124Year 1: chapter 5 - First Full Moon at Hogwarts
Previously:
Remus sighed. "Fine, fine..." he stood up, rubbing his arm. "Like Sirius said, lets just get this over with..."
The three Marauders walked out of the Hall, ignoring all the stares from the curious students.
"What do you think is going on?" George muttered to his twin, taking a bite of chicken.
Fred swallowed his beef, shrugging. "Marauder stuff, probably." He said, taking another bite of beef.
"Yeah, but Professor Lupin looked very..." George paused in his eating, trying to find the word for it. "Um..."
"Nervous?" Fred offered.
"Nervous works, I guess." George said, nodding his head. "I wonder what they're going to do..."
"...wanna find out?" Fred whispered to him sneakily.
George looked at Fred surprised. "Spy on the Marauders?" He questioned. "Are you crazy? We'll be found in no time!"
"But if they're so involved in their little chat, then they probably won't notice!" Fred exclaimed quietly, not wanting anyone else to hear.
"I dunno, Fred..." George said slowly.
"C'mon, Georgie." Fred said pleadingly. "Don't you want to know what they're talking about?"
"...I...guess so..."
"Great!" Fred grinned, shooting up from his seat, earning many surprised and suspicious looks. "Let's go!"
George frowned for a moment, before shrugging and standing up too. The twins got out of their seats and were about to walk away when their mother's voice interrupted them.
"And where do you think you're going?" Molly said sharply, narrowing her eyes.
Fred and George exchanged looks, blinking.
"We're getting something from our dormitory." George said, grinning.
"And what are you getting?" Molly asked suspiciously.
"Jeez, Mum, we don't have to tell you everything." Fred grumbled.
Molly looked at him sharply, raising an eyebrow.
"Or maybe we do," Fred said weakly. "We're getting a notebook."
"What for?" Arthur questioned, listening in on the conversation.
"Oh, you know," George said offhandedly. "We've thought about it and we've finally agreed on it."
"Thought about what?" Ginny asked curiously, turning around in her seat to face them.
Fred winked at her, grinning. "We're going to write down some of the amazing pranks the Marauders played, see if we can revise them and do them too." He stage-whispered.
"Absolutely not." Molly growled. "Sit back down and finish your dinner, boys. I won't have you do any more pranks."
Fred and George looked at her surprised. "At all?" They said incredulously.
"Well, nothing like the Marauders did!" Molly exclaimed. "I won't permit it!"
The twins sighed loudly, pouting.
"C'mon, Mum!" George pleaded, lip trembling.
"Can we at least get our notebook?" Fred asked, jutting out his bottom lip in a pout.
Molly hesitated slightly. "Well..." She said slowly. "I don't see why not..."
"Great, thanks Mum!" The two boys exclaimed, grinning. Before their mother could change her mind, they rushed out of the Hall, high-fiving each other.
Molly sighed, shaking her head. Those two...
Meanwhile, while that was going on...
"Remus..." James said, walking as he talked. "Why didn't you tell us anything before?"
James and Sirius were walking on either side of Remus, making sure he didn't fall back and/or run away, because knowing him, he would.
Remus gave him a deadpanned look, looking like James had just said something incredibly stupid. "James, you know why I didn't tell you about that conversation." He said, rolling his eyes. "You didn't know what I was and-"
"Who." Sirius interrupted.
Remus blinked, shooting the older man a confused look. "Huh?"
"You're a who, not a what." Sirius clarified. "We went over this a lot at Hogwarts, remember?"
The younger man shrugged in response, not saying anything.
Sirius and James both frowned at that, exchanging looks over Remus's head.
"Remus, c'mon." Sirius said, nudging his friend's side as they continued walking. "Why don't you just talk about it? I mean-"
Whatever Sirius was going to say was cut off as the Great Hall doors slammed open, surprising the three young men.
"What the..." James muttered as Fred and George ran out of the Great Hall.
"To the dorm!" The two boys shouted, racing out of view as they turned a corner.
The three Marauders blinked, staring at where the Weasley twins were a moment ago, before snorting and shaking their heads.
"I swear, those two are reincarnates of Fabian and Gideon." Remus said, a soft smile appearing on his face.
Unbeknownst to the three Marauders, Fred and George had halted as soon as they rounded the corner, listening in on the Marauders without them knowing.
James shook his head, grinning lightly. "Don't we know it..." He muttered, before clearing his throat. "Anyways where were we?"
"...going back in the Great Hall?" Remus suggested half-heartedly.
Sirius and James both gave him deadpanned looks, causing him to sigh.
"Can't hurt to try." Remus said, attempting a weak grin.
"It can hurt our egos," Sirius muttered.
Remus raised an eyebrow at that. "Well, your egos are already big enough," he retorted.
"Oi, our egos are not big." James protested, ignoring Remus's look. "But we're not here to talk about our egos; we're here to talk about you and your problem."
"I don't have a problem," Remus muttered, leaning against the wall. "Besides, this was in 1st year. It's in the past."
"Yeah, but you still thought it." Sirius frowned. "...and I bet you still think about it."
Remus remained silent at the accusation, not denying nor confirming what Sirius said.
Around the corner, Fred and George were looking at each other, slightly shocked. There was no way Professor Lupin would want himself to die...he wasn't that noble...
"You're not denying it." James said softly. "You still wish you could die?"
"Why would you wish that, Remy?" Sirius questioned. "You still have so much to do...so much to experience..."
"You don't get it, do you?" Remus said stiffly, ignoring the two confused looks. "I am a werewolf, you know that."
"So? What's that got to do with anyt-" Sirius started, only to get cut off by Remus.
"Everything!" Remus shouted, causing James and Sirius to look at him surprise. "It's got to do with everything. If I wasn't a werewolf, my parents would've had better jobs, we wouldn't have had so much money problems, I wouldn't look like this," Remus indicated to all of himself. "You guys wouldn't have to deal with the guilt of me transforming, and gosh, I wouldn't have to go through the transformation...and-"
"And you wouldn't have met us..." James said quietly, making Remus pause slightly. James quickly took advantage of his silence and continued talking. "If you hadn't been bitten, then you would probably still be in love with pranks, be pranking, and for all we know, hate books. If you were like that, then who would keep up in control with our pranks? You saw what happened to us in 5th year when you cut contact with us...imagine that all the time..."
Remus was quiet by the time James finished his small speech, not sure how to respond to that. "..."
Fred and George were shocked into complete and utter silence. Their old professor really held that much pain? He could really hide it all behind a facade? How did he do it...how did he cope?
"C'mere Remus..." Sirius quickly grabbed Remus by his shoulders and brought him in for a hug. "We know that being a werewolf is painful...but we also know that you can handle it. You're strong, and you have us."
Remus was still in Sirius's hold for a while, before he slowly brought his arms around the taller man's back and clutched at the leather jacket, burying his head into Sirius's shoulders.
The Weasley twins stood against the wall, their backs pressed against the stone. They were still in shock. Professor Lupin...
James looked up from watching his two friends hug and turned around, hearing a slight scuffle of feet. Was someone there...? He quickly exchanged a look and a nod with Sirius and quietly walked towards the corner where Fred and George were. The young man peeked behind the corner, only to stare at the two before him.
The twins? Molly Weasley's twins? What were they doing here? They were supposed to be going to the dorm for some reason...
