Remus had that urge to kill his friends again. He had thought it was bad when they wouldn't leave him alone at the beginning of the year but now it was bordering on ridiculous. Showers, toilet trips and even walks around the castle were to be supervised. If Remus so much as looked like he would trip someone would get hexed and he was on one of their backs as they carried him away.
It made going to the library difficult for him which was tedious since he needed to look up why he might have reacted so badly to the moon. Never before had stress or something upsetting caused such a violent reaction but it had. He didn't know why and it looked like he might never if his friends didn't relent in their stalking soon.
"I'm pretty sure my back's clean James," He said for the fifth time as the sponge washed over his scars again.
"No one's ever too clean," Came the usual reply before Remus was herded under the shower head. He had argued fervently with the boy when James had hopped in the morning after he returned to the dorms but James wouldn't leave. He hadn't mentioned the bruises or cuts that were newly carved into his skin which put Remus on edge.
"Well I think I am," He tried to get out the shower alone only to find a towel waiting and Sirius grinning at him. Growling in frustration he yanked the towel out of Sirius' grasp and stalked into the dorm. He apologised to Peter later for locking him in the bathroom with the other two for three hours but when he saw the boy waiting with his arms adorning Remus' school robes he just lost it.
He used the hours after locking them in the bathroom to visit the library in between lessons and take out some books. The covers were blank and leather bound unlike the one Peter had and only the title gave away their less than normal subject. He stole them in between his potions and transfiguration books by using a handy little spell he had learned to shrink his class books around the new ones. Pince wouldn't suspect that Remus was carrying more than when he came in.
McGonagall was looking for James and Sirius in her lessons. Despite their tendency to mess around in lessons they were both attentive during hers. They excelled any and all spells she set before them with an exaggerated flourish that made them quick favourites of their head of house. She was no doubt suspicious when Remus came in alone and when Peter didn't turn up either.
"I think they went to the grounds," Remus lied on his way out and used his lunch to undo the wards and locks on the bathroom.
James was frantic and checked him over whilst Sirius took his bag and dragged him and a fussing James to their potions lesson. Peter trailed behind and forgave Remus when he asked for it, especially when he offered his transfiguration notes.
Finding time to read the books he stole proved to be hard with his friends hanging around. After his stunt that morning they had grown wiser to where they stood in relation to his wand. Fanning out proved to be their advantage since Remus couldn't take them all at once in different positions.
James was showing him the improvements he had made to the towers on the maps whilst Sirius and Peter copied up the notes they had missed. All the while Remus' attention was on the books lying innocently in his bag. He wondered if it was some kind of disease or if he had went through a growth spurt and his body was just getting the whiplash of the upcoming events. But then wouldn't he have ended up worse than he was? It seemed that the moon was a tame one with only a couple new scratches and bruises around his upper chest. Usually those happened every moon since Remus' hands changed to claws as he was clutching his rapidly changing bone structure. It seemed as if he had simply slept through the rest of the moon.
"Your notes on the defence tower were really helpful," He tuned in "But I think that you're going to have to stay on it for a while longer. It seems to me that the place is too big not to have a secret passage or room within it."
"Probably," Remus agreed "There's also the fact that the defence classroom itself has more than one door in it. I was too focused on getting in the professors quarters to really investigate the room. I'll do it this weekend," He promised.
There was no time for him to sneak out of the dorm that evening and none that night either. One or the other of his friends demanded his attention so he didn't have any time for himself. The only chance Remus really got was when they were all going to bed.
He waited for the snores of his room mates to commence before checking Sirius wouldn't wake next to him. Romulus was cuddled securely in his arms and he was facing away from Remus but the slow motion of his chest showed that he too was asleep.
He slipped out of the quilt and carefully picked up his bag before retreating to the bathroom. Lighting up his wand he pulled the first book out and skimmed the pages to see if he could find what was wrong with him.
