Chapter Two

Things calmed down once lessons started. The magic fascinated Remus, but he had always been a good student and did not find anything too difficult, school-wise. Magic came easy to James and Sirius as well, and the two were always found performing spells between classes. Comfortable with sitting quietly and studying, Remus did not feel the need to show off as James and Sirius did. He confined himself to watching them, mainly Sirius of course, but James seemed to always be wherever Sirius was. Sometimes Remus would help Peter with his homework, whenever he, Peter, failed to get Sirius's or James's attention. Peter fawned over the pair of them, impressed with every spell they cast. Sometimes they seemed pleased with all this attention, but James seemed to be trying to catch Lily's eyes. He always did, but only for a second, before it rolled to the other side of her head to look at something else.

A few days before the first full moon, Professor McGonagall held Remus back after a Transfiguration lesson. She didn't tell him what she needed him for, but led him out onto the school grounds and up to a tree. Remus was about to ask what was going on when she said, "The headmaster instructed me to take you out here and show you this tree. It's a Whomping Willow. If you approach it, it will try to attack you unless you prod the knot in the center of the trunk."

"Okay…" Remus said, still confused.

"On the nights of the full moon," she continued, making Remus's heart jump, "you are to come here. You see that stick on the ground? Go pick it up, prod the knot."

Remus obeyed. The tree started to move its branches as Remus slowly approached it, but he pressed the stick against the knot and the tree froze. Professor McGonagall approached him and pointed out a hole in the ground near the base of the tree and followed Remus down a passage before overtaking him and leading the way once again. The passage sloped up, and suddenly Remus realized was in a house.

"This is where you will come," Professor McGonagall concluded. "To...transform. Every month at the full moon while you attend this school. The tree is to deter other students from coming here while you are dangerous. They don't know this place is here, and you are not to tell anyone. On the night of the full moon, meet Madam Pomfrey at the entrance to the castle, and she will take you here. Do you understand?"

Remus nodded.

"All right," Professor McGonagall said. "Let's go back to the castle."

Remus said nothing as he followed Professor McGonagall back up, but went back to the common room as quickly as he could. Remus was relieved that he now knew what to do for the full moon, but nervous that it was approaching. What if something went wrong?

Other than the usual pain of transforming into a werewolf, however, the process went smoothly. He met Madam Pomfrey at the entrance as instructed, and she took him down to the tree. He went to the house and waited until the full moon emerged. He felt the usual prickling sensation overcoming him, and then thrashed around the house, unable to control himself and only able to remember flashes of what he did.

When he woke up the next morning, it was like waking up after passing out. He felt tired and sore, and looking around, realized he attacked most of the furniture. Remus got up and rubbed his head, feeling so ashamed. He didn't know how late it was, so he got out as quickly as he could.

Sirius approached Remus in the common room that evening.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi," Remus said back, looking at Sirius's chest because he was too nervous to catch his eye.

"Where were you earlier?" Sirius asked casually, sitting down next to Remus. "We didn't see you in the dormitory or this morning's classes."

"Oh," Remus said, trying not to blush. He'd expected this and planned an excuse ahead of time, but it didn't make the lying any easier. "My mum's in St. Mungo's. I had to go see her."

"Is she all right?" Sirius asked, his eyebrows furrowing with concern. "What's wrong with her?"

"I don't exactly know. They say it's complicated. She was up and talking, so she seemed all right, but they say she might be in there a long time."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Sirius said, touching Remus's arm lightly.

This was the only time they'd had skin contact aside from when they'd shaken hands the first day. His hand was soft and warm, but it still gave Remus goose bumps. He couldn't help smiling down at his knees. He felt bad lying, even though it was obviously necessary, but it was worth it, just for this.

"Are you okay?" Sirius asked, his sincere eyes looking into Remus's.

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Sirius smiled at Remus and took his hand off his arm.

