Chapter 4

Full Moon

After that night, everyone seemed closer. It might have been knowing Pence's secret…or it might have been the fact that Maj made out with Sirius more than once that night. But all the same…the two girls were now friends of the Marauders.

During the first week, the boys found out that Pence was excellent in astronomy, and Maj was equally brilliant in potions. Maj was always the first one in the class to finish the potion they were making; of course, that made Professor Slughorn adore her.

The day of the full moon, Slughorn held Maj back as the rest of the class went on to Transfiguration.
"Majhica," said Slughorn as Maj walked over to him, "I was hoping that you would come to my little dinner party tonight. You're one of my best students." Maj thought of Pence and Remus, she promised she would transform with them.
"Um, actually Professor," she said, "I can't tonight. I've got a lot of homework…and…a few tests to study for. I'm sorry, but I just can't make it." Slughorn sighed and wrote her a late pass,
"Next time then?" he said as Maj rushed out the door.

When she got to transfiguration, she handed Professor McGonagall her pass and took a seat next to Pence who was looking sick. Sirius passed a note up to Maj,
'Hey, where've you been? -Padfoot'
'Eh…Slughorn. Trying to get me to go to one of his parties…
Oh…and hi Moony! See you're back from the hospital wing, haven't seen you all morning. -Maj'
'Ah, Slughorn. Always managed to avoid those parties…-Pads'
'Hello Maj…and Pence for that matter. Yes, I'm back and holding up…to tell you the truth I should have stayed. Pence, you should go; you haven't said anything since last night. -Moony'
'I'm fine. Just a little nervous about transforming in a new place, that's all. Besides, while you were in the Hospital Wing…I almost puked on James! (Moohaha!) -Pence'
'You know...if it weren't a full moon, I'd hex you. -Prongs'
'What are we doing tonight anyways? -Wormtail'
'Well…I thought (being the considerate person that I am…) we could all just stay in the Shack tonight. Let the girls get used to it and all… -Paaaadfoooot'

'He thought! That's a first…But I second the idea all the same. -Prongs'
'We feel loved! -Pencers and Majikins

That night, Pence and Remus were taken to the Shrieking Shack to transform. When they got in, Pence went and sat on the bed; Remus stayed up, looking out at the sky. As Pence checked her watch, she heard a knock on the door. She then heard Sirius voice,
"Excuse me…May we come in? Are you…decent?" Pence smiled as he opened the door and let the other three in. Maj went over and sat by Pence, Peter sat on the floor, and Sirius and James went over to Remus who had started pacing.
"Moony?" asked Sirius, but Remus just muttered something.
"Remus?" James said tapping him on the shoulder. Remus whipped around,
"What!" he said angrily before rubbing his eyes, "Ah…sorry."
"It's okay." James said smiling.
"What's the matter?" asked Sirius, "You never pace or anything."
"I dunno," Remus said, "I'm just scared someone's gonna get hurt. I'm probably gonna end up getting into a fight with Pence. I've never transformed with someone else."
"Uh, sorry to interrupt," said Maj suddenly, "But we'd better change now." Sirius glanced at the sky,
"Right. See you in the morning then." he said before they all changed into their animals.

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The next morning, Maj woke everyone up, though she herself found it a bit hard to move. When everyone was awake, they all saw that they were bruised and cut from head to toe.
"What happened?" asked Remus, still lying down.
"Well," stated James attempting to stand, "Like you predicted, you two got in a fight. We tried to break you apart but…well, you can see what happened." Remus slowly sat up, showing a deep scratch that started above his right eye, and made its way to his left jawbone.
"Oh God Remus…I'm so sorry." Pence said trying to stand up.
"It's okay." said Remus not so sure about that statement.

After some time, the six decided to head up to the castle.
"Hey…We can't all go into the Hospital Wing," Peter said as they were making their way through the tunnel, "Madame Pomfrey will suspect something."
"You're right," Maj said in a pained voice, "We'll have to make something up." Everyone was silent until Sirius said,
"We're not too bad, we'll go to the dorms and get some sleep, and then after breakfast, we'll come down and see you guys. We'll say we got into a fight or something."
"You sure?" asked Remus stepping out onto the grounds.
"Yea," James said, "We'll be fine, you guys go get cleaned up." Pence smiled as they reached the castle doors.
"Thank you guys," she said, "It means a lot to me that you could help."

As James, Sirius, Peter, and Maj went up one staircase, Pence and Remus went up another. When they reached the Hospital Wing, Madame Pomfrey started fussing how she was going to come get them and how they should have stayed put. After they were all bandaged up, they got into bed.
"I'm sorry." Remus said quietly as he closed his eyes.