MAELSTROM

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN-SMOTHERED

"I had no idea that he went to Azkaban," I said quietly reaching for my goblet of water.

"Neither did I," Remus mused. "And I gather that 'mysterious incident with another student' was you and Sirius."

I sighed and let my forehead hit the table with a 'thunk'.

"When is this going to end?" I said as tears began forming. "I don't want to lose anymore of my friends."

"You won't," James said fondly putting an arm around Lily.

I raised my head.

"How do you know?" I said. "Look at what happened to Arthur and Molly."

"Arthur's death was an accident. He snapped because of Molly. Her death was on purpose…and we plan on finding out the culprit."

"Poor Arthur," Lily said sadly.

"I know," I said quietly. "I mean I know none of this is my fault, but I can't help but feel that it is."

"No," Remus said sharply. "None of this is your fault…got it? I want you to stop talking like that."

I smiled.

"Okay,"

"The question is," Remus said his tone lowering and softening. "If Luke just broke out of Azkaban yesterday, then who's responsible for the Seal Placement charm?"

We looked at each other.

Just then, Professor Dumbledore arose from his seat at the Head Table.

"I've got an announcement," he said brightly. "There Valentine's Day dance next month on February 14th."

Moans, murmurs and giggles went around.

Remus and I looked at each other.

"Do you think that's wise? After the Wixev nearly gored Remus?" James whispered.

He suddenly turned to me.

"Hey," he said as realization dawned on his face. "You haven't had anymore 'dreams' have you?"

I shook my head.

"No and Thank God," I breathed.

But, just as I said that, my eyes slid out of focus and I went rigid.

REMUS.

Immediately, we recognized the look on Carrie's face.

I watched her intently. So did James and Lily. Sam and Holly were too busy talking to notice.

Once her eyes slid back into focus and she shook herself, she turned to me.

"A vision right?" Lily whispered quietly, keeping her voice low. "What happened?"

Carrie seemed genuinely confused and a bit worried.

"I'm not sure," she said slowly. "It looks like I was looking through someone's eyes. But all I know is it's a Gryffindor."

Lily and James' faces drained of all color.

"Are you sure? How can you tell?" James whispered.

"Because I saw the person entering the common room. I think I recognize the common room when I see it," Carrie said with a coy smile.

"What else did you see?" Lily asked leaning forward.

"The person was entering a dorm…and when I looked down at my hands, they were holding a pillow. But they looked like a guys hands," she said frowning.

"Most weird," James admitted looking spooked.

"Yeah," Carrie said slowly.

We headed to our classes. I could still see that Carrie was bothered by her vision.

We sat in History of Magic taught by Professor Gray. I leaned close to her.

"That vision is still bothering you…isn't it?" I whispered. "Do you have any idea as to what it was? Or who it might've been that you were looking from?"

Carrie copied down the notes on the board.

She was clutching her quill tightly.

"No," she said.

But there was something funny about her tone.

Deciding not to push her, I returned to my own notes.

CARRIE.

Truthfully, I did recognize the hands. But I didn't want to say anything. I couldn't believe it was him though. But what confused me is what he was doing with a pillow?

I bit my bottom lip. I was just going to unfortunately, wait and see what happens.

After class, we headed to Charms, and then to lunch.

We all sat at the Gryffindor table. Sam and Holly decided to head out onto the grounds despite the snow. I guess they liked the cold. Another storm had started dumping more snow on what was already on the ground.

"Geeze," Lily said. "Isn't a bit weird for October/November?"

"Yeah," James said. "But then again no."

Lily shrugged and helped herself to chicken pot pie.

Remus was studying me.

"How are you feeling now?" he asked gently.

"Much better," I grinned.

He grinned back.

I went back to my chicken salad sandwich.

After lunch, we headed to Transfiguration and Astronomy in the Astronomy Tower.

Visions of Arthur falling to his death still haunt me. I shut my eyes, trying to stop the images from showing themselves, but it was a losing battle.

Professor Dawson was explaining the stars and alignments.

We were to map out the stars and then, using the textbook called "Star Charts and Their Meanings" to decipher the patterns.

I mapped out mine. Professor Dawson came around and looked at everyone's charts.

She gasped when she saw mine.

"What is it Professor?" Lily asked looking concerned.

"Your friend here should be afraid of pillows," she said looking terrified.

"Pillows?" James repeated, making sure he heard right.

"Pillows," Professor Dawson repeated again before moving onto Remus.

Remus was giving me a strange look. I just shrugged and went back to my mapping.

After that, we headed down to dinner.

"Wasn't what Professor Dawson said a bit eerie to you?" Lily asked helping herself to some mashed potatoes, carrots and chicken.

"Yeah," James said. "Especially after the vision you had."

"I know," I admitted. "That has me bugged."

James looked at me with a confused expression.

"Confused," I corrected myself. "Bugged, confused, baffled…they mean generally the same thing."

James nodded as he understood.

"What do you think it means?" Lily asked.

"I honestly don't know," I mused.

"I'm like really creeped out," Remus said.

"Same here, Moony," James said looking grave.

A few minutes later, Sam leaned close to James and whispered something to him.

Holly and Sam headed off to bed the minute they finished dinner.

"I hope Holly's feeling okay," Lily said concerned.

"She is," James said. "Sam just told me she's feeling fine…just tired. She didn't sleep well last night. She had a nightmare."

