-Chapter 4: The Day of the Flashbacks
Hello everyone! I'm gonna do review replies for the last chapter, but I won't always. I'm doing them now because I just got back from choir and I don't feel like doing my homework. Social Studies. shudder
Review Replies:
SailorHecate: I'm sorry I made you cry, but be prepared for much more details in Remus's past… they're coming up in this chapter, break out the tissues.
Elfsquire90: You're right, for once, (lol jk) it wasn't a chapter, but your e-mommy made it look like a chapter. Silly Tessie.
"Wake up, Sirius!"
"Mmm, let me think. No!"
"Yes! C'mon, Sirius," Remus pleaded, but to no avail.
"You'll miss breakfast," James said, trying a different approach. Sirius sat up so fast he cricked his neck. Rubbing it, he looked around sleepily.
"Where am I?" he asked groggily.
"You're now one of Santa's elves and this is the North Pole. Honestly Sirius!" James said, rolling his eyes.
"Oh, Hogwarts. Well, if breakfast is as good as dinner, which I'm assuming it is, why didn't you wake me up earlier?"
"We tried," Peter said, "but we failed."
"I see. Well, I better hurry then, hadn't I?" Sirius said on a groan, swinging his legs out of bed.
He pulled his shirt over his head and threw it on the floor. "Now, where is my uniform?" he muttered to himself, sifting through a pile that had already grown on the floor. Just then the door burst open.
"Remus!" Serene yelled. "Good morning, but I have a problem. These are too small. Are they yours, by any chance?" She held up a pair of brightpink dress robes.
"Nah, I believe you've just outgrown them, 'cause they sure as hell aren't mine," Remus said, looking at them in disgust.
"Aw, that sucks. Oh well, better go get to breakfast. Toodles!" and with those oh-so-clever-and-mature parting words, she left, closing the door behind her.
Five minutes later, the door was opened yet again, but this time it was Lily, Jade, and Mika who barged in.
"Hello," Lily started.
"We'd like to write a book," Jade continued.
"About your family's sad but amazing story," Mika finished, looking at Remus.
"Okay," Remus said.
"During break, we'll meet in here, and you'll tell us everything, and we'll listen and take notes. Then, tonight, we'll start writing it. It'll take about the school year by our calculations, maybe a little less," Mika, who seemed to be in charge, said.
"Alright, but Serene and Curt have break at the same time we do, so you might want to "interview" them too," Remus agreed.
"Will do," Lily said with a smile as they left the room.
"Can we listen?" James asked curiously.
"Sure," Remus replied. He knew all three of them wouldn't get emotional or anything, Lukah and Rikki had made sure of that.
The boys, after finishing breakfast, headed for their first class ever, transfiguration.
"Is it hard?" Peter whispered as they took seats in the back of the room.
"We already explained that, Pete," Sirius whispered back.
"Good morning class! Now, I understand that this is the first class you've ever been in. Therefore, I'm going to start with an easy spell, as most of you have never used a wand before," McGonagall said, striding to the front of the room.
"We will be turning these pins-" she indicated a box, "into matches. The spell is: Hefifo. Repeat after me: Hefifo!"
"Hefifo!" the class chorused.
"Very good. Now, Mr. Lupin, will you pass out these pins while I take roll call?"
"Yes, Professor," Remus said, walking up to the front and picking up the box.
After the pins were all passed out, Remus sat back down. McGonagall had everyone try together. Nobody got it.
"That's usually the case. Everybody, you will have the rest of class to try it on your own. If you get it, come up to me so I can inspect it, and I will tell you what to do. You may begin."
Remus tried it again and the only thing he succeeding in doing was confirming that transfiguration was not as easy as it looked.
The first person to get it was Sirius, closely followed by James. The next person to get it was Lily. Remus finally managed to get it just as the bell rang.
"Everyone will practice this for homework. Class dismissed," McGonagall said.
Everyone trooped off to charms, which was more of a get-to-know-each-other party instead of an actual class. Lunch was a noisy affair; everyone was excited to have started classes and eager to share experiences.
"I still don't know what I'm doing wrong," Peter complained as he tried and failed once again, to turn his pin into a match.
"Here, you're moving your whole arm- it's more of a flick, like this," James demonstrated. Peter screwed up his face in concentration.
"Hefifo!" Peter's pin immediately lost its brazen silver and was replaced by a dull brown.
"Close, but it's still a pin. Keep trying," James encouraged him.
"Guys, it's time for break, We've gotta go meet the girls in our dorm," Remus said, snatching Serene and Curt along the way.
Lily, Jade, and Mika were sitting in the floor, all with notebooks and pens out, as Serene and the boys walked in.
"Quills are such a bother," Lily explained.
"Okay, who wants to go first?" Jade asked.
"More importantly, which death should we do first?" Mika asked.
"Let's do it in sequence," Serene requested.
"Okay. We'll do it from most involved to least involved, which is Remus, Serene, Curt," Lily said.
"Okay. It was September 7, 1964. Curt had gone to Hogwarts and we were sorta lonely, even though there were four of us left…
FLASHBACK
All day long. we played in the woods by our house. Lukah and Serene would ride their bikes and Rikki and I would sit in the handlebars. Not the safest way to travel when you're either seven or five, but it was fun. One day, we parked our bikes and went for a long walk, so we got pretty far from them. Suddenly, it started to pour. We ran home, dried off, drank hot cocoa, and went to bed. Too late, we realized we left our bikes and they would rust in the rain and we would get in big trouble. So, naturally, when you're little, you don't think things through. Well, we went after our bikes. We just got far enough into the woods to be very, very afraid. Then all I remember from then on until I woke up, which was later, was pain, pain and screaming.
