Under the whomping willow, Prongs is lying down with his four legs curled up under him, only just recovering from running around outside. Moony is slumped over the deer's flank, sleepy because they forced Remus to stay up last night so Moony would get hit with sleep deprivation and stay calmer. They can both vaguely hear Padfoot still barking occasionally as he plays with the whomping willow above.

Prongs is just drifting off to sleep, still alert as all deers are with his eyes half open, but fading enough to get some rest in. Moony bites down on Prongs' left antler and starts lazily chewing like a dog with a bone. Prongs bleats in annoyance, short tail wiggling, and Moony lets go with a chuff.

There's a sudden scrambling of claws on wood and Padfoot slides down into the hidden room. He barks and walks in an arc, circling around the edge of the small room, looking agitated. Prongs sits up straighter with a snort but Padfoot shakes his head and hops up onto the bed to lie down, panting with his tongue lolling out.

Moony growls and starts clawing at the ground in boredom. Prongs grunts and nudges Moony back into some cuddling, which always calms down the werewolf, whether he's Remus or otherwise.

The next day is a Hogsmeade weekend and Sirius and Remus have had their privileges revoked for fighting.

"We can just nap today," James offers, wrapped in his thick cloak and leaning one hip against the short stone wall separating the outer courtyard from the walkway they're standing on. He doesn't want to leave them, half the fun is being with friends anyway.

"We deserve a fun day," Sirius rejects, straddling the wall despite the freezing stone. "Let's go get smashed on non-alcoholic butterbeer and harass some shop assistants."

"You both have detention," James points out, which is why he's the only one in a cloak and Remus is shivering.

"We'll sneak out after you go," Remus tells James with his arms crossed to try and retain heat even with a warming charm on. "It's not like they can give us more detentions - it's basically every weekend." He rolls his eyes. "We're single-handedly putting all the house-elves out of the job."

Remus is tired and sore but still close enough to Moony that his head is high with confidence when he says this.

Moony doesn't really change Remus' personality too much but it's pretty obvious that the further away the full moon is, the quieter Remus gets. He's still smart and kind with an overprotective streak but he suppresses himself, doesn't raise his hand in class as much, doesn't take the initiative to talk to other students.

This Remus, however, doesn't think twice about starting fights, or ditching well-deserved detentions to sneak out. If he was further from Moony he'd probably still do the same but he'd hesitate and try to talk the other marauders out of it - to at least mitigate as much of the damage as possible.

"Moony was…" James trails off. "Yeah, never mind. I'll wait for you near the usual place."

Remus raises an eyebrow. "Moony was what?"

James waves a hand vaguely, making his cloak splay out for a moment. "It's depressing, don't mind me."

Sirius shrugs. "Moony was looking for Wormtail last night. Kept thinking he was hiding somewhere, so you'd shove me off the bed and search the blankets."

"Oh," Remus says blankly. "Strange. Moony should know better."

James grimaces. "That night, you were a bit…"

Remus hesitates. "Yeah, I wasn't...I wasn't there. Moony was the one in control when Peter died, all I have is the anger."

James laughs and it comes out pathetic. "Ah, and here's me, thinking I was just overreacting considering how well you guys can still function like normal people."

Sirius scoffs loudly. "Me? Functioning? Wait a few months, it'll come out during charms class or something. I don't know what I'll do but it's definitely going to get me expelled."

Remus offers a thumbs up. "I'll be cheering for you."

James lets out a breath and pats his cheeks. "Okay, I'll see you guys down there."

"Stay in a crowded area," Sirius lectures. "Or wait, is it stay away from crowds?"

"Keep your wand on you," Remus tells James and links arms with Sirius, dragging him off the wall and away. "We'll be out as fast as we can."

"Use Hufflepuffs as meat shields if the Slytherins come for you!" Sirius calls back.

James waves them off with a smile on his face.

James waits for only fifteen minutes near the end of the path down from Hogwarts, right before the small town starts, before he spots Padfoot sticking his head out from around a fence.

James looks around then hurries off, trotting through a thin layer of snow with the end of his cloak just brushing the ground. Padfoot sticks his tongue out and pants before ducking away when James gets closer.

"Did Remus escape too?" James whispers.

James turns the corner and finds Padfoot trotting around in a circle, clearly cold even with all that matted fur.

"Idiot," James says fondly and pulls out a wand to cast a warming charm. "We need to give you a brush, your fur is getting gross."

Padfoot bites James' wand and pulls it away before transforming into a much older man and apparating them both.

James rips himself away as soon as they land in a muggle living room and then dives for his wand in the man's hand.

"James, wait!" the man cries, holding the wand up in the air like Sirius does when he steals James' food. "Hold on, let me explain!"

"It's you!" James screams. "You son of a bitch! You murdered my friend!"

"Calm down!" the man yells back.

James knees him in between the legs and gets stunned for all his trouble.