Chapter 14: The Shrieking Shack

Disclaimer: everything recognizable in this story, including James, Lily, Sirius, Remus, Peter and frank, as well as other, belongs to the great J.K. Rowling, and I intend to make no money etc.

Authors Note:  this chapter has taken so long to come out that I'll be surprised if there's anyone left reading it. For those loyal fans that are, I apologise deeply, and beg a chance to explain. I have not only had important exams, but have moved house, and temporarily lost possession of my notebooks since the last chapter was posted. Therefore, I hope you'll all forgive me! Thanks!

                Remus froze looked at them with terrified eyes. He looked like an animal caught in the headlights of an approaching car. "You know," he finally stated calmly. The silence continued after that; it drew out for what felt like ages while terrified thoughts flitted quickly through Remus' head; his worst imaginings come true. 'They'll hate me,' he thought. 'They're just here to tell me I'm a monster and that they're going to tell the whole school, and then they'll leave me forever.' This last thought was too much for the boy who had only counted four people as friends in his entire life, and Remus turned and buried his head in his pillows, shoulders shaking with silent sobs.

                "Remus, why are you crying?" James cried out, aghast. Remus didn't answer, but his crying intensified, and it was this that finally prompted three friends to take action. They rushed to his side and pulled him back into a sitting position. Seeing that Remus was still crying, Sirius pulled him into a giant bear hug that nearly crushed the smaller Remus.

"You're still here?" Remus asked. "You're not frightened of me?" He was bemused as to why his friends were not at this very moment declaring him as an evil abomination.

"Why would we be frightened of you?" Sirius asked gently. "You're still the same Remus."

"Though Peter, being the little shit that he is, now thinks you're going to eat him or something," Lily said disgustedly. This was obviously the wrong thing to say, because it brought a fresh bought of sobbing from Remus, so James added hastily, "But he's Peter. The boy who's scared of house-elves." Remus grinned slightly at the memory of Peter's first encounter with a house-elf, at age 8, when he had squeaked and hid in a cupboard.

"The only thing we wanted to know is why you didn't tell us," Sirius said. "Why did you think we'd hate you?"

"That's the way most people react," Remus said, sad knowledge in his voice. He thought of the verbal abuse he had received from members of his own family when they had found out, and shuddered involuntarily. Sirius drew him closer, and began to wipe the tears from Remus' face with his robes.

"We know you, Remus, we'd love you whatever you were," James said earnestly. "Except perhaps a Slytherin," he added doubtfully.

Again Remus smiled. "Dumbledore told me I shouldn't tell anyone. And it was so touch and go to see if I could come here…I just didn't want to disappoint him. And I was scared."

"Listen to me now," Lily said sternly. "You've no reason ever to be scared of us. And we know we've none to be scared of you. But we just want to know if there's anything we can do to help." By the end of her little speech, Lily's voice was almost breaking from the emotion involved.

"How did you find out?" Remus asked dully.

"I saw you this morning, walking back. Then Sirius worked it out from there."

'It would be Sirius,' Remus thought. Quick-witted Sirius who he had always loved the most.

"There's no way we can help you, is there?" James asked, already knowing the answer.

"No. I'm a danger to all humans. Even you. I – I can't control myself. I wouldn't know it was you." 

Sirius was damned if he was going to take that for an answer. "We'll find some way of helping you, Remie," he said sincerely.

"You will not," Remus argued back. "I'll not have you getting hurt just because I'm a monster."

"You're not a monster!" his friends yelled together, glaring at him.

"That's not what most people would say, you know. Please, please, don't tell anyone," Remus begged, beginning to cry again.

"Of course we won't."

"Now stop crying, Remie," Lily said imperiously. "Cos we've still got your birthday feast stored away in here, begging to be eaten."

                At the mention of food, Sirius virtually dropped Remus who he had still been holding, and flew across the room to their loose floorboard where the food was hidden. This floorboard has not been loose when they began at Hogwarts, but an afternoon of steady fiddling from James and Remus had soon loosened it up.  Sirius pulled out all the food, then sat down and began munching where he was. "SIRIUS!"  James yelled. "Share!"

"It's Remie's food, you great git," Lily added.

Sirius pouted. "Do I have to?"

"YES!" they yelled.

While he was bringing the food over, Remus looked at James. "What about Peter? Doesn't he get to share?" he asked.

"I don't think he deserves it," James replied.

"Little shit," Sirius swore, dropping the iced bun he had been carrying. "When I get my hands on him I'm going to fucking-,"

"Sirius," said James in a warning tone of voice. "He's significantly smaller than you." This didn't seem to matter to Sirius, who continued to glower at the absent Peter. "Eat," Lily commanded him, and Sirius soon visibly calmed down.

                They continued to eat, laugh and joke until all the food was gone, and it was beginning to look as if Remus had never been crying at all. Suddenly James got up, and went to the hole in the floor, bringing out a giant birthday cake with a flourish. "We know it's a day late, but…" he shrugged.

"Doesn't matter," Remus said, blushing, as they began to sing 'happy birthday' to him.

