The moonsickness kicked in hard on Thursday morning, and Remus mutely accepted Sirius' assistance to climb out of bed and into the shower cubicle. Everything hurt. Even his eyes burned with tears from the pain. It took him five full minutes just to get his pyjamas off, but the hot, pressurised water helped a bit and by the time he emerged, he was at least able to walk unaided. Not that he needed to. Sirius was waiting for him, sitting on the counter next to the sink, and he jumped down and hurried over when Remus opened the cubicle door, holding out a potion bottle.

Remus' stomach flipped over and he lost the ability to breathe for a moment, thinking Sirius had found his stash of Forgetfulness potion, but the bottle was the wrong shape and the potion inside the wrong colour, and he realised it was the Invigoration draught Peter had given him for his birthday.

'You should take this,' Sirius said, handing it to him and sending a wave of his scent in Remus' direction with the movement of his arm. 'Can't have Lily noticing you're ill today.'

'Thanks,' Remus said, trying to ignore the sudden urge to push Sirius up against the counter and thoroughly snog him. Instead, he pulled out the stopper and took a large swallow from the bottle. The magic in the potion spread through him, leaving behind a gentle warmth that thrummed with energy. 'Oh, that feels good.'

'Yeah? Bubbles will be so pleased.' Sirius' whole face just lit up when he smiled, like a light was switched on just beneath his skin. He glowed when he was happy. And gods, he smelled incredible.

Remus stepped closer to him, wrapping his arms around his waist and nuzzling his face into Sirius' throat, where the scent was strongest with a deep hum of approval.

'And now I'm pleased,' Sirius said with a chuckle as he hugged Remus back. 'Can I get a kiss too? Or are you only interested in smelling me today?'

'If I kiss you, I might not stop.'

'Really?' Sirius sounded excited by the prospect, making Remus laugh into his neck and he hummed an affirmative.

'I feel a little… wild. I don't know if it's the moon, the potion, or the combination of the two, but…' He trailed off because when he lifted his head to look at Sirius, he lost his train of thought completely. All he could focus on was Sirius' lips and how much he wanted to feel them against his own. 'Fuck,' he said on a breath as he leaned in to kiss him hard, using his weight to force Sirius to walk backwards until he was trapped between Remus and the counter.

Sirius kissed him back willingly, but he put his hands on Remus' hips and pushed him back a little, forcing some space between them, and when Remus broke the kiss and moved to his throat, Sirius pushed him off completely. 'Nope, none of that. We've got breakfast in ten minutes. I don't have time to wait for the bruise paste to work.'

Remus growled, making Sirius grin, but he didn't argue. He could wait until later. Probably. If he tried really hard. Gods, why did Sirius have to smell so good? He was leaning back in, nuzzling into Sirius' neck before he even realised what he was doing.

Sirius groaned. 'Remus, we have to go.'

Remus ignored him. Sirius didn't understand that breakfast didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was Sirius' scent and making sure everyone knew it was his. He couldn't let Sirius go downstairs smelling so good without marking him first. He opened his mouth against Sirius' throat and sucked a wet kiss onto his skin before he was suddenly shoved back again.

'Remus, I said no.'

Remus stared at him through the haze, blinking slowly as his mind cleared, and then his eyes widened as he realised what he'd been doing. 'Shit. I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking.'

The small crease between Sirius' eyebrows deepened as he stared at him. 'Is this because we got rid of the cage?'

'What?'

'The cage you were keeping Moony in. We got rid of it, and now you're…' Sirius waved his hand. 'I don't know, all wolfy and shit. What were you thinking just now?'

'I'm not sure…' Remus tried to remember, but it was foggy. 'You smell good… We have to go to breakfast and there'll be other people there too… They'll smell you, and they need to know…'

'That I'm yours?' Sirius asked with a quirk of his eyebrow.

Remus nodded, watching his own face in the mirror over Sirius' shoulder as he flushed with embarrassment.

'Like I said, wolfy. You're trying to mark your territory again, like when you were jealous of James.' He started undoing the top buttons of his robes.

'What are you doing?' Remus asked, his eyes locking onto the movement of Sirius' fingers, watching with excitement building in his stomach as more of his pale skin was revealed.

'Well, if it's going to make you feel better,' Sirius said. 'I made you get rid of the cage, so this is sort of my fault. You'll have to do it where I can keep it hidden, though.' The top three buttons were open, and Sirius peeled back the material, revealing his collar bone to Remus. 'Go on then.'

Remus kissed him first. Hard. Wanting him to know how much he appreciated Sirius understanding something he didn't even understand himself. He felt all kinds of weird about the urge to mark him like an animal, but Sirius just accepted it as part of the package, and Remus couldn't be more grateful. When he stepped back to admire the mark he'd left with a satisfied smile, he felt relaxed again. All the wild feelings had dissipated, allowing room for the shame to make itself known. His smile quickly disappeared.

'Alright?' Sirius asked, because of course he noticed.

'Yeah, just…' Remus shrugged. 'Feel a bit…'

'You don't need to,' Sirius said, seeming to understand what Remus didn't say. He pressed a kiss to Remus' lips gently. 'I'm not judging you, and no one else needs to know.'

'It's so animalistic, though.'

'Well, lucky for you, I'm in to that, apparently.' Sirius buttoned his robes back up and turned around to check his reflection in the mirror. The mark was completely hidden by his clothes and he smiled, meeting Remus' eyes in the glass. 'I mean it. The whole thing is really turning me on.'

Remus snorted. 'You're beyond help, Twinkles.'

'Good thing I don't want help then,' Sirius said, turning around and smirking at him before dropping a kiss on the end of his nose. 'Come on. James and Peter already went down.'

Sirius stuck by his side so tightly that Remus didn't get a chance to take his daily dose of Forgetfulness potion before breakfast, so he made the excuse of needing the toilet again. But with it being the day of the full moon, Sirius followed him into the toilets, though he refrained from following him into a cubicle, thankfully. It was hard to retrieve the bottle from his bag without making any sounds to alert Sirius that he was doing something other than taking a piss, but he managed it, and swallowed it quickly before transfiguring the bottle into tissue and flushing it away.

Peter's Invigoration draught worked wonders. While it did absolutely nothing for the pain, it gave him the energy and the will to battle through it, and with Sirius close beside him, he was able to put on a façade of normality good enough to fool any and all nosy red-headed second-years until he was able to hide away in his dorm after lunch. And he spent the afternoon behind Sirius' bed curtains, wrapped in his arms and his scent, finally able to indulge the urge to snog him senseless.

Professor Tenebris was waiting for them at the end of the tunnel when they headed down to the Shrieking Shack that evening, the trapdoor sitting open behind her, and the sight sent a lurch through Remus' stomach. He knew testing the spell was necessary, and he trusted Professor Tenebris to keep them all safe, but that didn't make it any less terrifying.

'Everything is set up. Moony won't be able to get to us.'

'You're sure?' Remus asked.

'Positive.'

He had no real choice but to take her word for it, so he nodded and climbed up the ladder. 'Wait down there until I call you,' he said, realising he needed to get undressed and chuck his stuff down. Stripping off with his friends waiting in the passage below was weird enough, but doing it while Professor Tenebris was with them was absolutely mortifying, and he was even more careful than he normally was to keep his body out of sight as he dropped his bag back through the opening. After stashing his wand on the mantelpiece, he grabbed the fluffy blanket from the floor and made his way upstairs to lie on the bed.

'Alright, you can come up now.'

