Moonlit Horizons

Chapter fifteen, by Dizmius

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In which a werewolf breaks loose, with a little help from his friends, hmm, I must get Sirius singing again, (once he's ditched the blonde hair)

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Remus Lupin walked out towards the whomping willow, feeling resigned to his fate.

36 years old, and thirty of those, I've been a werewolf.  And I've never bitten a single human.  Granted, I've accidentally nibbled Prongs and Padfoot a few times, but as animagi, the curse doesn't affect them, they're animals.  Oh they were worried the first time it happened, I was mortified, but it seemed…  it seemed that when I was around them as animals, I could communicate, I could think.

  They kept me sane, and then totally by accident, Snape of all people found a form of antidote.  Wolfsbane Potion.  I hate to admit it, but the man is a potions genius.  He would have thrown that experiment away in disgust had Voldemort not told him to stop, and put it to better use.  At that time, Voldemort wanted to control werewolves, and encouraged Snape to continue researching into that area.  Apparently it was around that time that Snape turned to Dumbledore.  Nobody really knows why.  I don't think even Draezyc knows why, she wasn't involved with him then, I don't think.  She was one of the few that found out about Snape's deception, many others were killed for finding out.  Evan Rosier, he caught Snape passing information to the Phoenixes.  Rosier was dead barely three hours later.  As I found out, Draezyc was in charge of sniffing out those who were traitorous to Voldemort's cause.  She killed many.  Sascha Tatianovic, Edmund Keller, Liam Greeneway, Katrischa Lachesis and Pyrrus Bones to name but a few.  Pyrrus was the worst.  His body was spread out over a square mile of deserted moor.  I remember James was the one who found him… or at least… the majority of him.  He came to the Phoenix meeting in utter shock that night.  Nobody thought it was Draezyc.  Sirius suggested Malfoy, or Snape.  She was still Draeliana at that time, one of the three female Death Eaters in the Inner circle, and by far the most efficient at her job.  She found out about Snape, a few days before the end.    And after that, I have no idea what happened to her.  I know for a fact she challenged him, because we devoted a whole meeting to it.  She beat the hell out of Mad-Eye Moody, when he went out on reconnaissance work to see what was going on.  That's why he walks on a peg-leg.

He pushed the knot on the willow with a long stick, and ducked under the roots into the tunnel.

I suppose it was love at first er… fight or something.  Odd, because they knew each other for the seven Hogwarts years anyway… No it probably wasn't love at first sight.  Don't think Snape's capable of that sort of thing.  I hope Sirius has the sense to keep checks on Anna.  Knowing Sirius, he's probably drinking in the 3 Broomsticks, bemoaning his blonde hair.  I could do with his company right now actually.  It's nice to have another four-legged friend, who tries to understand what it's like.

Remus sat down, wincing as the throbbing in his head spread to his bone joints, Can't be long now, five minutes… perhaps less…Something scrawled into the wood caught Remus' eye.   'Marauders iniurias dis curae'… that must have been Sirius carving his random graffiti into the wall again.  'Snape's robes nihil aliad est quam animi consolatio, thank god you can't see the rest'… oh that was Sirius too, and I…. Oh… god….

Remus felt his whole body tense up and start to shake, his vision went blurry and he could feel the hair growing up his neck, his face changing more canine until he let out a piercing scream, the window rattled as he convulsed, trying to stop the bones which snapped one by one, taking their new form.  Before he could do anything, he was ripping and tearing at himself, trying to set the wolf free,

Must… free… must… rip… tear… blood… smell blood… must break… must kill… can smell… smell blood…trapped… must… break free… other of us… can sense… others… must go… must join… must eat… so hungry… hungry for so long… must kill… must drink… must… must… must…

The wolf was clawing at the walls, growling and howling to itself as the magical barriers burned his paws.  The full moon shone in through the cracks in the boarded up windows… The wolf kept on circling the room, looking and sniffing any possible means of escape, it found none.  The wolf threw itself at the walls, in a vain attempt to break free of a cage it knew held him fast.  It could sense the other wolves out in the forests of England, werewolves, not ordinary wolves, who had become extinct in Britain long ago.  Other werewolves who were free, not encaged like itself.  Free to kill, free to eat, free to howl…  Remus let out a long solitary howl of longing, a full blown, head thrown back, howl. 

