Full Moon
September 8 1971:
Something was off with Remus. That was the first thing James Potter noticed when he woke up on Friday morning. Remus was naturally quiet compared to James and Sirius but today he had barely spoken more than a few words to them before heading to the Great Hall.
Peter, James and Sirius waited for a few moments before they started talking. "What's up with him?" Sirius asked as he sat down on his bed, across from Peter while James leaned against the bed post. "Could it be he's nervous about his detention?" Peter suggested as he remembered Sirius telling him and James about what happened in Professor McGonagall's office.
"Probably is, gotta be scary having detention by yourself." James nodded, fixing his glasses as they slid further down his nose. "Especially with Professor McGonagall." Peter wasn't a fan of the women after their first Transfiguration lesson, where he was politely told to find a clock instead of bothering people. James internally laughed at the idea that Peter was scared of his aunt, who regularly got a lecture from her wife for being, in Poppy's words, a dumbass.
"Well, as the noble men we are. We must cheer him up! We can't have him upset!" Sirius received two eager nods in return. Sirius felt guilty after Remus having a detention as it was his fault, Remus wouldn't have one if he had just been put into Slytherin or had punched Snape himself, though the latter seemed much more fun to Sirius and would most definitely happen when he got the chance.
Meanwhile, Remus slowly ate a piece of toast as he waited for his friends to join him at the table. His head was pounding, like a bullet had just been shot through his skull. He was oddly nervous for the full moon tonight, he usually felt some nerves anyway but today it seemed to be ten times worse than normal. What if someone noticed he was missing? What if someone hears him? What if he escapes the shack and hurts someone? The thoughts didn't help Remus's already sore head and nor his attitude.
When the other three finally joined him at the table, they all quietly ate their breakfast. Which brought some questions too Remus but he was glad for the quietness they, for once, were providing. James soon disturbed the silence of their group by asking a question. "You okay?" he asked a tad to loud for Remus, who winced at the noise.
James and Sirius both noticed, Peter was busy doing some last minute homework that he had forgotten about, Sirius brought his hand to Remus's arm and gently squeezed it. "What hurts?" Sirius asked, his voice barely above a whisper. Remus pointed to his head, speaking felt like hiking up Mount Everest in bare feet and a backpack filled with rocks. James tapped on his shoulder "Let's go see Poppy than, okay?" At the mention of his ma's name Remus nodded.
His friends may be trying to help him ,and he did appreciate the effort, but the sound of seeing Poppy brought more comfort than whatever his friends did. Poppy would know how to fix him, even if she didn't she would certainly try her hardest. So Remus allowed his friends to guide him to the infirmary before their first class.
---
Minerva McGonagall watched as Remus left the hall with his group of friends. As much as she wanted too go and follow after them to see her son, she knew that would draw too much attention. So she stayed seated and allowed Pomona and Rolanda to distract her as best they could, the two witches were the first to know about Remus's condition and never shunned him away for it. At first they weren't sure about how to act around the werewolf 5 year old but than grew to understand that he was just like any other child they had met.
Rolanda leaned over the desk towards Minerva "So Minnie. Care to explain why I saw my paperwork thrown everywhere in my room?" Minerva snorted "Getting payback at you for snitching on me to Poppy." Pomona took a deep breath as she was forced to sit inbetween the two.
The story was that Minerva had taken another dizzy spell while her and Rolanda were walking to the staff room. Once Rolanda knew Minerva wasn't going to die on her, she sprinted to Poppy and snitched. Poppy than forced her wife to leave any work she had for the day and sleep.
---
Poppy was high on stress at the moment. The infirmary was empty but she still had two patients in her brain. Remus J Lupin and Minerva McGonagall. Her own makeshift family.
Minerva's dizzy spell had caused a lot of concern from Poppy, logically she knew it was just from stress and Minerva forgetting to eat or drink but that doesn't mean she doesn't worry. She would always worry about her wife.
The full moon was tonight which meant Remus would end up in a infirmary bed at some point, the boy had been very stubborn and insisted that he would be fine for the day, but deep down Poppy knew he wouldn't make it throughout the day and would end up staying with her. And she was correct.
