Halloween and a Secret
By Halloween, most of the first years had basically gotten the hang of Hogwarts. During the Halloween feast, Remus began to feel ill. Tonight he would transform into that hideous beast again. He didn't want to. He felt like he was going to throw up. He wanted to cry. He looked at his friends. James was blowing pumpkin juice out of his nose and Sophie was laughing at him. Sirius was trying to force the idea into Peter's head, that if you cast 'expelliarmus' on a rat, its tail will come off. Not that either of them believed it.
"They will never know... they will never know how it is and if they ever found out about me... they'd hate me." Remus thought.
"What did you do back at him for Halloween?" Sophie asked them all.
James was first to answer her. "Well, we used to play this muggle game... I believe it was called 'trick or treat'. Something like that"
Our family used to have a party where they hunted down muggles to scare." Sirius scowled. "I never participated."
"Every Halloween I would pass out candy to the little children on my block." Peter told her, but none of them seemed to be listening.
Everybody was staring at Remus now. He stuttered and then said, "I would just stay in my room." They were giving him strange looks now. Did they suspect something? He began to worry.
After they finished eating, the Gryffindors went back up to the common room, but Remus held back. He decided to eat his pudding very slow.
"Well we'll wait for you then, mate." James said to him and the four of them sat back down at the table again.
"NO! I mean, that's ok. You don't need to wait. I don't think I'll be going right up to the common room right away anyways." Remus began to feel feverish.
"Why not?" Sirius provoked him, smirking. Sophie could see that Remus was beginning to feel uncomfortable. Though she didn't know why, she felt that the boys were beginning to invade his space. She nudged Sirius in the ribs with her elbow and he understood.
They got up and left the hall. As the door shut behind them, Sophie and James started towards the stairs when Sirius pulled them back by their robes.
"Don't you wanna know what he's up to?" he said with a grin.
"Oh Sirius, can't you leave the poor boy alone?" Sophie asked him.
"Psh! No! We're his friends therefore, we should have the 'in' on all of his business!"
"You're horrible, the pair of you. You know that? No wonder Lily hates you!" Sophie rolled her eyes and James blushed and winced at her name.
They hid behind one of the stone owls outside of the hall until Remus came out. He looked around to make sure that no one was there, and then he sprinted down the corridor.
"C'mon! Lets follow him!" Sirius said and they hightailed it after him.
Remus knew the way to go. He had done this twice before at Hogwarts. All he had to do was get out to the whomping willow and Dumbledore would be waiting there to lead him down to his cell, his prison, the shrieking shack.
"By the way, whee did Peter go?" James asked.
"Oh I totally forgot about him. Big lug... oh well. We'll worry about him later." Sirius responded.
There he was, Dumbledore stood solemnly at the side of the school.
"Oh my gosh..." Sophie gasped. A door opened under a branch on the tree and Remus stepped inside of it along side Dumbledore. Dumbledore had absentmindedly left the door open.
"Hey, follow him!" Sirius pointed and they ran in. They tiptoed down a long corridor for what felt like hours, until they had reached a statue of a witch, a staircase, and at the top of the staircase, a door.
They heard Dumbledore speak. "I shall have to leave you now. I will be back in the morning. You should be changing again momentarily. Goodnight young Remus." They heard footsteps coming towards them and Sophie whispered, "Quick! Hide here!" She pulled the boys behind the stone statue.
Dumbledore walked briskly down the stairs and back down the tunnel.
"Come on!" James beckoned them to follow him up the stairs. He opened the door slowly and he, Sophie and Sirius stepped into the darkened room. There was a blockaded window, in the corner was a fireplace, and in the center of the room was a very large bed. But there was no Remus.
"Huh, where could he have gone? We saw him come in here!" Sirius asked and he kicked a rock across the floor. Suddenly they heard a growl, and a gigantic gray dog jumped out from behind the bed. It was bleeding badly from its face and legs.
"Oh, my god! Its--- it's a werewolf!" Sophie screamed and let out a little screech of terror.
"Don't make any sudden movements. I can handle this." Sirius slowly made for the door. His shaking hand met the handle. He twisted and pulled. Nothing happened and he froze.
"James. Did you lock the door." His voice suddenly not as boyish as usual.
"Um..." James choked. "Not purposely."
Sirius' heart beat 100 miles an hour.
"We're going to die!" James panicked.
"Shut up. No we're not." Sophie said. "But... anyone got any ideas?..."
The werewolf was coming ever closer. Remus could smell fresh blood. Three humans full of fresh blood. He wanted it. He would get it.
"I have an idea. James, hand me your wand." He did so without question and Sirius turned to Sophie. "If I don't make it out of here, I want you to tell my cousin what a horribly ugly git she is. Sophie nodded and Sirius continued. I'm going to break the door down with a spell and I need you two to run out and push it back up from the other side and hold it closed. Don't open it back up until I say its alright, ok?"
