To Catch a Moony


Not written for any challenge. I just found this half-written on a doc and decided to finish it and post it. :)

Enjoy.

Thanks to Lizzy for betaing.


Sirius threw the Pokeball in the air a few times, judging its weight and working out how hard he'd need to throw it. He didn't want to cause any pain: this was about the capture. About knowing he could do it.

It was about proving an important point: that Remus was keeping a massive secret and wasn't trusting any of them with it, though he really should. They would never tell anyone. But Sirius couldn't approach the subject without Remus getting suspicious and running away before he could ask.

This was clearly the best way to do this. Words weren't enough. What was the saying? Oh, yes, actions speak louder than words.

And since James had plans to discuss everything with Remus that evening, Sirius knew he had to act fast. He'd have to corner Remus immediately after Remus returned, before James could get involved.

He didn't have to wait too long. About half an hour later, Remus Lupin returned to the dorm-room. He smiled nervously at his friends before heading to his bed and setting down his bag and books. Sirius watched him carefully, noticing how shy around them he still was.

Well, trust had to be earned. What better than to put Remus in a position where he'd need to tell them his secret and then never say a word to anyone else about it? Yes, that would get Remus to trust him. He had seen his mother do the same thing to his father - to get him to say something he didn't mean to say so she would know everything.

And his mother said that Sirius could learn a lot from her, so this was fine.

Sirius threw the Pokeball in the air once more, testing the weight and making sure he was prepared. It needed to be a perfect shot. He only had one after all. After that, Remus would run, he knew it.

Remus watched him curiously for a few seconds before dropping down onto his bed amidst the fallen pile of books. Sirius wondered how he was comfortable laying on the books, but pushed the thought from his head. There were more important things to think about than Remus laying in bed.

"Remus?"

Remus pushed himself up onto his elbows to look at Sirius. "Yeah?"

Before Remus could realise what he was doing, Sirius threw the Pokeball straight at him.

...oOo...

The Pokeball bounced off Remus' head, and Remus looked at him in disbelief, before rubbing the sore spot. "What did you do that for?" he asked, sounding extremely hurt. He picked up the fallen Pokeball, looking at it before turning his gaze back to Sirius.

James quickly jumped up from where he had been relaxing on his own bed, looking completely gobsmacked. He walked straight past Sirius and headed over to Remus, examining his head to ensure there were no damages or blood.

He turned back to Sirius after a minute, satisfied that Remus wasn't dying. "Sirius," he said, a warning tone evident in his voice. Sirius ignored him, pouting because he plan had failed. James had ruined it somehow because it should have worked. Perhaps it would work once Remus was in wolf form?

Yes, that must be it. Sirius smiled to himself. He just had to follow Remus at the next full moon and wait until he was transformed and then—

"Whatever you're thinking, it's not happening," James warned.

"Sirius, why did you do that?" Remus was clearly hurt by his actions, but there was a hint of anger in his words as he dropped the Pokeball onto Sirius' bed.

"I just wanted the truth from you for once," Sirius whined, crossing his arms and ignoring the Pokeball—perhaps the Pokeball was at fault?—and watching Remus. "That should have worked. Should we try that at the full moon? Because I was thinking that if it worked, we could put you in there during the full moon and then you'd sleep and not come back all sore and hurt."

"Full moon?" Remus whispered fearfully. His eyes darted towards James and then to Peter's bed. Thankfully Peter wasn't in the room because James and Sirius thought he was too sensitive to handle the Werewolf fact just yet. Sirius suspected that Peter's life had been so sheltered, he probably didn't know what a Werewolf even was. "What are you talking about?" Remus added.

"I meant when you turn into a Werewolf," Sirius said. "James already knows of course. Now, when should we use this?" the gestured to the Pokeball.

Remus gaped at him.

"Sirius, you can't go near him when he's a wolf," James insisted, rolling his eyes. "You might get bitten. Maybe when he's in the middle of the transformation it'll be fine? Because he'll be turning into the wolf but won't want to attack you for a few seconds."

"No-one is going near me whilst I'm…" Remus hesitated, shaking his head. "What is wrong with you both? Why are you not scared of me?"

Sirius started laughing. "Remus, you're not all that scary. Okay, so you were when I ate that little chocolate on your bedside table, and the time I left a cup on your book and it left a ring… but apart from those things, I don't find you scary. I mean, Peter is terrifying compared to you."

Remus looked between them all and James grabbed him as he turned to run to the door.

"No, we're talking," James said, pushing him onto the bed. "I was planning a speech but Sirius has ruined that. Remus, we know what you are and we don't care. I was going to tell you that we weren't going to treat you any different… but Sirius attempting to capture you doesn't support that statement."

"Don't tell McGonagall - she said we're not allowed to capture Pokemon and probably means you too," Sirius said, suddenly realising he could get into trouble. "I wasn't going to keep you though. I was going to release you after the full moon."

Remus' lips twitched. "Don't you ever read?" he asked the group. "Animagus-Pokemon can't be captured. So I'm assuming it means if something isn't a true Pokemon—"

"But if we train you up, will you do Pokebattles?" Sirius demanded.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Of course not. I'm not a Pokemon."

"Oh." Sirius deflated. "I'm never going to get a Pokemon," he muttered.

"You'll have to wait until next year like the rest of us," James insisted. "When we start going down to Hogsmeade. I heard that Nurse Pomfrey found a Chauncey down there a few weeks ago!"

"Yeah, she did," Remus confirmed. "I've seen it. It… well, it looked after me after I transformed last week." His cheeks reddened as he mentioned his transformation and he looked between the others nervously to ensure they weren't disgusted.

Sirius turned back to his bed, throwing himself down in a sulk. He wasn't sure why, but he decided he wasn't a fan of Chauncey at all. The horrible, cute thing was looking after Remus and Sirius was sure he'd do a better job!


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