Before note : Trigger warning : (angst, blood) Hello everyone! I'm still working on writing more chapters for Secrets Under the Moon but I've been busy lately and when I mean busy, I mean BUSY. So I decided that rewriting the Midnight Incident with Snape wouldn't be a bad idea because it wouldn't take too long and because I'm not a huge fan of the way I wrote it. By the way, this isn't going to be a full on rewrite, almost everything will be the same, though I'll be changing some of the things I disliked and fixing the grammatical errors. Anyways, hope you enjoy and look at more chapters of Secrets Under the Moon that'll be coming in the near future! And as always, enjoy the fanfic!
Part 1 / 2 : The Midnight Incident with Snape
SIRIUS BLACK
It was Sirius's sixth year in Hogwarts, and all was quite well. He and his dorm mates had terrorized the Slytherins once again, his best friend James was finally getting with his five year long crush Lily Evans, and probably the best thing of all, Sirius, James, and Peter had all become Animagi to help their friend Remus with his monthly transformations. It seemed that everything was the way it should be… But little did he know that was all going to change, very, very, soon…
"Oi! James! Could you pass me the butter?!" Sirius exclaimed, gesturing towards the creamy stick of butter that was sitting in front of his best friend.
James passed the butter, nudging Sirius lightly in the shoulder, "You could clearly reach it from where you're sitting at the table you know!"
Suddenly, James' eyes widened and his mouth gaped slightly. A pretty girl was now walking to where they were sitting, a thick book held in her hands. Her long, reddish brown hair blew like paper in the wind, and the way she walked could summon every single boy who went to Hogwarts.
"Morning Lily," Remus nodded politely and Lily nodded to him, a smile spreading across her face.
"Hello," Peter squeaked and Lily acknowledged him with a curt nod. Eventually, her green gaze landed upon James, who was now tapping his feet quietly against the marble floor.
"Hello James…" Lily said, a slight bit awkwardly. Seating herself down at the table, she quickly opened her book, her gaze occasionally darting towards James. Why does she even bother reading… Sirius grumbled to himself, reminding himself of Remus who had a book with him at all times.
Watching James and Lily's playful chatter began to make Sirius bored, and watching them wasn't the best use of his time anyways. So, he stood up, and said his farewells to Remus and Peter
"Well it seems that the deer has finally got the doe!" Remus joked before Sirius could leave.
"Oh deer, yes." Sirius laughed, and it was clearly contagious as Peter began to laugh along with them. James and Lily were now deep in their conversation, and clearly didn't hear what they were saying.
"Do you two wanna come with me?" Sirius offered, but Remus and Peter both shook their heads.
"I would, but watching Prong's relationship is very deer to me." Remus said sarcastically which earned a lot of laughs from Sirius and Peter. Lily and James looked up from their conversation and both shared a confused expression as Sirius and the others laughed away.
"Catch you two later then!" Sirius announced, watching as his friends waved goodbye.
Sirius decided to go hang out outside as the weather was still quite warm, and it would be best to enjoy it before the weather chilled by the upcoming winter.
Sirius laid down in the soft grass and breathed in a sigh of contentment. He closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of the warm breeze in his hair.
All that joy quickly vanished when a familiar voice called. He jolted upwards, staring at the figure in front of him.
"Oh well lookie here, it's Snivilous." Sirius sneered, standing up.
"I'm kind of over that nickname." Severus announced and took out his wand, it tip pointed at Sirius. "Also, why are you alone? Did your stupid friends abandon you?"
"Nope." Sirius growled, " They are eating breakfast and I decided I wanted some alone time."he declared, "and I also wanted you to know that James got the girl you like, Lily."
"You act like I don't know that…" Severus scowled. Anger glistening in his gaze. Lifting up his wand, he mouthed the words stupefy.
Sirius shot back, hitting the tree with such force that all the air was driven from his body.. Standing up on shaky legs, he pulled out his wand, pointing it at Severus. "Expelliarmus!" he shouted, and Severus' wand shot from his hand. Sirius dived for it, picking it up and forcefully throwing it into the gully they were standing next to.
"It would've been funner," Severus noted, before leaping to retrieve his wand from the murky water.
When Severus stood up, he aimed a spell towards Sirius, but he blocked it with a countercharm.
"You know, I don't know why you hang out with James, that pathetic excuse for a wizard…" Severus said, his scowl sending a slight shiver down Sirius' spine.
"I know you're just jealous he got Lily," Sirius growled, throwing another charm at his enemy.