That was realization hit. Fred and George weren't going to the dorm in the first place...they were listening in on their conversation...
James wasn't sure whether to be angry, worried, or amused by this. Angry that they listened in...worried what their reactions might be...amused by the fact that the three Marauders hadn't noticed the twins at all...
The young man gave a quiet sigh and stepped into Fred and George's view. Their eyes both widened and they pressed themselves against the wall even more.
"Fred..." George whispered.
"George..." Fred whispered back.
"I think we're in trouble..." They said together.
James's lips twitched upwards slightly at that, but he quickly hid it. "How long were you listening in?" He asked quietly.
George and Fred looked at each other, eyes wide.
"...since we burst out of the Great Hall..." Fred muttered.
"We're really sorry!" George exclaimed.
James shook his head, sighing again as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's alright, boys." He said. "You were curious. I can't blame you for that." He frowned. "But you need to learn to stay out of other people's business."
"And that's coming from you?" A voice behind James scoffed, causing him to whirl around, shocked. Remus was standing behind James with Sirius at his side. Remus's eyes were twinkling and a soft smile was on his lips. "You, of all people, accusing someone else of meddling with someone else's life."
James blinked owlishly, staring at the smaller man. "...you're a git." He finally deadpanned.
Remus grinned at that, rolling his eyes, but then turned to the twins, who were staring at the three Marauders. "...hmm..." He rubbed his chin in thought. "Prongs, Padfoot, I think we need to punish them for sneaking around."
James and Sirius broke out into identical grins as Fred and George looked at each other fearfully. What kind of punishment did the Marauders give out?
"You know, Moony," Sirius grinned. "You're completely right."
"What punishment should we bestow upon these naughty twins?" James said, rubbing his hands together eagerly.
"I have an idea..." Remus smirked at the twin's worried looks.
Back in the Great Hall...
"What's taking the boys so long?" Molly questioned, frowning as she glanced at the Great Hall doors.
"Know them, I bet they got themselves in a prank war with the Marauders." Charlie snorted, shoveling more mashed potatoes into his mouth.
Molly narrowed her eyes. "If they had..." She trailed off, leaving the threat hanging.
"Nah, I bet they got lost in their dorm." Bill grinned, taking a drink of pumpkin juice.
Before anyone else could say anything, the Hall doors opened and Fred and George walked through. Bill's eyes widened and he spat out his pumpkin juice, staring at the twins, before bursting out laughing.
Fred was wearing a bright pink dress with moving flowers on it and purple sandals on his feet. His hair was magically grown longer and was braided with yellow daisies. Beside him, George was the complete opposite. He was wearing a purple dress with moving puppies on it and pink sandals on his feet. His hair was also magically grown longer but was in piggy-tails instead of a braid.
"What are you wearing?!" Percy shouted, scandalized, though his lips were twitching upwards in an almost smile.
"Aw, don't you find us pretty, Perce?" George giggled, twirling one of his piggy-tails with his fingers.
"Yeah, now you have three little sisters!" Fred smiled, hopping on the balls of his feet.
By now, the rest of the Hall had seen the Weasley twins and noticed their girly get-up. They stared for a moment, before the Hall erupted in laughter.
Fred and George pouted as they laughed.
"They're only laughing at this, Georgette?" Fred said, frowning slightly. "That's sad."
"Don't worry, Frederica." George said comfortingly. "We'll show them what true laughter is."
The twins broke out into identical and jumped on the table.
"Hey Frederica!" George exclaimed, striking a pose on the table. "Do you think I'm pretty?"
"Of course I do, Georgette!" Fred gasped dramatically, covering his mouth with his hands. "You're gorgeous!"
This just caused the Hall to laugh even harder, people nearly falling off the bench in laughter. Fred and George hopped off the table and back on their seats, sitting back down next to Percy and Ginny. Fred smirked at George, then turned to Percy, eyelashes fluttering.
"So do you think I'm pretty, Percy?" He asked.
"...save me." Percy looked pleadingly at his older brothers, who just smiled in return. It was nice to see their younger brother act like a kid again. They rarely saw that anymore since he joined the Ministry.
While all this happened, the three Marauders had stormed in the Great Hall, depressed.
"I can't believe they turned their punishment into a joke." James grumbled.
"They weren't even embarrassed!" Sirius complained.
"This is torture." Remus moaned, rubbing his eyes. "I would expect this from you two but not from the twins."
Harry looked up, his eyes watering with laughter, as the three Marauders sat back down in their seats. "W-what happened?" He chuckled, wiping his eyes.
James crossed his arms in response, glaring up at the floating candles.
"...Sirius?" Harry questioned, hoping to get a response.
Sirius only growled and banged his head repeatedly on the table.
"...Remus?" Harry tried to get a response out of the only sane Marauder left.
"That was supposed to be their punishment, but they turned it into a joke." Remus grumbled in annoyance.
Harry laughed in response, shaking his head. Figures they would do that.
The three Marauders glared at the twins, earning two smirks in return.
"So, who's going to read next?" Lily asked once the laughter had died down enough.
"Here, Ron can read next." Hermione said, smiling.
"Oi, why do I have to read?" Ron demanded.
"Because I said so," Hermione said offhandedly, giving the book to the redhead.
Ron grumbled in annoyance, but opened to the right page. "Fine, fine."
Hermione smiled, and patted Ron's head. "Good boy, Ron." She said like she was talking to a dog.
Ron glared at the brunette, pouting. "You're so mean to me."
"Aw, you know I love you." Hermione teased.
"...Year 1, chapter 5," Ron quickly read, trying to fight down the blush on his face, ignoring the knowing look on Harry's face. "First Full Moon at Hogwarts."
"What?" Remus asked sharply, slightly panicked. "There really is a chapter about the full moon?"
"Well, the first one." Harry pointed out.
James sighed. "Remus, you being a werewolf was a big thing about our years at school. Don't you think your condition and the full moon are going to come up a lot? You're just going to have to get used to it or get over the fact that your lycanthropy is going to be a big topic in this."
"...James, you know I could never get over that..."
"Then get used to it."
The day before the full moon found Remus buried under his blankets in his bed. He was beginning to feel the effects of the full moon coming up. Remus found himself getter angrier easier and was having massive migraines. His already pale skin was getting paler. His energy was sapped. He knew he still had to go to his classes today,
"You know you didn't have to go to classes, Mr. Lupin." Madam Pomfrey frowned.
"I-" Remus started, but Madam Pomfrey cut him off.
"If you weren't feeling well enough, then you should've stayed in bed."
"I-"
"All your professors would understand."
"If you-"
"You could've fainted, you know! Then what would've happened?"
"Could-"
"Mr. Lupin, just stay quiet for a moment." Madam Pomfrey said, frowning.
"But-"
"No buts," She said firmly. "Now hush and let Mr. Weasley read."
Many students were looking amused by the school nurse and Remus's interaction.
Remus opened his mouth to argue, then sighed and closed it. There was no winning an argument with her... "Yes, ma'am." He muttered.
James and Sirius were having trouble not bursting into laughter at this conversation, causing Remus to glare at them.
-but first he had to force himself out of bed. With the full moon tomorrow, he felt so weak and didn't know if he would be able to last the school day.
"You barely did." James snorted, crossing his arms.
