A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long. I got stuck on something's though other's poured out of me easier than the rest. Haha. I'm going to aim for over six thousand words a chapter from now on with this story just so I don't feel restricted and end up with more chapters than I expected. They maybe long on your end, so…
I can't whip out six thousand that quickly. Like I said I get stuck on something's so it takes some time which mean's it'll be a bit of a wait until the next one.
This chapter hasn't gone through my beta reader Rufi yet. I'll replace with the edited version later in like...three weeks. (Reading HPDH. gotta enjoy it and read slowly)
Chapter 25 - Bite to Break Skin
Christmas passed without any incidents or life threatening problems and the students returned from their holiday. Peter, Remus and James bum rushed Sirius as he and Avril lay on the velvet dark blue couch in front of a blazing fire. Sirius' fingers fiddled with a bit of the end of his girlfriend's hair as she lay atop him, Avril listening to the teen's steady heartbeat as they started to fall into slumber.
"Well don't you two look comfy," James said, taking a seat in one of the chairs next to the fireplace.
Avril shifted a bit, the soft clinking of the golden charm bracelet around her wrist sounded in a soft melody. Stretching a tad she turned her head away from the intruders, snuggling her face against Sirius' chest, the softness of his sweater comforting. Sirius didn't move to indicate he had even noticed his mates who watched the exhibition of snuggling with contempt.
"I think I'm gonna be sick," James retorted, after some time.
"You're not the only one," Hayden said, taking a seat on the floor, leaning against Remus' legs as he had taken the other empty overstuffed armchair across from James.
"Are they asleep?" Lily asked, sitting on the floor with Peter as she set down the bags of gifts she had to give to her friend's still.
"No," Peter chuckled. "Sirius' has got a hold of her hair."
Avril huffed, "We're trying to sleep here, if you don't mind," she said.
"You could have slept in your room if you didn't want people bothering you," Peter replied brightly.
"Ew!" Hayden said, sticking her tongue out as James hit his mate on his head.
"Why didn't I think of that?" Sirius said, dryly as he shifted a bit beneath Avril who buried her face against his neck, taking in his scent.
"Don't give Padfoot ideas," Remus said, as he leaned back into his chair.
"Did you two already give each other your presents?" asked Lily.
Avril stuck her hand out with the golden charm bracelet attached to her wrist, the small gold items clinking together softly. There were several charms on the bracelet already; one was a paw print with ingrained text in simple form that read: Padfoot, while the others had similar ingrained text in the gold charms that were a stag, mouse and wolf that read: Prongs, Moony and Wormtail.
"That's so cute!" Lily said, looking at the small charms.
"What did she get you, Padfoot?" Remus asked.
"Some books," Sirius replied, with a mysterious smile.
"What kind of books?" Peter asked.
"One is called, Pranks through the Ages: The Brilliant, Good, Bad, and the Ugly Volume One. And the other one is Pranks through the Ages: Things That Should be Done and Those That Are Just Lame Volume Two. The second one just came out!" Sirius chuckled.
"Sweet!" James cheered; already one could see the cogs working in his head.
Lily's lips pierced together in a thin line watching the teen.
"Nothing else?" Peter asked digging into his own bag pulling out some surprisingly well wrapped gifts.
"Well…," Sirius trailed off, licking his lips with a smirk. "Got a really big thick set."
"Are you being vague for a reason or just trying to be cool?" retorted Hayden in annoyance.
Sirius snickered as he felt Avril bury her face back against his neck and her lips brushed against his skin.
"Loads of pictures---," the black haired teen was cut off.
"You definitely need a good picture book mate," James laughed as did the others.
Sirius smiled and said, "It's called, The Full Karma Sutra."
Lily's face instantly flared a bright red and Remus choked as he drew in a breath, it going down the wrong pipe as one might say.
"What's that?" asked James inquisitively.
Hayden burst out into laughter and frightened several first years that were still in the common room late that night as Peter and James shared curious looks.
