Remus skipped dinner on Monday, opting to sit in the library with books about creatures spread out around him. He read about hinkypinks even though he knew it absolutely wasn't a hinkypink, then he read about creatures who imitated human voices to lure people to their deaths, creatures that mimicked a whole person, sirens, phantumps, lorntronks… all sorts of creatures that did some form of pulling people into some sort of trap, or their death.

None of them mentioned whispering or being in tunnels.

By the time Study Group started he still didn't have a clue—if there was even a creature. Maybe… he had imagined seeing something? But Aegis had heard the whispers too.

I'll ask Prewett tomorrow, he decided, piling his books to the side as the others showed up. Aegis never came to the library, which made Remus worry again about his friend.

Everyone stayed at Study Group until nearly eight before they headed back to their dorms.

"I know I'll be okay," Lily whispered as they walked. "I know I'll do a good job. I don't know why I get so scared."

"It's easy to worry about grades, in my opinion," Remus said.

"I don't worry about my grades," Twycross said from where she walked a little ways ahead of them, listening in. "I get top grades."

Lily bent in to whisper in Remus's ear. "Does she not understand you getting a hundred and ten percent is more top than her getting ninety-nine?"

Remus covered his mouth, trying not to giggle. He elbowed her and she began giggling which set him off. Twycross looked over at them, scowling. She hmphed, sticking her nose in the air and walking faster.

Lily stuck her own nose in the air. "Hmph!" she said in a high-pitched tone, and began flouncing. Remus stuffed his fist in his mouth to stop the laughter. "HMPH!" Lily flounced around a corner, right into someone.

"Oh!" the other girl said.

"Oof!" Lily nearly fell back but the other person caught her. "Oh, thank you!"

"You're we…" The girl trailed off and that's when Remus realized she was a Slytherin. A very familiar Slytherin.

"I'm very sorry," Lily laughed.

Black, Remus realized. Narcissa Black.

Sirius's cousin quickly let Lily go, a strange expression going across her face. "You should watch where you're going," Black said haughtily.

Lily must have realized that this Slytherin was one that obviously didn't like Gryffindors. Or Muggleborns, judging by the way Black was wiping her hands off on her skirt.

"S—sorry," Lily murmured.

Black glared at them both then went past them. Lily rolled her eyes, sticking her tongue out at Black's back.

"Blimey, what's her problem?"

Remus took Lily's arm, pulling her along. "Gryffindors, I expect." Wasn't Nacrissa Bellatrix's little sister? He vaguely recalled the letter Sirius had sent over summer. But they were both Andromeda's sister, and Andromeda was nice. Narcissa didn't seem very nice. Plus Remus had seen her sitting with Malfoy quite a few times. Ugh. "I think she's friends with Malfoy."

"Ew." Lily crinkled her nose up. "So she probably hates Muggleborns too."

Remus flinched. "Er, p—probably…"

Lily squeezed his arm. "No need to sound like that. I'm well aware how some purebloods like her and Malfoy feel. I'm… getting used to it."

"You shouldn't. I mean, you shouldn't have to."

"No." Lily smiled. "Ask me if I care, though. If they want to look down on me for having Muggle parents they can go jump in a doxie's nest."

Remus smiled. "Well, I think you're terrific and worth a hundred of them."

"That's all that matters. People like you. Your opinions." She squeezed his arm again then began skipping ahead, tugging him by the hand. "Come on, we have more studying to do."

They wound up staying up till midnight in the common room. They weren't the only ones, there were loads of people up studying. The fifth and seventh years were done with their exams and the relief (or misery) on their faces was evident.

When Remus went up to his dorm he stayed up even later, reading through a creature book he had checked out then studying some more. He wasn't really sure what time he passed out, only that he awoke in the morning with a jerk, having drooled into his History book.

Oh no! He tried to wipe the drool out but it had dried. Ugh!

