Disclaimer - Usual.
Chapter 66
Wednesday arrived all too quickly for Remus. Over the last few days Sirius and James had been working on eroding any inhibitions Remus had about leaving the shack for the night. One of the problems that had stumped them was knowing the time. They had to have enough time to get back to the shack before Madam Pomfrey came and got Remus.
Wednesday morning, when the post arrived, Sirius received a small package. The others looked at him curiously. He grinned and put the box in his bag for later.
"Are you going to tell us what that is?" James asked.
"Later. Let's just say, I figured out our time problem."
Peter looked tired and confused. "Are we late again?"
Remus smirked. "No Wormtail. Here, more coffee."
Sirius frowned, looking offended. "How come you don't ever offer me coffee?"
"Because," Remus said matter-of-factly, "you don't have trouble waking up in the morning. Besides, I don't think we could handle a caffeinated Padfoot."
Later that day, when the guys had returned to their dorms for free period, Sirius pulled out the box. He opened it and carefully pulled out… a steel slip-chain.
"What is that?" Remus asked irritably. Being the day of a full moon, he was already agitated. Seeing a dog collar only exacerbated the feeling. He watched as Sirius muttered some spell over it and then slipped the chain through the ring to make a loop.
"It's a collar, my good man," Sirius said grinning and holding it up in front of Remus' face.
"Get it away from me." Remus growled.
Sirius frowned, his happy bubble punctured by Remus' steely words. He slipped the chain over his head and began to rummage through his trunk.
"What is it for?" Remus asked, speaking slowly, not having received a satisfactory explanation yet.
"Ah," Sirius said quietly, having found what he was looking for. Finally turning back to Remus, he said, "Sorry mate. I didn't…" Sirius seemed at a loss for words. Never having been in Remus' basement, he had no idea how much the slip chain reminded Remus of the collar and chains used on him when he was younger, though in retrospect he could understand Remus' discomfort. "Look," he held up a small wizard's timepiece. "I figured I could attach it to the chain and then we'll know what time it is when we go out tonight."
Remus sighed. Sirius was just trying to help work out the bugs of their adventure for tonight. And though Remus hadn't officially given the go-ahead, the whole week thus far had been gearing up for tonight. It would seem almost anti-climactic if they didn't leave the shack. "It's not going to matter. Once you change into…" Remus looked around, even though he knew no one was there besides James and Peter. "Anyway, the chain will disappear – like your clothes."
"No," Sirius grinned. "I just charmed it so that it will stay on me and visible."
"You can do that?" James stepped up to the two, joining in the conversation.
Sirius nodded. "Yeah, I found it in one of the books in The Room."
"Nice," Peter joined in too.
"Wait. You're reading the books?" James asked sarcastically.
Sirius, trying to get the time piece to fit on the chain, looked up from his fumbling and swatted James' shoulder.
Remus sighed again, took the magical clock from him, and deftly attached it to the chain. He cast his own spell on the timepiece. Looking up, he saw the curious looks of the others. "I've set it to glow thirty minutes before sunrise. That way we'll notice it better." James and Sirius grinned like they'd just received the best birthday present ever, and Remus couldn't help but smile back. "So what's a little rule breaking, danger, and mischief among friends?"
That night, they made their way out onto the school grounds and skirted the edge of the forest, searching for a stick or rock they could use to prop open the door so they could get out and back in later, without anyone having to return to human form to say the spell that unlocked the door. Once they found what they were looking for, they headed to the shack.
It was agreed that Remus would transform upstairs so that James and Sirius could station themselves at the door and prevent him from bolting before they were ready for him.
As soon as Remus transformed into the wolf, he darted downstairs. His tail wagged in greeting to the now familiar and anticipated presence of the others. But he also seemed to know tonight was going to be different. He paced impatiently in front of the rat, stag, and dog. They were blocking the door which his keen senses told him was open.
The stag nodded and turned toward the door. The wolf tried to dart forward, but he was effectively blocked by the dog. The dog shook his head as if to say, "Stag first, you follow."
The wolf snorted with impatience, but nodded back.
They made their way at an easy trot down the tunnel. The rat hitched a ride on the stag, taking his regular perch among the stag's antlers. Once they got out of the tunnel, the wolf again tried to bolt. He knew he was near people – closer than he'd ever been before while taking up residence here. But immediately the stag and dog were blocking his path, and they were both quick. Each turn he tried to make, they seemed to anticipate. What was worse, they were herding him away from the scent of people and toward the forest. At last, he decided to give in – forests were good places to hunt, too.
