Hey guys! I know it's only been like...a day since the last update, but I'm on a roll!

Disc- Not mine. The song belongs to The Easties- not the esties. That is a typo! The charaters and anything else you recognize belong to the wonderful JKR!

I don't care

You don't care

I do know

You're angry

You don't care

I don't care

Who are you?

Just like me?

Am I you?

You are me

I do know

You're angry

You don't care

I don't care

Who are you?

Like me?

It wasn't like Remus could go too far. They were in detention and would be stuck there for the better part of the night. But the fact of the matter was, Remus had left. Stood and walked away and was now absently brushing cobwebs from the corners. Sirius watched him through foggy eyes, almost angry. Suddenly, Remus whirled around.

"It was an accident," he said. It was not a question but a restatement of what Sirius had already claimed to be true.

"Yes," Sirius said hopefully.

"Sirius…I can't hate you," Remus said pensively. "But I need to ask you to fix this."

Sirius stared at him. How in Merlin's name would he accomplish such an impossible task? Short of memory charms (wholly illegal, most especially for underage wizards) he could think of no way to remedy the situation he had created.

"I'll try," he finally amended and Remus gave him a small smile. To his immense surprise, Remus suddenly had his arms around him, hugging him fiercely. Sirius smiled.

"We could have you talk to him, convince him that I'm just insane," Sirius suggested the next day. He was a bit panicked. The full moon was now only a night away and he had yet to repair the damage.

Remus shook his head with a sigh.

"S'no good. He already thinks that." Sirius gave a low growl.

"What then?" He asked angrily.

"I don't know! I'm not the one who told him!" Remus snapped. Sirius growled and threw himself from Remus's bed where he had been lounging, before beginning to pace.

"You weren't there! You didn't hear how he said it. I was so sure…I thought he knew! Don't keep throwing this at me Remus!"

He was almost pleased at the shocked look on Remus's face, before feeling guilty. Remus was just as stressed as he. After all, his secret and freedom where on the line, as well as Severus's life.

"I'm sorry," Remus sighed, putting his head down on the bed dejectedly.

"Hey, it's nothing," Sirius said quickly, sitting back down. "We'll think of something."

"We could tell Dumbledore," Remus finally whispered.

"No," Sirius said firmly.

"Why not?" Remus asked indignantly.

"The last thing I need is to drag an authority in on this. We're not supposed to know, Remus! And this…this thing, between us, isn't all together normal! No, we can't pull in an adult."

Remus was so stunned at this argument that he didn't even make a rebuttal. 'This thing, between us.' As far as Remus knew, there wasn't a thing between them.

Remus?" Sirius asked hesitantly. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I didn't mean…between us, I meant…what we are…. Separately, but similarly. I mean…I'm sorry." He stumbled awkwardly. Remus gave a small smile, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"S'alright, Padfoot. I knew what you meant." Sirius gave a great sigh of relief.

"So no Dumbledore. What else have you got?" he asked Sirius, who threw himself down onto the floor with a great thump.

"Absolutely nothing," he mumbled.

James couldn't help but hear the thump as he walked up the stairs from dinner. Sirius and Remus had opted to stay behind, and James was so weary of their newly repaired friendship that he hadn't even asked why. But now, there were strange noises issuing from the room and he was not quite certain he wanted to go in there. He and Peter shared a look and then pushed the door open together.

Remus took one look at their faces and burst into laughter. Sirius, from his awkward viewpoint on the floor, glared up at them in mock annoyance. Remus however, seemed to welcome the interruption.

They still hadn't told the other's what was going on. Remus feared that James coupled with Sirius would lead to disastrous results (namely- memory charms), while Sirius couldn't bare the thought of James knowing how close he had come to betraying them all. Plus, he was kind of enjoying the alone time with Remus.

"What's been going on?" James asked in a voice that suggested he wasn't sure he wanted to know. Remus smiled blandly.

"Oh, nothing," he said, amazing himself that he could be so nonchalant about an event such as this. Both his and Severus's lives were on the line, and yet, he was almost relaxed. Somehow, he was convinced they would manage to fix it.

"Then, uh…Pete and I will just be leaving now…" James said, ineptly maneuvering Peter out of the room. He shut the door very firmly behind him.

