She thought her life was over – but fate gave her another chance, in a world of magic. Now, running around Hogwarts with James Potter and his friends, she's about to make choices that will change the future in ways she never thought possible…

Marauder's Phase

CHAPTER TWO

Handling Remus On My Own

I landed on the soft, pine-needle covered ground with a thud, and groaned, feeling the wind knocked out of me. I was sure every single bone in my body was now broken, thanks to the fall. In my mind, however, I was stunned. I was alive. I wasn't dead. I was still breathing. I could still hear. I could still feel. My tail was still wagging…wait, what?

My eyes shot open, and I stood up fast, balancing myself on all four paws.

Fear and terror stampeded into my heart like wild horses, and I sat down quickly on my haunches, feeling my heart hammering in my warm, furry chest.

I glanced uneasily down at myself. With a shock, I saw that I no longer sported two human feet anymore.

Instead, I had huge white feet, whether they were canine or lupine I couldn't tell, but the latter seemed more likely, given the circumstances.

I whined uneasily, and looked around me.

I was in a forest of some description, the trees were spaced far apart and the ground seemed to be blanketed in a kind of eerie fog.

The whole effect was, really, sinister, and I lowered my head slightly, looking around quickly. My new triangle ears – I guessed that they were white, like the rest of me probably was – pricked forward as I heard a few sounds that, to me, seemed ominous and threatening. The air was still, in a scary kind of way, and there was a full moon hanging high above the forest.

Where was I?

Then, my ears stood straight up, as a loud howl pierced the still night air – followed by a strangled scream.

I stood up, as if on instinct, and sniffed the air. Yes, something was definitely north, in the direction I was facing, and then another howl could be heard, louder still.

I hesitated for a slight fraction of a second – and then took off running toward the sound of panic.

***

With every step I took, I felt my heart opening up slightly, and I knew, without a doubt, that I was getting closer to something strange, something wonderful, something…magic.

Well, heck, I'm a freaking wolf now, you know! It would have been awesome if I'd known what the hell was going on.

In the back of my mind, I was remembering the conversation I'd had with Lilliana, right before I'd fallen off the cliff (oh, okay, the wolf pushed me). We'd been talking about werewolves and Animagi and Harry Potter and…

I stumbled, and would have fallen if I hadn't been more stable on four legs then I was on two. My eyes opened wide in shock, and I thought my heart was going to gallop right out of my chest.

What if…what if the unthinkable had happened? I was pacing back and forth on the little track I'd been following, walking ten steps south and then turning and heading ten steps north. Sure, there was a fair chance I was dead, and this was my ideal heaven (but why was I a wolf?). There was also a chance I had survived, and I was in a coma in the hospital or something.

Or this could be real.

It certainly felt real. I could see a lot clearer in the dark then I could when I was a human, and my other senses had gotten better as well. I could still hear the sound of commotion coming from behind me and, for that reason, I turned on my tail and began running north again, heading toward the edge of the forest. I could tell it was the edge, because the trees were becoming even thinner, and I could clearly hear what was going on now.

A snarling, growling sound, like some sort of wild animal, and a terrified human scream.

I'm coming!! I thought in my mind, as my legs carried me out of the forest and into the open – where a horrible sight met my eyes.

***

A huge greyish-coloured beast – a wolf the size of a bear – was standing there, cornering a human of about fifteen to a clump of close-knit trees. The boy was wearing a dark robe, and clutching a piece of stick in his hand…a wand.

The wolf – was it what I thought it was? – was advancing on the boy, clearly intent on killing and/or maiming him before he could defend himself.

On either side of the wolf was another animal – to his right, an equally bear-sized black dog, to his right was a stag. But, whether they were with the wolf or against it, I didn't know – but there was something scarily familiar about all four of these beings.

The werewolf snarled again, and seemed to lunge for the boy's throat, but the black dog let out a sharp bark, like a warning, and the werewolf stopped in his advancements, and turned to face the black dog. The werewolf growled.

The black dog stood his ground.

The stag pawed the ground nervously…

And the werewolf lunged at the stag!

I hovered in the background, as the black dog intercepted the werewolf, and they were muzzle to muzzle, fang to fang, snapping and snarling, but the black dog was smaller than the werewolf by a bit. And was it just me, or did he not want to hurt the werewolf at all?

No, of course he didn't. They were best friends.

The hair on the back of my neck stood on end as the black dog was thrown to the ground with a yelp and, with a savage snarl from the werewolf, the stag was suddenly the one in danger!

The dog staggered to his feet painfully, but he wouldn't get there in time.

I found myself moving before I realised I was doing it. My paws hit the ground one…two…three times, and then I leapt, straight at the werewolf's muzzle, but I ended up getting him by the throat. That was okay too.

Moonlight seemed to break through the slight cloud-cover then, as the wolf snarled and bit me around the back of my neck.

I yelped in pain, but managed to accomplish what I'd set out to do, which was to move the werewolf away from the others, back toward the forest.

I sank my teeth into the side of the werewolf's face – it was hard, because he was much bigger than I was (even the dog was). He yelped and let me go, and I jumped away from him and howled, pointing my nose up to the sky and howling.

The werewolf cocked his head to the side, staring at me with one glowing red eye.

I howled again, and then turned and loped off into the forest.

With a short howl, the werewolf followed me.

I didn't know what I was doing – but I hoped that daylight would come.

And soon.

***

Sometime around dawn, when the sun finally decided to show its face, the werewolf stopped, and sank down to the ground, transforming in a painful-looking way back into a fifteen year old boy. He had golden-brown hair and blueish-green eyes.

I trotted over to him, and sniffed him carefully. He was asleep, I think, and possibly exhausted. Heck, I was pretty tired myself.

We had been running all night, through the Forbidden Forest. One day, I would thank whoever wrote that werewolves were attracted by the call of their own kind. I was by no means a werewolf, but a wolf was, apparently, close enough.

I placed a paw on the boy's head, as if to assure myself that he, Remus Lupin, was really and truly alright. I knew that, it was only a matter of time before his friends, James Potter (the stag), Sirius Black (the dog) and Peter Pettigrew (who turned into a rat) came to find their exhausted friend.

I howled, to let them know where he was. They must be worried sick about him (if guys do indeed do that).

Then I turned tail and ran through the forest, unaware that the boy I had just been with was well and truly awake.