"Mum! Mum where are you going?!?" A frantic boy in blue and white flannel pajamas ran after his mother outside. The door to their small house on the outskirts of a small muggle village slammed shut behind him. Glancing to the right, he saw the lights of the town glowing a dull yellow. Then he turned to his mother, who was holding a suitcase and wearing a long black cloak. He cried, "The full moon is only a few days away! You can't leave mummy!"

The mother of the small child turned around and waited for him to catch up, setting her suitcase down beside her. When the little boy reached her she put both hands on the boy's shoulders, covering them. She knelt down to his height and looked him in the eyes. "Mummy has to go away for awhile sweetie," she crooned softly. Then she wrapped him in a tight embrace and whispered in his ear, "Don't you ever forget that I love you."

She pulled away, kissed the top of his head, and then stood up. Tears forming in her eyes, she looked down at him once more before grabbing her bag and turning away. She pulled a stick from her pocket and with a swish of it and a loud crack; she was gone.

---

Nine 1/2 years later…

"Oi Moony, pass over that Fire whisky ya great brute!"

"Oi Potter, don't call Howler a brute you Wanker!"

"You great smelly, dog! Don't talk about Hornsy in that manner!"

"Sod off you Twits! Can't you ever not get in an argument?"

"Now Moooony!" a tall, slender young man with jet black hair and glasses swayed toward the tall boy with sandy colored hair and a book in his hand. "Are you off your rocket? There is no way we could do that!"

"Which is why Miss Evans won't go out with you," Moony replied bluntly, and glanced up from his book to see the boy's expression. He still hadn't moved and their faces were inches apart.

"She'll come 'round," the boy said, and he got a face full of alcoholic breath.

"Pheph, James you need to brush your teeth. McGonagall would kill you if she knew you were dru-" he stopped talking as James put his lips on his. He was about to shove James off of him when he pulled away and started laughing.

"That's what you get for being so dim Lupin," James said through peals of laughter. Lupin glanced over at Peter-a chubby short boy with dirty blonde, medium length hair- who was also laughing in front of him. But a look at Sirius-an averaged sized, muscled, shaggy haired boy- he noticed that he wasn't laughing, but frowning. "Ready for another Remus?" James asked and Remus's head turned toward the boy who had closed his eyes and puckered his lips, making a show if it.

"No. I. Am. Not. You immature Tosser," Remus said and stood up, still holding his book. He started to walk out of their dorm room but felt a light tug on his pant leg. Glancing down he saw a dark brown dog pulling on his pants with its teeth. "SIRIUS BLACK!" Lupin screeched in surprise- and outrage- and dropped his book on the dog's head. It whimpered and right before their eyes, the dog shifted into their Sirius.

"Now, what'd ya go and do that for Moony?" Sirius asked, rubbing the top of his head where the book had hit him.

"Look," Remus said, picking his book up off of the floor and throwing it across the room onto his bed. "When you told me you were becoming illegal Animaigus, I agreed." Ignoring James's 'you didn't really have a choice,' he plowed on. "That was because I knew it would help me through my transformation each month. I may be a…" he lowered his voice even though they were in their dorm room where no one could hear them. "A… werewolf," He raised his voice again. "But that doesn't mean you can just transform whenever you want. You barely mastered it! What if you were caught? How the bloody hell could I ever forgive myself if they sent you to Azkaban Padfoot? The only way I could do that would be if I was to die. Because I wouldn't be able to live with that guilt. I set rules and you agreed to follow them. If you aren't going to follow them I don't want you with me when I transform this month."

"Whoa whoa Remus calm down," Sirius stood up, still rubbing his head. "It was just a one-time thing. There is no need to over-react." Sirius caught his mistake too late. "…worry," he corrected.

Remus' eye's narrowed. "We'll see who's over-reacting when you have your own cell in Azkaban, Black," he practically spat the last name and filled it with all the venom he could muster. He hurried off to leave the room, and that time no one stopped him. He grabbed his book from where it had landed on his bed and stormed out of the room.

---

One year later…

"Come on Moony, you will have to forgive us sometime," James stood in front of Remus and Peter stood next to him.

"Right. And flipping me upside down in an empty classroom is going to move the inevitable along much quicker," Remus said sarcastically and he crossed his arms. Which was a mistake since he had been holding his cloak up and then folded over his face.

James was holding his wand. The two in front of him had ambushed him as soon as he had come into the empty classroom. His 'friends' had forged a note from one of his teachers saying to meet there. "Ugh!" he exclaimed and flailed his arms and legs, even though it would do no use unless they let him go. The, he would fall on his head and probably break his neck. "Let me down now, Potter," Remus commanded.

