Chapter twenty one – When emotions combine
The days passed by and James spent most of them trying to convince Sirius to ask Remus about what he had seen, Sirius refused of course.
"They are a couple, James. I know you're trying to cheer me up but you have got to face facts, Remus and I are over" Sirius stated one Tuesday afternoon in History of magic when James had asked him again to talk to Remus.
"I don't believe that. Have you seen them together since then? And Remus would have told us" James protested.
"Well, they wouldn't want anyone to find out would they" Sirius retorted. "God, Snape's an idiot; he has Remus why wouldn't he want to let people know?"
James raised his eyebrows. "You're the one who didn't want to tell anyone when you were with Remus!" James answered.
"Oh… yeah, sorry I forgot about that" Sirius replied. James rolled his eyes and then looked over at Remus who was sitting in the row in front of them next to Peter. "He looks upset" James said quietly. "I doubt it, I hope he hasn't heard anything we've said" Sirius replied.
"I'm sure he hasn't, he's taking notes and you know how much he concentrates when he's working" James reassured him. "Yeah, you're probably right".
"Full moon tonight" James whispered so that they couldn't be overheard.
"I know" Sirius replied bluntly.
"Are you coming?" James asked him.
"I don't know, would Remus want me there?" Sirius asked sadly.
"I'm sure he won't mind and besides, he needs you there. Moony loves Padfoot" James replied.
"Yeah, but not as much as Sirius loves Remus" Sirius said miserably.
James sighed sadly and patted Sirius' arm reassuringly. "You'll get him back one day" James said, in hope that it would brighten Sirius' mood.
"I doubt that. He has Snape now" Sirius replied.
"You don't know that!" James said indignantly
"Yes I do, you should have seen them, James. Their mouths were inches apart, it was horrible" Sirius shuddered from the memory.
"You should ask him though, there could be a completely innocent explanation for it" James said.
"Don't make me laugh! It was obvious what they were doing" Sirius replied.
"Fine fine, you win but just remember I did try" James said. The bell rang a second later and they all filed from the classroom.
The rest of the morning carried on as normal and soon enough, it was time for lunch. The marauders enjoyed their lunch outside because it was such a lovely day. Sirius sat as far away from Remus as he possibly could. Being near him made Sirius feel terribly uncomfortable and he always had to resist the urge to jump on Remus and smother him in long awaited kisses.
Remus seemed to have the same idea and sat far away from his friends, deeply emerged in a book. He was immensely troubled. Not only was he feeling awkward about what happened with Severus, Sirius was avoiding him more than usual and it was a full moon tonight. Remus had an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach that this full moon would be an awful one.
Worse still, Remus wasn't sure if Sirius was coming tonight and he knew how much Moony loves Padfoot. 'But not as much as Remus loves Sirius' Remus thought sadly. James must have sensed his unhappiness because he moved next to him and looked at him intently.
"Are you ok?" He asked worriedly. Remus looked up from his book.
"Yeah, I'm ok. Just a bit nervous about tonight though" Remus replied.
"That's understandable. How are things with you and Sirius?" James asked quietly.
"Terrible. He's been avoiding me more lately and I don't know what made it worse" Remus replied miserably.
"Well, don't let it bring you down" James said reassuringly.
"I'll try" Remus replied weakly. James smiled which Remus returned.
The rest of the day went by slowly and Remus spent most of it trying to work up the courage to ask Sirius if he was coming tonight. He was just about to on his way back to the common room before dinner when he bumped into a certain Slytherin.
"Hello, Severus" Remus said.
"Hi, Remus" Severus replied.
Sirius watched this interaction with a look of hatred spreading across his handsome features. After a quick conversation, Severus stated that he had to leave. Remus was about to wave when Severus pulled him into a tight hug. Severus smirked at Sirius evilly behind Remus back.
Sirius almost jumped forwards but James and Peter held him back. "Bye" Remus said once Severus had let go. Severus waved and he was gone.
Remus turned around to look at his friends and saw that Sirius was fuming. He was rather startled but decided not to ask. "Come on, we better put our bags in the common room" Remus said, leading the way. The others followed silently and no one said anything until they reached the common room.
"Um, Sirius?" Remus asked timidly. Sirius turned to him, still feeling angry.
"Yes?" He asked.
"Are you still coming to the full moon tonight?" Remus asked hopefully.
"You don't need me there, why don't you ask your boyfriend to go with you?" Sirius snapped. James and Peter felt terribly uncomfortable but they knew they had better not leave them both alone.
"What do you mean?" Remus asked, innocently confused.
"I know about you and Snape" Sirius emphasised on the word Snape and said it as though it was a disgusting swear word.
"What about us?" Remus asked.
Sirius' temper was beginning to rise. "Don't play innocent with me! I saw you two kissing" Sirius retorted.
