Monday, 19th February 1973

The next afternoon, Remus stared down at the bright purple sludge coating the bottom of his cauldron with disappointment. If there was one brew he'd ever wanted to get right, it was this one. A nice healthy swig of the Forgetfulness potion while focusing on the memory of him asking Sirius to follow their friends into the Forest would make the next month so much easier to bear. Maybe he could pinch some of Peter's when he wasn't looking. That would be safer anyway. Peter's brew was guaranteed to be perfect, unlike Remus', which was guaranteed to be anything but.

Taking the potion would be cheating, though. He deserved to suffer with his guilt for the next four weeks. Forgetting was the coward's way out, and he wasn't a coward. Reluctantly, he tore his eyes away from Peter's simmering cauldron and began clearing his things away to start the obligatory essay on where he'd gone wrong with his recipe. If he wasn't learning anything else in Potions class, he was at least getting rather good at writing.

Remus sighed as he pulled out his parchment and quill, chucking them onto the bench carelessly before sinking onto his stool. He didn't know how he'd made it through the day so far. It was all a blur, though learning a charm to shatter glass in Professor Flitwick's class first period had been a little therapeutic, and he recalled a conversation with Professor Tenebris at the end of Defence where she'd cancelled their private lesson for that week. He really hoped that didn't mean there was going to be another surprise attack; he wasn't in the mood for that, and might actually kill her if she tried it.

When class ended, he silently packed his things away and trailed after James and Peter as they climbed the stairs to the Hospital Wing. They had two hours before dinner and they wanted to spend at least some of it with Sirius. Madam Pomfrey met them at the door and ushered them into her office, but didn't open the bookcase that hid the secret room from view. Instead, she conjured an additional two chairs and waved her hand towards them.

'Please, have a seat. We need to talk.' She waited until they'd all sat down before continuing. 'You spent two hours here this morning, and another half an hour at lunchtime. And now you're back again. I understand you care about your friend, but I can't let this continue. All research into magical comas indicates that the patient is unaware of their surroundings. It makes no difference to Mister Black whether you're here or not, but spending all your free time with him will be bad for you.'

'You can't stop us from visiting him,' James said. 'That's cruel.'

Madam Pomfrey shook her head. 'Not completely. But I can't allow you to spend all your free time here. Professor McGonagall and I have discussed it, and we've agreed that once a day, for an hour, is sufficient. You have studying to do—.'

'We can do our homework here,' James interrupted. 'This isn't fair.'

'Our decision is final, Mister Potter. And I had better not find you in there without permission. I will remove the window if I have to.'

Remus was glad he wouldn't be forced to break his promise to visit Sirius every day, but he didn't see why they couldn't just use the hospital room as their dormitory for a month. What harm would it do?

'Fine,' James said. 'Can we go in now?'

'For ten minutes only. Then I want you all to go and do something fun, understand?'

How could anything be fun when Sirius was unconscious and alone? Madam Pomfrey was obviously crazy.

'I saw that face, Remus,' Madam Pomfrey said, pointing her finger at him. 'You will do something fun, and that's an order. It's not healthy for you to keep wallowing in this sadness, and I'm certain Mister Black wouldn't want you to.'

She was right, of course. Sirius always did his best to make his friends happy, and he would hate to see them all so miserable. When he woke up, he'd want to hear all about their month without him and he'd be mad if he learned they'd done nothing but mope about.

'So… Fun?' Remus asked aloud two minutes later, after Madam Pomfrey had let them into Sirius' room and they'd gathered around his bed.

James jumped and then smiled at him. 'Oh good. You're talking again.'

Okay, so he hadn't said anything since "hello" that morning, but he still thought James was being a bit over-dramatic about it, so he ignored him. 'Do you have any ideas?'

James shrugged, his eyes back on Sirius. 'Could play another joke on the girls?'

Remus pulled a face. 'I don't really feel like it. And if they do something to us any time soon, I'm not sure I'll be able to see the funny side. Maybe we should ask them to pause the competition.'

'For what reason, though? Dumbledore said not to tell anyone what had happened to him,' James said.

'I'm sure we can trust them not to spread it around,' Peter said. 'They know how to keep a secret.'

'That's true,' James said, his expression thoughtful. 'What do you think, Moons?'

'I think we can trust them. But it's probably best if I talk to them alone.' Peter wouldn't be a problem, of course. The girls liked him well enough, but Remus was trying to be tactful.

'Good idea,' James said. 'Alright, we'll look for them when Pomfrey kicks us out. We still haven't thought of something fun to do, though.'

After a lot of back and forth, they eventually settled on just playing a few games of exploding snap for now. They'd work their way up to better things over the next few days. It was just too hard to jump straight in.

They didn't find any member of the Malediction before dinner, where James took Sirius' usual seat beside Remus. It wasn't the same, but Remus appreciated the thought. They lingered at the table until the girls got up to leave and then followed them out at a distance. When they left the Grand Staircase on the fourth floor, James and Peter continued on and Remus split off to follow the girls into the library.

'Hey,' he said when he reached their table. 'Can I join you? I need to talk to you.'

Lily looked him over. 'Is this a trick?'

'No. It's the opposite.'

'What's the opposite of a trick?' Mary asked. 'A treat?'

'A request,' Remus said. 'To postpone the competition for a few weeks.'

'Why? Have you run out of ideas already?' Marlene asked.

Remus dragged a chair over from another table and sat down before answering as quietly as possible. 'This information is confidential. We're trusting you to keep it to yourselves.'

'We won't tell anyone,' Lily said, leaning forward. 'What is it?'

'There was an accident and Sirius is in a coma. He'll wake up in a month, but we're all a bit upset about it.'

'Where is he?' Marlene asked. 'I didn't see him in the Hospital Wing earlier.'

'They have him in a private room. But you can't visit him. You're not supposed to know.'

'Shit. Can't you sneak me in somehow?'

'I don't see how. You have to go through Pomfrey's office to get to it.'

'What happened to him?' Lily asked.

'He tried to cast a spell that was too hard for him. Drained his core.' They'd decided that was believable enough. Sirius was known for being a bit reckless.

'So why the secrecy, then?' Dorcas asked.

Remus shrugged. 'I think his family asked for it to be kept quiet.'

'That makes sense,' Marlene said. 'The Blacks would be so embarrassed if it got out that their heir was stupid enough to drain his core.'

A mixture of heat and nausea welled in his chest as Remus felt simultaneously angry at Marlene for calling Sirius stupid, and guilty for betraying Sirius and making him seem like an idiot in front of the girls, because it was Remus' stupidity that got him hurt, not Sirius'. He needed to work on his ability to trust. James and Peter deserved better than a friend that questioned their every move.

