"I really don't want to drink that," Sirius said looking at the mixture James and Remus were pouring into three separate goblets.

"I don't want to drink it either mate, but," James swirled the murky grey liquid in the goblet, the thick mixture sloshing at the sides. He upturned his nose as the putrid smell reached his nose. Myrtle was watching them casually from the top of the sinks, her face twisted into a smile.

"I'm glad I don't need to drink it," She said gleefully. "I'd get sick."

"Well it's a good thing that you're not a marauder," Sirius said.

"And you know," James said. "Dead."

Myrtle merely grinned. Any other student she would have gone into a rage with and probably flooded the toilets. But she had a soft spot for James.

"If you die from it," She said cheekily. "I want to share a toilet with you."

James turned to Remus. "Moony, are you sure you've mixed this correctly?"

Remus leaned over the book. "Positive," He licked his lips. "98% positive,"

"98?" Sirius asked.

"Er… 95%." Remus corrected himself.

"Oh god," Peter muttered. "This isn't going to make us sick is it?"

Remus leaned down and read the text on the yellowing page. "It says it might do, if the animal one is changing into is a big one."

"How big?" James asked.

"Rather, I would think," Remus replied, pouring the rest of the potion into several glass vials for the week ahead. "Remember, you have to drink it religiously, every day on the dot."

"Yeah, yeah," Sirius said.

"I've been meaning to ask," Peter said. "What does it actually do?"

James looked over at Sirius. "Er…"

Sirius looked over at Remus. "Moony, what does it do?"

"It makes your bodies more changeable." Remus replied, clearing up the books. "Did you not do the reading?"

"No," Sirius replied. "We have you to do that for us."

"Right," Remus said. "I forgot, silly old me."

Myrtle was giggling impatiently, her glasses slipping down her ghostly nose.

"Okay," Sirius said. "On three."

"One," James said.

"Two," Peter grumbled.

"Three." Sirius said. The three of them downed the liquid as quickly as they could, it burning their throats. Peter gagged and almost threw up. Sirius lowered his goblet before throwing it at the mirror just above the sink in disgust. James almost vomited in one of the sinks, his face pale.

Remus was quick in finding the pumpkin juice. He handed a glass to James before giving one to Sirius and Peter.

"That is the most disgusting drink ever," Sirius grumbled.

"Not the worst," James said. "You're house-elf's cooking?"

"No, it's worse than that,"

"Yeesh, I was trying to lighten the mood,"

"And I was trying to be brutally honest," Sirius said. "You might like to try the same thing now and again."

"Okay, now you have to try and get back the features that you had before." Remus said flicking through the book. "James you had antlers… Peter you had a tail and whiskers… And Sirius –"

"I had the one unidentifiable aspect," Sirius said. "Yeah, yeah, yeah,"

James took in a deep breath and closed his eyes before the antlers came shooting out of his head almost hitting the low ceiling lights. Sirius had a strain on his face as if he was constipated. There was a loud ripping and a black tail shot out of the small of his back and he arched painfully, holding his hands in front of him.

"Did my trousers just rip?" He asked.

"I don't want to check," James muttered, clicking his tongue.

Peter was having the most difficulty, he looked troubled. James went over to him and drew out his wand, pointing it to his head.

"Concentrate, Pete," He said. As he said it, whiskers formed from the small boys' face and his nose became more pointed. A tail slithered out from his back and wrapped itself around his leg.

"Okay," Sirius said taking the book from Remus who had wandered off to the window and was looking out of it dismally. "It says we have to change back to our normal selves."

"Oh for…" James sighed. "Right, okay," He scrunched up his face in concentration and the antlers disappeared. He then turned to Peter and helped him again. Sirius wore the same pained expression as the tail disappeared, retreating into him. "Tell me we don't need to do that every single day as well."

Sirius flicked through the book once more, a faint frown appearing on his forehead. "Yeah, we do,"

"Dammnit," James muttered.

"What's wrong?" Myrtle asked. "Does it take time out of your schedule pranking?"

"Yes it does," James replied. "Urgh. This is going to bug me."

"No one said you needed to do it," Remus said, looking over from the window.

"Shut up Moony," Sirius said. "We're doing it."

Remus rolled his eyes and stared out thoughtfully at the grounds, his face blank and his blue eyes cold as he slipped deeper into thought. Sirius saw this and went over to him.

