A/N: Hi everyone. I'm afraid this chapter is still unbeta'd, but it's been two weeks since I posted, and I just couldn't make you wait any longer. I will replace this with the beta'd version as soon as I have it.

Now Beta'd!

Wednesday, 26th January 1972

Remus ran through the dense woodland, moving so fast the trees were nothing but a grey blur on either side of him. There was a pleasant feeling of comfort and belonging around him, and he knew his friend was near, though he couldn't see him. He dodged trees and jumped fallen logs with ease, landing on his front legs and leaping forward again as his back legs touched down. The rushing air in his fur felt amazing, and he relished the freedom. He skidded to a halt and scented the air. There was water nearby. Panting, he turned towards it and threw his head back in a howl, a signal to his pack-mate to follow him. The scents of wood smoke, soap and vanilla surrounded him. Together, they padded over to the nearby river. He still couldn't see him, but the feel of his presence and his scent told him he was there. When he reached the water's edge, he bent his head down, and the wolf stared back at him from the surface of the lake—

Remus jerked awake and sat up, breathing hard. He put his hand on his chest. His heart was hammering against his ribcage as if trying to escape his body. What the hell was that? Dreams of the wolf were usually horrifying nightmares, blurry images of blood and gore. Violent and full of rage. That was different. It hadn't seemed nightmarish at all. Despite the hammering of his heart, he felt content. It had been a happy dream. Sirius had been there. Had he been a wolf too? He couldn't remember. The images were getting blurry, slipping from his mind like wisps of smoke.

'Remus? You awake?' Peter asked from the room hidden on the other side of his drawn bed-curtains.

Remus jumped a little and coughed to clear his throat. 'Yeah, just woke up. Are the others back yet?' he asked, pulling back the curtains.

'No. I just checked the common room; I hope they haven't been caught.'

'Unlikely, they took the cloak, and they have a snitch-o-scope. They'd have to be utterly careless to mess up.'

Peter nodded. 'But it is James and Sirius.'

'True,' Remus said, laughing. 'But I think it's still too soon to worry. Knowing them, they're in the pub.'

'I hope they find something good enough for the merpeople. What if we start a war?' Peter's eyes widened, and he gasped. 'What if we insult them so badly they kill us!'

Peter's face had paled, and his breath came in harsh pants, far too fast. Bugger.

'Alright, calm down, Pete. Take a deep breath.' Remus wasn't sure what to do. Normally Sirius or James was there to help Peter calm down when he got too anxious. They'd rub his back and hold his hands, helping him to slow his breathing down, but Remus couldn't do any of that. He was useless. There was only one thing he was able to do that might help. It was worth a shot.

'Pete? Can you sit down?'

Peter nodded and lowered himself to the floor, still gasping. He was breathing far too quickly. Remus needed to get him to calm down before he passed out.

'Alright, I want you to close your eyes,' he said. Peter obeyed. 'Concentrate on my voice and do what I say, okay?'

Peter nodded.

'Picture in your mind somewhere that you feel safe,' Remus said, hoping with his entire being that it would work. 'Make it look as real as you can.'

Peter clenched his eyes tighter and curled his hands into fists. His face took on a slight reddish tint, and his breathing slowed a little. He nodded and Remus took this as his cue to continue.

'Go inside and find a room with a door.' Remus waited for Peter to nod again before continuing. It took a couple of minutes, but Peter's breathing was getting slower with every breath. Thank Merlin, it seemed to be working. 'Picture your worries as an object and put it in the room. Shut the door and lock it.'

Peter was much calmer. His breathing had slowed right down, and his skin was back to its normal colour. 'When you're ready, leave your safe place and come back to the dorm.'

Remus waited a few minutes, and Peter opened his eyes.

'Better?' he asked.

Peter nodded. 'Loads. What was that?'

'That was a crash course in meditation,' Remus said, rubbing his hand over his face in relief. 'I'm just glad it worked. I couldn't do any of the things James and Sirius do to help you.'

