James and Sirius were walking down the corridor with Remus between them. The full moon was only two days ago so the chances of Remus falling asleep standing were incredibly high.

"Where's Wormtail?" Remus yawned rubbing his face.

"McGonagall asked him to stay behind because he didn't do his homework," Sirius said.

"The essay?" Remus asked stopping. "The one about animagus?"

"Yeah," James answered. "Its no big deal, he'll probably just get lines."

"No," Remus said. "We have to go back. Peter did that essay, I saw him do it."

Sirius grabbed Remus by the shoulder. "Moony stop. You didn't write the essay. We voted to see who would get detention. Wormtail got the short end of the stick and turned his essay in under your name."

"That's not fair!" Remus protested. "He shouldn't get bad marks because of me!"

"You are the only marauder with a perfect record," James said stepping in front of Remus. "You have gone seven years without missing a single assignment and I'll be damned if you start now."

"Wormtail won't be mad," Sirius added. "Promise. Now let's go to lunch, I'm starved."

"Yeah all right," He mustered a weak smile which made the scars of his face twinge.

They made it to the last corridor before the entrance hall when a group of third-year Ravenclaw boys passed. James heard the one with blonde hair mutter something to his goonies. He was clearly the leader because they all laughed at his remark. 

The boy's comment made James stop short. "Hey!"

Remus and Sirius stopped to look at James quizically. The four Ravenclaw boys turned around, looking slightly afraid.

"What did you just say?" James demanded.

"I didn't say anything," The blonde one objected. "Back off."

"You said something and you know it!" James countered taking a step closer to the group of boys. One of them looked like he was about to run away.

"James!" Remus shouted. "He said he didn't say anything. Leave it alone."

Either James didn't hear Remus or he chose to ignore him. "Say it again. If you can make a joke like that to your little friends, you can say it to my face."

"I don't have to do anything!" The boy countered crossing his arms. "You're not my prefect."

"I just so happen to be head boy!" James said taking yet another step towards the third year.

"What did he say Prongs?" Sirius demanded.

"He thought it would be amusing to make a comment about Moony's scars," James growled not tearing his gaze away from the blonde boy.

If looks could kill.

Remus who was already standing near a wall leaned against it as Sirius covered the distance between himself and James with a few paces. He was already much taller than James and towered over the thirteen-year-olds.

"I 'ought to curse you right now," Sirius snarled.

He and James both made moves to grab their wands. But the sound of footsteps stopped them. Lily was walking with Peter down the hall. She and James locked eyes for just a moment.

"No," James said, lowering his wand and pushing Sirius' down with it. "What is your name?"

The boy looked petrified. "Thomas Nolan."

"Well Thomas Nolan," James snapped. "You just lost Ravenclaw house fifty points."

"That's not fair! You can't do that!" The boy shouted as James began to turn away.

James turned so fast it made Remus dizzy watching. "Yeah? Try me. No, as a matter of fact, take your little complaint to Dumbledore! Once he hears what you said he's going to agree with me, if not deduct more house points."

"Run along now," Sirius said waving the boys away with his fingers. "Before I change my mind."

The boys scrambled down the hall faster than thought possible. They passed a very confused looking Lily and an amused looking Peter.

"Maybe I could give one of them a tail." Sirius muttered, holding his want up towards the retreating figures. 

"Leave it," James said, still fuming. "Let's go to lunch."

Once the four boys had settled Peter looked up at his friends. "So, what exactly just happened?"

"Four boys just escaped with their lives," Sirius answered sipping some water.

"That's an overstatement," Remus yawned, tearing into kidney pie.

"The one insulted Moony's scars," James said in a low voice. "Padfoot and I didn't take too kindly to that."

"I don't know how you just stood there," Sirius said looking at Remus. "I was ready to explode."

"I barely had enough energy to keep my eyes open, let alone confront some stupid kids," Remus said. "But thank you for standing up for me."

"Do they bother you?" Peter asked. "The scars I mean."

"They used to," Remus answered thoughtfully. He traced his finger across the bridge of his nose. "This one in particular."