"But, you'll be stuck inside here with... this!" Sophie pointed to the wherewolf.
"I know. Just do it!" We're running out of time. On my mark. Three." Sirius gulped. "Two." His heart pounded. "One" He was going to be sick. "GO!" He blasted the door down and his friends leaped out of the room. The door slammed back up. Now it was just him and Remus. "Mate, I know you're in there somewhere. But I'm doing this for your own good as well as for mine." Sirius embraced James' wand. Remus pounced. "Stupendo!" Sirius eyes shut and he heard a thud against solid ground. He opened his eyes and Remus/Dog was lying on the ground unconscious.
He knocked on the door for James and Sophie to open it and they did. James magically locked the door closed again and they ran at full speed back to the Gryffindor common room, wanting to get as far away from the beast as was all possible. But they knew it was hopeless, for tomorrow, it would be sitting in all of their classes, eating at all of their meals, and sleeping in the same room as them.
"I don't care if he nearly killed us, he's still my friend." Sophie exclaimed to the boys once they were back in the common room.
"How can you say that when 20 minutes ago he was about to rip your head off?" Sirius asked her.
"I don't see what it is with you girls! You're always so... so... so... forgiving!" James spat out.
"Well next time you two mess up, remind me not to forgive you." Sophie shot back in a huff.
The boys looked at each other a bit frightened at that point.
"Well, I for one am going to bed. Goodnight!" Sophie trotted up the stairs to the girl's dormitory and the boys stayed down in the common room trying to discuss what they should do about Remus. In the end, they decided that they would at least be decent to the poor boy, after all, it wasn't his fault that he was a werewolf. At 2:00am the two of them went to bed. When Sirius got to bed, he realized there was something lumpy on his pillow. He sat up and looked at it. It was a note. He un-rolled the parchment and read it.
"Thanks for saving us back there. Wouldn't still be here if it weren't for you... course, it was your fault we were there in the first place. But even so, thanks. –Sophie."
Sirius could have sworn there was a slight hint of perfume on the parchment. Or could he have just imagined it. His stomach began to feel all knotty. He looked over at James' bed. He was already asleep after only 3 minutes of being in bed. No use in waking him up, though, he wanted to. Sirius lay down and smiled. He wondered what Sophie was thinking about and he fell asleep.
By Halloween, most of the first years had basically gotten the hang of Hogwarts. During the Halloween feast, Remus began to feel ill. Tonight he would transform into that hideous beast again. He didn't want to. He felt like he was going to throw up. He wanted to cry. He looked at his friends. James was blowing pumpkin juice out of his nose and Sophie was laughing at him. Sirius was trying to force the idea into Peter's head, that if you cast 'expelliarmus' on a rat, its tail will come off. Not that either of them believed it.
"They will never know... they will never know how it is and if they ever found out about me... they'd hate me." Remus thought.
"What did you do back at him for Halloween?" Sophie asked them all.
James was first to answer her. "Well, we used to play this muggle game... I believe it was called 'trick or treat'. Something like that"
Our family used to have a party where they hunted down muggles to scare." Sirius scowled. "I never participated."
"Every Halloween I would pass out candy to the little children on my block." Peter told her, but none of them seemed to be listening.
Everybody was staring at Remus now. He stuttered and then said, "I would just stay in my room." They were giving him strange looks now. Did they suspect something? He began to worry.
After they finished eating, the Gryffindors went back up to the common room, but Remus held back. He decided to eat his pudding very slow.
"Well we'll wait for you then, mate." James said to him and the four of them sat back down at the table again.
"NO! I mean, that's ok. You don't need to wait. I don't think I'll be going right up to the common room right away anyways." Remus began to feel feverish.
"Why not?" Sirius provoked him, smirking. Sophie could see that Remus was beginning to feel uncomfortable. Though she didn't know why, she felt that the boys were beginning to invade his space. She nudged Sirius in the ribs with her elbow and he understood.
They got up and left the hall. As the door shut behind them, Sophie and James started towards the stairs when Sirius pulled them back by their robes.
"Don't you wanna know what he's up to?" he said with a grin.
"Oh Sirius, can't you leave the poor boy alone?" Sophie asked him.
"Psh! No! We're his friends therefore, we should have the 'in' on all of his business!"
"You're horrible, the pair of you. You know that? No wonder Lily hates you!" Sophie rolled her eyes and James blushed and winced at her name.
They hid behind one of the stone owls outside of the hall until Remus came out. He looked around to make sure that no one was there, and then he sprinted down the corridor.
"C'mon! Lets follow him!" Sirius said and they hightailed it after him.
