Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
The Marauders Year 1
Chapter 5: First Full Moon at Hogwarts
The day before the full moon found Remus buried under his blankets in his bed. He was beginning to feel the effects of the full moon coming up. Remus found himself getter angrier easier and was having massive migraines. His already pale skin was getting paler. His energy was sapped. He knew he still had to go to his classes today, but first he had to force himself out of bed. With the full moon tomorrow, he felt so weak and didn't know if he would be able to last the school day.
Remus shifted in his bed and looked at the clock. Classes were in ten minutes. He had missed breakfast, but he didn't care. Feeling as ill as he was, Remus didn't think he would be able to keep any food down. His stomach was too queasy.
Looking around the room, Remus saw that all of his friends' beds were empty. He already knew they would be. He practically ordered them to leave him alone and let him sleep in. They had disagreed at first, but he snapped at them and they left. The full moon approaching made him really irritable.
Rolling out of bed and onto the floor, the young werewolf crawled to his dresser and pulled his uniform out. After taking fifteen minutes to get dressed, Remus was walking out of his dorm. He was already late and didn't really care about being on time at the moment. His legs felt like jelly and he thought he was going to collapse at any moment.
By the time he made it to Defense Against the Dark Arts, he was already late by thirty minutes. He moved over to the desk in front of Sirius and James and sat next to Peter. He rested his head on one hand and took notes with his other hand.
Professor Rana smiled sympathetically at him and went back to the lesson. At the end of the lesson, she pulled Remus aside as the class left. She waited until everyone was gone.
James, Sirius, and Peter stood in the back of the classroom watching Remus and Professor Rana.
The teacher noticed them and smiled. "Go on ahead, boys. Remus will be there in a minute." Her tone implied that there was no use in arguing with her.
Remus smiled at his friends and nodded his head.
Sighing, the three boys left the classroom and waited outside for Remus.
"Remus, are you okay?" Rana asked, as soon as the door was shut. Her blue eyes were looking at Remus worriedly.
"Yeah." Remus replied. "Just tired and irritable. Maybe a little weak and ill. But it's all natural when one is infected in lycanthropy. I'm sorry about being late."
Rana sighed and pushed her light brown hair over her shoulder. "All the teachers know and won't blame you if you skip today and tomorrow and the day after the full moon."
Remus closed his eyes and shook his head lightly so he didn't make his headache worse. "I can't be missing all those lessons all year and it would look suspicious if I miss so many days a month in a row. I just have tough it out. Act like everything is normal. I'll be fine."
"If you're sure…" Professor Rana trailed off and sighed. She jumped back into teacher mode. "Get to class, Mr. Lupin."
"Yes ma'am." Remus replied, leaving the class to find his friends waiting for him. "Hi guys. Herbology next?"
All day it was the same thing. The teachers would pull Remus aside after class to ask if he was alright. He would run into teachers in the hallway that would ask him to. After a while he started snapping at them, telling them to leave him alone and that he was fine before stalking off.
His friends watched him worriedly when he did this. Their worry increased when they noticed that he skipped all the meals that day. When they asked him about it, he yelled at them to leave him alone and he went to sleep earlier than usual, forget about his homework.
The next day James, Sirius, and Peter all got up early. They got ready for classes before going over to Remus's bed. Sirius shook him awake gently. "Remus, time to get up. Remus." Sirius called to him.
Remus groaned and opened his eyes. "What?"
"It times for breakfast." James explained.
"Go ahead without me. I'll catch up." Remus replied, before pulling his blanket over his head and burying his head in his pillow.
"That's what you said yesterday. And you never made it to breakfast and you were half an hour late to Defense." Sirius replied, crossing his arms and frowning. "You need to eat. You didn't eat anything yesterday. You're going to collapse if you don't eat."
James frowned and pulled the blankets off of Remus head. "Actually, you looked ready to collapse yesterday. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Remus growled, voice muffled by his pillow. He rolled over to look at James, showing his very pale face.
"You sure? You look paler than usual." James asked, concern washing over his face.
"I'm fine." Remus growled again.
Sirius didn't look convinced, but shrugged his shoulders at James, who sighed. "If you're sure, then get up and get dressed so we can go to breakfast."
Remus shook his head and pulled his blanket over his head. "I don't want to eat."