Remus laughed.

"Back to work," Sirius moaned from the ground. Remus nodded.

"We could always say that it was a prank, meant to scare him," Sirius suggested suddenly. Remus looked at him incredulously. What with the full moon being only hours away, their ideas were getting more and more desperate, as well as ridiculous.

"And how, pray tell, would that work?" Remus spat angrily. Sirius shriveled slightly.

"I dunno…we could let him get down by the tree and then James and I could haul him away…convince him that we just wanted the tree to murder him…but we decided against it…"

Remus gave him a dry look.

"I'm so sure that will work," he snapped. Tempers were high, and though Sirius couldn't exactly blame Remus, he couldn't quite keep his voice totally level when he answered.

"I thought so," he snapped. Remus looked at him, then stood abruptly.

"Where are you going?" Sirius asked in a sudden panic. Remus glared at him.

"To the nurses," he hissed, before storming from the room. His black robes billowed around him ominously.

"Oh no," Sirius moaned, pushing his head back against the cushion of the chair. James walked over uncertainly.

"Sirius, we have to be getting ready to go…he'll need us in an hour-"

"We can't, James, something terrible has happened!" Sirius blurted. "I acci- I told Snape about the Whomping Willow. As a…prank. I just wanted the tree to hurt him, but I think he's found a way to get into it and I'm afraid. Remus…Remus knows. We've been trying to come up with some way to stop him…but…well, obviously…" Sirius gestured hopelessly, daring to dream that James would believe that it was a prank.

"Sirius, how could you? Remus's life is on the line! And Snape's!" James sputtered indignantly, his glasses slipping down his nose. He pushed them up impatiently and ran a hand through his hair, mussing it even more.

"I'm sorry James. I didn't think-"

"Obviously," James snapped. "PETER!" He screeched suddenly, bringing the round boy barreling down the stairs at a speed that could certainly not be considered healthy.

"What is it James? Who died?" Peter gasped, still pulling a shirt on.

"This…git…" he gestured feebly at Sirius. "Told Snape about the Willow. We've got to do something."

"Oh Lord…." Peter gasped softly. He looked terribly pale.

"We're wasting time!" Sirius said angrily. "We don't know when Snape was planning on going down there, but we need to do something now. It was a terrible prank, I know, but I need you guys to help me. I have an…idea…"

"THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SOMETHING?" James yelled exasperatedly, throwing his hands into the air without reservation. Several people looked at him, but, upon seeing his beet-red face, they quickly looked away.

"Look, I…it doesn't matter!" Sirius said quickly. He glanced at his watch. They were going to be late. It was twenty minutes to the willow at a run, and Remus would be transforming in the next few minutes. If Severus had been watching the tree to see when Remus went down into it, he would have had to wait for Madame Pomfrey to come back up before he could follow. They needed to leave, now!

"James, you need to pull him away. Convince hi- tell him I was trying to get him hurt. Peter, transform and go to Remus. He can't be alone tonight. I'll try to manhandle Snape away, but James, you have to talk to him, convince him not to go in there. Well?" He said, seeing them staring at him, motionless. "Let's go!"

They burst into action, tearing from the common room. From behind an armchair, Lily Evans turned and peered at the running boys. She knew that it was none of her business. She knew that people already thought her a nosy, teacher's pet, know-it-all. But somehow, she knew that she needed to talk to a teacher.

They barreled onto the front lawn, noting that the moon was all ready high in the sky. Severus was nowhere in sight. Sirius checked his watch in fear.

"We're too late!" he gasped. James slapped him, hard across the back of his head.

"Peter, transform and stop the tree. Get to Remus," he commanded, ignoring Sirius's sputters of offence. Peter did so at once. Sirius and James rushed after him, watching as his gray tail and red eyes disappeared. He was traveling much faster than they were.

The tunnel to Remus had never seemed so long, nor had they ever ran so fast down it. They could hear him ahead, howling. Peter was obviously having trouble controlling him.

James was running so fast, he ran headlong into Snape.

"Snape! Don't, you can't go in there!" He gasped, pulling at Severus's arm and trying to force him away from the door.

