Trading Places- chapter six

The Transformation

A/N: I'm not feeling so great today. Because of snow, school had a 2 hour late start. But I had a temp of 100.8, and got to stay home and start on this chapter! I hope you like it- I'll try to be better about posting. But like I said in the last chapter, my writer's block has remarkably been lifted. There will only be one more chapter after this. I'm using just the character's name, not who's body they're in, that's for you to figure out. It depends on how you look at this- it could make it more or less confusing.

NOTE IN THIS CHAPTER:

Reviewer's Request: to mistress editor

'I would just, for kicks, put in the names of the bodies and let the readers try and figure out the characters. It's more fun that way, methinks.'

I will, in the next chapter. But I was already into this chapter when I got your review, and going back and changing all the characters was too confusing and I was afraid I would miss something, so I'll do your request next time, I promise!

Here it is again to help anyone with serious cases of confusion:

James- is actually Remus inside

Sirius- is actually James inside

Remus- is actually Sirius inside

Lily- is actually Peter

Peter- is actually Lily

When I say Sirius, that means Sirius. When I say Sirius (James) it is actually James- incase there is any confusion.

Here it goes...

The next morning's sunshine brutally woke up our favorite Gryffindors that Monday morning. They had only been asleep for three hours following the party for Gryffindor's victory. Lily gasped after she felt the sun on her face and checked her watch. "We only have ten minutes before classes!" she squealed. She shook each of the boys roughly out of bed, getting so impatient with Sirius that she simply pushed him onto the uncomfortable ground and let him wake up on his own.

"Hurry!" he yelled as she combed her short mousy brown hair that she was still not used to. James reached blindly around for his glasses, as Sirius searched madly for his tie. As usual, Lily went to the bathroom to change as the boys dressed in their dormitory. They greeted each other tossle-haired in the Common Room. Their shirt tails where hanging out past their vests, and their ties were very sloppily done. Lily sighed, straightened her own tie, and they each grabbed a handful of pretzels from the night before as their breakfast before hurrying to Transfiguration.

The five friends stumbled into the classroom two seconds before the bell rang, pink faced and gasping. Professor McGonagoll looked sternly at them.

"I'm sure that you had a smashing time at the party in your Common Room last night, but that gives you five no excuse to come to class looking as though you dressed in the dark." The corners of her mouth twitched in what could be said was a small smile. "And Pettigrew, the rosy color in your cheeks suits you very well." the class laughed, Peter's face flushed more, and the Marauders grinned appreciatively at their Professor's rare humor. They knew that she was cutting them some slack because she was so proud of them at the game yesterday.

Snape smirked sourly as the five Gryffindors sat in the row of desks in front of him. He was obviously put-out about Gryffindor flattening Slytherin.

"All right, Snivelly?" Sirius greeted Snape in the usual fashion, sounding less than in mock concern.

" Bug off, Lupin." Snape hissed as they passed.

" Manners, Snivellus," said Sirius, pretending to look offended.

"Lupin, sit down." barked McGonagoll, annoyed. " I'm surprised at you! I may reconsider my choice of letting your entrance slip."

"Yes, Professor." said Sirius dramatically, as he took his seat next to James, sticking his tongue out at Snape, who scowled and looked away.

"You're so hopelessly immature." said Lily.

"I know," said Sirius cheerfully. " But so is James."

"He's not the one acting like a five year old." Lily responded hotly.

"Well, I'm always on my best behavior around you, Lils." said James in a sickly sweet voice that made the others scoff.

"Pass the crisps, Pete."

It was lunch time, and the Marauders were discussing the upcoming full moon. Lily was absent at the moment. At the end of Transfiguration, McGonagoll had insisted that Peter stay behind and discuss his grades in the subject, and how he could improve them. This was a completely meaningless meeting to Lily, who was passing herself. Peter got off scotch free from McGonagoll's lectures for the time being.

Peter handed James the bowl of potato crisps. "So, Lils doesn't know about us being Animagus yet. What are we going to do? We can't leave Padfoot alone, who knows what he'll do," said James, shuddering.

"Run free and attack any moving thing I see moving," said Sirius honestly. "Now, let's think back to fifth year when we mastered becoming Animagus," he said quietly, so only his friends could hear. "If James is me, will he turn into Padfoot or Prongs?"

"Prongs," Remus answered quickly. "It determines his personality. He may look like you, but he's the same person."

'So," said Peter, thinking hard, and it showed on Lily's face. "I'll still be Wormtail, and James will Prongs. Padfoot won't be there. Moony will be Sirius for now, because-"

"Because I was bitten, and that is physical, not to do with personality, so Sirius will be Moony for now," said Remus glumly.

"But what about you, Remus?" asked James. "What will happen to you?"

"I'm not sure," said Remus slowly. "I never became an Animagus, so I can't transform. But I think that I should be there, incase something goes wrong."

"I agree," said James seriously. " You are the sensible one."

