Remus hugged his winter cloak tighter to his body. It was early December, the middle of the night, and it was bloody cold even though he and his friends were all huddled beneath James' invisibility cloak. Whatever was exciting his friends must have been distracting them from the icy chill in the early winter night's air, because none of them seemed nearly as concerned as he was. All he wanted was his bed, for Godric's sake.
"Where are we going?" He asked irritably for at least the fourth time. They were already far past the lake and headed towards the edge of the forest and the other boys still refused to tell him what was so important. He stopped walking, causing the others to stop too. "Guys, come on. I'm tired and bloody freezing and I just-"
"Just a little further, Remus," Sirius looked up at him, grey eyes pleading even through the giddy anticipation they seemed to be holding. "Please?"
Remus' heart skipped. Curse Sirius. Curse Sirius and those eyes and curse himself for falling for it. "I…" he sighed. "You really can't tell me where we're going?"
"Just past the edge of the forest. We just need to be somewhere that no one can see us, James explained as they continued moving.
Remus sighed, "It's just so bloody cold…"
"Want my cloak?" Sirius offered without skipping a beat.
"What? No. Then you'll be cold."
"Nah, I'm all hyped up on adrenaline," he smirked. "Besides, it's getting close to the full. Your immune system is utter trash," he shrugged out of his heavy cloak and held it out. "Take it."
Remus hesitated for a second, a small smile tugged at his lips, and he took the offer, draping Sirius' cloak over his shoulders. "Thanks, Sirius."
Sirius eyed him up and down, his smile widening as they crossed over into the woods. "No problem," he winked. "I won't be needing it."
Remus was about to ask what he meant by that when James ripped the invisibility cloak off of them and he and Peter removed their own winter layers, piling them on the ground and taking a few steps ahead of him.
With his three friends facing him, all wearing matching expressions of pride, Remus had never felt more confused in his life.
"What's going-"
Sirius spoke up first. "Remember that night, when you thought we were hiding something from you? And I told you we were working on something that was going to help you?"
Remus' heart felt like it was going to beat right out of his chest. "Y-yes?"
"We did it," James said proudly.
Remus shook his head, his whole body was trembling and he was pretty sure it wasn't from the cold. "...Did what?"
The other three boys gave each other an affirmative nod and Remus held his breath until slowly the shapes of his friends' bodies all began to shift. He felt as though his eyes might pop out of his head as the boys in front of him were replaced with a rat, a stag, and a large black dog.
He was dreaming. He must be dreaming because this couldn't be real.
"Bloody hell…" he whispered, voice cracking as he felt tears stinging his eyes. "What did you… how… why would you…?"
The stag and the rat changed back into James and Peter and they both stumbled for a moment, clearly not used to the sensations of changing back and forth just yet.
"We did it for you, Moony," James said, once he gathered his balance.
"So we could come with you during the full moon and you won't have to be alone," Peter added, actually taking a seat on the ground to stop his head from spinning.
The dog barked happily and bounded over to Remus, jumping up to put his paws on his shoulders and effectively knocking them both to the ground where he began to lick Remus' face sloppily. Remus couldn't help the half laugh, half sob that escaped him. The dog's form began to shift on top of him and he instead found himself pinned under a happily grinning Sirius Black.
"I promised you," Sirius said quietly. "I said I'd find a way so you wouldn't be alone."
He saw the tip of Sirius' tongue dart out to wet his lips. They were so close. He'd barely need to elevate his head at all to kiss those lips himself…
"Alright, Sirius, you mutt. Let him breathe, will you?" James laughed, breaking the daze that Remus had slipped into. Sirius rolled off him and stood, offering a hand to assist him as well, which Remus took.
He wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand. "You're all completely mental, you know," he said tearfully. "This is mad! And illegal and… bloody brilliant!" He shook his head, "I can't believe you lot did this for me…"
"Well, don't get ahead of yourself, Remus. This isn't totally about you. We all know Sirius was just itching for a way to get more affection," James said, teasingly ruffling up Sirius' hair, and the two of them began to wrestle.
Remus smiled at the two and took a seat next to Peter. "I don't deserve friends like you," he mumbled.
Peter laughed and shook his head, watching James and Sirius, who were now chasing each other in animal form. "That's silly, Remus. Of course, you do."
"Who on earth would go to lengths like this to help a werewolf?" Remus said, still in awe.
Peter shrugged, "The Marauders."
Remus couldn't argue.
—-
For once in his life, Remus couldn't sleep because he couldn't stop smiling. The events of the night kept replaying in his head and he couldn't believe they had been real. His friends had worked tirelessly, learning highly advanced and dangerous magic and making the extra effort to keep it a surprise, all to help him.
Never in his life had he imagined something like this.
He had his concerns, of course, he wasn't one hundred percent sure just how it would work out on the night of a full moon. But he would worry about that later. The point was that James, Peter, and Sirius cared enough about him to do the nearly impossible.
He was so lost in his ridiculously joyful thoughts, he didn't notice the curtains of his bed shuffling until suddenly, there was a large black dog leaping up to join him.
"Sirius!" He laughed and scratched at the dog's head. "You'll get dog hair all over my sheets, mate."
The weight on the bed changed and the form of Sirius took the place of the dog. "Sorry," he grinned. "I just… I was too excited to sleep."
"Me too," Remus admitted. After a moment of silence between them, Remus impulsively flung his arms around Sirius in a hug. He felt Sirius' arms wrap around him. "I don't know how I could ever thank-"
"Don't be stupid," Sirius said sternly, pulling back and leaving his hands on Remus' shoulders. "You don't have to do anything to thank us. We're your friends."
"Well yeah," Remus chuckled as Sirius' hands dropped from his shoulders. "But come on, that's some extreme friendship."
"Of course, it is," Sirius shrugged. "Because I love you… we do, I mean. All of us."
"Yeah…" Remus swallowed thickly. "I love you lot too."
Again there was silence. Remus wanted to say something, but he wasn't sure what.
"Moony?"
"Yeah?"
"Still think we're too old to be climbing into bed with each other if I'm a dog?"
Remus snorted and rolled his eyes. "You don't have to be a dog to come to my bed, Sirius. I'm sorry I said that last year…"
Sirius smiled. "Good," he gave Remus a playful shove. "Move. You're all long and lanky now, there's no room."
Remus shifted over to allow his friend to lie down. "Sirius…"
"Yeah, Moony?"
"I'm going to give you the lamest frickin nickname ever."
