Chapter Eighteen: The Ninth Attack

The next morning, Sirius woke up and pulled the curtains open just as James and Peter were headed for the door. James saw him - still in Remus's bed - and boggled at him as if he had two heads. Sirius stared back at him defiantly. 'Do you have something to say?'

But James just curled his lip in disdain, stuck his nose in the air and marched out.

'Sanctimonious knob,' Sirius muttered under his breath - and then punched Remus on the arm. 'Wake up. We'll be late. I'm in enough trouble as it is.'

They got dressed and headed out. 'You know,' Sirius said, as they made their way down to the Hall, 'if James is serious about this whole divorce thing, I'm doing much better out of it than him. I get you - he gets stuck with Pete.'

Remus smiled. 'He isn't serious.'

They rounded the corner and made their way towards the stairs. A handful of Hufflepuff first years actually squealed in terror and ran out of the way when they saw Sirius coming. Sirius was torn between being annoyed and being amused. 'Stupid little gits.'

'It will all blow over eventually,' Remus promised him. 'And James will forgive and forget.'

But once again, Remus's divination proved to be as woeful as his potion-making. For, when they entered the Hall, they were greeted by a wall of "Potter Stinks" badges being worn across the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables.

The Slytherins, however, gloating from their unexpected cup win - had retired "Potter Stinks" and now wore badges shaped like gold crowns emblazoned with the words "Potter is our King". (Snivellus was notably not wearing one though. It seemed his hatred of James was such that he could not bring himself to declare James his King, even to mock and deride him. He had stuck with the more direct "Potter Stinks" and was happy with that.)

James was sitting slumped so low down on the bench that only his forehead was visible over the table. But - as foreheads went - it was a furious looking one, all wrinkled and scarlet.

'Oh dear,' Remus sighed. 'People must still think James was in on the whole thing. We'll have to tell people the truth.'

'And I'll thump anyone who won't listen.'

He smiled wryly. 'Maybe not the best way to stop people from thinking you're a dangerous nutter.'

'I want him to know I'm serious about putting things right.'

'You called him a "sanctimonious knob" earlier!'

'Well if he's being a knob, I won't sugarcoat it. I'm King Sirius the third, not Saint Sirius the third. But I still don't want him taking the blame for me being a right bell end. I want people to know the truth.'

'How noble of you. Maybe you'll make a saint yet,' Remus laughed at him. Sirius thumped him on the arm. 'Ow.'

…

But for all the tireless work Sirius and Remus put into clearing James' name as the weeks passed, no one was inclined to listen, and James and Sirius were still pariahs - and James was still not talking to Sirius because of it.

'They'll never put me on the Quidditch team again,' he told Remus - when Remus had shamefacedly apologised for jinxing him and tried talking to him again. 'They all think I'm a cheat now. Sirius has ruined everything forever.'

'Don't you think that's a touch melodramatic?' Remus had suggested gently. But James stuck by his words and, as Remus was sticking by Sirius, that meant James had less and less to say to him - until eventually Remus just started avoiding the common room altogether.

On the bright side, after two weeks had passed, Sirius finished his break time detentions and Remus had someone to talk to again between lessons. On the other hand, he was still trapped in evening detention until the end of the year - and Remus spent his lonely nights in the library waiting for Sirius to be free again. It wasn't too bad though, as the exams were now upon them and Remus needed all the time he could get to revise. (It was a good job Sirius was as unusually brilliant a young wizard as he was - as he was missing out on so much studying.)

Lily was often in the library as well, with her nose stuck in one massive book or other. Sometimes she was accompanied by Mary, sometimes she was alone. She wore a "Potter Stinks" badge and she didn't speak to Remus and he didn't speak to her.

When the week of the exams dawned, a hush descended all over the castle. Students could be seen pacing the halls muttering spells under their breath, or feverishly leafing through textbooks as they grew paler and paler and the dark circles under their eyes became more pronounced. People stayed inside and went to bed early - and Remus and Sirius found it much easier to find a quiet place in the depths of the castle, to hide away and ignore the hostile stares.

