Author's Note: I got asked a question about my replies to comments. I assume when I send a reply it goes to the person's PM inbox (as it says "note: Private Messages are delivered both to the e-mail and PM inbox"). However I never get e-mails about PMs sent my way so I don't know about the e-mails. I also assume you can only see these PMs if you are using the website and not the mobile app. If they're not being shown on the website's inbox then I don't know :( if it's not, try sending me a PM and I will try to reply to it that way and we can see if you get a reply like that? Anyway, I'm still pretty new to FFN so that's about all I know :S
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
That night the Marauders stayed up till midnight before going to bed, but an hour later Remus was torn from his dreams by Sirius shaking him awake. "Wanna be lookout for us again?" he asked. "Jimmy and I are gonna explore."
"Oh, su-uuuu-ure," Remus yawned, slithering out of bed to pull on his robe and slippers. He grabbed a book, took James's fancy watch, then followed his friends down to the common room.
"I mean, next time you guys can come too if you want," James said a little nervously as he fiddled with his invisibility cloak. Obviously it hadn't really occurred to him how awkward it might be not inviting Remus along tonight but asking him to stay on watch,
"Next time," Remus agreed, not feeling up to exploring tonight anyway. He figured the maiden voyage, so to speak, should be the two of them anyway. "Be careful."
The two of them disappeared, the entrance opening and shutting seemingly on its own. Once it shut, Remus drew his feet up on the chair to read. The previous year he had only snuck out once, when they hung up Professor Dedenne's underwear in the Great Hall. He enjoyed being out after hours except it also felt awful. He felt super guilty for betraying Dumbledore. Breaking a few small rules (like playing pranks on other students) was one thing however breaking big rules like that he thought he really shouldn't do. As much as he wanted to. Really, really wanted to.
Then he realized he had been out after hours at other times. On accident. He hadn't snuck out, both times he had been really upset and hidden somewhere, falling asleep. One of those nights everyone had gotten really worried about him being missing with all the teachers actually searching for him. He shuddered with disgust, thinking about what had caused him to be so upset he wound up essentially going missing.
Stupid Dedenne, he thought, looking at the tapestry across the little area from him.
You are a Five-X beast! Dedenne's voice echoed in his head. You're not natural, you're not human! He lowered his book, swallowing heavily. You should be locked away from real people. You. Don't. Belong.
She was right. Of course. But it still hurt.
I hope the new teacher at least tolerates me a little, Remus thought desperately. He deserved to be hated but... didn't he also deserve to be treated fairly? His other teachers that knew treated him fairly. Professor Flitwick treated him the same. Professor Slughorn... well, he acted kinda weird sometimes. Remus thought there was something sneaky about him though maybe it was just because Slughorn was the Head of Slytherin. Then there was McGonagall.
Professor McGonagall, whom Remus adored so much it was verging worship. She treated him fairly. Kindly, actually. When he went to her with issues she was always willing to lend a hand. It had been her idea to spell the bed curtains. She had also once called him the most Gryffindor student she'd had in a long time which was a praise he still kept locked up in his heart, giving him warmth. When Remus had told Dumbledore everything Dedenne had said, McGonagall had put her arms around him. Like she cared. Like he deserved her caring.
McGonagall was pretty much the most amazing witch Remus had ever met. And since his mother was a Muggle, he could say that statement with absolute surety.
James and Sirius didn't come back until nearly four in the morning. Remus was nodding off, waking up whenever the watch made noises at him since he kept setting the alarm every ten minutes. He was very cross with his friends when he opened the door and was bumped into by their invisible bodies, wanting to snap at them for keeping him up so late.
"It was so amazing," Sirius said as they pulled the cloak off. They were both bright-eyed and pink-cheeked, not at all seeming as though it were nearly dawn. "Oh, wait until you come with us."
"It's incredible being able to go wherever without worrying about being seen!" laughed James as they headed to the stairs. "We walked right by Filch!"
