Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except, if I'm lucky, I might own the plot…
Chapter Seven: Of Pillow Fights and Werewolves
The next morning our group of young heroes (A/N-JK!) woke up late due to their intense punishment the previous night. Carolina yawned as she tripped into the bathroom to take a hasty shower. When she got out, Lily was already dressed, and Taryn and Peyton had left. She mumbled something about bloody morning people, and attacked her wet hair with a brush. Ten minutes later she stumbled out of the room with her shoes on the wrong feet and lopsided piggy tales. Remus snorted when she walked into the Common Room.
"Late night?" he asked.
"Shaddup," Lily and Carolina grumbled. Apparently the other girl had come down after Carolina. Remus smiled. "How's your mum?" Lily asked, genuinely concerned.
"What? Oh, yeah, that. I just got in. She's all right," said Remus, getting off the sofa and walking to the portrait hole with the girls. "It's not terribly serious, but she likes me to come and visit every month." Carolina patted his arm sympathetically as they entered the Great Hall for breakfast. Soon after Peter had come down to join them the owl post arrived, raining letters down on the unsuspecting students. Carolina grinned as she saw her owl, Midnight, fluttering down, with a tawny owl right behind it. Hastily scanning the letter from her parents, she looked to see who the other owl was for.
Remus was holding a ripped up envelope in one hand, and a thick, important looking letter in the other. His face was normal, but his lips were tight and his eyes were glistening. Without warning he stood up and bolted from the room, leaving his friends speechless.
"What's the matter with him?" Sirius asked, piling his plate with bacon.
"Yeah, he looked like Voldemort himself was chasing him," James commented as he sat down. Sirius grabbed the envelope he had dropped on the floor and looked it over carefully.
"It's from the Ministry," said Sirius with certainty. "My mum's a secretary to Barty Crouch there, and they always use this kind of parchment and such," he explained.
"Well, if it's from the Ministry, that can't be good. Let's go find 'im then," said Lily, and they all left the Great Hall.
"Where d'you reckon he went?" pondered Peter.
"Let's check in the dorm first, and then we can split up," suggested James. They all nodded and sprinted up the marble staircase to the Gryffindor common room. All five of them burst into the first year boy's dorm, panting, to find Remus lying on his bed, head in a pillow. They moved over to him, not knowing what to do next.
"Remus?" Lily said tentatively. The boy didn't move. "Are you all right?" No answer. "Is there anything we can do?" No answer. James noticed a piece of parchment lying on his bedside table and quietly picked it up. He read it, face ashen.
"Remus, I'm so sorry," he said, patting him on the back. Remus raised his head, to look at him questioningly. "Well if you don't want us to find out, then I suggest not leaving the letter in a place where just anyone could get it," James explained. Remus blushed. "Can I tell them what it says?" James asked. Remus nodded and buried his head back in the pillow, shaking with silent sobs. James picked up the parchment and began to read.
"Dear Mr. Remus Lupin,
We regret to inform you that last night your parents, Mr. and Mrs. Romulus Lupin, were killed while trying to save the town of Devonshire from the Dark Lord, Voldemort. They successfully saved the town, but were killed by Death Eaters in the attempt. We are terribly sorry for this loss,
Sincerely,
Ronald Grempkin (A/N-sorry bout that, but I needed a name and it was the first thing that came to mind!), Minister of Magic" Lily gasped, Carolina sat down, hard, on the nearest bed, and Sirius looked pained. Remus sat up.
"Sorry about running from breakfast like that. I must have given you a terrible start," he whispered hoarsely. Tears were still running freely down his cheeks, and he tried to wipe them away. Sirius was examining the letter, and looked up.
"But it says here that last night they were trying to save a town of muggles-" Sirius was interrupted by Remus.
"They're aurors. It's their job to stop Death Eaters and such," he said quietly.
"No, that's not my point," Sirius said. "What I was going to say was, if they were out all night fighting a mad band of Death Eaters, where were you? I mean, you said you were going to visit them, right?" He looked perplexedly at Remus.
"Well, see, I-um, well, I did try to-um, well," Remus stuttered. Sirius cut him off.
"Hey, you don't have to tell us if ya don't wanna. Just know we're here if you need someone to talk to, k?" Remus nodded, and his friends walked out of the door. Lily was waving to him when she stopped suddenly, a strange look crossing her face.
