(4) The Lunar Shift
(In his wolf form, Remus appears as a Husky/Malamute kind of thing with tufted tail, exactly like how he is supposed to be as a wolf. Not that CGI piece of crap from the movies!)
"Hey, Moony! Wait up!"
Remus stopped walking & turned to see Peter come running up to him, puffing a little. Peter bent over to catch his breath. "You coming with me, now?" Remus asked.
"Yeah," Peter panted. "Sirius & James will be along, soon."
"Ok, but let me see Wormtail," Remus said. "I am exempt from curfews & such, tonight. You aren't so I'll just carry you in my pocket."
"Sure thing," Peter said before switching to his little rat.
Remus scooped the critter up & placed him into his pocket. He headed down the main stairs. As a Prefect, people didn't pay him much attention at these late hours anymore, but it was still weird just walking on through the whole castle deliberately going outside without getting into any trouble.
"Ouch, Wormtail!" Remus hissed under breath as the rat squirmed around to stick his nose out to breathe. "You're digging your claws into me." The rat squeaked an apology as Remus opened the main doors & stepped out into the evening. He began running down to the Whomping Willow. Wormtail's small black eyes glistening in the dim light of torches as they passed.
When he reached the other end, Remus pulled the rat out of his pocket & held him up through the trap door. Wormtail scampered off & Peter appeared a moment later. He leaned down to help pull Remus up into his den. He let the trap door bang closed. "We're running late," Peter said. "They're going to have to come to the main door to let you out."
Remus cast a worried glance around. "I guess I will have to do the shift without everyone here."
"They'll be here soon," Peter said, heading up the stairs. "Come on. Let's get you ready."
"Ready ... " Remus echoed before following him up. He stood in the room near the foot of the bed, with the piano behind him.
"Moony," Peter came up to him. He reached out & pulled off Remus's jacket. After folding it & putting it in the closet, he turned back to see Remus shaking. "You never get used to it, do you?"
"No," Remus sighed. He lifted his hands. They were visibly trembling. "It's almost time, again. I ..."
Peter stood between Remus's shaking arms & pulled the werewolf pup into a hug. He could feel the whole body shaking. "We need to get you undressed. It will pass. Then Sirius & James will be here & we can go out, somewhere."
"Ok ..." Remus sighed. He held onto Peter just a moment longer before pulling away & quickly stripping down.
It was weird yet somehow normal at the same time to let others see him completely naked. When he had first started school, he never shared the showers like other normal boys. He always went in last. His body was covered with a layout of mountains & valleys. The scars would tell on him quicker than anyone could.
Then, three friends figured him out. They had started hanging back in the showers, making sure others wouldn't walk in on Remus. He still tried to hide the scars behind towels & pjs, but they never mentioned it.
Then the idiots got into dangerous grey magic. Animagic. Neither here or there but somewhere in between. Remus never imagined anyone would see him so intimately as to be there with him, holding his hand (or his paw) during his double shift every month. Now, it was weird that two of them weren't there.
As he laid the last article of clothing on the shelf & closed the door, he suddenly thought of something. He & Sirius had seen each other naked a few times now, never once thinking they might end up together. A sudden shudder went through him that had nothing to do with moons. The next time he saw Sirius in that state, it might be for ... something ...
"MOONY! QUIT DAWDLING!" Peter's voice brought Remus out of a very lewd daydream. "It's nearly time."
"Right. Sorry," Remus turned to see a large patch of moonlight on the floor & it was growing to fill the whole room.
Peter stood in front of Remus & grabbed his hands. He spun them around so that Remus's back was towards the encroaching moonlight. "Do you want me to do it?" Peter asked quietly.
"Not at all, but ..." Remus sighed & nodded. "Get it done."
"Ok," Peter let a tear slip. "I'm sorry."
"I know."
Peter took a breath & shoved hard. Remus stumbled back into the moonlight & the grip of the curse was instant. Peter fell back against the wall at the same time Remus crashed to his knees, screaming in pain. Peter could hear the bones start to break & shift. He put both hands over his nose & closed his eyes. Breathe in. Breathe out. All werewolves do this. He'll be fine.
The shock of what Remus actually went through had made everyone's heads spin the first time. Now, Peter had to watch it alone & there was nothing he could do to help. Moony was pulling from Remus. It was almost time to switch to Wormtail but Peter stayed pressed against the wall, hands now moved to his sides gripping his robes as Remus's cries became more inhumane until a wolf was whimpering in front of him.
"Oh!" Peter yelped, switching to Wormtail in a blink of an eye. That was close. That was too close. That was way too close!
