An endless darkness is all that fell in Salus' view. Her heart hammered against her chest and her breath came out in quick, uneven pants. Her hands slid across the walls that encased her, so cramped that both shoulders nearly touched the wooden walls. Salus could feel the dirt and grit that coated the wooden planks and knew that the small encasement she was being held in was filthy. Her heart began to beat even faster. She felt herself overheating, making sweat drip down her forehead and off her chin. She felt as if her laboured pants weren't doing anything at all, that her lungs were ruined and couldn't take in any air. The darkness that surrounded her was suddenly broken by a sliver of light shining through the wood planks. She held her blue eye as close as she could to the crack between the planks. The silhouette of a tall, built man shadowed her light and slowly came closer and closer.
"LET ME OUT, YOU BASTARD! LET ME OUT!" Salus felt the words rip from her throat before she could stop them, her lips curled back over her teeth in a vicious animalistic snarl and a searing hatred burning in her stomach that completely overtook her. Her fists banged against the wooden walls making them shake unsteadily.
The man's silhouette 'tsk'ed impatiently and a low gravelly voice spoke out, "Looks like you still haven't learned any respect. You can stay in here all night if you like, but you're not coming out until you learn to cooperate."
"FUCK YOU!" Salus screamed, panic and hatred mixing in her chest, but the words came out sobbed and hoarse as tears streamed down her cheeks, "FUCK YOU!"
The silhouette started to walk away, becoming smaller and smaller until it was gone, taking the light with it. Salus continued to pound her fist against the walls around her, but she had too little space and couldn't hit it properly. Eventually her hands became raw and started to bleed as she hit the rough wooden planks over and over again in hopes of release. But none ever came. She was trapped. Stuck in a cage with no door, no windows, and no light.
.
Salus shot up in bed with a loud gasp. Her heart was hammering against her rib cage so hard she was worried one of the other girls could hear it from their beds. She was covered in a sticky cold sweat that stuck her hair to her forehead and cheeks. Salus had to rest herself for a moment to let herself calm down so her heart rate could lower. Once she calmed herself down a violent shiver passed through her, a chill settling on her skin. She reached out for her nightstand and had to grope around through the darkness until her hands finally touched her wand. She brought it up and undid the silencing charm around her bed. Knowing she wouldn't be able to fall back asleep no matter what time it was, she silently got out of bed and grabbed her Gryffindor robes. She crept quietly into the washroom and closed the door with a silent 'click'. Salus put another silencing charm on the washroom door so the other girls wouldn't hear the shower running. She quickly showered and changed into her robes. She brushed out her long black hair in the mirror, not bothering to dry it properly. Her damp hair clung to her head in wavy clumps, making her ears peak through a bit. While one ear was normal, the other was horribly scarred. The scar that disfigured her ear travelled down the side of her neck and a small piece of her shoulder. Luckily her long black hair covered all the damage that had been inflicted upon her so no one noticed it. Sighing exhaustedly, Salus put away her toiletries and dropped the silencing charm on the door. Pocketing her wand, she slid back into the dorm room and grabbed one of her books off the nightstand before going down to the common room. The fire in the fireplace had long since gone out, so Salus threw on a couple logs, pointed her wand at them and whispered, 'incendio'. The logs immediately caught fire and the common room was soon bathed in its cozy heat. Salus curled herself up on one of the couches and opened her book. The book was one of the many tombs James gave her a few days ago, and she was nearly finished reading them all. She put fake covers on all of them since they were books she shouldn't be seen reading, and because she had some snoopy dorm mates.
Salus sat and enjoyed the peaceful silence of the common room so early in the morning, or late at night. She didn't have a watch and it was too dark out to tell the difference quite yet. She didn't mind though. Staying awake was better than having nightmares, even if it did make her unreasonably tired.
Salus was surprised when the silence was broken by a door clicking shut from the boys stairs. Her eyebrows scrunched up in confusion as a pair of feet came down the stairs.
"Remus, what are you doing up?" Salus asked in a hushed tone once the boy reached the bottom of the stairs, making him jump in surprise.
"I could ask you the same thing," Remus replied, walking over to sit on the seat across from her.
