Day 5 and so the final day of my Midterm Marathon! And so the plot begins! TBC next week. . .


Chapter Nine

Fourth Year at Hogwarts

~ Remus Lupin ~
"Sariah! Sariah!"

Sariah and I turned around in surprise as a figure came dashing up the street after us. I squinted at the person, and immediately dropped my arm from Sariah's shoulder as I recognized Maran. My eyesight was better than hers, after all; all my senses were heightened in preparation for the full moon.

Sariah gave me a curious look, but it disappeared as Maran came to a stop in front of us.

I knew at once by the small sneer on his face that he had seen me holding Sariah, and stepped ever so slightly forward, ready to interfere if Sariah and Maran started arguing again. Or, at least, ready to hold Sariah back before she punched Maran or hexed him. I hadn't been on the short end of her hexes often, but I had seen the bloody and painful results in the Gryffindor boys' room after every prank where James and Sirius had been foolish enough to get within arm's length of her.

Fortunately, they learned fast.

"Finally found you," Maran said, his breath coming in short gasps. "'Kay, look, Sariah. I'm sorry for yelling, but I've got something really cool to show you. Meet me at the end of the road that starts at the Hog's Head."

"The Hog's Head?" Sariah repeated in a tone of surprise.

But Maran didn't stop or even hesitate to answer her question, dashing off again.

My eyes narrowed in suspicion. It wasn't like Maran to run like that, as though a pack of wolves were chasing him. And it wasn't like him to not throw any verbal jabs at me either while he was at it.

Sariah, however, looked thoughtful.

That made me nervous. This was our fourth year; the rest of the Marauders and I had explored a lot around Hogsmeade, but for some reason we had never quite fully scouted over there. James had said vaguely that he was waiting until later, for some unknown reason that only Sirius and he knew. It's not that it was dangerous. But it was far; that much I knew very well.

And, predictably, Sariah started to go after him.

After I got over my initial shock that she actually knew where it was, I caught her arm as she made to follow Maran.

"Sariah, are you sure about this?" I hissed.

She threw an annoyed look over her shoulder. "Remus, I'm not a baby," she said firmly. "So please don't treat me like one. Like, right about now."

"The area he's suggesting you visit is dangerous," I retorted. "It's almost beyond the borders of Hogsmeade, and if we get into trouble, we'd be a very long way from Hogwarts."

"Well, I trust you and your brilliant mind can come up with enough defensive spells, Remus," Sariah said dryly. "Your mind has certainly come in handy when you play pranks on the rest of us and get away with it half the time."

I flushed. I guess I'm not going to win this battle. Sariah and I had argued thousands of times by now over various subjects, and the winner varied depending on the disagreement. After two years of this, it had become an unspoken agreement that the loser concede after losing a certain amount of ground to the other.

And I had just lost that ground.

"Fine," I said with a sigh. "But I'm coming with you this time."

~ Sariah Alycone ~
"Are you all right, Remus?" I asked worriedly.

Remus was currently pacing back and forth, as he had been doing for the last ten minutes that we had been waiting here. I was very surprised that he hadn't plowed a row where he was walking back and forth in the dirt; perhaps he needed sharper shoes. His hands were behind his back and his expression was tense.

"Yes," Remus snapped, turning around sharply.

I stepped back in surprise as I saw his eyes flash in annoyance, for a moment suddenly green-gold in color.

Wait, green-gold eyes?

I stared at Remus, my worries increasing tenfold. Remus had blue eyes, not green-gold eyes. What was more, it was rare for Remus to snap at anybody, much less me, like he just had.

Remus seemed to realize that his actions had been out of line, because he stopped pacing and faced me. "Sorry, Sariah, I'm just . . ." His voice trailed off when he noticed me staring at him, and he asked self-consciously, "Is there something wrong with me?"

I shook my head silently, not sure if Remus's eyes really had turned green-gold or if that was just my imagination overreacting.

Remus crossed his arms, one of his eyebrows rising upward. "You're a really bad liar, Sariah," he said, the corners of his mouth turning up momentarily in amusement – and in a very welcome relief from his anger.

"I – I don't know," I said slowly, ignoring the verbal jab that normally would have had me ready to hex him. "But – Remus, did your eyes just turn green-gold?"

Remus's blue eyes widened in surprise at the same time that his arms dropped back to his sides. "You're – You're sure that my eyes turned – turned green-gold?" he asked nervously, his face suddenly as pale as I'd ever seen it.

