Wolf

"Wolf"

Chapter two-The Dance

February 14^th came along fast. Lily and James were spending a bit more time with each other than normal, probably because of the dance. The girls were giddy and giggly...rather annoyingly so. They blushed at the mention of dancing with a boy. The boys had been terrified of asking the girls, so it almost balanced itself out. The girls giggled and the boys became more nervous. I had to admit I was nervous as well. This would be my first dance ever. I've never been to a dance, nor had a boyfriend for that matter. James had told me Remus was just as nervous. Remus never had a girlfriend either. He was always shy around girls, completely the opposite of Sirius. Sirius loved girls. He never went out of line or disrespected them.

Somehow, hearing that Remus was just as nervous put me at ease. At least I wouldn't be the only one.

Lily had helped me pick out my dress robe before we had come to Hogwarts. I think she somehow knew about the Valentines Day dance. I was grateful. I had a beautiful white dress robe with a lace collar. Lily had taken my hair and styled it into gentle curls. My hair hung around my shoulders framing my eyes. She had also applied amber eye shadow and a peach lipstick on me.

She stepped back to admire me. "Wow. Remus is going to drool when he sees you," She said, breaking into a grin. "Check yourself out," Lily handed me a pocket-sized mirror. I glanced into it and my reflection stared back. I had to admit I looked nice.

"I look nice Lily, thanks!" I said, closing the mirror and handing it to her.

"Nice? Haley, you're not giving yourself any credit! You look pretty!" she exclaimed incredulously.

I smiled self-consciously; I had always had a low self-esteem. I felt that I was just an ordinary girl. Nothing special. I had slightly scared myself when I hinted to Remus that I was hoping he'd take me to the dance. Honestly, it felt good to just come out and say it.

Lily checked her watch. "Whoops! It's almost time. I'd better get ready!" Lily began changing into her dress robe. She had a light beige robe. Her hair was pulled into a braid. She applied her make up.

"You look great!" I grinned.

"Thanks. Let's go meet the boys, shall we?" she said winking.

I nodded, feeling my heart pound. We were all going to meet in the common room before heading down to the Great Hall. We stepped into the common room. Sirius was with a girl dressed in a light green robe. She had blond hair and blue eyes. Remus was standing with James talking. James was in a black dress robe matching his hair. Remus was in a royal blue robe. James looked up and so did Remus.

James broke out into a grin. "Wow Haley. You look hot!" he enthused.

I laughed and blushed slightly.

"Leave her alone, James," Lily said as she linked arms with him.

"What? I'm just telling the truth!" James said, defensively as he and Lily went over to Sirius and his date.

Remus' jaw almost dropped. "Hi," he said clearing his throat.

"Hi," I replied, softly.

"You do look great!" Remus said grinning at me.

"Thanks, so do you! Shall we go?" I asked nervously.

We linked arms as well and followed James and Lily. Sirius introduced us to his date. Her name was Jennie Anderson. We all began walking down to the Great Hall.

When we entered the Great Hall, James let out a 'whoop'. It was decorated with red hearts and pink streamers, among the balloons, which floated around. The ceiling was a midnight blue. I could almost swear I saw the stars glittering. The house tables were gone. Instead, there were 50 tables, each holding six people and they were round. A white tablecloth was draped over each table and little glittery stars were sprinkled around the floor and on the tables. James pretended to faint while Lily playfully smacked him in the back of the head and called him a 'Crazy oaf'. Sirius shook his head and laughed.

Remus caught my eye and we both chuckled. We all sat at a table. Just then Professor Dumbledore stood up. "First, there will be a feast. Then, dancing," he announced cheerily. Most of the guys cheered loudly. All four houses were there. It looked like everyone managed to find a date.

The food appeared. We all began eating and talking happily. I glanced up. That strange boy was watching me. I take back what I said. Not everyone had a date. I nudged Remus. "That boy is giving me the creeps. He keeps staring at me," I said shivering. Remus moved his eyes off of me and onto the boy. I heard him growling and his eyes were narrowed. I also thought I saw the hair on the back of his neck standing up. I tilted my head. The boy quickly took his eyes off me and concentrated on his food. "Are you okay?" I asked.