Moony looked around at the sound & saw the rat come up to him. /You are here./
/Yes. Always./
/The others?/
/Soon, Moony. Soon./
Wormtail ran up Moony's snout & began nipping at one ear. Moony flopped over & swatted at the rat with one big paw. The rat jumped off & scurried down the stairs. Moony barked & hurried after.
The main door was down there. Bolted shut. Moony caught the rat up in his jaws & carried him over. He dropped Wormtail in front of the bolt on the bottom of the door, locking it into the floor.
/Want out./
/Just a few minutes, Moony./
/But we always go out./
/Yes, with Prongs & Padfoot./
Moony whimpered & shoved his nose onto a bolt.
/You like Padfoot, don't you?/ Wormtail tried to distract him.
/Yes. Padfoot./
/Come get me!/ Wormtail ran under the stairs.
Moony barked again & began chasing the rat around. It would have been fine. In the Shack, Wormtail provided enough distraction to keep Moony occupied. But then, as Wormtail ran upstairs, Moony was distracted by something in the floor. Wormtail sat on his hind quarters & began washing up, waiting to be chased as Moony laid eyes on a human face peeking up through the trap door.
Wormtail froze mid-wash of his side fur, listening to Moony suddenly growl in a rage. He heard thudding & the trap door banging shut. /Prongs. Padfoot?/ He ran downstairs, only to find an enraged werewolf that would no longer listen to him.
The Stag & the Grim did not appear, but Moony insisted on trying to get through the trap door & when that didn't work, he turned on himself. Wormtail tried to stop him but Moony swiped the little rat aside with a huge paw.
In the end, Peter had to decide whether to keep annoying Moony or to hide so as not to get killed. He ended up running under the lowest stair.
Moony went all out on himself now that he was completely alone. Wormtail squealed & squeaked at him to stop but didn't dare venture out again for Moony was now also growling at him. Wormtail could do little else but watch from the space under the stair as the werewolf threw himself against the Shack's walls & doors, injuring himself enough to bleed. Moony then turned his fangs onto the wounds, ripping them even more open.
Where the hell were Prongs & Padfoot? Wormtail wiggled his nose, trying to catch a whiff of them but the sharp scent of blood rose up to greet him instead. The floor was slick with it & the wolf was lying on his side in the center of the crimson pool.
/Moony?! MOONY!/
There was no answer. Wormtail cautiously slipped out. He looked at the lump of fur in the middle of the floor. A Husky like dog now bright red, it lay panting in the mess. Wormtail looked down at the floor in front of him. There was no avoiding it, he would have to walk on blood to get to Moony. After a short hesitation, he dashed forward, all four paws & his tummy soaking up blood.
/Moony? Please don't die!/ Wormtail stood up & pressed bloody paws to the werewolf's snout. Moony whimpered, his eyes half closed. /Moony! Please! I can't help you now. I can't be Peter until you are Remus!/ Moony whimpered again & closed his eyes.
/Moony?/ Wormtail squeaked before spinning around to look at the main door, then the trap door. /Prongs? Padfoot? Where are you?/ He turned back & pressed his little head against the snout, squeaking incessantly. /I'll kill them! Moony, if you die, I'll kill them both! Come back to me! Please!/
/ ... Worm ... t ... /
A low sigh & Moony started to quiver before lying still. Wormtail jumped back. /No no no! MOONY!/ He ran up the stairs. By the time he reached the landing, he was Peter again. Peter stumbled forward into the bedroom & slammed the door. Just in case ... He started running his hands through his hair & then felt the slickness press his usually fluffy bangs down. He looked at his hands, his front, his sides. All bloody. Blood from Moony. "NO! REMUS!" He sobbed. "Merlin, where are you guys?"
Peter turned & opened the door. He was part way down stairs before remembering that he was in his human form with an active werewolf on his moon shift down below. Peter leaned over the railing & looked down at the wolf. "Moony?"
There was no response. Peter crept down, Wormtail kept close in his mind. He put a hand on his shoulder, feeling the tattoo there. It moved to his neck. Every Animagus received a living tattoo of their animal once they had completed all the rituals required for animagic. Peter kept his focus on it as he inched closer to the downed werewolf.
"Moony?"
Lips curled back in a snarl without sound.
"Ohh, that's not good!" Peter gasped. "Here I am in my human form & you won't even look at me." He pulled out his wand. "Moony, I need to stop the blood flow. Will you let me do that?" A low growl was the response. "Alright," Peter inched around to the side, avoiding the teeth. "You don't bite me, I won't bite you. Deal?" He reached out. "I must be crazy. I'm hanging out with the Blacks, too much," he muttered to himself. His hand landed on fur. "Wow!" Peter let out a low breath. "Kind of wiry. All bristle." He never thought he'd get to touch Moony in this form as a human. The rat's paws had sensitivity & tiny hairs. Things felt different as Wormtail than they would by a human touch. But no one would dare pet a werewolf during their shifts. It was suicide to try & one would be dead before getting anywhere near the wolf. But at the moment, Moony was nearly dead. "Ok, not quite what I expected. I mean, Remus has softer hair. Anyway ... Accio bed sheet." He waited a moment as the sheet from up stairs drifted down to him. He used that to cover the wolf, pressing gently on the wounds he could reach. Moony growled. "Easy! Moony! It's me. Wormtail."
