III: Slice of Moonlight
"Whatcha thinking about?" Myra smiled at Remus over the small stack of books they had been working from.
"Nothing," he shook his head.
"You sure?" Myra asked, putting down her quill. Her eyes held genuine concern.
Remus gave her a half-smile, "I'm sure."
He had been thinking about the full moon. Two days away on the sixteenth of September. First full moon of the school year. The boys would be excited. He could see their faces now. He could see the excitement in their eyes, the anxiety in their voices. The full moon held excitement for him too, but it also came with a sense of apprehension. He loved running with them, free in the forest, but he hated being in the hospital bed for the day or so that followed with the injuries he didn't remember acquiring. He hated the stares that accompanied him as he walked down the hallways for a few days after and the whispers between students when they thought he couldn't hear them.
The Marauders told him he was being paranoid, maybe he was. He couldn't shake the feeling though that everyone knew. Everyone knew that he was different, that he was... a freak.
"You still look worried," Myra said thoughtfully, her quill still sitting on the table.
"Well, of course I'm worried. Have you seen the size of this bloody potions essay?"
Myra laughed, in spite of the nagging feeling that he was hiding something from her. He didn't normally look this worried about Potions, or any other subject for that matter. Still, she would let it slide. If he had wanted to tell her he would have, she reasoned.
"You'll get through it," she said reassuringly.
He sighed audibly and nodded. He wished she knew how true her words rang in his mind. He glanced down at his parchment and twirled his hair with his quill. He tried to avoid her gaze that seemed to see right through him, into his thoughts and feelings. He resisted the urge to look up at her and instead went back to the Potions essay which he was supposedly very worried over.
The next few days went by quickly, too quickly it seemed. At last it was September 16th, the full moon. After dinner Peter, Sirius, James and Remus all entered the passageway to the Shrieking Shack after checking that the coast was clear on the Marauder's Map.
Peter and James walked ahead with Sirius and Remus falling behind. James was letting go of the snitch and catching it again with his cat-like reflexes while Peter watched, enthralled.
Some things never change, Sirius thought fondly as he watched his friends. He looked over and saw Lupin looking pale, a thin layer of sweat covering his brow.
"You okay?"
Remus nodded and kept walking. Sirius offered his arm and Remus took it without a word, thankful for the support.
"We're almost there!" James called back, putting the snitch in his pocket. He suddenly noticed Remus leaning heavily on Sirius for support and hurried back towards them. He gave Moony his other arm and motioned for Peter to go ahead.
James brushed away the hair that had fallen into Remus' eyes with his hand.
"Almost there," he whispered as they climbed the few stairs to the trapdoor.
Once they had climbed up the stairs, Sirius transformed into his black dog animagus. James helped Lupin up the stairs while Sirius followed close behind, his heavy paws on the stairs echoing throughout the empty house.
"Here we go," James breathed as he hoisted Moony on the bed. Remus rolled over on his stomach and his breathing became heavy. Padfoot put his front paws on the bed, and whined softly at the sight of his friend.
"Oh go on then,' James said, motioning to the bed. The black dog almost seemed to grin as he jumped on the bed. It groaned under the weight but didn't give. James stepped backwards to sit down in the badly upholstered chair in the corner but stopped when he heard a small high-pitched squeak.
"Oh sorry Wormtail!" he said quickly as he had almost stepped on his friend. He leaned over and scooped up the rat and put him on the armrest of the large orange armchair. James watched in amusement as the rat ran from the armrest to the back of the chair to the other armrest and back again as if it was some never-ending race. He knew the feeling of anxiety well. In just under an hour their quiet, considerate friend Remus would be replaced with the vicious werewolf who was neither quiet nor considerate.
The time passed slowly with Remus becoming more feverish every moment. He had taken off his robes with help from James and set them aside to save them from being ripped to shreds during the transformation, a mistake they had made in the first transformation and had not made since. Even the Marauders found it hard to invent an alibi to excuse how ones robes could become completely torn to bits.
Remus looked out the window with growing dread. It was soon, very soon. He could feel it in his body, in the hair on his arms. He tried to hang on to consciousness. He heard James ask him if he was alright, but it sounded very far away and echoed in his head. He could feel Padfoot licking the sweat off his back with his great pink tongue but the feeling was numbed. Even so, it helped to soothe him as the dread took over. The clouds out the window were swimming in the night sky, hiding the moon. Then, without warning, they parted and a thin slice of moonlight was allowed to pass.
He felt, rather than saw, Padfoot get off the bed with a dull thud. His vision was suddenly going blurry and he closed his eyes to stop things from spinning. It will all be over soon, he found himself thinking. And then there was darkness.
He awoke to familiar grey eyes framed by black hair.
"Padfoot," he heard himself whisper.
"Hey, hey," Sirius replied, "Alright Moony?"
Remus groaned in reply as he rolled onto his back.