They spent the lunchtime after their morning Herbology exam hiding in an alcove near the Defence classroom. Remus had his nose buried in his Charms textbook - preparing for the afternoon's exam. Sirius - on the other hand - had declared that he knew all that stuff already and was using the time to stare rather vacantly out of the window. Hagrid was just about visible in the grounds; a distant, tiny dot digging up his pumpkin patch.

'Do you have a quill?' Remus asked.

'Probably.' He dug around in his bag - rooting through books and scrunched up bits of old parchment and the accumulated detritus of many months.

'Don't you ever clean out your bag?' Remus asked him, watching in exasperated amusement at all the rubbish being brought forth and then shoved right back where it had come from.

'No.' He shrugged. 'Anything I ever put in here is still in here somewhere.' He found a quill, handed it over and went back to staring out of the window. His expression was pensive - and he looked like he was considering unusually deep and serious things.

Remus scratched his nose with the end of his quill, frowned down at his book … and then caught sight of Sirius's face. 'What's wrong - are you thinking about James?'

'No I was just …' he gave a deep sigh, '...wondering.'

'Wondering what?'

'Alright - so - ' he turned to look at Remus, his expression still deadly serious. 'You know Hagrid, yeah?'

'Yes,' Remus said slowly.

'Right - but - OK - so, how big do you think his willy is?'

Remus just stared at him for a very long moment. And then he got up, picked up his bag and started to walk away.

'Where are you going?'

'To James and Peter. The divorce papers will be in the owl post.'

'Don't leave me, Remus!' Sirius called after him forlornly - and then he hopped down from the window ledge, chased after him - rugby tackled him around his knees and brought him crashing down to the floor.

'Gerroff! Gerroff you total nutter!' Remus squirmed and batted at him - though laughter was making his limbs feel all tingly and difficult to control.

'Don't leave me - you can't leave me alone,' Sirius seemed to have developed more tentacles than the giant squid and was clamped onto him not letting him free.

'I'm leaving you.'

'No - come on - I promise I won't ask again. Not ever. I won't even ask you about how big you think Flitwick's is.'

Remus screamed.

Sirius roared with laughter and clung on all the tighter. Remus kept on trying to hit him.

The door to the Defence classroom burst open and Peeves came bouncing out - and saw the two of them wrestling and laughing and hitting each other on the floor. 'Why - it's Loony Loopy Lupin and Barking Mad Black. What is it that's making you so merry and bright and gay this afternoon?'

'Piss off, Peeves,' Sirius said, still giggling.

Peeves blew a loud raspberry at the pair of them and then flitted away down the corridor, looking for somewhere else to wreak havoc, and singing a limerick of his own devising as he went.

They say that he's barking that little boy Black

They say he's the looniest one in the pack

He's angry and violent and ever so mad

He's trouble and bother and always so bad

So watch out for his temper for he'll surely attack

'Git,' Sirius said, staring after him. 'Come on,' he got to his feet and hauled Remus up. 'Time for the Charms exam.'

'How on earth am I going to pass this Charms exam,' Remus asked, 'when the whole time I'll be able to think of nothing but the size of Flitwick's willy?'

…

The week ground on - tempers grew shorter, people were looking more and more frayed, and poor Dahlia Meadows of Hufflepuff had to be taken out of History of Magic crying, as she announced she was too stupid to continue learning magic and should probably go and live with the mountain trolls instead. Remus managed not to melt the cauldron in his Potions exam this year, although Slughorn gave him the most pitying look when he peered inside and saw the mixture of watery soup Remus had produced. He wrote a mark down on his parchment which looked, to Remus, suspiciously like a zero.