"And then there's Peter, surprised how you would let him trail after you, he's just a chubby little boy, with nothing but dumbness in that thick head of hiss…
Sirius hissed, taking a step towards his rival, but he was immediately hit with another spell, and was thrown against a large rock. Sirius stood up, winded, and noticed a paint trace of blood on his cloak…
"And then there's the last one…" Severus began darkly, "Remus…"
Sirius gasped and summoned all the rage within himself, attempted a spell at Severus, but he dodged it with ease.
"There's something wrong with him, every month he leaves and comes back covered in scratches… He looks so ill… And I'm going to find out why!"
The two boys started aggressively sending spells at each other, not quitting, until Sirius fell in the gully. He stood up coughing up water and he glared at Severus. His gaze dark with rage.
"YOU KNOW WHAT! YOU ARE THE BIGGEST JERK EVER! I'M HAPPY JAMES GOT LILY AND NOT YOU! AND ALSO DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT MY FRIENDS LIKE THAT!"
Rage Burned in Severus's eyes.
"You know what!? I'll tell you where Remus goes every month! You wanna know! Do ya!"
Severus stared at Sirius in anticipation, Oh you really want to know! Sirius thought, Well you can have it!
"Ok, tonight, when the moon is at its peak, you can go to the whomping willow, press on the smallest root to freeze the tree, and then go through the tunnel and you'll find what you're looking for…" Sirius growled.
I don't care what happens to that jerk, Sirius thought, running back towards the school, leaving Severus staring at the tree…
JAMES
"You told him what!" James bellowed, throwing his hands in the air in utter shock and anger. I can't believe he'd tell Severus that, Jame's thought, angry at his best friend.
"It's ok," Sirius said, and he didn't look concerned, not even one single bit.
"What! He'll probably get hurt! Heck, he might even get killed! !" James shrieked, "And do you know how Remus will feel if he killed someone!" James began pacing. "He'll never forgive himself and it'll be all your fault!"
Suddenly, the door to the dormitory opened and Remus walked in.
"Are you talking about me?" Remus cocked his head, his gaze darting from Sirius to James. Eye bags were visible below his tired eyes, and from the way he talked you could tell something was off.
"No…"James answered, glaring at Sirius from the corner of his eye. "Come on, let's go hang out in the common room. And while we are at it I'll fix us up some hot chocolate."
They both walked out of the room and walked down the spiral staircase that led to the cozy room where there were lots of beanbags, couches, and a fireplace which would calm even the most stressed of wizards.
The two friends seated themselves on one of the crimson colored couches, drinking the warm hot chocolate from their favorite mugs. Remus doesn't know what Sirius told Severus, James thought, sighing… But then, an idea came to his mind. What if he could find Severus and stop him before it was too late?
"Remus, I have to go, me and the others will come when it's almost the full moon."
Remus nodded, snuggling deeper into his blanket, and took a long sip of his hot chocolate.
Remus was safe as long as James could stop Severus, but what if I can't? He thought, suddenly overcome with worry. Well, I have to stop him, there's no other choice is there?
James ran through the hallways not stopping to greet any of his peers. Suddenly, Lily came into view, and James only stopped then.
"Hi … Lily -" he huffed, completely out of breath. Why do I have to be out of breath! He thought, I don't wanna embarrass myself!
"What are you doing?" she questioned, cocking her head a bit to show her confusion.
"Something… Something important, I'll tell you later." He said, but he wouldn't tell Lily, No one can know what's going on… He whispered to himself.
"Well it seems you got stuff to do," she said affectionately, kissing him on the cheek and strolling through the hallway, her reddish brown hair bouncing on her shoulders.
James sighed in contentment, watching Lily until she became a small speck in the distance. But then noticed that he had been lollygagging, he checked his watch and noticed that he only had thirty minutes. Darn it! He hissed to himself.
He began running in the hallways so fast that he didn't notice Regulus in time, and they both collided, the two of them both toppling to the ground. Regulus' books were now scattered everywhere and he scowled to himself, and began collecting them.
"Sorry! So sorry!" James huffed, dusting himself off and then helping Regulus stand up.
Normally, James would be mad at himself for crashing into someone, especially if it was someone who knew quite well, but it turned out that Regulus and Severus shared a dorm.
"Oh Regulus I'm so glad I ran into you!" James beamed and Regulus looked so very confused. "Have you seen Severus? I really need to talk to him."
"Oh, Severus, he was just muttering about the whomping willow earlier in the Slytherin Common Room earlier but I haven't seen him since-"
Suddenly Evan Rosier and Barty Crouch came strolling over, watching James with a mix of both disgust and anger.
