The days leading up to the full moon were awful for Cedric. Each evening, before bed, he knocked back a potion; each day, he grew more and more tired. Somehow… nobody noticed Professor Lupin's condition. Perhaps he just knew how to hide it better.
His spirits lifted, however, Thursday afternoon. He had taken his seat in Muggle Studies in the front of the room next to Tabatha, the only Slytherin in the N.E.W.T. class. This was a classroom full of pure-bloods and a couple half-bloods. All afraid of him. Tabatha paid them no mind, so he pretended to do the same.
Professor Burbage strode into the room humming cheerfully. She kindly patted Cedric on the shoulder and took her place at the front of the room. Charity Burbage was a petite woman with strawberry blonde hair and she was the only teacher in the entire school who was genuinely friends with Professor Snape.
She was a Valentine's Day card hitting him over the head every day.
"Put away your books, class," she said excitedly. "We are going on a field trip!"
"Field trip?" a Ravenclaw boy asked. "To where?"
"Hogsmeade," she said. "There is something there I would like you all to study."
The eleven of them packed up their bags and left the classroom down to where two carriages were waiting to take them to Hogsmeade. Cedric dug his leather notebook out of his bag and buried his nose in it to review his findings.
"So glad to see you back, Cedric," said Professor Burbage.
"Thank you, Professor."
It was strange to see Hogsmeade empty. A couple travelers were about, as this was a common stop for visitors who couldn't blend into Muggle London.
It was so empty, the carriages were able to drop them off right in front of the Three Broomsticks.
Cedric glanced over his shoulder and did a double-take. The old man leaving the post office looked an awful lot like Dumbledore. Or Leonardo di Vinci. In their brief moment of eye contact, he knew more than he wanted to know and only because the man allowed him.
"Afternoon, Charity," Madam Rosmerta called. "Isn't it beautiful?"
It was not the afternoon she was referring to. Nestled in a corner of the inn was the jukebox. It added something new and matched the ambience like Cedric thought it would. However, something was amiss.
No music.
"Even with Professor Lupin's assistance we couldn't get it hooked up," she continued.
"What is it?" Tabatha asked.
"I am so glad you asked," said Professor Burbage. "This is … well … Cedric, would you care to do the honors?"
Cedric grinned and set his bag on a table.
"Okay," he said. "So this is what muggles call a jukebox. They're a little outdated, but I managed to give it an upgrade."
As he told them all about it and some of the history behind the jukebox, he walked around the inn determining why the music wasn't playing.
"Madam Rosmerta, I do apologize for this," he said.
"For what?"
Cedric dragged a chair over to the wall and stood on it. He drew his wand and carved a rune into the wall close to the ceiling. He drew several around the room, then went back to the jukebox. He opened up the side and made sure they matched up to the one he put on the inside wall of the box.
"Okay," he said and turned the dial to match the magical energy around them. "It should work…" He inserted a spare knut from his arm compartment and pressed two buttons. "Now!"
"9 to 5" by Dolly Parton played. It wasn't too loud but loud enough that it wouldn't be drowned out by chatter.
"Thank you, Cedric!" said Madam Rosmerta, giving him a giant hug. "And here is the rest of your pay."
He took the velvet bag from her and tucked it away in his arm compartment. It made the prosthetic a bit heavier but he didn't want anyone swiping it from him before he could hide it somewhere safer.
Too bad Hogsmeade didn't have a Gringotts teller for deposits and withdrawals.
"This is what Muggle Studies is about," said Professor Burbage. "Not just understanding muggles and their ways, but joining the two societies together! Now, we can listen to music the way muggles do! What do you plan after this, Cedric?"
"Well, one of my future coworkers was working on a toaster so I think household appliances are next," he said, growing excited. "Not having a television is understandable. Having to hand wash your clothes while the town two miles away doesn't is a little odd. Not exactly unheard of but it can still draw unwanted attention and, therefore, questions. Unless you're Amish, but they have their own communities."
Tabatha stepped forward to the jukebox.
"What currency does it take?"
"Knuts," he said. "The currency ratio of galleons to pounds sterling is about one to twenty-five so I figured knuts were the most reasonable price."