"Remus, your mother wasn't sick the first time either, was she?" she asked, walking back into the room. As he shook his head, James, Peter, Sirius, and Carolina looked back to see where Lily had gone. "And I'm guessing the days you went to visit just happened to coincide with the full moon?" He glanced around and nodded slightly, head bowed.
"And I'm guessing that it's not another random coincidence that you never sit next to the guns or whatever in Dark Arts class," said Carolina slowly. Remus shook his head again, and James finally caught on.
"You mean to say, that the reason you told us you were visiting your sick mother was because it was the full moon, and you're a-you're a werewolf?!" James looked around before saying that last word, and even then he said it quietly. Peter gasped and his eyes became the size of dinner plates. Remus nodded slowly, and then started crying again. Sirius whistled slowly, and said, "Holy Guacamole!" Remus gave a weak smile.
"If you're wondering why I didn't tell you, it's, well, I've never told anyone before. My parents and the man that bit me are the only people that know. Well, Dumbledore, Madam Pomfrey (A/N did I spell that right?), and the Head of our House know as well, but that's because they wouldn't let me into the school any other way. It's terrible, trying to keep a secret from the world. Every step of the way, you have to look over your shoulder. If anyone even mentions werewolves I get jumpy. Sometimes, it feels like the whole world is set against you. Our Defense professor is as good as a murderer to me. He kills my species, ruthlessly hunts us down, and many people agree with the ways of people like that. They just see us as werewolves, not even bothering to hear our side of the story. Do they think that it's fun to transform into a hideous monster? Do they think it's fun to sprout fangs and grow fur? Do people think that it's fun to have an unquenchable thirst for human blood? Do people think-" He stopped and dissolved into tears, cradling his head in his hands. Lily sat down beside him, tucking hair behind her ears.
"It's okay, Remus, we wont desert you just because you were unlucky as a little kid! We'll always be here for you. Always," Lily said, hugging him tightly around the shoulders. Remus looked up and gave her a watery smile. He glanced around at the others, who nodded their support, and his smile grew bigger.
"Thanks you guys. But, no 'fense or anything, but, could I be alone? I just need time to think about all this, okay?" His friends nodded, and left him alone. They moved into the girls' dormitory, first making sure that Taryn and Peyton were occupied elsewhere.
"Wow. Remie is a werewolf. I can't believe it. I just can't believe it." Lily flopped down on her bed, stunned. Carolina joined her there while the guys sprawled on the floor, not terribly comfortable at being in a girls' dormitory. Carolina grinned at their attitude.
"You big babies. It's exactly like your dormitory," Carolina said dryly.
"Except it's a lot more clean," Lily pointed out.
"Well there's no need to state the obvious, now is there?" asked James, laughing. "With Sirius living there I would be worried if it were anything but a total disaster area." Sirius grabbed a pillow of Taryn's bed and threw it at James, mumbling about no good best friends. James laughed, and an all out pillow fight started as a result. Carolina smiled. Good, she thought. We need to take our minds off Remus's little predicament. She was rewarded for her inattention when Peter's pillow smacked her solidly in the nose. Carolina let loose a war cry and started flinging pillows right and left. The boys left a half hour later when Peyton came in. As soon as the door opened the three boys bolted out of the room, leaving behind loads of ruined pillows and a feather covered floor.
"What the heck was that?" asked Peyton. "Did three boys just run out of our room?" Lily and Carolina nodded with flushed cheeks. Peyton turned to look at them, and found two panting girls with feather covered hair. "What 'ave you been doing? Why weren't you in Charms?" Lily and Carolina looked at each other.
"We forgot all about classes," groaned Lily, slapping her forehead. "What did we miss?"
"A Freezing Charm," said Peyton, who was gathering her things for Herbology. "Better go see him after dinner. Come to the greenhouses with me." The guilty girls nodded, and walked out of the room. As they left the Common Room, Peyton asked a question that the girls had been avoiding on purpose.
"How on earth could both of you forget about class?" Lily and Carolina looked at each other guiltily.
"Well," began Lily.