                The cake was delicious, filled with layers of jam, cream, and chocolate cream, and seeing James and Sirius fighting over the last slice, which got crushed beneath them, was even better. Remus was left with a feeling of indescribable happiness and love for his amazing, if rather immature, friends.

That was, as long as he didn't think about Peter.

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                Even after the impromptu birthday party, Sirius was still not happy. He was more furious with Peter than he had ever been in his life, and he kept thinking the same things over and over. How could Peter think Remus was a danger to them? He had known Remus since he was five! And how could he possibly act the way he had, especially at a time when Remus particularly needed their full support? These same thoughts flew around his head all through the evening, and all night as well, preventing him from sleeping.

                For his part, Peter was wise enough to recognise how angry his friends were with him, and he studiously avoided them all night.  However, as they remained in the dormitory, that wasn't hard. It just meant that he had to be sure they were asleep when he crept in just before midnight.

                Sirius, of course, was wide-awake when he heard Peter creep in. He listened to Peter making more noise than ever as he tried to be quiet, and it was only Lily sleeping beside him that prevented him from getting up to yell at Peter then.

                Neither boy slept very well, so when Sirius heard Peter get up long before he would normally have surfaced, he carefully got out of bed and followed him to the showers.

                "Peter," Sirius called clearly, "Come here for a moment." Peter froze for a moment, now aware that he was trapped, because the only route out of the showers was past his friend, before slowly turning around to look at Sirius.  Sirius looked so very angry that Peter couldn't look him in the eye, so instead he gazed at Sirius' feet, which enraged Sirius even more.

"What the hell do you think you doing yesterday, Peter? How could you treat Re like that?"

"I was scared, Sirius, he's a monster!" Peter said, trembling. "He could kill us!"

"I don't believe you!" Sirius yelled. "You've known Remus for years and you still think that?"

"But he's a…a…you know, Sirius," Peter whispered, too afraid to utter the name. Sirius completely saw red. He strode over to Peter and grasped his shoulders. "Take it back!" he growled, "Take it all back. Remus would never hurt anything!" Peter gasped and began to cry.  "But he's a dark creature," he managed to choke out.

                Suddenly, Sirius' fist hit his face with enough force to knock Peter backwards. Through dazed eyes, Peter looked up at Sirius, who stood above him shaking with rage. "If I ever, ever, hear you say any of those things again, I'll… I don't know what I'll d, but you wont live to remember it," Sirius ground out, before turning and leaving the showers. Peter lay on the tiles, not sure anymore who he was most frightened of, Sirius or Remus.

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                A month passed quickly. Both James and Lily ignored all signs of the incident between Sirius and Peter, including Peter's huge black eye, and never said a word about Peter's behaviour towards Remus. They recognized that Sirius had dealt with it, even if it was perhaps not in the best of ways.  Peter never said another word about Remus' affliction, and his friends took this to mean that he was being more tolerant of it.

                As the full moon in April approached, Sirius, James and Lily began to make plans. They sat whispering together in the common room at night, alone, and both Remus and Peter noticed they were being left out, meaning that they both felt terrible. Remus was sure his friends were rejecting him because of his lycanthropy, while Peter simply thought that they didn't like him any more.

                The truth was that the three were planning a surprise for Remus at the next full moon, and they didn't trust Peter not to chicken out if he was given time to think about it. However, the plan required quite a bit of research, and this was causing friction.

"Some one has to go and find out what time the moon sets tomorrow," Lily said bossily. It was two nights before the full moon, and they had discovered that the rising of the sun did not mean the setting of the moon, so they would have to find out exactly when it set the day after next.

"Well its no use sending me, I'm crap at Astrology," Sirius declared.

"We're all crap at Astrology," James moaned.

"Some one has to go," Lily said firmly.

"Why not you?" James contested.

"Because I've done nearly all the work for this."

"No you haven't, you've barely sat down for two minutes before making up some excuse."

"Yes I have."

"No you haven't."

"Yes I have."

"No you haven't."

"No, I haven't," Lily suddenly agreed, changing tack.

"Yes you have – dammit Lily, that's so immature!" James yelled.

"It worked, though. I suggest you and Sirius go under the Cloak."

"Ok," Sirius agreed, bouncing happily. He was always up for nighttime adventures, so long as he didn't have to do any actual work.

"Ok," James said, growling under his breath. "Just 'cos you're too chicken."

"Whatever."

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                The trip was successfully made, so the next night the three huddled under the Invisibility Cloak to watch where Madam Pomfrey, the younger but much nicer of the schools two nurses, took Remus. They gawped in amazement as the fearsome Whomping Willow stopped whomping, but were quite satisfied that they now knew how to reach their friend. They trudged back up to Gryffindor Tower, and straight into bed, to the astonishment of their housemates.

                Somehow, Lily ended up sleeping in James' bed, so of course they were still bickering when Frank went to bed at 11.30. After ten minutes of listening to angry voices, pained yelps and the thud of fists hitting skin, Frank had had enough.  "Shut up, lovebirds," he called grumpily across the room.

