Author's note: tw for blood, gore, blades, unintentional self-harm (unaware that he is hurting himself), and some emetophobia. Also not sure if I should include warnings for snakes and spiders to be mentioned? I don't think so but if anyone needs warnings about them in the future let me know otherwise I won't again!

/\/\/\/\/\

The kraken was the big story of the school. Everyone was talking about it, and wherever the Marauders went they were stopped and questioned about it. Peter hated being the center of attention, squirming uncomfortably whenever anyone approached them. Some people were merely curious, though a few thought Peter should be in trouble. The first two students who suggested this found themselves on the unfortunate end of the head-swelling jinx from James, and the third probably would have been as well if Sirius hadn't gotten him first with the coughing jinx. Eventually the Marauders gave up being in public, retreating to Fort Dragon despite the heat—though it was rather cool in the Forbidden Forest.

Remus brought books to study while the others talked, though his mind was partially on the pits and partially on the boggart. He'd have to face it, probably on Thursday. He glanced up at James, wanting to ask him how he was doing after his… problem. Nobody had mentioned it since class. The only boggart talk had been about Peter. And Sirius—why had he so blatantly refused?

Remus shut his book. "James?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you… doing all right?"

James laughed. "Why wouldn't I be? Pomfrey fixed my face. My glasses are fixed too."

"No, I meant with the—the boggart. Your boggart."

James's smile disappeared. Thankfully he didn't look angry, only a little sad. "Oh, that. I'm fine. It took me by surprise, is all. I—I genuinely thought the boggart would be a dementor. Those things are terrifying! You lot know about them, right?"

"Yes," all three said.

"Yeah!" James let out a forced laugh. "That's what I was expecting. The—er, what happened just—uh—you know, it surprised me."

"Was that your grandfather?" Peter asked hesitantly. "Ow!" he whined when Sirius smacked him.

"Yeah." James fiddled with his glasses now. "Yeah, that, um… yeah. I mean, I don't think it's… I don't think I'm really afraid of him being—I—part of it is I'm afraid of…" James swallowed, looking down. "Of dying. Of being buried."

Remus remembered the nightmares James had over summer, connecting them fully with his boggart now.

Sirius leaned the other way so he could put his hand against James's back. Nobody spoke for a while then Sirius asked, "Are you going to face it again Thursday?"

"What? Of course I am!" James straightened up. "I've no idea what to do about it." Suddenly he looked rather stricken. "How—how am I… how can I turn… my… my—my grandfather's…" He swallowed, unable to say the word 'corpse'. "How can I turn that into something funny though?"

Sirius and Peter both remained silent, however Remus cleared his throat. "It doesn't have to be something funny, per se. It can simply be something positive. Laughter does work best but happiness and joy can work. My father's defeated boggarts like that."

James frowned, messing up his hair slowly. "Would that work?"

"Think of a good memory of your grandfather," Remus said, clutching his book now. "Think of a time that you both had a really good time together. Imagine the boggart turning into your grandfather at that point in time."

Those words didn't exactly help. "I'd still be seeing my dead grandfather though." He slumped now, pressing his hands together to cover his mouth. "Whether it's him like—like that or alive. It's still…" James faltered and then stood up. "I'll be—be right back." With that he disappeared into the forest without another word.

All three stared at where he had gone.

"Um, should we go after him?" Peter asked nervously. "He's just gone deeper into the woods. That isn't safe. Is that safe?"

Remus's heart splintered as he heard faint crying. "I'll go, it's my fault for bringing it up." He set his book aside, getting up off the ground.

"No, I'm—" Sirius began then stopped.

"His best friend?" Remus asked. "Don't frown, we all know that."

"You're—you're my best friends too," Sirius said awkwardly.

Remus wanted to touch his arm to make him feel better but that also seemed like the wrong thing to do. "I know. We're all best friends. And Pete and I know that you and James have your own bond, and that's fine." But he didn't know how James would feel about Sirius finding him crying. As far as he knew, the only Marauder who had ever seen him cry was Remus. He doubted he should say that, so he simply sat back down as Sirius went into the woods after James.

