A/N: Um, hello! Welcome to chapter 7! I don't really have much to say, except, of course, for the fact that I have a beta and I need to thank her soooo much!! I must tell you, Vikertee saved me and my fic!! Vicky you're the best!!
Disclaimer: I still own nothing…dammit!!
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7. THE THREE Fs
Hogwarts, September 1973
"Black, Regulus," came McGonagall's loud voice as she called one of the first years to come forward and sit on the old stool and to be sorted into a House.
Just like every year, upon arriving at the station in Hogsmead, the first-years would travel across the lake on small boats, be welcomed by Professor McGonagall and then be lead in the Great Hall, where the Sorting would take place. Just like every year, students were sorted either into Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff or Slytherin. Every year, the new students were warmly welcomed by the students of their House. Every year it was the same thing, and this time was no exception as the Slytherin table clapped enthusiastically when the Sorting Hat announced Slytherin (surprise, surprise), after resting only a couple of seconds on the head of the first-year.
To say that the other tables remained detached wouldn't be completely true, for there was a person among the Gryffindors who was miserably trying not to sulk. And said person's name happened to be also Black. More specifically, Sirius Black.
"Well, you know-"
"I don't want to talk about it James." Sirius said firmly, and for the rest of the evening he didn't speak and his friend didn't try to make him do so. Just as they were leaving the Great Hall, Sirius said through gritted teeth, "If the Slug Club meetings won't be fun now…"
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It was a cold Saturday evening of September and Remus was sitting peacefully on his favourite couch in the Gryffindor common room, right next to the fireplace. A heavy book was sitting on his knees and a few parchments were scattered around him. Although school had only started a couple of weeks ago and the students of third year still didn't have too much homework, Remus simply loved books and reading. He would usually go to the Library to read, because it was the only place where his three best friends couldn't accompany him and make noise. But today they served detention (separately, mind you) after a well-played prank on a certain big nosed Slytherin git, involving a slippery floor and pink underwear, and the Gryffindor common room was a tolerable place for someone to read. Of course he was not as innocent as the teachers might have thought, but he surely was cleverer than his friends not to get caught.
After a couple of hours of reading though, he got a bit bored. It is amazing how he had grown used to his friends' ruckus, and how he would seek their company after a few hours of being all by himself. He closed his book, placed it carefully on the table and closed his eyes as he made himself comfortable on the couch.
"Hey, furry boy!"
Remus snapped his eyes open and turned around.
"I beg your pardon?" he asked James, confused, as the other boy sat next to him. Sirius and Peter followed James' example and they, too, sat on the couch, Sirius on the other side of Remus and Peter next to James.
"Well," began to explain James, "you didn't like the 'furry little problem' thing, nor the 'moon boy' thing, so I thought I should call you 'furry boy'! It's the combination of the two!" he declared proudly.
Remus rolled his eyes and decided it was time to ask the question he should've asked when this whole nickname-situation had began.
"First of all, wipe away that smug grin of yours! And second of all, why do you have to call me anything at all?"
"Because," said Sirius as if Remus was asking a ridiculous question, "it's funny and we are bored."
"I'm sorry to break it to you guys, but being a werewolf is certainly not funny!" Remus said as he glanced around him to make sure that no one was overhearing their conversation.
"Aww…come on, Rem! Live your life a bit! You're supposed to be mysterious and sneaky and, and…I dunno, deadly dangerous I guess."
"Sirius, mate, those are vampires you're describing," James said, rolling his eyes. "Werewolves are feral, ferocious and furry!"
"Then you should've been a vampire, Rem. They're more interesting…Oh! I know! I could be a vampire and then, we could hang out as dangerous and dark creatures!"
"Yeah, because hanging out as humans is impossible, Sirius!" Remus said to an over-enthusiastic Sirius. "Anyway, I'm sorry to inform you that werewolves don't get along with vampires. We generally don't like dead corpses walking around."
