For the Life of Lupin!
Chapter One: Home At Last
It was a gloomy day at Kings Cross train station in London, England. The sky was a dark gray and every so often there would be a downpour of rain. The train station was busy this Sunday morning due to the fact that Students were being sent off to boarding schools all over the country.
Eleven year old Remus Lupin sat on a cold bench, {which he had slept on that night}. He rubbed his eyes and looked up at the big clock between platforms eight and nine. It was twenty minutes till eleven o'clock. Remus let out a sigh as he sat on the cold bench. He watched students and their families move about, rushing from platforms to platform. When a train rolled in on track 9, and then one on track 10, Remus decided to go wait on the platform that his train would be arriving on. He grabbed his trunk and when he double checked to see that no one was watching, he made a run for it, running head on towards the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. Instead of crashing into it, he went straight through the barrier. He was now on platforms 9 and 3/4, where he would be boarding the Hogwarts Express.
Remus wasn't an ordinary boy. He was a wizard who had grown up in an orphanage for the past 5 years of his life. He never liked to talk about his family. Whenever anybody asked what happened to his family, he would tell them they died in a tragic house fire while he was at school. Remus had shaggy dirty blonde hair. He was a bit on the scrawny side, with big brown eyes.
He
was off to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He couldn't
wait! He was so excited when he got his Hogwarts letter, stating that
he would be attending. The manager of the wizards' orphanage he
lived in, bought him his books.
Remus had an afternoon job
with the ice cream shop down the street. Three weekends a month he
would help clean the place for a sickle an hour. So with that money
he had bought his own parchment and quills. He had some left over
which he put in his bank account at Gringotts.
As Remus stood on the platform, the Hogwarts Express pulled in. When it stopped, he went ahead and boarded the train. He found a compartment (most all were still empty) towards the back and tried to throw his trunk on the shelf.
"Watch your head there!" called a voice behind him. "Let me help." Someone pushed the trunk onto the shelf. Remus turned around and saw that the friendly voice came from a tall boy with flaming red hair.
"uh-uhm thanks" Remus stammered.
The boy flashed a smile and said, "No problem! Arthur Weasley. 7th year, Head Boy! Nice to meet you!"
Remus shook Arthur's extended hand and replied, "Remus Lupin. I guess you've already figured I'm a first year?"
"That's
alright, you'll be leaving Hogwarts in no time!" He smiled at
Remus again, and then looked up the trains corridor. "Oy Molly!"
he shouted. Then he turned back to Remus and said, "Hope to see
you in Gryffindor! Goodbye!" He left and stumbled through the
corridor yelling out for Molly, who also had flaming red hair,
falling down to her waist in many curls.
Remus backed up into the
compartment and plopped down.
A girl with straight red hair, falling to her shoulders peered in. "Hello, may I sit with you? I don't know anybody. I'm a first year." Remus couldn't find his voice, but motioned for her to sit down. She forced her trunk onto the shelf, with little struggle. "I'm Lily. Lily Evans." she held out her hand. Remus shook it, and felt a warm fuzzy feeling inside.
"Remus Lupin," he finally said, while looking into her eyes. She had pretty green eyes. The prettiest he'd ever seen in his life. "First year as well."
"I'm so
excited! I can't wait for classes! I'm muggle-born, so I'm nervous
about all this. Are you pureblood? I think my sister was a little
jealous about me being a witch. She doesn't have any of the signs.
Mum and Dad are proud of me though! do you have any siblings?"
Lily finally stopped for a breath.
Remus answered. "Um.. I'm
halfblood, though both my parents--were--magic. My mum was
muggle-born, but my father had a long wizarding line. No siblings.
Unless you count all the ones in the orphanage."
"Really? I'm so sorry." Lily gasped. Remus told her a story of a house fire killing his parents. When he finished, a scrawny boy with glasses and messy hair appeared at the door of their compartment.
"Hello! Can I sit with you guys? compartments are filling up fast!" asked the boy, as he ruffled his hair.
Remus nodded, and Lily said "Sure!"
"Great!" he beamed. "Thanks! Oy! Black! I found some seats!" Another boy, with black hair came around the corner. He was taller than the scrawny boy, and his hair was chin length, and a little neater. They put their trunks onto the shelf as well, without any struggle at all, The boy with the messy hair and glasses sat down next to Lily, and the boy called Black, took the seat across from him, next to Remus.