"Regulus," Evan began, standing tall, and watching James through narrowed eyes, "we really should be going… Don't want to miss what Dorcus will be telling us…"
"Yeah come on," Barty grumbled, taking some of the books from Regulus as they were clearly a weight to bear.
"Well got to go," Regulus mumbled, eyeing his two peers, "Hope you find him I guess…"
James cursed under his breath, he checked his watch again and noticed that he only had 22 more minutes. I don't think I'll be able to find him in time!
"Thanks anyways." James said quietly and began running again, desperate for some sign of Severus. He explored a lot of the castle, and then he glanced again at his watch. Five minutes!
James yelled a curse word and began running faster than he ever had in his life. His lungs felt they would explode and his heart was beating so fast that he thought it would burst from his chest at any given moment.
Four minutes left!
James ran outside, stopping for a quick break to catch his breath, he spotted Severus in the distance, he was far but maybe if James ran fast enough he could stop him?
Three minutes left!
James was almost there, and Severus didn't look like a tiny speck any more. As much as he hated Snape, he knew he had to stop him. For Remus's sake, and so Snape wouldn't get killed…
Two minutes left!
"Snape!" James yelled at the top of his lungs, "Snape! Stop! Don't go in there!" James yelled even louder, so loud that his throat burned slightly afterwards.
"Yeah! Make me!" Severus sneered and started walking towards the whomping willow…
REMUS
Remus sat in the shrieking shack, his fever was so high that he felt he would pass out, and his body ached so bad that even sitting hurt. He rocked back and forth on the bed waiting for the full moon, it would only be a few minutes. He was worried because his friends hadn't come yet… Normally, they would accompany him to the shrieking shack, turning into their Animagi forms once they got there… But where were they? He remembered James promising he would come…
Suddenly, the floor of the shack glowed as the moonlight spilled into the shack through the window, terror gripped him as sheer pain spread through his body as the transformation began.
His hands were curling into paws, long, sharp, claws, growing from them. Fur was sprouting all over his body, feeling like needles in his skin, and his head began transforming into a wolf's head. He tried to fight the urge to transform, but he never could, his wolf mind started to take over… He tried so hard to keep his human mind, but with every second he would become less and less human… My friends should be here with me right now, he thought, and panic got the best of him…
The painful transformation was finally over, he jumped off from the bed, landing squarely on all four paws. He looked towards the ceiling and let out a long howl.
He began scratching at the wall, desperate to get out, but it didn't work and the effort just made the wood splinter. He tried again at a different part of the wall, but it splintered again, poking sharply into his pad. He whimpered as blood began dribbling down.
Remus paced, occasionally howling in agony, or anger. He tried again, clawing the wall with all his strength but the wood ended up just scratching his foreleg, causing blood to start welling from his leg. He whimpered, and began pacing again, making louder noises with every second.
Suddenly, a smell came to him. He opened his mouth to take in the scent, it was a human scent… and it was coming from the tunnels… Excitement made his mouth drool, the foamy saliva dripping down onto the floor. His stub of a tail began shaking excitedly.
Remus trotted towards the stairs a bit reluctant to go down, he set one paw firmly on the first step and it made a creaking noise, he whimpered and his second step caused one of the boards to break, causing Remus to tumble down a few steps. His ribs were hurting so bad now and blood was pulsing from a wound in his side. He limped towards the tunnels, the smell was much stronger, a growl formed deep down in his throat, sounding like the rumble of a muggle car engine.
He limped down the tunnel and kept going until the scent was so strong that a drool spilling from the sides of his mouth.
There, at the end of the tunnel he saw two people, yelling at each other. They both wore expressions of surprise and fear and Remus edged nearer. He began limping, faster, though it hurt ever so bad to do so.
"Werewolf!" one of the boys shrieked, "Remus is a werewolf, wait till Dumbledoore finds out!"
The other boy grabbed his arm, glaring at him. Remus was so close now, he stood up on his hind legs, opening his mouth and letting out a shrill noise.
"Moony, it's me, James…" One of the boys said calmly, love radiating from him, something about it was familiar… Remus's human mind urged him not to hurt his best friend, he tried so hard not to but he lunged at James, knocking him to the ground. Remus' claws dug deep into the human's shoulders, and blood began pulsing from the fresh wound.
"Snape! Get back right now!" James shouted, saying Stupefiey, and Remus was launched back, hitting the wall, he whimpered.
"Sorry Moony…" James said, casting a shield spell, him and the other boy backed out from the tunnel, and James closed it with a spell.
Remus howled in anguish, clawing so hard at the door that his nail ripped off, he whimpered, and didn't stop trying…
JAMES
"Can one of you explain what happened?" Dumbledore said, shooting a questioning look at all the kids seated in the room.
