cascadingmagic - Thanks for reading :D
Felicity 14 - How do I write this? To tell you the truth, I just write the first thing that comes to my mind... I'm glad you like it
koriaena - Thanks a bunch, mate!
Joslin - Here's the update! I'm sorry I couldn't update sooner; I had absolutely no inspiration .
Author's Note - Inspiration is hard to come by... Please make due with this chapter for a while, I warn you it's another cliffhanger-ish chapter ;. If you can't handle another cliffhanger from me you might wanna wait till I post the next chapter. Till next update!
Chapter Nineteen: The Moon's Sorrow
Remus' sudden departure left everyone in utter silence. The heated air of summer seemed to cool down as time progressed further and a slight breeze appear to sweep upon the three lying on the grass below the oak tree. The tree itself seemed to shiver at the sudden chilliness that passed, but immediately fell silent afterward. Sirius who had his back against the tree, laid his head lazily against its trunk and dozed off; Peter also appeared to have fallen asleep, snoring loudly every once and a while.
James didn't understand how they could possibly doze off after seeing Remus leave as suddenly as he had. It bothered him so much that he began to rock back and forth in anxiety; there was definitely something wrong about this he just knew it. It scared him to think that Sirius and Peter could sleep so soundly; were they that clueless and uncaring, didn't they realize it…? Was he the only one out of his group to realize how strange Remus had been acting for the passed year? Maybe it was just him; maybe he was just be thinking too much. Oh, how he wished that it were only in his head. The more James thought about it the more worried and unsure he became.
"I know what you're thinking 'bout, mate." Grumbled Sirius, blinking his eyes open, "Remus, right? He's been acting mighty strange all year, I've sort of gotten used to it, yah know?"
James rumpled his hair and shrugged his shoulders, "I don't blame you either." He replied stretching out his legs, "What do you think…? Should we follow him?"
It took Sirius several minutes before he answered. Peter had rolled over in his sleep mumbling nonsense words as he did so; both James and Sirius smiled sheepishly at Peter; despite his clueless attitude, they had to admit that the boy looked beyond innocent. "Mum…" murmured Peter, snorting loudly. They both chuckled at him for the boy's mouth now hung wide open for all insects to fly in.
"We should take Remus' word for it," began Sirius as he got on both feet, "He'd think we didn't trust him, plus he did say he'd meet us for supper, didn't he?"
James nodded mutely, obviously having nothing else to say about the matter. Even so, he was still concerned and he felt very worried about the entire situation. Sirius brushed some of his bangs from his face and nudged the snoozing boy on the grass below him with his foot. Peter jerked upward, frantically glancing around in panic for the source that had awoken him. His little eyes appeared wide with fear as though he was waiting for something to attack him.
"Hey! It's just us, Peter, no worries." Laughed James, rubbing the boy's head comfortingly, "All right?"
The blonde-haired boy squeaked at the sight of his two friends and nearly fell over. Sirius frowned as he watched little Peter regain his balance and stand up; the boy appeared to be quivering violently. He looked fearfully at his two friends then sighed deeply.
"All right, Peter?"
Sirius scratched his head furiously and scoffed, "Bad dream, perhaps?"
Peter nodded vigorously and flung himself around Sirius wailing at the top of his lungs. Sirius, who had not been prepared for such, stumbled to the ground and Peter along with him. Several students who had been passing by moved along quickly hoping not to get involved with whatever was going on. James blinked; he had not realized what had happened and found himself staring mindlessly at the two of them lying on he floor both dazed and distraught.
"I-it was horrible!" cried Peter; his eyes filled with fresh tears, which dripped along his nose, staining Sirius' cloak, "Howling and screaming—running—almost died—blood everywhere—!"
"Calm down, Peter." Said James, kneeling beside them, "It was nothing but a bad dream. Not a thing to worry—"
"But—But—werewolf!" Peter gasped, clutching Sirius firmly, as though he was a large teddy bear, "Sharp teeth! Yellow eyes—drooling—mad werewolf! Fifty of 'em!"
Sirius twitched at the sudden tightness around his torso area, and began gasping for air. As much as Peter seemed like a weak and feeble little boy, it appeared as though looks didn't mean anything in his case. James knew, from experience, that when Peter was frightened he would clutch to something—anything—for dear life. The messy-haired boy still had bruise marks from the last time Peter had grabbed his arm.