Remus stopped growling. "Huh? Oh yeah. I just had something in my throat," He coughed loudly.

I studied him for a moment then broke out into a grin. "All right," I then returned to my food.

Once we were all finished and the food vanished, we all began dancing. Lily and James were just having a blast. Professor Dumbledore had apparently booked a popular music group called Spell. They were really good. I had my arms draped over Remus' shoulders and his hands were on my sides as we rotated on the spot. "May I ask you a question?" Remus asked slowly.

"Sure!" I said grinning.

"How are you feeling about your parents divorce? Are you okay?" he ventured.

I sighed.

"If you don't want to answer, I understand..." Remus said quickly.

"No. It's all right. I don't mind. I feel better about it though. I mean, I know it isn't my mum's or my fault. My dad was just a sick person. He's got a drinking problem, but I can't help feeling that maybe I did something to start him on that path," I said.

Remus shook his head. "No. You did nothing. He just started that path on his own. No one pushed him to it," he said sternly, but kindly.

I stared into his eyes. I began realizing I was falling in love with him. He was so kind and caring. I've known him since our first year. I think I had liked him and not even realized how I felt until now. He was just different from the other guys. He didn't try and impress anyone and he was just himself. That's what I liked about him. "Thanks," I smiled and we stared into each other's eyes.

We continued to dance until around midnight. Remus cried out and doubled over. "Remus? What's wrong?" I asked, alarmed.

"Go," Remus said, wincing as he took off outside.

I ran after him. I saw him run behind Hagrid's hut. I slowly stepped closer. "Remus?" I called nervously.

No answer. Suddenly, I saw him. He was leaning against the hut. I went to run toward him, but he yelled, "No! Stay back!"

I paused, confused. Then, he began changing. I saw him drop to his hands and knees. Brown fur sprouted all over his body; his hands and feet stretched into paws, a tail grew at his rear; his ears stretched into pointed and erect ears, his nose and mouth pulled forward into a snout with white canines and incisors. His eyes were a jaundice color. He shook his robe from his body. He was a wolf. A werewolf. I froze, my breathing sawing in and out. He sat on his haunches, tilted his head up toward the sky and howled loud and long.

I was frozen to that spot.

After the wolf stopped howling, he turned his eyes onto me. They reflected the silver moonlight and looked like gold coins. I felt my body trembling. The wolf took a few steps toward me. When it reached me, all it did was rear up onto its hind legs placing its front paws on each of my shoulders, and it began sniffing my body. I remained still and shut my eyes. I felt the cold, wet wolf nose now pass over my neck and cheek. Then, I felt the weight of the paws on my shoulders lift. I slowly opened my eyes. The wolf was now galloping away into the dark forest; it's paws hitting the ground in sync. I saw it disappear into the darkness.

At that moment, I turned on my heel and ran back into the castle. I ran back into the Great Hall. The dance was slowly breaking up. I spied James, Sirius and Lily standing together talking. I rushed over to them. "Haley? What's wrong?" James asked, with concern. He gently grabbed my shoulders.

"W-wolf! Remus is a wolf!" I cried.

They looked at each other.

"Did he hurt you?" Lily asked.

I shook my head. "No! He just changed! He-he sniffed me but that was all! Why didn't anybody tell me he was a werewolf!" I cried.

Again, the three of them exchanged looks. "Because..." Sirius had started to say, but I cut him off.

"No. Don't tell me! Just leave me alone!" I cried, as I shrugged off James' hands from my shoulders and walked briskly away and I walked back to Gryffindor tower.

The next morning, when I entered the common room before breakfast, they were already sitting there. Remus was his human self again. The minute he saw me, he immediately came over. "Haley!" he said quietly.

I paused as he stood in front of me.

"Are you okay?" he asked looking worried.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. I just found out last night that someone I really care about is a werewolf. So yeah, I'm fine," I said, coldly.

Pain filled Remus' eyes. "I didn't hurt you last night, did I?" he whispered.