"It's about sexual positions!" Hayden blurted out as tears streamed down her face.
Peter got wide eyed while James looked rather flustered.
"Well it's more than that, but hey!" the silver-white haired girl said between laughs.
"Yeah I'm gonna be sick," James said while he got up and soon disappeared up the stairs into the boys dorms.
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Morgan watched her friend's avoid one another for several weeks after the discovery that Sirius now had such a book in his possession. The black haired teen had on several occasions tried to show the books contents to his mates, who scuttled out of the way quickly enough, knowing that Sirius might try and divulge unwanted information upon them. Morgan shook her head at lunch that day as she grabbed a handful of barbeque potato chips out of a large clear bowl. It didn't take long for Lily and Hayden to take a seat beside her and shove large quantities of hotdogs, chips, turkey and several other things on the table for lunch that day onto their plates. The blonde decided not to ask about it, and went back to her meal a tad hungry herself.
James strolled into the Great Hall for lunch, his chest puffed out. Today was the day that he'd ask Lily Evans out and she'd say 'yes', he just knew it! He had been good all term, hadn't even picked on Snivellus yet that year. On numerous points in time had James caught Lily looking at him once or twice with a rather innocent expression upon her face that seemed mixed with confusion--- maybe she wanted him to ask her out? At least those were James' thoughts. When on routine checks of the corridors, they had developed to a more polite manner than they had been in, considering they were actually calling each other by their first names instead of their last names, and they had even been able to hold a proper conversation on their patrols without it ending in questions of, why did he enjoy people's misery (which he'd defend that he didn't) or why was she being rather high nosed about it all (which she swore that she wasn't). Today was the day, he just knew it!
Taking a seat across from Hayden, Remus nudged her foot with his own gently giving her a smile, while he hoped to get one back. Hayden's head popped up and she smiled brightly nudging him back a little as the sunlight play over their skin from the enchanted ceiling above. The blue skies showed nothing but a good day ahead as birds flew past over head. Remus wondered briefly if they were really there at all, but instead merely an illusion made by the enchanted ceiling and upon which he decided that they had to be real, he returned to his meal with a smile. That day one should have been outside, to lie out in the grass under the warmth of the sun and the sandy haired youth sighed in the knowledge that he didn't have any free periods after lunch; simply class upon class, upon class. Maybe he'd skip a lesson and get Hayden to go with him to sit out by the lake and listen to the world around them in silence--- with a bit snogging in between maybe…
Lily was beyond tired already at lunch and she thanked Merlin she had a free period right afterwards that she planned to use wisely--- to sleep. Their DADA class had been a bit hard that afternoon; getting put under the Imperius Curse and having to try and fight against it on several tries was tiring. James, Sirius and Remus seemed rather fine at the end of the lesson; then again they weren't the ones that were fighting so hard against it that they fell right over a desk after jumping on it as commanded. Her side was killing her! Despite the fact that James had rushed to her side, helping her up, his kindness hadn't made the pain that shot up her side any better. All the over exertions had made her starving! Soon enough Lily noticed James drawing near with his chest puffed out looking a tad bit serious as he came up to her and tucked in a seat beside her.
"Hello Lily," James said, at the same time as he smiled rather brightly suddenly in a cheerful mood.
"'ello," Lily tried to say; though her speech was muffled by the banana-nut bread she crammed in her mouth seconds ago. She hoped she wouldn't spit any on him or that he'd laugh at her chipmunk cheeks.
"Lily I want to ask you something quite serious," he replied, not bursting out into hysterics at his crushes chipmunk cheeks.
Lily attempted to swallow down the bread as she nodded her head, giving signal to ask away.
"I'd like to say we've gotten to know each other better over the term so far," James ran his fingers through his hair unconsciously. "And I want you to know I'm serious about what I'm about to ask."
"Okay," mumbled the red head, having finally been able to get down the banana-nut bread.