There was nothing concretely true in this book was what Remus concluded after two hundred pages. The information was bigoted and favoured the ideals one would associate with prejudiced idiots. It spoke for three chapters on the symptoms of his illness and how to spot them. He looked at his hand jokingly and noted the lack of excessive hair. Then he felt sorry for those who did suffer from that affliction, no doubt they were being pertained by the ministry.
In none of those pages there was a hint to what Remus had experienced. He picked up the next one and went straight for the contents before checking on chapter four about full moons. Much like the last one it listed symptoms and the dangers of being near one such as himself but again it didn't answer any of the questions he had. The last one didn't either.
He wondered absently if the book Peter had would hold any answers. Shoving the ones he had stolen back in his bag he concluded it was worth a read. He opened the bathroom door and quietly stowed his bag in his trunk before crouching near the closed curtains of Peter's bed.
Making sure there was still two sets of snores in the room and glancing back at his own closed curtains Remus tentatively lifted the red drape up and lit the end of his wand. Peter's side of the room had always been a mess and it seemed that Remus had found the root. Half eaten sweets and wrappers lay piled and dusted, oozing out whatever they had once held onto the floor beneath it. Socks that Peter had accused them of stealing were trapped helplessly in the thick goo of what he assumed was melted toffee.
Turning his wand this way and that Remus couldn't find any sight of the book that he was sure lay under Peter's bed. He let the curtain fall as his gaze narrowed onto the bed next to his own. James might have taken it. The book probably wasn't Peter's in the first place. James had a tendency to lounge on any surface available to him and often left stuff on other peoples side of the room.
But the same was said for James' bed when Remus couldn't find the book. Nothing but Quidditch magazines and some pieces of the broken broom lay under James' bed. He checked under Sirius' as a final resort before concluding that the book had gone. It looked like he was going to have to ask Pomphrey about it after all.
He ran his hands through his hair both disappointed that the book was gone but relieved that they hadn't thought to keep it around for reference. It showed that their suspicions were gone or at least delayed in their investigations.
He climbed back into bed with the promise of going to the hospital wing after classes and caught up on his much needed sleep. He vaguely felt Sirius slipping out of the covers as he drifted off but ignored it in favour of the sweet oblivion his new subconscious had given him.
It turned out easy to convince his friends that he should take a trip to the hospital wing that day. It was a Saturday and since James was still fretting from Wednesday he knew that an okay from Pomphrey would also allow James to let him out tonight.
She welcomed them with cursory glares since the last time they were in they shouted none stop at her. But Remus just asked if he could have a word about something to which she pulled him into her office. It was then, out of the ears of his peers, that he asked her about what she thought happened. Her answer left him with more questions than answers.
"Poisoning?"
"You've seen how you react to touching silver. Consuming it would render you most likely dead if the full moon hadn't been coming up," she admonished and asked him why he was trying to kill himself.
"But I haven't been. I would never..." He thought back to what he had eaten that day. They had something in the great hall for tea and went back to the dorm they could prepare for their trips to the towers. Peter had given him a sugar quill since he had eaten all of Remus' again. But if he had eaten all of Remus' how did he have that one? "So how come I didn't die?" he muttered thinking about all the ways he could have ingested silver. It could have been the result of something being in close proximity to silver. But he didn't eat with any silver materials.
"Your body changes every full moon to become a wolf. It prepares a couple of days beforehand which is why you get bursts of energy or aches in your bones. My guess is that the silver you ingested wasn't able to properly poison your system because your body was in mid change already. It rejected the dead blood much like it would do when you change on a full moon," She explained and shooed him out after that since Sirius had gotten panicky and was rapping on the door.
"Thank you," he called as she made her way back to her patients.
He turned to the others who were watching Pomphrey leave also "So you're not going to die?" James asked.
"No," he replied and told them that they could leave now.
Back at the dorm they took up their parchments and left to pursue their part of the castle. Except where James should have been sectioning off to the hospital wing he was trailing alongside Remus with the cloak tucked under his arm.
"Nice night for it," James remarked taking the steps up to the defence tower. Remus sighed as he realised they weren't actually going to leave him alone for a while.
"True," he spat and followed after the skipping boy.
