Disclaimer: Not J.K. Rowling so don't sue me! I do, however, own Amanda and Jennifer and any other character you don't recognize!

Be sure to review and help make my boring break, say…un-boring (like I said, don't pay attention to my craziness. The holidays make us all a bit mad).

xXxXx

(A/N: About two weeks have passed since school has started.)

Chapter Five

Jen's POV

I woke up just in time to see the sun slowly rising over the horizon. I watched in fascination as the sky's somber, dark, blue hues began to become tinted with the sun's golden rays. Needless to say, however, I was one of the few up early, yet despite the early hour, I felt my stomach growl and quickly made my way down to breakfast in the Great Hall.

As I was walking down the dormitory steps, I overheard Remus, James, Sirius, and Peter...oh, why do I even bother with names? I'll just start referring to them as the Guys. Right, anyway, I was just about to say good morning when I heard Sirius mutter something.

"James, we have to ditch this girl."

I paused in my steps and turned my ear so I could hear him better.

"I mean, all she does is follow us around everywhere and act...clingy."

I could feel my eyes beginning to burn and saw as my vision went partially blurry. I held the tears I knew would fall back with much restraint, however, as a memory of some advice James had given me suddenly came through my mind; 'Don't cry unless you are alone. Crying in front of the person who made you upset will only make things worse.' Taking a deep breath and tossing my hair over my shoulder, I skipped down the last couple of steps, walked straight up to Sirius (the prat) and poked him...hard.

"You know what, Sirius?" I said scathingly. "I have to say, you've got to be one pathetic bloke to believe that James would actually listen to your complaining about one of his best friends. Oh, and also, I have a name, and I'm absolutely positive that the word, 'clingy' is not anywhere within it."

Unfortunately (more for Sirius than for me) I let my anger get the best of me and lost control of my temper. I punched him directly in the eye, probably not the best move on my part, but it sure felt liberating.

"Oh and, just so you know, if you want some 'alone time' so badly, then you can have it!" I shouted in his shocked face as he put a hand over his quickly bruising eye. "I'll do you all a favor and not bother you until you decide to apologize. I'm guessing you won't see me for quite awhile, so you do what you want, I don't care anymore!"

With that last statement, I stomped down to breakfast, leaving the Marauders surprised and somewhat guilty. Nothing quite out of the ordinary happened after that until about two weeks later, and those events were somewhat small and not at all surprising.

Let's see, Amanda turned Sirius' hair bubblegum-pink after he teased her for her straight hair. Amanda, being the sensible girl she is, simply ignored him, but this had the opposite effect intended, and Sirius tried harder than ever to get a rise from her.

The Gryffindor easily stopped this by muttering the color-changing curse and added fuel to the fire by calling him gay. Of course, we can't forget when just five minutes after this, Amanda dumped her then-boyfriend and then got a new bloke to fall head over heels for her in just under an hour.

Shortly after that, Lily was seen slapping James while simultaneously cursing and kicking him (I can almost swear I saw her eyes flash red for the briefest of moments). I was just about to go and stop her from killing the git (who still hadn't apologized) when suddenly Remus appeared and separated the two. He is really cute...did I say cute? Heh, I meant something else...

Speaking of Lily (yes, I was in fact talking about her. Not Remus, Lily. Did you catch that? Not dashing, charming Remus, but Lily), yesterday, while we were searching for Amanda, she and I found Alice with Frank Longbottom...in the broom closet! We also saw Professor McGonagall getting quite cozy with a very familiar Professor...I can't even say it! It's too disgusting (and therefore all the more juicy, so if you really want to know, keep reading and in later chapters, you might just find out)!

Luckily, it was finally Friday (four weeks had passed since the first day of school) and things finally seemed to be cooling down. Now, because it was Friday, it was also Amanda's official, 'Date Day,' so, unsurprisingly, she'd asked for someone to help her get ready.