Peter scooted closer to Remus. "They're deeper in the woods."

"They're not that deep, I can still hear them," Remus promised.

Peter pressed his lips together, not saying anything else but remaining visibly anxious until their friends returned. James didn't look at all like he had been crying and had a smile plastered on his face, laughingly apologizing for running off like that. He made it clear he didn't want to talk about the boggart again and instead wanted to discuss the prank.

The boggart was brought up on the way back, though; the others were curious about Remus's. They wanted to know if he knew his and Remus admitted he wasn't a hundred percent certain, just that it probably had to do with him being a werewolf.

"It might be the werewolf that bit me, or it might be… me turning into one, or the full moon, or the W.C.U." he said quietly. "I won't know till I face it."

"W.C.U.?" Peter asked.

Remus hesitated, so Sirius said, "Werewolf Capture Unit."

Pete's face fell. "Oh. Yeah." After a few more seconds he asked, "Are you the reason Prewett said not everyone had to face it?"

"I'm not sure. Possibly?"

"I wonder why Evans didn't want to face it," James put in.

Remus shot him a look. "I shan't be telling you what hers is, if that's what's on your mind."

To his surprise James merely shrugged. "I wasn't planning on asking. It's probably her with that stupid curly hair from Valentine's day or something." He thwacked at a tree with a stick he had picked up, sending some leaves fluttering to the ground. "Or Snivellus telling her they're not friends anymore."

"If a boggart turned into Snape I'd start emptying the cauldron," said Sirius then clutched his stomach making sick noises, causing the others to laugh.

Then when they were done laughing about it Peter asked, "How come you don't wanna face it, Sirius?"

Sirius tilted his head to one side, a stiff smile on his face. "It's called none of your damned business, Peter." Then he realized that was a rather rude way of saying it, and got a sheepish expression. "Er, I mean, well, it's not something I want to talk about. I know perfectly well what it would turn into, and I have no desire to face it at the moment—especially not in front of anyone else."

"Not even us?" Remus couldn't help but ask.

Sirius's eyes went rather flinty. "No," he said in the same sharp tone he had used with Prewett earlier. "Now, come on, it's suppertime and I'm starving after fighting that kraken!" He prodded Peter in the ribs as a way to show he wasn't really mad at him about the question, then began running ahead. "Last one there is Snape's new best friend!"

James and Peter took off after him while Remus kept his pace, very, very worried about his friend.

/\/\/\

After supper, all four boys went together to see Fawley. Sirius still seemed on edge about the boggart question earlier, James was still a little sad, and Peter still upset about the kraken incident. Fawley greeted them all cheerfully then congratulated James on his game. She said she had really enjoyed being there, hearing the commentator and hearing all about his ability as a Chaser. James puffed out his chest, really pleased by all this praise.

Remus sat back with Sirius while Fawley spoke with James and Peter about her ideas for how they should proceed.

"It depends on what evening is best for Remus as well, of course, and both of you. Is Photography Club always on Wednesdays every year, do you know?"

"Um, yeah, it—yeah that's ummm how it goes, as far as I know," Peter answered.

"Very well, Wednesdays aren't viable. We can't really make any solid plans until we know James's practices and of course which days would work best for you, depending on your class schedule. I know Remus is going to have very full days, as he is taking all of the electives."

Remus tugged at his sleeve. "I—I can… drop one or two if it helps—"

Fawley turned, anger etched on her face. "No, absolutely not. I won't have it. You are not dropping any of them, unless you decide you don't like it. Understand?"

He ducked his head. "Er, yes Miss Fawley."

"What I am thinking may be best is for me to come half an hour early and either us have fifteen minutes a week, or alternating half an hour every other week." Fawley tucked some hair behind her ear. "This… is not enough time, however I also don't wish Albus to become too suspect."

"We could meet in Hogsmeade," James suggested.

"You're not supposed to be there," she sighed. "Though perhaps that wouldn't be the worst thing to do."