They soon came to the dark tower and twice Remus had to pull James up from his trip to the floor. They had woke some portraits up but managed to subdue them before they started calling for help.
James looked like he didn't care whether they woke the professor up. He strolled in without looking checking whether anyone was in or even whether it was warded and then cluttered about with the desks that were in his way. Remus felt himself shrinking into the shadows with every bang that sounded into the quiet night and edged his way towards the back of the class. He proceeded to check every door he found and run his hands along the wall to see if he could find anything hidden. James on the other hand had made his way up the stairs and was eyeing the defence office. Remus hastily picked up a waylaid pencil and threw it at his head. He motioned for James to come down and refused to apologise for hitting him despite what James demanded.
The two of them by the end of the night had managed to scour the whole of the defence tower. James had noticed two hidden doorways that led to the transfiguration corridor and the other to the library. By the time they were making their way back Remus' mood had lightened considerably.
They needn't have feared Filch since the caretaker was still adamant that there was someone skulking around the dungeons and with Peter making his weekly havoc down there it wasn't about to change any time soon. So James and Remus enjoyed their slow walk back to the Gryffindor tower.
James helped him on the steps and wouldn't hear it when Remus complained that he could do it himself. When they got back to the dorm Sirius was changed and lounging on his bed scouring the notes he had taken of the Owlry. He passed them to James before taking over Remus watching and followed him into the bathroom.
"Find anything interesting?" Sirius asked handing Remus his shirt.
"Some passages and a room full of live rats," He laughed at the cringe Sirius made "It was quite cool. What about you?"
Sirius huffed "Nothing interesting at the Owlry apart from the owls. I had the place done in under half an hour so I spent an hour noting which owls belonged to which student."
"Why?"
"Why not?" Sirius smirked "If we know who's owls who's then there's the endless possibility for pranks. Just think if we can get the owl on our side then they could send packages laden with dungbombs or poisoned cookies that make you sprout boils." Sirius laughed but Remus didn't. Something about what he just said made him think of what happened at the full moon.
"Poisoned cookies," Remus mumbled to himself walking out of the bathroom and bidding goodnight to James. Just then something caught his eye on the bottom of Sirius' bed. He rolled his eyes at Sirius' cloak strewn across the quilt. The boy hardly ever picked up after himself since he was used to others doing it for him. Remus caught the fabric, careful to avoid the lion clasp that Sirius had taken to wearing religiously for him and moved it to the floor. But not before he noticed the chip in the lions mane. "I didn't know silver could erode," He mentioned and motioned to the cloak when Sirius' face went blank.
Understanding dawned on him and he caught the cloak from Remus and flung it into his trunk whilst looking around for something "It doesn't. I caught Peter eyeing it and the next thing I know my cloak turns up like that. Honestly I've had to start locking my things up," he complained "You'd think Peter would know not to touch others things."
"Yes, you would," he said absently and got into bed.
There wasn't much missing from the lions mane and it didn't look like it had been hacked off either. The place where it was missing was smooth and flat. Almost like someone had filed it off. Remus frowned at his thoughts and pulled the pillow from Sirius' side. Could Peter have tried to poison Remus? But why? There was always the werewolf book that he had found but then again Peter had known that Remus was allergic to silver so why would he try and put silver into his system. That's even if it was him. But he did have an opportunity. After all Remus accepted a sugar quill from him earlier that evening before he went out.
"You'll get a headache," Sirius muttered peeling one eye open. Remus lifted his eyebrow in response "Thinking to hard," He poked Remus' forehead "Now stop and sleep. You need it."
Remus kept an eye on Peter for the next couple of weeks. No longer would he accept anything that the boy had to offer him and even gave his sweets away when he realised that they boy had been in them the day before. James had been noticing Remus' changes and remarked on it three times over the next couple of weeks.
"Are you sure you're alright? You're not acting like yourself," he would say but Remus would just remark that he was still in shock about how bad he had been.