'That's a bit harsh, Marls,' Mary said. 'He's in a coma. Let's not be mean.'

Marlene tilted her chair back on two legs and put her feet on the table, crossing them at the ankles. 'It's nothing I haven't said to his face. He knows how I feel.' She turned her gaze back to Remus. 'I don't mind postponing the competition until he's back on his feet. It wouldn't be fair if you're a person down, and I want to win because we're better than you, not because we had an unfair advantage.'

'I don't mind, either,' Mary said, smiling at Remus.

Dorcas shrugged. 'Doesn't matter to me.'

'Looks like we're postponing then,' Lily said. 'When will we be restarting?'

'March twenty-first,' Remus told her. 'The day after he'll wake up.'

'Are we allowed to continue making plans in the meantime?'

'I don't see why not. I expect we will be.'

'Great.'

Remus said his goodbyes and returned to Gryffindor Tower, bumping into James on the dormitory stairs heading in the opposite direction with his broom.

'You're going to practice?'

James sighed. 'Yeah. I don't really want to, but I can't get out of it. We've got the match against Hufflepuff in a few weeks.'

'Maybe flying will make you feel better.'

'It's not me I'm worried about,' James said pointedly.

Remus fixed his gaze on a point just beyond James' left ear and tried to smile. 'I'll be fine, James. You don't need to worry about me.'

The noise James made in response to that could only be described as disbelieving, but he pulled Remus into a hug, patting his back as they parted. 'Go on up. Pete's waiting for you.'

'Sounds ominous.'

James laughed. 'You've got nothing to fear. I'll see you later.'

He didn't wait for a response, disappearing around the bend of the staircase a few seconds later. Remus sighed and continued his climb. His eyes automatically went to the framed sheet of blank parchment as he entered the room, but he turned away without trying to unlock it. If by some fluke he got it right, Sirius would miss the reveal, and he couldn't do that to him on top of everything he'd already done.

'How'd it go with the girls?' Peter asked, looking up from the notebook he was looking at.

'They agreed to postpone.' He nodded towards the notebook. 'You need any help?'

Peter chuckled. 'These are my notes for the moon-sickness potion.'

'Ah. Best not then.'

'Not if you want it to work, no.'

Remus forced out a chuckle. 'Harsh. But fair.'

'There's something else you can help with, though.' Peter pulled the ends of his sleeves over his hands and hugged himself. 'We need to create the lists for the Creature Hunt.'

'Why does it seem like you're scared to tell me that?'

'Because to do it, we need to go back to the ritual site.'

'Oh.' Remus walked over to his bed and sat down heavily at the end, resting his feet on the closed lid of his trunk. He didn't really want to go back to the place Sirius was hurt, but he could see the need. 'Alright. When do you want to go?'

'James thought we could do it now?'

Remus thought about it for a moment, glancing at the window. It was already dark outside and freezing cold. But really, anything beat sitting around feeling guilty. 'Yeah, alright. Let's go. Did James leave us the cloak?'

'Of course,' Peter said as he climbed off his bed. 'Should be at the top of his trunk.'

Remus cast a warming charm on them both as they exited the castle ten minutes later, under the folds of the invisibility cloak. Peter didn't try to speak to him as they crossed the grounds and entered the Forest, pulling off the cloak once they were safely hidden within the tree line, and Remus was grateful for it. He wasn't in the mood for conversation.

They kept their wands in hand, alert and ready to defend themselves as they travelled as quietly as they could through the trees, but a distant sound of galloping hooves, becoming louder by the second, had Remus lowering his. A moment later, Peter did the same, turning his head to Remus with a grin on his face.

'Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin. Greetings,' Firenze said, coming to such a sudden stop in front of them that he skidded on the leaf litter. 'Whoops. Sorry. How is Sirius Black? Did he survive?'

'He's in a coma,' Peter said. 'But he's going to be fine. Thank you so much for your help, and please thank your dad for us, too.'

'He will be very relieved to hear that, as am I. Are you going back to the site now?'

Peter nodded. 'We need to make a list of the creatures in the Forest.'

'Please, allow me to escort you?'

It would be beyond foolish to turn down a centaur escort when travelling through the Forbidden Forest after dark, so they accepted the offer gratefully and nothing bothered them on the journey to the ritual site, which now housed a golden tower made entirely of light.

'Wow,' Remus said with a heavy breath. 'You didn't tell me about this.'

'We didn't really tell you anything,' Peter said. 'Sirius was more important, but, yeah, wait until you see what's inside.'

Peter led him to the opening that worked as a doorway and they stepped inside. The ground within was covered in hoof-prints, particularly surrounding the tree stump in the centre, and Remus eyed them before turning his head to look at Firenze. 'Were you here all day?'

Firenze's face flushed pink, and he averted his eyes. 'I was worried, and this was the only way to make sure I didn't miss you.'

'You must be exhausted.'

'Not really, no. Being in this place is energising. I will stand guard outside while you do what you need to and then escort you back to the school.' He nodded at them both before exiting back through the opening, ducking his head so he wouldn't hit it on the wall of golden light.

'What we need to do,' Peter said, moving over to stand beside the tree stump, 'is work out what these lights mean.'

Remus joined him and peered at the magical map in awe. 'You told me it was a map, but I had no idea it was this impressive.'

'It's amazing, isn't it? We figured out the white lights are humans,' Peter said. 'And the pale blue ones are centaurs. Flashing means they're injured.'

Remus scanned the map, looking for their little group near the middle. When he found them, he swallowed. There was one pale blue light representing Firenze, one white light for Peter, and one pale pink light. 'Looks like pink means werewolf,' Remus said, pointing at them and trying to keep the pain out of his voice. The magic didn't consider him to be human. What did that mean?

'In that case,' Peter said, pointing at a cluster of pale pink lights to the east of where they stood. 'Who are they?'

'That is a good question,' Remus said. 'Let's ask Firenze when we're done here.'

'How long is that going to be? There must be an easier way to do this than guessing.'

Remus frowned at the map. 'You're right. Hang on.' He pulled his wand back out and used it to poke a group of purple lights near a small lake. Immediately, a new image formed above the map, a brown log shape covered in a toxic green. 'It's a bundimun colony.'

'Cool,' Peter said. 'Let me do one.' He poked his wand at a single bright orange light and a monstrous, eight-legged creature formed above the stump. Peter took a step back. 'Bloody hell. There really is an acromantula in here.'

'Don't worry. It's miles away from us. We'll have to make sure we don't put any groups near that part of the Forest.'

