***

"Merlin!"

"What?" asked Sirius, kissing her neck.

"James told us to meet him in the secret chamber on the fifth floor. Something about an important announcement from the Marauders," answered Marlene.

"Sirius. Sirius!"

"What?" groaned Sirius, pulling away from the blonde at last.

"We have ten minutes. Dress up," Marlene sighed, throwing Sirius's shirt at him.

"That was so close to a perfect sentence," answered Sirius standing up unwillingly, "accio pants."

Fifteen minutes later, the door of the chamber flung open, and in came a slightly disheveled Marlene McKinnon. Her messy blonde hair was tied in a messy bun; her cheeks flushed from running.

"Sorry, I'm late. I was...doing things," she said breathlessly.

She had only reached halfway across the room when the door opened for the second time.

"I am things," smirked Sirius, calmly walking to his seat.

"Wha- " started Lily, but Marlene stepped on the redhead's foot, silencing her.

Remus and Alice exchanged looks. Peter raised his eyebrows. But they knew better than to ask questions they didn't want to hear answers for. And so the meeting proceeded with an unspoken agreement of pretending that no one had heard Sirius.

"Well...today we have invited you here to share with you a secret that not a single living soul except for the Marauders knows," announced James.

"Do you really have to be that dramatic?" groaned Marlene.

"No. This one might actually surprise you," grinned Remus.

"All this time, we have been hiding a grave secret," added Sirius, enjoying the anticipation building up in the room.

"But before we do this, you must swear to protect our secret with your death," said Peter.

"With...what?" asked Alice astonished, "you don't want us to make the Unbreakable vow, do you?"

"That, yes. Also, a sample of your blood, bone, and flesh wold be great," answered Sirius, crossing his legs on a nearby pouf.

"What?" asked Lily, turning to look at Sirius.

"Ignore Sirius. He lives for the drama," said Remus.

"None of that will be necessary," said James, "you are our friends, and we trust friends. But you do need to swear to protect this secret at all costs."

After Marlene, Lily and Alice had each placed their hand on their heart and said, "I solemnly swear," James continued.

"Okay! Who wants to talk about Moony's furry little problem?"

Remus rolled his eyes.

"No way! You have a rabbit?!" asked Lily excitedly.

"Not quite," answered Remus.

"So...in a nutshell. Moony's a werewolf, and the rest of us transform into a rat, stag, and dog once a month during the full moon to keep him from eating the Hogwarts's population. Did I miss anything?"

"Werewol- - what?" asked Alice, her mouth slightly open, her eyes widening.

"Omg. Did you just say you accompany him?!" asked Marlene looking around at all of them.

"You are a fucking moron, Wormy. Did you have to throw all of that at them at once?" asked Sirius annoyedly.

"Well...there certainly were better ways of getting this through," added Remus.

"I had no idea," said Alice looking at Remus, "I mean, of course, we knew you often fell ill, but I never thought....It must be awful."

"Turning into a fully-fledged monster once a month can't be fun. I can't imagine how it must feel," said Marlene.

"Oh, wait...but I know exactly what it feels like! And guess what? So does the better half of the human population!"

"At least you admit it," exclaimed James looking hard at the floor. 

Marlene turned to stare at James pointedly, her jaw dropped in shock. James grinned, pretending not to notice her. 

"And what is it like being an animagus?" asked Lily.

"Imagine being completely naked in a room full of people who speak a different language. Now imagine every one of them wants to touch you. That's how it feels to be a dog" answered Sirius.

"Is there anything else we need to know about?" asked Lily, turning to James.

"Well...yeah, there's one more thing," answered James, his eyes sparkling.

"I don't like the sound of this already," said Marlene.

Remus removed a blank, white parchment from his pocket.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he said, hitting it lightly with his wand.

Instantly red marks started spreading on the parchment.

"The Marauder's Map," whispered Alice.

"This is that map you used to see where Filch was" said Marlene excitedly.

Sirius glanced at the blonde, smiling.

Everyone gathered around the map,heads put together,looking closely.

"So this is a map of Hogwarts," Alice said.

"With all its hidden pathways and school grounds," added Remus.

"It also shows every person in the territory and their current location," said James.

"And most importantly, it does not get tricked by polyjuice potion, invisibility cloaks, or any other charms," added Sirius, proudly.

"But that is some advanced piece of magic," said Lily, impressed.

"Damn right, it is," said Sirius.

"It's nearly done. We are just finishing up with a few small details," said Remus.

"It is our greatest invention, and we intend to pass it on to the next generation of trouble makers," said James proudly.

Lily shot him a disapproving look.

"You are now officially part of our exclusive club," said Peter, smiling, "congratulations."

***

Lily stayed behind while the girls left the chamber.

"Hey, James...I gave Remus my Transfiguration notes from the class he missed."

"Thanks Lilyflower. You're a lifesaver. Padds, Wormy, and I owe you one for getting us out of this one. We usually take turns to take notes but as you know Wormy accidentally set it on fire this time and-"

"Well...I just realized you had missed this class too. You will have to catch up-"

"Yes?" said James looking at the girl intently.

"Well...I thought that I could help you with that," Lily shrugged.

"You would do that?" asked James, incredulously.

"Prongs but you never study anyway. You don't even-- " said Peter, appearing on James' right.

James quickly put one arm around his friends' shoulder and another covering his mouth.

"Yes. That would be very...helpful. I value Transfiguration very much, and missing a lesson would be a great loss for me," he said quickly over Peter's voice.

"6 pm. Library," said Lily before walking away.

James stood still, mouth half-open, unable to comprehend what just happened.

"Seems like you are finally growing on her, mate," said Sirius, patting his shoulder.

***

"James," Lily said, putting down her book, "I wanted to say...Thank you...for saving me yesterday."

"No, it's nothin-"

"What you do for Remus...I think it's very brave," her emerald green eyes looked straight into his, "he is lucky to have a friend like you." 

***

"How was the study session ?" Marlene waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"Stop. I was just trying to help. That's all."

"You know, it was rather strange," a frown appeared between the redhead's brows. "Every time I caught Jame's stare he looked dreamy and unfocused. But then I'd ask a question, and he'd answer correctly every time."

Marlene smiled knowingly.