He knew he couldn't use that excuse forever though and quickly changed it to concerns about his mum when the coming moon approached. James seemed to accept his mum excuse more than his shock over his near death experience and left the matter alone. But Remus didn't leave Peter alone. He dogged him much like he was doing to Remus which made the other two happy that Remus was supervised but to Peter he seemed to notice that Remus' new approach at bonding had something sinister underneath it.
Good, Remus thought, see how he likes it. A development came on night in the dormitory. It was a Saturday and he had just came back from investigating the astronomy tower when he spotted Sirius' clasp seated on his bed. Another part of the lions mane had been chipped off and as far as Remus could see it was nowhere to be found. He couldn't sit on the bed and was wary of touching anything in case it held traces of silver and so was stuck standing in the middle of the room for the others to come back.
He didn't have to wait long since the water was running in the bathroom. Ten minutes later Peter was washed and emerging from the shower with a cheery grin on his face. When he saw Remus in the room though his grin vanished into a wary frown as he regarded the scowl placed on Remus' features.
"Everything alright?" He asked innocently making Remus' blood boil.
He decided to play it cool "Someone's been rifling through Sirius' things again," he nodded towards his bed "I can't touch it since I get blisters. Don't suppose you could move it?"
"Sure," Peter nodded moving over and taking the clasp off the bed. He was turning it over in his hands before regarding Remus again "It seems an odd allergy to have though. Silver, I mean I've heard of people being allergic to metal but I don't think I've seen them react so suddenly to them," He moved around Remus and put the clasp on Sirius' trunk.
"What do you mean react so suddenly? I saw a Hufflepuff eat a peanut once and they swelled up in under a minute," He still refused to move. Who knows what was waiting on his things.
"Well yeah," Peter relented "But they just swelled up. You have blisters when it comes near you and it practically breaks skin when you do touch it. It just seems weird, you know?"
"Not really," He glared which Peter held with just as much ferocity. The boy definitely knew something, he would have to rectify it.
"Remus!" Sirius screeched as he bounded into the room. His arms immediately embraced him in his glee "Guess what? You'll never guess, it's just amazing!" he grinned.
"What is it then?" He abandoned Peter's stare in favour of the delight of his friend.
"James got caught!" Sirius announced practically vibrating with happiness.
"That doesn't good," Peter mumbled just as Remus caught on to what Sirius was saying.
"Really?" Sirius abandoned his scowl to Peter to grin back at Remus. He nodded vigorously. "This is great!" Remus crowed.
"Will someone fill me in," Peter called.
Sirius sighed but relented "James got caught by Filch who refused to send him to McGonagall since he believes that James is the one who's been sneaking around the dungeons for the past couple of months. Which he has," Sirius admitted "But he couldn't just bring him to McGonagall for that. The time he's been out of bounds has long since surpassed McGonagalls influence. No, this goes straight to Dumbledore!"
Peter finally realised that James was inside the headmaster's office right now and joined in the merriment. "Just think," Remus told them "He'll know the password for the study. We'll have to be quick to get in there again before the password changes," He was already making plans in his head. They were going to have to use the cloak obviously but how many of them were going to go?
"Is everything alright in here?" Sirius asked looking at the both of them. He seemed to finally realise he had walked in on something.
"Someone's been through your things again," He told him before he went back to plotting. He would have preferred sitting down to do so but Peter had complicated that.
"What!" Remus heard Sirius rifle through his things before noticing the further damaged lion clasp on the floor where it had landed in his assault. "Peter! How many times do I have to tell you to stop going through my things," He yelled.
"Why do you assume it's me," Peter argued back.
"Well James obviously hasn't been in it," He stated "Besides you're the one with the..." Remus glanced around as Sirius trailed off. He noticed Remus staring and shot him an odd frown before turning to his trunk "Just stay out of my things."
Remus went down to the common room since it was the only reasonably safe place for him. It was an hour and a half later when James strolled through the common room with a look to rival Sirius'.
"It went well then?" Remus called from his armchair.
James turned and noticed him. Beaming he strolled and sat on the arm "Sirius told you then?"
"Oh yes," Remus smirked "So how soon do you think we should make our move?"
