Disclaimer: It is not mine, not mine, and not mine!

A/N: Well nothing really to say here. Hope you enjoy the story. You might feel the need for a tissue at some point, or it may just be me.

And I want to thank my new beta, Vikertee! She is forever wonderful for putting up with me. She does a wonderful job even though we are more than 100,000 miles apart.

Becoming Moony: New Moon Rising

The moon was high and bright, it took up three quarters of the sky at the very least. He glanced up at it mournfully, wishes of normalcy running rampant through His head. The dirt felt smooth against his paws, and the leaves crunched beneath the powerful extremity. He knew that He was not supposed to be out of the house. Why He wasn't allowed out, He didn't know, He just knew He shouldn't be out. He didn't feel the need to hurt anybody, did He? No, He didn't. He just wanted a friend.

A sudden crunching of the underbrush brought His attention to the forest behind Him. What could have made that noise? He should have noticed that something was behind Him, but He hadn't. The crunching noise got louder and suddenly a large black canine came bounding out of the pine brushes. The dog was what seemed like a cross between a Newfoundland and a Belgian Malinois. It made for a rather strange and lopsided animal. The fact that it seemed to be just out of puppy-hood seemed to contribute to its awkwardness as well.

As soon as it saw him, it came to an abrupt stop, a howl died on the tip of its tongue. The ears, which had been standing straight up in excitement, drooped with understanding. He was rather intimidating when He wanted to be. But the canine didn't seem to be afraid. Simply curious.

Moony!

Who was Moony? He wondered. There was no one else here besides the two of them. The canine couldn't be talking to Him, could he?

Let's play, Moony!

The dog slumped down on his front paws and wagged his tail enthusiastically. It seemed as if this dog was talking to Him. But that didn't explain who, or what, was a Moony?

To whom are you talking to? He asked, cocking His head to the side.

You, of course. Who else? came the canine's voice.

Oh. Why do you call me by that name?

Because that's your name silly.

It is?

Yeah.

What's your name then? He asked, coming to sit next to the black dog. The dog turned its head, as if it was confused.

Padfoot. My name is Padfoot.

/page break/

A large deer like animal and a small rat soon joined the two canines. Prongs and Wormtail. Moony was not too fond of Wormtail, he smelled badly. When he attempted to drop the poor rat into a puddle to clean him off, the stag reacted rather badly. Prongs knocked Moony over with his not so large horns. Padfoot laughed and laughed. Moony liked Padfoot a lot. The stag seemed rather stuffy and nosy.

The four animals romped and played throughout the night, having lots of fun and nearly getting into trouble with the local animals. Moony thanked the Goddess many times that night, glad that he had friends, friends to play with. A pack to take care of, although, if Prongs didn't let him clean poor Wormtail, he didn't know what he was going to do. The poor thing smelled horrible. Padfoot smelt it as well, he had told Moony that when Prongs hadn't been listening.

As they laid down on the squeaky floorboards of the Shrieking Shack, Moony swiped a quick lick over the muzzles of the three animals. Padfoot and Prongs moved closer to Moony as he fell asleep, cuddled up next to Padfoot. Wormtail squeaked and ran off to the corner to clean himself. Moony snorted, such a dim little animal, it was an affectionate gesture, not an excuse to clean oneself. On the other hand, Moony's tongue had covered the rat in its entirety.

Moony fell asleep to the deep breathing of Padfoot, the small squeaks of Wormtail, and the rasping of Prongs's antlers across the floor. He was truly happy.

/page break/

Remus groaned and moved his arms above his head, or at least, he tried to. The two warm bodies that were stretched out on either side of him had pinned down his arms. He turned his head to the left, Sirius. He turned his head to the right, James. Remus frowned and thought back to the night before. Nothing out of the ordinary, he had gone down to the shack, he had transformed like normal, and he had then escaped the gloomy oppression that was the crumbling building. Then a faint memory crossed Remus's mind…a large black dog bounding towards him, a stag, and a rat. Padfoot, Prongs, and Wormtail, his three best friends who had risked everything.

"Mornin' Moony." mumbled Sirius, rolling closer to the mound of bodies on the shack's floor. Remus turned around with a small smile on his face. Sirius smiled back at him, Remus proceeded to smack Sirius upside the head.

"Jeez! What was that for?"

"That was for being a complete moron for attempting something like this." Remus smacked him again. "That was for coming down to see me, anything could have happened. And this…"

James's hand wrapped around Remus's wrist before he could hit Sirius again. Peter was awake and laughing gleefully at Padfoot's plight. "Let's not be hasty Moony. We're just trying to help."

"You're trying to help? By what, getting yourselves killed?" Remus yelled, coughing violently afterward. He made a mental note not to yell after a full moon.

"We didn't want you to be alone, you always seemed so sad." said Sirius, sitting up fully, confident that Remus wouldn't be hitting him again any time soon. Remus paused, what did he do to deserve such friendship?

"You really shouldn't have done this? You can't possibly be legal."

The other three boys exchanged glances, finally James spoke, "We're not. Legal, that is. You can't go through the animagus procedure unless you're over eighteen."

