"Oh,"

James and Sirius looked up from their breakfast, their eyes circled with dark rings and they looked pale. In fact, Remus looked better than both of them.

"What?" James asked sleepily, stifling a yawn.

"I forgot to say, Lily sends her apologises." Remus said.

Sirius blinked. "Apologies?"

"Yes, she... Er... Thought it would be best if I passed the message on. She would have said so herself, but she suspected that you wouldn't believe her." Remus continued, into his goblet of orange juice.

Sirius continued to stare at Remus. "Apologies? For what?"

"For Severus' behaviour," Remus replied, putting the goblet down and picking up the Prophet. He looked up and saw Sirius was still staring at him; he sighed, folded the paper and put it down, looking at his friend. "On Friday?"

Sirius stared confused. He shook his head. "Nope. Nothing."

"When you got concussion," James explained.

"Oh... Right." Sirius said cutting up his eggs, yawning sleepily. He made to put the forkful of food in his mouth, but it swayed aimlessly in front of his cheek as his eyes fluttered close and he leaned against the table. His elbow slipped, pushing food up his nose and waking him up with a jolt. Remus and Peter sniggered, James paid no attention also half asleep. "Damn," Sirius muttered.

"That's what you get for spending all night out and eating in the kitchens," Remus said, mildly.

"Oh, that's right," James grunted. "Act like our mother."

"Don't act like my mother," Sirius said. "Otherwise I might need to hex you to the ceiling and stuff Snivellus' underwear into your mouth."

"Beautiful sentiment, Sirius," Remus said. "Very charming."

"You can hardly blame us," James replied. "You spend your nights howling at the moon."

"Yes, yes," Remus said dryly. "I get it. Ha, ha, funny. Let's make fun of Moony because he pulls all nighters and looks like crap half the time. It's not as funny as you think, James."

"It is," James yawned, leaning against the table.

"Potter, Black," said a gruff voice. They turned to see Torus, hand in hand with his girlfriend Jenn from Ravenclaw. "Quidditch practice tomorrow evening."

"Can't." James grumbled.

Torus' face hardened. "What?"

"I have detention with Filch tomorrow," said James.

"Yes, so do I." Sirius muttered.

"No matter, I'll get McGonagall to get you out." Torus said, choosing his words very carefully trying not to raise his voice next to Jenn who was admiring something Xeno was making at the next table. "But if you have detention again I will break you in two."

Sirius stared at Torus. "Oo...K?"

Torus stared at Sirius, his eyes narrowing. "Yes, it is very much 'ok', Black., In fact it's a 'YES CAPTAIN, I UNDERSTAND CAPTAIN'." He licked his lips. "What is it Black?"

Sirius mouthed the words, looking slightly confused.

"What is it Black?" Torus asked.

"Yes, Captain. I understand Captain." Sirius said.

"Good." Torus took Jenn by the hand and walked off, she turned and waved goodbye to the boys. Once they were out of the Great Hall, Sirius raised two fingers after them.

"Knobhead," He muttered.

"Cheer up," James said, sleepily. "Its... Not like..." His voice trailed away.

"That's it," Remus said, suddenly making them all jump. "Bed. All of you. Now."

"But I'm not..." Sirius yawned.

"Do you need someone to walk you there?" Remus asked. "Or do you want me to hex you there?"

"You couldn't hex someone even if you tried." James murmured.

"No, but I can bite you." Remus said sweetly, smiling.

James and Sirius' heads sprang up. "Right, er..."

"I think we er..."

"Yes... Should er..."

"Go to bed."

"Oh, what a brilliant idea!" Remus said sarcastically. "I'll tell McGonagall you're both ill, shall I?"

"If you wouldn't mind, Moony," Said Sirius. "That'll be great." Sirius gave Remus the thumbs up before he and James left the Great Hall, stumbling and flailing in their sleep deprived state. Remus rolled his eyes and stared back at his paper.

Peter looked at him. "You alright?" He asked, tucking into his porridge.