James seemed to think about it like he hadn't just spent the last hour plotting their break in "Sometime early tomorrow morning. Or, well today then," he looked at the time. "Definitely enough time for Dumbledore to have went to bed."
Remus nodded "Who are you taking?" At James' confused look Remus explained that "We can't all fit under your cloak. One of us is going to have to sit it out."
"Which is going to be Peter," Sirius announced sitting on the other side of the armchair. Remus hadn't heard him come down.
"How come?"
"I caught him snooping through my things again. Not to mention he gets too shaky on covert missions. Remember the hype he pulled about Dumbledore the first time around?"
"All the more reason to take him," Remus suggested "He'll want to see what he couldn't break into the first time."
"Fine," Sirius relented with a sigh and slid down so he was cuddled up next to Remus. "So who's going to stay out of us three?"
"I will," He told them. He needed to check the dorm for silver that was lying around. Not to mention he wanted a snoop through Peters things. "If I want to have a look I'll just do something particularly naughty," He reasoned stretching from his position and calling the other two to get ready.
Back in the dorm he seated himself carefully onto James' trunk as the other three spoke excitedly about their impending break in. Sirius was still sending dirty looks Peters way whilst James nudged him to be friendly. Remus couldn't bring himself to reprimand Sirius tonight since he too felt like sending just as dark looks Peters way.
"Ready then?" James asked and once the affirmative had been reached they journeyed out of the dorm.
He followed them to open the portrait so as not to look suspicious before bounding back up the stairs and dragging his trunk to the window. He scourigified every inch until it was cleaner than when he bought it. Next he emptied out the contents and delicately sorted through his things for anything that might be laced. Shaking them violently out the window just in case before putting them carefully back in his clean trunk. Next was his bed and then Sirius' until his and Sirius' side was the only haven in their messy dorm.
Remus couldn't think what Peter would want with the silver from the lions mane unless he had planned to lace something with it. If he hadn't done so already then he probably still had it on him. Another reason to search Peter's side of the room.
He was careful and placed everything back where he found it yet still he found no trace of silver. There was nothing else damning in his trunk either. No books or diagrams depicting monsters but he couldn't help thinking about what he had seen. Peter knew something. Remus was sure of it!
Sighing hopelessly he dropped onto his bed and kicked his shoes off in his sorrows. Perhaps he had been imagining things last time. It had been close to the moon and often his mind wandered before hand. Not to mention the fact that he had swallowed silver. Who knows what that might have done to his body, the book could have just been a figment of his fever addled imagination. Peters hostility before was probably a product of Remus' constant presence over the last couple of weeks. He knew that they all drove him mad when they wouldn't leave him alone so it wasn't as far fetched as it sounded.
The merry conquerors returned triumphant and proud. They had journeyed to the kitchens for celebratory muffins on their way back and Sirius happily bestowed Remus with three of them. He pushed them onto his table and listened to the tales they had to tell about the headmaster's office.
Apparently there were portraits of every previous headmaster situated behind Dumbledore's desk. Sirius had been slightly disgruntled at that since his uncle or relation had been a headmaster. James told Remus about all the trinkets that Dumbledore had collected over the years. He named all the ones he knew about before talking about Dumbledore's phoenix. It had known they were there somehow but didn't know their exact location and according to James didn't much care that they were in Dumbledore's office.
James showed him all the plans they had made and eagerly fetched his quill to sketch out Dumbledore's office onto their map.
"Did you clean?" Sirius sneered looking at his bed.
"Yes," Remus mumbled into his pillow. "I'm not sleeping in filth," Was what he told Sirius before changing into his pyjamas and jumping onto Sirius' clean bed "You should be thanking me before it grows mould like James and Peters beds."
James was too preoccupied to form a retort and Peter seemed to still be angry at him to do much more than stare. It was early in the morning so Sirius didn't need too much persuasion to call it a night and collapse into bed next to him. He made sure to fetch Romulus from Remus' pillow and smack James on the head with him before he joined him.
