AN: Let's take a break from the drama of Marlene and check on the rest of the gang...

Chpt. 26 - Scratches

What was still left of the gang sat in the Gryffindor common room together. Finals were over. There were two days of school left. During the last days, most of the teachers had big parties to celebrate the hard work that the students put into the entire year. But this year, with Voldemort on the rise, most of the students didn't feel like celebrating. So, in an attempt to stay optimistic, Chris, Remus, Peter, Sirius, Laura, Av, Marlene, and Anavia sat in the Gryffindor common room, playing cards. Six-handed Wizard Euchre, to be exact, where the losing cards burst into flames and remained ashes until the round was over. The game got their minds off everything for awhile, including the tensions and awkwardness strung within the group. Soon, it was dinner time. Marlene said she would rather just stay upstairs, so the rest of the friends left her alone and went down to the Great Hall. Chris sat by Remus, trying to get in some conversation before he had to leave. That night was a full moon.

After they were done eating, Remus looked up at the enchanted ceiling that showed the sky outside. It was twilight; almost dark. He wasn't sure how he had missed the time slipping away. He couldn't afford to make stupid mistakes like this when Christiana was around.

"Guys!" he shouted, and he, Sirius, and Peter got up from the table and scrambled for the passageway. Sirius urged Remus to go faster, as he didn't have much time. The boys ran down a flight of stone steps. Sirius transformed into a dog as he rounded a corner. Peter jumped up into the air and landed on Sirius's back, in rat form. Lupin ran quickly behind them. When the boys reached the outdoors, the sun had already begun to sink below the horizon. The Whomping Willow was just a stretch away. Remus ran, but he didn't make it. He let out a scream of pain as his spine cringed and twisted. Hair grew all over his body, each one a torturing needle pressing through his flesh. He closed his eyes to try to lessen the pain, but it didn't work. They snapped back open, yellow and shining, like two golden coins. He snapped his powerful jaws together and ran off in the opposite direction of the Whomping Willow.

Sirius ran after his friend. This was not good. When he caught up to Moony, he tackled him to the ground, slashing his friends back with his untrimmed nails. The black dog barked at the werewolf to head in the direction of the Whomping Willow, but it didn't make a difference. Sirius had no choice. He bit into the monster and it let out an ear-shattering cry.

Remus's pupils shrunk and his expression was wild and afraid. He tried to jerk off the dark animal that was hurting him, but all it did was hurt him more as the teeth sank farther into his muscle. That, and it gave Sirius some major whiplash. Peter scurried off towards the tree, catching Remus's eye. The wolf-like creature followed the rodent through the dewy grass and chilly air.

Chris heard the howls of pain through the castle walls. They were not the normal howls that she had heard the boys talk of. Remus was in trouble. Something had happened to him. Maybe it was Voldemort. Or another wild creature. Whatever it was, she had to save him. She jumped up and ran across the stone floor. As she opened up the door to the Great Hall, Av grabbed onto Christiana's arms and held her back. Chris turned around, wriggling herself free and slapped Av across the face.

"HOW DARE YOU? HE NEEDS ME, AV! I love him and I can't let him get hurt like this. Something's wrong."

"You'll get hurt. As your best friend, Chris, I can't let you go out there."

"Too bad," Christiana said, taking off down the corridor.

As much as Av wanted to go after her friend, she had too much common sense for that. She went off to find a professor, but they were in a meeting with the Minister of Magic that night and couldn't be disturbed.

