Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed "When Four Becomes Three." This story picks up where that one leaves off.

On another note, I'm not entirely sure that "upchucking" is a word that two British wizards in their early twenties would say in 1981, but it seemed like a word that Sirius would use.

Hope you enjoy!

I own nothing.

As a Gryffindor, Lily Potter had thought that she had known the Marauders well. Honestly, they didn't seem that hard to figure out. They were always so loud and obnoxious that no one thought that there was anything deep below the surface. But Lily, like so many others had simply been an observer. It was not until she had started going out with James in their seventh year that she really began to understand the four friends.

James, who had once been solely an arrogant toerag, turned out to be an extremely loyal, if still somewhat arrogant, friend. He was the leader of the group, which didn't surprise Lily. But what did surprise her was the way that he went out of his way to make sure his friends were taken care of. He didn't care that his best friends were from one of the darkest wizarding families or a werewolf or an awkward outcast. He accepted the other three exactly as they were, and in turn, they gravitated towards him like a magnet.

Sirius, she discovered, was an exceptional actor. He put up a womanizing, could-not-care-less front up for the school to see, but when he was with the Marauders, his feelings rested closer to the surface. Sure, he was still incredibly arrogant; he had a tendency to think that the world revolved around him. But underneath that, Lily could see evidence of a boy who had never been loved by his family.

Remus had been Lily's friend since first year. They had been the only ones, it seemed like, who cared enough to actually study and do their schoolwork. She had thought him incredibly shy at first, but he had opened up as she got to know him more. But she began to see a side of him that she hadn't known existed; when he was around the other Marauders his face lit up in a spectacular way. It was if all the stresses in his life had fallen away.

The only Marauder that Lily had had a hard time understanding was Peter. To the rest of the school, he was the poor, lonely boy that the more popular boys had had pity on. The other Marauders included him, but still Peter just did not seem to fit in. Even though Lily knew that James cared about Peter, it bothered her how he treated the smallest Marauder. She had confronted James about it one day.

"What do you mean?" James asked as the two patrolled the quiet hallways one night.

"I mean that you treat Peter differently. You poke fun at him. You are supposed to be his friend, but you… well, you bully him." While James' actions towards Peter weren't as severe as his actions towards Severus, Lily still cringed at the similarities.

James stopped and stared incredulously at his girlfriend.

"You- you think we bully Peter?"
Lily nodded hesitantly.

James thought for a moment before continuing the patrol. "We don't, you know."

"But you-"

"I'm not denying that we make fun of him," James cut in. "Because we do. But we do that to everybody. It's just what me and Sirius do."

"You don't make fun of Remus," Lily said quietly. It was something else that had been bothering her about the boys, the way they treated one friend differently than the other.

James chuckled. "Oh no, we do make fun of Remus. He's just better at giving it back to us."

Lily raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"All right," James took a deep breath. "You may not remember this, Lily. Or maybe you never noticed it in the first place, but when we first got to Hogwarts, Remus was… awkward."

"Awkward? That's not very nice, James! I remember him being quiet, but never awkward!"

"Well, that's probably because you weren't with him 24/7. You know that he was bitten when he was four, right?"

Lily nodded. She had suspected Remus of being a werewolf for a long time, but he hadn't told her the whole story until last year. It saddened her to think that her friend had been suffering for so long.

"We were his first friends," James continued quietly. "Ever since he was bitten, his parents have been really paranoid about people finding out. Not that they don't have reason to be. Remus doesn't talk about it much, but he's hinted at some things… and, well, let's just say it's not pretty when people do find out.

"Anyway, so his parents didn't really let him be with kids his own age. He mainly just stayed inside or near his house. He spent most of his time with his mum. So when he got to Hogwarts, he had no idea how to act around us. It was like rooming with an adult trapped in a kid's body. Sirius and I had a theory that Remus was actually a grown man who had come into contact with one of those de-aging potions that changes your body but not your mind, and he was being forced to relive his entire life." James laughed. "Ask Sirius about it sometime; he still thinks that it might be possible."

Lily couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. Trust Sirius Black to come up with something like that.

"What does this have to do with anything, James?"

"Oh right, back on track," James said with a wink. "So, Sirius and I were really good friends right from the start, but we had no idea what to do with Remus. He was so quiet and polite. And then one morning, he said something really quiet. You know how he kind of mumbles and mutters sometimes? Well, he did that, and I don't even remember what he said exactly, but it was hilarious. Really sarcastic. And Sirius and I just cracked up. And we knew that we had to keep him around.

