Time Changes Everything

Chapter Two

Remus' notion of a quick close circle of friends was quickly dashed. It was obvious to him after two weeks time that Peter and Sirius were friends, and they weren't too keen on letting anyone into their twosome and James was to shy to talk to anyone. From what Remus had learned, James had never met too many people his age, in fact his best friend was his little sister.

That was alright with Remus though, now that he thought about it. If he didn't become friends with anyone, than they wouldn't learn his awful secret. He was a werewolf. He had been five when he received the bite. His mum and dad had been out for dinner and he was left with a baby-sitter. The werewolf had broken down the door and killed his baby-sitter. Somehow, and Remus couldn't remember how, he'd escaped with only a bite. His parents though had been very supportive, though Remus suspected that they were a bit devastated that this had happened to him. His parents though, for his benefit, always put on a happy front and had done everything that they could for him. They knew that his transformations were terrible even though he had never explained to them what happened during them. He remembered the look on their faces when Dumbledore had said that he would be able to go to Hogwarts. They had been even more excited than him.

Thinking of his transformations, Remus realized that in two days he would have his first transformation being at Hogwarts. Dumbledore still hadn't told him exactly where he would go to transform but he was sure that the Headmaster had a plan.

A knock interrupted his thoughts. He crossed his bedroom and found one of the girls in his year at the door, Miyako Sato.

"Hi," Remus said.

"Have you seen Sirius or Peter?" she asked, not looking happy at all.

"No, they haven't been up here all night," Remus said. Miyako made a face.

Remus sighed. They probably pulled another prank on the girls, last week the girls' uniform socks had gone from grey to a bright pink. "What did they do this time?"

"Frog spawning Lily and Rosalind's shampoos," she replied, rolling her eyes. "And they are on the warpath."

"I can imagine," he replied. "You know these pranks would be funny if they played them on you know someone who deserved it, like say the Slytherins."

Miyako nodded.

"Warn them if you see them."

James poured over his Potions homework in the Common Room. Remus had been up in their dorm room and he hadn't wanted to interrupt him, he looked like he was busy. That was fine with him though, usually when he did his homework in the Common Room, he could get one of the older students to look over it for him, insuring that he got the best marks.

"James," someone said. He looked up to see Emma Wellington, a girl in his year sitting down in the chair across from him. "Have you seen your dorm mates?"

"Remus is in our dorm, and Sirius and Peter are probably blowing something up somewhere," he replied, looking back down at his homework. "Why?"

"Why do you think?" she asked. "We've spent the last hour looking for those two trouble makers." James looked down at her socks to see if they were pink again.

"Your socks are grey," he replied.

"Not for me, Rosalind and Lily won't come out of the dorm," she explained.

"Are their socks pink?"

"No," she replied, exasperated. "Frog spawns in their shampoo. At least they aren't blondes."

"True," James replied. "Green hair wouldn't agree with either of them."

"Exactly."

James continued working on his homework. Eventually Emma got up and left. Good, he thought. He didn't need anyone distracting him. He wanted to bring home top grades to his parents. His dad had been Head Boy in his day at Hogwarts, and his mum had been a Prefect. He knew that they didn't expect him to bring home excellent grades, but he wanted he also knew that it would make them very happy if he did.

"Are you sure that you shouldn't be in Ravenclaw? All you ever do is work," someone asked. James looked up again to find the frog spawn culprits looking at him. He wasn't sure which one had addressed him.

"Positive," James replied. "If I were you I would go hide in the dorm, the girls aren't too happy." He looked to see Sirius and Peter grinning at each other.

"That was the point," Sirius said.

James looked annoyed at them. Sure he and his sister had been known to pull quite a few pranks in their time, but it was always to people who deserved it, not innocent bystanders. "Why do you pull pranks on them anyway? They haven't done anything to you."

"They're girls," Peter said, shrugging as if James should have known that was the reason.

"Why not pull it on someone who actually deserves it?" James asked with his eyebrows raised. "As is not the girls."

"And who would you suggest?" Sirius asked with a smirk.

"No ones done anything to me yet," James said. "No one deserves to have a prank pulled on them by me." The two other boys began laughing. "What?"

James asked indignity. "What's so funny?"

"Like a sodding wet blanket like you could ever pull a prank," Peter finally said between breaths.

"Just because I care about my marks does not make me a wet blanket!" James replied hotly. "It just makes me responsible!"

"Uh huh," Sirius replied.

"Really James," Peter said.

"You know what, you guys can not believe me, I don't care," James replied.

Sirius and Peter suddenly shared evil looks.

"Prove it," Sirius said.

"I'm not going to waste my time trying to prove something that I know I can do," James retorted.

