The full moon was the next week.
"Don't follow me," Remus told them, "Please."
They agreed and watched him go.
"He's going to kill himself at some point," James commented unhappily. "Scratching at himself when he's in that state…."
"It's not like we can stop him," Peter said glumly. "We can't go down there."
"Well, we can't just let him do that either," Sirius said.
"I'm going to the kitchens," James said suddenly. "Sirius, Peter, want to come with?"
"Sure," Sirius said offhandedly.
"Food might help, it's hard to think on an empty stomach," Peter reasoned.
They made their way down towards the kitchens, passing almost no one, until the end of the third floor corridor.
"What are you doing out so late?" McGonagall asked.
"Ah, nothing, Minnie," Sirius said, brightening a little.
"Curfew starts in five minutes, you'd best return to your common room," McGonagall told them.
"Alright, Professor," James said, turning.
Without complaint, the others began to follow.
McGonagall raised an eyebrow and noted, "You usually would ask for a pass on curfew."
"We're just tired. Didn't realize it was so late," Peter said.
"Is this about Mr. Lupin?"
"No-" Peter said quickly.
"Yes," James and Sirius said, pivoting to face McGonagall.
McGonagall stood in thought for a minute before speaking. "There's nothing you can do now. But, hypothetically, of course, there would be a way," she said.
"How? Er, hypothetically," James asked immediately.
"Hypothetically," she said, "I will be talking about it in lessons soon."
"Could you tell us now?" Sirius asked hopefully.
"I'm afraid not, Mr. Black," McGonagall said, "as curfew started a minute ago."
"We'll leave, then," Peter said.
"I'll give you a free pass this once," McGonagall sighed, "but not again."
"Thanks, Minnie!" Sirius grinned. With that, they made their way back to their dormitory.
James, Sirius, and Peter paid extra attention in Transfiguration for the next few days. Nothing fruitful came of their listening until Wednesday.
"Today," McGonagall started, "we will be talking about Animagi, a study usually taught upon entering your third year at Hogwarts. However, I have decided to introduce it early. Does anyone know what an Animagus is?"
"A witch or wizard that can turn into an animal at will," Lily said confidently.
"Very good. Yes, like Ms. Evans said, a witch or wizard that can transform into an animal at will without a wand. Like this."
Peter gasped.
Where McGonagall had been standing, a grey tabby cat with round, spectacle markings sat.
The class applauded. McGonagall transformed back and continued the lesson.
"Mr. Black, Mr. Pettigrew, Mr. Potter, I expect you to be taking notes," she reminded them sternly halfway through the lesson.
"Taking notes…." James muttered.
"What?" Sirius asked.
"This is it, it's what McGonagall was talking about!" James whispered hurriedly. "A werewolf is only a danger to humans, not animals…."
"Oh!" Peter said, eyes widening.
"I don't get it," Sirius said slowly. "How would that help- oh! Brilliant!"
"If we became Animagi, we could stay with him during the full moon and keep him from hurting himself, and at the same time, he wouldn't be able to hurt us," Peter said.
"Well, he could hurt us, but the bites wouldn't affect us or anything like that. At least, probably not," Sirius said hurriedly. He pulled out his quill and a piece of parchment and started copying what McGonagall had written on the board.
James and Peter also scrambled to pull out their quills and began jogging down the fine points of the lecture.
After the lecture had finished, they decided to skip D.A.D.A and go to the library. They didn't get very far before Peter and Sirius were tapped on the shoulder.
"Who's hurting themself?" Lily demanded.
Sirius, Peter, and James slowly turned.
"Sorry?" Sirius said.
"In the lesson you said someone was hurting themself. Who?"
"It's none of your-" Sirius began, but was cut off.
"Look, we can talking about this later, but we've got to get to class," James interrupted.
"It's Remus isn't it?" Lily realized. "He's not here."
"He keeps fighting the giant squid," Peter said.
"Not very good at it at all, poor bloke," Sirius said sympathetically.
Lily stared at them. "What the bloody-"
"Ah, I forgot my book," James said suddenly. "Well, I'd best go find it. Peter, Sirius, coming?"
"Yeah, well, see you later," Sirius said, following James.
"Bye, Evans!" James called over his shoulder.
"Your book is right there, Potter! You're holding it, I can see it!" Lily shouted.
They ignored her and ran the length of the corridor, not looking back.
"That's not good," Peter said nervously.
"No, it's not," Sirius agreed.
"We'll tip Remus off about the giant squid," James said.
"We can't go now, though, Pomfrey'll send us to class," Sirius said.
"So we do library, then at lunch we head up to the Hospital Wing," James said, nodding. "Alright."
With that, they hurried to the library.
"There has to be something somewhere," Peter complained. "It's almost time for lunch, and I'm not missing that."
There were only twenty minutes left of Defense Against the Dark Arts, and they still hadn't had any luck.
"Maybe in the Restricted Section," Sirius suggested.
James slammed shut a leather-bound book, sighing. "Well, you need a signed not to get in there, and it's Filch's favorite spot to patrol," he grumbled.
"We could ask Minnie," Sirius said.
"She's a teacher, she wouldn't tell us," James said.
"Well, it wouldn't hurt to try," Sirius said.
"Or we could just prank Filch," Peter offered.
"Or that, but I'm out of dungbombs," Sirius said.
"That fifth year, Julian, you could bribe him to pick some up," James said.
"Let's just ask Minnie," Sirius said. "That'll be faster."