Lily, who was sitting next to James just shrugged and James stood up. Sirius shot him a pleading look but James shook his head, I'm not siding with you… Not this time mate…
"Sirius told Severus to go to the shrieking shack so he could know what happened to Remus monthly -"
"What do you mean? What's going on?" Lily questioned, shooting a questioning look at everyone seated in the room.
"Remus is a werewolf…" James growled, his gaze directed towards Sirius and Severus. Sirius just looked at his feet, shifting them uncomfortably. I'll deal with him later, he thought, giving Sirius a glare.
"Awww, poor Remus!" Lily said sympathetically, clasping her hands together and a look of pity spreading across her face.
"Remus should be expelled sir!" Severus shouted, standing up abruptly. "For Merlin's sake, he's a werewolf!"
"No, he will be staying at school as far as any of you are concerned." Dumbledoore said calmly as James breathed a sigh of relief, and he saw Sirius do the same. "You two must promise not to tell anyone about his condition. Understood?" Dumbledoore told Severus and Lily.
"Of course not!" Lily exclaimed then she looked at Severus who had doubt in his gaze.
"I mean, I don't know, he's dangerous!" Severus announced. Lily shoved him hard in his side, and he growled.
"Fine…" He declared, clearly unhappy with his own answer.
"Good." Dumbledoore said, standing up, "You all may leave now." he ushered the four kids out of the room and shut the door behind him.
Sirius walked up to James and James just stared past him, not wanting to talk, or have anything to do with Sirius for that matter.
"Um… James, can we talk in private… Please… Let me -"
"No Sirius, you made the stupidest choices today and I'm not really ready to talk to you yet." James began walking away.
"Come on! Remus should be the one mad at me, not you!"
"Well, you were a really bad friend and you could've got one of your classmates killed! How should I feel comfortable with you right now?"
Sirius sighed, looking a bit defeated, and at that moment James couldn't help having a twinge of sympathy towards his best friend…
The second the sun lifted above the horizons, James rushed to the hospital wing to see how Remus was doing. He was hoping to see that he was ok,and that he would forgive Sirius, but when James walked into the quiet room where Remus lay, he couldn't suppress a gasp of shock when he saw how badly wounded he was. Madame Pomfrey had told him he had fractured his wrist, damaged three of his ribs, and had countless scratches and bruises... Madame Pomfrey had told James he should probably let Remus rest but James wouldn't dare leave this friend like that, so the nurse agreed, (rather reluctantly though), so James spent the entire day in the small room, reading a Qudich magazine as Remus slept soundly.
Knock, knock, knock.
James opened the door and saw Regulus standing in the doorway, his resemblance to Sirius almost fooling him.
"Oh, it's you… What do you want?" James asked Sirius's brother.
Regulus looked as though he wished someone else had answered the door, but he spoke anyway, "Have you seen Severus… I haven't seen him for a while…"
"Oh me? Not since -" he was cut off when Madame Pomfrey walked up to the two boys.
"Severus must be in his dorm sleeping off the medicine I gave him," Madame Pomfrey said quietly as she walked by, as though careful not to wake Remus.
"Shock? What happened?" Regulus cocked his head and then stared past James and looked right where Remus was sleeping. "What happened to Remus!?"
"Nothing you should be concerned about, now run along." James said quickly, ushering him out of the room.
SIRIUS
Sirius had been overcome by guilt ever since the incident. He hadn't seen James all day and was worried that maybe James wouldn't want to be his friend any more…
Sirius decided he would visit Remus in the hospital wing, maybe he could ask for an apology? He grabbed a large bar of chocolate to give him and started making his way to see Remus.
While on the way there he saw Lily, talking to her friend, Alice.
"Evans," Sirius nodded politely, but Lily looked quite mad.
"Off to visit Remus aren't you?" she asked, and not in her normal, friendly, playful voice, but in a darker tone… Sirius swallowed.
"O-oh, yeah? Why? Wanna come?"
"I don't think he'll want to see you, and James wont be thrilled either…"
Sirius ignored her, saying goodbye, and finally got to the hospital wing, he flung the door open and smiled.
"Hey guys! I came to visit!-" but he noticed that Remus was fast asleep and James was snoring quietly, his head resting at the end of the bed.
"Oh…" he was about to walk out when Remus woke up. "Oh, um… Hi Moony! Thrilled to see me?" but there was none of Remus's normal affection in his eyes just anger, and sadness.
"Not at all…" he growled quietly and James woke up, blinking the sleep from his eyes.
"Oh you're awake!" James said looking at Remus, then he looked towards Sirius and frowned.
