A/N: Okay, no heart attacks allowed! Yes, I am posting two chapters in one week. I really should be studying for my Civ exam right now, but this chapter just wouldn't leave me alone. I've been wanting to see what could get out of the first transformation, so, here it is. Of course it also kinda stunk to write, since Remus is my favorite character and I have to torture him, but...in a literary sense it was fun.

Yeah, this chapter is a bit more violent than the others: It's Remus's first transformation into a werewolf. Just figured I'd warn ya.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who reviewed: Liz Black, BreetanyaViolet, and Mosing-Code. To Liz Black: you're in here, be happy. And to Breetanya...thanks for trying to flame me! Sorry, but there's more wolf in here…it's just the way I see it. And Mosing-Code...you're awesome! Dunno what I'd do without you.

Once again, I own Becca and Liz, and my ideas, but that's all. Also, still can't fix the formatting, sorry! Hope you enjoy!

Sammy Solo

Two days later, Remus was ready to scream. He hadn't slept in days; his entire body ached; and, worst of all, nothing he could think of could drown out the voice of the wolf.

Couldn't the full moon have been on a day without classes? he thought that night. He had drifted off in Transfiguration, had spilled fertilizer all over in Herbology, and had caused an explosion in Potions, losing points for Gryffindor and turning Peter's face green in the process. And all the while, the wolf howled in delight.

"Tonight's the night, little boy," it continued to growl. "No one can help you now. Tonight, you're mine…"

He sat on a couch in front of the fire in the Gryffindor common room. The seconds ticked loudly in his ears, overshadowed only by the continued taunting of the wolf. Professor McGonagall would be there in a few minutes, and then the real torture would begin.

Remus jumped as he felt a hand on his arm. He looked over as Liz sat down next to him, shooting him an encouraging smile. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Okay," he said with a shrug, trying to sound nonchalant.

"If anyone asks, what should I tell them?" Liz asked.

"Um…I guess tell them that Mum is sick and I'm going to see her," he replied. He felt a pang of guilt at asking Liz to lie for him, but if anyone found out, it could ruin his life.

After clearing that up, they sat together on the couch in silence as they had on countless nights such as these. Remus closed his eyes against the loud, echoing, mocking voice of the wolf. He could hear--could feel—the wolf banging around in his head, trying to get out and hurt him, hurt Liz…

He opened his eyes as Liz shook his arm. It was then that he realized that the banging was not only on the inside of his head, but also on the outside. He looked over as an older student opened the portrait hole and Professor McGonagall peeked in.

"Are you ready, Mr. Lupin?" she asked. Remus nodded silently, smiled bravely at Liz, and walked toward the portrait hole.

"Remus!" Liz called from behind him. He turned to face her. Liz had stood up and was staring at him solemnly. "I'm sorry," she said.

Remus shook his head. "I'm not." With a final small smile, Remus followed the professor out of the common room. They walked on in silence, except for the wolf in his head, as McGonagall led the way to the Entrance Hall. They had just about reached the front doors when…

"Hey, Remus!" Remus whirled around at the sound of his name. Sirius, James, and Peter were jogging towards him. They stopped a few steps away, looking confusedly from Remus to McGonagall and back again.

"What's goin' on, mate?" James asked.

"I...uh…" Remus tried to think straight, he had told Liz something about this, but panic gripped him as the wolf started to howl.

"Now they're going to find out!" the wolf screamed triumphantly. "And once they know, see what they think of you…"

"My mum's sick," Remus answered quickly, fighting back the wolf and coming to his senses. "I'm gonna go home to see her."

"I hope she feels better," Peter piped up.

"Yeah, good luck, mate," James said. Sirius nodded in agreement, but kept suspicious eyes on Remus. Remus stared at the floor, unable to look his friends in the eyes.

"Mr. Lupin, we must be going," McGonagall said.

"Yeah," Remus agreed. He could feel the wolf stirring even stronger than before. "Bye, guys." All three of his friends offered goodbyes, and Remus followed McGonagall into the dusk on the grounds. McGonagall led the way across the rolling grass and to the Whomping Willow. She stopped just outside the reach of the swinging branches.

"I will be back to get you when the sun rises," she said. She grabbed a stick from the ground and prodded a knot near the bottom of the tree, and the branches froze. She led the way forward to a hole large enough for a grown man to climb through. "Right through here, Mr. Lupin," she instructed. She looked down at him, and her face softened. "Good luck, Mr. Lupin. Take care."

"Thanks, Professor," he mumbled, hardly able to hear himself over the wolf. Taking a deep breath, he climbed through the hole in the tree and proceeded into the darkness beyond.

"I hope his mum's okay," James said as the three boys ascended the stairs, on their way to the Gryffindor common room.

