A/N So i found out that i have been spelling Emmeline wrong... it's with an 'e' not 'a'. So please forgive me of this horrid mistake:)
Disclaimer: Do I look like J.K?
Chapter 11
Poor Remus
James and Sirius were lounging around on the best armchairs- right next to the fire- when Remus walked through the Portrait Hole. He looked rather pale, so Sirius turfed Peter out of another armchair so he could sit down and James gave him some chocolate. Remus- who hadn't seen Peter get kicked off his chair- sat down and took the chocolate gratefully.
James and Sirius glanced at each other, then at Remus.
"What's up Rem-y-us?" asked Sirius, changing the name quickly
Remus smiled a tiny smile
"Nothing. It's OK…" began Remus before being cut off by James
"Don't be stupid Remus, you went to Dumbledore! Of course it was something seri- important" he finished with a pointed look at Sirius, who scowled at his attempt to not say his name.
Remus sighed, thinking quickly.
"Um, it's because, my…my mother, she's, ill, and I have to go see her… I am going on Friday night, coming back Sunday morning by floo." Said Remus, proud of his excuse
James and Sirius looked shocked.
"Wow, well, we're sorry to hear that Remus! Send our best OK?" said Sirius
Remus smiled.
"Yeah, thanks, I think I'll take an early night, is that alright?" asked Remus
"That's fine!" said James
Remus started to head up the staircase before he turned.
"Sirius? James? Can you, um, try not to spread it round?" he asked
James smiled "Wouldn't dream of it."
"G'night!"
"Night, Remus."
"Night Rem."
The next day Sirius, James and Remus headed down to breakfast, making only two mistakes. They had sat down next to Marlene and Frank, who had got down early.
"Hey guys, what've we got today?" asked James, interested
"Double Transfiguration, History of Magic and…" began Edgar, who was next to Frank.
"FLYING!" yelled Marley, so loud that nearby fifth-year Gryffindors jumped in surprise.
James and Sirius looked at each other in glee.
"Flying, YES! Finally! We'll need to train if we want to make the team next year won't we Sirius?" said James excitedly
"Yeah, wow, we'll be able to play Quidditch against other teams…" smiled Sirius dreamily
"What's Quidditch like exactly? I mean, I've come across it in a book somewhere, but…?" said Edgar
"Well…" began James before he was off, telling Edgar all about it, about the rules, positions and equipment, with Sirius and Marlene helping here and there.
"Wow." said Edgar finally, after twenty minutes of eager explanation.
By that time, most people had left and the rest of the Gryffindor first-years had already eaten and were patiently waiting.
"Um, guys?" asked Lily
"Yeah?"
"Transfiguration starts in about two minutes…"
"WHAT? WE HAVE TO GO…. LET'S GO!" yelled Sirius.
As one the first-years grabbed their bags and sprinted out of the hall.
Professor Dumbledore chuckled.
"BLACK! POTTER! WILL YOU PLEASE PAY ATTENTION?" shouted Professor McGonagall, quite loudly
Sirius and James looked up from their spark fight innocently.
"That's better! Honestly, you've done the work and think you can just muck about!" snapped McGonagall
"Sorry Miss." chorused Sirius and James
McGonagall closed her eyes and turned away, while sighing.
"The homework for people who have not achieved turning a match into a needle I want a detailed description of it, for those who have," she glared at James and Sirius, who had managed it finally. "I want a description of how to turn a stone into a woodlouse. This is for next lesson, on Thursday, it isn't hard, and I expect you to do it in about twenty minutes."
James rolled his eyes.
"Eh, that'll take ten minutes tops." He smirked
Sirius laughed.
Break came quickly, and the Gryffindor first-years huddled together in the courtyard, chattering about flying. Lily Evans, of course, had Snape with her. Everyone was blatantly ignoring him and vice-versa.
"I always flew around where I live, my Dad taught me, when he was at school, he was chaser and Captain. That's why I like chaser, it's in the genes I suppose." Said James, smiling
"No need to brag, 'oh so great' Potter." snarled Snape under his breath. Sirius heard him.
"Care to say that a little louder Snivellus?" Sirius snapped loudly. Everyone stopped talking and looked at Snape.
"I said 'There is no need to brag, oh so great Potter'. Obviously, you can do everything can't you?"
The Gryffindor first-years, minus Lily, glared at Snape with fury.
"How dare you say that? He wasn't bragging at all!"
"Yeah, anyway, he could beat you at anything with his eyes closed!"
"Honestly, he was just remarking that he and his dad like to play chaser, not that he should be Prime Minister!"
James' eyes brightened at his friends' actions for standing up for him. He cleared his throat.
"Don't worry guys, I know why he said that." James said, turning to Snape "He's just jealous of how we can play, and he can't!"
Snape glared "What? That's stupid! C'mon Lily, let's not hang out with these people anymore."
He turned and stalked off, expecting Lily to rush after him.
Lily, however, looked torn. She looked as though half of her wanted to run after Severus out of loyalty to him and the other to stay with James and the others because of what he said.
"I… I'm really sorry, about what he said, I'm sure he didn't mean it… I just have to go…" and with that Lily went running off.
