Disclaimer: I've written enough of these by now to know that I (unfortunately) do not own the people, places and situations of the Harry Potter universe. Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling, Warner Brothers, Scholastic Books and Bloomsbury Publishing Plc and I'm not affiliated with any of the aforementioned. I am making $0 from this fic.
Summary: The mystery illness of Remus Lupin, dreams, Quidditch and prophecy.
Authors Note: Sorry it took so long, but I have been suffering from writer's block. Fortunately (for those of you who enjoy the fic, anyway), I have a cold and am home sick. I hade winder. Rough translation - I hate winter. And it's not even really winter yet, it's still autumn! (I live in Australia.) I don't really hate winter, just colds.
Also, I have another reason why I didn't write this chapter earlier, and some good news. I have just been accepted as a columnist with my Harry Potter column S. P. I. W. - The Society for the Promotion of Issue Welfare. I don't know when my debut is, but I have been accepted!
I owe a huge thanks to lots of people out there. First of all, I'd like to give a massive thanks to my devoted readers. When I see the same people reviewing all the new chapters, it makes me feel that I'm doing what I'm trying to do (that is, entertain).
So, a huge thanks to Lyndred, Amanda "Scary Girl" Mancini, Dog Stars Crush and Aira (and anyone I may have forgotten, I'm sorry!). Also, thanks to all the people out there who come back each time they see there's a new chapter, and the people with me on Authoralert. (All 16 of you!)
I've had a few guesses as to who the Founders' Four are, both in reviews and in emails. Some of them are close, some of them not so close. I'm glad you're interested enough to start trying to figure out the prophecy.
On to the chapter. Please review, and as always, enjoy!
"This wizard," said a tall man to his companion. "What did she say about him?"
The witch with him, attractive and elegant, with a wise face and eyes that had depths of knowledge in them that could only come from years of hardship, turned away from the window overlooking the lake.
"He will be powerful." She sighed, a wistful expression in her eyes. "Oh, for the days before this war, for the times when we could all work in harmony for the greater good of the wizarding world." Her face darkened, and the lines of constant suffering settled on her brow. Her companion stepped to her side and put an arm around her shoulders.
"I know, my friend," the man said, his golden eyes piercing the depths of her blue. "We all wish for such times again, and if we are to prevent the children of the future from growing in the same atmosphere of fear our own sons and daughters know, we must find out all we can." The witch turned to him and smiled.
"I know." She let out another long, mournful sigh and turned back to the window, staring out over the grounds, where a golden-haired witch was instructing a group of students in the magical art of Herbology. "She told me that he will be powerful. There will only be one in his time of greater skill and power than he, and it is this wizard who will provide the opportunity for Slytherin's Heir to be destroyed."
The wizard shook his head slowly, his hand resting on the hilt of the sword that hung by his side. He flicked his unruly hair from his face, but it flopped back into his eyes as soon as he took his hand away, glistening black in the sunlight filtering through the clouds and in the window.
"Is there any other way to tell who he is?" he asked, his eyes earnest. The witch smiled sadly, like one who has seen ceaseless suffering, yet fought for its ending.
"You really care about this, don't you?" she asked, her eyes shining with moisture. She sighed once more. "He will name himself a Lord, and his followers will call him one. In time, the ordinary people will also know him as Lord, but they will call him the Lord of Darkness. He will attack ruthlessly, even so far as to attempt to take over a school, and kill innocent children.
"In other words," her companion said slowly, "He's not just bad. He's merciless, and even worse, he's got loyal followers."
The witch nodded.
"Unfortunately, I know she wasn't exaggerating. Most people, she says, will think it's a good idea to get their children out of the country and as far away from this wizard as possible.
"A Dark wizard who crowns himself Lord. What hope can the magical world have?" She shook her head slowly, frustration showing clearly in her gaze.
"Only that which we can give them."
Raven awoke with a start. He stared across at the inside of the hangings of his bed, and for a moment he was unsure why he felt so disquieted. Then with a rush, he remembered. He leapt from his bed and rushed to the window, staring out across the grounds as the woman had done. The Herbology class had been just there, by the greenhouses, except there had been no buildings in the dream.
