Through the Eyes of the Werewolf

Additions to Disclaimer: Remember, I don't own anything remotely related to Harry Potter. I simply steal Ms. Rowling's ideas without profit.

Chapter 2

Old Friends Onboard

And now, Remus Lupin stood on Platform nine and three-quarters, a teen of average height, average build, but also seemingly exhausted in general appearance. He was already wearing the traditional white polo, black dress pants, and black dress shoes that were half of his school uniform. He had not bothered with the sweater, tie, or robes yet as they had seemed a little too formal to wear for the entire train ride. He had purposely not attached his prefect's badge either, as he knew it would only provoke annoying comments from his friends. His nicely combed hair blew back as the Hogwarts Express issued a loud blast of steam and began to jerk and clank its way out of the magical platform.

"Oh no," muttered Remus to himself. "This is not going to be easy."

Already he could see station attendants clad in red coming from the front of the row of passenger cars to slam each carriage door shut.

Remus readjusted the suitcase under his right arm, gripped the other suitcase and the cage holding Phelan tightly, and then began to run as he had done in King's Cross, though this time with more weight to hold onto. At first Remus was going smoothly, but as he got closer to the far end of the slowly moving train, his brisk run became more of a brisk gallop as his right leg somewhat stiffened to keep the slipping suitcase held tightly.

Amazingly, it was not the bulk of the items he was carrying that made Remus fall. Rather, that he tripped over his own feet did the trick. Remus came crashing down, his face landing on the lid of his suitcase, which had slid under him just in time. Phelan began chirping loudly, but he didn't seem to be hurt. Remus had not let the owl cage, nor the suitcase in his hand, escape his grip. This resulted in two badly scraped palms that had slid on the concrete to break his fall.

As the third to last carriage slowly approached Lupin's landing spot, he looked up to see none other than his three best friends leaning out of the carriage's last window. James Potter, a handsome, lean young man with messy black hair and round glasses that shielded a pair of brilliant hazel eyes was smiling and waving, as if Remus missing the train wasn't even a concern. Sirius Black, yet another good-looking young man with long black hair that nearly shadowed his eyes, let out a laugh like a bark and shrugged at Remus.

Then he nudged the stout boy next to him and jokingly exclaimed, "Poor Moony. Honestly, what are we going to do with him? So untimely, so irresponsible. It's becoming a nasty habit." Sirius winked at Remus, having used the nickname for him that only this group of friends knew, and turned to the boy next to him again.

"Wormtail, conjure this young gentleman a summoning spell for his luggage, if you'd please."

Peter Pettigrew, the brown-haired, husky boy with the mouse-like face who had been standing next to Sirius, fumbled around in his jacket pocket and withdrew his wand. He quickly summoned all of Remus' things with a simple, high-pitched cry of, "Accio luggage!" Instantly, Remus' belongings went soaring out of his grip. His chin slumped onto the concrete surface as his second suitcase slid out from under him and towards the leisurely moving carriage. His three friends backed out of the way as the suitcases and Phelan, in his cage, went soaring through the window.

Remus wasted no time. Knowing his pet and luggage were safely on board, he sprang to his feet and began a sprint towards the third to last carriage, which had suddenly gained considerable speed. He reached out for the railing inside the still open door and missed.

"This is going to require a running leap," thought Remus hesitantly. Despite his average, healthy stature he was not the most athletic boy in school. However, he had no choice.

With a small yelp, Remus threw himself towards the end of the third to last carriage and grabbed tightly onto the golden railing just inside the door. The sudden action stung his skinned palms, but he didn't let go. He swung himself farther up from the carriage's first step and leaned down to ensure that he wouldn't fall out of the open door. As he began to hastily scramble up the short flight of stairs on all fours, an attendant ran by outside, and with a loud slam closed the door. It made a small click as it magically locked itself.

Remus reached the top step, out of breath from his short, but thrilling, moment of athleticism. He was still down on his hands and feet when into his eyesight came three pairs of polished, black dress shoes similar to his own. Looking up, he found himself back in the company of his best friends.