"You could use some of my time," Remus offered.

Fawley folded her hands in her lap. "It is far more important for you to learn, dear. Another option would be for me to somehow come in a second night."

"Would Dumbles—er, Professor Dumbledore believe it if you said you wanted to double Remus's lessons?" Sirius asked. "Say you want to meet up with him twice a week instead of once?"

Her fingers twitched across her skirt as she considered this. "Possibly. He is doing very well with his lessons. Occlumency can be… a very hard magic to train and I don't know if Albus will think I am overdoing it, or pushing him."

Sirius leaned forward, finally looking like his usual self as he got a mischievous smile on his face. "You could… say, suggest to Dumbles that Remus's lessons be two hours long? You could say 'Remus is doing really well. I want to extend his lesson and if we do a two-hour lesson then we can take breaks in between'. Then James and Peter could have half-hour sessions every week?" Before Fawley could answer Sirius kept talking. "Oh! If you're good at disguising spells maybe you could make Remus look like James, then Remy and I could wander around the school while you're with Jimmy and Pete! That way people will think James is with me and not… you know, missing. Uh, I don't know how well a spell like that would work. But maybe it's a possibility?"

Fawley looked a little taken aback by all this. "Sirius, that is a good idea. A very good one. I believe Albus may agree to a two-hour lesson, with the suggestion of breaks. I'll speak to him about it next month. Thank you."

Sirius settled back, looking immensely proud of himself.

Fawley turned back towards James and Peter. "The most difficult thing will be setting up the lessons next year, as I will meet with Remus before Quidditch begins to settle on a day for his lessons."

James made a face. "Oh yeah, that's gonna be hard cause we won't know the days we can practice until… later. Like, end of September. Any brilliant ideas about that, Sirius?"

Sirius spread out his hands. "I got nothing."

Remus looked down, staring at the floor as he tried to think of a way around that. "Maybe… we could postpone my lessons until October?" he suggested slowly.

"I'd rather begin as early as possible, for your sake," sighed Fawley.

Peter raised his hand then went a little pink as he lowered it. "Um, could you maybe say you changed your mind?" Everyone looked at him. "You know… um… say that… the day isn't working out?"

"That—that could work," Remus said when he realized Peter wasn't going to say anything else. "I've no idea what my timetable is going to be like so we could choose a day that perhaps isn't the best. Then once Quidditch begins and we know James's schedule, tell Professor Dumbledore that whatever day isn't working. That we need to change it. We could simply choose Wednesday to start with, since we know that isn't a day we can use anyway."

Fawley was nodding. "Yes, yes, that could work perfectly well except… I am a little worried about your workload. What if the only day we are able to meet is a particularly busy day for you?"

Remus swallowed. "It'll be fine. I can do it."

"Remus…"

"I'll be all right."

She pressed her lips thin. "You must promise me you'll do better at sleeping properly, if that is the case."

All three other Marauders began choking with laughter while Remus scowled. "I—I do fine with sleep!"

Sirius elbowed him. "Don't lie."

Remus elbowed him back. "Shut up!"

"Remus, I think everyone here is aware you have terrible sleeping habits," Fawley said, and James and Peter began giggling more.

Remus folded his arms, pouting.

/\/\/\

After the Marauders left, Remus told Fawley about the pits. They went into the memory of him hearing the whispers, jolting out when Remus fell backwards since Fawley was shocked by that. She was very worried and he promised her he was okay, that he never got hurt from falling. They went back into the memory and both could see that something in the bottom of the pit moved. Unfortunately, Occlumency was a little different from seeing memories in a pensieve and Fawley was unable to go down into the pit to see whatever it was up close, as she explained when they left the memory.

The rest of the lesson proceeded as normal, though Fawley did gently chide him for chickening out on sharing Muggle music with his friends. She suggested he try, that she thought James and Sirius might be more open to the music than Remus was worried about.

Maybe she's right, he thought as he went back to the tower. His head wasn't hurting too much tonight, just a little bit of stabbing feeling behind his eyes.

