At evening of the same day, James was pacing in their dormitory while Peter was watching him anxiously. Remus had already gone to the hospital wing. By now he was probably already in the Shrieking Shack. Under normal circumstances, the rest of the Marauders would already be on their way to join him. However, they were still waiting for Sirius who had disappeared after dinner and had taken the Marauder's Map with him. His best mate had not cooled down during the day. It worried James that Sirius was out without anybody holding his leash. He was growing angrier by the minute. He was so done with Sirius's drama! When he showed up, he would give him an earful.

'He is going to show up,' said Peter. 'I know he is.'

'I am going to kill him if he doesn't', growled James. 'And he should better hurry. I don't like leaving Moony alone for too long. He will be angrier than usual if we take too long to show up.'

'Maybe we should play it safe tonight,' said Peter. 'You are not going to keep him in check if you have to worry about Sirius all the time. Maybe it would be better if the just stayed in tonight.'

'Then we would let Remus down,' said James, rubbing his eyes.

'Remus would not want us to place ourselves in more danger than necessary,' Peter pointed out. 'He is already worried about us. He would understand, especially because he knows what an annoying prick Sirius can be.'

'Yeah, you are probably right,' said James. 'Maybe it would be for the best. Damn Snape! This is all the greasy git's fault! Why can't he leave Sirius alone for once? I have to figure out a way to protect us from his rubbish.'

'We should all stay as far away for Snape as possible,' said Peter. 'He gives me the creeps. I would bet all my chocolate frog cards that he is well versed in the dark arts.'

'You won't find anybody betting against you there,' said James. 'Even Evans seems to have realized what kind of person Snape is and she has tried so hard to see the good in him.'

'I have never understood why she was friends with him in the first place,' said Peter. 'She should have realized that he was no good when she met him.'

James had no answer to this, but Sirius's arrival interrupted the conversation anyway. His best mate had an ominous smile on his face and seemed to be in a much better mood than before.

'It's about time that you showed up,' snapped James. 'Where have you been? And where is the map?'

'Nice to see you too, James,' said Sirius, rolling his eyes. 'Don't get your knickers in a twist, I have the map right here.'

He reached into the pocket of his robe and produced the battered parchment of the Marauder's Map. He handed it to James.

'Alright, now let's get ready to join Moony,' said James without looking at the map. 'We are already late and he probably will be angry with us when we show up. Are you up for this Sirius? I need you to be focused tonight.'

'Oh, I am ready,' said Sirius. 'But I think we should wait a bit longer before going down there or maybe skip it completely tonight.'

'Why?' asked Peter. 'You are usually thrilled to fool around with Remus during the full moon.'

'Things are different tonight,' said Sirius.

James felt a chill go down his spine at Sirius's voice. There was something cold and dark in his friend's usually up-beat personality.

'Sirius, what did you do?' he asked quietly, looking his best mate straight in the eye.

'I did not do anything, James,' said Sirius.

'Don't lie to me,' said James angrily. 'What did you do and why should we leave Remus alone tonight?'

'Alright,' said Sirius. 'I was going to spare you the details, but if you insist. I got my revenge tonight and we should not interfere with it.'

'Your revenge?' asked James.

'What did you do?' asked Peter.

'I gave Snape his heart's desire,' said Sirius, grinning darkly. 'He is always snivelling around trying to find out where Moony is going during the full moons. Well, I thought if he wanted to know that badly, he deserved to know the truth. So, I told him.'

James suddenly felt very cold.

'What... what did you tell him?' he croaked at Sirius. Peter was staring at Sirius open mouthed.

'Oh, not the full truth, obviously,' said Sirius. 'Snape is a git, but he is not stupid. He would stay the hell away from a werewolf. So, I just told him that if he wants to know the truth about Remus, he should go to the Whomping Willow tonight, prod the knot at the base of the tree and follow the tunnel. He seemed sceptical, but I think he will check it out.'

