Full Moon Rising Part Three
Two weeks later Sama had learned the ins and outs of Hogwarts. She spent much of her time researching spells in the library with the assistance of Madam Pince, or down with Hagrid assisting his classes on Care of Magical Creatures. She had grown used to the ghosts inhabiting the halls, and even learned to ignore Peeves, the resident poltergeist. She learned about the inter-house rivalries-- so different from the Academy's own system. The students had warmed to Hagrid's classes, although she noticed several young men and women who seemed to sneer whenever anyone else succeeded at any task. She noticed most of these students were part of Slytherin, one of the four Houses. She wondered about this, but thought perhaps the inter-house rivalries went deeper than she first supposed. A few of the more precocious students in Hagrid's classes had even started humming at the most fearsome creatures to calm them down.
Sama always smiled at this, and wished Portia was here to assist those with the affinity for song-magic- like young Ron Weasley. Ron had an almost innate talent for finding the patterns in song, which pleased Sama. She also saw Remus occasionally, but they hadn't spoken in depth since the day they'd been at Hagrid's together. It almost seemed like he was avoiding her, but she was too busy to wonder. Idly, she wondered if he suspected what she was and was avoiding her for that reason.
Sama found Professor Sprout friendly and helpful- if more likely to talk to her plants than to Sama. Professor Snape was - different from any teacher she had ever met. Sama thought she never in her life met an educator who disliked students so much. He looked at her like she was something he'd just scraped off the bottom of his shoe, but since that seemed to be an expression permanently affixed to his face, she decided it couldn't be personal. Outside of meal times, she only saw him when he was holed up in his private laboratory mixing the potions whose rank odor permeated the air. For all his gifts with potions, brewing them made him incredibly sour. Sama only went to the potions master to gather supplies she needed in working her protection bindings. Most of her preparations were kept in her room, or at Hagrid's.
While Sama was settling in, Remus found himself avoiding her more and more. He spent some time with Harry and some of the other students, and he worked very hard learning as much as he could about wild magic so he could be of some assistance to her. But he wondered what she knew or suspected about him. Living at Hogwarts again was as difficult as he thought it would be. He had not yet done what the headmaster suggested and told her about himself. Remus had sent an owl to Sirius the morning after they'd arrived at Hogwarts, but no reply had come- and the owl hadn't returned. Sirius was on assignment for the Order traveling about and Remus wondered if the owl found him.
Then, quite unexpectedly, he received a letter from Sirius- in a circuitous way. Sirius sent a letter to Harry with a second note enclosed to him. Harry stopped him in the hallway on his way back from dinner one night and thrust the letter into his hand with a quick smile. "It's from him," was all the boy whispered on his way past.
Glancing at the envelope with the name 'Moony' on it in large strong handwriting, Remus smiled his first real smile in a long time. When he was alone, he opened the envelope and read:
Moony,
Your owl finally found me in the heart of Asia! Sending this care of Harry- your owl was in no condition to make a return trip. I wish you'd been with me in America. I turned Dumbledore on to a couple of good leads for help for the Order. No one knew me. I was an anonymous face! Never underestimate the insular American view of the world. While there, I found this nice little valley in the middle of nowhere- you'd have loved it! Lots of space to run. The village, although a wizarding community like Hogsmeade is very quaint- goes by the name of Wolf Hollow. It's all guarded by a powerful witch by the name of Isamatia. Her aunt is off her nut- Calls her niece 'the Keeper of the Gate'- but you can't have everything.
Don't worry about me- I'll see you soon.
Padfoot
The note cheered him, and he understood that Sirius had been the one to find Sama and suggest her to Dumbledore. He realized now that he never knew the name of the little village Sama lived in. Wolfgate Farm in Wolf Hollow- how… very odd.
~*~
At the end of September, Sama met Remus coming from Hagrid's hut. His wan appearance, and the dark circles under his eyes shocked her.
"Remus! Are you all right?"
"Yes, just feeling a bit ill. I think I'll go lie down for a while."
Sama watched as he slowly made his way up to the castle. When she turned back to the hut she found Hagrid watching her from his doorway.
