Chapter eight: Remus' Plan
Remus had almost forgotten about Davey while he was making a new friend in Hagrid, but as soon as they passed through Hogwarts' doors, Lily said, "Let's go check on Davey," and pulled them to the hospital wing. Remus wanted to go talk to James and Austin, but he didn't want to upset Lily.
She ran into the hospital wing, causing Madam Pomfrey to say very sternly, "Miss Evans, this is a hospital wing! You'll have to calm down a bit if you want to stay!"
"Sorry, Madam," Lily said sweetly. "I just wanted to see how Davey was doing."
Madam Pomfrey's face softened. "Of course, dear. He'll be fine with a bit of rest."
Lily breathed a sigh of relief as Professor Dumbledore walked briskly into the room. "What's going on Poppy?" he asked. "Is Davey alright?"
"He'll be fine, Headmaster," Madam Pomfrey said. "It was that awful Whomping Willow that attacked him though. Some of the boys were trying to see how close they could get without committing suicide." The disapproval in her voice was clear.
"Ah," Dumbledore said nodding. "I will have to make sure the students know the tree is out of bounds. I will make an announcement at dinner tonight." Looking around at Remus, Lily and Austin, he added, "Quite a quidditch match, wasn't it?" Then he winked, and left the wing. Madam Pomfrey quickly shooed everyone else out as well.
Truthfully, Remus was glad to be leaving Davey in the hospital wing. He didn't want to be faced with the horrible things his coming to Hogwarts had caused. He wanted to celebrate the quidditch match with his friends and his entire house and forget all of his problems. As he thought about the party going on in the Gryffindor common room, he realized that Lily couldn't come to the party. She seemed to realize at the same time that she was keeping them from their celebrations.
"I'd better go," she said quickly. "You'll be wanting to get to the party in your tower."
Remus tried to hide his agreement while he said, "Are you sure? We can go hang out somewhere else if you'd like."
Lily smiled at Remus' noble gesture. "Thanks, but I know you really want to find Sirius and James."
Austin smiled and said, "Thanks," as he dragged Remus away. "That was close," he muttered to Remus as they walked away.
"I didn't want to be rude," Remus said, smiling broadly at his friend. They ran off excitedly to their tower. As they got closer, they could hear the roar of a huge party. As the fat lady swung open, the roar heightened to a volume that was sure to cause deafness in Remus and Austin. They grinned excitedly at each other as they joined the party. It took a few minutes to find James and Sirius in that mess of people, but they did find them, and they lost track of the time, until Professor McGonagall came up to the common room. She yelled over the din, "It's time for dinner! And I expect that this awful noise will not continue after dinner is over!" She left, and the students giggled, but they all headed down to dinner.
Lily rejoined her friends at dinner, and they were still excitedly discussing the match, when a single owl entered the hall and flew over to them. It dropped a letter above Remus' head and flew off. He caught it, looking bewildered.
Remus quickly opened his letter. He read the signature first, it was from his father. It read:
Dear Remus, I hope you are doing well at school and enjoying yourself. You've been doing everything Dumbledore says, right? I knew you'd make us proud. Your mother and I are doing fine. Work is very busy right now, but it'll slow down soon. That's all I have time for now, please reply soon. Love, Dad
After reading through it quickly, Remus got a great thought. He could use this letter to pretend that his mother had taken sick again and give him an excuse to leave tomorrow, when he didn't really need to. All of his friends were staring at him when he looked up.
"This isn't the usual mail time, Remus," Lily said. "What does it say?"
"My mother's taken a turn for the worse," Remus muttered, looking down. "I have to go see her tomorrow."
"Oh no," Lily said.
"Do you think she'll be alright?" James asked.
"I am sure she will, but I had better go pack now, so I'll be ready to go," Remus said and left quickly, leaving his friends looking concerned.
As Remus walked quickly back up to the Gryffindor common room, he thought about how lucky it was his dad had written him, and that it was on a Saturday, so he could be gone for a day, but not miss any lessons. Remus didn't think Dumbledore would have allowed him to miss a day of lessons in order to lie to his friends. Hurridly, Remus packed a small bag with a change of clothes and some homework. He set it next to his bed as he stretched out across his bed, closing the curtains around it. He didn't want anyone to ask him about his mother. So he read Quidditch Through the Ages, which James had lent him, until he heard the other boys come to bed. Then he fell asleep quickly.
