CHAPTER 35: MOONLIGHT
(Remus POV)
It was a beautiful Sunday morning. The Marauders, whose four members include the werewolf Remus Lupin (a.k.a. Moony), the rat animagus Peter Pettigrew (a.k.a. Wormtail), the dog animagus Sirius Black (a.k.a. Padfoot) and the stag animagus, as well as the group's unofficial leader, James Potter (a.k.a. Prongs), were currently walking in the direction of the lake, towards a group of people who were currently resting under a tree.
Remus Lupin, the werewolf, was the one who wanted to approach them, wanting to have a conversation with them, particularly a certain silver-haired female, who goes by the name Ilyasveil von Einzbern-Emiya.
And as for the reason why the werewolf wanted to talk with the white-haired girl, who many of the students, after the Hogwarts Express incident (During which Emiya, along with Snape and Alice, in an instant, confronted and defeated You-Know-Who, who had brought an army with him, in one of the most humiliating ways possible. The Dark Lord and his minions did not even manage to retaliate, as they were sent plummeting into oblivion, as Padfoot and Prongs, who witnessed the whole event in close proximity, described it.), now referred to as the Dark Lady… well…
Flashback
(Remus POV)
"Guys, I think it's better if you turn into your Animagus forms now," said Moony, as he saw that the sky outside was dark, the sun completely beneath then horizon, the moon soon to shine its cursed light upon him.
It was Saturday evening, the night of the full moon. Once a month, Remus Lupin, being a werewolf, had to stay at the Shrieking Shack, were he could transform into his beast form without ending up harming his fellow Hogwarts students…
"Right, mate," said Prongs, before he, along with Wormtail and Padfoot, changed into their animal forms.
Soon, the full moon was up, as it was unveiled by the moving clouds, the moonbeam penetrating through the tiny holes of the roof of the Shrieking Shack.
'Here we go again,' sighed Remus inwardly, having experienced the painful sensation of transforming into his full-fledged wolf form once a month for many years, yet still finding it difficult to cope with it. The transformation was excruciatingly painful, literally.
The worst part, however, was not the pain, but the fact that Remus had very little to no control of his actions whenever he turned into his wolf form, the beast side of his personality (which was undoubtedly created the moment he was bitten by the infamous, Merlin-be-damned, werewolf, Fenrir Greyback) completely took over, and the man side of the werewolf had very little to no recollection of the things that transpired while he is in his beast state…
It was true that he was thankful to his three Marauder friends, who took the time and effort to try and lessen his pain. In all honesty, while they did not tell him, Remus knew even up to this moment, James, Sirius and even the Potions-abysmal Peter, were still earnestly researching on ways to combat or cure his lycanthropy (sacrificing some of their precious study and Maraudering time to do so). He would sometimes catch them reading books about it, although his friends would immediately change the subject whenever he tried to start a conversation…
At the risk of their own wizarding career and lives, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs became Animagi (And such transformations can go horribly wrong, to a point that failure effects can be terrible and irreversible, and would even be a far worse fate than becoming a werewolf.), so that they can change into animal forms (If bitten in animal form, a wizard will not get infected, plus the fact that the werewolf rarely attacked other animals, focusing mainly on humans. This theory was confirmed as a fact by his three friends, although the details of the near-miss to gaining such information made Remus furious for a while), and thus be able to keep Remus company during the full moon.
While Remus does not have full memories during his transformed state, he could help but appreciate the feeling of not being alone during those times, which made both Remus, the main human personality (because he was not alone) and the full-moon dominant wolf personality (because the wolf was set free from the Shrieking Shack and allowed to run free, though somewhat annoyed as it was always stopped by the other three from attacking people.) happy…
The moon was now up, and some moonlight was now shining upon the werewolf Remus Lupin. Soon enough, he would begin to feel extreme pain, physically, as his body transforms into its wolf form, and mentally, as the beast's instinct, at its peak during the full moon, overpowers the human side…
'Hmmm?' thought the werewolf to himself, as a minute passed. 'It seems like its taking longer than usual.' Remus thought to himself, but thought nothing of it. Even though it was painful, he had no choice but to go through and put up with it, and thus continued to brace himself.
