The Songbird and the Serpent

Part II: The Wolf Discovered

Lupin's second year at Hogwart's...

Chapter 2

Although Remus had managed to get away without a full moon during Christmas, they weren't back in classes for long before it was time. He'd gotten away with his usual excuses in the months before the holidays, and this time it seemed he would once again. However, when he returned to the castle after the cycle had finished, his heart sank to see his three friends waiting for him in the Gryffindor common room. Normally this wouldn't have been odd, but it happened to be three o'clock in the morning, and even for James and Sirius that was a late hour to be hanging around in the common room.

"Er...hello there...what are you lot doing up?" said Remus in an almost inaudible rasping whisper--all the howling and growling during the full moon always did this to his voice; usually he'd have taken a potion to help sort it out, but because of the late hour he had decided not to bother Madame Pomfrey, and to sleep it off instead. Peter shifted in his chair.

"Waiting for you, actually..." said Sirius with a grin that Remus wasn't sure he liked. James was watching Remus with an overly-interested expression on his face, and Peter looked a little bit frightened, but was blatantly interested too. Remus shifted his weight nervously.

"Waiting for me?"

"Yep."

"Why?"

Sirius didn't answer, and there was a short silence as James and Peter glanced at Sirius and then back to Remus.

"Sirius told us something...and we want to know if it's true..." said James, and Peter nodded. Sirius began to take a great interest in his fingernails and tried to pretend he was oblivious to everything around him. Remus felt his heart skip a beat.

"Wha...told you something? What...Sirius...what did you tell them!" Remus yelled, although in his condition the yell was more of a feeble screech. Sirius bit his lip.

"Well...I didn't mean to...and I don't know for sure anyway, but frankly I think it's pretty obvious..."

"He said you're a werewolf!" Interrupted Peter, and James nodded excitedly as Sirius began to sink into his chair. Remus was speechless. He was vaguely aware of his mouth hanging open, but made no effort to remedy the situation.

Finally, after a painful few moments of silence Remus composed himself, taking a deep breath and sitting in a chair near the others. James and Peter watched his every move, waiting for some sort of reply as Sirius tried to hide in his armchair and feign ignorance.

"Okay Sirius. So you've figured it out. I don't even care how you did...but why did you have to go and tell everyone?" said Remus, very calmly despite the rage he was currently feeling. Sirius sat up.

"I didn't tell everyone...I only told James and Peter, I swear...look, I'm really sorry..."

"Oh...sorry, are you? I don't think so...but you will be, you git..." hissed Remus, as he leapt for Sirius' chair and tipped it over. James and Peter ducked out of the way as Remus then proceeded to bear down on him, fists and feet flying, as Sirius lay curled in a tight ball on the floor yelling apologies and begging him to stop.

The scuffle didn't last long, what with Remus already exhausted and in no condition for this sort of physical exertion. James and Peter managed to drag him away from Sirius, who sat up and wiped the blood from his nose, looking quite shocked. Suddenly the door to the girl's dormitories flew open and Alice Frost, one of the Gryffindor prefects, stormed furiously into the room in her dressing gown.

"What the hell is going on down here? Why aren't you lot in bed!" She shrieked, and walked over to help Sirius to his feet. "Are you all right?" She asked, and he nodded, holding his nose to stop the blood flow.

"Sorry Alice...we were just playing around...got a bit out of hand..." said James who, along with Peter, still had a firm grip on Remus' arm. Alice shook her head.

"I'll never understand you boys...so violent! I mean, what's the point?" she said, and Sirius shrugged. "Get off to bed, will you...do you need to see the nurse, Sirius?"

"Gno...I'll be fide..." said Sirius, still holding his nose. Alice scrutinised him for a minute, then turned to Remus.

"What about you...are you all right?" she asked, and Remus nodded. Alice gave an exasperated sigh and shook her head. "Well, off to bed then...all of you." She said, quite forcefully, and marched back up to bed.

