Title: Stalemate
Pairings: Sirius/Remus, unbidden Remus/Severus
Rating: T
Warnings: SLASH, language, violence, slightly mature content
Disclaimer: I do not own characters, settings, or ideas conceived by J.K. Rowling and associates. No copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: Half-breeds begin disappearing from Hogwarts. Some are never heard from again, while others are discovered dead. Remus begins having nightmares that have marked him as a soon-to-be victim. To make matters worse, he and Snape have been bonded together by mistake. And then there is Sirius, Remus's dark and brooding best friend, who is always so unpredictable and hard to read. Now, he must fight confusing emotions and the the information he has versus the information held against him in a terrifying stalemate.
Author's Note: If I manage to stick to my outline, this story should be roughly 10 chapters long. Please note that I am taking a few liberties, and that some of the elements of the story have been twisted to work for me, rather than follow the books to the letter. Reviews are always welcome and appreciated. Enjoy!
Chapter One — The Unpredicted
"I don't understand why she won't even give me a shot," James muttered, sinking down into his chair.
Remus's face darkened, but he didn't lift his eyes from his book to see who she referred to. "Maybe she'd be more willing to if you asked her nicely, for once."
"Prongs, capable of being nice?" Sirius scoffed, laying a hand heavily on Remus's shoulder. "Are you sure you're still feeling alright?"
The weight of his hand suddenly increased drastically. With a loud pop, the conversation in the room faded into a background buzz, before snapping back to its usual din like an elastic band. Remus blinked as his vision slid in and out of focus.
After a moment's hesitation, he answered, "I'm fine, stop worrying about me." They didn't need to know about his disorientation. As per usual, they were aware of what tonight would bring, and didn't need anything else on their minds.
"No need to get defensive, I was just wondering," Sirius chuckled, squeezing Remus's shoulder and sauntering over to the empty chair.
James cocked his head to the side. "She keeps sending me these glances. Bloody hell, why do girls have to be so confusing?"
Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Don't read into people like that. You'll find out all sorts of things you don't really wanna know."
An awkward silence descended upon the four. Remus busied himself by immersing himself in his reading, although the words weren't registering in his mind. He was too busy trying to ignore the sickening feeling growing in his stomach, the way his skin itched, and how his pulse slowly increased. He felt his forehead with the back of his hand. A general lack of movement or noise had descended upon the common room. Even the fire had calmed into glowing embers.
James began his analysis of Lily again after a moment's pause, eventually turning it into bickering with Sirius. At the foot of the chair, Peter lay in a cat-curl, and it wasn't clear whether he was awake, much less paying them any attention.
Remus was in the state between consciousness and sleep when an internal clock inside of him practically kicked his gut. All thoughts of sleep disappeared, and he sat up so rigidly that the book fell from his lap onto the floor. Immediately, Sirius's eyes narrowed. With a nod from Remus, he shook James awake, sent a kick in Peter's direction, and abruptly stood up.
They jostled their way up the steps to the dormitory, making sure that anyone still awake would hear them joking. As soon as they entered their dorm, all antics disappeared as all faces turned grim. James tugged his cloak out from the bottom of his trunk, yanked Remus's wand away from the wizard, and set it on the bedside table with a serious "you'll get this back later" frown on his face.
As they approached the Whomping Willow, Remus ran a hand through his hair nervously. Every month, he couldn't quite dispel the feeling that something was going to go wrong; the other Marauders wouldn't be able to control him and he would end up hurting someone. James reassured him, like he did every month, that one wimpy werewolf was hardly a match for them, they had checked the map right before leaving the dormitory, and there was no way anyone could get hurt.
A shiver next to him, and the stout figure of Peter Pettigrew disappeared. Remus squinted and grinned despite himself when the Willow went completely rigid. He crawled through the opening and began the trek down the long tunnel, increasingly aware of what would happen when he reached the end.
Too caught up with the clock ticking fast inside of him, Remus didn't notice James and Sirius drop behind him, nor their whispered conversation.
"You check the map?"
"Yeah, and he just left the Common Room."
The hairs on Sirius's arm seemed to explode from his skin as he shrank into his robes. A sharp pain momentarily struck him from behind; he blinked, and the world suddenly changed. Where everything had been dark and shadowy, there was now an intense definition and distinction between the different shades of gray. Smells assaulted his nose, faint sounds were picked up by his ears, and Sirius gave a content keen. He picked up his robes in his mouth and shuffled them over to under the table in the Shrieking Shack. A chuckle brushed his mind and Sirius perked an ear, sending a question back. James tossed his head, antlers contrasting against faint light that seeped through the boarded-up window. Apparently Sirius 'couldn't have looked funnier' tripping over the robes.
A rat scuttled near Sirius's paw, and he lowered his snout to nose it.
Watch it, Peter's watery voice grumbled in his mind. Sirius snorted, making the rat tremble.
"Right then," Remus sighed as he pulled his robes over his head and laid them regretfully on the table. "It's starting."
Sirius averted his eyes while Remus slouched towards a niche in the wall. After watching him change the first time, the Marauders had decided it was best for everyone if no one watched him undergo the transformation. Sadness trickled through Sirius's mind as the yelps and agonized keens rippled across the air. His skin prickled as they faded into harsh breathing. It was sad that Remus went through so much pain and had no control over himself, and he was just a kid, really. It wasn't fair at all. At the same time, though, the thought of how many rules they were breaking when they snuck out of the castle was always a small consolation.
James tossed his head as the grunting ceased, and Remus trampled back into the room.
He was beautiful, in a terrifying sort of way.