"Isn't that supposed to be an Inferi?" asked Peter confused. "What?" he said when he saw the others looking at him wide eyed, "I read it in the newspaper yesterday…"
"Ahem," Remus tried to catch the others' attention, "I daresay this conversation has gotten out of control. Lets make a few things clear. I'm a werewolf and my name is Remus. I happen to like it, my name that is. You are completely humans and that's that. I stay named Remus and you," he glared daggers at Sirius, "stay away from me during the full moon."
"What?!" Sirius asked-rather shouted, offended. "I just thought it would be interesting to see your…err… wolf self."
"Forget it, Sirius! I don't care how you do it, but get that idea out of your mind! The appropriate word here is not interesting, but dangerous! No human can approach me while I'm transformed! I could kill you, Sirius! Really kill you!"
"Okay calm down, Remus" said James patting Remus' back. "Anyway," he continued, "we still haven't solved the nickname problem. Do you think I could call you FFF?"
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Hogwarts, last week of September 1973Heavy clouds hung above Hogwarts. It had been raining for a good two hours now, and everything was wet and slippery. But James Potter didn't care.
The ground had turned into a big mud pool and the wind was quite chilly as it touched your skin and dried the mud on your clothes. But James Potter didn't care.
He didn't care, because he, yes he, James Harold Potter, had just been accepted in the Quidditch team. He was going to be playing for the Gryffindor Quidditch team as a seeker. Well, everything was almost perfect and he was in a great mood! His original plan was to be accepted as a chaser but the team had already three very good chasers, two of whom, very unfortunately, happened to graduate this year. That meant that next year two places would be open for a chaser and he would certainly be the one to win one of these two places. Yes, everything was almost perfect!
He got in the castle, not caring about the fact that Filch would skin him alive, should he find out the large mud stamps he left behind him. The reason he was covered in mud was that he fell from his broomstick. Now, James was an excellent Quidditch player, but when the Captain had announced that he was accepted in the team, he had been a bit overjoyed and forgot that you shouldn't leave your hands and legs from the broomstick. Thankfully, he had been only a few meters off the ground, so he hadn't been hurt.
As he approached the Portrait that indicated the entrance to the Gryffindor common room, he met two of his fellow Gryffindors. Two girls to be exact.
"Evans, Macdonald! I bid you both a nice afternoon! Isn't the weather just splendid?!" James' grin could not be bigger as he saluted Lily Evans and Mary Macdonald.
"Potter," began Lily, "are you ok?" Lily thought that this was perhaps the scariest and maddest grin she had ever seen.
"I'm fine! I'm perfect! And mind you, the Gryffindor Quidditch team is perfect now! You're looking upon the new seeker of the team. You can congratulate me now!" To say that he was smug would be an understatement.
"You've totally lost it…" said Lily and took Mary's hand and dragged her with her towards the Library.
James was not in the bit offended, well, maybe just a little disappointed that the girls did not appreciate the new acquisition of the team, but as stated before, nothing could ruin his mood today.
"Hey Triple F, Pete, Sirius," he greeted the boys as he took his seat next to them in the Gryffindor common room, "how are you this fine afternoon?"
Triple F-um, sorry, Remus groaned upon hearing James calling him once again with this ridiculous nickname and Sirius and Peter looked up from their game of chess.
"Wow, mate! You look dashing! What's the special occasion?" Sirius said in mock admiration.
"The special occasion is that I'M THE GRYFFINDOR TEAM'S SEEKER!!" James shouted and every head in the common room turned towards him and his grin, in return, became, if possible, even wider.
"Really? Congratulations mate! I would hug you, but…well, you know, I like being dry and clean!" said Sirius, and the other two boys got up and congratulated him too.
"So, that means that this year we are going for the Cup, huh?" asked Peter smiling brightly.
"Of course, Pete! They won't know what hit them!" James responded enthusiastically.
Remus sat down and continued reading his book. It was a muggle novel his parents had sent him a couple of days ago. Sirius and Pete went back to their game of chess and James decided it would be a good idea to take a shower. Before he could reach the stairs, Sirius' voice made him stop and turn back.
