This is the first story I've written and I was just doing it to occupy myself during quarantine so don't expect it to be super good. I'm kind of obsessed with the marauders especially Remus and Sirius. I've always wanted a story about Remus' first full moon at Hogwarts but all the ones that I've read don't really go the way that it goes in my head so I decided to write my own. I hope you enjoy it. I own none of the characters or places.
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The four first year Gryffindor's first 2 weeks were relatively uneventful, with the only interesting event happening in charms, involving a dungbomb, a mispronounced spell and a Ravenclaw ending up in the hospital wing. But that wasn't why Remus was standing outside Professor McGonagall's office. Remus knocked on the door quietly.
"Enter," the stern voice of the Professor said, slightly muffled from the slab of wood that was the door. Remus opened the door and walked into the office. It was a small rectangular room with a window on one wall, a door on the wall opposite to it, and a bookshelf and a small fireplace opposite to the door Remus had just come through. A mahogany desk was in the middle and there were a couple of red armchairs near the fireplace.
"Mr. Lupin is everything all right?" McGonagall asked. The full moon was five days away and it would be the first moon the young werewolf would be spending at Hogwarts.
"Can you put some silencing spells around my bed please Professor?" Remus pleaded.
"Whatever for?" McGonagall asked, slightly confused.
"Well, it's just that I um…I had a nightmare last night and um… James said I was shouting that 'I wouldn't hurt them' and I feel like I might give away something leading up to the full moon," McGonagall's face softened and comprehension dawned on her face.
"Of course, Remus. Come on, let's do it now," student and teacher left the office and headed to Gryffindor Tower. They entered the first-year boy's dormitory to find it in a state of chaos.
"I'LL GET YOU FOR THAT ONE YOU EVIL SLIMEBALL!" Sirius shouted, running at James and taking a swing at his head with a pillow.
"OH NO YOU DON'T!" James leapt out of the way and wacked Sirius on the back, knocking him off balance and down onto Peter.
"Hey!" Peter shoved Sirius off him and grabbed his pillow, "You said we had a truce!"
"James pushed me I di-" Sirius was cut off as a pillow, thrown by Peter, slammed into his face.
"BOYS!" the voice of Professor McGonagall cut through their antics. The three boys froze when they heard the Professor's voice, "Thank you. Now, I need you to leave for a few minutes, Remus and I need to do something," James, Sirius and Peter took one look at McGonagall's face and rushed out of the dormitory faster that a golden snitch. McGonagall cast and anti-eavesdropping charm on the door just in case the boys came back while they were casting the charms. Remus showed McGonagall over to his bed and she cast the silencing charms around his bed, as well an alarm charm to notify Madam Pomfrey if anything serious happened to Remus. "That should be good now. If you need anything else, you can come to me or Madam Pomfrey," McGonagall said kindly.
"Thank you, Professor," Remus said quietly sitting down on his bed.
"Anytime Remus," McGonagall said, smiling slightly, heading out of the dormitory as the other first year Gryffindor boys came back in.
"What was that about Remus?" James asked, looking down at his friend.
"Nothing," Remus answered quickly.
"It wasn't nothing Remus. You can tell us. We're your friends," Peter said, sitting down next to Remus.
"Yeah," James and Sirius said together.
"I-I…I don't want to talk about it," Remus said turning away from the three boys. He knew that they were just looking out for him and doing what any friend would, but he also knew that if he told them they would ask why, and he couldn't answer that.
"Okay," James said, sighing, "If you want to talk, we're here," Peter and Sirius nodded in agreement.
Remus' next few nights were filled with nightmares again, but the silencing charms did their job, and his dormmates didn't hear Remus' strangled screams. He woke up on the day of the full moon with a killer headache and feeling sick in the stomach, nervous about how the moon would go that night. He also felt like he was being burnt alive but freezing at the same time.
Sirius had gotten up and was almost ready when he realised that Remus wasn't up yet "Remus, are you all right?" he called from his bed, pulling on his shoe. "we have 10 minutes 'till breakfast. You're usually up by now." Remus moaned softly and curled into himself, but for Sirius, there was no sound due to the silencing charms.