"A-as muh-much as you en-enjoy watching me suffer, J-James," Sirius huffed, trying to get out of Peter's clutches, "W-would you please get him off me!?"
James had to literally tear Peter away from Sirius, leaving horrible scratch marks all over his good cloak. The both of them knew for a fact that Peter had a very bad habit of chewing on his nails and it was beyond them how such marks happened to appear even slightly on his cloak. After Peter finally settled down he hid his face in his hands, apparently still shaken by his nightmare.
"You know, maybe a bit of food will get it out o' your mind!" James suggested, helping the both of them to their feet, "There shouldn't be any werewolves for miles, anyways."
Peter bit his lip and mumbled, "Okay…"
Another swift gust of wind blew passed them causing their cloaks to sway and a few loose leaves fell from the branches above them. James had a strange feeling for something caught his eye from above — something from the Gryffindor tower above them. Out of mere instinct, he traced his eyes to their dormitory window and caught a glimpse of someone, probably Remus, staring down at them. The moment their eyes met, Remus immediately shut the window's velvet curtain.
"Remus!" James gasped, staring upward. He was dumbstruck, what was wrong with him? Sirius and Peter looked at James curiously then up at where he was staring.
"Remus…?" Peter repeated, his tone questionable.
"I don't see anything except the castle, mate." Joked Sirius, patting James on the shoulder, "Feeling okay?"
James jerked himself back to reality and looked at his two friends, "Fine." He said plainly, turning around to walk in the direction of the Great Hall, "I—I must be seeing thing."
Upon entering the Great Hall they quickly noted that Remus was nowhere in sight; James didn't find this very surprising because of the fact that he had seen, or imagined, Remus only moments before up in the dormitory. He didn't really let this get to his head because maybe Remus was on his way down there right now. No need to worry, James thought as he took his seat at the far end of the Gryffindor table nearest to where Professor Dumbledore and the other Professors sat, he's just fine… there's absolutely nothing wrong.
Peter immediately sat down next to James pulled his plate close to him and grabbed as much food as he could possibly get and threw them onto his plate. Sirius, unlike Peter, slumped down into his seat, lazily banged his elbows onto the table, and then rested his chin upon his hands.
"You going to eat that, mate?" Sirius asked Peter, staring at the leftover chicken that he refused to touch, "What kind of surprise do you think Professor Sinistra has for us tonight?"
James cocked his head to one side and thought about it for a moment then scoffed, "Not sure, but knowing Sinistra, she'll give us something interesting. Something we can all go 'Ohhh' and 'Ahhh' over."
Sirius laughed at James' utter sarcastic attitude then took a rather large bite into a chicken leg. James blinked at the sight of it; Sirius must have been very hungry. The handsome chap quickly tore it from his mouth, like some animal, and carefully chewed, ignoring the meat sticking out of his mouth and the constant oil that dripped along his chin and onto the table's surface.
"That was very attractive," James muttered, looking away from Sirius' disgusting table mannerisms, "I'm sure all the canines in the world will fall for you."
Sirius swallowed the last of his chicken and wiped his mouth vigorous with a cloth. He then frowned and shot a glare at the back of James' head, a sly smirk appearing across his face and retorted, "At least I have some kind of species falling for me."
Several other Gryffindors who had over heard gasped with delight at Sirius' most menacing comeback. Peter, being as clueless as always, continued eating his plateful of food. James, on the other hand, laughed and turned to face Sirius with a darkened look upon his bright face. Even though James had been completely humiliated in front of a fair many of people, he couldn't erase the fact that they all had their attention on them. They were all attentively awaiting him to have some sort of a comeback of his own. His other weakness had finally been revealed to himself at that moment; James would do anything for attention.
"Well, now, mate," James began, rumpling his hair as he did so, "At least I won't have to clean up after 'em, and when you do get married, make me the best man! Have many pups together. I'd be so pleased to have a puppy for a godson."
Sirius' face faulted; a horrible image drifted across his mind nearly making him want to throw up all he had eaten. James, as well as several others nearby, laughed humorously at the thought.
