Disclaimer - It's not mine. Never was
A/N- Okay everyone. Here is the next chappy, just for you to enjoy (I hope).
Remus' Surprise
Saturday morning, Sable found the Marauder s in the Great Hall eating breakfast. Taking her seat next to Lily and across from Remus, she wished them all a good morning. Sirius and Peter, being the exuberant morning people they were, only groaned and kept on eating. About that time, the morning mail arrived and Sable spotted her mom's owl in the passel of winged creatures. Dropping the letter in front of Sable's plate, the bird perched itself on her shoulder. Sable opened the letter and read it after she fed some toast to the owl.
Baby girl,
Your father and I are currently in an undisclosed location. I wish I could tell you more, but…well…you know how this job is.
Anyways, onto a more lighter note, how did the Halloween Ball go? Since we didn't get the costume back with a Howler attached to it telling us how bad our taste in clothing is, I'm assuming you wore it. I hope you had a wonderful time, sweetheart. Daddy and I miss you terribly.
I'm running short on time, so I'll let you go. Just remember that if you need anything, send a letter by Aphrodite. She knows were to find us.
Love always,
Mom and Daddy
P.S. If you want an idea of what we've been doing, read the Daily Prophet.
P.S.S. Give our love to Remus and the others.
Sable folded the letter back up and slipped it into her pocket. Breaking off a few more pieces of bread, she fed it to Artemis before the owl took flight once again. She watched the owl soar out of the windows and off towards the horizon.
"Letter from your parents?" Remus asked her.
"Yeah." she said. "They didn't say much though. Just that I should watch the paper to find out what they had been doing."
"And for a good reason, too." Peter said, showing then the headlines of the newspaper. "Two more Muggleborn witches were found dead inside the Bulgarian Embassy yesterday. They suspect a Death Eater attack, according to the paper, but no one knows for sure, yet." James took the paper and scanned over it after Peter had finished and Sirius had stolen the sports section.
"I wish these attacks would stop." James sighed. "I hate to see innocent people being killed just because they are not pure blooded."
"What kind of monster would do something like this?" Lily asked, shaking her head. "That's the third attack in a month."
"Have you heard anything from your parents, Sirius? They are Aurors too." Sable said. "Mine aren't telling me anything."
"Mummy dearest hasn't said anything other than keep yourself safe and stay out of trouble." Sirius answered. "But dad said that the number of Death Eaters who follow this psycho Voldemort are growing."
"Yeah, I remember my dad saying that they are trying to recruit more people, especially younger ones like us." James said with a frown.
"Oh, doesn't that make me feel better." Sable said sarcastically. "For all we know, they have some of these homicidal psychos walking around Hogwarts."
"Yeah, makes me feel loads better considering they are targeting Muggleborn witches and wizards." Lily said, glaring at the paper. "Makes me feel real safe!"
"I agree, Lily." Sable said. "It doesn't make me feel any better either."
"Why are you worried, Sable?" Peter asked. "Both your parents can do magic."
"But her father was a Muggleborn wizard, Pete." Remus said thoughtfully.
"Yeah, they're not like us." Sirius said. "Us guys don't have as much to worry about because our families are all purebloods."
"But Lily is the only witch in her family, and Sable's parentage is mixed, making them both possible targets." James said with a sigh.
"Please don't remind us, James." Lily said. "It's not something I want to think about right now."
"Ditto for me, too." Sable said. "Besides, don't you guys have a more pressing issue to worry about at the moment?"
"We do?" Peter asked. "What is it?" Sirius rolled his eyes and James shook his head. Peter could be so dense sometimes.
"She's talking about tonight." Lily said quietly.
"Are you coming with us tonight?" Sirius asked, looking over at Sable.
"Yes, but I'm meeting you in Hogsmeade." she said. "I've got to take care of something before I disappear for the night?"
"What is it?" Remus asked suddenly.
"Well, ol'greasy still thinks I'm going to sprout a tail and wolf ears tonight." Sable said quietly. "I'm just going to prove him wrong."
"What are you planning?" Lily asked.
"Nothing actually." she said. "I'm just going to make sure ugly sees me at least once after dark falls tonight. Then I'm going to meet you guys in Hogsmeade."
Do you want one of us to stay with you?" James asked.
"I'll be fine." she answered. "I'll probably be there before it starts anyway."
"You sure you know what you're doing?" Remus asked. "Snape's liable to try something if he sees you alone, especially knowing where we will be."
"Everything will be fine." she said again. "I'm going to show up for dinner, then slip out the castle. Not a big deal. Besides, Snape is smart enough to leave me alone after that last full moon."
"Yeah, he was still bleeding from the nose the day afterwards." Peter said with a grin. "I heard him tell some of the other Slytherins that you had a mean right hook." Sable gave them a smug smile and finished her breakfast.