Remus nodded. "Yes." He paused and sighed. "No. Look." He handed the paper over to Peter who almost choked on his pumpkin juice.

"'DARK LORD HAS CLAIMED ANOTHER FAMILY'?" Peter said, looking up nervous. Remus nodded. Peter stared at the serpent and skull emblazoned in the sky as two spirals of smoke tumbled around it.

"Yes," Remus said sadly. "The Gregorsons. It's Lucy Gregorsons family."

"Who?"

Remus sighed and pointed over at an empty space between two 7th year Hufflepuff girls who looked as if they were about to burst into tears. "Their friend," Remus said silently.

Peter turned back to look at the Prophet.

...

"My body clock is completely screwed," James muttered pulling on his cloak sleepily.

"Too bloody right," Sirius grunted from under his jumper as he tried to pull it over his head. He got stuck. "Oh... What..? What the fuc-" He stopped and rearranged himself, sticking his head out from the jumper. "Oh would you look at that." He muttered.

James pulled on his socks. "I don't know what they're expecting from us." He said. "I mean, they all know that we're trouble-makers. We're bound to be in detention at one point or the other-" As he said this, they heard an earth shattering crash from outside the dormitory. Frowning, they entered onto the landing and saw Peter had caught himself in the metal bucket that they had left out. Remus and Lily were desperately trying to pull it off.

"Hey... Pete... Moony," Sirius said.

Remus looked up, frowning. "Ah, is this your doing?"

James took a step back. "Why must you always assume that it was I and Mr. Black's fault?"

"Because it usually is," Lily grunted, trying to heave the bucket off. "Did you curse it or something?"

"Yes, we cursed it, with our infinite second year knowledge of curses." Sirius said sarcastically. Lily looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Seriously," James said. "We never had a thing to do with this."

"DAMMNIT YOU LITTLE!" Gideon and Fabian appeared, looking rather cross, their red hair sticking out in all directions, and their wands held tightly in their hands.

Lily sighed. "Shoulda guessed." She said, sadly. "I'm assuming this was your doing?"

"Yes, but not intended for Pettigrew," Fabian said, taking the bucket with his left hand and pointing at it with his wand. Without saying a word, the tip of his wand lit up with a white glow. The bucket slid off Peter's foot with ease.

"Who were you trying to prank anyway?" Lily asked.

"Urgh, no one in particular," Gideon replied. "Why didn't we see you at Quidditch practice?"

"Ill." Sirius grunted.

"Both of you?" Fabian asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Shut up." James said.

"Just saying, you boys are very close," Gideon said. He looked at the bucket. "C'mon Fabs, lets go prank the person we were intending to in the first place."

The twins ran off. Peter sighed, rubbing his foot. "Why's it always me?" He asked.

"Dunno," James said. "Why is it always him?" he asked Sirius.

Sirius shrugged, yawning. "Don't know, don't give a rats hairy bollocks. Come on."

"And where are you going?" Lily asked folding her arms.

"Out, Evans." Said James calmly. "Got a problem with that?"

"I have several, problems with it Potter," Lily snapped. "One, it's a school night."

"So?" Sirius asked.

"So, wandering around the castle is strictly forbidden after lights out." Lily said.

"So?" James asked.

"So..." Lily said huffing. "You could get into trouble."

"Yes," James said. "That is true." His face broke into a smile and he lifted Lily's chin. "But you're forgetting the most important thing, I don't care and..." he pulled out the invisibility cloak. "I have this."

Lily made a move to grab it. James tossed it to Sirius who held it out of Lily's reach. "Now, Evans, don't make me hurt you," He said playfully.

"That thing has no place in a school." She snapped. "Especially in your hands Potter. It should be handed in straight to professor McGonagall."

"No way," James said. "It was a gift from my dad."

"Well, then your dad is a knob."

James pulled out his wand. "My father is a great man." He said, darkly, pointing at Lily.