Classes hadn't even started yet when she sees Remus slowly walking towards her and his friends behind him. "Head sore." he mumbled quietly before just crashing his head into her chest, Poppy rubbed his back while his friends explained that Remus was oddly quiet this morning and had a headache.
"Off to classes boys, I am sure Remus will be better soon." Poppy watched as the three boys hesitated to leave, Sirius Black being the last to leave after Poppy reassured him Remus would be fine.
"Ma, it really hurts." Remus whined as Poppy carried him into her office and set him on a bed that was hidden behind a curtain. She sat down next to him and let the boy hug her tight while she continued to rub his back. "I know love, here. Drink this up." she offered him a Sleeping Draught which he drank.
Poppy held the boy until he fell asleep and tucked him into bed, she would let him the day away if it allowed him to escape the pain he was in. As Remus got older the worse the transformations got and the injuries become more major. Poppy and Minerva had suspected something like this would happen as the boy grew but it still hurt to see their son in so much pain.
---
After dinner Minerva was finally free from her lessons and was able to slip into the infirmary without anyone noticing. She quickly walks into Poppy's office, the matron wasn't there but Minerva knew she would return soon enough, so she headed to where she knew Poppy kept Remus before and after a full moon.
"Remus?" she spoke quietly incase the boy was alseep as she opened the curtains, "Hi mum." Remus said from where he hid under the covers, as silly as it seemed he felt safer under it. Minerva sat down at the bottom of the bed as the bump in the bed rose, like someone using a bed sheet for a ghost costume. "Hello, ma is getting you some food I believe." she informed him before the bump of the bed covers laid across her lap.
She chuckled at this and let the boy get comfy. "How are you feeling? Your friends were trying to come see you but I heard Poppy shoo'd them away while you slept." Remus hummed in acknowledgement of Minerva speaking before answering "Everything hurts. Worse than last time." There was no point in lying to her or Poppy because they knew he wasn't fine or okay.
"I'm sorry, my boy. I wish we could do more to help you." Minerva had searched for anything to help Remus but had come up with nothing. "Minnie, you with Remus?" Poppy asked as she entered her office. "How does she always know?" Minerva asked Remus as the boy giggled at her.
Poppy joined them on the bed and a dishevelled Remus appeared from under the covers, his hair all over the place and dark eye bags under his eyes. Poppy and Minerva both helped the boy out of bed and started to make their way to the Shrieking Shack. Both with a heavy heart.
---
Remus was sat alone in the Shrieking Shack, the trapdoor had closed behind Poppy only a moment ago and he already missed her. He didn't have much time too think before the full moon rose to it's highest and shone on him. His bones creaked and grinded against each other as they broke and grew longer. His spine broke and curved as his body morphed into the wolf. His shrieks and screams turned into howls and grunts.
Remus J Lupin was no more for the night as the wolf that longed within the boy paced around the familiar shack with an urge to hurt something. It howled loudly as it realised it was alone and trapped again, so it hurled itself into a wall in a attempt to escape.
---
James, Peter and Sirius all sat in their room, it was getting late and Remus Lupin had yet to return. The boys hadn't seen him since this morning when they brought him to the infirmary. James had tried to visit again after lunch but was told that Remus was sleeping and that he needed to rest.
"Surely a headache can't be that bad he needs to stay overnight?" James asked as he stared up at the ceiling, laying on his bed. "What about we go sneak down and see him?" Sirius suggested before Peter stopped that idea. "He might have a a migraine, Madam Pomfrey is taking care of him. Who ,need I remind you, is his mum." Sirius groaned but knew Peter was right "I hate that your right."
"Yeah, Peter is right. We can check on him tomorrow." James's idea brought out a better mood in the room and they all chatted about different ways they could surprise Remus tomorrow.
---
Poppy had returned to the infirmary and found her wife waiting for her. "Love?" she asked as she brought her hand to Minerva's cheek. Minerva leaned into the touch and closed her eyes. She had an idea. A dumb and probably dangerous idea. But an idea. "I have something to do. Don't expect me to return to our room tonight." was all she said before running off, in the direction of the Whomping Willow, leaving behind a very confused Poppy Pomfrey.
