MWPP - The First Year

CHAPTER 3

"Damn!" Sirius snorted. "That's my last quill. Trust you, Peter, to go and drop a book on the tip..."

"I'm so sorry, Sirius, I..."

"Aw, shut up. Do you have an extra one?"

"No, but you can take mine, I..."

"You're using it, Peter. James, have you seen Remus? He's finished, he wont be wanting his quill..."

They were alone in the common room. It was eleven, and almost everyone had gone up to bed.

James leaned back and frowned. "Well, he isn't in the dormitory. He isn't here. So he must be outside. Which isn't allowed, which means he isn't outside...you know Remus. So where is he?"

"Dunno." Sirius yawned. "Well, I can't tell McGonagall I didn't do her homework 'cause I ran out of quills..." he leaned back in his chair. "Whoa...look at the moon."

"Full moon," James whispered eerily. "Night of the werewolf...owwoooooooo...oh, stop shaking, Peter, there are no werewolves near Hogwarts..."

"I know, but..." Peter whimpered.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Yeah...werewolves are big and scary...right?"

"Noo..."

"Well, their native habitat doesn't happen to be Gryffindor tower," James said impatiently. "Don't be such a wuss, Pete."

"Sorry..."

Sirius found a crumpled quill on another table, and they finished their homework and dragged themselves up to bed, yawning.

"Remus still isn't back," James said, frowning, as they climbed into bed.

"Midnight," said Sirius, looking at his watch. "Wherever he is, he's going to be asleep in class all day tomorrow."

The next morning, Remus still wasn't back.

"Maybe he was taken ill and went to the hospital wing," Sirius said, frowning. "Let's go check."

They went to the hospital wing before breakfast, but it was empty. Even Madam Pomfrey was nowhere to be seen. Neither Remus nor she were at breakfast either, although James and Sirius kept an eye open for them. It wasn't until nine-thirty, when they were in the middle of Transfiguration, that Remus hurried into class. Everyone stared. He looked terrible. His eyes were swollen and puffy, he looked like he was about to drop asleep on the spot, and his skin was covered with pink patches, that looked just the marks that a Healing Charm produced, which stayed for about a day. Some of the patches were quite large.

Professor McGonagall looked at him sharply, and sent him straight to the hospital wing without asking any questions. James glanced back at Sirius, his eyes wide with shock. Sirius raised an eyebrow and shook his head, looking worried. They rushed to the hospital wing as soon as Transfiguration ended, but stopped short when they heard Professor McGonagall's voice inside. She had somehow beaten them there, and was talking to Madam Pomfrey, sounding agitated.

"How could you send him back to class after a whole night of such an ordeal, Poppy? Didn't you see his face? He's exhausted, and covered with those Healing Charm marks..."

"I couldn't help it!" Madam Pomfrey sounded just as agitated. "He insisted...he said he couldn't miss any more classes than was necessary...and he slipped out when I went to get him his chocolate. I was just starting out to look for him when he came back, saying you'd sent him. I told him to stay a day here, but he told me he'd rather sleep in his dormitory, and off he went..."
"I'll speak to him later," Professor McGonagall said. She sounded worried. They heard her moving towards the door, and sped off down the corridor. They ran all the way up to Gryffindor tower, up to their dormitory, and collapsed, panting, on the floor. Remus was there, but he wasn't asleep. He was sitting on his bed with his head in his hands. He looked up and tried his best to smile when he heard them burst in.

"Remus, where were you?" James asked without preamble. "You looked awful...and you were gone all night. We just heard Prof. McG yelling at Pomfrey for letting you come to class."

"I had to go home," Remus said faintly. "My mother was extremely ill..."

"Reeeemus...and she beat you up, did she? You're all covered with Healing scars..."

"It's just a rash..."

"Remus!!!"

"Come on, you guys," Remus said peevishly. "I told you where I was, and I really need to get to sleep now..." he looked pointedly at the door. Sirius sighed.

"You obstinate prat. All right, we're leaving. And if you ever feel like telling us what happened, there's nothing stopping you, okay?" he dragged James out. They went down to the common room in silence. They sat down at one of the tables and looked at each other.

"Remus is not okay," James remarked.

"Seriously?."

They were silent for a few minutes.

"We're late for Herbology," James said absently.

"Skip it," said Sirius, just as absently.

They spent their lesson off speculating as to where Remus might have got to, but they couldn't think of anything. Finally, frustrated, they had to accept his explanation that he had gone home. After all, it really might be true. And Remus never lied. Never...right?

"Weird." Archie Weasley dumped an overflowing bag of sweets on the table, and they all helped themselves. "Arthur just got back from Hogsmeade, and he says there're the weirdest stories going around there about some haunted house." He stuffed a handful of Ice Mice into his mouth.

"Uh huh." Sirius raised the usual eyebrow. "What kind of stories?"

