The morning after the full moon, I awoke extra early to head down to the Hospital Wing to visit Remus. I got dressed and left my dormitory, only to find James, Sirius and Peter asleep on the couch and on the floor in front of the hearth. There was light snoring coming from one of them, and I was fairly certain that it was Peter. Besides them, the common room was empty since everyone else was probably still sleeping.

I attempted to tiptoe over to them quietly so as not to wake them, but as I did so, James stirred in his sleep and sat up slowly.

"Bianca?" he mumbled once he saw me, looking confused. "Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me, in case you've forgotten what I look like," I replied, knowing he probably couldn't see my face properly without his glasses on.

"Morning," he said, his mouth curling into a small smile.

"Good morning, James," I said softly. "Did you sleep OK down here?"

"Eh, not really. I wish we had made it all the way up to the boys' dormitory last night, but we were so exhausted that we sort of just passed out here. I mean, it wouldn't be the first time, but it definitely won't be the last."

He rubbed his eyes with the backs of his hands.

"Damn, I'm completely blind... Bianca, can you please pass me my glasses? They're on the table... somewhere," he said, pointing towards a table.

I got up and plucked his glasses off of the table, handing them to a squinting James. He put them on and attempted to stand up from the couch while a sleeping Peter hugged his leg from the other side of the couch. James tried to shake him off, but Peter only held on tighter, smiling pleasantly in his sleep.

James sighed in defeat and slumped back onto the couch.

I smiled slightly. "Is he always that cuddly in his sleep?" I asked James, gesturing to Peter.

He nodded. "Sometimes he's even worse than this... Whenever I go to wake him up for breakfast, he'll start hugging me so much that he'll pull me into bed with him. I usually end up falling asleep right beside him after that." He grinned. "Petey can cuddle with even the most uptight person. Moony, Padfoot and I have all ended up sleeping next to him at some point throughout the years."

James's gaze wandered down to the floor to Sirius, who was sleep just underneath the couch. He frowned.

"Poor bloke. He can't be comfortable there..."

He finally pulled his leg free from Peter's grip and got down from the couch, only to lift Sirius onto it. He slumped to the floor and I sat down next to him.

"How was the full moon last night?" I whispered. "Was it one of the bad ones for him?"

"No, it wasn't too bad this time," said James. "It was one of the better ones. Times like this remind us all why we chose to become Animagi... It really does help him. Being in the presence of other animals calms him. Anyway, I think he'll be out of the Hospital Wing rather quickly today."

"I hope so," I said. "I was going to go see him."

"Hang on, I'll come with. I'm just going to wake these lumps up." James prodded Sirius in the side with his foot, but Sirius didn't budge. "D'you want to help?"

I hesitated. "Er... are you sure you want me to do that?"

"I dunno... why?" he questioned.

"Because... well... you should know that I am not at all gentle when I wake people up. If they don't get up, I'll just get frustrated and probably end up throwing them off the couch."

"I'm sure they'd love that," he mumbled, raising his eyebrows with a smirk on his face. "My method is a lot more fun, though."

"Yeah?"

"Definitely."

James grinned and scrambled up onto the couch, stepping around the two boys' limbs. He proceeded to jump up and down on the couch, then began to sing very loudly.

"I've got a cauldron full of hot, strong love
And it's bubbling for you!
Say Incendio, but that spell's not hot
As my special witch's brew!

Don't you be afraid, come and take a sip
Of this steamy, tasty treat!
What's in my cauldron full of hot, strong love
Will make your life complete!"

Sirius stirred and groaned, covering his ears. Peter had replaced James's leg with Sirius's and was now hugging that instead. However, upon hearing James's singing. He tried to burrow underneath a blanket that wasn't there. I laughed and stood on the cramped couch as well to jump on it.

James continued singing and I had to admit that his singing voice wasn't half bad.

"COME ON, PADFOOT, WORMTAIL, YOU CAN SLEEP WHEN YOU'RE DEAD!" James yelled, then continued his version of Celestina Warbeck's A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love.

Sirius moved his leg, causing me to fall on top of him. He yelled out in pain, finally fully awake.

"Oh... sorry, Padfoot," I said sincerely, patting his arm and rolling onto the floor.

"Hm? It's all right, it's not like you're heavy anyway," he said, yawning. "Now, if that fat deer had fallen on me, it would've been a different story..."

I chuckled as James stopped in the middle of another verse of the song, only to say, "I heard that, Padfoot! And I am deeply affronted."

"You were meant to, Prongsie," said Sirius, running a hand through his own hair. "You woke me up with that awful screeching."

"What? I thought you loved my singing! You told me you loved it! You told me that it soothed you!"

"You happened to be a little flat today," Sirius replied.

James growled and jumped on him, and Sirius yelled out even louder this time.

"What is with all this ruckus? It's, like, the middle of the night!"

Sirius and James stopped arguing and turned to see where the voice was coming from: the stairwell of the girls' dormitory. Marlene and Lily stood at the bottom of the stairs, their hair sticking up all over the place. Their arms were crossed and their faces both bore the same annoyed expression.

"It's the morning, McKinnon!" Sirius yelled, throwing his arms up dramatically.

"No, I'm fairly certain it's the middle of the night," she replied flatly.

"The sun is up and shining; therefore, it is morning," said James, pointing to the window. "Also, that ruckus you were referring to was my singing!"

Marlene groaned.

"Well it sounded like a dying goat screaming after it ate a dozen exploding bonbons," Lily stated.

