Chapter 9 - The Secret
Tomorrow was quidditch trials. Katie was nervous to say the least. She had been thinking about it all through lessons that day, and detention after that. She didn't know how she could get so worked up over it. James would be there for one thing, and she had to admit, she was pretty good. Just relax, she told herself. You want that chaser position, you need to relax or you'll drop the quaffle or something. And there's always tonight, she reminded herself. Her spirits rose slightly.
As she entered the Great hall, they thudded back down. She looked at the ceiling to see a dark, foggy night- horrible quidditch conditions. Despite this setback, she was determined to get in some more practice tonight. After dinner she went up to the common room to collect her broomstick.
She was getting worried, but not because of quidditch. Remus was looking awful now, he had had practically no sleep whatsoever from the looks of things, and looked like a small breeze could knock him over. Whenever Katie questioned him about it, he simply shrugged it off, saying he was going to the hospital wing tonight to see what was wrong. That didn't stop Katie worrying though. And the fact that she couldn't find the other marauders anywhere didn't help matters.
As she set off through the castle and out into the grounds she kept thinking about it. Even when she was up in the air she couldn't relax. Bugger, she muttered as she fumbled a loop. She just couldn't concentrate. In an attempt to relax she took off around the grounds, skimming the trees of the forbidden forest, gliding over the lake, anything to try and relax a little.
A few hours later she was still outside, gliding around hopelessly. She was still messing up. Disappointed with herself, she set off back to the castle, determined to practice her brains out tomorrow morning. As she flew back through the deep fog that had settled she heard a strange creaking noise. A second later something heavy thudded into her chest, knocking her off her broom.
She hit the ground heavily, struggling hard to breathe.
"What the hell?" she wondered weakly. She caught a brief glimpse of her broomstick in the distance, eventually landing on the ground far away from her. She struggled up to her feet before something whip like slashed across her face, knocking her over again. With a jolt in her stomach she realized she must have hit into the whomping willow by accident. She grabbed her wand and muttered Lumos, filling the air with an eerie green light, before standing up again. She stepped backwards when she saw the whomping willow before her. It was thrashing around furiously, hitting the ground with a massive branch where Katie had been only moments before.
She ran back, trying to escape from the tree's whip like branches slashing into her. She had almost reached beyond the range of the tree when a branch slashed across the back of her legs, knocking her down. She cried out in pain and turned over on her back to see another huge branch coming down at her, creaking ominously. She closed her eyes tightly, and waited for the blow to come. But it didn't. She opened one eye and looked up.
The entire tree was frozen stiff, leaves faintly fluttering in the breeze that had picked up. She stood up shakily, but promptly collapsed again. She looked at her right leg. The branch that had hit her had gone in deep, she could now see a faint white bone glistening in blood. She groaned. Now what was she supposed to do? Whatever that branch had hit in her leg meant that now she couldn't walk, and the tree was starting to move again. Yet again, it stopped. What the heck was up with this tree? she wondered.
The next moment the same huge black dog she had seen in Hogsmeade had come bounding over to her, running around her looking, yet again, concerned. She looked at it in amazement, this was the second time it had come to her rescue. Wow, rescued by a dog, where's bloody prince charming when you need him? she thought sarcastically.
The dog suddenly grabbed her robes and pulled her forcefully away from the tree, not stopping until she was well out of the way. She attempted to stand up again, but her leg simply wouldn't support her anymore. The dog sat by her, tongue hanging out, altogether looking pretty stupidly pleased. She put a hand out and stroked it's head.
"My furry rescuer!" she whispered, wondering how on earth the dog had come all the way from Hogsmeade. Probably just a stray after something in the forest. Suddenly the dog jerked it's head around and stood on all fours. When a beautiful stag came into view it quickly backed down, and padded over to it. Katie gazed at it in wonder. She felt like some kind of snow white, attracting all animals in the vicinity. She half expected a Squirrel to come over and sit on her shoulder.
The stag walked over and bowed down on it's two front legs, like a camel when the rider wanted to get on. She looked up at it in surprise, was she supposed to get on? The stag didn't get up again, so she assumed she was. She struggled up on her one good leg and somehow pulled herself up onto it's back. Snow White, Snow Shite she muttered as she almost fell off. The stag suddenly leapt off into the direction of the castle, leaving Katie to press herself down onto it's neck to avoid actually falling off.
A few minutes later the stag suddenly stopped and bowed down again outside the Ancient Oak doors to the castle. She slid off and stumbled, but the black dog was there for her to hold on to. What happened next almost gave her a heart attack. The stag was changing it's shape, until suddenly a scruffy, grinning James Potter stood before her. A moment later the dog under her hand had transformed too, this time into Sirius Black. Just when Katie thought it was over, and rat ran up to her and promptly transformed into Peter.
