A/N: I've just realised something. Anyone who doesn't understand any British slang terms I use, just ask me what they mean! R/R as per usual.
James stared at Remus for a moment, and then said quite calmly, "Yes, I would like to know." Remus' broke into a grin, which surprised the other three.
"Aww James, I didn't know you cared." At a scowl from James and guffaws from Peter and Sirius he continued. "I went for a walk… I was in the hospital wing all last night and needed some fresh air. Mind you, I didn't expect to come back to find you shouting." Peter stole a glance at James who now looked slightly thrown off course, and then looked back at Remus.
"You're feeling better now though, right?" When Remus nodded he continued, "So what was up with you then?" Remus crossed his fingers behind his back as he answered.
"I wasn't feeling well on the train, then I think I ate something bad at dinner. I'm okay now though, no more vomiting here." These words jerked Sirius out of his thoughts.
"Yuck, thanks for that mental image Lupin!" Remus grinned and in spite of himself, James did too.
"Sorry about, erm, that little shouting bout I had there. I was just erm… well, I was… oh, you know..." Remus cut him off here with a small smile.
"Yeah, I know." He punched James good-naturedly, James punched him back in the same way and a play fight would have broken out if a voice hadn't bellowed,
"Potter!" James groaned and turned to see Professor McGonagall glaring at him. She strode up to him and carried on. "No fighting in the corridors, magical or not! Especially not when the person on the receiving end has just come out of the hospital wing. You're lucky I'm not taking any points away from Gryffindor for your behaviour." Remus tried to interrupt to explain that he'd actually started it, but McGonagall was having none of it. James apologised, then as she walked away he scowled and mimicked her voice.
"No fighting in the corridors, magical or not! Jeez, why does she always shout at me? I didn't even start it that time." Sirius sighed melodramatically and threw an arm around James.
"Dear boy, you're the loud one. They always go for the loud ones; why do you think I get told off so much and Lupin here never does? Course, it could be because he does his work and I don't… no matter. Now, when will we get round to that game of Gobstones you promised me yesterday?" The quartet chatted away as they made their way to their lessons that day, and later on that night they engaged in a furious game of Gobstones, of which James was the victor for the sixtieth time running.
* * *
"Defence Against the Dark Arts with the Slytherins for the second year running? Yuck. What did we do to deserve this?" asked Sirius as they sat down in the DADA classroom the morning after the little episode in the hospital wing. Remus pulled a face.
"No idea. Did you do anything to upset Professor Morgan?" Sirius screwed up his face in concentration. While he was thinking, the professor entered and held up his hands for silence. As the class died down Sirius, oblivious to the sudden hush around him, said loudly,
"Well I did write one of my essays for Morgan in Vanishing ink, but I don't think he realised; the type I used only comes into effect after an hour." He looked round happily, and his smile faded when he realised the entire class was gawping at him and Professor Morgan was looking annoyed yet mildly amused.
"Thank you for that information Mr Black," he said coolly. "I'll remember to check your work in future." Sirius swore under his breath, and Professor Morgan began to talk to the rest of the class.
"Now that certain members of the class have finished confessing their sins"-the girls in the class tittered-"I can carry on with my class. You will begin this year of study by studying creatures, beginning with the werewolf." When he heard this, Remus' face slowly drained of all colour. They couldn't, surely… Professor Dumbledore would have told him. He hesitantly raised his hand. James, Sirius and Peter all stared at him, then at each other in utter bewilderment.
"Professor, one of my friends in the year above told me we'd be studying Red Caps first this year? I've already prepared for that." Professor Morgan looked closely at Remus, who was silently willing him to change the lesson's subject to Boggarts. Just for today, let him hear what I'm trying to say, change the bloody subject you puffed-up old fool. Then he cleared his throat.
"Mr Lupin, whilst I applaud and admire you for your diligence, we will carry on with the lesson as I planned it." Remus leant back in his seat in despair as the professor began.
"As I'm sure you are all aware, a werewolf is a person who is transformed, voluntarily or involuntarily, into a wolf under the influence of the full moon. Now, the word werewolf is a contraction of the old-Saxon word wer, meaning man, and wolf. Therefore 'werewolf' translated literally means 'manwolf'." The class was taking notes when a pale hand shot up in the row in front. James turned to roll his eyes at Lupin with a grin.
"Here we go." Professor Morgan stopped talking and said,
"Yes Mr Snape?" Severus Snape was always very conscientious in his Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons, and this one was no exception. Lupin was vaguely aware that Snape was asking a question relating to changes in the werewolf's human behaviour before full moons, and he heard Sirius say something, but he wasn't listening. His mind was no longer in the brightly lit classroom with his laughing classmates.
