Moon Howling
Chapter 10 – Plotting
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Remus sighed as he lugged his trunk up the stairs to the dorm – that was one problem with arriving late to school. They didn't take the luggage inside. Noting to himself that he only felt like biting anyone that crossed his path because the full moon had just passed, he calmed the animalistic urges to do so. Man, even the slightest problems spark my temper after the full moon. Imagine if Sirius were a werewolf… He almost laughed as he kicked open the door, and pushed the trunk into the room. He straightened himself up as he came inside the second-year's dorm, wiping his forehead off with his sleeve. He paused then, blinking as his gaze landed upon what used to be his bed.
"There's a toad on my bed," he said quietly.
Sirius looked up from his new Quidditch magazine, and shrugged. "Yeah. Don't touch it either. It's adapted a taste for human flesh."
"And so you gave it my bed!?"
James rose an eyebrow as he peered over the top of his Potions essay. "Of course not, Remus. Now be quiet, I didn't do my summer homework."
"And whose fault is that, hm?" Remus snapped.
James winced, and went back to his essay. Sirius sighed, putting the magazine aside. "Look, if the bed's that big of a deal, you can talk to the kid that swiped it…"
"Swiped it! It's my bed! We're the only Gryffindor second-years! It's my bed, and I want it back!"
Remus was fuming. He didn't understand it, himself. It was just a bed, after all. He'd slept on worse. But maybe it was just the principle of the thing.
"Well, then, by all means, murder the bloody git that took it," Sirius replied cooly.
James' eyes widened. "Sirius Black! Don't you - !"
"Oh, shut up, James. He's allowed to be teased by it once in awhile," Sirius retorted, cutting the other boy off.
"I don't care what you say about me. What bloody git took my bed?" Remus yelled over their altercation.
"I did," Peter said quietly, now standing in the doorway. Silently, he shuffled over to the bed, scooping the toad into his arms and wincing as it bit his thumb. "I'll move, I'm sorry…"
Remus' glanced at the boy, giving him a once-over. He was short and fat, to say the least. Light brown hair clung to his head in clumps, falling down into his eyes and remaining forever untamed. His clothes were a smidgen too small but his robes were brand new. He stood in front of Remus, stroking the toad's back with one finger, making a pained face every time the toad retaliated by snapping at him.
"They had too many first-years in Gryffindor, and since Sirius is practically my cousin, they thought it'd be all right for me to stay with the second-years, but if it's a problem, I can sleep in the common room…" the younger boy went on.
Sirius rolled his eyes, clambering off of his bed. "Oh, shut up, Peter. You weren't that shy before. Keep the daft bed. Remus, there is an extra one over there, by James, you know."
Remus glanced towards the corner of the room, and saw the fourth bed for the first time. He blushed, a sense of stupidity washing over him. He nodded and tugged his trunk towards the last remaining bed. Peter sat down on what was now his bed, pouting.
"And quit pouting, you git. Vince isn't here to protect you now, so get used to it," Sirius snarled.
Peter sighed, laying the toad back on the bed. "Sirius, why don't you ever leave me alone?" he asked quietly.
Sirius didn't answer, but merely went back to his bed, immersing himself in Teen Quidditch once again.
Remus watched the exchange with mild interest as he unpacked his suitcase, laying his wand on the nightstand. "You never told me you had a cousin, Sirius," he said.
Sirius growled. "He's not my cousin."
"Oh?"
"No. We're…foster-brothers, if that. I prefer to claim no relation whatsoever."
Peter frowned. "Daddy says we're cousins!"
Sirius rolled his eyes. "He only says that because he knows you're too stupid to believe anything else."
Peter looked hurt. "But he says I'm smart…"
The eyes went heavenward this time. "Peter, would you just shut up and go talk to the rest of the first-years? We have stuff to do."
"No, I won't, because none of them like me. They don't know me, anyway."
Remus slammed his trunk closed, and crossed the room to Peter. "Well, then how do you know that they don't like you?" he asked the stout boy.
Peter glanced up at Remus with nothing less than contempt. "Because they didn't talk to me," he said. He peered at Remus as though he were nothing more than a house-elf.