"Bloody hell." she said faintly, and they laughed quietly. Forgetting about her leg, Katie almost fell over again, but Sirius swiftly put an arm around her, holding her steady.
"When did you..." she asked, pointing at them.
"Become Animagi? Oh, ages ago." James shrugged it off.
"Wow, Lily was right."
"About what?" he asked.
"You do have an ego the size of Texas." James laughed, stopping abruptly when Peter nudged him.
"Shh, do you want to wake up the whole castle?!" he whispered. Katie looked around in wonder. They were animagi? How come they'd never said anything before? Suddenly she remembered Sirius, as the dog, who had found her in Hogsmeade. So he really was concerned, she thought vaguely.
"Oh." Katie suddenly said in realization.
"What?" asked Sirius, James and Peter together.
"Prongs, Padfoot, Wormtail," she pointed at them in turn. "And Remus must be Moony, but why? And where is he?"
"Here." He had been behind her the whole time. She turned around to face him and gasped. If she thought he looked bad before...He was covered in deep cuts and bruises, and was limping slightly in one leg. He was as pale as paper. Before Katie had a chance to say anything he'd walked over to the doors and pushed them open.
"Come on, we'd better go up, Madame Pompfrey will be wondering where I am." He held the door open as James and Sirius walked in, each supporting Katie on each side. Peter was no where to be seen. As soon as they were inside Remus draped a thin watery material over them. Katie immediately recognized it. It was an invisibility cloak, just like the one her father had. How on earth did they get one?
A few moments later Peter had come running back, Katie's broomstick, thankfully undamaged, in his hand. He squeezed underneath the cloak, nearly pulling it off them.
"This is gonna be tough." muttered Sirius, securing his hold around Katie.
"At least the Hospital wing is only up one floor." whispered Remus.
Katie didn't say anything as they climbed the stairs. She was too busy mulling over all this new information. They were all Animagi. Except Remus, at least, if he was, Katie hadn't seen his form yet. Katie's leg suddenly started hurting painfully. With all the adrenaline from before she hadn't even felt the pain in her leg, but now it bloody hurt. Her robes were stained with blood, which clinged to the wound, making her leg hurt even more as they walked.
Eventually they came to the Hospital wing. Remus stepped out from under the cloak and put his arm around Katie.
"Come on, we'd better go in." he said, walking her through the door.
"We'll wait here, mate." whispered James, as they closed the door behind them.
Madame Pompfrey was standing beside a table, which had various potions on it. It seemed she was expecting him.
"Ah Mr Lupin, come over here and let me have a look." he limped over. "And-" She spotted Katie who was trying not to cry out as Remus carefully walked her over.
"Good grief what happened?" Katie explained to her as Madame Pompfrey looked over at her concerned. When she had finished Madame Pompfrey gestured for her to lay down. Katie did so gratefully.
"Well, we'd better get you sorted." In a matter of minutes she had started to work on Katie's leg, which quickly healed under the large amount of potions she was applying. Soon both Katie and Remus were fine, but Remus still didn't look it. Remus gave Madame Pompfrey a meaningful look and she nodded, quickly leaving the room.
"Katie.." Remus sat down on the bed next to her and sighed. Katie wondered what on earth he was going to say. He certainly didn't look very happy about it.
"Katie I'm...I'm a werewolf." He leaned back so Katie couldn't see his face and grimaced, waiting for the blow. He hoped desperately that she would understand. He hadn't meant to say it like that, but it had just come out. Better that way, he supposed. Otherwise I'd be muttering on for hours, never getting to the point.
"Oh." she said. He sat up, startled.
"Oh? Just Oh?" he had been expecting something slightly more than that.
"Well...I don't know what else to say..I mean-" she looked over at Remus. "What did you expect? Did you think I'd suddenly start hating you?" Remus nodded in spite of himself.
"Well...I don't." She smiled weakly. So he really did have an animagus form, he just couldn't control it. Katie suddenly felt sorry for him. He had expected her to start hating him because of what he was. Sure, It was kind of hard to take in, but what else could she say? As far as she was concerned, Remus was still Remus, he was just a bit...vicious once a month. Hell, so was she! She put an arm around him.
"I don't care if you're a werewolf Rem," she said softly. "You're still you, I mean, it's not like you asked for it. And I'm not going to start hating you. Sure, It's a bit of a shock, but so was finding out you're all animagi! I'll get over it, it's not the end of the world."
Remus smiled at her. She didn't hate him! She was shocked, she'd admitted that, but she still thought of him as him, and not some thoughtless animal. He was so relieved he laughed, something he hadn't done in a long time.
After a while they went outside and collected the others.
Needless to say, Katie couldn't sleep that night.
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who's reviewed, it means a lot! woooo!
