A/N: Please tell me you looked at my pictures, and to those who did, THANK YOU! It took me forever to find dresses to match what I wanted them to look like. So, thanks for looking at them. Reviewers, readers, people who put me as their favorite either story or author, ya'll all are awesome! So, let's continue.

"Where are we going?" asked Tanya frantically. She had noticed quickly that they were heading in the opposite direction of the carriages and towards Honeydukes.

"We're taking a shortcut," said Remus jokingly.

"What kind of shortcut?" asked Claire warily.

"The fun kind," joked Sirius.

"Follow me," said James, grabbing Lily's hand. They followed James into the Honeydukes cellar and down through the trapdoor. Sirius and Claire went first, followed by Tanya and then Lily. After Lily were James, Remus, and Peter.

"What is going on here?" asked Claire, pushing her hair over her shoulder.

"This has a lit to do with what we're telling you two about tonight," said Sirius.

"I don't understand," said Claire in a perplexed voice.

"You'll see now just keep going." They went in silence for what seemed like forever. When they emerged from the witch statue, Claire and Tanya looked amazed.

"Are we…are we back at school?" Tanya asked, confounded.

"Yeah," said Lily. "Isn't it amazing?"

"You're joking right? I knew there were secrets to this school, but I had no idea…no idea that some led to Hogwarts," said Claire.

"There are others, too," said James. "We mainly just use two of them though."

"Which two?" asked Claire. "Where's the other one?"

"It is under the Whomping Willow and leads to the Shrieking Shack," answered Remus.

"That Shrieking Shack? You mean that haunted place in Hogsmeade?" asked Tanya, growing anxious. They had begun to walk back to the common room by now.

"It's not really haunted, not by ghosts at least," said James with a smile.

"What do you mean?" asked Claire.

"Not here, we'll explain back at the common room, unless you can find an empty classroom nearby," said Sirius.

"Yeah, right here," answered Claire, grabbing Sirius's shirt and pulling him into the vacant classroom. The others laughed and followed, closing the door behind and locking it. "Now, Sirius, what's going on?"

"Allow us five who know the secret to explain," said Sirius, indicating the Marauders and Lily.

"Five?" asked Tanya, looking at Lily harshly.

"I wasn't allowed to tell," she answered timidly. Sirius looked back to Tanya and Claire.

"I am sure that you two aren't so thick as you don't realize that Moony here gets sick every month," he said jokingly. "Well, have you noticed that every time he gets sick it's a full moon?"

"No, not really, but continue," said Tanya.

"Remus is…Remus is a werewolf," finished Lily bluntly.

"Every full moon, Pompfrey sneaks him form the castle, using the tunnel under the Whomping Willow and sends him to the Shrieking Shack. There, he can transform without hurting anyone. You follow?" asked James. They both nodded.

"Being the dear friends that these three are, they knew that I wasn't truly getting sick. I would always come back covered in scratches and bruises. When I transformed, I would try to get out, and that would give me bruising, and, with no one to bite and scratch, I took my anger out on myself. And one night in their third year, they followed me and stumbled in one me mid-transformation. Needless for me to say that they ran for it."

"We wanted to help him," continued James. "We approached him with our concerns and he disapproved. He said that there was no way for us to get near him while human. We worried about the fact that he would end up hurting himself, or someone else if he eventually got out. The Shrieking Shack got its name form the loud howls and yelps he would emit from the physical and emotional pain of being locked up. Dumbledore, of course, made no attempt to correct the rumor. He didn't want Moony kicked out of school because parents didn't want their kids around him."

"After a few days of thinking, we finally came up with a plan. First of all, we had to find a way for no one to notice us. Even with the invisibility cloak, it can be difficult to stay hidden and undetected. So, we created this," said Sirius, producing the map from his jacket pocket. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Tanya and Claire saw the lines spider web from the place that the wand touched. The dots appeared a few seconds later.

"Is that really?" Claire asked, pointing to the dot for McGonagall.

"Professor McGonagall, asleep, in her office? Yes," answered Sirius.