The sheet soaked it in. Peter was kneeling by Moony now, soaking in blood as well. It didn't matter any more. He had to keep Moony alive & ready for the change back to Remus & then, he had to keep Remus going until someone came.
"Ok, what next?" Peter looked at the slowly staining sheet. "This is why I spend time with Pomfrey, Moony. I've always wanted to be a Healer, just for you. My first patient alone. Didn't expect it to be you, though, huh? You crazy mutt! You're not supposed to chew yourself up like this." He kept talking in low tones as he peeled back the sheet to check the wounds he could get at. "Ok, those wounds need to be sealed. Can't do it magically since it interferes with your poisonous system." He put a hand on the ears, surprisingly soft, slightly velveteen like the antlers of Prongs. "Your stupid werewolf venom could be the death of you. I need to sew these up, muggle style." He got up & ran back up stairs.
Knowing Moony was more than half-dead, Peter closed the door again, anyway. Werewolves were not to be trusted on the moon shift. He went to the small cabinet by the bed & pulled out the sewing kit Pomfrey had put there, along with the Medi-witch-&-wizard spell book. Slowly he opened the door & peeked out but there was no slavering hungry monster there for him. Peter went back down the stairs to find Moony had slithered around to the bottom of the stairs.
A cold chill went up his spine as Peter looked down on this nearly dead beast that was still trying to hunt him. He raised one brow in a Spock-ish kind of way. "You moved."
Moony replied by snarling low.
"I think someone's being a bad doggy," Peter pointed his wand at the wolf & pushed back. It was rather easy to do, sliding the body along the floor slick with blood. He walked forward after it, tracing steps in the blood. "Let's try this again," Peter said once they had reached the middle. He cast a spell on the book to make it hover so that his hands were free. By just flicking a finger, he was able to make the pages turn without touching it & kept the book relatively clean. "There it is. Stitching spell. Ok. We need to start with the biggest wounds." He glared down at Moony. "You made things worse by moving around, you know."
He knelt down again, no longer noticing the blood on his clothes. He set to work over the longest gash along Moony's side. Moony whimpered, feeling the pricks as the wound closed over under Peter's guidance. "I know, Moony," Peter sighed. "I know it hurts. I don't think I'll ever forgive James & Sirius for this!"
Though no one realized it at the time, it was the beginning of the end of the friendship between Peter & the Black cousins. Seeing their precious werewolf pup all torn up did something to Peter. Worse, he had been alone to witness it. A rat so small, there was nothing he could do so his anger turned to James & Sirius. The suffering Moony went through was more than enough & now this was added to it. No one was allowed to hurt Remus! Not even those two idiots who didn't show up this time. It was too much to handle for one lone rat ... & the blood. Blood & more blood wherever he looked. More of Remus was splattered about in the Shack than what was flowing through his torn veins at the moment. Peter saw red. Literally.
Moony yelped as the bandage tugged closed over a particularly large stretch of torn flesh.
"I'm sorry," Peter sniffled, finding a small clean patch of his sleeve to wipe away his tears. "I know it hurts. I'm almost done this side." Yeah. This side. Peter left out the fact that the worst wound was on the other & underneath. He left out the fact that he was going to have to flip the wolf over. He was barely getting started having to hurt the wolf more just to try healing him.
Moony screamed when Peter finally turned the wolf over. Peter stepped back, giving the wolf a moment to recover. He ran a bloodied hand through his crusted hair, breaking off the dried blood in his locks. "Know what, my poor friend? I think I will kill them some day." He set to work again, patching up more wounds & forever keeping one eye turned on the werewolf's face in case Moony decided to have a burst of energy & attack him.
Finally, Peter finished the last wound. He pushed himself far back against the wall. "Well, it's up to you & Remus now. I think it's nearly morning. We need to get you in the su—whoa! Ok, easy!" Peter switched to Wormtail as Moony pushed himself up to his paws & stumbled forward a few steps before sliding down on his own blood & put his nose to the floor. Peter appeared behind him. "Nice try, pal!" He snapped but then laughed a little. "At least you're keeping yourself alive." He moved around to the wall next to the stairs. "This is away from the village. I'm going to let the sun in. Reducto!"
