12:15 Great Hall

“Ancient Runes was tough today, wasn’t it? Gwen asked Remus.

“Very. It may not have been so hard if we had studied,” answered Remus.

“Why didn’t you study?” asked Peter curiously.

James and Sirius stared at him. “Well, they were snogging of course!” said Sirius, who promptly smacked Peter.

“What else would a couple do?” asked James.

“Actually, we didn’t kiss,” said Gwen coolly, “He told me his secret, then I tried to kiss him, but the Pincer caught us and kicked us out. Then we ran to the lake and tried to kiss there, but Snape turned up. He insulted Remus so he used ‘Levicorpus’ to turn him upside-down. Then Snape insulted him again, so I slammed him to the ground, Petrified him, and rolled him in the bushes. He may still be there for all I know. Then we tried to kiss again, and Peter interrupted us.”

“Our first date,” said Remus, “and we didn’t even kiss.”

“Have you guys snogged at all?” asked Sirius.

“Nope,” said Gwen.

“And if our luck continues like this we won’t kiss until we’re married!” said Remus. They all laughed.

“Well, it would be more special,” said Gwen. She suddenly went in to kiss him, hoping that since it was spontaneous, there would be no one to stop them.

“Ah, young love,” sighed Professor Dumbledore as he walked past the Gryffindor table. As he walked up to the staff table Gwen hit her head repeatedly on the table while James and Sirius sniggered.

“Wait.” Gwen stopped banging her head as realization hit.

“What?” asked Remus.

“Snape,” she muttered.

“Pardon?” asked James.

“It’s been Snape. He has the teachers watching us,” said Gwen feverishly.

“Why would Snivellus care?” asked James.

“He likes her,” said Sirius slowly.

“Whoa, what?” asked Remus.

“I heard him telling one of his equally greasy friends. He said he fancies her,” said Sirius.

“And you told me, Sirius, remember? In Charms, this morning,” said Gwen.

“Yeah,” said Sirius.

“Well, Marauders excluding Moony, we now have a mission,” said James.

“And that is...?” asked Peter.

James and Sirius stared at him again. “Do you ever catch on?” Sirius asked him.

“We have to make sure that Moony and Guinevere get their kiss,” said James impatiently.

“You guys don’t have to do that,” said Remus, blushing, “We can just, do it in the common room, or something...”

“But wouldn’t you want something more romantic for your first kiss?” asked Sirius.

“What are you guys talking about?” asked Lily as she came up to them. She sat herself down next to Gwen.

“We’re going to plan Remus’ and Gwen’s first kiss for them since Snivellus keeps ruining it for them,” said James after ruffling his hair.

“I want to help!” said Lily, “I could get Tara to help, too.”

“Good idea,” said James, “So it’ll be me, you, Sirius, and Tara planning it.”

“What about me?” asked Peter indignantly.

“Peter, you are the least romantic person I have ever met,” said Sirius, “I don’t think you’ll be able to be of much use.”

“You guys do know that we’re still here, right?” asked Gwen.

“Yeah,” said Sirius indifferently.

“So we know what you’re planning,” said Remus.

“Oh, not everything. You just know that it’s going to happen. You don’t know when or where,” said Sirius.

“Or how,” added James.

“Now can you go away so that we can plan properly?” asked Lily.

“Alright,” said Gwen with a sigh.

Gwen and Remus got their belongings and went further down the table to finish eating. Lily brought Tara over and the group began planning.

“First question: where will it be?” asked Tara.

The group pondered this for a moment. “What about the Room of Requirement?” suggested Peter.

“Peter, that is the best idea that you have ever had,” said James.

“Okay, so it’s in the Room of Requirement,” said Lily.

“What’s that?” interrupted Tara.

“It’s a room by the painting of Barnabas the Barmy. You walk past it, and it changes into whatever you need it to be,” explained Sirius.

“That’s cool,” said Tara, “So what should the scene be? I was thinking maybe a moonlit stroll or something.”

James and Sirius exchanged glances. “No, not a moonlit stroll,” said James, “What about the beach?”

“Gwen said that she loves watching the ocean,” said Lily.

“Has Moony ever said anything about the ocean?” James asked Sirius.

“Not that I can remember,” said Sirius as he shook his head, “I could ask him.”

“Someone should write this down,” said Tara.

“Already on it,” said Lily as she rummaged through her bag. She came back up with a quill, ink, and parchment in her hand. “Okay, ‘Possibilities of Location,’” she said as she wrote it down, “Beach.”

“What about a lake?” asked Peter, who was now anxious to prove he wasn’t a complete dork.

“That’s not a bad idea. We could even have a picnic set up,” said Tara.

“Lake...with...picnic,” said Lily as her quill recorded it.

“My first real kiss was in a broom closet,” said Sirius.

Lily and Tara rolled their eyes.

“It was with Caitlin Jones, too,” said Sirius as he thought back to that moment, “She is a great kisser.”

As if on cue, Caitlin walked up the aisle by the Gryffindor table. Sirius gave her a cocky grin that made her giggle.

This time James rolled his eyes as he ruffled up his hair. “Padfoot, you are too full of it,” he said.

“What about a living room?” suggested Tara.

Everyone looked at her curiously.

“I mean, like, in front of a fireplace,” she said, “I always thought that might be pretty romantic.”

“Yeah, we could have a loveseat with a big comfy blanket on it,” said James.

“And then they cuddle up...” said Sirius suggestively.

