UNDER THE FULL MOON


Okay… this fic will probably become somewhat AU as it progresses, and a romance should also develop (I haven't decided on the pairing… it may be JP/LE, or I may be more creative).

Anyway, here's the basic summary: James is convinced to invite Lily along on a Marauder full moon expedition. Unfortunately, things don't go as planned.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter (or friends, family, place of residence, etc, etc)

CHAPTER ONE – A BAD IDEA

Sirius poked Remus hard in the ribs, causing his friend to look up from his book in annoyance.

"What was that for?" Remus demanded.

Sirius pretended to look around the Common Room and whistle innocently. Then he turned to Remus and smiled as if he'd just seen him. "What?" Sirius asked. "Who? Me?"

Remus rolled his eyes, shook his head, and returned to reading.

Sirius sat on the edge of his chair and reached down to James, who was, who was doing his homework on the floor. He gave James a hard poke in the shoulder. James ignored him. Sirius did the same to Peter, though Peter was already watching him prod the others.

Sirius cleared his throat. "Now that I have your attention," he said loudly. Everyone but Peter continued to ignore him. "Now that I have your attention, Remus and James," he repeated. His friends looked at him.

"Yes?" James asked, setting his quill down next to his parchment.

"You all know what tomorrow is, right?" Sirius grinned.

Remus sat his book face down on the floor, open to the page he had been reading. "Of course we know what tomorrow is," he said.

"Well, don't you think we should discuss our… plans?" Sirius asked. "I mean, we won't be able to do much talking when we're transformed—ow! Why did you do that?"

James had punched his hard in the shin. "Talk a little quieter, will you?" he said irritable. "Do you want all of Gryffindor to know what we do on full moons?"

Sirius snorted. The only other people in the Common Room were a couple sitting by the fire. They were so busy snogging that Sirius doubted they could eavesdrop if they wanted to. He told James this.

"Alright," James said resignedly.

"Anyway," Sirius continued as if there had been no interruption, "Where do you want to go tomorrow?"

"Well," said Peter, "We haven't been to the Forbidden Forest in a while."

James shifted hi head from side to side, considering. "I don't know… I was thinking we could head up past the lake."

"Sounds good to me," Sirius said.

Remus shrugged. "I'll go wherever you herd me, you know that," he said, suddenly morose. The stress was ever so subtly on 'herd.'

Sirius patted him consolingly on the shoulder. "What are you talking about? We're following you half the time."

Remus made a sour face.

"Really, Mooney," James said, "We're not herding you at all. We barely do anything. You hardly act like a werewolf. So don't worry about it."

"Yeah," Peter echoed. "Don't worry."

Remus rubbed his forehead. "I'm not worried… just… I wish you didn't have to keep me in line whenever we go anywhere."

"Mooney—" Sirius began.

Further conversation was cut short by the entrance of a large group of girls. James craned his head, obviously looking for someone, and Remus picked up on this immediately.

"Not there, is she?" he asked nonchalantly.

"Who?" James asked, hurriedly turning his head back to the Marauders and straightening his glasses.

"Oh, who could he be talking about," Sirius asked sarcastically. "This one has me on the edge of my seat."

James swatted at Sirius, but because James was on the floor and Sirius was in a chair, he missed completely. "I don't see why you feel the need to make fun of me," he said. "I'm allowed to like girls."

"It's only funny because she hates you," Remus explained.

"I wish I had a girlfriend," Peter said wistfully.

"You'll get one eventually," Sirius comforted him. "You're lovable… in your own way…" he turned to James. "What about you? Do you need reassuring about anything? I've done Mooney and wormtail tonight, I'm getting wuite good. Is Evans bringing you down, perhaps?"

"You don't need to 'reassure me,'" said James. The large group of girls had gone to their dormitory and James checked his watch. "Oh, I think it's time for bed," he said. "So we're decided? We're going past the lake?"

Mooney, Wormtail, and Padfoot nodded.

Remus was collected as usual about halfway through the last class of the afternoon. He had tried to convince Madam Pomfrey to fetch him later, as he would begin his transformation when the moon rose. However, she insisted that he sit in the infirmary for a few hours before the trip to the Shack for 'safety reasons.'

His dinner came on a tray, and he ate it alone in a small room completely devoid of anything interesting. It was almost as if the teachers wanted him to sit here with nothing to do but anticipate the coming torments of his transformation.

Though lately he hadn't felt very tormented. Sure, he complained about being herded, but running around with his friends was infinitely better than spending a lonely, depressing night in the Shrieking Shack.

He finished his dinner (it had been meatloaf) and set his tray on a small table. Tonight he'd brought a Potions essay that he needed to finish.

Sighing loudly to himself about the two pages of parchment that he had yet to fill, he settled into his chair and began writing about the intricacies of Happiness Potions.

James drummed his fingers on the Gryffindor table. "The only problem with nights like these," he said, "is the waiting."

"I dunno," Sirius said absently, twirling his fork in his mashed potatoes. "The walk to the Shrieking Shack is a bit bothersome."

Peter laughed, and Sirius shot him an odd stare. "My joke wasn't that funny," he said. Peter shrugged.