Sirius let out another barking laugh and said, "Merlin help you, Remus. You're looking more wolf-like every time I see you." He extended a hand and pulled Remus up to a standing position, following this with a hug reminiscent of two brothers who haven't seen each other for months.

Suddenly, Sirius grasped Remus' shoulders and pushed him back to get a good look at his face.

"What's this I see?" said Sirius, squinting his eyes and looking hard. "Why, is our own responsible wolf the first of us to be growing whiskers?"

Remus rubbed an index finger on the brown peach-fuzz under his nose and sniffed, preferring not to respond. None of his three friends standing before him showed the slightest signs of incoming facial hair.

James ran a hand through the untidy black mess on his head (making it even untidier), crossed his arms, and raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Well then, Mr. Mature. Going to keep the 'stache?"

"I think it looks nice on him," squeaked Peter, twisting the end of his school sweater in his hands.

"Well, it certainly brings out the wild animal side of the otherwise picture-perfect Master Lupin. The girls will surely go gaga for it," said Sirius, smiling at his friend and wiggling his nose up and down, as if this action would encourage a mustache of his own to appear.

James' eyes widened as he noticed Remus' palms. "I think the bloody paws really complete the wolfish look, Moony."

"Oh, so that would explain why your grip was slimier and slipperier than usual," said Sirius, checking his own hands for bloodstains.

Until now, Remus hadn't noticed the sting after skimming his palms on the concrete and then burning them upon impact with the carriage's stair railing. He turned his hands over to inspect the injury and immediately regretted doing so. He found a fair amount of skin missing, exposing sensitive, pink blotches below his fingers. Now that he had taken a good look at them, his hands were once again throbbing.

"Ouch! This stings worse than an angry Billywig. I'd better go get a bandage. Maybe the Head Boy or Girl will know where to find one."

Upon saying this, Remus had an unfortunate realization. Being a prefect, he was required to first visit the prefects' carriage at the front of the train before sitting down with his friends. This was so the Head Boy and Girl could acquaint him, and his fellow prefects, with the responsibilities of the job (despite that Remus had attained the title the previous year), as well as to get them up to speed regarding any new policies for the school year. The meetings started immediately following the Hogwarts Express' departure from King's Cross Station. Remus was late.

Sirius smartly read the look of worry on his friend's face. "Not to fret, Remus. We'll have you off to that prefects' carriage in no time. I can bandage you up myself. I've gotten pretty good with that charm, I think. Let's see then..."

Sirius extracted a beautifully carved, wooden wand from his robe pocket and pushed back his sleeves, clearing his throat for dramatic effect. He raised the wand above his head, twirled it with a flourish, and then...

"Fer... fer... er... Oh, bugger, I've forgotten the incantation." He laughed softly. "Boy, the summer holidays sure did me in good."

"Oh, Padfoot, you're an idiot," said James, using Sirius' nickname as he scoffed at him. James, too, rolled up his sleeves and waved his wand. "This spell is a cinch. Watch the master at work. Here we go then. Ferarlou!"

Upon saying the spell, one long white bandage shot from James' wand, as was intended. However, instead of wrapping around Remus' palms, it bolted straight for his head and tied itself tightly around, covering his eyes.

"Ah! What in Merlin's beard are you doing, James? That's not the spell!"

He could not see anything, but Remus heard a heavy amount of raucous laughter coming from where Sirius had been standing before everything had gone dark. James was laughing as well, attempting to apologize in-between chuckles. No reaction was coming from Peter's location.

Then, there was a small cry of, "Feruler," and a brief pause followed. Sirius and James stopped laughing, but soon found reason to begin again. Peter had chanted the spell in an attempt to fix things, but this hadn't helped, as it was still the incorrect incantation. A second bandage had appeared, but this time it went straight for Remus' mouth. Remus gasped as the texture of cloth covered his lips.

Sirius and James were laughing twice as hard now, and Peter was trying to apologize while reaching for the bandage that was obstructing Remus' speech. Remus shook his head in protest upon feeling Peter's chubby fingers on his cheeks. With a few rigorous turns of his head, like a dog shaking off water, he got the second bandage to slip off of his mouth. It slid down his neck and rested on the collar of his polo.