What was happening? Why did he keep having dreams with the same woman in them? And that man, he had been in the last dream as well. Who were they? Why wouldn't they leave him alone?
And what was the significance of what they had said? They had been discussing some wizard ... Slytherin's Heir, they said. He frowned and walked back to his bed. As he sat gently on the bed, he leapt up again and paced back to the window.
What did this all mean?
"Merlin's beard, Raven! Honestly, d'you think you could walk across the room a few more times?"
Raven didn't bother saying anything to Black; he didn't even turn and glare at him. He just shook his head, unable to comprehend what was happening.
He had an unpleasant feeling powers greater than himself were at work.
Gryffindor played Ravenclaw in late October. Lily felt that it was only her duty to go to the game; with James, Sirius and Anita all playing, how could she not?
She was sure that if she had been a wild Quidditch fan, she would have enjoyed the match greatly. Anita, Sam and Arnold worked together almost flawlessly as a team. They had worked out a pattern of attack that, although it seemed the same, must have had a variation each time, for Salvine Johssone was having trouble catching the Quaffle.
Rohan Dua certainly looked displeased as he called the team together for time out. After a quick, terse-looking huddle, the team remounted and play commenced again.
However, Ravenclaw were still winning easily after another half hour of play. A Bludger crashed into James just as he was about to score, causing him to shout something at Felix Polis. It looked as though Gryffindor could not win.
Arabella suddenly leapt to her feet beside Lily.
"Look!" she cried, pointing. Lily did so, and she saw Rohan reach out into apparently empty air and snatch the glittering Snitch, clinching the game not for Ravenclaw, but for Gryffindor.
The stands around Lily exploded with a cacophony of whoops, cheers and hollers. It looked like the season was off to a good start for both teams.
Sirius and James did not look so pleased when they returned to the Common Room. The team's win had not put them ahead of Slytherin, and, Lily overheard them telling a sympathetic Remus and Peter, Rohan had not been pleased with the team's performance.
Lily shook her head and took out her copy of the prophecy. She pored over it, tapping it with her quill at the puzzling points.
"Who," she said quietly, so absorbed in the prophecy that she did not realise she was speaking aloud, "is Slytherin's Heir?"
"What?" Raven exclaimed, dropping the textbook he was holding. He bent to pick it up, and turned to Lily, his bright blue eyes wide. "What did you say?"
"Nothing," Lily said, shaking her head earnestly, leaning towards him to shield the prophecy from his view. She could see that he didn't believe her. What was his sudden interest in Slytherin's Heir?
She watched him walk away, puzzled. What interest could Raven have in this whole affair? Lily sighed, picked up the prophecy and crossed the common room, walking down the twisting corridors that led to the library.
She was so deep in thought that she didn't see Bastion. He stopped just before she ran into him.
"Lily?" She looked up, and started.
"Sorry, Professor! I almost ran into you!" He gave her a reassuring smile.
"Dat is all right, Lily. Tell me," he continued, glancing quickly to either side, "'ave you made any progress?"
Lily shook her head solemnly. Bastion sighed.
"Alas, it is a very cryptic and convoluted prophecy. I 'ave also 'ad no progress." Lily nodded her agreement. "'Owever," he continued, studying her keenly, "you may 'ave more 'ope than me. Many of the clues seem to be based on personality, and there, you 'ave de advantage in dat you know de personalities of your year mates."
He smiled again, and Lily opened her mouth to ask him about Slytherin's Heir, but he shook his head, looking over her shoulder. She turned, and saw Alkalli walking towards them. She nodded slightly to Bastion, understanding that he obviously didn't want anyone to know about the work being done on the prophecy. She walked past him up to the library, sat down with the prophecy in front of her, and sighed.
Bastion was right. The prophecy was cryptic. What hope did two second-year witches have of solving it? She shook her head sadly, going back over the parchment one more time.
This was impossible. What link did a castle have to something whose antics were flighty in a churchyard? What did it mean by 'united child of one told to fly'? She frowned, staring at the written words that were proving to be her worst adversary.
Some of it was all right, she admitted to herself. The bit about a facade was simple enough - someone in the year who acted differently to how they really felt.
