To the outside observer, the Shrieking Shack seemed particularly haunted in May of 1978. There was a lot of yelling, hooting, hollering, cheering, and whooping all through the afternoon and early evening.
Inside, in the Clubhouse, popcorn was littering over every surface, and the TV flickered with a film they'd already watched once that night, but Sirius had insisted on starting over... Now, he stood on the end of one of the beds, perched precariously on the footboard, clinging onto the post, and mimicking the actor on the screen. He was wearing only his boxers and boots, and a pair of fish net stockings that he had "borrowed" from Marlene Mackinnon.... because when being Dr. Frank N Furter you must be only semi dressed at most.
"I SEE YOU SHIVER WITH ANTICI --"
and the longest pause ever ensued.
"Sayyyyy it!" James screamed, laughing through tears as Sirius gayly dancer against the pole, and Remus coughed from laughing, practically choking, while Peter rolled about, kicking the mattress and squealing. "Say it you bastard!"
Sirius grinned.
"Saaaaaaaaay ittttt!!!"
"-PATION!"
They all clapped as Sirius flung himself around the pole merrily and started dancing as he reached the floor, stumbled, and slammed into the wall. The wall's plaster was so thin and rickety that the impact managed to actually break through the first layer of the wall, and he was comically stuck there for a moment, a pile of flailing arms and fishnet stockinged legs. The other boys were near to passing out with mirth at this, Remus wheezing, "please it hurts to laugh this hard!"
"Bloody help me get out of the wall you idiots!"
"Words we never thought would be uttered!" James hooted.
"Seriously!"
"Siriusly!!!"
The shack practically shook with their laughter.
"Oh where is the Pollyroid, I need a picture of this!" James cried, throwing himself against the bed and checking beneath it, coming up with the camera and hurriedly snapping a shot of Sirius's distressed kicking. "Oh these are the memories I shall treasure forever!" He wiped tears from his eyes, watching the Polaroid Sirius flap about.
When James had finally helped Sirius out of the wall, he was covered with dust plaster, and there was a big run in the stockings. "Hope Marlene can mend them, I reckon she's going to kill me for ruining them," Sirius said, twisting to look at the tear in the stockings.
"Frank N Furter had runs, too," James said, "It adds to your authenticity as an alien Transylvanian Transvestite."
Sirius roared with laughter, "Oh Prongsy, I'm authentic at that for it's my truest, deepest down, real identity. Didn't you know?"
They laughed more as Sirius danced and goofed some more. They roasted marshmallows and ate roast sandwiches and licorice wands, they blew off confetti horns and sang in loud, obnoxious voices. They cheersed one another with glasses of firewhiskey, and ate chocolate, and watched through the window as the sky turned orange and lavender, the sun going down...
"It is beautiful," Remus said, watching the sunset, scratching his arm, the transformation already itching to occur, his body full of pain, but his heart full of joy. He looked around at the other three, smiling, and his breathing became uneven, tears filled his eyes, and his back began to crack. "Thanks you lot - for - for -" he waved his arms to indicate everything as the moon took over his body and he fell to the floor, quivering as his skin sprouted fur and his nose jutted out, enlongating and knees cracked as they reversed...
James, Sirius, and Peter transformed into their animagi forms, and there they stood - stag, dog, and rat - watching as Remus Lupin changed from man to wolf, letting out an ear piercing howling shriek that shook dust from the rafters of the shack. Immediately, Prongs sprung forward to pin the werewolf down and Padfoot barked and growled as the werewolf fought and howled, nasty chains of spittle flying through the air from his teeth, his jaws grinding as he tried to bite the stag, but the stag moved each time, ducking and avoiding the werewolf's attempts. Wormtail had scrambled to safety, watching from the arm of the couch cushion, as the fight wore on, waiting with hopeful twitches for the werewolf to calm, for Remus to heed Padfoot's barking, and remember himself...
It seemed for a moment at least that it would not happen, that the last trip to the Shrieking Shack - however grand the evening had been - was destined to be a bad moon... But then the werewolf tired, and the struggling ceased, and Prongs released him. Padfoot barked hopefully, jumping around, and then Moony was there, and the eyes of the wolf seemed to glow less yellow and menacingly as he came to consciousness.
They ran through the woods, leaping over trunks and ducking under brush, with Wormtail riding on the back of Prongs. The moonlight glimmered through the tops of the trees and they rushed through the darkness toward their rocky beach by the lake. They played in the water, Padfoot and Moony rolling in the sand and getting quite covered with mud. They shook loose the dirt and it sprayed about, making Prongs honk in a laughing way. They chased Wormtail about, and the two dogs swam, splashing wildly as they paddled about.