"If you mean biting me or tearing me to pieces, then no. But you did hurt me," I hissed back at him.

"I am so sorry. I was just afraid to tell you!" Remus said quietly.

"Why? Why didn't you trust me?" I asked, folding my arms across my chest.

"Because not many people would want to know a werewolf is here in school! You know how people feel about them! They mistrust them!" Remus said.

"I'm not like the other people! I'm different!" I said.

"I didn't know! I couldn't take that chance until I was sure myself!" he confessed.

I nodded. "Fine. Right now, just leave me alone...all of you," I said as I brushed past Remus and headed to the girls' dorm.

I sat on the windowsill peering out the window. I felt tears streaming down my cheeks. I was more hurt that Remus hadn't told me the truth. I didn't care that he was a werewolf. That wasn't bothering me. I sighed.

I heard someone coming into the dorm room. I looked up. It was Lily.

"Haley, are you all right?" Lily asked.

"Yeah. I just wish he had told me! I bet that was a shock when I told you he was a werewolf, huh?" I asked, wiping my eyes.

Lily's face drained of color. "Actually, we knew already. We were helping him keep the secret," she mumbled.

I narrowed my eyes. "What?" I asked in a monotone.

"We knew already. It took him a bit to trust us, but when he did, he told us," Lily said, quietly.

"Was I the only one who didn't know? I look like a moron!" I cried.

"You weren't the only one! The rest of the student body didn't know! Only Professor Dumbledore knows! No one else" Lily said.

"So I still end up looking like a moron!" I cried.

"No! I'm sorry we never mentioned it, but Remus was scared to tell you!" Lily said.

"Why? I wouldn't said anything!"

"Because he really, really likes you, Haley! He was afraid that if he told you, you wouldn't like him anymore!"

"That's crazy talk!" I shouted. "I would've still liked him!"

"He didn't know that! He was afraid to take that chance! Now, he feels that since you know, you're going to be mad at him!"

I just shook my head. "I want to go for a walk to clear my mind," I said.

"Are you mad at him?" Lily asked her tone softer.

"No. I guess I'm just hurt. But I understand his fear. I'm sorry," I choked emotionally.

"It's okay, Haley," Lily said, as she threw her arms around me and hugged me.

I hugged her back. "Still friends?" I ventured.

"Of course!" Lily laughed.

We released each other.

"Go for that walk. I could use one too. Let's take a walk around the grounds, shall we?"

I nodded eagerly. We began walking down to the Great Hall, then out onto the grounds. The morning sunshine shone brightly in a soft blue sky. White puffy clouds moved freely. I inhaled the fresh morning air. I could smell the salty air from the lake and the grass. About 10 minutes into the walk, Lily prodded me in the ribs.

"What?" I asked.

"Look. It's that weirdo kid," she whispered.

I followed her gaze to the edge of the Forbidden Forest behind Hagrid's hut. He was hunched over and was sprinting toward the castle. Before he disappeared into the castle, we caught a glimpse of red stains on the front of his shirt. Lily and I glanced at each other sideways. "What was he up to and what was that red stuff on the front of his shirt?" I mused.

Lily slowly broke out into a mischievous grin. "We could check it out,"

"We're not supposed to go in there," I said.

"Do you want to see what he was up to or not?" she asked, looking exasperated.

I nodded. We began entering the forest. The forest was eerily silent. No birds chirped or anything...there was almost no sign of life. It was unnerving. I felt a shiver running down my spine. Suddenly, my foot hit something solid lying on the forest ground causing me to fall forward. My face connected with the dirt.

"Haley! Are you okay?" Lily asked, worried as she immediately came over to me and crouched down beside me.

I turned over and sat up. My cheek was smudged with the dirt and so was the front of my uniform. "Yeah. I tripped over something," I said, as I leaned forward to clear some shrubbery away from the object. We caught sight of a black robe, which was embedded with twigs, and leaves...then came the Hufflepuff house crest. I finally managed to clear away all the shrubbery. Lily and I both let out a bloodcurdling scream... It was the girl Sirius had gone to the dance with.