The Full Moon
James walked—stomped, rather—to the Heads dormitory with his shoulders hunched and his head down. He couldn't stop thinking of Lily. Everything reminded him of Lily: the portrait of the lady holding the flowers, the red carpeting in the corridors, and even Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat! The way she looked out for wrongdoers, it was so much like Lily that he was afraid of becoming infatuated with the cat!
James sighed as he walked through the portrait hole and into the Heads common room. Lily was sitting by the dying fire, staring at the embers pensively. There was nothing for it; he would have to talk to her to see why she kept refusing him.
Lily turned at the sound of him kicking off his trainers. He was still scowling menacingly. "James," she said tentatively, "what's wrong?"
He didn't answer her, but took a seat next to her by the fire.
"James, what's wrong?" she asked again. He still didn't answer. "James," she said, taking his large hand in her delicate one and rubbing circles on the back of his with her thumb, "if you don't tell me what's wrong then I will be forced to tell Dumbledore that it was you that put the coloring spell in Professor Flitwick's drink to make him look like an oompa-loompa for a day."
"Fine," James said, paying more attention to the feeling of Lily's hand in his rather than what he was agreeing to.
"So, what's wrong?" Lily asked, taking her hand out of his and pulling her legs under her.
James took a deep breath. How can I tell her everything that's going wrong? I can't do rounds tomorrow because it's the full moon and I need to go with Remus for his transformation. Telling her that would mean betraying Remus, and I would never do that. Then there's the fact that my parents are currently searching for the most dangerous wizard ever. Oh, and how could I forget that SHE is the one that is ripping my heart to shreds? James looked at Lily. Her hair was messy and full of knots, and her makeup was smudged, and he still thought that she looked beautiful. "Lily," he said quietly, "if I told you everything that was wrong, you would think I was losing my marbles."
Lily laughed. "I think that anyway, James," she said sarcastically. Then her tone softened. "Seriously, James, I wouldn't think that."
"I'm sorry, Lily, I just don't want to talk about it." So much for talking to her to see why she kept refusing him. He stood up and walked toward the stairs leading to his bed. "G'night, Lily."
"'Night, James," Lily said, sighing.
James, Sirius, and Peter walked slowly and with baited breath. One more staircase, two more corridors, and the oak front doors left. They were under James's Invisibility Cloak that he inherited from his father, walking slowly so they wouldn't be seen. James and Sirius were bending low so that their feet weren't seen; Peter, being short, could walk upright without any problem.
James checked his watch. "Come on guys," he whispered, "we have to hurry up. Remus said that the moon rises at 9:00 tonight, and it's already 8:40!"
"Prongs, why don't you and Peter go on ahead? I'm just slowing you down and taking up more of the cloak," Sirius said.
"Okay," James said hesitantly, glancing anxiously down the empty corridor.
"Once I get outside, I'll turn into the dog. Don't worry about me, Prongs. Moony needs you guys," Sirius said, stepping out from under the invisibility cloak.
"See you soon, Paddy," Peter squeaked from under the cloak, his voice coming from the end of the corridor. Sirius waved a hand and started walking, his heart pounding. They hadn't realized how much they had grown over the summer (with the exception of Peter, who alone was able to look the petite Lily Evans in the eye); it was even harder to fit into the cloak than it was before!
He wasn't walking for five minutes before a shadow loomed in the corner of the corridor. Sirius's breath quickened and heart skipped. Suddenly someone wearing a dark cloak stepped out in front of him. A certain someone with extremely greasy hair and a hooked, pointed nose.
"Snivellus, you oversized bat, what are you doing out this late?" Sirius spat viciously.
"Think you're so cool, do you?" Snape said, his voice deathly quiet as he stepped closer, his cloak making him seem to glide.
"No, I don't think that," Sirius said, puffing out his chest proudly, "I know it."
"Don't be a prat, Black," Snape said, his voice barely audible as he stepped even closer to Sirius, so that they were barely an inch apart.
"Snape, I know you're madly in love with me," Sirius said, smirking, "but please, if you get any closer I'll have to take a shower to rid myself of the grease."
Snape snarled as Sirius backed up. "Careful where you throw your insults, Black. I'm sure Shayna wouldn't be proud."
"You leave Sha-Sha out of this," Sirius hissed.
"Oh, how precious," Snape said maliciously. "Pet names."
"Snivellus, I'm warning you," Sirius growled menacingly.
"What are you going to do?" Snape asked, snickering. "Make me a pet name?" Sirius swore. "Language, Black," Snape said carelessly. "Anyway, I doubt Sha-Sha would appreciate your horrible manners."