"Though, his cat seemed to suspect something," Sirius added quickly. "Don't like her."
James paused right outside the door, Sirius and Remus running into him. "I was thinking, remember when we started writing down information about the school and were sorta doing a map? Now we can really do one, a proper one! Since we can really explore the entire school like this, it can be a super cool map!"
"Brilliant idea," Sirius said. "We can start doing that soon."
"But for now can we go to bed?" Remus grumbled.
"Ooh, sorry," James giggled, tiptoeing into the dorm. "Night guys!"
"Night Jimmy, night Remy."
"Good morning more like it."
"Grouch."
/\/\/\/\/\
If he was grouchy before bed, he was even grouchier in the morning when he was awoken before nine. It was Sunday. They could sleep in! He didn't even get five hours of sleep! James and Sirius didn't look at all like they only got a little bit of sleep. They were both bouncing around all over the place, talking about the map. Peter was on board for the map. Remus was on board for more sleep.
At the Gryffindor table the others ate while Remus just dropped back into sleep, waking up about half an hour later when they finished. He wasn't really that hungry so he just took an apple, following his friends out of the Hall, wondering if they even needed him. He considered just going back to the dorm, especially if they were just going to go explore. In fact he had just decided to do that when they ran into trouble.
The four of them were walking down a third floor corridor going one way, while three Slytherins were coming their way. Snape, with two Slytherins they hadn't had much contact with the previous year: Wicket and Fox. Wicket was the tallest of the three with broad shoulders and a thick look to his face, while Fox was the shortest of the three, very burly, very scowly.
"Such a shame they let people like that walk freely around the castle," Snape said loudly once he saw the Gryffindors.
"Funny, was thinking the same thing," James said.
Snape rolled his eyes. "Brilliant comeback. I suppose for a cub that's considered wit."
Sirius tilted his head. "Insulting Gryffindors for being Gryffindors? I'll let your girlfriend know."
The affect was exactly what Sirius intended. Snape's sallow face began flushing slightly and he was visibly upset. But before he could come to Lily's defense, Fox said, "Girlfriend? What Slytherin would ever even consider a Gryffindor?" then he and Wicket began laughing. Snape glanced away.
"Oh, didn't you know about your friend?" James asked. "He—"
"Shut up, Potter!" Snape's wand was out, pointing at James whose eyes widened. "Nobody wants to listen to your... drivel!"
James smirked. "Don't want your Slytherin pals to realize how clo—"
"FLIPENDO!"
James went flying back, slamming into the wall. Remus's jaw dropped a little at how strong the spell had been. He, Sirius, and Peter all stared at Snape who was breathing heavily, looking a little startled himself at what just happened. Wicket and Fox began laughing. Peter ran to James's side while Sirius got his wand out, and spells began going flying. Remus grabbed for his wand, putting the shield spell up just before one of Wicket's spells hit him.
"Peter!" Sirius shouted, ducking under one of Snape's spells.
Peter scrambled over, wand flinging outward. "Flipendo!" he tried, making Fox stumble a bit.
The six wizards began fighting more intensely than Remus expected. Spells bounced off shields, walls, the ceiling. Occasionally one hit. Sirius began stumbling with one of his legs jellified, Fox began sneezing rose petals, Peter's hair began going every which way pulling at his scalp, and then Remus felt something sharp slice into his arm. He staggered back, staring in horror at the rip in his sleeve and the blood pouring out. One of them had cut him, not super deep but a couple inches long. Snape had cut him!
He looked up, furious. If they were going to be that disgusting, so be it. "Incendio!" Snape's robes caught fire. He began spinning wildly around. "Petrificus—" But Remus was cut off by something slamming painfully against the side of his head. He went down, seeing stars.
"Don't TOUCH HIM!" Sirius screamed then physically jumped on Fox, sending both of them crashing to the ground. They began rolling back and forth, fists flying. Wicket dove towards them but Peter got the tripping spell off and Wicket went sprawling.