Before I could even blink, Lily and Alice had both hastily listed off excuses, Lily saying she had to patrol as was her Prefect duty, and Alice muttering that Frank had asked her to walk with him. In my opinion, it seemed like the two girls were desperate to get away from Amanda's annual before-date breakdown. Knowing it was too late to run, I resignedly decided that I could waste a couple of hours helping Amanda get ready.

"Right," I began uncomfortable as the two of us stood surveying the possible outfits, makeup options and numerous hair styles Amanda could try for the night. "How long does it usually take you to get ready?" I asked her, wanting to determine how long I would have to stay.

She shrugged. "Depends on the guy, really, but right now I think it might take me about an hour to decide on everything. Then again, I have made it to three hours before..."she trailed off.

I laughed nervously, my eyes growing wider as I realized she'd most likely want to try on every piece of clothing she owned, wear every ounce of makeup she could produce, and finish things by twisting her hair into different styles until it fell out. With an inaudible sigh, I began helping her decide on a suitable outfit.

An eternity later (it was really only 30 minutes, but someone might as well have stopped time completely), Amanda still hadn't decided on anything and was now inching closer to her breakdown point. I'd seen this four times already and was very aware of the signs. Sure enough, seconds later, it happened.

"I have only three hours left," she screeched as I winced painfully. "What am I going to do?"

That was only the beginning of the breakdown. Most of the time, she became so desperate that she screamed several times in frustration, making frightening sounds such as, 'UGH,' or (my personal favorite, the one that just happened to be said 1 second ago), 'UGH, I've got absolutely nothing to wear!' The thought that maybe when I'd agreed to help her, I'd had no idea what I would be getting myself into quickly crossed my mind.

I had a terrible headache from Amanda constantly screaming directly in my ear, and already, Amanda had searched through her entire wardrobe. She was well past desperate, and I know that if we could just get past the outfit obstacle, the other two would go much quicker.

"Why don't we search through my wardrobe," I suggested. Amanda's face lit up and she hurriedly walked over to my trunk, opening it with excited hands. A smile suddenly appeared on her face.

"Thank you! You are an angel," she said in gratitude as she began picking up the new clothes that I hadn't yet worn. Hugging one of my green sweaters in envy, she sighed contently.

I laughed. "I'd be glad to let you borrow anything in the trunk, just make sure it doesn't get returned to me with lipstick all over it."

"Can I borrow something from here every time I have a date?" She asked me with a hopeful expression, completely missing the insult.

"No!" I scoffed. "By next month, I've no doubt you'll already have worn more than half of my clothes." She threw me a dirty look. "Kidding," I said with a laugh. "Yes, you can borrow anything you'd like just so long as you ask me first." She was so thankful that after hugging me numerous times, she said I was free to leave and mentioned that she could handle it from there. I left without protest and deciding that the library would be an excellent place to calm my frayed nerves from dealing with Amanda all afternoon.

Once in the library, I began searching for an interesting book. It'd been a while since I'd found a good one.

"Jen," I heard somebody mutter suddenly. Not having expected this, I acted impulsively and grabbed a thick book to throw if I found it was Sirius. Fortunately, when I turned around, my eyes landed on Remus instead.

"What do you want?" I snapped, remembering that this was the first word any of the Marauders had muttered to me in two weeks.

He smiled in response. "Sirius is a git," he stated flatly. "You should know that by now. James thought it would be best to give you a week or two to calm down so you wouldn't punch anyone else, but personally, I've always thought him to be a bit thick. Peter is, well Peter. Always has been a bit slow. Quite a reputation the Marauders will have, now that I've just rambled on and on. I really meant to tell you that I apologize-"

"You have nothing to be sorry for, I, on the other hand, do. I didn't mean to be rude. I guess I just haven't been myself lately." I explained interrupting.

I didn't feel like socializing much anymore all of the sudden so I turned back to the bookshelves and continued looking for a good book to read. I noticed Remus didn't quite get the message I'd tried to send without speaking. He must've though we were simply having an awkward moment.