'I'm sorry,' Peter said, looking down at his hands. 'I don't know why I get like that. It's embarrassing.'

Remus moved to sit down next to him. 'Don't be embarrassed, you can't help it. Like I can't help being scared of touching people. You wouldn't want me to be embarrassed about needing you guys to protect me when we go somewhere crowded, would you?'

Peter jerked his head up to look at him. 'No! Of course not. We don't mind helping you.'

'Exactly, Pete. That's how we all feel about helping you.'

Peter blinked twice and looked back at his hands. 'Yeah, but at least you contribute something to the group. I'm useless. I did nothing to help with the Christmas display. I just hold you back because you have to help me so much.'

'That was one event. You helped loads with the Halloween display. None of us could have worked out how to alter the animation potion to only work on the bats.'

Peter glanced up. 'Really?'

Remus nodded. 'Really. But even if you contributed nothing at all to our Marauder mischief, we'd still want you around. You're a fantastic friend.'

Peter sniffed and wiped at his eyes, and Remus looked away, pretending not to notice. He didn't want Peter to be even more embarrassed.

'Thanks, Remus.'

'No problem.' Now would be a good time to change the subject and talk about something more pleasant to take Peter's mind off the panic attack. Remus groped around for a new topic. 'You haven't said much about your family. I know your mum's a witch, and you have a bunch of muggle relatives. Is your dad a muggle?'

Peter laughed without humour. 'You couldn't have picked a worse subject change,' he said. 'Yeah, he's a muggle. I don't talk about him because he's in prison.'

Remus put his face in his hands. 'Gods, I'm sorry.'

'No, it's okay. You didn't know. I told James, but…' Peter trailed off and sighed.

'It's alright, you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to.'

'I'm sorry,' Peter said. 'It's not you. It's just really personal and—'

'Pete. Stop. You don't have to apologise, I get it. I'm not upset that you don't want to tell me all your secrets. Even the Marauders Code says you don't have to. I doubt any of us have told each other everything.'

Peter looked up. 'You have secrets?'

He hesitated. Did he really want to confirm that he definitely had a secret? It seemed unfair not to, though, after he'd forced Peter into a corner like that. 'Yeah, I have secrets.'

Peter nodded. 'Okay, that makes me feel better about keeping mine. I expect I'll tell you guys at some point. I'm just not ready yet.'

'Same,' Remus lied.

Sirius's trip into Hogsmeade with James was a partial success. They found a cheap wizarding wireless, but it wasn't waterproof. They'd bought it anyway in the hope Remus could find a spell to make it usable underwater. But if he couldn't, they'd just keep it for themselves. It would make a nice addition to their dorm room entertainment. They had found nothing suitable to trade for the scales, though. Nothing seemed good enough, and it was so important to get it right.

The rest of the week had gone by in sheer boredom. There was one single bright spot in the form of Defence on Friday morning when Professor Hawthorne lectured on the mooncalf. Sirius wouldn't have found it interesting at all except the Spectral Essence potion called for grass danced on by a mooncalf. He'd perked up to pay attention, but his mood soon soured when he learnt that mooncalves only dance on a full moon. That meant there would be two full moons where he'd be delayed getting to Moony.

By the time classes ended on Friday, Sirius could tell Remus was hurting. He did a superb job of hiding it, and if Sirius hadn't been looking for it, he doubted he would have noticed anything was wrong. But he was looking for it, and he did notice. The full moon was Sunday night, and they had the Creature Hunt duelling lesson on Saturday afternoon. Remus would have a tough job keeping his symptoms hidden if Sirius didn't help him somehow. But what could he do?

Sirius racked his brain, but he still hadn't thought of anything by the time they finished lunch on Saturday. Remus was moving slower and talking less. James seemed oblivious, but Peter kept glancing at him with a look of concern. He would just have to wing it and step in if it became necessary to divert their attention.