About thirty minutes had passed before students began standing up from their seats, all tired and restless. Each of them walked out of the Great Hall toward the comfort of their common rooms and dormitories. James, Sirius, and Peter, on the other hand, were the very last people to leave the Hall. The three of them hadn't seen hide or tail of Remus and didn't know whether the boy was on his way down, or was going to stay up in their dormitory.
"Where is he!?" Sirius grumbled, tossing a meatless bone onto a silver plate full of table scraps.
Peter pushed his plate away from his face and looked up at Sirius with concern. James glanced over to the double doors of the Great Hall hoping to see a glimpse of their weary-faced friend happily waving to them from a distance. Unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen any time soon, instead, the doorway stood empty. The statement was clear: Remus wasn't coming. James shrugged and sank back into his seat with his head against the table. Just as he did so, some sort of shadow moved silently behind him. Sirius lazily looked up at whom it was, while Peter poked around at some of the pudding he hadn't eaten with his fork.
James, being as desperate as he was, spun around excitedly. He hoped with all his might that the one standing behind him was the one person they had been waiting for; "Remus!" he yelled. James didn't want to believe that his friend had lied to them yet again, for there was absolutely no reason for him to do so. He wished that all his concerns were not real, as if his conscience had made them up.
"Bad luck, James." Mumbled Sirius with a sigh.
James' bright and excited face faded as soon as he met eyes with the person behind him. His wishes had been in vain. The one that stood behind him was none other than the white bearded Professor Dumbledore with his half-moon spectacles. There was an unusually strange and concerned expression that was pressed between Dumbledore's wrinkled face that made James want to question it.
"Alas, Remus I am not." Dumbledore said swiftly eying James lightly with his kind eyes. "Is something troubling you three?"
James looked around at Sirius and Peter, not knowing whether to say anything or not. Sirius, apparently didn't know what else to say either because he was looking very intently at James as if waiting for him to start the conversation. Peter whimpered slightly and sank deeper into his seat. Dumbledore, on the other hand, smiled warmly at them; it was strange, from his expression, James felt as though Dumbledore had the ability to read minds, and he shuddered at the thought of it.
"Not all things are what they seem or appear to be," said Dumbledore swiftly, "I believe your friend is waiting for you up in your dormitory?" Dumbledore then turned to walk away then added, "You may find yourself using the surprise to your advantage…"
James stared at their headmaster; he seemed very interested; was Dumbledore telling them something…? What did he mean by 'using the surprise'? What's surprise…? Peter blinked; he was apparently confused at what Dumbledore had just told them and was left completely speechless.
"What do you mean—?" sputtered James, standing up from his seat, "Professor!"
Dumbledore waved a hand to them and trotted off, his voice echoing through the corridors, "Have a good evening!"
His voice faded almost as soon as it had passed through their ears, leaving the Great Hall in complete silent. They were apparently, now, the only people left there. Sirius scratched his head in wonder as he stood up to join James who was still staring at the doorway as he had been doing while waiting for Remus to show. Sirius let there be a brief silence before he spoke in order to let James have time to think things through.
"He's mad," murmured Sirius, patting James on the shoulder.
Peter stood up as well and waddled over to his friends then added, "Me mum tells me that Dumbledore's the best Headmaster Hogwart's has ever seen."
James and Sirius looked at each other and laughed; Peter, not knowing was so funny frowned.
"Then, I guess, everyone else was probably plum crazy, I reckon." Stated James, his usual smirk appearing across his solemn face.
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James led the way through the empty corridors; the periodic chirps from the grasshoppers and insects outside would sound every now and again making a rather beautiful harmony of music as they walked up to where their common room was hidden. Peter, who had an unusually large memory bank, walked in front of them completely determined to declare the password to the Fat Lady. Upon arriving, though, the Fat Lady's door was already opened wide for them and everyone else. Peter was very saddened upon seeing this, but James and Sirius were quite skeptical about the whole thing.
Just before they were about to ask any questions amongst each other, Raven Crescent and another Gryffindor boy, by the name of Samuel Merton, came walking out towards them both with looks of excitement on their faces.
"James! Sirius! Remus!" Raven exclaimed, her eyes looking at each of them, "Where've you been? Classes with Professor Sinistra are starting in less than thirty minutes!"
