Chapter Five
Madame Pomfrey stooped to collect the boy's scattered books, shoving them back into his bag and placing it shakily on a bed. Remus was staring wide- eyed at Liana as she slept so peacefully in the bed nearby. His mind spun, the floor tilted beneath him. His worst fears had come true, then. It was all over; Dumbledore would be fired, he, himself, would be expelled, and Liana would have to live the rest of her life with the terrible curse. She was so small, so delicate... Remus knew she couldn't handle the terrors and pains of being a werewolf.
"...down before you fall over and hurt yourself!" Madame Pomfrey was saying as she plopped him down on the same bed as his bag. Remus realized he'd been dangerously close to fainting. He looked the nurse in the eyes. She seemed flustered, but not nearly as worried as she should be.
"Madame Pomfrey?" Remus whispered.
"Yes, yes, what is it?" she snapped, then smiled to soften her words.
"Um...is Liana...a werewolf, then?" he asked, resisting the urge to clap his hands over his ears and block out her answer. The nurse hesitated.
"Well," she said slowly, "she should be, according to the way the curse...works." Remus' eyes lit up.
"But?" he said hopefully.
"But, she isn't," the nurse finished with a nod. The world spun again, but this time in relief. Remus relived the morning's melting sensation when he'd found out he hadn't bitten the third-year girl. Liana hadn't been infected! Slowly, his relief ebbed away. He frowned.
"That...that doesn't make any sense," he said quietly. Despite his relief, Remus couldn't help feeling a bit resentful. What had been so different about Liana's bite versus his own, when he'd been infected so many years ago? Madame Pomfrey seemed to be reading his mind.
"I can't explain it-yet. There must be a reason for this; traces of your saliva are all over the wound, and I'm more than sure it was you who bit her so badly." Remus looked away shamefully. "But she has none of the properties of the condition, and seems to be healing just fine." Remus took a deep breath.
"Then why-" He stopped. It didn't matter; he'd been infected, she hadn't been. That was that. All that mattered was that Liana was fine, Dumbledore's reputation was safe, and Remus could continue to study magic at Hogwarts. Madame Pomfrey was looking at him expectantly, but he shook his head, picked up his bag, and left without another word.
* * *
"Where's Moony?" whispered Sirius to James when Care of Magical Creatures started and Remus hadn't shown. James shrugged; Sirius had been working with Peter in Herbology, and didn't know that Remus had been sent to the infirmary, but James didn't feel like telling him what had happened just yet. They were taking notes on werewolves, and James felt like listening for a change. Peter was scribbling madly, and even Sirius seemed to listen more attentively than usual when he got no answer from James.
"Don't we learn about werewolves in Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Lily whispered to her boyfriend. Again James merely shrugged. Any extra information that might help Remus was welcome.
"The werewolf changes because of the full moon, but doesn't have to be in sight of the moon to feel its effects..." the professor droned on. Sirius sighed and looked away. He already knew most of this stuff, and his friends were busy memorizing the rest. He soon found this class as boring as most of the other ones. Looking over the professor's shoulder, Sirius saw someone half-running to Hagrid's shack. It was Moony.
Glancing at the professor, Sirius saw that he looked as bored as they all were. When he looked away to point to the forest, Sirius sprinted away in the direction of Hagrid's hut. A few Ravenclaws chuckled behind their hands, but James, Peter, and Lily exchanged alarmed glances. By the time the professor turned back to face the class, Sirius was knocking lightly on Hagrid's door. Whether the professor noticed his absence or not, they couldn't tell; he simply continued his lecture.
Sirius knocked on Hagrid's door lightly. Remus had already disappeared inside, so he knew it wasn't empty, but no one came to the door. After waiting a few moments more, he decided he couldn't risk being seen by the professor and opened it himself.
The hut looked much larger without Hagrid in it. The only occupants were Hagrid's dog Snuffles and Remus Lupin. Snuffles was overjoyed to see another visitor and lived up to his name by jumping all over Sirius and sniffing every inch of him. Sirius Changed into Padfoot in an attempt to subdue the beast, but this only excited the overgrown puppy even more. Growling his annoyance, he Changed back into himself and sat down opposite Remus at the table. Snuffles seemed dampened by the absence of the dog and plopped down on the floor with a sigh.
Remus didn't even look up when Sirius entered, and watched the dog's antics as if from a distance. When Sirius sat down at the table, he glanced at him briefly before going back to carving designs into the wood with his fingernail. Silence stretched between them, but not an uncomfortable one; it was more of an "I'm here for you, just in case" silence. After a long time, Remus spoke.
"I bit Liana Lassek last night," he said quietly. Sirius gripped the edge of the table, his knuckles turning white.