If he hadn't needed the toilet later that morning Remus doubted he would have noticed until early afternoon. As it was he was in mid yawn and tying up his pants as he walked to the sinks. He pulled a funny face in the mirror before reaching for the tap. As soon as he did though excruciating agony made its way up his hand. He yanked it back abruptly from the tap and stared through tears at the blood welling up in his palm. There was a lot there and he could feel a silent scream issue from his lips as he held his hand close to him.
He panted and gagged to stop himself from crying as he walked into the dorm. Peter was sitting up in his bed and peering out at Remus from his curtains. He quickly closed his palm up.
"Everything alright Remus?" Peter asked with a small smile that told him he knew exactly what was wrong with him.
Remus just clenched his hand tighter on the pain not caring that he could feel blood dripping down onto the floor. Luckily his hand was facing away from Peter as he nodded "Fine," he said and was proud that his voice didn't waver as he strolled back to Sirius' bed. Pomphrey would have to wait until morning he reasoned brining his hand to his chest and tried to stop himself from making any noise.
He closed his eyes from the pain and honestly didn't know how long he lay there in agony before his hand was pulled away from his body. He saw a blurry Sirius staring in horror at his hand and he moved quickly to the bathroom. A minute later Remus was nursing his wound with a damp cloth that stung at first but became something he couldn't live without after a while.
"What happened?" Sirius hissed poking his head out and making sure the others were still asleep. Remus told him about going to the bathroom but regretted to inform Sirius that the taps were laced with silver. That was something he was going to bring up to Peter on his own. Sirius cursed when he was done and took Remus' hand from him to look at better in the light "We'll need to go to Pomphrey for it," He warned to which Remus just nodded. He knew that already. Sirius poked his head out of the curtains again, as if he knew who was behind Remus' recent injury "We'll go now," He announced and pulled Remus to his feet.
They padded along the halls until they reached the hospital wing. Pomphrey knew what kind of wound he had and lectured him away from Sirius' ears about the danger of silver. She even recommended going to see a teacher if he was having some difficulties in school. Apparently she believed that these things were self inflicted. To which Remus reported that he already self harmed once a month and didn't need more scars.
Sirius carried Remus' salve back to the dorm for him and checked his hand every once in a while, even though it was bandaged. On the way back Remus begged them to stop at one of the boys bathrooms so he could get washed. Sirius cast him a questioning look but nevertheless complied and waited whilst Remus used the sinks to scrub himself clean.
Back at the dorm James and Peter were awake and arguing quietly about something on Peters bed. When they came in Peter nodded not so secretively towards Remus' bandaged hand to which James grew red with fury. It was something Remus wasn't supposed to know since James left the room and didn't return until later and in a calmer state of mind.
Sunday was spent in a tense silence all around. Remus busied himself with homework and revising for the end of year exams that were starting in two months. They had all gotten their timetables and although he had to move one around Remus was confident that he would at least pass all of his classes.
Sirius and James weren't talking to one another but then they hadn't really been that close to begin with. They alternated between pacing the dorm and joining Remus in the common room. As for Peter he was playing with the first year girls, teaching them about wizard chess and how to play gobstones. Lily was quite taken with the violence of wizard chess and had Peter play her ten times before he called it a day. Remus took some satisfaction that she beat him in more games than he won..
As night fell the atmosphere was growing worse between the four boys. Remus knew he needed to clean the bathroom up but Peter wouldn't let him out of his sights. By eight he journeyed down to the kitchens tailed by the three boys and practically ordered a house elf off to the side to clean his bathroom. The house was more than happy to comply but Remus knew that Peter saw what he had told the elf.
The moon was on Tuesday that week which meant that the tense atmosphere continued to that point. The coming moon left him more agitated and restless on Monday and much less forgiving of every little thing Peter did to annoy him. By the time the moon came around he was glad to wake up on Thursday with no recollection of the last two days. It meant that he hadn't seen Peter and it meant that he could rest easy in the hospital wing since Pomphrey would never allow anything to hurt him here.
When he was allowed to go to the dorm a set scowl was on his features and he knew that Peter would be there waiting for him to return. He needed a plan.