-Later that evening, right before dark….-
Lily and Sable walked into the Great Hall that evening for dinner, acting as though they didn't have a care in the world, when in fact they were worried sick about the boys. Remus had left only half an hour ago, James, Sirius, and Peter right on his tail. Sable had given him the needed dose of the Wolfsbane Potion and nervously sent him off to the Whomping Willow, hoping everything would be alright.
The two Gryffindor girls seated themselves at their customary places at the Gryffindor table and scanned the other House tables. Sable spotted Snape and Flint at the Slytherin tables and growled. Snape, obviously feeling himself being watched, looked up to meet Sable's icy gaze. Although no expression crossed his face, Sable could see a flicker of surprise in his eyes at seeing her at the table. Sable saw him smirk and pointedly look out through one of the windows to the East where the full moon was starting to show itself. He looked back at her with an expression of total disgust, but Sable only held her head up and glared at the boy, silently daring him to jump to conclusions about her. Snape only smirked and went back to his dinner. Before Sable could say anything to Lily about the grease ball's odd behavior, someone tapped her on the shoulder. Turning around, she saw little Thomas McCleod and a few of his friends standing behind her. They seemed a little fidgety, but Sable said nothing as she quickly tried to mask her anger in front of the children.
"Thomas, how are you , sweetie?" she asked. "Would you like to sit down?"
"NO, that's okay." he said. "I just wanted to know if you would mind helping me with some homework after dinner. If you're not busy with anything else, that is."
"I'm sorry, Thomas." she said. "I can't help you tonight. I've got some work of my own to finish for Professor Treble before tomorrow, but I'll help you tomorrow if you have time."
"That's fine." he said. "I don't want to intrude or anything."
"Oh, you're not intruding." she said with a smile, ruffling his hair. "Tell you what, how about you meet me by the lake at about three tomorrow. Then we'll get your work done. How's that sound?"
"Is your boyfriend going to come?" he asked suddenly. Sable was surprised at the sudden change in his voice, but she only shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know if Remus will come or not." she said.
"Okay." he said. "Uh, you don't mind if I bring a few other people with me who need some help, too?"
"Course not." she said. "You know that."
""okay, Sable." he said, smiling at her. "Bye."
"Later, Thomas." she said, waving to his retreating form. She turned back around and looked at Lily, a frown on her face. "Alright, he saw me." she said, referring to Snape. "Now I've just got to get out of the castle without anyone seeing me."
"That shouldn't be too difficult." Lily said. "Snape and Flint just left the Hall, with Avery in tow." Sable chanced a glance over to the Slytherin tables and grinned. The three seats that had been full a moment ago were now empty.
"Good." she muttered, grabbing a couple of rolls and throwing them in her pocket. "I'm out of here, Lily."
"Be careful, Sable." Lily said. "With all the attacks that have been happening, we don't need another accident."
"I'll be fine." she said quietly. "James left me his invisibility cloak for tonight." She glanced down at her watch and frowned. "I got to go, Lils. Honeydukes closes in an hour, and if I want to get into town, I've go to go."
"Be careful, Sable." Lily said quietly, as the black headed girl walked briskly out of the Hall. Sable's plan consisted of slipping down the passageway that led into the cellar of Honeydukes, then walking to the Shrieking Shack from there.
She was about to pull James' cloak out of her pocket when she came across Flint, Snape, and Avery in the hallway, surrounding Thomas and his friends.
Her anger peeked when she saw how pale the little kids were from being so frightened. Stuffing the cloak back into her pocket, she pulled out her wand and braced herself for a fight.
"Thomas!" she said gruffly, startling the Slytherins and causing the younger kids to heave an audible sigh of relief. "What's going on?"
"Ah, Ms. Robbins." Snape sneered, glaring at the girl. "It seems a few of your younger housemates decided to wander about the halls during dinner time. As you know, that is against school policy, and must be dealt with accordingly."
"If you'd open you eyes and quit looking for any reason to take points off of Gryffindor, you would have noticed that Thomas and his friends were at dinner." she said icily.
"And why should he believe that?" Flint asked. Sable looked over at the Quidditch player and raised her eyebrows.
"I don't see a Prefect badge on your robes, Flint. So stay out of this!"
"Well, you're not a Prefect either, Robbins. So this technically doesn't concern you either." Avery pointed out. "However, Severus is a Prefect, and is in his limits to take away points for breaking the rules."
"I'll concede to that, Avery." she said. "But then again, it's not members of your House that are being accosted and ganged up on in the hallway by older students of a rival House, now is it?" she looked down at the three Gryffindor students and jerked her head toward the stairs that led to Gryffindor Tower.
"Thomas, all of you go up to the Common Room." she said. "I'm assuming that's where you were headed, correct?"
"Yes." Thomas said. The other kids nodded in agreement.
"Go then. I'll be right behind you." she said. The three first-years pushed their way out of the ring of Slytherins and ran up the stairs. When Sable was sure they were out of hearing range, she turned on the three Slytherins.
"I didn't know you'd stoop so low as to gang up on a couple of first years." she snapped.
"They were breaking the rules." Snape said evenly. "They needed to be punished."