"Petrificus totalus!" Remus managed to say, throwing the spell to Wicket. His body went stiff as a board. He was taken care of.
Snape had managed to put the flames out; he and Remus aimed their wands but since Remus was still rather dizzy from being punched in the side of the head Snape was faster.
"Langlock!" he got out, and Remus's tongue was glued to the top of his mouth with that bizarre spell he suspected Snape had come up with himself.
Snape turned his wand on Peter but before he could do anything he jerked backwards. Great big furry globs of boogers crawled out of his nose, forming bats. Remus looked over at Peter who looked just as surprised. The he glanced backwards. James was getting up off the floor, glasses crooked, blood smeared on his face. The furry bat bogies began flapping around Snape's face, interrupting his spells.
There was a crunching sound and Fox cried out in pain. Sirius was on top of him, punching him in the face. Blood flowed from his nose. "Locomotor mortis," James snapped and Fox's legs were glued together. Sirius took his wand, getting up as well, rather precarious on his feet due to his leg issue.
"Give up, Snape?" James asked, wiping the blood off his chin.
Snape swatted a bat away. "Four on—three—isn't—fair!" he got out, ducking away from the bats as they tried to get into his mouth every time it opened.
"It was three on three since you knocked me out!" James stood tall, chin out, looking quite heroic in Remus's opinion, like out of a book. If the book was about a bespectacled twelve year old wizard dripping blood everywhere. "You're going to reg—"
"WHAT IS GOING ON?!"
The four Marauders turned as Professor Flitwick came running down the hall, shock etched on his face. He stared at the Gryffindors then the Slytherins.
"Snape ambushed us," Sirius said immediately.
"They—CHOO!—attacked us!" Fox whined from the ground.
Then everyone who could talk (aka not Remus or Wicket) began talking at once until Flitwick snapped his wand, making everyone go silent. He surveyed the scene before him, taking the curses off of Wicket and Fox. Well, the leg-locker curse. Fox still sneezed out rose petals. Another wand movement from Flitwick at the furry bat bogies glopped to the floor. Finally he got rid of whatever spell was on Peter with his hair.
"Come with me," Flitwick said sternly. "All of you."
/\/\/\/\/\
They sat in Flitwick's office miserably, waiting for their respective Heads of Houses to arrive. Flitwick sat at his desk with his arms folded, glaring at all seven boys. Occasionally he'd say something about how he couldn't believe such a thing, never in all his days, blah blah blah. None of the boys spoke. Of course, Remus couldn't still due to the tongue thing. Sirius's leg was still rather twitchy from the jelly-leg curse, as Flitwick hadn't noticed it. Snape had been given some burn cream for the scorch marks and was rubbing the spots while glowering at Remus.
The door opened, McGonagall sweeping in, Slughorn waddling in after her. "I should have known it was you four," McGonagall said right away, glaring at the Marauders. "Now then, let's find out what happened."
Everyone but Remus began talking at once. Slughorn held up his hand then slowly looked at each student. "We'll start from the right. Mr. Wicket?" Of course he started with the Slytherins.
So Wicket said he, Fox, and Snape had been walking down the corridor when suddenly the Gryffindors jumped out of no where and started attacking them. Naturally they had to defend themselves. Next was Fox who agreed with Wicket's story, then Snape who also corroborated their lies.
"Mr. Lupin?" McGonagall asked, as Remus was next to Snape.
"Nnnglglg." Remus pointed at his mouth.
"What was that?"
"Hnnglglg. Glghhghh."
McGonagall bent in, peering into Remus's mouth. "I see. Filius, would you mind taking Mr. Lupin to see Poppy? She managed to get this curse off him before. Also, while you're there, find out his side of the story. We'll see if it matches with what Misters Black, Pettigew, and Potter say."
"That isn't fair, they got to listen to each other!" Sirius protested.