Slightly irritated with the way this year had commenced, Remus blindly reached into his pocket to extract his twelve inch, birch wood wand from it. He winced as his right hand's injury brushed against the fabric in his pocket, but he knew this was the only way he'd be able to stem the pain. He gave his wand a small flick, pointing the tip at his left palm, and muttered, "Ferula."

This had the desired effect. A single bandage gracefully extended from Remus' wand and gently wrapped around his injures. He placed his wand in his now bandaged left hand and repeated the process for his right. With his palms safely cushioned from sensitivity, Remus reached up and removed the blindfold wrapped around his eyes, and untied the one around his neck.

Remus shook his head once again to become reoriented with his surroundings. James and Sirius were continuing to laughing heartily. Peter seemed to be following suit, as small chuckles forced themselves out one after the other. Remus let a smile loose as he muttered, "We're not even at Hogwarts yet and already the mischief has begun."

James began a foolish sort of marching step back to the compartment where he, Sirius and Peter had been prior to Remus' arrival. Sirius followed, imitating the exaggerated clomp-clomping of James' feet. Peter did so as well (though it seemed reluctantly). Then he slid back the compartment door and marched inside, holding it open like an obedient servant. Sirius and James stood, backs straight, on both sides of the compartment door. They each gave a salute down the corridor in Remus' direction.

"Your compartment awaits, your responsible mustached-ness," announced Sirius, somehow managing to keep a straight face. James bowed and made a flourishing gesture to indicate Remus should march inside.

Seeing nobody else in the carriage's hall at the moment, Remus closed his eyes and willed himself to join in the madness. He began an energetic march, eyes still shut. Just before he could make the turn to enter through the opened door, he bumped right into a very tall somebody. Remus immediately opened his eyes and looked up. The high spirits his friends had instilled suddenly drained.

Looking down at him from a considerable height was Tiberius McLaggen. Tiberius had brown, slicked-back hair, a brow that was often furrowed, and (at the moment) a very sour expression on his face. He was clutching his belt, rubbing his thumbs up and down on the shiny silver belt-buckle that doubled as his Head Boy badge.

"Lupin, where have you been? We've been waiting for you so that we can get on with our meeting. I'm quite surprised; I was expecting you would set a better example for our newer prefects. Obviously my hopes were largely misplaced. How very disappointing. At any rate, I see that whatever you've been doing, it clearly did not involve your prefect duties," observed Tiberius, eyeing the cloth bandages on Remus' hands.

Remus lowered his face as his cheeks beamed a shade of bright red. He knew Tiberius enjoyed demeaning him. With that thought, Remus attempted to ignore the heavy amount of displeasure thrown at him. Neither of the two particularly cared for each other despite that their separate school houses (Gryffindor and Hufflepuff) were on good terms. However, being scolded was something Remus took to heart more so than his friends. James and Sirius did nothing but shuffle their feet and shift their gazes between Remus and each other.

Tiberius managed to lower his brow further as he whispered harshly, "No explanation, Lupin? I'm afraid to say that this is not the best way to start off the year. Be glad I won't dock house points for now, but I expect you to up the anti if you wish to keep your position. You know very well what this job requires. Any more tomfoolery and there will most certainly be a note home to your parents. Now come along."

The threat of disappointing his parents struck an invisible hand across Remus' face. Having been instilled with a fair dose of anxiety, he gloomily and silently followed Tiberius down the carriage away from his friends. He looked back at the three, who had all returned to the compartment and were leaning out of the door to show their support with big grins and an over extensive amount of jovial waving.

~

The meeting did not go quite as Remus had hoped. Tiberius, of course, made a point to use Remus as an unfortunate example of abusing the power given to prefects. He also made note of Remus' carelessness for not attaching his prefect's badge. The newer prefects shuffled awkwardly in their seats, while Remus' fellow sixth year prefects sniffed the air in disapproval. Remus sighed and rolled his eyes, shocked at how Lady Luck seemed to be working against him this afternoon.