At Remus' call, Sirius moved towards the ladder first, climbing up and stepping to the side to wait for the others. They'd already taken the potion to hide their scent, so they wouldn't be bringing any human smell up with them to upset Moony. Hopefully, he'd be happy to see them and that would outweigh the sadness when they had to leave again.

The room was empty, of course. Remus would be upstairs, waiting for the transformation to start. He wouldn't want them to watch it, not when he didn't even like them listening to it. Just like the last time he'd been there, there was no fire in the fireplace, but the room was still warm. A little too warm, if he were honest. There were new scratches marring the floor and walls, mementos from some of Moony's more stressful moons that year, and dark splatters across both that Sirius didn't want to think too hard about.

'Where are the wards?' Peter asked once they were all through the trapdoor and Professor Tenebris had closed it.

'They're surrounding us, about three feet out, so stay close. We can pass through them, but Moony won't be able to.'

They stood together in a huddle, waiting, Sirius at the front as he would need space to move his arms, and ten minutes later the screaming started, making him wince. It was so much louder without the trapdoor to muffle it.

'That doesn't sound pleasant,' Professor Tenebris said behind him. 'I knew it was bad, but…'

'Yeah,' James said. 'You don't realise how bad until you hear it for yourself.'

'How long does it last?'

'It'll be about eight and a half minutes,' Sirius told her. 'We've noticed it gets a little bit quicker each time.'

She was quiet for a moment, and then, 'So when he was five…'

'Try not to think about it,' Sirius advised.

They fell silent after that, waiting and trying not to listen as Remus' body ripped itself apart and put itself back together again with him fully conscious throughout. When the noise ended, Sirius gripped his wand tighter and raised it, ready. He sure hoped Tenebris was as good at warding as she was at duelling, otherwise this was going to be a short experiment.

A growl came from above and Sirius tensed, his muscles preparing to run, but he held his ground. 'Evening, Moony,' he called. 'Are you coming down?'

'Why's he growling?' James asked. 'He doesn't normally growl at us?'

'Maybe he's nervous about the newcomer?' Peter said.

'It's okay, Moons. She's a friend,' Sirius called, wondering if Moony could sense that she was a vampire even though he couldn't smell her. If Remus' instincts warned him away from her, then Moony's probably would too, wouldn't they? The floorboards creaked above them, and they all glanced up at the ceiling before looking at the top of the stairs, and a moment later Moony's head appeared, his teeth bared in a snarl.

Eye contact was all Sirius needed to begin the spell, though, and he wasn't about to wait for Moony to get close enough to attack if the wards didn't hold for some reason. Lifting both his arms, he started the chant-like incantation and immediately felt the weird rushing in his ears as his mind swept out of his head and into Moony's.

The inside of Moony's mind looked nothing like Remus', proving once and for all that they were separate beings in their own right. Not that Sirius had ever thought otherwise. While Remus' mindscape was Hogwarts like Sirius' own, Moony's was a moonlit woodland. And not one Sirius recognised. Turning on the spot, he peered through the trees in every direction, just in case Moony happened to be nearby, but, of course, it wasn't that easy.

'Reperio,' he whispered, focusing on his mental image of the wolf, and immediately feeling the tugging in his chest as the tracking spell activated. Despite being inside Moony's mind, he still had awareness of what was happening outside of them both, and he was abruptly reminded that time was limited when Moony's front paw made contact with the next step down.

Breaking into a run, he followed the invisible rope pulling him further into the woodland, dodging trees and leaping over fallen branches and rocks as he went. Just as the real Moony finished his next step down the staircase, Sirius broke out into a clearing and found the mental Moony basking in the light from the full moon glowing directly above them. He was already looking in Sirius' direction when he spotted him, obviously having heard his approach—Sirius hadn't exactly been quiet—and Sirius stopped dead, skidding on the leaf-covered ground a little as he did so.

Moony growled at him, but Sirius didn't retreat. Changing his chanting and wand movements to begin the love magic, he smiled at Moony inside his head. 'Hey, Moony. It's me. I'm your friend, remember?'

Moony stood, responding to the magic, and perked his ears up, tilting his head in question.

'That's right. Good boy. Will you come with me to find Remus?'

The mental version of Moony yipped and trotted over to him at the same time as the real Moony took another step down with a throaty growl. He was running out of time, and he tried to swallow his fear as he petted Moony's head. The wolf rubbed up against him affectionately and then looked at him, waiting.

'Reperio,' Sirius whispered again, this time focusing on his mental image of Remus. The rope tugged him to the left, so he set off, and when Moony followed, he picked up speed until they were both running full tilt through the woodland side by side. One day, they'd do this for real, but for now, it was a pleasant taste of the future.

They broke out of the trees just as Moony took another step down the staircase, and Sirius slowed down a little in surprise as they approached a small cottage with a beautiful garden at the back. The rope was pulling him towards the back door, though, so he followed it, pushing the handle of the door down and breathing a sigh of relief when it opened for him.

Sirius stepped into a small kitchen with a dining table set against one wall and three chairs surrounding it. The top of the fourth chair could be seen poking up from behind the table where it touched the wall, obviously not frequently used. Moony followed him inside, but his ears were flat against his head, and Sirius reached out to stroke him, switching back to the love magic incantation briefly to comfort him. He clearly didn't want to be there. It worked, and Moony relaxed, leaning against him for a moment.

'Come on, Remus is this way,' Sirius said, walking through the kitchen and out into a short hallway. There was a doorway to his left, and he glanced through the opening to see what looked like a muggle living room. A TV sat against the wall opposite the sofa with a low table between them, two glasses half-filled with yellow liquid atop it.

The rope was tugging him to the right, though, so he turned away from the living room and walked down the short hallway to the two doors at the end. One was open, and peeking inside showed it to be the master bedroom. The bed was neatly made with flowery covers, and there was a dressing table containing a hairbrush and a small bag. The other door was closed, and that was the one the rope was telling him Remus was behind. There was a lock just beneath the handle, and the key was sitting in it, so Sirius reached out and turned it, hearing the lock click, and then he turned the handle.

Remus was inside, sitting on a bare mattress on a small single bed. There was nothing in the room but the bed, a chest of drawers, and a completely empty desk. And it looked like the floor used to be carpeted in blue, but there wasn't much left of it.

'Hey. Where are we?'

'My home,' Remus said. 'This is my bedroom.'

'It looks so different, I didn't even recognise it. Where's all your stuff?'

Remus shrugged. 'We took everything out when I transformed in here. This is how Moony would know it.'

Outside, in reality, Moony was two steps from the bottom, so Sirius clapped his hands together. 'Right, you and I need to leave. Moony, hey, there's a good boy.' Sirius ruffled the fur between his ears. 'You're going to stay in here for me for a few minutes, okay?'

Moony whined and flattened his ears back against his head.

'Go, Remus,' Sirius said, jerking his head at the door as he switched back to the love magic for a moment. 'It's okay, Moony. You won't be here for very long, I promise. It's just for a minute.'

Moony whined again, but he trotted over and jumped up onto the bed, curling into a ball and gazing at Sirius with sad eyes.

'Good boy,' Sirius said, backing towards the door. 'I'll see you soon, okay?' He pulled the door closed behind him, turning the key to lock it, and then he finally allowed the fear that he'd been suppressing to come to the surface so he could send a message to Peter. Now!

