Always (Harry Potter One Shots)

The Secret [Marauders]

A/N: Decided to do a one shot about the Marauders, hope you guys like it! Please tell me what you think and who I should do a one shot of next, thanks!

James, Sirius, and Peter had recently gotten suspicious of their friend, Remus. Once a month, during the time of the full moon they had noticed, Remus would leave the school with some excuse like it was a family emergency, and when they would go around Hogwarts the next day looking for him, would always find him in the hospital wing being treated by Madam Pomphrey. He would be beaten, bloody, and bruised, his slim body covered with fresh scratches and cuts overlapping his old and faded scars.

The three second years had done their research (which they NEVER do, but this was their best friend they were concerned about) and had come to a conclusion: Remus was a werewolf. He always left the night of the full moon, came back hurt, and got mad or anxious around that time. They weren't completely sure of their friend being a werewolf, but tonight, the full moon, they would follow Remus, under the protection of James's invisibility cloak, to wherever he went and they would see if their friend turned into a werewolf.

They weren't exactly sure what they would do if their suspicions were correct. They believed that Remus wouldn't hurt them, but once he turned back into a human he would probably be pretty mad at them for following him.

But the two questions they couldn't stop asking themselves were: If Remus is a werewolf, why is he keeping it from us, his best friends, the people he can trust the most? And if he isn't one what is he hiding from us? They assumed they would find out from him that night, or if their suspicions were correct, the next morning.

*****

Once the sun went down, Remus hurried out of the castle. The other three boys, barely concealed by the invisibility cloak, followed a safe distance behind him. Their friend went straight to the tree known as the Whomping Willow. Looking at each other, they warily continued after him.

"What is he doing? He's going to get himself killed by that thing!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Shh!" James said. "He might overhear you."

They watched as their friend quickly and skillfully maneuvered around and between the flailing branches of the tree. When he got close enough to the trunk, he took a long stick, groping around until he poked the right spot and suddenly the Whomping Willow completely froze. The entire tree was immobile, all of its enormous branches suspended in midair.

Remus cast a look behind his shoulder to make sure no one was out the castle and looking this way. The three boys held their breath as they felt their friend's eyes glance over them under the invisibility cloak and they hoped a small part of them, like the tip of a shoe, wasn't able to be seen. After not seeing anyone, he disappeared into a hole in the side of the trunk barely big enough to fit him.

Not paying attention, the three stood there, dumbstruck and wondering at what had just happened. Their friend, always saying he would apparate with someone out of Hogsmeade to visit his seriously ill relative, had just gone inside the Whomping Willow to go who knew where? And since he did this, their suspicions were correct!

They didn't realize they were wasting precious time. A minute after Remus went in, the Whomping Willow became unfrozen and started thrashing its branches again. James, Sirius, and Peter barely missed becoming flattened.

"Damn, we missed our chance!" James said. He sounded defeated.

Sirius put his hand on his best friend's shoulder. "Relax, mate. We can just wait for him to come out in the morning and talk to him then."

"Sounds good enough," Peter said.

They sat on the grass a good distance from the tree, waiting and watching the entrance. Finally, as the sun was starting to come up, Remus stumbled out the tree. He was bleeding from several new small cuts and scratches. He touched a part of the trunk and once again the tree froze long enough for him to get away from it.

James, Sirius, and Peter stood up. Remus, who had just been walking with his head down, picked his head up and saw his friends waiting for him. His eyes widened in fear and his entire body stiffened.

"W-What are you g-guys doing h-h-here?" he stuttered.

"We've been waiting for you," Peter said.

"You h-have? W-Why?"

"Relax, mate. We know about your furry little problem and we want to help you," Sirius said, putting his arm around Remus's shoulder.

"So you don't hate me? And how can you help me? You can't just go to the Shrieking Shack with me! I can't control myself around humans, I could kill you! I couldn't live with myself if I ever hurt any of you-"

"Woah, slow down Remus. We don't hate you, we never could."

"Right!" Sirius and Peter said together.

"We don't hate you for something you can't control. And we aren't sure exactly how we can help you, but we swear to you we will do whatever it takes to help you through this."

"Thank you guys," Remus said, close to tears, "I'm so lucky to have you as my friends."

James put his arms around Remus and Peter's shoulders, and Sirius put his arm around Remus's other shoulder.

"No problem, Moony."

A/N: (Woah this was longer than I usually write haha) I love the marauders! I actually have small ideas for a Remus love story and for a Sirius love story, should I start writing them? I only will if you guys would want to read them, since I already have enough stories that I'm currently writing which I haven't updated in forever. I'm going to try to finish at least one or two this summer.

Also, should I write a one shot of how they come up with the other marauder names for each other and how they decide to become animagi? Please tell me what you thought of this and what I should do next, vote if you liked this, and follow me if you want to read more from me and know when I update! :)

Will try to update this and my other stories more, please tell me what you guys want updated next, thanks! <3 ~Ann