"Really? I thought it sounded more like a dying deer," said Sirius. "Don't you think, James?"

"Well... perhaps. A stag, if we're going to go into the specifics," he replied, tapping his cheek with his forefinger.

Lily and Marlene both looked confused as to why James and Sirius suddenly cackled, why I was trying to hold back my laughter and why Peter let out a loud chuckle in his sleep.

"Keep it down," Marlene growled. "I swear, if I get woken up one more time with your screaming that you somehow call singing, someone's going to be pitched off the side of the Astronomy Tower."

With that, Lily and Marlene went back up to their dormitory.

"I'm kind of scared, Padfoot," James admitted. "They're planning something... Waiting for us to let our guards down and then they'll..." He trailed off, scratching his chin with a fearful look on his face as though imagining what would happen.

"I know, Prongs," said Sirius, shuddering.

"Yeah, whatever they do to you, I'm only hoping they won't do the same thing to me," I told them.

"You're fine, they won't," Sirius answered. "If we're being completely honest, he's the one who has to worry the most."

"As if they'll get me without getting you," said James, rolling his eyes.

"Evans hates you way more than she hates me," Sirius pointed out. "It's a shame you chose her to like out of all the girls in our year, because she's probably the one you'll never get."

"You said 'probably'. That means there's still hope. Bianca agrees with me. Right?" He slid his arm across my shoulders.

"Well... I mean, she does talk about you quite a bit, even if the things she says aren't necessarily good things... at all..." I said.

James glared at me.

"Hey, I'm just stating facts—concrete facts. So let's go see Moony, shall we?" I said quickly in an attempt to change the subject. "Peter, get the hell up before I throw you on the floor."

He didn't wake up and snuggled deeper into the couch.

I shook him. "Peter, wake up! Wake up, wake up, wake up!"

He grabbed my arm and pulled me into the couch, trying to hug me while keeping his eyes closed.

"You weren't kidding," I told James as I struggled to escape Peter's hold. "Peter, this is ridiculous. For God's sake, get up! WAKE UP!" I yelled in his ear. "I have no sympathy."

I grabbed his arm and pulled him, sliding him from the couch onto the floor.

"I'm going to murder y—"

"OK, OK, I'm up! I'm up," Peter said, sitting up, alert.

"Let's go, then," I said just as some people began coming down the stairs and into the common room. I made a face. "Ew, I hate people. Let's leave before anyone else talks to us."

James, Sirius and Peter followed me out of the common room and climbed through the portrait hole after me. We scurried to the Hospital Wing.

"Did anyone remember to bring chocolate?" I asked them.

Sirius and James shook their heads sadly, but Peter smiled, reaching into his pocket.

"Yes, right here!" he said cheerfully.

I sighed in relief and pushed the door of the Hospital Wing open. Remus was already awake and looked peaceful as Madam Pomfrey applied some powdered silver and dittany on his wounds. He looked up and smiled as soon as he saw us.

"Hey, Remmy," said James.

"Hi guys," Remus replied.

We awkwardly waited around for Madam Pomfrey to finish. When we was done, Remus thanked her.

"You're good to go, Mr Lupin," she told him.

"You mean that I can leave now?" Remus asked.

"Yes, all of your minor injuries have been fixed... You may go in time for breakfast."

Remus seemed ecstatic that he didn't have to spend any more time in the Hospital Wing and got up from the bed with more energy than I thought was possible from him considering what he had gone through the night before. He didn't seem to be in a bad mood as he normally was after a full moon and I was glad to see he was progressing. It crossed my mind yet again how much he needed the other three boys during the nights of the full moon... how much they helped him.

"What's up?" Remus asked as we walked with him to the Great Hall.

"Not much. Prongs woke us up singing Celestina Warbeck," said Sirius.

"Ah. Glad I wasn't there for that," Remus replied, grimacing. "Which one was it now?"

"A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love," I said.

"A favourite of his," said Remus, smirking. He turned to James. "You should consider singing it to Lily... maybe it'll win her over," he joked.

"Ha ha... very funny... except she hates my singing," he huffed.

Peter, Sirius and I all tried to explain simultaneously the events of that morning and what Lily and Marlene had said about James's singing.

"Sorry, mate," said Remus.

"I really don't care... I know I sing marvellously, so I don't need people telling me I do. I'm just worried about how they're planning to retaliate because of our little prank," said James.

"You're still on that, are you?" I asked. "Even if they're planning to do something, worrying won't help. I have no doubt they'll find a way to retaliate eventually, no matter how careful you are around them."

"Agreed," said Peter. "Besides, they're amateurs when it comes to pranking... How good can the prank be?"

"I wouldn't speak too soon, Pete," said Sirius. "You may have just jinxed it."

Peter sighed. "Great."

"Yes, now the ground will explode at your feet," Sirius continued.

Peter jolted and looked down. Sirius rolled his eyes.

As we rounded a corner, I had been about to speak, but the words got caught in my throat. My mouth dropped open in horror at what I saw.

Isla Clarke and her friend, Muriel, the two first-year girls that Remus and I had helped with casting the Levitation Charm, had been cornered by three seventh-years in Slytherin, who were taunting them. We had arrived just in time to hear one of them calling Isla a Mudblood, while another made disgusting remarks about Muriel's skin colour.

***

Author's Note:

This beautiful aesthetic was made by Acciojiilys for Regulanca... It's so cute!