CHAPTER SEVEN

~Transformation~

Remus Lupin

That night, Remus had to approach Peter, Sirius and James to tell them his "lie" as he called it.

Sirius and James were busy whispering about their new pranks with Peter whining about how he wanted to be part of the next one. But when Remus came up to them with a solemn look on his face, the three stopped squabbling and stared at him. It was Sirius who spoke first.

"Remus, are you okay?" he sounded worried and this surprised Remus because he always knew Sirius as a joker.

"Yeah, yeah … I'm fine."

"No you're not," James said. "Sit down and tell your best buddies what's troublin' ya." He patted the chair next to him. Remus forced a laugh.

"Nah, I'm fine, really. It's just that – that my auntie's really ill and I have to leave for a few days and visit her with my family, that's all. I'm leaving tonight."

"Tonight?" Sirius blurted out.

"Yeah, it's really urgent." Remus shuffled on his feet. He didn't like lying to his friends at all. It made him feel uncomfortable and a … liar. Duh.

"What's she suffering from?" James's forehead was creased with worry. Geez, I can't believe they care this much about my auntie who's not even sick. Remus thought. Then realising that James had just asked an extremely hard question to answer, he stuttered.

"S-she … she's suffering from … from … um …"

Peter chuckled. "You sound like me."

Remus glared at him.

"Suffering from what?" Sirius pushed.

"Erm – werewolf bite." As soon as the words escaped, he wished that he hadn't said it. Remus winced, feeling guiltier than ever.

"Oh, that's bad."

"Never mind bad, that's scary," Peter said.

"Yeah, imagine if you met her and she's all transformed and everything. I'd wet myself honestly."

"I wouldn't want to be bitten by a werewolf … no one'd probably ever like you again … imagine how hard that would be … everyone would think you're a freak …"

Remus swallowed. He couldn't take it any more. Even tears were springing up on his eyes. With a choked, "Gotta go, see you all later!" he ran out of the common room and headed straight for the hospital wing.

* * *

When he reached the white doors of the infirmary, he found Madame Pomfrey impatiently waiting for him, watching as the seconds ticked by an old clock.

She whispered "Follow me." and walked briskly towards the Entrance Hall. Remus caught a glimpse of the bright, illuminated colour of the full moon and shivered, despite the warm jumper he was wearing. He felt nervous. He kept remembering the pain he had to go through.

They stopped in front of a huge, violent tree, its thick branches swinging out at them protectively. Remus had to admit to himself that this would be a safe place for him to transform. No students could ever get past this dangerous plant.

Madame Pomfrey silently reached for a long, narrow stick sitting a few metres away. She lied on her stomach, stretched out her podgy arms and the tip of the stick gently touched a knot. All at once, the tree froze, like some paused movie. Every tree, every leaf, every blade of grass were slowly swaying in the chilly breeze – everything except the Whomping Willow.

"Go on," Madame Pomfrey hissed, giving Remus a slight push towards a hole at the bottom of the giant trunk. "Go in … quickly … your time's running out …"

Remus crouched and crawled cat-like along the ground, scraping his knee on rough parts. Once he was inside, he heard the hurried whisper of the matron, "Just follow the tunnel … I'll be back for you in two days … stay there until it's safe, you hear me? Don't come out."

"Okay ," Remus whispered back. Then he added, "Thank you."

But she was already gone.

* * *

"Wonder if old Remus is all right?" Sirius wondered aloud.

"'Course he is," James answered.

"But he seemed to be in a hurry when he left … you know, just running off like that."

"Well, you heard him, he said it was urgent," Peter said.

"Oh well, lucky him."

"Lucky?"

"Yeah," said Sirius. "He gets to miss out on school."

"And miss out on the fun?" James smirked.

"Hmm … that's a good point."

Suddenly, the three jumped as a loud, eerie howling filled their ears. The others in the common room looked up as well, bright eyes widening with amusement.

"I bet it's a werewolf!" cried a third year.

"Don't be stupid … there're no werewolves in Hogwarts … are there?" another said.

"Probably is, actually," a seventh year answered knowingly. "There's a full moon tonight and everyone knows werewolves only transform whenever there's a full moon."