James, Sirius, Grace and Marlene gaped in shock. Remus rolled his eyes, Peter looked confused and the others were just looking as though they had swallowed a lemon, a bag full of them.
"What in the name of Merlin? She… she has no loyalty to us! Only to him! That stupid, slimy, greasy -!" snapped Grace furiously
"Grace! She made her choice." interrupted Sirius dully
"Forget it guys, anyway, the bell's gone, Defence, remember?" said Remus
"Right… c'mon guys." said James distractedly.
They managed to get to Defence just as the bell went.
They all scurried into the classroom to get decent seats. Sirius jumped to a desk, accidently shoving a Ravenclaw out of the way.
"Ooooops – sorry!" grinned Sirius, plopping himself down on the desk.
The Ravenclaw glared at him and stalked off.
James sat down with a thump next to him
"I see that old Ravenclaw isn't amused."
Sirius rolled his eyes.
The door banged open. A bundle of parchment, books and paper floated ungracefully across the room. A pair of booted feet followed.
"Good morning class, please open your books to page 18 please and read the passage of what is a Beast?" came the muffled voice of their new Defence teacher.
There was hurried movement as they started flicking through, the teacher dumped the stuff onto the desk and picked herself up.
James looked in surprise. The teacher was very young, with chest-length honey coloured hair and a pretty heart-shaped face. She didn't wear robes, but a tunic-styled dress in bright Gryffindor red and a black belt.
The class, after ten minutes of silent reading, waited expectantly.
"Oh, well, um, I am Professor Birchwood; I am your Defence teacher for just this year -…"
"Why?" interrupted Sirius
Professor Birchwood smiled and looked at Sirius "Well, I am leaving at the end of the year so I can get married; we needed the money so I took up my dream of becoming a teacher before settling down."
Sirius raised an eyebrow "Settling down already? But you look like you've just come out of Hogwarts!"
Remus rolled his eyes while Grace stifled a laugh.
The Professor looked mildly surprised but replied normally.
"Well, yes I have only been three years out of Hogwarts but I really do want to settle down…"
"What house were you in Professor?" asked James
"I was in Ravenclaw, but mostly hung out with Gryffindors." She said
"Oh right."
"Right, first off, let's see what you have learned in the passage you have just read. Tell me, in a sentence only, what is a Beast?"
A few people raised their hands.
"Yes… Miss….?" She said to a girl with dirty blonde waist length hair, who was sat in the front row
"Ophelia Davidson, Professor," began the girl in a misty voice "The definition has been changed over centuries because of the three types of magical creature, like Werewolves," Remus stiffened slightly "Centaurs and Trolls. However Mr Muldoon decided that all beings were things that walked on two legs and every other thing is a beast. This conclusion did not work as when they had a meeting, Goblins – who have two legs – tried to bring as many two-legged creature as possible. They tried different ways, after this disaster, like saying beings were ones that cold only speak human tongue. Again, this did not work; they finally decided that beasts were the ones that could not understand the wizard laws. This was unfair as pixies, fairies and gnomes were put in the beast section. There has been a lot of discussion about this so there is not a definite answer."
The class stared at Ophelia. Sirius let out a low whistle.
"She has a good memory."
Professor Birchwood smiled. "Excellent, Miss Davidson! That is an O.W.L answer! 20 points to Ravenclaw!"
Lily Evans raised her hand.
"Yes Miss… Evans is it?"
"Yes Professor, please, what is a gnome?" asked Lily
"A gnome is a common garden nuisance found in Europe and North America. It can reach a foot in height. They are not dangerous."
"We had a gnome infestation once, inside our kitchen." Whispered Sirius
"Your kitchen?" said James
"Yeah, we haven't got a garden really, so they went in the horrible plants on the window sill."
"What did you do?" asked Remus
"My dad blasted them to smithereens."
James winced.
"Brutal!"
Professor Birchwood was talking again.
"Now, today class we will be learning about the differences of the magical beasts. There are many different creatures, with many different abilities. Today we will focus on the Pixie, the mischievous devils that get into every nook and cranny to wreak havoc everywhere. They come from many different places in Britain; there are the Cornish Pixies, which are most common, but a rare few are found in Wales and in the Midlands. They are electric blue and can fly, however they do not have any wings. Please copy what is on the blackboard. Next lesson I will try to bring one in. I will only bring one as a swarm of them will make a pandemonium! They'll wreck everything."
"Wicked!" said James and Sirius
Remus rolled his eyes.
Half an Hour later the Gryffindors had their first flying lesson.
James and Sirius were ecstatic.
"Flying! Flying! Flying! Flying! Flying!" sang Sirius and James
"Anyway, I don't find- guys will you be quiet?" asked Remus, breaking off his conversation with Frank.
"Flying! Flying! Flying! Flying! Flying! Flying! Flying! Flying!"
"James! Sirius! We know you're excited!"
"FLYING! FLYING! FLYING! FLYING! FLYING! FLYING! FLYING! FLYING!"
"SHUT UP!"
