New Moon
Sirius' dinnertime inquisition into The Life of Remus Lupin (Esquire) was cut short by Sirius' need to show up at detention.
"Don't worry about it," he said cheerfully. "It's just with Starkey, and she only wants to know how I got past the magical locks on the Astronomy Tower. As soon as I explain, I'll be back in the dorm room."
Peter grabbed Sirius' arm. "You're not... you're not going to tell her, are you?"
Sirius laughed. "Give away the Marauders' secret weapon? Not a chance, Petey."
"Marauders?" asked Remus. "Secret weapon?"
James slung a friendly arm around the werewolf's shoulders. "We came up with a name for our little group. Well, McGonagall did really, when she gave us detention once. She said -" and James deftly imitated Professor McGonagall's Scots accent - "'I can't have you lot marauding about the castle after hours.'"
"We've been the Marauders ever since," finished Sirius.
"But what's the secret weapon?"
"I am," said Peter proudly.
"Peter's a bloody brilliant picklock," James said in an excited whisper. "If he can't open it, it probably doesn't open at all."
"Amazing," said Remus. He was partly in awe of the talent - it was fairly rare - and partly surprised that Peter had it. As his usual class partner, Remus knew that Peter struggled in nearly every subject, including Charms.
Sirius grabbed one of Remus' hands and gave it a quick squeeze. "I'll see you lot back at the dorm. Can't keep Starkey waiting." He flashed them all a smile, waved, and ran off.
It was, Sirius thought proudly, the shortest detention on record. He'd explained to Professor Starkey how he'd got past the locks on the Astronomy Tower - actually, how Peter had done it, but he didn't reveal that part - and she'd made him promise not to break the new set.
Neither one of them really believed Sirius when he swore not to do it again.
When he got back to the dorm, he found his room-mates in whispered conference.
James and Peter were lying flat on their stomachs on James' bed; Remus was similarly arranged on Sirius' bed, facing the other two. Between the three of them, there was nary a schoolbook to be found. Sirius settled onto his bed next to Remus.
"It's a risk," James was saying, "but well worth taking." He grinned wickedly at Sirius. "I was telling Lupin about the prank we're going to pull on the Slytherins this week."
Sirius returned the grin wicked for wicked. "Just for the chance to see the look on Malfoy's face…" He trailed off into a deep, dangerous chuckle.
"You're taking too many risks."
James frowned. Remus Lupin had lived in the dorm with them for the last year and a half, but until recently he hadn't been a friend, and certainly hadn't helped to plan any of James and Sirius' – and, to a much lesser extent, Peter's – pranks. James liked the boy well enough, even if he was a werewolf, but his reluctance in pranking needed to be dealt with, and quickly.
Sirius Black clearly had the same idea. "Come on, Remmie," he cajoled. "It'll be fun." He threw an arm about the other boy's waist and squeezed him close. He'd discovered that the werewolf responded extremely well to touches and hugs.
Remus gave a little sigh. "I just think I have a better idea – "
"Stay in our dorm and do our homework?" interrupted Peter with a snarl.
"No," said Remus calmly. "I wasn't going to say that. But you three need more protection that just James' Invisibility Cloak."
"You know about that?" James sounded shocked.
"Of course I know about it," said Remus logically. "Just because you were oblivious to me doesn't mean that I was oblivious to you."
"But you never said anything to Dumbledore about it."
"Why would I?"
James was impressed. Maybe their new friend had pranking potential after all. "All right, what's your plan, then?"
He looked up at Sirius, who had taken his arm away from Remus' waist and was tracing little patterns with his finger on the werewolf's back. "Siri! Pay attention!"
"Sorry," muttered Black. He moved his arm back into a hug.
"I like the plan," said Remus, "it's the getaway that needs work. You spend enough time in detention as it is. And in just the last year, all three of you have grown enough that only two can fit under the cloak. This time next year, and it'll be only one person. So you need extra protection."
"Where are we going to get more Invisibility Cloaks?" asked Peter. "They're really rare, and really expensive." He eyed Lupin's fraying, hand-me-down robes in an obvious way, but didn't say anything.
"Not more Invisibility Cloaks," said Remus. "Something else. Hang on a minute." He extracted himself from beneath Sirius' arm, and scrambled to his desk. He came back quickly with a large piece of parchment, a self-inking quill, and his wand.
"I need a flat surface," he said to Sirius. "I'm going to use your back."
Sirius grunted an assent, and Remus placed the parchment on his back. With the quill, he started sketching.
Sirius giggled. "That tickles!"