"OH SHIT!! I almost forgot…James!" shouted Sirius although James was just a few meters away, "Guess what!"
"What?" asked James rather stupidly. Sirius rolled his eyes and said: "Just guess!"
"Um…you saw your brother and he told you he's leaving school?" Okay maybe this was not the right comment to make. "Sorry, what did you want to tell me?"
Sirius' face darkened upon hearing about his brother, but shoved it off quickly. When Regulus had arrived in Hogwarts and had been sorted in Slytherin, he had decided to do the simplest thing (and paradoxically it happened to be the one thing that wouldn't get him in trouble): ignore his brother's existence. He didn't like talking about him, but he couldn't be angry with James, not about that.
"Well," started Sirius, a smile slowly creeping on his mouth, "I managed to do what you couldn't!" The smile then turned into a grin and Remus, for the second time, groaned loudly.
"Oh please, Sirius!" Remus begged his friend, "Can't we just forget it?"
"No we can't…Unless you like being called 'Triple F'!" stated Sirius and when Remus didn't respond, but just shook his head instead, he turned to James.
"I found a nickname for Remus!" Sirius declared proudly.
"What? But he already has one!" protested James, "it's 'Triple F'!"
"Oh please, James! Are you really proud about that stupid nickname? Mine is much better! I decided we should call him 'Moony'!" Sirius whispered the last word, because they had agreed that this nickname thing would be something among the four of them. "So, what do you think?"
"…"
"You like it!"
"No, I don't!"
"You do too!!" Sirius said happily.
"Let's vote!" shot James in reflex. "I vote for mine, obviously."
"Well, duh! I vote for mine!" said Sirius and then turned to Peter, "Which one do you vote for?"
Peter looked anxiously from James to Sirius. They were both looking through narrowed eyes at him. Peter actually thought that 'Moony' sounded a lot better than 'Triple F' but that was not the reason he voted for it. The actual reason is that he did not want to get on Sirius' bad side; he was afraid to experience such a thing.
"Um…I-I do think that 'Moony' sounds better…" he said, smiling apologetically at James.
"Fine! I'll remember that, Pete!" said James, "what about you, Remus?"
"I've already told you that I don't want any nicknames! How hard is to get that?"
"Remus, you need to realize one thing: your opinion doesn't really matter. You're getting a nickname whether you like it or not and then each one of us is also getting one!"
"We are?" James asked Sirius, confused.
"Of course we are! Now Remus, if you don't want to answer, James will keep calling you 'Triple F'-" Sirius made a disgusted face here that earned him a glare from James, "and me and Pete will be calling you 'Moony'! It's either having one or two. None is not an option," he added firmly.
"It's 'Pete and I' first of all," that made the other three boys roll their eyes, "and I guess one is better than two, and sorry to hurt your feelings James, but 'Moony' is definitely much better than 'Triple F'…as long as no one else knows about it." Remus added as an afterthought.
"Fine!" said James, "fine! Pick them over me Remus!" James said pouting.
"Get over it, mate!" said Sirius grinning like a maniac, "I know you like it deep down!"
"Okay, I may like it, but I don't like you right now, Sirius!" James said and made his way to the dormitories to take a shower.
"Well," Peter said, "I think we can make him forget about it, by allowing him to find our nicknames."
"Do what you want, Pete, but I will never-never- allow him to find a nickname for me. He can find yours, but certainly not mine." Sirius informed Pete, at which the other boy just nodded, something he would regret, a lot, later…
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Hogwarts, November 1973"Remus…does it hurt?" Sirius asked one afternoon his tawny haired friend, as he sat beside him on his bed.
"Huh?" Remus asked unintelligibly, "What are you talking about?"
"The transformation, Rem. Does it hurt?"
"Oh" was all Remus managed to say. His back stiffened and his eyes were suddenly drawn by his hands that were holding a book very tightly. "I thought we had talked about that. I explained to you how the transformations are. It's quite painful."
"Yeah, I know. But, what I'm asking is…um… how-how do you feel? You know, before and after the transformation."