"James Potter,"
the boy next to Lily said, as he ruffled his hair.
"Sirius
Black," said the boy next to Remus.
After Lily and Remus
introduced themselves, conversations arose quite easily. Sirius
talked about how he hoped he wasn't in Slytherin, though he was bound
to be because of his family history. James hoped he was in
Gryffindor, like his parents. Lily went on about how she wouldn't
mind Ravenclaw, but hoped for Gryffindor as well. Remus didn't know
what house he wanted to be in, but opted to say "Gryffindor"
when he was asked by James.
A boy, who Remus thought, resembled a
rat, wandered down the corridor. Another boy with greasy black hair,
pushed the rat boy into the door of compartment that Remus and the
group were in. James stood up, opened the door, grabbed the little
boy by his shirt and pulled him in.
"Idiot!"
he shouted out at the boy with greasy black hair.
The greasy hair
boy turned around and faced James. "Did you call me an idiot?"
"No," James replied sarcastically. "I was calling
the tree out there an idiot" I pointed out towards the window.
"Wise guy, eh?" the greasy boy said in an attempt to
insult James.
"Ooo. Greasy boy smart! He's learned early I'm
almighty and wise." Remus and Sirius laughed. Lily gave a look
of disgust. The rat boy squeaked. "What's your name, Greasy?"
"Snape. Severus Snape. Don't call me greasy!"
Sirius stood up, and
peered over James's shoulder.
'Well Greasy, I'm Sirius Black.
This is James Potter." He reached in his pocket and took out
his wand. After a death stare competition, Snape turned to go back to
his compartment. Just then, with a giant jerk, the train started.
Snape fell backwards onto the floor. James and Sirius laughed
hysterically. Remus got up to see what was so funny. He started
laughing too.
Snape quickly got up, giving another stumble, and said "You think you're so funny! I'll get you when you least expect it!" The three let out another burst of laughter.
As Snape walked down the corridor to his compartment, Sirius muttered "Petrificus Totalus!"
Snape's arms and legs snapped together. "Good Work Sirius! Body bind charm!" shouted James. "I would have done the engorgement charm to his head!" Sirius blew imaginary smoke from the tip of his wand.
Lily jumped out of her seat, shoved through the boys, and performed the counter curse. "You guys are absolutely moronic!" She bent down to help Snape up.
"I don't need
your help you filthy mudblood" He shoved Lily off, and stormed
into his compartment.
The train ride to Hogwarts was so much fun.
Remus never had any true friends. James, Sirius, and Peter (the rat
boy) all seemed so nice. Lily, was nice, but she didn't much like
James's and Sirius's behavior. ("It was nice you stuck up for
peter but to body bind that poor boy!"). Remus and the others
were quickly becoming great friends.
When it started to get dark, Lily told them they best change into their robes. They should be arriving soon. When the train stopped, they made their way off the train.
A loud booming voice, shouted "Firs' years! Over here! Firs' years!" Lily went off with two first year girls who, according to Remus, were awfully giggly. The four friends were joking around when Peter ran into a big mass of black robes. He looked up, terrified at what he just ran into.
"Whoa" exclaimed Remus
"Bloody Hell!" exclaimed James.
"Cool!" Exclaimed Sirius. Peter just squeaked in terror.
"Oh! Watch it
there. 'ello. I'm the Gamekeeper 'ere at Hogwarts. Rubeus Hagrid. But
you lads can just call be Hagrid."
"James Potter,"
James said with a swallow. "And this is Sirius Black, Remus
Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew."
"Well, Welcome to
Hogwarts, All first years here? Right, then follow me. Come on,
quickly now." Hagrid was a big guy. A really, really, big guy.
Peter reckoned he had to be 11 feet tall, but Sirius, told him to get
real, it was only because Peter was short. Hagrid had to be at least
8 feet tall. He had a head full of black tangly hair and his face was
buried under a matching black, tangly beard.
