Sirius was kicking himself for the rest of the day as Moro was very obviously avoiding him. Remus didn't seem to notice as he was trying to figure out just when the next full moon would fall. Generally speaking, he hadn't been a sick child and this remained to be true as he grew besides the obvious effects from his 'condition'. But the first few days of school he'd had flu and it had knocked him back to the point where he wasn't certain when the next transformation would occur. As he struggled, sitting at a desk in the library after dinner, James leaned over to Sirius and whispered "I know it's cruel but I'd love to see how Snape would handle Moony at his worst." Cruel, he meant, towards Remus. Not Snape. Severus had been fishing around yet again to try to find out where Remus disappeared to for a few days every month. Peter was sat by them but seemed to have not heard as he struggled with his homework. Sirius shook his head, understanding James's annoyance but not agreeing as the punishment seemed a bit much. And, more importantly, he didn't want to risk the wrath of Moro.
After another half an hour had dragged past, Remus stood up, looking pale. "I need some air... I'll see you guys later." He said, putting his stuff in his bag and leaving the library. "Me too..." Peter agreed as he hurried to cram his books into his bag and rushed off too. "Have you ever noticed Peter acting weird?" James asked as they casually put their books away. "He's an odd one, that's for sure... but not especially. Why?" Sirius asked, putting his bag over his shoulder. "Just... somethin' that Snivelus said about him yesterday when we were stuck together in potions..." now James had Sirius's full attention. James wasn't Snape's biggest fan. At all. Suffice to say that if Snape was on fire, James wouldn't pee on him to put him out. So James talking about Snape was a big deal. In the silence, James went on. "He said I should keep an eye on Peter because Moro was certain he was stalking her. I know, ridiculous. But he does go off quite a bit on his own... so I don't know. Might be an idea to just see where he goes. Not for Snivelus but Remus. He doesn't need to be worrying any more right now." Sirius hung on James's every word. He had noticed it but hadn't said anything. Sirius being Sirius, he was quite able to go around the school practically unnoticed and this extended to Peter noticing him. So Sirius had taken to trailing Peter to keep an eye on him. But if Moro had noticed enough to worry her then it was of great concern.
"Well... I guess that's just something we'll have to keep an eye on." Sirius agreed as they left the library. Together, the boys walked down towards one of the hidden paths. Once hidden from view they pulled out their map and tapped it, whispering 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good.' Spider like ink sprang along the parchment to form the map of the style. They traced their fingers across the parchment, trying to find the footprints with the name of those they were curious about. Sirius's fell on Moro's just coming out of the entrance to the dungeons just as Peter ran through the front doors towards where she was. There was a moment of confusion as their two footprints seemed to dance before Moro darted past Peter and out of the castle. James and Sirius exchanged a worried glance as James muttered 'mischief managed'. In moments they were running down the stairs towards the front doors.
Peter was still stood there, a mixed look of horror and excitement on his face. He looked up at his friends, smirking slightly at James. "Snape chased Remus outside. I think it's a full moon... I tried to stop him." He said. Sirius felt fury build inside him but James just looked sick. "We've got to stop him before he gets killed!" He said, darting out of the castle style. A fair distance from the castle, close to the forest, they finally spotted Moro, Severus and Remus. Remus was hunched over as Snape stared saying "A werewolf. I knew it!" triumphantly, over and over. Moro pulled him back and pushed him to the ground. "Idiot! Get back to the castle at once!" She screamed at him before hurrying to Remus's side. He was shaking, drip white as his sister touched his forehead and hugged him. Moro was already in her nightdress, now soaked and muddy from the grass as she knelt with Remus. "Shhh... it's ok. I'm here... Remus it's ok..." she spoke softly to him. "I'm sorry... Mo... I forgot the potion... I forgot to take it... you worked so hard... I don't want to kill you..." Remus was sobbing. "It's ok... it won't hurt and I'm not going anywhere." She soothed then caught sight of James. "Potter!?" She practically screamed at him. "Get Sev back to school, get professor Dumbledore. Board the school up! Go!" She shouted with such urgency that James almost fell as he dragged Snape back with him. So snape hadn't known. It had been Moro who'd made the potion... but where was sirius? He glanced about for his friend and only just spotted the dark coloured dog lying near Moro. He must have snuck there while James had been watching the twins.