"Oi, I lasted!" Remus grumbled, glaring at James.
"Yeah, with snapping at the professors when they asked if you were okay." Sirius said, rolling his eyes.
"Hey, you would too!" Remus protested. "They kept asking me throughout the day!"
"It's because we were worried, Mr. Lupin." McGonagall said sharply.
"There's a fine line between worried and overprotective, Professor." Remus muttered stiffly.
Remus shifted in his bed and looked at the clock. Classes were in ten minutes. He had missed breakfast, but he didn't care. Feeling as ill as he was, Remus didn't think he would be able to keep any food down. His stomach was too queasy.
"You could've gone to the Hospital Wing for something." Madam Pomfrey said, frowning.
Remus sighed, shaking his head as he mumbled something under his breath.
"He said he was too embarrassed." Sirius announced loudly, hearing what Remus mumbled.
Remus's eyes widened and he glared at Sirius. "How did you hear that?" He demanded.
Sirius rolled his eyes. "I'm not deaf you know." He scoffed.
Madam Pomfrey shook her head. A student should never feel embarrassed to see a professor or school nurse...
Looking around the room, Remus saw that all of his friends' beds were empty. He already knew they would be. He practically ordered them to leave him alone and let him sleep in. They had disagreed at first, but he snapped at them and they left. The full moon approaching made him really irritable.
James and Sirius snorted at that, earning a glare from Remus.
"Just irritable?" James said incredulously.
"Oi, I'm not that bad." Remus grumbled.
"Uh, mate, yeah ya are." Sirius said with raised eyebrows.
"Its you, not ya." Remus glared, frowning. "I still can't believe that you can't speak proper English."
"And I still can't believe that you can't talk improper." James said, rolling his eyes.
Rolling out of bed and onto the floor, the young werewolf crawled to his dresser and pulled his uniform out. After taking fifteen minutes to get dressed, Remus was walking out of his dorm. He was already late and didn't really care about being on time at the moment. His legs felt like jelly and he thought he was going to collapse at any moment.
"You should've come to the Hospital Wing, Mr. Lupin." Madam Pomfrey tutted.
Remus looked about to protest, but then sighed, shaking his head in defeat.
By the time he made it to Defense Against the Dark Arts, he was already late by thirty minutes. He moved over to the desk in front of Sirius and James and sat next to Peter. He rested his head on one hand and took notes with his other hand.
Professor Rana smiled sympathetically at him and went back to the lesson.
Remus scowled at that. He hated the sympathy and pity. It made him feel special, which made him feel different, and feeling different made him feel...abnormal... Even more abnormal than usual...
At the end of the lesson, she pulled Remus aside as the class left. She waited until everyone was gone.
James, Sirius, and Peter stood in the back of the classroom watching Remus and Professor Rana.
The teacher noticed them and smiled. "Go on ahead, boys. Remus will be there in a minute." Her tone implied that there was no use in arguing with her.
"I hate that tone." James grumbled. "My parents used that too many times to count..."
"Remus did too." Sirius chimed in.
"Yeah, but we never listened to his tone." James grinned, ignoring Remus's glare.
Remus smiled at his friends and nodded his head.
Sighing, the three boys left the classroom and waited outside for Remus.
"Wish we listened in." Sirius mumbled.
Remus shot him a glare. "And I'm so glad you didn't."
"I thought about it." James grinned, earning a glare from the amber-haired man. "But it doesn't matter now, cause we'll hear it now!"
"Remus, are you okay?" Rana asked, as soon as the door was shut. Her blue eyes were looking at Remus worriedly.
"Yeah." Remus replied. "Just tired and irritable. Maybe a little weak and ill. But it's all natural when one is infected in lycanthropy. I'm sorry about being late."
"Even after all that, you still apologize..." Harry muttered to himself.
"Of course he did," James scoffed. "He's Remus. Only caring about others and not himself."
Remus glared at him, but made no move to deny it.
"I hear no denial." Sirius smirked, raising an eyebrow.
Remus grumbled something in return but didn't say anything else.
Rana sighed and pushed her light brown hair over her shoulder. "All the teachers know and won't blame you if you skip today and tomorrow and the day after the full moon."
Sirius and James both glared at Remus, making him shrug a little.
"What? I thought it would be too obvious." He muttered.
Remus closed his eyes and shook his head lightly so he didn't make his headache worse. "I can't be missing all those lessons all year and it would look suspicious if I miss so many days a month in a row. I just have tough it out. Act like everything is normal. I'll be fine."
James sighed, shaking his head. "You didn't have to do that..." He said quietly.
"If you're sure…" Professor Rana trailed off and sighed. She jumped back into teacher mode.
"Agh, I hate teacher mode." Fred groaned.
"Fun mode is so much better." George grinned.
"Get to class, Mr. Lupin."
"Yes ma'am." Remus replied, leaving the class to find his friends waiting for him. "Hi guys. Herbology next?"
"I'm surprised that you and Sirius didn't question what Professor Rana was talking to Remus about." Lily said, raising an eyebrow.
Remus scoffed. "Trust me, they did." He grumbled. "It was annoying as hell."
"Well sorry for caring." James frowned.
All day it was the same thing. The teachers would pull Remus aside after class to ask if he was alright. He would run into teachers in the hallway that would ask him to. After a while he started snapping at them, telling them to leave him alone and that he was fine before stalking off.
"Seeeee?" Sirius said, purposely stretching the word out. "I don't call that lasting the day!"
Remus glared at him. "Well I do..."
His friends watched him worriedly when he did this. Their worry increased when they noticed that he skipped all the meals that day. When they asked him about it, he yelled at them to leave him alone and he went to sleep earlier than usual, forgetting about his homework.
"It was so unusual," Sirius said, shaking his head as he frowned. "We really didn't expect that from you."
Remus shrugged. "Couldn't help myself." He muttered. "I'm grumpy the day before the full moon."
"Yeah, we can vogue for that." James grumbled, earning an eye-roll from Remus.
The next day James, Sirius, and Peter all got up early. They got ready for classes before going over to Remus's bed. Sirius shook him awake gently. "Remus, time to get up. Remus." Sirius called to him.
Remus groaned and opened his eyes, a slight dazed look in his eyes. "What?"
"You should've known better than to wake me up." Remus mumbled, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
Sirius and James shrugged, identical grins on their faces.
"It's time for breakfast." James explained.
"Go ahead without me. I'll catch up." Remus replied, before pulling his blanket over his head and burying his head in his pillow.
"Wasn't that what you said the other day?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Great, now even Hermione is against me." Remus muttered, shaking his head.
Sirius snickered.
"That's what you said yesterday. And you never made it to breakfast and you were half an hour late to Defense." Sirius replied, crossing his arms and frowning. "You need to eat. You didn't eat anything yesterday. You're going to collapse if you don't eat."
James frowned and pulled the blankets off of Remus head. "Actually, you looked ready to collapse yesterday. Are you okay?"
James frowned at that, looking at Remus with concern on his face. This might've happened years ago...but it still affects Remus today...
"I'm fine." Remus growled, voice muffled by his pillow. He rolled over to look at James, showing his very pale face.
"You sure? You look paler than usual." James asked, concern washing over his face.
"Is Mr. Potter that worried about your condition?" Madam Pomfrey asked.
