Disclaimer: Not mine and that's all I'm saying.
Second Year: The marauders find out about Remus's furry little problem.
James, Sirius and Peter sat in the library. The table before them was heaped with books and pieces of parchment. Those nearest the bottom related to the history of magic essays the boys had been completing some hours before but the ones that they were using now were advanced medical textbooks. Any onlooker would surely have been surprised to see three young and quite clearly healthy boys pouring avidly over such material but the reason for their disconcertion was obvious in the whispered conversation that they were holding.
"It's obvious that it's not his mum who's ill. I mean, he's always pale and shaking and sometimes he can barely stand. But if he's so ill that he won't tell us…it must be something really bad, life threatening." James's voice trailed off and he flicked even more urgently through the book which he held. Determined, although he was unsure what he was looking for, to find something to help his friend.
"Hmmm?" Sirius glanced up absently and gazed around in a vague way. One might have thought that he was attempting to locate the librarian. The two boys who sat opposite him knew better. They knew that he was merely so accustomed to the presence of Remus and that he was searching diligently for the group's missing member.
"And remember that time he collapsed in Potions but when we went to visit him he wasn't there? What if he had been transferred to St. Mungo's? What if he had to see a specialist?" James said the word specialist the way other might say starving vampire.
"Yes," agreed Sirius with the same disconnected air as he scanned the surrounding area. He had heard this so often in the past six hours that James's voice no longer held any interest.
"It could be this," chimed in Peter. He read aloud from the giant leather bound book before him, "Magical Irregularity Syndrome (MIS) is characterised by magical excellence in the sufferer. These abilities are offset by the constant burdens of fatigue, nausea, extreme weight loss, headaches, collapse and muscle pain. Mood swings are also common and those with MIS are often loners by nature. Remus fits all of that."
"True," agreed Sirius. "I think MIS is treatable though. Besides Remus would tell us wouldn't he? What else does it say?"
Peter shifted the book and continued. "MIS is often associated with mental instability however-"
"So he might not tell us," interjected James. "Sorry Peter, carry on."
"-however, it is uncommonly difficult to mask due to the persistent effects of persistently visible magic. Those with MIS usually support such visible features as horns, unusually coloured skin patches (e.g. polka dotted in places with lurid and vibrant shades) or extra limbs. "
"I'm sure we'd have noticed if Remus had polka dots or horns," muttered Sirius in his usual deadpan way.
"This is hopeless," James muttered moodily.
Peter, who could sense that James was on the verge of a massive tantrum, got up and walked away with a quick look at Sirius. For a few moments he listened to the soothing sounds of Sirius calming James down and the night breeze. He gazed dreamily out of the window, admiring the perfectly round moon. Then suddenly, abruptly, something clicked. With a sharp gasp he dove into the book lined interior of the library, abandoning the medical section and foraging deeper into the Dark Creatures area. His finger ran along the titles, barely pausing Acromantula, Giants, Krups, Vampires, and finally, Werewolves. He scanned quickly along the titles: How to kill werewolves, how to guard against werewolves, how to avoid werewolves, how to identify werewolves. It was this last slim volume that he slid quickly from the shelf and hurried back to the table and the gentle sputtering of the lamp to read.
James still looked furious but Peter barely looked at him. He turned the pages feverishly, tongue poking from between his lips.
"Found something?" Sirius asked, leaning his chair back until it tilted dangerously and swinging on this perch. Sirius cared hugely for Remus, but looking through piles of books never had been and never would be his forte. For Remus he would endure it but he would never enjoy it. The sooner one of them found something the better and not just for Remus.
"I think so. He's never here at the moon is he? And he was twitchy the day we had Dark Creatures outlined in DADA. His eating habits are odd too. He eats virtually nothing for weeks and then stuffs his face like food is going to be outlawed. And I've seen something about human symptoms. I know I have."
Sirius looked at James. "Do you know what he's talking about?"
"Haven't a clue. Maybe we should start looking up illnesses that make you talk rubbish if you keep looking at pointless books," he directed a venomous look at the table of said books.
