Days in Avalon
Chapter 23: Another Secret Known
"James, would you relax. No one knows alright!" said Sirius. He noticed that his best friend was staring off into space at the breakfast table the next morning.
"Yeah, but still, what if…" whispered James looking directly at Sirius.
"Relax, Prongs. No one knows and no one is going to know," said Sirius in a low voice. He checked over his shoulder to make sure that no one heard him, especially Snivellus. Even though he was almost two tables over, Sirius didn't trust him not find someway to hear what they were talking about.
"Besides," he started again, looking at James. "Remus is fine, and Lily is safe thanks to a certain someone," he finished while wiggling his eyebrows.
"Yeah but still, that was a close call even by our standards," replied James. Ever since it happened, James could still see the frightened look on her face. But what plagued him more was the thought of what could have happened had he not gotten there in time.
"True," remarked Sirius nodding his head. "But boy was it a rush."
"Definitely!" squeaked Peter.
"Oh what would you know Wormtail? You stayed under a leaf in the woods during the whole thing," stated Sirius before he dug into his food.
Peter couldn't help but turn a shade of pink as he went back to eating his breakfast. James on the other hand continued to replay the previous evening's events in his head as he scratched the back of his head, rumpling up his hair even more. A few moments later, the three friends saw Remus coming in looking very tired.
"Morning mates," croaked Remus as he took his seat. He now had a few small scratches on his face, as well as along his arms. But what really stuck out was the fact that he looked like he had two black eyes from his lack of sleep.
"Morning," said all three of them.
"How are you feeling there, mate?" asked James.
"I've had better mornings. Some night, huh?" he replied with a weak smile.
"Do you remember what happened?" asked Sirius cautiously.
"Not really. Just that the three of us got into it," said Remus, not sure what they were getting at.
"You don't remember anything specifically?" asked Peter quietly.
"No. Well…there's one thing I do remember," he said replaying the memory in his head.
"I remember Sirius pulling me by the tail back into the forest and us getting into a row. But other than that…no, nothing," he said as he scratched the back of his neck. As he did it, he noticed that his necklace was missing.
'Crap, I must have lost it last night.'
He decided that after breakfast, he was going to go and find a locator spell that would tell him where his safety charm was. As he began to pile some food onto his plate, he noticed that all three of his friends continued to stare at him.
"Why do you keep looking at me like that? What is it?" he inquired. It wasn't until he noticed James and Sirius giving each other a silent look that he understood why they were act the way they were. They had done the same thing a year ago when he had somehow found his way into the busy streets of Hogsmeade.
"D-did something happen last night?"
At that moment, Lily, Andy, and Karen walked into the Great Hall. Remus noticed the three in front of him watching the girls walk in. They each wore a worried and knowing look that Remus hated. He hated not being in the loop and not knowing what was going on around him, especially when it concerned himself.
"Guys what exactly did happen last night?" said Remus in frustration. "Did I…I didn't…run into anyone last night…did I?"
"Well…you sort of did," said Peter quietly.
Sirius slapped Peter in the arm, while James watched Remus's face turn from frustration to worry.
"But don't worry," said James quickly. "No one got hurt and now knows it was you last night."
Remus gave a visible sigh of relief when he heard the news. "Well that's good to know.
Yeah, but I wouldn't say "no one" got hurt last night there Prongs. Moony here got a couple of good claw marks on me. When was the last time you trimmed those things down, mate?" joked Sirius.
James and Remus couldn't help but roll there eyes at their friends remark.
"Trust us, Rem. Nobody knows. The secret is still safe," said James.
"Good. Just out of curiosity, who was it that I met up with last night?" asked Remus.
"Evans and her boyfriend," said James coldly. "They were out taking a moonlit walk."
"Oh! Oh," said Remus softly. He knew how hurt James must feel deep down to see the girl he likes with another guy. It was a feeling he was use to when he saw Karen with another guy. But also having one of your best friends being the one to attack her was also a feeling he knew he was going through. "Sorry mate."
"What do you have to be sorry about? You couldn't help it!" said James, knowing what else Remus had implied.
