Disclaimer - Usual. I don't own the 'verse, but I'm enjoying visiting it.
Chapter 24
As Remus came to, he did his usual wound inventory. He had recently added trying to see what he could remember from the night before to this inventory. He heard quiet whispering and tried to recall where the whispering came from. Not able to remember anything specific, he listened to the "memory."
"I think he's coming around."
While Remus didn't grasp what the words meant, he recognized James' voice. Panic swept through him as the horrible thought he had somehow managed to escape overwhelmed him. He sat bolt upright with a gasp. Seeing the three smiling faces of his friends in front of him, however, only served to send another wave of panic through him and he scrambled backwards. Being disoriented, he misjudged the space he had and landed on the floor next to his bed. Breathing hard, he looked up when he heard movement.
"Now that was graceful," Peter joked from his chair next to Remus' bed.
James had walked around the foot of the bed to get a look at him. "You might want to be careful, mate. Falling out of bed like that… it's gotta hurt."
Sirius' head popped over the side the bed, "You know, that extra beauty sleep you're getting… It's not really workin' for ya."
James reached out his hand to help Remus off of the floor. Remus stared at the others in confusion and disbelief. "Looks a bit like a deer," James joked, hand still held out. Sirius laughed.
Slowly, Remus regained the use of his brain. Though his thoughts were still confused and incoherent, he reached out and let James help him up. He sat on the bed next to Sirius, who had already made himself comfortable. James sat down on the foot of Remus' bed, and Peter scooted his chair closer.
"Wha… Um… What are you guys doing here?" Remus suddenly realized he was heavily bandaged and he self-consciously put his legs back under his blankets and tried to hide his arms.
The other three boys exchanged looks. Sirius shrugged and said, "We just came to visit our favorite werewolf."
Remus' eyes grew wide before he suddenly leaned forward and hid his face in his hands.
"Whoa. Relax there, mate," Sirius said, placing a hand on Remus back. Sirius and James exchanged concerned looks.
He tensed, but didn't move. He was having too much trouble breathing to contemplate moving. But then he felt another hand on his leg. He looked up at James.
"You all right?" James asked quietly.
Feeling confined by the close proximity of the other boys, Remus jumped out of the bed and started pacing.
He stopped suddenly, at about the halfway point of the bed – halfway between Sirius and James. Fisting both hands in his hair, he looked and felt panicked. "What are you going to do?" The question had a pleading quality to it. An unspoken request for mercy.
"Well first," Sirius began, "we're going to sit with you, if that's okay."
James picked up from there, "Then, when you're ready, we'd like to ask you questions."
And finally Peter spoke, "And then we're going to help you, in any way we can." It was a testimony to Peter's loyalty that he said this despite his own terror. The other two boys had had several weeks to digest the possibility that Remus was a werewolf. He'd had barely a night. But he also knew that any hesitancy on his part would leave him shunned and friendless. He wasn't ready to lose his friends, not over this.
It seemed to take a few seconds for all these statements to sink in, but Remus finally let go of his hair. After another moment, he even crawled back onto the bed.
"So you're not going to tell anyone?" he asked.
"And ruin the best secret of our young lives?" Sirius answered with a smile. "Though, in some ways, I wish I could tell my parents. They'd have a fit! I can almost hear the dulcet sound of my sweet mum's voice, 'You've befriended a half-breed? How much more shame can you bring to our house?' Ahh… Happy thoughts."
"No," James said in a slightly warning tone, glancing at Sirius. "We are not going to tell anyone. And Peter's right, we're going to try to help you any way we can."
"Thanks," Remus said appreciatively, "but I don't really think there's anything you can do."
"Oo, Wait!" Sirius said excitedly. "Werewolves only attack humans, right?"
"Yeeaah…"
"Well… What if we were animals?" Sirius asked.
Remus shook his head, but James eyes grew wide with enthusiasm. "Yes! That's brilliant! Then we could keep you company."
"No, no, no. What would that accomplish? How would that help?"
Sirius grabbed one of Remus' arms and held it out. There were two bandages on his left arm alone. "We'd keep you occupied, at least."
Remus flushed with embarrassment. He was so used to keeping his lycanthropy a secret, that to have it so openly displayed was disconcerting. He pulled his arm out of Sirius' grasp. But what they were saying was true. Werewolves were not a threat to animals, and perhaps, with something live to interact with, he would deal less violently with himself.
"But then wouldn't everyone find out about him?" Peter asked. "I mean, we'd need a lot of help. And then we'd have to register with the ministry. Someone is bound to ask questions. They're not going to just let us become animagi."
The thrill of hope that Remus felt flickered.
"Who says we have to tell anyone?" James suggested.
"But it's illegal if you don't register," Remus answered. He didn't want to be the cause of his friends being sent to prison.