Next to his physical body, Peter raised his wand. Moony had reached the bottom of the stairs and he was still growling at them. Either the scent-suppressing potion wasn't strong enough to work against the werewolf's senses, or Moony was responding to Professor Tenebris' presence as a threat. Whatever it was, it didn't matter because Peter completed his part of the spell and at the same moment as Sirius and Remus were transported to the clearing where he'd found the mental Moony, the real Moony toppled over with a thump.

'What happened?' Sirius asked, his voice coming out louder than necessary in his panic. 'Are you in control?'

'No,' Remus said. 'I can see out of Moony's eyes, but I can't make him move. I can smell you all, though. The potion isn't working. Gods… it's distracting.'

'Why isn't it working?' Sirius asked.

'I don't know, but we can figure it out later. You all need to leave before this wears off.'

'Right, yeah. See you in the morning, then.'

'Yeah. Bye.'

Sirius dropped his arms, ending the connection, and the part of his mind that he'd sent out came rushing back.

'Remus is connected,' Sirius said. 'He can see and smell us, but he can't make the body move. We need to leave. Now.'

Professor Tenebris was already opening the trapdoor, and she ushered them all down the ladder quickly before following them, pulling the trapdoor closed behind her and locking it with a flick of her wand.

'That was fast,' Professor Tenebris said. 'About seven seconds. Well done.'

'Yeah, great, but it didn't work, did it?' Sirius said. 'Remus couldn't move the wolf.'

'Yes, something is missing,' Professor Tenebris said. 'He was there, but also not.'

A deep growl came from above, and they all froze, looking up. It was followed by a mournful howl and then a thump as Moony threw himself against something.

'Shit,' James said. 'He sounds upset.'

'I think I should leave,' Professor Tenebris said. 'If he can sense a stranger is here, it might upset him more. We can discuss what when wrong on Tuesday.'

They all said goodbye to her, and James pulled the blankets out of his bag. It wasn't cold enough to need them yet, but it would be later on. Moony continued barking and throwing himself against the wall, sounding desperate to get to them, and Sirius hated himself for upsetting him so much. Especially since the spell hadn't even worked. Why hadn't it worked?

When the wolf woke up the day after escaping, the day after he ran from the Fighter, he wasn't surprised to find himself back where he'd started. He'd never been able to avoid whatever it was that moved him while he slept, and escape would probably never last beyond the time he lay down to rest. He was surprised, and a little afraid, to sense a fourth presence nearby. Afraid, because this one felt lethal.

Growling deep in his throat, he climbed down from the soft place and crept towards the slope that led down, and that's when the scent reached his nose. The delicious scent—the one that came from the creatures that stood on two legs and carried pain sticks, the same type of creature the Fighter was—drifted up from below, but with it was another scent, and the new one smelled even better.

He rounded the bend and stepped onto the slope, which brought the lower level into view, and he saw where the smell was coming from. His stomach twisted with the realisation that the Fighter was inside his space, and with him, three others. He could feel them. Two were his other packmates, the Watcher and the Protected, and the last was the one that frightened him. His packmates weren't safe standing so close to that creature. But they weren't safe being so close to him, either.

He knew it somewhere deep inside. If he stayed with them, he would hurt them. And he couldn't bear to do that.

He could try to chase the newcomer away from them, though. If he could find how they'd entered.

Still growling, hoping the threatening sound would scare the creature away, he took another step and then something strange happened. Inside, he was outside. He shook his head, trying to get rid of the strangeness, but it didn't budge. There were two of him. One was there, in his space, walking down the slope, and the other was outside, lying on the soft springy stuff in the light from the glowing circle in the sky.

He didn't understand, but then there was a noise, and his outside self looked up. The Fighter ran out of the trees and stopped, staring at him. But the Fighter was here too, in his space, next to the dangerous creature. The one outside made noises, and the wolf felt safe, like he wanted to follow the Fighter, so he did. And they ran. For so long they ran together through the trees, and it was wonderful. Everything was right in the world while he ran with his packmate. The Fighter here was making noises too, and he was waving his pain stick around, so the wolf continued to growl and took another step down the slope.

The wolf and the Fighter that were outside slowed as they left the trees. He recognised this place, and he didn't want to go there, but the Fighter was moving towards it, so he followed, flattening his ears back against his head with a whine. As they stepped inside, the Fighter noticed his distress and pressed his front paw to the top of his head. It sent warmth through him, making him feel safe, and he leant against him for a moment in thanks.

At the same time, in his space, the wolf took another step down the slope. He was almost at the bottom now, and the creature wasn't leaving, but he was prepared to fight for his packmates if he had to.

The Fighter led him exactly where he didn't want to go. It was the first space he'd ever known, and he hadn't been back there since he'd escaped it. He didn't want to ever go back there, but the Fighter opened the wall and walked inside. With a whimper, the wolf tucked his tail between his legs as he followed, sticking close to the Fighter's heels.

Inside was another one of the creatures, but the wolf didn't recognise this one. It didn't look like any of his packmates who were still standing with the other creature in his space, and it didn't feel familiar. It seemed like it knew him, though, and it hated him. He could feel it radiating from the creature in waves, and the wolf pressed closer to the Fighter as he made noises at the new creature.

The new creature stood, and the Fighter turned back to the wolf, making more noises that he didn't understand, but it felt like the Fighter wanted him to stay there, and he didn't want to. He flattened his ears against his head and whined, but the warmth and safety wrapped itself around him again, urging him to comply, so he leapt up onto the soft thing he always woke up on when he was trapped there, and led down, staring at the Fighter sadly as he left with the new creature that hated him.

Why was the Fighter leaving with the creature that hated him?

The wolf stepped off of the slope and crouched, ready to pounce at the deadly creature threatening his pack, when the Protected raised his own pain stick, waving it through the air, and then they all disappeared. There was only one of him again, but it was the one back in his first space, alone. The him that had been with his pack was gone, leaving them alone with the deadly creature.

The wolf had escaped this space once. He could do it again.

But nothing he did worked. No matter how much he threw his body at the wall, it didn't break as it had before, and it didn't hurt, either, which was strange. He tried for what felt like days, but he couldn't get out, and then suddenly he was back in the clearing, but only for a second before his surroundings changed again. This time he was lying on the floor of his space, with the delicious smell filling his nose again, but his packmates were gone, along with the dangerous creature. Had it taken them? He growled at the thought.

They were still nearby, though. He could feel them under the floor where they usually were. Climbing to his feet, he tipped his head back and howled out his distress, before running at the shape on the floor, but before he could reach it, he collided with something, hard. And this time, it did hurt. He shook his head and looked to see what he'd run into, but there was nothing there. He tried again, but there was definitely something stopping him from reaching the shape on the floor. Something he couldn't see.

For a while, he tried to get through, but it was useless, and he couldn't feel the dangerous creature anymore, so he gave up, turning away. The scent of his pack still filled the space, making his muscles tense to chase it down and his teeth ache to bite it, but he couldn't, and he wouldn't, so he shook his head with a huff and trotted towards the slope, returning to the soft thing where he'd woken up. The air was clearer there, and he could think better, so he curled up, laying his head on his front paws and closed his eyes.

His pack had been inside his space, and then they'd left. That meant they knew how to get in and out, which meant they could let him out. So why hadn't they? Were they the ones keeping him trapped? And if they were, then why?

Then there was the question of what happened to him earlier. How could there have been two of him, both occupying different places at the same time? It didn't make any sense and trying to understand made his head ache, so he stopped with a huff. It had ended when the Protected waved his pain stick. Had he made it stop? Or had he been the one doing it in the first place?

Could he trust his packmates? He wasn't sure anymore.