At that moment the post arrived as hundreds of owls flew around the room finding their recipients. A few owls flew over where the Marauders were sitting and dropped off a few letter and packages from home. Sirius noticed one of the school owls dropping a letter addressed to him. Upon opening it, he found there was only a small piece of parchment with in and held no signature.
11:00 tonight. You know where.
P,S, Don't be late…or else!
Sirius was slightly puzzled at the note until he recognized the handwriting. He couldn't help but smirk at the idea of her trying to do something. 'Yeah right, princess.'
"What have you got there, hon?" said a voice from behind him. It was Felicia.
"Oh. Hi, Felicia. Uh, it's nothing. Just a letter from a friend is all," said Sirius as he tucked the letter into his robes.
"Oh? Who?" she inquired as she took a seat next to him.
"Uh…Braden. Yeah, he just wanted know what was going on with everything. How the team is. You know, guy stuff," he lied.
"Ah, I see. So what have you got planned tonight? I've missed not spending time with you," said Felicia sweetly.
"Ummm…nothing really. Just homework," said Sirius with a shrug.
"Do you want to do it together," said Felicia hopefully.
"Ummm…yeah. I guess," replied Sirius not sure why she was acting the way she was.
"Sirius is there something wrong?"
"Wrong? Why would there be anything wrong?"
"Because I've hardly talk to you all week! Is there something I did?"
"No. You didn't do anything. I've just been busy, is all. Marauder business," said Sirius simply.
"Are you sure? Because if I said or did something…"
"You didn't do anything. That's all that's going on. Tell you what, how about I meet up with you in the common room at seven o'clock and we can do whatever you want," said Sirius taking her hand.
He saw glint form in her eyes as a grin started to form on her lips. "Sounds like a date to me. See you at seven, love."
With that, she gave him a quick peck on the check and then headed off down the table to where her friends were sitting.
"What was that all about?" asked James.
"Don't really know. You know how girls get," said Sirius.
"Well if it isn't the girlfriend of Sirius Black. How wonderful of you to grace us with your presence. We are truly honored," said Andy dramatically, as she bowed her head and placed her hand over her heart.
Felicia just simply rolled her eyes as she took a seat next to Kelly.
"Give it a rest, Miranda," said Felicia coldly.
"I'm only kidding," replied Andy she poured herself a glass of juice.
"Whatever. Hey Lily, how are you doing?" asked Felicia with deep concern.
"Oh, I'm fine. I'm still a little bit shaken up. But other than that I'm fine," said Lily with a shrug.
"Merlin Lily, if had been me, I'd probably wet myself. I can't even imagine what you must have went through and what you are going through now," said Kelly.
'Yeah, if you guys only knew', thought Lily.
"Guys really, I'm fine. There is nothing to really talk about."
"I'd just like to know, what cause that werewolf to not finish you off?" said Felicia.
"I really don't know. It was way to dark and foggy out last night. The only thing I can remember was seeing these large creatures coming and pulling the wolf back into the woods," stated Lily.
"Wonder what kind of creatures?" said Kelly to no one in particular.
'More like who those creatures really were,' thought Andy as she glanced down at the table at the four boys.
"Well I'm just glad you're safe and perfectly fine," said Andy.
"I'll second that," said Felicia.
"Thanks guys," said Lily with a warm smile. As she said this, she noticed Everett walking in. When he walked in, their eyes locked for a moment. But instead of coming over to say 'hi', he instead quickly gazed down at the floor and trotted over to his table. Lily watched him walk away feeling a little hurt.
"Don't worry about it, Lil. He's ego got seriously burned last night. Give him some time. He'll come around," said Andy with a smirk.
"Yeah, I guess. I just hope you're right, about him coming around," said Lily cautiously.
"He will. Trust me," said Andy trying to lend support to her friend. 'And if he doesn't, then it'll be easier to get you with James.'
That evening around eight o'clock, Andy and Lily found themselves in the common room alone, contemplating on how they should confront Remus. They decided that they should tell him that they know about his identity as soon as they saw him. Now they only problem was how exactly do they tell him?