McGonagall looked down her nose at him. "If you speak the truth your story will match Mr. Lupin's, won't it?"
Sirius fell silent.
Flitwick took Remus out of his office, guiding him along to the hospital wing where Madame Pomfrey was able to get rid of the weird tongue-to-roof-of-mouth spell after several minutes. None of them knew the origins of the spell so it was a little difficult. Then Remus told Professor Flitwick the truth. Snape insulted them, James snapped back, James was about to mention how Snape was friends with a Gryffindor when Snape attacked James. That's when they all started fighting. He wasn't sure who did what for the most part but he held out his arm, showing them the rip.
"Snape cut me," he said as Pomfrey inspected his skin which had healed already. At least there was still blood soaked in his sleeve to back up that statement. "Fox punched me. Sirius tackled him, then Snape used this tongue spell on me again. James used the bat-bogey hex, then that's when you showed up, Professor Flitwick." He paused then blushed slightly, looking down. "Oh, also I set Snape's robes on fire. After he cut me." He didn't want to confess doing that however felt he should tell the whole truth. He hoped his friends were telling the whole truth too.
Back in Flitwick's office everyone had been done telling their story. Flitwick talked to the other two teachers outside in the hall, informing them what Remus had said.
"You told the truth, right?" Remus whispered.
"Yeah of course," James replied, rubbing the back of his head. "Unlike some people, we don't lie."
Snape snorted loudly at that. "Whoa, don't start a tornado there, Snivellus!" Sirius said, leaning forward to look over at him.
The door opened, all three teachers coming back in. None of them look pleased so Remus had no idea what they were thinking. He squirmed a little, crossing his fingers at his side.
"Ten points each from Mr. Wicket, Mr. Potter, and Mr. Pettigrew, as well as one night of detention each," McGonagall said. Peter squeaked slightly. "Fifteen points each and two nights of detention for Mr. Fox and Mr. Black, for getting into a fist fight as well as magical duel," she continued. "Twenty points, and three nights of detention for Mr. Lupin and Mr. Snape. For slicing into another student and knocking Mr. Potter out for Mr. Snape, as well as setting another student on fire for Mr. Lupin." She gave Remus a very stern look.
"That isn't fair, Professor!" Sirius protested. "Remus was just—"
"Fair, Mr. Black?" She arched her eyebrows high. "I believe your punishments are very fair. Lenient, in my opinion. Seven students getting into a fight both magical and physical? Setting each other on fire? I am extremely disappointed. You best be glad I don't give you worse. Now go. Before I change my mind."
All of them scuttled out, hesitating right outside the door before the Slytherins headed down while the Gryffindors headed up. Sirius was still having trouble with his leg so Remus began trying to fix it, complaining that he should have mentioned the leg to Flitwick. Sirius was too angry to notice what Remus was saying.
"Fox punched you, and you get worse than him," he grumbled, limping forward while Remus chased after him with his wand. "It isn't fair."
"Course it's not, the Slytherins do what they want," replied James.
"At least they didn't get completely off the hook?" Peter shook his head. "They should have gotten worse though. Especially Snape. He cut Remus! He knocked you out! It's not right."
"No, it isn't right," James said. "We should do something about it."
"What can we do about it?" Peter asked. "
"Sirius, stand still," Remus finally snarled.
He stopped in his tracks. "If the teachers aren't going to do anything—"
"Locomotor solidus." Remus had to jab at Sirius's leg a few times before it stuck.
Sirius bounced a little on the leg to test it out. "Thanks. As I was saying—"
"I set him on fire, I deserve the detention," said Remus as he tucked his wand away. Detention, already. Three nights of it! He felt absolutely miserable, almost like he might cry but his nose wasn't itching so he didn't think he'd start. Thankfully. Should have just stayed in the dorm this morning, gone back to sleep.
"It isn't your fault he burns so well, with all that grease," said James as they began walking again. "He knocked me unconscious, he should be expelled. Or at least suspended. I'll write to my dad, he's on the board of governors—"
"The board of governors is for important matters, not squabbles between students," Remus interrupted.