"Where would be without you?" cried Sirius, pretending to cry.

"Dead, or in jail most likely," said Remus honestly, recalling all of the things he had stopped them from doing. In first year, he had convinced them that they couldn't fly off of the Astronomy tower, no matter how hard they tried, and that if they stole any of Dumbledore's sweets, the consequences would be deadly, and that Professor McGonagoll would curse them if they ever called her Minnie. James and Sirius looked thoughtful, and decided that he was probably right.

"But I can't be there as a human, because if Sirius bites me, he'll also be a werewolf when we change back. Maybe one of you could transfigure me into some animal. That should last until one of you takes it off." He looked around at the evil faces on James and Sirius, and sighed. "You would take the charm off, wouldn't you?"

"Of course, Moony!" said Sirius, still grinning evilly. "What animal would you prefer? Or should we choose for you?"

"I'll pick for myself!'' said Remus quickly. "But what about Lily? How can we distract her while we sneak out? She is in our Common Room."

"And she's a light sleeper." said James through a mouthful of turkey sandwich. "When I was getting a drink of water last night, and tripped over Sirius's trunk which he had so kindly left in the middle of the floor--" Sirius grinned proudly. "Lily was the first one to wake up and laugh at- I mean, help me."

Sirius chuckled at his friend's memorable incident. "That reminds me, Padfoot. I found some very interesting objects while putting your belongings back in your trunk. Dog biscuits, for starters, some objects I am sure are illegal, well- more than usual..."

"I'll pay you five galleons to stop there!" Sirius shouted, rummaging around in his pockets, and dropping five galleons into the hands of his grinning friend.

"Oh!" Peter whined. "I wanna know!"

"Know what?" asked Lily, taking her spot at the table, causing Peter and James to move so that there was room for her. She piled food on her plate and looked at the others expectantly.

"Well, Wor- I mean Lils, we were just discussing the contents of Sirius's trunk that spilled out last night. The only clarified object was dog biscuits." said Remus. Sirius glared at him.

"Oh, the beef and liver flavored ones?" inquired Lily, while the others chortled.

"They're not so bad," said Sirius, with a wave of his hand.

"If you're a dog," James reminded him. "I was paid off, so I can't say anything else." He gave Lily a meaningful look.

"Oh, yes!" Lily cried, excitedly. "There was a stuffed animal- a black dog with a nametag that said Snuffles!"

Sirius turned red. "You saw- I mean, I do not!"

Lily rummaged through her History of Magic notes, looking for the notes on the more violent of goblin rebellions. James and Sirius were playing paper Quidditch. Sirius was making the goal post with his hands, while James, the Chaser, threw crumpled parchment resembling a Quaffle through the goals. Remus rolled his eyes, but watched in amusement, forgetting about his Charms essay.

"And Potter scores!" James cried, making a hissing noise like an audience cheering.

"Slytherin- 0, Gryffindor is around a million now..." Sirius went off, also providing the commentary.

Remus sighed. "Padfoot, if you're going to play an imaginary game of Quidditch, at least make the scores realistic!"

Sirius sighed, and put down his hands in defeat. "I'm just telling it like it is, Moony!"

"I was having fun watching!" Peter protested. "But James, where's the Snitch?" In response, James pulled the struggling golden Snitch from his pocket, and let it loose, before catching it with excellent reflexes.

Lily sighed, and muttered, "Boys," before getting back to work.

"Um, Prongs-" said Remus quickly. "You might want to put that away. The vulture's coming."

"Right," said James, storing the Snitch safely away. The Marauders put on innocent faces as Madame Pomfrey went by. She looked suspiciously down at them over her vulture like nose, waved her feather duster irritably, and gave them a look that said, "I'm watching you," before turning to go organize a bookshelf.

"How come everyone always thinks we're up to something?" asked Sirius in outrage.

"Because you always are up to something," answered Lily simply.

"We are not!" James argued.

"Oh, yeah?" asked Lily in a sinisterly sweet voice. "Then how did you wind up in this mess?"

"You're in this mess, too." Remus pointed out just as sweetly.

It was the morning of the full moon.

"Padfoot," James whispered, as he fastened his tie that morning. "You coming?" Sirius had been awake all night, trying to get to sleep over a hammering headache, and aching joints that Remus knew all too well, while running a temperature of over a hundred degrees.

Remus looked sympathetically down at his friend, knowing what Sirius was going through, and what he later would. He felt guilty for feeling slightly relieved that for once he wouldn't have to go through the werewolf transformation. Remus rummaged through his trunk and pulled out a bar of Honeyduke's Best Chocolate that he had purchased from their last Hogsmeade visit.

"Eat this, it'll help." Remus muttered, as he broke off a piece of the chocolate, leaving the rest on the bedside table incase Sirius wanted more.