Sirius knew where this was heading. Instinctively, he grabbed James' arm and pulled him, Remus and Peter under the cloak. Lily folded her arms and blinked angrily. She sighed shook her head and went off to the girls dormitory as James, Peter, Sirius and Remus sneaked out of the Gryffindor common room and out into the corridors.

"Where are we going?" Remus muttered after a second.

"Er..." Sirius turned to look at James who was still fuming. "Oi, mate calm down. She didn't mean it." James looked at Sirius and began to relax his breathing. Once satisfied, Sirius turned back to Remus. "I have not a bullshitting idea where we're going." He said. "But I have a few ideas where I want to go."

"Really?" Peter asked. "What are they?"

Sirius looked at James once more, who nodded. "Well, me and Potter here," Sirius said. "Have been talking... We think..." He bit his lips. "We want to see where you transform, Remus."

Remus' head snapped up. "No." He said.

"Dude, I've seen you in your undies," James said. "I think we've crossed the privacy threshold."

"That's different." Remus muttered. "That's something else entirely. W-w-w-why... Why would you want to see it anyway? It's not important."

"Thing is," Peter said frowning. "You've never talked about where you go to transform and all that..."

"Keep your voices down," Remus hissed, passing some portraits that were staring at them curiously.

"Well done Peter." James said. "You've reached the focal point of the conversation, Sirius and I were having whilst you were too busy trying to chase daises. What is it with you and them? Not green fingered are we?"

Peter shook his head sadly. "Plastic flowers just need to look at me and their petals drop off dead." He said.

"Ah well." Sirius said. "Too bad." He turned to look at Remus. "Moony, come on!"

Remus hadn't said a word. He was staring at his feet, letting his friends guide him down the flagstone steps and to the front gates. He sighed and nodded. James grinned as they slipped out of the castle and made their way down to the grounds. Soft snow had already covered the grass in a thick blanket and there was a bitter chill in the air. The crescent moon hung in the sky with sparkling stars spread out onto the midnight blanket. Despite the coolness, the boys were becoming terribly hot under the single cloak and James pulled it off, tucking it back into his bag. Remus was silently leading them to the huge tree at the edge of the grounds, where its branches were still in the air. James looked up at it, his face frowning.

"That explains it." He muttered.

Remus, Peter and Sirius turned to look at him. "Explains what?" Said Sirius.

"Dad said that there was never a huge bloody great tree called the 'Whomping Willow', when he was at school." James said.

"To be fair," Sirius said. "Your dad hasn't been here for a while."

James shrugged. Remus said nothing as he picked up a long branch from the side and, leaned down low, touching the knot of the tree with the end. The tree, which was swaying its branches, stopped completely immobilised. He stood up and turned to his friends.

"I'm not comfortable with this," he said.

"Tough," Sirius said. "So, you prod the tree – in a less-than-sexual-manner it stops moving then... What? Is there a secret tunnel under it?"

"Yes," Remus said simply, going to the roots of the tree and slipping under it, disappearing into the foot of a tunnel.

"Well, slap my arse and call me Shirley Black." Sirius said.

"Alright. Coming Shirley?" James said, following Remus into the tunnel. Peter was next to join them, then Sirius, who had to crouch a little was the last to join them. Once they were all together, Remus lit the tip of his wand, and the others followed suit. Along the tunnel they could see scratch marks and dried blood carved into the walls. Staring at the walls, Peter almost tripped over, only to be caught by Sirius.

Remus led them through the tunnel, a trek in itself to a staircase at the end. The banister was creaking lightly in the wind. He sighed, his eyes hardening. "Seen enough?" He asked them.

James pushed past and made his way up the stairs, holding the banister carefully. Peter and Sirius followed. Remus stood at the edge of the stairs looking around at his degrading prison. With a heavy heart he followed them into the bedroom where most of his transformations came to pass. In the corner was a broken stool and a four poster bed with dusty hangings was the centre of the room. Everything inside was broken on some level and covered in a thick layer of dust that kicked up around their ankles when they moved. James was staring intently at the blood on the walls along with the long nail marks. Remus stared at his feet, feeling exposed. Sirius was staring at Remus.

