Chapter Nineteen: Sirius's Revenge

The next day, Ermengarde got up early and sat in the common room, poring over Time Travel: What Makes it Tick, trying desperately to find some answers to her current situation. It seemed bizarre that she had spent such a very long time in the past – surely it couldn't be permanent? But before she could begin "Chapter Two: Understanding the Continuum", the other Marauders had appeared.

"Morning," Ermengarde called, snapping her book shut.

"Morning," Remus returned. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine. And you?"

"Sore," said Remus, grimacing slightly. It suddenly occurred to Ermengarde that the full moon was that night. She saw that Remus had his Howlite amulet around his neck. She touched it and grinned at him. "Just in case," he whispered.

At breakfast, everyone seemed to be reveling in the fact that it was a Saturday. The lazy chats and laughter drifted over the Great Hall, whose ceiling today was a clear azure. Ermengarde picked at her toast, not really eating anything, and Remus gave her a stern look.

"No, you're not starting this again, Ermengarde. Eat up."

"Sorry, Dad," she said irritably, and she took a bite of toast.

Remus seemed to think she'd been joking and laughed a bit, which made Ermengarde abandon her chilly feeling and smile weakly. Over at the Slytherin table, she saw Snape eating alone, carefully avoiding anyone's eyes. Peter let out a "humph" when he noticed where Ermengarde was looking.

"Let it go," Remus muttered.

"I don't see why I should," said Peter.

"It's not you who was hexed," said James.

"Even so, I've got as much a right to be angry about it as anyone."

"No, you don't. It's not like you'd have helped if you'd been there," said Sirius in a very accusatory tone.

"Look, would you just all shut up about it? It's said and done," said James.

There was a silence all around the table. It was strange to hear this tight-knit group of friends argue amongst themselves, and Ermengarde didn't like it one bit.

"Don't you realize," she said, very quietly. "This is exactly what Snape wants? We're playing into his hands if we just get angry and look for revenge. We should respond with dignity."

"Don't be so prim," Sirius growled. "I've got half a mind to go over there and sort him out. And what about you, Moony? I seem to recall you threatening to hex Snivellus until he didn't look like a human if he ever laid a hand on Snow Wing again."

"Look," said Remus despairingly. "If Ermengarde doesn't want me to attack him, I'm not going to."

"Isn't that sweet?" Sirius muttered into his plate.

Remus opened his mouth to respond, but with a warning glance from Ermengarde, he closed it again.

"Let's take a walk," he murmured in Ermengarde's ear, and they left the table together.

They fastened their cloaks tightly around their shoulders and walked towards the lake, shivering slightly in the November chill. Remus took Ermengarde's hand.

"If there's anything you need – anything at all – you'll ask, won't you?" he asked her. Ermengarde thought it was a strange question.

"Er, sure," she said, confused.

"I mean…if you felt…sad or upset and needed something, you'd tell me, wouldn't you?"

"Yes," said Ermengarde. "Why?"

"I just get the feeling there's a lot you don't tell me."

Ermengarde sighed. There was a lot she didn't tell Remus, because most of it, she couldn't tell him. She wanted so much to say everything she knew, half of her thinking it would solve everything and save more than one life, but the logical side of her said not to, that it was sure to ruin everything if she did.

"Remus, what you have to understand is that I can't tell you a lot," said Ermengarde slowly. "If I did, I can't even begin to imagine what a mess I'd cause."

"No, I'm not talking about the future or anything," said Remus. "I'm talking about you. Sometimes you seem so happy, and then you get so quiet and gloomy. I never know how to act."

"You don't have to act any certain way," said Ermengarde as they stopped by the lake and watched some birds fly over it. "I don't mean to…it's just…I have so much responsibility I have to think about. You understand, don't you?"

"I know," said Remus, kissing her on the forehead and making her cheeks smart. "I just wish I could make it all easier for you. I know what it's like to carry a burden and not be able to let go of it."

The profoundness of this statement hit Ermengarde like a ton of bricks. Of course he knew how she felt, how could she have been so stupid? For some reason, Remus's lycanthropy had become routine. She'd forgotten what a toll it took on him, mentally and physically – and now that she looked at him, she could see the traces of its strain on him. His eyes were sunken and tired, his face pale, and even his hair was somehow limper. Feeling terribly stupid, Ermengarde leaned into the one-armed hug Remus was now giving her and watched another few birds. One, a crow, landed on her shoulder. Remus laughed and swatted at it to go away, but it didn't at first. Only when Ermengarde shooed it did it move.

"Strange…" said Ermengarde.

That afternoon, Remus kept coughing more and more violently, until he finally stood up and said he was ready to go to the Whomping Willow.

"I'm not up to going tonight, mate," said James. "Sorry."

"It's okay. Sirius? Peter? Ermengarde? Are you all coming?" asked Remus.

"Of course," said Ermengarde.

"Yeah, but I'll be a little late," said Sirius. "Oh, I forgot to ask, d'you want to stay nearer Hogwarts this time?"

Remus frowned slightly. "I don't like that idea."

"I mean the Forbidden Forest or something."

"Well…"

"Oh, come on, Moony…"

"All right, fine, we can go into the Forest if you'd like. But I'm ready to go, so…James, can we borrow your cloak?"

"Sure," said James, waving an uncaring hand. He was deeply immersed in an essay. "In my trunk."

Remus went to get it and Sirius leaned over to Ermengarde, whispering in her ear so softly she had to strain to hear him.

"Tonight…great prank…why I'll be late…don't wait up," was all she could make out from what Sirius mumbled.

"Er, okay," she said back, hoping she'd understood exactly what he said.

Remus reappeared with the cloak. "Ready to go?" he asked.