"Mmmm," Sirius grunted, sitting up slightly. It was still unnerving to each of the Marauders when they spoke and heard their friend's voice, looked down at unfamiliar hands, and looked across the Common Room and saw yourself setting off a Dungbomb while you feel like you're only sitting there watching. Remus had the same feeling as he saw himself sit up in bed, and make a grab for the chocolate.

Sirius swallowed, and slowly, his pale face turned closer to a normal person's coloring. "Thanks, Moony."

"So, are you coming to class?" asked James as casually as possible. Sirius slowly shook his head.

"Are you sure, Sirius?" asked Lily, concerned.

Sirius nodded, looking too sick to speak. "I don't know how you can stand this, Rem." Sirius visibly paled again, and looked sick. James quickly retrieved a bucket from the bedside, and thrust it at Sirius.

"We promise that we'll stop by after class," said Lily, looking worried. "Are you sure that you don't want to go the Hospital Wing? At least there Madame Pomfrey can look after you."

" No thanks," whispered Sirius, lifting his head up from the bucket. "I don't want her fussing over me."

"Someone has to," cried Lily. "You aren't the type who can look after yourself well when they're sick."

"I'll be fine, Lils," Sirius reassured her. " Moony always is. Now get outta here, or you'll be late for class. Rem, take notes for me."

"Sure," said Remus, feeling like he could somehow repay the debt.

James slapped Sirius on the back, but regretted it almost immediately. Sirius gagged, and leaned over the bucket again. "All right," James said awkwardly, apologizing. He ruffled his friend's hair before following the others down the stairs, joining Peter in the Common Room, before exiting through the Portrait Hole.

Sirius sighed, and flopped back onto his pillow after his friends had left, broke off another piece of chocolate, and turned to the stuffed animal next to him. "Snuffles, this really bites." Sirius's eyes grew wide, and he thought that he had gone crazy when the dog nodded in agreement.

"I noticed that Lupin was gone today," sneered Snape as he got James, Remus, Peter, and Lily on their way to the Common Room. "Isn't the full moon tonight? Just make sure that he doesn't try to kill anyone this time."

The four friend's faces grew red with anger. "That's behind, us, Snape." James, (Sirius) said angrily.

"Oh really?" asked Snape, disbelieving. "And it's behind Potter as well?" he looked at Remus, who shifted uncomfortably.

"Yes," he mumbled.

"Black, you haven't been your usual ignorant, annoying self lately. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you had switched places with Lupin."

At that point, a fellow Slytherin was approaching Snape to have a chat, and the Marauders took the opportunity to get upstairs to check on their friend.

"What was Snape talking about?" as Lily in interest, as Lily in interest as Peeves bounced past them, carrying Mrs. Norris and being chased by a very angry Filch.

"Oh, nothing." said James. But knowing that Lily wouldn't believe him, he gave Remus a look as if asking for permission to tell the story. Remus nodded, so James continued. "Last year, Snape found out about Remus." he paused there. He didn't want Lily to be mad at Sirius for being the informant- he had to deal with that enough last year, and they had promised to bury the hatchet and not bring it up again. "And Snape ran into Remus in werewolf form. Luckily, I found out, chased after him, and was able to get him away from Remus before anything happened."

Lily seemed satisfied with his answer, and merely said, "Wow."

"Yeah." Remus said, grinning at James. "If it wasn't for James, I'd be a murderer, and in big trouble with the Ministry."

Lily grinned at James.

"Paaaadfoot!" James called as they entered the boy's dorm. "How you doing, mate?"

Sirius grunted, "Okay." His head was drooped sadly on the pillow, his eyes full of pain, and his brown hair stuck to his sweaty forehead. His skin was as pale as a ghost, but the Marauders were used to seeing Remus look like this before a full moon. But they were not used to remembering that at the moment, this was not Remus, but Sirius.

"I see you finished the chocolate," said Remus, indicating the empty chocolate wrapper.

Sirius mustered a small grin. "Yeah. I slept most of the day. Did I miss anything good?"

"Of course not." said James. "Just History of Magic and Potions. And Moony took notes for you." Remus dropped the pile of notes onto the table next to the chocolate wrapper.

"So, how are you feeling?" asked Lily.

"Like crap," answered Sirius hoarsely. "It only seems to get worse."

"I know," said Remus sympathetically. "That's because the moon is coming soon. We were just dropping our stuff off before heading to dinner. Do you want anything?"

"Chicken, please." answered Sirius. "And steak, and meatloaf sounds good too..."

Lily, James, and Peter all looked at Sirius, then Remus questionably. "All he wants is meat," said Lily.

"That's the wolf taking over," said Remus. "We'll run down to the Great Hall and bring you something." Remus looked at his watch, and frowned. "On second thought, it'll be getting dark soon. We need to take you to the Hospital Wing, and we'll bring dinner to you there."