"You'd think he was proposing," Remus thought while a smile played at the corner of his lips.
James took a deep breath as though his question was hard to ask and he said, "Lily, will you go out with me?"
Lily smiled softly and brushed her hair over her shoulder quickly while she gave her head a nod.
"Sure," she said.
Hayden froze in mid-spoon of a jelly like substance going into her mouth. Remus and Morgan looked rather shocked, though attempted their best to hide it.
James didn't look fazed; despite he's lips slipping into a wide grin of great pleasure.
"Alright then!" he said, trying to keep his happy energy-high-emotions to himself.
Still Lily smiled even as she went back to her plate to finish her lunch in a slow manner, not wanting to imitate a chipmunk again especially in front of James.
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Laughter broke out across the stairwell as three of the Marauders' ascended into the Shrieking Shack that night through the tunnel the Whopping Willow provided. They had been caught up in one of the corridors when Filches cat, Mrs. Norris sniffed attentively at their position against the wall, hidden beneath the invisibility cloak. James had been tempted to kick the cat cross the hall, but was unfortunately stopped when Filch himself came walking around the corner. His cat flying defiantly would have raised suspicion.
The moon was high in the night sky already and they had heard their friend's familiar howls of pain as he turned into the thing he feared most. Changed into their animagus forms, James waited for Peter to crawl onto his back and up into his antlers like he always did, holding on with his small rat claws. Sirius attempted to push the door open, when a scream over took their ears unlike Remus' familiar scratchy cry. Panic hit hard, and Sirius slammed his large, dog body against the door that slammed open to show something none had hoped for. Bloody seeped across the slightly dusty floor, the floor boards soaking it up greedily as the cry died out in a gargle of blood and spit.
The wolf stood before them, his once brown eyes wild amber that his friend's had not seen in a few weeks and blood dripped from his mouth, seeping onto the floor in generous amounts from his victim. His teeth still were roughly imbedded in their neck and shoulder while he growled precariously as though the person was to be his mid-night snack, which he did not want taken from him. Sirius lunged forward, jowls quivering as his sharp teeth showed menacingly, snapping at the Wolf who had dropped the body with a soft 'THUMP' against the flooring. Black and sandy brown fur collided as teeth ripped into flesh, their own blood splattered across the gouged walling. Peter's squeaked out a cry and jumped from James' high antlers when the stag muffled out a noise the rat understand. Barking erupted from both genus of dog while they clawed at one another with both nail and tooth. Quickly the rat jumped and hurried his way between the paws of his friend's that now were short lived enemies to the placid body upon the floor. James could do nothing; he couldn't try and help Sirius due to the small size of the room and the possibility that he might accidently stomp on the person, killing them if they weren't dead already.
Peter squeaked out a response to the stag who seemed to wither at the realization of who lay upon the floor. Quickly he told Peter to get help and without needing to be told twice, the rat shot under James and past the door. Changing once outside, the teen ran as fast as he could, the wind rushing into his lungs burned in the cold January night. Squeezing through the loosely changed gates, he speeded into the castle and came to a skidding halt as he ran right into Lily Evans.
"Peter?" Lily asked sticking her wand up a bit higher to catch is face in the light. "What were you doing outside of the castle this late at night?"
Peter tried to tell her, but his breath came in rigid drawls. "James…"
"Is James out there as well? Why are you panting so hard, what happened?" Lily questioned. "James and I were support to be on duty together tonight, but he never showed up!"
"We need help," Peter had finally found his voice, controlling his breathing better. "Remus attacked someone."
"What do you mean attacked?" asked Lily as her face paled a bit.
"Werewolf," Peter whispered, and all of the color ran from Lily's face in an instant.
"Remus…are you saying Remus is a…" Lily couldn't bring herself to finish her words; it was too unbelievable.
"Need help! He attacked someone!" Peter said a bit louder as he wrung his hands together.
