Chapter 8 - Animagus?

As midnight came close, Remus started to feel pain. He was going to transform.

"Guys… I think it's happening." Remus said.

"Alright Moony. We're here with you." James said.

"Yeah, don't worry Moony." Peter said.

"We'll do it as always. After transforming we'll go out to the forest." Sirius said and everyone nodded in agreement.

Remus' cramps were becoming stronger. Sirius, James and Peter quickly transformed into their animagus forms as Remus started to transform into the werewolf. He howled in pain as his body changed. His skin was covered with fur and his canines grew longer and sharper. His eye color turned to yellow and his ears grew longer. When he was finally transformed he growled at the three animals that were standing in front of him. A black dog, a stag and a rat. They looked at each other and then they ran out of the room. The dog was the last to leave.

The werewolf chased the rat and the stag into the forest, while Sirius transformed back to his human form. He walked out of the passage and looked around. Someone was watching, he could feel it. He looked around but couldn't see anyone. An eagle caught his attention, though. It was sitting on a rock not so far from the Whomping Willow. Sirius looked at it and then he saw his friends running around. He transformed back to his dog form and joined them.

Moony was trying to catch Prongs as he was considered a delicious meal at the moment. Wormtail was trying his best to avoid them, as he was the tiniest among them and they could step on him and smash him easily.

The Eagle flew high in the air and was watching them from above. Padfoot barked at it and then he turned his attention at Moony who was heading at his direction. Padfoot ran away, no matter how strong he was, Moony was dangerous and he didn't know what was going on around him. All he cared at that moment was food, no matter what kind it was.

Prongs and Wormtail tried to distract Moony, but he seemed very interested in Padfoot at this moment. He kept chasing him until they reached the lake. Moony and Padfoot got into a fight and Prongs joined them in the hope to separate them.

With one wave of his front paws, Moony managed to push Prongs away and he jumped at Padfoot. At that moment the eagle flew straight at Moon and scratched his shoulder with its claws. Moony's attention changed to the attacker now. Dinner can wait. The eagle kept attacking Moony and hitting him with its beak or claws and Moony was defending himself by jumping at the eagle and trying to hit it with his front paws.

Padfoot kept barking at Moony, Prongs joined them and pushed Moony but he didn't seem to be interested in them anymore. The eagle was becoming so annoying and he wanted to get rid of it.

As the eagle was heading down at him, Moony let out a howl and jumped at the eagle. This time, he hit it and scratched its right wing. The eagle dropped to the ground for a moment and then it tried to fly again, but it couldn't. Moony growled at it and walked closer, his canines bared and his yellow eyes shining in the darkness of the night. The eagle kept trying to fly but it only managed to jump a few feet at a time. Its wing was bleeding badly and it didn't seem to help him at all.

Padfoot jumped between the eagle and Moony and growled at him. This time he managed to turn Moony's attention over at him and he ran away. Moony followed him, forgetting all about the eagle that was now walking away with its injured arm being dragged by its side.

As the hours passed, none of them saw the eagle anymore. They were back to the Shrieking Shack and were transformed back to their human forms. Remus had a few scratches on his face and shoulder and he was sleeping on the bed. Sirius also had some scratches on his body, but James and Peter were untouched.

"That was a bloody hell of a night!" Sirius said.

"Yeah! I wonder where did that eagle come from?" James asked.

"Maybe it lives in the Forbidden Forest." Peter said.
"I don't think so. There are no eagles around here." James said.

"But how did it end up here at the first place?" Sirius asked. "And where did it go?"

"It was injured." Peter said.

"Could it be dead?" James asked. "I mean, it was bleeding the last time I saw it."

"It probably is dead by now. I'm sure it lost a huge amount of blood." Sirius said.

Remus opened his eyes and looked around. "Are you all alive?" he asked in a tired voice.

"Yep." Sirius replied.

"Good." Remus said and closed his eyes again.

"Not so fast Moony! We need to take you to the hospital wing! You can get all the sleep you need over there." James said.

"I don't need to go to the hospital wing." Remus said and tried to sit, but his body ached.

"Don't even bother." Sirius said. "You have tons of scratches on you mate. You had quite a fight with an eagle last night."

"I did?" Remus asked and managed to sit, ignoring the burning pain of his body.