"Remus?" He heard James say after a few moments. "Remus are you okay?" Remus heard his curtains being pulled back and light flooded in onto him. He moaned again and shut his eyes tighter, curling into himself more. "Remus! Are you all right?" James' concerned voice practically shouted. Remus covered his ears trying to get the sound to leave and he moaned again.
"James be quieter!" Sirius whispered, "Remus you're burning!" Sirius exclaimed quietly, having come over and put a hand on his friend's shoulder. Sirius repositioned his hand onto Remus' forehead, and was very concerned about how hot it was, "James we need to get him to Madam Pomfrey!"
"Okay," James said worriedly, running a hand through his messy hair. He had never seen Remus like this, although it was only the third week. James scooped Remus up in his arms, surprised at how light the 11-year-old was, considering how tall he was. He could feel Remus shivering violently, despite the fact that he was burning up. The two boys headed down to the empty common room (almost everyone was at breakfast already) and Peter jumped up from his spot in front of the fireplace where he was waiting for his dormmates.
"It's about time, I was about to hea- what the bloody hell happened to Remus?!"Peter was staring wide-eyed at his friend.
"We don't know, but were taking him to Madam Pomfrey," Sirius explained, following James towards the portrait hole. Peter followed them after a few seconds. The boys climbed out of the portrait hole and towards the Great Hall.
"Uh Peter or Sirius, do you have any idea where the hospital wing is?" James asked, only now realising that he didn't know where he was going.
"Yeah, head down to the Great hall, it's that door next to the stairs that go down to the kitchens" Peter said. The four boys had found the kitchens quite accidentally, when they were coming back from potions. Peter had tripped and fallen onto a portrait of a bowl of fruit. His hair had tickled the pair and the painting had swung open, revealing a short passage that lead to the kitchens. The house elves loved them and were always willing to give them extra food when they stayed up late, either for homework, although that was mostly Remus, or when they just wanted a midnight snack.
"Madam Pomfrey!" James shouted, carrying Remus into the hospital wing after Sirius had pushed the doors open. Remus moaned and curled into himself again, wincing at James' volume. Madam Pomfrey came in through a door at the end of the hospital that James assumed lead to her office or chambers.
"Yes, what is- ah," Madam Pomfrey stopped what she was saying when she saw who was in James' arms, "Bring Mr. Lupin over here please Mr. Potter," James placed Remus on the hospital bed that Madam Pomfrey was walking over to.
"Will he be alright?" Peter asked, concerned.
"I'm sure he will be. You three had best be off now, you have 10 minutes until class starts," James didn't want to leave, but after looking at Madam Pomfrey's face, he knew that it would be no use arguing. The three Gryffindors shuffled out of the hospital wing sadly, worried about their friend. They hurried up to Gryffindor Tower, and then headed out to their first class.
Remus opened his eyes when he felt his headache going away. He didn't know what had happened, but vaguely remembered swallowing something. Remus then noticed a kind looking woman placing a potion bottle on the small table beside his bed. He also noticed that it was much brighter and whiter than his normal bed in Gryffindor Tower.
"Are you feeling better Remus?" Madam Pomfrey asked him.
"Yes ma'am. Um, do you um… do you know?" Remus asked, figuring that if she didn't know about his condition then he could just ask about why he was here or something like that.
"Yes, I do. I will escort you tonight to the location Professor Dumbledore has chosen for you to be during your transformations," Madam Pomfrey said kindly.
"Do all the teachers know what I am?" Remus asked. Remus knew that Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore knew about his condition, but he didn't know if anyone else did.
"They do. We figured it would be best," Remus nodded. It probably would be, considering he would be missing classes quite a bit. It would be useful that they do know because that way he wouldn't need to come up with excuses as to why he missed classes every month. Madam Pomfrey turned away and headed towards the door at the back of the hospital wing. Remus felt his eyes get heavier and his head drooped as he fell asleep.
"Remus? Remus?" Madam Pomfrey was gently shaking his shoulder. Remus moaned and wrapped his hands around his head, curling into an even tighter ball. "Come on Remus. Its almost night," Remus snapped his eyes open and flinched away from Madam Pomfrey in panic.