They arrived at classroom 12c to find they were learning Flipendo first. They were each given a goblet to practise on, and they spread out throughout the room. The Marauders stayed close together in one corner, and Sirius made sure he was next to Remus, who had the wall on the other side of him. He was casually leaning against it as he flicked his wand at his goblet and muttered the incantation.

Sirius got the hang of the spell quickly and looked around to see how his friends were doing. Peter was struggling, and James could cast it, but it wasn't strong enough to knock over the goblet, only make it wobble a little. Remus hadn't cast it once. He wasn't putting in any effort, just going through the motions, and Peter kept glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. It was time for a patented Sirius distraction.

'James,' he shouted. James turned to look at him. 'Think I need a moving target. You up for it?'

James grinned. 'Do you even have to ask? Give it your best shot.' He moved to face Sirius and took a defensive stance with his feet shoulder-width apart and his wand held at the ready.

Sirius didn't hesitate. 'Flipendo,' he yelled, pointing his wand at James.

James slashed his wand through the air. 'Protego!'

The silver, semi-transparent shield swept to life in front of James and neatly deflected the blue light from Sirius' jinx. But James couldn't hold the shield in place for long, and a few seconds later, it dissipated. Sirius took immediate advantage.

'Flipendo!'

James dodged to the side.

'Flipendo!'

James ducked. 'Watch the face, mate!'

Sirius laughed and aimed for his head again. 'Flipendo!'

'Protego!'

Once again the shield deflected Sirius' spell. Most of the room was watching them by that point. He could see Remus leant up against the wall out of the corner of his eye. Good, he was getting a break, and no one was taking any notice. His distraction was working.

Sirius waited until James' shield flickered before targeting his chest and casting the jinx again.

'Flipendo!'

He'd timed it perfectly. James' shield flickered out at the exact moment his spell reached it, hitting James square in the chest and knocking him on his ass with a heavy thump. The watching crowd cheered and James laughed.

'Nice one, mate,' he said. Sirius strolled over and offered him a hand to help him to his feet. James brushed himself off and smirked. 'My turn.'

It took James a little longer to get through Sirius' defences, but he struck him on his eighth attempt, causing him to stumble backwards but not quite knocking him over. Their competition had spawned several other matches throughout the room, and small groups were cheering on the competitors. Remus went entirely ignored.

Sirius continued to keep James and Peter distracted for the rest of the session, and by the time it was over, Remus had rested enough to make it back upstairs to the dorm without collapsing.

They left Remus sleeping the next morning when they went down to breakfast. When they returned, bringing a sausage sandwich back for him, he was up, dressed, and clutching a bulging rucksack.

'My mum's ill again. I have to go home for a couple of days,' he said, not looking any of them in the eye.

Sirius handed him the sandwich. 'I'm sorry, mate. Tell her to get well soon from us, yeah?' That was obviously code for, "Good luck, I hope you don't get hurt during the full moon tonight." Because that's what he would have said if he could.

'I will. Thanks for this,' Remus said, holding up the sandwich. 'I'm sorry I can't help with the leaping toadstools tonight.'

'Don't worry about that,' James said. 'It won't take four of us anyway.'

Remus nodded and looked at Sirius. 'Will you feed Cosmo for me while I'm gone?'

'You're not going to take her with you?' Sirius asked, hoping the question would make Remus consider the idea.

Remus shook his head. 'No. I'm using the Headmaster's floo. I don't think she'd like it.'

After Remus left, they piled onto James' bed to make plans for raiding the greenhouse.

'The recipe says we have to collect them under a full moon. But does that mean it has to be dark, or just that the moon has to be in the sky?' James asked no one in particular. It seemed more like he was thinking aloud. 'Sometimes the moon rises before the sun sets.'

Peter shook his head. 'No, it doesn't have to be dark.'