"I told you already, leave her out of this!" Sirius said angrily, his voice rising.
"Make me," Snape said, whose voice was growing steadily quieter. "Tell me where Remus goes," he said suddenly.
Sirius was ready to blow from all his anger. "You want to know where he goes? Why don't you take a little trip down to the Whomping Willow and find out?" he exclaimed quickly, not realizing the damage he had just caused.
"Oh," Snape said silkily, "believe me, I will. So long, Black." He turned on his heels and ran, his black cloak billowing eerily behind him.
"Oh bugger," Sirius said, slapping his hand to his forehead. "What have I done?"
He broke into a run, transforming into a dog as he did so. Sirius thanked Merlin that Snape had foolishly left the door open. He passed Snape, who thought nothing of the big black dog running past him. He pushed the knob on the root of the Whomping Willow. The branches froze and he bounded down the passageway to the Shrieking Shack, where he transformed into a human again.
"PRONGS!" he screamed, careful not to walk upstairs, because that was where Remus was. "PRONGS, SNAPE'S COMING! HEAD HIM OFF!"
A stag ran down the stairs and transformed into a breathless James, who looked at Sirius questioningly.
"Prongs, go. There's no time!" Sirius exclaimed nervously. I'll try and head off Remus."
James ran down the passageway, desperate to stop Snape before it was too late. James was out of breath and holding his side by the time he found him halfway to the Shrieking Shack.
"Snape!" he gasped, skidding to a stop a few inches in front of him.
"Hello, Potter," Snape said icily, attempting to push James aside. He had little luck though, as James was muscular from Quidditch and Snape…well, to put it nicely, Snape was not. "I've come for the surprise. Black told me I would find Remus here."
"Snape, you have no idea," James said frantically, shaking his head violently and pushing Snape towards the mouth of the passageway. "You have no idea what's down this passageway and trust me, you really don't want to find—" James stopped. He heard a snarl coming from a few feet behind him. He wheeled around slowly and found himself face-to-face with Remus.
"SNAPE, RUN!" James shouted, but he didn't need to. Snape was already clambering out of the opening to the passageway, and James was following as a big black dog bounded out to stop the werewolf, who snapped viciously at his heels.
They ran until they were back inside the castle. "I'm going to Dumbledore," Snape said, his hands on his knees as he caught his breath.
"NO!" James shouted. He was not as out of breath as Snape was, because of the tactics his Quidditch team often used.
He was too late. Snape was already ascending the marble staircases that lead to Dumbledore's office. James followed, going up the stairs three at a time to catch up to him. "Don't—go—Dumbledore," James managed to get out as he was panting.
"Don't be stupid, Potter," Snape said, turning his head to face him, smirking. "I'm afraid this is the end of your friend Remus."
James stopped short and so did Snape. Dumbledore was towering in front of them, frowning slightly. "Is there something going on here that would explain why the two of you are out of your beds at 11:00 at night on such a night as this?"
"Yes, Professor," Snape said, sneaking a triumphant glance at James, who frowned. "Remus Lupin is a werewolf."
"And how did you discover this, Severus?" Dumbledore asked. He didn't seem troubled, but his frown became more pronounced.
"Well, sir," Snape said with a triumphant tone, "Sirius Black told me that I should go down to the Whomping Willow for a surprise about Remus, so I went. I found James running to head me off, with a werewolf behind him. I figured that the werewolf was Remus. I thought you should know that there is a werewolf residing in your school."
Dumbledore looked at James, then back at Snape. "Severus, thank you for warning me, though I know what Remus is. It was with my permission that Remus was allowed to come to Hogwarts. I planted the Willow so that there would be no danger of students following him to where his transformations would take place."
Snape looked disheartened. "Oh," he said coldly, staring at the floor.
"James, kindly tell Mr. Black that I would like to speak with him tomorrow," Dumbledore said, turning to James. He then turned back to Snape again. "Severus, if you tell anyone what you saw tonight, it will lead in your immediate expulsion from this school. Do you understand?"
Snape looked as though expulsion would be worth spilling Remus' secret, but then decided against it. After all, if his plans for after Hogwarts would take place, he would need a completed education. "Yes," Snape said, "I understand, sir."
"Good," Dumbledore said. "Now, head off to bed, both of you." He turned and left without another word.
James pulled out his wand. "I don't care what the law is about the Unforgivables," James said, pointing it at Snap and grimacing. "If you tell a single soul I will Crucio you to insanity."
A/N: Okay, so I lied. The NEXT two chapters are going to be really short…but then the ones after that are 4 pages long on word, so yeah…Um, you know the deal: review it, please! Thanks.