"Are you done yet?" He asked, miserably.

"Why would we be done?" James asked, looking around and grinning like a child. "This place is awesome."

Remus was shaking his head. "No, can we go now?"

"What is your problem?" Sirius asked. "It's not like we're peering into your very soul."

Remus said nothing. Peter raised a quizzical eyebrow. "That's what you think isn't it?" He said. James and Sirius stared at their friend.

"It's private." Remus said.

"So is Professor Dumbledore's mail." James said. He caught Sirius' eye. "Tell you later." He said. "Why don't you want us to see it?"

Remus did not answer. Instead he was scratching his arm. Sirius sighed. "Too proud to tell us?"He asked.

Remus gave a quaky laugh. "As if." He said. "More ashamed."

"Of what?" James asked. "It's nothing to be ashamed with. It's... I dunno... Awesome."

Remus was shaking his head again. "How many times must I say that it's not awesome?" He asked.

"So... What happens?" Peter asked. "Y'know... When it's full moon?"

Remus sighed. "Madame Pomfrey takes me down-"

"They know?" Sirius asked.

"Of course they know." James snapped. "You noob. Honestly."

"Anyway," Remus said clearing his throat. "She leads me here. I t-t-transform... Then in the morning, she comes down with a fresh set of clothes and some potion to make the aches go away... I wake up in the hospital wing. End of story. Can we go now?"

"Remus, come on, you're only here for one night of the month." Sirius said. "How bad can it be?"

"DO YOU NOT GET IT?" Remus bellowed. "It's because I'm here once a month that I can't stand being here now! Isn't it bad enough that this thing, that I can't control takes over once a month? Isn't it bad enough that I have to wake up, naked covered in my own blood, in this shithole every month with someone staring at me with pity and some disgust? I like to keep this part of my existence separate. The thing... The thing that happens to me once a fucking month, happens here. And my life belongs back at Hogwarts."

Sirius stared at Remus, suddenly feeling sick in his stomach. "Listen, sorry man." He said. "We just want to make it easier for you."

Remus kicked the stool sitting on the bed, his hands entangled in his hair and staring intently at the dusty floor. "How... How is this meant to make it easier?" He asked.

"Isn't this... Isn't this the Shrieking Shack?" Peter squeaked.

"Yes," Remus said stiffly.

"Isn't this place haunted?" Peter asked.

Remus let out a sharp haunted laugh. "Nope. A rumour Dumbledore spread around to discourage people from venturing here. The screams are made by me during... During the full moons."

James sat down beside Remus, the dust flying up around his feet. "Moony," He said silently. "We're sorry. We should have thought about what this place must do to you."

Remus shook the apology off. "Doesn't matter." He shrugged. "I just needed to get that out of my system."

James nodded. "Right. First question, if we disguise ourselves using the invisibility cloak and a smell charm do you think that you would be able to pick us up?"

Remus frowned. "I... I wouldn't kno... Why?" he asked.

"Well, until we get somewhere with the animagi stuff we won't be able to do anything to help you," Sirius said. "Bloody Ariyamna gave us too much homework. You don't need to go through this alone. No one does. Not unless they want to be."

Remus shook his head.

"What? Too dangerous for us?" James asked. "It'll be a lot more dangerous if we decided to join the Death Eaters."

"I can't." Remus mumbled.

"It's not your decision over our safety," Peter said, speaking up from behind the other two.

"For once, Pete is talking complete sense." Sirius said. "Now I think coming here was a bad idea. It's put us into a downer. What's say you that we go back to the Forbidden Forest and curse a few bloody great big spiders with every second year spell we know."

Please... Please... Please... Leave... A... Review... So... Tired... Needs feedback to justify staying up so late when she hasn't slept properly since Tuesday...