Sirius waved his hand dismissively and replied, "We already knew, is that why this door's been open? You lot been waiting for us?"
"Sort of," mumbled Merton, scratching the back of his head, "Well, Lupin won't answer the door, and we thought that it would only be proper for you to remind him… Didn't want to disturb him, yah know?
Peter wandered into the common room ahead of them while they continued to think about what was going on about Remus. There was definitely something up, and it appeared as though the only way to find out what was wrong was to ask him themselves. James shrugged; things were beginning to become more and more complicated as the night went by.
Merton tugged on Raven's cloak then walked out into the corridor behind where the two of them stood. "Raven and I are going on ahead. There are a lot of people there already," he said smiling, "Remember, it's in the tallest tower!"
With a small wave Merton ran off, disappeared behind a corner. Raven ran after him, but stopped and turned to James grinning from ear to ear. The girl apparently had something else to say:
"Oh yeah! I was able to get some information out of Professor Sinistra," Raven told them, folding her arms confidently, "The surprise tonight's going to a meteor shower! You rarely see any of those anymore, right?" she squealed with much excitement, "Well, see you there! Mind if you tell Lily I went on ahead? Appreciate it!"
Sirius lazily brushed his hair from the side of his face and watched as she disappeared from sight. Not only did they have to deal with Remus, but now they had to go talk with Evans, too! When things couldn't get any more complicated than they already were. When she had finally gone the two boys walked into the fairly crowded common room and join Peter at the other end; their yellow-haired friend was apparently very interested in a card game of exploding snaps that two third years were playing.
Sirius surveyed the game for a second, then turned to James and gave him a rather exhausted looked; "I'll check on Remus, you deal with the Evans girl." He sighed, folding his hands behind his neck, "It'll be faster, and you know the girl better than I do, anyways."
James agreed simultaneously with Sirius' idea, and he quickly looked about the common room. The place appeared to be more crowded than usual, which was most likely Raven's doing. She had probably been going about telling everyone that there was to be a meteor shower that night. For all he knew, the Ravenclaws, Slytherins, and Hufflepuffs were probably up and waiting for the shower to occur as well. He shrugged; the more crowded it was the harder it was to find someone, and it was particularly harder this time because of the fact that nearly everyone was there.
After what seemed like forever, James gave up; the boy was exhausted and for all he knew Evans might still up in her dormitory. He thought about going up there himself, but the thought of him going up there alone made him turn the color of a red apple. The messy-haired boy sighed as he slumped onto one of the empty red chair right next to where Peter was still watching the two people playing with exploding snaps. He then rested his head against the back of the chair and closed his eyes. So this is what stress feels like, he thought to himself trying to imagine what had happened that day, and I thought today was going to be a good one…
There was a rather loud explosion that erupted a few seconds later; several of the students nearby screamed, but James didn't even flinch. The boy already knew that it came from those blasted exploding snaps, a fairly recent invention that children as well as adults loved to play with. James was quite fond of exploding snaps; he used to use the cards for pranks and gags on unsuspecting neighbors. He was so used to them exploding in front of his own face that he didn't even bother any more, it was like a normal thing to him now; he merely opened one of his closed eyes to see the outcome of the explosion.
"Oy! Next time don't stand there." Informed James, obviously talking to Peter whose face was as black as charcoal, "You're lucky it didn't singe your eyebrows, mate."
Peter looked down sadly then squeaked in a soft voice, "Oh… okay."
It was at that moment that Sirius walked toward them, and to James' disappointment, without Remus Lupin. Sirius looked very glum as he walked toward them, and James had a very bad gut feeling about this even before Sirius opened his mouth. Peter, who had tried his best to clean his face, looked at Sirius in worry. The handsome chap sank into the next comfy red chair right next to James and shrugged.
"Found Evans?"
"No." James admitted, heaving a great sigh, "Any luck with Remus?"
"No. He won't even answer the door!" Sirius exclaimed, furiously rubbing the back of his neck.
James blinked and then looked at his handsome friend in surprise, "Why didn't you just open the door yourself?"
"What?"
"Why didn't you just open the door…?"
Sirius frowned and looked at James with contempt, "The door was locked, James."