"But it was weird, because he had no social skills. He was so uptight about everything; it took us forever to loosen him up. Sirius and I would make jokes to him or about him, and sometimes, he would just look at us like he had no idea what we were talking about. Or he would take us seriously. But he never retaliated, not at first.

"It wasn't until the start of our second year that Remus started making fun of us too. He was really tentative about it, like he was afraid he was going to lose our friendship if he did. Which is probably exactly what he thought. But eventually, he realized that we were going to stick by him no matter what and we wanted him to joke around with us.

"And look at him now! He makes fun of us all the time. If Sirius or I poke fun at him, he gives it right back to us."

As Lily thought about it, she realized that James was right. Sirius and James did treat Remus the same way they treated Peter. But something still felt different. She voiced her thoughts to James.

He paused for a moment before responding. "I think that it's different with Peter because he just takes all the crap we throw at him. He doesn't really respond in any way. I mean, he'll join in when we're doing something to someone else, but when we make fun of him, most of the time he just sits there."

"But don't you think that's mean?"

"Maybe," James said thoughtfully. "But I guess Sirius and I keep doing it because we are waiting for the day that he does respond in some way. I guess we are hoping that someday we will make him as comfortable around us as Remus is."

"What if that day never comes, James?" Lily asked quietly. James looked troubled for a moment before shrugging.

That day had never come for the Marauders.

They had graduated from Hogwarts and gone out into the real world. So many things had stayed the same. James and Sirius still poked fun at each other, Remus, and Peter; Remus still responded; and Peter still didn't. Peter just sat there, hero-worshipping James and Sirius, content to be on the sidelines while the others got the glory.

Or so they had thought.

It saddened Lily, the state of the Marauders these days. They had been so strong during their time at school, but the war had damaged them, straining their friendship. Paranoia and suspicion had slowly crept in and tainted them. James and Sirius still had a brotherly bond that nothing could break. But where did that leave the other two?

For some reason that Lily still couldn't understand, Sirius had never questioned Peter's loyal. Maybe he had simply underestimated him. Or maybe Sirius had thrived on Peter's adoration. Either way, Sirius had chosen Peter over Remus.

Lily knew that the Sirius felt incredibly guilty for doubting Remus. James did too, even though he had not fully committed to the idea of Remus being the traitor. But that was behind them. The three remaining Marauders had talked. It hadn't been an easy thing to do, but finally, they had reached a point where all was forgiven. There was still trust to be restored, but it was a start.

But the first real test for the Marauders' newly reformed friendship would come today. They had been dreading it; it had been a taboo topic the past week. Everyone was loath to bring it up. Yet, like it always seemed to work, time moved too quickly. And before anyone was ready, the day had come.

The day of the trial of Peter Pettigrew.

The morning of November 11th came swiftly and quietly. Not that Lily had really expected differently. But it seemed like such a momentous day should arrive with more noise. If only it was momentous for a better reason.

Lily had been with James for four years, married for two. In that time, she had come to know the Marauders well. So, their reactions to Peter's betrayal did not surprise her.

Remus was quiet about it. He had always been more of an introspective person, and he was true to form in this situation. Lily could tell when he was thinking about Peter because he would get an unbearably sad look on his face, but he never wanted to talk about it.

Sirius was bursting with the famous Black anger. He would stalk around the safe house, sometimes muttering under his breath and sometimes screaming at the top of his lungs. Lily was fairly sure that if James had not been present to restrain him, Sirius would have hunted Peter down and killed him. Lily had tried to reason with him, but she hadn't had much luck. The only thing that had calmed Sirius down had been James' presence.

James was the exact opposite of Remus. While Remus didn't want to talk about it, James didn't want to stop talking about it. It had taken a few days to accept what had happened, but when it had finally sunk in, James had been obsessed. The first night that Remus had joined them at the safe house, James had kept Lily up all night, talking.

I don't get it. Why'd he do it, Lils? How could Peter betray us like this? We were his friends, weren't we?

As much as Lily dreaded Peter's trial, she was also looking forward to it. Looking forward to getting some answers, some resolution, and putting this whole thing behind them. She had hoped that, after today, life could return to normal for the Marauders.

But first, they had to get through the trial.