They spent ten minutes poking at all the different coloured lights and writing down what they were with only a little drama when Peter reached out to touch the image of a cute little niffler and accidentally transported it to the Golden Tower. The furry menace ran four times around the room, dodging their stunning spells, before exiting through the opening and allowing them to return to their work. The final lights were the small group of pale pink ones which produced an image of a wolf with a slightly shorter than average snout and a tufted tail. Remus stared at it and then poked at the little pink light he knew was himself.

The light making up the wolf swirled back into a mist before reforming to show a perfect replica of Remus standing motionless in the air above the map. Remus reached out an arm towards it and the image reached out its own arm. 'It's showing the creatures in real-time,' Remus said, his voice thick with surprise. 'Which means those werewolves are in wolf form now. Why? How?' He paused, swallowing. Then added the thought that was spinning through his mind. 'Is that going to happen to me?'

'No,' Peter said. 'It can't be. We'd have read about it if that was possible. There must be another explanation. We'll ask Firenze.'

Unfortunately, Firenze was no help at all. He knew of the wolves and said they were friendly towards his kind, but he didn't know where they'd come from or how they came to be, advising them to ask the Headmaster about it before bidding them goodbye at the edge of the Forest.

None of them were particularly eager to speak to Professor Dumbledore, though. All of them blamed him to some extent for Sirius' accident and weren't sure they'd be able to hold their tongues about it if they were face to face with the man. So they added the investigation to the list of things to look into at a later date and spent the week preparing and enchanting the lists for the Creature Hunt, and deciding where to start each group off, when they weren't visiting Sirius.

Unlike the previous year, Saturday morning dawned grey and overcast. The participants of the day's event were going to have a difficult time if the clouds provided the kind of rain their colour promised. Hopefully, the Golden Tower would keep them dry, though. They visited Sirius before breakfast, and then James took a swig of Polyjuice and met with the volunteers to give them their instructions. Finally, there was nothing left to do but head to their command centre and wait.

They watched the volunteers lead each of the groups to different parts of the Forest on the map and kept an eye out for anyone starting early. No one did. After a short argument where James eventually agreed that it would be irresponsible to focus the map on the Malediction for the entire day, they noticed a group of white lights nearing their location and all took a dose of Polyjuice before greeting the volunteers and showing them the map.

'So there's three of you, then?' One of the Hufflepuffs said. 'Always thought there were two.'

'You were supposed to,' James told him. 'It's part of our disguise.'

'Knew this event wasn't as dangerous as it seemed,' one of the Slytherins said. 'But I didn't expect something like this. What do you think it was originally built for? It can't have been made just for the Creature Hunt. Seems a bit excessive.'

'Haven't you read Hogwarts: A history?' a Ravenclaw asked. 'This is how Godric Gryffindor tested his students. They had to find and kill certain creatures to pass. If they got mortally injured, they failed.'

'Stupid and reckless,' the Slytherin retorted. 'Sounds about right for Gryffindor.'

Remus was impressed that James managed not to react to that insult. Instead, he let the Ravenclaw handle it.

'Not that reckless, really. The protection allows us to apparate anyone who's injured to safety. I assume "safety" means here. Gryffindor would have had medi-staff on standby.'

'And all of you are taking the NEWT pre-med course, so we'll be fine,' James said. 'We won't be waiting for anyone to be mortally injured, but if something happens you can't handle, we have a house-elf waiting to take them to Madam Pomfrey.'

When it was almost time for the event to begin, they all gathered around the enormous tree-stump, each of them keeping an eye on specific groups so they'd be ready to activate the apparition magic if it became necessary. Remus couldn't help but wonder how many of the volunteers last year had noticed his pink light among the white, and how many of them were still at Hogwarts. He knew they wouldn't be able to say anything to anyone because of the magic tying their tongues regarding "anything they learned while volunteering," but it was still uncomfortable to think about. If anyone currently present had noticed the pink light among their group on the map, they hadn't mentioned it. Yet.

Nothing happened for a long time. They just stood there, watching the little lights moving through the Forest and talking amongst themselves. Remus was bored stiff and his legs were beginning to ache. What he wouldn't give for a chair.

'Woah, this group is getting dangerously close to the Forest troll,' Peter said as it was nearing lunchtime. 'Should we focus on them?'

'You better had,' a Ravenclaw said. 'If the troll spots them, it could get nasty fast.'

Peter poked at the group with his wand, and an image of them formed above the tree stump. Four girls, walking through thick trees, bedraggled from the rain and mud, but chatting happily, seemingly unaware of the danger they were heading towards. Remus stared at it for a moment and then his eyes locked with James' on the other side of the map. It was the Malediction. Shit.

'We need to pull them out,' James said. 'They're only second years. How are they going to beat a troll?'

'I agree,' Peter said, looking equally stricken.

'Well, I don't,' a Hufflepuff said. 'Give them a chance. They won't thank you if you pull them before they've even seen it. It's worth five points.'

'Have you ever seen a troll?' James said. 'They're bloody huge.'

'So?' the Hufflepuff said, shrugging. 'They have wands. They've had defence training.'

That was true. The girls were competent duellists. Not on the same level as the Marauders, but maybe good enough. The only problem was, even in their disguises, James looked like he was going to have a nervous breakdown at any second and Peter looked like he was on the verge of fainting.

'Hey,' Remus said to get his friends' attention. James and Peter's eyes flicked to his, pleading with him silently. 'The protection on the Forest won't let anyone die, remember…' Remember Sirius was the unfinished sentence. Even with his core drained, the spell had kept him alive long enough to reach help. It seemed to help. James' shoulders relaxed, and he turned his eyes back to the image of the girls. They'd stopped walking now. Instead, standing in defensive poses, wands up, as they peered into the unseeable distance.

'Looks like something's happening,' one of the Slytherins said. James didn't even take his eyes off Lily long enough to glare at the boy. Suddenly, the girls' eyes opened wide with alarm as they took several big steps backwards, and James was gripping his wand so tightly Remus was worried he might snap it.

The girls began firing off spells and dodging projectiles that appeared from nowhere. The troll must be throwing things at them. If they were smart, they'd take it as the warning it was and get out of there as quickly as possible. Remus winced when Dorcas tripped over something, falling to the ground, and he held his breath as Marlene stopped, reaching out to help her back to her feet. Lily and Mary were still moving backwards, firing spells into the empty space behind the stationary girls, and then the light making up the image formed into the shape of a club and smashed down on Marlene's head. She fell to the ground like a stone, landing on top of Dorcas just as James' hand slashed through the image, making it vanish.

'Marlene!' Lily screamed from the edge of the room.

'It's okay,' one of the Hufflepuff volunteers called. 'You're safe now.'

Dorcas gently rolled Marlene onto her back and sat up as two of the volunteers hurried over, wands in hand, to check on them. 'I'm okay. Help her. It was a troll. It hit her on the head with its club.'

