Trust Fall

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Chapter Two: Prankster's Woe

Morning had broken over Hogwarts with a grey, drizzly chill that made even the Great Hall seem almost drab. For the most part however, the Marauders -- all four of them now that James had returned to the fold (though he had been grinning rather stupidly all through breakfast) refused to let a dull-looking day break their spirits and put a damper on their fun for the up-and-coming night's adventure. Sirius in particular seemed to be in exceptional spirits -- something that Remus was glad to see after last night's conversation.

"What's up?" he asked as he absentmindedly passed the platter of fried eggs to Peter.

"Ohhhh...nothing..." Sirius may have been quite adept at getting himself out of trouble sometimes, but he never made to hide any of his ideas from his friends. He had his "surprises" yes, but he never actually kept them in the dark about up-and-coming plans. By the way he was acting, he did indeed have a plan in mind.

"What are we doing?" James asked eagerly, leaning over the table.

"Not WE." Sirius said loftily, "Me. Sorry old pal, but the greatest prank in the history of Hogwarts can only be done by The Master, Sirius "Padfoot" Black."

James looked indignant, but didn't seem willing to start anything at the moment. "So...what's the big plan anyway? Can we at least know that?"

"Nope!" Sirius grinned around at them. "But just get ready for it tonight, it'll be fantastic."

Remus raised an eyebrow at this. "But...Sirius, tonight is...um...the night...if you know what I mean...full moon and all?"

"Yes indeed Mr. Moony, you are so very right. What amazing observational skills you must have. It is indeed the night of the full moon, and Mr. Padfoot for one has never been so glad to see a big shining crystal orb aglow among a sea of stars....Geez. I'm a poet!"

And with that, he excused himself from the breakfast table with the utmost politeness and strolled casually out of the Great Hall, still grinning like a madman.

"Mr. Prongs would like to take this opportunity to state that Mr. Padfoot's attempts at poetry are making him sick." James called after him, but if the dig had had any effect at all, Sirius didn't show it.

Remus was concerned to say the least. He hoped that Sirius wasn't planning another trip to Hogsmeade during transformation. The last time, they'd had an extremely close call near a tavern where Sirius and James had just barely managed to hold him back from attacking a group of men who had emerged in a state of drunken defenselessness....though...it was all kind of worth it...and Sirius had managed to keep him back so...and it had been fun...

"...to Remus...Earth to Remus...Come In Remus..."

"Uh...sorry...what?" He was suddenly jolted back to reality.

"What has you all worried?"

"Eh, I was just thinking about whatever Padfoot was planning...guess I must have zoned out."

"I'll say...I WAS planning on eating those eggs though."

Remus looked down. Indeed, the sleeve of his robes was sitting right in James' plate. He pulled it out quickly and looked back up at him. "Err..what were we talking about?"

"I was asking you if you wanted to try and pump Sirius for information during your Advanced Defense against The Dark Arts course you have in the morning. You do have that right?" Remus nodded in reply and James continued. "Peter and I have Divination, so we'll both see you after that."

"Oh great." Remus smirked sarcastically. "Now I don't have to ask Sirius at all. You two can just look in your crystal balls and tell me all about it."

James rolled his eyes and laughed. "Hey, I like er... Creative Expression class. It develops my dark and soulful side. Did you know that I died three times last week?"

"I don't know James...I did my Divination homework properly, and I really saw some bad stuff. Maybe it would be a bad idea to go out tonight. My I-Ching sticks said that bad times were ahead."

James wrinkled his nose. "Oh get off it...you can't POSSIBLY believe that a bunch of sticks really can tell the future Peter...that withered old bat in that bloody tower wouldn't know a smiley face from the grim reaper if it jumped out of her teacup and bit her on the nose."

Peter looked crushed. "But...I got an 'A' on my prediction."

"And so did I." James said with finality. "Which should be telling you something."

Remus got up. "Well, I'm going to Defense. I'll see you guys in Charms. Have fun creatively expressing yourself boys."

After a short trip back to his room for some books, Remus met up with Sirius outside of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, where he and a few other students who had decided to take the advanced course in their final year had congregated to wait for their Professor. Besides Sirius and himself, there was also Frank Longbottom and his girlfriend, Derek Channing from their dorm room, a short and chubby Hufflepuff girl named Rachel, a number of Ravenclaw boys and (to the delight of Sirius), Florence Berendoyl and Severus Snape -- the only two members of Slytherin to take the course. As Remus approached the group, and noticed who Sirius was conversing with, he let out a sigh of exasperation. Didn't Sirius have enough sense to leave Snape alone for at LEAST a day or so?

Preparing himself to be dragged into yet another insult war, Remus marched boldly forward to join the front lines. At that moment however, Professor Gemmell conveniently arrived, and everyone shut up...but not before Remus had caught Sirius's last words.

"...Consider it a peace offering for last Friday...oh...and by the way Florence, it's very nice to uh...see you."