"Always," said Ermengarde, smiling and transforming into an owl.

Remus held out his arm to her and she fluttered to him, letting him nestle her against his chest under the Invisibility Cloak. Peter, too, transformed, and scrambled into one of Remus's pockets for the ride to the tree. Once there, Peter scurried out from under the cloak and pressed the knot on the tree. Remus took off the cloak and folded it.

"Do me a favor," he said to Ermengarde. "Keep a lookout for Sirius, okay? When he gets here, let him know where I've put the cloak. I don't want to forget it. Come on, Peter."

Ermengarde flew to a nearby tree and waited for Sirius. The night was crisp and clear, starlit and very beautiful. She hooted a few times, listening to the echoing effect, and ruffled her feathers, feeling content in the branches. Her happy mood soon vanished, however, when a strange sight greeted her. Severus Snape was sneaking towards the Whomping Willow with a long stick in his hands. He looked around a few times, then prodded the knot that made the tree stop moving. A moment later, he had vanished into the passageway.

Ermengarde panicked. If Snape knew how to get into the passageway, he would get to the Shrieking Shack, and if he made it to the Shrieking Shack…

She had no choice. She took off flying as fast as she could, back to the castle, through an open window, all the way to the Gryffindor common room where she transformed, woke up the Fat Lady, panted the password, and scrambled through the portrait hole. James was still sitting in the same armchair, chewing the end of his quill.

"James!" Ermengarde shrieked. James jumped. "James – it's – quick!"

She grabbed him by the neck of his robes and dragged him out. People were staring, but she paid them no mind. Halfway down the hall, she started explaining what she'd seen.

"I don't know how he figured it out," she wheezed. "But if he makes it to the end of that tunnel, he's done for, and so is Remus."

James looked terribly pale at that thought.

"I would have gone through there myself," she said, gasping for breath as they tore down the front stairs. "But if worst came to worst and I had to transform, I'm no match as an owl. A stag, on the other hand…"

They had reached the grounds and were now setting new land speed records dashing for the Whomping Willow. James smoothly snatched the branch Snape had used from the ground, prodded the knot, and went through the tunnel. Ermengarde transformed once again and started circling the tree, worrying all the time.

A loud bark alerted her that she was not alone. Looking down, she saw a great black dog bounding around, wagging his tail happily. She swooped down and transformed again, glad Sirius was there and hoping he could be of some aid.

"Sirius, listen to me," she said shrilly. "Get in that tunnel and help! No time to explain, just go!"

Sirius transformed, too, and he was laughing. "Nothing's wrong."

"What are you talking about? Go! I'm no good!" said Ermengarde, feeling dizzy with panic.

"Old Snivelly can take care of himself," said Sirius, smiling broadly.

"Old…what? You mean…" Ermengarde finally understood. "You mean you sent him in there?"

"Yep," said Sirius proudly.

It came as quite a surprise to him when Ermengarde started hitting every bit of him she could reach and then proceeded to drag him as best she could towards the tree.

"I just sent your best friend in there to get Snape back, so unless you want them both to get killed, you'll go help!"

"Nothing doing," said Sirius quietly, resisting Ermengarde's tugging enough for her to stop as well. "They're back."

Indeed, Snape had just appeared, being pushed by a very scared-looking James. As soon as they'd cleared the tunnel and gotten far enough away from the Whomping Willow, Snape recoiled from James's touch and, with a roar of fury, took off running towards the castle. James, Ermengarde, and Sirius were all frozen. Then, slowly, Ermengarde let go of Sirius's wrist. James walked up to Sirius.

"Did you – did you tell him to go in that tunnel?" he asked Sirius, as though pleading for it all to have been a misunderstanding.

"I – yeah, I did," said Sirius, and for the first time, Ermengarde could hear a note of shame in Sirius's voice.

"Why?" James asked in the same measured tone.

"Thought it would be funny," said Sirius, seemingly fascinated with his shoelaces.

James sighed, apparently unsure whether to forgive or reprimand his closest companion.

"I didn't think about it at the time," said Sirius quickly. "I was just thinking about you and Remus and Ermengarde and Lily and what Snape did to all of you, and I was just so angry that Ermengarde just let him go – sorry, Snow Wing – and I wanted to do something about it."

"So you tried to kill him?" said Ermengarde. "Wasn't it you who called Snape unhinged for trying to kill us?"

"Look," said Sirius, the shameful note replaced by one of ferocity. "It was a mistake, okay? I was trying to help!"

They all fell silent once more. Ermengarde was angrier than she ever had been in her entire life, not really at Sirius, but mostly at the entire situation. She was angry that Sirius had tried to kill Snape, that James could have been killed trying to save him, that Remus could have killed both of them, that Remus was in a situation at all where his loving disposition was replaced by a monstrous one once a month, that she cared about him so much that she would swear her bones were as sore as his…

"I'm sorry," Sirius practically whispered. "I really am."

"We aren't the ones who need to hear that, Sirius," said James.

"I know," said Sirius. "I'll talk to him tomorrow, all right? I just…can't think about it right now."

And with that, Sirius went walking off towards the castle. James looked at Ermengarde fearfully.

"What if Snape lets it all slip?" he asked.

"Then he lets it slip," said Ermengarde heavily. "There's not much we can do about it but pray he'll keep it to himself and realize it's not Remus's fault anyway."

"Hopefully he'll be too scared to say anything," said James. "Look, I – I think I should go with Sirius. Are you coming?"

"Yes," said Ermengarde. "After tonight, Remus will probably want to be alone anyway."

Ermengarde glanced to be sure the cloak was where Remus had left it, then joined James for the trek back to the castle, hoping against hope that Snape had some amount of decency in his blood.