There was one time, and only that once, that the Marauders ever saw Remus get angry.
Oh, he was the king at passive aggressiveness, had perfected the skeptical eyebrow and disapproving/annoyed tisk, even mastered a glare that would send the bravest Griffindor's running for their mothers.
But he never got so angry he'd lash out. He never spoke a word he didn't mean, and he never took a step that wasn't planned.
He had to, they knew, because of the distinctly animalistic side of him that always threatened his human surface once a month.
They'd seen glimpses, flashes really, of what he could do. And later, they knew his strength and ferocity once they'd started accompanying him on his monthly transformations.
But that was when the animal broke through, seizing control of the body it shared.
The wolf and Remus were two very different things, no matter how often Mooney had tried to imply that perhaps it wasn't always as such. They never believed him because their friend was nothing like the beast they play-fought with one night a month.
"He's never gone." Remus had insisted grimly. "He's always in the back of my mind, you know that." He'd huffed in irritation at their unwillingness to believe him.
"We don't care," Sirius dismissed him with a smirk. "We know you're too high-strung to ever let him loose while you're human, despite how fun it might be." He'd laughed.
Remus, having heard this before, glared at him sourly. "It wouldn't be fun. Trust me."
"We do Mooney," James grinned, putting an arm around his shoulders comfortingly. "You've got more self-control than all of Hogwarts combined! Don't worry about it!"
"I wasn't." Remus deadpanned. "Not until you two started trying to bring it out." He snapped.
"What's wrong with trying to get our best bud to loosen up a bit?" Sirius complained.
"Everything." He said bluntly. "Everything's wrong with that." He'd stormed off then, effectively ending the conversation.
That was their fifth year, and it wasn't until the summer before their seventh did they finally figure out why Remus was so against it.
Times were getting dark—really dark—and Voldemort was in full swing, at the peak of his power and only getting stronger, or so it seemed. It was mid-July, and the four had met in Diagon Alley simply as a break from their families and to plan for this, their final year at Hogwarts. Already, they knew, it was then ending of an era, and they planned on living it to the fullest before they were cast out into the "real world" to deal with "adult things", and by that it meant "death eaters".
One more year left.
"This is bloody depressing." Sirius huffed, tossing the paper down onto the table they sat around outside a small café. "There's my cousin for ya—Bellabitch at her best." He huffed, simply seething at the picture of his cousin with a great big "WANTED FOR THE MURDERS OF DOZENS" posted beneath her twisted smile.
"Terrifying, more like." Peter squeaked nervously at the woman's evil grin blinking up at them.
"He can't do it forever. Someday, someone will get him, don't you fret Peter." James clapped his plump friend on his shoulder, also looking rather stressed.
"You've bee awful quiet Mooney." Sirius noted to their resident book-worm, who just gave him a tired smile.
"It's nothing." He waved him off, but it came out a little airy, as if he were in a daze.
"No, it's not, and since there isn't a moon for another two weeks, you've got no reason to brush me off. Now, spill." The young Black insisted bossily.
Remus stared blankly at the table. "You know what Greyback's doing. It's all over the papers." The three all grimaced, knowing exactly what stories their werewolf friend was referencing. They were by far the grizzliest of all the worst attacks reported. The rumors were even worse, if that was possible. Remus shivered involuntarily. "I've always had reason to fear the wizarding world but now… now I'm as good as dead on sight if anyone ever finds out. Which they will. In about a year." He shuddered.
"Hey! No, no, no, no, no!" Sirius exclaimed, he and James slipping into the spots beside him and wrapped arms around his thin shoulders.
"No—no way! You come live with us in a cave somewhere before we let anyone hurt you!" James declared.
"Yeah!" Sirius agreed violently, "And those wolves are getting near you either! Them and all those other dark arts bastards can go to hell!"
Remus smiled weakly at their vain attempts at comfort, before his lips twisted into a bitterly wry smirk. "Actually, the wolves will be the last of my problems, I think. I just don't like it." He sighed dejectedly.
"What does that-?" But James' question was cut off, as the café behind them exploded.
The world blurred together in a rush of colors and sounds, but the next thing Sirius knew, he was on the ground, someone laying beside him.
"Remus…" He coughed, and the figure beside him tensed. The next instant he was on his feet, being held up by Remus' hands on his shoulders, gripping so tight he thought he might lose the use of his arms momentarily.
"!... Sirius! Snap out of it! Sirius!" He blinked, and the world came back into view.
"Wah?" He said in a daze.
Once upon a time, Remus might've rolled his eyes in fond annoyance at his friends 'slow-on-the-uptake' tendencies, but today, the young werewolf's eyes only flashed in ferocity.
"Death eaters." He hissed.
And like that, Sirius was back, focusing on everything from Peter curled up under the table, to James with his wand drawn next to Remus, to the smoky haze of the chaos around them… to the shadowed figured making a hell of a ruckus through the fog.
Sirius was about to yell "RUN!" when he hit the ground, James suddenly pinned to the ground spread eagle beside him.