"You see," interrupted Carolina. "I ate some terrible eggs at breakfast, and I felt awfully sick. Then we couldn't find the Hospital Wing so we came back to our dorm. I was puking something awful, and Lily felt bad for me so she waited. Lily and I didn't get very much sleep last night cause we had to clean out the Great Hall till midnight, you remember. We were the cause of the food fight?" Peyton smiled.
"Yes of course. That was loads of fun. I got creamed corn in my ear, and Bertha got pudding down her shirt." Seeing her year mates puzzled looks, Peyton explained. "Bertha Jorkins, you know. She's a Ravenclaw that I gossip with. Quite funny, and knows loads of juicy stories. Anyways, you were saying?" Carolina sighed; she had hoped Peyton would have gotten off track.
"So Lily fell asleep while waiting for me, and I lay down because my stomach was hurting something awful. I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I know, Sirius and Peter and James had burst into the room and started throwing pillows at us. Well, we got mad and threw pillows back, and then you walked in and they scampered." Peyton nodded, satisfied with their answer. Lily smiled at her best friend appreciatively. She sure is a quick thinker! thought Lily, as they reached the greenhouses just in time for class. Carolina quickly moved off to find the boys.
She found them on the other side of the greenhouse and quietly explained the story she had fed Peyton, just so they could have matching alibis if anyone were to check. The boys smiled, and the rest of the day passed without further mishap or inquiry.
After dinner (which Remus did not attend) Carolina, Sirius, and Peter moved off to the Trophy Room, after bidding a cheerful farewell to the doom laden Lily and James.
"What're the odds that they survive the night?" smiled Sirius.
"I'm thinkin' twenty to one at the least," replied Carolina as they entered the Trophy Room.
"Wipe them happy smiles off yer faces," growled and unhappy voice. The trio looked around to find the evil caretaker, Argus Filch standing in front of them with three giant buckets of elbow grease at his feet. "Ye'll be polishin these trophies till each and everyone is sparkling, is that clear?" They all nodded. "Now I'm leavin (A/N Ms or Mrs?) Norris t' watch ye, so don't be tryin anything jus cause I'm not here. I got better things to do than to watch a sorry lot like you scrub a bunch o' metal."
"Like we don't," muttered Sirius. He stuck out his tongue at the man's retreating back. "Well, we'd better get started then." Resigned to their task, the three picked up buckets and started scrubbing. They worked in silence for twenty minutes until Peter found something interesting.
"Hey, look, it's the Quidditch Cup!" he cried. Lily and Sirius hurried over to examine the silver trophy.
"Wow," breathed Carolina, as she looked at the long list of Houses and years. "Are you two going out for the team next year?" Sirius nodded fervently, while Peter just said no. When asked for an explanation, he stated that he functioned better with two feet on the ground. "What're you going out for then?" Carolina asked Sirius as she started back to work on her special award for service to the school.
"Beater," he said proudly. "I can knock my dad off his broom when we play two on two with James and his dad! D'you play at all?"
"Do I play? Do I play? I only eat, breathe, and live Quidditch. I'm an impassable keeper, but I can be a fair seeker as well." Carolina exclaimed.
"Ah, well, we'll see about that impassable keeper thing. And I wouldn't spend too much time on your seeker skills. James is amazing," Sirius warned. Carolina shrugged.
"I'm more of a keeper. I like being where the action is," she replied, moving on to another trophy. When they got back to their dorms later that night, Lily and James still weren't back.
They'd better hurry, thought Carolina as she crawled into bed. I wouldn't fancy being out there much later than this. They'll freeze to death. And with that, she fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.
(A/N) Hey to all one of you who reviewed (I LUV YOU DANI!) Dani- Yes, I too believe that you can never upload too quickly, because I hate it when stories I love have the same three chapters for a year or so. Yeah, I remembered the werewolf thing, see? I figured that they should find out in their first year because 'it took them the best of five years to get it' and I like the idea of their become animagi in the fifth year. I read a story with that happening once, and it kind of stuck with me. Remus is oober-cool! I hope I didn't overdo the werewolf part in this chapter-did I? Yeah, yeah, since it's a Lily/James story I should probably have a bit more with them in it right? Somehow that makes sense….hhhhmmm. I'll work on it. Thanx so much for reviewing!
Keep reading and Keep reviewing!