"Well, there's this weird old house up on the hill, and apparently they're saying that every couple of weeks there're the most awful howling, screaming noises coming from it...they all assume the place is haunted, none of them will go near it. Arthur says they're calling it the Shrieking Shack. Now there's a place I'd like to see.

"I wouldn't!!" squeaked Peter, looking terrified at the very thought. James rolled his eyes at him.

"Peter...you see ghosts here at Hogwarts every day..."

"Apparently there are smashing noises and stuff, with the yelling and all," interrupted Archie. "These're s'posed to be violent spirits or something. I must say I thought ghosts couldn't touch anything...except poltergeists, and they only stay where there are people..."

"Agh...it's probably just another village superstition," said Sirius impatiently. "There's hardly ever any truth in those stories. And anyway, as long as they don't leave the house..."

"Dunno." Archie shrugged. "Well, I'll see you people later." He walked off. James glanced out of the window.

"Full moon again. I wonder if Moony's going to disappear," he muttered to Sirius. "Is he around here?" he glanced around.

"Nuh. I saw him leave about ten minutes ago," Sirius muttered back.

"What's that? Who's Moony?" Peter asked eagerly. Sirius rolled his eyes impatiently.

The second time Remus had disappeared, they had noticed the full moon at once...their usual table was right next to the window. He had once again been gone all night, and had spent the whole of the next day and night in the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey wouldn't answer any questions, and shooed them away every time they approached, but they managed to peek inside and see the curtains around the bed furthest away from the door.

Remus had insisted that his mother had fallen sick again, that he had to go home...but neither Sirius nor James believed him, and when they pressed him to tell them where he'd gone, he nearly broke down. They had never seen that look before in his eyes... that desperate, helpless, scared look...they hadn't dared to ask any more questions after that. He had begged them not to discuss his disappearances with anyone (everyone else, those who noticed he'd gone, accepted the 'mother' explanation) and they had agreed. They had started referring to him as 'Moony' in their private conversations, especially when there were people around.

Sirius snorted, and slammed his book shut. "I can't stand this any more. Want a game of Exploding Snap?"

They played Exploding Snap for about an hour, and then they went up to bed. Remus had not come back.

He reappeared the next afternoon, after lunch. He found James and Sirius in the dormitory, with Travis and Peter, getting their textbooks.

"There you are," James remarked, stuffing A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration into his bag. "Complete with pink patches," he remarked to Sirius under his breath.

"How's your mother?" Sirius enquired kindly. Remus frowned.

"She's better, thanks." He sat down on his bed and sighed. He looked exhausted, again. "So what happened while I was away?"

"Nothing much. Someone got pretty badly whacked up by the Whomping Willow, and Peter melted a cauldron in Potions," James grinned, as Travis left. Remus had started when he mentioned the Whomping Willow.

"Who did the tree attack?"

"Davy Gudgeon. The Ravenclaw fellow." Sirius shook his head. "For all the Ravenclaws are supposed to be so smart, they do some really stupid things. They were playing that game again yesterday...where you try to touch the trunk...he nearly lost an eye."

"Oh...so that's why he was in the hospital wing," Lupin murmered. "He had on this weird eyepatch...I was wondering what was wrong."

"Remus," said Peter, very seriously. "How come you have to go to the hospital wing whenever you come back from visiting your mother?"

Sirius raised an eyebrow at James. So Peter had noticed something, too. Not bad for him. Remus didn't seem to know what to say.

"And how come your mother's always sick at the full moon?" James added. "I just happened to notice...don't you think it's strange?"

Remus was going even paler than he was already.

"She has severe allergies that are triggered by the full moon," he offered lamely, in a rather strangled voice. "Now aren't you people late for Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

"When's the next full moon?" Peter asked, as they went down the stairs. "Because I'm really curious to see whether Remus goes off again..." Sirius and James exchanged glances.

"Mm...next month?" James offered. "Sometime during the holidays? I dunno...let's see..."

It turned out that the next full moon was during the holidays. Sirius had voted to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas...he said that now that he had a chance to have a proper Christmas away from his family, he wasn't going to miss it. James stayed to keep him company, and Peter stayed because James was. Remus stayed too, although he didn't give them a reason, and they didn't press him.

They were the first-years left in Gryffindor tower. The only others were two sixth-year girls, who left them alone, and spent most of their time in the dormitories or outdoors. Sirius and James spent most of their time stocking up on new hexes and spells, and practising them on the unfortunate Peter, who usually had to wait ages before they could find the counter-curses.

The night after Christmas...

"Full-moon night," yawned James. "Or evening, rather. Prepare yourselves for an unexplained...or rather, badly explained... disappearance tonight, folks." He, Peter and Sirius were climbing the stairs after tea. Remus had stayed behind for a word with Professory McGonagall. "I need to stop off at the library...hold on a minute..."

He came out, clutching a large book.

"What's that for?" Peter asked curiously.