It stopped mid howl, and hackles raised, growled as it could sense something else, something stronger. Something coming closer, but much, much stronger… No it wasn't coming closer, it had been there already… but where… it was something intoxicating…

The trapdoor flew open and a large blonde dog jumped up, closing the trapdoor behind him with his hind legs.

This wasn't what he could sense… but this was something else…

The dog whined, lying on the floor, looking straight up at Remus the wolf.

Not wolf…. Not… must kill… tear… blood… escape… need to es… Sirius?… Sirius is that you?… Kill tear… kill…. Help me Sirius…. Must escape…need to kill, need to kill…. Sirius… please… what have you done with… it's coming closer… must kill… must eat… hungry, must… have to… must…

The dog barked happily, wagging its tail in a friendly way.  It nudged Remus with its nose.

I remember now… adventure… forests… friend… friend… not a wolf… friend… will help me kill… help me eat… must reach moon… friend who howls alongside the wolf…hungry… no I can't kill, Sirius… must kill, hungry…

The wolf whined, licking the side of Sirius' face in a friendly gesture, which was all Sirius needed to be sure that he had found Remus inside the wolf.  Padfoot nosed up the trapdoor and making sure Remus wasn't going forest, he jumped down and padded along the tunnel, looking back every so often to se the wolf behind him, it had Remus' eyes, they looked so pleading.  Padfoot wagged his tail happily; this would be just like old times.

The wolf growled suddenly, trying to claw past Padfoot, who snapped back warningly.  The wolf was going crazy, it could smell something…

Padfoot turned back to going forward and barked, startled by the crouching figure staring at the two canine forms in horror… 

The growling grew louder and Remus tried to pounce past Padfoot, who grabbed hold of one of Remus' legs with his teeth.

The figure bolted, scampering back down the passage with a fear that even Padfoot could sense.  Remus was kicking and biting, and slashed out at Padfoot's muzzle, Padfoot whimpered, and inadvertently released his grip on Remus, who shot off down the tunnel after the figure.

Padfoot ran after Remus, determined not to let him out of the willow.

Someone screamed.

Padfoot skidded to a halt, Remus was circling a crouching figure who was almost crying in fear,  My god, Remus… that's Anna, don't you dare… get a hold of yourself Remus. Padfoot knew better than to lash out at Remus whilst he was circling his prey… That would most certainly be suicide for both of them.

Padfoot let out a loud warning growl to Moony, who simply growled in return, hackles raised.

I think that's basically telling me that you don't undermine the authority of a werewolf

Anna was taking short steps backwards, looking wildly around for anything that might help her situation.

Padfoot took no notice of Moony's warnings and advanced, ready to stop his friend from doing anything 'werewolfish'.  The wolf simply threw Padfoot aside, into the whomping willow.

Moony leapt at Anna, who turned to run, but was caught under his paws and dragged to the grass, desperately trying to kick him away.  Keep his jaws as far away from her as possible.

A loud howl echoed through the grounds.

Padfoot groggily looked up, trying to make out the figures in his blurry vision.  There was no Anna.  Padfoot shakily stood up, and was promptly thrown aside again, this time by a very angry branch of the whomping willow.  He slid down the trunk of one of the trees and whined pitifully, resisting the urge to return to human form.

Moony was backing away suddenly, tail between his hind legs.  Any onlooker would think that the werewolf was scared.

Another howl, this time louder. 

No human… scent gone… new smell… must kill… hungry… powerful… can sense power… a brother… one of us. Moony cocked his head to a side, looking intently at the new wolf.

The grey wolf sat down, looking slightly confused with itself.

Moony sniffed the air, this was no ordinary wolf, but it wasn't a werewolf either.  This wolf had power, but not in a Padfoot sense, it was something else.  He let out a nasal whine, and sank to the ground. 

Padfoot looked up cautiously, in case there were other stray branches in the vicinity. He saw none so limped over to Moony, letting out a small bark.

Painful that was too bloody painful.  Please tell me that Anna's got away… and who the hell is this?

Padfoot wagged his tail at the newcomer, wearing a sort of grin that greatly resembled the Sirius Black human grin. Moony whined again, clawing at the grass.

The new wolf licked its paw; still looking slightly dazed with the whole concept, and opened its mouth, letting out some sort of a yelp.

Padfoot barked again, obviously twigging onto something.  He bounded over to the new wolf and nudged its neck with his nose, then barked again and rolled over, coating the thick blonde hair with mud.