"What king of book are you looking for?" He questioned curiously.

"I'm not quite sure," I started turning slightly so I could see him. "I think perhaps a book about werewolves..." I trailed off as his face began to pale. "I thought you liked books about werewolves," I said in confusion. Seeing his face lose more color, I tried to explain.

"That first day on the train, I saw you had a book about them. It reminded me of this novel I'd read once and I want to check it out, but I can't seem to find it. I tried asking the librarian earlier but she was somewhat preoccupied with a couple of Slytherings who were knocking over bookshelves."

He stared at me blankly and I abruptly stopped my rambling.

"Perhaps you know it? It's about werewolf, obviously, and it's by a bloke with the most peculiar nickname...what was it? Moony, yes, that's it. (A/N: ha-ha you didn't expect that did you) I suppose it could be a girl as well..." I trailed off. "Are you alright? You look a tad flushed."

I was genuinely intrigued by his behavior and waited for him to say something.

He hesitated. "Did you ever finish reading it?"

"No," I said simply with a shrug and watched bewildered as Remus suddenly looked much more relieved. Nonetheless I continued my explanation. "I didn't have a chance. I left it in my father's car on our way to Platform 9 and ¾, but I remember it was quite interesting. I am not sure if it's a true story but it sounded so realistic, I couldn't help myself, I was practically glued to the book. It's just dreadful that I left it."

"I think I've actually read that book myself. It's one of my favorites, you have good taste." He responded jokingly. Feeling a surge of courage suddenly shoot through my body, I cleared my throat before asking,

"Remus, how come you never talk about yourself? I don't I even know when your birthday is, yet you seem to know every detail there is to know about my life."

He laughed. "Well...I don't know. Maybe it's like the saying, 'To remember is to live in the past.' But I'll at least divulge this one fact, my birthday happens to be on the 3rd of October"

"That's quite close," I murmured thoughtfully under my breath as I sat down, leaning my back against the bookshelves. "Are you going to do anything special?" He sat down beside me before replying.

"Well I'm not, but it's most probable that the rest of the Marauders will, but I just hate the idea of it. I guess it's the thought that counts...although, really, this would have to be an exception." I looked sideways at him and bit my lip in a confused expression.

"They basically use my birthday as a horrible excuse for throwing a huge party, inviting more people that I don't know instead of inviting those I do," he explained with a roll of his eyes. "Most of them are girls that Sirius plans on snogging that night. You get why I've given up trying to plan anything myself, right?"

I snorted. "Sounds like you could use a nice, quiet birthday then?"

"Exactly, but that'll never go over well with them," he said with a frown as I grinned sympathetically.

"If there's one thing I hate about James and Sirius, it's that they don't listen to you unless it involves Quidditch...or pranks. It can be extremely irritating." I glared at the mere thought. Remus laughed at my expression, but nodded in agreement.

"At least now there's someone who can join me in trying to knock some sense in those thick headed friends of ours."

"I highly doubt we'll be able to do it alone," I said with a laugh, smiling as I noticed how much Remus' eyes twinkled when he laughed. "Merlin, I doubt even an army could do it, but I do, however, have the slightest of feelings that a certain Lily Evans just might be able to persuade James otherwise."

It felt rather nice being able to talk with Remus, but I couldn't help it when my thoughts drifted to those names they called each other.

Noticing my mind beginning to wander, I quickly threw myself back on track. "Why don't we do this again...you know, talk and stuff again, next Friday perhaps? I have to admit, I miss talking to you all, even Peter..."I stopped short at his disbelieving expression. "You're right, I don't miss you all that much, but still, what do you say to you and James meeting me here next Friday? I'm not mentioning Sirius for the mere fact that he would never even think of placing one toe in this library!"

"That sounds like it would be fun but I, uh, I kind of have to go somewhere." He said, not looking me in the eye.

