UNDER THE FULL MOON

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Disclaimer: If I had a million dollars, I still wouldn't own Harry Potter…

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CHAPTER THREE – A BAD DATE

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Remus trailed behind Madam Pomfrey as she led him out onto the grounds. The sun was sending its last tendrils over the surrounding mountains, casting a long, tapered shadow behind him. The apprehension crept up in his stomach, like it always did, as he walked away from the castle under the setting sun. A jolt ran through him as the Whomping Willow came into view. He'd done this for so many moons, and yet, each month, he wondered if this time something would go wrong.

Madam Pomfrey walked surprisingly fast for a middle-aged woman, and Remus had to lengthen his strides to keep up.

"How are you?" Madam Pomfrey asked as they reached the Willow. "Are you ready?"

Remus shrugged. "As ready as I'll ever be," he said.

With a nod and a reassuring smile, Madam Pompfrey said, "That's all we can hope for. Good luck."

Every month, since he had been a terrified first year, Madam Pomfrey had wished Remus good luck. It had become something of a tradition, and Remus replied with his usual clipped "Thanks."

Madam Pomfrey picked up a long stick and held it in one hand outstretched toward the Willow. She reminded Remus eerily of a fencer holding a sword. The tree, which had been whipping about over their heads, came to an abrupt stop as the tip of the branch touched its magical knot.

"Let's go, then," Madam Pomfrey said unceremoniously. Without another word she disappeared into the passageway. Remus followed closely.

The heavy dirt walls of the passage made Remus shiver.

Hogwarts had received torrential amounts of rain this autumn, and the walls were dark with moisture. Madam Pomfrey's lumos spell, which uauslly emitted a cheerily warm light, only made the tiny droplets of water condensed on the dirt walls glisten. The cheer and the warmth were nowhere to be found.

They walked silently for quite a while, and Remus found himself wondering if the moon was rising yet. They had always made it to the Shrieking Shack in time, but what if something went wrong?

An illogical feeling of dread felt almost as heavy and oppressing as the walls of the tunnel.

Remus breathed a quiet sigh of relief as the door to the Shack came into view. Now Madam Pomfrey stood aside and let Remus pass.

"I'll be back in the morning," she said.

Remus nodded and entered into the Shrieking Shack.

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The air was crisp and cool, and for once the sky wasn't threatening to downpour. Sirius smiled and shook his head at the ecstatic grin James had plastered over his face. It was because he was walking next to Lily, no doubt.

"So, at what point will you all transform?" Lily asked in a shaky voice.

"When we get to the Whomping Willow," James answered.

"Which, as you may see, we are nearing," Sirius commented, pointed at a large tree that was coming into view. The Willow was docile at the moment, though it appeared to be swaying against the wind and twitching its small branches.

"Didn't someone nearly get killed by that tree?" Lily asked.

"He didn't know how to freeze it." Sirius said.

Lily's wide-eyed glance told Sirius that she wasn't assured.

As soon as they were near enough to the Willow that it began to swing toward them, Peter changed into a rat. He was becoming quite good, Sirius realized, especially compared to the slow, tedious transformations he'd managed when they begun.

Peter ran toward the tree, a tiny blob of gray-brown illuminated in the pale light of the moon. His tail followed like a limp worm.

The Whomping Willow suddenly ceased its movement. Peter changed to himself and jogged slowly back to the others. "Voila!" he exclaimed, spreading his arms wide.

Sirius and James laughed, but Lily only managed a thin smile.

Sirius turned around to face his friends, his back to the Willow. "I suppose I'll see you later," he said. "And I'll bring Mooney with me. Actually, Peter, why don't you come?"

"Why?" asked Peter.

Sirius leaned toward him and hissed in his ear, "So we can leave the looovebirds alone!"

Snorting in amusement (because James and Lily were about as far from lovebirds as people could be), Peter nodded.

"What'd you say?" James demanded.

"Oh, nothing, nothing," said Sirius breezily, in the haughty voice his mother used when talking to salesmen. "Now Peter and I are off to fetch our absent friend. Goodbye!" And he walked into the passageway without looking back. Peter, laughing harder than ever, ran doubled over with giggles behind him.

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"What was that all about?" asked Lily.

"I dunno," James replied easily, smoothing back his hair (which blatantly ignored his efforts and stuck up again), "Sirius jokes around a lot. Half the time I don't know what he's talking about."

"Like now?"

"Like now."

An uncomfortable silence descended. James cleared his throat and jammed his hands in his pockets. "So, Lily… how's the year been going for you?"

"Fine, I suppose," Lily answered.

James bobbed his head up and down. "Well… that's good." He looked up to the sky. "Moon's nice tonight, isn't it?"