"I was hoping you could tell me that, Remus," I returned softly.

"Well, well, well, what have we here?"

Remus spun around, his wand appearing seemingly out of nowhere in his right hand. I jumped in shock as a man walked slowly into view. I saw Remus immediately take a step backward and to the side so that he was partially shielding me from any spells that might be cast. With a nervous glance at the man, I drew my own wand.

"What do you want?" Remus asked. His voice did not shake or possess any heat, but I still heard an underlying threat in his tone, warning the intruder to keep his distance.

The man ignored the threat, continuing to walk forward. "What I want is no trouble. From either of you," he added, coming to a stop.

I heard a series of pops and other men walked into view one at a time, silently joining the first. None pulled out wands, but I sensed Remus tense anyway. For my part, I quietly cast a Shield Charm. It wouldn't protect us from any serious curses or hexes, but it would give us some warning if the curse punched a hole in the shield first.

Remus took another step backward and raised his wand higher.

"Leave us alone," he said softly, but his voice carried to the group with an unmistakable aura of threatening and warning.

I admired his cool; for my own personal part, I was absolutely terrified inside right now.

The first man grinned. "Hear him? 'Us'. Have you chosen a mate yet, boy, or she it?"

I saw Remus's eyes flash in anger, growing cooler and darker by the syllable. "She is no one's mate," he spat, his voice suddenly harsh and grating. "It is her choice to make. And it is none of your business."

"Now it is," the first man rasped. "Stupefy!"

The jet of light flew towards us, but Remus was faster. "Protego!" he shouted, and the spell rebounded at the group, who all scattered out of its way.

"Run!"

Remus seized my hand and we fled from the scene. I cast a glance over my shoulder – the men were following. Then Remus stopped abruptly as three men appeared right in front of us. Before I could do more than gasp in surprise, his arm slid around my waist, jerking me against him as he raised his wand.

Startled and confused, I glanced up at Remus. His eyes were flashing, and to my horror, flashing alternately from blue to green-gold and back again.

The first man stepped forward again. "Release her, boy," he commanded.

The men around him pointed their wands at us – no, not at me. They were pointing them at Remus. They were aiming straight for his face, and I was sure that if I wasn't in the way, they'd aim straight for his heart as well.

They want me, I realized.

Then I realized, with sickening anguish, Oh my god, I brought Remus straight into this trap. Now they'll kill him.

"No." The way Remus said the word scared me – he almost growled the word, as though he wasn't truly human. "Leave her alone." The words cracked and snapped like a whip, harsh and powerful, and I almost expected the men to flinch back.

"Ah." The man sneered. "Too close to the time, isn't it? Already the wolf is rising, isn't he? Wants to claim his mate, doesn't he?"

What?

I glanced up at Remus again, but his eyes were trained on this man. His arm was still tight around my waist, making his body a shield for me.

"Well, I'll make this simple for you, boy. You can walk away, or be hexed."

Remus's grip tightened, and this time he actually let loose a feral growl. "My answer is still no," he spat.

Then he shifted ever so slightly, so that his mouth was closer to my ear. "Sariah," he murmured, so quietly I had trouble hearing it. "Sariah, when I act, I want you to run. Run as fast as you can, and get away from here. And bring help, if you can."

"What?" I hissed back as quietly as I could, careful not to look at him and give away the game. "I'm not leaving you alone with them, Remus!"

"Yes, you are."

The man took another threatening step, teeth bared in an awful smile, hand raised to point or grab, I knew not –

"Now, Sariah!"

And before I could protest, he shoved me to the side and exclaimed, "Stupefy!"

~ Fenrir Greyback ~
I didn't even flinch as the boy shot a spell straight at me. I knew that the protective enchantments we had cast beforehand were more than enough to protect us against any spells either of the children cast.

What I didn't expect was for the boy to yield his mate.

But his intention became clear when she turned tail and fled, casting only a single glance backwards at the boy.

Fool, I thought.

She wouldn't get far. The boy's gesture, while noble, was useless – his mate would be captured one way or another, and I wasn't shy of hurting the boy either. Both would feel extreme agony when we tortured the other.

As soon as the boy's spell faded, one voice shouted, "Crucio!" at the same time another exclaimed, "Expelliarmus!"

The boy's wand went flying at the same time that he collapsed and raw screams filled the air as the Cruciatus Curse took its toll on the boy.