It's not something he thought about doing that night, though; he had far too much studying to do. He buried himself in his books, doing his best to ignore the tension in the room

Spinnet seemed to be in full arse mode that night. He teased Peter about his boggart, made snide remarks about Sirius not facing his, tried to figure out what Remus's secret boggart might be (most seemed to have to do with him being seen as crazy), and also made a few light remarks about James being 'put into place'. David told him to stop but he didn't stop until Sirius snapped.

"Yeah, you're such a big man, making fun of someone who was forced to see the dead body of his beloved grandfather he lost less than a year ago!" he snarled, right in Spinnet's face. "What a big man you are, Spinnet!"

That shut Spinnet up. Things calmed down and Spinnet barely said another word before he went to bed. One by one his dormmates went to bed, Sirius quietly reminding Remus to go to sleep! Remus promised he would then promptly ignored his promise, staying up very late as he studied. When he woke up a couple of hours later, he swung by the Great Hall to get a quick breakfast before disappearing into the library until Charms began.

Wednesday was spent studying a lot, after classes, and enduring constant questions about the kraken since that was still the big topic. Peter spent all his free time hidden, not even wanting to go to Photography Club until Sirius said he'd go with him.

Aegis was at Study Group, thank Merlin, and afterwards Remus talked to him about things since they hadn't really talked Monday. Aegis said he was doing a lot better, apologizing again for his reaction. He didn't really explain why he reacted as strongly as he did, nor did Remus ask. He assured Aegis that he wasn't upset, only worried, and that he was glad Aegis was doing better. They talked a bit about the kraken since Aegis was curious (the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs had asked during Study Group; Twycross had said yes there had been a kraken, but Lily and Remus hadn't wanted to talk about it for Peter's sake) then Aegis admitted he had sat out for his own boggart lesson. Which meant it wasn't so awkward for Remus to say he wasn't facing his publicly. Aegis didn't inquire about what Remus thought his boggart was, and Remus didn't ask Aegis about his—though he did suspect it would be one of his bullies.

Remus couldn't imagine the hell Malfoy would give Aegis if Aegis's boggart turned out to be him!

/\/\/\

There wasn't much opportunity for Remus to talk to David privately (he didn't want to say anything in front of Spinnet), so all there was to do before the next boggart lesson was study. And fret a little. He was worried about James facing his grandfather's corpse again, and Peter—well, what would happen with that? Would Prewett let Peter face the boggart again?

That seemed to be the question on everyone's mind as they headed to Defense after lunch. Peter shuffled along with his head down, obviously miserable.

"Gonna destroy the classroom again, Pettigrew?" Spinnet teased, ignoring David smacking him.

Peter moaned, ducking even lower.

Professor Prewett didn't have the trunk with him when class began and instead started with another lecture, but eventually did drag the trunk out. He asked to make sure Sirius, Lily, and Remus wanted to sit out, then asked James how he felt. James said he was willing to try. Since Nettle and Magpie had already gone they were given permission to sit out if they wanted to. Both decided to fight the boggart again.

"Mr. Pettigrew, under the circumstances I must ask you to sit out," Prewett said, and there were snickers from the other Gryffindors. "However I would like you to attempt to fight the boggart. Would you be willing to meet me outside at five?"

"Um—er…" Peter looked rather panicked.

"Your friends can come with you," Prewett added gently.

Pete swallowed, slowly nodding. "Y—yeah. Um. Yeah. If—if they can come then I'll uh…"

"'Course we'll be there," James said.

Peter sat down with the others while James got in line. He seemed nervous and didn't jump to the front of the line like he did last time. Instead Spinnet was at the front and Remus was rather curious what his biggest fear was.

"If it's one of us, I'm going to die laughing," Sirius whispered to Peter and Remus, both of whom did their best to hide their giggles.

It wasn't one of the Marauders; it was, in fact, a giant snake. It slithered out of the trunk, coiling up and raising its head. When it opened his mouth to hiss, venom dripped off its fangs. Spinnet stared up at it in horror, not moving until Prewett reminded him of the spell.