Tiberius commenced the meeting with the basic overview of the expectations he had for this year's batch of prefects: they were to report any witnessed misbehavior, lend guidance to lost students, enforce the headmaster and caretaker's rules, and so on. After this, there was a brief question and answer period. Remus tried to redeem himself by providing knowledgeable responses to the fifth year, first-time prefects' inquiries. However, Tiberius seemed to take this as a threat towards his authoritarian position. In retaliation, Tiberius took out his wand and whapped Remus squarely over the head as a reprimand.

When the meeting was finally over, Remus waited for his fellow prefects to file out of the compartment before stumbling out into the hall himself, massaging the small bump on his head. The entire carriage was empty, as most of his high-ranking colleagues had wandered back to their friends farther down the train. Remus grasped a nearby window edge for support and groaned, trying to regain a little coordination so that he could return safely back to Sirius, James and Peter. Once the pain in his head began to recede, he started off through the red-coated train cars.

Remus stared at the floor as he walked, embarrassment from the meeting flooding through his stomach. His brain raced as he realized how careful he would have to be around Tiberius this year. "Any more tomfoolery and there will most certainly be a note home to your parents," echoed Tiberius' voice in Remus' memory. He frowned determinedly at the carpeted walkway. He was not about to let that Head Boy ruin his goal of becoming a successful prefect. This year, things were going to be different.

Remus looked up as he heard a slight tapping sound. He glanced out the row of windows on his left and spotted small splashes of rain that had begun to fall. Outside, dark clouds slowly moved to block out the sun as the Hogwarts Express rumbled through the countryside. Remus loved watching rain fall. It gave him a very calm feeling for reasons he didn't quite understand. He especially loved the smell that a good downpour left behind afterwards while the flora bloomed in its newfound purity.

Though he'd slowed his pace, Remus' thoughts had become more distracted by the simple pleasure of watching the little droplets dance on the glass panes. The footsteps that were coming towards him from the opposite direction of the carriage blended so nicely with the small pitter-patter of the drizzle that Remus didn't even hear them. Lacking this warning sign, he smashed into the approaching person head-on. The next thing he knew he was laying on the carpeted corridor with a book exposing its pages on his chest.

The student he had bumped into - a girl with bright green eyes and flaming red hair - sat up, grasped her forehead and cringed. She and Remus had collided heads in a most magnificent fashion, sending them both to the floor in shock. Remus could feel the train carriage rocking beneath him as the girl muttered, "Ouch, that smarts."

Upon recognizing her voice, Remus sat up immediately and sent the young woman's book toppling onto his legs. He smiled bashfully and moaned, "Oh my goodness, Lily, I'm so terribly sorry."

Lily Evans, one of Remus' fellow Gryffindor sixth years, was now sitting on the walkway carpet opposite him. She rubbed her temple vigorously, opening her eyes only when Remus spoke.

"Remus? Oh, don't apologize! I'm so glad to see you. Of course, I don't know if this was quite the setup I had anticipated." She let out a small chuckle that trailed off.

Remus hastily reached down and picked up the book Lily had dropped upon impact. He took a quick look at it and smiled. The cover read Hairy Snout, Human Heart: An anonymous, touching look into the life of a lycanthrope. Remus looked up at Lily and handed her the book, saying meekly, "I'm sorry I haven't started reading that yet. I know we agreed to, but I just didn't quite find the time this summer."

Lily smiled back, showing her marvelously straight teeth. "Don't worry; I'll find something else to read while I wait for you to catch up. It'll be hard to put down though, I must say. It's a wonderful autobiography. I can't wait to discuss it with you. At least I know without a doubt you read The Dark Arts Outsmarted," she finished knowledgeably, referencing a book she had given Remus as a sort of end-of-the-year present before the summer holidays. He had, in turn, given her the book she now clutched tightly in her arms.

Remus laughed, somewhat out of nerves, as he stood up. He didn't want to run out of conversation topics with Lily, but he'd begun to do just that. Ever since they had met in their first year, he had loved talking with her. Of course, he knew he could always talk with James, Sirius and Peter, but not on the same intellectual and intimate level as he did with Lily. Lately, however, when Remus thought of Lily his mind seemed to act like a blank canvas. No subjects for discussion came to mind. He cursed himself inside for not having read Hairy Snout, Human Heart.

