Monsters

September 1972, Second year, Gryffindor boys dorm.

"Sirius?"

"Yes?"

"What do you think is up with Remus?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that he's gone. Again."

"What? Really? I didn't hear a thing." Sirius swung back the hangings of his bed and pulled Remus' hangings aside. "You're right. This is getting strange."

"He says his mother is ill, but-"

"She was seeing him off at the platform two weeks ago, I know."

"She didn't look ill at all."

"Maybe she felt better?"

"Sirius, do you believe that yourself?"

Sirius stared at his bed thoughtfully. "But what do you think he's up to then?"

"I don't know." James sighed and laid back on his bed. "Maybe we should just ask him why his mother was on the platform."

"He'll tell you she felt better," Sirius said matter-of-factly.

James raised his eyebrows. "You asked him?"

Sirius shrugged.

"Always the tactful one," James chuckled.

"Hey! Don't insult my charisma," Sirius objected.

"Shh, quiet down. You'll wake Peter up."

"As if you could ever wake him up. He wouldn't notice if a vampire was standing next to his bed."

"Or a troll," James joined in.

"Or a werewolf."

"Or a Dementor."

"Or a basilisk."

"Technically, a Basilisk can't harm him if he's asleep. His eyes are closed," James said.

Sirius laughed. "Why do you think they have those fangs? To scare you?"

"No, to rip you apart after killing you with his gaze," James said smiling.

Then, the two boys looked at each other, and a similar mischievous glint appeared in their eyes.

Seconds later, Peter woke up because something was poking his back. He opened his eyes sleepily and…

"Aaaaaah!"

He pulled his the blankets up to his chin and fell out of the bed backwards. Fear was clear on his face, and he stared with big eyes at the creature in front of his bed. It was a basilisk…

But then, the basilisk started laughing, and he recognised James' laugh immediately.

Then, another laugh from behind Peter's back joined in. Confused, he turned around but didn't see anything. He had experience with this, though, so he stretched his hand out into the air, and his fingers found hold on a fluid-like, silvery material. He pulled the invisibility cloak, and Sirius' laughing face appeared.

Meanwhile, James turned his eyes, his skin and teeth back to normal using his wand.

Peter moaned, and fell back onto his bed. "Honestly, why can't I just sleep?"

"Because you sleep in our dorm," Sirius replied.

Peter turned around and hid his head under his pillow. Then he began to snore loudly.

"Very believable, Pete. It's almost as believable as my basilisk disguise."

"Just leave me alone," Peter mumbled, his voice muffled by his cushion. "Go annoy Remus, please."

"Ah, but that is why we woke you in the first place," Sirius said, and Peter gave him a sceptical gaze. "Alright, in the second place. In the first place we wanted to scare you," Sirius grinned.

"What time is it actually?" Peter asked yawning, looking at the full moon.

James checked his watch. "A quarter past midnight.

"And you two are still awake? What were you doing actually?"

"We were trying to figure out where Remus went, and then we were discussing what creature could ever wake you, and then we …" he suddenly trailed off.

Sirius continued, "… then we figured out a basilisk would be the scariest for you, so we – correction, I – transformed James with my transfiguration skills into-"

"Sirius, be quiet for a second," James interrupted him, staring thoughtfully at the full moon.

"Oh, Jamie is having an bright moment," Sirius mocked, but James held up his hand.

"Do you remember the other creatures we mentioned that might scare Pete?"

"Uhm, a vampire, a Dementor, a werewolf, and a-"

"Yes exactly," James interrupted him again, and his hazel eyes looked straight into Sirius' dark grey ones. Suddenly, Sirius understood what he was referring to, and his eyes drifted off to the window, to the full moon.

"James, you're insane," he said fiercely. "How can you even say that?" He almost sounded personally offended.

"I'm not saying anything. I'm just wondering…" His eyes drifted towards the moon too, and Peter curiously asked what was so interesting about the moon.

"Once a month it is, right?" James asked, and Sirius slowly nodded.

"Most of the time, he's in the hospital wing the day after," Sirius continued, although his expression said that he did not want to believe it.

"I can understand why he didn't tell us," James said, and suddenly Peter understood what they were thinking.

"Do you think Remus is a werewolf?" he asked bluntly.

James and Sirius both cringed as the two words were combined in one sentence. The three boys went silent for a few minutes, as none of them wanted to say the confirmation out loud, but at the same time, it seemed pointless to deny it. The evidence was too clear.

"Poor Remus," James whispered after three minutes of complete silence.

Sirius sighed deeply. "Should we tell him we know?"

James shrugged. "We'll see."

"But we won't let him down," Peter said.

"We won't!" Sirius said.

"Promise!" James joined in. "Once a Marauder, always a Marauder!"