The next morning Remus awoke before the sun and scribbled a quick note to his friends. It said:
I left really early to visit my mom, I should be back for lessons tomorrow unless she gets worse. I'll see you all tomorrow. Remus
Then he very quietly left his room and walked down the stairs to the common room. He was very surprised to see Arabella sitting in one of the large armchairs by the fire. "You're up early," she said to him.
"Yeah, I've got to go see my mom," Remus said quietly.
"Want me to walk with you? I couldn't sleep," Arabella looked at him, pleadingly.
Remus was surprised even more by the way she asked, like she really needed some company. He didn't really want her to come, but he couldn't leave her like this.
"I'd like that," he said, "Only you'd better not leave the school or you'll get in trouble."
"Ok," she said, getting up. "I'll walk you to the doors." She smiled at him. Remus pushed the door of the tower open and they walked together through the dark halls. The darkness gave Remus courage, and he asked Arabella why she couldn't sleep.
"Oh," she said, and Remus could see her calculating her answer. "I don't know, I've just been having these bad dreams. I get these feelings that our world isn't as safe and as good as it used to be." She paused. "But that's silly, I mean there aren't any dark wizards running about, trying to take over."
"It's not silly," Remus said. "But just because you are having bad dreams doesn't mean any of them are going to happen."
Arabella gave Remus a small smile as they reached the front doors. "You're right, the dreams are just dreams. And the bad feelings are probably just from my troubles with Potions." She laughed.
Remus smiled back at her, and felt the overwhelming urge to give her a hug, to make her feel better. Apparently Arabella also wished to comfort Remus about his mother, because they met in an embrace before Remus pulled away reluctantly and said, "You'll be feeling better soon. But I had better go, my dad is waiting." He opened the heavy doors and with one last look at the older girl, he closed it and walked slowly to the Whomping Willow.
Remus spent the day sleeping and catching up on some homework. He was tempted to take a walk around the forest, but then he remembered what had happened the last time that he had left his shack. As night neared, Remus grew tense and apprehensive, even though he wasn't going to turn into a werewolf. He sat up quite late, too nervous to sleep. Once, he thought he heard voices outside, so he threw some stuff around to scare them away. Finally he drifted of into uneasy sleep.
Remus had almost forgotten about Davey while he was making a new friend in Hagrid, but as soon as they passed through Hogwarts' doors, Lily said, "Let's go check on Davey," and pulled them to the hospital wing. Remus wanted to go talk to James and Austin, but he didn't want to upset Lily.
She ran into the hospital wing, causing Madam Pomfrey to say very sternly, "Miss Evans, this is a hospital wing! You'll have to calm down a bit if you want to stay!"
"Sorry, Madam," Lily said sweetly. "I just wanted to see how Davey was doing."
Madam Pomfrey's face softened. "Of course, dear. He'll be fine with a bit of rest."
Lily breathed a sigh of relief as Professor Dumbledore walked briskly into the room. "What's going on Poppy?" he asked. "Is Davey alright?"
"He'll be fine, Headmaster," Madam Pomfrey said. "It was that awful Whomping Willow that attacked him though. Some of the boys were trying to see how close they could get without committing suicide." The disapproval in her voice was clear.
"Ah," Dumbledore said nodding. "I will have to make sure the students know the tree is out of bounds. I will make an announcement at dinner tonight." Looking around at Remus, Lily and Austin, he added, "Quite a quidditch match, wasn't it?" Then he winked, and left the wing. Madam Pomfrey quickly shooed everyone else out as well.
Truthfully, Remus was glad to be leaving Davey in the hospital wing. He didn't want to be faced with the horrible things his coming to Hogwarts had caused. He wanted to celebrate the quidditch match with his friends and his entire house and forget all of his problems. As he thought about the party going on in the Gryffindor common room, he realized that Lily couldn't come to the party. She seemed to realize at the same time that she was keeping them from their celebrations.
"I'd better go," she said quickly. "You'll be wanting to get to the party in your tower."
Remus tried to hide his agreement while he said, "Are you sure? We can go hang out somewhere else if you'd like."
Lily smiled at Remus' noble gesture. "Thanks, but I know you really want to find Sirius and James."
Austin smiled and said, "Thanks," as he dragged Remus away. "That was close," he muttered to Remus as they walked away.