"He'll be alrigh' Miss." Sama smiled. No matter how many times she had asked him to call her by name he insisted on the formal title. He always seemed impressed at the way she 'charmed' his beasts.
"Do you know what's wrong with him? He looks awful!" Sama wasn't feeling all that terrific herself with the full moon the next night. It would be the first time in her life she wouldn't be running with the pack and she was on edge; nervous about running on her own. She was also well aware she would need to be extremely careful no one found out about her secret.
"Eh… It's not fer me teh say." Hagrid looked upset by her question, so she dropped the subject. Turning their attention to the wards and spells they were preparing for Halloween they pulled out the perpetually changing and unfinished maps of the Forbidden Forest and discussed the various creatures that lived there. She scribbled notes on an already filled parchment that outlined the modifications they'd need to make to accommodate each species that might be affected by the binding magic. Sama was relieved to find Hagrid's knowledge of the inhabitants of the forest almost limitless.
Later, when going up to her room, she noticed light under Remus' door and decided to see if he was still awake. She knocked softly, and for long minutes she thought he'd fallen asleep with his light burning. Then she heard faint noises and his door swung open. He looked at her with red-rimmed eyes and she reached out, shocked at his feverish gaze.
"Remus!" He gestured vaguely for her to enter, and stumbled back across the room. "What's wrong?"
"I am not at all well at the moment." He sank into the chair by the window. There was a blanket thrown over the arm, and Sama realized he must have been dozing.
"You should tell me what's going on! I'm worried about you." She closed the door, crossed to the chair and crouched next to him. Putting out a hand, she noticed he felt quite warm to the touch.
He gazed at her from under half lidded eyes and noticed that she was pale and tired, her brows drawn together and lines of worry etched her face. "Couple of days. I'll be all right. I just need to sleep. You should go."
"I am not leaving you here in this state. You should be in the infirmary. Madam Pomfrey should be looking out for you!"
Remus laughed hollowly. "She's got enough to do without holding my hand. She's seen it before."
Realizing she would not be able to change his mind, Sama reached out and took his hand. Putting her other hand up to his cheek and holding his face gently she looked into his eyes. "I… I'll check on you tomorrow. I've got… a… research appointment tomorrow evening, but I will see you before."
She closed his door softly behind her and silently made her way up to her own room. Once there, she threw open the curtains and the light from the nearly full moon poured through her window. Opening the window to the autumn evening's breeze she stood and breathed in the scents of the outside air. Tomorrow she knew, the scents would be sharper- more focused. Tomorrow night she would escape this castle and steep herself in the wildness of the forest below, running far from her pack's territory. A lone wolf. It would be dangerous, but the longer she stood gazing out at the cold blue light the more she wanted it. The wolf had no cares but running with packmates and chasing the moon. It was the first time since she was old enough to join it that she wouldn't be at pack council, or running in Wolf Hollow. The thought made her sad, and oddly glad at the same time. She had never felt this- thrill of danger- before. The wards that were her duty to keep in place always held the world at arm's length. She had never run un-penned before. It would be a truly freeing experience.
Sama thought of her little cousin whose first pack running would be tomorrow night. For the first time Julia would run as one of the pack, and not be kept back with the children. Sama's own first pack running was in summer. That night was one of those warm lazy summer nights, the type where the rich scents of summer earth rose like tendrils of fog. To run under the clear and brilliant sky was pure bliss. She had never felt so free, like she could run up the moonbeams to live in the brightly glowing orb hanging in the sky.
That next fall she was accepted at the Academy, and only came home at the full moon and school breaks. The night Sama took her vows, accepting the blood-mark that bound her as Keeper had been one of the proudest of her life. She had graduated from the Academy with top marks that spring, and had spent her free time learning all she could about wild magic. When the school offered her a teaching position, she accepted delightedly. Then, when Grandmother Canid, the oldest, and most powerful witch of the pack, stepped down after forty years service as Keeper, she supported Sama as her successor. The portkey system let her hold both posts, and she thrived on the responsibilities. Aside from twice annual journeys to New York for wizarding supplies, she never traveled from the Academy or Wolf Hollow. Then… then Remus had come, and turned her safe little life upside down. Now she was facing off against Voldemort. She had reviewed the Daily Prophet articles from his last bid for power fifteen years ago. Those had been dark days indeed. She realized that her safe little life would never be same. Voldemort must not be allowed to return to power. Duty started this, but she'd found a new purpose. She would protect Hogwarts as she would protect the pack- with her life if need be.