"So?" Sirius replied simply. He winked and whispered conspiratorially, "It's called a secret for a reason."
"Okay, do we all agree?" James asked.
Remus said, half sarcastically, "I feel like we need a secret handshake or something."
Peter stood up and held out his hand in the middle of the group. "I do…"
Remus put in his hand, "… solemnly swear…"
"That I…" James added his hand.
With a wicked grin, Sirius completed the pact and placed his hand on top, "… am up to no good."
- - - - -
The search for information on how to become an animagus had come to a near standstill. The four boys sat at the top of a stairwell, discussing the matter. The stairwell, it just so happened, overlooked the Entrance Hall.
"Well, I think the only way to get more information is to get into the restricted section of the library," Remus offered.
"Avery," Peter said quietly.
James looked through the slots of the banister and took aim at Avery. He whispered the trip jinx and the four boys laughed quietly as Avery tripped over nothing and went sprawling to the floor.
"I think Remus is right," Sirius continued. "I don't suppose anyone can think of a good excuse to get a pass from a professor? – Oo, Bulstrode." And Sirius performed that jinx himself.
A few students in the entrance hall laughed as Bulstrode tripped and dropped her books.
"There's always the invisibility cloak, too," James reminded them.
"Wilkes," Remus said. James hexed Wilkes, who was quick enough to catch himself. He looked back at the spot on the floor as if expecting to see something there.
"Right. We want to get in there anyway…"
"Lestrange," James interrupted Sirius.
"Allow me," and with a point of Sirius' wand, Rastaban Lestrange tumbled into a group of Ravenclaw girls. The Marauders laughed heartily as they watched Lestrange fumble over himself in apology. "Where was I? Oh yes... We need to find a spell to help us locate hidden passages. I'm sure we've missed some. There're too many blank areas on the map."
"Hiding while you snipe at your enemies? And I thought Gryffindors were supposed to have courage," the harsh sound of Snape's voice startled the boys. His voice was always quiet, but it carried clearly and threateningly. Peter squeaked and backed himself into the wall. Remus kept his attention on the book he was holding, as if ignoring Snape would make him go away.
"Go away, Snivellus," Sirius ordered.
"Or what? You'll trip me down the stairs?" Snape retorted.
"Now there's a thought," Sirius said, donning a misty-eyed expression.
Snape appraised him before turning to James. "It just so happens, I've informed Professor McGonagall what you are up to. I imagine she'll be here in a few seconds. I don't want to miss this." Snape smiled malevolently.
"You need a hobby," James said. "Why don't you go run off with your little friends and… Oh wait, you don't have any friends. Wonder why that is?"
Snape grimaced in anger and took a step forward, but the sound of Professor McGonagall's approach reached their ears, and he smugly stepped away again.
"So," Professor McGonagall began when she arrived, "Mr. Snape tells me you've been hexing random students."
Sirius said, "I wouldn't say they were random." James immediately elbowed him in the side. Sirius muffled his "ow" with a sudden coughing fit.
McGonagall sighed and shook her head. "Very well. Detention tomorrow night. Be at my office by seven."
Once she and Snape walked away, James said, "You know, I think we're wearing her down. We didn't even lose any points that time."
The next night, as the boys were heading out of the common room for their detention, Lily stopped them. "Detention again?" she said disapprovingly. "At least you didn't lose us any points this time."
"That's exactly what I said," James replied.
"We think Minnie's taken a liking to us," Sirius said with a wink at Gillette and Patty, who started giggling.
With a roll of her eyes, Lily said, "I think it's more like pity."
"Nah, who would pity us? There's nothing to pity. Plenty to like, though," James said in a very self-assured manner.
"Honestly, Potter, could that head get any bigger?"
"Why, Evans? Want more?" James smiled.
"Oh please." And with that, Lily grabbed Gillette's arm and the three girls walked away.
The boys had almost reached the portrait hole when James suddenly tripped and fell into Remus.
"Oi. Watch it!" Remus said.
Sirius started laughing when he glanced back and saw the satisfied smile playing on Lily's lips. He clapped James on the shoulder comfortingly, as James struggled to regain his composure. "She gotcha mate."
James took a last look back as the portrait was about to close. His eyes locked with Lily's and he felt his stomach flutter. He whispered, "That she does, mate. That she does."
- - - - -
A/N I know that I did not use the exact wording of the famous phrase, but I figured it would undergo a change here and there until they got the map finished. Plus… I needed them all to say part of it, so… artistic license. :)
Thanks again for the review and interest in the story. Thank you, to my editors (Mom and mei mei) and my beta (J.A.Carlton). Thanks to you who have left suggestions for me on how to make the story better, or at least flow a little better. I am trying to follow your advice, and I appreciate the honesty. Thank you.
