Alright, I just want to clarify something here before I continue.

There will not be mpreg in my story. Yes, it's a magical world out there, but magic doesn't cross with science/biology/whatever. XDDD Well, not very well, at least.

Don't fret, you'll still get your smut... just no babies afterwards, yes? XD

Thanks for the reviews, I'm glad you all liked protective!James! and I am actually strangely fond of Peter for some insane reason, so you shan't be getting any Peter-bashing from me. After all, he HAD to be an amazing / great person when he was a Marauder -- otherwise, why would Sirius mention that he would have died for him? That all of them would have died for him? Because I hate it when people are like, "PETUR WAZNT IN DIS STORIE BCUZ HE WUZ BUZY TLKING 2 SNAPE & PLTTING DEIR DOWNFAL LMAOLMAO LMAOI'MADUMBASS LMAOLMAO LMAO!!1111!! oneoneone!!111!!" or the Marauders just ignoring him and despising him for no apparent reason. SERIOUSLY, people, he was their friend for a reason until he was pretty much terrified into following Voldemort's regime and betraying James and Lily. If they thought of him like 'eh, he's okay', then he wouldn't have been a Marauder...

This chapter is decidedly tough, because I actually had to keep reminding myself that I wasn't going to make this some weird sort of greek tragedy without the greekness and the constant dying. But YES, shall not ramble any further, XD. So, now! On with the story!

A light sigh left him as he moved away from Sirius' touch for at least the hundredth time, ignoring the puzzled look that Padfoot gave him as he bent down to pick up his firewhiskey and made his way down to the Gryffindor common room, leaving a slightly confused Sirius Black behind.

The rest of the evening was uneventful, apart from a slight lapse in the silence when Lily stormed up to their dorm and began to screech at James-- that is, until she realized that he hardly reacted at all and seemed more like an empty shell than the perverted Marauder that she knew so well. In fact, everyone, (apart from Peter, who was blissfully watching the illustrations in one of his Quidditch books fight over a quaffle endlessly), seemed... worn out.

Remus, having cast a silencio charm across his drapings, was currently in the midst of having a full-blown mental breakdown, and James was practically staring right through Lily, which was honestly something that she'd never experienced before in her years of knowing the dark-haired seeker.

Sirius, forlornly clutching his bottle of firewhisky, came up right behind Lily and she jerked, red hair swaying as she turned around to stare directly into his hollow, gray eyes.

It was as if someone had died, she decided, ignoring how he looked right past her and into his dorm, immediately glancing towards the drawn curtains of Remus' four-poster bed, a deep sigh passing through him as he came in, placed the firewhisky by Potter's trunk at the foot of his bed and collapsed onto his mattress.

Not a single word was exchanged.

Bright green eyes blinked slightly as she stared at them, all lost in their own miserable thoughts, and she silently turned to leave, deciding that she would get Remus to tell her what happened later.

Several days passed after the falling out between James, Sirius and Remus. Peter seemed to be the only neutral party remaining, who would speak cheerfully to either of the three Marauders when they approached him, who would make sure that Remus wouldn't 'forget' to eat, who would explain to Lily that they just 'needed time' whenever she attempted to approach... It was almost motherly, in a slightly annoying way.

Remus, at the moment, was completely ignoring Padfoot for all he was worth, refusing to make eye-contact, biting onto the inside of his lip harshly whenever Sirius spoke. The full moon came and went, but the Wolf stayed away from the dog as well, choosing instead to stay within the Shrieking Shack and cause general destruction to the furniture that he'd summoned there beforehand. When Madam Pomfrey came to check on him in the morning, she found him collapsed in a corner of the shack, bruised and bleeding with the furniture in shambles around him. He was completely oblivious to the big, black dog that had sat outside of the Whomping Willow all night, lying there in the cold and listening to his friend scream his frustration and anguish to the moon, but even Padfoot was not daring enough to enter the shack.

New scars appeared after that transformation; most of which he would never show to anyone apart from the most notable, which were the two slashes across the bridge of his nose that, with the aid of Madam Pomfrey, had healed rather well, but had not faded completely. None of the other Marauders had commented on this new addition to his appearance, despite the fact that he wished they had.

Finally, on the seventh day, Lily managed to catch Remus just as he was leaving the Great Hall from breakfast. He was worn out, she could tell that much from simply looking at the bags under his eyes, and after a few minutes of quiet persuasion, he found himself steered in the direction of the closest vacated classroom.

"Start from the beginning," he had been scooted up to sit on one of the empty desks, his legs swinging as he waited for her to take a seat, "and when you come to the end, stop."

Slender hands rubbed at topaz eyes and he let out a deep, worn sigh, swallowing a little before he managed to clear his throat and begin to speak.

"Lily, I... well... I'm in love with Sirius."