'She's going to be fine, but can you give us some space to work?'

Dorcas nodded, climbing to her feet with tears running down her cheeks, and joined Lily and Mary, who pulled her into a hug. They watched anxiously as the two volunteers cast their spells over Marlene, and when her eyes flickered open, everyone in the room seemed to exhale as one with relief.

'Where am I?' Marlene asked, her voice weak and shaky.

The girls hurried to her side as the volunteer answered. 'You're in the Creature Hunt command centre. We pulled you out after the troll hit you. How do you feel?'

She struggled to a sitting position, pressing a hand to her forehead and wincing as she moved. 'My head hurts. But I think I'm okay.'

'Here.' He passed her a potion vial. 'Drink that. You'll feel better.'

Marlene drank it down in three gulps and passed the empty bottle back to him. 'Thanks.'

'You're welcome. Now, you just sit there and rest for a bit. Okay?' He looked at Dorcas. 'Make sure she stays put.'

Dorcas nodded and lowered herself to the floor beside her before taking her hand, and Remus looked back at the map, scanning for the groups he was supposed to be watching. They were all fine, though one group was heading towards a rather large colony of doxies. If they didn't turn soon, they were in for an unpleasant few minutes, but doxies weren't that dangerous. They'd be fine.

'Sunshine?' Lily asked quietly.

Remus looked around to find her beside him, studying the map with interest. He shook his head and nodded at James. 'No, that's Sunshine.'

'Oh, sorry. It was difficult to tell. You're all dressed the same today. And there's three of you now?'

Remus chuckled. 'Maybe. Maybe there are more than three. Maybe there are ten of us. Who knows?'

She hummed and picked up the parchment where they'd recorded which colour represented what creature, and Remus was glad he'd had the foresight to disguise his handwriting. 'Interesting,' she said, her eyes flicking back to the map after scanning the page.

'What's interesting?'

Their conversation was interrupted by one of the volunteers from Gryffindor. 'We've got another situation over here. This group's surrounded by centaurs.'

'They'll be fine,' James said. 'The centaurs know about the Creature Hunt. And the protection spell. They'll just try to intimidate them a bit. I think they find it funny.'

'You're sure?'

'Completely.'

'I still think we should focus on them and check.'

James shrugged. 'Go ahead.'

The Gryffindor poked the tightly packed group of lights with his wand and an image of four older students, two girls and two boys, appeared above the tree stump. Remus recognised Chief Odas, the leader of the herd, and spotted Feodair off to his right. A different centaur now stood beside the Chief, second in command.

They watched as Odas spoke to the group of students. No sound was transmitted by the magic, but Remus could imagine what he was saying. Most likely, he was threatening to make an example of them. One of the boys stepped in front of his friends, his mouth moving as he spoke fast, bowing and putting his hand to his chest as if making a promise. Odas waved his hand, and the boy spoke again. Then they all turned and, walking so fast they were almost jogging, left the area.

'Told you they'd be fine,' James said as the volunteer tapped the lights again to turn off the projection. 'But better safe than sorry.'

Lily stayed beside the map for the rest of the afternoon, watching everything with unwavering focus even after the event ended, all the students were safely out of the Forest, and the volunteers were leaving. Finally, when the only people left in the Golden Tower were the Marauders and the Malediction, she nodded to herself and joined her friends.

'Ladies,' James greeted, approaching them. 'I apologise for not speaking to you sooner.'

'It's okay. You were working,' Lily said. 'Can we walk back with you?'

'Of course.' James pulled a sheet of parchment from his pocket and handed it to her. 'But first, I need you all to sign this. It's to protect our secrets, so you can't speak about anything you saw here today.'

They happily complied and passed the parchment around before handing it back to James.

'Thank you.'

'Are you ready to leave, J—' Firenze stopped speaking as he walked through the opening and noticed they weren't alone. 'Marauders?' he finished. 'You have company. My apologies. I thought everyone else would have left by now.'

'Do you know who they are?' Lily asked, eagerly.

Firenze shifted his hooves, glancing between Remus, Peter, and James, who currently looked like identical triplets. 'I'm aware of their true identities, but I will not tell you. Mostly because I made a promise, but also because you are quite rude.'

Lily's smile faded, and she looked at the ground. 'I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to be rude. I got excited.'

'Don't be mad at her, Firenze,' James said with laughter in his voice. 'We have a bet going that she can't figure out who we are. She just forgot her manners for a moment.'

Firenze hummed. 'I would consider asking someone who already knows to be cheating in that case.'

Lily flushed. 'I wasn't going to ask you. Just the fact that you know who they are is a clue.'

Firenze inclined his head. 'I believe I may have misjudged you. Come, let us speak while we travel back to your school. I would like to get to know you.'

'Why?' Lily asked.

'Because, I think my friend,' Firenze nodded at James, who was watching them with a smile on his face, 'likes you quite a lot.'

Saturday, 24th February

Lily lay in her bed a few hours after the Creature Hunt had ended and thought about what she'd learned. One of the Marauders was a werewolf.

There was a werewolf at Hogwarts.

Did the staff know?

Surely they did. There's no way a werewolf could attend secretly. Professor Hawthorne had said that they got sick before the full moon and often hurt themselves during it, so they'd need time off classes and treatment in the Hospital Wing.

If the staff knew about it, then it must be safe. They wouldn't put everyone in danger for the sake of one kid. Or would they? Hogwarts wasn't exactly the safest of schools. The number of accidents that happened just in classes was crazy. A muggle school with that kind of safety record would have been shut down, she was sure. But magic made injuries less serious. Most things could be fixed within hours, if not seconds, with a wave of a wand or a potion. A werewolf bite was different, though. Permanent. There was no cure for lycanthropy, so she didn't think the staff would risk allowing a werewolf to attend if it wasn't completely safe.

Professor Hawthorne had said they were just normal people with a disease and they suffered awful prejudice because of it. Lily knew about prejudice. She'd been bullied in primary school for having ginger hair, and it was horrible. It wasn't her fault she had red hair, and it wasn't this person's fault they'd been bitten by a werewolf. It wasn't fair to be mean to them because of it.

It was decided then. There was a werewolf at Hogwarts and that was fine. She wasn't going to be scared about it.

But was Sunshine the werewolf?

Being okay with a werewolf sharing the building was one thing, even being friends with them, but dating a werewolf was something else entirely. That would require some work on her part. They'd be sick every month and need help and support. Could she deal with that? It sounded like a lot of responsibility.

Maybe she was getting ahead of herself a little. She didn't even know if Sunshine liked her in that way, or even who they were. Knowing one of the group was a werewolf was a big clue, though. She needed to check when the next full moon was and maybe visit the Hospital Wing the following morning.