Once Moro was satisfied that James and Severus had gone she set about casting various spells to protect herself, deflect attacks she knew he'd make, but mainly to ease his pain. She knew her protection spells wouldn't hold under his attack, not even for a second, but she still did it for Remus's peace of mind. Once she'd done she sat with him and spoke softly, telling him about where she'd left the recipe for his potion and reminding him that Fizz (their house elf) would continue to care for their mother as long as he was kind to her. It was painful to listen to. Remus was in so much pain and could only nod as he sobbed and listened to his sister say, what very well could be, her goodbyes.
As the moon crept out from its hiding spot and Remus's transformation began Moro moved away to give him space. She wasn't afraid of dying; she'd faced Remus this way more times than she'd care to admit. But she couldn't lie. Facing a werewolf, no matter how often, is terrifying.
She watched as his arms and legs stretched, his body contorted painfully and his skull elongated until it was more wolf like. It looked at Moro with its sharp, cold, yellow eyes then tipped it's head back and let out a howl that sent a shiver down the spine, the noise echoing off the nearby lake. The silence that followed was deafening. Slowly it looked at Moro again and turned to face her. Then it lunged at her. But a black dog jumped first. Caught off guard but still in kill mode, the werewolf flung the dog away like a child throwing a toy. Then it went for the human who was stood, confused as to where the dog came from.
Moro recovered from the confusion and deflected his attack, dodging where she could. Sirius picked himself up and shook himself off. Moro had the worst grades in class but here she was, executing the spells with ease and perfection, holding her own against the werewolf. Sirius snapped out of his moment of awe as Remus caught Moro's side, having dodged a deflection spell, and threw her several feet to the side. She fell hard. Sirius heard her hit something. She didn't get up straight away but lay there as the werewolf stalked slowly towards her. She groaned, tried to get up but slipped back down. The scent of freshly spilled blood caught in Sirius's nose. If he could smell it then so could the beast.
As the werewolf mounted itself up for another attack, Sirius ran in, jumping onto its back and biting without remorse until the werewolf's attention was firmly on him. Then, as quickly as he could, he raced towards the forest while trying to make sure that the beast was close enough behind to not loose interest in him. Once in the forest it took a good ten minutes to loose the werewolf, and even then it was only because Sirius swore he heard Dumbledore say he'd take over that he left to go help Moro.
She was still where he'd left her. Lying there, drifting in and out of consciousness. Back in his human form, Sirius carefully picked Moro up and hurried back to the castle, limping from the fight. Not even daring to look down to see just how bad the cut to her head was as it was was causing the sickly warm, damp feeling on his chest. He didn't stop until he'd reached the hospital wing and madam pomfrey was caring for her. He sat by her bed until the early hours of the morning when Dumbledore brought in a worse for wear and out cold Remus. Once Remus was settled in a bed beside his twin, Dumbledore left to speak to madam pomfrey.
Not long after he'd closed the infirmary doors, Moro woke up. She sat bolt right up in bed and stared around, obviously looking for her brother. "He's asleep." Sirius spoke softly so as to not scare her. "Been asleep since Dumbledore brought him in." He added. Moro stared at him curiously for a moment or two. "How...?" She asked, her voice cracking a bit. "I don't know. James had just dragged Snape inside when Dumbledore rushed past and the castle closed itself up. James and I took turns through the night to wait for news of Remus and you. I was on watch when Dumbledore asked me to bring you in." He said, giving her a half truth. Moro looked at him blankly then lay back down. Her head was killing but she was alive and so was Remus. It was a miracle.
"So, while he's out cold and you're bed bound, lets talk hmm? It's been a long time coming Moro. So... how about you explain why you're putting up with Lucius Malfoy? And why you lied about Snape making the wolfsbane potion when it was you?" He asked sternly. Moro stared but knew there was no getting out of it. "It's a long story." She said softly. "It's Sunday. Remus is completely out cold. All my homework is done and you're not going anywhere so I'd say we've got plenty of time." He replied, not letting her back out of it that easily.