A matter of minutes is what took Sirius to get his head together and run after Remus. He would not let him run away. Not again.
'Remus! Wait! Remus!'
To any average person sitting in the Hufflepuff common room, Sirius appeared to be a lunatic who was jumping over books, bags, students anything that came along his way and was making a run after someone while ridiculously chanting their name.
'Remus! Wait just a moment!'
'Go away, Black!'.
They were lucky that nobody was really out of bounds at this particular moment. One day a month, the curfew tightened further than it already was and detentions were given without any explanations. Sirius and James found this insolent but never really saw how the day always coincided with a full moon.
To provide extra protection to the only werewolf student at Hogwarts, Dumbledore has made several arrangements. This, being one of them. Curfew was usually up to 8 pm but was especially early tonight. To make sure nobody spots a student getting out of the castle and towards the Whomping Willow.
Yet no matter how hard one tries to hide a secret of this sort, somebody is bound to catch them.
'Remus, I can explain, please wait'.
'Go back Sirius, it-it's not safe here'.
'Then, why are you going there?'
'Please, just listen to me and please go back'.
They had passed the Great Hall and are now heading out into the grounds while Sirius finds the doors miraculously open. Something doesn't feel right. There was a strange sense of fear looming in the air.
They had reached the grounds and Remus kept on looking at the sky. The moon was set to rise at any moment now. A second's delay and the wolf within him would be unleashed. But Sirius was not the one to easily give up. He kept on following Remus till he saw him hurling a stone at the Willow and it stopped!
Sirius' breath caught in his throat.
Remus wasted no time in glancing back and went inside the door.
Sirius' entire body stopped in shock. He couldn't believe what he just saw.
The Full Moon.
The Whomping Willow.
Remus.
He couldn't be-
Sirius was determined to find it out himself. He had to check his theory. Sweet little Remus can't be a werewolf!
So, he did what the boy had feared all this life.
He threw a stone at the Willow like he saw Remus do it and much to his surprise the tree froze. Sirius was quick to find the door and a long, long tunnel. He lit his wand and begun the journey. Even from such a distance, he could smell the blood and urine and it did nothing to help with the rising suspicions in his head.
At the end of the tunnel, he comes across another door. The smell was the strongest here. This did not open as easily as the previous one. Probably secured by magic.
'Alohomora'.
The door didn't even flinch.
This was odd. The unlocking charm worked on the door secured by the darkest of magic and failed at a meagre door in Hogwarts!
Before Sirius could rack his brains for another way in, an ear-piercing scream comes from the inside. Sirius' entire body shakes as the scream goes on intensifying and is replaced by a howl.
The howl of a wolf.
Silence.
The sudden quietude was far from relief. It was the haunting silence before the storm rages. Before all hell breaks loose.
The sound of Sirius' heartbeat is the only thing that could be heard. His teeth were chattering and his breath was coming out in short, sharp gasps. He was glued to the spot. He couldn't muster the courage to move ahead or go back. But nothing made any sense. How could it be possible?
Sirius felt betrayed.
All the past months were passing by in a haze.
The cute Hufflepuff.
The tawny hair.
Sweet voice.
The visit to the Kitchens
Potions Classes
The prefect
Amber eyes.
Extremely fatigued.
The scars on his body
Dark beast.
False pretences.
This time Sirius didn't hold back his tears. He let them fall. Fall hard to the ground. He unlits the wand and sits down with his back against the door.
All this time he has been in love with a werewolf? A deep shudder passes through him even at the thought of him.
The beast could sense the fear in the air. He moves around and the scent strengthens. He could easily distinguish it from the fear of his human counterpart. It was the fear of a human.
Human flesh.
Human Blood.
The wolf's eyes were shining brighter than the moon. He had found prey to hunt tonight. He just needed a way out of the room and there would be his meal. He lets out a howl of joy and paces towards the exit.
His eyes were darkening as the bloodlust was taking over. The saliva dripped from mouth onto the floor. He could even hear small sounds that were coming just across.
The beast was losing his senses now. He lets out a last growl and pounds into the door.
The door rumbles and Sirius' senses come back to him. He needed to get out of there.
Another rumble
The door shakes again and Sirius could hear the growl coming from the inside.
He gets up and fumbles for his wand in his pockets. Much to his horror, it drops to the ground. His shaking hand reaches out to grab it but he is unable to find anything. He scans the entire floor but nothing.
The wolf was getting impatient now. His prey was just across the door and was begging to be hunted. He pounds harder now. One of the screws holding the door comes down and the wolf howls again in victory.
Another pound.
His head had begun to hurt but the sweet flesh that awaited him was worth the wait. He keeps pounding and pounding.
Thrash. Another screw falls.
Throb. Another screw falls away.
Hit. The screw falls on top of another one.
Pound. The door hinge breaks completely and it falls inwards.
Sirius has no luck in finding his wand. He had completely lost it in the dark. The door thrashing had increased significantly and so had his heartbeat. He couldn't trust his shaking limbs to carry him out safely. He dives in another time to search but comes across nothing. He could hear the door screws falling one by one. The hell with Muggle doors.
BANG!
The door opens up and the wolf comes out.
Sirius registers the entire scene for a second and then makes a run for it. He could always find another wand.
The wolf had been successful in reaching for his prey. He had broken the door and found the human. But something stopped him for hunting him down.
Pack
Alpha
Pack
Family.
The wolf had sensed the canine in Sirius and stopped dead at its tracks. He had lowered his head in a graceful bow but Sirius was gone and had luckily shut the other door before making his way back.
Sirius ran back to the castle. He was literally skipping on his way and he did not dare look back. He wasn't even sure if he had closed the other door.
He ran and ran and went to the only place he knows he would be in peace at.
The Gryffindor common room.
He yells at the Fat Lady to let him in and she looks at him no more than second time in her sleepy haze and lets the Slytherin inside.
'JAMES'
Sirius yells at the top of his lungs and even the portraits on the wall shake with the decibel in his voice.
James comes stumbling his way down the stairs and spots his best mate.
The panic in Sirius' eyes and his shaking figure qualms him and he summons a glass of water and sits him down. This was not the first time Sirius had sought refuge in their common room but never has he been so dishevelled.
He places a reassuring hand on Sirius's shoulder and gently asks him.
'Sirius, what happened?'
'J-jame-james he's a-a we-were-werewolf'.
It doesn't take any explanation for James to understand who the 'he' in question is.
'H-he's a mon-mons-monster'
James gently rubs Sirius' back. To hell with sleep, Sirius was more important.
'I-I saw him, he's a were-werewolf'.
The trauma of this night would be hard to overcome but James was not the one to give up.
'Remus is a werewolf'.
A glass clatters in the back and both the boys startle and see a figure standing with wide eyes and mouth agape.