It had been a year, a wonderful, lovely, magical year since Remus Lupin had first walked onto the Hogwarts Express and had become a part of Hogwarts. And that year had been better than Remus had ever dreamed. The classes were fascinating and challenging, and he excelled in his studies, working hard to make the best of the privilege of being able to attend school. Quidditch, although James didn't manage to convince McGonagall to let him onto the team as a first year, as Sirius had predicted, was lots of fun to watch, and Remus had decided that it was the finest sport in the world. But, out of all of the brilliant things that made Hogwarts so amazing, it was his friends that really made it best. For the first time, Remus had friends. He had people his age to joke and laugh with, to pull pranks on, to talk for hours with, and to just enjoy the company of. For the first time, he wasn't looked at with disdain or horror, and people didn't flee at the sight of him, disgust in their eyes. His friends were amazing, and he loved them with all his heart - they really were what made his life so enjoyable.

Of course, Remus hadn't told them he was a werewolf. How could he? He was sure, despite the close bond that all of them had forged during their first year together, as they pulled pranks on Severus and other annoying students, crammed for exams, and laughed and made fun of each other lazily on weekends and holidays, they wouldn't accept him. They too would recoil away from him in revulsion and fear, and the wonderful place that Hogwarts was would be gone, leaving an empty school in its place. Werewolves were feared, hated, and shunned by society, and why should his friends, as magnificent as they were, be any different?

But none of this was on his mind as Remus awoke in the dormitory on the first morning of his second year. Last night had been a happy blur of a long train ride, delicious food, and then a soft bed, and for a moment he didn't realize where he was. And then with a smile, he realized he was in Hogwarts again. Jumping out of his bed, he looked around the dormitory. Peter was still asleep, snoring lightly, but James and Sirius were nowhere to be seen. Assuming that they had already gone down for breakfast, Remus quickly pulled clean clothes on. He walked to the stairway, and then turned back to look at Peter. Should he wake him? Remus hesitated for a moment, and then decided not to. Peter deserved to rest; he had looked very tired last night, and had probably been too nervous to fall asleep until it was late. Walking down the stairs and into the common room, Remus admired the lovely gold and crimson room, feeling a tugging on his heart. How he had missed this place!

He arrived at the Great Hall soon afterwards, knowing how to navigate the Hogwarts castle quite well by now, and Sirius and James were indeed already at the table. They were flicking bits of sausage at an unsuspecting Hufflepuff, roaring with laughter when the poor student turned to look in the other direction at the Ravenclaw table in confusion. Remus smiled indulgently at them, and then came over to sit next to them.

"Good morning!" he said brightly. They both turned to look at him.

"G'morning," said James, with a slight yawn. He had never been much of a morning person. Sirius turned to look at Remus with perfectly tussled bed head hair, an unfair luxury that Black had always enjoyed.

"Morning," Sirius repeated, giving him a smile. Then he chucked a bit of paper at Remus. "Here, schedules. We've got potions with Slughorn and transfiguration with McGonagall this morning." James pulled a face - both Slughorn and McGonagall disapproved of him - but Remus felt excited. He was eager for classes to start again. Leaning forward, he helped himself to some porridge.

James let out another huge yawn and then seemed to cheer up. "Quidditch tryouts on Saturday afternoon! I'm going to make it this year," he said cockily, causally running his hand through his hair. "They won't be able to keep me off the team."

"I remember you saying something like that last year," said Sirius cheekily, and James took a swipe at him.

A horrible bubbling in his stomach, Remus felt his happiness fading. "Er, is that the fifth?" he asked quietly, his mouth dry. They both turned to look at him, and then James nodded. "You're coming to watch, of course?"

September fifth was a full moon. Trying to swallow down his spoonful of porridge, Remus shook his head quickly. "I, er, can't." he stuttered. "My Mum's sick. I have to go.. visit."

Sirius frowned, looking confused. "You have to go all the way home just because your mum's sick?" he seemed to have forgotten how often his friend had gone home last year.

Carefully putting down his spoon, Remus added, "And my Grandmum's just, er, died as well." He tried to put on a grief-stricken, upset sort of face, but he just felt sick. "I have to go home for the funeral, because my mum isn't well enough to sort it all out, and I need to help my dad. Dumbledore's letting me go."

There was a sticky sort of pause, and then Sirius shrugged. "Sorry mate, that's rough." Then he turned back to James. "So what're you going to try out for?"

"Seeker, maybe. Or chaser."