Sirius did so well in Transfiguration, though, that McGonagall actually smiled at him. They were turning a pair of rabbits into a pair of slippers - and his had fleecy insides and a fetching tartan pattern (Remus privately thought Sirius had made them tartan just to charm Big Macca - and glowered down at his own attempt, which had turned pink and still had a bobsy tail). And Flitwick must have been so impressed by Sirius's earlier magic, that he had set them all the task of charming feathers into a flock of flamingos. Sirius scored full marks and sent his flock off, flapping through the window. Remus managed one flamingo that wasn't even pink (and yet his slippers were … how? ) and refused to stand on only one leg.

'You're going to end up top in everything - and you haven't even studied,' Remus grumbled afterwards.

'Yeah well, I'm brilliant aren't I?'

Remus hit him round the back of the head.

'Ow.'

The final exam would be Defence Against the Dark Arts, which would take place on Friday - which was also the night of the full moon.

Remus and Sirius spent the night before hiding up in their dorm while Remus rested, and tried not to feel glum that he would no doubt under-perform in his best subject because he would feel so lousy.

'Tenebris will make allowances for you,' Sirius told him briskly. 'She knows what you are - and she knows how good at Defence you are. She proper loves you.'

'Yes but I wish people didn't have to make allowances for me - that isn't how it's going to be in the real world. I just wish I could be well.'

'I'm sorry … I heard Professor Azimuth say it's going to be a lunar eclipse tomorrow. What will that mean for you?'

Remus shrugged. 'Dunno - maybe I'll get a shorter transformation. Typical it happens at the height of summer when the nights are already short - couldn't have happened in the bleak, mid winter - when the moon is out for about twelve hours.'

'I hope tomorrow's easier for you.'

'Me too.'

A sudden tapping at the window made them both turn and look. A barn owl was hovering outside, carrying a letter in its beak. Sirius went to let it in and took the envelope from it. 'It's addressed to me,' he said, frowning. 'Not my mum's writing though - and not my mum's owl.'

'And also not a howler.'

Sirius grinned, tore off the envelope, scrunched it up and threw it at Remus. 'It's from my cousin, Andromeda,' he said, scanning the letter. 'She had the baby a couple of months ago … just got round to telling me. A girl.'

'Nice.'

'She's a metamorphmagus, it says.'

'What's that?'

'It means her hair keeps changing colour and she can do weird things with her nose. She can change what she looks like at will. No Transfiguration necessary.'

'That must come in handy if you ever need a disguise.'

'I don't think babies need much in the way of disguises … oh … oh dear .'

'What?' Remus sat up on the bed and leaned forward, worried.

'Blimey … I think 'Dromeda must still be suffering from a whole load of pregnancy hormones or something because she's only gone and called the baby "Nymphadora".'

Remus just stared at him for a moment. 'You can't call a baby "Nymphadora",' he said at last.

'Well Andromeda has.' He got onto the bed with Remus and showed him the letter to prove his point.

'Why didn't Ted Tonks stop her? What were they thinking? That's just … cruel . Imagine having to live your whole life with a name like Nymphadora .'

'Yeah,' Sirius snickered. 'I'm not sure parents who commit that kind of idiocy are really safe to look after a child. Maybe we should kidnap the baby and bring her here for her own protection. Keep her up in the dorm with us.'

'Yes - and we'll give her a nice sensible name, like "Susan".'

'Susan Lupin-Black. I like it… We might get expelled though, if we kidnap a baby.'

'Nah,' Remus shook his head. 'We'll dress her in a pillowcase and tell everyone she's our house elf.'

'Babies do look like house elves,' Sirius said thoughtfully.

'And she can morph her ears to make them all long and floppy.'

They both snorted with laughter, just as the door opened and James walked in. He took one look at them, sitting together on the bed - laughing - and picked up his textbook and stormed back out without saying a word. Sirius sobered up immediately.

'He will come around,' Remus said.