"What?" he hissed, not believing his ears. But Remus nodded.
"And she's fine." Was it his ears, or did Remus seem even more upset by this?
"Well...that's good, right?" Sirius commented hesitantly. Remus shrugged, then nodded.
"Yeah, I guess." Sirius blinked. Remus and Liana were friends, or so he thought. It was Remus' worst fear to infect another student. So why...
"Oh," he whispered, more to himself than to Remus. She'd been bitten and was fine, but when Remus had been bitten... "I-I'm sorry, Moony." Sirius hesitated, not knowing what else to say. He wasn't naturally very comforting, that was a job for James or Lily. But he was here now, and Moony had chosen to tell him, and he couldn't just sit here and not care... Remus shrugged again and looked absently out the window. The Care of Magical Creatures class was looking bored as ever, and still it seemed that the professor hadn't noticed Sirius' escape.
"What am I missing?" Remus asked blandly, all emotion gone from his voice.
"Just some stuff on werewolves," Sirius responded with a half-hearted grin. "You'll probably have to do plenty of extra studying to make sure you can learn it all." But the joke hung lamely in the air; Remus didn't seem to even notice what his friend had said. He nodded absently and dug more designs into Hagrid's table.
"Uh... Where's Hagrid?" Sirius asked after a long pause. Remus shrugged. The silence grew again, but this time it was tense and uncomfortable. Sirius knew he had said the wrong thing, or at least neglected to say the right thing. Remus waited a few more minutes, then stood with a sigh. Without a word to his friend, he slipped out the back door and began walking dejectedly away.
Sirius slammed his fist onto the table in frustration. Grimacing and rubbing his sore hand, he watched Remus head for the group of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, most of whom had seen him by now. James waved uncertainly, seeing the look on his friend's face, but didn't try to talk to him with the professor watching. Sirius looked away from the window. Why did he have to be so damn bad at this kind of stuff? And why had Remus chosen to tell him? There were plenty of sensitive people, why had he told the only friend who wouldn't understand-or know how to comfort him if he did manage to grasp what was going on?
Running his fingers through his thick black hair, Sirius heaved a sigh and stood up quickly; the chair clattered to the floor behind him. Muttering and cursing under his breath, he righted the chair and shoved it against the table, which it banged against loudly.
"Ye really should watch yer temper," Hagrid boomed from behind him. Sirius whirled around in surprise; he'd been so preoccupied, he hadn't even noticed the big man enter behind him. And it was pretty hard not to notice when Hagrid entered a room.
"Sorry, Hagrid," Sirius said lamely. The gamekeeper motioned him to sit down again as he made some tea.
"What's got yer all in a huff?" he asked, sitting across the table from Sirius while the water boiled. Sirius shrugged.
"It's Moony's business, really. He's all upset, and he told me why just now, but I had no clue what to say. I just sorta...sat here. I know I failed him. He obviously needed to talk to someone, and I should have dealt with it better." Sirius picked at a knot on the table. Hagrid grunted, handing him a cup of tea while he considered his answer.
"Well-" he began thoughtfully, but was cut off by a flurry of noise from the Care of Magical Creatures class. Sirius stood and stared out the window. Most of the class was standing on tiptoe, talking excitedly and pointing at something near Hagrid's hut. Sirius noticed his friends exchanging startled glances and slipping away in the confusion. He also noticed, although he wouldn't register the fact until later, that the students who seemed really excited were the ones from wizarding families. The muggle-borns didn't seem to care much.
Wondering what could have gotten the class so excited (even the professor was standing on tiptoe), Sirius cracked open the door to Hagrid's hut. He wasn't sure what was out there, and he didn't feel like flinging the door open to a dangerous creature. What he saw, however, was a small black wolf slipping into the shadows of the forest. Why the class had been so excited to see a wolf on the grounds, he wasn't sure; then again, they didn't see a full-grown one every full moon.
Hagrid was watching in awe as the wolf disappeared from sight. Sirius looked at him curiously.
"It's just a wolf, Hagrid," he said, moving to close the door again. But Hagrid pushed it back open, straining to see more of the animal.
"Fer you, maybe," he replied, finally tearing his eyes away from the forest and closing the door. "But most wizards-and that's includin' meself-have never seen a wolf b'fore! They ain't magical creatures, y'know." Sirius considered this. He'd never really thought about it that way. He'd been brought up in a wizarding family, but Lily Evans was a muggle-born, and he'd visited her house with James a few times. She'd been happy to show them the different aspects of a muggle life.
