Hey everyone! I just wanted to thank anniestark and WhiteArcobaleno for their lovely reviews. Receiving those is the highlight of my day, they make me so happy. This chapter is shorter, but I hope you enjoy it too. Let me know what you think.
21st November, 1977
Monday's schedule was killer. They started off with double transfigurations, followed by double charms after the break, and just as soon as they'd gotten out of that class, Sirius and Danny sneaked away separately with different excuses and met up in a nook on the sixth floor, hidden behind a tapestry.
"Ready, kitten?" He grinned, excited like a child on Christmas morning.
"Padfoot, I've been doing this for six years. I'm insulted by the question." She retorted with a snobbish scoff.
"I'm deeply sorry for insulting you, kitten. Won't happen again." He played along and smiled at the grin it brought from her.
"Now, did you get the cloak?" He nodded, taking the cloak out of his bag. "And the map?" That followed. Danny pointed her wand at the blank piece of parchment. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." She recited, bringing the magical map back to life. She checked the sixth and seventh corridors, but almost everyone was in the Great Hall. "Fantastic, let's go now, before anyone else comes up."
Sirius threw the cloak over them and the two moved out from behind the tapestry, Sirius taking the chance to place a hand on her waist and stay inappropriately close to the girl as they moved to the seventh floor. Once in their targeted place, they started shooting elaborate spells and charms, one of them always keeping an eye on the map. Soon, the corridor stunk and was covered in mud and murky water up to knee level, weeds and long stemmed plants covering where water didn't.
Satisfied, they hurried to reach the ground floor through shortcuts and secret passages, in the last of which they shed the cloak and hid that and the map once more, Danny taking out the book she had supposedly left to get from the dorm.
"... you see, and the leaves are much more potent raw, while the stem should be cut, crushed or minced, then boiled, for better usage." Danny was telling Sirius, who pretended to pay attention to the page she was pointing at, looking like perfect students as they went into the Great Hall. Professor Sprout herself was moving along the Hufflepuff table and looked up and smiled when she recognized the Herbology book, a supplementary reading she had suggested during their last class.
"But we can't harvest the leaves for another two weeks at least." Sirius frowned, playing along once more.
"Then we'll wait two weeks. It's not like we're in a hurry, Sirius." Danny finished, closing the book with a snap as they reached the table. Remus quirked an eyebrow at them, but didn't question their arrival, and James pretended not to know anything at all, paying more attention to Peter and his attempt to stuff eight strips of bacon at once in his mouth.
When lunch was over the group moved toward the library, Lily and Alice with them once again. Remus and Danny had to work on their Arithmancy project, same as Lily and Alice, while James, Sirius and Peter had nothing better to do.
A ruckus up ahead drew their attention when they'd almost reached the library.
"What's going on?" Lily wondered out loud, and moved toward the noises, which turned out to be complaints and some laughter from other students. The others stayed close behind, letting the Head Girl and Boy take the lead. "What happened?" She asked a couple Hufflepuffs and Slytherins who seemed to be drenched and dirty from their knees down.
"The corridor to go to Divination's been turned into a marsh!" A fourth year Hufflepuff girl complained, emptying one of her shoes of murky water.
"What?" Lily blinked, then narrowed her eyes at James.
"Hey! Don't look at me like that! I had nothing to do with that! You know I haven't played any pranks in months, Lils! And I've been with you all morning." He defended himself.
"He's right, Lily." Remus backed his friend. "He's been with us the whole time, you know it couldn't have been us…"
He drifted off toward the end of that sentence, but Lily had seen the truth in her boyfriend's words and turned back toward the students to help them. Remus subtly looked over his shoulder to where Danny and Sirius were standing, side by side. Danny gave him her best wide-eyed innocent look, and his lips twitched when he figured out what had truly happened.
Lily insisted on staying behind until the professors fixed the corridor. James and Alice stayed with her, while the rest headed back to the library. Peter sneaked off, taking James' absence as permission to not have to go to the library, which left Remus, Sirius and Danny.
Instead of taking their usual table, Remus guided them to another, further behind the rows of bookshelves, where no one usually went. Danny recognised it as Hermione's favourite reading spot, but was more curious about Remus' reasons to change work-location.
"So you had to go get a book from the dorm, eh?" He questioned Danny lowly with a smirk on his lips as soon as they reached the most isolated table in the library.
Danny smiled sheepishly at being caught by him, but simply shrugged and dropped her bag on the table. "Don't tell anyone?" She begged prettily, looking at him from beneath her eyelashes.
He huffed out a laugh and shook his head, but still smiled. "Of course not. But don't let Lily find out. She'll be cross with you if she does."
They both nodded quickly and the werewolf and the girl started working while Sirius brought his defence textbook out and settled for reading.
"Here you are!" Came a whisper-shout about half an hour later from the stacks, right before James, Lily and Alice emerged.
"What are you doing back here?" Alice questioned, frowning.
Remus looked up innocently from where he and Danny had been hunched over their numerical chart. "It's easier to speak up here. Better for group projects than where Madame Pince will be shushing us all the time." He explained, looking completely honest.