'Sirius, you bloody idiot!' cried James. He needed to check whether Snape was already on his way. Maybe the Slytherin had enough common sense not to follow a person's advice, who obviously hated him, but James doubted it. Snape was too focused on landing them in trouble to walk away from such an opportunity. James whipped out the Marauder's Map and quickly unlocked it. When the ink lines faded into view, he searched for the passage into the Shrieking Shack. There was no one in the tunnel and Remus was still alone. Thank Merlin, it was going to be alright! Just when he had relaxed a bit he saw a little dot labelled Severus Snape step outside the castle and his heart sank. Snape, the bloody idiot was really going to do it. He needed to stop him!

'Bugger,' said James. 'I have to stop Snape, maybe there is still time. You two tell Dumbledore that Snape is on his way to Remus!'

Without waiting for his mates to say anything, James burst from the room. The common room outside was mostly empty at this late hour. Still, James felt eyes on him when he sprinted through the room and out of the portrait hole. He made a mental note to come up with a proper cover story at a later point in time. Currently, he could not be bothered with such trivialities. He sprinted down the corridor, took as many shortcuts as possible and managed to reach the front door of the caste within five minutes. It was a miracle that Filch had not caught him with the racket he had been making. It must be his lucky day after all. James stopped for a moment to catch his breath and stole another look at the Marauder's Map to see what progress Snape was making. He cursed when he saw that Snape had entered the tunnel starting under the Whomping Willow. He needed to hurry up! Snape was probably going to take his time to explore the unfamiliar tunnel, but he was going to reach Remus soon. Hopefully the werewolf had not yet noticed him. James stuffed the Map back into his pocket and dashed on out of the castle through the deserted and dark grounds. It was a cold and rainy day and the freezing rain hit him straight in the face. He cursed, but pressed on, not even taking the time to cast a water repellent charm on himself. He could barely see in the darkness and if he had not been so familiar with the way he probably would have slipped on some root and fallen. But his good luck continued and he managed to reach the Willow in record time without any incident. The tree had reawakened by now and was squirming menacingly. Apparently, it was still irritated from being frozen. James took out his wand and lit it up with a lumos. In the dancing light of his wand, he spotted a large stick lying around which Snape had probably used to prod the knot at the base of the tree. Sadly, it was lying in reach of the bloody tree. James summoned the stick with his wand and carefully prodded the tree's sweet spot. It froze again and James sprinted to the base of tree and climbed down into the tunnel. Down there, he took another quick glance at the map. Good, Snape still had not reached Remus, but he was close. So bloody close! James started to run again, his wand at the ready. His legs were burning with fatigue, but he ignored then and pressed on. It felt like an eternity until the door leading to the Shrieking Shack came into view. He spotted Snape who was just reaching for the doors handle.

'Don't!' shouted James. He was still too far away to stop Snape, but at least he could warn him. Snape whipped around and his eyes narrowed when he spotted James. He turned around again and opened the door. It swung open and revealed the trashed living room of the Shack. James blood ran cold: There standing on a torn rug was Remus in his werewolf form, staring hungrily at Snape.

'Impossible,' said Snape who had frozen in horror. James increased his speed even further. He needed to get there before Remus attacked Snape! Why couldn't the bloody git have listened to him once? He was going to kill Sirius when he was done with this. If he got out alive.

'Run, you idiot!' he shouted at Snape just as Remus pounced at Snape.

Snape jerked back to avoid the werewolf, but in his haste he tripped over his own feet. He crashed into the floor just in front James who barely managed to jump over him to prevent falling down. Fortunately, Snape's fall had caused Remus's attack to miss. Unfortunately, Remus's attention was now focused on James.

'Impedimenta!' shouted James before the werewolf could attack him. The spell hit Remus and knocked him back through the door into the Shrieking Shack. James flicked his wand and it slammed shut, trapping the raging werewolf inside. James placed a locking charm on the door just in case. He could hear his friend slamming himself against the door, trying to get through. He winced at sounds. Remus was going to be badly hurt tomorrow if he kept that up. He turned around to face Snape who was still lying on the floor, a look of pure disbelief on his face. James spotted the Slytherin's wand on the floor and picked it up. He should probably keep it until Snape had calmed down.