"Riddikulus!" Spinnet said, and the snake became a long, rubbery hose, flopping all over the place.

David went next and the boggart became fire. A huge wall of fire, giving off the feel of heat as the flames licked the ceiling. The students near the front of the line flinched back and David held an arm up, as if expecting the fire to rush him

"Riddikulus!" he managed, and the fire dwindled into an innocent-looking candle that snuffed itself out. Wiping sweat from his forehead, David stumbled back to Spinnet.

Magpie went next, facing off against her faceless boggart, and then Nettle banished the cockroach again. McNab stepped forward and the toy cockroach burst apart, forming a humongous spider. There were a few startled cries, and McNab stepped back, yelping as well. The spider was enormous, making clicking noises as it scuttled towards McNab who stood frozen in fear.

"Come on, Miss McNab, you can do it!" Prewett called out, tensing as he prepared to put himself between his student and the monster.

McNab licked her lips. "Riddikulus!"

Sticky webbing appeared and soon the spider was wrapped up in its own web, tipping back and forth until Twycross moved to the front of the line. The cocoon changed and Remus covered his mouth.

There was a giant wolf standing there. A wolf with a slightly short snout, a tufted tail, and very humanesque eyes.

It was a werewolf.

When the boggart howled Remus felt it in his soul. All the hair on the back of his neck and the small, wispy hairs beginning to form on his arms all stood on end. He felt an answering howl rise in his throat and it took more effort than he ever would think to keep the howl down.

He also felt like throwing up.

A giant wolf standing over him, eyes glittering, mouth opening. The teeth were long and dropping with saliva—

Next to him he saw Sirius's hand creeping towards his own. Remus gave a slight shake of his head, and Sirius kept his hands to himself. He forced himself to move, settling his hands on his thighs to try to appear normal, hoping nobody would notice the sweat prickling against his skin or that he was going rather pale.

Hot breath, smelling like the rot of death rolled across his body as the wolf growled, bending in to bite Remus—

To try to appear this wasn't destroying every fiber of his being to see basically himself standing there. Something in his stomach quivered and he was worried he might wet himself, because—

He had wet himself when he first saw the wolf, when it stepped out from behind the shadow of a tree—

Twycross stepped forward, raising her arm. "Riddikulus!"

Teeth digging into his arm, sinking through his flesh, clipping his bones, tearing his muscles—

The werewolf in the classroom began shrinking, the fur turning to fuzz as it became a little puppy that chased its own tail.

His small body lifted off the ground, arm clamped in the wolf's mouth which could have probably eaten his small body whole with one bite—

The puppy turned into an ominous, dark cloud. Suddenly lightning struck and thunder boomed. Colgate, who was now in front of the line, gave a small wail, knees shaking. More lightning, more thunder—

Remus dropping to the ground, blood gushing from his arm, the wolf bending in to lick. Lick. Not bite again, not destroy, but lick—

"Riddikulus!"

This time when the lightning struck it sounded like a cuckoo clock. The lightning wasn't as bright, looking very weak. The cloud cuckoo-ed a few more times as it turned white and fluffy, until Inkwood took Colgate's place

Hope's voice cutting into Remus's vague consciousness. Something about bleeding and the Ministry, the words muffled and distant—

The boggart became a large, very sharp-looking sword that immediately began swinging, the blade swishing through the air towards Inkwood. She jumped back, eyes huge.

Lyall's voice, desperate and clear. "He's going to become one of them…"

Remus wanted to leave, wanted to run from the images and voices in his head, wanted to run far away and cry. Wanted to hide under his bed with Gwyllgi. Wanted to run home and bury himself in his mother's arms. He tried not to cry, tried not to let the sob threatening to come out actually emerge from his mouth.

"You don't understand. HE WAS BIT!"

The sword became a little plastic sword, the sort that adults put in their cocktails.

He wasn't just bitten he was licked. Not torn into. Licked.

