AUTHOR'S NOTE- Well, this came much later than I expected. In my defense, I have been diagnosed with malaria Malaria, such as I am still under medical care. Thankfully for my readers, I am in well enough condition to post the final chapter in "A Furry Little Problem". I might post an epilogue later, but for the time being, this story is complete.

PS- Due to the aforementioned medical condition, this chapter hasn't received much of a spell-check, so bear with me. Constructive Critisiscm, like always, is still appreciated.

My sincere thanks to those who have have found time to read and review this story, which is at its best unpolished. Since it is a piece of my childhood I preserved all these years and am finally publishing, my gratitude is immense, as it stretches from the tender roots of youth. I have nothing more to say.

DISCLAIMER- Harry Potter and associated characters belong to J. .

CHAPTER 4- Moony At Last

"Remus?"

"Remy!"

"REMUS!"

"Wake up!"

"Get up, already!"

Remus groaned, burying his head in his pillow. Christmas time or no, he wasn't going to rise at the crack of dawn. Cocooning himself in his sheets, he turned over to his side before poking his head under, apparently to make his point clear. Immediately, a shrill chorus of protest commenced around him; a cacophony of indignant voices raised to fever-wrath.

"Alright, alright, I'm up, quiet down!" Remus groaned, voice muffled through his pillow. Curse James, he thought. Why couldn't he let him sleep?

Or was it only James threatening to pummel him with his pillow?

Remus' eyes widened when instead of the typical disheveled hair and a pair of glasses, three grinning faces beamed back at him. It was unusual that all his three friends should wake before him. Still, he shrugged, No human being could possibly make that much noise alone.

"REMUS!" James exclaimed. "We've been up for hours! Don't you want to see your presents?"

He did, of course, but not right then and there. Even so, judging by the three jubilant faces grinning down at him, argument would be fruitless. Smiling despite himself, he rolled the blanket off his body before reaching out towards the
lop-sided pile by his bed.

For the next few minutes, the dormitory was filled with the sound of tearing wrapping paper, ecstatic laughs, and the occasional explosion caused by some wayward trifle.

"Who gave you that pirate hat?" Remus nonchalantly demanded, digging into his bag of Honeyduke's Best, courtesy of one Peter Pettigrew.

"Andromeda. Wanted me to drive my parents up the wall." Said Sirius, adopting a maniacal expression and swinging an imaginary sword. "Dare say I will."

Remus snorted, stuffing the rest of his chocolate frog into his mouth. His eyes fell on a stray package lying on the floor that he'd somehow overlooked. Shrugging, he picked it up, ripping apart the brown paper. His back immediately stiffened. On the leather-bound cover, in glossy letters, were the words "Hairy Snout, Human Heart" and below that, in smaller script was written "A heart rendering account of a man's struggle with lycanthropy." Breathless, he turned the package over, but no note bearing the sender's name had accompanied it. He glanced at his friends over his shoulder, but they had not noticed. James was busy admiring his new Broomstick Servicing Kit. Sirius was still engrossed in his Pirate Hat. And Peter, predictably, was finishing his latest box of fudge flies.

He tore away his gaze, shoving the offending package into his bag. He told himself he was overreacting. After all, anybody could send him a book without realizing his… condition. Right?

At that moment, however, he was forced to tear himself from his thoughts as words he would otherwise dread hearing poured from James' mouth.

"Say, shouldn't we head down to the green-houses now? Professor Sprout is probably at breakfast, and those bobotubers won't milk themselves."

Few hours later…

No sane human being could fail to enjoy Christmas dinner at Hogwarts. The Great Hall looked magnificent. A dozen heavily-ornamented frost-covered Christmas trees lining the hall, glaring down like several evergreen giants. Thick streamers of holly and mistletoe crisscrossed the ceiling, and enchanted snow fell as if from the heavens, surprisingly warm and dry. There were a hundred fat, roasted turkeys; mountains of roast and boiled potatoes; platters of chipolatas; tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick rich gravy and cranberry sauce—and stacks of wizard crackers which exploded periodically into hordes of white mice every few feet along the table.

The Marauders couldn't recall a day that had gone better than this. Aside the festivity, sneaking into Hogsmeade for butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks, visiting Zonkos for Dungbombs (to be dumped before Filch's Office) and overall merrymaking, several Slytherins had been mysteriously located in the Hospital Wing, covered with angry red boils. The cause of these welts had been attributed to contact with undiluted Bobotuber Pus. Common Gossip claimed that this scenario was the result of an exceedingly roguish prank; the propagators of which had not yet been identified, though suspected of belonging to the Gryffindor house.

"Once I find out who did this," Professor McGonagall had sworn, "The miscreants involved will wish that they'd never been sorted into my house."

All in all, it had been an excellent day.

Or so Remus thought; up until the moment Sirius decided to drop an Erumpent on his head.

The four friends were joking around, laughing as they prepared to go to bed. And then, out of the blue, his best friend decided he was craving a sweet.