“Fireplace,” said Lily, not looking up from her parchment.

“What if we made it a series of events,” asked James, “that lead up to a good kiss?”

“That’d be neat,” said Tara.

And so the group continued to scheme until the bell rang, when Lily hastily put the parchment away as Remus and Gwen walked by on their way to Defense Against the Dark Arts.

“This is going to be great,” James whispered to Lily as the couple walked by.

“They will love it,” agreed Lily.

James beamed.

1:00 P.M., Defense Against the Dark Arts

“Good afternoon, everyone,” said Professor Aegis.

“Good afternoon, Professor,” chanted the class.

“Now today we shall be studying werewolves...yes, Mr. Potter?” James’ hand had shot up at the word ‘werewolves.’

“Are you sure we should be studying these now, sir? Maybe we should wait until closer to exams,” he said.

“I would rather not have my curriculum questioned by a fifteen year old. You are a rather advanced class, and I am quite confident that you can handle it,” said Professor Aegis coldly.

Remus paled. Gwen grabbed his hand under the table and gave it a squeeze. James patted his arm sympathetically.

“No one will figure it out,” whispered Gwen.

“Snape,” he whispered back fearfully. He looked like he was about to throw up.

“So, werewolves. People who are forced to change into wolf form at the light of a full moon. Dreadful situation, really. Werewolves find it very difficult to fit in with society,” said Professor Aegis as he strode about the room.

Snape suddenly gasped with realization. His eyes portrayed ecstasy. The whole class turned in their seats to look at him, as he was sitting in the back. He mumbled an apology and put his head down to begin taking notes.

Remus gulped. “He knows,” he whispered to Gwen.

Gwen looked at him, her eyes wide with fear. “It’ll be alright,” she said, but she didn’t seem to believe it herself.

“Now,” said the professor briskly, “There are five signs to identify a werewolf. Can anyone name one?”

James’ and Sirius’ hands went shakily up.

“Yes, Mr. Black,” said Aegis.

“The tail,” he mumbled.

“Excuse me?” Aegis put a hand around his ear.

“The tail,” Sirius said louder.

“Very good, Mr. Black, take a point to Gryffindor. But next time you give an answer try to tell me and not your desk,” said Aegis, “Yes, the tail. While wolf tails are forked, werewolf tails are tufted. Now, can anyone name another?”

And so the class went on, with Remus getting paler after each answered question. Finally, the bell rang and Professor Aegis assigned a foot of parchment on how to identify a werewolf.

“Mr. Lupin, could I have a word?” asked Professor Aegis. Remus slowly turned around. James, Sirius, Peter, and Gwen hung around. “Mr. Lupin, I do know of your condition; I don’t want you to think me heartless. But if I thought that someone would figure it out I would not have discussed it in class.”

“But Snape figured it out,” he muttered.

“I shall talk to Dumbledore. He will have a word with Mr. Snape. Now, Mr. Lupin, you may want to go see Madame Pomfrey, you’re looking a little sickly.” The Marauders and Gwen quickly left the room, where they were greeted by Snape.

“I know your secret,” hissed a passing Snape in Remus’ ear, “and wait until everyone else hears about it.”

What little color Remus had gained talking to Professor Aegis drained away immediately. He stumbled over to the bathroom across the hall. Sirius followed him, patting his back all the way. James scowled at Snape.

“You wouldn’t dare,” he growled.

“Ah, but I would,” he answered with a smirk.

“This isn’t a good way to impress me,” said Gwen.

Snape flushed slightly. “I am not trying to impress you, why would I?” he asked.

Gwen was spared having to explain her story when Remus came out of the bathroom with Sirius. He had his arm over his friend’s shoulder and was guiding him gently back to his friends.

“Skive off, Snivellus,” Sirius snarled.

“Fine.” Snape walked down to the dungeons.

“Are you alright?” Gwen asked Remus.

Remus shook his head. “He threw up,” said Sirius, “Poor guy.”

“I think I’m going to go up to Madam Pomfrey,” he said quietly, “Tell Professor Slughorn where I’m at.”

“You mean Sluggy? Yeah, sure,” said James.

“Come on,” said Gwen gently. She led him down the hall while whispering encouraging words in his ears. He gained a margin of color.

“Poor Moony,” said Sirius as he shook his head.

“We really need to get to work on their kiss,” said James.

“Yeah,” said Peter.

“If anyone deserves it, it’s him,” said Sirius.

“Come on, can’t be late for Sluggy if we’re telling him about Moony and Guinevere,” said James as he began to walk down to the dungeons. Sirius walked in synch with James, while Peter struggled to keep up.

“I thought it was just Moony?” asked Peter.

“Well, Guinevere’s going to want to stay with him and make sure he’s alright, isn’t she?” asked James.

“Oh,” said Peter.

“Again you fail to realize the simplicities of a good relationship,” said Sirius lazily. Peter blushed.

The boys continued down the corridor in silence. All three were thinking about their troubled friend and his furry little problem. James was so distracted, he didn’t even ruffle his hair when Lily caught up with them to talk about the previous class. She, of course, did not know of Remus’ condition and wanted to discuss how interesting the class was.

“I didn’t know half the stuff about werewolves that Professor Aegis told us about. It was fascinating,” she said, “You guys really seemed to know your stuff, though. I’m impressed, James.”

“Evans, please shut up,” said Sirius.

“Fine,” said a miffed Lily. She went ahead to her group of friends in a huff.

And James didn’t even care.