…

The written half of their Defence Against the Dark Arts exam was right before lunch. Remus sat at his desk and scribbled down everything he could remember about the proper cure for jarvey bites and what rituals wizards used to perform to ward off death, if they had been unfortunate enough to encounter the mournful hooting sound of the augurey - and how these could be applied to actual deadly situations (as the cry of the augurey actually signified the encroachment of nothing more sinister than a heavy rainfall).

He knew he was doing alright; he remembered everything - he just thought he would be able to write it down more clearly if he didn't ache all over.

'You have ten minutes left,' Tenebris told them. He finished off his final answer, threw down his quill and closed his eyes; allowing himself a ten minute nap instead of carefully checking over his paper.

'You were snoring,' Sirius told him afterwards as they headed to lunch.

'No I wasn't. I don't snore.'

'Oh, Remus,' he shook his head sadly - and they both snorted with laughter.

After lunch, Tenebris had them back to complete the practical component of their exam. She took them in in pairs, while the rest of the class sat outside and waited, trying to cram in a last few moments of revision.

Sirius and Lily were the first pair to go in. Ten minutes later, the door to the classroom opened and they returned, scowling at each other. Sirius had his hands clamped over his ears, which were twitching uncontrollably. Lily was skipping on every third step.

'I'll wait out here 'til you're done,' Sirius said.

Remus nodded and then it was time for him and Petra to go inside.

'Alright, Mr. Lupin, Miss. Linehan,' Professor Tenebris said, 'the task is simple enough. I tell you the jinx to use, you jinx your partner and then choose the most effective counter-jinx to uncurse them. Points will be given for both the jinx itself and for how successfully you clean up the mess.'

'Will there be a lot of mess?' Petra asked rather fearfully.

'Just a figure of speech.' Tenebris winked. 'Ladies first. Miss Linehan, the freezing charm.'

Petra waved her wand in a circle and yelled 'immobulus'. White sparks flew from the tip and Remus found himself frozen in place - unable to move a muscle. 'Textbook,' Tenebris sniffed approvingly. 'Now, the counter-jinx, if you will be so good.'

'Er - Regelo ,' Petra said, a little uncertainly. A wooshing sensation swept over Remus, and he got a little bit of feeling back in his limbs … not much though.

'Well - a fair attempt. Mr. Lupin, just wait for the effects to wear off and then jinx Miss Linehan in your own time.'

Remus did a much better job of unfreezing Petra than she had done for him. His ear twitching and jelly legs jinxes were more powerful as well, and yet Petra still walked out unscathed and unjinxed, while he was still wobbling around a bit on uncontrollable legs.

He wobbled his way back to Sirius (whose ears had finally stopped twitching) and Mary and Peter went inside the classroom. It was less than a minute later, and Remus was still collecting his things, when there was the sound of an explosion - like the boom of a cannon - from behind the closed door. The windowpanes rattled in their frames and dust drifted down from the ceilings.

The gathered Gryffindors all stared at each other and then hared into the classroom to see what had happened (Remus bringing up the rear, as he was still wobbling).

They found the room engulfed in a choking cloud of thick, black smoke. Tenebris was coughing. Mary was standing pressed against the wall, looking absolutely horrified, and Peter was nowhere to be seen, until the air cleared a little bit and they found him passed out flat on his back on the floor, his robes torn and his face smeared with soot.

'Pete!' James hurried over to his side and started slapping him around the face to try and wake him up.

'What did you do?' Sirius asked Mary.

She stared at him - she was still very pale, and shaking. 'M-me? Nothing - he did that, himself.'

'It was the freezing charm,' Tenebris coughed. 'You know what he's like… still, no harm done,' she said, as - down on the ground - Peter groaned and began to stir.

'He could have killed me!' Mary protested.

'Yes, well - no one did die - and that is the main thing.'

'He's not jinxing me again, Professor - I'm not having him wave his wand at me. I don't care if you fail me.'