* * *
Instead he was in a wood, by himself except for the low noise of snarling from somewhere around him that told him he wasn't alone. He was running through the trees faster than he had ever run before, the sound of footsteps behind him ringing in his ears. He was sure he was screaming, he must have been screaming, but no sound was coming out save for his ragged breaths. The snarling was getting louder and so were his ragged urgent breaths. He had to get away from the terrifying beast that was chasing him, but where to go? He couldn't hide-it would find him. He couldn't risk slowing down-it was too fast. He could feel his heart hammering against his ribcage like a bird fighting to get out of a cage; it was beating so fiercely that he could practically hear it. He kept running, even faster now, and still the snarling was as loud as ever. He was running so fast that he didn't even see the tree root, and before he knew it he was falling. The ground was coming closer, and with a mounting sense of terror he realised that the snarling sound was coming closer too, and he could also hear howls mixed in with the snarls. He tried to get up, but was paralysed by fear. Looking up in despair, he saw a huge form above him, with sharp gleaming teeth and ferocious eyes. He tried to scream again, and this time he could hear himself screaming. He realised that someone was calling his name; it sounded far away, but came nearer and nearer.
* * *
"Remus J Lupin!" Remus felt someone slap him and his eyes opened, even though he didn't remember closing them. He looked round and saw his classmates above him staring at him. He realised that he was slumped over his desk, and James, Sirius and Peter were looking at him with looks of apprehension mixed with concern. Remus got up with some effort, and looked in front of him to see who had slapped him. His grey eyes met a pair of bright green eyes full of concern. He smiled weakly and said,
"Hello Lily." When he said this, Lily breathed a thankful sigh and cast her eyes up to the heavens. James came over and sat back down next to Remus, relief apparent in his mannerisms and voice.
"Bloody hell Remus, you scared me. Next time I turn round to talk to you, I don't want to see you screaming and then fainting, do you understand?" Remus rubbed his eyes.
"Is that what I did? I… I didn't realise what was happening. One minute I was awake, then the next…"
"Forget about it," said Sirius bracingly. "You probably just fell asleep and had a bad dream or something." Peter looked closely at Remus.
"You're probably still slightly ill or something. Fevers can bring on fits sometimes. Do you want to go back up to the hospital wing?" When Remus shook his head, Peter shrugged at the other two.
"I'm fine," he said calmly although quite abruptly. "Really." The others still looked unconvinced though, and in Remus' mind the end of the lesson couldn't come quickly enough. He left the classroom, lost in thought.
"They're not stupid. Sirius and James are two of the brightest people in the year. They'll figure it out. I don't want them to, but I think they will." James watched Remus' back retreat, and then quietly signalled to Peter and Sirius to follow him. Making sure that Remus was well out of earshot, James hissed,
"Come with me." Sirius raised his eyebrows, but followed James anyway towards a large tree in the grounds. Peter stopped abruptly.
"James, that's the Whomping Willow. Do you want us to get killed?" James rolled his eyes and carried on walking. He sat under the tree, but far enough from the trunk to avoid touching it and therefore any risk of attack. He motioned for Sirius and Peter to sit with them, which they both did so; Sirius curiously, Peter apprehensively. After a short period of silence, Sirius couldn't take it any longer.
"Well?! Come on then James, it has to be something important for you to be like this." James merely pulled a notebook out of his pocket and opened it. In spite of themselves, Peter and Sirius leant in to hear what he was trying to say.
"Look at this. Don't shout at me, but you know I keep a diary? Well, I obviously write down everything that happens, and last night I collected all the dates that Remus has ever been ill since first year onto one page." Catching Sirius' disapproving eye, James ignored it and carried on. "Just hear me out. He seems to be ill at certain times of every month… am I the only one who's slightly concerned by that? Now, I did a bit of research." Here James stopped; he didn't feel able to tell the other two what he'd found out. Perhaps Sirius sensed this, because he very gently prised the notebook from James' grip and read what was on the page. His facial expression quickly changed from curious to a mixture of disbelief and shock. He looked up, ashen faced, at James.
"Are you sure about this, James?" Peter looked on, confused, as James nodded sadly.
"It's all there Sirius. I've checked and double-checked each and every date that he's been ill. That lesson today has pretty much confirmed everything I've written there. Remus is ill every full moon. A day or two before those dates, I've written that he gets grumpy, withdrawn, and even slightly aggressive. Professor Morgan told us that those are exactly the symptoms that werewolves suffer just before full moons." Sirius was, for once, at a loss for words. Peter now piped up.
"J-James, are you suggesting that Remus is a-" James motioned frantically for him to be quiet as a gang of Slytherins walked past them. Peter was silent for a few moments, and then finished his sentence.
"Are you suggesting that Remus is a…. a…. w-w-werewolf?" James nodded solemnly.
"That's exactly what I'm suggesting." His words hung in the deathly silence that followed.
* * *
Another cliffhanger! Please review this, I'd like to know that I'm not just writing for myself, and any advice is appreciated. More soon!