They had reached the great Quidditch pitch. 25 broomsticks lay on the ground with a stern looking woman with short, spiky black hair stood with a sliver whistle hanging from a purple thread on her neck.
"Hurry up now chaps!" she barked at the first-years lagging behind
James and Sirius were there first. They immediately knew they were sharing flying practise with the Slytherins.
"My name is Madam Hooch and I will be your flying teacher! Now, what are you waiting for? Everyone stand beside a broomstick, stick your right hand out and say UP!" commanded Madam Hooch
"UP!" shouted the class
James and Sirius' brooms jumped into their hands immediately along with Grace, Marlene's and a few Slytherins. Lily Evans and Severus Snape's brooms, who were opposite, had not moved at all.
"Hey! Lily! Evans!" said James
Lily looked up.
"What?"
"Say it with a bit more confidence, prove to the broom you are not afraid, it might help." said James helpfully.
"I'm not scared!" snapped Lily before saying "Alright broom UP!"
The broom obeyed and leapt into her outstretched hand. Lily smiled at James, while Snape, Sirius noticed as he watched, glared at him with loathing.
"Go on Sev, its easy!" said Lily
James had got bored of speaking to them by that time and was impatiently waiting with Sirius to get on the brooms.
Madam Hooch seemed to think the same thing as next she showed them how to mount their brooms. James grinned when she said he had a perfect grip.
"Right, now, when I blow my whistle I want you to kick off from the ground hard. Try and keep your brooms steady, rise up a few feet, then come back down by leaning forwards. Ready? 3…2…1…!" Madam Hooch blew on her whistle.
James was the first in the air. He did everything perfectly, then leant forwards to float back down.
"Excellent Potter! 10 points to Gryffindor!" said Madam Hooch
Sirius landed next to James.
"Now, the more confident flyers, try and fly around the Quidditch pitch, those who are less confident, I will guide you. Go!"
James, Sirius, Grace, Marlene and surprisingly Remus got up in the air and flew around the pitch as one.
A few Slytherins went after them, scowling at the ability of the Gryffindors.
James and the rest hung out in the air to chat and watch Peter, Lily and the others to fly.
Snape brought up the rear because of his appalling flying skills.
James and Sirius laughed out loud at his attempt.
"C'mon Sirius! Let's fly again!" said James
Off he went, weaving in and out of the other flyers, turning so sharply and in the nick of time that Mary squeaked.
Sirius snorted.
The days went too quickly for Remus' liking. All too soon Friday evening arrived.
The boys were lounging in the common 'trying' to do homework when Remus stood up.
"Erm, well, I have to go now…y'know?" he said nervously
Sirius jumped
"Blimey! I forgot! Sorry Remus! Take our best yeah? See you on Sunday!"
"Bye Remus, be good."
Remus nodded, hating the fact he was lying to his friends.
He made his way slowly to the Hospital Wing. He opened the door and peeped in.
A tall woman with brown hair and warm brown eyes walked over to him.
"Right, come in, what's your name? And your problem?" she said, briskly hurrying him over to a bed.
"Um, Remus Lupin Miss."
She stopped and then looked at Remus.
"Oh, my dear! I'm so sorry! I had a busy night! Alright, I think we can go straight away, it is rather late after all."
"That's fine, um…" said Remus
"Don't worry dear, you will be quite safe and everyone else!" she finished when Remus opened his mouth.
The trip down to the Willow was a normal one, Remus, eventhough it was only September, kept shivering.
The Willow itself was tall and knobbly, with twisting branches swaying dangerously in the wind.
Madam Pomfrey got a long stick and prodded a knot at the bottom, making the tree freeze. She proceeded into the little tunnel with Remus following.
The tunnel was long, gloomy and had sharp stones jutting out. Finally they reached the ending. They appeared to be in the old shack Dumbledore was explaining about.
"Right Mr Lupin, I will leave you here, I will be back in the morning, be safe." said Madam Pomfrey before leaving Remus all alone.
Remus curled up on the bed, waiting. After an agonizing three minutes, the full moon shone through the window.
He went rigid; he felt the same pain creep through his body like a hot liquid burning. His teeth painfully grew into fangs, his eyes slowly turned into yellow slits, nose becoming wet with a snout.
His last thought was of his friends and how he lied.
It was nearly six when Madam Pomfrey went back to Remus the next day. She saw the boy on the floor, covered head to toe in gashes, his eyes baggy and his face pale.
Madam Pomfrey closed her eyes.
"You poor, poor boy." She whispered, magicking a stretcher, levitating him onto it and heading silently out of the dark shack.
Remus opened his bleary eyes warily. Light was streaming in through the tall windows of the Hospital Wing. He rubbed his eyes and slowly sat up, wincing at the pain.
Madam Pomfrey bustled over.
"Ah! Good your awake… drink this; it'll make you feel better!"
Remus drank the liquid [which was orange and steaming] silently.
"How long was I out for?" he asked
"Well…" she pondered "It was six when I collected you, and it is just after one now… around seven hours, probably eight."
Remus nodded, and then stopped because his head was sore.
Poor Remy! I have a few more chapters on my laptop, so if i feel like it, i will post, but i would LOVE some reviews!