"What time is it?" he asked, vaguely aware of sunshine spilling in through the window.
"Four. I came up right after classes."
"You're a good friend, Padfoot," Remus smiled faintly.
"Naw," Sirius shrugged, "I can't be that good of a friend. I gave you that gash on your chest that is healing nicely, according to Madam Pomfrey."
"I'm sure I deserved it."
Every full moon they went through this ritual. It seemed to be the only way they both didn't feel badly about the previous night. Remus knew that Sirius only did what he had to do to restrain his friend in his werewolf form. Sirius knew that Remus didn't blame him for any injuries he may sustain do to any canine biting or scratching because it was the only way the four of them could be together.
"Oi! Move over, you!" Madam Pomfrey cried as she bustled through with a bowl of something that was steaming.
"Ugh!" Sirius reacted as he breathed in what smelled like rotten eggs mixed with decaying vegetation.
"I'm going to leave you to that, mate!" he said cheerfully as he patted Lupin lightly on the shoulder.
"He should be back in class tomorrow," Madam Pomfrey told Sirius as she stirred the mixture.
"Cheers," Remus said dryly as he eyed the steaming potion.
"Cheers, mate."
Sirius gave a little wave and left the infirmary to tell the others of Moony's condition.
True to her word, Remus was back in class the following day. Myra gave him a questioning look as he sat down across the aisle in Potions the following morning. He didn't return the look but instead concentrated on arranging and rearranging the ingredients in front of him.
She had noticed his absences the previous year, but hadn't dwelled on them. Sirius, James and Peter were missing classes also. She had assumed it was some sort of Marauder business. But now as she looked at him more closely she realized that he looked very pale and had a few thin scratches that looked like claw marks. She frowned slightly as she thought of what prank that Marauders had been up to this time. Didn't they realize that their pranks were hurting their friends? She thought of Peter's unfortunate change of skin pigment the first day of school. Of course it had been able to be reversed, but she couldn't help brooding over what might happen next time, if it couldn't be reversed.
"Ms. Nightingale?" A voice suddenly boomed.
"Y-Yes?" she stuttered.
"I was just asking about the properties of invisibility potions. Please pay attention. One point from Ravenclaw."
Professor Wickle gave her a reproachful look and she immediately turned a bright shade of red.
"Right. As I was saying...,"
The Professor continued to lecture and she tried to pay attention, but her thoughts kept drifting to Lupin and his strange scratch marks. She decided she'd leave it be. If he wanted to tell her he would, she reminded herself.
"Whatcha thinking about?" Myra smiled at Remus over the small stack of books they had been working from.
"Nothing," he shook his head.
"You sure?" Myra asked, putting down her quill. Her eyes held genuine concern.
Remus gave her a half-smile, "I'm sure."
He had been thinking about the full moon. Two days away on the sixteenth of September. First full moon of the school year. The boys would be excited. He could see their faces now. He could see the excitement in their eyes, the anxiety in their voices. The full moon held excitement for him too, but it also came with a sense of apprehension. He loved running with them, free in the forest, but he hated being in the hospital bed for the day or so that followed with the injuries he didn't remember acquiring. He hated the stares that accompanied him as he walked down the hallways for a few days after and the whispers between students when they thought he couldn't hear them.
The Marauders told him he was being paranoid, maybe he was. He couldn't shake the feeling though that everyone knew. Everyone knew that he was different, that he was... a freak.
"You still look worried," Myra said thoughtfully, her quill still sitting on the table.
"Well, of course I'm worried. Have you seen the size of this bloody potions essay?"
Myra laughed, in spite of the nagging feeling that he was hiding something from her. He didn't normally look this worried about Potions, or any other subject for that matter. Still, she would let it slide. If he had wanted to tell her he would have, she reasoned.
"You'll get through it," she said reassuringly.
He sighed audibly and nodded. He wished she knew how true her words rang in his mind. He glanced down at his parchment and twirled his hair with his quill. He tried to avoid her gaze that seemed to see right through him, into his thoughts and feelings. He resisted the urge to look up at her and instead went back to the Potions essay which he was supposedly very worried over.
The next few days went by quickly, too quickly it seemed. At last it was September 16th, the full moon. After dinner Peter, Sirius, James and Remus all entered the passageway to the Shrieking Shack after checking that the coast was clear on the Marauder's Map.
Peter and James walked ahead with Sirius and Remus falling behind. James was letting go of the snitch and catching it again with his cat-like reflexes while Peter watched, enthralled.
Some things never change, Sirius thought fondly as he watched his friends. He looked over and saw Lupin looking pale, a thin layer of sweat covering his brow.
"You okay?"
Remus nodded and kept walking. Sirius offered his arm and Remus took it without a word, thankful for the support.
"We're almost there!" James called back, putting the snitch in his pocket. He suddenly noticed Remus leaning heavily on Sirius for support and hurried back towards them. He gave Moony his other arm and motioned for Peter to go ahead.