"Then maybe you should take points from your own House then!" Sable said. "Seeing as how you are out here also."
"You're out here, too." Avery pointed out.
"Yes, I am." she said evenly. "However wouldn't it look a little odd if you took off points for catching me in the hallway when I'm on an errand for YOUR Head of House?" She questioned, lying through her teeth.
"Proffessor Treble?" Flint asked.
"Yes. I was not in class on Friday, and I was on my way to get some work I needed to turn in from that day."
"Who gave you the assignments?" Flint asked quickly.
"Lily." she said, as if it were a common fact that everyone should know. Snape only glared at her even harder before backing down.
"Fine. No points will be deducted since you have a reasonable excuse, and I know for a fact that Evans took your work on Friday."
"I knew you'd see things my way, Snape." she said sarcastically. She turned around and began walking up the stairs towards the Tower.
"Where's your boyfriend at tonight, Robbins?" Flint called out, snickering. Sable turned back and looked down the banister to where the three boys were still standing.
"If I knew, Flint, do you honestly think I'd tell you?" she asked. Flint gave her an evil smile and shook his head.
"Must be hard, being around a monster so often." Snape said. Sable gave him a cold, calculating glare.
"I wouldn't say that." she answered with a sickeningly sweet smile. "After all, I do go to school with slime balls like you three." And with that, Sable turned and left the three boys standing in the hallway.
When she disappeared from view, Snape pocketed his wand and jerked his head towards the dungeons.
"Let's go." he said. "If we're late, Lucius will kill us."
"What about Robbins?" Flint asked. "You know she was lying to us about not knowing where Lupin is."
"She's not going anywhere tonight. She told the McCleod kid that she had work to finish. She may lie to us, but she has no reason to lie to him. She won't be out of the Tower all night."
"You seem awful sure about that." Avery commented, matching him stride for stride as they descended into the dungeons. "She could have been lying to the kid as well."
"Avery, I know almost everything there is to know about her. If she told the kid she was going to do work, then that's what she's going to do."
"Fine." Avery said. "But like you just said. You know almost everything about her. What about the parts you don't know?"
"Then I'll find them out sooner or later." Snape said fiercely.
After Sable got to the top of the stairs leading to Gryffindor Tower, she went into the Common Room to make sure that Thomas and his friends were okay. She found them in the Common Room playing Wizard's Chess. After assuring them she was okay, she left again, telling them she was going to find the Head Girl to report Snape for abusing his Prefect abilities. That brought a smile to the kid's faces, and she slipped back out of the Tower, running to the third floor hallway were the one-eyed witch statue stood, guarding the entrance to the passageway. Pulling James' invisibility cloak out of her pocket and slipping it over her head, she crept down the tunnel and started running towards the other end that would put her in Hogsmeade.
Then minutes later, she was pulling herself up and out of the tunnel and into the cellar of Honeyduke's. By some strike of luck, she managed to get out of the store without anyone else seeing her. She stepped out onto the sidewalk of the little village and started walking towards the shrieking Shack. Her mind flitted briefly to her parents as she looked up to see the rising brilliance of the full moon. 'I hope you guys are alright, wherever you are.' she thought. Picking up her pace, she continued on her journey and soon found herself standing in front of the dilapidated old building known as the Shrieking Shack. She pulled herself up to one of the windows and peeked in. The boys were no where to be seen so she tried the next best thing. Putting here ear to the window, she tried to pick up any sounds coming from inside. Her sensitive wolf hearing picked up Remus tired voice and Sirius' booming laugh. She looked up at the sky once again, taking in the position of the moon and figuring Remus had another ten to fifteen minutes before he began the change.
She pulled off James' cloak and stuffed it in her pocket, along with her wand. She figured Remus had heard he by now, but she knocked on the window just to make sure.
"Sirius, you prat, let me in!" she called out. Sure enough, Sirius and James came bounding into the darkened room a minute later. James opened the window, since it was only accessible from the inside, and helped her in. when she got into the building and the window was shut, Sirius led her back to where Remus and Peter were sitting.
"Took you long enough to get here." Sirius said. "We thought you'd changed your mind." Sable sat next to Remus and grinned.
"No, I was coming. I just got a little side tracked."
"What happened?" Remus asked, pulling her into his lap and holding her there.
"Snape, Flint, and Avery decided to gang up on Thomas and some of his friends." she said angrily. Remus growled and tightened his grip on her.
"Please tell me you hexed them into next month." Sirius said.
"I wish." she answered. "But three Slytherins against one Gryffindor is not odds that I find favorable for me."
"He didn't do anything to you, did he?" Remus asked quietly.
"No, Remus. " she said. "He didn't do anything. I told them off and left." He hugged and laid his head against her shoulder blade. She could feel the tenseness in his body and wished that there was some way to make it go away. He was tired, and his nerves were on end. Unfortunately, she didn't have time to contemplate any of it because Remus tensed up even more and started growling like crazy as the moon broke over the village and a pure beam of moonlight fell through the dirty window pane and onto him.