Sirius sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why? You have to be starving. You haven't eaten in a while."
"I feel nauseated." Remus replied.
"Remus, are you sick?" James asked. Remus didn't reply, making James sigh and pulled the blankets off of Remus. "Remus!"
James looked at Remus sweaty face and put a hand to his forehead. Remus pulled back away from James's hand. "You don't have a fever."
James looked at Sirius and raised a brow. "Remus, stay in bed today. Do not go to classes. We'll tell the teachers you aren't feeling well. I don't want to find you out of this bed, got it?" Sirius growled.
Remus flinched away from him and nodded his head.
"Good." Sirius replied. He pulled the curtains shut around Remus's bed. "Get some sleep."
Remus listened to his friends' feet fading away. When he could no longer here them, he snuggled into his blankets and went back to sleep.
James, Sirius, and Peter went down to breakfast together talking quietly. "I hope Remy will be okay." James said.
"He'll get better if he just eats." Sirius said.
"We can take him some food at lunch." Peter replied.
"Yeah, we just have to force the food down his throat." Sirius snarled.
Peter rolled his eyes. "Well, he needs to eat."
"Fine. We'll take him something." James replied in a tone that said the discussion was over.
"I think when Remus feels better it will be time to start making a name for ourselves. We've given the teachers enough time to get to know us. Now it's time to make ourselves legend and break school records." Sirius said.
James voiced his agreement.
"So it's time to turn Remus into a prankster." Peter said, smiling.
"Yes. And while we'll out let's make a competition. One that all four of us will be involved in." Sirius replied. An evil smirk forming on his lips.
James looked at Sirius curiously. "What kind of competition?"
"I'll explain when Remus is better. I only want to explain it once." Sirius replied, as they reached the Great Hall.
In Transfiguration, McGonagall looked at the three boys. Her eyes were worried. "Where is Mr. Lupin?"
"I told him to stay in bed today. He didn't look well." James answered, as he took his seat.
McGonagall nodded her head and started teaching the class. As she was teaching, she saw James writing and went to see what he was writing.
The young wizard looked at her confused when she came over. "Is something wrong, Professor?"
"You're taking notes?" McGonagall asked, shocked.
"I figure Remus would like the notes since he can't be here today." James replied.
McGonagall smiled at him. "That's nice of you."
James did the same thing in History of Magic.
After History of Magic, the three boys went to lunch and ate quickly before grabbing a napkin and filled it with sandwiches. They went up to their dorm and went over to Remus's bed. James went and filled a glass with water. He put the glass on the dresser next to Remus's bed and pulled the curtain back.
"Wakey, wakey, Remus." James said gently, poking Remus in the side.
Remus began to stir in his sleep and slapped James's hand away. "Stop poking me."
"Get up, Remy." James said.
Remus opened his eyes and looked at his friend. "What?"
"Time for lunch." James answered.
"I don't want lunch." Remus replied.
"You need to eat to keep your strength up." Sirius replied, handing the sandwiches to Remus.
James sat on Remus bed. "And we aren't leaving until you eat something."
Remus looked at James determined and stubborn face to see that he was serious. "Fine." He said, sighing. Remus ate a two of the sandwiches and drank the water. "Happy?"
"Yes. We'll bring you up some dinner later." Peter said.
The three friends left the dorm, none of them noticing the upset look on Remus's face.
When the last lesson of the day began, Remus got of bed and got dressed. He left his dorm and went to the Hospital Wing to meet Madam Pomfrey.
Madam Pomfrey looked at Remus surprised when he came into the Hospital Wing. "What are you doing here? We still got a few hours before you have to go."
"My friends made me stay in bed today because they think I'm sick. They would never let me out of their sight to come here an hour before the full moon, so I thought I better come now." Remus explained.
The nurse smiled. "You got really caring friends. Do you want to stay here for now or go to the building now?"
Remus thought for a few minutes. If he stayed, then his friends would probably come to the Hospital Wing and find him. They would probably scold him for leaving the dorm alone. If he went to the shack now, then he wouldn't have to listen to their lecture until he was better. He would much rather not have to listen to their lecture when he wasn't feeling well.
"I think, maybe, I should go there now. I don't want to risk my friends coming here and seeing me." Remus answered. He sounded scared at the idea of his friends seeing him here.