Remus let out a sigh of relief as the two of them started to chatter again. Every month, it was the same ordeal, trying to come up with a feasible explanation of why he had to disappear. He hated lying to his friends, but there really wasn't much he could do about it - if they found out..

Each time, his lies got worse and worse, and Remus knew that soon they would guess that something was up. He just didn't want to think about what would happen then. Still feeling ill, Remus gave up on his oatmeal and stood up. "I'm going to go to class," he muttered.

When he walked away, Sirius and James exchanged a look.

"He's doing it again," Sirius said in a low voice. "Each month it's a different story. Either he's bloody unlucky, or he's lying to us."

"But why would he lie?"

Sirius paused. "I dunno," he said finally, impatiently brushing his hair out of his eyes. "But it must be something big."

For a minute, James looked uncertain. "Have you noticed that each time he disappears.."

"..it's during a full moon? Yeah." Sirius let out a sigh. "I think our friend's got a furry little problem."

James frowned softly. "Well, I don't blame him for not telling us. Although I do wish he knew that he could."

"We don't know that it's.. that.. for certain. It could be something else."

"What else could it be?" James asked, rolling his eyes. But then he shrugged, making another face. "I guess we should do some research before we go about accusing him, though."

"When? It's not like we can just go around reading books about werewolves in front of him." Sirius pointed out, saying the word they were both thinking out loud for the first time. James let out a grin. "We could just cut. We ought to set a new record anyways, don't you think? For getting a detention of the first day of classes."

Sirius smirked. "McGonagall will be pleased. Reckon we should get Peter?"

"Nah, he won't want to skip. He's too much of a nancy."

"He'll skip if you ask him to," Sirius said slyly, earning himself another clout from James.

--

They ended up with detention after all, and McGonagall was furious at them, but they had managed to gather more than enough research. And after the Quidditch tryout on Saturday, where James managed to snag a spot on the team as a Chaser, the three of them (they had let Peter in on their theory, and he had agreed rather somberly that they were probably right) sat around the common room with books from the library open, discussing the evidence. They were fairly sure that Remus was indeed a werewolf, but they weren't quite sure what to do about it. Sirius was all for confronting him about it, but Peter was more hesitant.

"We should be totally certain," he said. "We can't just accuse him of being a..a werewolf"-and here he squeaked slightly-"without being completely sure." Sirius finally agreed, as did James, and they decided that they would wait one more month. If, on the next full moon, Remus again disappeared, they would know for certain that he was a werewolf.

One thing that they all conceded on was that Remus was still Remus, one of their best friends. Being a werewolf didn't change him in their eyes. They didn't even really consider otherwise.

--

A month passed by quickly, and soon enough it was the full moon again. Remus waited until the night before to bring it up, reluctant to have to do so any sooner. The four of them were lazing about in the common room, and they were all quietly doing work, although Sirius had begun to get restless. It was getting late, and they were the only ones in the common room when Remus cleared his throat.

"My Grandmum's just died," he said nervously. His three friends looked up at him. "I have to go home tomorrow for the funeral."

Sirius coughed. "I thought she died last month."

Turning red slightly, Remus cast about for an excuse. He had forgotten that he had already used this one. "It's, er, the other one." He amended quickly. Peter, James, and Sirius exchanged a look, and then Sirius stood up. Clearly they had been right.

"Remus," he said slowly. They hadn't really talked about how they were going to confront their friend, but Sirius suddenly decided he wanted to be the one to do it. "Remus." He said again. Remus eyed him warily, looking very tired.

"Remus," Sirius said tensely for the third time. "Are.. are you a werewolf?"

Remus froze, his heart pounding. He carefully set down his book. He licked his lips and tried to swallow unsuccessfully. This was it. All of his careful precautions, trying to hide everything from his friends; all of it was over now. For a moment all he could do was stare at Sirius's grey eyes like a deer caught in headlights, and then he bowed his head.

"Yes." He said very softly. "Yes, I am. I'm so sorry. I'll-I'll understand if you all don't want to share a dormitory with me, of course." Remus was speaking very quickly now, and there was an angry sting in the back of his eyes, but he refused to let himself cry. It was all over. All of these wonderful, glorious months.

Hastily standing up, James let out a squawk of disagreement. "Remus, are you out of your tree? Of course we still want to share a dormitory with you! Why shouldn't we?" Peter nodded forcefully, and Sirius added, "It doesn't matter what you are, Remus. You're still our best mate."

Warmth hesitantly bubbled through Remus's stomach as he looked up at his friends. Was it true? Could it be possible that his friends really, truly didn't care that he was a werewolf? He smiled uncertainly. They all smiled quietly back at him, and Peter waddled forward to pat Remus on the back. Remus realized it was true - his friends accepted him even though he was a lycanthrope. He truly had the most amazing friends on earth. He let out a wide beam.

