Chapter 8
"Shove over, would you? There isn't enough space in this little compartment for all nine of us with stretched out on the seat taking a bloody nap." Becca walked over to Sirius and shoved him off of the long bench seat onto the floor, then sat down herself.
"Bloody hell, having a bad day?" Sirius asked.
"No, I just have issues with homework, and school generally involves homework."
"On the other hand, we get to do magic all of the time and party in the common room constantly." Sirius pointed out.
"No, Sirius, that's just you and James because you finish your homework in ten minutes after never paying attention in class."
"Oh. Well if you ever need any help, you know who to turn to."
"Who? You?" I said incredulously.
"No, Lily, I was referring to Remus." Sirius smirked.
"Thanks for volunteering me for tutoring duty." Remus rolled his eyes and continued reading his book. We all settled into our seats. It was the first time we had sat still since waking up this morning and getting ready to go to the station. We had arrived just in time to throw our trunks onto the train and jump aboard before the whistle blew and the Hogwarts Express pulled out of Kings Cross and began its journey to Hogsmeade and Hogwarts. "However, James is the best at Transfiguration, so if you're having trouble with that, I'd see him."
"No, I have issues with charms… just ask Lily…"
"Oh, is that why she walked around with orange and purple highlights last year?"
"Yes, it was. Her charms skills are in perfectly capable tutoring hands, so never mind."
"And who's hands would those be?" asked James from his seat by the window, just across from mine.
"Mine." I replied.
"And very beautiful hands they are, too."
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Lily could use some work on her transfiguration. Last time she tried to transfigure a rat into a goblet, it sprouted extra legs and ran away." Now I was glaring at Mikki.
"Well, I'd be glad to help you out with your transfiguration." James said, smiling at me just a little too happily.
"I've got it under control, thanks." I said, taking out one of my new books to read. This one was a muggle book, called The Key to Rebecca, by Ken Follet. I had picked it up because I thought it was amusing that it bore the name of two of my best friends. Once I had read the back cover though, I decided to buy it because the story sounded interesting, if perhaps a little risqué´.
Everyone settled down. James and Sirius were sitting, heads together, discussing something in a low voice; probably their first prank of the year. Peter was sitting in the seat next to the door sleeping with his feet stretched across the aisle resting on the seat across from him. Mikki was flipping through the daily prophet, a small stack of magazines sat waiting a similar fate at her feet. Rebby was laying on her back on the floor, her feet on her seat, reading one of the books on Taekwondo that James and I had bought in Diagon Alley. Remus and Rachel were sitting next to each other reading, occasionally making whispered comments to each other. Becca was sitting next to me cross legged drawing something in her sketch book.
After about thirty minutes, I looked at my watch and said "Remus, time for the Prefects meeting." The two of us got up and left for the Prefect's compartment at the head of the train. "So, Remus, I never got the chance to ask, how was your summer?"
"It was, um, fun I suppose. I spent more time than I would have liked at home though."
"How's that?"
"My family's just… a little… unorthodox I suppose."
"Are they muggles or wizards?"
"Um, my Da is a wizard, mum's a muggle, but she's apparently always had a feel for magic. She likes the muggle tricks, knows a lot of lore about the creatures."
"What, like vampires and banshees and werewolves?" I asked. Remus seemed to flinch at the mention of werewolves. That's odd.
"Yeah. She's particularly interested in werewolves these days."
"Do you know any werewolves?" Remus looked particularly uncomfortable now.
"Just one. He's actually a very nice guy. My family are really the only one's that know about him being a werewolf though, wizarding society tend to forget that becoming one usually isn't done by choice. James, Sirius and Peter know him too."
"Really? I've never met a werewolf before." Remus gave a short laugh at this. "What's so funny?"
"Oh, nothing. Look, we're here." I furrowed my eyebrows at his back, confused about his attitude during the conversation, especially at the end, and followed him through the door to the Prefects compartment.