"Nightmare," Salus replied as if it were a normal occurrence, which is was, but Remus didn't know that, "Couldn't fall back asleep."
"You alright?" He asked concerned.
"Of course," Salus lied, "Why are you up so early?"
"Feeling restless," Remus muttered, rubbing the back of his neck uneasily, "Because of the . . . well you know, is tomorrow- well technically tonight."
"Are you alright?" Salus asked, putting down her book.
"Yeah," Remus said, nodding his head for emphasis, although Salus didn't quite believe him, "I'll be okay."
"Alright," Salus said uncertainly, "well if you need any help I'm here, though I don't think I could do all that much."
"Thanks," Remus replied, an embarrassed flush dusting his cheeks.
Salus nodded before asking, "What time do you think is it?"
"James clock read 4:38 when I got up, so it's probably around 4:50," Remus answered, "How long have you been down here?"
"Not sure," Salus responded and looked down at her book to see how far she had read already and tried to calculate it in her head, "Around 45 minutes, I think, maybe an hour."
Remus' eyebrows raise in surprise, "Aren't you tired?"
"Not really," Salus replied, partially lying, "I usually wake up early."
Remus nodded uncertainly, "What was your nightmare about?"
"Fighting a dragon and a hoard of acromantula." Salus lied again. Remus looked a tad confused so she clarified, "Acromantula are really big spiders."
Remus nodded slowly and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms loosely over his chest, "I hope you realize that I can tell when you're lying."
"What do you mean?" Salus asked, keeping a straight face.
"When people lie their heart rates increase," Remus explained and pointed at his ear, "Heightened senses. You lied just now, and when James asked you why you want to be an animagus."
Salus flushed in embarrassment from being caught in a lie, and looked away. Remus chuckled dryly, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I won't tell the others."
Salus hesitated before saying, "My nightmare was of being locked in a box."
"That doesn't sound that bad," Remus replied, trying to sound sympathetic but humour was also laced in his tone, "sounds a lot less scary than giant spiders."
"Perhaps to you," Salus replied cooly, "But I'm not a very big fan of being stuffed in a locked box."
"Are you claustrophobic?" Remus asked in a surprised tone.
"A bit, yeah," Salus admitted.
"Oh," Remus replied, looking surprised she had told him.
"I don't care if you know," Salus said, shrugging her shoulders impassively, "It's not a big deal."
Remus paused, "You lied again."
"Well let's pretend that I didn't," She responded.
"I suppose," Remus said with a frown, "If that's what you want."
"It is," Salus said, that time speaking the truth.
Remus nodded stiffly, but looked uncomfortable at the thought of the girl lying about her nightmares. Before he could ask her any more questions, a click sounded from the boys stairwell once again. Footsteps sounded coming down the stairs rather quickly. Sirius entered the common room and looked frantically around the room. His robes looked as if they were thrown on in a rush and his hair was unbrushed and nearly as wild as James'.
Once his eyes landed on Remus he stalked forward, "Moony, you alright? Your bed was empty so I thought-"
"I'm fine, padfoot," Remus replied, "I was just feeling restless."
Sirius nodded stiffly before he caught Salus' gaze, "Why are you awake?"
"I suppose I was feeling restless as well," Salus replied.
Sirius nodded in understanding before flopping onto the couch next to her. He picked up the book next to her and looked to see what page she was on.
"I remember this one," he mutters, rubbing some sleep from his eye with his free hand, "How many books are left after this one?"
"None," Salus replied casually.
Sirius looks over at her with a shocked expression, "You read all of them already? It's only been three days."
Salus nodded, "I'm a fast reader."
"I'll say," Sirius muttered under his breath, "Took me two weeks to read those damn books."
He places the book on the table sitting next to the couch before flopping down and placing his head in Salus' lap.
"What are you doing?" Salus asked irritably.
"Sleeping," he replied with a smirk, closing his grey eyes.
"Go sleep in your bed then," Salus said, growing more and more annoyed by the second.
"But I don't want to wake up James and Peter," Sirius replied, looking up at her and jutting out his lip dramatically in a pout, "Plus your lap is so comfy."