"He's changing." James said, quickly getting up and pulling Sable out of his spasming arms.
"Has he took the Potion?" she asked, watching him.
"He took it as soon as he heard you coming." Peter said. Sable nodded and watched as the three boys morphed into their Animagi forms. She turned her attention back to Remus, who was currently lying on the floor and sprouting fur everywhere on his body. He groaned in pain as his body forcefully reshaped itself into its lupine form. His clothes were ripping, but Sable didn't pay any mid to them. Acting on her own instincts, she knelt down and tried to talk him through the changes like she had done so many times with her mom and dad.
"Come on, Remus." she said urgently, wishing there was a way to get rid of the pain he was feeling. "You can do this. Just a few more seconds and it'll be over with." the wolf-boy looked over at her and frowned as another wave of pain took over.
"I….thought…..you wouldn't….come." he gasped out between grimaces. Sable hugged the rapidly changing young man and frowned. The other three boys watched on as the two managed a last few sentences between them before Remus lost the ability to verbally communicate with her.
"Remus, I'll be here with you come Hell or high water." she said. "don't ever doubt that." Remus nodded and doubled over in pain again, crying out as his bones broke and reshaped more.
"It….hurts….so much." he whispered. Sable held him tightly as the transformation hit the final stage.
"I know, love." she said. "I know it hurts, Remus. But don't fight it. We're here for you." The boy let out one more blood curdling scream before the transformation was complete.
The three Animagi looked down at the still spasming form of their friend and heaved a sigh of relief. What surprised them most was the tears forming in the girl's eyes. Sirius slowly walked forward, sniffing the air and testing Moony's state of awareness. James followed his friend to stand in front of the two. The wolf in Remus quickly registered the presence of the girl in the room, but Remus pushed the predatorial thoughts to the back of his mind and stood up on wobbly legs. He looked around, taking not of Sirius, James, and Peter standing in front of him, and Sable kneeling beside him. He looked up at his friends and wagged his tail as a from of communication. Sirius broke into the doggy form of a grin and started barking like crazy. James only bowed his head, and Peter scampered around like crazy. Remus turned to Sable and his happy mood faded when he saw the tears in here eyes.
What's wrong, Sable?' he thought. 'I'm fine and the potion worked. Why are you crying?' he nuzzled the girl and let a whimper escape from his throat. Sable looked up and smiled at him. 'What's wrong?' he thought again. Sable grinned and scratched his head, right behind his ears.
"What?" she asked. "Why are you looking at me like that?" Remus cocked his head to one side and licked her face, right where a tear had left a path down her cheek." Sable, surprised at the contact, put her hand to her face and gave him a grin.
He wanted to know why she was crying.
"I'm fine, love." she said. "I just don't like seeing you in so much pain that I can't do anything about. I feel useless." Sirius let a growl loose and James shook his head upon hearing her thoughts. Remus gave her an I-Can't-Believe-You-Called-Yourself-Useless look that made her smile.
Sirius suddenly gave a quick yip and walked towards the trapdoor that led out to the Willow. The boys followed him, and Sable looked at them, momentarily confused. Then, she realized what they wanted to do.
"Uh, guys, I can't go gallivanting around the campus like this. Someone will see me." Remus looked at her and nuzzled her cloak pocket, pulling out James's invisibility cloak. Sable smacked her head and frowned. "Now why didn't I think of that." She pulled the cloak on and they let themselves down into the tunnel.
In no time at all, all five of them were standing at the vase of the Willow. James took off for the Forbidden Forrest as soon as everyone got out of the tunnel. Sirius was quick to follow. Remus started trotting off behind Sirius, but stopped when he realized Sable wasn't near him. He looked around, but couldn't see her anywhere. 'Of course you can't see her, idiot! She's wearing an invisibility cloak' he chided himself.
"Remus!" she called out, somewhere ahead of him. "I'm over here, by the alcove." He trotted over to where the voice came from and found Sable's head floating in mid-air. He nudged her and looked towards the Forrest.
"Remus, I can't go in there. I'll never be able to keep up with you guys, and I don't want to spoil your fun. Let me go back to the castle and you can catch up with them before they get to far in." He shook his head and sat at her feet.
'She's coming in there, whether she wants to or not.' he thought. 'I planned this for ever, and she's not backing out because she's afraid of the Forrest.'
"Really, Remus." Sable said. "I'm not going into the Forest. If I know you four, there's some kind of prank involved, isn't there?"
The wolf remained at her feet, continuing to tug on her cloak. Sable finally got the hint and decided to try and quickly figure out what was going on.
"Did you guys have something planned for tonight?" she asked. Remus gave her a nod and wagged his tail. 'That's it.' he thought. 'Now you're catching on.'
"And you didn't tell me about it, but you want me to go with you, right?'
Nod again.