Remus fought back laughter as the Slytherin Prefect went several different shades of red all at once and hurried away into the classroom, apparently at a loss for scathing insults without her group of friends to back her up. Once the rest of them were all inside and settled, he whipped out a sheet of parchment and scribbled 'What was that all about?' then handed it under the desk to Sirius.

"Nothing." Sirius whispered back as quietly as possible, his lips so close to Remus' ear that it tickled. "Just giving him some information he needed to know. Didn't really want to start a fight anyway."

'Does that mean you've given up on your prank for tonight?' Remus grabbed back the paper and scribbled it down, unwilling to risk the attention of the professor.

"No...I haven't...and you're going to be there for it Remus. At least some of us Marauders have to stick together." He reached over and around his shoulders and squeezed them.

'There was that togetherness thing again...was Sirius really that afraid of being alone? Or did he just feel as though James was deserting him...' without warning, his thoughts flipped again. 'What was for lunch? He was really hungry...but he'd just eaten breakfast a little while ago...hmmm....his pen was leaking...he'd have to get a new one...'

Remus didn't even realize that he'd zoned out again until Sirius had sent a shower of sparks into his face, sitting him up with a jolt.

"Argh...what in the...oh Headmaster...what's wrong?"

"I'll ignore the fact that you seemed to have dozed off in class Mr. Lupin, as there seems to be a far more important matter at hand." Headmaster Dumbledore with his gray streaked dark brown hair and beard nodded gravely down at Remus who prepared himself. Who had died this time to cover up his transformation? Great Aunt Dorothy or Uncle Bob perhaps?

"Madam Karens has just received the results of your blood tests young man, and she would like you to stay in the medical wing for a few days while we get you straightened out."

...oh, so it was the invalid story. Right.

"Okay Headmaster." Obediently, Remus followed the Headmaster out of the room, packing up his books as he went. The whispers from the other students followed him like ghosts as he made his way to the door.

"He's always sick..." he caught one of the Ravenclaws saying to his friend.

"Poor guy." Rachel from Hufflepuff added. "Though I wish I could eat as much as he does and be that skinny."

"Loser..." came from the direction of Florence who's foot had somehow made it's way into the isle between the desks. She stuck it back in quickly as he stumbled, and as he straightened he caught a glimpse of Snape's face. It wasn't filled with it's usual superiority or disgust...actually...he wasn't even looking at Remus at all. Instead, he was looking over at Sirius, the later who was nodding almost imperceptibly back, his eyes narrowed in a funny expression.

'What in the...?'

---

He did spend the rest of the evening in the infirmary, as per Dumbledore's orders. Madam Karens along with her intern, Poppy Pomfrey -- who seemed to take her job of caring for Remus very seriously, brought him lunch in his bed, and let him study as much as he could....but he continually found his mind wandering and by the end his door had to be locked so he couldn't go milling about the castle in his restlessness. Sirius, James and Peter had all come by at various points -- though...he managed to note...never together. Sirius...could be right. His theory that James had caused the other some ire had been mildly confirmed when Sirius stayed to talk Quidditch...and just about anything else Remus's mind could jump around to at the time.

"So...I'll be seeing you tonight...okay Remus?" Sirius said at last.

"Rrrrr..." was all the reply his friend got. He'd really meant to say "Okay", but it didn't come out quite right. Sirius punched his shoulder and let himself out, but he wasn't quite gone yet...as his voice...along with another floated back to him through the hosptial door.

"Tonight?"

"Yeah."

"Rrr?" Ignoring the fact that he'd just growled instead of spoken again, Remus sat up in bed and listened.

"Look...just go there...and go in, even if I'm not there. I should be along in a moment."

"And this is completely safe?"

"I've done it loads of times, and no harm done to me. Just go on...do it. It'll be amazing, I promise."

"You'd better not be playing games with me Black..."

"Playing GAMES!? I'm serious. I told you I was gonna be there, didn't I?"

"Yes, but you also changed the signs on the girls showers."

"Don't tell me you didn't enjoy that."

"I don't have time for your games Black, but I warn you once more, you'd better not be lying."

And just like that, the voices stopped. Remus tried very hard to decipher what he'd just heard, and what it all meant, but try as he might, he couldn't get himself to focus clearly. Good thing too, because at that moment, Headmaster Dumbledore entered along with Madam Karens and Miss Pomfrey. The two women grabbed either one of his arms as he growled and spat at them, and hauled him out of bed with rather formidable strength. He fought them all the way across the grounds in a fervor that he hadn't quite yet learned to immediately control...but by the time they reached the Whomping Willow, he had gotten enough of himself back to stumble into the passageway in a fairly willing manner. Now all that was left was the wait.

---

Up in Gryffindor tower, Sirius had returned to inform them that Headmaster Dumbledore had come for Remus, and they should get ready to go. Beneath the invisibility cloak, James looked around at the common room to make sure nobody but Peter was watching, and stuck his hand out just enough to flash a quick "go ahead" thumbs-up.

Right on cue, Peter leapt from his seat. "Oh no! He wailed. "I've forgotten my new Quills in the empty classroom!"

"So go get them!" Derek muttered from across the room.

