A week had passed since Sirius and James had intercepted the letter from Lucius to Severus, and it was not long before it was the first full moon that Hermione would experience with the Marauders. The only difference was that while she knew what Remus would transform into, she was unable to tell anyone that she did know, having to wait for the day that Remus came to her, if he ever did.

"Where is Remus?" It was Lily that brought Hermione out of her thoughts.

"He went home; apparently his grandmother, who has been in and out of St. Mungo's, is poorly again," Sol said as she picked at her food. It was a cover story; Hermione knew that in reality he would be making his way down to the Shrieking Shack, but she could not say, and instead opted for just showing concern for her friend.

"Oh?" she began. "I hope she feels better soon."

Sol nodded in appreciation. "Yes, so do I! He has been so worn down about it all. I really do hope he feels better."

Hermione was curious as to what the reaction of the others would be, and so she pitched them a question: "So what are you lot up to tonight?" she asked the remaining Marauders.

"Early night, lots to do tomorrow!" they said in unison, Peter being the only one that lagged behind and weakly agreed with the others. The response which they gave was one that was so rehearsed that it shocked her. Before her were some of the smartest men that she would ever meet, and yet they were not smart enough to make their answer more believable.

As she looked around to both Lily and Sol she could tell that they too were having trouble believing their little rehearsed lie, but never let it be known to the boys and merely led them to believe that they believed their lie.

It was not until later that night that their true intention was made known to Hermione.

"I think the boys are hiding something," Sol said as she joined Lily and Hermione by the fire.

"I completely agree." Lily said.

Hermione had an idea to what the two girls were talking about, but chose not to voice her suspicions directly.

"What are you talking about?" she coaxed.

"The accounts the boys gave of their plans for this evening." It was Lily who answered her. "I do not believe that they are doing work, I think that they are up to something else." The grin that she wore while saying this was one that would more likely belong to a Marauder than to Lily Evans. There was no other word that could describe what Hermione was feeling than shock. Not at what the girls were talking about, but rather what Lily's eyes suggested. She wanted to go and find the boys, the boys that were out in the Forbidden Forest, in the Forbidden Forest under a full moon. It was the last thing that she wanted to do: she knew full well that the wolfbane potion had not been invented yet, and there was only so much a stag and a dog could do to keep a werewolf in check. However, she also knew that she could not disagree with the girls for fear of fuelling their suspicions and possibly compromising Remus' secret.

"What are you thinking, Lily?" It was Sol who asked, and as a reply Lily merely grinned and replied:

"Follow them. I saw them leave the castle and head for the Forbidden Forest." There it was: the confirmation of Hermione's fears.

"I don't think that is a good idea..."

"Oh, come on, Hermione! Where is your Gryffindor courage?" Sol interrupted Hermione before she could even voice her fears. "Now come on, or we will lose them."

As they crept further and further into the Forbidden Forest, it was not long before Hermione's fears were realized as they heard the agonizing howls of a wolf. "Girls, we really should go back." Hermione continued to plead with the two girls to leave, but she knew that it would be futile: while she knew that they were following a werewolf and three animagi, Lily and Sol believed that they were only following their four friends.

"Don't worry; it was just a dog in the distance, nowhere near us," Lily said as they ventured further. Yet soon after, the girls heard the distinct sound of a dog barking, a dog that Hermione knew was Sirius. It was a knowledge that she wished with all of her heart that she could have erased, that it was not the Marauders and that there was no dog, as the next thing that happened was something that would change their relationships forever.

The fear that Sol felt was nothing compared to the pain that she was in as she lay beneath a towering wolf with its fangs bared. In the distance she could hear Hermione and Lily screaming in terror for their friend as they tried to get to her, but it was useless, as they knew that if they tried anything they too would be in danger of getting hurt.

For Sol it was like her own personal bad dream, with no possible way out, and so she squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the wolf to deliver its final blow, and she was not disappointed.

Hermione and Lily watched frozen as the wolf moved in to take a chunk out of their friend.

Sirius raced looking for Remus. He could not understand that how this could have happened. They had done this countless times, but this time Remus seemed far more out of control than normally, to the point where he was hardly Remus anymore. As he rounded the last tree he came face to face with what they had all feared most would happen. There, towering over Sol, was Remus. It was the worst possible scenario. If Remus woke to find that he had hurt the person he loved most, he would never recover. When he saw Remus prepared to bite the girl, he knew that time had run out, and with one final deep breath he lunged himself at the wolf.

He knew that he had pushed Remus away in time, having heard himself how his teeth snapped at air, but what he could not understand was the agonized scream that came from the girl.

Hermione and Lily were both left rooted to their spot – so much so, that they did not immediately question the appearance of James and Peter as they raced by them.

"Peter, get Sol!"James shouted as he grabbed the two girls roughly by the arms, pushing them towards the clearing where they would be able to get to the castle without any danger.

"James, what are you doing? Let go!" Lily cried as she tried to understand not only how he had gotten to them so fast, but also to understand why he was acting so out of his mind.

"Let go? LET GO? How about you first tell me what you were thinking!" James demanded as he released Hermione and turned fully towards Lily.

"What do you mean, what we were thinking? What about you? What are you doing out after hours – in the Forbidden Forest no less?" she demanded.

By now Hermione decided to back away, not wanting to get in the way.

"It does not matter what we were doing! It is a full moon Evans, use your head! You could have been killed!" he shouted.

"And why would you care?" Her voice raised to rival his.

"I care – I care because I love you!"

"James!" Peter squeaked, as he struggled to carry a half-conscious Sol, effectively interrupting the couple and giving Lily no time to react to James outburst.

"Jesus! Solarius!" James breathed as he rushed to help his friend, but when he wrapped his arm around Sol to take her weight he was startled to hear her scream in pain. "Sol, what's wrong?"

"My back!" she all but sobbed in return, but when James looked down, it was he who wanted to sob: there covering the girl's torso and dripping onto his arm was blood!