Sirius nodded, and slowly sat up. James and Remus each put an arm around him to help him up, and then the five friends exited Gryffindor Tower. James and Remus were still helping Sirius, who was so weak he couldn't lift his head up. They reached the Hospital Wing, where Madame Pomfrey greeted them.

"Oh, Potter, Black, thank you for bringing him," said Madame Pomfrey graciously. James could tell that she was acting as normal as possible about Remus's condition, so his friends wouldn't be suspicious, not that it mattered.

James remembered that he wasn't supposed to know what she was talking about, and said, "Remus wasn't feeling well."

"Thank you, Black. I can take it from here," Madame Pomfrey led Sirius over to the nearest bed, which he collapsed into.

"He said that he wanted dinner," said Lily. "We can get it for him."

"Yes, thank you, Pettigrew." Madame Pomfrey said gratefully. "But not all sweets! Though some chocolate will do him good."

As the friends left for the Great Hall, they were sure that they had seen Sirius grin at the thought of more chocolate.

It was growing dark, and the Marauders were all sitting in the boy's Common Room, with the exception of Sirius. Lily was studying, and the Marauders had guiltily devised a plan to sneak out in the next thirty minutes, before the sun had fully set, without her noticing. They were going to mix some of an instant, dreamless sleep potion in with Lily's Butterbeer.

With his back turned, feeling extremely guilty but knowing it was for the best, James poured some of the purple potion into the bottle of Butterbeer, swirled it around, and screwed the cap back on. They passed around the drinks, and Lily received her's last.

Lily unscrewed her Butterbeer cap. "I feel so bad for Sirius," cried Lily. "He's all alone in the Shrieking Shack, sick, just waiting to transform."

The three boys shifted uncomfortably. "I'm sure he'll manage," Peter muttered.

"I just don't like it," said Lily, taking a swig of her drink.

James fiddled nervously with the hearth rug he was sitting on. Remus looked at her guiltily. Peter looked anywhere but at Lily, his eyes darting around.

"I mean, they should have discovered a potion by now to cure-" Lily's eyes suddenly became unfocused, and her head flopped back, instantly snoring.

The Marauders lifted her onto the bed, and covered her with a comforter. James opened his trunk and retrieved his wand, the Marauder's Map, and his Invisibility Cloak. Remus and Peter grabbed their wands and fastened their cloaks for warmth.

"So, what animal have you decided on for us to transfigure you into?"

"I haven't really thought about it," said Remus honestly. "I was too worried about Sirius. I'll turn into a fox, I guess."

"Excellent," said James, fingering his wand.

"Not now," said Remus quickly. "Wait until we get to the Whomping Willow at least!"

With that, James threw the Invisibility cloak over himself, Remus, and Peter, unfolding the Marauder's Map.

"Lumos," said Remus, and the tip of his wand lit. "It's clear. Let's go."

Peter pushed open the Portrait Hole, and they exited. The Fat Lady looked around sleepily in confusion for who had left. "Who's there?" she asked through a yawn. When there was no answer, the portrait swung shut behind them. They marched through the corridors, heading towards the grounds, when they heard a familiar voice. It sounded like Remus, though they knew it was Sirius.

"Where are we?" he asked in confusion.

"On our way to the Whomping Willow, dear." said Madame Pomfrey softly.

"Okay," said Sirius hoarsely.

They silently followed behind Madame Pomfrey and Sirius, who was barely shuffling his feet. They left through the Entrance Hall, and out into the dewy grounds. Madame Pomfrey and Sirius cautiously approached the Whomping Willow. Madame Pomfrey picked up a large branch, and touched the knot on the tree, which instantly froze in place. "Hurry, now, Remus. Before it turns back. I would follow you, but it would be too dangerous. I'll be back at sunrise.

Sirius grunted to show he heard her, and slowly crawled through the opening in the foot of the tree. James removed the cloak, and hid it safely beside the tree as soon as they were sure Madame Pomfrey was gone.

Peter transformed into a rat, and held his paw on the tree knot, to keep it from unfreezing as the others transformed. James got out his wand, and pointed it at Remus. "Are you ready, Moony?"

Remus nodded, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes as James uttered the incantation. Remus felt himself transform- though it wasn't neatly as unpleasant as a werewolf transformation. He felt himself shrink close to the ground. James smiled. "Perfect."

Remus looked down at his hands, which were now paws, white paws, though his fur was black, the color of Sirius's hair.

James transformed into the stag, Prongs, and the four friends entered into the tunnel leading to the Shrieking Shack. They found Sirius, barely conscious, lying in the corner.

"You're here," he gasped. "H-how did you get past Lils?"

James transformed to answer. "Sleeping potion."

"Nice," gasped Sirius, and he grinned when he saw the fox that had the same black hair and hazel eyes as James did. "Remus?"

The fox nodded. Wormtail looked around and jumped on the piano, to get a better look at his surroundings.

James gulped when he saw the moonlight streaming in through the window, and said, "You ready Padfoot?"