The intermittent thumps above them went on for around twenty minutes before they stopped, and everything went silent.

'Did he knock himself out?' James asked after a couple of minutes without a single sound, genuinely concerned.

'I don't think that's possible,' Sirius said. 'If it was, he'd have done it before now.'

'So what's he doing then?' Peter asked.

'I don't know.'

'Maybe he's just lying down for a rest,' James said hopefully, not really believing it. He wouldn't usually be silent for so long unless he was settling down for moonset, and that was still hours away.

Sirius didn't respond, but a moment later he cupped his hands around his mouth and howled. There was no response and Sirius sagged. 'He's mad at us.'

James winced, looking up at the trapdoor. 'Do you think?'

'He knows we can get in and out now. Of course, he's mad at us.'

'I hope he doesn't think we're the ones keeping him locked up,' Peter said.

'I bet that's exactly what he thinks,' Sirius spat, picking up his bag and launching it at the wall of the tunnel. 'Fuck! I knew this was a bad idea. I said I didn't want to do it. But no one ever listens to me, do they?'

'It was Remus' choice to make,' James said, trying to calm him down.

'Remus hates Moony. Why would he care if Moony's sad? We shouldn't have left it up to him.'

'I didn't think he did hate him that much anymore,' James said.

'No, he does. Way more than I thought, too.'

'How do you know?'

'Because of what I saw in his head. I'm not going to tell you. That's private. But it was pretty clear how he felt.'

James nodded, not pushing for details, though he was more than curious. 'What can we do about that?'

Sirius shrugged. 'I don't know. He doesn't want to hear it.'

'It's because of Easter,' Peter said. 'He was feeling better towards Moony before that, but…'

'But Moony bit someone, and Remus won't forgive him,' Sirius finished.

'Yeah.'

Sirius let his head fall back against the wall of the tunnel, huffing out a harsh breath. 'Fuck Voldemort. I swear, if I ever see that ugly motherfucker, I'll kill him.'

'You and your death threats,' James said, hoping for a chuckle, but he didn't get one.

'I mean it, James. I Solemnly Swear, if I lay eyes on him, I'm casting a Killing curse right at his heart for what he's done to Remus.'

'Do you even know the incantation?'

'No, but I'm sure my father does.'

'And you think he'll tell you?'

'Sure, why wouldn't he?'

'Um, because it's an illegal curse?'

Sirius just raised an eyebrow at him.

'Oh, yeah. Right. Your family doesn't care about that kind of thing.' And finally, that got a snort out of Sirius.

'No, they definitely don't.'

'You have to mean it, though,' Peter said. 'You have to really want him to die.'

'Not a problem,' Sirius said with so much conviction that it sent a shiver down James' spine. He wasn't sure he could ever hate someone enough to want them dead.

But all he said was, 'Well, let me know if you need an alibi.'

'Thanks, mate,' Sirius replied, letting his head drop onto James' shoulder.

'Me too,' Peter agreed. 'Whatever story you give the Aurors, I'll back you up.'

Sirius chuckled. 'A Marauder always comes to a fellow Marauders' aid, even if it involves murder, huh?'

'Even if,' James said.

'Not if it involves spiders, though,' Peter said. 'Then you're on your own.'

Sirius lifted his head at that. 'Wow, Bubbles. Nice to know where you draw the line.'

Peter shrugged. 'You have to draw it somewhere.'

'I would eat a spider if you needed me to. But you won't even help me if I'm threatened by one? I'm devastated. Absolutely devastated.'

'Gross,' Peter said, shuddering. 'Are you saying you don't have a line?'

'Yes.'

'There's nothing you wouldn't do for us? Nothing at all?'

'No. Nothing.'

'You'd die for us?'

'Without a second's hesitation.'

'You'd go to Azkaban for us?'

'Obviously,' Sirius said. 'That's a yes for all of us, isn't it? We're all willing to go to Azkaban for Remus, or Project Gateway wouldn't exist.'

'Good point. Alright, would you shave your head for us?'

Sirius hesitated. 'I can't imagine a circumstance where I'd actually need to do that for you, but if it was the only way to save your life for some bizarre reason, then… yeah, still no. Okay, so I do have a line.'

'I knew it,' Peter said, looking smug.

'What's your line, Sunshine?'

'I don't know,' he said, thinking about it. 'I guess I wouldn't hurt any of you for another one of you, or my parents. I wouldn't hurt my parents for you.'

Sirius shook his head. 'No, that's a normal line. Obviously, Pete and I wouldn't do those things either. Well, I'd hurt my mother for you. Do you want me to hurt my mother for you?'

'No, Sirius.'

'Damn. It was worth a shot. Anyway, we want to know your ridiculous line. What thing wouldn't you do that would be ridiculously easy for other people?'

James hummed. 'I don't know.'

'Would you give up Quidditch for us?' Sirius asked.

'Yes.'

'Flying?'

'Yes.'

'Eat nothing but junk food for the rest of your life?' Peter asked.

James hesitated, but, 'If that's what it took, yeah.'

'Wow, Okay. I thought I'd have you with that one. Hm.'

'Give up your voice?' Sirius said.

'Oh, come on,' James said. 'That's not fair.'

'Think we found his line, Bubbles,' Sirius said, laughing.

'On what planet would I ever need to give up my voice to save you?' James asked.

'The same one where I'd need to cut off my hair to save you,' Sirius told him.

'The planet of spiders,' Peter said with a solemn nod, and then they all burst out laughing.

'Right,' James said, checking his watch. It was coming up to half-past eleven, so he pushed the blanket off his legs. 'I need to get going. Don't want Lily to look out the window and see me flying back up to the Tower. I'll be back as soon as I can.'

'For the record, I still think this Polyjuice plan is absolutely bonkers,' Peter said.

'Me too,' Sirius agreed. 'Which is why I love it.'

James snorted. 'It's definitely going to be one of the strangest stunts we've ever pulled.' He felt his pockets to make sure he had the enchanted pouch containing his broomstick and cloak and then glanced up at the trapdoor. 'Bye, Moons. Back soon.' There was no response, but he hadn't really expected one.

When he reached the end of the passage, he pulled his cloak over his head before pulling out his broom and enlarging it. The cloak wouldn't hide him completely while he was flying, but it would make any parts of him that were visible harder to spot. It was tricky, reaching around to press on the knot from inside the tunnel, but he'd done it a few times by that point, and it only took him two attempts before he got it. The first time he'd had to duck back inside to keep a flailing branch from taking his head off.

The flight up to the Tower was straightforward, and he soared in through the dormitory window, which they'd left open, and landed in the middle of the room smoothly. He still had twenty minutes before he needed to meet Lily, so he chucked the broom onto his bed and hurried into the bathroom. If he was quick, he could take a shower and change his clothes. He was dirty from both the Shack and the tunnel, and he probably didn't smell too great. Facing down an angry werewolf tended to make a person sweat.

By the time he finished, he was running five minutes late, but that was fine. He could make an excuse. After one last scan through his mental checklist to make sure he had everything—wand, Cloak, two ingredient bottles, Snitch-O-Scope, Notebook—he left the room and hurried down the stairs.

Lily was waiting for him on the sofa in front of the unlit fireplace. 'I was about to come up and see where you'd got to.'

'Sorry, fell asleep,' he said, giving mental thanks to Merlin that she hadn't. All the empty beds would have been hard to explain. 'Are you ready?'

'Yeah, and I know where we can get the Fluxweed. I've not been able to find any Knotgrass, though.'

