"Oh, I see," Minette's face fell. James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus had just told her that they had fallen ill. "I suppose it's best you all stay inside, then. It is rather cold out."
"Thanks for understanding," James said with a grin.
Minette turned to leave, then spun back around. "You know what?" she said with a determined look. "You all shouldn't stay here alone while you're sick? I'll stay and take care of you!"
"Oh, no!" Sirius said a bit too quickly.
"Yes, that's quite alright!" Peter added, his voice rising even higher than usual. "I'm sure we can manage! We've already gotten a bit of medicine, and it's only a cold..."
"No, really! I wouldn't have fun without you all at Hogsmeade, anyway! I'll just wait for the next trip," Minette said cheerfully.
"Really," said Remus, his worry growing, "you have to go. I mean, it's a great experience, this time of year. We won't be any fun, anyway. We'll probably just be sleeping."
"Well," Minette conceded, "I guess, if you insist..." She walked off looking slightly hurt.
Remus felt sorry for her, but decided that it was worth it to keep his secret. "She just wouldn't give up, would she? Stubborn girl..." James joked.
The four went up to their dormitory and waited for evening to come. Remus packed a few changes of clothes into a small bag for the next few days. As the sun started to slink into the sky, Remus stood and turned to James. "Could I use your invisibility cloak? I don't want to risk being seen with all the people about tonight."
"No problem," James said, handing the silvery cloth to his friend. "We'll be down in a few, Moony. See you at the Shack."
Remus walked down to the Whomping Willow as it whipped its branches around, threatening as ever. He froze the tree with a stick that had been on the ground and lowered himself into the passageway to the Shrieking Shack.
Upon arriving at the dilapidated house, Remus made his way to the central room, closing the few drapes that had been pushed to the side on his way. He sat on the ragged couch and waited for the inevitable to take place.
James, Sirius, and Peter had arrived in only a few minutes, as they had promised. They had transformed and then watched their friend do likewise. Remus' memory was, as it always was, full of gaps from that point on. He remembered his skin being slashed at by himself, his friends pinning him against a wall to come to himself a bit, and then just running and playing foolish games for the rest of the night.
Remus woke the next morning curled on the floor of an upper room. His robes had been torn in several places, and James, Sirius, and Peter were still transformed and sleeping around him. He slipped down the creaking stairs and back to a small closet of the house, where he had hidden needles and thread to repair his robes after transformations. It really was useless, as there were many more nights to go where his robes would be torn, but it kept him occupied while he had nothing to do but wait for the moon to come again. Peter was the first to wake and walk down the stairs groggily.
"What time is it?" he asked Remus, stifling a yawn.
"Nearly nine," was the uninterested reply from Remus.
"Goodness!" Peter exclaimed, his eyes widening. "We've got to get to class!"
Peter shuffled back up the stairs to wake Sirius and James while Remus kept sewing. The other three hurried downstairs again and rushed off to class with only a quick "Good morning!" to Remus. Remus himself was feeling rather restless. He did not want to be cooped up in this stupid house. He had to get out. He changed into clean robes, laid the pair he had just been mending in his bag, got a cloak for warmth from the brisk autumn wind, and set out. He couldn't go back to Hogwarts; someone would see him and know that he should be in class. His only option was to go into Hogsmeade. Remus found a window that had been shut since it was built, it seemed and wrenched it open. He closed it again, as not to leave a sign that someone had been there, and set off toward the town.
This was a feeling of freedom that Remus had never known during the time of a full moon. He wandered through the streets, not going into any shops or restaurants. If he was seen in one, he surely would be asked why he wasn't in class and who he was, and the headmaster would give him loads of trouble. Even without these excursions, the town provided a lovely break from classes and transformations. It grew warmer in the afternoon, but it was still cool and pleasant.
He decided, after a while, that he should go back to the Shrieking Shack again. He made his way back and around to the side of the house that wasn't visible from the village and climbed back through the window. As he shut and latched it behind him again, a flurry of activity took him by great surprise.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?"
"You're back! Sirius, he's back-"
"COULD HAVE BEEN SEEN-COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED-"
"We're so glad! We thought you might have been in trouble or something, and-"
Remus was nearly knocked off his feet by this. The first voice was James' the second, Peter's. James was positively fuming, Peter looked incredibly relieved, and Sirius had just walked into the room munching on a biscuit.
"See? He's back! Just needed to stretch his legs a bit? Can you blame him? Cooped up inside all the time...I would have left a lot earlier..." It seldom happened, but at that moment, Remus was very grateful to hear Sirius' voice.
As it turned out, the three of them had come over earlier to bring Remus some food, and wait with him for night to fall. When they discovered him missing, James went into a frenzy, Peter thought he had been kidnapped, and Sirius believed Remus had simply taken a walk.
"What if you had been seen? What were you thinking?" James hollered at Remus again. "You're usually so sensible; I can not fathom what was going through your head!"
"You try being trapped up all the time. Every month, for days... My own mother wouldn't let me go outside at all! I just sat inside, day after day! I thought coming here would be different! I thought I'd get a chance to be free. But here I am, trapped again, and-" Remus suddenly realized what he was saying. He had been spilling out all of the anger that had been growing inside of him for his whole life. He turned from the three who were staring at him now. "Just...leave me tonight."
The three turned and walked out of the room. James stopped beyond the door, turned as if to say something, but then shut the door and walked away.
And so came that horrid night of transformation: the first that Remus had experienced alone for five years.
I hope you're liking it! Romance will DEFINITELY be in the next chapter! Some have already said that James was mean, so...sorry! Keep reading (once the next chapter's up) and please review!