Didn't Remus say they could restart their competition on the twenty-first because Sirius would wake up on the twentieth? That would make the next full moon the nineteenth.

Lily grinned. Once she knew who the Marauders were, it should be easy enough to figure out which one was Sunshine. She couldn't wait to greet them by name and see the look on their face.

Tuesday 27th February

'I suppose we better go,' James said, slamming his book closed. 'Since the bitch wouldn't give us the whole month off.'

Peter met Remus' eyes across the dorm and pulled a face. Nine days had passed since Sirius had fallen into a coma and Peter wouldn't have thought it possible to miss another person so much. As much as he and Remus liked to complain about their louder roommates, they were both missing the noise now. The dorm was unnervingly quiet without Sirius spontaneously bursting into song at random moments, and James had no one to take his excess energy out on in mock fights, making him restless and moody. So much so, he was in danger of losing the right to use the name Sunshine. They were like a car that had lost a wheel without Sirius.

The first day had been the worst, by far. While they sat waiting for Remus to wake up to break the news, Sirius' voice had been screaming inside Peter's head every few minutes as he suffered nightmare after nightmare until James had the idea to run up to the dorm for Sirius' dreamcatcher. Once it was hanging over his bed, the alarms stopped and he settled into a more peaceful sleep, much to Peter's relief.

With no way to tell if Remus had activated an alarm with his emotions, he was casting a Cheering charm on himself hourly to make sure Sirius wasn't suffering. Peter strongly suspected he was sending an intentional alarm immediately after countering the Cheering charm each time. Something sweet and caring to keep him company since Madam Pomfrey would only let them visit for an hour a day.

'I'm sure she has a good reason for wanting us to continue our lessons without Sirius,' Remus said.

'Yeah, I'm sure she wants us to practice what we'd do if one of us died,' James said, rolling his eyes. 'I don't know about you two, but I wouldn't want to go on living if I lost any one of you, so it's a waste of time as far as I'm concerned.'

That was sweet if a bit dramatic. It was like James was trying to fill Sirius' role in the group as well as his own.

'It's not like we have anything better to do,' Remus pointed out. 'At least this'll take our minds off things for a couple of hours.'

James remained unconvinced and was still in a bad mood when they reached the door to Professor Tenebris' classroom, pushing it open without even pausing to consider the possibility of a trap.

'As I suspected,' Professor Tenebris said from her perch on the edge of her desk. 'Sadness makes you reckless, and that's why you're here. We can't have you getting yourselves killed because you're upset about something. Stupefy!'

'Protego!' Peter shouted, throwing up a shield in front of the three of them and deflecting the spell into the wall. James hadn't even drawn his wand.

Professor Tenebris smiled, lowering her wand. 'Good, Peter. Well done. James, I'm disappointed. What's going on?'

James shrugged. 'What's the point? I've got no energy. I don't want to do anything. A stunning spell to the chest would have been a nice break.'

'And you, Remus? You still don't have your wand out.'

'If I end up in the Hospital Wing, at least I'll get to see Sirius for a bit.'

Professor Tenebris sighed and twirled her wand between her fingers. 'This is ridiculous. I could understand it if he'd died, but he's alive, and he'll be back with you in three weeks. You think he's going to thank you for moping around like the world's ending?'

'No,' James said. 'But I can't help it. It's like all my want has disappeared. Nothing makes me excited anymore.'

'Yeah. Me too,' Remus said.

'Well, I can see it's pointless the two of you being here. You might as well go. Peter and I will work alone tonight.'

Peter looked at her, alarmed. 'What?'

She ignored him, standing up and ushering James and Remus out of the room. 'Go on. Bye, now. See you next week.' She closed the door behind them and turned to face him. 'Right, we need a plan. How do we snap them out of this?'

'I don't know,' Peter said. 'I've been trying. It wasn't so bad before Saturday, but now the Creature Hunt is over, there's just nothing interesting happening. They're sad about Sirius, but I think they're also just really bored.'

'So why aren't you moping around too?'

Peter shrugged. 'I've got my apprenticeship to work on.'

'They need a challenge,' she said, retaking her seat on the edge of her desk. 'Something interesting and exciting, but something they won't mind Sirius missing.'

'If it involves a storm, Sirius would hate it,' Peter said. 'And he doesn't like getting dirty, especially his hair.'

'There's a storm forecast early Friday morning. But I'm not sure how we can use it.'

'There are a few potions that need an ingredient to be collected during a thunderstorm. I could say I need one for the potion I'm making for my apprenticeship.'

'And I'll set up an ambush,' Professor Tenebris said with an evil grin. 'What lesson do you have first on Friday?'

'It's a free period.'

'Perfect.'

'Um. What sort of ambush were you thinking?'

She smirked at him. 'I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise. Just bring them round to the far side of the Lake.'

'You're sure this will work?'

'I'm positive.'

Peter was doubtful, but he trusted Professor Tenebris, so he agreed to the plan. It was worth being ambushed if it would help snap his friends out of their moods, even if he didn't particularly relish the thought of being outside in a thunderstorm.

The following afternoon, James agreed to accompany him to the Den to test his newest recipe while Remus hung out in the library with the Knife, just in case something went wrong. James helped him prepare his ingredients, but once that was over, he lay down on one of the sofas and closed his eyes. 'Think I might take a nap. Wake me up if you need anything.'

Peter stared at him for a moment, feeling lost. James napping when it wasn't the day after a full moon was unheard of. Things must be even worse than he thought, but he shook off the feeling and got to work. At least if James was sleeping, he wouldn't need to purposefully mess up the potion. He could say it hadn't worked, even if it did.

Not that it mattered in the end. Everything went exactly as predicted, right up until he added the porcupine spines. The potion hissed as they disappeared under the surface, turning bright pink instead of the pearl grey he'd been expecting. 'Dammit,' he muttered under his breath. 'Was it too many?' He tapped the extinguish rune on his fire pit and checked his notes over, but he couldn't find any mistakes. After dropping the notebook back on the counter, he rubbed his head, frowning. 'I don't understand.'

'What don't you understand?' James asked with his eyes still closed.

'How long have you been awake?'

''Bout thirty seconds.'

'The potion failed, but I'm not sure why.'

James opened his eyes and squinted at him. He looked weird without his glasses, like one of his facial features was missing. 'Talk to my dad about it. I'm sure between the two of you, you can figure it out.'

'Yeah, I will. I'll get this mess cleaned up, then we can go.'

'Cool. Want help?'

'Nah, I've got it.'