"I came to visit. Do you have a problem with that?" Sirius asked, hurt.
"You know Remus didn't want you coming to visit," James said, standing up, standing in front of Remus's bed, and shielding him from Sirius. Does he think I'm going to hurt him!? Sirius thought.
"I wanted to give him this and I'll be on my way…" Sirius explained, setting the large chocolate bar in Jame's hands and walking out the door. "I'll talk when you both are ready…" But from his friend's reactions, Sirius knew that they might never forgive him…
REMUS
Remus had been mad at Sirius, more than mad actually… Hurt…. He thought that Sirius was his friend, but would a friend really do something like that? He didn't think so…
James handed Remus the bar of chocolate with a note on it.
"From Sirius I'm guessing?" Remus said and James nodded, laying down on the edge of Remus's bed.
Remus picked up the chocolate and took the note of it, it read , Dear Remus, I'm so sorry for what happened. I was a terrible friend and I understand if you don't want to be my friend anymore… I got chocolate for you, I know it's your favorite :)
For a split second, Remus felt a flicker of hope, but only for a moment, Remus knew that Sirius might have not completely meant for this to happen, but it would take a lot more for Remus to get his trust back in his former friend…
Part 2 / 2 : Shadows of Forgiveness
Remus felt his pulse get stronger as moonlight filtered through the window, immense pain pulsed through his body, so strong that it was almost unbearable… His breathing became fast and shallow, and he couldn't suppress a shiver as the transformation began…
His limbs began lengthening, and he heard multiple bones throughout his body crack and shift, he clenched his jaws tightly as his omnivore human teeth began becoming sharp, skin tearing, wolf teeth. After a few minutes of excruciating pain, the transformation was over.
Remus tottered towards the door, a scent hitting his nose like an explosion in your face… Human….
Remus began trotting down the stairs, an excruciating pain spreading through his leg as he did so. At the bottom, he smelled the humans, the scent was so strong, Remus began limping towards the door, he was now right in front of the humans. Salvia started filling his mouth and his ears perked up excitedly.
One of the humans screeched something and one that Remus felt he recognized was staring in his eyes with fear, and something else… Affection?...
"Moony, it's me, James…" the human said and something in Remus clicked, deep down he knew this was his best friend, he wanted so badly not to attack him… But Remus lunged, his claws digging into Jame's shoulders, and blood started oozing -
"Remus! Remus are you ok!?" Remus sat bolt upright and saw Sirius staring at him from his bed, concern evident in his face.
"I'm fine…" Remus grunted. Dreaming again, he thought miserably, he had been having the same dream ever since the incident with Snape, and even his friends had realized that.
"Dreaming again?" Sirius said gently but Remus did not feel like talking to Sirius, and he didn't really feel like talking to anyone since the incident…
"I'm fine I said," Remus said a bit more rudely than he would have liked, hurt flashed in Sirius's eyes.
Remus walked into the bathroom, noticing that he had opened one of the wounds on his face. Blood was slowly dripping down, staining his cheek a crimson red.. I was probably thrashing in my sleep , Remus thought, he had been doing that often since the incident. Remus quickly applied some dittany and walked out of the room, getting ready for class.
In class, Remus avoided sitting next to anyone, even James who had been pretty nice to him recently.
"Hello everyone," professor Slughorn said walking into the classroom, and everyone voiced their greetings to the Potions Professor.
"Today we'll be making Doxycide," he started, "A potion used to repel Doxies, which we'll be using because of a slight outbreak of them. So I'll put you into pairs and you and your partner will make the potion , the steps are on page 137 by the way."
Professor Slughorn started putting students into pairs. Sirius and Lily got together which sort of disappointed Remus because he kind of wanted to be with Lily, she was always nice and Lily had done nothing wrong during the incident, and all she did was be nice and offer sympathy.
James got with Kingsley Shacklebolt, who was a seventh year student from Ravenclaw, then Peter got with Evan who's scowl sent a shiver down Remus' spine.
"Remus, you can be with Severus." Remus' blood ran cold as he looked across the room and saw Severus looking at him, his eyes shone with hatred as Remus cautiously edged towards him.
Remus nodded politely, remembering a time somewhere in first year when he thought he could actually make a friend of Severus…
"Why do I have to work with the pathetic werewolf," Severus scowled quietly and Remus just looked down, avoiding eye contact.
"Let's just get to work…" Remus said quickly pretending that he hadn't heard a word that Severus said.
Remus and Severus got their books, cauldrons , and ingredients and sat down at one of the empty tables.