Remus' eyes widened in shock. "It wasn't like that, we didn't-"
Sirius cut him off sharply. "Yes it was. How can you be with that slimy Slytherin?" Sirius asked disgustedly.
"I'm not!" Remus said sternly.
"Cut the crap, I know you are" Sirius said, looking away from him.
"I'm not and why would you care if I was? You broke up with me remember!?" Remus said angrily.
"Yeah… well" Sirius started.
"Well what?" Remus asked him.
"Nothing. I just don't want to see you with him" Sirius said.
"I'm not with him" Remus said again.
"Sure… there was me thinking I meant something to you. The second we break up and you're off shagging someone else" Sirius retorted.
Remus was beginning to become angrier. "I'm not shagging him! And it was your choice that we broke up! Not mine. If you really care so much about me and Snape then why did you break up with me?" Remus asked, feeling annoyed.
Sirius was silent for a moment. He wasn't quite sure how to answer that. He wanted to tell Remus the truth, right then but he knew he couldn't.
"Forget this" Sirius muttered and he left through the portrait hole. Remus was left feeling confused and hurt. How can Sirius think I'm with Severus? The remaining marauders didn't see Sirius at dinner and soon enough, it was time for Remus to go to the shrieking shack.
"Where is he?" Peter asked worriedly.
"I'm not sure. But you had better go, Remus" James said. Remus nodded and left through the portrait hole.
Ten minutes later, Peter and James left as well and they waited for a while in the dark nearby the Whomping Willow. "I don't think he's coming, James" Peter stated.
"Yes he is" Said a voice from behind them.
"Sirius! Where on earth have you been?" James asked.
"Oh just around, I had to clear my head" Sirius replied.
"Ok, at least you're here now. We have to go in soon" James said. A few minutes later, a howl was heard stating that Remus was indeed a werewolf now.
"Come on" James said to Peter and Sirius. Peter transformed first and prodded the knot on the Whomping Willow. Sirius and James followed suit when the branches stopped moving. The three boys walked through the passage way until they found themselves inside the Shrieking Shack.
They couldn't see Moony at first but then they walked into the next room and heard moans and growls. They looked at each other with concern. Moony didn't normally make moans like that. He sounded like he was in pain. They entered the room and saw Moony clawing at his fur in anguish.
Blood began to pour from the wounds he'd made and the marauders were scared. Prongs looked at Padfoot and Wormtail and nodded towards the door, showing that he thought they should leave. Padfoot shook his head and stood perfectly still when Prongs and Wormtail made their way to the door.
Prongs shoved Padfoot gently with his horns but Padfoot still wouldn't move. The three of them were unaware that Moony had spotted them and was slowly advancing. Wormtail gave a loud squeak and ran through the door. Moony's teeth were dripping with blood and saliva. He looked ready to kill.
Prongs pushed Padfoot harder and managed to make him move. They ran back through the passage way, escaping Moony's growls. When they were outside again and away from the Whomping Willow, they transformed back into human form.
"What the hell happened in there?" Peter asked, panting slightly.
"I don't know. But Moony seems upset about something" James stated.
"So was Remus" Sirius said quietly, realization hitting him.
They all looked at each other worriedly. "What are we going to do?" Peter asked.
"Go back" Sirius stated bluntly.
"No, we can't" James replied sternly.
"Why not!?" Sirius asked angrily.
"Because he will hurt us" James replied.
"I don't care! He's hurting himself! I can't let that happen, knowing it's all my fault. I love him, James. I don't want anything bad to happen to him" Sirius replied, looking into James' hazel eyes.
"I know. But you still can't-" James was cut off when Sirius picked up a stick and prodded the knot of the Whomping Willow.
"I'm sorry. I have to" Sirius said, transforming into dog form and making his way through the tunnel.
"No!" James yelled, transforming and following Sirius in.
Padfoot ran back into the Shrieking Shack and saw Moony's fur covered in crimson blood. Padfoot winced at the sight and walked forwards. He thought Moony had calmed down now, but he was wrong.
Moony hit him squarely in the chest and made him fall backwards, making his paw snap, it was obviously broken. Padfoot howled out in pain but he wouldn't give up on Moony. His Moony. He went forwards again and Moony growled at him. He lifted his paw up to strike again and slashed Padfoot's arm.
Padfoot howled again. The pain was beginning to become unbearable but he still wouldn't leave Moony to hurt himself. 'Hurt me instead' Sirius thought. After a few more swipes and cuts, Prongs bounded in through the door and pushed Padfoot away from Moony.
After a lot of effort, Padfoot and Prongs were back with Peter. They transformed back into human form and Peter's eyes widened when he saw the state Sirius was in.
He had deep cuts up his arms and his wrist was at a strange angle. Sirius whimpered with pain and fell to the floor.
"No, I must…save…my…Remus" Sirius gasped out before he lost consciousness.
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A/N: Another chapter done! Only two more left! Tell me what you thought please.