Lily could feel her body shaking as the horrific images flooded into her mind. "Oh--- okay. Dumbledore!" she said turning quickly, leading Peter down the hallway in a run for the one person that could help.
"No!" Peter cried out as they rounded the corner and the Gargoyles that guarded the hidden stairs, came into view. "If we tell him, he'll kick Remus out of Hogwarts!"
"That doesn't matter right now, Peter!" Lily cried out, her voice having lost all its previous valediction as it fell to panic. "Acid Pops!"
The Gargoyles jumped out of the way and Lily took the rotating stairs two at a time until she was finally at the closed wooden doors of the Headmasters office and her fists began to pound upon the wood in a hurried fashion. Scuffling could be heard from within the room as a voice muttered something Lily couldn't catch and the door swung open to reveal a sleepy looking Headmaster; his half moon spectacles precariously upon his nose as he looked over them to the two teens.
"Ms. Evans and Mr. Pettigrew, what seems to be the problem?" he asked softly taking in their worried and frightened expressions.
"Remus attacked Hayden Fredericks!" Peter blurted out loudly, his voice up several octaves.
"Hayden?" Lily gasped, having not known until that very second.
Dumbledore seemed no longer sleepy and his eyes that had only seconds ago looked glazed over and cloudy were suddenly piercing blue. In his nightgown of blue and black, covered in silver stars flared past them when he himself hurried down the stairs two at a time, Peter and Lily following behind.
"You're positive of this?" he asked turning upon them.
"Yes!" Peter cried out. "I saw it with my own eyes!"
Dumbledore set his sights on Lily. "Ms. Evans wake Professor McGonagall up and tell her everything that has transpired. Mr. Pettigrew, go to Madam Pomfrey and tell her to immediately come to the Shrieking Shack!" he said looking to Peter briefly before he was gone in a flurry of silver and blue down the hallway.
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Blood still wet upon the floor while Remus lay unconscious near the bed, beneath the full moon, his wounds were healing of their own accord rather nicely as he had been knocked unconscious by James, who slammed his best mate against the wall, nearly impaling him upon his antlers. Sirius and James covered in their own cuts and bruises had leaned over Hayden's body, changed out of their animagus forms and tried to stop the bleeding in any form possible; it had proven difficult as they feared it would. Sirius rocked himself gently seeing that he sat on the ripped and now blood stained Queen Anne backless couch, his hands covered in blood that more than half was not his own. His fingers ran through his hair nervously, his wand disguarded at his side. James paced back and forth, not knowing what else to do as he listened unknowingly to Sirius' struggle to stifle his tears. The untidy, black haired teen himself was covered in blood that wasn't his, the two having made an effort to simply put pressure upon the wound where healing spells had failed to work on the Werewolf bite. Her blood had seeped through the cloth of their robes they ripped off to fight back the never ending stream; it had been then that they broke out into hysterical laughter that turned to weeping when her wounds had started to heal themselves a bit slowly. The genetic virus already mutating her DNA and changing her cell structure, the virus rapidly multiplying like a factory; the DNA being recombined in large quantities.
James wondered if she felt any pain as she lay unconscious on the floor he paced back and forth on. Abruptly the footsteps on the creaking stairs alerted the two who looked up just as Dumbledore swept in, his long white beard hanging over his shoulder at the speed he had been traveling. James felt his heart jump at the sight and Sirius hadn't moved at the sight of the Headmaster who quickly took in the mangled scene before him. His blue eyes swept over to Remus' sleeping form on the floor, as his sandy furred side rose and fell with easy. He could wake up any minute now.
Suddenly more footsteps could be heard and McGonagall, followed by Lily, Peter and Madam Pomfrey rushed into the room. Lily let out a garbled cry at the sight of blood pooled about Hayden's body and she turned, muffling her sobs into Peter's shirt who himself shook greatly. Sirius was still as stone and James had stopped his pacing, his hazel eyes grazing over Lily's form as she wept before he caught sight of McGonagall's shaking hand pressed against her own lips to stop her cry from slipping.
James opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
"This is not the place," Dumbledore said softly and leaned over picking up Hayden's body with what appeared to be ease and carried her out of the room.
"You two," McGonagall practically whispered her eyes upon the Wolf as she spoke to Sirius and James.
Both teens followed obediently, Sirius limping more so as his leg was in pain. Though the disease didn't transfer to him through his animagus form, his cuts and bruises did oddly enough.
Instead of leaving the shack, Dumbledore lead them to the next room built within the place as he lay Hayden's limp body upon another torn up couch. Madam Pomfrey quickly worked over her, her hands reaching deep in her black bag full of potions and such as she cleaned the wounds as best as she might. Her and Dumbledore forcing Potions down the girls' throat that was unconscious.
James felt McGonagall's hand gently on his shoulder as she pushed Sirius and him down onto a similar couch pressed against the wall. James had expected her to question them, to ask why they were up here, what had happened and how had they managed to get the Wolf subdued--- but the questions never came. McGonagall pulled Lily against her thin form, letting the girl cry upon her shoulder who sobbed for her friend, their worst fears that she'd pass away in the night cropping up as Hayden practically showed no signs of life for the exception of her shallow, slow breathing.
No one knew how long they all stayed in the room, as Lily's cries had died away ages ago and the girl now sat on the ripped and shredded couch between Sirius and James. Her head rested against James' shoulder while she refused to sleep despite the fact her crying had made her tired as it might have anyone. Madam Pomfrey still worked over Hayden whilst Dumbledore stood over the girl watching the work; helping when he could when a familiar howl ripped through the air.
"Oh my god!" Lily breathed shooting up, looking at the closed door.
"He's changing back," Sirius said, speaking for the first time.
Everyone, including Dumbledore looked out the window to see that the moon was setting back under the horizon which meant; early morning was soon to come with its crisp, cold and dew wet dawn. More cries ripped through the air while thrashing could be heard in the room only a thin wall away. Lily seized James' arm in a death grip as the howling got worse and the sickening snap of bones could be heard.
"Why did she come up here?" Sirius asked, as he looked at Hayden's form that was suddenly so very fragile to him. "She knew he was dangerous!"
James felt himself snap. "SHE DIDN'T KNOW! SHE THOUGHT HE WAS ON THE WOLFSBANE! IT'S NOT HER FAULT DAMNIT!" he shouted above the screams.
Dumbledore, McGonagall, Peter and Lily watched the boys with mixed expressions upon their faces.
"WHY DIDN'T AVRIL MAKE IT?" Sirius cried out, his fist shaking. "IF SHE HAD JUST FORGOTTEN ABOUT HER RUDDY CHARMS HOMEWORK NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!"
"DON'T YOU DARE BLAME MY SISTER YOU BASTARD!" James roared shooting up off the couch. "SHE TOLD REMUS THAT SHE COULDN'T GET THE POTIONS INGREDIENTS!"
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Dumbledore shouted and the four teens jumped in sudden surprise as anger crossed the older man's face but briefly and James collapsed back onto the couch.
Sirius buried his face into his hands and shortly following, ran his fingers through his hair.
"No one is to blame," the Headmaster said, more calmly. "Something tragic has happened and you are blaming people? You must imagine what these two will feel like when they realize what has happened. Mr. Lupin will undoubtedly blame himself and Ms. Fredericks will more than likely do the same," Dumbledore straightened himself out, pushing his half-moon spectacles up the bridge of his nose a tad before clasping his hands in front of him.
"Ms. Evan's I want you to go wake Ms. Potter and wait in my office until I return. Professor McGonagall will accompany you," Lily nodded her head and headed for the door that McGonagall followed her out of shortly. "Mr. Pettigrew, Mr. Black and Mr. Potter, you will go into the other room and explain everything slowly and properly to Mr. Lupin. Upon which is concluded you four will go to my office and wait for me as well. Understood?"
