Chapter 37:
Five days after the trial, Remus decided to act normally and enjoy the last few weeks of school. He was in the Gryffindor common room studying when James and Sirius literally picked him up and dragged him upstairs. Peter followed behind and closed the door to the empty dormitory.
"What was all that about?" Remus asked as he was thrown on his bed.
James reached in his pocket and retrieved the Marauder's Map. "I was going to look on this map to see what Sneverus was up to, and I realized that there are like six more people on the map. Did you do this?" James asked.
"Yes." Remus said, unsure how they felt about it.
"Oh my Merlin, Remus Lupin. This is the most brilliant thing I've ever seen. I could hug you!" James said.
"I can't believe you figured out a way of following more than one person at one time. This changes everything." Sirius said.
"It really wasn't too complicated…" Remus trailed off.
"Do you understand what this means? We can get away with anything now!" James said.
"I don't understand." Peter said dumbfounded.
"We could walk around the castle in the middle of the night and just hide when we see a name coming our way." Sirius said.
"And we will, tomorrow night." James said menacingly.
"Aren't you all forgetting that we have final exams in just five days, June 1st?" Remus asked.
"Remus Lupin, aren't you forgetting that you promised that you would always be up to marauding? Or do we need to shrink you and feed you to Vladimir to remind you?" James asked.
"Fine, fine. I'll prank with you." Remus grumbled. "What's the plan?"
"Drum roll, please…." James said. The three other boys patted their hands to their legs in anticipation.
"We are going to prank Professor Malfoy!" James said. There was a long silence following James's announcement. Even Sirius remained silent, though he was usually excited for whatever James came up with.
"You can't be serious, James." Sirius questioned.
"No, you're Sirius. But yes, I'm serious. We are going to prank that awful professor."
"James, that's a suicide mission!" Sirius yelled.
"Come on, Sirius. I didn't expect you to be this cowardly. It's about time that the professor got a taste of his own poison." James said.
"But when we get caught the punishment will be the most severe it's ever been!" Remus reasoned.
"We won't be caught. We have the map and the cloak." James said as he held up the map.
"Still, it's a teacher. Do you really think we'll be able to outsmart a teacher?" Peter cried.
"I think we could surely surpass that idiot's wits." James said. The three boys stared blankly at him. "Now are you with me?"
"What's your ingenious plan?" Remus asked suspiciously.
James took out a journal and presented a well thought out prank for 10 whole minutes. When he finished, he looked at his friends blank faces nervously. The boy's room was silent until Sirius let out a menacing cackle. Peter joined him nervously in a series of small "Ha" noises. Remus picked up the journal and began examining the plan furiously. The three boys turned to Remus whose eye was twitching.
"Come on, Remus. You promised!" James said.
"Well, the plan is still flawed and I will fix it and join you on one condition." Remus said.
"Flawed? How could it be flawed?" James asked frantically.
"Look on page 11: the escape plan." Remus said as he threw the journal to James.
"So?" James asked annoyed.
"Your plan where we take the moving staircases is too risky, that will be the main traffic area for teachers responding to the crime. All it would take is one to bump into us underneath the invisibility cloak and we are expelled." Remus said quickly.
"But-" James pleaded. But Remus cut him off.
"Also, did you ever think if the staircases moved us off course? We would be stuck somewhere in the castle when Brian the prefect will notice we are missing from bed."
"Huh." James muttered. "So you would find a better way?" James asked Remus.
"Yes. I will find a better escape path and join you only under one condition." Remus repeated.
"What's that?" Sirius asked.
"We are going to wait to do it until after the final exams." Remus said. "That way he won't be able to change my outstanding exam grade if we were to be caught." Remus also thought to himself. Also tomorrow night is the full moon and I don't think I would be much use to the plan while I am a werewolf. Remus stared wide eyed at James, hoping he would take his offer.
James sat for a long time staring at the journal until he finally looked up at Remus and held out his hand. "It's a deal." Remus shook his hand.
"Well then, if you will excuse me, I must go to the library to study." Remus said as he looked at the time soon approaching 7pm.
"Bye, nerd." Sirius said.
"Good evening, Lily and Severus." Remus said as he sat down with a stack of dusty old books.
"Hi, Remus." Lily said without looking up from her Defense Against the Dark Arts text.
"How are you today, Remus?" Severus asked. He swiped his long oily black hair out of his face.