"Hey, Moony, pass me some of those Ice Mice, will you?"

Remus stiffened, face snapping to meet Sirius'.

"What did you call me? His voice was no more than a hoarse whisper.

"I called you 'Moony'." Sirius frowned, fake confusion plastered on his face. "After your condition...?"

James swore under his breath, while Peter jerked up, glaring at Sirius.

"Oh, sure! Go ahead and give him a heart attack!"

"What're you talking about? I asked him to pass me a sweet!"

"Why did you call him Moony?"

"It's a perfectly fine nickname-"

"I'm not talking about that!"

"Then what? Aren't we supposed to tell him we know that he's a werewolf?"

"Subtlety. Ever hear of it?"

"ENOUGH!" James bellowed, turning to Remus, who was looking for all the world as if he was going to be violently sick.

"What these idiots mean is, during your last, erm, visit, we just happened to realise you always seem to disappear on full moons." He said, sounding almost apologetic.

"C-Coincidence". Remus stammered. But yet, Sirius' last words swum in his head. "-tell him we know he's a werewolf?"

"So we thought. But then, every single time? I don't think your mum could be ill every single time."

Remus murmured something under his breath, but James continued.

"Besides, there are only so many times your aunt can die."

"I have two aunts. Teena with a double "e" and Tina with an "i"."

"Is that so? But both your parents were only children. Even so, your scars, how you always seem so weak before and after your disappearances, the way you start every time someone mentions lycanthropy, your boggart- these are all factors."

Remus resolutely shook his head. No, no, no, this couldn't be happening, they were going to expose him, tell everyone... He took a deep breath. He would have to leave Hogwarts. That was the only way. He needed to see Dumbledore…

Sirius snorted. "Enough beating around the bush. Remus, formalities aside, mate, we know you are a werewolf; admit it, already!"

Remus gulped, feeling his lower lip tremble. All of a sudden, without warning, he leapt up from his bed, striding over to the dormitory's door. Before he could do much more than place his hand on the doorknob, he felt two pairs of hands tightening on his shoulder, hauling him backwards.

"Where do you think you're going?" A voice growled in his ear, just as he wrenched himself away from James and Sirius, staggering onto the floor. Behind him, he could sense rather than see Peter staring horrified at the spectacle. His friends hated him, they wouldn't even let him go in peace! Tears welled up in his eyes, and he let them out, feeling them streaming down his cheeks.

Dismayed, James knelt down beside the sobbing boy, enveloping him in a fierce hug. He felt the werewolf shrinking away, terrified, but he only held him closer.

Remus looked up, only to see concerned hazel eyes staring back at him. He felt Sirius kneeling down on his other side. Soon, Peter came over, joining in the group hug.

"Remus? Moony, it's alright. We really don't mind." James said when the werewolf finally pulled away, looking amazed.

"Yeah, mate." Sirius chimed in. "We don't care!"

"That's right!" said Peter, nodding vigorously.

"You're… not going to abandon me?" Remus frowned, looking slightly confused.

"Of course not! Who would drag us down to the library?"

"And help me with my Defense homework!" Peter chimed in.

"Help us prank Slytherins!"

"Stop us from burning down the castle!"

"Ridicule us to the point of tears if we nearly do burn down the castle!"

Remus felt a small smile curling on his lips. Yet, there was something that still needed to be cleared.

"But still… What about my…" He winced, referring to his lycanthropy.

James sighed. "If you think we would let our quartet be ripped apart by something as trivial as this Furry Little Problem you've got, then think again. You're not getting rid of us that easily."

The bespectacled youth grinned at the sandy-haired boy, expecting a chuckle, but Remus stared right back at him. He could hardly believe his ears. Lycanthropy, arguably the most hated condition in all of the Wizarding World, had haunted his life for about as long as he could remember. The stigma associated with being a werewolf was hardly menial. But now, Merlin help him, he was surrounding by someone who shrugged it off as a…

Remus burst into laughter, clutching his sides. On and on it went, broken by little gasps as he paused to breathe. It was a wonderful noise, relieving the pent-up tension from eight long years filled with hatred and self-loathing, pouring out of him like a downpour after an extensive drought.

Finally, he looked up, tears of mirth in his eyes, letting loose a chuckle at the sight of his friends, who had backed away as though concerned for his sanity.

"Only you, James Potter," he rasped, "would describe lycanthropy as a "furry little problem!" and burst into laughter again.

And when finally, Sirius grinned uncertainly and asked, 'You alright, Moony?', Remus felt, for the first since he was Bitten, that he just might be.

THE BEGINNING

Author's note- For those of you who are confused by the ending, remember that this is the moment the cords of friendship first lengthened and intertwined the Marauders in an adventure that shaped the Harry Potter World as we have read it. This is the moment when the loyalties of four brothers in all but blood were first tested, although one would grow to be a traitor. For me, this is the moment that shaped the Marauders Era, and although my writing skills do it little justice, I am loath to brand this moment as "The End."