'I know where there's a patch. It's right on the other side of the Lake though, so it'll be a long walk.'

She shrugged. 'That's alright. It's a nice night for it.'

While it wasn't raining, it was cold and windy, so James wasn't sure he would have described it as a nice night for a long walk. He wasn't going to argue with her about it, though. They were wixen; they could cast warming charms on themselves. 'Let's go then.'

There was nothing quite like the thrill of sneaking through the castle after dark, knowing you weren't supposed to be there. It wasn't that he liked breaking rules for the sake of breaking rules—there were some rules he wouldn't dream of breaking—he just thought of them more as guidelines. "Don't do this," just meant, "This activity may be dangerous, so take extra care," and that's what he did. He wouldn't sneak out after curfew without making sure someone knew where he was going and when he'd be back, and he had his Notebook in the case of an emergency.

There was also nothing quite like the joy of spending time alone with Lily. She was smart and funny. And gods, she was so pretty, especially when she smiled at him. It made the butterflies that lived in his stomach go crazy when she smiled at him.

So combining the two, sneaking through the castle after curfew with just Lily, was a whole new level of emotion. He didn't even have a word for what he was feeling, couldn't put a name to it, but he liked it. Oh, he liked it very much. He would like to feel this way all the time, every day, for the rest of his life, please and thank you.

They were huddled together under the cloak as they moved through the castle, but once they reached the lake, they pulled it off and James tucked it away into his enchanted pouch. No one would be able to see them so far from the castle in the dark.

Lily glanced up at the sky, the moon full and round above them, and sighed. 'It's beautiful, isn't it? It's hard to imagine something so lovely could cause so much suffering. I hope the werewolf is having an easy night.'

'Yeah, me too,' James said, thinking about Moony and hoping he'd get over his sulk before morning. Sirius was going to be inconsolable if Moony continued to ignore them. 'You know, I've been thinking that maybe we shouldn't do this.'

'What? The Polyjuice?'

James shook his head. 'Not just that. I mean all of it. Finding out who the Marauders are.'

Lily frowned. 'Why not? I'm not going to tell anyone else, and I hope you won't either.'

'No, of course, I wouldn't. It's just that you said Sunshine knows you're trying to work out who he is, so the werewolf must know, too. I think that might be really scary for them.'

'Oh. Because they'll think I might tell people?'

'Yeah.'

'Well, when I figure it out, I'll tell them that I won't and it'll be fine.'

James held back a groan. It had been worth a try, but he hadn't really expected it to work. She was far too stubborn when she'd decided on something to be swayed off course that easily. He'd learned that when they'd played Merlin's Adventure as a team. What a nightmare that had been. A fun nightmare, but still, she was impossible to argue with.

'I guess.'

She smiled at him brightly. 'Great. So when do you want to brew the Polyjuice?'

'Saturday shouldn't be a problem,' James said. On Sunday he'd be tired after epically pulling off Operation Oblivious Librarian In true Marauder style during the night, so he'd rather get it out of the way.

'That's good for me, too. We should start straight after breakfast in case we do something wrong and have to start again. Meet in the common room?'

'Yeah. Where are we doing the brewing?'

'Oh, we have a room for that,' Lily said, shooting him a grin. 'I'll show you on Saturday.'

James laughed. 'You are full of surprises, aren't you?'

'I just did a lot of exploring when I first got here,' she said with a shrug. 'There wasn't a lot to do back home, so me and Sev used to just wander around getting lost and finding our way back again. It's a good way to learn your way around, so I did that here too.'

'Sev?' James asked, wrinkling his nose. 'You mean Sni-ape?' He managed to change the word halfway through saying it, but she noticed.

'Please, don't make me mad at you right now.'

'I didn't say it.'

'You were going to.'

'It's a habit. I'm sorry. I didn't realise you knew him before Hogwarts.'

'Yeah, we live near each other. We were friends for a few years before school. He told me I was a witch before I got my letter.'

That explained a lot. Snivellus had introduced her to a whole new world. It was no wonder she was so protective of him. James tried to imagine believing magic was fiction, only to learn it was real and you could access it. 'You must have been so excited.'

Lily laughed. 'Eventually, yeah. At first, I was angry at him for being so mean to me.'

'He was mean when he told you?'

'He came running up to me out of nowhere and called me a witch. I was furious.'

James frowned. 'Why would that make you mad? I don't understand.'

She laughed again. 'In muggle children's stories, witches are usually the bad guys, so calling someone a witch is an insult.'

'Oh, so that didn't go well for him then?' James thought muggles could maybe try not being so prejudiced, but he only narrowly avoided an argument over Snivellus, so he wasn't going to push it.

'No, but once I calmed down, I let him explain himself, and he showed me… Okay, promise you won't tell, because he could get into trouble for this, and I know you don't like him, so you have to promise and really mean it.'

'I swear on my life,' James said. 'I won't tell. That's not how I do things.'

She narrowed her eyes, searching his face, and once she was satisfied, she continued. 'He stole his mum's wand and showed me a spell. I believed him then.'

'What spell?'

'Just a simple levitation charm. It didn't seem simple at the time, though. It was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen.'

'I can't imagine seeing magic for the first time,' James said. 'I've always just been surrounded by it. It seems normal to me.'

'I hope it never feels normal for me. I never want to stop being amazed by it.'

'Muggle technology, though,' James said. 'Now that's amazing. I went to Pete's house at Christmas and his kettle had this string that plugs into the wall, and you press a swish, no, hang on… switch! You press a switch and it just heats up the water. No magic or anything. And he has this special cupboard that stays cold without a Cooling charm. He called it a… I don't remember.'

'A refrigerator.'

'Yes! That's it! Do you have one too?'

'Yeah, pretty much everyone has one.' Lily's eyes were sparkling with laughter, and James wanted to keep it there forever.

'How do they work?'

'I have no idea.'

James laughed. 'Maybe I'll find out in Muggle Studies next year and then I can tell you.'

That got them talking about the subjects they'd be taking the following year, and Lily got into a passionate speech about why she wanted to take the three most difficult subjects Hogwarts offered. It boiled down to a desire to understand how magic worked at the most elementary level.

'No wonder you and Remus get along so well,' James commented when she showed signs of winding down. He'd enjoyed listening to her and would happily do so for the rest of the night if she felt so inclined, but they were nearing the patch of Fluxweed so he needed her to return to reality for a few minutes.

'What do you mean?'

'You're both giant nerds about magic.'

'And just when I was starting to like you, you have to go and be an enormous dick.'

'What?' James yelped, startled by the sudden anger in her voice. 'What did I say?'

'What do you mean, "what did you say?" You just insulted me. And Remus, who's supposed to be your friend.'

'Oh. I see. You think nerd is a bad thing. I didn't mean it like that. Lumos.' The end of his wand lit up a dim yellow and James shone it along the bank of the lake until it fell on a patch of delicate purple flowers. 'The Fluxweed is over there.'

'What do you mean, "you didn't mean it like that?" Are you trying to convince me nerd means something different in the magical world?'

'I don't know. What does it mean in the muggle world?' James crouched down next to the plants, pulling one of the bottles out of his pocket and removing the lid to start collecting them.

Lily joined him, breaking one of the plants off at ground level and pushing it into the neck of the bottle. 'It's a mean name for someone who likes school and doesn't have many friends,' she said quietly.