"If I need to hit you in the face in some attempt to knock some sense into you, I will," He threatened. Remus smiled softly, but his eyes flickered up to the half-moon which was leering over the grounds patiently, as if waiting for him. Sirius turned and saw this. He sighed, knowing that he could never really understand. He wanted to hug his best friend, but thought better of it, merely placing a hand on Remus' shoulder and leading him away from the window.

James was helping Peter shove all the books and cauldrons that they had been using away into one of the corners. The disused bathroom was well guarded by Myrtle, she seemed to like them enough to keep their secret. Peter tucked the vials into his satchel so that they would not need to leave the common room to take it. Sirius found the invisibility cloak and all four of them bid their goodnights to Myrtle, who smiled and once again asked if James was willing to stay behind. James refused and they pulled the cloak over them, leaving the cold dark toilets behind.

…

"XENO, YOU'RE A BLEEDING GENIUS!" Sirius practically shouted, lifting the white haired boy into a bear-like hug. Xeno wasn't sure how to react to this. He hung limply in Sirius' arms, his own arms clamped to his sides in an uncomfortable position. James looked on, and raised an eyebrow as Sirius let Xeno down.

"Er…" Xeno said. "Not that I don't appreciate the gesture, but what did I do?"

"Don't ask that question," Remus said, rearranging the books in his arms.

Sirius was still grinning. Some older students, who were passing, watched curiously. Most of them were already aware of the Marauders and how popular they were with the other students. Gideon and Fabian were sitting on the ledge of the window, laughing their heads off, whether it was at the hug or something else was yet to be discovered.

"Potter, Black, Lupin!" McGonagall cried. "Shouldn't you be in class?"

"We're just going professor," Remus reassured her.

McGonagall nodded in approval before turning to Gideon and Fabian who were still laughing. "DON'T YOU TWO HAVE N.E.W.T'S TO STUDY FOR?"

"Oh bugger," James heard Fabian say.

Sirius kept grinning as they made their way to Defence against the Dark Arts. Xeno, though usually unfazed by most things, including extreme weirdness, was slightly getting freaked out. James let out a sigh after a moment or so.

"Sirius want's to thank you for distracting Nearly Headless Nick with your talk of real mermaids and where they come from whilst he snuck into Filch's office and stole back his dungbombs," He said.

Xeno looked around and frowned. "I'll have you know that I was having a well meaning discussion with him and not distracting him so Sirius could get his Vercochios back."

"His what?" Remus asked absentmindedly. "James said 'Dungbombs', didn't he?"

"Dungbombs are tiny creatures called Verchochios, when they die, they give an unpleasant smell," Xeno said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Right," Remus said, rubbing his arm and hoisting his bag further up his shoulder.

Xeno stopped. "You disbelieve me?" He asked.

Remus looked over and sighed. "Of course not," He said. "Come on,"

They all piled into class, James and Sirius taking the front desk whilst Peter and Remus sat behind them, getting their books, quills and ink out. They waited patiently for their new Professor to arrive. Pepin Morphosis was a bright-eyed young wizard with enthusiasm that almost matched James and Sirius when they decided to pull pranks. Out of the three previous Defence Against the Dark Art's teachers that the boys had encountered, Morphosis, was due to become their fast favourite.

"I hope this curse thingy doesn't force him to leave," Sirius heard Lily whisper to Snape who were sitting only a few seats away from him. Snape barely made any noise in response.

Morphosis entered, his usual bright and sparkling appearance suddenly upturned and frowning and deep in concentration. He placed his case on his desk, leaning on it heavily, staring for a long moment before finally turning around to look at his students.

"An unfortunate part of fourth year is," He said. "Is that you have to learn about the Unforgiveable curses. And you must witness them to recognise them." His blue eyes seemed to have lost their sparkle. "How many are they?"

"3," Snape said. "Made unforgiveable because any use of them will sentence the user to a lifetime in Azkaban,"

"And made unforgiveable when?" Morphosis asked.

"1717," Snape replied.

"Correct, five points to Slytherin,"

James and Sirius shot a glare at Snape. Lily was looking impressed and nervous at the same time whilst Snape looked almost… Pleased with himself.

Morphosis wasn't paying attention. "The… Dark Lord… As he's sometimes known, likes to perform these curses on a regular basis. Can anyone tell me what they are?"

