Nearly one month later...
Severus and Draco had to work like mad to get caught up. Because Severus had been out of comission for so long, he had a lot of regular schoolwork to make up, in addition to preparing for O.W.L.s, so he didn't have the time to tutor Draco with Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor Foxworth helped if he had a little free time, but had also advised Draco in that Remus Lupin might be able to give him some pointers as well. Draco decided to keep from Severus the fact that he was getting this kind of extra help from the Gryffindor. He thought Sev would get upset.
In return, Draco helped Remus with his Potions issues. James and Sirius got involved as well, "supervising" while Draco and Lupin were in the dungeon during study halls and free periods. Draco wasn't sure if this was the best idea; Potter and Black, after all, kept setting off dungbombs or Dr. Filibuster's Fireworks at inconvenient moments. They claimed it was helping Remus by making him better able to deal with distractions while concocting a potion. Draco was quite sure it was more to help themselves from growing bored. He couldn't understand why they found potions boring. It was outrageous.
One night, just before O.W.L.'s were to begin, Remus and James caught up with Draco just after dinner to tell him that Remus could not meet with him for extra Defense study. "Oh, right. Not tonight," Draco nodded.
Something obviously made James upset at hearing Draco's tone. In a moment, it occurred to him why. "Remus, you didn't tell him?" he hissed.
"No, he didn't tell me," Draco cut in. "I already knew. It's better if you don't know how I found out. Don't worry; I have no intention of saying anything. Lupin and I have an agreement. And while you may not think much of Slytherin honor, you should be glad that we have it," Draco said coolly.
Sirius and Peter appeared beside James. "Come on, Jim. We've got a long night," Sirius reminded him.
"Not so damned fast, Sirius," James growled. "He knows about Remus!" he told him, jerking his head toward Draco.
"Well, how the hell did that happen? I thought we had everything covered!" Sirius spat, apperently as pissed off as James was.
"We do! He won't say anything, I know he won't," Remus told them desperately.
"Yeah, how do we know that?" Sirius asked him crossly.
"Oh, I have a way to keep him quiet," Peter suddenly. Surprised, everyone looked his way. "Remember when Julius Caesar was killed? They made each Senator take a stab at him. This way, no one couldn't claim they were innocent, and turn on their accomplices. So, all we have to do is make Malfoy here take a stab; we take him with us."
James was about to nix this idea, but after a few minutes thought, he turned to Sirius. "What do you think?" he asked.
"Is he able to hold it long enough?" Sirius asked Peter in a low voice.
"Long enough to stay in the Shack certainly. Probably long enough to last the night," Peter reported.
"Hmmm... Come to think of it, I haven't even seen your form yet," Sirius said.
"Maybe, but I'm not so sure this is a good idea. People will notice that I'm missing," Draco warned them. "Expecially Severus. He very rarely misses a trick. It's just a sign of how busy he is catching up that he hasn't made an issue out of my working with Lupin here." Everyone began walking away from the Great Hall, speaking in soft voices.
"Look, regardless of whether or not Malfoy goes, Remus must get back to Gryffindor House soon..." James told them while checking his watch. "Foxworth will be there any minute, Remus!"
"Right... Well, see you later, maybe..." Remus breathed and hurried off. Peter tagged along behind the bigger boys, angling to get a word in edgewise while James and Sirius debated the wisdom of having Draco Malfoy accompany them.
"Y'know," Peter pointed out when he had a chance, "if Remus trusts him with the secret, why can't we? I'm aware of the trouble we could get into, but that's never stopped us before. And this way, we'll have another extra person with us, just in case we need him."
"You just want him to come because you feel like you're the one who got him to make the change in the first place," Sirius snapped. He seemed a bit peeved that Draco had managed the change while he was away for Easter.
"He doesn't want to go," James argued with Peter.
Draco wasn't sure whether he wanted to go or not. While it would be great to get out of Hogwart's for a few hours and blow off some steam, he wasn't sure that this was the best way to go about it. He wished with all his might that he could take Severus with him. But that was certainly out of the question; he wanted Remus to keep the Secret, and if he started blabbing to everyone about how Lupin was a werewolf, how could Draco expect Remus to keep his end of the bargain? Naturally, he couldn't even mention this to the rest of Remus' friends; they had no idea that Remus was a Secret-Keeper.
"I think we can trust him more if we get him to go with us..." Peter countered.
James considered this. He looked for all the world like he'd like to perform a memory Charm on Draco, but Draco already (thanks to Severus) knew the best way to counter the spell. It would cause a great deal of fuss in the hallway, alert a bunch of teachers, and cause a lot of awkward questions if James tried something like that. In the end, by the time they got to the hallway leading to Slytherin House, they made up their minds. "Okay Malfoy. You're coming with us. At precisely midnight, find a way to get out of the dorm and out into this hallway. We'll meet you here. You'll see Peter there," he instructed, pointing to a corner, "and you'll follow him out. If your form is small enough to not be noticed, use that."