Aegis was at breakfast, looking rather peaked. Remus debated for a couple minutes then went over to the Slytherin table, ignoring the angry looks. He slid into the empty seat next to Aegis (Aegis pretty much always ate alone), asking if he was okay.

Aegis averted his eyes. "Better than yesterday. I am sorry for what happened—"

"It's okay," Remus urged. "There's n-no need to apologize. I wanted t-to make sure you were okay."

"Thank you, I appreciate that."

It was such a warm day that James and Sirius decided not to wear their sleeveless jumpers at all. It didn't take very long for Remus to start sweating in Herbology. He took off his robes, glad that Sprout didn't care if they did that. He also rolled up his sleeves, constantly wiping his forehead off. Everyone in the room seemed to be wilting as they worked on repotting some plants. Soon, Peter took off his sleeveless jumper and by the time class finished, Remus had taken his off too.

"If it's this hot now, I can't imagine next month," moaned James as they trudged back to the castle.

"It's supposed to cool down again this weekend," Peter said.

A cool shower didn't help much, and Remus collapsed on his bed afterwards, attempting to make the breeze spell blow a nice, chilly breeze; he couldn't figure out how to get it, and it was too hot to think about anyway so he gave up, returning to studying. James, Sirius, and Peter were playing Wild Adventures, James completely shirtless. It felt like a tragedy when they had to go down for lunch then go to Defense, but all the Gryffindors perked up when they realized Professor Prewett had put a cooling spell on the room. It felt nice.

"Good afternoon everyone," he said once they all took seats. "I hope the spell helps a little."

"Yeah, it's great!" James exclaimed, and several students chuckled.

Prewett smiled. "I'm glad to hear it. We have a very exciting class today! Well, exciting after the lecture. A very… hands-on lesson." He gave the class a wink then launched into a lecture about various creatures they had been learning about recently. The cooling spell on the room helped a lot, plus the promise of a hands-on event definitely perked the Gryffindors up.

After about half an hour Prewett finished his lecture then stood at the front of the room, gazing at the half circle of desks.

"Boggarts," he said, and an uncomfortable shiver went down Remus's spine, even though he remembered Prewett saying if he ever got a boggart that Remus wouldn't need to face it publicly. "Can anyone tell me what they are?" Several hands raised, Remus's included. Prewett glanced at him but called on Spinnet who gave the generic response of a transforming monster. "Can you expand on that description?" Prewett asked.

"They attack kids?" Spinnet offered and Remus knew he only knew about boggarts from a popular children's book.

"Mr. Lupin?"

Remus jumped a little. "He's s-sort've right. They d-d-do tran—transform. They are n-non-beings who—who transform into the n-nearest person's greatest fear, and—and feed on th-that fear. Nobody knows what a bog—what a boggart truly looks like for as s-soon as they are in sight they t-turn into the—er, the fear."

"Correct. And the spell to defeat a boggart?"

"Riddikulus."

Prewett beamed rather proudly which sent big zaps through Remus's body. "Yes, correct." He brought out a large trunk from one of the side rooms. "Today we will be learning to fight them."

There was an excited murmur through the class, and a few gasps when Prewett set the trunk down and it began to shake quite violently.

"My brother found this boggart and brought it to me on Sunday. I am very excited to be able to show you how to do this. A boggart is a creature that can be safely fought against at your age, as long as you have someone nearby. Everyone up. Up, up!"

Everyone got out of their seats, excitement growing. James was grinning from ear-to-ear, practically bouncing. Peter was staring rather bug-eyed at the trunk. Sirius's face was utterly impassive. Prewett flicked his wand, sending all the desks and chairs to the back of the room before having everyone stand near the back of the room.

"I'm going to demonstrate," he explained then shot a spell at the trunk, flipping the lid open. Everyone craned their necks to watch…

Professor Prewett?

Professor Prewett crawled out of the trunk then Remus realized that no, it wasn't Professor Prewett; this version had short hair. Gideon Prewett, Remus realized. The Mr. Prewett-Boggart was covered in deep gashes and blood, skin pallid and decaying. It was obvious he was a corpse.