"According to the book," Remus began, trying to avoid Severus' hatred gaze, "we have to grind Streeler shells… chop dragon liver…"
Remus stopped and began to grind the Streeler shells, which were quite chalky.
"No, I'm not doing the dirty work," Severus declared, eyeing the dragon liver, "You can do that, perfect thing for you to do, besides, if you were in your werewolf form you'd probably find that appetizing."
Remus' eyes widened, he was really mad at Severus, all of this was Sirius' fault, why should I ever trust him again, Remus thought and gazed down.
"Fine…" he said somberly, taking the slimy liver and quickly cutting it, putting it into the pot.
Remus gazed across the room and saw Lily staring at him with concern in her eyes, Remus looked away quickly and busied himself with the other ingredients.
At the end of class, professor Slughorn checked out everyone's potion, it turned out that Remus' and Severus' potions were one of the worst in the class, probably because they couldn't compromise and Severus would keep throwing insults. This had probably been Remus's worst potions class yet…
After a few hours of long classes it was finally lunch, Remus was relieved to finally have a break, but also frustrated that his friends would probably come to sit with him. I need some time to myself, Remus thought as he walked to find a table.
He sat down where not many kids were sitting and he began nibbling on a piece of toast, though he didn't have much of an appetite. Suddenly, he looked across the room and saw Sirius, James, and Peter walking towards his table. He quickly opened a book, putting his face very close to the page in an effort to mask himself.
"What are you reading?" Remus heard a voice say and turned around to see Peter looking at him.
"Erm, I don't know…" Remus said and Sirius and James looked at each other, confusion in their eyes.
"Anyways," James began sliding into the seat next to Remus. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you…"
Remus nodded slowly, wondering what James had to say. Just say it and leave, Remus almost voiced, but he didn't.
"I think you should forgive Sirius…" James said and Remus opened his mouth, but James silenced him with a wave of his hand, "the incident was forever ago, and Sirius has proved many, many times how sorry he is…"
"You think I'll forgive him!" Remus screeched, standing up abruptly, and Sirius looked hurt.
"How could I ever forgive you! You are no friend! How dare you think you're fit to be my friend again!" Remus choked and he looked at James, "Aren't you mad at him too! How can you trust him again!"
"Remus, he's really sorry, and he means it…" James said gently and Sirius nodded.
"I'm not your friend Sirius, and I never will be!" Sirius looked taken aback, hurt flashed in his gray eyes, "as for you two," Remus began looking at James and Peter, "Well -" Remus stopped himself and stormed off, he was well aware of the glances of his friends but he didn't care anymore… Why does anything matter?!
Remus sat on one of the couches in the common room, relishing the warmth of the fire. It was less than an hour away from the full moon and Remus was soothing his aching joints for a couple minutes while he could.
"Ready to go Remus?" James said, walking into the common room, this was the first time any of his friends had talked to him since lunch.
"Go where?" Remus said warily, turning his head to look at James. He looked slightly confused.
"Um, it's the full moon tonight, and we really should get going to the Shack…." Sirius piped in and Peter nodded.
"No, you're not coming…" Remus declared standing up.
"What?" Peter squeaked and Remus rolled his eyes.
"You . Are. Not. Coming! Do I have to repeat myself!" Remus growled and his friends clearly looked taken aback.
"Remus, mate…" James began but Remus waved his arm.
"Nope! I don't want to hear it," Remus said rudely storming out the door, and all he could hear were the muffled protests of his friends as the door closed behind him.
Remus sat in the bed of the shrieking shack. It was destroyed but it was the best Remus could do, all the other chairs in the shack were destroyed, because I destroyed them… Remus glanced around, looking at the claw marks that covered the floor and the walls of the shack.
Moonlight began seeping through the window and Remus tried to stay as calm as he could, normally my friends are here in their Animagi forms, Remus thought and an intense pain thought through his body… they should be here right now, if it wasn't for Sirius, Remus thought before the wolf mind took over…
Remus opened with eyes, he was laying on the floor of the shack, and he could feel excruciating pain everywhere in his body… He felt sticky blood everywhere, and his arm was at a strange angle.
He tried to sit up, but it hurt ever so bad, he tried to steady himself but his arms were so shaky. Remus stood up slowly and began tottering towards the door, he noticed blood oozing from a large gash in his leg.
Remus walked to the Hospital Wing, he was in such bad shape that a bit of dittany would be useless, only the healing magic of Madam Pomfrey could help him.
He opened the door, breathing heavily and leaning on it.