The room fell silent. Snape barely made a sound, though it was more than obvious that he knew what they were. James cleared his throat.

"The Killing Curse, The Torture curse and the Imperius curse," He said.

"Correct." Morphosis said. "I'm sorry, I can't… I don't want to teach you this. Please, just turn to your books, page… 734 and copy out notes," He sank back into his chair his head in his hand. All the life had just vanished from him. Sirius and James glanced at each other as the shuffling of books began.

For the entire lesson, no one made a sound. The only thing that filled their ears was the scratching of quill and ink on parchment. Sirius finished taking notes before James and so decided to scribble on a spare piece of parchment.

Oi, Prongs, what do you reckon is up with Morphosis?

James looked at the parchment, his round glasses slipping further down his nose. He licked his lips and pushed his glasses up so that he could read. He leaned over and wrote, careful not to draw attention to himself.

Dunno mate, would it be rude to ask him?

Sirius glared at the note and then over at James who shrugged. Sirius shook his head and wrote;

NO JAMES! It would be very rude to ask him. Did your parents not teach you decency and manners and respect?

James smiled a little before writing his response.

Of course they did. But then I met you.

Sirius burst into a snigger, clamping his hand around his mouth to stop from laughing. Some of the class looked up to see what was going on, others paid no attention and carried on with their note taking. Morphosis took no interest. Sirius felt a piece of scrunched up parchment hit his head. He turned around to see Peter hold out a note to him.

Remus is getting distracted.

James shrugged as if to say 'I-don't-really-care'. Sirius struggled to keep some laughter held back. He was thankful that the bell rang and class was dismissed. James stopped as the students left. Sirius frowned and followed him to the teacher's desk. Morphosis had gotten up and was moving around collecting a few of his papers and books from the table.

"Professor," James said. "I was wondering if I could ask you –"

"-Why a grown man broke down crying whilst teaching a fourth year class?" Morphosis finished.

"Well, no, not really," James said.

"Don't lie to me James," Morphosis said calmly.

James fell silent as Morphosis sat down again. He rubbed his tired eyes and stared blankly out of the window as he spoke.

"About two years ago, the Dark Lord killed my wife and daughter in cold blood. But not before performing the torture curse on them." Morphosis said.

James was taken aback. "I'm… Sorry… I didn't know…"

"Of course you didn't," Morphosis said. "That's why you asked isn't it?" He sighed. "It was out of my own stupidity really. I insulted the Dark Lord. And he punished me to teach me a lesson. And being made to feel guilty is far worse than being dead. Everyone dies. It's a game to him. He wants me to feel consumed with my guilt, so much so that in time it will drive me to insanity and I will crawl to his feet and either ask to join, ask for death or ask for forgiveness. And whichever one I choose, it will be the same consequence. He will just kill me."

James stared open mouthed at the professor. Morphosis sighed and tucked one of his curls behind his head. "Shouldn't you be at class?"

"Right, yeah," James muttered. "I'm sorry Professor. Really, I am."

"Just go, James," Morphosis said.

James turned and Sirius handed him his books which he took heavy hearted. Sirius gave one last look at Professor Morphosis before they left the classroom. James felt sick to his stomach that he had forced such a terrible secret from his professor.

…

"Are you going to Hogsmede?" Sirius asked.

"Maybe," Mary replied, looking up from her book. "Why?"

"I thought.. Maybe we could go together…" Sirius said.

Madame Pince shot them a dangerous look from the corner of the library, Sirius didn't seem to notice and if he did he didn't care. James was fiddling around with spare pieces of parchment and pages that had come loose from their bindings after years of being worn out by students. Remus had fallen asleep on his unfinished homework and Peter was yawning as he tried to finish his charms essay.

"This is going to be painful," He muttered. James threw him a smirk, still too angry at himself to really make a joke.

"Shut up, Wormtail." Sirius said. "What do you say? You and me?"

"Well, I promised Marlene, Lily and Alice I'd go with them…" Mary said.

"Well you can," Sirius replied. "I just want to spend some time with you that day."

Mary looked over at James, Remus and Peter. "They won't be coming along will they?" She asked.

Sirius glanced over and James shrugged. "If you want to be alone with the woman," he said. "Please do, I don't want to witness two people chewing each other's faces off whilst I try and drink my butterbeer."