"It shows everyone the holder wants it to show, especially teachers and the four of us. Lily was added when we made it too," said Remus. Then he pointed to the Whomping Willow. "That is the tunnel we take from the castle."

"We?" asked Claire.

"Oh, yes, there is still that matter to explain," he responded contemplatively.

"Well?" urged Tanya, looking from one Marauder to the next.

"The only way we could be safe from Moony while he was a werewolf was to become animals," said James.

"You transfigured each other?" asked Tanya disbelievingly. "That's higher than NEWT level." Lily shook her head.

"No, they did something higher than Ministry level," she said with a laugh.

"You're kidding," responded the two girls at the same time.

"Animagi," breathed Claire. "But how. It cannot be done by third years. It is impossible, Sirius."

"Not impossible, because we did it," he replied, taking her hand.

"So, does this have something to do with the nicknames?" asked Tanya.

"It has everything to do with the nicknames," replied James. "Remus's is obvious, Moony, the full moon changes him, remember. Mine is Prongs, Peter's is Wormtail, and Sirius's is Padfoot."

"So, this is the animal you chose then?" asked Tanya, being the smarter, and catching on faster than Claire. "Let me guess…" began Tanya. "Peter is a rat, a rat's tail looks like a worm, so it would only make sense. You, James, are a deer or a moose or caribou or something along those lines. After all, prongs are antlers, so it has to be a creature with antlers. Padfoot's is a little more puzzling. Many mammals have pads on their feet. So, he's probably a dog, cat, wolf, something like that."

"Tanya, you are a genius," said Remus in disbelief.

"We needed Peter for the lookout and to prod the knot at the base of the Willow's trunk that immobilizes it for a few seconds, giving us time to get into the tunnel. Sirius and I needed to be big enough animals that we could keep a werewolf form killing himself and from killing us. We needed to keep him in check, no offense Moony," continued James.

"None taken, Prongs," said Moony from the wall he was leaning against.

"So, I took the form of a stag and Sirius, a very, very large dog."

"Could…could they see, James?" asked Lily, speaking up for the first time in a few minutes.

"Of course," said James kissing the top of her head. "Wormtail, you can go first." Tanya and Claire turned their heads to where Peter had been, and a rat was sitting on the top of the nearest desk, sniffing the air nervously.

"Amazing," breathed Claire. Peter turned back and scrambled off the top of the desk noisily. "Let's see the stag," she said enthusiastically. James had turned into the stag next to Lily. This was only the second time Lily had seen him like this, and it still took her breath away. She rubbed his nose, feeling his warm breath on her hand, and then he turned back to normal, running his fingers through his messy hair.

"That's so awesome," said Tanya.

"Sirius," Claire turned to him with a pleading look.

"Obviously I'll show you, stop that whimpering." Claire turned looked down to where her boyfriend had been. A large shaggy black dog was looking up at her with a puppy-dog face. Claire couldn't resist; it was just too cute. She leaned down and petted him, scratching behind his ears and, finally, rubbing his belly. When Sirius sat back up and raised one paw in the air as though waving to her, she bent down and kissed his muzzle. Then, Sirius transformed back to human, kissing Claire back for a few seconds. To them, it felt like they were the only two in the room. When he released her form the embrace, all too soon, she blushed.

"That was amazing," she said, looking up at him.

"Yeah, you're a pretty good kisser too," he replied playfully. She punched him on the arm lightly and he laughed. "What was that for?" he asked, surprised by her reaction.

"I meant the animagus thing," she said.

"I know," he rejoined with a grin.

"Now, back to the map, if it is right, which it always is, Snivellus is heading this way. We should get going," said James with a grin. "Mischief Managed," he said, and the map went blank immediately. They opened the door to the classroom, making sure the coast was clear, and stepping out. They shut the door behind them and began to walk towards the common room. Snape turned the corner, walking towards them.

"So, Snivellus, how are your friends, you know, the ones who almost sent Lily to St. Mungo's," asked Sirius scornfully.

"Blood-traitors, Mudblood, half-blood," said Snape, passing by, pretending not to notice Sirius.