"Shhh, shhh, it's okay, it's okay," Madam Pomfrey said trying to calm the panicked werewolf. She felt so sorry for him, having to live with that curse. She could tell that he hated that part of him, that he just wanted to be a normal boy like everyone else. Madam Pomfrey knew that he wasn't a monster. It hurt her soul seeing Remus hurt so much, and this wasn't even the real transformation. It was very painful to be a werewolf, and she wanted to do anything to stop that pain, but she couldn't; there was no cure for lycanthropy "Come on we need to move you to the place. Can't have you transforming in here now, can we?" Madam Pomfrey helped Remus to stand up then walk over to the door.
"Um, Madam Pomfrey? Where is the place? The one Dumbledore chose? And what if people find it? What if I kill someone?" Remus asked, starting to really panic now.
"It is a secure house on the outskirts of Hogsmeade village. There is a tunnel that goes under the wamping willow and comes out in the house. There is no other entrance or exit and there are many charms and spells on it to stop people entering the house or you breaking out. The only way to get into the tunnel is through a gap in the roots of the tree, or from the house. The wamping willow's branches will attack you if you get to close unless you are touching a specific knot in its roots. No one except you, me, Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall know how to get into the tunnel." Madam Pomfrey said, trying to reassure the eleven year old.
They walked out of the entrance hall and down the grounds to the wamping willow. Madam Pomfrey pulled out her wand and levitated a stick to the knot. Almost as if someone had frozen time, the willow stopped thrashing about, and Remus and Madam Pomfrey slid down into the tunnel. After what felt like hours of walking to Remus but was probably only 10 minutes, they started to ascend up a staircase cut into the stone. Soon Remus could see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel, and after that a door. Madam Pomfrey stopped in front of the door and muttered a complex spell, and the door creaked open.
"In you go Remus," Madam Pomfrey said, gesturing to the door. Remus opened his mouth to speak but, anticipating his question, Madam Pomfrey said "Only me and Professor Dumbledore know that spell; no one will be able to get in while you are in your wolf state." Remus breathed a sigh of relief. At least he couldn't hurt anyone. That was his main worry. When he was about seven, he had found a boggart in one of the kitchen cabinets, and it had turned into him in his wolf state breaking out of the basement and killing someone. His nightmares were worse before the next few moons, with the scene the boggart had shown constantly replaying in his head. Remus shuddered. He didn't want that scene to become a reality, especially not tonight.
"I will come and get you in the morning. You will be fine Remus," Madam Pomfrey said, seeing Remus' face, "The moon will rise in about 10 minutes, so I had better be off. There is a chest over in that corner that the wolf wont be able to get to, so you can put your clothes in there if you would like," seeing Remus' face turn red, Madam Pomfrey shook her head good naturedly and smiled, "I have to go, I will be back in the morning," Madam Pomfrey closed the door and Remus could hear her muttering the spell to seal the door. Remus pulled his robes off and placed them neatly inside the chest. He didn't know ow the wolf wouldn't get to them, but he decided that putting his clothes in the chest was better than them being ripped to pieces when he transformed.
Remus walked over to the middle of the room and sat down. He could feel his toes start to shake. That was how it started. After the shaking came the pain of all of his bones breaking and reforming again, then his mind changed form human to wolf. That was the most painful part. Every month Remus tried to stay human, but every month the wolf took control of his mind, pulling it into darkness. The feeling of falling, and the enclosing blackness was the worst part of his transformation.
A crack and pain in his foot brought Remus out of his thoughts. His breathing got faster as he tried not to scream. More bones broke and Remus fell onto his back. His legs were spasming and he could feel them start to go numb with pain. A whimper escaped his lips as his shoulders dislocated in unison. Then his scull started cracking, forming into a wolf snout and Remus couldn't help it. He screamed. Remus cried out in pain as his teeth grew and sharpened, as fur grew all over his body. Tears flowed down Remus' cheeks, although they were looking less and less like his, as his bones reconnected and the fur grew longer. Remus could feel his conscious slipping away. The darkness pressing against the sides of his head, trying to escape, trying to control him. He tried to keep control, he tried to kick the darkness out, but it was to hard. The darkness escaped, ripping out of his body. Remus' normally kind, warm amber eyes turned into a cold, hard yellow. Remus was no more. The wolf threw back it's head and howled.