Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and events from J.K. Rowling's wonderful Harry Potter books. I am writing this for my own enjoyment and hopefully for the enjoyment of readers. Anything you recognize belongs to JKR. The rest belongs to me.
Chapter 23: A Werewolf's Tail…er…Tale
James and Sirius searched around the castle for a while, trying in vain to find Remus. They even considered going to the Whomping Willow but weren't entirely sure how to enter the secret passageway below it. Finally James realized where Remus was hiding. He couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it earlier.
"Sirius!" he said. "I'll bet you twenty Sickles that he's in the library!"
Sirius smiled and said, "The library! How come we didn't realize it before?"
James grinned and replied, "Well, when you never go there except for detention, you almost forget it's there."
They walked up the stairs and toward the library. As they entered the corridor leading to their destination they saw Evans walking out. James and Sirius greeted her but she walked on, looking a little disturbed. James wanted to follow her to see what had bothered her, but felt that it was more important at the moment to track down Remus.
As they walked into the library they heard a scream and ran across several aisles to find several students, Remus, and Madame Pince crowded around a large pile of books. One of the large bookcases had crashed to the floor, and James noticed Emm laying on the floor nearby with a gash on her forehead. Several of the students were shaking and some were running out of the library.
James and Sirius ran over to Remus. "What happened here?" asked Sirius.
James followed Remus' gaze and saw that he was staring at a glowing piece of parchment. When he read the contents his blood ran cold. That explained the odd look on Evans' face, he thought. After all, she was Muggleborn.
"Professor Dumbledore!" cried the librarian. "Thank Merlin you are here!"
The students turned to see the headmaster approaching, wearing a deep purple robe with twinkling stars that usually mirrored the twinkle in his eyes. The twinkle was absent as he read the message on the parchment. He looked up and said, "Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, please escort Miss Vance to the hospital wing so the nurse can tend to her wound. Irma, please make sure the rest of the students return to their common rooms while I tend to this." Madam Pince nodded and started ushering students out of the library.
Remus looked at Dumbledore while James and Sirius helped Emm stand. "Professor, do you know who did this? Does it have anything to do with that dark wizard we've been reading about in the papers?"
Dumbledore studied Remus over his half-moon glasses and finally answered, "I am not sure yet, Mr. Lupin, but you need not worry." He paused and glanced at Sirius and James, who were helping Emm out of the library. "Keep your ears and your mind open. Indeed, I don't think you have anything to worry about." As Remus followed Dumbledore's gaze he wondered if the headmaster knew about his argument with Sirius and James. "Why don't you help your friends while I finish up here?"
Remus looked back at Dumbledore, realizing he had stressed the word 'friends.' Remus slowly nodded and then walked out to catch up with James, Sirius, and Emm.
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After leaving Emm with Madame Pomfrey, who insisted she stay the night, the three Marauders slowly walked toward Gryffindor tower in silence. After several minutes of this, Sirius could not stand it anymore. He grabbed Remus' arm and pulled him into an empty classroom, with James following closely behind.
Remus pulled free and turned to face the two boys. "I thought I made it clear that I'm leaving Hogwarts. You won't have to deal with me anymore, so-"
"Will you just shut up for one minute so we can get a word in?" barked Sirius.
Remus looked down at the floor and said, "Alright then, let me have it."
"Remus," started James, "I know you were hoping we wouldn't find out. First things first - we are still your friends…that is, if you want us to be."
It took a moment for James' words to sink in. Finally, Remus' head jerked up and he scrutinized James before slowly responding, "What was that you just said?"
Sirius spoke up. "You heard him. We're still your friends." Remus turned to him with disbelief in his eyes. "Geez, Lupin! After all the trouble we got into this year you think something like that would intimidate us?! I thought you had a higher opinion of us."
Remus' voice cracked a little as he said, "So, are you saying that my transformations, that is- my being a…w-werewolf…doesn't matter to you?"
"I wouldn't go so far as to say that," said James. "Looking back, we saw what you've been through to hide this from everyone. We saw how ill you became each month, and we saw you when you came out of the Whomping Willow this morning. This obviously affects you and as your friends that matters to us."
"But," said Sirius, "don't think this means you're scaring us off." He grinned and added, "After all, we're the Marauders! We laugh in the face of danger!"
For the first time Remus was able to crack a real smile, rolling his eyes. "I would say you like danger, even if you have to go searching for it."