'Are you alright?' he asked Snape who was still sitting on the floor panting for breath. As far as James could tell, Remus never touched the Slytherin. Still, he needed to make sure that Snape was not hurt. With the adrenaline slowly fading from his system James realized how much trouble they could be in. Sirius would probably be expelled from Hogwarts and who knows what they were going to do with Remus. There only hope was that Snape was unhurt. He wondered whether Sirius and Peter had already told the headmaster. Under normal circumstances they would try to keep this from the teachers, but there was no way to contain this incident now. Snape would never help them sweep it under the rugs.

'That was a werewolf,' said Snape weakly.

'Yes, I know,' said James calmly. 'Did it hurt you?'

'No,' said Snape who seemed to need some more time to wrap his head around what just happened. 'No, I'm fine.'

'Brilliant,' said James who felt his knees go weak with relief. 'Then we probably should get out of here. I am not sure that the door will keep him contained forever. He can smell us through it.'

Snape's face went even paler and he scrambled through his feet. He took off without waiting for James who hurried after him. Occasionally, James glanced back to the entrance of the Shrieking Shack, just to make sure that Remus was still locked inside. His mind was spinning with the events of the night. It felt like a bad dream. Maybe he would wake up any second and discover that he fell asleep at some point during the day. However, he knew in his bones that this was real. He needed a drink.

When they had reached the end of tunnel leading to the Whomping Willow, Snape had calmed down enough to realize what just happened to him. He rounded towards James with a look of utter fury on his face:

'That was Lupin,' he snarled. 'He is a werewolf and you knew it. '

'Yes, Remus is a werewolf,' said James. 'And I have known about him for a long time. What are trying to imply?'

James knew of course what Snape was implying, but he would not tell Snape that Sirius had indeed tried to kill him. If that was what Sirius had been trying. James had a hard time trying to wrap his head about his best mate's behaviour. It made no sense to him. Sirius might be vindictive, but James knew that down in his heart he was a good person. After all, he had been sorted into Gryffindor rather than into Slytherin like the rest of his family. That had to count for something. But he could worry about this later. Even though he was furious with Sirius, he would never incriminate his best mate to someone like Snape.

'Don't play me Potter,' said Snape, his eyes bulging angrily. 'You know perfectly well what I am implying. You and your best mate lured me here so that Lupin could finish me off. You have gone too far this time. Forget about expulsion! You are going to spend serious time in Azkaban and Lupin will probably get put down.'

'I just saved you neck Snape,' said James coolly. As he had suspected, playing dumb had no worked. So, he would just admit to what Snape already knew. 'Some gratitude might be in order. Sirius told you to come here without my knowledge. When I learned what he had done I ran down here to prevent Remus from hurting you. I could have stepped back and let you walk straight into your own doom. But I didn't. You owe me Snape.'

'You only came here to safe your own neck,' said Snape. 'In contrast to your moron of a best friend you realized what it would mean for Lupin if he maimed me. You got cold feet and decided to stop the plan. I bet you have been in it from the start, but did not have the guts to go through with it. I have to say Potter I am almost impressed. Using my own curiosity against me and using Lupin's condition to kill me, is a more clever and ruthless plan when I would have considered you capable of. It would befit a Slytherin.'

'I had planned no such thing and you know it,' replied James angrily. 'I am nothing like you or your slimy house mates!'

'Oh trust me Potter, I know that,' said Snape smiling coldly. 'Well it all comes around. You have finally overplayed your cards. I am going to enjoy watching you when they haul you off to Azkaban. You are not going to walk away from attempting to murder a fellow student.'

