Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters. Just mine. :)
Chapter 1
Her footsteps echoed in the abandoned hallway. Audrey glanced at her watch and uttered a string of curses. "Argh! How could I have let Sirius poison me with that Draught of the Living Death! And then leaving me for several hours in the Gryffindor Common Room, the nerve!" she muttered angrily. She hurried towards the west wing, where the Ravenclaw Common Room was hidden. Audrey knew she had to hurry. The curfew for students was ten o'clock and it was already midnight. If Professor McGonagall caught her, it would be detention… again. Sirius and James were forever getting her in trouble.
Audrey felt something hit her back and she toppled to the ground. Apparently someone had casted a trip jinx on her. Audrey jumped up and whirled to face her attacker, her wand in her hand.
"Miss Wellington, my office, now." Professor McGonagall commanded.
"Yes, Professor." Audrey answered meekly as she followed the Transfiguration professor to her office, lowering her wand as she walked.
McGonagall closed the door behind Audrey and motioned to the seats. "Take a seat."
Audrey merely obeyed; she was not going to talk unless she had to. Audrey took a quick glance around the room. The décor had changed since the last time she was here. The chairs looked as if they came from King Arthur's Round Table. The room had a musty, dark feeling to it. It was definitely a room used for punishments. There was a small window in the far wall that allowed some moonlight to come into the room; but the room was mostly lit with candles.
"Have a cookie." McGonagall pushed a tin box containing ginger snaps at Audrey.
Audrey took a cookie and slowly nibbled at it. She had been in McGonagall's office enough times to know not to refuse the cookies. They seemed to have a calming effect on the trouble-making students.
Only after Audrey had eaten her second cookie did McGonagall start to question her. "What were you doing wandering the corridors at this hour?"
"I was strolling back to my common room."
McGonagall rubbed her temples. Audrey never answered a question straightforwardly. "What were you doing in the Gryffindor Common Room?"
Audrey was taken aback, "I…"
"What did Black and Potter do now?"
"Er… Sirius fed me the Draught of the Living Death." Audrey said with an embarrassed look. She was one of the smartest students at Hogwarts and she did not even notice the distinct taste the potion had, even mixed with butterbeer. "If Remus hadn't given me the antidote, I may still be asleep." She reached for her tenth cookie.
"I will have a talk with Mr. Black, Mr. Potter, Mr. Pettigrew, and Mr. Lupin tomorrow. Now hurry off to bed before breakfast is served." McGonagall dismissed her with a curt nod.
Audrey opened the door but stopped. She turned around and asked, "Wait, Professor! I don't get a detention?"
McGonagall arched her eyebrows and glanced at Audrey over the rims of her glasses.
Audrey flushed, "Nevermind…" She hurried out the door and back to her common room. She slammed through the door, upturning the game of wizard's chess Alice and Stephen were playing. She stormed to a chair and plopped down, her attitude daring anyone to ask her what was wrong.
Alice glided over to her and placed her hands on Audrey's shoulders. Stephen joined his two sisters reluctantly, not wishing to be the object of Audrey's rage. Though, Audrey seemed to relax when she sensed her siblings' presence.
"What's wrong?" Alice's voice was slightly worried. She knew the array of hexes, jinxes, and curses her sister had memorized.
"It's that darn Potter boy, isn't it? Him and that Sirius." Stephen finally asked when Audrey didn't answer.
Audrey glared at her little brother. "Don't talk about them like that. They are my friends."
Stephen became bolder with his questioning, seeing as Audrey would not attack him. "Or your other friend called… Snivellus."
Audrey rolled her eyes, "Only James and Sirius call him that. His name is Severus." She knew that her little brother secretly dreamed of being James's and Sirius's friend. It was his first year at Hogwarts and already he was idolizing Audrey's two friends. They were the most popular students at Hogwarts and the best at everything.
"What about that other boy you hang out with? The one who looks like he lives in poverty… Oh yes… his nickname is Loony."
Alice and Stephen could feel Audrey tense. Lupin was always a touchy subject for Audrey. She took out her wand. "It's Moony. Now stop saying those horrible things about my friends." She pointed her wand at Stephen and muttered, "Petrificus Totalus!"