James turned his head to look at her, but her eyes were trained on the plants in front of them. He got the distinct impression she'd been called that before. 'That's horrible. I didn't mean it like that at all. To me, it just means you're really interested in something, like I'm a giant nerd about Quidditch, and Pete's a giant nerd about Potions. Remus is interested in so many things that Sirius calls him Nerd Boy as a pet name. But I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings.'

'No, it's okay,' she said. 'Let's just put it down to cultural differences, yeah?'

'Sounds good to me,' James said with a smile. He harvested another sprig of Fluxweed, pushing it into the bottle, and then smirked at her. 'So, you're starting to like me?'

'Don't push your luck, Potter.'

'I'm not. Just, on a scale of one to ten, where one is "hate with a burning passion," and ten is, "want to marry and have his babies" where do I stand, exactly?'

She blinked at him. 'Want to marry and have his babies?'

'Really? That high already?'

'No! Oh my God, that's not… I was asking why ten is that. Why not, I don't know, "I'd trust him with my life," or something?'

James plucked another sprig from the plant while he tried to think of an answer that wasn't, "because I plan to marry you one day," because that would no doubt scare the living shit out of her while they were so far from the school in the middle of the night. 'It was just the thing that came to mind when I thought about what the maximum version of liking someone would be.'

'Right well, let's just pretend you didn't say that,' she said. 'On a scale of one to ten, where one is "hate with a burning passion," and ten is, "I'd trust with my life," I'd say you're at about a five.'

James nodded. 'And where was I at the beginning of the year?'

'A one.'

James nodded again, pulling the corners of his mouth down. 'I'm doing pretty well then. Good for me. And I think we've got enough Fluxweed for two attempts now. Where did you say the Knotgrass was?'

'I didn't. It's near Hagrid's house, so we'll have to wear the cloak when we're getting it. He's probably asleep, but you never know.'

'Yeah,' James said, trying not to let his worry come through in his voice. They would have to walk right by the Whomping Willow to get to Hagrid's house. But there was no reason for either Sirius or Peter to leave the passage, and Moony was being uncharacteristically quiet that night, so she shouldn't see or hear anything. 'Better safe than caught.'

'Exactly.'

During the walk back around the lake they talked about their plans for the holidays, James telling her about his family's trip to France with Sirius, Remus, and Peter, and Lily telling him her plans to spend a week at Mary's house, and Mary a week at hers. She went on a long, rambling tangent about where she lived and all the secret, hidden places she'd found in the area, and James listened avidly, soaking up every detail she gave him and asking questions when she seemed to run out of things to say so she'd start up again.

Eventually, they reached the other side of the Lake and James pulled the cloak back out. Seeing what he was doing, Lily moved closer so he could throw it around their shoulders, and then she did something that shocked all the breath from his lungs. She took his hand, pulling him in the direction of Hagrid's hut. His entire arm tingled, and he went willingly, not daring to say anything in case she realised and took it away again.

But she didn't. She held onto his hand all the way down past the Whomping Willow—which he still had the presence of mind to note she didn't even glance at—and continued until they'd skirted Hagrid's hut to reach a patch of wasteland near the edge of the Forest.

'There,' she whispered, finally releasing him so she could point. 'Should be enough, right?'

'Looks like plenty,' James agreed, pulling the second bottle from his pocket.

They picked the tiny green plants without speaking, just in case Hagrid decided to leave his hut for some reason. There wasn't much wind so close to the Forest, and their voices would carry easily in the silence of the night. It didn't take long, and soon they were moving back toward the castle. Lily didn't take his hand again, and James debated taking hers for several minutes before ultimately deciding against it. Maybe he was being cowardly, but he didn't want to push for too much, too fast. He was still only at a five on the scale, after all.

When they reached the Common room, Lily wished him a good night, disappearing up the stairs to the girls' dormitories, and James retreated up the steps to his own, waiting fifteen minutes before mounting his broom to fly back out of the window and down to the Whomping Willow, just in case. He didn't think it was necessary. She didn't seem like she suspected he was anything to do with the Marauders, but like he'd said earlier, it was better to be safe than caught.

It was still quite early when Remus peeled his eyes open. He could tell by the paleness of the light coming in through the window of his private room. The sun would hit the window from mid-morning, and it hadn't yet, so it couldn't be any later than ten. After a few cautious movements, he was confident that he wasn't injured, and his pain level was reasonable for the morning following a full moon.

All of this sent a bolt of fear through him, and he pushed himself into a sitting position with his heart beating out of his chest. There was no one there. No extra beds for werewolf victims, but no sign of his friends either. It was before ten on a Friday. They didn't have class, and if they hadn't been hurt, they would be there waiting for him to wake up. So they must be—

We're fine Moony, and Sirius will be there soon to explain everything James' voice said in his head, and he collapsed back onto the bed as a wave of relief sapped every ounce of strength from his muscles. The tracking spell was a nightmare most of the time, but it certainly came in useful occasionally.

The new door to his room opened ten minutes later, and his boyfriend strolled in with a cheery, 'Morning, Moonbeam. How are you feeling?'

Sirius had dark shadows under his eyes but he was smiling, which should be reassuring, but he'd smiled last month too. 'Did I hurt anyone?'

'No. You never even got anywhere near us. The spell worked. Mostly. Don't you remember?' Sirius asked, sliding onto the bed next to him. Remus snuggled up to him gratefully, taking a deep breath of his scent. Unlike the previous day, it didn't trigger any strange feelings in him, just eased the ache in his joints and muscles as it always did.

'I remember something,' Remus said slowly, trying to think through the fog of sleep. The memory was there, but it was incomplete. More like a collection of muggle photos than a film. 'It feels like a dream. I was in my bedroom at home, I think?'

Sirius nodded. 'Yeah, you said it was your bedroom, but it was empty and the carpet was all torn up. That's where Moony was keeping you. He was hanging out in the woods outside.'

'That's where he went when he broke out of the bedroom. I woke up there and had to find my way home.'

'After a moon? You must have been exhausted.'

'Yeah, it took me most of the day. But what happened last night? I think I remember seeing you all in the Shack.'

Sirius nodded. 'Yeah, like I said, the spell worked, mostly. We suppressed Moony's consciousness and connected you to Moony's body. You said you could see and smell us, but you couldn't move him. He just collapsed to the floor in a heap. It was really scary.'

Remus frowned. Why hadn't it worked? They'd done everything right, he was sure of it. What were they missing? 'Well, at least you were able to stop him in his tracks, even if it didn't work quite as well as we'd hoped. It's better than nothing.'

'We're not giving up,' Sirius said, sounding incredulous. 'We'll figure it out. I'm sure Professor Tenebris is already working on it.'

'Probably,' Remus said, tilting his head to look at him, which prompted Sirius to press a kiss to his lips. Remus hummed in approval but pulled back after a few seconds. 'Where were you earlier?'

'Doing cover-up with Lily. James is currently pretending to be you, and he told her that James is in the Hospital Wing suffering from suspected Spattergroit. When you're released, he's going to tell her it was actually me playing a joke on him, and I'll pretend to have detention with Madam Pomfrey for wasting her time.'

'That's quite a convoluted plan.'

'Well, there wasn't a lot to do last night. I think Moony's mad at us. After he woke up from the spell, he tried to get out for a bit, and then he went upstairs and ignored us for the rest of the night.'

'I'm sure he'll get over it,' Remus said.

'I don't know. He knows we have a way in and out of his prison now. He's got to be wondering why we don't let him out.'

Remus sighed. He didn't want to talk about the wolf. It was a monster, so who cared if it was upset? 'There's nothing you can really do about it,' he said, hoping Sirius would drop the subject.