"But surely, they know what a wolf is," Sirius pointed out. "Most muggles probably haven't seen a wolf in person before, either." Sirius, glancing out the window, realized he'd just made his point. Most muggles would be pretty excited to see a wolf face to face, and would be ecstatic to see a unicorn, or even a flobberworm. He supposed it made sense for full-fledged wizards to be excited about a muggle creature in their midst.
The bell rang, and Sirius drained his tea and ran back to get his bag before heading off to the Gryffindor tower. The rest of the Marauders weren't by his bag; he supposed they'd already gone inside. When he got to the common room, however, he couldn't spot them anywhere. Sitting alone by the fire, Sirius allowed himself to be swallowed in his thoughts.
That wolf...there was something familiar about her. And something strange, as well. Most people, muggle or wizard, would not have noticed. But Sirius, having seen a wolf three times a month for the past many months, was pretty sure there was something different about this one. Sure, it wasn't a werewolf; it had all the physical traits of a normal wolf, and these were slightly different from Remus'. But it hadn't been the way it looked, it had been the way the wolf acted that had Sirius thinking. It had been unworried by the crowd of excited humans not too far from it, and had walked right past Hagrid's hut. Even if it couldn't smell the humans in the hut (which it should have been able to, as Padfoot knew so well), it wouldn't have dared trot so close to a place that smelled so strongly of man and beast.
And why had the Marauders looked so alarmed? For now that Sirius thought about it, he remembered them acting startled and sneaking away. They'd gone after the wolf, probably. It would have been easy for James and Peter to slip into the forest as animals, and perhaps Lily and Remus had simply waited on the outskirts or kept close to their friends so as not to get lost. But...why? It was just a wolf.
* * *
Liana awoke slowly, keeping her eyes closed. She expected to feel the terrible pain of her wound again, but she did not. Opening her eyes slowly, she risked a glance under her thin hospital gown. With a sigh of relief, she saw that Madame Pomfrey had already nearly healed the wound. The muscle was back in place, and the skin was back together again. All that was left was a long, red line. It looked a bit swollen and was tender to the touch, but that was all. Liana glanced around the hospital wing nervously. Madame Pomfrey, she noticed quickly, was in her office with her back turned. The rest of the infirmary was empty. Liana slipped out of bed, testing her flexibility and freedom of movement. She was a bit stiff, but that was okay. It was better than staying here overnight.
Before Madame Pomfrey could turn around or notice anything, Liana had donned her robes over the thin gown and was running barefoot into the corridor. The halls were empty; all the students were in class, she supposed. She wondered how long she'd slept. It couldn't have been long, or she wouldn't be so tired. Footsteps sounded nearby, and Liana backed into a shadowy corner. Without realizing it, she Changed into her wolf form. She didn't even know what she'd done until the familiar stab of pain washed through her body. Wincing inwardly, she waited until the footsteps had faded before emerging from the shadows.
Glancing around but seeing, hearing, and smelling no one, Liana slipped along the walls in the direction of the front entrance. She reached the front doors quickly and nudged them open, then ran flat-out for the Forbidden Forest. She hardly noticed the Care of Magical Creatures class near Hagrid's hut as they all stood to get a better look at her. Her ears and nose picked up the sounds and smells of excited teenagers, but she didn't spare them a glance. Not knowing where she was going, exactly, she slipped between the trees and disappeared into the gloomy forest. As she did so, she heard the door to Hagrid's hut open. Glancing back, she saw Sirius Black watching her curiously.
Liana shivered at his penetrating stare, but he looked away quickly. He probably couldn't see her in the shade of the trees, but she wasn't sure the same could be said for Hagrid; the big man stared after her, even when Sirius turned and went back inside. She turned and slipped further into the forest.
* * *
James glanced up quickly as a Ravenclaw girl gave a squeal of delight, followed by many excited voices. Following the pointing fingers, he saw a small black wolf trot past Hagrid's hut. What's a wolf doing at Hogwarts? he thought to himself, watching the animal disappear into the forest. He glanced at Lily, who didn't seem too excited, then at Peter, whose eyes were huge in his face. The small boy beckoned James closer.
"That's the wolf from last night!" he hissed. James, shocked, looked back, but the wolf was long gone. Nodding at Peter and gesturing for Lily and Remus to follow, James sneaked past the excited students and professor, not stopping his crouched run until he and his friends were hidden in the forest. There, he and Peter Changed while Remus and Lily exchanged glances and shrugs. The two animals and two people walked quickly through the forest, straying from the path immediately as Prongs and Wormtail tried to pick up the wolf's scent. They jogged to where they'd seen it disappear and quickly found the trail. James felt rather silly, walking along with his regal head close to the ground, so he scented the air instead, leaving the tracks to the fat rat at his feet.