'What time is moonrise. Do either of you know?' James asked. 'If it's early, we'll be able to get to bed at a reasonable time so we're not exhausted tomorrow.'

Moonrise was at 4:56 pm, but Sirius couldn't say that. The others would think it weird for him to know the exact time off the top of his head. 'I think it's pretty early. I remember seeing it mid-afternoon a few days ago.'

'Let's check after dinner,' James said. 'I'd like to get it done early if we can.'

Sirius nodded. That was fine with him. The earlier he could get James and Peter off to sleep and sneak out to the tunnel to see Moony, the better. 'Sure, sounds good to me.'

'Me too, I've got homework to get done for tomorrow,' Peter said.

'You should do that now,' James said. 'If something goes wrong tonight, we don't want you getting detention for something as silly as incomplete homework. Come on, we'll help you.'

They spent the day helping Peter get through his homework, explaining things to him he was struggling to understand and patiently correcting his wand movements and pronunciation when he was practising his Charms. By four o'clock, he was up to date and had a better understanding of several concepts that had been giving him trouble.

As they descended the Grand Staircase for dinner, Sirius' mind drifted to Remus. The moon was rising, and he knew Remus must be in unbearable pain, and he was all alone. And there was nothing he could do about it. He hated being so useless. Not being able to help was unacceptable. There must be something he could do. But the only thing the books had said that was useful was about animal companionship, and he'd already bought Remus a cat. The stubborn boy refused to take it with him, though. Sirius could only guess at his reasons, but he was sure they were courageously noble and stupidly self-sacrificing. Remus hadn't been sorted into Gryffindor at random.

Once they were sufficiently fed, they went outside and spotted the moon just above the treeline, perfectly round and glowing with a silvery light. Sirius scowled at it. Knowing what it did to Remus had made it lose its charm. They strolled to the greenhouses, attempting to look innocent, as if they were merely out for an evening walk to enjoy the winter sunshine. If any teachers were watching, Sirius was sure they were far from fooled.

They were all disappointed to find Professor Sprout inside the very greenhouse they needed, but none more so than Sirius. Every second's delay meant more chance of Remus being hurt that month, and he wanted to get to the Willow passage as soon as possible. Sprout didn't seem to be in any hurry to leave, though. She was pottering around, pruning the odd plant and watering others.

'Guess we better find somewhere to wait,' James said.

Sirius and Peter nodded, and James glanced around. 'Those bushes look good. Thick enough to hide us, and we'll have a perfect view of the door.'

It was approaching eleven pm when Sprout finally showed signs of preparing to leave, and Sirius was becoming edgier by the second. Moony would have been alone for six hours and when he thought about what that might mean for Remus he got a sick twinge in his stomach and a heavy feeling of dread. He pushed it from his mind as Sprout moved towards the door. The sooner they had the toadstools, the sooner he would get to Moony, so he needed a clear head.

They waited until Professor Sprout had moved out of sight before they tugged on the invisibility cloak and snuck into the greenhouse. They quickly located the mushrooms. Several trays of the little red and white fungus were laid out along one counter in the middle of the room.

'So we just have to stun them, and then we can harvest them, right?' James asked, looking at Peter.

Peter nodded. 'The book says to freeze them, but we haven't learned that spell yet. I think a stunner will do the same job.'

Sirius quirked an eyebrow. He didn't sound very sure about it. 'You think?'

'Well, I can't be sure,' Peter said, shrugging. 'But it seems like it should work the same.'

Sirius looked at James.

James shrugged and raised his wand, pointing it at the nearest tray of mushrooms. 'Stupefy.'

The red light of the stunning spell shot from the end and hit one of the mushrooms near the middle of the tray. The red fungus froze in place, but the rest of the tray shot into the air and leapt away, quickly vanishing into the depths of the greenhouse.

'Bollocks!' Sirius yelled, making a grab for the toadstools as they passed him and managing to wrap his fist around one. It wriggled in his hand for a moment before going still, and he shoved it into his pocket.