"Then get one of the other ones back here to tell me what's going on." she said. "Because I'll be damned if I'm going to just waltz into the Forrest with out knowing why." Remus gave her the equivalent of a wolf glare and sat back on his haunches, letting a mournful howl fill up the air. Sable, once again not expecting it, pulled the cloak over her head so that her body was invisible.
"I take it that's how you guys find each other if you get lost?' she asked. Remus wagged his tail and sat at her feet, as obedient as a labrador retriever.
A few minutes later, Sirius came bounding over to them. Sable pulled the cloak off of her head and looked at the dog.
"Sirius, what is going on? Remus wants me in the Forrest, and I can't keep up with you when you're in your Animagi forms." she said. Sirius looked at her and in a blur of gray, the human man was standing in front of her.
"Moony's got a surprise for you." he said with a grin. "But it's a walk into the Forrest. We found it the last time we were there, but haven't had a chance to go back yet. Moony wants to show it to you."
"But what if I get separated from you guys?" she asked.
"We're all going to be together until we get right before where we're going." he said. "Moony'll take you the rest of the way after that. The only thing you need to worry about is if you hear me or Moony howling."
"Howling?"
"It's our signal to clear out of the Forrest and meet at the Willow." he said. Sable looked down at her boyfriend turned werewolf and sighed.
"I hope you know what you're going." she said, pulling the cloak on and grabbing a hold of the fur on Remus' neck. "Lead the way, captain." Sirius grinned and transformed into his dog form before giving a yelp and walking towards the Forrest.
"Remus, you owe me big for this." she growled out. "You know I hate the Forbidden Forrest." The wolf only grinned and kept walking.
Remus knew she hated going into the Forrest. It was one of the only things that he knew of that she absolutely hated to do. 'She never did tell me why she doesn't like going in there.' he thought. 'She's gonna have to tell me after tonight. Although after I show her the surprise, I'm pretty sure she won't mind going back.'
Sable walked beside the gigantic wolf, mentally chiding herself for agreeing to go along with this. She had been terrified of the Forbidden Forrest ever since her third year at Hogwarts when Hagrid had taken them into the forest after dark on a detention and she had gotten separated from the boys. She had run into some jarvies after getting lost, and they had scared her enough to make her start sobbing. She couldn't find the pathway that led back to the castle, and she didn't have her wand with her since they weren't allowed to have them during detentions. One of the centaurs in the Forrest named Firenze had found her sitting on a log and crying her eyes out. The centaur had sensed that she was a werewolf and was hesitant to go near her, but he eventually gave in and led her back to where Hagrid and the others were searching for her. From that moment on, she had hated going anywhere near the Forrest.
'It's official, Sable. You're boyfriend has gone off the deep end, dragging you into the Forrest in the middle of the night, and on a full moon to boot!' she thought. As they came closer to the tree line, Sable clutched the fur on Remus' neck more tightly. 'And you're an even bigger idiot for going with him, Meadow Sabriel Robbins!' They stepped into the shadows of the trees and Sable felt her pulse rate double as the sounds of the night time Forrest surrounded them. 'Yep, it's official. Remus is going to catch Hell for doing this.' They walked along a path and soon found the other three Marauders waiting on them. Sable took a comforting breath and Remus nudged her forward. 'Yep. You're a complete idiot for doing this!' she thought as they began to walk further into the Forest.
The deeper the group of students walked into the forest, the more the air surrounding the rag-tag group crackled with the feel of pure, unadulterated magic that had woven itself throughout the forest. The luminescent rays of moonlight illuminated the erratic path they seemed to be following, causing shadows to weave in and out of the trees. The gentle rustling of the autumn leaves kept Sable on edge and ready to bolt out of the enchanted woods at the drop of a hat.
Clutching the fur around Remus' neck, she took a few deep breaths and tried to calm her nerves. Apparently, she had grabbed the poor werewolf a little to hard because he stopped walking and looked back to where he thought she would be. He glanced up at her and whimpered, signaling his discomfort. Sable immediately loosened her grip and frowned.
"Sorry, Remus." she said quietly. The wolf only shook his tail and continued to walk. After a good half hour of straight walking, Sable was starting to get antsy. They had been in the forest far to long in her opinion, and she was ready to get out. "Guys, at the risk of sounding like a whiny toddler, are we there yet?" The boys looked at her and gave the Animagi equivalent of human grins. Sable only nodded in understanding. After another five minutes of walking , the path they had been following completely disappeared, leaving them standing at the edge of a very unfriendly looking thicket of brambles. Sable knew they were close to their destination when Sirius, James, and Peter nudged her and quickly took off into the woods, leaving her with Remus. 'Oh, I don't like this one bit!!' she thought angrily. Remus, sensing her hesitation, gently pulled the cloak off of her and nudged her forward with his nose. She began to walk forward with her boyfriend right beside her.
