"Shh…Peter! Merlin, you're a rat! You're supposed to be quiet!"
Peter sniffed, glaring at James in offence. "Mice are supposed to be quiet. And besides, I'm not a rat right now."
"That's what you think," mumbled Sirius, earning a well-deserved slap across the face.
While Sirius groaned in pain and Peter silently fumed, James observed the silky night sky. A cool breeze swept by them, sifting the clouds away, only to reveal a perfect orb of a moon.
"It's freezing," James murmured, zipping his jacket up all the way to the top. "Why is it always freezing on full moons?"
Sirius scowled. "They're out to punish us."
Peter snorted. James raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
"The evil ShiKi gods," elaborated Sirius. Peter sighed, and James burst out in laughter. "Wha – why is it that no one ever takes me seriously?"
"I take you seriously, Sirius," said Peter, giggling to himself over his pun. His fellows were less amused.
Sirius narrowed his eyes. "Time to become one with nature, my friends." They shared glances, and silently counted down from ten together. Sirius first changed, into a lean black dog, followed quickly after by James turning into a stag, and Peter changing into a rat.
After first exchanging meaningful looks with one another, they started forward, Peter in the lead. The small rat quickly dodged the Whomping Willows lengthy limbs, and pressed the button with ease, freezing the tree in its place.
They quickly assembled together in front of the entrance, sliding in one by one. As soon as James had regained his balance at the end, they started down towards where they knew Remus would eventually be held.
As always, by the time they had reached the top of the staircase they could hear the werewolves' lonely howls. Quickly, they ventured towards the room, Peter jumping up on top of James and unlocking the door, as always.
Sirius was the first one in, immediately running over to the uneasy figure in the corner. Sirius was almost five feet away when Remus suddenly jumped to his feet, and jumped on the approaching dog. They tackled playfully, joined quickly by James and Peter.
Remus quickly fell out of the pile, his eyes wild and inhumane. He charged at his friends again, swiping them hard out of his way, and against the wall.
Even in his unaware state, the werewolf could tell James was bleeding; he had caught the brunt of it. While he held back, the dog launched at him, catching Remus off guard and hitting him to the ground.
One of the werewolf's few emotions surfaced, and the werewolf quickly got to his feet. Anger pounded at his temples, clouding his vision, and strengthening his force. He ran Sirius, throwing him to the ground, and forcefully began scraping at his fur. The dog whimpered, and James suddenly threw Remus off him. The werewolf was now pinned against the floor, and he growled loudly, scraping and biting at James, trying to get up.
The stag looked at his fellows, and they quickly gathered around Lupin, preventing him from getting up. This only enraging the werewolf more. He was angry. He needed to hurt them. Finally, he successfully swatted at James' face, and with satisfaction watched him bleed, trickles of it falling onto his own fur. Sirius growled, and suddenly swiped at Lupin's face, so hard the werewolf began to fall out of consciousness…
The werewolf's dreams were always the same. They would start out with flashes of bright colors, mostly gold and red…then he would start to hear voices. The voices always began with low, familiar ones…the ones of Sirius, Peter and James. These voices he found comforting. But always, always, his dreams would change. Those familiar voices would morph into a newer, higher, more feminine one. It was one that he did not recognize. He could smell the voice, too. It smelt of flowers and of dark chocolate – his favorite. Whenever she spoke, he would see images of pink and purple, alternating quickly before his eyes. And sometimes, if he was very lucky, he would even she a face…a very delicate one, one with dark, curious eyes, and a heart-shaped frame, with large, always moving lips. She would speak to him by name, but he was sure he had never met her.
"Remus Lupin…"Remus jolted awake, his eyes wide and his body aching. Groaning, he lay back down, rapidly regretting his quick movements. The morning after was never pleasant.
Stretching slightly, he glanced around his murky room, the sad, grey atmosphere giving him yet another reason why he should become clinically depressed.
Shaking his head sadly, he carefully got up, wincing at the sound of his cracking bones. With the ultimate ease, he went into the bathroom, stationing himself in front of the cracked mirror. He stared at his lonely reflection, looking mournfully at the many grey hairs scattered amongst his mousy brown. He had dreamed he was so much younger…
Quickly, he dressed and brushed his teeth, then slowly began down the stairs, remembering that Sirius had said the Order would be coming bright and early this morning.
Sighing, he pressed open the kitchen door, only to find two lone occupants sitting around the kitchen table.
"Hullo, mate," mumbled Sirius while taking a long sip of coffee. Quickly putting it down, he examined his friend. "All right?"
"I'm fine," replied Remus absently, as his eyes were on the other occupant in the kitchen.
Sitting opposite Sirius was a young woman, with deep eyes, bright pink hair and a huge grin to match. Remus blinked, and hastily looked away, realizing he had been staring.
"Oh, that's Nymphadora," drawled Sirius, rolling his eyes. Nymphadora scowled and punched him hard in the arm. "Oof! Bloody woman!"
"Sod off, Sirius!" she snapped back, and Remus' heart did a flip-flop, confirming what he already knew. She turned back to Remus, and smiled warmly. "Hi. Sorry. As my cousin so rudely decided to ignore, I prefer to go by my surname. Tonks."
"Cousin?" blabbed Remus dimly. Blushing slightly, he started again. "Er – sorry. I'm Remus Lupin. Pleased to meet you."
Tonks quickly got up and started towards him, hand outstretched. "Nice to meet yo-oh!" She unexpectedly lost her balance, and toppled into Remus. Always alert, he quickly caught her, securing her balance by slipping his arm around her waist. Their eyes met for the first time, and Remus could barely believe he was actually looking into those eyes…
Sirius, always the nuisance, broke the silence with an unnecessary wolf whistle.
"Sirius, seriously. Grow up." Tonks stuck her tongue out at her cousin, and he rolled his eyes. Turning back to Remus, she blushed. "Er – sorry about that. Anyways. Nice to meet you." She extended her hand once more, and Remus firmly took it. He wasn't sure if it applied to her as well, but as soon as their hands met, he felt an untimely chill run through his spine. Her eyes shot up to his, their deep oceans of blue calculating him.
"Remus Lupin," she murmured. "I'm sure we'll be fast friends."
Remus, for the first time in a while, felt himself genuinely smile. "I'm sure we will, Nymphadora."