"Potter? No, no dear Moony. That's not what you call your best mates," James mocked.

"Oh yeah? Well best mates don't hang each other upside down for shits and giggles. Best mates don't send an innocent Slytherin to their death because of a schoolyard grudge. Just because Evans liked him, Potter; you are an arrogant bastard. I almost killed someone because of your silly little crush on a girl you can never get because of the immature stunts you pull like this one. I would have been kicked out of school if it wasn't for Dumbledore and his quick-wit. You never think of the consequences. You only think of yourself."

The only reason he stopped talking was because he felt the spell lifting off him. The unmistakable sound of footsteps followed. A door slammed and he felt himself falling. While bracing himself for the impact strong, muscular arms wrapped themselves around him. "Ufh," he said as he was flipped right-side up. Lupin heard the faint click of a locking door then all was silent.

He pushed his cloak down from his head to acknowledge his rescuer. His gratitude died in his throat when he saw who it was. Anger bubbled inside of him. "What the hell do you-" Remus stopped talking as Sirius shoved his wand into his hand.

"Here," he said and backed up. He drew his own wand and set it on the ground, kicking it off to the side. "Do your worst Remus."

Remus looked from the wand to Sirius. There was no way he wanted him to attack him unarmed. "What the hell do you want Sirius? For me to duel you without your wand and you can't even fight back?"

"Yes," Sirius looked right into Remus' eyes and opened his arms to the side. "I want you to 'do your worst'… Kill me."

Lupin felt himself frown. "Why? If I would feel bad about killing Snape, sure as Merlin I couldn't kill you."

"Ah yes," Sirius said, his eyes never leaving Remus' face. "But, what do I have to live for? My parents? My family?" he let out a mad bark of laughter as if that was the funniest thing he ever heard. "Without my friends… all of my friends, I have nothing to live for or to look forward to."

"So this is it then?" Remus asked. "This is your plan to get me to forgive you all? Suggest I kill you and hope for the best? You're a foul twit, you know that?"

"What else am I, Remus?" Sirius asked with his arms still open. "Please lay it on me like you did your other best mate, James. You know him right? The one whose nickname you gave? The one who first helped you out on the train? The one whose house you visit every summer vacation? The one who came up with the plan of helping you when you transformed? The one that spent hours every day studying werewolves just to come up with the idea. And, the one that saved Snapes life while risking his.

"Prongs didn't pull Snape out; James did. He did keep his promise even though he knew there was a good chance it could be fatal. He didn't change because he knew you wouldn't be able to live with him being in Azkaban, like you said last year. James didn't do anything wrong."

"You are trying to make this all seem like some heroic effort," Lupin said. "I can't even see how this was supposed to make me feel better! Knowing that I was the danger that could have killed Snape and one of my best mates doesn't make anything better. Yes, I knew that James was not Prongs at the time, which is why I'm so mad at him! I know I told him to not change, but it scares me to think I could have killed him…"

"Ha!" Sirius pointed one of his outstretched hands toward him. "You called him your best mate. One out of three. Now, on to Peter-" he cut off mid-sentence when Lupin pointed his wand at him.

"No," Remus said. "You next. Peter had nothing to do with this; I already told him that I didn't hold anything against him and not to tell you. Now, why should I forgive Sirius Black?"

Sirius seemed taken aback and a bit stunned at Remus's boldness, which he rarely saw. "Well," he said after a few minutes of stunned silence. "Because I'm sorry. I'm terribly sorry I did anything to hurt you and to jeopardize our friendship-"

"What about Snape?" Lupin asked, lowering the wand to a place Sirius really didn't want to get hexed.

"I am also sorry about Snape… I didn't... want… to… kill him." He enunciated every word and looked Remus straight in the eyes. Maybe he would believe it was true, even if it so plainly wasn't.

"Well, look at this! Sirius Black you are the best damned liar I have ever known. If you could lie that well and put on such a good bluff, maybe I could forgive you… but I would like to hear a few reasons why I should." He brought the wand up and twirled it in his hands, grinning maliciously at Sirius.

Sirius lowered both his arms to his sides. "We are best mates," he took a step closer to Remus. "I'm funny," another step. "I'm loyal and will never betray you again," one more step closer. "I will always follow the rules you set for me, we can be the Marauders again," Two more steps toward Remus. "You will be able to do my work again," a low chuckle from Remus and another step for Sirius. "You told me about your memory of when your mom left when you were six, and it's still our little secret," he took another big step. "We can keep secrets from our other two best friends," he took the last small step right in front of Lupin.

"And because of this," he put his arms around Remus's waist under his arms and pulled Lupin's body close to his. He put his lips on Remus's hard and did not wait for a response before putting his tongue into his mouth.