"So Remus," Peter started lounging on Remus' bed "I couldn't help noticing that you weren't in your bed for the past two nights."
"I was visiting my mother. You know that Peter," Sirius and James were off in their own beds watching the impeding argument with wide eyes.
"Really? Or were you changing into a blood thirsty monster," He accused and held up the book Remus had been searching for. The crude drawing was on the front but it was nothing compared to the images within.
"You think I'm a-" He forced himself to laugh incredulously feeling nerves well up.
"You didn't really hide it all that well," Peter said ignoring the laughter aimed at him and continuing with his smug deceleration "Gone every full moon and yes I checked it's every full moon! Not to mention your aversion to silver and all the scars you have. Then there's your eyes," What was wrong with his eyes? He would have to check later.
"And all this makes you think I'm a monster?" He asked looking to James and Sirius for some support. All he saw though was suspicion. It seemed that Peter had roped them into this idea but they were letting him lead the accusations in case they were false.
"A werewolf!" Peter declared haughtily. Remus cringed at the use of the word. He hadn't called himself that and refused to even think the label that the ministry had assigned to him. He supposed it was some kind of denial but every time he so much as thought the word his limbs seized in phantom pain.
He used his discomfort to his advantage "So all this evidence you have against me leads you to think I'm a werewolf? You immediately jump to the conclusion that I'm some evil monster? Have I ever done anything monstrous to you?" He looked around and noted with some satisfaction that James and Sirius looked away "You thought 'Oh he's gone every month he must be plotting to kill me' instead of the truth."
"The truth? The truth is that you're a werewolf! There's no use denying it," Peter kept on his argument.
"No," Remus insisted "The truth is that you dislike me so much that you want me gone. You hate the idea of being alone," He accused throwing some of his own anger in there "So you fabricated this story that could potentially ruin my life!" He saw Peter about to argue again "Don't even bother Peter I know you're the one who laced the taps with silver. Honestly," He breathed "Who tries to kill someone they like?"
"You're a monster!"
"You poisoned me!" He shouted. "I have an allergy and you laced my food with something that would have killed me!" Remus went over and picked up his pyjamas "I'm not staying here," He announced "Not with him. You can think all you like and when you finally come to your senses I want an apology."
He went down to the common room without a backwards glance. The weariness he still felt from the moon meant he fell asleep almost instantly. Early that morning he had hatched a plan. It was in the middle of potions when he figured out how to get them off his scent. All it took for one glance in a certain red heads direction.
"Lily I was wondering if you wanted to help me with something," He approached and begged separation from a scowling Snape walking next to her. She was wary but agreed and followed Remus outside for a private talk. He indulged his plan to her and flattered her in a way that was bound to earn him some good behaviour points.
She agreed quite quickly to his plan since she saw it as a way to get back at James and Sirius for their cruelty to Snape. The ingredients for the potion were illegal to obtain in school but Remus told her that he would sort out what they needed. A few trips to Slughorns cupboards meant that he had most of the ingredients from the first day and asking Sirius for the others meant he had all of them. Sirius didn't ask too many questions when Remus told him it was for a prank. He just winked and walked off to get a quill and his owl.
As April approached he also had the problem of James' birthday to solve. He wished that he could go into Hogsmeade with the third years but settled for asking one of the older students to get it for him.
His birthday came with much excitement. James woke the other two up before going into the common room and jumping on Remus declaring "It's my birthday!" and jumping in every direction. He demanded presents then so they all had to go and get them from their trunks.
Sirius had gotten him some kind of mirror that they could talk through to each other. "You can tell me about all the fun you'll be having over summer," He told James with a smile. Remus didn't think that was a nice thing to say since Sirius' home life was no laughing matter. But then Peter was handing over his present.
Peter had gotten him some sweets along with a new hat since his old one had went missing ever since it went under his bed. "Thanks Peter," James clapped and held his hands out expectantly for Remus' present.
He dutifully handed it over and saw James frown at the small size of his present. It morphed quickly into a smile as the little broomstick clad figure zoomed around his head "I thought it could replace your life-size one until Christmas," He said. James squealed as the broom went in a little loop.