The wolf was faster than they; it was alone, and didn't have humans tagging along or antlers getting caught in branches. Nevertheless, the four caught up with it eventually. It was drinking from a stream, and didn't seem to hear them or smell them. Signaling for the others to stay downwind, Wormtail scurried forward to get a closer look. Still, the wolf didn't notice. It drank its fill and turned to wander along the river. The little group hiding in the bushes didn't follow.
Peter came back, turning human again so he could tell his friends what he'd seen.
"It's definitely the wolf from last night, and she's definitely female. Too small to be male, anyway. All black, very clean shiny fur. No burrs or anything in it, which seems odd if she's been living in the forest. The only weird thing about her was a long, thin line in her fur. I think there's a scar underneath, but I can't be sure; the fur covers it, but it seems thinner than everywhere else, and kinda out of place. It's very odd- looking." James Changed into himself with a small pop.
"Where was it?" he asked quickly, his face tense. Peter thought for a moment, noting curiously his friend's urgency.
"On the stomach, sorta. Like, between the ribs and the hip. And kinda on the side," he said vaguely, trying to show on his own, very un-wolf-like body. James nodded tersely, but didn't say anything. Lily knew her boyfriend very well by now, and she read in his face that he'd been anticipating that answer. But the forest was spooky, and she hated breaking a rule like this, especially when she was supposed to be in class. I'll ask him later, she told herself.
"C'mon, let's get back to class. It's probably over by now, we've probably been noticed." Remus and Peter rolled their eyes; Lily was so worried about getting in trouble. What was a little trophy-polishing when there was an adventure at hand? But the four trooped back to the school, grabbing their bags on the way past the lecture site. Class had ended a while ago, it seemed, for the chairs were all empty, and even the professor was nowhere to be seen.
Once inside the Gryffindor common room, the shivering friends took seats by the fire. Sirius was already there, looking pensive. James prodded him.
"Wha-" the startled boy exclaimed. "Oh, it's you. Where've you all been?" Sirius asked quietly as James leaned on the arm of his chair.
"Just the forest," he said with a shrug. "You missed out, man. We trailed that wolf into the woods..." As if realizing he'd forgotten something very important, James screwed up his face, grabbed a startled Remus by the arm, and dragged him to their dormitory. The remaining Marauders and Lily glanced at each other in surprise, but didn't move from their comfortable seats by the fire. James would tell them eventually.
* * *
"Was that were it was?" James asked quietly as soon as he'd locked himself and Remus in their dorm. Remus glanced at his friend skeptically as he drew a line along his side, near his stomach. He knew what James meant.
"Yeah, basically," he replied, sitting on his bed and staring blankly at the wall opposite him. He really didn't want to talk about this right now...
But James took no notice of his friend. He was pacing the length of the room, rubbing the side of his face and muttering to himself.
"That would make sense..." he mumbled, turning to Remus. "Hey, Moony, did you ever find out what happened to Liana? I mean, where she got the cut?" Something flickered in the werewolf's eyes.
"Yes," he answered shortly. James frowned.
"What's up?" he asked, everything else forgotten as he leaned against the bunk Remus was sitting on and studied his friend's troubled face.
"I did it," Remus said angrily. James' heart sank. That could only mean one thing... "I did it, but she's fine." Moony's tone was ferocious now, and James straightened, preparing himself for an outburst, a sudden vicious movement. When Moony got moody, things generally got a little out of control. Remus stood quickly and took up James' earlier pacing.
"How can she be fine?" James asked quietly, almost to himself. Remus shook his head vigorously, his hair flying in front of his face.
"I don't know. It doesn't make sense. A werewolf bites me, I get infected. A werewolf bites her, but she's perfectly okay." The anger swelled in Remus, and James began to get scared. He'd never seen his friend quite this mad. Then, instead of bursting, the bubble of rage seemed to deflate, leaving Remus withdrawn and gloomy. James cautiously put a hand on his friend's shoulder, but he didn't seem to notice. His pacing slowed to a stop and he sank to the floor, hands buried in his hair. James sat next to him, unable to say anything, unsure of what he should say in a situation like this one. He didn't know what Remus was feeling, and therefore didn't know how to comfort him. All he could do was sit there and hope it was enough...
But it wasn't. After a long, uncomfortable silence, Moony stood abruptly and stormed out of the room, his anger returning. James watched him go from his place on the floor. Shortly after Remus disappeared down the stairs, Sirius took his place next to James.
"You couldn't think of anything to say, either?" Sirius asked his friend quietly. James noticed with some surprise that Sirius was a lot more subdued than usual. He shook his head and threw himself onto his back, heaving a great sigh. Sirius laughed at his friend's dramatics and leaned against a bed frame.