'Huh?' thought Moony, as another minute passed, his three friends, in their animal forms watching him curiously.
Five minutes…
Ten minutes…
"What in the name of Merlin?" gasped the werewolf, feeling shocked and confused that he was still not feeling any pain, that he was still able to think logically, that he could still hear his own voice. Something strange was definitely going on…
In his confusion, the werewolf turned to his side, and ended up looking at his reflection…
Remus approached the mirror in the room, curiously looking at his own features. The werewolf blinked, unable to believe it, unsure if it was all just a dream, as his three friends, in their animal forms, were staring at him, their stares visible through their reflection…
The werewolf raised his right arm. To his surprise, the human in the mirror did the same. Remus winced in pain as he pinched himself on his cheek… and could not believe that the same pained expression appeared on the man in the mirror…
For someone who was normally witty and quick on uptakes, it took almost an hour for Remus to assess and acknowledge the situation…
"Moony?" inquired the voice of one of Remus' best friends, James Potter, who had reverted to his human form, who was shocked, as the messy-haired boy's reflection revealed, his hazel eyes wide in awe…
Remus Lupin was, after all, a guy… and a guy's pride enabled him to stop himself whenever he felt like crying…
Yet the werewolf could not stop the tears that began flowing from his eyes, not tears of sadness, but tears of joy, as his friends reverted into their human forms to console the crying werewolf (?), Moony's analytical mind finally landing on the only plausible theory, on the only logical explanation…
"HAHAHA! HEY, LOOK GUYS!" shouted Remus, as tears of happiness continued to trickle down his face, his friends silently looking at him in joyful disbelief…
Remus Lupin ran out of the Whomping Willow, almost like a madman, unmindful of the possibility that he could get into trouble if someone saw him, basking in the moonlight, which no longer turned him into a horrible, dangerous beast… no longer the hateful curse it once was...
End of Flashback
-BREAK-
(Sirius POV)
"DAMN WENCH!" roared an angry-looking (and indeed, very worried and very angry) Sirius, as he slammed his fist onto a tree, before starting to take brisk steps. "HEY PRONGS, HURRY UP! WE NEED…"
"I KNOW! STOP SHOUTING WILL YOU?!" replied the stag animagus James Potter, who was currently scanning the Marauders Map with his eyes, as three out of four of the Marauders were heading quickly back up to the castle, even though the four of them were together when they headed for the lake…
Flashback
(Sirius POV)
"AAAAH!" shouted a familiar female voice, which could only belong to a certain black-haired female.
Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs were currently walking towards a tree near the lake, where four people were resting, including a familiar-by-face blue-haired girl, a greasy-git, a silver-haired her witch, and their possibly imperiused (In other words, possibly under the Imperius curse or some sort of mind control enchantment) friend Alice…
The dog animagus saw that something was flying towards them: it was a towel, and it probably belonged to one of the girls, the piece of cloth must have gotten caught in the wind, but Padfoot did not think much of it. There were more important matters to worry about at the moment...
"Mmmpf?!"
A muffled sound came from one of Sirius' best friends Moony, as a blue towel hit him full in the face.
For a split second, the dog animagus (And as Sirius was sure, as well as the rat and stag animagus behind him), snickered, seeing the funny situation their werewolf friend was in, but then…
"MOONY!" shouted the three Marauders, shocked, as Remus suddenly vanished into thin air…
Sirius, as well as his two companions, looked towards the direction lake, and felt panic, as they saw that the four people who were resting by the tree were also gone…
End of Flashback
The dog animagus knew something like this could happen. He just knew it, and it was for precisely this reason that he, James and Peter, decided to come along, even though they absolutely did not want to be in close proximity with a certain greasy-haired git and a Lily-Evans-look-alike white-haired girl. And yet, even though they did go, they were unable to do anything…
It was bad enough that they had to stay in the same classroom as that particular greasy-haired git during lessons. (N.E.W.T.s classes, after all, are held, in which the students of all Houses are bunched together and taught simultaneously.). If Padfoot were to be honest with himself, he would have loved nothing more than to continue with their usual torment-Snivellus-the-slimy-Slytherin-git-routine. The problem was, his instincts prevented him from doing so.