…pain, despair, misery, sadness, pain, disgust, fear, solitude, pain…
"Unwell."
"Unwell? Just that?" Sirius asked him in disbelief, "don't lie, Moony. You can trust me. I just…I wanna know, coz I'm worried."
Remus had been afraid that the day would come when his friends would ask him this kind of questions, but it was too soon, too soon. These were things he didn't want to admit to himself, these were things he avoided to think about. He couldn't face the truth by himself, so how was he supposed to voice them to someone else? But, then again, he thought, maybe that way it would be easier…
"Remus, are you still with me?" Sirius' voice brought back Remus in reality.
"Wha-? Oh, yeah, sorry I got distracted."
"How was your first transformation? Can I get to know that, at least?" Sirius asked his friend in a low voice.
"Well, I don't remember much. I told you I was only six when I got bitten. I do remember it was painful. My body was more fragile back then and I was not used to it. I was not expecting so much pain…Almost every bone of my body was broken and I had lost lots of blood. I wanted to cry but I wasn't even strong enough for that. Dad called a healer, coz he thought I was gonna die. It's a miracle I didn't, or that's what the healer said…I think that pretty much sums it up." finished Remus in a sad tone.
Sirius remained silent for a few moments. Mental images of small hands covered in blood and tears, lots of tears, in big, amber eyes went through his mind. "I'm sorry," he managed at last.
"Don't be," Remus told him with a much steadier voice, "it's not your fault. I'm kinda used to it now. I now what to expect."
"Isn't that worse?" Sirius asked him, "knowing what's going to happen and living with the agony of this knowledge?"
Frankly, Remus was impressed. Sirius was thought to be shallow and self-centred. But Remus knew that this was not true; he just didn't bother to care about people who meant nothing to him. And right now, Sirius had proved him right, since he had described perfectly Remus' feelings, and that meant that he cared enough to see into the other boy.
"Stop worrying, Sirius. I told you, I'm almost used to it now." But Remus' tone told Sirius that this was a lie. A lie directed not to him but to Remus himself.
"I do worry, so tell me. Please?" Sirius rarely used this word, but when he did it, it was about something of great importance.
"I…Well, fine! I feel pain, okay? Lots of pain. Not just physically. I mean I can feel the wolf taking control over my mind and that's the worse! I can feel my self getting lost and that's what scares me the most! And when I wake up, the following morning…well, let's just say that I'm sick of my own blood. I'm always afraid that something went wrong, someone got hurt…And I feel tired. Tired of this mess, you know?"
"No, Rem, I don't know, but I try to understand," Sirius said as he placed his arm over Remus' shoulders, "we will help you. I promise we will!"
Remus couldn't help himself and left a chuckle escape his mouth. His friends were so naïve, but oh-so-adorably so. "You can't Sirius, but thanks anyway."
"Don't you dare underestimate me and James! We are the cleverest students in Hogwarts! Natural geniuses you know!"
"Don't try to be so modest, Sirius, someone might think your ego doesn't even exist…" said Remus ironically, but only to lighten the atmosphere. He knew that his two friends were indeed naturally brilliant, but he knew that they were stupidly reckless too. He was afraid that, should he encourage them, they could get in real trouble and even put themselves in danger.
"Well, it's getting late. I should be going. James's gonna kill me if I'm late. You sure you don't wanna come?" Sirius asked him as he got up.
"Yes, I'm sure Sirius. You know, blowing up a toilet is not the most discreet thing in the world, and I'm not in the mood to be running away from Filch tonight."
"The moon, huh?" Sirius said simply, avoiding, ever so elegantly, the jab about Filch.
"Yeah," Remus replied while looking out of the window to the retreating sun. "It's tomorrow night and I'm feeling a bit…unwell. Try to be back before the curfew, though!"
"Yes, mum!" Sirius said, rolling his eyes. And just before he exited the dorm, he turned to Remus and said, "honestly Rem, if you keep this behaviour up, you'll end up a Prefect…" and then added, his voice barely a whisper "…what a shame…!"
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