"Hold still, Siri!"
Sirius thrust his face into the mattress while the other boy quickly drew. Finally, the quill torture done, Remus removed the parchment and held it out so the other boys could see it as well.
It was a map.
Peter snorted. "We know our way around the castle, dummy. Probably better than you do!"
"Don't call him that!" Sirius was up off his bed in a flash.
Remus reached up and grabbed the back of Sirius' pajama top.
"He just doesn't know what I have in mind, Siri," he said serenely. "Settle down."
Sirius slid backwards onto his bed, never taking his eyes off Peter. He snuggled protectively next to Remus.
"It is indeed a map," said Remus, "and as Peter pointed out, fairly useless if you know your way around already. Unless…" He picked up his wand, and held it to the parchment. "Mobilicartus."
"Shouldn't it be floating?" asked Peter.
"You're thinking of the 'Mobilicorpus' charm," said Remus. "Which, technically, means 'move the body.' 'Mobilicartus' means 'move the map.'"
"But the map's not moving."
Remus smiled. "It is, actually." He pointed with his wand: the ink he had drawn with had gathered at the center of the page, and was spiraling about. "See, the map isn't just the parchment. The parchment is only what the map is written on. The essence of the map is in the ink -"
"So it's the ink that moves," finished Sirius. "But why?"
Remus didn't answer with words. Instead, he touched his wand back to the parchment. "Revelare!"
The ink glowed brightly for a moment; then the spiral exploded across the page. It spread outward from the center, in spidery lengths, covering the parchment again. Remus' quick sketch somehow looked... different.
Once again, the werewolf tapped his wand on the parchment. "Display Gryffindor Tower, second-year boys' dorm."
The image raced into view, taking up most of the parchment. Four figures appeared on the map, each with a name by them. Remus Lupin. Sirius Black. James Potter. Peter Pettigrew.
"What magic is that?" asked James. As he spoke, the words he said appeared near the figure marked with his name.
"My Dad's a wizarding cartographer," said Remus simply, as though that explained everything. His words appeared next to the figure marked 'Remus Lupin.' "He taught me basic map-making when I was little."
James took the map from Lupin's hands. "This could be really useful."
"It's not as detailed as it could be," said Remus. "There are a lot of areas of the castle I've never been. Such as the Slytherin dungeons."
James held his own wand against the map. "Display Slytherin common room."
The map hesitated, then revealed a rough sketch. Then figures appeared, labeled – among others – 'Lucius Malfoy' and 'Severus Snape.'
"This is bloody brilliant," whispered James.
"It'd work a lot faster if the drawing of the area was better," said Remus.
"So we know they're in their common room," said Peter. "Big deal."
"You don't get it," said James excitedly. "We can use this to look where we're going. We can keep track of Filch! We might never get caught again!"
"I think the Marauders have a new secret weapon," said Sirius proudly. He squeezed Lupin again.
They stayed up until they were woozy with sleepiness. Sirius had never felt so excited, or so contented. He wanted to stay up, laughing and talking and wrestling with his room-mates, but he - and like his friends - was barely able to stand.
He lay in bed, waiting for sleep to come, drifting slightly. He couldn't really fall asleep until he heard the re-assuring noises of his dorm at night: Peter's muffled snoring, James' even breathing. He wondered why he couldn't remember what Lupin sounded like sleeping, and decided it was probably a lingering after-effect from the Memory Charm.
Well, he thought, it'll all come back in a day or two.
That was when he heard it: a soft, distressed whimpering. He pricked up his ears and listened carefully: all the familiar sounds were there. The whimpering could only be Remus.
Has he always cried like this? Sirius wondered. Exhausted though he was, he crawled out of his bed and padded over to Lupin's. He pulled back the bed curtains. The other boy appeared to be fast asleep, but he was indeed whimpering softly.
Like an injured puppy.
Following a sudden impulse, Sirius climbed into Lupin's bed, and snuggled up behind the sleeping boy. The whimpering lessened, then slowed, then stopped. Remus' breath became even and regular, and lulled Sirius at last to sleep.
The wolf that lived inside Remus Lupin had always longed for the company of others like itself. It wanted to run and hunt and play with pack mates. It longed to sleep in the warm, lazy crush of bodies. Normally, when Remus slept, the wolf within him cried in loneliness.
But this night, the first night that Remus Lupin did not spend alone, the wolfish mind dreamt of running and hunting and playing with a pack mate. In the landscape of dreams, it ran side-by-side with a large, black, almost bearlike dog.