Madame Pomfrey stooped to collect the boy's scattered books, shoving them back into his bag and placing it shakily on a bed. Remus was staring wide- eyed at Liana as she slept so peacefully in the bed nearby. His mind spun, the floor tilted beneath him. His worst fears had come true, then. It was all over; Dumbledore would be fired, he, himself, would be expelled, and Liana would have to live the rest of her life with the terrible curse. She was so small, so delicate... Remus knew she couldn't handle the terrors and pains of being a werewolf.
"...down before you fall over and hurt yourself!" Madame Pomfrey was saying as she plopped him down on the same bed as his bag. Remus realized he'd been dangerously close to fainting. He looked the nurse in the eyes. She seemed flustered, but not nearly as worried as she should be.
"Madame Pomfrey?" Remus whispered.
"Yes, yes, what is it?" she snapped, then smiled to soften her words.
"Um...is Liana...a werewolf, then?" he asked, resisting the urge to clap his hands over his ears and block out her answer. The nurse hesitated.
"Well," she said slowly, "she should be, according to the way the curse...works." Remus' eyes lit up.
"But?" he said hopefully.
"But, she isn't," the nurse finished with a nod. The world spun again, but this time in relief. Remus relived the morning's melting sensation when he'd found out he hadn't bitten the third-year girl. Liana hadn't been infected! Slowly, his relief ebbed away. He frowned.
"That...that doesn't make any sense," he said quietly. Despite his relief, Remus couldn't help feeling a bit resentful. What had been so different about Liana's bite versus his own, when he'd been infected so many years ago? Madame Pomfrey seemed to be reading his mind.
"I can't explain it-yet. There must be a reason for this; traces of your saliva are all over the wound, and I'm more than sure it was you who bit her so badly." Remus looked away shamefully. "But she has none of the properties of the condition, and seems to be healing just fine." Remus took a deep breath.
"Then why-" He stopped. It didn't matter; he'd been infected, she hadn't been. That was that. All that mattered was that Liana was fine, Dumbledore's reputation was safe, and Remus could continue to study magic at Hogwarts. Madame Pomfrey was looking at him expectantly, but he shook his head, picked up his bag, and left without another word.
* * *
"Where's Moony?" whispered Sirius to James when Care of Magical Creatures started and Remus hadn't shown. James shrugged; Sirius had been working with Peter in Herbology, and didn't know that Remus had been sent to the infirmary, but James didn't feel like telling him what had happened just yet. They were taking notes on werewolves, and James felt like listening for a change. Peter was scribbling madly, and even Sirius seemed to listen more attentively than usual when he got no answer from James.
"Don't we learn about werewolves in Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Lily whispered to her boyfriend. Again James merely shrugged. Any extra information that might help Remus was welcome.
"The werewolf changes because of the full moon, but doesn't have to be in sight of the moon to feel its effects..." the professor droned on. Sirius sighed and looked away. He already knew most of this stuff, and his friends were busy memorizing the rest. He soon found this class as boring as most of the other ones. Looking over the professor's shoulder, Sirius saw someone half-running to Hagrid's shack. It was Moony.
Glancing at the professor, Sirius saw that he looked as bored as they all were. When he looked away to point to the forest, Sirius sprinted away in the direction of Hagrid's hut. A few Ravenclaws chuckled behind their hands, but James, Peter, and Lily exchanged alarmed glances. By the time the professor turned back to face the class, Sirius was knocking lightly on Hagrid's door. Whether the professor noticed his absence or not, they couldn't tell; he simply continued his lecture.
Sirius knocked on Hagrid's door lightly. Remus had already disappeared inside, so he knew it wasn't empty, but no one came to the door. After waiting a few moments more, he decided he couldn't risk being seen by the professor and opened it himself.
The hut looked much larger without Hagrid in it. The only occupants were Hagrid's dog Snuffles and Remus Lupin. Snuffles was overjoyed to see another visitor and lived up to his name by jumping all over Sirius and sniffing every inch of him. Sirius Changed into Padfoot in an attempt to subdue the beast, but this only excited the overgrown puppy even more. Growling his annoyance, he Changed back into himself and sat down opposite Remus at the table. Snuffles seemed dampened by the absence of the dog and plopped down on the floor with a sigh.
Remus didn't even look up when Sirius entered, and watched the dog's antics as if from a distance. When Sirius sat down at the table, he glanced at him briefly before going back to carving designs into the wood with his fingernail. Silence stretched between them, but not an uncomfortable one; it was more of an "I'm here for you, just in case" silence. After a long time, Remus spoke.
"I bit Liana Lassek last night," he said quietly. Sirius gripped the edge of the table, his knuckles turning white.
