Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs, and Moony

"O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon, That monthly changes in her circled orb, Lest that thy love prove likewise variable."

-Juliet (Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare)

Moon!
Moon!
I am prone before you.
Pity me,
And drench me in loneliness.

- Amy Lowell ( "On a Certain Critic.")

The moon. A glowing orb in the night sky. A chunk of plantary matter. Nothing much, right? Wrong. It was everything to Remus Lupin.

The moon held his life. It controlled it. "Especially on nights like this," he thought as he sat on a chair in the Shrieking Shack, waiting for the time to transform. He peered out the window at the globe in the sky that haunted his existence. Any time now.

Remus wished he could be at dinner with the others. Sirius would be chucking food at the Slytherins, trying to hit Severus Snape in the head. James would be laughing at the event, Sirius looking at his food interestedly while Snape glared around to find the culprit, his black eyes finally landing on James and Sirius. Lily would be immersed in a book. Peter would be watching Sirius and James.

"Life wasn't fair," he sighed, "but then again nothing ever was." It wasn't fair he was bitten by a werewolf. It wasn't fair that Peter stuttered horribly. It wasn't fair Sirius's family was full of Dark witches and wizards. It wasn't fair James had lost his dad. But life wasn't fair and they had to deal with it. Remus looked around at the shack. It was a smallish building with dilapidated walls, sagging in spots. The floor was rotting from the leak in the roof. There was a set of old broken chairs and a table just as decrepit as the rest of the hovel. A tiny spider crept down the wall. Remus watched its progress until it disappeared through a tiny crack leading it out into the harsh fall air.

Suddenly, Remus' ears picked up a sound. It seemed to be in the tunnel. He drew his wand and pointed it at the trap door to the tunnel. His muscles tensed, a Stunning spell on his tongue, ready.

Suddenly, the trapdoor popped open and a figure stepped through.

"Petricifus Totalus!" yelled Remus. The figure fell over. There was another person behind him. It was James Potter.

"Geez Remus," he said, looking at Sirius Black, lying stiff on the floor. Remus blushed.

"Finite Incantatem," muttered Remus. Sirius unfroze and brushed himself off as Peter Pettigrew appeared, huffing and puffing.

"*Huff* need *breath* to slow down," he wheezed, doubled over, his hands on his chubby knees.

"Sorry Peter," said James. Remus stared at his friends. What is Merlin's name were they doing here? Didn't they know he was about to transform?

"What are you doing here?" he hissed.

"Why, we're here to keep you company, mate," said Sirius, smiling as if he knew something Remus didn't. Remus was growing angry. He refused to put his friends, the only real friends he ever had, in danger.

"Are you daft? You are putting yourselves at risk! Get out of here, you gits!" said Remus, heatedly.

"Relax, Remus, old buddy. We've got a surprise for you," said James, slinging an arm around his friend's tense shoulders.

"Y-yes w-w-we d-dooo," stuttered Peter, smiling.

Sirius, James, and Peter stood in a line in front of Remus and suddenly Remus was rubbing his eyes. In front of him was a small gray rat, a large hairy black dog, and a white stag.

"What?" he stuttered, his eyes wide. Suddenly, his friends were standing in front of him, Peter looking a little nauseated. Remus sat down, looking dazed.

"Remus, you okay?" asked James.

"What was that?" he asked. The three guys smiled broadly.

"We are Animagi!" said Sirius.

"You're joking, surely!" gasped Remus.

"N-no, we did it f-for you," said Peter. Remus looked at his friends. They were smiling. Peter continued. "We figured that you might want some company."

James interrupted. "So, we spent some time in the library. I think we may have given Madame Pince, not to mention Evans, a heart attack when we checked some books out. You should have seen Evans's mouth hanging open as we passed with a stack of books. McGonagall was surprised when I asked for a special pass to the Restricted Section for extra credit," said James. "It was bloody hard, but we did it." Tears involuntarily came to Remus' eyes and he turned away from his friends. >

"Hey! Are you crying?" asked Sirius. Remus swiped his eyes quickly. He didn't want his friends to think he was weak.

"No. Just some dust," muttered Remus, smiling at his friends, his true friends.

* * * *

The moon sees as well as controls. She saw monthly a rat, dog, stag, and a wolf run across the grounds.

Even now, when one is the minion of evil, two are behind the Veil, and one fighting for the Light, the moon can still see the shadows of the past flit over the grounds of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, reflecting the friendship of boys who turned into the men who helped shape the wizarding world. Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs, and Moony.

* * * *

"A friend is one who knows all about you and likes you anyway." --Christi Mary Warner

"A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out." --Walter Winchell