The three said nothing, but merely shuffled out of the room, closing the door behind them as the screams of pain stopped abruptly and other cries set in of panic and fear.
Remus heard his friend's down the hall as they made their way into the room, one by one filing in, covered and caked in blood. The only one that wasn't, was Peter.
"What happened?" demanded Remus shakily as he peered down at the blood on his hands.
James said nothing as he walked to the four-poster and yanked off its sheets draping it over his friend's shoulders, covering his shaking form. Remus made to stand, holding the sheet about his waist tightly as his knuckles turned translucent white. Blood was everywhere, splattered across the walls and in large pooling puddles on the floor--- what had happened?
"Did I…did I…you three look…look okay…," Remus struggled to bring the foggy memory to surface.
"Moony sit down," Peter said, pushing one of the shredded chairs to him.
Obediently, Remus sat down ignoring the pain that shot up his back and the several bruises about his skin. He may have healed well as a Werewolf, but unfortunately it was much slower time as a human.
"Was it…did I attack another person?" Remus asked, his voice barely a whisper.
James opened his mouth to speak, but for the second time that early morning nothing came out.
"Moony it was an accident. We don't know why…we…" Sirius stuttered a bit, shifting his feet. "The three of us were caught up in the castle by Mrs. Norris and…we were a little late getting up here."
"Just spit it out!" Remus spat abruptly.
"You attacked…you bit Hayden," Peter stumbled over his words.
The three teens watched Remus' already pale face turn stark white in comparison. "...Alive?" he mumbled
"Dumbledore and Pomfrey are working on her now in the next room," James blurted out in an attempt to comfort his best mate.
Remus shot up, darting across the room, slipping slightly on the puddles of blood that had his mind screaming in wonder. How much blood a human body could hold? His feet left trails of red as he dashed down the hair, James and the others calling for him to stop as he slammed open the door that frightened Madame Pomfrey a great deal for she jumped a good foot off the ground. Dumbledore on the other hand, merely stood, his back to the window at the head of the couch Hayden lay on as pale as her attacker, his eyes upon the boy in silence.
"Hayden…," the teen trembled, standing unmoving at the door for fear that if he approached her, she might fade into nothing.
"Mr. Lupin…everything is going to be alright. I need you to go back to your dorm and put on a fresh set of robes before the students start to wake. You and the other's are going to be dismissed from all your classes today and---" Remus crumpled to the floor abruptly.
"Moony!" Sirius, Peter and James cried out together, rushing to their friend's aid.
Normally if the situation hadn't been so grave, one might have found it funny that the young man had fainted--- no one laughed as it was most certainly normal to black out at sight of such a severe incident.
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Dumbledore talked to the teens in his office, minus that of Remus, for the boy was still unconscious and laying in the hospital wing of the school beside Hayden's sleeping form. The Headmaster listened carefully to the children's words, to Avril's explanation through her tears that cascaded down her face and to James, Sirius and Peter's details of what they did every full moon. By the time everything was explained, the bell for the first class of the day rang down the corridors and Dumbledore took a deep breath, he felt as though he had been holding the whole time. Quietly he nodded his head, saying nothing, rather proud of his students for acting so courageously to learn to become animagus so very young in life to keep their friend company and help him through his difficult full moons. For how quickly they acted to save the girl's life, for finding the courage to come to him instead of trying to rectify the problem themselves and for trying their best to help their friend keep his sanity during those nights.
Rising from his chair, the Headmaster guided them out of the office and to the Hospital wing of the school. The huddle of students feared to look in on Hayden, for fear of the damage the Wolf might of left. Tears burst forth over Avril cheeks when she looked down at her long time friend who was uncharacteristically pale, her tan skin swallow and dark circles beneath her eyes. Lily began to cry herself and the two girl's held on about each other as their sobs racked higher, echoing in the stale air against the marble floored room.