"What?" he hissed, not believing his ears. But Remus nodded.
"And she's fine." Was it his ears, or did Remus seem even more upset by this?
"Well...that's good, right?" Sirius commented hesitantly. Remus shrugged, then nodded.
"Yeah, I guess." Sirius blinked. Remus and Liana were friends, or so he thought. It was Remus' worst fear to infect another student. So why...
"Oh," he whispered, more to himself than to Remus. She'd been bitten and was fine, but when Remus had been bitten... "I-I'm sorry, Moony." Sirius hesitated, not knowing what else to say. He wasn't naturally very comforting, that was a job for James or Lily. But he was here now, and Moony had chosen to tell him, and he couldn't just sit here and not care... Remus shrugged again and looked absently out the window. The Care of Magical Creatures class was looking bored as ever, and still it seemed that the professor hadn't noticed Sirius' escape.
"What am I missing?" Remus asked blandly, all emotion gone from his voice.
"Just some stuff on werewolves," Sirius responded with a half-hearted grin. "You'll probably have to do plenty of extra studying to make sure you can learn it all." But the joke hung lamely in the air; Remus didn't seem to even notice what his friend had said. He nodded absently and dug more designs into Hagrid's table.
"Uh... Where's Hagrid?" Sirius asked after a long pause. Remus shrugged. The silence grew again, but this time it was tense and uncomfortable. Sirius knew he had said the wrong thing, or at least neglected to say the right thing. Remus waited a few more minutes, then stood with a sigh. Without a word to his friend, he slipped out the back door and began walking dejectedly away.
Sirius slammed his fist onto the table in frustration. Grimacing and rubbing his sore hand, he watched Remus head for the group of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, most of whom had seen him by now. James waved uncertainly, seeing the look on his friend's face, but didn't try to talk to him with the professor watching. Sirius looked away from the window. Why did he have to be so damn bad at this kind of stuff? And why had Remus chosen to tell him? There were plenty of sensitive people, why had he told the only friend who wouldn't understand-or know how to comfort him if he did manage to grasp what was going on?
Running his fingers through his thick black hair, Sirius heaved a sigh and stood up quickly; the chair clattered to the floor behind him. Muttering and cursing under his breath, he righted the chair and shoved it against the table, which it banged against loudly.
"Ye really should watch yer temper," Hagrid boomed from behind him. Sirius whirled around in surprise; he'd been so preoccupied, he hadn't even noticed the big man enter behind him. And it was pretty hard not to notice when Hagrid entered a room.
"Sorry, Hagrid," Sirius said lamely. The gamekeeper motioned him to sit down again as he made some tea.
"What's got yer all in a huff?" he asked, sitting across the table from Sirius while the water boiled. Sirius shrugged.
"It's Moony's business, really. He's all upset, and he told me why just now, but I had no clue what to say. I just sorta...sat here. I know I failed him. He obviously needed to talk to someone, and I should have dealt with it better." Sirius picked at a knot on the table. Hagrid grunted, handing him a cup of tea while he considered his answer.
"Well-" he began thoughtfully, but was cut off by a flurry of noise from the Care of Magical Creatures class. Sirius stood and stared out the window. Most of the class was standing on tiptoe, talking excitedly and pointing at something near Hagrid's hut. Sirius noticed his friends exchanging startled glances and slipping away in the confusion. He also noticed, although he wouldn't register the fact until later, that the students who seemed really excited were the ones from wizarding families. The muggle-borns didn't seem to care much.
Wondering what could have gotten the class so excited (even the professor was standing on tiptoe), Sirius cracked open the door to Hagrid's hut. He wasn't sure what was out there, and he didn't feel like flinging the door open to a dangerous creature. What he saw, however, was a small black wolf slipping into the shadows of the forest. Why the class had been so excited to see a wolf on the grounds, he wasn't sure; then again, they didn't see a full-grown one every full moon.
Hagrid was watching in awe as the wolf disappeared from sight. Sirius looked at him curiously.
"It's just a wolf, Hagrid," he said, moving to close the door again. But Hagrid pushed it back open, straining to see more of the animal.
"Fer you, maybe," he replied, finally tearing his eyes away from the forest and closing the door. "But most wizards-and that's includin' meself-have never seen a wolf b'fore! They ain't magical creatures, y'know." Sirius considered this. He'd never really thought about it that way. He'd been brought up in a wizarding family, but Lily Evans was a muggle-born, and he'd visited her house with James a few times. She'd been happy to show them the different aspects of a muggle life.
