"FIVE MORE MINUTES!"
"Do you hear me? I said five more minutes and the whole lot of you students need to head back to your dormitories. I mean it. You've already stayed and had plenty long of a chinwag. Poor Mr. Lupin needs more time to rest properly. Besides, it's about supper time anyway in the dining hall...and James, I'm sure your more than ready to change out of that filthy uniform."
Madam Pomfrey barked across the Hospital Wing corridor to Sirius, Peter, James & Lily who were settled around the bedside of Remus casually chatting together. Remus finally had some color returning to his face after he had drunk a strengthening potion.
"What color was the strengthening potion she gave you, Remus?" Lily Evans asked curiously.
"Blue, I think..." Remus answered and scratched his head.
"Dark blue or light blue?" she continued to press him for more details and leaned forward in the chair beside the bed. She balled up her fist and rested her chin on it in a thoughtful pose.
Remus paused in concentration trying to remember in his foggy-headed fatigued state of mind. Then with a furrowed brow he answered slowly,
"Lighter, I believe. I think... turquoise to be precise."
"Ooooh, turquoise color, yes. Professer Slughorn talked about that very one at our last Slug club meeting. But I could only remember the ingredients required salamander blood and powdered griffin claw. Come to mention it, did it taste dreadful?"
Remus snickered and answered, "Oh yes indeed, but not to worry as it's certainly not the worst Ive tasted. I am feeling much stronger from it already. Of course, eating some chocolate after nasty tasting potions always helps clear the palate out nicely, too."
On that note, he pulled out the remaining half eaten Honey dukes chocolate bar out of his pocket. Remus held it up and waved it above the bed.
"Would any of you like some?"
"Bagsy!"
Sirius snatched it like a seagull and began hastily unwrapping the golden foil wrapper that had been folded closed neatly.
"Ha ha. Don't mind if I call bagsy on it, mate. Cheers. I am feeling quite peckish after that absolutely wankers game."
Lily leaned into James standing nearby and slowly gave him a low hug around his waist. Then she gazed up at him and stated, "Wankers indeed how your broom went completely LIMP as a Gillyweed. Merlin I'm glad you're alright."
James stroked some strands of her copper hair away from her face and tucked them behind her ear. He replied, "Oh I'm fine, really. Just glad Dumbledore slowed me down in enough time as I fell or I'd probably be right here trying to regrow shattered bones in a bed beside Moony."
"Sssshhh!!!"
Suddenly, Peter shushed harshly after James's last uttered word. He put a finger in front of his mouth and then with wide-eyes pointed slightly at his girlfriend. "Don't c-call him that in front of her."
Lily raised an eyebrow at him and then put a hand on her hip. She lowered her voice and said indignantly,
"Pfft, oh Peter, really? I know. In fact I probably knew even before the rest of you lot figured it out. The secret is safe with me. There's no need to fret about that here."
Peter glanced doubtfully around at the others who each gave him quiet little nods of agreement backing her up. Silent relief washed over Peter's face for a moment and then it flushed red.
He mumbled sheepishly, "Oh, um, right then. S-s-sorry."
"ONE MINUTE and time's up!" Madam Pomfrey squawked across the corridor.
"Well, that's our cue. I better let you catch some zzzzzs, mate," James told Remus.
Remus reached out and tugged lightly on his muddied Quidditch uniform sleeve. His eyes darted to Madam Pomfrey for a moment and then back to James when he was sure she was distracted. He urged him earnestly,
"Please, James, don't overextend yourself tonight on my account. Go back earlier so you can catch some zzzs yourself. I know you must be knackered after a bit of a rough day out there at the Quidditch pitch."
James nodded in agreement, rubbed a tender spot on his head in a swirl of his unruly hair and replied,
"Quite right, fair enough. That match's done me in already...I'm cream crackered. Not to worry though, I don't mind keeping a watch out for you in the dormitory tonight. Well, I mean keep a watch out when my eyes aren't watching the back of my eyelids, that is."
