Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all it's characters, names and trademarks belong to J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Studios, and Scholastic Publications. I am not affiliated with any of these, so I am not making money off of this publication. My, this is getting annoying.

Olivia

The conversation with Sirius was pinging around my head like a ping-pong ball. My thoughts where creating branches and growing off of things he, James, Peter and Remus had said. Something Lily had mentioned. "He seems to get sick a lot."

I laid out my thoughts. Remus had gone to tell Abigail something about why he was sick so often. Maybe it was a chronic disease?

I was so deep in thought, I almost missed the trick step again, but jumped it just in time, teetering slightly over the edge. I fell back, landing roughly on the marble step. I would have fallen down the rest of the steps, but my foot got caught in the trick step, holding me in one place.

"Excellent." I muttered, sitting up. "Insult and Injury make a great team."

"Indeed they do. Need help, Kitten?" If I rolled my eyes to the back of my head, I could see Sirius's smirking face.

I pushed myself into a half-sitting position. "No, I don't. Thank you though."

I pulled my leg free of the trick step, and tumbled backwards. I winced as my shoulders were caught by firm hands. "You're welcome."

His touch sent goosebumps down my arms. I felt his sturdy arms lift me back into a standing position. I gruffly brushed myself off, embarrassed at being such a klutz. The silence rang in the still stairway.

"I leave for you ten minutes, and you go and get yourself banged up again." Sirius joked.

"I was thinking." I replied.

"About what?" He stepped carefully over the trick stair, and I followed.

"What you were saying earlier about Remus."

He stopped. "Look, Kitten, you should just forget about that. That's Moony's business, and his alone."

"I know. I can't help what I think though."

"Of course not. All I'm saying is, if you find something out, and Moony finds out that you found out, I don't want to be blamed."

"That's reasonable. I can assure you, you won't be."

"Thanks." We continued in silence for the next few minutes.

"You do realize that you're going to the Ravenclaw common room." I rather hoped he wasn't going senile on me.

"I do. I want to know where it is, anyways."

I mock-gasped. "You don't know where the Ravenclaw common room is? I thought you of all people would at least know its location. Your usual standards would dictate that you know it's past passwords dating back to a century ago."

He blushed. Really. Sirius Black blushed. His cheeks turned pink, and he grinned sheepishly, saying, "I know the general area it's in, I just don't know exactly where. Besides," He continued, his blush fading slightly. "I'm not supposed to know where it is."

I rolled my eyes. "Since when does Sirius Black do what he's supposed to?"

"For you information, I am quite well-behaved."

"There's a stack of detention forms somewhere around here that say otherwise."

"How do you know about those?"

"Well, besides the fact that you two are in detention eight times a week, I recently had to spend a few hours in the records hall."

"And why were you in the records hall, Kitten?"

"Detention." I replied, coming to a halt before a particularly well-decorated suit of armor. "Goodnight, Sirius." I was hinting for him to leave. Not that I minded his company, but I knew we were being watched.

He glanced at the suit of armor, and grinned. "Goodnight, Kitten."

"Felix Felicitous."

The suit of armor stepped aside, clanking and rattling as it went, and I ruffled Sirius's hair in farewell.

Sirius

I stepped through my own portrait hole, to find James sitting against the arm of a couch, with and arm over Lily, who was leaning half on top of him. Peter was sitting on the other end of the couch, looking rather lonely. Remus was nowhere to be found.

" How'd Remus's hear to heart with Abby go?" I asked, positioning myself in a nearby armchair.

"Swimmingly," James jerked his thumb over to a shadowy corner, where Remus and Abigail were locked in a passionate embrace.

I chuckled. "Moony's grown up quite a bit. I wonder how he managed to keep her."

"She finds werewolves 'sexy'" James said, rolling his eyes.

I glanced warningly at Lily, who giggled. "I already know about him. And the rest of you, Padfoot." She looked up at James. "I must say, however, that stags are much more sexy the 'wolves."

I turned to Peter, who shook his head. "I haven't said anything to Panda."

"She hates rats?" I asked sympathetically.

He shrugged. "Just animals in general."