"What about you, Wormtail," James said. "What's your least favorite part of the night?"

Peter thought for a moment. "I suppose it's when we first open the door to the shack and Mooney's still a little crazy. That part seems scary."

"Mooney can't get past us," Sirius said confidently.

"I know, I know," said Peter. "But I still don't like it."

James shrugged. He'd spotted someone across the dining hall. Peter followed his gaze, and of course there stood Lily Evans, chatting with a friend.

"Why don't you ask her along?" Sirius suggested.

James blinked. "You mean tonight?"

"Why not," Sirius continued. He made his voice smooth and suggestive. "Maybe she'd like to experience the Hogwarts grounds from the back of a beautiful stag. It'd be romantic."

"Are you sure about that?" Peter asked. "It's dangerous. And what about Remus? What if he bit her?"

Sirius shrugged. "It was just an idea," he said defensively. "After all, I can get Mooney from the Shack myself, and by the time we get to Hogwarts he's usually sane. And if he does go a little crazy, I can control him, and people bond over adventure." He winked at James. "What do you say?"

James shook his head in disbelief. "I say no! There is no way we could do this safely. And then she'd know about Remus. She'd probably just turn us in."

"You really don't think that highly of her, do you?" Sirius asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Sirius began as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "You seem to think she'd turn you in for an exhilarating ride on the back of a stag—under the fool moon, I might add—in the refreshingly cool hours of the night. You wouldn't believe that if you thought highly of her."

"Obviously that's not why I think she'd turn us in," James retorted scathingly. "She's a good student. She'd turn us in for running around with a werewolf, for being unregistered Animagi, for being away from our bed in the middle of the night… the list goes on an on."

Sirius sighed, then shrugged. "You don't have to be so snippy," he said." I was just trying to land you the girl of your dreams."

"Or turn her into a werewolf," Peter added.

Sirius threw up his hands and looked to the ceiling in mock disgust. "Fine! You're all against me! I think I'll go… die in a hole, or something!" he cried dramatically. Then, in a normal tone, he added, "So, any ideas as to what you want to do once we're past the lake?"

James shrugged. He was glad that Sirius was done trying to convince him to bring Lily along. The idea was strangely appealing, though.

Peter said, "I don't know… maybe we could try to lure the Squid up to that end of the lake."

"Alright," Sirius said, "I was thinking we could see how far we can get. Three might be something interesting up that way. What do you think, Prongs?" For James was staring at a spot of table next to Peter's plate that didn't seem very interesting to Sirius.

James was shaken out of his thoughts. "What? Yeah, that sounds good." He returned his gaze to the table.

Sirius waved a hand in front of his face. "Hello? What are you thinking about?"

James looked up again. "I don't know, really. I guess your idea could be… romantic. If it worked, that is, and I don't think that it can work."

Sirius's eyes lit up. He'd thought that James had abandoned the whole idea. He ginned and said, "So you're actually considering it?"

"No," James answered automatically.

Sirius traded glances with Peter (though Sirius's glance was triumphant and Peter's was worried). "Whatever you say, James. But if you reach a decision during your not-considering, let me know."

"Oh, shut up," James said, and fell silent again.

Sirius said to Peter in a stage whisper, "I think he wants to do it."

Peter replied in the same tone, "If he does, he's mad."

"But girls like the mad boys," Sirius replied. "For example, I'm mad, and girls like me. You act completely normal, and girls don't fancy you much. James is kind of mad and kind of normal, so some girls like him. But not Evans, who probably wants a completely mad boy."

"That's odd," James said sarcastically. "I thought I heard you two whispering."

Sirius ignored him. "Don't interrupt his not-considering," he advised Peter.

"I've decided," James said.

Immediately Sirius's attention snapped back to James. "And?"

"And I'm not doing it," James finished.

Sirius looked hurt, and for a moment James almost felt bad. "But didn't you hear Wormtail and me talking about mad boys?" Sirius asked.

James rolled his eyes. "If anything, that made up my mind. Lily won't like me any more than she does now if I act mad."

Sirius leaned over the table and whispered conspiratorially, "She doesn't like you anyway." He sat back in his chair and added, "So what have you got to lose?"

"Do we really have to get into this again?" James asked.

Suddenly the remnants of the meal disappeared from the plates. James watched Lily and her friends stand up to leave. "Last chance," Sirius said.

James simply shook his head.

James, Sirius, and Peter returned to their spots in the Common Room. The conversation had moved away from Sirius's idea, but it still nagged in the back of James's mind. Maybe he really didn't have anything to lose.

But Lily did… and what if Mooney bit her?

Sirius probably could control Remus, though, especially when the werewolf was in one of his sane moments.

He sighed and closed his eyes. Why did this seem like a good idea? Every rational part of his mind told him it wasn't, and yet he wanted to do it. Maybe he believed that it really could work. That Lily would like him.

And honestly, what did he have to lose?

"Sirius?" he asked.

Sirius looked up from a particularly nasty piece of Charms homework that he'd conveniently forgotten until the night before it was due.

"Are you sure you can control Mooney by yourself?" James asked.

A slow grin spread across Sirius's face when he realized the implications of James's question. "Of course I can," he said. "Now go find her before it's too late."

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