'Harvest the frozen one, Pete,' James said. 'We'll try to grab some of the escapees.'

Sirius spent the next half an hour with James, launching themselves around the greenhouse in pursuit of the leaping toadstools. By the time they had caught another eight of the energetic fungus, they were panting from the exertion.

'I am going straight to bed when we get back,' James said. 'Why did the full moon have to be a Sunday? We're going to be knackered tomorrow.'

Sirius chuckled. 'You sound like an old woman, mate.'

'Nothing wrong with taking care of yourself,' James said, looking out of the window to check the coast was clear. 'No one's about. Let's go.'

They hurried out of the door and flung the cloak over themselves for the trip back to the tower. The journey went without incident, though the Fat Lady shot them a disapproving look when they gave her the password.

Sirius waited impatiently for James and Peter to fall asleep, while trying very hard not to succumb himself. It was more than half an hour before he heard Pete's snores and James' deep, regular breaths, and he couldn't keep from muttering, 'Finally,' under his breath as he climbed out of bed and grabbed the cloak from James' trunk.

He reached the Whomping Willow in record time and sped his way down the tunnel. Halfway there, the sound of pained howls reached him coming through the trapdoor. The noise encouraged him to move even faster. Remus was hurt.

'Moony?' he called when he spotted the ladder. 'I'm here. It's okay. I'm sorry I'm late.'

Moony responded with a weak bark and a whimper, causing a shiver to run down Sirius' spine. The wolf's injuries must be bad, but at least he could keep it from getting worse. Sirius moved to stand below the trapdoor and heard the wolf's paws thud softly towards him, followed by a thump as he lay down.

There were still a little over seven hours until the moon would set, and Sirius had no intention of leaving until he saw Remus was okay, so he settled himself on the floor of the tunnel and spoke into the darkness. He told the wolf all about his lessons at school, his life at home and the marauder mischief he got up to with his friends. When he ran out of interesting topics to talk about, he moved on to reciting everything he could remember from History of Magic class, which admittedly wasn't a lot. The entire time he was talking, Moony was quiet, but whenever he paused to think, the wolf would whimper and whine until he started speaking again. He paused frequently, just to confirm that Remus was still alive.

Sirius kept a close eye on the time, and when moonset was approaching, he pulled the cloak over himself and retreated to the back wall of the tunnel to keep out of Madam Pomfrey's way when she came to fetch Remus. He knew staying to see how he was would make him late for Herbology, but there was no way he could go to class without seeing him first. James and Peter would want to know where he had been, but he already had a plan for that.

Madam Pomfrey arrived at 8:30 and unlocked the trapdoor. Sirius watched as she climbed up the ladder and strained his ears with growing trepidation for any sound that might give him a clue. When she gasped and cursed the name of Salazar, his heart beat wildly in his chest.

He moved closer to the trapdoor and craned his neck, trying to catch a glimpse of Remus, but all he could see was the ceiling. The smooth wood was marred with specks of red, and he tried not to think about how the blood had been spattered so high. He was forced to jump back when he heard an odd whooshing sound coming down the tunnel, and he turned his head to see three potion bottles speeding towards him. As they rocketed up through the trapdoor, he recognised the distinct ruby-red of the blood replenishing potion and gulped. Remus must be in dreadful shape for Pomfrey to decide the potions couldn't wait until they got back to the school.

When he caught his first sight of him as Madam Pomfrey lowered his stretcher through the opening, he almost cried out in horror. He could barely see his friend beneath the blood and gore that covered his body, and the smell was more than he could stomach. He held it together until Pomfrey had hurried down the tunnel out of sight, and then he emptied the meagre contents of his stomach onto the floor.