Her increased senses had told her that there was a large amount of running water nearby, and she wondered if Remus was taking her to a lake or something. 'It better be something important!' she thought. 'If he's dragged me out here for something stupid, I'm going to kill him.' She put the thoughts out of her mind as they went through the nasty thicket. The brambles caught in her hair and on her clothes, ripping them in one spot. This, coupled with her fear of being in the forest, caused her to think a number of particularly nasty things about Remus and his ideas about surprises. But the second she stepped out of the dense foliage, she quickly forgot every mean and nasty thing she had been thinking about him only seconds before hand.
She was standing beside a lake that was being fed by a rushing waterfall. Surprise was the only thing that showed on her face. 'A waterfall?' she thought. 'I didn't even think they had a waterfall in the Forbidden Forest. Where did this come from?' The water was rushing over the edge of the cliff, some five hundred feet above her head, but the water on the lake's surface was as smooth and placid as the surface of a mirror. She could feel the mist coming off of the impact point to her left, and she could smell the salty water all around her. 'Salty water?' she thought, completely confused by now. 'The water has salt in it, but we're miles away from the ocean. How is this possible?' She looked down at Remus, who had a smug grin on his wolfish face, and smiled warmly.
"This is what you wanted to show me?" she asked. He only nodded. She smiled even brighter and knelt down to hug him fiercely. "It's absolutely beautiful, Remus!" she gushed happily. "It's perfect." Sable could almost hear him chuckling at her enthusiasm.
'Well, I'm glad she likes it.' He thought happily. He had been planning this trip for two weeks, as a way of saying thank you for all the work she had done to help him. 'It's not much, but I hope it shows her that I appreciate what she's done for me.'
She stood up and ruffled his fur before walking over to the water's edge. She peered down into the crystal depths and smiled. All along the bottom were what looked to be lightly colored pieces of glass. The colors ranged from a light sea-green and baby blue to a rosy quartz pink and soft yellow. She grinned again and ran her hand through the water, effectively breaking the mirror-like surface. Below her, she could see the inhabitants of the lake swimming around contentedly. There were brightly colored fish that hid in the coral reefs, blending in almost perfectly, and little crabs with multi-colored shells. She even saw a few little water demons hiding underneath some beds of grass.
Remus padded up to her and wagged his tail, happy that she was enjoying the surprise.
'And I'm not done yet.' he thought. 'She should get a kick out of this, anyway.
He looked deeper into the water, down past the surface and to the depths that only his wolfish eyes could see. In the very middle of the lake, beyond normal sight, was a seaweed thicket. Inside the thick mass of tangled water plants there lived the water sprites that looked over the lake. They were childlike little creatures that had fins on the sides of their arms and the backs of their legs. Other than the strategically placed fins, the sprites looked just like normal, human toddlers. The differences in the sprites was quite apparent. They all had different color hair and, and some even had little patches of scales on their bodies. But the one trait that they all shared was watery, baby blue eyes that twinkled with mischief and delight. Remus and the other boys had come across this place and its inhabitants at the end of their sixth year, but had not had a chance to come back to it yet this school year.
'Let's see how much you like this.' He thought. He gave a couple of short, soft barks, effectively startling the girl next to him.
"Remus!" she scolded quietly. "What are you doing? Do you want us to get caught out here?" He looked over at her and then back towards the center of the lake, shaking his head at her obvious nervousness. There was no one else out in the forest tonight other than him, Sable, and the other boys. Had their been, he's have already sensed them. Sable followed his gaze and was quickly mesmerized by the changes that were occurring.
A thick green vine began to emerge from the darkened bottom of the lake. A sudden tinkle filled the air, almost like hundreds of little ringing bells. It continued to grow upward, seeming to reach for the light from the overhead moon. Down the vine were large leaves that looked like pea-pods. The vine stopped right before the surface of the water, and slowly began to open one of the leaves on the top row.
Sable watched, even more mesmerized by the sight she was seeing. 'There is no way this is what I think it is.' she thought. Slowly, as though it was just waking up, a small blonde head appeared from one of the unfurled leaves. The head was quickly followed by a pair of arms and legs, both sprouting little fins and green scales, until a small toddler sized girl lay on the open leaf, rubbing her eyes and yawning. Her childish body was covered in what looked like woven sea vines. Sable looked down at Remus and shook her head in disbelief.
"Water sprites?" she gasped. "Remus, this is amazing! They are supposed to be very rare not! No one has seen one for over thirty years!" He grinned even wider and yipped again, bringing the attention of the water sprite up to their level. Sable expected the little toddler-like girl to be scared and swim away immediately. So it surprised her greatly when the little girl's eyes went wide and she smiled happily. The tinkling of bells suddenly exploded to a thunderous proportion, and the other leaves on the vine quickly began to unfurl, revealing over twenty more of the little sprites, each one with its own markings and features. It was like having twenty different toddlers looking up at you from underneath the lake's surface.