Remus sighed. "He always was...and you know what, he still is!" He said when he saw James looked concerned. "This was the past when I was eleven, you know."
"Oh, I'm so sorry," James snapped. "But it still happens to this day, Remus! Not to mention your transformation has gotten a lot worse since you've gotten older. You can't blame me for worrying."
"You worried too much!" Remus snapped. "In fact, I think your worrying got worse when you found out my secret."
"Why wouldn't it? I found out my best friend puts himself through hell once a month! Anyone would be concerned!" James argued.
"Huh, well this is rare." Sirius said. "Usually it is Remus and me fighting, not you two."
"Shut up, Sirius!" James and Remus snapped.
"I don't need babied like that!"
"Madam Pomfrey mother hens you and you say nothing!" James retorted.
"Yeah, but your mother henning was annoying." Remus said irritably.
"Well at least someone does it when I'm not around!" Madam Pomfrey frowned.
"Oi, I don't need to be mother henned!" Remus growled.
"I won't let you take that tone with me, Mr. Lupin!" Madam Pomfrey frowned, shaking her head.
"It was always bloody annoying, from all of you." Remus grumbled. 'It made me feel like I wasn't normal.' He thought.
"Were you really that upset about someone caring for you?" Harry asked quietly.
Remus looked slightly surprised. "I..." He blinked. "Huh?"
"Dad and Sirius, they were caring about your well-being, what you call mother henning," Harry explained. "Why would you just pass that by? They're caring for you, making sure you were alright, actually trying to help you feel better. Who wouldn't like that?"
Remus frowned slightly, turned his head away from Harry, staring up at one of the floating candles. He'd never really thought of that before...
"I'm fine." Remus growled again.
Sirius didn't look convinced,
"Of course I didn't." Sirius scoffed, rolling his eyes. "You said you were fine the day before that and you came to class late. Late. Mr. Remus Lupin, who would've thought you would be late. I certainly didn't."
Remus shot a glare at Sirius, frowning. "Git."
"Aw, love you too."
"Keep believing that, but it won't come true."
"Why do I feel like we've had this conversation before?" James interrupted before anything big could happen.
-but shrugged his shoulders at James, who sighed. "If you're sure, then get up and get dressed so we can go to breakfast."
Remus shook his head and pulled his blanket over his head. "I don't want to eat."
Sirius sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Which was really weird since Remus usually does that." James couldn't help but add, earning two glares from Remus and Sirius. "What? It's true!"
"Why? You have to be starving. You haven't eaten in a while."
"I feel nauseated." Remus replied.
"Remus, are you sick?" James asked. Remus didn't reply, making James sigh and pulled the blankets off of Remus. "Remus!"
"Did you fall asleep again?" Lily questioned, her lips twitching upwards.
Remus rolled his eyes. "No, Lily, I didn't." He said. "It's impossible to fall asleep looking at that horrible face."
"Oi!" James protested.
Remus grinned. "Hey, how do you know I was talking about you?" He said slyly. "For all you know, I might've been talking about Sirius-"
"OI! Don't bring me into this!"
"Or Peter." Remus ended, ignoring Sirius's interruption.
James blinked, giving Remus a blank look.
"So you basically just called your face horrible." Remus finished, grinning widely.
"..."
"...James?"
"..."
"...Sirius, I think I just broke James."
Sirius glanced at James then at Remus. "It's always nice when you do that."
James looked at Remus sweaty face and put a hand to his forehead. Remus pulled back away from James's hand. "You don't have a fever."
"Great deduction, Captain Obvious." Remus muttered.
"Why thank you, Sergeant Sarcasm." James said, mock-saluting, earning a dry look from Remus.
James looked at Sirius and raised a brow. "Remus, stay in bed today. Do not go to classes. We'll tell the teachers you aren't feeling well. I don't want to find you out of this bed, got it?" Sirius growled.
Remus flinched away from him and nodded his head.
Sirius frowned. He didn't even notice that Remus flinched...
"Good." Sirius replied. He pulled the curtains shut around Remus's bed. "Get some sleep."
Remus listened to his friends' feet fading away. When he could no longer hear them, he snuggled into his blankets and went back to sleep.
James, Sirius, and Peter went down to breakfast together talking quietly. "I hope Remy will be okay." James said.
Remus whacked the back of James's head, causing him to yelp in shock and shoot Remus a bewildered look.
"What was that for?!" He exclaimed, rubbing his head.
"Don't call me Remy." Remus said, glaring at James.
"This was in first year!" James protested.
"True, but I never got back at you for it." Remus retorted.
"He'll get better if he just eats." Sirius said.
"We can take him some food at lunch." Peter replied.
"Yeah, we'll just have to force the food down his throat." Sirius snarled.
"Oh, c'mon, I wasn't that bad." Remus said, rolling his eyes.
Sirius and James both shot him deadpanned looks.
Peter rolled his eyes. "Well, he needs to eat."
"Fine. We'll take him something." James replied in a tone that said the discussion was over.
"I think when Remus feels better it will be time to start making a name for ourselves. We've given the teachers enough time to get to know us. Now it's time to make ourselves legend and break school records." Sirius said.
Fred and George grinned widely. So they were nearing the beginning. The beginning of the Marauders.
James voiced his agreement.
"So it's time to turn Remus into a prankster." Peter said, smiling.
"Agh," Remus groaned, holding his head. "So this is when it started."
"It would've started eventually," James said, grinning at Remus's reaction. "Besides, you were a prankster at heart."
"Yeah, we just needed to bring it to the surface!" Sirius grinned, wrapping an arm around Remus's neck.
Remus glared at Sirius, trying to struggle out of his hold, but alas, to no avail.
"Yes. And while we'll out let's make a competition. One that all four of us will be involved in." Sirius replied. An evil smirk forming on his lips.
James looked at Sirius curiously. "What kind of competition?"
McGonagall looked suspiciously at the three Marauders. What were they planning?
"Great going guys." Remus groaned, finally getting out of Sirius's hold. "Now McGonagall is on to us."
James and Sirius shrugged. "It's not like she can do anything to us," they said together. "We're not her students anymore."
Remus only stared at the two, mouth slightly open. "...how do you do that?"
"Do what?" Sirius and James asked at the same time.
"That...the...the talk at the same time thing..."
The two ebony boys smirked. "We're psychic."
"I'll explain when Remus is better. I only want to explain it once." Sirius replied, as they reached the Great Hall.
In Transfiguration, McGonagall looked at the three boys. Her eyes were worried. "Where is Mr. Lupin?"
Remus blinked at that. She seriously cared?
"I told him to stay in bed today. He didn't look well." James answered, as he took his seat.
McGonagall nodded her head and started teaching the class. As she was teaching, she saw James writing and went to see what he was writing.
"What did you think I was doing?" James pouted.
McGonagall shook her head. "With you, I'm never really sure..."
The young wizard looked at her confused when she came over. "Is something wrong, Professor?"
"You're taking notes?" McGonagall asked, shocked.
"It was really that shocking...?" James said, trailing off.
"I was shocked too, until I heard the reason." Sirius shrugged. "Then it made sense."
"I figure Remus would like the notes since he can't be here today." James replied.
McGonagall smiled at him. "That's nice of you."
James did the same thing in History of Magic.
Fred and George stared at James in shock. "You actually took notes in Binn's class?" They said, wide-eyed.