It didn't take much to persuade James and Remus of the need to venture out into the storm on Friday morning. An hour spent talking to Monty through the notebooks, an announcement that they'd figured out the problem (which they had) and he just needed some jewelweed harvested during a thunderstorm (which he didn't), and a quick check of the weather forecast in James' copy of the Daily Prophet, and they were fully on board. Peter felt a little guilty about the lie, but it was for their own good.

At 5:47 am, when they were about halfway around the Lake, the first flash of lightning lit up the sky—right on schedule. The magical weather forecast was far more accurate than the muggle version, due to the powerful seer The Daily Prophet employed for the job. Other topics of fortune-telling might be hit or miss, but the weather was less prone to change due to the choices of random individuals and Peter had never known it to be wrong.

'You're sure there's jewelweed on the other side of the Lake?' James asked. 'We're going to get drenched on the way back, so I hope it's worth it.'

'There is,' Peter said, truthfully. He'd picked jewelweed as his excuse specifically because he knew there was a large clump of it on the bank, which is where Professor Tenebris had told him to take them.

The clouds finally let go of their payload a few minutes later and within seconds they were as wet as if they'd swam across the Lake and the ground softened, slowly turning into mud and coating their shoes. Sirius would have been horrified.

As they approached their destination, Peter pulled his wand out and cast a Lighting charm, scanning the area for whatever was lying in wait for them. Professor Tenebris hadn't clued him in on her plans, so he didn't know what to expect from this point on. But he couldn't spot anything amiss. There didn't seem to be anyone hiding in the bushes, and the surface of the lake betrayed no bubbles from someone lurking beneath the surface, so he turned his light to the patch of jewelweed growing on the bank a few feet away. The orange flowers sparkled in the wandlight.

'Is that what you're looking for?' James asked.

Peter nodded. 'Yeah. Just the flowers. I don't need the stems.'

'Let's get collecting then. I'm frozen.'

Peter was shivering, too. Even Remus' warming charm wasn't strong enough against the pelting rain. It felt like shards of ice hitting his skin. He took three steps closer to the clump of flowers and his heart leapt into his throat as he felt the ground give away beneath his feet. He was falling, no, sliding, down a muddy shoot into the earth.

'Pete!' James' shout followed him down the tunnel, sounding alarmed.

'I'm okay,' he called back as he came to a stop at the bottom and shone his wandlight into the darkness. 'There's a tunnel!'

'Can you move out of the way?'

Peter climbed to his feet and took a few steps away from the end of the mudslide. 'All clear!'

A few seconds later, James was speeding towards him, his face and hair splattered with mud, but grinning from ear to ear. 'What have you found, Bubbles? This is so cool.'

He helped James to his feet before calling for Remus to join them. 'I don't know. But the tunnel goes a long way. Look.' He pushed more magic into his wand to brighten the light and directed the beam back down the tunnel. It continued on as far as the light reached, gently sloping down the whole way.

'Looks like it goes pretty deep, too.'

Remus slid into view with a groan, and James helped him up.

'That was not fun.'

'Ah, come on. It was kind of fun,' James said.

Remus tilted his head, considering, and then shook it. 'Nope, not even a tiny bit. My jeans are probably ruined, too.'

'Don't be silly. It's just a bit of mud. The house-elves can clean anything.' James turned back to face down the tunnel. 'Where do you think it goes?'

'Unless it turns back on itself, it either leads under the lake or under the castle,' Remus said.

James nodded. 'Makes sense. Alright, wands at the ready, men. Pete, you light the way. We'll defend you if necessary.'

Peter turned away as a smile forced its way onto his face. James was back. Their plan had worked. If this was the plan. It was possible this was completely unrelated, caused by the torrential rainfall, and Professor Tenebris was still out there somewhere, waiting to ambush them. The mental image that thought conjured in his mind caused a bubble of laughter to well up in his chest, and he had to bite his cheek to keep it from bursting out.

They started off down the tunnel, keeping close together but with Peter slightly ahead of the other two. It was dark and filthy. Globs of mud kept falling from the ceiling at random, and the smell of wet earth clogged his throat. But, despite all of that, Peter couldn't stop smiling. The excitement of a discovery had brought James out of his bad mood, and it truly was disgusting in the tunnel. There would be no guilt about Sirius missing out. He would have hated every second of it.

Something dripped onto his cheek from above, leaving a tickle in its wake as gravity dragged it down to his chin and Peter swiped at it, succeeding only in spreading the wetness across his face. If anyone saw him now, they'd probably think he was an adolescent troll and run away, he thought with a chuckle.

'What's funny?' James asked.

'Just imagining how people would react if they saw us right now.'

Remus laughed. 'Filch would be furious. He'd probably insist on hosing us down outside.'

'Yeah, it's going to be fun sneaking back in,' James said. 'No way are we using my cloak.'

'Pretty sure your cloak repels dirt, mate,' Remus said. 'It's ancient, and doesn't have a single stain on it.'

'That's a good point, but I still don't want to risk it.'

'Fair enough.'

'Looks like the path bends to the right up ahead,' Peter said. 'Under the Lake.'

'Are we still next to the Lake?' Remus asked. 'We've gone a long way.'

'It's impossible to tell,' James replied. 'But I don't think we've gone far enough to be past it.'

Peter rounded the bend, directing his wandlight into the new section of tunnel. 'Looks like we're about to find out. I think that's a door at the end.'

With the end of the tunnel in sight, they moved faster, eager to reach their destination and find out what they'd discovered, and they reached the door a minute later. It was made from dark wood, or else the mud had stained it dark, and was quite obviously enchanted because it hadn't rotted even a little, despite the damp.

They all stared at the door for a moment before glancing at each other, but none of them reached for the handle.

'What do you think?' James asked. 'Reckon it's trapped?'

'I didn't bring the Detector,' Remus said. 'I thought this was a simple plant collecting quest.'

James laughed. 'I vote all our activities be called quests from now on.'

'Agreed,' Peter said, happily. He was just glad James was no longer being a moody git, so he wasn't going to risk upsetting him again. 'It sounds much cooler than mission.'

'Doesn't it?' James grinned at him before turning back to the door. 'Moons, can you sense anything from it?'

Peter stepped to the side so Remus could get closer to the door and watched as he moved his hands to hover as close to the wood as he could get without making contact with it. A few seconds passed in silence, and then he dropped his arms back to his sides.

'There's magic, but it doesn't feel dangerous.'

'Excellent,' James said with a grin. Then he reached out and turned the handle, pushing the door open and stepping into what could only be called a cavern. The space was enormous, and it was filled with neat rows of large metal cannons and stacks of old-fashioned looking guns among other things Peter couldn't identify, but the thing that drew the eye more than anything was the giant wooden structure towering above everything else. Peter had to crane his neck to see the top of the tallest mast on the muggle ship.