"So Remus, are you still planning on leaving Hogwarts?" James asked.
Remus thought for a moment and said, "Maybe you guys can deal with my being a werewolf, but I doubt the rest of the school could."
"Well, then they're idiots! It's stupid being scared around you. The only thing that's scary about you is the amount of time you put in at the library. If keeping you here at Hogwarts means keeping your secret, then you can count on us," said Sirius.
"After all, we still need you to look up all the good hexes that we pull on the Slytherins!" added James.
Remus smiled again as he shook his head, "I can't believe I underestimated you guys! Alright, I'll stay." He stood there for a moment before asking, "Does Peter or Frank know?"
James shook his head, "No, we didn't want to let on to anyone else until we confirmed the truth. We won't tell him if that's what you want."
"For now I would prefer if this stayed between us. No one else need find out," the werewolf replied.
"No problem," said Sirius. "So, uh, how did you…you know, become a werewolf?"
Remus frowned and for a moment it seemed like he wouldn't respond. Finally, he said, "I was five years old. We lived by a large forest. One evening my parents finally consented to allow my brother and I to go to a friend's house."
"Wait!" said James. "I didn't know you had a brother."
"I did. He was my twin brother, Romulus. We were inseparable." Remus seemed lost in his memories before he continued, "Anyway, we were going to a friend's house a few blocks away to sleep over. Our parents warned us to stay inside. There was a full moon out and we could always hear strange howls coming from the forest during the full moon. I never realized what it meant, being only five years old at the time.
"We decided to sneak out after dark and camp in the back yard. We wanted to prove that we were big enough to be on our own. Not long after we set up camp we started to hear the howls in the distance. Kenneth, our friend, started to dare us to walk into the forest. Romulus was always up for a dare. He grabbed my arm and coaxed me into following him. The howls were still there, however they did not seem as far away as they had before.
"After a few minutes of walking around we got lost. I was scared, and started to call out for help. Before I knew it, I heard a loud growl and turned to see a werewolf charging at me. I froze, not knowing what to do. My brother, Romulus, saw the werewolf coming at me and leapt at him to keep him from reaching me. The werewolf turned on him instead and bit him several times. I tried to pull Romulus out of the beast's jaws but it was too late. Romulus-" Remus paused as his throat caught. James almost spoke when Remus continued, "-my brother, my best friend- was killed, and the werewolf decided to take me as well. I only remember the first bite as his teeth sunk into my arm.
"The next thing I knew I was waking up in St. Mungo's in the 'Dangerous' Dai Llewellyn Ward for Serious Bites. Apparently, Kenneth had heard screams and howls from the forest and alerted his father, who was able to find us and stun the werewolf before he could kill me, but not before I was bitten."
There was deafening silence as James and Sirius absorbed what Remus had described. "So," said James, "not only did you have to deal with the transformations - there was the death of your brother, too?"
Remus nodded. "My parents tried to convince me that they had forgiven me, but how could they when I could never forgive myself? My brother died to save me! They've tried to treat me like there's nothing wrong but I can see the fear in their eyes. They used to be very affectionate with my brother and me, but now they refuse to touch me. My friends back home found out and turned on me, even Kenneth - the boy who dared us into the forest in the first place!" Remus said bitterly. "Kenneth would have gone to Hogwarts, but his parents thought it safer to send him to Durmstrang when they found out I would be coming here." Remus looked at James and Sirius, saying, "You two are the first friends I have who know the truth and haven't turned your backs."
Sirius spoke with conviction, "And we won't."
James nodded in agreement.
Remus' eyes watered a little and he turned away hoping his friends wouldn't notice. "You have no idea how much it means to hear you say that."
James, seeing that the mood needed to lighten, grinned and said, "If you're staying at Hogwarts then that calls for a celebration!"
Sirius, following James' lead said, "Yeah. We missed dinner, so why don't we sneak into the kitchens and nick some food from the pantry?"
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Another short chapter, I know, but I wanted to get out Remus' story and have him make up with Sirius and James. After I wrote a large chunk of the story I read that according to JKR, Remus doesn't have a brother. Oh well - that part of my fic is AU. I'm not going to change it.
Thanks to my latest reviewers: Remus'sweetie, sweetie513, itsme63, anonymous (x2). You're reviews make my day (and believe me - life has been stressful lately).
Next chapter: The school reacts to the attack in the library.