The Bird's Chorus Of A Full Moon Past

Remus Lupin woke lying on the floor of his living room. Only a prickly warmth rested on his face: he felt cold everywhere else. Squirming and curling into a tight ball, Remus' eyelid fluttered open. A cloudless sky winked back through a window, the sun already rising beyond the sil. A welcome change to the full moon the night before.

Sitting upwards, Lupin scrubbed a hand over his face and through his greying malt hair. The shredded sleeve of his cloak fell as he did so. The patched and fraying robes were in a worse state than usual. His transformation the night before always left his clothes in tatters. One of the things he was often critisized about was the fact that his appearance was not far from that of a house elf. But Remus never saw the fuss over spending so many Sickles and Galleons on expensive robes. Why bother? Whats the difference between pure silk and ordinary cotton? None in his opinion.

Pulling himself up from the floor, Lupin rested his arms on the nearby table where his empty goblet sat. Through tired eyes, he squinted at it like it had just greeted him in a friendly tone on the worst day of the year. Or at least the day after the worst of the month. Blinking and grabbing the goblet, Lupin looked inside as a drop of Wolfsbane trickled inside, falling as his tilted the goblet to see it better.

"Must remember to thank Severus for such an enjoyable nightcap..." he muttered ironically, no trace of sarcasm in his voice.

To anyone, it would have sounded as if Wolfsbane tasted like a speyside whiskey. Once again however, Remus found himself wishing sugar wouldn't make the potion usless. Taking the goblet to his sink and washing it, he picked up an apple and walked back into his lounge room, eating his breakfast. Apples, unlike some foods, wouldn't make his once-again-human stomache upset the day after.

Remus chewed his apple near the window, waiting for the daily owl. He tried to ignore the stiffness in his shoulders. It was always painful during the full moon. Painful as his body transformed, thankful he wasn't conscious last night to experience the transformation a second time.

The after affects were worse again. Minus the small detail about his robes needing to be re-patched. Or the pains in his body. For one thing, the birds would go away. Flying away in the middle of the night, sensing the wolf nearby, they wouldn't return until at least a few days. Remus always found the bird's song plesent. To wake up to the whistling each morning, not unlike the chorus sung from Fawkes.

To this day, Remus Lupin remembered the exact moment when he learnt he could begin schooling. Noone, anyway, would have ever accepted him. Only Albus Dumbledore. "I don't see why, so long as a few precautions are taken, you cannot be accepted at Hogwarts, Remus." In his young life, he had never heard anything that gave him more joy. There was a twinkle in Dumbledore's eye, a smile in his creased face. "Fawkes, we have a new student."

A bird that looked like spun gold and blazing red feathers had swooped from a perch near Dumbledore's desk. Landing on his leg, Remus felt the weighty bird look up at him. For a moment, it seemed to be looking at his face, but then with a sense of dread, he followed it's gaze more carefully. It was staring at his bite... As if it could see through his robes, Fawkes blinked and twitched it's head. A cold sweat fell down Lupin's back.

And then a wonderful song filled his head. Like a serenade of voices, whistling and chiming to God. Fawkes' legs bent and it nuzzled it's head against Remus' arm before swooping off around the office. "He likes you." Dumbledore's voice entered the dying song. "Welcome to Hogwarts, Remus Lupin."

"Yes... I can see clearly... A strong desire to prove yourself, but still... I feel a hesitancy. A strong responsibility for one your age, and yet one you are mature enough to handle... I Have no choice.... It seems theres only one place to put you, boy.. GRYFFINDOR!" "Hi! Who're you? Sound's like the hat had a bit to say about you." "Um, Im Remus. Remus Lupin." "Kay. Im Siruis, and this here's James. Met 'im on the train."

The memory of that day was still fresh after so many years. The very thought he would turn to when the full moon rised. A warm glow in the pitch darkness. The very thought he would think of when he learnt the very same spell he tought to Harry Potter. "Expecto Patronum." he whispered. If he had been holding his wand at the time, Remus knew a large Patronus would suddenly gallop through his house. But his wand was locked in his desk drawer, always in preperation for when the full moon struck. He could not bear the thought of it breaking as his robes tore.

Sitting down heavely behind his desk, Lupin turned the small key in the lock and pulled his wand out of the drawer. With a mock grin that made him look like someone had found a small pet that was hiding, Lupin shut the drawer. In a weary voice, he sighed. "Some music, maybe." Lupin raised his wand and pointed towards the windowsil. Through an open gap at the bottom, a pinecone hung near a low branch and he took aim.

"Avifors." A burst of blue light expelled from the wand's tip, striking the pinecone and cracking it like an egg. A moment later, a small bird fluttered onto the branch, jerking it's head around and twittering excitedly. Remus Lupin sat, recovering from the previous night while listening to it sing. Such is a werewolf's life.