Tabatha found a sickle in her bag and traded it in with Madam Rosmerta for knuts. She inserted a few into the slot and perused the song lists before pressing a button.
The background music halted and Magic Works by the Weird Sisters played.
Everyone wanted a turn to pick a song and this made Madam Rosmerta happy. She poured Cedric a butterbeer as he sat down at the bar.
"On the house as promised," she said with a wink. "I knew you wouldn't let me down."
"I'm a people pleaser," he replied with a light smile and looked over his shoulder at his excited peers. "Did you really have issues setting it up?"
"No. I just wanted you to have your moment."
"Thanks. Let me know if you have any trouble with it and I'll come right away. No issues with my other products so far. Not any that are my fault anyway."
"I'll send an owl if I do," she said. "But I don't think I'll need to."
The jukebox helped. His peers were still afraid of him, but they were willing to change their minds if they kept seeing him as how he was. So, he had to keep his head down and just keep going.
It would get better.
~o0o~
The next morning, Cedric waited at the Quidditch Pitch with Eliza Littlefield, his Captain-in-training, for the Hufflepuffs who wanted to tryout for the team. Lycanthropy did not stop the hunger for competition.
He brought out the Quidditch Cup from Professor Sprout's office as a means of motivation.
About thirty sleepy Hufflepuffs stood before him and most of last year's team with the exception of Rhetta Hill, who injured her shoulder over the summer, Greg Thompson, who graduated, and Daven, who didn't want to be on the team with a werewolf as captain. Cedric let his broom fly waist high as he stepped forward to address them.
"Alright, Hufflepuffs!" he said. "Whenever you address me on this pitch it will be as Captain. Answers to direct questions will be 'yes, Captain' or 'No, Captain.' Am I clear?"
"Yes, Captain!"
Good. They were learning.
"We are the winners of the Quidditch Cup!" he continued. "Though we don't have Esperanza as Keeper this year, the Gryffindors don't have Krum! Last year, we played hard, we played fair, and we won. I want to continue to see your hunger! I want to see your House spirit! Who are we?"
"Hufflepuffs!" last year's team shouted.
"What are we?"
"Badgers!"
"And what do badgers do?"
"GO CRAZY!"
"Hell, yeah!" he said. "We don't give a shit about what the other teams are doing because we will be better! Now, I want everyone to divide on how they are trying out. Keepers, I want you on the left side of the Pitch, Chasers and Beaters in the middle, Seekers on the sidelines. I will be re-trying out for my place as Seeker. To start with, we'll do a game of pick-up Quidditch with Chasers and Keeper only. To start off as Chasers I'd like Lisha Lloyd, Zacharias Smith, and Thomas Hull. Keeper: Malcolm Evans."
He tweeted his whistle and flew into the air with his clipboard in hand and the Quaffle under his arm.
"Ready?"
He threw the Quaffle the second everyone was in place. Every three Quaffles launched towards a hoop, he'd swap out a Chaser. Every six, a Keeper. The game went on continuously, Cedric sometimes brought in someone who already auditioned just to see how they worked with the others. The only one he was nervous about was Zacharias Smith. Smith was full of himself and selfish, but he was a good player. Maybe being part of a team would be the thing to get him to be not as selfish.
"Alright, Chasers and Keepers, down," shouted Cedric. "Beaters, gather, I've got a new game for you."
Confused, all the auditioning Beaters stepped forward. Cedric landed and opened a bag filled with bats and foam bludgers. He passed out the bats.
"The object of the game," he said, "is basically the job of a Beater. Avoid the other players and hit the balls away from the targets."
He flicked his wand and several targets in the shape of players flew in the air.
"Sounds like fun," said Eliza.
The Beaters actually did have fun with the game, especially since they weren't dealing with real bludgers. The foam balls could give a nasty bruise, but weren't bone breakers. Cedric set up a tally system for hits, misses, and targets saved. Eliza did the best out of all of them and Humphrey Haussen really pulled through since last year. Last came the tryouts for Seeker.