Remus shook his head. Even when they were trying to do something nice they were breaking the rules. However, this was a little bigger than breaking a few school rules, this was the law. Remus had to be very careful when it came to laws; werewolves got double the time when they broke laws.

"As long as no one finds out we'll be okay. And who would we tell, it would be far to tricky to explain why we had become Animagi in the first place." said James, shrugging his shoulders.

Remus tried to laugh, but it came out as a sob. He didn't know how his emotions had turned around so fast. It was like he had gotten on an emotional rollercoaster and couldn't get off. It was taking around and around, up and down, through the loops and upside down. The tears fell in rivets down his face, falling faster and faster. Picking up speed, making it so that he could barely see. His body rocked to and fro, he had almost no control over how he moved. His head remained bowed and his mouth was dry, his nose was running all over his face. It wasn't a pretty sight.

Sirius and James immediately leapt into action, wrapping their arms around Remus, trying to protect him from the emotions that plagued him. Sirius had his face buried in Remus's neck, arms wrapped around his thin waist. James's glasses were poking into the top of his head, his arms secure around Remus's shoulders. They were both mumbling something. It sounded like white noise to Remus; he was too far gone on the nastiest rollercoaster ever built.

Remus hiccupped and was finally still, he glanced up through his smarting eyes at his friends, or at least two of his friends, Peter had disappeared. Remus leaned tiredly against Sirius, both the moon and his emotional breakdown leaving him exhausted. James got up and fetched a blanket from the dilapidated bed, throwing it over Remus's beaten body.

"You okay Moony?" asked Sirius, flopping down closer to Remus, allowing him to use Sirius as a pillow. Remus nodded up at him, a tiny smile gracing the drawn and worn face of the fifteen-year-old boy. That's all they were really, boys. They were little boys on the cusp of manhood, stuck in a monastery-like prep school; they broke rules to get singled out, to gain the attention of someone who mattered. They flirted and flounced so that they could gain a "reputation", which wouldn't matter in two years anyway.

"You aren't mad at us, are you?" asked James, sitting next to Remus's left knee. His head was titled to the side, glasses lopsided. He looked so much younger than fifteen and one twelfth years. His hair had dust in it, the grey streaks presenting the illusion of age. Remus shook his head and sighed.

"I'm not mad, I just don't think that you should have put yourselves in this position. Anything could have gone wrong. I could have bitten you. Hell, I could have killed you and no one would have noticed or known until it was too late to do anything." said Remus, that monologue having been the most he had said all morning. Sirius and James looked at each other over Remus's head, there was nothing they could say to that, it was true. They could have been killed, but to them, the danger didn't matter. It was their friend who mattered.

"Remus, it doesn't matter. We just want you to be happy. If that means doing something stupid then we'll do it. If it makes you smile, who cares?" stated James, putting one of his hands on Remus's knee. He squeezed gently, trying to make Remus see that they didn't care what happened to them, not really.

"Yeah, I mean it would be great not to die, but if you're happy then who gives a damn?" Sirius claimed, putting his chin on Remus's shoulder. Remus looked at them in bewilderment, they had really done this just for him?

At that moment Peter stuck his head back inside the door and a quick whispered "Madame Pomphrey's coming!" had them all scrambling. James and Sirius grabbed their robes and made a break for the door. Sirius stopped briefly to push Remus's clothes into his hands and give Remus a grin. Remus pulled his clothes on quickly; it wouldn't do for the matron to find him in nothing but a blanket. The other three boys were gone almost as quickly as they had come, but Remus knew that this conversation was not finished. Not by a long shot.

/page break/

The months passed, as did full moons, the three boys continued to come and see Remus during the full moon. They spent their time with Moony frolicking in the tall trees of the forbidden forest and causing mischief. Prongs and Padfoot made sure to keep Moony away from Hogsmeade at all costs, nothing good could come from Moony going down to the village.

Remus was still reeling from the emotional blow that he had been given, but knew that he wouldn't change it for anything. As long as he had his four best friends he could do anything, even conquer being a gay teenage werewolf.

Remus did, however, have a problem. His increasing…attraction to Sirius was becoming quite startling. He had no idea where it came from, one day it just appeared. It may have come from Moony, the wolf had a very close relationship with Padfoot, most likely because they were both canine. What Remus did know was that if he didn't do something with this crush it was going to consume him. It was an inferno threatening to swallow him whole and with no mercy.

Sirius's sixteenth birthday celebration made things worse, lots worse. The whole of Gryffindor was throwing him a party; Remus was nominated as the distraction. Why James couldn't have done it was beyond him. James was much better at lying, Remus was a terrible liar. Remus did, however, manage to successfully distract Sirius for the four required hours. A short trip around the lake took care of that particular issue. What came next was where the problems began.

Truth or Dare was a nasty, horrible, no good, stupid muggle creation that should have been banned while in Hogwarts walls. It should at least be banned in Gryffindor Tower, for Gryffindors did horrible things to their classmates. It was said that even the Slytherins were nicer with their games than the lions. No one would play a lion in truth or dare, not if you valued your reputation. Remus was one of those who valued their reputation. He had spent many a year building up his, getting good grades and such. He also tried not to get into any more trouble than he could stand; being a Marauder brought certain traits to the forefront.