Sirius peered down at his shoes that were caked red at the same time as he dug his toe into the marble flooring, watching the red color crumble and crack. Shaking his foot softly, red flakes fell to the floor while pieces simply floated down to join the rest while his reflection peered back up at him off of the ridiculously clean floor in an almost ridiculing manner. His grey eyes had dark circles rimmed beneath them and his face looked a tad hallow as though he had not eaten in days despite the fact only a few hours had pasted.
Peter watched the white-silver haired girl's steady, swallow breathing. Her chest falling and rising with each breath taken and he wondered if she'd make it through the transformation next full moon. Would Remus be there with her or would his best mate do something drastic in his despair and self loathing? The boy could only hope his friend wouldn't, but when it came to Remus, nothing was sure and nothing was clear. Would he still be at Hogwarts after all this had been cleared up? Peter wouldn't be surprised if they all would get expelled from Hogwarts, or if Remus was shunned away for something he did unknowingly.
What would happen to his Remus--- and what would happen to the girl that was now of his own kind?
Sighing softly, James slowly took a seat on the empty bed beside Hayden's own, the large white curtain drawn around the three beds awkwardly to kind them from any suspicious eyes that might be lurking in the Hospital wing. Dumbledore could be heard near Madam Pomfrey office as they walked in low whispers, James only catching 'family', 'grandfather' and something else that sounded garbled into nonsense. Lily and Avril collapsed on the bed beside him as did Peter and Sirius who all looked solemn and in terrible need of a long soak in the bathtub to try and wash away last night's images from their minds. In spite of this, James knew the image of Hayden's lifeless like body limp in the Wolfs jaws, blood seeping onto the floor would forever be ingrain in his mind--- and at the back of his eyelids when he slept for at least several months.
Shouldering herself against Sirius, Avril looked up to his eyes to see that he was no longer there, but that he seemed to be far from her reach as he stared off into the distance at nothing in particular. His black hair matted slightly to the side of his face and blood still caked dryly to his neck and arms. The girl knew Pomfrey would demand to look at his wounds as well after hearing that he had fought Remus off, sustaining injuries himself, the same as her brother whose arm had been bleeding from an large gash he had gotten in his animagus form. She was secretly thankful that the disease could not be transferred to animals or Wizards when in their animagus forms and she felt guilty suddenly for such thoughts as her best friend lay only a foot or two away now sharing the same disease as her sandy haired boyfriend.
Thoughts ran amuck in Lily's head when abruptly there was a loud crashing and the group of teens turned simultaneously to see several people stumble out of the fireplace in Madam Pomfrey's office followed by an older looking woman with a panic stricken face that might have normally been beautiful, but the fear she held on her features contorted her beauty. A rush of questions splurged forth and Avril gave a small cry and Sirius thought to ask who they were when the familiar faces of the twins Wyatt and Nick rushed instantly into view as they were the first to dart past them and to their little sisters side. Grief contorted over their face while emotions at conflict fought against one another. James took in Hayden's family as they rushed into the room one by one until only a much older looking man was left behind at Dumbledore's side talking with him calmly in a foreign language.
"Cole move, now. We all want to see how she's doing," the older woman said softly, pulling on the young man who had wrapped himself about his sister's shoulder.
The man moved despite the fact he had not wanted to let go of his little sister who looked very pale and almost as breakable as glass to him now. Sirius took in the man's appearance for his similar untidy black hair was like his best mates while a faint scar elongated over the bridge of his nose showed briefly in the light streaming through the glass windows.
Suddenly James felt someone shaking his hand with both of theirs and the teen glanced up to see a slightly balding man at least in his late sixties smiling softly despite the grim expression set on his face. The laugh lines evident at the corners of his eyes and mouth shallow in what James believed to be their normal appearance. His hands were calloused and felt rough as he continued to shake his hand gently.
"Albus tells me that it was you and Black that kept her from…from bleeding out," the man seemed to fight just to say the words.