Remus knew the way to go. He had done this twice before at Hogwarts. All he had to do was get out to the whomping willow and Dumbledore would be waiting there to lead him down to his cell, his prison, the shrieking shack.
"By the way, whee did Peter go?" James asked.
"Oh I totally forgot about him. Big lug... oh well. We'll worry about him later." Sirius responded.
There he was, Dumbledore stood solemnly at the side of the school.
"Oh my gosh..." Sophie gasped. A door opened under a branch on the tree and Remus stepped inside of it along side Dumbledore. Dumbledore had absentmindedly left the door open.
"Hey, follow him!" Sirius pointed and they ran in. They tiptoed down a long corridor for what felt like hours, until they had reached a statue of a witch, a staircase, and at the top of the staircase, a door.
They heard Dumbledore speak. "I shall have to leave you now. I will be back in the morning. You should be changing again momentarily. Goodnight young Remus." They heard footsteps coming towards them and Sophie whispered, "Quick! Hide here!" She pulled the boys behind the stone statue.
Dumbledore walked briskly down the stairs and back down the tunnel.
"Come on!" James beckoned them to follow him up the stairs. He opened the door slowly and he, Sophie and Sirius stepped into the darkened room. There was a blockaded window, in the corner was a fireplace, and in the center of the room was a very large bed. But there was no Remus.
"Huh, where could he have gone? We saw him come in here!" Sirius asked and he kicked a rock across the floor. Suddenly they heard a growl, and a gigantic gray dog jumped out from behind the bed. It was bleeding badly from its face and legs.
"Oh, my god! Its--- it's a werewolf!" Sophie screamed and let out a little screech of terror.
"Don't make any sudden movements. I can handle this." Sirius slowly made for the door. His shaking hand met the handle. He twisted and pulled. Nothing happened and he froze.
"James. Did you lock the door." His voice suddenly not as boyish as usual.
"Um..." James choked. "Not purposely."
Sirius' heart beat 100 miles an hour.
"We're going to die!" James panicked.
"Shut up. No we're not." Sophie said. "But... anyone got any ideas?..."
The werewolf was coming ever closer. Remus could smell fresh blood. Three humans full of fresh blood. He wanted it. He would get it.
"I have an idea. James, hand me your wand." He did so without question and Sirius turned to Sophie. "If I don't make it out of here, I want you to tell my cousin what a horribly ugly git she is. Sophie nodded and Sirius continued. I'm going to break the door down with a spell and I need you two to run out and push it back up from the other side and hold it closed. Don't open it back up until I say its alright, ok?"
"But, you'll be stuck inside here with... this!" Sophie pointed to the wherewolf.
"I know. Just do it!" We're running out of time. On my mark. Three." Sirius gulped. "Two." His heart pounded. "One" He was going to be sick. "GO!" He blasted the door down and his friends leaped out of the room. The door slammed back up. Now it was just him and Remus. "Mate, I know you're in there somewhere. But I'm doing this for your own good as well as for mine." Sirius embraced James' wand. Remus pounced. "Stupendo!" Sirius eyes shut and he heard a thud against solid ground. He opened his eyes and Remus/Dog was lying on the ground unconscious.
He knocked on the door for James and Sophie to open it and they did. James magically locked the door closed again and they ran at full speed back to the Gryffindor common room, wanting to get as far away from the beast as was all possible. But they knew it was hopeless, for tomorrow, it would be sitting in all of their classes, eating at all of their meals, and sleeping in the same room as them.
"I don't care if he nearly killed us, he's still my friend." Sophie exclaimed to the boys once they were back in the common room.
"How can you say that when 20 minutes ago he was about to rip your head off?" Sirius asked her.
"I don't see what it is with you girls! You're always so... so... so... forgiving!" James spat out.
"Well next time you two mess up, remind me not to forgive you." Sophie shot back in a huff.
The boys looked at each other a bit frightened at that point.
"Well, I for one am going to bed. Goodnight!" Sophie trotted up the stairs to the girl's dormitory and the boys stayed down in the common room trying to discuss what they should do about Remus. In the end, they decided that they would at least be decent to the poor boy, after all, it wasn't his fault that he was a werewolf. At 2:00am the two of them went to bed. When Sirius got to bed, he realized there was something lumpy on his pillow. He sat up and looked at it. It was a note. He un-rolled the parchment and read it.
"Thanks for saving us back there. Wouldn't still be here if it weren't for you... course, it was your fault we were there in the first place. But even so, thanks. –Sophie."
Sirius could have sworn there was a slight hint of perfume on the parchment. Or could he have just imagined it. His stomach began to feel all knotty. He looked over at James' bed. He was already asleep after only 3 minutes of being in bed. No use in waking him up, though, he wanted to. Sirius lay down and smiled. He wondered what Sophie was thinking about and he fell asleep.