Even though a few days had already passed since the incident, what the dog animagus witnessed was still fresh in his mind, the Great Hall's Sorting Feast events leaving a less lasting impression. Wanting to get away from the blood purity-superiority nonsense of the Blacks, Padfoot proved that he was different from the rest of his family, having managed to get himself Sorted into the House of the Brave, Gryffindor.
Which is why the dog animagus could not help but feel furious and disappointed with himself. Right now, the member of the House of Lions found it painful to have to adapt, calculate and be cunning, having no choice but to act like a typical Slytherin... And he knew that Prongs probably had the same line of thinking in this matter, as his messy-haired friend merely gritted his teeth and kept his mouth shut, no longer trying to pull his usual pranks and throw hexes at Snivellus.
He knew it. Sirius knew it instinctively. He did not know how it happened (although the dog animagus guessed it must be something connected with the Dark Arts), but there was no doubt it. Severus Snape was now more powerful and dangerous than before. For some reason, he was now able to cast magic wandlessly (although the greasy-haired git still used his wand during the classroom sessions, undoubtedly to hide this fact from the teachers).
Still, this was not the real reason why Sirius no longer bothered with the former-Slytherin-turned-Ravenclaw (although as far as he was concerned, Snivellus is and will always be a slimy Slytherin serpent). It was in this aspect, however, wherein Sirius and his best friend James differed in their opinion…
James, like always, despite everything they have seen and witnessed, was still hell-bent on putting the blame on Snivellus. The reason why Sirius was worried, however, was less because of the greasy-haired git…
…than it was because of the girl who looked exactly like Lily Evans, the silver-haired girl Ilyasveil von Einzbern-Emiya…
While Padfoot shared the same sentiments of dislike, disgust, and hatred of the former Slytherin Severus Snape that James held, this did not cloud his judgment on the overall view of the situation. For while he too, wanted to put all the blame on Snape, his instinct was screaming at him that it definitely wasn't the case.
According to one of the messy-haired glasses boys' many theories, the white-haired girl Ilyasveil was probably some poor innocent girl, who, by a number of possible theories, was placed under the control of Severus Snape. And it was also likely Snivellus used some kind of dark enchantments to make her look like Lily Evans. As to why he was going against You-Know-Who, it was probably because of some non-noble reason, probably wanting to overthrow the current Dark Lord and take his place…
The dog animagus, however, merely listened and agreed, though deep down he did not. For according to Sirius' gut feeling, the one in control was not Snivellus, but rather it was the silver-haired girl…
And that fact greatly worried Sirius. Ilyasveil von Einzbern-Emiya was definitely a powerful sorceress, there was no doubt about it in the dog animagus' mind. And also…
Flashback
"ROOOOOOOOAR!" shouted the trolls in a battlecry, starting to advance, but it was too late…
The ground was breaking apart in all places (Excluding the spot where Severus, Alice, and Ilya, had vacated to.), as trolls and humans alike, began falling, plummeting…
"Incredible," muttered Alice.
"WHAT DID YOU DO, GIRL?!" screamed the Dark Lord in fury. He raised his wand to cast a spell, but before he could even utter it, the ground beneath Lord Voldemort gave way, as he, along with all of his followers, began falling into the dark abyss below, with a loud SPLASH onto the flowing water, an underground river, the ground, rocks and falling debris along with them…
"Fufufu…That's the problem with some people, all talk no bite," said Ilya, a cruel smile on her face. "Lord Voldemort, all powerful wizard, supposedly the greatest Dark Lord to walk on the planet, unmatchable, unbeatable in every aspect…pfft…what a joke…fufufu…ahahahahaha…"
All of a sudden, a cold, cruel, female laugh rang through the air.
"HAHAHAHA"
Screams and roars could be heard, as trolls and humans alike attempted to claw at the collapsing ground, to no avail…
"HAHAHAHA"
The occupants of the Hogwarts Express could not help but gasp, awed into silence, as they watched the unbelievable event unfolding before them, clearly hearing the words that the girl screamed into the night, as the sun finally set…
"YOU'RE A THOUSAND YEARS TOO EARLY TO EVEN THINK OF FACING ME, VOLDEMORT!"