Professor Prewett stiffened slightly but raised his wand. "Riddikulus!" he shouted, hitting the boggart with the spell. The boggart staggered back, shrinking until it became a red-haired baby that cried and kicked its feet. Prewett laughed, flicking his wand again which sent the boggart tumbling back into the trunk. The lid shut and Prewett relocked it.

"The spell will turn your boggart into an amusing shape or form, and laughter defeats it," Prewett said then did the wand movement. "Everyone copy me. Riddikulus!"

"Riddikulus!" the class chorused. Remus already knew perfectly how to do the spell, his father having drilled it into his head at a young age.

"Wonderful! Now. I'll give everyone a chance to fight the boggart however before we begin I know there can be rather personal fears. If you wish to sit out fighting the boggart that is fine. I encourage everyone to face their fears, so to speak, but I also wish my students to be comfortable. That is why I am going to offer a choice. If you wish to face the boggart privately, with only me, or even a few friends present, we can do that after everyone else is done. Or if you wish to skip this lesson, I will understand. Is there anyone who wants to sit out?"

Remus swallowed, feeling very awkward as he slowly raised his hand. To his surprise Sirius's hand shot up right away, and Lily's hand followed suit, albeit rather shakily.

Prewett gave the three of them a comforting smile. "Do any of you wish to face the boggart after, in private?"

"Yes," Lily said before Remus could speak. "And—and if it's okay I wouldn't mind my friends with me. Ali, Cass, and Remus. Er, if they like."

Colgate and Inkwood gave Lily pats on the back.

"I—I'd r-r-rather have one in p-private," Remus stammered out. "Com—completely private. Though I d-don't mind being there for Lily's attempt."

"I'm not doing it," Sirius said flatly.

Prewett raised an eyebrow. "We can have yours absolutely alone, just the two of us—"

"No," Sirius said, voice sharp. "I'm not doing it. At all."

"Are you sure?"

Sirius's face grew stormy, and his fingers curled into fists. He smelled strongly of anger and fear, making Remus very worried. "Yes."

Prewett stared at him a second then nodded. "Very well." He waved his wand, three chairs darting out to sit against a wall. "I would prefer it if you at least watch the lesson. To have an idea of what to do."

Sirius, Lily, and Remus sat in the chairs, Remus in the middle. Sirius was very on edge, radiating an aura of more than anger and fear; there was something else that Remus couldn't quite pinpoint. Lily didn't seem as afraid or upset but when she crossed her legs her foot began jiggling.

"Now!" Prewett clapped his hands. "Everyone line up!"

James dove for the front of the line, a broad grin on his face, yanking Peter with him so they were the first two in line. Peter cast anxious looks over at Sirius and Remus and mouthed the words 'why me?'. James stood at the front, bouncing again, very eager.

Prewett waited until everyone was lined up then he stepped back past James. "Do you know what your greatest fear is, Mr. Potter?"

"Yes," James said firmly. "Dementors."

Remus was a little surprised by that response, having expected it to be failing at Quidditch or something. Then he suspected James probably wasn't that afraid of failing at Quidditch because failing Quidditch simply wasn't an option for him.

"That's a very sensible fear," Prewett said. "All right. Picture in your head a dementor and imagine what it might look like as a figure of fun. Something amusing. Imagine it turning into something that would make you laugh."

James began giggling. "Oh, I've got it. It's going to turn pink and covered in glitter!"

"I see. You're very well prepared. Ready?"

Prewett waved his wand and the trunk unlocked. James got into a fighting stance, ready to attack. However it was not a dementor that emerged from the trunk but a person, much like Prewett's had. A very old man whose skin was stretched tight across his skull, showing the bones underneath. His eyes were sunken in deep above shadows as dark as Remus's. He was a wasted corpse, similar to Prewett's only obviously having died of old age. In addition, clods of dirt fell from his rotting clothing. He was dead and buried.

