A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I'm sorry this took so long! On with the show!
Disclaimer: Do you Sirius-ly (ha-ha) think that I own the magical world of Harry Potter? No – it all belongs to J.K. Rowling.
After sitting down with Madam Pomfrey and discussing the differences between boys and girls – which the two seemed to have forgotten – she left them to reluctantly discuss aspects of their lives that the other would need to know. By the time they got done it was nearly curfew.
They left the Hospital Wing and were headed towards Gryffindor Tower when Lily suddenly remembered something. "Oh, by the way, at dinner your friends were all talking about the full moon coming up in three nights. Do you know what that's all about?"
Sirius' eyes widened to the size of saucers. "Bloody hell!" he screeched (well, it would have been a regular yell if he was in his own body), "I forgot all about the full moon!" He stopped and screwed up his eyes, as if concentrating on something.
Nothing happened.
He opened his eyes again and looked disdainfully down at the body he was stuck in. "Okay, there's no time to explain now. Just remember when you talk to them that James is Prongs, Remus is Moony, Peter is Wormtail and I'm Padfoot. I'll need to meet with you tomorrow morning – make sure you're in the common room by six."
"Six a.m.? I'll have you know I am not a morning person," Lily protested.
"Too bad! I'll have to train you in two days – is that even possible? Doesn't matter, I refuse to let Moony down."
"What are you talking –"
"There's no time for that now," Sirius said glancing at the muggle watch Lily always wore, which he had a great deal of difficulty reading. "Look, I have to head to the common room, and you have to head to the Astronomy Tower."
"The Astronomy Tower? But it's almost curfew."
"Exactly! You're Sirius Black. And Sirius Black doesn't abide by the rules!"
Lily gave him a look, and Sirius calmed down a bit, pulling on the miniskirt nervously.
"Look, I'm not asking you to go snog a girl, just, you know, look like you have. Go to the Astronomy Tower, muss my uniform a bit, and in about an hour, Remus will come by on his prefect rounds. Meet up with him and talk him into going down to the kitchens. Then you'll head back to the common room together."
"Okay. Um – where are the kitchens?"
Sirius regarded her for a moment, which was weird because it was like regarding himself, "You really need to get out more. I've got homework to do (he grimaced). Just let Moony lead the way, and when you get there ask him to do the honors. He'll take care of the rest."
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Lily was to be found 45 minutes later at the top of the Astronomy Tower. She had pulled and tugged at Sirius' sweater and shirt at random, unknotting his tie and undoing a few buttons. She also attempted to muss his hair, but the second she ran a hand through it in boredom; it fell back into place perfectly. She had given up and taken to admiring the view outside when she heard footsteps.
She glanced back and spotted her old friend. "Good evening Remus."
Remus paused mid-step before resuming his stride towards his best friend. "Good evening Sirius."
"How are you tonight?"
Remus seemed to ponder Lily for a long time before a mischievous glint sparked in his eyes, and he answered in a pretentious voice, "I'm quite spiffing this evening Mr. Padfoot. How was your rendezvous with the illustrious Heather? (He looked Lily up and down) I take it the lady enjoyed her evening as much as you did?"
Lily had never seen this side of Remus, and she couldn't help but smirk as she realized he was teasing her because she had been so formal. She grinned wider and leaned against the window, her full attention now on Remus.
"Quite," she answered. "And yet I find myself famished at the moment. Care to join me in a stroll to the kitchens, Mr. Moony?"
Remus laughed heartily, and gave a feeble protest about his rounds, which Lily quickly pushed aside, and the two set off to the kitchens. While in route they entertained each other with talk of their respective days (Lily carefully censoring hers so as not to give herself away). Lily had been allowing Remus to lead her by walking less then half a step behind him – not enough to be perceptible, but just enough to ensure she didn't suddenly veer off in the wrong direction.
They finally came to a stop at a picture of a giant bowl of fruit. Remus looked at Lily, as if waiting, and she remembered what Sirius had said. "Oh no, Mr. Moony, I insist you do the honors."
Remus laughed again and reached out to tickle the pear. It giggled and turned into a green doorknob, which Remus pulled and chuckled, "After you Mr. Padfoot."