'Bullocks,' said James, even though Snape's words send a shiver down his spine. He knew that there was no way he was going to be sent to Azkaban. After all, other than being out of bed after hours he had done nothing wrong. He would get a detention or two and be done with it. However, he had no idea what they were going to do to Sirius. If the Ministry got involved his best mate could face a trial. After all, Sirius had not even denied that he had sent Snape here. Still, James found it hard to believe that they would really sentence a member of a pure-blood family to a sentence in Azkaban for a tasteless but stupid prank. The person he was worried about the most was Remus. Who knew what the Ministry would do to him when they learned of this near miss? They would probably get him kicked out of Hogwarts, because he was considered too dangerous to the other students. James knew Remus well enough to know that Remus needed his friends. Without them he would revert back to the boy he had been before they befriended him at Hogwarts: a quiet shell of a person filled with self-loathing. Even if by some miracle he would be able to remain at Hogwarts, Remus was going to take this event to his heart. Biting another student had always been one of the Remus's biggest fears. He was going to be devastated when he learned that Sirius had almost caused his fear to come true. James did not know whether Remus would ever forgive Sirius. He did not even know if he would ever forgive Sirius. But he could worry about all of this later. First, he had to get out of here and face Dumbledore and the other teachers. Also, he really needed to get away from Snape. If had to endure the ungrateful git any longer he was bound to hex him or to punch him in the face.

'Nobody is going to be sent to Azkaban, Snape,' he said. 'Now let's get moving. You should think about tonight the next time you decided to stick your large nose into our business. Next time you might not be as lucky.'

'We will see about this,' said Snape, but fortunately he started to climb the tunnel without continuing their argument even longer. Peter was waiting for them outside when they left the tunnel.

'Sirius will be around soon,' he said breathlessly. 'He went to fetch Dumbledore and sent me down here to help you. Are you alright?'

'We are fine,' said James before Snape could say anything. 'I got there in time and locked Remus in the shack before he could do Snape any harm. We are all going to be alright.'

'Oh, thank Merlin,' said Peter, going limp with relief. 'I thought we had seriously messed up this time. Should we wait here or get back to the castle?'

'I think we should move,' said James. 'It's still raining and it's cold. Dumbledore is going to find us no matter where in Hogwarts we are. We can talk about what happened in Dumbledore's office rather than here.'

'An excellent suggestion, Mr. Potter,' said a voice to there right. James turned and spotted Professor Dumbledore. He was accompanied by Madame Pomfrey as well as a blank-faced Sirius. 'It seems that the situation is quite under control.'

'Headmaster,' said Snape. 'Potter and his gang tried to have me murdered by their werewolf friend. I demand that they get reported to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement immediately!'

'Is anybody hurt?' asked Madame Pomfrey. 'Punishing anybody can wait until everybody is treated.'

'We are fine,' said James. 'Nothing happened. I stopped it just in time. There is no need to involve the Ministry.'

'I see,' said Professor Dumbledore. Poppy please return to the Hospital Wing. I am going to discuss tonight's events with Mr. Potter, Mr. Snape, Mr. Black and Mr. Pettigrew. I will send them to you if they require any medical assistance. In the meantime you should probably prepare for treating Mr. Lupin tomorrow. It probably will be a rough night for him.'

'Of course, headmaster,' said the school nurse who seemed to a bit miffed about the implication that she was not always prepared for any injury.

'Please follow me,' said Dumbledore to the students and they trudged up the castles to his office. James's worry was rolling in his gut and he was feeling worse with every minute. The adrenaline and the rage involved in saving Snape was trickling out his system. All that remained was dread and the icy sting of betrayal. He never had expected to be in this situation. He had always seen the best in Sirius, even though there had been warning signs. He had known that his best mate was vindictive and ruthless, but he never would have expected that he was capable of using Remus as the means to kill someone. That was seriously messed up. Even if by some miracle they came out of this mess unscathed what would it mean for their friendship? Would he ever be able to trust Sirius again? Would Remus? Their werewolf friend had been wronged the most by Sirius after all. If his plan had succeeded, Remus's life would have been ruined and he would have to live with the burden of having killed another human being. James doubted that Remus would be able to bear this burden. He needed time to think about this, time to fix this mess. But first he would have to proof his innocence to Dumbledore. No matter what Snape said, James was determined not to get in trouble for saving the git's life. Ten minutes after the start of their journey, they had arrived in Dumbledore's office. The headmaster made them all sit down before speaking up again.