The silver-haired girl continued laughing, her mirth uncontrollable, undoubtedly at the fact that she made Lord Voldemort, the greatest Dark Wizard in existence, look like nothing but a fool…
End of Flashback
"DAMN IT! I CAN'T FIND HIM ANYWHERE!" shouted James Potter, as he literally threw the Marauder's Map after they spent almost an hour scanning it, on the floor of the empty classroom where they headed off to to regroup and reorganize. Their friend Remus, Snivellus, the silver-haired wench, Alice, the ones whose names they were familiar of… their dots where nowhere on the map…
And Sirius knew that it wasn't a good sign. The Marauders Map never lied, and it had never failed them before. And if even someone as powerful as Albus Dumbledore could not conceal himself from their little locator… then it could only mean one thing… there was only one logical explanation…
One of the Marauders, Remus Lupin, was no longer within the boundaries of Hogwarts…and was probably taken hostage… somewhere else…
"OH NO! WHAT'RE WE GOING TO… HEY, PADFOOT WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!"
But the dog animagus did not respond, as he continued running, knowing that his two companions were doing the same, picking up their pace, not far behind him.
We have to tell Professor Dumbledore, thought Padfoot, who now stood in front of the stone gargoyle which guarded the entrance to the Headmaster's office. He was their only hope…
"COCKCROACH CLUSTER!" shouted Sirius, thankful that he had noticed the headmaster's dot on the Marauder's Map say the password when they were scanning it some minutes back, the statue moving aside to allow them enter…
-BREAK-
(Remus POV)
"I don't believe it! I mean, did you see the look on their faces?!" said the former Gryffindor, Alice in delight, as she fell to her knees, clutching her stomach, laughing, unable to contain her mirth, as the silver-haired girl Emiya and the blue-haired female Ravenclaw Prefect, who Remus knew went by the name Rose Garnet, having been acquainted with her since he became a Gryffindor Prefect, were also laughing…
"To think that I actually had to be cautious around Potter and his little friends," added the raven-haired young man, Severus Snape, one of his hands on his forehead, and who was also chuckling in amusement (though the former Slytherin frowned for a moment when he met Remus' eyes, but quickly looked away), looking at the quickly retreating backs of Remus' friends, running as fast as they could towards the castle.
Remus Lupin was frozen stiff standing, shocked by what had transpired in the last thirty seconds (Although the reason he was frozen stiff was because he actually could not move any part of his body except his eyes, undoubtedly caused by a spell which Moony had not noticed in the surprise of the moment.). Being observant, and having an analytic mind, he managed to guess what had happened, but still found it hard to believe.
The blue towel, which was thrown at him, was undoubtedly a Port Key, having recognized the sensation, and it was probably set to activate once a person touches it. Said Port Key was undoubtedly aimed at him, of that Remus had no doubt of. The blue towel was slightly wet, and the breeze was probably more likely not strong enough to lift it, so it was undoubtedly propelled by magic towards Remus. After it hit him in the face, the werewolf(?) was immediately transferred to the designated location of arrival…
"Wait a minute…" Remus vaguely heard the blue-haired girl say in a rather tense voice…
And as for the place where he was transported, the Port Key brought him…
…to a tree which was only ten meters away from where Snape's company was staying at…
"Oh, my, my…" the werewolf heard the voice of Alice say in a teasing voice…
The stranger part, however, was that his three Marauder friends did not even seem to notice him, even when they appeared to be looking straight in his direction, and thus the werewolf suspected that some kind of concealing enchantment must be in place, either on him, or on an specific area, the latter more probable.
"I'M SO SORRY ROSE! I OVERLOOKED…." a voice that sounded just like Lily Evan's was saying, undoubtedly belonging to the Emiya girl, but Lupin hardly gave it any attention, too buried in his own thoughts…
For the white-haired girl and her companions merely walked towards Remus' location, yet Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs did not even seem to notice, panicking, screaming, thinking that they must have Apparated or Port Keyed to a different location, not realizing that they were just meters away from each other…
And to top it off, it seems like even their trump card for mischief management, the Marauders' Map, which could locate even the Headmaster's whereabouts, could not detect them, for after ten minutes, Remus' three friends made their way back up to the castle, undoubtedly to try and look for him there…
"Ummm… excuse me?" inquired a female voice, as the source, the blue-haired Ravenclaw, was now standing immediately in front of him. "But would you mind?" The girl was pointing at something that seemed to be on Remus' right side, but he did not know what.