Moony suddenly went rigid; Padfoot looked up, and noticed the moon setting behind the mountains.  The new wolf seemed to be having some sort of dilemma, it kept trying to rise up onto its hind legs, its muzzle shrank, and then came back again.

Noticing that Moony was in no danger of biting any of them now, Padfoot transformed back into Sirius with a faint pop, and crouched down next to the whimpering wolf, who now seemed slightly more sedate and was gnawing on itself, trying to break free from the wolf body.  The thick fur was falling out, and Remus' face was clearly evident in the wolf's features now.

The other wolf bounded over, nudging Moony with her paw, whining softly.

"S'alright Anna. He'll be okay." Sirius nodded, "You can probably come back to us now."

The wolf whined again, standing up on her hind legs and trying to walk. 

Moony let out a loud howl of pain, which masked most of the snapping and cracking noises that came with the transformation.  His howl turned into that of a human voice, crying out in agony.  His limbs were extending, taking on more of a human form, his claws shrank and his paws flexed out into fingers. 

Remus was back.

Sirius covered Remus with his cloak, pushing his bleeding arms through the sleeves and fastening the buttons.  "Poor guy.  He's going to be out of it for a while."

"Not out of it." Remus mumbled, screwing up his face trying to dull the throbbing.  "You're insane."

"I know, I know." Sirius grinned, lifting Remus to his feet.  "To Madame Pomfrey."

The remaining wolf barked suddenly, and hurtled off towards the castle.

"Who?  I remember… powerful… almost killed it." Remus blinked, trying to regain focus.

Sirius held onto Remus tighter as the ill man stumbled, too weak to walk by himself.  "That… Is Anna." Sirius indicated with a jog of his head in Anna's direction.  "You very successfully scared the hell out of us."

"Wonderful." Remus moaned, wincing slightly as he felt his ribs.  "Why's she still wolfish?"

"Dunno." Sirius shrugged, "Think about it when you're slightly more alive, yeah?"

"No.  I want to know now." Remus turned to look at Sirius. "Why did you let her come here?  I told you… I asked you…"

"I didn't know she followed me. I wanted to keep you company."

"By letting me escape?" Remus croaked. "I could have killed her… I …"

"Paranoia." Sirius grumbled, helping Remus up the steps.  "Look, we talk about this later.  When you're coherent enough to form a decent argument."

"Find yourself a blonde cure, please, you're blinding me."

"Ah!" Sirius wagged his finger accusingly, "Still retains his sense of humour I see!"

Anna suddenly barked, pawing at the door. Remus bent down slightly, running a hand over her furry ears.  "I'm sorry."

It took a moment before Remus realised that her ears were no longer furry and she most definitely was no longer a wolf.

"Oh My God." Anna stood up, grabbing onto the door.  "Oh my god, oh my god."

"Help me get wolf-boy up to the infirmary, he's kind of asleep." Sirius shifted under Remus' weight against his side.  "We can oh my god about this afterwards."

"Did I…" Anna held onto Remus' other arm.

"Yes." Sirius interrupted. "Just in the knickers of time."

"Excuse me?"

"Old phrase, long story." Sirius smiled slightly, "Rule number one, don't try to fight the whomping willow, 'tis but a stupid folly to undertake."

"Your face is bruised, and you're sort of bleeding."

"Nothing I've never had before.  Moony kind of gets violent like that, throwing various people into the willow for fun, ya know…" Sirius wiped his chin on his sleeve.  "Bloody great fun, in the literal sense."

He heaved Remus through the infirmary doors, and dropped him onto a spare bed. "Pomfrey knows what to do, we should just leave him under her oh so excellent care."

Anna wasn't listening; she was looking at the person in the next bed. "Is that?"

"Drazzy!" Sirius beamed, in a quiet whisper of surprise.  "Of all the people… no I can't even fake my surprise."

"Perhaps we should leave." Anna looked hesitantly at the clock.  "I want to ask you something,"

"Ask away, luv." Sirius held open the door, "Whilst you still have the chance, 'cause I have the distinct feeling that Remus isn't a happy bunny about this."

"No, really." Anna rolled her eyes, "I never noticed, he just tried to bite me to little bits…"

"Werewolf sign of affection, and plus you make a lovely little wolf.  Can't blame the guy." Sirius grinned. "Let me get something a little less bloodied up and we're all set for plans of self preservation from the wrath of Remus."

"Lovely little wolf…" Anna grumbled. "I'll give you lovely little wolf!"

TBC