'Well, now that we are here, let's get at the bottom of his. I was told by Mr. Black on my way down that Mr. Snape was heading to the Whomping Willow with plans to enter the tunnel beneath it. Did you enter the tunnel, Mr. Snape?'

'I did,' said Snape. 'And I found a werewolf at the end of it. Black sent me down there so that Lupin could kill me. Both of them should be sent to Azkaban!'

'It is not in my power to send anyone to Azkaban,' said Dumbledore. 'Is it true Mr. Black? Did you tell Mr. Snape how to access the tunnel?'

James glanced at Sirius who seemed perfectly calm. He wondered what Sirius's plan was. Was he going to admit sending Snape down the tunnel? Would he try to lie to Dumbledore? Snape had no proof that Sirius had sent him down there. If Sirius pleaded innocence and Dumbledore believed him then he could walk away unscathed. However, it was very difficult to lie to Dumbledore and it would make it harder for Sirius to claim that he did not want to kill Snape. James was not sure what he should do. A part of him wanted Sirius to be punished harshly for his deceit. Should he back Snape's accusations? He knew them to be true and maybe it would teach Sirius a lesson. A heartbeat later he had already discarded the plan again. He was not going to betray Sirius like he had betrayed him. He was going to follow his best mate's lead and try to get out of this trouble with as little damage as possible He was going to deal with Sirius some other time.

'I did, headmaster,' said Sirius calmly. James was surprised by his honesty. What was playing at? 'Though I am surprised that he was dumb enough to actually heed my advice. You see, Snape has been very interested in where Remus disappears once a month. I was fed up with him sticking his nose into our business, so I figured I would mess with his head a little. I told him the truth thinking that he would never believe me anyway. I thought it would push him into the wrong direction so that he would never even consider that Remus would spent the full moons in the Shrieking Shack. I was shocked when I realized that he was really going down there. I rushed to tell James and Peter and we decided to put a stop to it, before Snape got hurt. James sprinted after him and I went to get you, Headmaster.'

'Liar,' snarled Snape. 'You told me because you wanted Lupin to kill me! Potter only dragged me back because he got cold feet. I bet he knew about this little plan of yours.'

'I did not know anything until Sirius told me,' protested James. 'When I realized what was going on I knew that I had to save Snape. I ran down to the Whomping Willow and down the tunnel. I was barely in time. Remus tried to fight me, but I managed to prevent him from taking a bite out of Snape. I locked him into the Shack afterwards. Both Snape and I are fine, but he had nothing better to do than to throw accusations at me!'

'I am glad that you two managed to get out of there unharmed,' said Dumbledore. 'I believe Mr. Potter that he did not know what Mr. Black was planning to tell Mr. Snape. I think it is commendable that he risked his own life to save you, Mr. Snape, even though he is not particularly fond of you if I recall correctly.'

James was pleased with the headmaster's praise, especially because of the dark look it had painted on Snape's face. So far things were looking good. Maybe he was going to get out of here unscathed after all.

'Headmaster, you can't believe this story,' protested Snape. 'Potter has hexed me on countless opportunities and has revealed his despicable character multiples times. Why on earth would he try to save my life? He was only trying to save his own skin, because he knew the consequences would be dire if I get killed by Lupin. It was neither selflessness nor bravery that powered his actions tonight. It was only fear.'

'I think you underestimate Mr. Potter,' said Dumbledore gently. 'I like to believe that most people are inherently good. Therefore, I find it unlikely that either Mr. Potter or Mr. Black tried to harm you on purpose. And I also think that Mr. Potter's actions tonight clearly show that he does not wish you to get hurt.'

An ugly look took over Snape's face and for a moment James was sure that the Slytherin was going to tell Dumbledore what the thought about the Headmaster's optimism. However, Snape stayed silent and just continued to glare at James and Sirius.

'Mr. Pettigrew, do you have anything to add?' asked Dumbledore.