"You.. you really don't mind that I turn into a.. horrible beast once a month?" he stammered.

"Of course not. I just wish you had told us sooner. We would have been able to figure out what to do much earlier!" Sirius grinned, and then settled down in his seat again. All three of them followed suit, and Remus sank grateful into a squashy armchair.

James chuckled. "I dunno, it would have been entertaining to see how times his Grandmum died."

But Remus was suddenly confused. "Figure out what to do?" he echoed. "What d'you mean, Sirius?"

Just smiling mysteriously, Sirius let Peter answer for him. "Well, we can't just let you go through this alone. So, we decided.." he flushed slightly, suddenly feeling presumptuous. Suppose Remus didn't like the idea? James finished for him.

"We're going to become animagus!" he announced proudly. Remus just looked at him, puzzled. He knew he had heard the word somewhere, but he couldn't think where. James looked slightly disappointed at Remus's lack of a reaction. "Some third year told me about it. Apparently McGonagall's one - he told me she can turn into a cat! She did, right in front of the whole class. We looked it up. It's when a wizard can turn themselves into an animal." Remus realized he had heard of the word before. He'd come across it while he was reading something or other.

"It's really tricky, though, isn't it?" he asked. "Really advanced magic." His friend just shrugged carelessly.

"We'll figure it out. Research it and all that. And then practice until we get it right!" James made it seem like it was the simplest thing in the world. Remus was still sort of baffled. He didn't understand why they wanted to become animagus. Sirius saw the look of confusion on his face and tried to explain. "See, we don't want you to have to turn into a werewolf by yourself. We can't come with you as humans, so we'll go with you as animals. That way you don't have to be alone when you transform."

Breathing out slowly, Remus tried to believe that all this was true. And suddenly, he found that he could. "I have the most brilliant friends in Hogwarts," he said simply. "Thank you." They all smiled at him happily.

--

After the full moon, which Remus found easier than it had ever been before to bear, thanks to the new, exciting possibility and hope his friends had given him, they started to research. They all found time to read up as much as they could on the subject of animagus, juggling it with homework, classes, sleeping, and, in James's case, Quidditch. If they were going to successfully become animagus without killing themselves, they needed to know as much about it as possible, and they couldn't ask any of the teachers for help without raising awkward questions. Upon finding out that becoming animagus was illegal if they didn't register with the ministry simply made James and Sirius more eager to turn into animals; Remus, however, started to feel guilty.

"Are you sure this is the best idea?" he asked James tentatively one evening as they sat in the library. "I mean," he added hastily, "Of course I'm grateful that you're all offering to do this, but what if it goes wrong? What if we all get into trouble?" James just smirked, running his hands through his hair to make it look windswept and glancing over to where Lily and her friends were sitting.

"Don't worry so much, Moony." James replied easily. They had started to call Remus 'Moony' after they found out he was a werewolf, and there was nothing he could do to get them to stop. Despite himself, though, he was growing rather found of the nickname. "We'll be fine. And think of all of the adventures we'll be able to have! We can explore the entire castle while everyone's asleep!" And once again, Remus let himself be swept up by the vision of adventure, and ignored his better judgment.

Soon they had stuffed themselves full of as much information about turning into animagi as they could, and they started to practice. They always attempted it at night, usually only during the weekends, and they used James's cloak of invisibility - a gift from his father - to sneak into the Room of Requirement, a very useful room that was the perfect place to practice. It was a room that would become anything you needed it to that James had found while trying to escape from Argus Filch, the ancient caretaker of Hogwarts who despised all students and lived to punish every last one of them. He especially disliked Sirius and James, and tried to catch them in the act of mischief at least once a week.

The room became an empty classroom for them, with an extensive library full of books on the subject of animagus. Remus usually browsed through the library as Sirius, James, and Peter tried to work through the spell. Peter was lucky that Sirius and James were there to help him, and if they hadn't, along with Remus, been some of the brightest students in their year they probably would have never learned how to do it.

As it was, their path to becoming animagus was a very long and complicated one. Every Saturday night they would practice in the room, and they rarely had luck. They had decided that Peter would become a rat, so he could slip past the whomping willow's branches and press a paw to the knot that would freeze the tree (Remus had of course told them all about where he transformed). Sirius and James would become larger animals, in order to keep Remus in check, in case any "mishaps", as Sirius put it, happened. Sirius decided on becoming a large, bear-like black dog, and James was to turn into a stag. The animals they anticipated turning into were how their nicknames were created, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, respectively.