"You know what that means," Peter said. "He can't do it." James knew that they were trying to bait him, so he tried to ignore it. But the more that they went on about it, the more agitated James became. Finally he snapped.

"I can do anything that you can, and better!"

Sirius smiled at him wickedly. "Fine, then. You, mate, have to pull one on the Slytherins by Monday."

James stood up and faced Sirius. "I'm not your mate, and I can do it by Saturday." He grinned back. Sirius and Peter began to walk away, when a thought occurred to James. What would he get if he won? "What are the terms of the bet?"

"What are you talking about?" Sirius asked, turning around.

"You know, what I'll get out of this deal. What's in it for me, when I win?"

Sirius looked at him for a minute. "All right, if you win, we'll leave the girls left till the end of the term. But when we win, you get to do our Transfiguration homework till the end of term."

"Sounds good to me," James replied grinning. Now he wouldn't have to deal with the girls complain about Peter and Sirius. "Now if you two don't mind, I have Potions to get back to."

Remus' palms were sweating. Tonight was the night of his first Transformation. He hadn't been this nervous ever. Dumbledore had pulled him aside and told him to go to the Infirmary after his last class of the day. Madame Pomfrey would feed him there, and then right as sunset hit, the two of them would head down to wherever it was that they were supposed to go. He had planned on telling his dorm mates that he had taken ill and would be spending the night in the Infirmary.

That day flew by, History of Magic was in the morning, and then during break Remus claimed to have a pounding headache. James was concerned and told him perhaps he ought to visit the Infirmary for a Headache Cure. Then there was Transfiguration, by that time he had a sore throat, Miyako, who he'd been working with suggestion that he lie down. Throughout lunch, he claimed to be having hot flashes. Beatrice Jamieson, another Gryffindor first year, had threatened to hex him if he didn't go see Madame Pomfrey. He had told her that he was sure that he could muddle through somehow. By the last class of the day, Charms, Remus now had a stomach ache, and didn't see how he would be able to eat dinner. Rosalind Jones and Lily Evans walked him to the Infirmary where he found Madame Pomfrey waiting on him.

"Okay, Mr. Lupin," Madame Pomfrey said, giving him a weird look. Was she afraid of him? "Follow me." He followed her down a hallway, and then to a door. They entered; there was a desk along with hospital supplies. It must be her office, he mused.

"Now I've done some research, and I read that you would be craving some sort of meat, so I've had a large steak prepared, medium rare, there are pork chops, and some chicken. Dear me, you are craving meat aren't you?"

Remus nodded.

"Good." She smiled and he sat down and began helping himself to the meal. She eventually sat across from him at the desk. "What excuse have you given the boys in your dorm about your absence?"

Remus swallowed the food that he was chewing. He had been craving meat, quite badly. "I have a headache, a stomachache, a sore throat...er...oh yeah, and hot flashes."

"That's quite a list Mr. Lupin. But I've been told by the Headmaster to now allow you to attend classes tomorrow." He gave her a confused look. "I want to study you, see how you are feeling, and take your temperature. Now that you are reaching adolescence, your transformations will how to say this, take more out of you. How long does it take you to feel well after a transformation now?"

Remus thought for a moment. "A few hours."

Madame Pomfrey nodded. "In the next few years it may take you up to a week to recover, your changes won't just affect you as a human; it will affect your werewolf side as well."

Remus nodded and ate some more. He didn't like the sound of changing. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad? His parents hadn't known much about werewolf transformations and the library in his town was a Muggle one. The little his parents did know was from when his parents registered him. The registry, thank Merlin, was a private one, no one but those in charge of registering him and the higher ups at the Ministry of Magic knew.

"It's time," Madame Pomfrey said. They stood up and she pulled two cloaks from a wardrobe. "Wear this." He took it and realized that it was a cloak much like most of the Professors wore. He nodded and put it in. The two of them stealthily crept out of the Infirmary and out onto the lawn.

"Where are we going?" he asked. She didn't reply, but they went over to a tree that was moving. No his imagination must be playing up. Trees don't move.

"Wait here," she said. He thought that he saw the tree move again. Trees don't move, he yelled at himself. He took a closer look at the tree and realized that his mind must be playing a very not funny trick on him. It was moving its braches about, punching the ground, the air. He watched Madame Pomfrey approach the tree cautiously. She was looking around for something, and apparently found it. It was a large stick. She did something that he couldn't see and the tree stopped moving. She motioned for him to come closer, and he did. She explained that using the stick she could hit a knot in the bottom of the tree which would make it be still for only a few minutes. She motioned for him to crawl into the tree through a hole.