Remus grinned and said, "Right. I won't say no to that kind offer. Thank you."
Remus gave a slight exhale of relief. Perhaps it was an exhale of relief letting go of a bit of self-inflicted guilt for what felt to him like shirking his prefect duties. He was so grateful for their friendships filling in the gaps for him during his monthly absences.
There was still a small part of him deep down that couldn't quite believe he had such wonderful friendships. His overall life prior to Hogwarts had been entirely lopsided with too many years of miserable loneliness. He still mentally wrestled in disbelief at times at how they cared enough to become Animagi on his behalf to ease his monthly suffering.
Lily then leaned over Remus's bedside and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. She smiled sweetly and told him, "Rest well, my friend, and feel better."
Remus smiled back shyly not sure what to say. He remembered her earlier awkwardly providing him walking assistance alongside Peter up the stairs to the Hospital Wing; when she probably would have much preferred to go hurriedly check on James's welfare.
He sighed and said softly, "I'm sorry I added more trouble to your day after the bonkers match."
Lily swiftly grabbed his hand again and said firmly, "Not at all. Remus, listen, you never need to apologize to me for any of this, you understand?"
He nodded quietly to her with his face beginning to grow unexpectedly warm.
She continued, "Simply no more apologies, alright?"
"Alright," he answered meekly in agreement.
"Besides, I seem to remember you caught me when I fell down earlier in those extremely high stadium seats. So, you see, I was just returning the favor and now we're even."
She gave him a playful little wink and then walked away with James.
"Take c-care, Remus," Peter said in passing.
"Thanks again for the help up here, mate," Remus told him.
Sirius followed behind Peter and was still chewing on a piece of the Honey dukes chocolate bar. He winked and tousled the top of Remus's sandy brown hair.
"See ya, Moony moon," he teased.
"Don't trouble yourself too late with me tonight, Padfoot," Remus whispered with a quick glance toward Madam Pomfrey who was busy ushering the others out of the Hospital wing entrance doors.
"Oh I won't. I got the best prank ever in mind for later to get back at one of those nasty Slytherins for the jinx on James. I can't wait to tell you all about it when 'you are you' again tomorrow," he whispered excitedly.
Remus gave him an uncertain apprehensive look.
Madam Pomfrey shouted sternly, "Sirius Black! Time to crack on outta here - come on now! Snip snap! Put a sock in it."
Sirius grinned mischievously, pulled out his wand and nimbly floated the last bit of the chocolate bar back to Remus; who reached up and caught it in midair.
Before he strolled away from the bedside he mused, "And Dumbledore thought you as prefect would be a good influence on me - ha! Laters."
Suddenly, a crisp, white sock came whizzing through the air and began bumping into Sirius's mouth. Remus's eyes traced a semi-visible glittering trail in the air and saw it was from Madam Pomfrey; standing at the doorway looking quite pleased with herself animating it with her wand.
Sirius tried to call out to Madam Pomfrey, "Alright! Al-mmmmf!" The sock immediately pushed into his oral cavity as soon as he tried to speak. He managed to spit it out, attempted to swat it away unsuccessfully and then began jogging away from it.
Remus chuckled at the humorous sight of Sirius finally exiting the Hospital Wing with the sock still chasing him from behind like an angry Pixie.
Once alone, Remus had no trouble drifting off to sleep. His eyelids were already so heavy that when he shut them at long last, he fell asleep nearly instantly. He slept and slept until it was his time to head to the Shrieking Shack before the full moonrise.
Later that night, Padfoot, Prongs and Wormtail faithfully coaxed their werewolf friend out of the Shrieking Shack for a bit of further exploration of the castle grounds. They were determined not to skip any full moon and risk the loss of forward progress on their bewitched roll of parchment containing the Marauders Map.
