Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter… unfortunately.
Moonlight Madness Part 2
Previously: A chorus of breaking twigs and growling signalled the entrance of Remus. In ten seconds flat he was eleven feet away from Sirius, slowly advancing and baring it's fangs. And before Sirius could tell Ray to run, shield herself, shout at her or lunge at the dog…She fainted.
There was a reason Sirius disliked involving girls into anything dangerous, and that reason, was their probability to faint when scary shit happened. That usually left people in bad situations. Such as right now, Sirius was still holding onto the limp form of Ray and was currently trying not to be eaten by his friend.
He saw the werewolf narrow it's eyes at Ray's sagging form and gain confidence… he didn't blame it. The chances that they were going to get out of this alive were slim to none.
Sirius panicked and gently lowered Ray to the floor, stepping in front to shield her. Gryffindor to the very end, eh?
It tensed, bunching up its muscles; Sirius recognized the movements, the werewolf was getting ready to jump-
Oh no.
It was going to jump… and kill them. Which was obvious.
Sirius himself had performed the move in play fights, when Werewolf Remus was in a more jovial mood. That had always been the game they played, Sirius would leap and pin his opponent to the ground, usually licking them thoroughly afterwards.
Only, this wasn't a play fight.
Werewolf Remus wasn't in a jovial mood and there would be no licking.
No, there would be a permanent winner this time around.
He shut his eyes and tried to calm himself. He knew that he should run, he should move, that maybe it would be smarter to leave Ray behind and make a dash for it. But he didn't. He was frozen, paralysed. His eyes darted to where Ray lay on the ground, she was dirt smeared and her clothes were torn, she was made even paler by the moonlight shining down on them.
It was a clear night, Sirius hadn't noticed that before but it was. As insane as it was to think it, the moon looked beautiful. It emitted an ethereal glow; you couldn't help but look at it and feel amazed.
In that one senile moment, Sirius thought that it wouldn't be so bad if he died here, with the moon right above him. His parents had told him that he'd been born on a full moon. It would make sense, come into this world in the full moon at the hand of enemies and leave it on a full moon at the hand of a friend.
How poetic.
Werewolf Remus sprang into the air and Sirius saw it all in slow motion. The great mass of fur flying towards them, paws outstretched, fangs bared and eyes wide open.
This was the end.
He briefly thought in those few seconds if he should go sit with Ray, maybe hold her hand, anything to make this moment seem like it wasn't a complete waste of time.
He took one last breath of the clear air as the wolf emitted one last snarl as it flew through the air and prepared to finish them off. But before it could knock him down a large stag tackled it to the side. For a few minutes Sirius gaped at the tussle going on with the large stag and the incensed werewolf.
There was a piercing howl, shocked into action, Sirius threw Ray over his shoulder and began to make a run for it. After the first few meters he stopped trying to be quiet, thrashing recklessly through the forest, branches whipping around his face as he tried to get as much distance between Remus and him as possible.
He tripped over a root and went sprawling into the dirt while Ray landed a few feet away. For a moment he didn't move, he just lay there. Trying to figure out what went wrong, how this had all happened. A howl in the background brought him back to reality. He got up shakily, spitting out mud and leaves.
He glanced at Ray; he couldn't carry her all the way to the castle with Remus on the loose. He took a deep breath and checked his jean pockets, making sure his wand wasn't broken. He pulled it out- thankfully in one piece- and whispered, "Wingardium Leviosa".
He raised his wand and Ray was lifted into the air, suspended among branches and leaves. Taking a shaky breath he started to run again and briefly wondered if he could change into his animagus and carry the wand in his mouth. But before he could put it to the test there was snarling and the pounding of hooves. He had to keep on moving.
He heard his heart beat, it pounded through his ears and he had a stitch in his side, but he kept on moving. It was different, when it was just him, James, Peter and Remus, but now with Ray to protect… the stakes were higher. He was barely aware of the fact that Ray was probably being scratched by a whole lot of branches but he figured that if she got out of this alive, she could live with a few scars.
A hand shot out of the undergrowth and pulled him backwards. As he flew forward from the force of the mysterious hand, his wand hand dropped and so did Ray. She fell to the ground with a loud thump and dirt flew into the air. Sirius whirled around to face his attacker, pleasantly surprised when he came face to face with Peter's petrified face.
"Prongs has Moony distracted, you have to go-"
No sooner had he said these words than a distant howl rang through the air. The chubby boy froze and screwed his eyes shut in fear. Peter shuddered as the wolf ended the howl and he shook his head vigorously, as if trying to forget he'd ever heard it.
"Oh no," whispered Peter, "it's too late now." He transformed into a rat and scurried away, leaving Sirius, once again, alone.
He ran to where Ray lay on the ground and checked for any broken bones. Her face was a little bloody with scratches and what not, but he what he was truly worried about were concussions. He felt a pang of guilt, here she was, most likely these were her last moments, and Sirius had been so awful to her. She'd only come to make sure he didn't do anything suicidal and here she was.
Being chased by a werewolf for a boy who had never appreciated her concern.
He pushed these thoughts in the back of his head; it wouldn't do to become emotional right now.
As he checked her for any signs of injuries, he noticed a large, glittering blue pendant the size of an egg hanging on a silver chain around her throat and he groaned.