I frowned. "We're in school, though. Where could you possibly go?" He was silent for a moment and I found this to be somewhat suspicious.

"Oh! Right, you don't know, I forgot. I don't really like to talk about it but, you see, my mum has cancer. I like to go and visit her once in a while, and last time I talked to her, we planned on visiting next Friday. I'd hate to miss it; after all, it might be the last time I get the chance to."

"Alright," I said sympathetically, feeling guilty for suspecting him. "Can you tell James to meet me next Friday, then? I haven't been able to talk to him for a while and I think it'd be best if you asked him." There was another moment of silence and I found myself eyeing him shrewdly, watching with open curiosity as he thought of an excuse for his mate.

"He can't," he finally said, although his tone sounded miserable at having to say so. I raised an eyebrow.

"And why's that? I'm positive no one in his family is dead or sick. If one of them were, I would be the second one to know, James being the first-"

"He's going with me for moral support," Remus quickly uttered, interrupting me.

Everything became a bit awkward after that, as even I could tell that he had made up both excuses by then, so Remus hastily gave me a pathetic excuse and left, saying he had to go do rounds. I sat there for nearly half an hour trying to figure out why Remus would lie to me. Of course, I didn't know for sure if he really had lied, but all signs pointed to that fact, and I always relied on facts.

Yet...he wouldn't lie about his mother being sick, would he? No, of course not, that would be cruel. I guess I need to learn to stop being so suspicious. I'll just ask James tomorrow if he can meet me here on Tuesday instead. I wonder what Remus is hiding from me.

Desperate to find anything to get my mind off this complicated riddle, I decided I would continue my search of a good book to read. The idea of werewolves was still bright in my mind but, nonetheless, I thought it best to pick a book at random instead. I closed my eyes and slowly began spinning around deciding that whatever bookshelf I ended up pointing to when I stopped would be the correct one for me to look through.

I open my eyes, stumbling a bit as I became dizzy, and found that I was pointing at two shelves. One was on Human Transfiguration and Shift Shaping. They were both areas in which I was fairly familiar with. At the moment, however, it wasn't exactly the kind of book I was interested in picking up, but because it would be on the N.E.W.T. Level Education System, I decided I might as well review the material.

The other shelf was a section completely devoted to Aurors. I'd never considered reading about that specific profession before, but as I thought it over, I discovered that I would've loved to become one. Maybe I could be an Auror someday, or perhaps a Healer, except I'm not all that comfortable in hospital environments.

I plucked one thick book about Werewolves, two rather large ones about the careers of legendary Aurors, and one all about Human Transfiguration. After that, I headed back to the Gryffindor Tower feeling completely exhausted with the day's events. Walking up the dormitory steps, I trudged into my dorm room and went right to sleep.

xXxXx

Five weeks of school had finally passes, and I'd just recently started talking to the Guys again. Not everything was doing well, but I couldn't really complain about much except for the fact that Sirius is an insensitive arse.

I was currently reading the book I'd picked out about Werewolves. It generally talked about the transformation and other tiny facts that weren't extremely important to me. I found it interesting, but it definitely wasn't one of the best I'd picked out. I'd found something even more fascinating in the book about Human Transfigurations. It contained numerous details about the process of becoming an Animagi. I discovered that becoming an illegal Animagi was extremely dangerous but, now days, was unduly useful, especially with Voldemort and his followers on the brim of starting a war.

I'd already asked James about why Friday was such a bad day to meet and he simply said that Remus had to visit someone and that he was going with him. I remember that as he said this, he pushed his hand through his hair a bit too much (more than usual, I mean, and that's saying something!). Something was definitely suspicious, but nonetheless, I tried to forget about it and concentrate on something else; the Marauders nicknames.

There was something equally questionable about the names they called each other, and I was determined to figure out their meanings. The Marauders were definitely creative, but they were also a bit mad, and anyone who is mad, has a fault in their system, a fault which I knew I could figure out if I tried hard enough. I decided to start putting possible reasons down in a parchment.