                Sirius snickered, proving that he too was still awake. James and Lily immediately went quiet, but the sounds of scrabbling on James' bedside table proved that at least one of them was looking for a wand. The two guilty boys stiffened in fear, worried about what curses might be thrown their way, but the wand remained hidden and eventually the search was given up.

                The dormitory went quiet and soon the only sound was soft snores and loud happy sighs as Sirius dreamed of food. Unconsciously, James and Lily curled around each other, something they would never do during daylight hours. Time passed, until it was four a.m. and Lily's tiny clockwork alarm went off next to her head.

                Lily blinked sleepily, confused by the feelings of warmth and contentment that surrounded her. She looked to the side and saw the peacefully sleeping head of James Potter right next to her own. "AGHHHHHHHHH!" she screamed loudly.

                This was enough to make Sirius jump awake immediately, and he sat up in bed, cracking his head on the post at the end of the bed. It seemed that he too had moved in the night. But would Lily ever get used to waking up next to James, he wondered. He didn't think he wanted her too; it would remove a now-comforting ritual. "Morning, Lils," Sirius called, looking at Lily, who by now had got out of bed and was glaring speculatively at James. Seeing that, and remembering Lily's patented way of waking James up, Sirius said, "I'll wake Jamie, you get dressed." Lily humphed and left the room, while Sirius wakened Peter with a shake and a "Come on, we're going adventuring."

                As Peter stumbled out of bed, Sirius turned to his last sleeping friend, and miraculously soon had James awake. The three dressed quickly, then darted off to the toilets. By 4.10 they were ready to go.

                It was a tight fit with the four of them under the Cloak, especially with someone as prone to tripping as Peter, but eventually they made it to the Whomping Willow. Peter had no idea where they were going, and his friends had no intention of telling him, but the others all felt a surge of excitement and happiness, because they were doing this for Remus. They had thought of a way they could help him.

                A very convenient long stick lay near the tree, and James lifted it, poking it around until he found the right spot, a large knot of wood on the trunk. He slipped down the resulting hole first, followed by Peter, then Lily and Sirius, bare seconds before the branches started swinging again. "Shit, that was close!" Sirius said, adrenalin making his voice loud.

"Shush," Lily and James warned, glaring at him. Silence was essential if they wanted to surprise Remus. They followed a long tunnel, occasionally having to dip their heads, and soon pushed their way out of a small trap door. 

                To their utter shock they emerged into a dusty room, complete with torn and destroyed furniture. Lily and James shared a surprised look; this wasn't what they had expected. Sirius, the last, joined them in the room, and they looked around for any sign of Remus. Seeing none, they made their way towards the stairs.

                The spots of blood started on the bottom step, and continued up the entire flight, getting bigger as they proceeded. Lily and James exchanged another glance; more worried this time, speaking without words. From behind, Sirius urged them on.

                Peter suddenly seemed to realise what was going and, and he stopped dead, making Sirius bang into him. "No way-," he began loudly, before Sirius' hand clapped over his mouth, and Sirius began to push him up the stairs. The moon had set fifteen minutes before, and the others knew they were perfectly safe.     The stairs ended at a door, and once that was opened, Remus was immediately visible. He was lying by the foot of a large bed, semi-conscious and bleeding profusely.  With a synchronised cry, his friends rushed towards him, Sirius in the lead.     

                Without any verbal communication, Sirius and James bent and gently lifted Remus to the bed, while Lily wrung her hands in agitation. Even Peter was concerned enough to leave the safety of the doorway.

                The movement seemed to jar Remus to full wakefulness. He blinked confusedly for a minute or two, then grew angry. "What are you doing here?" he rasped out, his voice low and pained.

"Shush," Lily soothed.

"We came to see you, obviously," James said, trying to lighten the situation.

 "But you…" Remus paused to gain energy, "could have been hurt."

"We checked the moon times. We're not complete idiots, you know," Sirius said affectionately.  With that, all Remus' protests faded along with his energy and he closed his eyes again.

"Re, you're bleeding, have you got anything we can clean it with?" James asked eventually. Remus shook his head. "There's nothing you can do," he said painfully. "But Madam Pomfrey will be here soon."

                They lapsed into silence again, and James, Lily and Sirius felt deflated. Their wonderful plan to help Remus had come to nothing. They had been naïve enough to think he would be relived to see them, but in reality Remus was probably too injured to even realise they were there. They were cursing themselves for being complete idiots when Remus whispered:

"Thanks for coming, guys, I'm really grateful. Will you come next time too?"

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                It was a mad rush to get all four able Gryffindors under the cloak before Madam Pomfrey reached the top of the stairs, but they managed it – just. She cleaned Remus' wounds, and helped him back to the hospital wing.

                When Remus returned to the Common room that evening, his friends asked to see how bad the damage he had done to himself was. They were incredibly shocked when he explained that even the deepest of cuts healed within hours, because only silver could harm werewolves.

That's the end of this chapter, folks! As always, reviews are greeted with pure joy and lots of whooping! Hint hint…