Remus felt special. Sirius had chosen to come and talk to him, had shown genuine concern when he thought something was troubling him. And this was the first time he'd seen him without James. Remus looked around the common room. Where was James anyway? Peter was on the other side of the common room, watching some older kids, but James was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's James?" Remus asked. It did not really matter to him where James was, but pure curiosity to why Sirius wasn't with him prompted the question.

"Oh," Sirius said, smiling. "He's uh…in detention."

"Detention? We've only been in school three weeks! What's he done?"

Grinning now, Sirius explained, "Well, you know that Slytherin kid Snape? The one with the greasy hair?"

Remus nodded. He was the boy he'd seen on the train.

"Well," Sirius continued, a bit nervous. "He was waiting around after Portions the other day, to ask Slughorn a question or something and…"

"Go on," Remus said, genuinely interested now.

"James decided to practice his Wingardium Leviosa spell. On…Snape's full cauldron. And he was doing real well, got it high into the air, right above Snape's head, matter of fact."

"Let me guess," Remus said.

Sirius grinned. "Well, suddenly the spell lifted for some reason, don't know what happened. Well, that's what we told Slughorn anyway. But he either didn't buy it or thought it wasn't enough of an excuse, and gave James detention." Sirius was still smiling.

"Interesting," Remus said. "You're all grinning like you're impressed or whatever, but that really seems like the kind of thing that you would do, not James."

"Yeah, well," Sirius said, shrugging. "I dared him to do it, anyway."

"Oh, well, that explains it." Remus was smiling too, now. He didn't particularly approve of unprovoked pranks, but was a bit impressed by it.

Sirius was smiling as though impressed, too.

"You and James," Remus said. "How long have you two known each other?"

"We just met on the first day at the train station."

"Really?" Remus asked, surprised. "The way you two…well…it seems like you've known each other a long time."

"I know what you mean," Sirius said, nodding. "When we met, we got along right away. He's just so easy to talk to. I feel so comfortable around him." Sirius's smile became more relaxed and his eyes shifted to the other side of the room, looking at nothing in particular. "And he's brilliant. Not just with schoolwork. He's also funny and…all kinds of stuff. I feel like I've known him forever. He's my best friend."

Remus knew Sirius wasn't really talking to him anymore; he was just talking in general. He was still staring off into space, and his smile was peaceful, almost uncharacteristically sky. Remus watched him, wondering if he was going to come back to Earth any time soon.

He did so a minute later, because at that point James entered the room.

"We were just talking about you!" Sirius said as James came over to sit next to them.

"Good things, I hope," James said, sitting down.

"What you were just in detention for," Remus said.

"Oh yes," said James. "Good things then. Hey, we missed you earlier, Remus. Something happen?"

"His mum's in the hospital," Sirius said, touching Remus's arm again.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

"Thanks."

"You know, we don't really know too much about you. You're always hanging back by yourself. You should hang out with us more. Like eat lunch with us more often, and talk to us during breaks and at night," James suggested. "We feel bad seeing you all lonely. Don't be afraid to be with other people. Don't be so shy."

Remus smiled. "I try not to be."

"Peter isn't," Sirius cut in. "He just follows us everywhere."

"I'm not Peter," Remus said.

"That's okay; we don't need more than one Peter," James assured. "But the four of us are gonna be around each other for the next seven years. We might as well be friends."

"Maybe Peter can be a pet," Sirius said, looking over at him. Remus and James laughed.

"It's getting late," Remus said, checking his watch. "I'm going upstairs to the dormitory."

"See, that's the first thing you have to change," James said. "It's very subtle. Friends go places together."

"Okay, let's go to bed then," Sirius said.

James ignored him. "Maybe a suggestion like that as a group instead of excluding yourself. Instead of, 'I'm going upstairs,' say, 'Maybe we should go upstairs.' That way you're not alone."

"Maybe we should go upstairs," Remus said, smiling.

"Good idea." James smiled back.

Feeling more cheerful, Remus followed his new friends upstairs.