Thinking of the title Hairy Snout reminded him; he wondered if Lily had noticed his newly-grown mustache. He nonchalantly reached his bandaged right hand up to the small hairs above his upper lip and gave them a light scratch.

Lily squinted just as Sirius had done and stated, "Well isn't that the most adorable thing I've ever seen. My tame little wolf's sprouted whiskers."

Remus chuckled timidly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Heh, yeah, I guess I have."

Then Lily gasped, "Remus! What's happened to your hands? How horrible of me, I didn't even notice until now."

Remus explained in a modest fashion, "Oh, don't worry, Lily. They're fine. I just scraped them up a bit trying to get on the train. I was a little late to the station, you see, so I had to - "

Before he could get to the heroic sequence of his story, a voice behind him called, "Lily! Lily! For Godric's sake, get in here! You've been gone for the past fifteen minutes. The food trolley'll be here any moment now!"

Remus turned to find Cara Stimpson leaning out of a compartment two doors down the hall. Fair-haired and soft-faced, Cara was a good friend of Lily's. She smiled upon seeing Remus.

"Good afternoon, Remus. It is always a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I apologize for interrupting your conversation, but it is ever-so-dire that Ms. Lillian Evans returns to our compartment posthaste, or we will be unable to formulate the correct choices for our afternoon meal before the options arrive." Cara giggled. As with most of the girls in Gryffindor, she knew Remus respected scholarly behavior. She loved to tease him about it in a friendly manner.

Remus stuttered briefly at losing his moment with Lily. However, he would not let this impede the manners he had been taught. He bowed sincerely to Cara. "I will gladly return Ms. Lillian Evans to you without pause."

Remus stood straight up, turned to face Lily, and extended a hand to let her pass by. Lily did her best to curtsy without letting go of her book. As she passed by Remus, she whispered, "We'll talk about your 'furry little problem' as soon as I'm available tonight, alright?"

Remus, understanding the reference, nodded as Lily walked down the corridor. With one last smile Lily turned and waved happily to her literature confidant. Remus' expression became very daydream-like as he slowly waved back. Lily shut the door, the kind smile remaining on her face.

About ten seconds later Remus finally came to his senses and noticed he was still waving goodbye to Lily - or rather, he was waving to her compartment. Thankfully Lily and her friends were too deep in conversation to notice. He blinked a few times and glanced back at the rain for a moment. Realizing he was still a few carriages away from his destination, he ran off past a group of third years who had begun a game of tag in the corridor.

Upon reaching his compartment, Remus paused just before the door. He thought he'd heard Sirius mention Lily's name. Making the excuse to himself that he didn't want to interrupt his friends' conversation, Remus slipped into the empty compartment next-door, closed the door, and pressed his ear against the thin wall to listen in.

"Yep, I sent her about twenty owls this summer," James was saying.

"You're exaggerating. I don't even send that many owls in six months," Peter responded skeptically.

"Oh, shut up Wormtail. The point is I think we've gotten on much better terms since the end of last year."

Sirius chimed in sardonically. "Oh yes, I'm sure. You treat her like doxy dung during class, shout obnoxious compliments to her in the hallway, attempt to impress her by hanging Severus Snape from a tree, not to mention countless additional offenses. Then suddenly a few letters to her and you're the bees' knees. You're right, Wormtail. Either he's a horrible liar, or he has an amazing way with the written word. And I know the latter's not true. That's Moony's line of expertise."

"Funny you mention him," said James, ignoring Sirius' sarcasm. "Lily did too, in her letters."

Remus almost slipped off of the cushioned seat when he heard this. He blushed to himself. He definitely would not be returning to the compartment until this conversation was over.

For a few seconds, Remus' three friends said nothing. Sirius and Peter didn't seem to know how to respond to James' news.

"Oh, no, I don't think anything like that is going on," said James reassuringly. Remus assumed a look of confusion was probably on Peter and Sirius' faces at the moment. "After all, how could she not mention him? Remus is a nice guy. Besides, they've got their whole little book club thing going."

Remus turned red once again. He had hoped his friends wouldn't discover that he and Lily spent their free time together doing academic activities. Lily must've mentioned it to James in her letters. Remus was sure he'd never hear the end of it now that Sirius, James and Peter knew about the secret.