"This is a passage way, it leads to a boarded up house. You'll be there. I'll be back in the morning." She gave him a small nervous smile. He crawled through the passage and finally found the shack she'd been thinking of. He took off his cloak and uniform and left it outside the entrance to the house. He didn't want to risk ripping it. He found a spot on the floor with a blanket, and waited for the Transformation to come, and the pain that came along with it.

"James said Remus never came back from the Infirmary last night," Beatrice said the next morning. Lily looked up from her Charms book to look at the pudgy blonde.

"So?" Lily asked. Beatrice huffed. Miyako, who was lying on her bed, grinned.

"Were you eavesdropping on the boys again?" Emma asked, looking in her bedside mirror.

"Well, no, not really, er, okay, yes," Beatrice replied looking a bit sheepish.

"That's going to get you in trouble one day," Rosalind said, who was brushing her hair. "You're always up here telling us something."

Beatrice frowned and Lily felt bad for her. She knew that Beatrice felt left out quite often even though it was only three weeks into their Hogwarts education. The rest of them had quickly formed friendships with each other, and she knew that it was probably hard being the odd one out. Lily had been afraid when she got here that she would be left out of everything since she was a Muggle-born, but that hadn't been the case. She had been welcomed wholeheartedly. In fact, Emma was also a Muggle-born, and Rosalind was half and half.

"Hey," Miyako said. "We may need her gossip one day, lets not give her too hard of a time." Miyako must have picked up on that vibe as well. She watched Miyako smile and Beatrice and Beatrice smiled back. "Besides, I'm sure one day all of our inner gossips will come out."

The girls were quiet again, and Lily finished looking over her homework.

"Oy, Lily," Rosalind said. Lily looked up. "Thanks for the stuff you gave me that got that awful stuff out of my hair."

"Oh it wasn't a problem," Lily replied. "It was a simple Potion to make."

She looked at the other three girls who hadn't been the butt of the prank. "Just be glad you three have short hair."

"Those two have given me every reason why I don't want to grow my hair out," Emma replied. Miyako and Beatrice nodded in agreement. "The pink socks weren't as bad, even if all five of us did get points taken from Gryffindor, but the frogspawn. That is just, ugh." Lily nodded and looked down at her watch.

"Its time for our favorite class," Lily said, sighing. "Double Potions with the Slytherins." They all groaned.

"Maybe he'll show up for Potions," James said. Sirius nodded. The three of them had been a bit worried about Remus. They knew that he had complained about being ill the night before and had even missed dinner. Sirius, who wasn't exactly friends with Remus, knew that if one thing, Remus loved to eat, although unlike Peter who also loved to eat, Remus was tall and thin. Sirius busied himself by getting out his cauldron and his Potions. They would be making a simple Burn Remedy potion today. Professor Beagrin, the Potions Master and most unluckily the Head of Slytherin House, said that it would be easy. Sirius thought differently. He wasn't bad at Potions but it certainly wasn't his best subject. James sat to his left, and Peter was to his right. The girls in their year sat in various seats in front of them. The Slytherins, a very unpleasant group, sat on the other side of the hall. Finally, Beagrin entered the room.

"I will be placing you in your groups today," the Professor sneered. "Sato, Avery. Wellington, Rosier. Zabini, Pettigrew." Peter groaned and he looked at the female dark haired Slytherin on the other side of the room. "Lestrange, Jamieson. Wilkes, Boone. Snape, Evans. Atkins, Jones. Black, Potter." The Professor looked around the room. "Why are there three students missing? Where are those two girls that are always flittering about?" He was looking straight at Severus Snape, a greasy haired Slytherin.

"They've take ill," Snape replied. The Professor nodded.

"Where is," a nasty grin passed over the Professor's face. "That Lupin boy?" He was asking James.

"He's also taken ill," James replied.

"Likely story, five points from Gryffindor." James looked angry, Sirius could tell, but he didn't say anything. They all got with their partners. The girls and Peter weren't looking to happy about being paired with Slytherins. At least Sirius was paired with a Gryffindor, even if it was James. They began working silently.

"You've only got till tomorrow for your prank," Sirius said, adding daisy roots.

James looked at him. "Oh, I've got the prank planned, don't you worry Black," James replied, grinning. "I just don't have a victim."

"What about the girls?" Sirius asked. James gave him a death look.

"Okay not the girls." They began working in silence again. They added the caterpillars, and began stirring. There was a loud explosion on the other side of the room and Sirius looked up. It came from Lily and Snape's cauldron.

"Look what you've done you stupid Mudblood!" Snape hissed. Sirius felt his blood run cold. He hated that word and people that used it shouldn't be able to go to Hogwarts. They've should be forced to go to schools like Durmstrang.

"I've found my victim," James hissed. Sirius turned to see James with a look of fury upon his face. Apparently he wasn't too fond of the word either.