"It's not about the fight, it's about them getting let off easily," James replied.
Remus threw his hands in the air. "We got off lightly too! I should have gotten in a lot more trouble for setting him ablaze!" James eyed him suspiciously. "Look on the bright side. We won the fight. All four of us standing versus just Snape, who was too busy battling the bogies to do much."
Slowly James began smiling. "Ah, true. True. We did do brilliantly. Okay, let's go back to the dorm, get the cloak, then we can hang around the Slytherin common room till we get the password. Then we can get some gooood revenge."
However once in the dorm Remus just kicked his shoes off so he could climb into bed for a nap, waving off his friends begging him to come along. They didn't need all four sets of ears to hear the password; besides it wasn't even noon yet and he was already done with the day. He slept soundly through lunch, only waking up in the afternoon when there was a knock at the dorm door.
"Um, c—come in?" Remus sat up sleepily, blinking as a prefect came in; not the same one who had snapped at James the night before. "If you're looking for James or Sirius—"
"No, I'm looking for you," replied the prefect. "I was asked to tell you to please report to Office 2C immediately."
"2C?" Remus got out of bed. "But that's—" He stopped then thanked the prefect, quickly getting his shoes back on. 2C. That was the office for the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.
Looks like their new professor had finally arrived, and wanted a word with Remus.
/\/\/\/\/\
Remus stood in front of the office steps, looking up at the door in confusion. Slowly he went up the few stairs then knocked. He nervously smoothed his hair down while he waited to be answered, wishing he had thought to brush his hair after his long nap. He was a mess. His shirt was all wrinkled with a tear in the sleeve and blood everywhere since he hadn't thought to change his top, and he wore the same mud-stained battered jeans from the day before. He regretted knocking, wishing he had time to run back up to the tower to get changed.
"Come in!"
He took in a deep breath then stepped inside. Immediately he smelled a delicious scent, some sort of baking scent like fresh bread or something. He glanced around, seeing few bookshelves; some of them were full, some of them empty. There were also three dummies used for training, and loads of posters that showed diagrams of useful spells.
Remus finally saw the teacher. He was leaning against the desk, a smile on his face. He was rather young, probably only in his twenties, with flaming red hair, hundreds of freckles, and bright blue eyes. "Hello there," he said pleasantly. "You must be Remus." He crossed the room since Remus was standing there like an idiot. "Fabian Prewett," he said, offering his hand.
Remus slowly took it, marveling that he was actually touching him. "Um. H—hi." Professor Prewett's hand was very warm.
"Did I interrupt something?" He looked Remus up and down.
"Er, n—no. Um. No." He self-consciously tried to smooth his shirt down.
"Something happen then?" Prewett indicated Remus's blood-stained arm.
"Er. Uh. Earlier—um, this m-morning." Remus tugged at his sleeve, not sure how to react to this man. He seemed nice enough. But you never knew. "I'm fine."
Prewett waved his wand and the sleeve fixed itself. "I'm not too good at getting bloodstains out," he said as he went back to his desk. Remus trailed after him, taking a seat when Prewett motioned. "Now then. I thought it'd be nice to have our first meeting like this, out of the way of class, yeah?" He sat down behind his desk, linking his fingers together.
Here we go, Remus thought, looking down at his lap. "Yes s—sir." He remembered the first things Dedenne ever told him, about how she 'didn't care' which was a big lie, then went on to basically insult his intelligence. Did Prewett see him as a dumb, dangerous beast too?
"I admit, I don't really know much about werewolves," Prewett said and Remus's stomach twisted hard; it was so similar to Dedenne. I have no personal experience with your kind. "So it will be a bit of a learning experience. I'll do the best I can." Remus remained silent, still doubtful. "Between you and me this whole year will be a learning experience. I never expected to be a teacher."