Sighing, she turned away from the window and prepared for bed knowing the next night she could forget all this, and be free to run with the moon.
The next morning, Sama skipped breakfast, taking instead some tea. As was the custom among the pack, she fasted the day of the full moon, drinking only clear fluids. One of the founders of the Pack had discovered, quite by accident, that fasting before the change made it quicker and less painful.
Early that afternoon she went to Remus' rooms and found him still in his bathrobe and pajamas, but awake. Being Saturday, he had a guest. Harry was serving him tea when she knocked.
"Hullo, Miss Sama."
"Hello, Harry. How's our patient?"
"I'm fine, I just need rest." Remus' eyes had a feverish glow to them and he did not look fine.
At that moment Professor Snape entered and paused his glance flickering from Remus to Harry to Sama. She couldn't help but notice the look of undisguised loathing that filled his face when he looked at the man and boy. When he turned his glare to her she almost took a step back, for the animosity had not lessened. He was holding a faintly smoking goblet, which he silently brought to Remus and plunked it on the table beside his chair. Remus glanced up into the taller man's face as some of the potion sloshed over the side.
"Best drink it now." was all Professor Snape said, a sneer curling his upper lip.
"Thank you, Severus," Remus said mildly. Snape exited the room with a haughty glare aimed at Harry. Harry just looked sad as he watched Remus reach for the goblet.
"Harry, you'd better go back to Gryffindor tower." Remus continued as picked up the now dripping goblet and sipped the potion. He grimaced at the taste and looked up at Sama. "You should go, too. I'll see you both out."
Sama looked like she wanted to say something, but she closed her mouth sharply without speaking. Disturbed, she followed Harry out.
Once in the hallway, with the door closed behind him, she turned back with her hand raised. Lightly, she laid her hand on the door. "Miss Sama?" Harry's voice broke into her thoughts.
"Yes, Harry?"
"He really will be all right." Harry looked like he wanted to add something- but then he must have thought better of it, because he didn't go on.
Sama turned to him with a very serious expression. "There is something I cannot understand. I can feel the pain in him. It emanates out from him in waves. Do you know what is causing this?"
Harry looked uncomfortable. "Yes, Miss. But it's not my secret to tell. He will be all right." He turned and slowly went towards Gryffindor's common room.
Sama watched him go, puzzled that no one who seemed to know what was wrong with Remus could help him. There was something vaguely familiar about it all, but she couldn't quite put her finger on the answer. As she walked up to her own room, she decided to let her sub-conscious work on this particular problem. She had a night full of activity to prepare for.
After finishing the potion, Remus watched out the window as the sun moved across the sky and began to set. Sighing, he went and pulled on his oldest robe and quietly crossed to the door and opened it. Remus had realized that staying at Hogwarts was risky since the Wolfsbane Potion had been proven unpredictable at best. When he was sure he would stay through Halloween, he'd made the decision to spend the nights of the full moon in the Shrieking Shack. Silently he exited the castle and went to the whomping willow, stabbed the knot with a branch, and disappeared under it.
Moments after he disappeared, Sama crossed the grounds to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. No one saw her melt into the forest as the moon began to rise. She felt the tides in her body move and reverse themselves as the moon started her climb into the sky. Quickly disrobing, she hung the dark cloak and pale robe over a branch. The change began at her toes and fingertips, traveling inward and upward to the hair on the top of her head. It was a painful change, but one she was used to. As her spine curved and lengthened and then contracted, a tail emerged and her face distorted and cracked. Her jaws moved to make space for the lengthening white teeth that were suddenly too big for her mouth. Her finger bones broke and retracted into claws as pale gray hair emerged in bands across her body. Her flesh rippled; she fell to all four feet, growling softly at the pain moving through her body in waves. Her eyes now glowed with a fierce light of their own, and flashed in the silver pale light. Her senses doubled in intensity, bringing the forest into sharp focus, and then doubled again. As the world sprang to life, her senses one by one woke to the pure joy of being in this new land. Night blackness faded into shades of gray as her eyes changed into the predators. On all fours she stretched and snapped waiting for the transformation to be complete before beginning her headlong chase after that elusive prize, the glowing orb of the moon.
