Disclaimer: I am, of course, not JK Rowling and therefore do not own anything here, except the characters you don't recognise!

A/N: This is my first attempt at fanfiction; i have no idea what i'm doing really, so please review and help me get better! I love the Marauders; Remus Lupin and Sirius Black especially, so thought I'd have a go at writing them... I already have quite a few chapters to this story written and will post them soon if this goes down well!

It's 2 o'clock on a Tuesday afternoon and we are sat in a History of Magic lesson. No, rephrase that; a History of Magic lecture. Professor Binns drones on like a broken record and we all ignore him.

The June sun is streaming in rays through the open windows, and the stained glass panels at the top of each window cast bright spots of blue, green and red on a few desks and the opposite wall.

A gentle breeze floats in, bringing with it the occasional burst of lively chatter or laughter from the grounds outside.

I'm Zara by the way, a 6th year Gryffindor, currently longing to be outside with the laughing people, not shut in this classroom stewing in the stuffy heat. I glance around the room and see many of my classmates shifting restlessly in their seats, even though the lesson has literally only just begun, they too casting longing glances out the window.

Two hours to go and, as hours always do in History of Magic, they will drag…

I decide not to let my mind dwell on this fact and instead let it dwell on something that's much more enjoyable and worthwhile to be dwelling on: Remus Lupin, who is sitting one row in front and to my left.

We have been seeing each other for about four months now, four blissful months. His arms are crossed over his chest and his long legs are stretched out underneath the desk. As I gaze at him he moves, leaning forward, tucking his legs under his chair, placing his right elbow on the table and leaning his head on his hand. His longish light-brown hair is tied back loosely at the nape of his neck, but strands of it fall over his forehead and cheekbones. Dead sexy.

Today's H. o. M class is the first time I've seen him since this month's full moon, which was two nights ago. I watched him sleep a while in the hospital wing before breakfast yesterday, but we haven't had any proper alone time for nearly four days, which is part of the reason that I cannot wait for this last lesson of the day to finish (although the brain-melting tedium of the lecture does have something to do with my eagerness to leave…)

I continue to gaze… I cannot see his eyes but I know them so well I can picture the way the warm light of the sun is reflecting in them, bringing out the shades of amber and the faint hint of green.

Just as I wish he would turn around, he does, as though my wishing it made it happen. He looks at me and smiles. We sit there for a moment just smiling at each other, and then his smile turns into a grin and he turns back round towards Sirius Black who sits on his left and has just passed Remus a note.

I let out a sigh, apparently much more audibly than I intended as I see my friend Lily is now looking at me with a mocking expression on her face. I hurriedly try to turn it into a small coughing fit and look away to Becky who is sitting on my right.

At first she appears to be asleep, but as I look closer with the intention of nudging her I see that her eyes are in fact open and that she is gazing across to the left of the room towards the clock.

She is watching it unblinkingly as if willing the hands to move faster.

As I too watch the clock, a movement from below the clock draws my gaze away; James Potter, turning to steal a glance at Lily and trying none too subtly to cover it up by then looking all around the classroom.

I smile to myself at the thought of what Professor Binns would do if he was aware of the amount of lust-filled gazes that frequently pass between his students while he tries to teach us about goblin revolts and the like.

… James – charming, a little scruffy, and a Quidditch legend. Well, a Hogwarts Quidditch legend at any rate. Despite an unusual capacity for being incredibly irritating at times, he's a good laugh and generally a nice guy (unless you're Severus Snape, but that's a different story…) and of course, along with my boyfriend and Sirius and Peter, one of the infamous Marauders.

It is almost general knowledge that he's after Lily Evans, the girl now sitting on my left. But being as he has been after her for two years and she remains stubbornly resistant to his charms ("What charms?" Lily frequently asks me), it seems unlikely that anything will ever come of that.

Through the many conversations that I have had with James over the past few years (mostly because he thinks if he talks to me – a good friend of Lily's, she might start to like him. Where he gets this idea from is a mystery…) I think I have got to know him quite well, although I get the impression sometimes that you don't really know those four unless you're one of the four yourself (I think I'm making headway with getting to know Remus though…)

I let my glance move along the row of Marauders. They're quite the inseparable unit these four, and probably the most well known guys in the school.

Sirius, especially, has caught the eye of almost every girl at Hogwarts, (and probably a few boys too for that matter). With his long straight black hair, sharply-defined features, dark eyes and haughty expression, he was always going to be a hit – and he is fully aware of his own attractiveness.

He's not a complete bastard; he is occasionally capable of random, surprising acts of kindness and is a fiercely loyal friend to the rest of the Marauders.

However, most girls with a brain know to avoid his advances like the dragon pox unless they want to find themselves huddled in their dorm with only a box of tissues and the sound of their own blubbing for company while all their mates say "I told you so". Yup, the typical heartbreaker.

The Marauders' frequent pranks have made them legendary, one particularly memorable one being when they charmed the chairs at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall so that when all the Slytherins sat down they found themselves compelled to sing "A Cauldron of Hot, Strong Love" to the entire Hall.

Of course everyone knew instantly who had done it; the Marauders are the only ones who would have the guts to do something like that and they got in a lot of trouble. However, they decided that to see the horrified expressions on the Slytherins' faces as they burst into song, and to be heroes to the rest of Gryffindor, Ravencalw and Hufflepuff, was worth any number of detentions.

Despite their penchant for trouble-causing, Remus, James and Sirius are all really clever too (which as a matter of fact is what makes their pranks so brilliant); this means that they still do very well when it comes to actual work.