As they walked, they talked, even more. The excitement of school, learning magic, and Quidditch began to bubble inside of Remus. They reached a bank of a lake, with a lot of little boats. Hagrid instructed them all to get in (four people to a boat). Hagrid lead the pack of boats around a bend spotted with trees, in a boat all to himself. All of a sudden, the sound of many students gasping filled the air. As they made the way around the bend, Remus saw the castle, high upon a hill. It was spectacular. Remus couldn't believe he was going to be living in there until the end of June, for seven years! This was going to be so much better than the orphanage. His life finally seemed to be looking up.
As they rowed up to
the shore, the students scampered out of the boats, and filed into a
line. They walked up the hill and there were moans of complaints from
among the students. They were all so hungry, cold, and not to
mention, sopping wet from the rain. Remus couldn't wait to see the
inside of the castle. He wondered what kind of food they would serve
them tonight. Whatever it was, it couldn't be worse than the food
they fed him at the orphanage.
Finally, after what seemed like an
hour, the big group of young first years, made it to the top of the
hill. They entered the castle by two big oak doors. To the left,
there was a staircase. They crawled up it, and Hagrid told them to
all wait there. A few minutes later, a tall, skinny witch came
through another pair of double doors, these were not as big as the
entrance to the castle. The witch had on green robes, and a black
pointed hat. Her hair pitch black, and a few wrinkles seemed to be
just appearing on her face. Remus thought she looked very strict. Her
lips were thin, and he hoped he never got in trouble with her.
"Welcome
to Hogwarts. I am Professor McGonagall, the transfiguration teacher."
She introduced herself. "In just a few moments, I will take you
through those double doors, and the Start of the Term Feast will
begin. Before the feast begins, you will be sorted into your houses.
Now There are four houses- Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and
Hufflepuff. Your house will be like your family to you throughout
year years at Hogwarts. You will take classes with your house, you
will sleep in your house dormitory, with your year, and while not in
class, you will hang out in your house common room with all the other
students of your house. " A few minutes later she said,
"Alright, the Great Hall is ready for you. Please follow me."
They walked into the Great Hall. Remus thought it was
definitely great. In the Great Hall, there were four long tables,
each seating students from different houses. In front of those, there
was another long table, which seated the staff. A roar of applause
came from all the students and staff. Professor McGonagall held a
dirty, torn, old hat, and explained each student would have to try
the hat on, and it would sort them into their houses. She set the hat
on the four-legged stool, and the large rip on the front opened. The
hat started to sing. Remus and the others all listened carefully.
After the song, Professor McGonagall said, "Now, when I
call your name, please come forward and take a seat at the stool.
When it calls out your house, you then proceed to your house's
table." She pulled out a roll of parchment and cleared her
throat, "Black, Sirius" Sirius jumped immediately, and ran
up to the stool. When he saw the hat, his eyes gave a look of fear.
When the hat was set upon his head, it took a few minutes before it
shouted out "GRYFFINDOR!!!" a look of relief fell on his
face. "Bubble, Joseph" was Hufflepuff, "Casper, Anita"
was Ravenclaw, "Crabbe., George" was Slytherin, Evans,
Lily" Gryffindor, "Farley, Drake," Ravenclaw, and
"Goyle, Barney" Slytherin.
Remus began to get
bored, but soon enough, Professor McGonagall called out "Lupin,
Remus." ( Suggestion: The staff members looked at Remus
curiously, as if evaluating him.)
Remus walked up to the
stool, and placed the hat on his head. It covered his eyes.
'hmm
yess..ahh...half blood, I see...you have many secrets you don't want
people to find out about, a little cunning but rarely, rule follower,
hmm, very brave, I see. Much courage. You're patient, and loyal, very
loyal and just, very smart indeed, you have characteristics for all
houses, but where to put you? No, I don't think Slytherin is for
you, and you've got too much courage for Hufflepuff. The best house
that will help you through your Hogwarts years, yes I know, I shall
put you in- GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted aloud.
The
Gryffindor table applauded, and Remus ran over and took a seat next
to Lily and Sirius. Next was "Nimbus, Natalie" Ravenclaw.
James and Peter also became Gryffindor. When all the first year's
were sorted, the wizard in the middle of the staff table stood up. He
had long, white, hair and an equally long and white beard. His
crooked nose held up half-moon glasses, and from what Remus could
see, his eyes seem to twinkle, even from far away. As he stood up,
the entire Great Hall went into a wild applause.