"I might as well finish off the extra work I got from that dingbat Defense Against the Dark Arts witch," James grumbled. "I don't want to have to rush through it the night before classes start, and everyone's getting back..."

"What did you get extra work for?"

"Vanishing a leg of her desk," James rolled his eyes. "It was an accident...I was aiming a Sticking Charm at Lily Evans and my arm slipped...remember when all those books and quills and ink crashed to the floor?"

Sirius grinned. "It's worth you getting extra work, just to see the look on her face."

James frowned. "To you. I didn't see her face...besides, I'm the one doing the work."

"Well, I have to listen to you complain the whole time you're doing it..."

"Sod off, Black..." James climbed through the portrait-hole with difficulty, and dumped his things down on the table. "Thanks for the help, guys."
"But we didn't help," said Peter, puzzled.

"Precisely my point."

"Huh?"

"Grrgh...never mind." James opened the book, releasing a cloud of dust. "Ugh."

"What's the extra work?"

"An essay on werewolves. We haven't even started werewolves yet...but she told me that since she didn't expect me to be paying attention when we did do it, I might as well do it now..." James made a face, and went off to get quills and parchment. Sirius glanced at the page he had opened.

...created by receiving a bite from a werewolf. The werewolf transformation takes place only at the time of the full moon, and cannot be stopped or delayed in any manner. The actual transformation takes place almost instantaneously, within a period of ten seconds, and is extremely painful and exhausting. A werewolf is only a danger to human beings, either wizards or Muggles...in the absence of people, the werewolf attacks itself, creating bites and scratches that remain once he changes back into his human form. Transformations leave the werewolf mentally and physically exhausted, for a period of perhaps one or two days...

"What's wrong, Sirius?" Peter squeaked in alarm. Sirius' face had turned a pale shade of gray, and his eyes... "Sirius! James... something's wrong," he said wildly, as James came back into the room, carrying a stack of parchment.

"What's up, Sirius?" James demanded, setting the stack on the table. Sirius pointed. James and Peter leaned over the paragraph. When James looked up, his face was as gray as Sirius'.

"What?" squeaked Peter, even more alarmed. "What?"

He read the paragraph again, frowning. Then it hit him.

"You don't think..." he whispered, looking from one to the other. "You don't think...Remus...is...?"

"It all fits," James muttered. "The scars...the exhaustion...the full moon...every time."

"But...but why didn't...why didn't he...?"

"Tell us?" said Sirius harshly. "Would you, if you were him? He probably thought we would desert him, or something."

"Poor Moony," James murmered. "Forget this essay." He slammed the book shut. "Has he left?"

The looked outside the window. The moon shone over Hogwarts, bright and full.

None of them slept properly that night. Peter fell asleep at three, and James and Sirius at five. They had spent the night talking, or just sitting...thinking. Imagining being in Remus' place. Being a werewolf...hiding it from everyone...the pain, the fear of discovery...they couldn't even begin to imagine. They were exhausted, and woke only late in the afternoon, when Remus came in.

James was the first to wake up. He rolled over and stared at Remus, rubbing his eyes. "Hey, Remus." He chucked his pillow at Sirius. "Oy. He's back." Sirius woke and rolled over, yawning. His mouth abruptly shut when he saw Remus, and he sat up quickly. Peter was waking up, too. Remus stared at the three of them, concerned...and scared. He had never seen Sirius and James so completely serious before. Something was up.

"Remus," began James, without preamble. "Are you a werewolf?"

Remus felt the world spin, and the last thing he remembered was hitting the soft mattress of his bed, before he passed out.

"Lucky he landed on the bed."

"James, how thick are you? Why'd you just spring it on him like that?"

"I thought he'd rather we get it over quickly...I didn't think he'd faint..."

Remus kept his eyes shut. The unthinkable had happened...his three best friends had discovered who he was...what he was. How could he face them, face their questions? Would they keep his secret? Either way, they wouldn't spend much time with him anymore, he was sure. How could they? A werewolf...a werewolf...he fought to keep tears from leaking from the corners of his eyes.

"Loopy." Someone was shaking him. Sirius. "Wake up..."

"Leave him alone...he'll come to on his own..."

"Poor Remus," he heard Peter mutter. "Does he really think we'd abandon him like that, I wonder?"

"Either that, or he thinks we'd tell. I know if I were him, I'd keep shut too..."

Remus abruptly opened his eyes. "You mean," he said slowly, hardly daring to believe what their words implied..."You three are still going to continue speaking to me?"

"Well, what did you think?" James demanded indignantly.

"And you wont tell a soul?"

"Of course not," remarked Sirius, even more indignantly. "What do you think we are?"

Remus suddenly sat up, and dragged his three friends into a bone-crushing hug. "You three are the first real friends I've ever had."

"You bet...oww...leggo..."

"Thanks, Moony..."

Remus sat back and smiled. "Moony?!"

James grinned back. "Yeah. Moony."