Madam Pomfrey smiled sadly. "Of course." The nurse disappeared into her office and came back with a blue cloak. "Wear this. We don't want anyone seeing your face."
Remus took his school robe off and threw it onto a bed. He pulled the cloak on and pulled the hood over his head. "Thanks Madam Pomfrey. Oh, can I keep my wand here? I don't want to break it."
"Of course, dear." Madam Pomfrey took his wand and robe to her office. She came back and led him to the Whomping Willow. Since there was a class going on, they didn't run into anyone.
When they reached the Whomping Willow, Madam Pomfrey found a long stick and prodded a knot near the ground. The tree instantly froze. "Go on, dear. Through the tunnel. Leave the cloak in the tunnel so you have it for tomorrow morning."
"Thanks Madam Pomfrey." Remus whispered, as he slid into the tunnel.
At the end of the tunnel, Remus threw the cloak off and pushed the trap door opened. He found himself in an old looking, two story building. There was a living room, kitchen, and bathroom on the first floor. Remus climbed the stairs and found three bed rooms and a second bathroom on the second floor. All the windows and the front door were boarded up so the wolf couldn't escape the house. He entered one of the bedrooms and decided to take a nap while he waited for night to come.
James, Sirius, and Peter headed up to their dorm after dinner with more sandwiches for Remus. They were smiling and talking about a hex that James fired at Snape during dinner. The hex changed Snape's hair color. His hair changed to gold and red stripes and was put into pigtails. Then Sirius changed Snape's clothes into a yellow flower patterned dress with white high hells. Peter conjured a ring of flowers and put it on Snape's head. Snape was so embarrassed and ran out of the hall angrily. Everyone was laughing at him and nobody expected the three young pranksters.
The three friends entered their dorm laughing and made their way to Remus's bed. "Hey Remus, we brought…." Sirius stopped speaking when he pulled the curtains apart. He saw Remus's empty bed. He looked at James and Peter confused. "Where is he?"
"How would we know?" James growled.
"Maybe he went to the Hospital Wing." Peter suggested.
"We can try looking there." Sirius agreed.
Sirius ran out of the tower with his friends following him. They skidded to a stop in front of the Hospital Wing and entered it quietly, so Madam Pomfrey wouldn't yell at them.
"Madam Pomfrey!" Sirius yelled when they entered it.
"Shush. Don't yell in here." Madam Pomfrey ordered.
James smiled charmingly at her. "Sorry. We're just looking for Remus. He's sick. We told him to stay in bed and when we came back he was gone. We thought he might have come here. So can we see him? We want to make sure he is alright."
"Sorry boys, your friend isn't here. I'm sure he's fine." Madam Pomfrey replied kindly, smiling at them.
"Are you sure he isn't here?" Sirius asked.
"Yes. Now go, boys." Madam Pomfrey ordered.
Remus woke with a start when he body gave a violent jerk. He looked out a crack of one of the board windows to see the sun was down and the sky was dark. In the sky was a full moon.
Remus felt immense pain throughout his entire body. His body gave violent jerks as all his bones began to grown and his internal organs shrunk and his external parts changed shape. The young werewolf cub howled in pain. His eyes changed to bright gold. He scrapped at the ground with his claws as his body gave another violent jerk. He stood on his hind legs and howled in pain again.
When the transformation was complete, the wolf took over Remus's mind. He no longer thought like a human. Instead he thought like a wild animal. A wild wolf looking for human flesh. He had a desire for blood.
The wolf ran out of the bedroom. He ran around the building looking for a way out to hunt for the human flesh he desired so much. Seeing no way out, the wolf ran around the house scratching at the wall and itself. It attacked the wall hoping to break out of the building.
Seeing that attacking the wall did nothing, the wolf started to attack itself. It bit and scratched itself. All night the wolf ran around the house, attack the building and itself, howling in pain and anger from being trapped.
When morning came, the wolf fall to all falls from the pain of transforming back. His bones shrunk and his organs grew back to their normal size.
Remus fell to the ground unconscious.
"Remus, dear, are you okay?" A kind, gentle voice asked.
The young wizard groaned and opened his eyes. "N-no. I-I'm c-covered in bites and s-scratches…W-why would I be o-okay?"