"Where is Moony anyway? I've wanted to show him this. Seeing as you liked it, Wormtail, I'm sure he'll get a kick out of it as well."

Remus knew this was his cue. Disappointed in the small amount of information he'd gleaned, but curious as to what James thought he'd find amusing, he exited the compartment, walked over to the next one, and pulled back the door.

"Hey there, Moony! Wonderful timing, as always." said James happily.

"Well, not always," said Remus, holding up his scarred palms as a reminder of the events at Platform nine and three quarters.

"Come sit down, Moony. I left you the window seat. I know you like watching the rain," said Peter.

"Thanks, Wormtail. That's very considerate of you." Remus threw himself into the empty seat and continued his observation of the downpour.

"How was your meeting with the ruling elite?" asked James.

"Oh, do stop, Prongs," sighed Remus. "If you call Tiberius making a complete fool of me enjoyable, then I'd say the meeting was great fun."

With that thought, Remus stood up and retrieved his suitcase from the luggage rack above his seat. He popped open his trunk and immediately found the shining prefect's badge resting on top of his neatly folded school robes. He extracted it from the case and attached it to his belt.

"Do you really have to remind us?" said Sirius, rolling his eyes.

"Yes, I'm afraid I do," said Remus with a slight tinge of annoyance in his voice. "Tiberius got irritated with me for not wearing it. I can't afford to let that happen again. You heard him, if there's anymore 'tomfoolery' my parents will have to hear about it. I don't think they'd be very impressed with that."

"Hey," said Peter. "We're sorry we didn't say anything to Tiberius before. We didn't mean for that to happen."

"Yeah," added Sirius. "Next time he bothers you, we've got your back. Don't worry; we're not going to let him ruin your clean record."

"It could be worse, right?" suggested James. "He could know about your furry little problem. Honestly, I can't see why you don't just maul him in his sleep. That or we could always do something like trick him into meeting you on the grounds during a full moon."

"That's brilliant," responded Sirius. "Then after you've gotten to him, Moony, I could toss his corpse into the lake. Anything that goes in there never leaves evidence behind."

Though he found this slightly gory, Remus couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of the concept.

"So, moving along from Operation Head Boy Drowning, we've got something to show you, Moony," said James, pulling out his wand and a plain piece of fresh parchment.

"What's this all about then?" said Remus, not sure what he was supposed to find intriguing about blank parchment from James' pocket.

James grinned slyly. "Padfoot and I have been working on something very special since he dropped by this summer."

'"By 'dropped by this summer' he means 'came to stay forever'," corrected Sirius, crossing his arms and smirking.

Remus looked up at Sirius, taking his gaze off of the parchment "Oh yes, that's right! You ran away from home a few weeks ago. I was going to ask you about that. I'd been hoping things had worked out for the better and you'd gone home, Padfoot. If you'd have written to me I'm sure my family would've been more than happy to let you stay. In fact, if you still need somewhere to go after the school year's over - "

"Aww, that's kind of you Moony. If I do need somewhere to stay, the Potter's have been real good to me. James' parents treat me like family! But before I make my final decision as to what I'll be doing by the year's end, I first want to see what correspondence I do or do not receive from my loving family this year," Sirius explained, although the unfortunate answer to this proposal was clearly embedded in the slight sarcasm Remus picked up in Sirius' voice.

James tapped his wand tip on the parchment he was holding. "This is all very touching, but can we get back to the original focus?" Everyone's gaze turned back to the paper in James' hands. Out of the corner of his eye, Remus thought he spotted Sirius frown at James' messy black hair.

Peter rubbed his hands together eagerly. "Just wait until you see this, Moony. Prongs just showed it to me before you came back, and it's brilliant. I wish I could think of stuff like this during the summer. It'd beat doing chores all day."

"Now," began James. "Watch closely, boys." As he said this, he moved his wand tip to the very middle of the parchment and muttered, "Reveal your secret."