Tomorrow was quidditch trials. Katie was nervous to say the least. She had been thinking about it all through lessons that day, and detention after that. She didn't know how she could get so worked up over it. James would be there for one thing, and she had to admit, she was pretty good. Just relax, she told herself. You want that chaser position, you need to relax or you'll drop the quaffle or something. And there's always tonight, she reminded herself. Her spirits rose slightly.
As she entered the Great hall, they thudded back down. She looked at the ceiling to see a dark, foggy night- horrible quidditch conditions. Despite this setback, she was determined to get in some more practice tonight. After dinner she went up to the common room to collect her broomstick.
She was getting worried, but not because of quidditch. Remus was looking awful now, he had had practically no sleep whatsoever from the looks of things, and looked like a small breeze could knock him over. Whenever Katie questioned him about it, he simply shrugged it off, saying he was going to the hospital wing tonight to see what was wrong. That didn't stop Katie worrying though. And the fact that she couldn't find the other marauders anywhere didn't help matters.
As she set off through the castle and out into the grounds she kept thinking about it. Even when she was up in the air she couldn't relax. Bugger, she muttered as she fumbled a loop. She just couldn't concentrate. In an attempt to relax she took off around the grounds, skimming the trees of the forbidden forest, gliding over the lake, anything to try and relax a little.
A few hours later she was still outside, gliding around hopelessly. She was still messing up. Disappointed with herself, she set off back to the castle, determined to practice her brains out tomorrow morning. As she flew back through the deep fog that had settled she heard a strange creaking noise. A second later something heavy thudded into her chest, knocking her off her broom.
She hit the ground heavily, struggling hard to breathe.
"What the hell?" she wondered weakly. She caught a brief glimpse of her broomstick in the distance, eventually landing on the ground far away from her. She struggled up to her feet before something whip like slashed across her face, knocking her over again. With a jolt in her stomach she realized she must have hit into the whomping willow by accident. She grabbed her wand and muttered Lumos, filling the air with an eerie green light, before standing up again. She stepped backwards when she saw the whomping willow before her. It was thrashing around furiously, hitting the ground with a massive branch where Katie had been only moments before.
She ran back, trying to escape from the tree's whip like branches slashing into her. She had almost reached beyond the range of the tree when a branch slashed across the back of her legs, knocking her down. She cried out in pain and turned over on her back to see another huge branch coming down at her, creaking ominously. She closed her eyes tightly, and waited for the blow to come. But it didn't. She opened one eye and looked up.
The entire tree was frozen stiff, leaves faintly fluttering in the breeze that had picked up. She stood up shakily, but promptly collapsed again. She looked at her right leg. The branch that had hit her had gone in deep, she could now see a faint white bone glistening in blood. She groaned. Now what was she supposed to do? Whatever that branch had hit in her leg meant that now she couldn't walk, and the tree was starting to move again. Yet again, it stopped. What the heck was up with this tree? she wondered.
The next moment the same huge black dog she had seen in Hogsmeade had come bounding over to her, running around her looking, yet again, concerned. She looked at it in amazement, this was the second time it had come to her rescue. Wow, rescued by a dog, where's bloody prince charming when you need him? she thought sarcastically.
The dog suddenly grabbed her robes and pulled her forcefully away from the tree, not stopping until she was well out of the way. She attempted to stand up again, but her leg simply wouldn't support her anymore. The dog sat by her, tongue hanging out, altogether looking pretty stupidly pleased. She put a hand out and stroked it's head.
"My furry rescuer!" she whispered, wondering how on earth the dog had come all the way from Hogsmeade. Probably just a stray after something in the forest. Suddenly the dog jerked it's head around and stood on all fours. When a beautiful stag came into view it quickly backed down, and padded over to it. Katie gazed at it in wonder. She felt like some kind of snow white, attracting all animals in the vicinity. She half expected a Squirrel to come over and sit on her shoulder.
The stag walked over and bowed down on it's two front legs, like a camel when the rider wanted to get on. She looked up at it in surprise, was she supposed to get on? The stag didn't get up again, so she assumed she was. She struggled up on her one good leg and somehow pulled herself up onto it's back. Snow White, Snow Shite she muttered as she almost fell off. The stag suddenly leapt off into the direction of the castle, leaving Katie to press herself down onto it's neck to avoid actually falling off.
A few minutes later the stag suddenly stopped and bowed down again outside the Ancient Oak doors to the castle. She slid off and stumbled, but the black dog was there for her to hold on to. What happened next almost gave her a heart attack. The stag was changing it's shape, until suddenly a scruffy, grinning James Potter stood before her. A moment later the dog under her hand had transformed too, this time into Sirius Black. Just when Katie thought it was over, and rat ran up to her and promptly transformed into Peter.