James shrugged. "It's actually not that hard when you listen."
Remus grinned, shaking his head. "I wish you knew that in the beginning..." He muttered.
After History of Magic, the three boys went to lunch and ate quickly before grabbing a napkin and filled it with sandwiches. They went up to their dorm and went over to Remus's bed. James went and filled a glass with water. He put the glass on the dresser next to Remus's bed and pulled the curtains back.
"Wakey, wakey, Remus." James said gently, poking Remus in the side.
James and Sirius both exchanged grins over Remus's head, who was resting his head on his arms on the table. They both slowly moved their hands and poked both of Remus's sides.
Remus shot up off the table, surprised. "W-what the hell?" He glared at the two young men, holding his sides. "What the hell was that for?"
"Oh, nothing." Sirius grinned innocently.
"Just bored." James said, grinning widely as Remus glared at them.
Remus began to stir in his sleep and slapped James's hand away. "Stop poking me."
"Should've slapped your stupid face instead." Remus grumbled.
"Oi!" James said, affronted.
"Get up, Remy." James said.
Remus opened his eyes and looked at his friend. "What?"
"You didn't even yell at him for calling you Remy?" Lily asked, bewildered.
"Oh yeah...that reminds me..." Remus said, before whacking the back of James's head.
"OI!" James exclaimed, frowning as he held his head. "Git!"
Remus grinned. "Hey, this was for before." He teased. "I never got back at you."
"Time for lunch." James answered.
"I don't want lunch." Remus replied.
"You need to eat to keep your strength up." Sirius replied, handing the sandwiches to Remus.
James sat on Remus bed. "And we aren't leaving until you eat something."
"Wow, you're right about being mother hens." Bill said, lips twitching upwards.
"Like you have anything to say." Ginny scoffed.
"Yeah, you worried over us all the time." George defended.
"It was so annoying." Fred grumbled.
"Welcome to my Hogwarts years." Remus muttered, earning two grins from James and Sirius.
"Aw, you know you liked it." James grinned.
"As if." Remus scoffed.
Remus looked at James' determined and stubborn face to see that he was serious. "Fine." He said, sighing. Remus ate two of the sandwiches and drank the water. "Happy?"
"Yes. We'll bring you up some dinner later." Peter said.
The three friends left the dorm, none of them noticing the upset look on Remus's face.
"Why were you upset, professor?" Seamus asked curiously.
Remus shrugged. "It might be explained." He said.
"And if it's not?" Dean questioned.
"Then too bad." Remus grinned.
The two fifth years pouted at their ex-professor's response.
When the last lesson of the day began, Remus got of bed and got dressed. He left his dorm and went to the Hospital Wing to meet Madam Pomfrey.
"I still can't believe you went alone." Madam Pomfrey tutted. "You might've collapsed."
Remus's face reddened slightly. "I wouldn't have collapsed." He muttered.
James and Sirius both looked at him with raised eyebrows, as if to say 'Really?'
Madam Pomfrey looked at Remus surprised when he came into the Hospital Wing. "What are you doing here? We still got a few hours before you have to go."
"My friends made me stay in bed today because they think I'm sick. They would never let me out of their sight to come here an hour before the full moon, so I thought I better come now." Remus explained.
"And what would you tell us when you came back?" Sirius questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Er..." Remus paused. "Sick mother?"
"That excuse was so over-used." James said, shaking his head. "It's a wonder we didn't find out about your furry little problem sooner than second year."
The nurse smiled. "You got really caring friends. Do you want to stay here for now or go to the building now?"
Several students looks excited at the fact that they would find out how to get in the Shrieking Shack and what it looked like.
Remus thought for a few minutes. If he stayed, then his friends would probably come to the Hospital Wing and find him. They would probably scold him for leaving the dorm alone. If he went to the shack now, then he wouldn't have to listen to their lecture until he was better. He would much rather not have to listen to their lecture when he wasn't feeling well.
"I would rather not listen to your lectures even if I was feeling well." Remus said, rolling his eyes.
"I think, maybe, I should go there now. I don't want to risk my friends coming here and seeing me." Remus answered. He sounded scared at the idea of his friends seeing him here.
Madam Pomfrey smiled sadly. "Of course." The nurse disappeared into her office and came back with a blue cloak.
"Why blue?" Sirius questioned.
"Because she knew that I was a Ravenclaw at heart." Remus said cheekily.
"NEVER!" James screamed, shocking Remus. He fake-cried and tackled Remus in a hug, nearly knocking him off the bench. "DON'T BETRAY US!"
"G-get off me!" Remus said, trying to push James off him. "Didn't I get enough of this during school?!"
"Wear this. We don't want anyone seeing your face."
Remus took his school robe off and threw it onto a bed. He pulled the cloak on and pulled the hood over his head. "Thanks Madam Pomfrey. Oh, can I keep my wand here? I don't want to break it."
"Imagine if you did break it..." Sirius muttered.
Remus shuddered at the thought. "I would rather not..."
"Of course, dear." Madam Pomfrey took his wand and robe to her office. She came back and led him to the Whomping Willow. Since there was a class going on, they didn't run into anyone.
"And thank goodness for that." Remus grinned. "I couldn't imagine how horrible it would've been if we did."
When they reached the Whomping Willow, Madam Pomfrey found a long stick and prodded a knot near the ground. The tree instantly froze. "Go on, dear. Through the tunnel. Leave the cloak in the tunnel so you have it for tomorrow morning."
Nearly every student in the Hall broke out into a whisper with their friends, making Remus pale slightly. So you poke a knot in the tree and it froze? That's so cool! Perhaps they could find out which knot and find a way in the Shack...
"Attention students!" Dumbledore announced, quieting the whispers and having all the students look at the headmaster. "If anyone attempts to enter the Shrieking Shack, they will be severely punished, be seen to me, and possibly be expelled." Nearly every single person the Hall looked shocked, even some of the teachers. "This is a very serious matter, and I don't want anyone to enter or attempt to enter this building. Thank you." With those last words, Dumbledore sat back down in his seat.
Remus looked shocked. Dumbledore would really go that far to make sure no students entered the Shack?
"Thanks Madam Pomfrey." Remus whispered, as he slid into the tunnel.
At the end of the tunnel, Remus threw the cloak off and pushed the trap door open. He found himself in an old looking, two story building. There was a living room, kitchen, and bathroom on the first floor. Remus climbed the stairs and found three bed rooms and a second bathroom on the second floor. All the windows and the front door were boarded up
"And sealed with magic," Remus muttered absentmindedly. Oh, how he hoped his transformation wouldn't be read... He couldn't imagine the looks on everyone's faces...
-so the wolf couldn't escape the house. He entered one of the bedrooms and decided to take a nap while he waited for night to come.
James, Sirius, and Peter headed up to their dorm after dinner with more sandwiches for Remus. They were smiling and talking about a hex that James fired at Snape during dinner.
Many students grinned and looked interested at this. Three of the Marauders hexed Snape? Wow, if they hexed him, then it must be bad!
Snape scowled at these words, glaring at the three Marauders at the table. Lupin might not have hexed him at the time, but he was still one of them.
The hex changed Snape's hair color. His hair changed to gold and red stripes and was put into pigtails. Then Sirius changed Snape's clothes into a yellow flower patterned dress with white high hells. Peter conjured a ring of flowers and put it on Snape's head.
