A/N: This chapter was a bit harder to write, but I hope it sounds all right. Ciria – thanks for your reviews! Silver does harm werewolves, but I believe that it does only if they touch it. Remus does well in Transfiguration, but not as well as James and Sirius. Out of the group, James is the best at it, and Sirius is the best in Charms (so far). : ) Sirius is one of my favorites, so he'll be pretty active in this story, but I'd like to cover all the characters evenly (well, maybe not Peter..). Lily will show up, but at the rate I'm going at that's a good ways away.
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Remus sat in the library working on an essay for Transfiguration. It had been three weeks since he first came to Hogwarts, and the full moon was now four days away. Remus was dreading this moment ever since he had received his acceptance letter, and now he had to think of an excuse to tell his new friends. He had played with the idea of telling them that he was a werewolf, but then he would quickly remind himself that they had known each other for just three weeks, nearly not long enough for them to accept him.
'Would they ever accept me?' Remus constantly wondered to himself. He lifted his head and looked out of a nearby window, watching the sun set. He returned his gaze to his essay and decided to stop for the night. Slowly standing to his feet, he gathered his things and looked once more out of the window to see the newly planted Whomping Willow. Sadness crept into his heart, which in turn was replaced by fear. He would be going through the tunnel underneath the tree in four days for the first time. Dumbledore told him how it was set up, but Remus was still apprehensive. But what weighed on his mind more than that was the lie he was going to have to tell his friends to cover up his absence.
Remus sighed and left the library, heading back toward the Gryffindor Common Room. After saying the password and going through the portrait hole, he spotted his friends lounging in the Common Room. Peter, like Remus, was working on his essay, James was playing Sean, the fifth boy that shared their dorm, at chess, and Sirius was reading by the fireplace. James looked up when Remus walked in and waved.
"Hey Remus! Want to play after I beat Sean?" He asked, laughing. Sean just mumbled something about how James cheated, before making his final move and which brought about the end of the game.
"No thanks, I'm pretty tired." Remus said before retreating up the stairs. Sirius raised his head from his book and looked at James.
"Tired? But it's just eight thirty." Sirius said, puzzled that anyone could go to bed so early. James seemed just as perplexed about it, but he just shrugged his shoulders.
"To much homework, I guess."
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Classes went on as usual, but Remus seemed to be getting sick, and one night, in the Gryffindor Common Room, Sirius made a suggestion to him.
"Hey Remus, maybe you should go to the hospital wing." Remus looked at Sirius from the table, where he was finishing his essay. He almost smiled, but he held it back. This was a perfect excuse for him to use to get away for the full moon. He knew that he couldn't always use it, but it was perfect, especially since Sirius had brought it up.
"Yeah, I may go in tomorrow after class." Remus said and returned to work on his homework. After a few more minutes, though, his weariness caught up with him, and he went to bed. Sirius waited a moment after Remus left before he looked at James, who was working on Potions homework.
"Well, that's good then." Sirius said, and James's head popped up.
"What is?" James asked.
"I'm glad he's going to the hospital wing, he's starting to look really ill." Sirius explained, and James nodded.
"Yeah, I hope it's not anything bad." James said, and Sirius shook his head.
"Nah, Remus is tough."
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Remus left dinner early the next day, and he went up to his room in Gryffindor Tower. He opened his trunk and pulled out some old clothes that were covered in stitches and patches. He then made his way down to the hospital wing, and, when he arrived, he found Madam Pomfrey waiting for him.
"There you are, Mister Lupin, are you ready?" She asked in a very kind voice, and Remus could hear underlying tones of worry. He nodded his head and followed her out of the hospital wing. They walked across the grounds of Hogwarts quickly, and Remus looked sadly up at the sunset. Soon, they were at the Whomping Willow, and Madam Pomfrey picked up a stick that was lying nearby, and she prodded the knot on the tree. The tree froze its branches that were beginning to lash out at them.
"Quickly now." She said and headed toward the tunnel. Remus followed her down into the tunnel, and he found it odd to see the young nurse going through the tunnel like that. They walked on for a good distance, and Remus was wondering if they would get there before nightfall. They finally arrived at the Shrieking Shack, and Remus looked around the place for the first time. It looked like a house, it was sparsely furnished, and the windows were boarded up.
"Madam Pomfrey," Remus started, turning towards the nurse, "will people be able to hear me?"
"Yes, dear, there are charms to protect people from this place, but there are no silencing charms." She said, and Remus opened his eyes in shock.
"But people will know if they hear me!" He shouted, but Madam Pomfrey held up her hand to quiet him.
"Dumbledore has made it known that he has put some violent ghosts in here to keep people away and to explain the noises. He wants the people of Hogsmeade to think this house is haunted."
"Hogsmede? We're in Hogsmeade?" Remus asked, and Madam Pomfrey nodded her head.