As Lily entered the sitting room of their safe house, she held Harry close. This would be the first time since Voldemort's attack on them that she and Harry would be leaving the safe house. James and Sirius had been going on daily walks down the beach, and Remus had been going to meet with Dumbledore, but she and Harry had stayed within the confines of the Fidelius Charm. There had been parties celebrating Voldemort's defeat and a ceremony awarding James, Lily, and Sirius (but not Remus, because of his condition, which upset the others greatly) Orders of Merlin, First Class. But they hadn't attended any of those. There had still been Death Eaters at large, and Dumbledore had cautioned them about exposing themselves to an attack.

But the Death Eater threat had been diminished with the arrest of the Lestranges. And the remaining Marauders would not miss Peter's trial. Especially since James was testifying against him.

Lily sat down in a chair across from the couch, upon which sat James, Sirius, and Remus. They were all in various states of distress. Sirius looked ready to murder someone. His normally handsome features were twisted into a scowl. Lily wasn't quite sure how he was going to sit through the trial if he didn't calm down.

Remus looked queasy, although this probably had more to do with the fact that it was a full moon tonight. When he had woken up with a slight fever, James and Sirius had urged him to stay behind.

You'll do yourself no favors by going, Moony. It'll just make it worse.

Yeah, and what if you start upchucking in the middle of the trial, huh? That'll be a sight.

But Remus was adamant.

I'm going. I have to go. I'll be fine. And if I do start upchucking, I'll make sure to aim for someone other than you, Padfoot.

Secretly, Lily agreed with James and Sirius. Remus didn't need to be at the trial, and if he wanted to watch it later, they could always borrow Dumbledore's pensieve. But the look on the werewolf's face told her that no matter what argument they put forth, he was going to go.

If possible, however, James looked more nauseated than Remus did. Out of all the Marauders, it had been James who had been chosen to testify against Peter. It made the most sense, really. Remus' and Sirius' testimonies would have been discounted because of his condition and because of his family. Besides, it had been James that Peter had almost gotten killed. And Lily had wanted no part in testifying.

Lily knew that James wanted answers, but a part of him was also rebelling at the idea of sending his friend to jail.

I know it doesn't make sense. He almost killed us. And I'm madder at him than I've ever been at anybody. But he was my friend for so long that it still feels like some sort of betrayal.

It seemed as though James' loyalty to his friends was causing him still to hang onto some part of his friendship with Peter. Lily prayed that this wouldn't interfere with justice. She didn't want to see Peter killed or Kissed by Dementors, but she did want to see him punished. He had almost killed her baby. That wasn't something that she took lightly.

Lily held Harry tightly to her body. She didn't really want to take him to the trial, but she didn't want to be parted from him either. Looking up at the clock above the fireplace, she sighed.

"I think we had better go," Lily said softly, breaking the silence that had settled over the room.

James sighed as the three Marauders stood. Remus swayed slightly, and James and Sirius reached out to grab him.

"I'm fine," Remus said shortly. He continued when he saw James and Sirius open their mouths. "And before you say it, I'm going to the trial. I'll be fine."

James and Sirius shared a skeptical look before shrugging.

"Suit yourself, Moons," Sirius said. "But if I have to catch you mid-swoon, you're never going to hear the end of it."

Remus shoved Sirius' shoulder. "Right, just like I won't let you ever forget about that time-"

Sirius' hand shot out and covered Remus' mouth. "You promised not to ever bring that up ever again."

Remus' eyebrow rose, and Lily and James shared a confused look.

"What's he talking about, Pads?" James asked as Sirius' hand dropped back to his side and the four adults moved towards the front door.

"Nothing, Prongs. Forget he ever said anything." It wasn't everyday that Sirius looked as uncomfortable as he did now. And that made Lily wonder what Remus knew.

"I'll tell you later," Remus whispered to James with a smirk on his face.

Lily breathed a sigh of relief that things were going back to normal for the Marauders. The days since Peter's betrayal had been strained, but finally it seemed as though they were finding their easy rhythm once again.

"I hate that we have to apparate with Harry," James said as they reached the apparition point. The Floo Network had been disconnected from the same house, just like their house in Godric's Hollow. To get to the Ministry, they had to apparate to the visitor's entrance. It wasn't ideal, but it was their only way to get to the trial.

"I don't either, but I trust you not to splinch us," Lily said with a smile to her husband.

"No pressure there, Prongsie," Sirius said, laughing.

"Great. Thanks, Pads." James smiled and hugged Lily and Harry close. "Ready?"

"As I'm ever going to be."