"Yeah, so?"
"How do you expect me to open a locked door…?"
"You have a wand don't you? Are you not a wizard?"
Upon noticing this, Sirius felt his cheeks burn red with embarrassment. Why was it always he that made such a fool out of himself? James took note that Sirius had begun blushing and he chuckled under his breath. Peter also found this rather humorous and smiled widely at the both of them.
"Don't take it personally, mate," James laughed, standing up, "Shall we check on ol' Remus now?"
The common room seemed to be filled with everyone from second year and up, apparently all the first years, except them, had already gone up to Professor Sinistra. By now, they probably had only ten or fifteen more minutes before their class started so now wasn't the time to be laying around doing nothing. James, Sirius, and Peter didn't waste any time to pass through all the students, and by the time they reached the spiraling stairs of their tower they had already begun sprinting. Upon reaching the door of their room, they took a moment to catch their breaths.
"Care to knock, Peter?" James huffed, his hand against his chest trying to slow his breathing.
Peter, being the shortest of the group, nodded his little head and knocked about five times evenly on the smooth wooden door. After the knock there came a rather distinct thud as if something or someone fell, and then a bit of rustling from within the room. James exchanged curious glances between his friends before checking to see it the door was open. It was locked, just as Sirius had said.
"Remus?" called Sirius, putting his face close to the door, "Are yeh in there, mate?"
There came no answer.
James scratched the back of his head and then called out, "We're coming in all right?" he then whipped out his wand and exclaimed in a rather loud voice, "Alohomora!"
There came a soft click from the door, signaling to them that the door had been unlocked already. Peter, being the closest to the doorknob, opened the door slowly and entered the room. To their surprise the room was pitch black, the curtains had been drawn shut and not even a candle was lit. James, who still had his wand out, was about to flick one of the candles on when a rather firm grip held fast his hand, immediately stopping him from casting his little charm.
"Remus!" gasped Peter, his eyes as wide as plates.
"Hello," murmured Remus weakly from within the darkness. "I recommend that you not turn on any lights."
The three of them glanced around the room and were able to get a glimpse of what appeared to be the outline of Remus' body. There also appeared to be a faint light coming from Peter's end of the room. Peter immediately knew what it was, his Daily Moon Phase Calendar which appeared to be emitting the light of the moon from within its pages. Sirius along with Peter walked over to the calendar to have a look at it.
"Something wrong, Remus?" James asked curiously, looking his figure. "We didn't see you in the Great Hall, did something keep you?"
There was a fairly short silence before he answered back, "I just had to do a few things…"
Peter, who had his mitts on the calendar beamed widely at them; Remus who was still holding to James' hand finally let go and walked over to his poster to sit down, while James, on the other hand, walked over to his two other friends to have a look at the calendar himself. Sirius shrugged his shoulders, but didn't bother to look at it anymore; it was most apparent that he didn't understand what the calendar was talking about so, instead, he casually walked over to Remus' poster.
"We can talk about what you did later," Sirius mumbled, relaxing his hands behind his head, "After Astronomy class, all right? We're really going to be late."
James let out a hearty laugh and took at look at the calendar. The calendar, itself, look slightly complicated, but it didn't seem very foreign to him. At the very top of the page there was an exact replica of what the moon looked like outside, it looked fantastic and he felt entranced for a second as he stared at it. Bloody effects! He thought, eyes sparkling, not even a werewolf could tell the difference! Below the image, there appeared to be some handwritten words that appeared to be fairly small to read. The moon took so much room that it left the words much too small for James to read without squinting. He read to himself:
Waxing Gibbous97.6% to Full
Wed 19 March, 1972
His sudden hope and awe vanished as he read this and he shrugged; did this mean that it wasn't going to be a full moon that night? The one thing James liked most about the night sky was a full moon, the meteor shower that night wouldn't be complete without it! He rumpled his hair and turned to Peter; the yellow-headed boy seemed rather thrilled, his eyes appeared to be glowing from the light of the moon.
"All right, Peter?" James asked, grinning at the boy, "Yeh seem to be enjoying yourself."
Peter tore his gaze from the calendar and looked at James happily; he looked as if he was about to burst with joy. Sirius couldn't help but grin at the over excited boy for he appeared to be absolutely happy with himself.