"Now, Mister Lupin, the moon is about to rise." She said, and Remus nodded before going into a nearby bathroom to change his clothes. Once finished, he emerged from the bathroom, and he handed his clothes and school robes to the nurse.
"You better go." He said quietly, and Madam Pomfrey looked on him with concern.
"You'll be alright?" She asked gently, and he nodded. "I'll come and get you at sunrise, Mister Lupin." She said before leaving the Shrieking Shack.
Remus watched her leave, and he decided to look around the place in the short time that he had before the moon would rise. He spotted a staircase and went up the stairs. The familiar ache was beginning to creep into his body, but he tried to ignore it, by looking in a room. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to look at, and Remus started to think about the pain he was about to go through.
"I want it to be morning." He said to himself before he started to transform.
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Sirius and Peter waited in the Common Room for James to finish getting ready so they could go to breakfast. Peter was usually quiet, but he had become more comfortable with the other boys, and the other boys liked him, except for Sirius. Sirius wasn't going to say anything, but he didn't really like the small boy. He had wanted the boy to be their friend so he wouldn't always be alone, but now Peter was like an annoying puppy that never leaves. Sirius was always nice to him, even though there were times when Peter really annoyed Sirius.
Sirius was thankful to hear the sounds of descending footsteps on the stairs, and James walked into the Common Room. The three boys then made their way to the Great Hall. When they arrived, they sat at the Gryffindor table and began to pile their plates with food.
"We should stop by the hospital wing after breakfast to check on Remus." James said, and the other boys nodded. Sirius opened his mouth to say something, but a group of Slytherins stopped him.
"Well, well, if it isn't little Porky Peter." Said a tall Slytherin with black hair. Sirius and James recognized him as the one who had pushed Peter on the first day of class.
"And his 'friends', or the ones who pretend to be, since he has none." He continued, the three other Slytherins who were standing behind him started to laugh. James and Sirius stood, but Sirius was on the other side of the table from them, so James stood alone. Although James was shorter than the other boy, he made himself a barrier between the Slytherins and Peter.
"Oh, pardon me, I forgot that you were his bodyguard." The Slytherin said, mockingly.
"Shut it, Snape!" James shouted, which caught the attention of the students sitting around them. The Slytherin boy noticed that more Gryffindors were starting to stand, and he took a few steps back. James continued to glare at the taller boy, who smirked back.
"Sorry, Potter, didn't know I was bothering you. I'll leave you in peace now, I wouldn't dare want to disturb you." Snape said and bowed before he started to walk away with the other Slytherins who were laughing. James sat down, but Sirius took a handful of jelly and threw it at Snape, hitting him in the back of the head. The Gryffindor table burst into laughter. Snape spun around, eyes blazing, and Sirius gave him the same bow that he had given James before sitting down. The Gryffindor table started to applaud Sirius, and James was about to fall on the floor, laughing. Sirius looked up and smiled innocently at Professor McGonagall who was now standing in front of him. She, on the other hand, did not look amused.
"Mr. Black, if you please." She said, indicating for him to follow her.
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Remus left the hospital wing that afternoon, and he stopped by all of his classes to pick up his homework. He returned to the Gryffindor Common Room to find his friends in a deep conversation by the fire. He walked up to them and set his stuff down on a nearby table.
"Remus!" Sirius said, smiling. "Good to see you, feeling better?"
"A little, yeah." Remus said, and he sat down in between Sirius and Peter. The other boys noted that he still looked tired, exhausted in fact, but he wasn't as pale as he was before.
"What did Madam Pomfrey say?" James asked.
"Just a cold," Remus said, "I get sick easily." The other boys nodded, and he relaxed.
"So anything happen?" Remus asked, and Sirius and James proceeded to tell him about Snape bullying Peter at breakfast.
"So I threw some jelly at him."
"Hit him square in the head!"
"Then McGonagall walked up.."
"You should have seen it, it was great!"
"I got detention! Can you believe that woman?"
"Scrubbing the Transfiguration room floor."
"With a toothbrush!"
"And no magic!"
Remus laughed along with the others, sad that he had missed it, but hearing the story was just as entertaining.
"When do you have to do it?" Remus asked.
"Tomorrow morning, at seven!" Sirius groaned, and Remus laughed. He had never seen Sirius wake up before ten on a Saturday morning, and that was usually when he was woken up by the others.
"It shouldn't be so bad," James said, "at least it's not the dungeons."
They all laughed, even Sirius, who gave up trying to mope. Remus now listened as they picked up their previous conversation and continued to talk about what prank they were going to pull on Snape and the Slytherins. But exhaustion soon kicked in, and Remus went to bed, leaving the others conspiring downstairs.
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I didn't think that this was one of my best chapters, but if you read please review and let me know what you think! Next chapter will be a little lighter than this, and I'll pick up the pace on the time, or else their first year may end up being 40 chapters long.