Chapter 3

It was a…bit strange meeting her brother's friends. James had invited Remus and Sirius over, and Corona had been reading in the living room when the fireplace had flared, spitting out James, Remus, and Sirius.

"A pleasure to meet you," she coolly greeted, curtsying in her pretty robes as they picked themselves off the floor.

"You as well," Sirius instantly responded, taking in her beauty.

Merlin, was she beautiful! Raven hair flowed past her knees freely, ice-blue eyes, so like his, coolly judged him, and she was already more developed than most others! As Remus greeted her the same way, something in her changed. Her cold features took on a more carefree, kinder way as she seemed to grow prettier as well!

"So, I heard you won the Quidditch Cup, James. Congratulations," she praised her brother, a small smile curving her lips before she looked at Sirius and Remus. "James…have you been taking care of your friends?"

"Um…maybe?"

Sirius and Remus watched this all with amusement, their friend being taken down by his little sister.

Sighing, Corona smiled at them brightly.

"You have some work to do…Remus could do…yes…hmm…I wonder…no, not yet…well then…I suppose…Mother will…alright then!" Corona announced, clapping her hands together and frightening the three boys who were watching her murmur absent-mindedly to herself. "Remus…yes, yes…alright then, I think I do…wait one moment!" she called as she raced out of the room, returning a few moments later with a pair of robes. Handing it to Remus, she ordered, "Put it on," before abruptly turning around.

Remus and Sirius just gaped before James sighed, "Put the bloody thing on already, Remus!"

"Language, James," Corona automatically reprimanded. When Remus didn't move, she whirled around, sighing. "Well then, we'll do this the old-fashioned way." With that, she flicked her wrist, her fingers pointing at Remus. In a moment, the new robes were on Remus and his old ones were on the ground. "Kelly!" A house-elf appeared, instantly taking the robes before vanishing. "Thank you!" she called after her. "Remus, Kelly will be mending and washing your old robes…by the way, those are your new robes…James may not have been taking care of you, but I will!"

"What material are these, anyways?" Remus enquired, feeling the impossibly silky new robes.

"Oh, none that you want to know. But if you're sure…Acromantula silk, Basilisk Hide, and Unicorn Tail Strings," Corona answered. "I mixed them together myself, although it was slightly hard to charm that man to give me the Acromantula silk to me for free…"

"Are you kidding? Those are expensive!" Sirius exploded, staring at her in shock.

"It's all in the way you act," Corona smirked, winking at him before she turned to Remus. "How are they? Silky? Uncomfortable? Loose? Tight?"

"They're perfect!"

"Great!" Corona beamed. "Okay, James, Mother is out at the moment, and Father is in the study; so why don't you show your friends around while I finish my book?"

"See you, Rona," he responded, dragging his friends away as his sister immersed herself in her book once more.

"That's your sister? She's…I love her already!" Sirius grinned.

"She's very kind," the soft-spoken Remus agreed.

They joked around as they explored James' house, and twenty minutes later, Corona joined them, smiling happily.

"Time for lunch, you three," she laughed. "I made some lunch for you with the house elves. And since it's summer, yes, James, I made your favorite."

James screamed, "YES!" before racing down the stairs.

Looking at the bemused other two, she gave them a small smile before gesturing down the stairs after him.

"He does that sometimes. You should probably get down there before he finishes all the food," she hinted, a wry grin tugging on her lips.

The boys raced down after him. When she arrived in the kitchen, nice and slow, James was stuffing himself with her Lemon Sherbet, a delicious ice cream treat she had created herself. He loved it, and enjoyed it most in the summer, when the cool treat helped fight off the heat. The ice cream was a light, vanilla-like color, and was sweet with a lemony and honey-like taste, despite the color. Also on the table were soft sandwiches, stuffed pheasant eggs, fish, steak, and a bunch of other delicious looking things. The other boys were stuffing themselves full. With a sigh, she clapped her hands together, and a happy-looking house elf appeared, snapped her fingers, and vanished the mess on the boys' clothes and tables before popping away. The boys never noticed, and Corona just nipped a sandwich and chewed on it daintily, finishing it just as the boys sat back with satisfied smiles.

"That ice cream cake with strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla was great, Rona!" James exclaimed, referring to the one-layer, medium-sized cake she had made, one third chocolate, one third vanilla, and one third strawberry.

"Your sandwiches are delicious!" Sirius moaned in envy. "It's as good as can get!"

"I enjoyed it very much. Thank you, Corona," Remus politely told her.

Corona just smiled.

"You're very welcome, James. Thank you, Sirius, I am glad that you enjoyed it. Thank you very much for being polite, Remus, although you don't seem to have eaten much."

"He's just worried for his mum. She's sick, again," James volunteered.

"Your mother? How sad…hmm…I wonder…yes, alright then!" Corona ran out of the room and reappeared a few moments later, giving the boys an extreme sense of déjà vu as she returned holding a vial. "Pain Relief. Might help her a bit…"

She knew that Remus would have no problem that full moon. While her parents had been gone throughout the year, she had made many a potion in her secret lab in the depths of Potter Manor, where only the house elves knew of. She had slipped Wolfsbane potion in a chocolate cupcake, which she now offered to Remus.

"Here, have some. And don't let the boys steal any, they have a whole bunch waiting for them after I make sure that you enjoy a bit of chocolate," she finished with a glare at the boys. Remus just flushed and tried protesting. "Eat!" she ordered with a soft smile.

So he ate. And he enjoyed it very much. Secretly though…no one had to know that he was crazy for chocolate.

"I'm done!" he announced to the almost-asleep boys and the smiling Corona, who had been guarding the boys.

"Alright then, boys, chocolate and vanilla cupcakes!" she sang as a huge platter of cupcakes appeared on the table.

She forced a chocolate cupcake into a shocked Remus' hands as the other two began devouring them in enthusiasm.

"Take it. You deserve it," she smiled.

Then she skipped off, knowing that her job was done.

It was the full moon. Remus shivered to himself. He was in the Shrieking Shack, after Flooing home from Potter Manor, he had directly Flooed to Hogwarts, where Madam Pomfrey hustled him into the Shack with a whispered 'good luck.' With the chocolate from earlier, he hoped that this transformation would be less painful. As the moon rose, his transformation began. He shifted, and howling in pain, prepared himself for the oblivion. Yet instead, he was fully aware. Moony was still hidden in the back of his mind. He was confused and yelped as he realized he was a wolf! What was happening? Whatever! shouted the childish part of him. So he just played the whole night, racing back and forth, chasing his tail, and trying to climb the walls. Then he explored the Shack carefully. Exhausted, he eventually fell asleep on a bed upstairs.

He awoke in a musty but pretty clean bed. In confusion, he looked around, then remembered the happenings of last night.

I wonder what happened? Playing was fun though…I wonder if I could do that again?

Then a very well-rested and happy Remus hurried out of the Shack and ran up to the Hospital Wing.

"Ah—Mr. Lupin!" shrieked Pomfrey.

"Madam Pomfrey, look! I'm not hurt at all! Yesterday night was so amazing! I went through the pain, but I was awake after that! I could control myself!" a grinning and excited Remus exclaimed.

They spent hours speaking about it, Remus worried that it would not happen again, and Pomfrey wishing to know this miraculous discovery.

By now, there were barely any traces of anything in his bloodstream, but Pomfrey managed to discover a very faint trace of an unknown potion, from which they concluded it must have been from the past four days.

Don't own Hp. Please R&R!