Cedric banished ten golf balls, allowing Chadwick Harris to try out first. He actually didn't do too bad. He got seven out of ten. He could have gotten eight, but pulled up too soon, scared to crash. And there was a second year, Lilly Manson, but she only got five. She just needed a little more practice.
Mounting his Velozmente, Cedric banished the golf balls and waited three seconds before zipping off to catch all ten before the last one could even come close to the ground. He loved this broom.
When tryouts were done, Cedric and Eliza sat on a bench and discussed who they wanted to be on the team and who they wanted on Reserves.
"Okay," said Cedric, standing up. "I'd like to thank each and everyone of you for trying out today. The decision for the team is as follows: Seeker: Me, Reserve Seeker: Chadwick Harris; Beater One: Eliza Littlefield, Beater Two: Humphrey Haussen, Reserve Beater: Anthony Rickett; Chaser One: Lisha Lloyd, Chaser Two: Thomas Hull, Chaser Three: Tai Huang, Reserve Chaser: Zacharias Smith; and, finally, Keeper: Malcolm Evans, Reserve Keeper: Sage Myles."
As was expected, one kid burst into tears and ran away, the rest muttered in disappointment. Cedric glanced up and unexpectedly saw Zacharias Smith in his face.
"Reserve Chaser?" he said angrily.
"Yes," said Cedric.
"How did I get Reserve Chaser?" he demanded. "I'm twice as good as any of them!"
"Eliza?"
Eliza smirked and opened up the notes, "Foolhardy, selfish, attention hog, damn good player. Reserve 'til he learns to play nice with others."
Cedric smiled and wiggled his pen in the air. "That is why you are Reserve, Zach. Good doesn't mean anything if you can't get along with your teammates. You have potential. Of course … if you don't like my decision, I can always pick someone else."
Zacharias huffed angrily and stormed away, but didn't resign.
Satisfied, Cedric headed to the locker rooms so he could change into his regular clothes.
~o0o~
Saturday night was his Transformation. At sunset, he downed his final potion. The moon wouldn't rise for a while, but everyone would feel safer if he was locked up long before sunset.
As Headmaster, Dumbledore was the one to take him to the Shrieking Shack and he made it obvious so there couldn't be any rumors that Cedric was still in the castle somewhere. Professor Lupin was already there having taken a secret passage. If anyone asked, eye witnesses saw him at the Hog's Head all night with Hagrid.
Cedric had seen the outside of the Shrieking Shack and wondered how something like it hadn't been demolished yet. It was the type of place that leaned heavily and looked like it would fall over like a house of cards if too stiff a breeze blew through.
The inside was even worse. The walls were shredded with peeling paint, destroyed furniture was strewn about, hardened droppings from various animals littered the floor, and the windows had a film of grime. The entire shack creaked with each step Cedric took. Already he wanted to take a shower and burn his shoes. This place was safe from everyone, but were they protected from things like pink-eye, staph infection, and other bacteria related issues?
He wasn't expecting the Ritz, but would it have killed someone to at least make it decent and not the kind of place where you switched the lights on and cockroaches scattered?
"Good night, Cedric," said Dumbledore. "Good night, Remus."
"Uh huh," said Cedric.
When the wizard left, Cedric drew his wand and began using every cleaning spell he knew in the area they would be staying in for their transformation. Professor Lupin tried to assist, but he wasn't the best with household spells.
Cedric then undressed to his shorts and sat down. His shoulders sagged and his eyelids became heavy. He stared at his hand and marveled at how weird fingers were for several minutes. Once again he felt the pain of his transformation. He howled in anguish and once again found himself tottering on three legs. He flopped onto his side, whimpering, and stared at the patch of moonlight on the floor.
"Does it ever get easier?" he asked Professor Lupin.
"It gets… habitual," he replied, settling down on a blanket with his paws crossed in front of him. "The pain becomes well-known and you'll be able to prepare for it. Trust me when I say it's worse without Miss Hana's potions."
Whining, Cedric rested his head down and tried to think nice things. He managed to sleep for a bit, but not easily, startled awake by every sound in the cold shack. He wanted the garage in Hawaii with the warm air. The cushy quiet room in D.R. Not this cold, unfeeling place.
So many fears and anxieties grew as the potion ebbed and the night went on.