Once inside the forest, the other three animals tensed. It was obviously unfamiliar territory to them. They spent some time sniffing around before the dog caught a scent and beckoned for the others to follow. Every once in a while, during the pursuit, they'd catch a glimpse of something white ahead, but it always eluded them.
They came across a small stream and waded happily for a while, eventually taking up a game of catch-the-fish. The stag would stir up dirt and rocks to force the fish out of hiding, while the rat's sharp eyes searched the water for signs of movement, squeaking when a fish flickered into view. Then the dog and wolf chased and snapped at the fish as they swam by.
Later that night, they caught site of the elusive white creature and took up the pursuit again. They were stopped short, however, when, once they entered a clearing, they found themselves surrounded by the business ends of spears, glinting in the moonlight. The three wizard animagi and the werewolf stood nervously waiting. From the shadows behind the spears, the figures of several centaurs emerged. The centaurs regarded the four curiously.
One stepped forward and spoke. "I do not believe the werewolf has been given permission to roam the forest."
The stag, being the tallest, stared the centaur in the eyes and nodded. In the mean time, the dog crept to his side, effectively placing both the stag and the dog between the spokesman and the wolf.
"We do not harm human young," the centaur continued. "But know this, it," he pointed to Remus, "is not welcome here. We will not aid you in any way here in the forest."
Sirius stepped to the side, then he walked a quarter-circle until he was standing directly before the centaur again. Each spear point he passed, he sniffed, and glanced at the leader.
The centaur understood. "No. We will not harm you either." At a nod of his head, the other centaurs lowered their spears. He nodded again and the rest of his clan vanished back into the trees, remarkably quiet for such large creatures.
James bowed his head in thanks.
"Know, too, that not all of the creatures of this forest are as discriminating as we. To many, you are just prey."
Sirius growled as if to say, "Let them try."
The centaur chuckled slightly, but became very solemn a moment later. "Darkness comes. Hold fast to these friendships." And with a swish of his tail, he was gone.
The others exchanged glances, wondering what to do now. It was the wolf that decided to make the first move, starting a game of tag. They romped and wrestled for a while, when suddenly the chain around the dog's neck began to glow. Tag became chase, as the three large animals lumbered through the forest without care. The rat returned to his perch, occasionally squeaking and tugging on the antlers to make sure the others kept going in the right direction.
Once out of the forest, the wolf continued toward the tree, but looked distractedly at the castle. The stag prodded him in the rear a few times to keep him moving forward, but the wolf didn't fight the others. The rat froze the tree and got the others safely back into the tunnel. Once inside the shack, the dog grabbed the stick that was holding the door open and moved it to the tunnel.
They didn't have to wait long before Remus transformed back into his human form, collapsing from exhaustion onto the floor, but otherwise unharmed. The others waited until they heard Madam Pomfrey collect Remus and leave before they headed back to their dorms. Their biggest concern now was food. This was followed closely by – how were they going to stay awake during classes today?
Chapter 67
Thursday night, when the guys stopped by the hospital wing to pay Remus a visit, they saw he already had company. Sitting next to him on his bed was Aden. They were happily chatting and working on classwork.
Sirius sat down on a chair next to the bed. "You have the whole hospital wing to yourself and you two are doing classwork?" he asked in mock disgust.
"Well," Remus said, grinning, "you never know when someone's going to show up, now do you?"
"Mmm," was the only response Sirius gave – a testimony to how tired he was from the previous night's all-nighter. He leaned back in his chair so it was resting on two legs. Then he locked his fingers behind his head – balancing perfectly so he didn't have to put effort into holding his head up.
Peter lay down in the bed next to Remus' and James lay down across the foot of Remus' bed, his feet dangling off the side.
"Why are you all so tired?" Aden asked.
"Had a late night last night," James said absently.
"I don't suppose any of you took notes today?" Remus asked, smirking at the three of them. To be fair, at least he had gotten sleep.
"All three of us, actually," Sirius said. "I think between the three copies, you might actually get something legible to use."
"Yeah," James added. "Then you can copy it for us."
Aden snickered and rolled her eyes. "Whatever would they do without you?"
"Mmm," Peter groaned and smacked his lips.
"One down," Remus grinned.
"So… how come you're still here?" James asked. "I though Madam Pomfrey would have let you leave by now."
"Well," Remus' eyes held the glint of mischief that most people associated with his friends. "She gave me the option of staying or leaving. And I decided to stay."
"Why?" Sirius frowned.
"Because being here has certain advantages. Like you said earlier – We're alone and relatively uninterrupted."
The front legs of Sirius' chair hit the stone floor, hard. He leaned forward to take a playful swing at Remus, but Aden was in the way, so at the last second Sirius redirected his hand. Unfortunately for him, his tired lack of coordination and the forward momentum of the chair toppled him onto the floor.