Peter, a.k.a. Wormtail - I agree completely with this nickname, he can be such a worm at times, but the tail part has got to be an exaggeration. We'll get back to this one.

Sirius, a.k.a. Padfoot - I really have no clue about this one. Obviously it has something to do with his foot. Maybe pad meant paw...wow but that doesn't make sense. Another dead end, I guess.

James, a.k.a. Prongs - That's a tough one. It could be referring to a stag, but it makes absolutely no sense at all. I know he likes stags, but I know that if I were him, I wouldn't go as far as using it for a nickname...

And last, but definitely not least,

Remus, a.k.a. Moony- "I could almost swear I've seen that name before"... but anyway, it might have to do something with the moon because he told me he likes the stars but... it just doesn't make sense! Oh well, I know I'll figure it out eventually, I always do.

xXxXx

All through out the week, I noticed that Remus began to constantly look sicker and sicker. It wasn't the flu or anything that was enough to keep him from attending most of his classes (though he did miss a few), but it was something that made him feel dreadful all the same. He looked as pale as I'd seen him and yesterday he went to the hospital wing.

The weirdest part of it all, though, was when I tried to visit him, thinking that I was being quite thoughtful in bringing him all the homework he'd missed. The other Marauders, however, wouldn't even let me step past the Hospital Wing's door. I'd quickly lost my temper with the recurring situation of having more and more questions arrive every day, and becoming even more frustrated with myself when answers were never presented.

I found solace after the particular Hospital incident in my own dormitory studying, if you can imagine. In fact, I was the only person in the girls' dormitory that was still awake, as the hours had flown by as I'd become immersed in the spell book of Human Transfiguration. Feeling slightly bored with the book after having read it for so many hours straight, I decided to go down to the empty Common Room, smiling in comfort as I remembered that I'd have it all to myself since everyone else was asleep.

Walking down the stairs, I jerked to a sudden stop as I heard the distinct sound of whispering. Slipping quietly down a bit further, I pressed myself up against the wall, praying to God that the shadows would immerse me. I wasn't sure who it would be, as it was so late in the night, when suddenly, all clues connected and the answer hit me; James.

I thought this to be extremely strange, because the only reason James and the other Marauders would be up so late in secret was if they were plotting or performing a prank. This was a horrible conclusion to come to, especially since they'd specifically promised that I would be involved in their next prank to make up for Sirius' case of being an extremely large, pompous, prat. My thoughts were interrupted as I heard the portrait swing shut and all was silent again.

I waited for what seemed like numerous hours (and I have no doubt that it was, in fact, many hours that had passed). I'd already drunken five cups of coffee and was doing everything to keep myself fully awake. Thoughts were running faster than a Quidditch Chaser through my mind. What prank could take that long? It was this thought that helped me finally decide to look for them, the only problem was - I had no idea where they were.

I checked everywhere I could think of; the Great Hall, the area surrounding all House Common Rooms (specifically the Slytherin's), the dungeons (specifically Snape's classroom), the Owlry, the Astronomy Tower, the Kitchens...everywhere. I was just on my way back to the Gryffindor Common Room, having officially given up when, from the corner of my eye, I saw the double oak doors in the Entrance Hall were ever so slightly cracked open, something which was highly unusual in the normally sealed tight school.

I slipped outside and was startled so much that I jumped when I promptly heard a sound very familiar to that of an aching howl. I stiffened immediately as bits and pieces from a book I'd read began entering my mind. That wasn't just any howl. That just so happened to be the terrifying call of a werewolf… or I could be confusing it by a wolf… after all I never heard a werewolf call.

I had no idea that such creatures resided on school grounds, but comforted myself with that thought that even if they did, they were most likely deep within the Forbidden Forest. The howl had merely echoed...hopefully. As I walked further, I once again stopped when I heard another howl, this time much more clearly, and also, much closer.