"Sorry dear." Madam Pomfrey replied. She wrapped Remus up in the cloak she gave him the day before. After wrapping him up and making sure his face was covered, Madam Pomfrey conjured a stretcher up and carried Remus up to the school.
In the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey lowered Remus onto a bed, then surrounded the bed with curtains. She left him for few minutes to get him some clothes.
"Where did you get a set of school robes?" Remus asked. His voice was harsh and dry.
"I have extra sets here for you, for after your transformation." Madam Pomfrey explained, as she set the clothes on the end of the bed and grabbed a glass of water. "Here, drink this."
Remus nodded his thanks and drank the water in two large gulps.
Madam Pomfrey started to heal his wounds as best as she could. When she was finished with that, she wrapped his wounds up in gauze. "Since these are werewolf wounds magic can't heal them completely. I'm sorry."
"It's alright. I'm use to it." Remus replied.
"Also, you need to think of an excuse as to why you disappeared. Your friends came here last night looking for you." Madam Pomfrey told him. "You have a while to think of an excuse since I'm not letting you leave until dinner time."
Remus nodded his head. "Thanks for everything, Madam Pomfrey."
Madam Pomfrey nodded her head and smiled at him. "You look better then you did yesterday. You're not pale anymore. Do you still for ill?"
"No. I'm perfectly fine. It's only the day before and on the full moon that I feel horrible. I feel better the day after except that I'm really tired. I usually sleep the whole day away." Remus explained.
"Then go to sleep. I'll wake you up when it's time for dinner." Madam Pomfrey explained.
Entering the Great Hall later that night, Remus sat down at the Gryffindor table. He was already eating when three people joined him. James sat down next to him and Peter and Sirius sat down across from him.
"Hi guys." Remus greeted.
His friends greeted him and they started eating.
When he was done eating, Remus was started to stand up to leave when a hand slammed onto his shoulder and pushed him back into his seat. He looked at James confused, while James looked at him with narrowed eyes. "Stay."
Remus sighed and sat waiting for his friends to finish eating.
As soon as his friends finished eating, Remus left the Great Hall with them following him. He already knew why they made him stay. They were afraid he would disappear again.
In their dorm room, Remus drop onto his bed and stared at the ceiling. James and Sirius stood at the end of his bed with crossed arms and frowns planted on their faces. Peter sat on James's bed, staring at Remus, a frown on his face as well.
"Remus, where were you last night? I told you to stay in bed." James asked, eyes narrowed.
"I….I went home to visit my mom. She's really sick." Remus explained. "My dad was afraid she was going to die, so he asked me to come and visit here."
James paled. "I'm sorry, Remus. We were just worried. Is your mom alright?"
Remus nodded his head. "Yeah. She's still alive. She will hopefully get over this."
"That's good." Peter replied.
"You could have left us a note so we wouldn't have worried." Sirius replied.
Remus nodded his head. "Sorry."
"Good, now that we have apologies over with." Sirius growled, making Remus flinch.
James put his hands on the bed and leaned forward so he was closer to Remus's face. "Why did you go when you were sick? You should have waited until you were better."
"B-because…..um….uh…" Remus stammered and looked everywhere in the room, but his friends. "I-I was –scared…..for my m-mother. I wanted to see her as soon as possible. And after eating the sandwiches, you forced me to eat, I was feeling somewhat better, so I decided to go."
James narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but didn't comment. "Right."
Sirius plopped himself down on his bed and James sat next to Remus on his bed.
"Now that we are all here, I will announce the competition we are all going to participate in." Sirius announced.
Remus looked at his three friends confused. "What are you guys talking about?"
"Well, it's time for our first prank. And along with the prank, we're going to have a competition that is going to last the next seven years." Sirius explained, a smirk forming on his lips. "We are going to compete to see who can get the most detentions in the next seven years."
Remus's eyes widened. "No. No. NO! I'm not taking part in this."
"Yes, you are. Just like you are going to join us for the prank in a few days." Sirius said.
James smirked. "I like the idea of the competition. I'm in. What about you, Pete?"
Peter looked unsure, but nervously nodded his head. "Sure. What are the rules?"
"You can't try to get a detention on purpose. If you try to get a detention on purpose, the detention doesn't count and you have to do something embarrassing during dinner in the Great Hall." Sirius said. "It's the only rule for the competition."