There was nothing he could do for Remus. He was in expert hands, and if he missed class, it would draw unwanted attention. His only option was to go to Herbology and attempt to act normal for James and Peter. He would try to get to the hospital wing later to check-up on him. On his way out, he grabbed a slither of bark from the trunk of the Whomping Willow. It would make an excellent excuse for his absence that morning.

Pain.

Sharp, burning, throbbing pain.

Remus struggled to open his eyes. The light was dim with the curtains drawn across the window, so he couldn't tell what time it was. But it must be early, judging by how much his body still hurt. He hadn't had a moon so bad since coming to Hogwarts. His desire to know just how bad it was fought with his reluctance to cause himself further pain. He tried to lift his head, but the ache in his spine intensified at the slight movement, and he quickly stopped. Hopefully, Madam Pomfrey would be in soon to check on him.

He could tell his injuries were numerous. The weight and heat of bandages covered him from his chest down to his ankles. And the itching beneath them told him his wounds were still healing. He let his eyes drift closed. Keeping them open was sapping what little energy he had. With nothing to do but lie there and wait, he attempted to meditate to pass the time, but the pain and the itching proved too distracting and he gave up. Instead, he stared at the swirling colours on the back of his eyelids and wished he could be someone else. Anyone else.

An indeterminable amount of time later, Madam Pomfrey entered the small concealed room, and Remus opened his eyes so she would know he was awake.

'Hello, love. How are you feeling?'

'Bad,' he croaked. His throat was raw, and he couldn't bear to say anything more.

Madam Pomfrey nodded, conjured a chair and sat down next to his bed. A wave of dread rippled through him. She didn't normally sit down.

'Remus, when I came to get you this morning—' she paused and swallowed '—you were very close to death,' she finished gently.

Remus moved his head in a small nod to show he had heard. Talking hurt too much to give a verbal response, and he didn't know what to say, anyway. How was one supposed to react to being told they almost died?

Madam Pomfrey seemed satisfied by his acknowledgement because she continued to explain. 'Your wounds were severe, and you were losing blood so fast that your body couldn't keep up. I had to summon blood replenishing potion or you wouldn't have survived the journey back here.'

Remus gave her another tiny nod. He probably seemed way too calm at the news of his narrow escape from death, but inside, he was screaming. His life was hard and painful. Full of unimaginable horror. But it was still his life, and he wanted to keep it. Especially now. He had friends. A place where he belonged. Why was the wolf so angry? Did the Beast object to his happiness?

'Do you have any idea why the wolf might have been so aggressive last night?' Madam Pomfrey asked him.

Remus shook his head and winced as a searing-hot poker speared his brain.

'You weren't agitated? Worried about anything? You didn't have any arguments with your friends recently?'

Remus thought hard but there was nothing so he shook his head again, much slower that time, trying to avoid causing himself more pain.

'Okay,' she sighed, sounding frustrated. 'I think we should avoid getting any human smell inside the house as much as we can. I want you to leave your belongings here in future. And when you get to the house, undress and drop your clothes through the trapdoor before you lock it. I'll collect them in the morning. I don't know what else we can do.'

Remus nodded again. Madam Pomfrey gave him a sad look before composing herself.

'Try to get some rest,' she said. 'I'm sorry I can't do anything for the pain. If only someone would invent a pain potion that worked on Lycanthropes.'

Remus didn't want Madam Pomfrey to feel bad about not being able to help him more. She was so kind to him and did everything possible to make him comfortable and take care of him. And quite honestly, he adored her.

'It's okay,' he whispered, ignoring the red hot pain lancing through his throat with every word. 'I'm used to it.'

Oddly, that didn't seem to reassure her much. She nodded and told him she'd check on him again in half an hour, and Remus swore he saw tears in her eyes as she turned away.

He drifted in and out of sleep for several hours, and each time his consciousness broke the surface, his pain was a little less. By morning, he could sit up, and Madam Pomfrey brought him his chocolate-flavoured nutrition potion. He drank it down eagerly, enjoying the way the thick, cold liquid quenched the blazing fire in his throat.