"And what if I don't?" Draco asked, just to be ornery.
"You don't want to find out how it's going to be if you don't," Sirius answered. Then, they all darted off, eager to get back to Gryffindor Tower and wait until Remus was taken out for his monthly adventure. Considering how badly last month's had been, Draco realized that it might be one reason Peter was so insistent on having a fourth person helping out this month. Remus was getting harder to control.
Draco watched as everyone in his dorm got ready for bed except Severus. He was still out in the common room, studying. When it was five minutes to twelve, Draco got back out of bed, and tossed his Invisibility Cloak on. He tiptoed through the common room, and noticed Severus dozing over his Arithmancy book. With a twinge of guilt, he opened the door. It creaked a bit, and it made Severus stir a bit. Draco stood frozen in place until Severus resettled into a napping mode. Then, he left.
In the darkness, Draco could make out the shape of a small, fat gray rat in the corner. It must be Peter Pettigrew, Draco thought. The rat watched the door of Slytherin House opening and closing, and then Draco noticed that Peter just started scurrying off. He wondered if Peter might have seen Invisibility Cloaks before. Just then, Draco bumped into something that he couldn't see, but heard "Oof..." coming out of nowhere.
"Oh, no way!" Draco hissed. He's bumped into someone else with an Invisibility Cloak! No doubt it was James and Sirius under the cloak. Sirius revealed his face. "We know you're in there, Malfoy! Say, if you pick up Wormtail there, we can get there faster. Go out the front doors and head for the Whomping Willow." Draco reached out, so Wormtail could see his hands. The rat leaped into Draco's grasp, and they all dashed off.
No one noticed someone else leaving Slytherin House, after tapping his wand on his own head to perform the Disillusionment Charm, following them...
Draco, James and Sirius waited until Wormtail scurried up to a knot on the Whomping Willow's trunk and pressed it. "Alright, guys. Time to change..." James announced. Sirius turned into the black dog, James into the stag, and Draco felt himself meld into the ferret shape. "In this form, I'm Prongs. He's Padfoot. The rat is Wormtail. And the wolf will be Moony. You need a name..." James told Draco, in that strange way that animals talk to eachother.
As Draco scampered through the underground passage with the other Marauders, he tried to think about what his name could be while he was in animal form. Nothing came to mind as they resurfaced in the basement of a bedraggled building. They all emerged from a trap door, then Prongs glanced around. He seemed to glance behind him and gave a peaceful blink. Padfoot emerged next, listening and sniffing the air. Wormtail skittered into the next room. Draco struggled up out of the trapdoor, and transformed into his human form again in order to climb out more easily.
Prongs came back down to Draco. Draco could still hear the animal speak, even though he was in human form. "Werewoves attack humans, not other animals. That's why we change. Moony may be here already. Hurry, change back!" Draco didn't need to be told twice; he did his change again. He didn't want another run in with a werewolf unprepared; there were no books to throw at him in this place.
Everyone followed Padfoot upstairs, and they found Remus Lupin sitting there at the kitchen table. In surprise, Wormtail popped his form. Peter sat ont he floor, asking "Hey, weren't you supposed to change already?"
"I suppose it's a late moonrise..." Remus sighed. Then, he saw Draco's ferret form. "Oh, he did decide to come! He's a ferret! But what are we going to name him? Oh! I know! We'll name him Snowy!"
Draco popped his form at that comment, and his face grew quite red. "Snowy? Are you fucking kidding me?"
Peter and Remus sniggered. Sirius and James popped too. "Yeah, ha, ha guys! Peter, Draco? You mind getting back into form? The moon has risen a half-hour ago..."
"Oh," Peter squeaked, then Wormtail made his reappearance. "I'm hungry," they heard him say.
As James resumed his form of Prongs, he answered, "Soon Wormtail. We'll be able to go to the sweets store, and we can nibble there." Draco, as the ferret once again, still found the simpler thought process of the animal form uncomfortable. Especially since the name Snowy was starting to sound even remotely reasonable. Watching Remus, he sniffed the air with his tiny pink nose. Wormtail scampered over to his side, and sniffed as well.
Padfoot approached Remus, cocked his head as dogs tend to do when they are trying to figure out something, then looked out the kitchen window. The moon was full and bright, streaming beams through the ragged curtains. Prongs joined his friend by the window. Padfoot leaped up, resting his front paws on the windowsill. He tail wagged in anticipation. Wormtail and the ferret started making rounds throughout the kitchen, usually ending each lap by Remus' feet, sniffing them before beginning their pointless chase between the table legs once again.