Remus opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by James. "You're in the competition. Don't try to get out of it."
"Fine." Remus grumbled. "How are we suppose to keep track of our detentions?"
Sirius climbed off his bed and started searching through his trunks for something. After a few minutes, he pulled a piece of parchment. "This is going to keep track. I charmed it so every time we get a detention fairly, it will be added to your list. If you break the rule, the parchment will say so by saying cheat under your name."
"Where did you find a charm like that?" Remus asked surprised.
"I asked a second year. He gave it to me." Sirius exclaimed. "Remy, don't disappear like that again. I don't want to ask anyone else for help again."
"Right." Remus replied uneasily. "Stop calling me Remy. I don't like it."
"Get use to it." Sirius said.
Remus sighed.
James smiled. "When are we doing the prank?"
"Friday night. We can't do it tonight because Remus probably wants to rest after his trip, so probably tomorrow." Sirius replied.
"Can we wait until next week? I have to catch up on my homework and get all the notes I missed. I missed two days of school." Remus asked.
Sirius sighed and nodded his head. "Fine. We do the prank Monday night. You should be caught up by then."
"That reminds me." James said, jumping off his bed. He grabbed his bag and pulled out a bunch of scrolls and put them on Remus's bed. "I took all the notes for you while you were gone."
Remus looked at James surprised. "You did?"
"Don't act so surprised." James grumbled.
"Sorry. Usually I'm the one who takes the notes. Thanks by the way." Remus replied.
"No problem. So which prank idea are we going to do?" James asked.
James, Sirius, and Peter pulled out a list of their prank ideas and started going over the prank they wanted to do, while Remus decided to go take a shower.
"What about this one?" James suggested.
"Hmm. I don't know. I think we should start with something simple since this will be Remus's first prank." Sirius replied.
The three boys continued on for a while, going over the pranks. Remus came out of the bathroom with nothing but boxers on. He kneeled by his dresser to get his pajamas. "Find a prank yet?" Remus asked as he pulled his pajamas pant on.
"Yeah, I think." James replied. He glanced at Remus and stopped himself from discussing the prank. "Remus, what happened to your arm?"
Remus looked at his arm to see a long, deep gash on it. It was one of the scratches he gave himself the night before. He pulled his pajama shirt on and jumped onto his bed. "Nothing. Good night." Remus pulled the curtains closed around his bed.
Sirius raised a brow and stood up. He moved towards Remus's bed and pulled the curtains apart to find Remus completely under his blanket. "Remus." Sirius said in a warning tone.
"What?" Remus muffled came out.
"Let us see your arm." James demanded from next to Sirius.
Remus peaked out from under his blankets to see Sirius and James standing over his bed. He shook his head and pulled the blanket back over his head.
"Honestly Remus? Don't you know us at all?" Sirius asked. He grabbed the blankets and pulled them off of Remus. He grabbed Remus's arm before the young werewolf could protest. Pushing up the sleeve of his shirt, Sirius and James saw the long, deep pink gash on his arm.
"Remus, what happened?" James demanded.
Remus pulled his arm free and covered his arm. "I…I have a dog at home. Not a very nice dog."
"I'll say. This look horrible. Why don't you get Madam Pomfrey to heal it?" Sirius asked.
"It's just a scratch. I think it's pointless to go ask her to heal this. It's just a little scratch." Remus replied hesitantly. "Now if you don't mind. I'm going to sleep." He pulled the curtains shut and pulled his covers over himself.
Sirius and James looked at each other. They moved away from Remus's bed and to Sirius's bed. Peter came and joined them.
"That's not a scratch from a dog." Sirius said.
"Why would he lie to us? He's got no reason." James replied.
Peter frowned and looked at Remus's bed. "We got no proof he is lying. Besides that, James is right. He has no reason to lie. Let's just give him the benefit of the doubt right now."
"Fine. But I know he is lying." Sirius demanded. "If he's going to lie, then he needs to learn to lie. But for now, we'll believe him."
"He might have seemed like he was lying because he's upset." James said.
Sirius sighed and nodded. "Maybe. I guess it doesn't matter. It's not like he'll leave again. Let's go to bed now. I'm tired."
James and Peter agreed.
A/N: Please Review!