Remus stiffened, forcing back his rising temper, and held his chin high. "That doesn't mean anything, Peter. You have to introduce yourself."
Peter scuffled his toe along the floor, head now bowed in what appeared to be chagrin. "But…I don't know how."
"Oh, for heaven's sake! Remus, just ignore him!" Sirius crowed, slapping the Quidditch magazine down again.
Remus glanced sideways at Sirius, but ignored him. "Well, then, I'll do it. C'mon, Peter." He didn't wait to hear Sirius' outburst or see James' look of disbelief, but headed straight for the door, turning back to the room only to check that Peter was following him.
He led Peter down the stairs to the common room, and scanned the room for any first-years.
"You know, Sirius only wants to get rid of me, that's the only reason he told me to talk to the stupid first-years. You don't have to do this," Peter said, wringing his hands together.
Remus sighed, glancing back at the boy. "Would you quit whining for a minute? Just a single minute?"
Peter quieted then, his gaze falling towards the floor. "You don't like me, either."
Remus paused, fighting his temper back for the umpteenth time that day. "That's not true. I never said I did or didn't, so don't assume. I've had a bad day, that's all. Besides, I have a reason to harbor animosities towards you. You took my bed, didn't you?" He smirked slightly.
Peter snapped his head up. "But I said you could have it back!"
Remus waved his hand in the air, and shrugged. "And I said it was no problem. So be quiet, I was only teasing - Hey! You're a first-year, aren't you?" He grabbed the attention of a small red-haired boy. The boy nodded curiously. "This is Peter….er…"
"Pettigrew," Peter supplied.
"Right. Peter Pettigrew. He's a first-year, but he hasn't had the chance to introduce himself."
"That's just….great," the boy said. He offered a watery smile and then continued on his way.
"See! I told you that they don't like me!" Peter wailed.
Remus was about to roll his eyes a la Sirius, but caught himself. "It's just one kid. Maybe he's a snob."
"Snobs are in Slytherin," Peter piped up, toying with a thread on his sweater.
"Not all of them."
"Yes, they are, Daddy said so."
Remus finally allowed himself to roll his eyes and headed back toward the stairs. "Look, Peter, if you're so determined that everyone hates you, just become a hermit and save us all the trouble, all right?"
Peter blinked.
'Oh, smooth, Remus. Destroy the poor kid's self-esteem, why don't you?
' his mind chirped. The wolf shoved it aside. 'Kill the boy! Rip out his throat!'Remus shook his head wildly, ridding himself of the combatant forces. "Look, I'm sorry, Peter. But you needn't whine so much…or else people really won't like you."
Peter held his chin up, lower lip quivering as it had on the train, just the day before. "I don't have to take this," he said haughtily, before marching off to a chair before the fireplace. He plopped into it, oblivious to the scowls from the fourth-years that were headed in that direction. They quickly changed bearing, opting for the corner of the room.
Remus sighed, gazing after the boy for a time. He must not even know what friends are…he must be like me.
"Remus! Come on!" Sirius called down the stairs, head poking out of the second-years' doorway. "We have to talk!"
Remus turned silently, glancing up at Sirius. "I'm coming," he muttered.
"Vincent. The Black is not dead."
"I know, master. His time will come, never fear. I've already put my plan into action. He will be gone before the end of this school year."
"If he's not, you will be."
Vincent swallowed back thickly, choking back the fear that Voldemort's calm, even voice always conjured. It was still a mystery to Vincent what really frightened him the most: Voldemort's threats, or the way he acted as though they were nothing more than weather predictions. "Yes, master," he finally said.
Voldemort almost smiled, and was then gone from the fireplace with a pop! Vincent leaned back in his chair, sifting his hands through his dark hair absentmindedly.
"Great," he said to himself. "Now all I need is the plan."
He stood up, pacing back and forth in his small kitchen, glancing out the window as he passed it. It was dark out and the moon was beginning to wane – Lupin would have had to stay home for the first day of school. He sighed quietly, turning away as he lost himself in thought.
There was no way that he could get to Hogwarts, undetected. It was too risky. They knew his record. They knew.
He shook his head defiantly, relieving himself of the thought of cheeky old Dumbledore and the quirky faculty that he had detested ever since childhood.