Madam Pomfrey cast her diagnostic spells while he was drinking and smiled approvingly at the results.

'You're looking much better this morning, dear,' she said, vanishing his bandages from under his gown before tucking her wand back into its holster, which was nowhere near as fancy as his. 'I'd like to keep you here until lunchtime, just to be sure, but then you can return to your dorm and rest there. No lessons until tomorrow, though. Understand?'

Remus scratched at his newly exposed skin with relief and nodded. 'I don't have any lessons on Tuesday afternoons anyway.'

'Good. You won't be tempted to disobey me then.'

She took the empty goblet and left. Remus wasted no time in grabbing his bag, which Madam Pomfrey had left in reach of his bed, and retrieved his Marauders' crest from inside. He couldn't keep the smile off his face as he looked at the now-familiar pendant and ran his thumb over the engraving. It had been five weeks since Sirius had given it to him, but time had yet to diminish the joy it brought him. Knowing that his friends all wore identical symbols made him feel that he belonged in a way he'd never experienced before, and it felt wrong to not be wearing it. He fastened the necklace around his neck, fiddling with the clasp for a minute before managing to latch it securely and tucking the silver shield inside his hospital gown where the cold metal rested against his chest, slowly warming from his body heat.

Madam Pomfrey released him at lunchtime, as promised, and he made the long journey up to Gryffindor tower on shaky legs. He was nowhere near fully healed, but Madam Pomfrey knew as well as he did that longer absences were likely to draw more attention his way. His health and his education required a careful balancing act to keep both out of danger.

When he reached the tower he found the common room quiet, with most of the students down in the Great Hall having lunch, and the dorm empty. So he climbed onto his bed and pulled out his Potions and Defence textbooks to complete his homework assignments.

His fellow Marauders arrived back at the room twenty minutes later.

'Oh, Remus! You're back,' James said, coming to a sudden stop after barrelling into the room. 'How's your mum?'

'Much better, thank you,' Remus said, feeling a twinge of guilt at the lie. Sirius was looking him up and down from behind James, and Peter gave him a welcoming smile.

'What do you guys want to do this afternoon?' James asked. 'We still need to find somewhere to brew the potion. You want to do some searching?'

Peter nodded. 'Sure.'

Sirius frowned and glanced at Remus before walking over to his own bed. 'I've got a bunch of homework to do. Sorry, mate.'

James shrugged, unconcerned. 'Remus?'

'I'm really tired. Didn't get much sleep at home. I'd rather just stay in the dorm this afternoon.'

'Fine,' James said without malice. 'Come on, Pete. Let's leave these boring wankers to their schoolwork.'

Peter scurried after James out of the door, and Remus glanced at Sirius. He was lounging on his bed, legs outstretched in front of him and holding a textbook which he was pretending to read. Remus knew he was pretending because his eyes weren't moving. What he really wanted was for Sirius to sit on his bed with him. Close enough for Remus to smell his scent. It was disgusting that he wanted it, but he pushed away his shame. Sirius' scent helped with the pain of his aching bones and sore joints for some reason when nothing else did, and he wasn't going to turn his nose up at a source of pain relief just because it was a bit weird. But how to get him to come over?

'Sirius?' he said, his tone questioning. 'Can you help me with this essay on mistletoe berries?' They all knew he was pants at Potions, and while it wasn't the theory that gave him difficulty, it was the best excuse he could come up with.

Sirius looked up from pretending to read and smiled. 'Sure.' He rose from his bed with a grace Remus could never achieve and sauntered over. 'Budge up.'

Remus shuffled over to the edge to make room, and Sirius flopped down next to him, causing the mattress to bounce and startling Cosmo who was curled up at the end, a little black ball of fluff.

'Oops. Sorry, Cosmo,' Sirius said, leaning forward to scratch her behind the ears. Cosmo purred happily, nuzzling Sirius' hand, and Remus felt a twinge of jealousy. Which was stupid. It was just a cat for Merlin's sake. Sirius didn't have a limited supply of smell.

