"Where did you and Sirius sneak off to last night?"
I'd been hoping to avoid this question.
"What do you mean? We didn't sneak off."

"I don't believe you."
"Oh, leave her alone Lily."
"No! I want to know where she went last night!"

Marlene shakes her head at Lily and smiles. "If your asking questions like that, then where did you and James go last night?"
"None of your buisness."
"Exactly! So, it's not any of your buisness where Aria and Sirius went, is it?"

The subject is dropped, and we go about our day as normal.

-x-

As I'm walking back to the common room to collect my herbology books, I see Remus and Dorcas walking together. They look close.
Remus heads into the common room and I soon follow him.
"Remus!"
He turns his head, sees me and carries on walking. "Remus, wait!"

His shoulders tense, and he finally turns around. "What?"
"I just wanted to talk."
"I have nothing to say to you."
"Please, Remus; I just want to be friends."
"Maybe you should have thought about that before..." He leaves the sentence hanging, but I know what he was going to say.

Maybe you should have thought about that before you broke up with me.

"Remus, I can't help how I feel. My feelings for you were real, at the beginning."
He sighs, and closes his eyes, as if in pain. "I know, Aria. Just..give me time."
"So..we're friends?" I ask hopefully.
He opens his eyes and nods. "Friends." And then he smiles, the first genuine smile he has given me since our break up.

"So, since we're friends, I feel obliged to tell you that Dorcas has a thing for you."
"No, she doesn't."
I'm not going to argue with him, not since we're friends again.
"Remus, can I ask you a question?"
He looks at me in surprise. "Well, yes."

He follows me into the dormitory. He hovers by the door, and only enters when I tell him to.
"I know this is going to be unexpected, but I have to ask. What's your secret?"
He blinks. "What?"
I tell him that I'm animagi, and that one night- I don't tell him it was the day I broke up with him- Sirius found me in my animagi form, and that he told me what James and Peter were.

"But he said I had to ask you what your secret was. So, what's yours?"
He paces by the door, as if he wants to run away.
"Ok, I'll tell you. But you have to promise not to freak out."
"I promise."

He closes the door, and leans against it. "So, you know how James, Peter, Sirius and I each have a nickname for each other?" I nod.
"Well, they kind of reflect our..other forms."
"Ok, I think I get it."

"We call James Prongs, because his animagi form is a stag. We call Sirius Padfoot because of his paws as a dog. Peter is Wormtail, because when he's a rat, his tail looks like a worm."

"And your nickname?"
"Moony. Any guesses why?"
I shake my head.
"I don't want to directly say it, Aria." He thinks for a moment. "What comes out on a full moon?"

I think. Full moon. Bats. Creatures of the night. Vampires. Werewolves.
I look up sharply at him. "You're a werewolf?"
He nods sadly.
"Ok.." I breathe.

Then, I remember the time I flew with Leah on a full moon. The first time I saw Remus. They were in a hurry.

"Yes, now lets go! We don't have time to stand around looking at pretty birds!"

"That's what you were doing!"
"What?"
"The first full moon I was here, I was out flying. Oh, I should tell you my animagi form is a raven. That might clear things up abit."

I can see the gears working in his head, connecting the dots.
"That was you!" He exclaims. "The raven we saw!"
I smile and nod. "Thank you for saying I was a pretty bird, Remus."

We laugh, and I think that things are going to be alright between us.

-x-

"He has been spotted hiding out in an abandoned house, not too far away from the last place he targetted."
"Then we need to go get him and put a stop to this!"
"Actually, you won't be going this time. You might all be a year older now, but we still can't risk losing you. Not just yet."

"So, then what are we doing here?" I ask.
"I would like to introduce you to a few people. People in The Order, already looking for Tom."
Then, three other people stepped into the room. "Ah, just in time."

"Everyone, this is an old friend, Alastor Moody."
Alastor was a big man with a round belly and blonde hair. He also had a glass eye that seemed to follow you wherever you go.

"And these two are Dedalus Diggle and Emmeline Vance."

"So, do you know where he is?" James asks eagerly.
"We have..a few places we need to try."
"So, why aren't you out looking?"

Alastor turns his head towards Marlene, and his glass eye rolls around.
"If we kept looking for him, we'd lose the element of surprise. No point looking for him if he knows we're coming!"

Alastors voice got louder with each word, and Dumbledore pats him on the shoulder.
"Now, now Alastor. No need to get frustrated. These child- young men and women only want to help."

Emmeline coughs. "Excuse me, Professor Dumbledore, but we really need to be leaving. Come along, Alastor."
Alastor grumbles on his way out. "Honestly Emmeline, people would think you were in charge."

They leave, and it is just James, Sirius, Peter, Remus, Marlene, Lily, Dorcas and a few others, including myself.

"So, what are we going to do now?"
A bolt of lightning flashes across the sky outside, illuminating the whole room, and everyones faces. Everyone looked so defeated, even though we hadn't really done anything yet.

Dumbledore stands at the window, looking out at the pouring rain.
"We enjoy what little moments of peace we have. It will come to an end, eventually."

With that depressing thought, we all went back to the common room and stayed up until the late hours, just talking. By midnight, everyone had fallen asleep. Lily leaning against James with his arm wrapped around her, Peter on the floor next to the fire, Remus in the armchair and Sirius on the couch.

I just watched them. My friends. Well, more than friends in Sirius' case.
I just watched them, praying that we all have more time together.

Before the peace shatters like glass.

-
Helloo! So, sorry this chapter wasn't up yesterday, but I really needed to revise. I have an exam on wednesday, so no chapter tomorrow, since I'll be revising again :(

Ali: I know they got together quickly, but so do alot of people. But that doesn't mean there wont be bumps along the way.