"Oh, right, I'll remove it," said the silver-haired girl, as one of Remus' knees buckled slightly, the werewolf having regained control of his bodily functions.
Still feeling hazy, Remus took one lifted his right arm and noticed that it was holding the towel-turned Port Key that was thrown at him, inspecting it, bringing it closer to his face…
Hmmm…It smells kind of nice… thought the werewolf, absentmindedly sniffing it…
Then, on reflex, Remus turned his gaze back to the one who just spoke to him, undoubtedly its owner. One of the blue-haired girl's hands was outstretched, her face with a red tinge on it…
"Give it," said Rose Garnet in a growl-like voice suddenly, her red eyes flashing dangerously…
Hmmm? Did I do something wro… thought Remus to himself for a fraction of second. It took another fraction of a second for his brain to process something he should have realized…
"WHOA! I'M SORRY!" shouted Remus, as the thought finally hit him, feeling his face burn, immediately letting go of the towel, which landed on the female Ravenclaw Prefect's outstretched hand…
What in the name of Merlin was I doing? thought the werewolf to himself.
"Oh my goodness... Remus," mused Alice, with a malicious smile on her face. "I never realized you were that kind of person…"
"Wha…" began Remus weakly, but closed his mouth, not knowing what to say next…
"He's part of Potter's merry Marauder gang, Alice…" added Snape, who was wearing a sneer on his face. "What else would you expect?"
"Well, I did hang out with them from time to time you know, Severus, and I never once saw nor heard Remus do or say anything indecent," the black-haired former Gryffindor shot at the former Slytherin.
"Who can really tell, though," said the silver-haired girl Emiya seriously. "I mean…for all we know, it could all have been nothing but an act… so he can approach girls without arousing any suspicion…"
"Now that you mention it…" replied Alice, who now seemed to be deep in thought, but as the smile was still on her face, Remus guessed that she was probably just pretending to do so. "You could be right…"
"You…" growled the blue-haired girl menacingly, behaving differently from how she did during Prefect meetings. "You…"
Dear Merlin! thought the werewolf.
Remus felt frightened. Who wouldn't be? Even though he knew it was unintentional, Remus could not help but notice that the blue-haired girl in front of him already had a verdict, guilty, and the snide comments of her companions only added fuel to the fire…
Remus knew. With his intellectual mind, he knew exactly what he had done wrong, although not on purpose. He wanted to shout out the words 'I'M INNOCENT' but couldn't, for even now that the Ravenclaw Prefect had a murderous look on her face, undoubtedly aimed at him, the werewolf actually found it… kind of… cute…
The most upright of the Marauders was no longer bound by any curse. He wanted to run, but for some reason, he stood rooted to the spot, his legs refusing to obey him, his eyes not wanting to move itself away from the blue-haired girl's face, which Remus found... beautiful… dangerously beautiful…
"YOU PERVERT!"
WHAM!
She has a mean left hook, thought the werewolf, who was on the verge of losing consciousness, half-exasperated, half-amused…
Remus could not help but smile, as the last thing he saw was the face of Rose Garnet, in all its cute, beast-like fury… before passing out…
-BREAK-
(Sirius POV)
"DAMN IT!" roared a dog animagus, as he, James and Peter, got out of the Headmaster's office and started running as fast as they could towards the Great Hall…
It wasn't exactly what you could call the wisest move. Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, worried about their friend, all agreed that reporting what happened to Dumbledore was the best option…
So they waited…
and waited…
and waited…
and waited…
But no Headmaster went in to greet them…
How could we have been so stupid, thought Sirius bitterly, blaming their lack of proper judgment to the panic they were feeling.
When they had been in the Headmaster's office for about half an hour and no Dumbledore came, Sirius borrowed (grabbed) the Marauder's Map from his best friend Prongs and inspected it, only to find that their Headmaster was in the Great Hall.