Lily had to stifle a gasp; the room was huge! It had to be a large as the Great Hall, with four long tables that no doubt corresponded to the house tables above. A number of small house-elves came rushing forward.
"Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, such an honor you have bestowed on us. Is there anything Missy can get for you sirs?" A little house-elf asked in a high squeaky voice.
Lily smiled down at the elf, which immediately blushed and said, "I will get sirs their usual and be right back." With that she scurried away, glancing back once at Lily.
"I told you she fancies you," Remus said beside her. Lily simply laughed and followed him to a table where they both sat and waited for their food.
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'Gah' Sirius thought. 'I haven't had to do homework in years! Being Evans sucks! Bleh. Well, at least I'm done now and it's only –' He looked at the alarm clock by the bed. 'One thirty in the morning! How does Evans find the energy to finish all her homework! I guess I'll go to bed – gotta get up early and teach a new dog some old tricks.'
As Sirius got ready for bed he thought back to when the other girls had come up and gone to bed, all wearing skimpy or near transparent nightclothes. He guessed there were some advantages to being Lily Evans.
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Lily and Remus stumbled back into the common room around 2 a.m., having sweet-talked a couple of house-elves into joining them in a bizarre drinking game that involved a several bottles of firewhiskey (or butterbeer for the elves), a frying pan, a bunch of marshmallows, and a canary.
Lily didn't think she had ever been so wild and carefree in her life, or had so much to drink. And the whole thing had been Moony's idea! She had always thought he was this sweet and innocent boy who was occasionally corrupted by the other Marauders, but he had the most devious mind she'd ever encountered!
The two friends laughed and drunkenly shushed each other at the same time, trying to make their way up to the boys' dormitory. They had made it to the door when Moony suddenly said, "Damn, I lef' my bag in the common room."
"Don' worry Moony My Mate! (Lily laughed at the phrase) I'll get tha' for you."
"Thanksh Paddy, I owe you one." Remus smiled stupidly and flopped onto his bed, immediately falling asleep.
Lily struggled to get back down the stairs without breaking her neck, and made it as far as the couch beside where Remus had left his bag before she passed out cold.
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Someone was viciously poking Lily in the stomach, and she really didn't like it.
She tried to open her eyes, but the light shining off red hair was blinding and her head felt like it was in a vice. She winced in pain and rasped out, "What the hell are you poking me for?"
"Well, well Miss Priss, it seems that you had a good time last night with my pal Moony. Finally got to know the real Remus, from the looks of it." Sirius commented, surveying Lily's disheveled and clearly hung over state.
She sat up and stretched her aching body, before rubbing her eyes and regarding a clearly showered and neatly dressed Sirius.
"Wow, if I didn't know any better I'd think you were me," she rasped, clearly impressed, but her mouth and throat were so dry they felt like they were stuffed with cotton.
"Yeah, well, that's the point isn't it?" Sirius responded annoyed. "Look, I've decided to make an effort to be more like you since you're going to have to make one hell of an effort to be me. And it's clear you've already started," he shot an irritated look at her, thinking of all the fun she'd had last night with Moony while he was trapped in the dorms.
"Here," he handed her a vial with a bright pink potion in it.
"What is it?" she managed to croak out.
"Hangover potion. Just hurry up and drink it, we need to get a move on."
Lily drank the potion quickly, which tasted vile, despite its cheery appearance.
"That potion kick in completely yet? Are you fully awake? Because I am about to share Marauder secrets and I refuse to repeat myself. Come on, let's get some privacy."
Lily shook her head to clear it, stood up and followed Sirius out of the common room.
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If you were to look into the abandoned classroom at the end of the Charms corridor, you would have seen Lily Evans pacing frantically while running her hands through her now disheveled hair while Sirius Black eyed her warily and occasionally sighed. The two occupants of the room, however, were currently shielded from prying eyes and ears by not only the timing of this nearly predawn meeting, but also by a rigorous set of locking and silencing charms placed on the room.
"Well, are you going to tell me why you dragged me out here at 6:30 in the morning or not? Because I could really use another two hours sleep and a shower," Lily stated tiredly.
It took about ten seconds to process what she had said as Sirius had stopped pacing and turned a lovely shade of red in the face.
"Oh my god! Sirius Black! You did not see my naked body!"