"Potter!" Snape sneered. "Why aren't you in there with the rest of your little friends? I knew there was something going on to night, and now I have proof!" Suddenly, another howl rose passed the door, a haunting, searching melody, which changed suddenly into a sharp, hunting bark. They had been smelt.

Suddenly, before James could even think, Padfoot had brushed passed them and into the room. Snape didn't even notice the grim-like dog slipping passed. His face had gone from gleeful to full of fear and his beetle black eyes were narrowed at the door.

"That's not a human in there," he said quietly, and pushed at the door with reckless abandonment. The door, loose as it was from Padfoot pushing against it, came open easily.

James felt a fear boil within him like none he'd ever felt before. He'd often seen Remus in his werewolf form but never had he been so exposed. Padfoot was nowhere to be seen, but suddenly the door slammed shut and James was certain it was Padfoot's doing. He sealed the door quickly and began to drag Snape away, knowing the his charm wouldn't last long against a werewolf.

"Werewolf!" gasped Snape suddenly. "That can't be allowed! When my head of house hears about this-"

"Be thankful you're alive, Snape!" James snapped, latching onto his arm with one quidditch-strengthened hand and pulling him along. "And I can assure you, your head of house is well aware of it!"

Snape gaped at him, then pulled his arm away roughly.

"Don't stop!" James gasped, pulling at him. Snape stumbled along. Behind him, he heard the splintering of wood and knew the door had come down. They ran quicker and then, suddenly, just ahead, James saw the impossible.

"Keep going!" Rumbled the deep voice of Albus Dumbledore, whose wand was out. The twinkle was gone from his eye. In fact, in the dark shadows of the tunnel, they almost seemed to be glowing, an intense, inhuman blue. Power radiated from him. James didn't stop to question. He threw himself around Dumbledore, pulling Snape's limp form with him. He glanced back. Snape seemed petrified. His legs barely moved and his eyes were glazed over.

Behind James, Dumbledore blasted a spell James had never heard before. The force of it rocked the tunnel; he and Snape went flying forward. When he'd regained his footing, he noticed that Snape was completely out of it. He had passed out. A dark stain was spreading across the front of his robes. Avoiding looking at this, James hauled the sallow skinned man up the tunnel as best he could. When he stumbled out, he saw, to his immense surprise, Lily Evans.

"James!" She gasped. "Severus!" She screeched, seeing his prone form. Quickly, she ushered them from beneath the trees attacking branches. Madame Pomfrey was there as well and she quickly began to tend to the still boy. Without being asked, Lily pushed James down onto the grass and began to question his well-being.

"How are you? Does anything hurt? Did you break anything?"

He stared at her dumbly.

"James?"

"I'm fine," he finally said. "Not even a scratch."

"Where're the others?" She asked.

"There were no others," he said quickly, and though she stared penetratingly at him, he said no more. To his surprise, she did not rat him out to Madame Pomfrey. Instead, she hugged him quickly and fixed his glasses. He hadn't even noticed they'd broken.

"Miss Evans," Dumbledore said gravely behind them. She looked up quickly at him. "I expect you are confused. As soon as Mr. Snape has been fixed up a bit, I will explain to you both. James." He turned to him solemnly. "Find Mr. Black and Mr. Pettigrew. Though as far as I can tell, they are not part of this, I daresay that they were. Is that right?"

"Yes sir," James said quietly. "Sirius was. Peter…knew what was going on, but he's really not involved."

"And why is it that only you came down to assist Mr. Snape?" Dumbledore asked seriously. "Ms. Evans swore she'd seen all three of you leave."

"Professor, sir," Lily started, and then stopped. She didn't know what to say. Dumbledore held his hand up for silence and looked penetratingly at James.

"They came down, Sir," he said truthfully. Then, avoiding his eyes, he quickly lied. "We were afraid that Re- the werewolf had scented him, and gotten out already. We were planning for the worst. They went to search the edge of the forest. In case…Snape had…" He stopped but Dumbledore swallowed his hesitation as emotion and patted him on the shoulder.

"It was very noble of you, to think of the worst and investigate it accordingly. Lily, James…twenty points will be awarded to each of you for your insight." Lily gasped slightly.