Sirius turned back to Mary and grinned. "Happy?"

"Exceedingly so." Mary said, leaning forward and giving him a peck on the lips. James rolled his eyes in disgust.

"You were tearing each other's throats out the other week," He said.

"That's because Sirius was being a prat." Mary said.

"Was not," Sirius argued.

"Oh god not this again," Peter moaned, thumping his head hard on the table in desperation.

Mary shot him a look before turning back to Sirius. "I'm going to bed." She stood up and gave him a kiss on the forehead before smiling, picking up her bag and leaving. Sirius smiled and looked back at his friends.

"Uh oh," James said. "I know that look."

"What look?"

"That face you're pulling right now,"

"It's my face!"

"Yeah and I know that look that you have on it." James sighed. "Sirius is in love."

"You've never seen my face when I'm in love." Sirius argued.

"True, but I've seen your face eating food. It's basically the same expression only this one is a little more creepy. The food I can handle… To a point… But you with Mary… I don't like that look."

"Fine," Sirius said. "I'll just pout for the rest of my life shall I?"

"You do that already," Peter yawned. "You seem to think it makes you look sexier."

"I do not!"

"You do," James argued. "And to be honest, I find that one creepy too, stop with that look."

Remus snorted awake, he blinked miserably for a moment and shook his head. He stretched his arms, his cardigan pulling gently at his skinny frame.

"What time is it?" He asked.

"I think it's about nine," James replied.

"Damn," Remus yawned. "Have you taken those potions yet?"

"Not here," Peter said. "We can't exactly go changing in the library with Madame Pince watching over us."

"Fair point," Remus said. "But I hope you'll be taking them soon."

"You just worry about your potions essay," Sirius said. "We'll worry about that,"

Remus let out another yawn before slumping back down on the table. A timid voice spoke softly from behind the shelves.

"Er... Hi…" The young girl said, her soft grey eyes blinking down at the four boys. "I was wondering if one of you could help me on an essay Slughorn set for me."

Sirius frowned. "Slughorn set us an essay?" He asked.

James kicked him. "She's not in our year dipshit."

"Oh, right." Sirius said. "Hi, who are you?"

"Rachel." She said, pushing her short dark hair from her eyes. "I need help and there's no one else I can really go to…"

"Try Severus Snape," Peter muttered. "I doubt he'd help but you could try."

"Believe me I have," Rachel replied, pointing at her emerald green tie.

"Right," James said staring at it for a moment. "Remus can help you."

Remus looked up blinking. "I can?"

"Yes," Sirius said, pushing Remus' chair towards Rachel. "Go on, you need to get over Sarah one way or the other."

Remus got up and gathered his work. "I am over her," He said. "End of story."

"It so isn't," James muttered.

Remus rolled his eyes and left, following Rachel through the library.

Sirius sighed and looked over at James. "So Prongs, taking Caitlin on a Hogsmede date?"

"I'm supposed to?" James asked.

"Kind of a necessity with couples," Sirius said.

"Damn," James muttered. "Should I ask her?"

"Probably will be a good idea," Sirius said.

"Okay," James sat frowning.

Sirius merely smiled before turning his attention to Peter who was slumped against his book.

"Now we just need to get you a girlfriend." Sirius grinned.

Peter looked up terrified. "What?"

"Well we can't have one Marauder going about without a girlfriend." Sirius said. "That would make us seem uncool."

"Which, you are," James said.

"Funny Prongs,"

"I try."

"I don't need a girlfriend right now," Peter said.

"You sound exactly like Moony," James said. "God's sake. You're like two peas in a pod." Sirius stared at him. James shrugged. "My mum says it all the time when referring to us."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "What you mean is, you want a girlfriend, but you can't think of anyone who would remotely be interested in you, right?"

"Er…"

"Of course I'm right," Sirius said with a knowing sense of smugness around him. "God, you are just like Moony."

"Am not," Peter said.

"Sure," Sirius chortled.

"Right that's it," Madame Pince said coming over to them. "All three of you, get out of my library if you're not going to study!"

A/N

I am rather happy with the way this chapter turned out. Some of you may hate me for it… Ah well… Back to long chapters YAY! No I haven't seen Deathly Hallows Part 2 yet because I haven't had a chance to get to the cinema…I'm seeing it Friday though so… I is happy. Night night.