Hey! It's Lola here! Thank you so much for checking out my new fanfic starring the Marauders. There will be non-cannon and cannon ships through this story, so just letting you know. I hope you guys like it! Thanks for reading! -Lola

Remus knew he should have never agreed to this. He should have settled down in a nice house away from everything and lived happily. He couldn't let them die though. Especially since he was the responsible one of the group. The young, Hogwarts alumni snorted in amusement, how could he be the responsible one?

He stood in front of a two-story house on the outskirts of a local muggle town not too far from Bath. James and Sirius wanted one closer to the town, but Remus reminded them that things often exploded in the night and his furry little problem. It took some convincing, but they began to see things his way.

He breathed deeply as he adjusted his backpack on his shoulder, he guessed this was home. Remus unlatched the white picket fence and opened it. He began walking up the cobblestone path to the plain, pavement steps. His black, muggle sneakers gave a nice thud which reached his sensitive ears. He stopped at the door to listen to hear if his friends had already arrived. He was not disappointed.

Remus smiled in amusement as he heard shouting from within the building. They had been there all of a few hours and they were already shouting. Why wasn't he surprised? Remus opened the brown door and had to quickly duck his head down as a fanged frisbee came his way. He watched Peter Pettigrew, a plump boy of just eighteen, racing after it and yelling at a laughing James Potter who stood in the middle of the foyer.

James was surrounded by all sorts of boxes with different names on them. Some of them had Remus' name on them and some didn't. James' parents and Dumbledore helped to move their things. The Marauders were in the order now, they were no longer children and couldn't be treated as such. So, now they lived on their own. They each had a part to play in this war, and with that grim thought Remus took another step.

"Moony!" James called out in greeting with a ridiculous grin on his face. "You found the place okay! What do you think of what I have unpacked so far?"

Remus looked around with a smile on his face. This reminded him of their dormitory in Hogwarts, but it was a lot bigger and they would be responsible for their own meals. He was glad he had been reading on how to cook with muggle appliances, because he wouldn't let James or Sirius cook if he could help it.

All that James had unpacked was one box that said "Things You Shouldn't Open Around Muggles Or Really Open At All" which Remus guessed was a Lilly label. She had helped James pack his stuff up at his home, but that was the last time James saw her. Lilly was living with them in the house but she wasn't arriving until later. Dumbledore had her on some sort assignment, but Remus didn't know what it was. James didn't even know, and he knew it worried the other teen.

"What I think," Remus said in amusement as he poked his head out to see the fanged frisbee now chasing Wormtail. "That Wormtail is going to pass out if we don't help him. Or the muggles are going to see the frisbee, whichever happens first."

They were on the outskirts of town, but that didn't mean they wouldn't run into muggles. So, Remus was extra careful when he pulled out his wand and quickly casted a charm to cause the fanged frisbee to fall on the ground and stop snapping.

Peter looked back at the house when the charm hit and grinned in Remus' direction. "Thanks Moony!" Peter called gratefully as he collected the frisbee in his fat fingers and dashed inside past James.

"Some exercise would have been good for Wormtail." Jame argued as he ran a hand through his black hair. "He's got to be in top shape when we get our assignments from The Order."

Remus sighed deeply, he was not looking forward to his assignment. He had an idea of what it would be, and it made him sick to think about it. It was almost too much to ask...if it wasn't Dumbledore then it would be too much. Dumbledore had shown him a kindness that no one had shown him: he gave him a home. He gave him a chance to have what all other magical children get to have, and Remus would forever be grateful. So, Remus would do what he asked but it would be hard and he might die. Remus shook his head bitterly, this was war, any assignment they got they could die from.

"Is that Moony I hear?" A voice called from the stairs.

Remus looked past the overflow of boxes to see Sirius Black in all of his glory. He was standing in the middle of the stairs wearing a half buttoned shirt and tight pants. Remus swallowed at the sight of his crush, was it possible that he got even more beautiful?

"Hey Padfoot," Remus got out with a shy grin. "It's good to see you and the house are still in one piece."

Remus had gone to school with Sirius Black for seven years yet he never told him how he felt. It was a dirty little secret that Remus didn't think he would ever reveal. He didn't want Padfoot to look at him like everyone else but the Marauders did, with disgust. Werewolves weren't respected even at the best of times, but a gay werewolf? That would get him killed even faster than being a werewolf.

Also, he knew Sirius was straight. Sirius had girls hanging off of him at Hogwarts, and Remus had to push away every feeling of jealousy, every feeling of sadness, just so he wouldn't lose Sirius as a friend. Remus was a good actor, and very good at keeping his secrets. So, Remus never looked at Sirius too long, he never spent too much time with him, and he played his part well.

As Remus saw it, he would rather never tell Sirius how he felt and live with that longing then tell him and have him renounce Remus as his friend. Sirius had become an animagus for him for goodness sakes! How could he make someone so selfless regret their choice to go through that long and grueling process? No, Remus could never tell him. It would be just another secret he would take to the grave.

"What do you take me for? I can take care of things!" Sirius said, giving his friend an innocent look.