"I didn't want to be rude," Remus said, smiling broadly at his friend. They ran off excitedly to their tower. As they got closer, they could hear the roar of a huge party. As the fat lady swung open, the roar heightened to a volume that was sure to cause deafness in Remus and Austin. They grinned excitedly at each other as they joined the party. It took a few minutes to find James and Sirius in that mess of people, but they did find them, and they lost track of the time, until Professor McGonagall came up to the common room. She yelled over the din, "It's time for dinner! And I expect that this awful noise will not continue after dinner is over!" She left, and the students giggled, but they all headed down to dinner.
Lily rejoined her friends at dinner, and they were still excitedly discussing the match, when a single owl entered the hall and flew over to them. It dropped a letter above Remus' head and flew off. He caught it, looking bewildered.
Remus quickly opened his letter. He read the signature first, it was from his father. It read:
Dear Remus, I hope you are doing well at school and enjoying yourself. You've been doing everything Dumbledore says, right? I knew you'd make us proud. Your mother and I are doing fine. Work is very busy right now, but it'll slow down soon. That's all I have time for now, please reply soon. Love, Dad
After reading through it quickly, Remus got a great thought. He could use this letter to pretend that his mother had taken sick again and give him an excuse to leave tomorrow, when he didn't really need to. All of his friends were staring at him when he looked up.
"This isn't the usual mail time, Remus," Lily said. "What does it say?"
"My mother's taken a turn for the worse," Remus muttered, looking down. "I have to go see her tomorrow."
"Oh no," Lily said.
"Do you think she'll be alright?" James asked.
"I am sure she will, but I had better go pack now, so I'll be ready to go," Remus said and left quickly, leaving his friends looking concerned.
As Remus walked quickly back up to the Gryffindor common room, he thought about how lucky it was his dad had written him, and that it was on a Saturday, so he could be gone for a day, but not miss any lessons. Remus didn't think Dumbledore would have allowed him to miss a day of lessons in order to lie to his friends. Hurridly, Remus packed a small bag with a change of clothes and some homework. He set it next to his bed as he stretched out across his bed, closing the curtains around it. He didn't want anyone to ask him about his mother. So he read Quidditch Through the Ages, which James had lent him, until he heard the other boys come to bed. Then he fell asleep quickly.
The next morning Remus awoke before the sun and scribbled a quick note to his friends. It said:
I left really early to visit my mom, I should be back for lessons tomorrow unless she gets worse. I'll see you all tomorrow. Remus
Then he very quietly left his room and walked down the stairs to the common room. He was very surprised to see Arabella sitting in one of the large armchairs by the fire. "You're up early," she said to him.
"Yeah, I've got to go see my mom," Remus said quietly.
"Want me to walk with you? I couldn't sleep," Arabella looked at him, pleadingly.
Remus was surprised even more by the way she asked, like she really needed some company. He didn't really want her to come, but he couldn't leave her like this.
"I'd like that," he said, "Only you'd better not leave the school or you'll get in trouble."
"Ok," she said, getting up. "I'll walk you to the doors." She smiled at him. Remus pushed the door of the tower open and they walked together through the dark halls. The darkness gave Remus courage, and he asked Arabella why she couldn't sleep.
"Oh," she said, and Remus could see her calculating her answer. "I don't know, I've just been having these bad dreams. I get these feelings that our world isn't as safe and as good as it used to be." She paused. "But that's silly, I mean there aren't any dark wizards running about, trying to take over."
"It's not silly," Remus said. "But just because you are having bad dreams doesn't mean any of them are going to happen."
Arabella gave Remus a small smile as they reached the front doors. "You're right, the dreams are just dreams. And the bad feelings are probably just from my troubles with Potions." She laughed.
Remus smiled back at her, and felt the overwhelming urge to give her a hug, to make her feel better. Apparently Arabella also wished to comfort Remus about his mother, because they met in an embrace before Remus pulled away reluctantly and said, "You'll be feeling better soon. But I had better go, my dad is waiting." He opened the heavy doors and with one last look at the older girl, he closed it and walked slowly to the Whomping Willow.
Remus spent the day sleeping and catching up on some homework. He was tempted to take a walk around the forest, but then he remembered what had happened the last time that he had left his shack. As night neared, Remus grew tense and apprehensive, even though he wasn't going to turn into a werewolf. He sat up quite late, too nervous to sleep. Once, he thought he heard voices outside, so he threw some stuff around to scare them away. Finally he drifted of into uneasy sleep.