James faced the boggart again, the last in line. It became his grandfather's corpse, reaching out to pull him into the grave. James gave a raggedy sort of sigh as he raised his wand. "Riddikulus!" he shouted and the corpse became a healthier version of the man, dressed up as Father Christmas—a happy memory, from James's past.

"He's going to become one of them…"

Prewett flung a spell and the boggart went back into the trunk, the lid clamping shut. As soon as it locked it was as if someone had snapped Remus out of the horrific nightmare fog he had been in, and his parents' voices faded away.

"Excellent!" Prewett turned towards the class. "Everyone did amazing!"

"Well, everyone who actually faced their fears like a Gryffindor should," Twycross said, flicking her hair back as she cast a glance towards Sirius, Lily, and Remus.

"Miss Twycross," Prewett warned. "There is nothing wrong with not wanting your greatest fear to be known to those around you. Everyone is entitled to their privacy. Now, before I dismiss you, I want everyone to write twelve inches on boggarts—" Everyone but Remus began groaning, "—not due until well after the exams, don't worry. It's due the fourteenth, so you'll have two weeks. Mr. Black, you still wish to not fight the boggart?"

Sirius got to his feet, gathering his things. "Nope," he replied, then hesitated. "I mean, yes. I mean—I mean, I'm not going to."

"Very well. Miss Evans, you wish Misses Colgate and Inkwood, and Mr. Lupin, to stay behind with you?"

Lily wrung her hands. "Y—yes please."

"Mr. Pettigrew, I'll meet you and your friends at the Quidditch pitch at five, all right? Everyone else is dismissed. Have a good day!" Everyone else filed out, the Marauders giving Remus worried looks before going through the door. Once everyone else was gone, Prewett had Lily come forward. "I take it you know—or suspect—your greatest fear?"

"Yes, sir."

"Do you know how to turn the fear into something amusing?"

Lily blanched a little. "Not… really. Actually, I don't know if I want them to know…"

Colgate wrapped her arms around Lily. "You know we'd never judge you."

Inkwood put her arms around Lily too. "We're here for you no matter what."

Remus was still shaken up from what happened, and wasn't close enough to give physical comfort. "It'll be a—all right," he said, hoping it sufficed.

Lily sucked in some air and in a small voice said, "I—I think it's going to be—to be me not being a witch. Or not being magic enough."

There was a stretch of silence then both girls hugged her tighter, promising that she was a witch, that she was as much of a witch as they were, that she had every right to be at Hogwarts, and that she had proven herself to be as magically powerful as any pureblood. Remus chimed in with his reassurances, reminding her she was one of the smartest kids in the school, and was part of Slug Club for her talent alone.

Lily sniffled, wiping her eyes. "I don't know how to make it funny though."

It was so like what James had said, that Remus found himself launching into the same explanation that he had given his other friend, minus the whole 'happy memory of your grandfather' bit. "You c-can make it something positive," he said. "If it turns into s-something saying you're not—not deserving of being here, th-think of turning it into—in-into something saying you are. Your good grades, your—your excellent charm work… all the p-praise the teachers have given you…"

"Mr. Lupin is right," said Prewett.

Remus realized that Prewett probably should have been the one explaining everything. "I—I'm sorry, Professor, I-I-I should have let you—um—I'm s-sorry—"

"It's fine, Mr. Lupin. You put it as well as I ever could," Prewett said, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze which, despite everything that happened, still made his entire being go wobbly and hot. "In fact, five points to Gryffindor."

Remus ducked his head, burning up.

"All right," Lily said. "Okay. Um. I think I'm ready."

Prewett opened the trunk and everyone waited in anticipation of what would come out. It was Professor McGonagall, looking especially stern. She held a Hogwarts acceptance letter in one hand with Lily's name across the top, and had Lily's wand in her other hand. The boggart began speaking, saying how there had been a mistake. Lily didn't have any magic in her. The boggart ripped the letter up then snapped Lily's 'wand' in half.

"Riddikulus!" Lily shouted.