All heads turned towards the open window, gazing out at the sky as the transparent curtain flapped noiselessly with the breeze. Then a silent shiver spread among the Gryffindors.

"I'm going to bed," cried a fifth year boy, jumping up and running quickly towards their dormitory. Ten people followed him, all seeking the warmth of their beds where they would all feel safe. Peter turned to Sirius and James.

"Y-you don't think that … that was a werewolf … d-do you?" he looked ready to cry.

"You're stuttering again," Sirius observed.

"S-so?" Peter snapped.

"You're scared!"

"No … no I'm not!"

"Nothing to be ashamed of little pal … everyone gets scared once in a while," said James, grinning.

"But I'm not –"

"Yes you are so shut up or I'll hex you," threatened Sirius.

"But -!"

"Uh uh uh," James said, waving a finger at Peter. "You don't want your ears enlarged ten times the size it is now … do you?"

Peter scowled. I never get a say. He thought bitterly to himself. Not even for pranks.

* * *

"Okay, so here's the plan," Sirius said importantly as he began to whisper to Peter and James. They had an all-new prank planned out and ready to play the next morning. It had taken them quite a while to master the Summoning Charm seeing as it was a bit advanced for first years. The only person who could've probably done it with ease was Lily Evans – she was the expert in Charms.

Once Sirius had finished talking, the three went off to their planned positions. Sirius entered the Great Hall with its usual food-filled tables. Checking that Snape was there, he gave the sign to James who was standing outside, watching him.

Seeing the sign, James quickly ran to the broom shed, snatched a broom that looked good enough and flew towards the Slytherin common room window. He never noticed that he had passed Professor McGonagall's office, which sent the Professor herself to see what he was up to.

Once James saw the first year boy's dormitory, he pointed his wand at Snape's trunk, opened it with a spell and said, "Accio underwear!" Pieces of white briefs came floating merrily out, dancing gaily in the air. He sent them out the window, towards the Great Hall.

Before he sent the underwear flying into the Great Hall and above the eating heads, he searched for Peter, gave the sign and waited.

Peter walked past the Slytherin table and pretended to accidentally slap Snape on the back (but really sticking a piece of paper on there). Severus turned angrily around but Peter had already walked away and given James another sign.

James directed the underwear into the Great Hall and there was a sudden rush of laughter and pointing, bewildered and disgusted faces, mad and confused expressions for the teachers.

Snape, who realised that they were his, panicked. But he wasn't about to let the whole school know that that was his underwear. No way in the world! Instead, he got up and crept towards the exit. To his horror, all heads turned towards him and the pointing was redirected from his underwear to his back.

"Better watch your undies more carefully next time, Snape!" Lucius Malfoy gleefully called out to him. Just then, a hand touched Severus's back and a piece of paper felt out of nowhere with the words: IF YOU HAPPEN TO SEE MY UNDIES, PLEASE KINDLY GIVE THEM BACK.

The Hall was filled with even louder laughter (if that was possible) and Severus picked up the piece of paper, banished the floating underwear and ran outside, feeling deeply humiliated.

* * *

Lily was laughing loudly along with the other students (to the surprise of Felice and Paige who normally considered their friend as a goody-goody). Lily did think that it was a bit cruel to play a trick on someone but she began to think that it was time she took things a little less seriously. God, did she make the right decision. This was hilarious!

Well, it was extremely funny until Snape banished the underwear and one piece dropped on her red head, half covering her face. Lily screamed with horror while the Paige and Felice screamed with laughter.

"Get it off me! Get it off me!" Lily shrieked, thinking that his was not funny any more. Using her forefinger and thumb, she threw the white thing off which landed on someone's toast.

James Potter approached her. "Was that funny or what?" he cried, his eyes shining with tears from laughing too much.

"Well, it was funny at first but –" Lily was cut off, seeing the disagreeing face of Professors McGonagall and Ghassan. Sirius and Peter came running up to James but once behind him, they stopped abruptly, not daring to look up to the fierce eyes of the Professors.

"Come with me Potter, Black, Pettigrew," said Professor McGonagall while Professor Ghassan grinned nastily. "In my office. Now."

The three slouched off with her, their backs hunched, but still grinning widely.