Sirius's response was, "Do I have a choice?" As soon as he had uttered those words, he let out a blood curdling scream, and writhed on the ground where he lay. James and Peter had always hated watching the transformations, and they had trouble believing that it was Sirius in front of them. Remus was watching with wide eyes, he had never actually seen a transformation. James quickly turned back into a stag.

Remus winced. It was like watching his own transformation on film, yet it wasn't him- it was Sirius. He wouldn't wish that transformation on his worst enemy- and certainly not on one of his best friends. He wanted to close his eyes, as did James and Peter, but they were transfixed on their friend, who was turning from human to wolf before their eyes. His face was lengthening, and his hands were turning into clawed paws. Seconds later, in the Shrieking Shack stood a stag, a rat, a werewolf, and a fox.

At first the werewolf looked confused at his surroundings. But his eyes showed recognition. He seemed to know his friends and his environment, but it was himself the wolf seemed confused with. It was as if the wolf was asking, "What's going on here?"

The wolf glanced out of the window, put back his head and howled, before taking a running leap and crashing down the stairs. The wolf rolled to the bottom of the stairs, growled, and saw his reflection in the mirror opposite him. Prongs, Wormtail, and Remus were not far behind. They watched in slight amusement as the wolf edged towards the mirror, the fur on his back sticking up, and growled at his reflection in the mirror. He reached out a sharp paw and slashed at the mirror, cracking it more than the original Moony already had. The glass shattered, and some fell to the floor. The werewolf growled at the glass as it fell to the floor, but wasn't stupid enough to trod through them.

The wolf suddenly stood stock still. His ears perked up and he sniffed the air. If the other animals could speak English in this state, they would have said, "Uh-oh."

Before anyone could stop him, the werewolf bounded towards the exit, with his friends in tow. The werewolf, truly being Sirius Black, a mischievous Marauder, knew how to get past the boarded- up windows and doors and into the village of Hogsmeade. There was a doggy door in the front door, that he and James had cut out in their fifth year while on a Hogsmeade visit. But no one knew that of course, the villagers were too scared to come near the Shrieking Shack. It had been dubbed the most haunting dwelling in Britain. The door was designed for a creature as small as a rat, or as big as a stag to fit through.

They had no choice but to follow the wolf. It dashed into some nearby woods, and through a gap in the trees, in the distance, they saw a man with a Muggle gun, apparently hunting for a certain creature that only came out one night a month. The man had blood glistening on his shirt, but it didn't look like it had been an accident. The man must have purposely smeared blood on himself to attract the beast easier. The wolf was oblivious to this, all he cared about was getting at the man. And his friends didn't know what to do. Surely, if they made a noise, the man would shoot them. Then how would they be able to help their friend?

So they remained silent, stayed low to the ground, (this was hard for Prongs) and followed Sirius. There was no way they could warn him. Their hearts were beating quickly and their breathing was shallow. This could not end happily... they had to get out now.

SNAP! Too late. There was a small whimpering noise, and hurried footsteps. Prongs motioned for Wormtail to check it out, as he was the hardest to spot. Wormtail scurried through the grass, and just as quickly, scurried back, squeaking frantically and motioning with his front paw for the others to follow. They turned the corner, past some tall pine trees, and into a small, grassy clearing. The ground was green, yet black. And along with the green, was red. The werewolf seemed to be in too much pain to make much of a noise. His front paw was trapped in what was obviously a Muggle contraption that he had never seen before. It was cold metal, in the shape of two half circles, with what looked like large, sharp metal teeth. They were grabbing the wolf just above the ankle, and was stained with blood.

"I've gotcha' now!" bellowed a man with a voice that sounded stupid with drink. "Don't you move, it'll only hurt more!"

His footsteps grew closer. "Why don't I just take you out of your misery?"

Remus darted forward, weaving in between the trees, and saw that the man was at least thirty feet away still. The fox tugged at the metal contraption with his teeth, but the wolf howled with pain, and he decided that that wasn't the best idea. He looked around for help, and saw James, as a human, emerge from the trees, his wand outstretched, approaching the werewolf cautiously.

The wolf stopped growling, and looked up at James. The fox's eyes were wide with surprise. He made an irritated motion with his bushy tail. "What are you doing? You'll be killed!" was what the fox was communicating.

"Helping," was James response. He edged closer to the wolf, who had an odd look in it's eyes. Recognition, again, but also confusion, and the want to attack. "Sirius, we need to get out of here."

The wolf looked confused, down at his paw, and whimpered. "That's right," said James. "I can help you."

The werewolf took a step forward, and stopped, wincing. "There you are!" the man had finally arrived. He was barely five feet tall, and overweight, wearing a red cloak and a bloodstained shirt.

"Who're you?" he asked, looking at James, and James's wand.

"Who're you?" James asked right back.

The man grinned, and James saw that he was missing half of his yellow teeth. "I asked you first."