The air was warm, and a light breeze tickled the trees. A cloud shifted over the moon, and in the semi-dark, the castle's glowing windows seemed all the brighter, and Prongs paused a moment, standing tall, his antlers pointing to the sky, and stared at the beauty of the turrets and towers silhouetted against the milky way. His eyes searched out the shape of the Bell Tower and he thought of everything they'd all been through in the past seven years - the good and the bad, the brilliant and the heart breaking. He could see Derek Bell in his mind, smiling and sitting atop his Quidditch broomstick at a practice. Would Bell have been proud, had he lived to see the day that the Marauders had come so far as they had? James felt a warmth in his veins, coursing through his every cell. Of course Derek would've been - he was, even now, Prongs realized, and the thought bolstered and soothed him.
Padfoot's barking broke through his thoughts and Prongs looked to see the others were ready to run some more through the trees, and so Prongs turned away from the castle and they took off sprinting through the trees.
Next morning, the sun's rays snuck through the cracks in the boarded windows of the Shrieking Shack. Dust motes danced in the beams of light that spilled over the floor. They lay in a knot of fur and flesh, asleep quite peacefully.
Remus woke, stretching, his limbs incredibly sore, though less than they usually were. He smiled to himself, thinking it had been a truly good last trip to the Shrieking Shack. They couldn't have done it better than they had done, he decided, as he relived the night in flashes and mental pictures that had survived his transformation back into a human.
Padfoot stirred then, lifting his shaggy head to look up at Remus, and he nuzzled his snout against Remus's palm, his doggy eyes merry. Remus smiled, and it struck him all over just how much the others had done for him, how much they cared for him to have worked so hard to accompany him like this out into the Shrieking Shack. Something that ought to have been full of terrible, painful memories had become instead the best days and nights of his life. That was because of Peter, James, and, most especially, Sirius.
"Come outside with me a moment," Remus whispered to the shaggy dog.
They extricated themselves from the pile of Marauders, leaving Prongs and Wormtail asleep there on the hearth. Sirius changed back and helped Remus out the door and onto the tiny porch of the Shrieking Shack, where they sat on the steps, overlooking the wide open grassy field that stretched away to the tree line.
"Smashing evening, wasn't it?" Sirius said, grinning ear to ear.
Remus stared at him, and he suddenly felt quite overwhelmed, and he leaned over without thinking about it and kissed Sirius on the mouth.
"What the hell are you doing?" Sirius asked, laughing.
Remus smiled, unable to help but think of that dreadful first time he'd kissed Sirius, on the stairs of the common room during his birthday party. How far they'd come since then, he thought, and still... how far yet to go.
"I've been thinking," Remus said quietly.
"You're always thinking," Sirius chided.
"No, I mean, about what you said the other day. About the wedding."
Sirius looked at Remus, his grey eyes wide and nervous. "Yeah?"
Remus nodded. "Yes. And I think it ought to be in June. You're right. We've got painfully little to celebrate these days, but be damned if we can't celebrate what we do have, ey?"
Sirius was shaking. "You mean it?"
Remus nodded. "I do."
"Hey now, save that for the alter Moony," Sirius said. He had tears in his eyes.
"I just don't know where we'll get a unicorn on such short notice," Remus murmured.
Sirius's expression lit up like a child being given an unlimited amount of galleons to spend in Honeyduke's. "Seriously?!" he breathed.
Remus chuckled, "If you can find the uni--"
"YOU KNOW NEWT'S GOT TO HAVE ONE, AND IF HE HASN'T THEN HAGRID MIGHT KNOW WHERE TO FIND ONE!" Sirius exclaimed, jumping to his feet, his face flush with excitement. "Bloody hell, we've loads to plan, loads to do! We've got to send owls - invitation owls - and tell everyone. We have to choose a venue, and do you reckon if Minnie will come? I so want Minnie to come. Blimey - a whole wedding! And we're only weeks away - and - Oh do you reckon I would be Sirius Lupin then? Do you?"
"I dunno whether that's legally possible," laughed Remus, Sirius's joy very infectious.
"Oh but even if it isn't I'll be going by it anyway!" Sirius announced, "The name of Black will be dead to me!" He leaped at Remus, wrapping his arms about his neck and slathering the side of his face with great, wet kisses. Remus laughed and hugged Sirius back.
The door of the Shack creaked open then, and James stepped onto the porch, yawning and scratching his shoulder. "Mornin'," he murmured. His eyes fell on the two tangled up on the step and he raised an eyebrow. "Starting early, are you?" he teased.
"We're getting married!" Sirius exclaimed.
James laughed, "Yeah I know."
"In June!" Sirius added.
James stared dumbly at them for a couple of minutes, then a grin spread across his face and he let out a whoop and sprang forward, knocking Sirius off the porch step and onto the grass, being careful not to take Remus down with them. "YESSSS!" James shouted, "YES!" and they rolled about shouting as Remus smiled and watched, the sun climbing golden and ever higher over the trees.