Title: Companions In The Night
Author: RoboTitaness (fr0st6yte)
Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters: Remus Lupin, Minerva McGonagall, James Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, Poppy Pomfrey (Mentioned)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Friendship
Summary: When Remus Lupin was fifteen, a stag, a dog, and a rat joined him in the shack. What none of them knew is that before the three animals came to be, Remus Lupin was joined by another animal: a cat.
A/N: Based on this Tumblr post: marauders4evr dot tumblr dot com /post/148028825237/when-remus-lupin-was-fifteen-a-stag-a-dog-and-a
Even as it set, the moon shone bright, but only slivers made it through the dirt-ridden windows, landing on the crumpled heap shaking on the wooden floor. It illuminated the scars crisscrossing the bare body, with a strange focus on the warped arm, making the white bone look grotesque. Very soon, the silver had been replaced by red and gold, as the sun rose above the horizon, ending the nightmare of a night.
A cat watched all this happen, curled up next to the body, where it had stationed itself as soon as the transformation was complete. It had watched as the wolf had howled, and the boy at bit his lip in an effort to keep his own screams in. It had watched as, earlier, the wolf clawed at itself. It had watched as the wolf had studied its new environment, angry at not finding a way out. It had watched as boy had given way to the wolf, the pain of changing normal for the eleven year old. It had watched as the boy sat silently, staring out the window, while waiting for the sun to set and the moon to come out.
It had only watched this time, but next time it acted.
The wolf had just stopped howling, and the cat crept forward, showing itself to the canine for the first time. The wolf, who had been throwing his head side to side, searching for human scent, had froze staring at the tabby, who stared back. Neither animal moved as the wolf started growling slightly. The cat continued staring, eyes unblinking. The wolf snorted before turning away, seemingly ignoring the cat to claw at itself. But even the mindless beast couldn't stop itself from glancing at the feline every so often.
The next morning, the boy woke to a feeling of confusion, but when he looked around and saw nothing, he brushed it off, focusing on his injuries.
And so it continued for a few months. Every full moon, a tabby would follow a wolf past a willow and through a tunnel and into a creaking shack. Every full moon, a tabby would watch as the wolf clawed and bit and gnawed itself and every full moon the feline would sit and watch, before coming forward and pressing against the body as the wolf turned into a shivering, tortured little boy.
The cat would go back to the castle, padding back to the office where she'd be a witch again, and sit down heavily at her desk, sighing, as she watched the sun rise and the school nurse go down to pick up the battered body.
The boy would be found in the infirmary later that day, sometimes unconscious, sometimes awake. Every morning, he'd awake to a confused haze, with fleeting memories of warm fur cuddled against him, but he would have no firm recollection or souvenir.
Other than the fewer injuries.
The boy walked into his dorm, kneading his head to try and ward off his growing headache. The last moon had been the worst it had been since he started Hogwarts over a year and half ago. The comforting presence he had felt ever since his first moon at the castle wasn't there and he woke up feeling disoriented and oddly disappointed. He hadn't realized that the wolf had gotten used to the warm being. He hadn't realized the wolf missed.
He was so distracted he didn't notice his roommates' silence or their awkward positions, on James' bed until it was too late.
"Remus? We… we need to talk."
The tabby noticed the next years were easier on the boy, and on the wolf. He was more relaxed, making the transformations easier. The teacher also noticed his friends' greater protectiveness, and felt some of her worry dissipate. He was still hurt after every moon, still suffering. And she continued going to the shack, and curling up against the bigger animal, and she still hurt watching the painful transformations, still suffered watching her brightest student suffer.
But if she didn't give Potter detention one night out of month, well… No one was going to call her out on it.
"You are all bloody idiots!" The boy stared at his three friends, who only smirked back. "You are not coming!"
"Told ya he'd try to stop us," James grinned at Sirius, holding out his hand. Sirius grumbled but placed three gold coins into his palm. Remus closed his eyes, sighing angrily.
"You aren't listening! The wolf is bloody dangerous, not a puppy. It will kill you."
"Mate, calm down," Sirius drawled, relaxing on his bed. "We've gotten this far - without needing your help, I wanna add - and we've got it all planned out. The wolf can't turn animals, you know."
"Remus, we're going to be careful, but we're going to do this. Animals are known to have a calming affect on the wolf. We're not going to sit back and let you maul yourself anymore."
The professor watched the boys jostle each other on the way to the hospital wing, though they were careful with James, who was helping Remus along. Fifth year boys, all of them, and she was going to start meeting with them to talk about their prospective careers. Her boy was already feeling low because of it, she knew, and his friends seem to have been trying to cheer him up.
Madam Pomfrey had told her, of course, of their request - to be the ones to drop and pick Remus up. Though they managed to convince her, she still demanded to go with them the first few times. Tonight would be their first outing together. The professor was curious as to to whether this experiment would help.
The tabby would follow them tonight, but never again. For she'd see how relaxed her wolf was before the moon rose and she'd realized that he was no longer the lonely boy she had watched during the first moon. Now he was a Marauder, one of four boys, who banded together no matter what. She wouldn't find out for over a decade that the three boys had the same plan that she did, not so long ago.
A/N:
Cross posted on ArchiveOfOurOwn (fr0st6yte)
My first Harry Potter fic! I saw this post on Tumblr and I had to write about it. Hopefully I did every character justice. Constructive criticism is always welcome!
Thanks for reading!
Find me on Tumblr: fr0st6yte