James brushed away the hair that had fallen into Remus' eyes with his hand.
"Almost there," he whispered as they climbed the few stairs to the trapdoor.
Once they had climbed up the stairs, Sirius transformed into his black dog animagus. James helped Lupin up the stairs while Sirius followed close behind, his heavy paws on the stairs echoing throughout the empty house.
"Here we go," James breathed as he hoisted Moony on the bed. Remus rolled over on his stomach and his breathing became heavy. Padfoot put his front paws on the bed, and whined softly at the sight of his friend.
"Oh go on then,' James said, motioning to the bed. The black dog almost seemed to grin as he jumped on the bed. It groaned under the weight but didn't give. James stepped backwards to sit down in the badly upholstered chair in the corner but stopped when he heard a small high-pitched squeak.
"Oh sorry Wormtail!" he said quickly as he had almost stepped on his friend. He leaned over and scooped up the rat and put him on the armrest of the large orange armchair. James watched in amusement as the rat ran from the armrest to the back of the chair to the other armrest and back again as if it was some never-ending race. He knew the feeling of anxiety well. In just under an hour their quiet, considerate friend Remus would be replaced with the vicious werewolf who was neither quiet nor considerate.
The time passed slowly with Remus becoming more feverish every moment. He had taken off his robes with help from James and set them aside to save them from being ripped to shreds during the transformation, a mistake they had made in the first transformation and had not made since. Even the Marauders found it hard to invent an alibi to excuse how ones robes could become completely torn to bits.
Remus looked out the window with growing dread. It was soon, very soon. He could feel it in his body, in the hair on his arms. He tried to hang on to consciousness. He heard James ask him if he was alright, but it sounded very far away and echoed in his head. He could feel Padfoot licking the sweat off his back with his great pink tongue but the feeling was numbed. Even so, it helped to soothe him as the dread took over. The clouds out the window were swimming in the night sky, hiding the moon. Then, without warning, they parted and a thin slice of moonlight was allowed to pass.
He felt, rather than saw, Padfoot get off the bed with a dull thud. His vision was suddenly going blurry and he closed his eyes to stop things from spinning. It will all be over soon, he found himself thinking. And then there was darkness.
He awoke to familiar grey eyes framed by black hair.
"Padfoot," he heard himself whisper.
"Hey, hey," Sirius replied, "Alright Moony?"
Remus groaned in reply as he rolled onto his back.
"What time is it?" he asked, vaguely aware of sunshine spilling in through the window.
"Four. I came up right after classes."
"You're a good friend, Padfoot," Remus smiled faintly.
"Naw," Sirius shrugged, "I can't be that good of a friend. I gave you that gash on your chest that is healing nicely, according to Madam Pomfrey."
"I'm sure I deserved it."
Every full moon they went through this ritual. It seemed to be the only way they both didn't feel badly about the previous night. Remus knew that Sirius only did what he had to do to restrain his friend in his werewolf form. Sirius knew that Remus didn't blame him for any injuries he may sustain do to any canine biting or scratching because it was the only way the four of them could be together.
"Oi! Move over, you!" Madam Pomfrey cried as she bustled through with a bowl of something that was steaming.
"Ugh!" Sirius reacted as he breathed in what smelled like rotten eggs mixed with decaying vegetation.
"I'm going to leave you to that, mate!" he said cheerfully as he patted Lupin lightly on the shoulder.
"He should be back in class tomorrow," Madam Pomfrey told Sirius as she stirred the mixture.
"Cheers," Remus said dryly as he eyed the steaming potion.
"Cheers, mate."
Sirius gave a little wave and left the infirmary to tell the others of Moony's condition.
True to her word, Remus was back in class the following day. Myra gave him a questioning look as he sat down across the aisle in Potions the following morning. He didn't return the look but instead concentrated on arranging and rearranging the ingredients in front of him.
She had noticed his absences the previous year, but hadn't dwelled on them. Sirius, James and Peter were missing classes also. She had assumed it was some sort of Marauder business. But now as she looked at him more closely she realized that he looked very pale and had a few thin scratches that looked like claw marks. She frowned slightly as she thought of what prank that Marauders had been up to this time. Didn't they realize that their pranks were hurting their friends? She thought of Peter's unfortunate change of skin pigment the first day of school. Of course it had been able to be reversed, but she couldn't help brooding over what might happen next time, if it couldn't be reversed.
"Ms. Nightingale?" A voice suddenly boomed.
"Y-Yes?" she stuttered.
"I was just asking about the properties of invisibility potions. Please pay attention. One point from Ravenclaw."
Professor Wickle gave her a reproachful look and she immediately turned a bright shade of red.
"Right. As I was saying...,"
The Professor continued to lecture and she tried to pay attention, but her thoughts kept drifting to Lupin and his strange scratch marks. She decided she'd leave it be. If he wanted to tell her he would, she reminded herself.