A/N: Sorry if it seemed like I fell off a cliff or something, my life has been incredibly busy lately. But I swear I'll keep up this fic.
Plucking a slightly threadbare robe from the top of a laundry pile, Remus refolded it and tucked it neatly into the corner of his trunk. Reaching for a pile of socks, a crumpled letter sitting on the corner of the bedside table caught his eye.
Moony, make sure to be near your fireplace at 1 am two Saturdays from now, Sirius had scrawled in characteristically sloppy handwriting. Me and James have a surprise for you!
James and I, Remus had thought upon reading it, but the idea of a surprise after a long month and a half of being virtually alone seemed promising. James and Sirius had sent him letters, yes, but seemed far too busy to actually stop by and stay for a while.
Remus resumed his packing, pushing these thoughts to the back of his mind.
There was a gentle knocking, and an aging woman peeked inside the room, door ajar. "Remus, honey, dinner's ready," she said sweetly. "I made porkchops."
Inside, Remus grimaced. He actually quite disliked the taste of meat as of late, preferring more of a vegetarian lifestyle. But on the outside, he smiled appreciatively.
"I'll be down in five," he replied, tossing a handful of socks into his open trunk.
A few hours later, Remus sat obediently on the tartan recliner, fingers prodding at the loose fabric on one of the arms. He idly picked out a small chunk of cotton filling, tossing it aside. The rhythmic ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner of his den was oddly soothing to Remus, and he looked up to see that it was nearly 1:10 in the morning.
Pop.
"Psst, Moony! Over here!"
Remus jumped, eyes fixing on the merrily cracking fire blazing in the fireplace, wondering how the heck Sirius' face got there.
But there it was, a wide smirk set on his lips.
"Well. I'm surprised," Remus murmured, kneeling on the hardwood floor next to the fireplace.
Sirius laughed, "Just wait until you see what James and I discovered!"
"It's brilliant, just brilliant," James' voice joined the mix, and he shoved Sirius' face aside to make room for his own. "But I think we should tell him in person," he awkwardly turned to look at Sirius, smooshing himself into the very corner of the cramped fireplace.
"Definitely," Sirius nodded in accord, smirk widening. "So how's your summer going, Moony?"
"Pretty good," he replied, studying both their faces for some kind of clue as to what was going on.
"My mum is taking us to Diagon Alley for books and such on Tuesday, can we pick you up too?" James asked, straightening his glasses.
Remus shrugged. "Sure, I just got my book list this morning. It also looks like they've made me prefect."
"WHAT?" Sirius barked, mouth agape with shock and excitement. "How did you not mention this yet?"
"A prefect! That's incredible!" James chorused. "You can give Slytherins detention for no reason! You can stay out late!"
"You can let us stay out late!" Sirius piped up.
Remus' tense facial features eased into a grin. "I think Dumbledore did it in hopes that I could keep you guys in line."
James scoffed. "Well forget that, next year is gonna be one big party."
"But no more prank wars," Remus said. "They made the rest of us clean up that swamp, too."
James and Sirius shook with laughter, memories of the swamp James had conjured up in the seventh year Slytherin boy's dorms still fresh in their minds from its occurrence a week after Sirius' squid incident.
Remus, who was now beaming as well, sent a long look towards the staircase, trying to control himself enough to press a finger to his lips. "My parents might wake up," he wheezed through subsiding chuckles.
Sirius wiped tears from the corners of his eyes. "Merlin's Beard, that thing was gross. And then there was that Kappa that worked its way into Malfoy's silky knickers. Brilliance!"
James nodded. "Do you remember the look on Prewett's face when McGonagall punished everyone in our dorm for it?" he imitated a grotesque snarl, setting off Sirius' laughter again.
"Oi, sounds like my mum's awake!" James' face popped out of view, leaving Sirius to occupy the entire fireplace once again.
"I'm crashing with the Potter's. I got what I wanted out of my house anyway," Sirius explained. Remus gave him an imploring look.
"I gotta go now, but I swear we'll explain everything," Sirius winked, then with a faint pop, his face withdrew from the flames and Remus was left staring into an empty fireplace once again.