"Remus!" Madame Pomfrey screeched, but Remus didn't hear her, black spots were now filling his vision and his breathing slowed. The last thing Remus remembered was the nurse rushing over to him…
Remus opened his eyes, everything was so blurry. He blinked until everything finally came into focus. He looked around, suddenly aware that he was laying in a comfy bed in the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey came walking in, a sympathetic look in her eyes.
"What happened?" Remus croaked and the nurse handed him a cup of water, which he drank greedily, relishing the feeling of the cold fluids on his swollen tongue.
"Well…" Madame Pomfrey said, as if she didn't know how to begin, "Ummm, this was probably the worst full moon since…" Madame Pomfrey stalled and Remus right away knew what she was talking about, when Remus was in his second year there had been a very bad full moon, he had to stay in the hospital wing for almost two weeks.
"How bad was it…" Remus said warily, a little bit scared to hear about the damage that he had inflicted upon himself.
"Well, you badly fractured your ankle…" She started. Remus later on found out that he had fractured several ribs, his shoulder, his arm, and a toe. He also now had a nasty bite mark on his foot which would probably end up a bad scar and lots of other cuts, scratches, and bruises.
"You should get some rest," Madame Pomfrey suggested and Remus nodded sleepily, he fell back against his pillow, and he was quickly overcome by sleep.
Remus had to stay in the hospital wing for a little over a week, and when he got back, things were terrible. Severus hadn't stopped the insults and his friends(especially Sirius), hadn't stopped trying to hang out with him. And everyone was questioning him about the new scars he had gained after the full moon.
Remus walked the hallways, heading to Defense Against the Dark Arts, but something kept him from going to class that day. He had enough of everything, he had enough of Sirius, Severus, and everything that was happening. Remus found a corner behind one of the statues and huddled there, occasionally shaking with small, quiet, sobs.
Suddenly footsteps sounded behind Remus, "Are you ok," a voice said gently and Remus turned around and saw Lily looking at him with nothing but sympathy and kindness in her gaze.
When Remus didn't respond, she sat down next to Remus, putting her hand on his shoulder.
"Aren't you supposed to be in class…" Remus said quietly, trying to avoid Lily's gaze.
"Yes, well, I saw you in the corner and I was concerned about you… You know you can tell me what's bothering you." Her gaze was sympathetic. Remus felt so helpless, and he couldn't help but vent to her.
"Ever since the incident nothings been going right," Remus began, his eyes suddenly filling with tears, "Severus is disgusted by me everytime he sees me! And Sirius wants me to forgive him but I can't! He was a bad friend and he acts like that's not true! I don't think I can ever trust him!" A sob shook Remus's body and Lily pulled him to her body, hugging him, and they stayed like that for probably two whole minutes.
"Everything is going to be alright," she reassured him gently, but her tender reassurance didn't help soothe him.
"Why do I even try," Remus choked and Lily looked at him with a questioning look in her gaze.
"No matter what I do, no matter how hard I try, at the end of the day, I'll always be
A werewolf… And I'll never be anything more than that…" Remus sobbed and Lily hugged him tightly, letting go a few seconds later.
"Remus," Lily began looking him in the eye, "you are one of the kindest, smartest, funniest, people I have ever met. Being a werewolf doesn't define you."
Remus stared at her, she was being so comforting and kind, I'm lucky to have her as a friend Remus thought, But I don't deserve her…
"And guess what world," she said more loudly than before, " Remus is coming to do great things whether you like it or not!"
Remus began sobbing again, this time it was happy tears, he leaned into Lily's warm embrace.
"Though Remus," Lily started, "I really think you should forgive Sirius."
Though normally Remus would just argue, he didn't, and just nodded a little bit.
"Thank you Lily," he choked, and she just nodded. She then stood up lending a hand to Remus and he took it thankfully.
"Come on, let's get to class," she suggested and Remus nodded in agreement, so off they went to class, side by side…
"Ok, Sirius and Remus you'll be partners," Professor Slughorn said, and Sirius hurried over to Remus smiling.
"You're not cranky still are you," Sirius joked affectionately and Remus grumbled a bit even though he did know that Sirius was joking.
The two of them walked over to their table and Sirius pulled out his book.
"Its page 211," Sirius informed and Remus blinked thankfully at him, flipping to the page in his worn down text book.
Remus and Sirius both worked together to gather all of the necessary ingredients onto the wooden table.
"Ok, you can work on the lavender," Sirius began shoving the nice smelling plant towards Remus, "and I'll do the gross work… The Flobberworm mucus! Yay!" he ended sarcastically and Remus knew that Sirius was trying to be nice to Remus and it was slightly annoying, but still, it was much better than Severus' treatment.