"Yeah," Peter agreed.

"I dunno," Sirius said. James's brow furrowed.

"You don't know if you want his mum to be okay?" he asked disbelievingly.

"No, not that," Sirius answered quickly. "I want her to get better…if she's really sick."

"What do you mean if she's sick?" James questioned. "He just told us she was."

"Yeah, but isn't it kinda weird that she's all of a sudden sick?" Sirius pointed out. "I mean, we haven't heard anything about her at all, and now she's suddenly sick. Isn't that a little weird?"

"Maybe she just got sick," Peter said simply.

"It might be," James said. "She might have gotten sick today."

"Yeah, I guess," Sirius consented half-heartedly. He didn't for a second believe what Remus had said.

I've lied enough to my parents to know a liar when I see one, he thought to himself as the boys arrived at the common room. And Remus was lying. There's something else going on with that guy, and I'm gonna figure it out, he promised. Sooner or later, I'll figure it out.

Liz climbed the stairs to the dormitory slowly, her sadness weighing her down. She knew how much Remus went through on these nights; at home she could hear his screams in the night, could practically feel the walls vibrating with his pain.

And it was all her fault. If only she hadn't been so stupid, so foolish, so selfish…

She pushed open the door to the dormitory and stepped inside. Lily was sitting on her bed, scribbling away at some parchment, while Becca was stretched out across hers, wearing glasses for the first time since Liz had known her, reading a green book of which Liz couldn't see the title. Trying not to be noticed, Liz walked towards her bed. It was only a little after 5 o'clock, but all Liz wanted to do was curl under her blankets and forget what she knew was going on with her cousin.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Becca asked. She had put down her book and was looking at Liz worriedly. Lily also looked up and frowned. Liz attempted a smile at her friends.

"Nothing," she lied, not looking them in the eyes. Bec and Lily exchanged glances.

"Are you sure everything's alright?" Lily asked, her voice heavy with concern. "You look kinda upset."

"Well, it's just…" She could feel Lily's piercing green eyes and Becca's deep brown ones staring at her, and she felt a stab of guilt about lying to her newfound friends. But it was Remus's secret, and she had promised she would never tell. "My aunt's sick, and I'm a little worried."

"Is it anything bad?" Becca asked.

"I…I don't think so," Liz answered, beginning to wish she had stayed downstairs. "Remus went home to see her, so I'm sure she'll be fine."

"I hope so," Lily said. Liz just nodded and fell onto her bed. She opened her Transfiguration book to do homework, but couldn't concentrate. Her gaze kept drifting out the window, as if she could somehow see Remus in the darkening sky. Take care, she thought out at him. I'm sorry.

After climbing through the hole, Remus slid down a slight slope. He could feel dirt crumbling beneath him as he hit the bottom and stood up. A tunnel led the way forward, and he followed it, the top brushing his hair with earth. The tunnel seemed to last forever, especially with all the noise echoing around in his head.

"THIS IS IT, BOY!" the wolf screamed. Remus could feel it inside, ready to jump out and devour all that he was, make him into a monster. "THERE'S NO HIDING FROM ME NOW! YOU'RE MINE…!"

Desperate, Remus began to run. If only he could get away from that voice, he would be okay. But the wolf followed him, feeding off of the fear of the little boy.

"THERE'S NO HIDING FROM ME, YOU FOOL! YOU CAN'T ESCAPE…!"

Remus reached the end of the tunnel and crawled through another hole. Panting, sweating, tears running from his eyes, he stood up and surveyed his surroundings. It looked like an old house of some kind. The windows were all boarded up, and dust hung heavily in the air. It had furniture, it looked like a living room…

Oh no, Remus thought frantically. What if there are people in here?

"ALL THE BETTER!" the wolf howled. "LET THEM BE HERE! LET THEM SEE YOU FOR WHAT YOU REALLY ARE, A FOUL MONSTER…!"

"Hello?" Remus called, looking around. "Is there anyone here?" Trying to ignore the never-ending cries of the wolf, he sprinted up the stairs. He checked in every room; there was no one else in the house.

"JUST AS WELL!" the wolf screamed. "NO ONE CAN HELP YOU NOW…!"

Frightened, Remus sat down on the floor in the upstairs corridor. He was shaking, his teeth chattering uncontrollably. He pulled his knees to his chest and hugged them tightly, letting the tears flow.

"Please…just leave me alone...I didn't do anything wrong, please…" he begged the wolf.

"YOU HAVEN'T LEARNED YET?" it sneered. "NOTHING CAN CONTROL ME! NOTHING CAN DEFEAT ME! AND NOW, YOU'RE MINE…!"

Remus felt goose bumps start to rise up all over his body, his hair start to stand on end.