Sirius sat back and looked at Remus. 'What do you need help with?'

They worked on their homework together for a couple of hours before putting their books away and attempting to build a house of cards using two decks of exploding snap cards. It was going well, and they were on their seventh level when James and Peter burst through the doors, blowing the cards over and causing several small explosions.

'James!' Sirius said.

'Crap, sorry,' James said, not looking sorry at all.

By Saturday morning, Remus was recovered and was able to join the other Marauders in their dawn raid on Slughorn's supply cabinet. They needed to get the common ingredients for the Spectral Essence potion. The cabinet was located inside the Potions classroom, and they weren't expecting it to be too difficult to access. They dodged Filch and his blasted cat on their way down, manoeuvred past the Slytherin prefect patrolling the dungeon level, and arrived outside the Potions classroom without a hitch. The whole process was made more difficult by Remus' inability to hide beneath the cloak and he felt awful about it, but Sirius assured him that the added risk made it more fun, and if they used the cloak all the time life would be too easy. Remus knew he was saying it to make him feel better. But he appreciated it nonetheless.

The classroom was laughably easy to enter. The door wasn't even locked. After closing it behind themselves, they glanced at each other warily.

'Seems too easy,' Sirius said.

Remus nodded. 'I was thinking the same thing.'

James inched his way over to the cabinet and peered at it with suspicion. 'You reckon it's warded?'

'It's possible,' Remus said, following James to the other side of the room. He held his hands up and moved them close to the cabinet, so they were almost, but not quite, touching. Hovering just in front of the surface. Energy reached out to him from the cabinet, and his own magic reached out to meet it. He closed his eyes, and the sensation crackled up his arms, making all his hairs stand on end.

'Do you sense anything?' James asked.

Remus pulled his hands away, opened his eyes and nodded. 'There's definitely magic in the cabinet, but I don't know what it's supposed to do.'

Sirius and Peter had joined them while his eyes were closed, and Sirius was examining the cabinet.

'I've seen these runes before,' he said, pointing at the markings along the top of the cabinet door. 'It's an alarm. My father uses them to keep us away from the dangerous books in the Black library.'

'And you know how to disable it,' James said. 'Right?'

Sirius grinned. 'Naturally.'

He pulled out his wand and placed the tip against one of the runes, closed his eyes and began muttering under his breath. A minute later, he opened them again and winked at Remus. 'All done. You want to check?'

Remus repeated the process from earlier but felt nothing from the cabinet. Sirius had done it. He was impressed.

'Seems to be all clear,' he said.

'That was a lot easier to do with my own wand. My parent's wands always fought against me,' Sirius said.

Peter stepped forward and pulled the door of the cabinet open. They all waited, motionless, and holding their breaths for several seconds. But nothing happened, and they breathed out, relieved.

The Marauders never did anything without a thorough plan in place, and this raid was no different. Before venturing from the tower, they had memorised the ingredients they needed and split them up between the four of them. So as soon as they were sure it was safe, they began grabbing what they needed. Remus spotted the mistletoe berries first and plucked the jar from the top shelf, decanting eight of the fattest, juiciest looking of the selection into one of the three vials in his pockets, before putting it back. A chunk of ginger root was next. He didn't need a container for that, just shoved it in his pocket while continuing to scan the shelves for dried nettle leaves and horseradish paste.

With the task so efficiently organised, they were done in a few minutes and on their way back to the tower, feeling victorious and unstoppable. James held the snitch-o-scope out in front of him, and with the red and orange lights to guide them, they dodged Filch and the patrolling prefects with ease.

They stayed up for another hour, the thrill of their success making them too excited to sleep, before Peter yawned. The act was contagious, and they were soon all yawning in turn. A few minutes later, James insisted they all went to bed.