The redhead let out a slow nod, coaxing him onward gently with an expectant look in her eyes. For a moment, he didn't say anything, and she took that as an invitation of sorts to speak.

"Well, does he know?" She tried, her voice wavering hopefully in the silence, an anxious little frown passing over her lips which only deepened when the werewolf shook his head. "Well... maybe-"

She was cut off with a glare from the light-brunette and she held her tongue as he finally spoke up.

"No, he doesn't. He wouldn't. Haven't you ever noticed how he refuses to tie himself down to one person for over three days? I'd... I'd be setting myself up to be used and I'd ruin the Marauders by trying." Remus let out an aggravated sigh, ignoring the sympathetic look that Lily cast him. "Even James knows it... that Sirius isn't going to commit and that it isn't worth the effort. He got so angry about it and for a while and I was mad at him too until I realized that he was doing it out of concern rather than..."

"Spite?" Lily tried gently, and Remus nodded a little, hands fidgeting in his lap.

"But you can't tell him anything that I just told you- it's... It's my battle. Yes, I'm losing, yes, I'm tearing myself apart, but I don't need help or interference."

Pulling himself to his feet, he allowed himself a deep sigh before he stretched, rubbing his eyes with the backs of his hands. "Thanks, Lily, for hearing me out, but this is just something that I have to do."

And before Evans could get ahold of the situation, Remus was gone again, the door clicking shut silently behind him.

That evening, as everyone-but-Peter suffered through an awkward dinner in the Great Hall, James decided that something, anything, had to be done. So finally, after much thought, he took the least idiotic idea that he'd managed to think up to reform the Marauders and stood up, slamming his hands down on the table and making his plate quiver a little with the movement.

"Alright, this is stupid."

Three pairs of eyes were fixed on the Seeker now, (four, including the very discreet side-glances that Lily was tossing over at them) and, for a moment, he faltered and went quiet before he realized that this wasn't just going to go away if he sat back down and continued to make poorly sculpted mashed-potato renditions of Evans's face.

"We just... need to put this behind us and start over as friends."

Peter blinked a little, edging forward on the bench to sit on his legs, which made him seem taller than he really was. "...What?"

"Just.. um... Well... Hi! My name is James Potter, I'm a Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch team and I will someday be so rich and so famous that Snape will have no choice but to take out my rubbish bins as his last chance at a job. I will also, someday, get married to Lily Evans, who I know is listening with an intense look of adoration plastered all over her pretty face."

The redhead in question scoffed rather loudly and turned back to her pumpkin juice, barely hiding a smile. "You wish."

"That I do, that I do. And? What's your name, oh cheerful-looking man before me?"

Sirius, who had a face long enough to rival that of a horse, looked up with slight disbelief before he too allowed himself to fall into the facade.

"Me? Why, I'm Sirius Black, troublemaker extraordinare, with handsomely rugged looks that nobody can resist."

Remus allowed himself a frown, slumping down a little further at his place, head in his hands.

"And you, oh gorgeous creature before me?"

The lycanthrope jumped a little, amber eyes flitting up to look at Sirius, who was, instead, gesturing over in Wormtail's direction. Lupin frowned, looking resolutely down at his goblet of water and trying to calm his thudding heart.

"Peter Pettigrew, the future husband / passionate lover of none other than Sara Cress and the sneakiest, cleverest Gryffindor ever to exist... although, I could do with some rugged good looks, if Mr. Black wishes to share them..."

His voice trailed off hopefully and Sirius didn't even hesitate to snort a little. "Keep dreaming, Wormtail. Now, you look awfully familiar..."

Gray eyes had turned to look straight over at the light-brunette and Remus barely held back a flush- this was the first time that Sirius had spoken directly to him since they had been locked into the divination classroom...

Lupin sat up a little, swallowing and extending his hand for Sirius to shake, hating how fast his heart was beating as soon as Padfoot clasped it firmly and then, much too soon, let go.

"Remus John Lupin, smarter than all three of you put together... which vaguely works, seeing as how I have to have something going for me," his voice wasn't nearly as energetic or chipper as he had wished, but it was as close as he could get. Choosing not to acknowledge the air of concern that practically radiated from Sirius, he faked a smile and took a bite of his potato, allowing James to look exuberantly pleased with himself for apparently 'resolving' a problem.

It wasn't long before they were back in the common room, trying desperately to pretend that things were back to normal. Apart from the occasional worried glances from Prongs and Padfoot, things did seem to be nothing out of the ordinary.

Remus was curled up by the fire in his usual chair, reading a book but, at the same time, his mind wasn't registering any of the words. He would flip the pages sometimes, when he felt someone's gaze upon him, but overall, his eyes seemed to be glazed over and distracted rather than how they usually were when he read. His thoughts were obviously somewhere else...