Stephen's body became rigid and he toppled over onto the floor. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and his breath became shallow.
Alice gave a gasp and ran to her brother's body. "What did you do to him, Audrey?"
"You should know that spell. You're in your fourth year of Hogwarts. That spell was taught to me when I was a second year."
"That's not fair. Stephen didn't know what it was so he couldn't guard against it."
Audrey stuck out her tongue, "Well, that's his problem."
Alice shook her head sadly, "What's gotten into you? Your mood turned dark the minute Stephen started to jeer at Remus." Audrey had started to walk to the girls' dormitory as her sister talked; what her sister said made her freeze in place. Alice slapped her hand over her mouth and gasped again. "Don't tell me you have your eye on that boy…"
"Don't be ridiculous." No one saw the red flush that started to creep upon Audrey's face as she spoke. "Come on. OWLs start tomorrow so let's go to bed."
As Audrey lay on her bed to await sleep, her thoughts lingered on Lupin.
Audrey rushed hastily into the Great Hall with her arms laden full of books about Defense Against the Dark Arts.
When Sirius saw her, he snorted. "You're studying?"
"I don't want to fail my OWLs. My future actually matters to me." Audrey retorted.
It only made Sirius laugh. Peter Pettigrew joined in, hoping to seem cool. James was busy stuffing his face with breakfast while Lupin was reading the Daily Prophet. She glowered fiercely at Sirius and Peter, then walked away to join her siblings.
Audrey was amused to see Stephen was still a bit stiff. "Were you petrified all night?"
Alice gave her sister a pleading look. "Please stop pestering him… I have something important to talk to you about…" She looked embarrassed.
"Well? Out with it." Audrey said impatiently.
"She fancies that Longbottom boy." Stephen said before Alice could open her mouth.
"What?!" Audrey shot a look at Frank Longbottom sitting two tables away, at the Gryffindor table. "Alice, you have bad taste in boys." She said bluntly.
"Well, what about your feelings for Remus Lupin? He's not any better than Frank." Alice's eyes glittered with anger.
Audrey's eyes matched her sister's in intensity. "We are not here to discuss my friends. We're here to discuss that." She pointed to Frank with a look of contempt.
Frank ambled over to the Ravenclaw table and asked, "What's wrong, Alice?", not knowing his life was in danger.
Alice took his hand and pulled him out of the Great Hall. Stephen sneered and followed behind her. Audrey lifted her hand to her temples and started muttering about ungrateful siblings when she sensed that someone sat down across from her. She glanced up and saw a pair of hazel eyes looking straight into her brown ones.
She gave a small gasp as Lupin chuckled. "Relax, it's not the full moon yet. Would you like to go study with me before we take our Defense Against the Dark Arts OWLs?"
Audrey nodded and the two of them walked out to their favorite tree on the castle grounds. She stretched out on the grass, holding her book above her face. As she read the passage on werewolves, her mind drifted to the first time she saw Lupin as a werewolf.
Three nights each month, the four boys would disappear somewhere in the castle. Audrey always wondered where they went and why they didn't trust her enough to tell her. One night, she decided to sneak after them. There was a full moon that night, so she could sneak around the castle grounds without getting caught on branches. Audrey scraped her arm on a branch and silently cursed.
"This is going to be harder than I thought…" She ran her fingers through her mousy hair. She silently yelled at herself for losing sight of Sirius and Peter.
Then she saw the most peculiar thing. A shabby looking rat ran to the Whomping Willow and pressed on the side of the tree. As it and a black dog disappeared into the tree, the clouds covered the moon. Darkness fell as Audrey sprinted to the spot she saw the animals go in. She tripped on a root and soared into the tunnel. She was about to stand when she heard the most ghastly sound. A scream that made her blood run cold flooded the tunnel. As she exited the tunnel, Audrey collided with someone. She looked up to see four horrified people.
"Audrey!" Lupin could barely speak. He was clutching his head as if it was about to split open.
"Are you alright? Anything wrong?" James stood between her and Lupin.
