Remus had always accepted this as a part of life. James and Sirius were closer than anyone else in the school could hope to be, and the few times that their bond thinned from anger, it was almost immediately repaired, even if it was at the expense of another. Remus didn't much care, though. It always did bother him slightly, but he was more happy that they were all back to normal. Remus was especially relieved, as the Moon was waxing once more. The next few days passed as normal, and the four hung around with Minette a while longer.
"Oh, by the way," Minette whispered one day while they were all in the library. "are you all going to that Hogsmeade place next weekend? I was wondering if you could show me around."
The four boys exchanged glances. That weekend was a full moon. They could not possibly go; they had to stay with Remus. Well, they don't have to, Remus thought, I can't blame them for wanting to show her around. I can spend one full moon on my own, after all, I did years alone before they became animagi. Remus kept telling himself that, and really believed it. He really couldn't hold it against them. It would really be a way to keep Minette from finding out Remus' secret.
Nevertheless, when James said, "Of course we will!" In such a wonderfully cheery voice, Remus' stomach did a kind of clenched flip.
"Oh, thank you!" Minette said smiling, again unaware of the unease she was causing Remus. "Is it really fun, then?"
"Oh yes, there are all sorts of wonderful shops, there!" Peter said.
"And there's this one place," James said with a sly grin, "called the Shrieking Shack. It's this horribly haunted place where there are spirits so evil, even ghosts are afraid to go." Remus snorted laughter at James' false terror. "You can hear the evil beings there shrieking at night sometimes..."
Minette did not seem to know whether James was serious or not, and squirmed in her chair uneasily. "Oh...alright..." She said, apparently still confused about whether to be scared or amused. "I have to go get my books for class," Minette said picking up her completed Divination essay, "so I'll catch you guys later." As soon as she had shuffled out of the library, James, Sirius, and Peter started laughing, although quietly so that they didn't get hushed by the librarian. Remus smiled weakly, but his thoughts were still on the next full moon.
They all sat silently for a while longer, engrossed in their homework. When the bell rang, the four got up and walked out of the door and back to the Gryffindor common room. Peter, Sirius, and James chattered away while Remus took up the pensiveness he had been assuming so much recently.
"Why're you always looking so serious, Moony?" James asked, noticing this after a while. "You need to have more fun. Want to walk the grounds next weekend?"
"James," Remus started accusingly, "You know that we shouldn't-wait, what? I thought you lot were going to show Minette around Hogsmeade!"
Sirius barked laughter. "You really think we'd leave you alone on a full moon? Fat chance!"
"But, she'll be waiting for you all..."
"We'll just say that we have to go to a funeral, or we're sick or something," Peter said indifferently. "It worked for you that first year," he added with a grin.
The corners of Remus' mouth twitched into what could have become a smile, had the subject not been the painful monthly activity of deformation of his body to become a monster.
"Thank you, guys," Remus said earnestly, "so, so much. Although we really shouldn't go of through the grounds, especially since it's a Hogsmeade weekend. Students will be going all over the grounds all evening."
I hope you all are still enjoying this! It's turning out to be a long story, because I don't want to jump into anything. Relationships more often happen from with long periods of friendship preceding them, but I'll cut it a bit shorter (one or two more chapters, maybe) so that this doesn't end up resembling Little Women. Anyway, please keep reading and don't forget to review!