Chris twisted her ankle when she was running down the gently curving steps. Despite her small pain, she got up and kept running. When she got outside, she took a look around. Squinting through the dark, she didn't see Remus or either of his companions, so she decided to head in the direction of the Whomping Willow. When she got there, she noticed the knob in the tree that didn't look quite like the rest of them, like Remus had mentioned. A long stick was lying near the base of the tree. She grabbed it and used it to push on the gnarly root, being careful to avoid the tree's vicious blows. The branches stopped flying, and the tree stopped attacking. A large opening in the roots appeared, and Chris slid down into it just before the tree jumped back into life. A long, dark tunnel lay ahead of her. "Lumos," she whispered, and the tip of her wand ignited. She used the light to carefully navigate through the dirt-walled hallway, occasionally stopping to make sure nothing else was in the passage. After what she supposed to be half an hour at least, she saw a blue, wooden door up ahead. She turned the rusty knob and opened it as a rat scrambled past her feet. She shrieked, but quickly recomposed herself. She couldn't be afraid of a little rodent if she was going to help Remus.

Christiana stepped through the doorway into a darkly lit room. It had a dusty, ripped up couch and a few upturned tables inside. The windows were all boarded up, and there were claw marks everywhere. The furniture was barely held together and had scratches on every inch of it. The eeriness of the room sent chills down her spine. She spied another door at the opposite end of the room. As she headed towards it, she heard the sound of a dog's barking, followed by the whimpering cry that had drawn her to the mysterious scene in the first place. Sirius the dog scampered into the room from the same blue door that Chris had entered by. The poor thing had a huge gash on his shoulder and was bleeding severely. He transformed back into a human and grabbed Chris's arms.

"Why are you here!? Do you have a death wish? What in the world were you thinking?!"

"Remus was in trouble! I had to help him."

"What? He wasn't in trouble. Innocent passerby, yes, but not Remus. Get in that next room, I'll try to hold him back until I can get him out of here. Lock the door, barricade it, and see if you can find a way out! Hurry, here he comes!"

As she scrambled through the door into a long, dusty hallway, she heard something, presumably Remus, enter the room. He howled and threw something against the wall. Peering through the door's keyhole, Christiana saw a strange creature sniffing the air, not moving since a black dog, Sirius, was snarling and growling at him. The dust in the house was impossible to breathe in, and she tried her best to hold back a sneeze. Her attempt was no good, and she let out an 'ah-choo'. The werewolf flung himself towards her. Sirius jumped in front of the door and began to bark madly, scraping his paws against it and biting into its leg. But once again, that didn't stop the thing. It grabbed a hold of the dog's neck and flung him to the wall. Sirius fell to the ground and landed unconscious on top of the rat, formally known as Peter Pettigrew, that was subsequently sent unconscious at the blow.

The werewolf howled in hunger and turned again to the door. Chris backed up and began to run down the hallway, trying every door she saw. They were all locked. The werewolf burst through the wood and swiveled his head towards her. Christiana screamed in terror as the thing leaped at her. She ducked under his sharp claws and back into the living room. The table that had been thrown earlier was now blocking the way out. Trying to move it was useless, it was huge, and made out of solid, sturdy wood. Instead, the scared girl began to tug at a plank of wood over one of the windows. That too, was no use. Remus, who, at that moment, was certainly not Remus at all, charged back into the room. His body turned to face the piece of meat shivering in the corner of the room. Chris looked up into his eyes. They were no longer the eyes of her loved one. They had become evil; yellow and glowing with rage. He snapped his bone-crushing jaws at her and she stared at the gleaming, sharp teeth. Frozen in fear, Chris made no more attempts to save herself. Four long, blade-like claws ripped into her arm. She screamed. Didn't he have any control at all? Couldn't he stop himself from hurting the one that he loved? She had to find out.

"Remus Lupin! I know you're in there somewhere. It's Chris. Please stop. I'm so scared. You're hurting me. Please, stop it," she whispered through the pain.

The werewolf paid no attention to her words. Instead, he let his jaws sink into her leg, the warm blood gushing into his mouth. Christiana couldn't cry. She wouldn't. The last thing she saw were those wild, evil eyes; yellow and glowing.

AN: Thank you to those who are continually reviewing. You guys have greatly influenced a lot in the story so far.

I want to get thoughts on the beginning of this chapter. I feel like it jumps too sharply from Marlene to allofasuddenRemusisawerewolf. Any ideas to improve the flow? Please Let me know what you think! Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!