Once fully changed, she started moving through the tall trees, slowly, to get used to her new surroundings. The scents were new; the sounds odd. Even the magic tides in this place were different, and she didn't have the comforting presence of the pack close around her. Once she felt a little less strange, and she judged she was far enough away from the school, she gave full throat to her joy in a long ebullient howl.
On the floor of the Shrieking Shack, where Remus lay in self-exile, wolf's ears pricked up at the howl that now sang from the Forbidden Forest. There was another werewolf out there! And near to the school! Remus thought thickly through the wolf's brain that he needed to stop it, to protect the school from this threat that only he was aware of. The man within the beast railed at the thought that he couldn't tell anyone of the danger. Rage and fear battled within him and he flung himself at the boarded up windows again and again until his man's brain calmed the wolf enough to realize he needed to think like a man and not a beast. Scraping and testing each board with his paws, he found one where the corner wasn't nailed as tightly as it should have been and he worried at the weak spot until it gave way and he pushed himself out. Whining a bit when his flesh caught and tore on the rough boards, paws scrabbling for purchase, he pulled himself free of the shack. Pausing to locate the source of the howling, he heard it echo up from the forest not too far from the school. He couldn't tell which way the wolf was moving but he started running anyway, fighting back the urge to return the howl.
It was a glorious run! Sama howled and howled and ran and ran. Stopping to drink from a burbling brook she felt the absence of friends and family keenly, but the freedom- knowing nothing penned her up was an incredible feeling. She ran headlong this way and that, catching a scent and following it- until she caught another interesting scent and followed that one. She startled a young stag and ran after it for the thrill of the chase, and then abandoned it as a new scent caught her attention. Paws finding purchase on the uneven forest floor, she moved at full speed, and wholly unaware, toward a silvery pale unicorn. Too late to stop, she twisted mid air and leapt over the animal and with a wide grin and her tongue lolling from her mouth. She didn't pause even as it whinnied in aggravated protest. Running for the sheer joy of it and the desire to out run her responsibilities, Sama let the wolf take over, and following this base instinct, she reached a place of peace.
A sudden low growl stopped her short. Wheeling about she found herself facing a huge dark brown male wolf. A little bit of her brain told her 'Ah, so this is someone's territory' as she stood stock-still and stared. She stepped closer and lowered her head supplicatingly. Eyes aglow, the wolf stood stiff legged and continued growling menacingly, his hackles raised in challenge. Moving slowly, she rolled over and showed her throat. The wolf continued to stare at her. Sitting up, she shook herself playfully, and sat, panting.
Remus didn't know what to think when the pale gray wolf made overtures of play. Confused, he cocked his head and looked into the dark blue eyes of this wolf. It was a female, and all his instincts told him she had to be a werewolf. As long as he had been at Hogwarts he'd been the only werewolf in the area- perhaps the only one left in Britain. But she wasn't acting like a werewolf. She didn't seem threatening at all. The way she sat clearly stated that she was waiting for him to make the first move. To greet her or not. Warily, Remus stepped forward, and slowly sniffed her. Her odor was of beast, but underlying that was the faint, spicy smell of- vanilla and cinnamon? It was vaguely familiar, although his wolf's brain couldn't process it.
The female wolf cocked her head and then licked the underside of his jaw. His scent was strange and familiar, but the witch inside the wolf couldn't place it. With a mental shake, she let the wolf instinct take over. Rising, she turned away from him and slowly moved deeper into the forest, and then turned and looked at him in clear invitation. Run with me.
Not since the nights of Moony, Padfoot, Prongs, and Wormtail had Remus felt so at home in wolf skin. Someone to run with after all these years. It took him no time at all to decide, and soon they were running side by side through the Forbidden Forest.