I then noticed other distinct noises that weren't solely that common of werewolves. I could swear I heard the barking of a dog in the distance...except it wasn't exactly in the distance. More like it was directly in front of me, hardly a Quidditch Pitch distance away.

Hurriedly, I turned and ran farthest from where I'd seen the dog. Stumbling, I nearly fell as I climbed over a rather large hill, only to fall once I reached the top, but not of exhaustion or clumsiness, but of terror. I'd made it to the top only to see the actual werewolf trotting calmly in between the swinging branches of the infamous Whomping Willow. I tried my best to scream but found my voice had swiftly disappeared, right along with all my Gryffindor courage.

Allowing only my instincts to take over, I hastily crawled to the nearest tree and began climbing its branches in sheer desperation as both the dog and the werewolf neared closer to me. The werewolf nearly beat me to the highest branch as it thrust its paw out at my leg in an attempt to pull me down, but only succeeded in scratching just above my knee with its claws. Wishing only for the werewolf to leave me along, I yanked a piece of a branch loose and threw it with all the adrenaline I had left, watching in relieved satisfaction as the werewolf happily chased after it, forgetting about me completely.

Thoughts were rushing through my head faster than I could comprehend, and in a silent prayer for help, I looked up into the skies. That's when my eyes landed unceremoniously on the glowing, full moon.

Moony.

Things began clicking in my head all too rapidly. The signs were all there, why hadn't I seen then before. He'd been so uncomfortable when I'd brought up the book about werewolves, a book that was coincidentally written by an author that used the penname of Moony! The other Marauders wouldn't let me see him in the Hospital Wing and he started to become sick the week before the full moon...

Oh my god, Remus is a werewolf!

That didn't explain why the Guys were outside the grounds. James said he and the other Marauders were going to be with Remus for moral support, yet I know for certain that I hadn't seen any other person walking around, just a dog. Dog's had paws and on those they had a leather-like padding...

Padfoot!

I felt as if I was having a mental breakdown. It was too much information and feelings to process in such little time. Suddenly I heard the sound of a galloping...horse?

My head snapped up and I looked across the grounds searching for the newest creature. Finally, my eyes landed on what looked to be a deer...no wait, not a deer, a stag. James liked stags, but what a horrible nickname it would've been...

Prongs.

James was a stag? How was that possible, though? Animagus Transfiguration! "...the Transfiguration by which an Animagus takes his or her animal form, or reverts to human form from animal form..."That's why they were all outside! The bite of werewolves doesn't affect any other animals except humans, and it would make sense that the Marauders would do something illegal so they could keep Remus Company.

But wait, there's one more piece to the puzzle. Wormtail. I knew it was Peter, but why would that be the nickname? What animal has a tail that looks similar to worm...okay there is no such animal. Perhaps the nickname came from the way Peter acted or looked. Let's see, he had a pointed nose, a squeaky voice and pasty complexion...and he did act like a worm some of the time, though I would've suggested sneaky rat for a better name. Wait a second, rats have long, worm-like tails, pointed noses, and they squeak. Aha!

I'd figured it all out and was reveling in my victory when the thought that they hadn't wanted me to know in the first place suddenly entered my mind. Did they think they couldn't trust me or something? As another howl erupted from both the werewolf and the dog, I realized that unless I acted soon, I could be stuck in the tree the rest of the night.

"Accio broom," whispered as loud as I dared. Seconds later, my broom came flying towards me. I mounted it without hesitation and pushed off the tree branches, not once looking back as I flew back to my dorm room window. Climbing inside, I noticed for the first time that I was shaking from all the emotions. I didn't even bother to take off my cloak as I hurriedly climbed into my bed and thought the night's events over in my mind. Eventually, I dozed off and slept all the way till morning.

xXxXx

What do you all think, better? Be nice and review. I don't care if it says, "It's just okay," as long as you review. I am simply asking for a second of your computer time! Do me a favor and make your New Year's resolution to review my story more often!