Some more time passed. Padfoot settled by Remus' feet. Prongs gave his deer-stare to Remus, then resumed his vigil of the moon. By now, the ferret had grown tired of his lap running and drooped in a corner, feeling a little cold. Wormtail sent a single thought that they all heard loud and clear: "Bored!"
Sirius reappeared first, and everyone else followed suit. "Moony, what's going on?"
"I...don't know." Remus went over to the window, looked at the full moon. "There's no way that it could be the wrong night, could there?"
"Not if Foxworth came and got you," Draco answered. "How much chance would there be if not only all of us, but also Foxworth making the same mistake? I'd say less than zero."
"Have you ever, um, skipped a month?" Peter asked.
"Don't I wish!" answered Remus.
"I've heard of the Blue Moon, where the full moon rises twice in one month. But I've never heard of month where it skipped..." James said, shaking his head.
"Um, Jim, I hate to tell you, but the moon does not ever skip a month," Sirius pointed out.
"No shit, Sirius, really?" James asked in an exaggerated tone.
Then, as if zapped by a jolt, Sirius seemed to wake up. "Hey Jim? What time is it, anyway?" he demanded. He pulled James' wrist over to him eyes. "Holy shit, it's almost three in the morning!"
For a long moment, no one said a word. Then, in a low voice, Peter finally said it. "Maybe he's not going to change..."
Sirius' eyes flew open. James' jaw dropped. And Remus clasped his hands under his chin, as though praying. "Dear God, do I dare hope..." he whispered. Peter gulped. Draco shifted uncomfortably.
"Damn! I never even got to Zonko's!" Peter complained. "You guys used up all of my spare reserve of dungbombs!"
"Yeah, don't I know it!" Draco sniffed.
"Hmph, you must think we're a bunch of morons..." Sirius said to Draco, who was tipping back his vial of headache remedy into his mouth.
"Oh, think nothing of it," he said after he swallowed. "I had wanted to get out for a little while anyway."
"There's not enough time now. Foxworth will be here to get me in a little while," Remus told him. Draco checked his own watch. Oh, yes, he remembered last month, very well. While he was laying in bed in the Hospital Wing, Foxworth had dragged Lupin in around four in the morning. They had to be get of here, and back into their dormitories, before Foxworth got here. It took about twenty or so minutes to get from Hogwart's to the Shrieking shack; and about ten minutes to get back into the dormitories from the Whomping Willow.
But, if that timetable were correct, then that means that Lupin should definitely have turned into a wolf and back by now. Draco went over to the window. He could hear Remus behind him getting up from his chair at last and settle on his knees on the wooden floor. It sounded like he was back to praying again. "Please, God... just a little longer."
Another half-hour passed. Remus remained human, unbelievably, the entire time. Sirius and James started a very lively debate about how such a miracle could have taken place. At first, it was lost on Draco as to how such a thing could have happened either.
"Well, something must have happened! You don't just grow out of it! I've done research on it!" James announced.
"Yeah, I'm the one who helped you find the books, Jim!" Sirius pointed out, clearly unamused. In fact, he seemed almost pissed off. Well, in a way, Draco couldn't blame him; their night was ruined because Remus Lupin didn't change into a werewolf. Pretty ironic, that.
"James, there was absolutely nothing in those books about any cure. This must be something beyond our knowledge," Sirius then said. Draco kept silent. He glanced at Lupin, just to make sure that he hadn't grown a hair since they left the castle. Peter was probably right; Remus Lupin has been cured. And he was starting to get a sneaking suspicion that he knew exactly how this happened. And despite his silence, the panic was starting to roll over him. The shit was really going to hit the fan now...
He could feel Remus' eyes on his back. It wasn't going to take long for Remus to make the connection as well. And how long will he keep the secret then? Remus had kept it secret from his friends about the Breaking. They also didn't know that Severus had Healed him. But they weren't going to accept the "miracle cure" explanation. Neither was Professor Foxworth, or Professor Dumbledore. Draco began to pace between James and Sirius, trying not to step on Peter, who was seated on the kitchen floor near Remus. How the hell was he supposed to know that Breaking and Healing would cure a wizard of lycanthropy? Who the hell would have thought it?
Sirius cleared his throat, and Draco spun around to glare at him. "We have to get back to Gryffindor Tower..." Sirius said.
"Not so fast..." a voice, all too familiar, called out. Draco narrowed his eyes; he could just make out a strange silhoutte that blended into the surroundings, like a human chameleon.
"Severus!" he gasped.
"Yep." With a tap of the wand on his head, Severus reappeared before them.