It was, of course, Henry Potter.

James's grin slowly faded and his arm lowered until his wand slipped out of his fingers. "No," he croaked out, staggering back, bumping into Peter as the boggart lurched forward. Its clawlike hands reached for James. "No," he said again. "NO! NO!"

Sirius clamored to his feet and he took an uneasy step forward. Remus debated just running over to help James too, but neither had to do anything. Prewett leapt forward, sending the boggart back into the trunk.

"Mr. Potter?" Prewett turned, grabbing James's shoulders. James had gone quite pale, his eyes enormous and his jaw slack. "James. Are you all right?"

"That—th—that—w—what?" James blinked a few times, gaze shifting from the trunk to Prewett's face. "What? That—that w-wasn't—"

"Are you all right?" Prewett repeated firmly.

James swallowed, slowly nodding. "Y-yes. Yes. I… oh." He scooped his wand back up, hand shaking. "Yes." He didn't sound all right, he sounded weak and afraid which terrified Remus. James was never weak or afraid. Except… he couldn't help but remember James sobbing in his arms last September. "Yeah, I—I'm sorry, I—"

"Go sit down."

"No, I—"

A chair appeared on Sirius's other side and Prewett pushed James over, forcing him to sit down. "You've had a shock. You need to sit down for a moment. Mr. Black, there's a pitcher of water on my desk and some cups in the top drawer."

Sirius ran over fetching James a glass of water. James sipped at it, some of it spilling since he was still shaky. "Merlin," he moaned.

The others were whispering and Remus distinctly heard Spinnet snickering, saying James got knocked down a peg. Fury shot through Remus's body and he wanted to go over and deck Spinnet much like Sirius had, sending him head over heels! Somehow he managed to stay seated.

"Right." Prewett moved back to the line of students. "Mr. Pettigrew—"

Peter squeaked loudly. "No! I—I—er—c-could someone else go before me?" He took a few steps backwards. "I—I n-need to see—it'd be better if—if I saw—" He continued stepping until he went past Nettle who was behind him. "Please?"

Prewett pressed his lips together but nodded. "Very well. Miss Nettle?"

Nettle took a step forward. Prewett made sure she was ready before opening the trunk. There were several 'eeeewwwww's as a giant cockroach scuttled out of the trunk. Nettle gave a loud moan and a little hop backwards. It was enormous, bigger than Nettle, almost as big as Professor Prewett! Its feelers were several feet long and began wriggling as it turned to face Nettle.

"Imagine it as something different," Prewett commanded. "Something funny."

"Riddikulus!" she exclaimed and the cockroach suddenly became stiff and shiny, shrinking down into a plastic squeaking toy. Remus didn't think it was particularly funny but Nettle laughed so he supposed whatever worked for her.

Peter had edged behind Magpie who had been behind Nettle, so Magpie stepped up next. For her the boggart became yet another human figure. This one not a corpse, as far as Remus could tell. It looked like a woman from behind, with very long black hair. She was facing the opposite direction but slowly turned her head, revealing she had no face. Magpie gave a loud shriek, jerking backwards. There was a sort of hollow wheezing sound from the faceless creature.

"Riddikulus!" Magpie yelped, flicking her wand. The boggart became a very large egg, tipping back and forth until it hit the floor and cracked apart.

Peter had been trying to slip behind Spinnet and nearly managed however Spinnet grabbed him, shoving him forward. "Aw, come on, Pettigrew—afraid to face your fears? Go on, then!"

"N-no!" Peter whined. "I don't even know what it's gonna become, it's not fair! I'm not ready!"

Spinnet gave him another shove and he stumbled back, past Magpie, becoming the person nearest to the boggart which immediately began changing shape.

The whole room exploded.

Or at least that's how it felt to Remus. The boggart grew to an enormous shape. Too big for the room, which shouldn't have happened; boggarts sized themselves down for fears, they never became too big! But this one most certainly did and then there were… things everywhere. There were screams, crashes, thuds, and even glass shattering. Something heavy and soggy slammed into the wall above James, Sirius, Lily, and Remus, and then another one slammed into all four of them. It was reddish-pinky in color and sorta felt like a giant sticky noodle with little wriggling things all over.

