Chapter Fourteen: Adventures

The Marauders, save Ermengarde, were gathered in the courtyard of the school. The afternoon sun was blazing orange and they knew sunset was, at the most, an hour away. Remus was occupying himself by half-skimming some volume he'd decided to reread before returning to the library, while James and Peter tossed a pinecone back and forth. Sirius kept finding himself watching it like a puppy watching a ball being tossed about, then would force himself to look elsewhere.

"Where is she, anyway?" asked Sirius for about the tenth time. He was growing restless waiting for Ermengarde to show up. "If she's not here in five minutes, I say we just go on without her."

"It's probably just she's gotten into another giggle-fest with Lily and lost track of time," said James, throwing the pinecone and hitting Peter, who was busy trying to brush a spider off his arm, squarely in the head.

"Check the map," said Remus in a matter-of-fact way. "She'd be on there."

It suddenly occurred to the others how obvious this was. After a beat, Peter, James, and Sirius all clambered for the map, careful to hide it from a group of gossiping third-years across the courtyard. After scanning it twice over, they finally spotted Ermengarde's name…according to the map, she should have been sitting right next to Remus.

"Er, Moony, look to your left," said Sirius.

Remus looked. No one was there. He shrugged and went back to his readings. Sirius and Peter continued looking at the map, trying to figure out what was going on. James, on the other hand, got up and looked to the side of the steps where Remus was seated. A large shrub gave a sudden shudder and next thing, James had given a yelp and jumped back. A snowy owl was screeching and fluttering around his head. James ran for cover behind Sirius, his arms over his head, when the owl landed and transformed smoothly back into Ermengarde, who was laughing heartily. After a moment, the others joined in.

"What was that for?" asked James grumpily, fixing (or, rather, rumpling) his hair.

"It was funny," said Ermengarde simply. "You scream like a girl, you know. So, shall we be off?"

The third-years had gone inside at last, and dusk was really beginning to fall. They were all totally alone at last. James pulled out his Invisibility Cloak and threw it around himself, Sirius, and Remus. Ermengarde transformed back into an owl and Peter into a rat. Peter scurried under the cloak, presumably being carried by one of the three. Ermengarde followed the sound of their faint footsteps to the Whomping Willow, where Peter reappeared, ducked under, and pressed the knot on the tree to stop it whomping anyone. Next thing, Remus went bolting out from under the cloak and into the passageway quickly, followed by Sirius, and then James. Ermengarde swooped in, too, then landed on Sirius's shoulder since it was hard to fly in the narrow area.

"Nearly there, Moony, relax. You can stop running now – Snow Wing, that hurts," said Sirius irritably, and Ermengarde relaxed her grip slightly. "Get off, won't you? You're the one who made us late, anyway."

Ermengarde simply flapped her wings in his face and caused Sirius to sputter slightly. When they finally arrived at the Shrieking Shack, Ermengarde landed on an empty dresser and preened for a moment before making her way to the bed and changing back into a girl. Remus still had a few precious minutes before his transformation began. James and Sirius were shifting into a stag and a dog, respectively, and bounded out the door to be ready for Remus to emerge as a werewolf. Peter had scurried off somewhere as well. Ermengarde removed from her pocket a small amulet on a chain and showed it to Remus.

"Now, I can't really give you this until later, since you'll probably break it or try to eat it or something," she said. "But this is a little gift for you."

"What is it?" asked Remus quietly, touching the crystal delicately, as though afraid it would bite.

"It's called Howlite," said Ermengarde. "It's supposed to help balance the mental and physical. I thought it was only appropriate."

Remus smiled and held the crystal properly. He looked touched. Ermengarde took the crystal back and replaced it in her pocket with a grin.

"Thanks, Ermengarde," said Remus.

"You're welcome. How much time do you have?"

"Not enough. You should probably go ahead."

"Okay," said Ermengarde, and she stood up with Remus. "Well…"

"Well."

"I'll see you later, then."

"See you," said Remus, and he was smiling again.

He gave Ermengarde a quick kiss, which made her blush and feel glad the room was dark, and Ermengarde transformed yet again into an owl. She flew out of the room, out of the Shack, and out onto the stretching lawn. Sirius and James were having some sort of race that James kept winning. Ermengarde simply swooped around, enjoying the cool, humid night air. It wasn't long before Remus came bounding out of the house, growling like a lunatic.

The night was clear and fine, perfect conditions for an adventure such as this. For hours they scampered, galloped, hunted, and fluttered, having their own sort of fun while at the same time being sure never to let Remus out of sight. Ermengarde mused about what a strange thing it was to see Remus – normally so gentle and sweet – as this bloodthirsty beast below. She had just made a spectacular swoop past a window garden when she heard Remus let out a howl. Remus-the-werewolf was running, fast, toward some prey Ermengarde could not see. Knowing it could be nothing good, she flew as fast as she could until she was right over him…and then she saw it.

Running away from Remus was a tiny boy, too winded to scream. Ermengarde dived in front of Remus's face, flapping her wings threateningly. Remus, however, was too focused on his intended target, and raised his claws to knock her out of the air. Luckily, he only hit her wing, but she tumbled to the ground all the same. Knowing the others were far behind and that she had no other choice, she turned back into a girl and sprinted to the boy. She threw herself bodily in front of him, blocking him from Remus. Remus was too close. He was ready to bite –

But no. James and Sirius had finally turned up. James distracted Remus with a quick antler in the stomach and Sirius growled at him fiercely. Ermengarde gathered the little boy in her arms and carried him to safety.

"Who are you?" she asked the boy. "What are you doing out of bed at this hour?"

"I'm sorry!" the boy sobbed. "I heard a noise and I thought I saw a werewolf and I wanted to see if it was real!"

"It's all right, but that's dangerous! From now on, if you see a werewolf, you hide, do you hear me?" Ermengarde scolded.

"Yes."

"Where do you live? I'll take you home."

The boy told Ermengarde where his house was, and she made sure he was inside before turning back to find the others. The sky was just beginning to glint with deep red and she knew Remus would have begun to transform back into himself. She hoped he'd made it back to the Shrieking Shack in time – she didn't have a robe to lend him.

Panting, red in the face, Ermengarde burst into the Shrieking Shack, clutching a stitch in her chest. Remus and the others were already there, looking grave.

"Are you okay, Ermengarde? I didn't hurt you, did I?" asked Remus anxiously.

"No," she panted, taking the Howlite out of her robes. "But maybe you should have this on hand at all times."

Remus managed a small laugh which Ermengarde returned. He took the amulet and put it around his neck.

"Well," he said. "We should go."

And the Marauders went back to school, though Ermengarde couldn't help wondering just what she'd gotten herself into.