When they were all sitting on tier respective leaves, and looking up at the two beings above them, Remus yipped again and the little toddlers began to swim towards the surface, eventually poking their heads out of the water. Sable grinned when the sprites took note of Remus and rushed over to the edge of the bank. Now that they were out of the water, Sable could tell that the ringing bell tones she had heard earlier were actually the sprite's childish voices. They seemed to be speaking rapidly in something that resembled mermish, but she was not sure. Three or four had climbed out of the water and were now climbing on top of Remus, and petting him with a childish enthusiasm. 'Looks like someone has done this before.' she thought with a grin when one of them grabbed his ear and yanked it. Finally, the obvious leader of the group, the first child that had appeared, caught notice of Sable and a big grin spread on her face. She looked back down at the sprites who were playing on the shore and said something. It must have been important, because they nodded and dove back down into the water. The little girl leader sprite left Remus' side and walked over to where Sable was standing. She waved her hand, gesturing for the older girl to sit. Sable complied and sat in front of the girl.
"You friend?" she asked her bell like voice sounding through the pandemonium the other sprites were making. She looked at Sable with big, innocent blue eyes, waiting for an answer. "Friend of Remy-wolf?"
"Yes. I am a friend of Remus'" she said with a nod. The little girl nodded and stood up proudly.
"Have present for friend of Remy-wolf." she said. "Remy-wolf ask to make, we did. Now give it to girl who is like Remy-wolf." Sable quickly wondered what the little girl was talking about. She shook her head in confusion, and the child smiled and pointed to her eyes. 'My eyes!' she thought. 'I didn't put the cover up charm on my eyes this evening, so they are the same as Remus'. That's what she meant!' The child slowly turned and walked towards the bank where her two friends had returned, each one holding a little pouch. Remus, who was growling playfully at the sprites who were climbing on him, took no immediate notice of the exchange between the two females. The little girl leader took the pouches from her friends and walked back to where Sable was sitting. The other sprites, seeing their leader go to the human girl, came out of the water and followed her, sitting down in front of Sable until they formed a rough half-circle around her. Remus, finally noticing what was going on, came and sat next to her, his head lying on her lap.
'She should enjoy this.' he thought. ' I was going to give this to her for Christmas, but I changed my mind. I hope she likes it. I want to be able to repay her for all the help she's given me lately, especially with the Wolfsbane Potion.'
The little girl sprite walked up to Sable and smiled.
"Have present." she said happily. Sable watched as the child pulled out of the pouch, a handful of the colored stones she had seen at the bottom of the lake. "For girl who have eyes like Remy-wolf." The child grasped one of the stones, pulling it away, and Sable realized that the stones were actually strung together. The sprites suddenly stood up, and started gibbering incoherently. One of them walked behind Sable and pulled her hair out of the pony tail she had put it in. Taking one end of the string, two sprites wrapped the string of stones around her neck three times, forming a loose necklace with three tiers. They then stepped away, happy with their work. Sable smiled at them.
"Thank you all." she said, smiling at them. "It is most beautiful."
"Each one mean something." one of the little boys said. The leader girl nodded and pointed to the stones.
"Blue for Remy-wolf." she said.
"Purple for Remy-wolf's friend." another one pointed out.
"Amber from trees for eyes." said another.
"White for moon beams." the leader finished. Sable pulled the longest strand away from her and looked at it. A small shell had appeared on the end of it. It was a small spiral shell that was a dark blue color and seemed to give off a strong magical pulse.
"What about the shell?" she asked, fingering the little shell that had materialized after the sprites had finished their work. "What does that mean?" The sprites smiled, and Sable suddenly realized the they, although in the bodies of children, were much wiser than she had thought. It was rumored that the child like sprites of enchanted lakes had been around since the dawn of time, gathering the knowledge of the world and passing it down the generations. She suddenly believed the rumor to be true. The wisdom that showed in the sprite's young eyes was overwhelming, and Sable did not doubt for a minute that the little children had been there long before she was ever born, and would be there for many years after she was dead.
"Tear-drop shell for trust and care. Very special. Not many left. Will always find its pair." the sprite babbled. They suddenly smiled and stepped back, but not before the leader handed the other pouch to Sable. "Other shell in pouch." the leader said. "Give to someone who is worthy. Only then will power be truly fulfilled." The little girl seemed to notice the position of the moon, and frowned slightly. "We go now." she said. "Time here is over."
Remus stood and walked to the edge of the water as the children began to go back to their underwater homes.
'Well, that went well, at least they didn't pull me into the water this time like they did to Pete. I thought the little boogers were going to drown him the last time we were here! I don't think they like him ver much.' he thought.
Sable stood beside him, watching the little sprites with a smile on her face.
'They are absolutely precious!' she thought. 'I'm going to have to get Remus to tell me how they found them.'
The children entered into the lake, waving to the two on the bank. Sable watched as they climbed into the leaves of the plant once again. When they were all there, the vine gave a shudder and began submerging into the water again, pulling the sprites out of sight. When the sprites were gone, Sable looked down at Remus and smiled, hugging him tightly.
"Thank you, Remus." she said. The wolf only grinned and pulled away, grabbing her cloak and pulling her closer to the waterfall.
'I'm still not finished yet.' he thought cockily. He could tell she was having a good time, and that her initial fear of the forest was slowly dissipating. 'Maybe this will help a little more.'
