Chapter 3

"That's brilliant, James!" Sirius exclaimed at the beginning of dinner the next day as James was running over the plan to him in a low voice.

"What's brilliant, Black?" Said a drawling voice.

"Not you, that's for sure, Snape."

James, Remus and Peter burst out laughing.

Snape rolled his eyes. "Oh, hilarious, Black. You're getting to be a real comic, you know. But I don't know how much use that will be in Azkaban."

"Aw, go wash your hair," Sirius mocked.

"I don't have time for this today," Snape grumbled, face reddening. "Oh, and Lupin, this is for you." Snape spat hard into Remus's bowl of soup and stormed off.

Remus's face underwent no change, although he clenched his fists.

James glared at Snape's retreating back. It was bad enough that Snape was annoying most of the day, but he tended to concentrate on Remus a lot for some reason, and this was the last thing he needed on this night, of all nights. Lily, who was sitting next to James, whispered, "Don't do anything stupid."

"What the hell was that for?" Sirius demanded. Peter glanced at Remus and quickly switched bowls of soup with him.

But Remus still sat rigid in his chair, not eating or moving.

"Moony?" Asked Sirius.

Remus glanced at the clock and bolted up from his chair. "I should go. I'm not hungry."

"You really should—"

"I'm fine. See you."

He stormed out of the Great Hall.

Remus waited in the empty hospital wing, sitting quietly on the end of one of the beds as Madam Pomfrey bustled around for a few minutes. She took his temperature, his pulse, and his blood pressure, measured his height, weight, and tested his reflexes. He couldn't see why any of this was necessary. But he supposed she just needed it for the records.

"All right, dear, you seem in tip-top shape to me," she said as she looked inside his ears. "Did you have enough to eat?"

"I'll be fine."

Madam Pomfrey sighed. "Okay then, dear." She looked up at the clock on the wall. "We should go. Here, keep you warm." She handed Remus an old blanket from the closet.

Remus gave a sideways grin. "Will you be wanting this back?"

Madam Pomfrey even smiled. "No, you can grind it to shreds for all I care. Just take care of yourself."

They began to walk out toward the Whomping Willow. As they made their way down through the tunnel up to the shack, Madam Pomfrey was saying:

"Now, we're a bit early, you'll have about fifteen minutes or so to yourself."

Remus nodded. He had planned it this way. He opened the door to the shack as he had done so many times before but never fully gotten used to it.

"Okay, dear," Madam Pomfrey said as he sat down in an old chair. "Take care of yourself, you hear?"

"Yes."

Madam Pomfrey smiled at him and left the room, leaving Remus alone. But not five minutes had passed before he heard someone pounding on the door.

He opened it to see James, Sirius, and Peter appear from under the invisibility cloak. Remus gaped at them.

"You're…you're not supposed to be here yet!"

"Well, we're early. Sue us." Said Sirius, plopping himself onto an old stool.

"Fine."

The four sat down in miscellaneous places.

"Are you sure you want to do this? You don't have to, really, I'll take no offense if you turn around right now and leave." Remus pleaded once more, fearing for the safety of his friends.

No one responded, and he didn't expect them to.

Even Sirius was looking serious as he gazed dismally at the floor.

Remus was shaking. The three looked at him apprehensively, but he just smiled.

"I'm all right."

But Remus suddenly shivered brutally, felt a blinding snap of pain in his back, and went rigid, landing face down on the floor and covering his eyes. The three jumped up.

He couldn't think. Remus gasped for air, feeling another flash of burning hot pain through his entire body.

Peter transformed immediately. Sirius grabbed James, who looked frozen with shock, around the wrist, and dragged him backward.

"Transform!" Sirius said, but James didn't move. Wanting to make sure that everyone was safe before he transformed himself, Sirius bellowed, "DO IT NOW!" James jumped, stared at Sirius, raised up his wand, and in a flash became an enormous stag.

Remus began to shake uncontrollably, as he felt hair sprouting on his face. He felt like his entire body was being ripped apart and then sawed apart. And then burned.

Remus screamed, a horrifying, sobbing scream, his human voice still intact for a few seconds. But it slowly turned into a deep howl.

And then the pain was gone.

The werewolf raced around the room, smashing furniture, pounding walls. Remus was only for a second dimly aware of what was going on. He saw the great black dog and the stag bounding toward him, but he had no idea what he was doing. The werewolf's instincts had taken control of his entire mind and body. He knew he ran for hours, because his legs ached. He knew he fought with something, because he had blood on his face. But he also knew that he had—well, had a bit of fun. And at least he hadn't harmed himself.

The next thing he remembered was waking up lying on the floor, barely conscious, his eyes half-open. He heard the whispers around him but they made little sense.

Is he dead?

No, he's still breathing.

That was the scariest thing!

Shut up, Peter.

We should put him on the bed.

We can't just leave him here!

We have to!

Okay, let's go.

Remus felt himself being lifted up, but his mind was still too numb to make sense of anything. But it was the sound of the door shutting that snapped him to his senses.

"Wait!" He called out hoarsely, still unable to focus his eyes.

It hurt for him to yell. Each time he said a word, a jet of burning pain seared through his throat, stomach, and lungs.

The door opened again slowly. Sirius, James and Peter reappeared.

He's awake.

Be quiet!

James sat down at the end of the four-poster that Remus was lying on. Remus started to cough, rolled over under the torn blanket, and vomited onto the floor, his head pounding and his leg throbbing.

Remus had stopped retching and was coughing hard into his torn pillow. The three of them looked at each other for a moment, startled. Peter just looked scared. Sirius was staring at the wall.

Suddenly there was the sound of footsteps echoing up the stairs.

"She's coming!" Peter hissed. The three ran into a corner and threw the invisibility cloak over them.

Madam Pomfrey opened the door and saw Remus lying there on the bed. She looked at him shaking her head.

"Come now, dear, you're all right…that's a good lad." She magicked him onto a stretcher that floated through the air and back into the hospital wing.