"Welcome!
Welcome to Hogwarts! A new term begins! Last year, as most of you
know, was my first year as headmaster, and I am pleased to continue
this position," he said, as another round of applause boomed.
"Now, without further ado," he said, looking around at each
table, "The Start of the Term Feast" and with wave of his
hands, the golden plates in front of Remus and his friends filled
with food.
There were chicken legs, chicken thighs, chicken
nuggets, pork chops, lamb chops, corn, peas, asparagus, mashed
potatoes, scalloped potatoes, baked potatoes, and even ham and
turkey. The goblets filled with pumpkin juice, and hot chocolate.
Remus felt like he was at a thanksgiving dinner with his family
again. As soon as he thought of his family, his appetite was gone.
"C'mon Remus! Aren't you going to eat?" James said
through a mouthful of lamb chops. "its delicious! Here, try this
ham!" He plopped a large portion of ham onto Remus's plate. "You
look scrawny, eat up!" James told him again.
"Yea!"
Said Sirius. "To hang out with us, you're going to need your
strength!" Sirius scooped a large helping of mashed potatoes on
Remus's plate and poured gravy over it making it look like a volcano.
"Strength to help you guys terrorize the castle, or stop
you from getting expelled?" Remus questioned, taking his fork
and mixing his mashed potatoes and gravy some.
James and
Sirius looked at each other, and with their mouths full of potatoes,
shouted together, "Both!"
Remus laughed. For the
first time in five years, he felt like he was home. This was his
home. This place, he had only visited in his dreams, these people he
was surrounded by, his new friends-real friends. He forgot all about
missing his family, and with a loud reminder from his stomach that
last time he ate was at the ice cream shop the night before, the
scent of all the food filled his senses and invited him to dig in.
And so he did. He out-ate James and Sirius added together. 3 pork
chops, 1 lamb chop, three heaping portions of mashed potatoes, a
baked potato, 4 scoops of creamed corn and 5 corn muffins later,
James and Sirius looked at Remus with amazement, spoons full of pie
in mid air, as Remus finished off his 6th helping of treacle fudge.
"What?" he asked.
Soon afterwards, The
Gryffindor table followed Arthur Weasley and the other prefects to
Gryffindor Tower, where the common room and dormitories were. They
came to a portrait of a plump witch in a poofy pink dress.
"The
password, "Arthur said, "Is grumble bug." As Arthur
said this, the portrait flung opened and revealed a hole in the wall.
He proceeded to climb threw it, as did some fifth and sixth years in
front of them. Remus and the other first years followed. Arthur and
the other prefects, gave the first years a tour of the tower. Remus
was too fascinated to pay attention. There was a big fireplace to the
right, with a huge fire blazing inside. The common room was mainly
red and gold, the Gryffindor colors. There were plenty of red cushy
chairs and couches scattered through out the room. There was a table
and two chairs against the wall, next to the spiral stairs that went
up to the dormitories. Opposite of the fireplace, on the left side of
the room, there was a long table, with a long couch against the wall,
and four chairs facing the couch.
A fifth year prefect showed the
first year boys their dormitory. Inside, there was 5 four-poster beds
with curtains around them; Two on one wall, with a window separating
them, two across from those, and 1 bed on the wall opposite of the
door. There trunks were already in the room. James and Sirius
exchanged glances, and before anyone could stop them, they took off
with force, screaming, and jumped on the two beds that had a window
between them. The prefect left, closing the door. Remus grabbed his
trunk and dragged it to the bed opposite of the door, next to James's
bed. Peter took the bed across from James, and Frank Longbottom, the
5th Gryffindor first year, took the remaining bed across from Sirius.
As James and Sirius conjured up a plan to get that Severus Snape
kid, Remus sat on his bed, thinking. Peter was sitting on Sirius's
bed, agreeing with everything they said. Frank was down in the common
room. The moonlight poured into the dormitory. Remus walked over to
the window between James and Sirius's beds and peered out into the
sky. A cloud uncovered the moon, and he saw it was 3 quarter' full.
It would be full next week.
"Oy Remus, what's so
interesting out there?" James asked, noticing how entranced
Remus looked.