Remus knew that playing truth or dare was a bad idea, he was vehemently against such humiliating games, and protested. But when Sirius pouted at him, Remus knew he was sunk. He was like the Titanic; he had stuck the proverbial iceberg and knew it was only a matter of time before he was at the bottom of the ocean. Remus knew playing was a bad idea, but when Sirius Black opened his big blue eyes and pouted at you for all he was worth, you couldn't say no.

The game started harmlessly enough, Remus picking truth every time. So far he had admitted to stealing biscuits from the biscuit jar, refusing to bathe at age eight, knowing how to do the splits, and knowingly fudged a Transfiguration paper to make Peter feel better. He knew that it was only a matter of time before someone cottoned on to him. He was right.

"Remus. Truth or dare?" asked Lily, a wicked smile crossing her lovely face. Remus felt dread grow in the pit of his stomach.

"Truth." mumbled Remus.

"Tell us your darkest secret." Remus could see both James and Sirius stiffen, even Peter had stopped eating. Remus obviously couldn't tell his darkest secret, it would create mass panic. So Remus said nothing. Lily grinned her wicked little grin.

"Do you pass your right to a fair truth?" she asked, Remus could only nod and sigh. His doom was sealed. "Dare it is then. I dare you, Remus Lupin, to kiss one of your best friends."

Remus hated Lily Evans. He hated her and her little conniving grin. He hated the way her lovely green eyes glittered when she knew she had won. Most of all, he hated the way she knew. The way she knew everything about him.

Remus hesitated, listening to the gasps and giggles that went around the room. He glanced first at James and then at Peter, who had gone green and choked on his Pumpkin Pasty. Lastly he glanced at Sirius who had a goofy grin on his face. It was a grin that told Remus exactly what he thought of the dare. Pure and simple genius. He looked as though he would get up and congratulate Lily on her Marauder-like dare.

Remus glanced once more at James, as Peter was clearly out of the equation. James shrugged once and glanced over at Lily. Remus could read the slightly pained look that flashed across his face, and he couldn't do that to James. It would ruin his chances with Lily even more than James already had. Sirius it was then, at least he could use the excuse that it was the birthday boy's right. Remus sighed, like anybody would buy that load of rubbish.

Remus glanced over at Sirius, a very odd look crossed Sirius's face. It disappeared quickly and Remus soon forgot about it in the impending doom of his nearly spotless reputation. Luckily, Remus didn't have to go very far. Sirius was on his left side and he turned to face the boy more fully, a request for permission on Remus's face. As soon as everyone realized whom he was going to kiss it became as silent as a cemetery.

Remus leaned closer to Sirius, wishing that he didn't have to do this. He did want to kiss Sirius in all honesty; he just didn't want to do it in front of sixty other people. While Remus mused, Sirius had gotten fed up of waiting and had pressed his lips to Remus'. The entire common room went nuts; people were snickering behind their hands and whispering to their neighbors. They couldn't believe that Lupin had gone through with it and Sirius had let him! Had helped him even, it was nearly unthinkable.

Lily watched the two break apart with something akin to smugness. She so had them pegged, when they were going to realize it she didn't know, but when they did she would be there to laugh and tell them that she had known all along.

Remus's mind spun in dizzying circles. He could barely pull away from the most amazing kiss he had ever had. Sirius was a bloody wonderful kisser; he should be given an award for it. His mind was fogged and just plain not working right. He faintly heard the hooting and the wolf whistles. He thought he heard James hacking up a lung he was laughing that hard.

Sirius grinned down at him and turned back to the party, leaving Remus to his, rather tumultuous thoughts.

The party fizzled out soon after that, apparently people thought that that moment couldn't be beat. The four boys retired to their dorm, still partying. After all, you didn't turn sixteen everyday. Sirius was talking loudly, he was rather drunk actually. Someone had managed to sneak in four bottles of Firewhiskey and Sirius had drunk one just by himself.

Remus spent most of the night thinking upon the rather momentous kiss. The one kiss that cemented Remus's feelings for Sirius, a kiss that meant absolutely nothing to the boy who was contentedly snoring in the bed next to him. The boy who cared nothing for him except for a deep friendship. That would just have to satisfy him, thought Remus. If that was all Sirius could give him then that was what he was going to take. He wasn't going to complain and he certainly wasn't going to say anything to Sirius.

He was, however, going to have to talk to Lily, the poor girl had been mistakenly sorted into Gryffindor. Slughorn did have an extreme liking for her and he was the head of the Slytherin house. The redheaded prefect should have been sorted into the house that matched her eyes. She was far too devious to be a Gryffindor. Remus thought about suggesting such a thing to McGonagall but then he decided that he wished to live for at least another fifty years or so.

As Remus fell asleep he thought about the kiss that had rocked his world harder than the Beatles had rocked London a month earlier. He smiled in his sleep and turned over so that he faced the boy in his dreams. The boy who, conveniently enough, had Remus in his own dreams.

A/N: Well, that's it. Hope you all like it.