Remus' eyes widened as he saw skinny lines creeping away from James' wand and spreading out over the paper. It was like watching a bottle full of ink spill all over one's homework. However, this ink was creating very concise shapes and patterns rather than splattering at random. As the lines settled and there was no longer movement on the paper's surface, James unfolded it to reveal a complete map of his house.

Remus' jaw dropped in amazement. He had never seen this kind of magic before. He scratched at his mustache and leaned towards the exposed diagram for a better look. Upon closer inspection, he realized there were two tiny dots moving on the page.

James peered over the top of the paper and eyed the two specks that were slowly migrating through the ink patterns. "Ah, that'd be mum and dad. Unfortunately neither Sirius nor I found a way to tell which one's which, but I think I'd be able to recognize my parents even if they were dots."

Sirius chuckled. "You'd better hope it's them, or else your home's being robbed as we speak."

Remus continued to stare as the spots slowly traveled about the yellowed surface of the parchment. "How in the world did you do this, you two? I'm astounded! I've never heard about this type of magic before."

Peter turned to Remus "A subject you haven't heard about? Goodness, Moony, I'm surprised at you!"

"Why do you say that?" questioned Remus, turning to find Peter's big, mousy eyes staring at him in shock.

"Because Padfoot and Prongs got the idea from a book!" squealed Peter.

Remus spun his focus back to his two friends sitting opposite him. "He's not serious, is he? Tell me he's not. I honestly haven't seen anything like this in the books I've read. Not even the ones from the school library."

James rolled his eyes. "Madame Pince may be protective of those books, Moony, but that doesn't mean her library has every one in existence."

"Actually, there's a good chance she might have this one. Of course, if she listens to Filch (and goodness knows she's all over the man), she probably put it in the Restricted Section. Going by his caretaker ethics, he wouldn't want this particular book accessible to students at any cost," added Sirius smartly.

Remus put on a serious face. "If I were to guess, I'd say a book as questionable as this one must be in your suitcase, Prongs."

"I wouldn't be surprised if it was the first thing he packed," laughed Peter.

James was one step ahead of his friends, already reaching up for his suitcase. However, before he could take it down from the luggage rack, he paused and leaned over the map.

"Almost forgot to clear it off," he muttered, pointing his wand at the parchment and commanding, "James Potter, the master of the home, commands you to hide the secrets you contain." As he said this, the map immediately wiped itself clean of all markings.

Remus let out a sigh. "'Master of the home...'? Goodness, Prongs. Don't you think you need some better passwords? Honestly, that was rather long."

"I like long," said James. "Besides 'Reveal your secret' isn't so bad. What's wrong with that one?"

"Well, I mean, it's a little too blatant, don't you think? It would be like the ministry using "Show yourself!" to open up all of their undisclosed information."

Peter snickered. "It's so simple; I bet even old Snivellus could figure it out."

"Believe me," said a cold voice that the four boys recognized. "I could figure out any of your little tricks faster than the Headmaster, they're so childish."

Remus and his friends turned to the compartment door, annoyed to see their worst enemy leaning to one side and smirking superiorly. Severus Snape was wearing his black school robes already, which only heightened his dismal appearance. His greasy, dark hair hung at random over his face, and the hook that was his nose had grown considerably more curved since their fifth year.

"Funny," said James mixing in a fair amount of cynicism with his agitation. "I can't picture the Headmaster hanging upside-down from a tree. But if it were you; that I can see."

James, Sirius and Peter all began to howl with laughter. Remus scowled, but looked at neither Severus with sympathy, nor at his friends with disappointment.

Remus vividly recalled what James was referencing. It had been the last testing day of their previous year. He and his comrades had wandered out onto the Hogwarts grounds to escape the walls they had been trapped in for what had seemed like days. Remus had quickly drawn out a book to take his mind of off how many questions he may have missed on the final. Out of boredom, James and Sirius had decided to bother Severus, who happened to be in the vicinity. They had managed to do so by hanging him from a tree in front of a good chunk of the student body. Lily saw the entire thing, and although she didn't particularly care for Severus either, she was quick to give James a chewing-out for his actions. James, although taken aback by Lily's burst of severity, had managed to bypass her comments with his big-headedness, while Severus insulted her for being a muggle-born witch.