--

On the second to last day of their fourth year, it was raining. This meant that instead of lolling around in the wonderful summer sunshine, licking iced lollies and drinking cold pumpkin juice, they were stuck inside the Gryffindor common room, staring morosely out of the window and trying to put off packing. They were all bored, but Sirius was the most bored of all, which meant that none of them could be happy.

"Let's go prank Snivellus." Sirius suggested. Hassling Severus Snape, who had turned into a greasy-haired creep, at least in Sirius and James's opinion, was a favorite past time of his. "Or we could practice turning into animagus." Remus looked up from his book and shushed Sirius. "Not so loud," he warned, glancing about at the other Gryffindor's in the common room.

Sirius just scoffed and turned to look at James, who was staring at Lily Evans, the girl he had unsuccessfully chased after for four years. He could catch Quaffle easily, teased Sirius, but he would never be able to catch Lily Evans. "Prongs!" he said loudly. James just ignored him, sweeping his hand through his hair in that infuriating manner of his. "Not right now, Sirius," he muttered, eyes trained on the redhead. Sirius groaned.

"I'm booored." He announced. When no one moved, he let out another grumble. James still didn't say anything, so Sirius turned to Remus again. "Let's go do something," he insisted. Remus put down his book again and sighed. If Sirius didn't find anything to do, he would probably drive all of them insane.

"Fine," he said, giving up. Sirius grinned wolfishly. James still didn't say anything, and Peter had disappeared upstairs, probably to escape any dangerous Sirius ideas. "What do you want to do?" asked Remus tiredly. There had been a full moon two nights ago, and then last night had been spent in the Room of Requirement, so he was exhausted. Sirius, however, was full of energy, and he stood up suddenly and grabbed Remus's hand, trying to pull him out of the chair he was in.

"I don't know!" Sirius admitted. "Let's go outside."

Rolling his eyes, Remus got up and followed Sirius out of the Fat Lady's portrait. James was too busy mooning after Lily to follow, so it was just the two of them.

They walked along quietly down the stairways and corridors for a few moments in companionable silence, and then Sirius stopped at the huge doors in the front hall which led out of the castle. The rain was pouring thickly out, and the sky was a stormy grey rather like Sirius's eyes. Remus peered out at the empty grounds.

"Padfoot, it's pouring out. You can't seriously want to go outside." Remus said mildly. Sirius just grinned again.

"Come on, Moony. A little rain never hurt anyone. Let's go and visit Hagrid." James and Sirius had struck up a fast friendship with the groundkeeper in the hopes that he would tell them all of the secrets of Hogwarts, but even four years after he had refused to let them in on any, they still kept coming back for his tea.

Before Remus could stop him, Sirius had run out into the rain and was loping graceful towards the out-of-sight cabin. Cursing and grumbling under his breath, Remus ran out after him, seriously questioning his own sanity. When he finally caught up with Sirius they had both reached the cabin, so there was nothing to do but to knock loudly on the door. No one answered, even after they banged on the door a second time.

"Let's try the back," suggested Sirius. Remus, by this time, was thoroughly soaked, but it was warm out and he didn't really mind the rain much. He ran around the house before Sirius could and knocked on the back door first, and then turned around and grinned at Sirius when he finally caught up to him. Sirius just smirked back as if to say I told you so.

No one answered this time either, and Remus let out a little hum of annoyance. Now what were they supposed to do? He opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it very suddenly. Sirius was very close to him, so close that Remus could have reached forward lazily to tug on Sirius's long black hair, which, of course, was completely drenched like everything else around them. There was a look on Sirius's face that Remus had never seen; his expression was very open, almost vulnerable, and he seemed very, very young. His grey eyes were full of a question.

"Padfoot?"

Sirius leaned forward and kissed Remus. It was a very quick touch of lips, and then Sirius pulled away, leaving Remus dazed and incredibly confused. Abruptly something in Sirius's face seemed to shut off, and a fearful look crept into his eyes. And then he turned around and ran away, back up the hill and towards the castle. Away from Remus.

What just happened?

A/N: and now the story takes off! :D I know, the kiss is sort of sudden. It's supposed to be! It should get more interesting from here. Anyways, this is probably the most often I'll ever update, unless I convince myself to write another chapter this weekend - I'm on a break this week, so normally I probably won't be able to write chapters quite so often, because I'm too busy. This will probably be the last author's note, because I don't want to write them too often; they take away from the story, I think.

Reviews make suspense go away faster! :) Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.