Chapter One
The Incident
It's quiet. He isn't used to quiet. Alone. He doesn't like to be alone. Action, movement, that's what he craves. Claws sinking into delicate skin, teeth snipping the ends of that soft fur, tempting him, making him want more. So close. So, so close. That smell. That sweet, delicious smell. He wants it. He needs it. He will get it if it's the last thing he does.
It's not quiet anymore.
-x-
Finally, it was over. The sun was up, the birds were singing cheerily, and life goes on for another month before he was stuck back here in this dark, disgusting, hell of a room. These were the thoughts running through Remus Lupin's groggy mind as he woke up from yet another full moon. Remus was a werewolf, has been for most of his life. A werewolf called Fenrir Greyback bit him as a child. To this day he still couldn't figure out why. Maybe his parents upset the wrong people, or maybe he was just bored. Remus hated the vicious stereotypes his kind had to contend with, but unfortunately, all lies stem from a grain of truth and Greyback was one of those grains. Remus didn't understand it. If he ever forced someone into this life — he'd rather die.
Remus slowly began to stand his mind was gradually coming back to him. The higher the sun rose in the sky, the more human he began to feel. He stretched his back into an upright position listening to the cracks his bones made as they realigned. As he continued through his morning-after routine, the feeling that something was very very wrong arose in his mind. Thinking it was only his paranoia poking out its ugly head once again, he pushed it to the back of his mind. It wasn't until he was halfway through the underground tunnel connecting the shrieking shack, his home away from home, and the Whomping willow at Hogwarts that it hit him: He wasn't injured.
As a child, Remus, having nothing else to amuse him, bloodthirsty werewolf mind, would resort to clawing at and even chewing his own flesh. His parents, and later Madam Pomfrey, would find him in his hole bloody and broken, sometimes barely alive. He became accustomed to finding new scars on his already patch-worked body each month.
Recently, that has begun to change, all thanks to his illegal animagi friends. Werewolves become instantly violent against humans, but are fine around animals. Calm even. His injuries instantly reduced in severity after his nightly visitations began. (Why no one thought to simply get him a pet he will never understand.) Maybe he'd just had a really good night. He'd had good nights and bad nights before Hogwarts, surely he can after. Yet, this explanation didn't quite satisfy him. This was different. Remus was more than just "not hurt", he felt energized. He felt like he could do anything. Something was definitely wrong here.
-x-
"Lily! Lily it's important!" said a voice from behind her. She recognized that voice, but gave no indication that she had heard it or the rapid footsteps accompanying it.
"Lily, I know you're still mad, but I need to talk to you."
"What is it, Snape?" Lily said, turning sharply to face her ex-best friend: Severus Snape. He was breathing hard, too tired and too determined to show the hurt he felt at hearing that name come from her lips.
"I found out what those Marauders do in the middle of the night — when they sneak out of the castle."
"Is that really what you call 'important'?" she scoffed and tried to walk away. However, Snape was too fast and grabbed her before she could get away.
"Yes, it is. I think you're in danger."
"What are you on about?" Lily asked nervously. She had a sinking feeling growing in her gut. "This isn't about Remus again is it?" He couldn't have figured it out could he? Granted it wasn't hidden very well, the evidence was all right there for anyone who cared to pay attention, and Severus always was an observant one. It's honestly only Lily's doing that he hasn't figured it out before; but still, it's been a whole five years! What suddenly tipped him off?
"I've been suspecting it for years, but I've never been about to find proof."
"And you still haven't. It isn't possible."
He continues as if not hear a word. "You've never believed me which, admittedly, put me off the idea for a bit seeing as how you knew him better than I, but I always knew. Think about it! No normal person gets sick that often, always having an excuse to get out of class, those violent outbursts, and have you ever seen that kid eat a piece of meat, Lily, it all adds up to one thing. Werewolf."
"That's insane, Sev," she said falling into the old argument. "Why on earth would there be a werewolf at Hogwarts?"
"Werewolves are wizards too, Lily," he said almost mockingly. In addition to trying to distract him from Remus's condition, she has also frequently argued against the popular stereotypes about those like him.