'It's like James and Sirius have told you Professor,' squeaked Peter startled by Dumbledore's question. 'James and I did not know that Sirius was going to tell Snape anything. When he told us, James rushed off to safe Snape while Sirius and I got help.'

James felt a small smile take over his face. Good Peter, ever loyal. Things were looking good so far. If anybody would get punished it would be Sirius as there was no proof that James or Peter were involved in his stupid prank. The only thing James could get into trouble for was being out after curfew, but he had been punished for this so often in the past that he did not care about such trivialities.

'Very well,' said the Headmaster. 'Well, it seems that Mr. Potter's story is confirmed: He was only trying to save an innocent student from getting attacked even though he was not particularly fond of the student in question. Remarkable, very remarkable indeed.'

'Of course Pettigrew backs Potter's story,' snarled Snape. 'He is Black's and Potter's crony and is going to do what they tell him to do. They seemed to have decided on a story which would get them out of this mess. How can you believe this rubbish?'

'I have some experience in spotting liars,' said Dumbledore. He seemed rather amused than offended by Snape's outburst. 'And I fear that your hatred for Mr. Potter clouds your judgement of the situation. As far as I am concerned you owe him a life debt.'

'I don't own him anything,' snarled Snape. James could not recall ever seeing him this angry. In this moment he realized that Snape's hatred for him had grown even bigger today. He wondered whether he would spent the rest of his time at Hogwarts fighting with the Slytherin. He hoped that this would not be the case. He was done with Snape and his childish hatred for him. Sirius's betrayal had shook him to the core. He would need time to get his life back in order and maybe salvage the Marauders. He had no time for the Slytherin at the moment.

'As you say,' said Dumbledore. 'In any case, it is very important that Mr. Lupin's secret is kept. The rest of the school must not know of his condition. He is supposed to have a relatively normal life here at Hogwarts and I fear that this will not be possible anymore if people learn that he is a werewolf. Each and every one of you must promise me that you will keep Mr. Lupin's secret. If I ever find out that one of leaked it on purpose, I will have to make a decision whether you can still stay in this school. Promise me now.'

All of the Marauders quickly gave their promises. James noted that Sirius looked rather guilty when he said the words. Good. It was about time that the traitor felt the consequences of his action. To James's surprise, Snape promised to keep Remus's lycanthropy a secret as well. While his distaste for the promise was plainly visible on his face, he seemed to consider staying in Dumbledore's good graces as more important than ruining Remus's life.

'Very well,' said Dumbledore. 'All of you may go. I am going to think about Mr. Black's punishment and will keep you informed. Mr. Potter, Mr. Pettigrew, I am going to let Madame Pomfrey know that you are free to visit Mr. Lupin as soon as he arrives in the hospital wing. I feel that it will be good for him to see some friendly faces after the rough night.'

'Thank you professor,' said James. 'Are we free to go?'

'You are,' said Dumbledore. James jumped out of his seat and left the office in a hurry. He needed some time on his own, some time to think. He felt drained. His legs were aching from sprinting down to the Shrieking Shack. He was going to be sore tomorrow. Maybe he should do more sprints in his workouts rather than long distance work. James had barely reached the end of the staircase leading down to the rest of the castle, when Peter and Sirius had caught up with him. He wished they wouldn't. He could not deal with Sirius right now and Peter was probably going to rehash everything that happened this night.

'Snape looked furious,' said Peter. 'He is still in there. Do you think he is foolish enough to argue with Dumbledore?'

'He was livid enough to do anything,' said Sirius. 'Ruddy git trying to get you and James into trouble. Fortunately, Dumbledore is smart enough to look right through his petty lies.'

'We were lucky that James reached Snape in time,' said Peter shuddering. 'I can barely imaging what would happen to Remus if he actually hurt anyone. The Ministry does not deal kindly with werewolves who have hurt anybody. He would be jailed for sure.'