Sirius and Peter glanced nervously at the cracks between the walls. All of a sudden, moonlight submerged the room in a ghostly mist. Lupin's eyes dilated and his breaths became ragged. Sirius grabbed Audrey and threw her into a corner; then, he stood protectively over her.
Audrey watched in horror as Lupin transformed into the creature she feared the most. "Remus!"
She tried to reach Lupin but Sirius pinned her against the walls. Right before her eyes, her three friends morphed into animals: Sirius a dog, James a stag, and Peter a rat. Sirius bared his teeth at Lupin as he snarled.
Audrey started to shiver in fear. "This cannot be happening…" She sat on the grimy floor and hugged her knees to her chest.
The moonlight faded as the moon slowly slid behind the clouds. Lupin's body started to shrink back into a human's. Audrey hid her face in her hands.
"Audrey?" She winced as Lupin's hand glazed across her arm.
When she looked again, four boys stared back at her. Lupin's eyes were sad as he gazed at Audrey.
James yanked Audrey to her feet. "You have to go now!"
"We'll explain everything later, just go!" Sirius pushed her down the seemingly endless tunnel.
Audrey scrambled up the gentle slope and past the Whomping Willow and back to her common room.
"Audrey?" Lupin looked a bit worried.
Audrey shook her head to clear it of her thoughts. "I'm fine." She lied.
Lupin leaned over and read the page Audrey was looking at. His mood immediately turned cold. He sat back against the tree. "I guess you would like to know the truth of what you saw a few days ago."
Audrey nodded and glanced at the brown haired boy.
Lupin signed, "I was only a boy when I was bitten. Dumbledore was kind enough to let me attend Hogwarts. Every month, during the full moon, I go to the abandoned house in Hogsmeade. You should know about that already."
Audrey nodded again.
Lupin continued, "Sirius, James, and Peter turned into Animagi to be with me."
"I would like to be an Animagus… so I can be with you on the full moons, too." Audrey spoke so quietly that Lupin almost did not hear her. Lupin was about to refuse her offer when she cut him off. "I'll work extra hard. I want to help you…"
"We better go to the Great Hall for our OWLs." Lupin stood up and gathered his books, cutting her off. The two of them quizzed each other on dark creatures as they walked.
"What are dementors?" Audrey asked Lupin, ready to check his answer.
"Something I would not like to find in my bed at night." James answered.
Sirius slapped him on the back, "Good one, Mate!"
Audrey rolled her eyes and joined the rest of the Ravenclaw fifth years. Hours rolled by as the students slaved away on their OWLs. Audrey scratched her head as she thought of the answer.
"What is the spell used in defense against a Boggart?"
That's easy, she thought to herself. Riddikulus. I hope they're all that easy.
After writing her last answer down, she simply had to raise her hand for it to be collected. Audrey glanced at her three friends, all doing various things. James wrote his answers down, occasionally scratching behind his ear. Sirius sat in an arrogant manner and responded to the test. Peter scribbled away, twitching with apprehension; and Lupin sat calmly, reading his book. He was the only student aside from Audrey who had already finished his test.
She placed her head on her desk and drifted off to sleep.
"Audrey, wake up." A hand lightly slapped her head.
"Ug… five more minutes, Mommy…" she moaned.
"Mommy?" Sirius, James, and Peter burst out laughing.
Audrey jumped up and glared at the boys, a faint blush creeping into her cheeks. "Oh shut up."
"Are we still going to do it?" James asked as he wiped tears of laughter from his eyes.
"Yeah, sure." Audrey followed the four boys up to the Gryffindor Common Room.
Once they got there, James retrieved a Time Turner from his dormitory. They stood around, looking at one another as if waiting for someone to break the silence first.
"So… who's going to try it out?" James asked.
Sirius pointed a finger at Lupin, "How about Moony? I'm sure he'd love to see the future."
"We're not sending Remus. What if he transforms into a werewolf there? I'll go." Audrey volunteered.
She grabbed the Time Turner and instead of turning it to the past, she turned it towards the future. For a few minutes, nothing happened and then a flash of light appeared and Audrey was gone.