His Furry Little Problem
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter; I leave that to author, J.K. Rowling. Sometimes I wished I owned Gred and Forge.
James Potter looked over at his friends, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. "Do you think there's something going with Remus?" James asked them.
"What do you mean, James?" Sirius asked.
Both Sirius and Peter looked at him in anticipation.
"Don't you think it's odd that he's always in the hospital wing the day after the full moon?" James asked.
Sirius' brows furrowed together. "He's always looking at the moon as if counting down the days," Sirius commented.
"He's always eating chocolate for days before the full moon," Peter added.
Sirius looked at James straight in the eye. "Do you really think Snivellus has it right?" Sirius asked.
James shrugged not liking the fact that Severus was right for once. "I have no idea," James said. "I don't like the fact that he didn't tell us if he is, but at the same time, I can see why he didn't."
Sirius nodded in understanding. "Werewolves are shunned in the wizarding world," he said.
"Are we going to confront him?" Peter asked.
"Of course," James said.
"You're not serious," Peter said.
Sirius grinned. "No, I'm Sirius!" he said laughing.
James rolled his eyes. "That joke is getting old quick," he said.
"No, it's not," Sirius countered, "but I think we should confront Remus."
"And then what?" Peter asked.
James looked at his Defense Against the Dark Arts book and grinned. "We'll become Animagus," he said. "So he'll have company on the full moon."
"How are we going to pull that one off without McGonagall noticing?" Sirius asked.
James thought for a moment. "We'll figure it out," James said, "but first Remus."
"Wait!" Peter said. "Either way we'll learn to become Animagus?" he asked.
James and Sirius grinned at each other. "Yeah, we will," James said.
"Either way," Sirius agreed.
(Hospital Wing)
Remus Lupin woke up from a restful sleep after the night of the full moon. It's always his least favorite day of the month. He turned over to see Professor Dumbledore. "Hello, Professor," he said.
"Remus," he replied. "You know what you told me last month?"
Remus nodded. "Yes," he said. "That James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew will put two and two and two together."
"I think you should tell them," Dumbledore replied bluntly.
Remus blinked. "What?"
"You should tell them," Dumbledore repeated. "They've known you for over a year and half. They know who you are, and to them, that won't change the fact about what you are. That and James and Sirius are smart. They're fourth and fifth in you year. I would place a bet they they've already figured it out. Madame Pince found the pair in the library this morning. She said that James asked for books about Animagus, and Sirius asked about werewolves."
Remus moaned. "What about Peter?" he asked.
"She didn't say," Dumbledore admitted. "Do you have any idea why James would want to check out books about Animagus?"
Remus shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine, Professor," Remus answered.
Madam Promfrey walked up to Remus and handed him a chocolate bar. "After you eat that, Remus, come find me so I give you your month supply of chocolate," she said.
"Thank you," he said and unwrap the chocolate bar as she walked away and took a bite of it. Then he looked to Professor Dumbledore. "Professor, if James and Sirius were in the library, they definitely were up to no good."
"You'll fix that problem, won't you, Remus?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes, sir," Remus replied, "or the best that I can."
"Good," Dumbledore replied as we walked away.
Remus ate the chocolate bar, went to get his month supply of chocolate from Madam Promfrey, and then finally he headed to Gryffindor Tower. He saw that James, Sirius, and Peter were no where to be found in the Gryffindor Common Room. "Where could they be?" he asked himself as he headed towards the boys' dormitory.
When Remus got there, he noticed that there was a note waiting for him on his bed. He picked it up and unfolded it. It said:
Remus,
Meet us outside by the tree near the lake; we need to talk about your furry little problem.
James
Remus sighed knowing exactly which tree James was talking about. He also had a very unpleasant knot in his stomach. He went to the tree out near the lake.
Remus smiled expecting neither James nor Sirius to have their faces in a book. "Before you say anything, I have something to tell all of you," he said.
James, Sirius, and Peter looked up and smiled at him. "So he's finally decided to fess up," James said.
"I'm a werewolf," Remus said before he lost his nerve.
"We know," Peter said.
"I mean a real werewolf," Remus said. "I turn into one every month when the full moon shows."