"Yeah, it came out of nowhere when you decided that Padfoot was going to be your dinner." Peter said.

"My dinner! Merlin's beard! Padfoot, I hope I didn't hurt you!" Remus said.

"No worries mate. I'm fine. Only a few scratches, but I'll live." Sirius replied with a smile.

"The sun is rising." James said as looked outside of the window. "We better take you to the hospital wing and go to our room before anyone wakes up."

"Alright." Remus said and tried to get up.

James and Sirius helped him to get up and they took him out of the Shrieking Shack. Peter followed them closely. The walked out of the passage and headed to the castle. On their way, Peter noticed someone lying on the ground.

"Is that a girl?" he asked.

James, Sirius and Remus stopped and turned to look at the spot Peter was pointing at.

"It seems to be a girl." James said. "What is she doing here?"

"Peter, come and take my place here." Sirius said. "I'll go and see who is she."

Peter took Sirius' place near Remus and held him tightly so he wouldn't fall. Sirius walked to the girl and before he could reach her, he recognized her at once.

"Christine!" he shouted and ran to her.

"Who's Christine?" Peter asked.

"Isn't she the new girl?" James asked. "What was she doing here last night? I didn't see her. Did you?"

Peter and Remus shook their heads.

Sirius ran toward Christine and knelt next to her. He turned her around so she would lie on her back and noticed that her clothes were covered with blood and her right arm had a long, deep wound on it.

"Bloody hell! It can't be!" he said. "Oh Christine please be alive!" he put his head on her chest and he could hear her heart beating. "Thank goodness you're alive." He said as tears rolled down his cheeks. He carried her and walked back to the others.

"Who is she?" Peter asked.

"Christine Williams. The new Hufflepuff girl." Sirius said as he sniffed.

"Sirius, you're crying." Remus said calmly.

"Let's go to the hospital wing." Sirius said.

"Blimey! She is the one, isn't she?" James asked.

"Let's go." Sirius said, ignoring the last question.

They all walked to the hospital wing and went straight to the infirmary. Madam Pomfrey was there to meet them, as she knew all about Remus. However, to her surprise, she saw Sirius carrying a girl who seemed in a ver bad shape.

"Put here on the bed!" she said to Sirius and then turned to the others. "Take Remus to the second bed on the left."

Sirius carried Christine over to the bed, which Madam Pomfrey pointed at. It was located at the far end of the room. He put her on the bed and stood next to her.

Madam Pomfrey muttered a few spells at Remus and his scratched disappeared. "You'll need to stay here for a couple of days before going back to classes."

"Alright." Remus said and lay down.

"You need to sleep Moony. We'll take care of Sirius and we'll tell you everything later." James said.

"Okay. See you later." Remus said and closed his eyes.

James and Peter walked toward Sirius who was staring at Christine with tears in his eyes.

"Sirius…" James said. "I'm sorry mate."

"It's not your fault." Sirius said. "We don't know who did this to her, but I'm suspecting something."

At that moment Madam Pomfrey came. "You must leave now boys. I need to work here, and this girl's injury seems deep."

"I think she has lost a big amount of blood." Sirius said. "She's pale."

"Don't worry dear, she'll be fine. Come back later if you want to see her." Madam Pomfrey said.

"I will." Sirius said and walked out of the infirmary with James and Peter.

"So, what were you suspecting?" James asked as they entered their common room.

"You saw the wound on her arm?" Sirius asked and James nodded. "It was her right arm, doesn't that remind you of something?"

"No. Should it?" James asked.

"The eagle that appeared last night was injured in its right wing." Peter said.

"But what does that have to do with…" James paused as the thought it hit him. "She was the eagle?"

"I'm sure it was her. We didn't see the body of the eagle after it left us." Sirius put his face in his hands. "I can't believe it! She's an animagus and didn't even tell me about it!"

"Sirius, is she the girl you were speaking about?" James asked and Sirius nodded. "I knew it! Since when?"

"A couple of days ago." Sirius replied.

"You have to tell me all the details mate!" James said excitedly.

"Don't worry, I will."

"I'm sure she'll be fine Sirius." Peter said.

"Yeah, I hope so." Sirius replied and tilted his head back on the couch. "She'll be fine." He repeated.