It was breakfast time after all, so that should not have been surprising. But to those who have great worry hanging over their heads…
Hang in there, Moony, thought Padfoot, worried for his friend's safety, as he, James and Peter took another turn, another shortcut towards the Great Hall…
-BREAK-
(Remus POV)
"Guh…" groaned a certain werewolf, as he regained consciousness.
"I must admit, Ilya," said a blue-haired girl, as she munched on her third fried spring roll. "You should be the one in charge of the kitchen… you cook even better than the House-Elves."
"It's not that I don't want to," replied the white-haired girl, sighing. "But it would take a lot of time from my already tight schedule… and the House-Elves will probably begrudge me from taking their job from them…"
How did I end up in this situation again? thought Remus to himself, as he sat up straight on the grass…
The werewolf started recollecting his thoughts, but there was no need to, as everything returned the moment his eyes met a pair of fierce red, beast-like ones…
Oh, right… thought the werewolf, twitching guiltily, as he saw that the blue-haired girl was now glaring at him, as the other three people in the vicinity stopped eating, all eyes were now on him…
Knowing that it was the right thing to do, the werewolf inhaled deeply, before talking. The first thing he had to do was apologise…
"I….um…. I would like to apol… MMMM?!"
But his words were interrupted as something was forcefully shoved into his mouth…
"Come now, Remus, relax… just join us for breakfast first instead," said Alice, whose words and actions were not in good chronology, having forced a fried spring onto him, and was now beginning to manually orchestrate his face into a munching motion, then forcing him to swallow it…
"See, that wasn't so bad?" said the black-haired girl with a smile.
"Merlin! Alice! What happened to you?" croaked Remus, as he swallowed the rest of the food (though the werewolf could not deny that it did indeed taste good), shocked by what he was experiencing first-hand. He had been in the black-haired girl's company for years, hanged out with her, stayed in the same common room, yet as far as Remus knew, Alice was a shy, quiet, and non-talktative person…
"Hey? Is that supposed to be an insult, Mr. Female Aroma Sniffer?" retorted Alice, who frowned for a moment, but said frown almost instantly turned into a smirk.
"Whaa…" began the werewolf, but he was immediately cut off by a male voice.
"Had I known, I would have focused all my efforts hexing you instead of Potter," said Snape, who was wearing a scowl on his face. "You must have been having the time of your life… with your enhanced sense of smell… sniffing girls wouldn't have been a prob…"
"HEY!" shouted Remus, feeling insulted, knowing exactly what the greasy-haired git was talking about. "TAKE THAT BA…MMMM?!"
Unfortunately, he was unable to continue talking, as Alice stuffed another spring roll into his mouth (Actually, this time, three spring rolls were shoved into his mouth all at the same time, probably just to shut him up.).
"That's a waste of good food, Alice," said the blue-haired girl coldly, who was still continuously gazing at Remus with hostile intent, her red, beast-like eyes narrowed in irritation (which made the werewolf flinch.).
He was not pleased. Their assumptions and accusations about him were absolutely, completely, without a doubt, incorrect, prejudiced, untrue, false… (Well, except maybe for one case, thought Remus guiltily).
"Anyway, Remus Lupin," began another female voice, in a cheerful, yet formal tone, which undoubtedly belonged to the silver-haired girl. "I think it's best that we get down to business…"
The werewolf gulped, remembering exactly the reason why he approached them in the first place…
"What do you want?" inquired the white-haired girl, straightforwardly.
Remus took a deep breath, before he stated his objective…
In truth, the werewolf(?) was quite certain. Remus was quite sure that the silver-haired girl was the one behind it. If he was to be honest with himself, the words that he wanted to utter right now were 'thank you'. However… not wanting to jump into conclusions, Remus Lupin decided to handle things in a step by step fashion instead. He will first try and confirm things…
"I want answers…"
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Another chapter out then…
I suppose I don't really have to state this, but just in case anyone will notice (and yeah one of my friends at work already noticed it), since the Harry Potter book series itself does not exactly follow the natural, real-life full moon cycle, I won't either. I'll place it on the specific dates where they will be convenient for the plot.
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter…
Later then, people…