At the end of class Professor Slughorn had told Remus and Sirius that they had the best potion at the end of the class, which earned an approving look from Lily.
Later that day at lunch, Sirius came to sit next to Remus which made him slightly uncomfortable but he knew he had to get over his grudge with Sirius at some point.
"Are you excited for the quidditch game tomorrow!?" Sirius said excitedly, clearly eager to hear Remus's response.
"Yeah, I hope Grifindor wins," he said nicely.
"There's no way Gryffindor can't win with a seeker like Prongs!" Sirius exclaimed, talking fondly of his best friend.
"Yea, the teams been pretty much unstoppable since he's become the Seeker," Remus nodded his agreement.
The two of them went on talking about the game for the rest of lunch, and with every coming day, it seemed that Remus was beginning to trust Sirius more, even if it was only a little bit more.
It was the day of the full moon, and Remus wanted to sneak out unnoticed by his friends, so he helped them set up a game of wizard's chess, which was clearly occupying them right now.
It was pretty hard to walk down to the whomping willow, his head hurt like fire and the aching in his limbs didn't help as well.
Remus followed the tunnel that led to the shack, walking quickly because he didn't know in how many minutes the full moon would start.
He sat down on the floor next to the piano, holding his head between his legs, trying to fight the extreme feeling of nausea.
"Hey there Remus," said a voice and Remus nearly had a heart attack.
"Who's there…" He said, his voice shaky. He could see no one. Was someone hiding behind something?
"It's me Sirius," the voice said, and it turned out it was Sirius, he took off the invisibility cloak he was holding. "Borrowed it from James."
"What are you doing here," Remus questioned, worry filled his voice, "Just leave."
"Remus, I'm your friend, and you were so injured during that full moon when you transformed alone."
Suddenly, a searing pain spread through his body, and he clenched his teeth, Sirius was looking at him with a mix of sympathy, fear, and concern.
"If you're gonna stay then transform now," Remus said through gritted teeth.
Sirius quickly transformed into a dog, his whole body becoming covered with jet black, silky fur.
Remus convulsed as his transformation began, Sirius closed, his tail wagging ever so slightly, the last thing Remus remembered was Padfoot's furry black face…
Remus woke up, blinking until his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting of the shack.
"How are you feeling?" Sirius asked gently, he was sitting beside Remus.
Remus lifted his head slightly. "Ok I guess…" Remus realized how he didn't have that
Many injuries, much less compared to the last full moon.
He looked towards Sirius and saw claw marks on his face and all over his arms.
"Did I do that to you?" Remus questioned, and Sirius nodded slowly. "Oh I'm so sorry!" he wailed and Sirius put a hand up.
"It's fine, it isn't your fault, stuff like this happens sometimes." Sirius reassured and stood up, lending a hand to Remus. Remus took it, though it was quite painful to stand up. He couldn't balance very well and he noticed his left foot was swollen.
"Easy there," Sirius said, "Lean on me," Remus gladly did so, thankful not to have had to walk all the way back to school by themselves.
"Here let's take it nice and slow," Sirius soothed and they both began walking towards the school.
Once they got there, Sirius led Remus to his bed and began helping him clean his wounds, and Remus realized that even though Sirius had done some bad things, he was still a good friend, and he was thankful to have a friend like him.
After a well needed sleep, Remus knew what he had to do. He decided to meet up with his friends in the common room so he could apologize.
"I called you all here tonight because I wanted to say I'm sorry…" Remus said and hope flashed in the eyes of all his friends.
"I know that none of you meant anything and I want to apologize to all of you, especially Sirius…" Sirius just nodded, then stood up.
"You know what, I was a jerk, I should've known that you wouldn't be happy about what I did, and I'm sorry, for the hundredth time."
Remus and his other two friends laughed a bit, and Sirius sat down, clearly satisfied.
"It was very bad of me to try to stay away from you guys like I did, and I know you meant no harm."
"Well now that that's settled, I guess no more Moody Teenager Moony!" James joked.
"We'll see about that," Remus said, his eyes narrowing before him and his friends erupted into laughter.
Suddenly, a black cat with long, elegant fur, jumped onto the vacant couch.
"Loki!" James exclaimed, Loki was Regulus's black cat that Remus and his friends once helped care for.
"What's he doing so far from Slitherin tower?" Peter questioned as Remus began stroking the black cat's back.
"Well guess he's camping out with us tonight," Remus chimed, scooping Loki into his arms.
At last all of them walked over to their beds, turning the lights out, and each saying goodnight. Loki was now fast asleep on the side of Remus's bed, purring contently. His last thought before slumber overcame him was how lucky he was to have such amazing friends…