'No, that's true. Not until we complete Project Gateway, anyway.'

And even that didn't make him feel warm and cared for anymore. They were doing it for the wolf, not for him. Not really. Remus didn't say anything in response, just made a noise of agreement and hoped it was enough.

'Is your throat hurting you?' Sirius asked, his voice concerned. 'I'm sorry. I should have asked if you'd had your potion yet.'

'I haven't, and yeah, a bit.'

'Let me up, then.'

Remus lifted his head so Sirius could slide out from under him, and he went to the door, cracking it open to peek out. A second later, he pulled it wide and stepped through, returning after a few seconds with a goblet. 'She's on the ward, treating someone, but she left this in her office for you.'

'Thanks,' Remus said, sitting up so Sirius could pass it to him and taking a long sip through the straw. It was thick and cold, and soothed his burning throat as it slipped down, making him hum. 'That's better.'

Checking his watch, Sirius pulled a face. 'I have to go to Charms, but I'll come back for you at lunchtime, okay?'

The moment he was gone, Remus reached for his bag, listening for any sign of Madam Pomfrey approaching. He'd packed a dose of Forgetfulness potion in there the day before, transfiguring the bottle to look like an inkpot, and he pulled it out, downing it quickly and sighing as the weight in his chest lifted.

Lily was buzzing with excitement as she waited for James to meet her in the Common room on Saturday morning. His Spattergroit scare the day before had worried her, but thankfully it had turned out to be Sirius playing a stupid joke on him. It wasn't safe to brew potions alone, and there was no one else who knew enough about what she was doing that she could trust to help her with this one.

God, what a weird position to be in, with James Potter, of all people, the only one she could trust. How had she ended up here? Nine months ago, she never would have dreamed of sharing any of her secrets with him, and now she was on the verge of showing him one of the biggest ones she had. It was crazy how much could change in such a short amount of time.

She was so deep in thought that she didn't notice when he finally arrived and she almost jumped out of her skin when a voice said, 'Hey, you ready to go?' right next to her ear.

'Christ alive! Stop sneaking up on me like that.'

James laughed. 'Why? It's funny.'

'Because one day, I might hex you.' Lily picked up her bag and stood up.

James grinned. 'I'd like to see you try. Go on, point your wand at me. I bet I hex you first.'

'God. You're so arrogant sometimes,' Lily said, trying to remember why it was she liked him all of a sudden.

'Not really. I just know how fast I am.'

'I beat you at spots.'

'Yeah, but I beat you when we duelled.'

'I suppose that's true,' she allowed. 'Doesn't mean you'll win every time, though. Are we going?'

James nodded and started moving towards the portrait. 'Well, when you're ready to find out, point your wand at me. I dare you.'

'Same to you, Potter,' Lily replied, tossing her hair over her shoulder. 'Point your wand at me, and we'll see who comes out on top.'

James started laughing uncontrollably at that, and Lily frowned at him. What on earth was so funny?

'Sorry,' James said, trying to talk while he caught his breath. 'Sorry, but that was an unfortunate way for you to word that.'

Lily felt her face warming when she thought back over what she'd said and realised what he was getting at. 'Oh my God, James,' she said, lightly slapping his arm with a laugh.

'What? You said it.'

'Yeah, but I didn't mean it like that, and you know it.'

'Well, when you've been living with Sirius as long as I have, you start looking for dirty jokes in everything.' James pushed on the back of the portrait and stepped through the hole when it opened. 'It's a survival tactic.'

'I can imagine,' she said, climbing through after him. 'It's this way.' She stopped. 'Actually, before I show you, I want you to promise you won't show anyone else, ever.'

'Not even Sirius, Remus, and Peter? I don't really have secrets from them.'

'Did you tell them what I told you about Sev?'

James shook his head. 'No, that's your secret, not mine. But if you show me a secret room in the castle, I don't think I can not tell them about that, so if you don't want them to know, then we should do this somewhere else.'

She looked at him for a moment, kind of impressed by his honesty, and then shook her head. 'Fine, you can tell them, but they have to promise not to tell anyone else too. I don't want everyone finding out about this.'

'I'll make them promise.'

'Good. Right, come on then.'

She led him down the corridor to the room she'd found back at the beginning of first year. It was one of her first discoveries, and she'd found it completely by accident when she was homesick and looking for somewhere private to cry about it. The surprise of it had blown the desire to cry right out of her head, though.

'Wait,' James said when she stopped. He was looking at the tapestry on the wall opposite where the door would appear. 'This is where Remus said the staircase was.'

'Staircase?'

'Yeah, he said there was a staircase here that led straight out to the grounds.'

'There's no staircase. It's just a room, but… well, wait and see.' She walked back and forth in front of the blank stretch of wall, three times, focusing on her need for a private room, and the door appeared just as it had the first time.

James' mouth opened in surprise—which was extremely satisfying—and he blinked three times before turning to her. 'How did you do that? You didn't say anything, or use your wand, or anything.'

She shrugged, reaching for the handle to push the door open. 'I just thought about what I wanted, and the castle provided it.'

'That's so cool,' James said, following her inside and looking around with a frown. 'It's just an empty room.'

'Yes, it'd be nice to have somewhere to sit, wouldn't it?' Lily said, and instantly two red armchairs appeared, facing each other at a slight angle.

James' eyes widened. 'Wait. Does it just… provide whatever you ask for?'

'Well, there seem to be some limits,' Lily told him. 'It won't give me any potion ingredients or food, but it will give me a brewing station.' And right on cue, a brewing station, complete with a worktable and tools, appeared against the wall. God, she loved doing that.

'This is incredible,' James said. 'I've had magic my whole life, but I've never seen anything like this before.'

Lily grinned. 'So, shall we get started then?'

Peter chewed the inside of his lip as they approached Professor Tenebris' classroom at one o'clock on Sunday morning. It was unlikely that she was in there. Her personal quarters were elsewhere, and it was the middle of the night, so she should be sleeping if she wasn't on night duty. And that would have her patrolling the castle, so either way, she shouldn't be in her office. But that knowledge didn't make Peter feel any less nervous about what they were planning to do.

He'd tried to persuade the others that stealing (borrowing, James had corrected) from Professor Tenebris wasn't necessary. That they could purchase a book on cauldron-making from any decent bookshop, but there'd declared that no fun at all and overruled him. And so Operation Oblivious Librarian was underway.

A quick scan of the door showed it to be protected against magical means of unlocking, but not touch, so James pulled out the lock-picking kit the twins had sent them and got to work, pushing the door open in less than two minutes with a mischievous grin.

They walked into the classroom, closing the door behind them, and stopped as Remus closed his eyes to better feel the lingering magic in the room.

'There's a lot of energy in the air,' he said after a few moments, 'but I think it's all from lessons. There's nothing strong enough to be a trap.'

'That seems a little careless for her,' Sirius said.

'There's nothing in the classroom worth protecting, though,' James said. 'Any traps will be on the office door, or in the office itself.'

Despite that, none of them moved to step further into the classroom, and they all stared at each other for a long moment before breaking into giggles.

'This is ridiculous,' James said. 'What's the worst that can happen, really?'

'Grisly death?' Sirius said.

Remus shrugged. 'A trap that suspends you from the ceiling by your toes?'

'A silent alarm that brings Tenebris straight here?' Peter suggested, glancing at the door.

Sirius pointed at him. 'You're right. Yours is worse.'

James shook his head. 'Bunch of cowards,' he said teasingly, taking a step towards the office stairs.