James shook his head while he felt Nick and Wyatt's eyes upon his face. He didn't want praise.
"No, please thank you," the man said, grabbing up Sirius hand as well shaking it. "I'm Hayden's father."
Sirius wanted to snatch his hand away from the man. What did he do to deserve his praise, his thanks?
"This is her mother and you know the twins. Ah, this large leech is her oldest brother Cole," Mr. Fredericks said, attempting some kind of conversation in spite of the matter at hand.
"Is that him?" Cole asked, suddenly catching sight of Remus' sleeping form on the bed behind him.
"We do not blame Remus for this," Mrs. Fredericks stated fiercely.
"Bullocks!" Cole growled. "You may not, but---"
"Blood hell just shut up, Cole!" Wyatt or was it Nick said. "Lupin would never hurt Hayden on purpose! Are you going to start blaming grandpa for the things he did under the moon when he didn't have Wolfsbane?"
"What?" Lily spilled out in question. "Your grandfathers a Werewolf?"
"Yes I am," a voice spoke from behind them, forcing the teens to turn to catch sight of the elderly man who had to be older than Dumbledore, but stood just as clearly healthy as the Headmaster did.
His short grey and white streaked beard fell only to the middle of his chest, compared to Dumbledore's, whose went nearly to his stomach. The dark green robes he wore reflected his dark blue eyes magnificently while his stark white hair was pulled into a ponytail at the base of his neck. Had he been wearing half moon spectacles one would have thought of him as an older version of the Headmaster.
"That's why you hate Italians isn't it grandpa?" the other twin asked ,with a small smile, his black hair pulled back in a similar style to his grandfathers.
"Yup. Nasty way to teach a lesson that is," the older Mr. Fredericks replied, while he took up the seat Dumbledore offered him at the foot of his granddaughter's bed. "Just because I fancied his mate. Had no idea what she was of course, unlike Hayden here."
"Remus said she took it all in a tad too easily," Avril said, suddenly speaking up. "I had no clue…"
"Of course she would," Mrs. Fredericks replied indignantly. "She was around her grandfather all the time during the full moon! I don't see why she'd fear Remus."
"She was always worried I'd get lonely, so she'd stay with me if I had the Wolfsbane all that week of course," the older man said, tipping back in his chair a bit.
"That explains why she went…but she knew we would be there…" Sirius trailed off, staring down at the marble flooring again.
"That wouldn't matter to her. She never liked to rely on other people, so she tried to becoming one herself. A reliable person that is," the older gentlemen replied. "It wouldn't have mattered if you had been there before her or not, she still would have gone."
"I don't understand," Lily interjected abruptly. "Were your children born before you were bitten?"
The older Fredericks man laughed suddenly and tipped his chair back a tad farther. "Oh no! I was bitten when I was just a lad. About the age you are now to tell the truth. Had Marius here years later!" he said, jabbing a thumb at the slightly balding man whose freckled cheeks stood out when the sunlight hit him warmly. "Merlin must have liked me, because the disease was dormant in him. Transferred yes, but dormant mind you. Hasn't stood out in any of the others; Hayden's the only one those showed signs of the virus being a bit active."
"Her hair?" asked Peter, entering into the conversation.
"Oh no, no! She got that from my great grandmother! You know how a family can suddenly have a red headed child, but the whole families blonde? Just pasted over us is all." Mrs. Fredericks smiled weakly.
"What Mr. Fredericks is saying is that because it was already in her DNA, that's why she had started to heal a tad quicker than one would have if the virus was just starting to mutate her DNA," Dumbledore explained.
"Oh," Peter and Lily said together softly.
Abruptly; Hayden began to stir, her fingers wrapping about her brother's hand that held her own.
"Hayden---"
A/N: What did you think? Was it okay? I'd like to think I'm okay with action scenes, but when I see it in my head it plays like a movie. Hahaha.
- I own all OC's and the plot.