"Did you w—work at the M-Ministry?" Remus asked.
Prewett's eyes twinkled. "Yes, I did actually." He sat back, drumming his fingers against the desk. "I didn't work for the W.C.U. if that's what you're looking so anxious about." Remus blushed very slightly, ducking his head. "As I said, I don't know much about werewolves. I've been trying to learn, since Professor D—Albus told me, however most the media is full of anti-werewolf propaganda so I have no idea what's true and what's not."
"Which de—d-department d-d-did you w-work in?"
Prewett tilted his head. "Law Enforcement, Investigation department."
It took a second for that to sink in then Remus's eyes got wide. "You're—you're a detective!"
His smile broadened. "Guilty."
He didn't know a whole lot about detectives, though one of his favorite book series was about a wizarding detective in the Victorian era. "I—I assumed you d-did something inv—volving dueling," Remus admitted. "Because of the—the book on th-the list."
Professor Prewett nodded as Remus spoke. "I love to duel. I'm quite good at it, really; the auror department tried to recruit me however while I feel like dueling is my strongest talent and I would say it is truly my passion in life, I do prefer investigations over hunting dark magical folk down." Remus wondered how he ended up as a teacher then, but didn't think it was his place to ask. Before he could figure out what else to say Prewett asked, "What sort of things do you like to do? What are you passionate about?"
Remus shifted in his seat, tugging at his bloody sleeve again. "Read. Um. St—study. Hang out with m-m-my friends." What was he passionate about? Did he have any passions? Learning? Could that be a passion? "I... I love learning." He wasn't sure if that sounded stupid or not.
"That's good," Prewett replied. "Learning is a great love to have. Anything in particular?"
"No. Everything. I—I want to know as m-much as I can."
Prewett grinned. "Excellent. Very encouraging to hear. Speaking of learning... one of the other reasons I wanted to see you was these." He pulled a thick folder out of his desk, letting it thwump against the surface. "Your test results and grades from last year." Remus's heart sank a little as Prewett opened the folder. "It's very discouraging."
"I, er—I—the—well... I—I'm s-sorry, I'll d-d-do better—"
"Better?" Prewett looked up. "I can't see how you could possibly do better."
Remus sat stunned. So. Prewett had decided he was just a dumb beast, then. "Oh," he forced out, all good feelings about the new teacher dissipating.
"These are already top grades as it is."
"...What?"
Prewett pulled a few papers out. Remus could see the Ds and Fs even where he sat. "Oh, not the actual grades she gave you. I read through these. You deserved Os in everything you've done. Everything. I didn't see a single thing here that warranted less than a hundred percent. I've spoken to Albus, and he's given me permission to retest you. Fix these." He waved one of the papers at him. "It's going to be a bit of work on your behalf, so if you don't want to—"
"No!" Remus shot forward, practically falling off his chair. "I mean, I want to. Yes. Please. I—I want. Er, to." He felt dizzy with ecstasy, unable to believe his ears. A chance to change what Dedenne had done to him? His grades, at least? It felt as though his heart might just pound right out of his best.
"I thought as much." He shoved the folder back in the drawer then began scribbling some things down. "Here's a list of essays I'd like from you over the course of September. We can work out days for you to retake tests another time, I know the start of school is a pretty distracting time..." Prewett began speaking about the various tests he'd be taking, some of the things expected from him, etc, etc. Remus kept nodding, astounded at his luck. How did this happen? Did Prewett have a werewolf relative, like Fawley? Why else would he be going to this length to help a monster? Except no, he said he didn't know much about werewolves. So... why...?
Then, suddenly, Prewett stood up. "I need to get some more things together this afternoon. I believe I won't be seeing you until Tuesday afternoon, but if you need anything in the mean time you know where to find me." He offered his hand and this time Remus gladly shook it.
"Thank you, sir," he whispered. "Thank you s—ss-so much."
He left the office, clutching the essays to his chest, unable to believe what just happened.