"Love it Rem," He sang and spent half an hour lobbing sweets at it and trying to get it to perform complicated Quidditch manoeuvres.
They had started some kind of tradition with birthdays in their group. One which Peter and Sirius would be getting at the end of the year since they hadn't really declared themselves officially friends until after Christmas.
James got to go down to the kitchens and request a cake three tiers high and filled with a different filling on each layer. Remus only had eyes for the second one that was chocolate and was drooling by the time James had blew his candles out.
For that day it had seemed like what had happened at the last full moon was merely a figment of the imagination. But the next morning the truce had wore itself out. Peter was back to glaring at Remus whilst the other two mediated themselves between them. James didn't seem all that concerned for a while since he had his presents as a distraction. Sirius on the other hand seemed to have taken Remus' side. Whether it was out of belief of Remus' lie or the fact that he no longer had a bed buddy and was looking sleep deprived Remus didn't know. He was grateful for the support though and didn't complain as Sirius joined Remus on his side of the table.
It was definitely awkward sharing the group out like this which was why he was glad when the moon came. Arriving on a Friday Remus gave the excuse on Wednesday that he was going to study with Lily to Sirius and James since they had taken no interest in their upcoming exams.
In reality he was checking on their potion that was ready to be consumed and practising with Lily.
"I don't think I walk like that," He told her as she shuffled about the room.
"You do though," She insisted "You kind of keep to yourself and shrink down when you're around people."
He hadn't realised he did that "Do I always do that?" he thought back to how he moved.
"Not when you're around your friends. You're confident with them. Seem to walk with more of a spring," And she demonstrated rather embarrassingly.
"Alright," he consented "What about how I speak?"
She performed some lines in a crude accent that he was sure he didn't have. Lily forced him to listen to himself speak and noticed a hint to what she was getting at but insisted that she was just exaggerating his accent.
"What do you call them?" She asked "You're friends," She said when it showed he needed specifics.
"Oh, just Sirius, James and Peter," He told her.
"What about anything in particular I should do. Do you have any habits like Potter. He's always pushing his hair around. It makes it worse than what it normally is," Remus laughed at her observation. It was true.
"I don't think so," he told her just in case "Watch me tomorrow and see if I do." She nodded and they both walked back to the dormitory after that.
He was aware that Lily was watching him all through Thursday. It made him self aware and he had to let himself to forget about his plan altogether to relax enough to act normal for her. She showed him the notes that night and Remus had to conclude they were better than Wednesday's trial.
"Alright here's the plan. I have to go home for about seven so I'll say I need the toilet and we'll make the switch. I'm currently sleeping in the common room so you can make your escape there. Tell them that you have to go home at about two in the morning. No earlier than eleven," He corrected seeing her distraught face at being trapped with his friends for that amount of time. "Then hurry out the portrait wall and wait until the potion wears off. Remember to take it every hour before that though," He reminded to which she pulled a face at him.
"I know how polyjuice works Remus," She trilled as they left the bathroom that night.
Friday came and he was in jitters again. Sirius took him out for a nice run on the grass. It was windy but dry meaning that they could both chase each other around for a couple of hours without fear of being muddy.
Tea came and went and before he knew it he was facing Lily in the toilets. She plucked some of his hair and dropped it into the bubbling potion. There was more in her bottle that she added the other hairs to and they watched it turn a dark brown.
"God I hope you taste good," She said and blushed afterwards as her words registered something Remus didn't get. She knocked back the potion and cringed a bit. Her face soon started bubbling much like the potion and soon he was looking directly at another him.
"That's spooky," He remarked. Lily looked at her reflection in the boys mirror.
"Tell me about it," His own voice came out of Lily's mouth and they both started at the change. "At least you didn't taste nasty," she offered gathering her things together "Kind of like chocolate actually."
They bid each other goodbye and Remus hoped that his plan would work. He worried endlessly in the shack as he paced and bit his nails into his arms. When the claws came out he had to yank his hands out to stop them from scarring further.