box towards him. "What is this?"

"You didn't open it?" Remus said with some surprise.

"Well, I was going to, but then I tripped over your bed and crashed into the bureau and the door opened and something tried to bite me so I fought back and ended up cleaning out the whole thing and the candlestick was the only thing left when you came in, so now we can open it together!"

"I see." Remus looked thoughtfully at the box for a moment, then shrugged as if to say "Why not?" Sirius made to open it, but Remus stopped him, remembering something in the nick of time. He pointed his wand at it and muttered a spell, then peeled the spellotape off himself. In answer to Sirius' look, he said, "I hexed it. If you'd opened it, your hair would look like Snape's that one time we tried to dye it purple right now."

Sirius snickered. "I see I've rubbed off on you, Moony."

"Don't tell anyone, they'll never take me seriously again."

"But if they think you're like me, then they will take you Siriusly."

Remus opened his mouth to wonder what the hell he was talking about, then the pun made its way through his tired brain and he shut it and glared at Sirius. "I thought we agreed never to use that one again."

"What are you talking about? No we didn't, you're making things up."

"Damn it, you realized it."

"Nice try, Moony. Now can we start going through your stuff?"

"Who's stopping you?"

It was like shouting "FIRE!" to an army. Sirius instantly started pulling things out, making loud comments as he went. "PICTURES! Moony, look at this! I didn't know you kept these, wonder what happened to mine..."

"No idea...hey, is that Snape with pink hair?"

Sirius laughed loudly. "I had no idea you took a picture of that!"

Remus grinned. "I didn't, that was all Prongs...he gave it to me, read the back."

Sirius flipped it over and read aloud, "Moony - found this in a pile of Potions essays I was burning, it's a good thing I checked to make sure none of them were yours, first. Anyway, I thought you should have it, so next time Snape threatens to tell everyone your secret, you'll have blackmail material. And anyway, if Lily finds it she'll kill me, so it's better that you have it anyway. Use it wisely. Well, don't do anything I wouldn't do. Not that that limits you. -Prongs," Sirius finished and laughed. "Remember that time we gave him pigtails?"

"Couldn't forget it if I tried. Remember Malfoy in that dress?"

"And the time we got the House Elves to paint the Slytherin Common Room pink?"

"That was fantastic, they never did figure out how we managed it, and they couldn't pin it on us..."

"Brilliant, I know."

"Except it wasn't your idea." It had been Peter's, but Remus never mentioned him because he didn't really want Sirius moping around more than usual.

"Oh, shut up...HEY, you still have the wedding pictures! Moony, these are great!"

"Yes, you do look rather fetching in that dress."

"How did Lily manage to do that, anyway?" Sirius wondered.

"I don't know, that woman was scary when she got mad."

"No, I meant how did she find out my plans for the reception?"

"She had a sixth sense, that one...good thing James managed to convince her to reverse it so you could wear a suit at the actual wedding."

"Yeah, well, she never did tell me how to fix my legs...they were smooth for a month afterwards, I had to research the counter-charm myself..."

Remus burst out laughing. "You never told me that!"

"Odd, I wonder why? Hey, look, there's that suit you dug up for the wedding! Where on earth did you find that thing? Has Harry seen these?"

"No, I made sure only to send him pictures of you." It wasn't true, but Sirius knew that.

"Sneak. That thing is horrible."

"Yes, well, if you hadn't turned it orange...and, you know, I can always send Harry the picture of you in a dress..."

"Don't you dare. Oh, this is a nice one, all four of us...wait, but someone's missing..."

Remus leaned over his shoulder to look. "Peter. He was in it when we took it, but about two summers ago when I went to pack up my things to move out of Hogwarts, I noticed that he had scurried out of all my pictures."

"Wonder why," Sirius said bitterly.

"Yes, well, it's a good thing he did," Remus said mildly, "Or I would have hexed him out."

"You didn't hex me out."

