Barbara nervously approached the Marauder's dorms. It was time for her to tell her secret about Rome to Sirius and Peter. James and Remus had told Barbara not to worry, to remember that the Marauders were accepting. Remus was an especially big help to Barbara with comforting her. He reminded her that if they could accept a low-status werewolf, they would be over the moon with a Royal Vampire in the mix.

Tentatively, Barbara knocked on the door. She waited outside for a few moments before James appeared, an encouraging smile plastered on his face. "Don't worry, if they say something out of line they know what'll happen to them. I already threatened them not to interrupt you."

She smiled and walked in behind James. She noticed the boys were all on James's bed. Remus offered a smile while Sirius and Peter looked extremely confused. "Did you come to confess your undying love for me, Barb?" Sirius asked lightly, trying to brighten the mood. Barbara gave him a small smile.

"In your dreams, Paddywhack. I'm here to confess something else, actually."

"Is it you undying love for Remus, then? I already told him you two can't date because that's breaking the boys' code."

The Fourth Year rolled her eyes. "Sirius not everything revolves around my love life. I don't know why I have to establish that. Can I get on with this or should I give James the green light to go forward with his threat?"

Sirius fell quiet as the other three boys snickered.

"So, there's no way to cushion what I'm about to say; so I'm just going to say it... I'm a Royal."

Peter raised his hand. "You mean you're related to the Muggle Queen of England?"

Barbara shook her head, concealing her smile. "No, Peter, what I mean is that I'm a Royal Vampire... as in I'm a Vampire."

"You're kidding!" Sirius exclaimed. 

"No, I'm serious."

"No, I'm Sirius, you're pranking us!"

Barbara ignored his pun. "Sirius, why would I prank about being a Vampire? Here, I'll prove it."

Before their very eyes, Barbara's fangs appeared and her eyes glowed their icy-blue color. Sirius's bout was agape while Peter was wide-eyed. Barbara knew her appearance somewhat startled the pair of Marauders, but it was Sirius who spoke up first.

"Wicked! So we have a Werewolf, a Vampire, and three animagi."

"Actually," James replied, "We have four animagi. Since Barb is a Royal, they need to be able to hide themselves if something goes wrong."

"Yeah, I'm a white wolf. Also, since you guys still have to complete the process, I'm going to give you some tips on what to do. Remus, if you don't feel comfortable staying I understand. You can leave when you want to. It's just those three I have to mother for a few minutes."

Remus nodded his head in acknowledgment but stayed in his place on the bed. "I want to be aware of what's going on."

"You mean awerewolf?" Peter snickered at Sirius's joke while James and Barbara rolled their eyes.

"Anyways," Barbara began, taking a seat on the bed across from the four boys, "Moony is used to seeing me in my Vampire form; so I don't know how he'll adjust to seeing me as Rome-"

"-Rome?"

"-what my wolf form's name is, I needed a codename for it in the Vampire Realm and it's stuck. I named it after Romulus and Remus and the story of Rome being built. You know, they're raised by a wold and all that."

"Huh. Smart."

"Thank you, Peter. Back to the conversation at hand. I'll be spending time with Moony this year in my wolf form in order to prepare him; but when we start helping him together, we have to take things extremely slow. Moony doesn't really like change and we don't want to overwhelm him. The entrance to the Shrieking Shack, from what I understand, has already been discovered by you guys?"

"Yeah. And quick question," James said, "what will we be doing with Moony?"

"Honestly, it's all up to Barb," Remus commented, "I can't recall what happens but it sounds like we usually just chase each other around in the Shack. If it's a bad night then Barb tell me she usually just brings chocolate and I am occupied with that."

"Wait a second... is that how you became obsessed with chocolate? Because Moony  craves it?"

"I never thought about it like that; but I guess that makes a lot of sense!"

"Barbara, you should be ashamed... getting Remus in an addiction. Have you no shame?!" James yelled dramatically as he shook his sister. Barbara put her hands on James's shoulders to try to stop him.

"James, calm yourself or I won't be able to help you with the potion!"

"You better listen to her, James," Sirius said to his best friend, "after all, we'll be learning from the master how to tame a werewolf."

James stopped shaking Barbara and turned to Sirius. He had a big grin on his face.

"I guess the saying is true, 'when in Rome, do as the Romans do.' Get it? Because we'll have to learn from Rome!"

"Brother, your puns are never going to get you anywhere in life." Barbara laughed at her brother's pun.

"Yeah," Sirius agreed, "besides, it's when with Rome!"