'How the hell did that get here?' Peter asked.

'Before the 17th century, the Great Lake was connected to the coast by a river,' Remus said, walking closer to the ship. When he reached it, he placed his hand against the wood with sheer wonder on his face. 'Professor Undercliffe had it dried up and filled in after the muggles attacked the castle. This must be everything that was left from the battle.'

'I remember reading about that,' James said. 'The Battle of Hogwarts. They were under siege for three weeks.'

'How?' Peter asked. 'Why did it take so long?'

'Well, they were reluctant to kill them because murder damages your soul, you know? And stunners only last so long,' James said. 'Everything they did only put the attackers out of action for a few hours at the most.'

'They had to wait for the full moon to perform a ritual that would put the entire army to sleep at once,' Remus said. 'Then they went out, wiped everyone's memories of the battle, and sent them home.'

James nodded. 'That's why the castle is hidden from the muggles now. They did it right after the battle.'

'Why doesn't Binns teach us this stuff? It's all goblin rebellions and boring laws. If he taught us stuff like this, I might actually listen.'

James laughed. 'No, you wouldn't.'

'No, you're right. I probably wouldn't.'

James tilted his head back to examine the ship. 'Reckon we can get aboard?'

'Do you think it's safe?' Peter asked. 'If it's been here for four hundred years, it's probably completely rotten.'

'The door wasn't. I reckon this place is covered in Stasis charms.'

Remus nodded. 'Everything does seem to be in a good condition for being four hundred years old. It's really damp in here, and there isn't even any rust on the metal. But I don't think we should try to get aboard yet.'

James' shoulders drooped with disappointment. 'Why not?'

'Because Sirius would kill us if we explored it without him. We should see if there's another way in. A cleaner way.'

James agreed that Remus was right, and they spent a few minutes searching the edges of the cavern for an exit, eventually finding a hidden door on the opposite side to where they'd entered. It resembled the stone surrounding it, but the magic was fading, and now and then it flickered back to wood. A simple alohomora was all it took to unlock it. On the other side was a much nicer, smoothly carved, stone tunnel lined with torches that flickered to life as they approached and extinguished after they passed.

It took ten minutes to reach the end of the passage, and the door at the end proved to be as easy to open as the previous one, hidden behind a tapestry on the lowest floor of the dungeons. Peter only felt a little guilt at the thought of Professor Tenebris waiting in the storm to ambush three boys who weren't coming as they tiptoed through the castle to the seventh floor. He hoped she hadn't waited there for too long, and that she wouldn't be too mad about it.

Saturday 10th March

Remus stood silently under the folds of the invisibility cloak in the corner of Madam Pomfrey's office, waiting for her to leave so he could sneak into the hidden room—currently Sirius' room—and spend some time with his boyfriend on his birthday. Today was supposed to be the day they would reveal their relationship to the others, if they hadn't figured it out, but that wouldn't be happening now.

James had asked on Monday what he wanted to do, celebrate on the day or wait for Sirius to wake up, and he'd understood when Remus said he wanted to wait. After checking the calendar, they'd decided to hold a joint Remus and James day the weekend after Sirius woke up which was also the weekend before James' birthday, but Remus still wanted to see Sirius today. Even if Sirius wouldn't know he was there. James seemed to understand his desire, handing over the cloak without a word when Remus had asked for it after their official daily visit.

Finally, Madam Pomfrey put down her quill and went to check on her single patient, and Remus was able to slip into Sirius' room. He was just as unnaturally still as he'd been the first time Remus had seen him after the full moon, but his cheeks had more colour in them now.

Remus took Sirius' hand in his own. It was stiff and unyielding, awkward to grasp, but he did it anyway and cast a quick Cheering charm on himself followed by the counter. After Sirius had responded to his panic on that first day, Remus had been sending him messages hourly. He might not be aware of his surroundings, but he was clearly aware of his thoughts, and Remus hoped it would bring him some comfort.

It's my birthday today, and I miss you so much, and I can't wait for you to wake up so I can kiss you again.

There was no response, but Remus thought the corners of his mouth might have turned up a little. Maybe. He might just be kidding himself, but it was nice to think his efforts were having some positive effect on Sirius, so he allowed himself to believe it.

An hour passed with Remus talking aloud to Sirius about every inconsequential thing that happened. He'd already been told about the important things such as Peter's betrayal, leading them into an ambush only to be thwarted when the earth swallowed him whole, their discovery of an ancient weapons cache, and Tenebris' annoyance at being left standing in a storm for over an hour. She'd been so cross about it, she'd attacked them as soon as they entered the classroom on Tuesday evening, leading to a glorious battle, and ultimately their defeat. They still weren't quite good enough to best her, especially without Sirius and his insanely quick arm.

Approaching footsteps had him throwing the cloak back on and retreating into the corner as Madam Pomfrey entered to check on Sirius. Her tests only took a few moments before, seemingly satisfied, she left again. Remus wasted no time in returning to his spot beside him. Nothing and no one would stop him from spending his birthday with his boyfriend. It was where he belonged.

Saturday 17th March

Bringing his broom to a stop, James scanned the pitch as he wiped the rain from his face with the sleeve of his shirt. The game was going badly. Hufflepuff were leading by eighty points and they'd only been in the air for an hour. He knew it was mostly his fault. With the full moon in two days, and Sirius' imminent return to consciousness, his head just wasn't in the game. He couldn't focus and he kept screwing up. In all honesty, he was surprised Rivers hadn't pulled him off and replaced him with a reserve already.

The match dragged on and James did his best to keep his mind on the game, but it was no use. It was like he had no control over his thoughts at all. They kept drifting to Sirius, and Remus, and the full moon. Then a shout, or a cheer, or a bludger whizzing past his head would draw his attention back to the game for a while, but inevitably his thoughts would return to the problem of the full moon, and the need to be in two places at once.

It seemed simple on the surface. Remus would be a wolf as long as the moon was in the sky, and Sirius would wake up when it set. It made perfect sense for James and Peter to spend the night in the tunnel beneath the Shrieking Shack and return to the Hospital Wing a few minutes before the moon set to be with Sirius when he woke. But Remus was worried Sirius might wake early, alone and confused. He wanted one of them to stay behind, but James knew for a fact that Sirius would be mad if they left Moony without two members of his pack. Sirius would want them to be with Remus. The problem was, Remus wanted them to be with Sirius.

The roar of the crowd drew James' attention back to the game, and he looked around wildly to see what was happening. How long had he been drifting motionless in the middle of the pitch? It didn't matter. Everyone's eyes were on the Seekers as they dived towards the corner of the Ravenclaw stands, neck and neck. James checked the score. Hufflepuff were leading by one hundred and ten points. If King caught the Snitch, Gryffindor could still win the match.