Maybe if I start there, she thought. She began running through names in her mind, but she could find no one who matched the description in the prophecy. She read back over those two lines again.
The third's looks belie the heart inside,
Which through a facade they try to hide.
No. There was no one. She sighed, picked up her parchment and retreated to the common room.
It was peaceful in the common room that afternoon. Remus was curled up in an armchair, fast asleep; Sirius and James were playing chess quietly, (which, Sirius had to admit, was unusual); Peter sat watching them, occasionally giving a helpful hint to one or the other; Arabella sat curled in a chair, reading; Lily watched the boys.
After a tense half-hour, Sirius won the chess game, and James set up to play Peter, who very quickly proved victorious. Sirius turned to Remus and frowned, seeing that his friend was deeply asleep.
Remus looked pathetic. His face was grey and he looked exhausted, even as he slept. Sirius turned to James, puzzled.
"What's up with him? He was the first one to go to bed last night!" he hissed. James shrugged. Peter frowned.
"He's been really sleepy lately," he said worriedly. "He almost went to sleep in Potions on Friday."
"Who wouldn't?" Sirius said darkly, but he could see Peter's point. Remus would never fall asleep in class. "Why am I getting a feeling of déja vu?" he added in an undertone to James and Peter.
"Because," James said slowly and thoughtfully, "he was tired before he did his little disappearing act last month. We just didn't connect the two." He frowned.
"And last year, too!" Peter exclaimed, his eyed wide. "Remember? We thought he was sick or something, because he was always so tired!" He glanced between his two friends, who nodded their agreement.
"Maybe he has some chronic illness," Sirius suggested. Remus stirred and his eyelids flickered open. He stifled a yawn and looked around. Suddenly he stopped, and sat up with a start.
"What time is it?" he said frantically, his eyes wide with what looked like pure terror. He was biting very hard on his lower lip, and Sirius was sure it must be paining him.
"I'm not sure," James said, shrugging. "Late-ish."
"Is it sunset?" Remus squealed, his voice cracking with obvious fear. Sirius, James and Peter shot each other confused glances. Sirius shook his head.
"I'm not sure. Maybe," he said. Remus looked stricken. "What's up?"
"Let me out!" Remus cried, leaping from his chair and fleeing through the portrait hole out into the corridor, leaving his three friends and most of Gryffindor house looking at each other with bemused expressions on their faces.
"Come on!" Sirius cried after a moment of stunned silence. He turned and bolted after Remus, through the portrait and up the corridor. He could vaguely hear James and Peter following him. He could see Remus ahead, and put on an extra burst of speed.
"Remus!" he hollered as they turned a corner and he saw his friend still in front of him. Remus gave no reply, so Sirius ran even faster.
Finally, he managed to grab Remus' cloak and stop him. He turned to Sirius with a haunted, betrayed look in his eyes.
"Let me go," he said quietly. Sirius noticed that his friend wasn't even panting, while he had to bend over almost double to get enough breath to speak.
"No," he panted. "Not - after - that." James and Peter stopped and stood next to Sirius, also breathing heavily. Remus glanced quickly from one to the other of them, looking exactly like a cornered animal searching for a means of escape.
"You don't understand!" he moaned, tears springing to his eyes. "I have to go!"
"Where?" Sirius asked, a little harsher than he'd intended. Remus was chewing on his lip again.
"Remus - what's - wrong?" James asked softly, in between gulps of air. Remus let out a sob.
"I ... can't ..." he moaned. "Just let me go!" He looked frantic.
"No, Remus," James replied sympathetically. "We're - your friends. We can't - just let - this go."
"You have to," Remus moaned pitifully. James, Sirius and Peter regarded him with sceptical expressions.
"Let me go!" A harsh, guttural snarl escaped Remus' lips, and a sudden mad glint was in his eyes. Sirius, James and Peter all took an involuntary step backwards, and Remus fled between them, down the corridor, with a speed they could not hope to match.
"If we can't catch him, let's at least follow him!" James cried, finally having regained his breath. The three boys raced madly after Remus, who ran even faster.