"Bloody hell." she said faintly, and they laughed quietly. Forgetting about her leg, Katie almost fell over again, but Sirius swiftly put an arm around her, holding her steady.
"When did you..." she asked, pointing at them.
"Become Animagi? Oh, ages ago." James shrugged it off.
"Wow, Lily was right."
"About what?" he asked.
"You do have an ego the size of Texas." James laughed, stopping abruptly when Peter nudged him.
"Shh, do you want to wake up the whole castle?!" he whispered. Katie looked around in wonder. They were animagi? How come they'd never said anything before? Suddenly she remembered Sirius, as the dog, who had found her in Hogsmeade. So he really was concerned, she thought vaguely.
"Oh." Katie suddenly said in realization.
"What?" asked Sirius, James and Peter together.
"Prongs, Padfoot, Wormtail," she pointed at them in turn. "And Remus must be Moony, but why? And where is he?"
"Here." He had been behind her the whole time. She turned around to face him and gasped. If she thought he looked bad before...He was covered in deep cuts and bruises, and was limping slightly in one leg. He was as pale as paper. Before Katie had a chance to say anything he'd walked over to the doors and pushed them open.
"Come on, we'd better go up, Madame Pompfrey will be wondering where I am." He held the door open as James and Sirius walked in, each supporting Katie on each side. Peter was no where to be seen. As soon as they were inside Remus draped a thin watery material over them. Katie immediately recognized it. It was an invisibility cloak, just like the one her father had. How on earth did they get one?
A few moments later Peter had come running back, Katie's broomstick, thankfully undamaged, in his hand. He squeezed underneath the cloak, nearly pulling it off them.
"This is gonna be tough." muttered Sirius, securing his hold around Katie.
"At least the Hospital wing is only up one floor." whispered Remus.
Katie didn't say anything as they climbed the stairs. She was too busy mulling over all this new information. They were all Animagi. Except Remus, at least, if he was, Katie hadn't seen his form yet. Katie's leg suddenly started hurting painfully. With all the adrenaline from before she hadn't even felt the pain in her leg, but now it bloody hurt. Her robes were stained with blood, which clinged to the wound, making her leg hurt even more as they walked.
Eventually they came to the Hospital wing. Remus stepped out from under the cloak and put his arm around Katie.
"Come on, we'd better go in." he said, walking her through the door.
"We'll wait here, mate." whispered James, as they closed the door behind them.
Madame Pompfrey was standing beside a table, which had various potions on it. It seemed she was expecting him.
"Ah Mr Lupin, come over here and let me have a look." he limped over. "And-" She spotted Katie who was trying not to cry out as Remus carefully walked her over.
"Good grief what happened?" Katie explained to her as Madame Pompfrey looked over at her concerned. When she had finished Madame Pompfrey gestured for her to lay down. Katie did so gratefully.
"Well, we'd better get you sorted." In a matter of minutes she had started to work on Katie's leg, which quickly healed under the large amount of potions she was applying. Soon both Katie and Remus were fine, but Remus still didn't look it. Remus gave Madame Pompfrey a meaningful look and she nodded, quickly leaving the room.
"Katie.." Remus sat down on the bed next to her and sighed. Katie wondered what on earth he was going to say. He certainly didn't look very happy about it.
"Katie I'm...I'm a werewolf." He leaned back so Katie couldn't see his face and grimaced, waiting for the blow. He hoped desperately that she would understand. He hadn't meant to say it like that, but it had just come out. Better that way, he supposed. Otherwise I'd be muttering on for hours, never getting to the point.
"Oh." she said. He sat up, startled.
"Oh? Just Oh?" he had been expecting something slightly more than that.
"Well...I don't know what else to say..I mean-" she looked over at Remus. "What did you expect? Did you think I'd suddenly start hating you?" Remus nodded in spite of himself.
"Well...I don't." She smiled weakly. So he really did have an animagus form, he just couldn't control it. Katie suddenly felt sorry for him. He had expected her to start hating him because of what he was. Sure, It was kind of hard to take in, but what else could she say? As far as she was concerned, Remus was still Remus, he was just a bit...vicious once a month. Hell, so was she! She put an arm around him.
"I don't care if you're a werewolf Rem," she said softly. "You're still you, I mean, it's not like you asked for it. And I'm not going to start hating you. Sure, It's a bit of a shock, but so was finding out you're all animagi! I'll get over it, it's not the end of the world."
Remus smiled at her. She didn't hate him! She was shocked, she'd admitted that, but she still thought of him as him, and not some thoughtless animal. He was so relieved he laughed, something he hadn't done in a long time.
After a while they went outside and collected the others.
Needless to say, Katie couldn't sleep that night.
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who's reviewed, it means a lot! woooo!