"My name is James," James said, annoyed that the full grown man in front of him was acting like a five year old. "And I would appreciate it if you put down that rifle."

"Why?" sneered the man, raising the gun at level with James face. "You want the beast loose?"

"He's not a beast," said James steadily. "He's my friend, and he's hurt. Please just let us get out of here."

"How do I know that that friend of yours isn't going to run loose and kill another one of my sheep?" the man gestured with his gun through the trees, where James knew there was a small farm, but he had been the werewolf, and it had certainly never killed anything.

"Because he didn't do that. It was probably a dog, or a regular wolf. A werewolf's preferred prey is humans, not sheep." James pointed out.

"Well then, I'm not a fully- umm, you know, trained wizard. I'm a Squib, and I know about werewolves. Ain't you afraid that he's going to bite you?"

"No," said James. "Just let us leave."

James could tell that this was a gullible man who could be easily persuaded, but what he didn't know was that the man was just determined to kill something, and that he wasn't really worried about werewolves at all. James knew for a fact that the so called farm only had chickens and cats, and a cow or two. "At least let me kill the fox! Or is the fox your friend, too?" Remus stood stock still, afraid that if he moved, he would be shot.

"As a matter of fact, yes." James answered. "So is the rat."

The man chuckled. "You could open a zoo, with all of your animal friends! I think you ain't telling the truth, you're just some hippie--"

The man pulled out his rifle again, and aimed it first at the werewolf, and then at the fox. He was about to pull the trigger, when James yelled, "STUPEFY!" The man froze in place, James performed a spell to break the weapon that had his friend's ankle in a death grip, and magically splinted his leg so he could leap away. The werewolf nipped angrily at the man's ankles before dashing off after his friends, while limping on his front paw. The man unfroze, and fired wildly into the distance, hoping to hit one of them. A bullet missed James head by a mere inch, and one bounced off a tree and almost hit Remus in the chest. They emerged safely from the forest, breathing deeply.

The four creatures looked at each other, grateful that all of them had got out alive. The werewolf looked at the splint on his ankle, and instantly started tearing at it, annoyed. The rat was trembling with fear, the fox looked weary, and the stag was already thinking of what they could do next to pass the time, without nearly being killed.

The four creatures trekked back up to the Shrieking Shack. They moved slowly, to stay with the injured wolf, who was limping heavily on one paw. They went through the dog- rat-wolf-stag door, and into the gloomy and gray Shrieking Shack. The werewolf immediately sat down, and examined the wound on his ankle. The fox glanced at the grandfather clock- it was 1:53 in the morning. This was going to be a long night, and they had had their share of excitement for the time being.

The stag nudged the fox, and nodded towards Wormtail, who had fallen asleep. They heard a scratching sound- the wolf was attacking himself, as werewolves were known to do when deprived of human prey. The floor was stained with blood, not that it hadn't been before. The fox and the stag exchanged worried looks, knowing that their friend had lost way too much blood, from his wound and self-mutilation, for the wolf's eyes became unfocused, and he slowly sank to the ground, unconscious, as two of his friends looked on.

The next morning, the sun rose bright and early. Wormtail was the first one to sleepily open his eyes. He saw that James and Remus had fallen asleep, and Sirius was back, still looking like Remus. He transformed back into a human and nudged the stag, and then the golf, trying to rouse them. He left Sirius to rest.

The stag slowly opened his eyes, looked around the room, remembered where he was, and turned back into his human state, as did Remus. They looked down at their dozing friend, knowing they had to leave soon before Madame Pomfrey came and discovered them there.

Casting one last look at his friend, who was holding his arm at a very strange angle, he nodded to Remus and Peter. "Let's go. Before Pomfrey gets here."

As they were walking down the stairs, James removed the Marauder's Map from his cloak pocket, and examined it. He glanced around the grounds, flipped the map, and saw that Madame Pomfrey was just outside the Hospital Wing door, and coming their way. "Okay, if we hurry and put on the Invisibility Cloak, we should be able to get past her."

"Remus, your dad was a Muggle," said Peter. "Do you know what that was that got Sirius?"

"A bear trap," said Remus grimly as they entered the tunnel, ducking low so they wouldn't hit their heads on the low roof. "Hunters use them, so that the animal will step in it, get caught, and be stuck until the hunter comes to find them. My- I mean, his arm looks bad, it definitely broke the bone, he could have lost his hand! There will be a lot of damage done. Madame Pomfrey should be able to fix the bone, but he'll have some trouble."

"How much longer until we turn back to ourselves?" asked Peter, in Lily's voice. "I don't think I can listen to another night of giggling and gossiping! I can't sleep!"

"I thought you could sleep through anything!" said James slyly.

"I'd say two days." said Remus. "Because we had just had a full moon a couple days before this happened."