"He's - going - into - the - grounds!" Sirius panted as Remus led them at a wild pace down a staircase and leapt over a trick stair. James shot Sirius a puzzled look, then nodded. Remus shot a frenzied glance over his shoulder as he hauled on the doors that led into the grounds.
By the time he had opened them, Sirius, James, and Peter had almost caught up with him. With a final, wild burst of speed he eluded them, slamming the doors behind him.
Sirius, James and Peter began tugging at the door handles as one, and they opened much quicker for them than they had for Remus. The three boys raced into the twilit grounds, searching frantically for any sign of their friend in the gathering darkness.
He was gone.
"Where ..." Sirius began, taking huge gulps of air, but his words were cut short by a blood-curdling howl that rang out from near a young tree by the Forbidden Forest. He felt the hairs rising on his neck and turned to James and Peter.
"What - was that?" Peter asked in a trembling voice.
"It sounded like ... a wolf," James said slowly, having caught his breath. He looked uncertainly around. Sirius' eyes widened. He shot a glance into the sky, and raised a trembling arm to point at the round, golden moon that hung low in the sky.
"It's a full moon," he said softly. "That wasn't any ordinary wolf."
James and Peter turned to him with wide, frightened eyes.
"That was a werewolf," he said slowly. The colour drained from Peter's face. James' hand flew to his mouth.
"What about Remus?" he asked frantically. "We chased him out here, and there's a werewolf on the loose!" Sirius gulped, and Peter looked terrified absolutely out of his mind.
There was an uncomfortable silence, punctuated only by another long, lonesome howl from near the tree.
"Cccc ... Come on!" Peter mumbled, tugging on James and Sirius' arms. "I ... It's over there!" Sirius shook his head.
James wouldn't move.
"Hang on," he said quietly, sounding as though he had just discovered something he wished he hadn't. "Remus was ill this time last month. Remember? It was on a Saturday. What if ..." He cleared his throat. "What if Remus is the werewolf?"
Sirius and Peter stared at him, aghast.
"It makes sense," he continued. "I mean, who'd tell their best friends that they're a werewolf? And he was really upset that it was so late, and he's been so tired ..."
"And it would explain why we couldn't find him in the hospital wing on the nights he'd gone missing," Sirius said slowly. "I think you're right."
"And now ..." James' voice trailed off and his eyes widened. "Remus or not, there's a werewolf loose in the grounds! We have to tell someone!"
The three boys raced back into the castle, making sure they shut the doors behind them. They ran at a hectic pace back to Gryffindor Tower, then paused outside the portrait hole, trying to decide what to do.
Voices filtered towards them from down the corridor.
"Where could he be, Aramis? He's never missed coming to me before! I've searched the entire castle, and some girls coming out of Gryffindor Tower told me he's not in there, either!" Madam Pomfrey said in a frantic tone that was unfamiliar to all the boys.
"I do not know, Poppy," came Bastion's easily recognisable voice. The two of them turned a corner and came face to face with Peter, James and Sirius.
"Boys!" Bastion said, hurrying towards them. "'Ave you seen Mr Lupin?"
They exchanged guilty glances and all began talking at once.
"He went to sleep ..."
"Ran away ..."
"The grounds ..."
"Boys!" Bastion cried, raising his hands in the air. They stopped talking. "Where is he?"
Sirius took a deep breath and explained what had happened. Bastion and Madam Pomfrey listened intently. When he had finished his tale, Bastion nodded slowly.
"You say the 'owls came from near de Whomping Willow? De little tree near de Forest?" Sirius nodded. "Did it sound as dough dey might 'ave been coming from beneath it?" The boys exchanged uncertain glances.
"I guess so," James said awkwardly. "I mean, they were all muffled ..."
Bastion and Madam Pomfrey looked at each other briefly, and relief was plain on their faces.
"It's all right, then!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed. Bastion nodded.
"What's going on?" Sirius demanded. "Is our best friend a werewolf?"
"Dat is for Remus to tell you, and Remus only," Bastion said slowly. "Dank you, boys, you 'ave been most helpful."
Bastion and Madam Pomfrey turned and walked hurriedly away, leaving Sirius, James and Peter staring after them, confused.