The wall shattered & the first rays of the morning sun came in but were too high to touch Moony. "Alright, now we just wait a bit. Don't you try anything!" Peter stepped backwards a few paces as Moony had slipped around, using the blood to his advantage. "Moony? Bad wolf! Lie down. Heel. Stay."
He kept his back to the hole in the wall as he watched Moony. The sun came in a little more. "Alright, buddy. You ready for this? I'd really like to have Remus back. It's just safer for me." Moony rolled big gold eyes up at him. "Sorry ... " Peter whispered before ducking sideways.
The suns rays gripped the wolf & began pulling the man out of it. Peter leaned against the wall, pressing his face into it as he listened to the sounds of the werewolf shifting back. As the sounds changed to something more human, Peter moved towards the hole in the wall. Remus was soon standing before him.
"Repario," Peter muttered, letting the wall fly back into place. He turned back to Remus & his eyes went wide. "Remus!" Peter ran forward just as Remus began falling back.
"... Pet ..." Remus murmured as he began to fall.
Peter grabbed Remus & went down with him, cushioning his fall. "Ray?" He pushed back the sandy bangs, wet with blood & the stress of the shift. "Ray, are you alright?" Remus moaned a little as Peter laid him down before pulling off his jacket to cover him. "Come on. Remus! Don't give up on me, now."
He levitated Remus up the stairs & gently placed him on the bed. Peter put the book & the sewing kit away & pulled out a chocolate bar from the stash. He carefully sat on the edge of the bed as Remus opened his eyes. "Come on, Remus. Here's some chocolate. You need to get your strength back."
Remus turned away.
"Ray, you need something," Peter tried moving the chocolate over for Remus to find.
Remus turned sharply to him & growled loudly, eyes shining gold.
Peter got off the bed & moved away. "Ok, we'll try this later, then." He put the chocolate on the piano before slowly returning to the bed.
Remus looked at him, then moved his eyes to the doorway. His lips barely formed something but Peter understood just fine. Padfoot. Prongs. "They're not here," Peter said, sitting on the edge again. Remus looked at him. "I don't know why," Peter went on. "But they never showed up. I'll throw them down the stairs if they do for that. You almost killed yourself, last night!" Peter looked away, flexing his fist around his wand.
This night had fractured the Marauders & it was never to be fixed again.
Peter suddenly glanced around, hearing a creaking floorboard. For one instant, he glared at the doorway, thinking to see James & Sirius. But it was more likely to be Pomfrey & her staff coming for Remus. He switched to Wormtail & hid under the bed just as Pomfrey stepped in.
"Good heavens!" Pomfrey exclaimed. "What happened here?" She glanced at the blood on the floor, her eyes following streaks of it all up the stairs. "Did someone get in?"
"Albus insists that no one did," said one of her nurses as they started to vanish the blood away. "This is all his."
They went upstairs to find Remus passed out on the bed. Pomfrey went to his side. "He's still alive but I don't understand." She looked Remus over. "Someone was here to patch him up."
Wormtail squeaked under the bed & then put a paw to his face as he realized he had left out the chocolate bar as well. They had always left Remus once he had changed back & was in bed. No one knew that they would spend the entire night with the werewolf. Their animagic was illegal. Now Wormtail was stuck under the bed with evidence that someone other than the hospital staff had been here.
"Never mind that, now," said one of the other nurses. "He ought to be dead, from what I just saw downstairs. We need to get him to the castle."
"Gently now," Pomfrey said as two nurses raised Remus up with a levitation spell.
Wormtail could hear the wolfman whimper. He heard something else as well.
"I wonder who's cloak this is?" Pomfrey said as she leaned over. "Mr. ... Pettigrew?"
Wormtail banged his fuzzy head on the leg of the bed. How stupid could he be? Should have used Remus's jacket!
"Well, that's alright then," said one of the others. "He knows what Remus is & you are training him to be a Healer. It's probably why Remus is still alive. Ah, look. He left some chocolate for when Remus wakes up." The bar was pulled off the piano.
"Alright, everyone touch the portkey," Pomfrey ordered. "Hurry!"
Wormtail waited for the pop of the portkey before running out & downstairs. Once there, he switched to Peter & took the old tunnel back to the Willow. He went into the castle through a side door & used the passage ways to get to second floor, then acted like a student just coming down for breakfast & went straight to the hospital wing to check on Remus.
"He had a rough night," Peter said the moment he walked in. "I just checked up on him earlier & there was blood everywhere."
"Mr. Pettigrew," Pomfrey went very serious & Peter thought he would get in trouble for going out early. "Something has happened. It's about to get a whole lot worse for young Mr. Lupin when he wakes up." She put a hand on his shoulder. "Go be with him. Your excellent work on his wounds just saved his life."
Peter smiled briefly before hurrying down the hall to the private rooms.