Suddenly, the classroom filled with light as twenty familiar orbs burst to life at regular intervals around the edge of the room, surrounding them.

'Crap! Form up!' James whisper-shouted.

By the time they'd moved into the centre of the room and grouped themselves back-to-back, the orbs had finished growing into people-shaped lights and the duel began in earnest, but it didn't last long. You see, what Professor Tenebris didn't know—they'd kept it a secret from her intentionally—is that, since Easter, they'd all been practising with the spare wands Sirius had won. And not just so they'd each have a backup wand next time she kidnapped them and took theirs.

It had started as a way to distract Remus and keep him busy, and it had taken quite a lot of effort to get the hang of it, but they'd been learning how to cast with their non-dominant hands. They'd started small with a simple Lighting charm in different colours and at various levels of brightness to master varying the strength of a cast, but by the end of the second week they'd all progressed onto the Shielding Charm, and by the end of the third, they could all hold a decent shield in their non-dominant hand while continuing to cast offensively with their wand arm.

Dual-wielding was illegal in the professional duelling leagues and wasn't taught at Hogwarts (or any other wizarding school as far as Peter knew), and he hadn't thought it would even be possible when Sirius had first suggested it. He'd never seen anyone use two wands at the same time. But as with anything the Marauders set their focus on, they'd found a way to make it work.

They'd quickly found that casting from both wands simultaneously was impossible. Even if you tried to cast the same spell from each, splitting the magic into two channels and manipulating both simultaneously was just too difficult. It was Remus that suggested using the extra wand as a shield only, and it was an inspired idea because once the Shielding charm was cast, all you had to do was keep pushing magic into it—no extra thought required.

So surrounded all on sides, the four Marauders formed a group in the centre of the room, back-to-back, and they each pulled their main wand from their hip holsters, and their backup wand from a secret holster strapped to their arm and hidden by the sleeve of their robes.

The four cries of 'Protego' were almost simultaneous, and four shields blazed to life, protecting them on all sides. With the flow of magic to his left hand established, Peter concentrated on creating a second pulse down his right arm and cast a Stunning Charm at the closest attacker, literally knocking its lights out.

One major problem with dual-wielding was judging the strength of the spells you could safely cast. With a stream of magic being continuously pumped into the shield, they couldn't risk casting anywhere near their maximum core strength or they'd drain themselves. So they'd all completed a series of tests designed by Remus, gradually increasing the strength of the spells they cast while holding the shield in place until they'd begun to feel light-headed, so they'd be aware of their limits. If they wanted to cast anything stronger, they'd have to drop their shield first and wait for at least a second to make sure their core had replenished itself. It was a drawback, but they all thought it was worth it for the benefits a permanent shield provided.

And their practice paid off. They dispatched Professor Tenebris' conjured army in less than three minutes.

'That's all of them,' James said, dropping his left arm so the shield dissipated. 'Sorry about that, but Remus did say it was safe.'

'I'm not a trap detector,' Remus said, letting his right arm fall to end his own shield at the same time as Peter and Sirius ended theirs.

'No harm done,' Sirius said, tucking his spare wand back up his sleeve. 'It was pretty fun, actually. We got to test the dual-wielding out properly, and Professor Tenebris still doesn't know about it.'

And that's when they all fell to the floor, paralysed. Or Peter assumed they all had. He could only actually see Remus, who was staring at him, his face frozen in a half smile. Bodybinds. For fuck's sake. Peter hated bodybinds.

He struggled for several long minutes trying to hunt down the magic holding him hostage, but before he could locate it, Remus sat up, blinking rapidly for a moment, before pulling out his wand and pointing it first at Peter, and then Sirius, and James, with a muttered 'Finite incantatum,' each time.

'Thanks, Moony,' Peter said, rubbing his eyes before sitting up.

'Yeah, cheers, mate,' James said when he was free. 'If we ever do something like this again, remember to check the bloody ceiling, yeah? I saw them half a second before they hit us. One in each corner of the room. Gods, Tenebris is a sneaky witch.'

Sirius was on his feet by then and proceeded to thank Remus with a snog, so Peter turned away. He had no desire to watch other people snogging, especially his best friends. 'Well, at least we still had our wands this time, and we didn't have to wait for all of us to break the bodybind. Do you think she knows the trap was sprung?'

'If she does, she'll be on her way here,' James said. 'Let's vote. Continue or leave?'

'Continue,' Sirius said. 'It's not like she'll be mad if she catches us.'

Peter shook his head. 'Leave. We don't actually know that she won't be mad.'

'Continue,' Remus said, shrugging. 'We've come this far.'

'Continue. I'm with Sirius. If she catches us, she'll find it funny,' James said with a grin.

Peter huffed a defeated sigh. 'Fine. Go on up, then. I'll guard the door.'

'I know you meant that as a joke,' James said. 'But that's actually not a bad idea. If she does come, you can buy us some time.'

'Sirius would be better for that, wouldn't he?' Peter said. 'I don't stand a chance against her one-on-one.'

'Yeah, true. Go on, Twinkles.'

'On it,' Sirius said, grinning and heading back to the door of the classroom, wand at the ready.

Nothing happened as they tentatively climbed the stairs, but when Remus scanned the door of the office, he detected several spells protecting it. 'It's alarmed against magic, same as the classroom, but also against human touch, and there's a restraining charm also triggered by touch. I can't counter it without setting off the magic alarm, though.'

'Good job we brought along the kelpie-skin gloves then,' James said, pulling his enchanted pouch from his pocket. He tugged the gloves out and slipped them on, before taking the lock-picking kit out again. 'Shouldn't take long.'

He was right. Two minutes later, they had the door open and hadn't set off any more traps.

'Where's the book, Moons?' James asked, craning his neck to scan over the shelving at the top of the wall.

Remus pointed to the left. 'It was on that shelf, about halfway along?'

'Think it's safe to walk in?'

'Who the fuck even knows?' Remus asked, laughing. 'At this point, I think we just take our chances and grab it.'

So that's what James did. With a shrug and a 'Here goes nothing,' he darted into the room and up to the shelf Remus had indicated. 'Found it,' he said, reaching up and sliding out a thin black volume. 'Let's get out of here.'

They wasted no time shutting the door and hurrying from the scene of the crime, and once they were far enough away to be sure they wouldn't be caught, they broke into giggles.

'That was awesome,' Sirius said, collapsing elegantly onto his bed when they reached the dorm. 'We need to do that more often.'

'Break into teachers' offices and steal books?' Remus asked.

'Borrow,' James interjected, pulling the book out and handing it to Peter.

'Yeah,' Sirius said. 'I bet Minnie has some interesting ones.'

'Dumbledore does for sure,' James said.

Peter tuned them out, opening the book in search of the contents page, he was eager to find out what would be involved in the creation of a cauldron. On the inside of the front cover, there was a handwritten message in black ink.

Dea,

This one's maybe a bit outlandish, but you'll find something, eventually. Your life isn't over. I promise,

All my love,

M.

The book had clearly been a gift from someone important to Professor Tenebris, and Peter immediately felt guilty for taking it without asking, but they were going to return it. He vowed to take extra-good care of it while it was in his possession and carefully turned the page, finding what he was looking for on the next one.

Cauldron Making for Beginners

Chapter one: Preparing your materials

Chapter two: Crafting your cauldron

Chapter three: Finishing touches.

Chapter four: Maintenance

It didn't seem overly complicated and Peter smiled to himself as he turned to chapter one. This was going to be fun.