"Okay, ugly, whatever, ignore us. Tell your friends, though, that we'll be watching them," said James, continuing to walk. He had attempted to go after Snape for the comments he made, but Lily's hand made him stop. She was holding his arm and her grip was firm If James tried to shake her off, he would hurt her. They decided to just move on. Sirius glared at Snape one more time before turning back to Claire and walking in the direction of the common room.

"Oh yeah," whispered Sirius into Claire's ear. "The next full moon is tomorrow night. We'll leave you three the map so you can watch. James!"

"Huh?" asked James, turning to face Sirius.

"Are we letting him out?"

"Doubt it, but it depends on his attitude this time. How do you think it'll be, Moony?"

"I think that if I don't get out soon, I might hurt one of you even worse than last time. I think the wolf wants to hunt this time," he replied in an unhappy whisper.

"Okay, we have to then. We can't risk ourselves getting bitten, even in animal form, it could be fatal," said Sirius in a whisper.

They made it back to the common room and talked for a while about where they would take Remus. After a while, it was decided on the forest, deep in the forest so that he couldn't get near the school or Hogsmeade.

When the next day finally came, it was easier on Lily. Remus was more irritable than usual, but none of them minded much. Madam Pompfrey came to the common room at about five and asked Remus down to her office for some help with decorating. These excuses were getting overplayed enough to make Sirius and James and Peter sick. James kissed Lily goodbye and Sirius kissed Claire goodbye, and they left the map behind and headed out a few minutes later. Lily muttered the spell to make the map work and sat in the girls' dormitory, the three girls all sitting on Claire's bed. They knew that the boys were already in the Shrieking Shack and Lily knew she wouldn't see them. Claire and Tanya, on the other hand were extremely anxious.

"Where are they?" asked Claire nervously. A few words appeared in the corner of the page.

Mr. Padfoot would like to advise the lady to get up off her behind and look for them herself.

Claire gasped and Tanya giggled.

"Lily, did that map…does it listen to people talk, I mean…what just happened?" asked Claire, flabbergasted.

"It does that sometimes," replied Lily. "Watch this. Does Mr. Prongs love Ms. Evans?"

Mr. Prongs would like to tell the red-haired lady that he loves her very much.

Mr. Padfoot would like to include that he adores the blonde one.

Mr. Moony would like to slap Messrs Padfoot and Prongs on the head for being such love-struck teenagers.

Mr. Wormtail does not approve of violence and advises his friends to knock it off!

Mr. Prongs has just popped Mr. Wormtail on the head.

Mr. Moony would like his friends to shut their huge mouths.

Mr. Prongs agrees and is done speaking.

Mr. Padfoot says he agrees with the other two.

Mr. Wormtail would like to acknowledge that his comrades are insane, but also agrees.

The map wasblank again. Claire and Tanya were laughing hysterically. The rest of the night, to pass the time, they had conversations with the map, asking the deepest secrets of the owners; to the girls' dismay, the map would reveal nothing. When everyone had left the common room, the girls trudged back down the stairs and sat in the chairs, waiting for their friends. Tanya continuously looked at the clock, Claire looked to the map, watching the dots silently move through the forest, and Lily stared at the portrait hole. Finally, at dawn, Sirius, Peter, and James clambered through the portrait hole awkwardly. A few scratches dotted Sirius's face, but there was a large gash on his arm and he was holding it strangely.

"Sirius, are you okay?" asked Claire anxiously.

"I've had worse," he shrugged. Claire noticed him wince every time he moved his arm. Lily climbed the stairs to her dormitory and grabbed the infection cream from the first-aid kit. She handed it to Sirius who put it on his arm and pulled out his wand. "Ferula," he muttered, and bandages wrapped themselves around his arm, coming from the tip of his wand. After a few minutes or hours, no one really knew, they bade each other goodnight, and climbed the staircase to their dormitories. Once again, they all laid awake that night, trying to think about what they had told everyone that day, or what they had found out.

A/N: Okay, the next chapter is the ball, finally, I know. I am leaving tonight, so, until Monday, there will be no updates…okay? I am so, so, so, so sorry. I love hearing form you guys and while I'm in the mountains, I won't hear form anyone, and you guys won't know what I'm thinking, will you?