"No, no, no I want human symptoms not a diagram of snouts," Peter muttered.
"Snouts? Peter are you OK? How tired are you?"
"Got it!" Peter swiftly scanned the page. "Check, check, check. I think I have it. Gentlemen," James and Sirius leaned forwards, Sirius chair falling onto all four legs with a clunk, "I think Remus is a werewolf."
"He can't be," James denied flatly, going white.
"He'd better bloody not be," said Sirius, flushing dully.
"What?" Peter looked from one to other.
"You wouldn't understand, you're muggle born. Werewolves aren't just monsters when they're wolves. They're dangerous and vicious. The wolf is always there. They aren't humans who sometimes look like wolves; they're wolves who look like humans. They can turn on anyone at anytime. Most of the worst crimes in the wizarding world are carried out by werewolves. They murder and rape and…and…stuff," James concluded lamely. "They're barely human," he added.
"He can't be," Sirius said. "Dumbledore isn't an idiot. He wouldn't let…not in a room with other people. Not in lessons and stuff and at night and Remus tutors first years. They wouldn't let him if he was. Would they?"
"Give me that," James snatched the book from Peter. "Tiredness, frequent marks (e.g. bruising and lacerations) following the full moon, irritability which often erupts in violence preceding the full moon, extreme hunger preceding full moon but no weight gain, headaches, fainting, withdrawn personalities, amber or golden eyes whilst in human form, superb reflexes, likes rare meat. It all fits Sirius."
"They can't know then. He's unregistered. He's illegal. I'll have him expelled for this, have him put in Azkaban. I'm going straight to Dumbledore."
"But this is Remus," insisted Peter. "He isn't violent or dangerous or any of the bad stuff."
Both of the other two sat down once again, looking drained by the seriousness of their discovery. "We've never seen him be violent," began James.
Sirius corrected him sharply, "No, don't you remember he pushed Snivelly a couple of months back. Nearly knocked him unconscious. And he hit that third year with his transfiguration book didn't he? Gave him a proper shiner." Both of these incidents had been funny at the time, looked at in the light of this knew information they took on sinister undertones.
"That isn't fair!" spoke up Peter. "This is Remus. Remus. Our friend. Remember? Our brother. You can't suddenly decide to disown him for something he can't help. Are you going to turn on me because I'm a…a…mudblood, Black?" he allowed his lip to curl in a sneer.
Both James and Sirius gaped at him, partly because they had never heard Peter disagree with anyone, least of all them, so openly. Sometimes they said stupid things deliberately just because it amused them to see Peter falling over himself to agree with their made up opinions. "You know I don't agree with my family's prejudices," Sirius started.
"This is prejudice. It's just the same. You know Remus. You know he would never hurt anyone, anything. You know he would never hurt one of us."
"Yes, Well. He didn't tell us. He's been lying to us. Doesn't he trust us?" demanded James, clearly determined to be angry about something.
A withering retort formed in Peter's mind but he lacked the courage to voice it aloud to James Potter of all people. Fortunately Sirius did the job for him.
"Probably because he thought we might reject him for being dangerous filth," he said smiling laconically. "Imagine if we'd said all of that to Remus, we'd never have forgiven ourselves."
These well chosen words did their duty. The anger abruptly went out of James. "You're right," he said decisively. He turned to Peter, "Thank you. And sorry."
Sirius nodded his agreement but said nothing. "What are we going to do then?"
"Talk to him. Tomorrow. Make sure he knows that he doesn't have to hide it from us. Then we're going to find a way to help him."
"Going to develop the cure are you?" Sirius mocked but gently, his eyes had just fallen on the still open werewolf book. He read "-the monthly transformations are painful, for many unendurable. They often lead to madness in at least half of all known cases result in death. It may be this, in conjunction with the wolf's killer instinct, which leads to the werewolf's violent nature and penchant for brutal killing. Leading psychologists have seen this as a method of projecting the pain of transforming onto other creatures with a classic 'bully' mentality. Others-" Sirius snapped the book shut. What did they know? He followed James from the library, blowing out the lamp as he passed.