Remus tried to scream but all the wind was knocked out of him. The wriggling things suctioned to him and he felt himself being dragged off the chair along with his friends.

Tentacle, he realized, trying to push himself free. Lily was on one side screaming bloody murder while Sirius was panicking on his other side, trying to get to his wand—

Then before anything else could happen the boggart shrank back down to become Mr. Prewett's corpse and in a flash was a baby before going in the trunk. Prewett bent over the top of the trunk, holding the lid down, panting heavily.

Remus staggered to his feet, rubbing his head, looking around. Lily was curled up on the ground, blood trickling from a wound on her cheek; her skirt was flipped up and Remus weakly got his wand out, shooting a spell to flip her skirt back down to cover her knickers. On his other side Sirius was helping James up, who had broken glasses as well as blood on his face.

The rest of the classroom had gone through the wringer. Most of the furniture was destroyed, several windows were broken, and all the other students were either on the floor or against various walls. Peter was huddled on the floor, arms over his head. Slowly he looked up, seeing everything in tatters around him.

"What the BLOODY HELL was THAT?!" Spinnet demanded. He and David had been flung against the far wall and were on the floor, Spinnet cradling his arm.

"I… I'd like to know as well," Prewett said, locking the trunk.

Everyone was staring at Peter now and he looked like he wanted to cry or disappear, or both. His entire body quivered as he whispered something not even Remus could hear. When asked to repeat himself he gave a small wail and said, "Kraken!" Then he began sobbing.

Remus limped over, quickly putting his arms around Peter. James and Sirius weren't far behind him and the three of them huddled around Peter, protecting him from the furious looks from the other Gryffindors.

Prewett let out a low whistle. "Impressive. Mr. Lupin, are you injured? Could you go and fetch Madame Pomfrey? I believe we need medical aid here immediately."

Remus nodded and left, falling a few times as he rushed to the hospital wing. At one point he was stopped by a Slytherin Prefect for running, but when he explained what happened the Prefect escorted him. Soon they were back at the Defense classroom along with Madame Pomfrey. Some of the furniture had been repaired while the students waited. Most of them had minor injuries; bruises, scrapes, that sort of thing. The most serious injuries were the cuts on James's face from his glasses, McNab's sprained wrist, and Spinnet's broken arm.

Once everyone was taken care of, Prewett dismissed class saying they'd resume the boggart lesson on Thursday. He asked Peter to stay behind a moment, and Peter went white with fear. James, Sirius, and Remus waited across the hall, James toying with his repaired glasses. None of them spoke until Peter emerged from the classroom.

"Killer!" Sirius joked.

"P-p-please don't!" Peter wailed. "I don't—I didn't—I didn't mean—"

James laughed, slapping Peter's back. "That was absolutely brilliant, Petey! It was… HUGE!"

"Boggarts don't typically get that large," Remus remarked. "Usually they prefer to stay at least within the confines of the room they are in."

James smirked. "I think technically it did 'fit' the room." He put his glasses back on. "The tentacles were all over the place but it fit. What was it, you said?"

"Kraken," Peter moaned, wringing his hands. "They're deep sea monsters that attack pirate ships and—and other ships. Only they're not really real. Only, um, myths."

Remus was absolutely gobsmacked to hear Peter say that and stared at him. Then without thinking he said, "Peter, we've got a giant squid in the Black Lammmph!"

Sirius clamped a hand over Remus's mouth, yanking him back against him. "Ha-ha! What a kidder, our Remy is, eh?"

Shit, Remus thought as Peter's eyes went bigger and bigger. He had made a colossal mistake.

"Ahhhh?" Pete breathed out in a sort of squeaky, gaspy manner.