The meeting was much the same as the year before had been. The Slytherine's sat in one corner making jeering comments at the Head Prefects; the fifth year Prefects asked questions and received answers; the Head Prefects blathered on about responsibility and such. If there was one thing I'd do when I became Head Girl, I'd nix the long dull speeches and make the meetings more fun. The only interesting thing that happened, other than the 'accidental' jinxing of one of the Slytherine's turning their hair from black to pink, was the announcement that this year Professor Dumbledore had asked us to plan a Christmas Ball. He said that we needed to promote more unity in the school and that he could think of no way better to do so, than "with the aid of good music and bad dancing".
All through the meeting I kept wondering about why Remus had acted so odd earlier. I tried to bring up werewolves again on the walk back to our compartment, but he kept waiving the topic away and asking me obscure questions. He was avoiding the topic with a vengeance, and for the life of me I couldn't figure out why. Eventually I gave up and walked silently back to the compartment with him.
When we arrived at the compartment we were greeted by the sound of extremely loud laughter. I opened the compartment door and laughed myself at the sight of James and Sirius chasing Becca around the compartment.
"Give me that bloody sketchbook!" James yelled, dodging to the left, missing Becca by an inch as she jumped up on one of the bench seats and hid behind Rachel who had jumped up when she saw Becca coming towards her.
"Give it here or I'll-" Sirius started, only to be interrupted by Becca.
"Or you'll what? Give me a kiss? Get taken down by me again? What?" Becca taunted Sirius and giggled as he snatched for the sketchbook just as she yanked it out of his reach.
"Um, what's going on here?" I asked, trying hard not to laugh as Sirius jumped up and down trying to reach the sketchbook.
"Becca drew some picture of the two of them, and when she showed it to them, they flipped out and have been trying to get it from her for the last five minutes." Mikki said, crossing her arms and watching Becca dance around with the sketchbook high over her head. While Becca was busy dancing about and taunting Sirius, James snuck up behind her and grabbed her ankle, causing her to fall backwards towards Sirius. To his credit, Sirius caught her as she fell, probably because it was either that or be landed on. The sketchbook flew from Becca's hand and landed in Rebby's lap.
"Oh, hello, where did this come from? Very interesting rendering Becca. One of your best works yet. Can I have a copy of it?" Rebby stood up and walked into the hall and stood behind me, where James couldn't reach her. "Would you like to see the picture Remus?" Rebby offered the sketchbook to Remus who took it and looked at the picture then began laughing outrageously. I don't think I've ever heard him laugh like that before, normally he just sort of snickers silently or smirks and shakes his head.
"You know, I really should give this to James and Sirius to be destroyed, but I just can't, it's too funny. I'd like a coy too, if you don't mind. I'm going to have it framed and hang it on the wall above my bed." He handed the sketchbook back to Rebby and squeezed past me and into the compartment where he shook Becca's hand. "I congratulate you on depicting them so accurately."
"Hey!"
"Traitor!"
Remus shrugged his shoulders and sat down in his seat, and taking out Becca's camera. "This needs to be documented. Just in case they get a hold of the actual sketch." He brought the camera over and handed it over my shoulder to Rebby. Rebby sat the sketchbook on the ground and took a few pictures of it then picked it back up again. She handed the camera back to Remus.
"Would you like to see the pretty picture Lily?" Rebby asked innocently.
"Does it thoroughly embarrass Potter and Black?" I asked.
"Of course, what else do I draw? I'm pretty sure they haven't been chasing me for the pictures of the creatures from Care of Magical Creatures class last year or the random doodles of flowers and Matthias." Becca rolled her eyes.
"Who is Matthias?" Sirius asked.
"He's this character I made up. See I was writing this story and…" Becca continued to tell Sirius all about the story she had been writing for about a year that she had never finished. I wasn't paying attention though. I was busy laughing my butt off at the picture that she had drawn of Sirius and James.