They reached the tunnel exit, and stumbled out of the hole. James got up, and quickly threw the cloak over the three of them, and they set off at a jog towards the school, passing Madame Pomfrey on their way. They didn't meet anyone else that Saturday morning in the corridors, everyone was sleeping in. They arrived, breathless, in the Common Room and found that Lily was still asleep. They took advantage of this, and changed out of the torn and dirt streaked robes, into clean robes, brushed their hair, and had time to wash the dirt smudges from their faces before Lily groggily sat up in bed.

Lily yawned, and looked around sleepily. "What time is it?"

"Seven thirty," James answered, as he ran a comb trough straight, eye length black hair that he knew he could never get used to. "We were on our way to the Hospital Wing to see Sirius."

Lily still looked asleep, her eyes barely open. The effects of the Sleeping Potion was still wearing off. Peter's face showed confusion, as Lily spoke, "You are Sirius," she yawned. "Oh yeah, that... you're James. Yes, I'll come, just give me a minute."

He stumbled into the bathroom, and shut the door behind him. Remus sighed. "That really was a cruel trick we played on her."

James laughed bitterly. "Isn't every trick we pull cruel?"

The others nodded guiltily, and Lily emerged a few seconds later, saying cheerfully, "I feel so much more awake after washing my face with cold water! Now, let's go."

They walked at a brisk rate towards the Hospital Wing, and when they arrived at the Infirmirary door, James knocked briskly three times and stood back. Madame Pomfrey opened the door, and said, "You can see him, he's awake now. Just eating breakfast- but don't stay too long. He needs rest."

Madame Pomfrey bustled off to retrieve another potion, and the four Gryffindors entered, and approached their friend's bedside, each pulling up a chair. He was sitting up, with a mound on fluffed, starchy white pillows behind his back. On a tray in front of him was breakfast- a bowl of porridge, orange juice, grapes, and a bar of chocolate, which Sirius obviously hadn't saved for dessert.

"How are you doing?" asked Lily anxiously, examining his wrist, which was wrapped in a thick, wrap-around bandage. "What happened?"

"Oh, that." said Sirius casually. He winked at James, Remus, and Peter so that Lily couldn't see, and replied, "I can't remember."

"Well, what's wrong with it?" asked Lily urgently.

"I broke my wrist, tore some tendons, snapped some veins, there was a lot of blood and gore, I nearly tore my hand off..."

Lily looked as though she was going to be sick. "Okay, I get it, I get it!"

"You sure you don't wanna see?" asked Sirius, pretending to pull back the bandage.

"I'm sure, thank you!" said Lily in a high pitched voice, that, of course, came out as Peter's voice and made them all laugh.

Sirius popped a grape in his mouth with his good hand, and observed that his friends were staring at the food. "Want some?"

Lily shook her head. "No- Sirius, you need it. I'll just stop by breakfast."

"Yeah," said Remus, agreeing with Lily. "Thanks, but you keep it."

Peter eyed the food hungrily. "Can I have some chocolate."

Sirius narrowed his eyes, and grabbed the chocolate, and gave Peter a very realistic growl that sounded like a mix of Padfoot and the werewolf. "Not the chocolate," said Sirius, sounding very much as Remus did after the full moon. His friends laughed, quietly, so Madame Pomfrey couldn't hear them.

James stole a few grapes, and guessed that Sirius didn't mind because he wasn't growled at. "So, when are you getting out of here?"

Sirius shrugged. "She wants me to take a few potions and sleep before she lets me go- so I'd say around noon. And if I'm not, I'll sneak out."

"We roughly estimated when we would change back," said Remus. "It could be any time from now until two days from now,"

"Really?" asked Sirius. "No offense to you, Moony- but I hate this werewolf business, I want myself back!"

"None taken," said Remus fairly. '' I wouldn't want to me right now either."

Madame Pomfrey stormed out of her office. "All right, that's enough, OUT!" she pointed towards the door, and James, Lily, Remus, and Peter leaped from their seats, waved to Sirius, and dashed to the Great Hall for a late breakfast.

That afternoon, James, Remus, Peter, and Lily were all playing a game of wizard chess. James and Remus were in a fierce game, running neck in neck so it was impossible to tell who was going to win. Lily and Peter were watching, while having a side conversation about Charms.

James felt something small and round hit him in the back of the head. "What was that?" James wondered out loud, and felt behind himself. It was a piece of popcorn. "Where'd that come from?" Lily, Peter, and Remus shrugged. Remus gave an irritated sigh when a piece of popcorn hit him in the back of the head. When one hit Lily, she yelled, annoyed, "Sirius! I know it's you!"

Sirius jumped up from behind the couch, and vaulted over the back, seating himself next to James. In his hands was a bag of popcorn he had gotten from the kitchens. He offered his friends the bag, "Popcorn?"

James took a handful. "It's nice to have you back, Padfoot."

"I know," Sirius grinned. "What would you do without me?"

"Have a lot more quiet time," Lily answered honestly, laughing.