Salus was going to argue with him and maybe even shove him off for extra measure, but she noticed the tired bags under his eyes and felt a twinge of sympathy. She sighed irritably, "Fine, you big baby, but the second someone comes down the stairs I'm liable to shove you off as hard as I can."
"Deal," he muttered back, closing his eyes and nearly instantly falling asleep because of his exhaustion.
"Is he always like this?" Salus asked Remus, who starred at his friend with a surprised and slightly angry expression.
"Unfortunately," he muttered back.
Salus hummed in response, before a long smirk spread on her face, "I just thought of something very mean."
.
"Salus whatever-your-middle-name-is Snape!" A voice rang through the crowded Great Hall.
"I wondered how long it'd take him to notice," Salus muttered to Remus who sat across from her at the Gryffindor table, eating his breakfast and having to stifle a laugh.
Lily, who sat next to Salus, looked up in confusion but slapped her hand over her mouth to stifle her laughs when she saw who it was. James had a similar reaction but instead of trying to stifle himself, he let out a roaring laugh that filled the great hall and called even more attention to the furious man stalking toward us. Peter's eyes widened in surprise and he snorted unattractively before letting out a loud laugh.
Sirius' eyebrows were scrunched together in fury, and a slight blush dusted his cheeks. The reason for the groups laughter were the many braids that decorated Sirius' long, black hair, that were filled with as many small, bright white flowers and leaves that Salus could fit. The best part was that she charmed his hair to stay that way for at least 6 hours. Just enough time for him to go to all of his classes.
"What the bloody hell did you do!?" He growled at Salus as he slammed himself down at the table, "Fix it!"
"I don't know what you mean, Black." Salus replied airily, a small smirk pulling at her lips, "Hasn't your hair always been . . . floral?"
"I was sleeping on your lap and woke up like this with some first year git's laughing at me," Salus growled with a frown, "I can't figure out how to undo it so fix it!"
"Wait," James said, still chuckling under his breath, "Salus did this?"
"He's a surprisingly deep sleeper," Salus smirked.
"She did that to me last year for spilling a potion on her," Lily said from a short ways down the table with Alice, and rolled her eyes, "Except she somehow got my hair to look like cat ears. Thankfully it was on a weekend so no one saw."
"How did you undo it?" Sirius asked her hopefully.
Lily shrugged her shoulders, "I didn't, it fixed itself after about five hours."
"Six, actually," Salus corrected while picking at her breakfast.
"My hair is stuck like this for six hours!?" Sirius exclaimed, "All I did was sleep on your lap!"
"Why exactly did you do that to begin with?" Lily asked him, raising her eyebrows suggestively, "Sleep on her lap, I mean."
"I was tired," Sirius grumbled.
"I don't know why you're complaining," Salus teased, "The flowers bring out your complexion. If anything I did you a favour."
"I'll get you back for this, Salus," Sirius grumbled under his breath as he scooped some eggs onto his plate.
.
That night was the full moon, and like she did every full moon, Salus gazed out into the forbidden forest from the tower window in her dorm room. The rest of her dorm mates had luckily already fallen asleep, so Salus was able to watch without any disturbance. She saw the three boys travel to the Whomping Willow tree where the secret passage to the Shrieking Shack was and follow in after Remus who had entered much earlier in the evening with Madam Pomfrey's assistance. Once in awhile Salus would catch a glimpse of the group of animals running through the woods, thankfully smart enough to know not to go too far in because of the centaurs, acromantulas, and whatever else lived in the forbidden forest. With her sketchbook resting in her lap, Salus quickly sketched out the group whenever they came into view with coloured pastels. The pictures were rushed since the animals were constantly moving, and a bit smudged because of her messy material, but they were beautiful nonetheless. Eventually Salus was overcome with exhaustion and had to retreat to her bed, thinking of how much fun she'll have when she can run with them as an animagus. Along with that, she dreamed of the freedom she'd finally hold.
.
The next morning Remus wasn't in the great hall for breakfast for obvious reasons, and the other three boys looked terribly tired. Lily assumed the boys were acting so sluggish because they had been partying or causing some kind of mayhem throughout the castle, and Salus just nodded along as the redhead ranted angrily- deciding it best not to correct her or egg her on even more. After transfiguration Salus had free time meant for studying, but decided instead to go check on Remus in the Hospital Wing. Salus had only been in the Hospital Wing twice, once when Lily accidentally spilt a hot potion on her and she got a burn, and another time when she had fallen off her broom in fourth year, only having survived because Severus had been there to catch her with a spell. Salus hadn't flown since.