"He's awake, Headmaster!" Came Madame Pomfrey's shout suddenly.

They hurried over. Snape looked much better. He was clean and dry. Plus, his angry, sallow expression was back. James never thought he'd say it, but he was relieved to see it.

"Are you aware that there's a werewolf in your school?" He spat with such venom that James half expected to drop over dead.

"Werewolf?" Lily gasped incredulously. Snape rounded on her.

"Evans?"

She mumbled something about it being a long story, and wishing she'd just gone to bed. Snape snorted.

"Likewise," he agreed dryly.

"Mr. Snape, Miss Evans, please follow me. Mr. Potter, round up your friends and meet us in my office." He turned on his heel and left. James stared after him.

Dumbledore was a mysterious man. James often got the feeling he could see right into his soul with those twinkling eyes. And he knew that it wasn't all together impossible. Remus had once ran across a book entitled Legilimens and How It Works, and had pointed out that he often felt as though Dumbledore was looking into his mind. But if Dumbledore possessed that talent, then why had he not seen through James's lies? Why hadn't he looked into James's heart and seen that he was an animagus? And if he had, why was he letting them off?

James transformed quickly, banishing these confusing thoughts from his mind. It was excruciatingly hard to reach the knot in the tree's base now, but he did it and slid into the tunnel. When he reached the shack, he saw a sight he'd never thought he'd see before.

Remus the werewolf, Moony, was lying perfectly still and calm. He was asleep. Never before had he slept during the floor moon. Padfoot and Wormtail stood protectively over him, Wormtail clinging to Padfoot's thick, bushy ears. Padfoot whined in greeting to Prongs and conveyed, through a series of whines and body movements, that Dumbledore's spell had brought about this change in Moony.

He didn't see us, Padfoot expressed to Prongs, who nodded and ushered them towards the door with his antlers. They stared at him. Prongs threw up his antlers in slight disgust and pushed them out the door. Padfoot whined and growled menacingly, but Prongs pushed him out all the same. Finally, they emerged into the night air.

"Dumbledore wants to see us," he said after transforming back. The other two boys stared at him and they began the long walk to the headmaster's office, James explaining his cover story.

Lily sat in the office, scared to death. It wasn't like she'd never been here before. She had, many times. Not for anything exciting, mind. Once was when all the prefects got in a fistfight during a meeting and the head boy and girl had pulled them apart. And she had simply been caught in the middle of that. She hadn't even thrown a proper punch, even when the Hufflepuff creep had used the kerfuffle as an excuse to feel her up. Another time was when her sister Petunia had accidentally sat on her owl and Lily had somehow managed to explode her from halfway across the continent. But really, Lily had never been there for something quite so serious, and though she had been rewarded, she couldn't help but be worried.

When the other three boys walked in, Lily watched them with wide eyes. Peter and Sirius looked ragged and mangy. There were several cuts on their arms and legs. Sirius had a deep stain spreading across his chest, while Peter's ear was bleeding profusely. Compared to them, Lily suddenly felt frivolous and impractical in her matching nightgown and slippers.

"Sit down, boys," Dumbledore said kindly. "Let's here what you have to say. Severus, I think it would be appropriate to start with you."

"Black tried to kill me!" Snape sputtered. "He tricked me! He made it sound like there was something going on tonight and lured me under the Whomping Willow and I could have been killed!"

"Severus, what Sirius did was horrible and wrong. But why did you listen to him? You're a smart boy! Why did you do something so irresponsible? Ten points from Slytherin!"

"He tricked me! He didn't just…tell me how to get down there! He set it all up. He made it into a…puzzle. Like he accidentally told me, and of course, I figured out what he meant, I'm intelligent! He presented only some of the facts to me and he did it on purpose!" Snape sputtered crossly.

"It sounds to me like Sirius didn't mean to tell you," Dumbledore said softly. "Have you stopped to consider that what he said wasn't an act?"

Sirius took a great breath in. It would be perfect, he thought, if only he could say that was what had happened. Because that was. But he'd already told James that he had been playing a prank and there was no way to reverse that. He'd thought, when he'd set it up like that, that he was protecting Remus. If it was known that Remus had known and done nothing, he would most certainly be expelled, while Sirius would get off practically free. Sirius couldn't do that to him.