Peter; (short, blonde and a bit chubby with a vague air of desperation about everything he does), doesn't have the same magical ability as the other three and mostly scrapes by with help from his friends. He's the odd one out in a way; he seems so unlike the other three, but he's a close friend to them none the less and I suppose I can't really judge as I don't know him all that well…

What is clear is that he idolizes them, (James' Quidditch skills in particular) which gets a little irritating at times and, I think, just encourages James' and Sirius' arrogance. I mean, they're not horribly stuck-up, but they're incredibly self-assured to say the least and having a constant fan in their group adds to the size of their already ample egos.

Remus is confident, witty and charming, as James and Sirius are, but adds to that an air of self-deprecation and a shyness that appeals much, much more than his friends' arrogance (although I suppose I would think that). The amused glance and quirk of an eyebrow he gives me whenever Peter is gushing over James as he plays with the Snitch is priceless.

Any amount of popularity, admiration, or the longing gazes of many Hogwarts girls (that I always see, but he never notices) cannot break through that and, despite coming out of his shell a bit since first and second year, Remus has stayed down-to-earth and approachable.

I let myself now think back to the time when I first realised I had a crush on Remus, and how we finally got together…

I'd always liked him best out of the four and we were quite good friends, not especially close, but friends all the same. We shared conversations in the common room and he always made me laugh. He sometimes helped me with my homework too; Defence against the Dark Arts was, and is, always his best subject and my weakness, but whenever Remus explained it to me it made perfect sense.

Now, when I look back on that time; I think I probably always harboured a little crush on him. Sometimes, even if I didn't really need help with work, I'd ask him for help just to hear him explain it to me and as an excuse to spend time with him.

He could always brighten up a hard day just by smiling at me or asking how I was.

I am also one of the very few students who know he's a werewolf.

One night in late fifth year I had been lying in bed unable to sleep. Looking for my book, I realised I had left it in the common room and so decided to go down and fetch it. As I tip-toed down the stairs; I heard voices, talking quickly and quietly.

"…you've put us all at risk now; we were trusted with this secret by our best friend and Dumbledore!"

"I know Prongs! I know it was stupid but I wasn't thinking, I just-"

It was Sirius and James, I was certain. I knew I shouldn't have been eavesdropping but I couldn't help it; I moved close to the open doorway to the common room.

"What if Remus gets expelled? Snape knows! Do you really think he can keep this secret? He hates the lot of us and if he can cause trouble, he will."

"Dumbledore won't let him; he's got Snape in his office now…" Sirius sounded exasperated and guilty.

"That's not even the point Padfoot!" James' voice was still quiet but I could sense the anger in it.

Whatever Sirius had done, it must have been pretty terrible for James, of all people, to talk to him like this…

"… Think what might have happened if I hadn't pulled Snape back; he could have been killed if he'd reached the end of the tunnel; and Remus would have had to live with that on his conscience – did you want to ruin his life?… he'd have woken up tomorrow as a human to find that he'd killed Severus… he doesn't know what he's doing when the wolf takes over!"

Wolf? It clicked in my mind… the way Remus disappeared from classes at the same time each month, his often sickly appearance when he returned, the scars I had once noticed on his arms…

These thoughts were whizzing through my head. I couldn't stand up; I slumped down onto the bottom step.

The voices had stopped. I suddenly realised that the stair had creaked as I sat down. They know I'm here!

Before I could think to run back upstairs, James appeared in the doorway.

"Zara! Is that you?... How much did you hear?"

He pulled me up by my arm and took me into the common room where Sirius was sitting by the dying fire, his head in his hands.

He looked up when I came in, his eyes growing wide; "Shit Zara! What the hell were you doing listening to us?"

"I… I was coming to get my book"; I pointed to the table where it lay to validate my excuse "…and I heard you… Remus is a-a- werewolf?"

We sat there for at least an hour whilst they explained to me everything about Remus' condition and what had happened that night, and begged me not to say a word or to think any less of Remus now that I knew.

"No, of course not! Why would I? Remus is a great guy… so what if he's a werewolf, it's not his fault. I mean, it was a shock to find out, but it doesn't bother me."

James smiled. "Thanks Zara… I'll tell Remus that you know; it's only fair that he should know who knows."

"Of course… should I say something to him about it?" I suddenly realised I wouldn't know what to say if I did.

Sirius chipped in; "Nah, just act normal, that's all he'll want. He might talk to you about it, but don't push him."

After that I went to bed thinking of Remus and all the times I had spoken to him, all the clues I should have pieced together earlier. Werewolves are despised outcasts in the wizarding community; dark creatures. Lying there that night, I marvelled at how such a smart, kind, funny guy could possibly be classed in that category, and suffer such prejudice for a part of himself that he could not control.

Remus and I behaved as normal for a week or so, the secret unspoken, until one day after he had helped me with homework, I opened my Defence textbook to find a note slipped inside.

Dear Zara,

I'm afraid I couldn't really think of how to raise this particular issue in person… "Hi Zara, so you know I turn into a vicious hairy beast once a month eh? Fancy a chat?" didn't sound all that great in my head, so I'm going to put it on paper instead.

Firstly, thank you for not telling anyone what you know. The only other people who know are Sirius, James, Peter, Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey. Oh and Snape now too apparently… But anyway most people, naturally, would freak out if they knew what I am and parents would probably demand I be kicked out the school. So I really appreciate you not spreading it around. And I also appreciate you not freaking out. Or if you are, then you've hidden it spectacularly well.

I won't go on about this for too long 'cause I've said what I wanted to really. I just want to add that of all the people who could have been lurking by the doorway (probably wearing those huge pink pygmy-puff slippers) and listening to James and Sirius, I'm glad it was you. I know I can trust you with this secret and I hope we'll stay good friends.

Love, Remus.

And we were good friends. Just friends, for almost a year until the day that kicked off all the fuzzy feelings...