James put his arm around Peter. "Ignore him. He rambles on about who-knows-what all the time, you know that!"

Now Peter was making odd wheezing sounds. "Ssss… sssss… sssquiiiiiid?"

Remus pried Sirius's hand away from his mouth. "No. I—don't listen to me. It's not the same thing at all!"

"Are—are they real?" Peter locked his eyes on Remus. "Just tell me!"

Remus had no idea what to say. James and Sirius were both giving him looks and poor Pete looked ready to pass out. He took a step back, tugging at his collar as he tried to figure out a way out of this. "Er. There—there is no—there—" What the hell did he say? Lie? "There—is no creature with the, erm, scientific… name of… kraken." He gave a nod, hoping that would work.

Peter stared unblinking then moaned, falling back into James. "IT IS REAL!" He collapsed on the ground and began languishing there, to the amusement of the older students walking by.

"Remus!" Sirius hissed out while James crouched down, trying to comfort Peter.

"Sorry!" Remus hissed right back. "What was I supposed to say?!"

"Lie you dumbarse!"

The door opened and Professor Prewett stuck his head out. "What is going on?"

"Remus is terrorizing Peter," James explained, trying to haul Peter back to his feet.

"I didn't mean to!" Remus cried out, face going red. Of course he should have completely lied, he realized that pretty darn quick, but he had panicked! "Peter, come on. It's fine! You've seen the squid! You've fed it! It's perfectly safe!"

"Oh dear," Prewett sighed, coming out of his classroom. "I was worried about that. Mr. Pettigrew… Mr. Pettigrew," he said again as Peter was practically crying. "Listen to me. The giant squid is absolutely safe, I promise. It's a very gentle being."

"We have given it snacks before," Sirius pointed out.

James finally managed to get Pete on his feet. "I… it's… I—I d-d-didn't—I never—"

"Come on." James wrapped an arm around Peter again. "Why don't we go get into the butterbeer I've got in my trunk, maybe steal some ice cream from the kitchens. Er, you didn't hear that, Professor."

"Naturally," Prewett said with a smile. "I hope you feel better, Mr. Pettigrew."

Twenty minutes later they were in a secret passage near the kitchens with four large bowls of ice cream. Remus apologized multiple times, feeling awful for everything that transpired. He didn't add that he didn't understand how Peter didn't realize that krakens were basically giant squids, and that there was one in the lake!

"Well," Pete said as he licked chocolate syrup off his spoon, "I am never going near the lake again. Nuh-uh!"

James and Sirius both glowered at Remus.

"P—Petey, hey, uh, look. Krakens are, by way of their stories, quite volatility dangerous—"

"I don't think that's helping," James interrupted.

Remus shook his head. "Let me finish! Krakens are very dangerous and tend to attack people and ships. The giant squid has never attacked anyone. Ever. And while Professor Dumbledore seems to not mind a dangerous creature wandering around the grounds, I highly doubt previous headmasters were of like mind. If the giant squid were truly dangerous, it probably would have either been moved or else given a warning about—like the Whomping Willow. In addition, going into the lake would have been prohibited ages ago!"

Peter frowned, his brow furrowing as he took this in.

"What dangerous creature is wandering the grounds?" Sirius asked. "Filch?"

"Snape," James said, snorting into his bowl of ice cream.

Remus sighed. "Me!"

"Remy, you forgot to tie your shoes this morning and tripped," Sirius said with a smirk. "The only danger you are is to yourself." He chuckled at that, scooping up a big spoon of ice cream then he dropped it, choking a little. "Shit. No. No, blast it! I—I didn't mean—that wasn't—I was only—"

"I know you were referring to my clumsiness and not… that," Remus assured him though Sirius still looked rather distressed. "In any case my point stands. The giant squid is safe, and very much so not a kraken."

Peter studied Remus for what felt like ages, and none of them dared breathe as they waited for him to decide. Finally, "I guess you're right." He sniffled, picking his spoon up. "But if I see the squid, I'm not going near the water's edge!"