"I'm doing fine. I'm going to miss class again tomorrow and the next day for my appointment. I want to study all I can tonight." Remus said.
Lily and Severus exchanged a glance to each other. Severus opened his mouth but didn't make a noise. Instead Lily spoke.
"You don't have to lie about where you are going anymore. We know the truth." Lily said kindly.
Remus' eyes widened and he panicked at the thought of them being smart enough to figure out the hairy truth. Then he remembered his other story he told the marauders.
"You know about my mom?" Remus asked. They nodded. "But how?"
"Well, Peter told us yesterday. He felt terrible that he let it slip, but he doesn't seem the best at keeping secrets." Severus said.
"Don't be angry at him." Lily said.
"I'm not." Remus said quickly.
"Oh, okay that's good I guess." Severus said suspiciously.
There was an awkward pause among the three. Remus suddenly had a thought appear in his head and did not think to not blurt it out.
"What is your relationship with each other?" Remus said with instant regret.
Immediately the pair blushed.
"I'm sorry, I-" Remus stuttered.
"It's okay, we were meaning to tell you. We discussed our feelings toward each other and realized we both have interest in dating." Lily explained.
"And?" Remus asked on the edge of his seat.
"We decided to continue being friends for now. I am not ready for a relationship quite yet, but we figured if in a few years things fall into place, then we will date." Lily said. Remus looked to Severus who seemed to agree with what Lily was saying.
"Good, now that we've had that awkward discussion, what subject shall we start with?" Remus asked dryly.
The next night Remus said goodbye to his friends at breakfast and left to "visit his mom". When he got there he was surprised to find Madame Pomphrey wrapping bandages around an unconscious third year Hufflepuff boy's face named Davey Dudgeon.
"What happened to him?" Remus asked.
"Complete and utter stupidity." Madame Pomphrey huffed.
"Pardon?" Remus asked politely.
"Quite a few students were found running around the Whomping Willow tree this morning, and it wasn't the first time. Mr. Filch has been chasing children away from it all year ever since they planted it. Apparently they made a game to see who could get the closest to the trunk without being hit by a branch. It was all fun and games until this boy got hurt - he'll be fine, of course."
"They could have discovered the knot that paralyses the tree or the tunnel." Remus realized.
"Yes. It's good that this happened. It gives Dumbledore an excuse to add the Whomping Willow to his long list of forbidden places of Hogwarts." Madame Pomphrey said as she finished placing the bandages on his face, that were already absorbing what looked like many lines of blood from scratches. "This is how you usually look every month." Madame Pomphrey told Remus. Remus gulped in horror. She took out a perfume like bottle filled with purple liquid and sprayed it over the bandages. "But then just like magic…" Madame Pomphrey said quietly. Remus watched as the blood absorbed in the bandages seemed to be disappearing back into his face. She unwrapped the bandages and revealed a perfectly healthy, not scarred, boy.
After watching the fascinating medical magic, Remus spent the rest of the day studying in the hospital wing, fighting the pain in his aching body. When he finally had enough of memorizing the different uses of a Trefrelagal plant, Remus picked up the latest copy of The Daily Prophet and read the headliner.
"Fired Hogwarts Professor/Werewolf Only Sentenced to 10 Years for Murder, Should Be Life."
It should be nothing, any time in Azkaban at all is cruel punishment in itself. Remus thought to himself. Angry, he turned the page and read another interesting headline.
"Muggle Man Murdered With Alleged Killing Curse: Strange Sorcery Symbol Soars Above the Scene."
"What?" Remus thought and he kept reading.
"A London Muggle, Grant Hendle, was found dead in his home last night, unmarked by a weapon or poison. Muggle authorities could not find the cause of death, while the Ministry suspected it was probably the killing curse due to the strange magical symbol outside. Witnesses state that it appeared to be a green skull with a serpent exiting it's jaw. While none of this information is confirmed, we, at The Daily Prophet ponder why did this innocent muggle die at the unmistakable hands of magic?"
"That's odd." Remus thought. He looked to his watched and realized it was time to leave. He said goodnight to Madame Pomphrey and walked out to the Whomping Willow alone.
"Well at least my next few transformations won't have to be at Hogwarts." Remus pondered gratefully as he skillfully dodged the wild willow branches and poked the knot in the trunk with a long stick. The willow froze and Remus Lupin disappeared into the hidden tunnel beneath the tree, unaware that eyes were watching him from the castel.