Nearly every single student was holding back laughter as this was read and Ron had trouble keeping the grin out of his voice as he read it.
Snape was so embarrassed and ran out of the hall angrily. Everyone was laughing at him and nobody expected the three young pranksters.
"If you were still my students..." McGonagall said threateningly, leaving the threat hanging.
The three friends entered their dorm laughing and made their way to Remus's bed. "Hey Remus, we brought…." Sirius stopped speaking when he pulled the curtains apart. He saw Remus's empty bed. He looked at James and Peter confused. "Where is he?"
"How would we know?" James growled.
"I was half-hoping that it was a prank by you and...Peter." Sirius muttered, pausing on Peter's name.
"We wouldn't joke about that." James growled, glaring at Remus. "You could've at least told us you were going to the hospital wing."
Remus scoffed. "Yeah, and when you would come to see me after-hours you would be shocked to see that I wasn't there. It would be better to just disappear and think of an excuse later."
"Maybe he went to the Hospital Wing." Peter suggested.
"We can try looking there." Sirius agreed.
Sirius ran out of the tower with his friends following him. They skidded to a stop in front of the Hospital Wing and entered it quietly, so Madam Pomfrey wouldn't yell at them.
James snorted. "Except, you forgot one little detail," he teased. "Sirius would've yelled, which would cause us to get yelled at."
Sirius glared at James, pouting.
"Madam Pomfrey!" Sirius yelled when they entered it.
"See?" James grinned.
"No one contradicted you." Sirius grumbled.
"Ooh, Padfoot is using big words now." Remus teased, grinning.
Sirius threw his hands up in the air. "Do you all hate me?" He pouted.
"...let's not answer that." James said, holding back laughter at Sirius's affronted face.
"Shush. Don't yell in here." Madam Pomfrey ordered.
James smiled charmingly at her. "Sorry. We're just looking for Remus. He's sick. We told him to stay in bed and when we came back he was gone. We thought he might have come here. So can we see him? We want to make sure he is alright."
"Sorry boys, your friend isn't here. I'm sure he's fine." Madam Pomfrey replied kindly, smiling at them.
"You're such a good liar, Madam Pomfrey!" Sirius sighed dramatically.
"Yeah," James agreed, before sending a teasing look at Remus. "Why didn't you teach Remy, here?"
"Oi, my lies were good!" Remus protested. "And don't call me Remy!"
"Yeah, right!" Sirius scoffed. "Your lies were horrible!"
"Are you really arguing about Remus's lies?" Lily said, raising an eyebrow.
The three Marauders blinked, exchanging looks, before turning to Lily. "Yes." They deadpanned.
Remus turned back to his friends. "And I may have been a bit bad in the beginning, but I became a better liar then either of you throughout our years at Hogwarts!"
"What?" Sirius asked affronted.
"We were the best!" James protested. "No one could beat us!"
Remus scoffed.
Lily slapped her forehead. Seriously?
"Are you sure he isn't here?" Sirius asked.
"Yes. Now go, boys." Madam Pomfrey ordered.
Remus woke with a start when he body gave a violent jerk. He looked out a crack of one of the board windows to see the sun was down and the sky was dark. In the sky was a full moon.
"Oi!" Remus growled, glaring at the book. "My transformation better not be described in this."
"What does it matter? We've see it enough times." Sirius mumbled. "What's wrong with hearing about it?"
"You have, but these kids know nothing about werewolves or their transmutation. They don't need to know about it." Remus argued.
Remus felt immense pain throughout his entire body. His body gave violent jerks as all his bones began to grown and his internal organs shrunk and his external parts changed shape. The young werewolf cub howled in pain.
Remus winced at that. Young werewolf cub... That was who he was...
His eyes changed to bright gold. He scrapped at the ground with his claws as his body gave another violent jerk. He stood on his hind legs and howled in pain again.
Many of the younger years were looking terrified of this. Did Lupin really have to go through all this? Perhaps the book was being over-dramatic...
"Did you really have to go through this?" Harry asked quietly. "I've seen it, but to hear about..." He trailed off.
Remus gave a silent nod, ignoring James's and Lily's shocked expressions.
"They've seen your transformation?" Lily asked, shocked.
"It was...er..." Remus sighed. "It's a long story..."
When the transformation was complete, the wolf took over Remus's mind. He no longer thought like a human. Instead he thought like a wild animal. A wild wolf looking for human flesh. He had a desire for blood.
A lot of the students looked terrified at this. A desire for blood? That wasn't right! How could anyone have a desire for blood?! That was like vampires!
The wolf ran out of the bedroom. He ran around the building looking for a way out to hunt for the human flesh he desired so much. Seeing no way out, the wolf ran around the house scratching at the wall and itself. It attacked the wall hoping to break out of the building.
"Thank goodness it didn't."
Seeing that attacking the wall did nothing, the wolf started to attack itself.
"You did what?" Lavender gasped, covering her mouth in shock as tears formed on the corners of her eyes. "Why would you do that?"
Remus looked at her sadly, looking slightly uncomfortable. "That's the thing, I didn't." He sighed. "The wolf did."
It bit and scratched itself. All night the wolf ran around the house, attack the building and itself, howling in pain and anger from being trapped.
When morning came,
Remus let out a silent breath. It was over...he wouldn't have to hear this anymore.
the wolf fall to all falls from the pain of transforming back. His bones shrunk and his organs grew back to their normal size.
Remus fell to the ground unconscious.
Several people looked at Remus with pity and sympathy, making Remus wince in annoyance and glare up at the floating candles. He hated pity and sympathy...
"Remus, dear, are you okay?" A kind, gentle voice asked.
The young wizard groaned and opened his eyes. "N-no. I-I'm c-covered in bites and s-scratches…W-why would I be o-okay?"
"Sorry, dear." Madam Pomfrey sighed. "I wasn't thinking clearly."
Remus smiled at her. "It's alright, Madam P." He replied. "There's no need to apologize, it's in the past. And besides, I think you've already apologized."
"Sorry dear." Madam Pomfrey replied. She wrapped Remus up in the cloak she gave him the day before. After wrapping him up and making sure his face was covered, Madam Pomfrey conjured a stretcher up and carried Remus up to the school.
"So glad we didn't run into any students." Remus muttered. "That would've been horrible."
In the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey lowered Remus onto a bed, then surrounded the bed with curtains. She left him for few minutes to get him some clothes.
"Where did you get a set of school robes?" Remus asked. His voice was harsh and dry.
"Why was your voice so harsh and dry, Professor?" Dean asked.
"All the howling the wolf did, I guess..." Remus said uncomfortably. He was not use to talking about what the wolf did.
"I have extra sets here for you, for after your transformation." Madam Pomfrey explained, as she set the clothes on the end of the bed and grabbed a glass of water. "Here, drink this."
Remus nodded his thanks and drank the water in two large gulps.
Tonks raised an eyebrow, smiling. "Wow," She said teasingly. "Someone's thirsty."
Remus shrugged in response, his lips twitching upwards.
Madam Pomfrey started to heal his wounds as best as she could. When she was finished with that, she wrapped his wounds up in gauze. "Since these are werewolf wounds, magic can't heal them completely. I'm sorry."
"It's alright. I'm used to it." Remus replied.