"That doesn't answer my question." Actually it did.
"Yes, it did."
"Fine, but think about this: If he really was a werewolf, don't you think someone would've found out by now?"
"They did find out. I found out."
"Someone other than you. C'mon Sev, you're not the only one smart enough to put the facts together."
"I'm not the only one who knows. The Marauders are in on it. All four of them."
"You do realize that you just called Potter and Black smart, right?"
"Do you realize that throughout this entire conversation you haven't even wondered how the Marauder's midnight escapades are involved in all this? You know what he is. Keep denying it to yourself, but somewhere in the back of my mind you know I'm right, and I'll prove it to you." He walked away, heading toward the dungeons. "Stay away from them, Lily," he said with his back faced to her.
-x-
She was floating. Her head felt light as a feather, but her body was an anchor pulling her back down. She was unprepared for the sudden crash landing back to earth. Sounds and lights attacking from all directions. And the pain. The pain was unbearable. It felt as if her shoulder was caught in a bear trap laced with a fiery poison coursing through her veins. It wasn't until she felt a comforting hand wrapped around her white fist that she realized that that horrible screeching, ear-splitting sound was coming from her own throat. She held on to that hand, focusing on something outside of the pain until Madam Pomfrey, or who she assumed was Madam Pomfrey as her eyes were closed, was able to force a potion past her unyielding jaw.
Finally, the pain subsided to a more bearable level. Breathing heavily, she opened her eyes to see she was indeed in the hospital wing. She lied in a bed surrounded by a thick, white curtain. The room smelled of potions and had the same sterile feel to it that every hospital had magical or no. She continued to survey her surroundings, eventually noticing the hand that kept her sane. The hand that her right hand was still squeezing the life out of. The hand that belonged to a very tired and very worried looking James Potter.
"How are you feeling?" He asked when he noticed her look at him. It was the most serious she's ever seen him. It was scary actually, to see the usual goofy grin and joyous air replaced with this stone faced man. His stare was so intense. It was as if the existence of the entire world depended on her answer. An answer she didn't have.
"What happened?" she asked instead. She remembered being outside trying to find Severus, but the rest was a jumbled up mess.
"You don't remember?" There was a pause.
"Where's Remus?"
-x-
Remus made it all the way to the hospital wing by himself which was a first. Every month he'd try, but he'd never got farther than the front door, and that was a good day. He even contemplated skipping the hospital wing entirely, it wasn't like he needed any treatment, but then Madam Pomfrey would be in a frenzy looking for him. In the end, he decided to make his way upstairs, let her know he was fine, and head to his dormitory to enjoy a nice lie in before breakfast.
All thoughts of relaxation were erased from his mind, however, when he took in the scene that was the hospital wing. This was why Madam Pomfrey never came down to get him. She was busily running around like a mad woman grabbing potions and casting spells. He walked around the corner to get a better view of the subject of all the commotion and he froze. There was blood everywhere. Madam Pomfrey worked, in her clinical and robotic manor, quickly trying to seal the large gashes running all the way down her patient's arm, but that wasn't the worst of it, not to Remus's experienced eyes. Higher up on the arm, right over the shoulder, was the unmistakable mark of a werewolf bite.
His heart stopped, he couldn't breath, he didn't have to. His worst fear finally came true. Maybe his body realized what a monster it truly was. Maybe he deserved to suffocate.
"Remus?" said a quiet voice to his left. It was James. He had his hands outstretched slightly and walked slowly like a tamer approaching his beast. Because that's what he was after all. They all fooled themselves into believing that Remus could be normal, that werewolves were people too, and Remus let them. He let them fall into his trap. The stereotypes and textbooks were right. He was nothing but a dangerous beast that needs to be 'taken care of', and now they all know the truth. "Remus, talk to me."
He turned around and was gone in a snap. He didn't know where he was going. He just knew he had to leave before he could hurt anyone else. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't realize anyone was following him until he was on the floor, staring up into the face of the one who now hated him most.
