Perfect Distraction

Chapter One:

And Then There Was One

Summer was here again, but the joy it used to bring was missing. Everyone involved in the Order had come to Grimmauld Place, either to aid the Order of the Phoenix, or to join the cleaning effort against the old mansion. Either way, there wasn't a cheerful soul in the house.

Harry, Ron and Hermione had all returned for the summer from their fifth year at Hogwarts. This visit was extremely difficult for Harry. Ron and Hermione had forced him to come back to Grimmauld Place. Didn't they know how much this pained him, to be here? That one of the last places he had seen his godfather alive was this very house? Don't they know how hard it is for me to even be here? They did, but Harry wouldn't admit it to himself. He had never been so hurt, lost, or broken in all the years he had spent being ridiculed and abused by the Dursleys. He was numb and cold; though it was warm outside, he was frozen within. He died for me.

This went through his mind, among other thoughts as he lay awake in bed every night. No on else could be in such intense pain, he thought...

He thought wrong. As the three wandered upstairs, Harry staring around purposelessly, Remus was on one of the highest floors of the house, in just as much sorrow as Harry. He kept blaming himself for the death of his best friend, thinking; wishing there was something he could have done. I'm the last he thought a tear running down his cheek. Out of the four Marauders, I'm all that's left. James and Sirius are dead, and if Peter ever shows his face again I'll kill him. I'm it. He set the nearly empty bottle of firewhiskey on the floor next to two or three empty ones that he'd already finished off. As he looked to the opened window, the room began spinning. He hadn't been this drunk in years, and for good reason. He found it was much more difficult to control his werewolf state-of-being under the influence of alcohol. His untouched wolfsbane potion sat forgotten on the table. This was going to be quite a night.

As old and decrepit as Grimmauld Place was, Hermione simple loved being there She had been ery happy when she had learned of Dumbledore's decision to move the entire mansion out to a remote part of the country. Because more people would be coming to Grimmauld Place to help the Order, he thought that the Muggles in the area might get suspicious. Now, there were open fields, beautiful forests and no one else for miles.

As sunset drew nearer, all those who would be staying for dinner; Harry, Ron, Hermione, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Remus, and Ginny; began to get ready for dinner.

At the table, no one said much of anything, aside from "Please pass the..." phrases and a thank you or two. There was no conversation, for they could think of nothing to say. As Hermione looked around the table, she saw Harry sitting next to Ginny. It was had been agreed that the people most affected by the death of Sirius were Harry and Remus. Ginny had been right there for Harry, to hold him and to wipe his tears; she had been his rock. She had been the perfect distraction from his pain and suffering, even if it was only for a few moments at a time that he completely forgot about Sirius. "That's enough to keep him sane," Ron had said to Hermione one day, "I just wish we could find Remus a similar distraction." Poor Remus, thought Hermione, he's so lonely, I wish there was something we could...now that I think of it-"

"Where's Remus?" Hermione said suddenly, shattering the silence that had fallen over the room. Just as she was about to continue there came a loud, indistinguishable noise from the entrance hall. Hermione happened to be closest to the kitchen door and ran up the stairs.

Upon reaching the entrance hall, she found herself face to face with a werewolf. He stared into her honey brown eyes with his glowing yellow ones, and then jumped through the window near the front door. After looking out of a small window behind her and seeing that the sun had set almost completely, she rushed to the broken window to see, horrified, that in the sky was the beginnings of a full moon. Panic filled her, and it felt as though ice water flooded her whole body. As she ran back towards the kitchen, the first name she thought of to call for help was Sirius, but Sirius was...

She wiped the tear from her cheek as she shook herself and cried for Mr.Weasley.

"What is it Hermione?" He questioned as placed his hands on her shoulder to calm her.

"I don't think Remus took his wolfsbane potion. He just went through the window by the front door." Hermione gasped, clutching her side.

"Oh dear, are you alright?" Mrs. Weasley hastened over to Hermione, a look of terror and alarm evident in her eyes. Harry, Ron, and Ginny jumped up from the table and ran to the kitchen window, as though to make sure it was true. As they gazed into the darkening sky, their worst fears were confirmed.

"Full moon," Harry and Ron said in a horrified unison.