It was a marvelous run. Sama couldn't remember a time when she'd had so much fun. The new wolf was strange, but running with the pack her entire life, she had never not known all of her runningmates. It was exhilarating and euphoric. He showed her bits of the forest he obviously knew. She followed him willingly, wanting to connect with a friendly being. Exhausted, as the moon started to set, she led him slowly back towards the edge of the forest, and sank contentedly down to await dawn and the changes to come with the rising sun. The other wolf also lay down on the soft moss and slowly both drifted into lethargy, and then slept.
~*~
That morning, not long after dawn, Sama found herself curled in a hollow at the base of a massive tree covered in mud and aching from the run. She stretched, and she remembered the other wolf. Sitting up carefully, she scanned the clearing. Yes, her robe and cloak were on the branch of that tree- dew damp, but there- and a few feet away a man curled on his side, back to her. He was naked, but what she noticed first was the old and faintly puckered silvered bite mark on his upper arm, near the shoulder. Her eyes showed the pity she felt as she realized he must be one of the wolf-bit. Then she recognized his form, although his face was turned away.
"Remus!?!" Staggering to her feet, she grabbed her robe and drew it around her shoulders. He was not looking well, and as the brisk breeze raised goosebumps on his body, he started to shiver. She scooped up her cloak and covered him quickly to try to warm him up. Remus- wolf-bit. No wonder he'd looked ill the past day or so. She flushed, annoyed that she had missed all the signs. He woke as she chafed his hands in hers to stimulate the blood flow. Seeing her disheveled appearance, he was confused, befuddled, and more thoroughly exhausted than he could remember ever being.
"Sama?" his voice was gravelly as he tried to sit up. "What are you doing here?" He was covered in her cloak. He could smell her on it- a spicy scent that pulled at his memory, and her robe was all askew, and was that-- mud all over her? Suddenly remembering the night and the other wolf he glanced around the little clearing and she smiled at him.
"Looking for someone- or something?"
He cleared his throat as realization dawned "Y… You were the other…?" She saw him struggle with the word and had a sudden glimpse into his lonely life.
"Werewolf?" He flinched as she named the heart of his self-loathing. "Yes," she continued, not without pride. "I am wolf-born."
"What?" Remus looked a little ill and shuddered at the thought of having been born a werewolf.
"It is nothing to be ashamed of!" she said sharply. Her tone gentled "You are one of the wolf-bit, aren't you?"
"Yes." He couldn't meet her eyes.
"You'll be feeling it about now; come on. We should get you back up to school." She helped him to his feet and he secured the cloak more firmly around himself. She turned away a moment and smoothed her own robe demurely closed, quickly doing up the fasteners she had missed when she'd pulled it on. He reached out and plucked a stray leaf from her hair and she half turned and smiled. "Well, apart from the grime, I guess we look all right."
Supporting him, they crossed the dew soaked ground to the castle. But as they reached them, the doors swung open. Dumbledore stood on the other side, his smile sparkling as they passed him and moved towards the stairway.
"Ah, welcome. You'll both want to get cleaned up. I'll have breakfast sent up to you when you're ready."
His eyes twinkled at them. Sama whispered to Remus "Do you think he knew I was a werewolf when he invited me here?"
Remus smiled faintly and replied "Probably." Though tired, he wondered if Sirius had known what Sama was when he sent word to Dumbledore. A realization dawned on him as they approached his room. Wolf Hollow. Wolfgate Farm. Keeper of the Gate. The land of the barefoot people. "Are you all… werewolves?"
As she followed his train of thought, she grinned at his shocked expression. "Not all… But most of the inhabitants of Wolf Hollow are either werewolves, or their mates."
"Mates…" his voice failed him and he swallowed. "They were all… Aunt Iris, Julia, little Barefoot Bobby?" His tone was incredulous.
"Yes, yes and yes." Her laughter rang in her voice. "When you've cleaned up a bit, I'll come back with a potion I think will help you with the fatigue and we'll have breakfast. And Remus? We'll talk."