Sirius sat in an armchair that wasn't laying on it's side and gladly accepted a handkerchief from Peter in order to begin mopping up the blood. James let Remus go when he was sure he'd calmed down, and Remus flopped onto the floor, breathing heavily and wincing with pain.

"Okay...are you quite finished, then? He said he was sorry...and Peter and I aren't about to go and tell anyone, are we Peter?" Said James in a matter-of-fact voice.

"Nope...wouldn't dream of it." Peter replied as he helped Sirius nurse his wounds.

"Aren't you guys...scared or anything?" Remus said weakly, and James smiled.

"Not at all...it doesn't change who you are, Remus. Well, except during the full moon, I guess...but what does it matter?" Said James as he helped Remus to his feet and to an armchair.

"Well...most people seem to think it's a big deal..."

"Nah...so you become a bloodthirsty monster a few days a month...every girl on earth does that after a certain age, and no one cares..." replied James, with a cheeky grin. Remus rolled his eyes.

"Not quite the same thing, James. But thanks, I guess...for being okay with it." Said Remus, rubbing the bruises forming on his arms where James and Peter had dragged him away from Sirius.

"No need to thank us...I really am sorry to find out you have to put up with something like that...kinda puts my problems in perspective..." James continued, and Sirius pushed Peter away from him, becoming irritated by his help. His nose had stopped bleeding now, and he was as cleaned up as he could be without changing his shirt. He looked at Remus with a hopeful smile.

"Forgive me?" He asked, and Remus frowned for a moment, thinking. Finally he nodded.

"Yeah, okay...just don't tell anyone else, or I swear I will kill you. Nobody's supposed to know...Dumbledore'd murder me if he found out. How did you figure it out, anyway?" Said Remus, and Sirius grinned.

"I thought you didn't care..."

"Just tell me, you tosser!"

"Fine, fine...it wasn't hard...all it took was to notice that you always left during the full moon, really. Plus...your excuses were really pitiful, Remus. You're a bad liar. I could tell something was up from the very first time you left last year." Explained Sirius, and Remus frowned.

"Think anyone else will figure it out?"

"I doubt it, if they haven't managed to for this long. I mean, James here is a scholarly fellow, and he didn't figure it out, either. Most people aren't as observant and fabulously intelligent as I am..." said Sirius with a grin, and James rolled his eyes.

"Arrogant git...anyway...Remus, we've made a decision." Said James, and Remus raised a brow.

"A decision about what?"

"We're going to do something for you. Sirius has been looking into it for a while apparently, and we think we just might be able to pull it off..."

"Do I even want to know?" Remus asked, and Sirius grinned.

"We're going to become animagi!" He said, with more than a hint of excitement in his voice. Remus blinked.

"Animagi?"

"Yeah...like McGonagall...the spells are bloody hard, but I think we can do it. Then we'll be able to turn into animals and keep you company...werewolves only attack humans, right?" Explained Sirius, the grin still plastered to his face. Remus blinked again.

"Yeah, I guess that's true...I wouldn't be myself, you understand...my mind completely leaves me when I transform...but, you'd all really do that? It's a lot of extra work..." Asked Remus, beginning to feel a bit better about the whole situation. His three friends nodded.

"Of course...besides, it'll be so great to be able to turn into an animal...I can't wait!" Said James, almost bouncing with excitement. Remus managed a smile.

"Try it my way, and you may not think it's so great..." He said with a sigh. "Well...as long as it's not too dangerous...if you really think you lot can manage it, it would be nice to know someone's out there with me...but either way, I'm just so glad you're all okay with this...not having to keep the secret from you anymore is going to make things a lot easier..."

"Maybe you should be thanking me for figuring it out and telling them, then?" Said Sirius with a smirk.

"You'd better shut up...I swear I'll hurt you again..." Remus replied without a trace of a smile. The smirk quickly left Sirius's face and he made an apologetic gesture. "Come on...I'm exhausted, and in some rather serious pain...anyway, I think it's time we all went to bed, before Alice comes back down here...she can be well scary..."