"Yeah, and James is on track to become the lead singer of the Weird Sisters." Peter said as he came back into the foyer holding a fairly large chocolate chip cookie.

James looked over at Peter in mock indignation. "I'm a great singer, I'll have you know! The Weird Sisters would be lucky to have someone like me!" James said as he ran a hand through his messy black hair.

"No you're not," Peter, Remus, and Sirius said at the same time.

All three of them had spent enough time in their dormitory at Hogwarts to know that James Potter could not sing. He would often sing when he was getting ready or hum, and it was horrendous. He could not sing in key even if he tried. Sirius once dared James to try out for Frog Choir, and Flitwick heard James audition and thought it was another Marauders Prank. They all got detention for apparently wasting his time in the third year.

Before James could reply, Remus cleared his throat. He knew they would go all through the evening in an argument and he really didn't want to. He had gotten to the muggle town by portkey and had to walk several kilometers to get here. He didn't mind the walk, but the werewolf was tired. The full moon was a week away and he could already feel the tug of sickness pulling on him.

"Have you already picked your rooms?" Remus asked quietly.

"Yes, and your room is right by mine," Sirius spoke from his place on the stairs with a broad smile on his lips. "Come on, I'll show you."

Remus turned to Peter and James who were seconds away from another squabble. "Can you two manage dinner? Or at least, ordering a muggle pizza. Didn't your father teach you how to use a muggle phone, James?"

James rolled his eyes with a grin. "Yes, yes, I know how to order a pizza. Merlin's beard Moony, sometimes I wonder if you think I don't have any skills!"

Without waiting for a reply, James began making his way to the kitchen with Wormtail racing behind him. Remus chuckled to himself. "Sometimes I wonder if you think about anything besides pranks and Lilly Evans."

He made his way up the stairs where Sirius was waiting patiently for him. The black haired boy seemed to be growing some facial hair and his hair was getting longer. Remus longed to touch Padfoot's hair and just spend the day with his head in his lap...snap out of it! Remus shook his head as he brought himself back to the present.

"Are you alright, Moony?" Sirius asked as he reached the top of the stairs. "The full moon is not until next week...but are you feeling ill earlier than usual?"

Remus was thankful Sirius was so clueless to his feelings for him. "I'm not feeling ill, the wolf is just restless. It's picking up on my nervousness of my first change here."

Dumbledore had helped them pick this house and the Marauders had already set to work on werewolf proofing it even before they moved in. The house had a basement which had stone walls and a door that could padlock shut. With the Marauders down there with him, then he would be fine with that. Prongs and Padfoot could keep him under control. They offered to help him just run during the full moon but they were too close to the muggle town. Remus didn't want to even think about what could happen.

"Here's yours," Sirius said as he opened a white door with an enchanted sign that said Remus and had a wolf howling.

Remus peered inside, there was a four poster bed with red and gold sheets just like back at Hogwarts but the bed was bigger. A window with sweeping red curtains that overlooked the ground and an area to sit to look out the window. There was a spacious closet that would provide more than enough space to fit Remus' limited wardrobe. The best part though, was his dresser. On the dresser were pictures of the four of them, Lilly, and some of their other friends from school.

Remus smiled as he got closer to the dresser. He also noticed a couple of his favorite books were already in the room. He looked at Sirius who was standing at the door watching him. "We would have unpacked all your stuff for you," Sirius said rubbing his hand over the back of his neck. "But you got here earlier than we thought you would. We were going to set up everything, but you ruined the surprise."

Remus picked up one of the photos and looked, it was one of them in Hogsmeade. "Where did you even get these photos?" Remus asked him with an awed expression on his face.

"I have my sources who I will not reveal." Sirius said, sending his friend a wink. "But I thought you deserved to have some pictures...I know things are complicated at home…"

Remus winced at that, he hadn't spoken to his parents in a year or so now. They had a falling out when You-Know-Who started to rise to power. His parents wanted him to join him, mostly so he would be safe. Remus refused and his parents said they would stop supporting him. They would not hide him and have him be killed when there was a safer option. So, Remus left and everything about his painful childhood melted away.

"Well, thank you, Padfoot." Remus said with a little smile as he placed the picture down. "That was very thoughtful of you."

Sirius smiled at Remus before clearing his throat. "Shall we go down there? If Prongs doesn't actually know how to use the telephone, I know you do. You've been reading all those boring muggle device manuals."

There was something off between the two. Remus could feel it, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. Sirius had just done something really nice for him and his reaction….Remus shook his head. He couldn't think too much into these things. He didn't have the time or the want to give himself false hope or crush the little security that was left in his and Padfoot's friendship.

"Yes, and those boring muggle device manuals are going to keep us alive for however long we're here." Remus snorted in reply before nodding his head. "Let's go."

Just a month ago, the four of them had been at Hogwarts. And now? Now they were all alone. James was no longer Head Boy, Remus was no longer a Prefect, Sirius had no excuse to prank anyone, and Peter was...well...Peter. Remus smiled at the thought, at least Pete was pretty much the same. One thing was clear to the most mature Marauder: they had a lot of growing up to do.