'No - no - that seems reasonable enough. Mr. Lupin, if you would be good enough to see that Mr. Pettigrew gets to the Hospital Wing. Mr. Black - if you would be so good as to stand in as Miss McDonald's partner. Everyone else - back out, these are exam conditions and those who haven't taken the test cannot stay.'

'I'll see you in the common room,' Remus muttered to Sirius. He hauled Peter to his feet and took him off to Madam Pomfrey.

…

Peter arrived back from the Hospital Wing right around the same time as Sirius had to leave for that night's detention. Until then, James had sat alone in the corner and glowered at his two former friends - but with Peter's return and Sirius's leaving, it was now Remus's turn to be the odd one out, and it almost came as a relief when it was time for him to head to the Infirmary. Even a painful transformation into a great, hairy monster was preferable to spending the evening alone under the baleful gaze of James.

'Lunar eclipse tonight,' Madam Pomfrey said to him briskly, as they crossed the grounds together. 'You probably won't transform until the shadow has gone. You should try and get some sleep beforehand.'

'I've had loads of sleep - I fell asleep in my exam this morning.'

The matron tried not to look amused. 'I dare say a bit more won't hurt you - now - straight down the passage, get to safety. There's a good lad.'

'Night, Madam Pomfrey.'

'I'll see you in the morning.'

Remus nodded, slipped down the opening in the roots of the Whomping Willow and followed the passage all the way out of the school grounds and down to Hogsmeade. He clambered up the trapdoor into the Shrieking Shack and then went up to the bedroom, where he took off his clothes in preparation and then climbed into bed to wait.

Nothing happened and - before he knew it - he was fast asleep and snoring peacefully.

…

It was dark by the time Sirius was finally released from his detention, where he had been helping Filch polish the golden plates they used for feasts. (He was pretty sure this was a nonsense job they had made up just to give him something to do - Kreacher lived for sweeping and polishing and there was an entire army of house elves in the Hogwarts kitchen. It seemed to Sirius like they probably kept those gold plates well polished and buffed and ready for use at all times - and delighted in doing so.)

He scuffled his feet along the floor as he mooched along, his shoulder slouched and his hands in his pockets - thinking about this time last month and the unbelieveably stupid thing he had done. He was lucky to still be at Hogwarts - but that didn't mean he was looking forward to going back to the dorm and not having Remus there. Things were very cold now James hated him - and, though it hurt his pride to admit it, he missed his best friend so much it felt like his entire right arm had been ripped off.

The slither of moon was visible through the windows, as he wandered his slow and lonely way down the Charms corridor, and he stopped to stare up at it. If the rest of the full moon was obscured with the shadow of the earth, he wondered if that meant Remus had not transformed yet.

Maybe the eclipse could last long enough that he wouldn't transform at all tonight … but then Sirius wasn't sure what that would mean for him. Remus always felt so achy and terrible before he turned into a wolf - if he didn't actually transform, would he still feel better in the morning? Or would he be in pain until the next month? Sirius didn't want that for him.

He kicked at the wall and thought how unfair it was that someone as lovely as Remus had to suffer so much, and how much he hated that there was nothing he could do to help… And then that reminded him of how James was apparently jealous that Sirius and Remus both understood suffering, and he didn't, and he rather sourly reflected what a stupid git James could be sometimes.

As Sirius stood there staring skyward, the slither of the moon grew larger as it passed across the earth's shadow and started to come out the other side. He sighed - and just hoped that Remus would feel alright in the morning.

…

Down at the Hogshead pub, in the village, things were getting a bit lairy. It was past last orders, close to closing, and the regulars were drunk and belligerent. And to make matters worse, both Mundungus Fletcher and Willy Widdershins had turned up to sell their ill gotten, fallen off the back of a broom wares - and had ended up in a fist fight over turf.

This was why Aberforth stuck with goats.

As the scrapping turned nasty, and the wand sparks flew, he dropped the rag he had been using to polish the pint glass, very deliberately put the glass down on the bar - so it made a ringing sound that made everyone's ears prick up - and then came out into the centre of a room. His blue eyes flashed dangerously, and the regulars all muttered and stuck their noses in their mead - wanting to avoid trouble.