Why are we standing around? Let's get out of here.
Sirius barked in agreement. Remus was always so much less rational on these nights, and so much more fun to be around.
Once outside the Willow, Sirius sidled to James's side. Where is he?
The stag narrowed his eyes and pawed at the ground. I told him to be here by now. Slimy bastard must've gotten distracted by something shiny.
Sirius snorted and scratched his ear. Damn fleas always seemed to find him the moment he had fur. Or did they live in some sort of oblivion, only being pulled into the real world whenever he transformed? He snuffled curiously and decided to drop the confusing topic.
From behind, Remus howled softly and ran in a circle, chasing the stump that was his tail. The werewolf was beginning to grow restless, and that tension seeped into Sirius's mind. If he could only hold on a few moments longer, then he would have the most fun he'd ever had with his "furry little problem".
Sirius's ears darted to attention at the faintest sounds of footsteps registered in his mind. They stuttered for a moment, and picked up after a muttered curse. As they got closer, Sirius could start to make out the words.
"...Can't see anything, prats think it's funny to make me come out in the dark... wouldn't even tell me why... idiots."
Remus's back straightened, and his eyes strained in the dark. Is that... a person?
If Sirius had been watching closely, he would have seen the werewolf's pupils dilate drastically, before reducing to slits.
Sure is Remus, and not just any person.
With a howl that could shatter the moon, Remus launched himself towards the person, foam dripping from his mouth, the Marauders close behind.
Snape stumbled backwards with a nervous yelp. His feet caught and tangled in his robes. With a loud oof, he hit the ground.
In six seconds, the werewolf was upon him, snout thrust into his face. After a moment's thought, Remus lifted one heavy paw and slashed across Snape's chest. Even as he ran closer, Sirius could hear the git's scream. If they were lucky, everyone in the castle could, too.
Prongs, do something! Sirius ordered, skidding to a halt a few feet away. He isn't human enough to hear us anymore.
James launched himself at Remus and hooked the werewolf with his antlers. Both animals screamed as they fell to the ground and rolled. Remus swiped at James and scratched his flanks. Writhing away from him, James lodged his antlers into the tender skin at the base of the neck. Sirius leaped and clamped his jaws onto Remus's leg. The skin was tough and leathery, but as soon as his teeth had pierced the outer layer, it practically sunk into his mouth.
With a roar, they were both thrown off Remus. Sirius hit the ground and panted, trying to blink the stars from his eyes. After a quick inspection, he decided nothing was permanently damaged, but that he should get a few of his ribs checked out at the Hospital Wing.
Snivellus. James's thought was weak, barely loud enough for Sirius to hear. With a groan, he heaved himself off the ground and limped towards the sprawled body. He couldn't worry about Remus now. The guy had been through worse.
Snape gasped in shallow mouthfuls of air. His face glowed a sickly light in the moonlight, and despite the dark, Sirius could see dark liquid oozing from the huge slashes on his chest. James had probably saved the git's life. One more swipe, and Remus would have gouged out Snape's heart.
"Get. Get away. From me," Snape wheezed, hunkering into himself and swatting at Sirius's nose.
Would it be so wrong just to leave him here to die? He would definitely regret this later.
Wormtail, find Remus. Get him here as soon as possible. The rat scurried somewhere in the grass, after sending a confused 'ok' back.
Sirius gritted his teeth. It looked like he'd actually have to touch Snape. That was just so high up on the list of things he wanted to do.
"I got him," Peter called, stomping his shoe on his foot and tugging Remus behind, who howled angrily but didn't try to escape.
Look who bailed on us, Sirius snickered, which came out more like a cough. Remus, can you hear me now?
Yes. It came out as a whisper, but unlike James, it was quiet out of shame rather than pain.
Sirius gave a sigh of relief that their friend was back in his right mind. Good. You're going to have to lick his wounds to stop him from bleeding out. Don't give me that look, he warned. You shouldn't have hurt him in the first place.
With a cough, Remus grudgingly lowered his head towards Snape. The Slytherin had lost consciousness by now. Remus licked at the wounds, grumbling in his throat as the blood made contact with his tongue. After going over every inch of the cuts, he lifted his head. For a moment, it looked like he was counting the stars, before he abruptly fell to the ground. Golden light fizzed and sparkled around the werewolf and Snape. It climaxed and exploded with a blinding red burst.
Another pop, and Remus was fully human again, even though the full moon was still fully exposed in the sky. He lay, shivering and naked, near the foot of Snape, who jerked, and opened his eyes with a start. He glanced at Remus, Peter, the Animagi looking down at him, and finally his chest. Snape uttered something unintelligent and promptly fainted.
Confusion swamped Sirius. After changing back into a human, he Accio'ed Remus's cloak. James changed as well, took it with shaking hands, (four of his ribs were broken, along with a nasty cut running down his side but was otherwise alright) and laid it over Remus.
"What just happened?" Sirius raised an eyebrow and nodded towards Remus and Snape.
After a moment's pause, James answered, "Not sure. Nothing is supposed to change Remus back before his time is up. You saw the light too, huh?"
"Looks like there's gonna be a lot of crap tomorrow."
"Nice prank, Padfoot."
Remus rolled over, barely on the verge of consciousness. A thin silver scar glowed and pulsed above his heart, a scar that hadn't been there moments before. It was trying to tell him something, to pull him somewhere. An identical one throbbed on Snape's chest, not visible through his clothing.
Remus twitched before blacking out completely.
The events that night had been tiring. So tiring that not one of them noticed the dark mist that had begun to creep from the very edges of the horizon.
Things were about to get much, much worse.