He watched her pad down the hall to her own room. Just before she disappeared around the corner he caught her soft humming, and he retreated into his room with his emotions in a tumble. A hot bath would do wonders, he knew. Aching and slow, he moved to draw one.
~*~
When she returned to his room, she was in a clean robe, looking again the part of a powerful witch. Remus admired, from his vantage point of a comfortable chair, the graceful fluidity of her movements as she mixed a potion. She had with her the little bottles, prepared the night before they left Wolfgate Farm. Every time he thought of her home and village a new wave of amazement swept through him. She poured the entirety of one of the bottles into a glass and twirled the liquid about in the air. To this she added three amber drops from another bottle and he watched in fascination as the mixture bubbled up and became sluggish. When it was smoking slightly, she turned to him with a smile.
"You're going to hate this, but drink it anyway. It will help you with the fatigue, and should strengthen you. You won't feel as ill."
Accepting the potion, the odor hit him and he gazed up at her in doubt.
"Go ahead. It's best if you just swallow it as fast as you can."
One deep breath was all he allowed himself, after all it couldn't be worse than the Wolfsbane Potion, could it? It could, and it was. He nearly spit the vile mixture back out, but he managed to swallow. Still, it was touch-and-go whether the illness or the cure was to be preferred. When the aftertaste hit him he gagged a bit and grimaced at her.
"It never does get any better." Sama sighed and Remus could see she had a second dose in her hand ready for herself. "Cheers!" As she drank, he watched a convulsive shudder go through her body. When she finally opened her eyes, they shared a smile.
"That has got to be the most disgusting thing I've ever tasted- and that includes the Wolfsbane Potion."
"I wouldn't know. I've never had that particular potion."
Remus looked at her in surprise. "Never?"
"The wolf-born never lose themselves in the change. It is part of who we are, who we've always been. We are born both wolf and human."
Sama and Remus talked for most of the morning. He marveled that her life was so different from his own. She had the support of family and friends, and a community that he could only wish for. In turn, she listened as he spoke about getting the bite, the terror and pain he felt with his first transformation- he was too young to understand what happened-- and the loneliness that permeated his childhood until he came to Hogwarts and found friends. He told her about them, that they hadn't turned away from him when they discovered his secret. Mid morning she left him to sleep. As he drifted off, he realized he was tired, but didn't feel as ill or weak as he usually felt after the full moon.
As Remus slept, Sama wandered down to see Hagrid. Tired though she was, she was also exhilarated. She spent the day going over the plans they'd already made, realizing that she'd have to play her reed pipes in order for some of the spellworkings to function properly. That meant one less voice for the chant work, but a few calculations showed her it wouldn't make too much of a difference. There were creatures in the wood that might fight against anything they would do, like the centaurs and the unicorns. She was searching for spells that wouldn't touch the animals that may be injured by their bindings. Her pipe music would be helpful in this. The sheer size of the forest made spell working tricky- especially if they were going to try to seal off the wild magic.
With maps and lists in front of her, she marked off the creatures the spells would not touch. Looking at the list she sighed. The sheer magnitude of the spellworking she was planning scared her. The spells at the farm were bigger, but they had been grown, added to slowly, and maintained carefully for almost a hundred years. This was supposed to happen all in one night. She shook her head. If this worked at all, she would be very surprised. Vowing not to tell Remus and Hagrid how hopeless it seemed, she went back to her calculations. Sometimes if someone didn't know something was impossible, just believing could make all the difference. At least, this is what she kept telling herself.
End Part Three
Author's Notes: Gratitude to Gwen/Ryan for starting this whole crazy adventure- and sticking by it as it spiraled quickly out of control. Gratitude also to A'jes for stepping aside, in favor of Sama. Although, I think she would have fought him for it if it came to that. Thank you to all my reviewers, you've been a great help and an inspiration. And to all you lurkers out there, just reading, please enjoy- and come back often!
Disclaimers: Sama, Wolf Hollow, and the Academy for the Magical Arts and Sciences with all inhabitants mentioned and implied are mine. The universe they help populate, and all other characters belong to J.K. Rowling. No copyright infringement is intended. No monitory benefit will be made from this fiction.