James and Sirius wanted to lock Umbridge in a room with bludgers next.

Lily decided that was uncivilized.

"Quidditch is completely civilized!" Sirius protested. "It's the greatest sport in the world!"

"Yeah, but it was based off of a bunch of violent games," Lily pointed out, "and don't tell me that those games weren't violent."

"They weren't! They were culture!" James said.

"Whatever. We aren't locking her in a room with bludgers."

"You're no fun," Sirius muttered.

"I'm plenty of fun, you just haven't seen it," Lily said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Anyway," Lily said, changing the subject, "besides bludgers, what are we doing?"

The conversation was carried to lunch, where the school was buzzing.

"Oi, you missed it!" Marlene shouted.

"Missed what?" Lily asked.

"The Marauders! They struck again!"

The boys turned to each other.

"I didn't do anything," James said.

"Me either," Peter said.

"Remus is gone, it's not him, someone's trying to pretend to be us!" Sirius exclaimed.

"What'd they do?" Lily asked.

Marlene smirked. "They replaced Umbridge's clothes with-"

Umbridge burst into the Great Hall, furious.

Sirius blinked. "Holy-"

She wore a studded leather jacket, dark jeans, a Led Zeppelin tee-shirt, combat boots, and sunglasses where her bow had been.

"What the bloody he-!" James said.

"YOU DID THIS! THIS- THIS HIDEOUS CLOTHES SWAP!" Umbridge yelled, cutting him off.

"We didn't, we swear," Sirius said, then whispered to James, "but that's a brilliant idea."

"YOU ARE THE MARAUDERS! YOU SET MY OFFICE ON FIRE AND RUINED MY WARDROBE!"

"We didn't do that!"

"THERE WAS A NOTE IN MY DRESSER, 'COURTESY OF THE MARAUDERS'!" She waved the paper in their faces.

"Professor, we haven't been in your office since detention! That was last week!" James protested.

"That's not the Marauders' handwriting, the 'e's and 'r's are written wrong, someone framed them. Also, Saturday is an off day from class, so why would I be anywhere near your office? I don't do homework on the weekends," Sirius pointed out.

"NO ONE WAS FRAMED! THE MARAUDERS DID THIS! THAT'S YOU! YOU, POTTER, LUPIN, AND PETTIGREW!" Umbridge shrieked.

"We have proof that it wasn't us," Peter said shakily. "If you find a peninsive or whatever it's called, we'll let you see our memories from last night."

Umbridge gave a withering glare. "The headmaster will hear about this, Marauders. You will be exposed." With that, she stormed off.

"You're the Marauders?" Marlene asked when she left.

"Well, we didn't pull that prank did we?" Sirius said.

"I dunno, where were you last night?"

"In the library," Peter said.

"Sure, you don't go to the library unless Lupin drags you there," Marlene said suspiciously.

"Yes we do!" James protested.

Lily raised an eyebrow.

"When we we researching the ashwinders, you came to get Remus' notes from astronomy," Peter said, then trailed off.

"Ashwinders?" Marlene asked. "Wasn't that what set Umbridge's office on fire?"

"It was Care of Magical Creatures homework," James offered.

"You don't take Care of Magical Creatures," Marlene pointed out.

"Yeah?"

"It's not offered until third year."

"Thanks, Peter," Sirius groaned.

"So you are the Marauders," Marlene said.

"Yeah, now if you'd not tell anyone, that would be great," Sirius grumbled.

"Oh, don't worry," Marlene smirked. "So long as Umbridge is here, you're fine. But when she's gone…. You'll see."

"That sounds brilliant," James said. "Can't wait for my demise. Pass the rolls, I'm hungry."

"We're talking about your downfall and you want food?" Lily asked.

"Of course, food makes everything better," Peter said, grabbing some chicken.

Marlene looked at them. "So you guys did April Fools, the ashwinders, the tea cups-"

"Yeah," Sirius said casually.

"If you enchant the stairs like that again, I will personally throttle-"

"Is this part of our demise?"

"Yes, it is."

When Remus returned a few days later, the first thing he found out about was the imposter.

"Someone pretended to be us?" he asked.

"Yeah, and Umbridge came after us," Sirius explained.

"Well, if we've got imposters, it'll cover our tracks," Remus shrugged.

"Or make Umbridge hate us more," Peter added.

"That, too."

"She already hates us, it's fine," James said.

"She'll fail us already, I don't want to be expelled," Peter said

"Dumbledore decides who's expelled, and you know he won't expel anyone anytime soon," Sirius pointed out, "We got away with the ashwinders and Dumbledore didn't mention a thing. And anyway, we're doing worse."

James gave him a look.

"Er, I mean, we've done worse, and we'll do worse," Sirius said hurriedly.

"Does this have anything to do with those mandrake leaves?" Remus asked innocently. "Or the missing socks?"

"No. Definitely not," James said.

"Maybe that book under Sirius' bed?"

Judging by their shocked, choked expressions, that was exactly what it had to do with.

"Well, you see," Peter began. "It-"

"I'm not telling on you guys," Remus said quickly. "I- I get why you didn't tell me, honestly I do, but why? Why are you guys attempting that?"

James, Sirius, and Peter shared a look.

"When you showed us that place," Sirius said, "where you go every month…. Bloody hell, Remus, it was terrible."

"We found a way to help," James continued.

"One day, while you were out, Minnie gave a lesson on animagi," Peter said. "Sirius found a loophole."

"A werewolf is only a danger to humans. If we became animagi, we could go with you on full moons, keep you from hurting yourself," Sirius said hesitantly.

Remus was silent, then he looked down. "Thank you," he said, "Thank you so much- but what if it didn't work? What if something went wrong? What if someone finds out and you go to Azkaban? If no one does, what if I bite one of you, what then? You can't risk that for me, I'm not worth that much."

"Yes, you are. You go through hell and back once a month. We're going to go with you," Sirius insisted.

"It will work, I promise. Nothing is going to happen to anyone. It'll be fine," James promised.

Remus' next words came out almost inaudibly. "I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't," Sirius said. "We know you, Remus."

"I know, but not when I'm like that."

"Do you trust Sirius?" James asked quietly.

"Of course," Remus said.

"Do you trust Peter?"

"Yes."

"Do you trust me?"

"I trust all of you, you know that."

"Then trust that it'll work."

Remus looked up. "Okay."

"We'll be here for you," Peter reminded him.

"Thank you."