"Do you think we should tell Karen?" asked Lily as she paced back and forth in front of the fireplace.
"And have her freak out? Are you crazy?" exasperated Andy from her seat on the arm of the couch.
"Okay. Bad idea," said Lily. "So then what do you think we should do?"
"Got me," said Andy with a shrug.
"Maybe we should tell Remus that we found some kid with the necklace."
"We could," said Andy thoughtfully. "And then we can have him fret over thinking that someone else has figured out his little secret. And then we can have him wondering when he should pack up his things. Or better yet we can just tell him that Snivellus had it."
"Oh come on, Severus wouldn't do something like that."
"Lil, who is Remus friends with?"
"Potter and Blackie."
"Yeah, okay, and just who does Snape hate more than anything on this planet?"
"Good point," said Lily having a momentary blond moment.
"I think you were right before," sighed Andy. "We should just tell Rem that we know and let the chip lay where they lay and not try to sugar coat anything."
"Tell me what?" said a voice coming from the entrance way. Both girls jumped at the sound of Remus's voice.
"Remus!" squeaked Andy. "Hi! Uh…how's it going?"
"Uh yeah," said Lily awkwardly. "How are you feeling? You're not sick or anything, are you? I mean you still look a little pale."
"Yeah, you look like you've had a couple of dog nights," said Andy, as she silently cursed herself for opening her mouth.
"Uh…no…I'm fine," said Remus not sure what was up with the two girls in front of him. "Just a little tired is all. What did you have to tell me?"
"What do you mean?" said Andy trying to play dumb.
"Well…when I walked in I sort of overheard you saying that you should tell me something you knew and just 'let the chips lay where they lay and not try to sugar coat anything.' So what is it?"
"Uh…well…see…the thing is…Andy?" stuttered Lily.
"Well what Lily is trying to say is that…um…okay…you know how certain people…well all people have there own personal secrets?" said Andy unsure of where she was going with this.
"Uh huh?' nodded Remus.
"Right well, occasionally…sometimes, other people find out about other's secrets…totally on accident of course."
"Yeah. So what's the point of this Andy?" asked Remus.
"Well the one that had the secret shouldn't really be mad or worried that another found out about the secret, if they were a friend, right?" said Andy with worried smile.
"Yeah, I suppose. Look guys, whatever you have to say, just say it, alright. I promise I won't get mad. You can trust me. Besides I don't really don't have anything to hide," said Remus. He really wanted end this conversation with the two girls before him, so he could go upstairs and catch up on some sleep.
"Eh, well you might want to rethink that, Remus," said Andy scratching the back of her head.
"Why's that?"
"Remus…we know," said Lily simply.
"Know what?"
"About where you go each month, or whenever there is a full moon," said Lily in the same calm tone.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about," stuttered Remus. Lily and Andy looked at each other and knew that Remus wouldn't be willing to tell the truth. Besides, who can blame him? Andy nodded to Lily silently telling her to bring out the necklace.
Lily slowly pulled out the necklace from her pocket, and handed it over to a wide eye Remus.
"Where did you find this?" breathed Remus.
"The other night when a werewolf…when 'you' came after me," said Lily timidly.
Remus's heart began to pound in his chest as he breathes quickened. He suddenly felt the need get away as soon as possible.
"Oh crap," he sighed as he began to head toward the stairs.
"Remus? Remus wait!" called out Lily.
"I have to go," he said quickly.
"Remus, stop! We just want to talk," said Andy.
"Remus please don't go," said Lily as she and Andy chased after him. But he didn't stop at their pleas, as he kept on heading toward the staircase.
"Petrificus Totalus!" shouted Andy with her wand pointed directly at Remus as his body locked together, which caused him to fall to the ground.
"Andy!" exclaimed Lily.
"What? Did you have a better idea as to stop him?" said Andy. She walked over to where he was laying and began to pick him up.
"Help me out here," ordered Andy. The two girls then struggled to lift Remus up and moved him into a nearby chair.
"Okay let him up," sighed Lily as she tried to catch her breath.