Remus had sat idly by, hiding behind his book. He had spent a fair amount of the summer reflecting on what he wished he had done at the time, which was to have stopped the roughhousing and calmed everyone down. To have been more proactive seemed so much easier in reflection than at the time of the incident. The event also triggered doubts in Remus about his capacity to be a fair and proper prefect. His father had attempted to boost more confidence into him over the summer, but at the current moment, Remus didn't know how to handle his friends making a mockery of Severus. Remus liked Severus no more than his friends did. However, in his eyes, making fun of him was no better than Severus pestering them.

Severus' anger fueled his retaliation. "You're much better suited for a tree than I, Potter. Your uncanny resemblance to a monkey speaks for itself."

James made to stand up, but before he could, Remus shot out of his seat and pushed James back into his chair. A sudden indefinable spark had shot through Remus at hearing James and Severus' bickering. He couldn't take it anymore, and he was going to handle this in the best way he knew how.

James, Sirius and Peter stared at Remus in confusion. Severus glanced at James as he was thrown back in his seat, and then turned his gaze to Remus. His smirk disappeared, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

Remus calmly walked up to the doorway and placed a hand on the threshold's wall just above where Severus was leaning. "If you have nothing of true value to say, nor any important business with us, I'm afraid I must ask you to return to your respectful compartment," said Remus, trying to inject severity into his hesitant voice.

Severus sniffed through his hooked nose, unperturbed. "I don't take orders from Gryffindors, Lupin. Oddly enough, however, you have a point. Why would I want to be talking to a bunch of thick monkeys like you?"

Before Remus could react, Severus grabbed the compartment door and slammed it shut, right on Remus' fingers. He retracted his hand quickly with small exclamation of pain. Severus gave a self-satisfied smile and walked back down the corridor.

Sirius stood up and turned Remus around to inspect his fingers. "Here," he said, conjuring a small pack of ice from thin air. Remus took it and placed it gently on his hand. The pain slowly began to subside.

"Wow, Moony. What's gotten into you?" said Sirius, helping Remus back to his seat.

"You should've let me take care of it," James huffed, massaging his chest where Remus had pushed him.

"Oh, yes, you were doing a grand job of it, Prongs," Remus scoffed, clenching his teeth as the blood in his fingers continued to beat painfully.

"Merlin's beard, Moony, you're not going to be able to use your hands by the time we get to Hogwarts," said Peter with a nervous laugh, attempting to lighten the mood.

"At least I wouldn't be sitting with my fingers smashed to bits," said James, transforming Peter's comment into an insult.

"No, you'd probably just have a severe case of the Bat-Bogey Hex, and that would be much more pleasant."

"You know, I think that prefect's badge it getting to your head already."

"Put a cork in it, you two. The food trolley's coming," Sirius warned, implementing a stage whisper to get his point across.

Frustrated at the negative reaction towards his attempt to be rational and helpful, Remus ignored the calls of the snack woman down the hallway, leaned against the rain-streaked window, massaged his sore right hand, and tried to fall asleep so as to relieve his sudden headache.

~

No sound, no sight. Everything is dark in young Remus' dreams. The same can be said for the present-day Remus, whose memories have gone black. Yet in the still silence, a single voice suddenly speaks to him.

"What is the point?" asks the ominous voice, as the werewolf rests in thoughts. "What is life worth living for when nobody appreciates you?"

The werewolf doesn't move for a moment. He perks up his ears, trying to identify who the voice belongs to. Why is it so familiar?

"There's no reason for you to fight for others. What does it matter if you're victorious in the war, if nobody will even remember your contribution?"

Remus lets out a small snort of frustration in his sleep as his thoughts question the mysterious voice. "Who are you? Have I met you before?"

"For your own sake, leave this war to someone else," says the voice in a faint echo. "You never had anyone who appreciated your efforts before. Why is now any different?"

And then, before Remus can protest, he finds that his dreams are once again as silent and dim as they were when he dozed on the Hogwarts Express.

Author's Notes after story: Chapter three is in the first stages of being written. I can't wait to see if you all enjoyed chapter 2. Please leave a review, whether good or bad, so that I can improve the story as it continues. Thanks, friends!