Remus jumped, and turned around, facing the
other guys. "Oh, uhm nothing. The moon is almost full. I hate
full moons."
"Weirdo," Sirius said stuffing a
chocolate frog in his mouth, "Full moons are awesome. Unless
you're a werewolf of course!" The other laughed. Remus sat down
next to James, and grabbed a box of Berttie Botts every flavor beans.
"Yeah. Me- a werewolf. O-Owoo" he said
unenthusiastically.
Some several hours later, the only sounds
that could be heard in Gryffindor First years dormitory was Sirius's
heavy breathing and Peter's occasional snore outburst. Remus lay
awake, excited for the new day's events His first magic classes. He
was particularly interested in Defense Against the Dark Arts. The sun
started to rise, and since Remus was already awake, he decided to get
up and put his robes on. He rolled out of his bed, and walked over to
his trunk. he rubbed his eyes, hoping to wake up a little more so he
could see where he was stepping. Too late. He had tripped over
Sirius's trunk, stubbing his toe. He let out a loud yelp, and covered
his mouth hoping not to wake the other four boys, hopping around on
one foot. Next he tripped over Peter's shoe's that were scattered on
the floor, causing Remus to fall down and land on his back.
"Ohh...ouch..yea..that hurt.." he moaned.
At the
sound of the big thump, Sirius and James immediately bolted up,
Sirius shouting "But Mum it was James's idea!" James
threw a pillow at Sirius, and stumbled over to where Remus was laying
on the floor, in agonizing pain.
"Are you alright?" he
questioned Remus, "What happened?"
Remus helped himself
to sit up, and explained the scenario. Sirius was now kneeling on the
other side of Remus, clutching the pillow James had thrown at him. He
stood up, went over to Peter's bed who had just let out another
great snort, and smothered the pillow in his face. Peter let out a
great big squeak, waking up with a pillow in his face. Remus stood
up, and yanked the pillow way from Sirius, who was finding it quite
enjoyable to listen to Peter squeak like a little mouse.
"Leave
him be, Sirius." Remus said.
The four friends put their
robes on and headed down to the great hall for breakfast. As they
ate, Sirius talked about how much of a rat Peter sounded like when he
squeaked. Remus opted not to state his opinion that he looked like
one as well, then James stated it for him. Sirius talked about how he
had a rat once, but the house elf killed it.
"I hate
Kreacher I'm so glad I don't have to put up with him for 9 whole
months. I've always wanted a dog, but mum wouldn't get me one"
He went on, buttering a piece of toast, before stuffing it in his
mouth. "If I had a dog, I would name him Snuffles."
"Snuffles?" James laughed at him, piling bacon on
his plate.
"Why snuffles?" Remus asked with 3
pieces of bacon in his mouth.
"Because, Snuffles is...what
I would like to call my dog!" Sirius answered.
"I
think Snuffles is a nice name.," Peter said cheerfully.
Remus,
James, and Sirius looked at Peter, and his face turned a little pink.
Professor McGonagall came around the table, handing each student
their class schedules.
"Mr. Lupin, Professor Dumbledore
would like to see you before your first class. If you're done, he's
in his office right now, if you'd like to follow me." she said
James and Sirius let out a chorus of 'ooo! Remus is in
trouble!'.
Remus looked down at his plate, stuffed the last
piece of bacon in his mouth, and told the guys he'd see them in
Transfiguration. He swung his bag over his shoulder and followed
Professor McGonagall.
When they came into an office,
Professor McGonagall ushered Remus in front of a statue, and shouted
out 'Butter Beer' which made the statue twist up into a spiral
staircase, that would lead to Dumbledore's office.
Remus
walked into a circular room, filled with portraits of past
headmasters and headmistresses, snoozing. There were a few weird
silver instruments sitting on tables, some puffing a little put of
smoke and some clanking. There was a pretty red bird sitting on a
perch behind the desk. As Remus was examining the bird, Professor
Dumbledore appeared out of nowhere, startling Remus.