"Right and have him try to run again?" gasped Andy. Lily shot her a warning look that told her that she had better do it or else.
"Oh, alright. But Rem, just so you know I'm not putting this thing away until you listen. Got it?" said Andy as she pointed her wand at the frozen Remus.
With that said, Andy muttered the counter curse and Remus returned to his normal state.
"W-what do you want from me?" inquired Remus.
"We just want to talk. That's all," said Lily quietly looking directly into his eyes.
"Why? So you can make fun of me? Call me a monster or a freak?"
"Now why would we do a thing like that?" said Andy. "Rem, I've known you for five years. You are one of the sweetest, kindest people I've ever met. If anyone should be called a monster it's the pair of losers you spend your time with."
"You're friends with them as well," chuckled Remus.
"Only one of them," Andy shot back.
"I think you should reconsider that whole kind part," joked Lily.
"Yeah, really," said Andy as she rolled her eyes.
"So…how did you guys figure it out?" said Remus suddenly.
"The necklace mostly. Then we realized that you disappear around the night of a full moon," said Lily.
"Plus, we remembered some of the things we learned in class. So when we put it all together…" trailed off Andy.
"Well I guess you won't want to spend any more time around me, and you'll tell Karen of course," said Remus thinking the worse.
"Remus, why would we do a thing like that?" asked Lily. "Of course we're still going to talk to you and spend time with you."
"Yeah," agreed Andy. "Just not when you're all hairy and wanting to rip out our hearts and try to eat us."
Remus hung his head in shame, at what Andy had said. He knew she was just joking and trying to cheer him up, but it still hurt.
"Remus I'm kidding," said Andy seeing him turn away. She sighed in frustration over the fact that he was doubting them.
"Look alright you want to hear it? You want to hear how terrible and how scared we are? Fine here it is. 'Oh my gods, I can't believe you are a werewolf'," said Andy with a monotone. "Oh, the horror and humanity. Help. Help. My best friend's boyfriend is a night hunting monster. Oh I hate you and I never want to speak to you again.' There. Are you happy now?" asked Andy with some attitude. "Can I say what I really want to say now and not what you want to hear?"
"I'm not sure," chuckled Remus. "Will it be as drone out as your last one?"
"Mmmm…probably. Who knows?"
"Fine," he nodded.
"Rem, we care about you too much to call you a freak or a monster. So you're a werewolf…big deal! That doesn't change who you are. In my eyes and in Lil's here, you're still the same old Remus to us. It's just now we know the big mystery of 'why is Remus Lupin always sick and leaving'."
"Thanks, gals. So I guess you guys might want to hear what happened to me? How I became what I am today?"
"Only if you want to," said Lily. So Remus told them of about the night he got lost in the woods and how he got bit.
"Wow! That's just…wow," said Andy in completely shock.
"Remus I'm…I'm so sorry you had to go through that at such a young age," said Lily.
"Yeah, I know. But this really means a lot to me that you gals understand and aren't freaked out about it. Just…can you two promise me something?" asked Remus timidly
"Sure," said Andy quickly.
"Absolutely," replied Lily.
"Promise me you won't tell Karen. I'd like to do that when the time is right," he pleaded.
"Of course," said both girls at the same time.
"Thank you," he said with a wide smile.
At that moment the clock chimed that it was quarter to nine.
"Well I guess I should go and get some things done before I have to go on duty later." With that he started to head up the stairs again without the girls trying to stop him. As he got up a few steps, he heard someone running up to catch him.
"Remus wait!" called out Lily.
He turned around on the steps to look at the red haired witch before him. "Yes, Lily. What is it?"
"I just wanted to let you know that if you ever need anyone to talk to, anyone at all, I'd be more than happy to lend an ear."
"Thanks, Lily. That means a lot to me," he said with a bright smile. With that, he bowed good-bye and headed up the stairs to his room.
As eleven o'clock neared, Sirius was seen running up a flight of stairs trying to get to the Astronomy tower on time for once. When he agreed to spend time with Felicia he had no idea what he was in for, once he met up with her in the common room.