One quick thump later and Widdershins was out cold, flat on his back on the rush-covered floor, missing a few teeth. Then Dung was in a half nelson and being marched towards the door.

'Gerrof!' the little crook cried, squirming in his grasp. 'Gerroff, Aberforth, you old goatfu-'

Aberforth planted his boot onto Mundungus's backside and kicked him out into the streets.

'Sonuva-' Dung cursed as he flew through the air. 'You miserable, old bastard.' He landed in a crumpled heap and struggled back to his feet, before immediately tripping over something in the dark - and sprawling out in the road once again. 'Sonuva - what the heck was that, when it's at home?'

Aberforth frowned, and followed Mundungus out of the pub. Dung was still staring at the large object that had brought him down. It was almost pitch black outside, with the moon still partially obscured, and Aberforth lit his wand to get a better look at whatever it was that was lying there, right where it shouldn't be.

There was another mutter of 'lumos' and Mundungus's wand lit up as well. They both peered down and then …'Blimey.'

Dung had gone pale with fright; his shifty, hound-dog eyes were suddenly alert and panicky. 'I'm not sticking around here with that …' and there was a popping sound; Mundungus vanished, and Aberforth was left all alone. He shook his head at Dung's cowardice and bent down for a closer look.

It was a body. It had been mauled; ripped open and then seemingly abandoned in the middle of the road. No longer wanted. It's insides were decidedly outside - though there was very little blood. He prodded it with the toe of his boot. The limbs were unusually stiff.

He sighed.

He should have stuck with the goats.

He would have to tell someone about this. Alert the authorities. Speak to all those sorts of people that he spent his life trying to avoid. Ministry officials; bureaucratic pen-pushing fools who would stumble around Hogsmeade, not knowing their arse from their elbow, and not understanding what had happened.

Aberforth understood. He had been reading the papers. His brother was not the only one who knew what this meant, who could read the signs … there had been another attack. And Aberforth was not so green as to not know what was behind it.

Above his head, the moon finally emerged from the shadow of the earth - and the road was bathed in its silvery light. Far in the distance, he heard the howls from the Shrieking Shack suddenly rend the air, as the rambunctious and violent spirits that dwelled there took up their monthly party.

…

Remus woke up early the next morning, face down on the floor and covered in scratches as usual. Although the windows were all boarded up, the sunlight was pouring in through the cracks and he felt the warmth on his bare skin. There was more than just the length that made summer transformations more bearable than the winter ones; not waking up in the freezing cold was also an improvement. He hurt less when it was not cold.

He struggled to his feet and climbed the stairs back to the bedroom, snuggling down under the covers and thinking he would have a few hours sleep before Madam Pomfrey came to get him. Sunrise was so early, this far north, she wouldn't even be up yet. He had time to rest.

But he had barely laid down and closed his eyes when he heard the sounds of footsteps downstairs, someone moving about. His eyes snapped open - and he frowned.

'Lupin?' a voice called.

He frowned again - that didn't sound like Madam Pomfrey. It sounded like …

Groaning, and wanting nothing more than to lie still and go to sleep, he dragged himself from the bed and pulled his robes over his head and then limped down the stairs to find out what was going on.

His stomach lurched when he saw Professor McGonagall standing there, and lurched again when he saw the paleness of her face and the fright in her eyes. 'Professor? What's going on? Where's Madam Pomfrey?'

Her reply was unusually gentle. 'I need you to come with me, right away, Remus,' she said. And his heart filled with ice. She had used his first name …

'There has been another attack, in the village.' She looked like she was trying not to cry. 'I have to take you straight to the headmaster. Your father has been summoned. And I'm afraid to say the Minister for Magic has arrived already.'

Remus closed his eyes and felt crushed under the dread of what was to come.