"It was a prank," he said suddenly. "But it wasn't meant to kill you. It was mean…to hurt you. And not Remus. I never meant to tell you how to get into the tree. I just wanted you to think that something was going on by the tree, so that you'd get attacked."

Dumbledore looked at him piercingly. Sirius closed his eyes and looked at the ground, ashamed.

"That was very, very wrong of you Sirius. Seventy points from Gryffindor. And you will not be attending any of the Quidditch matches, any of the Hogsmeade weekends, nor any of the feasts. During those times, you will be up here, with myself or Professor McGonagall. And I should think that you'll need a few detentions to go along with it."

"But Professor," Lily spoke up suddenly. "I don't understand. Are you saying that Remus…is a werewolf?"

Dumbledore sighed, a weary, sad sound that filled the entire room.

"Yes, Lily. Unfortunately, Remus Lupin had been cursed. It is not something to be scared of, nor to prosecute. He cannot control himself during the full moon. He cannot fight off what happens. It is a sad, sad thing, when anyone, youth most especially, is subjected to this kind of inner-turmoil." Lily stared at him. A single tear slipped from her right eye.

" I wont tell a soul," she said.

"Of course not, dear," he said, patting her on the shoulder. "Severus, you must vow never to speak of this, to anyone."

He glared at Dumbledore.

"Why should I?" He mumbled with anger. Dumbledore sprang from his seat, anger emitting from him like heat. He leaned forward on his desk and stared straight into Severus's eyes, who shrank from him in fear.

"I promise that I will never tell anyone what has happened tonight," he vowed. James gave a small, weary smile. He knew that Dumbledore's powers were strong and that it was likely that Lily and Severus were now magically bound to their word.

"Miss Evans, will you pick up your end of the story?" Dumbledore said pleasantly. Lily stared at his abrupt change in character.

"Well, I heard them talking," she said, casting an apologetic glance at the three Marauders. "It wasn't any of my business, but from what I'd heard…I was afraid someone was going to be killed. When I went to McGonagall's office, Professor Dumbledore was there." She nodded in his direction. "I didn't say who I'd heard talking. I just said that I thought someone was going to be hurt, down by the Whomping Willow. Before I'd even finished talking, we were running down there. McGonagall went to get Madame Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore went in after you. He…stayed in there a long time. Madame Pomfrey came before he came back. James and Severus came out and…well…here we are…"

"James?" Dumbledore prompted.

"Sirius told me what had happened. He was afraid that Snape had taken it the wrong way and had figured out how to get underneath the tree, so we hurried down. Sirius and Peter went into the forest…just in case, and I went into the tunnel. We got down there and I tried to pull Snape away, I did! But he saw M- Remus before I could get him away. And then we were running and you were there, Headmaster! And you shot some spell and we were pitched forward and Snape…well…" he glanced uneasily in Snape's direction. "He collapsed, so I dragged him the rest of the way."

"Peter?"

"We went into the forest. We got…lost…and then James came and found us…I guess we were looking in the wrong place," Peter lied with his eyes downcast. Dumbledore nodded.

"I suggest that you all head down to the hospital wing and sleep down there. Go on. Sirius, Peter, you will both need to be cleaned up a bit," Dumbledore instructed. They walked dejectedly from the room.

"I'm sorry," Sirius whispered to them. He turned to Snape. "Truly, I am." Snape narrowed his eyes and him and turned, robes billowing around him. He stomped off down the hall. The others glanced at Sirius. James put an arm around his shoulder and Lily took his hand, leading him down the hall like a lost child. Observing him, James thought he looked trapped in his own head, unable to get out.

"What'll we do about Remus?" Peter finally asked quietly.

"He won't be mad at me," Sirius said in an even softer voice. Lily glanced at him confusedly.

"We'll explain in the morning, Lily," James muttered tiredly. Sirius blinked a few times at this, as did Peter, but they didn't complain. Lily nodded and then kept her eyes on the ground.

"Tomorrow, Padfoot," James said softly. "In the tomorrow, it will look better."