The next Sunday morning, the Marauders woke up feeling slightly relieved- they would be themselves again by the time they went back to bed. They spent the day lounging in the Gryffindor Common Room, answering the occasional question on their Herbology worksheet. James and Sirius bought some illegal fireworks from Mundungus Fletcher, and everyone was generally in a good mood.

Around ten o' clock that night, James, Sirius, Remus, Lily, and Peter snuck out under the Invisibility Cloak, and towards the empty bathroom. Lily insisted that they return to the bathroom to retrieve the extra potion so that some poor soul wouldn't find it and get into the same mess that they had. James and Sirius, however, had other plans.

They corked the last bottles of the potion, and told Lily the potion had been disposed of. Then, they waited.

The five seventh years were seated on the cold stone floor, backs to the wall. Moaning Myrtle floated from her cubicle, and gave a sheik, "Boys! Boys again! In the girl's bathroom!'' she gave the four boys a disgusted look and soared back to her toilet.

Remus checked his watch. "Any second now,"

The five teenagers each took deep, collective breaths as they waited.

"Is it time yet?" Peter whined.

James was about so snap, "No," when they felt the change come over themselves. The room began to spin, and the five teens shook violently, and as sudden as this started, it stopped.

Sirius looked down at his hands, and ran his fingers through his hair, a smile on his face. Lily examined her tangled red hair which Peter had obviously not had the clue to brush. James adjusted his glasses, and ran his hand through his coarse hair that stood up on its ends. Remus saw his pale reflection in the bathroom mirror, the familiar brown hair, and the cast on his wrist. Peter looked overjoyed, even though he still had a face that resembled a rat. Oh, it was good to be back.

They trekked back up to the Gryffindor Common Room, and stopped at the stairs. James kissed Lily for the first time in a month, and they all bid her farewell as she skipped up the stairs to re-join her friends, and the Marauders returned to the boy's dorm.

Peter flopped back on his bed, and Sirius chuckled, holding up a pink nightgown that Lily had left behind. "Wormtail, these are your pajamas! Or at least what you've worn for the past month!"

Peter scowled, and threw the nightgown on the floor, his face red with embarrassment.

Each of the Marauders got ready for bed, but didn't fall asleep until hours later. They joked and poked fun at the last month, and everything that they had been through.

"Rise and shine!" Lily shook each of the Marauders awake the next morning. "Come on, we'll be late!"

She remembered what James had told her about how to wake them up. She told James that he was late for Quidditch, wafted chocolate in front of Remus, pushed Peter, and tickled Sirius. In no time, they were running around the dormitory, getting ready for school. Lily smiled to herself, and she led the way down the stairs and into the Common Room.

"Do I need to escort you four to breakfast?" asked Lily, putting out her arm. "Yes," said James, linking arms with her and kissing her cheek. Sirius linked arms with Lily on her other side.

Hannah, Hilary, and Rachel rose from the sofa where they had been seated. Alice had already left for breakfast with Frank. Rachel linked arms with Sirius. On James's other side was Hilary and Remus- who was blushing. Hannah grudgingly linked arms with Peter, and they walked to breakfast. Sirius remembered the note that Rachel had given him, and knew that she was waiting for an answer.

"Rachel, would you like to go to the ball with me?" Sirius asked hopefully, knowing the answer.

"Of course!" Rachel cried, beaming from ear to ear. How long had she waited to hear him say those words? Remus felt his cheeks grow an even pinker- he had liked Hilary for some time. Sirius had no problem, Rachel said yes to him. How hard can it be? Get it over with! Remus told

himself.

"Umm.. Hilary," said Remus, looking into her light blue eyes.

"Yes?" she inquired, smiling.

"W-would you like to go to the ball with me?" Remus stammered.

Hilary sighed dramatically. "I thought you'd never ask." she stood on her tiptoes and kissed Remus on the cheek, and he blushed more, if that was possible. His friends smirked, and James and Sirius winked.

"Was that so hard?" Sirius mouthed.

There was an awkward silence between Peter and Hannah. Peter rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Hannah, I was thinking..."

Hannah sighed, and looked at Lily, who smiled sweetly, saying go on. Hannah thought that the dance was so soon, and she didn't have a date yet, so what could she lose? And, she knew that if she paid them, Lily, Hilary, or Rachel might let them borrow one of their dates for a song or too.

"Okay," she said, before Peter could finish stuttering his question. He breathed a sigh of relief, and the four couples walked to breakfast, linked arm in arm.

Not The End.

A/N:

One more chapter after this! I wouldn't leave you hanging like that! The next and final chapter will have the Winter Ball, and a conclusion that I have been planning the whole story. Sorry about any typos. Was it long, or what?

THANKS TO MY REVIEWERS: drumer girl, MoNiKA BaTcH, Anonymous (whoever you are), Midnight -Raven13, Puss No Boots, Leo of the stars, espergirl04, lilypad007, and mistress editor.