"Well you shouldn't be." Sirius said angrily, causing Remus's smile to fade away.
"We've already been over this, Sirius." He muttered. "It doesn't matter, it's in the past."
"Also, you need to think of an excuse as to why you disappeared. Your friends came here last night looking for you." Madam Pomfrey told him. "You have a while to think of an excuse since I'm not letting you leave until dinner time."
"I would make everyone less suspicious if you she just let me go earlier." Remus grumbled.
"And take that change of you opening one of your wounds?" Madam Pomfrey said sharply.
Remus gaped at her. "How did you hear me from way over there?!" He exclaimed.
Pomfrey smiled, shaking her head, but didn't respond.
Remus nodded his head. "Thanks for everything, Madam Pomfrey."
Madam Pomfrey nodded her head and smiled at him. "You look better then you did yesterday. You're not pale anymore. Do you still feel ill?"
"No. I'm perfectly fine. It's only the day before and on the full moon that I feel horrible. I feel better the day after except that I'm really tired. I usually sleep the whole day away." Remus explained.
"Which you wouldn't let me do." Remus grumbled.
"We had classes." James said, raising an eyebrow.
"It was a Saturday." Remus said, exasperated.
"Then we had Quidditch." Sirius added, grinning.
Remus grumbled something under his breath about the cursed game and glared at the other two young men.
"Then go to sleep. I'll wake you up when it's time for dinner." Madam Pomfrey explained.
Entering the Great Hall later that night, Remus sat down at the Gryffindor table. He was already eating when three people joined him. James sat down next to him and Peter and Sirius sat down across from him.
"Hi guys." Remus greeted.
His friends greeted him and they started eating.
"They didn't even tell you off for disappearing?" Hermione said, surprised.
Remus snorted. "Yeah, they did," He said, shaking his head. "It was later though."
When he was done eating, Remus was started to stand up to leave when a hand slammed onto his shoulder and pushed him back into his seat. He looked at James confused, while James looked at him with narrowed eyes. "Stay."
"Why would you do that?" Harry asked, confused.
"We wanted to make sure he didn't run away again." James explained, earning an eye-roll from Remus.
"And we were afraid he would disappear again." Sirius said sheepishly.
Remus sighed and sat waiting for his friends to finish eating.
As soon as his friends finished eating, Remus left the Great Hall with them following him. He already knew why they made him stay. They were afraid he would disappear again.
Sirius blinked. "Surprised you got that so quickly..." He said, trailing off with a grin.
Remus pouted, rolling his eyes. "You wound me."
In their dorm room, Remus drop onto his bed and stared at the ceiling. James and Sirius stood at the end of his bed with crossed arms and frowns planted on their faces. Peter sat on James's bed, staring at Remus, a frown on his face as well.
Sirius scoffed. As if the little rat cared...
"Remus, where were you last night? I told you to stay in bed." James asked, eyes narrowed.
Charlie snickered. "Well, gee," He said, grinning. "You, sir, sound like a worried parent."
Remus and James both rolled their eyes, but James was grinning while Remus just looked annoyed.
"Hey, with how Remus just disappeared, of course I would be worried," James shrugged. "But not the parent part cause that's not humanely possible..."
"I….I went home to visit my mom. She's really sick." Remus explained. "My dad was afraid she was going to die, so he asked me to come and visit here."
"Your first full moon lie!" Sirius sighed dramatically. "Such memories."
"Shut up, Sirius." Remus grumbled. He took no pride in lying to his friends about his mother.
James paled. "I'm sorry, Remus. We were just worried. Is your mom alright?"
Remus nodded his head. "Yeah. She's still alive.
"And well." James grumbled under his breath, earning a small frown from Remus. He didn't want to lie to them...he had to...
She will hopefully get over this."
"That's good." Peter replied.
"You could have left us a note so we wouldn't have worried." Sirius replied.
Remus nodded his head. "Sorry."
"I doubt it." Sirius scoffed, earning a frown from Remus.
"I was sorry..." He muttered.
"Good, now that we have apologies over with." Sirius growled, making Remus flinch.
James put his hands on the bed and leaned forward so he was closer to Remus's face. "Why did you go when you were sick? You should have waited until you were better."
"B-because…..um….uh…" Remus stammered and looked everywhere in the room, but his friends.
We should've recognized the signs earlier...
Sirius and James exchanged the same thought and both looked pained. What kind of friends were they? They should've been able to realize that Remus was lying on the first moon...
"I-I was –scared…..for my m-mother. I wanted to see her as soon as possible. And after eating the sandwiches, you forced me to eat, I was feeling somewhat better, so I decided to go."
James narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but didn't comment. "Right."
Damn it, I was even suspicious, but I didn't say anything... James thought bitterly to himself, frowning, earning a worried look from Lily.
Sirius plopped himself down on his bed and James sat next to Remus on his bed.
"Now that we are all here, I will announce the competition we are all going to participate in." Sirius announced.
Remus groaned, putting his head in his hands. "Ugh, I hated that competition." He moaned.
Sirius and James shrugged.
"It was fun while it lasted," James grinned.
"But then we got caught up with the detentions..." Sirius said, trailing off.
Remus looked at his three friends confused. "What are you guys talking about?"
"Well, it's time for our first prank. And along with the prank, we're going to have a competition that is going to last the next seven years." Sirius explained, a smirk forming on his lips. "We are going to compete to see who can get the most detentions in the next seven years."
"Certainly didn't last 7 years." Remus scoffed.
McGonagall frowned at this, looking at the three present Marauders in suspicion. "So that's why you never cared about your detentions?" She said, frowning. "Because it added to your detention competition?"
"I cared!" Remus protested, but was ignored.
"Well I guess that was part of it," James shrugged.
Fred and George looked at each other excitedly. A detention competition! They should've thought of that years ago!
Remus's eyes widened. "No. No. NO! I'm not taking part in this."
"Yes, you are. Just like you are going to join us for the prank in a few days." Sirius said.
James smirked. "I like the idea of the competition. I'm in. What about you, Pete?"
Peter looked unsure, but nervously nodded his head. "Sure. What are the rules?"
Sirius inwardly growled. Of course the rat agreed with everything they said. The rat didn't care about anything except his master and pleasing others above him.
"You can't try to get a detention on purpose. If you try to get a detention on purpose, the detention doesn't count and you have to do something embarrassing during dinner in the Great Hall." Sirius said. "It's the only rule for the competition."
Remus opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by James. "You're in the competition. Don't try to get out of it."
"Fine." Remus grumbled.
"You gave in that easily?" Percy questioned, slightly shocked. He would never expect that from a professor, even if he was a half-breed. Fred and George looked half angry, half surprised that their older brother was talking to a Marauder so easily.
Remus gave a half-shrug. "Well, it's not like they would let me out of it." He explained.
"How are we supposed to keep track of our detentions?"
Sirius climbed off his bed and started searching through his trunks for something. After a few minutes, he pulled a piece of parchment. "This is going to keep track. I charmed it so every time we get a detention fairly, it will be added to your list. If you break the rule, the parchment will say so by saying cheat under your name."
"Where did you find a charm like that?" Remus asked surprised.
"Why were you so surprised?" Sirius whined. "I'm smart enough to figure out a spell by myself."
James raised an eyebrow. "Except, you didn't." He teased. "You had to ask a second year."