Not only did Ray decide she would go werewolf hunting and suicide stopping; she thought that she'd wear the largest bloody necklace to make it even more dangerous. This was probably what was attracting Remus, he loved shiny things. Sirius buried the necklace at the base of a tree to keep it safe and stop it from choking her and stood up.
This was madness. He couldn't run like this all night! No, he'd have to do something. He'd have to escape or get killed, sink or swim. He braced himself and let out a low whistle. For the first time that night the forest went silent and the whistle rang out clear through the undergrowth and canopy of the trees.
It was a signal, one the Marauders had devised long ago for these types of nights, when someone normal was involved. It meant for everyone to gather where the whistler was. Sirius understood that if James came than Werewolf Remus would be joining them as well, but he had to take that chance. He had to get Ray away from here.
He wasn't going to let anyone else die this year.
All of a sudden there was thunder like noise, the pounding of hooves, snarling, grunts and growls. The once quiet forest was teeming with noise once again and Sirius had the urge to clamp his hands over his ears. A magnificent stag came into view, rearing and snorting angrily. At his heels followed an angry looking werewolf, growling menacingly. A little further off was a trembling rat, almost looking like it was gnawing it's nails.
"James!" Sirius shouted before he could overthink, "Catch!"
And he threw Ray into the air, hoping against all hopes that James would somehow be able to seat Ray on his back and gallop away. The stag leaped into the air and managed to catch Ray, though rather roughly.
"Peter!" cried Sirius, "Tie her on!"
The werewolf, sensing distraction, lunged at Sirius and he had only a few seconds to drop to the floor and roll to the other side, narrowly missing the yellow fangs. The werewolf snapped its jaws ferociously and paced a little, sending dirt flying everywhere.
The rat changed back into a human and scampered to the stag, muttering spells under his breath and securing her to the back of the animal as Sirius kept the wolf distracted with small lunges that sent Remus snapping and snarling
"It's done Padfoot!" called Peter.
The wolf swiped at him and managed to cut his cheek and send him flying. He hit a tree with a thud and sagged against the trunk. His back ached and his head felt ready to burst. Everything went completely fuzzy in his mind, his ears and even his eyesight was worse. Shakily, he leaned against the tree and pulled himself up.
"Go, James!" he shouted weakly, "I'll take care of this."
The horse bolted towards the castle, the rider securely fastened on it's back, leaving the werewolf and Sirius alone.
Remus obviously had no intentions of going after the more powerful stag when such a weak opponent was right in front of him. The werewolf advanced slowly, a malevolent glint in his eye, so unlike the careful, tentative look Remus always had.
Wincing, Sirius changed into his animagus and limped away. The werewolf made no attempt to run at him, it was content to slowly walk forward. That was when he remembered the necklace.
He darted forward to the tree and furiously pawed through the dirt. Finally, he yanked it out of the ground and held it in his mouth triumphantly.
Remus's eyes widened and almost immediately the killer attitude was replaced with a curious one. It stopped snapping it's jaws and instead followed the necklace with it's eyes that suddenly looked inquisitive rather than bloodthirsty. Sirius swung the necklace slowly from side to side, watching Remus's reaction to the new plaything. He reached up to swipe it playfully and Sirius slowly relaxed.
Very slowly and still facing Remus, Sirius began to trot backwards to the Shrieking Shack, all the while followed by a captivated Remus. There were a few close calls, when Sirius had stopped swinging the necklace and Remus had attacked, swiping at him or knocking him off his feet, but he always managed to get control in the end with a little help from Peter.
It took an hour, but they reached the Shrieking Shack. Sirius led Remus through the small hole and through the tunnels. There were small bite marks in the werewolf's fur from where Sirius had swiped or where Peter had bitten and it was matted with blood and leaves. Sirius was slightly more worse for wear, his felt like a thousand people were screaming in his ears and that he'd been walking for days on end.
As they emerged into the boarded up Shrieking Shack, Sirius couldn't help but notice how the pillows and flowers made no difference to the werewolf or the werewolf's victims.
Thankfully the werewolf, suddenly tired by everything, had strangely enough curled up on some pillows scattered around the room and fell asleep. Gentle, half human, half wolf snores filled the room in no time flat.
Deeming it safe, Sirius changed back into a human and fell into the armchair, rubbing his eyes and his aching back. He fought to stay awake but knew that he really needed some sleep. He and Peter waited till Remus began to change back slowly. They watched as the crazy and aggressive werewolf turned into their thoughtful and slightly detached friend who looked more haggard than usual. Peter stumbled to where the human Remus lay and placed a blanket haphazardly around him, proceeding to fall asleep on the floor.
He wondered if James had managed to get Ray to the hospital and if everything was okay. Knowing James, he'd be here soon to tell them what had happened to Ray.
Sirius closed his eyes and relaxed. Everything was okay.
But more importantly, everyone was alive.
AN: Thanks to the lovely reviewers DreamingDementor, invisibleink90, slytherinpride96 and katchile94! Thank you to anyone who put this on their favourite list or alert list, too! So basically I have this story completely planned out, meaning that I know how it ends. This is going to have about 20-25 chapters in all, including an epilogue and possibly an AN. At least 3 reviews please Thanks!