Sirius cringed under her glare, but soon regained his composure and simply stated, "Look Evans, it was that or let you run around dirty with oily hair all day! It's not like you've got anything I haven't seen before," Sirius said, while secretly repeating his thought that Prongs has great tastes. "I'm supposed to be you here – which would you prefer?"
"Fine, let's just get this meeting over with," Lily fumed, unable to punish Sirius for merely doing his part to try to pass as her.
"Okay….I can't believe I'm actually going to tell you this…Okay…you probably ought to sit down for this…"
Lily simply crossed her arms and glared at Sirius.
"Fine, you're loss. James, Peter and I are…no….I better start at the beginning."
He paused and bit his nails, while Lily inwardly cringed over her quickly decimating manicure.
"You know how Remus disappears every month?"
"Yes, he gets ill or has very sick relatives. Seems the Lupins are a frail family."
"Yeah, about that. The only one who gets sick is Remus, and it's not really a disease, well, I guess it is a disease…."
"Will you get on with it?" Lily snapped.
"Okay! So Remus only disappears every 28 days. He gets pale and tired, and he comes back sometimes looking worse than when he left."
"Yes, I did notice that, although for the past couple of years he usually comes back looking fine, if a little tired," Lily sighed.
Sirius smiled, thinking of how much they had helped Moony stay safe over the past two years. "And you never noticed a pattern?"
Lily stopped and thought. One time a few months ago, before Remus had left, he had dropped by in the afternoon before he caught the Knight Bus home. He had asked Lily if he could borrow some notes when he returned. That night she had discovered the Marauders had pranked the Slytherins by putting sticking charms on the toilet seats, so that they were either trapped or had to run around with a toilet seat stuck to them until someone could undo the charm.
When she had gone back to Gryffindor Tower in search of the troublemakers, she couldn't find them, and they remained out of the Tower all night. She had fallen asleep staring out the window and heard them come in just after sunrise. They looked exhausted and had small cuts and scratches all over them, and Potter had been inspecting a rather large bruise in his side as they went upstairs to their dorms. They had been too tired to notice her, and she had been too shocked by their appearance to say anything.
And yet, two hours later, they were all sitting at breakfast, cheerily talking amongst themselves and not an injury in sight. If it hadn't been for their tired, puffy eyes and the fact that Potter winced when someone bumped him in the side with his bruise, she would have thought she had imagined seeing the three earlier that morning. When Remus returned that afternoon, his eyes lit up at the sight of his friends, and they in turn immediately became more active and excited that he was back. She had always wondered about that night….
"That night, a few months back when you all disappeared…. There was a full moon…"
Sirius waited patiently for her to comprehend it, hoping Moony would forgive him for sharing his secret with Evans. Her eyes widened in horror. 'There it is.' Sirius sighed, then rushed to defend Moony's honor.
"Look, I know you're thinking he's a monster or something, but he's not. He's the same Remus you've always known, he's just also happens to be a werewolf in addition to that. Dumbledore knows – all the professors know about his condition. On full moon nights, Madam Pomfrey leads him to the Whomping Willow. There's a secret passage under it that leads the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade. That's how he's able to attend school."
He paused and let her absorb all this. After about five minutes, he broke her reverie by asking, "Do you hate him now? I mean, knowing what he is?"
Lily didn't hesitate. "Of course I don't hate him! Remus is a wonderful person, and it's like you said, if he just also happens to be a werewolf, that doesn't change the fact that I know him and know he's no monster."
Sirius smiled. "You know Evans, you're all right. I was afraid for a minute there – well, never mind that --"
"What were you afraid of Black?" Lily asked, partly curious, but with the nagging feeling that his answer would anger her.
"Well…. You just seemed quick to judge people sometimes." He jumped to finish before she could yell, "Clearly that is not the case here. I'm just telling you the impression I had previously held."
Lily was surprised that he had been so willing to change his opinion of her so quickly, and she began to wonder for the first time if she had misjudged Sirius Black. She had always thought he was an arrogant, conceited prat just like Potter, but he clearly cared for his friend and he was flexible enough to alter his opinions about someone he probably had considered an enemy. She decided she would have to think on this some more at a later time as Sirius clearly had more to say.