Disclaimer: I bet you're sick of disclaimers by now, right? Well I don't own any of the elements in this story. I just wanted to try writing it. You get the idea.
1: The enigmas that was Remus (nearing the end of the first year)
"He's coming, he's coming."
"Shhh, don't say anything."
"Ow! Get off my foot, Sirius."
"Sorry James."
"Will you two stop talking for just one second. He'll hear us!"
"Oh don't you start."
"Shhhh!"
"One,
Two,
THREE!"
The three figures leapt out of the shadows of the evening corridors, ambushing the teenage boy who was walking hurriedly along it. He gave a cry of surprise, dropping a few of the books he was holding under one arm as they swooped down on him.
"What the-"
"Shhh! Don't say anything, Remus."
"What are you doing? Let me go!"
"Why, are you in a hurry to get somewhere?
"YES! Let me go, please! I'm late as it is!"
"Where are you going, Remus?"
"Let me go, James. Please! You have to let me GO!" With a wrench, Remus pulled himself loose and made a break for freedom but Peter was too quick for him. He had hung back from the main part of the ambush but now he latched onto the boy's robes and hung on grimly as Remus tried to shake him off. Sirius and James came up and took an arm each.
"You're not going anywhere until we've had a little talk with you, Mister Amazing-Vanishing-Tricks," James told him firmly, struggling to hang onto his friend as Remus kicked and lunged in a panicked attempt to free himself.
"James, please! Sirius, let GO! You don't understand!"
"Then explain it to us," grunted James
"I can't! I can't! Please let me go!" Remus sounded close to tears but that just strengthened their resolve to hang on to him and get to the bottom of their enigma of a friend. They didn't release their grips, expecting Remus to calm down once he realised he was well and truly caught, but instead he only fought harder, yelling at the top of his voice. But there were no other pupils in the corridors to hear him this late in the evening.
"MISTER BLACK! MISTER PETTIGREW! RELEASE THAT BOY AT ONCE. YOU TOO, MISTER POTTER!" Minerva McGonagall strode towards them with a certain urgency to her tread. At the sound of her voice the three boys instantly released Remus, who fell backwards onto the floor.
"I will NOT have fighting in the corridors." She told them sternly. "Mister Lupin, I believe there's somewhere you need to be?"
Remus pulled himself to his feet, ignoring the apologetic hands the others offered him. His robes were in total disarray, hanging off one shoulder, his light brown hair was dishevelled and scruffy and there were frightened tear tracks making their way down the sides of his nose. He nodded silently and fled down the corridor, leaving his books strewn on the floor. McGonagall watched him go, a strange expression on her face, but she didn't call after him, or tell him off for running. Then she turned to the three friends.
"What you three think you were doing is beyond me. Harassing students, pestering them and attempting to hold them against their will. I thought you were friends with young Lupin."
"We are Professor," said Sirius guiltily.
"Then for goodness sakes try and act like it. I expect you three to head back to go back to your common room and stay there for the rest of the evening. Do you hear me?" They nodded, shame-faced and filed past her. At the last moment Peter turned back.
"Umm… P-Professor, where does Remus have to go?" She looked down at them carefully.
"I do not believe," she said deliberately, "that it is a matter you need concern yourself with, Mister Pettigrew. Instead, I would consider that you think about the hurt you have caused your friend by your actions this evening." With that she stalked off down the corridors. The three friends glanced at each other before picking up Remus' books and heading back to the Gryffindor common room in silence.
"That was brave of you, Peter," James said once they had settled themselves in their dormitory. They were sitting on their beds, feeling the gap left by Remus' empty one very keenly. "A bit silly perhaps, but brave. I wouldn't have said a thing to McGonagall."
"Well there was a reason the Sorting Hat put me in Gryffindor, you know." Peter replied sullenly.
"I know," James said, then flopped backwards onto his bed. "What is it with that idiot?"
"Who, Peter?" Sirius asked innocently.
"Ha ha," said Peter. Sirius grinned at him.
"Remus," James said, ignoring the joke. "Why does he keep disappearing like this? I mean, did you see his face? I thought he was going to break down in tears at any moment. I've never seen him cry, ever! And now he's filling up just because he's going to be late for… for whatever it was. Probably a meeting or something."
"He's mad isn't he," agreed Sirius. "Why won't he tell us what the problem is? What is it he thinks we're going to do? Bite him?"
"We can try again when he comes back," Peter suggested.
"You know he won't say anything." James said.
"I was so sure we had him in the corridor," sighed Sirius in frustration. "If McGonagall, hadn't come along I reckon we'd have found out exactly what's wrong with him." He got off his bed and went to sit on Remus' empty one by the window, gazing out over the Hogwart's grounds. According to the lunar chart that Remus had pinned on the wall above it, next to his poster of his favourite Quidditch team and a few postcards, there would have been a full moon out soon if it wasn't for the rain clouds dumping heavy drops everywhere. It was a clever little chart, showing the changes of the moon day by day and, in the last box, charmed to show what the moon was doing wherever Remus was, no matter what the weather, a broad silver disk beamed out at them. He had bought it with him from home, saying it interested him, which was easy enough to believe. He was most definitely the swot of the four and absolutely soared in astronomy.
"She had a point though, James. I think maybe we did push it a little too far," Sirius admitted. "If it hurts him that much to tell us then maybe we should just leave it."
"But we're not doing it because we want to hurt him, Sirius. We're doing it because he is our friend. And as our friend, he should tell us what's wrong. You don't seriously expect us to leave him to suffer in silence, do you?"
"No," Sirius said with a smile. "I just wanted to see what you thought."
"We'll keep trying when he gets back," said James. Sirius returned his gaze to the window.
"Agreed; when he gets back." He looked at the grounds for a while, as the other two crawled into bed, watching the leaves dance in the rain and-
"Guys, I think there's someone out there," he said, peering through the glass.
"You're imagining it. Go to sleep," yawned James.
"No, I'm serious."
"And I'm tired and you must be too, because you're seeing things. No one's going to go out in this weather."
"Peter believes me, don't you Peter," Sirius insisted. Peter didn't reply. "Peter! Back me up here!" He threw a slipper at him and it hit him on the head.
"Oh fine!" Peter hurled himself out of bed crossly and came over to the window. "What are you looking at?"
"There, look, walking across the grounds. There's two of them, see?" Peter stared hard, his small eyes squinting through the rain.
"James."
"What?" groaned James irritably.
"He's right, there is someone out there. They're going towards the Whomping Willow."
Then they'll be in for a rough time. You remember what it did to that Slytherin girl. She was in the Infirmary for a month."
"Well they did tell us to keep away from it. Apparently it's a rare species or something. In danger of being wiped out!" Sirius gave an ironic laugh. "It'll wipe us out long before we do any harm to it!"
"No, it's not moving!" exclaimed Peter excitedly. "They're right under it, I think, and it's not even trying to touch them. And now…" He pressed his nose to the glass, steaming it up with this breath.
"What, Pete, what?" urged Sirius. Even James sat up in bed. Peter leant back and shrugged.
"They've gone."
"What do you mean, gone?"
"Gone, Sirius, as in, not there any more," he said snidely. Sirius pushed in beside him and glared at the vague silhouette of the Willow as if he could force it to tell him where they had gone. James gave a tired groan and lay down again.
"I think we all must be going mad," he muttered and fell asleep almost instantly. Peter tottered back to his bed and curled up under the blankets. Sirius stayed by the window for a while. Once he thought he saw a shape leave the Willow and head back across the grounds but it could have been nothing. Seriously annoyed, he went to bed.