'Yeah, lucky, that's what we are,' said James, anger colouring his voice. 'So lucky that by pure dumb luck we managed to keep our close friend from murdering another student. Which never would have happened if one of our merry band of friends had not decided to blurt out one for our most important secrets to a known enemy. We managed to get away with minimal damage, but somehow I don't feel lucky for evading a situation which should never have occurred anyway.'

He glared at Sirius for good measure. His best mate looked back at him with conflicting emotions on his face. James could see equal parts of anger and guilt and he knew that Sirius would not take his critique lying down.

'I think we should all try to relax before talk this out,' said Peter sensing the tension between his two friends.

'Oh no, we are going to talk about this tonight' said James. His anger was rising now and he was going to tell that git of a best mate of his just what he thought of this stunt. He spotted a class room door up ahead and he pushed it open and entered the deserted room. If they were going to argue about this, they needed some privacy. Sirius and Peter followed him. Sirius with his back straight and face arranged into a mask while Peter was reluctant and nervous. James closed the door behind Peter, locked it with a charm and cast a silencing charm for good measure. Then he turned around to face Sirius.

'What the bloody hell were you thinking?' he snarled at him. 'Why on earth did you betray Remus's secret to this git? You could have gotten him KILLED and Remus thrown into Azkaban in the process! What could have possibly motivated you to do such an incredibly stupid thing?'

'Come off it James,' said Sirius. 'You and I both knew that Snape was asking for it. Always trying to figure out what we were doing, hexing us all the time and harassing me over my bloody family of all things. He needed a lesson and I thought it was a good plan. If he had any common sense he never would have listened to me anyway. After all, I would never trust any information he gave me either. But apparently, he is even stupider than I thought. I figured Remus would give him a nice scare and he would leave us in peace in the future.'

'Don't give me this rubbish,' said James. 'You and I both knew that Snape was going to bite. He has been obsessed with Remus for so long that he was going to follow every lead even if it came from you. You knew that he would check out your advice and you knew that Remus was going to wait for him here. You even told us to take our time tonight. You wanted to get him killed, didn't you?'

'Alright, I admit it, the thought has crossed my mind,' said Sirius. 'I saw the opportunity to get rid of Snape and I grasped it. I was so angry, I could not see that it might mean for Remus. Well, it is all water under the bridge now. Snape is fine, thanks to you and Remus is fine too. Dumbledore is not going to kick me out of school. He is way too soft to do it. I will do my detentions or whatever he is going to ask of me and we can go on with our lives.'

'We bloody hell can't go on,' roared James. 'Are you even listening to yourself? You tried to get someone killed because he annoyed you! And you wanted to use Remus to do your dirty work. Not to mention that you betrayed all of us! How do you think Remus is going to react when he learns what nearly happened tonight? He is struggling with being a werewolf as it is. He has always been terrified of hurting one of us during our full moon adventures. And you idiot have proven him right by almost luring Snape into his doom!'

'Remus will be fine,' said Sirius in a dismissive way that made James even angrier. 'The only thing that happened tonight is that Snape got a nice scare and it would be great not to blow things out of proportion. There is no use in worrying about what could have been. Every full moon one of us could get bitten or killed and we never talk about this either!'

'Because we don't intentionally place each other in danger because we are angry with each other,' shouted James. 'Damn it Sirius, why don't you ever admit that you are wrong? Just say that you made a mistake in telling Snape and that it will never happen again!'

'Snape would have deserved getting eaten by Remus,' said Sirius with a cold look in his eyes. 'You and I both know that Snape is a Death Eater in training. He is going to join Voldemort as soon as he is able. He is the enemy, James! And to make matters even worse, he has crossed us countless times. I merely did what was necessary! It is not my fault that you don't have to stomach for it.'

For a moment James was speechless. Then icy rage mixed with horror filled him. Finally that had unearthed the truth, but it was worse than he had imagined.

'I thought that you were different than the rest of your rotten family,' he snarled at Sirius. 'Apparently, I was wrong. Stay away from me!'

He turned on his heel and strode out of the room, leaving a gobsmacked Sirius and an uncomfortable Peter behind.