Remus remained still for a second, full of shock. Soon though, brushing aside the fact that he was snogging his best male friend, he let the wand in his hand clatter to the floor and put his arms around Sirius's neck to tug him closer.

Sirius was dominating Remus's mouth. Disliking the idea of not being alpha in the situation, he shoved his tongue into Sirius's mouth and got a squeak of surprise from Sirius. Remus noticed Sirius loosen up a bit and he was allowed to roam his mouth easier.

Lupin felt his hands wander down Sirius' back of their own accord and to the hem of his shirt. Not really aware of what he was doing, he started to pull the shirt up. Sirius broke the kiss for a second to let him pull it over his head. They put their lips back together only long enough for Sirius to slide Remus' cloak off. His Gryffindor tie and sweater followed, a small pile or clothes beginning to form.

Remus shoved Sirius against the nearest wall with a small thump. Using the leverage Sirius wrapped his leg around the slimmer man and pushed his hands between them to feel Remus's chest.

"Achem," the sound of someone announcing their entrance and fake coughing made Remus and Sirius freeze in the most compromising of position. They both turned their heads toward the sound. Both at a loss for words, they just stared at the person who caught them.

Sirius hurried to unwrap his legs from around Remus, who let go of him and took a step back.

"Uh," Remus usually had great composure and regained it faster than Sirius. Now though, he was frozen looking guilty and embarrassed. "S-s-sorry Headmaster."

He heard light sniggers coming from Sirius-the stupid git.

--

Another year later…

"You really need to take a break mate," James exclaimed from the couch.

"No no no," Remus said looking through all his papers scattered across the floor in front of the fire. "I have studying to do! NEWTS are just around the corner and-"

"Hey Remus," Sirius entered the room from the Fat Lady's portrait and announced his entrance with a gravelly voice. "I nicked us all some food from the kitchens. Thanks for letting me use your cloak James," he handed the silver silky item to James . Then he sat down on the couch next to him. "Come here Moony," he patted the spot on the floor between his legs. "You need to relax."

"Oi!" James exclaimed and Peter snickered from the chair by the fire, "There'll be none of that while I'm here."

"That's not what I meant Prongs," Sirius rolled his eyes. "And could you shut up? Do you want to wake the whole castle?"

"It's two in the bloody morning," James said and stood up. "I have to get some sleep for my date with Lily tomorrow."

"Oh right, Hogsmeade…" Sirius thought for a second. "I can hardly believe she finally agreed to go out with you mate."

"I've grown up a lot."

"We all have," Remus agreed looking at James, Peter, then letting his gaze fall on Sirius. He smiled and snatched a book before crawling to the spot Sirius had indicated.

"Ah, none of that," Sirius reached down and snatched the book from of Remus's hands. Remus sighed, defeated.

"Fine," Remus said and pulled his legs up to his chest, hugging them closer. He rested his chin on his knees and frowned. "This is our last year together."

"You're a bloody git Moony," James said, Peter as always lately, was silent.

"Remus, we are going to have the rest of our lives together," Sirius said. After a scoffing noise from James he added, "the four of us. Best mates for life."

"Here here," James grabbed a butterbeer that Sirius had set on the table. Remus grabbed two and handed one to Sirius. Peter got his own.

"To the Marauders," James said and held up his bottle.

"The Marauders," the other three added and they all took a drink.

Remus soon felt hands on his shoulders, kneading them and his neck. He made a sound of approval and closed his eyes when Sirius hit a spot that had been aching for days.

Sirius leaned down and put his mouth next to Remus' ear. "You are relaxed my love."

Remus nodded, even though it wasn't really a question. Sirius stopped massaging his neck and leaned back onto the couch. "You're going to do swimmingly on the tests Remus. You study harder than anyone I know."

Smirking, Remus craned his neck to look at Sirius. "That's because the only people you know are idiots," he noticed James fingering his cloak and Peter dribbling butterbeer down his chin. "Take these two for example."

"Hey!" James cried out in indignation and broke his gaze away from the silver water of his cloak. "I'll have you know that I am dreadfully smart."

"One part of that is right. You are dreadful," Remus smiled as Sirius and Peter laughed. It took James a moment but he joined in. Maybe they would wake the entire castle but for once, Remus did not care if he got into trouble. Being with his best mates and having a good time would make it worth it.

--

That was one of the last times they were ever together… happily. And without the weight of the world on their shoulders.

Okaaaaaaaaaay, not my best work. But not my worst (in my oppinion). xD

I wrote this awhile back and decided to finally post it since I couldn't find anyone to Beta it.

Now that is fine since it is, yet again, not the best. P:

Thanks for reading and please review!