The sketch was about six inches tall and featured James and Sirius in manga form standing together looking in full length body mirrors. James was wearing a pink fluffy dress and a puzzled look on his face, Sirius, a purple dress a look of speculation. James was scratching his chin, other hand on his hip saying "How did I end up in this thing?" Sirius's was twisted around looking at his behind in the mirror saying "Who cares about that? Does this color make me look fat?" In the background Peter was holding up another dress, this one blue saying "Try this one, it'll go well with your eyes."
"Hmm… nice work here Becca, I'm still fond of the "pansy-man" one though. It's definitely my favorite."
"Wait, there are more of these?" James asked.
"Yes, a lot. Becca's favorite subject matter is one, you all doing something stupid, two, imaginary characters from her many storylines, none of which she has ever finished, and three, scenes of nature or Arthurian legend, the muggle versions that is. She has a knack for drawing Celtic knots."
"Is that difficult?" James asked.
I looked over at Becca, who was still explaining one of her storylines to Sirius. "Hey, Becs, can I show him some of the stuff in your sketchbook?"
"Yeah sure, just don't screw it up, or let him get hold of it. If he does, with all the drawings of him and the guys in there, I'll never get it back." Becca replied, and then went back to explaining the storyline, now to Remus and Rach as well as Sirius.
"Here, this is one of the knots; they're really complicated to draw sometimes. I tried once and got lost." I flipped to the appropriate page and showed him a twisting turning mass of lines that formed a circle. "There are simpler ones too. Like the triquetra, that's a Celtic knot." I showed him a drawing of the triquetra.
"Interesting." He said. We sat down on the bench of seats and flipped through the sketchbook, me pointing out some of my favorites or what some of them meant, him laughing and glaring for each respectively. There were a lot of new drawings in there too that I hadn't seen. Probably the new stuff was from over the summer. "The great thing about Becca's sketchbook is it never runs out of pages; no matter how much she draws in it, the pages can and will never run out because it has been charmed so that they cannot. I did that charm by the way. It was a birthday gift in… third year I believe." I explained to James who had been giving the book strange looks as I continued to flip the pages. "It's also charmed to feel light as a feather and to never actually become bigger than it is now, to cut down on bulk."
"Third year was a busy year for all of us it seems." James murmured.
"Huh?" I said. What was he talking about, a busy year? It had taken me the better part of the year to finish it, but what had he done that year that made it so busy?
"Oh, um, nothing, nothing at all." James replied hastily.
The rest of the train ride I read my book. Or at least I sat with the book open to the same page not actually reading the words, contemplating the mystery that is the Marauders. James is avoiding something to do with third year. It's something important too, I can feel it. Remus too; he's hiding something as well. And it has to do with werewolves. A werewolf that all four of them know… His parents know... A friend, of the family…
"Oh, Holy SHIT!" I exclaimed sitting up straight in my seat, eyes wide, mouth agape.
"Everything okay there Lils?" Becca asked raising an eyebrow.
I tried to respond, but just sat there, my mouth moving soundlessly. "He's a… it's a… I… he… and they…" I looked at Remus incredulously then at the other boys, then back to Remus. He gave me a questioning look, then his eyes opened wide and a look of horror crossed his face, a look only I saw, seeing as everyone else was staring at me. Remus gave e a look of such pleading in that moment, such utter desperation and hope that I felt I couldn't tell them. I felt that if I did, I would be causing the world to crash down around my shoulders. So, I didn't tell everyone. I said I had just figured out the plot in my book, and that it had completely surprised me. Then I shut my mouth. I didn't say another word until we had reached Hogsmeade. As I pulled my trunk from the rack above my head, Remus helped me lower it down, and before he moved on to his own trunk, while the others were fidgeting about with their things, he slipped me a bit of paper and put his finger to his lips in a gesture of silence. I knew what he wanted from me. He wanted me to keep it secret. Secret from his friends, my friends, his new girlfriend; he wanted to meet me later tonight, at half past 2 am, in the commons to tell me to keep it a secret. Because he didn't want me to tell them what I had really just figured out.
He didn't want me to tell them that he was a werewolf.