Peter rolled over on the bed, while everyone else burst out laughing.
"Very graceful, Pads," James commented.
Blushing and muttering, Sirius sat back down in his chair. "Shut it," he shot back, without any real anger behind it. "Hit him for me, love," Sirius said to Aden while gesturing at Remus.
Still chuckling from Sirius' tumble to the floor, she conceded and playfully hit Remus, though at the same time she said, "Don't call me that again, Sirius."
"Aye-aye," he said with a salute.
"Wait." Remus was also still laughing. "What was that for? Prongs was the one who made the comment."
"You know exactly what that was for," Sirius answered, pointing his finger at Remus. "Behave yourselves tonight."
"Don't worry," Aden smiled sweetly. "Some of us are still innocent."
"Ha! Not with that smile – you vixen you." There was another round of light laughter.
"So why were you up late last night?" Aden asked innocently.
Sirius leaned back in his chair again. He glanced at James, wondering what the best way to answer was.
"We were plotting how to get the egg back from Ravenclaw," James answered easily.
"Oh, so Gryffindor is finally going to join the fray?" Aden challenged jovially.
James spoke up, "Well, you know… When you're conquering on so many fronts, it helps to take things slowly and build your reserves."
"Conquering? I suppose you're referring to your victory over Hufflepuff," Aden asked.
"It wasn't just a victory. It was a trouncing. A well planned and excellently executed maneuver in Gryffindor's quest to rule the school."
"Ah," Aden chuckled. "And what does your next maneuver consist of?"
"Well," Sirius interrupted, "If we told you that, you'd run off and warn your little Ravenclaw friends. Then you'd be able to prepare and… while I do love a challenge, the easy victory is sometimes more satisfying. Especially when we have other conquests in mind."
"Easy?" Aden's house-pride took offense at this statement. "Ravenclaws are not easy."
"You're the one spending the night with a Gryffindor," Sirius grinned.
Aden gasped. Laughing for letting herself step into that trap, she looked around for something to throw at Sirius. Her school books being at hand, she chucked one of them at Sirius.
He dodged it, but the shift in weight caused him to lose his balance on his chair again and he toppled backwards, bringing another wave of laughter from the others.
Lying on the floor, though still in his chair, Sirius moaned pitifully, "Wounded. I'm wounded."
After the laughter died down and Sirius was still on the floor, Aden got up to check on him, wondering if he had actually hurt himself. She saw he was lying on the ground with his eyes closed. "Sirius?" He cracked one eye open to look at her. "Are you all right?"
"Shh," he hushed. "I was almost asleep."
James and Remus chuckled. "I better get these two back to the common room. Night Aden." James waved goodnight to Aden. "'Night Moony." He patted Remus' foot on his way to collect Sirius from the floor. "Get up, Pads." James reached a hand down to help Sirius off the floor.
Sirius groaned, but grabbed hold of the hand and heaved himself off the floor. "What are we going to do about that one?" he asked, motioning to Peter.
James prodded Peter. "Wormtail… Wormtail, get up!"
"It's no good. We'll have to levitate him," Sirius suggested. James nodded and Sirius performed the spell. With a final wave at Remus and Aden, they left the hospital wing and headed to their common room.
Aden watched them leave. "Why 'Wormtail'?"
"Hmm?" Remus was admiring his girlfriend's profile, while playing with her hair.
"Well, I get 'Moony.' And I can see Padfoot – I mean, Sirius is kind of… dog-like."
Remus snorted. "Don't tell him that."
"No, I mean, he's loyal and happy… I can almost picture him as a lab or something, running around with his tongue hanging out."
Remus laughed at this. "And Prongs?"
"Well… That's tricky. But his hair does stick up oddly. Though, I probably would have gone more with 'quills' or 'spike' or something." As Remus continued to chuckle, Aden settled herself in next to him and pulled her books back on her lap. "But why 'Wormtail'? That just… doesn't conjure up pleasant images."
Unable to come up with a suitable reply, Remus stalled. "You'll have to ask Padfoot about that."
"Hmm. Maybe I don't want to know then – not if it's anything like how you got the name 'Moony.'"
Remus chuckled once again. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt this content and at ease.
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A/N – Chapter 66 was kind of a difficult chapter to write. I can't help but think if they really did have problems (like Remus getting away from the others), then they would not have continued with their jaunts. They were brave and brazen, but not stupid. Sorry if it was a bit anticlimactic, though. Hope you enjoyed it anyway.
Thanks to all who review. I really appreciate it. Thank you all very much. Thanks also to my wonderful betas – Mom, mei mei, and Sifi. Love ya.