The boggart stumbled, then when it looked back up the stern look had disappeared, being replaced with a smile as it produced a paper with all Os on it. The boggart proclaimed how talented Lily was, that she was one of the brightest students. Prewett banished the boggart back into the trunk.

"You did it!" Colgate squealed.

"You did amazing, as always," Inkwood added, both girls hugging Lily.

Lily hugged them both then flung herself at Remus, hugging him too. He awkwardly hugged back, agreeing she had been terrific.

"You don't want me to stay for you?" she asked when they parted.

"Er, n—no, I'd p-prefer to—to be alone," he said rather apologetically.

She hugged him again before leaving with the other two, a bounce in her step. Prewett locked the door behind them as Remus stood up, feeling very nervous. The memories that Twycross's werewolf stirred up still clung to his brain, and he was a bit worried about facing…

What?

What would his boggart be?

He assumed it would be the full moon but now… might it be the wolf that bit him?

"Are you ready?" Prewett asked.

Remus gave a small nod, gripping his wand. He had grown up with boggart stories, every scrap of information shoved into his head along with dementors. If there were two creatures he had any confidence in fighting it was boggarts and dementors, thanks to his father. He… just hoped his confidence came through.

Full moon, what should it become? he asked as Prewett went to the trunk. A balloon? A LiftAway? If it was his werewolf, what then? He didn't want it to be like Twycross's werewolf. Perhaps a little stuffed wolf doll?

The trunk opened and a human body came out. Not a moon, not a wolf. A human.

James, to be specific.

Remus jerked back, frozen in absolute fear at the sight of his… friend.

James, covered in slashes, blood pouring from his wounds. His glasses hung haphazardly off one ear and the light was fading from his eyes. His bloodied lips moved, a croaking voice forcing words out. "Why?" the boggart asked, taking a staggering step forward. "Why did you do this?"

"I—no—no—" Remus clutched his wand, trying to remember the spell, trying to—to—

Another step, and it became Peter. There was a huge bite mark on his shoulder, and claw marks all over his midriff. He—it, it was clutching its middle as it stumbled. "How could you do this?" Peter—the boggart—the boggart moaned, reaching out with one bloodied hand. "How could you?!"

Tears dripped down Remus's cheek, and his wand began sliding from his grasp. "Please—no—I'd—no—"

Then it was Sirius. His pale throat had been ripped open and there were slash marks across his lovely face, the blood clumping up his beautiful hair. When he raised his arms Remus saw more bites and slashes.

"You killed us," Sirius whispered, blood oozing from his mouth. His voice had a wheeze to it, and his grey eyes were dim, unfocused. "You killed us, Remus—you killed us!"

"NO!" Remus sobbed out as Sirius approached him, his wand clattering to the floor as he put his hands to his face. "I'D NEVER—"

Then broken, bloodied Sirius went flying back into the trunk, the lid slamming shut. Prewett whirled around, concern filling his eyes.

"Remus?"

He stood stock still, fingernails digging into his cheeks as he stared at the empty space where Sirius—where the boggart had been. There was no blood on the floor, no evidence of what happened, but it was so clear in his head. It was like his nightmares. His nightmares—only real, they looked so real. They had—had been real—

The wolf, standing above Remus, fangs coming towards him.

Remus as a wolf, standing above his friends, about to bite them.

Everything began blurring together in darkness and blood. The room whirled around him as his ability to breathe suddenly became too laborious, and his chest hurt so bad. His eyesight went strange and wavering. He curled his fingers, digging his nails against his cheeks harder now as he tried to dig the nightmares—the—the visions—tried to stop—

Prewett said his name but it was far off and distant. Black began creeping into his vision.

The wolf—that bit him—

Prewett, trying to pry his hands off his face—

Wolf—

His friends, bleeding, dying—

Prewett saying his name—

No.

He killed them.

There was blood everywhere, his friends destroyed bodies—

He felt a pulsing sort of feeling somewhere in the back of his skull, and then he collapsed into Prewett's arm, sobbing.