'Oh…why did I leave her to go and meet up with someone I can't stand?' he pondered as he took a short cut through a nearby painting.
'Because if you don't go, she'll end up hating you even more and you'll never hear the end of it. And also because you want to see her and what she has to say.'
'She probably wants to talk about one of the projects. Oh why did I have to get involved with that girl? It's not like I don't have enough drama in my life already.'
When he finally reached the bottom of the staircase that lead up to the top of the tower, he heard the clock begin to chime eleven. He began to run up the stairs trying to beat the clock's chimes. When he was about ten steps away from the roof, the last chime rang through the grounds.
"I'm here," breathed Sirius trying to catch his breath. Andy was once had her back to him, looking out into the night.
"You're late," sighed Andy.
"Only by a couple of seconds, but I'm here. So what did you want to talk about?" said Sirius as he lend next to the stone wall.
"Nothing really," said Andy lazily as she turned to look at him. "I just feel that we still need to get to know each other a bit more. You know, learn more about each other's inner beasts."
"Why? What is that going to accomplish?" said Sirius with a quizzical expression.
"Well…we still need to figure out how Lil and Jay should get over their petty differences. So I was thinking if we figured out how to get over our differences, then we can apply it to the two of them. Plus we still have that assignment from McGonagall to do," stated Andy.
"Alright, a valid point. So…what exactly do you want to know?"
"Well…" said Andy with a mischievous look on her face. "I was figuring we could start off small, like how was your day?"
"Uh…fine," said Sirius a little unsure. For some reason, he had this feeling in the pit of his stomach that she was up to something. It's just he wasn't sure what exactly it was. "A little interesting in some moments, but other than that, my day was pretty much like any other day. You?"
"About the same as yours. I mostly spent the day talking to Lil about what happened to her last night," said Andy simply.
"Yeah, I heard about that. How's she doing, by the way?" he asked in a concern tone.
"She's fine. Still a little shaken up though, and is a little upset because Everett won't talk to her. I guess he feels like a sissy for passing out like that. Guess he's not the big protector he tries to be in front of her," chuckled Andy.
"Hayes is nothing but a show off and a snob. And she has the nerve to call Prongs one? Ha, that's a laugh. I still don't know what she sees in him," said Sirius shaking his head.
"Some might say the same thing about you being a snob, and why Felicia is with you," said Andy.
"Point taken," he replied seeing where she was coming from. "So when did you find out about what happened to her and Hayes?"
"Last night. I saw her being chased after that werewolf," said Andy. Suddenly an idea popped into her head, as to how she could get him to drop the whole act he's been putting on for nearly a year and a half now.
"Oh?"
"Yeah," said Andy nodding her head. "It's hard to believe that such a dangerous animal would be out free to roam the grounds once a month. You'd think Dumbledore would put up some form of precaution around the grounds to keep that beast away from the school night and day."
"What are you saying?" inquired Sirius as his head shot up to look directly into her eyes.
"I'm saying that who ever that werewolf really is shouldn't even be within a hundred miles of the school, or for anyone for that matter. He or she should be ashamed for allowing themselves to get bit by a werewolf," said Andy darkly with a serious look on her face. Inside how ever, she was laughing hysterically at watching the look on Sirius's face change from anger to passive. She knew that he was trying to keep his temper in check, and she didn't blame him. She would have done the same thing if someone was speaking to her like how she is to him now.
"Well what if it was an accident? What if he…or she…got lost in the woods one night and accidentally got himself bit," he said trying to keep his temper under control.
"Himself?" said Andy with a raised eyebrow.
"Or herself," said Sirius trying to play if off.
"That is a highly unlikely story. But hey who knows…maybe the poor bloke deserves to go through that transformation once a month," she said with a slight grin playing in the corner of her mouth.
At this point, Sirius had had enough of Andy's stuck up attitude and was going to set her straight.
"Alright look here, Sparky. Not everyone should be punished for some stupid act that they had no control over, like getting themselves bit when they were a kid. And further more, who in the bloody hell do you think you are berating someone when you have committed worse acts then trying to attack someone when you have no control over it! I think you need to get your priorities straight. You know not all people who happen to be werewolves are bad when they are in their normal form."