"Excepts of Pandas, though, right?"

He thought for a minute. "No, she hates those, too."

Lily interrupted. "Are you going to tell Olivia?"

"Tell Olivia what?" Remus sat down on a couch across from me, joined my Abigail to form a position somewhat similar to Lily and James's.

"That he's an animagus." James informed him.

Remus snorted. "I'd like to be there for that."

Neither of us had spoken about that day by the lake. I shot him a warning look that he ignored. "I hear she gives a good belly rub."

I flushed. James burst out laughing, as did Peter. The girlfriends smiled, but shot each other anxious glances.

I mumbled something about bed, and hurried up to the dormitories.

Olivia

The next morning I took a shower, twisting the knob as far to the left as it would go. The colder the better. This was prime shower time, and it was almost impossible to get hot water. It seemed that such a trivial thing-she could rattle off six spells that would take care of the problem. But apparently, it was below the interest of the caretakers to ensure tat all their students got hot water. Some girls got up at dawn to take a warm shower; most squeezed in a shower a break. But I was uncompromisingly grumpy until I got my shower, and was worse when she had to get up early to get one in, so I had long since learned to cope with tepid water.

Standing under the chilly spray, I thought, my mind idling on the topics of the previous evening. It vexed me severely; it was like trying to get between the two parts of a stage curtain, but not being able to find the break where one curtain ended and the other started.

I thought about it all while I was toweling off and pulling on my robes. As I reentered the main dormitory, I spotted my calendar on the wall. It was one of those things that one of my relatives had given to me on some occasion; in a vain attempt to be useful and to prod at a supposed hobby of mine (I had had an infatuation with outer space when I was seven, and they clung to that scrap of knowledge.) On each square for the day, it showed the phase of the moon that particular day was. Today, the only Friday that wasn't marked my a neat check, was marked with a pale, round circle. Full moon. I thought nothing of it until I found Remus to be absent at breakfast.

"He's sick." Abby said cheerfully, not looking like a girlfriend whose boyfriend had recently taken ill. "Just a bit under the weather. Madam Pomfrey says he'll be back tomorrow."

This made me remember the last time Moony was sick. It was…about a month ago. Yes, it was a month, because the previous date was a full moon too. I made a mental note that Moony had faithfully gotten ill at the same time this month, too.

I sat down, and thought, not touching any of the food on the table. I just wasn't a breakfast person. I was puzzling over Remus's illness, as I had come to call it. I was plaguing me like a swarm of locusts.

Sirius slid into the seat next to me. "Hello Kitten. Moony's ill, I expect?"

I had heard the nickname millions of times before, but it had never stuck like it did that time. Moony…moon….full moon…

My eyes widened in realization.

Sirius.

When she didn't say anything for a few moments, I began to worry. My worry was increased when her eyes widened. "Kitten, are you okay?"

She nodded hastily, but beckoned for me to lean down. At first, I thought she was going to kiss me, but her head moved upwards, towards my ear. As she spoke, her warm breath tickled my ear, making me want to squirm.

"Sirius, is Remus a werewolf?"

I had figured this would happen soon. "Yes, he is. How'd you know?"

"He's sick one a month on the full moon and his nickname is Moony. That's mostly what gave it away."

"It took us three years to figure it out, and we were his good friends."

"You were young and naïve. I don't blame you. How'd Abigail take it?"

"She adores it. Thinks it's sexy."

She chuckled.

"Listen." I turned back towards my plate and spoke aloud. "Meet us tomorrow in the room of requirement, first thing tomorrow morning."

"Some type of initiation thing?" She asked, with a smile in her voice.

"Not really. Just an explanation of sorts."

She looked puzzled, but agreed to meet there the following morning.

Author's Note: I think this is a new record. 1:26 A.M. How very exciting.

I would like to take a few lines to thank, not only my reveiwers, but the people who have added me to their alert list, and favorites. You are underrecognized, and I thank you greatly. I shan't forget my wonderful reveiwers, you guys rock! I'm much to tired to list names, but you all know who you are.

XOXO

Salvation ala mode.

P.S. Damn ruler isn't working. --+