"Ah,
Mr. Lupin. I see you've found my bird. Fawkes is a phoenix. His tears
have healing powers. Rubeus Hagrid gave him to me for making
Headmaster. I was lucky it wasn't a baby dragon. My guess is one day,
he'll have a dragon. Anyway, Mr. Lupin. I'd like to talk to you about
your-condition." Remus gulped. His deepest secret nobody knew,
except Dumbledore. He wanted to keep it that way too. He knew this
was going to be hard to keep a secret. He was going to have to say he
was ill.
"The whomping willow tree has been planted.
When its time, just say 'immobilus' and it will stop thrashing long
enough for you to go through the secret passageway to a shack that's
in the wizard village."
Remus nodded, feeling a little sick
to his stomach. He hated his secret. He hoped no one would ever find
out. Especially his new friends he had just made. Dumbledore
dismissed him, and he made his way through potions.
Throughout
the next week, Remus had been studying hard to keep up his grades. It
meant the world to him that Dumbledore had accepted him into
Hogwarts. He had to work extra hard on his grades so he wont get
thrown out, and as for being mischievous, those days were over. If he
ever got expelled it would crush him, and he would feel horrible for
letting Dumbledore down, especially after all the hard work and
convincing he had done just for him.
During potions on Friday
afternoon, Remus had been brewing up a fairly bad stain-remover
potion. It was over-bubbling and the exact color of blue Professor
Jinkies said he didn't want to see.
"Remus, might I
suggest you follow the directions on the blackboard," he said
sourly, pointing. Remus's face turned red with embarrassment. Severus
Snape, greasy haired boy from the train, was to his right and doing
everything perfectly. He turned and smirked at Remus, silently
taunting him for his failure. Sirius, who was sitting on Remus's
left, had gotten up to go throw a piece of parchment away. James, who
was on the left of Sirius, was trying his best to stifle a laugh.
Just as Sirius was walking past Snape, he pretended to trip, and what
looked like a shiny green bouncy ball flew out of his hand. The green
ball flew up into the air and fell back down right into Snape's
cauldron, which was bubbling just right. The brew in the cauldron
started to fizz, and Snape stuck his rather large nose over the
turquoise steam now rising out of the cauldron. If the other people
in the class hadn't seen the catastrophe they would have thought that
he had been baking bread due to the aroma of the ruined potion. James
and Sirius were now bursting out with laughter.
Professor Jinkies
looked up from Frank Longbottom's yellow, sparking, potion and came
trotting over once he saw Snape's nose. It was now swelling like a
balloon.
"Oh my-Oh gracious-Merlin's beard! What
happened? What's your name lad?" Said Professor Jinkies, James
and Sirius laughing hard in the background. "Boys!" Professor
Jinkies yelled at them. "Be quiet!" He turned back to Snape, so
he could find out the answers to his questions.
"Sniverus
Snape" said Snape through his swollen nose. James and Sirius
started laughing even harder now. Professor Jinkies told Snape to go
to the hospital wing. James sputtered through bits of laughter
"Sneverus! Snivillus Snape!" Sirius almost blacked out by
squeezing his eyes closed so tight by laughing so hard.
"Boys!"
cried Professor Jinkies. "Detention!"
"Way to go" Remus
whispered when they took there seats and stirred their brewing
potion. "That was brilliant, but you guys still got detention."
"It was well worth it! Did you see the size of his nose?"
James chuckled.
On Monday, Remus walked down to the Great
Hall with Frank while the other three were still asleep.
"You
ok?" Frank asked. "You look kind of pale."
"Huh?" he
said, tripping over a step. "Oh I'm fine I just couldn't sleep
last night.
They entered the Great Hall took their seats at the
Gryffindor table. Frank sat next to Alice Green, but Remus sat in the
middle of the table, where he and the others usually ate. He didn't
eat much, just a piece of bacon , which he crumbled the half he
didn't eat into pieces onto his plate. The moon would be full
tonight. He hated it when the moon was full.
James and Sirius
entered the Great Hall, Peter straggling behind them. Sirius sat
directly across from Remus, and Peter sat on Sirius's right.
"There you are!" James said, taking the seat on his left. As
the others pigged out on bacon and oatmeal, Remus sat quietly, every
now and then taking a sip of his pumpkin juice.
"You
alright buddy?" Sirius asked when he noticed he wasn't eating a
thing.