"Uh...right." Peter feigned embarrassment and scuttled towards the portrait hole, and a pat on the shoulder confirmed that Sirius and James were right there with him. Once around the corner, they lifted the edge of the cloak to let Peter under too, and the three moved together off down the hall, out the large front doors of the castle, and across the grounds. Normally, this would be the part where they stashed the invisibility cloak in the bushes and transformed...but instead of putting the cloak in the bush, Sirius jumped into the middle of it, and pulled James and Peter in with him.

"What are you doing?" James hissed.

"Shhhhh....wait for it...wait for it..."

"What are we...?" Peter began to ask, but then he fell silent. A figure was approaching the Whomping Willow.

"What in the bloody...What's Snape doing here?" James mumbled, watching closely as the thin, black-haired boy picked up a long stick, looked around a few times and slowly approached the violently swinging branches of the large tree. He poked it carefully underneath and pressed the knot on the trunk. The branches froze, and Snape looked around again before inching along the branch towards the entrance hole at the base.

In the bush, Sirius was in the throes of hysterical laughter. "He fell for it...oh my...god..."

"What..." James began, his voice so soft and dangerous that it shut Sirius up immediately. "...in the HELL do you think you're doing?"

Sirius stared.

"You bastard! You DO know what we're dealing with don't you? Or are you just DAFT? "

"I..."

"SHUT UP! If you had any decency...AND YOU!" he continued, rounding on Peter who had begun to cry. "You're just as bad if you can't see the situation. Either grow up or get out you damn baby!"

And before either Sirius or Peter could stop him, James had dashed out of the bushes and dove into the hole, just as the tree branches started waving again.

---

Snape furrowed his brow as he moved along the passageway. He had to admit that -- up until this point, Sirius had not lied. Still, he moved as silently and as cautiously as he could. Every small sound made him jump, but he was so curious that he simply had to go on, no matter what the consequences. If it was another of Black's pranks, he could deal with him later.

The pounding of footsteps in the hall made him freeze. Was it Black, having arrived at last? A long low growl from somewhere in front of him made him forget all about Black. He swung around, pulling out his wand in the process, expecting a stray dog of some kind. What he saw instead nearly made his heart stop in a mixture of fear and shock.

It wasn't a dog...in fact...well...it was that blasted know-it-all friend of theirs...Lupin...the only one he was ever able to stand. Only there was something very very wrong...Lupin's back was arched at an unnatural angle. His neck and nose were lengthening. His fingers were shrinking into claws. What in the...?

"...Werewolf..." 7 years of Defense against the Dark Arts, including the advanced course and all he could do was point. "Werewolf...Lupin..."

The beast that was once Remus Lupin rounded on him, snarling, it's jaws dripping and eyes gleaming in the pale torchlight. "RUN YOU IDIOT!"

But Snape couldn't run. The Wolf's eyes had him rooted to the spot. He was hypnotized...couldn't move...he was going to be bitten...he didn't care...no he did...he was supposed to run...supposed to...pull out his wand and hex the wolf with a...with a...some kind of curse...what sort of curse was he supposed to use?

A second hand closed around his own, and the spell was lifted. All at once his legs remembered what they were supposed to do...just in time. As James Potter yanked him stumbling down the hall the werewolf leapt, one claw ripping Snape's robes. It had missed though, and as they fled they could not miss the unmistakable sound of anguish it let out as it skidded on the dirt floor and banged it's sensitive nose into the cold stone wall.

They could hear it recover itself and growl again, pounding after them. Neither of the two looked back, they were intent only on getting out of the passageway. With a final burst of speed, they flung themselves out of the hole, lying flat on the ground just outside. Behind them, they could hear the wolf's angry howls and growls as it paced below them, cheated of it's prey.

It took both boys a few moments to realize that the branches of the tree were again frozen. Sirius was standing a short distance away, holding the long stick to the knot.

"You..." Snape scrambled to his feet and advanced shakily on Sirius.

"Severus! James!"

Headmaster Dumbledore with Peter at his side dashed across the field at them. James too at this point scrambled to his feet.

"What's going on here?" the Headmaster demanded.

"Lupin's a Werewolf." Snape blurted.

"James saved his life." Sirius added quietly.

"I realize that." Dumbledore said curtly, turning quickly to Snape. "Severus, your arm...you were not bitten were you?"

"No Headmaster. Scratched."

"Just the same, I'd like you to go to the medical ward. That's a deep..."

But to the surprise of all, Snape cut them all off. "NO! It'll heal on it's own. I won't tell anyone about Lupin...just let me go back to Slytherin."

"Are you sure Severus?" Dumbledore asked.

"NO! I mean YES!" He yanked himself free and clutched at his arm as he ran back up to the castle. Whether anyone noticed that he was holding a different spot on his arm than where the wound was, nobody dared to mention it.

"Now...you three had better get inside."

"But..."

"Mr. Lupin will be just fine." Dumbledore promised. "Off to bed with all of you."

It was probably a good thing that Remus was by that point so far down the passageway that none of his friends heard his howls of pain and anger.