"Yes, it's nice," Lily answered vacantly. "I wish it didn't mean your friend is a werewolf, though."

"I think we all wish that," said James.

Lily turned her gaze from the moon to the grass, and James was struck again by how beautiful she was. Maybe tonight…

"So," Lily said slowly. "How had your year been so far?"

"Alright," James answered, "though I had a lot of detention last month when I blew up the toilets in the girls' bathroom."

James could just barely see Lily's expression in the moonlight, and it was not approving.

"It was a joke!" James defended himself quickly.

Lily stared at him for a moment without saying anything. Then, "I was wondering who did that… was it a joke on anyone in particular?"

"Well," James. A blush was creeping slowly up his cheeks, and he hoped that it was invisible in the dark. He knew how much she hated his pranks when they were aimed at someone. "Only sort of, I suppose. There was this one girl… and she asked Sirius out… and we really didn't like her. So, um, we realized she used that bathroom a lot—more than any one person should, really, I swear she went every class—and we blew up some toilets to bother her."

Lily was shaking her head in what looked like disgust. Her fierce green eyes bored into James's. "I can't believe you did that."

James shrugged. "Sorry," he mumbled. "It's wasn't a really big deal, though. She just used the other bathrooms."

"No, I'm serious!" Lily said, more loudly this time. "You inconvenienced every girl who needed to use that bathroom, for a ridiculous prank! And not even a justified one. Some poor girl had enough courage to tell your friend that she fancied him, and you tried to hurt her? You're—"

"Lily—" James interrupted.

"I'm not done," she said. "You're disgusting. You've asked me out more times than I care to think about, and have I ever tried to hurt you? Of course not. I was even flattered at first. Now—now I'm annoyed and disgusted. I want to go back to the castle right now, but I'm going to see this through so you don't bother me tomorrow."

James rubbed his forehead with his hand. "I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"I'm sure you are," Lily retorted. She walked a few paces away and sat down on the grass, facing away from James.

James remained standing, though his shoulders slumped and his arms dangled dejectedly. A sinking feeling settled over his chest and he wished he could take back words.

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Remus was lost to the world. He howled and screamed and tore at everything. But the chair was grainy and splintery in his mouth, and the bed offered nothing. Only human flesh could satisfy him, and going out into the moon. There were fleshy, meaty people outside of the Shack, he somehow knew. A far off part of his mind called it Hogsmeade.

Frankly, he didn't care what it was called.

He threw himself bodily at the wall, screeching with anger and pain as he slammed into unforgiving wooden planks. He ran to the other side of the room now, ramming his head into a piece of unidentifiable furniture.

He needed to be out of this little prison. He needed to be under the moon. He needed human flesh and blood.

He grabbed the curtains that still hung by the boarded windows in his teeth, tearing at them with sharp teeth and a hungry jaw.

That was it. Hungry. He was hungry for the moon and blood.

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"That was exellent!" Peter exclaimed, hurrying to catch up with Sirius's bobbing light. "Lovebirds?" He nearly collapsed in fit of giggles.

Peter's laughter was contagious, and before long Sirius was hooting as well. In a spasm of laughter, he slapped the dank, muddy wall with his free hand as he nearly ran into it.

As he pulled his hand away from the passage wall, he realized it was coated in a thin layer of mud. He held it up to his face to examine it, then said in as serious a tone as he could muster, "Peter, want to shake my hand?"

"Not really. Why?" Peter replied.

"Oh, nothing," Sirius said airily. He patted Peter's cheek, leaving a muddy handprint on the other boy's face.

Peter swiped a hand across his face, noticed the mud, and for some reason unknown to Sirius began to laugh again. Peter wiped as much of the mud as he could from his face and transferred it onto Sirius's robes.

"Revenge!" Peter exclaimed.

They laughed their way up part of the passageway, and when they calmed down, they talked about nothing in particular—classes, girls, happenings in the Gryffindor tower. Fetching Mooney had become routine, and the Marauders barely had to discuss it.

A short while later the entrance to the Shack became visible in the light from Sirius's wand. It sobered him, as it did every month, and his thoughts immediately turned to the task of fetching Mooney.

"I suppose it's time to be serious now," he said to Peter, who was coming up behind him.

"Time to be Sirius…" Peter repeated. The pun made him titter again, and Sirius threw him a disapproving look.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

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Dun dun dun…

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And now for the reviewer replies (Which I will try to do every chapter):

smilie kylie—I'm glad you like the writing, but is there anything about the plot in particular that you don't like?

Ariennye—Unique is what I was going for...thanks for reading.

soft N' fluffy—wonderful penname, by the way. I've almost gotten to the "what will happen after that." Just keep reading, and I'll get there. :)