"No, I just put all my pictures of you in a box and shoved it away in a corner."

"I see." Sirius was quiet as he finished going through the pictures, then he put them on the floor next to the box. "So, what else do you have in here?" He began pulling things out of the box and laughed when he realized that Remus had shoved all the (non-edible) gifts Sirius had given him into it. For the first few years the gifts they'd given each other had been a bit generic - sugar quills, dungbombs, and so on, but later on they became a bit more personal. Sirius was laughing over a statue of a wolf that ran around in circles chasing its own tail and howling in a really squeaky voice, and Remus was reaching in to pull out some letters he had saved when his fingers brushed a wood surface at the bottom of the box. He froze.

"What's that you've found there, Moony?" Sirius asked, setting the statue on the floor and scooting back over to the box. Caught, Remus slowly lifted out the carved wooden box. "Did I give you this?" Sirius wondered, looking at it.

Remus shook his head. "Lily did, right after she...found out. It was her way of telling me she knew, and that she didn't care. I'd forgotten about it," he said softly.

"So what's in it?"

Remus didn't answer, he just looked at it, trying to remember...a long-forgotten vow flitted across his mind, but for some reason it didn't seem to matter anymore...he lifted his wand, and spoke a spell. The lock clicked open, and he smiled with satisfaction as he lifted the lid.

"Remus, I didn't know you kept these," Sirius said softly after a moment.

"I'd forgotten myself," Remus admitted, "If I'd remembered while I was teaching, I would've...but I guess it's better I didn't." To give himself something to do, he lifted the two amulets out of the box, and handed one to Sirius.

Sirius turned it over in his hand, running his thumb over the smooth, rounded glass. "Thought I'd lost it," he muttered.

"I found it at Godric's Hollow," Remus told him, "There wasn't much else left."

Sirius nodded, but said nothing. Then he slipped the chain over his head, slid the amulet under his robes, and, borrowing Remus' wand, said a Charm that would make sure no one ever saw it. Taking his wand back, Remus did the same with his own amulet.

"Now if we can find the two-way mirrors James and I had, everything will really be back to normal," Sirius said.

Remus grinned. "I'd forgotten about that. You know, next time you want to keep a secret like that from me, you should refrain from having me find the Charm for it."

"Well, it sounds obvious now..."

"It was then, too, you just lacked subtlety. Come to think of it, you still do," Remus said reflectively.

"Yeah, yeah. I just wish I knew where they were...James gave me his a while ago when they thought Voldemort was after them, said he wanted his most valuable things kept safe..."

"What would you do if you found it?"

"I dunno...give it to Harry? He might need it."

"Good idea."

"Speaking of Harry, when d'you think Dumbledore'll let him come here? Poor kid must be going crazy with those Muggles."

"Don't know, but I hope it's soon," Remus sighed.

"Yeah, think I might just bust him out myself if it takes much longer."

"And Harry will have your head if you get caught," Remus said calmly.

"No chance of that, they'll chuck me back in Azkaban first," Sirius replied gloomily. He began gathering all of the things they had spread all over the floor and putting them back in the box. "Well, this was fun."

Remus smiled. "I suppose."

Just then, they heard Molly Weasley's voice yelling through the whole house. "REMUS! SIRIUS! COME QUICK, A COUPLE OF DEMENTORS WENT AFTER HARRY!" Sirius and Remus exchanged glances, then went thundering downstairs.

Sirius pulled away from the fireplace, grabbed the nearest object - a candlestick, oddly enough, and flung it across the room. "I'll KILL him!" He shouted.

"I'd really rather you didn't," Remus said calmly, going to pick the candlestick and set it back where it had been. "He's a bit necessary to the cause."

"More necessary than I am," Sirius said bitterly.

Remus raised an eyebrow at him. "Did I say that?"

"You might as well just admit it," Sirius retorted, "I HATE him!" He burst out.