Marauder, indeed. Danny kept her head low and continued working to not give away his half-lie.
Lily nodded as she sat down. "Good thinking."
Lily and Alice started pouring over their own project, even though Alice had to continue alone when Lily and Danny had to leave for their Ancient Studies class soon after. They promised to return after to continue and left quickly.
By the time dinner rolled around the swamp had turned from an annoyance to a great excuse not to attend Divination. It had taken two professors the better part of the afternoon to get rid of it, and even those who'd been caught unaware and walked right into the muddy waters ended up laughing about it. Sirius kept bumping her leg with his every time they overhead someone mentioning the swamp, but they both did their best to keep their faces neutral and behave as they normally would with their friends.
Danny, who wasn't eating, knowing she'd be twirling in the air in a short while, kept an eye on the boys around her. Remus was eating more than he usually would and he looked a bit more tired, despite not having had that many classes that day.
Full moon in three days. Danny thought, reaching her hand out toward the pile of custard tarts further down the table and levitating them to her. There was no chocolate in sight. She left the plate in front of Moony, who froze mid-chew and looked at her sideways.
"You look hungry." She shrugged, then smiled lightly. She leant a bit closer to whisper. "I'm going to the kitchens after Quidditch to get some dinner. Wanna come?"
Cheeks stuffed, looking a bit like a chipmunk, Remus nodded, smiling boyishly.
Remus went to meet them at the entrance hall as they returned from practice, and James and Sirius joined the pair in raiding the kitchens. Thus, they found themselves traipsing back to the dorms right around curfew, Danny hanging onto Remus' arm to steal some of his body heat and Sirius and James trying to trip each other through the portrait hole.
Peter, Lily, Mary and Marlene were still in the common room, and stared at them for a bit when they arrived, but soon went back to what they were doing before. Seeing the Marauders arrive in such a fashion didn't seem unusual. The girl attached to Remus' side, though, was less usual.
Marlene watched Sirius. He didn't seem bothered by the proximity between the girl and Lupin, nor did he seem to care that said girl saved food for the sandy haired teen but not himself. Was he truly not interested in her? Lily had assured her Danny had not seemed interested in going on a date with any of them the following weekend; in fact, she'd made it obvious that she'd ask Lily if she had the chance, not any of the boys. Was the girl really gay? Was that why she was so close to those boys? Because she wasn't at all attracted to them, thus making her a safe friendship?
22nd November, 1977
Remus looked increasingly tired as the day progressed. Danny didn't comment on it, but she noticed. By the time they had gotten out of their Arithmancy class, the last of the day, Remus was all but dragging his feet, and still pretending to be okay.
"Moony, let's head back to the tower, you look exhausted." Danny suggested when the werewolf headed towards the library. They were supposed to be working on their project. "You should take a nap."
Lily was watching them from the corner of her eye, ready to back the werewolf with whatever he came up with to explain his condition.
"I'm fine, it's probably just a cold." Remus waved off.
Lily saw Danny purse her lips and frown and was about to tell the girl to let him be when she spoke again.
"All the more reason to take it easy for a few days, don't want you getting sick, Moony." She linked her arm through his and shot him a firm look. "And if you do get any worse, you're forbidden from coming to class. I'll give you my notes." She smiled as adorably as possible. "I'll even colour code them for you."
Remus watched her silently for a long moment. She must know, he thought. She's giving me the perfect excuse to keep my secret.
Somehow, the girl had maneuvered him toward the Gryffindor tower without him realising it for a while, supporting her judgement on his state of exhaustion. He gave in and agreed to nap a while, but not for the rest of the day. They would work on their project after dinner. She agreed, as long as they stayed in the common room, where he could easily go to bed when he got tired.
23rd November, 1977
Remus didn't go down to breakfast with the others. Danny didn't ask, James and Sirius knew it wasn't necessary to explain, but Lily was unaware of Danny's knowledge and thus covered for their friend.
"He doesn't have class until fourth period and he was quite down with that cold yesterday, he must be taking your words to heart." Lily smiled lightly at Danny, who nodded, accepting the explanation.
Danny purposefully slowed down, leaving Pettigrew ahead with Lily as she got between James and Sirius. "Does Lily know?" She whispered as quietly as possible.
Both boys grinned and shook their heads. "She knows" James explained. ", but she thinks you don't, so she's trying to cover up for him."
"Moony never actually told us until we told him we knew." Sirius continued. "It would be very suspicious for you to know already, because there is no way he would have told you after only knowing you for a week."
"I'm not sure Remus knows I know." She frowned. "Does he know Lily knows?"
"She never told him, but he kinda knows. She does go to great lengths to cover up for him with others. She just never faced him about it. She doesn't think it detracts from him, so she just… doesn't treat him differently." James shrugged, looking proud of his girl.
"Well, I haven't directly told him I know, but… it'll be pretty clear after tomorrow. And even more when…" She pointed toward her mouth. "It's done."