Sirius pouted in response. "You would've also." He complained.
"I asked a second year. He gave it to me." Sirius exclaimed. "Remy, don't disappear like that again. I don't want to ask anyone else for help again."
"Right." Remus replied uneasily. "Stop calling me Remy. I don't like it."
"Get used to it." Sirius said.
"You're still not used to it." Sirius pouted, earning an eye-roll from Remus.
"And don't expect me to." He replied. "I have and will always hate that nickname."
Remus sighed.
James smiled. "When are we doing the prank?"
"Friday night. We can't do it tonight because Remus probably wants to rest after his trip, so probably tomorrow." Sirius replied.
"Except you didn't let me sleep in." Remus grumbled, glaring at Sirius and James.
"Hey, it was a Quidditch day." Sirius defended.
"A Quidditch practice." Remus corrected, not ceasing his glare.
"Eh, same thing." James said offhandedly.
"No, it isn't!" Remus half-shouted.
"Can we wait until next week? I have to catch up on my homework and get all the notes I missed. I missed two days of school." Remus asked.
Sirius sighed and nodded his head. "Fine. We do the prank Monday night. You should be caught up by then."
"That reminds me." James said, jumping off his bed. He grabbed his bag and pulled out a bunch of scrolls and put them on Remus's bed. "I took all the notes for you while you were gone."
"I nearly fainted with shock!" Remus said dramatically.
James pouted at that. "Oi, I'm not that bad."
Nearly all the professors, Lily, Sirius, Tonks, and Remus looked at him with deadpanned expressions. James huffed in offense.
Remus looked at James surprised. "You did?"
"Don't act so surprised." James grumbled.
"Sorry. Usually I'm the one who takes the notes. Thanks by the way." Remus replied.
"No problem. So which prank idea are we going to do?" James asked.
James, Sirius, and Peter pulled out a list of their prank ideas and started going over the prank they wanted to do, while Remus decided to go take a shower.
"What about this one?" James suggested.
"Hmm. I don't know. I think we should start with something simple since this will be Remus's first prank." Sirius replied.
The three boys continued on for a while, going over the pranks. Remus came out of the bathroom with nothing but boxers on.
Someone in the Hall gave a loud wolf-whistle, causing Remus to turn red in the face and slam his face down on the table as his friends burst out laughing.
"You're never going to let me live this down, are you?" Remus groaned.
Sirius stopped laughing long enough to choke out, "Never." before bursting back into laughter.
"Man, this is just priceless!" Tonks cackled, slamming a hand onto the table as she shook with silent laughter.
If possible, Remus's face turned even more red.
The person who did the wolf-whistle grinned at his friend, winking.
He kneeled by his dresser to get his pajamas. "Find a prank yet?" Remus asked as he pulled his pajama pant on.
"Yeah, I think." James replied. He glanced at Remus and stopped himself from discussing the prank. "Remus, what happened to your arm?"
Everyone immediately sobered at that, frowning. Arm? What about Lupin's arm? What happened to his arm?
Remus looked at his arm to see a long, deep gash on it. It was one of the scratches he gave himself the night before.
Tonks and many other people winced at that. She couldn't believe that Remus had to go through that once a month...
He pulled his pajama shirt on and jumped onto his bed. "Nothing. Good night." Remus pulled the curtains closed around his bed.
"You really thought we would just leave that alone?" James said, raising an eyebrow.
Remus gave a half-hearted shrug. "Well...I was hoping that you would..." He said sheepishly.
Sirius raised a brow and stood up. He moved towards Remus's bed and pulled the curtains apart to find Remus completely under his blanket. "Remus." Sirius said in a warning tone.
"What?" Remus muffled came out.
"Let us see your arm." James demanded from next to Sirius.
Remus muttered something under his breath about 'obnoxious, overprotective, mother-henning gits', earning two identical pouts/glares from James and Sirius.
Remus peaked out from under his blankets to see Sirius and James standing over his bed. He shook his head and pulled the blanket back over his head.
"Honestly, Remus? Don't you know us at all?" Sirius asked. He grabbed the blankets and pulled them off of Remus. He grabbed Remus's arm before the young werewolf could protest. Pushing up the sleeve of his shirt, Sirius and James saw the long, deep pink gash on his arm.
Remus blinked, fingering his arm where a scratch was from that full moon. It never truly healed and was still there today...
"Remus, what happened?" James demanded.
Remus pulled his arm free and covered his arm. "I…I have a dog at home. Not a very nice dog."
James frowned at that, remembering when Remus told him that he actually used to have a dog, but must've eaten it by accident.
"I'll say. This look horrible. Why don't you get Madam Pomfrey to heal it?" Sirius asked.
"It's just a scratch. I think it's pointless to go ask her to heal this. It's just a little scratch." Remus replied hesitantly. "Now if you don't mind. I'm going to sleep." He pulled the curtains shut and pulled his covers over himself.
Sirius and James looked at each other. They moved away from Remus's bed and to Sirius's bed. Peter came and joined them.
"You know, I half expected you to open the curtains again and demand the truth." Remus said with a halfhearted smile on his face.
"I wish we did," James grumbled. "Perhaps then you might've let something slip and we would've found out about your furry little problem sooner."
"...well if you put it that way, then I guess I'm even gladder you didn't." Remus said dryly.
"That's not a scratch from a dog." Sirius said.
Remus frowned at that. They knew he was lying from the beginning? Damn, he knew he shouldn't have passed up those lying lessons from Jason. Perhaps then they wouldn't have found out his secret...but...was that such a bad thing?
"Why would he lie to us? He's got no reason." James replied.
Peter frowned and looked at Remus's bed. "We got no proof he is lying. Besides that, James is right. He has no reason to lie. Let's just give him the benefit of the doubt right now."
"Fine. But I know he is lying." Sirius demanded. "If he's going to lie, then he needs to learn to lie.
"I'm surprised you didn't know how to lie again by then," Sirius said, shrugging. "With a cousin like Jason."
Remus shrugged, a faint smile on his lips at the mention of his cousin.
But for now, we'll believe him."
"He might have seemed like he was lying because he's upset." James said.
Sirius sighed and nodded. "Maybe. I guess it doesn't matter. It's not like he'll leave again. Let's go to bed now. I'm tired."
Remus winced at that. 'It's not like he'll leave again...' Oh, how wrong was Sirius...
James and Peter agreed.
"That's the end of the chapter." Ron said, closing the book and marking it. "Who wants to read next?"
"I will, I guess." Remus shrugged when no one else volunteered, taking the book and opening it to the right page.
"NEVER!" James and Sirius screamed, nearly causing Remus to drop the book in surprise. "MARAUDERS DON'T WILLINGLY READ ANYTHING!"
Remus raised an eyebrow at that. "Guess I was never a Marauder then," He retorted, smirking at their looks. "I read willingly all the time at Hogwarts."
Sirius and James just both gaped at their smaller friend, not sure how to respond to that.
"That's what I thought," Remus said cheekily. "Now shut up and let me read." Before the two could protest, Remus quickly started reading. "Year 1, chapter 6: First Prank."
Author: *twitch* Gosh, I hated typing the beginning part, it was so annoying... Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and a freaking HUGE thanks to my beta, Fallen Crest! Reviews make me happy, and my happiness writes good stories!