"Well, he's not exactly behaving maturely at the moment," Remus said, "I must admit I thought Dumbledore's hope that he could get over his prejudices about Harry were a bit far-fetched."

"Don't know what he was thinking, having him teach Harry Occlumency..."

"I haven't got any more idea than you do, but it's really important that the lessons start again."

"I know, I know. Just say it already, Snivellus is more useful than you, he's got so many important jobs and all you do is clean all day..."

"I think you shouldn't call him that anymore," Remus said mildly, "Especially considering what Harry just saw."

"Sorry," Sirius said sulkily. "It's just...I never thought it would be this way, you know? Stuck here in this...house...cleaning...listening to that great git mocking me, letting that stupid woman run my godson's life...having to deal with an old, insane house elf..."

"I know," said Remus softly, "Life's like that, doesn't always deal you the hand you want."

Sirius gave him a wry smile. "You know what I'd really like to say now?"

"What?"

"I'd like to say, 'how would you know, at least you're not stuck in some horrible situation you can't even control,' but--"

Remus laughed. "Well, if it's any consolation, I wouldn't switch lives with you for anything."

"Thanks, Moony, that's a great help," Sirius said sarcastically.

"Any time."

"Even considering Azkaban, you'd probably win the who-has-the-most-horrible life game," Sirius remarked.

"That's a game I've always wanted to win."

"Naturally."

Remus sighed. "We're avoiding the subject, aren't we?"

"There was a subject?"

"Yes, it was What Are We Going To Do About Snape?"

"Oh, that subject."

"Yes, exactly. So...what are we going to do about him?"

"Hex his underwear? Put itching powder in his robes, Canary Creams in his food and set Dungbombs off in his socks?" Sirius suggested.

Remus couldn't resist. "That wouldn't change the way they smelled."

Sirius was surprised into a laugh. "And you pretend to be the responsible one."

"Yes, well, it's a difficult façade." Remus sighed. "Unfortunately, we've both graduated from Hogwarts, and that won't convince him to take Harry back. I'll have to talk to him. Damn it."

"You don't want me to be there, do you?"

"No, I don't want to have to take him back to Dumbledore in pieces...if you're not there at least I'll be able to hex his nose off when he's not looking..."

"Mwahahahahaha. Revenge, sweet revenge..."

"It scares me when you do that."

"Why else would I do it?"

"Dunno. Dammit, I hate talking to him."

"Well, good luck. If he gives you any trouble, I sneak into Hogwarts and hex his underwear to sing Do You See What I See? whenever he puts them on."

Remus suppressed a snicker. "Tempting as that is, I think I'll pass. For now."

"Good man," Sirius said with a grin. "Now, I'm going to sit in a dark room and toss dead rats around. Want to come?"

"I've seen you feed Buckbeak before, and it's not that interesting. No, I think I'll go clean the kitchen, it's gotten disgusting."

Sirius shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said, and went upstairs.

Remus watched him go, and should have then gone into the kitchen to do the dishes. But instead, he sat down and looked into the fireplace for a very long time, thinking.

He had a feeling that something was about to happen, that something was wrong, especially with Sirius, who had been brooding more and more often since Christmas. But he couldn't put his finger on it, and they were just shadowy suspicions anyway...he should just ignore them, and go on with life...

But he didn't sleep much that night, or the next.

Something was wrong...if only he knew what...

You can probably guess that Remus' suspicions were right...but what was wrong, he was not destined to know for a little while longer. And the same goes for you, it's well past your bedtime. Oh, stop complaining, you'll find out the next part of the story soon enough, if you can wait just a bit longer for the next phase of the moon...
It was hard to write this chapter without drawing from the universe of FernWithy's excellent story "Shifts," which you can read on The Sugar Quill. I highly recommend it, and all of her other work. I really had to talk myself out of using her idea for what Remus was doing over the summer - I decided to leave it open-ended, so I could change it if we ever do find out. But it was a wrench, believe me. That story is utterly brilliant.