Just like the last time she was in the Hospital Wing, everything was meticulously tidy due to Madam Pomfrey's good care. The matron almost didn't let Salus in, saying that Remus needed rest, but she managed to convince the older woman when she promised to only stay for a few minutes. Salus hesitantly made her way over to where Remus was sleeping. Before she made a deal with James and revealed that she new the marauders secret, she never actually got to visit him like this. She never really saw how bad his injuries were because Madam Pomfrey usually patched most of them up before he would return. Salus' eyes widened when they landed on Remus' form. His face is covered in terrible gashes and bruises, his face fixed in a pained frown even in his sleep. His torso and arms were covered by his pale blue, striped pyjamas, but his hands look just as rough as his face. Multiple healing potions were resting on his bedside table, but they all take time so he wouldn't be healed until the end of the day. A couple of bandages covered the worse of the gashes, which were luckily only a few. A wince of sympathy pinched in Salus chest, having been in a similar position once or twice but not from the same origin as lycanthropy.
Deciding not to impose any longer and potentially awaken Remus, Salus reached into her rucksack and pulled out the transfiguration notes she had copied down for him and placed it on his bedside table along with a chocolate frog packet that she had bought in Hogsmeade. She was just leaving and closing the curtains that surrounded the bed when Remus tossed in his sleep. Salus paused so she wouldn't make any more noise, but it was too late and Remus' green eyes squinted before opening. Salus noticed the gold flecks that decorated his eyes seemed to burn brightly for a moment before returning back to their normal green colour. Remus looked around drowsily before his eyes landed on Salus.
"Sorry," Salus winced with a quiet voice, "I didn't mean to wake you, I just wanted to drop off your notes."
"It's fine," Remus groaned, "It was a restless sleep anyways."
He pulled himself up unsteadily, the action pulling at his shirt to reveal that the first few buttons were undone and showed off part of his chest. What would have been a lean, yet muscular chest, was hidden by the purple splotch of a bruise. Luckily once Remus settled himself the clothing went back to its original position and hid the section of his chest, and made the butterflies in Salus' stomach stop spasming.
Salus nodded, and sat in a chair beside the bed, feeling a tad uncomfortable being the only one standing, "How are you feeling?"
He shrugged his shoulders and looked away, "Alright, I guess."
A small smirk tugged at Salus' lips, "Who's the liar now?"
"That obvious?" He chuckled, but winced at the action and rubbed his side with his hand.
Salus let out a silent, throaty chuckle, "I'll help you perfect your poker face later."
Standing from her chair, Salus strung her rucksack over her shoulder, "I've got to go, I promised Lily I'd work with her on Charms essay before class. I just wanted to stop by to drop off your notes."
A small, almost unnoticeable, pout formed on Remus' lips but he smothered it with a small smile. Salus was a little shocked from his reaction, but a small smile tugged at her lips and she said, "I'll come back with more of your notes after charms, if that's alright?"
"Thanks," he murmured, looking down as red dusted his cheeks.
Salus left the Hospital Wing with a very small but cheerful smile plastered on her face, and the butterflies from before fluttering around her stomach. She made her way towards the library where she promised to meet Lily, a strange light feeling swimming through her head.
'I suppose Remus and I could be considered friends,' Salus thought to herself, 'What exactly defines when two people are friends? We've studied together, spoken about personal issues before; his lycanthropy and my nightmares, I enjoy his company and I'd like to think he enjoys mine as well. That is what friends are, right? That's what I have with Lily, but I've known Lily for much longer, so would it be appropriate to think Remus and I are friends? Maybe I should ask Lily. . .'
.
A/N: I'm kind of iffy about how this chapter turned out so if you have any comments or suggestions I am open to criticism. Thank you to everyone leaving reviews, your positivity is very much appreciated.
I have already written roughly eleven chapters for this fic, but will start updating it weekly so I have time to write further and hopefully stay on a schedule.