Remus blinked. Shaking his head and rubbing his temples, he opened his eyes again, and still saw the same thing laid out before him.
"Bloody hell," he swore, sinking down onto his knees and kneeling onto the floor, watching in awe as the great, shaggy black dog sitting before him began to lick his hand.
"Mate, you may be a dog now, but that's just gross," James pulled a face, but chuckled and continued to admire Sirius' new animagi form. The dog barked, rolling onto his back.
"I think we draw the line at scratching your tummy," said Remus, but Peter reached out to rub Sirius' underside.
Barking and ransforming back into a human, Sirius smacked Peter away. "So, watcha think, Remmy?"
"Wow. I think it's brill," Remus responded, getting back onto his feet. "What about yours, James?"
"Well my animagus could kick Sirius' ass," James grinned, squeezing his eyes shut in concentration. Instantly, he morphed into a great brown stag. James jumped up onto his hind legs, throwing his antlers back and pawing the air.
"When the bloody hell did you lot have time for this?" asked Remus, a bemused smile lingering on his lips.
"Oh you know, we worked on it here and there," replied Sirius smugly. "So when's the next full moon, eh?"
Remus shrugged. "I believe it's the Sunday after we get back to school..."
"Sweet! I can't wait to try out these brilliant disguises!" he whooped, punching the air. Beside him, James morphed back into human form, a cocky expression on his face.
Looking over at the fourth member of the group, Remus inquired, "What about Peter?"
"Well I haven't been around too much this summer... So we're going to work on it once we're all back at Hogwarts," he grinned. "I want to be something cool like a... a bear, but they say no!"
"Think simple, Peter," said James from his seated position on the floor, pulling a large, leather bound textbook onto his lap. "It says the bigger the animal, the more complicated the transformation gets."
Sirius took a seat at the edge of James' bed, watching him flip through the pages. "Besides... Remmy, didn't you say we had to use a stick to prod at the knot on the WIllow Tree? What kind of bear has opposable thumbs?"
"Yeah," Remus nodded. "But are you suggesting we turn him into a monkey or something?"
Shaking his head, James' smile spread even wider. "No, no, think smaller. Think... Agile!"
James, struggling slightly, held up the large book to show the trio a page with a large black-and-white photo of a fuzzy black rat.
Lily Evans sat indian style on her bed, gazing out her window to get the perfect view of the Potter's kitchen, where Sirius was boiling a pot of water on the stove. Peculiarly enough, Remus and Peter seemed to be there too, seated around the table with James.
"Looks like the Potter's have opened up a hotel for delinquents," said Lily dryly, looking down at Alice Vivir, who was busy painting her toenails.
"You mean there are more blokes than just Sirius and James?" asked Alice, not looking up from the task at hand.
Nodding, Lily replied, "Looks like Lupin and Pettigrew are staying over as well. If this town burns down overnight, at least we know who to find first."
"Remus you say," giggled Alice. "He's quite fit looking, in a cute way, isn't he?"
Lily rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I guess he's cute in his own way."
"Ooh! Don't let Potter hear you say that!" Alice winked at Lily, who groaned and lobbed a decorative pink pillow at her friend.
"Hey, watch it! I'm on my third coat already!" yelped Alice, ducking out of the way of the flying pillow.
Lily flopped back on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. "So what do you want for dinner? My grandma left out some money if we want to get take-out again."
"Any chance of inviting the blokes over to join us?" grinned Alice.
Lobbing another pillow Alice's way, Lily looked back out her window. And froze.
"What the..." she murmured, blinking her eyes.
Alice looked up. "Something wrong?"
"Did the Potter's get a dog, Alice?"
"Hell if I know, they're your neighbors, not mine."
Lily narrowed her eyes, studying the kitchen again. Just Potter, Lupin, Pettigrew and Black... But she could've sworn there was a shaggy black dog among them just a moment ago...
Shrugging it off, Lily reached out for the newest issue of Witch Weekly and absorbed herself in the tabloid section.
A/N: Now please leave me some concrit in a review!