Squinting, James tried to see what was happening, but it was impossible to make out anything through the heavy rain, and the wind made it equally impossible to hear the commentary. It wasn't until cheers went up around three-quarters of the audience that he knew. Hufflepuff had caught the Snitch, winning the match by two hundred and sixty points and taking first place in the fight for the Quidditch cup. Gryffindor would have to win by over five hundred points in their final match against Ravenclaw to take it back. Difficult but not impossible, if James could get his focus back. But that shouldn't be a problem once Sirius was back where he belonged, in the stands with Remus and Peter watching him play.

The next two days were rough on all of them. Remus was feeling the effects of the coming full moon and without Sirius to cuddle with, he was suffering, leaving James and Peter to watch helplessly. They did what they could, helping him in and out of bed, carrying his bag, and supporting him on the staircases, but there was nothing they could do to relieve the pain. The reason Sirius' presence helped in that way was still a mystery to James, but he wasn't going to question such a blessing. He just wished his presence could help, too.

So it was with a huge sense of relief that James and Peter escorted Remus to the Shrieking Shack on Monday evening. The nightmare would soon be over and everything would be right with the world.

'You're going back to sit with Sirius, aren't you?' Remus asked, looking at Peter. 'You said you would.'

'Yep,' Peter said. 'As soon as you're safely locked up.'

'I don't know why Madam Pomfrey insisted you both bring me.'

'Something to do with safety, I think,' James said as they reached the Whomping Willow. 'You know how adults are about these things. One sec while I freeze it. Wingardium leviosa.' With a swish and a flick of his wand, he levitated a branch over to poke at the knot in the trunk and the tree froze, allowing them to dash into the tunnel concealed in its roots.

'Not far now, Moons,' James said, earning himself an eye-roll.

'I know how far it is.'

'Just trying to be reassuring.'

'Well, don't. You sound stupid.'

'Wow, you're a moody git before the moon.'

'Yeah, well. I'm in pain. I'm allowed to be moody.'

James considered that. 'Yeah, okay. Fair.'

'You're not normally grumpy, though,' Peter said.

'He normally has Sirius,' James said with a shrug. 'Somehow that makes him feel better.'

'Will you stop talking about me like I'm not right here?'

'What would be the fun in talking about you if you weren't here to hear it?' James asked.

'I hate you.'

'No, you don't. You love me.'

'Nope. I've decided Peter can stay with me tonight. You can go bother Sirius.'

James gasped and clutched his chest dramatically (someone had to fill in for Sirius). 'Rejected by my very own best friend. How will I survive the pain of this betrayal?'

'At least I'm not leading you into an ambush.'

'Hey! I thought you'd forgiven me for that,' Peter said. 'I told you, it was for your own good.'

'We have,' James said.

'He has,' Remus said. 'I, however, hold a deep grudge and will take my revenge on you when you least expect it.'

'What about Tenebris? It was her idea.'

'Yes, her too.'

'Wait,' James said. 'I thought we didn't take revenge on teachers?'

'It depends on the crime. Forcing me out of bed at stupid o'clock in the morning to ambush me in a thunderstorm is a very serious one.'

'Sirius wouldn't ambush you in a thunderstorm,' James said. 'He's scared of them.'

Remus looked at him for a beat. 'Really? A serious-Sirius joke?'

James shrugged. 'Someone's got to fill in for him.'

Remus laughed. 'He would be so proud.'

'I know,' James said, grinning as they came to a stop at the bottom of the ladder. 'Right, up you go. One little transformation and you can wake up next to a conscious Sirius and tell him all about how I kept up his legacy of drama and bad jokes in his absence.'

'You'll see him before I do. You can tell him yourself.'

'He won't believe me,' James said, shaking his head with mock sadness. 'He'll need to hear it from you.'

Remus laughed and gripped the ladder. 'Maybe I'll tell him you were thrilled he was gone for a month.'

'You wouldn't!'

'No, I wouldn't. He'd probably believe me.'

'Yeah, he's an idiot like that. Still thinks we're going to stop being friends with him if he makes a mistake.'

'Um, it's eight thirty-five, guys,' Peter said.

'And this is why Madam Pomfrey insisted we both come,' James said with a laugh. 'Get you furry ass up that ladder, Moony.'

'Okay, okay, I'm going.'

A few minutes later, Remus dropped his bag down the hatch and slammed it closed, locking it a moment later, and James and Peter settled themselves on the cushions James had enlarged while they waited for Remus to undress. Neither of them was planning on leaving, of course. But Remus didn't need to know that. They talked quietly through Remus' cries of pain, trying to distract themselves. It didn't really work, but it was the best method they'd found so far.

'Evening Moony!' James called out when the cries had turned to howls and finally died down to nothing.

There was a loud bark followed by a whimper and then a howl. James and Peter shared a glance before flinging their heads back and howling in unison. It was often difficult to tell Moony's mood, and tonight was one of the most difficult. James was pretty sure the wolf was upset that his pack was missing a member, but he also seemed to be enjoying the ball Sirius had given him for his birthday, running around the house like a mad thing, and barking in a way that sounded happy. Whatever he was feeling, he was wearing himself out, which was good. James just hoped it wouldn't cause Remus to sleep longer tomorrow. He'd be devastated if Sirius had to leave for home before he woke up.

After all the exercise, the wolf settled down to sleep a full hour before the moon was due to set. James and Peter waited fifteen minutes to be sure he was sound asleep before packing up and making their way back to the castle. They took their time, safely hidden by the invisibility cloak, enjoying the way the cold wind blew away the fatigue of their sleepless night, and pushed open the doors to the Hospital Wing at half-past six.

Madam Pomfrey poked her head out of her office and smiled when she saw them. 'I thought it'd be you two. How's Remus?'

'Pretty sure he didn't hurt himself,' James said as they crossed the ward to her office. 'So you don't need to rush down there.'

Remus had insisted the night before that she stay to check Sirius over when he woke before coming to get him, but James knew she'd be reluctant to leave him too long if he was injured.

'That's a relief.' She led them through to Sirius' room and conjured them some chairs to sit in while they waited. 'I'll come back in at seven,' she said as she left, leaving the door open.

James sank back into his chair and closed his eyes, just to rest them, but the next thing he knew, Madam Pomfrey was shaking him. 'He'll be awake any second, Mister Potter.'

James opened his eyes and looked to where his friend lay sleeping, just in time to see his eyelashes flutter. 'Sirius?'

'James?' he croaked, opening his eyes fully. 'What's going on?'