"Remus, it's not your fault! Remus, listen to me!" he said, but he wouldn't; he couldn't, and James would understand that very soon.
-x-
"You did what?" James asked incredulously. He was sure he had to have heard wrong; temporarily gone insane, been possessed by a demon, anything would make more sense than what he thought just came out of his best friend's mouth. Sirius may do some dumb things, but he wasn't an idiot.
"I told Snivellus to meet me at the Shrieking Shack for a duel." Sirius said with a laugh.
"On the full moon?" James said loudly. "How could you be such an idiot?" Everyone's wrong once in a while.
"Relax, he won't even get past the Whomping Willow. I bet we find him passed out in the grass.
"Before Sirius was even able to finish, James was racing through the portrait hole, his invisibility cloak and map lay on his bed, forgotten.
He told him about the entrance through the Whomping Willow? Why? Why? Why? How could that ever seem like a good idea. In what universe would Snape knowing about the Shrieking Shack be a good thing?
When he arrived on the grounds of Hogwarts, seemingly a forever later, he did in fact find Snape outside the Whomping Willow. However, he wasn't alone. standing just feet away was a werewolf abou twice his size. Apparently, he made it all the way down the tunnel and left door open for Remus to follow. James immediately changed into his animagus form, a great majestic stag, and charged the werewolf antlers first. He'd have to remember to apologize for that later.
While calm and docile in the company of his animal friends, when a human was within smelling distance, Remus was impossible to control. He just hoped Snape was smart enough to run. He couldn't hold Remus off much longer.
Remus slashed at James's leg making him fall. He was about to strike again when unexpected help arrived in the form of a werewolf's howl. It came from the far end of the grounds. Remus's head shot up and he instantly followed the sound. James relaxed a second before becoming human again and turning around to see Snape hiding in some bushes. It just wasn't his day. He got up to help Snape back to the castle when he heard a loud, high pitched scream.
-x-
Lily never realized how dark it got on the Hogwarts grounds at night. Of course, she was never sneaking around trying to stop her ex-best friend who was 90% black from getting killed by her other friend, a werewolf. She didn't want to draw attention to herself in case anyone, or anything, else was out here so she headed as quickly and quietly as she could towards the Whomping Willow, hoping she'd catch him on the way.
She heard a growl and quickly hid. As she continued listening, she decided it was more of a snarl than a growl. Not that it really mattered. It sounded like two animals fighting. Slowly, she crawled forward to see what was happening. She seen Remus, at least she assumed it was Remus, fighting with a large stag with huge antlers. She gasped as a paw swiped at the stag's face drawing blood. She wanted to do something, but didn't know what. Any animal would hold up much better against an angry werewolf than she wouldn't it? She'd only get herself killed if she intervened. And if that stag was who she thought he was, she'd only be a distraction. She heard a disgusting crack and watched the stag fall to the ground, it's leg a bloody mess.
At that moment, a movement caught her eye, and Remus's too. It was Snape hiding near by, preparing to make a run for it. With it's target once again in it's sight, the werewolf raised a paw to
finish off it's current opponent in order to chase down it's real prize.
Without thinking, she took a deep breath, cupped her hands around her mouth, and gave her best werewolf howl. She remembered from Defense Against the Dark Arts that werewolves were attracted to the howl of their own kind. Unfortunately it worked and now Remus was coming for her.
She ran like death itself was chasing her. She didn't know where, she didn't know why as she was no match for a werewolf's speed, but it was the only plan she had. She ran faster and harder to know avail. She could hear the werewolf gaining on her. She rand and skid to a stop, almost running off the end of a cliff. It was tall, probably 200 foot drop at least
What happened next, Lily would never be able to explain, even to herself. Remus, running at a much faster pace, wasn't able to stop. As he went flying off the edge, she reached out to grab his paw. Claws out, he dug into her arm, the only thing keeping him alive, not that the werewolf cared at the moment. He wanted it and he had it. He climbed up the rock, onto the ledge, and bit into her bare shoulder, almost hitting her neck, extracting a bone-chilling scream.