44.
Fourth Year—Things begin to change…again.
The last two months of school had passed in a haze of pranks, detentions and plans of creating a map. They had ignored Peter for the most part deciding that so long as he didn't bother Remus then they wouldn't bother him and so there was a lull in hostilities between the five boys. Over the summer the four marauders managed to spend some time together, surprisingly it was Severus who seemed most grateful for the distraction, though Sirius was a close second. They spent days running through fields and woods , joking and laughing with each other without a care in the world…until they once more had to return to their separate homes with promises to find one another on the school train in two weeks. James spent the summer practicing almost none stop for Quidditch when he returned to Hogwarts. Sirius struggled to ignore the prejudices of his family and sat mutely during the discussions about a wizard who was gaining strength and speaking of cleansing the world of Muggleborns. Severus and Lilly grew closer and their relationship was beginning to become something more than simply a friendship, they spent almost all their time together, only parting for sleep. Remus struggled to get his emotions under control, emotions that seemed to become heightened now that he was a teenager. Though he was also having problems with his increased senses and strength, he really hadn't meant to hurl the chair across the room like that, really.
September arrived all too slowly for the marauders. Finally the day arrived for the return trip to Hogwarts and after the annual farewells to parents and the searching for an empty compartment all four boys took a moment to look at one another and were astounded to find that they had grown at least six inches since they had last seen each other. Severus and Remus in particular looked as though they had recently been stretched, while James and Sirius had grown a bit more broad shouldered in addition to their height so they didn't look quite as stretched, they too had the appearance of a recent growth spurt or two. The four boys spent the entire ride exchanging stories of the summer and playing exploding snap, though Severus left out his changing relationship with Lilly, then working their way through a mountain of sweets that James and Sirius decided needed to be liberated from the trolley. Not once was Peter mentioned, nor did they even see him during the entire ride across the country and honestly the four boys didn't particularly care.
They had to part ways once they reached the castle though it wasn't for any other reason than that Severus had to sit with the Slytherins while the other three joined the Gryffindors. This wasn't the first time that Severus wished he had listened to the sorting hat and chosen to be a Gyffindor, nor would it be the last but it was still a wish that he made before joining the rest of his house at their table.
Over on the other side of the Great Hall, Remus had the most peculiar feeling that he was being watched and by more than one person. However, whenever he turned to look he didn't see anyone watching him, yet he was sure that he had not imagined it. He decided to just ignore it for now, there wasn't really a point in trying to see who was watching him right now anyway, not when there were so many people looking in every direction.
After the feast and Dumbeldores's speech about boundaries—blah blah blah forest off limits blahdity blah blah—the three boys were among the first out of the Hall. They were half way to Gryffindor Tower when Remus was grabbed from behind and pulled into a shadowy archway where four figures stood huddled together. Remus took one look at them and felt his heart start to go into overdrive. They were girls. Incredibly giggly girls who were looking at him in an extremely odd manor. Remus shoved his hair out of his eyes, stared in a startled fashion at the now blushing females, turned on his heel and ran as fast as he could. He did not stop until running until he reached his dormitory and collapsed upon his bed completely unaware that his face was red under the startled and nearly terrified expression.
James and Sirius had burst out laughing when Remus had finally managed to tell them what had happened and now were doubled over, unable to breathe through their mirth. Remus rolled his eyes in annoyance and tossed pillows at the other two before rolling over and staring out the window, his thoughts wandering to the girls who had been standing there and to one girl in particular. A smile spread over his face and his last thought before falling asleep was that this year was going to be most interesting.