Childhood…
He snapped his head up, grinning widely as a sudden thought occurred to him. "Of course! How could I be so stupid?" he cried out.
"Okay, so here's the plan. We need an empty classroom to practice in."
Remus raised an eyebrow as he watched Sirius pace back and forth across the room, waving a finger in the air as he thought out loud.
"We can't practice in here because we'd make too much noise, and because of that first-year."
James smirked. Sirius was beyond loathing Peter. He now refused to even call him by name.
"So if we could find one of those unused classrooms – they're everywhere! – we could just sneak off into there every night. We'd use your invisibility cloak, of course, James."
James' smirk vanished. "Who said I brought it with me, this year?"
Sirius' pacing halted. He turned to James slowly and deliberately, a calm yet apprehensive expression on his face. "James Howard Potter. If you didn't bring that cloak, I'm sorry, but I will be taking action against you. Most likely in the form of tar-and-feather, but my preferred method would be, of course, burning you at the stake!"
James kept a straight face. "Ah, but Sirius. You forget. I never said that I didn't bring it, either."
Sirius' shoulders drooped. "Shut up," he retorted.
James shook with laughter and fell back on his bed. Sirius looked on with a mock-confused expression. "I don't know what you're laughing at. This is a serious matter. Here, we have poor Remus with this cursed infliction, and you're laughing about a cloak, for heaven's sake!" Remus snorted, as Sirius had somehow incorporated a high-pitched squeak into his voice. However, when Sirius' hands found his hips and he pursed his lips in a prissy fashion, all three of them completely lost it.
It wasn't less than ten minutes before they were able to regain their stature, collapsed on the floor in a dog-pile (a/n: no pun intended). Remus' face had reddened and Sirius still wore a sideways smirk on his face. James sat up, taking off his glasses to wipe off the lenses.
"Okay, so, empty classroom, right? That should be easy enough," James said.
Remus sat up as well, licking his lips in thought. "Well, there is that old History of Magic classroom. Hardly anyone goes in there, except for Filch…"
Sirius rose an eyebrow, still sprawled on the floor. "Earth to Moon-boy. That's the only person we're concerned about, so that doesn't do us much good. We need a place that no one goes to anymore."
"Even Dumbledore?" James questioned.
"Even Dumbledore."
"Well, that'd be a bit harder, that is," Remus answered, clambering to his feet.
"My point exactly," Sirius voiced.
James climbed to his feet, and offered a hand down to pull Sirius up. Sirius took it, hauled himself upwards, and patted James on the shoulder. "Well, it's not like it's impossible, though," he continued.
Remus plopped down onto his new bed, yanking his wand off of the nightstand, and twirled it in one hand. "What about all those secret passages you found last year? Do they lead anywhere?"
Sirius shrugged, dusting himself off. "Just to Hogsmeade. We shouldn't use them too often, either, or someone else might catch on."
"Then I'm out of ideas. There isn't a classroom here that Filch doesn't know about!"
"Yes, there is," Peter said quietly.
All three of them whirled around. "T-there is, what?" Sirius stuttered.
"A classroom that Filch doesn't know about. It's on the third floor," he replied, matter-of-factly.
They gaped. "How do you know that?" Sirius questioned.
"Well, Daddy told me that he used to use it, with his friends, but it was enchanted, so no one could see it unless they already knew where it was. And I know where it is!" he finished off with a sing-song voice, grinning from ear-to-ear.
James, Sirius, and Remus all exchanged glances. James and Remus shrugged, and Sirius threw his hands up into the air. "Oh, what the hell!" he exclaimed. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but thank the Lord for Peter Pettigrew!"
A/N: All belongs to JKR except for Vincent…yadda yadda. For those of you wondering what happened to Remus in the prologue, that is coming up, promise. It'll probably start within the next….part or two. And pardon me for the "hell" – it just didn't seem too effective to have Sirius say "heck." Really. Um…don't expect any more parts really soon, 'cause my weekend's pretty backed up, but the week after that, maybe…*shrug*. Then again, just watch. I'll have another part up tomorrow, knowing me.
"Grandma got run over by a reindeer…"