"It's almost a full!" he exclaimed, "Almost! I bet it'll be full by the time we see the meteor shower!"
Remus jerked upward at the sound of Peter's voice and what he had said; it was going to be a full moon that night. James, whose eyes had finally gotten used to the darkness, noticed Remus' reaction and was about to mention what was wrong when he realized that the boy was trembling in fright. Remus had his hand clutched at his heart, and he appeared to be struggling with — something — inside of him.
Sirius stretched his arms lazily and stood up, "Well, shouldn't we all head up to the tower—?"
"You guys go on ahead," croaked Remus, the boy sounded as though was struggling to speak, "I — There's a better view of the m-meteor shower from here."
Peter, scratched his head, and waddled over to where James was standing and looked at Remus with curiosity. They all knew for a fact that Remus wasn't the type to miss classes just for enjoyment (that was James' kind of thing to do), and the thought of it just never seemed to click with them. Sirius crossed his arms and walked over to the open doorway; they were probably already five minutes late for class by now. James stared worriedly at his friend; he appeared to be the only one who realized that Remus was struggling to even talk, and possibly breathe.
"If there's a better view then we should all stay, too!" exclaimed Peter, hopping about as usual.
Remus turned to them, his face full of perspiration. "No, I insist you go on without me. I don't want you getting in trouble because of me." He gasped as if trying to grasp some air.
Before Peter or Sirius could protest or try to give their own opinion about how ridiculous Remus was sounding, James grabbed Peter's wrist and joined Sirius at the open doorway. Remus looked at them in surprise. His weary face stared at James in both shock and gratitude, he was apparently waiting for them to argue with him, but, at the same time, he was very grateful to him for interfering.
"I think Remus'll be all right on his own," James muttered, trying to hide the fact that he was gritting his teeth as he said this; he was trying to look as clueless and casual as his two friends beside him. "We're late as it stands anyway. Before we leave, Remus, have you seen Evans anywhere?" he asked, trying to calm his mind.
There was a slight bit of silence before the answer came, "I was talking to her in the common room before I came up here." He began, "She told me — she told me she'd be running late for class. She's up in her dormitory; she said not to worry about her."
James waved to Remus, closed the door, rushed down the spiral staircase, and into the common room. Peter and Sirius came down behind him not long afterwards; the both of them looked extremely flustered and angry, and James didn't even want to look at their faces to answer any of the questions they had for him.
"Why'd you go and do that!?" stammered Sirius, his face redder than it had been before. Several passing students overheard him, but paid no heed or interest to their conversation.
James pressed a hand to his forehead and massaged it; he didn't even want to start on the topic of why he went and did what he did because even he didn't understand why he did it. Peter, who saw James' reaction, didn't want to add to his stress and remain quiet about it. Unfortunately, Sirius was nothing like Peter, and being as stubborn as a mule, he wanted to know exactly what was going on in his best friend's head.
"Look, Sirius," James sputtered, walking towards the Fat Lady's door and out into the corridors, "We'll talk about it later, all right? I don't feel like it…"
Sirius shrugged and followed him, Peter tagging along behind. He knew that he wasn't going to get any information out of James by just yelling, especially in the state he was in now. There was a meteor shower after all; it was supposed to be something exciting! It hopefully would take some of the things off their minds for at least a brief moment. They could always ask Remus later what he thought of the meteor shower.
That is if he'll talk to us, James thought as he walked up another flight of stairs, or rather… if he's even there when we get back. James stopped; what made him think that? Remus wouldn't go anywhere, where could he possibly go, anyway? He was their friend…he wouldn't just leave them, would he?
He shuddered at the thought of it; there was definitely something about what he had just thought that gave him second thoughts about going to class.
"Something bothering you?" asked Peter tugging lightly at James' cloak.
James jumped slightly, he felt as though he had just been pulled out of his own fantasy and back into reality. Sirius, who was the last person up the stairs, eyed James in question.
"No," he said firmly, "there's nothing bothering me at all."
:: STAY TUNED! ::
Next Chapter: White Lies
R emus, Lupin
E vans, Lily
V eritaserum
I mp
E dgecombe, Marietta
W eird Sisters
Uh.... yeah... .