"Huh? Oh Yea, I just ate a lot before you guys came
down," he lied, "Hey we better get to our first class, Herbology
is way down in the greenhouses you know."
"Ah hold your
thestrals! We've got plenty of time!" Said James, putting an
apple in his bag. Remus watched as Peter picked up an apple too, and
stuffed it in his own bag. James gave Peter a peculiar look, and
shrugged it off, as he stood up and said "Ok. Now, we can go to
Herbology." Remus rolled his eyes and stood up, exiting the Great
Hall with the rest of the guys.
When they were jumping down
the steps, Sirius noticed that Remus wasn't jumping like the rest.
"What's wrong with you Lupin?" He asked as James jumped over
three steps and Peter clapped with amazement. "you're kind of
pale"
"I just didn't sleep much last night," Remus
yawned.
"Well you look like you haven't slept in 3
years!"
"Thanks" Remus said sarcastically.
After
dinner that night, the four friends were hanging out in the common
room. James was playing with a bouncy ball he had enchanted to fly so
he could practice for seeker try-outs next year for Gryffindor
Quidditch team. Arthur Weasley was the caption and was urging him to
tryout for seeker next year when he leaves. Sirius, Lily, Frank, and
Alice were all in a circle talking about the transfigurations essay
due next week. As for Remus, he was looking out the window, towards
the whomping willow tree.
As the sun started to set, Remus got up
and headed towards the portrait hole.
"Oy Remus!" Shouted
James. "Where ya going?"
Startled, Remus turned around and
said "Oh, uhm, I'm just going to the kitchen to get a cup of hot
chocolate." he said, and turned back to leave.
"Oh I'll
go with you!" he said
"Yea I'll go to I want some too!"
Sirius Jumped up, followed by Peter, nodding his head.
"NO!"
Remus shouted. All three just looked at him. "I mean, come on if
all four of us go, Filch will get us for sure.
James
shrugged. "We'll use my invisibility cloak. My Uncle Harry gave
it to me when I got into Hogwarts. He told me to use it well."
As
the sun started to go down more, Remus started to sweat a little bit.
"Hey, are you sure you're feeling alright Remus?" said
Sirius. "I mean you really don't look good. I mean you look
horrible, man!"
"I'm fine!" Remus said loudly. "Look
guys I just wanted to go get some fresh air, It's stuffy in here.
I-I-" Remus looked at the guys, who were giving him strange looks
of concern. "I'm just going to go to the Hospital wing. I'm
feeling a little dizzy" and with that he ran out of the common
room. As he ran down the hall, he could hear James and Sirius
tumbling out of the portrait hole, and a squeak that could only
belong to Peter followed them. The next sound he heard was someone
whistling merrily down the corridor. It was Dumbledore. Remus hid in
a corner, peering around it.
"Professor!" Shouted Sirius.
"Were were, uh, were-"
"We were on our way to help our
friend Remus Lupin Sir," said James.
"Yes sir, Remus is
sick!" He heard Peter squeak.
"It's ok boys, I am aware of
Mr. Lupin's illness. He will be absent for the next couple of days.
But don't worry, he'll be fine. I suggest you boys go back to the
tower, I passed Filch on my way up. I expect he'll be rounding this
corner in about 15 seconds." Remus's stomach tightened in a knot
at Dumbeldore's words. "Mr. Lupin's illness"
An
illness is what Remus had. A sickening illness he wish he didn't
have. The sound of the Portrait snapping shut carried throughout the
corridor and exactly 15 seconds later, Remus heard Professor say
hello to Filch.
Realizing that Filch was nearing
the corner of which Remus was hiding, he took off down the corridor
and flew down the marble stairs. He just barely made it outside when
the sun dipped its last inch of its golden tip into the lake. Remus
ran as fast as he could, and the moon started coming out. He reached
the whomping willow, snapped out his wand, shouted 'immobilus'
just as Dumbledore had instructed. A long beam shot out of the tip
of his wand, and it pressed a knot on the trunk of the tree, which
made the tree pause. After a second of realizing the vicious tree had
stopped, he slid through the hole at the bottom of the tree. Next
thing he knew, Remus was in the basement of the little shack in
Hogsmeade, the town right outside of the school. The moon came out,
and the transformation began.