Sirius closed his book. "I think I can probably learn more from you than from this book," he said casually.
Remus looked over to see what book Sirius was reading. It was called: A Month with a Werewolf. "We're people too," Remus scoffed at the title.
Sirius smiled at Remus' reaction. "I have a question for you, Remus," Sirius stated. "Why didn't you tell us what you are?"
Remus looked at Sirius straight in the eye. He thought he would see sympathy, but instead it was understanding. He sighed. He felt better knowing that it was understanding and not sympathy. "I thought if you guys knew, you would shun me, and tell the whole school what I am," he said. "Dumbledore also told me not to tell anyone when he first came to my home; it wasn't until today that he told me that I should tell you."
"It's better late than never," James said. "Perhaps you could tell us what happened the night you became a werewolf?"
Remus sighed, sat down next to the tree, and told them of how he became a werewolf like he has never been able to before. "I was five years old or thereabouts when there was a werewolf outside my window. I was sleeping when I heard him come through my bedroom window and bite me." He touched a scar on his upper arm. "He scratched me up some before my father came to my rescue. The werewolf left, and my parents immediately took me to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries where they found out that I would turn into a werewolf on the next full moon and every full moon after. My parents took care of me every step of the way for years. My father saw that I had gotten the Hogwarts Acceptance Letter. He immediately contacted Professor Dumbledore via owl, and he came to my home saying that I could be taken care of even during those days of the month. They built the Shrieking Shack and the Whooping Willow the month before term started. It's for my use for that time of the month."
Sirius grinned. "That sounds like-"
Then he was whacked by James on the top of his head. "Sirius," he said. "So the Shrieking Shack isn't haunted, is it?"
Remus shook his head smiling. "No, it's not," he said, "but it's a great cover story; for the older students and Hogsmeade, it's said that it's always been there, but no one has bothered to go look until last summer."
"I've heard there isn't an entrance," Peter said.
"The Whooping Willow," Sirius said. "There's a way to get in through there."
Remus nodded. "There is," he said. "Are there any more questions that you want to ask me?"
"Just one," Sirius said. "Do you have any idea who bit you?"
"I do," Remus said bitterly. "It was Fenrir Greyback. He has a reputation for biting defenseless children when there parents have a disagreement with him. My father had a disagreement with him."
"Well, we can't do anything about Greyback," James said as he closed the book he was reading. "That settles it then. We'll keep you company for when you have to go to the shack."
"You can't," Remus said, "I might bite you, and that's the whole reason for me doing this every month. Not to hurt anyone else or me."
James smiled and tossed the book Remus' way.
"The Advantages and Disadvantages of Being an Animagus," Remus read the title of the book. "What's this?"
"Exactly what it says," James said leaning against the tree. "Sirius, Peter, and I have decided to become Animaguses; though, we'll be breaking a major rule. All Animaguses have to be registered."
"Like we ever cared about rules before," Sirius commented.
"Why do you want to become an Animagus?" Remus replied.
"There's a chapter in that book," Sirius said referring to A Month with a Werewolf, "that Animagus when in Animagus form won't become werewolves, but they can get extremely hurt if not careful."
"And we plan to be very careful," Peter added.
Remus looked at James, Sirius, and Peter feeling astonished that his friends would do this for him. "Where do we start?" he asked.
(Headmaster's Office)
Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall along with Madam Promfrey sat together in the Headmaster's Office. "I can't believe you allowed Mr. Lupin to tell Mr. Potter and his friends," McGonagall replied.
"Now, Minerva," Dumbledore said. "He'll ground James and Sirius on the behavioral bits."
Promfrey sighed. "Remus would need to tell someone his own age, Minerva," she said. "Hopefully he doesn't go through chocolate as fast anymore."
"Peter will be more included into the group now with Remus there," Dumbledore replied. "Minerva, it'll be good for all of them."
"But I heard Mr. Potter got a book on Animagus from the library," McGonagall said.
"Aren't you covering that part in their year?" Promfrey asked her.
"That was a month ago," McGonagall replied. "I don't whether it would be a good thing or a bad thing at this point in time."
"Minerva," Dumbledore replied. "Only time will tell."