"Do they still?" Sirius asked.

"Not as much. You can't get rid of werewolf scars. So I just live with it." Remus shrugged returning to his food and pulling out his book.

A few empty seats down Lily's fork slipped from her fingers and clattered against her plate loudly. Her friends all looked at her in concern. "I'm fine," Lily said brushing them off.

Abandoning her plate she dove into her bag. She pulled out a stack of star charts and an old leather-bound book. The letters were faded making it impossible for James to decipher the title.

"I've got to go," Lily said packing her things. "I have a paper to write."

The only person who seemed to notice the girl's departure was James, who was used to her ignoring him. He didn't mention it knowing that his friends were fed up with his obsession.

"You have a free period next, right?" Sirius asked Remus. "You could probably go up to the dorm and get some sleep."

"Yeah," Peter agreed. "We will come wake you before the next class."

"Thanks, guys," Remus said standing. "A nap might do me some good."

"Later Moons James said patting him on the back as Remus walked past.

Remus trudged up to Gryffindor tower. Entering his dorm he pulled off his cloak and dropped his things at the foot of his bed. Loosening his tie Remus went to collapse on the neatly made covers.

"You're a werewolf." Lily Evans was sitting with her legs folded on top of James' trunk. Remus turned to face her. Bracing for the worse.

Sighing deeply he said, "Oh really?"

"Yes," Lily continued. "And I don't care."

This caught Remus off guard. He slumped down into his bed gazing at the girl confused. "You don't care?"

"That's right. I don't," Lily said nodding firmly. "I've also had a suspicion that you were since fourth year."

"But you didn't say anything?" Remus asked in clear shock.

"Being possessed by something evil doesn't make a person evil," Lily said. "I also think that being a werewolf is your business, not mine."

"Despite that fact that I'm a potential danger to the entire Hogwarts student body?" Remus questioned.

"Dumbledore wouldn't have let you come if he didn't think students be safe," Lily said easily. "I don't think you're dangerous, Rem. I want to help you."

This made Remus laugh. "Thank you, Lily." He smiled. "But I'm far beyond any you could offer me."

"Don't be so sure." Lily smiled. "We'll talk later. Get some rest."

She walked out, had Remus not been ready to collapse, he would have pondered the strange interaction, but he slumped over into a deep sleep.

What felt like only seconds later a load of boxes clattered onto Remus' chest and he squinted against the light of the dormitory. He picked up one of the chocolate frog boxes and looks up at James who was smiling like an idiot.

"We ran out of Chaocatle last week," Remus said tearing open the package.

"Who needs Divination," Sirius said from his bed where he was chewing on a sugar quill. "Last class the old bat predicted that Alice was going to go clinically insane before she turned twenty-one, all of Prong's children were going to look just like him and that I would be wrongly imprisoned."

"That's ridiculous," Remus said opening the wrapper to a candy bar.

"I know right," Sirius replied. "If I'm going to prison it's going to be for something I actually did."

"We better get going if we want to make it to class," James said hoisting his bag onto his shoulder.

"You don't give a centaur's ass about potions," Sirius laughed, grabbing his things.

"No," Peter said, in a sing-song voice. "He gives a centaur's ass about Evans."

"Shut up," James muttered as they walked down the stairs.

"Speaking of Evan's," Remus said remembering his conversation with Lily. "She was in our dorm when I came up."

"It wouldn't be the first time the girls stole our firewhiskey," Sirius grumbled.

"No," Remus made sure to lower her voice. "She knows."

"Knows!" Peter yelped. "You mean about your-"

"My furry little problem yes. She knows I don't own a badly behaved rabbit." Remus nodded.

"How?" Sirius asked.

"She's the smartest girl at Hogwarts," Remus answered. "She said she's had her suspicions since we were in fourth year. She also said she doesn't care, that 'Being passed by something evil doesn't make me evil.'"

"Damn right it doesn't," Peter added.

"What about us?" James asked. "Does she know that we're animagi?"

Remus shook his head. "I don't know."

"Evans is a good one Prongs," Sirius said clapping James' shoulder. "Keep trying."