"No...no…" He jumped up and ran to one of the windows. Visible in between two of the boards, above the rooftops of a small town below, was the glowing orb that haunted all of Remus's nightmares. The wolf immediately howled, and Remus fell to his knees as pain tore through his entire body.

"NO! Please no! I didn't do anything, please!" he pleaded with the invisible enemy inside of him. "Just leave me alone!" He could feel his body changing, stretching. His bones reset themselves, snapping and realigning so that he needed to lean on all four of his limbs. His entire being screamed to be released from this torture, to be free from the pain.

He was becoming a monster.

"Please, just let me be me, anything but this…"

"TONIGHT IS MY NIGHT!" the wolf screamed at him.

"No…please…" Agony tore at him. Remus tried to hold on to himself, to his body, to his life. To the memories of his new friends, of the things he was learning in classes, of anything that belonged to him and not to the wolf…

"Noo...!" Remus started to scream, but his voice was cut off by a piercing howl.

"IT'S USELESS!" the wolf howled. "SO LONG, LITTLE BOY…!"

And after that, Remus remembered nothing.

The wizarding village of Hogsmeade was usually pretty quiet at night. Once the stores closed, the village settled down, and the inhabitants of the houses could spend their nights sleeping peacefully.

That night was different, though. Todd McRobbyn sat straight up in bed as a howl echoed past his house. He jogged to his window and looked out, to the old house at the end of the street. It had been abandoned for years. The windows were boarded up, along with the doors. There were tales that at one time it had been haunted; a friend of a friend of the storyteller had seen someone murdered in there or something like that. It was all rubbish; everyone in the town knew that.

Except now Todd was beginning to believe those stories. What else besides ghosts could be causing those horrible screams and howls, the crashes and slams that echoed down the once quiet street of Hogsmeade? It sure sounded like something was dying in there now.

"Todd?" his wife called groggily from bed. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Todd answered. "Just go back to bed." She didn't answer. He spared one last look at the house at the end of the road, almost glowing in the light of the full moon. There was something going on in there, and Todd felt that he'd be better off if he never found out what it was.

Todd McRobbyn wasn't the only one having trouble sleeping that night. For a reason beyond her comprehension, Becca Potter lay awake, staring at the canopy above her, wondering why in Merlin's name she couldn't sleep.

I haven't had any problems before, she thought grouchily. Why is tonight any different?

She rolled over and peered through the curtains around her bed. The full moon shined in through the window, casting a glow about the room. She shivered a little and turned over.

It looks so mean, she thought, though she wasn't sure why the moon looked mean. After all, it was only the moon. Maybe I'm just weird.

She sighed and rolled over again, bored but not wanting to get out of bed. She was comfortable, she was tired….she just couldn't sleep. She closed her eyes, set on getting at least some sleep that night.

As she attempted to drift off, she heard the bed to her left shift slightly and a small sigh come from the direction of Liz's bed. Well, I guess I'm not the only one having trouble sleeping.

Dawn came, and a lone figure walked across the Hogwart's grounds. She had a swift step; she always had. The quicker things got done, the more things could be done, that was her motto. She approached the newest addition to the grounds and prodded the knot at the bottom of the tree. The branches stopped, and she leaned down at the hole that had appeared at the base.

"Mr. Lupin?" Professor McGonagall called. There was no answer. "Remus?" she tried, but still nothing. Fear beginning to rise in her stomach, she crawled through the hole and slid into the tunnel below.

She had never known anyone else like Remus, she realized as she bent over and made her way through the low tunnel. Aside from what she'd read in a few books, she had no idea what to expect when she entered the Shrieking Shack looking for the young werewolf. I only hope he's okay…

She emerged from the tunnel and into the dark living room of the Shack. "Mr. Lupin?" she called into the darkness. She heard a slight moan from her right, and turned in that direction. "Mr.…Oh Merlin…"

Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw. The little boy was curled into a ball in a corner, collapsed on the floor, in a puddle of his own blood. His robes were in shreds, and large gashes were visible across most of his body. Perhaps most terrifying at all to the Professor as stared, transfixed, at the young boy, was that his eyes were closed.

"Remus," she said softly, dropping to her knees beside him. She couldn't tell if he was breathing. Oh Merlin, please don't let him be…

And then, as if in answer to her silent prayer, the boy coughed. His entire body shook with the force of the cough, and a drop of blood slid down his chin. McGonagall shook off her shock and drew out her wand. She quickly conjured a stretcher and a blanket for the boy and levitated him out of the Shack and back into the tunnel.

"You're going to be all right, Remus," she told him, unsure of whether he could even hear her. "You're going to be fine."

As she hurried back across the sunlit lawns, she wondered if she had just made a promise she couldn't keep.