We nodded, feeling relieved.

After we finished our dinner, we headed to the common room.

James and Lily snuggled up together on the hearth rug. Remus and I were curled up on the couch.

I checked my watch. It was 10:00 PM.

"Time for bed guys," I said yawning.

James and Lily yawned too.

"Yeah," Lily admitted.

We all got up and headed to bed. Remus pulled me aside before we went to our dorms.

"Listen," he said quietly. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you okay?"

I smiled.

"I know,"

He gave me a wink and kiss before heading to the boys' dorm.

I entered the girls' dorm and changed into a pair of sweat pants and a red tank top with spaghetti shoulder straps.

I pulled my hair into a hasty ponytail. Some of the shorter strands had come lose and hung down against my cheek.

I pulled down the covers and slid into bed.

I laid down on my back and pulled the sheets, blanket and quilt up to my chest. I folded my arms under my head and stared up at the ceiling deep in thought.

I couldn't understand what the vision meant. Usually, it was clear…but now, it was foggy and that's what was really bothering me. The fact that I couldn't tell what was going to happen to try and intervene.

Sighing, I put my arms down at my sides and closed my eyes.

I heard Lily's gentle snoring in the bed beside me.

Pretty soon, I was out cold.

Around midnight, I woke up, sensing someone was standing beside my bed.

I squinted.

"Who's there?"

The dark shape didn't reply.

The next thing I knew, I felt something soft being pushed over my face. I tried to scream, but my voice was muffled by the object.

I kept thrashing around, trying to get this object off of me. Someone was holding it down.

My hands began thrashing around. I felt my hand connect with a glass on the nightstand beside my bed.

LILY.

I had been in a deep sleep when I heard glass breaking. I woke up with a start.

I reached over onto my nightstand and switched on the light.

I screamed when I saw the person standing beside Carrie's bed holding a pillow against her face.

"REMUS! NO!"

At that, all the lights came on.

"Someone get McGonagall!"

A third year girl ran from the girls' dorm.

Remus had this eerie expression on his face. It's something I'll never forget.

Carrie was still thrashing around.

I went over and tried to pull his hands off, but he shoved me with such inhuman strength. I landed on my rear end.

Carrie was going to smother.

Shortly, Professor McGonagall arrived.

"Stupefy!" Professor McGonagall said pulling out her wand and aiming it at Remus.

Remus fell sideways stunned.

Carrie had stopped thrashing.

I rushed over to her.

"Carrie? Carrie please wake up!" I pleaded anxiously gently, but urgently shaking her.

Finally, Carrie let out a loud gasp as she began sucking in air.

"Oh Thank God!" I said relieved as happy tears began forming.

"Who was it? OH MY GOD!" she said in a hoarse voice as she saw Remus lying stunned.

"I don't believe it either," I said quietly.

Professor McGonagall had the rest of the Gryffindors go to bed and me, Carrie and Remus headed out to the common room.

James appeared shortly in the common room.

He looked from me, to Carrie, to Remus and then to McGonagall.

"What's going on?" James asked slowly.

"Remus just tried to smother Carrie," I said sitting down on the couch. Carrie was sitting next to me.

"WHAT?" James exploded.

He looked genuinely confused.

"Remus just tried to smother Carrie…with a pillow," I repeated.

James' face drained of all color.

Professor McGonagall got Professor Dumbledore and Professor Dumbledore entered the common room shortly.

Once the teachers were all there, McGonagall unfroze Remus.

He was sitting on the floor looking up at us with a glazed expression on his face.

"What am I doing out here?" he asked bewildered. "I was in bed."

"You don't remember what you were doing?" Carrie asked hugging herself.

"No," Remus said. "The last thing I remember was going to bed. What happened?"

"You tried to smother Carrie with a pillow," James said.

Remus swallowed and looked sick.

"Have you been having memory lapses like this often?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

"Actually," Remus began looking nervous. "Yeah. Those times I changed and tried to attack Carrie as a wolf. I didn't remember doing it. When you guys told me what happened…well, you saw my reaction."

"When did this all start?" Dumbledore asked.

"Just since Holly and Sam arrived," Remus replied.

"We've already ruled them out," Dumbledore said. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to detain you in the dungeon. I have a dungeon where we can keep you. You three will be allowed to visit him."

Professor Dumbledore stood over Remus and pulled out his wand. He tapped Remus' wrist. A pair of magical handcuffs appeared on Remus' wrists. He stood up and went to take a step toward Carrie, but she backed away. I don't think any of us will forget the look on her face as she looked at Remus.

It was a mixture of disgust and fear.

"Carrie…" Remus began but Carrie cut him off.

"You said you'd never hurt me," Carrie said her voice shaking violently. "But you've tried to kill me numerous times…actually, succeeding once had you not gone back in time. There's no way I can trust you now."

The look on Remus' face was just as bad.

"Come on," Professor Dumbledore said quietly as he and McGonagall led Remus out of the common room.

Once they were gone, Carrie burst into hysterical tears.

James and I went over to her.

"What's going on?" she sobbed. "Why is Remus trying to kill me?"

"Because I have a feeling that's not Remus," James replied narrowing his eyes.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, looking up at James.

James put his arm around Carrie comfortingly.

"I have a feeling that's not Remus…well it is, but I think someone's possessing him,"

"Who?" Carrie sobbed.

"Who else? Voldemort,"