Fingers had curled around the staircase railing, trailing along with the sanded wood lightly as he descended steadily, one foot after another with almost precise steps. Sirius was there at the foot of the stairs, arm already extended, eyes joyful and expectant as the werewolf finally made it to his side and linked arms with the dark-haired Marauder. It was night, the sun had only just set over the lake, and he could feel his face go crimson as the boy next to him leant down and planted a small kiss on his hairline.

They were out of the common room, through the portrait and down several flights of stairs, talking quietly to eachother, laughing comfortably as they bantered back and forth. The chemistry between them was amazingly lax, yet with every grin and every smirk, Moony could feel his stomach flutter and soar.

It was completely dark now as they emerged onto the grounds, and they walked a little ways before Sirius took him into his arms and caught the other's lips with his own. Remus, promptly melting into the touch, returned the pressure that he was so readily given, his arms twining around the animagus' back and pulling him a little closer...

Then, he jerked, eyes flying open only to realize one thing. The moon... the moon was full and rising steadily, and Padfoot was still kissing him with reckless abandon... He could feel his body prickling, his spine twisting and his muscles tensing as he writhed in the other's arms, his head practically splitting from the pressure of the moon. His entire body tensed as he fell in a heap to the dewy grass beneath them and Sirius watched with wide eyes, frozen as he slowly backed away from the smaller Marauder. Fur was bristling and emerging from otherwise pale, hairless skin, his clothes were ripping as he grew in proportion, nose turned into a snout, lips went black and his eyes... his eyes had changed from their usually placid topaz color to a fierce, cruel shade of coal black. Fingernails, which he usually chewed on in class or when he was nervous had lengthened into talons and he was doubled over in pain, screaming, screaming...

Sirius was at the lake's edge now, those gray eyes widened in... was it disgust or fear? One arm had moved to smear the werewolf's taste off of his lips and Remus could feel indignant anger rising in his body and he lunged forward, knocking Sirius into the water and holding him there by his neck. Nothing could have possibly erased that look from his mind and he was slashing, ripping with his claws, biting...

"Remus! Remus!"

His book had fallen from his lap and his throat hurt, amber eyes flicking open only to see Sirius' face so very close to his own. Trying to back up to no avail, his movements were that of a frightened animal, jerky and quivering. He was shaking, badly, and tears were cresting at the corners of his eyes to slide down his face unchecked.

"You... are you okay?"

The other Marauder didn't look repulsed or terrified, he looked concerned, and he could feel his breathing slow down and his strange combination of sobbing and sniffling subsiding as Padfoot fell to his knees and pulled the smaller lycanthrope into a bearhug.

"It's alright, it's alright... You'll be fine."

Sated by how Sirius was rubbing his back soothingly and mumbling refrains of "It'll be alright," he slumped forward into the other's arms. Breathing hurt for some insane reason, and he could hear everyone speaking around him as if from a distance about what had happened, and he could feel Black's chest rumbling as he spoke softly over to Peter and Wormtail replied before...

"Remus, can you stand?"

Moony looked up, almost dazedly, as his mind took an extra few seconds to clear itself of the fog that had accumulated there before he nodded, reluctantly pulling away from Padfoot's warmth and staggering to his feet, tears in the process of drying on his skin.

Allowing himself to take a deep, shaky breath, he began to move towards their dormitory, gladly taking Sirius' help rather than James or Peter's and supporting himself by leaning heavily on the Marauder's shoulder. It didn't take much longer until he was slipping out of his shoes and collapsing into his four-poster, and he was out like a light, ignorant to the overly-fond look that Padfoot gave him before the curtains shut.

Yaaaaaaay, 5th chapter is done. Victory! Much thanks to Jayneface, my newly acquired beta and everyone who has listened to me ramble incessantly about Peter's 're-introduction' and the like. XD Still trying to keep this... not-very-cliche and as in-character as I can get it, so yes. I didn't want Lily to be Remus' crutch, so ... yes. XD He's strong, he can take care of himself, don't you think?

By the way, and I found this vaguely amusing, when I was telling my betaface that I was doing a dream/nightmare sequence, she was all (COUGHSCRUBSRIPOFFCOUGH) and I cracked up because... well, it's SCRUBS. XD

"despite your ability to switch seamlessly between male and female genitalia..."

"HMMM... (drifts off)"

"(smack) Newbie, snap out of it."

XDDD ... yes. Ignore me, ahahahah.

85-95 reviews'll be around when I update next, and sorry for taking a little longer, XD! I tried to be on time, but... yeah, ahahah. Until next time, TTFN:D (Oh, had to change the number AGAIN because, believe it or not, I -do- have coursework to do before next Monday, XD! Do forgive, really.)