"Why is it going to be pretty clear after tomorrow?" Sirius frowned. She wasn't planning on staying with Moony in his werewolf form before she became an animagus, was she?
"You guys will all be busy at night, and I don't think I'll be able to sleep knowing he's in pain and in the shack, so…" She linked her arms through theirs and shrugged. "I'll be making chocolate chip cookies in the kitchens and maybe training or… researching later. I'll take them to the Infirmary early in the morning after he gets back, so he can have those when he wakes."
James grinned. "He'll love that." Then he frowned. "Aren't you going to sleep?"
"Maybe when I get tired. I'll stay up until I'm tired enough to stop worrying about you lot." She bumped him with her shoulder. "I'll make extra cookies for you, don't look so jealous." She added when she saw the indignant look come over Sirius' face.
He nodded with a firm nod, as if expecting nothing else, and they cut the conversation when Lily asked them what was taking them so long.
The first thing Danny did when they arrived at the table was wrap a few pieces of toast, some fruit and a couple muffins up and carefully place them in her bag, so as not to squish them. The boys noted her actions but didn't say a word about them.
Remus slowly lowered himself down on the chair to Danny's right in Transfigurations. They were early, but Remus arrived with only a couple minutes to spare. His skin was paler than usual and his movements were like those of an old man. He looked sick.
"Did you get any sleep?" Danny asked softly, rubbing his shoulder and back a bit.
"Yeah, don't worry." He tried to reassure her with a smile, but she only felt the need to figure out the potion and become an animagus become much stronger.
"Here, I saved these for you." She grabbed the wrapped food and placed it on the desk in front of him.
His eyes, even tired and weak as they were, brightened at that. His whole face looked like she'd given him diamonds wrapped in gold and he eagerly bit into the first muffin the moment he opened the package. Remembering himself, he smiled sheepishly and covered his mouth with one hand. "Thank you, Danny."
She smiled back and took an extra quill out of her bag, along with a few more pieces of parchment. She placed both quills on top of the stacks of parchment in the same positions, then took her wand out and enchanted the second one to copy the first's movements.
When McGonagall started the lecture a few minutes later, those around her stared at her desk so shamelessly that McGonagall herself stopped a few times. She frowned at the quill moving on its own, but snapped at those distracted to pay attention and continued.
She approached Danny's desk at the end of the class, pausing when she noticed the girl giving the notes written with the enchanted quill to the sandy blonde teen beside her.
"You are not well enough to focus, Moony." Danny was scolding the boy, holding the notes to him. "If you so much as show your face in class tomorrow, I'm dragging you to the Infirmary myself, am I clear?" She threatened, giving the boy a firm look. "You should be in bed even today."
"She took the words right out of my mouth, Mr. Lupin." McGonagall stopped in front of their desks. "Brilliant enchantment, Miss Delacour. Very practical." She nodded approvingly, then gave Remus a soft look.
"I only have two classes today. I'll attend DADA after lunch and go back to the Gryffindor tower after." He assured both witches, sending a grateful look Danny's way when he put her notes with the rest of his materials in his bag. He sighed when both witches stared impassively at him. "And I'll stay in bed tomorrow."
At that, both witches nodded and McGonagall returned to her desk, the others leaving to get to the Great Hall.
"So, kitten." Sirius started while they had lunch, Danny with a potions book open on the table, eating distractedly.
"Yes, Padfoot?" She turned the page, focused on the paragraph describing the proper usage of syrup of Hellebore.
"You're coming to Hogsmeade this weekend, right?" He wondered, making the girl pause in her reading for a moment. She'd noticed Lily and her friends stop talking at that. She went on as if undisturbed, but wholly aware that they had an audience.
"Well, duh, that's why I asked Dumbledore for permission."
"So you're coming with us?" He prodded, leaning a bit closer.
She sipped from her goblet, resting the side of her face on her left hand, still not looking up from the book. "Does it look like I have any other friends that I can go with without Prongs challenging me to another duel?"
Someone snorted down the table, sounding suspiciously like Lily, and Peter choked on his food again. He seemed to do that quite a lot around her.
"That almost makes it sound like you don't want to go with us." Remus commented, amused yet following Sirius' line of thought.
"What can I say, she's a lot prettier than you lot."
Among the laughter ringing over the table, Sirius choked on air, waving his hand in dramatic flair. "Beg to differ. I'm the prettiest of all."
Danny snorted, turning another page, looking like the picture of disinterest. Remus reached around Danny and flicked Sirius' ear, making the vain boy yelp and swat the hand away.
"Hey, no hitting Moony. He's sick." She scolded Sirius when he attempted to flick the other boy back. She elbowed him on his side, making him complain again.
"He hit me first!"
"And I'll hit you next if you try to hit him again." She glared sideways at him, finally looking up from the book.
Unbeknownst to her, Remus was grinning smugly behind her, the rest of the table snickering at the trio. Sirius sulked but gave up, folding his arms across his chest and scowling at the table. Shaking her head at the childishness, but finding it endearing at the same time, Danny rested her head on Sirius' shoulder and went back to reading.
The boy's face lightened considerably at that.