---
Minerva stood in front of the Whomping Willow and took a breath. Her idea may end up in her death but at least that meant she could escape the paperwork sitting on her desk. Her plan was too shift into her animagus form ,sneak into the Shrieking Shack and keep Remus company. She had read that werewolves would only attack humans, not other animals. So in theory, she would be safe if she stayed as a cat.
Poppy was definitely going to kill her.
In her cat form, she slipped past the Whomping Willow's waving branches and into the the tunnel under it. She ran through the tunnel and nudged the trapdoor open. She made sure to close the door behind her as she climbed up onto the first floor of the shack. She crept slowly, not wanting to scare the wolf that was lurking somewhere.
The cat quickly found the wolf, it was scratching its chest out of frustration of being locked up. Minerva watched from afar as the wolf let out a sort of scream and howl noise. She fought the urge to cover her paws at the dreadful sound.
The wolf suddenly sniffed and turned to the cat, it slowly walked closer to the cat. Minerva stood still and let the wolf sniff at her, if she didn't move surely that proved she wasn't going to hurt him. The wolf growled at her and any thoughts of staying still were tossed out the window, the cat walked to the wolfs legs and rubbed them with her head. Her tail held high to show she was being friendly.
The wolf stared at the cat before sitting down and watched Minerva as she rubbed the wolf from head to toe. The wolf seemed to relax and allowed the tabby cat to wonder off before it returned with a old ball that Poppy had left, in hopes to entertain Remus while he waited to transform. The wolf tilted its head before Minerva used her paws to push the ball to the wolf, who sniffed at it before copying what Minerva had done.
A few hours later the wolf would lay down and fall asleep, completely exhausted after playing as many games Minerva could think off to keep the wolf distracted. The tabby would curl next to the wolf and sleep for a bit, until the sun grew higher and Remus was forced to shift back into a human. Minerva left the room while this happened, seeing her son's body change against his will was not something she could bare too see.
---
"Ugh." Remus groaned as he lay flat on the ground, his clothes were ripped but nothing Poppy couldn't fix later. He slowly made an effort to move each of his limbs to make sure he wasn't missing any. He winced when he tried to sit up, he probably broke a few ribs, so he stayed laying down. He would check for any new scars later, when he didn't feel like he going was to throw up.
"Mrrrrr." A cat meowed as it trotted into the room. Remus, out of pure instinct, tried sitting up before hissing as the pain in his chest grew sharp. The cat trotted over to him and pawed at him to lay down. "Mum?" Remus could recognise the cat anywhere, the eye markings that represented her glasses were a big give away when you knew what to look for.
The cat headbutted him before sitting down next to his face, tucking her paws under her as she did. Remus had so many questions but he was too tired to try ask any of them, so instead he waited for Poppy to come and rescue him from the nightmare of a shack. He closed his eyes and fell asleep, hoping when he opened them next he would be in the infirmary with his mums bickering at each other.
---
Poppy let out a sigh of relief as she saw her son intact and not missing a arm or leg. She gasped whenever she saw her wife sitting cross legged on the floor, letting Remus use her legs as a pillow and playing with his hair. "He needs a haircut." Minerva said as she looked up at her wife.
Poppy tried getting words out but only got some vowels out, Minerva chuckled before holding a hand up to tell Poppy to stop talking. "Remember how I said I had an idea?" Poppy nodded. "Idea worked. Long story short, if I am in my animagus form, he won't attack me. Stops him from hurting himself as badly as well." Minerva explained very simply, no point in telling Poppy all the minor details like how she didn't know if it would work or not.
"You're getting an lecture later McGonagall. But for now.." Poppy crouched down onto her knees next to Minerva and kissed her, her hands slipping around her neck and holding the back of her head. Minerva was quick to return the kiss when Poppy pulled back, resting her forehead against hers. "You found a way to help him?" Poppy whispered, still not quite believing that something so simple was able to help the werewolf.
Minerva gave Poppy that dorky grin she had whenever something worked out her way. "Yeah. I suppose I have."