It was always thrilling the day after a full moon to make additions of new discoveries. The interior of castle was being slowly mapped over time with the help of James' Invisibility Cloak.
Prior to the invention of Wolfsbane potion, Remus was never able to keep his mind intact while he was transformed into his werewolf state. When Peter finally mastered becoming a rat, the next biggest challenge unfolded; how they would tame and earn the werewolf's trust even as Animagi.
How would the werewolf know they were his friends?
Sure they became much safer around him in their Animagus forms, but how would they convince Remus... when *Remus was not Remus* mentally in his primal werewolf state that they were trustworthy and could be followed around? The four of them quietly discussed the matter in length, quietly in the dorm room night after night. Eventually, it came down to one undeniable factor.
"Meat! Raw meat. No dog can resist it. I mean... it takes one to know one," Sirius declared.
They quickly figured out it was indeed an effective strategy at first of bringing a heavy sack of raw meat. Thanks to the help from their faithful house-elf friend, Smudge, in the Hogwarts kitchens they snuck it along with them each full moon night. When the belly of the werewolf was initially satiated, it was in a much calmer state for the night. It clearly acted less agitated, if or when either Prongs needed to give him a poke along with his antlers or Padfoot a playful nip from behind while exploring the castle grounds.
Sometimes it was hard to keep their laughter quiet when they shoved the bag of meat through the hole at the base of the Whomping Willow trunk and it landed below with a comical sounding loud thud.
One full moon, James and Sirius pranked Peter pretty good at this stage of transporting the meat sack to the Shrieking Shack. Sirius had slid down the hole first. When Peter shoved the sack of meat through the hole, Sirius pretended to be knocked out cold down in the tunnel. Instead of the usual thud sound when it tumbled down to its landing spot on the dirt; they heard a painful yelp and angry curse word float up instead.
James asked with a shocked, deadpan face,
"Oh no, Wormtail, what have you done?"
Peter was speechless in remorseful terror. His face had never glowed so pale in the moonlight. James dove quickly down the secret hole at the base of the trunk of the Whomping Willow.
He found Sirius had resourcefully used blood from the contents of the sack to smear across his face to heighten the dramatic effect. Then he laid himself down on the dirt in a crumpled heap with the sack over his head. Peter came down the tunnel entrance in his animagus rat form.
James pulled out his wand, "Lumos."
Then he asked, "My God, Peter, were you aiming for him when you dropped it?"
Peter transformed back into a human. He knelt down close to Sirius's head and nervously pushed the sack away. Suddenly, Sirius opened his eyes, smiled, and grabbed Peter's ankle. "Gotcha!"
A high-pitched, piercing sound of fright burst out of Peter's mouth the moment his ankle was grabbed. Then he transformed back into a rat and scuttled away behind some roots in the wall of the tunnel. James and Sirius both began to roar in echoing laughter. There really wasn't a full moon that passed that didn't involve some form of tomfoolery.
This night was no exception and involved an unforgettable prank in the tunnel when they headed back.
Peter was always the first to exit the secret tunnel in his rat form so he could press on the right knot to stun the tree for the others. When the three of them were out of the tunnel, Sirius lingered by the trunk. James and Peter crept away in their usual quiet manner.
James turned and whispered, "Padfoot, what are you doing? Come on."
Sirius replied, "No no! You two go back without me. Carry on! I got something else I need to do out here. I'll be in later."
James frowned in confusion and asked, "What about you getting back without my Invisibility Cloak?"
Sirius grinned mischievously, "I'll be fine. Don't worry. I could always give a good canine growl at Mrs.Norris and that'll keep them both away easy peasy! Go on!"
James and Peter disappeared from sight as they crept back toward the castle. Sirius waited by the Whomping Willow and soon another dark figure appeared creeping towards him.
"I'm glad you decided to come Severus."
Severus eyed him with a suspicious scowl and the moonlight shimmered on his oily, black hair.
"Yeah yeah, I'm here. So bloody get on with it."