"You mean someone like Remus?" asked Andy simply.
"Yes someone like Rem…what did you say?" said Sirius as his eyes began to bulge out.
"I said someone like Remus Lupin," said Andy.
"W-why would you say Remus…"said a shell shocked Sirius.
"Blackie…I know," she said closing the gap between them
"You know?"
"Yeah, I know about everything," said Andy looking directly into his grey eyes.
"H-how do you know?" whispered Sirius.
"Lily found his necklace out on the grounds, where the wolf was. Or I should say where Remus was," she said smoothly.
"Does she know?"
"Yes, and Remus knows that we know," said Andy with a smile.
"Moony knows!"
"Mmmhmm…we told him a couple of hours ago. He's alright with it. We only had to promise not to tell Karen about what happens to him."
"So…you know the whole story about what happened?"
Andy nodded her head in response. "And when I said I knew everything, I mean I know everything. Including the part of the three friends going with him each night of his transformation."
"Whoa…whoa…whoa… wait a minute. You mean you know about…"trailed Sirius.
:"Yeah, I know about that too. But that's just me. Lily doesn't know that part. You are the only one I've told," said Andy looking down at her feet for a moment.
"So…you know about everything?" asked Sirius as he took a seat on the edge of the tower.
"Yeah I think I already said that. I only have one…well…two things to say."
"Which are?"
"Well the first is...ARE ALL THREE OF YOU COMPLETELY NUTS! What the hell were you thinking of pulling a stunt like that? Do you have any idea what would've happened if someone in authority found out? You lot would be thrown in jail!"
"It was the only thing we could think of that would help Moony and keep us safe as well," said Sirius trying to make her understand.
"But still, what you three are doing is extremely dangerous. What if something happens?" said Andy in a worried tone.
"Nothing is going to happen," said Sirius looking directly into her eyes. "Besides…why do you care so much?"
"Because I don't want to see anything bad happening to you…or Jay…or Peter, for that matter," said Andy as she turned away from him.
"Hey. It's fine. None of us are going to get caught, and we can handle whatever is thrown at us. So you can rest easy," said Sirius as he put his hand on Andy's shoulder. She turned around and looked him in the eyes, and couldn't help but believe him.
"Now what do want to do about our little projects?" he said after a moment of awkward moment of silence.
"Well I think for the one that can possibly kill either one of us, I think we should just leave alone for right now. Just to see where it's going right now. As for the other one, I think we need to start cracking on it tomorrow or else we will get killed by McGonagall."
"Sounds like a plan then. Just out of curiosity what was the second thing?" said Sirius.
"Just that I think that it's really sweet what you three are doing for him," said Andy.
"Oh, okay," said Sirius, surprised that that was what she was thinking.
"By the way…what was the real reason you were late?"
"Oh, uh…I was with Felicia doing some…things," said Sirius awkwardly.
"Felicia?" said Andy. For some reason she felt a slight twinge of pain in her heart.
"It's not what you think. We were just talking since we haven't really had a chance too," lied Sirius. He didn't know why he said that, but he couldn't stand seeing that strange look on her face.
"Oh, alright then. I mean you know you could have just said that you were making out. I mean she is your girlfriend after all."
'Yeah she is. Why didn't I just tell her the truth?'
"But uh, Blackie, I'm just giving you a warning."
"A warning? What warning?"
"Although I'm not to found of my friend dating you, she is friend and I care about her, so I'm just going to say this one time."
"Which is?"
"If you hurt her in any way shape or form, you'll be dealing with me. Got it?"
"Yes. I promise. I won't try to intentionally hurt her. But there is the possibility that I may do that in the future."
"Fair enough," shivered Andy. "It's getting late. I guess we should head inside."
"Ladies first," he said as he moved aside to allow Andy a path to the door.
Disclaimer: It's all J.K. Rowling. I only own this story's idea, and the characters I made up. Everything else belongs to her.