"But surely, they know what a wolf is," Sirius pointed out. "Most muggles probably haven't seen a wolf in person before, either." Sirius, glancing out the window, realized he'd just made his point. Most muggles would be pretty excited to see a wolf face to face, and would be ecstatic to see a unicorn, or even a flobberworm. He supposed it made sense for full-fledged wizards to be excited about a muggle creature in their midst.
The bell rang, and Sirius drained his tea and ran back to get his bag before heading off to the Gryffindor tower. The rest of the Marauders weren't by his bag; he supposed they'd already gone inside. When he got to the common room, however, he couldn't spot them anywhere. Sitting alone by the fire, Sirius allowed himself to be swallowed in his thoughts.
That wolf...there was something familiar about her. And something strange, as well. Most people, muggle or wizard, would not have noticed. But Sirius, having seen a wolf three times a month for the past many months, was pretty sure there was something different about this one. Sure, it wasn't a werewolf; it had all the physical traits of a normal wolf, and these were slightly different from Remus'. But it hadn't been the way it looked, it had been the way the wolf acted that had Sirius thinking. It had been unworried by the crowd of excited humans not too far from it, and had walked right past Hagrid's hut. Even if it couldn't smell the humans in the hut (which it should have been able to, as Padfoot knew so well), it wouldn't have dared trot so close to a place that smelled so strongly of man and beast.
And why had the Marauders looked so alarmed? For now that Sirius thought about it, he remembered them acting startled and sneaking away. They'd gone after the wolf, probably. It would have been easy for James and Peter to slip into the forest as animals, and perhaps Lily and Remus had simply waited on the outskirts or kept close to their friends so as not to get lost. But...why? It was just a wolf.
* * *
Liana awoke slowly, keeping her eyes closed. She expected to feel the terrible pain of her wound again, but she did not. Opening her eyes slowly, she risked a glance under her thin hospital gown. With a sigh of relief, she saw that Madame Pomfrey had already nearly healed the wound. The muscle was back in place, and the skin was back together again. All that was left was a long, red line. It looked a bit swollen and was tender to the touch, but that was all. Liana glanced around the hospital wing nervously. Madame Pomfrey, she noticed quickly, was in her office with her back turned. The rest of the infirmary was empty. Liana slipped out of bed, testing her flexibility and freedom of movement. She was a bit stiff, but that was okay. It was better than staying here overnight.
Before Madame Pomfrey could turn around or notice anything, Liana had donned her robes over the thin gown and was running barefoot into the corridor. The halls were empty; all the students were in class, she supposed. She wondered how long she'd slept. It couldn't have been long, or she wouldn't be so tired. Footsteps sounded nearby, and Liana backed into a shadowy corner. Without realizing it, she Changed into her wolf form. She didn't even know what she'd done until the familiar stab of pain washed through her body. Wincing inwardly, she waited until the footsteps had faded before emerging from the shadows.
Glancing around but seeing, hearing, and smelling no one, Liana slipped along the walls in the direction of the front entrance. She reached the front doors quickly and nudged them open, then ran flat-out for the Forbidden Forest. She hardly noticed the Care of Magical Creatures class near Hagrid's hut as they all stood to get a better look at her. Her ears and nose picked up the sounds and smells of excited teenagers, but she didn't spare them a glance. Not knowing where she was going, exactly, she slipped between the trees and disappeared into the gloomy forest. As she did so, she heard the door to Hagrid's hut open. Glancing back, she saw Sirius Black watching her curiously.
Liana shivered at his penetrating stare, but he looked away quickly. He probably couldn't see her in the shade of the trees, but she wasn't sure the same could be said for Hagrid; the big man stared after her, even when Sirius turned and went back inside. She turned and slipped further into the forest.
* * *
James glanced up quickly as a Ravenclaw girl gave a squeal of delight, followed by many excited voices. Following the pointing fingers, he saw a small black wolf trot past Hagrid's hut. What's a wolf doing at Hogwarts? he thought to himself, watching the animal disappear into the forest. He glanced at Lily, who didn't seem too excited, then at Peter, whose eyes were huge in his face. The small boy beckoned James closer.
"That's the wolf from last night!" he hissed. James, shocked, looked back, but the wolf was long gone. Nodding at Peter and gesturing for Lily and Remus to follow, James sneaked past the excited students and professor, not stopping his crouched run until he and his friends were hidden in the forest. There, he and Peter Changed while Remus and Lily exchanged glances and shrugs. The two animals and two people walked quickly through the forest, straying from the path immediately as Prongs and Wormtail tried to pick up the wolf's scent. They jogged to where they'd seen it disappear and quickly found the trail. James felt rather silly, walking along with his regal head close to the ground, so he scented the air instead, leaving the tracks to the fat rat at his feet.