She followed him without question, knowing the wolfish trickster was not finished yet. Watching him carefully, Sable followed him behind the water fall, coming to a naturally formed cave that had formed over the years from the rushing water that was above it. There was only a little light filtering through the opening, but Sable could see well enough. What immediately caught her attention was a lump of brown at the back of the cave.
'What is that?' she thought. She went to walk forward, but a pair of green eyes stopped her. She heard a low growl coming from the lump of brown and she figured that it was a mother wolf and her cubs. Remus, as a sign of recognition, let a small rumble come from his throat. The first set of eyes was quickly paired with another set, and Sable saw a large male wolf step out of the shadows. Remus repeated the low rumble, and the male calmed down, recognizing no threat in the other wolf. Sable made no more to go any closer to either of them. Werewolves she could handle. Normal wolves......well....that was another story. She had never had any run-ins with normal wolves, and she was not really willing to see if they would attack her if she went near the mother and cubs.
'Especially when it is a lone pair.' she thought. 'I didn't even know there were normal wolves running around here. These two must have gotten separated from a larger pack and decided to set up camp around here.'
Remus sat down at her feet and Sable took a seat on the cave floor. The other wolves did nothing, but Sable smiled when she noticed a fluffy ball of grey move closer towards her and Remus' spot. It was one of the wolf cubs. As it drew closer, Sable steeled herself, not knowing what kind of reaction the parents would give. She knew that wolves were protective of their cubs, and she did not want to cause any problems.
Just like normal children, the wolf pup was curious. He waddled right up to Remus and gave a little bark, trying to get a rise out of the much bigger creature. Remus only looked at the little cub with a lazy expression, making no move. When that did not work , the little pup growled and jumped onto the werewolf, biting his ear and trying to tussle with him. Remus finally stood up, causing the pup to tumble down to the cave floor. Sable watched as the little pup righted itself and was joined by its brother and sister, all three of which obviously took to trying to beat up on the bigger werewolf and its human companion.
The two parent wolves watched as their children tussled with the werewolf and human girl, not worried in the least about the safety of their cubs. The werewolf was a friend to them, and had helped them to find the cave many months before when they had gotten separated from their pack. The girl smelled like a she-wolf, and was careful around the pups, so there was no threat their either. Besides, the male werewolf would not have led a dangerous being to the cave and the pups, it would not have been logical.
After an hour of playing with the cubs, Remus and Sable had tired them out and they had returned to their mother's side, snuggling into her fur and slipping off into wolf-puppy dream land. Remus stood once again and pulled Sable towards the entrance of the cave.
'Time to go, love.' he thought. It was time for them to clear out of the cave and try to find Sirius and the others. Night would slowly give way to dawn in a few hours, and Remus wanted to make the most of their time in the forest since it would be a month before they would have the chance to come back. He and Sable were supposed to meet up at the big pine tree where Firenze had caught them one time during a detention a few years back. Sable pulled the cloak on as they exited the cave, once again making herself invisible to eyes.
They were about a quarter of a mile west of the cave when Sable suddenly got nervous. Remus had tensed, sensing something that was out of place. He could smell Sirius, James, and Peter near them, but what caught his attention was the mumbling of voices his ears told him were right beyond the clearing.
'Someone else is in the forest.' he thought with a frown. 'What idiot is going to wander into the forest in the middle of the night, and during a full moon at that?!'
Sable clutched his fur, and he could tell she was worried. He wanted to find out who else was in the clearing, and make sure that James and the others hadn't run into any kind of trouble. Sirius had not given the warning call, so he figured that everything had been okay. But the fact that there were other people in the forest had him worried. He began to walk quietly towards the clearing, pulling Sable with him.
Sable's own curiosity had been peaked as well. She knew Hagrid was the only other person who would voluntarily go into the forest at any time, let alone at night. But it was not him that she was hearing; besides, he would not be in the forest tonight. Dumbledore had sent him on a trip to somewhere, meaning he would be gone for a few days. So, she wanted to know who else had braved the wilds of the enchanted forest. There were a number of different voices, each one distinguishable to her. None of them were James, or Sirius, or Peter, so she could not figure out who else it was. All the other students she knew of were terrified of the forest, even during the daytime.
The walked silently up to the small clearing and pushed the branches out of their way. The sight that greeted them was one that would forever be etched in their mind's eye.
"Oh, shit, we are in so much trouble!" she croaked quietly, eyeing the people in the clearing.
Around a large fire stood fourteen black cloaked figures, their faces hidden by white emotionless masks.
Death Eaters.
Okay, how'd I do people? I hope you guys are enjoying this so far. I seemed to have gotten over my writers block. YAY! Okay, I'll let you good people go now.
Remember to leave me a review telling me what you think.
Later.
A.A.
P.S. I am now the proud 'godmother' of a green iguana named Firenze. My friend bought him and they won't allow her to keep him in the dorms on campus, so he gets to move in with me.