·
The next morning the three boys made their way to the hospital wing. They took with them a stack of toast, James's last remaining Hogsmede chocolate bar left over from Christmas and the werewolf book, marked at the page that they had been reading. Waiting until Madam Pomfrey was out of sight, they snuck in. Most of the beds were empty. One Slytherin boy who James had hexed for insulting Peter the day before lay behind a set of curtains and at the very back, similarly screened was-
"Hey mate," grinned Sirius.
"Guys?" Remus's eyes widened. "How did you know I'd be here?"
James smiled, "Intuition. We brought some things you might be interested in." He dropped the offerings of toast and chocolate alongside the book on Remus's bed.
Remus smiled in spite of himself. "Bribery Potter?"
"No. Feeding the beast."
Something flickered in Remus's eyes. With one hand he reached for a piece of toast and with the other for the book. How to identify the-oh. You know then." It wasn't a question. "You needn't worry. I'll move out of the dorm. Dumbledore told me I could have a room of my own. I'm s s sorr sorry." The stutter he had had at the beginning of first year returned. He looked at the chocolate on the bed and then held it out to James, not meeting any of their eyes. "If this is guilt chocolate you don't need to worry. You can have it back. It was your Christmas present. I knew you wouldn't want my friendship if you found out. I'll always be grateful for the last year. I won't hold this against you. You don't need to buy me off. I only ask that you won't tell anyone."
James simply looked at him. This conversation was not going how he had imagined. Last night he had thought that on finding out that they knew Remus would say something along the lines of 'Hooray, now I don't need to skulk around anymore.' Completely wrong-footed he opened and shut his mouth a few times like a goldfish. Remus, his gaze fixed firmly on his own knees, did not notice.
"How magnanimous of you," Sirius drawled sarcastically, sounding a great deal like Lucius Malfoy, the head boy. "How generous. You will forgive us. Has it ever crossed your mind Lupin that we should never forgive you if you were to move out of our dormitory and break up our little band?"
"I…but…I…You want me to stay? But I'm a werewolf. I'm vicious and dangerous and unclean. Surely your family taught you that." Remus's voice held the faintest tones of irony.
"Rubbish," said Sirius stoutly, as though he hadn't said these exact things just a few short hours ago. "You're Remus. You're our fellow marauder and we should be bereft without you."
"You want me to stay?" Remus repeated incredulously.
"Of course," James answered, finding his voice at last. Peter nodded eagerly.
"You're all mad as fish in a kettle," Remus said wonderingly.
"That's why you love us Moony old pal," smiled Sirius.
"Moony?"
"I thought it would be a good nickname, all things considered."
Remus smiled his first real smile of the morning. "I love it. I've never had a nickname before."
"Then I dub thee Moony of Gryffindor tower," Sirius said, taking this as an opportunity to hit his friend on the head with the thermometer next to the bed.
"Ow!"
"Don't be such a girl Moony."
There was a long moment of companionable silence. Peter helped himself to a bit of Remus's toast and munched contentedly.
"You won't tell anyone will you?" Remus asked suddenly. "Most of the school wouldn't be as…ah…understanding."
"We won't," said James, also taking a bit of toast.
Peter mumbled something which sounded like, "Course not," as said through a mouthful of crumbs, which it was.
"Never," pledged Sirius.
Madam Pomfrey bustled out of her office. "What are you three doing? Do you think I don't feed my patients? Out! Go to your lessons! Shoo!"
The three retreated swiftly from the angry matron. "We'll be back later," James said as he left. Peter waved merrily and Sirius winked, "See ya later Moony."
"Moony?" queried the matron, straightening Remus's pillow and looking after the boys with a disgruntled expression.
"It's my nickname," her charge informed her gleefully, snuggling down. So this was what friendship felt like.
A/N: So what does everyone think? Review and let me know. Constructive criticism is always welcome. If people like this I may continue, I like writing Remus. It's OK as a one shot though, at least, I think so. Anyways, as I said, let me know.