"Stupid little boys!" A manic voice screeched at them. A woman in a death eater mask had speared through the mist in a cloud, her wand directed at their chests. "Why aren't you topsy turvey then?" She cackled at Remus, who'd slipped into a defensive stance, staring widely at her in panic.
"Let them go…" He said weakly, dazed by everything happening so fast.
She burst into hysterical laughter. "HA! Don't give me orders boy! Need to teach you a lesson then don't I?" She hissed coyly. "Cruciatus!" She screeched, pointing directly at his chest.
"NO!?" James screamed in panic, right before Sirius started shrieking in pain.
It had been unexpected, and everyone glanced at the boy thrashing on the ground, pinned by magic to the stone ground.
Remus turned in horror, wide amber eyes landing on his friend for a split second before whipping around—his wand suddenly out and in hand—and shooting curse after curse at the death eater.
She got distracted defending herself, and let the curse drop, and Sirius cut off his screaming, panting heavily with tears streaming down his face.
"Sirius!" James yelled, his worry and confusion seeping into his cry.
"Were…wolf…" Sirius gasped, and suddenly it clicked.
Werewolves were impervious to magic. Werewolves in human form could withstand a lot of it—even going so far as to deflect it. The death eater had aimed for Remus, but it'd slipped by him and hit Sirius instead.
"What's this?" The Marauders' stomach dropped as another voice, this time a man's, joined the fray, another death eater appearing beside the woman menacingly.
"We got a fighter!" The woman cackled.
Remus looked freaked, but bravely held up his wand.
The two dark sorcerers just laughed and begun their attack in tandem.
Remus was good, he was very good, but he was no match for two fully grown death eaters focusing on taking him down. The fact that every time he took a hit, it merely didn't work or deflected elsewhere was definitely a helping factor in him remaining on his feet, but even then, as each spell hit he'd stumble or grimace as if he'd been punched. They may not have killed him like they should've, but they probably still hurt… a lot.
His imperviousness to magic was quickly figured out by the two death eaters, and after a quick shared glance, the man disappeared.
"Give up now, boy, or you're friends get to go insane the hard way." The man threatened, and Remus whipped around to see him standing over James and Sirius, wand pointing to Sirius' temple with a cruel grin on his lips. "In fact, I'll be nice… give up now, and I'll kill one of them quickly. The other we'll keep around for a bit, 'cause you know, we need out fun… but I'll let you chose, ok? And you can watch, if you want…"
"Get away from them." Remus growled.
Not the human approximation of a growl: Remus growled.
Deep, ripping sounds echoed from the core of his chest, promising death if they moved a step further.
His eyes blazed, and suddenly it didn't matter that the sun was still shining high above the fog of the destroyed street or that it was still weeks away from a full moon, the wolf was suddenly very much present, very much alive underneath the human face it wore.
"Werewolf…!" The woman said in surprise. "Then why are you fighting us kid!? Join! It's not like you're going to find a place anywhere else," She laughed derisively at him.
Remus wheeled and blasted her with a sharp curse ready on his lips, but she deflected it easily, her countering spell hitting him square in the chest. He was knocked clear of his feet, sliding back towards his the man and his imprisoned friends, and his wand skittering away.
The woman appeared in a cloud of dust over him, smirking down arrogantly at him.
"Give up, you foolish child." She scoffed, pointing her wand between his eyes. "Just because you are more beast than man does not mean I can't kill you, now that I know how…"
"And simply because you were unhelpful, now we get to keep both your little friends for some fun!" The man cackled.
Remus' eyes went blank in fury.
He didn't even comment, he just acted.
One moment he was flat on his back, the next he had the woman by the throat and tossed her like a rag doll across the street, crashing into the ruins of the tables they'd destroyed. The man couldn't even raise his wand in time before he had an angry werewolf knock him down, his growls echoing in the now deserted landscape.
There were the sounds of a sharp, growling, and ultimately quick fight that had nothing to do with magic, before the boys on the ground suddenly found themselves able to move.
"Remus," Sirius cried, lurching up and turning around to help, only to see their 'quiet' friend panting heavily, his amber eyes still glazed over.
He had some scrapes down one side of his face, but otherwise seemed to be unharmed. His hands… and the two unconscious death eaters behind him… were rather bloodied though.
"Remus…" James said in shock/awe/horror.
"We need to get help." The werewolf said, but his voice cracked, sounding dry and unsteady, as if he'd screamed it raw.
Sirius only stared, James floundering to find the words that just wouldn't come.
Peter whimpered from where he'd been hiding beneath a broken table.
Finally, Sirius broke the silence. "Remind me not to get you pissed Remy." He said in a very weak attempt at a joke.
Remus just stared blankly at him. His panting had slowed, but the glazed look wouldn't fade.
"What happened!?" A voice cried out, as figures started to appear up and down the street, wands pointed at the place where chaos had once stood.
Aurors, Sirius realized. They all started forward, seeming confused by the teenagers standing in shock in the debris.
Then they spotted the death eaters on the ground, and things grew quiet.