The wolf was faster than they; it was alone, and didn't have humans tagging along or antlers getting caught in branches. Nevertheless, the four caught up with it eventually. It was drinking from a stream, and didn't seem to hear them or smell them. Signaling for the others to stay downwind, Wormtail scurried forward to get a closer look. Still, the wolf didn't notice. It drank its fill and turned to wander along the river. The little group hiding in the bushes didn't follow.
Peter came back, turning human again so he could tell his friends what he'd seen.
"It's definitely the wolf from last night, and she's definitely female. Too small to be male, anyway. All black, very clean shiny fur. No burrs or anything in it, which seems odd if she's been living in the forest. The only weird thing about her was a long, thin line in her fur. I think there's a scar underneath, but I can't be sure; the fur covers it, but it seems thinner than everywhere else, and kinda out of place. It's very odd- looking." James Changed into himself with a small pop.
"Where was it?" he asked quickly, his face tense. Peter thought for a moment, noting curiously his friend's urgency.
"On the stomach, sorta. Like, between the ribs and the hip. And kinda on the side," he said vaguely, trying to show on his own, very un-wolf-like body. James nodded tersely, but didn't say anything. Lily knew her boyfriend very well by now, and she read in his face that he'd been anticipating that answer. But the forest was spooky, and she hated breaking a rule like this, especially when she was supposed to be in class. I'll ask him later, she told herself.
"C'mon, let's get back to class. It's probably over by now, we've probably been noticed." Remus and Peter rolled their eyes; Lily was so worried about getting in trouble. What was a little trophy-polishing when there was an adventure at hand? But the four trooped back to the school, grabbing their bags on the way past the lecture site. Class had ended a while ago, it seemed, for the chairs were all empty, and even the professor was nowhere to be seen.
Once inside the Gryffindor common room, the shivering friends took seats by the fire. Sirius was already there, looking pensive. James prodded him.
"Wha-" the startled boy exclaimed. "Oh, it's you. Where've you all been?" Sirius asked quietly as James leaned on the arm of his chair.
"Just the forest," he said with a shrug. "You missed out, man. We trailed that wolf into the woods..." As if realizing he'd forgotten something very important, James screwed up his face, grabbed a startled Remus by the arm, and dragged him to their dormitory. The remaining Marauders and Lily glanced at each other in surprise, but didn't move from their comfortable seats by the fire. James would tell them eventually.
* * *
"Was that were it was?" James asked quietly as soon as he'd locked himself and Remus in their dorm. Remus glanced at his friend skeptically as he drew a line along his side, near his stomach. He knew what James meant.
"Yeah, basically," he replied, sitting on his bed and staring blankly at the wall opposite him. He really didn't want to talk about this right now...
But James took no notice of his friend. He was pacing the length of the room, rubbing the side of his face and muttering to himself.
"That would make sense..." he mumbled, turning to Remus. "Hey, Moony, did you ever find out what happened to Liana? I mean, where she got the cut?" Something flickered in the werewolf's eyes.
"Yes," he answered shortly. James frowned.
"What's up?" he asked, everything else forgotten as he leaned against the bunk Remus was sitting on and studied his friend's troubled face.
"I did it," Remus said angrily. James' heart sank. That could only mean one thing... "I did it, but she's fine." Moony's tone was ferocious now, and James straightened, preparing himself for an outburst, a sudden vicious movement. When Moony got moody, things generally got a little out of control. Remus stood quickly and took up James' earlier pacing.
"How can she be fine?" James asked quietly, almost to himself. Remus shook his head vigorously, his hair flying in front of his face.
"I don't know. It doesn't make sense. A werewolf bites me, I get infected. A werewolf bites her, but she's perfectly okay." The anger swelled in Remus, and James began to get scared. He'd never seen his friend quite this mad. Then, instead of bursting, the bubble of rage seemed to deflate, leaving Remus withdrawn and gloomy. James cautiously put a hand on his friend's shoulder, but he didn't seem to notice. His pacing slowed to a stop and he sank to the floor, hands buried in his hair. James sat next to him, unable to say anything, unsure of what he should say in a situation like this one. He didn't know what Remus was feeling, and therefore didn't know how to comfort him. All he could do was sit there and hope it was enough...
But it wasn't. After a long, uncomfortable silence, Moony stood abruptly and stormed out of the room, his anger returning. James watched him go from his place on the floor. Shortly after Remus disappeared down the stairs, Sirius took his place next to James.
"You couldn't think of anything to say, either?" Sirius asked his friend quietly. James noticed with some surprise that Sirius was a lot more subdued than usual. He shook his head and threw himself onto his back, heaving a great sigh. Sirius laughed at his friend's dramatics and leaned against a bed frame.