END FLASHBACK
"Wow… okay, I got that all down. Now, remember, we're just focusing on the actual thing that killed them… wait, I don't think you mentioned, what was it?" Mika asked, realizing Remus had left that out.
"Can I trust you not to tell anyone?" Remus asked.
"Yes, go ahead," Peter said.
"Do you swear?"
"Yes."
"It was… a… werewolf. Fenrir Greyback, to be exact. That's why it was a miracle. I was the youngest child to ever survive a werewolf attack. Still am, actually," Remus explained.
"Wow…" Jade trailed off. Mika's eyes were wet.
"Now, do you want to hear what happened next with Lukah from Remus's point, or do you want to hear our point of view on the attack?" Serene asked, gesturing to her and Curt.
"Let'shear your point of view," Lily suggested.
"Okay, Remus basically told you everything until the attack, because he was five and unconscious really quick. I think watching it, actually, was worse. Much worse…
FLASHBACK
Greyback immediately turned on Remus. He was the smallest, and easiest to conquer. Rikki screamed and clung to me. I tried to shush her and stop Lukah at the same time, but I managed neither. Rikki continued to bawl and Lukah continued to pound Greyback, trying to make him let go of Remus. He let go of him, all right. When Greyback turned around, with Remus hanging limp in his jaws, that was one of the scariest moments of my life. I screamed as Greyback started attacking Lukah. That time, he was intent on killing her, apparently, because he wouldn't stop, no matter what Rikki and I did. Then there was a bright flash of light. Lightning. It struck the tree right next to us and began to burn. That scared Greyback and he left. The smell of blood was overwhelming. I almost choked on it. Suddenly, Mum and Dad came running. Mum screamed when she saw us and collapsed on the ground. Dad goes, "Pull yourself together, Hun. I need you to carry Remus. Be careful; don't disrupt anything. Hurry." He bent down and picked Lukah up. She didn't stir. Mum did the same with Remus. He, at least, let out a little moan of pain. "Poor baby," Mum kept murmuring. "My poor babies." They rushed us back home and to St. Mungo's. A lot of people there were screaming. They took us into a special room. Then they took Lukah and Remus away. Rikki was near hysterical, so we had to give her a sleeping potion. Then Mum had me write a letter to Professor Dumbledore, asking for Curt to be excused to see them before they died, and explaining what happened. That was the first time they said there was only a 99.9 chance that they would survive, so I got hysterical, too. They had to give me a sleeping potion, too.
END FLASHBACK
"I'm crying, I can't help it, it's so…" Mika trailed off.
"How can you not get emotional, at all? I didn't know them, and I'm crying," Lily said, wiping her eyes.
"That comes later. Now, it's my turn. Now, while this was going on, I was sleeping in my dorm, at Hogwarts. The next day was Saturday…"
FLASHBACK
We were hanging around in the common room. Nora, Wendi and I were laughing as my friend Mark tried to explain chess to my friend Adam. He was doing such a bad job, the pieces were attacking him. It was hilarious. Then McGonagall walked in. Her lips, for once, were full. She looked extremely sad. Everyone stared at her; even the chess pieces stopped attacking. Then she said, "Lupin, there's been an accident. Your family wants you at St. Mungo's with them, to say- to say goodbye. Come with me." I was so confused. "Who?" I asked when we were out of the portrait hole. "Just come," she replied. "Oh, yes, this is the note." She handed me a note. It read, in writing so sloppy that only a seven-year-old could manage it: Profeser Dumbulldoor, Me, Rikki, Remus, and Lukah went out at night and were attacked by a werwolv. It was relly relly scary. Lukah and Remus only got a 99.9 persent chans of lifing. Kan Curt be xused from klas to cee them befour they die? Its relly relly impordand. Wed relly aprishiat it verry much.SereneI was so scared. I went to St. Mungo's. All four of them were out cold, and I was really upset. Mum just hugged me to her chest and cried in my hair. It was awful, waiting for them to awake. When they finally did, we laughed and talked like before. Then the nurses came in and told us if they were going to die, they would die within the next 48 hours. We hoped and prayed they'd make it. However, after only eight hours, Lukah said, and I quote, "Don't mourn my loss. I will die, if in pain, peacefully. Do not be overcome by guilt. Please live your life. Serene, we had dreams together. You must fulfill them. Follow our dreams. Don't regret that I died. If I was meant to have a purpose in this world, I would survive, but I don't, other than to bless you with my presence and bring you happiness. I'll be in a better place. If any of you die soon, let it not be suicide. If it is suicide, and because I died, I will never forgive myself. Do not let me have died in vain. Please. Don't pity me. Don't cry. I don't think I can bear it. I'm going to die, sooner rather than later. Better dead than in pain." And then she closed her eyes. They covered her in a sheet and carried her away. And nobody cried."
"Nobody cried?" Jade said, taking deep gulps of breath.
"Nobody cried," Curt replied in a strong, but strangely small, voice. Everyone sat there silently, filled with emotion.
"And then?" James asked.
"And then Remus began his slow recovery," Serene said.
"Oh, shit, we've gotta get back to class!" Lily cried, breaking the tension. They all gathered up their things as quickly as possible and sped out the portrait hole, ready to join the rest of the world once more.
Okay, the ending was weird, but I wanted to wrap it up quickly and post. Tessa, you better call me, cause I finished all my homework in like, 16 minutes. (Here's my figuring; Spelling5minutes, Math1minute, and SS10 minutes) Math was really easy. Next chapter will be all the Rikki flashbacks. If you review and request a review reply, I'll reply. Maybe that will get you to review! Please review and have a nice day!
Lib